wife, with as much craft as good sense in
her meaning, prevailed on him to refrain;
and rather to get the good reward which
would be sure to be given them if they
presented it to the raja. So the old Brahman
took it to the court, gave it to
Bhartari Raja, and brought away as much
gold as he could carry. The raja rushed
with the apple to his young queen
Dangalah Rani, saying, " Eat this, Light of my
Eyes! This fruit, Joy of my Heart! will
make thee everlastingly young and
beautiful!" The pretty queen, placing both
hands upon her husband's bosom, kissed
his eyes and lips, and sweetly smiling in
his face—for great is the guile of women—
whispered: " Eat it thyself, dear one, or at
least share it with me; for what is life, and
what is youth without the presence of those
we love?" But the raja, whose heart was
melted by those musical words, she being
always so cold and repelling—he called it
coy—put her away tenderly, and having
explained that the fruit would serve for
only one person, departed. Whereupon
the pretty queen, sweetly smiling as before,
slipped the precious present into her pocket
and gave it to the handsome ambassador.
He, wishing to please Lakha, gave it away
to her; and she, seeking to rise at court
by favour of the raja, presented it anew to
him. And then the raja saw the full
extent of his misery, and by what a round
of deception the apple of immortality had
come back to him. Loathing life and all
its pleasures, he resolved to abandon the
world, and end his days in the depth of a
gloomy forest. But before he set out, he
took care to cause Dangalah Rani to be
summoned before him. He asked her what
had become of the fruit he had given her:
she replied that she had eaten it; upon which
he showed her the apple, which caused her
to stand silent and aghast before him.
Then, giving careful orders for her being
beheaded, he washed the fruit and ate it,
and went out into the jungle as a jogi or
religious mendicant, no one knowing what
had become of him.

This was the history of Vikram's brother,
the regent, and of what passed in the royal
palace, during the absence of that Luminary
of Heroism.

Meanwhile Vikram became weary of
wandering about with his second son alone.
To be sure his kingdom was well secured,
though he did not know it, for Indra sent
a div or giant to defend the city, and hold
the throne until such time as its lawful
possessor should put in an appearance. But
the wandering monarch began to reflect,
that this dancing about from city to desert,
and from desert to forest, half clothed, and
always more than half hungry, afraid of
wild beasts, and at all times ill at ease, was
neither comfortable for himself nor dutiful
to his various wives and their several
offspring. He reflected, too, that the heir-
apparent would probably make the worst
possible use of the paternal absence, and
that the kingdom had been left in the hands
of an untried man, who for aught he knew
might make the worst possible use of his
trust. So he resolved to return forthwith
to Ujjayani, more especially as by this time
he had spied out all the weak points of
friends and foes alike, and had nothing
more to learn. And while these considerations
were pressing on him, he heard a
rumour that Bhartari the regent had
abdicated his viceregal throne, and gone away
into the forest; which rumour decided him
on the spot. So he and his son went home,
and got to the city gates just as the gong
was striking the mysterious hour of
midnight.

But they were not allowed to enter
unmolested. A huge and hideous figure starting
up barred the way, demanding in a
thundering voice, who were they, and
where going? Raja Vikram, choking with
rage at such a reception, gave his royal
name and address; but the giant, div or
demon, Prithwi Pala by name, commanded
that he should first fight to prove his
title, after which, if showing that he was
really the Sun of Heroism, he might enter.
The warrior king cried " Sadhu!" wanting
nothing better; and for all that the giant's
fists were as large as water melons, and his
knotted arms whistled through the air
like falling trees; for all that the raja's
head scarcely reached the giant's middle,
and that the latter, each time he struck out,
whooped so abominably loudly that no
human nerves could remain unshaken; yet
Vikram was not Vikram for nothing.
Besides, the young prince aided by jumping
on the div's naked toes, and sitting on his
stomach when he was down; so both
together they got Prithwi Pala into evil case,
and the raja, sitting astride on his throat,
dug both his thumbs into the monster's eyes,
and threatened to make a second
Polyphemus of him if he would not yield.

The giant, moderating the bellow of his
voice, agreed to give the raja his life, in
consideration of his own overthrow. And
when the raja laughed scornfully at what
seemed a mere piece of fustian, the giant