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diff --git a/11499-0.txt b/11499-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6d508c3 --- /dev/null +++ b/11499-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1904 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11499 *** + +AN ESSENCE OF THE DUSK + + + + _Love turns venom, now I see, + Flouted Beauties vipers be._ + + + + +TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT + +BY + +F.W. BAIN + + +DEDICATED TO THE OTHER SEX. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +More generally known, perhaps, than any other Hindoo legend, is the +story of the demon, RÁHU, who brings about ECLIPSES, by devouring the +Sun and Moon. For when the gods had upchurned the nectar, the delectable +Butter of the Brine, Ráhu's mouth watered at the very sight of it: and +"in the guise of a god" he mingled unperceived among them, to partake. +But the Sun and Moon, the watchful Eyes of Night and Day, detected him, +and told Wishnu, who cast at him his discus, and cut his body from his +head: but not until the nectar was on the way down his throat. Hence, +though the body died, the head became immortal: and ever since, a thing +unique, "no body and all head," a byword among philosophers, he takes +revenge on Sun and Moon, the great Taletellers, by "gripping" them in +his horrid jaws, and holding on, till he is tired, or can be persuaded +to let go. Hence, in some parts of India, the doleful shout of the +country people at eclipses: _Chor do! chor do[1]!_ and hence, also, the +primary and surface meaning of our title: _A Digit of the Moon in the +Demon's grip_: in plain English, _an eclipse of the moon_. And yet, +legend though it be, there is something in the old mythological way of +putting the case, which describes the situation in eclipses, far better +than our arid scientific prose. I shall not easily forget, how, as we +slid like ghosts at midnight, through the middle of the desert, along +the Suez Canal[2], I watched the ghastly pallor of the wan unhappy moon, +as the horrible shadow crept slowly over her face, stealing away her +beauty, and turning the lone and level sands that stretched away below +to a weird and ashy blue, as though covering the earth with a sepulchral +sympathetic pall. For we caught the "griesly terror," Ráhu, at his +horrid work, towards the end of May, four years ago. + + [1] _Let go! let go!_ + + [2] Though nothing can be less romantic than a canal, + gliding through that of Suez is a strange experience at + night. Your great ship seems to move, swift and noiseless, + through the very sand: and if only you could get there + without knowing where you were, you would think that you + were dreaming. + +But our title has yet another meaning underneath the first, for _Ahi_, +the name employed for Ráhu (like all other figures in Indian mythology, +he is known by many names), also means a _snake_. _Beauty persecuted by +a snake_ is the subject of the story. That story will presently explain +itself: but the relation between _Ráhu_, or eclipses, and a snake is so +curiously illustrated by a little insignificant occurrence that happened +to myself, that the reader will doubtless forgive me for making him +acquainted with it. + +Being at Delhi, not many years ago, I seized the opportunity to visit +the Kutub Minár. There was famine in the land. At every station I had +passed upon the way were piled the hides of bullocks, and from the train +you might see their skeletons lying, each one bleaching where it died +for want of fodder, scattered here and there on the brown and burning +earth; for even every river bed was waterless, and not a single blade of +green could you descry, for many hundred miles. And hence it came about, +that as I gazed upon the two emaciated hacks that were to pull me from +the station, a dozen miles out, and as many more back, I could bring +myself to sit behind them only by the thought that thereby I should save +them from a load far greater than my own, that would have been their +fate on my refusal. Therefore we started, and did ultimately arrive, in +the very blaze of noon. + +The Kutub Minár is a needle of red stone, that rises from a plain as +flat as paper to a height of two hundred and fifty feet; and you might +compare it, as you catch, approaching, glimpses of it at a distance, to +a colossal chimney, a Pharos, or an Efreet of the Jinn. The last would +be the best. For nothing on the surface of the earth can parallel the +scene of desolation which unrols itself below, if you climb its 380 +steps and look out from the dizzy verge: a thing that will test both the +muscle of your knees and the steadiness of your nerves. Round you is +empty space: look down, the pillar bends and totters, and you seem to +rock in air; you shudder, you are falling; and away, away below, far as +the eye can carry, you see the dusty plain, studded with a thousand +tombs and relics of forgotten kings. There is the grim old fortress of +the Toghlaks: there is the singular observatory of the rájá astronomer, +Jaya Singh: and there the tomb, Humaioon's tomb, before which Hodson, +Hodson the brave, Hodson the slandered, Hodson the unforgotten, sat, for +two long hours, still, as if man and horse were carved in stone, with +the hostile crowd that loathed and feared him tossing and seething and +surging round him, waiting for the last Mogul to come out and be led +away. The air is thick, and sparkles with blinding dust and glare, and +the wind whistles in your ears. Over the bones of dynasties, the hot +wind wails and sobs and moans. Aye! if a man seeks for melancholy, I +will tell him where to find it--at the top of the old Kutub Minár. + +And then, that happened which I had foreseen. We had not gone a mile +upon our homeward way, when one of the horses fell. Therefore, +disregarding the asseverations of my rascally Jehu that the remaining +animal was fully equal to the task alone, I descended, and proceeded on +foot. But a ten mile walk on the Delhi plain in the hottest part of the +day is not a thing to be recommended. After plodding on for about two +hours, I was, like Langland, "wery forwandred," and went me to rest, not +alas! by a burnside, but in the shadow of one of the innumerable little +tombs that stand along the dusty road. There I lay down and fell asleep. + +Nothing induces slumber like exertion under an Indian sun. When I +awoke, that sun was setting. A little way before me, the yellow walls of +Delhi were bathed in a ruddy glow; the minarets of the Great Mosque +stood out sharp against the clear unspotted amber sky. And as I watched +them, I suddenly became aware that I was myself observed with interest +by a dusky individual, who was squatted just in front of me, and who +rose, salaaming, when he saw that I was awake. It appeared that I had, +so to say, fallen into a "nest of vipers;" that I had unwittingly +invaded the premises of a snake dealer, who, no doubt for solid reasons, +had made my friendly tomb the temporary repository of his +stock-in-trade. + +The Indian snake charmer, _gáruda, hawadiga_[3], or whatever else they +call him, is as a rule but a poor impostor. He goes about with one +fangless cobra, one rock snake, and one miserable mongoose, strangling +at the end of a string. My dweller in tombs was richer than all his +tribe in his snakes, and in his eyes. I have never seen anybody else +with real cat's eyes: eyes with exactly that greenish yellow luminous +glare which you see when you look at a cat in the dark. They gleamed and +rolled in the evening sun, over a row of shining teeth, as their owner +squatted down before me, liberating one after another from little bags +and baskets an amazing multitude of snakes, which he fetched in batches +from the interior of the tomb, till the very ground seemed alive with +them[4]. Some of them he handled only with the greatest respect, and by +means of an iron prong. Outside the Zoo (where they lose in effect) I +never saw so many together before: and it is only when you see a number +of these reptiles together that you realise what a strange uncanny +being, after all, is a snake: and as you watch him, lying, as it were, +in wait, beautiful exceedingly, but with a beauty that inspires you with +a shudder, his eyes full of cruelty and original sin, and his tongue of +culumny and malice, you begin to understand his influence in all +religions. I was wholly absorbed in their snaky evolutions, and buried +in mythological reminiscences, when my _gáruda_ roused me suddenly, by +saying: _Huzoor_, look! + + [3] _Háwa_, in Canarese, is the name of Ráhu. + + [4] I did not count them, but there were several dozen, + nearly all different. I have reason to believe that this + man must have been one of the disciples of a former very + celebrated snake charmer, who was known all over India. + +He leaned over, and administered with his bare hand a vicious dig to a +magnificent hamadryad, that lay coiled upon itself in its open basket. +The creature instantly sat up, with a surge of splendid passion, +hissing, bowing, and expanding angrily its great tawny hood. The +_gáruda_ put his _púngi_ to his lips, and blew for a while upon it a low +and wheezy drone,--the invariable prelude to a little _jadoo_, or black +art,--which the beautiful animal appeared to appreciate: and then, +pointing with the end of his pipe to the "spectacles" on its hood, he +said, with that silky, insinuating smile which is characteristic of the +scamp: _Huzoor, dekho, namas karta_[5]:-- + + _Nágki phani, chánd ka dúkh + Uski badi, áp ka súkh_[6]. + + [5] _See, he makes obeisance._ + + [6] Which we may roughly render: _Hood of snake brings joy + and rue, this to moon and that to you._ In all Oriental + saws, jingle counts for much. + +I did not understand his lunar allusion, but, judging that his rhyming +gibberish, like that of the rascally priests in Apuleius, was a +carefully prepared oracle of general application, kept in stock for the +cozening of such prey as myself, I repeated to him my favourite Hindu +proverb[7], and gave him, in exchange for his benevolent cheque on the +future, a more commonplace article of present value, which led to our +parting on the most amicable terms. But I did him injustice, perhaps. +Long afterwards, having occasion to consult an astronomical chart, with +reference to this very story, all at once I started, and in an instant, +the golden evening, the walls of Delhi, and my friend of the many snakes +and sinister eyes, suddenly rose up again into my mind. For there, +staring at me out of the chart, was the mark on the cobra's head. It is +the sign still used in modern astronomy for "the head and tail of the +dragon," the nodes indicating the point of occultation, the symbol of +eclipse. + + [7] "_Tulsi, in this world hobnob with everybody: for you + never know in what guise the deity may present himself._" + In the original it is a rhyming stanza. + +What then induced or inspired the _gáruda_ to connect me with the moon? +Was it really black art, divination, or was it only a coincidence? +Reason recommends the latter alternative: and yet, the contrary +persuasion is not without its charm. Who knows? It may be, that the soul +grows to its atmosphere as well as the body, and living in a land where +dreams are realities, and all things are credible, and history is only a +fairy tale: the land of the moon and the lotus and the snake, old gods +and old ruins, former births, second sight, and idealism: it falls back, +unconsciously mesmerised, under the spell of forgotten creeds. + + +POONA, + +_April, 1906._ + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +I. A HAUNTED BEAUTY + +II. A TOTAL ECLIPSE + +III. A FATAL KISS + + + + +A Haunted Beauty. + + + +I. + + _May that triumphant Lord protect us, who as he stands in + mysterious meditation, bathed in twilight, motionless, and + ashy pale[1], with the crystal moon in his yellow hair, + appears to the host of worshippers on his left, a woman, + and to those on his right, a man._ + + [1] Being actually smeared with ashes. The god is of course + Shiwa, and the allusion is to his _Ardhanári_, or half + male, half female form. + + +There lived of old, on the edge of the desert, a rájá of the race of the +sun. And like that sun reflected at midday in the glassy depths of the +Mánasa lake, he had an image of himself in the form of a son[2], who +exactly resembled him in every particular, except age. And he gave him +the name of Aja, for he said: He is not another, but my very self that +has conquered death, and passed without birth straight over into another +body. Moreover, he will resemble his ancestor, and the god after whom I +have called him Aja[3]. So as this son grew up, his father's delight in +him grew greater also. For he was tall as a _shála_ tree, and very +strong, and yet like another God of Love: for his face was more +beautiful than the face of any woman, with large eyes like lapis-lazuli, +and lips like laughter incarnate: so that his father, as often as he +looked at him, said to himself: Surely the Creator has made a mistake, +and mixed up his male and female ingredients, and made him half and +half. For if only he had had a twin sister, it would have been difficult +to tell with certainty, which was which. + + [2] This punning assonance is precisely in the vein of the + original. + + [3] This name (pronounce Aj- to rhyme with _trudge_) + meaning both _unborn_ and _a goat_, is a name of the sun + (who was a goat in Assyria), the soul, Brahma, Wishnu, + Shiwa, the God of Love, and others. It was also the name of + Rama's grandfather. + +And