in wealth of that kind. As many hairs,
O lord of men, as there are on a horse's body, so many regions of bliss,
O ruler of Earth, are attained by him that giveth away a horse in gift.
This one is as fit to accept a gift as thou art to make a gift. Let
therefore, thy gift in this instance be like milk deposited in a
conch-shell."'"

SECTION CXV

"Narada said, 'Thus addressed by Suparna in excellent words fraught with
truth, that performer of thousand sacrifices, that foremost of givers,
that liberal ruler of all the Kasis, the lord Yayati, revolving those
words in his mind and reflecting on them coolly, and seeing before him
his dear friend, Tarkshya, and that bull among Brahmanas, Galava, and
regarding the alms sought as an indication, highly praiseworthy, of
(Galava's) ascetic merit, and in view particularly of the fact that those
two came to him having passed over all the kings of the Solar race, said,
"Blessed is my life today, and the race also in which I am born, hath,
indeed, been blessed today. This very province also of mine hath equally
been blessed by thee, O sinless Tarkshya. There is one thing, however, O
friend, that I desire to say unto thee, and that is, I am not so rich now
as thou thinkest, for my wealth hath suffered a great diminution. I
cannot, however, O ranger of the skies, make thy advent here a fruitless
one. Nor can I venture to frustrate the hopes entertained by this
regenerate Rishi. I shall, therefore, give him that which will accomplish
his purpose. If one having come for alms, returneth disappointed, he may
consume the (host's) race. O son of Vinata, it is said that there is no
act more sinful than that of saying, 'I have nothing'--and thus
destroying the hope of one that cometh, saying, 'Give.' The disappointed
man whose hopes have been killed and his object not accomplished, can
destroy the sons and grandsons of the person that faileth to do him good.
Therefore, O Galava, take thou this daughter of mine, this perpetrator of
four families. In beauty, she resembleth a daughter of the celestials.
She is capable of prompting every virtue. Indeed, owing to her beauty,
she is always solicited (at my hands) by gods and men, and Asuras. Let
alone twice four hundred steeds each with a black ear, the kings of the
earth will give away their whole kingdoms as her dower. Take thou,
therefore, this daughter of mine, named Madhavi. My sole desire is that I
may have a daughter's son by her." Accepti