Thou shalt indeed obtain offspring, but only of the female sex. And
beautiful it shall be indeed: but little shall that beauty profit
either thyself or her. So having uttered his curse[12], he laughed, and
instantly went away, refusing to be propitiated or to throw any light
upon the future. And thereafter in due time there was born to me, not
the nectar of a son, but this lump of grief in the form of a daughter.
And as if her sex were not enough[13], her almost inconceivable beauty
and accomplishments have only added to my calamity: nay, they are the
very root of it, and the essence of its sting. For all has come to pass,
exactly as that testy old _rishi_ said. For though she is, as thou
seest, beautiful as the moon, and like it, full of arts[14], and above
all, a dancer that would turn even Tumburu green with envy, all this
nectar has become poison by the curse of that old ascetic, and the very
perfection of her beauty has become the means of undoing us both. For
about two years ago, as we were walking together at midnight, on the
terrace of the palace, that forms the edge of the city wall, enjoying
the cold camphor of the moon after the heat of a burning day, suddenly,
out of the desert, we heard as it were the rush of wings. And as we
stood and listened, there arose in the air a sound of voices, like those
of a man and woman in vehement dispute. But though we could distinguish
the tones, we could not understand the meaning, for the language was
unknown to us. And then, after a while, those two invisible air-goers
appeared all at once before our eyes, seated on the battlements, in the
form of a pair of vultures[15]. And immediately, the male vulture spoke
with a human voice, saying: O King, give me now this daughter of thine
to wife. And instantly I answered rashly: Never will I bestow my
daughter on a bird of ill-omen such as thou art. Thereupon that
evil-minded suitor laughed like a hyaena: and instantly my daughter fell
into a swoon. And as she lay in the moonlight, she looked so
indescribably and unutterably beautiful, that even that loathsome bird
was moved. And he said to his companion: Daughter, I was right, and
thou wert wrong. Look, and see, and allow, that she is far more
beautiful than even thou art. Thereupon that _gridhri_[16] laughed also,
and she said: Time shall show. Listen, King. This is Kirttisena, a
nephew of Wasuki, King of the Snakes, and I am his only daughter. For
this form of vulture was assum