[34] The Matron or Superior of the female part of the society of
hermits. Their authority resembled that of an abbess in a convent of
nuns.
[35] A grass held sacred by the Hindoos and freely used at their
religious ceremonies. Its leaves are very long and taper to a
needle-like point.
ACT SECOND
Scene.--A Plain on the Skirts of the Forest
_Enter the Jester, Mathavya, in a melancholy mood_.
MATHAVYA [_sighing_].--Heigh-ho! what an unlucky fellow I am! worn to a
shadow by my royal friend's sporting propensities. "Here's a deer!"
"There goes a boar!" "Yonder's a tiger!" This is the only burden of our
talk, while in the heat of the meridian sun we toil on from jungle to
jungle, wandering about in the paths of the woods, where the trees
afford us no shelter. Are we thirsty? We have nothing to drink but the
foul water of some mountain stream, filled with dry leaves which give it
a most pungent flavor. Are we hungry? We have nothing to eat but roast
game, which we must swallow down at odd times, as best we can. Even at
night there is no peace to be had.
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