then, when Aja was eighteen, his father died. And immediately, his +relations conspired against him, led by his maternal uncle. And they +laid a plot, and seized him at night, and bound him when he was asleep: +for they dared not attack him when he was awake, for fear of his courage +and his prodigious strength. And they deliberated over him, as he lay +bound, what they should do with him: and some of them were for putting +him to death, then and there. But the prime minister, who was in the +plot, persuaded them to let him live: saying to himself: In this way I +shall make for myself a loophole of escape, in case he should ever +regain his throne. + +Then in the early morning, his uncle and his other relations took him +away, and laid him bound on a swift camel. And mounting others, they +hurried him away into the desert, going at full speed for hours, till +they reached its very heart. And there they set him down. And they +placed beside him a little water in a small skin, and a little bag of +corn. And his uncle said: Now, O nephew, we will leave thee, alone with +thy shadow and thy life in the sand. And if thou canst save thyself, by +going away to the western quarter, lo! it is open before thee. But +beware of attempting to return home, towards the rising sun. For I will +set guards to watch thy coming, and I will not spare thee a second time. + +And then, he set his left arm free, and laid beside him a little knife. +And they mounted their camels, and taking his, they flew away from him +over the sand, like the shadow of a cloud driven by the western wind. + +So when they were gone, Aja took the knife, and cut his bonds. And he +stood up, and watched them going, till they became specks on the edge +of the desert, and vanished out of his sight. + + + +II. + + +Then he looked round to the eight quarters of the world, and he looked +up into the sky. And he said to himself: There is my ancestor, alone +above, and I am alone, below. And he put his two hands to his breast, +and flung them out into the air. And he exclaimed: Bho! ye guardians of +the world[4], ye are my witnesses. Thus do I fling away the past, and +now the whole wide world is mine, and ye are my protectors. And I have +escaped death by a miracle, and the craft of that old villain of a prime +minister, whom I will one day punish as he deserves. And now it is as +though I knew, for the very first time in all my life, what it was to be +alive. Ha! I live and breathe, and there before me is food and water. +And now we will see, which is the stronger: Death in the form of this +lonely desert, or the life that laughs at his menace as it dances in my +veins. And little I care for the loss of my kingdom, now that my father +is dead and gone. I throw it away like a blade of grass, and so far from +lamenting, I feel rather as if I had been born again. Ha! it is good to +be alive, even in this waste of sand. And he shouted aloud, and called +out to the sun above him: Come, old Grandfather, thou and I will travel +together across the sand. And yet, no. Thou art too rapid and too fierce +to be a safe companion, even for one of thy own race. So thou shalt go +before me, as is due to thee, and I will follow after. + + [4] The _Lokapálas_, or regents of the world, often thus + appealed to, are eight: Kubera, Isha, Indra, Agni, Yama, + Niruti, Waruna, and Wayu: and they ride on a horse, a bull, + an elephant, a ram, a buffalo, a man, a "crocodile," and a + stag. + +And then, he lay down on the sand, covering his head with his upper +garment, and slept and waited all day long, till the sun was going down. +And then he rose, and eat and drank a very little, and taking with him +his skin and corn, he walked on after the sun, which sank to his rest in +the western mountain. But Aja followed him all night long, with the moon +for his only companion. And as he went, he saw the bones of men and +camels, lying along the sand, and grinning at him as it were with white +and silent laughter, as though to say: Anticipate thy fate: for but a +little further on, and thou shalt be what we are now. But he went on +with nimble feet, like one that hurries through the den of a sleeping +hungry lion, till the sun rose at last behind him. And then again he lay +down, and rested all day long, and started again at night. And so he +proceeded for many days, till all his water and corn was gone. And as he +threw away the skin, he set his teeth, and said: No matter. I will reach +the end of this hideous sand, which like the dress of Draupadi[5], seems +to roll itself out as I go across it, though I should have to go walking +on long after I am dead. + + [5] When she was lost in the gambling match, and Duhshásana + tried to strip her, still as he pulled off one dress, + another appeared below it, refusing to leave her naked. + +And night after night he went on, growing every night a little weaker. +And then at last there came a night when as he toiled along with heavy +steps that flagged as it were with loaded feet, faint with hunger and +burning thirst, he said to himself: I am nearly spent, and now the end +is coming near, either of the sand, or me. And then the sun rose behind +him, and he looked up, and lo! it was reflected from the wall of a city +before him, which resembled another sun of hope rising in the west to +cheer him. And he rubbed his eyes, and looked again, saying to himself: +Is it a delusion of the desert, to mock me as I perish, or is it really +a true city? And he said again: Ha! it is a real city. And his ebbing +strength came back to him with a flood of joy. And he stooped, and took +up a little sand, and turned, and threw it back, exclaiming: Out upon +thee, abode of death![6] Now, then, I have beaten thee, and thy victim +will after all escape. And he hurried on towards the city, half afraid +to take his eyes away from it for a single instant, lest it should +disappear. + + [6] Still the name of Marwar. + +So as he drew near it, he saw a crowd upon its wall. And when he was +distant from it but a little way, suddenly its great gate's mouth was +thrown open, and a stream of people shot from it like a long tongue, and +rapidly came towards him, so that he said to himself: Ha! then, as it +seems, I am expected by the citizens of this delightful city, who are as +eager to come to me as I am to get to them. And they came closer, +clamouring and buzzing as it were like bees; and he looked and lo! they +were all women, and there was not a man among them all. And as he +wondered, they ran up, and reached him, and threw themselves upon him +like a wave of the sea, laughing and crying, and drowning him in their +embraces: and they took him as it were captive, and swept him away +towards the city, all talking at once, and deafening him with their +joyful exclamations, paying not the least attention to anything that he +tried to say. And Aja let himself go, carried away by all those women +like a leaf in a rushing stream. And he said to himself, in +astonishment: What is this great wonder? For all these women fight for +me, as if they had never seen a man in their lives before. Where then +can the men be, to whom they must belong? Or can it be, that I have come +to a city composed of women without a man? Have I escaped the desert, +only to be drowned in a sea of women? For what is the use of a single +man, in an ocean of the other sex? Or are they dragging me away to offer +me up to the Mother[7], having sacrificed all their own husbands +already? Or have I really died in the desert, and is all this only a +dream of the other world? Can these be the heavenly Apsarases, come in a +body to fetch me away, as if I had fallen in battle? Surely they are, +for some of them are sufficiently beautiful even for Indra's hall. And +anyhow, it is better to be torn to pieces by beautiful women, even if +there are far too many, than to die in the desert, all alone. + + [7] Durgá or Párwatí. + +So as they bore him along, chattering on like jays and cranes, he said +again to the women next him: Fair ones, who are you, and where are you +taking me, and why in the world are you so greatly delighted to see me? +And then at last, they replied: O handsome stranger, ask nothing: very +soon thou shalt know all, for we are carrying thee away to our King. And +Aja said to himself: Ha! So, then, there is a King. These women have, +after all, a King. Truly, I am fain to see him, this singular King of a +female city. And weak as he was, he began to laugh, as they all were +laughing: and so they all surged on like a very sea of laughter, through +the gates of the city, and along the streets within, till they came at +last to the King's palace. And all the way, Aja looked, and there was +not to be seen so much as the shadow of a man in all the streets, which +overflowed with women like the channel of a river in the rainy season. + +Then the guards of the palace doors, who were also women, took him, and +led him in; and all the women who had brought him crowded in behind. +And they mounted stairs, and after a while, they entered at last a great +hall, whose pillars of alabaster were reflected in its dark green +crystal floor, giving it the semblance of a silent pool in which a +multitude of colossal swans had buried their necks beneath the water. +And there Aja found himself in the presence of the King. + +And instantly, all the women screamed together: Victory to thee, +Maharájá! for here have we brought thee another husband for thy lovely +daughter. And Aja started. And he said to himself: Another husband! How +many husbands, then, has this strange King's daughter got already? Has +she an insatiable thirst for husbands, whose number I am brought to +swell? So as he stood reflecting, the King leaped from his throne, and +came towards him. And as Aja looked at him, he was seized with amazement +greater than before. For the King resembled a very incarnation of the +essence of grief, yet such, that it was difficult to behold him without +laughter, as if the Creator had made him to exhibit skill in combining +the two. For his long thin hair was pure white, as if with sorrow, and +his eyes were red, as if with weeping, and great hollow ruts were +furrowed in his sunk and withered cheeks, as if the tears had worn +themselves channels in which to run. And though he was tall, he was +bent and old, as if bowed down by a load of care. And he tried, as if in +vain, to smile, as he said in a mournful voice that quavered and +cracked: O man, whoever thou art, long have I waited for thee, and glad +indeed I am to see thee, and inclined to dance like a peacock at the +sight of a rainy cloud. + +And as he gazed upon the King, Aja was seized with sudden laughter that +would not be controlled: saying within himself: Much in common they have +between them, a dancing happy peacock, and this doleful specimen of a +weeping King! And he laughed, till tears ran down his cheeks also, as if +in imitation of those of the King. And when at last he could speak, he +said: O King, forgive me. For I am very weak, and have come within a +little of dying in the desert. And I laughed from sheer exhaustion, and +for joy to see in thy person as it were the warrant of my escape from +death. Give me food, and above all, water, if thou wouldst not have me +die at thy feet. And afterwards, show me, if thou wilt, thy daughter, to +whom, as it seems, I am to be married, whether I will or no. And the +King said: O thou model of the Creator's cunning in the making of man, +thy hilarity is excused. Food thou shalt have, and water, and +everything else thou canst require, and that immediately. But as for my +daughter, there she is before thee. And she could teach dancing even to +Tumburu himself[8]. + + [8] A Ghandarwa, or heavenly musician, and the dancing + master of the Apsarases. [Pronounce tum- to rhyme with + _room_, rather short.] + + + +III. + + +And then, as the laughter surged again in Aja's soul, saying within +himself: Out on this pitiable old scarecrow of a King, whose only +thought is dancing! the King turned, and stood aside. And Aja looked, +and instantly, the laughter died out of his heart, which ceased as it +were to beat. And he murmured to himself: Ha! this is the most wonderful +thing of all. King and women and desert and all vanished out of his +mind, as if the sentiment that suddenly seized it filled it so +completely as to leave room for nothing else. And he stood still gazing, +feeling as though he were spinning round, though he was standing still +as death. For there before him stood this enigmatical King's daughter. +And like her father, she also seemed an incarnation of the soul of +grief, not as in his case ignominious, and an object of derision, but +rather resembling a heavenly drug, compounded of the camphor of the cold +and midnight moon, that had put on a fragrant form of feminine and fairy +beauty to drive the world to sheer distraction, half with love and half +with woe. For like the silvery vision of the newborn streak of that Lord +of Herbs, she was slender and pale and wan, formed as it seemed of some +new strange essence of pure clear ice and new dropt snow, and she loomed +on the soul of Aja out of the blackness of his trance like a large white +drooping lily, just seen in the gloom of an inky night. And her hair and +brow were the colour of a thunder-cloud in the month of Chaitra[9], and +like that cloud, the heavy sorrow hung in her great dark mournful eyes, +drenching him as it were with a shower of dusky dreamy dewy beauty, and +drawing him down bewitched and lost like the victim of a haunted pool +into the snaky eddy of their silent