Vikramorvaseeyam
by
Kavikula Guru
Sri
Kalidasa
translated
by
EDWARD BYLES COWELL,
Vikramorvaseeyam
by Kavikula Guru
Sri Kalidasa
translated by
EDWARD BYLES
COWELL,
ACT II.
Enter the G k
a c i o s o.
GEACIOSO.
[Flurriedly.
Away, O
inviter! In this concourse of people I cannot
restrain my
tongue, with this secret of the king's swelling
in my mouth
like an oblation of boiled rice. While,
therefore,
the King is gone to the judgment-seat, I will
go up to
yonder temple, away from the press of the throng,
and wait
there. {He walks round, and sits down, covering
his mouth
with his hands.)
Enter a
Femalb Seevant.
FEMALE
SERVANT.
This is the
command which I have received from my
lady . the
daughter of the King of Kds'i, " My faithful
Nipunikd,"
she said, "ever since the King returned from
visiting the
Sun, he has seemed as if he had left his heart
behind him;
do thou, therefore, try and learn from the
venerable
Mdnavaka the real cause of his sadness." Now,
in what way
should I put the question to the BrShman?
I will
venture a guess that the King's secret, like the
hoar-frost on
a blade of grass, will not long stay with him
;
I will
therefore, forthwith, go and seek him. {She walks
round and
sees him.) But, strange to say ! there, I declare
OK, THE HERO
AND THE NYMPH, 17
Mfinavaka is
standing, hiding himself in yonder corner, like
an ape in a
picture, and deep in thought on something or
other. I will
go up to him. (^She approaches.) I salute
thee,
reverend Sir !
GEAOIOSO.
I return thy
greeting. {Aside.) The moment that I
look on this
odious maid, the King's secret begins bursting
my heart, and
well nigh forces its way out ! {Aloud,
partly
covering his mouth ) Oh, NipunikS, ! whither art thou
going ? thus
leaving thy music-practice.
SERVANT.
To visit your
reverend self, on an especial commission
from the
Queen.
GEAOIOSO.
What may be
her Highness's commands ?
SERVANT.
" O
reverend Brahman ! " she says, " there is a great
lack of
kindness in thy conduct towards me ; thou regardest
me not in my
present anxiety."
GEAOIOSO.
Oh, Nipunikd
! has any ojBFence been committed by my
my beloved
friend ?
SERVANT.
You know the
woman for whom he sorrows ; he has
actually
addressed the Queen by her name.
GRAOIOSO.
[7b himself.
What ! my
friend, then, has himself revealed the secret
!
How then can
a Br4hman like me hold his tongue any
D
18
VIKEAMORVASI;
longer ? {Aloud.)
Ah ! you mean the noble nymph Urvasi;
since he
became mad from the sight of her, the Queen is
not the only
person whom he hath distressed,
—
me too, a
Brahman, he
hath most grievously afflicted by rigorously
keeping me
away from all food
!
SBBVANT.
[Aside.
I have
attained my end, and broken open my Lord's
impregnable
secret; I will go at once and tell it to her
Highness.
{She begins to retire.)
GBACIOSO.
Oh Nipunikd !
I beseech thee bear this message of mine
to the
daughter of the King of K4s'i ; tell her, " I am utterly
wearied with
endeavouring to turn my loved friend, from
following
this deceitful mirage ; but if he can only behold
your
highness'B lotus face, I am sure he will be efifectually
won
back."
SEEVANT.
As you
command, sir.
[Exit.
The Bard
proclaims behind the scenes
:
—
May the King
be ever victorious ! dispelling to the
ends of the
earth all darkness from thy people ;—
the energy of
thy power and that of the sun's,
seem alike in
our eyes. The Lord of the stars
stands alone
for a moment in the midst of the
sky ; and
thou, too, O King ! takest thy rest in this
sixth portion
of the day !
OR, THE HERO
AND THE NYMPH. 19
GBAOIOSO.
[Listening.
My loved
friend has risen from the judgment-seat; and
in very truth
here he comes ; I will, therefore, attend at his
side.
\_Exit.
(end op the
phavesaka.)
Enter ths
King, oppressed with melancholy,
followed by
the Geacioso.
KING.
That beauty
of the world of the Immortals hath entered
at first
sight into my heart, the way being opened by the
irresistible
arrow of Kdma.
GEACIOSO.
Yes ! and the
daughter of the King of Kfts'i seems, in
truth, to
take it much to heart.
KING.
\_Looking
Jixedly at him.
Will you tell
me how the secret got abroad ?
GBAOIOSO. r ^
-,
[Aside.
I have been
tricked by that daughter of a slave,
Nipunikk ;
otherwise, why should my friend ask this
question ?
KING.
Why do you
stand thus silent ?
GBAOIOSO.
Verily my
tongue was tied so fast that I could not even
make it
answer the King.
20
VIKKAMOBVASI;
KING.
It is
well;—with what shall I now try to divert myself?
GEAOIOSO.
Oh ! let us
go into the kitchen.
KING.
And what
shall we do there ?
QBACIOSO.
Let the
enjoyment of the five kinds of viands, with the
choicest
delicacies, gladden your melancholy with sweetmeats,
candied
sugar, and cakes.
KING.
You, indeed,
will be happy there with the various forms
of your
favourite dishes ; but how should I be gladdened,
who only seek
the unattainable ?
GEACIOSO.
You have
crossed, I tell you, the path of the lady
Urvas'i's
vision.
KING.
What then ?
GBACIOSO.
I expect that
you will not find her so very unattainable.
KING.
The equal of
her beauty must needs be superhuman.
GBAOIOSO.
You rouse my
curiosity ! What matters the lady Urvas'i's
beauty ? I am
sure I am considered second after her !
KING.
I have never
yet described her limb by limb ; hear it in
a few words.
GBAOIOBO.
I am all
attention.
OB, THE HERO AND THE NYMPH. 21
KING.
Oh ! my
friend ! her form is the ornament of ornaments ;
itself adds
the grace to all lovely decorations, and it mocks
the
similitude of all comparisons.
GEACIOSO.
Well ! well !
you embrace this exquisite beauty in your
quicksilver-chase,
only as the thirsty Chdtaka follows the
mirage.
KING.
Oh ! my
friend ! cool retreats* are the only refuge for my
fevered soul
;—lead the way at once to the pleasure-garden.
SKACIOSO.
What's to be
done ?—This is the way ; lo ! here is the
pleasure-garden's
enclosure. {They walk round). See, too,
without
waiting for your command, the south wind has
hastened
hither "to welcome you.f
KING.
