[Footnote 130: p. 70. l. 16. _--as at sound of coming rain._ The rejoicing of the peacocks at the approach of rain is very sweetly described in the play of Malati and Madhava, translated by Mr. Wilson. Ah Malati, how can I bear to contemplate The young Tamala, bowed beneath the weight Of the light rain; the quivering drops that dance Before the cooling gale; the joyful cry That echoes round, as pleased the pea-fowl hail The bow of heaven propitious to their loves.--p. 108. In the Cloud Messenger, the Yaksha who addresses the cloud, fears lest it should be delayed by the cry of the peacock-- Or can the peacock's animated hail The bird with lucid eyes, to lure thee fail.--l. 147. In another passage, Pleased on each terrace, dancing with delight, The friendly peacock hails thy grateful flight.--l. 215.] [Footnote 131: p. 76. l. 19. _--much and various viands came_. The reader must remember the various gifts bestowed on king Nala by the gods upon his marriage.] [Footnote 132: p. 77. l. 22. _--of her mouth ablution made_. Washing the mouth after food, which Damayanti in her height of emotion does not forget, is a duty strictly enjoined in the Indian law, which so rigidly enforces personal cleanliness. "With a remnant of food in the mouth, or when the Sraddha has recently been eaten, let no man even meditate in his heart on the holy texts." MENU, iv, 109. "Having slumbered, having sneezed, having eaten, having spitten, having told untruths, having drunk water, and going to read sacred books, let him, though pure, wash his mouth." v. 145.] [Footnote 133: p. 79. l. 17. _--hair dishevelled, mire-defiled_. As a sign of sorrow and mourning.] [Footnote 134: p. 80. l. 4. _I will be._ "I will be," must be the commencement of the prayer uttered by the bridegroom at the time of marriage. It does not correspond with any of those cited by Mr. Colebrooke. It is probably analogous to that given by him, Asiatic Researches, viii, p. 301. WILSON.] [Footnote 135: p. 81. l. 11. _He through all the world that wanders--witness the all-seeing lord._ See the curious Law of Ordeal, Asiatic Researches, vol. i, p. 402, "On the trial by fire, let both hands of the accused be rubbed with rice in the husk, and well examined: then let seven leaves of the Aswatha (the religious fig-tree) be placed on them, and bound with seven threads." Thou, O fire, pervadest all beings; O cause of purity, who givest evidence of virtue and of sin, declare the truth in this my hand.]