unfathomable recess. And yet her +deep red lips trembled, as it were on the very border of a smile, as if +they were hinting against their will of a mine of laughter and subtle +snares that they were not allowed to use. And she had risen up to come +and meet him, yet was hanging back as if reluctant, and so she stood, +all reflected in the polished floor, with her head thrown back to look +at him, for she was very small, like one on the very point of imploring +help, yet shrinking, as if too proud to ask it from a stranger, balanced +as it were between reliance on her own pure and pleading beauty and +doubtfulness of its reception. So she halted irresolute, with glorious +throat that was hovering still over the swell of her lifted breasts, +poised as it were on the very verge of tumultuous oscillation, like that +of Rati, preparing with timidity to cast herself at the feet of the +three-eyed God, to beg back the body of her burned-up husband in a +passion of love-lorn tears. + + [9] April. + +And Aja stood before her, like the sea when the digit of the moon rises +suddenly over its waves, stirred with a tumult of strange emotions, and +yet lit by a heavenly ray, a mass of agitated darkness mixed with +dancing, trembling light; all unaware that he was himself to the King's +daughter exactly what she was to him, a weapon of bewilderment in the +hands of the cunning god of the flowery bow, who shot him suddenly at +her, like an arrow of intoxication, and pierced her through the very +middle of the soft lotus of her heart. + +So they two stood awhile in silence. And all at once, Aja spoke, not +knowing that he spoke aloud. And he said, very slowly: How many +husbands, then, have already had this lustrous beauty, who looks for all +as pure and pale and undefiled as a new young delicate jasmine bud? And +instantly, as if roused from sleep by his reproach, he saw the colour +leap up into her cheek, and spread like dawn flushing over her burning +throat and brow. And she drew a sudden breath, and her bosom heaved +abruptly as if with a sob of shame. And at that moment, the voice of the +King her father broke harshly into Aja's dream, saying: Alas! alas! +Never a husband has had her yet, though she is now long past sixteen, +and could even teach Tumburu dancing. + +And then, as if the King's words had suddenly lifted a weight from his +soul, Aja burst into a shout of laughter. And he tottered, as if to +fall. And he caught at the old King's arm, and gripped it so that he +almost screamed, exclaiming amid his laughter: Ha! King, I am also the +son of a King: and now I will be thy son-in law. And she shall have a +husband at last, and teach him, if she pleases, dances, that even +Tumburu does not know. And with that, he fell into such a paroxysm of +laughter, that weak as he was, he could not stand, but fell: and his +laughter turned to sobbing. Then the King's daughter turned to her +father, with an angry flush on her brow. And she said, with strong +emotion: O father, wilt thou delay for ever to send for food and water? +Dost thou not see that this King's son, great and powerful though he be, +is weak, and it may be, perishing, before thy face, of hunger and +thirst, having escaped by a miracle out of the desert to die by thy +neglect. + +And she clapped her hands, stamping her foot in indignation. Then the +women ran, and took up Aja, and carried him away. And they bathed him, +and tended him, and fed him till he was recovered: and after a while, +they brought him back, into the presence of the King. + + + +IV. + + +So he came once more into that hall, looking like another man. And he +seemed in the eyes of the King like the rising sun of his daughter's +marriage, but in those of his daughter like the very God of Love, newly +risen from his own ashes. And he said joyously: O King, now I am again +myself: and my reason and my strength have both again returned to me. +And if in their absence, I behaved strangely and without good manners, +it behoves thee to lay the blame rather on the desert of sand, that +surrounds thy city, than on myself. For I was like one delirious, and +half distracted, by wonder and other feelings coming to the aid of +hunger and thirst. Then he told the King his name and family, and all +his story, looking all the while at the King's daughter, as she did all +the while at him, with glances that resembled sighs. But as he watched +her, Aja said to himself in wonder: What has happened to her, since I +saw her first, and what is the matter with her, now? For her quiet grief +has abandoned her, and she looks like one in a burning fever; and two +red spots, like suns, burn and blaze upon her cheeks, and her great eyes +shine and glow, as if there was a fire within her soul. So when he had +finished his own tale, he said: Now, then, O King, I have told thee all +that I have to tell. And now it is thy turn to speak. Explain to me all +this wonder; for I seem to move in a maze of extraordinary events. Why +are there, in thy city, no men, but only women? And what is the cause of +thy grief? And, greatest wonder of all, how comes it that thou hast +found a difficulty in finding a husband for this thy daughter? For, as +for myself, know, that, make any terms thou wilt, I am ready to marry +her, blindfold, on any conditions whatever: nay, would she only be my +wife, I should consider the fruit of my birth attained. + +And then, to his amazement, that strange old King began to weep once +more. And tears flowed down his cheeks like rain, as he said: Alas! +alas! O son-in-law that would be, so fine a man art thou, that I am +distressed indeed to see thee, and to hear thee so eagerly proposing to +take my daughter for thy wife. For all that have preceded thee, and they +were many hundreds, have said the very same: and yet all without +exception have come to a miserable end: and there she is, unmarried +still[10]. And yet this is no fault of hers, unless indeed it be a fault +to be beautiful beyond compare. Nor has her maiden purity been sullied +in the least degree by ever a suitor of them all. But all this has come +about by reason of a fault of mine, itself, beyond a doubt, the bitter +fruit of the tree of crimes committed in a former birth. For know, that +long ago, when I was young, I conquered the entire earth, and brought it +all, from sea to sea, under the shadow of one umbrella. So when I was +reposing, after my exertions, one day there came to see me Nárada and +another _rishi_. And Nárada entered first. And when he complimented me, +as the chosen husband of the earth, I said to myself: Now, I must make +him some suitable return. And accordingly, I presented him with the +whole earth. Then he replied: O King, what is the use of the earth to +me? And he gave it back to me, with his blessing, saying: Obtain an +incomparably beautiful offspring[11]! and so he went away. And then the +other great _rishi_ entered, and congratulated me also. And I presented +him also with the entire earth. Then that _rishi_ looked at me with eyes +that were red with anger. And he said slowly: What! Is my merit utterly +despised? Dost thou presume to offer me only the leavings of another? +Thou shalt indeed obtain offspring, but only of the female sex. And +beautiful it shall be indeed: but little shall that beauty profit +either thyself or her. So having uttered his curse[12], he laughed, and +instantly went away, refusing to be propitiated or to throw any light +upon the future. And thereafter in due time there was born to me, not +the nectar of a son, but this lump of grief in the form of a daughter. +And as if her sex were not enough[13], her almost inconceivable beauty +and accomplishments have only added to my calamity: nay, they are the +very root of it, and the essence of its sting. For all has come to pass, +exactly as that testy old _rishi_ said. For though she is, as thou +seest, beautiful as the moon, and like it, full of arts[14], and above +all, a dancer that would turn even Tumburu green with envy, all this +nectar has become poison by the curse of that old ascetic, and the very +perfection of her beauty has become the means of undoing us both. For +about two years ago, as we were walking together at midnight, on the +terrace of the palace, that forms the edge of the city wall, enjoying +the cold camphor of the moon after the heat of a burning day, suddenly, +out of the desert, we heard as it were the rush of wings. And as we +stood and listened, there arose in the air a sound of voices, like those +of a man and woman in vehement dispute. But though we could distinguish +the tones, we could not understand the meaning, for the language was +unknown to us. And then, after a while, those two invisible air-goers +appeared all at once before our eyes, seated on the battlements, in the +form of a pair of vultures[15]. And immediately, the male vulture spoke +with a human voice, saying: O King, give me now this daughter of thine +to wife. And instantly I answered rashly: Never will I bestow my +daughter on a bird of ill-omen such as thou art. Thereupon that +evil-minded suitor laughed like a hyaena: and instantly my daughter fell +into a swoon. And as she lay in the moonlight, she looked so +indescribably and unutterably beautiful, that even that loathsome bird +was moved. And he said to his companion: Daughter, I was right, and +thou wert wrong. Look, and see, and allow, that she is far more +beautiful than even thou art. Thereupon that _gridhri_[16] laughed also, +and she said: Time shall show. Listen, King. This is Kírttisena, a +nephew of Wásuki, King of the Snakes, and I am his only daughter. For +this form of vulture was assumed by us, only to converse with thee. Now +he maintained thy daughter to be more beautiful than I am. Thereupon I +vowed vengeance. But I agreed to leave her unmolested, if thou didst +give her to him for a wife. So to preserve her from my vengeance, he +asked her of thee in marriage. Now, then, since thou hast rejected his +suit, despising him hastily for his outward form, and since my own +beauty has been slighted by his comparison, ye two shall be punished, +she for her beauty, and thou for thy insolence, and through the means of +that very beauty, on account of which my father and I have become +contemptible. See, O thou who despisest a suitor, whether thou canst +easily procure another. This shall be the condition of thy daughter's +marriage. Whatever suitor shall lay claim to her, thou shalt send up to +this terrace alone at flight. And if he claims, and does not come, we +will swallow thy city whole, houses and all. Then those two vultures +disappeared. And not long afterwards, hearing that my daughter was to be +given in marriage, suitors arrived like swarms of bees from every +quarter of the world, attracted by her fame. For she is called +Yashowatí, because the fame of her fills the world. Then all those +suitors followed one another, like the days of the year in which they +went, up upon the terrace of the city wall: and like those days, not one +of them all has ever returned, but they have vanished utterly, none +knows how, or where. And when all the distant suitors were exhausted, +and all the neighbouring kings, then, in my ardent desire to get her +married, no matter how, to no matter whom, I offered her to the men of +my own city, showing her to them from the palace windows. And every man +that saw her ran to win her; and one by one, the men of the city +followed after her former suitors, till they grew few in the city. +Thereupon the women banded together, and took their husbands and their +sons and everything in the shape of a man, and hid them: and now as thou +seest, there is not a man to be seen or found, in the whole city. But +every stranger that comes to the city, they catch, and bring him +straight to me, as they have done in thy case also. And the mere sight +of my daughter always makes him not only willing, but, as thou art, even +eager, to marry her at any cost. And yet they have all utterly vanished, +like stones, dropped, one after another, into a well without a floor. +And there is my daughter, maiden and unmarried still. And I can see my +ancestors, wringing their hands for grief: knowing well, that as soon as +I myself am dead, it is all over with their race. For who will offer +them water, since the fatal beauty of my only daughter has set a term to +my ancient line? + + [10] It may not be superfluous to remind the English + reader, that, according to Hindoo ideas, there is no + disgrace like that of possessing an unmarried daughter. + Hence the practice, among the Rajpoots and adjacent + peoples, of destroying the female infants, to avoid it. + + [11] Intending, of course, a son. Unfortunately he employed + a word of indeterminate gender: hence the lamentable + _denouement_. For in ancient India, as in ancient Rome, the + _spoken word_, the letter, determined everything. + + [12] Nothing in Hindoo mythology is more absurd than the + implacable fury of the most holy men for the most trifling + slights, unless it be the accuracy with which their most + dreadful imprecations are literally fulfilled. This was, I + believe, characteristic also of the saints of Erin. + + [13] An English lady having called, not long ago, at the + house of a Hindoo lady, to enquire how she was, after an + interesting event, and _what was the result_, received for + answer: Alas, _memsahib, nothing at all_: a girl. Had she + been a partisan of "woman's rights," she would probably + never have recovered from the shock. + + [14] A play on words, not transferable to English. + + [15] It is a very bad omen, in India, for