Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/353

 IV. ] BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. 377 the other held the shephard’s crook. By this time the spring had come. The trees were hung with blossoms and the fields were covered with fresh green verdure. The bees hummed in concert with the songs of the birds; and the Madhavi, the Agoka, and the Malati flowers looked like fringes on the পাও oe -border-line of the sky. Amidst all this beauty, spring and
 * > : - Khullana.

Khullana, inspite of her hardships, felt a longing to see her husband. She went up to the bee and begged it not to hum. She prayed the Kokila to go to Gauda and bring her, by its cooings, to her husband’s recollection. She caressed the tender Madhabi creeper, rich with the treasures of the spring that clung to the Agoka tree and called it most fortunate to have its supporter at hand. A few days passed in this manner and her beau- ty gradually faded. She could not eat the coarse food, she could not sleep on the hard ground, she could not manage the sheep that were placed in her charge. One day at noontide, as she was re- posing in the shade of a tree, Chandi appeared before her in a dream in the guise of her mother. “The sight of your misery rends my _ heart, O Khullana,” she said. ‘ The sheep named Sarvagi has been eaten up by a fox. Lahana will all but kill you to-day.” The girl awoke with a start and Sarvagl rolled down her cheeks, as she cried “‘ Sarvagi, _ Sarvag!,” all about the field. She did not abandon her search till evening. But the sheep was not found. Khullana did not venture to return home, for fear of Lahana’s punishment. In the evening - strolling all round the field with tearful eyes,
 * sought for Sarvagi. Alas! Sarvagi was gone. Tears