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Title: National Epics

Author: Kate Milner Rabb

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NATIONAL EPICS

BY

KATE MILNER RABB

1896







TO MY MOTHER.




PREFACE.


This volume is intended for an introduction to the study of the epics.
While the simplicity and directness of the epic style seem to make such a
book unnecessary, the fact that to many persons of literary tastes some of
these great poems are inaccessible, and that to many more the pleasure of
exploring for themselves "the realms of gold" is rendered impossible by
the cares of business, has seemed sufficient excuse for its being. Though
the beauty of the original is of necessity lost in a condensation of this
kind, an endeavor has been made to preserve the characteristic epithets,
and to retain what Mr. Arnold called "the simple truth about the matter of
the poem." It is believed that the sketch prefacing each story, giving
briefly the length, versification, and history of the poem, will have its
value to those readers who have not access to the epics, and that the
selections following the story, each recounting a complete incident, will
give a better idea of the epic than could be formed from passages
scattered through the text.

The epic originated among tribes of barbarians, who deified departed
heroes and recited legends in praise of their deeds. As the hymn
developed, the chorus and strophe were dropped, and the narrative only was
preserved. The word "epic" was used simply to distinguish the narrative
poem, which was recited, from the lyric, which was sung, and from the
dramatic, which was acted.

As the nation passed from childhood to youth, the legends of the hero that
each wandering minstrel had changed to suit his fancy, were collected and
fused into one by some great poet, who by his power of unification made
this written epic his own.

This is the origin of the Hindu epics, the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey," the
"Kalevala," the "Shah-Nameh," "Beowulf," the "Nibelungen Lied," the "Cid,"
and the "Song of Roland."

The conditions for the production of the primitive epic exist but once in
a nation's growth. Its later epics must be written on subjects of national
importance, chosen by the poet, who arranges and embellishes his material
according to the rules of the primitive epic. To this class belong the
"Aeneid," the "Jerusalem Delivered," and the "Lusiad." Dante's poem is
broader, for it is the epic of mediaeval Christianity. Milton likewise
sought "higher argument" than

  "Wars, hitherto the only argument
      Heroic deemed,"

and crystallized the religious beliefs of his time in "Paradise Lost."

The characteristics both of the primitive and the modern epic are their
uniform metre, simplicity of construction, concentration of action into a
short time, and the use of episode and dialogue. The main difference lies
in the impersonality of the primitive epic, whose author has so skillfully
hidden himself behind his work that, as some one has said of Homer, "his
heroes are immortal, but his own existence is doubtful."

Although the historical events chronicled in the epics have in every case
been so distorted by the fancy of the poets that they cannot be accepted
as history, the epics are storehouses of information concerning ancient
manners and customs, religious beliefs, forms of government, treatment of
women, and habits of feeling.

Constructed upon the noblest principles of art, and pervaded by the
eternal calm of the immortals, these poems have an especial value to us,
who have scarcely yet realized that poetry is an art, and are feverish
from the unrest of our time. If by the help of this volume any reader be
enabled to find a portion of the wisdom that is hidden in these mines, its
purpose will have been accomplished.

My thanks are due to Mr. John A. Wilstach for the use of selections from
his translation of the "Divine Comedy;" to Prof. J. M. Crawford, for the
use of selections from his translation of the "Kalevala;" to Henry Holt &
Co., for the use of selections from Rabillon's translation of "La Chanson
de Roland;" to Roberts Brothers, for the use of selections from Edwin
Arnold's "Indian Idylls;" to Prof. J. C. Hall, for the use of selections
from his translation of "Beowulf;" and to A. C. Armstrong & Son, for the
use of selections from Conington's Translation of the "Aeneid." The
selections from the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey" are used with the permission
of and by special arrangement with Houghton, Mifflin & Co., publishers of
Bryant's translations of the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey." Special thanks are
due to Miss Eliza G. Browning of the Public Library of Indianapolis, to
Miss Florence Hughes of the Library of Indiana University, and to Miss
Charity Dye, of Indianapolis.

K. M. R.

INDIANAPOLIS, IND., September, 1896.





CONTENTS.


THE HINDU EPIC: THE RAMÂYÂNA

THE HINDU EPIC: THE MAHÂ-BHÂRATA

THE GREEK EPIC: THE ILIAD

THE GREEK EPIC: THE ODYSSEY

THE FINNISH EPIC: THE KALEVALA

THE ROMAN EPIC: THE AENEID

THE SAXON EPIC: BEOWULF

THE GERMAN EPIC: THE NIBELUNGEN LIED

THE FRENCH EPIC: THE SONG OF ROLAND

THE PERSIAN EPIC: THE SHAH-NAMEH

THE SPANISH EPIC: THE POEM OF THE CID

THE ITALIAN EPIC: THE DIVINE COMEDY

THE ITALIAN EPIC: THE ORLANDO FURIOSO

THE PORTUGUESE EPIC: THE LUSIAD

THE ITALIAN EPIC: THE JERUSALEM DELIVERED

THE ENGLISH EPIC: PARADISE LOST

THE ENGLISH EPIC: PARADISE REGAINED




SELECTIONS.


FROM THE RÂMÂYANA:                        TRANSLATOR
  The Descent of the Ganges ...          _Milman_
  The Death of Yajnadatta ...                "

FROM THE MAHÂ-BHÂRATA:
  Sâvitrî; or, Love and Death ...        _Arnold_
  The Great Journey ...                      "

FROM THE ILIAD:
  Helen at the Scaean Gates ...          _Bryant_
  The Parting of Hector and Andromache ...   "

FROM THE ODYSSEY:
  The Palace of Alcinoüs ...             _Bryant_
  The Bending of the Bow ...                 "

FROM THE KALEVALA:
  Ilmarinen's Wedding Feast ...          _Crawford_
  The Birth of the Harp ...                  "

FROM THE AENEID:
  Nisus and Euryalus ...                 _Conington_

FROM BEOWULF:
  Grendel's Mother ...                   _Hall_

FROM THE NIBELUNGEN LIED:
  How Brunhild was received at Worms ... _Lettsom_
  How Margrave Rüdeger was slain  ...        "

FROM THE SONG OF ROLAND:
  The Horn ...                           _Rabillon_
  Roland's Death  ...                        "

FROM THE SHAH-NAMEH:
  The Rajah of India sends a Chessboard
  to Nushirvan                           _Robinson_
  Zal and Rudabeh                            "

FROM THE POEM OF THE CID:
  Count Raymond and My Cid               _Ormsby_
  My Cid's Triumph                           "

FROM THE DIVINE COMEDY:
  Count Ugolino                          _Wilstach_
  Buonconte di Montefeltro                   "
  Beatrice descending from Heaven            "
  The Exquisite Beauty of Beatrice           "

FROM THE ORLANDO FURIOSO:
  The Death of Zerbino                   _Rose_

FROM THE LUSIAD:
  Inez de Castro                         _Mickle_
  The Spirit of the Cape                     "

FROM THE JERUSALEM DELIVERED:
  Sophronia and Olindo                   _Wiffen_

FROM PARADISE LOST:
  Satan
  Apostrophe to Light

FROM PARADISE REGAINED:
  The Temptation of the Vision of the Kingdoms of the Earth




NATIONAL EPICS.



THE RÂMÂYANA.


  "He who sings and hears this poem continually has attained to the
  highest state of enjoyment, and will finally be equal to the gods."


The Râmâyana, the Hindu Iliad, is variously ascribed to the fifth, third,
and first centuries B.C., its many interpolations making it almost
impossible to determine its age by internal evidence. Its authorship is
unknown, but according to legend it was sung by Kuça and Lava, the sons of
Rama, to whom it was taught by Valmiki. Of the three versions now extant,
one is attributed to Valmiki, another to Tuli Das, and a third to Vyasa.

Its historical basis, almost lost in the innumerable episodes and
grotesque imaginings of the Hindu, is probably the conquest of southern
India and Ceylon by the Aryans.

The Râmâyana is written in the Sanskrit language, is divided into seven
books, or sections, and contains fifty thousand lines, the English
translation of which, by Griffith, occupies five volumes.

The hero, Rama, is still an object of worship in India, the route of his
wanderings being, each year, trodden by devout pilgrims. The poem is not a
mere literary monument,--it is a part of the actual religion of the Hindu,
and is held in such reverence that the mere reading or hearing of it, or
certain passages of it, is believed to free from sin and grant his every
desire to the reader or hearer.




BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM, THE RÂMÂYANA.


G. W. Cox's Mythology and Folklore, 1881, p. 313;

John Dowson's Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology, Religion,
Geography, History, and Literature, 1879;

Sir William Jones on the Literature of the Hindus (in his Works, vol. iv.);

Maj.-Gen. Vans Kennedy's Researches into Hindu Mythology, 1831;

James Mill's History of British India, 1840, vol. ii., pp. 47-123;

F. Max Müller's Ancient Sanskrit Literature, 1859;

E. A. Reed's Hindu Literature, 1891, pp. 153-271;

Albrecht Weber's History of Indian Literature, 1878, pp. 191-195;

J. T. Wheeler's History of India, 4 vols., 1876, vol. ii.;

Sir Monier Williams's Indian Wisdom, 1863, Indian Epic Poetry, 1863;

Article on Sanskrit Literature in Encyclopædia Britannica;

R. M. Gust's The Râmâyana: a Sanskrit Epic (in his Linguistic and Oriental
Essays, 1880, p. 56);

T. Goldstuecker's Râmâyana (in his Literary Remains, 1879, vol. i.,
p. 155);

C. J. Stone's Cradleland of Arts and Creeds, 1880, pp. 11-21;

Albrecht Weber's On the Râmâyana, 1870; Westminster Review,
1849, vol. 1., p. 34;

J. C. Oman's Great Indian Epics, 1874, pp. 13-81.




STANDARD ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS, THE RÂMÂYANA.


The Râmâyana, Tr. by R. T. H. Griffith, 5 vols., 1870-1874 (Follows Bombay
ed., Translated into metre of "Lady of the Lake");

Extracts from the Râmâyana, Tr. by Sir William Jones (in his Works,
vol. 13);

Iliad of the East, F. Richardson, 1873 (Popular translations of a set of
legends from the Râmâyana);

The Râmâyana translated into English Prose, edited and published by
Naumatha Nath Dutt, 7 vols., Calcutta, 1890-1894.




THE STORY OF THE RÂMÂYANA.


Brahma, creator of the universe, though all powerful, could not revoke a
promise once made. For this reason, Ravana, the demon god of Ceylon, stood
on his head in the midst of five fires for ten thousand years, and at the
end of that time boldly demanded of Brahma as a reward that he should not
be slain by gods, demons, or genii. He also requested the gift of nine
other heads and eighteen additional arms and hands.

These having been granted, he began by the aid of his evil spirits, the
Rakshasas, to lay waste the earth and to do violence to the good,
especially to the priests.

At the time when Ravana's outrages were spreading terror throughout the
land, and Brahma, looking down from his throne, shuddered to see the
monster he had gifted with such fell power, there reigned in Ayodhya, now
the city of Oude, a good and wise raja, Dasaratha, who had reigned over
the splendid city for nine thousand years without once growing weary. He
had but one grief,--that he was childless,--and at the opening of the
story he was preparing to make the great sacrifice, Asva-medha, to
propitiate the gods, that they might give him a son.

The gods, well pleased, bore his request to Brahma in person, and
incidentally preferred a request that he provide some means of destroying
the monster Ravana that was working such woe among their priests, and
disturbing their sacrifices.

Brahma granted the first request, and, cudgeling his brains for a device
to destroy Ravana, bethought himself that while he had promised that
neither gods, genii, nor demons should slay him, he had said nothing of
man. He accordingly led the appealing gods to Vishnu, who proclaimed that
the monster should be slain by men and monkeys, and that he would himself
be re-incarnated as the eldest son of Dasaratha and in this form compass
the death of Ravana.

In course of time, as a reward for his performance of the great sacrifice,
four sons were born to Dasaratha, Rama by Kausalya, his oldest wife,
Bharata, whose mother was Kaikeyi, and twin sons, Lakshmana and Satrughna,
whose mother was Sumitra.

Rama, the incarnation of Vishnu, destined to destroy Ravana, grew daily in
grace, beauty, and strength. When he was but sixteen years old, having
been sent for by a sage to destroy the demons who were disturbing the
forest hermits in their religious rites, he departed unattended, save by
his brother Lakshmana and a guide, into the pathless forests, where he
successfully overcame the terrible Rakshasa, Tarika, and conveyed her body
to the grateful sage.

While he was journeying through the forests, destroying countless
Rakshasas, he chanced to pass near the kingdom of Mithila and heard that
its king, Janaka, had offered his peerless daughter, Sita, in marriage to
the man who could bend the mighty bow of Siva the destroyer, which, since
its owner's death, had been kept at Janaka's court.

Rama at once determined to accomplish the feat, which had been essayed in
vain by so many suitors. When he presented himself at court Janaka was at
once won by his youth and beauty; and when the mighty bow, resting upon an
eight-wheeled car, was drawn in by five thousand men, and Rama without
apparent effort bent it until it broke, he gladly gave him his beautiful
daughter, and after the splendid wedding ceremonies were over, loaded the
happy pair with presents to carry back to Ayodhya.

When Dasaratha, who had attended the marriage of his son at Mithila,
returned home, he began to feel weary of reigning, and bethought himself
of the ancient Hindu custom of making the eldest son and heir apparent a
Yuva-Raja,--that is appointing him assistant king. Rama deserved this
honor, and would, moreover, be of great assistance to him.

His happy people received the announcement of his intention with delight;
the priests approved of it as well, and the whole city was in the midst of
the most splendid preparations for the ceremony, when it occurred to
Dasaratha that all he lacked was the congratulations of his youngest and
favorite wife, Kaikeyi, on this great event. The well-watered streets and
the garlanded houses had already aroused the suspicions of
Kaikeyi,--suspicions speedily confirmed by the report of her maid. Angered
and jealous because the son of Kausalya and not her darling Bharata, at
that time absent from the city, was to be made Yuva-Raja, she fled to the
"Chamber of Sorrows," and was there found by the old Raja.

Though Kaikeyi was his youngest and most beautiful wife, her tears,
threats, and entreaties would have been of no avail had she not recalled
that, months before, the old Raja, in gratitude for her devoted nursing
during his illness, had granted her two promises. She now demanded the
fulfilment of these before she would consent to smile upon him, and the
consent won, she required him, first, to appoint Bharata Yuva-Raja; and,
second, to exile Rama for fourteen years to the terrible forest of
Dandaka.

