He said, “Dear Rati! well thou knowest
how
I fondly wish to trade in distant realms.
The time has come for me to part from
thee.
This morn a little ship was sighted here,
And she is riding yonder on the sea.
And ere the setting sun sinks down to
rest
Into the western waves the little bark
Now destined to take me will leave the
port;
And I have therefore one, but one short
hour.
’Tis willed by Him above that I
should soon
Bid farewell to the place where I was
born,
Where all my thoughts for ever centred
lie,—
Soon part from all that to my heart is
dear,
But soon come richer, greater to my home,
To spend my days in joy and happiness.
Dear wife! allow me therefore to depart.”
To which the wife—“Dear
husband, sad it is
To me to think that thou shouldst part
from me;
But sadder still the thought that thou
shouldst go
On seas to roam in lands unknown and strange,
And canst not tell when to this spot return.
There is our lordly mansion here; there
is
Our wealth, and here I am thy youthful
wife.
Why go away and risk thy precious life
While we enjoy our days like king and
queen?
Why leave me here to pine away in grief
And loneliness? Without my lord it
is
Half death to me, and I would rather die
Than see him part; hence banish from thy
mind
All thoughts of going and stay here with
me.”
“My wife!” he said, “why
cherish idle fears?
The holy Brahmin whom thou knowest well,
So deeply versed in all the starry lore,
Tells me that I am fated to return.
It is an evil omen that thou shouldst,
Lamenting, hinder me at this last hour
And tell me not to go. Send me away
With thy good wishes, I will soon return.
By Him above that rules man’s destinies,
By mother earth, by yonder setting sun,
The moon that shines up in the starry
heav’ns,
By all that to his heart is sacred deemed,
And lastly by his sire whose picture hangs
On the wall there, thy husband Rudra swears
That after he returns he’ll stay
with thee,
And nevermore e’en think of leaving
thee,
And let him therefore go in peace of mind.”
“If it is true,” replied the
crying maid,
“That Sita followed Rama to the
woods,
And that she of the Pandus also shared
With them their toils—if ever
woman’s charms
Had power to move the adamantine heart
Of man, then let thy Rati go with thee
To share with thee thy joys and woes as
well.
If thou shouldst go alone, remember then,
Dear lord, the sin rests solely on thy
head
That a young maiden has been left alone
To mourn for ever for her husband on
The seas—and all for gold and
for a name.”