--- title: A Sleep and a Dream., part 1 — The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth · full text with trees description: A Sleep and a Dream., part 1, «The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth» by Unknown: the whole chapter, every sentence with its dependency tree and pragmatics. It begins: I. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/3/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/) / A Sleep and a Dream., part 1 # A Sleep and a Dream., part 1 A Sleep and a Dream., part 1 of «The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth» by Unknown: the whole text, 115 sentences and 2552 words. The small number after every sentence leads to its own page with its syntax tree and pragmatics, parsed by Mova itself. **1** [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/3/page/2/) I.[1](1/ "tree and pragmatics") A Lotus of the Day[2](2/ "tree and pragmatics") But Anushayiní\[1\], when she disappeared in the forest, fell down to earth like a falling star, and entered the womb of the favourite wife of the King of Indirálaya\[2\], and was born after the manner of mortals as his daughter.[3](3/ "tree and pragmatics") And at that moment she lit up the birth chamber with the radiance diffused from her body, which put the lamps to shame.[4](4/ "tree and pragmatics") And the nurses and waiting women were astonished, for wonderful to say! the lids of the child's eyes were fringed with long black lashes, looking like rain-clouds hanging low to hide the rising moon.[5](5/ "tree and pragmatics") And suddenly those lashes rose like a curtain, and there came from beneath them a flood of blue colour, which pervaded the room like the odour of camphor and sandal-wood made visible to the eye, and overcame the senses of all that stood by, till they were within a little of swooning away.[6](6/ "tree and pragmatics") And like men lying on their backs and gazing into the depths of the sky, they felt as it were enveloped in the colour of heaven, and lost their perception of mundane affairs.[7](7/ "tree and pragmatics") For though they knew it not, they were looking at the reflection of the glory of the moon-crested god.[8](8/ "tree and pragmatics") So they all stood round in silence, watching the child's eyes.[9](9/ "tree and pragmatics") And at last, the King, and his ministers, and his physicians and astrologers, drew a long breath, and looked at each other in amazement.[10](10/ "tree and pragmatics") And the prime-minister said: King, this is a wonderful thing.[11](11/ "tree and pragmatics") For these eyes are the eyes, not of a child, but of a sage\[3\], or rather, of a god.[12](12/ "tree and pragmatics") And surely this is no mere mortal maiden, but rather some deity, or portion of a deity, smitten by a curse, and doomed thereby to descend for a period into this lower world, to expiate awhile sins committed in a former birth.[13](13/ "tree and pragmatics") For such things often come about, And beyond a doubt your Majesty is favoured, in being chosen by the deity to be the means of his incarnation.[14](14/ "tree and pragmatics") Then hearing this speech of his minister, whose words were always suited to the events, the King was excessively delighted.[15](15/ "tree and pragmatics") And he celebrated the birth of his daughter with extraordinary magnificence, and gave gold and villages to Brahmans and the poor.[16](16/ "tree and pragmatics") And taking counsel with his astrologers and Brahman sages skilled in names and their applications, he gave to his daughter the auspicious name of Shrí\[4\].[17](17/ "tree and pragmatics") For he said: Her eyes are like lotuses, and like the pools in which they dwell: and surely they are the very echo of the eyes of the Goddess of Beauty when she rose from the sea, and lay in her blue lotus cradle, lapped by the foam of which she was composed, and gazing at the wondering waves with eyes that mocked them, and robbed them of their hue.[18](18/ "tree and pragmatics") Then time passed away, and the years with the seasons followed each other like caravans over the desert, and old age and grey hair came and took up their dwelling at the wrinkled root of the King's ear.[19](19/ "tree and pragmatics") And meanwhile Shrí grew from a child into a girl, and at length the dawn of her womanhood broke.[20](20/ "tree and pragmatics") And like the horns of the waxing moon, her limbs rounded and swelled into the very perfect orb of supreme loveliness, and she became as it were the very salt of the sea of beauty\[5\], inspiring in all who drank of it insatiable thirst, and an intolerable craving for the water of the blue lakes of her eyes.[21](21/ "tree and pragmatics") And at last there came a day when the King her father looked at her, and said to himself: The fruit is ripe: and now it is time that it were plucked and eaten.[22](22/ "tree and pragmatics") So he went to the apartments of the women, to find her mother, his principal Queen, Madirekshaná\[6\].[23](23/ "tree and pragmatics") But when she learned the object of his coming, the Queen said: \_Aryaputra\_\[7\], it is useless.[24](24/ "tree and pragmatics") For our daughter will not even listen to the word husband, much less undergo the thing.[25](25/ "tree and pragmatics") The King said: What is this?[26](26/ "tree and pragmatics") Should the cornfield refuse the plough, or a maiden refuse to be married?