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be that it happened that the treatment that they had pursued was wrong, the king, who was the best of teachers, would point out wherein 45 they had erred, and, giving reasons therefor, would make clear to them the course that they should have pursued according to science; also, to some sick persons he would give physic with his own hands. Likewise 46 also he would inquire of the health of all those that were sick, and unto such as were cured of their diseases he would order raiment to be given. And as he desired greatly to gain merit, he would partake 47 of merit at the hands of the physicians, and impart his own merit to them, and then return to his own palace. In this manner, indeed, 48 did this merciful king, free from disease himself, cure the sick of their divers diseases from year to year.

But there yet remaineth another marvel to relate, the like of which 49 had neither been seen nor heard of before. A certain raven that was 50 afflicted with a canker on his face and was in great pain entered the hospital of the king, whose store of great goodness was distributed to all alike. And the raven, as if he had been bound by the spell of the 51 king's great love for suffering creatures, quitted not the hospital, but remained there as if its wings were broken, cawing very piteously. Thereupon the physicians, after they had found out what his true 52 disease was, took him in by the king's command and treated him; and after he was healed of his disease the king caused him to be carried 53 on the back of an elephant round the whole city, and then set him free. Verily, kindness such as this, even when shown unto beasts, is 54 exceeding great. Who hath seen such a thing, or where or when hath it been heard before?

Thereafter the king Parakkama Báhu, who had gained the love of 55 all good men, began with great vigour to enlarge and adorn the famous 56 city of Pulatthi which (had then been brought low and) was a city but in name and could not show forth the exceeding greatness and majesty of the king. And from that time forth the protector of the 57 land began to surround the city with fortifications; and outside the 58 belt of the city-wall of former kings he caused a great chain of ramparts to be built, exceeding high, and greatly embellished it with plaster work, so that it was as white as a cloud in autumn. Thence he built 59 three lesser walls, one behind another, and caused divers streets to be formed around them. Likewise also, he surrounded his own palace 60 and the chambers of the women of his household with a circle of lesser walls.

Then the greatest of all kings built a palace of great splendour called 61 Véjayanta, so that none could be compared unto it, like unto one of 70 the creations of Vissakamma that have not been surpassed. It had seven stories, and contained one thousand chambers supported by

1 Patti. In Buddhism the meritorious acts of one person may be participated in by another by the exercise of sympathy, good will, &c., and both he who gives and he who receives are supposed to be benefited thereby, if they do it in sincerity. 47-08

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many hundreds of beautiful pillars. It was surmounted with hundreds of pinnacles like the top of Kélása, and adorned with networks of divers leaves and flowers. Its gates and doors and windows were made of gold, and its walls and staircases were so ordered that they gave pleasure in all the seasons. It was also always well supplied with thousands of beds of divers kinds covered with carpets of great value, made of gold and ivory and other substances. And the splendour thereof was increased by the addition of a bed chamber for the king, which sent forth at all times a perfume of flowers and incense, and which was made beautiful with rows of large lamps of gold, and made exceedingly lovely by reason of the garlands of pearls of great size which were hung at the four corners thereof-pearls white like the rays of the moon, and which, as they waved to and fro, seemed to smile with scorn at the beautiful ripples of the river of heaven. And the network of tinkling bells of gold that hanged here and there in the palace and sent forth sounds like unto those of the five instruments of music, seemed to proclaim the unlimited glory of the merits of the king.

(Thereafter he caused the following buildings to be set up: namely,) a golden house, so that he might have the propitiatory rites performed therein by Brahmans; a beautiful house of Vishnu, for the mantra 72 ceremonies; a delightful circular house, where he might listen to the Játakas of the great sage read by the learned priest who dwelt there; 73 and a Pañcasattati house, to receive the holy water and the holy thread that were offered to him by yellow-robed ascetics.

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And he who walked always in the path of religion caused a religious house (Dhammágára) to be built, surrounded on all sides by a curtainwall of many colours and ornamented with a canopy of gold of great 75 price. And by reason of the fragrant flowers of divers hues that were offered at divers places therein, its splendour was like unto a nosegay. 76 The chambers thereof were always lighted with lamps fed with perfumed 77 oil, and all around it the air smelt with the smoke of benzoin. It was adorned with many images of the conqueror made of gold and the other precious substances, and decorated with an array of pictures 78 of the Omniscient wrought on cloth. And whenever the great king 81 entered the house to paint with his own hands the eyes of the images of the conqueror, or to make offerings to the Tathagata, or to hear the preaching of his doctrines that have never been surpassed, the nautch girls danced and sang songs sweet and melodious as the music of heaven; and it was also adorned with (the image of) a peacock of great splendour that joined the women always in the dance, uttering wild screams that amazed and delighted the people greatly.

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Afterwards the king caused a theatre to be built, the Sarassati Mandapa, hard by his palace, that so he might listen to the sweet and melodious singing of divers singers, and witness the delightful 83 dance. It glittered with golden pillars all around, and pleased the mind 84 with the paintings that described the events of his own life. And it was adorned with an imitation of the "wish-conferring tree of heaven

(Kapparukkha). The trunk and the branches thereof glittered with 86' gold, and were ornamented with a multitude of divers kinds of birds of beautiful workmanship. It shone also with divers ornaments, such as earrings and bracelets and garlands of pearls and the like, and with beautiful garments made of linen and china silk, silk, and such like.

Then he caused to be erected a very pleasant open hall of recreation, 87 Rájavesi Bhujanga by name. It seemed as if the hall of assembly of 91 the gods (Sudhamma) had descended to the earth, and as if the manners and customs of the whole world had been gathered together into one place. It was a three-storied building, ornamented with beautiful pictures and surrounded by rows of seats arranged with much beauty. It was also ornamented with a throne of great price, like unto the throne made under the "wish-conferring tree of heaven" (Kapраrukkha) which giveth to the musicians of heaven all that they desire. It looked also like his glittering crown shining with divers gems when in battle he won Lanká by the strength of his arm, and also like the heap of matted hair on the head of this earthly Siva.

Likewise also he caused a charming palace to be built, supported 92 on one column, which seemed to have sprung up, as if it were, by the 94 bursting of the earth; and it was completed with figures of the Makara.1 It was then adorned with a golden house full of beauty; its floor of gold was lighted with only one chandelier; and the house stood on beautiful pillars of gold, bearing the glory of a golden cave of this lion-king.

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This chief of kings and lord of the country caused also a park to be 95 made nigh unto the royal palace. And they called it Nandana, because 97 that it displayed the splendour of Nandana the park of heaven" and pleased the eyes of the people and gave them delight. It had trees entwined with creepers of jasmine.

And the air was filled with swarms of bees, roused with the 98 enjoyment of the honey of divers flowers. The Campaka, Asóka, and 102 the Tilaka; the Naga, Punnága, and Kétaka; the Sála, Páțali, and Nípa; the Amba, Jambu, and Kadambaka; the Vakula, the Nálikéra, the Kutaja, and the Bimbijálaka; as also the Málati and Mallika, and the Tamála and Navamallika: these and divers fruit-bearing and flower-bearing trees of their kind were found there, such as charm the people who resort thither. And it was made delightful by the screams of the peacock and the sweet and deep tones of the Kókila that charm the world and always give pleasure. It was interspersed also with sheets of water ornamented with fine banks, and made pleasant by the abundant growth of the lotus and the lily, and the musical tones

1 A fabulous animal. It is generally depicted with the head of a crocodile and the body and tail of a fish.

2 The garden of Indra.

3 Michelia Champaka. (See the botanical names of these plants at the end of the chapter, Note A.)

The Indian cuckoo.

103 of the Saras.1 It was railed also with pillars decorated with rows of 105 images made of ivory. And it was ornamented with a bathing hall that dazzled the eyes of the beholder, from the which issued forth sprays of water that was conducted through pipes by means of machines, making the place to look as if the clouds poured down rain without ceasing, a bathing hall, large and splendid, and bearing, as it were, a likeness to the knot of braided hair that adorned the head of the

106 beautiful park-nymph. It also glittered with a mansion of great splendour and brightness such as was not to be compared, and displayed

the beauty of many pillars of sandalwood carved gracefully, and was 107 like an ornament on the face of the earth. A hall shaped like an 108 octagon, and a beautiful and pleasant hall, formed after the fashion 109 of the beautiful coils of the king of serpents, adorned this park, wherein "the stone-bath" (Silá-pokkharaní2) continually attracted the king, who surrounded himself with a great number of good men, and who 110 was like a crest on the heads of kings-and whose "bath of fortune" (the Mangala-pokkharaní3) made it yet the more delightful, and caused the beholder to feel as if it were Nandana, the "garden of heaven," 111 with its Nandá tank-and where yet another, the “overflowing bath" (Punná-pokkharaní), full of perfumed water, embellished it, and de112 lighted the moon-like king-and which also, with its baths and its cave Vasanta, always looked charming by reason of its exceeding beauty and gracefulness.

