The Weaver's Wife

Now as he walked along, Godly spied a weaver
who with his wife was on his way to a neighboring
city for liquor to drink, and he called out: "Look



here, my good fellow! I come to you a guest, brought




the evening sun. I do not know a soul in the vil
lage. Let me receive the treatment due a guest. For
the proverb says:

No stranger may be turned aside



Who seeks your door at eventide
Nay, honor him and you shall be
Transmuted into deity.



And again:



Some straw* a floor, and Water

With kindly words beside:
These four are never wanting
Where pious folk abide.


And once again:



The sacred fires by kindly word



And Indra bv the chair is stirred




Krishna bv water for the feet




The Lord of All by things to eat.

On hearing this, the weaver said to his wife: "Go
my dear. Take this guest to the house. Treat him hos



pitably, giving him water for the feet, food, a bed

and so on. And stay in the house yourself. I will
bring plenty of wine and meat for you." With this he
went farther.

So the wife started home with Godly, and she

showed a laughing countenance, for she was a whore

and had a certain swain in mind. Indeed, there is



sense in the verse:

When night is dark
And dark the day

When streets are mired
With sticky clay,

When husband lingers
Far away

The flirt becomes
Supremely gay.


The wench cares not
A straw to miss

The covered couch.



The husband's kiss
The pleasant bed;
In place of this

She ever seeks
A stolen bliss.

And again:



For stranger men

The slut will see

The ruin of

Her family,
The world's reproach

The jailer's key

Will risk a death

She cannot flee.

Then she went home, offered Godly a rickety cot
and said: "My holy sir, a woman friend has come



from the village and I must speak to her. I will be
back directly. Meanwhile, you may stay in our
house. But please be careful." With this she put on

her best things and started to find her swain.

At this moment she ran into her husband, clasp-
ing a jug of wine. He was reeling drunk, his hair was

towsled, and he stumbled at every step. She ran

when she saw him, entered the house, took off her

finery, and appeared as usual.

Now the weaver had seen her flee, had observed

the finery, and since he had previously heard the gos-
sip that went the rounds about her, his heart was

troubled and anger overcame him. So he entered the
house and said: "You wench! You whore! Where

were you going?

And she replied: "I have not been out since I left

you. What is this drunken twaddle? There is sense

in the proverb :


After wine and fever, these
Selfsame symptoms come:

Shaking, falling to the ground
Mad delirium.


And again:



The setting sun and drunken man

Are both a fiery red;

They sink in naked helplessness;
Their dignity is dead."



When he had taken the scolding and had noticed



her change of dress, he said: "Whore! I have heard



gossip about you for a long time. Today I have seen

the proof. I am going to give you what you deserve.

So he beat her limp with a club, tied her firmly to

post, and fell into a drunken slumber.

At this juncture her friend, the barber's wife,
learning that the weaver was asleep, came in and said:
"My dear, he is waiting for you over there — you
know who. Go at once." But the weaver's wife re-



plied: "Just see what a fix I am in. How can I go?



You must return and tell my adorer that I cannot
possibly meet him there at this moment."



"My dear," said the barber's wife, "do not say
things like that. For a wench of spirit this is no way
to behave. As the saying goes:

Those who earn the name of blessed

Show a camel-like persistence
When they pluck the fruit of pleasure,

Counting neither toil nor distance.



And again:



As the other world is doubtful

And as scandal misses truth


When youVc hooked another's lover
Best enjoy the fruit of youth.



And once again :



Fate may rob him of his manhood

He may handsome be or ugly,
Yet a wench, whate'er it cost her,
Entertains her lover snugly.


Very fine indeed," said the weaver's wife. "But
tell me how I am to go when I am tied fast. And here
lies my husband — the brute!" "My dear," said the



barber's wife, "he is helpless with drink and will not



wake until the sun's rays reach him. I will set you



free and take your place myself. But you must hurry
back when you have entertained your admirer.


This she did, and a moment later the weaver rose



a little mollified, and said drunkenly: "Come, you
nagger! If you will stay at home after today and stop



nagging, I will set you free." The barber's wife said
nothing, fearing that her voice would betray her.
Even when he repeated his offer, she made no answer.
Then he became angry and cut off her nose with a
sharp knife. And he said: "Whore! Now you can



stay there. I shall not be nice to you again." So he

fell asleep, muttering. Now Godly, having lost his
money, was so tormented by hunger that he could



not sleep, and was a witness of all that the women did.

