Bubbles of the Foam Read online

  I

  A DAPPLED DAWN

  I

  Now in the meanwhile Bimba, when his cousin drove him off his throne,had fled away to the eastern quarter, taking his daughter with him. Andhe took up his home in the forest, and there he lived, in a little huton the side of a hill, just where the desert ended, and the trees of thewood began, having fallen from the state of a King to that of a fugitiveand a hunter, living by the chase and the fruits of the forest trees,and drinking streams instead of wine. And so he continued to live, yearby year, mourning for his wife, and bitterly hating his cousin,disgusted with the world, with no companion but his daughter. Andgradually, as time went on, he utterly forgot his kingdom and all hisformer life, growing ever fonder of the forest that he lived in, andsaying to himself: Now is the wood become my wife, since my other wifeis gone.[24] And the only thing that matters now is the daughter thatshe left behind, as if to keep my memory green of what she was herself.So now, then, I will change her name, lest some day in the future itshould betray her to my cousin: for her name would be a clue, leading toher destruction. And as a rule, to lose a name is the same thing as todisappear, and die, and be forgotten. So she shall die, as Alipriya, tobe reborn as Aranyani. And what does the title matter? For the bees willlove her just as well, by one name as the other.[25]

  [Footnote 24: An untranslateable play on _dari_, wood, and _sundari_, abeautiful woman.]

  [Footnote 25: _Alipriya_, "beloved of the bees," a name of the trumpetflower, _Bignonia suaveolens_. _Aranyani_, a forest goddess, nymph, ordryad. Pronounce Urrun-nyani.]

  So then Aranyani grew up alone with her father in the forest, with heridentity disguised, turned as it were from a queen into a woodman'sdaughter, and lying hidden and unknown, like a pearl in an ocean shell.And yet she resembled fire, that refuses to be concealed, betraying itstrue nature through no matter what envelops it, and shining through, bychinks and holes, the wrapping that would hide it, even when it does notburn. For brought up in the forest though she was, and half alone, sinceher father often left her by herself, all day long, yet strange to say!the rudeness of her wild condition ran over her, leaving her souluntouched, like the water running in crystal drops that beautify but donot wet the neck of a royal swan. And one day she was discovered like atreasure in the wood by a band of hermits' daughters, that were roamingat a distance from the hermitage, away in the forest's heart. And thosedaughters of the sages all fell suddenly in love with her at once, notonly for her eyes, that reminded them of the deer that were theirplaymates in their home, but still more for the strange and wildsweetness of her soul, that resembled absolutely nothing but itself. Andevery now and then, they used to come and play with her, when theyrambled in the wood, telling her innumerable stories which they heardfrom their fathers, those mines of sacred wisdom. And then, very soon,those daughters of the hermits found, to their amazement, that theyresembled fools, pouring water into a well. For she rememberedeverything when she had only heard it once,[26] and meditating over italone, not only squeezed out of its mango all the juice which itcontained, but planted its kernel like a seed of heavenly wisdom in herheart, and watering it with her own imagination, turned it presentlyinto a new and strange tree, loaded with peculiar flowers and fruits ofits own: so that as she grew gradually up, she resembled a receptacle ofthe essence of old lore, mixed with a native and original savour ofherself. Ha! very wonderful indeed are the influences that rise up outof a former birth, since even in this lower form of a hunter's daughterthe nature of that incomparable goddess overflowed, like a holy sap inthe dark heart of a forest tree, and welled out abundantly, till itcovered the coarse bark with fragrant buds and shoots, and flowers ofimmortal scent and hue. For her body kept pace with the progress of hersoul, as if out of rivalry and jealousy unwilling to lag behind it, inthe acquisition of ornaments and graces. And having no other models, itfound itself obliged to imitate the objects that made up the atmosphereand soil in which it grew: till at last the deer and the blue lotusesgazed upon her eyes, and the red fruits and _gunja_ berries at her lips,and the creepers at her arms, with envy and amazement: and the _tamala_shadows turned pale when they looked at her hair, and the trunks of the_nyagrodha_ trees despaired, gazing at the curve of her waist as it sankinto the outline of her heavy hips, and the swans and the elephantsblushed with shame to see her walk, and the gourds swelled till theyburst with jealousy, unable to rival the protuberance of those twodisdainful sisters, her inimitable breasts, and the bees grew mad, as ifintoxicated with honey sweeter than their own, at the fragrance thatfloated from the flower of her mouth.

