t the colour of her face (again). And going to another
part of the wood, she saw an Asoka tree. And approaching that first of
trees in the forest, so charming with blossoms and its load of foliage,
and resounding with the notes of birds, Damayanti, with tears in her eyes
and accents choked in grief, began to lament, saying, 'Oh, this graceful
tree in the heart of the forest, decked in flowers, looketh beautiful,
like a charming king of hills. O beauteous Asoka, do thou speedily free
me from grief. Hast thou seen king Nala, the slayer of foes and the
beloved husband of Damayanti,--freed from fear and grief and obstacles?
Hast thou seen my beloved husband, the ruler of the Nishadhas, clad in
half a piece of cloth, with delicate skin, that hero afflicted with woe
and who hath come into this wilderness? O Asoka tree, do thou free me
from grief! O Asoka, vindicate thy name, for Asoka meaneth destroyer of
grief. And going round that tree thrice, with an afflicted heart, that
best of women, Bhima's daughter, entered a more terrible part of the
forest. And wandering in quest of her lord, Bhima's daughter beheld many
trees and streams and delightful mountains, and many beasts and birds,
and caves, and precipices, and many rivers of wonderful appearance. And
as she proceeded she came upon a broad way where she saw with wonder a
body of merchants, with their horses and elephants, landing on the banks
of a river, full of clear and cool water, and lovely and charming to
behold, and broad, and covered with bushes of canes, and echoing with the
cries of cranes and ospreys and Chakravakas, and abounding in tortoises
and alligators and fishes, and studded with innumerable islets. And as
soon as as she saw that caravan, the beauteous and celebrated wife of
Nala, wild like a maniac, oppressed with grief, clad in half a garment,
lean and pale and smutted, and with hair covered with dust, drew near and
entered into its midst. And beholding her, some fled in fear, and some
became extremely anxious, and some cried aloud, and some laughed at her,
and some hated her. And some, O Bharata, felt pity for, and even
addressed, her, saying, 'O blessed one, who art thou, and whose? What
seekest thou in woods? Seeing thee here we have been terrified. Art thou
human? Tell us truly, O blessed one if thou art the goddess of this wood
or of this mountain or of the points of the heaven. We seek thy
protection. Art thou a female Yaksha, or a female Rakshasa, or