--Dear friends, why should you trouble yourselves to fan me?
[_Priyamvada and Anasuya look sorrowfully at one another._]
KING.--Sakoontala seems indeed to be seriously ill. [_Thoughtfully._]Can
it be the intensity of the heat that has affected her? or does my heart
suggest the true cause of her malady? [_Gazing at her passionately._]
Why should I doubt it?
The maiden's spotless bosom is o'erspread
With cooling balsam; on her slender arm
Her only bracelet, twined with lotus stalks,
Hangs loose and withered; her recumbent form
Expresses languor. Ne'er could noon-day sun
Inflict such fair disorder on a maid--
No, love, and love alone, is hereto blame.
PRIYAMVADA [_aside to Anasuya._]--I have observed, Anasuya, that
Sakoontala has been indisposed ever since her first interview with King
Dushyanta. Depend upon it, her ailment is to be traced to this source.
ANASUYA.--The same suspicion, dear Priyamvada, has crossed my mind. But
I will at once ask her and ascertain the truth. [_Aloud._] Dear
Sakoontala, I am about to put a question to you.
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