Well-suited,
indeed, is the character of the breeze. Lo
!
here it
comes, dropping on its way the beauty of the Spring,
and making
the twining jasmine play ; it seems to me like
a lover, from
the union of affection and kindness.
GEAOIOSO.
May it be
like you in constancy ! Will your highness
enter the
garden ?
* JUterally,
" cold appliances."
t I have here
followed the reading ^TW (prakrit for ^^^1*5)
instead of
^Telrf, which Lenz found in all the MSS. See his
Apparatus
Critimts, p. 12.
22
VIKRAMOB,VAgl'i
KING.
Enter thou
first, my friend.
{They enter.
KING.
[ Tremhling.
Alas ! my
friend ! I thought that I should heal my
melancholy,
if I strolled into the garden ; but far otherwise
is it proved
by the event. This fair enclosure, after all,
yields no
rest, though I longed to enter it ; like the great
wave that
stops the traveller's swimming, while he is carried
away by the
stream.*
GB.ACI080.
How so ?
KING.
The god with
the five arrows had even before this too
deeply
wounded my heart, and in vain I strove to repress
its fond
desires after the unattainable ; but how much
deeper now is
the wound, when I see the young branches
put forth by
the Mangoes whose pale leaves are torn by
the wind that
blows fresh from Malaya ?
G£ACIOSO.
Let your
highness cease these complaints ; ere long the
god of love
will be your friend, and will guide you to the
attainment of
your desires.
KING.
I accept the
good omen from the Br&hman's lips.
[ They walk
round.
* The
Scholiast (Lenz App. Crit.J explains pratipataranam, by
pratikiilaplavanam.
OB, THE HERO AND THE NYMPH. 23
GBA0IO8O.
Only look, I
beseech you, at the beauty of the garden,
with the
Avatdr of spring revealed.
KING.
I am looking
at it at every step. Lo ! yonder, in front
of us, is the
Kuruvaka-blossom, pink like a woman's
nails, and
dark at either edge ; and there the young
As'oka-blossom,
looking up as it opens, ever ready to be
won by
proffered caresses. And yonder hangs the fresh
branch of the
Amra tree, with its sprays brown with the
yet scanty
pollen of its flowers ; O ! my friend ! how
the Spring
stands between Beauty and Youth as its
companions !
GEACI080.
See ! this
bower of MSdhavi creepers, with its seat of
black stone,
and its blossoms all covered with swarms of
bees, seems
made of its own accord for your service ; let it
receive your
favour.
KING.
As you
please.
{They sit
down.
GBAOIOSO.
Here, then
seated on such a seat, O King ! let your eyes
seek the
lovely creeping plants, and smile away your desires
after
Urvas/i.
KING.
[Sighing
deeply.
O ! my friend
! even in yon creepers of the garden, with
their lovely
branches and all their profusion of blossoms,
24
VIKRAMORVASI
;
the eye
cannot find its rest, which languishes from the sight
of that
maiden ! O ! think of some remedy for this !
GEACIOSO.
[
Considering.
Well ! I am
thinking ; but do not again, I pray you,
break the
thread of my thoughts by your complainings.
{Making a
sudden motion to himself). Ah ! I see what is
to be done !
KING.
That maiden
with a face bright like the full moon, is,
alas ! far
beyond my reach ;—what, then, means this sudden
portent,
which KSma works within me ? My heart in a
moment hath
attained serenity, as though the bliss, which
it sighs for,
were really present before it.
\He sits lost
in a love reverie.
Atthismoment
enter, aloftinthe air, Ubta'si and Chitealekha.
CHITEAIiEKHaT
Dear Urvas'i
! whither are you going, without mentioning
the reason of
your journey ?
uevas'l
[ With an
expression oflove-sorrow, mingled with shame.
Dear friend !
when I said to you, on the peak of
Hemakdta,
" O ! release my garland, which is entanged in
the branch of
a creeper," you smiled as you answered, " It
is, indeed,
firmly held, and it cannot be unloosed !"' and do
you ask me
now whither I am going without mentioning the
reason of my
journey ?
OR. THE HERO
AND THE NYMPH. 25
OHITEALBKHi.
Are you then,
indeed, set out to visit the holy king,
Pururavas ?
UEVASL
This is,
indeed, my purpose,—disregarding all the misgivings
of shame.
chitealekhaT
But whom has
my dear Urvas'i sent before her.
UEVAsir
Whom,
indeed—but my heart ?
OHITEALEKlfA.
Yet even now,
pause awhile and consider.
uevas'l
Love truly
orders me forward,—how can I then stay
to consider?
OHITEALBKHA.-
Then I can
say nothing more.
uevas'l
Dear friend !
pray then shew me the path, by which I
shall meet no
hindrance in my going thither.
chitealekh£
Be of good
cheer ;—the holy preceptor of the Gods has
taught us the
speU called Invincible, of " binding the braid."
With this we
are rendered safe from any of the enemies of
the Gods.
26
VIKRAMORVAsf;
URVASir
All this my
heart knows well, and yet still I stand
irresolute in
my excessive fear.
[^Both fy
onwards.
OHITBALEKHA.
Look, dear
Urvas'i ! look here !—we are come to the
Palace of the
holy King, which rises like a crest over the
city
Fratishthina, as it stands viewing its reflected image in
the pure
waters of Gang&, at their meeting with Yamun4.
UEVASI,
\Wiih longing
looks.
Oh ! it may
be truly said that heaven itself seems to
have entered
this spot. Oh ! my friend, where is that
compassionator
of the distressed ?
ohitsalekeX.
We shall know
if we alight in this fair garden, which
seems like
some glade of the groves of Nandana.
\_They both
descend.
ohitb;alekha.
Lo ! yonder,
dearest, he stands awaiting thee, like the
newly-risen
Moon, the Moonlight.*
* This
distinctive personification of the Moon and its light is not
unfrequent.
Thus (Gorresio's EAmayana, vol. iii., p. 273) EAma says
,'that his
wife SitA had left him as the splendour leaves the Sun,
when it sinks
in theWest."
OR, THB HERO
AND THE NYMPH. 27
UEVA^L
Oh, my friend
! the great King seems still dearer to
look upon
than even when first I saw him.
OHITEALEKHA.
It should be
so,—come, then, let us approach him.
UEVASI.''
I will not
approach him yet. I will first conceal myself
in my veil,*
and stand by his side, and listen to what he
is
deliberating upon with his bosom friend, in this solitary
place.
