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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/35928-8.txt b/35928-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0a2b3b1 --- /dev/null +++ b/35928-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2834 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Syrup of the Bees, by Anonymous + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Syrup of the Bees + +Author: Anonymous + +Translator: F. W. Bain + +Release Date: April 21, 2011 [EBook #35928] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SYRUP OF THE BEES *** + + + + +Produced by David Edwards, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + A SYRUP OF THE BEES + + TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT + + BY F. W. BAIN + + + _Love was the wine, and Jealousy the lees, + Bitter of brine, and syrup of the bees._ + + + WITH A FRONTISPIECE + + METHUEN & CO. LTD. + + 36 ESSEX STREET, W.C. + + LONDON + + + TO + MRS. THEODORE BECK + + + And I rove on the breeze with the world of bees + like the shadow of a bee: + For a dead moonflower which the worms devour + is the tomb of the soul of me. + + O the hum of the bees in the mango trees + it murmurs _taboo! taboo!_ + _Should a dead moonflower which the worms devour + smell sweet as the mangoes do?_ + + What! shall I deem my flower a dream + when I do find, each morn, + Wet honey sips left on my lips, + and in my heart, a thorn? + + + + +PREFACE + + +The Young Barbarians, when Rome's ecclesiastical polity got hold of +them, were persuaded by their anxious foster-mother to sell their +Scandinavian birthright of imagination for an unintelligible, theopathic +mess of mystic Græco-Syrian pottage. But the "demons," though driven +generally from the field, lurked about in holes and corners, watching +their opportunity. They took refuge in bypaths, leaving the high road: +they lay in ambush in a thicket, whence nothing ever could dislodge +them: that of fairy tales and fables. + +In India, the "demons," _i.e._ the fairy tales and fables, have never +had to hide. But the fairy tales of India differ from the fairy tales of +England, much as their fairies do themselves. The fairies of Europe are +children, little people: and it is to children that fairy stories are +addressed. The child is the agent, as well as the appeal. In India it is +otherwise: the fairy stories are addressed to the grown-up, and the +fairies resemble their audience: they are grown up too. They form an +intermediate, and so to say, irresponsible class of beings, half-way +between the mortals and the gods. These last two are very serious +things: they have their work to do: not so the fairies, who exist as it +were for the sake of existence--"art for art's sake"--and have nothing +to do but what people who have nothing to do always do do--to get +themselves and other people into mischief. They are distinguished by +three noteworthy characteristics. In the first place, they are +_possessors of the sciences, i.e._ magic, and this it is which gives +them their proper name (_Widyádhara_),[1] which is almost equivalent to +our _wizard_. Secondly, every Widyádhara can change his shape at will +into anything he pleases: they are all _shape-changers_ (_Kámarupa_). +And finally, their element is air: they live in the air, and are thus +denominated _sky-goers, sky-roamers, air-wanderers_, in innumerable +synonyms. These are the peculiar attributes of the fairies of Ind. + +[Footnote 1: Some kindly critics of these stories have objected to the +W, here or elsewhere. The answer to this is, that European scholars have +taught everybody to pronounce everything wrong, by _e.g._ introducing +into Sanskrit a letter that it does not contain. There is no V in +Sanskrit, nor can any Hindoo, without special training, pronounce it: he +says, for instance, _walwe_ for _valve_.] + +Like many other persons in India (and out of it) who are far from being +either fairies or wizards, they are extraordinarily touchy, and +violently resentful of scorn or slight: things not nice to anybody, but +the Wizards are not Christians, and generally take dire revenge. A very +trifling provocation will set them in a flame. The Widyádharí lady is +jealousy incarnate. Jealousy, be it noted, is a thing that many people +much misunderstand. Ask anyone the question, where in literature is +jealousy best illustrated, and ninety-nine people in a hundred will +reply, Othello. But, as Pushkin excellently says, Othello is not +naturally a jealous man at all: he is his exact antipodes, a confiding, +unsuspicious nature.[2] Jealousy not only distrusts on evidence; it +distrusts before evidence and without it; it anticipates evidence and +condemns without a trial: it does not wait even for "trifles light as +air," but constructs them for itself out of nonentity. Its essence is +causeless and irrational suspicion. Your true jealous nature never +trusts anything or anybody for an instant. Othello is of noble soul: no +jealous man ever was or could be. With women, it is not quite the same; +but even here, real nobility of character excludes the possibility of +jealousy, because it trusts, until it is deceived, and then its glass is +shattered, and its love gone beyond recall: sympathy is annihilated. +Compare Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth: the one, the noblest, the +other, the meanest creature that ever sat upon a throne. Mary trusted +even Darnley till she discovered that he was beneath every sentiment but +one: Good Queen Bess never trusted anyone at all. _Mauvaise espèce de +femme!_ + +[Footnote 2: This "detached reflection" of Russia's national poet is +endorsed by Dostoyeffsky, the greatest master of jealousy that the world +has ever seen.] + +And so, they are not much to be depended on, these Wizards; anybody +taking up with one of them, male or female, had better be careful. You +can never tell where you are with them; their affection is unstable; +they are fickle, as might be expected from creatures of the air: their +feelings are as variable as their shapes. They can be just as hideously +ugly as unimaginably beautiful. The stories that deal with them contain +a moral entirely in harmony with all Indian ideas: it is a mistake not +to stick to your own caste. When two of different castes are thrown +together, the trouble inevitably begins. The gipsies, who came +apparently from Sind, brought this notion into Europe, in a form not +previously familiar to it. That difference of kind is insurmountable, is +the fundamental axiom of Indian theory and practice. The owl to the owl, +the crow to the crow: otherwise, Nemesis and catastrophe. _A Syrup of +the Bees_[3] is another instance. + +[Footnote 3: The title has a secondary meaning (with reference to its +place in the series), _she that is loaded with the nectar of Maheshwara, +i.e._ the moon that he wears.] + + * * * * * + +Everywhere to-day we hear people singing a very different song: from all +sides is dinned into our ears the cant of humanity, "our common +humanity." In the meantime, men differ in many ways more than they +agree, and the differences of humanity are practically far more vital +than the common base. Just as, though all men have weight, yet +gravitation simply by reason of its universality does not constitute an +element of politics, and is altogether a negligible quantity, fact +though it be, so is it with humanity: the generic identity is nothing, +the peculiar distinctions all. The world is not like a plain, but an +irregular region such as that of the Alps or Himalaya, consisting of +inaccessible peaks that separate deep valleys, at the bottom of which +live parcels of humanity drowned in thick fogs or mists of totally +different colours and intensities, that distort and transmogrify +everything they see: so that if here and there any single individual +succeeds in climbing, by dint of toil or special circumstances, to the +tops, where in the clear ether all the situation lies spread out in its +truth before his eye, he will find that he has thereby only cut himself +absolutely off from communion and sympathy, not only with the denizens +of his own valley, but that of all the others too. From that moment he +ceases to be intelligible to the rest. No reasoning of his can ever +touch them, or succeed in opening their eyes, because their error is not +one of reason, but of perception: they cannot, because they do not, see +things as he sees them: the mists,[4] with all their refraction and +delusive transformation, are always there. Say what he will, he will not +awake them: he will gain nothing in return for all his efforts but +ridicule, abuse, or neglect. So Disraeli, in his generation, seemed to +himself to be like one pouring, from a golden goblet, water upon sand. +To be above the level of humanity is to be counted, till after you are +dead, as one who is below. + +[Footnote 4: No mere learning will remove them. Pundits, as a rule, end +where they began, "lost in the gloom of uninspired research."] + +And this is the exact condition in the India of to-day. The irony of +fate has thrown together, as though by some vast geological convulsion, +the dwellers in two valleys, one of whom sees everything through, so to +say, a red mist, and the other through a blue: they move about and mix +in a way together, totally unable to see things in the same light: and +all the while this melancholy cuckoo-cry of _common humanity_ fills the +air with its reiteration, and people persist in handling the situation +with a wilful and almost criminal determination to ignore what stares +them in the face, and by so doing, still further accentuate the very +thing they will not see. If you take two men who are infinitely far from +being brothers, and forcibly unite them, on the pretext that they are, +you will produce by irritation an enmity between them that would never +have existed, had they been let alone. + + * * * * * + +I stood, a little while since, on the very edge of a plateau, that fell +down sheer four thousand feet or more, into the valley of Mysore. Far in +the distance to the north, the dense dark green forest jungle stretched +away like a carpet, intersected here and there by Moyar's silver +streams, with here and there a velvet boss, where a rounded hill stood +up out of the plain. That carpet, as it seemed from the height, so +uniform and close in its texture, is made of great trees, under which +wander wild elephants in herds. To right and left, the valley ran both +ways out of sight, like a monster chasm with one side removed. And in +the air below, above, around, light wreaths and ragged fragments of +cloud and mist floated and streamed and drifted, casting the most +beautifully deep blue shifting shadows not only on the earth, but on the +air, like waterfalls of colour, half hiding and half framing the distant +view, and cutting the sunlight into intermittent fountains of a golden +semi-purple rain that fell and changed, now here, now there, now, as you +looked upon them, gone, now suddenly shooting out elsewhere to transform +every colour that they touched into something other than it was, like a +magic show suddenly thrown out by the Creator in the silent and +unfrequented solitude of his hills, for sheer delight and as it were +simply for his own amusement, not caring in the least whether there +might be any eye open to catch and worship such a beautiful profusion of +his power, or not. For, strange! the spell and mysterious appeal of all +such momentary glimpses lies, not in what you see, but in what you do +not hear: it is the dead silence, the stillness, that by a paradox seems +to be the undertone, or background, of moving mist and lonely mountain +peaks. + +So as I stood, gazing, there came suddenly from the east, a whisper, a +mutter; a low sound, that suggested a distant mixture of wind and sea. +And I turned round, and looked, and I saw a sight that I never shall see +again; such a sight as a man can hardly expect to see twice, in the time +of a single life. Rain--but was it rain?--rain in a terrific wall, a +dark precipice of appalling gloom, rain that rose like a colossal +curtain from earth to heaven and north to south, was coming up the +valley straight towards me, and it struck me, as I saw it, with a thrill +that was almost dread. That was what the people saw, long ago, when the +Deluge suddenly came upon them. It came on, steadily, swiftly, like a +thing with orders to carry out, and a purpose to fulfil, cutting the +valley athwart with the edge of its solid front, sharp as that of a +knife laid on a slice of bread: a black ominous mass of elemental +obliteration, out of which there came a voice like the rushing of a +flood and the beating of wings, mixed with a kind of wail, like the +noise of the cordage of a ship, in a gale at sea. It blotted out +creation, and in the phrase of old Herodotus, day suddenly became night. +A moment later, I stood in whirling rain and fog that made sight useless +a yard away, as wet as one just risen from the sea, with a soul on the +very verge of cursing the Creator, for so abruptly dropping the curtain +on his show: forgetting, in my ingratitude, first, the favour he had +done me; secondly, how many were those who had not seen; lastly, and +above all, that it was the very dropping of that stupendous curtain that +gave its finishing touch and climax to the show. For he knows best, +after all. Introduce into Nature were it but a single atom of stint, of +parsimony, of preservation, of regret for loss; and the power, and with +it, the sublimity of the infinite is gone. Were Nature to pose, to +attitudinise for contemplation, even for the fraction of a second, she +would annihilate the condition on which reposes all her charm. Ruthless +destruction, even of her own choicest works, is the badge of her +inexhaustible omnipotence: add but a touch of pity, and you fall back to +the littleness and feebleness of man. + +And I mused, as I departed: how can that be communicated to others, +which cannot even be described at all? And if so, in the things of the +body, how much more with the things of the soul? Who shall convey to the +souls that stumble and jostle in the foggy valleys, any glimpse of the +visions, denied to them, above; any spark of comprehension of the things +that they might discern, on the tops of the pure and silent hills, that +stand uncomprehended, kissing heaven above the fog? + +POONA, 1914 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +I. A TWILIGHT EPIPHANY + +II. AN INCOMPLETE OBLIVION + +III. A DISJUNCTIVE CONJUNCTION + + + + +I + +A TWILIGHT EPIPHANY + + +_The three worlds worship the sound of the string that twanged of old +like the hum of bees[5] as it slipped from faint Love's faltering hand +and fell at his feet unstrung, the bow unbent and the shaft unsped, as +if to beg for mercy from that other shaft of scorching flame that shot +from the bow-despising brow of the moony-crested god._ + +[Footnote 5: The bowstring of Love's bow is made of a line of bees. Love +was reduced to ashes by fire from Shiwa's extra eye, for audaciously +attempting to subject that great ascetic to his own power.] + +Far down in the southern quarter, at the very end of the Great Forest, +just where the roots of its outmost trees are washed by the waves of the +eastern sea, there was of old a city, which stood on the edge of land +and water, like as the evening moon hangs where light and darkness meet. +And just outside the city wall where the salt sand drifts in the wind, +there was a little old ruined empty temple of the Lord of the Moony +Tire, whose open door was as it were guarded by two sin-destroying +images of the Deity and his wife, one on the right of the threshold and +the other on the left, looking as if they had suddenly started asunder, +surprised by the crowd of devotees, to make a way between. And on an +evening long ago, when the sun had finished setting, Maheshwara was +returning from Lanká to his own home on Kailás, with Umá in his arms. So +as he went, he looked down, and saw the temple away below. And he said +to his beloved: Come, now, let us go down, and revisit this little +temple, which has stood so long without us. And it looks white in the +moon's rays, as if it had turned pale, for fear that we have forgotten +it. + +So when they had descended, Maheshwara said again: See how these two +rude and mutilated effigies that are meant for thee and me stand, as it +were, waiting, like bodies for their souls. Let us enter in, and occupy, +and sanctify these images,[6] and rest for a little while, before +proceeding to thy father's peaks. And if I am not mistaken, our presence +will be opportune, and this deserted temple will presently be visited by +somebody who stands in sore need of our assistance, which as long as +they remain untenanted these our images cannot give him, since they have +even lost their hands.[7] And accordingly they entered, each into his +own image, and remained absolutely still, as though the stone was just +the stone it always was, and nothing more. And yet those stony deities +glistened in the full moon's light, as though the presence of deity had +lent them lustre of their own, that laughed as though to say: See, now +we are as white as the very foam at our feet. + +[Footnote 6: The real divinity of a Hindoo temple is not the images +outside on its walls, but the symbol (whatever it be) inside.] + +[Footnote 7: A common feature throughout India. Everywhere they went, +the devotees of the Koràn used to smash and maim the Hindoo idols.] + +So as they stood, silent, and listening to the sound of the sea, all at +once there came a man who ran towards them. And taking off his turban, +he cast it at the great god's feet, and fell on his face himself. And +after a while, he looked up, and joined his hands, and said: O thou +Enemy of Love, now there is absolutely no help for me but in the sole of +thy foot. For when the sun rose this morning, the Queen was found lying +drowned, and all broken to pieces, in the sea foam under the palace +wall. And when they ran to tell the King, they found him also lying +dead, where he sleeps on his palace roof that hangs over the sea, with a +dagger in his heart. And the city is all in uproar, for loss to +understand it, and Gangádhara the minister has made of me a victim, by +reason of an old grudge. And now my head will be the forfeit, unless I +can discover the guilty before the rising of another sun. And thou who +knowest all things, past, present, or to come, art become my only +refuge. Grant me, of thy favour, a boon, and reveal to me the secret, +for who but thyself can possibly discover how the King and Queen have +come to this extraordinary end. + +So as he spoke, gazing as if in desperation at Maheshwara, all at once, +as if moved to compassion, that image of the Deity turned from the wall +towards him, and nodded at him its stony head: so that in his terror +that unhappy mortal nearly left his own body, and fell to the ground in +a swoon. And Maheshwara gazed at him intently, as he lay, and put him, +by his _yoga_,[8] asleep. And the Daughter of the Snow said softly: O +Moony-crested, who is this unlucky person, and what is the truth of this +whole matter, for I am curious to know? And Maheshwara said slowly: O +Snowy One, this is the chief of the night watch of the city; and be +under no alarm. For while he sleeps, I will reveal the truth to him, in +a magic dream: making him as it were a third person, to overhear our +conversation. And I will do the same to the prime minister, so that in +the morning, finding their two dreams tally, he will gain credit and +save his life. Thereupon Párwatí said again: O Lord of creation, save +mine also. For I am as it were dying of curiosity, to hear how all this +came about. + +[Footnote 8: What we should call, in such a case, mesmerism: the power +of concentrated will. There is something in it, after all.] + +So then, after a while, that omniscient Deity said slowly: All this has +come about, by reason of a dream. And Gauri said: How could a dream be +the cause of death, both to the King and Queen? Then said Maheshwara: +Not only is there danger in dreaming, but the greatest. Hast thou not +seen thy father's woody sides reflected in the still mirror of his own +tarns? And the goddess said: What then? And Maheshwara said: Hast thou +not marked how the reflection painted on the water contains beauty, +drawn as it were from its depths, greater by far than does the very +thing it echoes, of which it is nothing but an exact copy? And Párwatí +said: Aye, so it does. Then said Maheshwara: So it is with dreams. For +their danger lies in this very beauty, and like pictures upon quiet +water, which contains absolutely nothing at all, below, they show men, +sleeping, visions of unrealisable beauty, which, being nothing whatever +but copies of what they have seen, awake, possess notwithstanding an +additional fascination, not to be found in the originals, which fills +them with insatiable longing and an utter contempt of all that their +waking life contains, as in the present instance: so that they sacrifice +all in pursuit of a hollow phantom, trying to achieve impossibility, by +bringing mind-begotten dream into the sphere of reality, whither it +cannot enter but by ceasing to be dream. But the worst of all is, as in +this King's case, when dreaming is intermingled with the reminiscences +of a former birth: for then it becomes fatality. And Párwatí said: How +is that? Then said Maheshwara: Every soul that is born anew lies buried +in oblivion, having utterly forgotten all its previous existence, which +has become for it as a thing that has never been. And yet, sometimes, +when impressions are very vivid, and memory very strong, here and there +an individual soul, steeped as it were in the vat of its own experience, +and becoming permanently dyed, as if with indigo, will laugh, so to say, +at oblivion, and carry over indelible impressions, from one birth to +another, and so live on, haunted by dim recollections that throng his +memory like ghosts, and resembling one striving vainly to recall the +loveliness and colour of a flower of which he can remember absolutely +nothing but the scent, whose lost fragrance hangs about him, goading +memory to ineffectual effort, and thus filling him with melancholy which +he can never either dispel or understand. + +So as he spoke, there came past the temple door a young man of the +Shabara caste, resembling a tree for his height, carrying towards the +forest a young woman of slender limbs, who was struggling as he held +her, and begging to be released; to which he answered only by laughing +as he held her tighter, and giving her every now and then a kiss as he +went along, so that as they passed by, there fell from her hair a +_champak_ flower, which lay on the ground unheeded after they +disappeared. And the Daughter of the Mountain exclaimed: See, O +Moony-crested, this flower laid as it were at thy feet as a suppliant +for her protection: for this is a case for thy interference, to save +innocence from evil-doing. + +And Maheshwara looked at her with affection in his smile. And he said: +Not so, O mountain-born: thou art deceived: since this is a case where +interference would be bitterly resented, not only by the robber, but his +prey: for notwithstanding all her feigned reluctance, this slender one +is inwardly delighted, and desires nothing less than to be taken at her +word. For this also is a pair of lovers, who resemble very closely those +other lovers, whose story I am just about to tell thee: as indeed all +lovers are very much the same. For Love is tyranny, and the essence of +the sweetness of its nectar is a despotic authority that is equally +delicious to master and to slave. For just as every male lover loves to +play the tyrant, so does every woman love to play the slave, so much, +that unless her love contains for her the consciousness of slavery, it +is less than nothing in her own eyes, and she does not love at all. And +know, that as nothing in the world is so hateful to a woman as force, +exerted on her by a man she does not love, so nothing fills her with +such supreme intoxication as to be masterfully made by her lover to go +along the road of her own inclination, since so she gets her way without +seeming to consent, and is extricated from the dilemma of deciding +between her scruples and her wish. For indecision is the very nature of +every woman, and it is a torture to her, to decide, no matter how. And +even when she does decide, she does so, generally as a victim, driven by +circumstances or desperation, and never as a judge, as in the case of +both those women who determined the destiny of this dead King, the one +deciding in his favour, precisely because he would allow her no choice, +and the other very much against him indeed: and yet both, so to say, +without any good reason at all. For women resemble yonder waves of the +sea, things compounded of passion and emotion, with impulses for +arguments, and agitation for energy, for ever playing, fretting and +moaning with laughter and tears of brine and foam: and like feminine +incarnations of the instability of water, one and the same essence +running through a multitude of contradictory and beautiful qualities and +forms: being cold and hard as ice, and soft and white as snow, and still +as pools, and crooked as rivers, now floating in heaven like clouds and +mists and vapours, and now plunging, like cataracts and waterfalls, into +the abyss of hell. Is not the same water bitter as death to the drowning +man, and sweeter than a draught of nectar, saving the life of the +traveller dying of thirst in the desert sand. + +So, now, listen, while I tell thee the story of this King. + +And as he began to speak, the wind fell, and the sea slumbered, and the +moon crept silently further up and up the sky. And little by little, the +dark shadows stole out stealthily, moving as it were on tiptoe, and hung +in corners, here and there, like ghosts about the little shrine, before +which the sleeping man lay white in the moon's rays, as still as if he +were a corpse. And the deep tones of the Great God's voice seemed like a +muttered spell, to lull to sleep the living and assemble the dead to +hear, with demons for _dwárapálas_ at the door of an ashy tomb. + + + + +II + + +AN INCOMPLETE OBLIVION + + +I + +Know, then, that this King, who was found dead in the early morning, +with a dagger in his heart, was named Arunodaya.[9] For his father said, +when he was born: This son is, as it were, the sunrise of our hopes. And +yet, by the decree of destiny, it turned out altogether contrary to his +expectation. For as it happened, his father, in whose family it was an +hereditary custom to have only one queen at a time, grew gradually tired +of his only wife. But being as cowardly in crime as he was weak in +constancy, he did not dare to bring about his wishes by any violence or +practice of his own, but lay as it were in wait, for some suitable +opportunity or occasion to present itself, by means of which he might +succeed in getting rid of her, without incurring any blame, or running +any risk. For such souls as his was, think to throw dust in the eyes of +Chitragupta,[10] not knowing that he does but add cowardice to the total +of their guilt. + +[Footnote 9: (Pronounce _daya_ as _die_, with accent on preceding _o_.) +It means _the rising of red dawn_.] + +[Footnote 10: The Recorder, who keeps account of all the sins that each +soul must answer for, at the end of every birth.] + +So while he waited, time went on, and year succeeded year. And little by +little he and his queen grew gradually older, and his son changed slowly +from a boy into a man. + +And then, at last, one day it happened, that the King and Queen were +sitting together on the palace roof. And all at once, the Queen started +to her feet with a cry. And as the King looked towards her, with wonder +and curiosity, she said slowly: Aryaputra,[11] know, that I have +suddenly recollected my former birth. And now, I long to tell thee all +about it; and yet I am afraid. For this is the law, that if anybody +suddenly remembers his former birth, and tells it to another, that very +moment he must die. And if I die, I must leave thee: for if not, what +could death do to me, since that is the only thing in the three worlds +of which I am afraid? + +[Footnote 11: i.e. _son of a nobleman_, the term used by a queen in +addressing her husband.] + +So as she looked at him, with regret and affection in her eyes--for she +was as devoted to her husband as if he had been worthy, as indeed he was +utterly unworthy, of her devotion--all at once the King's heart leaped +in his breast. And he said to himself: Ha! Here, as it seems, is that +very opportunity, for which I have been waiting all these years: till I +thought that my soul would almost part from my body, for sheer +impatience and disgust. And in an instant, he also sprang to his feet, +exclaiming as he did so, with an ecstasy that was only half feigned: +Strange! can it be? For I, too, have suddenly remembered my former +birth: as if this recollection of thine had been the spark required, to +set fire to the memory of my own. So now, then, let us very quickly tell +each other all, and so take leave together of these miserable bodies, +into which we must, beyond a doubt, have fallen, by reason of a curse. + +So then, deceived by the display of his hypocritical affection, the +Queen told him very quickly all that she recollected of her former +birth. And when she had finished, the King looked at her steadily for a +while, and his face fell. And he said, with difficulty: Alas! alas! I +was utterly mistaken: and as I think, I took fire falsely, out of +sympathy with thee. And now I have fallen unwittingly into an +irreparable disaster. For as to my own former birth, I remember +absolutely nothing about anything at all. + +So as he spoke, he looked at the Queen, and their eyes met. And in that +instant, she understood; and caught, like a flash of lightning, the +falsehood in his soul. And she gazed at him, for a while, fixedly, with +eyes that resembled an incarnation of scrutiny that was mingled with +reproach, till all at once he turned away, unable to endure the +detection of his own baseness, reflected as it were in the calm mirror +of her own pure gaze. And after a while, she said slowly: Son, not of a +noble, but an outcast, know, that thou hast doomed not me only, but +thyself. And now, because thou hast betrayed me to my death, thy son +also shall die as I do, and on the very same spot, by the agency of one +who stands to him in the very same relation that I do to thee: and the +husband shall pay for the wife. And the consequence of works shall dog +thee, in the form of the total extinction of thy race. But as for me, +now I see only too clearly that this birth has been a blunder, and a +punishment, and a delusion, resembling a scene played upon a stage, +whose king turns out, when the curtain falls, to be but a sorry rascal +after all. And all the while, I have given my devotion to the wrong +husband, and like a foolish benefactor, have wasted alms on a pitiful +impostor. I feared, but one short moment since, to leave thee, and to +part from thee; but now, thou hast suddenly changed regret into relief. +See, whether separation will be thy blessing or thy curse. + +So as she spoke, she tottered, and her soul suddenly left its body, +which sank to the ground abandoned, like a creeper that collapses when +the trunk it clung to falls, and saying as if to mock him: Seek now for +the core that is gone, within the hollow husk. + + +II + +So then, when her funeral obsequies were over, that widowed King, +strange to say! fell into melancholy, deceiving all his subjects, as if +by express design. For they pitied him exceedingly, each saying to the +other: See, now, how this good Queen's death has robbed this poor +deserted King as it were of his own soul: as well, indeed, it might. For +she was a _patidewatá_,[12] and a Sawitri, not only in her name, but in +her nature, and rather than outlive him, preferred to go before. +Whereas, on the contrary, that King's decline arose, not from regret, +but from remorse, mixed with anxiety and the apprehension of his coming +doom. For this is the way of the weak, that they yield to evil impulse, +and yet repent of their own doings, taking fright at the sight of them, +as soon as they are done, and discovering the terrible consequences of +works, too late. For a deed that is done, is divided from what it was, +before it was done, by all eternity, in the fraction of a second: as +this King found to his cost. For even as he gazed at the body of his +queen, lying dead on the floor beside him, remorse rose up as it were +out of her body and took him by the throat. And at that moment, he would +have thrown away his kingdom like a blade of grass, to bring her back to +life. And his longing to get rid of her changed, like a flash of +lightning, into a passionate yearning to repossess her, dead. And he +said to himself, as he looked at her: Where in the world shall I find +another resembling her in the least degree, and what shall I do, to save +myself from the ripening of her curse? For destiny listens in silence to +the prayers of a pure woman, and she, beyond all doubt, was one. + +[Footnote 12: i.e. _a wife who makes a god of her husband_: the highest +of all possible praises. Sawitri is the Hindoo Alcestis.] + +So then, from that very moment, every thought of replacing her by +another queen abandoned him, as if her life, in leaving her, had drawn +with it his own. And all his taste for life at all, and all desires +whatever, suddenly left him in a body, as if out of disgust at his +behaviour. And he sank into despair, and pined and waned like an old +moon, and grew gradually dimmer, and thinner, and more gloomy, till +there was hardly anything left of him at all, but skin and bone. And +finally, seeing its opportunity, a burning fever arising from a chill +entered in and took possession of all his limbs, as if to give him a +foretaste of the flames of his own pyre. + +And then at last, perceiving that Yama had caught him in his noose, and +finding himself in the mouth of death, he summoned his prime minister, +together with his son. And when they came, he said to them: Since I am +on the very point of following my wife, as, had I gone before her, she +would have followed me, _sati_[13] that she was, there is no time to +lose. Do thou, my son, get married, as quickly as thou canst, for the +god of death has clutched us both, as if he was in a hurry, just at the +very moment when we were thinking of procuring thee a wife. And as it +is, I am sore afraid of going to meet my ancestors, who will angrily +reproach me for placing them in jeopardy, by neglecting to provide for +them in time. And when they ask me, saying: Where is thy son's son? what +answer shall I make? And therefore, O my minister, I leave this son of +mine and his marriage as a deposit in thy hands, which I shall require +of thee in the other world. Postpone all other policy to the duty of +finding him a wife: and if thou canst, let her resemble his mother, that +was mine. + +[Footnote 13: _Sati_, which means _a good woman_, is always understood +by Europeans to refer to what is only the last manifestation of her +quality, the burning herself on her dead lord's pyre. But the term does +not necessarily contain any reference to that stern climax of her +virtue.] + +So having spoken, in a little while he died, leaving everybody in his +kingdom wondering at his affection for his wife. For nobody knew the +truth, which was as it were burned up and utterly annihilated by the +fires that consumed the body of his wife and his own. And he left behind +him a reputation for fidelity that was absolutely false. For none but +the Deity can penetrate the disguise of hypocrisy. And yet, though he +deceived all the subjects in his kingdom, he did not succeed in blinding +the eyes of Dharma,[14] who caught his soul in his noose, and doomed it, +for his treachery, to be born again in the body of a worm. + +[Footnote 14: Another name for Yama, the god of death, which we may here +take as equivalent to "Justice."] + + +III + +So, then, when his funeral obsequies were over, and the due time +prescribed by the _shastras_ had elapsed, his son Arunodaya mounted the +throne, and became king in his room. + +And no sooner was the crown placed upon his head, and the water +sprinkled over him, than the prime minister, who was named Gangádhara, +came to him privately, and said: Maháráj, now there is yet another +ceremony which remains as it were crying to be performed, with the least +possible delay; and that is thy own marriage. And now it is for thee and +me to seek out some maiden that will make a royal match for thee, and +lead her round the fire, and so let thy father's spirit rest. And there +cannot be any difficulty at all. For all the neighbouring kings, who +possess daughters, are watching thee like clouds around a mountain top, +ready to rain daughters as it were upon thy head; since thou art +superior in power to them all. And as for the daughters, the painters, +and the rumours of thy beauty, have turned them all into so many +_abhisárikas_, dying to run into thy arms without waiting to be asked; +and the only danger is, that all but the one on whom thy choice shall +fall will immediately abandon the body, out of jealousy and despair, as +soon as it is made. For everybody knows that even Ananga and Rati[15] +were envious of thy father and thy mother; of whom thou art compounded +into an essence twice as powerful as either was alone, so that not a day +passes but my spies bring me news of miserable women who have deserted +the body of their own accord, finding themselves, by reason of their +caste or condition, cut off from all hope of ever becoming thy wife. + +[Footnote 15: _i.e._ the God of Love and his principal wife.] + +Then said Arunodaya: O Gangádhara, I am ready to marry in a moment any +one of them: and yet, as I think, I shall never marry anyone at all. And +Gangádhara said: Maháráj, thou speakest riddles, and I am slow to +understand. And Arunodaya looked at him with a smile. And he said: +Gangádhara, it is proper that a minister should know all his master's +secrets, and now that thou art my minister, I will tell thee mine, and +make thee my confidant in everything, as expediency demands. For then +only will the business of our policy run on smoothly, when we pull +exactly together, like a pair of bullocks in a cart. And whether it be +with the women as thou sayest, or not, there is a difficulty, unknown to +thee, on my part. Then said the minister: What is that? And Arunodaya +said: I am already more than half married, and, as it were, bound, by an +indissoluble pledge, to an undiscoverable beauty; and unless she can be +found, I am, as I told thee, likely to remain unmarried for the +remainder of my life. + +Then said the prime minister: Maháráj, everything can be found by one +who looks for it in the proper place. And if thy beauty be discoverable, +I will undertake to find her, at the forfeit of my head. And who, then, +is she? Give me at least a clue; and thou shalt see, that maybe she is +not hidden so very far away, after all. + +And Arunodaya said: I will marry no other woman but the wife of my +former birth. For I dream of her, and as it seems to me, have dreamed of +her, and nothing else, ever since I was born. And so, now, I have +revealed to thee a secret, which I never told to anyone but thee: and I +leave thee to judge, whether she is able to be found, or not. And if +thou canst show me that any one of these kings' daughters was my wife +before, I will marry her again: but this is the indispensable condition; +and no matter who she may be, the woman who does not fulfil it must +marry some one other than myself. And now, go: and when thou hast +meditated sufficiently on the matter, return to me at dawn, and take +counsel with me, as to what is to be done. For, as thou seest, this +marriage of mine is not likely to be easily achieved. And I resemble one +searching on the seashore for a grain of sand, dropped there in the dead +of night, a hundred years ago. + + +IV + +So then, that astounded prime minister gazed at Arunodaya for a while in +silence, and took his dismissal, and went away like a man in a dream. +And when he reached his home, he sat for a long time musing, like a +picture painted on a wall. And then, all at once, he began to laugh. And +he exclaimed: Ha! this, then, was the secret, and now at length I begin +to understand, and all is explained. For this young king +_brahmachári_,[16] little as he suspects it, has been under my eye ever +since he was born. And this, then, was the reason why he was perpetually +wandering about alone, and lying for hours gazing at the lotuses in the +forest pools, or looking at the sea-waves, like a rock on the shore, +differing totally from all others of his kind, who as a rule resemble +_must_ elephants, in utterly refusing to have anything to do with +dancing girls or women of any kind, as it were wilfully contradicting +the design of the Creator, who beyond a doubt formed him on purpose to +prevent Rati and Priti[17] from quarrelling, by providing a second body +for their common lord. And all the while I took him for a very _yogi_, +he was, as it turns out, dreaming, not of emancipation, but this wife of +his former birth: and hard as it is, I think that even emancipation +would, of the two, be easier to attain. Well might he say, that she was +difficult to find. For who ever got at the wife of his former birth, +except in a dream. Aye! this is an obstacle to his marriage indeed, that +even the Lord of the Elephant-Face would be puzzled to surmount or +remove. + +[Footnote 16: As we might say, _bachelor_, but the Hindoo +expression is stricter, meaning, _one who has taken a vow of +virginity_.] + +[Footnote 17: The two wives of Love.] + +And after a while, he said again: Is it a mere fancy? Or can it be, that +he really is haunted by some dim recollection of his former wife, since +beyond a doubt the influences of pre-existence do sometimes persist, and +like ships, sail without sinking over the dark ocean of oblivion, from +one birth-island to another? And what, then, is she like? For could I +only discover what she looks like in his dreams, it might be that by +policy or stratagem I could make shift to find her, or somebody so like +her that he would never know the difference. I will go to him to-morrow +and ask him to describe her, and he cannot well refuse. For how can he +expect me to discover her, unless I know what she is like? Or can it be, +that he does not even know himself? That would be better still. For +then, if, with the assistance of the astrologers, I can manage to devise +a scheme, so as to persuade him that I have lit upon that which he is +looking for, how could he detect the imposition? There are only too many +kings' daughters who would think that the very fruit of their birth was +gained, by practising so innocent a deception as to pass for the wife of +his former birth in order to become in very truth his wife in this. And +if I cannot succeed in some dexterous trick of substitution, I shall be +almost ready to abandon the body myself, for sheer exasperation. For +even apart from the necessity of getting him married, there is not one +of the surrounding kings who is not ready to throw a crore of gold +pieces at my head, if only I will even promise to become his partisan +against all the rest, and marry Arunodaya to some daughter of his own. +Out upon it, that with kings' daughters lying thick as lotuses all round +him, and ready and even eager to be plucked, this unhappy longing of the +king for an unattainable _párijáta_ flower should make them all of no +more value than withered leaves! O Rider on the Mouse,[18] come to my +assistance, for without thy help we shall all be swallowed by calamity, +in the form of the utter extinction of this perverse king's kingdom and +his race. + +[Footnote 18: _i.e._ Ganesha.] + + +V + +Now, just at this very moment, it happened, by the decree of destiny, +that one of the kings of the Widyádharas,[19] who was rightly named +Mahídhara, for his home was on a mountain top that stood in a far-off +island beyond the rising sun, was holding a _swayamwara_ for all his +hundred daughters. And for ninety-nine days each daughter chose her +husband, one a day, from out of the suitors who flocked to the marriage +in such numbers that the sky looked like a cart-wheel, with lines of +Widyádharas assembling from all directions, like vultures, for its +spokes. And finally the hundredth day, and with it, the turn of the +youngest daughter came, to choose. + +[Footnote 19: See Preface.] + +Now this daughter resembled a thorn, fixed by the Creator in the hearts +of all her sisters, causing perpetual irritation, like a rebel chief in +a united kingdom. For she stood aloof from them all, like a little +finger that somehow or other refuses to bend into the closed hand, being +not only the youngest, but the smallest, and the most perverse, and the +loveliest of all, putting not only all her sisters but every other +Widyádhari to the necessity of acknowledging, sore against their will, +that the presence of her beauty robbed them of their own, reducing them +to confusion, like so many impostors confronted by the true heir. And +her nature was so totally dissimilar to that of everybody else, that she +resembled a thing made by the Creator standing as it were upon his head, +out of the essence of contradiction: since none of her own family could +ever tell what she would or would not say, or do, or even where she was. +And even her beauty was as wayward as she was herself. For one of her +eyebrows was always as it were on the tiptoe of surprise, arrogantly +arching a little higher than the other; and her eyes were very long, +with corners that looked as if they were on the very point of turning +upwards, which none the less they never did, as if expressly to +disappoint and deride the expectation they aroused, and keep it hovering +for ever in an agony of suspense. And her lips always seemed to smile +even when they were not smiling, and her head was almost, always poised +a very little on one side, looking as if it were listening for the +far-off mutter of the mischief that lay as it were slumbering in the +thunder-cloud hanging low in the heaven of her huge dark eyes, whose +lashes resembled the long grass that fringes the edge of a forest pool. +And her limbs were so slender, and her colour was so pale, in the shadow +of the masses of her sable hair, that had it not been for the indigo of +her lotus eyes and the vermilion of her lips, she would have resembled a +marble incarnation of the beauty of death, or a wraith of mist touched +as it hovers in a dark valley by the ashy beam of a waning moon. And, +strange! her spell seemed made of moods that always changed, yet never +varied, compounded half of shy timidity, and half of proud disdain, like +an atmosphere of paradoxical fascination, formed of the rival fragrances +of sandalwood and camphor, translated into the language of the soul. + +So then, as those Widyádhara suitors waited in the hall, standing round +in a ring, she came in slowly, with the garland of choosing in her hand. +And beginning with the first she came to, she walked very deliberately +all round that circle of excited wooers, going from one to the next in +order, and examining each in turn. And in the dead silence, there was +absolutely nothing heard but the faint clash of her golden anklets, as +she moved round slowly on little hesitating feet, that trod as it were +on everybody's heart. And as she went, those suitors, as she came to +them and passed them, turned gradually from dark to pale, and then again +to black, like the buttresses on the king's high road, when torches pass +along.[20] And every Widyádhara's soul abandoned, so to say, his body, +on finding that she left him to go on to the next, dooming him as it +were to death by carrying further the fatal wreath. + +[Footnote 20: This is from Kalidas.] + +So, then, having given to all, as if by way of boon, a bitter glimpse of +beauty mixed with a momentary ray of hope, dashing the cup from each +one's lip just as it thought it was going to taste, she came to the very +end. And then, she stopped dead. And she looked at them all, for a +single moment, over the wreath they all desired, and she raised it to +her lips, as if to scent its fragrance, saying as it were to all: Very +sweet indeed is the thing beyond your reach. And then, with a little +pout, she put it round her own neck. And she said, in the Arya metre: + + Tell me, O breeze, is there syrup for the bees? + Only, alas! when kind flowers please. + +And then, she went away, leaving all her lovers as it were in the lurch, +like a flock of _Chakrawákas_ when the sun has disappeared. + + +VI + +And they all stood, when she had gone, gazing at one another in silence, +as motionless as though they had been painted on the walls that stood +behind them. And then they all exclaimed, as if with a single voice: +What! is not one of us all fit for this fastidious beauty's taste? And +instantly that ring of disappointed suitors broke up as they flew away, +and vanished like a mist, for in their fury they would not even so much +as wait to take leave of her father, counting it as it were a crime in +him to be father of such a daughter, and to have lured them into shame. + +And seeing them go, Mahídhara went himself to the apartments of his +daughter. And he said to her in dudgeon: Out on thee! Makarandiká;[21] +for here have all the Widyádharas become my bitter enemies by reason of +this insult. Has thy reason left thee? Or where wilt thou find a +husband, if not even one of all the kings of the Widyádharas can please +thy foolish fancy? Dost thou not understand, that a daughter who is not +married disgraces her father's house? + +[Footnote 21: i.e. _one made of the honey or syrup of flowers_. (Note, +that the first syllable rhymes with _luck_, and the third with _fund_.)] + +Then said Makarandiká: Dear father, I am far too ugly to be married. And +Mahídhara laughed, and he said: What new caprice is this? Thou ugly! +Why, if thou art too ugly, being far the most beautiful of all, what of +thy sisters, whose beauty all united is not equal to thy own, and yet +have they all chosen? And Makarandiká laughed, and she exclaimed: What! +can it be? What! shall the most beautiful of all be content with others' +leavings, and choose only out of what they have all rejected? As if the +whole world were not full to the very brim of husbands! Shall my choice +be the refuse? Moreover, I do not want a Widyádhara for a husband at +all. And Mahídhara said, with amazement: And why not a Widyádhara? Then +said Makarandiká: Widyádharas are fickle, and roaming about in the air, +come across all sorts of other women and make love to them, deceiving +their own wives. But I will marry only such a husband as never will +deceive me. + +Then said her father, smiling: But, O thou very jealous maiden, where +wilt thou discover him? For did not even Indra himself play Sachi false? +Or dost thou think that mortal men are always constant, when even gods +are not? Choose, if thou wilt, a mortal for thy husband, only to +discover that Widyádharas are not more treacherous than they are. Thy +husband will deceive thee, as it may be, no matter what his birth. + +And lo! as he looked at her, jesting, he saw her suddenly turn paler, +and still paler, as if the very thought resembled poison in her ears. +And she said in a low voice: Better never to be married at all, than +marry a deceiver: better far for me, and better far for him. And her +father exclaimed, in astonishment: What! O Makarandiká! thou hast not +even got a husband as yet at all; yet here thou art already, jealous +without a cause! What will it be, when thou art actually married? Truly +I fear for thy unhappy husband, whoever he may be. And yet, be very +careful. Bethink thee, O daughter, that if thou dost choose a mortal, it +will be at the cost of thy condition. For any Widyádharí becoming the +wife of a mortal man loses all her magic sciences, and is levelled with +himself. + +And Makarandiká said with scorn: Thy warning is unnecessary, and there +is not any risk. For it will be long before I place myself in danger of +any such description from a husband of any kind. + + +VII + +So that haughty beauty spoke, ignorant of the future, not dreaming that +her destiny in the form of a mortal husband was just about to laugh her +vaunt to scorn. And leaving her father abruptly, she rose up into the +air, and began to fly swiftly like a wild white swan away towards the +western quarter, looking down upon the sea, that resembled a blue mirror +of the sky that stretched above it, with foaming waves in place of +clouds, and water instead of air: saying to herself: Only let me get +away, where not a Widyádhara of them all is to be seen. And the wind +caressed her limbs like a lover, stealing embraces as she went along, +and whispering in the shell of her little ear: Be not alarmed, O vagrant +beauty, if I reveal thy outline to the whole world, for there is nobody +by to see. And she watched the sun go down before her, and went on all +night long, with no companion but the new moon that sank into the sea in +a little while, as if ashamed to rival her, leaving her alone with +night. And at last, when dawn was just breaking, she saw below her this +very temple, standing alone on the sandy shore between the forest and +the sea. And a little further on, the King's palace was standing up like +a tower, reddened by the young sun's rays. So, feeling tired, she +swooped down, to rest for a little while. And she settled on the edge of +the palace roof, taking the form of a snowy bird, with a ruddy bill and +legs, as if to mock and imitate the colour of the sun. + +And at that very moment, Arunodaya came out upon the roof, with his +prime minister behind him, like Winter following the god of Spring. And +the very instant she set eyes on him, she became as it were a target for +Love's arrow, as if, although invisible, he were there beside his +friend.