  [Footnote 26: _Ekashrutadhara._ This word exhibits the opinionentertained by the Hindoos as to the close connection existing between apowerful intellect and a retentive memory. Such a quality indicates thehighest kind of pundit: and it should be recollected that Saraswati isthe divinity of wisdom, the pundit _par excellence_.]

  And then strange! just at the very moment when she turned from a childinto a woman, there came over her a change, that resembled the presenceof a single overhanging cloud in the ruby crystal of a clear pale dawn.For though her father told her something of her story and his own, yethe never told her all, whetting all the more her curiosity by what hedid not tell, which like a hidden secret she strove to discover forherself by means of the careless hints that fell every now and then fromhis mouth unawares, like clues. And the thought that she was thedaughter of a King flitted in her mind, and appeared to disappearcontinually, coming and going, as often as she sat musing in thetwilight, like the bats in the shadows of the surrounding dusk. And shemixed this conviction with the rosy hope of the dawn of her ownmaidenhood, and with visions which she would blush like that dawn toavow even to herself, and with fictions of her own imagination that wasfilled with old legends and stories, and she brooded over a future thatwas suggested by the past till it turned into a dream, half pleasant andhalf melancholy for want of its unlikelihood, that haunted her, andnever left her, resembling the colour of the blue shadow that hovers onthe pure snow of thy father's[27] western slopes, just before the comingof the early sun. For though she was unaware of it herself, she wasplunged in the loneliness of sex, arising from the dim yearning of heras yet untouched affection, and longing for the thing that every maidenwaits for, like the night, in the form of a lover, to burst out suddenlyinto red emotion and an ecstasy of joy. And sometimes, as she sat alonedreaming, and gazing as she loved to do out into the desert, thatstretched away below the hill she lived on towards the setting sun,visions of the kings and princes and lovers of her stories assembling incrowds at her own _Swayamwara_,[28] floated with indistinct andunimaginable beauty in the blue haze of the sand, with an intoxicatingfascination that almost took away her breath, till she was amazed andeven frightened to find her own heart furiously beating, and shakinginto agitation the wave of that bosom which there was nobody to see, asif it was ashamed of her and angry with itself.

  [Footnote 27: Sc. the Himalaya.]

  [Footnote 28: The old epics are full of stories of these gatherings,held to enable the daughters of Kings to choose their own husbands. Thestory of the marriage in Herodotus, about which Hippocleides did notcare, is one of the few parallels in the west.]

  And yet, with the exception of her father, she had never seen any manbut one, who entered into her forest life merely like one of its trees,for she had been accustomed to see him, every now and then, ever sinceshe was a child. And this was a young woodman, who lived a long way offin the wood. And he used to go hunting with her father, who had foundhim in the forest: and he came every now and then to see them, since herfather was pleased with him, for his good nature and simplicity,resembling as it did the clearness of a stream. And he was as tall as a_shala_ tree, and very strong, and very brown and hairy, and though hisname was Babhru,[29] yet her father always called him Bruin,[30] andAranyani knew him first only by the nickname: for when she was a child,he used to play with her, as often as he came. And so as she grew up,she looked upon him always with the eyes of a
child, never even dreamingthat her own alteration might produce any alteration in himself: as itdid. For little by little, as her beauty grew, so did his affection;till at last it turned into a passionate devotion, that remainednotwithstanding absolutely pure, and free from any taint of evil, likethe soil in which it grew. And finally, he could not keep away from her.And he came oftener and oftener to see them, till her father was on thevery point of forbidding him to come. And then, suddenly, Babhru askedhim, to give Aranyani to him as a wife.

  [Footnote 29: Tawny: reddish brown. Pronounce Bub-bhroo.]

  [Footnote 30: _Achcha_, a corruption of _Riksha_, just as we say "Bruin"instead of "Bear."]

