160 HINDOOS-TAN. 
Dam/. Airlift not yourfelf immoderately: our lord is 
young; and, when fons illuftrious as himl'elf iliall be born 
of other queens, his ancellors will be redeemed of their 
offences committed here below. 
Dujhm. [ With agony. ] The race of Puru, which has hi¬ 
therto been fruitful and unblemifhed, ends in me ; as the 
river Serefwati difappears in a region unworthy of her di¬ 
vine ftream, [ He faints. 
The concluding part of the laft aft cannot but be ac¬ 
ceptable to the reader. , , 
Scene, a Fore/. Enter Duflimanta. 
Dujhm. [ Looking with fur prife.) —I fee a child, but with 
no childilh countenance or llren'gth, whom two female 
anclvorites are endeavouring to keep in order; while he 
forcibly pulls towards him, in rough play, a lion’s whelp 
with a torn mane, who feems juft dragged from the half- 
fucked nipple of the lionefs ! 
A little Boy and two female Attendants are difcovered, as 
defcribed by the king. 
Boy. Open thy mouth, lion’s whelp, that I may count 
thy teeth. 
Fir/ Atten. Intractable child! why doft thou torment 
the wild animals of this foreft, whom we cherifh as if they 
were our own offspring ?—Thou feemeft even to fport in 
anger.—Aptly have the hermits named thee Servedemana, 
fince thou tameft all creatures. 
- Du/im. Ah ! what means it that my heart inclines to 
this boy as if he were my own fon ?—[ Meditating .]—Alas ! 
I have no fon; and the reflection makes me once more 
fqft-hearted. 
Second Atten. The lionefs will tear thee to pieces if thou 
releafe not her whelp. 
Boy. [ Smiling.'] Oh! I am greatly afraid of her to be 
lure ! [He bites his lip, as in de/ance of her. 
Dufim. [Afide, amazed .] The child exhibits the rudi¬ 
ments of heroic valour, and looks like fire which blazes 
from the addition of dry fuel. 
Fir/ Atten. My beloved child, fet at liberty this young 
prince of wild beafts ; and I will give thee a prettier play¬ 
thing. 
Boy. Give it firft.—Where is it? [Stretching out his hand. 
Dufim. [A/de, gazing on the child’s palm. ] What! the 
very palm of his hand bears the marks of empire; and, 
■while he thus eagerly extends it, fhows its lines of exqui- 
fite net-work, and glow's like a lotos expanded at early 
dawn, w-hen the ruddy fplendour of its petals hides all 
other tints in obfcUrity. 
Second Atten. Mere words, my Suvrita, will not pacify 
him.—Go, I pray, to my cottage, where thou wilt find a 
plaything made for the hermit’s child, Sancara: it is a 
peacock of earthen ware, painted with rich colours. 
Fir/ Atten. I will bring it lpeedily. [Me goes out . 
Boy. In the mean time I will play with the young lion. 
Second Atten. [ Looking at him with a fmile.) Let him go, 
I entreat thee. 
Di/hm. [A/de.') I feel the tendered: affeftion for this 
unmanageable child.— [Sighing/— How fweet muft be the 
delight of virtuous fathers, when they foil their bofoms 
with duft by lifting up their playful children, who charm 
them with inarticulate prattle, and (how the w'hite blolfoms 
of their teeth, while they laugh innocently at every trifling 
occurrence ? 
Second Atten. [ Rai/ng her /ngcr.) What! doft thou (how 
no attention to me?— [Looking round/ —Are any of the 
hermits near ?— [Seeing Duflimanta.]—Oh ! let me requeft 
you, gentle ftrangcr, to releafe the lion’s whelp, who can¬ 
not dilengage himfelf from the gralp of this robuft child. 
Dufim. I will endeavoun— [Approaching the Boy, and 
failing .]—O thou, who art the fon of a pious anchorite, 
how canft thou diflionour thy father, whom thy virtues 
would make happy, by violating the rules of this conle- 
crated foreft ? It becomes a black l’erpent only to infeft the 
boughs of a fragrant landal-tree. [The Boy rc/eafes the lion. 
