her recumbent form
Betokens languor. Ne'er could noon-day sun
Inflict such fair disorder on a maid--
No, love, and love alone, is here to blame.

PRIYAMVADA. [_Aside to_ ANASUYA.

I have observed, Anasuya, that [S']akoontala has been indisposed
ever since her first interview with King Dushyanta. Depend upon
it, her ailment is to be traced to that source.

ANASUYA.

The same suspicion, dear, has crossed my mind. But I will at once
ask her and ascertain the truth.

[_Aloud_.]

Dear [S']akoontala, I am about to put a question to you. Your
indisposition is really very serious.

[S']AKOONTALA. [_Half rising from her couch_.

What were you going to ask?

ANASUYA.

We know very little about love-matters, dear [S']akoontala; but for
all that, I cannot help suspecting your present state to be
something similar to that of the lovers we have heard about in
romances. Tell us frankly what is the cause of your disorder. It
is useless to apply a remedy, until the disease be understood.

KING.

Anasuya bears me out in my suspicion.

[S']AKOONTALA. [_Aside_.

I am, indeed, deeply in love; but cannot rashly
disclose my passion to these young girls.

PRIYAMVADA.

What Anasuya says, dear [S']akoontala, is very just. Why give so
little heed to your ailment? Every day you are becoming thinner;
though I must confess your complexion is still as beautiful as
ever.

KING.

Priyamvada speaks most truly.

Sunk is her velvet cheek; her wasted bosom
Loses its fulness; e'en her slender waist
Grows more attenuate; her face is wan,
Her shoulders droop;--as when the vernal blasts
Sear the young blossoms of the Madhavi[52],
Blighting their bloom; so mournful is the change.
Yet in its sadness, fascinating still,
Inflicted by the mighty lord of love
On the fair figure of the hermit's daughter.

[S']AKOONTALA.

Dear friends, to no one would I rather reveal the nature of my
malady than to you; but I should only be troubling you.

PRIYAMVADA AND ANASUYA.

Nay, this is the very point about which we are so solicitous.
Sorrow shared with affectionate friends is relieved of half its
poignancy.

KING.

Pressed by the partners of her joys and griefs,
Her much beloved companions, to reveal
The cherished secret locked within her breast,
She needs must utter it; although her looks
Encourage me