ry-tree. The flowers are
very large, and beautifully diversified with tints of
orange-scarlet, of pale yellow, and of bright orange, which form
a variety of shades according to the age of the blossom.

119. _And with his artless smiles Gladdens their hearts_.

Chezy is enraptured with this verse: ' ... strophe incomparable,
que tout pere, ou plutot toute mere, ne pourra lire sans sentir
battre son coeur, tant le poete a su y rendre, avec les nuances
les plus delicates, l'expression vivante de l'amour maternel.'
Compare Statius, Theb., book v. line 613.

'Heu ubi siderei vultus? ubi verba ligatis
Imperfecta sonis? risusque et murmura soli
Intellecta mihi?'

120. _It is against propriety to make too minute inquiries
about the wife of another man_.

The Hindus were very careful to screen their wives from the curiosity
of strangers; and their great lawgiver, Manu, enjoined that married
women should be cautiously guarded by their husbands in the inner
apartments (_antahpura_) appropriated to women (called by the
Muhammadans, Haram, and in common parlance, in India _andar-mahall_).
The chief duty of a married woman's life seems to have been to keep as
quiet as possible, to know as little as possible, to hear, see, and
inquire about nothing; and above all, to avoid being herself the
subject of conversation or inquiry; in short, the sole end and object
of her existence was to act as a good head-servant, yielding to her
husband a servile obedience, regulating the affairs of his family,
preparing his daily food, and superintending his household. (Manu, ix.
11, 16.) But notwithstanding the social restrictions to which women
were subjected, even in the earlier periods of Indian history, it
seems probable that they were not rigidly excluded from general
society until after the introduction of Muhammadan customs into India.
It appears from the plays that they were allowed to go into public on
certain occasions; they took part in bridal processions, and were
permitted to enter the temples of the gods, [S']akoontala appears in
the court of King Dushyanta and pleads her own cause; and Vasavadatta,
in the Ratnavali, holds a conversation with her father's envoy. Even
in later times, the presence of men, other than husbands or sons, in
the inner apartments, was far from being prohibited. See Wilson's
Hindu Theatre, p. xliii.

121. _Her long hair Twined in a single braid_.

Hindu women collect their hair into a single long