me of
all the prizes of love--all the kisses for which my heart is
athirst.

Madana

Alas, how vain thy single night had been! The barque of joy came
in sight, but the waves would not let it touch the shore.

Chitra

Heaven came so close to my hand that I forgot for a moment that
it had not reached me. But when I woke in the morning from my
dream I found that my body had become my own rival. It is my
hateful task to deck her every day, to send her to my beloved and
see her caressed by him. O god, take back thy boon!

Madana

But if I take it from you how can you stand before your lover?
To snatch away the cup from his lips when he has scarcely drained
his first draught of pleasure, would not that be cruel? With
what resentful anger he must regard thee then?

Chitra

That would be better far than this. I will reveal my true self
to him, a nobler thing than this disguise. If he rejects it, if
he spurns me and breaks my heart, I will bear even that in
silence.

Vasanta

Listen to my advice. When with the advent of autumn the
flowering season is over then comes the triumph of fruitage. A
time will come of itself when the heat-cloyed bloom of the body
will droop and Arjuna will gladly accept the abiding fruitful
truth in thee. O child, go back to thy mad festival.

SCENE IV

Chitra

WHY do you watch me like that, my warrior?

Arjuna

I watch how you weave that garland. Skill and grace, the twin
brother and sister, are dancing playfully on your finger tips. I
am watching and thinking.

Chitra

What are you thinking, sir?

Arjuna

I am thinking that you, with this same lightness of touch and
sweetness, are weaving my days of exile into an immortal wreath,
to crown me when I return home.

Chitra

Home! But this love is not for a home!

Arjuna

Not for a home?

Chitra

No. Never talk of that. Take to your home what is abiding