young raja, whom he found upon his bed, looking yellow and complaining bitterly of headache. Frequent discussions upon the subject of the tender passion had passed between the two youths, and one of them had ever spoken of it so very disrespectfully that the other felt ashamed to introduce it. But when his friend, with a view to provoke communicativeness, advised a course of boiled and bitter herbs and great attention to diet, quoting the hemistich attributed to the learned physician Charndatta―

A fever starve but feed a cold, the unhappy Vajramukut's fortitude. abandoned him; he burst into tears and exclaimed, 'Whosoever enters the path of love cannot surupon vive it; and if (by chance) he should live, what is life to him but a pro

longation of his misery ?'

'Yea,' replied the minister's son, 'the sage hath said-

The road of love is that which hath no beginning nor end;

Take thou heed of thyself, man! ere thou place foot upon it.

And the wise, knowing that there are three things whose effect upon himself no man can foretell-namely, desire of woman, the dice-box, and the drinking of ardent spirits, find total abstinence from them the best of rules. Yet, after all, if there is no cow, we must milk the bull.'

The advice was, of course, excellent, but the hapless loon could not help thinking that on this occasion it came a little too late. However, after a pause he returned to the subject and said, 'I have ventured to tread that dangerous way, be its end pain or pleasure, happiness or destruction.' He then hung down his head and sighed from the bottom of his heart.

'She is the person who appeared to us at the tank ?' asked the pradhan's son, moved to compassion by the state of his master.

The prince assented.

'0 great king,' resumed the minister's son, ' at the time of going away had she said anything to you? or had you said anything to her?

'Nothing!' replied the other laconically, when he found his friend beginning to take an interest in the affair.

'Then,' said the minister's son, 'it will be exceedingly difficult to get possession of her.'

'Then,' repeated the raja's son, 'I am doomed to death; to an early and melancholy death!'

Humph!' ejaculated the young statesman rather impatiently, 'did she make any sign, or give any hint? Let me know all that happened: half confidences are worse than none.'

everything that took place by the Upon which the prince related

side of the tank, bewailing the false shame which had made him dumb, and concluding with her pantomime.

The pradhan's son took thought for a while. He thereupon seized the opportunity of representing to his master all the evil effects of bashfulness when women are concerned, and advised him as he would be a happy lover, to brazen his countenance for the next interview.

Which the young raja faithfully promised to do.

'And now,' said the other, 'be comforted, O my master! I know her name and her dwelling-place. When she suddenly plucked the lotus flower and worshipped it, she thanked the gods for having blessed her with a sight of your beauty.'

Vajramukut smiled, the first time for the last month.

'When she applied it to her ear, it was as if she would have explained to thee, "I am a daughter of the Carnatic;" and when she bit

it with her teeth, she meant to say that "My father is Raja Dantawat," who, by the bye, has been, is, and ever will be, a mortal foe to thy father.'

Vajramukut shuddered. 'When she put it under her foot it meant, "My name is Padmavati."2 Vajramukut uttered a cry of joy. 'And when she placed it in her bosom, "You are truly dwelling in my heart" was meant to be understood.'

At these words the young raja started up full of new life, and after praising with enthusiasm the wondrous sagacity of his dear friend, begged him by some contrivance to obtain the permission of his parents, and to conduct him to her city. The minister's son easily got leave for Vajramukut to travel, under pretext that his body required change of water, and his mind change of scene. They both dressed and armed themselves for the journey, and having taken some jewels, mounted their horses and followed the road in that direction in which the princess had gone.

Arrived after some days at the capital of the Carnatic, the minister's son having disguised his master and himself in the garb of travelling traders, alighted and pitched his little tent upon a clear bit of ground in one of the suburbs. He then proceeded to inquire for a wise woman, wanting, he said, to have his fortune told. When the prince asked him what this meant, he replied that elderly dames who professionally predict the future are never above ministering to the present, and therefore that, in such circumstances, they are the properest persons to be consulted.

