everything unto thee
on the morrow. Arise, arise, may good betide thee! And, O thou of
excellent vows, come and behold thy parents! The sun hath set a long
while ago and the night deepens. Those rangers of the night, having
frightful voices, are walking about in glee. And sounds are heard,
proceeding from the denizens of the forest treading through the woods.
These terrible shrieks of jackals that are issuing from the south and the
east make my heart tremble (in fear)!' Satyavan then said, 'Covered with
deep darkness, the wilderness hath worn a dreadful aspect. Thou wilt,
therefore, not be able to discern the tract, and consequently wilt not be
able to go!' Then Savitri replied, 'In consequence of a conflagration
having taken place in the forest today a withered tree standeth aflame,
and the flames being stirred by the wind are discerned now and then. I
shall fetch some fire and light these faggots around. Do thou dispel all
anxiety. I will do all (this) if thou darest not go, for I find thee
unwell. Nor wilt thou be able to discover the way through this forest
enveloped in darkness. Tomorrow when the woods become visible, we will go
hence, if thou please! If, O sinless one, it is thy wish, we shall pass
this night even here!' At these words of hers, Satyavan replied, 'The
pain in my head is off; and I feel well in my limbs. With thy favour I
wish to behold my father and mother. Never before did I return to the
hermitage after the proper time had passed away. Even before it is
twilight my mother confineth me within the asylum. Even when I come out
during the day, my parents become anxious on my account, and my father
searcheth for me, together with all the inhabitants of the sylvan
asylums. Before this, moved by deep grief, my father and mother had
rebuked me many times and often, saying,--Thou comest having tarried
long! I am thinking of the pass they have today come to on my account,
for, surely, great grief will be theirs when they miss me. One night
before this, the old couple, who love me dearly, wept from deep sorrow
and said into me, 'Deprived of thee, O son, we cannot live for even a
moment. As long as thou livest, so long, surely, we also will live. Thou
art the crutch of these blind ones; on thee doth perpetuity of our race
depend. On thee also depend our funeral cake, our fame and our
descendants! My mother is old, and my father also is so. I am surely
their crutch. If they see me not in the night, what, oh, wi