a vulture to + settle on a house. + + [16] A female vulture. I retain the original word, because + it seems to be peculiarly expressive of the thing. + +So as Aja stood, lost in wonder at the old King's story, his daughter +suddenly rose to her feet with a shrill cry. And she exclaimed: O son of +a King, fly quickly! Hence! away! back with thee even into the desert, +and leave me and my father and this miserable city to our inevitable +fate. And she sank down in a swoon, and would have fallen to the ground, +but that Aja sprang quickly forward and caught her as she fell. + +So as he stood, holding her in his arms, and wishing that her swoon +might last for ever, so only that he held her, for she stole away his +senses with the seduction of her fragrance and proximity, her father +exclaimed, in dismay: Ha! this is something new, and a thing that has +never occurred before. And what can be the matter now? O son of a King! +she must have fallen in love with thee, as well indeed she might, for +thy beauty and thy youth. And doubtless it has grieved her soul, to +think of thy approaching end. But alas! alas! this is worse than all. +For now, if thou fallest a victim, as cannot fail to be the case, like +all thy predecessors, she will herself not survive thee: and then, +indeed, there is an end of all. For as long as she was left to be +married, there was still a shadow of hope behind. + +And he began to ramble about, wringing his hands for grief. But Aja said +to himself, with joy: Ha! this was all I wanted, if only it be true. And +he said to the King: O King, it will be time enough to afflict thyself +for her death or for mine, when we have actually died. But count me, in +the meantime, as thy son-in-law: and be under no anxiety as to the fate +of thy ancestors. For I will guarantee their good condition: and this +very night, I will rid thee of the evil demon that molests her. And +to-morrow, I will take this hand, and lead her round the fire[17]. + + [17] That is, marry her. + +And he took her hand, as she lay in his arms, and touched it with his +lips. + + + +V. + + +And instantly, as though his kiss had been to her like sandal and like +palm-leaf fans, she came back to herself. And when she saw who held her, +she started up, and stood, blushing the colour of her own lips, with +eyes cast upon the ground. And the King said: O daughter, what is this? +Does it become a high caste maiden outwardly to exhibit her inward +feelings, and abandon the straight line of virgin modesty by behaviour +that betrays her heart? + +And then, Yashowatí sighed deeply. And she looked for a while in +silence, first at her father, and then at Aja: and all at once, she +stood erect, like one seized by sudden resolution, and she clapped her +hands together, and exclaimed, in a voice that shook and quivered with +emotion: Ha! who can hide a forest fire by covering it over with a +little straw, or what does maiden conduct matter, in the ruin of the +three worlds! Aye! the fire of grief consumed me, to see this noble son +of a king, and to think that he escaped the desert only to meet his +death from me. Now has my punishment come upon me in the form of this +tall and splendid youth. For I grieved for the fate of my former +suitors, and yet I saw them for all that go, one by one, to their +useless doom, and still myself remained alive. Long ago, beyond a doubt, +I ought myself to have left the body, and perished of my own accord, +rather than consent to live, the cause of death to so many others: and +by putting myself to death, I should have cut in two the fatal chain of +their succession, and saved their lives by the substitute of my own. And +now, instead, I have been as it were their murderess, and a death to +them all in female form. And now the Deity has avenged them, by sending +to me at last the God of Love in human shape, whose death will be a +grief to me a hundred fold more awful than any death I could have died. +And I myself shall not survive him. Then why waste time in chiding one +who has but one more day to live? For as soon as night arrives, he must +go like the rest to meet his doom: and certain it is, that I shall not +live to see the sun rise again without him. + +And as she spoke, they gazed at her, astonished. For she seemed like one +that has burst the bonds of all restraint, and thrown all consideration +to the eight quarters of the world. But as soon as she stopped, the old +King uttered a doleful cry. And he exclaimed: Yashowatí, O daughter, +what words are these? Is it any fault of thine that thou art beautiful? +And wilt thou talk of abandoning the body? Then what will become of the +family, of which thou art the only hope? But Aja laughed: and he said: O +lovely lady, waste not thy grief on such a thing as I am: and O +father-in-law, cease from bewailing calamities that are only the shadows +of thy own fears cast upon the dark curtain of the future. For many are +they that are doomed to die, yet never perish after all. And I have not +escaped the sand, to perish lightly in any other way. Be assured that +the lamp of thy race is burning still with a steady flame, not to be +extinguished by a little puff of wind. To-morrow we will laugh together +over these idle apprehensions, which the rising sun will dissipate +together with the mists of night. + +But Yashowatí turned, and looked at him with steady eyes. And she said: +My husband, for such indeed thou art, the first that I have ever +chosen[18], and the last that shall ever claim my hand: dost thou think +that I would have so far forgotten the reserve that is becoming to a +maiden of my caste, as to offer myself like an _abhisáriká_, but that I +know, as thou canst not know it, the absolute and utterly inevitable +certainty of thy doom, and that this is the very last day we shall spend +together, though it is also the very first? And Aja looked at her with +affection: and he laughed again. And he said: Sweet wife, since thou art +so very certain, then as it must be, let it be. What care I for +to-morrow, if I am with thee all to-day? Know, that but an hour ago, +when first I saw thee, I would have given my life, doubly dear as it was +by reason of its recent escape from death, to win from thee a little +love, even a very little. But as it is, a single day is life enough, +provided it is spent with thee, even though I were really destined never +to see another. + + [18] This was the privilege of kings' daughters. + +And she looked at him with wistful eyes; and after a while, she said: +Thou art brave, and as I would have had thee. And thou dost not believe +me: and it may be, it is better so. And then she turned to the King, and +said: O father, go away now: and leave me alone with my husband. And be +not afraid, either for thy honour or my own, for there shall be as it +were a sword between us. But I wish to have him all to myself, until the +end. And when the time has come, let the gong be sounded, and I will +send him out to thee, and thou canst show him the way to death. And +thereupon the old King went away as she desired, moaning and muttering, +and wringing his hands with grief. + +So when he was gone, those two lovers sat together all day long, gazing +at each other like the sunflower and the sun. And he utterly forgot the +morrow, but it never left her mind, even for a single instant. And she +made him relate to her his whole life from the very beginning, drinking +in his words, and hanging on his lips, and watching him keenly, with +eyes that never left his face, holding all the while his hand, with the +grasp of one who knows that her husband must be led to execution in the +evening. And she said to herself, at every moment: Still he is here: +still he is here. And when the sun set, she sent for food and delicacies +and wine, and fed him like a child with her own hand, tasting herself +nothing. And she surfeited him with the honey of her sweetness and the +syrup of her kisses and the nectar of the young new moon of beauty +bathed in the sun of love, the redder[19] because of its approaching +set. And all at once, she started to her feet, in the very middle of a +caress. And she stood, listening. And Aja listened also: and he heard in +the silence the sound of a gong. + + [19] A play on words: meaning also _more affectionate_. + +So as he watched her, she turned paler and ever paler, like the east at +the break of dawn. And she put her two hands together, and pressed them +tight against her heart, and then against her brow. And all at once, she +came quickly to him, and said in a low voice: It is time. And she took +his head in her hands, and kissed him, with lips that were cold as ice, +and yet hot as fire, first on the eyes, and then on the mouth, and last +of all upon the brow. And then she took his hand, and held it for a +little while, with a clutch that almost hurt him, gazing at him with +thirsty eyes. And suddenly, she threw away his hand, and pushed him away +roughly, saying: Go. But Aja caught her in his arms, and kissed her yet +again, as it were against her will. And he said: O fearful heart, be not +afraid. Very soon, I will return. And he went away quickly, but at the +door he turned, and saw her standing still, watching him with dry bright +eyes, and lips that were shut tight. And at that very moment, the old +King took him by the arm, and said: Come now, and I will show thee the +way by which all thy predecessors went before thee. + +Then Aja said: O King, I am unarmed. Give me a weapon to carry with me. +So the King took him into the armoury, and he chose for himself a sword +almost as long as he was tall. But he threw away the scabbard, saying: +This would only be in the way: and now, I am prepared. And then the King +led him away, and up a winding stair. + +And when they were at the top, he stopped. And he said: O son-in-law +that might have been, now fare thee well. And even I feel it harder to +part with thee than with any of thy predecessors. Thou wouldst have made +an altogether appropriate husband for my daughter, and O! that thou +couldst have seen her dance, before thus disappearing: but now it is too +late, for I doubt whether Tumburu himself could make her dance to-night, +so troubled did she seem to be at bidding thee good bye. Go out, now, +through yonder door: and thou wilt be more fortunate than all the +others, if thou canst manage to return through it. + +Then he went back into the palace. But Aja passed through the door, and +found himself on the city wall. + + + + +A Total Eclipse. + + + _Then kith and kin and home forget, and all, + To sail beyond the setting-sun, with me, + Where dead love's dreamy recollections call + Across the sea._ + + + +I. + + +And he stood on the edge of the city wall, with his naked sword in his +hand. And he looked on this side and on that, and saw the turrets of the +city jutting out along the wall, like the huge black heads of elephants +of war advancing in a line. And behind him lay the city, covered over +with a pall of black that was edged and touched with silver points and +fringes; and before him the desert stretched away, smeared as it were +with ashes, under the light of the moon. And brave as he was, his heart +beat, just a very little, in expectation of what was coming. And he said +to himself: My father-in-law's dismissal was not very reassuring. But +where then is the danger, and from what quarter is it coming, and what +form will it take? For here is nothing whatever to fight with, except +the shadows cast by the moon. Or is this all merely a trick of the King +to test me, before which all my predecessors have ignominiously failed? +Yet no. For were it so, my wife would indeed be an actress[1] capable of +reducing Tumburu to the state of ashes. + + [1] An actress and a dancer are in Sanskrit denoted by the + same word. + +So as he stood, waiting, and smiling at his own thoughts, it happened +that that daughter of Kírttisena, whose jealousy of the King's daughter +had caused all the trouble in the King's city, came according to her +custom flying towards the city wall. For every night she came to see +whether there was a new suitor. And whenever she discovered one, she had +recourse to a Rákshasa that was bound to her by obligations, who came as +soon as thought of, and swallowed that unhappy suitor whole[2]. And now +for some time, no new suitor had appeared. So as she came flying in the +likeness of a bat, she looked towards the city wall, expecting to find +it empty. And she saw, instead, Aja, standing, leaning on his sword, and +smiling, on the very edge of the wall. And at the very first glance at +him, she was struck with stupor, and she fell that very moment so +violently in love with him[3] that she could hardly flap her wings, by +reason of the fierce agitation of her heart. So she alighted on the +wall, a little distance off, and remained watching him, hardly able to +breathe for emotion, in her own form[4], but surrounding herself with a +veil of invisibility to escape his observation. And after a while, she +drew a long breath, and murmured to herself: Ha! this is a suitor +indeed, very different from all the others; and rather than a mere +mortal man, he resembles the son of Dewakí[5], with Rádhá caressing him +in the form of the moonlight that seems to cling affectionately to his +glorious limbs. Ha! he looks like the tutelary deity of the city come to +defy me, bringing the god of love to his aid in the form of his own +marvellous and incomparable beauty. Aye! and I feel that I am defeated +already, before the battle has so much as begun. And then, all at once, +a spasm of rage shot through her heart, and she turned pale. And she +exclaimed: Ah! but I am anticipated by this accursed King's daughter, +who will rob me of him, nay, has already done it, by her undeniable +hateful beauty, and her priority of claim, Alas! alas! O why did I not +see him first, before her abominable loveliness had made an impression +on his heart? For he is very young, and it must be, open to the spell of +beauty, and artless, and sincere. Ha! And suddenly, she started up, as +if an idea had rushed into her mind. And she stood for a moment, +thinking. And then she exclaimed, with a gesture of resolution: Yes, I +also am beautiful. Now, then, I will efface her image from his heart, +and replace it by my own. Now I will assault him, by all the power of my +charms[6], and we will see whether he will be proof against the glamour +of a beauty such as mine, multiplied and magnified by magic sorcery and +fierce determination. Aye! I will move heaven and earth to steal his +heart from the King's daughter, and turn Pátála[7] upside down, to make +him mine instead of hers. But if I fail? And again she turned deadly +pale. And after a while, a bitter smile curled over her lips. And she +said: If, if I fail; no, but I will not fail. But if I fail, then, I +will take another way. + + [2] This method of disposing of objectionable suitors is + unfortunately not available in Europe. A great swallowing + capacity is a feature of the species Rákshasa. The "coming + as soon as thought of" (_dhyátágata_) is the Indian + equivalent of "rubbing the lamp" in the Arabian Nights. + + [3] _Who ever loved that loved not at first sight?