The promise of a Hindu, once given, cannot be revoked. In spite of the
grief of the old Raja, of Kausalya, his old wife, and of all the people,
who were at the point of revolt at the sudden disgrace of their favorite
prince, the terrible news was announced to Rama, and he declared himself
ready to go, to save his father from dishonor.

He purposed to go alone, but Sita would not suffer herself to be thus
deserted. Life without him, she pleaded, was worse than death; and so
eloquent was her grief at the thought of parting that she was at last
permitted to don the rough garment of bark provided by the malicious
Kaikeyi.

The people of Ayodhya, determined to share the fate of their favorites,
accompanied them from the city, their tears laying the dust raised by
Rama's chariot wheels. But when sleep overcame them, Rama, Sita, and
Lakshmana escaped from them, dismissed their charioteer, and, crossing the
Ganges, made their way to the mountain of Citra-kuta, where they took up
their abode.

No more beautiful place could be imagined. Flowers of every kind,
delicious fruits, and on every side the most pleasing prospects, together
with perfect love, made their hermitage a paradise on earth. Here the
exiles led an idyllic existence until sought out by Bharata, who, learning
from his mother on his return home the ruin she had wrought in the Raj,
had indignantly spurned her, and hastened to Dandaka. The old Raja had
died from grief soon after the departure of the exiles, and Bharata now
demanded that Rama should return to Ayodhya and become Raja, as was his
right, as eldest son.

When Rama refused to do this until the end of his fourteen years of exile,
Bharata vowed that for fourteen years he would wear the garb of a devotee
and live outside the city, committing the management of the Raj to a pair
of golden sandals which he took from Rama's feet. All the affairs of state
would be transacted under the authority of the sandals, and Bharata, while
ruling the Raj, would pay homage to them.

Soon after the departure of Bharata the exiles were warned to depart from
their home on Citra-kuta and seek a safer hermitage, for terrible
rakshasas filled this part of the forest. They accordingly sought the
abode of Atri the hermit, whose wife Anasuya was so pleased with Sita's
piety and devotion to her husband that she bestowed upon her the crown of
immortal youth and beauty. They soon found a new abode in the forest of
Pancarati, on the banks of the river Godavari, where Lakshmana erected a
spacious bamboo house.

Their happiness in this elysian spot was destined to be short-lived. Near
them dwelt a horrible rakshasa, Surpanakha by name, who fell in love with
Rama. When she found that he did not admire the beautiful form she assumed
to win him, and that both he and Lakshmana laughed at her advances, she
attempted to destroy Sita, only to receive in the attempt a disfiguring
wound from the watchful Lakshmana. Desiring revenge for her disfigured
countenance and her scorned love, she hastened to the court of her brother
Ravana, in Ceylon, and in order to induce him to avenge her wrongs, dwelt
upon the charms of the beautiful wife of Rama.

Some days after, Sita espied a golden fawn, flecked with silver, among the
trees near their home. Its shining body, its jewel-like horns, so
captivated her fancy that she implored Rama, if possible, to take it alive
for her; if not, at least to bring her its skin for a couch. As Rama
departed, he warned Lakshmana not to leave Sita for one moment; he would
surely return, since no weapon could harm him. In the depths of the forest
the fawn fell by his arrow, crying as it fell, "O Sita! O Lakshmana!" in
Rama's very tones.

When Sita heard the cry she reproached Lakshmana for not going to his
brother's aid, until he left her to escape her bitter words. He had no
sooner disappeared in the direction of the cry than a hermit appeared and
asked her to minister unto his wants.

Sita carried him food, bathed his feet, and conversed with him until, able
no longer to conceal his admiration for her, he revealed himself in his
true form as the demon god of Ceylon.

When she indignantly repulsed him he seized her, and mounting his chariot
drove rapidly towards Ceylon.

When Rama and Lakshmana returned home, soon after, they found the house
empty. As they searched through the forest for traces of her they found a
giant vulture dying from wounds received while endeavoring to rescue the
shrieking Sita. Going farther, they encountered the monkey king Sugriva
and his chiefs, among whom Sita had dropped from the chariot her scarf and
ornaments.

Sugriva had been deposed from his kingdom by his brother Bali, who had
also taken his wife from him. Rama agreed to conquer Bali if Sugriva would
assist in the search for Sita; and, the agreement made, they at once
marched upon Kishkindha, together slew Bali, and gained possession of the
wealthy city and the queen Tara. They were now ready to search for the
lost Sita.

In his quest through every land, Hanuman, the monkey general, learned from
the king of the vultures that she had been carried to Ceylon. He
immediately set out for the coast with his army, only to find a bridgeless
ocean stretching between them and the island. Commanding his soldiers to
remain where they were, Hanuman expanded his body to enormous proportions,
leaped the vast expanse of water, and alighted upon a mountain, from which
he could look down upon Lanka, the capital city of Ceylon. Perceiving the
city to be closely guarded, he assumed the form of a cat, and thus,
unsuspected, crept through the barriers and examined the city. He found
the demon god in his apartments, surrounded by beautiful women, but Sita
was not among them. Continuing his search, he at last discovered her, her
beauty dimmed by grief, seated under a tree in a beautiful asoka grove,
guarded by hideous rakshasas with the faces of buffaloes, dogs, and swine.

Assuming the form of a tiny monkey, Hanuman crept down the tree, and
giving her the ring of Rama, took one from her. He offered to carry her
away with him, but Sita declared that Rama must himself come to her
rescue. While they were talking together, the demon god appeared, and,
after fruitless wooing, announced that if Sita did not yield herself to
him in two months he would have her guards "mince her limbs with steel"
for his morning repast.

In his rage, Hanuman destroyed a mango grove and was captured by the
demon's guards, who were ordered to set his tail on fire. As soon as this
was done, Hanuman made himself so small that he slipped from his bonds,
and, jumping upon the roofs, spread a conflagration through the city of
Lanka.

He leaped back to the mainland, conveyed the news of Sita's captivity to
Rama and Sugriva, and was soon engaged in active preparations for the
campaign.

As long as the ocean was unbridged it was impossible for any one save
Hanuman to cross it. In his anger at being so thwarted, Rama turned his
weapons against it, until from the terrified waves rose the god of the
ocean, who promised him that if Nala built a bridge, the waves should
support the materials as firmly as though it were built on land.

Terror reigned in Lanka at the news of the approach of Rama. Vibishana,
Ravana's brother, deserted to Rama, because of the demon's rage when he
advised him to make peace with Rama. Fiercely fought battles ensued, in
which even the gods took part, Vishnu and Indra taking sides with Rama,
and the evil spirits fighting with Ravana.

After the war had been carried on for some time, with varying results, it
was decided to determine it by single combat between Ravana and Rama. Then
even the gods were terrified at the fierceness of the conflict. At each
shot Rama's mighty bow cut off a head of the demon, which at once grew
back, and the hero was in despair until he remembered the all-powerful
arrow given him by Brahma.

As the demon fell by this weapon, flowers rained from heaven upon the
happy victor, and his ears were ravished with celestial music.

Touched by the grief of Ravana's widows, Rama ordered his foe a splendid
funeral, and then sought the conquered city.

Sita was led forth, beaming with happiness at finding herself re-united to
her husband; but her happiness was destined to be of short duration. Rama
received her with coldness and with downcast eyes, saying that she could
no longer be his wife, after having dwelt in the zenana of the demon. Sita
assured him of her innocence; but on his continuing to revile her, she
ordered her funeral pyre to be built, since she would rather die by fire
than live despised by Rama. The sympathy of all the bystanders was with
Sita, but Rama saw her enter the flames without a tremor. Soon Agni, the
god of fire, appeared, bearing the uninjured Sita in his arms. Her
innocence thus publicly proved by the trial by fire, she was welcomed by
Rama, whose treatment she tenderly forgave.

The conquest made, the demon destroyed, and Sita restored, Rama returned
in triumph to Ayodhya, and assumed the government. The city was
prosperous, the people were happy, and for a time all went well. It was
not long, however, before whispers concerning Sita's long abode in Ceylon
spread abroad, and some one whispered to Rama that a famine in the country
was due to the guilt of Sita, who had suffered the caresses of the demon
while in captivity in Ceylon. Forgetful of the trial by fire, forgetful of
Sita's devotion to him through weal and woe, the ungrateful Rama
immediately ordered her to the forest in which they had spent together the
happy years of their exile.

Without a murmur the unhappy Sita, alone and unbefriended, dragged herself
to the forest, and, torn with grief of body and spirit, found the
hermitage of Valmiki, where she gave birth to twin sons, Lava and Kuça.
Here she reared them, with the assistance of the hermit, who was their
teacher, and under whose care they grew to manhood, handsome and strong.

It chanced about the time the youths were twenty years old, that Rama, who
had grown peevish and disagreeable with age, began to think the gods were
angered with him because he had killed Ravana, who was the son of a
Brahman. Determined to propitiate them by means of the great sacrifice, he
caused a horse to be turned loose in the forest. When his men went to
retake it, at the end of the year, it was caught by two strong and
beautiful youths who resisted all efforts to capture them. In his rage
Rama went to the forest in person, only to learn that the youths were his
twin sons, Lava and Kuça. Struck with remorse, Rama recalled the
sufferings of his wife Sita, and on learning that she was at the hermitage
of Valmiki, ordered her to come to him, that he might take her to him
again, having first caused her to endure the trial by fire to prove her
innocence to all his court.

Sita had had time to recover from the love of her youth, and the prospect
of life with Rama, without the _couleur de rose_ of youthful love, was
not altogether pleasant. At first, she even refused to see him; but
finally, moved by the appeals of Valmiki and his wife, she clad herself in
her richest robes, and, young and beautiful as when first won by Rama, she
stood before him. Not deigning to look in his face, she appealed to the
earth. If she had never loved any man but Rama, if her truth and purity
were known to the earth, let it open its bosom and take her to it. While
the armies stood trembling with horror, the earth opened, a gorgeous
throne appeared, and the goddess of earth, seated upon it, took Sita
beside her and conveyed her to the realms of eternal happiness, leaving
the too late repentant Rama to wear out his remaining years in shame and
penitence.




SELECTIONS FROM THE RÂMÂYANA.

THE DESCENT OF THE GANGES.


Sagara, an early king of Ayodhya, had sixty thousand sons, whom he sent
out one day to recover a horse that had been designed for the great
sacrifice, but had been stolen by a rakshasa. Having searched the earth
unsuccessfully, they proceeded to dig into the lower regions.

  Cloven with shovel and with hoe, pierced by axes and by spades,
  Shrieked the earth in frantic woe; rose from out the yawning shades
  Yells of anguish, hideous roars from the expiring brood of hell,--
  Serpents, giants, and asoors, in the deep abyss that dwell.
  Sixty thousand leagues in length, all unweary, full of wrath,
  Through the centre, in their strength, clove they down their hellward
    path.
  And downward dug they many a rood, and downward till they saw aghast,
  Where the earth-bearing elephant stood, ev'n like a mountain tall and
    vast.
  'T is he whose head aloft sustains the broad earth's forest-clothed
    round,
  With all its vast and spreading plains, and many a stately city crowned.
  If underneath the o'erbearing load bows down his weary head, 't is then
  The mighty earthquakes are abroad, and shaking down the abodes of men.
  Around earth's pillar moved they slowly, and thus in humble accents
    blest
  Him the lofty and the holy, that bears the region of the East.
  And southward dug they many a rood, until before their shuddering sight
  The next earth-bearing elephant stood, huge Mahapadmas' mountain height.
  Upon his head earth's southern bound, all full of wonder, saw they rest.
  Slow and awe-struck paced they round, and him, earth's southern
    pillar, blest.
  Westward then their work they urge, king Sagara's six myriad race,
  Unto the vast earth's western verge, and there in his appointed place
  The next earth-bearing elephant stood, huge Saumanasa's mountain crest;
  Around they paced in humble mood, and in like courteous phrase addrest,
  And still their weary toil endure, and onward dig until they see
  Last earth-bearing Himapandure, glorying in his majesty.

_At last they reach the place where Vishnu appears with the horse. A flame
issues from the mouth of the indignant deity and destroys the six myriad
sons of Sagara, The adventure devolves on their brother Ansuman, who
achieves it with perfect success. He is permitted to lead away the horse,
but the ashes of his brothers cannot be purified by earthly water; the
goddess Ganga must first be brought to earth, and having undergone
lustration from that holy flood, the race of Sagara are to ascend to
heaven. Brahma at last gives his permission to Ganga to descend. King
Bhagiratha takes his stand on the top of Gokarna, the sacred peak of
Himavan (the Himalaya), and here_--

  Stands with arms outstretch'd on high, amid five blazing fires, the one
  Towards each quarter of the sky, the fifth the full meridian sun.
  Mid fiercest frosts on snow he slept, the dry and withered leaves his
    food,
  Mid rains his roofless vigil kept, the soul and sense alike subdued.
  High on the top of Himavan the mighty Mashawara stood;
  And "Descend," he gave the word to the heaven-meandering water--
  Full of wrath the mandate heard Himavan's majestic daughter.
  To a giant's stature soaring and intolerable speed,
  From heaven's height down rushed she, pouring upon Siva's sacred head,
  Him the goddess thought in scorn with her resistless might to sweep
  By her fierce waves overborne, down to hell's remotest deep.

  Down on Sankara's holy head, down the holy fell, and there,
  Amid the entangling meshes spread, of his loose and flowing hair,
  Vast and boundless as the woods upon the Himalaya's brow,
  Nor ever may the struggling floods rush headlong to the earth below.
  Opening, egress was not there, amid those winding, long meanders.
  Within that labyrinthine hair, for many an age, the goddess wanders.

_By the penances of the king, Siva is propitiated, and the stream, by
seven channels, finds its way to the plains of India_.

