I crossed the zigzag bridge and entered the path leading away from it. Now the whole pond lay spread out before me. Unexpectedly I was standing under the remaining flowers of the crape myrtle that had attracted my attention when I first looked out over the garden a little while ago. This time, by contrast, I was able to see from under the crape myrtle to the side gate of the main palace garden, which I had visited first.

For a while I stood still and looked with a certain nostalgia at that little gate left open there. I was now part of the picture that I had previously seen through its perfect frame. Beyond that frame was the tumultuous world of the present, but on this side was a carefully protected and uninhabited region of stillness.

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