say, ’Oh, fie on this earthly life which is hollow as the reed and so fruitless after all which is based on sorrow and hath no freedom, and which hath misery for its lot!  Life is sorrow and disease; life is truly a record of misery!  The soul is one:  but it hath to pursue virtue, wealth and pleasure.  And because these are pursued at one and the same time, there frequently occurs a disagreement that is the source of much misery.  Some say that salvation is the highest object of our desire.  But I believe it can never be attained.  The acquisition of wealth is hell; the pursuit of wealth is attended with misery; there is more misery after one has acquired it, for one loves one’s possessions, and if any mishap befalls them, the possessor becomes afflicted with woe.  I do not see by what means I can escape from this danger, nor how I can fly hence, with my wife to some region free from danger.  Remember, O wife, that I endeavoured to migrate to some other place where we would be happy, but thou didst not then listen to me.  Though frequently solicited by me, thou, O simple woman, said to me, ’I have been born here, and here have I grown old; this is my ancestral homestead.’  Thy venerable father, O wife, and thy mother also, have, a long time ago, ascended to heaven.  Thy relations also had all been dead.  Oh why then didst thou yet like to live here?  Led by affection for thy relatives thou didst not then hear what I said.  But the time is now come when thou art to witness the death of a relative.  Oh, how sad is that spectacle for me!  Or perhaps the time is come for my own death, for I shall never be able to abandon cruelly one of my own as long as I myself am alive.  Thou art my helpmate in all good deeds, self-denying and always affectionate unto me as a mother.  The gods have given thee to me as a true friend and thou art ever my prime stay.  Thou hast, by my parents, been made the participator in my domestic concerns.  Thou art of pure lineage and good disposition, the mother of children, devoted to me, and so innocent; having chosen and wedded thee with due rites, I cannot abandon thee, my wife, so constant in thy vows, to save my life.  How shall I myself be able to sacrifice my son a child of tender years and yet without the hirsute appendages (of manhood)?  How shall I sacrifice my daughter whom I have begotten myself, who hath been placed, as a pledge, in my hands by the Creator himself for bestowal on a husband and through whom I hope to enjoy, along with my ancestors, the regions attainable by those only that have daughters’ sons?  Some people think that the father’s affection for a son is greater; others, that his affection for a daughter is greater, mine, however, is equal.  How can I be prepared to give up the innocent daughter upon whom rest the regions of bliss obtainable by me in after life and my own lineage and perpetual happiness?  If, again, I sacrifice myself and go to the other world, I should scarcely know any peace, for, indeed, it is evident that, left by me these would not be able to support life.  The sacrifice of any of these would be cruel and censurable.  On the other hand, if I sacrifice myself, these, without me, will certainly perish.  The distress into which I have fallen is great; nor do I know the means of escape.  Alas, what course shall I take today with my near ones.  It is well that I should die with all these, for I can live no longer.’”