Volume 2
Satnayamdtri/^d
of
Kshemendra
EASTERN LOVE
VOLUMES I II
xt ff fc ».
THE LESSONS OF A BAWD
AND
HARLOT'S BREVIARY
t -- — *-
— O-'
ENGLISH VERSIONS of the
KUTTANIMATAM OF DAMODARAGUPTA
AND S AM AY AM ATRI KA OF KS HEMENDRA BY
E. POWYS MATHERS
VOLUME II
*
THE HARLOT'S BREVIARY
OF
KSHEMENDRA
JOHN RODKER
FOR SUBSCRIBERS
LONDON t 1927
THIS EDITION OF THE S AMATAM ATRI K A
OF KSHEMENDRA, BEING VOLUME 2 OF THE
"EASTERN ART OF LOVE," IS HERE TRANS-
LATED INTO ENGLISH FOR THE FIRST TIME,
BY E. POWYS MATHERS. THE EDITION OF
I,0O0 COPIES ON ALL RAG PAPER WAS
PRINTED BY MESSRS. MOLYNEUX,
3 & 4, NEW STREET HILL, LONDON.
THE COPPER PLATE ENGRAVINGS ARE BY
HESTER SAINSBURY AND HAVE BEEN
PRINTED AND HAND COLOURED BY
MESSRS. A. ALEXANDER AND SONS, LTD.
THIS COPY IS NO.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER.
1 THE MISSION OF THE MATRON
2 THE PERFECT COURTESAN ^
3 A NIGHT IN THE MARKET OF LOVE
4 A VENAL PHILOSOPHY
j A LESSON IN LOVE TACTICS
6 THE IDEAL LOVER
7 HOW TO ENGAGE
8 HOW TO BREAK OFF
i. Thc~> Mission of the^> Matron.
ONOUR TO KAMA, GOD OF DESIRE,
whose breath shipwrecks the flowers;
by the immaterial, airy arrows which
vanquish the three worlds, of HeaTen
and Earth and Hell ! And honour
•also to Kali, Goddess of Terror !
For all things come to the includable chasm of
her mouth, to be overwhelmed in nothing.
This Triple World of ours seems only an
imperceptible reflexion on that stormy sea, or
like a little vagabond carp within it. Already
that mouth has swallowed so dreadful a duration
of time that even the Ancients have no count of
it ; for the bold and careless luSt of Kali cloaks
itself in Jraud against the unnumbered armies of
those aflli&ed with a body !
The Breviary of Enchantments was made by
Kshemendra for the profit of purchasable fair
ones, passing from hand to hand, that they may
use it as a magic book in their occulted practices.
The sensuous court of Kama, the fortunate
house of games and laughter, the place of the
waves of the lascivious sea which women rule :
such was the exquisite city of Pravarapura in
Kashmir.\It was the moSt notable jewel with
which the magnificent body of the earth is
S a may amatrik^d
decked. The Goddess of Joy and Beauty took
her pleasure there. When the God of Desire
fled from the ruining glance of the Three Eyes,
or from the Abode of the Blessed, it was to
Pravarapura that he came for refuge: the
moving banks of the triple folds of the belly of
women.
There dwelt Kalavati, an amiable girl and
brighter than the shining of the moon : a house
where the high God of Love lived in all
insolence: a daughter of desire who was a
magic compound for the eyes, and whose
unnatural allurement put a yoke on men.
The firmness of her breast, the proud curve of
her eyebrows, and the dark glowing of her
eyes, these three proclaimed her trade of
courtesan.
One day, as she leaned from the high places of
her palace, she saw the guru of harlots passing,
the providence of lovers, the street barber.
His face showed out from a formidable beard,
his eyes had the appearance of cloudy glass, and
he was obese as a musk cat gorged with the
buttercups of Spring. His massive head was
fringed only at its rim with hair, and shone like
a polished copper pot, or like the cup of luxury
where the hands of a lover wander. He came
on with his nose in the air, on guard against
fragments of betel spitten from the windows ;
2
Kshemendra
Camclneck, urged by some irresistible desire,
took a good third of it upon her conscience.
* But that particular gilded vegetable holds all
deceit and larceny in detestation ; so Camelneck
grew mortally ill, and in the end she, who had
never noticed anything but gold in all the
world, perished the vi&im of a golden root.
* In the last moments of her life the very ground
seemed coloured gold to her, and the virtuous
old lady went on crying Still : Pick, & U P> little
6 Now that she has gone my house is empty, it
has become a cavern of cheating ; each lover
does what he likes, and pulls all the coverlet over
to his side.
* The great and opulent lord no longer sets his
feet there, the rich man finds no further occasion
to come and see me ; for, as a deserted hut is
infested by vagabonds, so am I infested by the
mob of my lovers, and have to go into the city
to make my meetings.
' I have had enough of this disorder. For how
shall I, who ever held the scales equal for all men,
endure to be at the mercy of one or two ? '
Thus she gave form to her thoughts, while the
tears ascended to her eyes ; the barber had heard
her in silence ; now, when he had calmed her a
little, he answered sighing :
' Dear mistress, it was your own greed and your
7
S a may am at ri fa
insensate blundering which introduced this
do&or, this villainous girl-hunter, to your house.
* A cure which succeeds with harlots would
utterly destroy a respe&able woman like your
mother. What, did you not know that this
doftor is the death of bawds ?
'When he goes out to hunt the sick, every girl's
parasite and flunkey bows in resped at his
passage, with flattering murmurs : All honour to
Yama, the King of fuftice, the Reaper of Life, the
God of Death / Pefi is the peft of bawds ! May his
rope choke them all /
c Shake off your grief, lift up your heart in
masculine resolution ; find a new mother, fertile
in resources, and place her at the head of your
household.
' Lovers grow very soon as bold as wolves
where there is no mother to mount guard, to
spy upon them like a tigress, to know what they
eat, and count the drinks they drink.
"When a girl no longer has a mother, she
wanders blindly here and there, without a plan
or clue, and does not know a minute's peace
from night till morning.
6 As a cat settles upon the hearth in the winter,
so settles the evil youth in the house of the
daughter of desire who lacks a mother.
' Lovers with threadbare hearts incruSl the
house when its mother has left it ; if you touch
8
K shemendra
on the question of money and speak to them 01
their bills, they whistle carelessly, but can do
little else.
* A terrace without thorns, a public girl without
a matron, a king without his ministers : it is
through these that sycophancy and flunkeydom
grow fat.
c Now is the time to heap up gold, O girl with
eyes of the blue lotus ; the gracious curve of your
proud breaSt muSt win you happiness.
' The roguish years have a swift wing and come
not back. There are a few short breaths when
your delights are at their full : oh, profit by
them !
6 The firSt glimmer of youth and sprays sur-
charged with blossom, fade like a dream.
6 While there is yet time, O sulky fair one, pluck
flowers in the gold garden. While there is yet
time lay hold of another mother, skilful to bend
in every gale of lies. Here, in the dawn of your
blossoming, child of exquisite eyebrows, here
lies the battlefield where you muSt conquer ;
this is the Spring of age, when boys carve out
their life and daughters of desire their fortune.
s I know a certain woman who, from her birth,
has ever marched breaSt forward ; and she is a
talisman of power against those men who bind
themselves about the beauty of girls, as ivy
round a tree. Now listen carefully to the Story
9
2. Th^j Perfect Courtesan,
32 ANKA AT ONCE BEGAN HIS TALE, AND
H Kalavati listened to it with grave
$1 attention, for it was the Story of a
|j bawd moSt fertile in the finest kind
*g of shift and artifice.
^ c There was once a woman called
Bhumika/ he said, 'who kept an inn at
Parihasapura, and bore a daughter whom she
named Arghagharghatika.
* As the child was rather tall and had delightful
looks, the simple folk of the neighbourhood
asked her to all their feaSts ; and the little thief
repaid them by filching the holy vases from their
houses.
* When she was only six years old, though full
of talk already, her mother, who hungered for
money, set her up for sale at the country fair.
4 Behold her, then, already armed for conquest
of a lover, and not afraid of kisses, wearing a
pearl collar ornamented with round cockle-
shells, and tightly laced into a little jacket which
had been basely provided with false breaSts.
* A young merchant called Purnaka, who had
come into the town to purchase saffron, passed
by the place where she Stood for sale, a hand-
some fellow, sewn all over with gold and moft
imposing.
11
S amay amdtrik^d
' After this it was necessary for her to change
her name and residence once more, so she called
herself Nagarika, and became the mistress of a
gentleman farmer at Pratapapura.
' This calm existence and the abundant luxury
of an excellent table soon made her fat, and
she became as dear to her lover as Hidimba to
Bhimasena.
' As soon as she had obtained complete power
over the disposition of all his money, she prayed
for a swift death to free her from her vi&im,
and, in the meanwhile, for want of anything
better, succeeded in alienating him from all his
family.
' One day he was found clubbed to death in his
father's orchard, so she profited by her Strong
position in the house to become the mistress of
the father himself, whose name was Shrlsimha.
As he had no other children, this old man was
a quarry very well worth hunting.
e Aware that her youth was passing and wishing
to ouSt all the reSt of her decrepit lover's women,
she took pains to enthrall him by the use of
magic plants.
* At the same time she re-awakened his juvenile
ardour by the judicious use of fish soup, milk,
liquified butter, garlic, onions, and other virile
adjuvants.
6 But when the old man, who feared the wrath
14
S a may amdtrif^d
to follow her husband to the tomb.
e His blood relations were hard put to it to move
her from this crotchet of hers, which was all
the Stronger because it rose out of a hypocritical
calculation only. She would speak to them in
a deep voice and with a resolved and noble air :
Widowhood in a fine family, the slur a woman* s
reputation takes from it, and the vexations which follow
after : all these will soon depart from me with the
flames of the pyre.
6 Thus would she speak, and be as constant in
her resolution, as careless in the face of death,
as if she were made of Stone. But she found it
very difficult to conceal her joy at having
entered into so mighty an inheritance ; and this
difficulty was the measure of what she really
felt.
' When the property had become legally hers
through a decision of the crown, she let herself
be dissuaded out of her funereal resolve by the
King's people, and lived thenceforward in joy
and feaiting and entertainment.
Soon she captured the scribe of the royal
Stables, himself a veritable Stallion in the game,
and thus Stayed among the living to scatter
ruin and death.
c She clung like a leech to her new conquest,
and charmed her lover daily in the bath-house
with the sparkling prettiness of her chatter.
16
Kshemendra
6 The scribe, who had his own considerable
complement of assurance, spent all his day in
pillaging his master, and then, when he had
eaten and drunken like a Kumbhakarna in the
evening, slept like one also. Every morning the
woman lavished her expert cares of the bath
upon him and showed him demonstrations of
devotional respeft, while he lay in the water and
tried to cool his spirit-heated blood.
' As she was growing old and had no child, and
as those which the scribe had begotten on
another woman were beginning to be grown
up, she applied herself to the exploitation of
this man as to a pious work, and laid up a
considerable treasure in secret by turning every-
thing in the house to ready money.
' In the end the man's sons revolted at this
wholesale disappearance of the furnishing of
their father's house, and to prevent further
depredation laid hands on all that was left.
But the woman did not hesitate to bring the
matter before the courts, and at once laid siege
to the heart of a lawyer who thereupon took
up her case.
' Thanks to this man, who bribed a settlement
in her favour, she gained the vi&ory, and the
goods in question were restored to her.
' At once she hastened to realise money upon
the house and all that was in it, and, fleeing in
c
S am ay amatrik^d
disguise from the wrath of her lover's sons,
took refuge in a convent of Satkas.
c She dyed her white hair black, made her face
shine with paints and unguents, and established
herself in that place as a harlot recently launched
upon the trade.
