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beginning to end.
'I, too, have suffered much in your absence,' Kalyani
said. 'I don't want to weary you with that sad tale. But
this I must tell you. In the midst of such danger, I don't
know how I could have fallen fast asleep yesterday,
but I did and dreamt a strange dream. I felt as if for
some unearned merit of my own I had arrived at a
really wonderful place. There was no earthly thing
there. It was full of light  light both soothing and
caressing. I found no other human there. I saw only
radiant forms of light. The place was overpoweringly
quiet. I could hear only the mute whispers of a distant,
very distant music. And the place was delightfully
fragrant with the perfume of myriads of roses, jasmine
and gardenias. On a blue mountain that was bathed in
this supernatural light an illumined figure was seated.
There were other figures near it. The light was so
bright that I could hardly see. But in front of that figure
I saw a female form most radiant too. A veil of dark
cloud surrounded her, so her radiance was a litde
dimmed. She was sad and emaciated and in tears; and
yet, her beauty was beyond words. She pointed
towards me and spoke thus to the form above:
67
"There, there she is! It is for her sake that Mahendra
hesitates to take refuge unto me."
Just then a flute struck a beautiful tune for a moment;
and the supreme form of light said to me; "You had
better leave your husband and come unto me. This
woman veiled in darkness is the mother of you both.
Your husband must serve her wholeheartedly. He
cannot serve her properly as long as you stay with him.
So come  come unto me." I cried and said: "How can
I leave my husband?" Then the flute sang again and
seemed to say: "I am your husband, I am your mother,
I am your father, I am your son, and I am your
daughter  so come, do come unto me."
I forget what I said in reply; and I woke up from
sleep.' Kalyani became silent.
Mahendra too was silent with surprise, wonder and
fear. Birds sang overhead; nightingales flooded the
forest with their intoxicating music; the cooing of the
cuckoos reverberated through the entire woodland.
The river sang below. The fragrance of the flowers
wafted on the wings of gentle winds.
Here and there sunbeams played hide-and-seek with
the dark waters of the river. Palm leaves murmured
against the winds. Ranges of blue mountains could be
seen in the distance. Mahendra and Kalyani sat quietly
for a long time.
'What are you thinking of?' Kalyani broke this silence.
'I am wondering what I should do/ Mahendra said.
A dream is but an illusion. It rises and disappears only
68
in the human mind. It has no reality, it is only a bubble
of imagination. Let us go home.'
'Please go where duty calls you.' And Kalyani
transferred the child to the lap of her husband.
And you  where will you go?' Mahendra asked.
Kalyani hid her face behind her hands and said: 'I,
too, shall go where my duty has already called me.'
'Where is that? And how can you go there?'
Mahendra asked, much startled.
Kalyani showed Mahendra the little container of
poison.
'What, you want to take poison!'
'Yes, I thought I would take poison, but  '
Kalyani thought in silence. Mahendra continued to
look at her face intently. Every moment dragged like a
year. As Kalyani did not finish her sentence, Mahendra
asked: 'You started to say something, Kalyani. Please
tell me what you had on your mind?'
'Yes, I was thinking seriously of taking poison, but I
would not wish to enter heaven and leave you and
Sukumari behind. No, I cannot die!'
Kalyani dropped the container of poison to the
ground; and soon they were engaged in discussing
things of the past and the future. In the meantime, the
child had picked up the little box of poison, and had
begun to play with it. She placed it in her left: hand,
and struck it with her right hand; and again, she would
place it in her right hand, and strike it with her left.
Then with both her little hands she pulled at the lid.
The box opened and the pill of poison fell on
69
Mahendra's dress. Sukumari thought that the pill was
something.to play with. Throwing aside the box, she
picked up the pill of poison and put it into her mouth.
By sheer chance Kalyani saw her daughter put
something into her mouth, and noticing the empty box
lying on the ground, she cried out: 'I am afraid
Sukumari has swallowed poison; I am afraid  ' And
she thrust a couple of her fingers into Sukumari s
mouth.
Sukumari thought that Kalyani was playing with her.
So she pressed her teeth tight, and smiled at her
mother. But the pill must have tasted bitter, for
Sukumari soon opened her mouth, and the mother
pulled the pill out. The pill fell to the ground and the
child began to cry.
Kalyani rushed to the river, soaked the border of her
sari and rushed back to her daughter to wipe her
tongue. While she was doing so she asked Mahendra:
'Do you think any amount of the poison has reached
her stomach?' Parents think of danger to their children
rather than of their own safety. Wherever true love [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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