King Vikramaditya as usual walked with Baital on his shoulder when Baital started telling a story—“Once upon a time, there lived a rich merchant named Hemdeva in the city of Surya Nagar. He had a lovely daughter named Vidyawati. When she was of a marriageable age, Hemdeva began searching for a suitable groom for her. One day, a young man named Haldhar came to meet Hemdeva. He was Hemdeva’s friend’s son who had passed away. Haldhar said that after his father’s death he had set out for an island with all the wealth for business but in the middle of the sea a cyclone came and his ship turned upside down. That was why he lost everything. Saying so, Haldhar began to cry bitterly. Hemdeva believed him and consoled him. But the reality was poles apart. Haldhar was a rogue and kept bad company.
Haldhar
