Reading section 46

MÁTHAVYA.--Tell me--I see three female figures drawn on the canvas, and all of them beautiful; which of the three is her Majesty, Śakoontalá?

SÁNUMATÍ [_aside_].--If he cannot distinguish her from the others, the simpleton might as well have no eyes in his head.

KING.--Which should you imagine to be intended for her?

MÁTHAVYA.--She who is leaning, apparently a little tired, against the stem of that mango-tree, the tender leaves of which glitter with the water she has poured upon them. Her arms are gracefully extended; her face is somewhat flushed with the heat; and a few flowers have escaped from her hair, which has become unfastened, and hangs in loose tresses about her neck. That must be the queen Śakoontalá, and the others, I presume, are her two attendants.

KING.--I congratulate you on your discernment. Behold the proof of my passion; My finger, burning with the glow of love, Has left its impress on the painted tablet; While here and there, alas! a scalding tear Has fallen on the cheek and dimmed its brightness. Chaturiká, the garden in the background of the picture is only half-painted. Go, fetch the brush that I may finish it.

CHATURIKÁ.--Worthy Máthavya, have the kindness to hold the picture until I return.

KING.--Nay, I will hold it myself. [_Takes the picture. Exit Chaturiká_.

KING.--My loved one came but lately to my presence And offered me herself, but in my folly I spurned the gift, and now I fondly cling To her mere image; even as a madman Would pass the waters of the gushing stream, And thirst for airy vapors of the desert.

MÁTHAVYA [_aside_].--He has been fool enough to forego the reality for the semblance, the substance for the shadow. [_Aloud._] Tell us, I pray, what else remains to be painted.

SÁNUMATÍ [_aside_].--He longs, no doubt, to delineate some favorite spot where my dear Śakoontalá delighted to ramble.

KING.--You shall hear------ I wish to see the Máliní portrayed, Its tranquil course by banks of sand impeded-- Upon the brink a pair of swans: beyond, The hills adjacent to Himálaya, Studded with deer; and, near the spreading shade Of some large tree, where 'mid the branches hang The hermits' vests of bark, a tender doe, Rubbing its downy forehead on the horn Of a black antelope, should be depicted.

MÁTHAVYA [_aside_].--Pooh! if I were he, I would fill up the vacant spaces with a lot of grizzly-bearded old hermits.

KING.--My dear Máthavya, there is still a part of Śakoontalá's dress which I purposed to draw, but find I have omitted.

MÁTHAVYA.--What is that?

SÁNUMATÍ [_aside_].--Something suitable, I suppose, to the simple attire of a young and beautiful girl dwelling in a forest.

KING.--A sweet Śirísha blossom should be twined Behind her ear, its perfumed crest depending Towards her cheek; and, resting on her bosom, A lotus-fibre necklace, soft and bright As an autumnal moon-beam, should be traced.

MÁTHAVYA.--Pray, why does the Queen cover her lips with the tips of her fingers, bright as the blossom of a lily, as if she were afraid of something? [_Looking more closely_.] Oh! I see; a vagabond bee, intent on thieving the honey of flowers, has mistaken her mouth for a rose-bud, and is trying to settle upon it.

KING.--A bee! drive off the impudent insect, will you?

MÁTHAVYA.--That's your business. Your royal prerogative gives you power over all offenders.

KING.--Very true. Listen to me, thou favorite guest of flowering plants; why give thyself the trouble of hovering here? See where thy partner sits on yonder flower, And waits for thee ere she will sip its dew.

SÁNUMATÍ [_aside_].--A most polite way of warning him off!

MÁTHAVYA.--You'll find the obstinate creature is not to be sent about his business so easily as you think.

KING.--Dost thou presume to disobey? Now hear me-- An thou but touch the lips of my beloved, Sweet as the opening blossom, whence I quaffed In happier days love's nectar, I will place thee Within the hollow of yon lotus cup, And there imprison thee for thy presumption.

MÁTHAVYA.--He must be bold indeed not to show any fear when you threaten him with such an awful punishment. [_Smiling, aside_.] He is stark mad, that's clear; and I believe, by keeping him company, I am beginning to talk almost as wildly. [_Aloud_.] Look, it is only a painted bee.

KING.--Painted? impossible!

SÁNUMATÍ [_aside_].--Even I did not perceive it; how much less should he?

KING.--Oh! my dear friend, why were you so ill-natured as to tell me the truth? While, all entranced, I gazed upon her picture, My loved one seemed to live before my eyes, Till every fibre of my being thrilled With rapturous emotion. Oh! 'twas cruel To dissipate the day-dream, and transform The blissful vision to a lifeless image. [_Sheds tears_.

