guests remained,
And charmed each listener there.
The evening prayers were duly said
With voices calm and low:--
Then on the ground each laid his head
And slept till morning's glow.

CANTO XXVI

THE FOREST OF TADAKA

When the fair light of morning rose
The princely tamers of their foes
Followed, his morning worship o'er,
The hermit to the river's shore.
The high-souled men with thoughtful care
A pretty barge had stationed there.
All cried, "O lord, this barge ascend,
And with thy princely followers bend
To yonder side thy prosperous way--
With nought to check thee or delay."
Nor did the saint their rede reject:
He bade farewell with due respect,
And crossed, attended by the twain,
That river rushing to the main.
When now the bark was half-way o'er,
Rama and Lakshman heard the roar,
That louder grew and louder yet,
Of waves by dashing waters met.
Then Rama asked the mighty seer:--
"What is the tumult that I hear
Of waters cleft in mid-career?"
Soon as the speech of Rama, stirred
By deep desire to know, he heard,
The pious saint began to tell
What caused the waters' roar and swell:--
"On high Kailasa's distant hill
There lies a noble lake
Whose waters, born from Brahma's will,
The name of Manas take.
Thence, hallowing where'er they flow,
The streams of Sarju fall,
And wandering through the plains below
Embrace Ayodhya's wall.
Still, still preserved in Sarju's name
Sarovar's fame we trace,
The flood of Brahma whence she came
To run her holy race.
To meet great Ganga here she hies
With tributary wave--
Hence the loud roar ye hear arise,
Of floods that swell and rave.
Here, pride of Raghu's line, do thou
In humble adoration bow."

He spoke. The princes both obeyed,
And reverence to each river paid.
They reached the southern shore at last,
And gayly on their journey passed.
A little space beyond there stood
A gloomy awe-inspiring wood.
The monarch's noble son began
To question thus the holy man:--
"Whose gloomy forest meets mine eye,
Like some vast cloud that fills the sky?
Pathless and dark it seems to be,
Where birds in thousands wander free;
Where shrill cicadas' cries resound,
And fowl of dismal note abound.
Lion, rhinoceros, and bear,