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Story of the pardoned thief Vasanta
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had him bathed, clothed, and adorned most elaborately. She herself stood by his side, serving him with a great variety of dainty food (480). At the end of this feast he was placed upon a couch, and entertained with wonderful stories. Next, he was put upon a mettlesome horse, and led by a great retinue past the palace, to be exhibited before the king who stood at a window. In the evening he was housed in a dwelling outside the city, where he was entertained by the songs and blandishments of slave girls. In the morning he was put back into his former clothes; like a fallen flag, he was returned to the king who made him over to the executioner (492).
But now the second queen asked to entertain him for a day, and, in the same way, one after another, every queen of the court treated him with ever increasing luxury, rivaling with each other in these performances, so that he lived like a Dogundaga 20 god. And yet his soul was not satisfied (495). Now the last of the five hundred queens, Çilamati 21 by name, a sort of Cinderella wife, who was ordinarily too modest to importune the king for his favors, asked him to let her determine what was to be done to the thief. She then entertained him not at all sumptuously, but conferred upon him the gift of abhaya, freedom from fear, or safety. The thief, who had been dejected thruout his luxurious experiences with the other queens, now rejoiced more than tho he had obtained the suzerainty over the three worlds. In the morning the king observed that he was wearing a wholly different look from that of the preceding days. When asked the reason the thief said: "When the word impalement had entered my ear like poison, all the world was empty for me. Food
40 For this term see p. 226. * Queen Virtuous.'
