I
Now in the meanwhile, Trishodadhi remained in that cemetery, in a
posture of devotion. And as the interminable pattering of rain, drop
after drop, fills up a lake, so did his everlasting muttering keep
adding grain by grain to the mountain of his merit, till gazing at it,
even Meru began to shudder for his own pre-eminence. And on he
laboured diligently, pausing every now and then only when necessity
compelled him to repair his rosary[1] of skulls, some of which from
time to time wore out and fell to pieces, colliding with one another as
he told them each in turn in the uninterrupted exercise of his
devotions, till at length he sat surrounded by a very hill of bones,
that resembled his own accumulated merit in another form. And
sometimes, as he looked at them, he murmured to himself: Now, as it
seems, the termination of my penance is approaching, and the beginning
is drawing to an end, and very soon, I shall have amassed a sufficient
stock of merit to allow me to commence operations against the citadel
of heaven, whose inhabitants are now at length beginning, not without a
cause, to take fright at my proceedings, if I may form an opinion by
their own. For not only did Indra come hither in person, and endeavour
unsuccessfully to turn me from my purpose by offering me every kind of
bribe, but latterly I have noticed heavenly maidens, coming, one by
one, like a stream of stars falling from the sky, into this dismal
earthly burning-ground, seeking to seduce me by their charms. But let
them come, even all together; they shall find my resolution proof, and
add against their will to the virtue they seek to undermine. Aye, my
sublime determination is a rock, against which the sea of feminine
cajolery shall hurl itself in vain.
So as he spoke, he struck violently one of his skulls against another,
and it broke, and escaping from the string, rolled away out of his
hand. And he raised his head, and cast a glance around him, with the
object of discovering another to replace it. And as he did so, he
started, and exclaimed within himself: Ha! just as I anticipated, there
is as it seems yet another of these snares in the form of women, coming
to entice me by the bait of her lascivious beauty, and hoping, more
successful than her sisters, to roll my resolution, like a wheel, out
of its deep and self-determined rut. But now, I will not even look at
her at all. And very soon, growing like all her predecessors weary of
the vain endeavour to attract my notice and distract my concentration,
she will give it up of her own accord, and go back to her employers in
disgust. And he stooped accordingly close over his beads, and muttered
on, with his head bent towards the ground, and his eyes fixed on the
broken skull within his hand, waiting to repair the injury till she
should go away.
But in the meanwhile Kalánidhi, for she it was, having arrived at the
cemetery, and exploring it, discovered Trishodadhi at his devotions,
came, as he had perceived, close up to him, and standing just beside
him, began to examine him attentively, like a general considering a
fortress, in order to determine the proper method of attack. And after
a while, she said softly to herself: Ha! very miserable indeed is this
old skeleton of a Brahman, who, as he sits muttering, looks exactly
like a number of the bones by which he is surrounded, that have somehow
or other joined themselves together, and become tenanted by a passing
disembodied soul. And little do I relish, as I look at him, the
business I have in hand. But if I now abandon it, I shall become a
laughing-stock, and they will think that I found myself unable to
perform what I had promised, failing, like those miserable boobies, the
heavenly nymphs, to keep my word. Moreover, the great in soul never
dream of abandoning an enterprise, once they have begun it, till they
have crowned it with success. And now, therefore, very soon it will be
seen, which of us two, this loathsome old ascetic, or myself, will have
to confess himself defeated, and give up his endeavour unachieved, like
a bridge begun to span a great river that never reaches the farther
shore. And she stopped to examine him, and said again: Doubtless, for
all his busy muttering, he has long ago become aware of my presence,
and as his attitude declares, is nerving himself for opposition and
desperate resistance, expecting me to assault him point-blank, like all
those very silly nymphs, by attitudinising, and giving him glimpses of
my beauty, and practising other such tricks of coquetry before him.
And beyond a doubt, he is flattering himself beforehand on his power of
self-control, and already triumphing at the prospect of my ignominious
defeat. But he will find himself very much mistaken, and unless I
deceive myself, he will fall straight into the trap that I have set for
him, never so much as suspecting it to be a trap at all, just because I
shall set it where he is not looking for a snare. And to begin with,
we shall see, whether even his curiosity will be proof. For I will
take care to irritate and excite it, by doing all behind his back, so
that he will not even be able to see anything at all, except by
expressly turning round his head, which I imagine he will do, before
very long. And he shall be attacked, not as he anticipates, but by
that very avenue along which he least looks for danger, and one which,
for all that, is the weakest and least guarded, and the best and the
straightest way by which to reach and penetrate his soul--his ears.
For sight can be assaulted only by what is present; but the ears are a
passage by which I shall steal like a snake into the past, and pierce
his very heart.