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as the kumudvatí opens under the rays of the moon, and the bees begin to circle in its cup. When she saw him, she reflected for a moment, " Who can this being of celestial appearance be? Surely he must be some god that has penetrated into this well-guarded room?" So she rose up, and asked him earnestly and respectfully who he was, and how and why he had entered there. Then he told his story, and the fair one, when questioned by him, told him in turn her country, name, and descent. Then they both fell in love with one another, and each ceased to believe that the other was an object seen in a dream, and in order to make certain, they exchanged ornaments.
Then they both became eager for the Gándharva form of marriage, but the Ganas stupefied them, and laid them to sleep. And, as soon as Śrídarśana fell asleep, they took him and carried him back to his own palace, cheated by Destiny of his desire. Then Śrídarśana woke up in his own palace, and seeing himself decked with the ornaments of a lady, he thought, " What does this mean? At one moment I am in that heavenly palace with the daughter of the king of Hansadvipa, at another moment I am here. It cannot be a dream, for here are these ornaments of hers on my wrist, so it must be some strange freak of Destiny." While he was engaged in these speculations, his wife Padmishțhá woke up, and questioned him, and the kind woman comforted him, and so he passed the night. And the next morning he told the whole story to Śrísena, before whom he appeared wearing the ornaments marked with the name of Anangamanjarí. And the king, wishing to please him, had a proclamation made by beat of drum, to find out where Hansadvipa was, but could not find out from any one the road to that country. Then Śrídarśana, separated from Anangamanjarí, remained overpowered by the fever of love, averse to all enjoyment. He could not like his food while he gazed on her ornaments, necklace and all, and he abandoned sleep, having ceased to behold within reach the lotus of her face.*[1]
In the meanwhile the princess Anangamanjarí, in Hansadvipa, was awakened in the morning by the sound of music. When she remembered what had taken place in the night, and saw her body adorned with Śrídarśana's ornaments, longing love made her melancholy. And she reflected, " Alas I am brought into a state, in which my life is in danger, by these ornaments, which prove that I cannot have been deluded by a dream, and fill me with love for an unattainable object." While she was engaged in these reflections, her father Anangodaya suddenly entered, and saw her wearing the ornaments of a man. The king, who was very fond of her, when he saw her covering her body with her clothes, and downcast with shame, took her on his lap and said to her, " My daughter, what is the
- ↑ * A series of elaborate puns.
