shadows, devoid of darkness, cast by the chariots of gods and goddesses had fallen on the clouds, and as if for fear lest their purity coming in contact with the shadow of the sinful Shaibalini should lessen her sins, they moved their chariots away. The star-beauties leaning their tiny heads out of the blue canopy, all pointed one to another at Shaibalini’s corpse with their gleaming fingers and said, “Look sister, look; just fancy, there is unchastity even among the human women.” Here one star closed her eyes with a shudder, there another hid her face in the clouds for shame, and a third faded away at the very mention of an unchaste woman. The ghouls soared up high, higher and yet higher, across more clouds and more stars. They went on as they wanted to go up very very high to throw down Shaibalini’s corpse into the abyss of hell. In that region where they reached at‘ last, there was only darkness and cold-no clouds, no stars, no light, no air, no sound. Sure enough there was no sound, but suddenly there came from very far far below a deep terrific rumbling noise as if at some great distance down below, a hundred thousand oceans roared simultaneously.
“There is the hubbub of hell,” said the ghouls. “Let us throw the corpse from here,” and they kicked at Shaibalini’s head. The corpse rolled down in a spin, and down and down Shaibalini went. With the increasing depth of the fall, the whirl gradually grew in rapidity, till at last the corpse spun round like a potter’s wheel—the mouth and nostrils vomiting blood all the while. Gradually the roar of hell grew nearer, the putrid stench increased and suddenly the dead-alive Shaibalini saw hell at a distance. At once her eyes lost their sight, her ears their sense of sound. Then she began to meditate on Chandrashekhar, and thus mentally apostrophised
