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Book Ii. Canto Xviii. The Sentence

Canto Xviii.: The Sentence.


With hopeless eye and pallid mien

There sat the monarch with the queen.

His father's feet with reverence due

He clasped, and touched Kaikey?s too.

The king, with eyes still brimming o'er,

Cried 'Rma!' and could do no more.

His voice was choked, his eye was dim,

He could not speak or look on him.

Then sudden fear made Rma shake

As though his foot had roused a snake,

Soon as his eyes had seen the change

So mournful, terrible, and strange.

For there his reason well-nigh fled,

Sighing, with soul disquieted,

To torturing pangs a prey,

Dismayed, despairing, and distraught,

In a fierce whirl of wildering thought

The hapless monarch lay,

Like Ocean wave-engarlanded

Storm-driven from his tranquil bed,

The Sun-God in eclipse,

Or like a holy seer, heart-stirred

With anguish, when a lying word

Has passed his heedless lips.

The sight of his dear father, pained

With woe and misery unexplained

Filled Rma with unrest,

As Ocean's pulses rise and swell

When the great moon he loves so well

Shines full upon his breast.

So grieving for his father's sake,

To his own heart the hero spake:

'Why will the king my sire to-day

No kindly word of greeting say?

At other times, though wroth he be,

His eyes grow calm that look on me.

Then why does anguish wring his brow

To see his well-beloved now?'

Sick and perplexed, distraught with woe,

To Queen Kaikey bowing low,

While pallor o'er his bright cheek spread,

With humble reverence he said:

'What have I done, unknown, amiss

To make my father wroth like this?

Declare it, O dear Queen, and win

His pardon for my heedless sin.

Why is the sire I ever find

Filled with all love to-day unkind?

With eyes cast down and pallid cheek

This day alone he will not speak.

Or lies he prostrate 'neath the blow

Of fierce disease or sudden woe?

For all our bliss is dashed with pain,

And joy unmixt is hard to gain.

Does stroke of evil fortune smite

Dear Bharat, charming to the sight,

Or on the brave S'atrughna fall,

Or consorts, for he loves them all?

Against his words when I rebel,

Or fail to please the monarch well,

When deeds of mine his soul offend,

That hour I pray my life may end.

How should a man to him who gave

His being and his life behave?

The sire to whom he owes his birth

Should be his deity on earth.

Hast thou, by pride and folly moved,

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With bitter taunt the king reproved?

Has scorn of thine or cruel jest

To passion stirred his gentle breast?

Speak truly, Queen, that I may know

What cause has changed the monarch so.'

Thus by the high-souled prince addressed,

Of Raghu's sons the chief and best,

She cast all ruth and shame aside,

And bold with greedy words replied:

'Not wrath, O Rma, stirs the king,

Nor misery stabs with sudden sting;

One thought that fills his soul has he,

But dares not speak for fear of thee.

Thou art so dear, his lips refrain

From words that might his darling pain.

But thou, as duty bids, must still

The promise of thy sire fulfil.

He who to me in days gone by

Vouchsafed a boon with honours high,

Dares now, a king, his word regret,

And caitiff-like disowns the debt.

The lord of men his promise gave

To grant the boon that I might crave,

And now a bridge would idly throw

When the dried stream has ceased to flow.

His faith the monarch must not break

In wrath, or e'en for thy dear sake.

From faith, as well the righteous know,

Our virtue and our merits flow.

Now, be they good or be they ill,

Do thou thy father's words fulfil:

Swear that his promise shall not fail,

And I will tell thee all the tale.

Yes, Rma, when I hear that thou

Hast bound thee by thy father's vow,

Then, not till then, my lips shall speak,

Nor will he tell what boon I seek.'

He heard, and with a troubled breast

This answer to the queen addressed:

'Ah me, dear lady, canst thou deem

That words like these thy lips beseem?

I, at the bidding of my sire,

Would cast my body to the fire,

A deadly draught of poison drink,

Or in the waves of ocean sink:

If he command, it shall be done,--

My father and my king in one.

Then speak and let me know the thing

So longed for by my lord the king.

It shall be done: let this suffice;

Rma ne'er makes a promise twice.'

He ended. To the princely youth

Who loved the right and spoke the truth,

Cruel, abominable came

The answer of the ruthless dame:

'When Gods and Titans fought of yore,

Transfixed with darts and bathed in gore

Two boons to me thy father gave

For the dear life 'twas mine to save.

Of him I claim the ancient debt,

That Bharat on the throne be set,

And thou, O Rma, go this day

To Dandak forest far away.

Now, Rma, if thou wilt maintain

Thy father's faith without a stain,

And thine own truth and honour clear,

Then, best of men, my bidding hear.

Do thou thy father's word obey,

Nor from the pledge he gave me stray.

Thy life in Dandak forest spend

Till nine long years and five shall end.

Upon my Bharat's princely head

Let consecrating drops be shed,

With all the royal pomp for thee

Made ready by the king's decree.

Seek Dandak forest and resign

Rites that would make the empire thine,

For twice seven years of exile wear

The coat of bark and matted hair.

Then in thy stead let Bharat reign

Lord of his royal sire's domain,

Rich in the fairest gems that shine,

Cars, elephants, and steeds, and kine.

The monarch mourns thy altered fate

And vails his brow compassionate:

Bowed down by bitter grief he lies

And dares not lift to thine his eyes.

Obey his word: be firm and brave,

And with great truth the monarch save.'

While thus with cruel words she spoke,

No grief the noble youth betrayed;

But forth the father's anguish broke,

At his dear Rma's lot dismayed.

Footnotes

113:1
The Sea.

jade oriental pendant| trading places part 1
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