ŚAKOONTALÁ.--My father, must Priyamvadá and Anasúyá really return with you? They are very dear to me. KANWA.--Yes, my child; they, too, in good time, will be given in marriage to suitable husbands. It would not be proper for them to accompany thee to such a public place. But Gautamí shall be thy companion. ŚAKOONTALÁ [_embracing him_].--Removed from thy bosom, my beloved father, like a young tendril of the sandal-tree torn from its home in the western mountains,[40] how shall I be able to support life in a foreign soil? KANWA.--Daughter, thy fears are groundless:-- Soon shall thy lord prefer thee to the rank Of his own consort; and unnumbered cares Befitting his imperial dignity Shall constantly engross thee. Then the bliss Of bearing him a son--a noble boy, Bright as the day-star--shall transport thy soul With new delights, and little shalt thou reck Of the light sorrow that afflicts thee now At parting from thy father and thy friends. [_Śakoontalá throws herself at her foster-father's feet_. KANWA.--Blessings on thee, my child! May all my hopes of thee be realized! ŚAKOONTALÁ [_approaching her friends_].--Come, my two loved companions, embrace me--both of you together. PRIYAMVADÁ AND ANASÚYÁ [_embracing her_].--Dear Śakoontalá, remember, if the King should by any chance be slow in recognizing you, you have only to show him this ring, on which his own name is engraved. ŚAKOONTALÁ.--The bare thought of it puts me in a tremor. PRIYAMVADÁ AND ANASÚYÁ.--There is no real cause for fear, dearest. Excessive affection is too apt to suspect evil where none exists. ŚÁRNGARAVA.--Come, lady, we must hasten on. The sun is rising in the heavens. ŚAKOONTALÁ [_looking towards the hermitage_].--Dear father, when shall I ever see this hallowed grove again? KANWA.--I will tell thee; listen-- When thou hast passed a long and blissful life As King Dushyanta's queen, and jointly shared With all the earth his ever-watchful care; And hast beheld thine own heroic son, Matchless in arms, united to a spouse In happy wedlock; when his aged sire, Thy faithful husband, hath to him resigned The helm of state; then, weary of the world, Together with Dushyanta thou shalt seek The calm seclusion of thy former home:-- There amid holy scenes to be at peace, Till thy pure spirit gain its last release. GAUTAMÍ.--Come, my child, the favorable time for our journey is fast passing. Let thy father return. Venerable Sire, be thou the first to move homewards, or these last words will never end. KANWA.--Daughter, detain me no longer. My religious duties must not be interrupted. ŚAKOONTALÁ [_again embracing her foster-father_].--Beloved father, thy frame is much enfeebled by penitential exercises. Do not, oh! do not, allow thyself to sorrow too much on my account.