since the day when she left her father's
palace, a youthful bride. Herein lies the unique beauty of the tale of
Rama, that it unites romantic love and moral conflict with a splendid
story of wild adventure. No wonder that the Hindus, connoisseurs of
story-telling, have loved the tale of Rama's deeds better than any
other story.

If we compare _The Dynasty of Raghu_ with Kalidasa's other books, we
find it inferior to _The Birth of the War-god_ in unity of plot,
inferior to _Shakuntala_ in sustained interest, inferior to _The
Cloud-Messenger_ in perfection of every detail. Yet passages in it are
as high and sweet as anything in these works. And over it is shed the
magic charm of Kalidasa's style. Of that it is vain to speak. It can
be had only at first hand. The final proof that _The Dynasty of Raghu_
is a very great poem, is this: no one who once reads it can leave it
alone thereafter.{}

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: If a king aspired to the title of emperor, or king of
kings, he was at liberty to celebrate the horse-sacrifice. A horse was
set free to wander at will for a year, and was escorted by a band of
noble youths who were not permitted to interfere with his movements.
If the horse wandered into the territory of another king, such king
must either submit to be the vassal of the horse's owner, or must
fight him. If the owner of the horse received the submission, with or
without fighting, of all the kings into whose territories the horse
wandered during the year of freedom, he offered the horse in sacrifice
and assumed the imperial title.]

[Footnote 2: This is not the place to discuss the many interesting
questions of geography and ethnology suggested by the fourth canto.
But it is important to notice that Kalidasa had at least superficial
knowledge of the entire Indian peninsula and of certain outlying
regions.]

[Footnote 3: A girl of the warrior caste had the privilege of choosing
her husband. The procedure was this. All the eligible youths of the
neighbourhood were invited to her house, and were lavishly
entertained. On the appointed day, they assembled in a hall of the
palace, and the maiden entered with a garland in her hand. The suitors
were presented to her with some account of their claims upon her
attention, after which she threw the garland around the neck of him
whom she preferred.]

[Footnote 4: See footnote, p. 128.]

* * * * *

THE BIRTH OF THE WAR-GOD