Vara

“ To the streets of the largest part thou shalt bring a thousand seeds of men and women; to the streets of the middle part, six hundred; to the streets of the smallest part, three hundred [27] . That Vara thou shalt seal up with thy golden seal, and thou shalt make a door, and a window self-shining within.'
31 (93) . Then Yima said within himself: 'How shall I manage to make that Vara which Ahura Mazda has commanded me to make?'
And Ahura Mazda said unto Yima : 'O fair Yima, son of Vivanghat! ”

“ The soldier at once departed on his mission, 18but as soon as he had gone the King repented him of sending him out alone into a night so dark that a hole might be pierced in it with a needle, so he took his scimitar, and followed his guard beyond the city gates.
Vira-vara had not gone far when he almost stumbled over a woman who was weeping bitterly. By the dim light of a torch, which he had hurriedly picked up after leaving the King’s presence, he could see that she was a very beautiful and splendidly dressed lady. ”

“ On the approach of a dire winter, which is to destroy every living creature, Yima, being advised by Ahura, builds a Vara to keep there the finest representatives of every kind of animals and plants, and they live there a life of perfect happiness. ”

“ He presented the governor of the prison in which Anisim was confined with a silver glass stand with a long spoon and the inscription: "The soul knows its right measure."
"There is no one to look after things for us," said Varvara. ”

“ And Víravara went on persistently in the direction of the weeping, and reached a tank outside the city, and saw there that woman in the middle of the water uttering this lament, “Hero! merciful man! Generous man! How can I live without you?” And Víravara, who was followed by the king, said with astonishment, “Who are you, and why do you thus weep?”—Then she answered him, “Dear Víravara, know that I am this earth, and king Śúdraka is now my righteous lord, but on the third day from this his death will take place, and whence shall I obtain such another lord? ”

“ Víravara ! What man is as devoted to his sovereign as thou, who, by the sacrifice of thy noble only son, hast bestowed on this king Śúdraka life and a kingdom?" Then that young girl Víravatí, the daughter of Víravara, came up, and embraced the head of her slain brother, and weeping, blinded with excessive grief, she broke her heart and so died. And the king saw and heard all this from his concealment.
Then Víravara's wife Dharmavatí said to him, " We have ensured the prosperity of the king, so now I have something to say to you. ”

“ A more horrible act and exhibition it is not easy to conceive, yet there once lived a man in Fare, named Tavara, who, according to his own confession, and the declaration of his neighbours, was guilty of this deed during one of their recent wars. ”

“ When the king heard the speech of that Víravara, he was very much astonished, as he had himself seen what took place, and he said to himself, “Indeed people of noble spirit are deep and self-contained of soul as the sea, for when they have performed an unparalleled exploit, they do not utter any description of it.” Thus reflecting, the king silently descended from the roof of the palace, and entered his private apartments, and there spent the rest of the night. ”

“ Varvara was a girl of some twenty-three summers, of middle height, thin, but possessing a face which, without being actually beautiful, had the rare quality of charm, and might fascinate even to the extent of passionate regard. ”

“ Again Víravara said, “I am here.” And while the king was lost in admiration at seeing his courage, he suddenly heard a woman weeping in the distance, distracted with despair, uttering only the piteous sound of wailing. When the king heard that, pity arose in his mind, and he said to himself, “There is no oppressed person in my kingdom, no poor or afflicted person; so who is this woman, that is thus weeping alone at night?” Then he gave this order to Víravara, who was alone below, “Listen, Víravara; there is some woman weeping in the distance ”

“ In December 1826, the workings were 112 varas in depth. At 120 varas, a first level was to be driven in the direction of the vein, which it will cut at the distance of thirty-seven varas, if the inclination be the same below, as in the shaft of La Cruz. The necessary buildings at Concordia were all complete, and excellent of their kind; and should fortune favour the enterprise, not a moment would be lost in turning the produce to account. ”