' She gave out that she had held an honourable
position in the business world and, by the
attra&ion of this, made brisker dealings with
her body.
c Her clients never questioned the truth of what
she said, for they were ever ready to meet a
thing half way, and, being delighted by the
tales she told of the commercial life, ran after
her more and more.
' So she discovered the joy of turning heads
again, and, though her tongue and lips and
hands were already worn by drinking the cup
of peace with lovers, she savoured it even more.
' At length, however, when she had received
Stolen goods from certain robbers, she was
arrested on the information of her traitorous
servants, and, because she insisted on denying
the evidence, was loaded with chains and caSt
into prison.
' There she quickly seduced a gaoler, whose
name was Bhujanga, into the snares of her love,
and thenceforward dwelt in unclouded happi-
ness, spending her time in a conscientious
iS
K shemendra
clearance of fish and cakes and honey.
* Once, when the two were alone together, she
held her lover in a deep embrace and covered
him with kisses ; then, as he grew drunk on
these, she bit out his tongue with her teeth as
the first Stage in her bid for liberty.
e The man could not cry out, so she waited till
he had swooned away and then dressed him
as a woman in her own clothes, removed her
chains, and fled.
' She came by night to Vijayeshvara, and passed
herself off, under the name of Anupama, as
the daughter of a powerful minister.
* In this city she was able, thanks to the love of
Bhogamitra, to deck the poor remnants of her
once exceptional beauty with loads of precious
Stones. She carefully raised her breaSts, and
put on a long wig ; she adorned herself with a
pale red turban, she bestowed an honeSt layer
of collyrium upon her eyes, and covered her
face with a nose veil. Thus she succeeded in
impressing the simple folk of that place, until
they cried : What fairylike creature is this that has
come among us !
c One of these admirers was Stricken by irre-
sistible desire ; but, when he had seen her
naked for a single moment, he never afterwards
dared even to pass the corner of her Street.
' As a cooled gallery in winter, as a range of
19
lamps at noon, as a crown of withered flowers,
so is an old whore useless to every man.
' Since no customer would take her bait, she
contented herself with approaching Strangers
under cover of the darkness and dragging them
with her by the skirts of their clothing ; thus
she was able to procure a meagre salary each
night.
' Later, as a penitent named Shikha, she asso-
ciated herself with a male penitent called Bhaai-
ravasoma ; and he shared the food of his
mendicancy with her.
* Yet again she livened her regard with colly-
rium, and wore a clear circlet of crystal roses
about her neck, and laced her arms and breasts
magnificently below a garment fitting without
a wrinkle: thus, when she sought alms, she
Still disseminated illusion and excited fools.
' But a famine came and it grew impossible to
live by begging ; so one night she Stole the
adornment of his holy images from the penitent
and disappeared.
' Then this woman, though ignorant of every
limit of immortality, sought refuge in the
Buddhist cloister at Krityashrama. She became
a nun, under the name of Vajraghanta, and
Stayed without movement, plunged in ecStacy.
She held a begging bowl in the crook of her
hand, and offerings fell within it: a begging
20
K shemendra
bowl, the symbol of all virtue ! She wore a
torn old rag of red about her shoulders, a
worthy parallel, had men but known it, of the
feigned ardours she had shown her lovers in
the pa§t. Her head, which had once been
proclaimed the reeling place eleffc of admiring
eyes, had now become like a ripe pumpkin ;
she shaved a great tonsure upon it to win her
pious gifts.
* This subtle old creature now carried her
message of evil, fraud, and corruption from
door to door ; for women of the great houses
would come assiduously to bow before her,
that she might spell out their future in the
magic circle.
* As she ever had love charms in her bag for
daughters of desire, magic ways of getting rich
for the use of merchants, and conjurations and
spells for the benefit of the foolish, she soon
succeeded in winning a fine consideration.
c But, by lying with a slave of a certain Buddhift
adept, she became with child, and this bodily
accident was a great hindrance to her traffic
in hypocrisy.
c She was now forbidden to live on alms and
dragged an enormous belly about with her ;
therefore, as soon as she was brought to bed,
she hastened to abandon her infant and return
to the city.
21
Samayamatrik^a
* She provided herself with another wig, and
told her tale so skilfully that, when the minister
Mitrasena had a son, she was taken in to nurse it.
* She led a tranquil life there, under the name of
Ardhakshlra, and sat in wait on a lion-footed
Stool, with her nursling in her arms, spying
out ways to make one mouthful of the whole
house.
'As she received a moSt substantial diet, in
order that her nurse's milk might not be spoiled,
she lived in the minister's mansion like a
fighting cock.
c A collar of corals shone about her neck, her
ears were gay with silver rings, and heavy metal
balls glowed gloriously down the length of both
her arms ; a Strip of woollen fabric fell to her
heels from the compact upper parts of her high
rump ; she put on great flesh, owing to her
generous diet, and regained something of her
former carriage in these opulent days of her
nursing.
' But as she was for ever stuffing herself with
what came to hand, it followed at length, from
such indulgence, that the child was attacked
by fever. The doftor ordered a course of faSting
for the nurse, and she now had to content her
leisure with a vaSt inglutition of fish soup.
* You muH be careful of the water you drinks
ordered the doftor, and there can be no question of
22
K shemendra
heavy and heating foods. For two or three days you
mult not, as you love the child, take more than an
infusion of herbs. Then the boy will live ; and think,
how pleasantly you may take part in the numberless
feafls which will be given in his honour ! So said the
do&or, but she turned a deaf ear to him.
'When she saw that the child grew no better,
and because her love for him was lighter than
a Straw, she fled in the night, taking all his
gold-embroidered binders along with her.
' After this, she changed her name again, and,
settling down in a remote and desolate land,
devised a fine business of goat breeding.
c But a terrible Storm fell upon the foreSt and
destroyed each thing within it ; her fortune
was swept away, and there remained no more
of her flock, as there remained no more of her
wretched body, than the skin. So she laid
hold of the thick woollen underclothing which
her shepherd had intrusted to her care, and sold
it in the city of AvantI ; she bought cakes with
the price of it, and established herself as a
cake-seller, under the title of Tar a.
c She bought up a basket of old paStry, which
had been given in offering to the idols, cooked
it again in the oven, and went about the Streets
selling it for new.
* She used a great quantity of rice in her new
business, and the housewives let her have it on
23
S am ay a
credit, at a very high rate of interest. But
after they had hugged themselves for some
weeks to think of the enormous profits they
were going to make, they ended by finding
that they could even whistle for their capital.
* After this she called herself Kushalika and
went round with an itinerant seller of liquified
butter, begging from door to door for such
sums as would allow the girl's wedding to take
place.
* Under the Style of Panjika she haunted the
gaming houses, selling cogged dice and counter-
feit money.
* As Mukulika, the flower-seller, she sold blos-
soms for offering before the idols ; but once,
when she had spent the sums which the keepers
of the temple gave her to purchase her stock,
she fled at nightfall, leaving them without
flowers or money.
' She assumed the name of Himaand distributed
fresh water to the folk at village festivals, but
she would always manage to slip away in time,
and take the bracelets of the dancers at the
booths along with her.
4 Then she adopted the name of Varna, and
read the Stars ; she turned aside evil influences,
thwarted the six disasters, and, in her capacity
as marriage broker, made and unmade attach-
ments by spreading false reports.
24
S am ay amatrih^a
name to Kala, opened a drinking Stall, and for a
full three days did a brisk trade in maddening
liquors.
* One night she subtilized the seven little bells
from a holy ascetic, as he lay deeply sleeping
off his drink.
* Afterwards, when certain travellers loSt con-
sciousness through taking a spirit which was
too full of thorn-apple, she packed up all their
possessions and fled through the night to
Shurapura.
' There, as a matter of convenience, she married
a porter ; but, when he lay dead in sleep after
his hard day's work, she would always leave
him and pass the night with someone else;
yet this did not prevent her, in the morning,
from girding up her high broad haunches
across their narrowest part with a long cord,
and cheerfully carrying the heaviest burdens
upon her head all day.
* Journeying later over the desolate mountains,
by wet and slippery paths, abrupt and deep in
snow, she came one evening to the convent of
Panchaladhara, where she introduced herself as
Bamba, a lady of high breeding, and let it be
seen that she wished to Stay there awhile. . . .
Eventually, in the depths of winter, she went
forward, her face muffled in her garment, and
tormented by the cold. She wore a thick
26
K shemendra
woollen covering which fell to her heels, and
seemed a very miserable little old woman
indeed in those days.
' In her further wanderings she called herself
SatyavatI, a Brahman woman, and as such she
passed over the whole earth : the sea surrounds
it as a belt, and the jewels of the belt are little
islands.
"Wherever she went, she contrived considera-
tion for herself: in one place because she knew
the words of Yoga, in another by displaying her
faSts and macerations, in a third by boasting
that she had undertaken a circular pilgrimage
to bathe herself in the mo§t notable sacred
rivers.
* By determining the position of sun and moon,
and the dire&ion of the wind, by observing the
bright variations of the comets as a means of
reading the future, she beguiled the confidence
of fools, and assured herself profit even in
kings' palaces.
* / myself will paralyse the army of your foes t
When she had made such a promise, she would
pack the gold, which she had extorted for her
service, in a portable form, and preside over the
beginnings of the battle. But, as soon as the
disorder became great enough, she would dis-
appear into the duSt and darkness.
' As she went on her way, she chattered of her
*7
S am ay amatrik^a
pilgrimage to Kedara, of her sacrifices at Gaya,
her baths in the Ganges, and of all her other
works of piety. She showed herself off as a
witness of the blessings which follow such
deeds, and thus could always obtain a gift of
money from the rich and well-disposed.
* A thousand years have already passed over my
head, she would declare, / kpow the higheft
secrets of alchemy ; the magic words, in all their
infinite and delicate complexity, are at my service ;
I hold in my hand the essence of each desirable
thing in the Three Worlds. By means of such
fantastic boasting she would reduce the good
landowners in country places to the con-
dition of dogs licking the soles of her feet ; and
at the same time, to feed her personal pride, she
would contrive to minimise the veneration due
to the truly virtuous. She was an extraordinary
woman.
' After she had visited the farthest shores of the
world, and had obtained unheard of triumphs
through her increasing culture in love's jugglery,
she returned to her own country, bringing no
other fortune than her withered form. There is
no man, however low he may have fallen, who
will renounce the land of his birth : it is as
native to him as the body is !
4 Though she was entirely decrepit and utterly
disfigured, and in spite of her lies and boa&ing,
28
K shemendra
I recognised her by the little dark blue beauty
spot upon her forehead.
6 If this chosen among women, this ravenously
rapacious bawd, this dragon of the pay-desk,
is willing to become the mother of your
waSled house, then re§t assured, O slim young
girl, that all the riches of the world of love will
fall, for the asking, into your small hand.
' 1 will go to her now, for she knows all the
tricks and shifts and secrets of the trade, she
has the whole vaSt science of pimping at her
finger-ends, and I wish to make certain that
you get her ; only so will your feet be set upon
the road to colossal fortune. But why should I
wafte time in speaking further of her ? Surely
her wit could be matched against the world !
She is the perfedt solution of your life, my
child ! '
Thus spake the barber in the fullness of his
excellent counsel, and then departed
with great haste.
3. A Night in thts Market of Loves
S SOON AS THE FRIENDLY BARBER
had undertaken to fetch this mother
of all riches, this mother of whom
daughters of desire would dream,
whom nature had marked out from
earliest time to be a leech upon the
burnings hearts of lovers, a sleepy lassitude fell
upon the other courtesans, for they feared that
they would lose her bold, magnificent help.
