The Bopp Libi^i^. » ■ » ■ ^ COLLECTED BY FRANZ BOP?, Froiessor of Comparative Flailology in the University of ^Berlin. Purchased by Cornell University, 1868. Cornell University Library PK 3796.V7C87 Vikramorvasi :an Indian drama /transia 3 1924 022 967 917 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924022967917 /-^ YIKRAMOEYASI AN INDIAN DEAMA; TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH PEOSE FROM THE SANSKRIT OF KALIBA'SA, EDWARD BYLES COWELL, OF MA.GDALEN HALL, OXFORD, HERTFORD: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY STEPHEN AUSTIN, BOOKS£liL£B 10 THE EAST-INDIA COLLEGE. IIDOOOLI, " I revere the rhythm as well as the rhyme, by which poetry first becomes poetry ; but that which is really, deeply, and fundamentally effective, that which is really permanent and furthering, is that which remains of the poet when he is translated into prose. Then remains the pure, perfect substance ; of which, when absent, a dazzUng exterior often contrives to make a false show ; and which, when present, such an exterior contrives to conceal." GoETEE CAitto-hiography.J vr. PEEFACE. The following translation has been undertaken to supply the Sanskrit student with a literal version of a highly esteemed work, which has been lately made a text- book by Mr. Moniee Williams' edition. The first object, therefore, of the translator has been to give his author's literal meaning ; elegance of style has been throughout esteemed secondary, although he has endea- voured, as far as he was able, to combine the two. He refers his readers to Professor Wilson's Specimens of the Theatre of the Hindus, for a fine scholarly translation in verse : the following pages aspire to be only a faithful transcript of the original in prose. Vikramorvas'i is a drama by the same elegant hand that wrote Sakuntald (which was translated in prose by Sir W. Jones at the close of the last century) — tradition IV PREFACE. and internal evidence alike bearing witness to the identity of authorship. In each we see the same exquisite polish of style, the same light touch in painting scenery and character ; and yet the two dramas are ' like in diflFerence,' and each has the separate personality, as well as the mutual likeness, which characterises the twin offspring of the same creating mind.* Kalidasa is believed to have flourished during the century which preceded our era, and tradition names him as one of the " nine gems " of the court of Vikramdditya. The translator would forbear to make any remarks on the drama, with the exception of the Fourth Act, which requires a few words of introduction. In the Sanskrit dramas, the heroes alone talk Sanskrit, the women and inferior characters speak in Prdkrit, a dialect derived from Sanskrit by a similar series of changes to those which have melted Latin into the modern Italian and Spanish. Now, through the greater part of this act, Kalidasa * Both Idramas are founded on ancient legends. A few meagre hints in the " Mahdbhdrata" (vol. i., p. 113), appear to have furnished the first idea of the amplified story of the " Vikramonas'i." The PaurAuio version appears in the Barivans'a. PREFACE. V makes his hero use Pr&krit instead of Sanskrit; and this artistic change of dialect shews that he felt that Pururavas was, in this act, departing from the vira rasa or ideal of heroism. He is mad, but his madness is not that of " Orestes " or " Lear," for we are in the world of the soft contemplative Hindd ; and wherever we turn in Indian poetry, we find the gentler feelings of the heart, but not the fiercer. The reader must bear this in mind as he follows Pururavas through the forest, and forget for the while Orestes' frenzied call for his bow, or Lear's desolation in the storm. I have followed Mr. Williams' text; but have also consulted Lenz, and especially his " Apparatus Criticus'' (published in 1834), which contains some useful scholia from a MS. in the East India House Library ; Professor Wilson's translation has also frequently afibrded me much assistance. I may add that, in the numerous stage-directions, I have not always kept the word ndtya ' gesticulation.' It is probable that the Hindu stage was nearly destitute of all accessories to the performance, these being left to the imagination of the spectator ; motion in a chariot, etc., were thus merely represented by gesticulation: but VI PBErACJi. I have not thought it necessary to preserve this very prosaic feature in the