;only
the
garments
she
had
dropped
lay
dusk
in
the
moonlight
.
I
stood
staring
after
the
second
beast
.
It
tore
over
the
ground
with
yet
greater
swiftness
than
the
former
—
in
long
,
level
,
skimming
leaps
,
the
very
embodiment
of
wasteless
speed
.
It
followed
the
line
the
other
had
taken
,
and
I
watched
it
grow
smaller
and
smaller
,
until
it
disappeared
in
the
uncertain
distance
.
But
where
was
the
lady
?
Had
the
first
beast
surprised
her
,
creeping
upon
her
noiselessly
?
I
had
heard
no
shriek
!
and
there
had
not
been
time
to
devour
her
!
Could
it
have
caught
her
up
as
it
ran
,
and
borne
her
away
to
its
den
?
So
laden
it
could
not
have
run
so
fast
!
and
I
should
have
seen
that
it
carried
something
!
Horrible
doubts
began
to
wake
in
me
.
After
a
thorough
but
fruitless
search
,
I
set
out
in
the
track
of
the
two
animals
.
chapter
xxi
THE
FUGITIVE
MOTHER
AS
I
hastened
along
,
a
cloud
came
over
the
moon
,
and
from
the
gray
dark
suddenly
emerged
a
white
figure
,
clasping
a
child
to
her
bosom
,
and
stooping
as
she
ran
.
She
was
on
a
line
parallel
with
my
own
,
but
did
not
perceive
me
as
she
hurried
along
,
terror
and
anxiety
in
every
movement
of
her
driven
speed
.
"
She
is
chased
!
"
I
said
to
myself
.
"
Some
prowler
of
this
terrible
night
is
after
her
!
"
To
follow
would
have
added
to
her
fright
:
I
stepped
into
her
track
to
stop
her
pursuer
.
As
I
stood
for
a
moment
looking
after
her
through
the
dusk
,
behind
me
came
a
swift
,
soft-footed
rush
,
and
ere
I
could
turn
,
something
sprang
over
my
head
,
struck
me
sharply
on
the
forehead
,
and
knocked
me
down
.
I
was
up
in
an
instant
,
but
all
I
saw
of
my
assailant
was
a
vanishing
whiteness
.
I
ran
after
the
beast
,
with
the
blood
trickling
from
my
forehead
;
but
had
run
only
a
few
steps
,
when
a
shriek
of
despair
tore
the
quivering
night
.
I
ran
the
faster
,
though
I
could
not
but
fear
it
must
already
be
too
late
.
In
a
minute
or
two
I
spied
a
low
white
shape
approaching
me
through
the
vapour-dusted
moonlight
.
It
must
be
another
beast
,
I
thought
at
first
,
for
it
came
slowly
,
almost
crawling
,
with
strange
,
floundering
leaps
,
as
of
a
creature
in
agony
!
I
drew
aside
from
its
path
,
and
waited
.
As
it
neared
me
,
I
saw
it
was
going
on
three
legs
,
carrying
its
left
fore
paw
high
from
the
ground
.
It
had
many
dark
,
oval
spots
on
a
shining
white
skin
,
and
was
attended
by
a
low
rushing
sound
,
as
of
water
falling
upon
grass
.
As
it
went
by
me
,
I
saw
something
streaming
from
the
lifted
paw
.
"
It
is
blood
!
"
I
said
to
myself
,
"
some
readier
champion
than
I
has
wounded
the
beast
!
"
But
,
strange
to
tell
,
such
a
pity
seized
me
at
sight
of
the
suffering
creature
,
that
,
though
an
axe
had
been
in
my
hand
I
could
not
have
struck
at
it
.
In
a
broken
succession
of
hobbling
leaps
it
went
out
of
sight
,
its
blood
,
as
it
seemed
,
still
issuing
in
a
small
torrent
,
which
kept
flowing
back
softly
through
the
grass
beside
me
.
"
If
it
go
on
bleeding
like
that
,
"
I
thought
,
"
it
will
soon
be
hurtless
!
"
I
went
on
,
for
I
might
yet
be
useful
to
the
woman
,
and
hoped
also
to
see
her
deliverer
.
I
descried
her
a
little
way
off
,
seated
on
the
grass
,
with
her
child
in
her
lap
.
"
Can
I
do
anything
for
you
?
"
I
asked
.
At
the
sound
of
my
voice
she
started
violently
,
and
would
have
risen
.
I
threw
myself
on
the
ground
.
"
You
need
not
be
frightened
,
"
I
said
.
"
I
was
following
the
beast
when
happily
you
found
a
nearer
protector
!
It
passed
me
now
with
its
foot
bleeding
so
much
that
by
this
time
it
must
be
all
but
dead
!
"
"
There
is
little
hope
of
that
!
"
she
answered
,
trembling
.
"
Do
you
not
know
whose
beast
she
is
?
"
Now
I
had
certain
strange
suspicions
,
but
I
answered
that
I
knew
nothing
of
the
brute
,
and
asked
what
had
become
of
her
champion
.
"
What
champion
?
"
she
rejoined
.
"
I
have
seen
no
one
.
"
"
Then
how
came
the
monster
to
grief
?
"
"
I
pounded
her
foot
with
a
stone
—
as
hard
as
I
could
strike
.
Did
you
not
hear
her
cry
?
"
"
Well
,
you
are
a
brave
woman
!
"
I
answered
.
"
I
thought
it
was
you
gave
the
cry
!
"
"
It
was
the
leopardess
.
"
"
I
never
heard
such
a
sound
from
the
throat
of
an
animal
!
it
was
like
the
scream
of
a
woman
in
torture
!
"
"
My
voice
was
gone
;
I
could
not
have
shrieked
to
save
my
baby
!
When
I
saw
the
horrid
mouth
at
my
darling
's
little
white
neck
,
I
caught
up
a
stone
and
mashed
her
lame
foot
.
"
"
Tell
me
about
the
creature
,
"
I
said
;
"
I
am
a
stranger
in
these
parts
.
"
"
You
will
soon
know
about
her
if
you
are
going
to
Bulika
!
"
she
answered
.
"
Now
,
I
must
never
go
back
there
!
"
"
Yes
,
I
am
going
to
Bulika
,
"
I
said
,
"
—
to
see
the
princess
.
"
"
Have
a
care
;
you
had
better
not
go
!
—
But
perhaps
you
are
—
!
The
princess
is
a
very
good
,
kind
woman
!
"
I
heard
a
little
movement
.
Clouds
had
by
this
time
gathered
so
thick
over
the
moon
that
I
could
scarcely
see
my
companion
:
I
feared
she
was
rising
to
run
from
me
.
"
You
are
in
no
danger
of
any
sort
from
me
,
"
I
said
.
"
What
oath
would
you
like
me
to
take
?
"
"
I
know
by
your
speech
that
you
are
not
of
the
people
of
Bulika
,
"
she
replied
;
"
I
will
trust
you
!
—
I
am
not
of
them
,
either
,
else
I
should
not
be
able
:
they
never
trust
any
one
.
—
If
only
I
could
see
you
!
But
I
like
your
voice
!
—
There
,
my
darling
is
asleep
!
The
foul
beast
has
not
hurt
her
!
—
Yes
:
it
was
my
baby
she
was
after
!
"
she
went
on
,
caressing
the
child
.
"
And
then
she
would
have
torn
her
mother
to
pieces
for
carrying
her
off
!
—
Some
say
the
princess
has
two
white
leopardesses
,
"
she
continued
:
"
I
know
only
one
—
with
spots
.
