places which they contained.

Kâmapâla was of an opposite character; he thought only of present
pleasure, frequented the company of gamblers and harlots, and roamed
about the world seeking amusement and dissipation.

Ratnodbhava became a merchant, and in the way of traffic made many
long journeys by land and sea. The other sons, after their fathers'
death, succeeded to their offices, according to the custom of the
country. When Râjahansa had reigned some years, war broke out between
him and the king of the adjoining country of Mâlwa, the haughty and
ambitious Mânasâra, whom he marched to encounter with a numerous army,
making the earth tremble with the tread of his elephants, and
disturbing even the dwellers in the sky with the clang of kettledrums
louder than the roar of the stormy ocean.

Both armies were animated by equal rage, and terrible was the battle;
the ground where they met was first turned to dust by the wheels of
the chariots and the trampling of men and beasts, and then into mud
through the streams of blood which flowed from the slain and wounded.

At last Râjahansa was victorious, the enemy was completely defeated,
their king taken prisoner, and all Mâlwa lay open to the conqueror.
He, however, having no wish to enlarge his dominions, released his
prisoner on very easy terms, and returning to Pushpapuri, thought only
of governing his own kingdom in peace, not expecting after such
generous treatment any further trouble from his ambitious neighbour.

Though prosperous and happy in every other respect, the King of
Magadha had one great cause of sorrow and anxiety--he had no son to