Advancement is slow--but that is in the nature of things--

'Rushes down the hill the crag, which upward 'twas so hard to roll:
So to virtue slowly rises--so to vice quick sinks the soul.'

'Very good,' observed Karataka; 'but what is all this talk about?'

'Why! don't you see our Royal Master there, and how he came home without
drinking? I know he has been horribly frightened,' said Damanaka.

'How do you know it?' asked the other.

'By my perception--at a glance!' replied Damanaka; 'and I mean to make
out of this occasion that which shall put his Majesty at my disposal,'

'Now,' exclaimed Karataka, 'it is thou who art ignorant about service--

'Who speaks unasked, or comes unbid,
Or counts on favor--will be chid.'

'I ignorant about service!' said Damanaka; 'no, no, my friend, I know
the secret of it--

'Wise, modest, constant, ever close at hand,
Not weighing but obeying all command,
Such servant by a Monarch's throne may stand.'

'In any case, the King often rates thee,' remarked Karataka, 'for coming
to the presence unsummoned.'