The lord of day, spending his golden treasure
slowly, had well-nigh come to the end of his
course upon the air, and for a moment dipped
his burning globe in the red dwellings of
twilight.
Then, driven from this West of swiftly passing
light, the flaming god died in his love pangs,
and his glorious head was drowned below the
sea.
Now the half moon glittered in the airs of
evening, an ivory disk dropped from the ear of
some celestial harlot as she fought with another
in a bawdy brawl. And, when the lunar god,
the snow-rayed lover of the Night, rose in the
Ea§t, the earth trembled with rapture and made
herself ready for love's festival.
Then the wooers, who had done nothing during
3°
Samayamatrik^d
to slip forth and be polite to him for a moment.
Others, whose regular customer had not arrived
and who had refused some newcomer for his
sake, now noisily mourned their double mis-
adventure.
Still others tried to persuade those clients whom
they had sucked dry and put to the door, and
who had now received some new inheritance,
that it was their mother who had forced them to
do this thing. If she cannot see that you are the
very cream of gallants, I shall no longer cling to tragic
life, they said.
Yet others, and these the cleverest, kept up
their game with some prote&or, whom it was
their custom to tantalize with refusal, so that,
when they deigned to throw him one kind
word, even at the height of his anger, he would
be ready to caSt his fortune at their feet.
In some houses the bawds were ranting at
amorous tricksters, who had once been dis-
missed and then found means to come in again
under false names ; and they were so angry
that their voices sounded like the clatter of
rattles.
One little house, crammed full of women, was
boarded by a whole army of drunkards, who
lay and slept upon the floor ; so that one of the
girls, who had found a friend, was forced to
take him to a neighbour's dwelling.
32
K sbemendra
Some women Stood with their faces out of
doors, as if to call the wandering cat, and sent
quick glances into the far shadows, hoping for
the appearance of their favourite customer.
The prfi has not gone yet, the second is already here,
the third, who has engaged to come, is molt unpleasant ;
he is exalting, jealous and brutal ; he has a headlong
tafte for me; what shall I do? This is what certain
?irls were saying to their mothers.
"be night is long, the lover lutfy, and my little girl is
Bill extremely young. Weighed down by this con-
sideration, a whole phalanx of old women
were racking their brains for clever diversions
with which to waste a lover's time.
At our home, cried another, inwardly furious
that her beds Stayed empty, we do not take money
from Grangers, especially as there are so many gipsies
on the road juft now.
In other houses where the lover, in spite of a
special invitation, had shown so little sense of
his own dignity as to come without any money,
the girls were weeping over imaginary colics,
or admitting in desolation to providential head-
aches.
Elsewhere, to excite the generosity of their own
customers, the bawds talked in unwearying
praise of certain prodigals, whom they could
see throwing money out of windows in the
same Street.
D
33
Samayamdtrikd
We are ashamed to be so poor! ruined young
men would cry, and fall into ecftacy before the
great fortunes of more substantial lovers.
My daughter is the permanent miftress of a magistrate's
son, and would court a very great danger if she went
with you. Thus spoke a bawd as she led an
admirer into a quiet corner where the girl was
waiting, and charged him triple tariff for her
teigned betrayal.
That is not enough I Are you making fun of us ?
Are you not ashamed to offer so little to a wonderful
woman like my daughter? It is not as if you were
one of our regular clients. We have never seen you
before. So cried another old woman, as she
clung to the robe of a miser and would not let
him go.
An ancient harpy lied in this wise to an un-
fortunate young man, who was no longer rich
because he was Still a lover : A minister's son has
taken my daughter for an outing. Be patient a little ,
as you love me ; tomorrow she shall be yours.
Takfca, My mmI lover, will not give as much as he
should, if he comes here and does not find the place
unoccupied. Yet if we annoy this disobliging general,
he will never visit us again. And how can I make
the expenses of the house if I do not let the author have
his hour ? Thus one woman complained to a
friend, as they lay in wait at the head of a
blind-alley.
34
K shemendra
The other women suck, silver from their dupes ty every
sort of means ; and every self -re ^effing man allows
himself to be cozened, even when he sees through their
contrivances. How can my upright nature contend
againfl such creatures? With such words a
woman was drawing her cord more tightly
about a noble-minded lover.
Laft night passed like a flash of light in the midft of
great pleasures ; now, after a day of feverish waiting,
I return and am refused her couch. So, in a circle
of mocking, questioning gallants, a discomfited
lover told the sorrowful tale of his vi&imisation
by some fine and artful procuress.
The reason you see no lovers at my home by day is that
all my dealings are with serious people, and their
important preoccupations give them no moment from
morning till night to think, of trivial things. When the
night comes, my admirers cluster about me and woo
me. But they are reSpeftful in their worship, platonic
and virtuous in their loves, and purely celebrate my
beauty, grace, and wit. Our affair goes no further
than gallant bouts of Sprightly conversation. I live
mo ft modeflly, and discreetly take the little money that
I need from an intimate friend, as juft remuneration.
Thus spoke a courtesan to check the cackle of
friends and rivals who were doing better
business.
Put on your pearl collar, Taralika ! ... Do not
forget your two bracelets, Manohara! . . . Your
2C
S amay am dtrik^d
belt is falling, Lila, gird it more tightly ! ... Do
not economise the sandal, ChitrdMr toe night is dark. /
Thus troops of friends, out of the
treasury of their experience,
advised the courtesans.
4. A venal philosophy.
ND NOW THAT MAGNIFICENT PROCUR-
ess, that fitting instrument in all
equivocal traffic, arrived in company
with the barber ; and you would have
said that it was night escorting the
shadows. The old woman was but a
packet of bones fastened together by sinew : her
guts were clinging to the skin of her belly ; she
was a ghoSt regarmented in illusion, a withered
skull and skeleton.
Her body consisted of holes wrapped up in
hide, a cage where universal falsehood lived,
like a decoy bird.
Her jaws were ever open to crush and swallow
all that her vi&ims had ; she was the predestined
balance, announced by a thousand signs, to
weigh the Three Worlds' evil.
She was normal with those whose estate was
normal, she was wicked with the wicked,
humble with the humble ; she had been fash-
ioned and sent into the world to condud the
music of pretended loves ; she showed long
and terrible teeth, and was as fearful to the
sight as a bitch when the quarter corpse she has
been gnawing is snatched away.
She had an owl's head, a crow's neck, and the
37
S am ay atndtrik^a
eyes of a cat : she was a collection of disparate
members, borrowed from various beafts, etern-
ally at war against each other.
She was without parallel in her kind, the
perfed: guardian for a troupe of courtesans ;
she was vowed to the use of the sacred alchemy
of the passions, and to leave the martyred bodies
of lovers no refuge except the death's-head
Staff of the ascetic.
As soon as Kalavati beheld this occasion of
lovers' tears, this black smoke from the bright
fire of feminine immodesty, she rose in defer-
ential ha§te, threw herself at the old woman's
feet, and then, after seating her in her own
chair, began, with a thousand notable signs of
honour, to sing her praises :
* You are the veritable Brahma of a girl's
training, and, by the infinite variety of your
art, its Vishnu also ; and, above all, because
of your battling with penniless lovers, you are
its terrible Shiva. You hold the power of full
divinity : creation, consolation, and deSlrudion.
' O mother, there are women with gazelle's eyes
who dazzle all men by the magic brightness of
their beauty and the flower of their youth,
leading them to expeft a love produ&ive each
day of novel joys ; but even such cannot win
to the goal of their desires without your
teaching.
38
Kshemendra
4 Therefore receive me into your love, for I
appoint myself your daughter ; I place myself
in your hands, and flee to you as a refuge.
Surely a delicate soul like yours will lend her
sympathy and support at the first onset ? I ask
no better than to give myself.'
Hearing herself besought so sweetly by KalavatI,
seeing her life already assured with comfort, and
a large existence opening up before her, this
man-eating spe&re, this ancient vampire, an-
swered :
' Daughter, you have the love of my heart
already ; though you were born to me without
pain, and I carried you not upon my breaSt, it
is great satisfa&ion to me to take you as my
child.
c It was Kanka, my good and lifelong friend,
it was Kanka who came to speak of you to me ;
Kanka who sewed up my nose so often when
the gallants slit it.
c You are the dreamed and ele&ed vase for my
inStru&ion, O woman worthy of the gods ; for
a pi&ure muSt be painted upon fine fabric if it
would truly please the eye.
c First hear the broad principles of the art, my
daughter. I can show you the general method
which leads to success, but the treasures of
experience and pra&ice can only come after
assiduous exercise in the science.
39
S amay amatrik^d
* It is not by a high birth, virtue, beauty, or
knowledge, but by intelligence alone, that we
achieve those riches which are worth more than
life itself,
* The thing moSt greatly and moSt notably
lacking in this world is that refledtive and clear
sight which leads to the purposed end. I am
old enough to be sure of this, that the great
universe is full of foolish sheep, fit only for the
shearing.
c This ignorance of means adapted to the cir-
cumstance, of means which allow themselves to
be used and moulded, as a doftor uses and
moulds a disease which he is gently ripening
day by day, this inability to master chance, is
common to the Triple World, to gods and men
and devils. They are poor creatures all, and
especially poor in wisdom.
' To consider Brahma, the supreme godhead :
why did he do his work with so little fore-
thought that the young magnificence of the
proud breafts of virgins is as fugitive, alas, as
light ? With what discernment in craftsman-
ship can we credit a creator so blind that he
never thought of filling pumpkins with that
oil which now we have so painfully to extraft
from grains of sesame ? Why did he not think
to provide a good wool covering for certain
beaSts, when he had gone so far as to give them
imposing sets of teeth for their defence ?
K shemendra
6 Vishnu himself was constrained to complicated
and peculiar tasks to obtain the jewels which
he coveted. Yet it would have been enough
for him to have created your amiable curves all
moulded of lying love ; then would the treasures
of the world have fallen at your feet for him. How
could so great a god fail of so simple an idea ?
' And how could Shiva, who had renounced all
the vanities of the world and sprinkled his body
with ashes, how could Shiva, the patron of
penitents, unite himself bodily with his love in
the public sight ? What even passable thing
could we look for in so contradictory a being ?
' Not one person in the Three Worlds has a
grain of clear good sense ; but each blindly
obeys the fatal spell of the Karma of his
former lives and runs, through a thousand
painful efforts, to the goal which DeSliny has
marked for him.
' What, then, can be said of the unfortunate
women, in a world where all the men are so
exquisitely obtuse ? Except to conciliate their
imbecile indulgence, there is no way of liveli-
hood for us, whether we be bawds or daughters
of desire.
' The fool sleeps in his faith, though all beneath
his eye is other than he thinks: deceit and
jugglery in everything, that is our power.
6 In this world of woman's men there is a
4i
Samayamatrik^a
treasure especially created for Street singers and
courtesans, the need and habit of fools to cling
to women.
c Once in the prime of my youth the son of a
Brahman came frequently to my house, in a
desire to lie with me.
* Now when I saw that he was exceedingly
Strong, through too great continence no doubt,
and was Stuffed with health, and shining with
youthful vigour, I thought in consternation :
* The boy is too robuft, and the night too long. I am
already worn out by other lovers, I am feeble and good
for nothing. How can I keep his refpefit, and yet
bal^ ^ m °f t& ose satisfactions which are now his due ?
Let me try to gain time at lea ft.
* So, as soon as I saw the moment approaching
when I could not, for decency, defer the
sacrifice, I plunged into lively conversation with
the youth ; but finished by saying, so that he
might think himself responsible :
* Leave me in peace/ What are you telling me!
