KING.

Voluptuaries may allow themselves to be seduced from the path of duty by falsehoods such as these, expressed in honeyed words.

GAUTAMI.

Speak not thus, illustrious Prince.  This lady was brought up in a hermitage, and has never learnt deceit.

KING.

Holy matron,

  E’en in untutored brutes, the female sex
  Is marked by inborn subtlety—­much more
  In beings gifted with intelligence. 
  The wily Koil[83], ere towards the sky
  She wings her sportive flight, commits her eggs
  To other nests, and artfully consigns
  The rearing of her little ones to strangers.

[S’]AKOONTALA. [Angrily.

Dishonourable man, thou judgest of others by thine own evil heart.  Thou, at least, art unrivalled in perfidy, and standest alone—­a base deceiver in the garb of virtue and religion—­like a deep pit whose yawning mouth is concealed by smiling flowers.

KING. [Aside.

Her anger, at any rate, appears genuine, and makes me almost doubt whether I am in the right.  For indeed,

  When I had vainly searched my memory,
  And so with stern severity denied
  The fabled story of our secret loves,
  Her brows, that met before in graceful curves,
  Like the arched weapon of the god of love,
  Seemed by her frown dissevered; while the fire
  Of sudden anger kindled in her eyes.

[Aloud.]

My good lady, Dushyanta’s character is well known to all.  I comprehend not your meaning.

[S’]AKOONTALA.

Well do I deserve to be thought a harlot for having in the innocence of my heart, and out of the confidence I reposed in a Prince of Puru’s race, entrusted my honour to a man whose mouth distils honey, while his heart is full of poison.

       [Covers her face with her mantle, and bursts into tears.

[S’]ARNGARAVA.

Thus it is that burning remorse must ever follow rash actions which might have been avoided, and for which one has only one’s self to blame.

  Not hastily should marriage be contracted,
  And specially in secret.  Many a time,
  In hearts that know not each the other’s fancies,
  Fond love is changed into most bitter hate.

KING.

How now!  Do you give credence to this woman rather than to me, that you heap such accusations on me?

[S’]ARNGARAVA. [Sarcastically.

That would be too absurd, certainly.  You have heard the proverb:—­

  Hold in contempt the innocent words of those
  Who from their infancy have known no guile;
  But trust the treacherous counsels of the man
  Who makes a very science of deceit.

KING.

Most veracious Brahman, grant that you are in the right, what end would be gained by betraying this lady?