The king was disguised, so Kumudika could not easily identify who the man was. But the minute Kumudika saw the king in her home, she realized that the man had to be a king.
“Your majesty!” Kumudika told the surprised man. “I know you are a king and I welcome you to my abode.”
Beyond that Kumudika did not ask any questions about the identity of the man.
Over the next few days, Kumudika also took great care of the hospitality of the king and his minister. Kumudika provided the king with everything that she had and the king lived a luxurious life in her house.
After some days, the king nodded at his minister. “I think this courtesan is attached to me, Anantaguna.”
The clever minister however shook his head. “Your majesty, you take too many things at face value. Please do not blindly trust this woman. You do not know why she is being so hospitable to us. Until you know the reason you have to be on your guard.”
However, the king did not pay heed to his minister’s words. “I am sure that Kumudika would even lay down her life for me.”
The minister refused to accept the king’s words, so the king set about to prove his words.
For the next few days, the king ate less and less and soon he became thin and emancipated. Within a few days, the king became so weak that he was bedridden.
Sometime later, the king could not even move from the bed and it was even thought that the king was dead.
Thinking that the king was dead, the attendants of the king took the king’s body to perform his last rites.
Kumudika came to know about this.
Adapted from Katha Sarith Sagar
No comments:
Post a Comment