The ocean of story, being C.H. Tawney's translation of Somadeva's ...

84 THE OCEAN OF STORY
him and said to him :
" You have done well, King, in coming
to this hermitage, for if you had passed on, neglectful of it,
these hermits here would have cursed you."
While the royal sage was saying this to the emperor,
Mandaradeva, who was staying in that grove of ascetics,
having taken the vows of a hermit, came to his father,
accompanied by his sister, the Princess Mandaradevi. And
Naravahanadatta, when he saw him, embraced him, for it
is fitting that truly brave men should show kindness to foes
when conquered and pacified.
Then the royal sage Akampana, seeing Mandaradevi
come with her brother, said to that emperor :
" Here, King,
is my daughter, Mandaradevi by name ; and a heavenly
voice said that she should be the consort of an emperor ;
marry her, Emperor, for I give her to you."
When the royal sage said this, his daughter said :
have four companions here, of like age, noble maidens ; one
is a maiden called Kanakavati, the daughter of Kanchanadamshtra
; the second is the daughter of Kalajihva, Kalavati
by name ; the third is the offspring of Dirghadamshtra, named
Sruta ; the fourth is the daughter of the King of Paundra,
named Ambaraprabha, and I am the fifth of those Vidyadhara
maidens. We five, when roaming about, saw previously in
a grove of ascetics this my destined husband, and, setting
our hearts on him, we made an agreement together that we
would all, at one and the same time, take him for our husband,
but that, if any single one married him alone, the others
should enter the fire, and lay the guilt at her door. So it is
not fitting that I should marry without those friends of mine ;
for how could persons like myself commit the outrageous
" 1
crime of breaking plighted faith ?
When that self-possessed lady had said this, her father,
Akampana, summoned those four Vidyadhara chiefs, who
were the fathers of the four maidens, and told them exactly
what had occurred; and they immediately thought them-
selves very fortunate, and brought those maidens, their
daughters. Then Naravahanadatta married the five in
order, beginning with Mandaradevi. And he remained there
1
Cf. the similar incident on p. 67 of this volume. n.m.p.
so
" I