OHITEALEKHA.
As you
please.
{They do so.
GBAOIOSO.
[To the King.
Oh' at last I
have discovered a plan for thy meeting
with this
object of thy love, though she be so hard to
be won.
TTEVA^
\To
Chitealekha.
Alas ! who
may this happy woman be, who knows the
joy to be
wooed by him ?
OHITEALEKHA.
Why do you
hesitate to discover the secret by your
divine
faculty of Meditation ?
UETABL
Alas ! I fear
to know it too quickly by my power.
* Velo, quo
me mvisiUlem reddo—Lbnz.
28
vikbamorvaSi!
geacioso. ^„
, „
[To the King.
Yes, I repeat
it. I have discovered a plan for thy
meeting with
this difficult object.
KING.
Speak it
forth, my friend.
GBACIOSO.
Let your
highness be an assiduous votary of Sleep, for
it is Sleep
who brings lovers together in its dreams : or
paint an
image of the lady Urvas'i in a picture, and solace
thy heart to
its fill with gazing on it.
UBVA^I.
[Aside.
Beat freely
again, O my heart
!
KING.
Both your
plans are alike failures ; only look,—^this
heart of mine
is pierced through with the arrows of Kima;
how then can
I find that sleep which would bring me her
presence in
its dreams ? Nor even if I obtained in a
picture my
beloved of the beautiful countenance, would the
tear-fioods stop,
O my friend ! which mil rise in my eyes.
ohitbalekhI
[To Uktasi.
Dearest ! do
you hear these words ?
UEVASL
I hear them,
but they are still not enough for my heart.
OSAOIOSO.
[To Me King.
Well ; no
further reaches my ingenuity
!
OB, THE HERO AND THE NYMPH. 29
KING.
[Sighing.
She, who
knows not the deep anguish of the sickness
of my heart,
despises my poor love, which her divine
insight
reads, O Kdma ! with thy five arrows, I thank
thee, fare
thou bravely, for thus raising in my soul this hope
of her presence,
which has withered ere it could bear its
fruit !*
TTBVASf
\_LooMng at
her companion.
For shame !
does the great King thus divine my thoughts ?
Again do I
feel unable to stand before him, and reveal
myself;—I
will, therefore, write a line on this birch-leaf,
which my
power hath created for the occasion, and I wUl
fling it in
his way.
CHITBALEEHA.
I cordially
approve your plan.
[Uevasi
writes, and throws it on the grornid.
GBAOIOSO.
Wonderful !
oh, heavens ! what can this be ? Some
snake's
cast-off skin fallen on me to eat me up ?
KING.
\Lo6king.
No snake's
cast-off skin is this,—these are letters that
are written
on the birch-leaf.
* I have
followed Lenz in interpreting this as ironical, but I have
been obliged
rather to expand it, to express the meaning.
30
VIKEAMOaVASI
;
OKAOIOSO.
Can the lady
Urvas'i, unseen by us, have heard your
Highness'
complaints, and written these letters on the birchleaf,
and flung it
there, to testify her great love ?
KING.
Nothing is
impossible to the heavenly powers. (He
joyfully
seizes and reads it.) Oh, my friend ! thy conjecture
has come true
!
GBACIOSO.
I long to
hear what is written there
!
TJBVASl.
\_As^,
Bravo ! my
worthy friend,—I admire your shrewdness.
KING.
Hear then.
\_H.e reads.
" O my
lord ! as thou didst think of me, that I was
ignorant of
thy sorrow, so did I think of thee, who didst
love me ; and
to me there hath been ever since no joy, as I
rested on my
couch of the sweet flowers of the coral-tree
;
and the very
winds, as they blow through the groves of
Nandana, to
my fevered frame seem like fire."
UEVASI.
[To
Chitralekha-
"What
does he say now ?
CHITBALEKHA.
What, indeed,
should he say, with his limbs thus faded,
like the
stalk of a lotus ?
OR, THE HBRO
AND THE NYMPH. 31
GBACIOSO.
Joy ! your
Highness' solace is like the initiatory rite at
a sacrifice
to me, when I am hungry.
KING.
Oh ! why dost
thou call it but a solace ? Only look,
—
this
leaf-borne declaration of my adored one, this messenger
of her
responding love, and pledge of the most desired
possession,
is as though my face, with open eyelids, were
close to
her's, with those eyes bright like wine
!
UEVASL
[_Aside.
Here, indeed,
our souls agree !
KING.
Ah, my
friend, these letters are fading from the moisture
of my
hand,—take and hold my loved one's pledge in thine.
GEAOIOSO.
What matters
it ? The lady Urvas'i has shown thee the
blossom of
thy desire, but she breaks her promise in the fruit.
UBVASL
[To
Chitkalekka.
Oh, dearest !
while I collect myself from the agitation
of standing
so near him, do thou display thyself before him,
and speak out
what I approve.
CHITBALEKHi^
[Advancmg
towards the king.
May the great
King be ever victorious I
KING.
[Starting at
her sudden appearance, and in a
courteous
tone.
Welcome to
your highness ! (He looks at her side, as
32
VIKRAMOBVABT;
for another.)
O happy one ! thou dost not now so gladden
my soul, thus
coming without that friend of thine, like
Yamund. when
parted from Ganga, if we had fii'st seen it
united.
OHlTBAIEKHi.
Do you not
first have the line of clouds, and then the
lightning ?
GEACIOBO.
\_Aside.
What is here
? This new comer is not Urvas'i herself,
but she must
be her friend.
KING.
Take this
seat, I pray.
chitealekhX.
\_Seatmg
herself.
Urvas'i pays
her obeisance to the King, and sends him
this message
KING.
"What
are her commands ?
ohitbalekha!
" In
that outrage offered by the Asura, the great King
was my
refuge, and now again when I am afflicted so
sorely by the
love that the sight of thee hath raised, the
mighty
monarch may well pity me again."
KING.
Ah, my friend
! thou tellest that that lovely maiden
sorrows, and
seest thou not that Pururavas is feeling the
same pang for
her ? Alike is our mutual passion,—oh I
labour thou
for us both ; the heated iron must be welded
to the heated
iron.
ok, the hero
and the nymph, 33
chiteaiekha!
[Beturninff
to Ukvasi.
O dearest !
come hither ; I have found your much
dreaded Kama affable enough ; and I am become the
messenger
from your beloved.
TJKVASI.
\_Tremhling
with sorrow and fear.
Alas !
perfidious ! how lightly hast thou deserted me !
