"Receiving her husband's permission， she arose and went off to the young merchant's house in full dress. Upon the road a thief saw her， and in high good humour came up and asked -
"Whither goest thou at midnight in such darkness， having put on all these fine clothes and ornaments？"
She replied that she was going to the house of her beloved.
"And who here，" said the thief， "is thy protector？"
"Kama Deva，" she replied， "the beautiful youth who by his fiery arrows wounds with love the hearts of the inhabitants of the three worlds， Ratipati， the husband of Rati，[FN#91] accompanied by the kokila bird，[FN#92] the humming bee and gentle breezes." She then told to the thief the whole story， adding -
[FN#91] Rati is the wife of Kama， the God of Desire； and we explain the word by "Spring personified."
[FN#92] The Indian Cuckoo （Cucuius Indicus）. It is supposed to lay its eggs in the nest of the crow.
"Destroy not my jewels： I give thee a promise before I go， that on my return thou shalt have all these ornaments."
Hearing this the thief thought to himself that it would be useless now to destroy her jewels， when she had promised to give them to him presently of her own good will. He therefore let her go， and sat down and thus soliloquized：
"To me it is astonishing that he who sustained me in my mother's womb should take no care of me now that I have been born and am able to enjoy the good things of this world. I know not whether he is asleep or dead. And I would rather swallow poison than ask man for money or favour. For these six things tend to lower a man： ——friendship with the perfidious； causeless laughter； altercation with women； serving an unworthy master； riding an ass， and speaking any language but Sanskrit. And these five things the deity writes on our fate at the hour of birth：—— first， age； secondly， action； thirdly， wealth； fourthly， science； fifthly， fame. I have now done a good deed， and as long as a man's virtue is in the ascendant， all people becoming his servants obey him. But when virtuous deeds diminish， even his friends become inimical to him."
Meanwhile Madansena had reached the place where Somdatt the young trader had fallen asleep.
She awoke him suddenly， and he springing up in alarm quickly asked her， "Art thou the daughter of a deity？ or of a saint？ or of a serpent？ Tell me truly， who art thou？ And whence hast thou come？"
She replied， "I am human—— Madansena， the daughter of the Baniya Hiranyadatt. Dost thou not remember taking my hand in that grove， and declaring that thou wouldst slay thyself if I did not swear to visit thee first and after that remain with my husband？"
"Hast thou，" he inquired， "told all this to thy husband or not？"
She replied， "I have told him everything； and he， thoroughly understanding the whole affair， gave me permission."
"This matter，" exclaimed Somdatt in a melancholy voice， "is like pearls without a suitable dress， or food without clarified butter，[FN#93] or singing without melody； they are all alike unnatural. In the same way， unclean clothes will mar beauty， bad food will undermine strength， a wicked wife will worry her husband to death， a disreputable son will ruin his family， an enraged demon will kill， and a woman， whether she love or hate， will be a source of pain. For there are few things which a woman will not do. She never brings to her tongue what is in her heart， she never speaks out what is on her tongue， and she never tells what she is doing. Truly the Deity has created woman a strange creature in this world." He concluded with these words： "Return thou home with another man's wife I have no concern."
[FN#93] This is the well-known Ghi or Ghee， the one sauce of India which is as badly off in that matter as England.
Madansena rose and departed. On her way she met the thief， who， hearing her tale， gave her great praise， and let her go unplundered.[FN#94]
[FN#94] The European reader will observe that it is her purity which carries the heroine through all these perils. Moreover， that her ：virtue is its own reward， as it loses to her the world.
