Page:Little Clay Cart (Ryder 1905).djvu/92

56 But no, I am not poor. For I have a wife

Whose love outlasts my wealthy day;

In thee a friend through good and ill;

And truth that naught could take away:

Ah, this the poor man lacketh still.

Maitreya, take the necklace and go to Vasantasenā. Tell her in my name that we have gambled away the golden casket, forgetting that it was not our own; that we trust she will accept this necklace in its place.

Maitreya. But you must not give away this necklace, the pride of the four seas, for that cheap thing that was stolen before we had a bite or a drink out of it.

Chārudatta. Not so, my friend.

She showed her trust in leaving us her treasure;

The price of confidence has no less measure.

Friend, I conjure you by this gesture, not to return until you have delivered it into her hands. Vardhamānaka, do you speedily

Fill up the opening with the selfsame bricks;

Thus will I thwart the process of the law,

For the blemish of so great a scandal sticks.

And, friend Maitreya, you must show your pride by not speaking too despondently.

Maitreya. How can a poor man help speaking despondently?

Chārudatta. Poor I am not, my friend. For I have a wife

Whose love outlasts my wealthy day;

In thee a friend through good and ill;

And truth that naught could take away:

Ah, this the poor man lacketh still.

Go then, and after performing rites of purification, I will offer my morning prayer.