[S']AKOONTALÁ
[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?
[S']ÁRNGARAVA.
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.
[S']ÁRADWATA.
[S']árngarava, speak to him no more. [S']akoontalá, our part is performed; we have said all we have 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.
[S']AKOONTALÁ. [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 title, since thou hast refused to acknowledge our union. Noble 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, o'erthrows
The tree upon its bank, and strives to blend
Its turbid waters with the crystal stream?
[S']AKOONTALÁ.
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!
[S']AKOONTALÁ.
[Feeling for the ring.
Alas! alas! woe is me! There is no ring on my finger!
[Looks with anguish at GAUTAMÍ.
GAUTAMÍ.
The ring must have slipped off when thou wast in the act of offering homage to the holy water of [S']achí's sacred pool, near Sakrávatára[82].
KING. [Smiling.
People may well talk of the readiness of woman's invention! Here is an instance of it.
[S']AKOONTALÁ.
Say, rather, of the omnipotence of fate. I will mention another circumstance, which may yet convince thee.
KING.
By all means let me hear it at once.
[S']AKOONTALÁ.
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.
[S']AKOONTALÁ.
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.
GAUTAMÍ.
Speak not thus, illustrious Prince. This lady was brought up in a hermitage, and has never learnt deceit.
KING.
Holy matron,
E'en in untutored brutes, the female sex
Is marked by inborn subtlety—much more
In beings gifted with intelligence.
The wily Koïl[83], 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.
[S']AKOONTALÁ. [Angrily.
Dishonourable 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 god 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.
[S']AKOONTALÁ.
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, entrusted my honour to a man whose mouth distils honey, while his heart is full of poison.
[Covers her face with her mantle, and bursts into tears.
[S']ÁRNGARAVA.
Thus it is 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?
[S']ÁRNGARAVA. [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 Bráhman, grant that you are in the right, what end would be gained by betraying this lady?
[S']ÁRNGARAVA.
Ruin.
KING.
No one will believe that a Prince of Puru's race would seek to ruin others or himself.
[S']ÁRADWATA.
This altercation is idle, [S']árngarava. We have executed the commission of our preceptor; come, let us return.
[To the KING.
[S']akoontalá is certainly thy bride;
Receive her or reject her, she is thine.
Do with her, King, according to thy pleasure—
The husband o'er the wife is absolute.
Go on before us, Gautamí.
[They move away.
[S']AKOONTALÁ.
What! is it not enough to have been betrayed by this perfidious man? Must you also forsake me, regardless of my tears and lamentations?
[Attempts to follow them.
GAUTAMÍ. [Stopping.
My son [S']árngarava, see! [S']akoontalá is following us, and with tears implores us not to leave her. Alas! poor child, what will she do here with a cruel husband who casts her from him?
[S']ÁRNGARAVA.
[Turning angrily towards her.
Wilful woman, dost thou seek to be independent of thy lord?
[S']AKOONTALÁ trembles with fear.
[S']akoontalá!
If thou art really what the King proclaims thee,
How can thy father e'er receive thee back
Into his house and home? but if thy conscience
Be witness to thy purity of soul,
E'en should thy husband to a handmaid's lot
Condemn thee, thou may'st cheerfully endure it.
When ranked among the number of his household.
Thy duty therefore is to stay. As for us, we must return immediately.
KING.
Deceive not this lady, my good hermit, by any such expectations.
The moon expands the lotus of the night,
The rising sun awakes the lily; each
Is with his own contented. Even so
The virtuous man is master of his passions,
And from another's wife averts his gaze[120].
[S']ÁRNGARAVA.
Since thy union with another woman has rendered thee oblivious of thy marriage with [S']akoontalá, whence this fear of losing thy character for constancy and virtue?
KING. [To his domestic PRIEST.
You must counsel me, revered Sir, as to my course of action.
Which of the two evils involves the greater or less sin?
Whether by some dark veil my mind be clouded.
Or this designing woman speak untruly,
I know not. Tell me, must I rather be
The base disowner of my wedded wife,
Or the defiling and defiled adulterer?
PRIEST. [After deliberation.
You must take an intermediate course.
KING.
What course, revered Sir? Tell me at once.
PRIEST.
I will provide an asylum for the lady in my own house until the birth of her child; and my reason, if you ask me, is this: Soothsayers have predicted that your first-born will have universal dominion. Now, if the hermit's daughter bring forth a son with the discus or mark of empire in the lines of his hand[84], you must admit her immediately into your royal apartments with great rejoicings; if not, then determine to send her back as soon as possible to her father.
KING. I bow to the decision of my spiritual advisor.
PRIEST.
Daughter, follow me.
[S']AKOONTALÁ.
O divine earth, open and receive me into thy bosom!
[Exit [S']AKOONTALÁ weeping, with the PRIEST and the HERMITS. The KING remains absorbed in thinking of her, though the curse still clouds his recollection.
A VOICE BEHIND THE SCENES.
A miracle! a miracle!
KING.
[Listening.
What has happened now?
PRIEST. [Entering with an air of astonishment.
Great Prince, a stupendous prodigy has just occurred.
KING.
What is it?
PRIEST.
May it please your Majesty, so soon as Kanwa's pupils had departed, [S']akoontalá, her eyes all bathed in tears, with outstretched arms, bewailed her cruel fate—
KING.
Well, well, what happened then?
PRIEST.
When suddenly a shining apparition,
In female shape, descended from the skies,
Near the nymph's pool, and bore her up to heaven.
[All remain motionless with astonishment.
KING.
My good priest, from the very first I declined having anything to do with this matter. It is now all over, and we can never, by our conjectures, unravel the mystery; let it rest; go, seek repose.
PRIEST.
[Looking at the KING.
Be it so. Victory to the King!
[Exit.
KING.
Vetravatí, I am tired out; lead the way to the bedchamber.
WARDER.
This way, Sire.
[They move away.
KING.
Do what I will, I cannot call to mind
That I did e'er espouse the sage's daughter;
Therefore I have disowned her; yet 'tis strange
How painfully my agitated heart
Bears witness to the truth of her assertion,
And makes me credit her against my judgment.
[Exeunt.
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