13

"Along a narrow path that led
Down to the shore, above her head
A jug held high, the Georgian lass
Her way was slowly making. As
I watched, a slippery stone betrayed
Her cautious foot: she stumbled, swayed,
Laughed at herself and haltingly
Walked on.... Her clothes were poor, but she
Had pushed her veil back. and the rays
Of sun had gold shades on her face
And bosom traced; a warmth, a glow
Came from her lips and cheeks, and so
Deep and bewitching was her eye.
So full of love's sweet mystery,
Its secrets, that my heart and mind
Were set aflame, and I turned blind
To all about me.... Nothing now
Can I at all recall save how
The water, gurgling, flowed into
The tilted jug, and one or two
Like things.... When I my senses had
Regained at last, from me the maid
Was far.... The jug's forbidding weight
Seemed not to burden her; as straight
And graceful as the poplar-tree.
Queen of yon flowering fields, was she!...
I watched her slowly walk away....
Up in the hills two huts of clay
Like two fond mates perched side by side;
Glued to the rock they were and hid
In part by haze.... Smoke curled up o'er
A low, flat roof.... I saw a door
Glide open, then as softly shut....
You know not how I suffered, but
'Tis better so, 'tis for the best -
With me those simple scenes will rest.
With me. this will I not deny,
I want my memories to die.

           14

"Worn by the labours of the past
Night, I lay down, and sleep did cast
O'er me its spell and my eyes close,
And 'fore me. in my dreams, there rose
The maid. the Georgian maid.... The same
Sweet ache was back, to my heart claim
It laid anew.... To wake I strove -
And did at last. High up above
The half-moon sailed; still numb with sleep,
I watched a cloud behind it creep
And stalk it greedily, as though
The crescent were its prey.... The glow
Of moon could not the dark dispel
The world was silent: no sound fell
Upon the ear but for the shy
Plash of the waves.... Against the sky
The mountains showed: proud they displayed
Their silver fringe.... A small light played,
A star of night resembling, in
One of the huts, whose shapes, though dim,
Were visible; now bright it burned.
Now of a sudden died.... I yearned
To climb the path that, winding, led
Up to the hut, but took instead
Another, that toward the wood
Ran.... I was famished, but of food
Refused to think. With my heart whole
My land I longed to find, a goal
That changeless stayed.... Tireless I strode
Past towering trees, but off the road
Strayed, and, in time, to my dismay,
Discovered that I'd lost my way.

          15

"Seized by a kind of mad despair,
I would at moments stop and tear
At thorny shrubs and bushes which
With ivy leaves were twined. The rich,
Luxuriant forest round me spread,
Grew at each step more dense.... With dread,
A fear unknown but infinite,
My soul filled, for the eyes of night,
A million hungry eyes, at me
From every side stared wrathfully!...
My poor head swam.... I climbed a tree,
Another: nigh to heaven's end
The wood stretched and did, sombre, send
Its toothy shadows over all....
On to the dark grass I did fall
And gnaw at earth's wet breast, and sear,
And scorch, and burn it with my tears,
Those blazing drops of dew.... And yet
I scorned man's help, and did not let
Myself call out.... Had from me wrung
A single cry been, this my tongue,
My feeble tongue, of pity shorn,
From out my mouth I would have torn!

              16

"Do you recall? - In my young years
I never cried. But now the tears
Poured freely from my eyes: alone
The forest saw them and the moon
That drifted slowly overhead....
Upon a glade'that carpeted
With moss and sand was, fell its light....
Thick walls of forest and of night
The glade fenced in. A shadow o'er
It darted suddenly. Before
My startled gaze two lights glowed, and
A huge beast leapt onto the sand.
It was a leopard, dweller of
The wilderness.... From out the grove
Emerging thus, he started to
Roll playfully about, and chew.
With growls that almost gay of tone
Seemed, at a Juicy piece of bone
He had with him.... His long. sleek tail
The beast was wagging, and the pale
Ray of the half-moon gave the sheen
Of silver to his coat.... Unseen
By him as yet, a spiky bough
I snatched up, and not knowing how
Soon we would clash, athirst for blood,
Did wait for him to spring, my mood
One of exultancy.... Had fate
Not interfered - I hesitate
To say it not - a hero in
My fathers' land I would have been!

             17

"I waited, and the beast aware
Becoming of my presence there,
Howled, aye, let out a pitiful,
Long-drawn-out wail, of anger full,
Clawed at the sand, then on his hind
Legs for a moment rose, in blind
Fury crouched down.... His first wild leap
Might death have spelt - but I did keep
Cool and struck first! Swift was my blow
And sure. The blood began to flow
From his cleft brow.... He gave a low
Moan that was like a man's moan, and
Recoiled and fell.... I watched him land
Upon his side.... The blood did pour
Fast from his wound, and yet once more
The leopard pounced, by pain enraged,
And, hot and fierce, our battle raged!

             18

"Before his claws my breast could rip,
My bough I did more firmly grip,
And, plunging it in his throat, twice
The weapon twisted. Loud rang his
Howl o'er the wood. He gave a bound.
And, like two friends their arms around
Each other, or two serpents wound
Into a ball, over the cold,
Dew-sprinkled moss and grass we rolled....
An untamed beast, as wild as my
Foe was I then; his savage cry,
His snarls were echoed by my own.
It was as if I'd only known
Of leopards and of wolves the ways,
Their company, and all my days
Had in the forest spent among
Its dwellers, and the human tongue
Forgot.... Within me, deep, was born
The terrifying and forlorn
Call of the wounded beast, and I
No other sound could utter, why
I cannot say.... Meanwhile, my foe
Was tiring, and his breath grew slow
And laboured.... All at once his hold
On me he tightened, then his gold
Eyes spark-like flashed and closed fore'er....
Yet, this am I prepared to swear:
That death had he in my embrace
Met like a soldier, face to face!...

            19

"Behold - his sharp claws on my breast
Have left their mark, and well impressed
Is't on the skin.... No scars conceal
The ugly prints, and yet, I feel
That death is near and that 'twill heal
Them soon enough.... When 'fore me, slain,
My foe lay, I forgot my pain
And wounds and, all unaided, off
Made from the wood.... But fate did scoff
And jeer at me, and vainly I
Its will attempted to defy.