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868
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[DECEMBER, 1881.
and Yogananda seeing it, was immediately plunged in despondency; and said "If Vararuchi weru alive at this moment, all this matter would be known. Curse on my readiness to have him put to death!" Sakatala, when he heard this exclamation of the king's, thought to himself "Ha, here is an opportunity obtained for bringing Kâtyánana out of concealment, and he being a proud man will not remain here, and the king will repose confidence in me." After reflecting thus, he implored pardon, and said to the king, "O king, cease from despondency, Vararuchi remains alive." Then Yogananda said-"Let him be brought quickly." Then I was suddenly brought by Sakatála into the presence of Yogananda and beheld the prince in that states and by the favour of Sarasvati I was enabled to reveal the whole occurrence; and I said, "King, he has proved a traitor to his friend"; then I was praised by that prince who was delivered from his curse; and the king asked me how I had managed to find out what had taken place. Then I said—“King, the minds of the wise see everything by inference from signs, and by acuteness of intellect. So I found out all this in the same way as I found out that mole." When I had said this, the king was afflicted with shame. Then, without accepting his munificence, considering myself to have gained all I desired by the clearing of my reputation, I went home; for to the wise, character is wealth.
Another and more elaborate version of the same story I obtained some years ago from a Tirhutiâ Brâhman. He stated that the story was unwritten, and was an ujjhit which was current in every person's mouth, under the name of the story of “Sasemira."
King Bhoja's wife was named Bhanumatí. A painter one day painted a picture of her, which he showed to Vararuchi. The latter remarked that it was an admirable likeness, but that only one thing was wanting to make it perfect the representation of a mole on the inside of Her Majesty's thigh. The painter accordingly corrected the picture by supplying the omission, and presented it to the king. On seeing the picture, the king became extremely enraged at the daring way in which the mole was exhibited, and ordered the painter's execution as a penalty for his venturing to discover a peculiarity which none but he himself had hitherto
known. To get himself off, the painter said that the position of the mole had been told him by Vararuchi; upon which the rage of the king was turned upon the latter, who was ordered in his turn to the place of execution instead of the painter. To avoid the scandal of killing a Brahman, the king's prime minister bribed the executioner to substitute some less worthy victim, and taking Vararuchi, hid him in his own inner apartments, disguising him as a woman.
Some time after this, the king went out to hunt, and, becoming separated from his retinue, was obliged to pass the night under a tree. Now, this tree was inhabited by a tiger, who lived under it, and by a bear, who lived up amid the branches. In order to escape the claws of the former, the king climbed the tree, where he persuaded the bear that he was his friend (mitra), and that it was his duty to offer protection to a supplicant who had taken refuge with him. This obligation the bear admitted, and agreed to watch turn about with him throughout the night. The king went to sleep, and the tiger tried to tempt the bear to throw him down, but the latter refused to do so, as the king was his friend. After a time the king's turn to watch came round, and the bear composed himself to sleep, then the tiger began to tempt the king, saying, "Throw the bear down to me that I may devour him. For if you do not do so, he will assuredly eat you up in the morning." Foolish Bloja believed this, and tried to loosen the bear's hold on the branches, but the latter had been awake, and had heard the conversation. Having pretended to be asleep all the time, he now, as it were, awoke, and asked what was the matter. The king, taken aback, said that he was only shaking him to see if he were asleep : and the bear appeared satisfied, but kept awake the rest of the night.
At daybreak the tiger went away, and the bear, taking the king on his back, carried him to the edge of the forest, where he put him down, and, after upbraiding him for his ingratitude, engraved upon the king's tongue, with his claws, the word sasemira. The king hastened home, but when he got there he was like an idiot, and could only babble the words, sasemira, sasemirá. When asked any question, he would only give the same parrot-like reply sasemirá, sasemira. All the doctors and all the learned men of the court tried their best to cure him,