CHITEALEKHA.
[Smiling.
In this very
next moment w^e shall know which of us
will desert
the other,—only keep up your spirits* meanwhile.
UEVASL
[ Coming
forward with mingled fear and shame.
May the great
King be ever victorious !
KING.
[Joyfully.
Fairest lady
! victory is already mine, when thy lips
address me
with that victorious title, thus transferred from
the
thousand-eyed Indra to a mortal
!
\_He seizes
her hand, and leads her to a seat.
GEACIOSO.
What are your
Highness' manners like ? Is the King's
friend, and
he, too, a Brdhman, left unsaluted ?
[Ubvasi
sm,iles and hows to him.
* Such is
Bopp's translation of the passage, in his Glossarium
Scmscriium,
p. 27 : " animus ceqmts, bene eonvpontns."
34
VIKRAMOEVAS'l;
6BACI0S0.
Health to your
Highness !
fA Messenger
of the Gods behind the scenes :}
Oh
Chitralekha ! hasten Urvas'i away, for the
Lord of the
Winds, with the Guardians of the earth,
is desirous,
to-day, of beholding those dramatic lovescenes,
which the
sage Bharata made you skilled to
perform,—those
resting-places for the eight feelings
of the soul.
\Theti all
listen,—Ubvasi shows distress.
OHITBALEEHA.
Thou hast
heard the words of the messenger ; therefore
take thy
leave of the great King.
TTEVAsi
\_Sighing.
I have no
power of utterance.
OHITEALEK.HA.
mighty
monarch ! Urvas'i addresses thee : " We are
subjects,"
she says, " to the wiU of others ; and I must hid
thee
farewell, to avoid offending the Monarch of the Devas."
KING.
[ With
difficulty uttering his words.
1
would—^not—interrupt your Lord's commands, but ye
will not
forget him whom ye leave behind
!
Uetasi turrts
her face, full of sorrow at parting,
towards the
King, and exit with her friend.
OK, THE HERO
AND THE NTMPH. 36
KING.
[ With a
sigh.
Alas ! now
all the use of my eyes is gone !
GBACIOSO.
[ Wishing to
show the leaf.
But the
birch-leaf {he stops in the middle of the
sentence, and
adds, confusedly, to himself:) Hem ! what's
this ? While
I was gazing in my wonder at the sight of
Urvas'i, that
birch-leaf has unawares dropped from my
hand
!
KING.
What were you
wishing to say, my friend ?
GEAOIOSO.
This, my
lord, was the intended purport of my speech :
let not your
Highness be disheartened. Urvas'i' s whole
existence is
now fast bound up in your own ; though she
has departed
from hence, yet she cannot loosen the chain.
KING.
This very
thing dwells in my mind, too ; for methought,
as she
withdrew, though she be not under her own control,
yet her free
heart, manifest by the heaving of her bosom,
seemed as
though lodged within me by her sighs.
GEACIOSO.
Aside.
My heart
trembles at the thought, how short the interval
may be ere he
drops some mention of the birch leaf
!
KING.
My friend !
with what diversion shall I solace my lovelorn
mind ?
(Recollecting siiddenly.) O ! bring me the birchleaf!
•36
VIKBAMOaVAsi-
GBAOIOSO.
{Looking
round with a woful countenance.
Ha ! how
comes it to be out of sight ? Surely it was
a heavenly
birch-leaf, and it must be gone after Urvas'i in
her journey.
KING.
[Reproachfully.
Thou art
always a thoughtless idiot
!
GBACIOSO.
Let us look
for it. {Rising.) Surely it must be here,
or at any
rate there ! {He dances about hither and thither.)
Unter the
Qiteen Attsinabi, ivith her Servant and
royal
retinue.
QUEEN.
Tell me,
NipunikS, ! did you really see the King going
into the
creeper-bower, accompanied by M4navaka ?
NIPUNIKA.
Have I ever
given your Highness false information
before ?
QT7EEN.
[ Walking
round, and looking before her.
O Nipunikd!
what is this leaf, like a strip of fresh
bark, which
the south wind has blown hither ?
NIPUNIKA.
[^Observing
it.
Oh, my lady !
it has letters on it, though I cannot
OR, THE HERO
AND THE NYMPH. 37
distinguish
them, from its turning round and round ; but
see ! it is
caught in your anklet ; shall I read its contents ?
[Seizing it.
QUEEN.
Look into it
first ; I will listen if it contain nothing
unseemly.
nipunika'
[Having done
so.
Oh, my lady !
here is that rumour all open now. I
suspect that
these are some love-lines from Urvas'i to the
King ; it
has, doubtless, fallen into our hands through
Mdnavaka's
carelessness.
QUEEN.
Well, seize
their meaning.
[ NiPUNiKA
reads it.
QUEEN.
Come ! let us
go and see our nymph-lover, and take
. this with
us as our present.
nipunika'
As your
Highness commands.
KING.
O thou divine
breeze of Malaya ! friend of the Spring !
bear thou
away, for thy perfume, the collected odorous
dust of the
flowers of the creepers ; but what hast thou to
do with this
stolen letter, which my loved one's affection
hath written
? Thou knowest that those who are pained
with love are
sustained by a hundred such pleasures as
these, when
their hearts have no hope to rest upon, that
they shall
soon attain their desires.
38
VIKRAMOBVAsTi
NIPTJNIKA.
Oh, my
mistress ! look—^look ! there is a search going
on for this
very birch-leaf of ours.
QtJBEN.
Let us, then,
meanwhile, watch him — stand thou by
in silence.
GEACIOSO.
[7b the King.
See ! what is
this ? Ah ! I have been deceived by the
tail of a
peacock, which shone like a blue lotus in full
blossom.
KING.
Luckless
wretch that I am ;—I am on aU sides undone !
QUEEN.
\_Suddenly
advancing.
My lord ! you
have troubled yourself enough—here is
the
birch-leaf
!
KING.
\_In great
confusion, and to himself.
What ! the
Queen ! fAbashed.) Welcome to your
Highness
!
QUEEN.
It has been
" Ul-come" to me, at the present moment.
KING.
\Aside to the
Gracioso.
Oh, my friend
! what is to be done ?
OBAOIOSO.
Little,
indeed, has the thief to say, when the stolen
goods are the
evidence that detects him.
OR, THE HERO
AND THE NYMPH. 39
KING.
It was not
this leaf which I sought ; it was the leaf of
a Mantra* for
which this search was commenced.
QUEEN.
