t keep her to himself,
since she is not only a Queen, and above all his controlling, but also
a lady of many lovers, roaming like a bee, from flower to flower, as
she will, and yet leaving each in the lurch almost as soon as it is
tasted, being as unsteady as the flame of a lamp in the wind, and as
deep and as crooked as a river, amusing herself as if she were a
female _trinamani_[31] by watching the irresistible effect of her own
attraction on the straws that she finds and throws away, as soon as
she has tested them, regardless of what afterwards becomes of them,
since they are then absolutely useless, resembling mere husks, whose
kernel she has eaten. And if he could bear to do without her,
Narasinha would slay her out of jealousy with his own hands: but as it
is, he cannot, however much she laughs in his face. And so he repays
himself by wreaking his vengeance on her lovers, in lieu of herself:
and one by one, they all pay the penalty of their presumption, in
having anything to do with her, with their lives: giving him hard work
to do, since she finds and casts off a new lover almost every day. And
of all, the only one that has escaped is Shatrunjaya, the mad player,
who lost his reason altogether when he found himself cast adrift
without knowing why: and was accordingly passed over by Narasinha, as
not even needing to be killed, since he was as good as dead already,
and beyond the reach of revenge.

And the second voice said: What a fool must this Shatrunjaya have
been, to go mad, over such an _abhisarika_ as this Queen! Then said
the first with emphasis: Thou art thyself the fool, speaking at random
without ever having seen her: for she is a very Shri, laughing all the
other women to utter scorn; and small wonder that he fell a victim to
such a spell, being as he is very young. And moreover, she is the
cleverest woman in the three worlds, and easily persuades every lover
that she is doing as he wishes to oblige him, and not as is really the
case making him a puppet of her own. And not one of them all ever even
knows of the existence of any other lover than himself. And
Shatrunjaya is all the more to be excused, because she really took a
momentary fancy to him, and cloyed him for a day or two with nectar
that soon turned poison, as Chaturika says.

And the second voice said: Who is Chaturika? And the first replied:
She is the niece of my cousin on the mother's side, and she tells me
all. And Tarawali took her for