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upon it?" That king Paropakárín, when his daughter addressed him in that way, being the discreetest of men, thus answered her: " How can sin be avoided unless a daughter is given in marriage? And independence is not fit for a maiden who ought to be in dependence on relations? For a daughter in truth is born for the sake of another and is kept for him. The house of her father is not a fit place for her except in childhood. For if a daughter reaches puberty unmarried, her relations go to hell, and she is an outcast, and her bridegroom is called the husband of an outcast." When her father said this to her, the princess Kanakarekhá immediately uttered a speech that was in her mind, " Father, if this is so, then whatever Bráhman or Kshatriya has succeeded in seeing the city called the Golden City, to him I must be given, and he shall be my husband, and if none such is found, you must not unjustly reproach me." When his daughter said that to him, that king reflected: " It is a good thing at any rate that she has agreed to be married on a certain condition, and no doubt she is some goddess born in my house for a special reason, for else how comes she to know so much though she is a child ?" Such were the king's reflections at that time: so he said to his daughter, " I will do as you wish," and then he rose up and did his day's work. And on the next day, as he was sitting in the hall of audience, he said to his courtiers, " Has any one among you seen the city called the Golden City? Whoever has seen it, if he be a Bráhman or a Kshatriya, I will give him my daughter Kanakarekhá., and make him crown-prince." And they all, looking at one another's faces, said, " We have not even heard of it, much less have we seen it. Then the king summoned the warder and said to him, " Go and cause a proclamation to be circulated in the whole of this town with the beating of drums, and find out if any one has really seen that city." When the warder received this order, he said, " I will do so," and went out; and after he had gone out, he immediately gave orders to the police, and caused a drum to be beaten all round the city, thus arousing curiosity to hear the proclamation, which ran as follows: ' Whatever Brahman or Kshatriya youth has seen the city called the Golden City, let him speak, and the king will give him his daughter and the rank of crown-prince." Such was the astounding announcement proclaimed all about the town after the drum had been beaten. And the citizens raid, after hearing that proclamation: " What is this Golden City that is to-day proclaimed in our town, which has never been heard of or seen even by those among us who are old ?" But not a single one among them said, " I have seen it."
And in the meanwhile a Bráhman living in that town, Śaktideva by name, the son of Baladeva, heard that proclamation; that youth, being addicted to vice, had been rapidly stripped of his wealth at the gaming-table, and he reflected, being excited by hearing of the giving in marriage