_ Every + Oriental would side with Shakspeare in this matter: love, + in the East, is not love, unless it comes like a flash of + lightning. + + [4] This might be either that of a woman or a snake, for + the Nágas, to whom she belonged, waver between the two. The + Nága, it may be well to remind the reader, is a being + possessed of magic powers, especially that of _glamour_ or + _blearing the eye_, which appealed so powerfully to Spenser + and Sir Walter Scott. + + [5] Krishna, whose colour, it is to be noted, is blue. + + [6] In every sense of the word: _mohajálamáyá_ is stronger + than any English equivalent. + + [7] The Underworld, the home of the snakes. + + + +II. + + +So as Aja stood upon the wall, looking out over the desert, suddenly all +vanished from before his eyes. And he saw before him no city, and no +desert. But he found himself in a dusky wood, thick with tall +_tamála_[8] trees, and lit by a light that was neither that of the sun +nor that of the moon. And all around him huge red poppies waved gently +without a wind, mixed with great moon-lotuses, whose perfume went and +came by turns as it hung on the heavy air. And under the shadow of the +black leaved trees large bats flew here and there with slow and +noiseless flap, and on the branches monstrous owls with topaz eyes like +wheels of flame sat motionless, as if to watch. And a dead silence like +that of space whence all three worlds have been removed left Aja nothing +else to hear but the beat of his own heart. And the hair rose up upon +his head with sheer amazement. And he said to himself: Ha! what new +wonder is this, and what has become of the city wall? And where in the +world have I got to now, and how? Now let me be very wary, for the +danger is evidently coming near. + + [8] A tree with very black bark and white blossoms, dear to + exotic poets, such as e.g. Jayadewa. + +And as he stood, grasping his sword, prepared, and looking quickly right +and left, suddenly he saw a thing which rivetted his gaze to it, as if +with an iron nail. + +A little way off, among the poppies, was standing up like a lonely +column all that was left of one of the walls of a ruined temple, whose +fallen pillars were lying scattered all around it, half concealed by +creeping leaves. And as he gazed intently at this upright fragment of a +fallen wall, he saw upon it the image of a sculptured woman, which stood +out so distinctly that he could not take his eyes from it. And after a +while, he said to himself: Surely that can be no stone statue, but a +real woman of flesh and blood, actually leaning, who knows why, against +that bit of a broken wall. And he looked and looked, and after a while, +filled with irresistible curiosity, he went nearer, but very slowly, and +as it were on his guard, to see. + +So as he gazed, wonder and admiration gradually crept into his soul, and +stole his recollection unaware. And he became wholly intent on the stone +image, and forgetful of his situation. And he ceased to wonder at +finding himself in the wood, so great was his new wonder at the beauty +of the woman on the wall. And he said to himself: Surely he was a master +artist, whoever he was, that made this woman out of stone, if stone +indeed she be. For even now, near as I am, I can hardly believe she is +made of stone. + +And the more he looked, the more he marvelled. For she seemed in his +eyes like a frozen mass of lunar camphor, moulded into a female form, +standing cold and pure and still, alone by herself in that strange half +light, that hovered as it were irresolute between the natures of night +and day. And she stood with her right hand on her hip, which jutted out +to receive it like the curve of a breaking wave: and her bare right +breast stood out and shone like a great moonlit sea pearl, while the +other was hiding behind the curling fold of the pale green garment that +ran around her, embracing her with clinging clasp like a winding wisp of +emerald foam fondly wrapping the yielding waist of Wishnu's sea-born +wife. And she was very tall, and shaped like Shrì, and she stood with +her head a little bent, and her sightless eyes fixed as it were on empty +space, just as though she were listening for some expected sound. And +as he continued to gaze at her, a wonder that was almost horror crept +into his mind. For her face was not like that of an image, but rather +resembled a mask, or the face of a very beautiful woman, that very +moment dead. For the colour seemed as it were to have only just faded +from her cheek, and the blood seemed only just before to have left her +pallid lips, and the sight was as it were hanging yet in her great long +open eyes, that were fixed on the distant sky. And he stood, gazing, as +if the very sight of her had made of him another image like herself. + +And then, at last, he stepped forward. And he put out his left hand, and +touched her with his forefinger on the shoulder that was bare. + +And instantly, as if his touch had filled her with a flood of life, a +shiver ran like quicksilver over her stony limbs. And as he started +back, to watch, the colour came back into her face, and red blood rushed +into her lips, and deep blue suddenly filled her eyes. And the tresses +of hair around her head turned all of a sudden a glossy black, that +shone with a blue-green lustre, as if reflecting the grassy sheen of her +winding robe. And her bosom lifted slowly, and fell again with a deep +sigh. And all at once, she abruptly altered her position, and her eyes +fell straight on Aja, standing just before her. And she lifted up, +first one eyebrow, and then the other, till they formed a perfect bow, +for they joined each other in the middle. And she uttered a faint cry, +as if in joy, exclaiming: Ha! can it be, and is it thou? Or am I +dreaming still? + + + +III. + + +And Aja stood, staring at her with stony gaze, like a mirror of her own +surprise. And he said to himself: Surely it is not she, but I myself, +that am the dreamer. For here since the sun rose last, I have escaped +the desert, and found this city without a man, and acquired a bride of +peerless beauty: and now here is another, rising as it were from the +dead, and seeming to expect me. And he continued standing silent, gazing +at her, sword in hand. And after a while, she said: What! is my form, +then, so frightful as to rob thee of thy tongue? Or art thou going to +use that sword against me? Speak: but in the meanwhile, let me see, +whether I have lost the use of my limbs, as thou hast that of thy +tongue, after so long a sleep. And she leaped from her little pedestal, +and moved a little way here and there, waving her beautiful arms about: +and after a while, she came back, and sat down just before him, on one +of the fallen pillars that were lying about the ground. And all the +while Aja watched her, as if fascinated by a serpent, saying within +himself: She moves like nothing I ever saw, save a panther or a gliding +snake[9]. And then, all at once, she again put up one eyebrow, and said +to him with a smile: Must I, then, actually tell thee, that I am +Natabhrúkutí[10]? Then Aja said: O lady, it is obvious. For thy bent +brow would plant arrows even in the heart of the Great Ascetic. And she +said again: O husband, is this thy welcome, after so long a separation? + + [9] It is a wonderful thing to see a cobra move. Nothing + can describe it. + + [10] That is, _the Beauty of the arched eyebrows_. + (Pronounce _Nat_- to rhyme with _but_.) + +And Aja bounded, as if bitten by a snake. And he exclaimed: Thy husband! +What! Am I then thy husband also? Does thy whole sex want to get me for +a husband? But O thou beauty of bending brows, how can he be thy +husband, that never saw thee in his life before? And only this morning, +I was still wifeless, and a day has not elapsed, since I became +another's husband. And he stopped short, again confounded at the effect +of his own words. For hardly had they passed his lips, when Natabhrúkutí +started up, swelling with rage and convulsed with fury, with eyes that +blazed like fiery stars. And she exclaimed: Never! never! Never shall +she possess thee, nor any other than I myself. And then, like a flash of +lightning, her rage vanished as quickly as it came. And she looked at +him with imploring eyes, and said: Slay me now, with thy long bright +sword, and send me back to that nonentity out of which thou hast just +recalled me: but speak not of another woman in front of me. Alas! and am +I all forgotten? And tears rolled from her great blue eyes, and fell +like suppliants at her feet. + +And Aja put up his left hand, and tugged at his hair in the extremity of +his amazement. And he said: O thou strange offended lady, I am utterly +bewildered, and resemble one that has lost his way at midnight in a +wood. And thy anger and thy grief are alike altogether incomprehensible. +How can I possibly have forgotten one, whom as I just now told thee, I +never saw in my life before? Then she said: Nay, not in this life, but +the last. For I was the wife of thy former birth. + +Then Aja laughed, and he said: O beauty, who remembers his former +birth? For like every other man, and like my ancestor the sun, I have +risen up into light out of the sea of dark oblivion, into which I must +sink again at last. And then she looked at him with a deep sigh. And she +said: Alas! This is a punishment indeed, and worse by far than all the +rest, if after having endured so long the state of a stone upon a wall, +I am again become a woman, only to find myself repudiated and all +forgotten, by him, on whose account I suffered all. Listen, then, and I +will tell thee the story of thy former birth. It may be, that, in the +hearing, some scattered reminiscences will be as it were awakened, to +stir again in the dark lethargy of thy sleeping soul. + + + +IV. + + +And then she began to speak. And as she spoke, she leaned forward, as +she sat upon the fallen pillar, and fastened her great eager eyes like +magnets on his own. And as Aja watched them, they played as it were upon +his heart. For their colour wavered and changed and faltered, shifting +ever from hue to hue, turning golden and ruddy amber, and emerald-green +and lotus-blue; and over her eyes her arching brows lifted and fell and +played and flickered, fixing his troubled soul like nails, and +rivetting his attention, till her singing voice sounded in his head like +a distant tune crooned in the ear of a sleepy man. And she waved slowly +her long round arms, all the while she spoke. And she said: Far away, +over the sea, lies thy own forgotten land, and presently I will tell +thee, and even show thee, where it is. And there it was, in our former +birth, that thou and I were boy and girl. But thou wert the son of a +mighty King, and I was only a Bráhmani, a poor man's daughter, and my +father was an old ascetic, far below thee in everything else, but caste. +And I lived alone with my old father, in the very heart of a great +forest, in a little hut of bark, over which the _málatí_ creeper grew so +thick, that nothing was visible of that little hut, except its door. And +then one day I was seen by thee, standing still in that very door, with +my pitcher on my head: as thou wert passing through the wood to hunt +upon thy horse. And that moment was like a sponge, that blotted from the +mind of each everything but the other's image. And I made of thee my +deity, and forgot everything in the three great worlds, for thee alone. +And thou, that day, didst clean forget thy hunting: or rather, the God +of Love showed thee game of another kind[11], and from pursuing thou +didst fall to wooing a quarry that wished for nothing so much as to be +thy prey. And we married each other that very day, which ah! thou hast +all forgotten. What! dost thou not remember how I used to meet thee +every day in the little hut, when my father was away in the wood engaged +in meditation? What! hast thou really all forgotten how it was thy +supreme delight to bring me garments