There is nothing new in that ! This is the twentieth
time that my ears have been wearied by that tale I
I am dying of sleep I And then I began again,
on another theme, pressing him with questions
and chattering like a magpie.
' After this, when I had come to my wit's end
for conversation, and yet Still desired to escape
his muscular embrace, I began to utter lament-
42
K sbemendr a
able cries, and told him that a terrible colic had
attacked and was torturing my entrails,
' At once the young fool, who was quite dazed
by his own ridiculous self-confidence and imbecile
cult of truth, set patiently to work to rub away
the colic.
' And while he sweated blood and water, with
meritorious zeal, in kneading me from top to
toe, the minutes flowed by gently, and the
night, as if she had been in the secret with me,
passed like the wink of an eye.
' Day came while he had Still done nothing upon
me, for the silly boy had been properly cheated
by my colic.
c Yet, though he was as Stupid as a ram, it
seemed certain that he would ask me to give
him back the fourfold wages he had already
paid. How could I answer him, for it was too
certain that he had had no pleasure for his
money ?
c It would be prudent not to go too far, I
thought, and therefore it became urgent that he
should have some little taSte, in some way or
another, of the pleasures I withheld. If he picked
up the crumbs, the poor leavings of love's
feaSt, surely a young man of such excellent
refinement would not insist upon his right to
be repaid ?
* Urged by such thoughts, I began to thaw a
43
Samayamdtri/^d
little in the dawn, and gave him certain frank
and sincere kisses, as if I loved him, by way of
quittance.
' At this the poor boy, who was already firm in
the toils, became quite confused at the advantage
he thought he was taking, and again found
patience to pity me. He even began delicately
to exhort himself not to abuse my goodness by
indiscretion.
* It became necessary, therefore, for me to bring
his almost too great guilelessness to heel, and I
cried, in the midst of my hypocritical chatter :
* My dear, my dear, the contafl of your limbs induces
a moft extraordinary sensation : one feels as if one were
being touched by amrita, the food of the gods I Even
now I have received a certain proof of this :
'When your secret limb touched on those heights
which are the throne of an amorous delegation in
women, my belly -ache vanished away, I know not how I
Surely it was a reward of merit in my pafi lives that
you were permitted to enter here to 'day I
' But no sooner had he heard these words than
his eyes were filled with tears. He was sipping
the pleasure of love when suddenly grief
checked him, and his heart was narrowed with
regret. He beat his breaSt and forehead with
his hand, and cried : Alas I I am loft I I am
loft / What a misfortune ! And then he said to
me:
44
K shemendra
' Why did I not kjiow sooner that the contaft of my
limbs was as a precious Bone, a talisman, a magic
herb, touching the colic of women?
* I have failed in the bigheft duty of my life / My
mother, the kjndeft of all mothers, suffered from
obstinate colics, O all-beautiful, and they laid her in the
tomb.
' If only I had know this certain cure in time, death
had not ravished her away from me.
' Then weeping, and crying : / have committed
a fatal fault 1 he hurled himself from the house,
and, but for his human form, it was as if a bull
without horns were running away from me.
* There are men in the world who lack all power
of thought, who are driven, invincibly and
always, to debauch and conneftion ; for these
they negledt all other things ; their life has but
one joy and one idea, to be wetting their
whistle, or burying themselves in women. The
fools come of their own accord, and without
one moment of reflection, to lay their heads, as
if in the hands of a friend, upon a breaSt which
feels no other desire than to ruin and leave them
naked.
' Thus youth is wafted in enterprises of a
varying success, but the getting or keeping of a
fool's money is the crux of each.
' Courtesans can live by insincerity alone ;
their very profession banishes them from the
45
S amay amdtrik^a
light of the truth. Through truth they fall on
ruin, as well-born ladies fall by spirituous
drink.
* At the house of a girl of luxury, truth turns
into destruction ; the harlot's splendour is, in
its essence, but lies and illusion ; when her
inner being is set out naked in the light of
truth, it is seen to be beggared and empty, and
no more worthy of a visit than the huts of -the
poor.
' The merchant kills himself if he be generous,
the girl if she let her heart or lips become
sincere, juSt as the master will perish through
humility, and the author if he be capable of
compassion.
* The connoisseur rejoices at the tricks and
juggling of a courtesan, as at those of a mounte-
bank. Well done! he cries, as if he were at
the play. What excellent corruption! That is
really extremely good /
' One day, when I had passed over all this earth,
surrounded in her belt of waves, greed led me
back to the city of Pataliputra, to the places
where daughters of desire moSt congregate.
' When the bawds of that city, who know all
that there is to know, perceived my feeble merit,
they became jealous and with jeSting and
laughter would have humbled me.
' Therefore, to hold out against their efforts, 1
46
Ksbemendra
sat down to face the holy image of Ganesha,
fasting, and in a swoon.
* Then Ganesha, the son of Shiva, appeared to
me in a dream, asking : How many days of your
faff are already accomplished ?
c So I falsely displayed the convulsions of agony
before him, and answered, without moving a
muscle : Two months have poised since I began,
became of a vow, to refrain from eating.
c Then Ganesha, who indeed knows all things,
deigned to smile upon me, and cry: Even
under a vow, even in sleep, you do not forget your
lying. I am pleased with you, my beautiful one,
because you are inflexible in the path of falsehood.
Your power of Staging grandiose comedy shall be a
source of inexhaustible rejoicing to you. This is my
promise.
6 Such were his favours upon me, because by
insincerity alone may women arrive at wealth
and happiness.
' The capital thing is money ! Gold is the living
soul of man, and particularly of princes and
the gazelle-glancing girls who people the houses
of pleasure : this is why it is necessary for both
to be exercised in conquest.
* It is by riches that we attain understanding, and
by understanding that we attain riches : in this
low world, riches and understanding are but
conditions of each other.
47
S amayamdtri^d
' A man with a fortune is the Brahma and the
Vishnu and the Shiva of the earth ; a man with
nothing is like Rahu, soulless and bodiless ; he
is heavy and idle like Shanaishchara ; and like
Vakra, who is devoted from his birth to the
tower place.
c Even absurdity appears agreeable in a man of
good birth whom fortune has chosen for her
dwelling, juSt as the absurdities of a drunkard
seem agreeable.
' This world is very fond of knowing men with
great purses, for their contaft is like that of
sandal, fragrant and charming to the senses,
even of those who have no owner's right in it.
' The moSt terrible swords grow friendly to
those on whom felicity has smiled ; but his own
hairs turn rough and churlish against the man
with nothing.
c Through fortune a man rises to mental dis-
tin&ion, for he can pay to surround himself with
wise men ; to the height of a hero for he can
purchase excellent soldiers ; and to nobility, for
he can buy alliance with old and illustrious
houses. Every advantage of life makes up a
cohort of folly in the footsteps of fortune, for
they depend on her, though she is independent.
Let us esteem this fortune, then, for it is the
root of happiness, and let us be very careful
never to become endeared to any other thing.
48
K shemendra
c Hasten to grow rich, for this commerce with
the body, which needs muSt have youth and
beauty for its escort, has but one season. The
splendour of youth has the brightness of Spring,
for the body rises gloriously like a new-born
spray ; it has the no&urnal charm of Autumn,
because its face holds the mysterious light of
the moon ; and it has the spreading life of the
season of rains, for its moving breaSts tumble
like the waves of a Stream ; but it passes, it
passes.
' Our joy in the drunkenness of youth Stays but
a little time ; it is a wandering joy and roves like
the bee about the lotus faces, it reSts like an
antelope between the little hills of a girl's breaSt,
it burns upon her gallant croup like a favourite
peacock, it swims like a royal swan upon the
gracious waves of the lifted river of her belly.
' And when this youth, which lovers love so
much, has gone like a fool's inheritance, then
the fine light of a courtesan dwindles indeed.
* Dear daughter, avoid the pride which says :
My beauty is marvellous! for the peacocks in
the forest, with their glittering splendours, grow
thin and pine ; and the crows which fatten on
the offerings given to the birds of heaven are
wiser far than they.
c Your brows have the sweet curve of Kama's
flowery-arrow-shooting bow ; the disk of the
E
49
Sam ay a
moon is ashamed before the brightness of your
face ; your lip has Stolen her deep red from the
pomegranate ; the sweep of the curve of your
body is divine elixir-need I add more praises
than ' these, O girl of fair haunches ?-and yet,
if you will not obey the inStru&ions of reason,
you are no more likely to attain your goal than
an elephant blinded by rutting.
* The shining of the smile upon your lips is like
a coral flower seen swaying beneath the water ;
but however painfully you marshal all your
graces, they will not lead to fortune's happy
conquest without the subtle taft of knowledge
to support them.
' The moSt desirable, amorous, and perfedt
beauty cannot shine amid the darkening cares
which follow poverty ; also, as an excellent poet
has well said, the girl who can command fortune
is a delight to all men.
* O child of excellent eyebrows, a girl who can
be intoxicating wine to those who love her, and
a goddess of beauty and happiness to those who
buy her, a neftar to the opulent, and a poison to
those whose goods have gone up in smoke,
may dazrfe the gods themselves/
Kalavati had harkened greedily to the words of
the old woman, and now she said:
c Mother, will you teach me the
ways which lead to riches ? *
5. A lesson in loves tactics
HEN THE OLD WOMAN PREACHED
all the do&rine of feminine diplomacy,
by virtue of which, as tame elephants
are loosed to enchain the wild ones,
beauty may snare her gallants when
they are drunken with love.
e Because I feel towards you as a mother, dear
child, I will teach you, if you will listen, a secret
essential at all times and places to bring an
intrigue to its right conclusion.
' Before all else you muSt take pains to discover
the exa& gradation of a lover's feeling. When
we have pierced the particular passion of a man,
then, and not till then, can we know whether
to show him the door, or Strongly take him in
hand.
c Now the eight shades of love which can be
distinguished by colour are these : cobalt love,
vermilion love, saffron love, carmine lac love,
madder love, orange-coloured love, carrot-
tinted love, and indigo or dark blue love.
* The forms of love which imitate the elements
are these : gold love and copper love, brass love
and lead love, iron love, diamond love, glass
love and Stone love.
* The eight kinds of love which have their
5 1
Samayamdtrik^d
correspondence in the heavens are these : twi-
light love and moon love, rainbow love and
lightning love, Mars love and Rahu love,
cometary love and sun love.
' Eye love, ear love, and love that refts upon the
tongue, skin love and nose love, heart love and
love which takes its name from consciousness
of love, such are the eight derived from our
perceptions.
* Bull love, Stallion love, and the love of the
chameleon, ram and dog and ass love, cat love
and elephant love : these names are borrowed
from four-footed beaSts.
4 The eight bird loves are : parrot love, swan
love, and the love of doves, peacock and
sparrow love, cock love, green-billed cuckoo
love, and pheasant love.
' The eight modes of love of the body are : hair
love, bone love, nail love, hand love, tooth love,
foot love, earring love, and love of the tilaka
(caste-mark).
' There are also eight loves which take their
names from maladies : shadow love, demon
love, epileptic and planetary love, Gandharva
love, Pishacha love, Yaksha love and mad love.
' And there are sixteen mingled forms which are
as follows: flower love, orange love, pitcher
and pomegranate love, alcohol and pyre love,
erysipilis and leper love, bee love, moth love,
K shemendra
scorpion love and fever love, vertiginous and
thought love ; and then there is demoniac
coupling love, and, finally, there is blood love.
Now let me quickly run through this lift, that
you may know the signs by which we recognise
each tint of love's variety.
c Cobalt love is constant if we seek to preserve
it ; if we negleft it, it dissipates like a puff of
air. Vermilion love is rude and gross in nature,
but Slays if we look upon it with affe&ion.
