104 AMRA. 



At this unusual command Govinda almost started. He deposit- 

 ed the sacred leaves in his bosom, and, witli a beating heart and 

 trembling steps, prepared to obey. When he reached the door of 

 the zenana, he gently lifted the silken curtain which divided the 

 apartments, and stood for a few moments contemplating, with silent 

 and sad delight, the group that met his view. 



Amra was reclining upon cushions, and looking wan as a star that 

 fades away before the dawn. Her head drooped upon her bosom, 

 her hair hung neglected upon her shoulders : yet was she lovely still ; 

 and Govinda while he gazed, remembered the words of the poet 

 Calidas : " The water-lily, though dark moss may settle on its head, 

 is nevertheless beautiful ; and the moon, with dewy beams, is render- 

 ed yet brighter by its dark spots." She was clasping round her deli- 

 cate wrist a bracelet of gems; and when she observed, that ever as 

 she placed it on her attenuated arm it fell again upon her hand, she 

 shook her head and smiled mournfully. Two of her maids sat at 

 her feet, occupied in their embroidery ; and old Gautami, at her side, 

 was relating, in a slow, monotonous recitative, one of her thousand 

 tales of wonder, to divert the melancholy of her young mist; 

 She told how the demi-god llama was forced to flee from the demons 

 who had usurped his throne, and how his beautiful and faithful 

 Seita wandered over the whole earth in search of her consort; and, 

 being at length overcome with grief and fatigue, she sat down in the 

 pathless wilderness and wept; and how there arose from the spot, 

 where her tears sank warm into the earth, a fountain of boiling water 

 of exquisite clearness and wondrous virtues ; and how maidens, who 

 make ;i pilgrimage to this sacred well and dip their veils into its 

 wave vv^th pure devotion, ensure themselves the utmost fdirity in 

 marriage: thus the story ran. Amra, who appeared at first ab- 

 stracted and inattentive, began to be atferted by the miMortnnrs and 

 the love of the beautiful Seita ; and at the mention of the fountain 

 and its virtues, she lifted her eyes with an expression of eager inter- 

 est, and met those of Govinda fixed upon her. She uttered a faint 

 cry, and threw herself into the arms of Gautami. He hastened to 

 deliver the commands of his preceptor, and then Amra, recovering 

 her self-possession, threw her veil round her, arose, and followed 

 him to her father's presence. 



As they drew near together, the old man looked from one to the 

 other. Perhaps his heart, though dead to all human passions, felt 

 at that moment a touch of pity for the youthful, lovely, and loving 

 pair who stood before him; but his look was calm, cold, and serene, 

 as usual. 



