The Mālavikāgnimitra, it is true, has far fewer beauties of diction than the other two dramas, but it contains many verses which are unmistakably the work of Kālidāsa, though they present much less than the maturity of his later style. The figure of discrepancy (viṣama) is illustrated by the description of the god of love whose bow, so innocent in seeming, can yet work such ill: [340] kva rujā hṛdayapramāthinī: kva ca te viçvasanīyam āyudham mṛdutīkṣṇataraṁ yad ucyate: tad idam manmatha dṛçyate tvayi. ‘How strange the difference between this pain that wrings the heart, and thy bow to all seeming so harmless. That which is most sweet and most bitter at once is assuredly found in thee, O God of Love.’ Agnimitra is ready enough with a pun, when Mālavikā, on being bidden to show fearlessly her love towards him, slyly reminds him that she has seen him as terrified as herself of the queen: [341] dākṣiṇyaṁ nāma bimboṣṭhi baimbikānāṁ kulavratam tan me dīrghākṣi ye prāṇās te tvadāçānibandhanāḥ. ‘Politeness, O Bimba-lipped one, is the family tradition of the descendants of Bimbaka; nevertheless, what life I have depends entirely on the hope of thy favour.’ The excellent Kauçikī consoles and comforts Dhāriṇī with her approval of her acts: [342] pratipakṣeṇāpi patiṁ sevante bhartṛvatsalāḥ sādhvyaḥ anyasaritām api jalaṁ samudragāḥ prāpayanty udadhim. ‘Even to the extent of admitting a rival, noble ladies, who love their spouses, honour their husbands; the great rivers bear to the ocean the waters of many a tributary stream.’ There is an amusing directness and homeliness in the king’s utterance on learning of the true quality of Mālavikā: [343] preṣyabhāvena nāmeyaṁ devīçabdakṣamā satī snānīyavastrakriyayā patrorṇaṁ vopayujyate. ‘This lady, fit to bear the title of queen, has been treated as a maid-servant, even as one might use a garment of woven silk for a bathing cloth.’ But Kālidāsa shows himself equal to the expression of more manly sentiments as well; the nun thus tells of her brother’s fall in the effort to save Mālavikā when the foresters attack them: [344] imām parīpsur durjāte parābhibhavakātarām bhartṛpriyaḥ priyair bhartur ānṛṇyam asubhir gataḥ. ‘Eager in this misfortune to protect her, terrified by the enemy’s onslaught, he paid with his dear life his debt of affection to the lord whom he loved.’ The king’s reply is manly: bhagavati tanutyajām īdṛçī lokayātrā: na çocyaṁ tatrabhavān saphalīkṛtabhartṛpiṇḍaḥ. ‘O lady, such is the fate of brave men; thou must not mourn for him who showed himself thus worthy of his master’s salt.’ 5. THE LANGUAGE AND THE METRES