  Up the Raja at the sign upon his glittering chariot leaps,
  Instant Ganga the divine follows his majestic steps.
  From the high heaven burst she forth first on Siva's lofty crown,
  Headlong then, and prone to earth thundering rushed the cataract down,
  Swarms of bright-hued fish came dashing; turtles, dolphins in their
    mirth,
  Fallen or falling, glancing, flashing, to the many-gleaming earth.
  And all the host of heaven came down, spirits and genii, in amaze,
  And each forsook his heavenly throne, upon that glorious scene to gaze.
  On cars, like high-towered cities, seen, with elephants and coursers
    rode,
  Or on soft swinging palanquin, lay wondering each observant god.
  As met in bright divan each god, and flashed their jewell'd vestures'
    rays,
  The coruscating aether glow'd, as with a hundred suns ablaze.
  And with the fish and dolphins gleaming, and scaly crocodiles and
    snakes,
  Glanc'd the air, as when fast streaming the blue lightning shoots and
    breaks:
  And in ten thousand sparkles bright went flashing up the cloudy spray,
  The snowy flocking swans less white, within its glittering mists at
    play.
  And headlong now poured down the flood, and now in silver circlets
    wound,
  Then lake-like spread all bright and broad, then gently, gently flowed
    around,
  Then 'neath the caverned earth descending, then spouted up the boiling
    tide,
  Then stream with stream harmonious blending, swell bubbling up and
    smooth subside.
  By that heaven-welling water's breast, the genii and the sages stood,
  Its sanctifying dews they blest, and plung'd within the lustral flood.
  Whoe'er beneath the curse of heaven from that immaculate world had fled,
  To th' impure earth in exile driven, to that all-holy baptism sped;
  And purified from every sin, to the bright spirit's bliss restor'd,
  Th' ethereal sphere they entered in, and through th' empyreal mansions
    soar'd.
  The world in solemn jubilee beheld those heavenly waves draw near,
  From sin and dark pollution free, bathed in the blameless waters clear.
  Swift king Bhagiratha drave upon his lofty glittering car,
  And swift with her obeisant wave bright Ganga followed him afar.
                                        _Milman's Translation._




THE DEATH OF YAJNADATTA.


The Raja Dasaratha was compelled to banish his favorite son Rama,
immediately after his marriage to Sita, because his banishment was
demanded by the Raja's wife Kaikeyi, to whom he had once promised to grant
any request she might make. His grief at the loss of his son is described
in this selection.

  Scarce Rama to the wilderness had with his younger brother gone,
  Abandoned to his deep distress, king Dasaratha sate alone.
  Upon his sons to exile driven when thought that king, as Indra bright,
  Darkness came o'er him, as in heaven when pales th' eclipsed sun his
    light.
  Six days he sate, and mourned and pined for Rama all that weary time.
  At midnight on his wandering mind rose up his old forgotten crime.
  His queen, Kausalya, the divine, addressed he, as she rested near:
  "Kausalya, if thou wakest, incline to thy lord's speech thy ready ear.
  Whatever deed, or good or ill, by man, O blessed queen, is wrought.
  Its proper fruit he gathers still, by time to slow perfection brought.
  He who the opposing counsel's weight compares not in his judgment cool,
  Or misery or bliss his fate, among the sage is deemed a fool.
  As one that quits the Amra bower, the bright Palasa's pride to gain
  Mocked by the promise of its flower, seeks its unripening fruit in vain,
  So I the lovely Amra left for the Palasa's barren bloom,
  Through mine own fatal error 'reft of banished Rama, mourn in gloom.
  Kausalya! in my early youth by my keen arrow, at his mark
  Aimed with too sure and deadly truth, was wrought a deed most fell and
    dark.
  At length, the evil that I did, hath fallen upon my fated head,
  As when on subtle poison hid an unsuspecting child hath fed;
  Even as that child unwittingly hath made the poisonous fare his food,
  Even so, in ignorance by me was wrought that deed of guilt and blood.
  Unwed wert thou in virgin bloom, and I in youth's delicious prime,
  The season of the rains had come,--that soft and love enkindling time.
  Earth's moisture all absorbed, the sun through all the world its warmth
    had spread,
  Turned from the north, its course begun, where haunt the spirits of the
    dead:
  Gathering o'er all the horizon's bound on high the welcome clouds
    appeared,
  Exulting, all the birds flew round,--cranes, cuckoos, peacocks, flew and
    veered.
  And all down each wide-watered shore the troubled, yet still limpid
    floods,
  Over their banks began to pour, as o'er them hung the bursting clouds.
  And, saturate with cloud-born dew, the glittering verdant-mantled earth,
  The cuckoos and the peacocks flew, disputing as in drunken mirth.--

  "In such a time, so soft, so bland, oh beautiful! I chanced to go.
  With quiver and with bow in hand, where clear Sarayu's waters flow,
  If haply to the river's brink at night the buffalo might stray,
  Or elephant, the stream to drink,--intent my savage game to slay.
  Then of a water cruse, as slow it filled, the gurgling sound I heard,
  Nought saw I, but the sullen low of elephant that sound appeared.
  The swift well-feathered arrow I upon the bowstring fitting straight,
  Towards the sound the shaft let fly, ah, cruelly deceived by fate!
  The winged arrow scarce had flown, and scarce had reached its destined
    aim,
  'Ah me, I'm slain,' a feeble moan in trembling human accents came.
  'Ah, whence hath come this fatal shaft against a poor recluse like me,
  Who shot that bolt with deadly craft,--alas! what cruel man is he?
  At the lone midnight had I come to draw the river's limpid flood,
  And here am struck to death, by whom? ah whose this wrongful deed of
    blood?
  Alas! and in my parents' heart, the old, the blind, and hardly fed,
  In the wild wood, hath pierced the dart, that here hath struck their
    offspring dead.
  Ah, deed most profitless as worst, a deed of wanton useless guilt:
  As though a pupil's hand accurs'd his holy master's blood had spilt.
  But not mine own untimely fate,--it is not that which I deplore.
  My blind, my aged parents' state--'tis their distress afflicts me more.
  That sightless pair, for many a day, from me their scanty food have
    earned;
  What lot is theirs when I'm away, to the five elements returned?
  Alike, all wretched they, as I--ah, whose this triple deed of blood?
  For who the herbs will now supply,--the roots, the fruit, their
    blameless food?'
  My troubled soul, that plaintive moan no sooner heard, so faint and low,
  Trembled to look on what I'd done, fell from my shuddering hand my bow.
  Swift I rushed up, I saw him there, heart-pierced, and fallen the stream
    beside,
  The hermit boy with knotted hair,--his clothing was the black deer's
    hide.
  On me most piteous turned his look, his wounded breast could scarce
    respire,
  And these the words, O queen, he spoke, as to consume me in his ire:
  'What wrong, O Kshatriya, have I done, to be thy deathful arrow's aim,
  The forest's solitary son, to draw the limpid stream I came.
  Both wretched and both blind they lie, in the wildwood all destitute,
  My parents, listening anxiously to hear my home-returning foot.
  By this, thy fatal shaft, this one, three miserable victims fall,
  The sire, the mother, and the son--ah why? and unoffending all.
  How vain my father's life austere, the Veda's studied page how vain,
  He knew not with prophetic fear his son would fall untimely slain.
  But had he known, to one as he, so weak, so blind, 't were bootless all,
  No tree can save another tree by the sharp hatchet marked to fall.
  But to my father's dwelling haste, O Raghu's son, lest in his ire
  Thy head with burning curse he blast, as the dry forest tree the fire.
  Thee to my father's lone retreat will quickly lead yon onward path,
  Oh, haste his pardon to entreat, or ere he curse thee in his wrath.
  Yet first that gently I may die, draw forth the barbed steel from hence,
  Allay thy fears, no Brahmin I, not thine of Brahmin blood the offence.
  My sire, a Brahmin hermit he, my mother was of Sudra race.'
  So spake the wounded boy, on me while turned his unreproaching face.
  As from his palpitating breast I gently drew the mortal dart,
  He saw me trembling stand, and blest that boy's pure spirit seemed to
    part.
  As died that holy hermit's son, from me my glory seemed to go,
  With troubled mind I stood, cast down t' inevitable endless woe.
  That shaft that seemed his life to burn like serpent venom, thus drawn
    out,
  I, taking up his fallen urn, t' his father's dwelling took my route.
  There miserable, blind, and old, of their sole helpmate thus forlorn,
  His parents did these eyes behold, like two sad birds with pinions
    shorn.
  Of him in fond discourse they sate, lone, thinking only of their son,
  For his return so long, so late, impatient, oh by me undone.
  My footsteps' sound he seemed to know, and thus the aged hermit said,
  'O Yajnadatta, why so slow?--haste, let the cooling draught be shed.
  Long on the river's cooling brink hast thou been sporting in thy joy.
  Thy mother's fainting spirits sink in fear for thee; but thou, my boy,
  If aught to grieve thy gentle heart thy mother or thy sire do wrong,
  Bear with us, nor, when next we part, on the slow way thus linger long,
  The feet of those that cannot move, of those that cannot see the eye,
  Our spirits live but in thy love,--oh wherefore, dearest, no reply?'

  "My throat thick swollen with bursting tears, my power of speech that
    seemed to choke,
  With hands above my head, my fears breaking my quivering voice, I spoke:
  The Kshatriya Dasaratha I, O hermit sage, 't is not thy son!
  Most holy ones, unknowingly a deed of awful guilt I've done.
  With bow in hand I took my way along Sarayu's pleasant brink,
  The savage buffalo to slay, or elephant come down to drink.

  "A sound came murmuring to my ear,--'twas of the urn that slowly filled,
  I deemed some savage wild-beast near,--my erring shaft thy son had
    killed.
  A feeble groan I heard, his breast was pierced by that dire arrow keen:
  All trembling to the spot I pressed, lo there thy hermit boy was seen.
  Flew to the sound my arrow, meant the wandering elephant to slay,
  Toward the river brink it went,--and there thy son expiring lay.
  The fatal shaft when forth I drew, to heaven his parting spirit soared,
  Dying he only thought of you, long, long, your lonely lot deplored.
  Thus ignorantly did I slay your child beloved, O hermit sage!
  Turn thou on me, whose fated day is come, thy all-consuming rage!'
  He heard my dreadful tale at length, he stood all lifeless, motionless;
  Then deep he groaned, and gathering strength, me the meek suppliant did
    address.
  'Kshatriya, 't is well that thou hast turned, thy deed of murder to
    rehearse,
  Else over all thy land had burned the fire of my wide-wasting curse.
  If with premeditated crime the unoffending blood thou 'dst spilt,
  The Thunderer on his throne sublime had shaken at such tremendous guilt.
  Against the anchorite's sacred head, hadst, knowing, aimed thy shaft
    accursed,
  In th' holy Vedas deeply read, thy skull in seven wide rents had burst.
  But since, unwitting, thou hast wrought that deed of death, thou livest
    still,
  O son of Taghu, from thy thought dismiss all dread of instant ill.
  Oh lead me to that doleful spot where my poor boy expiring lay,
  Beneath the shaft thy fell hand shot, of my blind age the staff, the
    stay.
  On the cold earth 'twere yet a joy to touch my perished child again,
  (So long if I may live) my boy in one last fond embrace to strain
  His body all bedewed with gore, his locks in loose disorder thrown,
  Let me, let her but touch once more, to the dread realm of Yama gone.'
  Then to that fatal place I brought alone that miserable pair;
  His sightless hands and hers I taught to touch their boy that slumbered
    there.
  Nor sooner did they feel him lie, on the moist herbage coldly thrown,
  But with a shrill and feeble cry upon the body cast them down.
  The mother as she lay and groaned, addressed her boy with quivering
    tongue,
  And like a heifer sadly moaned, just plundered of her new-dropped young:

  "'Was not thy mother once, my son, than life itself more dear to thee?
  Why the long way thou hast begun, without one gentle word to me?
  One last embrace, and then, beloved, upon thy lonely journey go!
  Alas! with anger art thou moved, that not a word thou wilt bestow?'

  "The miserable father now with gentle touch each cold limb pressed,
  And to the dead his words of woe, as to his living son addressed:
  'I too, my son, am I not here?--thy sire with thy sad mother stands;
  Awake, arise, my child, draw near, and clasp each neck with loving
    hands.
  Who now, 'neath the dark wood by night, a pious reader shall be heard?
  Whose honeyed voice my ear delight with th' holy Veda's living word?
  The evening prayer, th' ablution done, the fire adored with worship
    meet,
  Who now shall soothe like thee, my son, with fondling hand, my aged
    feet?
  And who the herb, the wholesome root, or wild fruit from the wood shall
    bring?
  To us the blind, the destitute, with helpless hunger perishing?
  Thy blind old mother, heaven-resigned, within our hermit-dwelling lone,
  How shall I tend, myself as blind, now all my strength of life is gone?
  Oh, stay, my child, oh. Part not yet, to Yama's dwelling go not now,
  To-morrow forth we all will set,--thy mother and myself and thou:
  For both, in grief for thee, and both so helpless, ere another day,
  From this dark world, but little loath, shall we depart, death's easy
    prey!
  And I myself, by Yama's seat, companion of thy darksome way,
  The guerdon to thy virtues meet from that great Judge of men will pray.
  Because, my boy, in innocence, by wicked deed thou hast been slain,
  Rise, where the heroes dwell, who thence ne'er stoop to this dark world
  again.
  Those that to earth return no more, the sense-subdued, the hermits wise,
  Priests their sage masters that adore, to their eternal seats arise.
  Those that have studied to the last the Veda's, the Vedanga's page,
  Where saintly kings of earth have passed, Nahusa and Yayati sage;
  The sires of holy families, the true to wedlock's sacred vow;
  And those that cattle, gold, or rice, or lands, with liberal hands
    bestow;
  That ope th' asylum to th' oppressed, that ever love, and speak the
    truth;
  Up to the dwellings of the blest, th' eternal, soar thou, best-loved
    youth.
  For none of such a holy race within the lowest seat may dwell;
  But that will be his fatal place by whom my only offspring fell.'

