MRCCHAKATIKA THE LITTLE CLAY CART by Sudrakah -1

THE LITTLE CLAY CART

[MRCCHAKATIKA]

21 fttnUu SDtama

ATTRIBUTED TO KING SHUDRAKA

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL SANSKRIT AND PRAKRITS

INTO ENGLISH PROSE AND VERSE

BY

ARTHUR WILLIAM RYDER, PH.D.

INSTRUCTOR TN SANSKRIT IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

^arbarD

1905

TRANSLATION OF THE LITTLE CLAY CART

PROLOGUE 1

ACT I. THE GEMS ARE LEFT BEHIND 6

ACT II. THE SHAMPOOER WHO GAMBLED 27

ACT III. THE HOLE IN THE WALL 43

ACT IV. MADANIKA AND SHARVILAKA 57

ACT V. THE STORM 75

ACT VI. THE SWAPPING OF THE BULLOCK-CARTS 93

ACT vii. ARYAKA'S ESCAPE 105

ACT VIII, THE STRANGLING OF VASANTASENA 109

ACT IX. THE TRIAL 132

ACT X. THE END 153

EPILOGUE 176

I. THE AUTHOR AND THE PLAY

the life, the date, and the very identity

1 of

King Shudraka, the reputed author of The Little Clay Cart,

we are curiously ignorant. No other work is ascribed to him, and

we have no direct information about him, beyond the somewhat

fanciful statements of the Prologue to this play. There are, to be

sure, many tales which cluster about the name of King Shudraka,

but none of them represents him as an author. Yet our very lack of

information may prove, to some extent at least, a disguised blessing.

For our ignorance of external fact compels a closer study of

the text, if we would find out what manner of man it was who

wrote the play. And the case of King Shudraka is by no means

unique in India; in regard to every great Sanskrit writer, so bare

is Sanskrit literature of biography, we are forced to concentrate

attention on the man as he reveals himself in his works. First, however,

it may be worth while to compare Shudraka with two other

great dramatists of India, and thus to discover, if we may, in what

ways he excels them or is excelled by them.

Kalidasa, Shudraka, Bhavabhuti assuredly, these are the greatest

names in the history of the Indian drama. So different are these

men, and so great, that it is not possible to assert for any one of

them such supremacy as Shakspere holds in the English drama.

It is true that Kalidasa's dramatic masterpiece, the Shakuntala,

is the most widely known of the Indian plays. It is true that the

tender and elegant Kalidasa has been called, with a not wholly for-

1 For an illuminating discussion of these matters, the reader is referred to Sylvain L^vi's admirable

work, Le Theatre Indien, Paris, 1890, pages 196-211.

xvi INTRODUCTION

tunate enthusiasm, the "Shakspere of India." But this rather exclusive

admiration of the Shakuntala results from lack of information

about the other great Indian dramas. Indeed, it is partly due

to the accident that only the Shakuntala became known in translation

at a time when romantic Europe was in full sympathy with

the literature of India.

Bhavabhuti, too, is far less widely known than Kalidasa; and for

this the reason is deeper-seated. The austerity of Bhavabhuti's style,

his lack of humor, his insistent grandeur, are qualities which prevent

his being a truly popular poet. With reference to Kalidasa,

he holds a position such as Aeschylus holds with reference to Euripides.

He will always seem to minds that sympathize with his

grandeur

1 the greatest of Indian poets ; while by other equally discerning

minds of another order he will be admired, but not passionately

loved.

Yet however great the difference between Kalidasa, "the grace

of poetry,"

2 and Bhavabhuti, "the master of eloquence,"

3 these two

authors are far more intimately allied in spirit than is either of

them with the author of The Little Clay Cart. Kalidasa and Bhavabhuti

are Hindus of the Hindus ; the Shakuntala and the Latter

Acts of Rama could have been written nowhere save in India :

but Shudraka, alone in the long line of Indian dramatists, has a

cosmopolitan character. Shakuntala is a Hindu maid, Madhava is

a Hindu hero; but Sansthanaka and Maitreya and Madanika are

citizens of the world. In some of the more striking characteristics of

Sanskrit literature in its fondness for system, its elaboration of

style, its love of epigram Kalidasa and Bhavabhuti are far truer

1 In his Malatimadhava, i. 8, he says: "Whoever they may be who now proclaim their contempt

for me, they know something, but this work was not for them. Yet there will arise a

man of nature like mine own ; for time is endless, and the world is wide." This seems prophetic

of John Milton. 2 Prasannaraghava, i. 22. 3 Mahaviracarita, i. 4-

INTRODUCTION xvii

to their native land than is Shudraka. In Shiidraka we find few

of those splendid phrases in which, as the Chinese 1

say,

" it is only

the words which stop, the sense goes on," phrases like Kalidasa's 2

"thereare doorsof the inevitable everywhere,"orBhavabhuti's

3 "for

causeless love there is no remedy." As regards the predominance of

swift-moving action over the poetical expression of great truths,

The Little Clay Cart stands related to the Latter Acts of Rama as

Macbeth does to Hamlet. Again, Shudraka's style is simple and direct,

a rare quality in a Hindu ; and although this style, in the passages

of higher emotion, is of an exquisite simplicity, yet Shudraka

cannot infuse into mere language the charm which we find in Kalidasa

or the majesty which we find in Bhavabhiiti.

