But in the meanwhile, no sooner had the King turned his back upon the
terrace with its arbour, than all at once, his feet stopped, as it
were, of their own accord, as if in their unwillingness to go away,
they had suddenly become rooted in the ground. And so he remained
standing, with his eyes fixed upon the ground before him, and a soul,
out of which everything had utterly disappeared, except the picture of
what he had left behind him, standing on the edge of the cliff. And he
had totally forgotten Yogeshwara, and the King's Guru, and everything
else, so intense was his preoccupation and his endeavour to reconstruct
that picture in his mind. And as he stood striving to recall it, all
unawares he smiled, so great was his pleasure in its recollection.[10]
And he murmured to himself: Strange! that I cannot, I know not why,
recollect anything about her, with exact accuracy, except those
delicious, and, somehow or other, bewildering, and as it were,
provoking brows of hers, with their two surprising arches. For I had
no time to examine the rest of her attentively; and moreover, the blue
colour of her eyes, in which I seemed to flounder, confused my soul,
and stood before it like a mist, in which I could see absolutely
nothing else. And yet, if I recollect correctly, the double curve of
her brow was as it were repeated, in her lips, which resembled a
miniature reproduction of her brow, only red instead of black, and in
her soft round bosom, and even all about her, so that she seemed to be
a thing composed entirely of twin curves, beginning from her brow.
And so as he stood, all at once there arose in his soul an intense
desire to look at her again, mixed with extreme regret, and sorrow, for
his own abrupt departure. And he was enraged with himself, feeling
like one that had missed an opportunity that could never again recur,
and he stood with a soul sick with longing to return, and
disinclination to go away, mixed with shame at the thought of
returning. And he muttered to himself: Alas! where was the necessity
of going away with such extraordinary precipitation? Why did I not
wait a little while? Surely I was a fool. And what is to be done now?
And I wonder what she is doing. Who knows, whether she is still there,
having perhaps gone away herself, somehow or other, as soon as I had
gone?
So as he stood, in perplexity, debating with himself, all at once, his
face lit up, as it were, with a smile of satisfaction. And he
exclaimed in delight: Ha! I have suddenly discovered a pretext, under
cover of which I can return, and thus create another opportunity of
seeing her, if only she is still there.
And instantly he turned round, and went back towards the arbour as it
were with joyous step, and a soul in exultation at the anticipation of
seeing her again, mixed with intense anxiety, lest, when he entered,
the arbour should be empty, and she have gone away.