The Music of Hindostan c8.s1.40

c8.s1.40

And again, purity of singing. A hunter of Banāras captured in the Himālaya a brace of fairies (kinnara). He presented them to the king, who said, ‘Hunter, what kind of creatures (kim-nāra) are these?’ ‘My lord, these can sing with a honey voice, they dance delightfully; no man can dance or sing as they can.’ The king bestowed great reward on the hunter and commanded the fairies to sing and dance. But they thought, ‘If we are not able to convey the full sense of our song, the song will be a failure, they will abuse and hurt us; and then, again, those who speak much, speak falsely.’ So for fear of some falsehood or other they neither sang nor danced. Then the king said, ‘Kill these creatures and cook them and serve them up to me, one for supper and the other for breakfast.’ Then the fairy dame thought within herself, ‘Now the king is angry, without doubt he will kill us. Now is the time to speak’; and she sang: