e this palace and its splendid gardens
I'll leave the pleasures of this world behind
To go in quest of Truth, of saving Truth.

_YASODHARA sinks on her knees before him and clasps his
knees._

_Y._ And me, my Lord, thy quest will make a widow!
Oh, stay, and build thee here a happy home.

_B._ My dear Yasodhara, it cannot be.

_The Prince stands lost in thought. Rahula is restless.
YASODHARA rises and turns toward the child._

_Y_. He wakes again. I come, my babe, I come.

[The veil comes down again, and when it rises it shows the garden
before the palace as in the first scene, but it is night and all is
wrapped in darkness.]

FOURTH SCENE.

_King SUDDHODANA (S) and his minister VISAKHA (V) come out of the
entrance._ _Later on Captain DEVALA (D) and soldiers._

_S._ Unfortunate, most unfortunate, that Udayin died. Siddhattha will
miss the gardener and will ask for him.

_V._ The Prince loves flowers, and he knows them all by name; he loves
trees and shrubs, and praises them for yielding fruit and grain for
feeding us without the need of shedding blood.

_S._ Have the body removed so long as it is dark.

_V_. The moon is full to-day and must rise in a little while.

_S._ Double the guards at the gate. I am afraid my son will flee. It
would be a disgrace on my house to have him become a mendicant. The
kings of Kosala, of Magadha, and all the others look with envy on our
sturdy people; they dislike our free institutions and our warlike
spirit. They would scoff at us if a Sakya prince had become a monk.
But if Siddhattha does flee, I swear by Lord Indra that I shall disown
him; I will no longer recognize him as my son. I will disinherit him
and make Rahula my heir apparent.

_VISAKHA looks at SUDDHODANA in amazement._

_S_. I am serious and I will do it. I swore an oath, and Issara will
help me to keep it. Now go to the captain of the guards and do as I
bid you.

_Exit. The Minister alone._

_V._ Oh! What a chance for me! Siddhattha will flee, if he be not
prevented; he will be disinherited. Rahula is a babe, and it will take
twenty years before he grows up to manhood.--[_He muses._] I may
proceed on different lines, and one of them must certainly lead to
success. I may marry the Princess and become the stepfather of the
heir apparent, his guardian, the man who has him in his power--Hm! Hm!
I need not plan too far ahead. And if that plan did not work, the King
of Magadha wo