VETRAVATI.--Heaven forbid!
KING.--Fool that I was to reject such happiness when it offered itself
for my acceptance!
SANUMATI [_aside_].--He may well blame his own folly when he calls to
mind his treatment of my beloved Sakoontala.
KING.--Ah! woe is me? when I forsook my wife--
My lawful wife--concealed within her breast
There lay my second self, a child unborn,
Hope of my race, e'en as the choicest fruit
Lies hidden in the bosom of the earth.
SANUMATI [_aside_].--There is no fear of your race being cut off for
want of a son.
CHATURIKA [_aside to Vetravati_].--The affair of the merchant's death
has quite upset our royal master, and caused him sad distress. Had you
not better fetch the worthy Mathavya from the Palace of Clouds to
comfort him?
VETRAVATI.--A very good idea. [_Exit_.
KING.--Alas! the shades of my forefathers are even now beginning to be
alarmed, lest at my death they may be deprived of their funeral
libations.
No son remains in King Dushyanta's place
To offer sacred homage to the dead
Of Puru's noble line: my ancestors
Must drink these glistening tears, the last libation
A childless man can ever hope to make them.
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