lined costumes, each impregnated with the same fragrance. The scent was so strong that people passing in the alley in front of my house stopped in surprise, and it reached even the houses of our neighbors.
“My wife and children were enraptured. My wife, shameful to say, went so far as to put on the underrobe. ‘This is the first time in my life that I have worn such a robe. The lady you took it from must have been quite young. About how old was she?’
“I thought that she was asking out of pity, and answered, ‘It was dark and I could not see very well, but she was certainly not as much as twenty-one. I imagine she was about eighteen.’
“ ‘I thought as much,’ said my wife, and without a word of explanation rushed outside. I wondered what business could have taken her out in such a frantic manner. After a while she returned, saying, ‘You are really much too magnanimous a robber. As long as you are committing a crime you should try to get the most out of it. I just went to cut off her hair. My own is rather thin, but if I twist hers into plaits it will really look beautiful. I wouldn’t change it, not even for the robes.’ She poured some hot water in a bowl and sprinkled it on the hair, which she hung up to dry. She was so elated that she was dancing about for joy. ‘I have all a woman could ask for. Oh, how happy I am!’
“I stared at her. She filled me with disgust and revulsion. It was because of actions in a previous existence that I had been born a human being and, having had the rare fortune to receive a human body, I should at least have been acquainted with human feelings, even if I was not to become a truly virtuous man. I had instead become a man of great wickedness. All I had thought of night and day was killing people. Not a single moment had gone by but was devoted to plans for robbery. I could not escape Fate. In the end, I knew, I should suffer the torments of hell. To go on thus committing grievous sins, dragging out a meaningless existence, not realizing the hollowness and futility of my life, seemed revolting even to me. And now the monstrous behavior of my wife had struck me dumb with horror. I repented bitterly that I had slept with such a woman, that our lives had been joined. Now that I understood the
