Together, then, hold converse; let us leave you.

SAKOONTALa [_aside_].--Ah! how I tremble for my lord's reply.

KING.--What strange proposal is this?

SAKOONTALa [_aside_].--His words are fire to me.

SaRNGARAVA.--What do I hear? Dost thou, then, hesitate? Monarch, thou art well acquainted with the ways of the world, and knowest that A wife, however virtuous and discreet, If she live separate from her wedded lord, Though under shelter of her parent's roof, Is mark for vile suspicion. Let her dwell Beside her husband, though he hold her not In his affection. So her kinsmen will it.

KING.--Do you really mean to a.s.sert that I ever married this lady?

SAKOONTALa [_despondingly. Aside_].--O my heart, thy worst misgivings are confirmed.

SaRNGARAVA.--Is it becoming in a monarch to depart from the rules of justice, because he repents of his engagements?

KING.--I cannot answer a question which is based on a mere fabrication.

SaRNGARAVA.--Such inconstancy is fortunately not common, excepting in men intoxicated by power.

KING.--Is that remark aimed at me?

GAUTAMi.--Be not ashamed, my daughter. Let me remove thy veil for a little s.p.a.ce. Thy husband will then recognize thee. [_Removes her veil_.

KING [_gazing at Sakoontala. Aside_].--What charms are here revealed before mine eyes!

Truly no blemish mars the symmetry Of that fair form; yet can I ne'er believe She is my wedded wife; and like a bee That circles round the flower whose nectared cup Teems with the dew of morning, I must pause Ere eagerly I taste the proffered sweetness.

[_Remains wrapped in-thought._

WARDER.--How admirably does our royal master's behavior prove his regard for justice! Who else would hesitate for a moment when good fortune offered for his acceptance a form of such rare beauty?

SaRNGARAVA.--Great King, why art thou silent?

KING.--Holy men, I have revolved the matter in my mind; but the more I think of it, the less able am I to recollect that I ever contracted an alliance with this lady. What answer, then, can I possibly give you when I do not believe myself to be her husband, and I plainly see that she is soon to become a mother?

SAKOONTALa [_aside_].--Woe! woe! Is our very marriage to be called in question by my own husband? Ah me! is this to be the end of all my bright visions of wedded happiness?

SaRNGARAVA.--Beware!

Beware how thou insult the holy Sage!

Remember how he generously allowed Thy secret union with his foster-child; And how, when thou didst rob him of his treasure, He sought to furnish thee excuse, when rather He should have cursed thee for a ravisher.

SaRADWATA.--Sarngarava, speak to him no more. Sakoontala, our part is performed; we have said all we had to say, and the King has replied in the manner thou hast heard. It is now thy turn to give him convincing evidence of thy marriage.

SAKOONTALa [_aside_].--Since his feeling towards me has undergone a complete revolution, what will it avail to revive old recollections? One thing is clear--I shall soon have to mourn my own widowhood. [_Aloud_.]

My revered husband--[_Stops short_.] But no--I dare not address thee by this t.i.tle, since thou hast refused to acknowledge our union. n.o.ble descendant of Puru! It is not worthy of thee to betray an innocent-minded girl, and disown her in such terms, after having so lately and so solemnly plighted thy vows to her in the hermitage.

KING [_stopping his ears_].--I will hear no more. Be such a crime far from my thoughts!

What evil spirit can possess thee, lady, That thou dost seek to sully my good name By base aspersions? like a swollen torrent, That, leaping from its narrow bed, overthrows The tree upon its bank, and strives to blend Its turbid waters with the crystal stream?

SAKOONTALa.--If, then, thou really believest me to be the wife of another, and thy present conduct proceeds from some cloud that obscures thy recollection, I will easily convince thee by this token.

KING.--An excellent idea!

SAKOONTALa [_feeling for the ring_].--Alas! alas! woe is me! There is no ring on my finger!

[_Looks with anguish at Gautami_.

GAUTAMi.--The ring must have slipped off when thou wast in the act of offering homage to the holy water of Sachi's sacred pool, near Sakravatara.

KING [_smiling_].--People may well talk of the readiness of woman's invention! Here is an instance of it.

SAKOONTALa.--Say, rather, of the omnipotence of fate. I will mention another circ.u.mstance, which may yet convince thee.

KING.--By all means let me hear it at once.

SAKOONTALa.--One day, while we were seated in a jasmine bower, thou didst pour into the hollow of thine hand some water, sprinkled by a recent shower in the cup of a lotus blossom--

KING.--I am listening; proceed.

SAKOONTALa.--At that instant, my adopted child, the little fawn, with soft, long eyes, came running towards us. Upon which, before tasting the water thyself, thou didst kindly offer some to the little creature, saying fondly--"Drink first, gentle fawn." But she could not be induced to drink from the hand of a stranger; though immediately afterwards, when I took the water in my own hand, she drank with perfect confidence.

Then, with a smile, thou didst say--"Every creature confides naturally in its own kind. You are both inhabitants of the same forest, and have learnt to trust each other."

KING.--Voluptuaries may allow themselves to be seduced from the path of duty by falsehoods such as these, expressed in honeyed words.

GAUTAMi.--Speak not thus, ill.u.s.trious Prince. This lady was brought up in a hermitage, and has never learnt deceit.

KING.--Holy matron, E'en in untutored brutes, the female s.e.x Is marked by inborn subtlety--much more In beings gifted with intelligence.

The wily Koil, ere towards the sky She wings her sportive flight, commits her eggs To other nests, and artfully consigns The rearing of her little ones to strangers.

SAKOONTALa [_angrily_].--Dishonorable man, thou judgest of others by thine own evil heart. Thou, at least, art unrivalled in perfidy, and standest alone--a base deceiver in the garb of virtue and religion--like a deep pit whose yawning mouth is concealed by smiling flowers.

KING [_aside_].--Her anger, at any rate, appears genuine, and makes me almost doubt whether I am in the right. For, indeed, When I had vainly searched my memory, And so with stern severity denied The fabled story of our secret loves, Her brows, that met before in graceful curves, Like the arched weapon of the G.o.d of love, Seemed by her frown dissevered; while the fire Of sudden anger kindled in her eyes.

[_Aloud_.] My good lady, Dushyanta's character is well-known to all. I comprehend not your meaning.

SAKOONTALa.--Well do I deserve to be thought a harlot for having, in the innocence of my heart, and out of the confidence I reposed in a Prince of Puru's race, intrusted my honor to a man whose mouth distils honey, while his heart is full of poison.

[_Covers her face with her mantle, and bursts into tears_.

SaRNGARAVA.--Thus is it that burning remorse must ever follow rash actions which might have been avoided, and for which one has only one's self to blame.

Not hastily should marriage be contracted, And specially in secret. Many a time, In hearts that know not each the other's fancies, Fond love is changed into most bitter hate.

KING.--How now! Do you give credence to this woman rather than to me, that you heap such accusations on me?

SaRNGARAVA [_sarcastically_].--That would be too absurd, certainly. You have heard the proverb-- Hold in contempt the innocent words of those Who from their infancy have known no guile:-- But trust the treacherous counsels of the man Who makes a very science of deceit.

KING.--Most veracious Brahman, grant that you are in the right, what end would be gained by betraying this lady?

SaRNGARAVA.--Ruin.

KING.--No one will believe that a Prince of Puru's race would seek to ruin others or himself.