Page:Folk-lore of the Telugus.djvu/97

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89

Brahman, intent upon learning, will visit foreign parts. You will accidentally meet him on the bank of a river. He will learn the various sciences from you, and if you will then visit Benares and bathe in the sacred waters of the Ganges, you will be relieved of your curse and become a Brahman once more.' I, therefore, became a Brahmarakshasa and took up my abode in yonder pipal-tree, eagerly awaiting your arrival. As I have instructed you in all the sciences, I shall now go on a visit to Benares to rid myself of the curse. Chandrasarma then took a different route, as he had forgotten the way by which he came "to pipal-tree, and while going through the palace street of Ujayani, saw the house of a public woman and mistook it for a Brahman's quarters, and as he was very tired, having had neither sleep nor food for six months past, went in, spread his upper garment on the verandah and quietly went to sleep. Not long after the house-owner's daughter came out, perceived the sleeping person, and thinking that he would be a fit husband for herself went