Everybody
knows
her
!
If
the
princess
hear
of
a
baby
,
she
sends
her
immediately
to
suck
its
blood
,
and
then
it
either
dies
or
grows
up
an
idiot
.
I
would
have
gone
away
with
my
baby
,
but
the
princess
was
from
home
,
and
I
thought
I
might
wait
until
I
was
a
little
stronger
.
But
she
must
have
taken
the
beast
with
her
,
and
been
on
her
way
home
when
I
left
,
and
come
across
my
track
.
I
heard
the
sniff-snuff
of
the
leopardess
behind
me
,
and
ran
;
—
oh
,
how
I
ran
!
—
But
my
darling
will
not
die
!
There
is
no
mark
on
her
!
"
"
Where
are
you
taking
her
?
"
"
Where
no
one
ever
tells
!
"
"
Why
is
the
princess
so
cruel
?
"
"
There
is
an
old
prophecy
that
a
child
will
be
the
death
of
her
.
That
is
why
she
will
listen
to
no
offer
of
marriage
,
they
say
.
"
"
But
what
will
become
of
her
country
if
she
kill
all
the
babies
?
"
"
She
does
not
care
about
her
country
.
She
sends
witches
around
to
teach
the
women
spells
that
keep
babies
away
,
and
give
them
horrible
things
to
eat
.
Some
say
she
is
in
league
with
the
Shadows
to
put
an
end
to
the
race
.
At
night
we
hear
the
questing
beast
,
and
lie
awake
and
shiver
.
She
can
tell
at
once
the
house
where
a
baby
is
coming
,
and
lies
down
at
the
door
,
watching
to
get
in
.
There
are
words
that
have
power
to
shoo
her
away
,
only
they
do
not
always
work
.
—
But
here
I
sit
talking
,
and
the
beast
may
by
this
time
have
got
home
,
and
her
mistress
be
sending
the
other
after
us
!
"
As
thus
she
ended
,
she
rose
in
haste
.
"
I
do
not
think
she
will
ever
get
home
.
—
Let
me
carry
the
baby
for
you
!
"
I
said
,
as
I
rose
also
.
She
returned
me
no
answer
,
and
when
I
would
have
taken
it
,
only
clasped
it
the
closer
.
"
I
cannot
think
,
"
I
said
,
walking
by
her
side
,
"
how
the
brute
could
be
bleeding
so
much
!
"
"
Take
my
advice
,
and
do
n't
go
near
the
palace
,
"
she
answered
.
"
There
are
sounds
in
it
at
night
as
if
the
dead
were
trying
to
shriek
,
but
could
not
open
their
mouths
!
"
She
bade
me
an
abrupt
farewell
.
Plainly
she
did
not
want
more
of
my
company
;
so
I
stood
still
,
and
heard
her
footsteps
die
away
on
the
grass
.
chapter
xxii
BULIKA
I
HAD
lost
all
notion
of
my
position
,
and
was
walking
about
in
pure
,
helpless
impatience
,
when
suddenly
I
found
myself
in
the
path
of
the
leopardess
,
wading
in
the
blood
from
her
paw
.
It
ran
against
my
ankles
with
the
force
of
a
small
brook
,
and
I
got
out
of
it
the
more
quickly
because
of
an
unshaped
suspicion
in
my
mind
as
to
whose
blood
it
might
be
.
But
I
kept
close
to
the
sound
of
it
,
walking
up
the
side
of
the
stream
,
for
it
would
guide
me
in
the
direction
of
Bulika
.
I
soon
began
to
reflect
,
however
,
that
no
leopardess
,
no
elephant
,
no
hugest
animal
that
in
our
world
preceded
man
,
could
keep
such
a
torrent
flowing
,
except
every
artery
in
its
body
were
open
,
and
its
huge
system
went
on
filling
its
vessels
from
fields
and
lakes
and
forests
as
fast
as
they
emptied
themselves
:
it
could
not
be
blood
!
I
dipped
a
finger
in
it
,
and
at
once
satisfied
myself
that
it
was
not
.
In
truth
,
however
it
might
have
come
there
,
it
was
a
softly
murmuring
rivulet
of
water
that
ran
,
without
channel
,
over
the
grass
!
But
sweet
as
was
its
song
,
I
dared
not
drink
of
it
;
I
kept
walking
on
,
hoping
after
the
light
,
and
listening
to
the
familiar
sound
so
long
unheard
—
for
that
of
the
hot
stream
was
very
different
.
The
mere
wetting
of
my
feet
in
it
,
however
,
had
so
refreshed
me
,
that
I
went
on
without
fatigue
till
the
darkness
began
to
grow
thinner
,
and
I
knew
the
sun
was
drawing
nigh
.
A
few
minutes
more
,
and
I
could
discern
,
against
the
pale
aurora
,
the
wall-towers
of
a
city
—
seemingly
old
as
time
itself
.
Then
I
looked
down
to
get
a
sight
of
the
brook
.
It
was
gone
.
I
had
indeed
for
a
long
time
noted
its
sound
growing
fainter
,
but
at
last
had
ceased
to
attend
to
it
.
I
looked
back
:
the
grass
in
its
course
lay
bent
as
it
had
flowed
,
and
here
and
there
glimmered
a
small
pool
.
Toward
the
city
,
there
was
no
trace
of
it
.
Near
where
I
stood
,
the
flow
of
its
fountain
must
at
least
have
paused
!
Around
the
city
were
gardens
,
growing
many
sorts
of
vegetables
,
hardly
one
of
which
I
recognised
.
I
saw
no
water
,
no
flowers
,
no
sign
of
animals
.
The
gardens
came
very
near
the
walls
,
but
were
separated
from
them
by
huge
heaps
of
gravel
and
refuse
thrown
from
the
battlements
.
I
went
up
to
the
nearest
gate
,
and
found
it
but
half-closed
,
nowise
secured
,
and
without
guard
or
sentinel
.
To
judge
by
its
hinges
,
it
could
not
be
farther
opened
or
shut
closer
.
Passing
through
,
I
looked
down
a
long
ancient
street
.
It
was
utterly
silent
,
and
with
scarce
an
indication
in
it
of
life
present
.
Had
I
come
upon
a
dead
city
?
I
turned
and
went
out
again
,
toiled
a
long
way
over
the
dust-heaps
,
and
crossed
several
roads
,
each
leading
up
to
a
gate
:
I
would
not
re-enter
until
some
of
the
inhabitants
should
be
stirring
.
What
was
I
there
for
?
what
did
I
expect
or
hope
to
find
?
what
did
I
mean
to
do
?
I
must
see
,
if
but
once
more
,
the
woman
I
had
brought
to
life
!
I
did
not
desire
her
society
:
she
had
waked
in
me
frightful
suspicions
;
and
friendship
,
not
to
say
love
,
was
wildly
impossible
between
us
!
But
her
presence
had
had
a
strange
influence
upon
me
,
and
in
her
presence
I
must
resist
,
and
at
the
same
time
analyse
that
influence
!
The
seemingly
inscrutable
in
her
I
would
fain
penetrate
:
to
understand
something
of
her
mode
of
being
would
be
to
look
into
marvels
such
as
imagination
could
never
have
suggested
!
In
this
I
was
too
daring
:
a
man
must
not
,
for
knowledge
,
of
his
own
will
encounter
temptation
!
On
the
other
hand
,
I
had
reinstated
an
evil
force
about
to
perish
,
and
was
,
to
the
extent
of
my
opposing
faculty
,
accountable
for
what
mischief
might
ensue
!