Second Atten. I thank you, courteous gueft;—but lie is 
not the-fon of an anchorite. 
_ Dufim. His aftions, indeed, which are conformable t«* 
his robuftnefs, indicate a different birth: but my opinion 
arofe from the fanftity of the place which he inhabits.-— 
[Taking the Boy by the hand.) -■[ Afide .]—Oh! ftnce it 
gives me fuch delight merely to touch the hand of this 
child, who is the hopeful fcion of a family unconnected 
with mine, what rapture muft be felt by the fortunate man 
from whom he fprang ? 
Second Atten. [Gazing on them alternately .] Oh wonderful ! 
Dufm. What has railed your wonder ? 
Second Atten. The aftonilliing refemblance between the 
child and you, gentle ftranger, to whom he bears no rela¬ 
tion.—It furprifed me alfo to fee, that although he, has 
childilh humours, and had no former acquaintance with 
you, yet your words have reftored him to his natural good 
temper. 
Dufim. [ Rai/ng the Boy to his bofom.) Holy matron, if 
he be not the fon of a hermit, what then is the name of 
his family ? 
Second Atten. He is defcended from Puru. 
Dujhm. [ Afide .] Hah! thence, no doubt, fprings his dif- 
pofition, and my affection for him.— .[Setting him down .)— 
[Aloud.) It is, I know, an eftablifhed ulag.: among the 
princes of Puru’s race, to dwell at firft in rich palaces 
with ftuccoed walls, where they protect, and cherifti the 
world, but in the decline of life to leek humbler manfions 
near the roots of venerable trees, where hermits with lub- 
dued paflions practife auftere devotion.—I wonder, how¬ 
ever, that this boy, who moves like a god, could have 
been born of a mere mortal. 
Second Atten. Affable ftranger, your wonder wall ceafe 
when you know that his mother is related to a celeftial 
nymph, and brought him forth in the facred foreft of 
Cafyapa. , 
Dujhm. [Afide.) I am tranfported.—This is a frefli 
ground of hope.- [Aloud.) —Wkat virtuous monarch 
took his excellent mother by the hand ? 
Second Atten. Oh ! I muft not give celebrity to the name 
of a king who deferted his lawful wife. 
Dujhm. [Afide.) Ah! (Ire means me.—Let me nowalk 
the name of the fweet child’s mother.— [Meditating.) —But 
it is again ft good manners to inquire concerning the wife 
of another man. 
The Firft Attendant re-enters with a. toy. 
Fir/ Atten. Look, Servademana, look at the beauty of 
this bird, Saconta lavanyam. 
Boy. [Looking eagerly round.) Sacontala ! Oh, where is 
my beloved mother? [Both Attendants laugh t 
Fir/ Atten. He tenderly loves bis mother, and was de¬ 
ceived by an equivocal phrafe. 
Second Atten. My child, (lie meant only the beautiful 
fhape and colours of this peacock. • 
Dujhm. [Ajidc.) Is my Sacontala then his mother ? Or 
has that dear name been given to fome other woman ?— 
This converfation refembles the fallacious appearance of 
water in a delert, which ends in bitter difappointment to 
the flag parched with thirft. 
Boy. I (hall like the peacock if it can sun and fly ; not 
elfe. [He takes it.. 
Fir/ Atten. [Looking round in confu/on.) Alas! the child’s 
amulet is not on his wrift. 
Dujhm. Be not alarmed. It was dropped while he was 
playing with the lion : I. fee it, and will put it into your 
hand. 
Both. Oh ! beware of touching it. 
Fir/ Atten. Ah! he has aftually taken it up. 
[They both gaze with fur prife on each other. 
Du/m. Here it is; but why would you have reftrained 
me from touching this bright gem ? 
Second Atten. Great monarch, this divine amulet has a 
wonderful power, and was given to the child by the fon 
of Marichi, as foon as the facred rites had been performed 
after his birth : whenever it fell on the ground, no human, 
being but the father or mother of this boy could have 
touched it unhurt. 
Dujhm . 
3 
