very sense of the word: _mohajalamaya_ is stronger
than any English equivalent.

[7] The Underworld, the home of the snakes.

II.

So as Aja stood upon the wall, looking out over the desert, suddenly all
vanished from before his eyes. And he saw before him no city, and no
desert. But he found himself in a dusky wood, thick with tall
_tamala_[8] trees, and lit by a light that was neither that of the sun
nor that of the moon. And all around him huge red poppies waved gently
without a wind, mixed with great moon-lotuses, whose perfume went and
came by turns as it hung on the heavy air. And under the shadow of the
black leaved trees large bats flew here and there with slow and
noiseless flap, and on the branches monstrous owls with topaz eyes like
wheels of flame sat motionless, as if to watch. And a dead silence like
that of space whence all three worlds have been removed left Aja nothing
else to hear but the beat of his own heart. And the hair rose up upon
his head with sheer amazement. And he said to himself: Ha! what new
wonder is this, and what has become of the city wall? And where in the
world have I got to now, and how? Now let me be very wary, for the
danger is evidently coming near.

[8] A tree with very black bark and white blossoms, dear to
exotic poets, such as e.g. Jayadewa.

And as he stood, grasping his sword, prepared, and looking quickly right
and left, suddenly he saw a thing which rivetted his gaze to it, as if
with an iron nail.

A little way off, among the poppies, was standing up like a lonely
column all that was left of one of the walls of a ruined temple, whose
fallen pillars were lying scattered all around it, half concealed by
creeping leaves. And as he gazed intently at this upright fragment of a
fallen wall, he saw upon it the image of a sculptured woman, which stood
out so distinctly that he could not take his eyes from it. And after a
while, he said to himself: Surely that can be no stone statue, but a
real woman of flesh and blood, actually leaning, who knows why, against
that bit of a broken wall. And he looked and looked, and after a while,
filled with irresistible curiosity, he went nearer, but very slowly, and
as it were on his guard, to see.

So as he gazed, wonder and admiration gradually crept into his soul, and
stole his recollection unaware. And he became wholly intent on the stone
image, and forgetful of his situation. And he ceased to wonder at
finding hi