' If we abandon saffron love a little it becomes
joy ; but when it grows too great it turns to
grief. If we warm carmine lac love it clings
more closely ; if we let it get cold it does not
cling at all.
c Now madder love Slays equal with itself,
whether we excite or greet it coldly, and thus
it is capable of enduring joys. Harshness will
keep the orange-coloured love alive ; but if it
be treated too tenderly or softly it will die.
' Carrot-tinted love will pale and perish in the
twinkling of an eye, even if we guard it well ;
but indigo love endures even to the dissolution
of the body, and is infrangible beneath many
blows.
* Gold love holds the same polished luSlre,
whether we tear or crush it, or caSl it in the
fire. And copper love is bright without a Slain,
but only if we keep it carefully.
53
S amay am atrik^a
' Brass love grows dull under the breath of a too
tender liking ; lead love is, first and laSl and in
the meantime, muddy.
c Iron love neither bends nor passes, because of
its Strength and Stiffness ; and diamond love is
pure and unpainted, unbreakable and natural.
€ Glass love is frail by nature, quick to suspedt
deceit ; Stone love endures for ever through its
own weight, but has no sap nor joy, having no
heart.
* Twilight love is ephemeral and durable at
once ; it has a natural flaw, being dependent on
the circumstance and situation of the loved one.
Moon love grows cold when it has found its
satisfa&ion : before it is rich in suffering, but
afterwards it grows indifferent or forgetful. It
is variable in essence, as likely to fade as to
increase.
* Rainbow love is a medley of colours ; that is
to say it seeks its pleasures a little everywhere
and changes easily : it is filled with audacious
and amusing tricks. Lightning love begins
with a caprice, and engenders an affe&ion which
passes as it is born.
'Mars love glows like a red coal under the con-
tempt of women ; and cometary love is fertile
in brilliant disgraces, as of prison and death.
6 Sun love burns pitilessly and sorely ; it has no
thought except of its own increase, like a
54
S a may amatrik^a
€ Cat love rejoices to be constantly as near as
possible to its mistress ; elephant love runs
Straight for coupling, thinks nothing of pleasant
trifles at the door, and will not be turned aside
for anything.
* Parrot love is of the house, and lacks both
tenderness and sweetness, yet in its mouth lies
pleasure: and swan's is a delicate love, dis-
tinguishing the heights and depths of passion.
* The love of doves is known by this especially,
its luSt and tender attachment are so closely
bound as to be one thing ; peacock love, in an
ecstatic contemplation of itself, will ceaselessly
dance before the mirror.
' Sparrow love desires the greatest possible
voluptuous sum : cock love will share the
slightest suffering with its lady.
* Green-billed cuckoo love excels in pleasant
babbling, its conversation is a gliding Stream ;
and pheasant love faints not at kisses.
* Hair love waits for eight days and gives itself
but painfully to the loved one ; bone love
comes not forth, so cannot express its tender
attachment.
' Nail love endures for a month, and then
vanishes little by little ; and hand love, though it
be great, is never apparent, because the lover
hides his heart in it.
* Tooth love finds inexhaustible satisfa&ion in
56
K shemendra
playing with betel ; foot love falls down before
the girl, for little delicate feet are its sole
concern.
c The love of a man of humble condition for
some very great lady is tilaka love ; ear ring
love is the friend of dissimulation and tortuous
turnings aside ; it hangs at the ear of the loved
one to gain her confidence and favour: it is
unpleasantly given to boasting.
' The love which is like the demon of the
shadow pursues its prey in every place, and
dries up all that it touches ; the love that is
named after the ghoSts of evil is both self-willed
and unconscious ; we cannot find the feelings
out which govern it.
' Epileptic love for ever wastes itself in re-
proaches, or falls into terrible angers ; planetary
love seizes you by the hem of your robe whether
the Street be crowded or deserted.
' Gandharva love is all for dancing and singing ;
if you put Yaksha to the door, it will not depart,
but try all tricks to enter again by the window.
' Mad love spreads out in chattering whirlpools,
unbridled and unbitted ; Pishacha love's sole
pleasure is in filth, and it makes horrible
wounds.
' Flower love is plucked in passing ; it is noble
and wishes for nothing but to be esteemed.
Although pitcher love be broken, it Strives to
mend its fragments, and so live again.
57
S a may am dtrik^d
' The surface of orange love is acid and bitter,
but it is filled with affe&ionate sap within. A
love grows up in the heart after many child-
births, which is called pomegranate.
* Alcohol love is a momentary drunkenness :
when it recovers, it falls again into a thousand
doubts.
' Leper love is altogether abominable, and
satisfies itself in disgusting ways, and makes us
sick.
' Pyre love is like a wound on the tender parts
of the body, it bites and deforms the members
with its fire, and grows great by magic com-
pulsions.
* Bee love is for ever seeking a new mistress, and
dreams from flower to flower. Moth love is
daasled by the shining of its objed, and delights
to burn its wings ; it is heavy with disaster.
* Scorpion love is a cause of suffering and,
though it i$ so soon odious, it cannot be rooted
out. Thought love flies on the wings of
memory to the loved one, even as it unites with
another woman.
' Demoniacal possession attains its luxury in
dreams. Blood love grows great on the blood
which a humble lover sheds in fighting.
' See now, I have briefly shown you the eighty
kinds of love ; but, if he keep count of every
shade of disguise which love can take, who could
determine the number ?
?8
K shemendra
* In the fir§t place, it is absolutely necessary for
venal beauty to conciliate the friends of him
whom she desires to ensnare, since all fine
blossoming of an intrigue reSts with them.
' For it is by his friends that she shall know her
lover's resources and advantages, the special
means to take his heart, his character and how
he behaves in passion, and, later, in what degree
he is growing cold.
' If a rich man desire her and his friends grow
amorous of her also, she muSt not fail to win
them over to her cause by sleeping with them
in secret.
c The daughter of desire should Strive to have
the following lovers in their turn, as being
mutually reStful to her : a rich man's only son,
a boy who has been loosed too soon from the
authority and counsel of his father, an author
enjoying office with a rather simple-minded
prince, a merchant's son whose pride is in
rivalling other lovers, the regular doftor of
some chronically ailing official, the son of a
celebrated master, an ascetic who is the slave of
love in secret, a king's son whose follies are
boundless and who has a taSte for rascals, the
cpuntrified son of some village Brahman, a
married woman's lover, a singer who has ju$t
pocketed a very large sum of money, the master
of a caravan but recently come in, a rich man
59
S amay amdtrih^d
with a taSle for philosophy, a fool who treads
in the footsteps of the first comer, a wise man
drunk with knowledge, and an inveterate
drinker.
' When a courtesan is approached by an admirer
for the fir§t time, she should begin by saying
coldly : / have not the leisure, for it is human
nature to despise what is easily obtained.
' It would be well if she were to colour her
refusal by pretending a headache, or some other
indisposition which is apt to come on suddenly,
and which cannot in any way inspire disguSt.
' With a very rich man she may begin by
rendering officious service and asking no thanks
for it, ju§t as a wife will. Your riches, she
should say, but using of course some other
magic word, have acquired the moft extraordinary
hold upon me.
* But if he be the firft to show his claws, the
woman mu$t assume an entirely different char-
after from the one of confiding service which I
have juSt advised : dire&ly after the ad, she
should curse her mother for having sent so sad
a fellow, and she need not hesitate to pursue her
gallant, even as far as his own house.
' If some man's love for her be Strewn with
difficulties, she muSt tell him of her passion to
voyage to a far land with him ; she muSt not
cease to kiss him even when he sleeps ; and,
60
K shemend r a
while he is only half awake, she muSt continue
to sing his praises.
' Even as she herself snatches a little slumber,
she muSt murmur passionately concerning him,
and bring no other name than his into her
speech ; let her be unwearied in her embraces,
but ever resist when he would be the same.
' She should express her desire to have a son
by him, and declare that if they were separated
she would die. And then, when she has bound
his judgment in the halter of these and other
devices, she may safely set her hands upon his
money.
' Now, while his passion Still holds him sense-
less, she should swallow the laSt of his fortune
as quickly as possible ; for as soon as his ardour
wains he will become as hard as cooling iron.
' She should remember to ask him from time to
time, juSt after their enjoyment, why he is sad,
and, in doing so, she should cross her thighs as
if to refuse him : the ripe fruit of a mango,
which offers on a bending branch, has little
attra&ion for one who has eaten already.
' If a man has a personal fortune she should hold
him a trifle, as long as some of it remains. For,
as the wick will burn while there is yet oil, so
should there be a little love upon the lips of a
woman while there is Still a little gold in the
lover's purse.
61
Samayamatril^a
c But when she has sucked out the sap of his
riches, and he is good for no more at all, she
should throw him aside like an exhausted
sugarcane : when the flower has withered and
spoils its place among the hair, how quickly the
hair itself will let it fall !
' But if, like the winter cat upon the hearth, the
lover clings when he is dismissed, and cannot
bear to go, certain means muSt be taken to make
him understand ; and these should be pro-
gressively ruder and ruder, until they touch him
to the quick of his flesh.
c She should refuse him the bed, and jeer at him,
and make him angry ; she should Stir up her
mother's enmity againSt him ; she should treat
him with an obvious lack of candour, and spread
herself in long considerations about his ruin ;
his departure should be openly anticipated, his
taStes and desires should be thwarted, his
poverty outraged ; she should let him see that
she is in sympathy with another man, she should
blame him with harsh words on every occasion ;
she should tell lies about him to her parasites,
she should interrupt his sentences, and send him
on frequent errands away from the house. She
should seek occasions of quarrel, and make him
the viftim of a thousand domestic perfidies ;
she should rack her brains to vex him ; she
should play with the glances of another in his
62
K shemendra
presence, and give herself up to reprehensible
profligacy before his face ; she should leave the
house as often as possible, and let it be seen that
she has no real need to do so. All these means
are good for showing a man the door.
* But if passion clogs him to such an extent that
neither affront nor outrage avail to move him,
then the courtesan should lift her arms to
heaven and, without looking at his face, proceed
to this declaration :
* // is four days since the women of the house have
had a feaft, and yet the home is mine ; once it was filled
with pious processions of lovers } once admirable mag-
nificence would reign within it.
''What business has a man to run aground in the
dwelling of a high-class woman, when he has no monev ?
How dare a man take his place upon the ship when his
fare is loft to him ?
6 What can a daughter of desire do with a handsome
boy whose fortune has flown, and who has not even the
energy to go out for more ? Who would keep a
fine-looking cow if her milk had dried upon her?
c Surely it is in vain that this wretched youth is prodigal
of love words which could only seem sweet to fools :
shall the kjsses and caresses of a nurse whose breafts
are barren give a child Strength for growing?
c When, beneath these or the like disdainful
words, her lover has vanished as the dew before
the sun, the woman should immediately apply
6 3
Samayamdtri^d
herself to a second : it does not matter if she has
already put this second to the door, provided he
has found a new fortune in the meanwhile ; she
can hold his heart again if she will take the pains.
' And, when she has many times repeated to the
new investment : You are my all, my heart, my
life ; the world holds only you ! when she has
finally absorbed the total of his fortune, she muSt
caSt him aside, as a serpent caSts its outworn
skin, and seek a third with more gold yet. That
is the secret of the trade in a few words.
' These brief instructions admit of infinitely
varied interpretation, dear child, according to
the circumstance ; and it requires intelli-
gence, insight and reflection to make
the beSt of each particular case.
Then the old woman ceased.