[22] And she fell suddenly in love with the young king as he came +towards her, and shook with such agitation, that she came within a very +little of falling straight into the sea. And she murmured to herself, +with emotion: Can this be a second dawn[23] appearing just to confound +the other? Or can it be Kámadewa, in a body more beautiful than his own? +But if so, where is Rati? Or am I only dreaming, having fallen unawares +asleep, thinking of husbands and my father's words? + +[Footnote 22: _i.e._ Spring, who is Love's companion.] + +[Footnote 23: This is an allusion to the King's name (see note, _ante_) +the point of which will presently appear.] + +So as she spoke, Arunodaya looked towards her, and presently he said +aloud: See, Gangádhara, how yonder snowy sea-bird has come to me as it +were for refuge, tired beyond a doubt by some long journey across the +sea! Let us not go too near it, lest out of fright it may take to +flight, before its wings are rested. And he sat down a little way off, +on the very edge of the terrace, keeping his eye on Makarandiká, who +laughed at his words in her sleeve, saying softly to herself: There is +no fear, O handsome stranger, that I shall fly away, since thy arrival, +so far from scaring me away, has nailed me to the spot. And the prime +minister said meanwhile: Maháráj, here I am, according to thy +appointment, to discuss thy marriage with thee, where nobody can +overhear. And know, that since thou art absolutely bent on marrying no +other than the wife of thy former birth, I do not despair of finding +her, if she is able to be found. But who can find anything, unless he +knows what it is like? For if not, he will not know that he has found +it, when it lies before his eyes. So tell me, to begin with, what this +wife of thine resembles; and then I will set to work and find her, +without the loss of any time. + +Then Arunodaya said slowly: O Gangádhara, how can I tell thee what I do +not know myself? And Gangádhara said, in wonder: Maháráj, it cannot be. +How will thou recognise her, not knowing what she looks like? And +Arunodaya said again: I shall know her in an instant, the moment I set +eyes on her. For at the very sight of her, love, that depends on the +forgotten associations of a previous existence, will suddenly shoot up +in the darkness of my heart, like flame. For this is the only proof, and +no other is required. And yet, there is something else, to give me as it +were a clue. For though, strive as I may, I cannot even guess what she +was like, yet my memory, as it seems, is not absolutely blank. For I +remember, that she was the daughter of a pandit, and maybe herself a +pandit; and I seem to listen in a dream, whenever I think about her, to +the noise of innumerable pandits, all shouting at the same time some +name that I can never catch, mingling with the roar of the waves of the +sea. + +And when he ended, Gangádhara stared at him, in utter stupefaction, +saying within himself: Beyond a doubt, this King is mad. And presently +he said aloud: O King Arunodaya, who ever heard of a woman, suited for a +king's wife, who had anything to do with pandits? What is there in +common between pandits and the wives of kings? Certainly, thou art +doomed to live and die unmarried: for a beauty who is a pandit is not to +be found in the three worlds. + + +VIII + +Then said Arunodaya: Gangádhara, who knows? But be that as it may, this +is absolutely certain, that I will not marry any woman who was not the +wife of my former birth. And so, if thou canst find her, well. And if +not, then thy prophecy will be true, for I shall live and die without a +wife. + +And Gangádhara went away again, more at a loss than he was before. And +when he reached his home, all at once he began to laugh, as if his +reason had left him. And he said to himself: Ha ha! Out on this unhappy +King, who hears the noise of pandits in the roaring of the sea! Why, +even Maheshwara himself could not find a shout of laughter, to match the +absurdity of this extraordinary jest. And he went on laughing all day +long, till his family grew frightened and summoned the physicians, +saying: He is possessed. + +And meanwhile Makarandiká remained upon the terrace, watching Arunodaya, +as if fascinated by a snake. And as she listened to their conversation, +her heart beat with such exultation that it shook her like wind. And she +said to herself: Surely I am favoured by the deity. Well was it for me, +that I scorned to choose a husband from among those miserable Widyádhara +kings: for had I done so, I should have missed the very fruit of my +birth. And now, by the favour of Ganapati, I have come here in the very +nick of time: and I know all. And no other than myself shall be his +wife. And indeed, beyond a doubt I was the very wife he looks for, since +everything corresponds, and exactly as he said; love has suddenly burst +out flaming in my heart, at the very first sight of him, suddenly +recollecting its old forgotten state. But whether I was his wife or not, +in any other birth, I will very certainly become his wife in this. And +all the symptoms conspire in my favour. + +For not only is my right eye throbbing, but I actually stumbled in +ignorance on his very name, before I ever heard it. And now, I will, as +Gangádhara said, set to work immediately without losing any time: for I +know, as they do not, exactly what his wife is like. And now, everything +will turn out well, so long as he never discovers in his life that I +overheard him, on this terrace, before he ever saw me. And that cannot +be, for he never can learn it from anyone but me. + +So as she spoke, Arunodaya suddenly recollected the coming of the bird, +and looked round, and rejoiced, to find that it was still there. And he +said aloud, as if expressly to chime in with her thoughts: Ha! so, then, +thou art not gone, as I feared. O sea-bird, from what far-off land art +thou arrived? For none of the birds that haunt my palace resemble thee +in the least degree. Art thou also looking for thy mate, as I am? Or +hast thou lost thy way, blown by the winds over the home of monsters and +of gems? + +And instantly the bird replied: O King Arunodaya, not so: for I am +looking neither for a mate nor a way: but have come here expressly, sent +by the god, to tell thee how to find thy own mate, and thy own way. + +And then, as Arunodaya started to his feet, scarcely crediting his own +ears, she went on with that human voice: Listen, and do not interrupt, +for I have overstayed my time, obliged to wait till thy conversation +ended and thy minister was gone, and I have far to go. And tell me, +first. Is there a little ruined temple, near thy city on the north, +standing alone upon the shore? And Arunodaya said: There is. Then said +Makarandiká: Then it all corresponds, and tallies exactly with my +instructions. For only last night, as the sun was going down, I passed +by a lonely island in the middle of the sea. And there in the evening +twilight, I saw the Lord of Obstacles dancing all alone, throwing up his +trunk that was smeared with vermilion into the purple sky. And he called +to me as I was going by, and said: Carry for me a message to King +Arunodaya, for thou wilt see his palace in the morning, standing up out +of the sea, ruddy as my trunk in the early dawn. And tell him that I am +pleased with his resolute perseverance: and by my favour he shall find +the wife of his former birth. Let him go at midnight, on the fifteenth +day of the light half of this very moon, into the ruined temple that +stands on the shore of the sea, and I will put something in it that will +fill his heart with joy. + +And then, she rose from the terrace, and flew away across the sea: while +Arunodaya stood still, gazing after her in wonder, till she dwindled to +a speck and disappeared. + +And then, he drew a long breath, and murmured to himself: Am I asleep or +dreaming? Or can it really be, that the very Lord of Obstacles has been +listening to my prayers, as well he might, considering their number, and +taking pity on his devotee, has revealed to me the secret, by the means +of this white bird: wishing to show Gangádhara, as if in jest, how +easily the Deity laughs at obstacles that seem absolutely +insurmountable, even to such a minister as mine? + + +IX + +So then he waited, with a soul that almost leaped from his body with +impatience, for the wax of the moon, which seemed to stand still, as if +on purpose to destroy him. And he sent, in the meanwhile, a message to +Gangádhara, saying: Everything is easy to those favoured by the Deity. +And I have found what I was seeking, even without thy assistance, as I +will prove to thee, by ocular demonstration, on the day of the full +moon. + +And as he listened, Gangádhara was so utterly confounded, that he could +hardly understand. And finally, he said to himself: Beyond a doubt, this +kingdom will presently be ruined, for the King is out of his mind. And +now I begin to perceive, that it will become my duty to remove him from +the throne, in favour of his maternal uncle, who is waiting and watching +to devour him like a crab,[24] if only he can find his opportunity. Or +is it only, after all, a device, to marry some girl that he has set his +heart on, without consulting either policy or me? If so, let him beware! +for he shall do penance for despising me, in full. But let me wait, in +any case, for the moon to grow round. Yet what can the Lord of Herbs[25] +have to do with this matter, unless he possesses a medicine suited to +the King's disease? + +[Footnote 24: The crabs of Ceylon (presumably the same as those of +southern India, whose shores I do not know) are the most extraordinary +things I ever saw. They run like the wind, and jump, over immense spaces +and chasms, from rock to rock, better than any horse.] + +[Footnote 25: _i.e._ the moon.] + +So then, at last, when the moon had gathered up all his digits but the +last, as soon as he rose, Arunodaya went out of his palace to wander on +the shore, with no companion but his sword. For he said to himself: What +if it were all but a dream or a delusion? Then, were it to be known, I +should become a very target for the ridicule of all the people in the +city. So it is better to keep the secret to myself. And he roamed about +the sand of the shore, near the temple, for hours, ready to curse both +sun and moon together, the one for his delay in going down, and the +other for taking such a time to climb into the sky. And finally, unable +to wait any longer, he went directly, long ere midnight, to the temple, +and stood for a while, exactly where yonder sleeper lies now, as if +making up his mind. And at last, he came up between us, and peeped in, +with a beating heart, and saw absolutely nothing inside, but emptiness +and dark. And presently he said: Has that Lord of Obstacles deceived me, +or is it too soon, for his present to arrive? And how will she come? Yet +if that sea-bird was either a liar or a dream, it will be time enough to +go away, before dawn returns, at any hour of the night. And he sat down +at my feet, leaning his back against me, and looking out to sea, over +which the moon was slowly climbing, exactly as it does to-night. And +worn out with agitation, and fatigue, and suspense, he went off to sleep +unawares. And he looked as he lay in the moonlight like the God of Love +resting, after he had conquered the three worlds. + + +X + +So then, when at last he woke, he lay for a little while puzzled, and +trying to remember where he was, and why. And so as he lay, he heard +suddenly behind him in the temple the faint clash of anklets, saying to +him as it were: Thou art sleeping, but I am waiting. And like a flash of +lightning, his memory returned; and he started to his feet, and turned, +and looked in at the temple door. + +And lo! when he did so, there, in a ray of moonlight that fell in +through the ruined wall, and clung to her affectionately, as though to +say: Here hiding in this dark cave have I suddenly fallen on my +sixteenth digit that was wanting to complete my orb: there stood a young +woman, looking like the feminine incarnation of the realisation of his +longing to find the wife of his former birth. And she was leaning +against the wall, half in and half out of the shadow, with her head +thrown back against it, so that her left breast stood out in the light +of the moon as if to mock it, leaving the other dark: and the curve of +her hip issued from the shadow and again was lost in it, like that of a +wave that rises from the sea. And he saw her eyes shining, as they gazed +at him in curiosity, like stars in a moonless night reflected in a pool, +whose light serves only to make the darkness it is lost in more visible +than before. And her attitude gave her the appearance of a statue fixed +upon the wall, that had suddenly emerged from it, and taken life, half +doubtful, by reason of timidity, whether she should not re-enter it +again. And she was dressed, like Jánaki, when the Ten-headed Demon +seized her, in a robe of yellow silk, with golden bangles, and golden +anklets, and a necklace of great pearls around her neck, like a row of +little moons formed out of drops of the lunar ooze: and in her hair, +which shone like the back of a great black bee, was a single champak +blossom, that resembled an earthly star shedding fragrance as well as +light. And her red lips looked as if the smile that was on the very +point of opening like a flower had been checked in the very act, by the +hesitation springing from a very little fear. + +And Arunodaya gazed at her in silence, exactly as she did at him. And +after a while, he murmured aloud, as if speaking to himself: Can this be +in very truth the wife of my former birth, or only a thing seen in a +dream? + +And when he spoke, she started, and moved a very little from the wall, +with one hand resting still against it, as if it was her refuge. And she +said, in a low voice: I thought the dreamer was myself. Art thou some +deity come to tempt me, and where am I, if it is reality and not a +dream? And Arunodaya said: It is not I that am the deity, but thou. For +who ever saw anything like thee in the world? And yet if thou art Shri, +where is Wishnu? or if Rati, where is Love? + +And she looked at him steadily, and after a little while, she said with +a sigh: Alas! thou hast spoken truly: where is Love?[26] What! can it +be? and dost thou not remember me? And Arunodaya said: How could I +remember what I never saw before in my life? Then she said: What does +this life matter? Hast thou then so utterly forgotten everything of the +life before? + +[Footnote 26: _Love_, in Sanskrit, means also _recollection_.] + +And as he gazed at her in perplexity, all at once she started from the +wall and ran towards him, clapping her hands, and laughing, with her +bangles and anklets and her girdle clashing, as if keeping time with her +movements, and exclaiming: The forfeit! the forfeit! I have won! I have +won! And he said, smiling as if against his will: What forfeit? What +dost thou mean? And for answer, she threw herself into his arms, and +began to kiss him, laughing in delight, and crying out: I said it, I +said it. I have remembered, and thou hast forgotten. Did I not tell +thee, thus it would be, when we met again in another birth? Come, cudgel +thy dull memory, and listen while I help thee; and after, I will exact +from thee the forfeit that we fixed. And Arunodaya said again: What +forfeit? For I remember absolutely nothing of it all. And she said: Out +on thee! O thou of no memory at all. What! is thy little pandit all +forgotten? What! hast thou forgotten, what as I think could never be +forgotten, how all the pandits shouted together at our marriage? And he +exclaimed: Ha! pandits! Then she said: Ah! Dost thou actually begin to +recollect? then I have hopes of thee. But as to the forfeit, wilt thou +actually persist in obstinately forgetting all about it? Must I actually +tell thee, and art thou not utterly ashamed? Art thou not ashamed, after +all thy protestations, to look me in the face? + +And as she gazed, with eyes filled to the brim with passionate affection +that was not feigned, straight into his own, holding him with soft arms +that resembled creepers, and as it were caressing him with the touch of +her bosom and the perfume of the honey of her lips and her hair, taking +him as it were prisoner by the sudden assault of irresistible flattery +in the form of her own surrender, Arunodaya's head began to spin, lost +as he was in a whirlpool of bewilderment springing half from her +beauty's intoxicating spell, and half from ineffectual striving to +recall at her bidding what she said, so that in his perplexity he could +not even comprehend whether he recollected anything or not. And he +murmured to himself: Surely she must be the wife I was looking for, for +who else can she be? and certainly she is beautiful enough to be +anybody's wife. And as he hesitated, balanced in the swing of +indecision, she began to draw her forefinger over his eyebrows, each in +turn, saying in a whisper: _Aryaputra_,[27] this was the forfeit. Give +me thy hand, and shut, for a while, thy eyes. And as he did so, saying +to himself: Now I wonder what she will give me: all at once he uttered a +cry of pain. For she had taken his little finger with her teeth, and +bitten it hard. And as his eyes flew open, as it were of their own +accord, she said, with a frown and a smile mixed together: Why didst +thou forget me? Was it not agreed between us that the forgotten should +exact from the forgetter whatever penalty he chose? + +[Footnote 27: A name given only by a wife to her husband, implying the +claim.] + +And at the reproach in her eyes, the heart of Arunodaya began as it were +to smite him, saying: Surely thou art but churlish in returning her +affection, and refusing to remember her: for she is well worthy to be +remembered. And being totally unacquainted with woman, and her +sweetness, and her snare, his youth and his sex began as it were to side +with her against his reason and his doubt, saying to his soul: What more +canst thou possibly require in a wife, than such an incarnation of charm +and affection and intoxicating caress. And all at once, he took her and +drew her towards him with one arm about her slender waist, that a hand +might have grasped, and the other round her head, and he began to kiss +her as fast as he could, with kisses that she returned him till her +breath failed. And after a while, he said, in a low voice: Who art thou +in this birth, if as thou sayest, I was thy husband in the last? And +hast thou fallen from the sky? For thou art altogether too different +from the others, to be but a woman.[28] And what is thy name? + +[Footnote 28: The English reader may be puzzled by the difficulty: how a +Widyádharí could ever be a woman. But it is very simple on Hindoo +principles. Widyádharas are constantly falling into human bodies by +reason of curses, or guilt contracted.] + +Then said Makarandiká: Thou art not absolutely wrong: for I am not a +woman of the earth, but a Widyádharí, by name Makarandiká. And by and +bye I will tell thee all about myself, and my coming here, to rediscover +and regain thee; and learn of thee thine. But in the meanwhile, come +outside this gloomy temple into the moonlight, where I can see thee. And +she drew him out of the temple, and as they stood, looking at one +another, she said: Dost thou know, that I am paying a great price for +thee? See, a little while ago, I came hither flying through the air. And +as I came, I said to myself, with regret: I am flying for the very last +time: for to-morrow I shall forfeit all my magic sciences, by marrying a +mortal. And as my resolution wavered, at that very moment, I arrived, +and saw thee, lying asleep in the moonlight, at the feet of Maheshwara +yonder on the wall. And instantly, I exclaimed: Away with these +miserable sciences, for what are they worth in comparison with him, or, +worse, without him? + +And Arunodaya exclaimed: What! wilt thou sacrifice all thy condition as +a Widyádharí for such a one as me? Out, out, upon such a price, for such +a worthless ware! + +And for answer, she took his hand, and put it on her heart, looking at +him with eyes that shone not only with moonlight, but with a tear. And +Arunodaya said, with emphasis: Thou must be my wife: for how could I +think, having seen thee, of any other woman in the world, even in a +dream. + +And as he spoke, he started, almost uttering a cry. For suddenly she +clenched the hand she held with a grip that almost hurt it, and he felt +the heart it lay on suddenly leap, as it were, and stop. And as he +looked at her in wonder, he saw her turning paler and paler, till she +seemed in that white moonlight about to become a stone image, in +imitation of ours, just behind her, on the wall. + +And he said in alarm: Art thou ill, or suffering, or what? Or dost thou +regret thy sciences? And then, all at once, she laughed, and said: My +sciences? Nay, nay, it is not that, of which I am afraid. Come, it is +nothing, and what am I but a fool? Let us go now to thy palace: and see, +I will exert my power, for the very last time, in thy favour, and carry +thee through the air. And she sat down on the step, saying: Come, thou +art rather a large and a clumsy baby: yet sit thou on my lap. And she +took him in her arms, and rose with him into the air, and they floated +over the sea towards the palace, resembling for the moment myself and +thee roaming in the sky. + +And as they went, Arunodaya said within himself: Surely I am only +dreaming; and of what is this Widyádharí made, that has claimed me for +her own? Is it fire or something else? + +But Makarandiká, as they floated, said to herself in ecstasy and +exultation: Now, then, I have got him, and it will be my own fault, if I +cannot so utterly bewitch him, as to cause him to forget all about his +former wife, and take me, as why should I not have been? for her. And +what do I care for her? For she may be the wife of that birth, but I am +the wife of this. And why should the wife of the present count for less +than the wife of the past? + + + + +III + +A DISJUNCTIVE CONJUNCTION + + + +I + +Now, in the meanwhile, it happened, that when all the other Widyádhara +would-be bridegrooms had broken up and gone away in wrath, disgusted at +being turned to shame by Makarandiká's rejection, there was one who went +away with a heart that was more than half broken, for Makarandiká was +dearer to him than his own soul. And he would have given the three +worlds to have had the precious garland put round his own neck. And when +all was over, he took himself off, and remained a long while buried in +dejection on the slopes of the Snowy Mountain, pining like a +_chakrawáka_ at night-time for his mate, and striving to forget +her,--all in vain: for his name was Smaradása,[29] and his nature like +his name. And at last, unable to endure the fiery torture of separation +any longer, he said to himself: I will return, on the pretext of paying +a visit to her father; and there, it may be, I shall at least get a +sight of her. And who knows but that she may change her mind? for women +after all are not like rocks, but skies. And at the thought, hope +suddenly arose, reborn in his heart. For disconsolate lovers are like +dry chips or straws, easily taking fire, and tossed here and there by +the gusts of hope and desperation. + +[Footnote 29: i.e. _the slave of love, or recollection_.] + +So as he thought, he did. But when he arrived at Mahídhara's home, and +inquired about her, he received an answer that struck him like a +thunderbolt. For Mahídhara said: As for Makarandiká, she has utterly +disappeared, having gone somewhere or other, nobody knows where. And if, +as I conjecture, she is looking for a husband among mortals, who will +never even dream of any other woman than herself, she will not soon +return. For it will be long before she finds him. + +And then, that unhappy Smaradása said to himself: I will find her, no +matter how long it may take me, if at least she is able to be found. So +after meditating for a while, he went away to seek assistance from the +brother of the Dawn. And he said to him: O Garuda,[30] I am come to thee +for refuge. And it is but a little thing that I ask, and very easy, for +the Lord of all the birds of the air. There is a Widyádhari named +Makarandiká, who is dearer to me than life itself. Help me, if thou +wilt, to discover where she is: for she has disappeared, without leaving +any trace. + +[Footnote 30: The King of Birds. (The final _a_ is mute.)] + +Thereupon Garuda said: Stay with me for a little in the meanwhile, till +I see what I can do. And he summoned all the sea-birds and the vultures +in the world; and said to them: Go to the eight quarters of heaven, and +find out what has become of Makarandiká, a Widyádharí who is lost. + +So then, after a few days, they returned. And their spokesman, who was a +very old vulture named Dirghadarshi,[31] said: Lord, this has been a +very simple thing. For some of my people saw her, a little while ago, +flying westwards. And following her track, on thy order, they saw her +sitting on the palace roof of King Arunodaya, who has married her, and +made her his queen. + +[Footnote 31: i.e. _long-sighted_.] + +And instantly, hearing this news, which pierced his ear like a poisoned +needle, Smaradása uttered a loud cry, and fell down in a swoon: so great +was the shock, that turned in the twinkling of an eye all the love in +his soul to jealousy and hate. And when, with difficulty, he came to +himself, he hurried away so fast that he forgot even to worship Garuda. +But that kindly deity only laughed, and forgave him, saying: Well might +he forget not me only, but everything in the three worlds, on learning +that his love was lying in somebody else's arms. + +But Smaradása summoned instantly all his brother suitors. And he told +them all about it, and he said: This matter is no longer what it was. +For if she flouted us all, by refusing to choose a husband from among +us, yet no one could compel her, since she did but exercise the +privilege of all kings' daughters. But now, not only has she placed this +mortal above us all, but by marrying beneath her caste, she has degraded +all the Widyádharas at once, and broken the constitution of the +universe. Therefore she deserves to be punished. Moreover, she is at our +mercy, since she has lost all her magic sciences, by marrying a man. + +So then, when they had all unanimously pronounced her worthy of death, +one suggesting one death, and another another, Smaradása said +scornfully: What is the use of putting her to death? For death is +absolutely no punishment at all, since she will abandon one body only to +enter another. Rather let us find some punishment suited to her crime, +and worse than any death. And the best way would be, to contrive some +means of making her behaviour recoil upon her own head. And this could +be done, if only we could get this husband she has chosen to desert her +for another. For as a rule, a rival is like _kálakuta_ poison to every +woman: and she is not only jealous, but as it were jealousy itself. And +thus she would become her own punishment. But first let us discover all +about her: for then we can determine how to go to work. + +So, when they all consented, Smaradása went back to Garuda, and he said: +O Enemy of Snakes, do me one more favour, and I will trouble thee no +more. Find out for me only, how matters stand with her husband and +herself: since her independent conduct is a matter of concern to all the +Widyádharas, of whom she is one. + +And Garuda said: Smaradása, this commission is very different from the +first. For if I am not mistaken, the Widyádharas mean mischief, and it +is no business of mine. And yet, I will not do thee kindness by halves: +but let this be the last. So after meditating for a while, he sent for +the crows. And he said to them: Crows, you know everything about +everybody, and see the world, and fly about the streets of cities, and +eat the daily offerings,[32] and listen to all the scandal of the +bazaars, and penetrate even into the palaces of kings. Go, then, to the +city of Arunodaya, and spy about and listen, and bring back a full +account of all you can discover, about him and his wife. + +[Footnote 32: _Balibúk, an eater of daily offerings_, is a common +epithet of the crow.] + +And, after a week, the crows returned. And their spokesman, who was +called Kálapaksha,[33] said: Lord, this King and Queen are never apart, +being as inseparable as Ardhanári.[34] And as for Makarandiká, it is +clear that she is a _patidewatá_, who loves her husband more than her +own soul. And though he has nothing to do with any woman but herself, +yet something is wrong, though we cannot discover what it is. But the +citizens think that she is jealous, because she suspects that he is +always dreaming, not of her, but the wife of his former birth. + +[Footnote 33: Meaning either _black-wings, the dark half of the lunar +month_, or _time-server_.] + +[Footnote 34: The combined form of Maheshwara and his "other half."] + +And as Smaradása listened, he exclaimed in delight: Ha! what difficulty +is there in doing a thing which is half done already? For this is a +situation which will ripen almost without assistance, resembling as it +does a balance already trembling, in which the addition of a single hair +will turn the scale. And it wants only a touch, for Makarandiká to turn +her suspicions into certainties of her own accord. And thus she will +become the instrument of her own torture, and expiate her error, the +victim of her own choice, with nobody but herself to blame. For she was +a Widyádharí, and is absolutely inexcusable. + + +II + +And meanwhile Makarandiká, ignorant and careless of all that was +occurring in that world of the Widyádharas which she had thrown away +like a blade of grass, and utterly forgotten, was living like a siddhá +in a moon without a spot, having, so to say, attained emancipation in +the form of the husband of her own choice. And for his part, Arunodaya, +having lit upon the very wife of his former birth, contrary to +expectation, and married her again, lived with her like one plunged for +an instant in an ocean of intoxication, salt as her beauty[35] and +infinite as her devotion, and unfathomable as her eyes. And for a while, +he seemed to be the very image of a bee drowned in the honey of a red +lotus, or a _chakora_ surfeited with the beams of a young moon. And in +order to make up to Makarandiká, and console her for the loss of her +power of flying through the air, which of all her sciences she most +regretted, he built for her innumerable swings, with gold and silver +chains, and one, that she loved the best, on the very roof she first +arrived on. And she used to pass her time in it, whenever she had +nothing else to do, swinging softly to and fro, and looking across the +sea; tasting, by means of the swing and her own imagination, some +vestige of her lost equality with all the birds of heaven. And though +she never so much as whispered it aloud, yet sometimes, her unutterable +longing to possess once more that power which she had lost for ever, as +she watched the sea-birds flying, brought tears into her eyes, which she +never let Arunodaya see. + +[Footnote 35: A play on words, _salt_ and _beauty_ being the same +(_lawanya_).] + +And yet, though she had utterly lost all her magic sciences, she still +retained the whole of that other magic, which the Creator has not +limited only to Widyádharís, of feminine fascination. And like the moon, +she was a very bundle of bewitching arts,[36] whose potency was doubled +by the intensity of her affection for her lord. For a woman who does not +feel affection for her own husband resembles a sunset from which the sun +and all his redness are withdrawn. + +[Footnote 36: _Kalá_ means _arts_ as well as _digits_.] + +And she was, moreover, so absolutely bent upon erasing from his +recollection every vestige of the dim image of the wife of his former +birth, for whom she had substituted herself, like a new moon eclipsing +an old one, that she thought of nothing else: and the thought of this +former wife resembled a thorn that was fixed ineradicably in her own +heart. And she busied herself all day and night, in occupying his whole +attention, and laying snares for his soul, by dancing, and singing, and +telling him innumerable stories, and making as it were slaves of all his +senses, enthralling his eyes with the variety of her beauty, and +captivating his ears with the sorcery of her voice, and chaining his +desires to herself by never-ending wiles of caressing attention, in the +form of embraces of soft arms, and kisses like snowflakes, and glances +shot at him out the very corner of her eye, enveloping him with such a +mist of the essence of a woman's sweetness as to keep him from seeing +any other thing at all. For her Widyádharí nature gave to all her +behaviour grace that was far beyond the reach of any ordinary mortal, +and she seemed like an incarnation of femininity, divested of all the +grossness and clumsy imperfection that it carries when mixed with the +element of death, so that her touch seemed softer, and her step seemed +lighter, and her outline rounder, and her smile far sweeter and her +passion purer, and her whole love ecstasy deeper and truer than any +woman's could ever be. + +But as for the prime minister, when he came, according to agreement, and +Arunodaya showed her to him on the day of the full moon, he was so +utterly bewildered by the very sight of her that she turned him as it +were to stone. And after staring at her in stupefaction, being wholly +bereft of appropriate speech, and as it were deserted by his reason, +which lay prostrate at her little golden-bangled feet, he went away in +silence. And after a long while, he said to himself as he sat alone: +Beyond a doubt, this inexplicable King has somehow or other managed to +find a very miracle of a queen, as far as beauty goes. For her very +ankles alone, are enough to drive a lover mad, and worth more than the +whole body of any other woman; so that whoever began to look at her, +beginning with her feet, would never get any higher, but remain for ever +worshipping their slender and provoking curve, with a thirst that was +never quenched. She must be Rati or Priti, fallen, nobody knows how, +into a mortal birth, and leaving Kama in despair. And yet, whether she +be, as he supposes, the very wife of his former birth, or not, I am +irretrievably disgraced. For he has managed this matter all alone, +without so much as consulting me. And thus, not only have I lost my +opportunity, of taking as it were tribute from all the surrounding +kings, but I am very much mistaken if some of them, or even all, will +not take umbrage at the slight put upon all their daughters by this +unrelated queen,[37] and band together, and suddenly attack him, +bewildered as he is by her disastrous intoxication; and so, the kingdom +will be uprooted, since he is likely to be so entirely wrapped up in her +that he will think of nothing else. And it may be that he will discover +in the future that he has lost more, by disregarding his prime minister, +than he has gained, by marrying even for the second time the wife of his +former birth. And if, as I suspect, this is all but a trick, time will +show up the imposture, and then it will be my turn. For if ever he +should discover she has cheated him, all the coquetry and coaxing in the +world will not keep him from abhorring her, for stealing his affection, +and diverting it away from its proper object, to herself. For as a rule, +men object to being cheated, even to their own advantage, since the +cheater seems to argue that the cheated is a fool. But in the meantime I +must wait, since it is useless to do anything, till the charm has lost +its magic by dint of repetition. For beauty resembles amber: it +attracts, but does not hold: and like a razor, loses virtue every time +that it is used: till at last, it becomes altogether blunt, and +impotent, and without either edge or bite. And then, unless I am very +much mistaken, this lovely false wife of his previous existence will +find, that she has to reckon with a formidable rival, in his +recollection of the true. + +[Footnote 37: Every reader of Scott will recall the "kinless loons."] + + +III + +But Arunodaya, careless of his minister, gave himself up a willing +captive to the witchery of his Widyádharí wife. And for a time, her task +was very easy. For owing to his inexperience, he resembled a child, and +every woman was to him an illusion, and a mystery, so that he would have +sunk under the spell, even had it been less potent than it actually was. +And Makarandiká was as it were his _dikshá_,[38] incarnate in a form of +more than mortal fascination: and like a priestess she took him by the +hand and led him into the _garbha_[39] of that strange temple built not +of stone, but of the materials of elementary infatuation, and made him +perform, so to say, a _pradakshina_ round the image of the divinity[40] +of which she was herself a bewildering and irresistible incarnation. And +lost in the adoration of a neophyte, he lay like a drunken bee in a +lotus-cup, rolling in honey, and forgetting utterly not only his kingdom +and its affairs, but everything else in the three worlds. + +[Footnote 38: _i.e._ initiation.] + +[Footnote 39: The Greek [Greek: adyton], or sanctuary.] + +[Footnote 40: The Hindoo shrine, says Mr. A. K. Coomaraswamy, is +essentially a place of pilgrimages and circumambulations, to which men +come for _darshan_, to "see" the god.] + +And yet, strange! there lay all the while lurking in the recesses of his +soul a vague misgiving, mixed with a faint and unintelligible +dissatisfaction, resembling a taste of something bitter in the draught +of his infatuation, and an ingredient that qualified and just prevented +his gratification from reaching its extreme degree, of ecstasy without +alloy. And yet he hardly dared to acknowledge it, even to himself, +accusing himself of ingratitude and treachery, and saying to his own +soul: How is it possible to requite such infinite affection, and +devotion, and service, and beauty, by returning nothing in exchange for +it all but suspicion, and distrust, and doubt? For even if she were not +the very wife of my former birth, what could I possibly wish for, more? +And yet, it is very strange. For notwithstanding all she does, she does +not seem to reach and satisfy the craving for recognition in my heart, +which obstinately refuses to corroborate her asseverations: nor do I +ever feel that confidence and certainty, arising from the depths of +recollection, which, if she really were my former wife, surely I ought +to feel. Is it my fault, or hers? Alas! instead of meeting her half-way, +I am oppressed with what is very nearly disappointment, and feel almost +like a dupe, that have allowed myself to fall into the snare of beauty, +so as to yield to another what should belong to one alone. Little indeed +would she have to complain of in the warmth of my return, had she just +that one thing that she lacks, the stamp of genuine priority: for then +she would get in full the very thing I long to give her. + +Aye! I am as it were dying to do, the thing I cannot do, and divided +from supreme bliss by a partition composed of the most exasperating +inability to know for certain, what all the time may after all be true. +For if she is only playing a part not really hers, how in the world did +she discover the way to take me in, by exhibiting a knowledge of those +very same dim vestiges of recollection which I have never told to anyone +but my own prime minister? And very sure I am, that it was not he who +told her, since he almost lost his reason with astonishment, and +admiration that was mixed with envy and annoyance, when her beauty +struck him dumb. So after all, perhaps I am mistaken, and only torturing +myself for nothing. Out on me, if what she says be really true! for then +indeed I deserve something even worse than death, for treating her with +such monstrous ungenerosity. Can it be that her memory is truer and +stronger, putting mine, for its fidelity, to utter shame? Or why, again, +should I struggle any longer against conviction, and persevere in +longing for what I have not got? Who knows whether even if I actually +got it, I should be any better off than I actually am? Could the very +wife of my former birth be a better wife than this? Is not this wife +just as good as any wife could ever be? Does she not as it were combine +the virtues of even a hundred wives? Yet if she be not the true, can it +be that the other is even now upbraiding me, somehow, somewhere, for +falling with such inconstancy straight into another's snares, and +wasting on a stranger the love that belongs to her? Alas! alas! Why did +the Creator make my memory too strong for blank oblivion, and yet so +feeble as to leave me without a proof, and plunge me in such perplexity +in this matter of a wife? + + +IV + +So then, time passed, and these two lovers lived together, she in the +heaven of having discovered the very fruit of her birth, and he half in +heaven and half outside, hovering for ever between delight and +discontent, balanced in a swing of hesitation between assertion and +denial, that like that other swing of hers was hardly ever still. And +little by little, as surfeit brought satiety, and custom wore away the +bloom of novelty, and familiarity began to rob her beauty of the edge of +its appeal, and emotion lost, by repetition, its sincerity, and +passion's fire began to cool, and the flood of desire to ebb, then +exactly as that cunning Gangádhara foretold, the doubt that, like a +seed, lay waiting in his soul began, seeing its opportunity, to swell +and grow, till there came to be no room for any feeling but itself. And +unawares, he used to sit gazing at her, with eyes that did not seem to +see her, as if continually striving to compare her with some other thing +that was not there, till under their scrutiny she shrank away and left +them, unable to endure, turning away a face that became paler and ever +paler, half with apprehension of discovery, and half with jealousy and +resentful indignation: for only too well her heart understood what was +passing in his soul, though he never dared to tell her, out of shame at +having to confess, that in return for the free and absolute gift of her +soul, he was yielding her only a fragment of his own, and even that, +with suspicion and reluctance: converting the very completeness of her +surrender into an argument against her, as if she did from policy alone +what came from the very bottom of her heart. And he seemed to her to say +by his behaviour: Did she not throw herself into my arms uninvited, +without even waiting to be asked, of her own accord, like an +_abhisáriká_, and could such a one as this be really the wife that I was +looking for? Does it become a maiden, even a Widyádharí, to be bolder +than a man? And why is it, that for all that she can say, and all that +she can do, she never can succeed in arousing any corresponding +sympathy, or producing a conviction that we ever met before? And is this +the union I expected, devoid of that overwhelming mutual recognition +that would leap like fire out of the darkness of oblivion, if the +associations of a previous existence were really there? + +So she would sit thinking, and watching him furtively, sitting in her +swing, and swaying gently to and fro, gazing out over the sea. And she +used to say sadly to herself: Now, as it seems, all my endeavours have +been fruitless; for do what I can, all my labours are unavailing. And I +have given myself away, and sacrificed all my magic sciences, for +nought. For it is clear that he cares for absolutely nothing, in +comparison with this dream of this wife of his previous birth. And yet +what could she, or any other wife whatever, give to him, or for him, +more than I have given. What! is the wife of the present birth so +absolutely less than nothing, compared with the wife of the past? What! +has not one birth the same value as another? And if she was the wife of +that birth, then I am the wife of this. Very sure I am, that she cannot +love him as well as I. Have I not become, from a Widyádharí, a mortal, +solely on his account. And yet, who knows? For it may be, I am +impatient, and am hoping to succeed, too soon; anticipating, and +expecting to pluck the flower of his full affection before the seed that +I have sown has had full time to grow. Well then, I will water it, and +watch it, and let it ripen. And I will strive, in the very teeth of his +prepossession, to overcome his stubborn recollection, and uproot it, not +by ill-humour or peevish premature despair, but by flooding him with all +the sweetness that I can. Yes, I will conquer him by becoming so utterly +his slave, that for very shame he will find himself obliged to sacrifice +his dream to me. + + +V + +So then, as she said, she did. And making herself as it were of no +account, and utterly disregarding the absence of reciprocal affection in +a soul that held itself as it were, with obstinacy, aloof, she set +herself to thaw his ice by a constancy of service that resembled the +rays of a burning sun. And she met all his suspicion and his scrutiny by +such invariable tenderness, and with such a total absence of even the +shadow of complaining or reproach, that his heart began, as if against +its will, to melt, unable to hold out against the steady stream of +affectionate devotion, welling from an inexhaustible spring. And little +by little, he began to say to himself as he watched her: Surely it were +a crime to doubt her any longer. For such an irresistible combination of +unselfishness and beauty could not possibly flow from any other source +than the unconscious reminiscence of old sympathies, and adamantine +bonds, forged and welded in a previous existence. For she gives and has +given all, in return for almost nothing, resembling a mother rather than +a wife; and so far from resenting any lack of confidence, she makes up +for all that I do not give her, by increasing the quantity and quality +of her own, as if she had incurred an obligation to myself, in some +former and forgotten state, which she was never able to repay. And what +proof other than this could I demand? And if this good fortune of mine, +in her form, be not the reward of works, done in that birth which I +struggle to remember, what else can it be? + +So then at last, there came a day, when they sat together in the +twilight on the palace roof, watching the moon, that wanted only a +single digit, rising like a huge nocturnal yellow sun, looking for the +other that had sunk to flee, far away on the eastern quarter, on the +very edge of the sea, which seemed for fear to tremble like an +incarnation of dark emotion, while a lunar ray, like a long pale narrow +finger, ran over straight towards them, stepping from wave to wave, and +seeming to say with silent laughter: Like me on the surge of the deep's +desire, love bridges over the waves of time. What is the tide without +me, but the livery of death? + +And as she gazed, the eyes of Makarandiká shone, for very excess of +happiness, and there came into each a crystal tear, that caught and +reflected the moon's ray, like a twin imitation of himself. And as she +looked, she murmured: Now at last, as I think, the victory is all but +mine, for I have never brought my husband yet so near the very edge of +love's unfathomable deep, as I have to-day. And now, with just one more +effort, he will fall into the bottomless abysses of my soul, and I shall +have him for my own. Strange! that she did not understand, she was +herself tottering on the very brink of a fatal gulf that would swallow +her up for ever, and plunge her, by a single step, into the mouth of +hell! + +For even as she spoke, she turned, and looked for a single instant, with +unutterable affection, into her husband's face. And then, she said +aloud: _Aryaputra_, dost thou know, of what I am now thinking? And he +said: No. Then she said: How short a time it seems, since I settled on +that parapet in the form of a sea-bird, and saw thee first: and yet, the +difference is eternity! + + +VI + +And then, the very instant she had spoken, recollection suddenly rushed +across her: and she knew, like a flash of lightning, that she had +uttered her own doom. And as she gazed at him with eyes, whose love +suddenly turned to terror, Arunodaya, all at once, started to his feet. +And he exclaimed: Ha! wert thou the bird? Ha! now, at last, I +understand. So this, then, was the means of thy discovery, and the +origin of thy deceit, thy listening to the conversation of my minister +and me? And all thy story was a lie, and thou thyself art nothing but a +liar and a cheat. And like a worm, that is hidden in the recesses of a +flower, thou hast placed thyself on a king's head, being only fit to be +cast away and trodden underfoot: as I myself will tread thee, and cast +thee away like a blade of grass, fit only to be burned. And I will sweep +the very shadow of thy memory from my heart, into which thou hast +wriggled, by treachery and fraud, to the prejudice of its proper owner, +the true wife of my former birth. + +So as he spoke, with eyes that consumed her, as it were, with the fire +of their hatred and contempt, she stood for a single instant still, +stupefied and aghast, shrinking from his fury, and confessing by her +confusion her inability to clear herself of the charge he brought +against her, looking like a feminine incarnation of the acknowledgment +of guilt. But as he ended, the thought of the rival whom he cast into +her teeth entered her heart like the stab of a poisoned sword. And as he +looked at her, all at once he saw her change. And the fierce fire of his +own emotion suddenly died away, annihilated as it were and turned in a +trice to ashes as he watched her, by the intensity of hers. For from +crouching as she was, she slowly stood erect, becoming so ashy pale that +life seemed on the very point of leaving her a thing composed of snow +and ice in the white rays of the moon. And she looked at him with eyes, +in which the love of but a moment since had frozen into a glitter, as +though the blood that filled her heart had suddenly turned to venom that +was black instead of red. And so she stood for a moment, and then all at +once she leaped at him and clutched him by the hand, with fingers that +shut upon it and squeezed into it like teeth. And she said, with +difficulty, as if the breath were wanting to make audible the words: +Dost thou repay me thus? And have I thrown away my state of a +Widyádharí, and all my magic sciences, for such a thing as thee, and +this? And have I sacrificed a countless host of suitors, who would have +given the three worlds for a single glance of my eye, for thee to +trample on my beauty and my affection, counting it all as absolutely +less than nothing, in comparison with another who is nothing but a +dream? Make, then, the very most of all the sweetness and the love that +she will give thee; for mine thou hast lost, and it is dead, and it is +gone. See, whether the affection of the wives of thy future and thy past +will make up to thee for that of thy wife of the present, which thou +hast despised, and outraged, and mangled and annihilated, and wilt never +see again. + +And she turned, abruptly, and looked for a single instant away across +the sea. And she said: I cannot leave thee as I would have done, for I +have lost my power of flying through the air. But bid adieu to the wife +of the present, and sing hey! for the wife of the past. + +And as she spoke, her voice shook. And she went away very quickly into +the palace, and left him there on the roof alone. + + +VII + +Now in the meanwhile, the prime minister was well-nigh at his wits' end. +For ever since his marriage, Arunodaya had entirely neglected his +kingdom and his state affairs, throwing upon Gangádhara the burden of +them all. And this would have been exactly to his taste, in any other +circumstances but those in which it happened: since it was just the very +marriage itself which occasioned all his anxiety and care. + +And one day as he sat alone, musing in his garden, at last he could +contain himself no longer, but broke out into exclamations, imagining +himself alone. And he said: Ha ha! now, as I feared, this lunatic of a +King and his mad marriage are about to bring destruction on this kingdom +and myself. And as to my own part, it would be bad enough alone, that I +should have lost not only crores of treasure, which I could easily have +gained, but also the opportunity of making favourable political +alliances with the strongest of the other kings. But even worse things +are impending over the kingdom and myself. For not one only, but all the +kings together are collecting to attack us, considering themselves +slighted; and as I am made aware, by means of my own spies, the King's +maternal uncle is in league with them in secret, hoping by the ruin of +his nephew to secure the kingdom for himself. And between them, I also +shall be crushed, since they consider me as one with the King my master; +and it will all end in my losing, not only my property, but my office +and my life: since I cannot even get this King to listen, were it only +with one ear, to any business at all: and without him, there is nothing +to be done. Thus I myself, and he, and his kingdom, will all go together +to destruction, like sacrifices offered to his idol, in the form of his +wife. And yet there is something unintelligible even in his relations +with his wife, which even my spies are unable to detect. For though the +King and Queen are never separate, even for a moment, yet they do not +seem to be at one: and though he has got, as it seems, exactly what he +wanted, yet he does not appear to be content. Something, beyond a doubt, +is wrong, though nobody can discover what it is. And in the meantime, we +shall all presently discover something else, that we are all involved in +a common catastrophe: and very soon, it will be too late, even to hope +to take any measures whatever against it at all. For as a rule, delay is +fatal at any time: but above all now. And I cannot see any other way +than to throw in my lot with the King's maternal uncle, and so save the +kingdom and myself, at the King's expense. And if I do, he will have +absolutely nobody to blame but himself, for having scouted me and my +policy, and like a mad elephant rather than a king, imagined that he was +at liberty to marry anyone he chose, behaving just as if he were a +subject, and not a king with political necessity to consider, before any +private inclination. And now, could I only discover some means of +bringing it about, I should be more than half resolved to oust this +unmanageable King from his throne. But the difficulty is, how to get rid +of him and his strange windfall of a queen, without incurring suspicion +and the blame of the bazaar. For I can get no satisfactory solution of +this mystery, even from my spies. + +So as he spoke, all at once a voice fell out the air upon his head, as +if from the sky. And it said: O Gangádhara, there are ready to assist +thee other and far better spies than thy own. + + +VIII + +And as Gangádhara started, and looked up in wonder, he saw Smaradása +just above him, hovering in the air. And that celestial roamer descended +gently, and stood upon the ground beside him. And he said to the prime +minister, who humbly bowed before him: Gangádhara, I am Smaradása, a +king of the Widyádharas, and I have come to let thee know so much as may +be necessary, and tell thee in this matter what to do: which is, to sit +with thy hands folded, like an image of Jinendra on a temple wall, for a +very little while, and the conclusion will arrive of itself, without thy +interference: since others are concerned as well as thou, in punishing +this king, and his outcast of a queen, who like a wheel has left the +track, and run out of her proper course, downhill. + +And Gangádhara said: My lord, I am favoured by the very sight of thee: +and I am curious to know all the circumstances of this extraordinary +matter, if it be permitted to such a one as me. + +And Smaradása said: O Gangádhara, creatures of every kind fall into +disaster by reason of their own characters and actions, and this is such +a case. And there is no necessity for thee to be acquainted with any of +the particulars, since curiosity is dangerous, and those who pry into +the business of their superiors run the risk of getting into trouble, +which they might have avoided had they been discreet. So much only will +I tell thee, that this queen's independent behaviour is on the eve of +giving birth to its own punishment, which will in all probability +involve in it that of her silly lover as well as her own. And the +Widyádharas have fixed upon thee, to be an agent in bringing it about. +And I bring thee a commission, which if thou dost refuse, evil will come +upon thee, very soon, and very sudden, and very terrible. But as I +think, thou wilt undertake it, seeing that the result will tally +precisely with objects of thy own. For as I said, spies better than thy +own have had their eyes on thee and all the others, unobserved. + +Then Gangádhara trembled, and he said: This servant of thine is ready to +do anything, no matter what. + +And Smaradása said: There is little to be done, and it will be very +easy. Know, as it may be that thou knowest already, that Arunodaya +desires nothing in the world so much, as to recollect the incidents of +his previous existence: since this is what perpetually troubles him, +that he seems to be hovering for ever on the very brink of grasping +recollection, which nevertheless invariably slips from his grasp: +leaving him in such a state of irritated longing and disappointment, +that to quench it, he would give the three worlds. Go, then, to +Arunodaya, and give him this fruit. And say to him this: Maháráj, one of +the neighbouring king's ministers, whom I have recently befriended, sent +me this fruit, with its fellow, brought to him by a traveller from +another _dwipa_.