and costly jewels, which I put on +for thy amusement, thy forest-queen of the little hut? Has thy memory +cast away every vestige of reminiscence of thy old sweet love in the +little hut? So then it happened that on a day we were together, blind +and drunk with each other's presence, shut within the little hut like a +pair of bees in a nectared lotus. And I was standing like an idol, +dressed like the queen of a _chakrawarti_[12], loaded with gold on +wrists and feet, with great pearls wound about my neck; and thou wert +contemplating me, thy creature[13], with intoxication, and hard indeed +it was to tell, which of us two was the idol, and which was the +devotee. And as we woke up from a kiss that lasted like infinity, lo! my +father stood before us. And he said slowly: Abandoned daughter, that +hast forgot thy duty in thy passion for this King's son, become what +thou hast represented, an idol[14] of stone on the wall of a ruined +temple far away: and thou, her guilty lover, fall again into another +birth, and be separated from thy guilty love. Then being besought by us, +to fix some period to the curse, he said again: When ye two shall meet +again, and thy husband in his curiosity shall touch thee with his +finger, she shall regain her woman's state, and be as she was before. +And now all this has come about, exactly as he said. And I have found +thee once again, only to find alas! alas! that thou hast left thy heart +behind thee in that old delicious birth. + + [11] In Sanskrit, hunting and wooing can be mixed up + together by plays on words. + + [12] An emperor. Hindoo idols are dressed and undressed, + like dolls, by their officiating priests. + + [13] She means, he was her Creator. + + [14] The Hindoos have no word, because they have not the + idea, of an _idol_. They call it a _god_ or an _image_. Our + word _idol_ implies the antagonism to paganism involved in + Christianity, and no two books are more alike than S. + Augustine's _City of God_ and Ward's _Hindoo Mythology_. + + + +V. + + +So as he listened, Aja's soul was filled as it were with a mingled +essence of wonder and irresolution and sheeny beauty and singing sound. +For the tone of her voice was like a lute, and before his eyes hovered a +picture of waving arms and witching curves, out of which her dreamy +eyes, from which he could not take his own, seemed as it were to speak +to him of love reproachful and old regret. And all at once, with a +violent effort, he roused himself as if from sleep with open eyes. And +he shifted his sword to the other hand, and passed his right across his +brow. And he said, in some confusion: O thou strange and sweet-tongued +woman, certain this much is, that I am filled by thee with emotion that +I do not understand. And yet I know not what to think, or even say. For +even apart from the promptings of a former birth, thy beauty and thy +haunting voice, which I seem as it were to have heard before, are quite +sufficient to rouse emotion even in a stone, much more in a man of flesh +and blood. + +Then she shook her head sadly, looking at him with glistening eyes; and +she said, with a smile of ineffable sweetness: Ah! this is as I thought, +and the instinct of thy former birth is clouded over and effaced, by +thy meeting with this other woman in the morning of this very day. Alas! +how small, how very small, the interval of space and time that divides +the paradise of joy from the dungeon of despair! For had this our +reunion been sooner by only a single day, I should have caught thy heart +before it had been occupied by this all too fortunate other woman, who +now holds it like a fortress, garrisoned by a prior claim. But what is +this priority of claim? Can she, who by thy own confession has known +thee only a single day, dare to dispute priority with the darling of thy +former birth[15]? Wilt thou break thy faith with me, to keep thy faith +with her? Aye! and wilt thou, after all, gain so much by the exchange? +Is she beautiful, then, this other woman? But I am beautiful, too? And +she stood up, and looked at Aja with her head thrown back and proud +eyes, as though to challenge his condemnation of her own consummate +beauty. And she said again: Is she, then, this other beauty, either +more faithful or more beautiful than I am? Speak, and tell me if thou +canst, in what I am inferior, or why I am to be despised, in comparison +with her. + + [15] Though, in Europe, this insidious appeal might lack + force, it is otherwise in India: whose millions doubt their + former birth no more than they doubt their own existence. + It is not long since a woman in Cutch burned herself with + her own dead son, because, she averred, he had been her + husband in her former birth. + +And Aja looked at her again, and felt abashed, and half ashamed, he knew +not why. And he murmured to himself: She does not lie: for beautiful she +is indeed, and need not fear comparison with any woman in the world. And +it may be, she is partly right, and if I had met her yesterday, before +my heart was full, she would have had little difficulty in entering in +and capturing it, almost without resistance. And he stood looking at her +silently, uncertain what to say or do, and half inclined to pity her, +and half afraid of her and of himself, admiring her against his will, +and as it were confessing by his very silence the power of her appeal. +For notwithstanding the preoccupation of his heart, his youth and his +sex became as it were allies with her against his resolution, compelling +him to acknowledge the supremacy of the cunning god, and the spell of +feminine attraction incarnate in her form. + +And she stood there before him, for a little, with beauty as it were +heightened by resentful reproach of the slighting of itself, and the +disregard of its tried affection. And then all at once she sank down +upon the ground, as if she were tired, and remained sitting among the +poppies, with her chin resting on her left knee, which she embraced with +her arms, watching him, and as it were, waiting with humility and +patience for a decision in her case. And every now and then, she closed +her eyes, and opened them again, as if to make sure that he was there. + +And Aja looked round in the silence, at the poppies and the lotuses, and +the great owls that seemed to watch him, and back again at her. And his +head began to whirl, and he muttered to himself: Is this a dream, and +what does it all mean? And is she returning to the condition of an +image, disgusted by my coldness and disdain? And what is to be done? And +he looked at her face, deprived, by the closing of their lids, of the +moon of her eyes, and resting like a mask upon its chin. And he said +within himself: Her eyebrows move, as if they were alive. And he felt as +it were unable to look away from them: and at last, annoyed with +himself, he closed his eyes also as though to escape their persecution. + + + +VI. + + +And then, he said to himself: This is cowardice, and after all, no +refuge; for I seem to see her still, through the shutters of my lids. +And he opened his eyes once more. And instantly, he leaped from the +ground like a wounded stag, with a cry. For the wood, with all its +lotuses and poppies, was gone. And in its place, he saw before him a +forest with its great green trees all lit by the shining of the sun. And +just in front of him there stood a little hut, buried in the blossom of +the _málatí_ creeper. And in its doorway was standing a young Brahman +woman, with a pitcher on her head. And she beckoned to him with a smile, +and he looked, and lo! it was Natabhrúkutí. Then moved as if against his +will, on feet that carried him towards her as it were of their own +accord, he approached her. And as he drew nearer, there came from that +creeper a wave of perfume, resembling that of jasmine, but sweeter, and +so pungent that it entered like fire into his soul. And then she lifted +the pitcher from her head, and set it down upon the ground, and caught +him by the hand, and drew him within the hut. And there she cast herself +into his arms, whispering in his ear, very low, so as to caress it as +she spoke with her lips: My father is away, and now we are alone, and +the day is all before us. Come now, what shall I do for thy delight? +And she ran and shut the door; and then, taking from a chest rich +clothes and splendid jewels, she began to put them on, saying as she did +so: See! am I becoming more fit to be thy queen? And he watched her, +stupefied, like one in a dream, and all the while she bathed him with +intoxicating side glances shot like arrows from the bow of her arching +brows. And at last, she came slowly towards him, walking on tiptoe, and +attitudinising, placing herself exactly in the posture in which he had +seen her first among the poppies on the wall, with one hand on her hip. +And she said, lifting her brow, with a smile that stole his reason: Now, +then, the idol is ready for the devotee. And at that moment the door +opened, and an old Brahman entered through it. And he said slowly: +Abandoned daughter, that hast forgot thy duty in thy passion for this +King's son, become what thou hast represented, an idol of stone on the +wall of a ruined temple far away; and thou her guilty lover, fall into +another birth, and be separated from thy guilty love. + +And then, Aja heard no more. The world whirled around him; the blackness +of night closed over his soul; he uttered a terrible cry, and fell to +the ground in a swoon. + + + +VII. + + +And when he came to himself, he was back again among the poppies in the +_tamála_ wood. And he was lying on the ground, with Natabhrúkutí bending +over him, holding him by the hand, with anxiety in her eyes. And +instantly he started up, and seizing his sword, stood gazing at her with +stupefaction. And he said to himself: Am I dead or dreaming? And what +does it all mean? Is it a delusion of the Creator, or a mirage and a +madness of the desert, out of which I have never yet escaped at all? +Aye! beyond a doubt, I am wandering still in the waste of sand, raving +mad, and dying; and haunted by phantoms that are the premonitors of +approaching death. + +So as he stood, balanced in the swing of perplexity, and doubting his +own reason, Natabhrúkutí looked at him fixedly, with concern and +affection and curiosity in her eyes. And she said: Surely thou art ill. +And why then dost thou shrink from me, as though I were a thing of +terror: I, who ask for nothing but to tend thee all my life? For it was +but now, as we spoke together in this wood, I looked up and saw thee +suddenly close thy eyes. And as I watched thee, wondering to see thee +sleeping as it were erect, there burst from thy lips a fearful cry, and +I had but time to catch thee falling, and let thee sink upon the ground. +And I brought thee to thyself, by fanning thee, as well as I might, with +this great leaf. + +And she held it up before him, while he continued to gaze at her in +silence. And as he did not speak, she looked at him curiously, and +muttered under her breath, as though speaking to herself, and not +intending him to hear: Can he have suddenly recollected his former +birth, and is this the reason why he is staring at me, as if wishing to +compare me with a picture in his head? And as he still kept silence, +presently she said aloud: Dear, thou art sick: and much in need of +medicines, such as I alone can give thee. Why wilt thou not confide in +me? For I am a cunning leech, and know the virtue of every herb and +every vegetable drug better than Dhanwantari[16] himself. And I have +made myself mistress of every species of the art of healing, and in +particular, I have fed myself on perfumes, and on the essences of +flowers, and all the scented odours of aromatic shrubs, till I have +myself become as it were a very attar, incarnate in a woman's form. Dost +thou doubt it, and think me to be boasting? then try me, and I will +prove to thee my power by experiment, in any way thou wilt I will soothe +and shampoo[17] thee with a hand softer than a snowflake's fall and +cooler than the icy moon: or, if thou wilt, I will croon to thee old +airs, and put thee to sleep like a tired child, resting thy head on this +bosom which once was thy delight, with melodies that shall speak to thee +of drowzy bees and moaning winds: or I will steal thy waking senses from +thee and lure them into slumber as it were against thy will by snaring +them with fragrances more luscious than that _párijáta_ blossom, which +Wishnu once trailed through the intoxicated world, to drive it into +madness at the moment, and leave it filled with inconsolable regret when +it was gone. See, take this, and smell it, and thou wilt be better even +now. + + [16] The physician of the gods, the Hindoo Aesculapius. + + [17] The _Samwáhanam_ is one of those old Hindoo medical + resources which we have only recently been wise enough to + copy. + +And she held out towards him, in the lotus of her hand, a tiny flower, +in colour like an atom of the concentrated essence of the sky. And as +Aja looked at it, there came from it a stream of a sharp and biting +scent, that rushed into his soul, coming laden as it were with +reminiscence and suggestions of the past; so that he said to himself: +Ha! of what does this remind me, and where is it that I smelled its +almost intolerable sweet before? And suddenly, the little hut rushed +into his mind, and he exclaimed: It is the very smell of the creeper on +its roof. And instantly, a feeling of amazement that almost overcame +him, mingled with terror, crept like a shudder over his limbs, and his +hair stood on