Verse 27

²²There was once a courtesan named Pingala in the city of Videha. Learn from me something of what I learned from her, prince. ²³That woman, who went her own way, meant one day to bring a lover to the appointed place. When the hour came she stood outside her door, wearing her finest looks. ²⁴Bull among men, watching the men come along the road, she reckoned every moneyed one who could pay her fee to be a lover, wanting what they carried. ²⁵As they came and as they went, she who lived by such appointments thought: perhaps some other man with money will come to me, one who gives freely. ²⁶So with that poor hope in her, her sleep broken, leaning at the door, going out and coming in, she reached the middle of the night.

²⁷Her mouth dried with the hope of money and her mind low, and there arose in her the highest turning away, born of her worrying and bringing happiness with it.