translation. I have also followed Professor Wilson in his rendering of the title of the Drama; on the Continent, other interpretations have been suggested, as " Vrvasia Incessus," etc. ; the last German Translation, by Hofee, gives it as " Urwas'i der Preis der Tapferheit," which agrees with Lenz' last suggestion, in his " Apparatus" p. 9, VikramaprdptorvaS'X. I have also adopted Lenz's and Boehtlingk's interpretation of the words Praves'aka and Vishkambhaka. EXPLANATION OF SOME TERMS OF MYTHOLOGY, ETC. Ananoa, a name of K&ma. Bhasata, the name of a sage, the dramatic instructor of the Nymphs. Chataka, a hird, supposed to live only on rain. Choweib, the white hushy tail of the Thibet cow, which serves for a flapper, and is also used as an ornament for horses, like the plume of the war-horse of chivalry. Danava, Daitta, or Asuba, a kind of Titan or demon. DtTE&A or PAEVATf, the wife of Siva. Gandhaeta, a celestial musician. Gaettda, the King of Birds. Inbea, the god of the visible firmament. EaI/FA, the name of a tree in Indra's paradise. EXma, the god of love. Kaetikbta, the god of war. KuTEEA, the god of wealth. LAKSHMf, the wife of Vishnu. Maeisha, a title given to the principal actor. Nandana or SwAESA, Indra's paradise. Sachi or PAULOMf , the wife of Indra. Saeaswati, the wife of Br&hma, and goddess of eloquence. KALIDASA'S YIKRAMORYA^I. PROLOGUE. BENEDICTION. May He, whom they call the Sole Male in the Veddntas, pervading heaven and earth, to whom alone, in its full meaning, belongs the title of " Lord," who is sought within by those who desire liberation, with suspended breath and other penances — Siva, who is ever ready to be found, by firm faith and meditation,— be your final beatitude ! MANAOEB. [After the benediction is ended. Enough of this prolixity. {Looking towards the actors' room.) Mdrisha ! this assembly hath seen the sentimental compositions of former poets ; I am now about to appear before it with a new play, strung together by the art of KSliddsa, entitled " Vikramorvas'i ;" do thou, then, com- mand our company, that every actor be attentive to his part, 2 VIKEAMOEVASI; Enter an Actob. n ACTOE. Sir, your commands shall be fulfilled. UANA6EB. I would meanwhile, with bowed head, address the reverend and learned in this assembly. I beseech you all, by your kindness to your friends, or at least by your admiration of a good drama, hear with attention the present work of Kilid&sa. [A Voice is heard behind the scenes. Help, ye noble ! help ! UANAGSB. Ha ! why is heard this sudden cry of distress from the beings who ride in their aerial chariots through the sky ? {Having thought a moment.") Ah ! I have it ! It is the heavenly nymph, who was bom from the thigh of the Muni, the friend of Nara ;* who, returning from visiting the Lord of Kail&sa, has been seized in mid-journey by the demon-foes of the gods, and therefore does yonder troop of nymphs shriek for succour. \_Exeunt. * Indra sent some nymphs to tempt Nir&yana while engaged in penance ; the sage, to shame them, took up a flower and placed it on his thigh ; and it immediately became a beautiful nymph, hence named Tlrvasl. OR, THE HERO AND THE NYMPH. ACT I. Enter some Nymphs, hurriedly. NYMPHS. Help, ye noble ! help ! whosoever is the friend of the immortals, or hath his way in the sky. Enter, hurriedly, a King in his chariot, with his Chaeioteek. KING. Cease your cries, approach and tell me, Pururavas, now returning from the Sun, — against what are ye to be helped ? BAMBHA. Against the insolence of the demons. KINO. What wrong has been done you by their insolence ? BAMBHA. Let the great King hear! She, who was Indra's soft weapon, when he was alarmed at the greatness of a Sage's penance ; — the shamer of Parvati, proud of her beauty ; and the ornament of heaven; she, our loved companion, returning from the palace of Kuvera, has been carried oflF midway, with ChitralekhS,, by a Ddnava. KING. Is it known towards what quarter the miscreant is gone ? NYMPHS. Towards the north-east, Vasanfasend is called praharcmcm mangasya.—Ms,lCK., p. 163. 