branch of a Kuruvaka-bush[31].
Be so good as to wait for me until I have disentangled it.

[_Exit with her two companions, after making pretexts
for delay, that she may steal glances at the_ KING.

KING.

I have no longer any desire to return to the city. I will
therefore rejoin my attendants, and make them encamp somewhere in
the vicinity of this sacred grove. In good truth, [S']akoontala has
taken such possession of my thoughts, that I cannot turn myself
in any other direction.

My limbs drawn onward leave my heart behind,
Like silken pennon borne against the wind.

* * * * *

ACT II.

SCENE.--_A plain on the skirts of the forest.

Enter the Jester_ [32] MA[T.]HAVYA, _in a melancholy mood_.

MA[T.]HAVYA. [_Sighing_.

Heigh-ho! what an unlucky fellow I am! worn to a shadow by my
royal friend's sporting propensities. 'Here's a deer!' 'There
goes a boar!' 'Yonder's a tiger!' This is the only burden of our
talk, while in the heat of the meridian sun we toil on from
jungle to jungle, wandering about in the paths of the woods,
where the trees afford us no shelter. Are we thirsty? We have
nothing to drink but the dirty water of some mountain stream
mixed with dry leaves, which give it a most pungent flavour. Are
we hungry? We have nothing to eat but roast game[33], which we
must swallow down at odd times, as best we can. Even at night
there is no peace to be had. Sleeping is out of the question,
with joints all strained by dancing attendance upon my sporting
friend; or if I do happen to doze, I am awakened at the very
earliest dawn by the horrible din of a lot of rascally beaters
and huntsmen, who must needs surround the wood before sunrise,
and deafen me with their clatter. Nor are these my only troubles.
Here's a fresh grievance, like a new boil rising upon an old
one! Yesterday, while we were lagging behind, my royal friend
entered yonder hermitage after a deer; and there, as ill-luck
would have it, caught sight of a beautiful girl, called
[S']akoontala, the hermit's daughter. From that moment, not another
thought about returning to the city! and all last night not a
wink of sleep did he get for thinking of the damsel. What is to
be done? At any rate I will be on the watch for him as soon as he
has finished his toilet.

[_Walking and looking about_.]

Oh! her