King Vikram walked back to the tree, climbed it, and brought the corpse down again. Then, as soon as he resumed his journey through the cremation ground in that eerie stormy night carrying the corpse on his shoulder, the vampire possessed of the corpse began to speak. "O King, I do not know what you have done to deserve such toil and trouble, but in this world there are instances galore of people suffering for no fault of theirs. In this connection let me narrate to you the story of two boys. That might give you some relief."
The vampire began the story: Yajnasom was a wealthy man who had two sons, Harisom and Devasom. They boys were brought up with great care and comfort by their indulgent parents. But when they were in their teens, their parents died in an epidemic. There was nobody in the village to look after them.
The boys left for their maternal grandfather's house which was far away. On the way they were obliged to beg from passers-by and houses to appease their hunger. At night sometimes they got shelter, sometimes they did not, when they slept under trees. At last when they reached their grandfather's house, they found to their dismay that he was no more! However, their maternal uncle stepped in and took charge of the boys.
He was a kind man. He fed and clothed the boys well enough and even sent them to a school. But in the next few years, the uncle fell into bad days. One morning he called his nephews and said, "Listen, my boys, I'm sorry to inform you that I've become a poor man. I don't have any means to keep a servant to tend my cows and you have to do is to lead them into the fields and keep an eye on them while they graze, and to bring them back in the evening. What do you say?"
