"Who taught thee hitherward to wend thy way,
O mendicant, and for an eye to pray?
The chiefest portion of a man is this,
And hard for men to part with, so they say."

(The succeeding stanzas are to be read two and two, as may easily be seen.)

"Sujampati among the gods, the same
Here among men called Maghava by name,
[404] He taught me hitherward to wend my way,
Begging, and for an eye to urge my claim.

"'Tis the all-chiefest gift for which I pray .
Give me an eye! O do not say me nay!
Give me an eye, that chiefest gift of gifts,
So hard for men to part with, as they say!"

"The wish that brought thee hitherward, the wish that did arise
Within thee, be that wish fulfilled. Here, brahmin, take my eyes.

"One eye thou didst request of me: behold, I give thee two!
Go with good sight, in all the people's view;
So be thy wish fulfilled and now come true."

So much the king said. But, thinking it not meet that he should root out his eyes and bestow them there and then, he brought the brahmin indoors with him, and sitting on the royal throne, sent for a surgeon named Sivaka. "Take out my eye, "he then said.

Now all the city rang with the news, that the king wished to tear out his eyes and give them to a brahmin. Then the commander-in-chief, and all the other officials, and those beloved of the king, gathered together from city and harem, and recited three stanzas, that they might turn the king from his purpose:

"O do not give thine eye, my lord; desert us not, O king!
Give money, pearls and coral give, and many a precious thing:

"Give thorobreds caparisoned, forth be the chariots rolled,
O king, drive up the elephants all fine with cloth of gold:

[405] "These give, O king! that we may all preserve thee safe and sound,
Thy faithful people, with our cars and chariots ranged around."

Hereupon the king recited three stanzas:

"The soul which, having sworn to give, is then unfaithful found,
Puts his own neck within a snare low hidden on the ground.

"The soul which, having sworn to give, is then unfaithful found,
More sinful is than sin, and he to Yama's house is bound.

"Unasked give nothing; neither give the thing he asketh not,
This therefore which the brahmin asks, I give it on the spot."

Then the courtiers asked, "What do you desire in giving your eyes?" repeating a stanza:

"Life, beauty, joy, or strength--what is the prize,
O king, which motive for your deed supplies?
Why should the king of Sivi-land supreme
For the next world's sake thus give up his eyes?"

[406] The king answered them in a stanza: