Page:Karl Gjellerup - The Pilgrim Kamanita - 1911.djvu/294

 said about this attack caused me to anticipate the worst. But it was an imperative necessity to strengthen ourselves not only with food, but by a short interval of rest.

The road from Pava to Kusinara it was not possible to miss. It soon led us away from the cultivated fields, through tiger-grass and undergrowth ever deeper into the jungle. We waded through a little river and refreshed ourselves somewhat by bathing. After a few minutes' pause we started on again. Evening was approaching, and it was with difficulty that I managed to drag myself farther.

Medini tried to persuade me to spend the night on a little bit of rising ground under a tree. There was no such great hurry.

"This Kusinara is, I expect, not much more than a village, and seems to be quite buried in the jungle. How canst thou imagine that the Master will die here? He will assuredly pass away some time in the Jetavana Park at Sravasti, or in either one of his groves at Rajagriha; but the life of the Master will certainly not go out in this desert. Who has ever heard of Kusinara?"

"It may be that people will hear of Kusinara from this day forward," I said, and went on.

But my strength was soon so terribly exhausted that I was forced to bring myself to climb the nearest treeless height in the hope of being able to see from it the neighbourhood of Kusinara. Otherwise we should be obliged to spend the night up there where we were less exposed to the attacks of beasts of prey and snakes, and would also be to a certain extent immune from fever-producing vapours.

Arrived at the summit, we looked in vain for some sign of human dwellings. In seemingly endless succession