Yet Shiidraka's limitations in regard to stylistic power are not

without their compensation. For love of style slowly strangled originality

and enterprise in Indian poets, and ultimately proved the

death of Sanskrit literature. Now just at this point, where other

Hindu writers are weak, Shudraka stands forth preeminent. Nowhere

else in the hundreds of Sanskrit dramas do we find such variety,

and such drawing of character, as in The Little Clay Cart ;

and nowhere else, in the drama at least, is there such humor. Let

us consider, a little more in detail, these three characteristics of

our author; his variety, his skill in the drawing of character, his

humor.

To gain a rough idea of Shudraka's variety, we have only to recall

the names of the acts of the play. Here The Shampooer who

Gambled and The Hole in the Wall are shortly followed by The

Storm ; and The Swapping of the Bullock-carts is closely succeeded

by The Strangling of Vasantasena. From farce to tragedy, from

1 History of Chinese Literature, by H. A. Giles, pages H5-146.

2 Shakuntala, i. 15.

3 Latter Acts of Rama, v. 17.

xviii INTRODUCTION

satire to pathos, runs the story, with a breadth truly Shaksperian.

Here we have philosophy :

The lack of money is the root qfatt evil. (i. 14)

And pathos :

My body wet by tear-dropsfatting,falling;

My limbs polluted by the clinging mud;

Flowersfrom the graveyard torn, my wreath appalling;

Far ghastly sacrifice hoarse ravem calling^

Andfor thefragrant incense ofmy blood. (x. 3)

And nature description:

But mistress, do not scold the lightning. She is yourfriend^

This golden cord that trembles on the breast

Ofgreat Airavata; upon the crest

Ofrocky hills this banner all ablaze;

This lamp in Indra's palace ; but most blest

As telling where your most beloved stays. (v. 33)

And genuine bitterness :

Pride and tricks and lies andfraud

Are in yourface;

False playground of the lustfid god,

Such is yourface;

The wench?s stock in trade, in fine.

Epitome ofjoys divine,

I mean yourface

For sale! the price is courtesy.

I trust you 71 find a man to buy

Yourface. (v. 36)

It is natural that Shudraka should choose for the expression of

matters so diverse that type of drama which gives the greatest

scope to the author's creative power. This type is the so-called

INTRODUCTION xix

"drama of invention," 1 a category curiously subordinated in India

to the heroic drama, the plot of which is drawn from history or

mythology. Indeed, The Little Clay Cart is the only extant drama

which fulfils the spirit of the drama of invention, as defined by the

Sanskrit canons of dramaturgy. The plot of the "Malati and Madhava,"

or of the "Mallika and Maruta," is in no true sense the invention

of the author; and The Little Clay Cart is the only drama

of invention which is "full of rascals." 2

But a spirit so powerful as that of King Shudraka could not be

confined within the strait-jacket of the minute, and sometimes

puerile, rules of the technical works. In the very title of the drama,

he has disregarded the rule3 that the name of a drama of invention

should be formed by compounding the names of heroine and hero.4

Again, the books prescribe

5 that the hero shall appear in every act;

yet Charudatta does not appear in acts ii., iv., vi., and viii. And

further, various characters, Vasantasena, Maitreya, the courtier,

and others, have vastly gained because they do not conform too

closely to the technical definitions.

The characters of The Little Clay Cart are living men and women.

Even when the type makes no strong appeal to Western minds,

as in the case of Charudatta, the character lives, in a sense in which

Dushyanta6 or even Rama7 can hardly be said to live. Shudraka's

men are better individualized than his women ; this fact alone differentiates

him sharply from other Indian dramatists. He draws

on every class of society, from the high-souled Brahman to the

executioner and the housemaid.

His greatest character is unquestionably Sansthanaka, this com-

1 Prakarana. 2 Dhurtasamkula : Da<?arupa, iii. 38. 3 SdhityacUirpav^ 428.

* As in Malatl-madhava. 6 Da^arupa, iii. 33. 6 In Kalidasa's Shakuntala.

7 In Bhavabhutrs Latter Acts of Rama.

xx INTRODUCTION

bination of ignorant conceit, brutal lust, and cunning, this greater

than Cloten, who, after strangling an innocent woman, can say:

1

"Oh, come! Let's go and play in the pond." Most attractive characters

are the five 2

conspirators, men whose home is "east of Suez

and the ten commandments." They live from hand to mouth, ready

at any moment to steal a gem-casket or to take part in a revolution,

and preserving through it all their character as gentlemen and their

irresistible conceit. And side by side with them moves the hero

Charudatta, the Buddhist beau-ideal of manhood,

A tree oflife to them whose sorrows grow.

