In her distress the princess said unto her handmaiden: “Go thou and observe this man closely, and return betimes to inform me of all he doeth. When he doth prepare viands for his royal master let no fire be given unto him nor any water.” Keśiní hastened forth to watch the charioteer, and when she returned she said: “O princess, this man is like unto a god. When he approacheth a low-built entrance he doth not stoop; the portal rises before him. Much flesh was given unto him to prepare viands for Rituparna. He but gazed on the empty vessels and they were filled with water. No fire was lit, and he took a handful of withered grass and held it up to the sun, whereupon it blazed instantly, and oh! the marvel, his fingers were unscorched by the flames. Water flows at his will, and as quickly it vanisheth. And lo! I beheld another marvel. When he lifted up flowers that had faded they were immediately refreshed, so that they had greater beauty and richer fragrance than before.”[321] [321] The powers given Nala by the gods as marriage gifts are here illustrated. Damayantí was fully assured that Váhuka was no other than her husband in altered form, and, weeping, she said softly: “Ah! go once again to the kitchen, fair Keśiní, and obtain without his knowledge a small portion of the food which he hath prepared.” Ere long the handmaiden returned with a morsel of well-cooked meat, and when Damayantí, who had ofttimes tried the food which had been cooked by her husband, tasted thereof, she uttered a loud cry in her anguish, and said: “Yon charioteer is Nala!” Then she sipped water of ablution,[322] and sent her two children with Keśiní to the kitchen. Immediately that the charioteer beheld Indrasena and her brother he embraced them tenderly: he gazed lovingly upon the children, who were as beautiful as the children of the gods, and his soul was deeply moved, while tears ran down his cheeks. Seeing that the handmaiden observed him closely, he said: “Ah! the little ones are so like unto mine own children that I could not restrain my tears.... Let us part now, O innocent maiden; we are in a land of strangers, and if thou comest so often men will speak ill of thee.” [322] A part of the ceremony of purification. The mouth was washed after eating, drinking, expectorating, slumbering, &c. When Damayantí was told how the charioteer had been so profoundly moved when he saw the royal children, she sent Keśiní unto her mother, the queen, for she was impatient to behold her husband once again. The handmaiden spake to the queen, saying: “Lo! we have observed the charioteer closely, and believe that he is Nala, although misshapen of form. Damayantí is fain he would come before her, with or without the knowledge of her sire, and that quickly.”