6. Thc^> ideal lover,
HEN THE MOON GOD, EMPTYING HIS
brightness little by little like a lover's
purse, had spent his laSt treasures of
light upon his mistress, the dark sky,
she hoped no more of him and shut
her Stars with an embarrassed air, as
if she dared no longer look upon him. Thus,
as an angry, sleepy girl sends out her ruined
lover, she sent away the moon.
Then the god, who had held her in his arms all
night, departed sorrowfully, and, as he went,
her other gallant, the old sun, showed on the
rim of the world. She caSt the fires of dawn
about her with a harlot's haSte, and ran to deck
the doors of heaven with blushing roses.
So the sun god came to his full height in the
splendour ofmorning, the ever rich and prodigal
and young, a lotus of light : he blossomed and
woke the bees, and they, like lechers about the
nedtar of rose Hps, ran out to aspire the freshness
of the opening flowers.
And KalavatI ? She glimmered with pearls,
and the bees grew drunk at the scent of her, and
droned in the crowns of her hair. She looked
in her mirror and saw a night of full moon
refledted with all its Stars.
F
65
S amay amdtrih^d
She held the red betel in her fingers with a
gracious gesture, as a wanton's favourite para-
keet, and Stood, offering the attra&ion of her
flesh like merchandise, with her mother and the
barber tending her.
She moved in a dream of money, money for the
house, swift-vanishing money, money that was
her heart's desire ; it was of money that the
doves intoned to her, as they heard the rhythmic
chinking of her belt in her walking and gesturing
lightly and quickly.
Already Kanka was on the look out for some
new suitable lover for her, and had been since
the first light ; now, without taking his eyes
Irom the wide scene outside, he said to her :
' It is the hour of the marriage of the sun and
the blue sky, and lo, the lovers go out from the
houses of the courtesans, juSt as the lamps go
out !
* See, Lilashiva, the penitent, is leaving the
house of his Nalini ; he was rudely wakened by
the singing of the cock ; he has avoided the
main roads and is taking a roundabout footpath
to his cloister.
' Down there, in Bhadra's house, the parasites
are asking each other after their pleasant even-
ings ; they are dividing up the treasure left by
the lawyer's son, and will soon run forth to buy
themselves dainties.
66
K shetnendra
c Now watch the great and useless Anangasara
sidling up to that door, and Vasantasena coming
out to speak to him : she gives him a pi&ure of
the pleasures of her night, but there is no truth
in what she says, for I know that she slept alone.
* Matanga, who is the president of a corporation,
has broken Rama's bracelets and earrings : the
girl cries piercingly before her mother, and hides
her share in the misfortune.
' Surely it is to drink the cup of reconciliation
with Madhava that Anangalekha comes here at
dawn, for there is a man walking in front of
him with a jar of wine, and leading a ram.
* There is Mallika ; she and Arjuna were
reconciled laSt night ; they are going out to
play in the amusement park. To-day he seeks
foolish excuses for not giving her the silk robe
she has asked him for ; he will have to give it
to her tomorrow.
' Over there you may see Kana with the singer
who broke up everything in her house laSt night
because she refused him her bed. Now he
kneels as a suppliant at her feet, and she agrees
to take his clothes, for they are Still quite good,
in payment for her pots and couches.
' The merchant Shambhu came to this part la§t
night because it was his turn with Nanda : she
has juSt slipped back from the house of another
lover and is telling him terrible lies and swearing
that they are true.
67
S amay amatrik.*
' Madana stole his father's jewels and then crept
hither to make himself agreeable to the fair
Mrinali. She is showing the men who have
come to look for him all over her house, but I
know that she has somehow hidden him there.
* Raman! andMalaya had angry words, and then
he was impotent before her, through jealousy ;
now her friends are advising him in his con-
fusion: Give her a lovely jewel to console her,
quickly, quickly-
c And, see, His Reverence is coming, His
Reverence Shambarasara. His hair is tinted
black, but his great age is betrayed by the
depth of his wrinkles. He goes to seek the
ecStacy of the Yoga ... at the house of Yoga.
* Kamala, that high and permanent official, has
not taken his eyes from this house for a very
long while. It is you that he looks at so intently,
Kalavati.
c And do you not see that other man who is
gazing at you, the one whose arms are heavy
with gold circlets ? Do you not recognise him
by his cut and patched and disappearing nose,
that sign of an adulterous fever ? It is
Prapancha, it is the ambassador of Prince
Malava. He is shifting and twisting like a
charmed snake.
* And there is that great rascal, Shrlgupta. He
is famed for duplicity, he is notorious for
68
K shemendra
impudence, even in the congregation of para-
sites. He is expert in all the arts of Kali, and
fertile in pleasing and audacious tricks. He has
spied out your new and illustrious mother from
far off, and now carries his hands to his forehead
in homage and veneration ; he has winked, his
chin moves in a smile, and he is chanting :
* Vifiory, viftory to the procuress, to the thrice-sainted
Shandaghanta ! Her terrible teeth Spread wide
before a palace lamentable as Hell ; they Hand forth
clear and cutting in her mouth! Her tongue rises
and writhes like a Heel-pointed flame ! Her throat
has a fever to swallow the whole world, as if in play !
She Hands under the rams* bones sacrificed to Shiva
and, with a siniHer noise of greedy jaws, devours them /
Vifiory to the perfefi, to the accomplished, to the dried
miracle, yet miracle of fullness !
* But look, look, there is little Panka watching
you, Panka the son of Shankha ! The father is
cupidity's elefted home, and the incarnation of
all evil ; he has made himself a great fortune,
and owns a rich bazar. But it is little Panka,
the son, who is watching you, girl of dele&able
eyebrows, and he is as innocent as the gazelle.
He looks like a sparrow hesitating before some
attra&ive piece of dung, does he not ?
' It is a silly sheep with a rich fleece and a thick
head that your happy chance has sent you : he
is gold to the cars, gold well above the shoulder ;
surely he was created and sent into the world for
you alone !'
S amay amdtrik^d
' Madana stole his father's jewels and then crept
hither to make himself agreeable to the fair
MrinalL She is showing the men who have
come to look for him all over her house, but I
know that she has somehow hidden him there.
' Raman! andMalaya had angry words, and then
he was impotent before her, through jealousy ;
now her friends are advising him in his con-
fusion : Give her a lovely jewel to console her,
quickly, quickly*
6 And, see, His Reverence is coming, His
Reverence Shambarasara. His hair is tinted
black, but his great age is betrayed by the
depth of his wrinkles. He goes to seek the
ec&acy of the Yoga ... at the house of Yoga.
' Kamala, that high and permanent official, has
not taken his eyes from this house for a very
long while. It is you that he looks at so intently,
Kalavatl.
' And do you not see that other man who is
gazing at you, the one whose arms are heavy
with gold circlets ? Do you not recognise him
by his cut and patched and disappearing nose,
that sign of an adulterous fever ? It is
Prapancha, it is the ambassador of Prince
Malava. He is shifting and twisting like a
charmed snake.
* And there is that great rascal, Shrigupta. He
is famed for duplicity, he is notorious for
68
K shemendra
impudence, even in the congregation of para-
sites. He is expert in all the arts of Kali, and
fertile in pleasing and audacious tricks. He has
spied out your new and illustrious mother from
far off, and now carries his hands to his forehead
in homage and veneration ; he has winked, his
chin moves in a smile, and he is chanting :
* Vitfory, viftoty to the procuress, to the thrice-sainted
Shandaghdntd I Her terrible teeth Spread wide
before a palace lamentable as Hell ; they Hand forth
clear and cutting in her mouth I Her tongue rues
and writhes like a fteel-pointed flame ! Her throat
has a fever to swallow the whole world, as if in play !
She hands under the rams* bones sacrificed to Shiva
and, with a sinister noise of greedy jaws, devours them !
Viftory to the perfeft, to the accomplished, to the dried
miracle, yet miracle of fullness !
6 But look, look, there is little Panka watching
you, Panka the son of Shankha ! The father is
cupidity's elefted home, and the incarnation of
all evil ; he has made himself a great fortune,
and owns a rich bazar. But it is little Panka,
the son, who is watching you, girl of delegable
eyebrows, and he is as innocent as the gazelle.
He looks like a sparrow hesitating before some
attractive piece of dung, does he not ?
' It is a silly sheep with a rich fleece and a thick
head that your happy chance has sent you : he
is gold to the ears, gold well above the shoulder ;
surely he was created and sent into the world for
you alone !'
Samajamdtri^d
So Kalavati measured the merchant's son with
her eyes, and rejoiced, and answered smiling :
' A fool with a confused face, that is exadtly
what I needed ! His neck sways from one side
to the other as he looks about him ; he has no
conception of his own desires ; his walk is as
uncertain as a drunkard's, and his conversation
is like a baby's rattle, incomprehensible even to
himself; he conceives that he is at the height
of glory because he has on red slippers. A child
like that, with all the flaring signs of imbecility,
is my predestined prey. He should be easy to
conquer and easy to devour.'
c O Kalavati,' said the old woman, 'this
wonderful rake, this moSl experienced wanton,
who hangs upon your glances, is already
doomed in other eyes than ours. See, there is
a ho$t of wandering singers and mountebanks
about him ; they have recognised him as the
tender yiftim of your altar, and each is waiting
for a slice ! ' And then she added : ' Run after
him swiftly, O my Kanka ! '
The barber did not wait to be commanded
twice ; he leapt from the top to the
bottom of the Stairs, and
sped from the palace.
7. How to engage.
ALKING MAGNIFICENTLY AND
slowly Spring came on, and new
loves blossomed where his feet
fell ; and then young Spring
caressed their Stems with fecunda-
ting breath, robed in his flowery
ornaments.
It seemed as if the solar god said pensively:
Each loving girl depends for her voluptuous joys
upon the goodwill of some other. And that
is why he lavished the life of his rays on
the cold countries of the North, where riches
are.
The flowers rejoiced in a sweet lassitude and
quivered with drunken love, sighing under the
breath of the south wind and growing white
with petals.
Spring used its regenerating sorcery and raised
up Kama from the dead, the old god of the five
arrows, the god of Love, whom Shiva had
devoured in his fires of anger.
Now the woods were frenzied with the spring-
time and shone like harlots ; they lisped in the
7i
Kshetnendra
Great gold rings, heavy with pearl, hung at the
boy's ear, and a gold amulet shone in the midst
of the jewellery about his neck. His virtuous
mother had put muStard grease upon his hair
to ward off evil spirits. His carefully-fitting
silver anklets were Studded with large olives
carved from lapis-lazuli. His hand lifted his
falling robe with its long fringes at every Step
he took ; and his mouth savoured and chewed
upon its well-mixed lime and betel with a
Strange little sound.
He found KalavatI paying minute attention to
her mirror ; her beauty's plenitude was like a
clear night sky, and a collar of pearls laughed
with white light upon the rounds of her breaSt.
Doubtless she was thinking : Why, it is a baby,
it will have to be coaxed: what may such a child do in
love's tournament ?
And with the young man there came seven
parasites such as live upon girls and their lovers,
seven of those most notorious idle hornets that
buzz about the lotus of luSt: they came as
prieSts with their viftim, for they themselves
had carefully guided him to the sacrifice and had
earmarked his fortune as a golden holocaust.
As the youth had learned from these attendants
how he should behave with women, he entered
as if into his own house, and made himself easy,
like an old libertine.
73
• S amayamdtrif^d
Hiding the half of his nose in his garment, he
gabbled off the playful discourses which he had
been told were then in fashion, juSt like a
parakeet, and made unseasonable parade of
wit he had not got.
