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. Andyet, by the decree of destiny, it turned out altogether contrary to hisexpectation. For as it happened, his father, in whose family it was anhereditary custom to have only one queen at a time, grew gradually tiredof his only wife. But being as cowardly in crime as he was weak inconstancy, he did not dare to bring about his wishes by any violence orpractice of his own, but lay as it were in wait, for some suitableopportunity or occasion to present itself, by means of which he mightsucceed in getting rid of her, without incurring any blame, or runningany risk. For such souls as his was, think to throw dust in the eyes ofChitragupta,[10] not knowing that he does but add cowardice to the totalof 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 eachsoul must answer for, at the end of every birth.]
So while he waited, time went on, and year succeeded year. And little bylittle he and his queen grew gradually older, and his son changed slowlyfrom a boy into a man.
And then, at last, one day it happened, that the King and Queen weresitting together on the palace roof. And all at once, the Queen startedto her feet with a cry. And as the King looked towards her, with wonderand curiosity, she said slowly: Aryaputra,[11] know, that I havesuddenly recollected my former birth. And now, I long to tell thee allabout it; and yet I am afraid. For this is the law, that if anybodysuddenly remembers his former birth, and tells it to another, that verymoment he must die. And if I die, I must leave thee: for if not, whatcould death do to me, since that is the only thing in the three worldsof which I am afraid?
[Footnote 11: i.e. _son of a nobleman_, the term used by a queen inaddressing her husband.]
So as she looked at him, with regret and affection in her eyes--for shewas as devoted to her husband as if he had been worthy, as indeed he wasutterly unworthy, of her devotion--all at once the King's heart leapedin his breast. And he said to himself: Ha! Here, as it seems, is thatvery opportunity, for which I have been waiting all these years: till Ithought that my soul would almost part from my body, for sheerimpatience 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 formerbirth: as if this recollection of thine had been the spark required, toset fire to the memory of my own. So now, then, let us very quickly telleach 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, theQueen told him very quickly all that she recollected of her formerbirth. And when she had finished, the King looked at her steadily for awhile, and his face fell. And he said, with difficulty: Alas! alas! Iwas utterly mistaken: and as I think, I took fire falsely, out ofsympathy with thee. And now I have fallen unwittingly into anirreparable disaster. For as to my own former birth, I rememberabsolutely nothing about anything at all.
So as he spoke, he looked at the Queen, and their eyes met. And in thatinstant, she understood; and caught, like a flash of lightning, thefalsehood in his soul. And she gazed at him, for a while, fixedly, witheyes that resembled an incarnation of scrutiny that was mingled withreproach, till all at once he turned away, unable to endure thedetection of his own baseness, reflected as it were in the calm mirrorof her own pure gaze. And after a while, she said slowly: Son, not of anoble, but an outcast, know, that thou hast doomed not me only, butthyself. And now, because thou hast betrayed me to my death, thy sonalso shall die as I do, and on the very same spot, by the agency of onewho stands to him in the very same relation that I do to thee: and thehusband shall pay for the wife. And the consequence of works shall dogthee, 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 apunishment, and a delusion, resembling a scene played upon a stage,whose king turns out, when the curtain falls, to be but a sorry rascalafter all. And all the while, I have given my devotion to the wronghusband, and like a foolish benefactor, have wasted alms on a pitifulimpostor. I feared, but one short moment since, to leave thee, and topart 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 whenthe trunk it clung to falls, and saying as if to mock him: Seek now forthe 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 ifby express design. For they pitied him exceedingly, each saying to theother: See, now, how this good Queen's death has robbed this poordeserted King as it were of his own soul: as well, indeed, it might. Forshe was a _patidewata_,[12] and a Sawitri, not only in her name, but inher 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 comingdoom. 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 ofworks, 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: asthis King found to his cost. For even as he gazed at the body of hisqueen, lying dead on the floor beside him, remorse rose up as it wereout of her body and took him by the throat. And at that moment, he wouldhave thrown away his kingdom like a blade of grass, to bring her back tolife. And his longing to get rid of her changed, like a flash oflightning, into a passionate yearning to repossess her, dead. And hesaid to himself, as he looked at her: Where in the world shall I findanother resembling her in the least degree, and what shall I do, to savemyself from the ripening of her curse? For destiny listens in silence tothe 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 highestof all possible praises. Sawitri is the Hindoo Alcestis.]
