Page:Shantiniketan; the Bolpur School of Rabindranath Tagore.djvu/94

74 at him from a face wreathed in smiles. As he looked into those eyes he heard, as though in a dream, a voice say to him, “My child, drink some of the milk of this cow; for your Guru also has done so.” Utonka then bent down to drink and, as he drank, it tasted to him like nectar.

But when he lifted his head after drinking he discovered that the cow and its rider had disappeared and there was no sign of their having been there at all. The plain was flooded with the blazing sunlight. Near by was the dense forest with its shade, and from it the sound of birds and bees could be heard. Squirrels with their pretty striped bodies were running out into the open from the shelter of the woods, and they would then peep round and, starting suddenly, run back into the safety of the forest.

Utonka feeling much astonished said to himself, “Was it then all a dream? Have I been asleep? It will never do for me to fall asleep like this and dream on my journey. I have to bring back that offering. I wonder how far I am from the king’s palace?”

Thus thinking to himself he set off at a great pace, but all the time he kept saying, “What