SÁNUMATÍ [_aside_].--Separated lovers are very difficult to please; but he seems more difficult than usual.

KING.--Alas! my dear Máthavya, why am I doomed to be the victim of perpetual disappointment? Vain is the hope of meeting her in dreams, For slumber night by night forsakes my couch: And now that I would fain assuage my grief By gazing on her portrait here before me, Tears of despairing love obscure my sight.

SÁNUMATÍ [_aside_],--You have made ample amends for the wrong you did Śakoontalá in disowning her.

CHATURIKÁ [_entering_].--Victory to the King! I was coming along with the box of colors in my hand------

KING.--What now?

CHATURIKÁ.--When I met the Queen Vasumatí, attended by Taraliká. She insisted on taking it from me, and declared she would herself deliver it into your Majesty's hands.

MÁTHAVYA.--By what luck did you contrive to escape her?

CHATURIKÁ.--While her maid was disengaging her mantle, which had caught in the branch of a shrub, I ran away.

KING.--Here, my good friend, take the picture and conceal it. My attentions to the Queen have made her presumptuous. She will be here in a minute.

MÁTHAVYA.--Conceal the picture! conceal myself, you mean. [_Getting up and taking the picture_.] The Queen has a bitter draught in store for you, which you will have to swallow as Siva did the poison at the Deluge. When you are well quit of her, you may send and call me from the Palace of Clouds,[42] where I shall take refuge. [_Exit, running_.

SÁNUMATÍ [_aside_].--Although the King's affections are transferred to another object, yet he respects his previous attachments. I fear his love must be somewhat fickle.

VETRAVATÍ [_entering with a despatch in her hand_].--Victory to the King!

KING.---Vetravatí, did you observe the Queen Vasumatí coming in this direction?

VETRAVATÍ.--I did; but when she saw that I had a despatch in my hand for your Majesty, she turned back.

KING.--The Queen has too much regard for propriety to interrupt me when I am engaged with state-affairs.

VETRAVATÍ.--So please your Majesty, your Prime Minister begs respectfully to inform you that he has devoted much time to the settlement of financial calculations, and only one case of importance has been submitted by the citizens for his consideration. He has made a written report of the facts, and requests your Majesty to cast your eyes over it.

KING.--Hand me the paper. [_Vetravatí delivers it_.

KING [_reading_].--What have we here? "A merchant named Dhanamitra, trading by sea, was lost in a late shipwreck. Though a wealthy trader, he was childless; and the whole of his immense property becomes by law forfeited to the King." So writes the minister. Alas! alas! for his childlessness. But surely, if he was wealthy, he must have had many wives. Let an inquiry be made whether any one of them is expecting to give birth to a child.

VETRAVATÍ.--They say that his wife, the daughter of the foreman of a guild belonging to Ayodhyá, has just completed the ceremonies usual upon such expectations.

KING.--The unborn child has a title to his father's property. Such is my decree. Go, bid my minister proclaim it so.

VETRAVATÍ.--I will, my liege. [_Going_.

KING.--Stay a moment.

VETRAVATÍ.--I am at your Majesty's service.

KING.--Let there be no question whether he may or may not have left offspring; Rather be it proclaimed that whosoe'er Of King Dushyanta's subjects be bereaved Of any loved relation, an it be not That his estates are forfeited for crimes, Dushyanta will himself to them supply That kinsman's place in tenderest affection.

VETRAVATÍ.--It shall be so proclaimed.

[_Exit Vetravatí, and reënter after an interval_.

VETRAVATÍ.--Your Majesty's proclamation was received with acclamations of joy, like grateful rain at the right season.

KING [_drawing a deep sigh_].--So then, the property of rich men, who have no lineal descendants, passes over to a stranger at their decease. And such, alas! must be the fate of the fortunes of the race of Puru at my death; even as when fertile soil is sown with seed at the wrong season.

VETRAVATÍ.--Heaven forbid!

KING.--Fool that I was to reject such happiness when it offered itself for my acceptance!

SÁNUMATÍ [_aside_].--He may well blame his own folly when he calls to mind his treatment of my beloved Śakoontalá.

KING.--Ah! woe is me? when I forsook my wife-- My lawful wife--concealed within her breast There lay my second self, a child unborn, Hope of my race, e'en as the choicest fruit Lies hidden in the bosom of the earth.

SÁNUMATÍ [_aside_].--There is no fear of your race being cut off for want of a son.