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JAINA STORIÉS
Just then, the merchant's daughter Bisa came to the temple. When her eyes fell on an envelop addressed to her own brother, she couldn't check the temptation to pick it up. When she read it, she found that her brother had been commissioned by her father to administer dreadful venom to the bearer thereof as soon as he reached him.
Bisa looked at the young man and read the letter again and again looked at him she didn't understand why ber father had gives such a cruel order Now, poison is called 'bis' in the north Indian dialects, and the girl, by a gentle stroke of the pen, changed 'bis' into 'bisa', which was her own name. Then she redeposited the letter from where she had picked it up and silently departed.
The letter was duly delivered to the merchant's son, and the merchant's wishes were duly honoured to the very letter of the note. When the merchant returned home, he found to his greatest disgust that the young man he had condemned bad turned into the next of his kin. He felt so helpless and bitter.
A minor stroke of pen thus changed into a major stroke of fortune But the merchant didn't change He was still bent on liquidating the young man, even though that would be a great misfortuge for his own daughter So he instructed some of his faithful men to be on the look-out for a suitable opportunity to liquidate him.
When the auspicious karma is up, what to speak of killing, none can do as much as to bend one's hair. The men were unsuccessful in their assigoment.
One day, the whole family, including Damanaka, bad gone to a friend's house to participate in an occasion. Damanaka returned somewhat early. But since the entrance door was locked, he lay outside on a cot. Somehow he felt restless, got up and went on pacing up and down.
Meann bile returned his brother-in law But since the entrance was still locked, he lay on the same cot and was soon asleep Now, the merchant's men, who were after Damanala, had seen him lying on the cot outside, but they