Then the bawd Kankali, seated upon a high
chair, began to sing the praises of the parasites,
with pcrfeft hypocrisy, in order to win their
favour for her daughter.
* This merchant's son/ she said, ' muSt certainly
be rich and fortunate, otherwise he would not
be of your company, for you are only intimate,
as I know well, with those who labour to mature
their natural virtues.
* And in his glow as a lover he muSt be moSt
agreeable to you, for at this season the young
sun delights the exquisite lotus flowers and they
bloom again/
Thus she conciliated the hearts of the parasites,
while the floor grew redder and redder with the
juice of betel.
Then Vetalika, who had been Kalavati's nurse,
and was as black as Kali, rejoiced at the windfall
which this distribution of betel meant for her,
and cried:
* It is not here as at the houses of other cour-
tesans, where a famished crowd awaits the
distribution of the betel. Our company is
smaller and more seled, I thank the gods !
74
Kshemendra
* All honour, then, to the excellent Kanka, for
he has the Stature of a god, and nourishes
profound, rare thoughts within his head. O
handsome youth, you owe it to the officious
cares of Kanka that Kalavati, whose favours are
moSt difficult, has fallen with such ease into your
arms.
* FirSt let me present you to the son-in-law of
one of our neighbouring houses, a man worthy
of all consideration, for he has obtained the
hand of one of our daughters. His name is
Kamala : he sits in the place of honour.
* And this is Mahashakti,the ascetic, who arrived
but yesterday for the feaSt of Parvan. Once he
was kind enough to take upon himself the
funeral rites of Kalavatl's father.
* This is the son of the member of the congrega-
tion of Purahita ; he guards the sacred relics •
and this is Pouremout, the liquour seller,
Kalavatl's paternal uncle.
* These are Kalavatl's brother-in-law, Mr.
Paunchy, and Mr. Wiper, her maternal uncle,
and Mr. Wiper's excellent brother, whose name
is Silliberry.
4 This is the nurse of the child acknowledged
by Kalavati, and this the nurse's husband.
* This is Kamba, the son of Bhagavata, who
understands the language of wild beaSts, and
this is the singer Valetass, the favourite of the
king's first minister.
75
S a may am at ri fa
c This is Grcedyguts, the cook, a very good
friend of ours, and with him are Shard, the
potter, Heron, the parasol-bearer, and the
coachman Wagtail.
* This is Coupler, the Brahman ; the girls
employ him to turn the influence of malignant
gho§ls ; and these are Gape, the gardener, and
Twiddeloar, the waterman.
* These are Onion-face, the garden porter, Bud,
the flower-seller, Harness, the cobbler, and
Lovehole, the express.
* We give them all betel when they come here ;
but we have to send it each morning to
Kalavati's woman friend, whose name is Devil-
crown, and to Mr. Dodger, who looks after
her/
As soon as Vetalika's dependents had been
satisfied in their two delights of betel and
drink, they dispersed, reeling, towards other
brothels. And they went in high satisfaction,
because their rights to the distribution had been
acknowledged.
Then the night came, veiled in the odours of
incense as if she were fearful of the parasites ;
for many had remained with KalavatI and her
lover, and were quite drunk by now and bragging
incredibly.
/ am the right hand of the prince in battle, said
the police officer. The nation refis upon my pen,
76
Kshemendra
replied the scribe. Where I sit, sits the science of
the theatre, cried the dramatist, and the merchant
cried : My scales give birth to gold. My calcu-
lations have encompassed the Three Worlds, shouted
the astrologer, and the doftor assured him : /
cured the great King Bhoja. Then the poet said :
/ am honoured by princes because of the beauty of my
verse. It was thus they boaSted in their rising
intoxication.
But at laSt, after the final gracious distribution
of betel by KalavatI, they went out into the
Street, each revolving how he might quickly get
money to satisfy his passion.
Then it was that the gazelle-like girl, whose
lotus face Still lighted with a smile at the droll
memory of her gueSts, dragged her quite tipsy
little gallant by the arm, and couched herself
with him. Her bed was canopied, and had
cushions upon it whiter than a swan, and a clear
silk coverlet.
The lights seemed to grow less in the presence
of this lover, who was but a child, as if they were
ashamed to look upon him ; but in
reality it was the wings of an army of
bees, drawn by the many flowers,
that made them quiver, and
the smoke of burning
aloe wood that
dimmed
them.
8. How to break off.
IGHT WAS SO WEARIED BY THE WHITE-
flashing Moon God's love that she
sent him one laSt glance from her
open Stars, then closed them and
swooned away. The splendour of
her sweat was in the dews of
morning.
It was then that Kalavati came to find Kankali,
and her reddened eyes bore witness that she had
not slept. When the old woman questioned her
as to the doings of the night, she answered :
' You would never believe, mother, how Strange
is the nature of that child, for though he is quite
little, he is fashioned beyond his years and has
all the energy and violence of a peppercorn.
' As he was quite drunk, my servant laid him
gently upon my high couch ; and the rascal
rested there motionless, and snored profoundly.
c Then a curiosity, which any woman would
understand, led me to take him in my arms ;
and I confess that I did so clumsily. But though
this enjoyment was quite new to him, he fell
asleep at the very moment when it was over,
and lay with even less motion than before.
' So suddenly I whispered : His betel nut is not
moving in his mouth ! and was seized by a foolish
78
K shemendra
fear that he was dead. Dipping my hand
in water I passed it over his breaft, and at once
he recovered his senses.
* But he wakened only too well, and began to
take kindly to the thing. He made love like a
sparrow : you would have called him the in-
carnation of insomnia. At la$t, after innumer-
able escalades which left me weary and broken,
he lay back and slept till dawn.
' When I roused the desires of this impetuous
child, I was lighting a fire which should con-
sume me ; I was walking upon hot coals, and
knew it not.
' I said in my pity : So tender a boy will weep !
and therefore forbore to use my teeth ; but now
my own lip is all torn, see, as if my parrot had
been biting it.
e My two breafts are lolling as if in shame
because I coupled with a lad so young ; his
perpetual assault, strong clasping, and loving
games made them as nothing.
' The wavering branch of my body has been rent
by his nails in unconventional places ; how then
shall I hide the scars upon my delicacy, when I
have to do with others more versed in unguicu-
lation ? *
When she had thus spoken, she gazed on the
ground in constraint and perplexity, for she was
unnerved by her want of sleep. But Kankali
79
S am ay amatrik^a
answered with a smiling mouth, which showed
the points of her teeth ; those teeth sharp as
the desires of the parasites.
* O fortunate and holy innocent,' she said, c this
audacious, thorn-like maturity, of which you
complain, is not at all to be wondered at in
merchants' sons. They have too many chances
of learning from their fathers' shop boys.
* One thing alone is certain, that the child has
money about him, which he has Stolen from his
father ; for no one would present himself with
such assurance, if he came empty-handed.
* The smallest mouse will frisk and run busily
when an alms of food falls down her hole ; but
even the great elephant, when he has spent his
amorous sap and his trumpeting sounds hollow,
grows sleepy and melancholic. It is the same
with a lover whose purse is empty, whose gen-
erosity is all exhausted : timid embarrassment
betrays him.
* I shall go now swiftly and talk with our lover,
for I muSt invent some cleverness at once with
which to frighten those parasites away from
here. The abundant honey which this mer-
chant's son provides will be enough for you,
but not for a whole troop of cumbersome and
idle hornets.
* This body we girls put up to auction is a true
treasure and a source of riches ; but why should
80
K shemendra
we waSte the careful profits of our labour on
sons of assistant bawds ? *
Then the wise Kankali went without loss of
time and, finding the lad in the bedchamber,
spoke confidentially to him :
* Did the night go well, my little one ? Did
she smile as a white waterlily, and bring you all
your desire ? You ought to be put in prison,
you bad boy, for Stealing my KalavatTs heart so
swiftly.
' She has walked without wavering over an
ocean of young lovers, and now, see, she hangs
at your skirts for fear of losing you : my little
Kalavati, to solicit whose graces her lover from
the South country, her lover, the great King
Bhoja, has sent ambassadors.
' But doubtless this union was planned in the
paSt lives of both ; for, if DeStiny had not
intended it, whence comes my prescience that
it will be you who shall pay me the last filial
rights when I pass from this into another
world ?
' Yet there is one dangerous obstacle to your
sweet coming together, and it ceases not for a
moment to concern my mind. I refer to the
band of parasites ; for it is as difficult to rid our
house of them as to disentangle a thorn tree
from its thorns.
• Their poverty is their own, and their riches
a 8l
Samayamdtrik^d
are the riches of another ; therefore, when they
have eaten and drunken your substance, they
will find no task pleasanter than to denounce
your loves, and to hand you over to your
father, as one whom it were good to keep in
custody,
c But if you will consent to remain invisible but
for one day, this whole crew shall be deceived
and caSt into despair, and will disperse/ .
To this the merchant's son replied with a
simplicity inseparable from his years. ' You are
right, my mother/ he said, ' and your words
betray a tender interest in me.
< I have something tied in the corner of this
cloth ; I took it from my father's shop. I leave
it with you now, as it may help towards the
pleasure and adornment of your daughter/
So saying, the child gave her the inestimably
valuable gems which he had subtilised from his
father, and then docilely left the house, taking
a hidden path which the old woman showed
him. Along this he walked sufficiently far,
beyond the palace with its great flat roofs, to be
safe from any researches which the parasites
might make.
Kankali at once dissimulated her delight, and
assuming a mien of hypocritical despair, re-
joined the parasites. In a voice broken by
confused sobbing she said to them :
82
K shemendra
* Gentlemen, gentlemen, you have been lifelong
friends of mine, you are my natural allies, and
have had loving kindness and benevolent help
from me . . . how could you so suddenly turn
round and bear yourselves thus evilly towards
me ?
* Why did you abuse my boundless confidence ?
Why did you bring that wild urchin, that
brigand's son, into a house you knew to be
full of jewels, and pass him off to us as a
merchant's heir ?
' If the other courtesans egged you on, and an
irresistible desire possessed you to make game
of us, need you have shown such brute malig-
nity ? Need you have risked the murder of
my daughter ?
' When KalavatI fell at laSt into a weary sleep,
that surprising lover of yours took off her two
bracelets and her collar of pearls, and fled
unnoticed with his booty.
* Each day we hear of women, dwelling in the
love markets of every city, who are butchered
by ruffians of this kind, juSt for their jewels.
It is only by the special favour of some guardian
god that KalavatI has escaped from this adven-
ture with her life.
' If the law should come to meddle in the matter,
on whose head will the fault be proved ? Who
but you, gentlemen, will be held responsible
83
S amay amatrik,a
for this absconding assassin ? And arc you
in a Slate to be his bond ?
6 Ye gods, how terrible is this iron century,
when a troop of dear friends, men sheltered
and at ease, conspire together for the taking
off of one poor woman !
' Who shall delve into the Strangeness of the
human mind ? Who shall read the secret
dispositions of the soul upon the palms of the
hands of the unrighteous ? Who shall search
out the conduft of the false-hearted person,
saying one thing and straightway doing
another ? '
At the end of this moSt affefting discourse,
Kankali ran hither and thither with incoherent
cries, and finally threw herself down screaming
into the Street. At length she climbed back
to vent her anger and agitation upon the
servants, whom she huStled mercilessly for many
minutes.
So the parasites were Stricken with fear, and
quite put out of countenance ; without waiting
to understand, they departed by the lanes
which led to side Streets, and did not halt to
take counsel until they were far removed from
Kalavati's house.
But, when they had well weighed and con-
sidered the matter, they came at laSt to this
common agreement : that they had gone to the
84
K shemendra
house hoping for a fine booty, that misfortune
had surprised them, and that they had been
lacking in the presence of mind to combat her.
