her new life as queen of that kingdom. Unfortunately, a storm crosses their path and the ship gets wrecked. Ratnavali alone is rescued by a passing merchant ship, and reaches the mainland safely. She however does not reveal her identity as princess of Simhala to the people who rescue her, because she is fearful of being held for political ransom, that her father or fiancée will be made to give up territories to secure her release. She therefore pretends to be suffering from amnesia. The merchants who rescue her are impressed by her rich garments, her refined speech and cultivated manners. They infer from all this that she is a lady of noble birth. Therefore, when they reach their native land (which is Kaushambi, by a coincidence), they place the nameless maiden in the custody of minister Yaugandharayana. By this time, news of the shipwreck and the loss of Princess Ratnavali has reached Kaushambi. The minister immediately recognizes that the girl rescued from the sea and suffering from amnesia is almost certainly the princess. He also sees the situation as an opportunity to reconcile Vasavadatta to the idea of receiving a co-wife. He gives the rescued girl a new name, "Sagarika," ("Ocean-lady"), takes her to the queen and asks her to keep the homeless waif as a maid. The queen agrees, and "Sagarika" becomes Vasavadatta's maid. Once, in the cupid festival, Sagarika sees Udayana and instantly falls in love with him. Sagarika sits in a grove and keeps herself occupied in drawing Udayana's picture and fantasizing about him. Her shrewd friend Susangatha finds her, takes the picture into her hands and draws the picture of Sagarika by the side of the king. Sagarika confesses her love to Susangatha and a bird Sarika hears the conversation. Suddenly, there is a panic in the grove because of an escaped monkey and the maidens run away from there. After a while, the Udayana and his jester enter the grove and hear the bird Sarika reproduce the ladies' conversation. They find the picture Sagarika and Susangatha have drawn, and Udayana finds it alluring. By this time, the two maidens return and overhear the conversation of the king and his jester, and see that Udayana is interested in Sagarika. Susangatha then makes a plan to bring Udayana and Sagarika together, but Vasavadatta (Udayana's first wife) also finds the picture when walking in the grove. Susangatha's