No,
my friends, I shall never be an ascetic, whatever you may say.
I
shall never be an ascetic if she does not take the vow with me.
It
is my firm resolve that if I cannot find a shady shelter and a companion
for my penance, I shall never turn ascetic.
No,
my friends, I shall never leave my hearth and home, and retire into the
forest solitude, if rings no merry laughter in its echoing shade and if
the end of no saffron mantle flutters in the wind; if its silence is not
deepened by soft whispers.
I
shall never be an ascetic.