THE Bede* readers of mystery, and abstruse explorers of tradition, have thus written this choice narrative on the pages of relation.

In the city of Benares, which is a principal place of adoration to the Hin­doo idols, there lived a young bramin, the tablet of whose mind was void of the impressions of knowledge, and the sleeve of his existence unadorned by the embroidery of art. He had a wife elo­quent of speech, who, in the arcana of intrigue, exalted the standard of profes­sorship. In the school of deceit, she could have instructed the devil himself in the science of stratagem. Acciden­tally, her eyes meeting those of a comely youth, the bird of her heart took its flight in pursuit of his love.

As, during the presence of the Bra­min, the enjoyment of her lover had great impediment, and the flowers of delight from the shrub of fulfilment, to gather equal to the wish of her heart, was not possible; in order to obtain her desire, she became resolved to remove her husband, and exercised her invention how to bewilder him in the mazes of travel. One day, when the innocent Bramin with all fondness, clasp­ing this ill-famed woman in his arms, wished that from her gentle lips he might quaff the wine of endearment, the wife, from stratagem, steeping her forehead in vinegar (looking sour) turned aside from his embrace, and hypocriti­cally displaying on her countenance the signs of dissatisfaction, damped the sweet sensations of the wretched man with sour looks and frigid coldness.

The Bramin, who was ignorant of the arts of women, from this conduct becoming astonished, enquired the cause of her sadness? The wife opened the pages of delusion, and said, “Why should I not be dissatisfied? and how should I not fall into the depths of regret, when this very day a woman of equal rank with ours, in a place where all the ladies of our tribe and acquaintance were assembled, without hesitation, having lengthened the tongue of taunting, said, “O thou who countest such pre-eminence, that thou wishest thou shouldst be distinguished above all women in brilliancy of com­prehension, elegance of expression, and witty effusions, why dost not thou instruct thy husband, who is void of the graces of eloquence and learning, and without any share of science or knowledge? No Bramin’s child, just beginning to learn his alphabet, canst thou find, (though thou shouldst search among the tribe) of such total ignorance and stupidity.” This speech, like a dart, pierced my bosom, and, as a dagger, penetrated my heart; for truly, what sort of life dost thou lead? For me to be a widow, and expend my age in the cell of celibacy with disappointment, would be pleasanter than thy being my husband, and that the women of the city should thus pierce my bosom with their life-destroying taunts, and scorch my soul incessantly over the fire of scandal.” In short, she played off upon her simple husband, such emu­lation-stirring speeches as these, with an hundred artful graces; and brought the glow of feeling for his honour into motion.

The unsuspecting man, not having in the least explored the path of real truth, that very instant girded up firmly the skirts* of search after science; and preferring exile to his home, and labour to ease, from eagerness to acquire accom­plishment, measured the path of toil. In every city and town where he heard of a learned Bramin and distinguished expounder of the bedes, having obtained the honour of waiting upon him, he was gladdened by the felicity of lighting the lamps in the assembly of instruction; and in order to attain accomplishments, and acquire learning, having submitted to various humiliations,* in a short time he became enriched by the comprehen­sion of the four bedes.

Having been honoured in the service of professors all-skilful, he attained the abstruse sciences and distinguishing arts; and having graced himself with the excellencies of knowledge, and acquired an ample share of literature, he sounded the drum of celebrity. With great joy and exultation, having returned, he reached his home.

As it happened, one third of the night had passed, when the Bramin, having entered his home, met his wife; who, from motives of policy, pretending gladness and joy, having warmed water, washed his feet, and with respect and attention seated him on the Koorsee.* The gallant of the wife, according to usual custom, having prepared the cham­ber of delight and being anxious for a meeting, waited her pleasurable approach. At this time, his messengers announced the Bramin’s arrival; and he at this being much mortified, sent to the wife this message. “The requisites of delight and sources of pleasure are all prepared. It is now proper that thou illume the chamber of hope with the radi­ance of thy beauty.” The wife, in answer, said, “My husband after a long interval, has returned home from travel; my coming at present is there­fore next to impossible; nay, cannot any how be accomplished. Policy demands, that this evening thou excuse me; and, not esteeming the com­mission of this fault voluntary, forgive it.”

The youth on hearing these words became melancholy and displeased, and with earnest entreaty returned a mes­sage to this effect: “In the hope of thy life-endearing company, a delight-exciting feast has been prepared. The Chung* vibrates with desire for thee, and the wine ferments in the bottle. If thou art true to the rules of con­stancy, by any mode that thou canst, cast thy cypress-fascinating shade over thy lover, and extinguish the flames of his anxiety with the life-giving water of thy presence, or the condition of your impatient expectant will be distressful, and existence become the plague of his soul. It cannot be among the rules of love and regard, that thou shouldst disap­point a lover in the height of expec­tation, or render him despairing at the point of happiness.

The wife, when she became informed of these circumstances, not being able to endure the vexation of her lover’s tender heart, and esteeming the ease and approbation of his mind preferable to all things, placed the finger of acceptance on her eyes, and said; “Give not way to melancholy and vexation, nor irritate thy mirth-loving mind with the nail of sorrow: for by some mode I will convey myself to thee, and, like the Nergus, hasten on the foot of my eye.”

After sending this message, having considered awhile, she opened the pages of deceit; and having selected a fresh stratagem, said to her husband, “To God be praise and thanksgivings, that thou are returned in health and safety, and reposest from the labour of travel and the toils of pilgrimage; also, that the eye of my expectation is enlight­ened with the rays of thy comeli­ness, and that the flames of troublous absence, and the torturing heat of separation, are allayed by the water of thy company. I am grateful to my own stars and fortune. Doubtless thou hast attained an ample portion of all sciences, and acquired a rich share of accomplishments; but I request that thou wilt relate to me the particulars of thy learning, that a doubt in respect to one science, which I have in my mind, may be done away, and from this apprehension my heart gain perfect satisfaction. I trust that thou hast a thorough knowledge of this science, though others may be wanting.”

The Bramin, with all exultation and vanity, said, “O my fellow-self and sharer of my griefs, sorrow not now, for I have learnt the four bedes, and am chief of learned professors.” The wife exclaimed, “Woe is me, if thou hast not learned the fifth Bede.” The bramin replied, “Why, woman, it has been ascertained by the most learned masters and Pundits, that the bedes are four; wherefore then sayest thou there are five?” The woman instantly on hearing this speech, beating the hands of mortification against each other, cried out, “What an unlucky fate is mine! Surely in the volume of decree hap­piness was not affixed to my name, but in the divine records the impres­sion of disappointment stamped on the pages of my lot. When thou wert wandering in the maze of pilgrimage, day and night involved in melancholy and sorrow, I had a hope, and lived on the perfume* of our meeting; trusting that one day thou wouldst return, and deliver me from torment. Now thou art come back, my hope is changed to fear, and the links of enjoyment broken.

The bramin, being distressed at these wonder-exciting words, asked what could be the cause of all this despair and appre­hension? On which the wife replied, “The ruler of this city hath a difficult case before him, the solution of which depends on the Tirrea Bede; and to-day they have taken all the bra­mins to his awful court. As they are ignorant of the fifth bede, they have been imprisoned by order of the sovereign; and it is decreed, that if during the night they cannot solve the problem, they shall to-morrow be dragged through all the streets of the city, with a thousand insults and humiliations, to execution. Certainly they will to-morrow convey intelli­gence of thy arrival, and thou wilt also be one of them; while I, who in the garden of youth have not yet unfolded one of my thousand flowers, bearing, like a tulip, the scars of sepa­ration from thee in my bosom, must sit in the gloomy cell of widowhood.”

The simple husband, with all his attainments of knowledge and science, swallowing the deceit, on hearing the above, fainted away from fear, and fell like the lifeless on the floor. The artful woman hastily threw rose-water in his face, lifted his head from the ground, and said, “Comfort thy heart, for a remedy has occurred to my mind, which doubtless is a suggestion from the Divinity. While as yet no one is acquainted with thy arrival, once more quit this unlucky city, and for a time reconciling thy mind to the pain of travel, and leaving the thorn of absence in the bosom of such an unfor­tunate being as myself, acquire the fifth bede. It may happen, that by this means thou mayest be graced with all perfections and excellencies, and rise superior to all the learned thy cotemporaries.”

The ignorant bramin, unsuspectful of the arts of woman, notwithstanding the fatigue of walking, the lonesomeness of his journey, and the pain from his yet blistered feet, having left his house at midnight, again undertook the labour of pilgrimage; and his vicious wife, by this stratagem, hastening to her paramour, made warm the assembly of wickedness.

The bramin, about the rising of the world-illuming planet, having reached the environs of a city, sat down sorrow­ful on the terrace of a draw-well, to which by chance soon came five women from the town. They saw that the rose of the bramin’s cheek was withered and parched by the burning sun of sorrow, and his heart, like the bud of a flower, compressed and blighted. They enquired, “Whence art thou come? whither art thou going? and on what account art thou in the perplexity of grief and melancholy?” The young bramin disclosed the circumstances; and as they possessed perfect skill in the Tir­rea Bede--on hearing his story, they expanded their mouths in laughter, for they guessed that his wife was an able professor, and, in order to follow her own pleasures, had committed the simple man to the desart of pilgrimage. Taking pity on his forlorn condition and igno­rance, they said, “Ah! distracted youth, and poor wanderer from the path of knowledge, altho’ the Tirrea Bede is as a stormy sea, nay, even a boundless deep, which no philosopher can fathom by the aid of profound wisdom; yet comfort thy soul, for we will solve thy difficulty, and expound to thee the mysteries of this science.”

The bramin, on hearing this becom­ing joyful and delighted, with all ardour committed himself to the tuition of these acute professors; and expanding his speech in thanks, said, “God hath dis­pensed to me good luck, in that I have reached your presence, and found repose from the persecution of the skies.” The learned dames now agreed, that each day one of them, taking this disappointed in the road of under­standing and lost to the world of wisdom, to herself, should engage in the proper instruction, and disclose to him the mys­teries of the Tirrea Bede; so that in five interviews, the arcana of this science should become fully explained to him.