"
In the fifth act, the scene is laid in Dushyanta's palace, where the
king is living, under the curse of Durvasas, in complete oblivion of
Sakoontala. The life of the court is happily suggested, with its
intrigues and its business. The king has yet a vague impression of
restlessness, which, on hearing a song sung behind the scenes, prompts
him to say, "Why has this strain flung over me so deep a melancholy, as
though I was separated from some loved one; can this be the faint
remembrance of affections in some previous existence?" It is here that
the hermits, with Gautami, arrive, bringing Sakoontala, soon to be made
a mother, into the presence of the king; but she has been utterly
forgotten by him. He angrily denies his marriage; and when she proposes
to bring forth the ring, she finds she has lost it from her finger. "It
must have slipped off," suggested Gautami, "when thou wast offering
homage to Sachi's holy lake." The king smiles derisively. Sakoontala
tries to quicken his memory:--"Do you remember how, in the jasmine
bower, you poured water from the lotus cup into the hollow of my hand?
Do you remember how you said to my little fawn, Drink first, but she
shrunk from you--and drank water from my hand, and you said, with a
smile, 'Like trusts Like,' for you are two sisters in the same grove.
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