So then, from that very moment, every thought of replacing her byanother queen abandoned him, as if her life, in leaving her, had drawnwith it his own. And all his taste for life at all, and all desireswhatever, suddenly left him in a body, as if out of disgust at hisbehaviour. And he sank into despair, and pined and waned like an oldmoon, and grew gradually dimmer, and thinner, and more gloomy, tillthere was hardly anything left of him at all, but skin and bone. Andfinally, seeing its opportunity, a burning fever arising from a chillentered in and took possession of all his limbs, as if to give him aforetaste of the flames of his own pyre.
And then at last, perceiving that Yama had caught him in his noose, andfinding 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 amon the very point of following my wife, as, had I gone before her, shewould have followed me, _sati_[13] that she was, there is no time tolose. Do thou, my son, get married, as quickly as thou canst, for thegod of death has clutched us both, as if he was in a hurry, just at thevery moment when we were thinking of procuring thee a wife. And as itis, I am sore afraid of going to meet my ancestors, who will angrilyreproach me for placing them in jeopardy, by neglecting to provide forthem in time. And when they ask me, saying: Where is thy son's son? whatanswer shall I make? And therefore, O my minister, I leave this son ofmine and his marriage as a deposit in thy hands, which I shall requireof thee in the other world. Postpone all other policy to the duty offinding him a wife: and if thou canst, let her resemble his
mother, thatwas mine.
[Footnote 13: _Sati_, which means _a good woman_, is always understoodby Europeans to refer to what is only the last manifestation of herquality, the burning herself on her dead lord's pyre. But the term doesnot necessarily contain any reference to that stern climax of hervirtue.]
So having spoken, in a little while he died, leaving everybody in hiskingdom wondering at his affection for his wife. For nobody knew thetruth, which was as it were burned up and utterly annihilated by thefires that consumed the body of his wife and his own. And he left behindhim a reputation for fidelity that was absolutely false. For none butthe Deity can penetrate the disguise of hypocrisy. And yet, though hedeceived all the subjects in his kingdom, he did not succeed in blindingthe 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 heretake as equivalent to "Justice."]
III
So, then, when his funeral obsequies were over, and the due timeprescribed by the _shastras_ had elapsed, his son Arunodaya mounted thethrone, and became king in his room.
And no sooner was the crown placed upon his head, and the watersprinkled over him, than the prime minister, who was named Gangadhara,came to him privately, and said: Maharaj, now there is yet anotherceremony which remains as it were crying to be performed, with the leastpossible delay; and that is thy own marriage. And now it is for thee andme to seek out some maiden that will make a royal match for thee, andlead her round the fire, and so let thy father's spirit rest. And therecannot be any difficulty at all. For all the neighbouring kings, whopossess daughters, are watching thee like clouds around a mountain top,ready to rain daughters as it were upon thy head; since thou artsuperior 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 shallfall will immediately abandon the body, out of jealousy and despair, assoon 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 compoundedinto an essence twice as powerful as either was alone, so that not a daypasses but my spies bring me news of miserable women who have desertedthe body of their own accord, finding themselves, by reason of theircaste 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 anyone of them: and yet, as I think, I shall never marry anyone at all. AndGangadhara said: Maharaj, thou speakest riddles, and I am slow tounderstand. And Arunodaya looked at him with a smile. And he said:Gangadhara, it is proper that a minister should know all his master'ssecrets, and now that thou art my minister, I will tell thee mine, andmake thee my confidant in everything, as expediency demands. For thenonly will the business of our policy run on smoothly, when we pullexactly together, like a pair of bullocks in a cart. And whether it bewith the women as thou sayest, or not, there is a difficulty, unknown tothee, on my part. Then said the minister: What is that? And Arunodayasaid: I am already more than half married, and, as it were, bound, by anindissoluble pledge, to an undiscoverable beauty; and unless she can befound, I am, as I told thee, likely to remain unmarried for theremainder of my life.
Then said the prime minister: Maharaj, everything can be found by onewho 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 isnot hidden so very far away, after all.
