3 (it was growing dark)


IT WAS GROWING dark when I asked her, 'What strange land have I come to?'

        She only lowered her eyes, and the water gurgled in thethroat of her jar, as she walked away.

        The trees hang vaguely over the bank, and the land appears as though it already belonged to the past.

        The water is dumb, the bamboos are darkly still, a wristlet tinkles against the water-jar from down the lane.

 

Row no more, but fasten the boat to this tree,-for I love the look of this land.

        The evening star goes down behind the temple dome, and the pallor of the marble landing haunts the dark water.

        Belated wayfarers sigh; for light from hidden windows is splintered into the darkness by intervening wayside trees and bushes. Still that wristlet tinkles against the water-jar, and retreating steps rustle from down the lane littered with leaves.

        The night deepens, the palace towers loom spectre-like, and the town hums wearily.

        Row no more, but fasten the boat to a tree.

 

Let me seek rest in this strange land, dimly lying under the stars, where darkness tingles with the tinkle of a wristlet knocking against a water-jar.

 

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