1879.] G. A. Grierson—Some Further Notes on Kalidasa. 41 
ness of her language, she replied “ que@ areqt afta?” “ What else is fit for 
one so utterly debased ?” These words dwelt in Kaliddsa’s mind and 
rankled there. After the miraculous gift of learning was given to him by 
Durg4, as previously described, before returning home, he disguised him- 
self as a Vairdgé and, taking a dish of flesh food, sat himself on the edge 
of the tank where his wife usually bathed, and commenced to eat. His 
wife presently came up, and the following conversation ensued,—in the 
Strdila-vikridita metre. 
The wife. faa aiafatad sqRe | 
Kilidisa. fa da ay faa i 
W. aad ata aa fo 
Ka. foaRet | 
altivaifa: az | 
W. amar Fata: Fara yet | 
Ka. yaa Suu aT i 
W. GararaaeTzr sfq waar | 
Ka. ‘aaa aragr ata” | 
That is :— 
Wife. Oh mendicant, are you eating flesh ? 
Kalidésa, What is that without wine ? 
W. Do you also like wine ? 
Ka. Indeed I do, and women with it. 
W. But courtezans expect money. Whence can you pay them ? 
Ka. From gambling and stealing. 
W. So, Sir, you also gamble and are a thief ? 
Ka. “ What else is fit for one so-utterly debased ?” 
When the wife heard her own words thus hurled back in her teeth, she 
was ashamed and recognized her husband and, taking him home, ever after- 
wards lived in due subordination to him. 
There was a pis’dcha or demon who inhabited a wood in Dhara, through 
which ran a much-frequented road. It was his custom to seize passers-by 
and to propose to them a question in the words “‘@TWH, AIR, ATR” 
“koruk, koruk, koruk.’ Asno one could understand this, the traveller 
was invariably seized and eaten by the demon, his worldly possessions being 
added to a pile of those which had been the property of previous victims. 
One day Kalidasa had occasion to go along the road, and as usual, the 
pisdcha seized him and asked the hard question. K4élidasa understood it 
to be AI WR, AT SMA, AT STA, that is to say, “ who is free from disease ?”’ 
repeated thrice. He thereupon replied as follows: 
F 