end. And he looked at Natabhrúkutí, who was watching him +intently, and said, hoarsely: Who art thou, thou strange beauty, and +what dost thou want of me? And what is the meaning of these inexplicable +mysteries, before which I feel as if my reason were deserting me, and I +were about to faint again? + + + +VIII. + + +Then she laughed, and said: Fair boy, I am only that bitter-sweet[18], a +woman: and I want no more than what every woman wants, the man she +loves, and that is thou. Aye! dost thou ask me, who and what I am? +Listen then, and I will tell thee. I am a bee, which not like other +bees, roams roving to flower after flower, but confines itself +exclusively to one. I am a breeze, which not like other breezes blows +fickle and inconstant now hither and now thither, but is fixed and ever +steady, coming straight from Malaya laden with the sandal of affection +to lay it at thy feet. I am only the echo of a voice which is thyself, +the shadow of a substance and the reflection of a sun. I am like the +other half of the god that carries the moon upon his head, the twin, the +duplicate and counterpart of a deity who is thou, I am Rati, rejoicing +to find again the body of her husband, and thou art Love himself +returned to life whom I have found. I am an essence of the ocean, but +unlike it, I hold within my heart not many pearls, but only one, which +is thyself. I am a wick, consuming in thy flame, and like the music of a +lute, I am a thing wholly compounded of melodies and tones, whose mood +and being are dependent on the player, who is thou. Art thou sad? then I +am also: art thou joyous? so am I: my soul is tossed about, and hangs on +thy smiling or thy sighing, as a criminal depends on the sentence of the +judge. And like a crystal, I am colourless[19] without thee, but ready +on the instant to assume every tinge of the colour of thyself. Cast thy +eyes upon me, and thou shalt see as in a glass thy every mood painted +on the surface of my face. Ah! dost thou ask me what I am? Alas! I am a +target for the poisoned arrows which Love shoots at me in the form of +thy beauty greater than his own. And I am like a bare and withered, +leafless and frost-bitten tree, which has suddenly shot up into blossom +at the coming of spring in thy form. But as for thee, why, O why dost +thou regard me that live for only thee as if I were a deadly snake, and +thou a startled deer? In vain, in vain, dost thou endeavour to repel me, +for I will not be repelled. I will melt thy cold ice in thy despite, by +the fire of my affection, and drown thee in its flood, and sweep thee +away from the rocks of thy resistance till thou art lost for ever in its +dark and pearly depths. + + [18] _Wishámritam_: lit. poison-nectar. + + [19] Also means _without affection_. + +And as Aja stood, listening in confusion to her words, which poured from +her like a torrent, suddenly she clapped her hands, and exclaimed, as he +started again at her vehemence: Ha! shall I tell thee, thou wilful and +reluctant boy, of what thou dost remind me, standing as it were aghast, +and obstinately set against me, mute, and yet asking what I am? Know, +that long ago there was a King, who had for wives a thousand queens. And +it happened that one day, he went with his wives to ramble in the heart +of a forest. So after sporting for a while, he grew tired, in the heat +of the day, and lay down and fell asleep. Then all his queens stole away +and left him lying, and went roaming up and down, very strange creatures +in that wild rough wood, looking like living flowers of every hue and +kind, that had somehow or other got free from their roots, a body of +deer-eyed decoys let loose by Love the Hunter, to lure into his toils +every man that should behold them. So as they rambled here and there, +they came suddenly on an old ascetic. And he was standing still, half +buried in the hills of ants, themselves covered over by his long white +hair, immersed in meditation. Then all those fair women went up and +stood around him in a cluster of beautiful curiosity, wondering at the +sight of him, and asking each other in amazement, what in the world he +could possibly be. So as they crowded round him, that old ascetic +emerged from his trance, and as thou art doing, stood silent and aghast, +thinking, as perhaps thou dost thyself, that Indra must have sent him +all the nymphs of heaven in a body, to lure him from the path of +liberation. For, O, thou beautiful suspicious youth, what is there so +terrible about me, as to cause thee to shrink from my approach? Know, +that many would be glad to be wooed as was that old ascetic, and as thou +art now. + + + +IX. + + +And then, Aja strove to awake as it were from a dream. And he shook +himself, as if to shake it off, and he said to himself: I feel that I am +falling as it were a victim to the spell of this passionate and subtle +beauty; and now, unless I stiffen and steel myself against her, I shall +undoubtedly be bewitched and beguiled beyond the possibility of escape. +And he summoned his resolution, and said, with a semblance of composure: +Fair one, thou dost thyself no injustice in comparing thyself alone to a +thousand queens: for thou art a very incarnation of all the bewildering +fascination of thy sex. And yet, potent as they are, thy charms are +wasted, and resemble blunted arrows when directed against me. For as I +have already told thee, I am pledged to another, and proof against thy +spell, as doubtless was thy old ascetic against that bevy of straying +queens. + +And then Natabhrúkutí smiled, and she shook at him her finger, as she +answered: Rash boy, beware: Be not too sure of the adamantine quality of +thy resistance, nor even of thy wisdom in resisting me at all. And +beware of provoking the indignation of slighted Love, who may make of +thee a signal example of his vengeance. Take care, lest annoyed with thy +obstinacy in rejecting what he offers thee for nothing, he should +deprive thee even of that other beauty on whose account alone it is that +I am held by thee so cheap. Poor youth! but that my lips are tied, I +could enlighten thee. Art thou, who art so ready lightly to disdain me, +art thou, I say, so sure, so very sure, that thou art thyself the only +lover of this much married beauty, whom thou sawest, as thou sayest, for +the very first time in thy life to-day? Art thou so sure, so very sure, +that she is not deceiving thee, and that thou art not merely the last of +the many lovers whom she toys with for a moment, and then carelessly +casts away? Art thou so very certain that thou hast never had a +predecessor? And Aja started, in spite of himself. For the word recalled +to him the manner of the old King. And Natabhrúkutí saw it. And she +looked at him as it were with compassion, and said: Alas! unhappy boy: +thou seest that in thy youth and inexperience such an idea had not +occurred to thee. Little art thou qualified to cope with a woman's +guile. + +Then said Aja fiercely, in wrath both with himself and her: It is false, +and she is true. But Natabhrúkutí answered very gently: Be not angry, +for I do not question that she loves thee. I do not even doubt it: for +if she did not, she would be a fool. But listen, and learn, what thou +dost not seem to know, that Love is a Master Knave; aye! by far the +greatest master of deceit in the three great worlds. And woman is his +aptest pupil, and every woman living, were she even as simple as +thyself, becomes, as soon as she falls under the influence of Love, a +very incarnation of policy and craft and wiles. I tell thee, foolish +boy, that she that loves in earnest, were she good as gold, pure as +snow, and flawless as a diamond, would plunge, to gain her object, to +the very lowest bottom of the ocean of deceit. And what is her object +but the esteem of her lover? Dost thou think, she would balance for an +instant, between her lover, and the ruin of the world? between his good +opinion, and a lie? Dost thou think, she would forfeit thy esteem, when +to deceive thee would preserve it? I tell thee, in such a dilemma, she +would lie, till the very sun at noon hid his face out of shame. +Know[20], that long ago there lived at Wáránasí[21] an independent +lady, of beauty so extraordinary, that swarms of lovers use to buzz +continually about her like great black bees about the mango blossom in +the spring. But independent though she was, she was so fastidious, that +none of her innumerable lovers ever touched her heart even for a moment. +And hence she lived like a lamp at midnight surrounded by the corpses of +her victims, who fluttered about her lustre and perished in its flame. +And then at last, one day it came about that a tall young Rajpoot almost +as beautiful as thou art arrived at Wáránasí. And Kasháyiní[22] (for +that was her name) saw him from a window as he came into the city; and +instantly like an empty pitcher suddenly plunged into the Ganges, she +was filled to the very brim by the inrush of Love's sacred nectar. And +she said to herself: The very first thing that he will hear of in the +city is myself. And like everybody else, he will come immediately to see +me: and that very moment, I shall abandon the body out of shame. For +though my beauty might attract him, yet he will be convinced that many +lovers have preceded him, and therefore, at the bottom of his heart he +will despise me. And this would be worse than any death. And yet without +him, my birth will have been in vain. Therefore, I must devise some +expedient. So after a while, she went out in disguise, and bought for a +large sum of money the body of a woman of her own age and size who had +died that very day. And bringing that body home secretly at night, she +dressed it in her own clothes, and burned it till its identity was +obliterated. And then she set fire to her house, and left it by a back +door, and went away, abandoning all her wealth but the jewels that she +wore, for the sake of her picture in the air[23]. And at that very +moment, the Rajpoot came along, led by some of the townspeople to visit +her, as it were set on fire by the very description of her beauty. And +he looked and saw the flames bursting from her house, as though lit by +himself. And they found the half burned body in the ashes, and +immediately all the lovers of Kasháyiní followed her through the fire of +grief to the other world. But the Rajpoot managed, in spite of +disappointment, to remain alive. And she, in the meantime, having given +everyone the slip, found a false ascetic, and bribed him with jewels, +giving him instructions without letting him know who she was. So that +ascetic went and struck up acquaintance with the Rajpoot, pretending to +be a discoverer of treasure[24]. And he performed incantations, and +after awhile he said to him: Go quickly to Ujjayini; and dig in the +north-east corner of the burning ground outside the city on the very +last day of the dark half of the month of Magha, and thou shalt find a +treasure. Take it, for what is the use of treasure to such a one as me? +Thereupon the Rajpoot, having nothing else to do, went. And Kasháyiní, +having first made sure that the bait had taken, went herself and got +there before him. So when that Rajpoot arrived, he dug exactly as he was +told, and found absolutely nothing. And cursing his destiny, he went out +of the burning ground in the early morning: and as he went along, +suddenly he saw Kasháyiní, who was waiting for him, sitting weeping by +the wayside, under a great _ashwattha_ tree: beautifully dressed, +blazing with jewels, and adorned with saffron and antimony, betel, +indigo, and spangles, flowers, minium, and henna, bangles on ancle and +comb in her hair. And she said to that Rajpoot, who was as utterly +astounded by the sight of her as if she had been water in the desert: O +son of a king, succour one who is utterly without resource. And when he +asked her, what was the matter, she said: I was the only wife of a very +rich merchant, and as we travelled from the South, suddenly we were set +upon by a band of Thags. And after killing every one but me[25], they +all went to sleep, thinking me secure; but in the middle of the night, I +went a little way, and hid myself in a hollow tree. And in the morning, +those villains, after hunting for me in vain, all went away, fearing a +pursuit, and I came out of the tree trembling, and reached this road, +and now I am alone in the world. Then said the Rajpoot to himself: Ha! +so, after all, I have found my treasure, and that excellent ascetic was +a true prophet. And he said: O lady, I am of good family. And now, if +thou wilt have me for a husband, I will supply the loss of thy merchant, +and all the rest of thy relations. And she feigned reluctance: but after +a while, she dried her tears, and consented. But that Rajpoot almost +went out of his mind, so great was his delight. And one day he told her +of Wáránasí, and the burning of Kasháyiní. And she looked at him with +laughing eyes, and said: O my husband, I will make up to thee for the +loss of Kasháyiní: for I am just as beautiful as she. + + [20] In all Oriental stories, statements are proved not by + Aristotelian syllogism, but by "instances:" and we are + reminded of the opinion of the artful Retz, that "_one + never persuades anybody, but anybody can insinuate + anything._" + + [21] Benáres. The lady in question was one of those Hindoo + Aspasias of whom many similar stories are told. + + [22] Which we might translate Aromatic: it includes the + ideas of _red colour_ and _pungent perfume_. + + [23] Or, as we say, castle in the air. + + [24] A regular trade