HINDOOSTAN. 
•to difobedien.ee.—In thy conduct to thy domeftics be ri¬ 
gidly juft and impartial; and feek not eagerly thy own 
gratifications.—By fuch behaviour young women become 
refpeitable ; but perverfe wives are the bane of a family. 
—What thinks Gautami of this leifon ? 
Gciut. It is incomparable :—my child, be fure to remem¬ 
ber it. 
Can, Come, my beloved'girl, give a parting embrace to 
jne and to thy tender companions. 
Sac. Mult Anufuya and Priyamvada return to the her¬ 
mitage ? 
Can. They too, my child mult be'fuitably married ; and 
it would not be proper for them yet to vifit the city ; but 
Gautami will accompany thee 
Sac. [Embracing him.) Removed from the bofom of my 
father, like a young fandal-tree rent from the hills of Ma¬ 
laya, how lhall I exift in a ftrange foil'■? 
Can. Be not lo anxious. When thou -fhalt be miftrefs 
of a family, and confort of a king, thou mayft, indeed, 
be occafionally perplexed by the intricate affairs which 
arife from exuberance of wealth, but wilt then think lightly 
of this tranfient affliction, efpecially when thou ihalt have 
a fon (and a fon thou wilt have) bright as the riling day- 
ftar.—Know alfowith certainty, that the body mull ne- 
ceffarily, at the appointed moment, be leparated from the 
foul : who, then, can be immoderately afflicted, when the 
weaker bounds of extrinlic relations are loofened, or even 
broken ? 
Sac. [ Falling at his feet.] My father, I thus humbly 
declare my veneration for you. 
Can. Excellent girl, may my effort for thy happinefs 
prove fuccefsful. 
Sac. [ Approaching her two companions.'] Come, then, my 
beloved friends, embrace me together. [They embrace her. 
Ann. My friend, if the virtuous monarch Ihould not at 
once recoiled you, only fhow him the ring on which his 
own name is engraved. 
Sac. [Starting.] My heart flutters at the bare apprehen- 
flon which you have railed. 
Pri. Fear not, fweet Sacontala : love always raifes ideas 
of mifery, which are feldom or never realiled. 
Sam. Holy fage, the fun has rifen to a confiderable 
height: let the queen liaften her departure. 
Sac. [ Again embracing Canna.] When, my father, oh ! 
when again lhall I behold this alylum of virtue ? 
Can. Daughter, w'hen thou fhalt long have been wedded, 
like this fruitful earth, to the pious monarch, and Ihalt 
have borne him a fon, whofe car lhall be matchlefs in bat¬ 
tle, thy lord lhall transfer to him the burthen of the em¬ 
pire, and thou, with thy Dulhmanta, ihalt again feek tran¬ 
quillity, before thy final departure, in this loved and con- 
fecrated grove. 
Gaut. My child, the proper time for our journey paffes 
away rapidly : fuller thy father to return.—Go, venerable 
man, go back to thy manfion, from which Ihe is doomed 
to be fo long abfent. 
Can. Sweet child, this delay interrupts my religious du¬ 
ties. 
Sac. You, my father will perform them long without 
forrow ; but I, alas ! am deftined to bear affliction. 
Can. O my daughter, compel me not to neglect my 
daily devotions.— [Sighing.] No, my forrow will not be 
diminiihed.—Can it ceafe, my beloved, when the plants 
which rife luxuriantly from the hallowed grains which thy 
hand has drown before my Cottage, are continually in my 
light ?—Go, may thy journey profper. 
[Sacontala goes out with Gautami and the two Mifras. 
Both damfels. [ Looking after Sacontala with anguijh,] 
Alas! alas ! our beloved is hidden by the thick trees. 
Can. My children, fince your friend is at length de¬ 
parted, check-your immoderate grief, and follow me. 
[ 7 hey all turn bach. 
Both. Holy father, the grove will be a perfeCt vacuity 
without Sacontala. 
Can. Your affeCtion will certainly give it that appear- 
Voi. X. No. 649. 
