But the Brahman, struggling in the grasp of the king's men, cried out,
with a bitter cry: "O king! art thou indeed called just, who will not
hearken to the voice of the accused? This fair but wicked woman is
indeed my own wife; ere I be condemned, let her first give back to me
that which I gave her!"
And the king bade his men stay their hands. "Give him back," he
commanded, in a voice of tempest, "that which belongs to him!"
But the Brahmani protested, saying, "My lord, I have nought which
belongs to him." So the king's brow darkened with the frown of a
maharajah.
"Give me back," cried the Brahman, "the life which I gave thee,
my own life given to thee with the utterance of the three mystic
syllables--the half of my own years."
Then, through exceeding fear of the king, she murmured, "Yea, I render
it up to thee, the life thou gavest me with the utterance of the three
mystic syllables." And fell dead at the king's feet.
Thus the truth was made manifest; and hence the proverb arose:
She for whom I gave up family, home, and even the half of my
life, hath abandoned me, the heartless one! What man may put
faith in women?