And then, as Chand suddenly rose to his feet, and stood up, she also
started up, exclaiming: O King, stand still now, for a little while,
and listen to me. And as she stood, with each hand firmly clenched
beside her, and her head thrown back upon her shoulders, she resembled
a picture of determination. And she turned just a little paler, and
her eyes grew just a little darker, as she fixed her glance upon the
King. And Yogeshwara, as he watched her from his ambush, said with
anxiety to himself: What in the world is she going to do now? For she
has completely gained her end, and brought the negotiation to a
successful issue; and now all she has to do is, to break off the
interview and go away: and everything will settle of its own accord for
our advantage. Can it be, that having hitherto played her part with
the most consummate skill, she is just about to spoil all by some false
step, or, that as her sex gave her victory, so now it is going to tempt
her into losing all gained, by some unhappy blunder, springing from
feminine caprice? Or does she, for all her cleverness, not yet
understand, that the essence of all wisdom lies in knowing where to
stop?
So then, as Chand watched her, also with anxiety, all unaware of what
was passing in her mind, she said: O King Chand, it may very well be,
that should you make your proposal to the King my father, he will
accept it, to secure his own advantage. For many times a daughter has
been sacrificed, to save a State; tossed like a ball backwards and
forwards from hand to hand, and like a bag of money, changing owners in
the market, with no voice in the matter of its own. But now there is
another person to be considered. For since the beginning, it has been
the privilege of all kings' daughters to choose their husbands for
themselves.[13] And though my father may be willing, and even all too
willing, to close with your offer, and hand me over like a cow to the
best bidder, perhaps I may not be equally pleased with the bargain
myself. And what guarantee canst thou give me, that I shall not be a
loser in the matter, and a victim, and a dupe?
And as she spoke, she fixed her eyes sternly on the King, as though to
search him, with penetrating interrogation in their glance. And the
King said sorrowfully: Alas! dear Guru, what can I say to thee to
convince thee of my sincerity? And she said, with energy: Nay, in this
matter, I am no Guru, but like thee, my own ambassador. And what hast
thou to say, then, for thyself? Thou art a known enemy of women. And
hast thou, then, any ground for thy dislike? Hast thou bought thy bad
wisdom in the market of experience, and drawn thy bad opinion of my sex
from association with evil specimens of womankind? And as she spoke,
she shot at him a glance that resembled a flash of dark lightning in
the form of suspicion, and entered his soul like a sword. And the King
said earnestly: May I never see thee again, if I have any such
experience at all: for I do assure thee, that I have hardly ever seen,
much less spoken to, any woman but thyself.
And as he stood, with his hand stretched towards her, and timidity
mixed with entreaty in his eyes, she plunged into them her own, as if
endeavouring to read to the very bottom of his heart. And all at once,
she sighed a little sigh, as if with unutterable relief. And she sank
back, changing suddenly all over as it were from the hardest stone into
a substance softer than the foam of the sea. And her clenched hands
relaxed, opening like flowers, and the cloud vanished from her face,
and there came into her eyes a smile that ran as it were like sunshine
over her whole body. And she exclaimed: Why, then, thou art altogether
fraudulent. And pray, by what authority didst thou dare to assume,
like a severe judge, the right of condemning all women in the lump,
never having had anything to do with them? And the King said: I
learned my lesson from my father, and with him was my whole life
passed, in camps, and battlefields, and the chase of wild beasts. Then
she said: Thou hast indeed something in thee of the wild animals
amongst which thou hast lived, and art in sore need of training in
gentler arts. And could I but consider thee a true diamond, I have
half a mind to be thy polisher, myself.
And she looked at the King with eyes, in which the sweetness was within
a very little of affection. And instantly, fire leaped from the King's
heart, and ran like a flame all through him. And he exclaimed: Ah!
with thee for my teacher, I would very quickly learn anything whatever.
Then she said: Go back, O Intruder, to thy seat: for it is not good for
the pupil to be in too great a proximity to his Guru:[14] and I will
give thee thy first lesson.
And as the King returned joyously to his seat, she took her flower
basket, and turning it over, emptied all its remaining flowers upon the
floor. And choosing one from among them, she placed the basket, upside
down, a little way from the King, and seated herself upon it, with the
flower in her hand. And she said: Now the judge is on the seat of
judgment, to try thee. And yonder is my garland, and now it is to be
determined, whether thou art worthy to have it placed about thy
neck,[15] or not.
And Yogeshwara in his ambush said softly to himself: Now she is playing
with him, after the manner of her sex. And who knows, whether it has
not come about, that the biter has been bit, and the snarer taken in
the snare, and she has partly fallen in love with him herself: as well
she might. For love is dangerous, and double-edged, and catching, like
a fever, and it will be long before she sees another, better fitted
than this young lion's cub, to touch her heart. And she looks at him
now, not as she did before, but as if she were beginning to wish to
coax him, and to tease him, and to play the tyrant over him, as much as
he wishes it himself. For the longing that stretches, as it were,
imploring hands towards her, out of his intoxicated eyes, resembles a
whirlpool, out of which she may not find it easy, and perhaps does not
even desire, to escape.