Go, fetch the brush that I may finish it.
CHATURIKA.--Worthy Mathavya, have the kindness to hold the picture until
I return.
KING.--Nay, I will hold it myself.
[_Takes the picture. Exit Chaturika_.
KING.--My loved one came but lately to my presence
And offered me herself, but in my folly
I spurned the gift, and now I fondly cling
To her mere image; even as a madman
Would pass the waters of the gushing stream,
And thirst for airy vapors of the desert.
MATHAVYA [_aside_].--He has been fool enough to forego the reality for
the semblance, the substance for the shadow. [_Aloud._] Tell us, I pray,
what else remains to be painted.
SANUMATI [_aside_].--He longs, no doubt, to delineate some favorite spot
where my dear Sakoontala delighted to ramble.
KING.--You shall hear------
I wish to see the Malini portrayed,
Its tranquil course by banks of sand impeded--
Upon the brink a pair of swans: beyond,
The hills adjacent to Himalaya,
Studded with deer; and, near the spreading shade
Of some large tree, where 'mid the branches hang
The hermits' vests of bark, a tender doe,
Rubbing its downy forehead on the horn
Of a black antelope, should be depicted.
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