I
had
learned
that
she
was
the
enemy
of
children
:
the
Little
Ones
might
be
in
her
danger
!
It
was
in
the
hope
of
finding
out
something
of
their
history
that
I
had
left
them
;
on
that
I
had
received
a
little
light
:
I
must
have
more
;
I
must
learn
how
to
protect
them
!
Hearing
at
length
a
little
stir
in
the
place
,
I
walked
through
the
next
gate
,
and
thence
along
a
narrow
street
of
tall
houses
to
a
little
square
,
where
I
sat
down
on
the
base
of
a
pillar
with
a
hideous
bat-like
creature
atop
.
Ere
long
,
several
of
the
inhabitants
came
sauntering
past
.
I
spoke
to
one
:
he
gave
me
a
rude
stare
and
ruder
word
,
and
went
on
.
I
got
up
and
went
through
one
narrow
street
after
another
,
gradually
filling
with
idlers
,
and
was
not
surprised
to
see
no
children
.
By
and
by
,
near
one
of
the
gates
,
I
encountered
a
group
of
young
men
who
reminded
me
not
a
little
of
the
bad
giants
.
They
came
about
me
staring
,
and
presently
began
to
push
and
hustle
me
,
then
to
throw
things
at
me
.
I
bore
it
as
well
as
I
could
,
wishing
not
to
provoke
enmity
where
wanted
to
remain
for
a
while
.
Oftener
than
once
or
twice
I
appealed
to
passers-by
whom
I
fancied
more
benevolent-looking
,
but
none
would
halt
a
moment
to
listen
to
me
.
I
looked
poor
,
and
that
was
enough
:
to
the
citizens
of
Bulika
,
as
to
house-dogs
,
poverty
was
an
offence
!
Deformity
and
sickness
were
taxed
;
and
no
legislation
of
their
princess
was
more
heartily
approved
of
than
what
tended
to
make
poverty
subserve
wealth
.
I
took
to
my
heels
at
last
,
and
no
one
followed
me
beyond
the
gate
.
A
lumbering
fellow
,
however
,
who
sat
by
it
eating
a
hunch
of
bread
,
picked
up
a
stone
to
throw
after
me
,
and
happily
,
in
his
stupid
eagerness
,
threw
,
not
the
stone
but
the
bread
.
I
took
it
,
and
he
did
not
dare
follow
to
reclaim
it
:
beyond
the
walls
they
were
cowards
every
one
.
I
went
off
a
few
hundred
yards
,
threw
myself
down
,
ate
the
bread
,
fell
asleep
,
and
slept
soundly
in
the
grass
,
where
the
hot
sunlight
renewed
my
strength
.
It
was
night
when
I
woke
.
The
moon
looked
down
on
me
in
friendly
fashion
,
seeming
to
claim
with
me
old
acquaintance
.
She
was
very
bright
,
and
the
same
moon
,
I
thought
,
that
saw
me
through
the
terrors
of
my
first
night
in
that
strange
world
.
A
cold
wind
blew
from
the
gate
,
bringing
with
it
an
evil
odour
;
but
it
did
not
chill
me
,
for
the
sun
had
plenished
me
with
warmth
.
I
crept
again
into
the
city
.
There
I
found
the
few
that
were
still
in
the
open
air
crouched
in
corners
to
escape
the
shivering
blast
.
I
was
walking
slowly
through
the
long
narrow
street
,
when
,
just
before
me
,
a
huge
white
thing
bounded
across
it
,
with
a
single
flash
in
the
moonlight
,
and
disappeared
.
I
turned
down
the
next
opening
,
eager
to
get
sight
of
it
again
.
It
was
a
narrow
lane
,
almost
too
narrow
to
pass
through
,
but
it
led
me
into
a
wider
street
.
The
moment
I
entered
the
latter
,
I
saw
on
the
opposite
side
,
in
the
shadow
,
the
creature
I
had
followed
,
itself
following
like
a
dog
what
I
took
for
a
man
.
Over
his
shoulder
,
every
other
moment
,
he
glanced
at
the
animal
behind
him
,
but
neither
spoke
to
it
,
nor
attempted
to
drive
it
away
.
At
a
place
where
he
had
to
cross
a
patch
of
moonlight
,
I
saw
that
he
cast
no
shadow
,
and
was
himself
but
a
flat
superficial
shadow
,
of
two
dimensions
.
He
was
,
nevertheless
,
an
opaque
shadow
,
for
he
not
merely
darkened
any
object
on
the
other
side
of
him
,
but
rendered
it
,
in
fact
,
invisible
.
In
the
shadow
he
was
blacker
than
the
shadow
;
in
the
moonlight
he
looked
like
one
who
had
drawn
his
shadow
up
about
him
,
for
not
a
suspicion
of
it
moved
beside
or
under
him
;
while
the
gleaming
animal
,
which
followed
so
close
at
his
heels
as
to
seem
the
white
shadow
of
his
blackness
,
and
which
I
now
saw
to
be
a
leopardess
,
drew
her
own
gliding
shadow
black
over
the
ground
by
her
side
.
When
they
passed
together
from
the
shadow
into
the
moonlight
,
the
Shadow
deepened
in
blackness
,
the
animal
flashed
into
radiance
.
I
was
at
the
moment
walking
abreast
of
them
on
the
opposite
side
,
my
bare
feet
sounding
on
the
flat
stones
:
the
leopardess
never
turned
head
or
twitched
ear
;
the
Shadow
seemed
once
to
look
at
me
,
for
I
lost
his
profile
,
and
saw
for
a
second
only
a
sharp
upright
line
.
That
instant
the
wind
found
me
and
blew
through
me
:
I
shuddered
from
head
to
foot
,
and
my
heart
went
from
wall
to
wall
of
my
bosom
,
like
a
pebble
in
a
child
's
rattle
.
chapter
xxiii
A
WOMAN
OF
BULIKA
I
TURNED
aside
into
an
alley
,
and
sought
shelter
in
a
small
archway
.
In
the
mouth
of
it
I
stopped
,
and
looked
out
at
the
moonlight
which
filled
the
alley
.
The
same
instant
a
woman
came
gliding
in
after
me
,
turned
,
trembling
,
and
looked
out
also
.
A
few
seconds
passed
;
then
a
huge
leopard
,
its
white
skin
dappled
with
many
blots
,
darted
across
the
archway
.
The
woman
pressed
close
to
me
,
and
my
heart
filled
with
pity
.
I
put
my
arm
round
her
.
"
If
the
brute
come
here
,
I
will
lay
hold
of
it
,
"
I
said
,
"
and
you
must
run
.
"
"
Thank
you
!
"
she
murmured
.
"
Have
you
ever
seen
it
before
?
"
I
asked
.
"
Several
times
,
"
she
answered
,
still
trembling
.
"
She
is
a
pet
of
the
princess
's
.
You
are
a
stranger
,
or
you
would
know
her
!
"
"
I
am
a
stranger
,
"
I
answered
.
"
But
is
she
,
then
,
allowed
to
run
loose
?
"
"
She
is
kept
in
a
cage
,
her
mouth
muzzled
,
and
her
feet
in
gloves
of
crocodile
leather
.
Chained
she
is
too
;
but
she
gets
out
often
,
and
sucks
the
blood
of
any
child
she
can
lay
hold
of
.
Happily
there
are
not
many
mothers
in
Bulika
!
"
Here
she
burst
into
tears
.
"
I
wish
I
were
at
home
!
"
she
sobbed
.