[41] And such is their virtue that whoever eats one, +just before he goes to sleep, will dream, all night long, of the very +thing that he most desires. And so, wishing to test it, I ate one; and +that night I saw in my dreams such mountains of gold and gems, that even +Meru and the ocean could not furnish half the sum of each. And now I +have brought thee the other, thinking that the experience might amuse +thee: and now it is for Maháráj to judge. And when he hears, Arunodaya +will think the fruit to be no other than the very fruit of his own birth +in visible form before his eyes. For it will enable him to realise his +desire, and discover the events of his former birth. + +[Footnote 41: (Pronounce _dweep_)--a far-off continent or island.] + +And Gangádhara took the fruit into his hand, and looked at it +attentively, resembling as it did a pomegranate, but smaller. And the +smell of it was so strong, and so strange, and so delicious, that it +seemed to say to its possessor: Refrain, if you can, from tasting, what +tastes even better than it smells. And then, he shuddered, and he raised +his eyes, and looked steadily at Smaradása: and he said: Is it poison? + +And that crafty Widyádhara laughed, and he said: Nay, O Gangádhara: it +is exactly what I told thee to say, and thy account will be the very +truth. + +Then said Gangádhara again: But if this is so, how can Arunodaya's +eating it advantage either thee or me? + +And Smaradása said: Gangádhara, it is dangerous for anybody, and much +more for this King, to recollect his former birth, even in a dream. +Beware of eating it thyself: for it is tempting. But now, mark very +carefully what I have to say. See, when thou dost give it him, and tell +him, that the Queen is by. I say, mark well, that at the time of thy +telling, she overhears thee: and beware, at thy peril, of forgetting +this condition, for in it will all the poison of the fruit be contained; +and without it, it is naught. + +Then said Gangádhara: I do not understand. + +And Smaradása laughed, and he said: Gangádhara, no matter: for thy +understanding is not an essential condition of success. But be under no +concern: for Arunodaya will not die of poison, and the fruit is free of +harm. For poison of the body is a very clumsy contrivance, and one +suited only to mortals who are void of the sciences, not knowing how or +being able, like Widyádharas, to work indirectly by poisoning the soul. + + +IX + +So then, Gangádhara did very carefully just as he was told. And +everything came about exactly as Smaradása had predicted. For the soul +of Arunodaya almost leaped out of his body with delight, in anticipation +of the satisfaction of his curiosity, by making trial of the fruit; +while the lips of Makarandiká grew whiter, and shut closer, at the sight +of it, as if it contained her rival in its core. + +And that very night, Arunodaya went up upon his palace roof, according +to his custom, to sleep. And he took with him the fruit, which he +carried in his hand, not being willing to let it out of sight for a +moment, for fear that Makarandiká might steal it, in order to thwart his +expectation, and prevent him from having as it were an assignation with +any other woman, even in a dream. And as it happened, that night a +strong wind was blowing from the east, and the waves of the sea broke +against the rocks of the palace foot, as if they were endeavouring to +move it from its place. + +And while Arunodaya threw himself upon his bed, Makarandiká went and +sat, a little way away, in her swing, that rocked and swayed to and fro +in the wind, looking out across the sea, with gloom in her eyes: and +casting, every now and then, glances at him as he lay, out of the corner +of her eye, that seemed as it were to say to him: Beware! And like her +body, her soul was tossed to and fro in the swing of unutterable longing +and despair. And she said to herself: Even in my presence, which he +absolutely disregards, he is preparing for a meeting in his dreams with +this wife of his former birth. And at the thought, she frowned, and +turned paler, clutching tighter unawares the chains of her swing, and +setting her teeth hard, and casting at Arunodaya, lying in his couch, as +it were daggers, in the form of dark menace from eyes that were filled +with misery and pain. And the moon in the first quarter of its wane +seemed as it were to say to her: See, thy power is waning, exactly like +my own. + +And in the meanwhile, Arunodaya took his fruit and ate it, and lay down, +with a soul so much on tiptoe with desire and agitation that sleep +seemed to fly from him as if on purpose, out of sympathy with her. And +for a long while he tossed to and fro upon his bed, listening to the +roar of the waves and the wind. And so as he lay, little by little he +grew quiet, and sleep stole back to him silently and took him unaware. +And his soul flew suddenly into the world of dreams, leaving Makarandiká +alone in the darkness, awake in her swing. + + +X + +But Arunodaya fell into his dream, to find himself walking in a row of +kings, into a vast and shadowy hall. And as they went, that hall +re-echoed with a din that resembled thunder: and he looked, and lo! that +hall was as full of pandits as heaven is of stars, all dressed in white +with their right arm bare, and each so exactly like the other that it +seemed as though there was but one, reflected by the innumerable facets +of a mirror split to atoms, all shouting together, each as loud as he +could bawl: See, see, the suitor kings, coming to marry the pandit's +daughter! Victory to Sarojiní, and the lucky bridegroom of her own +choice! + +And as Arunodaya looked and listened, all at once there rushed upon his +soul as it were a flood of recollection. And he exclaimed in ecstasy: +Ha! yes, thus it was, and I have fallen back, somehow or other, into the +bliss of my former birth. And there once more, I see them, the pandits +and the hall, exactly as they were before, all shouting for Sarojiní. +Aye! that was the very name, which all this time I have been struggling +to remember. And strange! I cannot understand, now that I recollect it, +how I should ever have forgotten it, even for a single instant. But +where then is she, this Sarojiní, herself? + +So as he spoke in agitation, he looked round as if to search, and his +heart began to beat with such violence that he stirred as he slept upon +his couch. And at that moment, there suddenly appeared to him a woman, +coming slowly straight toward him, followed by her maid. And as she +came, she looked at him intently, with huge, bewildering, gazing eyes +that seemed to fasten on his soul, filled as they were with an +unfathomable abyss of melancholy, and longing, and dim distance, and +dreamy recognition, and wonder, and caressing tenderness, and reproach. +And her body was straight and slender, and it swayed a little as she +walked, like the stalk of the very lotus whose name she bore, as if it +were about to bend, unable to support the weight of the beautiful +full-blown double flower standing proudly up above it in the form of her +round and splendid breast. And she was clothed in a dusky garment +exactly matching the colour of her hair, which clung to her and wrapped +her as if black with indignation that it could not succeed in hiding, +but only rather served to display and fix all eyes upon the body that it +strove to hide, adding as if against its will curve to its curves and +undulation to all its undulations, and bestowing upon them all an extra +touch of fascination and irresistible appeal, by giving them the +appearance of prisoners refusing to be imprisoned and endeavouring to +escape. And as it wound about her, the narrow band of gold that edged it +ran round her in and out, exactly like a snake, that ended by folding in +a ring around her feet. And she held in her right hand, the arm of which +was absolutely bare, an enormous purple flower, in which, every now and +then, she buried, so to say, her face, all except the eyes, which she +never took from Arunodaya, even for a single instant. And she seemed to +him, as he watched her, like a feminine incarnation of the nectar of +reunion, after years of separation, raised into a magic spell by an +atmosphere of memory and mystery and dream. + +So as he gazed, lost in a vague ocean of intoxication, all at once her +attendant maid, who seemed for her boldness and her beauty like a man +dressed in woman's clothes, or some third nature that hovered between +the two, came out before her mistress. And she seized by the hand a +suitor king, and led him up to Sarojiní, and said to him aloud: O King, +listen and reply to the question that the husband of Sarojiní must +answer well. + +And as she spoke, Sarojiní withdrew her eyes from Arunodaya, and let +them rest for a moment on the king that stood before her. And she said +in a low voice, that sounded in the sudden stillness of that hall like +the note of a _kokila_ lost in the very heart of a wood: Maháráj, say: +should I choose the better, or the worse?[42] + +[Footnote 42: This cannot be expressed in English with the point of the +original, because the word expressing preference means also _bridegroom_ +(_waram_).] + +And that unhappy king said instantly: The better. + +Then said Sarojiní: O King, I am unfortunate indeed, in losing thee. + +And instantly, she turned her eyes back upon Arunodaya, and at that +moment, all the pandits in the hall began to shout: Sarojiní, Sarojiní, +_jayanti_! And as he listened, lo! she and her eyes, and the hall with +all its pandits, wavered, and flickered, and danced before his eyes, and +went out and disappeared. And the clamour and the tumult of the pandits +changed, and altered, and melted into the roar of the waves and the +wind. And in a frenzy of terror lest the dream should have concluded, he +woke with a cry, and raised his head from its pillow, and opened his +eyes; and they fell straight upon Makarandiká, who was looking at him +fixedly, sitting in her swing. + +And suddenly she said to him: Of what art thou dreaming? And he +answered: Of pandits. And immediately, his head fell back upon its +pillow, and his soul sank back into his dream. + + +XI + +But Makarandiká started, and she exclaimed within herself: Pandits! Ha! +Then, as it seems, he really is dreaming of the things of his former +birth. And her eyes grew darker as she watched him, sitting in her +swing, very still, with one foot upon the ground. And all at once, she +left the swing, and came to him very quickly, and knelt, sitting upon +her feet, upon the ground, beside him, gazing at him in silence as he +slept, with eyes that never left his face for even a single instant. + +But the soul of Arunodaya, leaving his body lying on the couch, flew +back like a flash of lightning eagerly to his dream. And once more he +found himself in that hall, with all its pandits shouting, just as if he +had never left it to awake. And lo! the eyes of Sarojiní were fastened +on his own, as if with joy; and in his relief, occasioned by sudden +freedom from the fear of the dream having reached its termination, and +the recovery of those eyes, his heart was filled with such a flood of +ecstasy that, all unaware, he laughed in his sleep. And in the meantime, +that unabashed and clever maid came forward, and seized by the hand +another king, and led him forward like the last. And she said, exactly +as before: King, listen and reply to the question that the husband of +Sarojiní must answer well. + +And then once more, the eyes of Sarojiní lingered for a little on those +of Arunodaya, and left him, as if reluctant to depart, and rested, as if +carelessly, upon that second king. And she said in the silence that +waited, as it were, for her to speak: Maháráj, say, shall I choose the +greater or the less? + +And that unhappy king hesitated for an instant; and he said: The less. + +Then said Sarojiní: Alas! O King, once more I am unfortunate: for I +should be inexcusable, in choosing thee. + +And instantly, she turned, and her eyes met those of Arunodaya, waiting +in the extremity of agitation, with a glance that seemed to say to him: +Be not afraid. And as he sighed in his sleep, for delight, lo! once +again, she and her eyes, and the pandits, and the shouting, and the +hall, shivered, and wavered, and receded into the darkness, and went out +and disappeared. And the din of the triumph of the pandits changed and +altered and ended in the roar of the waves and the rushing of the wind. +And once more he awoke and opened his eyes: and lo! there just in front +of him was Makarandiká, with eyes that gazed, as if with wrath, straight +into his own. + + +And when she saw his open, she said in a low voice, very slowly: Of what +wert thou dreaming? And Arunodaya murmured: Of pandits. And instantly, +he closed his eyes, as if to shut her from his soul. And then, he forgot +her in an instant, and flew back, as if escaping from a pursuer, into +his dream. + + +XII + +But Makarandiká's face fell. And after a while, he began to laugh, with +laughter that quivered, as if it hesitated between agony and scorn. And +she exclaimed: Pandits! Does anybody laugh, as he did in his sleep, who +dreams of pandits? What has laughter such as his to do with pandits? +Nay, he is trying to hide from me a secret, not knowing, that in the +absence of his soul, his body is playing traitor to him against his +will. Ah! well I understand, he closed his eyes, to keep me on the +outside of his soul, which he opens in the sweetness of a dream to +someone else. So, now, let him beware. And she drew still closer to his +side, and leaned over him, with her eyes fixed upon his lips, and a +heart that beat with such agitation that she pressed one hand upon her +breast, as if to bid it to be still, lest its throbbing should rouse him +from his sleep. + +And as she gazed, there came over her soul such a sense of desolation, +mixed with the fire of jealousy, and wrath at her own inability to +follow him into his dream and snatch him for her own from everybody +else, that her breath was within a little of stopping of its own accord. +And she yearned to find, as it were, a refuge, in tears that refused to +flow, and her head began to spin. And all at once, a shudder that was +half a sob shook her as she kneeled, mixed with an almost irresistible +desire to clasp him in her arms, and claim him for what he actually was, +her husband, and the only lord without a rival of her own miserable +heart. And a fever that turned her hot and cold by turns began to hurry +through her limbs. And she murmured to herself, without knowing what she +said: Shall he leave me here, deserted, alone in the darkness of this +palace and the night? to meet in a dream where I cannot follow him the +wife I cannot oust from his soul? Who knows? It may be that at this very +moment, they are laughing me to scorn, locked in each other's arms. + +And so as she continued, gazing at him with a soul set as it were on +fire by suspicion and images of her own creating, and a heart stung by +the viper of recollection, and yet, strange! swelling with a passionate +and hopeless yearning for his affection to return, meanwhile, the soul +of Arunodaya, all heedless of the passion that menaced his abandoned +body, lay, as it were, drowned in the honey of his dream. And once +again, amid the tumult of the pandits, the eyes of Sarojiní were drawing +his soul towards her own, as if with cords, woven of the triple strands +of colour and reminiscence and the intensity of a love that was returned +tenfold. And so as he lay, conscious of absolutely nothing but the abyss +of those unfathomable eyes, all at once that shameless maid came forward +yet again, and took the hand of yet another king, and said as before: +King, listen and reply to the question that the husband of Sarojiní must +answer well. + +And Sarojiní, hearing her speak, drew her eyes away sadly from +Arunodaya, and turned them slowly on that waiting king. And she said: +Maháráj, say, shall I choose the bitter or the sweet? + +And then, that miserable king, as if he feared the fate of his +predecessors, stood for a while in silence. And he said at last: The +sweet. + +Then said Sarojiní: King, beyond all doubt my crimes in a former birth +are bearing fruit, in depriving me of such a husband as thyself. + +And instantly, all the pandits broke into a shout, and as they did so, +she shot at Arunodaya a glance that seemed as it were to say to him: Be +patient, for thy turn also will presently arrive. + +And at that very moment, something took him as it were by the throat. +And as the dream suddenly went out and disappeared, he awoke, in the +roar of the waves and the wind, to find that Makarandiká had her hand +upon his breast, to wake him from his dream. And she said absolutely +nothing. But her eyes were fixed upon his own, filled to the very brim +with entreaty, and affection, and terror and grief, and despair. + +And seeing her, he frowned, as if the very sight of her was poison to +his soul. And he shut his eyes, and fell back upon his pillow, to go +back to his dream. + + +XIII + +But Makarandiká shrank from the glance that he cast upon her, exactly as +if he had struck her in the face with his clenched hand. And she turned +suddenly white, as if the marble floor she sat on had claimed her for +its own. And all at once she fell forward, and remained, crouching, with +her face upon her hands, like a feminine incarnation of Rati when she +saw Love's body burned to ash. And time passed, while the moon looked +down at her as if with pity, wondering at her stillness, and saying as +it were in silence: Can it be that she is dead? And then, suddenly, +Arunodaya laughed aloud in his sleep, and he murmured, as if with +affection: Sarojiní, Sarojiní. + +And then, Makarandiká looked up quickly. And lo! there came over her a +smile, like that of one suddenly rejoicing at the arrival of unexpected +opportunity. And all at once she stood erect, as if all her agony had +been changed in a moment to resolution. And she looked down at him as he +slept, and she said, very slowly: Ah! lover of Sarojiní, dost thou leave +me, as it were, spurned from thee with aversion, alone on the roof of +thy palace, to spend thy time with her? What! shall the wife of this +birth sit, weeping as it were outside the door, while she embraces thee +within? Ah! but thou hast forgotten, that if I cannot enter, at least I +can interrupt thee, since I am mistress of the dream. + +And she put her hands up to her head, and undid the knot of her braided +hair. And she took from it, as it fell around her, as if to shroud her +action in the darkness of a cloud, a long thin dagger,[43] that +resembled a crystal splinter of lightning picked up on a mountain peak, +and shone in the moon's rays like a streak of the essence of vengeance +made visible to the eye. And she went close up to him, and remained +standing silent, watching his face turned upwards as he lay before her, +with a smile on her lips that resembled the gleam of her own dagger, as +it waited in her trembling hand. + +[Footnote 43: "Did not Windumatí slay Widuratha the Wrishni with a +stiletto that she had hidden in her hair?" (_Harsha charita_).] + + +XIV + +But in the meanwhile Arunodaya fled as it were from Makarandiká to take +refuge in his dream. And he found Sarojiní as it were waiting for him +with anxiety, with eyes that seemed to say to him: Amidst all this +tumult of the pandits, thou and I are as it were alone together. And it +seemed to Arunodaya as he watched her, that her lips moved, and were +striving to say to him something, that by reason of the distance and the +shouting, he could not understand. And in his delight, he began to laugh +in his sleep, and murmur back to her in answer: Sarojiní, Sarojiní. And +filled with unutterable desire to approach her, and take her in his +arms, he was on the very point of rushing forward, urged by the +irritation of an impatience that was becoming unendurable, when once +again that maid devoid of modesty came straight towards him, and almost +broke his heart in two by taking by the hand not himself, but the king +who stood beside him. And as he muttered to himself: Out on this +interloping king, who comes between me and my delight! beginning to +tremble all over as he lay, that maid said again: King, listen and reply +to the question that the husband of Sarojiní must answer well. + +And Sarojiní turned half towards him, leaving as it were her eyes +behind, fastened still on Arunodaya, as if unable to bear again the pain +of separation, and calling as it were to him, from over the sea of time. +And then she said, as if her words were meant for him alone! Maháráj, +Maháráj, say, shall I choose the past or the present, the living or the +dead? + +And then, ere that unhappy king could answer, Arunodaya leaped towards +her, while all his body quivered as he lay upon his bed, as if +struggling in desperation to accompany his soul. And he cried out, not +only with his soul, but his body: Sarojiní, Sarojiní, never shall thou +choose, since I will not leave the choice to thee at all. Dead or +living, I am thine and thou art mine. And as she threw herself into his +arms, he caught her, and pulled her to his breast, while she put up her +face to him, as if dying to be kissed. + +And then, strange! that face suddenly eluded him, with a derisive sneer. +And his ears rang with a din composed of the shouting and laughter of +pandits, mingled with the roar of the wind and the sea. And she and the +dream together suddenly went out and disappeared. And he saw her face, +for the fraction of a second, change, as if by magic, into the face of +Makarandiká, pale as ashes: and then, something suddenly ran into his +heart like a sword. And his soul abandoned his body, with a sharp cry, +never to return. + + +XV + +So then, the very moment it was done, Makarandiká woke, herself, as it +were, from a dream. And horror at her own action, as if it had waited +till the very moment when it should be unavailing, suddenly flowed in +upon her soul. And as she gazed at Arunodaya, lying still in the +moonlight with her dagger in his heart, and found herself with +absolutely no companions but the dead body, and the darkness, and the +wind and the waves, alone on that palace roof, she murmured to herself, +as if she hardly understood: What! can this be of my doing? What! have I +actually slain the husband of my own choice, jealous of his very dreams? + +And she stood, for a little while, with one hand upon her head, and +then, she uttered a scream. And she seized him by the hand, and shook it +violently, as if endeavouring to wake him and recall him from a dream, +in which she herself had buried him for ever, cutting off its +termination, and prisoning his soul in an everlasting dungeon, like a +stone dropped beyond recovery, fallen with a hollow echo into the black +darkness of a well. + +And lo! that shriek reverberated as it were in heaven, and was answered +by a peal of laughter that fell on her from the sky. And she looked up +into the air, and saw, hovering in rows above her, all those Widyádhara +suitors whom she had rejected long ago, gazing down at her with faces +that were distorted with malice and derision. And as she stood, +confounded, with their laughter ringing in her ears, Smaradása swooped +towards her, and called to her ironically: Ha! Makarandiká the scornful, +how is it with thy mortal husband? How could he prefer another to such a +beauty as thyself? + +And Makarandiká gazed at them all for an instant, with eyes that exactly +resembled those of a fawn, on the very verge of escaping from its +pursuers by leaping from a cliff. And her reason fled away from her, as +if anticipating her own flight. And strange! at that moment, as if +bewildered by her own deed and the very sight of those Widyádharas of +whom she had been one, she utterly forgot for an instant that she +herself was no longer a Widyádharí, and had lost her own power of flying +through the air. And she made a bound to the edge of the parapet, and +leaped off, thinking to fly over the sea, and escape, and be at rest. +But instead of flying, she fell, and was broken to pieces at the bottom +of the wall, in the foam of the waves that were also broken, at the foot +of the palace rock. + + * * * * * + +So then, when at last Maheshwara ended, the Daughter of the Mountain +asked eagerly: But, O thou of the Moony Tire, tell me, how as to the +dream. Was it the very truth, and Sarojiní the very wife of his former +birth? + +And Maheshwara said slowly: Nay, O Snowy One, not at all. For it was not +even a true dream. For if it had really been a dream, it would not have +continued, as it actually did, in spite of its interruptions. But the +whole was a delusion, and a contrivance of the Widyádharas, who lured +his soul out of his body by means of a magic drug, and acted all before +him, exactly like a play. For the Widyádharas were the pandits, and the +great hall was nothing whatever but the sky. And the noise was nothing +whatever but that of the wind and waves, and Sarojiní herself was +Makarandiká's own sister, who hated her for her beauty, which was +greater than her own. And as for Makarandiká, she was all the time her +own rival; for she herself, and no other, was the real wife of his +former birth. + +And the Daughter of the Mountain started, and she uttered a little cry. +And she exclaimed: Ah! no! O Moony-crested, it cannot be. Surely thou +art only jesting? What! was their happiness divided from them by so thin +a wall as that? What! when they would have given, each his soul, to know +it? Alas! alas! what cruelty of the Creator, to bring the cup of +happiness as it were to their very lips, without allowing them to taste! +simply by reason of a film of utter darkness, that prevented them from +seeing it was actually there! + +And after a while, that Lord of Creatures said slowly: O Daughter of the +Mountain, yet for all that it was true. And many a traveller crosses +over seas and years of separation, surmounting every peril, to perish at +the very last moment, when the ecstasy of reunion is almost in his +grasp, on the step of his own door. And be not thou hasty to lay cruelty +to the door of the Creator, who is absolutely blameless in the matter, +seeing that all these and similar misfortunes come about, as the +necessary consequence of works. And though the extremity of happiness, +arising from mutual recognition, was divided from Arunodaya and +Makarandiká by a screen thinner than the thickness of a single hair, +they could not reach it, for thin as it was, that screen had been +erected by their own wrong-doing, and was nothing whatever but the doom +pronounced against themselves by their own misbehaviour in a former +birth. And thus it came about, that Makarandiká played the part of +Arunodaya's former wife, never even dreaming that she was only claiming +to be what she actually was: while Arunodaya shrank, in his ignorance, +from the very wife whom he would have given the three worlds to +discover, in pursuit of a phantom, that was substituted for her by his +own unilluminated longing for a treasure that, all unaware, he held +already in his hand. For souls that wander to and fro in the waste of +the world's illusion resemble chips tossing aimlessly up and down on the +heaving waves of time, driving about at random they know not how or +where, under a night that has no moon, in an ocean without a shore: for +whom the very quarters of heaven are lost in an undistinguishable +identity, and even distance and proximity are but words without a sense. + +So, now, let us leave these our images to become once more, by our +departure, nothing but the stony guardians of this empty shrine. And +to-morrow Gangádhara will learn, by listening to the story of yonder +sleeper, what Smaradása meant, and unriddle his enigma of the poisoning +of the soul. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Syrup of the Bees, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SYRUP OF THE BEES *** + +***** This file should be named 35928-8.txt or 35928-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/9/2/35928/ + +Produced by David Edwards, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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BAIN. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} /* page numbers */ + +.linenum { + position: absolute; + top: auto; + left: 4%; +} /* poetry number */ + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.sidenote { + width: 20%; + padding-bottom: .5em; + padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; + padding-right: .5em; + margin-left: 1em; + float: right; + clear: right; + margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; + color: black; + background: #eeeeee; + border: dashed 1px; +} + +.bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + +.bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + +.bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + +.br {border-right: solid 2px;} + +.bbox {border: solid 2px;} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.u {text-decoration: underline;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.figleft { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 1em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +.figright { + float: right; + clear: right; + margin-left: 1em; + margin-bottom: + 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 0; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +/* Footnotes */ +.footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +/* Poetry */ +.poem { + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align: left; +} + +.poem br {display: none;} + +.poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + +.poem span.i0 { + display: block; + margin-left: 0em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + + +.poem span.i12 { + display: block; + margin-left: 12em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poem span.i2 { + display: block; + margin-left: 2em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poem span.i4 { + display: block; + margin-left: 4em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A Syrup of the Bees, by Anonymous + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Syrup of the Bees + +Author: Anonymous + +Translator: F. W. Bain + +Release Date: April 21, 2011 [EBook #35928] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SYRUP OF THE BEES *** + + + + +Produced by David Edwards, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/tp.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h1>A SYRUP OF THE BEES</h1> + +<h3>TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT</h3> + +<h2>BY F. W. BAIN</h2> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i12"><i>Love was the wine, and Jealousy the lees,</i><br /></span> +<span class="i12"><i>Bitter of brine, and syrup of the bees.</i><br /></span> +</div></div> + +<h3>WITH A FRONTISPIECE</h3> + +<h3>METHUEN & CO. LTD.</h3> + +<h3>36 ESSEX STREET, W.C.</h3> + +<h3>LONDON</h3> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h3>TO<br /> +MRS. THEODORE BECK</h3> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">And I rove on the breeze with the world of bees<br /></span> +<span class="i2">like the shadow of a bee:<br /></span> +<span class="i0">For a dead moonflower which the worms devour<br /></span> +<span class="i2">is the tomb of the soul of me.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">O the hum of the bees in the mango trees<br /></span> +<span class="i2">it murmurs <i>taboo! taboo!</i><br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Should a dead moonflower which the worms devour</i><br /></span> +<span class="i2"><i>smell sweet as the mangoes do?</i><br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">What! shall I deem my flower a dream<br /></span> +<span class="i2">when I do find, each morn,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Wet honey sips left on my lips,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">and in my heart, a thorn?<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<p> +<a href="#PREFACE">PREFACE</a><br /> +<a href="#I">I. <span class="smcap">A Twilight Epiphany</span></a><br /> +<a href="#II">II. <span class="smcap">An Incomplete Oblivion</span></a><br /> +<a href="#III">III. <span class="smcap">A Disjunctive Conjunction</span></a><br /> +</p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h2> + + +<p>The Young Barbarians, when Rome's ecclesiastical polity got hold of +them, were persuaded by their anxious foster-mother to sell their +Scandinavian birthright of imagination for an unintelligible, theopathic +mess of mystic Græco-Syrian pottage. But the "demons," though driven +generally from the field, lurked about in holes and corners, watching +their opportunity. They took refuge in bypaths, leaving the high road: +they lay in ambush in a thicket, whence nothing ever could dislodge +them: that of fairy tales and fables.</p> + +<p>In India, the "demons," <i>i.e.</i> the fairy tales and fables, have never +had to hide. But the fairy tales of India differ from the fairy tales of +England, much as their fairies do themselves. The fairies of Europe are +children, little people: and it is to children that fairy stories are +addressed. The child is the agent, as well as the appeal. In India it is +otherwise: the fairy stories are addressed to the grown-up, and the +fairies resemble their audience: they are grown up too. They form an +intermediate, and so to say, irresponsible class of beings, half-way +between the mortals and the gods. These last two are very serious +things: they have their work to do: not so the fairies, who exist as it +were for the sake of existence—"art for art's sake"—and have nothing +to do but what people who have nothing to do always do do—to get +themselves and other people into mischief. They are distinguished by +three noteworthy characteristics. In the first place, they are +<i>possessors of the sciences, i.e.</i> magic, and this it is which gives +them their proper name (<i>Widyádhara</i>),<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> which is almost equivalent to +our <i>wizard</i>. Secondly, every Widyádhara can change his shape at will +into anything he pleases: they are all <i>shape-changers</i> (<i>Kámarupa</i>). +And finally, their element is air: they live in the air, and are thus +denominated <i>sky-goers, sky-roamers, air-wanderers</i>, in innumerable +synonyms. These are the peculiar attributes of the fairies of Ind.</p> + +<p>Like many other persons in India (and out of it) who are far from being +either fairies or wizards, they are extraordinarily touchy, and +violently resentful of scorn or slight: things not nice to anybody, but +the Wizards are not Christians, and generally take dire revenge. A very +trifling provocation will set them in a flame. The Widyádharí lady is +jealousy incarnate. Jealousy, be it noted, is a thing that many people +much misunderstand. Ask anyone the question, where in literature is +jealousy best illustrated, and ninety-nine people in a hundred will +reply, Othello. But, as Pushkin excellently says, Othello is not +naturally a jealous man at all: he is his exact antipodes, a confiding, +unsuspicious nature.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> Jealousy not only distrusts on evidence; it +distrusts before evidence and without it; it anticipates evidence and +condemns without a trial: it does not wait even for "trifles light as +air," but constructs them for itself out of nonentity. Its essence is +causeless and irrational suspicion. Your true jealous nature never +trusts anything or anybody for an instant. Othello is of noble soul: no +jealous man ever was or could be. With women, it is not quite the same; +but even here, real nobility of character excludes the possibility of +jealousy, because it trusts, until it is deceived, and then its glass is +shattered, and its love gone beyond recall: sympathy is annihilated. +Compare Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth: the one, the noblest, the +other, the meanest creature that ever sat upon a throne. Mary trusted +even Darnley till she discovered that he was beneath every sentiment but +one: Good Queen Bess never trusted anyone at all. <i>Mauvaise espèce de +femme!</i></p> + +<p>And so, they are not much to be depended on, these Wizards; anybody +taking up with one of them, male or female, had better be careful. You +can never tell where you are with them; their affection is unstable; +they are fickle, as might be expected from creatures of the air: their +feelings are as variable as their shapes. They can be just as hideously +ugly as unimaginably beautiful. The stories that deal with them contain +a moral entirely in harmony with all Indian ideas: it is a mistake not +to stick to your own caste. When two of different castes are thrown +together, the trouble inevitably begins. The gipsies, who came +apparently from Sind, brought this notion into Europe, in a form not +previously familiar to it. That difference of kind is insurmountable, is +the fundamental axiom of Indian theory and practice. The owl to the owl, +the crow to the crow: otherwise, Nemesis and catastrophe. <i>A Syrup of +the Bees</i><a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> is another instance.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Everywhere to-day we hear people singing a very different song: from all +sides is dinned into our ears the cant of humanity, "our common +humanity." In the meantime, men differ in many ways more than they +agree, and the differences of humanity are practically far more vital +than the common base. Just as, though all men have weight, yet +gravitation simply by reason of its universality does not constitute an +element of politics, and is altogether a negligible quantity, fact +though it be, so is it with humanity: the generic identity is nothing, +the peculiar distinctions all. The world is not like a plain, but an +irregular region such as that of the Alps or Himalaya, consisting of +inaccessible peaks that separate deep valleys, at the bottom of which +live parcels of humanity drowned in thick fogs or mists of totally +different colours and intensities, that distort and transmogrify +everything they see: so that if here and there any single individual +succeeds in climbing, by dint of toil or special circumstances, to the +tops, where in the clear ether all the situation lies spread out in its +truth before his eye, he will find that he has thereby only cut himself +absolutely off from communion and sympathy, not only with the denizens +of his own valley, but that of all the others too. From that moment he +ceases to be intelligible to the rest. No reasoning of his can ever +touch them, or succeed in opening their eyes, because their error is not +one of reason, but of perception: they cannot, because they do not, see +things as he sees them: the mists,<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> with all their refraction and +delusive transformation, are always there. Say what he will, he will not +awake them: he will gain nothing in return for all his efforts but +ridicule, abuse, or neglect. So Disraeli, in his generation, seemed to +himself to be like one pouring, from a golden goblet, water upon sand. +To be above the level of humanity is to be counted, till after you are +dead, as one who is below.</p> + +<p>And this is the exact condition in the India of to-day. The irony of +fate has thrown together, as though by some vast geological convulsion, +the dwellers in two valleys, one of whom sees everything through, so to +say, a red mist, and the other through a blue: they move about and mix +in a way together, totally unable to see things in the same light: and +all the while this melancholy cuckoo-cry of <i>common humanity</i> fills the +air with its reiteration, and people persist in handling the situation +with a wilful and almost criminal determination to ignore what stares +them in the face, and by so doing, still further accentuate the very +thing they will not see. If you take two men who are infinitely far from +being brothers, and forcibly unite them, on the pretext that they are, +you will produce by irritation an enmity between them that would never +have existed, had they been let alone.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>I stood, a little while since, on the very edge of a plateau, that fell +down sheer four thousand feet or more, into the valley of Mysore. Far in +the distance to the north, the dense dark green forest jungle stretched +away like a carpet, intersected here and there by Moyar's silver +streams, with here and there a velvet boss, where a rounded hill stood +up out of the plain. That carpet, as it seemed from the height, so +uniform and close in its texture, is made of great trees, under which +wander wild elephants in herds. To right and left, the valley ran both +ways out of sight, like a monster chasm with one side removed. And in +the air below, above, around, light wreaths and ragged fragments of +cloud and mist floated and streamed and drifted, casting the most +beautifully deep blue shifting shadows not only on the earth, but on the +air, like waterfalls of colour, half hiding and half framing the distant +view, and cutting the sunlight into intermittent fountains of a golden +semi-purple rain that fell and changed, now here, now there, now, as you +looked upon them, gone, now suddenly shooting out elsewhere to transform +every colour that they touched into something other than it was, like a +magic show suddenly thrown out by the Creator in the silent and +unfrequented solitude of his hills, for sheer delight and as it were +simply for his own amusement, not caring in the least whether there +might be any eye open to catch and worship such a beautiful profusion of +his power, or not. For, strange! the spell and mysterious appeal of all +such momentary glimpses lies, not in what you see, but in what you do +not hear: it is the dead silence, the stillness, that by a paradox seems +to be the undertone, or background, of moving mist and lonely mountain +peaks.</p> + +<p>So as I stood, gazing, there came suddenly from the east, a whisper, a +mutter; a low sound, that suggested a distant mixture of wind and sea. +And I turned round, and looked, and I saw a sight that I never shall see +again; such a sight as a man can hardly expect to see twice, in the time +of a single life. Rain—but was it rain?—rain in a terrific wall, a +dark precipice of appalling gloom, rain that rose like a colossal +curtain from earth to heaven and north to south, was coming up the +valley straight towards me, and it struck me, as I saw it, with a thrill +that was almost dread. That was what the people saw, long ago, when the +Deluge suddenly came upon them. It came on, steadily, swiftly, like a +thing with orders to carry out, and a purpose to fulfil, cutting the +valley athwart with the edge of its solid front, sharp as that of a +knife laid on a slice of bread: a black ominous mass of elemental +obliteration, out of which there came a voice like the rushing of a +flood and the beating of wings, mixed with a kind of wail, like the +noise of the cordage of a ship, in a gale at sea. It blotted out +creation, and in the phrase of old Herodotus, day suddenly became night. +A moment later, I stood in whirling rain and fog that made sight useless +a yard away, as wet as one just risen from the sea, with a soul on the +very verge of cursing the Creator, for so abruptly dropping the curtain +on his show: forgetting, in my ingratitude, first, the favour he had +done me; secondly, how many were those who had not seen; lastly, and +above all, that it was the very dropping of that stupendous curtain that +gave its finishing touch and climax to the show. For he knows best, +after all. Introduce into Nature were it but a single atom of stint, of +parsimony, of preservation, of regret for loss; and the power, and with +it, the sublimity of the infinite is gone. Were Nature to pose, to +attitudinise for contemplation, even for the fraction of a second, she +would annihilate the condition on which reposes all her charm. Ruthless +destruction, even of her own choicest works, is the badge of her +inexhaustible omnipotence: add but a touch of pity, and you fall back to +the littleness and feebleness of man.</p> + +<p>And I mused, as I departed: how can that be communicated to others, +which cannot even be described at all? And if so, in the things of the +body, how much more with the things of the soul? Who shall convey to the +souls that stumble and jostle in the foggy valleys, any glimpse of the +visions, denied to them, above; any spark of comprehension of the things +that they might discern, on the tops of the pure and silent hills, that +stand uncomprehended, kissing heaven above the fog?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Poona</span>, 1914</p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="I" id="I"></a>I</h2> + +<h3>A TWILIGHT EPIPHANY</h3> + + +<p><i>The three worlds worship the sound of the string that twanged of old +like the hum of bees<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> as it slipped from faint Love's faltering hand +and fell at his feet unstrung, the bow unbent and the shaft unsped, as +if to beg for mercy from that other shaft of scorching flame that shot +from the bow-despising brow of the moony-crested god.</i></p> + +<p>Far down in the southern quarter, at the very end of the Great Forest, +just where the roots of its outmost trees are washed by the waves of the +eastern sea, there was of old a city, which stood on the edge of land +and water, like as the evening moon hangs where light and darkness meet. +And just outside the city wall where the salt sand drifts in the wind, +there was a little old ruined empty temple of the Lord of the Moony +Tire, whose open door was as it were guarded by two sin-destroying +images of the Deity and his wife, one on the right of the threshold and +the other on the left, looking as if they had suddenly started asunder, +surprised by the crowd of devotees, to make a way between. And on an +evening long ago, when the sun had finished setting, Maheshwara was +returning from Lanká to his own home on Kailás, with Umá in his arms. So +as he went, he looked down, and saw the temple away below. And he said +to his beloved: Come, now, let us go down, and revisit this little +temple, which has stood so long without us. And it looks white in the +moon's rays, as if it had turned pale, for fear that we have forgotten +it.</p> + +<p>So when they had descended, Maheshwara said again: See how these two +rude and mutilated effigies that are meant for thee and me stand, as it +were, waiting, like bodies for their souls. Let us enter in, and occupy, +and sanctify these images,<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> and rest for a little while, before +proceeding to thy father's peaks. And if I am not mistaken, our presence +will be opportune, and this deserted temple will presently be visited by +somebody who stands in sore need of our assistance, which as long as +they remain untenanted these our images cannot give him, since they have +even lost their hands.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> And accordingly they entered, each into his +own image, and remained absolutely still, as though the stone was just +the stone it always was, and nothing more. And yet those stony deities +glistened in the full moon's light, as though the presence of deity had +lent them lustre of their own, that laughed as though to say: See, now +we are as white as the very foam at our feet.</p> + +<p>So as they stood, silent, and listening to the sound of the sea, all at +once there came a man who ran towards them. And taking off his turban, +he cast it at the great god's feet, and fell on his face himself. And +after a while, he looked up, and joined his hands, and said: O thou +Enemy of Love, now there is absolutely no help for me but in the sole of +thy foot. For when the sun rose this morning, the Queen was found lying +drowned, and all broken to pieces, in the sea foam under the palace +wall. And when they ran to tell the King, they found him also lying +dead, where he sleeps on his palace roof that hangs over the sea, with a +dagger in his heart. And the city is all in uproar, for loss to +understand it, and Gangádhara the minister has made of me a victim, by +reason of an old grudge. And now my head will be the forfeit, unless I +can discover the guilty before the rising of another sun. And thou who +knowest all things, past, present, or to come, art become my only +refuge. Grant me, of thy favour, a boon, and reveal to me the secret, +for who but thyself can possibly discover how the King and Queen have +come to this extraordinary end.