  And Bimba looked at him, as if struck by the very thunderbolt ofastonishment, for though he was fond of Babhru, yet the idea of such ason-in-law was so outrageous that it had never even occurred to him atall. And like a flash of lightning, he suddenly became aware of hisdaughter's own attraction, and the danger of the proximity of butter tothe fire. And though utterly despising Babhru for a son-in-law, he couldnot tell him why. Therefore he banished him altogether, and not onlywould not give him Aranyani, but actually forbad him to see her anymore: as it were returning upon Babhru the thunderbolt that had fallenon himself: so that that unhappy son-in-law came within a little ofabandoning the body, for grief and amazement, and remorse, at everhaving asked a question that had produced so terrible a consequence, thevery opposite of that at which it aimed. For even to forsake the societyof Bimba was a grief to him, since he loved him and looked up to him asa dog does to his master. But the thought of losing that of Aranyani wasexactly like a sword driven through the very middle of his heart. Andleaving it behind him, as it were, together with his reason thatabandoned him, he went away hanging down his head, alone.

  But unable to endure separation, yet unwilling to disobey Bimba, he usedto come stealthily and lie lurking in the bushes, watching, to catchsight of Aranyani. And sometimes, seizing his opportunity, when he knewthat her father was away, he would creep out, trembling like a coward,and speak to her. And Aranyani, displeased at him for coming to see herwithout her father's knowledge or permission, and not reciprocating hispassion in the least, yet partly out of pity, and partly out of kindnessarising from recollection of his playing with her in the past, and itmay be, partly just a very little pleased with his honest admiration,and willing to waste a little of her time in teasing him, for want of abetter lover, would sometimes talk to him a little, and laugh at him andtell him stories, and send him away more utterly infatuated, and morehappy, and more miserable than ever, after making him promise never tocome again. And every time he promised, and went away only to returnagain immediately, simply because he could not help it: dreading herreproof every time he dared to come, yet ready for all that to risk hislife a hundred times over, only to bask once more in the nectar of thesunshine of that reproof. For the words of the straw, promising not toanswer to the call of the amber that attracts it, are void of meaning,and perish in the very moment of their utterance, like pictures drawn onthe surface of a running stream.

  II

  So, then, there came a day, when Bimba went away to hunt in the forest,leaving Aranyani alone at home. And on that morning, she was sitting byherself in her customary seat, on the trunk of a fallen tree, gazing,with her chin resting on her hand, away over the desert, that lay beforeher like an incarnation of the colour of vague youth-longing, ending ina blue dream. And wholly intent on her own thoughts, she remainedsitting absolutely still, totally unconscious of all around her, as ifher soul, in imitation of what it gazed at, had become the exact mirrorof the silent desert's inarticulate and incommunicable dream. And yet,from time to time, a smile stole into her lips of its own accord, as ifbetraying against her will some sweet and secret hoard of delicious joywithin, that she strove in vain to hide. And every now and then her eyesgrew a little brighter, and there came a flush over her face, and alittle tremor ran as it were all over her, like the ripple that comesand goes upon the bosom of a lake, stirred by a play of wind.

  So as she sat, it happened, that Babhru came slowly through the wood,looking for her, and knowing her customary haunts. And suddenly catchingsight of her sitting, he hesitated for a moment, and then came quietlyand stood behind her, a little way off: half-pleased that she did notsee him, and a little bit afraid of the moment when she should. Andthere he remained silent, yet with a heart beating so violently that itshook him till he trembled, gazing with ecstasy and adoration at theoutline of her throat and her chin, and the corner of her lips, which hecould only just see, round the curve of her cheek. And after a littlewhile, longing to see more of those lips, he leaned eagerly forward,and put out one foot without looking where it fell; and stepping on adry twig, it broke with a snap.

  And at the sound, instantly she started up, and looked round, as if interror. And strange! when she saw him, there came into her face surpriseand displeasure, that were mingled with relief, and even disappointment,as if she had expected, and hoped, and yet even feared, to see someoneelse. And while she gazed silently at him in confusion, Babhru saidsadly: Aranyani, of what or of whom didst thou think, so intently, as tobe unaware of my approach? For thy lips seemed to me to be smiling, asif with anticipation, and very sure I am that it was not at the thoughtof me or my coming that they smiled.

