“I am Sahasrabala (Thousand-strength).”
They took him into their service.
Now it came to pass that the son of the before-mentioned king heard that the princess, whom Kuśa had formerly obtained, had been given up by him, and had returned home. So he sent to say that if the king would give him his daughter, all would be well; but if the king would not give her, he would despoil him of his sovereign power. The king replied, “I have given my daughter to the son of King Mahāśakuni. I cannot give her to another.” So the prince came with a fourfold army and besieged the king’s capital. The king could not venture to fight with him, so he ordered the gates to be closed and remained inside. [[27]]
The youth Kuśa said to the ministers, “Sirs, wherefore are the gates closed?” They explained the whole matter to him. The youth Kuśa said to the ministers, “If the king’s daughter is given to me, I will undertake to fight the enemy.” The ministers laid the case before the king, who said, “I have given my daughter to the son of King Mahāśakuni. How can I give her to this man? The present complication is entirely due to this maiden.” The ministers said, “As there is at present no other prospect of victory, let this man fight the prince offhand. We shall find out then which is the conqueror.” The king said, “Let that be done by you.” And the ministers said, “Thousand-strength, act according to your words.”
Thereupon the youth took the two quivers, which held five hundred arrows, and also the shell, the disk, and the mace, and set forth. When he sounded the shell, the ears of the enemy were shattered, and they fled. The princess thought, “As this youth Kuśa is excellently endowed with boldness and courage, why should I dislike him?” So she took a liking for him, and said to the king, “What you promised, that fulfil.”
“Daughter, I will give you to Kuśa.”
“Father,” she said, “this is the youth Kuśa himself.”
“Go to him then, daughter, since that is so.”
The king paid Kuśa great honour, gave him a fourfold host, and let him and the rest of his party go free.
Kuśa went to the other hill-town, and said to the inhabitants, “Honoured sirs, now give me the half of the fourfold army.” They replied, “O youth, such a flood has taken place as has washed away the four divisions of the army.” As there were sheep grazing at no great distance, the youth Kuśa uttered this saying, “Reflect and know that whither the sixty-year old bullock, whither the elephant has been brought, thither also will the cows and sheep be brought. If ye give me the army, good. If ye give it not, there will be a tussle for it.”