And Arunodaya said: I will marry no other woman but the wife of myformer birth. For I dream of her, and as it seems to me, have dreamed ofher, and nothing else, ever since I was born. And so, now, I haverevealed to thee a secret, which I never told to anyone but thee: and Ileave thee to judge, whether she is able to be found, or not. And ifthou canst show me that any one of these kings' daughters was my wifebefore, 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 mustmarry some one other than myself. And now, go: and when thou hastmeditated sufficiently on the matter, return to me at dawn, and takecounsel with me, as to what is to be done. For, as thou seest, thismarriage of mine is not likely to be easily achieved. And I resemble onesearching on the seashore for a grain of sand, dropped there in the deadof night, a hundred years ago.
IV
So then, that astounded prime minister gazed at Arunodaya for a while insilence, 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 apicture painted on a wall. And then, all at once, he began to laugh. Andhe exclaimed: Ha! this, then, was the secret, and now at length I beginto understand, and all is explained. For this young king_brahmachari_,[16] little as he suspects it, has been under my eye eversince he was born. And this, then, was the reason why he was perpetuallywandering about alone, and lying for hours gazing at the lotuses in theforest 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 withdancing girls or women of any kind, as it were wilfully contradictingthe design of the Creator, who beyond a doubt formed him on purpose toprevent Rati and Priti[17] from quarrelling, by providing a second bodyfor 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 ofhis former birth: and hard as it is, I think that even emancipationwould, of the two, be easier to attain. Well might he say, that she wasdifficult 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, thateven the Lord of the Elephant-Face would be puzzled to surmount orremove.
[Footnote 16: As we might say, _bachelor_, but the Hindooexpression is stricter, meaning, _one who has taken a vow ofvirginity_.]
[Footnote 17: The two wives of Love.]
And after a while, he said again: Is it a mere fancy? Or can it be, thathe really is haunted by some dim recollection of his former wife, sincebeyond a doubt the influences of pre-existence do sometimes persist, andlike ships, sail without sinking over the dark ocean of oblivion, fromone birth-island to another? And what, then, is she like? For could Ionly discover what she looks like in his dreams, it might be that bypolicy or stratagem I could make shift to find her, or somebody so likeher that he would never know the difference. I will go to him to-morrowand ask him to describe her, and he cannot well refuse. For how can heexpect 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. Forthen, if, with the assistance of the astrologers, I can manage to devisea scheme, so as to persuade him that I have lit upon that which he islooking for, how could he detect the imposition? There are only too manykings' daughters who would think that the very fruit of their birth wasgained, by practising so innocent a deception as to pass for the wife ofhis former birth in order to become in very truth his wife in this. Andif I cannot succeed in some dexterous trick of substitution, I shall bealmost ready to abandon the body myself, for sheer exasperation. Foreven apart from the necessity of getting him married, there is not oneof the surrounding kings who is not ready to throw a crore of goldpieces at my head, if only I will even promise to become his partisanagainst all the rest, and marry Arunodaya to some daughter of his own.Out upon it, that with kings' daughters lying thick as lotuses all roundhim, and ready and even eager to be plucked, this unhappy longing of theking for an unattainable _parijata_ flower should make them all of nomore value than withered leaves! O Rider on the Mouse,[18] come to myassistance, for without thy help we shall all be swallowed by calamity,in the form of the utter extinction of this perverse king's kingdom andhis race.
[Fo
otnote 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 namedMahidhara, for his home was on a mountain top that stood in a far-offisland beyond the rising sun, was holding a _swayamwara_ for all hishundred daughters. And for ninety-nine days each daughter chose herhusband, one a day, from out of the suitors who flocked to the marriagein such numbers that the sky looked like a cart-wheel, with lines ofWidyadharas assembling from all directions, like vultures, for itsspokes. And finally the hundredth day, and with it, the turn of theyoungest daughter came, to choose.
[Footnote 19: See Preface.]