Presently the weaver's wife, after enjoying the
full delight of love with her swain, came home and



said to the barber's wife: "Well, are you all right i




hope that brute did not get up while I was gone


And the barber's wife answered: "The rest of me is



all right. But I've lost my nose. Set me free quick


before he wakes up. I want to go home. If not, he



will do something worse next time, cut off ears and
things."

So the wench freed the barber's wife, took her
former position, and cried reproachfully: "Oh, you



dreadful simpleton! I am a true wife, a model of
faithfulness. What man is able to violate or disfigure



me? Listen, ye guardian deities of the world!

Earth, heaven, and death, the feeling mind
Sun % moon % and water, fire and wind,
Both twilights, justice, day and night
Discern man's conduct, wrong or right.



So, if I am a faithful wife, may these gods make my



nose grow again as it was before. More than that, if

have had so much as a secret desire for a strange




man, may they reduce me to ashes.

After this explosion, she said to him directly:
"Look, you villain! By virtue of my faithfulness my



nose has grown as it was before." And when he took
a torch and examined her, he found her nose as it was
originally, and a great pool of blood on the floor. At
this he was amazed, released her from the cords, and
flattered her with a hundred wheedling endearments.

Now Godly had seen the whole business. And he

was amazed and said:


Learn science with the gods above
Or imps in nether space,

Yet women's wit will rival it:



How keep them in their place ?



Behold the faults with woman born:
Impurity, and heartless scorn,
Untruth, and folly, reckless heat
Excessive greediness, deceit.



Be not enslaved bv women's charm


Nor wish them growth in power to harm:

Their slaves, of manly feeling stripped,

Are tame, pet crows whose wings are clipped.



Honey in a woman's words,

Poison in her breast:
So, although you taste her lip
Drub her on the chest.


This palace filled with vice, this field where sprouts

Suspicion's crop, this whirling pool of doubts,

This town of recklessness, sin's aggregate,

This house where frauds bv hundreds lie in wait.



This basketful of riddling sham and quip
O'er guessing which our best and bravest trip
This woman, this machine, this nectar-ban


Who set it here, to make religion vain?




bosom hard is praised, a forehead low,
A fickle glance, a mumbling speech and slow,
Thick hips, a heart that constant tremors move

natural twist in hair, and twists in love.



Their virtues are a pack of vices. Then

Let beasts adore the fawn-eyed things, not men.



For reasons good they laugh or weep;
They trust you not, your trust they keep:

These graveyard urns, oh, haunt them not !
Keep kin and conduct free from spot

The lion o'er whose awful face
Falls fierce the towsled mane

The elephant upon whose cheeks
Streams ichor's glistening rain

The men of wit or courage who
In books or battles gleam,

In presence of their females, all
Turn into cowards supreme.



And once more:



This gunja-fruit (oh, what was God about?)
Is poisonous within, and sweet without."

In these meditations the night dragged drearily
for the holy man. Meanwhile the go-between went
home with her nose cut off, and reflected: "What is
to be done now? How is this great deficiency to be
concealed ?"

The night during which she pondered thus, her
husband spent in the king's palace, practicing his
trade. At dawn he came home and, being eager to
begin his thriving business with the townspeople, he
stopped at the door and called to her: "My dear
bring me my razor-case at once. The townspeople
need my services.

Hereupon an idea occurred to the noseless woman.



She remained in the house, but sent him a single



razor. And the barber, angry because the entire case
had not been delivered, flung the razor in her direc-
tion. This gave the wench her opportunity. Lifting
her hands to heaven, she dashed from the house,
screaming with all her might: "Oh, oh, oh! The

ruffian! I was always a faithful wife. Look! He cut
off my nose. Save me, save me !

Hereupon the police arrived, thrashed the barber
limp, tied him fast, and took him to court with his
wife whose nose was gone. And the judges asked him :
"Why did you do this ghastly thing to your wife?"
Then, his wits being so addled by astonishment that



he could give no answer, the jurymen quoted law:

The guilty man is terrified

By reason of his crime. His pride

Is gone, his powers of speaking fail

His glances rove, his face is pale.



And again:



The sweat appears upon his brow,
He stumbles on, he knows not how
His face is pale, and all he utters
Is much distorted; for he stutters.


The culprit always may be found
To shake, and gaze upon the ground:
Observe the signs as best you can
And shrewdly pick the guilty man.



While, on the other hand:



The innocent is self-reliant;

His speech is clear, his glance defiant

His countenance is calm and free;
His indignation makes his plea.

The prisoner js obviously guilty. The legal penalty
for assaulting a woman is death. Let him be im-
paled.

But Godly, seeing him led to the place of execu
tion, went to the officers of justice and said: "Gentle-
men, you make a mistake in putting this wretched
barber to death. His conduct has been correct. Pray

listen to these words of mine:

The jackal at the ram-fight;

And we, when tricked by June;
The meddling friend — were playing
A self-defeating tune.

So the officers said: "How was that, holy sirs
Then Godly related to them the three stories, com-
plete in every detail. And they were all astonished as
they listened. They set the barber free, and said:



Slay not a woman, Brahman, child
An invalid or hermit mild:
In case of major dereliction,
Disfigurement is the infliction.


Now she has lost her nose through her own act. As

additional punishment from the king, let her ears be
cut off." When this had been done, Godly, strength-
ening his spirit by the two examples, returned to his
own monastery


And that is why I say:

The jackal at the ram-fight

and the rest of it.



Well," said Cheek, "such being the case, what



are you and I to do?" And Victor answered: "Even



in these circumstances, I shall have a flash of intelli



gence, showing me how to separate Lively from the
king. Besides, he has fallen into serious vice, has our

master Rusty. For

Mad folly stings
The greatest kings.



Who then embrace a vice:



But servants' care
Should check .them there
By means of learning nice.

"Into what vice has our master Rusty fallen?"
asked Cheek. And Victor replied: "There are seven
vices in the world, namely:

Drink, women, hunting, scolding, dice,
Greed, cruelty: these seven are vice.



These, however, really make a single vice, called 'at

tachment,' with seven subdivisions." Then Cheek in



quired: "Is there only a single fundamental vice, or
are there others also?"

And Victor expounded: "There are in the world

five situations fundamentally vicious." And when



Cheek asked: "How are they differentiated? Victor
continued: "They are called: (i) deficiency, (2) cor-



ruption, (3) attachment, (4) devastation, (5) mis-
taken policy.

"To begin at the beginning, the vice called 'de-
ficiency' means the non-existence of one or another



these: king, counselor, people, fortress, treasure

punitive power, friends.

"Secondly, when subjects, whether foreign or

native, become restless, whether individually or en
masse, there arises the vicious situation called 'cor

ruption

Attachment' was explained above, in the words

Drink, women, hunting, ....

and the rest of it. Here there is a love-group (drink

women, hunting, dice) and a wrath-group (scolding



and the rest). A man thwarted in the love-group be-
comes obnoxious to the wrath-group. The love-group
requires no elucidation. The wrath-group, however,
threefold as already described, needs some further



characterization. 'Scolding' is ill-considered imputa-
tion of fault on the part of one bent on injuring an
antagonist. 'Cruelty' means ruthless and unwar
ranted refinements in putting to death, imprison
ment, mutilation. 'Greed' is covetousness pushed to
a merciless point. These are the seven subdivisions
of the vice of attachment.

"Next, there are eight kinds of devastation: by act

of God, fire, water, disease, plague, panic, famine,

devil-rain (which is a mere name for excessive rain).

This disposes of the vice called 'devastation.



»



"Finally, there is mistaken policy. Where a man

makes a mistaken use of the six expedients — peace,
war, change of base, entrenchment, alliance, dupli-
city — adopting war instead of peace, or peace instead
of war, or making similar mistakes in regard to the

other expedients, there we have the vice of mistaken
policy.
"Now our master Rusty has fallen into the very
first vice, that of deficiency. For he has been so capti-



vated by Lively that he pays not the smallest heed
to counselor or any other of the six supports of his
throne. He adopts rather completely a vegetarian
morality. So what is the use of a lengthy discussion?



Rusty must by all means be detached from Lively
No lamp, no light/*
How will you detach him?'' objected Cheek.
You have not the power." "My dear fellow/' said



Victor, "there is a verse to fit the situation, namely:



In cases where brute force would fail
A shrewd device may still prevail:
The crow-hen used a golden chain,
And so the dreadful snake was slain.

How was that?" asked Cheek. And Victor told



HOW THE CROW-HEN KILLED

THE BLACK SNAKE