The Bhikṣuṇī Maṇimēkhalai

163 - The Prince pursues Maṇimēkhalai
what actually brought him to the painful state of abstraction in which
the prince found him.
Understanding from what he said that Maṇimēkhalai had gone to the
garden, the prince turned back telling the young merchant that he
would proceed forthwith and bring back Maṇimēkhalai with him in
his car, and rapidly drove forward.
When the car came near the garden Maṇimēkhalai heard the rattle of
the approaching wheels and told her companion that she had heard
from her grandmother that prince Udayakumāra had set his heart
upon her, and that, in all probability, the approach of the rattling
sound gave indication of his coming. She wished to know what
exactly she could do to escape this calamity.
Sutamatī, her companion, asked her to get into the crystal pavilion in
the garden and bolt the door from the inside. She then took her stand
five bows distance from the pavilion.
The prince having approached the pavilion and seeing the solitary
maiden at some distance accosted her:
‘You are now standing alone here in this lonely garden. I understand
you came here along with Maṇimēkhalai. Has she attained to the
wisdom that she sought? Has she recovered her charming smiles?
Have her eyes got back their enchanting beauty? How is it that she has
given up the vihāra of the Buddhist mendicants and come to this
garden?’
On hearing this Sutamatī felt as one thrown into an underground
cellar without an opening, and said to the prince in reply: