Read the previous part here…
The frustrated thief thought to himself “What bad luck! She is setting out now, in the dead of the night, with all those ornaments that I wanted to steal! Let me follow her, I may still get a good opportunity to rob them…”
And so the thief followed Vasudattā, keeping an eye on her, but himself being unobserved.
वसुदत्ताम् अनु ययौ दत्तदृष्टिर् अलक्षितः ।
सापि पुष्पादिहस्तैकससंकेतसखीयुता ॥ १२,१०.६२ ॥
गत्वा बाह्यं प्रविष्टाभूद् उद्यानं नातिदूरगम् ।
तत्रापश्यच् च तं वृक्षे लम्बमानं स्वकामुकम् ॥ १२,१०.६३ ॥
संकेतकागतं रात्रौ लब्ध्वा नगररक्षिभिः ।
उल्लम्बितं चौरबुद्ध्या पाशकण्ठं मृतं स्थितम् ॥ १२,१०.६४ ॥
ततः सा विह्वलोद्भ्रान्ता हा हतास्मीति वादिनी ।
पपात भूमौ कृपणं विलपन्ती रुरोद च ॥ १२,१०.६५ ॥
अवतार्याथ वृक्षात् तं गतासुं निजकामुकम् ।
उपवेश्याङ्गरागेण पुष्पैश् चालंचकार सा ॥ १२,१०.६६ ॥
समालिङ्ग्य च निःसंज्ञं रागशोकान्धमानसा ।
उन्नमय्य मुखं यावत् तस्यार्ता परिचुम्बति ॥ १२,१०.६७ ॥
तावत् स तस्याः सहसा निर्जीवः परपूरुषः ।
वेतालानुप्रविष्टः सद् दन्तैश् चिच्छेद नासिकाम् ॥ १२,१०.६८ ॥
तेन सा विह्वला तस्मात् सव्यथापसृताप्य् अहो ।
किं स्विज् जीवेद् इति हता पुन एत्य तम् ऐक्षत ॥ १२,१०.६९ ॥
दृष्ट्वा च वीतवेतालं निश्चेष्टं मृतम् एव तम् ।
सा भीता परिभूता च चचाल रुदती शनैः ॥ १२,१०.७० ॥
Vasudattā walked fast, with her maid in tow, and with flowers and sweets in her hands. She stopped at the huge gates of a garden outside the city, and looking around cautiously, slowly entered the place.
She was shocked at what she saw. Hanging from a tree, was her lover.
The city guards had caught him earlier that night, and assumed that he was the murderer who had been killing people in that lonely garden from many months. They had hanged him from that tree and left, just minutes before Vasudattā walked in.
She was shattered. She fell to the ground, weeping inconsolably. She then gathered her wits, and with the help of her maid, brought down her dead lover from the tree, sat him down against the tree trunk, and embraced him passionately, tears flowing down her cheeks.
She then lifted his chin and placed her lips on his, a final kiss…when a Vetāla, who haunted that very tree, possessed the body of her lover and in excitement, bit her nose.
Vasudattā let out a loud scream, pushed her dead lover away, and started to run. But then she stopped and thought…”Is he still alive?”
And so she went back to the tree, this time very cautiously, and checked for signs of life. The Vetāla had left, and her lover was dead as he was before. Humiliated and ashamed, Vasudattā quickly left the garden, walking back towards her home, her eyes swollen with tears, and her nose bleeding.
तावच् छन्नः स्थितः सो ऽथ चौरः सर्वं व्यलोकयत् ।
अचिन्तयच् च किम् इदं पापया कृतम् एतया ॥ १२,१०.७१ ॥
अहो बताशयः स्त्रीणां भीषणो घनतामसः ।
अन्धकूप इवागाधः पाताय गहनः परम् ॥ १२,१०.७२ ॥
तद् इदानीम् इयं किं नु कुर्याद् इति विचिन्त्य सः ।
कौतुकाद् दूरतश् चौरो भूयो ऽप्य् अनुससार ताम् ॥ १२,१०.७३ ॥
सापि गत्वा प्रविश्यैव तत् सुप्तस्थितभर्तृकम् ।
गृहं तदा स्वकं प्रौच्चैः प्ररुदत्य् एवम् अब्रवीत् ॥ १२,१०.७४ ॥
परित्रायध्वम् एतेन दुष्टेन मम नासिका ।
छिन्ना निरपराधाया भर्तृरूपेण शत्रुणा ॥ १२,१०.७५ ॥
श्रुत्वैतं मुहुर् आक्रन्दं तस्याः सर्वे ससंभ्रमम् ।
उदतिष्ठन् प्रबुध्यात्र पतिः परिजनः पिता ॥ १२,१०.७६ ॥
एत्याथ तत्पिता दृष्ट्वा ताम् आर्द्रच्छिन्ननासिकाम् ।
क्रुद्धस् तं बन्धयामास भार्याद्रोहीति तत् पतिम् ॥ १२,१०.७७ ॥
स तु नैवाब्रवीत् किंचिद् बध्यमानो ऽपि मूकवत् ।
विपर्यस्तेषु सर्वेषु शृण्वत्सु श्वशुरादिषु ॥ १२,१०.७८ ॥
In the meanwhile, the thief, who had seen all what had happened, thought to himself “What has this woman done! The mind of a woman is like a dark well, whose depth one cannot truly fathom…I wonder what she will do now…” and so he followed her back home.
Vasudattā sneaked back into to her house, entered her room where her husband was still asleep, and screamed
“Help me! Help me! Oh what has this wicked man done to me! He bit my nose, even though I told him that I hadn’t done anything wrong!”
Her father and their servants came running, hearing her repeated cries, and her startled husband too woke up. Her father saw blood oozing out of the face of his beloved daughter, and flew into a rage. He beat up the poor husband and had him bound.
Samudradatta remained silent, for he saw that everyone had instantly turned against him, even before asking him for an explanation.
The thief, who had witnessed all this, felt disgusted at this turn of events, and slowly slipped away, the events of the night weighing hard on his thoughts.
When it was morning, the bound husband was taken to the king, along with his injured wife. The king, on hearing the story, ordered the husband to be put to death, for grievously injuring his wife and attempting to murder her.
The next day…
to be continued…