157 
ance.- [He walks round meditating.]—Ah me 1 —Yes ; at 
lalt my weak mind has attained its due tirmnefs after the 
departure of my Sacontala.—In truth a daughter mull 
fooner or later be the property of another ; and, having 
now lent her to her lord, I find my foul clear and undit- 
turbed, like that of a man who has reitored to its owner 
an ineflimable depofit which he long had kept with folici- 
tude. [They go out. 
The following feene, in which Dufhraahta, in cdnle- 
quence of having recovered the fatal ring, again recolleCts 
his attachment to Sacontaia, poffelfes many beauties : 
Dulhmanta enters in penitential weeds, preceded by a 
Warder, and attended by Madhaya, (the King's. Buffoon, 
as he is called.) The nymph Mifraeefi, inviiible to them. 
Chamberlain. [Looking at the King.] Ah ! how majef- 
tic are noble forms in every habiliment!—Our prince, 
even in the garb of affliction, is a venerable objeCt.— 
Though he has abandoned pleafure, ornaments, and bufi- 
nef's ; though he has become fo thin, that his golden brace¬ 
let falls loofened even down to his wrifl; though his lips 
are parched with the heat of his fighs, and his eyes are 
fixed open by long forrow and want of deep, yet I am 
dazzled by the blaze of virtue which beams in his counte¬ 
nance like a diamond exquifitely poliflied. 
Mifraeefi. [Afide gazing on Dulhmanta. j With good rea- 
fon is my beloved Sacontala, though difgraced and rejected, 
heavily opprefl'ed with grief through the abfence of this 
youth. 
Du/hmanta. [AdvancingJlowly, in deep meditation.] When 
my darling with an antelope’s eyes would have reminded 
me of our love, I was affuredly flumbering; but excefs 
of mifery has hwakened me. 
Mifr. [Afide.] The charming girl will at laft be happy. 
Madh. [Afide.] This monarch of ours is caught again 
in the gale of affeCtion ; and I hardly know a remedy for 
his illnefs. 
Cham. [Approaching Dulhmanta.] May the king be vic¬ 
torious !—Let him furvey yon fine woodland, thefe cool 
walks, and this blooming garden ; where he may repofe 
with pleafure on banks of delight. 
Dujhm. [Not attending to him.] Warder, inform the chief 
minifter in my name, that, having refolved on a long ab¬ 
fence from the city, I do not mean to fit for fome time in 
the tribunal; but let him write and difpatch to me all the 
cafes that may arife among my fubjeCts. 
Warder. As the king commands. [He goes out. 
Dujhm. [To the Chamberlain.] And thou, Parvatayana; 
negleCt not thy Hated bufmefs. 
Cham. By no means. [He goes cut. 
Madh. You have not left a fly in the garden.—Amufe 
yourfelfnow in this retreat, which, feems pleafed with the 
departure of the dewy feafon. 
Dujbm. O Madhavya, when perfons accufed of great 
offences prove wholly innocent, fee how their accufers are 
punilhed !-A phrenfy obrtruCted my remembrance of 
any former love for the daughter of the fage: and now 
the heart-born god, Who delights in giving pain, has fixed 
in his bowftring a new' fhaft pointed with the bloffom of 
an Amra.—The fatal ring having reftored my memory, 
fee me deplore with tears of repentance the lots of my belt 
beloved, whom I rejected without caufe; fee me over¬ 
whelmed with forrow, even while the return of fpring fills 
the hearts of all others w’ith pleafure 
Madh. Be ftill, my friend, whilft I break Love’s arrows 
with my Itaff.' [Hejirikcs off fome flowers from an Amra tree. 
Dujhm. [Meditating] Yes, I acknowledge the lupreme 
power of Brahma.— [To Madhavya.] Where now, my 
friend, lhall I fit and recreate my fight with the flender 
fhrubs which bear a faint refemblance to the lhape of Sa¬ 
contala. 
Madh. You will foon fee the damfel fkilled in painting, 
whom you informed that you would fpend the forenoon 
in yon bower of Madhavi creepers: and fhe will bring 
you the queen’s picture which you commanded her to. 
draw. 
S f Dujhm 
