Buddhacarita by Ven Asvaghosa - Ancient Buddhist Texts

Buddha-carita, or Life of Buddha - 94
Book VIII [Lamentations in the Palace]
1. Meanwhile the attendant of the horse, in deep distress, when his
unselfish master thus went into the forest, made every effort in the
road to dissolve his load of sorrow, and yet in spite of it all not a tear
dropped from him.
2. But the road which by his lord’s command he had traversed in one
night with that horse, – that same road he now travelled in eight days,
pondering his lord’s absence.
3. And the horse Kaṁthaka, though he still went on bravely, flagged
and had lost all spirit in his heart; and decked though he was with
ornaments, he had lost all his beauty when bereft of his master.
4. And turning round towards that ascetic-grove, 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 they two at last came back to the city called after Kapila,
which seemed empty when deserted by that hero who was bent on the
salvation of the world, – like the sky bereft of the sun.
6. Bright as it was with lotus-covered waters, adorned also with trees
full of flowers, that garden of his, which was now like a forest, was
no longer gay with citizens who had lost all their gladness.