Though frequently solicited by me, thou, O simple woman, said to me, 'I
have been born here, and here have I grown old; this is my ancestral
homestead.' Thy venerable father, O wife, and thy mother also, have, a
long time ago, ascended to heaven. Thy relations also had all been dead.
Oh why then didst thou yet like to live here? Led by affection for thy
relatives thou didst not then hear what I said. But the time is now come
when thou art to witness the death of a relative. Oh, how sad is that
spectacle for me! Or perhaps the time is come for my own death, for I
shall never be able to abandon cruelly one of my own as long as I myself
am alive. Thou art my helpmate in all good deeds, self-denying and always
affectionate unto me as a mother. The gods have given thee to me as a true
friend and thou art ever my prime stay. Thou hast, by my parents, been
made the participator in my domestic concerns. Thou art of pure lineage
and good disposition, the mother of children, devoted to me, and so
innocent; having chosen and wedded thee with due rites, I cannot abandon
thee, my wife, so constant in thy vows, to save my life. How shall I
myself be able to sacrifice my son a child of tender years and yet without
the hirsute appendages (of manhood)? How shall I sacrifice my daughter
whom I have begotten myself, who hath been placed, as a pledge, in my
hands by the Creator himself for bestowal on a husband and through whom I
hope to enjoy, along with my ancestors, the regions attainable by those
only that have daughters' sons? Some people think that the father's
affection for a son is greater; others, that his affection for a daughter
is greater; mine, however, is equal.
Pages:
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628
629
630
631
632
633
634
635
636