Now this daughter resembled a thorn, fixed by the Creator in the heartsof all her sisters, causing perpetual irritation, like a rebel chief ina united kingdom. For she stood aloof from them all, like a littlefinger that somehow or other refuses to bend into the closed hand, beingnot only the youngest, but the smallest, and the most perverse, and theloveliest of all, putting not only all her sisters but every otherWidyadhari to the necessity of acknowledging, sore against their will,that the presence of her beauty robbed them of their own, reducing themto confusion, like so many impostors confronted by the true heir. Andher nature was so totally dissimilar to that of everybody else, that sheresembled 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 couldever 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 hereyebrows was always as it were on the tiptoe of surprise, arrogantlyarching 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 turningupwards, which none the less they never did, as if expressly todisappoint and deride the expectation they aroused, and keep it hoveringfor ever in an agony of suspense. And her lips always seemed to smileeven when they were not smiling, and her head was almost, always poiseda very little on one side, looking as if it were listening for thefar-off mutter of the mischief that lay as it were slumbering in thethunder-cloud hanging low in the heaven of her huge dark eyes, whoselashes 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 shadowof the masses of her sable hair, that had it not been for the indigo ofher lotus eyes and the vermilion of her lips, she would have resembled amarble incarnation of the beauty of death, or a wraith of mist touchedas 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 nevervaried, compounded half of shy timidity, and half of proud disdain, likean atmosphere of paradoxical fascination, formed of the rival fragrancesof sandalwood and camphor, translated into the language of the soul.
So then, as those Widyadhara suitors waited in the hall, standing roundin 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 deliberatelyall round that circle of excited wooers, going from one to the next inorder, and examining each in turn. And in the dead silence, there wasabsolutely nothing heard but the faint clash of her golden anklets, asshe moved round slowly on little hesitating feet, that trod as it wereon everybody's heart. And as she went, those suitors, as she came tothem and passed them, turned gradually from dark to pale, and then againto black, like the buttresses on the king's high road, when torches passalong.[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 itwere 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 ofbeauty mixed with a momentary ray of hope, dashing the cup from eachone's lip just as it thought it was going to taste, she came to the veryend. And then, she stopped dead. And she looked at them all, for asingle moment, over the wreath they all desired, and she raised it toher lips, as if to scent its fragrance, saying as it were to all: Verysweet indeed is the thing beyond your reach. And then, with a littlepout, 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 stoodbehind 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? Andinstantly 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 muchas wait to take leave of her father, counting it as it were a crime inhim 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 hisdaughter. And he said to her in dudgeon: Out on thee! Makarandika;[21]for here have all the Widyadharas become my bitter enemies by reason ofthis insult. Has thy reason left thee? Or where wilt thou find ahusband, if not even one of all the kings of the Widyadharas can pleasethy foolish fancy? Dost thou not understand, that a daughter who is notmarried 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. AndMahidhara 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 ofthy sisters, whose beauty all united is not equal to thy own, and yethave 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 thewhole world were not full to the very brim of husbands! Shall my choicebe the refuse? Moreover, I do not want a Widyadhara for a husband atall. And Mahidhara said, with amazement: And why not a Widyadhara? Thensaid Makarandika: Widyadharas are fickle, and roaming about in the air,come across all sorts of other women and make love to them, deceivingtheir own wives. But I will marry only such a husband as never willdeceive me.
Then said her father, smiling: But, O thou very jealous maiden, wherewilt thou discover him? For did not even Indra himself play Sachi false?Or dost thou think that mortal men are always constant, when even godsare not? Choose, if thou wilt, a mortal for thy husband, only todiscover that Widyadharas are not more treacherous than they are. Thyhusband 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, thanmarry a deceiver: better far for me, and better far for him. And herfather exclaimed, in astonishment: What! O Makarandika! thou hast noteven got a husband as yet at all; yet here thou art already, jealouswithout a cause! What will it be, when thou art actually married? TrulyI fear for thy unhappy husband, whoever he may be. And yet, be verycareful. Bethink thee, O daughter, that if thou dost choose a mortal, itwill be at the cost of thy condition. For any Widyadhari becoming thewife of a mortal man loses all her magic sciences, and is levelled withhimself.
And Makarandika said with scorn: Thy warning is unnecessary, and thereis not any risk. For it will be long before I place myself in danger ofany such description from a husband of any kind.
