[Dark Saint Alaick]

'With arms sturdy as the trunk of Airavata, and fingers white as
lotus-fibres and cool to the touch, he lifted my dead lord, (333)
and, in a voice deep as a drum, he said to me: "Mahaçveta, my child,
thou must not die; for thou shalt again be united with him!" And with
these words, tender as a father's, he flew into the sky with Pundarika.

'"'But this sudden event filled me with fear, dismay, and eager
anxiety, and with upraised face I asked Kapiñjala what it might
mean. He, however, started up hastily without replying, and with the
cry, "Monster, whither goest thou with my friend?" with uplifted eyes
and sudden wrath he hastily girt up his loins, and following him in
his flight, in hot pursuit he rose into the sky; and while I yet gazed
they all entered amongst the stars. But the departure of Kapiñjala was
to me like a second death of my beloved, and it redoubled my grief,
so that my heart was rent asunder. Bewildered what to do, I cried
to Taralika: "Knowest thou not? Tell me what this means!" But she,
with all a woman's timidity at the sight, was at that very moment
trembling in all her limbs, overcome by a fear stronger than her grief,
and was frightened, moreover, by the dread of my death; and so with
downcast heart she piteously replied: "Princess, wretch that I am,
I know not! Yet this is a great miracle. The man is of no mortal
mould, and thou wert pityingly comforted by him in his flight as by a
father. Such godlike beings are not wont to deceive us, even in sleep,
much less face to face; and when I think it over I cannot see the
least cause for his speaking falsely. (334) It is meet, therefore,
that thou shouldst weigh it, and restrain thy longing for death. In
thy present state it is in truth a great ground for comfort. Moreover,
Kapiñjala has gone in pursuit of Pundarika. From him thou canst learn
whence and who this being is, and why Pundarika on his death was by
him raised and carried off, and whither he is carried, and wherefore
thou wert consoled by him with the boon of a hope of reunion that
exceeds thought; then thou canst devote thyself either to life or
death. For when death is resolved upon, it is easy to compass. But
this can wait; for Kapiñjala, if he lives, will certainly not rest
without seeing thee; therefore let thy life be preserved till his
return." Thus saying, she fell at my feet. And I, from the thirst
for life that mortals find so hard to overcome, and from the weakness
of woman's nature, and from the illusion his words had created, and
from my anxiety for Kapiñjala's return, thought that that plan was
best for the time, and did not die. For what will not hope achieve?