revived him by throwing cold water over him, and by other means, I
found that he had no bone broken, and did not appear to have received
any serious injury.

When he was sufficiently recovered, I asked him who he was and how he
came to fall from the precipice. With tears in his eyes, and a feeble
voice, he said: "My name is Ratnodbhava; I am the son of a minister of
the King of Magadha; travelling about as a merchant, I came, many
years ago, to the island of Kâlayavana. There I married a merchant's
daughter, and going with her by sea to visit my relations, was
overtaken by a violent storm, during which the ship sank, and I was
the only person saved.

"After reaching the shore, I wandered about for some time in a strange
country, and, unable to bear my misery, was about to put an end to my
life, when I was stopped by a Siddha, who assured me that after
sixteen years I should find my wife. Trusting to this promise, I have
endured life through all these years; but the appointed time having
passed without any sign of the fulfilment of the prophecy, I could
hold out no longer, and threw myself from the top of this precipice."

At that moment the voice of a woman in distress was heard not far off,
and saying to him whom I recognised as my father, "Take courage, I
have good news for you; only wait a moment," I ran off in the
direction of the place whence the voice had proceeded, and soon came
in sight of a large fire and two women near it, the one trying to
throw herself into the flames, the other struggling to prevent her.
Going to the help of the latter, I soon got the lady away, and
brought her and her companion to the place where my father was lying.
I then said to the old woman, "Pray tell me what all this means? How