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Introduction
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head while he passes under it"; and (iii)Vimalā will serve him with poison in sweets. Lastly (iv) there will be the fear of liis being bitten by a poisonous snake. If he escapes uphurt t'n rough the efforts of his friend, he shall become king. But if ever the friend mentions these events to anybody, he himself shall be turned into stone." Ratnasāra heard all this. ( 244--269)
At daybreak the party resumed its journey and in due course reached Vasantapura. Vīrasena went out to meet his son and offered him a vicious horse to ride on. But Ratnasāra secretly replaced this horse by a gentle one. When thev were about to pass through the city-gate, Ratnasära struck the prince's horse in the face so severely
5. The motif of causing a porch to fall on an undesirable person while he is passing under it is pretty frequent in folklore and literature Cf. Mudrarakshasa II where it is reported that Rakshasa's secret agents intrigued unsuccessfully to murder Candra gupta dy diopping down the coronation arch while he passed under it. Raja Naunihal Singh, the grandson of Maharaja Ranjit Singh met his death by a similar tragedy. There might be some political intrigue behind it.