</p> + +<p>So as he spoke, gazing as if in desperation at Maheshwara, all at once, +as if moved to compassion, that image of the Deity turned from the wall +towards him, and nodded at him its stony head: so that in his terror +that unhappy mortal nearly left his own body, and fell to the ground in +a swoon. And Maheshwara gazed at him intently, as he lay, and put him, +by his <i>yoga</i>,<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> asleep. And the Daughter of the Snow said softly: O +Moony-crested, who is this unlucky person, and what is the truth of this +whole matter, for I am curious to know? And Maheshwara said slowly: O +Snowy One, this is the chief of the night watch of the city; and be +under no alarm. For while he sleeps, I will reveal the truth to him, in +a magic dream: making him as it were a third person, to overhear our +conversation. And I will do the same to the prime minister, so that in +the morning, finding their two dreams tally, he will gain credit and +save his life. Thereupon Párwatí said again: O Lord of creation, save +mine also. For I am as it were dying of curiosity, to hear how all this +came about.</p> + +<p>So then, after a while, that omniscient Deity said slowly: All this has +come about, by reason of a dream. And Gauri said: How could a dream be +the cause of death, both to the King and Queen? Then said Maheshwara: +Not only is there danger in dreaming, but the greatest. Hast thou not +seen thy father's woody sides reflected in the still mirror of his own +tarns? And the goddess said: What then? And Maheshwara said: Hast thou +not marked how the reflection painted on the water contains beauty, +drawn as it were from its depths, greater by far than does the very +thing it echoes, of which it is nothing but an exact copy? And Párwatí +said: Aye, so it does. Then said Maheshwara: So it is with dreams. For +their danger lies in this very beauty, and like pictures upon quiet +water, which contains absolutely nothing at all, below, they show men, +sleeping, visions of unrealisable beauty, which, being nothing whatever +but copies of what they have seen, awake, possess notwithstanding an +additional fascination, not to be found in the originals, which fills +them with insatiable longing and an utter contempt of all that their +waking life contains, as in the present instance: so that they sacrifice +all in pursuit of a hollow phantom, trying to achieve impossibility, by +bringing mind-begotten dream into the sphere of reality, whither it +cannot enter but by ceasing to be dream. But the worst of all is, as in +this King's case, when dreaming is intermingled with the reminiscences +of a former birth: for then it becomes fatality. And Párwatí said: How +is that? Then said Maheshwara: Every soul that is born anew lies buried +in oblivion, having utterly forgotten all its previous existence, which +has become for it as a thing that has never been. And yet, sometimes, +when impressions are very vivid, and memory very strong, here and there +an individual soul, steeped as it were in the vat of its own experience, +and becoming permanently dyed, as if with indigo, will laugh, so to say, +at oblivion, and carry over indelible impressions, from one birth to +another, and so live on, haunted by dim recollections that throng his +memory like ghosts, and resembling one striving vainly to recall the +loveliness and colour of a flower of which he can remember absolutely +nothing but the scent, whose lost fragrance hangs about him, goading +memory to ineffectual effort, and thus filling him with melancholy which +he can never either dispel or understand.</p> + +<p>So as he spoke, there came past the temple door a young man of the +Shabara caste, resembling a tree for his height, carrying towards the +forest a young woman of slender limbs, who was struggling as he held +her, and begging to be released; to which he answered only by laughing +as he held her tighter, and giving her every now and then a kiss as he +went along, so that as they passed by, there fell from her hair a +<i>champak</i> flower, which lay on the ground unheeded after they +disappeared. And the Daughter of the Mountain exclaimed: See, O +Moony-crested, this flower laid as it were at thy feet as a suppliant +for her protection: for this is a case for thy interference, to save +innocence from evil-doing.</p> + +<p>And Maheshwara looked at her with affection in his smile. And he said: +Not so, O mountain-born: thou art deceived: since this is a case where +interference would be bitterly resented, not only by the robber, but his +prey: for notwithstanding all her feigned reluctance, this slender one +is inwardly delighted, and desires nothing less than to be taken at her +word. For this also is a pair of lovers, who resemble very closely those +other lovers, whose story I am just about to tell thee: as indeed all +lovers are very much the same. For Love is tyranny, and the essence of +the sweetness of its nectar is a despotic authority that is equally +delicious to master and to slave. For just as every male lover loves to +play the tyrant, so does every woman love to play the slave, so much, +that unless her love contains for her the consciousness of slavery, it +is less than nothing in her own eyes, and she does not love at all. And +know, that as nothing in the world is so hateful to a woman as force, +exerted on her by a man she does not love, so nothing fills her with +such supreme intoxication as to be masterfully made by her lover to go +along the road of her own inclination, since so she gets her way without +seeming to consent, and is extricated from the dilemma of deciding +between her scruples and her wish. For indecision is the very nature of +every woman, and it is a torture to her, to decide, no matter how. And +even when she does decide, she does so, generally as a victim, driven by +circumstances or desperation, and never as a judge, as in the case of +both those women who determined the destiny of this dead King, the one +deciding in his favour, precisely because he would allow her no choice, +and the other very much against him indeed: and yet both, so to say, +without any good reason at all. For women resemble yonder waves of the +sea, things compounded of passion and emotion, with impulses for +arguments, and agitation for energy, for ever playing, fretting and +moaning with laughter and tears of brine and foam: and like feminine +incarnations of the instability of water, one and the same essence +running through a multitude of contradictory and beautiful qualities and +forms: being cold and hard as ice, and soft and white as snow, and still +as pools, and crooked as rivers, now floating in heaven like clouds and +mists and vapours, and now plunging, like cataracts and waterfalls, into +the abyss of hell. Is not the same water bitter as death to the drowning +man, and sweeter than a draught of nectar, saving the life of the +traveller dying of thirst in the desert sand.</p> + +<p>So, now, listen, while I tell thee the story of this King.</p> + +<p>And as he began to speak, the wind fell, and the sea slumbered, and the +moon crept silently further up and up the sky. And little by little, the +dark shadows stole out stealthily, moving as it were on tiptoe, and hung +in corners, here and there, like ghosts about the little shrine, before +which the sleeping man lay white in the moon's rays, as still as if he +were a corpse. And the deep tones of the Great God's voice seemed like a +muttered spell, to lull to sleep the living and assemble the dead to +hear, with demons for <i>dwárapálas</i> at the door of an ashy tomb.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a>II</h2> + + +<h3>AN INCOMPLETE OBLIVION</h3> + + +<h3>I</h3> + +<p>Know, then, that this King, who was found dead in the early morning, +with a dagger in his heart, was named Arunodaya.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> For his father said, +when he was born: This son is, as it were, the sunrise of our hopes. And +yet, by the decree of destiny, it turned out altogether contrary to his +expectation. For as it happened, his father, in whose family it was an +hereditary custom to have only one queen at a time, grew gradually tired +of his only wife. But being as cowardly in crime as he was weak in +constancy, he did not dare to bring about his wishes by any violence or +practice of his own, but lay as it were in wait, for some suitable +opportunity or occasion to present itself, by means of which he might +succeed in getting rid of her, without incurring any blame, or running +any risk. For such souls as his was, think to throw dust in the eyes of +Chitragupta,<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> not knowing that he does but add cowardice to the total +of their guilt.</p> + +<p>So while he waited, time went on, and year succeeded year. And little by +little he and his queen grew gradually older, and his son changed slowly +from a boy into a man.</p> + +<p>And then, at last, one day it happened, that the King and Queen were +sitting together on the palace roof. And all at once, the Queen started +to her feet with a cry. And as the King looked towards her, with wonder +and curiosity, she said slowly: Aryaputra,<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> know, that I have +suddenly recollected my former birth. And now, I long to tell thee all +about it; and yet I am afraid. For this is the law, that if anybody +suddenly remembers his former birth, and tells it to another, that very +moment he must die. And if I die, I must leave thee: for if not, what +could death do to me, since that is the only thing in the three worlds +of which I am afraid?</p> + +<p>So as she looked at him, with regret and affection in her eyes—for she +was as devoted to her husband as if he had been worthy, as indeed he was +utterly unworthy, of her devotion—all at once the King's heart leaped +in his breast. And he said to himself: Ha! Here, as it seems, is that +very opportunity, for which I have been waiting all these years: till I +thought that my soul would almost part from my body, for sheer +impatience and disgust. And in an instant, he also sprang to his feet, +exclaiming as he did so, with an ecstasy that was only half feigned: +Strange! can it be? For I, too, have suddenly remembered my former +birth: as if this recollection of thine had been the spark required, to +set fire to the memory of my own. So now, then, let us very quickly tell +each other all, and so take leave together of these miserable bodies, +into which we must, beyond a doubt, have fallen, by reason of a curse.</p> + +<p>So then, deceived by the display of his hypocritical affection, the +Queen told him very quickly all that she recollected of her former +birth. And when she had finished, the King looked at her steadily for a +while, and his face fell. And he said, with difficulty: Alas! alas! I +was utterly mistaken: and as I think, I took fire falsely, out of +sympathy with thee. And now I have fallen unwittingly into an +irreparable disaster. For as to my own former birth, I remember +absolutely nothing about anything at all.</p> + +<p>So as he spoke, he looked at the Queen, and their eyes met. And in that +instant, she understood; and caught, like a flash of lightning, the +falsehood in his soul. And she gazed at him, for a while, fixedly, with +eyes that resembled an incarnation of scrutiny that was mingled with +reproach, till all at once he turned away, unable to endure the +detection of his own baseness, reflected as it were in the calm mirror +of her own pure gaze. And after a while, she said slowly: Son, not of a +noble, but an outcast, know, that thou hast doomed not me only, but +thyself. And now, because thou hast betrayed me to my death, thy son +also shall die as I do, and on the very same spot, by the agency of one +who stands to him in the very same relation that I do to thee: and the +husband shall pay for the wife. And the consequence of works shall dog +thee, in the form of the total extinction of thy race. But as for me, +now I see only too clearly that this birth has been a blunder, and a +punishment, and a delusion, resembling a scene played upon a stage, +whose king turns out, when the curtain falls, to be but a sorry rascal +after all. And all the while, I have given my devotion to the wrong +husband, and like a foolish benefactor, have wasted alms on a pitiful +impostor. I feared, but one short moment since, to leave thee, and to +part from thee; but now, thou hast suddenly changed regret into relief. +See, whether separation will be thy blessing or thy curse.</p> + +<p>So as she spoke, she tottered, and her soul suddenly left its body, +which sank to the ground abandoned, like a creeper that collapses when +the trunk it clung to falls, and saying as if to mock him: Seek now for +the core that is gone, within the hollow husk.</p> + + +<h3>II</h3> + +<p>So then, when her funeral obsequies were over, that widowed King, +strange to say! fell into melancholy, deceiving all his subjects, as if +by express design. For they pitied him exceedingly, each saying to the +other: See, now, how this good Queen's death has robbed this poor +deserted King as it were of his own soul: as well, indeed, it might. For +she was a <i>patidewatá</i>,<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> and a Sawitri, not only in her name, but in +her nature, and rather than outlive him, preferred to go before. +Whereas, on the contrary, that King's decline arose, not from regret, +but from remorse, mixed with anxiety and the apprehension of his coming +doom. For this is the way of the weak, that they yield to evil impulse, +and yet repent of their own doings, taking fright at the sight of them, +as soon as they are done, and discovering the terrible consequences of +works, too late. For a deed that is done, is divided from what it was, +before it was done, by all eternity, in the fraction of a second: as +this King found to his cost. For even as he gazed at the body of his +queen, lying dead on the floor beside him, remorse rose up as it were +out of her body and took him by the throat. And at that moment, he would +have thrown away his kingdom like a blade of grass, to bring her back to +life. And his longing to get rid of her changed, like a flash of +lightning, into a passionate yearning to repossess her, dead. And he +said to himself, as he looked at her: Where in the world shall I find +another resembling her in the least degree, and what shall I do, to save +myself from the ripening of her curse? For destiny listens in silence to +the prayers of a pure woman, and she, beyond all doubt, was one.</p> + +<p>So then, from that very moment, every thought of replacing her by +another queen abandoned him, as if her life, in leaving her, had drawn +with it his own. And all his taste for life at all, and all desires +whatever, suddenly left him in a body, as if out of disgust at his +behaviour. And he sank into despair, and pined and waned like an old +moon, and grew gradually dimmer, and thinner, and more gloomy, till +there was hardly anything left of him at all, but skin and bone. And +finally, seeing its opportunity, a burning fever arising from a chill +entered in and took possession of all his limbs, as if to give him a +foretaste of the flames of his own pyre.</p> + +<p>And then at last, perceiving that Yama had caught him in his noose, and +finding himself in the mouth of death, he summoned his prime minister, +together with his son. And when they came, he said to them: Since I am +on the very point of following my wife, as, had I gone before her, she +would have followed me, <i>sati</i><a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> that she was, there is no time to +lose. Do thou, my son, get married, as quickly as thou canst, for the +god of death has clutched us both, as if he was in a hurry, just at the +very moment when we were thinking of procuring thee a wife. And as it +is, I am sore afraid of going to meet my ancestors, who will angrily +reproach me for placing them in jeopardy, by neglecting to provide for +them in time. And when they ask me, saying: Where is thy son's son? what +answer shall I make? And therefore, O my minister, I leave this son of +mine and his marriage as a deposit in thy hands, which I shall require +of thee in the other world. Postpone all other policy to the duty of +finding him a wife: and if thou canst, let her resemble his mother, that +was mine.</p> + +<p>So having spoken, in a little while he died, leaving everybody in his +kingdom wondering at his affection for his wife. For nobody knew the +truth, which was as it were burned up and utterly annihilated by the +fires that consumed the body of his wife and his own. And he left behind +him a reputation for fidelity that was absolutely false. For none but +the Deity can penetrate the disguise of hypocrisy. And yet, though he +deceived all the subjects in his kingdom, he did not succeed in blinding +the eyes of Dharma,<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> who caught his soul in his noose, and doomed it, +for his treachery, to be born again in the body of a worm.</p> + + +<h3>III</h3> + +<p>So, then, when his funeral obsequies were over, and the due time +prescribed by the <i>shastras</i> had elapsed, his son Arunodaya mounted the +throne, and became king in his room.</p> + +<p>And no sooner was the crown placed upon his head, and the water +sprinkled over him, than the prime minister, who was named Gangádhara, +came to him privately, and said: Maháráj, now there is yet another +ceremony which remains as it were crying to be performed, with the least +possible delay; and that is thy own marriage. And now it is for thee and +me to seek out some maiden that will make a royal match for thee, and +lead her round the fire, and so let thy father's spirit rest. And there +cannot be any difficulty at all. For all the neighbouring kings, who +possess daughters, are watching thee like clouds around a mountain top, +ready to rain daughters as it were upon thy head; since thou art +superior in power to them all. And as for the daughters, the painters, +and the rumours of thy beauty, have turned them all into so many +<i>abhisárikas</i>, dying to run into thy arms without waiting to be asked; +and the only danger is, that all but the one on whom thy choice shall +fall will immediately abandon the body, out of jealousy and despair, as +soon as it is made. For everybody knows that even Ananga and Rati<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> +were envious of thy father and thy mother; of whom thou art compounded +into an essence twice as powerful as either was alone, so that not a day +passes but my spies bring me news of miserable women who have deserted +the body of their own accord, finding themselves, by reason of their +caste or condition, cut off from all hope of ever becoming thy wife.</p> + +<p>Then said Arunodaya: O Gangádhara, I am ready to marry in a moment any +one of them: and yet, as I think, I shall never marry anyone at all. And +Gangádhara said: Maháráj, thou speakest riddles, and I am slow to +understand. And Arunodaya looked at him with a smile. And he said: +Gangádhara, it is proper that a minister should know all his master's +secrets, and now that thou art my minister, I will tell thee mine, and +make thee my confidant in everything, as expediency demands. For then +only will the business of our policy run on smoothly, when we pull +exactly together, like a pair of bullocks in a cart. And whether it be +with the women as thou sayest, or not, there is a difficulty, unknown to +thee, on my part. Then said the minister: What is that? And Arunodaya +said: I am already more than half married, and, as it were, bound, by an +indissoluble pledge, to an undiscoverable beauty; and unless she can be +found, I am, as I told thee, likely to remain unmarried for the +remainder of my life.</p> + +<p>Then said the prime minister: Maháráj, everything can be found by one +who looks for it in the proper place. And if thy beauty be discoverable, +I will undertake to find her, at the forfeit of my head. And who, then, +is she? Give me at least a clue; and thou shalt see, that maybe she is +not hidden so very far away, after all.</p> + +<p>And Arunodaya said: I will marry no other woman but the wife of my +former birth. For I dream of her, and as it seems to me, have dreamed of +her, and nothing else, ever since I was born. And so, now, I have +revealed to thee a secret, which I never told to anyone but thee: and I +leave thee to judge, whether she is able to be found, or not. And if +thou canst show me that any one of these kings' daughters was my wife +before, I will marry her again: but this is the indispensable condition; +and no matter who she may be, the woman who does not fulfil it must +marry some one other than myself. And now, go: and when thou hast +meditated sufficiently on the matter, return to me at dawn, and take +counsel with me, as to what is to be done. For, as thou seest, this +marriage of mine is not likely to be easily achieved. And I resemble one +searching on the seashore for a grain of sand, dropped there in the dead +of night, a hundred years ago.</p> + + +<h3>IV</h3> + +<p>So then, that astounded prime minister gazed at Arunodaya for a while in +silence, and took his dismissal, and went away like a man in a dream. +And when he reached his home, he sat for a long time musing, like a +picture painted on a wall. And then, all at once, he began to laugh. And +he exclaimed: Ha! this, then, was the secret, and now at length I begin +to understand, and all is explained. For this young king +<i>brahmachári</i>,<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> little as he suspects it, has been under my eye ever +since he was born. And this, then, was the reason why he was perpetually +wandering about alone, and lying for hours gazing at the lotuses in the +forest pools, or looking at the sea-waves, like a rock on the shore, +differing totally from all others of his kind, who as a rule resemble +<i>must</i> elephants, in utterly refusing to have anything to do with +dancing girls or women of any kind, as it were wilfully contradicting +the design of the Creator, who beyond a doubt formed him on purpose to +prevent Rati and Priti<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> from quarrelling, by providing a second body +for their common lord. And all the while I took him for a very <i>yogi</i>, +he was, as it turns out, dreaming, not of emancipation, but this wife of +his former birth: and hard as it is, I think that even emancipation +would, of the two, be easier to attain. Well might he say, that she was +difficult to find. For who ever got at the wife of his former birth, +except in a dream. Aye! this is an obstacle to his marriage indeed, that +even the Lord of the Elephant-Face would be puzzled to surmount or +remove.</p> + +<p>And after a while, he said again: Is it a mere fancy? Or can it be, that +he really is haunted by some dim recollection of his former wife, since +beyond a doubt the influences of pre-existence do sometimes persist, and +like ships, sail without sinking over the dark ocean of oblivion, from +one birth-island to another? And what, then, is she like? For could I +only discover what she looks like in his dreams, it might be that by +policy or stratagem I could make shift to find her, or somebody so like +her that he would never know the difference. I will go to him to-morrow +and ask him to describe her, and he cannot well refuse. For how can he +expect me to discover her, unless I know what she is like? Or can it be, +that he does not even know himself? That would be better still. For +then, if, with the assistance of the astrologers, I can manage to devise +a scheme, so as to persuade him that I have lit upon that which he is +looking for, how could he detect the imposition? There are only too many +kings' daughters who would think that the very fruit of their birth was +gained, by practising so innocent a deception as to pass for the wife of +his former birth in order to become in very truth his wife in this. And +if I cannot succeed in some dexterous trick of substitution, I shall be +almost ready to abandon the body myself, for sheer exasperation. For +even apart from the necessity of getting him married, there is not one +of the surrounding kings who is not ready to throw a crore of gold +pieces at my head, if only I will even promise to become his partisan +against all the rest, and marry Arunodaya to some daughter of his own. +Out upon it, that with kings' daughters lying thick as lotuses all round +him, and ready and even eager to be plucked, this unhappy longing of the +king for an unattainable <i>párijáta</i> flower should make them all of no +more value than withered leaves! O Rider on the Mouse,<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> come to my +assistance, for without thy help we shall all be swallowed by calamity, +in the form of the utter extinction of this perverse king's kingdom and +his race.</p> + + +<h3>V</h3> + +<p>Now, just at this very moment, it happened, by the decree of destiny, +that one of the kings of the Widyádharas,<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> who was rightly named +Mahídhara, for his home was on a mountain top that stood in a far-off +island beyond the rising sun, was holding a <i>swayamwara</i> for all his +hundred daughters. And for ninety-nine days each daughter chose her +husband, one a day, from out of the suitors who flocked to the marriage +in such numbers that the sky looked like a cart-wheel, with lines of +Widyádharas assembling from all directions, like vultures, for its +spokes. And finally the hundredth day, and with it, the turn of the +youngest daughter came, to choose.</p> + +<p>Now this daughter resembled a thorn, fixed by the Creator in the hearts +of all her sisters, causing perpetual irritation, like a rebel chief in +a united kingdom. For she stood aloof from them all, like a little +finger that somehow or other refuses to bend into the closed hand, being +not only the youngest, but the smallest, and the most perverse, and the +loveliest of all, putting not only all her sisters but every other +Widyádhari to the necessity of acknowledging, sore against their will, +that the presence of her beauty robbed them of their own, reducing them +to confusion, like so many impostors confronted by the true heir. And +her nature was so totally dissimilar to that of everybody else, that she +resembled a thing made by the Creator standing as it were upon his head, +out of the essence of contradiction: since none of her own family could +ever tell what she would or would not say, or do, or even where she was. +And even her beauty was as wayward as she was herself. For one of her +eyebrows was always as it were on the tiptoe of surprise, arrogantly +arching a little higher than the other; and her eyes were very long, +with corners that looked as if they were on the very point of turning +upwards, which none the less they never did, as if expressly to +disappoint and deride the expectation they aroused, and keep it hovering +for ever in an agony of suspense. And her lips always seemed to smile +even when they were not smiling, and her head was almost, always poised +a very little on one side, looking as if it were listening for the +far-off mutter of the mischief that lay as it were slumbering in the +thunder-cloud hanging low in the heaven of her huge dark eyes, whose +lashes resembled the long grass that fringes the edge of a forest pool. +And her limbs were so slender, and her colour was so pale, in the shadow +of the masses of her sable hair, that had it not been for the indigo of +her lotus eyes and the vermilion of her lips, she would have resembled a +marble incarnation of the beauty of death, or a wraith of mist touched +as it hovers in a dark valley by the ashy beam of a waning moon. And, +strange! her spell seemed made of moods that always changed, yet never +varied, compounded half of shy timidity, and half of proud disdain, like +an atmosphere of paradoxical fascination, formed of the rival fragrances +of sandalwood and camphor, translated into the language of the soul.</p> + +<p>So then, as those Widyádhara suitors waited in the hall, standing round +in a ring, she came in slowly, with the garland of choosing in her hand. +And beginning with the first she came to, she walked very deliberately +all round that circle of excited wooers, going from one to the next in +order, and examining each in turn. And in the dead silence, there was +absolutely nothing heard but the faint clash of her golden anklets, as +she moved round slowly on little hesitating feet, that trod as it were +on everybody's heart. And as she went, those suitors, as she came to +them and passed them, turned gradually from dark to pale, and then again +to black, like the buttresses on the king's high road, when torches pass +along.<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> And every Widyádhara's soul abandoned, so to say, his body, +on finding that she left him to go on to the next, dooming him as it +were to death by carrying further the fatal wreath.</p> + +<p>So, then, having given to all, as if by way of boon, a bitter glimpse of +beauty mixed with a momentary ray of hope, dashing the cup from each +one's lip just as it thought it was going to taste, she came to the very +end. And then, she stopped dead. And she looked at them all, for a +single moment, over the wreath they all desired, and she raised it to +her lips, as if to scent its fragrance, saying as it were to all: Very +sweet indeed is the thing beyond your reach. And then, with a little +pout, she put it round her own neck. And she said, in the Arya metre:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Tell me, O breeze, is there syrup for the bees?<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Only, alas! when kind flowers please.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>And then, she went away, leaving all her lovers as it were in the lurch, +like a flock of <i>Chakrawákas</i> when the sun has disappeared.</p> + + +<h3>VI</h3> + +<p>And they all stood, when she had gone, gazing at one another in silence, +as motionless as though they had been painted on the walls that stood +behind them. And then they all exclaimed, as if with a single voice: +What! is not one of us all fit for this fastidious beauty's taste? And +instantly that ring of disappointed suitors broke up as they flew away, +and vanished like a mist, for in their fury they would not even so much +as wait to take leave of her father, counting it as it were a crime in +him to be father of such a daughter, and to have lured them into shame.</p> + +<p>And seeing them go, Mahídhara went himself to the apartments of his +daughter. And he said to her in dudgeon: Out on thee! Makarandiká;<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> +for here have all the Widyádharas become my bitter enemies by reason of +this insult. Has thy reason left thee? Or where wilt thou find a +husband, if not even one of all the kings of the Widyádharas can please +thy foolish fancy? Dost thou not understand, that a daughter who is not +married disgraces her father's house?</p> + +<p>Then said Makarandiká: Dear father, I am far too ugly to be married. And +Mahídhara laughed, and he said: What new caprice is this? Thou ugly! +Why, if thou art too ugly, being far the most beautiful of all, what of +thy sisters, whose beauty all united is not equal to thy own, and yet +have they all chosen? And Makarandiká laughed, and she exclaimed: What! +can it be? What! shall the most beautiful of all be content with others' +leavings, and choose only out of what they have all rejected? As if the +whole world were not full to the very brim of husbands! Shall my choice +be the refuse? Moreover, I do not want a Widyádhara for a husband at +all. And Mahídhara said, with amazement: And why not a Widyádhara? Then +said Makarandiká: Widyádharas are fickle, and roaming about in the air, +come across all sorts of other women and make love to them, deceiving +their own wives. But I will marry only such a husband as never will +deceive me.</p> + +<p>Then said her father, smiling: But, O thou very jealous maiden, where +wilt thou discover him? For did not even Indra himself play Sachi false? +Or dost thou think that mortal men are always constant, when even gods +are not? Choose, if thou wilt, a mortal for thy husband, only to +discover that Widyádharas are not more treacherous than they are. Thy +husband will deceive thee, as it may be, no matter what his birth.</p> + +<p>And lo! as he looked at her, jesting, he saw her suddenly turn paler, +and still paler, as if the very thought resembled poison in her ears. +And she said in a low voice: Better never to be married at all, than +marry a deceiver: better far for me, and better far for him. And her +father exclaimed, in astonishment: What! O Makarandiká! thou hast not +even got a husband as yet at all; yet here thou art already, jealous +without a cause! What will it be, when thou art actually married? Truly +I fear for thy unhappy husband, whoever he may be. And yet, be very +careful. Bethink thee, O daughter, that if thou dost choose a mortal, it +will be at the cost of thy condition. For any Widyádharí becoming the +wife of a mortal man loses all her magic sciences, and is levelled with +himself.</p> + +<p>And Makarandiká said with scorn: Thy warning is unnecessary, and there +is not any risk. For it will be long before I place myself in danger of +any such description from a husband of any kind.</p> + + +<h3>VII</h3> + +<p>So that haughty beauty spoke, ignorant of the future, not dreaming that +her destiny in the form of a mortal husband was just about to laugh her +vaunt to scorn. And leaving her father abruptly, she rose up into the +air, and began to fly swiftly like a wild white swan away towards the +western quarter, looking down upon the sea, that resembled a blue mirror +of the sky that stretched above it, with foaming waves in place of +clouds, and water instead of air: saying to herself: Only let me get +away, where not a Widyádhara of them all is to be seen. And the wind +caressed her limbs like a lover, stealing embraces as she went along, +and whispering in the shell of her little ear: Be not alarmed, O vagrant +beauty, if I reveal thy outline to the whole world, for there is nobody +by to see. And she watched the sun go down before her, and went on all +night long, with no companion but the new moon that sank into the sea in +a little while, as if ashamed to rival her, leaving her alone with +night. And at last, when dawn was just breaking, she saw below her this +very temple, standing alone on the sandy shore between the forest and +the sea. And a little further on, the King's palace was standing up like +a tower, reddened by the young sun's rays. So, feeling tired, she +swooped down, to rest for a little while. And she settled on the edge of +the palace roof, taking the form of a snowy bird, with a ruddy bill and +legs, as if to mock and imitate the colour of the sun.</p> + +<p>And at that very moment, Arunodaya came out upon the roof, with his +prime minister behind him, like Winter following the god of Spring. And +the very instant she set eyes on him, she became as it were a target for +Love's arrow, as if, although invisible, he were there beside his +friend.<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> And she fell suddenly in love with the young king as he came +towards her, and shook with such agitation, that she came within a very +little of falling straight into the sea. And she murmured to herself, +with emotion: Can this be a second dawn<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> appearing just to confound +the other? Or can it be Kámadewa, in a body more beautiful than his own? +But if so, where is Rati? Or am I only dreaming, having fallen unawares +asleep, thinking of husbands and my father's words?</p> + +<p>So as she spoke, Arunodaya looked towards her, and presently he said +aloud: See, Gangádhara, how yonder snowy sea-bird has come to me as it +were for refuge, tired beyond a doubt by some long journey across the +sea! Let us not go too near it, lest out of fright it may take to +flight, before its wings are rested. And he sat down a little way off, +on the very edge of the terrace, keeping his eye on Makarandiká, who +laughed at his words in her sleeve, saying softly to herself: There is +no fear, O handsome stranger, that I shall fly away, since thy arrival, +so far from scaring me away, has nailed me to the spot. And the prime +minister said meanwhile: Maháráj, here I am, according to thy +appointment, to discuss thy marriage with thee, where nobody can +overhear. And know, that since thou art absolutely bent on marrying no +other than the wife of thy former birth, I do not despair of finding +her, if she is able to be found. But who can find anything, unless he +knows what it is like? For if not, he will not know that he has found +it, when it lies before his eyes. So tell me, to begin with, what this +wife of thine resembles; and then I will set to work and find her, +without the loss of any time.</p> + +<p>Then Arunodaya said slowly: O Gangádhara, how can I tell thee what I do +not know myself? And Gangádhara said, in wonder: Maháráj, it cannot be. +How will thou recognise her, not knowing what she looks like? And +Arunodaya said again: I shall know her in an instant, the moment I set +eyes on her. For at the very sight of her, love, that depends on the +forgotten associations of a previous existence, will suddenly shoot up +in the darkness of my heart, like flame. For this is the only proof, and +no other is required. And yet, there is something else, to give me as it +were a clue. For though, strive as I may, I cannot even guess what she +was like, yet my memory, as it seems, is not absolutely blank. For I +remember, that she was the daughter of a pandit, and maybe herself a +pandit; and I seem to listen in a dream, whenever I think about her, to +the noise of innumerable pandits, all shouting at the same time some +name that I can never catch, mingling with the roar of the waves of the +sea.</p> + +<p>And when he ended, Gangádhara stared at him, in utter stupefaction, +saying within himself: Beyond a doubt, this King is mad. And presently +he said aloud: O King Arunodaya, who ever heard of a woman, suited for a +king's wife, who had anything to do with pandits? What is there in +common between pandits and the wives of kings? Certainly, thou art +doomed to live and die unmarried: for a beauty who is a pandit is not to +be found in the three worlds.</p> + + +<h3>VIII</h3> + +<p>Then said Arunodaya: Gangádhara, who knows? But be that as it may, this +is absolutely certain, that I will not marry any woman who was not the +wife of my former birth. And so, if thou canst find her, well. And if +not, then thy prophecy will be true, for I shall live and die without a +wife.</p> + +<p>And Gangádhara went away again, more at a loss than he was before. And +when he reached his home, all at once he began to laugh, as if his +reason had left him. And he said to himself: Ha ha! Out on this unhappy +King, who hears the noise of pandits in the roaring of the sea! Why, +even Maheshwara himself could not find a shout of laughter, to match the +absurdity of this extraordinary jest. And he went on laughing all day +long, till his family grew frightened and summoned the physicians, +saying: He is possessed.</p> + +<p>And meanwhile Makarandiká remained upon the terrace, watching Arunodaya, +as if fascinated by a snake. And as she listened to their conversation, +her heart beat with such exultation that it shook her like wind. And she +said to herself: Surely I am favoured by the deity. Well was it for me, +that I scorned to choose a husband from among those miserable Widyádhara +kings: for had I done so, I should have missed the very fruit of my +birth. And now, by the favour of Ganapati, I have come here in the very +nick of time: and I know all. And no other than myself shall be his +wife. And indeed, beyond a doubt I was the very wife he looks for, since +everything corresponds, and exactly as he said; love has suddenly burst +out flaming in my heart, at the very first sight of him, suddenly +recollecting its old forgotten state. But whether I was his wife or not, +in any other birth, I will very certainly become his wife in this. And +all the symptoms conspire in my favour.</p> + +<p>For not only is my right eye throbbing, but I actually stumbled in +ignorance on his very name, before I ever heard it. And now, I will, as +Gangádhara said, set to work immediately without losing any time: for I +know, as they do not, exactly what his wife is like. And now, everything +will turn out well, so long as he never discovers in his life that I +overheard him, on this terrace, before he ever saw me. And that cannot +be, for he never can learn it from anyone but me.</p> + +<p>So as she spoke, Arunodaya suddenly recollected the coming of the bird, +and looked round, and rejoiced, to find that it was still there. And he +said aloud, as if expressly to chime in with her thoughts: Ha! so, then, +thou art not gone, as I feared. O sea-bird, from what far-off land art +thou arrived? For none of the birds that haunt my palace resemble thee +in the least degree. Art thou also looking for thy mate, as I am? Or +hast thou lost thy way, blown by the winds over the home of monsters and +of gems?</p> + +<p>And instantly the bird replied: O King Arunodaya, not so: for I am +looking neither for a mate nor a way: but have come here expressly, sent +by the god, to tell thee how to find thy own mate, and thy own way.</p> + +<p>And then, as Arunodaya started to his feet, scarcely crediting his own +ears, she went on with that human voice: Listen, and do not interrupt, +for I have overstayed my time, obliged to wait till thy conversation +ended and thy minister was gone, and I have far to go. And tell me, +first. Is there a little ruined temple, near thy city on the north, +standing alone upon the shore? And Arunodaya said: There is. Then said +Makarandiká: Then it all corresponds, and tallies exactly with my +instructions. For only last night, as the sun was going down, I passed +by a lonely island in the middle of the sea. And there in the evening +twilight, I saw the Lord of Obstacles dancing all alone, throwing up his +trunk that was smeared with vermilion into the purple sky. And he called +to me as I was going by, and said: Carry for me a message to King +Arunodaya, for thou wilt see his palace in the morning, standing up out +of the sea, ruddy as my trunk in the early dawn. And tell him that I am +pleased with his resolute perseverance: and by my favour he shall find +the wife of his former birth. Let him go at midnight, on the fifteenth +day of the light half of this very moon, into the ruined temple that +stands on the shore of the sea, and I will put something in it that will +fill his heart with joy.</p> + +<p>And then, she rose from the terrace, and flew away across the sea: while +Arunodaya stood still, gazing after her in wonder, till she dwindled to +a speck and disappeared.</p> + +<p>And then, he drew a long breath, and murmured to himself: Am I asleep or +dreaming? Or can it really be, that the very Lord of Obstacles has been +listening to my prayers, as well he might, considering their number, and +taking pity on his devotee, has revealed to me the secret, by the means +of this white bird: wishing to show Gangádhara, as if in jest, how +easily the Deity laughs at obstacles that seem absolutely +insurmountable, even to such a minister as mine?</p> + + +<h3>IX</h3> + +<p>So then he waited, with a soul that almost leaped from his body with +impatience, for the wax of the moon, which seemed to stand still, as if +on purpose to destroy him. And he sent, in the meanwhile, a message to +Gangádhara, saying: Everything is easy to those favoured by the Deity. +And I have found what I was seeking, even without thy assistance, as I +will prove to thee, by ocular demonstration, on the day of the full +moon.</p> + +<p>And as he listened, Gangádhara was so utterly confounded, that he could +hardly understand. And finally, he said to himself: Beyond a doubt, this +kingdom will presently be ruined, for the King is out of his mind. And +now I begin to perceive, that it will become my duty to remove him from +the throne, in favour of his maternal uncle, who is waiting and watching +to devour him like a crab,<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> if only he can find his opportunity. Or +is it only, after all, a device, to marry some girl that he has set his +heart on, without consulting either policy or me? If so, let him beware! +for he shall do penance for despising me, in full. But let me wait, in +any case, for the moon to grow round. Yet what can the Lord of Herbs<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> +have to do with this matter, unless he possesses a medicine suited to +the King's disease?</p> + +<p>So then, at last, when the moon had gathered up all his digits but the +last, as soon as he rose, Arunodaya went out of his palace to wander on +the shore, with no companion but his sword. For he said to himself: What +if it were all but a dream or a delusion? Then, were it to be known, I +should become a very target for the ridicule of all the people in the +city. So it is better to keep the secret to myself. And he roamed about +the sand of the shore, near the temple, for hours, ready to curse both +sun and moon together, the one for his delay in going down, and the +other for taking such a time to climb into the sky. And finally, unable +to wait any longer, he went directly, long ere midnight, to the temple, +and stood for a while, exactly where yonder sleeper lies now, as if +making up his mind. And at last, he came up between us, and peeped in, +with a beating heart, and saw absolutely nothing inside, but emptiness +and dark. And presently he said: Has that Lord of Obstacles deceived me, +or is it too soon, for his present to arrive? And how will she come? Yet +if that sea-bird was either a liar or a dream, it will be time enough to +go away, before dawn returns, at any hour of the night. And he sat down +at my feet, leaning his back against me, and looking out to sea, over +which the moon was slowly climbing, exactly as it does to-night. And +worn out with agitation, and fatigue, and suspense, he went off to sleep +unawares. And he looked as he lay in the moonlight like the God of Love +resting, after he had conquered the three worlds.</p> + + +<h3>X</h3> + +<p>So then, when at last he woke, he lay for a little while puzzled, and +trying to remember where he was, and why. And so as he lay, he heard +suddenly behind him in the temple the faint clash of anklets, saying to +him as it were: Thou art sleeping, but I am waiting. And like a flash of +lightning, his memory returned; and he started to his feet, and turned, +and looked in at the temple door.</p> + +<p>And lo! when he did so, there, in a ray of moonlight that fell in +through the ruined wall, and clung to her affectionately, as though to +say: Here hiding in this dark cave have I suddenly fallen on my +sixteenth digit that was wanting to complete my orb: there stood a young +woman, looking like the feminine incarnation of the realisation of his +longing to find the wife of his former birth. And she was leaning +against the wall, half in and half out of the shadow, with her head +thrown back against it, so that her left breast stood out in the light +of the moon as if to mock it, leaving the other dark: and the curve of +her hip issued from the shadow and again was lost in it, like that of a +wave that rises from the sea. And he saw her eyes shining, as they gazed +at him in curiosity, like stars in a moonless night reflected in a pool, +whose light serves only to make the darkness it is lost in more visible +than before. And her attitude gave her the appearance of a statue fixed +upon the wall, that had suddenly emerged from it, and taken life, half +doubtful, by reason of timidity, whether she should not re-enter it +again. And she was dressed, like Jánaki, when the Ten-headed Demon +seized her, in a robe of yellow silk, with golden bangles, and golden +anklets, and a necklace of great pearls around her neck, like a row of +little moons formed out of drops of the lunar ooze: and in her hair, +which shone like the back of a great black bee, was a single champak +blossom, that resembled an earthly star shedding fragrance as well as +light. And her red lips looked as if the smile that was on the very +point of opening like a flower had been checked in the very act, by the +hesitation springing from a very little fear.</p> + +<p>And Arunodaya gazed at her in silence, exactly as she did at him. And +after a while, he murmured aloud, as if speaking to himself: Can this be +in very truth the wife of my former birth, or only a thing seen in a +dream?</p> + +<p>And when he spoke, she started, and moved a very little from the wall, +with one hand resting still against it, as if it was her refuge. And she +said, in a low voice: I thought the dreamer was myself. Art thou some +deity come to tempt me, and where am I, if it is reality and not a +dream? And Arunodaya said: It is not I that am the deity, but thou. For +who ever saw anything like thee in the world? And yet if thou art Shri, +where is Wishnu? or if Rati, where is Love?</p> + +<p>And she looked at him steadily, and after a little while, she said with +a sigh: Alas! thou hast spoken truly: where is Love?<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> What! can it +be? and dost thou not remember me? And Arunodaya said: How could I +remember what I never saw before in my life? Then she said: What does +this life matter? Hast thou then so utterly forgotten everything of the +life before?</p> + +<p>And as he gazed at her in perplexity, all at once she started from the +wall and ran towards him, clapping her hands, and laughing, with her +bangles and anklets and her girdle clashing, as if keeping time with her +movements, and exclaiming: The forfeit! the forfeit! I have won! I have +won! And he said, smiling as if against his will: What forfeit? What +dost thou mean? And for answer, she threw herself into his arms, and +began to kiss him, laughing in delight, and crying out: I said it, I +said it. I have remembered, and thou hast forgotten. Did I not tell +thee, thus it would be, when we met again in another birth? Come, cudgel +thy dull memory, and listen while I help thee; and after, I will exact +from thee the forfeit that we fixed. And Arunodaya said again: What +forfeit? For I remember absolutely nothing of it all. And she said: Out +on thee! O thou of no memory at all. What! is thy little pandit all +forgotten? What! hast thou forgotten, what as I think could never be +forgotten, how all the pandits shouted together at our marriage? And he +exclaimed: Ha! pandits! Then she said: Ah! Dost thou actually begin to +recollect? then I have hopes of thee. But as to the forfeit, wilt thou +actually persist in obstinately forgetting all about it? Must I actually +tell thee, and art thou not utterly ashamed? Art thou not ashamed, after +all thy protestations, to look me in the face?</p> + +<p>And as she gazed, with eyes filled to the brim with passionate affection +that was not feigned, straight into his own, holding him with soft arms +that resembled creepers, and as it were caressing him with the touch of +her bosom and the perfume of the honey of her lips and her hair, taking +him as it were prisoner by the sudden assault of irresistible flattery +in the form of her own surrender, Arunodaya's head began to spin, lost +as he was in a whirlpool of bewilderment springing half from her +beauty's intoxicating spell, and half from ineffectual striving to +recall at her bidding what she said, so that in his perplexity he could +not even comprehend whether he recollected anything or not. And he +murmured to himself: Surely she must be the wife I was looking for, for +who else can she be? and certainly she is beautiful enough to be +anybody's wife. And as he hesitated, balanced in the swing of +indecision, she began to draw her forefinger over his eyebrows, each in +turn, saying in a whisper: <i>Aryaputra</i>,<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> this was the forfeit. Give +me thy hand, and shut, for a while, thy eyes. And as he did so, saying +to himself: Now I wonder what she will give me: all at once he uttered a +cry of pain. For she had taken his little finger with her teeth, and +bitten it hard. And as his eyes flew open, as it were of their own +accord, she said, with a frown and a smile mixed together: Why didst +thou forget me? Was it not agreed between us that the forgotten should +exact from the forgetter whatever penalty he chose?</p> + +<p>And at the reproach in her eyes, the heart of Arunodaya began as it were +to smite him, saying: Surely thou art but churlish in returning her +affection, and refusing to remember her: for she is well worthy to be +remembered. And being totally unacquainted with woman, and her +sweetness, and her snare, his youth and his sex began as it were to side +with her against his reason and his doubt, saying to his soul: What more +canst thou possibly require in a wife, than such an incarnation of charm +and affection and intoxicating caress. And all at once, he took her and +drew her towards him with one arm about her slender waist, that a hand +might have grasped, and the other round her head, and he began to kiss +her as fast as he could, with kisses that she returned him till her +breath failed. And after a while, he said, in a low voice: Who art thou +in this birth, if as thou sayest, I was thy husband in the last? And +hast thou fallen from the sky? For thou art altogether too different +from the others, to be but a woman.