ation and set out, but when she came near to the palace of
the Maharaja, she turned aside from the pavilion where the Chieftains
were assembled, and ran away with all speed towards the apartments of
the women. And Duhsasana hastened after her, and seized her by her hair,
which was very dark and long, and dragged her by main force into the
pavilion before all the Chieftains.

'And she cried out:--"Take your hands from off me!" But Duhsasana heeded
not her words, and said:--"You are now a slave girl, and slave girls
cannot complain of being touched by the hands of men."

'When the Chieftains thus beheld Draupadi, they hung down their heads
from shame; and Draupadi called upon the elders amongst them, such as
Bhishma and Drona, to acquaint her whether or no Raja Yudhishthira had
gamed away himself before he had staked her; but they likewise held down
their heads and answered not a word.

'Then she cast her eye upon the Pandavas, and her glance was like the
stabbing of a thousand daggers, but they moved not hand or foot to help
her; for when Bhima would have stepped forward to deliver her from the
hands of Duhsasana, Yudhishthira commanded him to forbear, and both he
and the younger Pandavas were obliged to obey the command of their elder
brother.

'And when Duhsasana saw that Draupadi looked towards the Pandavas, he
took her by the hand, and drew her another way, saying:--"Why, O slave,
are you turning your eyes about you?" And when Karna and Sakuni heard
Duhsasana calling her a slave, they cried out:--"Well said! well said!"

'Then Draupadi wept very bitterly, and appealed to all the assembly,
saying:--"All of you have wives and children of your own, and will you
permit me to be treated thus? I ask you one question, and I pray you to
answer it." Duhsasana then broke in and spoke foul language to her, and
used her rudely, so that her veil came off in his hands. And Bhima could
restrain his wrath no longer, and spoke vehemently to Yudhishthira; and
Arjuna reproved him for his anger against his elder brother, but Bhima
answered:--"I will thrust my hands into the fire before these wretches
shall treat my wife in this manner before my eyes."

'Then Duryodhana said to Draupadi:--"Come now, I pray you, and sit
upon my thigh!" And Bhima gnashed his teeth, and cried out with a loud
voice:--"Hear my vow this day! If for this deed I do not break the thigh
of Duryodhana, and drink the blood of Duhsasana, I am not the son of
Kun