[489] There remains for them a bare measure of food;
then their life will last but six days;
for want of water, I think,
the blind pair will die.
This is not such suffering (dukkha) for me,
for such a thing a man may well incur;
but that I shall see my mother no more —
that for me is a greater suffering than this.
This is not such suffering for me,
for such a thing a man may well incur;
but that I shall see my father no more —
that for me is a greater suffering than this.
Surely she, my poor mother,
will weep long into the night;
at midnight or in the night
she will dry up like a river.
Surely he, my poor father,
will weep long into the night;
at midnight or in the night
he will dry up like a river.
Bereft of my rising to wait upon them, of the service of their feet,
and of massage, O king,
they will wander through the great forest,
wailing, "Sāma, dear child!"
This too is a second dart (salla)
that makes my heart tremble:
since I shall see the blind pair no more,
I think I shall give up my life.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.