MÁ[T.]HAVYA.

There is but one expedient that I can suggest. You are the King,
are you not?

KING.

What then?

MÁ[T.]HAVYA.

Say you have come for the sixth part of their grain [38], which
they owe you for tribute.

KING.

No, no, foolish man; those hermits pay me a very different kind
of tribute, which I value more than heaps of gold or jewels;
observe,

The tribute which my other subjects bring
Must moulder into dust, but holy men
Present me with a portion of the fruits
Of penitential services and prayers--
A precious and imperishable gift.

A VOICE BEHIND THE SCENES.

We are fortunate; here is the object of our search.