How vivid was the breast-high grass! Here waved in patches, forest corn,-- Here intervened a deep morass,-- Here arid spots of verdure shorn Lay open,--rock or barren sand,-- And here again the trees arose Thick clustering,--a glorious band Their tops still bright with sunset glows.--
Stirred in the breeze the crowding boughs, And seemed to welcome him with signs, Onwards and on,--till Buttoo's brows Are gemmed with pearls, and day declines. Then in a grassy open space He sits and leans against a tree, To let the wind blow on his face And look around him leisurely.
Herds, and still herds, of timid deer Were feeding in the solitude, They knew not man, and felt no fear, And heeded not his neighbourhood, Some young ones with large eyes and sweet Came close, and rubbed their foreheads smooth Against his arms, and licked his feet, As if they wished his cares to soothe.
"They touch me," he exclaimed with joy, "They have no pride of caste like men, They shrink not from the hunter-boy, Should not my home be with them then? Here in this forest let me dwell, With these companions innocent, And learn each science and each spell All by myself in banishment.
"A calm, calm life,--and it shall be Its own exceeding great reward! No thoughts to vex in all I see, No jeers to bear or disregard;-- All creatures and inanimate things Shall be my tutors; I shall learn From beast, and fish, and bird with wings, And rock, and stream, and tree, and fern."
With this resolve, he soon began To build a hut, of reeds and leaves, And when that needful work was done He gathered in his store, the sheaves Of forest corn, and all the fruit, Date, plum, guava, he could find, And every pleasant nut and root By Providence for man designed,
A statue next of earth he made, An image of the teacher wise, So deft he laid, the light and shade, On figure, forehead, face and eyes, That any one who chanced to view That image tall might soothly swear, If he great Dronacharjya knew, The teacher in his flesh was there.
Then at the statue's feet he placed A bow, and arrows tipped with steel, With wild-flower garlands interlaced, And hailed the figure in his zeal As Master, and his head he bowed, A pupil reverent from that hour Of one who late had disallowed The claim, in pride of place and power.