The World of Courtesans c11.145

c11.145

"Kalavati stares intently at the envoy of the Malava ruler. He wears a jasmine garland and his cut and patched nose proclaim his dissolute life. The bawd Kankali espies Ranka, the son of a rich merchant. He has been brought here by some of his good-for-nothing neighbours. The bawd asserts that a merchant's son, whose face is covered with the stains of *pan*, whose glance moves uncertainly here and there and whose red shoes creak while he walks, such a simpleton is the right sort of prey for prostitutes.' At once Kankali asks the barber to invite him to Kalavati's house