The Beautiful Apparition

I was posted to the cantonment at Rampur. As a young captain from the cavalry, I had free time only on Sunday. On that day, I would either take my horse from the regiment stables and ride out or spend time in the Rampur market, which sold old trinkets and books, some of them from the days of the British Raj.
I have always been interested in the period of the Raj, the time the British ruled India, and I have been able to get some old books from the shops. On this Sunday, I did not go riding but went over to the market. I went to my favorite shop and asked the shopkeeper if he had anything old. He smiled and said," Huzoor, I have a very old book, the pages of which are yellow, and half the book is missing, but it is about 100 years old from the days of the Raj, and you may like it.
"Show it to me," I asked. He took out an old book without a cover and told me," You can take it, sir, but it will cost you Rs 100."
"That's okay," I said," I don't mind paying the money," and took the book. I left the market and returned to the officer's mess to my single apartment. That night, I opened the book and decided to read some passages from it. I was surprised that the book was written by an Army captain of the British army who had served in Rampur 100 years back.
The captain had given an excellent description of the area. He also mentioned that there was a small Lake nearby, and he had gone to the lake, and there he had seen a most beautiful woman wading in the lake. The beauty of the woman intoxicated him, but he did not come out of hiding in the woods and kept on watching. He could see that the girl was laughing and playful and, in the moonlight, could make out that she was extremely beautiful. Maybe she was a princess. The girl soon left, and the captain came back to the mess.
He further wrote that he would go to that Lake every night, but never saw that girl again. He was going to give up, but decided to take a last chance because he had been transferred to Calcutta. In the book, he writes that nothing happened, and he thought he had a hallucination. He remembered the beauty of the girl, and he had no hesitation in entering in his diary that she had the most beautiful breasts and appeared to be a celestial being. He never went to that Lake again, as he was posted to Calcutta and mentioned in his article that if someone who reads this story should take it seriously because it is true, and maybe on a full moon night, if somebody knew of a Princess or local girl bathing in the pond. This was the only passage in the book that interested me, but others were desultory.
I went to sleep, but the story stuck in my mind, and I thought about going there on the full moon night. I had decided that I would go there, but unlike the captain, I would swim in the pool in the middle of the night, when the moon was at its brightest, and see what happened.

I did not tell my commanding officer or the Adjutant about this. I decided to go to that pond, which I knew very well. On the full moon night, I made my way to the pond. It was calm and serene. I was thinking about what the captain had written and whether it could be true. A cold wind blew, and I decided to dip and swim in the pond, unlike the British captain, who hid in the woods and watched the girl.
I stripped off my dress and my underclothes. I moved towards the pond and entered the water. It was cool, but then I realised this was not very deep, just about 4 feet deep at the maximum. I slowly treaded towards a waterfall, which was the beauty of the lake. I stood under the fall for about half an hour.
I thought it was enough, and I will go back. Probably what the captain had written was a figment of his imagination. Behind the waterfall was a small cave. It was not very big and sat on a rock, thinking about what to do. I was thinking of coming out of the waterfall and returning when I heard a soft sound. I was surprised as I peered from behind the cascading water to see a beautiful girl in the water. The pond had only waist-deep water; I could see only up to the navel. The moonlight made her look unreal and beautiful. She turns towards me, and I can watch her from behind the waterfall. I could now see her from the navel up, and there was no doubt that she was beautiful with the loveliest breasts I have ever seen. She had a flawless complexion, as a goddess, and wondered if she could be Rukmani, the consort of Lord Krishna.
I was pretty sure the girl had come from the village, and maybe she was a daughter of the Zamindar (Rich landlord), and was taking a bath. I remember that the captain had written that the woman could be an apparition. I didn't believe it, and I was sure she was someone real. I watched as the girl dipped in the water, and as it was not very deep, her feet must have touched the sand, and she had pushed herself up. She rose from the water before going back inside, and during that moment, I saw a profusion of curls on her mons. I desired her.
I decided to come out of the waterfall and talk to the girl. I emerged, and the girl smiled like she knew I loved her. I asked, "Who are you?"
She smiled and replied softly, "You may see me but not touch me." She again lifted her from the water, and I saw her. I tried to touch her, but she left the pond and ran into the woods. I could not follow her as I was naked. I was sure she would have some clothes nearby, but I would be without my clothes, so I went back.
I made inquiries, but nobody seemed to know anything about any girl going and washing herself. Many told me that I was bluffing. I never saw the girl again, and I wonder whether it was all a figment of my imagination.

Many years elapsed, and I became Lieutenant Colonel and was posted to Lucknow. I was told a young subaltern had joined the army. She was a woman, and it was her first posting. My Adjutant asked me whether I would interview her.
I instructed him to bring her to my office for the interview. I sat in my chair, and the girl entered. She was extremely smart and beautiful, but I was in for a shock. There was no doubt, she was the same girl whom I had met in the pond 20 years back. I was tongue-tied and could not say anything as I was now 42 and she was 20. What was happening? I don't know, Lord Krishna's ways are mysterious.