And the poet would further recite a neatly-turned sonnet in which he extolled his charms and beauty with a bold and daring simile that had to be invented every day anew. After all these ceremonies, court etiquette permitted him to enter the pavilion of the Princess, there to be petted and stroked by his fair admirer.
He would manifest his love to her the best way he could, by purring softly and gently and by rubbing his silken body under her bejeweled hand. When she grew tired of caressing and playing with him she would order her servants to bring one of her large jewel-chests. Out of it she would choose a bracelet for the slender neck of White Lotus. One day it might be a bracelet inlaid with pearls, the next day perhaps one of rubies, the following emeralds, and then endless combinations and designs with the most astonishing variety of precious stones and gems, in rotation, for three hundred and sixty-five days in the year; and never did White Lotus wear the same ornament more than once.
Those were happy days for him, and he drank the cup of Delight, slowly, sipping it with the intensity and fervor of One Who Knew.
Their anger was great when the other gods saw how Indra had stooped so low as to fall in love with a common mortal and had furthermore impersonated a low, fish-eating animal; but, to their intense disgust, he seemed indifferent to their wounded feelings and his wife’s jealousy; he appeared supremely happy and quite unconscious that time was flying and that he was still desecrating his high office by such behavior.
So they all met in council and agreed upon a plan which would force him from his present condition and restore him to his state.