thy life,
  Think then thou art unworthy of her love,
  And she shall not e’en see thy coward face;
  But, if perchance thou fallest by the beast,
  Vouchsafe to her through me with thine own hand
  One javelin of the eight which now thou hast,
  For she will not outlive her Timmaraj,
  But straightway bare her breast and plunge the dart
  And lifeless fall a corpse.”  The youth replied,
  “I gladly send this javelin, but tell her
  She shall not need its use, for Timmaraj
  Will surely come victorious with the beast.” 
  With javelins seven then he sallied forth
  Upon his steed to win his bride or die. 
    Meanwhile the news was spread that Timmaraj
  And that young min’ster, who these many years
  Was seeking through her mother Chandra’s hand,
  And Bukka, ruler of the neighbouring state,
  Whom she her father fondly wished should wed,
  Had started on their steeds to Chengalpore;
  Each vowed to be the first to drag the beast
  Unto the royal city for six miles,
  And there slay him before the palace gate. 
  The city poured her sons the sight to see,
  For in the annals of their country’s past
  Not e’en the brightest page contained one deed
  That could this glorious feat of man surpass;
  And Timma was the people’s fav’rite, and
  They dearly wished that he should slay the beast,
  Win Chandra, and become their future king. 
    But soon the thought of that mad beast unnerved
  Both Bukka and the minister of the state. 
  The royal Bukka thus to himself said: 
  “A richer kingdom than this Vijiapore
  I own, and why should I now madly stake
  My life in this hard feat; ’tis easier far
  To gain this Chandra and her father’s throne. 
  I will sit hidden in the thickest bush,
  Near yonder stream, by which the pathway runs—­
  For Timmaraj is sure to pass that way—­
  And with this arrow I will end his life. 
  Thereafter Chandra’s love for him will fade
  And die, and who is there to marry her
  But I?” So thought this foolish youth, to whom
  A woman’s love was as inconstant as
  His own resolve to fight a savage beast,
  And sat within a bush to watch his prey. 
    He too, the pilot of the state, deemed it
  A mad resolve to try the dang’rous feat,
  And silent sat unnoticed and unknown
  Upon the other side of that same path,
  Within a secret bush by that same stream. 
  The one knew not the other was concealed
  The fatal blow upon the selfsame prey
  To deal, but fearless Timma on his horse
  Approached the beast, which madly rushed on them,
  To force both horse and rider to the ground
  With his huge leg, and then to tear them both. 
  The horse was fleeter than the elephant,
  Which thus the chase gave up, but still the youth
  Undaunted neared the beast a second time,
  And hurled with all his might a jav’lin,