With yonder blossom of the mango barbs
His keenest shaft, and aims it at my breast.

MATHAVYA.--Well, then, wait a moment; I will soon demolish Master Kama's
arrow with a cut of my cane.

[_Raises his stick and strikes off the mango-blossom._

KING [_smiling_].--That will do. I see very well the god of Love is not
a match for a Brahman. And now, my dear friend, where shall I sit down,
that I may enchant my sight by gazing on the twining plants, which seem
to remind me of the graceful shape of my beloved?

MATHAVYA.--Do you not remember? you told Chaturika you should pass the
heat of the day in the jasmine bower; and commanded her to bring the
likeness of your queen Sakoontala, sketched with your own hand.

KING.--True. The sight of her picture will refresh my soul. Lead the way
to the arbor.

MATHAVYA.--This way, Sire.

[_Both move on, followed by Sanumati._

MATHAVYA.--Here we are at the jasmine bower. Look, it has a marble seat,
and seems to bid us welcome with its offerings of delicious flowers. You
have only to enter and sit down. [_Both enter and seat themselves._

SANUMATI [_aside_].--I will lean against these young jasmines. I can
easily, from behind them, glance at my friend's picture, and will then
hasten to inform her of her husband's ardent affection. [_Stands leaning
against the creepers_.

KING.--Oh! my dear friend, how vividly all the circumstances of my union
with Sakoontala present themselves to my recollection at this moment!
But tell me now how it was that, between the time of my leaving her in
the hermitage and my subsequent rejection of her, you never breathed her
name to me! True, you were not by my side when I disowned her; but I had
confided to you the story of my love and you were acquainted with every
particular. Did it pass out of your mind as it did out of mine?

MATHAVYA.--No, no; trust me for that. But, if you remember, when you had
finished telling me about it, you added that I was not to take the story
in earnest, for that you were not really in love with a country girl,
but were only jesting; and I was dull and thick-headed enough to believe
you. But so fate decreed, and there is no help for it.

SANUMATI [_aside_].--Exactly.

KING [_after deep thought_].--My dear friend, suggest some relief for my
misery.

MATHAVYA.--Come, come, cheer up; why do you give way? Such weakness is
unworthy of you. Great men never surrender themselves to uncontrolled