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

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any conference with me. He has, I know, been counting
the days as they passed, and awaiting with much anxiety the
expiration of the time I fixed upon." "Very well," said
the parrot, "do not be alarmed, but take courage; I will
endeavour to extricate you from your perilous position. I
have discovered myself only to you, and you must be very
careful not to divulge the secret of my being here in my
present form to any one, for the least intimation on the sub-
ject to Koobjuck will involve me in some other misfortune,
and perhaps even cause my death." "Your majesty must
know," replied the queen, "that the moment I suspected
Koobjuck I prohibited him from entering my apartments.
Besides, I have expressly told him that unless he practises
before me the mysterious art of transmigration at the expira-
tion of six months, I will never even look him in the face."
The parrot then desired Bhutty to retire to his own home,
telling him that on the morrow they would set about devis-
ing means to effect their purpose. He said he trusted, by
the aid of Providence, to return speedily to his natural
form and condition, and to enter once again upon the
duties of his office. Bhutty made his obeisance, and
departed accordingly.
The queen held the parrot in her hand with much respect
and veneration; she tenderly embraced him, with tears
flowing fast down her cheeks, and said, "I have been
deceived indeed, but I have at last found him whom my
soul holds most dear on earth. My past sufferings and
heart-burnings are now more than recompensed: heaven
has favored me on this occasion in a most liberal manner,
for which I now offer up the outpourings of a soul full of
grateful emotions and sentiments far too profound for utter-
ance." She then placed the parrot in his cage, and the
whole of that night was spent in conjecturing the events
that the morrow would bring forth.
The next morning, by sunrise, the wicked Koobjuck sent
for Bhutty the minister, in whom he had great confidence,
and informed him that the period of six months assigned by