CHAPTER XVII.                            191

Vyadi and the woman flew to any place they liked.
He has composed famous books on this science. People
say that both man and wife are still alive.

A similar  tale  is  the following:—In the  city   of story about

T->iA                            -icTuAT                I'T--                 -I                ij   the piece of

Uhara, the capital of Malava, which is m our days ruled stiver in tbe
by Bhojadeva, there lies in the door of the Government- oovern-
house an oblong piece of pure silver, in which the out- inUhara.
lines of the limbs of a man are visible.    Its origin is
accounted for by the following story:—Once in olden
times a man went to a king of theirs, bringing him a
Basdyana, the use of which would make him immortal,
victorious, invincible, and capable of doing everything
he desired.    He asked the king to come alone to the Page9.v
place of their meeting, and the king gave orders to keep
in readiness all the man required.

The man began to boil the oil for several days, until
at last it acquired consistency. Then he sj)oke to the
king : " Spring into it and I shall finish the process."
But the king, terrified at what he saw, had not the
courage to dive into it. The man, on perceiving his
cowardice, spoke to him : "If you have not sufficient
courage, and will not do it for yourself, will you allow
me myself to do it? " Whereupon the king answered,
" Do as you like." Now he produced several packets of
drugs, and instructed him that when such and such
symptoms should appear, he should throw upon him
this or that packet. Then the man stepped forward to
the caldron and threw himself into it, and at once he
was dissolved and reduced into pulp. Now the king
proceeded according to his instruction, but when he had
nearly finished the process, and there remained only one
packet that was not yet thrown into the mass, he began
to be anxious, and to think what might happen to his
realm, in case the man should return to life as an
immortal, victorious, invincible person, as has above been
mentioned. And so he thought it preferable not to
throw the last packet into the mass.    The consequence