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54 A HISTORY OF HINDI LITERATURE of the devotees of Krishna. In one passage, in which Tulsi Das has been explaining why he calls his poem the "Lake (or "pond") of Rama's deeds," he says, " Sensual wretches are like the cranes and crows that have no part in such a pond nor ever come near it ; for here are no prurient and seductive stories, like snails or frogs and scum on the water, and therefore the lustful crow and greedy crane, if they do come, are disappointed." This claim made by Tulsi Das was a just one, and it is this feature of his poem which has given it so much value in holding up a high moral ideal before its readers. The dialect which Tulsi Das uses is the old Bais- wari, or Avadhi, dialect of Eastern Hindi, and through his influence Ramaite poetry since his day has gener- ally been in this dialect. He uses, however, many words from other dialects, especially fromBraj Bhasha. His language abounds in colloquialisms, and Tulsi Das has little scruple in altering a word, or adopting a corrupt pronunciation, to make it fit into his metre or rhyme. Like other Indian poets he makes use of many conventional similes and stereotyped phrases. The gem which is supposed to be in the serpent's head, and the mythical power of the swan to separate milk from the water with which it has been mixed, and his con- stant use of such phrases as "lotus-feet," are exam- ples. But there are many other passages which show that Tulsi Das was a true observer and lover of nature. In one place he speaks of King Dasrath, in his great distress, writhing " like a fish in the scour of a turbid river," a passage which, Mr. Growse tells us, puzzled commentators until someone discovered that this was a true phenomenon of nature. Tulsi Das's love of nature comes out in majiy such passages as the following, taken from the Aranya Kand . — "The Lord went on from there to the shore of the deep and beautiful lake called Pampa ; its water as clear as the soul of the saints ; with charming flights of steps on each of its four sides ; where beasts of different kinds came as they listed, to drink of the flood, like crowds of beggars at a good man's gate. Under its cover of dense lotus-leaves the water was as difficult to distinguish as is the unembodied