f obtaining success through her favour; and they were then
deliberating in what manner they should kill him, whether by hanging
him on the branch of a tree and cutting him to pieces with swords, or
by partly burying him in the ground and shooting at him with arrows,
or by worrying him with young dogs.

"Then I went up to them very humbly, and said: 'O Kiratas, I am an old
brahman; having lost my way in the forest, I laid down my child whom I
was carrying, while I went away for a moment to try to find an opening
out of the dense thicket; when I came back he was gone. I have been
searching for him ever since; have you seen him?' 'Is this your
child?' said they. 'O yes!' I exclaimed. 'Take him, then,' they
replied; 'we respect a brahman.' Thus I got possession of the boy,
and, blessing them for their kindness, took him away as quickly as
possible, and have now brought him here, thinking he will be best
under your majesty's protection."

The king, though grieved at the calamity of his friend, rejoiced that
the child was saved from such a death; and giving him the name of
Upaharavarma, had him brought up as his own son.

Not long after this, Rajahansa went to bathe at a holy place, and in
returning, as he passed by a group of Chandalas, he observed a woman
carrying a very beautiful boy. Being struck by the appearance of the
child, he said "Where did you get this beautiful boy, who is like a
king's son? Surely he is not your own child! pray tell me."

She answered: "When the Bheels attacked and plundered the King of
Mithila near our village, this child was picked up and brought to me
by my husband, and I have taken care of him ever since."

The king being convinced that this was the other child of his friend,
the King of Mithila, by fair words and gifts induced the woman to give
him up, and took him to the queen, giving him the name of
Apaharavarma, and begging her to bring him up with her own son.

Soon afterwards, a disciple of Vamadeva brought a beautiful boy to the
king, and said "As I was returning from a pilgrimage to Ramatirtha, I
saw an old woman carrying this child, and asked her how she came to be
wandering there. In answer to my questions, she told me her story,
saying, 'I was the servant of a rich man, named Kalagupta, living in
the island of Kalayavana, and I waited on his daughter Suvritta. One
day a young merchant, named Ratnodbhava, son of a minister of the
King of Magadha, arrived in the island, and hav