rising upon an old one! Yesterday, while we were lagging behind, my royal friend entered yonder hermitage after a deer; and there, as ill-luck would have it, caught sight of a beautiful girl, called Sakoontalá, the hermit's daughter. From that moment, not another thought about returning to the city! and all last night not a wink of sleep did he get for thinking of the damsel. What is to be done? At any rate I will be on the watch for him as soon as he has finished his toilet. [Walking and looking about.] Oh! here he comes, attended by the Yavana women with bows in their hands, and wearing garlands of wild flowers. What shall I do? I have it. I will pretend to stand in the easiest attitude for resting my bruised and crippled limbs. [Stands leaning on a staff. Enter King DUSHYANTA, followed by a retinue, in the manner described. KING. True, by no easy conquest may I win her, The hearts of both are ripe for his delights. 34 , [Smiling.] Ah! thus does the lover delude himself; judging of the state of his loved one's feelings by his own desires. But yet, The stolen glance with half-averted eye, MÁTHAVYA. [Still in the same attitude. Ah, friends, my hands cannot move to greet you with the usual salutation. I can only just command my lips to wish your Majesty victory. KING. Why, what has paralysed your limbs? MÁTHAVYA. You might as well ask me how my eye comes to water after you have poked your finger into it. KING. I don't understand you; speak more intelligibly. MÁTHAVYA. Ah, my dear friend, is yonder upright reed transformed into a crooked plant by its own act, or by the force of the current? KING. The current of the river causes it, I suppose. D MÁTHAVYA. Ay; just as you are the cause of my crippled limbs. KING. How so? MÁTHAVYA. Here are you living the life of a wild man of the woods in a savage unfrequented region, while your State-affairs are left to shift for themselves; and as for poor me, I am no longer master of my own limbs, but have to follow you about day after day in your chases after wild animals, till my bones are all crippled and out of joint. Do, my dear friend, let me have one day's rest. This fellow little knows, while he talks in this manner, that my mind is wholly engrossed by recollections of the hermit's daughter, and quite as disinclined to the chase as his own. No longer can I bend my well-braced bow MÁTHAVYA. [Looking in the KING's face. I may as well speak to the winds, for any attention you pay to my requests. I suppose you have something on your mind, and are talking it over to yourself. KING. [Smiling. I was only thinking that I ought not to disregard a friend's request. MÁTHAVYA. Then may the King live for ever! KING. [Moves off Stay a moment, my dear friend. I have something When you have rested, you must assist me in another business which will give you no fatigue. MÁTHAVYA. In eating something nice, I hope. KING. You shall know at some future time. MÁTHAVYA. No time better than the present. O Raivatika, bid the General of the forces attend. WARDER. I will, Sire. [Exit and re-enters with the GENERAL.] Come forward, General; his Majesty is looking towards you, and has some order to give you. Though hunting is known to produce ill effects, my royal master has derived only benefit from it. For Like the majestic elephant that roams O'er mountain wilds, so does the King display A stalwart frame, instinct with vigorous life. His brawny arms and manly chest are scored By frequent passage of the sounding string; Unharmed he bears the midday sun; no toil His mighty spirit daunts; his sturdy limbs, Stripped of redundant flesh, relinquish nought Of their robust proportions, but appear In muscle, nerve, and sinewy fibre cased. [Approaching the KING.] Victory to the King! We have |