36 BLOOMFIELD— ON THE ART OF 



Discretion Illustrated by the Simile of the Three Skulls 

 (234-238).'^ 

 "Thus a certain king of yore caused his wise men to make 

 the test of three skulls**- that had been brought by a stranger from 

 another land. On that occasion a thread put into the ear of one 

 of the skulls came out of its mouth : the price of that skull was a 

 farthing (kaparda), because it would blab what it had heard. 

 Again, a thread put into the ear of the second skull came out at the 

 other ear: the price of that skull was a lakh, because it forgot what 

 it had heard. But the thread inserted into the ear of the third skull 

 went straight down the throat : that skull was priceless, because 

 what it heard remained in its heart. Conforming with this, O 

 Queen, who that has ears and hears reference to another's guilt 

 does not become discreet in mind ? " 



KamalavatJ, the Parrot Protesting, Adopts Him as Her Husband 



{239-245). . 

 Now Kamala's soul was so delighted by this discourse of the 

 parrot, that she made the following promise : " I shall certainly live 

 and die together with thee, O parrot ! " But the wise parrot an- 

 swered her: "Say not so, beloved wife of a king! Of what ac- 

 count am I, a wee animal, beside thee, beloved of Lord Vikrama? 

 Moreover, O Queen, thy husband, out of love for thee will come 

 and go; how canst thou avoid fond intercourse with him?" Upon 

 hearing this Kamala, sighing deeply, exclaimed : " O paragon of 

 parrots, my eye tells me that my beloved has returned from abroad, 

 but my mind says not. Disturbed by this, I shall devise some 

 answer and dismiss the king. But you, as a husband, shall afford 

 me delight, that do I here declare ! " Then the king-parrot, filled 

 with a great joy, reflected : " The Art called Entering another's body 

 has been of profit to me, for how else could I have tested the heart 



^1 Cf. R. S. Mukharji, Indian Folklore, p. 36; S. Devi, The Oriental Pearls, 

 p. 115; E. J. Robinson, Tales and Poems of South India, p. 328. A mere allu- 

 sion to the test of the three skulls, which is not entirely explained in the story, 

 may be found in the Kathaprakaga ; see Eggeling in " Gurupujakaumudi," p. 

 120 ff. Cf. also the Prakrit verse quoted from the Vikrama Carita (126) by 

 Weber, Ind. Stud. xv. 345. 



^' Trikapallpariksanam ; not in the Lexicons. 