<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> And what is thy name?</p> + +<p>Then said Makarandiká: Thou art not absolutely wrong: for I am not a +woman of the earth, but a Widyádharí, by name Makarandiká. And by and +bye I will tell thee all about myself, and my coming here, to rediscover +and regain thee; and learn of thee thine. But in the meanwhile, come +outside this gloomy temple into the moonlight, where I can see thee. And +she drew him out of the temple, and as they stood, looking at one +another, she said: Dost thou know, that I am paying a great price for +thee? See, a little while ago, I came hither flying through the air. And +as I came, I said to myself, with regret: I am flying for the very last +time: for to-morrow I shall forfeit all my magic sciences, by marrying a +mortal. And as my resolution wavered, at that very moment, I arrived, +and saw thee, lying asleep in the moonlight, at the feet of Maheshwara +yonder on the wall. And instantly, I exclaimed: Away with these +miserable sciences, for what are they worth in comparison with him, or, +worse, without him?</p> + +<p>And Arunodaya exclaimed: What! wilt thou sacrifice all thy condition as +a Widyádharí for such a one as me? Out, out, upon such a price, for such +a worthless ware!</p> + +<p>And for answer, she took his hand, and put it on her heart, looking at +him with eyes that shone not only with moonlight, but with a tear. And +Arunodaya said, with emphasis: Thou must be my wife: for how could I +think, having seen thee, of any other woman in the world, even in a +dream.</p> + +<p>And as he spoke, he started, almost uttering a cry. For suddenly she +clenched the hand she held with a grip that almost hurt it, and he felt +the heart it lay on suddenly leap, as it were, and stop. And as he +looked at her in wonder, he saw her turning paler and paler, till she +seemed in that white moonlight about to become a stone image, in +imitation of ours, just behind her, on the wall.</p> + +<p>And he said in alarm: Art thou ill, or suffering, or what? Or dost thou +regret thy sciences? And then, all at once, she laughed, and said: My +sciences? Nay, nay, it is not that, of which I am afraid. Come, it is +nothing, and what am I but a fool? Let us go now to thy palace: and see, +I will exert my power, for the very last time, in thy favour, and carry +thee through the air. And she sat down on the step, saying: Come, thou +art rather a large and a clumsy baby: yet sit thou on my lap. And she +took him in her arms, and rose with him into the air, and they floated +over the sea towards the palace, resembling for the moment myself and +thee roaming in the sky.</p> + +<p>And as they went, Arunodaya said within himself: Surely I am only +dreaming; and of what is this Widyádharí made, that has claimed me for +her own? Is it fire or something else?</p> + +<p>But Makarandiká, as they floated, said to herself in ecstasy and +exultation: Now, then, I have got him, and it will be my own fault, if I +cannot so utterly bewitch him, as to cause him to forget all about his +former wife, and take me, as why should I not have been? for her. And +what do I care for her? For she may be the wife of that birth, but I am +the wife of this. And why should the wife of the present count for less +than the wife of the past?</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a>III</h2> + +<h3>A DISJUNCTIVE CONJUNCTION</h3> + + + +<h3>I</h3> + +<p>Now, in the meanwhile, it happened, that when all the other Widyádhara +would-be bridegrooms had broken up and gone away in wrath, disgusted at +being turned to shame by Makarandiká's rejection, there was one who went +away with a heart that was more than half broken, for Makarandiká was +dearer to him than his own soul. And he would have given the three +worlds to have had the precious garland put round his own neck. And when +all was over, he took himself off, and remained a long while buried in +dejection on the slopes of the Snowy Mountain, pining like a +<i>chakrawáka</i> at night-time for his mate, and striving to forget +her,—all in vain: for his name was Smaradása,<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> and his nature like +his name. And at last, unable to endure the fiery torture of separation +any longer, he said to himself: I will return, on the pretext of paying +a visit to her father; and there, it may be, I shall at least get a +sight of her. And who knows but that she may change her mind? for women +after all are not like rocks, but skies. And at the thought, hope +suddenly arose, reborn in his heart. For disconsolate lovers are like +dry chips or straws, easily taking fire, and tossed here and there by +the gusts of hope and desperation.</p> + +<p>So as he thought, he did. But when he arrived at Mahídhara's home, and +inquired about her, he received an answer that struck him like a +thunderbolt. For Mahídhara said: As for Makarandiká, she has utterly +disappeared, having gone somewhere or other, nobody knows where. And if, +as I conjecture, she is looking for a husband among mortals, who will +never even dream of any other woman than herself, she will not soon +return. For it will be long before she finds him.</p> + +<p>And then, that unhappy Smaradása said to himself: I will find her, no +matter how long it may take me, if at least she is able to be found. So +after meditating for a while, he went away to seek assistance from the +brother of the Dawn. And he said to him: O Garuda,<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> I am come to thee +for refuge. And it is but a little thing that I ask, and very easy, for +the Lord of all the birds of the air. There is a Widyádhari named +Makarandiká, who is dearer to me than life itself. Help me, if thou +wilt, to discover where she is: for she has disappeared, without leaving +any trace.</p> + +<p>Thereupon Garuda said: Stay with me for a little in the meanwhile, till +I see what I can do. And he summoned all the sea-birds and the vultures +in the world; and said to them: Go to the eight quarters of heaven, and +find out what has become of Makarandiká, a Widyádharí who is lost.</p> + +<p>So then, after a few days, they returned. And their spokesman, who was a +very old vulture named Dirghadarshi,<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> said: Lord, this has been a +very simple thing. For some of my people saw her, a little while ago, +flying westwards. And following her track, on thy order, they saw her +sitting on the palace roof of King Arunodaya, who has married her, and +made her his queen.</p> + +<p>And instantly, hearing this news, which pierced his ear like a poisoned +needle, Smaradása uttered a loud cry, and fell down in a swoon: so great +was the shock, that turned in the twinkling of an eye all the love in +his soul to jealousy and hate. And when, with difficulty, he came to +himself, he hurried away so fast that he forgot even to worship Garuda. +But that kindly deity only laughed, and forgave him, saying: Well might +he forget not me only, but everything in the three worlds, on learning +that his love was lying in somebody else's arms.</p> + +<p>But Smaradása summoned instantly all his brother suitors. And he told +them all about it, and he said: This matter is no longer what it was. +For if she flouted us all, by refusing to choose a husband from among +us, yet no one could compel her, since she did but exercise the +privilege of all kings' daughters. But now, not only has she placed this +mortal above us all, but by marrying beneath her caste, she has degraded +all the Widyádharas at once, and broken the constitution of the +universe. Therefore she deserves to be punished. Moreover, she is at our +mercy, since she has lost all her magic sciences, by marrying a man.</p> + +<p>So then, when they had all unanimously pronounced her worthy of death, +one suggesting one death, and another another, Smaradása said +scornfully: What is the use of putting her to death? For death is +absolutely no punishment at all, since she will abandon one body only to +enter another. Rather let us find some punishment suited to her crime, +and worse than any death. And the best way would be, to contrive some +means of making her behaviour recoil upon her own head. And this could +be done, if only we could get this husband she has chosen to desert her +for another. For as a rule, a rival is like <i>kálakuta</i> poison to every +woman: and she is not only jealous, but as it were jealousy itself. And +thus she would become her own punishment. But first let us discover all +about her: for then we can determine how to go to work.</p> + +<p>So, when they all consented, Smaradása went back to Garuda, and he said: +O Enemy of Snakes, do me one more favour, and I will trouble thee no +more. Find out for me only, how matters stand with her husband and +herself: since her independent conduct is a matter of concern to all the +Widyádharas, of whom she is one.</p> + +<p>And Garuda said: Smaradása, this commission is very different from the +first. For if I am not mistaken, the Widyádharas mean mischief, and it +is no business of mine. And yet, I will not do thee kindness by halves: +but let this be the last. So after meditating for a while, he sent for +the crows. And he said to them: Crows, you know everything about +everybody, and see the world, and fly about the streets of cities, and +eat the daily offerings,<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> and listen to all the scandal of the +bazaars, and penetrate even into the palaces of kings. Go, then, to the +city of Arunodaya, and spy about and listen, and bring back a full +account of all you can discover, about him and his wife.</p> + +<p>And, after a week, the crows returned. And their spokesman, who was +called Kálapaksha,<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> said: Lord, this King and Queen are never apart, +being as inseparable as Ardhanári.<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> And as for Makarandiká, it is +clear that she is a <i>patidewatá</i>, who loves her husband more than her +own soul. And though he has nothing to do with any woman but herself, +yet something is wrong, though we cannot discover what it is. But the +citizens think that she is jealous, because she suspects that he is +always dreaming, not of her, but the wife of his former birth.</p> + +<p>And as Smaradása listened, he exclaimed in delight: Ha! what difficulty +is there in doing a thing which is half done already? For this is a +situation which will ripen almost without assistance, resembling as it +does a balance already trembling, in which the addition of a single hair +will turn the scale. And it wants only a touch, for Makarandiká to turn +her suspicions into certainties of her own accord. And thus she will +become the instrument of her own torture, and expiate her error, the +victim of her own choice, with nobody but herself to blame. For she was +a Widyádharí, and is absolutely inexcusable.</p> + + +<h3>II</h3> + +<p>And meanwhile Makarandiká, ignorant and careless of all that was +occurring in that world of the Widyádharas which she had thrown away +like a blade of grass, and utterly forgotten, was living like a siddhá +in a moon without a spot, having, so to say, attained emancipation in +the form of the husband of her own choice. And for his part, Arunodaya, +having lit upon the very wife of his former birth, contrary to +expectation, and married her again, lived with her like one plunged for +an instant in an ocean of intoxication, salt as her beauty<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> and +infinite as her devotion, and unfathomable as her eyes. And for a while, +he seemed to be the very image of a bee drowned in the honey of a red +lotus, or a <i>chakora</i> surfeited with the beams of a young moon. And in +order to make up to Makarandiká, and console her for the loss of her +power of flying through the air, which of all her sciences she most +regretted, he built for her innumerable swings, with gold and silver +chains, and one, that she loved the best, on the very roof she first +arrived on. And she used to pass her time in it, whenever she had +nothing else to do, swinging softly to and fro, and looking across the +sea; tasting, by means of the swing and her own imagination, some +vestige of her lost equality with all the birds of heaven. And though +she never so much as whispered it aloud, yet sometimes, her unutterable +longing to possess once more that power which she had lost for ever, as +she watched the sea-birds flying, brought tears into her eyes, which she +never let Arunodaya see.</p> + +<p>And yet, though she had utterly lost all her magic sciences, she still +retained the whole of that other magic, which the Creator has not +limited only to Widyádharís, of feminine fascination. And like the moon, +she was a very bundle of bewitching arts,<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> whose potency was doubled +by the intensity of her affection for her lord. For a woman who does not +feel affection for her own husband resembles a sunset from which the sun +and all his redness are withdrawn.</p> + +<p>And she was, moreover, so absolutely bent upon erasing from his +recollection every vestige of the dim image of the wife of his former +birth, for whom she had substituted herself, like a new moon eclipsing +an old one, that she thought of nothing else: and the thought of this +former wife resembled a thorn that was fixed ineradicably in her own +heart. And she busied herself all day and night, in occupying his whole +attention, and laying snares for his soul, by dancing, and singing, and +telling him innumerable stories, and making as it were slaves of all his +senses, enthralling his eyes with the variety of her beauty, and +captivating his ears with the sorcery of her voice, and chaining his +desires to herself by never-ending wiles of caressing attention, in the +form of embraces of soft arms, and kisses like snowflakes, and glances +shot at him out the very corner of her eye, enveloping him with such a +mist of the essence of a woman's sweetness as to keep him from seeing +any other thing at all. For her Widyádharí nature gave to all her +behaviour grace that was far beyond the reach of any ordinary mortal, +and she seemed like an incarnation of femininity, divested of all the +grossness and clumsy imperfection that it carries when mixed with the +element of death, so that her touch seemed softer, and her step seemed +lighter, and her outline rounder, and her smile far sweeter and her +passion purer, and her whole love ecstasy deeper and truer than any +woman's could ever be.</p> + +<p>But as for the prime minister, when he came, according to agreement, and +Arunodaya showed her to him on the day of the full moon, he was so +utterly bewildered by the very sight of her that she turned him as it +were to stone. And after staring at her in stupefaction, being wholly +bereft of appropriate speech, and as it were deserted by his reason, +which lay prostrate at her little golden-bangled feet, he went away in +silence. And after a long while, he said to himself as he sat alone: +Beyond a doubt, this inexplicable King has somehow or other managed to +find a very miracle of a queen, as far as beauty goes. For her very +ankles alone, are enough to drive a lover mad, and worth more than the +whole body of any other woman; so that whoever began to look at her, +beginning with her feet, would never get any higher, but remain for ever +worshipping their slender and provoking curve, with a thirst that was +never quenched. She must be Rati or Priti, fallen, nobody knows how, +into a mortal birth, and leaving Kama in despair. And yet, whether she +be, as he supposes, the very wife of his former birth, or not, I am +irretrievably disgraced. For he has managed this matter all alone, +without so much as consulting me. And thus, not only have I lost my +opportunity, of taking as it were tribute from all the surrounding +kings, but I am very much mistaken if some of them, or even all, will +not take umbrage at the slight put upon all their daughters by this +unrelated queen,<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> and band together, and suddenly attack him, +bewildered as he is by her disastrous intoxication; and so, the kingdom +will be uprooted, since he is likely to be so entirely wrapped up in her +that he will think of nothing else. And it may be that he will discover +in the future that he has lost more, by disregarding his prime minister, +than he has gained, by marrying even for the second time the wife of his +former birth. And if, as I suspect, this is all but a trick, time will +show up the imposture, and then it will be my turn. For if ever he +should discover she has cheated him, all the coquetry and coaxing in the +world will not keep him from abhorring her, for stealing his affection, +and diverting it away from its proper object, to herself. For as a rule, +men object to being cheated, even to their own advantage, since the +cheater seems to argue that the cheated is a fool. But in the meantime I +must wait, since it is useless to do anything, till the charm has lost +its magic by dint of repetition. For beauty resembles amber: it +attracts, but does not hold: and like a razor, loses virtue every time +that it is used: till at last, it becomes altogether blunt, and +impotent, and without either edge or bite. And then, unless I am very +much mistaken, this lovely false wife of his previous existence will +find, that she has to reckon with a formidable rival, in his +recollection of the true.</p> + + +<h3>III</h3> + +<p>But Arunodaya, careless of his minister, gave himself up a willing +captive to the witchery of his Widyádharí wife. And for a time, her task +was very easy. For owing to his inexperience, he resembled a child, and +every woman was to him an illusion, and a mystery, so that he would have +sunk under the spell, even had it been less potent than it actually was. +And Makarandiká was as it were his <i>dikshá</i>,<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> incarnate in a form of +more than mortal fascination: and like a priestess she took him by the +hand and led him into the <i>garbha</i><a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> of that strange temple built not +of stone, but of the materials of elementary infatuation, and made him +perform, so to say, a <i>pradakshina</i> round the image of the divinity<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> +of which she was herself a bewildering and irresistible incarnation. And +lost in the adoration of a neophyte, he lay like a drunken bee in a +lotus-cup, rolling in honey, and forgetting utterly not only his kingdom +and its affairs, but everything else in the three worlds.</p> + +<p>And yet, strange! there lay all the while lurking in the recesses of his +soul a vague misgiving, mixed with a faint and unintelligible +dissatisfaction, resembling a taste of something bitter in the draught +of his infatuation, and an ingredient that qualified and just prevented +his gratification from reaching its extreme degree, of ecstasy without +alloy. And yet he hardly dared to acknowledge it, even to himself, +accusing himself of ingratitude and treachery, and saying to his own +soul: How is it possible to requite such infinite affection, and +devotion, and service, and beauty, by returning nothing in exchange for +it all but suspicion, and distrust, and doubt? For even if she were not +the very wife of my former birth, what could I possibly wish for, more? +And yet, it is very strange. For notwithstanding all she does, she does +not seem to reach and satisfy the craving for recognition in my heart, +which obstinately refuses to corroborate her asseverations: nor do I +ever feel that confidence and certainty, arising from the depths of +recollection, which, if she really were my former wife, surely I ought +to feel. Is it my fault, or hers? Alas! instead of meeting her half-way, +I am oppressed with what is very nearly disappointment, and feel almost +like a dupe, that have allowed myself to fall into the snare of beauty, +so as to yield to another what should belong to one alone. Little indeed +would she have to complain of in the warmth of my return, had she just +that one thing that she lacks, the stamp of genuine priority: for then +she would get in full the very thing I long to give her.</p> + +<p>Aye! I am as it were dying to do, the thing I cannot do, and divided +from supreme bliss by a partition composed of the most exasperating +inability to know for certain, what all the time may after all be true. +For if she is only playing a part not really hers, how in the world did +she discover the way to take me in, by exhibiting a knowledge of those +very same dim vestiges of recollection which I have never told to anyone +but my own prime minister? And very sure I am, that it was not he who +told her, since he almost lost his reason with astonishment, and +admiration that was mixed with envy and annoyance, when her beauty +struck him dumb. So after all, perhaps I am mistaken, and only torturing +myself for nothing. Out on me, if what she says be really true! for then +indeed I deserve something even worse than death, for treating her with +such monstrous ungenerosity. Can it be that her memory is truer and +stronger, putting mine, for its fidelity, to utter shame? Or why, again, +should I struggle any longer against conviction, and persevere in +longing for what I have not got? Who knows whether even if I actually +got it, I should be any better off than I actually am? Could the very +wife of my former birth be a better wife than this? Is not this wife +just as good as any wife could ever be? Does she not as it were combine +the virtues of even a hundred wives? Yet if she be not the true, can it +be that the other is even now upbraiding me, somehow, somewhere, for +falling with such inconstancy straight into another's snares, and +wasting on a stranger the love that belongs to her? Alas! alas! Why did +the Creator make my memory too strong for blank oblivion, and yet so +feeble as to leave me without a proof, and plunge me in such perplexity +in this matter of a wife?</p> + + +<h3>IV</h3> + +<p>So then, time passed, and these two lovers lived together, she in the +heaven of having discovered the very fruit of her birth, and he half in +heaven and half outside, hovering for ever between delight and +discontent, balanced in a swing of hesitation between assertion and +denial, that like that other swing of hers was hardly ever still. And +little by little, as surfeit brought satiety, and custom wore away the +bloom of novelty, and familiarity began to rob her beauty of the edge of +its appeal, and emotion lost, by repetition, its sincerity, and +passion's fire began to cool, and the flood of desire to ebb, then +exactly as that cunning Gangádhara foretold, the doubt that, like a +seed, lay waiting in his soul began, seeing its opportunity, to swell +and grow, till there came to be no room for any feeling but itself. And +unawares, he used to sit gazing at her, with eyes that did not seem to +see her, as if continually striving to compare her with some other thing +that was not there, till under their scrutiny she shrank away and left +them, unable to endure, turning away a face that became paler and ever +paler, half with apprehension of discovery, and half with jealousy and +resentful indignation: for only too well her heart understood what was +passing in his soul, though he never dared to tell her, out of shame at +having to confess, that in return for the free and absolute gift of her +soul, he was yielding her only a fragment of his own, and even that, +with suspicion and reluctance: converting the very completeness of her +surrender into an argument against her, as if she did from policy alone +what came from the very bottom of her heart. And he seemed to her to say +by his behaviour: Did she not throw herself into my arms uninvited, +without even waiting to be asked, of her own accord, like an +<i>abhisáriká</i>, and could such a one as this be really the wife that I was +looking for? Does it become a maiden, even a Widyádharí, to be bolder +than a man? And why is it, that for all that she can say, and all that +she can do, she never can succeed in arousing any corresponding +sympathy, or producing a conviction that we ever met before? And is this +the union I expected, devoid of that overwhelming mutual recognition +that would leap like fire out of the darkness of oblivion, if the +associations of a previous existence were really there?</p> + +<p>So she would sit thinking, and watching him furtively, sitting in her +swing, and swaying gently to and fro, gazing out over the sea. And she +used to say sadly to herself: Now, as it seems, all my endeavours have +been fruitless; for do what I can, all my labours are unavailing. And I +have given myself away, and sacrificed all my magic sciences, for +nought. For it is clear that he cares for absolutely nothing, in +comparison with this dream of this wife of his previous birth. And yet +what could she, or any other wife whatever, give to him, or for him, +more than I have given. What! is the wife of the present birth so +absolutely less than nothing, compared with the wife of the past? What! +has not one birth the same value as another? And if she was the wife of +that birth, then I am the wife of this. Very sure I am, that she cannot +love him as well as I. Have I not become, from a Widyádharí, a mortal, +solely on his account. And yet, who knows? For it may be, I am +impatient, and am hoping to succeed, too soon; anticipating, and +expecting to pluck the flower of his full affection before the seed that +I have sown has had full time to grow. Well then, I will water it, and +watch it, and let it ripen. And I will strive, in the very teeth of his +prepossession, to overcome his stubborn recollection, and uproot it, not +by ill-humour or peevish premature despair, but by flooding him with all +the sweetness that I can. Yes, I will conquer him by becoming so utterly +his slave, that for very shame he will find himself obliged to sacrifice +his dream to me.</p> + + +<h3>V</h3> + +<p>So then, as she said, she did. And making herself as it were of no +account, and utterly disregarding the absence of reciprocal affection in +a soul that held itself as it were, with obstinacy, aloof, she set +herself to thaw his ice by a constancy of service that resembled the +rays of a burning sun. And she met all his suspicion and his scrutiny by +such invariable tenderness, and with such a total absence of even the +shadow of complaining or reproach, that his heart began, as if against +its will, to melt, unable to hold out against the steady stream of +affectionate devotion, welling from an inexhaustible spring. And little +by little, he began to say to himself as he watched her: Surely it were +a crime to doubt her any longer. For such an irresistible combination of +unselfishness and beauty could not possibly flow from any other source +than the unconscious reminiscence of old sympathies, and adamantine +bonds, forged and welded in a previous existence. For she gives and has +given all, in return for almost nothing, resembling a mother rather than +a wife; and so far from resenting any lack of confidence, she makes up +for all that I do not give her, by increasing the quantity and quality +of her own, as if she had incurred an obligation to myself, in some +former and forgotten state, which she was never able to repay. And what +proof other than this could I demand? And if this good fortune of mine, +in her form, be not the reward of works, done in that birth which I +struggle to remember, what else can it be?</p> + +<p>So then at last, there came a day, when they sat together in the +twilight on the palace roof, watching the moon, that wanted only a +single digit, rising like a huge nocturnal yellow sun, looking for the +other that had sunk to flee, far away on the eastern quarter, on the +very edge of the sea, which seemed for fear to tremble like an +incarnation of dark emotion, while a lunar ray, like a long pale narrow +finger, ran over straight towards them, stepping from wave to wave, and +seeming to say with silent laughter: Like me on the surge of the deep's +desire, love bridges over the waves of time. What is the tide without +me, but the livery of death?</p> + +<p>And as she gazed, the eyes of Makarandiká shone, for very excess of +happiness, and there came into each a crystal tear, that caught and +reflected the moon's ray, like a twin imitation of himself. And as she +looked, she murmured: Now at last, as I think, the victory is all but +mine, for I have never brought my husband yet so near the very edge of +love's unfathomable deep, as I have to-day. And now, with just one more +effort, he will fall into the bottomless abysses of my soul, and I shall +have him for my own. Strange! that she did not understand, she was +herself tottering on the very brink of a fatal gulf that would swallow +her up for ever, and plunge her, by a single step, into the mouth of +hell!</p> + +<p>For even as she spoke, she turned, and looked for a single instant, with +unutterable affection, into her husband's face. And then, she said +aloud: <i>Aryaputra</i>, dost thou know, of what I am now thinking? And he +said: No. Then she said: How short a time it seems, since I settled on +that parapet in the form of a sea-bird, and saw thee first: and yet, the +difference is eternity!</p> + + +<h3>VI</h3> + +<p>And then, the very instant she had spoken, recollection suddenly rushed +across her: and she knew, like a flash of lightning, that she had +uttered her own doom. And as she gazed at him with eyes, whose love +suddenly turned to terror, Arunodaya, all at once, started to his feet. +And he exclaimed: Ha! wert thou the bird? Ha! now, at last, I +understand. So this, then, was the means of thy discovery, and the +origin of thy deceit, thy listening to the conversation of my minister +and me? And all thy story was a lie, and thou thyself art nothing but a +liar and a cheat. And like a worm, that is hidden in the recesses of a +flower, thou hast placed thyself on a king's head, being only fit to be +cast away and trodden underfoot: as I myself will tread thee, and cast +thee away like a blade of grass, fit only to be burned. And I will sweep +the very shadow of thy memory from my heart, into which thou hast +wriggled, by treachery and fraud, to the prejudice of its proper owner, +the true wife of my former birth.</p> + +<p>So as he spoke, with eyes that consumed her, as it were, with the fire +of their hatred and contempt, she stood for a single instant still, +stupefied and aghast, shrinking from his fury, and confessing by her +confusion her inability to clear herself of the charge he brought +against her, looking like a feminine incarnation of the acknowledgment +of guilt. But as he ended, the thought of the rival whom he cast into +her teeth entered her heart like the stab of a poisoned sword. And as he +looked at her, all at once he saw her change. And the fierce fire of his +own emotion suddenly died away, annihilated as it were and turned in a +trice to ashes as he watched her, by the intensity of hers. For from +crouching as she was, she slowly stood erect, becoming so ashy pale that +life seemed on the very point of leaving her a thing composed of snow +and ice in the white rays of the moon. And she looked at him with eyes, +in which the love of but a moment since had frozen into a glitter, as +though the blood that filled her heart had suddenly turned to venom that +was black instead of red. And so she stood for a moment, and then all at +once she leaped at him and clutched him by the hand, with fingers that +shut upon it and squeezed into it like teeth. And she said, with +difficulty, as if the breath were wanting to make audible the words: +Dost thou repay me thus? And have I thrown away my state of a +Widyádharí, and all my magic sciences, for such a thing as thee, and +this? And have I sacrificed a countless host of suitors, who would have +given the three worlds for a single glance of my eye, for thee to +trample on my beauty and my affection, counting it all as absolutely +less than nothing, in comparison with another who is nothing but a +dream? Make, then, the very most of all the sweetness and the love that +she will give thee; for mine thou hast lost, and it is dead, and it is +gone. See, whether the affection of the wives of thy future and thy past +will make up to thee for that of thy wife of the present, which thou +hast despised, and outraged, and mangled and annihilated, and wilt never +see again.</p> + +<p>And she turned, abruptly, and looked for a single instant away across +the sea. And she said: I cannot leave thee as I would have done, for I +have lost my power of flying through the air. But bid adieu to the wife +of the present, and sing hey! for the wife of the past.</p> + +<p>And as she spoke, her voice shook. And she went away very quickly into +the palace, and left him there on the roof alone.</p> + + +<h3>VII</h3> + +<p>Now in the meanwhile, the prime minister was well-nigh at his wits' end. +For ever since his marriage, Arunodaya had entirely neglected his +kingdom and his state affairs, throwing upon Gangádhara the burden of +them all. And this would have been exactly to his taste, in any other +circumstances but those in which it happened: since it was just the very +marriage itself which occasioned all his anxiety and care.</p> + +<p>And one day as he sat alone, musing in his garden, at last he could +contain himself no longer, but broke out into exclamations, imagining +himself alone. And he said: Ha ha! now, as I feared, this lunatic of a +King and his mad marriage are about to bring destruction on this kingdom +and myself. And as to my own part, it would be bad enough alone, that I +should have lost not only crores of treasure, which I could easily have +gained, but also the opportunity of making favourable political +alliances with the strongest of the other kings. But even worse things +are impending over the kingdom and myself. For not one only, but all the +kings together are collecting to attack us, considering themselves +slighted; and as I am made aware, by means of my own spies, the King's +maternal uncle is in league with them in secret, hoping by the ruin of +his nephew to secure the kingdom for himself. And between them, I also +shall be crushed, since they consider me as one with the King my master; +and it will all end in my losing, not only my property, but my office +and my life: since I cannot even get this King to listen, were it only +with one ear, to any business at all: and without him, there is nothing +to be done. Thus I myself, and he, and his kingdom, will all go together +to destruction, like sacrifices offered to his idol, in the form of his +wife. And yet there is something unintelligible even in his relations +with his wife, which even my spies are unable to detect. For though the +King and Queen are never separate, even for a moment, yet they do not +seem to be at one: and though he has got, as it seems, exactly what he +wanted, yet he does not appear to be content. Something, beyond a doubt, +is wrong, though nobody can discover what it is. And in the meantime, we +shall all presently discover something else, that we are all involved in +a common catastrophe: and very soon, it will be too late, even to hope +to take any measures whatever against it at all. For as a rule, delay is +fatal at any time: but above all now. And I cannot see any other way +than to throw in my lot with the King's maternal uncle, and so save the +kingdom and myself, at the King's expense. And if I do, he will have +absolutely nobody to blame but himself, for having scouted me and my +policy, and like a mad elephant rather than a king, imagined that he was +at liberty to marry anyone he chose, behaving just as if he were a +subject, and not a king with political necessity to consider, before any +private inclination. And now, could I only discover some means of +bringing it about, I should be more than half resolved to oust this +unmanageable King from his throne. But the difficulty is, how to get rid +of him and his strange windfall of a queen, without incurring suspicion +and the blame of the bazaar. For I can get no satisfactory solution of +this mystery, even from my spies.</p> + +<p>So as he spoke, all at once a voice fell out the air upon his head, as +if from the sky. And it said: O Gangádhara, there are ready to assist +thee other and far better spies than thy own.</p> + + +<h3>VIII</h3> + +<p>And as Gangádhara started, and looked up in wonder, he saw Smaradása +just above him, hovering in the air. And that celestial roamer descended +gently, and stood upon the ground beside him. And he said to the prime +minister, who humbly bowed before him: Gangádhara, I am Smaradása, a +king of the Widyádharas, and I have come to let thee know so much as may +be necessary, and tell thee in this matter what to do: which is, to sit +with thy hands folded, like an image of Jinendra on a temple wall, for a +very little while, and the conclusion will arrive of itself, without thy +interference: since others are concerned as well as thou, in punishing +this king, and his outcast of a queen, who like a wheel has left the +track, and run out of her proper course, downhill.</p> + +<p>And Gangádhara said: My lord, I am favoured by the very sight of thee: +and I am curious to know all the circumstances of this extraordinary +matter, if it be permitted to such a one as me.</p> + +<p>And Smaradása said: O Gangádhara, creatures of every kind fall into +disaster by reason of their own characters and actions, and this is such +a case. And there is no necessity for thee to be acquainted with any of +the particulars, since curiosity is dangerous, and those who pry into +the business of their superiors run the risk of getting into trouble, +which they might have avoided had they been discreet. So much only will +I tell thee, that this queen's independent behaviour is on the eve of +giving birth to its own punishment, which will in all probability +involve in it that of her silly lover as well as her own. And the +Widyádharas have fixed upon thee, to be an agent in bringing it about. +And I bring thee a commission, which if thou dost refuse, evil will come +upon thee, very soon, and very sudden, and very terrible. But as I +think, thou wilt undertake it, seeing that the result will tally +precisely with objects of thy own. For as I said, spies better than thy +own have had their eyes on thee and all the others, unobserved.</p> + +<p>Then Gangádhara trembled, and he said: This servant of thine is ready to +do anything, no matter what.</p> + +<p>And Smaradása said: There is little to be done, and it will be very +easy. Know, as it may be that thou knowest already, that Arunodaya +desires nothing in the world so much, as to recollect the incidents of +his previous existence: since this is what perpetually troubles him, +that he seems to be hovering for ever on the very brink of grasping +recollection, which nevertheless invariably slips from his grasp: +leaving him in such a state of irritated longing and disappointment, +that to quench it, he would give the three worlds. Go, then, to +Arunodaya, and give him this fruit. And say to him this: Maháráj, one of +the neighbouring king's ministers, whom I have recently befriended, sent +me this fruit, with its fellow, brought to him by a traveller from +another <i>dwipa</i>.<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> And such is their virtue that whoever eats one, +just before he goes to sleep, will dream, all night long, of the very +thing that he most desires. And so, wishing to test it, I ate one; and +that night I saw in my dreams such mountains of gold and gems, that even +Meru and the ocean could not furnish half the sum of each. And now I +have brought thee the other, thinking that the experience might amuse +thee: and now it is for Maháráj to judge. And when he hears, Arunodaya +will think the fruit to be no other than the very fruit of his own birth +in visible form before his eyes. For it will enable him to realise his +desire, and discover the events of his former birth.</p> + +<p>And Gangádhara took the fruit into his hand, and looked at it +attentively, resembling as it did a pomegranate, but smaller. And the +smell of it was so strong, and so strange, and so delicious, that it +seemed to say to its possessor: Refrain, if you can, from tasting, what +tastes even better than it smells. And then, he shuddered, and he raised +his eyes, and looked steadily at Smaradása: and he said: Is it poison?</p> + +<p>And that crafty Widyádhara laughed, and he said: Nay, O Gangádhara: it +is exactly what I told thee to say, and thy account will be the very +truth.</p> + +<p>Then said Gangádhara again: But if this is so, how can Arunodaya's +eating it advantage either thee or me?</p> + +<p>And Smaradása said: Gangádhara, it is dangerous for anybody, and much +more for this King, to recollect his former birth, even in a dream. +Beware of eating it thyself: for it is tempting. But now, mark very +carefully what I have to say. See, when thou dost give it him, and tell +him, that the Queen is by. I say, mark well, that at the time of thy +telling, she overhears thee: and beware, at thy peril, of forgetting +this condition, for in it will all the poison of the fruit be contained; +and without it, it is naught.</p> + +<p>Then said Gangádhara: I do not understand.</p> + +<p>And Smaradása laughed, and he said: Gangádhara, no matter: for thy +understanding is not an essential condition of success. But be under no +concern: for Arunodaya will not die of poison, and the fruit is free of +harm. For poison of the body is a very clumsy contrivance, and one +suited only to mortals who are void of the sciences, not knowing how or +being able, like Widyádharas, to work indirectly by poisoning the soul.</p> + + +<h3>IX</h3> + +<p>So then, Gangádhara did very carefully just as he was told. And +everything came about exactly as Smaradása had predicted. For the soul +of Arunodaya almost leaped out of his body with delight, in anticipation +of the satisfaction of his curiosity, by making trial of the fruit; +while the lips of Makarandiká grew whiter, and shut closer, at the sight +of it, as if it contained her rival in its core.</p> + +<p>And that very night, Arunodaya went up upon his palace roof, according +to his custom, to sleep. And he took with him the fruit, which he +carried in his hand, not being willing to let it out of sight for a +moment, for fear that Makarandiká might steal it, in order to thwart his +expectation, and prevent him from having as it were an assignation with +any other woman, even in a dream. And as it happened, that night a +strong wind was blowing from the east, and the waves of the sea broke +against the rocks of the palace foot, as if they were endeavouring to +move it from its place.</p> + +<p>And while Arunodaya threw himself upon his bed, Makarandiká went and +sat, a little way away, in her swing, that rocked and swayed to and fro +in the wind, looking out across the sea, with gloom in her eyes: and +casting, every now and then, glances at him as he lay, out of the corner +of her eye, that seemed as it were to say to him: Beware! And like her +body, her soul was tossed to and fro in the swing of unutterable longing +and despair. And she said to herself: Even in my presence, which he +absolutely disregards, he is preparing for a meeting in his dreams with +this wife of his former birth. And at the thought, she frowned, and +turned paler, clutching tighter unawares the chains of her swing, and +setting her teeth hard, and casting at Arunodaya, lying in his couch, as +it were daggers, in the form of dark menace from eyes that were filled +with misery and pain. And the moon in the first quarter of its wane +seemed as it were to say to her: See, thy power is waning, exactly like +my own.</p> + +<p>And in the meanwhile, Arunodaya took his fruit and ate it, and lay down, +with a soul so much on tiptoe with desire and agitation that sleep +seemed to fly from him as if on purpose, out of sympathy with her. And +for a long while he tossed to and fro upon his bed, listening to the +roar of the waves and the wind. And so as he lay, little by little he +grew quiet, and sleep stole back to him silently and took him unaware. +And his soul flew suddenly into the world of dreams, leaving Makarandiká +alone in the darkness, awake in her swing.</p> + + +<h3>X</h3> + +<p>But Arunodaya fell into his dream, to find himself walking in a row of +kings, into a vast and shadowy hall. And as they went, that hall +re-echoed with a din that resembled thunder: and he looked, and lo! that +hall was as full of pandits as heaven is of stars, all dressed in white +with their right arm bare, and each so exactly like the other that it +seemed as though there was but one, reflected by the innumerable facets +of a mirror split to atoms, all shouting together, each as loud as he +could bawl: See, see, the suitor kings, coming to marry the pandit's +daughter! Victory to Sarojiní, and the lucky bridegroom of her own +choice!</p> + +<p>And as Arunodaya looked and listened, all at once there rushed upon his +soul as it were a flood of recollection. And he exclaimed in ecstasy: +Ha! yes, thus it was, and I have fallen back, somehow or other, into the +bliss of my former birth. And there once more, I see them, the pandits +and the hall, exactly as they were before, all shouting for Sarojiní. +Aye! that was the very name, which all this time I have been struggling +to remember. And strange! I cannot understand, now that I recollect it, +how I should ever have forgotten it, even for a single instant. But +where then is she, this Sarojiní, herself?</p> + +<p>So as he spoke in agitation, he looked round as if to search, and his +heart began to beat with such violence that he stirred as he slept upon +his couch. And at that moment, there suddenly appeared to him a woman, +coming slowly straight toward him, followed by her maid. And as she +came, she looked at him intently, with huge, bewildering, gazing eyes +that seemed to fasten on his soul, filled as they were with an +unfathomable abyss of melancholy, and longing, and dim distance, and +dreamy recognition, and wonder, and caressing tenderness, and reproach. +And her body was straight and slender, and it swayed a little as she +walked, like the stalk of the very lotus whose name she bore, as if it +were about to bend, unable to support the weight of the beautiful +full-blown double flower standing proudly up above it in the form of her +round and splendid breast. And she was clothed in a dusky garment +exactly matching the colour of her hair, which clung to her and wrapped +her as if black with indignation that it could not succeed in hiding, +but only rather served to display and fix all eyes upon the body that it +strove to hide, adding as if against its will curve to its curves and +undulation to all its undulations, and bestowing upon them all an extra +touch of fascination and irresistible appeal, by giving them the +appearance of prisoners refusing to be imprisoned and endeavouring to +escape. And as it wound about her, the narrow band of gold that edged it +ran round her in and out, exactly like a snake, that ended by folding in +a ring around her feet. And she held in her right hand, the arm of which +was absolutely bare, an enormous purple flower, in which, every now and +then, she buried, so to say, her face, all except the eyes, which she +never took from Arunodaya, even for a single instant. And she seemed to +him, as he watched her, like a feminine incarnation of the nectar of +reunion, after years of separation, raised into a magic spell by an +atmosphere of memory and mystery and dream.</p> + +<p>So as he gazed, lost in a vague ocean of intoxication, all at once her +attendant maid, who seemed for her boldness and her beauty like a man +dressed in woman's clothes, or some third nature that hovered between +the two, came out before her mistress. And she seized by the hand a +suitor king, and led him up to Sarojiní, and said to him aloud: O King, +listen and reply to the question that the husband of Sarojiní must +answer well.</p> + +<p>And as she spoke, Sarojiní withdrew her eyes from Arunodaya, and let +them rest for a moment on the king that stood before her. And she said +in a low voice, that sounded in the sudden stillness of that hall like +the note of a <i>kokila</i> lost in the very heart of a wood: Maháráj, say: +should I choose the better, or the worse?<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p> + +<p>And that unhappy king said instantly: The better.</p> + +<p>Then said Sarojiní: O King, I am unfortunate indeed, in losing thee.</p> + +<p>And instantly, she turned her eyes back upon Arunodaya, and at that +moment, all the pandits in the hall began to shout: Sarojiní, Sarojiní, +<i>jayanti</i>! And as he listened, lo! she and her eyes, and the hall with +all its pandits, wavered, and flickered, and danced before his eyes, and +went out and disappeared. And the clamour and the tumult of the pandits +changed, and altered, and melted into the roar of the waves and the +wind. And in a frenzy of terror lest the dream should have concluded, he +woke with a cry, and raised his head from its pillow, and opened his +eyes; and they fell straight upon Makarandiká, who was looking at him +fixedly, sitting in her swing.</p> + +<p>And suddenly she said to him: Of what art thou dreaming? And he +answered: Of pandits. And immediately, his head fell back upon its +pillow, and his soul sank back into his dream.</p> + + +<h3>XI</h3> + +<p>But Makarandiká started, and she exclaimed within herself: Pandits! Ha! +Then, as it seems, he really is dreaming of the things of his former +birth. And her eyes grew darker as she watched him, sitting in her +swing, very still, with one foot upon the ground. And all at once, she +left the swing, and came to him very quickly, and knelt, sitting upon +her feet, upon the ground, beside him, gazing at him in silence as he +slept, with eyes that never left his face for even a single instant.</p> + +<p>But the soul of Arunodaya, leaving his body lying on the couch, flew +back like a flash of lightning eagerly to his dream. And once more he +found himself in that hall, with all its pandits shouting, just as if he +had never left it to awake. And lo! the eyes of Sarojiní were fastened +on his own, as if with joy; and in his relief, occasioned by sudden +freedom from the fear of the dream having reached its termination, and +the recovery of those eyes, his heart was filled with such a flood of +ecstasy that, all unaware, he laughed in his sleep. And in the meantime, +that unabashed and clever maid came forward, and seized by the hand +another king, and led him forward like the last. And she said, exactly +as before: King, listen and reply to the question that the husband of +Sarojiní must answer well.</p> + +<p>And then once more, the eyes of Sarojiní lingered for a little on those +of Arunodaya, and left him, as if reluctant to depart, and rested, as if +carelessly, upon that second king. And she said in the silence that +waited, as it were, for her to speak: Maháráj, say, shall I choose the +greater or the less?</p> + +<p>And that unhappy king hesitated for an instant; and he said: The less.</p> + +<p>Then said Sarojiní: Alas! O King, once more I am unfortunate: for I +should be inexcusable, in choosing thee.</p> + +<p>And instantly, she turned, and her eyes met those of Arunodaya, waiting +in the extremity of agitation, with a glance that seemed to say to him: +Be not afraid. And as he sighed in his sleep, for delight, lo! once +again, she and her eyes, and the pandits, and the shouting, and the +hall, shivered, and wavered, and receded into the darkness, and went out +and disappeared. And the din of the triumph of the pandits changed and +altered and ended in the roar of the waves and the rushing of the wind. +And once more he awoke and opened his eyes: and lo! there just in front +of him was Makarandiká, with eyes that gazed, as if with wrath, straight +into his own.</p> + + +<p>And when she saw his open, she said in a low voice, very slowly: Of what +wert thou dreaming? And Arunodaya murmured: Of pandits. And instantly, +he closed his eyes, as if to shut her from his soul. And then, he forgot +her in an instant, and flew back, as if escaping from a pursuer, into +his dream.</p> + + +<h3>XII</h3> + +<p>But Makarandiká's face fell. And after a while, he began to laugh, with +laughter that quivered, as if it hesitated between agony and scorn. And +she exclaimed: Pandits! Does anybody laugh, as he did in his sleep, who +dreams of pandits? What has laughter such as his to do with pandits? +Nay, he is trying to hide from me a secret, not knowing, that in the +absence of his soul, his body is playing traitor to him against his +will. Ah! well I understand, he closed his eyes, to keep me on the +outside of his soul, which he opens in the sweetness of a dream to +someone else. So, now, let him beware. And she drew still closer to his +side, and leaned over him, with her eyes fixed upon his lips, and a +heart that beat with such agitation that she pressed one hand upon her +breast, as if to bid it to be still, lest its throbbing should rouse him +from his sleep.