  And Aranyani blushed, and instantly frowned, at her own involuntaryblush. And she said, as if haughtily: O Babhru, what are my thoughts tothee? And are they thy servants? And what right hast thou to be jealousof my thoughts, who hast not even the title or permission to be here atall? Didst thou not promise not to come again? and yet here thou art forall that, watching to surprise my very thoughts, while all the while Ido not think of thee at all. Yet even so, here there is certainly norival to thyself. And Babhru said bitterly: Rivals could not make thematter worse, since by thy own confession thou dost not think of me atall. Even without rivals, I am utterly rejected and despised, by theeand by thy father. Then she said kindly: Nay, Babhru, not by me. Thouart for me, just what thou always wert, before. And Babhru said: Alas!that is my very grief. For I would have thee not the same, but somethingmore. Then said Aranyani: What more, O Babhru? And he looked at hersadly, and said: Dear Aranyani, couldst thou not love me just a verylittle? And she laughed, and said: Poor Bruin, do I then not love theevery well? And Babhru said with emphasis: Love! Thou dost not so much asunderstand the meaning of the word.

  And she looked at him for a moment, with eyes whose expression he couldnot comprehend, and she drew a deep breath, and turned away. And shesaid lightly: Do I not? then thou shalt tell me all about it: for I willallow thee to stay with me, for a very little while, just to show thee,that I love thee a very little. Sit down, then, beside me, and look notso melancholy, or I shall begin to think, to love is to be wretched:whereas I had imagined, in my innocence, the very contrary. And Babhrusaid: Thou art utterly deceived: for love is misery. And she laughed,and exclaimed: Why, then, I am better as I am, without it. What!wouldst thou have me miserable? And he said: Well can I tell thee fromexperience, that every lover must be miserable, when, like myself, hecannot gain his object. And now I could almost wish evil to thy father,since he it is who stands, like a cloud, between me and the moon of mydesire. And she said: What is this much-desired moon? And he said: Thouknowest very well, it is thyself: and I long to have thee for my wife,and live with thee alone, for ever and ever, in the wood.

  Then said Aranyani: O Bruin, it may be, the attainment of thy desiremight sorely disappoint thy expectation, after all: since many times,those who have risen to the very summit of the mountain of their hopeshave found themselves miserably deceived, and fallen suddenly to thevery bottom of despair with a crash, like Chandana. And Babhru said: Whowas Chandana? And he said within himself: Let her tell me about Chandanaor anybody else, so only that I can cheat her into allowing me to sithere, and watch her lips moving, and look into her eyes.

  And Aranyani said: Babhru, thou art so simple, and thy soul is likecrystal, so that I can s
ee into thy secret thoughts without needing tobe enlightened by thy voice. Didst thou not say to thyself: I careabsolutely nothing for Chandana, so only that I may listen while shetalks? And Babhru hung his head, with a blush. And Aranyani clapped herhands in triumph, and exclaimed: See! O Bruin, thou art guilty. Yetdespair not, for thou shalt hear all about Chandana, just the same.Know, that long ago, there was a King, who had innumerable wives, andfifty sons, of whom this very Chandana was one. Now all these sons livedin anxiety, saying to themselves: Which of us all will be the heir tothe throne, and succeed our father when he dies? So they remained,rivals, and each had his eyes fixed upon the others, fearing to besupplanted. So Chandana's case was worse than thine, O Bruin, since thouart without a rival. And then, after a while, that old King, out of allhis fifty sons, chose this very Chandana for his heir; and appointed him_yuwaraja_,[31] with all the proper ceremonies. So when they werecompleted, that overjoyed _yuwaraja_ ran, fresh from the installation,to the _awarodha_,[32] to tell his mother of his triumph, and increaseit by her praises. But he found her, to his amazement, all in tears,and as dismal as if he had come only to tell her of his death. So hesaid: Mother, what is the reason of such misery, on such a day ofexultation? Should the gloom continue, while the sun is rising? But hismother looked sourly at him, and she said: Fool! thy rising sun issetting: thou art out, in thy quarters, and mistakest west for east: andsoon enough, it will be night for thee. And Chandana said: I do notunderstand thee. Then said his mother: The King thy father discovered,long ago, the elixir of life: and even now he has been living forfifteen hundred years. And this is a jest that he plays, now and then,for his own amusement, making one of his innumerable sons his heir. Forall his heirs die before him, as thou wilt also, never even reaching somuch as the very first step of that throne that lures them on and hangsalways just before them, like a bundle of _hariali_ grass held by acrafty rider on a stick before the nose of the deluded beast of burdenthat carries him along. Thine is only the phantom of a sun that willpresently go down and disappear, leaving the true sun, thy father, stillin the very blaze of noon.

  [Footnote 31: _i.e._ "little king," Prince of Wales or Dauphin. Thestory is a piece of old folklore, and one version may be found inSomadewa.]

