ONE of the five ladies, on the first day having conducted the measurer of the path of folly to her residence, and pretending that he was her sister’s son, introduced him to her husband and mother in law; and having appointed him an apartment, spread it with carpets and pillows. Then, having got ready an entertainment, she set forth various sorts of eatables and liquors. When the bride­groom of night had cast a dusky veil over the face of day, the wife, under some pretence, asking leave of her hus­band, came to the bramin already plunged in the sea of astonishment. Having by her soft speeches made him unreserved, she said, “Regarding opportunity as precious, course the steed of plea­sure in the plain of delight, and strike the ball of enjoyment with the mace of my amber-perfumed locks; for valu­able age, like the water of a stream, passeth useless away.”

The bramin, who was guiltless of such actions, became confounded from excess of shame, and said, “Ah! woman, stranger to virtue, within this hour thou calledst me thy sister’s son, and now urgest me thus. Excuse me, for I cannot by any means engage in such a wicked action.” The woman replied, “Thy safety lies in submission to my commands; make haste, and idly stop not on the road, for there is danger in delay, and it is hurtful to the traveller.” The bramin, who was inexperienced in vice, and had never tasted the sweets of forbidden love, still made the laws of religion and his func­tion an excuse, and requested to retire.

The lady, who was a professor of her own studies, thought within herself, that this stranger, dull of apprehension, who, notwithstanding all her advances and endearments, had deviated from the path of her wishes, would fall into the maze of disappointment. “What,” said she, “therefore can I do, that he may not defeat his own views?” Remediless, she, from policy, esteeming reproof necessary, having assumed a frowning look, exclaimed, “Ah! thou devoid of vir­tue, forgetful of God, what vice and wickedness is this, that though I console thee with tenderness and love, like my own children, and have called thee my sister’s son, who ought to be as my own; yet thou wouldst by force and violence stain the skirt of my purity with the sin of error, and thus fixest on my collar, at the instigation of the devil and from the bent of thy own evil mind, the hand of importu­nity.” She then loudly cried out, “My housemates, hasten to my relief, for in the hands of this youth I am cruelly tormented.”

The women from every quarter rushed into the apartment; upon which the bramin, alarmed at such an artifice, fainted away with apprehension. The lady instantly oversetting a dish of riced milk, which she had prepared by way of refreshment, shed it on the ground, and said, “O my sisters, this youth, who is my nephew, and who after an age of absence has arrived here, was drinking some riced milk, when all at once a chill struck his heart, and he fainted, so that I know not what may be the consequence, or how he can be revived.” Having said this, she shed tears. The ladies brought warm medicines, comforted her, and took leave.

The bramin now opened his eyes, and said to himself, “I have passed through an intricate maze, and escaped from a great danger.” The sor­cery-practising woman exclaimed, “O thou inexperienced man, calamity hung over thee, but it has passed away. Speedily now, therefore, place the head of obedience on the line of my commands, and vary not from what I have ordered, or this time thou shalt not save thy head, but wilt become involved in a life-destroying danger.” The bramin when (except through compliance and submission to such an artful jade) he saw no way to safety, remediless, gave up himself to resignation, and placed his neck under the orders of destiny. The woman then said, “Ah! thou dead-hearted creature, this is one section of the Tirrea Bede, in which I have instructed thee; be cautious that thou errest not again; but, regarding any way that I shall direct thee as the path of thy wishes, eagerly pursue it.”

When the Moogh* of the sun arose from the temple of the east, the amply-wiled dame dismissed the bramin, that he might repair to the draw-well; and she also, according to usual custom, took a pot to fetch water, and acquainted her associates, who were assembled at the spot, of the occurrences of the evening.