4 VIKRAMOaVA^i'; KING. Dismiss your sorrows j I will strive to bring back your friend. NYMPHS. rr fii [Joyfully. Well worthy is the action of a descendant of the Lunar race ; KING. Where wiU ye, meantime, await my return ? NYMPHS. On yonder peak of Hemakuta. KING. Charioteer ! urge the horses to their utmost speed towards the north-eastern quarter. CHAEIOTEEB. As the King commands. KING. [Gesticulating the swift motion of the chariot. Excellent ! Excellent ! with such a speed as this, I could OTertake even Oaruda, though he had the start ! Before my chariot rise the clouds in flakes, as rises the dust ; the swift rolling of the wheels seems to create a second range of spokes between the first ; the long chowrie on the head of the steed stands motionless as in a picture ; and the banner in the middle streams to the end of the car, from the wind of our speed. [Exeunt. SAHAJANYif! Dear friend, the King is gone ; let us, too, set forth to the spot as appointed. or, the hero and the nymph. 5 menaka! Dearest, let us do so. \They climb the peak of Hemahuta, BAMBHA. Will the King, indeed, succeed in extracting this barb of anguish from our hearts ? MBNAKA. Doubt not, dear friend. £AMBHA. Surely the D^navas are hard to be conquered. MENAEA. Even great Indra himself, as the hour of battle draws near, summons this most honoured hero from the earth, and posts him in the van of his army, to win victory for the gods. May he be altogether victorious ! menakaI . [Standing still for a moment. Dear friends ! take heart, and be of good cheer ; yonder I see the chariot which the Moon gave to the holy King, gleaming with the banner that bears the ensign of the deer, and I divine that he wiU not come unsuccessful back. [They gesticulate as at some sign, and stand looJting. Then enter the King and his Chaeioteee, in the aerial chariot, with Ukvasi, whose eyes are closed in terror, leaning on the right hand of CjutuaJj^tlka.. O VIKBAMORVASI; CHITEALEKHA. Dearest ! revive ! revive ! KING. Fairest maiden ! revive ! revive ! thy terrors from the demon are dispelled, O timid one ! the majesty of the Thunderer guards the three worlds : open therefore, I pray, those long eyes of thine, as the lotus-lake its lotuses at the end of the night. CHITRAlEKHii. It is strange ; not even yet has she regained her con- sciousness ; and, but for her breathing, there is no sjrmptom of life. KING. Gtreatly, indeed, was thy poor friend alarmed ; the heavy beating of her heart betrays itself by that wreath of Mandara blossoms, and she sighs repeatedly between her full breasts. CHITSALEKHA. [In a mourr^id voice. Dearest Urvas'i ! I beseech thee, recover thyself ; one might have deemed that thou wast no nymph of heaven at all! KING. The tremor of fear hath not yet forsaken her heart, tender like a flower ; but it is still told by yonder edge of her robe, as it rises and falls with the sighing of her bosom. [Urvasi comes to herself. OE, THE HERO AND THE NYMPH. 7 KING. \JwjlfulIy. Joy to thee, O Chitralekhd ! thy dear friend hath regained her consciousness ; see, like the night, when it escapes from darkness, at the rising of the Moon ; or like the flame of the nocturnal fire, when it hursts through the thickness of the smoke, thy fair-formed companion is seen freed from her fainting; like Gangft, as she flows back into serenity, when the fall of a bank hath troubled her waters. OHITRALEKHA. Dear Urvas'i ! lay aside your fear, — they have been con- quered by a Monarch who compassionates the distressed ;— the D&navas, the enemies of the gods, have had their hopes all smitten down.* UEVA^I. \_Opening her eyes. What? did great Indra behold the fray, and come to my rescue ? CHITRAIEKHA. Not Indra, but this holy king, Pururavas, himself a very Indra in majesty. * " Sahhi, Urva^i, ms'wastd hJtava, d^ammmkampina mahm'djena pardhatdh hhalM te; tridas'aparipanthmo hatds'd Ddncmdh." I should prefer the absence of the semicolon, in which case hatdsid would simply mean ''cruel," and te would be construed with Dmtmah. ° TIKBAMORVASI; UEVASI. [^side, looking at the king. What a kindness hath my fright from the Dknava proved ! KING. [Aside, looMng at ukvasi- Well might all the nymphs, as they tempted the holy N4r&yana in his devotions, stand silent with shame, when they beheld her, as she sprang from his thigh ; or rather, I feel sure that she was no creation of the ascetic at all. Say, was it the Moon, the giver of brightness, who called her into being ? or K&ma himself, his whole soul immersed in love ? or was it the month that is richest with flowers ? How, indeed, could an aged Sage, cold with continued study of the Vedas, and his desires turned away from all objects of sense, create this heart-bewitching form ? UBVA^f. Dear Chitralekhd, where can our friends be ? OHITEAIiEKHA. The mighty monarch knows, who hath delivered us from our fears. KING. [Looking at uktasi. Thy friends are in the deepest distress ; for only consider, — even he, before whose happy eyes thou hast but once tarried of thine own accord, even he, fair lady, without thee will be mournful with longing; how, then, must thy friends fare when parted from thee, whose love hath grown up with their growth ? OE, THE HERO AND THE NYMPH. 