Now, turning the thread of our tale in a new direction, we take our readers to the sacred city of Kashi, and draw their attention to the condition of a young woman sitting by the banks of the Ganga at dusk.

The sun has set, and darkness is gathering all around. The Ganga flows gently and serenely. In the sky, small clouds drift from the east and gather in the west. Right at the riverbank sits a young woman, who cannot be more than fifteen years old, resting her cheek upon her palm, gazing at the water, lost in thought. There is no doubt that this woman is beautiful and graceful from head to toe, though her complexion is dusky. Yet, this does not in any way diminish her beauty or delicacy. Every so often, she lifts her head and glances around, then resumes her thoughtful pose, resting her cheek upon her hand.

Before her, anchored in the Ganga, is a small barge on which four or five men can be seen, along with some travel gear and two or four palanquins.

After a little while, as darkness falls, the woman rises. At the same moment, two guards descend from the barge, help her up, and escort her onto the vessel. She goes up to the deck and sits by the edge, gazing out as if awaiting someone's arrival. Indeed, that was the case, for just then a man appeared, carrying a bundle in his hand. At the sight of him, two boatmen came ashore; one took the bundle from his hand and carried it up to the deck, while the other lightly supported the man as he climbed aboard. He too stood before the woman on the deck, and with a gesture, asked, "What are your orders now?" In response, the woman signaled with her hand to proceed to the opposite bank of the river. The newly arrived man called out to the boatmen to take the barge across, and then he and the woman exchanged a few more gestures, which we could not understand. However, it became clear that this woman was mute and deaf—she could not speak, nor could she hear.

The barge was cast off from the shore and began to move across. Four boatmen took up the oars...

began to look. The woman descended from the roof and went below, and the man too, taking the bundle he had brought, climbed down from the roof. There were two cabins below deck in the barge—one had a beautiful white carpet spread out, and in the other a cot was laid with some belongings scattered about. The woman, making a gesture with her hand, sat down on the carpet, and the man placed a wooden writing board and a small piece of chalk before her. He too sat down, and the two began to converse by writing on the wooden board with the chalk. Now, the conversation that took place between them we shall set down below,