So Bukka, vowing vengeance, left the hall,
And henceforth love and hate alternate played
In his dark breast--hate for this grave insult,
And by a woman offered, and love too,
A bestial passion for her wondrous charms;
And from that selfsame moment various plans
His head devised her pride to humble and
Her purity to sully, when alas!
The Moslems' greed of power gave him sure hopes
At last her Timma's ruin to complete.
Unto the agèd king of Vijiapore
His only warrior's and his only child's
Escape brought many toils and endless woe.
That Bukka, with a perjured tale, came on
The day of marriage was made known to all,
Soon after they had left their native home.
The agèd monarch knew not where they lived,
But sent his faithful servants far and wide
To bring them home; the cruel Moslems, too,
Aware that Timma's absence weakened him,
Combined a sudden rush to make upon
The royal city, kill her ruler, and
Divide the spoils and take his vast domains.
And now the wily Bukka with those foes
Of foreign faith conspired; what though he fought
As usual in the ranks of Vijiapore,
Under the banner of her Hindu king!
To them he would run in the thickest of
The fight and sudden turn the tide of war,
And, from the conquered spoils, for his own share,