r than all else,--
Better than heaven: that was her tender sin,
Fault of a faultless soul; she pays for that'
'So spake the monarch, turning not his eyes,
Though Draupadi lay dead--striding straight on
For Meru, heart-full of the things of heaven,
Perfect and firm. But yet a little space,
And Sahadev fell down, which Bhima seeing,
Cried once again: 'O King, great Madri's son
Stumbles and sinks. Why hath he sunk?--so true,
So brave and steadfast, and so free from pride!'

"'He was not free,' with countenance still fixed,
Quoth Yudhishthira; 'he was true and fast
And wise, yet wisdom made him proud; he hid
One little hurt of soul, but now it kills.'

"So saying, he strode on--Kunti's strong son--
And Bhima, and Arjuna followed him,
And Nakula, and the hound; leaving behind
Sahadev in the sands. But Nakula,
Weakened and grieved to see Sahadev fall--
His loved twin-brother--lagged and stayed; and next
Prone on his face he fell, that noble face
Which had no match for beauty in the land,--
Glorious and godlike Nakula! Then sighed
Bhima anew: 'Brother and Lord! the man
Who never erred from virtue, never broke
Our fellowship, and never in the world
Was matched for goodly perfectness of form
Or gracious feature,--Nakula has fallen!'

"But Yudhishthira, holding fixed his eyes,--
That changeless, faithful, all-wise king,--replied:
'Yea, but he erred. The godlike form he wore
Beguiled him to believe none like to him,
And he alone desirable, and things
Unlovely to be slighted. Self-love slays
Our noble brother. Bhima, follow! Each
Pays what his debt was.'

"Which Arjuna heard,
Weeping to see them fall; and that stout son
Of Pandu, that destroyer of his foes,
That prince, who drove through crimson waves of war,
In old days, with his chariot-steeds of milk,
He, the arch-hero, sank! Beholding this,--
The yielding of that soul unconquerable,
Fearless, divine, from Sakra's self derived,
Arjuna's,--Bhima cried aloud: 'O king!
This man was surely perfect. Never once,
Not even in slumber when the lips are loosed,
Spake he one word that was not true as truth.
Ah, heart of gold, why art thou broke? O King!
Whence falleth he?'

"And Yudhishthira said,
Not pausing: 'Once he lie