9 UEVASl,' [To Urself. Thy words are very ambrosia ; but what marvel that ambrosia should come from the Moon?* {Aloud, to the King) : Hence is it that my heart so hastens after them. KING. \Pointing with his hand. Yonder, fair lady, thy companions stand on Hemakiita, and look on thy face, gazing with longing eyes, as on the Moon escaped from Rdhu. [Ubvasi loohs with longing. CHITBAIiEKHA. Dearest, why dost thou look at me thus ? uuvaIl My eyes drink in that sharer of my joys and sorrows CHITEALEKHA. [Smiling. Whom meanest thou ? UBVASf. [Reeovm'ing herself. Whom should I mean but yonder troop of my friends ? eambha! \Loohing joyously. Dearest ! see ! the holy King approaches, bringing back our loved Urvas'i, with Chitralekhd ; like the Moon, attended by its asterism Vis'dkhd. * Pururavas is of the lunar race, and the Moon is the reservoir of amhrosia {wmrita). 10 VIKEAMOaVASI ; menaka! ^^ ,. [Lookmg. Dearest! two delightful things have now happened to us, for our companion is restored to us, and the holy King himself is unhurt. BAHAIANTA. It was you who said, " The Dinava is hard to he conquered." Kma. Charioteer ! make the car descend on yonder mountain- peak. CHAEIOTEEE. As the King (long may he live ! ) * commands. [He does so ; Ubvasi is shaken hy the motion, and leans timidly v/pon the King. \A.side. Ah! our descent to earth bears a happy fruit! My body, from the shaking of the chariot, has felt the touch of this long-eyed maiden's side, and every hair seems to shoot forth with love. XTEVASiC [Ashamed, to Chitralekha. Remove a little further. OHITBALEKHA'^ I cannot : indeed I cannot. * A'lfnshmat is properly used aa an honorary title ; I have trans- lated it at length in the present instance, to explain its meaning. The SdhUi/a-darpana gives it as the proper mode of address ttom a charioteer to a warrior. OE. THE HERO AND THE NYMPH. 11 UAMBHA. Let US go to meet the gracious monarch ! ALL THE NYMPHS. Let us do so ! \_They approach. KING. Charioteer ! stay the car, while this fair-browed maiden, herself desiring, steps forth to join her desiring friends ; as the Beauty of the Spring, the creepers ! \The Chakioxees, complying, stops the chariot. THE NYMPHS. Hail,! may the King be ever victorious ! KING. And you, too, may ye be happy in your companion's return ! UBVASIC [Having alighted, leaning ypon ChitbaIiEkha's hand. Dear friends ! give me a close embrace ; I had not a hope in my heart, that I should ever see my loved companions again. [Her friends embrace her. MENAKA. [In a tone of prayer. May the great King ever guard the whole earth ! OHABIOTEEE. O King ! a great host of chariots has suddenly burst into view ; and yonder comes some one, who, decked with bracelets of molten gold, alights from the sky, and ascends the mountain-peak, like a lightning cloud ! 12 VIKEAMOKVASi; THE NYMPHS. Oh ! wonderful ! Behold Chitraratha ! Enter Chitbakatha. OHITBAEATHA. [Advanoing to the king. Hail ! Success to the heroic valour which is able to render such assistance. KING. Ah 1 the King of the Gandharvas ! fHe alights from the car). Welcome to my dear friend ! {They grasp each other's hand. CHITRABATHA. Oh my friend ! as soon as Indra heard that Urvas'i was carried off by the demon Kes'i, he bade the Gandhaiva hosts haste to her rescue ; but having heard immediately afterwards, from the heavenly spirits,* of the weight of glory that thou hast won, I am come forthwith to thee here ; wilt thou, then, take charge of the maiden, and come to behold great Indra himself? Thou hast, indeed, achieved a mighty action, and one dear to his heart. She whom once NSiayana gave to the wind-god, has been won by thee, his friend, from the Daitya's hand, and regiven to him as a new gift to-day ! KING. friend ! speak not so ! The heroism is all Indra's * Literally, "the riders in mmdnd^ot heavenly chariots." OE, THE HEEO AND THE NYMPH. 