Then the minister interviews the queen, conceals the real facts and addresses her thus:—­

“May it please your Majesty.  I have received this girl from a merchant who told me that he had rescued her in the sea, but could not say anything more about her and her whereabouts.  From her appearance she seems to be a respectable lady.  I beseech your Majesty to take care of her.”  The queen takes the girl as one of her attendants—­the girl who is destined to make her husband the lord of the world!  The queen names her Sagarika or the Ocean Maid.  The princess, who has been attended by hundreds of maidservants, is now reduced, by a strange irony of fate, to the position of a maid-servant herself!

The Chamberlain Babhravya and Vasubhuti by some means reach the shore and are on their way to Kausambi.

Vatsa comes forth to behold from the terrace of his palace the frolic merriment with which his subjects celebrate the festival of Kamadeva, the god of love.  Wearied of tales of war, and seeking most his reputation in his people’s hearts, he issues forth attended by his confidential companion Vasantaka, like the flower-armed deity himself, descended to take a part in the happiness of his worshippers.  The king observes:—­

“I scarcely can express the content I now enjoy.  My kingdom is rid of every foe; the burden of my government reposes on able shoulders; the seasons are favourable; and my subjects, prosperous and happy.  In Vasavadatta, the daughter of Pradyota, I have a wife whom I adore, and in Vasantaka, a friend in whom I can confide.  Attended by such a friend, at such a season, and so disposed I might fancy myself the deity of desire, and this vernal celebration held in honour of myself.  Kausambi outvies the residence of the god of wealth.  Her numerous sons are clad in cloth of gold, decked with glittering ornaments and tossing their heads proudly with splendid crests.

Vasantaka says:—­

“Observe the general joy.  As if intoxicated with delight, the people dance along the streets, sporting merrily with each other’s persons and mutually scattering the yellow-tinted fluid.  On every side, the music of the drum and the buzz of frolic crowds fill all the air.  The very atmosphere is of a yellow hue, with clouds of flowery fragrance.”

At the request of the queen, conveyed through her attendants, the king proceeds with his friend to join her in offering homage to the image of the flower-armed deity, which stands at the foot of the red Asoka tree.  The queen enters the garden accompanied by Kanchanmala, her principal attendant, Sagarika and other damsels.  Noticing Sagarika, the queen thinks, “What carelessness! an object I have hitherto so cautiously concealed, thus heedlessly exposed!  I must remove her hence before the arrival of the king.”  She says, “How now, Sagarika, what makes you here? where is my favourite starling, that I left to your charge, and whom it