[27](27/ "tree and pragmatics") Is she not now of ripe age, and does not a grown-up maiden in the house bring upon herself and her relations infamy in this world and the next?[28](28/ "tree and pragmatics") Madirekshana said: Speak to her yourself, and persuade her to it if you can.[29](29/ "tree and pragmatics") For of her own accord she told me, that her marriage was a thing not to be thought of, even in a dream.[30](30/ "tree and pragmatics") So the King sent for his daughter, to question her himself.[31](31/ "tree and pragmatics") And after a while, Shrí came in, undulating as she moved like a swan\[8\], and swaying like a flower waving in the wind: for her waist could be grasped by the fist, and her bosom was glorious, like the swell of an ocean wave.[32](32/ "tree and pragmatics") And like a child she smiled at her father\[9\] with parted lips and half-shut eyes, casting before her through the net of their lashes the magical charm of the colour of a wet lotus: and her girdle jingled as if with joy, while the flashing jewels with which she was covered all over changed colour, as if with envy at being outshone by the play\[10\] of her eyes.[33](33/ "tree and pragmatics") And the old King looked at her with pride and wonder and delight: and he laughed to himself, and said: Wonderful is the cunning of the Creator, and incomprehensible the mystery of a woman's beauty\![34](34/ "tree and pragmatics") For I am old, and I am her father, and yet I feel before her like a domestic servant in the presence of a ruler of the world.[35](35/ "tree and pragmatics") Surely she would drive a young man into madness and ecstasy.[36](36/ "tree and pragmatics") And did the Creator, forsooth! form this incarnation of the intoxication of woman to no purpose?[37](37/ "tree and pragmatics") Surely she is a husband's ideal correlative in human form\![38](38/ "tree and pragmatics") And then he said to her: My daughter, it is high time that you were married: for an unmarried daughter is a scandal in her father's house.[39](39/ "tree and pragmatics") Then said Shrí: Dear father, do not speak thus.[40](40/ "tree and pragmatics") Let me live and die a maiden, for I do not wish to be married\[11\].[41](41/ "tree and pragmatics") The King said: Daughter, what is this that you are saying?[42](42/ "tree and pragmatics") Is not a husband the very object of your birth?[43](43/ "tree and pragmatics") Shrí said: Do not even dream of a husband for me.[44](44/ "tree and pragmatics") And there is a reason for this: for I am different from other maidens.[45](45/ "tree and pragmatics") And hearing this, the King was perplexed.[46](46/ "tree and pragmatics") And he looked at Shrí under his brows, and said to himself: She speaks truth.[47](47/ "tree and pragmatics") Certainly this daughter of mine, if she be mine\[12\], is not like other maidens.[48](48/ "tree and pragmatics") For who ever saw her equal in beauty, or who ever heard of a maiden objecting to be married\[13\]?[49](49/ "tree and pragmatics") Or was my minister right, and is she really some deity in disguise?[50](50/ "tree and pragmatics") So day after day he continued to urge her and argue with her.[51](51/ "tree and pragmatics") But at last, finding that his efforts to move her were as vain as if he were trying to pierce a diamond with a cotton thread, he exclaimed in dismay: Surely my crimes in a former birth were numerous and appalling, seeing that their fruit is a daughter, whose obstinate and unintelligible prejudice against a husband runs counter to the nature of woman, and will be the means of destroying my salvation.[52](52/ "tree and pragmatics") Then at last Shrí said: Dear father, do not be angry, and I will tell you the truth.[53](53/ "tree and pragmatics") Know that I, too, wish for a husband, but only for one husband, and no other.[54](54/ "tree and pragmatics") Then said the King: And who, then, is that husband?[55](55/ "tree and pragmatics") Shrí said: I do not know.[56](56/ "tree and pragmatics") But he will come to claim me, from the Land of the Lotus of the Sun\[14\].[57](57/ "tree and pragmatics") And where, said the King, is the Land of the Lotus of the Sun?[58](58/ "tree and pragmatics") Shrí said: I cannot tell.[59](59/ "tree and pragmatics") But in a dream I saw a lotus fall from heaven, and I heard a divine voice saying to me: Do not hurry, but wait: for there shall come to you a husband, from the Land of the Lotus of the Sun. For he was your husband in a former birth, and you shall know him by a sign.[60](60/ "tree and pragmatics") Then the King said: And what is the sign?[61](61/ "tree and pragmatics") Shrí said: I may not tell, for it is known only to the Deity and me.[62](62/ "tree and pragmatics") But now, either abandon my marriage, or if you can, find me a man who has seen the Land of the Lotus of the Sun, of caste becoming a king's daughter, and he shall be my husband.[63](63/ "tree and pragmatics") For him only will I marry, and none other.[64](64/ "tree and pragmatics") **1** [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/3/page/2/) - ← previous: [An Evil Eye.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/2/) - next →: [page 2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/3/page/2/) - ↑ back to [The descent of the sun: A cycle of birth](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg68641/)