ENTERING ANOTHER'S BODY. 41 



forest-fire is quenched^^ by constant streams of water, but thou wert 

 not deterred by the hundredfold flow of the nectar of the parrot's 

 speech. Ah me ! O king of birds, slain am I, to whom the stream of 

 thy words had given life! Alas! I spoke falsely for a moment in 

 order to delay thy death. "^'^ Thus speaking she, with resolution 

 caused by the parrot's death, bathed and anointed his body, and 

 endeavored to perform the other duties suitable to the occasion. 



The False King, Stricken zvith Remorse at KamalavatVs Despair, 

 Enters the Body of the Parrot, Whereupon Vikrama Returns 



to His Otvn Body {300-303). 

 The false king, upon learning all this from the queen's attendants, 

 exclaimed in consternation : " Alas, alas, this entire kingdom, without 

 Kamala,^'-° will be profitless to me : I must go and restore her to 

 life ! " He did as decided, but when she would not at all be restored, 

 he once more asked: " O Queen, if I assure you that the parrot is 

 alive, will you then also live?" And when she had assented he 

 thought his desire fulfilled : he determined to endow the parrot with 

 life, carry him to some other place, release him, and, thus having 

 kept his promise to the queen, reenter his own body. After decid- 

 ing upon his course he abandoned his body in a retired spot, entered 

 the parrot and disported himself. The king, in turn left the body of 

 the house-lizard, and entered his own body. And when he had taken 

 on his body, resplendent like a mighty mass of cloud, Vikrama, the 

 king, quickly went into the presence of the queen. 



Kamalavati Excuses Her Failure to Fully Recognise Vikrama in the 

 Parrot {306-313). 

 At sight of him Kamalavati grew radiant as a garland of 

 lotuses, ^°^ and was adorned with loveliness. And the completely 



'^s Vidhyayati, Sanskrit back-formation from Prakrit vijjhayati; see p. 

 21, note. 



^^ She blames herself for speaking to the parrot as though he were alive 

 at a time when she had no good reason to doubt his death, and to act accord- 

 mgly, as she now proceeds to do. 



1°° Niskamalam : pun upon Kamala, the pet (hypocoristic) name of the 

 queen, and some meaning of kamala ; either " without lotus," or " without 

 wealth." The play of words cannot be reproduced in a translation. 



^"^i The original for " garland of lotuses," kamalamala, puns on the name 

 of the queen. 



