And the elephant said: Pippala, as I stood before her, like an
incarnation of the struggle between adoration and dismay, she spoke and
said: O King Ruru, thou seest it is useless. Cease, then, thy pleading
and persuasion, and go away; for all that thou canst urge is wasted
breath, and thou art like one striving by reiterated throwing to fix a
stone in air, which notwithstanding returns in spite of thee invariably
to the ground--as does my heart to the memory of its lord.
And I said: Ha! now I see, I have offended the deity of Love, and the
Lord of Obstacles is angry. For the one has turned his back on me, and
the other has cast before me this mountain of an obstacle, thy husband,
throwing even at a distance a blighting shadow in the form of
reminiscence, by which I am buried in blackness and hidden from thy
heart. O that thy eyes could see me, for then it might be that through
them I might effect an entrance; but alas! the door to thee is shut.
Or had I only been blind as well as thou, thou never couldst have
entered mine. What! is it right of thee to occupy my heart, and yet
bar me from thy own? And she said: My heart is full, and poor, and
narrow, and far too small for thee, containing as it does room for only
one, and not like thine, royal, and a palace, with chambers for
innumerable guests.
And I said, with emotion: Ah! Watsatarí, thy words are very sharp, and
like a dagger in my heart; and now I see, that every man is punished by
himself, being followed to eternity by actions of his own, black dogs,
from which in vain he will endeavour to escape. Aye! thou art right, I
turned my heart into a caravanserai, to which I welcomed every
worthless guest; but now I swear to thee, the very sight of thee has
cleansed it like a pure river, which, ousting everything, has left
there nothing, but the crystal of itself. Then she said: O King, they
say of thee in the bazaar, that thou wast bent like a golden bar from
straight to crooked, by the evil behaviour of thy queen. And is it
true? And I said, eagerly: Aye! she it was that turned me, as thou
sayest, aside, into the jungle of depravity. And instantly she said,
quietly: What! then art thou not ashamed? For what art thou doing now,
but striving to make me such another as thy queen, whom, according to
thyself, thou blamest, as the cause of thy unhappiness? Thou art
thyself the judge. And should I listen to thee, thou tellest me
beforehand, I should be utterly worthless in thy eyes, and a discredit
to myself, and my husband, and my sex. For the three worlds shudder at
the spectacle of a woman that is traitor to her lord. Go then away
very quickly, and forget that thou hast ever seen my face.
And Trishodadhi, as he listened, exclaimed in ecstasy to himself: Ha!
good wife and subtle argument. Now she has slain him, as it were, with
his very own sword. And utterly oblivious of his muttering, he
listened eagerly for the remainder of the tale.