  [Footnote 32: The women's apartments, or _gynaeceum_.]

  So as he listened, the face of that unhappy Chandana fell. And he wentaway, and sank, just as his mother told him, into the night ofmelancholy; and abandoning his royal condition, he became a pilgrim, anddied after many years at a very holy bathing-place, at last. But hisfather went on reigning, making his sons, one after another, _yuwaraja_,exactly as before.

  III

  So, then, when Aranyani ended, Babhru said with a smile: Aranyani, thystory is foolish, and altogether wide of the mark, and it brings meconsolation rather than reproof. For very certainly thy father is not aKing, and has not an elixir, and will not live for ever. And when hedies, thou wilt no longer be able to escape me, for we shall be alonetogether in the wood.

  Then said Aranyani: Babhru, thy confidence is very positive; and yet,who knows? Who knows what may happen in the future? Count not, O Bruin,with such ignorant presumption on finding me for ever at thy mercy inthe wood: even after the disaster, which ought not to have occurred tothee, even in a dream. And even if my father be, as thou sayest, not aKing, I say, who knows? And all at once, she turned half round, facinghim directly as he sat beside her, with malice and provocation in hereyes. And she said: Babhru, how if a King's son were suddenly to comeinto the wood, and carry me away, as many stories tell of others? Didnot Dushmanta discover Shakuntala, in exactly such a wood? But thou wiltsay, she was more beautiful than I. And Babhru said gloomily: I will saynothing of the kind: for thou art far more beautiful than Shakuntala oranybody else. Then said Aranyani: Thou seest. So nothing is wanted tomake my case tally with her own, save only the King's son. And is notthe world full to the very brim, of Kings and their sons? And Babhruexclaimed with a groan: Alas! Aranyani, thou art wounding my very heart,and this is the very thing of which I am afraid. For thy onlypreservation is, that this is a wood, into which nobody ever comes. Andall day long I tremble, lest in very truth some stranger should comeinto the wood and see thee, and spread abroad the news of thy existence,like the wind which carries everywhere the scent of a lotus, till atlength the bees come to plunder it of the honey it contains. Then,indeed, all would be over, for thee as for me.

  And Aranyani said, with mischief: O Bruin, what then? Wilt thou deny hisflower to the bee, and is not the true and proper place of every flowereither the wilderness, its origin, or the head of a King, its destinyand end?

  And once again, Babhru uttered a groan, and he exclaimed: Aranyani, thywords are torture, and nothing whatever but the echo of my own fears.But this much I will tell thee, on my own part: that the King who shallcome to carry thee away will do well to beware. For if I know it, andfind him in the wood, he will never leave it, either with thee orwithout. And he looked away, with ferocity in his eyes and in his teeth,not perceiving that Aranyani turned paler as he spoke. And presently shesaid, in a low voice: Surely this love must be an evil thing, if theseare its results. And now for the very first time, I see, that thou artwell named, O Bruin, and in very truth, a bear. What! wouldst thouactually slay the poor King's son who had never done thee any harm,simply for seeking me? And Babhru said sternly: What harm could he do megreater than robbing me of thee? But let him only come, and see!

  And Aranyani said slowly: O thou rude, and fierce, and love-bewilderedBabhru, dost thou not know, that only he is virtuous, who is so far fromrevenging an injury that he returns it, on the contrary, by a benefit,as Bhrigu did: whose story would be a lesson to thee, of which thoustandest in sore need. And Babhru said: I care not a straw, either forBhrigu or anybody else: and if, in this matter, he could be of anyother opinion than my own, I tell thee beforehand, that thy Bhrigu is afool.

