So as he spoke, she listened, standing as if rooted to the ground, with
a bosom that rose and fell in agitation, and eyes that did not dare to
leave the floor. And when he ended, all at once, she looked up. And
she cast a single glance, rapid as a flash of lightning, at his face,
that resembled the face of one that begged for mercy, for his eyes were
full of tears; and then once more she bounded like a deer towards the
cliff, and stood again upon its very verge, with her back towards him,
looking out over the gorge. And all at once she stooped, and covered
her face with her hands. And so she stood awhile; and at last, she
took her hands from her face, and turned round.
And she looked at the King, with hard eyes, and a face paler than the
ashes on the body of a Pashupata ascetic. And she said, very low, and
very clear, and very slowly: O King Chand, the Guru has arrived.
And instantly, the King turned like lightning to the door. And seeing
nothing, he listened, and he said: Here there is nobody. Then she
looked at him strangely, and said again: There is no Guru. I am myself
the Guru. And as he continued to gaze at her, in perplexity, not
understanding, she continued: O King Chand, thy original opinions about
women were, after all, the truth. For a woman is after all, nothing,
but a mass of deception, and a traitor, and now I have betrayed thee,
and led thee straight into a trap.
And as the King still remained gazing silently at her in amazement, she
said yet again: Thou hast all along imagined, that I was here by a
chance, and our meeting was unpremeditated, and accidental: and yet it
is not so. For I came here by express design and policy, to catch
thee: and Yogeshwara led thee to my arbour by my advice and
prearrangement, hoping to hook thee, and snare thee, by means of me,
the bait and the decoy, in the meshes of his policy, making thee his
instrument by means of me. And now, thou hast learned a lesson, and
verified thy faith by experience, and thy dislike of women is, as thou
seest, altogether solid, and founded on the truth.
And as she ended, the King stood staring at her, in a stupor, and like
one whose senses have been annihilated by an overwhelming blow. And he
saw before him not the woman that she was immediately before, but
another altogether different. For her face resembled a very beautiful
and stony mask, ice-cold, suddenly put on, as it were to hide the soul
concealed below.
So as he stood, recollection suddenly came back into his heart. And he
said to himself: Thus, then, the very thing predicted by my ministers,
has actually occurred. And like a silly fowl, I have actually rushed
into the trap, so skilfully prepared by Yogeshwara to catch me, with
open eyes, forewarned.
And at the thought of Yogeshwara, all at once, pride, and utter shame,
and rage rushed as it were all together into his soul, and the blood
left his heart, and surged up into his brow, and lifted the very hair
upon his head. And suddenly, he bowed before the King's daughter,
standing absolutely still before him, like a picture painted on a wall.
And he said slowly: King Mitra is very fortunate in possessing such a
minister, and such a daughter; and I did very wrong, in remaining even
for a single instant, in an arbour to which I never should have come.
And then, he turned, and left the arbour. And she stood, absolutely
still, watching him go.