The World of Courtesans c10.139

c10.139

He is asked, "If the old and new mistresses came face to face, what is to be done?" The Vita says that both should be mollified. He is asked how one can discern a woman in love even as she walks. The Vita replies that the eyes express the intensity of passion. The woman who turns her face away is difficult to win. The woman who pouts her lips, scratches her body, places her left hand on the hips while the right hand is hanging freely is easy to win. But her pride has to be reckoned with. A woman who covers her breasts with the end of a scarf, places one foot on the threshold of the house, hides behind the door is not a woman but a veritable snare. A woman who holds on to the shutters of the door, and has the knot of her *sari* loosened is easily available. A woman who has red hands and fingers, and manicured nails, who places her hands on the cheeks and walks with a slow gait, a woman who smiles coquettishly, whose face is calm and whose *sari*-knot is below the navel is a net to snare everybody. She spearheads the attack in the war of love.