  And Aranyani laid her hand upon his arm, and said very gently: On thecontrary, he was a sage: sit still, and listen, while I tell thee allabout him. Long ago there arose among the sages a dispute, as to whichwas the greatest of the gods. And some said, the Grandfather, andothers, the Moony-crested, and others, the husband of Shri.[33] Andfinding that they could not agree, for all their disputing, they came tothe conclusion, to settle the matter by experiment. And they chose fromamong them Bhrigu, and sent him away, to put the gods to the test. SoBhrigu went accordingly, and after a while, he fell in with Brahma. Anddrawing near that four-faced god, he neither saluted him, nor performeda _pradakshina_,[34] but went up without ceremony and accosted him, withrude familiarity. Thereupon Brahma, in great wrath at his insolence, andon the very point of cursing that deliberately ill-mannered sage, wasnevertheless appeased by him, by means of excuses and apologies. And so,leaving him appeased, Bhrigu proceeded further on, and coming toKailas, enquired for Maheshwara. But the Moony-crested god, informed ofhis arrival, sent him out a message, bidding him go away again, andsaying: I have no leisure, since I am at this very moment busy playingwith my other half, the Daughter of the Snow. And going awayaccordingly, Bhrigu came upon the Lord Wishnu, lying fast asleep. Andinstantly he awoke him, by giving him a kick upon the breast, so hard,that he injured his own foot. Then that husband of Shri, rising uppolitely, said to him with concern and compassion in his voice: OBhrigu, surely thou hast hurt thy own foot: for the kick was verysevere. And as a rule, a blow hurts the giver more than the receiver.And sitting down beside him, that compassionate deity took the foot uponhis lap, and began very gently to shampoo it, continuing till all thepain was gone. Then said Bhrigu: What god is greater than this god? Forwho but a god, and the very highest, would requite an unprovoked assaultby tenderness, and pity, and oblivion of his own wrong? Surely this isthe badge of Deity in its very essence, that, like sky-crystal, is pure,and absolutely transparent, and utterly without a flaw[35]?

  [Footnote 33: _i.e._ Brahma, Shiwa, and Wishnu respectively.]

  [Footnote 34: By moving round him, keeping him
on the right: anestablished form of adoration.]

  [Footnote 35: This curious and very beautiful legend may be found in thePuranas.]

  IV

  And Babhru listened in silence, and when she ended, he said slowly:Aranyani, dost thou then imagine, that the deity, so tolerant of injuryto himself, would have been equally long-suffering and indifferent, hadBhrigu or any other, fool or sage, attempted to rob him of Shri, anddeprive him of his wife?

  And Aranyani laughed and said: But I am not thy wife, O Babhru, yet.Thou art anticipating. And Babhru said: Alas! no. But at least, if thouart not yet my wife, thou art not any other man's: nor, if I can preventit, shalt ever be. And she said: Babhru, thou art utterly intolerable,and a tyrant: and at this rate, I shall without a doubt die unmarried,if all the sons of Kings who may come to seek me in the wood are to beslain by thee. And much I fear, that the wood will come to rival evenKurukshetra,[36] with all its heroes lying dead in heaps, exceptthyself.

  [Footnote 36: The scene of the great battle in the Mahabharata, whereall the heroes killed each other.]

  And Babhru said without a smile: Aranyani, thou art laughing at a thingwhich, for all that, is very solemn, and very simple: for very sure itis, that whoever would deprive me of thyself must either slay me first,or die himself. And she said: Poor Bruin, this alone is very sure, thatlove must be a very demon, since he has filled thee with such a ragingthirst for the slaughter of the sons of Kings. But come now, I will tellthee a better way: and that is, to kill me: for so wilt thou effectuallycircumvent and cheat all these love-sick and imaginary Kings, at asingle blow: if, as it seems, I am to be a cause of strife andbloodshed, as long as I am alive.

  And he looked at her fixedly, and said: Jest not with my devotion, forit may be, thou art nearer the truth than thou imaginest. Will any Kingwhatever love thee half as well as I do? Yet thou wilt not love me, andas I think, it is because I am not on the level of thy thoughts, and nota King.[37] Then she laughed, and exclaimed: Alas! poor Bruin, thou artmad: for all these Kings are only dreams, yet art thou as savage as ifthey were actually before thee in a row. And he said: Aye! only dreams:and yet the dreams are earnest, and are thine. Kings are the verymatter of thy dreams. Is not this the subject of thy reveries as thougazest at the sand? Ha! am I right? Dost thou never long for some King'sson to come and fill thy life with joy, and deliver thee from themonotony of this wood, and thy father, and myself? Am I not below thee,in thy estimation? Then for what canst thou long, but for thy peer?

  [Footnote 37: It should be remembered by the English reader that "sonsof Kings" are more numerous, in India, than in the West. All Rajpootsare sons of Kings: and Aranyani herself a Rajpootni. To marry a King'sson would be for her, not merely a desire, but a duty: an affair ofcaste. All this flavour evaporates in a translation.]

