When the counsellor's son saw Master-mind in his lovely girl form, he
was terribly smitten with the arrows of love. His heart was stolen by
the sham girl, and he went home feeling lonely even with his wife. It
made him crazy to think of that lovely face. When his father tried to
soothe him, he woke from his madness and stammered out his insane
desire. And his father was terribly distressed, knowing that all this
depended on another.
Then the king learned the story and came there. When the king saw his
condition and perceived that he was seven parts gone in love, he said:
"How can I give him the girl who was intrusted to me by the Brahman?
Yet without her he will be ten parts gone in love, and will die. And if
he dies, then his father, the counsellor, will die too. And if the
counsellor perishes, my kingdom will perish. What shall I do?"
He consulted his counsellors, and they said: "Your Majesty, the first
duty of a king is the preservation of the virtue of his people. This is
the fundamental principle, and is established as such among
counsellors. If the counsellor is lost, the fundamental principle is
lost; how then can virtue be preserved? So in this case it would be
sinful to destroy the counsellor through his son. You must by all means
avoid the loss of virtue which would ensue. Give the Brahman's girl to
the counsellor's son. And when the Brahman returns, further measures
will suggest themselves."
To this the king agreed, and promised to give the sham girl to the
counsellor's son. So Master-mind in his girl form was brought from the
chamber of the princess, and he said to the king: "Your Majesty, I was
brought here by somebody for a given purpose. If you give me to
somebody else, well and good. You are the king. Right and wrong depend
on you. I will marry him to-day, but only on one condition. My husband
shall go away immediately after the marriage and not return until he
has been on a pilgrimage for six months. Otherwise I shall bite out my
tongue."
So the counsellor's son was summoned, and he joyfully assented. He made
the man his wife at once, put the sham wife in a guarded room and
started on a pilgrimage. So Master-mind lived there in his woman form.
When he realized that the counsellor's son would soon return,
Master-mind fled by night. And Root heard the story, and again assumed
the form of an old Brahman. He took his friend Moon, went to
Glory-banner, and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, I have brought my
son. Pray give me my daughter-in-law."
The king was afraid of a curse, so he said: "Brahman, I do not know
where your daughter-in-law has gone. Be merciful. To atone for my
carelessness, I will give your son my own daughter."
The prince of rogues in the form of an old Brahman angrily refused. But
the king finally persuaded him, and with all due form married his
daughter Moonlight to Moon, who pretended to be the old Brahman's son.
Then Root went home with the bride and bridegroom.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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