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-578]
59. THE SECTION ON THE HARLOT
tender (obliging) in the cold season, a harlot is like a garment, which too is of ideal proportions and made of excellent yarn (9 =), which displays several shades of different hues (1) and is very soft to the touch in the cold season. How can such a harlot and such a garment be obtained without religious merit (acquired in a previous life)?
355
574) Crookedness of mind, craftiness in speech, deceptiveness untruthfulness-all these are regarded as serious faults in the case of other (ordinary) persons, but in the case of harlots, they are -ornaments (that are highly esteemed).
575) A harlot, who is full of emotion (passion) (HI), who yields the highest happiness due to friction (R), who is rich in the perfume (fragrance) of scents () and who is enjoyed by several gallants (fafa), is like a sandal creeper (tender sandal tree), which is full of juice (EEI), which yields its choicest fragrance when rubbed(on a stone) (f), which is rich in fragrance () and which is encircled by numerous snakes. Say, to whom is not such a harlot and such a sandal-creeper dear?
576) Do not think (believe) that my heart of a harlot, full of confidential whisperings (i. e. prompting me to speak soft, sweet, pleasing things) is good (trustworthy). You will come to know, by your (eventual) fall, that it is like a rock covered with moss (i. e. slippery).
577) A harlot, while she preys upon one man, whom she has completely subjugated and who is almost like a dead person, while she holds another man enthralled by means of her side-long glances and while she turns her searching eyes on a third man, is like a female jackal in a cemetery, who also, while preying on one corpse, holds another (corpse) guarded by her side-long glances (routed or channelled through the corners of the eyes) and turns her searching, avid eyes on a third corpse.
578) Harlots having first ascertained the entire property (wealth) of a man, constantly think of how to relieve him of it, their minds wholly and solely concentrated on this single design and their hands constantly engaged in grabbing
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