I
Know, then, that this King, who was found dead in the early morning,
with a dagger in his heart, was named Arunodaya.[9] For his father said,
when he was born: This son is, as it were, the sunrise of our hopes. And
yet, by the decree of destiny, it turned out altogether contrary to his
expectation. For as it happened, his father, in whose family it was an
hereditary custom to have only one queen at a time, grew gradually tired
of his only wife. But being as cowardly in crime as he was weak in
constancy, he did not dare to bring about his wishes by any violence or
practice of his own, but lay as it were in wait, for some suitable
opportunity or occasion to present itself, by means of which he might
succeed in getting rid of her, without incurring any blame, or running
any risk. For such souls as his was, think to throw dust in the eyes of
Chitragupta,[10] not knowing that he does but add cowardice to the total
of their guilt.
[Footnote 9: (Pronounce _daya_ as _die_, with accent on preceding _o_.)
It means _the rising of red dawn_.]
[Footnote 10: The Recorder, who keeps account of all the sins that each
soul must answer for, at the end of every birth.]
So while he waited, time went on, and year succeeded year. And little by
little he and his queen grew gradually older, and his son changed slowly
from a boy into a man.
And then, at last, one day it happened, that the King and Queen were
sitting together on the palace roof. And all at once, the Queen started
to her feet with a cry. And as the King looked towards her, with wonder
and curiosity, she said slowly: Aryaputra,[11] know, that I have
suddenly recollected my former birth. And now, I long to tell thee all
about it; and yet I am afraid. For this is the law, that if anybody
suddenly remembers his former birth, and tells it to another, that very
moment he must die. And if I die, I must leave thee: for if not, what
could death do to me, since that is the only thing in the three worlds
of which I am afraid?
[Footnote 11: i.e. _son of a nobleman_, the term used by a queen in
addressing her husband.]
So as she looked at him, with regret and affection in her eyes--for she
was as devoted to her husband as if he had been worthy, as indeed he was
utterly unworthy, of her devotion--all at once the King's heart leaped
in his breast. And he said to himself: Ha! Here, as it seems, is that
very opportunity, for which I have been waiting all these years: till I
thought that my soul would almost part from my body, for sheer
impatience and disgust. And in an instant, he also sprang to his feet,
exclaiming as he did so, with an ecstasy that was only half feigned:
Strange! can it be? For I, too, have suddenly remembered my former
birth: as if this recollection of thine had been the spark required, to
set fire to the memory of my own. So now, then, let us very quickly tell
each other all, and so take leave together of these miserable bodies,
into which we must, beyond a doubt, have fallen, by reason of a curse.
So then, deceived by the display of his hypocritical affection, the
Queen told him very quickly all that she recollected of her former
birth. And when she had finished, the King looked at her steadily for a
while, and his face fell. And he said, with difficulty: Alas! alas! I
was utterly mistaken: and as I think, I took fire falsely, out of
sympathy with thee. And now I have fallen unwittingly into an
irreparable disaster. For as to my own former birth, I remember
absolutely nothing about anything at all.
So as he spoke, he looked at the Queen, and their eyes met. And in that
instant, she understood; and caught, like a flash of lightning, the
falsehood in his soul. And she gazed at him, for a while, fixedly, with
eyes that resembled an incarnation of scrutiny that was mingled with
reproach, till all at once he turned away, unable to endure the
detection of his own baseness, reflected as it were in the calm mirror
of her own pure gaze. And after a while, she said slowly: Son, not of a
noble, but an outcast, know, that thou hast doomed not me only, but
thyself. And now, because thou hast betrayed me to my death, thy son
also shall die as I do, and on the very same spot, by the agency of one
who stands to him in the very same relation that I do to thee: and the
husband shall pay for the wife. And the consequence of works shall dog
thee, in the form of the total extinction of thy race. But as for me,
now I see only too clearly that this birth has been a blunder, and a
punishment, and a delusion, resembling a scene played upon a stage,
whose king turns out, when the curtain falls, to be but a sorry rascal
after all. And all the while, I have given my devotion to the wrong
husband, and like a foolish benefactor, have wasted alms on a pitiful
impostor. I feared, but one short moment since, to leave thee, and to
part from thee; but now, thou hast suddenly changed regret into relief.
See, whether separation will be thy blessing or thy curse.
So as she spoke, she tottered, and her soul suddenly left its body,
which sank to the ground abandoned, like a creeper that collapses when
the trunk it clung to falls, and saying as if to mock him: Seek now for
the core that is gone, within the hollow husk.