KANWA [_sighing_].--How, O my child, shall my bereavèd heart Forget its bitterness, when, day by day, Full in my sight shall grow the tender plants Reared by thy care, or sprung from hallowed grain Which thy loved hands have strewn around the door-- A frequent offering to our household gods? Go, my daughter, and may thy journey be prosperous. [_Exit Śakoontalá with her escort_. PRIYAMVADÁ AND ANASÚYÁ [_gazing after Śakoontalá_].--Alas! alas! she is gone, and now the trees hide our darling from our view. KANWA [_sighing_].--Well, Anasúyá, your sister has departed. Moderate your grief, both of you, and follow me. I go back to the hermitage. PRIYAMVADÁ AND ANASÚYÁ.--Holy father, the sacred grove will be a desert without Śakoontalá. How can we ever return to it? KANWA.--It is natural enough that your affection should make you view it in this light. [_Walking pensively on_.] As for me, I am quite surprised at myself. Now that I have fairly dismissed her to her husband's house, my mind is easy: for indeed, A daughter is a loan--a precious jewel Lent to a parent till her husband claim her. And now that to her rightful lord and master I have delivered her, my burdened soul Is lightened, and I seem to breathe more freely. [_Exeunt._ [40] The sandal-tree is a large kind of myrtle, with pointed leaves. The wood affords many highly esteemed perfumes and is celebrated for its delicious scent. It is chiefly found on the slopes of the Malay mountains or Western Ghants, on the Malabar coast. ACT FIFTH Scene.--A Room in the Palace _The King Dushyanta and the Jester Máthavya are discovered seated_. MÁTHAVYA [_listening_].--Hark! my dear friend, listen a minute, and you will hear sweet sounds proceeding from the music-room. Someone is singing a charming air. Who can it be? Oh! I know. The queen Hansapadiká is practising her notes, that she may greet you with a new song. KING.--Hush! Let me listen. A VOICE [_sings behind the scenes_].-- How often hither didst thou rove, Sweet bee, to kiss the mango's cheek; Oh! leave not, then, thy early love, The lily's honeyed lip to seek. KING.--A most impassioned strain, truly! MÁTHAVYA.--Do you understand the meaning of the words? KING [_smiling_].--She means to reprove me, because I once paid her great attention, and have lately deserted her for the queen Vasumatí. Go, my dear fellow, and tell Hansapadiká from me that I take her delicate reproof as it is intended. MÁTHAVYA.--Very well. [_Rising from his seat_.] But stay--I don't much relish being sent to bear the brunt of her jealousy. The chances are that she will have me seized by the hair of the head and beaten to a jelly. I would as soon expose myself, after a vow of celibacy, to the seductions of a lovely nymph, as encounter the fury of a jealous woman. KING.--Go, go; you can disarm her wrath by a civil speech; but give her my message.