240 The Honey-Makers 



In the same drama of the " Hero and the Nymph " is the 

 following invitation given to the king by his attendant, — 



" The bower of jasmines yonder with its slab of black 

 marble is studded thick with blossoms, and the bees 

 crowd about them in heaps ; it invites your majesty to 

 repose." 



There is nothing finer in all Kalidasa's three dramas 

 than the search of King Puriiravas for his bride, Urvasi, 

 who has fled from him in a pet and been changed into a 

 vine. As he searches for her through the forests, strains are 

 heard in the air. 



" The tree of heaven invites the breeze, 

 And all its countless blossoms glow ; 

 They dance upon the gale ; the bees 

 With sweets inebriate, murmuring low, 

 Soft music lend, and gushes strong 

 The koiPs deep thick warbling song." 



The king, seeking his bride, calls upon the clouds and 

 upon all the creatures he meets in exalted strains. Every- 

 thing reminds him of his beloved, and finally he asks the 

 bee to tell him where she is. 



" How beautiful the lotus ! — it arrests 

 My path and bids me gaze on it — the bees 

 Murmur amidst its petals — like the lip 

 Of my beloved it glows." 



" Say, plunderer of the honeyed dew, hast thou 

 Beheld the nymph whose large and languid eye 

 Voluptuous rolls, as if it swam with wine ? 

 And yet methinks 't is idle to inquire ; 

 For had he tasted her delicious breath, 

 He now would scorn the lotus. I will hence." 



Still pursuing his search the king sings, likening his be- 

 loved to the sacred river Ganges : — 



