Page:Man in the Panther's Skin.djvu/196



1073. "Thou hast written to me; I have read thy letter in praise of me. Thou hast anticipated me, but the burning of the fire (of love) afflicts me more than thee. Thou wishest, I too want thy company uninterrupted. Our union is agreed since it is the desire of both."

1074. I cannot tell thee how P'hatman's pleasure increased. She wrote: "The tears I, absent from thee, have shed suffice. Now I shall be unaccompanied, here shalt thou find me alone; hasten my union with thee, to-night when evening falls. Come!"

1075. That very night when the letter of invitation was presented to the knight, when twilight was falling and he was going, another slave met him on the way (with the message): "Come not to-night; thou shalt find me unready for thee." This vexed him, he turned not back, he said: "What sort of thing is this?"

1076. The invited guest went not back again on the withdrawal of his invitation. P'hatman sits troubled. Avt'handil the tree-like went in alone. He perceived the woman's uneasiness, he saw it forthwith on his going in ; she could not reveal it from fear, and also out of complaisance for him.

1077. They sat down together and began to kiss, to sport pleasantly, when a certain elegant youth of graceful mien appeared standing in the doorway. He entered; close behind followed a slave with sword and shield. When he saw Avt'handil he was afraid. "It looks," quoth he (to himself), "as if the road were rocky."