army to lay siege to him in his palace, who, after many difficulties, at length arrived in the vicinity of Iswaripur.
‘Rájá Pratápáditya, in the meanwhile, had become very tyrannical towards his subjects, beheading them for the least offence. The goddess Kálí, seeing all this, was anxious to revoke her blessing; and to effect this, she one day assumed the disguise of the Rájá’s daughter, and appeared before him in Court, when he was dispensing his so-called justice by ordering a sweeper woman’s head to be cut off for having presumed to sweep the Court of the palace in his presence. The ministers and courtiers were amazed at the impropriety of the Rájá’s daughter in appearing before them. The Rájá also seeing his daughter (not entertaining the idea that it was the goddess in disguise), ordered her out of Court, and told her to leave his palace for ever. The goddess then discovered herself, and reminded him of her former blessing and promised aid, until he drove her from his presence. To prove to him that her words were true, and that she would no longer assist such a tyrannical monster, she caused the temple he had built to be changed from its original position, and told him that he should henceforth be left to himself. It was after this occurrence that Mán Sinh made his appearance at Iswarípur; and after a severe battle, in which many thousands on both sides fell, Pratápáditya was taken prisoner, and carried in an iron cage to Dehli. He took the precaution, when in the cage, to have a pair of very handsome pigeons with him, to endeavour therewith to purchase his release from the Emperor, but told his servants before his departure, that, in the event of his being condemned to death by the Emperor, he would let fly the pigeons, and on their appearance at Iswarípur all his family were to go out on the river in a boat, and there sink it and drown themselves. When the Rájá was brought before the Emperor at Dehli, he prostrated himself before him, and sought his mercy, on account of his previous good reign, before he was tempted by the goddess Kálí. The Emperor overlooked the Rájá’s offences, set him at liberty, and restored him to the throne. Fortune, however, had turned against him; he had left his two pigeons in the cage with the door open, and whilst before the Emperor the birds escaped and flew back to Iswarípur, which his family no sooner perceived, than they went and drowned themselves, according to his directions before he left. The Rájá immediately returned to the Emperor and told him of his misfortune, on which the Emperor
