634 BLOOMFIELD— CHARACTER AND [April i8. 



The Adventures of Muladeva as told by Devendra. 



There is a city called Ujjenl. A certain Rajput, Muladeva by 

 name,^^ had -been cast out by his father because he was addicted to 

 the vice of gambling,^^ and after roaming over the earth had come 

 to this city from Pataliputta. He was withal skilled in every art; 

 versed in many sciences ; of noble mind ; of grateful disposition ; a 

 hero to those who sought his protection ; devoted to virtue ; cour- 

 teous; clever; and gifted with beauty, grace, and youth. In Ujjeni 

 he changed his appearance by virtue of a magic pill,^* took on the 

 shape of a dwarf, and astonished the city folk by his many stories, 

 by his skill in music and other arts, and by the performance of sun- 

 dry jugglers' tricks, so that he became a celebrity. 



Now there lived at that time in Ujjeni a most elegant courtezan, 

 Devadatta by name, proud of her beauty, charm, and intellect. 

 Midadeva heard that her pride was such that she took no pleasure 

 in any ordinary mortal. He became curious, and, in order to stir 

 her emotions, stationed himself at daybreak near her house, and 

 began to intone a sweet-sounding melody. His voice vibrated with 

 its many modulations ; his song was exquisite in the harmony of its 

 various sounds. Devadatta heard it and thought : " Ah, what an 

 incomparable voice ; this must be a god, not a mere man ! "^^ She 

 sent out her slave-girls to look for him, and, when they found him, 

 they saw that Muladeva had the shape of a dwarf, all of which they 

 reported to Devadatta. She then dispatched a hunchbacked slave, 

 Mahava by name, to call him. Mahava went up to him, and ad- 

 dressed him politely : " Very noble sir, my mistress Devadatta bids 

 thee favor her with a visit to our house." 



Muladeva slily disguised his purpose, and answered her : " I have 



32 The part of the story beginning here, up to the point where Miiladeva 

 is disgraced by Ayala, is essentially the same as the story of Lohajangha, 

 Kathasaritsagara 12. 78 ff. ; see the notes in Tawney's Translation, vol. I., 

 P- S74- 



3^ Cf. Kathasaritsagara 121. 



2* See above, p. 627. 



35 The theme of the lure of a beautiful voice recurs frequently (see 

 Benfey's Pancatantra i. 436 ff.) : Meyer, "Hindu Tales," p. 263 ff. ; Ardschi- 

 Bordschi-Chan, second interpolation in nth story (Jiilg, Mongolische 

 Marchen) ; Goontilleke, Orientalist, i. 277 ff. 



