e, on a day, tired out with travel, to
Kamalapura.[12] And delighted with its trees and its river and its
lotuses, I found a little house, and lodged in it, to rest for a
while. And one morning, there came to me a musician of the city, who
loved me for my playing, and he said: How comes it, O Shatrunjaya,
that thou hast not been to play to Tarawali?[13] And I said: Who is
Tarawali, that I should go to play to her, who never go to anyone at
all? And he laughed, and exclaimed: Who is Tarawali? What! dost thou
actually say that thou hast never even heard of her, the Queen of
this city? And I said: I did not know that thy Tarawali was the same
as the Queen, of whom indeed I have heard, very often, as everybody
must who comes to this city: for as it seems, the citizens never talk
of anything or anybody else, never saying anything about her that
recommends her to me; since, as I understand, she is an
independent[14] woman, who goes her own way, like the wind, caring
absolutely nothing where it takes her, or what anybody says. And he
said: Let them say what they will, at least she is a connoisseur in
music, and plays the lute herself, though not so well as thou. And
they tell me, she is very curious to see thee, and to hear thee, of
whom she has heard so much. And I said carelessly: The curiosity is
not reciprocal, since on my side there is absolutely none. And
moreover, independent women are not to my taste, even when they happen
to be queens. So it will be better for us both, to leave her curiosity
unsatisfied. And he said: Well have they named thee, the mad musician:
for thou art utterly unlike all other men. Thou hast thrown away thy
kingdom for a lute: and now thou sittest like a stone, unmoved, to
hear that even Tarawali is curious on thy account: a thing that would
set any other man dancing for delight, like a peacock at the sight of
a cloud. Art thou indeed a stone, or is it sheer ignorance of what
Tarawali is like? And I said: And what then is she like? And he said:
She is like absolutely nothing in the world but herself, and cannot
therefore be described at all, but only seen. So the only way to get
thy question answered is to go, and see her for thyself. And I said:
Then it never will be answered, for I will not go and see. I am no
tame animal, to go where I am called: I am wild. And he said: Aye! but
the wild swans go to the Manasa lake of their own accord. Thou art
like a young wild swan, refusing, for sheer obstin