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

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to become mistress of the art I now possess, I solemnly de-
clare I shall not thwart your inclination in this respect, nor
in any other that you may ask me. I undertake to meet
them all; but I recommend you to think well, and not
insist on knowing that which, for reasons I cannot well
explain, had best remain locked up in my breast. I do not
wish to displease you, but I would fain not teach you the
art of transmigration. I give you time to recall your
thoughts, and ponder well upon what I have said; and if
you still persist in knowing it, I will satisfy you." In his
concluding remarks, the false king threw much warmth and
some displeasure into his manner, unlike the true sovereign.
In the latter, no trivial events, such as these, could have
ruffled his temper in the slightest degree. This circum-
stance did not pass unnoticed by the wise minister of those
realms, and he could not but ask himself, what could have
worked such a change in his sovereign? 'There is certain-
ly,' thought he, 'a wide difference between his former car-
riage and bearing and these he now displays;' and as he
had some slight belief in the power of transmigration, he
naturally enough concluded that he had only the body of
the king before him, with some other soul inhabiting it for
the present, a matter he was determined to ascertain. Mean-
while the new king commenced a reign, marked by the
grossest injustice, and the violation of all the rights and
privileges which previously tended so much to the well-being
and prosperity of each and all in the country, and to the
stability of the government itself. This occasioned much
bitterness and lamentation, where there formerly reigned
peace and happiness. Where it was once customary to
bestow commendations on the king, and to call down bless-
ings on him, every mouth was now filled with the direst
imprecations and curses. The minister, though much
averse to be made a tool in the hands of such a despot, was,
nevertheless, forced to submit to that which, under the cir-
cumstances, there could be no means for effectually putting
a stop to. All he could do, by his advice and suggestions,
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