MATHAVYA.—­You will have to take up an intermediate position between the two, like King Trisanku, who was suspended between heaven and earth, because the sage Viswamitra commanded him to mount up to heaven, and the gods ordered him down again.

KING.—­I am certainly very much perplexed.  For here,
    Two different duties are required of me
    In widely distant places; how can I
    In my own person satisfy them both? 
    Thus is my mind distracted and impelled
    In opposite directions, like a stream
    That, driven back by rocks, still rushes on,
    Forming two currents in its eddying course.
[Reflecting.] Friend Mathavya, as you were my playfellow in childhood,
the Queen has always received you like a second son; go you, then, back
to her and tell her of my solemn engagement to assist these holy men. 
You can supply my place in the ceremony, and act the part of a son to
the Queen.

MATHAVYA.—­With the greatest pleasure in the world; but don’t suppose that I am really coward enough to have the slightest fear of those trumpery demons.

KING [smiling].—­Oh! of course not; a great Brahman like you could not possibly give way to such weakness.

MATHAVYA.—­You must let me travel in a manner suitable to the King’s younger brother.

KING.—­Yes, I shall send my retinue with you, that there may be no further disturbance in this sacred forest.

MATHAVYA [with a strut].—­Already I feel quite like a young prince.

KING [aside].—­This is a giddy fellow, and in all probability he will let out the truth about my present pursuit to the women of the palace.  What is to be done?  I must say something to deceive him. [Aloud to Mathavya, taking him by the hand.] Dear friend, I am going to the hermitage wholly and solely out of respect for its pious inhabitants, and not because I have really any liking for Sakoontala, the hermit’s daughter.  Observe,
    What suitable communion could there be
    Between a monarch and a rustic girl? 
    I did but feign an idle passion, friend,
    Take not in earnest what was said in jest.

MATHAVYA.—­Don’t distress yourself; I quite understand.

          [Exeunt.

[36] The religious rites of holy men were often disturbed by certain evil spirits called Rakshasas, who were the determined enemies of piety and devotion.

[37] Vishnu, the Preserver, was one of the three principal gods.

PRELUDE TO ACT THIRD

Scene.—­The Hermitage

Enter a young Brahman, carrying bundles of Kusa-grass for the use of the sacrificing priests.