द्वितीय राजतरङ्गिणी (जोनराज - कल्हणोत्तर मध्यकालीन कश्मीर का प्रामाणिक इतिहास)

394 KINGS OF KASHMÍRA.
ways been pleasant, as if to see what the heaven was
like. The goddess of wealth, though insulted by large
expenditures, went with him; and how could his fame
remain among men when urgently called away by the
goddess of riches.
All the people became happy when Ale Khāna receiv-
ed the kingdom, even as the lotuses are when the sun
appears over the eastern hill. They saw the country of
Kashmīra well governed by the king, and they were
happy ; they even slighted heaven which had once
been destroyed by the chief of the Daityas. Wicked
men disappeared when the king sat in judgment, even
as owls do when the sun rises on the eastern hill.
Thieves became alarmed and uneasy at that time, and
hid themselves like rats in holes at mid-day. Attended by
the great council the king judged the people, and the
enquiries which he made to ascertain the truth were
always effective.
The king showed kindness to the timid, and his
subjects amused themselves at their ease. But suddenly
the sky became red on all sides, like the fierce fire that
will appear at the end of the world ; it prognosticated
destruction by famine. The world showed symptoms
of a calamity and trembled, as if unable to bear the
weight of a famine. Heaps of dead bodies lay during
famine in rows in every street, like the war-drums of
Yama. There was no necessity then for gold or silver,
and the vessels for preparing wine became as rare as