The Substance of a Dream | Page 6

about on the flat snow just where she
had left her elephant, which was gone. And she uttered a loud cry, and
stood, aghast with rage and disappointment. And she opened her mouth
to curse the author of the mischief, and was on the very verge of saying:
Sink into a lower birth, thou insolent destroyer! when Maheshwara
stopped her in the very act, guessing her intention, by putting his hand
upon her mouth.[4] And he exclaimed: Say nothing rash, O angry one,
for Nandi did not do it on purpose, after all. And a good servant does
not deserve cursing, for an accidental blunder.
And then, Párwatí burst into tears. And she exclaimed: Out of my sight,
thou clumsy one! for I cannot bear to see thee. And she turned away,
sobbing. And Maheshwara looked at her out of the corner of his eye,
and he said to himself: Now, then, I must do something to console her
for the elephant, and bring back her good humour. For ill humour in a
woman spoils all. And presently he said: Come now, enough! for Nandi
has gone off in disgrace, sufficiently punished by banishment for a time,
and very sad to have been the unwitting cause of thy distress. And let
us roam about awhile, in search of something new, that may help to
obliterate recollection, and change thy gloom into a smile.
And he took the goddess in his arms, and set her as she sobbed upon his
knee, and rose from the peak of Kailàs, and shot like a falling star down
into the plain below. And coming to Haradwára, where Gangá issues
from the hills, he began to follow the holy stream down its course,
gliding along just above it like a cloud that was unable to refrain from

watching its own beautiful reflection in the blue mirror of her wave.
And so they went, until at last they reached an island that was nothing
but a sandbank in the very middle of the river, covered with crocodiles
lying basking in the sun. And then he said: See! we will go down, and
rest awhile among the crocodiles on this sand, whose banks resemble
nothing so much as the outline of thy own graceful limbs. And Umá
said tearfully: Pish! what do I care for crocodiles, that sit for hours
never even moving, like a yogí in a trance?
Then said the cunning god: None the less, we will go down: for it may
be that the island contains something besides its crocodiles. And as
they settled on it, he said again: Did I not say we should find something?
for yonder it lies, and it is a very great curiosity indeed. And now, canst
thou tell me what it is?
And she looked at it with scrutiny, and presently she said: I can tell this
only, that it must have been in the water for a very long time, before it
was washed up at last upon this bank by the river's flood: since it is but
a shapeless lump, covered with sand and rust and dirt. Who but thyself
could even guess what it might be? And Maheshwara said: It has had a
very long journey, and been not only in the river, but in a crocodile too.
For crocodiles swallow everything. And long ago, this was carried by a
man, who was drowned in another stream by the upsetting of his boat,
and became with all he carried the prey of an old crocodile, which died
long ago, and rotted away, letting this at last escape out of its tomb, and
roll along, till at last it got into the Ganges, and was thrown up here in
the rainy season, only the other day. And when at last the water sank, lo!
there it lay, as it has lain until this moment, as if expecting thy arrival,
to provide thee with entertainment. And when all is over, thou wilt very
likely bless Nandi, instead of cursing him; since but for his
awkwardness in rolling on thy elephant, thou wouldst never have
known anything about it.
And Párwatí said peevishly: Where is the entertainment in this foolish
lump of flotsam, of which thou hast related the adventures without ever
saying what it is?
And the Moony-crested god said: Aha! Snowy One, do not be too sure.

For many things hold in their heart things not to be anticipated, judging
by their outside: and this lump which thou despisest is like a coco-nut,
whose coarse skin is full of nectar. But it has been shut so long, that it
would not easily be opened by anyone but me.[5] And he touched it
with his foot, saying, Open, and it opened like a shell. And he said: See!
it