Dear [S']akoontalá, one would think that father Kanwa had more
affection for the shrubs of the hermitage even than for you,
seeing he assigns to you, who are yourself as delicate as the
fresh-blown jasmine, the task of filling with water the trenches
which encircle their roots.

[S']AKOONTALÁ.

Dear Anasúyá, although I am charged by my good father with this
duty, yet I cannot regard it as a task. I really feel a sisterly
love for these plants.

[_Continues watering the shrubs_.

KING.

Can this be the daughter of Kanwa? The saintly man, though
descended from the great Kasyapa, must be very deficient in
judgment to habituate such a maiden to the life of a recluse.

The sage who would this form of artless grace
Inure to penance, thoughtlessly attempts
To cleave in twain the hard acacia's stem[19]
With the soft edge of a blue lotus-leaf.

Well! concealed behind this tree, I will watch her without
raising her suspicions.

[_Conceals himself_.