It is well to
conceal one's good fortune.
GEAOIOSO.
Let be—hasten
a banquet for him ; he will be well when
his bile is
abated.
aUEEN.
See, Nipunikd
! how well the Brdhman counsels his
friend ! what
else, indeed, could a sick heart wish for ?
GBACIOSO.
But only
consider, how naturally all men are soothed
by a banquet
!
KING.
You fool !
you perforce add to my distress, when I have
already
offended too much.
QUEEN.
No, indeed !
it is not your Highness that has offended !
I am the
offending party, since I have intruded where my
presence was
unwelcome. Nipunikd, let us be gone !
[^She turns
angrily away.
KING.
Alas ! I am
the guilty ; O fairest one ! be appeased
and relent
from thy wrath ; the mistress of the house is
angry, and
how can the servant seem faultless ?
\_He falls at
her feet.
* A portion
of the Vedas.
40
VIKBAMORVASI;
QUEEN.
deceiver ! my
heart is not so credulous as to trust in
the homage
you offer. I fear you when you are so kind
and penitent.
NIPTJNIKA.
Will your
Highness walk this way ?
[7%e Queen
leaves the King and exit with her retinue.
GEACIOSO.
The Queen has
departed, troubled, like a rain-swollen
torrent !
Rise, therefore, rise !
KING.
Oh, my friend
! it has failed—only see ; a lover's salutation,
with words of
affection, but without affection itself,
enters not
the skilled woman's heart, like the gem that has
only
factitious colours.
GBAOIOSO.
Your
Highness' words are kind ; but the opthalmic
patient
cannot endure the light of the lamp immediately in
front of him.
KING.
Oh, speak not
thus ;^though my heart be with Urvas'l,
yet I still
feel a deep respect for the Queen ; but since she
has rejected
my salutation, I will arm myself with firmness
against her.
GEACIOSO.
Well ! let
the conversation about her stand still awhile ;
I am dying
with hunger, and it is for your Highness to keep
me alive. Lo
! it is time to bathe and to dine !
OR, THE HERO
AND THE NYMPH. 41
KING.
[Looking
upward.
What! is the
half of the day already gone? It is for
this, then,
that the peacock, oppressed with the heat, now
sits in the
cool basin at the foot of the tree ; the bees have
penetrated
the blossoms of the Karnikara, and are slumbering
there ;
leaving the heated water, the waterfowl repairs to the
lotus-bed by
the shore ; and the wearied parrot begs for
water in that
house of his sports—his cage !*
\_Exeunt.
* This line
seems literally, "The cage-parrot, inhabiting his house
of
sports."
END OF THE
SECOND ACT.
42 VlKKAMOEVAil;
ACT III.
Enter Two
Disciples of Bhakata.
FIEST
DISCIPLE.
Oh, my friend
Pailava, when our preceptor -went from
the cell of
the holy fire to great Indra's palace, he bade you
take a seat
with him in his chariot, while I was left behind
to guard the
cell ; I would, therefore, now ask you—was the
heavenly
audience pleased or not with our Guru's dramatic
performance ?
SECOND
DISCIPLE.
How much it
was pleased, I know not ; but most
assuredly
during the performance of the play, " The Choice
of
Lakshmt" which Saraswati herself had composed, Urvas'i
wholly lost
herself in some of the impassioned parts !
riEST
DISCIPLE.
There was a
fault manifest—this is what you were going
to say.
SECOND
DISCIPLE.
Yes, indeed !
she actually broke down in her part.
EIUST DISCIPLE.
How so ?
SECOND
DISCIPLE.
Urvas'i
sustained the part of Lakshmi, and on her being
addressed by
Menak&, who played in the character of
OE, THE HERO
AND THE NYMPH. 43
Varuni
:—" The guardian spirits of the three worlds, with
Kes'ava, are
assembled together,—on whom is thy heart
fixed?"
PIEST
DISCIPLE.
And what then
?
SECOND
DISCIPLE.
She ought to
have answered, " On Purushottama " but,
" On
Pururavas " escaped from her lips, instead.
FIRST
DISCIPLE.
Ah ! our
organs of intellect are obedient to destiny ! But
was not the
sage angry with her ?
SECOND
DISCIPLE.
Our preceptor
cursed her, but Indra showed favour to
her.
FIEST
DISCIPLE,
How SO ?
SECOND
DISCIPLE.
"
Forasmuch as thou hast gone counter to my instructions,
therefore
shall thy heavenly knowledge utterly fail."
Such was the
preceptor's ban. However, when Indra saw
poor Urvas'i
standing with her face bent down in utter
shame, he
thus spoke to her,—" To him, the holy King,
in whom thy
being is bound up, I owe gratitude as having
been my ally
in battle ; therefore dwell thou with Pururavas,
as thou
desirest, until that he has oiTspring from thee."
FIEST
DISCIPLE.
The speech
was worthy of great Indra, who knows the
heart's
inmost thoughts.
44
vikeamobvaIi;
second
disciple.
\LooTdng at
the sun.
In our eager discourse
we have transgressed the hour
of ahlution ;
let us, therefore, hasten to our preceptor's side.
\_Exeunt.
END 01' THE
TISHKAMBHAKA.
Entei- the
Chambeklain.
CHAMBBBIAIN.
Every father
of a family strives in the proper time of life
to attain
wealth, hut afterwards his sons relieve him of his
burden, and
he betakes himself to rest ; but ours has been
a growing old
which day by day impairs our standing in life,
until our
very voice be changed from the sorrow of the servitude
! 'Tis a
tiresome business—this charge over women
!
I have
received the following commission from her Highness,
the daughter
of the King of Kds'i, who has undertaken
a vow
:—" Go," she says, " and carry my former message
again to the
King, in which I dismissed my pride, and
begged him,
by the mouth of Nipunikd, to come to the
completion of
my vow." I will see the King when he has
completed the
evening ceremonies. (He walks round and
looks.J Sweet
are the tidings of the close of day to the
palace ! The
peacocks sit strewn on their poles lazy with
sleep ; the
doves, as they fly to their turret tops, can scarce
be
distinguished from the fumes of incense which escape
from the
windows ; and the old men of the seraglio.
OE, THE HEllO
AND THE NYMPH. 45
engaged in
their duties, are distributing the lighted lamps
for the
evening rites on the spots decked with offerings
of flowers.
{Looking.) Ah ! here comes his Majesty !
