But in the meanwhile, the King exclaimed piteously: O daughter of King
Mitra, well indeed I know, that I am only an intruder: out upon me, if
I was tempted to forget it, even for a moment! And yet I was not
without excuse, for how could I remember anything whatever, with a mind
bewildered by the colour of thy great eyes? But now, I will swear to
keep myself within any bound or limit that thou choosest to impose, so
only that thou dost not bid me go away. For then I could not answer
for myself, and sorely indeed should I be tempted to disobey thee,
though I long for nothing so much, as to obey any orders whatever, so
only that they are thine.
And she said: On these terms, I will allow thee to remain: though,
should I perceive any symptom of disobedience, I shall immediately go
away myself: as in any case, I must do, as soon as the Guru has arrived.
And the King said, carelessly: There is no longer need for any Guru,
for I have altogether changed my mind, on the matter which he was
commissioned to discuss.
And then, she laughed joyfully, and exclaimed: Aha! O King, much I
fear, that thou, who but an hour ago, wast ready to bring charges of
lightness and frivolity against every member of my sex, art thyself
more changeful and inconstant than any woman of us all. For here art
thou, changing thy mind once more, no longer about women and their
crimes, but even about matters of state-policy, and all in but a
moment. Art thou not ashamed of thyself, and in presence of a woman?
And the King said: O thou beautiful and tormenting being, I am not in
the least ashamed: for it is all thy fault, and thy doing, and thou art
the cause of all. And now I wish from the very bottom of my heart,
that thou wert thyself the Guru. For I wish to transact no business of
any kind, except with thee: and moreover, the concern is far less, in
this matter, with the Guru than with thee.
And she thought for a moment, and she said: And what if I were actually
the Guru? What then? Come, what can be so easy as to gratify thy
wish? Shall we, like children, make believe? Suppose me, if thou
canst, to be the Guru, and tell me, what is thy business of State.
And she changed, all at once, her position, and sat, as though upon the
carpet of a Durbar, cross-legged, assuming an air of dignity, with mock
solemnity, as if preparing to listen with profound attention to what he
was about to say. And as he watched her, the heart of Yogeshwara in
his ambush almost burst within him, and he exclaimed within himself:
Ha! Surely I am a baby, in matters of diplomacy, compared with this
extraordinary woman! For she has reached, at a single bound, the very
object of her meeting, and has actually presented herself to him, in
her true capacity, spreading open, as it were, the very truth naked
before his eyes, without his so much as suspecting anything at all!