KANWA. Give honour to your elders; never

GAUT.

jealous ;

But to your rivals be as a dear friend. Even tho' your husband wrong you with harsh usage,

Let not the anger in you act the rebel.
Have ever courtesy for those that
serve you,

Not arrogant in prosperity; for so
Do young wives grow to matron's
dignity,

A blessing on their home, and not a

bane.

But what says Gautami ?

Woman could not better

Such counsel. Daughter, take it well

to mind.

KANWA. One last embrace, child. Then we all

must part.

SAKUN. Oh, Father, must then even Priyam

vada

And Anasuya leave me, here, and

now ?

KANWA. Daughter, they also one day must be

given

In marriage. Therefore they go not

to court.

Gautami will go with you.

SAKUN. (Throwing her arms round Kanwa)

My dear Father,

I cannot bear the parting. I am torn,
Torn like a tendril of the sandal tree
That some one breaks in its own home,
breaks off

And carries with him from the western

hills.

It breaks me to be torn so from your

breast.

How can I bear life on a foreign soil? KANWA. The blessing of my old age on you,

child,

My child. May all my prayers for you come true.

SAKUN. Put your arms round me, both of you, dear friends,

Dear, dear companions.

ANAS.

Dear Sakuntala,

Remember, if the King-it might so

chance

Be slow at first in recognising you,

You have but to show this ring, marked with his name.

SAKUN. The very thought of doubt makes my heart beat.

PRIYAM. There's no real cause for fearing.

SARN.

Come, lady,

We must haste onward. The sun's rising high.

SAKUN. When shall I see this happy grove

again?

KANWA. You shall return. When for long years you have been

Fellowed in majesty with that rich realm

Whose boundaries are the boundaries

of the Earth,

The rising and the setting of the sun; When you have found your peerless son a bride,

GAUT.

KANWA.

SAKUN.

And he takes on the realm's care in

his turn,

Then shall you come, you and your lord together,

And both re-enter this old place of

peace.

The favourable time for travel passes,
We must be gone, child. Venerable
Father,

Lead home the others now, go your-
self first,

Or these last words will never end.

Keep me no longer.

My daughter,

Oh, most loving of Fathers, Too much of austere penance has

unthewed

Your strength; but suffer not yourself to grieve

Too much because of me. Be com

forted.

KANWA. I shall see growing from the grains of

rice

Dropt from your hands, when you

made offering of it,

shoots.

The green shoots.

springing up

When I see them

How shall my grief ever be comforted? SAKUN. Farewell, Father; Farewell, sisters.

(Exit)

PRIYAM. Oh, she is gone, gone, and the trees

have hidden

Our darling from our sight.

KANWA.

Let us go home.

ANAS.

Control your tears.

The grove is all a desert Without Sakuntala. How can we go

home?

KANWA. It is meet and natural that it should

seem so,

Because of the affection in your hearts.
But come. Now that Sakuntala is

gone,

A kind of calm begins to steal on me
And solaces the sad thoughts of my

mind.