in search of Nala.  And the royal daughter of Bhima, distressed only at her separation from her lord, was not terrified at aught in that fearful forest.  And, O king, seating herself down upon a stone and filled with grief, and every limb of hers trembling with sorrow on account of her husband, she began to lament thus:  ’O king of the Nishadhas, O thou of broad chest and mighty arms, whither hast thou gone, O king, leaving me in this lone forest?  O hero, having performed the Aswamedha and other sacrifices, with gifts in profusion (unto the Brahmanas), why hast thou, O tiger among men, played false with me alone?  O best of men, O thou of great splendour, it behoveth thee.  O auspicious one, to remember what thou didst declare before me, O bull among kings!  And, O monarch, it behoveth thee also to call to mind what the sky-ranging swans spake in thy presence and in mine.  O tiger among men, the four Vedas in all their extent, with the Angas and the Upangas, well-studied, on one side, and one single truth on the other, (are equal).  Therefore, O slayer of foes, it behoveth thee, O lord of men, to make good what thou didst formerly declare before me.  Alas, O hero! warrior!  O Nala!  O sinless one being thine, I am about to perish in this dreadful forest.  Oh! wherefore dost thou not answer me?  This terrible lord of the forest, of grim visage and gaping jaws, and famishing with hunger, filleth me with fright.  Doth it not behove thee to deliver me?  Thou wert wont to say always, ’Save thee there existeth not one dear unto me.’  O blessed one, O king, do thou now make good thy words so spoken before.  And, O king, why dost thou not return an answer to thy beloved wife bewailing and bereft of sense, although thou lovest her, being loved in return?  O king of the earth, O respected one, O represser of foes, O thou of large eyes, why dost thou not regard me, emaciated, and distressed and pale, and discoloured, and clad in a half piece of cloth, and alone, and weeping, and lamenting like one forlorn, and like unto a solitary doe separated from the herd?  O illustrious sovereign, it is, I, Damayanti, devoted to thee, who, alone in this great forest, address thee.  Wherefore, then, dost thou not reply unto me?  Oh, I do not behold thee today on this mountain, O chief of men, O thou of noble birth and character with every limb possesed of grace!  In this terrible forest, haunted by lions and tigers, O king of the Nishadhas, O foremost of men, O enhancer of my sorrows, (Wishing to know) whether thou art lying down, or sitting, or standing, or gone, whom shall I ask, distressed and woe-stricken on thy account, saying, ’Hast thou seen in this woods the royal Nala?’ Of whom shall I in this forest enquire alter the departed Nala, handsome and of high soul, and the destroyer of hostile arrays?  From whom shall I today hear the sweet words, viz., ’That royal Nala, of eyes like lotus-leaves, whom thou seekest, is even here?’ Yonder cometh the forest-king, that tiger