“ The varaṇá, this divine forest-tree, shall ward off (vāray-) ; the yákṣma that has entered into this man—that have the gods warded off.
The verse is repeated as x. 3. 5. An amulet made of varaṇá is used, as the comm. points out. ⌊Similar word-play at iv. 7. 1—see note.⌋ The deficiency of a syllable in a is not noticed by the Anukr.
2. With the word (vácas) of Indra, of Mitra, and of Varuṇa, with the voice (vā́c) of all the gods, do we ward off thy yákṣma.
3. As Vritra stopped (stambh) these waters [when] going in all directions, so, by means of Agni Vāiçvānara, do I ward off thy yákṣma. ”

“ "Of course no one will consider," said Anisim, and he heaved a sigh. "There is no God, anyway, you know, mamma, so what considering can there be?"
Varvara looked at him with surprise, burst out laughing, and clasped her hands. Perhaps because she was so genuinely surprised at his words and looked at him as though he were a queer person, he was confused.
"Perhaps there is a God, only there is no faith. When I was being married I was not myself. ”

“ A horrible suspicion flashed into Vera's mind.
"You must say nothing against him," she cried. "Lord Ravenspur is one of the best and noblest of men."
"Lord Ravenspur is a scoundrel," the Countess cried. "Yes, and before I have finished I am going to prove it to you. Oh, you may look incredulous, but I am a deeply injured woman, and that man is responsible for all my torture."
A crimson wave stained Vera's cheeks. Here was the old suspicion back again with redoubled force. She would have asked the direct question which was trembling on her lips, but the door opened, and Silva came in hurriedly. ”

“ The deep stillness and loneliness of the spot are broken suddenly by the impatient neigh of a horse.
With a start, Lady Vera turns her head. In that moment, two strong arms clasp her as in a vise, her hood is drawn over her face to smother her agonized shrieks, and the old woman, grown suddenly tall and erect, and strong, bears her forcibly to a carriage that has been waiting, hidden behind a hedge.
Her abductor springs in beside her, closes the door, and they are whirled away through the falling night, while a dexterous sprinkle of chloroform reduces the miserable girl to unconsciousness. ”

“ He has gone away, Lady Vera tells herself; yet she, in some vague way, feels that he has not. She hears a step in the hall outside her door sometimes—a manly step that is not Sir Harry Clive's, but which has a firm, remembered ring in it that has power to send the warm blood flying from her heart to her face.
When she is well enough to sit up in her white dressing-gown, lying back in a great, cushioned arm-chair, the children are admitted to see her. ”

“ Vera (smiling) . I don't know; there is so much else to do in the world but love.
Mich. Nothing else worth doing, Vera.
Peter. What noise is that, Vera? (A metallic clink is heard.)
Vera (rising and going to the door) . I don't know, Father; it is not like the cattle bells, or I would think Nicholas had come from the fair. Oh! Father! it is soldiers!—coming down the hill—there is one of them on horseback. How pretty they look! But there are some men with them with [10] chains on! They must be robbers. Oh! don't let them in, Father ”

“ Vera would have been astonished at that moment if she could have seen into the back of Silva's brain. She did not realise for a moment that here was a man who would have gone through fire and water for her, and yet, at the same time, he was prepared to wreak his insane vengeance upon those whom she loved and admired more than anybody in the world. If Vera's happiness had depended upon it, Silva would not have spared Ravenspur, even had Vera gone on her knees and asked for it. Yet he would have given his life if it could have done any good to this proud descendant of the house of Descarti. ”

“ Colonel Lockhart says, obeying a pleading look from Lady Vera, and preceding her to the door, followed by Sir Harry.
In a moment more, without word or backward glance, the wicked woman sweeps from the room.
Then Vera, broken down by the fierce strain upon her feelings, breaks down utterly, and weeps on Lady Clive's breast until she is thoroughly exhausted.
"You see it is all for the best to go away to-morrow," she has said to her friend. "Even my life is not safe here against the machinations of my relentless enemies." ”

“ From the brow of the hill, where, in another world it seemed now, in the far past, in the long ago, Varge had first seen the penitentiary at sunrise, the prison stood outlined in the calm light, the walls traced in black, uncouth shapes, the great dome of the central building rising spectre-like against the sky. Around it, the fields, the little village, the sweep of country, white-cloaked in the moon-rays near at hand, gradually merged, blurred and indistinct with distance, into shadow, into night.
What men say to each other when their hearts are full, Doctor Kreelmar and Varge had said. ”