13 own, if his friends overcome his foes ; the very echo of the lion's roar strikes the elephants with terror, as it rolls forth from the mountain glens. OHITBABATHA. It is well ! Modesty is the ornament of valour. KING. My Mend ! this is not a time for me to see Indra : do thou, therefore, thyself conduct yonder lady to the presence of our lord. OHITBABATHA. It shall be as thou wUt. Ladies ! let us depart. \They all set out. TJEVASIC [7b her friend. Dear Chitralekha ! I cannot say farewell to the great king, who hath saved us ; do thou, therefore, be my voice.* CHITEALEKHA. [Approaching the King. O mighty monarch ! Urvas'i sends thee this - message : " I desire," she says, " to take my leave of the Mng, and with me to carry his fame, as a friend, to the world of the immortals." KING. May we part to meet again ! {The Nymphs all set forth through the air, with the Gandhaeta. * Literally, " my mouth." 14 VIKEAMOBVASIi tJEVABL' [Pretending to be stopped in her flight. How strange ! my garland is caught and entwined by the branch of this creeping plant. (^Turning and casting a stolen glance at the King.) Oh ! dearest Chitralekhd ! I beseech thee, release it. OHITEAIEKHA. [Looking and smiling. Ah ! it is, indeed, firmly held. I cannot release it. UBVASL A truce to laughing ! pray unloose it. chitbaleee£ It seems to me very fast, but still I will imloose it. uevasl" [Forcirtg a smile. Dearest ! you will remember your words. KING. It was a kind action of thine, O creeper ! in my behalf — to interpose this momentary obstacle in her path ; since once ageiin have I seen this maiden with the arched eye, her face half-turned towards me. [ChiieaIiEKHA releases her. UsvAsf , after looking back to the King, beholds, with a sigh, her companions in their upward flight. OEABIOTEEB. Behold, O King ! having hurled the Daityas, the guilty rebels against Indra, deep down into the briny ocean, thy aerial weapon hath returned into its quiver, like a great snake to its den. OB, THE HBB.0 AND THE NYMPH. 15 KING. Do thou, therefore, stay the chariot, while I ascend. [_The King ascends. UBVASI. [Looking mth a fond glance towards the King. Shall I — shall I ever see that deliverer again ? \JExit with the Gandhaeta and her convpanions. KING. [Gazing wpwards after her. Alas ! that love should always desire the unattainable ! This heavenly maiden, as she flies upward to the central home of her father, irresistibly draws after her the soul from my body, as the flamingo draws the filament from the blossom-shorn lotus-stalk. END or THE FIBST ACT. 16 VIKRAMORVASI; 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 burst- ing 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 sweet- meats, 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. At this moment 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 mis- givings 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 the West." 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 birch- leaf, 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 love- scenes, 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 love- lorn mind ? (Recollecting siiddenly.) O ! bring me the birch- leaf! •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 ! f Abashed.) 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 saluta- tion, 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 instruc- tions, 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 servi- tude ! 'Tis a tiresome business — this charge over women ! I have received the following commission from her High- ness, 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 moun- tain 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 hope- insph'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 enjoy- ment, 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 sweet- meats 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, — Who- soever 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 dif- ferently, " 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 ; there- fore, 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 remem- bered ? 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. 6 4 VIKE AMORV A§I ; ACT IV. Introductory song (AkshiptiMJ of Sahajanta and Chitkalekha, hehind the scenes. Forlorn, in separation from her best beloved, she flutters, bewildered, with one of her com- panions, on the bosom of the lake, with its lotus-blossoms, opened at the touch of the sun- beams. Enter Sahajanta and Chitkalekha. chitealekha'. \_As she enters and looks round, in the Dwipadikd measure. Consumed with sorrow for their friend, the loving pair of swans mourn in the lake, with their eyes flowing with tears. SAHAJANTi \_Moumfully. Dear Chitralekh& ! the shade on thy face, dark like the fading lotus, betrays the sickness of thy heart ; oh, tell me the cause of thy sadness, that I, too, may be a like sorrower with thee. OB, THK HERO AND THE NYMPH. 