To Ráma then they lowly bent, And round him in due reverence went-- To his command they answered, "Yea," And as they came so went away. When thus the arms had homeward flown, With pleasant words and modest tone, E'en as he walked, the prince began To question thus the holy man:-- "What cloudlike wood is that which near The mountain's side I see appear? O tell me, for I long to know: Its pleasant aspect charms me so. Its glades are full of deer at play, And sweet birds sing on every spray. Passed is the hideous wild--I feel So sweet a tremor o'er me steal-- And hail with transport fresh and new A land that is so fair to view. Then tell me all, thou holy Sage, And whose this pleasant hermitage In which those wicked ones delight To mar and kill each holy rite-- And with foul heart and evil deed Thy sacrifice, great Saint, impede. To whom, O Sage, belongs this land In which thine altars ready stand? 'Tis mine to guard them, and to slay The giants who the rites would stay. All this, O best of saints, I burn From thine own lips, my lord, to learn." CANTO XXXI THE PERFECT HERMITAGE Thus spoke the prince of boundless might, And thus replied the anchorite:-- "Chief of the mighty arm, of yore Lord Vishnu, whom the Gods adore For holy thought and rites austere, Of penance made his dwelling here. This ancient wood was called of old Grove of the Dwarf, the mighty-souled-- And when perfection he attained The grove the name of Perfect gained. Bali of yore, Virochan's son, Dominion over Indra won-- And when with power his proud heart swelled, O'er the three worlds his empire held. When Bali then began a rite, The Gods and Indra in affright Sought Vishnu in this place of rest, And thus with prayers the God addressed:-- 'Bali, Virochan's mighty son, His sacrifice has now begun: Of boundless wealth, that demon king Is bounteous to each living thing. Though suppliants flock from every side The suit of none is e'er denied. Whate'er, where'er, howe'er the call, He hears the suit and gives to all. Now with thine own illusive art Perform, O Lord, the helper's part: Assume a dwarfish form, and thus From fear and danger rescue us.' Thus in their dread the Immortals sued The God, a dwarfish shape indued:-- Before Virochan's son he came, Three steps of land his only claim. The boon obtained, in wondrous wise Lord Vishnu's form increased in size; Through all the worlds, tremendous, vast, God of the Triple Step, he passed. The whole broad earth from side to side He measured with one mighty stride-- Spanned with the next the firmament, And with the third through heaven he went. Thus was the king of demons hurled By Vishnu to the nether world--