Lo ! yonder
he shines, surrounded by the torches in the
hands of the
maidens who attend him,—like a moving
mountain,
whose wings have not been cut off,* with a
garland of
the Karnikara in full bloom, hung along its
sides ! I
will watch and keep him in view.
Enter the
King, as described, with his retinue and the
Gkacioso.
KING.
[To himself.
My sorrows
have been lost in occupation, and I have
thus managed
without extreme difilculty to wile away the
day ; but how
shall I ever pass the night with no diversion
to break the
long monotony of its watches?
OHAMBEBLAIN.
\_Advancing.
May the King
be ever victorious ! The Queen sends
this message
to your Majesty :—" The moon is beautiful
behind the
Palace of the Gem ; there let your Highness
stay awhile,
and watch until the moon enters its asterism
Rohini."
* Such is the
explanation of apaksJiasdddt, given by the Scholiast,
as quoted in
Lenz' Appendix, p. 18. The wings of the mountains are
the clouds ;
they are said to have been cut off by Indra. See
Meghaduta
(Wilson), p. 7.
46
VIKBAMOEVASl";
KING.
Tell the
Queen that it shall be as she desires,
\_Exit
Chambeklain, promising compliance.
KING.
[To the
Geacioso.
Oh, my friend
! is this undertaking of the Queen's really
on account of
a vow ?
geacioso.
I conjecture
that her Highness feels some compunction,
and now
desires, under the pretext of this vow, to efface
her scornful
rejection of your salutation.
KING.
You speak
plausibly. Wise women, when they have
rejected kind
greetings, on second thoughts feel remorse,
and they
distress themselves with various expedients to
to pacify
their beloved. Come, show the way behind the
Palace of the
Gem.
GBACIOSO.
This way,
this way ; let your Highness ascend by this
staircase of
crystal, cold with Ganga's spray ; the Palace
of the Gem is
lovely at every season.
\_The King
and all ascend.
GEACIOSO.
\_Looking.
The moon must
be close at hand, for the eastern quarter
is escaping
from darkness, and assuming a reddening hue.
KING.
You think
rightly. The darkness is scattered further
and further
by the rays of the moon, though still hidden
OR, THE HERO
AND THE NYMPH. 47
below the
horizon ; and Indra's* quarter gladdens my eyes
as though it
were a human countenance parting the locks
from its
forehead.
GEAOIOSO.
O see ! O see
! The lord of the Oshad'i plantsf is now
risen—bright,
like granulated sugar !
\
KING.
[Smiling.
The objects
of the glutton are always something eatable!
(Folding his
hands and bowing.J O divine Monarch of the
stars ! thou
that bringest light to the rites of the good,
and
gladdenest the manes and the Suras with ambrosia,
and
dispellest the shadows that gather in the night,—O thou
that art set
on Siva's crest,—Hail to thee ! all Hail
!
GEAOIOSO.
By a sign
declared to a Brdhman like me, I know that
your
grandfather^ has favourably dismissed you ; be seated,
I pray ; I
shall then sit happily too.
* Indra's
quarter is the East. Wilson
only gives Garuda as the
meaning of
harivdhana. Bopp, in his Glossary, translates it Indra, i.e.,
flavos egwos
hahens, and so, too, the Scholiast, The word rendered
horizon, in
the previous sentence, properly means the eastern mountain
behind which
the sun and moon are supposed to rise.
t "
IdUeralement, 'Le maitre desherbes, leroi de la vegetation.'"
—Chezt.
Compare Deuteronomy xxxiii., 14, "The precious things
put forth by
the moon.''
t Pururavas
was of the Lunar race. The moon, in Sanscrit, is
masculine.
48
VIKEAMORVASI;
[^Aceeptinff
Ms invitation and loohing round
on his
attendants.
Our lamps are
superfluous and lost in the moonlight ; ye
can retire to
rest.
ATTENDANTS.
As the King
commands. [Exeunt.
KING.
[Tb the
Gkacioso, and looking at the Moon.
Yet a moment,
my friend, and her Highness will he
here ; while
we are still alone, I will teU thee my present
state,
GEACIOSO.
Ah ! no
Urvas'i is visible here ; but since we have
witnessed her
reciprocal affection, you may well support
yourself by
hope.
KING.
It is so ;
great, indeed is the anguish of my soul ; but
—like a
river's current, whose dashing stream is hemmed
in by rugged
rocks, so — though the joy of union be
obstructed,—my
love still bounds onwards, following its
native
impulse.
GEACIOSO.
Inasmuch as
you are still so handsome, for all that
your limbs
are so wasted,—I foresee therefrom a speedy
meeting with
the nymphs.
OB, THE HERO AND THE NYMPH. '49
KING.
\_As though
hailing an omen.
My right arm
comforts me, in my heavy sorrow, with
its
throbbings, just as you have done with your hopeinsph'ing
words.
GEACIOSO.
A Brahman's
words are never other than true.
[2%e King
sits, with a hopeful looh, and then
enters in the
air Ubvasi, in a gala dress,^ attended
by
Chitealekha.
UEVAsi.''
[Looking at
herself.
Dear friend !
this dress of mine, decorated with pearl
ornaments,
and trimmed with sapphires, pleases my heart.
OHITEALEKHA.
Words cannot
praise it enough ; I can only think,
" Would
that I were Pururavas !
"
UEVAS'I,'
Alas ! I have
no power in myself; do you, with all
speed, bring
him here, or take me to his dwelling.
OHITEALEKHA.
We are come
to the glorious palace of your beloved, like
the peak of Kaildsa reflected in the dark Yamuna's
waters.f
UEVASir
Put forth
your heavenly power and learn where is the
King who hath
stolen my heart away, and on what he is
engaged ?
"
lAterally. 'Dressed as a woman who goes to meet her lover.'
t Compare
MeghaMta, Sloke 53.
K
50
VIKRAMOEVASI:
chitkalekh£
^To herself.
Well stay—I
will jest with her awhile. (AloudJ. I see
him, dearest
; he is standing yonder at a time fit for enjoyment,
enjoying the
pleasure of the desired society of a friend.
UEVASJ.
Away! my
heart will not believe it. O dear Chitralekhd!
you have got
something in your head when you speak thus.
Surely it is
only the society of that friend who was with him
before,* when
he carried off my heart as I left.
OHITEALEKHA.
\_LooMjtg.
Behold the
holy monarch himself, alone with his friend
in the Palace
of the Gem. Let us approach him.
[They
descend.
KING.
[To the
Gkacioso.
Oh, my friend
! the pain of love increases with the
night.
UEVASI.
