Indian Antiquary Vol 18

Author(s): John Faithfull Fleet, Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 32

22
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
(JANUARY, 1889.
The young man, who had all along hoped that he would one day quietly come into possession of his father's wealth, demurred at first at this proposal, but when he saw that the old man was determined, he reluctantly consented, and taking the money from his father went to all his friends and consulted with them as to what he had best do with it.
They all suggested different ways in which to make use of the money, till at last one old man, who was reputed to be a sage, proposed to him that if he made over the whole to him he would in return give him something worth all of it and more. The simple young man agreed, and keeping but a trifle for himself made over all the rest of the money to the old fellow, and that worthy in return gave our hero a sheet of paper neatly folded, saying with a look of great importance, "Take this, my good friend, make good use of it, and you will find that this scrap of paper is worth a great deal more than the sum you have invested in its purchase.".
Our hero took it home; and on opening it found the following sentences inscribed on it in bold characters:
1. "Hesitate not, but tread boldly.
2. "A sister in prosperity (lit. plenty), a true friend in adversity (lit. scarcity).
3. "He who falls asleep within a king's palace is lost, while he who keeps awake is saved." (1)
The credulous youngster read the lines over and over again and then treasured up the paper like a thing of great value. He then invested the small sum he had still left in a few cheap articles of merchandise, and quietly booked himself as a passenger on board a ship bound for a distant shore.
The father, who had all this while been watching his son's movements, felt very sorry to find that though he had placed a large sum of money in his hands, he was fitting himself out as a petty trader only, instead of chartering a whole ship for himself and his wares, as became the son of a great merchant, and so when the time came for the young man to bid farewell to his father the latter remonstrated with him strongly on what he considered his meanness, and the two parted in high anger.
The poor fellow went on board with a heavy heart and the ship sailed away. After a long voyage, she entered the mouth of a large river, and cast anchor near a magnificent city situated on its banks.
Now in the middle of this river, and at a short distance from the city, there was a large and most beautiful palace, which was the wonder of all who came from far and near, for instead of being built on terra firma, it appeared to be floating over the surface of the waters, rising, as it were, from the depths of the river, without a yard of dry land around, along which one could walk over to the door and enter it. Besides the beauty and grandeur of the palace itself, there was another object that attracted the attention of the people on board, and that was a lovely damsel who appeared at one of its windows.
Our young hero, however, did not seem to take much interest either in the damsel or in the palace, so occupied was his mind with his own affairs, although he constantly heard his fellow-passengers discussing among themselves as to how it could be that the palace appeared to float on the surface of the river and how people could go in and come out of it.
Now as our young hero was thinking of landing and entering the city to see if he could find a market for any of his wares there, the owner of the beautiful palace, who had been watching him all the while, called out to him and invited him to come to it. The young man could not for the life of him see how he was to approach the palace, in the absence of any visible means of communication with it, and was greatly puzzled as to how the
In Gujarat! these sentences run as follows:
९. जोइसनां पाऊं ठेसनां
२. उतनी व्हॅन अछतनो यार
३. राजाना म्हेलमा जेकोई सूवे, जोगते जीवे बंधे तो मरे.