200 
THE ORIENTAL ANNUAL. 
spent ; and thus the Brahmins became suddenly de- 
prived of their largesses. 
Years passed away, and Purwatti continued to ob- 
serve the letter of his fathers injunctions, for he was 
fearful of being in an unwary moment stripped of that 
manly beauty and vigour in which he so greatly 
gloried ; yet having so long practised an evasion with 
impunity, he was at last led into a more fatal error. 
He had become the father of a most lovely child, a 
daughter, whose surpassing beauty had gained for her 
the name of Vanadosini, signifying delight of the 
sacred grove. So resplendent was her face, so per- 
fectly charming was her form, so unrivalled in grace 
her every movement, so soft, so kind her words, that 
every man whom fortune permitted to behold her 
became, from that very moment, like a silken flag 
borne along upon a staff against the wind ; for in 
whatever course his destiny carried him, still were his 
thoughts perpetually blown back in one never-varying 
direction by the constant current of his love and ad- 
miration. Beautiful as a celestial nymph, it was not 
easy to believe her only mortal ; her delicate figure 
was less than the least of women who are not dwarfs ; 
her fairy form, agile as that of the antelope, seemed 
borne up from the sordid earth by her elastic step ; 
none could behold her without paying instant ho- 
mage. 
Purwatti doted upon his lovely child, and for her 
sake grew daily more and more careful of his wealth, 
