oubt it: for
if she did not, she would be a fool. But listen, and learn, what thou
dost not seem to know, that Love is a Master Knave; aye! by far the
greatest master of deceit in the three great worlds. And woman is his
aptest pupil, and every woman living, were she even as simple as
thyself, becomes, as soon as she falls under the influence of Love, a
very incarnation of policy and craft and wiles. I tell thee, foolish
boy, that she that loves in earnest, were she good as gold, pure as
snow, and flawless as a diamond, would plunge, to gain her object, to
the very lowest bottom of the ocean of deceit. And what is her object
but the esteem of her lover? Dost thou think, she would balance for an
instant, between her lover, and the ruin of the world? between his good
opinion, and a lie? Dost thou think, she would forfeit thy esteem, when
to deceive thee would preserve it? I tell thee, in such a dilemma, she
would lie, till the very sun at noon hid his face out of shame.
Know[20], that long ago there lived at Waranasi[21] an independent
lady, of beauty so extraordinary, that swarms of lovers use to buzz
continually about her like great black bees about the mango blossom in
the spring. But independent though she was, she was so fastidious, that
none of her innumerable lovers ever touched her heart even for a moment.
And hence she lived like a lamp at midnight surrounded by the corpses of
her victims, who fluttered about her lustre and perished in its flame.
And then at last, one day it came about that a tall young Rajpoot almost
as beautiful as thou art arrived at Waranasi. And Kashayini[22] (for
that was her name) saw him from a window as he came into the city; and
instantly like an empty pitcher suddenly plunged into the Ganges, she
was filled to the very brim by the inrush of Love's sacred nectar. And
she said to herself: The very first thing that he will hear of in the
city is myself. And like everybody else, he will come immediately to see
me: and that very moment, I shall abandon the body out of shame. For
though my beauty might attract him, yet he will be convinced that many
lovers have preceded him, and therefore, at the bottom of his heart he
will despise me. And this would be worse than any death. And yet without
him, my birth will have been in vain. Therefore, I must devise some
expedient. So after a while, she went out in disguise, and bought for a
large sum of money the body of a woman of her own age and size who