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pávatí by name, as fate will have it, owing, that is to say, to the influence of her sins in a former birth, is without the use of her eyes, and blind, though old enough to be married. That is an affliction to the mind of her father, that pierces his life like an arrow. One day the king had a proclamation made throughout his city by beat of drum : “Whoever will restore the eyes of Pushpávatí, the daughter of Jitaçatru, by means of a herb or a spell, to him the king will give the half of his kingdom and his daughter besides." ; A certain young bird asked the old bird : 'Father, is there any means by which her eyes may be restored afresh ? The old bird said : • My child, I will tell you in the day, after looking round, and not at
night; Very cunning people wander about under the banyan-tree, like
Vararuchi.* For that reason do not ask now; at the time of dawn I will tell you of a means. The young bird would not desist from its importunity, but asked very persistently, saying: 'I will not let you off without telling me.' The old bird said: 'A creeper embraces the root of this banyan-tree, and extends over it. If her eyes are sprinkled with the juice of that plant, they will be restored again immediately.' When the prince, who was under the banyan-tree, heard this speech of the bird, he first sprinkled that juice into the sockets of his own eyes. His eyes became clear as before. The prince said to himself: 'I will take the healing plant, and go to the city of Champá, and there make clear the eyes of the princess.' Then he took the virtuous herb, and crawled in among the feathers of a bhárunda bird, and lay there. At the hour of dawn all the birds went to the city of Champá. Lalitánga crept out of
* See my translation of the 'Katha Sarit Ságara,' vol. i., p. 25, for the story of Vararuchi. In the note will be found a parallel. For other parallels see also note on p. 263, and Addenda and Corrigenda. In Kaden's · Unter den Olivenbäumen'the witch says: 'I cannot tell you now, for the grass has eyes and the trees have ears.' I learn from an analysis of a MS. of the 'Katha Prakáca' in the India Office, which Professor Eggeling has kindly lent me, that these lines are found in a story in that MS. entitled · Bráhmanakatha.'
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