Siddhartha

Siddhartha travels along his path through mountains, forests, and rice fields, noticing with renewed wonder and appreciation every detail, color, and sound offered by the natural world. He reflects on what he learned from the Buddha, reasoning that “[b]oth thoughts and senses were fine things, [and] behind both of them lay hidden the last meaning” (39). He will listen to both their voices in his attempt to reach enlightenment. One night, sleeping in a ferryman’s hut, Siddhartha has a sensual dream in which Govinda appears and transforms into a woman. On awakening, Siddhartha’s senses are even more receptive to stimuli. A friendly ferryman named Vasudeva takes him across the river, commenting on its beauty and demanding no payment from his passenger, whom he swears he will see again. Siddhartha reflects that the grateful, simple ferryman is like Govinda. On reaching the next village, Siddhartha comes across an attractive and friendly young woman, who makes an inviting sexual gesture toward him. Siddhartha is aroused and tempted but follows his inner voice’s command to refuse her.

Siddhartha moves on and reaches a busy town, where he feels the need to be with people. Just outside it, he crosses the path of a slender, beautiful, and clever-looking woman named

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