  And he looked keenly at Aranyani, and as her eyes met his, she wavered,a very little, and looked away, and said: Alas! poor Babhru, thy love isjealousy, which makes thee so sharp-sighted, that thou seest things thatare not there. So trouble not thy foolish head about anything so slightand insignificant as the subject of my dreams, otherwise thou wilt placethyself on the level of the zanies of Chincholi. And he said: Thouspeakest the very truth: I am the very type of a fool, striving to reachwhat is above him and beyond his reach, even when he stands on tiptoe:and that is, the level of thy thoughts. And Aranyani said: See now, Isaid well, thou art the very fellow of the sages of Chincholi: a city,into which on a day there came a certain sanctimonious ascetic, calledPinga, from the colour of his hair. And arriving at the square beforethe palace of the King, he sat down in its middle, and spreading outhis left hand open before him, he looked intently at its palm. And so hecontinued, wrapt in the contemplation of his hand, paying absolutely noregard to anything around him, till night. And this he did every day,all day long, till at length he became the very target of the curiosityof the people of the town, who crowded round him in a throng, disputingas to the meaning of his singular behaviour, and all maintainingopposite opinions. And one said: This ascetic is undoubtedly ponderingon the Panchatantra.[38] And another: Beyond a doubt, the holy man ismeditating on Death. And yet another: Is not this an ascetic? And ofwhat should he meditate but the five fires? But a pundit passing by,said: His meditation can be of nothing but the syllogism and itsmembers. Thereupon another said: Is it not the left hand?[39] Then histhoughts are of the Shakti. And a wag among them said: Aye! For of whatdo all these holy men perpetually think, but of the five arrows of theGod of Love? And a Brahman said: Thou art altogether out in thyconjecture, for he meditates on nothing but the sheaths of the soul.And a Gawali shouted: The sage is considering devoutly the parts of thecow. For what is holier than a cow? And there arose such an uproar inthe city that the citizens all came to blows, dividing into factions,around him, while all the time he sat peacefully just as if nobody wasthere, gazing at his hand. And finally the King sent officers to say tohim: Depart quickly from the city, for thy presence is a cause ofsedition. Thereupon Pinga said: Interrupt my meditation, and I willcurse the city, so as to deprive it of both sun and rain. So fearing hiscurse, the King had recourse to diplomacy. And he sent his _purohita_ atnight, who secretly induced that obstinate ascetic to go away, of hisown accord, by giving him a _lakh_. And as he slowly went out of thecity, his _chela_ said to him aside: Master, what _was_ the subject ofthy meditation: for I am curious to know? Then that crafty asceticsuddenly laughed like a hyaena. And he said: I meditated about absolutelynothing but my own hand. And now, this is a lesson to thee. For such isthe nature of fools, who comprehend least of all what is absolutelysimple, and see last of all what is lying before their nose. And whoeverknows this possesses treasure inexhaustible, and is master of the world.

  [Footnote 38: The point of these interpretations depends on the numberfive, which enters into all of them.]

  [Footnote 39: There is a play here on _wama_, which means the _lefthand_ and _a beautiful woman_.]

  V

  And Babhru watched her intently, as she spoke, and when she ended, hesaid suddenly and abruptly: Aranyani, thou art deceiving me. And shesaid: How, O Babhru? And he said: Thou art this morning totally unlikethyself: for thy customary melancholy is absent, and thou art strange,and elated, and agitated, and as it seems to me, thou art telling meidle stories, like one that listens all the while to something else, asit were in a hurry merely to throw me off the scent, and hide from me asecret, and amuse me like a child. And somehow or other, I feel as ifthere were a wall between us, this morning, which was never therebefore. Aye! I am sure, I know not how, thou art playing as it were apart, to cast a mist before my eyes, and hide from me some agitation inthy soul.

  And Aranyani laughed, and blushed, and frowned, and finally she said:Babhru, thy love is a disease, which fills thy head with nightmare, andthy eyes with phantoms born of suspicion in thy soul. And he said: Alas!thy own behaviour gives the lie to thee. Thou art not like thyself, andI am right. And now, then, I will tell thee, in return for thy stories,one myself; but unlike them, mine shall be very sad, and very true.