in medieval India. + + [25] Everything in this story is exactly in harmony with + the manners of medieval India. The Thags often preserved a + woman for her beauty, when they murdered every one else. + + + +X. + + +And as Natabhrúkutí ended, she leaned forward, and gazed at Aja with +soft seductive eyes, till he blushed, and wavered before her like the +flame of a candle in a wind. For her beauty bewildered him, and her +cunning story planted, as if against his will, a seed of suspicion in +his mind. And in spite of himself, he said to himself: What if it were +as she says, and my wife, like another Kasháyiní, were concealing from +me something that she shrank from avowing, lest I should think the worse +of her. And he turned pale at the thought, that any other lover should, +even a very little, have occupied her heart before him. And he stood +silent, and confused, striving to expel from his mind the doubt that +Natabhrúkutí had raised in it, saying to himself: Can I really be only +the last of many lovers? And all the while, Natabhrúkutí watched him, +devouring him as it were with her eyes. And at last, she said again: +Sweet boy, thou art too young and too honest to cope with women, who +were framed by the Creator to deceive. But Aja said angrily: Thou art +thyself a woman, seeking at this very moment to deceive me: and as for +thy age, it is less than my own. And she said: Nay, nay: I am older, for +I am wiser than thyself. For when I see my husband, I remember him, but +me thou hast utterly forgotten, thy true and only wife. Ah! foolish one, +thou hast forgotten. And thou resemblest one, who casts away a costly +jewel, for the sake of a bit of glass, shining only in the sunlight of +thy ignorance, and trodden by the foot of every passing stranger. What! +can I do nothing to rouse thy recollection? Look at me well! look hard, +and it may be, something of me will touch as it were a chord in thy +soul. + +And she came up close to him, so that the warmth and fragrance of her +beauty enveloped him like an atmosphere of intoxication. And she joined +her hands, looking up into his face, as it were compelling his reluctant +admiration by her humble submission to his will. And she said: Hast +thou, hast thou indeed forgotten all? And as he gazed at her, two huge +drops of crystal welled into her eyes, and hung poised before they fell +on the net of her long dark lashes. And she said: Thou sayest, I am +seeking to deceive thee. I love thee, and where is the deception? Is it +not rather thou that art the deceiver in this matter? Is it any fault +of mine if another has stepped in to defraud me of thyself? Or am I to +be blamed, if thy beauty still beguiles me as it did long ago? And yet, +dost thou accuse me as if I were a criminal? O blue black bee, what is +this behaviour, that thou seekest as it were to pick a quarrel with the +poor red lotus who loves thee but too well? And she smiled through her +tears, and exclaimed: Ah I but in spite of thee, I will adore thee, +whether thou wilt or no. Ha! and I will compel thee to remember, and +force my way through every barrier and obstacle till I reach the +recollection[26] in the bottom of thy heart. O canst thou not remember +the days of long ago, when my now despisèd beauty was a joy to thee, and +my hair a very net to snare thy willing soul, and my eyes were more to +thee than any diamonds, and these two arms were thy prison and thy +chain, and this agitated bosom was thy pillow on which I lulled thee to +slumber with the music of this very voice. Hast thou really forgotten +the nectar of my kiss? hast thou actually forgotten thy own insatiable +thirst? Ah! but if thou hast forgotten, I have not; and the innumerable +multitudes of thy too delicious kisses come back to me, singing in my +memory, and whispering in my soul like the lisping of the sea. Hark! +Dost thou not hear them also, those voices of a former birth? + + [26] The reader should remember that in Sanskrit, _love_ + and _recollection_ are the same word. + + + +XI. + + +And as Aja gazed at her, stunned and almost overcome by the pathos of +her irresistible appeal, and as it were swept from his feet by the surge +of her passion, suddenly she seized his left hand with her right, and +stood, grasping it as if convulsively, with the other hand raised, and +bending her head as if to listen. And he listened, and lo! there sounded +in his ears a murmur resembling that of the sea, mixed with faint +strains of music, and echoes of indistinguishable singing voices coming +as it were from the ends of the earth. And a shudder ran through him, as +she turned, and looked at him as if in ecstasy, with eyes that saw +nothing, murmuring in an eager voice that chanted and charmed his ear +like the rushing of a stream: Dost thou hear the voices, calling thee +over to the other shore? For the sea is the sea of separation, and the +other shore is our former birth. Far away over the setting sun hides +the red land[27] of our old sweet love. And I can take thee back to it, +out of this dim and dingy wood. Only I can carry thee back to the land +beyond the sunset hill, where love is lying dead. Over the sea where +monsters lurk, and great pearls grow in sunless deeps, I can carry thee +back again to the land of long ago. Never a ship with a silken sail +could rock thee over across the waves so well as I will waft thee there +on the swell of this soft breast. Never a breeze from the sandal hill +could ferry thee over a silent sea so gently as will I, by breathing +into thy raptured ear tales of thy old forgotten past with fond and +fragrant lips. What! art thou still oblivious of that old delicious +birth? Dost thou never behold in dreams the paradise of our little hut, +and slake again thy raging thirst in a long forbidden kiss? Does she +never come back to thee, the Bráhmani girl with a face like mine, with +lips that laughed and eyes that shone, and a mango flower in her hair? +Say, dost thou never dream of her? And she shook his arm with frenzy, +and exclaimed: Ha! wake from thy magic sleep, and tear away the curtain +that hides me from thy blinded soul. I will, I will awake thee. I will +not be forgotten. And all at once, she burst into a passion of tears. +And she reeled, as though about to fall, and tottered, and threw +herself, sobbing hard, against his breast. + + [27] The Sanskrit _dwípa_ has exactly the same connotation + as our islands of the Blest, and like them it is placed in + the setting sun. + +And while she spoke, Aja stood, like one pushed to the very edge of a +precipice, pale as death, and breathing hard, spellbound. And then at +last, when she threw herself upon his breast, again a shudder ran +through all his limbs. And as if her touch had shattered to pieces the +last fragment of his resolution, he caught her around the waist with the +one arm that was free. And with tears in his own eyes, he stammered, as +if in the extremity of desperation, hardly knowing what he said: Alas! I +have been harsh to thee. O lovely browed beauty, cease to weep. Why, O +why, did I not meet thee sooner by only a single day? + + + +XII. + + +And at that very moment, he heard behind him a deep sigh. And as he +turned, wood, poppies, and all vanished from before his eyes. Once more +he stood on the city wall; and there before him was the King's +daughter. And she was standing in the doorway, through which he had come +upon the wall, leaning against the open door, and paler than Love's own +ashes, while her great dark eyes were frozen as it were to ice, and yet +lit up by the triple fire of sorrow and reproach and fierce disdain. And +she looked like the daughter of Janaka, when forsaken by the lord of the +race of Raghu, and like the heavenly Urwashi, when abandoned by +Pururawas, a very spirit of despair carved by the Creator into a stony +female form, to break the heart of the three worlds. And as if the very +sight of her had broken the spell that held him, reason and recollection +suddenly returned to Aja, as it were at a single bound. And he woke, as +if from a magic sleep, and on the instant, a sword ran as it were +straight into his heart. And with a cry, he flung away his sobbing +burden like a blade of grass, not caring where it fell: and ran towards +the King's daughter. But she, when she saw him coming, shrieked, and +started, and exclaimed: Away! Touch me not, save with the point of thy +sharp true sword, to pierce me through the body as thy perfidy has my +soul. + +Then Aja tossed away his sword, with a shudder, over the edge of the +wall. And he seized himself by the head with both hands, with a groan +like the roar of a wounded lion. And he exclaimed: Ha! Better now it had +been indeed, had I never emerged from the waste of sand. And he turned +fiercely upon Natabhrúkutí, saying: This is thy doing, thou vile +enchantress: and now I am indeed awake. + +But even as he spoke, the words died away upon his lips; and he stood +still, like a picture on a wall, for wonder at what he saw before him. +For Natabhrúkutí was standing still, exactly where he left her, bolt +upright, like a spear fixed in the earth. And her beauty was greater +than ever, and yet such, that as he saw it, his heart stopped in his +breast. For every vestige of the nectar of her love-emotion had left +her, and in its place, the poison of immortal hate shone in her cold and +evil eyes, which were fastened, as if with a mixture of pain and +pleasure, with a glittering and fiendish stare, upon the King's +daughter. And as he watched them, cold ran in Aja's veins. For her eyes +shook, and changed colour, and a horrible smile played on her blue and +twitching lips. And she looked thin, for her two arms hung down tight +against her sides, and her fingers opened and shut, slowly, as if of +their own accord. + +And after a while, she spoke. And she turned to Aja, and said, in a +voice that resembled a hiss: Fool! thou wouldst not take the blue flower +I offered thee, though its fragrance could not have been matched by +anything in the three worlds. Now, then, I will take another way. So as +he watched her, she was gone: and he saw before him nothing but the +empty city wall. + +And as he looked again, not crediting the testimony of his own eyes, he +heard a sharp cry from the King's daughter. And he turned, and saw +Yashowatí sinking to the ground. And at that very moment Natabhrúkutí +stood again before him. And she looked at him with strange eyes, and +said slowly: Go now, and enjoy thy wife. But I must give thee just one +kiss, before I go. + +And as Aja looked into her eyes, suddenly, like a flash of lightning, he +understood. And he struck his hand upon his brow, exclaiming: Ha! Now, +now, I understand, too late. Thou art that very she, that was jealous of +the King's daughter's beauty, and ruined her out of spite. And I have +been befooled by thee, and failed to stand the test. And he ground his +teeth with rage, that swept through him like a storm. And he said to +himself: Alas! I threw away my sword. No matter. Now, then, as she said +herself, I will take another way. + +And he looked at her, as she stood waiting. And he held out his arms, +saying: Come, then. And as she put her face close to his own, he caught +her by her slender throat, with both hands, in a grip like that of +death. + +And then lo! she was gone again. But in her place, he held in his grasp +a huge yellow snake, which struck him, as he clutched it hard, once and +twice, upon the lips. + + + + +A Fatal Kiss. + + +And then, little by little, the night gradually came to an end. And the +sun rose up, out of his home in the eastern mountain, and began rapidly +to climb into the sky. + +And all at once, there arose a great hubbub, and an outcry in the King's +palace. And the women ran hither and thither, wailing and screaming and +crying out: Haha! haha! the daughter of the King is gone. And they +hunted in all directions, but could not find her anywhere: and they went +and told the King. But he, when he heard it, came running just as he was +in his night clothes, and hurried about with all the women, looking into +every corner, and finding nothing. So after turning the palace upside +down, he stopped short. And he said: What if she should have followed +her lover up on to the city wall, and shared his fate! For beyond a +doubt, like all his predecessors, he has vanished never to return. + +Then they all went up the winding stair, the King going first. And he +stepped out on to the wall. And instantly, with a piercing cry, he fell +to the ground in a mortal swoon. + +Then terror seized on all those women, and they stood exactly where they +were, looking at each other with pale faces, not daring to advance. But +at last, after a long while, supporting each the other, they pushed +forward and looked out. And they saw the King's body, lying on that of +his daughter; and a little further off, Aja, lying upon his face. + +Then they went out, and took up those three bodies, and carried them in, +and examined them. And after a while, they said: Doubtless the heart of +the old King broke, when he saw his daughter lying dead. But as for the +other two, one snake has evidently bitten both. And yet, this is a +wonderful thing. For she has been bitten on the foot, but her lover upon +the lips. What then? Was he trying to kiss the snake, that it should +bite him upon the lips? For how could even the biggest snake reach up so +high, as this great Rajpoot's mouth? + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's An Essence Of The Dusk, 5th Edition, by F. W. Bain + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11499 *** |