MATHAVYA.--I trust you have laid in a good stock of provisions, for I
see you intend making this consecrated grove your game-preserve, and
will be roaming here in quest of sport for some time to come.
KING.--You must know, my good fellow, that I have been recognized by
some of the inmates of the hermitage. Now I want the assistance of your
fertile invention, in devising some excuse for going there again.
MATHAVYA.--There is but one expedient that I can suggest. You are the
King, are you not?
KING.--What then?
MATHAVYA.--Say you have come for the sixth part of their grain, which
they owe you for tribute.
KING.--No, no, foolish man; these hermits pay me a very different kind
of tribute, which I value more than heaps of gold or jewels; observe,
The tribute which my other subjects bring
Must moulder into dust, but holy men
Present me with a portion of the fruits
Of penitential services and prayers--
A precious and imperishable gift.
A VOICE [_behind the scenes_].--We are fortunate; here is the object of
our search.
KING [_listening],_--Surely those must be the voices of hermits, to
judge by their deep tones.
Pages:
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469