</p> + +<p>And as she gazed, there came over her soul such a sense of desolation, +mixed with the fire of jealousy, and wrath at her own inability to +follow him into his dream and snatch him for her own from everybody +else, that her breath was within a little of stopping of its own accord. +And she yearned to find, as it were, a refuge, in tears that refused to +flow, and her head began to spin. And all at once, a shudder that was +half a sob shook her as she kneeled, mixed with an almost irresistible +desire to clasp him in her arms, and claim him for what he actually was, +her husband, and the only lord without a rival of her own miserable +heart. And a fever that turned her hot and cold by turns began to hurry +through her limbs. And she murmured to herself, without knowing what she +said: Shall he leave me here, deserted, alone in the darkness of this +palace and the night? to meet in a dream where I cannot follow him the +wife I cannot oust from his soul? Who knows? It may be that at this very +moment, they are laughing me to scorn, locked in each other's arms.</p> + +<p>And so as she continued, gazing at him with a soul set as it were on +fire by suspicion and images of her own creating, and a heart stung by +the viper of recollection, and yet, strange! swelling with a passionate +and hopeless yearning for his affection to return, meanwhile, the soul +of Arunodaya, all heedless of the passion that menaced his abandoned +body, lay, as it were, drowned in the honey of his dream. And once +again, amid the tumult of the pandits, the eyes of Sarojiní were drawing +his soul towards her own, as if with cords, woven of the triple strands +of colour and reminiscence and the intensity of a love that was returned +tenfold. And so as he lay, conscious of absolutely nothing but the abyss +of those unfathomable eyes, all at once that shameless maid came forward +yet again, and took the hand of yet another king, and said as before: +King, listen and reply to the question that the husband of Sarojiní must +answer well.</p> + +<p>And Sarojiní, hearing her speak, drew her eyes away sadly from +Arunodaya, and turned them slowly on that waiting king. And she said: +Maháráj, say, shall I choose the bitter or the sweet?</p> + +<p>And then, that miserable king, as if he feared the fate of his +predecessors, stood for a while in silence. And he said at last: The +sweet.</p> + +<p>Then said Sarojiní: King, beyond all doubt my crimes in a former birth +are bearing fruit, in depriving me of such a husband as thyself.</p> + +<p>And instantly, all the pandits broke into a shout, and as they did so, +she shot at Arunodaya a glance that seemed as it were to say to him: Be +patient, for thy turn also will presently arrive.</p> + +<p>And at that very moment, something took him as it were by the throat. +And as the dream suddenly went out and disappeared, he awoke, in the +roar of the waves and the wind, to find that Makarandiká had her hand +upon his breast, to wake him from his dream. And she said absolutely +nothing. But her eyes were fixed upon his own, filled to the very brim +with entreaty, and affection, and terror and grief, and despair.</p> + +<p>And seeing her, he frowned, as if the very sight of her was poison to +his soul. And he shut his eyes, and fell back upon his pillow, to go +back to his dream.</p> + + +<h3>XIII</h3> + +<p>But Makarandiká shrank from the glance that he cast upon her, exactly as +if he had struck her in the face with his clenched hand. And she turned +suddenly white, as if the marble floor she sat on had claimed her for +its own. And all at once she fell forward, and remained, crouching, with +her face upon her hands, like a feminine incarnation of Rati when she +saw Love's body burned to ash. And time passed, while the moon looked +down at her as if with pity, wondering at her stillness, and saying as +it were in silence: Can it be that she is dead? And then, suddenly, +Arunodaya laughed aloud in his sleep, and he murmured, as if with +affection: Sarojiní, Sarojiní.</p> + +<p>And then, Makarandiká looked up quickly. And lo! there came over her a +smile, like that of one suddenly rejoicing at the arrival of unexpected +opportunity. And all at once she stood erect, as if all her agony had +been changed in a moment to resolution. And she looked down at him as he +slept, and she said, very slowly: Ah! lover of Sarojiní, dost thou leave +me, as it were, spurned from thee with aversion, alone on the roof of +thy palace, to spend thy time with her? What! shall the wife of this +birth sit, weeping as it were outside the door, while she embraces thee +within? Ah! but thou hast forgotten, that if I cannot enter, at least I +can interrupt thee, since I am mistress of the dream.</p> + +<p>And she put her hands up to her head, and undid the knot of her braided +hair. And she took from it, as it fell around her, as if to shroud her +action in the darkness of a cloud, a long thin dagger,<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> that +resembled a crystal splinter of lightning picked up on a mountain peak, +and shone in the moon's rays like a streak of the essence of vengeance +made visible to the eye. And she went close up to him, and remained +standing silent, watching his face turned upwards as he lay before her, +with a smile on her lips that resembled the gleam of her own dagger, as +it waited in her trembling hand.</p> + + +<h3>XIV</h3> + +<p>But in the meanwhile Arunodaya fled as it were from Makarandiká to take +refuge in his dream. And he found Sarojiní as it were waiting for him +with anxiety, with eyes that seemed to say to him: Amidst all this +tumult of the pandits, thou and I are as it were alone together. And it +seemed to Arunodaya as he watched her, that her lips moved, and were +striving to say to him something, that by reason of the distance and the +shouting, he could not understand. And in his delight, he began to laugh +in his sleep, and murmur back to her in answer: Sarojiní, Sarojiní. And +filled with unutterable desire to approach her, and take her in his +arms, he was on the very point of rushing forward, urged by the +irritation of an impatience that was becoming unendurable, when once +again that maid devoid of modesty came straight towards him, and almost +broke his heart in two by taking by the hand not himself, but the king +who stood beside him. And as he muttered to himself: Out on this +interloping king, who comes between me and my delight! beginning to +tremble all over as he lay, that maid said again: King, listen and reply +to the question that the husband of Sarojiní must answer well.</p> + +<p>And Sarojiní turned half towards him, leaving as it were her eyes +behind, fastened still on Arunodaya, as if unable to bear again the pain +of separation, and calling as it were to him, from over the sea of time. +And then she said, as if her words were meant for him alone! Maháráj, +Maháráj, say, shall I choose the past or the present, the living or the +dead?</p> + +<p>And then, ere that unhappy king could answer, Arunodaya leaped towards +her, while all his body quivered as he lay upon his bed, as if +struggling in desperation to accompany his soul. And he cried out, not +only with his soul, but his body: Sarojiní, Sarojiní, never shall thou +choose, since I will not leave the choice to thee at all. Dead or +living, I am thine and thou art mine. And as she threw herself into his +arms, he caught her, and pulled her to his breast, while she put up her +face to him, as if dying to be kissed.</p> + +<p>And then, strange! that face suddenly eluded him, with a derisive sneer. +And his ears rang with a din composed of the shouting and laughter of +pandits, mingled with the roar of the wind and the sea. And she and the +dream together suddenly went out and disappeared. And he saw her face, +for the fraction of a second, change, as if by magic, into the face of +Makarandiká, pale as ashes: and then, something suddenly ran into his +heart like a sword. And his soul abandoned his body, with a sharp cry, +never to return.</p> + + +<h3>XV</h3> + +<p>So then, the very moment it was done, Makarandiká woke, herself, as it +were, from a dream. And horror at her own action, as if it had waited +till the very moment when it should be unavailing, suddenly flowed in +upon her soul. And as she gazed at Arunodaya, lying still in the +moonlight with her dagger in his heart, and found herself with +absolutely no companions but the dead body, and the darkness, and the +wind and the waves, alone on that palace roof, she murmured to herself, +as if she hardly understood: What! can this be of my doing? What! have I +actually slain the husband of my own choice, jealous of his very dreams?</p> + +<p>And she stood, for a little while, with one hand upon her head, and +then, she uttered a scream. And she seized him by the hand, and shook it +violently, as if endeavouring to wake him and recall him from a dream, +in which she herself had buried him for ever, cutting off its +termination, and prisoning his soul in an everlasting dungeon, like a +stone dropped beyond recovery, fallen with a hollow echo into the black +darkness of a well.</p> + +<p>And lo! that shriek reverberated as it were in heaven, and was answered +by a peal of laughter that fell on her from the sky. And she looked up +into the air, and saw, hovering in rows above her, all those Widyádhara +suitors whom she had rejected long ago, gazing down at her with faces +that were distorted with malice and derision. And as she stood, +confounded, with their laughter ringing in her ears, Smaradása swooped +towards her, and called to her ironically: Ha! Makarandiká the scornful, +how is it with thy mortal husband? How could he prefer another to such a +beauty as thyself?</p> + +<p>And Makarandiká gazed at them all for an instant, with eyes that exactly +resembled those of a fawn, on the very verge of escaping from its +pursuers by leaping from a cliff. And her reason fled away from her, as +if anticipating her own flight. And strange! at that moment, as if +bewildered by her own deed and the very sight of those Widyádharas of +whom she had been one, she utterly forgot for an instant that she +herself was no longer a Widyádharí, and had lost her own power of flying +through the air. And she made a bound to the edge of the parapet, and +leaped off, thinking to fly over the sea, and escape, and be at rest. +But instead of flying, she fell, and was broken to pieces at the bottom +of the wall, in the foam of the waves that were also broken, at the foot +of the palace rock.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>So then, when at last Maheshwara ended, the Daughter of the Mountain +asked eagerly: But, O thou of the Moony Tire, tell me, how as to the +dream. Was it the very truth, and Sarojiní the very wife of his former +birth?</p> + +<p>And Maheshwara said slowly: Nay, O Snowy One, not at all. For it was not +even a true dream. For if it had really been a dream, it would not have +continued, as it actually did, in spite of its interruptions. But the +whole was a delusion, and a contrivance of the Widyádharas, who lured +his soul out of his body by means of a magic drug, and acted all before +him, exactly like a play. For the Widyádharas were the pandits, and the +great hall was nothing whatever but the sky. And the noise was nothing +whatever but that of the wind and waves, and Sarojiní herself was +Makarandiká's own sister, who hated her for her beauty, which was +greater than her own. And as for Makarandiká, she was all the time her +own rival; for she herself, and no other, was the real wife of his +former birth.</p> + +<p>And the Daughter of the Mountain started, and she uttered a little cry. +And she exclaimed: Ah! no! O Moony-crested, it cannot be. Surely thou +art only jesting? What! was their happiness divided from them by so thin +a wall as that? What! when they would have given, each his soul, to know +it? Alas! alas! what cruelty of the Creator, to bring the cup of +happiness as it were to their very lips, without allowing them to taste! +simply by reason of a film of utter darkness, that prevented them from +seeing it was actually there!</p> + +<p>And after a while, that Lord of Creatures said slowly: O Daughter of the +Mountain, yet for all that it was true. And many a traveller crosses +over seas and years of separation, surmounting every peril, to perish at +the very last moment, when the ecstasy of reunion is almost in his +grasp, on the step of his own door. And be not thou hasty to lay cruelty +to the door of the Creator, who is absolutely blameless in the matter, +seeing that all these and similar misfortunes come about, as the +necessary consequence of works. And though the extremity of happiness, +arising from mutual recognition, was divided from Arunodaya and +Makarandiká by a screen thinner than the thickness of a single hair, +they could not reach it, for thin as it was, that screen had been +erected by their own wrong-doing, and was nothing whatever but the doom +pronounced against themselves by their own misbehaviour in a former +birth. And thus it came about, that Makarandiká played the part of +Arunodaya's former wife, never even dreaming that she was only claiming +to be what she actually was: while Arunodaya shrank, in his ignorance, +from the very wife whom he would have given the three worlds to +discover, in pursuit of a phantom, that was substituted for her by his +own unilluminated longing for a treasure that, all unaware, he held +already in his hand. For souls that wander to and fro in the waste of +the world's illusion resemble chips tossing aimlessly up and down on the +heaving waves of time, driving about at random they know not how or +where, under a night that has no moon, in an ocean without a shore: for +whom the very quarters of heaven are lost in an undistinguishable +identity, and even distance and proximity are but words without a sense.</p> + +<p>So, now, let us leave these our images to become once more, by our +departure, nothing but the stony guardians of this empty shrine. And +to-morrow Gangádhara will learn, by listening to the story of yonder +sleeper, what Smaradása meant, and unriddle his enigma of the poisoning +of the soul.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Some kindly critics of these stories have objected to the +W, here or elsewhere. The answer to this is, that European scholars have +taught everybody to pronounce everything wrong, by <i>e.g.</i> introducing +into Sanskrit a letter that it does not contain. There is no V in +Sanskrit, nor can any Hindoo, without special training, pronounce it: he +says, for instance, <i>walwe</i> for <i>valve</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> This "detached reflection" of Russia's national poet is +endorsed by Dostoyeffsky, the greatest master of jealousy that the world +has ever seen.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> The title has a secondary meaning (with reference to its +place in the series), <i>she that is loaded with the nectar of Maheshwara, +i.e.</i> the moon that he wears.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> No mere learning will remove them. Pundits, as a rule, end +where they began, "lost in the gloom of uninspired research."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> The bowstring of Love's bow is made of a line of bees. Love +was reduced to ashes by fire from Shiwa's extra eye, for audaciously +attempting to subject that great ascetic to his own power.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> The real divinity of a Hindoo temple is not the images +outside on its walls, but the symbol (whatever it be) inside.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> A common feature throughout India. Everywhere they went, +the devotees of the Koràn used to smash and maim the Hindoo idols.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> What we should call, in such a case, mesmerism: the power +of concentrated will. There is something in it, after all.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> (Pronounce <i>daya</i> as <i>die</i>, with accent on preceding <i>o</i>.) +It means <i>the rising of red dawn</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> The Recorder, who keeps account of all the sins that each +soul must answer for, at the end of every birth.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> i.e. <i>son of a nobleman</i>, the term used by a queen in +addressing her husband.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> i.e. <i>a wife who makes a god of her husband</i>: the highest +of all possible praises. Sawitri is the Hindoo Alcestis.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> <i>Sati</i>, which means <i>a good woman</i>, is always understood +by Europeans to refer to what is only the last manifestation of her +quality, the burning herself on her dead lord's pyre. But the term does +not necessarily contain any reference to that stern climax of her +virtue.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Another name for Yama, the god of death, which we may here +take as equivalent to "Justice."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> <i>i.e.</i> the God of Love and his principal wife.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> As we might say, <i>bachelor</i>, but the Hindoo +expression is stricter, meaning, <i>one who has taken a vow of +virginity</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> The two wives of Love.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> <i>i.e.</i> Ganesha.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> See Preface.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> This is from Kalidas.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> i.e. <i>one made of the honey or syrup of flowers</i>. (Note, +that the first syllable rhymes with <i>luck</i>, and the third with <i>fund</i>.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> <i>i.e.</i> Spring, who is Love's companion.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> This is an allusion to the King's name (see note, <i>ante</i>) +the point of which will presently appear.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> The crabs of Ceylon (presumably the same as those of +southern India, whose shores I do not know) are the most extraordinary +things I ever saw. They run like the wind, and jump, over immense spaces +and chasms, from rock to rock, better than any horse.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> <i>i.e.</i> the moon.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> <i>Love</i>, in Sanskrit, means also <i>recollection</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> A name given only by a wife to her husband, implying the +claim.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> The English reader may be puzzled by the difficulty: how a +Widyádharí could ever be a woman. But it is very simple on Hindoo +principles. Widyádharas are constantly falling into human bodies by +reason of curses, or guilt contracted.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> i.e. <i>the slave of love, or recollection</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> The King of Birds. (The final <i>a</i> is mute.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> i.e. <i>long-sighted</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> <i>Balibúk, an eater of daily offerings</i>, is a common +epithet of the crow.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Meaning either <i>black-wings, the dark half of the lunar +month</i>, or <i>time-server</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> The combined form of Maheshwara and his "other half."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> A play on words, <i>salt</i> and <i>beauty</i> being the same +(<i>lawanya</i>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> <i>Kalá</i> means <i>arts</i> as well as <i>digits</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> Every reader of Scott will recall the "kinless loons."</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> <i>i.e.</i> initiation.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> The Greek [Greek: adyton], or sanctuary.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> The Hindoo shrine, says Mr. A. K. Coomaraswamy, is +essentially a place of pilgrimages and circumambulations, to which men +come for <i>darshan</i>, to "see" the god.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> (Pronounce <i>dweep</i>)—a far-off continent or island.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> This cannot be expressed in English with the point of the +original, because the word expressing preference means also <i>bridegroom</i> +(<i>waram</i>).</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> "Did not Windumatí slay Widuratha the Wrishni with a +stiletto that she had hidden in her hair?" (<i>Harsha charita</i>).</p></div> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Syrup of the Bees, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SYRUP OF THE BEES *** + +***** This file should be named 35928-h.htm or 35928-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/9/2/35928/ + +Produced by David Edwards, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A Syrup of the Bees + +Author: Anonymous + +Translator: F. W. Bain + +Release Date: April 21, 2011 [EBook #35928] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SYRUP OF THE BEES *** + + + + +Produced by David Edwards, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + A SYRUP OF THE BEES + + TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT + + BY F. W. BAIN + + + _Love was the wine, and Jealousy the lees, + Bitter of brine, and syrup of the bees._ + + + WITH A FRONTISPIECE + + METHUEN & CO. LTD. + + 36 ESSEX STREET, W.C. + + LONDON + + + TO + MRS. THEODORE BECK + + + And I rove on the breeze with the world of bees + like the shadow of a bee: + For a dead moonflower which the worms devour + is the tomb of the soul of me. + + O the hum of the bees in the mango trees + it murmurs _taboo! taboo!_ + _Should a dead moonflower which the worms devour + smell sweet as the mangoes do?_ + + What! shall I deem my flower a dream + when I do find, each morn, + Wet honey sips left on my lips, + and in my heart, a thorn? + + + + +PREFACE + + +The Young Barbarians, when Rome's ecclesiastical polity got hold of +them, were persuaded by their anxious foster-mother to sell their +Scandinavian birthright of imagination for an unintelligible, theopathic +mess of mystic Graeco-Syrian pottage. But the "demons," though driven +generally from the field, lurked about in holes and corners, watching +their opportunity. They took refuge in bypaths, leaving the high road: +they lay in ambush in a thicket, whence nothing ever could dislodge +them: that of fairy tales and fables. + +In India, the "demons," _i.e._ the fairy tales and fables, have never +had to hide. But the fairy tales of India differ from the fairy tales of +England, much as their fairies do themselves. The fairies of Europe are +children, little people: and it is to children that fairy stories are +addressed. The child is the agent, as well as the appeal. In India it is +otherwise: the fairy stories are addressed to the grown-up, and the +fairies resemble their audience: they are grown up too. They form an +intermediate, and so to say, irresponsible class of beings, half-way +between the mortals and the gods. These last two are very serious +things: they have their work to do: not so the fairies, who exist as it +were for the sake of existence--"art for art's sake"--and have nothing +to do but what people who have nothing to do always do do--to get +themselves and other people into mischief. They are distinguished by +three noteworthy characteristics. In the first place, they are +_possessors of the sciences, i.e._ magic, and this it is which gives +them their proper name (_Widyadhara_),[1] which is almost equivalent to +our _wizard_. Secondly, every Widyadhara can change his shape at will +into anything he pleases: they are all _shape-changers_ (_Kamarupa_). +And finally, their element is air: they live in the air, and are thus +denominated _sky-goers, sky-roamers, air-wanderers_, in innumerable +synonyms. These are the peculiar attributes of the fairies of Ind. + +[Footnote 1: Some kindly critics of these stories have objected to the +W, here or elsewhere. The answer to this is, that European scholars have +taught everybody to pronounce everything wrong, by _e.g._ introducing +into Sanskrit a letter that it does not contain. There is no V in +Sanskrit, nor can any Hindoo, without special training, pronounce it: he +says, for instance, _walwe_ for _valve_.] + +Like many other persons in India (and out of it) who are far from being +either fairies or wizards, they are extraordinarily touchy, and +violently resentful of scorn or slight: things not nice to anybody, but +the Wizards are not Christians, and generally take dire revenge. A very +trifling provocation will set them in a flame. The Widyadhari lady is +jealousy incarnate. Jealousy, be it noted, is a thing that many people +much misunderstand. Ask anyone the question, where in literature is +jealousy best illustrated, and ninety-nine people in a hundred will +reply, Othello. But, as Pushkin excellently says, Othello is not +naturally a jealous man at all: he is his exact antipodes, a confiding, +unsuspicious nature.[2] Jealousy not only distrusts on evidence; it +distrusts before evidence and without it; it anticipates evidence and +condemns without a trial: it does not wait even for "trifles light as +air," but constructs them for itself out of nonentity. Its essence is +causeless and irrational suspicion. Your true jealous nature never +trusts anything or anybody for an instant. Othello is of noble soul: no +jealous man ever was or could be. With women, it is not quite the same; +but even here, real nobility of character excludes the possibility of +jealousy, because it trusts, until it is deceived, and then its glass is +shattered, and its love gone beyond recall: sympathy is annihilated. +Compare Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth: the one, the noblest, the +other, the meanest creature that ever sat upon a throne. Mary trusted +even Darnley till she discovered that he was beneath every sentiment but +one: Good Queen Bess never trusted anyone at all. _Mauvaise espece de +femme!_ + +[Footnote 2: This "detached reflection" of Russia's national poet is +endorsed by Dostoyeffsky, the greatest master of jealousy that the world +has ever seen.] + +And so, they are not much to be depended on, these Wizards; anybody +taking up with one of them, male or female, had better be careful. You +can never tell where you are with them; their affection is unstable; +they are fickle, as might be expected from creatures of the air: their +feelings are as variable as their shapes. They can be just as hideously +ugly as unimaginably beautiful. The stories that deal with them contain +a moral entirely in harmony with all Indian ideas: it is a mistake not +to stick to your own caste. When two of different castes are thrown +together, the trouble inevitably begins. The gipsies, who came +apparently from Sind, brought this notion into Europe, in a form not +previously familiar to it. That difference of kind is insurmountable, is +the fundamental axiom of Indian theory and practice. The owl to the owl, +the crow to the crow: otherwise, Nemesis and catastrophe. _A Syrup of +the Bees_[3] is another instance. + +[Footnote 3: The title has a secondary meaning (with reference to its +place in the series), _she that is loaded with the nectar of Maheshwara, +i.e._ the moon that he wears.] + + * * * * * + +Everywhere to-day we hear people singing a very different song: from all +sides is dinned into our ears the cant of humanity, "our common +humanity." In the meantime, men differ in many ways more than they +agree, and the differences of humanity are practically far more vital +than the common base. Just as, though all men have weight, yet +gravitation simply by reason of its universality does not constitute an +element of politics, and is altogether a negligible quantity, fact +though it be, so is it with humanity: the generic identity is nothing, +the peculiar distinctions all. The world is not like a plain, but an +irregular region such as that of the Alps or Himalaya, consisting of +inaccessible peaks that separate deep valleys, at the bottom of which +live parcels of humanity drowned in thick fogs or mists of totally +different colours and intensities, that distort and transmogrify +everything they see: so that if here and there any single individual +succeeds in climbing, by dint of toil or special circumstances, to the +tops, where in the clear ether all the situation lies spread out in its +truth before his eye, he will find that he has thereby only cut himself +absolutely off from communion and sympathy, not only with the denizens +of his own valley, but that of all the others too. From that moment he +ceases to be intelligible to the rest. No reasoning of his can ever +touch them, or succeed in opening their eyes, because their error is not +one of reason, but of perception: they cannot, because they do not, see +things as he sees them: the mists,[4] with all their refraction and +delusive transformation, are always there. Say what he will, he will not +awake them: he will gain nothing in return for all his efforts but +ridicule, abuse, or neglect. So Disraeli, in his generation, seemed to +himself to be like one pouring, from a golden goblet, water upon sand. +To be above the level of humanity is to be counted, till after you are +dead, as one who is below. + +[Footnote 4: No mere learning will remove them. Pundits, as a rule, end +where they began, "lost in the gloom of uninspired research."] + +And this is the exact condition in the India of to-day. The irony of +fate has thrown together, as though by some vast geological convulsion, +the dwellers in two valleys, one of whom sees everything through, so to +say, a red mist, and the other through a blue: they move about and mix +in a way together, totally unable to see things in the same light: and +all the while this melancholy cuckoo-cry of _common humanity_ fills the +air with its reiteration, and people persist in handling the situation +with a wilful and almost criminal determination to ignore what stares +them in the face, and by so doing, still further accentuate the very +thing they will not see. If you take two men who are infinitely far from +being brothers, and forcibly unite them, on the pretext that they are, +you will produce by irritation an enmity between them that would never +have existed, had they been let alone. + + * * * * * + +I stood, a little while since, on the very edge of a plateau, that fell +down sheer four thousand feet or more, into the valley of Mysore. Far in +the distance to the north, the dense dark green forest jungle stretched +away like a carpet, intersected here and there by Moyar's silver +streams, with here and there a velvet boss, where a rounded hill stood +up out of the plain. That carpet, as it seemed from the height, so +uniform and close in its texture, is made of great trees, under which +wander wild elephants in herds. To right and left, the valley ran both +ways out of sight, like a monster chasm with one side removed. And in +the air below, above, around, light wreaths and ragged fragments of +cloud and mist floated and streamed and drifted, casting the most +beautifully deep blue shifting shadows not only on the earth, but on the +air, like waterfalls of colour, half hiding and half framing the distant +view, and cutting the sunlight into intermittent fountains of a golden +semi-purple rain that fell and changed, now here, now there, now, as you +looked upon them, gone, now suddenly shooting out elsewhere to transform +every colour that they touched into something other than it was, like a +magic show suddenly thrown out by the Creator in the silent and +unfrequented solitude of his hills, for sheer delight and as it were +simply for his own amusement, not caring in the least whether there +might be any eye open to catch and worship such a beautiful profusion of +his power, or not. For, strange! the spell and mysterious appeal of all +such momentary glimpses lies, not in what you see, but in what you do +not hear: it is the dead silence, the stillness, that by a paradox seems +to be the undertone, or background, of moving mist and lonely mountain +peaks. + +So as I stood, gazing, there came suddenly from the east, a whisper, a +mutter; a low sound, that suggested a distant mixture of wind and sea. +And I turned round, and looked, and I saw a sight that I never shall see +again; such a sight as a man can hardly expect to see twice, in the time +of a single life. Rain--but was it rain?--rain in a terrific wall, a +dark precipice of appalling gloom, rain that rose like a colossal +curtain from earth to heaven and north to south, was coming up the +valley straight towards me, and it struck me, as I saw it, with a thrill +that was almost dread. That was what the people saw, long ago, when the +Deluge suddenly came upon them. It came on, steadily, swiftly, like a +thing with orders to carry out, and a purpose to fulfil, cutting the +valley athwart with the edge of its solid front, sharp as that of a +knife laid on a slice of bread: a black ominous mass of elemental +obliteration, out of which there came a voice like the rushing of a +flood and the beating of wings, mixed with a kind of wail, like the +noise of the cordage of a ship, in a gale at sea. It blotted out +creation, and in the phrase of old Herodotus, day suddenly became night. +A moment later, I stood in whirling rain and fog that made sight useless +a yard away, as wet as one just risen from the sea, with a soul on the +very verge of cursing the Creator, for so abruptly dropping the curtain +on his show: forgetting, in my ingratitude, first, the favour he had +done me; secondly, how many were those who had not seen; lastly, and +above all, that it was the very dropping of that stupendous curtain that +gave its finishing touch and climax to the show. For he knows best, +after all. Introduce into Nature were it but a single atom of stint, of +parsimony, of preservation, of regret for loss; and the power, and with +it, the sublimity of the infinite is gone. Were Nature to pose, to +attitudinise for contemplation, even for the fraction of a second, she +would annihilate the condition on which reposes all her charm. Ruthless +destruction, even of her own choicest works, is the badge of her +inexhaustible omnipotence: add but a touch of pity, and you fall back to +the littleness and feebleness of man. + +And I mused, as I departed: how can that be communicated to others, +which cannot even be described at all? And if so, in the things of the +body, how much more with the things of the soul? Who shall convey to the +souls that stumble and jostle in the foggy valleys, any glimpse of the +visions, denied to them, above; any spark of comprehension of the things +that they might discern, on the tops of the pure and silent hills, that +stand uncomprehended, kissing heaven above the fog? + +POONA, 1914 + + + + +CONTENTS + + +I. A TWILIGHT EPIPHANY + +II. AN INCOMPLETE OBLIVION + +III. A DISJUNCTIVE CONJUNCTION + + + + +I + +A TWILIGHT EPIPHANY + + +_The three worlds worship the sound of the string that twanged of old +like the hum of bees[5] as it slipped from faint Love's faltering hand +and fell at his feet unstrung, the bow unbent and the shaft unsped, as +if to beg for mercy from that other shaft of scorching flame that shot +from the bow-despising brow of the moony-crested god._ + +[Footnote 5: The bowstring of Love's bow is made of a line of bees. Love +was reduced to ashes by fire from Shiwa's extra eye, for audaciously +attempting to subject that great ascetic to his own power.] + +Far down in the southern quarter, at the very end of the Great Forest, +just where the roots of its outmost trees are washed by the waves of the +eastern sea, there was of old a city, which stood on the edge of land +and water, like as the evening moon hangs where light and darkness meet. +And just outside the city wall where the salt sand drifts in the wind, +there was a little old ruined empty temple of the Lord of the Moony +Tire, whose open door was as it were guarded by two sin-destroying +images of the Deity and his wife, one on the right of the threshold and +the other on the left, looking as if they had suddenly started asunder, +surprised by the crowd of devotees, to make a way between. And on an +evening long ago, when the sun had finished setting, Maheshwara was +returning from Lanka to his own home on Kailas, with Uma in his arms. So +as he went, he looked down, and saw the temple away below. And he said +to his beloved: Come, now, let us go down, and revisit this little +temple, which has stood so long without us. And it looks white in the +moon's rays, as if it had turned pale, for fear that we have forgotten +it. + +So when they had descended, Maheshwara said again: See how these two +rude and mutilated effigies that are meant for thee and me stand, as it +were, waiting, like bodies for their souls. Let us enter in, and occupy, +and sanctify these images,[6] and rest for a little while, before +proceeding to thy father's peaks. And if I am not mistaken, our presence +will be opportune, and this deserted temple will presently be visited by +somebody who stands in sore need of our assistance, which as long as +they remain untenanted these our images cannot give him, since they have +even lost their hands.[7] And accordingly they entered, each into his +own image, and remained absolutely still, as though the stone was just +the stone it always was, and nothing more. And yet those stony deities +glistened in the full moon's light, as though the presence of deity had +lent them lustre of their own, that laughed as though to say: See, now +we are as white as the very foam at our feet. + +[Footnote 6: The real divinity of a Hindoo temple is not the images +outside on its walls, but the symbol (whatever it be) inside.] + +[Footnote 7: A common feature throughout India. Everywhere they went, +the devotees of the Koran used to smash and maim the Hindoo idols.] + +So as they stood, silent, and listening to the sound of the sea, all at +once there came a man who ran towards them. And taking off his turban, +he cast it at the great god's feet, and fell on his face himself. And +after a while, he looked up, and joined his hands, and said: O thou +Enemy of Love, now there is absolutely no help for me but in the sole of +thy foot. For when the sun rose this morning, the Queen was found lying +drowned, and all broken to pieces, in the sea foam under the palace +wall. And when they ran to tell the King, they found him also lying +dead, where he sleeps on his palace roof that hangs over the sea, with a +dagger in his heart. And the city is all in uproar, for loss to +understand it, and Gangadhara the minister has made of me a victim, by +reason of an old grudge. And now my head will be the forfeit, unless I +can discover the guilty before the rising of another sun. And thou who +knowest all things, past, present, or to come, art become my only +refuge. Grant me, of thy favour, a boon, and reveal to me the secret, +for who but thyself can possibly discover how the King and Queen have +come to this extraordinary end. + +So as he spoke, gazing as if in desperation at Maheshwara, all at once, +as if moved to compassion, that image of the Deity turned from the wall +towards him, and nodded at him its stony head: so that in his terror +that unhappy mortal nearly left his own body, and fell to the ground in +a swoon. And Maheshwara gazed at him intently, as he lay, and put him, +by his _yoga_,[8] asleep. And the Daughter of the Snow said softly: O +Moony-crested, who is this unlucky person, and what is the truth of this +whole matter, for I am curious to know? And Maheshwara said slowly: O +Snowy One, this is the chief of the night watch of the city; and be +under no alarm. For while he sleeps, I will reveal the truth to him, in +a magic dream: making him as it were a third person, to overhear our +conversation. And I will do the same to the prime minister, so that in +the morning, finding their two dreams tally, he will gain credit and +save his life. Thereupon Parwati said again: O Lord of creation, save +mine also. For I am as it were dying of curiosity, to hear how all this +came about. + +[Footnote 8: What we should call, in such a case, mesmerism: the power +of concentrated will. There is something in it, after all.] + +So then, after a while, that omniscient Deity said slowly: All this has +come about, by reason of a dream. And Gauri said: How could a dream be +the cause of death, both to the King and Queen? Then said Maheshwara: +Not only is there danger in dreaming, but the greatest. Hast thou not +seen thy father's woody sides reflected in the still mirror of his own +tarns? And the goddess said: What then? And Maheshwara said: Hast thou +not marked how the reflection painted on the water contains beauty, +drawn as it were from its depths, greater by far than does the very +thing it echoes, of which it is nothing but an exact copy? And Parwati +said: Aye, so it does. Then said Maheshwara: So it is with dreams. For +their danger lies in this very beauty, and like pictures upon quiet +water, which contains absolutely nothing at all, below, they show men, +sleeping, visions of unrealisable beauty, which, being nothing whatever +but copies of what they have seen, awake, possess notwithstanding an +additional fascination, not to be found in the originals, which fills +them with insatiable longing and an utter contempt of all that their +waking life contains, as in the present instance: so that they sacrifice +all in pursuit of a hollow phantom, trying to achieve impossibility, by +bringing mind-begotten dream into the sphere of reality, whither it +cannot enter but by ceasing to be dream. But the worst of all is, as in +this King's case, when dreaming is intermingled with the reminiscences +of a former birth: for then it becomes fatality. And Parwati said: How +is that? Then said Maheshwara: Every soul that is born anew lies buried +in oblivion, having utterly forgotten all its previous existence, which +has become for it as a thing that has never been. And yet, sometimes, +when impressions are very vivid, and memory very strong, here and there +an individual soul, steeped as it were in the vat of its own experience, +and becoming permanently dyed, as if with indigo, will laugh, so to say, +at oblivion, and carry over indelible impressions, from one birth to +another, and so live on, haunted by dim recollections that throng his +memory like ghosts, and resembling one striving vainly to recall the +loveliness and colour of a flower of which he can remember absolutely +nothing but the scent, whose lost fragrance hangs about him, goading +memory to ineffectual effort, and thus filling him with melancholy which +he can never either dispel or understand. + +So as he spoke, there came past the temple door a young man of the +Shabara caste, resembling a tree for his height, carrying towards the +forest a young woman of slender limbs, who was struggling as he held +her, and begging to be released; to which he answered only by laughing +as he held her tighter, and giving her every now and then a kiss as he +went along, so that as they passed by, there fell from her hair a +_champak_ flower, which lay on the ground unheeded after they +disappeared. And the Daughter of the Mountain exclaimed: See, O +Moony-crested, this flower laid as it were at thy feet as a suppliant +for her protection: for this is a case for thy interference, to save +innocence from evil-doing. + +And Maheshwara looked at her with affection in his smile. And he said: +Not so, O mountain-born: thou art deceived: since this is a case where +interference would be bitterly resented, not only by the robber, but his +prey: for notwithstanding all her feigned reluctance, this slender one +is inwardly delighted, and desires nothing less than to be taken at her +word. For this also is a pair of lovers, who resemble very closely those +other lovers, whose story I am just about to tell thee: as indeed all +lovers are very much the same. For Love is tyranny, and the essence of +the sweetness of its nectar is a despotic authority that is equally +delicious to master and to slave. For just as every male lover loves to +play the tyrant, so does every woman love to play the slave, so much, +that unless her love contains for her the consciousness of slavery, it +is less than nothing in her own eyes, and she does not love at all. And +know, that as nothing in the world is so hateful to a woman as force, +exerted on her by a man she does not love, so nothing fills her with +such supreme intoxication as to be masterfully made by her lover to go +along the road of her own inclination, since so she gets her way without +seeming to consent, and is extricated from the dilemma of deciding +between her scruples and her wish. For indecision is the very nature of +every woman, and it is a torture to her, to decide, no matter how. And +even when she does decide, she does so, generally as a victim, driven by +circumstances or desperation, and never as a judge, as in the case of +both those women who determined the destiny of this dead King, the one +deciding in his favour, precisely because he would allow her no choice, +and the other very much against him indeed: and yet both, so to say, +without any good reason at all. For women resemble yonder waves of the +sea, things compounded of passion and emotion, with impulses for +arguments, and agitation for energy, for ever playing, fretting and +moaning with laughter and tears of brine and foam: and like feminine +incarnations of the instability of water, one and the same essence +running through a multitude of contradictory and beautiful qualities and +forms: being cold and hard as ice, and soft and white as snow, and still +as pools, and crooked as rivers, now floating in heaven like clouds and +mists and vapours, and now plunging, like cataracts and waterfalls, into +the abyss of hell. Is not the same water bitter as death to the drowning +man, and sweeter than a draught of nectar, saving the life of the +traveller dying of thirst in the desert sand. + +So, now, listen, while I tell thee the story of this King. + +And as he began to speak, the wind fell, and the sea slumbered, and the +moon crept silently further up and up the sky. And little by little, the +dark shadows stole out stealthily, moving as it were on tiptoe, and hung +in corners, here and there, like ghosts about the little shrine, before +which the sleeping man lay white in the moon's rays, as still as if he +were a corpse. And the deep tones of the Great God's voice seemed like a +muttered spell, to lull to sleep the living and assemble the dead to +hear, with demons for _dwarapalas_ at the door of an ashy tomb. + + + + +II + + +AN INCOMPLETE OBLIVION + + +I + +Know, then, that this King, who was found dead in the early morning, +with a dagger in his heart, was named Arunodaya.