'Is this a treatise upon the subject of immorality, devil?' echoed the King Vikram ferociously. The

1 Danta in Sanskrit is a tooth.

2 Padma means a foot.

Baital declared that it was not, but that he must tell his story.

The person addressed pointed to an old woman who, seated before the door of her hut, was spinning at her wheel. Then the young men went up to her with polite salutations and said, 'Mother, we are travelling traders, and our stock is coming after us; we have come on in advance for the purpose of finding a place to live in. If you will give us a house, we will remain there and pay you highly.'

The old woman, who was a physiognomist as well as a fortuneteller, looked at the faces of the young men and liked them, because their brows were wide and their mouths denoted generosity. Having listened to their words, she took pity upon them and said kindly,

This hovel is yours, my masters, remain here as long as you please.' Then she led them into an inner room, again welcomed them, lamented the poorness of her abode, and begged them to lie down and rest themselves.

After some interval of time the old woman came to them once more, and sitting down began to gossip. The minister's son upon this asked her, 'How is it with thy family. thy relatives, and connections; and what are thy means of subsistence?' She replied, 'My son is a favourite servant in the household of our great king Dantawat, and your slave is the wet-nurse of the Princess Padmavati, his eldest child. From the coming on of old age,' she added, 'I dwell in this house, but the king provides for my eating and drinking. I go once a day to see the girl, who is a miracle of beauty and goodness, wit and accomplishments, and returning thence, I bear my own griefs at home.'3

In a few days the young Vajra

'Son,' she replied, delighted with the proposal-and what old woman would not be?' there is no need for putting off so urgent an affair till the morrow. Get your paper ready, and I will immediately give it.'

Trembling with pleasure, the prince ran to find his friend, who was seated in the garden reading, as usual, and told him what the old nurse had engaged to do. He then began to debate about how he should write his letter, to cull sentences and to weigh phrases; whether 'light of my eyes' was not too trite, and blood of my brow' rather too forcible. At this the minister's son smiled, and bade the prince not trouble his head with composition. He then drew his inkstand from his waist-shawl, nibbed a reed pen, and choosing a piece of pink and flowered paper, he wrote upon it a few lines. He then folded it, gummed it, sketched a lotus flower upon the outside, and handing it to the young prince, told him to give it to their hostess, and that all

would be well.

The old woman took her staff in her hand and hobbled straight to the palace. Arrived there, she found the raja's daughter sitting alone in her apartment. The maiden, seeing her nurse, immediately arose, and making a respectful bow, led her to a seat and began the most affectionate inquiries. After giving her blessing and sitting for some time and chatting about indifferent mat

And this was the termination exultative, as he called it :

4.

O joy! the pearl is mine again,
Once more the day is bright and clear,
And now 'tis real, then 'twas vain,

My dream of bliss-O heaven is here!

The Princess Padmavati having perused this doggrel with a contemptuous look, tore off the first word of the last line, and said to the nurse, angrily, 'Get thee gone, O mother of Yama,' O unfortunate creature, and take back this answer-giving her the scrap of paper to the fool who writes such bad verses. I wonder where he studied the humanities. Begone, and never do such an action again!'

The old nurse, distressed at being so treated, rose up and returned home. Vajramukut was too agi tated to await her arrival, so he went to meet her on the way. Imagine his disappointment when she gave him the fatal word and repeated to him exactly what happened, not forgetting to describe a single look! He felt tempted to plunge his sword into his bosom; but Fortune interfered, and sent him to consult his confidant.

'Be not so hasty and desperate, my prince,' said the pradhan's son, seeing his wild grief; you have not understood her meaning. Later in life you will be aware of the fact that, in nine cases out of ten, a woman's "no" is a distinct "yes." This morning's work has been good; the maiden asked where you learned the humanities, which being interpreted signifies "Who are you?

