O mighty counsellor, this day

Depart upon thine onward way.”

The hermit spake, and Ráma bent

His head, with Lakshmaṇ, reverent,

And then with him and Janak's child

Set out to trace the forest wild.

He saw dark woods that fringed the road,

And distant hills like clouds that showed,

And, as the way he followed, met

With many a lake and rivulet.