"
The
princess
returned
only
last
night
,
and
there
is
the
leopardess
out
already
!
How
am
I
to
get
into
the
house
?
It
is
me
she
is
after
,
I
know
!
She
will
be
lying
at
my
own
door
,
watching
for
me
!
—
But
I
am
a
fool
to
talk
to
a
stranger
!
"
"
All
strangers
are
not
bad
!
"
I
said
.
"
The
beast
shall
not
touch
you
till
she
has
done
with
me
,
and
by
that
time
you
will
be
in
.
You
are
happy
to
have
a
house
to
go
to
!
What
a
terrible
wind
it
is
!
"
"
Take
me
home
safe
,
and
I
will
give
you
shelter
from
it
,
"
she
rejoined
.
"
But
we
must
wait
a
little
!
"
I
asked
her
many
questions
.
She
told
me
the
people
never
did
anything
except
dig
for
precious
stones
in
their
cellars
.
They
were
rich
,
and
had
everything
made
for
them
in
other
towns
.
"
Why
?
"
I
asked
.
"
Because
it
is
a
disgrace
to
work
,
"
she
answered
.
"
Everybody
in
Bulika
knows
that
!
"
I
asked
how
they
were
rich
if
none
of
them
earned
money
.
She
replied
that
their
ancestors
had
saved
for
them
,
and
they
never
spent
.
When
they
wanted
money
they
sold
a
few
of
their
gems
.
"
But
there
must
be
some
poor
!
"
I
said
.
"
I
suppose
there
must
be
,
but
we
never
think
of
such
people
.
When
one
goes
poor
,
we
forget
him
.
That
is
how
we
keep
rich
.
We
mean
to
be
rich
always
.
"
"
But
when
you
have
dug
up
all
your
precious
stones
and
sold
them
,
you
will
have
to
spend
your
money
,
and
one
day
you
will
have
none
left
!
"
"
We
have
so
many
,
and
there
are
so
many
still
in
the
ground
,
that
that
day
will
never
come
,
"
she
replied
.
"
Suppose
a
strange
people
were
to
fall
upon
you
,
and
take
everything
you
have
!
"
"
No
strange
people
will
dare
;
they
are
all
horribly
afraid
of
our
princess
.
She
it
is
who
keeps
us
safe
and
free
and
rich
!
"
Every
now
and
then
as
she
spoke
,
she
would
stop
and
look
behind
her
.
I
asked
why
her
people
had
such
a
hatred
of
strangers
.
She
answered
that
the
presence
of
a
stranger
defiled
the
city
.
"
How
is
that
?
"
I
said
.
"
Because
we
are
more
ancient
and
noble
than
any
other
nation
.
—
Therefore
,
"
she
added
,
"
we
always
turn
strangers
out
before
night
.
"
"
How
,
then
,
can
you
take
me
into
your
house
?
"
I
asked
.
"
I
will
make
an
exception
of
you
,
"
she
replied
.
"
Is
there
no
place
in
the
city
for
the
taking
in
of
strangers
?
"
"
Such
a
place
would
be
pulled
down
,
and
its
owner
burned
.
How
is
purity
to
be
preserved
except
by
keeping
low
people
at
a
proper
distance
?
Dignity
is
such
a
delicate
thing
!
"
She
told
me
that
their
princess
had
reigned
for
thousands
of
years
;
that
she
had
power
over
the
air
and
the
water
as
well
as
the
earth
—
and
,
she
believed
,
over
the
fire
too
;
that
she
could
do
what
she
pleased
,
and
was
answerable
to
nobody
.
When
at
length
she
was
willing
to
risk
the
attempt
,
we
took
our
way
through
lanes
and
narrow
passages
,
and
reached
her
door
without
having
met
a
single
live
creature
.
It
was
in
a
wider
street
,
between
two
tall
houses
,
at
the
top
of
a
narrow
,
steep
stair
,
up
which
she
climbed
slowly
,
and
I
followed
.
Ere
we
reached
the
top
,
however
,
she
seemed
to
take
fright
,
and
darted
up
the
rest
of
the
steps
:
I
arrived
just
in
time
to
have
the
door
closed
in
my
face
,
and
stood
confounded
on
the
landing
,
where
was
about
length
enough
,
between
the
opposite
doors
of
the
two
houses
,
for
a
man
to
lie
down
.
Weary
,
and
not
scrupling
to
defile
Bulika
with
my
presence
,
I
took
advantage
of
the
shelter
,
poor
as
it
was
.
chapter
xxiv
THE
WHITE
LEOPARDESS
AT
the
foot
of
the
stair
lay
the
moonlit
street
,
and
I
could
hear
the
unwholesome
,
inhospitable
wind
blowing
about
below
.
But
not
a
breath
of
it
entered
my
retreat
,
and
I
was
composing
myself
to
rest
,
when
suddenly
my
eyes
opened
,
and
there
was
the
head
of
the
shining
creature
I
had
seen
following
the
Shadow
,
just
rising
above
the
uppermost
step
!
The
moment
she
caught
sight
of
my
eyes
,
she
stopped
and
began
to
retire
,
tail
foremost
.
I
sprang
up
;
whereupon
,
having
no
room
to
turn
,
she
threw
herself
backward
,
head
over
tail
,
scrambled
to
her
feet
,
and
in
a
moment
was
down
the
stair
and
gone
.
I
followed
her
to
the
bottom
,
and
looked
all
up
and
down
the
street
.
Not
seeing
her
,
I
went
back
to
my
hard
couch
.
There
were
,
then
,
two
evil
creatures
prowling
about
the
city
,
one
with
,
and
one
without
spots
!
I
was
not
inclined
to
risk
much
for
man
or
woman
in
Bulika
,
but
the
life
of
a
child
might
well
be
worth
such
a
poor
one
as
mine
,
and
I
resolved
to
keep
watch
at
that
door
the
rest
of
the
night
.
Presently
I
heard
the
latch
move
,
slow
,
slow
:
I
looked
up
,
and
seeing
the
door
half-open
,
rose
and
slid
softly
in
.
Behind
it
stood
,
not
the
woman
I
had
befriended
,
but
the
muffled
woman
of
the
desert
.
Without
a
word
she
led
me
a
few
steps
to
an
empty
stone-paved
chamber
,
and
pointed
to
a
rug
on
the
floor
.
I
wrapped
myself
in
it
,
and
once
more
lay
down
.
She
shut
the
door
of
the
room
,
and
I
heard
the
outer
door
open
and
close
again
.
There
was
no
light
save
what
came
from
the
moonlit
air
.
As
I
lay
sleepless
,
I
began
to
hear
a
stifled
moaning
.
It
went
on
for
a
good
while
,
and
then
came
the
cry
of
a
child
,
followed
by
a
terrible
shriek
.
I
sprang
up
and
darted
into
the
passage
:
from
another
door
in
it
came
the
white
leopardess
with
a
new-born
baby
in
her
mouth
,
carrying
it
like
a
cub
of
her
own
.
I
threw
myself
upon
her
,
and
compelled
her
to
drop
the
infant
,
which
fell
on
the
stone
slabs
with
a
piteous
wail
.
At
the
cry
appeared
the
muffled
woman
.
She
stepped
over
us
,
the
beast
and
myself
,
where
we
lay
struggling
in
the
narrow
passage
,
took
up
the
child
,
and
carried
it
away
.
Returning
,
she
lifted
me
off
the
animal
,
opened
the
door
,
and
pushed
me
gently
out
.
At
my
heels
followed
the
leopardess
.
