ked at her in silence for a while, and then I said: Promise
me yet one thing more. And she smiled, and said: Thou art insatiable:
and yet, what is it? And I said: Send me Chaturika in the morning,
just to tell me what I know already. For I shall be dying of
impatience, and she is like a foretaste of thyself, and will help to
keep me alive.

And she laughed, and she said: Ah! thou art very crafty, for Chaturika
is far prettier than I. But I will send her for all that, to gratify
thee to the full. And moreover, I am not jealous. But now, thou must
absolutely go: for I must also. And she leaned towards me, with eyes
that were full of an unutterable caress: and she said: To-morrow, at
sunset, I will be thy dream. Only remember, not to blame me, for
anything that may happen when awaking comes.

And I turned and went away, with a heart that trembled in the
extremity of joy. And when I had gone a little way, I looked back, and
saw her still standing, looking after me, with her two hands clasped
behind her head, as motionless as a tree. And after a little while, I
looked again, and she was gone.

XII

And when I got home, I threw myself on my bed, and instantly fell fast
asleep, for I was worn out by emotion and fatigue: and my slumber
resembled the deep peace of my own heart. And a little before the
dawn, I woke up, and went out, wandering where my footsteps led me,
with a soul lost in meditation on Tarawali, bathed in the nectar of
reminiscence and anticipation, and yet puzzled by a doubt that it
could not resolve. And I said to myself as I went along: How in the
world can a queen like her, who laughs all other women to utter
scorn, for beauty and understanding and gentleness and sweetness, and
some unintelligible magic charm that is somehow spread all over her,
and echoes in the tone of her delicious voice that makes every fibre
of my heart tremble every time I hear it; how can such a queen as she
show such extraordinary favour to such a thing as me? For I could
understand it, if it were any other man. For then I should say that
beyond all doubt, she actually preferred him to all others in the
world, for sheer affection. And yet, as it is, it is quite
incomprehensible. For, it might seem, that she must be in love with me
herself, returning my affection: and yet it cannot be. For how could
such a miracle as she is, the supreme achievement of the Creator, and
the concentrated essence of the charm of all her sex, think o