If he be not the son of the great sage, of
what family does he come, may I ask?

ATTENDANT.--Of the race of Puru.

KING [_aside_].--What! are we, then, descended from the same ancestry?
This, no doubt, accounts for the resemblance she traces between the
child and me. Certainly it has always been an established usage among
the princes of Puru's race,
To dedicate the morning of their days
To the world's weal, in palaces and halls,
'Mid luxury and regal pomp abiding;
Then, in the wane of life, to seek release
From kingly cares, and make the hallowed shade
Of sacred trees their last asylum, where
As hermits they may practise self-abasement,
And bind themselves by rigid vows of penance.
[_Aloud._] But how could mortals by their own power gain admission to
this sacred region?

ATTENDANT.--Your remark is just; but your wonder will cease when I tell
you that his mother is the offspring of a celestial nymph, and gave him
birth in the hallowed grove of Kasyapa.

KING [_aside_].--Strange that my hopes should be again excited!
[_Aloud._] But what, let me ask, was the name of the prince whom she
deigned to honor with her hand?

ATTENDANT.--How could I think of polluting my lips by the mention of a
wretch who had the cruelty to desert his lawful wife?

KING [_aside_].--Ha! the description suits me exactly. Would I could
bring myself to inquire the name of the child's mother! [_Reflecting._]
But it is against propriety to make too minute inquiries about the wife
of another man.

FIRST ATTENDANT [_entering with the china peacock in her
hand_].--Sarva-damana, Sarva-damana, see, see, what a beautiful Sakoonta
(bird).

CHILD [_looking round_].--My mother! Where? Let me go to her.

BOTH ATTENDANTS.--He mistook the word Sakoonta for Sakoontala. The boy
dotes upon his mother, and she is ever uppermost in his thoughts.

SECOND ATTENDANT.--Nay, my dear child, I said, Look at the beauty of
this Sakoonta.

KING [_aside_].--What! is his mother's name Sakoontala? But the name is
not uncommon among women. Alas! I fear the mere similarity of a name,
like the deceitful vapor of the desert, has once more raised my hopes
only to dash them to the ground.

CHILD [_takes the toy_].--Dear nurse, what a beautiful peacock!

FIRST ATTENDANT [_looking at the child. In great distress_].--Alas!
alas! I do not see the amulet on his wrist.

KING.--Don't distress yourself. Here it is. It fell off while he was
st