consider about her reunion with a former lover. But she should return to him only if he has
acquired fresh wealth, or is still wealthy, and if he is still attached to her. And if this man be living
at the time with some other woman she should consider well before she acts. Now such a man
can only be in one of the six following conditions:
He may have left the first woman of his own accord, and may even have left another woman
since then.
He may have been driven away from both women.
He may have left the one woman of her own accord, and been driven away by
the other.
He may have left the one woman of his own accord, and be living with
another woman.
He may have been driven away from the one woman, and left the other of his
own accord.
He may have been driven away by the one woman, and may be living with
another.
Now if the man has left both women of his own accord, he should not be resorted to, on account
of the fickleness of his mind, and his indifference to the excellences of both of them. As regards
the man who may have been driven away from both women, if he has been driven away from the
last one because the woman could get more money from some other man, then he should be
resorted to, for if attached to the first woman he would give her more money, through vanity and
emulation to spite the other woman. But if he has been driven away by the woman on account of
his poverty, or stinginess, he should not then be resorted to. In the case of the man who may
have left the one woman of his own accord, and been driven away by the other, if he agrees to
return to the former and give her plenty of money beforehand, then he should be resorted to. In
the case of the man who may have left the one woman of his own accord, and be living with
another woman, the former (wishing to take up with him again) should first ascertain if he left her
in the first instance in the hope of finding some particular excellence in the other woman, and that
not having found any such excellence, he was willing to come back to her, and to give her much
money on account of his conduct, and on account of his affection still existing for her. Or,
whether, having discovered many faults in the other woman, he would now see even more
excellences in herself than actually exist, and would be prepared to give her much money for
these qualities. Or, lastly, to consider whether he was a weak man, or a man fond of enjoying
many women, or one who liked a poor woman, or one who never did anything for the woman that
he was with. After maturely considering all these things, she should resort to him or not,
according to circumstances. As regards the man who may have been driven away from the one
woman, and left the other of his own accord, the former woman (wishing to reunite with him)
should first ascertain whether he still has any affection for her, and would consequently spend
much money upon her; or whether, being attached to her excellent qualities, he did not take
delight in any other woman; or whether, being driven away from her formerly before completely
satisfying his sexual desires, he wished to get back to her, so as to be revenged for the injury
done to him; or whether he wished to create confidence in her mind, and then take back from her
the wealth which she formerly took from him, and finally destroy her; or, lastly, whether he wished
first to separate her from her present lover, and then to break away from her himself. If, after
considering all these things, sire is of opinion that his intentions are really pure and honest, she
can reunite herself with him. But if his mind be at all tainted with evil intentions, he should be
avoided. In the case of the man who may have been driven away by one woman, and be living
with another, if the man makes overtures to return to the first one, the courtesan should consider
well before she acts, and while the other woman is engaged in attracting him to herself, she
should try in her turn (though keeping herself behind the scenes) to gain him over, on the grounds
of any of the following considerations:
That he was driven away unjustly and for no proper reason, and now that he has gone to
another woman, every effort must be used to bring him back to myself.
That if he were once to converse with me again, he would break away from
the other woman.
That the pride of my present lover would be put down by means of the former
one.
That he has become wealthy, has secured a higher position, and holds a place
of authority under the king.
That he is separate from his wife.
That he is now independent.
That he lives apart from his father, or brother.
That by making peace with him, I shall be able to get hold of a very rich man,
who is now prevented from coming to me by my present lover.
That as he is not respected by his wife, I shall now be able to separate him from her.
That the friend of this man loves my rival, who hates me cordially, I shall therefore by this
means separate the friend from his mistress.
And lastly, I shall bring discredit upon him by bringing him back to me, thus showing the
fickleness of his mind.
When a courtesan is resolved to take up again with a former lover, her confidants and other
servants should tell him that his former expulsion from the woman's house was caused by the
wickedness of her mother; that the woman loved him just as much as ever at that time, but could
not help the occurrence on account of her deference to her mother's will; that she hated the union
of her present lover, and disliked him excessively. In addition to this, they should create
confidence in his mind by speaking to him of her former love for him, and should allude to the
mark of that love that she has ever remembered. This mark of her love should be connected with
some kind of pleasure that may have been practiced by him, such as his way of kissing her, or
manner 'of having connection with her.
Thus end the ways of bringing about a reunion with a former lover. When a woman has to choose
between two lovers, one of whom was formerly united with her, while the other is a stranger, we
are of opinion that the first one is preferable, because his disposition and character being already
known by previous careful observation, he can be easily pleased and satisfied; some also think
that a former lover, having already spent a great deal of his wealth, is not able or willing to give
much money again, and is not therefore to be relied upon so much as a stranger. Particular cases
may however arise differing from this general rule on account of the different natures of men.
There are also verses on the subject as follows:
'Reunion with a former lover may be desirable so as to separate some particular woman from
some particular man, or some particular man from some particular woman, or to have a certain
effect upon the present lover.' 'When a man is excessively attached to a woman, he is afraid of
her coming into contact with other men; he does not then regard or notice her faults and he gives
her much wealth through fear of her leaving him.'
'A courtesan should be agreeable to the man who is attached to her, and despise the man who
does not care for her. If while she is living with one man, a messenger comes to her from some
other man, she may either refuse to listen to any negotiations on his part, or appoint a fixed time
for him to visit her, but she should not leave the man who may be living with her and who may be
attached to her.' 'A wise woman should only renew her connection with a former lover, if she is
satisfied that good fortune, gain, love, and friendship, are likely to be the result of such a reunion.'
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