[To
Chitealekha-
My heart
trembles at these ambiguous words. Let us
remain
unseen, and listen to his conversation, until our
uncertainties
are dispelled.
CHlTEALEKHi.
As you
please.
GEAOIOSO.
You should enjoy
the ambrosia-laden moonbeams.
* "
Coram hoc ipso amioali. guem dids, comenfu seilieei cor mihi
ah illo
rapielatur."—^Lenz.
OB, THE HBKO AND THE NYMPH. 51
KING.
Oh, my friend
! this sickness is not to be cured with
such means as
these ; 'tis not the fresh couch of flowers,
nor the
moonbeams, nor the unguent of sandal poured over
all the body,
nor strings of pearls ;—she, the heavenly
maiden, alone
can drive my love-melancholy away, or only
secret
converse, flying to her as its subject, can lighten my
heart.
UBVA^ir
Oh, my heart
! this is the fruit thou hast gained for
having left
me and flown hither
!
GEACIOSO.
Ah ! I also,
when I cannot obtain curds and sugar or
sugar-cane,
make myself happy with thinking about it.
KING.
You, however,
soon find i/our desires !
GBACIOSO.
And you, too,
ere long shall obtain her.'
KING.
My friend,
this is what I think
chitbalekh£
Listen ! O
discontented one !
GBAOIOBO.
What is it ?
KING.
[7b Ukvasi.
This limb,
which was pressed by hers, in the shaking
of the
chariot, alone of all my limbs retains its power to act
;
the rest of
my body is but a dead weight on the earth.
52
VIKEAMORVASI
;
UBVASI.^
Why should I
longer delay? {Approaching hurriedly.)
O dear
Chitralekha ! alas ! the King regards me not, even
though I
stand in his presence.
CHITEALEKHA^
ySmtling.
Oh, impatient
one ! thou hast not thrown off thy veil.
A VOICE
BEHIND THE SCENES.
" This
way, O Queen !"
\_All listen.
Uktasi and her friend look dismayed.
GEACIOSO.
\jSurprised.
Good heavens
! the Queen approaches ; put a seal on
thy lips.
KING.
Do you, too,
sit with your face's expression veiled.
TIEVASI.
Oh, my friend
! what is to be done ?
CHITEALEKHA.
Cease this
alarm, thou art still invisible ; the Queen
is seen here
in fulfilment of a vow ; she will not stay long.
Enter the
Queen, with her Attendants, hearing gifts.
QUEEN.
[^Looking at
the moon.
Still fairer
seems the moon from its meeting with its
asterism
Rohini.
FEMALE
SERVANT.
Thus, too,
will there be increased splendour to the King
when your
Highness has joined him.
[2'i^ey
tvalf; round.
Oa, THE HERO
AND THE NYMPH. 53
GEACIOSO.
[To the King.
Ah. ! now I
understand it all ; she comes to offer the
swastivdchana,
or else she has dismissed her wrath against
you,* under
the pretext of a vow to the moon ; to my eyes,
her Highness
looks very beautiful to-day.
KING.
[^Smilinc/.
In either
case your last remark appears to me true, for
her Highness
with her white garments, and adorned only
with white
mangalaf flowers, and her forehead decked
with the
stalks of the striped durhd grass, seems, indeed,
now fully
appeased, and her form has dismissed all its
haughtiness
under the pretext of her vow.
QUEEN.
[_Advancinff.
May the son
of a noble father^ be ever victorious !
ATTENDANTS.
May our Lord
be victorious !
GEACIOSO.
Health to your
Highness !
KING.
"Welcome,
O goddess !
[^He seizes
her hand and leads her to a seat.
* The
Scholiast explains thamantam antarena, b^ hhavantmn wddis'ya.
t Fcmicum
dactylon.
% i.e., in
theatrical language, a husband.
54
VIKRAMOEVAil;
Well may she
be addressed with the title of goddess
;
she yields
not even to Sachi in beauty.
CHITBALEKHA.
What ! can
you talk of a rival's face ?
QUEEN.
I have to
accomplish a certain vow under your Highness'
auspices; I
pray you bear with the inconvenience a moment.
KING.
O MSnavaka !
the inconvenience is a favour.
GBACIOSO.
Would that I
might often have such inconvenience as
this, while
performing the rites of the swastivdchana.
KING.
Under what
name is your Highness' vow ?
[The Queen
looks at Nipunika.
NIPTJNIKA.
It is called
" The Conciliation of a Husband's regard."
KING.
[Looking at
the Queen.
O virtuous
one ! with this vow night and day you weary
your body,
tender as a lotus-stalk ; why is your slave to
be thus
conciliated, who himself is pining with desire for
your favour ?
,
[ With a
forced smile.
What a great
respect he has for her !
OB, THE HEEO
AND THE NYMPH. 55
CHITBALEKHA.
Hush, O
foolish one ! courtiers flatter most when their
hearts are
elsewhere.
QUEEN.
It is all
through the efficacy of this vow that my husband
is so
touched.
GEACIOSO.
[To Me King.
Be still, my
Lord ! it is not seemly to contradict the
words of our
friends.
QTIEEN.
Maidens !
bring hither the gifts, that I may pay my
homage to the
moonbeams, as they fall on the palace.
ATTENBANTS.
As the Queen
commands. Here are the gifts !
QUEEN.
Present them.
^She worships the moonbeams, with
offerings of
flowers, etc.) Honour also with these sweetmeats
the venerable
Minavaka and the Chamberlain.
ATTENDANTS.
As the Queen
commands. O venerable Manavaka !
these propitiatory
gifts are for thee.
GEACIOSO.
\_Taking the
dish.
Prosperity to
your Highness ! may your vow be very
successful.
nipunika'T
And these are
for thee, O venerable Chamberlain !
[Taking them.
56
VIKEAMORVAST;
CHAMBEBIAIN,
Prosperity to
j'our Highness !
Q-UBEN,
Come hither,
my Lord, for a moment.
KING.
Here I am.
QUEEN.
\JFolding her
hands, in token of homage
to the King,
and bowing.
Having called
to witness yonder twins of heaven, the
Moon and
Rohini, I thus conciliate my husband,—Whosoever
she be, whom
my lord loves, and who herseK desires
my lord's
society, with her henceforth shall he dwell without
let or
hindrance from me !
uuvas'l
Wonderful,
indeed ! I know not what more she will say
;
but my heart
is now brightened with confidence.
chitbalekhaI
O dearest !
thy union with thy beloved has been consented
to by the
noble Queen, faithful to her husband, and it will
now meet with
no obstacle.
