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KAMAGHATA
167
here your life will be in great danger So you flee at once I do not desire you to plant yourself into difficulty,"
But the minister was unperturbed In an undaunted voice he said,
"Fcar? What fear ? For one who is undaunted, no fear is big enough"
"Sir! Here lives a monstress She is very hard and cruel It is about time for her coming here. So it is better that you go away at once"
"But I want to meet her If you know her full story, please tell me about it,"
The damsel gave the account as follows
"King Bhim of this city was my father, He belonged to the tapasa order, One day a tapasa mon's came to the city He had fasted for a month My father invited him to the palace I was entrusted with the duty to help the monk But the monk was not a clean man He was charmed at my beauty, At night, as he was approaching my apartment, the guards on duty put him under arrest and produced him before the king The king found him guilty and ordered him to be put to death Dying in distress and agony, he has been born as a monstress She killed my father, the king The residents of this city fled for their life As the monk had attachment for me, the monstress did not kill me But you see, I am her captive When she goes out, she turns me into a camel But she comes everyday and makes enquiries about me Now, sır, she may come at any moment I would like you to hide yourself somewhere'
The princess stopped for a moment and then added,
"One day, I told the monstress that she had spoiled my life and made me lonely and miserable I asked her to kill me too But she told me that she was looking for a suitable