"
She
too
has
failed
me
!
"
thought
I
;
"
—
given
me
up
to
the
beast
to
be
settled
with
at
her
leisure
!
But
we
shall
have
a
tussle
for
it
!
"
I
ran
down
the
stair
,
fearing
she
would
spring
on
my
back
,
but
she
followed
me
quietly
.
At
the
foot
I
turned
to
lay
hold
of
her
,
but
she
sprang
over
my
head
;
and
when
again
I
turned
to
face
her
,
she
was
crouching
at
my
feet
!
I
stooped
and
stroked
her
lovely
white
skin
;
she
responded
by
licking
my
bare
feet
with
her
hard
dry
tongue
.
Then
I
patted
and
fondled
her
,
a
well
of
tenderness
overflowing
in
my
heart
:
she
might
be
treacherous
too
,
but
if
I
turned
from
every
show
of
love
lest
it
should
be
feigned
,
how
was
I
ever
to
find
the
real
love
which
must
be
somewhere
in
every
world
?
I
stood
up
;
she
rose
,
and
stood
beside
me
.
A
bulky
object
fell
with
a
heavy
squelch
in
the
middle
of
the
street
,
a
few
yards
from
us
.
I
ran
to
it
,
and
found
a
pulpy
mass
,
with
just
form
enough
left
to
show
it
the
body
of
a
woman
.
It
must
have
been
thrown
from
some
neighbouring
window
!
I
looked
around
me
:
the
Shadow
was
walking
along
the
other
side
of
the
way
,
with
the
white
leopardess
again
at
his
heel
!
I
followed
and
gained
upon
them
,
urging
in
my
heart
for
the
leopardess
that
probably
she
was
not
a
free
agent
.
When
I
got
near
them
,
however
,
she
turned
and
flew
at
me
with
such
a
hideous
snarl
,
that
instinctively
I
drew
back
:
instantly
she
resumed
her
place
behind
the
Shadow
.
Again
I
drew
near
;
again
she
flew
at
me
,
her
eyes
flaming
like
live
emeralds
.
Once
more
I
made
the
experiment
:
she
snapped
at
me
like
a
dog
,
and
bit
me
.
My
heart
gave
way
,
and
I
uttered
a
cry
;
whereupon
the
creature
looked
round
with
a
glance
that
plainly
meant
—
"
Why
would
you
make
me
do
it
?
"
I
turned
away
angry
with
myself
:
I
had
been
losing
my
time
ever
since
I
entered
the
place
!
night
as
it
was
I
would
go
straight
to
the
palace
!
From
the
square
I
had
seen
it
—
high
above
the
heart
of
the
city
,
compassed
with
many
defences
,
more
a
fortress
than
a
palace
!
But
I
found
its
fortifications
,
like
those
of
the
city
,
much
neglected
,
and
partly
ruinous
.
For
centuries
,
clearly
,
they
had
been
of
no
account
!
It
had
great
and
strong
gates
,
with
something
like
a
drawbridge
to
them
over
a
rocky
chasm
;
but
they
stood
open
,
and
it
was
hard
to
believe
that
water
had
ever
occupied
the
hollow
before
them
.
All
was
so
still
that
sleep
seemed
to
interpenetrate
the
structure
,
causing
the
very
moonlight
to
look
discordantly
awake
.
I
must
either
enter
like
a
thief
,
or
break
a
silence
that
rendered
frightful
the
mere
thought
of
a
sound
!
Like
an
outcast
dog
I
was
walking
about
the
walls
,
when
I
came
to
a
little
recess
with
a
stone
bench
:
I
took
refuge
in
it
from
the
wind
,
lay
down
,
and
in
spite
of
the
cold
fell
fast
asleep
.
I
was
wakened
by
something
leaping
upon
me
,
and
licking
my
face
with
the
rough
tongue
of
a
feline
animal
.
"
It
is
the
white
leopardess
!
"
I
thought
.
"
She
is
come
to
suck
my
blood
!
—
and
why
should
she
not
have
it
?
—
it
would
cost
me
more
to
defend
than
to
yield
it
!
"
So
I
lay
still
,
expecting
a
shoot
of
pain
.
But
the
pang
did
not
arrive
;
a
pleasant
warmth
instead
began
to
diffuse
itself
through
me
.
Stretched
at
my
back
,
she
lay
as
close
to
me
as
she
could
lie
,
the
heat
of
her
body
slowly
penetrating
mine
,
and
her
breath
,
which
had
nothing
of
the
wild
beast
in
it
,
swathing
my
head
and
face
in
a
genial
atmosphere
.
A
full
conviction
that
her
intention
toward
me
was
good
,
gained
possession
of
me
.
I
turned
like
a
sleepy
boy
,
threw
my
arm
over
her
,
and
sank
into
profound
unconsciousness
,
When
I
began
to
come
to
myself
,
I
fancied
I
lay
warm
and
soft
in
my
own
bed
.
"
Is
it
possible
I
am
at
home
?
"
I
thought
.
The
well-known
scents
of
the
garden
seemed
to
come
crowding
in
.
I
rubbed
my
eyes
,
and
looked
out
:
I
lay
on
a
bare
stone
,
in
the
heart
of
a
hateful
city
!
I
sprang
from
the
bench
.
Had
I
indeed
had
a
leopardess
for
my
bedfellow
,
or
had
I
but
dreamed
it
?
She
had
but
just
left
me
,
for
the
warmth
of
her
body
was
with
me
yet
!
I
left
the
recess
with
a
new
hope
,
as
strong
as
it
was
shapeless
.
One
thing
only
was
clear
to
me
:
I
must
find
the
princess
!
Surely
I
had
some
power
with
her
,
if
not
over
her
!
Had
I
not
saved
her
life
,
and
had
she
not
prolonged
it
at
the
expense
of
my
vitality
?
The
reflection
gave
me
courage
to
encounter
her
,
be
she
what
she
might
.
chapter
xxv
THE
PRINCESS
MAKING
a
circuit
of
the
castle
,
I
came
again
to
the
open
gates
,
crossed
the
ravine-like
moat
,
and
found
myself
in
a
paved
court
,
planted
at
regular
intervals
with
towering
trees
like
poplars
.
In
the
centre
was
one
taller
than
the
rest
,
whose
branches
,
near
the
top
,
spread
a
little
and
gave
it
some
resemblance
to
a
palm
.
Between
their
great
stems
I
got
glimpses
of
the
palace
,
which
was
of
a
style
strange
to
me
,
but
suggested
Indian
origin
.
It
was
long
and
low
,
with
lofty
towers
at
the
corners
,
and
one
huge
dome
in
the
middle
,
rising
from
the
roof
to
half
the
height
of
the
towers
.
The
main
entrance
was
in
the
centre
of
the
front
—
a
low
arch
that
seemed
half
an
ellipse
.
No
one
was
visible
,
the
doors
stood
wide
open
,
and
I
went
unchallenged
into
a
large
hall
,
in
the
form
of
a
longish
ellipse
.
Toward
one
side
stood
a
cage
,
in
which
couched
,
its
head
on
its
paws
,
a
huge
leopardess
,
chained
by
a
steel
collar
,
with
its
mouth
muzzled
and
its
paws
muffled
.
It
was
white
with
dark
oval
spots
,
and
lay
staring
out
of
wide-open
eyes
,
with
canoe-shaped
pupils
,
and
great
green
irids
.
It
appeared
to
watch
me
,
but
not
an
eyeball
,
not
a
foot
,
not
a
whisker
moved
,
and
its
tail
stretched
out
behind
it
rigid
as
an
iron
bar
.
