--How admirably does our royal master's behavior prove his regard
for justice! Who else would hesitate for a moment when good fortune
offered for his acceptance a form of such rare beauty?
SARNGARAVA.--Great King, why art thou silent?
KING.--Holy men, I have revolved the matter in my mind; but the more I
think of it, the less able am I to recollect that I ever contracted an
alliance with this lady. What answer, then, can I possibly give you when
I do not believe myself to be her husband, and I plainly see that she is
soon to become a mother?
SAKOONTALA [_aside_].--Woe! woe! Is our very marriage to be called in
question by my own husband? Ah me! is this to be the end of all my
bright visions of wedded happiness?
SARNGARAVA.--Beware!
Beware how thou insult the holy Sage!
Remember how he generously allowed
Thy secret union with his foster-child;
And how, when thou didst rob him of his treasure,
He sought to furnish thee excuse, when rather
He should have cursed thee for a ravisher.
SARADWATA.--Sarngarava, speak to him no more.
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