[9] For his father said, +when he was born: This son is, as it were, the sunrise of our hopes. And +yet, by the decree of destiny, it turned out altogether contrary to his +expectation. For as it happened, his father, in whose family it was an +hereditary custom to have only one queen at a time, grew gradually tired +of his only wife. But being as cowardly in crime as he was weak in +constancy, he did not dare to bring about his wishes by any violence or +practice of his own, but lay as it were in wait, for some suitable +opportunity or occasion to present itself, by means of which he might +succeed in getting rid of her, without incurring any blame, or running +any risk. For such souls as his was, think to throw dust in the eyes of +Chitragupta,[10] not knowing that he does but add cowardice to the total +of their guilt. + +[Footnote 9: (Pronounce _daya_ as _die_, with accent on preceding _o_.) +It means _the rising of red dawn_.] + +[Footnote 10: The Recorder, who keeps account of all the sins that each +soul must answer for, at the end of every birth.] + +So while he waited, time went on, and year succeeded year. And little by +little he and his queen grew gradually older, and his son changed slowly +from a boy into a man. + +And then, at last, one day it happened, that the King and Queen were +sitting together on the palace roof. And all at once, the Queen started +to her feet with a cry. And as the King looked towards her, with wonder +and curiosity, she said slowly: Aryaputra,[11] know, that I have +suddenly recollected my former birth. And now, I long to tell thee all +about it; and yet I am afraid. For this is the law, that if anybody +suddenly remembers his former birth, and tells it to another, that very +moment he must die. And if I die, I must leave thee: for if not, what +could death do to me, since that is the only thing in the three worlds +of which I am afraid? + +[Footnote 11: i.e. _son of a nobleman_, the term used by a queen in +addressing her husband.] + +So as she looked at him, with regret and affection in her eyes--for she +was as devoted to her husband as if he had been worthy, as indeed he was +utterly unworthy, of her devotion--all at once the King's heart leaped +in his breast. And he said to himself: Ha! Here, as it seems, is that +very opportunity, for which I have been waiting all these years: till I +thought that my soul would almost part from my body, for sheer +impatience and disgust. And in an instant, he also sprang to his feet, +exclaiming as he did so, with an ecstasy that was only half feigned: +Strange! can it be? For I, too, have suddenly remembered my former +birth: as if this recollection of thine had been the spark required, to +set fire to the memory of my own. So now, then, let us very quickly tell +each other all, and so take leave together of these miserable bodies, +into which we must, beyond a doubt, have fallen, by reason of a curse. + +So then, deceived by the display of his hypocritical affection, the +Queen told him very quickly all that she recollected of her former +birth. And when she had finished, the King looked at her steadily for a +while, and his face fell. And he said, with difficulty: Alas! alas! I +was utterly mistaken: and as I think, I took fire falsely, out of +sympathy with thee. And now I have fallen unwittingly into an +irreparable disaster. For as to my own former birth, I remember +absolutely nothing about anything at all. + +So as he spoke, he looked at the Queen, and their eyes met. And in that +instant, she understood; and caught, like a flash of lightning, the +falsehood in his soul. And she gazed at him, for a while, fixedly, with +eyes that resembled an incarnation of scrutiny that was mingled with +reproach, till all at once he turned away, unable to endure the +detection of his own baseness, reflected as it were in the calm mirror +of her own pure gaze. And after a while, she said slowly: Son, not of a +noble, but an outcast, know, that thou hast doomed not me only, but +thyself. And now, because thou hast betrayed me to my death, thy son +also shall die as I do, and on the very same spot, by the agency of one +who stands to him in the very same relation that I do to thee: and the +husband shall pay for the wife. And the consequence of works shall dog +thee, in the form of the total extinction of thy race. But as for me, +now I see only too clearly that this birth has been a blunder, and a +punishment, and a delusion, resembling a scene played upon a stage, +whose king turns out, when the curtain falls, to be but a sorry rascal +after all. And all the while, I have given my devotion to the wrong +husband, and like a foolish benefactor, have wasted alms on a pitiful +impostor. I feared, but one short moment since, to leave thee, and to +part from thee; but now, thou hast suddenly changed regret into relief. +See, whether separation will be thy blessing or thy curse. + +So as she spoke, she tottered, and her soul suddenly left its body, +which sank to the ground abandoned, like a creeper that collapses when +the trunk it clung to falls, and saying as if to mock him: Seek now for +the core that is gone, within the hollow husk. + + +II + +So then, when her funeral obsequies were over, that widowed King, +strange to say! fell into melancholy, deceiving all his subjects, as if +by express design. For they pitied him exceedingly, each saying to the +other: See, now, how this good Queen's death has robbed this poor +deserted King as it were of his own soul: as well, indeed, it might. For +she was a _patidewata_,[12] and a Sawitri, not only in her name, but in +her nature, and rather than outlive him, preferred to go before. +Whereas, on the contrary, that King's decline arose, not from regret, +but from remorse, mixed with anxiety and the apprehension of his coming +doom. For this is the way of the weak, that they yield to evil impulse, +and yet repent of their own doings, taking fright at the sight of them, +as soon as they are done, and discovering the terrible consequences of +works, too late. For a deed that is done, is divided from what it was, +before it was done, by all eternity, in the fraction of a second: as +this King found to his cost. For even as he gazed at the body of his +queen, lying dead on the floor beside him, remorse rose up as it were +out of her body and took him by the throat. And at that moment, he would +have thrown away his kingdom like a blade of grass, to bring her back to +life. And his longing to get rid of her changed, like a flash of +lightning, into a passionate yearning to repossess her, dead. And he +said to himself, as he looked at her: Where in the world shall I find +another resembling her in the least degree, and what shall I do, to save +myself from the ripening of her curse? For destiny listens in silence to +the prayers of a pure woman, and she, beyond all doubt, was one. + +[Footnote 12: i.e. _a wife who makes a god of her husband_: the highest +of all possible praises. Sawitri is the Hindoo Alcestis.] + +So then, from that very moment, every thought of replacing her by +another queen abandoned him, as if her life, in leaving her, had drawn +with it his own. And all his taste for life at all, and all desires +whatever, suddenly left him in a body, as if out of disgust at his +behaviour. And he sank into despair, and pined and waned like an old +moon, and grew gradually dimmer, and thinner, and more gloomy, till +there was hardly anything left of him at all, but skin and bone. And +finally, seeing its opportunity, a burning fever arising from a chill +entered in and took possession of all his limbs, as if to give him a +foretaste of the flames of his own pyre. + +And then at last, perceiving that Yama had caught him in his noose, and +finding himself in the mouth of death, he summoned his prime minister, +together with his son. And when they came, he said to them: Since I am +on the very point of following my wife, as, had I gone before her, she +would have followed me, _sati_[13] that she was, there is no time to +lose. Do thou, my son, get married, as quickly as thou canst, for the +god of death has clutched us both, as if he was in a hurry, just at the +very moment when we were thinking of procuring thee a wife. And as it +is, I am sore afraid of going to meet my ancestors, who will angrily +reproach me for placing them in jeopardy, by neglecting to provide for +them in time. And when they ask me, saying: Where is thy son's son? what +answer shall I make? And therefore, O my minister, I leave this son of +mine and his marriage as a deposit in thy hands, which I shall require +of thee in the other world. Postpone all other policy to the duty of +finding him a wife: and if thou canst, let her resemble his mother, that +was mine. + +[Footnote 13: _Sati_, which means _a good woman_, is always understood +by Europeans to refer to what is only the last manifestation of her +quality, the burning herself on her dead lord's pyre. But the term does +not necessarily contain any reference to that stern climax of her +virtue.] + +So having spoken, in a little while he died, leaving everybody in his +kingdom wondering at his affection for his wife. For nobody knew the +truth, which was as it were burned up and utterly annihilated by the +fires that consumed the body of his wife and his own. And he left behind +him a reputation for fidelity that was absolutely false. For none but +the Deity can penetrate the disguise of hypocrisy. And yet, though he +deceived all the subjects in his kingdom, he did not succeed in blinding +the eyes of Dharma,[14] who caught his soul in his noose, and doomed it, +for his treachery, to be born again in the body of a worm. + +[Footnote 14: Another name for Yama, the god of death, which we may here +take as equivalent to "Justice."] + + +III + +So, then, when his funeral obsequies were over, and the due time +prescribed by the _shastras_ had elapsed, his son Arunodaya mounted the +throne, and became king in his room. + +And no sooner was the crown placed upon his head, and the water +sprinkled over him, than the prime minister, who was named Gangadhara, +came to him privately, and said: Maharaj, now there is yet another +ceremony which remains as it were crying to be performed, with the least +possible delay; and that is thy own marriage. And now it is for thee and +me to seek out some maiden that will make a royal match for thee, and +lead her round the fire, and so let thy father's spirit rest. And there +cannot be any difficulty at all. For all the neighbouring kings, who +possess daughters, are watching thee like clouds around a mountain top, +ready to rain daughters as it were upon thy head; since thou art +superior in power to them all. And as for the daughters, the painters, +and the rumours of thy beauty, have turned them all into so many +_abhisarikas_, dying to run into thy arms without waiting to be asked; +and the only danger is, that all but the one on whom thy choice shall +fall will immediately abandon the body, out of jealousy and despair, as +soon as it is made. For everybody knows that even Ananga and Rati[15] +were envious of thy father and thy mother; of whom thou art compounded +into an essence twice as powerful as either was alone, so that not a day +passes but my spies bring me news of miserable women who have deserted +the body of their own accord, finding themselves, by reason of their +caste or condition, cut off from all hope of ever becoming thy wife. + +[Footnote 15: _i.e._ the God of Love and his principal wife.] + +Then said Arunodaya: O Gangadhara, I am ready to marry in a moment any +one of them: and yet, as I think, I shall never marry anyone at all. And +Gangadhara said: Maharaj, thou speakest riddles, and I am slow to +understand. And Arunodaya looked at him with a smile. And he said: +Gangadhara, it is proper that a minister should know all his master's +secrets, and now that thou art my minister, I will tell thee mine, and +make thee my confidant in everything, as expediency demands. For then +only will the business of our policy run on smoothly, when we pull +exactly together, like a pair of bullocks in a cart. And whether it be +with the women as thou sayest, or not, there is a difficulty, unknown to +thee, on my part. Then said the minister: What is that? And Arunodaya +said: I am already more than half married, and, as it were, bound, by an +indissoluble pledge, to an undiscoverable beauty; and unless she can be +found, I am, as I told thee, likely to remain unmarried for the +remainder of my life. + +Then said the prime minister: Maharaj, everything can be found by one +who looks for it in the proper place. And if thy beauty be discoverable, +I will undertake to find her, at the forfeit of my head. And who, then, +is she? Give me at least a clue; and thou shalt see, that maybe she is +not hidden so very far away, after all. + +And Arunodaya said: I will marry no other woman but the wife of my +former birth. For I dream of her, and as it seems to me, have dreamed of +her, and nothing else, ever since I was born. And so, now, I have +revealed to thee a secret, which I never told to anyone but thee: and I +leave thee to judge, whether she is able to be found, or not. And if +thou canst show me that any one of these kings' daughters was my wife +before, I will marry her again: but this is the indispensable condition; +and no matter who she may be, the woman who does not fulfil it must +marry some one other than myself. And now, go: and when thou hast +meditated sufficiently on the matter, return to me at dawn, and take +counsel with me, as to what is to be done. For, as thou seest, this +marriage of mine is not likely to be easily achieved. And I resemble one +searching on the seashore for a grain of sand, dropped there in the dead +of night, a hundred years ago. + + +IV + +So then, that astounded prime minister gazed at Arunodaya for a while in +silence, and took his dismissal, and went away like a man in a dream. +And when he reached his home, he sat for a long time musing, like a +picture painted on a wall. And then, all at once, he began to laugh. And +he exclaimed: Ha! this, then, was the secret, and now at length I begin +to understand, and all is explained. For this young king +_brahmachari_,[16] little as he suspects it, has been under my eye ever +since he was born. And this, then, was the reason why he was perpetually +wandering about alone, and lying for hours gazing at the lotuses in the +forest pools, or looking at the sea-waves, like a rock on the shore, +differing totally from all others of his kind, who as a rule resemble +_must_ elephants, in utterly refusing to have anything to do with +dancing girls or women of any kind, as it were wilfully contradicting +the design of the Creator, who beyond a doubt formed him on purpose to +prevent Rati and Priti[17] from quarrelling, by providing a second body +for their common lord. And all the while I took him for a very _yogi_, +he was, as it turns out, dreaming, not of emancipation, but this wife of +his former birth: and hard as it is, I think that even emancipation +would, of the two, be easier to attain. Well might he say, that she was +difficult to find. For who ever got at the wife of his former birth, +except in a dream. Aye! this is an obstacle to his marriage indeed, that +even the Lord of the Elephant-Face would be puzzled to surmount or +remove. + +[Footnote 16: As we might say, _bachelor_, but the Hindoo +expression is stricter, meaning, _one who has taken a vow of +virginity_.] + +[Footnote 17: The two wives of Love.] + +And after a while, he said again: Is it a mere fancy? Or can it be, that +he really is haunted by some dim recollection of his former wife, since +beyond a doubt the influences of pre-existence do sometimes persist, and +like ships, sail without sinking over the dark ocean of oblivion, from +one birth-island to another? And what, then, is she like? For could I +only discover what she looks like in his dreams, it might be that by +policy or stratagem I could make shift to find her, or somebody so like +her that he would never know the difference. I will go to him to-morrow +and ask him to describe her, and he cannot well refuse. For how can he +expect me to discover her, unless I know what she is like? Or can it be, +that he does not even know himself? That would be better still. For +then, if, with the assistance of the astrologers, I can manage to devise +a scheme, so as to persuade him that I have lit upon that which he is +looking for, how could he detect the imposition? There are only too many +kings' daughters who would think that the very fruit of their birth was +gained, by practising so innocent a deception as to pass for the wife of +his former birth in order to become in very truth his wife in this. And +if I cannot succeed in some dexterous trick of substitution, I shall be +almost ready to abandon the body myself, for sheer exasperation. For +even apart from the necessity of getting him married, there is not one +of the surrounding kings who is not ready to throw a crore of gold +pieces at my head, if only I will even promise to become his partisan +against all the rest, and marry Arunodaya to some daughter of his own. +Out upon it, that with kings' daughters lying thick as lotuses all round +him, and ready and even eager to be plucked, this unhappy longing of the +king for an unattainable _parijata_ flower should make them all of no +more value than withered leaves! O Rider on the Mouse,[18] come to my +assistance, for without thy help we shall all be swallowed by calamity, +in the form of the utter extinction of this perverse king's kingdom and +his race. + +[Footnote 18: _i.e._ Ganesha.] + + +V + +Now, just at this very moment, it happened, by the decree of destiny, +that one of the kings of the Widyadharas,[19] who was rightly named +Mahidhara, for his home was on a mountain top that stood in a far-off +island beyond the rising sun, was holding a _swayamwara_ for all his +hundred daughters. And for ninety-nine days each daughter chose her +husband, one a day, from out of the suitors who flocked to the marriage +in such numbers that the sky looked like a cart-wheel, with lines of +Widyadharas assembling from all directions, like vultures, for its +spokes. And finally the hundredth day, and with it, the turn of the +youngest daughter came, to choose. + +[Footnote 19: See Preface.] + +Now this daughter resembled a thorn, fixed by the Creator in the hearts +of all her sisters, causing perpetual irritation, like a rebel chief in +a united kingdom. For she stood aloof from them all, like a little +finger that somehow or other refuses to bend into the closed hand, being +not only the youngest, but the smallest, and the most perverse, and the +loveliest of all, putting not only all her sisters but every other +Widyadhari to the necessity of acknowledging, sore against their will, +that the presence of her beauty robbed them of their own, reducing them +to confusion, like so many impostors confronted by the true heir. And +her nature was so totally dissimilar to that of everybody else, that she +resembled a thing made by the Creator standing as it were upon his head, +out of the essence of contradiction: since none of her own family could +ever tell what she would or would not say, or do, or even where she was. +And even her beauty was as wayward as she was herself. For one of her +eyebrows was always as it were on the tiptoe of surprise, arrogantly +arching a little higher than the other; and her eyes were very long, +with corners that looked as if they were on the very point of turning +upwards, which none the less they never did, as if expressly to +disappoint and deride the expectation they aroused, and keep it hovering +for ever in an agony of suspense. And her lips always seemed to smile +even when they were not smiling, and her head was almost, always poised +a very little on one side, looking as if it were listening for the +far-off mutter of the mischief that lay as it were slumbering in the +thunder-cloud hanging low in the heaven of her huge dark eyes, whose +lashes resembled the long grass that fringes the edge of a forest pool. +And her limbs were so slender, and her colour was so pale, in the shadow +of the masses of her sable hair, that had it not been for the indigo of +her lotus eyes and the vermilion of her lips, she would have resembled a +marble incarnation of the beauty of death, or a wraith of mist touched +as it hovers in a dark valley by the ashy beam of a waning moon. And, +strange! her spell seemed made of moods that always changed, yet never +varied, compounded half of shy timidity, and half of proud disdain, like +an atmosphere of paradoxical fascination, formed of the rival fragrances +of sandalwood and camphor, translated into the language of the soul. + +So then, as those Widyadhara suitors waited in the hall, standing round +in a ring, she came in slowly, with the garland of choosing in her hand. +And beginning with the first she came to, she walked very deliberately +all round that circle of excited wooers, going from one to the next in +order, and examining each in turn. And in the dead silence, there was +absolutely nothing heard but the faint clash of her golden anklets, as +she moved round slowly on little hesitating feet, that trod as it were +on everybody's heart. And as she went, those suitors, as she came to +them and passed them, turned gradually from dark to pale, and then again +to black, like the buttresses on the king's high road, when torches pass +along.[20] And every Widyadhara's soul abandoned, so to say, his body, +on finding that she left him to go on to the next, dooming him as it +were to death by carrying further the fatal wreath. + +[Footnote 20: This is from Kalidas.] + +So, then, having given to all, as if by way of boon, a bitter glimpse of +beauty mixed with a momentary ray of hope, dashing the cup from each +one's lip just as it thought it was going to taste, she came to the very +end. And then, she stopped dead. And she looked at them all, for a +single moment, over the wreath they all desired, and she raised it to +her lips, as if to scent its fragrance, saying as it were to all: Very +sweet indeed is the thing beyond your reach. And then, with a little +pout, she put it round her own neck. And she said, in the Arya metre: + + Tell me, O breeze, is there syrup for the bees? + Only, alas! when kind flowers please. + +And then, she went away, leaving all her lovers as it were in the lurch, +like a flock of _Chakrawakas_ when the sun has disappeared. + + +VI + +And they all stood, when she had gone, gazing at one another in silence, +as motionless as though they had been painted on the walls that stood +behind them. And then they all exclaimed, as if with a single voice: +What! is not one of us all fit for this fastidious beauty's taste? And +instantly that ring of disappointed suitors broke up as they flew away, +and vanished like a mist, for in their fury they would not even so much +as wait to take leave of her father, counting it as it were a crime in +him to be father of such a daughter, and to have lured them into shame. + +And seeing them go, Mahidhara went himself to the apartments of his +daughter. And he said to her in dudgeon: Out on thee! Makarandika;[21] +for here have all the Widyadharas become my bitter enemies by reason of +this insult. Has thy reason left thee? Or where wilt thou find a +husband, if not even one of all the kings of the Widyadharas can please +thy foolish fancy? Dost thou not understand, that a daughter who is not +married disgraces her father's house? + +[Footnote 21: i.e. _one made of the honey or syrup of flowers_. (Note, +that the first syllable rhymes with _luck_, and the third with _fund_.)] + +Then said Makarandika: Dear father, I am far too ugly to be married. And +Mahidhara laughed, and he said: What new caprice is this? Thou ugly! +Why, if thou art too ugly, being far the most beautiful of all, what of +thy sisters, whose beauty all united is not equal to thy own, and yet +have they all chosen? And Makarandika laughed, and she exclaimed: What! +can it be? What! shall the most beautiful of all be content with others' +leavings, and choose only out of what they have all rejected? As if the +whole world were not full to the very brim of husbands! Shall my choice +be the refuse? Moreover, I do not want a Widyadhara for a husband at +all. And Mahidhara said, with amazement: And why not a Widyadhara? Then +said Makarandika: Widyadharas are fickle, and roaming about in the air, +come across all sorts of other women and make love to them, deceiving +their own wives. But I will marry only such a husband as never will +deceive me. + +Then said her father, smiling: But, O thou very jealous maiden, where +wilt thou discover him? For did not even Indra himself play Sachi false? +Or dost thou think that mortal men are always constant, when even gods +are not? Choose, if thou wilt, a mortal for thy husband, only to +discover that Widyadharas are not more treacherous than they are. Thy +husband will deceive thee, as it may be, no matter what his birth. + +And lo! as he looked at her, jesting, he saw her suddenly turn paler, +and still paler, as if the very thought resembled poison in her ears. +And she said in a low voice: Better never to be married at all, than +marry a deceiver: better far for me, and better far for him. And her +father exclaimed, in astonishment: What! O Makarandika! thou hast not +even got a husband as yet at all; yet here thou art already, jealous +without a cause! What will it be, when thou art actually married? Truly +I fear for thy unhappy husband, whoever he may be. And yet, be very +careful. Bethink thee, O daughter, that if thou dost choose a mortal, it +will be at the cost of thy condition. For any Widyadhari becoming the +wife of a mortal man loses all her magic sciences, and is levelled with +himself. + +And Makarandika said with scorn: Thy warning is unnecessary, and there +is not any risk. For it will be long before I place myself in danger of +any such description from a husband of any kind. + + +VII + +So that haughty beauty spoke, ignorant of the future, not dreaming that +her destiny in the form of a mortal husband was just about to laugh her +vaunt to scorn. And leaving her father abruptly, she rose up into the +air, and began to fly swiftly like a wild white swan away towards the +western quarter, looking down upon the sea, that resembled a blue mirror +of the sky that stretched above it, with foaming waves in place of +clouds, and water instead of air: saying to herself: Only let me get +away, where not a Widyadhara of them all is to be seen. And the wind +caressed her limbs like a lover, stealing embraces as she went along, +and whispering in the shell of her little ear: Be not alarmed, O vagrant +beauty, if I reveal thy outline to the whole world, for there is nobody +by to see. And she watched the sun go down before her, and went on all +night long, with no companion but the new moon that sank into the sea in +a little while, as if ashamed to rival her, leaving her alone with +night. And at last, when dawn was just breaking, she saw below her this +very temple, standing alone on the sandy shore between the forest and +the sea. And a little further on, the King's palace was standing up like +a tower, reddened by the young sun's rays. So, feeling tired, she +swooped down, to rest for a little while. And she settled on the edge of +the palace roof, taking the form of a snowy bird, with a ruddy bill and +legs, as if to mock and imitate the colour of the sun. + +And at that very moment, Arunodaya came out upon the roof, with his +prime minister behind him, like Winter following the god of Spring. And +the very instant she set eyes on him, she became as it were a target for +Love's arrow, as if, although invisible, he were there beside his +friend.[22] And she fell suddenly in love with the young king as he came +towards her, and shook with such agitation, that she came within a very +little of falling straight into the sea. And she murmured to herself, +with emotion: Can this be a second dawn[23] appearing just to confound +the other? Or can it be Kamadewa, in a body more beautiful than his own? +But if so, where is Rati? Or am I only dreaming, having fallen unawares +asleep, thinking of husbands and my father's words? + +[Footnote 22: _i.e._ Spring, who is Love's companion.] + +[Footnote 23: This is an allusion to the King's name (see note, _ante_) +the point of which will presently appear.] + +So as she spoke, Arunodaya looked towards her, and presently he said +aloud: See, Gangadhara, how yonder snowy sea-bird has come to me as it +were for refuge, tired beyond a doubt by some long journey across the +sea! Let us not go too near it, lest out of fright it may take to +flight, before its wings are rested. And he sat down a little way off, +on the very edge of the terrace, keeping his eye on Makarandika, who +laughed at his words in her sleeve, saying softly to herself: There is +no fear, O handsome stranger, that I shall fly away, since thy arrival, +so far from scaring me away, has nailed me to the spot. And the prime +minister said meanwhile: Maharaj, here I am, according to thy +appointment, to discuss thy marriage with thee, where nobody can +overhear. And know, that since thou art absolutely bent on marrying no +other than the wife of thy former birth, I do not despair of finding +her, if she is able to be found. But who can find anything, unless he +knows what it is like? For if not, he will not know that he has found +it, when it lies before his eyes. So tell me, to begin with, what this +wife of thine resembles; and then I will set to work and find her, +without the loss of any time. + +Then Arunodaya said slowly: O Gangadhara, how can I tell thee what I do +not know myself? And Gangadhara said, in wonder: Maharaj, it cannot be. +How will thou recognise her, not knowing what she looks like? And +Arunodaya said again: I shall know her in an instant, the moment I set +eyes on her. For at the very sight of her, love, that depends on the +forgotten associations of a previous existence, will suddenly shoot up +in the darkness of my heart, like flame. For this is the only proof, and +no other is required. And yet, there is something else, to give me as it +were a clue. For though, strive as I may, I cannot even guess what she +was like, yet my memory, as it seems, is not absolutely blank. For I +remember, that she was the daughter of a pandit, and maybe herself a +pandit; and I seem to listen in a dream, whenever I think about her, to +the noise of innumerable pandits, all shouting at the same time some +name that I can never catch, mingling with the roar of the waves of the +sea. + +And when he ended, Gangadhara stared at him, in utter stupefaction, +saying within himself: Beyond a doubt, this King is mad. And presently +he said aloud: O King Arunodaya, who ever heard of a woman, suited for a +king's wife, who had anything to do with pandits? What is there in +common between pandits and the wives of kings? Certainly, thou art +doomed to live and die unmarried: for a beauty who is a pandit is not to +be found in the three worlds. + + +VIII + +Then said Arunodaya: Gangadhara, who knows? But be that as it may, this +is absolutely certain, that I will not marry any woman who was not the +wife of my former birth. And so, if thou canst find her, well. And if +not, then thy prophecy will be true, for I shall live and die without a +wife. + +And Gangadhara went away again, more at a loss than he was before. And +when he reached his home, all at once he began to laugh, as if his +reason had left him. And he said to himself: Ha ha! Out on this unhappy +King, who hears the noise of pandits in the roaring of the sea! Why, +even Maheshwara himself could not find a shout of laughter, to match the +absurdity of this extraordinary jest. And he went on laughing all day +long, till his family grew frightened and summoned the physicians, +saying: He is possessed. + +And meanwhile Makarandika remained upon the terrace, watching Arunodaya, +as if fascinated by a snake. And as she listened to their conversation, +her heart beat with such exultation that it shook her like wind. And she +said to herself: Surely I am favoured by the deity. Well was it for me, +that I scorned to choose a husband from among those miserable Widyadhara +kings: for had I done so, I should have missed the very fruit of my +birth. And now, by the favour of Ganapati, I have come here in the very +nick of time: and I know all. And no other than myself shall be his +wife. And indeed, beyond a doubt I was the very wife he looks for, since +everything corresponds, and exactly as he said; love has suddenly burst +out flaming in my heart, at the very first sight of him, suddenly +recollecting its old forgotten state. But whether I was his wife or not, +in any other birth, I will very certainly become his wife in this. And +all the symptoms conspire in my favour. + +For not only is my right eye throbbing, but I actually stumbled in +ignorance on his very name, before I ever heard it. And now, I will, as +Gangadhara said, set to work immediately without losing any time: for I +know, as they do not, exactly what his wife is like. And now, everything +will turn out well, so long as he never discovers in his life that I +overheard him, on this terrace, before he ever saw me. And that cannot +be, for he never can learn it from anyone but me. + +So as she spoke, Arunodaya suddenly recollected the coming of the bird, +and looked round, and rejoiced, to find that it was still there. And he +said aloud, as if expressly to chime in with her thoughts: Ha! so, then, +thou art not gone, as I feared. O sea-bird, from what far-off land art +thou arrived? For none of the birds that haunt my palace resemble thee +in the least degree. Art thou also looking for thy mate, as I am? Or +hast thou lost thy way, blown by the winds over the home of monsters and +of gems? + +And instantly the bird replied: O King Arunodaya, not so: for I am +looking neither for a mate nor a way: but have come here expressly, sent +by the god, to tell thee how to find thy own mate, and thy own way. + +And then, as Arunodaya started to his feet, scarcely crediting his own +ears, she went on with that human voice: Listen, and do not interrupt, +for I have overstayed my time, obliged to wait till thy conversation +ended and thy minister was gone, and I have far to go. And tell me, +first. Is there a little ruined temple, near thy city on the north, +standing alone upon the shore? And Arunodaya said: There is. Then said +Makarandika: Then it all corresponds, and tallies exactly with my +instructions. For only last night, as the sun was going down, I passed +by a lonely island in the middle of the sea. And there in the evening +twilight, I saw the Lord of Obstacles dancing all alone, throwing up his +trunk that was smeared with vermilion into the purple sky. And he called +to me as I was going by, and said: Carry for me a message to King +Arunodaya, for thou wilt see his palace in the morning, standing up out +of the sea, ruddy as my trunk in the early dawn. And tell him that I am +pleased with his resolute perseverance: and by my favour he shall find +the wife of his former birth. Let him go at midnight, on the fifteenth +day of the light half of this very moon, into the ruined temple that +stands on the shore of the sea, and I will put something in it that will +fill his heart with joy. + +And then, she rose from the terrace, and flew away across the sea: while +Arunodaya stood still, gazing after her in wonder, till she dwindled to +a speck and disappeared. + +And then, he drew a long breath, and murmured to himself: Am I asleep or +dreaming? Or can it really be, that the very Lord of Obstacles has been +listening to my prayers, as well he might, considering their number, and +taking pity on his devotee, has revealed to me the secret, by the means +of this white bird: wishing to show Gangadhara, as if in jest, how +easily the Deity laughs at obstacles that seem absolutely +insurmountable, even to such a minister as mine? + + +IX + +So then he waited, with a soul that almost leaped from his body with +impatience, for the wax of the moon, which seemed to stand still, as if +on purpose to destroy him. And he sent, in the meanwhile, a message to +Gangadhara, saying: Everything is easy to those favoured by the Deity. +And I have found what I was seeking, even without thy assistance, as I +will prove to thee, by ocular demonstration, on the day of the full +moon. + +And as he listened, Gangadhara was so utterly confounded, that he could +hardly understand. And finally, he said to himself: Beyond a doubt, this +kingdom will presently be ruined, for the King is out of his mind. And +now I begin to perceive, that it will become my duty to remove him from +the throne, in favour of his maternal uncle, who is waiting and watching +to devour him like a crab,[24] if only he can find his opportunity. Or +is it only, after all, a device, to marry some girl that he has set his +heart on, without consulting either policy or me? If so, let him beware! +for he shall do penance for despising me, in full. But let me wait, in +any case, for the moon to grow round. Yet what can the Lord of Herbs[25] +have to do with this matter, unless he possesses a medicine suited to +the King's disease? + +[Footnote 24: The crabs of Ceylon (presumably the same as those of +southern India, whose shores I do not know) are the most extraordinary +things I ever saw. They run like the wind, and jump, over immense spaces +and chasms, from rock to rock, better than any horse.] + +[Footnote 25: _i.e._ the moon.] + +So then, at last, when the moon had gathered up all his digits but the +last, as soon as he rose, Arunodaya went out of his palace to wander on +the shore, with no companion but his sword. For he said to himself: What +if it were all but a dream or a delusion? Then, were it to be known, I +should become a very target for the ridicule of all the people in the +city. So it is better to keep the secret to myself. And he roamed about +the sand of the shore, near the temple, for hours, ready to curse both +sun and moon together, the one for his delay in going down, and the +other for taking such a time to climb into the sky. And finally, unable +to wait any longer, he went directly, long ere midnight, to the temple, +and stood for a while, exactly where yonder sleeper lies now, as if +making up his mind. And at last, he came up between us, and peeped in, +with a beating heart, and saw absolutely nothing inside, but emptiness +and dark. And presently he said: Has that Lord of Obstacles deceived me, +or is it too soon, for his present to arrive? And how will she come? Yet +if that sea-bird was either a liar or a dream, it will be time enough to +go away, before dawn returns, at any hour of the night. And he sat down +at my feet, leaning his back against me, and looking out to sea, over +which the moon was slowly climbing, exactly as it does to-night. And +worn out with agitation, and fatigue, and suspense, he went off to sleep +unawares. And he looked as he lay in the moonlight like the God of Love +resting, after he had conquered the three worlds. + + +X + +So then, when at last he woke, he lay for a little while puzzled, and +trying to remember where he was, and why. And so as he lay, he heard +suddenly behind him in the temple the faint clash of anklets, saying to +him as it were: Thou art sleeping, but I am waiting. And like a flash of +lightning, his memory returned; and he started to his feet, and turned, +and looked in at the temple door. + +And lo! when he did so, there, in a ray of moonlight that fell in +through the ruined wall, and clung to her affectionately, as though to +say: Here hiding in this dark cave have I suddenly fallen on my +sixteenth digit that was wanting to complete my orb: there stood a young +woman, looking like the feminine incarnation of the realisation of his +longing to find the wife of his former birth. And she was leaning +against the wall, half in and half out of the shadow, with her head +thrown back against it, so that her left breast stood out in the light +of the moon as if to mock it, leaving the other dark: and the curve of +her hip issued from the shadow and again was lost in it, like that of a +wave that rises from the sea. And he saw her eyes shining, as they gazed +at him in curiosity, like stars in a moonless night reflected in a pool, +whose light serves only to make the darkness it is lost in more visible +than before. And her attitude gave her the appearance of a statue fixed +upon the wall, that had suddenly emerged from it, and taken life, half +doubtful, by reason of timidity, whether she should not re-enter it +again. And she was dressed, like Janaki, when the Ten-headed Demon +seized her, in a robe of yellow silk, with golden bangles, and golden +anklets, and a necklace of great pearls around her neck, like a row of +little moons formed out of drops of the lunar ooze: and in her hair, +which shone like the back of a great black bee, was a single champak +blossom, that resembled an earthly star shedding fragrance as well as +light. And her red lips looked as if the smile that was on the very +point of opening like a flower had been checked in the very act, by the +hesitation springing from a very little fear. + +And Arunodaya gazed at her in silence, exactly as she did at him. And +after a while, he murmured aloud, as if speaking to himself: Can this be +in very truth the wife of my former birth, or only a thing seen in a +dream? + +And when he spoke, she started, and moved a very little from the wall, +with one hand resting still against it, as if it was her refuge. And she +said, in a low voice: I thought the dreamer was myself. Art thou some +deity come to tempt me, and where am I, if it is reality and not a +dream? And Arunodaya said: It is not I that am the deity, but thou. For +who ever saw anything like thee in the world? And yet if thou art Shri, +where is Wishnu? or if Rati, where is Love? + +And she looked at him steadily, and after a little while, she said with +a sigh: Alas! thou hast spoken truly: where is Love?[26] What! can it +be? and dost thou not remember me? And Arunodaya said: How could I +remember what I never saw before in my life? Then she said: What does +this life matter? Hast thou then so utterly forgotten everything of the +life before? + +[Footnote 26: _Love_, in Sanskrit, means also _recollection_.] + +And as he gazed at her in perplexity, all at once she started from the +wall and ran towards him, clapping her hands, and laughing, with her +bangles and anklets and her girdle clashing, as if keeping time with her +movements, and exclaiming: The forfeit! the forfeit! I have won! I have +won! And he said, smiling as if against his will: What forfeit? What +dost thou mean? And for answer, she threw herself into his arms, and +began to kiss him, laughing in delight, and crying out: I said it, I +said it. I have remembered, and thou hast forgotten. Did I not tell +thee, thus it would be, when we met again in another birth? Come, cudgel +thy dull memory, and listen while I help thee; and after, I will exact +from thee the forfeit that we fixed. And Arunodaya said again: What +forfeit? For I remember absolutely nothing of it all. And she said: Out +on thee! O thou of no memory at all. What! is thy little pandit all +forgotten? What! hast thou forgotten, what as I think could never be +forgotten, how all the pandits shouted together at our marriage? And he +exclaimed: Ha! pandits! Then she said: Ah! Dost thou actually begin to +recollect? then I have hopes of thee. But as to the forfeit, wilt thou +actually persist in obstinately forgetting all about it? Must I actually +tell thee, and art thou not utterly ashamed? Art thou not ashamed, after +all thy protestations, to look me in the face? + +And as she gazed, with eyes filled to the brim with passionate affection +that was not feigned, straight into his own, holding him with soft arms +that resembled creepers, and as it were caressing him with the touch of +her bosom and the perfume of the honey of her lips and her hair, taking +him as it were prisoner by the sudden assault of irresistible flattery +in the form of her own surrender, Arunodaya's head began to spin, lost +as he was in a whirlpool of bewilderment springing half from her +beauty's intoxicating spell, and half from ineffectual striving to +recall at her bidding what she said, so that in his perplexity he could +not even comprehend whether he recollected anything or not. And he +murmured to himself: Surely she must be the wife I was looking for, for +who else can she be? and certainly she is beautiful enough to be +anybody's wife. And as he hesitated, balanced in the swing of +indecision, she began to draw her forefinger over his eyebrows, each in +turn, saying in a whisper: _Aryaputra_,[27] this was the forfeit. Give +me thy hand, and shut, for a while, thy eyes. And as he did so, saying +to himself: Now I wonder what she will give me: all at once he uttered a +cry of pain. For she had taken his little finger with her teeth, and +bitten it hard. And as his eyes flew open, as it were of their own +accord, she said, with a frown and a smile mixed together: Why didst +thou forget me? Was it not agreed between us that the forgotten should +exact from the forgetter whatever penalty he chose? + +[Footnote 27: A name given only by a wife to her husband, implying the +claim.] + +And at the reproach in her eyes, the heart of Arunodaya began as it were +to smite him, saying: Surely thou art but churlish in returning her +affection, and refusing to remember her: for she is well worthy to be +remembered. And being totally unacquainted with woman, and her +sweetness, and her snare, his youth and his sex began as it were to side +with her against his reason and his doubt, saying to his soul: What more +canst thou possibly require in a wife, than such an incarnation of charm +and affection and intoxicating caress. And all at once, he took her and +drew her towards him with one arm about her slender waist, that a hand +might have grasped, and the other round her head, and he began to kiss +her as fast as he could, with kisses that she returned him till her +breath failed. And after a while, he said, in a low voice: Who art thou +in this birth, if as thou sayest, I was thy husband in the last? And +hast thou fallen from the sky? For thou art altogether too different +from the others, to be but a woman.[28] And what is thy name? + +[Footnote 28: The English reader may be puzzled by the difficulty: how a +Widyadhari could ever be a woman. But it is very simple on Hindoo +principles. Widyadharas are constantly falling into human bodies by +reason of curses, or guilt contracted.] + +Then said Makarandika: Thou art not absolutely wrong: for I am not a +woman of the earth, but a Widyadhari, by name Makarandika. And by and +bye I will tell thee all about myself, and my coming here, to rediscover +and regain thee; and learn of thee thine. But in the meanwhile, come +outside this gloomy temple into the moonlight, where I can see thee. And +she drew him out of the temple, and as they stood, looking at one +another, she said: Dost thou know, that I am paying a great price for +thee? See, a little while ago, I came hither flying through the air. And +as I came, I said to myself, with regret: I am flying for the very last +time: for to-morrow I shall forfeit all my magic sciences, by marrying a +mortal. And as my resolution wavered, at that very moment, I arrived, +and saw thee, lying asleep in the moonlight, at the feet of Maheshwara +yonder on the wall. And instantly, I exclaimed: Away with these +miserable sciences, for what are they worth in comparison with him, or, +worse, without him? + +And Arunodaya exclaimed: What! wilt thou sacrifice all thy condition as +a Widyadhari for such a one as me? Out, out, upon such a price, for such +a worthless ware! + +And for answer, she took his hand, and put it on her heart, looking at +him with eyes that shone not only with moonlight, but with a tear. And +Arunodaya said, with emphasis: Thou must be my wife: for how could I +think, having seen thee, of any other woman in the world, even in a +dream. + +And as he spoke, he started, almost uttering a cry. For suddenly she +clenched the hand she held with a grip that almost hurt it, and he felt +the heart it lay on suddenly leap, as it were, and stop. And as he +looked at her in wonder, he saw her turning paler and paler, till she +seemed in that white moonlight about to become a stone image, in +imitation of ours, just behind her, on the wall. + +And he said in alarm: Art thou ill, or suffering, or what? Or dost thou +regret thy sciences? And then, all at once, she laughed, and said: My +sciences? Nay, nay, it is not that, of which I am afraid. Come, it is +nothing, and what am I but a fool? Let us go now to thy palace: and see, +I will exert my power, for the very last time, in thy favour, and carry +thee through the air. And she sat down on the step, saying: Come, thou +art rather a large and a clumsy baby: yet sit thou on my lap. And she +took him in her arms, and rose with him into the air, and they floated +over the sea towards the palace, resembling for the moment myself and +thee roaming in the sky. + +And as they went, Arunodaya said within himself: Surely I am only +dreaming; and of what is this Widyadhari made, that has claimed me for +her own? Is it fire or something else? + +But Makarandika, as they floated, said to herself in ecstasy and +exultation: Now, then, I have got him, and it will be my own fault, if I +cannot so utterly bewitch him, as to cause him to forget all about his +former wife, and take me, as why should I not have been? for her. And +what do I care for her? For she may be the wife of that birth, but I am +the wife of this. And why should the wife of the present count for less +than the wife of the past? + + + + +III + +A DISJUNCTIVE CONJUNCTION + + + +I + +Now, in the meanwhile, it happened, that when all the other Widyadhara +would-be bridegrooms had broken up and gone away in wrath, disgusted at +being turned to shame by Makarandika's rejection, there was one who went +away with a heart that was more than half broken, for Makarandika was +dearer to him than his own soul. And he would have given the three +worlds to have had the precious garland put round his own neck. And when +all was over, he took himself off, and remained a long while buried in +dejection on the slopes of the Snowy Mountain, pining like a +_chakrawaka_ at night-time for his mate, and striving to forget +her,--all in vain: for his name was Smaradasa,[29] and his nature like +his name. And at last, unable to endure the fiery torture of separation +any longer, he said to himself: I will return, on the pretext of paying +a visit to her father; and there, it may be, I shall at least get a +sight of her. And who knows but that she may change her mind? for women +after all are not like rocks, but skies. And at the thought, hope +suddenly arose, reborn in his heart. For disconsolate lovers are like +dry chips or straws, easily taking fire, and tossed here and there by +the gusts of hope and desperation. + +[Footnote 29: i.e. _the slave of love, or recollection_.] + +So as he thought, he did. But when he arrived at Mahidhara's home, and +inquired about her, he received an answer that struck him like a +thunderbolt. For Mahidhara said: As for Makarandika, she has utterly +disappeared, having gone somewhere or other, nobody knows where. And if, +as I conjecture, she is looking for a husband among mortals, who will +never even dream of any other woman than herself, she will not soon +return. For it will be long before she finds him. + +And then, that unhappy Smaradasa said to himself: I will find her, no +matter how long it may take me, if at least she is able to be found. So +after meditating for a while, he went away to seek assistance from the +brother of the Dawn. And he said to him: O Garuda,[30] I am come to thee +for refuge. And it is but a little thing that I ask, and very easy, for +the Lord of all the birds of the air. There is a Widyadhari named +Makarandika, who is dearer to me than life itself. Help me, if thou +wilt, to discover where she is: for she has disappeared, without leaving +any trace. + +[Footnote 30: The King of Birds. (The final _a_ is mute.)] + +Thereupon Garuda said: Stay with me for a little in the meanwhile, till +I see what I can do. And he summoned all the sea-birds and the vultures +in the world; and said to them: Go to the eight quarters of heaven, and +find out what has become of Makarandika, a Widyadhari who is lost. + +So then, after a few days, they returned. And their spokesman, who was a +very old vulture named Dirghadarshi,[31] said: Lord, this has been a +very simple thing. For some of my people saw her, a little while ago, +flying westwards. And following her track, on thy order, they saw her +sitting on the palace roof of King Arunodaya, who has married her, and +made her his queen. + +[Footnote 31: i.e. _long-sighted_.] + +And instantly, hearing this news, which pierced his ear like a poisoned +needle, Smaradasa uttered a loud cry, and fell down in a swoon: so great +was the shock, that turned in the twinkling of an eye all the love in +his soul to jealousy and hate. And when, with difficulty, he came to +himself, he hurried away so fast that he forgot even to worship Garuda. +But that kindly deity only laughed, and forgave him, saying: Well might +he forget not me only, but everything in the three worlds, on learning +that his love was lying in somebody else's arms. + +But Smaradasa summoned instantly all his brother suitors. And he told +them all about it, and he said: This matter is no longer what it was. +For if she flouted us all, by refusing to choose a husband from among +us, yet no one could compel her, since she did but exercise the +privilege of all kings' daughters. But now, not only has she placed this +mortal above us all, but by marrying beneath her caste, she has degraded +all the Widyadharas at once, and broken the constitution of the +universe. Therefore she deserves to be punished. Moreover, she is at our +mercy, since she has lost all her magic sciences, by marrying a man. + +So then, when they had all unanimously pronounced her worthy of death, +one suggesting one death, and another another, Smaradasa said +scornfully: What is the use of putting her to death? For death is +absolutely no punishment at all, since she will abandon one body only to +enter another. Rather let us find some punishment suited to her crime, +and worse than any death. And the best way would be, to contrive some +means of making her behaviour recoil upon her own head. And this could +be done, if only we could get this husband she has chosen to desert her +for another. For as a rule, a rival is like _kalakuta_ poison to every +woman: and she is not only jealous, but as it were jealousy itself. And +thus she would become her own punishment. But first let us discover all +about her: for then we can determine how to go to work. + +So, when they all consented, Smaradasa went back to Garuda, and he said: +O Enemy of Snakes, do me one more favour, and I will trouble thee no +more. Find out for me only, how matters stand with her husband and +herself: since her independent conduct is a matter of concern to all the +Widyadharas, of whom she is one. + +And Garuda said: Smaradasa, this commission is very different from the +first. For if I am not mistaken, the Widyadharas mean mischief, and it +is no business of mine. And yet, I will not do thee kindness by halves: +but let this be the last. So after meditating for a while, he sent for +the crows. And he said to them: Crows, you know everything about +everybody, and see the world, and fly about the streets of cities, and +eat the daily offerings,[32] and listen to all the scandal of the +bazaars, and penetrate even into the palaces of kings. Go, then, to the +city of Arunodaya, and spy about and listen, and bring back a full +account of all you can discover, about him and his wife. + +[Footnote 32: _Balibuk, an eater of daily offerings_, is a common +epithet of the crow.] + +And, after a week, the crows returned. And their spokesman, who was +called Kalapaksha,[33] said: Lord, this King and Queen are never apart, +being as inseparable as Ardhanari.