I
could
not
tell
whether
it
was
a
live
thing
or
not
.
From
this
vestibule
two
low
passages
led
;
I
took
one
of
them
,
and
found
it
branch
into
many
,
all
narrow
and
irregular
.
At
a
spot
where
was
scarce
room
for
two
to
pass
,
a
page
ran
against
me
.
He
started
back
in
terror
,
but
having
scanned
me
,
gathered
impudence
,
puffed
himself
out
,
and
asked
my
business
.
"
To
see
the
princess
,
"
I
answered
.
"
A
likely
thing
!
"
he
returned
.
"
I
have
not
seen
her
highness
this
morning
myself
!
"
I
caught
him
by
the
back
of
the
neck
,
shook
him
,
and
said
,
"
Take
me
to
her
at
once
,
or
I
will
drag
you
with
me
till
I
find
her
.
She
shall
know
how
her
servants
receive
her
visitors
.
"
He
gave
a
look
at
me
,
and
began
to
pull
like
a
blind
man
's
dog
,
leading
me
thus
to
a
large
kitchen
,
where
were
many
servants
,
feebly
busy
,
and
hardly
awake
.
I
expected
them
to
fall
upon
me
and
drive
me
out
,
but
they
stared
instead
,
with
wide
eyes
—
not
at
me
,
but
at
something
behind
me
,
and
grew
more
ghastly
as
they
stared
.
I
turned
my
head
,
and
saw
the
white
leopardess
,
regarding
them
in
a
way
that
might
have
feared
stouter
hearts
.
Presently
,
however
,
one
of
them
,
seeing
,
I
suppose
,
that
attack
was
not
imminent
,
began
to
recover
himself
;
I
turned
to
him
,
and
let
the
boy
go
.
"
Take
me
to
the
princess
,
"
I
said
.
"
She
has
not
yet
left
her
room
,
your
lordship
,
"
he
replied
.
"
Let
her
know
that
I
am
here
,
waiting
audience
of
her
.
"
"
Will
your
lordship
please
to
give
me
your
name
?
"
"
Tell
her
that
one
who
knows
the
white
leech
desires
to
see
her
.
"
"
She
will
kill
me
if
I
take
such
a
message
:
I
must
not
.
I
dare
not
.
"
"
You
refuse
?
"
He
cast
a
glance
at
my
attendant
,
and
went
.
The
others
continued
staring
—
too
much
afraid
of
her
to
take
their
eyes
off
her
.
I
turned
to
the
graceful
creature
,
where
she
stood
,
her
muzzle
dropped
to
my
heel
,
white
as
milk
,
a
warm
splendour
in
the
gloomy
place
,
and
stooped
and
patted
her
.
She
looked
up
at
me
;
the
mere
movement
of
her
head
was
enough
to
scatter
them
in
all
directions
.
She
rose
on
her
hind
legs
,
and
put
her
paws
on
my
shoulders
;
I
threw
my
arms
round
her
.
She
pricked
her
ears
,
broke
from
me
,
and
was
out
of
sight
in
a
moment
.
The
man
I
had
sent
to
the
princess
entered
.
"
Please
to
come
this
way
,
my
lord
,
"
he
said
.
My
heart
gave
a
throb
,
as
if
bracing
itself
to
the
encounter
.
I
followed
him
through
many
passages
,
and
was
at
last
shown
into
a
room
so
large
and
so
dark
that
its
walls
were
invisible
.
A
single
spot
on
the
floor
reflected
a
little
light
,
but
around
that
spot
all
was
black
.
I
looked
up
,
and
saw
at
a
great
height
an
oval
aperture
in
the
roof
,
on
the
periphery
of
which
appeared
the
joints
between
blocks
of
black
marble
.
The
light
on
the
floor
showed
close-fitting
slabs
of
the
same
material
.
I
found
afterward
that
the
elliptical
wall
as
well
was
of
black
marble
,
absorbing
the
little
light
that
reached
it
.
The
roof
was
the
long
half
of
an
ellipsoid
,
and
the
opening
in
it
was
over
one
of
the
foci
of
the
ellipse
of
the
floor
.
I
fancied
I
caught
sight
of
reddish
lines
,
but
when
I
would
have
examined
them
,
they
were
gone
.
All
at
once
,
a
radiant
form
stood
in
the
centre
of
the
darkness
,
flashing
a
splendour
on
every
side
.
Over
a
robe
of
soft
white
,
her
hair
streamed
in
a
cataract
,
black
as
the
marble
on
which
it
fell
.
Her
eyes
were
a
luminous
blackness
;
her
arms
and
feet
like
warm
ivory
.
She
greeted
me
with
the
innocent
smile
of
a
girl
—
and
in
face
,
figure
,
and
motion
seemed
but
now
to
have
stepped
over
the
threshold
of
womanhood
.
"
Alas
,
"
thought
I
,
"
ill
did
I
reckon
my
danger
!
Can
this
be
the
woman
I
rescued
—
she
who
struck
me
,
scorned
me
,
left
me
?
"
I
stood
gazing
at
her
out
of
the
darkness
;
she
stood
gazing
into
it
,
as
if
searching
for
me
.
She
disappeared
.
"
She
will
not
acknowledge
me
!
"
I
thought
.
But
the
next
instant
her
eyes
flashed
out
of
the
dark
straight
into
mine
.
She
had
descried
me
and
come
to
me
!
"
You
have
found
me
at
last
!
"
she
said
,
laying
her
hand
on
my
shoulder
.
"
I
knew
you
would
!
"
My
frame
quivered
with
conflicting
consciousnesses
,
to
analyse
which
I
had
no
power
.
I
was
simultaneously
attracted
and
repelled
:
each
sensation
seemed
either
.
"
You
shiver
!
"
she
said
.
"
This
place
is
cold
for
you
!
Come
.
"
I
stood
silent
:
she
had
struck
me
dumb
with
beauty
;
she
held
me
dumb
with
sweetness
.
Taking
me
by
the
hand
,
she
drew
me
to
the
spot
of
light
,
and
again
flashed
upon
me
.
An
instant
she
stood
there
.
"
You
have
grown
brown
since
last
I
saw
you
,
"
she
said
.
"
This
is
almost
the
first
roof
I
have
been
under
since
you
left
me
,
"
I
replied
.
"
Whose
was
the
other
?
"
she
rejoined
.
"
I
do
not
know
the
woman
's
name
.
"
"
I
would
gladly
learn
it
!
The
instinct
of
hospitality
is
not
strong
in
my
people
!
"
She
took
me
again
by
the
hand
,
and
led
me
through
the
darkness
many
steps
to
a
curtain
of
black
.
Beyond
it
was
a
white
stair
,
up
which
she
conducted
me
to
a
beautiful
chamber
.
"
How
you
must
miss
the
hot
flowing
river
!
"
she
said
.
"
But
there
is
a
bath
in
the
corner
with
no
white
leeches
in
it
!
At
the
foot
of
your
couch
you
will
find
a
garment
.
When
you
come
down
,
I
shall
be
in
the
room
to
your
left
at
the
foot
of
the
stair
.
"
I
stood
as
she
left
me
,
accusing
my
presumption
:
how
was
I
to
treat
this
lovely
woman
as
a
thing
of
evil
,
who
behaved
to
me
like
a
sister
?
—
Whence
the
marvellous
change
in
her
?
She
left
me
with
a
blow
;
she
received
me
almost
with
an
embrace
!
