“’One day, that lady whom you saw in the park had a dispute with me as to which was the most attractive.  At last she said:  “You boast of your powers, forsooth; go and try them on Marichi.  If you can persuade him to accompany you here, then indeed you may triumph; I will acknowledge myself your inferior.”

“’This was the reason of my coming to you; the trick has been successful; I have won my wager, and have now no further occasion for you.’

“Bowed down by shame and remorse, the unhappy man slunk back to his hermitage, miserable and degraded, bitterly lamenting his folly and infatuation, but resolved to atone for it by deep repentance and severe penance.

“I am that wretched man; you see, therefore, that I am now quite unable to assist you.  But do not go away; remain in Champa.  After a time I shall recover my former power.”

While he was telling me this sad story, the sun set, and I remained with him that night.  The next morning, at sunrise, I took leave of him, and walked towards the city.  On my way thither, as I passed a Buddhist monastery, I was struck by the appearance of a man sitting at the side of the road near it.  He was extraordinarily ugly; his body naked, with the exception of a rag round his waist; and his face so covered with dirt, that the tears he was shedding left furrows as they rolled down his cheeks.

Moved by compassion, I sat down near him, and inquired the reason of his distress, at the same time adding, “If it is a secret, I do not wish to intrude upon you.”

“‘My misfortunes are well known,’ he answered; ’I can have no objection to telling you if you wish to hear them.’  Then he began: 

“My name is Vasupalika; but from my ugliness I am generally known as Virupaka,—­the deformed.  I am the son of a man of some importance here, who left me a large fortune.

“Among my acquaintance there was a person called Sundaraka, remarkably handsome, but poor.  Between us two some mischievous persons strove to excite a rivalry, pitting my money against his beauty and accomplishments.

“One day, in a large assembly, having got up a dispute between us, they said:  ’It is not beauty or wealth, but the approbation of the ladies, which stamps the worth of a man; therefore, let the famous actress, Kamamanjari, decide between you, and agree that she shall say who is the best man.’  To this we both assented, and she, having been previously prepared for the part which she was to perform, was brought into the room, and passing by my rival with scorn, sat down by my side, and, taking a garland from her own head, placed it on mine.

“Greatly flattered and delighted by this preference, and blinded by a mad love for her, which I had not ventured to express, I most readily gave myself up to her seductions, and in a very short time she obtained such an influence over me that everything I possessed was at her disposal.  Before long, she had so plundered me, and led me into such extravagance, that I was reduced to the most abject poverty, and had nothing I could call my own but this miserable rag which you now see me wear.