Page:The Enchanted Parrot.djvu/131

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THE ENCHANTED PARROT
127


ence. So Madanamanjarî, seeing her end in view, went to the shrine of the goddess Durgâ, and made loud lamentation. The goddess heard her complaints and said to her husband, ' Noble Gandharva ! your wife is guiltless: she was deceived by a Vidyâdhara, who put on your form. Since she was ignorant of the real state of things, how could she be to blame ? Besides the cause of all this is the curse pronounced on her by the Rishi Nârada. Now the curse is worked out, and since she is free from guilt you must take her back.' Hearing the words of the goddess, Kanaprabha took his wife home, and they lived happily together.

" So, Madana," continued the Parrot, " if you have any confidence in my words, receive your wife kindly, for there is no evil in her."

Then Madana, obedient to the Parrot's wish, took Prabhavatî home, and his father Haridatta, rejoicing at his son's return, made a great feast. While the festival was proceeding, a rain of flowers fell from heaven, and the Parrot — the adviser and confidant of Prabhavatî — freed from the curse which had compelled him to wear a parrot's form, ascended to the abode of the gods, and Madana and Prabhavatî passed the remainder of their lives in peace and happiness.