Hindu literature Part 69

FIRST ATTENDANT.--Very well. [_Exit._

CHILD.--No, no; I shall go on playing with the young lion.

[_Looks at the female attendant and laughs_.

KING.--I feel an unaccountable affection for this wayward child.

How blessed the virtuous parents whose attire Is soiled with dust, by raising from the ground The child that asks a refuge in their arms!

And happy are they while with lisping prattle, In accents sweetly inarticulate, He charms their ears; and with his artless smiles Gladdens their hearts, revealing to their gaze His tiny teeth, just budding into view.

ATTENDANT.--I see how it is. He pays me no manner of attention.

[_Looking off the stage._] I wonder whether any of the hermits are about here. [_Seeing the King._] Kind Sir, could you come hither a moment and help me to release the young lion from the clutch of this child, who is teasing him in boyish play?

KING [_approaching and smiling_].--Listen to me, thou child of a mighty saint.

Dost thou dare show a wayward spirit here?

Here, in this hallowed region? Take thou heed Lest, as the serpent's young defiles the sandal, Thou bring dishonor on the holy sage, Thy tender-hearted parent, who delights To s.h.i.+eld from harm the tenants of the wood.

ATTENDANT.--Gentle Sir, I thank you; but he is not the saint's son.

KING.--His behavior and whole bearing would have led me to doubt it, had not the place of his abode encouraged the idea.

[_Follows the child, and takes him by the hand, according to the request of the attendant. Speaking aside._ I marvel that the touch of this strange child Should thrill me with delight; if so it be, How must the fond caresses of a son Transport the father's soul who gave him being!

ATTENDANT [_looking at them both_].--Wonderful! Prodigious!

KING.--What excites your surprise, my good woman?

ATTENDANT.--I am astonished at the striking resemblance between the child and yourself; and, what is still more extraordinary, he seems to have taken to you kindly and submissively, though you are a stranger to him.

KING [_fondling the child_].--If he be not the son of the great sage, of what family does he come, may I ask?

ATTENDANT.--Of the race of Puru.

KING [_aside_].--What! are we, then, descended from the same ancestry?

This, no doubt, accounts for the resemblance she traces between the child and me. Certainly it has always been an established usage among the princes of Puru's race, To dedicate the morning of their days To the world's weal, in palaces and halls, 'Mid luxury and regal pomp abiding; Then, in the wane of life, to seek release From kingly cares, and make the hallowed shade Of sacred trees their last asylum, where As hermits they may practise self-abas.e.m.e.nt, And bind themselves by rigid vows of penance.

[_Aloud._] But how could mortals by their own power gain admission to this sacred region?

ATTENDANT.--Your remark is just; but your wonder will cease when I tell you that his mother is the offspring of a celestial nymph, and gave him birth in the hallowed grove of Kasyapa.

KING [_aside_].--Strange that my hopes should be again excited!

[_Aloud._] But what, let me ask, was the name of the prince whom she deigned to honor with her hand?

ATTENDANT.--How could I think of polluting my lips by the mention of a wretch who had the cruelty to desert his lawful wife?

KING [_aside_].--Ha! the description suits me exactly. Would I could bring myself to inquire the name of the child's mother! [_Reflecting._]

But it is against propriety to make too minute inquiries about the wife of another man.

FIRST ATTENDANT [_entering with the china peac.o.c.k in her hand_].--Sarva-damana, Sarva-damana, see, see, what a beautiful Sakoonta (bird).

CHILD [_looking round_].--My mother! Where? Let me go to her.

BOTH ATTENDANTS.--He mistook the word Sakoonta for Sakoontala. The boy dotes upon his mother, and she is ever uppermost in his thoughts.

SECOND ATTENDANT.--Nay, my dear child, I said, Look at the beauty of this Sakoonta.

KING [_aside_].--What! is his mother's name Sakoontala? But the name is not uncommon among women. Alas! I fear the mere similarity of a name, like the deceitful vapor of the desert, has once more raised my hopes only to dash them to the ground.

CHILD [_takes the toy_].--Dear nurse, what a beautiful peac.o.c.k!

FIRST ATTENDANT [_looking at the child. In great distress_].--Alas!

alas! I do not see the amulet on his wrist.

KING.--Don't distress yourself. Here it is. It fell off while he was struggling with the young lion.

[_Stoops to pick it up_.

BOTH ATTENDANTS.--Hold! hold! Touch it not, for your life. How marvellous! He has actually taken it up without the slightest hesitation.

[_Both raise their hands to their b.r.e.a.s.t.s and look at each other in astonishment._

KING.--Why did you try to prevent my touching it?

FIRST ATTENDANT.--Listen, great Monarch. This amulet, known as "The Invincible," was given to the boy by the divine son of Marichi, soon after his birth, when the natal ceremony was performed. Its peculiar virtue is, that when it falls on the ground, no one excepting the father or mother of the child can touch it unhurt.

KING.--And suppose another person touches it?

FIRST ATTENDANT.--Then it instantly becomes a serpent, and bites him.

KING.--Have you ever witnessed the transformation with your own eyes?

BOTH ATTENDANTS.--Over and over again.

KING [_with rapture. Aside_].--Joy! joy! Are then my dearest hopes to be fulfilled?

[_Embraces the child_.

SECOND ATTENDANT.--Come, my dear Suvrata, we must inform Sakoontala immediately of this wonderful event, though we have to interrupt her in the performance of her religious vows.

[_Exeunt._

CHILD [_to the King_].--Do not hold me. I want to go to my mother.

KING.--We will go to her together, and give her joy, my son.

CHILD.--Dushyanta is my father, not you.

KING [_smiling_].--His contradiction convinces me only the more.

_Enter Sakoontala, in widow's apparel, with her long hair twisted into a single braid_.

SAKOONTALa [_aside_].--I have just heard that Sarva-damana's amulet has retained its form, though a stranger raised it from the ground. I can hardly believe in my good fortune. Yet why should not Sanumati's prediction be verified?