In the next place he should get her to meet him in some place privately,
and should then tell her that the reason of his giving presents to her
in secret was the fear that the parents of both of them might be
displeased, and then he may add that the things which he had given her
had been much desired by other people. When her love begins to show
signs of increasing he should relate to her agreeable stories if she
expresses a wish to hear such narratives. Or if she takes delight in
legerdemain, he should amaze her by performing various tricks of
jugglery; or if she feels a great curiosity to see a performance of the
various arts, he should show his own skill in them. When she is
delighted with singing he should entertain her with music, and on
certain days, and at the time of going together to moonlight fairs and
festivals, and at the time of her return after being absent from home,
he should present her with bouquets of flowers, and with chaplets for
the head, and with ear ornaments and rings, for these are the proper
occasions on which such things should be presented.
He should also teach the daughter of the girl's nurse all the sixty-four
means of pleasure practised by men, and under this pretext should also
inform her of his great skill in the art of sexual enjoyment. All this
time he should wear a fine dress, and make as good an appearance as
possible, for young women love men who live with them, and who are
handsome, good looking and well dressed. As for the saying that though
women may fall in love, they still make no effort themselves to gain
over the object of their affections, that is only a matter of idle talk.
Now a girl always shows her love by outward signs and actions, such as
the following:--She never looks the man in the face, and becomes abashed
when she is looked at by him; under some pretext or other she shows her
limbs to him; she looks secretly at him though he has gone away from her
side; hangs down her head when she is asked some question by him, and
answers in indistinct words and unfinished sentences, delights to be in
his company for a long time, speaks to her attendants in a peculiar tone
with the hope of attracting his attention towards her when she is at a
distance from him, does not wish to go from the place where he is, under
some pretext or other she makes him look at different things, narrates
to him tales and stories very slowly so that she may continue conversing
with him for a long time, kisses and embraces before him a child sitting
in her lap, draws ornamental marks on the foreheads of her female
servants, performs sportive and graceful movements when her attendants
speak jestingly to her in the presence of her lover, confides in her
lover's friends, and respects and obeys them, shows kindness to his
servants, converses with them, and engages them to do her work as if she
were their mistress, and listens attentively to them when they tell
stories about her lover to somebody else, enters his house when induced
to do so by the daughter of her nurse, and by her assistance manages to
converse and play with him, avoids being seen by her lover when she is
not dressed and decorated, gives him by the hand of her female friend
her ear ornament, ring, or garland of flowers that he may have asked to
see, always wears anything that he may have presented to her, become
dejected when any other bridegroom is mentioned by her parents, and does
not mix with those who may be of her party, or who may support his
claims.