  "So groaning deep, that wretched pair, the hermit and his wife, essayed
  The meet ablution to prepare, their hands their last faint effort made.
  Divine, with glorious body bright, in splendid car of heaven elate,
  Before them stood their son in light, and thus consoled their helpless
    state:
  'Meed of my duteous filial care, I've reached the wished for realms of
    joy;
  And ye, in those glad realms, prepare to meet full soon your dear-loved
    boy.
  My parents, weep no more for me, yon warrior monarch slew me not,
  My death was thus ordained to be, predestined was the shaft he shot.'
  Thus as he spoke, the anchorite's son soared up the glowing heaven afar,
  In air his heavenly body shone, while stood he in his gorgeous car.
  But they, of that lost boy so dear the last ablution meetly made,
  Thus spoke to me that holy seer, with folded hands above his head.
  'Albeit by thy unknowing dart my blameless boy untimely fell,
  A curse I lay upon thy heart, whose fearful pain I know too well.
  As sorrowing for my son I bow, and yield up my unwilling breath,
  So, sorrowing for thy son shalt thou at life's last close repose in
    death.'
  That curse dread sounding in mine ear, to mine own city forth I set,
  Nor long survived that hermit seer, to mourn his child in lone regret.
  This day that Brahmin curse fulfilled hath fallen on my devoted head,
  In anguish for my parted child have all my sinking spirits fled.
  No more my darkened eyes can see, my clouded memory is o'ercast,
  Dark Yama's heralds summon me to his deep, dreary realm to haste.
  Mine eye no more my Rama sees, and grief-o'erborne, my spirits sink,
  As the swoln stream sweeps down the trees that grow upon the crumbling
    brink.
  Oh, felt I Rama's touch, or spake one word his home-returning voice,
  Again to life I should awake, as quaffing nectar draughts, rejoice,
  But what so sad could e'er have been, celestial partner of my heart,
  As Rama's beauteous face unseen, from life untimely to depart?
  His exile in the forest o'er, him home returned to Oude's high town,
  Oh happy those, that see once more, like Indra from the sky come down.
  No mortal men, but gods I deem,--moonlike, before whose wondering sight
  My Rama's glorious face shall beam, from the dark forest bursting
    bright.
  Happy that gaze on Rama's face with beauteous teeth and smile of love,
  Like the blue lotus in its grace, and like the starry king above.
  Like to the full autumnal moon, and like the lotus in its bloom,
  That youth who sees returning soon,--how blest shall be that mortal's
    doom."
  Dwelling in that sweet memory, on his last bed the monarch lay,
  And slowly, softly seemed to die, as fades the moon at dawn away.
  "Ah, Rama! ah, my son!" thus said, or scarcely said, the king of men,
  His gentle hapless spirit fled in sorrow for his Rama then,
  The shepherd of his people old at midnight on his bed of death,
  The tale of his son's exile told, and breathed away his dying breath.
                                         _Milman's Translation._





THE MAHÂ-BHÂRATA.


"It is a deep and noble forest, abounding in delicious fruits and fragrant
flowers, shaded and watered by perennial springs."

Though parts of the Mahâ-Bhârata, or story of the great war, are of great
antiquity, the entire poem was undoubtedly collected and re-written in the
first or second century A. D. Tradition ascribes the Mahâ-Bhârata to the
Brahman Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa.

The Mahâ-Bhârata, unlike the Râmâyana, is not the story of some great
event, but consists of countless episodes, legends, and philosophical
treatises, strung upon the thread of a single story. These episodes are
called Upakhyanani, and the five most beautiful are called, in India, the
five precious stones.

Its historical basis is the strife between the Aryan invaders of India and
the original inhabitants, illustrated in the strife between the sons of
the Raja Pandu and the blind Raja, Dhrita-rashtra, which forms the main
story of the poem.

Though marred by the exaggerations peculiar to the Hindu, the poem is a
great treasure house of Indian history, and from it the Indian poets,
historical writers, and philosophers have drawn much of their material.

The Mahâ-Bhârata is written in the Sanskrit language; it is the longest
poem ever written, its eighteen cantos containing two hundred thousand
lines.

It is held in even higher regard than the Râmâyana, and the reading of it
is supposed to confer upon the happy reader every good and perfect gift.




BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM, THE MAHÂ-BHÂRATA.


G.W. Cox's Mythology and Folklore, 1881, p. 313;

John Dowson's Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology, Religion,
Geography, History, and Literature, 1879;

F. Max Müller's Ancient Sanskrit Literature, 1859 (Introduction);

E. A. Reed's Hindu Literature, 1891, pp. 272-352;

Albrecht Weber's History of Indian Literature, 1878, pp. 184-191;

J. T. Wheeler's History of India, 4 vols., 1876, vol. ii.;

J. C. Oman's Great Indian Epics, 1874, pp. 87-231;

T. Goldstuecker's Hindu Epic Poetry; the Mahâ-Bhârata Literary Remains,
1879, (vol. ii., pp. 86-145);

M. Macmillan's Globe-trotter in India, 1815, p. 193;

J. Peile's Notes on the Tales of Nala, 1882;

C. J. Stone's Cradle-land of Arts and Creeds, 1880, pp. 36-49;

H. H. Wilson's Introduction to the Mahâ-Bhârata and a Translation of three
Extracts (in his Works, vol. iii., p. 277); Westminster Review, 1868, vol.
xxxiii., p. 380.




STANDARD ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS, THE MAHÂ-BHÂRATA.


The Mahâ-Bhârata, Selections from the, Tr. by Sir Edwin Arnold, in his
Indian Poetry, 1886; in his Indian Idylls, 1883;

Nala and Damayanti and other Poems, Tr. from the Mahâ-Bhârata by
H. H. Milman, (his translation of the Story of Nala is edited with notes by
Monier Williams, 1879);

Metrical translations from Sanskrit writers by John Muir, 1879, pp. 13-37;

Last Days of Krishna, Tr. from the Mahâ-Bhârata Price (Oriental
Translation Fund: Miscellaneous Translations);

The Mahâ-Bhârata, an English Prose Translation with notes, by Protap
Chandra Roy, Published in one hundred parts, 1883-1890;

Asiatic Researches, Tr. by H. H. Wilson, from the Mahâ-Bhârata vol. xv.,
p. 101;

Translations of episodes from the Mahâ-Bhârata, in Scribner's Monthly,
1874, vol. vii., p. 385;

International Review, vol. x., pp. 36, 297; Oriental Magazine, Dec., 1824,
March, Sept., 1825, Sept., 1826.




THE STORY OF THE MAHÂ-BHÂRATA.


Long ago there dwelt in India two great Rajas who were brothers, the Raja
Pandu and the blind Raja, Dhritarashtra. The former had five noble sons
called the Pandavas, the eldest of whom was Yudhi-sthira, the second
Bhima, the third Arjuna, and the youngest, twin sons, Nakalu and Sahadeva.
All were girted in every way, but Arjuna was especially noble in form and
feature.

The blind Raja had a family of one hundred sons, called the Kauravas from
their ancestor, Kura. The oldest of these was Duryodhana, and the bravest,
Dhusasana.

Before the birth of Pandu's sons, he had left his kingdom in charge of
Dhrita-rashtra, that he might spend his time in hunting in the forests on
the slopes of the Himalayas. After his death Dhrita-rashtra continued to
rule the kingdom; but on account of their claim to the throne, he invited
the Pandavas and their mother to his court, where they were trained,
together with his sons, in every knightly exercise.

There was probably jealousy between the cousins from the beginning, and
when their teacher, Drona, openly expressed his pride in the wonderful
archery of Arjuna, the hatred of the Kauravas was made manifest. No
disturbance occurred, however, until the day when Drona made a public
tournament to display the prowess of his pupils.

The contests were in archery and the use of the noose and of clubs. Bhima,
who had been endowed by the serpent king with the strength of ten thousand
elephants, especially excelled in the use of the club, Nakalu was most
skillful in taming and driving the horse, and the others in the use of the
sword and spear. When Arjuna made use of the bow and the noose the
plaudits with which the spectators greeted his skill so enraged the
Kauravas that they turned the contest of clubs, which was to have been a
friendly one, into a degrading and blood-shedding battle. The spectators
left the splendid lists in sorrow, and the blind Raja determined to
separate the unfriendly cousins before further harm could come from their
rivalry.

Before this could be done, another event increased their hostility. Drona
had agreed to impart to the Kauravas and the Pandavas his skill in
warfare, on condition that they would conquer for him his old enemy, the
Raja of Panchala. On account of their quarrel the cousins would not fight
together, and the Kauravas, marching against the Raja, were defeated. On
their return, the Pandavas went to Panchala, and took the Raja prisoner.

After Yudhi-sthira had been appointed Yuva-Raja, a step Dhrita-rashtra was
compelled by the people of Hastinapur to take, the Kauravas declared that
they could no longer remain in the same city with their cousins.

A plot was laid to destroy the Pandavas, the Raja's conscience having been
quieted by the assurances of his Brahman counsellor that it was entirely
proper to slay one's foe, be he father, brother, or friend, openly or by
secret means. The Raja accordingly pretended to send his nephews on a
pleasure-trip to a distant province, where he had prepared for their
reception a "house of lac," rendered more combustible by soaking in
clarified butter, in which he had arranged to have them burned as if by
accident, as soon as possible after their arrival.

All Hastinapur mourned at the departure of the Pandavas, and the princes
themselves were sad, for they had been warned by a friend that
Dhrita-rashtra had plotted for their destruction. They took up their abode
in the house of lac, to which they prudently constructed a subterranean
outlet, and one evening, when a woman with five sons attended a feast of
their mother's, uninvited, and fell into a drunken sleep, they made fast
the doors, set fire to the house, and escaped to the forest. The bodies of
the five men and their mother were found next day, and the assurance was
borne to Hastinapur that the Pandavas and their mother Kunti had perished
by fire.

The five princes, with their mother, disguised as Brahmans, spent several
years wandering through the forests, having many strange adventures and
slaying many demons. While visiting Ekachakra, which city they freed from
a frightful rakshasa, they were informed by the sage Vyasa that Draupadi,
the lovely daughter of the Raja Draupada of Panchala, was going to hold a
Svayamvara in order to select a husband. The suitors of a princess
frequently attended a meeting of this sort and took part in various
athletic contests, at the end of which the princess signified who was most
pleasing to her, usually the victor in the games, by hanging around his
neck a garland of flowers.

Vyasa's description of the lovely princess, whose black eyes were large as
lotus leaves, whose skin was dusky, and her locks dark and curling, so
excited the curiosity of the Pandavas that they determined to attend the
Svayamvara. They found the city full of princes and kings who had come to
take part in the contest for the most beautiful woman in the world. The
great amphitheatre in which the games were to take place was surrounded by
gold and jewelled palaces for the accommodation of the princes, and with
platforms for the convenience of the spectators.

After music, dancing, and various entertainments, which occupied sixteen
days, the contest of skill began. On the top of a tall pole, erected in
the plain, was placed a golden fish, below which revolved a large wheel.
He who sent his arrow through the spokes of the wheel and pierced the eye
of the golden fish was to be the accepted suitor of Draupadi.

When the princes saw the difficulty of the contest, many of them refused
to enter it; as many tried it only to fail, among them, the Kaurava
Duryodhana. At last Arjuna, still in his disguise, stepped forward, drew
his bow, and sent his arrow through the wheel into the eye of the golden
fish.

Immediately a great uproar arose among the spectators because a Brahman
had entered a contest limited to members of the Kshatriya, or warrior
class. In the struggle which ensued, however, Arjuna, assisted by his
brothers, especially Bhima, succeeded in carrying off the princess, whose
father did not demur.

When the princes returned to their hut they went into the inner room and
informed their mother that they had brought home a prize. Supposing that
it was some game, she told them it would be well to share it equally. The
mother's word was law, but would the gods permit them to share Draupadi?
Their troubled minds were set at rest by Vyasa, who assured them that
Draupadi had five different times in former existences besought Siva for a
good husband. He had refused her requests then, but would now allow her
five husbands at once. The princes were well satisfied, and when the Raja
Draupada learned that the Brahmans were great princes in disguise, he
caused the five weddings to be celebrated in great state.

Not satisfied with this, the Raja at once endeavored to make peace between
the Pandavas and their hostile cousins, and succeeded far enough to induce
Dhrita-rashtra to cede to his nephews a tract of land in the farthest part
of his kingdom, on the river Jumna, where they set about founding a most
splendid city, Indra-prastha.

Here they lived happily with Draupadi, conquering so many kingdoms and
accumulating so much wealth that they once more aroused the jealousy of
their old enemies, the Kauravas. The latter, knowing that it would be
impossible to gain the advantage of them by fair means, determined to
conquer them by artifice, and accordingly erected a large and magnificent
hall and invited their cousins thither, with a great show of friendliness,
to a gambling match.

The Pandavas knew they would not be treated fairly, but as such an
invitation could not be honorably declined by a Kshatriya, they went to
Hastinapur. Yudhi-sthira's opponent was Shakuni, the queen's brother, an
unprincipled man, by whom he was defeated in every game.

Yudhi-sthira staked successively his money, his jewels, and his slaves;
and when these were exhausted, he continued to play, staking his kingdom,
his brothers, and last of all his peerless wife, Draupadi.

At this point, when the excitement was intense, the brutal Dhusasana
commanded Draupadi to be brought into the hall, and insulted her in every
way, to the great rage of the helpless Pandavas, until Dhrita-rashtra,
affrighted by the evil omens by which the gods signified their
disapproval, rebuked Dhusasana for his conduct, and giving Draupadi her
wish, released her husbands and herself and sent them back to their
kingdom.

To prevent the Pandavas from gaining time to avenge their insult, the
Kauravas induced their father to invite their cousins to court to play a
final game, this time the conditions being that the losing party should go
into exile for thirteen years, spending twelve years in the forest and the
thirteenth in some city. If their disguise was penetrated by their enemies
during the thirteenth year, the exile was to be extended for another
thirteen years.

Though they knew the outcome, the Pandavas accepted the second invitation,
and in consequence again sought the forest, not departing without the most
terrible threats against their cousins.

In the forest of Kamyaka, Yudhi-sthira studied the science of dice that he
might not again be defeated so disastrously, and journeyed pleasantly from
one point of interest to another with Draupadi and his brothers, with the
exception of Arjuna, who had sought the Himalayas to gain favor with the
god Siva, that he might procure from him a terrible weapon for the
destruction of his cousins.

After he had obtained the weapon he was lifted into the heaven of the god
Indra, where he spent five happy years. When he rejoined his wife and
brothers, they were visited by the god Krishna and by the sage Markandeya,
who told them the story of the creation and destruction of the universe,
of the flood, and of the doctrine of Karma, which instructs one that man's
sufferings here below are due to his actions in former and forgotten
existences. He also related to them the beautiful story of how the
Princess Sâvitrî had wedded the Prince Satyavan, knowing that the gods had
decreed that he should die within a year; how on the day set for his death
she had accompanied him to the forest, had there followed Yama, the awful
god of death, entreating him until, for very pity of her sorrow and
admiration of her courage and devotion, he yielded to her her husband's
soul.

Near the close of the twelfth year of their exile, the princes, fatigued
from a hunt, sent Nakalu to get some water from a lake which one had
discovered from a tree-top. As the prince approached the lake he was
warned by a voice not to touch it, but thirst overcoming fear, he drank
and fell dead. The same penalty was paid by Sahadeva, Arjuna, and Bhima,
who in turn followed him. Yudhi-sthira, who went last, obeyed the voice,
which, assuming a terrible form, asked the king questions on many subjects
concerning the universe. These being answered satisfactorily, the being
declared himself to be Dharma, the god of justice, Yudhi-sthira's father,
and in token of his affection for his son, restored the princes to life,
and granted them the boon of being unrecognizable during the remaining
year of their exile.

