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INTRODUCTION
the Suvela has a number of good verses, based on the proximity of the mountain to the sea, and containing vivid glimpses of animal life in which the poet is particularly interested.
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The colour of the young foliage of the trees faded slightly in contact with the briny sea spray; and the deer ran away, scared by the roar of lions, but stopped short, bending a leg, and pricking up their ears. 9.16
The slopes, rich in gems, seemed to bristle with thorns, like nettles, on account of the incessant sea spray; and the lion roared, riding on the elephant's head, with the pearls stuck in its claws. 9.24
The roar of lions filled the caves, making the elephants in the woods prick up their ears; while the direction from which the sound came being unknown, the deer fled straight on, but turned back, scared by the
echoes. 9.30.
The deer fainted on account of the smell of the yellow orpiment heated by the fierce midday sun; and the buffaloes licked the rocks for the taste of the salt crust formed by sea spray. 9.41.
Another verse gives the picture of a boar eluding an attacking lion by slinking back to its miry retreat (9.48).
The descriptions in the Setubandha in connection with its special topics such as uprooting the mountains and dropping them on the sea contain much that is grotesque and fanciful; but once we accept the mythological background, we have no difficulty in appreciating the ingenuity with which the details of some of the unusual scenes have been worked out. Some of the verses reveal a genuine feeling for nature and considerable powers of graphic description.
(During the uprooting of a mountain) a pair of bees, with the wings heavy-laden with the honey of flowers, could not leave a cluster of blossoms shed by a leaning sylvan creeper, even though they had partaken of the honey. 6.47.
The ever-flowing brooks, swaying as the mountains swayed, and turbid with the mud that was stirred up, swelled for a moment as they ran into one another and became large streams. 6.50.
1 Supposed to be in the head of an elephant.
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