LieuL-Colonel Tod on the Religious Establishments of Mewar. 309 



The damsel returns to Radha and reports the condition of Hert, mourn- 

 ing her absence : " Even the hum of the bee distracts him. Misery sits 

 " fixed in his heart, and every returning night adds anguish to anguish." 

 She then recommends Radha to seek him. " Delay not, O, loveliest of 

 " vi^omen ; follow the lord of thy heart. Having bound his locks with 

 " forest flowers, he hastens to yon arbour, where a soft gale breathes over the 

 " banks of Yamuna, and there pronouncing thy name he modulates his 

 " divine reed. Leave behind thee, O friend, the ring which tinkles on thy 

 " delicate ancle when thou sportest in the dance. Cast over thee thy azure 

 " mantle and run to the shady bower." 



But Radha, too weak to move, is thus reported to Heri by the same 

 fair mediator. " She looks eagerly on all sides in hope of thy approach : 

 " she advances a few steps and falls languid to the ground. She weaves 

 " bracelets of fresh leaves, and looking at herself in sport, exclaims, 

 " behold the vanquisher of Madha ! Then she repeats the name of Heri, 

 " and catching at a dark blue cloud,* strives to embrace it, saying, ' It is 

 " ' my beloved who approaches.' " 



Midnight arrives, but neither Heri nor the damsel returns, when siie 

 gives herself up to the frenzy of despair, exclaiming : " the perfidy of my 

 "friend rends my heart. Bring disease and death, O gale of Malaya ! 

 " Receive me in thy azure wave, O sister of YAJMA,t that the ardour of 

 " my heart may be allayed." 



The repentant Heri at length returns, and in speech well calculated to 

 win forgiveness, thus pleads his pardon. 



" Oh ! grant me a draught of honey from the lotus of thy mouth : or if 

 " thou art inexorable, grant me death from the arrows of thine eyes ; 

 " make thy arms my chains : thou art my ornament ; thou art the pearl in 

 " the ocean of my mortal birth ! Thine eyes, which nature formed like blue 

 " water-lilies, are become through thy resentment like petals of the crimson 

 " lotus ! Thy silence affects me ; oh ! speak with the voice of music, and 

 " let thy sweet accents allay my ardour." 



" Radha with timid joy, darting her e^eson Govinda, while she musi- 

 " caliy sounded the rings of her ancles ancTl/je bells of her zone,\ entered 



• This is in allusion to the colour of Crishna, a dark blue, 

 t The Indian Pluto ; she is addressing the Yamuna. 



X Thus the ancient statues do not present merely the sculptor's fancy in the zone of bells^with 

 which they are oraamented. 



