In Pratishthána [77] there is a city named Supratishthita; in it there dwelt once upon a time an excellent Bráhman named Somasarman, and he, my friend, had two sons Vatsa and Gulmaka, and he had also born to him a third child, a daughter named Srutárthá. Now in course of time, that Bráhman and his wife died, and those two sons of his remained taking care of their sister. And she suddenly became pregnant. Then Vatsa and Gulma began to suspect one another, because no other man came in their sister's way: thereupon Srutárthá, who saw what was in their minds, said to those brothers,--"Do not entertain evil suspicions, listen, I will tell you the truth; there is a prince of the name of Kírtisena, brother's son to Vásuki, the king of the Nágas; [78] he saw me when I was going to bathe, thereupon he was overcome with love, and after telling me his lineage and his name, made me his wife by the Gándharva marriage; he belongs to the Bráhman race, and it is by him that I am pregnant." When they heard this speech of their sister's, Vatsa and Gulma said, "What confidence can we repose in all this?" Then she silently called to mind that Nága prince, and immediately he was thought upon, he came and said to Vatsa and Gulma, "In truth I have made your sister my wife, she is a glorious heavenly nymph fallen down to earth in consequence of a curse, and you too have descended to earth for the same reason, but a son shall without fail be born to your sister here, and then you and she together shall be freed from your curse." Having said this he disappeared, and in a few days from that time, a son was born to Srutárthá; know me my friend as that son. [79] At that very time a divine voice was heard from heaven, "This child that is born is an incarnation of virtue, and he shall be called Gunádhya, [80] and is of the Bráhman caste." Thereupon my mother and uncles, as their curse had spent its force, died, and I for my part became inconsolable. Then I flung aside my grief, and though a child I went in the strength of my self-reliance to the Deccan to acquire knowledge. Then, having in course of time learned all sciences, and become famous, I returned to my native land to exhibit my accomplishments; and when I entered after a long absence into the city of Supratishthita, surrounded by my disciples, I saw a wonderfully splendid scene. In one place chanters were intoning according to prescribed custom the hymns of the Sáma Veda, in another place Bráhmans were disputing about the interpretation of the sacred books, in another place gamblers were praising gambling in these deceitful words, "Whoever knows the art of gambling, has a treasure in his grasp," and in another place, in the midst of a knot of merchants, who were talking to one another about their skill in the art of making money, a certain merchant spoke as follows: Story of the Mouse-merchant.