88 CRADLE TALES OF HINDUISM
teachers that Damayanti herself had been discovered, when she was acting as lady-in-waiting to a foreign princess. Now, therefore, it was de- cided that she should give them their directions, and try by their means to trace out her long-lost husband. They came to her therefore for instructions, and she gave them a song which they were to sing in all the assemblies that they should come to in every realm.
" Whither, beloved Gambler, whither art thou gone, Cutting off one half my veil, Abandoning me, thy devoted wife, Asleep in the foicst?
Ever do I await thee,
As thou wouldst desire me,
Wearing but half a veil,
Enwrapt in sorrow.
Relent, O King 1 O Hero I Relent and return thee, To her who weepeth incessantly For thy departure ! "
" Crying thus, add to the part your own words/' she said to the Brahmins, " that his pity be awakened. Fanned by the wind, the fire con- sumeth the forest 1 "
Again —
" Surely a wife should be protected And maintained by her husband. Strange that, noble as thou art, Thou neglectest both these duties I
