Part 10

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"Wrath of kings, and rage of lightning--both be very full of dread; But one falls on one man only--one strikes many victims dead."

"All men scorn the soulless coward who his manhood doth forget: On a lifeless heap of ashes fearlessly the foot is set."

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"Simple milk, when serpents drink it, straightway into venom turns; And a fool who heareth counsel all the wisdom of it spurns."

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"A modest manner fits a maid, And Patience is a man's adorning; But brides may kiss, nor do amiss, And men may draw, at scathe and scorning."

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"Serving narrow-minded masters dwarfs high natures to their size: Seen before a convex mirror, elephants do show as mice."

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"Elephants destroy by touching, snakes with point of tooth beguile; Kings by favour kill, and traitors murder with a fatal smile."

"Of the wife the lord is jewel, though no gems upon her beam; Lacking him, she lacks adornment, howsoe'er her jewels gleam!"

"Hairs three-lakhs, and half-a-lakh hairs, on a man so many grow-- And so many years to Swarga shall the true wife surely go!"

"When the faithful wife, embracing tenderly her husband dead, Mounts the blazing pyre beside him, as it were a bridal-bed; Though his sins were twenty thousand, twenty thousand times o'er-told, She shall bring his soul to splendour, for her love so large and bold."

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"Counsel unto six ears spoken, unto all is notified When a King holds consultation, let it be with one beside."

"Sick men are for skilful leeches--prodigals for poisoning-- Fools for teachers--and the man who keeps a secret, for a King."

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"With gift, craft, promise, cause thy foe to yield; When these have failed thee, challenge him afield."

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"The subtle wash of waves do smoothly pass, But lay the tree as lowly as the grass."

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"Ten true bowmen on a rampart fifty's onset may sustain; Fortalices keep a country more than armies in the plain."

"Build it strong, and build it spacious, with an entry and retreat; Store it well with wood and water, fill its garners full with wheat."

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"Gems will no man's life sustain; Best of gold is golden grain."

"Hard it is to conquer nature: if a dog were made a King, 'Mid the coronation trumpets he would gnaw his sandal-string."

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"'Tis no Council where no Sage is--'tis no Sage that fears not Law; 'Tis no Law which Truth confirms not--'tis no Truth which Fear can awe."

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"Though base be the Herald, nor hinder nor let, For the mouth of a king is he; The sword may be whet, and the battle set, But the word of his message goes free."

"Better few and chosen fighters than of shaven-crowns a host, For in headlong flight confounded, with the base the brave are lost."

"Kind is kin, howe'er a stranger--kin unkind is stranger shown; Sores hurt, though the body breeds them--drugs relieve, though desert-grown."

"Betel-nut is bitter, hot, sweet, spicy, binding, alkaline-- A demulcent--an astringent--foe to evils intestine; Giving to the breath a fragrance--to the lips a crimson red; A detergent, and a kindler of Love's flame that lieth dead. Praise the Gods for the good betel!--these be thirteen virtues given, Hard to meet in one thing blended, even in their happy heaven."

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"He is brave whose tongue is silent of the trophies of his sword; He is great whose quiet bearing marks his greatness well assured."

"When the Priest, the Leech, the Vizier of a King his flatterers be, Very soon the King will part with health, and wealth and piety."

"Merciless, or money-loving, deaf to counsel, false of faith, Thoughtless, spiritless, or careless, changing course with every breath, Or the man who scorns his rival--if a prince should choose a foe, Ripe for meeting and defeating, certes he would choose him so."

"By the valorous and unskilful great achievements are not wrought; Courage, led by careful Prudence, unto highest ends is brought."

"Grief kills gladness, winter summer, midnight-gloom the light of day, Kindnesses ingratitude, and pleasant friends drive pain away; Each ends each, but none of other surer conquerors can be Than Impolicy of Fortune--of Misfortune Policy."

"Wisdom answers all who ask her, but a fool she cannot aid; Blind men in the faithful mirror see not their reflection made."

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"Where the Gods are, or thy Gúrú--in the face of Pain and Age, Cattle, Brahmans, Kings, and Children--reverently curb thy rage."

"Oh, my Prince! on eight occasions prodigality is none-- In the solemn sacrificing, at the wedding of a son, When the glittering treasure given makes the proud invader bleed, Or its lustre bringeth comfort to the people in their need, Or when kinsmen are to succour, or a worthy work to end, Or to do a loved one honour, or to welcome back a friend."

"Truth, munificence, and valour, are the virtues of a King; Royalty, devoid of either, sinks to a rejected thing."

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"Hold thy vantage!--alligators on the land make none afraid; And the lion's but a jackal who hath left his forest-shade."

