Meanwhile King Yasahketu had been looking after the affairs of the kingdom himself. But he had his spies on the lookout who were to report to him as soon as his minister Dirghadarsin had stepped into the kingdom.
When Dirghadarsin took leave of Nidhidatta and came to Anga, the king’s spies immediately spotted the minister. They told the king about it immediately.
The king traveled to the place and embraced the minister and took him to the palace.
The king immediately wanted to know about Dirghadarsin’s trips.
Dirghadarsin told the king about his sea trip to the Island of Gold and how he had seen that beautiful maiden on the couch under the wishing tree.
No sooner had King Yasahketu heard the description of the girl, he had fallen in love with the girl. “Please tell me how to find this girl. I must find her and make her mine.”
Dirghadarsin had come back home but he was sad. He knew that the king was going to embark on another adventure and find about the girl and would not rest until he found her. The minister was sad because this meant that the minister had to take care of the kingdom during the time that the king was absent.
Needless to say the next day the king disguised himself as an ascetic and traveled towards the Island of Gold.
There, the king meant another hermit called Kusanabha who told the king about a merchant called Lakshmidatta who was sailing towards the Island of Gold.
The king went to meet the merchant and soon the king found himself on a sea trip to the island of Gold.
Adapted from the Katha Sarith Sagara
No comments:
Post a Comment