Then the King said to Rasakósha: My friend, unless I am blinded by love
and egoism, the Princess exhibits signs of a disposition to favour me.
But alas! now twelve of my days are gone, and only nine remain. Oh
beware! lest you lose me my beloved. And even the portrait now brings
me no relief, for day by day it grows less like her. It looks at me
with scorn, but she with tenderness. Even with it, I know not how I
shall endure separation till the morning. So the King spent the night
in a state of lassitude, gazing at the portrait. And when the sun
rose, he rose also, and passed the long hours of day with the help of
Rasakósha and the garden. Then when the sun set, they went again to
the hall of audience. And there they saw the Princess, clad in an
orange-tawny robe, and a bodice studded with rubies, and her crown and
other ornaments, sitting on her throne. And a shadow fled as it were
from her face when she saw the King, and he sank upon a couch,
speechless and fascinated, under the spell of her beauty. Then
Rasakósha came forward and stood before her, and began again:
Lady, once upon a time, the master of a caravan was crossing the great
desert. And as he went along, he suddenly looked up, and saw before
him in the distance the walls of a great city, with a beautiful lake of
heavenly blue before it. And he was amazed; and with a soul on fire
with longing for the nectar of that lake and that city, he urged on his
camels in that direction. But he could not reach it: and suddenly it
disappeared, and he found himself alone in the desert, with the sun and
the sand, and no water and no city. Then he said: This is a wonderful
thing. I would not lose that city for all my wealth. Then his
followers said to him: Sir, this is a delusion: it is the mirage: there
is no such city and no water. But he would not believe them. And
remaining where he was in the desert, he waited till next day. And at
the same hour he saw it again. So he mounted his swiftest camel, and
pursued it for hours far into the desert, but he could not overtake it:
but as before, it disappeared.
Then he abandoned his journey and encamped in the desert. And day
after day he gave chase to that beautiful city with its water, but
never got any nearer to it. But the more he pursued it, the more his
yearning to reach it grew upon him, so that at last he forgot
everything else in the world.
And meanwhile his affairs went to ruin through neglect. And hearing of
his proceedings his relations came to him in the desert, and said: What
is this that you are doing? What madness has smitten you? Do you not
know that this is the mirage, and that you are wasting your time in
pursuing phantoms while your wealth goes to ruin? But he answered:
What are words in comparison with the testimony of the eyes? Do I not
see the city and its water as I see you yourselves? Then how can it be
a delusion? Then his relations flew into a rage, and said: You fool,
it is the mirage. But he said: If it is nothing, then how can I see
it? Explain this to me. But they could not. So they abused him and
laughed at him, and went away leaving him alone in the desert. And he
remained there, spending his all in purchasing camels, and every day
pursuing that city till it disappeared. And this he continued to do,
till his wealth was exhausted, and his camels died, and he himself was
lost and died in the desert, and the sun whitened his bones.
Then his story went abroad, and the people said: What difficulty is
there in this? The sun of the desert made him mad. But his relations
said: Out on this madman! he has destroyed us with his folly. And a
certain ascetic heard the story: and he laughed to himself, and said:
_Trashy trishy washy wishy_[1]. Says the pot to the pipkin: Out on
you, miserable clay!
Now tell me, Princess, what did that ascetic mean? And Rasakósha
ceased. Then the Princess said: His relations blamed the madness of
that caravan-leader, in that he took mirage for reality, not knowing
that they were themselves no less mad, in taking this world and its
perishable wealth for reality, and pursuing, as he did, phantoms. For
what is this world but illusion? Thus they resembled pots of clay
abusing clay pipkins for being made of clay.
And when the Princess had spoken she rose up and went out slowly,
looking at the King sadly, and the King's heart went with her. But the
King and Rasakósha returned to their own apartments.
[1] I have slightly modified the original jingle, which means: The
thirst for delusion is the bane of the universe.