So he gave her the dress. Now the question was, how was this intended guest to be put off ? Well ! this was how it was done. Nâyinî said to the official she had invited: " When you come to dinner, mind and bring all the rest of the village functionaries with you. I will take care and give you a good dinner." So they all came in a body, and had an excellent entertainment; and they one and all said: " Well, this Sûrapâla is a lucky fellow: no one could be nicer or kinder than his wife is." And that was the way she kept her promise and cancelled the invitation.
Story XXXVII
IN a village called Sangrama there once lived a farmer. A man of the name of Pûrnapâla was a ploughman on the farm, and when the weather was too bad for work in the fields, he used to work in his master's house. Now Sûrapala had a daughter named Subhagâ, and she took a violent fancy to this ploughman, and used to go and meet him in a copse on the farm some way from the house. At last some of the labourers were rather scandalized at these goings on, so they went and told Sûrapala.
