At times he felt, deep in his chest, a dying, quiet voice, which admonished him quietly, lamented quietly; he hardly perceived it.  And then, for an hour, he became aware of the strange life he was leading, of him doing lots of things which were only a game, of, though being happy and feeling joy at times, real life still passing him by and not touching him.  As a ball-player plays with his balls, he played with his business-deals, with the people around him, watched them, found amusement in them; with his heart, with the source of his being, he was not with them.  The source ran somewhere, far away from him, ran and ran invisibly, had nothing to do with his life any more.  And at several times he suddenly became scared on account of such thoughts and wished that he would also be gifted with the ability to participate in all of this childlike-naive occupations of the daytime with passion and with his heart, really to live, really to act, really to enjoy and to live instead of just standing by as a spectator.  But again and again, he came back to beautiful Kamala, learned the art of love, practised the cult of lust, in which more than in anything else giving and taking becomes one, chatted with her, learned from her, gave her advice, received advice.  She understood him better than Govinda used to understand him, she was more similar to him.

Once, he said to her:  “You are like me, you are different from most people.  You are Kamala, nothing else, and inside of you, there is a peace and refuge, to which you can go at every hour of the day and be at home at yourself, as I can also do.  Few people have this, and yet all could have it.”

“Not all people are smart,” said Kamala.

“No,” said Siddhartha, “that’s not the reason why.  Kamaswami is just as smart as I, and still has no refuge in himself.  Others have it, who are small children with respect to their mind.  Most people, Kamala, are like a falling leaf, which is blown and is turning around through the air, and wavers, and tumbles to the ground.  But others, a few, are like stars, they go on a fixed course, no wind reaches them, in themselves they have their law and their course.  Among all the learned men and Samanas, of which I knew many, there was one of this kind, a perfected one, I’ll never be able to forget him.  It is that Gotama, the exalted one, who is spreading that teachings.  Thousands of followers are listening to his teachings every day, follow his instructions every hour, but they are all falling leaves, not in themselves they have teachings and a law.”

Kamala looked at him with a smile.  “Again, you’re talking about him,” she said, “again, you’re having a Samana’s thoughts.”

Siddhartha said nothing, and they played the game of love, one of the thirty or forty different games Kamala knew.  Her body was flexible like that of a jaguar and like the bow of a hunter; he who had learned from her how to make love, was knowledgeable of many forms of lust, many secrets.  For a long time, she played with Siddhartha, enticed him, rejected him, forced him, embraced him:  enjoyed his masterful skills, until he was defeated and rested exhausted by her side.