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

120 THE OCEAN OF STORY
the king, instead of sparing the thief's life, ordered him to be
immediately impaled, 1
and was very angry with the merchant.
Then the merchant's daughter, whose name was Vamadatta,
took the corpse of that robber, and out of love for him entered
the fire with it.
168. Story of King Pdlaka and his Son Avantivardhana
"
So you see, creatures are completely dependent upon
connections in previous births, and this being the case, who
can avoid a destiny that is fated to him, and who can prevent
such a destiny's befalling anybody ? Therefore, King, it is
clear that this Suratamanjari is some excellent being that
was the wife of your son, Avantivardhana, in a previous birth,
and is therefore destined to be his wife again ; otherwise how
could such a high-born prince have formed such an attachment
for her, a woman of the Matanga caste ? So let this
Matanga, her father Utpalahasta, be asked to give the prince
his daughter ;
and let us see what he says."
When I had said this to King Palaka, he at once sent
messengers to Utpalahasta to ask for his daughter. And the
Matanga, when entreated by these messengers to give her in
marriage, answered them : "I approve of this alliance, but
I must give my daughter Suratamanjari to the man who
makes eighteen thousand of the Brahmans that dwell in this
city eat in my house." When the messengers heard this
speech of the Matanga's, that contained a solemn promise,
they went back and reported it faithfully to King Palaka.
Thinking that there was some reason for this, 2 the king
called together all the Brahmans in the city of Ujjayini, and
telling them the whole story said to them :
" So you must
eat here, in the house of the Matanga Utpalahasta, eighteen
thousand of you ;
I will not have it otherwise." When the
Brahmans had been thus commanded by the king, being at
the same time afraid of touching the food of a Chandala, and
therefore at a loss what to do, they went to the shrine of
Mahakala and performed self-torture. Then the god Siva,
1 The three India Office MSS. give tu for tarn.
2 I take sakdranam as one word.