She
had
reviled
me
;
she
said
she
knew
I
would
follow
and
find
her
!
Did
she
know
my
doubts
concerning
her
—
how
much
I
should
want
explained
?
Could
she
explain
all
?
Could
I
believe
her
if
she
did
?
As
to
her
hospitality
,
I
had
surely
earned
and
might
accept
that
—
at
least
until
I
came
to
a
definite
judgment
concerning
her
!
Could
such
beauty
as
I
saw
,
and
such
wickedness
as
I
suspected
,
exist
in
the
same
person
?
If
they
could
,
how
was
it
possible
?
Unable
to
answer
the
former
question
,
I
must
let
the
latter
wait
!
Clear
as
crystal
,
the
water
in
the
great
white
bath
sent
a
sparkling
flash
from
the
corner
where
it
lay
sunk
in
the
marble
floor
,
and
seemed
to
invite
me
to
its
embrace
.
Except
the
hot
stream
,
two
draughts
in
the
cottage
of
the
veiled
woman
,
and
the
pools
in
the
track
of
the
wounded
leopardess
,
I
had
not
seen
water
since
leaving
home
:
it
looked
a
thing
celestial
.
I
plunged
in
.
Immediately
my
brain
was
filled
with
an
odour
strange
and
delicate
,
which
yet
I
did
not
altogether
like
.
It
made
me
doubt
the
princess
afresh
:
had
she
medicated
it
?
had
she
enchanted
it
?
was
she
in
any
way
working
on
me
unlawfully
?
And
how
was
there
water
in
the
palace
,
and
not
a
drop
in
the
city
?
I
remembered
the
crushed
paw
of
the
leopardess
,
and
sprang
from
the
bath
.
What
had
I
been
bathing
in
?
Again
I
saw
the
fleeing
mother
,
again
I
heard
the
howl
,
again
I
saw
the
limping
beast
.
But
what
matter
whence
it
flowed
?
was
not
the
water
sweet
?
Was
it
not
very
water
the
pitcher-plant
secreted
from
its
heart
,
and
stored
for
the
weary
traveller
?
Water
came
from
heaven
:
what
mattered
the
well
where
it
gathered
,
or
the
spring
whence
it
burst
?
But
I
did
not
re-enter
the
bath
.
I
put
on
the
robe
of
white
wool
,
embroidered
on
the
neck
and
hem
,
that
lay
ready
for
me
,
and
went
down
the
stair
to
the
room
whither
my
hostess
had
directed
me
.
It
was
round
,
all
of
alabaster
,
and
without
a
single
window
:
the
light
came
through
everywhere
,
a
soft
,
pearly
shimmer
rather
than
shine
.
Vague
shadowy
forms
went
flitting
about
over
the
walls
and
low
dome
,
like
loose
rain-clouds
over
a
gray-blue
sky
.
The
princess
stood
waiting
me
,
in
a
robe
embroidered
with
argentine
rings
and
discs
,
rectangles
and
lozenges
,
close
together
—
a
silver
mail
.
It
fell
unbroken
from
her
neck
and
hid
her
feet
,
but
its
long
open
sleeves
left
her
arms
bare
.
In
the
room
was
a
table
of
ivory
,
bearing
cakes
and
fruit
,
an
ivory
jug
of
milk
,
a
crystal
jug
of
wine
of
a
pale
rose-colour
,
and
a
white
loaf
.
"
Here
we
do
not
kill
to
eat
,
"
she
said
;
"
but
I
think
you
will
like
what
I
can
give
you
.
"
I
told
her
I
could
desire
nothing
better
than
what
I
saw
.
She
seated
herself
on
a
couch
by
the
table
,
and
made
me
a
sign
to
sit
by
her
.
She
poured
me
out
a
bowlful
of
milk
,
and
,
handing
me
the
loaf
,
begged
me
to
break
from
it
such
a
piece
as
I
liked
.
Then
she
filled
from
the
wine-jug
two
silver
goblets
of
grotesquely
graceful
workmanship
.
"
You
have
never
drunk
wine
like
this
!
"
she
said
.
I
drank
,
and
wondered
:
every
flower
of
Hybla
and
Hymettus
must
have
sent
its
ghost
to
swell
the
soul
of
that
wine
!
"
And
now
that
you
will
be
able
to
listen
,
"
she
went
on
,
"
I
must
do
what
I
can
to
make
myself
intelligible
to
you
.
Our
natures
,
however
,
are
so
different
,
that
this
may
not
be
easy
.
Men
and
women
live
but
to
die
;
we
,
that
is
such
as
I
—
we
are
but
a
few
—
live
to
live
on
.
Old
age
is
to
you
a
horror
;
to
me
it
is
a
dear
desire
:
the
older
we
grow
,
the
nearer
we
are
to
our
perfection
.
Your
perfection
is
a
poor
thing
,
comes
soon
,
and
lasts
but
a
little
while
;
ours
is
a
ceaseless
ripening
.
I
am
not
yet
ripe
,
and
have
lived
thousands
of
your
years
—
how
many
,
I
never
cared
to
note
.
The
everlasting
will
not
be
measured
.
"
Many
lovers
have
sought
me
;
I
have
loved
none
of
them
:
they
sought
but
to
enslave
me
;
they
sought
me
but
as
the
men
of
my
city
seek
gems
of
price
.
—
When
you
found
me
,
I
found
a
man
!
I
put
you
to
the
test
;
you
stood
it
;
your
love
was
genuine
!
—
It
was
,
however
,
far
from
ideal
—
far
from
such
love
as
I
would
have
.
You
loved
me
truly
,
but
not
with
true
love
.
Pity
has
,
but
is
not
love
.
What
woman
of
any
world
would
return
love
for
pity
?
Such
love
as
yours
was
then
,
is
hateful
to
me
.
I
knew
that
,
if
you
saw
me
as
I
am
,
you
would
love
me
—
like
the
rest
of
them
—
to
have
and
to
hold
:
I
would
none
of
that
either
!
I
would
be
otherwise
loved
!
I
would
have
a
love
that
outlived
hopelessness
,
outmeasured
indifference
,
hate
,
scorn
!
Therefore
did
I
put
on
cruelty
,
despite
,
ingratitude
.
When
I
left
you
,
I
had
shown
myself
such
as
you
could
at
least
no
longer
follow
from
pity
:
I
was
no
longer
in
need
of
you
!
But
you
must
satisfy
my
desire
or
set
me
free
—
prove
yourself
priceless
or
worthless
!
To
satisfy
the
hunger
of
my
love
,
you
must
follow
me
,
looking
for
nothing
,
not
gratitude
,
not
even
pity
in
return
!
—
follow
and
find
me
,
and
be
content
with
merest
presence
,
with
scantest
forbearance
!
—
I
,
not
you
,
have
failed
;
I
yield
the
contest
.
"
She
looked
at
me
tenderly
,
and
hid
her
face
in
her
hands
.
But
I
had
caught
a
flash
and
a
sparkle
behind
the
tenderness
,
and
did
not
believe
her
.
She
laid
herself
out
to
secure
and
enslave
me
;
she
only
fascinated
me
!
"
Beautiful
princess
,
"
I
said
,
"
let
me
understand
how
you
came
to
be
found
in
such
evil
plight
.
"
"
There
are
things
I
cannot
explain
,
"
she
replied
,
"
until
you
have
become
capable
of
understanding
them
—
which
can
only
be
when
love
is
grown
perfect
.
