THE RÁMÁYAN OF VÁLMÍKI, VOL. III - Gujarat Knowledge Centre

196 TSE RAMA7AN. Booh TIL
To take the beauteous thing alive,
How thou wouldst ga2e with wondering eyes
Delighted on the lovely prize
And when our woodland life is o'er,
And we enjoy our realm once more,
The wondrous animal will grace
The chambers of my dwelling-place,
And a dear treasure will it be
To Bharat and the queens and me,
And all with rapture and amaze
Upon its heavenly form will gaze.
But if the beauteous deer, pursued.
Thine arts to take it still elude.
Strike it, chieftain, and the skin
Will be a treasure, laid within.
0, how I long my time to pass
Sitting upon the tender grass.
With that soft fell beneath me spread
Bright with its hair of golden thread
This strong desire, this eager will.
Befits a gentle lady ill
But when I first beheld, its look
My breast with fascination took.
See, golden hair its flank adorns.
And sapphires tip its branching horns.
Resplendent as the lunar way.
Or the first blush of opening day.
With graceful form and radiant hue
It charmed thy heart, chieftain, too."
He heard her speech with willing ear,
He looked again upon the deer.
Its lovely shape his breast beguiled
Moved by the prayer of Janak's child,
And yielding for her pleasure's sake.