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OR, THE FATAL RING.
53

Dushm. How come you, who are an egregious Bráhmen, to be so bold on a sudden!

Mádh. Oh! I am now a young king.

Dushm. Yes, certainly; and I will dispatch my whole train to attend your highness, whilst I put an end to the disturbance in this hermitage.

Mádh. [Strutting.] This buffoon of a Bráhmen has a slippery genius. He will perhaps disclose my present pursuit to the women in the palace. I must try to deceive him.—[Taking Mádhavya by the hand.]—I shall enter the forest, be assured, only through respect for its pious inhabitants; not from any inclination for the daughter of a hermit. How far am I raised above a girl educated among antelopes; a girl, whose heart must ever be a stranger to love!—The tale was invented for my diversion.

Mádh. Yes, to be sure; only for your diversion.

Dushm. Then farewell, my friend; execute my commission faithfully, whilst I proceed to defend the anchorites.

[All go out.