624 BLOOMFIELD— CHARACTER AND [April i8, 



the pupil of that master-rogue tells her : " I have a boon from Visiiu, 

 by which I can at pleasure become a man during the night, so I will 

 now become one for your sake." Then they elope before the min- 

 ister's son, the husband of AlrgankavatI, returns to claim the man- 

 woman Manahsvamin, who had been promised him as his second 

 wife. 



One should think that ]\Kiladeva would be content with the impish 

 mischief done so far. Not he. Again he takes on the guise of the 

 old Brahman, turns his Leporello (who is this time called Cagin) 

 into a young Brahman, his supposed son, and goes to claim Manah- 

 svamin as his daughter-in-law from the fiduciary king. The latter is, 

 of course, unable to deliver the goods, and, afraid of the feigned 

 stern Brahman anger of Muladeva, gives his own daughter Cagi- 

 prabha to Cagin, by way of compensation. 



Then Muladeva takes this bridal couple to his own home, where 

 Manahsvamin meets them, and a fierce dispute takes place between 

 the latter and Cagin in the presence of that Miiladeva. Manah- 

 svamin says : " This Cagiprabha should be given to me ; for, long ago, 

 when she was a maiden, I married her by the favor of the master 

 (i. e., MCiladeva)." Cagin says: "You fool, what have you to do 

 with her? She is my wife, for her own father bestowed her on me 

 in the presence of the fire." The story cleverly dodges the decision 

 of the dispute. 



There is one charming story which Muladeva narrates to the 

 famous legendary king Vikramaditya, as illustrating the virtue and 

 resourcefulness of a true wife. It is told in Kathasaritsagara 124, 

 and, in a poor digest, in Brhatkathamanjari 10. 272 if. As behoves 

 the atmosphere of our hero, it is full of quips and pranks, but the 

 joke is rather on Muladeva, who narrates it with a sort of humorous 

 self -persiflage. Muladeva, in company with Cagin, arrives at Pata- 

 liputra, and, after some witty preliminary passes, full of give and 

 take, with some of the inhabitants,^" Muladeva falls in love with a 

 saucy Brahman's daughter who had shamed them by her wit. He 

 ingratiates himself with her father, and manages to marry her; she 



1^ The quip with the mango-fruits recurs in Prabandhacintamani (Tawney's 

 Translation), pp. 5, 6. 