GEAOIOSO.
When a man
has his hands cut oflF, and the culprit
flies before
him, no wonder if he says, " Go ! go ! you shall
OR. THE HERO
AND THE NYMPH. 57
this time
have impunity !"* (Aloud.J Has the King, then,
neglected
your Highness lately ?
QUEEN.
Fool ! I
desire my Lord's happiness, even though it he
hy the end of
my own. Judge hence, then, if he be dear
to me or not.
KING.
O jealous one
! thou hast all power over me to give me
to another,
or keep me as thy slave ; but, indeed, timid one,
my love
towards thee is not as thou suspectest.
QUEEN.
Well, let it
be ! The vow of conciliation has been
fulfilled, as
prescribed. Come, my attendants, let us depart.
KING.
You will not
leave me reconciled, if you depart so soon.
QUEEN.
My lord ! the
sanctity of the vow is now inviolate.
\_Exit with
her train.
UEVAsi.
The King
seems to love her, yet I cannot call back my
heart.
CHITRALEKHA.
How, indeed,
can hope so firm as your's be called back ?
* This is
Lenz's translation. Professor Wilson gives it very differently,
" The
culprit that escapes before his hand is out off, determines
never to run
such a risk again."
I
58 VIKBAMOEVASI;
KING.
\^Returning
to his seat.
My friend !
is her Highness far away ?
GBACIOSO.
Say freely
what you wish. She has soon left you as
a doctor
leaves his sick patient, having decided that he is
incurable.
KING.
Oh ! would
that Urvas'i. . .
.
UEVASI.
[To herself.
To-day he
will attain his desire.
KING.
....Might but
secretly let fall in my ear the sweet
sound of her
anklets, or, softly stealing behind me, might
cover my eyes
with her lotus hand ! Oh ! would that she
might descend
in this palace, and while lingering, delayed
through fear,
be perforce led towards me, step by step, by
her dexterous
friend
!
OHITBALEKHA.
dear TJrvas'i
! pray now fulfil this desire of his.
URVA^li
[^Timidly.
1 will sport
with him a moment.
[_She steps
behind him and covers his eyes, while
Chitralekha
makes the Gracioso
conscious of
it.
OR, THE HEEO
AND THE NTMPH. 59
KING.
[Starting at
the touch.
My friend !
is not the fair thigh-born daughter of
Ndrdyana here
?
GEACIOSO.
How does your
Highness know it ?
KING.
What else can
it be ? How otherwise, from this touch,
should I feel
a thrill through each hair of my body ? The
lotus opens
not at the sun's beams, as at the moon's.
URVASL
Strange to
say ! both my hands are fixed as with
adamantine
glue. I cannot draw them away! fShe half-closes
her eyes, and
having taken her hands away, stands frightened.
She slowly
advances.) May the King be victorious !
chitealekhaI
All joy to
thee, my brother !*
KING.
It has
already come.
UEVASL
O Chitralekhd
! the Queen has given him to me ; therefore,
as loving
him, I approach his person. Oh ! I beseech
you, think
not that I claimed him before my right.
GBAOIOSO.
What ! were
you here when the sun set ?f
* Such seems
the force of •oayasya here. See iJenz, note 77.
t i.e., and
heard the Queen's words.
60
VIKRAMORVASI
,
KING.
\Looking on
Urvasi-
If the gift
of the Queen is the claim you put in for
my person, by
whose consent, then, did you steal away my
heart before
?
chitealekhI.
King! she
hath nothing to reply. Let my words
now, I pray
you, be heard.
KING.
1 am
attentive.
CHITEALEKHA.
Immediately
after the Spring, through the hot season,
I am required
in attendance on the Sun ; I beseech my
brother,
therefore, to take all care that my loved companion
may never the
while regret the Swarga she hath left.
GEAOIOSO.
What, in
sooth, is there in Swarga, to be remembered
? There it is
neither eaten nor drunken, but they are
only intent
upon being like fishes—with unwinking eyes
!
KING.
Oh, my friend
! how shall she be ever made to forget
Swarga, with
its indescribable joys? But be assured
that
Pururavas will be her slave, and no other woman shall
share him.
ohitralekhI.
I am, indeed,
favoured. Dear UrvaS'l ! be of good cheer,
and bid me
farewell.
OR. THE HERO
AND THE NYMPH. 61
TIUVASY
[In a sad
voice emhracing her.
Dearest !
thou wilt not forget me ?
CHITEALEKHA.
[Smiling.
It is you
that ought to be asked that question by me,
now that you
are united to your beloved.
[She lows to
the King, and exit.
GEAOIOSO.
Joy ! joy !
may your Highness be blessed with the
fulfilment of
his desires !
KING.
Behold, this
is the fulfilment! When I attained the
empire of the
world, with its one canopy,* and its footstool
gorgeous with
the gems of the diadems of neighbouring
kings, yet
was I not so blessed as I am this day, when the
dear right is
mine of doing her commands as a slave at
her feet
!
URVASL
I have no
power of speech to say more.
KING.
[Having taken
hold of her.
Oh, how void
of all obstacle is this present fulness of
possession of
my desires ! These moonbeams verily gladden
* Literally.
' With one umbrella.'
62
VIKEAMOEVASI;
my body;
love's arrows themselves are propitious to my
heart, and
all that erst seemed stem with wrath, oh,
loveliest
lady ! is reconciled to me through my union
with thee.
I have erred
against my King in tan-ying so long.
KING.
Oh, lovely
one ! say not so. That which seemed
sorrow
"while it was near, after the interval of a year is
joy; the
shadow of the tree is most a rest to him who
hath been
scorched by the noon.
GBACIOSO.
Noble lady !
we have enjoyed the moonbeams, so
delicious at
evening. It is time for thee to enter thy
home.
KING.
Do thou,
therefore, shew the way to thy new friend.
GBACIOSO.
This way,
your Highness.
\_He walks
romid.
KING.
Oh, lovely
one ! this is now my desire ....
URVAsf.
What is it?
OE, THE HERO
AND THE NYMPH. 63
KING.
Before, when
the object of ray love was unattained, the
night passed
as if lengthened an hundred-fold. Oh, happy
indeed shall
I be, maiden with the fair brow, if it passes
at the same
rate now thou art here !
l^Exeunt.
END OP THE
THIKD ACT.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued
..)
(My
humble salutations to Kavikula Guruh Kalidasa and greatfulness to Sreeman C H Tawney
for the collection)
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