1859.] On the Sivayamvara of the Ancient Hindus. 37 



There should meet together all his peers, 

 And his men of renown, lofty of stature. 

 In her father's palace that moon-faced maiden 

 Was to wander through that assembly, seeking a husband, 

 Aud her maidens were to stand round her in a ring, 

 That no man might see her lofty crown. 

 Now at that time behind the Kaisar's pardah, 

 Were three daughters like roses in spring, 

 Pair in stature and countenance and gentle manners, 

 Pair too in judgment, modesty and virtue. 

 The eldest of them all was Kitayun by name, 

 And wise was she, bright-hearted and happy. 

 And one night Kitayuu had seen a dream, — 

 She had seen a landscape bright with sunshine, 

 And a band of chieftains had appeared in her sight 

 In a bright cluster like the Pleiades ; 

 And amidst them all was a stranger, 

 A gallant exile desolate-hearted, 

 His stature a cypress, his face like the moon, 

 And he sat as a king sits on his throne. 

 And Kitayun, in her dream, gave him a garland, 

 And she took from him another, full of colours aud scents, in 

 return. 

 In the morning when the sun came forth, 

 The nobles all awoke from their slumbers, 

 And the Kaisar called a great assembly together, 

 None of great or puissant but was there ; 

 Glad they hastened to the assembly, 

 And they called the peri-faced princess in. 

 With her sixty handmaidens came Kitayun, 

 A bunch of fresh narcissuses in her hand, 

 And she walked along until sadness came over her, 

 For not in that assembly was the man of her choice. 

 And she turned from the hall and went back to her chamber, 

 Walking slowly and weeping and with a longing heart. 

 Then the earth became black like a raven's win£, 

 Till the sun again lifted his head from the mountains. 



