Speaker 1: A man hating maiden. The ever worthy and famous King
Vakramaditya had a painter named Nagarasmamen, who enjoyed the revenues
of a hundred villages and surpassed Visvakarman. That painter used
every two or three days to paint a picture of
a girl and give it as a present to the king,
taking care to exemplify different types of beauty. Now, once
on a time it happened that the painter had, because
a feast was going on, forgotten to paint the required
girl for the king. And when the day forgiving the
present arrived, the painter remembered and was bewildered, saying to himself, alas,
what can I give to the king? And at that
moment a traveler come from Afar, suddenly approached him and
placed a book in his hand and went off somewhere. Quickly,
the painter, out of curiosity, opened the book and saw
within a picture of a girl on camp. Inasmuch as
the girl was of wonderful beauty, no sooner did he
see her picture than he took it and gave it
to the king, rejoicing that so far from having no
picture to present that day, he had obtained such an
exceedingly beautiful one. But the king, as soon as he
saw it, was astonished and said to him, my good fellow,
this is not your painting. This is the painting of Visvakarman,
For how could a mere mortal be skillful enough to
paint such beauty. When the painter heard this, he told
the king exactly what had taken place. Then the King
kept ever looking at the picture of the girl, and
never took his eyes off it. And one night he
saw in a dream a girl exactly like her, but
in another land. But as he eagerly rushed to embrace her,
who was eager to meet him, the night came to
an end, and he was woke up by the watchman.
When the king awoke, he was so angry at the
interruption of his delightful interview with that maiden that he
banished that watchman from the city. And he said to himself,
to think that a traveler should bring a book, and
that in it there should be the painted figure of
a girl, and that I should, in a dream behold
this same girl, apparently alive. All this elaborate dispensation of
destiny makes me think that she must be a real maiden,
but I do not know in what land she lives,
how am I to obtain her. Full of such reflections,
the king took pleasure in nothing and burned with the
fever of love, so that his attendants were full of anxiety,
and the warder bad Rayuda, asked the afflicted king in
private the cause of his grief, whereupon he spoke as follows. Listen,
I will tell you, my friend, so much at any rate.
You know that that a painter gave me the picture
of a girl, and I fell asleep thinking on her.
And I remember that in my dream I crossed the
sea and reached and entered a very beautiful city. There
I saw many armed maidens in front of me, and they,
as soon as they saw me, raised a tumultuous cry
of kill, kill. Then a certain female Acedik came and
with great precipitation made me enter her house, and briefly
said to me, this, my son, here is the man
hating Princess Malaiavati come this way, diverting herself as she pleases,
and the moment she sees a man, she makes these
maidens of hers kill him. So I brought you in
here to save your life. When the female Asidic had
said this, she immediately made me put on female attire,
and I submitted to that, knowing that it was not
lawful to slay those maidens. But when the princess entered
into the house with her maidens, I looked at her,
and lo, she was the very lady that had been
shown me in a picture. And I said to myself,
fortunate am I in that, after first seeing this lady
in a picture, I now behold her again in flesh
and blood, dear as my life. In the Meanwhile, the princess,
at the head of her maidens, said to that female acetic,
we saw some male enter here. The acetic showed me
and answered, I know of no male. Here is my
sister's daughter, who is with me as a guest. Then
the princess, seeing me, although I was disguised as a woman,
forgot her dislike of men, and was at once overcome
by love. She remained for a moment with every hair
on her body erect, motionless, as if in thought, being
so to speak, nailed to the spot at once with
arrows by love, who had spied his opportunity, And in
a moment the princess said to the acetic, Then, noble lady,
why should not your sister's daughter be my guest? Also,
let her come to my palace. I will send her
back duly honored. Saying this, she took me by the
hand and led me away to her palace. And I
remember I discerned her intention and consented and went there,
and that sly old female ascetic gave me leave to depart.
Then I remained there with that princess, who was diverting
herself with the amusement of marrying her maidens to one another.
And so forth her eyes were fixed on me, and
she would not let me out of her sight for
an instant, and no occupation pleased her in which I
did not take part. Then those maidens, I remember, made
the princess a bride and me her husband, and married
us in Sport. And when we had been married, we
entered at night the bridal chamber, and the princess fearlessly
threw her arms round my neck. And then I told
her who I was, and embraced her, and delighted at
having attained her object, she looked at me, and then
remained a long time with her eyes back fixed on
the ground, and at that moment that villain of a
watchman woke me up, So bad Rayuda, the upshot of
the whole matter is that I can no longer live
without that Maliavati, whom I have seen in a picture
and in a dream. When the King said this, the
warder bad Rayuda perceived that it was a true dream,
and he consoled the monarch and said to him, if
the King remembers it all exactly, let him draw that
city on a piece of canvas, in order that some
expedient may be devised in this matter. The moment the
king heard this suggestion of bad Rayuda's, he proceeded to
draw that splendid city on a piece of canvas and
all the scene that took place there. Then the warder
at once took the drawing and had a new monastery
made and hung it up there on the wall. And
he directed that in relief houses attached to the monastery,
a quantity of food, with pairs of garments and gold
should be given to bar guards coming from distant countries.
And he gave this order to the dwellers in the monastery.
If any one comes here who knows the city represented
here in a picture, let me be informed of it.
