पृष्ठम्:कादम्बरी-उत्तरभागः(पि.वि. काणे)१९१३.djvu/४१८

विकिस्रोतः तः
एतत् पृष्ठम् अपरिष्कृतम् अस्ति

878 APPENDIX I Appendix I A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE KADANIBAR. There was once a king called Sudraka who reigned in Vidis? on the Vetravat (modern Betwa ) river. Once upon a time as he sat in his Hall of Audience a Chandala girl from the south came with a parrot in a cage which she desired to offer to the king. As the king marvelled at the exceeding beauty of the Chandala girl, her attendant told the king that he girl was his master daughter sent to offer at the kings feet a parrot, skilled in all the arts and Sastras, named Vaisampayana. The attendant laid the parrot at the king's feet, when the bird bending his right in homage, saluted the king with a verse composed in his honour. While the king marvelled at this, and discussed with his minist ers how a parrot could possess so much knowledge and power speech, he heard the sound of the mid-day drum and rose to go from the audience hall. He gave orders that the Chandala girl and the parrot should be looked after and after going through this mid-day dutiesagain came to the audience hall. He sent for bhe parrot and plied him with a number of questions fell us from the commencement the story of your life. How came you to know bhe Vedas? How did you fall in the hands of the CGhadalk girl ?” The parrot, after a moments thought, said "my lord, the tale is long; still, if you are curious to know it, listen, The parrots tale. In the Vindhya forest, there is the hermitage of the sage Agastya and near it a lake on the western shore of which stands a Salmali treeThere I was borm, by nother breathing her last on account of the pains of labourMy father, looking to me, his only son, checked his grief and was both father and mother to meOne day a troop of Sabaras with their leader at their head came hunting . They refreshed themselves under the brce and after some time went away. One old Sabara, staying behind his comrades, climbed the tree and pringing the necks of the birds in their nests threw them down. My father sheltered me under his wings and when he was thrown down by the villanc ous Sabara, I rolled with my father's corpse to the ground. I fell on a heap of leaves and ungratefully leaving my fathers corpse, I hid myself in the roots of a Tamala tree. The wicked Sabara,