So that haughty beauty spoke, ignorant of the future, not dreaming that
her destiny in the form of a mortal husband was just about to laugh her
vaunt to scorn. And leaving her father abruptly, she rose up into the
air, and began to fly swiftly like a wild white swan away towards the
western quarter, looking down upon the sea, that resembled a blue mirror
of the sky that stretched above it, with foaming waves in place of
clouds, and water instead of air: saying to herself: Only let me get
away, where not a Widyadhara of them all is to be seen. And the wind
caressed her limbs like a lover, stealing embraces as she went along,
and whispering in the shell of her little ear: Be not alarmed, O vagrant
beauty, if I reveal thy outline to the whole world, for there is nobody
by to see. And she watched the sun go down before her, and went on all
night long, with no companion but the new moon that sank into the sea in
a little while, as if ashamed to rival her, leaving her alone with
night. And at last, when dawn was just breaking, she saw below her this
very temple, standing alone on the sandy shore between the forest and
the sea. And a little further on, the King's palace was standing up like
a tower, reddened by the young sun's rays. So, feeling tired, she
swooped down, to rest for a little while. And she settled on the edge of
the palace roof, taking the form of a snowy bird, with a ruddy bill and
legs, as if to mock and imitate the colour of the sun.
And at that very moment, Arunodaya came out upon the roof, with his
prime minister behind him, like Winter following the god of Spring. And
the very instant she set eyes on him, she became as it were a target for
Love's arrow, as if, although invisible, he were there beside his
friend.[22] And she fell suddenly in love with the young king as he came
towards her, and shook with such agitation, that she came within a very
little of falling straight into the sea. And she murmured to herself,
with emotion: Can this be a second dawn[23] appearing just to confound
the other? Or can it be Kamadewa, in a body more beautiful than his own?
But if so, where is Rati? Or am I only dreaming, having fallen unawares
asleep, thinking of husbands and my father's words?
[Footnote 22: _i.e._ Spring, who is Love's companion.]
[Footnote 23: This is an allusion to the King's name (see note, _ante_)
the point of which will presently appear.]
So as she spoke, Arunodaya looked towards her, and presently he said
aloud: See, Gangadhara, how yonder snowy sea-bird has come to me as it
were for refuge, tired beyond a doubt by some long journey across the
sea! Let us not go too near it, lest out of fright it may take to
flight, before its wings are rested. And he sat down a little way off,
on the very edge of the terrace, keeping his eye on Makarandika, who
laughed at his words in her sleeve, saying softly to herself: There is
no fear, O handsome stranger, that I shall fly away, since thy arrival,
so far from scaring me away, has nailed me to the spot. And the prime
minister said meanwhile: Maharaj, here I am, according to thy
appointment, to discuss thy marriage with thee, where nobody can
overhear. And know, that since thou art absolutely bent on marrying no
other than the wife of thy former birth, I do not despair of finding
her, if she is able to be found. But who can find anything, unless he
knows what it is like? For if not, he will not know that he has found
it, when it lies before his eyes. So tell me, to begin with, what this
wife of thine resembles; and then I will set to work and find her,
without the loss of any time.
Then Arunodaya said slowly: O Gangadhara, how can I tell thee what I do
not know myself? And Gangadhara said, in wonder: Maharaj, it cannot be.
How will thou recognise her, not knowing what she looks like? And
Arunodaya said again: I shall know her in an instant, the moment I set
eyes on her. For at the very sight of her, love, that depends on the
forgotten associations of a previous existence, will suddenly shoot up
in the darkness of my heart, like flame. For this is the only proof, and
no other is required. And yet, there is something else, to give me as it
were a clue. For though, strive as I may, I cannot even guess what she
was like, yet my memory, as it seems, is not absolutely blank. For I
remember, that she was the daughter of a pandit, and maybe herself a
pandit; and I seem to listen in a dream, whenever I think about her, to
the noise of innumerable pandits, all shouting at the same time some
name that I can never catch, mingling with the roar of the waves of the
sea.
And when he ended, Gangadhara stared at him, in utter stupefaction,
saying within himself: Beyond a doubt, this King is mad. And presently
he said aloud: O King Arunodaya, who ever heard of a woman, suited for a
king's wife, who had anything to do with pandits? What is there in
common between pandits and the wives of kings? Certainly, thou art
doomed to live and die unmarried: for a beauty who is a pandit is not to
be found in the three worlds.