An Essence of the Dusk, 5th Edition

by F. W. Bain

  [26] The reader should remember that in Sanskrit, _love_ and _recollection_ are the same word.

  XI.

  And as Aja gazed at her, stunned and almost overcome by the pathos ofher irresistible appeal, and as it were swept from his feet by the surgeof her passion, suddenly she seized his left hand with her right, andstood, grasping it as if convulsively, with the other hand raised, andbending her head as if to listen. And he listened, and lo! there soundedin his ears a murmur resembling that of the sea, mixed with faintstrains of music, and echoes of indistinguishable singing voices comingas it were from the ends of the earth. And a shudder ran through him, asshe turned, and looked at him as if in ecstasy, with eyes that sawnothing, murmuring in an eager voice that chanted and charmed his earlike the rushing of a stream: Dost thou hear the voices, calling theeover to the other shore? For the sea is the sea of separation, and theother shore is our former birth. Far away over the setting sun hidesthe red land[27] of our old sweet love. And I can take thee back to it,out of this dim and dingy wood. Only I can carry thee back to the landbeyond the sunset hill, where love is lying dead. Over the sea wheremonsters lurk, and great pearls grow in sunless deeps, I can carry theeback again to the land of long ago. Never a ship with a silken sailcould rock thee over across the waves so well as I will waft thee thereon the swell of this soft breast. Never a breeze from the sandal hillcould ferry thee over a silent sea so gently as will I, by breathinginto thy raptured ear tales of thy old forgotten past with fond andfragrant lips. What! art thou still oblivious of that old deliciousbirth? Dost thou never behold in dreams the paradise of our little hut,and slake again thy raging thirst in a long forbidden kiss? Does shenever come back to thee, the Brahmani girl with a face like mine, withlips that laughed and eyes that shone, and a mango flower in her hair?Say, dost thou never dream of her? And she shook his arm with frenzy,and exclaimed: Ha! wake from thy magic sleep, and tear away the curtainthat hides me from thy blinded soul. I will, I will awake thee. I willnot be forgotten. And all at once, she burst into a passion of tears.And she reeled, as though about to fall, and tottered, and threwherself, sobbing hard, against his breast.

  [27] The Sanskrit _dwipa_ has exactly the same connotation as our islands of the Blest, and like them it is placed in the setting sun.

  And while she spoke, Aja stood, like one pushed to the very edge of aprecipice, pale as death, and breathing hard, spellbound. And then atlast, when she threw herself upon his breast, again a shudder ranthrough all his limbs. And as if her touch had shattered to pieces thelast fragment of his resolution, he caught her around the waist with theone arm that was free. And with tears in his own eyes, he stammered, asif in the extremity of desperation, hardly knowing what he said: Alas! Ihave been harsh to thee. O lovely browed beauty, cease to weep. Why, Owhy, did I not meet thee sooner by only a single day?

  XII.

  And at that very moment, he heard behind him a deep sigh. And as heturned, wood, poppies, and all vanished from before his eyes. Once morehe stood on the city wall; and there before him was the King'sdaughter. And she was standing in the doorway, through which he had comeupon the wall, leaning against the open door, and paler than Love's ownashes, while her great dark eyes were frozen as it were to ice, and yetlit up by the triple fire of sorrow and reproach and fierce disdain. Andshe looked like the daughter of Janaka, when forsaken by the lord of therace of Raghu, and like the heavenly Urwashi, when abandoned byPururawas, a very spirit of despair carved by the Creator into a stonyfemale form, to break the heart of the three worlds. And as if the verysight of her had broken the spell that held him, reason and recollectionsuddenly returned to Aja, as it were at a single bound. And he woke, asif from a magic sleep, and on the instant, a sword ran as it werestraight into his heart. And with a cry, he flung away his sobbingburden like a blade of grass, not caring where it fell: and ran towardsthe King's daughter. But she, when she saw him coming, shrieked, andstarted, and exclaimed: Away! Touch me not, save with the point of thysharp true sword, to pierce me through the body as thy perfidy has mysoul.

