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216
away ? See ! I shall climb this noble tree and bring you down.' Then the Corpse through fear of him fled from that limb to another. As it moved, however, Vikramāditya caught it on a single branch.”
tato rājā svairart svairam taruvaram āruliya krpānena dviraţikām kartayitvā taror adhahsthānān mộtakam ādāt.
"Then the king, when he had climbed the great tree very cautiously, dealt a sharp blow with his sword and carried off the Corpse from below the tree......
“While the king, having said this, got down from the tree and put forth his hand to seize the Corpse again, the Corpse fled and went to the topmost branch of the tree and hung there. That Corpse in this way troubled him five or six times."
tadā rājā vimộśya tarum áruhya tadagraśākhāyāṁ dviraţikāx kartayit vā mộtakam pātayitvā tadupari jhampāṁ dattvå patitah.
"Then the king after reflecting climbed the tree and when he had dealt its topmost branch a sharp blow and had made the Corpse fall, he jumped and fell upon it."
In Somadeva's verison of the Vetālapancaviñsati, in the corresponding context, King Trivikramasena's first attempt to locate and catch hold of the Corpse is described as under :5
tasya skandhe citādhūmadagdhasya kravyagandhinah 1 so paśyal lämbamānam täri bhūtasy eva savam taro! Il āruhya că 'tra bhūmau tam chinnarajjum apătuyat 1
patitas cātra so 'kasmāc cakranda vyathito yathā 11
"The (simšapā) tree was scorched with the smoke of funeral pyres and smelt of raw flesh. .. .. .. and he saw the Corpse hanging on its trunk, as it were on the shoulder of a demon. So he climbed up, and cutting the string which held it, flung it to the ground,
5. Durgaprasad and Parab, The Kathāsaritsägara of Somaderabhatte. third edition, N. S. Press. Bombay, 1915; 75, 51-52.
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