VII
So that haughty beauty spoke, ignorant of the future, not dreaming thather destiny in the form of a mortal husband was just about to laugh hervaunt to scorn. And leaving her father abruptly, she rose up into theair, and began to fly swiftly like a wild white swan away towards thewestern quarter, looking down upon the sea, that resembled a blue mirrorof the sky that stretched above it, wit
h foaming waves in place ofclouds, and water instead of air: saying to herself: Only let me getaway, where not a Widyadhara of them all is to be seen. And the windcaressed her limbs like a lover, stealing embraces as she went along,and whispering in the shell of her little ear: Be not alarmed, O vagrantbeauty, if I reveal thy outline to the whole world, for there is nobodyby to see. And she watched the sun go down before her, and went on allnight long, with no companion but the new moon that sank into the sea ina little while, as if ashamed to rival her, leaving her alone withnight. And at last, when dawn was just breaking, she saw below her thisvery temple, standing alone on the sandy shore between the forest andthe sea. And a little further on, the King's palace was standing up likea tower, reddened by the young sun's rays. So, feeling tired, sheswooped down, to rest for a little while. And she settled on the edge ofthe palace roof, taking the form of a snowy bird, with a ruddy bill andlegs, as if to mock and imitate the colour of the sun.
And at that very moment, Arunodaya came out upon the roof, with hisprime minister behind him, like Winter following the god of Spring. Andthe very instant she set eyes on him, she became as it were a target forLove's arrow, as if, although invisible, he were there beside hisfriend.[22] And she fell suddenly in love with the young king as he cametowards her, and shook with such agitation, that she came within a verylittle of falling straight into the sea. And she murmured to herself,with emotion: Can this be a second dawn[23] appearing just to confoundthe 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 unawaresasleep, 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 saidaloud: See, Gangadhara, how yonder snowy sea-bird has come to me as itwere for refuge, tired beyond a doubt by some long journey across thesea! Let us not go too near it, lest out of fright it may take toflight, 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, wholaughed at his words in her sleeve, saying softly to herself: There isno 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 primeminister said meanwhile: Maharaj, here I am, according to thyappointment, to discuss thy marriage with thee, where nobody canoverhear. And know, that since thou art absolutely bent on marrying noother than the wife of thy former birth, I do not despair of findingher, if she is able to be found. But who can find anything, unless heknows what it is like? For if not, he will not know that he has foundit, when it lies before his eyes. So tell me, to begin with, what thiswife 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 donot know myself? And Gangadhara said, in wonder: Maharaj, it cannot be.How will thou recognise her, not knowing what she looks like? AndArunodaya said again: I shall know her in an instant, the moment I seteyes on her. For at the very sight of her, love, that depends on theforgotten associations of a previous existence, will suddenly shoot upin the darkness of my heart, like flame. For this is the only proof, andno other is required. And yet, there is something else, to give me as itwere a clue. For though, strive as I may, I cannot even guess what shewas like, yet my memory, as it seems, is not absolutely blank. For Iremember, that she was the daughter of a pandit, and maybe herself apandit; and I seem to listen in a dream, whenever I think about her, tothe noise of innumerable pandits, all shouting at the same time somename that I can never catch, mingling with the roar of the waves of thesea.
And when he ended, Gangadhara stared at him, in utter stupefaction,saying within himself: Beyond a doubt, this King is mad. And presentlyhe said aloud: O King Arunodaya, who ever heard of a woman, suited for aking's wife, who had anything to do with pandits? What is there incommon between pandits and the wives of kings? Certainly, thou artdoomed to live and die unmarried: for a beauty who is a pandit is not tobe found in the three worlds.
VIII
Then said Arunodaya: Gangadhara, who knows? But be that as it may, thisis absolutely certain, that I will not marry any woman who was not thewife of my former birth. And so, if thou canst find her, well. And ifnot, then thy prophecy will be true, for I shall live and die without awife.
And Gangadhara went away again, more at a loss than he was before. Andwhen he reached his home, all at once he began to laugh, as if hisreason had left him. And he said to himself: Ha ha! Out on this unhappyKing, 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 theabsurdity of this extraordinary jest. And he went on laughing all daylong, 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 shesaid 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 Widyadharakings: for had I done so, I should have missed the very fruit of mybirth. And now, by the favour of Ganapati, I have come here in the verynick of time: and I know all. And no other than myself shall be hiswife. And indeed, beyond a doubt I was the very wife he looks for, sinceeverything corresponds, and exactly as he said; love has suddenly burstout flaming in my heart, at the very first sight of him, suddenlyrecollecting 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. Andall the symptoms conspire in my favour.
For not only is my right eye throbbing, but I actually stumbled inignorance on his very name, before I ever heard it. And now, I will, asGangadhara said, set to work immediately without losing any time: for Iknow, as they do not, exactly what his wife is like. And now, everythingwill turn out well, so long as he never discovers in his life that Ioverheard him, on this terrace, before he ever saw me. And that cannotbe, 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 hesaid 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 artthou arrived? For none of the birds that haunt my palace resemble theein the least degree. Art thou also looking for thy mate, as I am? Orhast thou lost thy way, blown by the winds over the home of monsters andof gems?
And instantly the bird replied: O King Arunodaya, not so: for I amlooking neither for a mate nor a way: but have come here expressly, sentby 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 ownears, she went on with that human voice: Listen, and do not interrupt,for I have overstayed my time, obliged to wait till thy conversationended 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 saidMakarandika: Then it all corresponds, and tallies exactly with myinstructions. For only last night, as the sun was going down, I passedby a lonely island in the middle of the sea. And there in the eveningtwilight, I saw the Lord of Obstacles dancing all alone, throwing up histrunk that was smeared with vermilion into the purple sky. And he calledto me as I was going by, and said: Carry for me a message to KingArunodaya, for thou wilt see his palace in the morning, standing up outof the sea, ruddy as my trunk in the early dawn. And tell him that I ampleased with his resolute perseverance: and by my favour he shall findthe wife of his former birth. Let him go at midnight, on the fifteenthday of the light half of this very moon, into the ruined temple thatstands on the shore of the sea, and I wil
l put something in it that willfill his heart with joy.
And then, she rose from the terrace, and flew away across the sea: whileArunodaya stood still, gazing after her in wonder, till she dwindled toa speck and disappeared.
And then, he drew a long breath, and murmured to himself: Am I asleep ordreaming? Or can it really be, that the very Lord of Obstacles has beenlistening to my prayers, as well he might, considering their number, andtaking pity on his devotee, has revealed to me the secret, by the meansof this white bird: wishing to show Gangadhara, as if in jest, howeasily the Deity laughs at obstacles that seem absolutelyinsurmountable, even to such a minister as mine?
IX
So then he waited, with a soul that almost leaped from his body withimpatience, for the wax of the moon, which seemed to stand still, as ifon purpose to destroy him. And he sent, in the meanwhile, a message toGangadhara, saying: Everything is easy to those favoured by the Deity.And I have found what I was seeking, even without thy assistance, as Iwill prove to thee, by ocular demonstration, on the day of the fullmoon.
And as he listened, Gangadhara was so utterly confounded, that he couldhardly understand. And finally, he said to himself: Beyond a doubt, thiskingdom will presently be ruined, for the King is out of his mind. Andnow I begin to perceive, that it will become my duty to remove him fromthe throne, in favour of his maternal uncle, who is waiting and watchingto devour him like a crab,[24] if only he can find his opportunity. Oris it only, after all, a device, to marry some girl that he has set hisheart 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, inany 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 tothe King's disease?
[Footnote 24: The crabs of Ceylon (presumably the same as those ofsouthern India, whose shores I do not know) are the most extraordinarythings I ever saw. They run like the wind, and jump, over immense spacesand 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 thelast, as soon as he rose, Arunodaya went out of his palace to wander onthe shore, with no companion but his sword. For he said to himself: Whatif it were all but a dream or a delusion? Then, were it to be known, Ishould become a very target for the ridicule of all the people in thecity. So it is better to keep the secret to myself. And he roamed aboutthe sand of the shore, near the temple, for hours, ready to curse bothsun and moon together, the one for his delay in going down, and theother for taking such a time to climb into the sky. And finally, unableto wait any longer, he went directly, long ere midnight, to the temple,and stood for a while, exactly where yonder sleeper lies now, as ifmaking up his mind. And at last, he came up between us, and peeped in,with a beating heart, and saw absolutely nothing inside, but emptinessand 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? Yetif that sea-bird was either a liar or a dream, it will be time enough togo away, before dawn returns, at any hour of the night. And he sat downat my feet, leaning his back against me, and looking out to sea, overwhich the moon was slowly climbing, exactly as it does to-night. Andworn out with agitation, and fatigue, and suspense, he went off to sleepunawares. And he looked as he lay in the moonlight like the God of Loveresting, after he had conquered the three worlds.
