16 BLOOMFIELD— ON THE ART OF 



Lescallier's version of the story, a little uncertain as to its make- 

 up, differs not only from the Mukunda story, but also from the 

 three remaining versions of which we have the Sanskrit text. Since 

 the book is very rare, the following digest may be acceptable : A 

 Yogin (Djogui) named Jehabel (Jabala or Jabali?) starts out with 

 the avowed purpose of tricking Vikramaditya (Bekermadjiet) out 

 of his body, so that he may rule in his stead. He takes with him a 

 dead parrot. He obtains an audience with the king, and after 

 effusively praising him, says that he has heard that Vikrama pos- 

 sesses fourteen arts (vidyas), one of which is the capacity to 

 transplant his soul into a dead body, and thus to revive it. He 

 begs for an ocular demonstration of this art : Vikrama is to pass 

 his soul for a moment into the body of the dead parrot. After 

 some remonstrance Vikrama consents, and they go to a room whose 

 every opening the Yogin carefully shuts, on the plea that complete 

 secrecy is desirable. Vikrama enters the body of the parrot which 

 immediately shows every sign of life; the Yogin occupies Vikrama's 

 body. Then he attempts to seize the parrot in order to slay him. 

 Vikrama, unable to escape from the closed room, resorts to the 

 supreme being, making what the Buddhists call the saccakiriya, or 

 " truth-act," or satya-gravana, or " truth-declaration " :^^ " O al- 

 mighty God, as king I have done good to all men, I have treated 

 generously and benevolently all who have resorted to me, I have 

 solaced the unfortunate, and none, not even animals, have suffered 

 exactions or injustice at my hands. Being without reproach, I do 

 not comprehend for what fault I am thus punished ! " No sooner 

 has he uttered this prayer than a violent gust of wind throws open 

 every aperture of the room. The parrot escapes, and settles upon 

 a Samboul (Calmali) tree in the great garden of Noulkeha,^^ where 

 he becomes king of the parrots. 



because a stanza which occurs at tlie end of several manuscripts of the 

 Vikrama Carita states that formerly the Vikrama collection existed in the 

 Maharastri language ; see Weber, Indische Studien, XV, pp. 187 f¥. 



21 Pfirgvanatha Caritra, 3. 267. This motif of Hindu fiction, best known 

 by its Buddhist name of saccakiriyii, is one of the most constant. Alany illus- 

 trations of it are in my hands (including the trick-saccakiriya), but the theme 

 is in the competent hands of Dr. E. W. Burlingame, who hopes soon to pub-, 

 lish an essay on the subject. 



3" Also printed Noutkeha. 



