________________
ARAMASOBHA'S PREVIOUS BIRTH
my daughter's marriage with this young man, then I get rid -of her," thought he, and said,
15
"Young man, you deliver the letter at Vasantadeva's Thouse and come back at once ""
The merchant sent one of his attendants to accompany -him The young man also did as he was asked to do. After he had finished his bath, the merchant gave him clothes and food and then at the right moment, he placed the proposal for his daughter's marriage.
The youth: "I have to return this very day, sır
دو
The merchant: "There will be no difficulty I shall make every arrangement in a fitting manner and the ceremony itself will not take much time For your subsistence, I shall later bestow wealth on you."
The young man agreed and the marriage ceremony was over within a few hours The daughter bade good-bye to her parents' home The couple then set out on the road "to Chandadesha When they were very near to Avantidesha, they took shelter in a temple to pass the night there It was the dead of night and the bride was fast asleep the young man lying beside her :
So thought
"As my wife is with me, I cannot walk as fast as I would like to. And if I go like this, it will be necessary to spend a long time on the way I have scanty means to support both of us in the journey, and if it is exhausted, I would be forced to begging That will be highly unbecoming of me So why not I give up my bride here This will save me from a probable calamity."
No sooner had he thought it than he gave effect to it. He picked up whatever things he could and immediately left the place.
At sun-rise, when the lady got up, she husband nor the means to support herself to realise that she had been given up think of such a thing happening but was soon reconciled to the hard reality and set her mind on the future
For a
found neither her She took no time She could hardly