Page:Echoes from East and West.pdf/30



HEN Queen Kousayla, tho' she was herself afflicted sore, Upraised the senseless King who lay heart-broken on the floor.

She rubb'd and fann'd him for a while; his sense he did regain, And harsher words fell from her tongue to storm his ear again.

"In ev'ry land above all men thy name, O King, is praised; But, as my child thou hast exiled, thy shame will soon be raised.

"For, who is there with heart so hard that he can send his child, To whom he pledged his crown and staff, unto the forest wild?

"Hast thou exiled thy guiltless child for fear of lies alone? Mark well, thou art a liar still, not giving him the throne.

"This Solar line for love of truth is known in ev'ry clime; By this thy deed thou hast profaned that far-famed race sublime.

"This golden rime in olden time himself did Brahma sing, When he did weigh the worth of Truth, well-known on earth, O King: