Page:Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan.djvu/135

Rh And killed one bird,—it was the male,
 * Oh cruel deed and base!

The female gave a plaintive wail
 * And looked me in the face!

The wail and sad reproachful look
 * In plain words seemed to say,

A widowed life I cannot brook,
 * The forfeit thou must pay.

What was my darling's crime that thou
 * Him wantonly shouldst kill?

The curse of blood is on thee now,
 * Blood calls for red blood still.

And so I die—a bloody death—
 * But not for this I mourn,

To feel the world pass with my breath
 * I gladly could have borne,

But for my parents, who are blind,
 * And have no other stay,—

This, this, weighs sore upon my mind,
 * And fills me with dismay.