affect him; while he is so tall, that he looks to us little men, like an elephant grazing on a mountain: he seems all soul.—[Aloud, approaching the king.]—May our monarch ever be victorious! This forest, O king, is infested by beasts of prey; we see the traces of their huge feet in every path. What orders is it your pleasure to give?
Dushm. Bhadraséna, this moralizing Mádhavya has put a stop to our recreation by forbiding the pleasures of the chase.
Gen. [Aside to Mádhavya] Be firm to your word, my friend; whilst I sound the king's real inclinations.—[Aloud.]—O! Sir, the fool talks idly. Consider the delights of hunting. The body, it is true, becomes emaciated, but it is light and fit for exercise. Mark how the wild beasts of various kinds are variously affected by fear and by rage! What pleasure equals that of a proud archer, when his arrow hits the mark as it flies?—Can hunting be justly called a vice? No recreation, surely, can be compared with it.
Mádh. [Angrily.] Away thou false flatterer! The king, indeed, follows his natural bent, and is excusable; but thou, son of a slave girl, hast no excuse.—Away to the wood!—How I wish thou hadst been seized by a tiger or an old bear, who was prowling for a skakàl like thyself!
Dushm. We are now, Bhadraséna, encamped near a sacred hermitage; and I cannot at present applaud your panegyrick on hunting. This