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"The people are the lotus-leaves, their monarch is the sun-- When he doth sink beneath the waves they vanish every one. When he doth rise they rise again with bud and blossom rife, To bask awhile in his warm smile, who is their lord and life."

"All the cows bring forth are cattle--only now and then is born An authentic lord of pastures, with his shoulder-scratching horn."

"When the soldier in the battle lays his life down for his king, Unto Swarga's perfect glory such a deed his soul shall bring."

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"'Tis the fool who, meeting trouble, straightway Destiny reviles, Knowing not his own misdoing brought his own mischance the whiles."

"'Time-not-come' and 'Quick-at-Peril,' these two fishes 'scaped the net; 'What-will-be-will-be,' he perished, by the fishermen beset."

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"Sex, that tires of being true, Base and new is brave to you! Like the jungle-cows ye range, Changing food for sake of change."

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"That which will not be will not be, and what is to be will be: Why not drink this easy physic, antidote of misery?"

"Whoso trusts, for service rendered, or fair words, an enemy, Wakes from folly like one falling in his slumber from a tree."

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"Fellow be with kindly foemen, rather than with friends unkind; Friend and foeman are distinguished not by title but by mind."

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"Whoso setting duty highest, speaks at need unwelcome things, Disregarding fear and favour, such an one may succour kings."

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"Brahmans for their lore have honour; Kshattriyas for their bravery; Vaisyas for their hard-earned treasure; Sudras for humility."

"Seven foemen of all foemen, very hard to vanquish be: The Truth-teller, the Just-dweller, and the man from passion free.

"Subtle, self-sustained, and counting frequent well-won victories, And the man of many kinsmen--keep the peace with such as these."

"For the man with many kinsmen answers by them all attacks; As the bambu, in the bambus safely sheltered, scorns the axe."

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"Whoso hath the gift of giving wisely, equitably, well; Whoso, learning all men's secrets, unto none his own will tell: Whoso, ever cold and courtly, utters nothing that offends, Such an one may rule his fellows unto Earth's extremest ends."

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"Cheating them that truly trust you, 'tis a clumsy villany! Any knave may slay the child who climbs and slumbers on his knee."

"Hunger hears not, cares not, spares not; no boon of the starving beg; When the snake is pinched with craving, verily she eats her egg."

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"Of the Tree of State the root Kings are--feed what brings the fruit."

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"Courtesy may cover malice; on their _heads_ the woodmen bring, Meaning all the while to burn them, logs and faggots--oh, my King! And the strong and subtle river, rippling at the cedar's foot, While it seems to lave and kiss it, undermines the hanging root."

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"Weep not! Life the hired nurse is, holding us a little space; Death, the mother who doth take us back into our proper place."

"Gone, with all their gauds and glories: gone, like peasants, are the Kings, Whereunto this earth was witness, whereof all her record rings."

"For the body, daily wasting, is not seen to waste away, Until wasted; as in water set a jar of unbaked clay."

"And day after day man goeth near and nearer to his fate, As step after step the victim thither where its slayers wait."

"Like as a plank of drift-wood Tossed on the watery main, Another plank encountered, Meets,--touches,--parts again; So tossed, and drifting ever, On life's unresting sea, Men meet, and greet, and sever, Parting eternally."

"Halt, traveller! rest i' the shade: then up and leave it! Stay, Soul! take fill of love; nor losing, grieve it!"

"Each beloved object born Sets within the heart a thorn, Bleeding, when they be uptorn."

"If thine own house, this rotting frame, doth wither, Thinking another's lasting--goest thou thither?"

"Meeting makes a parting sure, Life is nothing but death's door."

"As the downward-running rivers never turn and never stay, So the days and nights stream deathward, bearing human lives away."

"Bethinking him of darkness grim, and death's unshunnèd pain, A man strong-souled relaxes hold, like leather soaked in rain."

"From the day, the hour, the minute. Each life quickens in the womb; Thence its march, no falter in it, Goes straight forward to the tomb."

"An 'twere not so, would sorrow cease with years? Wisdom sees right what want of knowledge fears."

"Seek not the wild, sad heart! thy passions haunt it; Play hermit in thy house with heart undaunted; A governed heart, thinking no thought but good, Makes crowded houses holy solitude."

"Away with those that preach to us the washing off of sin-- Thine own self is the stream for thee to make ablutions in: In self-restraint it rises pure--flows clear in tide of truth, By widening banks of wisdom, in waves of peace and truth."

"Bathe there, thou son of Pandu! with reverence and rite, For never yet was water wet could wash the spirit white."

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"Thunder for nothing, like December's cloud, Passes unmarked: strike hard, but speak not loud."

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"Minds deceived by evil natures, from the good their faith withhold; When hot conjee once has burned them, children blow upon the cold."

THE END.