The thirteenth year of their exile they spent in the city of Virata, where
they entered the service of the Raja,--Yudhi-sthira as teacher of
dice-playing, Bhima as superintendent of the cooks, Arjuna as a teacher of
music and dancing to the ladies, Nakalu as master of horse, and Sahadeva
as superintendent of the cattle. Draupadi, who entered the service of the
queen, was so attractive, even in disguise, that Bhima was forced to kill
the queen's brother, Kechaka, for insulting her. This would have caused
the Pandavas' exile from Virata had not their services been needed in a
battle between Virata and the king of the Trigartas.

The Kauravas assisted the Trigartas in this battle, and the recognition,
among the victors, of their cousins, whose thirteenth year of exile was
now ended, added to the bitterness of their defeat.

Their exile over, the Pandavas were free to make preparations for the
great war which they had determined to wage against the Kauravas. Both
parties, anxious to enlist the services of Krishna, sent envoys to him at
the same time. When Krishna gave them the choice of himself or his armies,
Arjuna was shrewd enough to choose the god, leaving his hundreds of
millions of soldiers to swell the forces of the Kauravas.

When their preparations were completed, and the time had come to wreak
vengeance on their cousins, the Pandavas were loath to begin the conflict.
They seemed to understand that, war once declared, there could be no
compromise, but that it must be a war for extinction. But the Kauravas
received their proposals of peace with taunts, and heaped insults upon
their emissary.

When the Pandavas found that there was no hope of peace, they endeavored
to win to their side Karna, who was really a son of Kunti, and hence their
half-brother, though this fact had not been made known to him until he had
long been allied with the Kauravas. In anticipation of this war, the gods,
by a bit of trickery, had robbed Karna of his god-given armor and weapons.
However, neither celestial artifice, the arguments of Krishna, nor the
entreaties of Kunti were able to move Karna from what he considered the
path of duty, though he promised that while he would fight with all his
strength, he would not slay Yudhi-sthira, Bhima, and the twins.

The forces of the two armies were drawn up on the plain of Kuruk-shetra.
The army of the Kauravas was under the command of the terrible Bhishma,
the uncle of Pandu and Dhrita-rashtra, who had governed the country during
the minority of Pandu.

Each side was provided with billions and billions of infantry, cavalry,
and elephants; the warriors were supplied with weapons of the most
dangerous sort. The army of the Kauravas was surrounded by a deep trench
fortified by towers, and further protected by fireballs and jars full of
scorpions to be thrown at the assailants.

As night fell, before the battle, the moon's face was stained with blood,
earthquakes shook the land, and the images of the gods fell from their
places.

The next morning, when Arjuna, from his chariot, beheld the immense army,
he was appalled at the thought of the bloodshed to follow, and hesitated
to advance. Krishna insisted that it was unnecessary for him to lament,
setting forth his reasons in what is known as the Bhagavat-gita, the
divine song, in which he said it was no sin to slay a foe, since death is
but a transmigration from one form to another. The soul can never cease to
be; who then can destroy it? Therefore, when Arjuna slew his cousins he
would merely remove their offensive bodies; their souls, unable to be
destroyed, would seek other habitations. To further impress Arjuna,
Krishna boasted of himself as embodying everything, and as having passed
through many forms. Faith in Krishna was indispensable, for the god placed
faith above either works or contemplation. He next exhibited himself in
his divine form to Arjuna, and the warrior was horror-stricken at the
terrible divinity with countless arms, hands, and heads, touching the
skies. Having been thus instructed by Krishna, Arjuna went forth, and the
eighteen days' battle began.

The slaughter was wholesale; no quarter was asked or given, since each
side was determined to exterminate the other. Flights of arrows were
stopped in mid-air by flights of arrows from the other side. Great maces
were cut in pieces by well-directed darts. Bhima, wielding his great club
with his prodigious strength, wiped out thousands of the enemy at one
stroke, and Arjuna did the same with his swift arrows. Nor were the
Kauravas to be despised. Hundreds of thousands of the Pandavas' followers
fell, and the heroic brothers were themselves struck by many arrows.

Early in the battle the old Bhishma was pierced by so many arrows that,
falling from his chariot, he rested upon their points as on a couch, and
lay there living by his own desire, until long after the battle.

After eighteen days of slaughter, during which the field reeked with blood
and night was made horrible by the cries of the jackals and other beasts
of prey that devoured the bodies of the dead, the Kauravas were all slain,
and the five Pandavas, reconciled to the blind Raja, accompanied him back
to Hastinapur, where Yudhi-sthira was crowned Raja, although the Raj was
still nominally under the rule of his old uncle.

Yudhi-sthira celebrated his accession to the throne by the performance of
the great sacrifice, which was celebrated with the utmost splendor. After
several years the unhappy Dhrita-rashtra retired with his wife to a jungle
on the banks of the Ganges, leaving Yudhi-sthira in possession of the
kingdom. There the Pandavas visited him, and talked over the friends who
had fallen in the great war. One evening the sage Vyasa instructed them to
bathe in the Ganges and then stand on the banks of the river. He then went
into the water and prayed, and coming out stood by Yudhi-sthira and called
the names of all those persons who had been slain at Kuruk-shetra.
Immediately the water began to foam and boil, and to the great surprise
and terror of all, the warriors lost in the great battle appeared in their
chariots, at perfect peace with one another, and cleansed of all earthly
stain. Then the living were happy with the dead; long separated families
were once more united, and the hearts that had been desolate for fifteen
long years were again filled with joy. The night sped quickly by in tender
conversation, and when morning came, all the dead mounted into their
chariots and disappeared. Those who had come to meet them prepared to
leave the river, but with the permission of Vyasa, the widows drowned
themselves that they might rejoin their husbands.

Not long after his return to Hastinapur, Yudhi-sthira heard that the old
Raja and his wife had lost their lives in a jungle-fire; and soon after
this, tidings came to him of the destruction of the city of the Yadavas,
the capital of Krishna, in punishment for the dissipation of its
inhabitants.

Yudhi-sthira's reign of thirty-six years had been a succession of gloomy
events, and he began to grow weary of earth and to long for the blessings
promised above. He therefore determined to make the long and weary
pilgrimage to Heaven without waiting for death. According to the
Mahâ-Bhârata, the earth was divided into seven concentric rings, each of
which was surrounded by an ocean or belt separating it from the next
annular continent. The first ocean was of salt water; the second, of the
juice of the sugar-cane; the third, of wine; the fourth, of clarified
butter; the fifth, of curdled milk; the sixth, of sweet milk; the seventh,
of fresh water. In the centre of this vast annular system Mount Meru rose
to the height of sixty-four thousand miles.

Upon this mountain was supposed to rest the heaven of the Hindus, and
thither Yudhi-sthira proposed to make his pilgrimage. His brothers and
their wife Draupadi insisted on going with him, for all were equally weary
of the world. Their people would fain have accompanied them, but the
princes sent them back and went unaccompanied save by their faithful dog.
They kept on, fired by their high resolves, until they reached the long
and dreary waste of sand that stretched before Mount Meru. There Draupadi
fell and yielded up her life, and Yudhi-sthira, never turning to look
back, told the questioning Bhima that she died because she loved her
husbands better than all else, better than heaven. Next Sahadeva fell,
then Nakalu, and afterwards Arjuna and Bhima. Yudhi-sthira, still striding
on, informed Bhima that pride had slain the first, self-love the second,
the sin of Arjuna was a lie, and Bhima had loved too well the good things
of earth.

Followed by the dog, Yudhi-sthira pushed across the barren sand until he
reached the mount and stood in the presence of the god. Well pleased with
his perseverance, the god promised him the reward of entering into heaven
in his own form, but he refused to go unless the dog could accompany him.
After vainly attempting to dissuade him, the god allowed the dog to assume
its proper form, and lo! it was Dharma, the god of justice, and the two
entered heaven together.

But where were Draupadi and the gallant princes, her husbands?
Yudhi-sthira could see them nowhere, and he questioned only to learn that
they were in hell. His determination was quickly taken. There could be no
heaven for him unless his brothers and their wife could share it with him.
He demanded to be shown the path to hell, to enter which he walked over
razors, and trod under foot mangled human forms. But joy of joys! The
lotus-eyed Draupadi called to him, and his brothers cried that his
presence in hell brought a soothing breeze that gave relief to all the
tortured souls.

Yudhi-sthira's self-sacrifice sufficiently tested, the gods proclaimed
that it was all but an illusion shown to make him enjoy the more, by
contrast, the blisses of heaven. The king Yudhi-sthira then bathed in the
great river flowing through three worlds, and, washed from all sins and
soils, went up, hand in hand with the gods, to his brothers, the Pandavas,
and

  "Lotus-eyed and loveliest Draupadi,
   Waiting to greet him, gladdening and glad."




SELECTIONS FROM THE MAHÂ-BHÂRATA.

SÂVITRI, OR LOVE AND DEATH.


The beautiful princess Sâvitri of her own choice wedded the prince
Satyavan, son of a blind and exiled king, although she knew that he was
doomed by the gods to die within a year. When the year was almost gone,
she sat for several days beneath a great tree, abstaining from food and
drink, and imploring the gods to save him from death. On the fateful day
she accompanied him to the forest to gather the sacred wood for the
evening sacrifice. As he struck the tree with the axe he reeled in pain,
and exclaiming, "I cannot work!" fell fainting.

  Thereon that noble lady, hastening near.
  Stayed him that would have fallen, with quick arms;
  And, sitting on the earth, laid her lord's head
  Tenderly in her lap. So bent she, mute,
  Fanning his face, and thinking 't was the day--
  The hour--which Narad named--the sure fixed date
  Of dreadful end--when, lo! before her rose
  A shade majestic. Red his garments were,
  His body vast and dark; like fiery suns
  The eyes which burned beneath his forehead-cloth;
  Armed was he with a noose, awful of mien.
  This Form tremendous stood by Satyavan,
  Fixing its gaze upon him. At the sight
  The fearful Princess started to her feet.
  Heedfully laying on the grass his head,

  Up started she, with beating heart, and joined
  Her palms for supplication, and spake thus
  In accents tremulous: "Thou seem'st some God;
  Thy mien is more than mortal; make me know
  What god thou art, and what thy purpose here."

  And Yama said (the dreadful god of death):
  "Thou art a faithful wife, O Sâvitrî,
  True to thy vows, pious, and dutiful;
  Therefore I answer thee. Yama I am!
  This Prince thy lord lieth at point to die;
  Him will I straightway bind and bear from life;
  This is my office, and for this I come."

  Then Sâvitrî spake sadly: "It is taught
  Thy messengers are sent to fetch the dying;
  Why is it, Mightiest, thou art come thyself?"

  In pity of her love, the Pityless
  Answered--the King of all the Dead replied:
  "This was a Prince unparalleled, thy lord;
  Virtuous as fair, a sea of goodly gifts,
  Not to be summoned by a meaner voice
  Than Yama's own: therefore is Yama come."

  With that the gloomy God fitted his noose
  And forced forth from the Prince the soul of him--
  Subtile, a thumb in length--which being reft,
  Breath stayed, blood stopped, the body's grace was gone,
  And all life's warmth to stony coldness turned.
  Then, binding it, the Silent Presence bore
  Satyavan's soul away toward the South.

  But Sâvitrî the Princess followed him;
  Being so bold in wifely purity,
  So holy by her love; and so upheld,
  She followed him.

                     Presently Yama turned.
  "Go back," quoth he. "Pay for him funeral dues.
  Enough, O Sâvitrî, is wrought for love;
  Go back! Too far already hast thou come."

  Then Sâvitrî made answer: "I must go
  Where my lord goes, or where my lord is borne;
  Naught other is my duty. Nay, I think,
  By reason of my vows, my services,
  Done to the Gurus, and my faultless love,
  Grant but thy grace, I shall unhindered go.
  The sages teach that to walk seven steps
  One with another, maketh good men friends;
  Beseech thee, let me say a verse to thee:--

  _"Be master of thyself, if thou wilt be
  Servant of Duty. Such as thou shall see
  Not self-subduing, do no deeds of good
  In youth or age, in household or in wood.
  But wise men know that virtue is best bliss,
  And all by some one way may reach to this.
  It needs not men should pass through orders four
  To come to knowledge: doing right is more
  Than any learning; therefore sages say
  Best and most excellent is Virtue's way."_

  Spake Yama then: "Return! yet I am moved
  By those soft words; justly their accents fell,
  And sweet and reasonable was their sense.
  See now, thou faultless one. Except this life
  I bear away, ask any boon from me;
  It shall not be denied."

                              Sâvitrî said:
  "Let, then, the King, my husband's father, have
  His eyesight back, and be his strength restored,
  And let him live anew, strong as the sun."

  "I give this gift," Yama replied. "Thy wish,
  Blameless, shall be fulfilled. But now go back;
  Already art thou wearied, and our road
  Is hard and long. Turn back, lest thou, too, die."

  The Princess answered: "Weary am I not,
  So I walk near my lord. Where he is borne,
  Thither wend I. Most mighty of the Gods,
  I follow wheresoe'er thou takest him.
  A verse is writ on this, if thou wouldst hear:--

  _"There is naught better than to be
  With noble souls in company:
  There is naught better than to wend
  With good friends faithful to the end.
  This is the love whose fruit is sweet,
  Therefore to bide within is meet."_

  Spake Yama, smiling: "Beautiful! thy words
  Delight me; they are excellent, and teach
  Wisdom unto the wise, singing soft truth.
  Look, now! Except the life of Satyavan,
  Ask yet another--any--boon from me."

  Sâvitrî said: "Let, then, the pious King,
  My husband's father, who hath lost his throne,
  Have back the Raj; and let him rule his realm
  In happy righteousness. This boon I ask."

  "He shall have back the throne," Yama replied,
  "And he shall reign in righteousness: these things
  Will surely fall. But thou, gaining thy wish,
  Return anon; so shalt thou 'scape sore ill."

  "Ah, awful God! who hold'st the world in leash,"
  The Princess said, "restraining evil men,
  And leading good men--even unconscious--there,
  Where they attain, hear yet those famous words:--

  _"The constant virtues of the good are tenderness and love
  To all that lives--in earth, air, sea--great, small--below, above;
  Compassionate of heart, they keep a gentle thought for each,
  Kind in their actions, mild in will, and pitiful of speech;
  Who pitieth not, he hath not faith; full many an one so lives,
  But when an enemy seeks help, a good man gladly gives."_

  "As water to the thirsty," Yama said,
  "Princess, thy words melodious are to me.
  Except the life of Satyavan, thy lord,
  Ask one boon yet again, for I will grant."

  Answer made Sâvitrî: "The King, my sire,
  Hath no male child. Let him see many sons
  Begotten of his body, who may keep
  The royal line long regnant. This I ask."

  "So shall it be," the Lord of Death replied;
  "A hundred fair preservers of his race
  Thy sire shall boast. But this wish being won,
  Return, dear Princess; thou hast come too far."

  "It is not far for me," quoth Sâvitrî,
  "Since I am near my husband; nay, my heart
  Is set to go as far as to the end;
  But hear these other verses, if thou wilt:--

  _"By that sunlit name thou bearest,
  Thou, Vaivaswata! art dearest;
  Those that as their Lord proclaim thee,
  King of Righteousness do name thee:
  Better than themselves the wise
  Trust the righteous. Each relies
  Most upon the good, and makes
  Friendship with them. Friendship takes
  Fear from hearts; yet friends betray,
  In good men we may trust alway."_

  "Sweet lady," Yama said, "never were words
  Spoke better; never truer heard by ear;
  Lo! I am pleased with thee. Except this soul,
  Ask one gift yet again, and get thee home."

  "I ask thee then," quickly the Princess cried,
  "Sons, many sons, born of my body; boys;
  Satyavan's children; lovely, valiant, strong;
  Continuers of their line. Grant this, kind God."

  "I grant it," Yama answered; "thou shalt bear
  These sons thy heart desireth, valiant, strong.
  Therefore go back, that years be given thee.
  Too long a path thou treadest, dark and rough."

  But sweeter than before, the Princess sang:--

  _"In paths of peace and virtue
  Always the good remain;
  And sorrow shall not stay with them,
  Nor long access of pain;
  At meeting or at parting
  Joys to their bosom strike;
  For good to good is friendly,
  And virtue loves her like.
  The great sun goes his journey
  By their strong truth impelled;
  By their pure lives and penances
  Is earth itself upheld;
  Of all which live and shall live
  Upon its hills and fields,
  Pure hearts are the protectors,
  For virtue saves and shields.

  "Never are noble spirits
  Poor while their like survive;
  True love has gems to render,
  And virtue wealth to give.
  Never is lost or wasted
  The goodness of the good;
  Never against a mercy,
  Against a right, it stood;
  And seeing this, that virtue
  Is always friend to all,
  The virtuous and true-hearted,
  Men their protectors call."_

  "Line for line, Princess, as thou sangest so,"
  Quoth Yama, "all that lovely praise of good,
  Grateful to hallowed minds, lofty in sound,
  And couched in dulcet numbers--word by word--
  Dearer thou grew'st to me. O thou great heart,
  Perfect and firm! ask any boon from me,--
  Ask an incomparable boon!"

                              She cried
  Swiftly, no longer stayed: "Not Heaven I crave,
  Nor heavenly joys, nor bliss incomparable,
  Hard to be granted, even by thee; but him,
  My sweet lord's life, without which I am dead;
  Give me that gift of gifts! I will not take
  Aught less without him,--not one boon--no praise,
  No splendors, no rewards,--not even those sons
  Whom thou didst promise. Ah, thou wilt not now
  Bear hence the father of them and my hope!
  Make thy free word good; give me Satyavan
  Alive once more."

  And thereupon the God--
  The Lord of Justice, high Vaivaswata--
  Loosened the noose and freed the Prince's soul,
  And gave it to the lady, saying this,
  With eyes grown tender: "See, thou sweetest queen
  Of women, brightest jewel of thy kind!
  Here is thy husband. He shall live and reign
  Side by side with thee, saved by thee,--in peace
  And fame and wealth, and health, many long years,
  For pious sacrifices world-renowned.
  Boys shalt thou bear to him, as I did grant,--
  Kshatriya kings, fathers of kings to be,
  Sustainers of thy line. Also thy sire
  Shall see his name upheld by sons of sons,
  Like the immortals, valiant, Mâlavas."

                          ARNOLD: _Indian Idylls._




FROM "THE GREAT JOURNEY."


The shadow of the Great War hung over King Yudhi-sthira, whose reign was
one long succession of gloomy events, culminating in the death of the
blind Raja and his wife in a jungle fire, and the destruction of the
capital city of Krishna because of the dissipation of its inhabitants.

  On tidings of the wreck of Vrishni's race,
  King Yudhi-sthira of the Pandavas
  Was minded to be done with earthly things,
  And to Arjuna spake: "O noble prince,
  Time endeth all; we linger, noose on neck,
  Till the last day tightens the line, and kills.
  Let us go forth to die, being yet alive."
  And Kunti's son, the great Arjuna, said:
  "Let us go forth! Time slayeth all.
  We will find Death, who seeketh other men."
  And Bhimasena, hearing, answered: "Yea,
  We will find Death!" and Sahadev cried: "Yea!"
  And his twin brother Nakalu; whereat
  The princes set their faces for the Mount.

         *       *       *       *       *

  So ordering ere he went, the righteous King
  Made offering of white water, heedfully,
  To Vasudev, to Rama, and the rest,--
  All funeral rites performing; next he spread
  A funeral feast....

  And all the people cried, "Stay with us, Lord!"
  But Yudhi-sthira knew his time was come,
  Knew that life passes and that virtue lasts,
  And put aside their love....

  So, with farewells
  Tenderly took of lieges and of lords,
  Girt he for travel with his princely kin,
  Great Yudhi-sthira, Dharma's royal son.
  Crest-gem and belt and ornaments he stripped
  From off his body, and for broidered robe
  A rough dress donned, woven of jungle bark;
  And what he did--O Lord of men!--so did
  Arjuna, Bhima, and the twin-born pair,
  Nakalu with Sahadev, and she,--in grace
  The peerless,--Draupadi. Lastly those six,--
  Thou son of Bharata!--in solemn form
  Made the high sacrifice of Naishtiki,
  Quenching their flames in water at the close;
  And so set forth, midst wailing of all folk
  And tears of women, weeping most to see
  The Princess Draupadi--that lovely prize
  Of the great gaming, Draupadi the Bright--
  Journeying afoot; but she and all the five
  Rejoiced because their way lay heavenward.

  Seven were they, setting forth,--Princess and King,
  The King's four brothers and a faithful dog.
  Those left Hastinapur; but many a man,
  And all the palace household, followed them
  The first sad stage: and ofttimes prayed to part,

  Put parting off for love and pity, still
  Sighing, "A little farther!" till day waned;
  Then one by one they turned.

         *       *       *       *       *

                                 Thus wended they,
  Pandu's five sons and loveliest Draupadi,
  Taking no meat and journeying due east,
  On righteousness their high hearts fed, to heaven
  Their souls assigned; and steadfast trod their feet--
  By faith upborne--past nullah ran, and wood,
  River and jheel and plain. King Yudhi-sthir
  Walked foremost, Bhima followed, after him
  Arjuna, and the twin-born brethren next,
  Nakalu with Sahadev; in whose still steps--
  O Best of Bharat's offspring!--Draupadi,
  That gem of women paced, with soft dark face,--
  Clear-edged like lotus petals; last the dog
  Following the Pandavas.

         *       *       *       *       *

                      While yet those heroes walked,
  Now to the northward banding, where long coasts
  Shut in the sea of salt, now to the north,
  Accomplishing all quarters, journeyed they;
  The earth their altar of high sacrifice,
  Which these most patient feet did pace around
  Till Meru rose.

                    At last it rose! These Six,
  Their senses subjugate, their spirits pure,
  Wending along, came into sight--far off
  In the eastern sky--of awful Himavat;
  And midway in the peaks of Himavat,
  Meru, the mountain of all mountains, rose,
  Whose head is heaven; and under Himavat
  Glared a wide waste of sand, dreadful as death.

  Then, as they hastened o'er the deathly waste,
  Aiming for Meru, having thoughts at soul
  Infinite, eager,--lo! Draupadi reeled,
  With faltering heart and feet; and Bhima turned,
  Gazing upon her; and that hero spake
  To Yudhi-sthira: "Master, Brother, King!
  Why doth she fail? For never all her life
  Wrought our sweet lady one thing wrong, I think.
  Thou knowest; make us know, why hath she failed?"

  Then Yudhi-sthira answered: "Yea, one thing.
  She loved our brothers better than all else,--
  Better than Heaven: that was her tender sin,
  Fault of a faultless soul: she pays for that."

  So spake the monarch, turning not his eyes,
  Though Draupadi lay dead,--striding straight on
  For Meru, heart-full of the things of Heaven,
  Perfect and firm. But yet a little space
  And Sahadev fell down; which Bhima seeing,
  Cried once again: "O King, great Madri's son
  Stumbles and sinks. Why hath he sunk?--so true,
  So brave and steadfast, and so free from pride!"

  "He was not free," with countenance still fixed,
  Quoth Yudhi-sthira; "he was true and fast
  And wise; yet wisdom made him proud; he hid
  One little hurt of soul, but now it kills."

  So saying, he strode on, Kunti's strong son,
  And Bhima; and Arjuna followed him,
  And Nakalu and the hound; leaving behind
  Sahadev in the sands. But Nakalu,
  Weakened and grieved to see Sahadev fall--
  His dear-loved brother--lagged and stayed; and then
  Prone on his face he fell, that noble face
  Which had no match for beauty in the land,--
  Glorious and godlike Nakalu! Then sighed
  Bhima anew: "Brother and Lord! the man
  Who never erred from virtue, never broke
  Our fellowship, and never in the world
  Was matched for goodly perfectness of form
  Or gracious feature,--Nakalu has fallen!"

  But Yudhi-sthira, holding fixed his eyes,--
  That changeless, faithful, all-wise king,--replied:
  "Yea, but he erred! The god-like form he wore
  Beguiled him to believe none like to him,
  And he alone desirable, and things
  Unlovely, to be slighted. Self-love slays
  Our noble brother. Bhima, follow! Each
  Pays what his debt was."

                            Which Arjuna heard,
  Weeping to see them fall; and that stout son
  Of Pandu, that destroyer of his foes,
  That Prince, who drove through crimson waves of war,
  In old days, with his milk-white chariot-steeds,
  Him, the arch hero, sank! Beholding this,--
  The yielding of that soul unconquerable,

  Fearless, divine, from Sakra's self derived,
  Arjuna's--Bhima cried aloud: "O King!
  This man was surely perfect. Never once,
  Not even in slumber, when the lips are loosed,
  Spake he one word that was not true as truth.
  Ah, heart of gold! why art thou broke? O King!
  Whence falleth he?"

                        And Yudhi-sthira said,
  Not pausing: "Once he lied, a lordly lie!
  He bragged--our brother--that a single day
  Should see him utterly consume, alone,
  All those his enemies,--which could not be.
  Yet from a great heart sprang the unmeasured speech,
  Howbeit a finished hero should not shame
  Himself in such a wise, nor his enemy,
  If he will faultless fight and blameless die:
  This was Arjuna's sin. Follow thou me!"

  So the King still went on. But Bhima next
  Fainted, and stayed upon the way, and sank;
  But, sinking, cried behind the steadfast Prince:
  "Ah, Brother, see! I die! Look upon me,
  Thy well beloved! Wherefore falter I,
  Who strove to stand?"

                          And Yudhi-sthira said:
  "More than was well the goodly things of earth
  Pleased thee, my pleasant brother! Light the offence
  And large thy spirit; but the o'erfed soul
  Plumed itself over others. Pritha's son,
  For this thou fallest, who so near didst gain."

  Thenceforth alone the long-armed monarch strode,
  Not looking back,--nay, not for Bhima's sake,--
  But walking with his face set for the Mount;
  And the hound followed him,--only the hound.

  After the deathly sands, the Mount! and lo!
  Sakra shone forth,--the God,--filling the earth
  And Heavens with the thunders of his chariot wheels.
  "Ascend," he said, "with me, Pritha's great son!"
  But Yudhi-sthira answered, sore at heart
  For those his kinsfolk, fallen on the way:
  "O Thousand-eyed, O Lord of all the gods,
  Give that my brothers come with me, who fell!
  Not without them is Swarga sweet to me.
  She too, the dear and kind and queenly,--she
  Whose perfect virtue Paradise must crown,--
  Grant her to come with us! Dost thou grant this?"

  The God replied: "In Heaven thou shalt see
  Thy kinsmen and the Queen--these will attain--
  And Krishna. Grieve no longer for thy dead,
  Thou chief of men! their mortal coverings stripped,
  These have their places; but to thee, the gods
  Allow an unknown grace: thou shalt go up,
  Living and in thy form, to the immortal homes."

  But the King answered: "O thou wisest One,
  Who know'st what was, and is, and is to be,
  Still one more grace! This hound hath ate with me,
  Followed me, loved me; must I leave him now?"

  "Monarch," spake Indra, "thou art now as we,--
  Deathless, divine; thou art become a god;
  Glory and power and gifts celestial,
  And all the joys of heaven are thine for aye:
  What hath a beast with these? Leave here thy hound."

  Yet Yudhi-sthira answered: "O Most High,
  O Thousand-Eyed and Wisest! can it be
  That one exalted should seem pitiless?
  Nay, let me lose such glory: for its sake
  I cannot leave one living thing I loved."

  Then sternly Indra spake: "He is unclean,
  And into Swarga such shall enter not.
  The Krodhavasha's wrath destroys the fruits
  Of sacrifice, if dog defile the fire.
  Bethink thee, Dharmaraj; quit now this beast!
  That which is seemly is not hard of heart."

  Still he replied: "'Tis written that to spurn
  A suppliant equals in offence to slay
  A twice-born; wherefore, not for Swarga's bliss
  Quit I, Mahendra, this poor clinging dog,--
  So without any hope or friend save me.
  So wistful, fawning for my faithfulness;
  So agonized to die, unless I help
  Who among men was called steadfast and just."

  Quoth Indra: "Nay, the altar flame is foul
  Where a dog passeth; angry angels sweep
  The ascending smoke aside, and all the fruits
  Of offering, and the merit of the prayer
  Of him whom a hound toucheth. Leave it here!
  He that will enter Heaven must enter pure.
  Why didst thou quit thy brethren on the way,
  And Krishna, and the dear-loved Draupadi,
  Attaining firm and glorious to this Mount
  Through perfect deeds, to linger for a brute?
  Hath Yudhi-sthira vanquished self, to melt
  With one pure passion at the door of bliss?
  Stay'st thou for this, who did not stay for them,--
  Draupadi, Bhima?"

