Again the fearless King Vikramaditya took the corpse upon his shoulder and strode through the whistling dark of the cremation ground, bound by his word to the yogi. And Betaal, the spirit in the corpse, murmured: “Listen to a tale, O King — and remember, if you know the answer to my riddle and keep silent, your head will shatter into a hundred pieces.”
And Betaal began. “In Ujjain lived a brahmin named Harisvamin, whose daughter Somaprabha was famed far and wide. Her family vowed she would marry only a man of wondrous power. Three suitors came. To one, who possessed all knowledge — for nothing past, present or to come was hidden from him — her father gave his word. To another, who had built a chariot that flew through the sky, her mother gave hers. And to a third, a hero unmatched with sword and bow, her brother gave his. Three promises, one bride — and while the family argued, one night a rakshasa swept down from the clouds and carried Somaprabha away.
“The house was drowned in grief. Then the man of knowledge closed his eyes and said, ‘I see her — she is captive in the rakshasa's lair, deep in the Vindhya forest.’ The builder said, ‘Then mount my chariot!’ And it rose into the sky with all three aboard and flew swifter than wind to the demon's mountain. There the hero leapt down, challenged the rakshasa, and after a fierce battle struck him down. They set Somaprabha in the chariot and brought her safely home — and at once all three cried, ‘She was won by me!’”
“Whose wife should she be, O King? Speak, if you know!” And Vikram answered: “The hero's. The man of knowledge showed the way, and the builder of the chariot carried them there — they served the deed as the counsellor and the craftsman serve a king, and their work ended before the danger began. But the hero staked his very life, face to face with the rakshasa. Knowledge and skill prepare the way; the reward belongs to the one who risks himself to finish it. She belongs to the warrior.” “Rightly judged!” laughed Betaal. “But your tongue has betrayed you!” And he flew back to hang from the ancient tree.