.

MATALI.--What makes you think so?

KING.--The car itself instructs me; we are moving
O'er pregnant clouds, surcharged with rain; below us
I see the moisture-loving Chatakas
In sportive flight dart through the spokes; the steeds
Of Indra glisten with the lightning's flash;
And a thick mist bedews the circling wheels.

MATALI.--You are right; in a little while the chariot will touch the
ground, and you will be in your own dominions.

KING [_looking down_],--How wonderful is the appearance of the earth as
we rapidly descend!
Stupendous prospect! yonder lofty hills
Do suddenly uprear their towering heads
Amid the plain, while from beneath their crests
The ground receding sinks; the trees, whose stems
Seemed lately hid within their leafy tresses,
Rise into elevation, and display
Their branching shoulders; yonder streams, whose waters,
Like silver threads, but now were scarcely seen,
Grow into mighty rivers; lo! the earth
Seems upward hurled by some gigantic power.

MATALI.--Well described! [_Looking with awe._] Grand, indeed, and lovely
is the spectacle presented by the earth.

KING.--Tell me, Matali, what is that range of mountains which, like a
bank of clouds illumined by the setting sun, pours down a stream of
gold? On one side its base dips into the eastern ocean, and on the other
side into the western.

MATALI.--Great Prince, it is called "Golden-peak,"[43] and is the abode
of the attendants of the god of Wealth. In this spot the highest forms
of penance are wrought out.
There Kasyapa, the great progenitor
Of demons and of gods, himself the offspring
Of the divine Marichi, Brahma's son,
With Aditi, his wife, in calm seclusion,
Does holy penance for the good of mortals.

KING.--Then I must not neglect so good an opportunity of obtaining his
blessing. I should much like to visit this venerable personage and offer
him my homage.

MATALI.--By all means! An excellent idea. [_Guides the car to the
earth._]

KING [_in a tone of wonder_].--How's this?
Our chariot wheels move noiselessly. Around
No clouds of dust arise; no shock betokened
Our contact with the earth; we seem to glide
Above the ground, so lightly do we touch it.

MATALI.--Such is the difference between the car of Indra and that of
your Majesty.

KING.--In which direction, Matali, is Kasyapa's sacred retreat?

MATALI [_pointing_].--Where stand