विक्रम चरित (उज्जैन सम्राट् विक्रमादित्य - पराक्रम, न्याय एवं ३२ पुतलियों की कथा सटीक)

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events that have happened to you may appear to the short-
sighted vision of man as cruel and unmerited in the extreme,
some good will most probably be the result. In the mean
while, you are welcome to my palace and to my arms. You
may for the future reside here with your child, whose
education I take upon myself. You will here meet with
every deference due to your exalted rank.’ This in a great
measure helped to assuage the grief of the widowed queen,
and she took up her abode, with her infant, under the
protection of her brother, with whom she lived in the greatest
comfort and harmony.
“The brother of the unfortunate Shoodhamutty had a
daughter about four years old, who was called Malattee.
Her virtues, modest deportment, and fascinating manners,
won the esteem and love of all who came in contact with her.
In beauty she rivalled Rutty.* One day this youthful
princess was engaged in the amusements to which children
are more or less addicted, when her father happened to pass
by. She looked so beautiful, with the flush on her cheek
called forth by the eagerness with which she pursued her
game, that the father stopped to admire her. After gazing
for awhile, unseen by her, he approached her, clasped her
to his affectionate bosom, and loaded her with kisses.
While so engaged he addressed her in the most affectionate
words. ‘Daughter,’ said he, ‘you have now arrived at an
age fitted to receive good and useful impressions; I there-
fore wish to send you to school. You must endeavour to
make yourself acquainted with everything fitted to adorn
your rank and position, and the station in life which you
will some day or other be called upon to fill.’ That same
day he ordered a clever Pundit to be brought to him, and
entrusted the child to his care, directing him to instruct
her in the first instance in the accomplishments suited to
her capacity, and by degrees to lead her mind to higher and
nobler acquisitions; in short, to pay every possible attention
to her improvement. The Pundit, in obedience to the

• The spouse of the God of Love.
  O