66697602-The-Ramayana-R-K-Narayan

the King’s proclamation to every nook and corner of the
capital.
The road to Mithila was crowded with men, women, and
children. When the huge mass began to assemble and move
down the road, the world looked suddenly shrunken in size.
Elephants bearing pennants and flags, their foreheads
covered with gold plates, horses prancing and trotting, and a
variety of ox-drawn carriages and chariots were on the
move, in addition to a vast throng on foot. The sun’s rays
were caught and reflected by the thousands of white satin
umbrellas and the brilliant decorations of the army men.
Heavy-breasted women clad in gossamer-like draperies sat
on dark elephants, their necklaces swaying with the
movement of the elephants, flanked by warriors bearing
swords and bows on horseback.
The poet is especially happy and detailed when
describing the mood and the activity of the young in this
festive crowd. A youth followed a carriage at a trot, his eyes
fixed on the window at which a face had appeared a little
while ago, hoping for another glimpse of that face. Another
young man could not take his eye off the lightly covered
breast of a girl in a chariot; he tried to keep ahead of it,
constantly looking back over his shoulder, unaware of what
was in front, and bumping the hindquarters of the elephants
on the march. When a girl inadvertently slipped down the