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.

GENERAL. [Looking at the KING. 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

of it. Observe, Sire, the advantage and pleas ure the hunter derives from the chase.

Freed from all grosser influences, his frame Loses its sluggish humors, and becomes Buoyant, compact, and fit for bold encounter. 'Tis his to mark with joy the varied pas sions,

Fierce heats of anger, terror, blank dismay,
Of forest animals that cross his path.
Then what a thrill transports the hunter's
soul,

When, with unerring course, his driven shaft

Pierces the moving mark! Oh! 'tis conceit
In moralists to call the chase a vice;
What recreation can compare with this?

My good General, as we are just now in the neighborhood of a consecrated grove, your

and I cannot assent to all you have said. For the present,

All undisturbed the buffaloes shall sport
In yonder pool, and with their ponderous

horns

Scatter its tranquil waters, while the deer, Couched here and there in groups beneath the shade

Of spreading branches, ruminate in peace. And all securely shall the herd of boars Feed on the marshy sedge; and thou, my bow,

With slackened string enjoy a long repose.

GENERAL.

So please your Majesty, it shall be as you desire.

KING.

Recall, then, the beaters who were sent in advance to surround the forest, My troops must not be allowed to disturb this sacred retreat, and irritate its pious inhabitants.

Know that within the calm and cold recluse Lurks unperceived a germ of smothered flame,

All-potent to destroy; a latent fire

That rashly kindled bursts with fury forth:

Or may the maiden haply be compared
To sweetest honey, that no mortal lip

Has sipped; or, rather to the mellowed fruit
Of virtuous actions in some former birth,'
Now brought to full perfection? Lives the

man

Whom bounteous heaven has destined to espouse her?

MÁTHAVYA.

Make haste, then, to her aid; you have no time to lose, if you don't wish this fruit of all the virtues to drop into the mouth of some greasy-headed rustic of devout habits.

KING.

tions, but still with the utmost modesty. Scarce had the fair one from my presence

passed,

When, suddenly, without apparent cause, She stopped, and counterfeiting pain, exclaimed,

"My foot is wounded by this prickly grass." Then glancing at me tenderly, she feigned Another charming pretext for delay, Pretending that a bush had caught her robe, And turned as if to disentangle it.

MÁTHAVYA.

I trust you have laid in a good stock of provisions, for I see you intend making this consecrated grove your game-preserve, and will

foster-father is not at home.

MÁTHAVYA.

time to come.

KING.

You must know, my good fellow, that I

KING.

Maidens brought up in a hermitage are naturally shy and reserved; but for all that, She did look towards me, though she quick withdrew

Her stealthy glances when she met my gaze; She smiled upon me sweetly, but disguised With maiden grace the secret of her smiles. Coy love was half unveiled; then, sudden checked

By modesty, left half to be divined.

MÁTHAVYA.

Why, of course, my dear friend, you never could seriously expect that at the very first sight she would fall over head and ears in love with you, and without more ado come and sit in your lap.

KING.

When we parted from each other, she be

The doctrine of the transmigration of the soul from one body to another is an essential dogma of the Hindú religion, and connected with it is the belief in the power which every human being possesses of laying up for himself a store of merit by good deeds performed in the present or former births. Indeed the condition of every person is supposed to derive its character of happiness or misery, elevation or degradation, from the virtues or vices of previous states of being. The consequences of actions in a former birth are called vipáka; they may be either good or bad, but are rarely unmixed with evil taint.

MÁTHAVYA.

You will have to take up an intermediate position between the two, like King Trisanku,' who was suspended between heaven and earth, because the sage Viswamitra commanded him to mount up to heaven, and the gods ordered him down again.

KING.

I am certainly very much perplexed. For here,

Two different duties are required of me
In widely distant places; how can I
In my own person satisfy them both?
Thus is my mind distracted and impelled
In opposite directions, like a stream

That, driven back by rocks, still rushes on, Forming two currents in its eddying course. [Reflecting.] Friend Máthavya, as you were my playfellow in childhood, the Queen has always received you like a second son; go you, then, back to her and tell her of my solemn engagement to assist these holy men. You can supply my place in the ceremony, and act the part of a son to the Queen.

The story of this monarch is told in the Rámáyana. He is there described as a just and pious prince of the solar race, who aspired to celebrate a great sacrifice, hoping thereby to ascend to heaven in his mortal body. After various failures, he had recourse to Viswamitra, who undertook to conduct the sacrifice, and invited all the gods to be present. They, however, failed to attend ; upon which Viswamitra, by his own power transported Trisanku to heaven, whither he had no sooner arrived than he was hurled down by Indra; but being arrested midway by the sage, he remained suspended between heaven and earth, forming a constellation on the Southern hemisphere.

This is a giddy fellow, and in all probability he will let out the truth about my present pursuit to the women of the palace. What is to be done? I must say something to deceive him. [Aloud to MATHAVYA, taking him by the hand.] Dear friend, I am going to the hermitage wholly and solely out of respect for its pious inhabitants, and not because I have really any liking for Sakoontalá, the hermit's daughter. Observe,

What suitable communion could there be
Between a monarch and a rustic girl?
I did but feign an idle passion, friend,
Take not in earnest what was said in jest.
MÁTHAVYA.

Don't distress yourself; I quite understand. [Exeunt.

SCENE.-The Sacred Grove.

Enter KING DUSHYANTA, with the air of one in love.

KING. [Sighing thoughtfully.] The holy sage possesses magic power In virtue of his penance; she, his ward, Under the shadow of his tutelage Rests in security. I know it well; Yet sooner shall the rushing cataract In foaming eddies re-ascend the steep, Than my fond heart turn back from its pursuit.

God of Love! God of the flowery shafts!" we are all of us cruelly deceived by thee, and by the Moon, however deserving of confidence you may both appear.

For not to us do these thine arrows seem Pointed with tender flowerets; not to us Doth the pale moon irradiate the earth With beams of silver fraught with cooling dews:

But on our fevered frames the moon-beams fall

Like darts of fire, and every flower-tipt shaft

The Hindu Cupid, or God of love (Káma), is armed with a bow made of sugar-cane, the string of which consists of bees. He has five arrows, each tipped with the blossom of a flower, which pierce the heart through the five senses; and his favorite arrow is pointed with the chúta, or mango-flower.