  And Aranyani turned, and looked at him with anxiety in her eyes: and shesaid: O Babhru, a story, and from thee! what is it? And he said: Dostthou remember, a little while ago, when we wandered, the last time I sawthee, in the wood? And she said: Yes. Then he said: Dost thou recollect,how all at once I stopped thee, and turned back with thee, and left theeso abruptly? And shall I tell thee, why? And Aranyani gazed at him,turning a little paler, without speaking. Then he said: Know, that as wewent, I looked, and suddenly I saw before me in the bushes, what wasunseen by thee, the face of a man. And as I saw it, I shuddered, for hiseyes were fixed on thee, with astonishment, and evil admiration. Andinstantly I turned, and took thee home, and left thee, and hurried backto find him: but he was gone. I hunted everywhere, but he was gone. Andever since, I cannot even sleep, for thinking of this man, and of hiseyes, which haunt me, as they gloated on thee, like a terror, bidding mebeware, and saying as it were: Ha! Ha! thy treasure is discover
ed. And Iresemble one, whose buried hoard of gold has been seen by other eyes;and hardly do I dare to be away from thee, not as before, merely forlove of thee, but for fear, lest, on returning, I should find mytreasure gone.

  And all at once, he burst into a sob; and he rose, and took a step ortwo away from her. And Aranyani rose also, and she said with agitation:O Babhru, what was he like, this man? Was he tall and powerful, likethee? And Babhru said: Nay, he was a little ugly man, with weasel eyes.And Aranyani laughed, as if with relief. And she exclaimed: O Babhru,what is this? Is this a man of whom to be afraid? What! shall I fall avictim to this little man with weasel eyes, who hides in bushes? Beunder no concern, for so much I will tell thee, that not even a hundredsuch pigmies shall ever carry me away.

  And Babhru said sadly: Alas! Aranyani, thou dost not understand: andlike the flower in thy hair, thou art utterly ignorant of thy ownattraction. And exactly such a man as this, whom thou despisest, is themost dangerous of all. Dost thou think, if once through his agency theworld should suddenly become aware of what this wood contains, it wouldlong remain unvisited by others? It was not the face of the intruderthat I feared, but his tongue, which, could I but have caught him, Iwould have cut out of his throat, to keep it from betraying thyexistence to the world outside.

  And as he looked towards her, with tears in his eyes, all at onceAranyani changed colour, turning suddenly paler, as if her heart,appalled by the apparition of some menace in his words, had summoned toits assistance all the blood in her face. And after a while she said:Babhru, thou art ill, and thy unfortunate affection not only makes theeoverestimate my value, but even leads thee to alarm thyself and me, bycreating imaginary fears. And moreover, come what may, the mischief, ifany mischief is, is done, and the tongue that is thy bugbear is safe andat a distance in its owner's head, talking, very probably, of anythingbut me. But now, while we ourselves are talking, time has fled, and itis nearly noon; for the shadows are at shortest; and now, I dare not letthee stay here any longer; as indeed, I was to blame, in allowing theeto stay at all; and better had it been for both of us, it may be, hadstthou never come. And should my father suddenly return, and find thee, itwould be worse. Why need I tell thee what thou knowest very well? Andwhat good can come to thee, by longing for what is forbidden? Thou dostonly add fuel to the flame of thy fever, which I, did I do my duty,ought rather to quench, by pouring over it the cold water of distanceand separation. But my compassion for thee fights with my obedience tomy father, for I am only a woman after all, and very weak; and it maybe, I love thee just a very little. So be content with all that I cangive thee, and do not come again, but recover from thy fears, and forgetme. I cannot be thy wife, but I wish thee well. And now goodbye, and goaway.

  So as she stood, dismissing him, Babhru turned without a word, and wentaway into the wood, very slowly, while she watched him go. And she putboth her hands behind her head, and stood looking after him, absolutelystill. And as fate would have it, he turned round, just before he passedout of sight, and looked back, and saw her standing, gazing after himwith a smile, with every outline of her round and slender woman's formstanding out sharp as the moon's rim, as if on purpose to intoxicate hiseye, against the background of the distant sand, like a threefoldincarnation of his inaccessible desire, and his disappearing happiness,and his irrevocable farewell, in a feminine shape. And all at once hecame back to her with hurried steps. And he reached her, and fell downbefore her, and seized a corner of her red garment that was loose, andkissed it. And then he started up. And he said, in a voice that shook,with tears stealing from his eyes: Well I understand that I am lookingat thee, for the very last time.

  And then he turned, and went away very quickly, without looking round:while she stood in agitation, looking after him, till he disappearedamong the trees.