"I will tell you the tale," said the King, "as I heard it from 'Lilyflower,' daughter of the Flamingo 'White-flag,' of whom I was once very fond:--A soldier presented himself one morning at King Sudraka's gate, and bade the porter procure an audience for 'Vira-vara, a Rajpoot,'[19] who sought employment. Being admitted to the presence, he thus addressed the King:-- 'If your Highness needs an attendant, behold one!' 'What pay do you ask?' inquired the King. 'Five hundred pieces of gold a day,' said Vira-vara. 'And your accoutrements?' asked the King. 'Are these two arms, and this sabre, which serve for a third,' said Vira-vara, rolling up his sleeve. 'I cannot entertain you,' rejoined his Majesty; and thereupon the Rajpoot made salaam, and withdrew. Then said the Ministers, 'If it please your Majesty, the stipend is excessive, but give him pay for four days, and see wherein he may deserve it.' Accordingly, the Rajpoot was recalled, and received wages for four days, with the complimentary betel.--Ah! the rare betel! Truly say the wise of it-- 'Betel-nut is bitter, hot, sweet, spicy, binding, alkaline-- A demulcent--an astringent--foe to evils intestine; Giving to the breath a fragrance--to the lips a crimson red; A detergent, and a kindler of Love's flame that lieth dead. Praise the gods for the good Betel!--these be thirteen virtues given, Hard to meet in one thing blended, even in their happy heaven.' 'Now the King narrowly watched the spending of Vira-vara's pay, and discovered that he bestowed half in the service of the Gods and the support of Brahmans, a fourth part in relieving the poor, and reserved a fourth for his sustenance and recreation. This daily division made, he would take his stand with his sabre at the gate of the palace; retiring only upon receiving the royal permission. 'It was on the fourteenth night of the dark half of the month that King Sudraka heard below a sound of passionate sobbing. 'Ho! there,' he cried, 'who waits at the gate?' 'I,' replied Vira-vara, 'may it please you.' 'Go and learn what means this weeping,' said the King. 'I go, your Majesty,' answered the Rajpoot, and therewith departed. 'No sooner was he gone than the King repented him of sending one man alone into a night so dark that a bodkin might pierce a hole in it, and girding on his scimitar, he followed his guard beyond the city gates. When Vira-vara had gone thus far he encountered a beautiful and splendidly dressed lady who was weeping bitterly; and accosting her, he requested to know her name, and why she thus lamented. 'I am the Fortune of the King Sudraka,' answered she; 'a long while I have lived happily in the shadow of his arm; but on the third day he will die, and I must depart, and therefore lament I.' 'Can nothing serve, Divine Lady, to prolong thy stay?' asked the Rajpoot.