20
Nanda, and there she herself stated to the king that the merchant Hiranyagupta was endeavouring to deprive her of money deposited with him by her husband. The king in order to enquire into the matter immediately had the merchant summoned, who said— " I have nothing in my keeping belonging to this lady." Upakośá then said, " I have witnesses, my lord; before he went, my husband put the household gods into a box, and this merchant with his own lips admitted the deposit in their presence. Let the box be brought here and ask the gods yourself." Having heard this the king in astonishment ordered the box to be brought.
Thereupon in a moment that trunk was carried in by many men. Then Upakośá said— " Relate truly, O gods, what that merchant said and then go to your own houses; if you do not, I will burn you or open the box in court." Hearing that, the men in the box, beside themselves with fear, said— " It is true, the merchant admitted the deposit in our presence." Then the merchant being utterly confounded confessed all his guilt; but the! king, being unable to restrain his curiosity, after asking permission of Upakośá, opened the chest there in court by breaking the fastening, and those three men were dragged out, looking like three lumps of solid darkness, and were with difficulty recognised by the king and his ministers. The whole assembly then burst out laughing, and the king in his curiosity asked Upakośá, what was the meaning of all this; so the virtuous lady told the whole story. All presentin court expressed their approbation of Upakośá's conduct, observing: " The virtuous behaviour of women of good family who are protected by their own excellent disposition*[1] only, is incredible."
Then all those coveters of their neighbour's wife were deprived of all their living, and banished from the country. Who prospers by immorality? Upakośá was dismissed by the king, who shewed his great regard for her by a present of much wealth, and said to her: " Hence forth thou art my sister,"— and so she returned home. Varsha and Upavarsha when the heard it, congratulated that chaste lady, and there was a smile of admiration on the face of every single person in that city.†[2]
- ↑ * Instead of the walls of a seraglio.
- ↑ † This story occurs in Scott's Additional Arabian Nights as the Lady of Cairo and her four Gallants, [and in his Tales and Anecdotes, Shrewsbury, 1800, p. 136 asthe story of the Merchant's wife and her suitors]. It is also one of the Persian tales of Arouya [day 146 ff ]. It is a story of ancient celebrity in Europe as Constant du Hamel or la Dame qui attrapa un Prevot et un Forestier [Le Grand d'Ausay,OIVM Fabliaux et contes. Paris 1829, Vol IV, pp.246-56]. It is curious that the Fabliau alone agrees with the Hindu original in putting the lovers out of the way and disrobing them by the plea of the bath. (Note in Wilson's Essays on Sanskrit Literature, edited by Dr. Rost. Vol. I, p. 173.) See also a story contributed by the late Mr. Damant to the Indian Antiquary, Vol. IX. pp. 2 and 3, and the XXVIIIth story in Indian Fairy Tales collected and translated by Miss Stokes, with the note at the end of the volume.
