She said: "I am sorry to have kept you waiting long. Pardon me."

Kausika, burning with anger, said: " Lady, you have made me wait for such a long time. This indifference is not fair."

The woman told the brahmana: "Best of brahmanas, kindly do forgive me. I was serving my husband and hence the delay."

The brahmana remarked: "It is right and proper to attend on the husband, but the brahmana also should not be disregarded. You seem an arrogant woman."

She said: "Be not angry with me and remember that I kept you waiting only because I was dutifully serving my husband.

I am no crane to be killed by a violent thought and your rage can do no harm to the woman who devotes herself to the service of her husband."

The brahmana was taken aback. He wondered how the woman knew of the crane incident.