On the next day the prince disclosed his rank to old Lakshmi, who naturally declared that she had always known it. The trust they reposed in her made her ready to address Padmavati once more on the forbidden subject. So she again

went to the palace, and having lovingly greeted her nursling, said to her, The raja's son, whose heart thou didst fascinate on the brim of the tank, on the fifth day of the moon, in the light half of the month Yeth, has come to my house, and sends this message to thee: "Perform what you promised; we have now come;" and I also tell thee that this prince is worthy of thee: just as thou art beautiful, so is he endowed with all good qualities of mind and body.'

When Padmavati heard this speech she showed great anger, and, rubbing sandal on her beautiful hands, she slapped the old woman's cheeks, and cried, 'Wretch, Daina (witch)! get out of my house; did I not forbid thee to talk such folly in my presence? '

The lover and the nurse were equally distressed at having taken the advice of the young minister, till he explained what the crafty damsel meant. When she smeared the sandal on her ten fingers,' he explained, and struck the old woman on the face, she signified that when the remaining ten moonlight nights shall have passed away she will meet you in the dark.' At the same time he warned his master that to all appearances the lady Padmavati was far too clever to make a comfortable wife. The minister's son especially hated talented, intellectual, and strongminded women: he had been heard to describe the torments of Naglok 2 as the compulsory companionship of a polemical divine and a learned authoress, well stricken in years and of forbidding aspect, as such persons mostly are. Amongst womankind he admired-theoreti cally, as became a philosopher-the small, plump, laughing, chattering, unintellectual, and material-minded. And therefore-excuse the digres

sion, Raja Vikram-he married an old maid, tall, thin, yellow, strictly proper, cold mannered, a conversationist, and who prided herself upon spirituality. But more wonderful still, after he did marry her, he actually loved her-what an incomprehensible being is man in these matters!

To return, however. The pradhan's son, who detected certain symptoms of strong-mindedness in the Princess Padmavati, advised his lord to be wise whilst wisdom availed him. This sage counsel was, as might be guessed, most ungraciously rejected by him for whose benefit it was intended. Then the sensible young statesman rated himself soundly for having broken his father's rule touching advice, and atoned for it by blindly forwarding the views of his master.

After the ten nights of moonlight had passed, the old nurse was again sent to the palace with the usual message. This time Padmavati put saffron on three of her fingers, and again left their marks on the nurse's cheek. The minister's son plained that this was to crave delay for three days, and that on the fourth the lover would have access to her.

old

ex

When the time had passed the

woman again went and inquired after her health and wellbeing. The princess again was very wroth, and having personally taken her nurse to the western gate she called her 'Mother of the elephant's trunk,' and drove her out with threats of the bastinado if she ever came back. This was reported to the young statesman, who, after a few minutes' consideration, said, 'The explanation of this matter is, that she has invited you to-morrow, at night-time, to meet her at this very gate.'

When brown shadows fell upon

the face of earth, and here and there a star twinkled in the pale heavens, the minister's son called Vajramukut, who had been engaged in adorning himself at least half that day. He had carefully shaved his cheeks and chin; his mustachio was trimmed and curled; he had arched his eyebrows by plucking out with tweezers the fine hairs around them; he had trained his curly musk-coloured love-locks to hang gracefully down his face; he had drawn broad lines of antimony along his eyelids, a most brilliant sectarian mark was affixed to his forehead, the colour of his lips had been heightened by chewing betel nut

you are

'One would imagine that talking of a silly girl, not of a prince, fiend!' interrupted Vikram, who did not wish his son to hear what he called these fopperies and frivolities.

and whitened his neck by having it shaved (continued the Baital, speaking quickly, as if determined not to be interrupted), and reddened the tips of his ears by squeezing them, and made his teeth shine by rubbing copper powder into the roots, and set off the delicacy of his fingers by staining the tips with henna. He had not been less careful of his dress: he wore a well arranged turban, which had taken him at least two hours to bind, and a rich suit of brown stuff chosen for the adventure he was about to attempt, and he hung about his person a number of various weapons, so as to appear a hero—which young damsels admire.

Vajramukut asked his friend how he looked, and smiled happily when the other replied 'admirable!' His happiness was so great that he feared it might not last, and he asked the minister's son how best to conduct himself.