[34] And as for Makarandika, it is +clear that she is a _patidewata_, who loves her husband more than her +own soul. And though he has nothing to do with any woman but herself, +yet something is wrong, though we cannot discover what it is. But the +citizens think that she is jealous, because she suspects that he is +always dreaming, not of her, but the wife of his former birth. + +[Footnote 33: Meaning either _black-wings, the dark half of the lunar +month_, or _time-server_.] + +[Footnote 34: The combined form of Maheshwara and his "other half."] + +And as Smaradasa listened, he exclaimed in delight: Ha! what difficulty +is there in doing a thing which is half done already? For this is a +situation which will ripen almost without assistance, resembling as it +does a balance already trembling, in which the addition of a single hair +will turn the scale. And it wants only a touch, for Makarandika to turn +her suspicions into certainties of her own accord. And thus she will +become the instrument of her own torture, and expiate her error, the +victim of her own choice, with nobody but herself to blame. For she was +a Widyadhari, and is absolutely inexcusable. + + +II + +And meanwhile Makarandika, ignorant and careless of all that was +occurring in that world of the Widyadharas which she had thrown away +like a blade of grass, and utterly forgotten, was living like a siddha +in a moon without a spot, having, so to say, attained emancipation in +the form of the husband of her own choice. And for his part, Arunodaya, +having lit upon the very wife of his former birth, contrary to +expectation, and married her again, lived with her like one plunged for +an instant in an ocean of intoxication, salt as her beauty[35] and +infinite as her devotion, and unfathomable as her eyes. And for a while, +he seemed to be the very image of a bee drowned in the honey of a red +lotus, or a _chakora_ surfeited with the beams of a young moon. And in +order to make up to Makarandika, and console her for the loss of her +power of flying through the air, which of all her sciences she most +regretted, he built for her innumerable swings, with gold and silver +chains, and one, that she loved the best, on the very roof she first +arrived on. And she used to pass her time in it, whenever she had +nothing else to do, swinging softly to and fro, and looking across the +sea; tasting, by means of the swing and her own imagination, some +vestige of her lost equality with all the birds of heaven. And though +she never so much as whispered it aloud, yet sometimes, her unutterable +longing to possess once more that power which she had lost for ever, as +she watched the sea-birds flying, brought tears into her eyes, which she +never let Arunodaya see. + +[Footnote 35: A play on words, _salt_ and _beauty_ being the same +(_lawanya_).] + +And yet, though she had utterly lost all her magic sciences, she still +retained the whole of that other magic, which the Creator has not +limited only to Widyadharis, of feminine fascination. And like the moon, +she was a very bundle of bewitching arts,[36] whose potency was doubled +by the intensity of her affection for her lord. For a woman who does not +feel affection for her own husband resembles a sunset from which the sun +and all his redness are withdrawn. + +[Footnote 36: _Kala_ means _arts_ as well as _digits_.] + +And she was, moreover, so absolutely bent upon erasing from his +recollection every vestige of the dim image of the wife of his former +birth, for whom she had substituted herself, like a new moon eclipsing +an old one, that she thought of nothing else: and the thought of this +former wife resembled a thorn that was fixed ineradicably in her own +heart. And she busied herself all day and night, in occupying his whole +attention, and laying snares for his soul, by dancing, and singing, and +telling him innumerable stories, and making as it were slaves of all his +senses, enthralling his eyes with the variety of her beauty, and +captivating his ears with the sorcery of her voice, and chaining his +desires to herself by never-ending wiles of caressing attention, in the +form of embraces of soft arms, and kisses like snowflakes, and glances +shot at him out the very corner of her eye, enveloping him with such a +mist of the essence of a woman's sweetness as to keep him from seeing +any other thing at all. For her Widyadhari nature gave to all her +behaviour grace that was far beyond the reach of any ordinary mortal, +and she seemed like an incarnation of femininity, divested of all the +grossness and clumsy imperfection that it carries when mixed with the +element of death, so that her touch seemed softer, and her step seemed +lighter, and her outline rounder, and her smile far sweeter and her +passion purer, and her whole love ecstasy deeper and truer than any +woman's could ever be. + +But as for the prime minister, when he came, according to agreement, and +Arunodaya showed her to him on the day of the full moon, he was so +utterly bewildered by the very sight of her that she turned him as it +were to stone. And after staring at her in stupefaction, being wholly +bereft of appropriate speech, and as it were deserted by his reason, +which lay prostrate at her little golden-bangled feet, he went away in +silence. And after a long while, he said to himself as he sat alone: +Beyond a doubt, this inexplicable King has somehow or other managed to +find a very miracle of a queen, as far as beauty goes. For her very +ankles alone, are enough to drive a lover mad, and worth more than the +whole body of any other woman; so that whoever began to look at her, +beginning with her feet, would never get any higher, but remain for ever +worshipping their slender and provoking curve, with a thirst that was +never quenched. She must be Rati or Priti, fallen, nobody knows how, +into a mortal birth, and leaving Kama in despair. And yet, whether she +be, as he supposes, the very wife of his former birth, or not, I am +irretrievably disgraced. For he has managed this matter all alone, +without so much as consulting me. And thus, not only have I lost my +opportunity, of taking as it were tribute from all the surrounding +kings, but I am very much mistaken if some of them, or even all, will +not take umbrage at the slight put upon all their daughters by this +unrelated queen,[37] and band together, and suddenly attack him, +bewildered as he is by her disastrous intoxication; and so, the kingdom +will be uprooted, since he is likely to be so entirely wrapped up in her +that he will think of nothing else. And it may be that he will discover +in the future that he has lost more, by disregarding his prime minister, +than he has gained, by marrying even for the second time the wife of his +former birth. And if, as I suspect, this is all but a trick, time will +show up the imposture, and then it will be my turn. For if ever he +should discover she has cheated him, all the coquetry and coaxing in the +world will not keep him from abhorring her, for stealing his affection, +and diverting it away from its proper object, to herself. For as a rule, +men object to being cheated, even to their own advantage, since the +cheater seems to argue that the cheated is a fool. But in the meantime I +must wait, since it is useless to do anything, till the charm has lost +its magic by dint of repetition. For beauty resembles amber: it +attracts, but does not hold: and like a razor, loses virtue every time +that it is used: till at last, it becomes altogether blunt, and +impotent, and without either edge or bite. And then, unless I am very +much mistaken, this lovely false wife of his previous existence will +find, that she has to reckon with a formidable rival, in his +recollection of the true. + +[Footnote 37: Every reader of Scott will recall the "kinless loons."] + + +III + +But Arunodaya, careless of his minister, gave himself up a willing +captive to the witchery of his Widyadhari wife. And for a time, her task +was very easy. For owing to his inexperience, he resembled a child, and +every woman was to him an illusion, and a mystery, so that he would have +sunk under the spell, even had it been less potent than it actually was. +And Makarandika was as it were his _diksha_,[38] incarnate in a form of +more than mortal fascination: and like a priestess she took him by the +hand and led him into the _garbha_[39] of that strange temple built not +of stone, but of the materials of elementary infatuation, and made him +perform, so to say, a _pradakshina_ round the image of the divinity[40] +of which she was herself a bewildering and irresistible incarnation. And +lost in the adoration of a neophyte, he lay like a drunken bee in a +lotus-cup, rolling in honey, and forgetting utterly not only his kingdom +and its affairs, but everything else in the three worlds. + +[Footnote 38: _i.e._ initiation.] + +[Footnote 39: The Greek [Greek: adyton], or sanctuary.] + +[Footnote 40: The Hindoo shrine, says Mr. A. K. Coomaraswamy, is +essentially a place of pilgrimages and circumambulations, to which men +come for _darshan_, to "see" the god.] + +And yet, strange! there lay all the while lurking in the recesses of his +soul a vague misgiving, mixed with a faint and unintelligible +dissatisfaction, resembling a taste of something bitter in the draught +of his infatuation, and an ingredient that qualified and just prevented +his gratification from reaching its extreme degree, of ecstasy without +alloy. And yet he hardly dared to acknowledge it, even to himself, +accusing himself of ingratitude and treachery, and saying to his own +soul: How is it possible to requite such infinite affection, and +devotion, and service, and beauty, by returning nothing in exchange for +it all but suspicion, and distrust, and doubt? For even if she were not +the very wife of my former birth, what could I possibly wish for, more? +And yet, it is very strange. For notwithstanding all she does, she does +not seem to reach and satisfy the craving for recognition in my heart, +which obstinately refuses to corroborate her asseverations: nor do I +ever feel that confidence and certainty, arising from the depths of +recollection, which, if she really were my former wife, surely I ought +to feel. Is it my fault, or hers? Alas! instead of meeting her half-way, +I am oppressed with what is very nearly disappointment, and feel almost +like a dupe, that have allowed myself to fall into the snare of beauty, +so as to yield to another what should belong to one alone. Little indeed +would she have to complain of in the warmth of my return, had she just +that one thing that she lacks, the stamp of genuine priority: for then +she would get in full the very thing I long to give her. + +Aye! I am as it were dying to do, the thing I cannot do, and divided +from supreme bliss by a partition composed of the most exasperating +inability to know for certain, what all the time may after all be true. +For if she is only playing a part not really hers, how in the world did +she discover the way to take me in, by exhibiting a knowledge of those +very same dim vestiges of recollection which I have never told to anyone +but my own prime minister? And very sure I am, that it was not he who +told her, since he almost lost his reason with astonishment, and +admiration that was mixed with envy and annoyance, when her beauty +struck him dumb. So after all, perhaps I am mistaken, and only torturing +myself for nothing. Out on me, if what she says be really true! for then +indeed I deserve something even worse than death, for treating her with +such monstrous ungenerosity. Can it be that her memory is truer and +stronger, putting mine, for its fidelity, to utter shame? Or why, again, +should I struggle any longer against conviction, and persevere in +longing for what I have not got? Who knows whether even if I actually +got it, I should be any better off than I actually am? Could the very +wife of my former birth be a better wife than this? Is not this wife +just as good as any wife could ever be? Does she not as it were combine +the virtues of even a hundred wives? Yet if she be not the true, can it +be that the other is even now upbraiding me, somehow, somewhere, for +falling with such inconstancy straight into another's snares, and +wasting on a stranger the love that belongs to her? Alas! alas! Why did +the Creator make my memory too strong for blank oblivion, and yet so +feeble as to leave me without a proof, and plunge me in such perplexity +in this matter of a wife? + + +IV + +So then, time passed, and these two lovers lived together, she in the +heaven of having discovered the very fruit of her birth, and he half in +heaven and half outside, hovering for ever between delight and +discontent, balanced in a swing of hesitation between assertion and +denial, that like that other swing of hers was hardly ever still. And +little by little, as surfeit brought satiety, and custom wore away the +bloom of novelty, and familiarity began to rob her beauty of the edge of +its appeal, and emotion lost, by repetition, its sincerity, and +passion's fire began to cool, and the flood of desire to ebb, then +exactly as that cunning Gangadhara foretold, the doubt that, like a +seed, lay waiting in his soul began, seeing its opportunity, to swell +and grow, till there came to be no room for any feeling but itself. And +unawares, he used to sit gazing at her, with eyes that did not seem to +see her, as if continually striving to compare her with some other thing +that was not there, till under their scrutiny she shrank away and left +them, unable to endure, turning away a face that became paler and ever +paler, half with apprehension of discovery, and half with jealousy and +resentful indignation: for only too well her heart understood what was +passing in his soul, though he never dared to tell her, out of shame at +having to confess, that in return for the free and absolute gift of her +soul, he was yielding her only a fragment of his own, and even that, +with suspicion and reluctance: converting the very completeness of her +surrender into an argument against her, as if she did from policy alone +what came from the very bottom of her heart. And he seemed to her to say +by his behaviour: Did she not throw herself into my arms uninvited, +without even waiting to be asked, of her own accord, like an +_abhisarika_, and could such a one as this be really the wife that I was +looking for? Does it become a maiden, even a Widyadhari, to be bolder +than a man? And why is it, that for all that she can say, and all that +she can do, she never can succeed in arousing any corresponding +sympathy, or producing a conviction that we ever met before? And is this +the union I expected, devoid of that overwhelming mutual recognition +that would leap like fire out of the darkness of oblivion, if the +associations of a previous existence were really there? + +So she would sit thinking, and watching him furtively, sitting in her +swing, and swaying gently to and fro, gazing out over the sea. And she +used to say sadly to herself: Now, as it seems, all my endeavours have +been fruitless; for do what I can, all my labours are unavailing. And I +have given myself away, and sacrificed all my magic sciences, for +nought. For it is clear that he cares for absolutely nothing, in +comparison with this dream of this wife of his previous birth. And yet +what could she, or any other wife whatever, give to him, or for him, +more than I have given. What! is the wife of the present birth so +absolutely less than nothing, compared with the wife of the past? What! +has not one birth the same value as another? And if she was the wife of +that birth, then I am the wife of this. Very sure I am, that she cannot +love him as well as I. Have I not become, from a Widyadhari, a mortal, +solely on his account. And yet, who knows? For it may be, I am +impatient, and am hoping to succeed, too soon; anticipating, and +expecting to pluck the flower of his full affection before the seed that +I have sown has had full time to grow. Well then, I will water it, and +watch it, and let it ripen. And I will strive, in the very teeth of his +prepossession, to overcome his stubborn recollection, and uproot it, not +by ill-humour or peevish premature despair, but by flooding him with all +the sweetness that I can. Yes, I will conquer him by becoming so utterly +his slave, that for very shame he will find himself obliged to sacrifice +his dream to me. + + +V + +So then, as she said, she did. And making herself as it were of no +account, and utterly disregarding the absence of reciprocal affection in +a soul that held itself as it were, with obstinacy, aloof, she set +herself to thaw his ice by a constancy of service that resembled the +rays of a burning sun. And she met all his suspicion and his scrutiny by +such invariable tenderness, and with such a total absence of even the +shadow of complaining or reproach, that his heart began, as if against +its will, to melt, unable to hold out against the steady stream of +affectionate devotion, welling from an inexhaustible spring. And little +by little, he began to say to himself as he watched her: Surely it were +a crime to doubt her any longer. For such an irresistible combination of +unselfishness and beauty could not possibly flow from any other source +than the unconscious reminiscence of old sympathies, and adamantine +bonds, forged and welded in a previous existence. For she gives and has +given all, in return for almost nothing, resembling a mother rather than +a wife; and so far from resenting any lack of confidence, she makes up +for all that I do not give her, by increasing the quantity and quality +of her own, as if she had incurred an obligation to myself, in some +former and forgotten state, which she was never able to repay. And what +proof other than this could I demand? And if this good fortune of mine, +in her form, be not the reward of works, done in that birth which I +struggle to remember, what else can it be? + +So then at last, there came a day, when they sat together in the +twilight on the palace roof, watching the moon, that wanted only a +single digit, rising like a huge nocturnal yellow sun, looking for the +other that had sunk to flee, far away on the eastern quarter, on the +very edge of the sea, which seemed for fear to tremble like an +incarnation of dark emotion, while a lunar ray, like a long pale narrow +finger, ran over straight towards them, stepping from wave to wave, and +seeming to say with silent laughter: Like me on the surge of the deep's +desire, love bridges over the waves of time. What is the tide without +me, but the livery of death? + +And as she gazed, the eyes of Makarandika shone, for very excess of +happiness, and there came into each a crystal tear, that caught and +reflected the moon's ray, like a twin imitation of himself. And as she +looked, she murmured: Now at last, as I think, the victory is all but +mine, for I have never brought my husband yet so near the very edge of +love's unfathomable deep, as I have to-day. And now, with just one more +effort, he will fall into the bottomless abysses of my soul, and I shall +have him for my own. Strange! that she did not understand, she was +herself tottering on the very brink of a fatal gulf that would swallow +her up for ever, and plunge her, by a single step, into the mouth of +hell! + +For even as she spoke, she turned, and looked for a single instant, with +unutterable affection, into her husband's face. And then, she said +aloud: _Aryaputra_, dost thou know, of what I am now thinking? And he +said: No. Then she said: How short a time it seems, since I settled on +that parapet in the form of a sea-bird, and saw thee first: and yet, the +difference is eternity! + + +VI + +And then, the very instant she had spoken, recollection suddenly rushed +across her: and she knew, like a flash of lightning, that she had +uttered her own doom. And as she gazed at him with eyes, whose love +suddenly turned to terror, Arunodaya, all at once, started to his feet. +And he exclaimed: Ha! wert thou the bird? Ha! now, at last, I +understand. So this, then, was the means of thy discovery, and the +origin of thy deceit, thy listening to the conversation of my minister +and me? And all thy story was a lie, and thou thyself art nothing but a +liar and a cheat. And like a worm, that is hidden in the recesses of a +flower, thou hast placed thyself on a king's head, being only fit to be +cast away and trodden underfoot: as I myself will tread thee, and cast +thee away like a blade of grass, fit only to be burned. And I will sweep +the very shadow of thy memory from my heart, into which thou hast +wriggled, by treachery and fraud, to the prejudice of its proper owner, +the true wife of my former birth. + +So as he spoke, with eyes that consumed her, as it were, with the fire +of their hatred and contempt, she stood for a single instant still, +stupefied and aghast, shrinking from his fury, and confessing by her +confusion her inability to clear herself of the charge he brought +against her, looking like a feminine incarnation of the acknowledgment +of guilt. But as he ended, the thought of the rival whom he cast into +her teeth entered her heart like the stab of a poisoned sword. And as he +looked at her, all at once he saw her change. And the fierce fire of his +own emotion suddenly died away, annihilated as it were and turned in a +trice to ashes as he watched her, by the intensity of hers. For from +crouching as she was, she slowly stood erect, becoming so ashy pale that +life seemed on the very point of leaving her a thing composed of snow +and ice in the white rays of the moon. And she looked at him with eyes, +in which the love of but a moment since had frozen into a glitter, as +though the blood that filled her heart had suddenly turned to venom that +was black instead of red. And so she stood for a moment, and then all at +once she leaped at him and clutched him by the hand, with fingers that +shut upon it and squeezed into it like teeth. And she said, with +difficulty, as if the breath were wanting to make audible the words: +Dost thou repay me thus? And have I thrown away my state of a +Widyadhari, and all my magic sciences, for such a thing as thee, and +this? And have I sacrificed a countless host of suitors, who would have +given the three worlds for a single glance of my eye, for thee to +trample on my beauty and my affection, counting it all as absolutely +less than nothing, in comparison with another who is nothing but a +dream? Make, then, the very most of all the sweetness and the love that +she will give thee; for mine thou hast lost, and it is dead, and it is +gone. See, whether the affection of the wives of thy future and thy past +will make up to thee for that of thy wife of the present, which thou +hast despised, and outraged, and mangled and annihilated, and wilt never +see again. + +And she turned, abruptly, and looked for a single instant away across +the sea. And she said: I cannot leave thee as I would have done, for I +have lost my power of flying through the air. But bid adieu to the wife +of the present, and sing hey! for the wife of the past. + +And as she spoke, her voice shook. And she went away very quickly into +the palace, and left him there on the roof alone. + + +VII + +Now in the meanwhile, the prime minister was well-nigh at his wits' end. +For ever since his marriage, Arunodaya had entirely neglected his +kingdom and his state affairs, throwing upon Gangadhara the burden of +them all. And this would have been exactly to his taste, in any other +circumstances but those in which it happened: since it was just the very +marriage itself which occasioned all his anxiety and care. + +And one day as he sat alone, musing in his garden, at last he could +contain himself no longer, but broke out into exclamations, imagining +himself alone. And he said: Ha ha! now, as I feared, this lunatic of a +King and his mad marriage are about to bring destruction on this kingdom +and myself. And as to my own part, it would be bad enough alone, that I +should have lost not only crores of treasure, which I could easily have +gained, but also the opportunity of making favourable political +alliances with the strongest of the other kings. But even worse things +are impending over the kingdom and myself. For not one only, but all the +kings together are collecting to attack us, considering themselves +slighted; and as I am made aware, by means of my own spies, the King's +maternal uncle is in league with them in secret, hoping by the ruin of +his nephew to secure the kingdom for himself. And between them, I also +shall be crushed, since they consider me as one with the King my master; +and it will all end in my losing, not only my property, but my office +and my life: since I cannot even get this King to listen, were it only +with one ear, to any business at all: and without him, there is nothing +to be done. Thus I myself, and he, and his kingdom, will all go together +to destruction, like sacrifices offered to his idol, in the form of his +wife. And yet there is something unintelligible even in his relations +with his wife, which even my spies are unable to detect. For though the +King and Queen are never separate, even for a moment, yet they do not +seem to be at one: and though he has got, as it seems, exactly what he +wanted, yet he does not appear to be content. Something, beyond a doubt, +is wrong, though nobody can discover what it is. And in the meantime, we +shall all presently discover something else, that we are all involved in +a common catastrophe: and very soon, it will be too late, even to hope +to take any measures whatever against it at all. For as a rule, delay is +fatal at any time: but above all now. And I cannot see any other way +than to throw in my lot with the King's maternal uncle, and so save the +kingdom and myself, at the King's expense. And if I do, he will have +absolutely nobody to blame but himself, for having scouted me and my +policy, and like a mad elephant rather than a king, imagined that he was +at liberty to marry anyone he chose, behaving just as if he were a +subject, and not a king with political necessity to consider, before any +private inclination. And now, could I only discover some means of +bringing it about, I should be more than half resolved to oust this +unmanageable King from his throne. But the difficulty is, how to get rid +of him and his strange windfall of a queen, without incurring suspicion +and the blame of the bazaar. For I can get no satisfactory solution of +this mystery, even from my spies. + +So as he spoke, all at once a voice fell out the air upon his head, as +if from the sky. And it said: O Gangadhara, there are ready to assist +thee other and far better spies than thy own. + + +VIII + +And as Gangadhara started, and looked up in wonder, he saw Smaradasa +just above him, hovering in the air. And that celestial roamer descended +gently, and stood upon the ground beside him. And he said to the prime +minister, who humbly bowed before him: Gangadhara, I am Smaradasa, a +king of the Widyadharas, and I have come to let thee know so much as may +be necessary, and tell thee in this matter what to do: which is, to sit +with thy hands folded, like an image of Jinendra on a temple wall, for a +very little while, and the conclusion will arrive of itself, without thy +interference: since others are concerned as well as thou, in punishing +this king, and his outcast of a queen, who like a wheel has left the +track, and run out of her proper course, downhill. + +And Gangadhara said: My lord, I am favoured by the very sight of thee: +and I am curious to know all the circumstances of this extraordinary +matter, if it be permitted to such a one as me. + +And Smaradasa said: O Gangadhara, creatures of every kind fall into +disaster by reason of their own characters and actions, and this is such +a case. And there is no necessity for thee to be acquainted with any of +the particulars, since curiosity is dangerous, and those who pry into +the business of their superiors run the risk of getting into trouble, +which they might have avoided had they been discreet. So much only will +I tell thee, that this queen's independent behaviour is on the eve of +giving birth to its own punishment, which will in all probability +involve in it that of her silly lover as well as her own. And the +Widyadharas have fixed upon thee, to be an agent in bringing it about. +And I bring thee a commission, which if thou dost refuse, evil will come +upon thee, very soon, and very sudden, and very terrible. But as I +think, thou wilt undertake it, seeing that the result will tally +precisely with objects of thy own. For as I said, spies better than thy +own have had their eyes on thee and all the others, unobserved. + +Then Gangadhara trembled, and he said: This servant of thine is ready to +do anything, no matter what. + +And Smaradasa said: There is little to be done, and it will be very +easy. Know, as it may be that thou knowest already, that Arunodaya +desires nothing in the world so much, as to recollect the incidents of +his previous existence: since this is what perpetually troubles him, +that he seems to be hovering for ever on the very brink of grasping +recollection, which nevertheless invariably slips from his grasp: +leaving him in such a state of irritated longing and disappointment, +that to quench it, he would give the three worlds. Go, then, to +Arunodaya, and give him this fruit. And say to him this: Maharaj, one of +the neighbouring king's ministers, whom I have recently befriended, sent +me this fruit, with its fellow, brought to him by a traveller from +another _dwipa_.[41] And such is their virtue that whoever eats one, +just before he goes to sleep, will dream, all night long, of the very +thing that he most desires. And so, wishing to test it, I ate one; and +that night I saw in my dreams such mountains of gold and gems, that even +Meru and the ocean could not furnish half the sum of each. And now I +have brought thee the other, thinking that the experience might amuse +thee: and now it is for Maharaj to judge. And when he hears, Arunodaya +will think the fruit to be no other than the very fruit of his own birth +in visible form before his eyes. For it will enable him to realise his +desire, and discover the events of his former birth. + +[Footnote 41: (Pronounce _dweep_)--a far-off continent or island.] + +And Gangadhara took the fruit into his hand, and looked at it +attentively, resembling as it did a pomegranate, but smaller. And the +smell of it was so strong, and so strange, and so delicious, that it +seemed to say to its possessor: Refrain, if you can, from tasting, what +tastes even better than it smells. And then, he shuddered, and he raised +his eyes, and looked steadily at Smaradasa: and he said: Is it poison? + +And that crafty Widyadhara laughed, and he said: Nay, O Gangadhara: it +is exactly what I told thee to say, and thy account will be the very +truth. + +Then said Gangadhara again: But if this is so, how can Arunodaya's +eating it advantage either thee or me? + +And Smaradasa said: Gangadhara, it is dangerous for anybody, and much +more for this King, to recollect his former birth, even in a dream. +Beware of eating it thyself: for it is tempting. But now, mark very +carefully what I have to say. See, when thou dost give it him, and tell +him, that the Queen is by. I say, mark well, that at the time of thy +telling, she overhears thee: and beware, at thy peril, of forgetting +this condition, for in it will all the poison of the fruit be contained; +and without it, it is naught. + +Then said Gangadhara: I do not understand. + +And Smaradasa laughed, and he said: Gangadhara, no matter: for thy +understanding is not an essential condition of success. But be under no +concern: for Arunodaya will not die of poison, and the fruit is free of +harm. For poison of the body is a very clumsy contrivance, and one +suited only to mortals who are void of the sciences, not knowing how or +being able, like Widyadharas, to work indirectly by poisoning the soul. + + +IX + +So then, Gangadhara did very carefully just as he was told. And +everything came about exactly as Smaradasa had predicted. For the soul +of Arunodaya almost leaped out of his body with delight, in anticipation +of the satisfaction of his curiosity, by making trial of the fruit; +while the lips of Makarandika grew whiter, and shut closer, at the sight +of it, as if it contained her rival in its core. + +And that very night, Arunodaya went up upon his palace roof, according +to his custom, to sleep. And he took with him the fruit, which he +carried in his hand, not being willing to let it out of sight for a +moment, for fear that Makarandika might steal it, in order to thwart his +expectation, and prevent him from having as it were an assignation with +any other woman, even in a dream. And as it happened, that night a +strong wind was blowing from the east, and the waves of the sea broke +against the rocks of the palace foot, as if they were endeavouring to +move it from its place. + +And while Arunodaya threw himself upon his bed, Makarandika went and +sat, a little way away, in her swing, that rocked and swayed to and fro +in the wind, looking out across the sea, with gloom in her eyes: and +casting, every now and then, glances at him as he lay, out of the corner +of her eye, that seemed as it were to say to him: Beware! And like her +body, her soul was tossed to and fro in the swing of unutterable longing +and despair. And she said to herself: Even in my presence, which he +absolutely disregards, he is preparing for a meeting in his dreams with +this wife of his former birth. And at the thought, she frowned, and +turned paler, clutching tighter unawares the chains of her swing, and +setting her teeth hard, and casting at Arunodaya, lying in his couch, as +it were daggers, in the form of dark menace from eyes that were filled +with misery and pain. And the moon in the first quarter of its wane +seemed as it were to say to her: See, thy power is waning, exactly like +my own. + +And in the meanwhile, Arunodaya took his fruit and ate it, and lay down, +with a soul so much on tiptoe with desire and agitation that sleep +seemed to fly from him as if on purpose, out of sympathy with her. And +for a long while he tossed to and fro upon his bed, listening to the +roar of the waves and the wind. And so as he lay, little by little he +grew quiet, and sleep stole back to him silently and took him unaware. +And his soul flew suddenly into the world of dreams, leaving Makarandika +alone in the darkness, awake in her swing. + + +X + +But Arunodaya fell into his dream, to find himself walking in a row of +kings, into a vast and shadowy hall. And as they went, that hall +re-echoed with a din that resembled thunder: and he looked, and lo! that +hall was as full of pandits as heaven is of stars, all dressed in white +with their right arm bare, and each so exactly like the other that it +seemed as though there was but one, reflected by the innumerable facets +of a mirror split to atoms, all shouting together, each as loud as he +could bawl: See, see, the suitor kings, coming to marry the pandit's +daughter! Victory to Sarojini, and the lucky bridegroom of her own +choice! + +And as Arunodaya looked and listened, all at once there rushed upon his +soul as it were a flood of recollection. And he exclaimed in ecstasy: +Ha! yes, thus it was, and I have fallen back, somehow or other, into the +bliss of my former birth. And there once more, I see them, the pandits +and the hall, exactly as they were before, all shouting for Sarojini. +Aye! that was the very name, which all this time I have been struggling +to remember. And strange! I cannot understand, now that I recollect it, +how I should ever have forgotten it, even for a single instant. But +where then is she, this Sarojini, herself? + +So as he spoke in agitation, he looked round as if to search, and his +heart began to beat with such violence that he stirred as he slept upon +his couch. And at that moment, there suddenly appeared to him a woman, +coming slowly straight toward him, followed by her maid. And as she +came, she looked at him intently, with huge, bewildering, gazing eyes +that seemed to fasten on his soul, filled as they were with an +unfathomable abyss of melancholy, and longing, and dim distance, and +dreamy recognition, and wonder, and caressing tenderness, and reproach. +And her body was straight and slender, and it swayed a little as she +walked, like the stalk of the very lotus whose name she bore, as if it +were about to bend, unable to support the weight of the beautiful +full-blown double flower standing proudly up above it in the form of her +round and splendid breast. And she was clothed in a dusky garment +exactly matching the colour of her hair, which clung to her and wrapped +her as if black with indignation that it could not succeed in hiding, +but only rather served to display and fix all eyes upon the body that it +strove to hide, adding as if against its will curve to its curves and +undulation to all its undulations, and bestowing upon them all an extra +touch of fascination and irresistible appeal, by giving them the +appearance of prisoners refusing to be imprisoned and endeavouring to +escape. And as it wound about her, the narrow band of gold that edged it +ran round her in and out, exactly like a snake, that ended by folding in +a ring around her feet. And she held in her right hand, the arm of which +was absolutely bare, an enormous purple flower, in which, every now and +then, she buried, so to say, her face, all except the eyes, which she +never took from Arunodaya, even for a single instant. And she seemed to +him, as he watched her, like a feminine incarnation of the nectar of +reunion, after years of separation, raised into a magic spell by an +atmosphere of memory and mystery and dream. + +So as he gazed, lost in a vague ocean of intoxication, all at once her +attendant maid, who seemed for her boldness and her beauty like a man +dressed in woman's clothes, or some third nature that hovered between +the two, came out before her mistress. And she seized by the hand a +suitor king, and led him up to Sarojini, and said to him aloud: O King, +listen and reply to the question that the husband of Sarojini must +answer well. + +And as she spoke, Sarojini withdrew her eyes from Arunodaya, and let +them rest for a moment on the king that stood before her. And she said +in a low voice, that sounded in the sudden stillness of that hall like +the note of a _kokila_ lost in the very heart of a wood: Maharaj, say: +should I choose the better, or the worse?[42] + +[Footnote 42: This cannot be expressed in English with the point of the +original, because the word expressing preference means also _bridegroom_ +(_waram_).] + +And that unhappy king said instantly: The better. + +Then said Sarojini: O King, I am unfortunate indeed, in losing thee. + +And instantly, she turned her eyes back upon Arunodaya, and at that +moment, all the pandits in the hall began to shout: Sarojini, Sarojini, +_jayanti_! And as he listened, lo! she and her eyes, and the hall with +all its pandits, wavered, and flickered, and danced before his eyes, and +went out and disappeared. And the clamour and the tumult of the pandits +changed, and altered, and melted into the roar of the waves and the +wind. And in a frenzy of terror lest the dream should have concluded, he +woke with a cry, and raised his head from its pillow, and opened his +eyes; and they fell straight upon Makarandika, who was looking at him +fixedly, sitting in her swing. + +And suddenly she said to him: Of what art thou dreaming? And he +answered: Of pandits. And immediately, his head fell back upon its +pillow, and his soul sank back into his dream. + + +XI + +But Makarandika started, and she exclaimed within herself: Pandits! Ha! +Then, as it seems, he really is dreaming of the things of his former +birth. And her eyes grew darker as she watched him, sitting in her +swing, very still, with one foot upon the ground. And all at once, she +left the swing, and came to him very quickly, and knelt, sitting upon +her feet, upon the ground, beside him, gazing at him in silence as he +slept, with eyes that never left his face for even a single instant. + +But the soul of Arunodaya, leaving his body lying on the couch, flew +back like a flash of lightning eagerly to his dream. And once more he +found himself in that hall, with all its pandits shouting, just as if he +had never left it to awake. And lo! the eyes of Sarojini were fastened +on his own, as if with joy; and in his relief, occasioned by sudden +freedom from the fear of the dream having reached its termination, and +the recovery of those eyes, his heart was filled with such a flood of +ecstasy that, all unaware, he laughed in his sleep. And in the meantime, +that unabashed and clever maid came forward, and seized by the hand +another king, and led him forward like the last. And she said, exactly +as before: King, listen and reply to the question that the husband of +Sarojini must answer well. + +And then once more, the eyes of Sarojini lingered for a little on those +of Arunodaya, and left him, as if reluctant to depart, and rested, as if +carelessly, upon that second king. And she said in the silence that +waited, as it were, for her to speak: Maharaj, say, shall I choose the +greater or the less? + +And that unhappy king hesitated for an instant; and he said: The less. + +Then said Sarojini: Alas! O King, once more I am unfortunate: for I +should be inexcusable, in choosing thee. + +And instantly, she turned, and her eyes met those of Arunodaya, waiting +in the extremity of agitation, with a glance that seemed to say to him: +Be not afraid. And as he sighed in his sleep, for delight, lo! once +again, she and her eyes, and the pandits, and the shouting, and the +hall, shivered, and wavered, and receded into the darkness, and went out +and disappeared. And the din of the triumph of the pandits changed and +altered and ended in the roar of the waves and the rushing of the wind. +And once more he awoke and opened his eyes: and lo! there just in front +of him was Makarandika, with eyes that gazed, as if with wrath, straight +into his own. + + +And when she saw his open, she said in a low voice, very slowly: Of what +wert thou dreaming? And Arunodaya murmured: Of pandits. And instantly, +he closed his eyes, as if to shut her from his soul. And then, he forgot +her in an instant, and flew back, as if escaping from a pursuer, into +his dream. + + +XII + +But Makarandika's face fell. And after a while, he began to laugh, with +laughter that quivered, as if it hesitated between agony and scorn. And +she exclaimed: Pandits! Does anybody laugh, as he did in his sleep, who +dreams of pandits? What has laughter such as his to do with pandits? +Nay, he is trying to hide from me a secret, not knowing, that in the +absence of his soul, his body is playing traitor to him against his +will. Ah! well I understand, he closed his eyes, to keep me on the +outside of his soul, which he opens in the sweetness of a dream to +someone else. So, now, let him beware. And she drew still closer to his +side, and leaned over him, with her eyes fixed upon his lips, and a +heart that beat with such agitation that she pressed one hand upon her +breast, as if to bid it to be still, lest its throbbing should rouse him +from his sleep. + +And as she gazed, there came over her soul such a sense of desolation, +mixed with the fire of jealousy, and wrath at her own inability to +follow him into his dream and snatch him for her own from everybody +else, that her breath was within a little of stopping of its own accord. +And she yearned to find, as it were, a refuge, in tears that refused to +flow, and her head began to spin. And all at once, a shudder that was +half a sob shook her as she kneeled, mixed with an almost irresistible +desire to clasp him in her arms, and claim him for what he actually was, +her husband, and the only lord without a rival of her own miserable +heart. And a fever that turned her hot and cold by turns began to hurry +through her limbs. And she murmured to herself, without knowing what she +said: Shall he leave me here, deserted, alone in the darkness of this +palace and the night? to meet in a dream where I cannot follow him the +wife I cannot oust from his soul? Who knows? It may be that at this very +moment, they are laughing me to scorn, locked in each other's arms. + +And so as she continued, gazing at him with a soul set as it were on +fire by suspicion and images of her own creating, and a heart stung by +the viper of recollection, and yet, strange! swelling with a passionate +and hopeless yearning for his affection to return, meanwhile, the soul +of Arunodaya, all heedless of the passion that menaced his abandoned +body, lay, as it were, drowned in the honey of his dream. And once +again, amid the tumult of the pandits, the eyes of Sarojini were drawing +his soul towards her own, as if with cords, woven of the triple strands +of colour and reminiscence and the intensity of a love that was returned +tenfold. And so as he lay, conscious of absolutely nothing but the abyss +of those unfathomable eyes, all at once that shameless maid came forward +yet again, and took the hand of yet another king, and said as before: +King, listen and reply to the question that the husband of Sarojini must +answer well. + +And Sarojini, hearing her speak, drew her eyes away sadly from +Arunodaya, and turned them slowly on that waiting king. And she said: +Maharaj, say, shall I choose the bitter or the sweet? + +And then, that miserable king, as if he feared the fate of his +predecessors, stood for a while in silence. And he said at last: The +sweet. + +Then said Sarojini: King, beyond all doubt my crimes in a former birth +are bearing fruit, in depriving me of such a husband as thyself. + +And instantly, all the pandits broke into a shout, and as they did so, +she shot at Arunodaya a glance that seemed as it were to say to him: Be +patient, for thy turn also will presently arrive. + +And at that very moment, something took him as it were by the throat. +And as the dream suddenly went out and disappeared, he awoke, in the +roar of the waves and the wind, to find that Makarandika had her hand +upon his breast, to wake him from his dream. And she said absolutely +nothing. But her eyes were fixed upon his own, filled to the very brim +with entreaty, and affection, and terror and grief, and despair. + +And seeing her, he frowned, as if the very sight of her was poison to +his soul. And he shut his eyes, and fell back upon his pillow, to go +back to his dream. + + +XIII + +But Makarandika shrank from the glance that he cast upon her, exactly as +if he had struck her in the face with his clenched hand. And she turned +suddenly white, as if the marble floor she sat on had claimed her for +its own. And all at once she fell forward, and remained, crouching, with +her face upon her hands, like a feminine incarnation of Rati when she +saw Love's body burned to ash. And time passed, while the moon looked +down at her as if with pity, wondering at her stillness, and saying as +it were in silence: Can it be that she is dead? And then, suddenly, +Arunodaya laughed aloud in his sleep, and he murmured, as if with +affection: Sarojini, Sarojini. + +And then, Makarandika looked up quickly. And lo! there came over her a +smile, like that of one suddenly rejoicing at the arrival of unexpected +opportunity. And all at once she stood erect, as if all her agony had +been changed in a moment to resolution. And she looked down at him as he +slept, and she said, very slowly: Ah! lover of Sarojini, dost thou leave +me, as it were, spurned from thee with aversion, alone on the roof of +thy palace, to spend thy time with her? What! shall the wife of this +birth sit, weeping as it were outside the door, while she embraces thee +within? Ah! but thou hast forgotten, that if I cannot enter, at least I +can interrupt thee, since I am mistress of the dream. + +And she put her hands up to her head, and undid the knot of her braided +hair. And she took from it, as it fell around her, as if to shroud her +action in the darkness of a cloud, a long thin dagger,[43] that +resembled a crystal splinter of lightning picked up on a mountain peak, +and shone in the moon's rays like a streak of the essence of vengeance +made visible to the eye. And she went close up to him, and remained +standing silent, watching his face turned upwards as he lay before her, +with a smile on her lips that resembled the gleam of her own dagger, as +it waited in her trembling hand. + +[Footnote 43: "Did not Windumati slay Widuratha the Wrishni with a +stiletto that she had hidden in her hair?" (_Harsha charita_).] + + +XIV + +But in the meanwhile Arunodaya fled as it were from Makarandika to take +refuge in his dream. And he found Sarojini as it were waiting for him +with anxiety, with eyes that seemed to say to him: Amidst all this +tumult of the pandits, thou and I are as it were alone together. And it +seemed to Arunodaya as he watched her, that her lips moved, and were +striving to say to him something, that by reason of the distance and the +shouting, he could not understand. And in his delight, he began to laugh +in his sleep, and murmur back to her in answer: Sarojini, Sarojini. And +filled with unutterable desire to approach her, and take her in his +arms, he was on the very point of rushing forward, urged by the +irritation of an impatience that was becoming unendurable, when once +again that maid devoid of modesty came straight towards him, and almost +broke his heart in two by taking by the hand not himself, but the king +who stood beside him. And as he muttered to himself: Out on this +interloping king, who comes between me and my delight! beginning to +tremble all over as he lay, that maid said again: King, listen and reply +to the question that the husband of Sarojini must answer well. + +And Sarojini turned half towards him, leaving as it were her eyes +behind, fastened still on Arunodaya, as if unable to bear again the pain +of separation, and calling as it were to him, from over the sea of time. +And then she said, as if her words were meant for him alone! Maharaj, +Maharaj, say, shall I choose the past or the present, the living or the +dead? + +And then, ere that unhappy king could answer, Arunodaya leaped towards +her, while all his body quivered as he lay upon his bed, as if +struggling in desperation to accompany his soul. And he cried out, not +only with his soul, but his body: Sarojini, Sarojini, never shall thou +choose, since I will not leave the choice to thee at all. Dead or +living, I am thine and thou art mine. And as she threw herself into his +arms, he caught her, and pulled her to his breast, while she put up her +face to him, as if dying to be kissed. + +And then, strange! that face suddenly eluded him, with a derisive sneer. +And his ears rang with a din composed of the shouting and laughter of +pandits, mingled with the roar of the wind and the sea. And she and the +dream together suddenly went out and disappeared. And he saw her face, +for the fraction of a second, change, as if by magic, into the face of +Makarandika, pale as ashes: and then, something suddenly ran into his +heart like a sword. And his soul abandoned his body, with a sharp cry, +never to return. + + +XV + +So then, the very moment it was done, Makarandika woke, herself, as it +were, from a dream. And horror at her own action, as if it had waited +till the very moment when it should be unavailing, suddenly flowed in +upon her soul. And as she gazed at Arunodaya, lying still in the +moonlight with her dagger in his heart, and found herself with +absolutely no companions but the dead body, and the darkness, and the +wind and the waves, alone on that palace roof, she murmured to herself, +as if she hardly understood: What! can this be of my doing? What! have I +actually slain the husband of my own choice, jealous of his very dreams? + +And she stood, for a little while, with one hand upon her head, and +then, she uttered a scream. And she seized him by the hand, and shook it +violently, as if endeavouring to wake him and recall him from a dream, +in which she herself had buried him for ever, cutting off its +termination, and prisoning his soul in an everlasting dungeon, like a +stone dropped beyond recovery, fallen with a hollow echo into the black +darkness of a well. + +And lo! that shriek reverberated as it were in heaven, and was answered +by a peal of laughter that fell on her from the sky. And she looked up +into the air, and saw, hovering in rows above her, all those Widyadhara +suitors whom she had rejected long ago, gazing down at her with faces +that were distorted with malice and derision. And as she stood, +confounded, with their laughter ringing in her ears, Smaradasa swooped +towards her, and called to her ironically: Ha! Makarandika the scornful, +how is it with thy mortal husband? How could he prefer another to such a +beauty as thyself? + +And Makarandika gazed at them all for an instant, with eyes that exactly +resembled those of a fawn, on the very verge of escaping from its +pursuers by leaping from a cliff. And her reason fled away from her, as +if anticipating her own flight. And strange! at that moment, as if +bewildered by her own deed and the very sight of those Widyadharas of +whom she had been one, she utterly forgot for an instant that she +herself was no longer a Widyadhari, and had lost her own power of flying +through the air. And she made a bound to the edge of the parapet, and +leaped off, thinking to fly over the sea, and escape, and be at rest. +But instead of flying, she fell, and was broken to pieces at the bottom +of the wall, in the foam of the waves that were also broken, at the foot +of the palace rock. + + * * * * * + +So then, when at last Maheshwara ended, the Daughter of the Mountain +asked eagerly: But, O thou of the Moony Tire, tell me, how as to the +dream. Was it the very truth, and Sarojini the very wife of his former +birth? + +And Maheshwara said slowly: Nay, O Snowy One, not at all. For it was not +even a true dream. For if it had really been a dream, it would not have +continued, as it actually did, in spite of its interruptions. But the +whole was a delusion, and a contrivance of the Widyadharas, who lured +his soul out of his body by means of a magic drug, and acted all before +him, exactly like a play. For the Widyadharas were the pandits, and the +great hall was nothing whatever but the sky. And the noise was nothing +whatever but that of the wind and waves, and Sarojini herself was +Makarandika's own sister, who hated her for her beauty, which was +greater than her own. And as for Makarandika, she was all the time her +own rival; for she herself, and no other, was the real wife of his +former birth. + +And the Daughter of the Mountain started, and she uttered a little cry. +And she exclaimed: Ah! no! O Moony-crested, it cannot be. Surely thou +art only jesting? What! was their happiness divided from them by so thin +a wall as that? What! when they would have given, each his soul, to know +it? Alas! alas! what cruelty of the Creator, to bring the cup of +happiness as it were to their very lips, without allowing them to taste! +simply by reason of a film of utter darkness, that prevented them from +seeing it was actually there! + +And after a while, that Lord of Creatures said slowly: O Daughter of the +Mountain, yet for all that it was true. And many a traveller crosses +over seas and years of separation, surmounting every peril, to perish at +the very last moment, when the ecstasy of reunion is almost in his +grasp, on the step of his own door. And be not thou hasty to lay cruelty +to the door of the Creator, who is absolutely blameless in the matter, +seeing that all these and similar misfortunes come about, as the +necessary consequence of works. And though the extremity of happiness, +arising from mutual recognition, was divided from Arunodaya and +Makarandika by a screen thinner than the thickness of a single hair, +they could not reach it, for thin as it was, that screen had been +erected by their own wrong-doing, and was nothing whatever but the doom +pronounced against themselves by their own misbehaviour in a former +birth. And thus it came about, that Makarandika played the part of +Arunodaya's former wife, never even dreaming that she was only claiming +to be what she actually was: while Arunodaya shrank, in his ignorance, +from the very wife whom he would have given the three worlds to +discover, in pursuit of a phantom, that was substituted for her by his +own unilluminated longing for a treasure that, all unaware, he held +already in his hand. For souls that wander to and fro in the waste of +the world's illusion resemble chips tossing aimlessly up and down on the +heaving waves of time, driving about at random they know not how or +where, under a night that has no moon, in an ocean without a shore: for +whom the very quarters of heaven are lost in an undistinguishable +identity, and even distance and proximity are but words without a sense. + +So, now, let us leave these our images to become once more, by our +departure, nothing but the stony guardians of this empty shrine. And +to-morrow Gangadhara will learn, by listening to the story of yonder +sleeper, what Smaradasa meant, and unriddle his enigma of the poisoning +of the soul. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Syrup of the Bees, by Anonymous + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SYRUP OF THE BEES *** + +***** This file should be named 35928.txt or 35928.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/9/2/35928/ + +Produced by David Edwards, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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