majesty to himself,] and take a retinue with me, and go like a king,
is not becoming; it is better to change my dress, and go at night
and alone to visit the graves of the dead, or some godly recluse,
and keep awake all night; perhaps by the mediation of these holy men,
the desires of this world and salvation in the next, may be obtained."

Having formed this resolution, the king one night put on coarse and
soiled clothes, and taking some money with him, he stole silently out
of the fort, and bent his way over the plain; proceeding onwards,
he arrived at a cemetery, and was repeating his prayers with a
sincere heart. At that time, a fierce wind continued blowing,
and might be called a storm. Suddenly the king saw a flame at a
distance which shone like the morning star; he said to himself,
"In this storm and darkness this light cannot shine without art,
or it may be a talisman; for if nitre and sulphur be sprinkled in
the lamp, around the wick, then let the wind be ever so strong,
the flame will not be extinguished--or may it not be the lamp of
some holy man which burns? Let it be what it may, I ought to go and
examine it; perhaps by the light of this lamp, the lamp of my house
also may be lighted, [73] and the wish of my heart fulfilled." Having
formed this resolution, the king advanced in that direction; when
he drew near, he saw four erratic _fakirs_, [74] with _kafnis_ [75]
on their bodies, and their head reclined on their knees; sitting in
profound silence, and senselessly abstracted. Their state was such as
that of a traveller, who, separated from his country and his sect,
friendless and alone, and overwhelmed with grief, is desponding and
at a loss. In the same manner sat these four _Fakirs_, like statues,
[76] and a lamp placed on a stone burnt brightly; the wind touched it
not, as if the sky itself had been its shade, [77] so that it burnt
without danger [of being extinguished.]