THE STORY OF BHISHMA 321
Twelve years of forest life went by, and but
for Draupadi's mortified pride of womanhood, they
might have been years of unclouded happiness.
Great sages, and Krishna Himself, came to visit
the heroes in their retirement, and often they
wandered forth on delightful pilgrimages. Once,
indeed, Duryodhana and his guard, visiting the
neighbourhood where they chanced to be, fell
into trouble, and were made prisoners of war.
Then the Pandava brothers, hearing of their plight,
sallied forth on a raid of liberation, and enabled
them to go back to Hastinapura.
Oh, with what bitterness had Duryodhana come home from this expedition I Bhishma smiled sadly to himself, as the picture of the return passed before him. How the Prince had sat upon the ground, refusing food, and how at last he only rose, as it appeared to onlookers, when new hopes and plans for vengeance were matured within his heart! There was a lonely place in the jungle, where men's feet never trod. Here, as the twelve years drew to an end, Yudisthira and his brothers came, with their weapons all wrapped up to look like corpses, and hung them on the trees ; for so it was the fashion of those days to do oftentimes with the bodies of the dead. Then they sought menial employment in the household of a neigh- bouring king, and in this concealment the last year passed away.
