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marks, concluded that he was a distinguished Bráhman, and took him
home to his own house. There he honoured him with a bath, food, and
other refreshments in the most luxurious style, and when his fatigue was removed, he said to him, " Who are you, whence do you come, and
where are you going?" And the Bráhman gave him this reserved answer;
" I am a Bráhman of the name of Dírghadarśin; I have come here on
pilgrimage from the land of Anga." Then the merchant prince Nidhidatta said to him, " I am about to go on a trading expedition to the Island
of Gold; so you must live in my house, until I return; and then you
will have recovered from the fatigue which you have incurred by roaming to holy places, and you can go home." When Dírghadarśin heard that, he said, " Why should I remain here? I will go with you, great merchant, if you like." The good man said, " So be it," and then the minister, who had long discarded the use of beds, spent that night in his house.
The next day he went with that merchant to the sea, and embarked on a ship laden with his merchandise. He travelled along in that ship, and beheld the awful and wonderful ocean, and in course of time reached the Isle of Gold. What had a man holding the office of prime minister to do with sea- voyages? But what will not men of honour do to prevent their fame from being sullied? So he remained some time in that island with that merchant Nidhidatta, who was engaged in buying and selling.
And as he was returning with him on the ship, he suddenly saw a wave rise up, and then a wishing-tree arise out of the sea; it was adorned with boughs glittering with gold, which were embellished with sprays of coral, and bore lovely fruits and flowers of jewels. And he beheld on its trunk a maiden, alluring on account of her wonderful beauty, reclining on a gem-bestudded couch. He reflected for a moment, " Dear me ! What can this be?" And thereupon the maiden, who had a lyre in her hand, began to sing this song, " Whatever seed of works any man has sown in a former life, of that he, without doubt, eats the fruit; for even fate cannot alter what has been done in a previous state of existence." When the heavenly maiden had sung this song, she immediately plunged into that sea, with the wishing-tree, and the couch on which she was reclining. Then Dírghadarśin reflected, " I have to-day seen a wonderful sight; one would never have expected to find in the sea a tree, with a heavenly maiden singing on it, appearing and disappearing as soon as beheld. Or rather, this admirable treasure-house of the sea is ever the same; did not Lakshmi, and the moon, and the Párijáta tree, and other precious things come out of it?" But the steersman and the rest of the crew, perceiving that Dírghadarśin was astonished and puzzled, said to him, " This lovely woman always appears here in the same way, and sinks down again at once; but this sight is new to you."