                     But the King yet spake:
  "'T is known that none can hurt or help the dead.
  They, the delightful ones, who sank and died.
  Following my footsteps, could not live again
  Though I had turned--therefore I did not turn;
  But could help profit, I had stayed to help.
  There be four sins, O Sakra, grievous sins:
  The first is making suppliants despair,
  The second is to slay a nursing wife,
  The third is spoiling Brahmans' goods by force,
  The fourth is injuring an ancient friend.
  These four I deem not direr than the crime,
  If one, in coming forth from woe to weal,
  Abandon any meanest comrade then."

  Straight as he spake, brightly great Indra smiled;
  Vanished the hound, and in its stead stood there
  The Lord of Death and Justice, Dharma's self!
  Sweet were the words which fell from those dread lips,
  Precious the lovely praise: "O thou true King,
  Thou that dost bring to harvest the good seed
  Of Pandu's righteousness; thou that hast ruth
  As he before, on all which lives!--O Son!

  "Hear thou my word! Because thou didst not mount
  This car divine, lest the poor hound be shent
  Who looked to thee, lo! there is none in heaven
  Shall sit above thee, King! Bharata's son!
  Enter thou now to the eternal joys,
  Living and in thy form. Justice and Love
  Welcome thee, Monarch! thou shalt throne with us!"
                         ARNOLD: _Indian Idylls_.





THE ILIAD.


The Iliad, or story of the fall of Ilium (Troy), is supposed to have been
written by Homer, about the tenth century B. C. The legendary history of
Homer represents him as a schoolmaster and poet of Smyrna, who while
visiting in Ithaca became blind, and afterwards spent his life travelling
from place to place reciting his poems, until he died in Ios. Seven
cities, Smyrna, Chios, Colophon, Ithaca, Pylos, Argos, and Athens, claimed
to be his birthplace.

In 1795, Wolf, a German scholar, published his "Prolegomena," which set
forth his theory that Homer was a fictitious character, and that the Iliad
was made up of originally unconnected poems, collected and combined by
Pisistratus.

Though for a time the Wolfian theory had many advocates, it is now
generally conceded that although the stories of the fall of Troy were
current long before Homer, they were collected and recast into one poem by
some great poet. That the Iliad is the work of one man is clearly shown by
its unity, its sustained simplicity of style, and the centralization of
interest in the character of Achilles.

The destruction of Troy, for a time regarded as a poetic fiction, is now
believed by many scholars to be an actual historical event which took
place about the time of the Æolian migration.

The whole story of the fall of Troy is not related in the Iliad, the poem
opening nine years after the beginning of the war, and closing with the
death of Hector.

The Iliad is divided into twenty-four books, and contains nineteen
thousand four hundred and sixty-five lines.

As a work of art the Iliad has never been excelled; moreover, it possesses
what all works of art do not,--"the touches of things human" that make it
ours, although the centuries lie between us and its unknown author, who
told his stirring story in such swift-moving verses, with such touches of
pathos and humor, and with such evident joy of living. Another evidence of
the perfection of Homer's art is that while his heroes are perfect types
of Greeks and Trojans, they are also typical men, and for that reason,
still keep their hold upon us. It is this human interest, simplicity of
style, and grandeur of treatment that have rendered Homer immortal and his
work imperishable.




BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM, THE ILIAD.

M. Arnold's Essay on Homer, 1876, pp. 284-425;

H. Bonitz's Origin of the Homeric Poems, tr. 1880;

R. C. Jebb's Introduction to Homer, 1887;

F. B. Jevons's History of Greek Literature, 1886, pp. 7-17;

A. Lang's Homer and the Epic, 1893;

W. Leaf's Companion to the Iliad for English Readers, 1892;

J. A. Symonds's Studies in Greek Poets, ed. 3, 1893.




STANDARD ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS, THE ILIAD.

The Iliad, Tr. into English blank verse by W. C. Bryant, 2 vols., 1871
(Primitive in spirit, like Homer. Union of literalness with simplicity);

The Iliad, Tr. according to the Greek with introduction and notes by
George Chapman [1615], Ed. 2, 2 vols., 1874 (Written in verse. Pope says a
daring and fiery spirit animates this translation, something like that in
which one might imagine Homer would have written before he came to years
of discretion);

The Iliad, Tr. by William Cowper (Very literal and inattentive to melody,
but has more of simple majesty and manner of Homer than Pope);

The Iliad, rendered into English blank verse by the Earl of Derby, 2
vols., 1864;

The Iliad, Tr. by Alexander Pope, with notes by the Rev. T. W. A. Buckley,
n. d. (Written in couplets. Highly ornamented paraphrase).




THE STORY OF THE ILIAD.


For nine years a fleet of one thousand one hundred and eighty-six ships
and an army of more than one hundred thousand Greeks, under the command of
Agamemnon, lay before King Priam's city of Troy to avenge the wrongs of
Menelaus, King of Sparta, and to reclaim Helen, his wife, who had been
carried away by Priam's son Paris, at the instigation of Venus.

Though they had not succeeded in taking Troy, the Greeks had conquered
many of the surrounding cities. From one of these, Agamemnon had taken as
his share of the booty Chryseis, the beautiful daughter of the priest
Chryses; and when her father had come to ransom her, he had been insulted
and driven away by the king. Chryses had prayed to Apollo for revenge, and
the god had sent upon the Greeks a pestilence which was slaying so many
thousands that a meeting was called to consult upon what to do to check
the plague and conciliate the god.

Calchas the seer had declared that the plague was sent because of the
detention of Chryseis, and Agamemnon, though indignant with the priest,
announced that he would send her back to save his army from destruction.
"Note, however," said he, "that I have now given up my booty. See that I
am recompensed for what I lose."

Then rose the leader of the Myrmidons, swift-footed Achilles, in his
wrath, and denounced Agamemnon for his greediness.

"Thou hast ever had thy share and more of all the booty, and thou knowest
well that there is now no common store from which to give thee spoil. But
wait until Troy town is sacked, and we will gladly give thee three and
fourfold thy recompense."

The angry Agamemnon declared that if he were not given the worth of what
he had lost he would seize the maidens of Ajax and Ulysses, or Achilles'
maid, Briseis.

Achilles was beside himself with rage. He had not come to Troy to
contribute to Agamemnon's glory. He and his followers had long borne the
brunt of battle only to see the largest share of booty given to Agamemnon,
who lay idle in his ships. Sooner than endure longer such indignity he
would return home to Phthia.

"Go!" replied Agamemnon. "I detest thee and thy ways. Go back over the sea
and rule over thy Myrmidons. But since Phoebus has taken away my maid, I
will carry off thy prize, thy rosy-cheeked Briseis, that thou may'st learn
that I am indeed king."

Warned by Pallas Athene, Achilles took his hand from his sword hilt, and
contented himself with telling Agamemnon that he would see the day when he
would fret to think he had driven Achilles from the Grecian ranks.

Though the persuasive orator, Nestor, endeavored to make peace between the
chiefs, Agamemnon could not be softened. As soon as the black ship bearing
Chryseis set sail, he sent his unwilling men to where Achilles sat by his
tent, beside the barren deep, to take the fair Briseis, whom Achilles
ordered to be led forth to them. Then the long days dragged by in the tent
where the chief sat eating his heart out in idleness, while his men
engaged in athletic sports, and the rest of the Greeks fought before Troy.

Both armies, worn out with indecisive battles, gladly hailed Hector's
proposal that a combat between Paris and Menelaus should decide the war.

As the armies stood in silence, watching the preparations for the combat,
Helen, summoned by Iris, left her room in Priam's palace, where she was
weaving among her maidens, and, robed and veiled in white, and shedding
tears at the recollection of her former home and husband, went down to the
Scaean gates, where sat Priam and the men too old for war. When they saw
bright-haired Helen they whispered among themselves that it was little
wonder that men warred for her sake, so fair was she, so like unto the
deathless goddesses.

In response to Priam's tender greeting she seated herself beside him and
pointed out the Greek heroes,--Agamemnon, ruler over wide lands, crafty
Ulysses, and the mighty Ajax; but she strained her eyes in vain for a
sight of her dearly loved brothers, Castor and Pollux, not knowing that
they already lay dead in pleasant Lacedaemon.

In the single combat between Paris and Menelaus, the spear of the Greek
was fixed in Paris's buckler, and his sword was shivered on his helmet
without injury to the Trojan. But, determined to overcome his hateful foe,
Menelaus seized Paris by the helm and dragged him towards the Grecian
ranks. Great glory would have been his had not the watchful Venus loosed
the helm and snatched away the god-like Paris in a cloud. While the Greeks
demanded Helen and her wealth as the price of Menelaus's victory,
Pandarus, prompted by Pallas, broke the truce by a shot aimed at Menelaus,
and the battle soon raged with greater fury than before.

Diomed, having received new strength and courage from Pallas, rushed madly
over the field, falling upon the affrighted Trojans like a lion in the
sheepfold; then, made more presumptuous by his success, and forgetful of
the few years promised the man who dares to meet the gods in battle, the
arrogant warrior struck at Venus and wounded her in the wrist, so that,
shrieking with pain, she yielded Æneas to Apollo, and fled to Olympus.

Perceiving that the Trojans were unable to withstand the fury of Diomed,
assisted as he was by Pallas and Juno, Hector hastened homeward to order a
sacrifice to Pallas that she might look with more favor upon their cause.

Having instructed his mother to lay her richest robe on Pallas's shrine,
Hector sought his wife, the white-armed Andromache, and their babe,
Astyanax. Andromache entreated Hector to go forth no more to battle, to
lose his life and leave their babe fatherless; but Hector, upon whom the
cares of war sat heavily, bade her a tender farewell, and kissing the
babe, returned with Paris to the field.

Incited by Pallas and Apollo, Helenus suggested to his brother Hector that
he should challenge the bravest of the Greeks to single combat. The lot
fell to Ajax the Greater, and the two mighty heroes contested with spears
and stones until twilight fell, and they were parted by a herald.

That night the Greeks feasted, and when, the next morning, a Trojan
messenger offered them the treasures of Helen if they would withdraw from
Troy, and proposed a truce, they indignantly rejected the offer, declaring
that they would not even accept Helen herself, but agreed upon a truce in
which to bury the dead.

When the battle was renewed, Jupiter forbade the gods to take part.
Opposed by no celestial foes, the Trojans were this day successful, and
having pursued the Greeks to the ships, sat all night, full of hope,
around their thousand watch fires, waiting for the morn.

In the Grecian camp, however, a different scene was being enacted.
Disheartened by their defeat, Agamemnon proposed that the armies give up
the siege and return to Greece.

Angry at his weakness, Diomed thus reproached him:--

"The gods have granted thee high rank and rule, but thou hast no
fortitude. Return if thou desirest. Still enough long-haired Achaians will
remain to take the city. If they desire to go as well, at least Sthenelus
and I will remain until Troy is ours. We have the gods with us."

At the suggestion of Nestor a banquet was spread, and after the hunger of
all was appeased, the peril of the Greeks was discussed in the Council of
the Elders. Here Nestor showed Agamemnon that the trouble began at the
hour when he drove Achilles from their ranks by appropriating Briseis.

Ill fortune had humbled the haughty Agamemnon, and he confessed that he
had done wrong. "For this wrong, however," said he, "I am ready to make
ample amends. Priceless gifts I will send to Achilles: seven tripods, six
talents of pure gold, twenty shining caldrons, twelve steeds, seven
damsels, among them Briseis; not only this, when Priam's citadel falls, he
shall be the first to load his galley down with gold and silver and with
Trojan maidens. Better yet, I will unite him to me by the ties of
marriage. I will give him my daughter for a wife, and with her for a dower
will go seven cities near the sea, rich in flocks and herds. Then let him
yield, and join us in taking Troy."

Joyfully the messengers--Ajax, Ulysses, and the aged Phoenix, carefully
instructed by Nestor--set forth on their embassy. As they neared the tents
of the Myrmidons their ears were struck by the notes of a silver harp
touched by Achilles to solace him in his loneliness. His friend Patroclus
sat beside him in silence. Achilles and Patroclus greeted the messengers
warmly, mingled the pure wine, and spread a feast for them. This over,
Ulysses, at a nod from Ajax, drank to Achilles' health, and then told him
of the sore need of the Greeks, pressed by the Trojans. If he did not come
to their aid, he whose very name frightened the enemy, the time would
surely come when he would greatly lament his idleness.

Achilles' passion, the greater for its fifteen days' repression, burst
forth in his reply: "I will say what I have in my heart," he cried, "since
concealment is hateful to me. What thanks does the victor in countless
battles gain? He and the idler are equally honored, and die the same
death. Many nights' slumber have I lost on the battle field; many cities
have I conquered, abroad and here upon the Trojan coast, and of the spoil,
the greater part has gone to Agamemnon, who sat idle in his fleet; yet
from me, who suffered much in fighting, he took my prize, my dearly loved
Briseis; now let him keep her. Let him learn for himself how to conquer
Hector,--this Hector, who, when I went out against him, was afraid to
leave the shelter of the Scaean gates. To-morrow, if you but watch, you
will see my galleys sailing upon the Hellespont on our return to Phthia.
Evil was the hour in which I left its fertile coasts for this barren
shore, where my mother Thetis foretold I should win deathless renown but
bitter death.

"Tell Agamemnon that I will never wed a child of his. On my return to
Phthia my father will select a bride for me with whom, on his broad
fields, I can live the life I have dreamed of."

The entreaties of the aged Phoenix, who had helped to rear Achilles, and
his arguments against his mercilessness, were of no avail; neither were
the words of Ajax. However, he at last sent the message that he would
remain by the sea watching the course of the war, and that he would
encounter Hector whenever he approached to set fire to the galleys of the
Myrmidons.

That night sleep did not visit the eyes of Agamemnon. Long he reflected on
the reply of Achilles, and wondered at the watch fires on the plain before
Troy. The other chiefs were likewise full of anxiety, and when Nestor
offered a reward to any one who would go as a spy to the Trojan camp,
Diomed quickly volunteered. Selecting the wary Ulysses as his companion,
he stole forth to where the Trojans sat around their camp fires. The pair
intercepted and slew Dolon the spy, and finding Rhesus and his Thracian
band wrapped in slumber, slew the king with twelve of his chiefs, and
carried away his chariot and horses.

Encouraged by this bold deed, the Greeks went forth to battle the next
morning. Fortune still favored the Trojans, however, and many Greeks fell
by the hand of Hector, until he was checked by Ulysses and Diomed. In the
fight, Agamemnon was wounded, and Diomed, Ulysses, and Machaon. And when
Achilles from his tent saw the physician borne back from battle wounded,
in the chariot of Nestor, he sent Patroclus to inquire of his injury.
Nestor sent word that Ulysses, Agamemnon, Diomed, Machaon, and Eurypylus
were wounded; perhaps these tidings would induce Achilles to forget his
grievances, and once more go forth to battle. If not, he urged Patroclus
to beseech Achilles to permit him, Patroclus, to go forth with the
Myrmidons, clad in Achilles' armor, and strike terror to the hearts of the
Trojans.

The Trojans, encouraged by their success, pushed forward to the trench
which the Greeks had dug around the wall thrown up before the ships, and,
leaving their chariots on the brink, went on foot to the gates. After a
long struggle,--because the Trojans could not break down the wall and the
Greeks could not drive back the Trojans,--Hector seized a mighty stone, so
large that two men could scarcely lift it, and bearing it in one hand,
battered the bolted gates until they gave way with a crash; and the
Trojans sprang within, pursuing the affrighted Greeks to the ships.

From the heights of Olympus the gods kept a strict watch on the battle;
and as soon as Neptune discovered that Jove, secure in the belief that no
deity would interfere with the successful Trojans, had turned away his
eyes, he went to the aid of the Greeks. Juno, also, furious at the sight
of the Greeks who had fallen before the mighty Hector, determined to turn
the attention of Jove until Neptune had had an opportunity to assist the
Greeks. Jove sat upon the peaks of Mount Ida, and thither went Juno, after
rendering herself irresistible by borrowing the cestus of Venus. Jove,
delighted with the appearance of his wife, and still further won by her
tender words and caresses, thought no longer of the armies fighting at the
Grecian wall.

Great was his anger when, after a time, he again looked towards Troy and
saw that Neptune had employed his time in aiding the Greeks, and that
Hector had been wounded by Ajax. By his orders Neptune was quickly
recalled, Hector was healed by Apollo, and the Trojans, strengthened again
by Jupiter, drove back the Greeks to the ships, and attempted to set fire
to the fleet.

Seeing the Greeks in such desperate straits, Achilles at last gave his
consent that Patroclus should put on his armor, take his Myrmidons, and
drive the Trojans from the ships, stipulating, however, that he should
return when this was done, and not follow the Trojans in their flight to
Troy.

The appearance of the supposed Achilles struck fear to the hearts of the
Trojans, and Patroclus succeeded in driving them from the fleet and in
slaying Sarpedon. Intoxicated by his success, he forgot Achilles' warning,
and pursued the fleeing Trojans to the walls of Troy. The strength of the
Trojans was not sufficient to cope with that of Patroclus; and Troy would
have been taken had not Apollo stood upon a tower to thrust him down each
time he attempted to scale the walls. At last Hector and Patroclus
encountered each other, and fought furiously. Seeing the peril of Hector,
Apollo smote Patroclus's helmet off, broke his spear, and loosed his
buckler. Still undaunted, the hero fought until he fell, and died with the
boasting words of Hector in his ears.

Speedily the swift-footed Antilochus conveyed to Achilles the tidings of
his friend's death. Enveloped in "a black cloud of sorrow," Achilles
rolled in the dust and lamented for his friend until warned by Iris that
the enemy were about to secure Patroclus's body. Then, without armor,--for
Hector had secured that of Patroclus and put it on,--he hastened to the
trench, apart from the other Greeks, and shouted thrice, until the men of
Troy, panic-stricken, fell back in disorder, and the body of his friend
was carried away by the triumphant Greeks.

Through the long night the Achaians wept over Patroclus; but deeper than
their grief was the sorrow of Achilles, for he had promised Menoetius to
bring back his son in honor, laden with spoils, and now the barren coast
of Troy would hold the ashes of both. Then Achilles made a solemn vow not
to celebrate the funeral rites of Patroclus until he brought to him the
head and arms of Hector, and had captured on the field twelve Trojan
youths to slaughter on his funeral pile. The hated Hector slain and
Patroclus's funeral rites celebrated, he cared not for the future. The
fate his mother had foretold did not daunt him. Since, by his own folly,
his dearest friend had been taken from him, the sooner their ashes rested
together the better. If he was not to see the rich fields of Phthia, his
was to be, at least, a deathless renown.

To take the place of the arms which Hector had taken from Patroclus,
Vulcan, at Thetis's request, had fashioned for Achilles the most beautiful
armor ever worn by man. Brass, tin, silver, and gold composed the bright
corselet, the solid helm, and the wondrous shield, adorned with such
pictures as no mortal artist ever wrought.

After having feasted his eyes on this beautiful armor, whose clanking
struck terror even to the hearts of the Myrmidons, Achilles sought out the
Greeks and Agamemnon, and in the assembly acknowledged his fault. "Let
these things belong to the dead past," said he. "My wrath is done. Let us
now stir the long-haired Greeks to war."

"Fate, not I, was the cause of our trouble," replied Agamemnon. "The
goddess of discord created the dissension, that Até who troubled even the
gods on Olympus until expelled by Jupiter. But I will make amends with
liberal gifts."

Peace having been made between the chiefs, Achilles returned to his tent
without partaking of the banquet spread by Agamemnon, as he had vowed not
to break his fast until he had avenged his friend. Agamemnon's gifts were
carried to the tents of Achilles by the Myrmidons, and with them went
Briseis, who, when she saw the body of Patroclus, threw herself upon it
and wept long for the one whose kindness to her--whose lot had been sorrow
upon sorrow--she could never forget. All the women mourned, seemingly for
Patroclus, really for their own griefs. Achilles likewise wept, until,
strengthened by Pallas, he hastened to put his armor on and urge the
Greeks to battle.

As he mounted his chariot he spoke thus to his fleet steeds, Xanthus and
Balius: "Bring me back when the battle is over, I charge you, my noble
steeds. Leave me not on the field, as you left Patroclus."

Then Xanthus, with the long-flowing mane, endowed with power of speech by
Juno, thus spake: "This day, at least, we will bring thee home, Achilles;
but the hour of thy death is nigh, and, since the fates have decreed it,
we could not save thee, were we swift as the winged winds. Nor was it
through fault of ours that Patroclus fell."

Angry at the reminder of his doom, Achilles drove hurriedly to the field,
determined to fight until he had made the Trojans sick of war.

Knowing that the war was drawing rapidly to a close, Jupiter gave
permission to the gods to take part in it, and a terrible combat ensued.
Juno, Pallas, Neptune, Hermes, and Vulcan went to the fleet of the Greeks,
while Mars, Apollo, Diana, Latona, Venus, and Xanthus arrayed themselves
with the Trojans. When the gods joined in the combat and Neptune shook the
earth and Jupiter thundered from above, there was such tumult in the air
that even the dark god of the underworld was terrified. In the battle of
the gods, Apollo encountered Neptune, Pallas fought against Mars, Diana
and Juno opposed each other, Hermes was pitted against Latona, and Xanthus
or Scamander, the river god, strove against Vulcan. It was not long before
Jupiter's fear was realized, and the mortals needed the aid of the gods.
Æneas, encouraged by Apollo to confront Achilles, was rescued only by the
intervention of Neptune, who, remembering that it was the will of fate
that Æneas should be spared to perpetuate the Dardan race, snatched him
away in a cloud, although he was himself aiding the Greeks.

Mad with rage and spattered with blood, Achilles pursued the flying
Trojans about the plain, sparing none except the twelve youths who were to
be butchered on the funeral pile of Patroclus. He stood in the river,
filling it with slaughtered bodies until, indignant at the insults offered
him, the river god Scamander caused his waters to rush after Achilles so
that he fled for his life. Far across the plain it chased him, and was
only stopped by the fires of Vulcan, summoned by Juno.

By an artifice of Apollo, Achilles was decoyed away from the gates of Troy
long enough to allow the Trojans to enter. Hector, however, stayed
without, unmoved by the prayers of Priam and Hecuba. Too late he saw his
error in not heeding the advice of Polydamas to keep within the walls
after the re-appearance of Achilles; he feared the reproaches of the
Trojan warriors and dames, and determined to meet his fate, whatever it
might be. Even death at the hands of Achilles would be preferable to the
insults and reproaches that might await him within the walls.

When he saw Achilles approach in his god-given armor, fear seized the
noble Hector, and he fled from his enemy. Thrice around the walls he fled,
Achilles pursuing, and the gods looked down from heaven in sorrow, for,
according to the decrees of fate, Hector must fall this day by the hand of
Achilles. To hasten the combat, Pallas assumed the form of Hector's
brother Deiphobus, and stood by his side, encouraging him to turn and meet
his foe.

Hector soon perceived the deception, but boldly faced Achilles, who sprang
at him, brandishing his awful spear. Quickly stooping, Hector avoided the
weapon and hurled his spear at Achilles. It was an unequal conflict. The
armor of Achilles was weapon proof, and Pallas stood at his elbow to
return to him his weapons. Achilles knew well the weak spots in his old
armor worn by Hector, and selecting a seam unguarded by the shield, he
gave Hector a mortal wound, and insulted him as he lay dying at his feet.

Tears and wailing filled the city as the Trojans watched the combat; and
despair fell upon them when they saw the body of Hector fastened to the
chariot of Achilles and dragged thrice around the Trojan walls. From her
chamber where she sat weaving, unaware of the mortal combat waged before
the walls, Andromache came forth to see great Hector fallen and his corpse
insulted by his enemy.

While Priam sat in his palace with dust strewn on his head, and the
wailings of the women filled the streets of Troy, the Greeks were
hastening to their camps to celebrate the funeral rites of Patroclus,
whose body had been saved from corruption by Thetis. A massive funeral
pile was constructed of wood brought from the forests on Mount Ida. The
chiefs in their chariots and thousands of men on foot followed the body of
Patroclus. The comrades of the dead warrior cut off their long hair and
strewed it on the dead, and Achilles sheared his yellow hair and placed
the locks in Patroclus's hands. He had suffered the flowing curls to grow
long because of a vow made by his father to the river Sperchius that he
would sacrifice these locks to him on his son's return home, a useless
vow, since now he was to lose his life by this dark blue sea.

Next the sacrifice was offered, many fatlings of the flock, and countless
oxen, noble steeds, dogs, jars of honey, and lastly the bodies of the
twelve Trojan youths were heaped upon the fire.

After the flames had consumed the pile, Achilles and his friends quenched
the ashes with red wine, and gathered the bones of Patroclus in a golden
vase which Achilles commanded his friends not to bury until he, too, fell
before Troy, that their ashes might be mingled and buried under one mound
by the remaining Greeks.

After the funeral rites were celebrated, the funeral games were held, in
which the warriors vied with each other in chariot racing, boxing,
wrestling, foot racing, throwing the spear, and archery.

So ended the funeral of Patroclus, and the gods, looking down from heaven,
sorrowed for Hector, whose corpse Achilles was treating with such
indignity, intending that the dogs should destroy it. The gods had kept
the body unstained, and now they determined to soften Achilles' heart,
that he might restore it to Priam.

Iris descended from heaven, and standing at the side of Priam as he sat
with dust-strewn head, in his palace halls, gave him Jove's command that
he should take gifts and visit Achilles, to ransom Hector's body. Heeding
not the prayers of Hecuba, Priam gathered together whatever was most
choice, talents of pure gold, beautiful goblets, handsome robes and
tunics, and seating himself in his polished car, drawn by strong-hoofed
mules, set forth unaccompanied save by an aged herald. Above him soared
Jove's eagle, in token of the god's protection.

Priam had not gone far when he met Mercury in the guise of a Greek youth,
who guided him unseen through the slumbering Greek lines to the tent of
Achilles.

The hero was just finishing his repast when the old king entered, fell on
his knees, kissed the cruel hands that had slain so many of his sons, and
prayed him to give up the body of his loved Hector in return for the
ransom he had brought with him. Achilles, recognizing the fact that Priam
had made his way there uninjured only by the assistance and protection of
some god, and touched by the thought of his own aged father, whom he
should never again gladden by his return to Phthia, granted the request,
and bade Priam seat himself at the table and banquet with him. He also
granted a twelve days' truce for the celebration of the funeral rites of
Hector, and then invited Priam to pass the night in his tent. Warned by
Mercury, Priam rose early in the morning, and, unseen by the Greeks,
conveyed Hector's body back to Troy.

When the polished car of Priam entered the city of Troy, great were the
lamentations and wailings over the body of Hector. Hecuba and Andromache
vied with each other in the bitterness of their grief, and Helen lamented
because the only friend she had in Troy had departed, and no one who
remained would be kind to her.

During the twelve days granted as a truce, wood was brought from Ida, and
the funeral rites of Hector were celebrated as befitted the son of a great
king.




SELECTIONS FROM THE ILIAD.

HELEN AT THE SCAEAN GATES.


Paris, moved by the reproaches of Hector, proposed that the nine years'
indecisive war be settled by single combat between himself and Menelaus,
the victor to take Helen and the treasure. Greeks and Trojans agreed to
this proposition, and the tidings of the approaching combat were borne to
Helen by Iris.

  In the heart of Helen woke
  Dear recollections of her former spouse
  And of her home and kindred. Instantly
  She left her chamber, robed and veiled in white,
  And shedding tender tears; yet not alone,
  For with her went two maidens,--Aethra, child
  Of Pitheus, and the large-eyed Clymene.
  Straight to the Scaean gates they walked, by which
  Panthoüs, Priam, and Thymoetes sat,
  Lampus and Clytius, Hicetaon sprung
  From Mars, Antenor and Ucalegon,
  Two sages,--elders of the people all.
  Beside the gates they sat, unapt, through age,
  For tasks of war, but men of fluent speech,
  Like the cicadas that within the wood
  Sit on the trees and utter delicate sounds.
  Such were the nobles of the Trojan race
  Who sat upon the tower. But when they marked
  The approach of Helen, to each other thus
  With winged words, but in low tones, they said:--

  "Small blame is theirs, if both the Trojan knights
  And brazen-mailed Achaians have endured
  So long so many evils for the sake
  Of that one woman. She is wholly like
  In feature to the deathless goddesses.
  So be it: let her, peerless as she is,
  Return on board the fleet, nor stay to bring
  Disaster upon us and all our race."

  So spake the elders. Priam meantime called
  To Helen: "Come, dear daughter, sit by me.
  Thou canst behold thy former husband hence,
  Thy kindred and thy friends. I blame thee n