65 OHITEALEKHA. [_In a sorrowful voice. Oh, my friend ! I have been full of longing regrets, since I saw the spring-season arrive without her my loved friend, who had been appointed for attendance on the sun, in the order of the service of the nymphs. SAHAJANYA. I know well your mutual fondness, but what further ? chitealbkh£ And at this very time, while I fixed my thoughts in divine meditation to see what tidings there might be, a terrible misfortune indeed have I found ! SAHAJANYA. What can it be ? OHITBALEKHA. [^Mournfully. Urvas'i, then, had taken the fortunate king (who had entrusted the burden of his kingdom to his counsellors), and was gone to roam with him in the Gandha-madana forests, in the region of the heights of Kailasa. SAHAJANYA. [Applauding. It was a pleasure which right well suited such spots ! but what more ? CHITEALEKHA. There, on the banks of the Mandakini, my loved Urvas'i was deeply incensed, because the king for a moment directed his thoughts to the daughter of a Vidyadhara, named Udaka- vati, who was sporting on the hills of sand. 66 VIKKAMORTASI; SAHAJANTA. She was jealous, and her love went too far. Well, destiny was strong even there ; what followed ? CHITEALEKHA. She rejected all her husband's conciliations, and her heart being blinded by the Sage's curse, she forgot the divine decree and hurried into the grove of Kartikeya, to be for ever shunned by all damsels ; and immediately on her entrance, her form was changed into that of a creeper growing by the edge of the wood. SAHAJANTA. [/ra great distress. Surely there is nothing which is inviolable to destiny, by which even the change of such a form can be wrought. But what more ? CHITEALEKHA. The King, utterly reft of his senses, wanders through the forest, ever seeking his beloved, and spends days and nights in continual exclamations, " Urvas'i is here ! — ^Urvas'i is there !" (Looldng at the shy.) And little cure, I con- jecture, will he find from yonder rising of clouds, which wakes a longing even in the blest.* * The "Eainy Season" of the Hindti poet answers to our Spring, being ss full of tender associations. OB, THE HERO AND THE NYMPH. €7 [JAMBHALIKA SON«] Consumed witli sorrow for their friend, the loving pair of swans mourn in the lake, their hot tears ceaselessly welling. SAHAJANYA. O dearest ! is there any means of re-union ? OHITKALEKHA. Alas ! whence, indeed, is there any means, except from the jewel of union which sprang from the glow of Durga's feet? SAHAJANYA. Oh ! surely such noble forms do not long have sorrow as their portion ; some means of re-union, I foretell, will be assuredly discovered, which shall conciliate her favour again. (Looking at the eastern quarter.) But come, let us haste to our attendance on the sun, yon glorious monarch of the east. [KHAItDASHASA SOMO] Agitated with anguish of heart, longing for the sight of her companion— amidst the soul-ravish- ing splendours of the full-blown lotuses, wanders along the lake the lonely swan. \JExeun(. END or THE PEAVESAKA- 68 VIKEAMOSVASi'; Behind the Scenes, cm Introductory Song of Pukubavas. The lord of elephants enters the forest — how visibly changed, with the madness of separation from his love, while his mountain-form is adorned with flowers and sprays, the spoils of the trees which he Enter the King, mad, with his gaze fixed on the shy. KINO. \Angrily. Ah, villain, demon ! stay ! stay ! whither fliest thou with my darling? {Looking.) What! he hath flown from the summit of the mountain to the sky, and now pelts me with arrows. (Seizing a clod of earth in his hand, and running as if to striJce, he breaks out immediately in the Dwipadikd* measure, looking on all sides. J tjSOHS] With a pang fixed in his heart for the loss of his love, and flapping his wings, in the lake mourns the young swan, with tear-streams gushing from his eyes. {Suddenly recognising the object, in a ivailing voice). Ah no ! it is yon shower-armed cloud, and no haughty demon of the night ; it is yonder bow of heaven drawn to its full, and no bow for earthly arrows ; it is yon keen-shafted shower, and not a succession of arrows ; it is the lightning glistening like a streak of gold on the touch-stone,f and not * This and other similar terms used throughout this Act refer to musical measures ; but their precise import is doubtful, t Kftlidfea repeats this simile in the Meghaduta, sloke 89. OE, THE HBEO AND THE NYMPH. 