KING. [Respectfully.

A message from the sage Kanwa, did you say?

CHAMBERLAIN.

Even so, my liege.

KING.

Tell my domestic priest Somarata to receive the hermits with due honour, according to the prescribed form.  He may then himself introduce them into my presence.  I will await them in a place suitable for the reception of such holy guests.

CHAMBERLAIN.

Your Majesty’s commands shall be obeyed.

[Exit.

KING. [Rising and addressing his WARDER.

Vetravati, lead the way to the chamber of the consecrated fire[77].

WARDER.

This way, Sire.

KING.

[Walking on, with the air of one oppressed by the cares of Government.

People are generally contented and happy when they have gained their desires; but kings have no sooner attained the object of their aspirations than all their troubles begin.

  ’Tis a fond thought that to attain the end
  And object of ambition is to rest;
  Success doth only mitigate the fever
  Of anxious expectation; soon the fear
  Of losing what we have, the constant care
  Of guarding it, doth weary.  Ceaseless toil
  Must be the lot of him who with his hands
  Supports the canopy that shields his subjects.

TWO HERALDS[78]. [Behind the scenes.

May the King be victorious!

FIRST HERALD.

  Honour to him who labours day by day
  For the world’s weal, forgetful of his own;
  Like some tall tree that with its stately head
  Endures the solar beam, while underneath
  It yields refreshing shelter to the weary.

SECOND HERALD.

  Let but the monarch wield his threatening rod
  And e’en the guilty tremble; at his voice
  The rebel spirit cowers; his grateful subjects
  Acknowledge him their guardian; rich and poor
  Hail him a faithful friend—­a loving kinsman.

KING.

Weary as I was before, this complimentary address has refreshed me.

[Walks on.

WARDER.

Here is the terrace of the hallowed fire-chamber, and yonder stands the cow that yields the milk for the oblations.  The sacred enclosure has been recently purified, and looks clean and beautiful.  Ascend, Sire.

KING. [Leans on the shoulders of his attendants and ascends_.

Vetravati, what can possibly be the message that the venerable Kanwa has sent me by these hermits?

  Perchance their sacred rites have been disturbed
  By demons, or some evil has befallen
  The innocent herds, their favourites, that graze
  Within the precincts of the hermitage,
  Or haply, through my sins, some withering blight
  Has nipped the creeping plants that spread their arms
  Around the hallowed grove.  Such troubled thoughts
  Crowd through my mind, and fill me with misgiving.