have passed through millions of other mortals and now would be lost to all. The identity of all I loved had fled, and I alone was revived as it were from death. I supposed, and made myself believe, it must be for some good end, and that end was my union with Meda. It so happened that Meda was in the habit of inviting a number of the elders, male and female, to hear my stories of the past, and I had explained much that had taken place in my day to them. On one occasion there was a very old lady in the company, and she, though perhaps innocently, was the cause of all my sorrow.
Women are, I verily believe, at the root of all mischief; had this old hag held her tongue or had she stayed away, I might never have got into the trouble I did.
She said to me: "Young man, I notice in all you relate that you have always avoided the part you yourself took in the past history of our nation. Why is this? Are you ashamed of what you have done, or is it modesty?"
