255
private apartments when I wished to be alone, so keep him in durance for the present, and he shall be executed in the morning." When the guards heard that, they put him under arrest, and he spent the night in confinement, but as he was being led off to execution in the morning, he said to them— " First take me into the presence of the prince, in order that I may tell him a certain reason, which I had for my conduct; and then put me to death." When he said this to the guards, they went and informed the prince, and on their information and the advice of his ministers, the prince ordered him to be brought before him. When he was brought, he told the prince the whole story, and he believed it to be true, for the fall of the house carried conviction to his mind. So the prince was satisfied, and countermanded the order for his friend's execution, and he returned with him to his own city, a married man. And there his friend the merchant's son married, and lived in happiness, his virtues being praised by all men.
" Thus the children of kings break loose from restraint and slaying their guides, disregard benefits, like infuriated elephants And what friendship can there be with those Vetulas, who take people's lives by way of a joke. Therefore, my princess, never abandon your friendship with me."
When Kalingasená heard this story in the palace from the mouth of Somaprabhá, she answered her affectionate friend,— " Those of whom you speak are considered Piśáchas, not the children of kings, and I will tell you a story of the evil importunity of Piśáchas, listen !"
Story of the Bráhman and the Pisácha:— Long ago there was a Bráhman dwelling on a royal grant, which was called Yajnasthala. He once upon a time, being poor, went to the forest to bring home wood. There, a piece of wood being cleft with the axe, fell, as chance would have it, upon his leg, and piercing it, entered deep into it. And as the blood flowed from him, he fainted, and he was beheld in that condition by a man who recognised him, and taking him up carried him home. There his distracted wife washed off the blood, and consoling him, placed a plaster upon the wound. And then his wound, though tended day by day, not only did not heal, but formed an ulcer. Then the man, afflicted with his ulcerated wound, poverty-stricken, and at the point of death, was thus advised in secret by a Bráhman friend, who came to him; " A friend of mine, named Yajnadatta, -was long very poor, but he gained the aid of a Piśácha by a charm, and so, having obtained wealth, lived in happiness. And he told me that charm, so do you gain, my friend, by means of it, the aid of a Piśácha; he will heal your wound." Having said this, he told him the form of words and described to him the ceremony as follows: " Rise up in the last watch of the night, and with dishevelled hair and naked and without rinsing your mouth, take two handfuls of rice as large as you
