Page:The Enchanted Parrot.djvu/63

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THE ENCHANTED PARROT
59


surrounded Manoratha's house and Santikâ hearing of it went to the house with sound of music, and said to the guards, " I have made a vow after I have seen the holy man, to return into a solitary place. Will you therefore accept this trifle of money and let me go into the house ? " They gladly allowed her to enter; so she went and changed clothes with Svachchhandâ., remaining inside herself while Svachchhandâ went away disguised in her clothes. Next morning the police saw Sodhâka leaving the house accompanied by his own wife. They did not know what to make of it, but saw plainly that they had been done in some way or other.

Story XX

On the banks of the Sâbhramatî is a town called Sankhapura, and in it lived a certain Sûra, a rich farmer. His wife's name was Kelikâ. She was a flighty, ill-conducted person, and violently attached to a Brâhman who lived on the other side of the river. So being over head and ears in love with this Brâhman, she used to cross the river with a friend at night, and pay him sundry visits. Her husband eventually discovered that his wife was