came you to be in such a place, and why did the lady wish to destroy
herself?"

With a voice broken by sobs, she answered me: "This lady, whose name
is Suvritta, is the daughter of a merchant in the island of
Kâlayavana, and the wife of Ratnodbhava. While crossing the sea with
her husband, there was a great storm, the ship sank, and this lady and
I, her nurse, were the only persons saved. A few days afterwards she
gave birth to a son in the forest; but through my ill-fortune the
child was lost, having been seized by a wild elephant. Afterwards we
two wandered about in great misery, and she would have put an end to
her life had we not met with a holy man, who comforted her with the
assurance that after sixteen years she would be reunited with her
husband and son. Relying on this prophecy, she consented to wait, and
we have spent all these years living near his hermitage; but the
sixteen years were ended some time ago, and having lost all hope, she
was about to end her wretched life by throwing herself into a fire
which she had made, when you so opportunely came to my assistance."

Hearing this story, my father was unable to speak from astonishment. I
made him known to my mother, and myself to both of them, to their very
great joy; and my mother seemed as if she would never weary of kissing
and embracing me.

After a time, when we were all more composed, my father began to
inquire about the king and his own relations, for during all these
years he had heard nothing of them. I told him everything--how the
king had been defeated, and had been living in the forest; your birth,
and the wonderful preservation of myself and my companions; how we had
all set out together; how we had lost you, and how I was now searching