The bank is fallen; the waves appear
Befouled, that once were bright and clear. 24
Vīraka, we will investigate your case here later. Mount the horse that stands before the court-room door, go to the garden Pushpakaranda, and see whether a woman has perished there or not.
Vīraka. Yes, sir. [He goes out, then returns.] I have been there. And I saw the body of a woman, torn by wild beasts.
Gild-warden and Clerk. How do you know that it was the body of a woman?
Vīraka. That I perceived from the traces of hair and arms and hands and feet.
Judge. Alas for the difficulties which are caused by the actions of men!
The more one may apply his skill,
The harder is the matter still;
Plain are indeed the law's demands,
Yet judgment insecurely stands
As some poor cow on shifting sands. 25
Chārudatta. [Aside.]
As bees, when flowers begin to blow,
Gather to sip the honey, so
When man is marked by adverse fate,
Misfortunes enter every gate. 26
Judge. Noble Chārudatta, speak truth!
Chārudatta. A mean and jealous creature, passion-blind,
Sets all his soul, some fatal means to find
To slay the man he envies; shall his lies
By evil nature prompted, win the prize?
No! he is unregarded by the wise. 27
And more than this:
The creeper's beauty would I never blight,
