But as he spoke, the spell was broken, and Shrí woke as it were from a dream. And she saw before her only a ragged Rajpoot, stumbling in his tale, and abashed before her, and unable to support his knavery even by a clever lie. And she was ashamed, and angry with herself, and as she listened, she was suddenly seized with a fit of laughter. And she exclaimed: Hark! hark! to this high-caste hero; listen to his lay of a Lotus Land! He went he knew not where, and did he knew not what, and began at the beginning, and ended at the end. So she laughed and mocked him, while he stood before her as it were in a swoon, hearing only the music of her voice, and quailing like a coward before the fire in her scornful eyes. Then suddenly Shrí clapped her hands in his face, and exclaimed: Dost thou hear, or art thou deaf as well as dumb? Art thou a Rajpoot, and yet could'st thou not find courage enough to carry out thy imposition to the end? Strange! that such a body could be chosen by the Creator as the receptacle of such a soul. And she turned to the King, and said: Dear Father, it is as I said, and as you see, this fellow is but a rogue. Put him out, therefore; and yet, do him no harm. For though he is a knave, yet he is a handsome knave, and deserves rather contempt and laughter, than punishment and blows. Then the King said to his guards: Take this impostor, and thrust him out into the street. So the guards seized Umra-Singh, who offered no resistance, and threw him out into the street, raining upon him as he went a shower of kicks and blows. And immediately the criers went round the city as before, beating drums and crying aloud: _Whatsoever high-caste man has been to the Land of the Lotus of the Sun, let him come to the King: he shall share the King's kingdom, and marry the King's daughter_. [1] The name is _Amarasinha_. But this is so certain to be a stumbling-block in an English mouth, that I have spelt it as it would be pronounced by a Hindoo. (_Um_ as in _drum_.) It means '_lion-god_' or '_god-lion_,' a name suited to a king of the line of the Sun. [2] The War-god. [3] Because, though Shiwa drank the _kálakuta_ or deadly sea-poison, with impunity, still it left its mark on his throat, and dyed it blue. [4] A _rajpoot_ means only _the son of a king_, and it is to be observed that there were rajpoots in India long before the present 'Rajpoots' ever came there. [5] i.e. the Sun. There are double meanings in this period, comparing him to the Sun. [6] _adrishta_: a peculiar technical term, meaning something that has its roots in the unseen circumstances of a former birth. [7] No translator can give the alliterative jingle of the _vathás_ and _tathás_, _vads_ and _tads_ of this and the answer of Shrí below. IV. Inspiration