Manimekalai was lost in thought for a while. Was the vision she had seen just now a mere illusion? Or was it something she had seen in a dream? If it were a dream, wouldn’t she have to be asleep? She touched herself to make sure; no, she was not asleep. Was this not the inner chamber being prepared for the young queen of Pazhuvoor? There, her face was clearly visible in the polished mirror. The oil lamp was burning steadily. She turned to look at the wall opposite the mirror. She knew there was a secret door there. It could be opened from the outside as well as from within. Manimekalai stood by the wall at that spot, pressed her ear against it, and listened intently. The secret door, which was flush with the wall, was made of wood. Because of that, she could hear some sound from the hunting hall beyond.

Manimekalai slowly opened the secret door and peered into the hunting hall. Most of the hall was shrouded in darkness. In one corner, a small earthen lamp was burning. Suddenly, the light from that lamp dimmed, then in the next instant shone brightly again. It seemed as if some figure had passed in front of the lamp, momentarily blocking its light. That must be why the lamp was hidden for a moment and then shone again. Was the face of the figure that blocked the lamp for a moment the same as the one she had just seen in the mirror? Or was this too a trick of her mind?

Still peering out, Manimekalai clapped her hands and asked in a soft voice, “Who is there?” In response, a gruff voice was heard. A bat, startled from where it hung from the ceiling, flew off with a ‘jivv’ sound and clung to another spot on the roof. Again, there was a very faint sound of someone coughing.

Standing at the threshold, Manimekalai called out in a loud voice, “Adiye Chandramathi!”

“Why, Amma?” came the reply.

“Take the hand-lamp and come here at once!” said Manimekalai.

In a short while, a maid arrived with a lamp in her hand. “But the lamp here is burning well, Amma. Why do you need another lamp?” “We must go inside the hunting pavilion and see. I heard some noise.”

“It must be just a bat flapping its wings, Amma! What else could it be?”

“No, girl! Just a moment ago, I was looking into this crystal mirror. Suddenly, beside my own face, I saw another face appear!”

“What did that face look like? Was it like Manmatha’s face? Or did it resemble Arjuna’s?” said the maid, and laughed.

“What is this, Chandramathi! Are you making fun of me?”

“No, Amma, not at all! Didn’t you often say you saw him in your dreams? Perhaps he has now appeared in the mirror?”

“Yes, Chandramathi! But this time it seemed so very real.”

“All women go through such hallucinations at some point. For you, it will last only another day or two. Once you see the young prince coming from Kanchi tomorrow, you’ll forget that old face completely.”

“Let that be, girl! For now, let’s go and see inside the hunting pavilion. Come!”

“Pointless, Amma! The hunting pavilion will be nothing but dust and cobwebs. Your sari will be ruined for nothing!”

“Let it be ruined, then!”

“You’ll catch a cold and start sneezing. Tomorrow, when everyone comes…”

“Let it be, I must inspect the hunting pavilion now. Bring the lamp carefully—don’t let it go out!”

Saying this, Manimekalai entered the hunting pavilion. Her companion followed her with the lamp. The two of them looked around as they walked. Chandramathi kept her gaze above the lamp, glancing only at the lifeless animals mounted on the walls. Manimekalai, however, sometimes looked down as well. She noticed footprints here and there in the dust on the floor.

“Amma, look there!” exclaimed Chandramathi.

“Why are you so startled, girl?”

“It looked as if that tailless monkey just moved!”

“Did it seem to express its happiness upon seeing you?”

“Mother, are you teasing me?”

“Am I the only one you mock, thinking I wander about in a delirium?”

“Perhaps the face you saw in your mirror was that of the monkey itself! Look! It’s right in front of the entrance we came through—see, the monkey is moving again!”

“Tch, tch! It’s just the shadow of your lamp! When the lamp’s shadow moves, it appears as if the monkey is moving. Come, let’s go! There’s no one here.”

“In that case, it must have been the monkey’s face you saw in the mirror. Or perhaps it was the face of that owl sitting up there. See how it stares at us!”

“Why do you include me in this? That owl is gazing without blinking, utterly entranced by your beauty!”

“Then, whose face could it have been, peering at us in the mirror?”

“Oh, dear! You’ve decided for certain that I am delusional! Perhaps the face that often appears in my dreams has appeared in the mirror as well. It pains me to think that the eyes which beheld that beautiful face must now look upon this monkey and owl. Come, let’s go! I’ll look once more to see if that face appears in the mirror!”

The two women retraced their steps and entered the inner chamber.

From behind the tailless monkey, Vandiyathevan emerged. He sneezed two or three times, ridding his nose of the dust that had entered. He offered his gratitude to the tailless monkey that had hidden him so well.

“O monkey! May you live long! That maid compared my face to yours. At that moment, I was angry—indeed, I even considered revealing myself and stepping out. Fortunately, I controlled my mind. If you hadn’t stood here at just the right height, what would have become of me? I would have been caught by those women! Monkey, you must always fare well!”

Even as he finished