X
So then, when at last he woke, he lay for a little while puzzled, andtrying to remember where he was, and why. And so as he lay, he heardsuddenly behind him in the temple the faint clash of anklets, saying tohim as it were: Thou art sleeping, but I am waiting. And like a flash oflightning, 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 inthrough the ruined wall, and clung to her affectionately, as though tosay: Here hiding in this dark cave have I suddenly fallen on mysixteenth digit that was wanting to complete my orb: there stood a youngwoman, looking like the feminine incarnation of the realisation of hislonging to find the wife of his former birth. And she was leaningagainst the wall, half in and half out of the shadow, with her headthrown back against it, so that her left breast stood out in the lightof the moon as if to mock it, leaving the other dark: and the curve ofher hip issued from the shadow and again was lost in it, like that of awave that rises from the sea. And he saw her eyes shining, as they gazedat 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 visiblethan before. And her attitude gave her the appearance of a statue fixedupon the wall, that had suddenly emerged from it, and taken life, halfdoubtful, by reason of timidity, whether she should not re-enter itagain. And she was dressed, like Janaki, when the Ten-headed Demonseized her, in a robe of yellow silk, with golden bangles, and goldenanklets, and a necklace of great pearls around her neck, like a row oflittle 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 champakblossom, that resembled an earthly star shedding fragrance as well aslight. And her red lips looked as if the smile that was on the verypoint of opening like a flower had been checked in the very act, by thehesitation springing from a very little fear.
And Arunodaya gazed at her in silence, exactly as she did at him. Andafter a while, he murmured aloud, as if speaking to himself: Can this bein very truth the wife of my former birth, or only a thing seen in adream?
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 shesaid, in a low voice: I thought the dreamer was myself. Art thou somedeity come to tempt me, and where am I, if it is reality and not adream? And Arunodaya said: It is not I that am the deity, but thou. Forwho 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 witha sigh: Alas! thou hast spoken truly: where is Love?[26] What! can itbe? and dost thou not remember me? And Arunodaya said: How could Iremember what I never saw before in my life? Then she said: What doesthis life matter? Hast thou then so utterly forgotten everything of thelife before?
[Footnote 26: _Love_, in Sanskrit, means also _recollection_.]
And as he gazed at her in perplexity, all at once she started from thewall and ran towards him, clapping her hands, and laughing, with herbangles and anklets and her girdle clashing, as if keeping time with hermovements, and exclaiming: The forfeit! the forfeit! I have won! I havewon! And he said, smiling as if against his will: What forfeit? Whatdost thou mean? And for answer, she threw herself into his arms, andbegan to kiss him, laughing in delight, and crying out: I said it, Isaid it. I have remembered, and thou hast forgotten. Did I not tellthee, thus it would be, when we met again in another birth? Come, cudgelthy dull memory, and listen while I help thee; and after, I will exactfrom thee the forfeit that we fixed. And Arunodaya said again: Whatforfeit? For I remember absolutely nothing of it all. And she said: Outon thee! O thou of no memory at all. What! is thy little pandit allforgotten? What! hast thou forgotten, what as I think could never beforgotten, how all the pandits shouted together at our marriage? And heexclaimed: Ha! pandits! Then she said: Ah! Dost thou actually begin torecollect? then I have hopes of thee. But as to the forfeit, wilt thouactually persist in obstinately forgetting all about it? Must I actuallytell thee, and art thou not utterly ashamed? Art thou not ashamed, afterall thy protestations, to look me in the face?
And as she gazed, with eyes filled to the brim with passionate affectionthat was not feigned, straight into his own, holding him with soft armsthat resembled creepers, and as it were caressing him with the touch ofher bosom and the perfume of the honey of her lips and her hair, takinghim as it were prisoner by the sudden assault of irresistible flatteryin the form of her own surrender, Aru
nodaya's head began to spin, lostas he was in a whirlpool of bewilderment springing half from herbeauty's intoxicating spell, and half from ineffectual striving torecall at her bidding what she said, so that in his perplexity he couldnot even comprehend whether he recollected anything or not. And hemurmured to himself: Surely she must be the wife I was looking for, forwho else can she be? and certainly she is beautiful enough to beanybody's wife. And as he hesitated, balanced in the swing ofindecision, she began to draw her forefinger over his eyebrows, each inturn, saying in a whisper: _Aryaputra_,[27] this was the forfeit. Giveme thy hand, and shut, for a while, thy eyes. And as he did so, sayingto himself: Now I wonder what she will give me: all at once he uttered acry of pain. For she had taken his little finger with her teeth, andbitten it hard. And as his eyes flew open, as it were of their ownaccord, she said, with a frown and a smile mixed together: Why didstthou forget me? Was it not agreed between us that the forgotten shouldexact from the forgetter whatever penalty he chose?
