वासवदत्ता (महाकवि सुबन्धु - श्लेष-प्रधान शास्त्रीय गद्यकाव्य सान्वय सटीक)

96 VĀSAVADATTĀ
antelopes slowly ruminating; when the thick woods ¹ had nests
filled with multitudes of sleepy crows ²; [170] when the trees of
the hermitages ³ had ⁴ families of monkeys without their monkey
tricks ⁵; when the flocks of owls that dwelt in huts within the
hollows of aged trees were eager to set out; when the lamplight
flashed forth ⁶ as if the tips ⁷ of the rays of the sun had burst into
a flame, going forth to affright the darkness; when He ⁸ whose
banner is a fish, who steals the mind of all the world,⁹ and who
hath a resonant bow, was unceasingly ¹⁰ raining a shower of
arrows; [171] when the courtesans, lovely in their attire of
passion's task ¹¹ and devoted to bawdy talk, were arranging their
adornment; when women had their hips resonant with girdle-
zones ¹² bound on by their attendants; [172] when the courtyards
had people hurrying to go to the houses of many folk ¹³ who were
continuing their narration of interrupted tales ¹⁴; when the pleasure
gardens ¹⁵ were inhabited by the cocks; when the peacocks had
ascended their perches; when the householders had performed
the duties of eventide; when the swarms of bees were reposing ¹⁶
¹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘clumps of village trees.’
² Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘ravens awakening from sleep.’
³ Srirangam text, ‘trees in the gardens.’
⁴ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘were filled with.’ [noisy cries.’
⁵ Tel. ed. adds ‘when the trees in the gardens had flocks of cranes devoid of their
⁶ Tel. ed. omits ‘forth.’ ⁷ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘branches.’
⁸ Kāma. ⁹ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘all things living.’
¹⁰ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text omit ‘unceasingly.’
¹¹ Tel. ed., ‘charming and lovely in passion’s attire.’ ¹² Tel. ed., ‘girdle-adornments.’
¹³ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text, ‘houses of tellers of tales.’
¹⁴ On the popularity of telling stories at night in India see Steel and Temple, Wide-
Awake Stories, pp. vii, 2–3, Bombay, 1884; Swynnerton, Rājā Rasālu, p. 152, Calcutta,
1884; Day, Folk-Tales of Bengal, p. 176, London, 1883. According to some Oriental
traditions (Rohde, Griechischer Roman, 2 ed., p. 593, Leipzig, 1900), telling stories at
night was imported from Greece to India by Alexander the Great. But the custom
prevails widely, being found, for instance, among the natives of Guiana (Im Thurn,
Among the Indians of Guiana, p. 216, London, 1883), the North American Indians
(Waitz, Anthropologie der Naturvölker, 3. 234–235, Leipzig, 1862), the Micronesians (ib.
5. 2. 81, Leipzig, 1870), the Africans (Nassau, Fetichism in West Africa, p. 330, London,
1904; Struyf, ‘Aus dem Märchenschatz der Bakongo (Niederkongo),’ in Anthropos, 3.
742), and in Europe generally (MacCulloch, Childhood of Fiction, p. 2, London, 1905).
It should also be noted that the entire story of the parrot in the Kādambarī (pp. 101,
614–615, Bombay ed., 1890 (tr. Ridding, pp. 46, 203, London, 1896)) is told at night.
¹⁵ Tel. ed. adds ‘of the Kirātas’; Srirangam text, ‘of Kirāta houses.’
¹⁶ Tel. ed. and Srirangam text add ‘in crooked beds.’