I will eat
ye with pleasure.'"

Vaisampayana continued, "O Bharata, hearing these words of the wretch,
Yudhishthira announced his own name and lineage, saying, 'I am king
Yudhishthira the just, the son of Pandu, of whom thou mayst have heard.
Deprived of my kingdom, I have with my brothers Bhimasena and Arjuna and
the others, in course of my wanderings, come into this terrible forest
which is thy dominion, desirous of passing my period of exile here!'

"Vidura continued, 'Kirmira said unto Yudhishthira, "By good luck it is
that fate hath accomplished today my long-accomplished desire! With
weapons upraised have I been continually ranging the entire earth with
the object of slaying Bhima. But Bhima I had found not. By good luck it
is that slayer of my brother, whom I had been seeking so long, hath come
before me! It was he who in the disguise of a Brahmana slew my dear
brother Vaka in the _Vetrakiya_ forest by virtue of his science. He hath
truly no strength of arms! It is also this one of wicked soul who
formerly slew my dear friend Hidimva, living in this forest and ravished
his sister! And that fool hath now come into this deep forest of mine,
when the night is half spent, even at the time when we wander about!
Today I will wreak my long-cherished vengeance upon him, and I will
today gratify (the manes of) Vaka with his blood in plenty! By slaying
this enemy of the Rakshasas, I shall today be freed from the debt I owe
to my friend and my brother, and thereby attain supreme happiness! If
Bhimasena was let free formerly by Vaka, today, I will devour him in thy
sight, O Yudhishthira! And even as Agastya ate up and digested the
mighty Asura (Vatapi) I will eat up and digest this Bhima!"'

"Vidura continued, 'Thus addressed by the Rakshasa, the virtuous
Yudhishthira, steadfast in his pledges, said, "It can never be so,"--and
in anger rebuked the Rakshasa. The mighty-armed Bhima then tore up in
haste a tree of the length of ten _Vyasas_ and stripped it of its
leaves. And in the space of a moment the ever-victorious Arjuna stringed
his bow _Gandiva_ possessing the force of the thunderbolt. And, O
Bharata, making Jishnu desist, Bhima approached that Rakshasa still
roaring like the clouds and said unto him, "_Stay! Stay!_" And thus
addressing the cannibal, and tightening the cloth around his waist, and
rubbing his palms, and biting his nether lip with his teeth, and armed
with the tree, the powerful Bhima rushed towards the