Seeing the dead child's princely form, the thought
Of his own son came o'er him. "Ah! my child!
What evil chance," he said, "has brought thee here!
A child of princely race thou seemest. He, my son,
Long lost to me through my accursed fate,
Would have been even such as thou in age."
Then raised the queen her voice, and thus she spoke:
"Alas! has some unexpiated crime
Brought upon us, my child! this endless woe.
My absent lord! since thou did'st not console
My grief in times gone by, how can the pain
I suffer now assuage? Did'st thou not lose
Thy kingdom? did'st thou not desert thy friends?
Did'st thou not sell thy wife and child?" The king
Heard her lament, and as he heard, the wail
Fell from his eyes,--he recognized again
His wife and son--and saying but the words,
"Ah! Saivya! Ah! my beloved child!"
He fainting fell to earth. Then, too, the queen,
Hearing her husband's voice, o'ercome with grief,
Insensate fell. Returning consciousness
Brought to them both affliction's heaviest weight
And mutual lamentations. "Ah! my son!"
Thus mourned the king, "my inmost heart is torn,
When I behold thy form so delicate:
My child! embracing thee in tend'rest love,
Words of affection I will speak, that rise
Unbidden to my lips. Alas! thy limbs
Will be defiled by my embrace; the dust
That clings about my garments will pollute