MADHAV.
Do you imagine the King will not see through him? His loyalty is obviously a little too showy and profuse.
FIRST MAN.
Nonsense! Kings can’t scent hypocrites as we do—I should not be surprised if the King be taken in by that fool’s strenuous fanning.
[Enter KUMBHA with GRANDFATHER]
KUMBHA.
I tell you—he has just passed by this street.
GRANDFATHER .
Is that a very infallible test of Kingship?
KUMBHA.
Oh no, he did not pass unobserved: not one or two men but hundreds and thousands on both sides of the street have seen him with their own eyes.
GRANDFATHER.
That is exactly what makes the whole affair suspicious. When ever has our King set out to dazzle the eyes of the people by pomp and pageantry? He is not the King to make such a thundering row over his progress through the country.
KUMBHA.
But he may just have chosen to do so on this important occasion: you cannot really tell.
GRANDFATHER.
Oh yes, you can! My King cherishes no weathercock fancy, no fantastic vein.
KUMBHA.
But, Grandfather, I wish I could only describe him! So soft, so delicate and exquisite like a waxen doll! As I looked on him, I yearned to shelter him from the sun, to protect him with my whole body.