g by anticipation the fate
that was in store for himself, without even knowing anything of all
that this letter would have taught him, and so far from dying, living
to a very great age. And this instance shows, that the most dangerous
of enemies is the one that never threatens till he actually strikes,
resembling not the cobra, but the adder, as Shatrunjaya discovered to
his cost, too late.[7]

And the Daughter of the Snow exclaimed, in wrath: Why hast thou
stopped, to tell me the end of the story, before even reaching the
beginning?

And Maheshwara said: Aha! Snowy One, thou art not yet, as it seems,
asleep. Many are the beginnings that never reach an end: but it will
do this story no harm at all, to begin with the end, since all the
essence of it lies in the middle, and as thou wilt find, it ends in
the middle, and yet never ends, even when it is done.

What I have told thee does not matter in the least; what matters is
the Queen, for she was the most extraordinary of all women, past,
present, or to come.

And Parwati said: Let the letter speak for itself: and if thou hast
anything to say, keep it for the end. For nothing is more unendurable
than a commentary upon a text which is unknown.

II

And Maheshwara said: Thus the letter continues:--for there is not room
in one world for us both. And well thou knowest the reason why. For
the Queen told me, the very last time that I saw her, that it would be
the very last time, as indeed it was. And when I asked why she would
see me no more, she said, that thine was the order, to send me away.
Dog! was she thine to command, or was I? And yet, I knew very well, it
was all thy doing, before ever she told me. For never would she have
behaved as she did, had she not been pushed from behind: and the very
first time that we met, when she told me of thee, I understood, and
foresaw, and expected, the very thing that has happened, looking to
find thee hiding behind her, to rid thee of a rival whom thou hadst
not the courage openly to face. And dost thou dare to condemn me for
doing the very same thing thou wast doing thyself? Was not my claim to
love her as good as thy own? Or what, O cowardly dastard, does that
man deserve, who screens himself behind the clothes of a woman to
strike at a foe? I will answer the question, and show thee, by ocular
proof, very soon. But now in the meantime, I will open thy eyes, and
tell thee, from the very beginning, all that took place. And th