But no--I dare not address thee by this title, since thou hast refused to acknowledge our union. Noble descendant of Puru! It is not worthy of thee to betray an innocent-minded girl, and disown her in such terms, after having so lately and so solemnly plighted thy vows to her in the hermitage.
I will hear no more. Be such a crime far from my thoughts!
What evil spirit can possess thee, lady, That thou dost seek to sully my good name By base aspersions, like a swollen torrent, That, leaping from its narrow bed, o'erthrows The tree upon its bank, and strives to blend Its turbid waters with the crystal stream?
If, then, thou really believest me to be the wife of another, and thy present conduct proceeds from some cloud that obscures thy recollection, I will easily convince thee by this token.
Alas! alas! woe is me! There is no ring on my finger!
The ring must have slipped off when thou wast in the act of offering homage to the holy water of [S']achí's sacred pool, near Sakrávatára[82].
People may well talk of the readiness of woman's invention! Here is an instance of it.
Say, rather, of the omnipotence of fate. I will mention another circumstance, which may yet convince thee.
One day, while we were seated in a jasmine-bower, thou didst pour into the hollow of thine hand some water, sprinkled by a recent shower in the cup of a lotus-blossom--
At that instant, my adopted child, the little fawn, with soft, long eyes, came running towards us. Upon which, before tasting the water thyself, thou didst kindly offer some to the little creature, saying fondly:--'Drink first, gentle fawn.' But she could not be induced to drink from the hand of a stranger; though immediately afterwards, when I took the water in my own hand, she drank with perfect confidence. Then, with a smile, thou didst say;--'Every creature confides naturally in its own kind. You are both inhabitants of the same forest, and have learnt to trust each other.'
Voluptuaries may allow themselves to be seduced from the path of duty by falsehoods such as these, expressed in honeyed words.
Speak not thus, illustrious Prince. This lady was brought up in a hermitage, and has never learnt deceit.
E'en in untutored brutes, the female sex Is marked by inborn subtlety--much more In beings gifted with intelligence. The wily Koïl[83], ere towards the sky She wings her sportive flight, commits her eggs To other nests, and artfully consigns The rearing of her little ones to strangers.