:: 20. The Return of Channa ::
1. Then Channa in deep distress, when his master thus went into the forest, made every effort on the road to dissolve his load of sorrow.
2. His heart was so heavy that the road which he used to traverse in one night with Kanthaka, that same road he now took eight days to travel, pondering over his lord's absence.
3. The horse Kanthaka, though he still went on bravely, fagged and had lost all spirit ; and decked though he was with ornaments, he in the absence of his master seemed to have lost all his beauty.
4. And turning round towards the direction in which his master went, he neighed repeatedly with a mournful sound; and though pressed with hunger, he welcomed not, nor tasted any grass or water on the road, as before.
5. Slowly the two at long last reached Kapila-vatsu which seemed empty when deserted by Gautama. They reached the city in body but not in soul. 6. Bright as it was with lotus-covered waters, adorned with trees full of flowers, the citizens had lost all their gladness.
7. When the two, their brightness gone and their eyes dim with tears, slowly entered the city, it seemed all bathed in gloom.
8. Having heard that they had returned with their limbs all relaxed, coming back without the pride of the Sakya race, the men of the city shed tears.
9. Full of wrath, the people followed Channa in the road, crying behind him with tears, " Where is the king's son, the glory of his race and his kingdom ? "
10. " This city bereft of him is a forest, and that forest which possesses him is a city ; the city without him has no charms for us."
11. Next the women crowded to the rows of windows, crying to one another, "The prince has returned "; but having seen that his horse had an empty back, they closed the windows again and wailed aloud.
1. Then Channa in deep distress, when his master thus went into the forest, made every effort on the road to dissolve his load of sorrow.
2. His heart was so heavy that the road which he used to traverse in one night with Kanthaka, that same road he now took eight days to travel, pondering over his lord's absence.
3. The horse Kanthaka, though he still went on bravely, fagged and had lost all spirit ; and decked though he was with ornaments, he in the absence of his master seemed to have lost all his beauty.
4. And turning round towards the direction in which his master went, he neighed repeatedly with a mournful sound; and though pressed with hunger, he welcomed not, nor tasted any grass or water on the road, as before.
5. Slowly the two at long last reached Kapila-vatsu which seemed empty when deserted by Gautama. They reached the city in body but not in soul. 6. Bright as it was with lotus-covered waters, adorned with trees full of flowers, the citizens had lost all their gladness.
7. When the two, their brightness gone and their eyes dim with tears, slowly entered the city, it seemed all bathed in gloom.
8. Having heard that they had returned with their limbs all relaxed, coming back without the pride of the Sakya race, the men of the city shed tears.
9. Full of wrath, the people followed Channa in the road, crying behind him with tears, " Where is the king's son, the glory of his race and his kingdom ? "
10. " This city bereft of him is a forest, and that forest which possesses him is a city ; the city without him has no charms for us."
11. Next the women crowded to the rows of windows, crying to one another, "The prince has returned "; but having seen that his horse had an empty back, they closed the windows again and wailed aloud.
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