“ I am glad that you are dying, Vera Campbell! I have hated you from the hour of your birth! You were born to be my stumbling-block, and to work out my destruction!"
"I was born to be the avenger of my parents' wrongs," Lady Vera answers, proudly. "And though it kill me, I have kept my oath of vengeance!"
The wind moans ominously around the creaking gables, the thunder mutters hoarsely, the blue flame of the lightning casts its ghastly glare into the room. No one heeds the fierce war of the elements in the fiercer war of human passions raging within the gloomy chamber. ”

“ A tyrant! Hath he not dismissed his evil counsellors. That ill-omened raven of his father's life hath had his wings clipped and his claws pared, and comes to us croaking for revenge. Oh, have mercy on him! Give him a week to live!
President: Vera, pleading for a king!
Vera (proudly) : I plead not for a king, but for a brother.
Michael: For a traitor to his oath, a coward who should have flung the purple back to the fools that gave it him. No, Vera, no. The brood of men is not yet dead, nor the dull earth grown sick of childbearing. No crowned man in Russia shall pollute God's air by living. ”

“ A pang goes through Lady Vera's heart as she recalls Sir Harry Clive's warning, and thinks of losing this grand, picturesque place, the only true home she has ever known. Her sweetest, tenderest memories of her father are twined around the spot.
Bereft of this, she must indeed be desolate. Not even one spot of brightness will remain in the cold and cruel darkness that has settled over her life. ”

“ Lady Vera, turning her head listlessly a moment, listens aimlessly to the wail of the autumn wind moaning like a voice in human pain around the ruined gables of the house.
"It is a wild night," she answers, drearily. "What time is it, Mrs. Robson?"
"It is nigh onto eleven o'clock," the woman answers, consulting the broad-faced silver watch stuck in her belt; then, curiously: "You've never asked me that question afore since here you've been, my dearie. Why do you do so now?"
"When the hours of life are few, one is fain to count them," Lady Vera answers, with subdued bitterness. ”

“ It cannot be wrong for me to marry him. I am sure he will help me to my vengeance when I tell him of the oath I swore by my father's death-bed. Dear Philip, how grand and handsome he is! He is the noblest of men!"
Lady Clive, having privately questioned her brother as to Vera's fainting fit, and received no satisfaction, is at her wits' end! Why this terrible swoon, when she had deemed Lady Vera well and strong again?
She wonders even more when the young girl appears at breakfast the next morning. Never had the young countess appeared so enchantingly lovely. ”

“ Strike us not, Varuna, with those dread weapons which, Asura, at thy bidding wound the sinner. Let us not pass away from light to exile. Scatter, that we may live, the men who hate us 8. O mighty Varuna, now and hereafter, even as of old, will we speak forth our worship. For in thyself, invincible God, thy statutes never to be moved are fixed as on a mountain. 9. Move far from me what sins I have committed: let me not suffer, King, for guilt of others. Full many a morn remains to dawn upon us: in these, O Varuna, while we live direct us. ”

“ Vera, I am not blind; I know your secret. You love this boy, this young prince with his pretty face, his curled hair, his soft white hands. Fool that you are, dupe of a lying tongue, do you know what he would have done to you, this boy you think loved you? He would have made you his mistress, used your body at his pleasure, thrown you away when he was wearied of you; you, the priestess of liberty, the flame of Revolution, the torch of democracy.
Vera. What he would have done to me matters little. To the people, at least, he will be true. He loves the people—at least, he loves liberty. ”

“ Very beautiful looks Lady Vera in her thin, black robe, with knots of pure white pansies at her throat and waist, very beautiful and girlish still, though she is almost twenty, and a woman's sorrow is written all over her lovely, mobile face, that rises like some fair, white lily above her somber robe. ”

“ But no one is more surprised at Vera's course than her lover, Colonel Lockhart.
It is when they have gone home from Lady Spencer's ball, and he detains her one moment in the drawing-room to say good-night, that he asks her anxiously:
"Vera, my darling, what story lies behind your refusal to know these people to-night?"
He feels the start and shiver that runs over the graceful form as he holds her hand in his own. She looks up at him with such a white and despairing face that he is almost frightened. ”