It was evident that they had been cozened by a
premeditated plot, woven for their discomfort.
What could they do now ?
'We are victims of a judicial error/ said the
policeman. ' We never saw the young mer-
chant leave the house ; it seems quite certain
that Kankali herself made him depart in secret.'
€ She has behaved like a merchant/ answered
the scribe sadly, ' a merchant who wishes to
conceal his gains ; but if we run through her
accounts we shall see that she has played a trick
on us/
* The whole thing is a worn theatrical gambit/
declared the dramatist, ' but we muSt give that
old sorceress credit for having staged it with
unusual artistry. She has made us dance: 'I
see no need of epilogue/
Then the merchant cried in anger : c I know
Kankali. She is a false scale covered with
counterfeit markings. The whole imbroglio
was conceived by her/
' The little merchant's Sun is far from the sign
of the Ram juSt now/ put in the astrologer.
* The burning and evil influence of Kankali is
in the ascendant/
* She has been drinking too much spirit/
85
Samayamdtril^a
suggested the doftor, * and now it is us she
puts upon a diet, to cure her hair disease/
* The life of marriage and festival which we
Eromised ourselves has now all fallen by the
oard/ lamented the poet. ' Our single and our
laSt resource is gone. O woe, O woe, O woe ! '
And with that the parasites dispersed like bees
which have been exiled from a flowery garden,
each with his load of anger and astonishment,
chagrin and shame.
But KankalTs night was full of thankful joy ;
she savoured the peace in which the house
was wrapped, and listened through the hours
to her own applause.
She woke the next morning in an excellent
mood, for she had already traced out another
combination ; to put it into effed:, she went
down early to the buildings in the market
place, and satisfied herself as to the exaft extent
of the young man's father's fortune.
In spite of the enormous hoard of gold which
he had already raked together, he was always
to be seen basking at his shop, on the look-out
for the least small profit, and ready to snap
like a crocodile ; but on this occasion he
appeared angry, agitated, and full of care, for
he had already discovered the depredation of
his son.
He sat on a high cushion, and there was a box
86
Kshetnendra
between his hands containing an inventory of
his thirty millions. His eyes were almost
blind, because he had shut them so often to
those who came to him with petitions ; he
was almost deaf, for he had closed his ears so
often against his debtors when they wished for
some part of the profit he had made by selling
their pledges ; and he was almost dumb,
because so many asked him if he had paid a fair
price for the things inside his shop, and he did
not care to answer.
The coats of his thick doublet, overlapping an
outer garment of torn linen, flapped in dis-
order ; and the mokota, which hung over
his naked limbs, was filled with holes and greatly
too large for him. He was all the more un-
pleasant to regard, because, at the moment, he
was raining blows with a cudgel upon his maid
servant, who had had the impertinence to ask
for a little money for the household. When
he desisted, he sat immobile, and paid no
attention to the terrible cries by which a cat,
fastened with a cord, tried to tell him she was
dying of hunger.
Kankali looked at this appearance for a long
time from far off, with her skeleton finger to
her nose, until she was certain that it was
indeed the famous merchant. Then she glided
softly towards him and, taking advantage of a
87
S amay am atrik^a
moment when his shop was little patronised :
c Sir, I have something very particular to say
to you/ she said.
* Yesterday I made the acquaintance of your
innocent and pleasing son. He had allowed
certian parasites to lead him aStray, and they
had taken all from him, both jewelry and
clothing ; so that he seemed like a young
gazelle pursued by the hunters.
^Because I pitied him, and because he was
charming, I allowed him to creep into my house,
and the moment after, I know not how, he had
crept into the heart of my daughter also.
' And the inclination which led her to give
herself to him caused her to supplement his
pleasures, which more than one king might
have envied, with extravagant gifts.
' Now that your son is her master and lord, he
is also master and lord of her enormous fortune ;
for many kings 9 sons and certain ministers have
been generous in their payment for her body.
* As soon, therefore, as I saw my Kalavati all
foolish with youth and love, and overjoyed
by this moSt suitable alliance, I decided to come
to you to place my house and all that I have in
personal possession between your benevolent
hands.
' I am about to set forth upon a considerable
journey, for it has long been in my heart to
88
K sbemendra
visit all the sacred rivers of this land ; and while
I am gone it will be your duty to watch over
Kalavati's fortune. Therefore I bring you all
that she has ; and I have sealed it, with due
formality, in a packet.
' And now, Sir, I tru§t that your love for your
son and a condescending benevolence towards
your daughter-in-law will make you consent
to honour the feaSt which we are giving, accord-
ing to fortunate custom, at our house to-dajL'
When she had thus spoken, Kankali filled het^
eyes with tears and fell at the feet of the Stone- ^
hearted merchant, for she saw that he already
rejoiced at the great advantage which had
befallen his son.
'My excellent lady/ he answered, c what you
have told me is in truth a great source of
rejoicing ; yet I am distressed that you should
put yourself out in any way. We will indeed
go down to your house together, if so you wish,
but I, whose pious task it is to provide food for
others, cannot consent to eat at your expense.
Allow me to provide payment for the common
repaSt. I will give you the money at once.'
So saying, he gaily put a rupee and a half into
the old woman's hand, so that she smiled to
herself. Then he went down with her to dinner.
He found his son busied by joyous love games
with his darling, and was enchanted to see the
feaSt which was to co§t him so little.
8 9
S am ay amdtri k.d
When he had taken part in the banquet and
drunk much spirits, when he was all perfumed
with impressions of camphor and cardamom,
he said to Kankali :
* I will make myself responsible for all reason-
able daily expenses, but you muSt take care to
avoid considerable or undue coSt.'
With that he returned to his own place, his
heart beating high with hope, for he thought
that he had found an inexhaustible mine to be
exploited. There is but one way to cheat an
avaricious man, and that is to bait your hook
with an illusion of gold*
Next day, in order to teSt his disposition,
Kalavati sent her own servant to the false old
fellow to draw, if she could, the daily expenses
from him.
The woman was absent for a long time, and
when she returned, she said to her mistress with
a laugh : ' Your father-in-law has sent you rich
and abundant provision. Rejoice and divide
now, and invite your friends !
* I have brought you one measure of oil and
two measures of powdered salt. When the old
hunks gave me this exquisite present, he
frowned until the whole of his face was twisted,
and snarled at me : Here u oil and salt. I have
no vegetables. Do you think. <* Iwer muft give a
daily lakh to his sweet miftress ? 9
90
Kshemendra
So saying, the servant showed what she had
brought, scornfully spat upon it many times,
and then caSt it far away from her ; finally
she rubbed her eyes, as if they had been dirtied
by looking upon so sordid a miser.
Next day Kankali took it upon herself to go
down to the old man, for her rich imagination
had discovered a handy way to cheat him.
She had caused two coffers to be made of
exaftly the same size and appearance, and had
sealed them with identical seals : one contained
jewels, and the other common pebbles from the
Stream.
When she came to the door of the merchant's
shop, she Stayed in the shadows of the cotton
Stuffs and garments which hung there, and,
keeping the two coffers hidden beneath the full
of her robe, addressed the merchant.
* A Star is upon me which makes me put
forward my journey to Benares, but I have not
* the necessary sum in money for my pilgrimage.
€ The jewelry in this coffer is of great worth,
and I know you are the man to look after the
goods of a woman and her child, as if they were
your eyes/
She showed him the jewels and then, after
fixing the seal anew, set the coffer down in
front of her, while she made her request with
a multitude of unrestrained gestures and a
torrent of words.
9 1
Samayamdtril^d
' I shall need a lakh for my journey and am
ready to leave this pledge for it/ she said. ' 1
count on you, O friend, for my temple, my
fodder, and my food expenses/
Covering her aftions with these and other
playfully exuberant expressions, she adroitly
changed the coffers, received a lakh of rupees
in ready money, and returned to her house.
There she told Kalavati that she had been
unable to obtain any assistance from the mer-
chant, so the girl went out upon the roof of the
palace and held this long conversation with
the son of Shankha :
€ I gave you my heart with very little thought ;
but now, though I try to be reasonable, I
cannot call it back to me again. You are rich,
and yet you will one day marry, as have all the
others ; that is my grief and care.
* For though a wife could not be delightful
for more than one day, and though the enchant-
ment passes when a woman becomes a mother,
men will still hurl themselves over the brow of
marriage, with a rash and sightless ardour.
'What* loving satisfaction fan be hoped for
from a lawful wife ? Swiftly her firm youth
passes to nothing by successive childbirth, and
she lacks the erotic pradice of a daughter of
joy. She makes no attempt to brighten her
husband's existence, either by charming con-
92
K shemendra
versation or provocative jcSts ; her sole art is
the instigation of eternal quarrels.
6 On the other hand, there is no man who may
not find pleasure with a daughter of desire,
for her life is bent on uplifting the hearts of
lovers. She finds her own satisfa&ion in her
amorous business, and is always and completely
scented. The felicity of love is her unique
delight ; her smile never changes, and she can
flirt for ever without losing her grace.
' 1 muSt make assurance for myself ; you muSt
sign me deeds saying that you have received a
great sum of money. Your name upon them
will be as the little goad to an elephant driver,
with which he can force his charge to the left
or right/
As soon as he received this reprimand from the
all-beautiful, the boy signed an acknowledg-
ment of an enormous debt to her, and named as
his surety Vikramashakti, the nephew of the
king's fir§t wife.
But this was not sufficient: Kankali came to
him next morning as he Still lay in the bed-
chamber, and said with tears of hypocritical
sorrow upon her face :
* My daughter has consecrated the faireSt days
of her youth to you, but the flower of a woman's
blossoming is so impermanent a thing that
none may see it vanish.
93
S a may am
Daughters of joy arc like a young breaSt ;
for a young breaSt feels a great fire, ana then the
fire dies down, grows languid, and has gone ! . .
Thanks to the profit which she had taken
from the lessons of that astonishing procuress,
KalavatI pocketed all the fortune of Shankha
as soon as he came to die, and then shone like a
bright flower among the courtesans.
Now you have learned that ancient benefits
mean nothing to a bawd, and have seen
how she cheats her daughter's lovers ;
but, although the gazelles in
the forest well know how
game is taken, they
run head-down
into the
snare.
COURTESAN IS AS THE WORD OF A
good poet, succeeding by an exercise
of charm. She has the allurement of
toilet and jewelry upon her side, and
the gracious harmony of gesture and
attitude to plead for her. Her cause is
urged by a balm of insinuating perfumes upon
her tended body, by careful coquetry, and
intelleftual grace. She lives by the sciences of
matching conversation and of matching col-
ours, by the flash of fortune and the flash of
luxury ; so that we honour and adore her.
She is rich in every resource at her full
flowering, each natural attraction and un-
natural wile is hers ; she bears the lights of
well-being and joy upon her face through all
her multitude of arduous pleasures.
This wanton little book was given to the light on
the first day of the clear half of the month Pausha,
in the five and twentieth year, to serve as a safe-
guard for the treasures of rich gentlemen.
' Here are crevasses where a black race of
serpents lie on watch ; there rutting elephants
abide ; these caves are the resort of Hons.' It is
thus that old, experienced bawds speak of us men,
when, in the thickets of the pleasure houses,
99
Samayamatrik^i
they warn poor girls against the ferocity of ex-
ploitation. That is the other side.
In any case, Kshemendra wrote this beautiful
poem for the advantage of all good people.
He did so during the happily flower-like reign
of the great King Ananta, whose might has
ever remained accessible to the tears
of the unfortunate, whose Strength is
equalled by his charity.
The End.
Open Library