plumage, whereas thy sons are all as crows.  Forsaking lions thou art protecting jackals!  O king, when the time cometh, thou wilt have to grieve for all this.  That master, O sire, who doth not give vent to his displeasure with devoted servants zealously pursuing his good, enlisteth the confidence of his servants.  In fact, the latter adhere to him even in distress.  By confiscating the grants to one’s servants or stopping their pay, one should not seek to amass wealth, for even affectionate counsellors deprived of their means of life and enjoyment, turn against him and leave him (in distress).  Reflecting first on all intended acts and adjusting the wages and allowances of servants with his income and expenditure, a king should make proper alliances, for there is nothing that cannot be accomplished by alliances.  That officer who fully understanding the intentions of his royal master dischargeth all duties with alacrity, and who is respectable himself and devoted to his master, always telleth what is for his master’s good, and who is fully acquainted with the extent of his own might and with that also of those against, whom he may be engaged, should be regarded by the king as his second self.  That servant, however, who commanded (by his master) disregardeth the latter’s injunctions and who enjoined to do anything refuseth to submit, proud as he is of his own intelligence and given to arguing against his master, should be got rid of without the least delay.  Men of learning say that a servant should be endued with these eight qualities, viz., absence of pride, ability, absence of procrastination, kindness, cleanliness, incorruptibility, birth in a family free from the taint of disease, and weightiness of speech.  No man should confidently enter an enemy’s house after dusk even with notice.  One should not at night lurk in the yard of another’s premises, nor should one seek to enjoy a woman to whom the king himself might make love.  Never set thyself against the decision to which a person hath arrived who keepeth low company and who is in the habit of consulting all he meeteth.  Never tell him,—­I do not believe thee,—­but assigning some reason send him away on a pretext.  A king who is exceedingly merciful, a woman of lewd character, the servant of a king, a son, a brother, a widow having an infant son one serving in the army, and one that hath suffered great losses, should never be engaged in pecuniary transactions of lending or borrowing.  These eight qualities shed a lustre on men, viz., wisdom, high lineage, acquaintance with scriptures, self-restraint, prowess, moderation in speech, gift to the extent of one’s power, and gratefulness.  These high qualities, O sire, are necessarily brought together by one only by gifts.  When the king favours a person, that incident (of royal favour) bringeth in all others and holdeth them together.  He that performeth ablutions winneth these ten, viz., strength, beauty, a clear voice, capacity to utter all the alphabetical sounds, delicacy