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the lamp, and lo ! it was the warder Chandaketu, and not a robber. But the warder, who was the secret paramour of the king's wife, did not recognize the prince, because he had other garments on than those he usually wore,*[1] and kept in a corner where there was not much light.
But the moment the warder arrived, the king's wife, who was named Manjumatí, and was desperately in love with him, rose up and threw her arms round his neck. And she made him sit down on a sola, and said to him, " Who is this man that you have brought here to-day?" Then he said to her, " Make your mind easy, it is a friend of mine." But Manjumatí said excitedly, " How can I, ill-starred woman that I am, feel at ease, now that this king has been saved by Mrigánkadatta, after entering the very jaws of death?" When the warder heard her say that, he answered, " Do not grieve, my dear ! I will soon kill the king and Mrigánkadatta too." When he said this, she answered, as fate would have it, " Why do you boast? When the king was seized that day by monsters in the water of the Narmadá, Mrigánkadatta alone was ready to rescue him; why did you not kill him then? The fact is, you fled in fear. So be silent, lest some one hear this speech of yours, and then you would certainly meet with calamity at the hands of Mrigánkadatta, who is a brave man." When she said this, her paramour the warder lost his temper with her. He said, " Wretched woman, you are certainly in love with Mrigánkadatta, so receive now from me the just recompense of that taunt," And he rose up to kill her, dagger in hand. Then a maid, who was her confidante, ran and laid hold of the dagger with her hand and held it. In the meanwhile Manjumatí escaped into another room. And the warder dragged the dagger out of the maid's hand, cutting her fingers in the process; and returned home by the way which he came, somewhat confused, with Mrigánkadatta, who was much astonished.
Then Mrigánkadatta, who could not be recognized in the darkness, said to the warder, " You have reached your own house, so I will leave you." But the warder said to the prince, " Sleep here to-night, without going further, for you are very tired." Then the prince consented, as he wished to learn something of his goings on; and the warder called one of his servants and said to him, " Take this man to the room where the peacock is, and let him rest there and give him a bed." The servant said— " I will do as you command," and took the prince to the room and placed a light in it, and gave him a bed. He then departed, fastening the outer door with a chain, and Mrigánkadatta saw the peacock there in a cage. He said to himself, " This is the very peacock, that the warder was speaking of," and out of curiosity he opened its cage. And the peacock came out and, after looking intently at Mrigán-
- ↑ * I read 'nyaveśastham, which is the reading; of the Sanskrit College MS.