In the meanwhile, the fierce elephant of the rainy season,
with irresistible loud, deep thunder roar, and long kataka tusks,
came down upon the forest of the heats, a forest,
the breezes of which were scented with the perfume of
the jasmine, in which travelers sat down on the ground
in the shade, and trumpet flowers bloomed. At that time,
the forest fire of separation of that king, Vacromaditya, began
to burn more fiercely, fanned by the eastern breeze. Then
the following cries were heard among the ladies of his court. Harilata,
bring ice, Chitrungi, sprinkle him with sandal wood juice, Patreleca,
make a bed cool with lotus leaves, Canderpassenna, fan him
with plant and leaves. And in course of time, the
cloudy season, terrible with lightning, passed away for that king,
but the fever of love burning with the sorrow of
separation did not pass away. Then the autumn, with her
open lotus face and smile of unclosed flowers, came vocal
with the cries of swans seeming to utter this command
Let travelers advance on their journey. Let pleasant hidings be
brought about absent dear ones, happy, may their merry meetings
be on a certain day in that season, a bard
who had come from a distance, of the name of
San Veracidi, having heard the fame of that monastery built
by the warder, entered it to get food. After he
had been fed and presented with a pair of garments,
he saw that painting on the wall of the monastery.
When the bard had carefully scanned the city delineated there,
he was astonished and said, I wonder who can have
drawn this city? For I alone have seen it. I
am certain, and no other, and here it is drawn
by some second person. When the inhabitants of the monastery
heard that, they told Badrayuda. Then he came in person
and took that bard to the king. The king said
to san Veracidi, have you really seen that city? Then
san Verasidi gave him the following answer. When I was
wandering about the world, I crossed the sea that separates
the isles and beheld that great city Malaiyapura. In that
city there dwells a king of the name of Malaya
Sinha and He has a matchless daughter named Maliavati, who
used to abhor males. But one night she somehow or
others saw in a dream a great hero in a convent.
The moment she saw him, that evil spirit of detestation
of the male sex fled from her mind, as if terrified.
Then she took him to her palace, and in her
dream married him, and entered with him the bridal chamber.
And at that moment the night came to an end,
and an attendant in her room woke her up. Then
she banished that servant in her anger, and, thinking upon
that dear one whom she had seen in her dream,
seeing no way of escape, owing to the blazing fire
of separation, Utterly overpowered by love, she never rose from
her couch, except to fall back upon it again with
relaxed limbs. She was dumb, as if possessed by a demon,
as if stunned by a blow. For when her attendants
questioned her, she gave them no answer. Then her father
and mother came to hear of it and questioned her,
and at last she was, with exceeding difficulty persuaded to
tell them what happened to her in the dream. By
the mouth of a confidential female friend. Then her father
comforted her, but she made a solemn vow that if
she did not obtain her beloved in six months, she
would enter the fire. And already five months are past.
Who knows what will become of her. This is the
story that I heard about her in that city. When
Sanvasiiti had told this story, which tallied so well with
the king's own dream, the king was pleased at knowing
the certainty of the matter, And bad Rayudah said to him,
the business is as good as effected, for that king
and his country own your paramounts supremacy. So let us
go there before the sixth month has passed away. When
the warder had said this, King Vakramaditia made him inform
san Verasidi of all the circumstances connected with the matter,
and honored him with a present of much wealth, and
bade him show him the way. And then he seemed
to bequeath his own burning heat to the rays of
the sun, his paleness to the clouds, and his thinness
to the waters of the rivers, And, having become free
from sorrow, set out at once, escorted by a small force,
for the dwelling place of his beloved. In course of time,
as he advanced, he crossed the sea and reached that city,
and there he saw the people in front of it
engaged in loud lamentation, And when he questioned them, he
received this answer, the Princess Maliavati is here, as the
period of six months is at an end, and she
has not obtained her beloved, is preparing to enter the fire.
Then the king went to the place where the pyre
had been made ready. When the people saw him, they
made way for him. And then the princess beheld that
unexpected nectar rein to her eyes, and she said to
her ladies in waiting, here is that beloved come, who
married me in a dream. So tell my father. Quickly
they went and told this to her father. And then
that king, delivered from his grief and filled with joy,
submissively approached the sovereign. At that moment, the barred san Voracidi,
who knew his time, lifted up his arm and chanted
aloud this strain, Hail thou, that with the flame of
thy valor, hast consumed the forest of the army of Demons,
and melechas hail, King, Lord of the Seven Sea. Girt
earth bride, Hail thou that hast imposed thy exceedingly heavy
yoke on the bowed heads of all kings conquered by thee.
Hail Vishamasila, Hail Vikramaditya, ocean of valor. When the bard
said this, King Malaya Sinha knew that it was Vikramaditya
himself that had come and embraced his feet. And after
he had welcomed him, he entered his palace with him
and his daughter Maliavati, thus delivered from death, And that
king gave that daughter of his to King Vikramaditya, thinking
himself fortunate in having obtained such a son in law.
And King Vikramaditya, when he saw in his arms in
flesh and blood, that Maliavati, whom he had previously seen
in a picture and in a dream, considered it a
wonderful fruit of the wishing tree of Siva's favor. Then
Vikramaditya took with him his wife Maliavati, like incarnation of bliss,
and crossed the sea, resembling his long regretful separation, and
being submissively waited upon at every step by kings with
various presents in their hands returned to his own city, Ujayini,
and on beholding there that might of his that satisfied
freely every kind of curiosity. What people were not astonished,
what people did not rejoice, what people did not make
high festival,