There
are
many
things
so
hidden
from
you
that
you
cannot
even
wish
to
know
them
;
but
any
question
you
can
put
,
I
can
in
some
measure
answer
.
"
I
had
set
out
to
visit
a
part
of
my
dominions
occupied
by
a
savage
dwarf-people
,
strong
and
fierce
,
enemies
to
law
and
order
,
opposed
to
every
kind
of
progress
—
an
evil
race
.
I
went
alone
,
fearing
nothing
,
unaware
of
the
least
necessity
for
precaution
.
I
did
not
know
that
upon
the
hot
stream
beside
which
you
found
me
,
a
certain
woman
,
by
no
means
so
powerful
as
myself
,
not
being
immortal
,
had
cast
what
you
call
a
spell
—
which
is
merely
the
setting
in
motion
of
a
force
as
natural
as
any
other
,
but
operating
primarily
in
a
region
beyond
the
ken
of
the
mortal
who
makes
use
of
the
force
.
"
I
set
out
on
my
journey
,
reached
the
stream
,
bounded
across
it
,
—
—
"
A
shadow
of
embarrassment
darkened
her
cheek
:
I
understood
it
,
but
showed
no
sign
.
Checked
for
the
merest
moment
,
she
went
on
:
"
—
you
know
what
a
step
it
is
in
parts
!
—
But
in
the
very
act
,
an
indescribable
cold
invaded
me
.
I
recognised
at
once
the
nature
of
the
assault
,
and
knew
it
could
affect
me
but
temporarily
.
By
sheer
force
of
will
I
dragged
myself
to
the
wood
—
nor
knew
anything
more
until
I
saw
you
asleep
,
and
the
horrible
worm
at
your
neck
.
I
crept
out
,
dragged
the
monster
from
you
,
and
laid
my
lips
to
the
wound
.
You
began
to
wake
;
I
buried
myself
among
the
leaves
.
"
She
rose
,
her
eyes
flashing
as
never
human
eyes
flashed
,
and
threw
her
arms
high
over
her
head
.
"
What
you
have
made
me
is
yours
!
"
she
cried
.
"
I
will
repay
you
as
never
yet
did
woman
!
My
power
,
my
beauty
,
my
love
are
your
own
:
take
them
.
"
She
dropt
kneeling
beside
me
,
laid
her
arms
across
my
knees
,
and
looked
up
in
my
face
.
Then
first
I
noted
on
her
left
hand
a
large
clumsy
glove
.
In
my
mind
's
eye
I
saw
hair
and
claws
under
it
,
but
I
knew
it
was
a
hand
shut
hard
—
perhaps
badly
bruised
.
I
glanced
at
the
other
:
it
was
lovely
as
hand
could
be
,
and
I
felt
that
,
if
I
did
less
than
loathe
her
,
I
should
love
her
.
Not
to
dally
with
usurping
emotions
,
I
turned
my
eyes
aside
.
She
started
to
her
feet
.
I
sat
motionless
,
looking
down
.
"
To
me
she
may
be
true
!
"
said
my
vanity
.
For
a
moment
I
was
tempted
to
love
a
lie
.
An
odour
,
rather
than
the
gentlest
of
airy
pulses
,
was
fanning
me
.
I
glanced
up
.
She
stood
erect
before
me
,
waving
her
lovely
arms
in
seemingly
mystic
fashion
.
A
frightful
roar
made
my
heart
rebound
against
the
walls
of
its
cage
.
The
alabaster
trembled
as
if
it
would
shake
into
shivers
.
The
princess
shuddered
visibly
.
"
My
wine
was
too
strong
for
you
!
"
she
said
,
in
a
quavering
voice
;
"
I
ought
not
to
have
let
you
take
a
full
draught
!
Go
and
sleep
now
,
and
when
you
wake
ask
me
what
you
please
.
—
I
will
go
with
you
:
come
.
"
As
she
preceded
me
up
the
stair
,
—
"
I
do
not
wonder
that
roar
startled
you
!
"
she
said
.
"
It
startled
me
,
I
confess
:
for
a
moment
I
feared
she
had
escaped
.
But
that
is
impossible
.
"
The
roar
seemed
to
me
,
however
—
I
could
not
tell
why
—
to
come
from
the
white
leopardess
,
and
to
be
meant
for
me
,
not
the
princess
.
With
a
smile
she
left
me
at
the
door
of
my
room
,
but
as
she
turned
I
read
anxiety
on
her
beautiful
face
.
chapter
xxvi
A
BATTLE
ROYAL
I
THREW
myself
on
the
bed
,
and
began
to
turn
over
in
my
mind
the
tale
she
had
told
me
.
She
had
forgotten
herself
,
and
,
by
a
single
incautious
word
,
removed
one
perplexity
as
to
the
condition
in
which
I
found
her
in
the
forest
!
The
leopardess
bounded
over
;
the
princess
lay
prostrate
on
the
bank
:
the
running
stream
had
dissolved
her
self-enchantment
!
Her
own
account
of
the
object
of
her
journey
revealed
the
danger
of
the
Little
Ones
then
imminent
:
I
had
saved
the
life
of
their
one
fearful
enemy
!
I
had
but
reached
this
conclusion
when
I
fell
asleep
.
The
lovely
wine
may
not
have
been
quite
innocent
.
When
I
opened
my
eyes
,
it
was
night
.
A
lamp
,
suspended
from
the
ceiling
,
cast
a
clear
,
although
soft
light
through
the
chamber
.
A
delicious
languor
infolded
me
.
I
seemed
floating
,
far
from
land
,
upon
the
bosom
of
a
twilight
sea
.
Existence
was
in
itself
pleasure
.
I
had
no
pain
.
Surely
I
was
dying
!
No
pain
!
—
ah
,
what
a
shoot
of
mortal
pain
was
that
!
what
a
sickening
sting
!
It
went
right
through
my
heart
!
Again
!
That
was
sharpness
itself
!
—
and
so
sickening
!
I
could
not
move
my
hand
to
lay
it
on
my
heart
;
something
kept
it
down
!
The
pain
was
dying
away
,
but
my
whole
body
seemed
paralysed
.
Some
evil
thing
was
upon
me
!
—
something
hateful
!
I
would
have
struggled
,
but
could
not
reach
a
struggle
.
My
will
agonised
,
but
in
vain
,
to
assert
itself
.
I
desisted
,
and
lay
passive
.
Then
I
became
aware
of
a
soft
hand
on
my
face
,
pressing
my
head
into
the
pillow
,
and
of
a
heavy
weight
lying
across
me
.
I
began
to
breathe
more
freely
;
the
weight
was
gone
from
my
chest
;
I
opened
my
eyes
.
The
princess
was
standing
above
me
on
the
bed
,
looking
out
into
the
room
,
with
the
air
of
one
who
dreamed
.
Her
great
eyes
were
clear
and
calm
.
Her
mouth
wore
a
look
of
satisfied
passion
;
she
wiped
from
it
a
streak
of
red
.
She
caught
my
gaze
,
bent
down
,
and
struck
me
on
the
eyes
with
the
handkerchief
in
her
hand
:
it
was
like
drawing
the
edge
of
a
knife
across
them
,
and
for
a
moment
or
two
I
was
blind
.
I
heard
a
dull
heavy
sound
,
as
of
a
large
soft-footed
animal
alighting
from
a
little
jump
.
I
opened
my
eyes
,
and
saw
the
great
swing
of
a
long
tail
as
it
disappeared
through
the
half-open
doorway
.
I
sprang
after
it
.
The
creature
had
vanished
quite
.
I
shot
down
the
stair
