The Substance of a Dream | Page 7

has in it a very strange kernel, preserved safe and sound only because
all its adventures added to its case, sheath after sheath. And all the
leaves are still there, a very little mouldy, and the silk that tied them,
and the seal. And the goddess said: But what is it after all? And
Maheshwara said: It is a case of urgency, that all came to nothing in the
end, being a letter that never even reached its destination, because the
sender was in so great a hurry that he defeated his own object, bidding
his messenger go so fast that in his haste his boat turned over, and he
and his message were eaten on their way by a river beast. For those
who go too fast often go so slow as never to arrive at all, as was the
case here. Then said Umá: He that sent it must have been a fool. And
Maheshwara said! Nay, O Snowy One, not at all: far from it: and yet he
became, as many do, a fool for the occasion, under the influence of
passion, which blinds the eyes, and shuts up the ears, and twists the
whole character awry, so that it acts in a manner contrary to itself, as if
the man had been suddenly changed into another, or his body entered
by a Wetála, in the temporary absence of his soul.
And Párwatí said: What was the passion here? And the Moony-crested
god said slowly: It was a threefold cord, and very strong: love, and love
turned by intense disappointment into hatred, and rage against a rival:
each by itself alone enough to turn reason into madness. But the whole
story is told, by its hero himself, in the very letter: and if thou wilt, I
will read it aloud to thee, exactly as he wrote it, word for word. And the
goddess said: Thou knowest all: why not tell it in thy own way, without
the trouble of reading? And Maheshwara said: Nay, on the contrary, it
is far better to let him tell it for himself: for who knew everything better
than he did? And moreover, every story told by a stranger is imperfect,
since he is obliged to fill up the gaps in his knowledge by imagination
or conjecture: whereas, when the actor in it all is himself the narrator, it
is the very truth itself, unless he expressly desires to conceal it, which
is not the case here. For he was very anxious indeed to tell his enemy

everything, on purpose to offend him: and he only made one mistake,
which I will show thee in due time. So I will read it exactly as it stands,
omitting absolutely nothing. And the Daughter of the Snow said: Read.
But she thought: If it is not worth hearing, I will simply go to sleep as
he reads. And Maheshwara said: Nay, O Snowy One, I will guarantee
that thou dost not go to sleep.
And then, the goddess suddenly threw her arms about his neck, and hid
her face on his breast. And she said: What is the use of trying to hide
anything at all from thee? Read. But for all that, I will go to sleep, if I
choose. And the Moony-crested god said with a smile: Aye! but thou
wilt not choose.
And then he began to read, throwing away the leaves as they ended,
one by one into the stream, which carried them away. And the
crocodiles all lay round him in a circle, worshipping their Lord, as he
read.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 2: Maheshwara is the ascetic par excellence, who punished
Love for trying to tempt him by burning him up like a moth with a fiery
glance from his third eye. And yet for all that, the Master Yogi was not
always proof against feminine fascination: he might be chaste as ice,
yet he has not escaped scandal.]
[Footnote 3: Nandi is the divine Bull, on which, or whom, the Great
God rides.]
[Footnote 4: Had the awful words passed her lips, Nandi was a doomed
bull, as a curse once uttered is irrevocable.]
[Footnote 5: Because he is the Lord of Creatures animate or inanimate,
which all obey him.]

II

The heart of a Woman
I
As the black cobra sits up, and puffs his hood, and hisses, giving
warning to his prey, ere he strikes: so I, Shatrunjaya[6] the lute-player,
son of a king, do send this my menace to thee, Narasinha, the lover of a
queen too good for so vile a thing as thou art: that none hereafter may
be able to say, I struck thee unwarned, or took thee unawares. Know,
that night doth not more surely or more swiftly follow day, than I and