69 my own loved Urvas'i ! {Hefalh fainting— again he rises with a sighr-in Dwipadikd.) Now I know too well some demon of darkness steals away her of the fawn - like eye, when yonder dark cloud carries off the young lightning ! {Having thought a moment — in a mournful voice.) Where — where then can she be gone ? Perhaps she has hidden herself some- where in her displeasure, by an effort of her heavenly power ; yet she will not be angry long ; perhaps she may have flown up to Swarga ; yet still her soul is full of tenderness towards me ! {Angrily.) If she were now before me, not all the enemies of the gods could carry her away. What means it, then, that she is now gone so far out of my sight ? {Looking round, sighing and weeping^in Dwipadikd.J Ah ! to those who have adverse fortune, sorrow comes fast bound to sorrow ; do you ask me, how so ? See' — this blow of separation from my beloved so hard to be endured and fallen so suddenly upon me ; and that, too, when the days are so delightful, that we need no umbrella to shade us from the heat through the rising of the new water-laden clouds. (Charchari air.) Kestrain thy anger at my command, O cloud, that overspreadest the sky with thy continuous showers ; if ever in my wanderings o'er the earth I behold my beloved, then, oh then, whatsoever thou shalt do I will bear it. {After musing — in CharchariM). Alas ! the redoubled sorrow of my mind is all beheld in vain. But since the holy sages say, that the king is the source of seasons, shall I put back the season of the rainy clouds ? 70 VIKRAMORVAST; [CHABCHAal SONG] Resonant with the songs of the perfume-maddened bees, and the loudly-blown pipes of the Kokilas, with its multitude of young branches shaken by the wind which sweeps through them, — with various gestures of joy, dances the heavenly tree.* {He dances to the song.) But I will not put the season back, after all ! since it now pays me homage as its liege, with all the signs of the Rainy Season. {Smiling.') Yes — yonder cloud is my canopy of state, bright with streaks of lightning for gold, and the Nichula trees wave over me their sprays for chowries ; my heralds are yonder peacocks, as they raise their shriller voices at the cessation of the heat ; and the mountains are my merchants, busied in bringing me their showers. {Again, Charchari.) Well, but what have I to do with the homage of a court-train ? I will wander away through the wood and seek for the darling I have lost. [BHmnAXA SONG] [In the interval of recitation.\ Bereft of his love, and intensely distressed, behold ! with worn feet, the lord of the elephant-herd slowly roams, followed by the pangs of absence, in the forests of the hUls, blazing with blossom ! * The Kalpa in Indra's heaven. t The Scholiast explains pdtha as " instrumental symphony,'' and reads pdthasydmte. But why may we not take it in its usual sense of "recitation," applying it to the King's monologue (to which the verb ipatha is applied, p. 45, 1. 17 ; and p. 46, 1. 18) ; aind thus supposing that the songs were sung behind the scenes, in the intervals of silence ? OR, THE HERO AND THE NYMPH. VI {Hamng walked round and looked, joyfully, in Dwipadikd measure). Ah ! all ! my resolve has prospered ! This young Banana, and its flowers, with their red edges and their moist calyxes,* recals the memory of her eyes, when anger suffused them with tears. She is gone from hence, but how shall she be tracked .'' If she with the fair form had touched with her feet the cloud-watered soil of these woods, I should see the line of her lovely footsteps marked with lac, with the deeper impression of her heels behind. {He walks round and looks — in Dwipadikd.) Ah ! ah ! I have found a sign by which my angry love's way is joyfully tracked : without doubt, this is her scarf, dark blue like a parrot's breast, which she threw in anger away, when it impeded her path, and it yet bears the marks of her falling tear-drops, which have stolen the redness of her lips. Well ! I will seize it. [Walking rmmd, and perceiving what it is, with tears). What ! it is but a grassy glade covered with Indragopas ! whence, then, in this forest shall I find any tidings of my love ! (Looking.) Perched on the rocky cliff of the moun- tain, with a shower hanging over it, yon peacock sits gazing at the clouds, with its tail shaken by the strong east wind, and its neck stretched out to its full, as swelling with its coming cry. Well, I will ask it. [KHAHDAKA SOPTG] Full of sorrow, longing for the sight of his * Or perhaps, "laden with moisture." 