The Priest Who Gambled With a Life (Misguided Morality)

　　Once upon a time, there was a king who loved to gamble with his royal priest. When he threw the dice, he always recited this lucky charm:

　　"If tempted any woman will, for sure, give up her faithfulness and act impure."

　　Amazing as it may seem, by using this charm the king always won! Before long, the royal priest lost almost every penny he owned.

　　He thought, "I have lost almost all my wealth to the king. It must be because of his lucky charm. I need to find a way to break the spell and win back my money. I must find a pure woman who has never had anything to do with a man. Then I will lock her up in my mansion and force her to remain faithful to me!"

　　This seemed like a good plan to him. But then he started having doubts. He thought, "It would be nearly impossible to keep a woman pure after she had already become accustomed to men. Therefore I must find the purest woman possible - one who has never even seen a man!"

　　Just then he happened to see a poor woman passing by. She was pregnant. The royal priest was an expert in reading the meaning of marks on the body. So he could tell that the unborn baby was a girl. And the thought occurred to him, "Aha! Only an unborn baby girl has never seen a man!"

　　The royal priest was willing to do anything to beat the king at dice. So he paid the poor woman to stay in his house and have her baby there. When the wonderful little girl was born, the priest bought her from her mother. Then he made sure she was raised only by women. She never saw a man - except of course the royal priest himself. When she grew up, he still kept her completely under his control. It was just as if he owned the poor girl!

　　The cruel priest did all this only because of his gambling habit. While the girl was growing up, he had avoided playing dice with the king. Now that she was of age, and still his prisoner, he challenged the king to a game of dice once again.

　　The king agreed. After they had made their bets, the king shook the dice and repeated his favourite lucky charm:

　　"If tempted any woman will, for sure, give up her faithfulness and act impure."

　　But just before he threw down the dice, the priest added:

　　"Except my woman - faithful evermore!"

　　Lo and behold, the king”s charm didn”t work. He lost that bet, and from then on the priest won every throw of the dice.

　　The king was puzzled by this turn of events. After considering, he thought, "This priest must have a pure woman locked up at home, one who is forced to be faithful to him alone. That”s why my lucky charm doesn”t work anymore."

　　He investigated and discovered what the cruel priest had done. So he sent for a well-known playboy character. He asked him if he could cause the lady”s downfall. He replied, "No problem, my lord!" The king paid him handsomely and told him to do the job quickly.

　　The man bought a supply of the finest perfumes and cosmetics. He set up a shop just outside the royal priest”s mansion. This mansion was seven stories high, with seven entrance gates - one on each floor. Women guarded each gate, and no man except the priest was allowed to enter.

　　Only only one servant waited on the priest”s lady. She carried everything in and out, including perfumes and cosmetics. The priest gave her money for her purchases.

　　The playboy saw the servant going in and out of the priest”s mansion. Soon he realised she was the one who could get him inside. So he devised a plan and hired some cronies to help him.

　　The next morning, when the serving lady went out to do her shopping, the playboy dramatically fell to the ground before her. Grabbing her knees he tearfully cried, "Oh my dear mother, it”s so wonderful to see you again after such a long time!"

　　Then his cronies chimed in, "Yes, this must be she! …

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