Briefly, King Vikram, it was settled between the twain that each should establish the truth of what it had advanced by an illustration in the form of a story.
Chandravati claimed, and soon obtained, precedence for the jay. Then the wonderful bird, Madan-manjari, began to speak as follows:—
I have often told thee, O queen, that before coming to thy feet, my mistress was Ratnawati, the daughter of a rich trader, the dearest, the sweetest the——
Here the jay burst into tears, and the mistress was sympathetically affected. Presently the speaker resumed—
However, I anticipate. In the city of Hapur there was a wealthy merchant, who was without offspring; on this account he was continually fasting and going on pilgrimage, and when at home he was ever engaged in reading the Puranas and in giving alms to the Brahmans.
At length, by favour of the Deity, a son was born to this merchant, who celebrated his birth with great pomp and rejoicing, and gave large gifts to Brahmans and to bards, and distributed largely to the hungry, the thirsty, and the poor. When the boy was five years old he had him taught to read, and when older he was sent to a guru, who had formerly himself been a student, and who was celebrated as teacher and lecturer.
In the course of time the merchant’s son grew up. Praise be to Bramha! what a wonderful youth it was, with a face like a monkey’s, legs like a stork’s, and a back like a camel’s. You know the old proverb:—
Expect thirty-two villanies from the limping and eighty from the one-eyed man,