KING.

You must know, my good fellow, that I have been recognised by
some of the inmates of the hermitage. Now I want the assistance
of your fertile invention, in devising some excuse for going
there again.

MA[T.]HAVYA.

There is but one expedient that I can suggest. You are the King,
are you not?

KING.

What then?

MA[T.]HAVYA.

Say you have come for the sixth part of their grain [38], which
they owe you for tribute.

KING.

No, no, foolish man; those hermits pay me a very different kind
of tribute, which I value more than heaps of gold or jewels;
observe,

The tribute which my other subjects bring
Must moulder into dust, but holy men
Present me with a portion of the fruits
Of penitential services and prayers--
A precious and imperishable gift.

A VOICE BEHIND THE SCENES.

We are fortunate; here is the object of our search.

KING. [_Listening_.

Surely those must be the voices of hermits, to judge by their
deep tones.

WARDER. [_Entering_.

Victory to the King! two young hermits are in waiting outside,
and solicit an audience of your Majesty.

KING.

Introduce them Immediately.

WARDER.

I will, my liege.

[_Goes out, and re-enters with_ TWO YOUNG HERMITS.]

This way, Sirs, this way.

[_Both the_ HERMITS _look at the KING.

FIRST HERMIT.

How majestic is his mien, and yet what confidence it inspires!
But this might be expected in a king, whose character and habits
have earned for him a title only one degree removed from that of
a Sage [39].

In this secluded grove, whose sacred joys
All may participate, he deigns to dwell
Like one of us; and daily treasures up
A store of purest merit for himself,
By the protection of our holy rites.
In his own person wondrously are joined
Both majesty and saintlike holiness;
And often chanted by inspired bards [40],
His hallowed title of 'Imperial Sage'
Ascends in joyous accents to the skies.

SECOND HERMIT.

Bear in mind, Gautama, that this is the great Dushyanta, the
friend of Indra.

FIRST HERMIT.

What of that?

SECOND HERMIT.

Where is the wonder if his nervous arm,
Puissant and massive as the iron bar
That binds a castle-gateway, singly sways
The sceptre of the universal earth,
E'en to its dark-green boundary of waters?
Or if the gods, beholden to his aid
In