[Footnote 27: A name given only by a wife to her husband, implying theclaim.]
And at the reproach in her eyes, the heart of Arunodaya began as it wereto smite him, saying: Surely thou art but churlish in returning heraffection, and refusing to remember her: for she is well worthy to beremembered. And being totally unacquainted with woman, and hersweetness, and her snare, his youth and his sex began as it were to sidewith her against his reason and his doubt, saying to his soul: What morecanst thou possibly require in a wife, than such an incarnation of charmand affection and intoxicating caress. And all at once, he took her anddrew her towards him with one arm about her slender waist, that a handmight have grasped, and the other round her head, and he began to kissher as fast as he could, with kisses that she returned him till herbreath failed. And after a while, he said, in a low voice: Who art thouin this birth, if as thou sayest, I was thy husband in the last? Andhast thou fallen from the sky? For thou art altogether too differentfrom 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 aWidyadhari could ever be a woman. But it is very simple on Hindooprinciples. Widyadharas are constantly falling into human bodies byreason of curses, or guilt contracted.]
Then said Makarandika: Thou art not absolutely wrong: for I am not awoman of the earth, but a Widyadhari, by name Makarandika. And by andbye I will tell thee all about myself, and my coming here, to rediscoverand regain thee; and learn of thee thine. But in the meanwhile, comeoutside this gloomy temple into the moonlight, where I can see thee. Andshe drew him out of the temple, and as they stood, looking at oneanother, she said: Dost thou know, that I am paying a great price forthee? See, a little while ago, I came hither flying through the air. Andas I came, I said to myself, with regret: I am flying for the very lasttime: for to-morrow I shall forfeit all my magic sciences, by marrying amortal. And as my resolution wavered, at that very moment, I arrived,and saw thee, lying asleep in the moonlight, at the feet of Maheshwarayonder on the wall. And instantly, I exclaimed: Away with thesemiserable sciences, for what are they worth in comparison with him, or,worse, without him?
And Arunodaya exclaimed: What! wilt thou sacrifice all thy condition asa Widyadhari for such a one as me? Out, out, upon such a price, for sucha worthless ware!
And for answer, she took his hand, and put it on her heart, looking athim with eyes that shone not only with moonlight, but with a tear. AndArunodaya said, with emphasis: Thou must be my wife: for how could Ithink, having seen thee, of any other woman in the world, even in adream.
And as he spoke, he started, almost uttering a cry. For suddenly sheclenched the hand she held with a grip that almost hurt it, and he feltthe heart it lay on suddenly leap, as it were, and stop. And as helooked at her in wonder, he saw her turning paler and paler, till sheseemed in that white moonlight about to become a stone image, inimitation of ours, just behind her, on the wall.
And he said in alarm: Art thou ill, or suffering, or what? Or dost thouregret thy sciences? And then, all at once, she laughed, and said: Mysciences? Nay, nay, it is not that, of which I am afraid. Come, it isnothing, 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 carrythee through the air. And she sat down on the step, saying: Come, thouart rather a large and a clumsy baby: yet sit thou on my lap. And shetook him in her arms, and rose with him into the air, and they floatedover the sea towards the palace, resembling for the moment myself andthee roaming in the sky.
And as they went, Arunodaya said within himself: Surely I am onlydreaming; and of what is this Widyadhari made, that has claimed me forher own? Is it fire or something else?
But Makarandika, as they floated, said to herself in ecstasy andexultation: Now, then, I have got him, and it will be my own fault, if Icannot so utterly bewitch him, as to cause him to forget all about hisformer wife, and take me, as why should I not have been? for her. Andwhat do I care for her? For she may be the wife of that birth, but I amthe wife of this. And why should the wife of the present count for lessthan the wife of the past?