358 ON SIAMESE LITERATURE. 



3. 



mia Phraam j] rang th(mm — dk maa 

 waa thaan || chak pen | khas 

 khaa tJiaan mdak noe them dai 

 [King NARfNTHOM impelled by strong devotion resigns the government of his country to 

 Indra disguised. 



He then wanders with his Queen into the forests — and here it is that Indra having appeared 

 again in likeness of the Brahman desires to return the gold, which gave his Queen an opportunity 

 as appears in a previous quotation, of displaying her devotion to her Lord.] 



" The King having reached the dominions of the Maha Brahma exclaimed, on seeing two of 

 its inhabitants — O Hindu. If you wish to purchase slaves take us. The wife of the Hindu 

 enquired what price they set upon their persons." 



The following is a specimen of a measure generally found in poetry, 

 consisting of twenty-eight stanzas or verses of seven lines each — (marked 

 28 syllables.) 



1. 2. 



Mua nan || pho ban than khang \\ a chaan 



fang khruk || tha chaun klma lum j| khang thaan 



kriu kort || sdkrd tliaa phra naan \\ lua chai 



thaao chung \\ wda Idu bat nl || phruk thaa 



pho thdu II phruk thaa, phd au \\ khaa pdi 



thaan en-\\-du khaa chai pen \\ khd thai 



yaaddi \\ foon fai . khaa tliang || thaan naa 



' The King mildly replied to the harsh expressions of the enraged devotee — O Sir, I beseech 



you to be calm. It is so long since you left the place, that the circumstance escaped my memory. 



But now you may have my services in lieu of the debt which I owe to you.' 



In this species, the first and the second lines rhyme together — the 

 word preceding the pause in the third generally agrees in metre with the 

 last word of the second line — the third and fifth and sixth rhyme together 

 — as do the fourth and sixth. The verses consist of four words each, and 

 here we have the dissyllable endu divided by the cesure. 



Philaap— Elegiac — Plaintive of 28 Syllables. 



Long syllables prevail in this style. The 1st and 2d lines chime — as 

 do the 3d and 6th. The last word of the 4th chimes with the 2d of the 5th. 



