So then at last, seeing that fate was against me, and that there was
absolutely no help for it, I gave up the struggle, and went up to the
gate. And learning who I was, the _pratihárí_[22] led me away into the
palace, and I followed her through innumerable corridors and halls,
until at last we came to a high wall, in which there was a door,
screened by a curtain. And she drew aside the curtain, and opened the
door with a key. And she said: The Queen is within: knock at the door
on thy return. And I went in, and she shut the door behind me,
leaving me alone.
And I found myself in a garden, of which I could not see the end, for
it rather resembled a forest for its multitude of trees. And after a
while, I went on slowly without any guide, going wherever my steps led
me, and saying to myself as I went along: Now I wonder where the Queen
is; for as it seems, I am far more likely to lose myself than find
anything, in such a maze as this. And then, little by little, I
utterly forgot all about her, lost in my admiration of the place that
I was in, and saying to myself in wonder: After all, I did well to
come, and it was well worth while, if only for the sake of this
extraordinary wood, which cannot properly be called a garden, since it
is like absolutely nothing else in the world. For there were no
flowers to be seen at all, but only trees. And even of trees, there
were only four kinds, champak, and _shála_, and _nyagrodha_, and
bamboo. But every kind of tree was multiplied many times, and each was
a very giant, and a marvel of its kind. And the champaks and the
_shálas_ were loaded with their blossoms that filled the air with
heavy fragrance, and glimmered in the dusk: and the bamboos stood in
clumps, like pillars, each as thick as my own body, with their tall
plumes waving very gently to and fro like _chowris_ over my head; and
the trunks and the roots of the _nyagrodhas_[23] writhed and twisted
round me like serpents' coils and women's limbs, pointing at me as it
were with weird wooden arms, till I felt as if I were walking in some
strange dream forest whose Yakshas and Yakshinís were watching me and
mocking me as I went along. And suddenly, I looked, and far away
through the trees I saw the moon nearly full rising slowly like a
great red nocturnal sun, on the edge of the pallid eastern sky, as if
it had come to watch me too, before the sun was down. And a feeling
that was almost fear began to creep into my soul, as I moved on
slowly, not knowing where I was. And all at once, I came out suddenly
upon a terrace and stood still. For just below me was a lake, whose
water was black, and absolutely still, and it was filled with
innumerable lotuses, that stood straight up out of the mirror that
they floated in, all turned red by the rays of the setting sun, which
was just about to disappear, taking as it were a last fond look at
them, as it stood, blood-red, on the rim of the world.
And then, like a flash of lightning, recollection rushed into my soul.
And my heart gave a bound, as if it wanted to leap from my body. And I
exclaimed, with agitation: Ha! Why, it is the very lake, and these are
the very lotuses, and the very sun that I saw in my dream! And even
as I spoke, I heard behind me the low sweet voice of a woman, saying
slowly: I fear that I have kept thee waiting for a long time: and
canst thou forgive me?
And instantly I cried out: The words! the words! And I turned sharp
round, shaking like a leaf, with a heart that beat in my body like a
drum. Lo! there, just before me, stood the lady of my dream. And
exactly as before, her dark blue garments shone like copper in the red
sun's rays, and the star stood trembling in her high dark hair. And
exactly as before, she stood up, absolutely straight, as if on purpose
to throw into strong relief the undulating curves of her lovely form,
and yet she differed from her own dream in this, that her soft round
bosom was rising and falling like an agitated wave, as if she had been
running very fast with nimble feet, that had stopped short, at the
sight of me. And she held her pretty head, with appealing grace, just
a very little on one side, looking at me with great sweet eyes, and
lips that smiled, half-open, as if to let her breathe, saying as it
were: I know that I am very guilty, and yet I am absolutely sure to be
forgiven, since you cannot find it in your heart to scold. And somehow
or other, there came from every part of her as it were the delicious
fragrance of an extreme desire to oblige and please, that exactly
corresponded with the excessive gentleness of the voice that had just
spoken; and yet it was mixed in some inexplicable way with a very
faint suggestion of authority, as though to say: All will willingly
obey me; but those who will not, must. And one hand hung down by her
side, holding a lute by a yellow string: while the other was playing
with the beads of a necklace of great pearls, that lay on the ocean of
her surging breast, so that it was carried up and down on its wave.
And she looked, as she stood before me, like a faultless feminine
incarnation of the essence of a bosom friend, turned into an
instrument of supernatural seduction by the infusion of the
intoxication of the other sex, and seeming as it were to say: How much
dearer is a dear friend, that looks at thee with a woman's eyes!
And I stood for a single instant, looking, with a soul that struggled
to leave me, as if it had recognised at once, the moment it caught
sight of her, whose claim it should obey. And I made a step towards
her, stretching out both my hands: and all at once, I uttered a sharp
cry, and fell at her feet in a swoon.