In The Story of Madana Kāma Rāja (Naṭēśa Sāstrī), p. 73, when a Prince was going to fetch a Golden Lotus flower that was on the far side of the Seven Seas, his wife, who understood magical arts, gave him seven pebbles, and told him that when he threw one into each ocean in turn, and said, “May the sea dry before and swell behind,” a dry path would appear, along which he could proceed in safety. When he had crossed the Seven Seas in this manner, a Rākshasa in charge of a sacred pool beyond them sent on a note which the Prince had brought, to the Crocodile King, who forwarded the lotus to the Prince and ordered a crocodile to carry him back to his own country.
In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. iii, p. 227, a King of Śrāvasti, who wished to get possession of the beautiful wife of an upāsaka, sent him, by the advice of his Ministers, to bring lotus flowers of five colours from a distant pool. All who were sent on this errand were killed by venomous snakes or demons or savage animals, but a demon whom he encountered saved the upāsaka on learning of his piety, and fetched the flowers for him. When the King heard of this he begged his forgiveness.
[2] Ironwood, Mesua ferrea. [↑]
[3] The story is difficult to understand in several places; I have tried to express the apparent meaning. [↑]
[4] It is clear that she got her name from a flower found in the hive, which might thus be termed a Mī-mala (Mī-flower), and not from the flower of the Mī-tree (Bassia longifolia). [↑]
[5] Maṭa bāe, which often is used with the meaning, “I will not.” [↑]