  Then Aja tossed away his sword, with a shudder, over the edge of thewall. And he seized himself by the head with both hands, with a groanlike the roar of a wounded lion. And he exclaimed: Ha! Better now it hadbeen indeed, had I never emerged from the waste of sand. And he turnedfiercely upon Natabhrukuti, saying: This is thy doing, thou vileenchantress: and now I am indeed awake.

  But even as he spoke, the words died away upon his lips; and he stoodstill, like a picture on a wall, for wonder at what he saw before him.For Natabhrukuti was standing still, exactly where he left her, boltupright, like a spear fixed in the earth. And her beauty was greaterthan ever, and yet such, that as he saw it, his heart stopped in hisbreast. For every vestige of the nectar of her love-emotion had lefther, and in its place, the poison of immortal hate shone in her cold andevil eyes, which were fastened, as if with a mixture of pain andpleasure, with a glittering and fiendish stare, upon the King'sdaughter. And as he watched them, cold ran in Aja's veins. For her eyesshook, and changed colour, and a horrible smile played on her blue andtwitching lips. And she looked thin, for her two arms hung down tightagainst her sides, and her fingers opened and shut, slowly, as if oftheir own accord.

  And after a while, she spoke. And she turned to Aja, and said, in avoice that resembled a hiss: Fool! thou wouldst not take the blue flowerI offered thee, though its fragrance could not have been matched byanything in the three worlds. Now, then, I will take another way. So ashe watched her, she was gone: and he saw before him nothing but theempty city wall.

  And as he looked again, not crediting the testimony of his own eyes, heheard a sharp cry from the King's daughter. And he turned, and sawYashowati sinking to the ground. And at that very moment Natabhrukutistood again before him. And she looked at him with strange eyes, andsaid slowly: Go now, and enjoy thy wife. But I must give thee just onekiss, before I go.

  And as Aja looked into her eyes, suddenly, like a flash of lightning, heunderstood. And he struck his hand upon his brow, exclaiming: Ha! Now,now, I understand, too late. Thou art that very she, that was jealous ofthe King's daughter's beauty, and ruined her out of spite. And I havebeen befooled by thee, and failed to stand the test. And he ground histeeth with rage, that swept through him like a storm. And he said tohimself: Alas! I threw away my sword. No matter. Now, then, as she saidherself, I will take another way.

  And he looked at her, as she stood waiting. And he held out his arms,saying: Come, then. And as she put her face close to his own, he caughther by her slender throat, with both hands, in a grip like that ofdeath.

  And then lo! she was gone again. But in her place, he held in his graspa huge yellow snake, which struck him, as he clutched it hard, once andtwice, upon the lips.

  A Fatal Kiss.

  And then, little by little, the night gradually came to an end. And thesun rose up, out of his home in the eastern mountain, and began rapidlyto climb into the sky.

  And all at once, there arose a great hubbub, and an outcry in the King'spalace. And the women ran hither and thither, wailing and screaming andcrying out: Haha! haha! the daughter of the King is gone. And theyhunted in all directions, but could not find her anywhere: and they wentand told the King. But he, when he heard it, came running just as he wasin his night clothes, and hurried about with all the women, looking intoevery corner, and finding nothing. So after turning the palace upsidedown, he stopped short. And he said: What if she should have followedher lover up on to the city wall, and shared his fate! For beyond adoubt, like all his predecessors, he has vanished never to return.

  Then they all went up the winding stair, the King going first. And hestepped out on to the wall. And instantly, with a piercing cry, he fellto the ground in a mortal swoon.

  Then terror seized on all those women, and they stood exactly where theywere, looking at each other with pale faces, not daring to advance. Butat last, after a long while, supporting each the other, they pushedforward and looked out.
And they saw the King's body, lying on that ofhis daughter; and a little further off, Aja, lying upon his face.

  Then they went out, and took up those three bodies, and carried them in,and examined them. And after a while, they said: Doubtless the heart ofthe old King broke, when he saw his daughter lying dead. But as for theother two, one snake has evidently bitten both. And yet, this is awonderful thing. For she has been bitten on the foot, but her lover uponthe lips. What then? Was he trying to kiss the snake, that it shouldbite him upon the lips? For how could even the biggest snake reach up sohigh, as this great Rajpoot's mouth?