“Husband.
‘Once staff in hand homeless I fared and free.
Now but a trapper am I, sunken fast
In baneful bog of earthly lusts, yet fain
To come out on the yonder side. My wife

Plays with her child and mocks my former state,
Deeming her charm yet holdeth me in thrall.
But I will cut the knot and roam again.’

Cāpā.
‘O be not angry with me, hero mine!
O thou great prophet, be not wroth with me!
For how may he who giveth place to wrath
Attain to holy life and purity?’

‘Nay, I’ll go forth from Nāla. Who would live
At Nāla now, where he who fain to lead
A life of righteousness sees holy men
Beguilèd by the beauty of a girl!’

‘O turn again, my dark-eyed lover, come
And take thy fill of Cāpā’s love for thee,
And I, thy slave, will meet thy every wish,
And all my kinsfolk shall thy servants be.’

‘Nay, were a man desirous of thy love,
He well might glory didst thou promise him
A fourth of what thou temp’st me here withal!’

‘O dark-eyed love, am I not fair to see,
As the liana swaying in the woods,
As the pomegranate-tree in fullest bloom
Growing on hill-top, or the trumpet-flower
Drooping o’er mouth of island cavern? See,

With crimson sandal-wood perfumed, I’ll wear
Finest Benares robe for thee—O why,
O how wilt thou go far away from me?’

‘Ay! so the fowler seeketh to decoy
His bird. Parade thy charms e’en as thou wilt,
Ne’er shalt thou bind me to thee as of yore.’

‘And this child-blossom, O my husband, see
Thy gift to me—now surely thou wilt not
Forsake her who hath borne a child to thee?’

‘Wise men forsake their children, wealth and kin,
Great heroes ever go forth from the world,
As elephants sever their bonds in twain.’

‘Then this thy child straightway with stick or axe
I’ll batter on the ground—to save thyself
From mourning for thy son thou wilt not go!’

‘And if thou throw the child to jackals, wolves,
Or dogs, child-maker without ruth, e’en so
’Twill not avail to turn me back again!’

‘Why, then, go if thou must, and fare thee well.
But tell me to what village wilt thou go,
What town or burg or city is thy goal?’

‘In the past days we went in fellowship,
Deeming our shallow practice genuine.
Pilgrims we wandered—hamlet, city, town,
And capital—we tramped to each in turn.’

‘But the Exalted Buddha now doth preach,
Along the banks of the Nerañjarā,
The Norm whereby all may be saved from ill.
To him I go; he now my guide shall be.’

‘Yea, go, and take my homage unto him
Who is the supreme Sovran of the World,
And making salutation by the right,
Do thou from us to him make offering.’

‘Now meet and right is this, e’en as thou say’st,
That I in doing homage, speak for thee
To him, the Supreme Sovran of the World.
And making salutation by the right,
I’ll render offering for thee and me.’

So Kāla went to the Nerañjarā,
And saw the very Buddha on the bank,
Teaching the Way Ambrosial: of Ill,

And of how Ill doth rise, and how Ill may
Be overpast, and of the way thereto,
Even the Ariyan, the Eightfold Path.

Low at his feet the husband homage paid,
Saluted by the right and Cāpā’s vows
Presented; then the world again renounced
For homeless life; the Threefold Wisdom won,
And brought to pass the bidding of the Lord.”