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And the king, who kept all men under subjection to him, caused the park of the island" (Dípuyyána) also to be laid out at a place like unto an island, because of the water that flowed there on two 114 sides, wherein is to be seen a wonderful white house, wholly of plaster-work, and resembling the crest of the mountain Kélása; and 115 it was ornamented also with a mansion, Vijjá Mandapas by name, so named because that it was made for displaying divers branches of 116 knowledge and the arts (vijjá), where also shineth a "swinging hall (Dólá Mandapa) of great neatness and beauty, containing a beautiful 117 swing with its tinkling bells of gold; where also there is a "hall of pleasure," by name Kílá Mandapa, which attracted the king and the 118 gay and witty attendants of his court. And this park was likewise 119 rendered beautiful by a pavilion called Sáni Mandapa, wrought with ivory; and with the "peacock hall" (Móra Mandapa), and with another called the "hall of mirrors" (Adása Mandapa), the walls of which were

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overlaid with mirrors.

In this park the bath, Ananta-pokkharaní, overlaid with stones coloured like unto the body of the serpent Ananta, continually

The Indian crane.

Sin. Gal-pokuna.

* Sin. Magul-pokuna.

One of the highest peaks of the Himalaya range, and supposed to be the delighted the people; where also, the bath Cittá-pokkharaní, with its 121 paintings of divers colours, attracted the brave and wise Parakkama Báhu the Conqueror, and where also, stood the four-storied palace 122 that was not to be surpassed, with its divers paintings, shining clear above all, from whence proceed the voices of love. And the park was ornamented with the Tála and the Hintála trees; the Naga and 123 the Punnaga trees; the Kadalí, Kaņņikára, and Kaņikára.1

residence of Kuvéra.

Lit." the hall of science."

Lit. the "hall of curtains."

And it so happened that among the ministers of the inner palace of 124 this king, who was like unto Méru amidst all the races of kings that 127 were like mountains, there was a pious and wise man, Mahinda by name, who loved the Three Gems with all his heart, -a man pure in heart and of sound wisdom, and one who knew what was good and evil, and had a knowledge of the ways and the methods and forms and practices for doing religious works, without being moved either by love or hate, or by fear or ignorance. And though he had heaped up much merit, yet was he not satisfied therewith, being like unto the ocean that the waters never satisfy. And he abstained from sin by reason of the shame and fear within him, and strove always to overcome difficulties. And for a receptacle for the noble tooth-relic that was 128 made holy by reason of its being washed with the nectar of the fourand-eighty-thousand sections of the law (delivered by Buddha and his disciples), he, with the favour of the gracious king who always gave 129 help to good works, caused a wonderful temple of great splendour to be built, giving delight to all. It shone with roofs of gold, and doors 130 and windows, and divers works of art wrought both within and without. And it was ornamented with canopies painted with divers colours, 131 like as a golden mountain encompassed with streaks of lightning. And 132 by reason of the bright curtains that flashed with divers colours, and the rows of beds spread out with coverlets of great price with which it was furnished, it was like unto the palace of the Goddess of Beauty; and it shone with a lustre so great that all that was beautiful 133 on earth seemed to have been gathered together and brought into one place. And it was made exceedingly attractive by a spacious upper 134 room (Candasálá) of great excellence and exquisite beauty, white as the snow or the swan, or a bright cloud or a garland of pearls. And 135 the temple was decorated with flags flying aloft, and crowned with a pinnacle of solid gold.

And there was also the queen Rúpavatí, the best of beautiful 136 beings, who, like the young moon, rose from the ocean like great king Kittisirimégha, and drew upon her the eyes of the world. She was 137 the beloved wife of him who was like the banner of the Khattiya race, and carried the heart of that king captive, who was like the crest of kings, even as Sítá carried captive the heart of Ráma. And among 138 the many hundreds of women who were in the inner chambers of the palace, she was beloved the most, as were the Three Gems that she

1 See note A.

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