72 VIKRAMOETAs'f; beloved, the noblest of elephants, the repeller of enemies, wanders hurriedly on, bewildered in his inmost mind. {Charchari — in the interval of the Khandaka.) I beseech thee, O lord of the Peacocks ! tell me, if, as thou roamest through the woods, thou hast seen my own beautiful bride. O hear me ! a face like the moon, and a Hansa's gait ; thou wilt know the signs of her, for I have told them unto thee. fHe sits down with Charcharihd music, and folds his hands, j O bird of the white-angled eye, with the dark-blue throat! hast thou seen in this forest the desire of my heart, my loved wife, with the long eye,* — an object well worthy to be seen ? {He sits with Charcharihd music, and looks.) Ha ! he gives me no answer, but begins to dance. {Again Charohari.) What can be the reason of his delight? Ha! I know it. Now that my loved one is lost, his tail beautiful like a cloud, outspread in the gentle breeze, is without a rival ; for whom, indeed, would the peacock charm, if she were near, with the flower-encircled tresses of her, the lovely-haired, fallen all loose in the hour of joy ? Well ; I will ask no more of one who thus rejoices over other's ills. {He looks rownd with a Dwipadikd air.) Ah I yonder is a female Kokila sitting on the boughs of the rose-apple, her passion inflamed, now the sultry heat is past. These are the wisest of birds. I will ask it. * IMerally. "With the long corner of the eye." OR, THE HBEO AND THE NYMPH. 73 [KHUEAKA SONG.] Dwelling in the grove of the Vidyddharas, with tears of sadness bursting from his eyes, and with all the joy of his heart driven far away, the King of Elephants wanders on and on, with the majesty of a cloud.* {After the Khuraka a Charchari.) Oh, alien-reared Kokila with the sweet song ! tell me, O dweller in foreign nests ! has my fair beloved been seen by thee, wandering at will through this Nandana grove ? {Having danced, he advances with Balantikd, and kneels.) Thee lovers call the messenger of Love ; thou art his unerring dart, skilled to humble pride,— oh ! either bring her, my loved one, before me, or quickly lead me. Bird of the sweet note ! wherever she may be. {Having moved a little to the left.\) What saidst thou ? Didst thou ask why she has forsaken one so devoted as I } {Looking forward.') Oh, honoured bird ! she was angry ; but I cannot call to mind a single act of mine, that could cause her v^rath ; the tyranny of women over their lovers waits not for intentional offences.J {He sits down in agita- tion, and then kneels, repeating, " she was angry" and looks.) What ! she interrupts my discourse, and only thinks of her own concerns ; but well runs the proverb, " Men say that * I follow Wilson and Lenz in translating ambara as " a cloud," — it properly means "the sky." t A'kds'e is simply a stage-direction, implying — said to a person out of sight. See Wilson's Lexicon. I The Scholiast explains hhdva by abhiprdija. L 74 VIKEAMOEVASf; the greatest ill of another's is utterly cold to themselves ;" since yonder hird, unheeding my love, now I am fallen into adversity ! is absorbed in sipping the royal rose-apple's newly-ripened fruit, as a woman blinded with the intoxication of love, her lover's lip. They are both gone — the fair songstress as well as my beloved ; I will not be angry — may she dwell in joy. I will follow her. {Having risen, he walks round, with Dioipadikd, and looks.) Ah ! yonder to the right, by the edge of the wood, I hear the sound of anklets, that tell of the motion of my beloved one's feet. I will follow it. [SOHG] [^Six Upahhangas in the Kakubha mode. His face forlorn for the absence of his beloved his eyes troubled with the incessant welling of tears his feet tottering under his insupportable anguish his whole body consumed by the mighty pain that pervades him, and his mind more and more racked with anguish, and greatly terrified,* — roams through the wood, the Elephant-King. [He looks all round — with Dwipadikd. -[SONG] Parted from his loved mate, consumed with the flame of intense sorrow, and his eyes blinded with streaming tears, wanders bewildered, the Lord of Elephants.f * Bantam gata is obscure. The Scholiast reads «r^