Beneath itsfruit of virtue bending low. (i. 48)

To him, life itself is not dear, but only honor.3 He values wealth

only as it supplies him with the means of serving others. We may,

with some justice, compare him with Antonio in The Merchant

of Venice. There is some inconsistency, from our point of view,

in making such a character the hero of a love-drama; and indeed,

it is Vasantasena who does most of the love-making.

4

Vasantasena is a character with neither the girlish charm of

Shakuntala 5 nor the mature womanly dignity of Sita.6 She is

more admirable than lovable. Witty and wise she is, and in her

love as true as steel; this too, in a social position which makes such

constancy difficult. Yet she cannot be called a great character; she

does not seem so true to life as her clever maid, Madanika. In

making the heroine of his play a courtezan, Shudraka follows a

suggestion of the technical works on the drama; he does not

thereby cast any imputation of ill on Vasantasena's character. The

courtezan class in India corresponded roughly to the hetaerse of

1 See page 128. 2 Aryaka, Darduraka, Chandanaka, Sharvilaka, and the courtier.

3 See x. 27. * See v. 46 and the following stage-direction.

5 In Kalidasa's play of that name. 6 In Bhavabhuti's Latter Acts of Rama.

INTRODUCTION xxi

ancient Greece or the geishas of Japan; it was possible to be a

courtezan and retain one's self-respect. Yet the inherited l way of

life proves distasteful to Vasantasena; her one desire is to escape

its limitations and its dangers by becoming a legal wife.2

In Maitreya, the Vidushaka, we find an instance of our author's

masterly skill in giving life to the dry bones of a rhetorical definition.

The Vidushaka is a stock character who has something in

common with a jester; and in Maitreya the essential traits of the

character eagerness for good food and other creature comforts,

and blundering devotion to his friend are retained, to be sure,

but clarified and elevated by his quaint humor and his readiness

to follow Charudatta even in death. The grosser traits of the typical

Vidushaka are lacking. Maitreya is neither a glutton nor a fool,

but a simple-minded, whole-hearted friend.

The courtier is another character suggested by the technical

works, and transformed by the genius of Shudraka. He is a man

not only of education and social refinement, but also of real nobility

of nature. But he is in a false position from the first, this

true gentleman at the wretched court of King Palaka; at last he

finds the courage to break away, and risks life, and all that makes

life attractive, by backing Aryaka. Of all the conspirators, it is he

who runs the greatest risk. To his protection of Vasantasena is

added a touch of infinite pathos when we remember that he was

himself in love with her.3 Only whenVasantasena leaves him4 without

a thought, to enter Charudatta's house, does he realize how

much he loves her; then, indeed, he breaks forth in words of the

most passionate jealousy. We need not linger over the other characters,

except to observe that each has his marked individuality,

1 See viii. 43. 2 See pages 65-66 and page 174.

3 See viii. 38 ; and compare the words,

" Yet love bids me prattle," on page 86. 4 Page 87.

xxii INTRODUCTION

and that each helps to make vivid this picture of a society that

seems at first so remote.

Shudraka's humor is the third of his vitally distinguishing qualities.

This humor has an American flavor, both in its puns and in

its situations. The plays on words can seldom be adequately reproduced

in translation, but the situations are independent of

language. And Shudraka's humor runs the whole gamut, from grim

to farcical, from satirical to quaint. Its variety and keenness are

such that King Shudraka need not fear a comparison with the

greatest of Occidental writers of comedies.

It remains to say a word about the construction of the play.

Obviously, it is too long. More than this, the main action halts

through acts ii. to v., and during these episodic acts we almost

forget that the main plot concerns the love of Vasantasena and

Charudatta. Indeed, we have in The Little Clay Cart the material

for two plays. The larger part of act i. forms with acts vi. to x. a

consistent and ingenious plot; while the remainder of act i. might

be combined with acts iii. to v. to make a pleasing comedy of

lighter tone. The second act, clever as it is, has little real connection

either with the main plot or with the story of the gems. The

breadth of treatment which is observable in this play is found in

many other specimens of the Sanskrit drama, which has set itself

an ideal different from that of our own drama. The lack of dramatic

unity and consistency is often compensated, indeed, by

lyrical beauty and charms of style; but it suggests the question

whether we might not more justly speak of the Sanskrit plays as

dramatic poems than as dramas. In The Little Clay Cart, at any

rate, we could ill afford to spare a single scene, even though the

very richness and variety of the play remove it from the class of

the world's greatest dramas.

INTRODUCTION xxiii

II. THE TRANSLATION

THE following translation is sufficiently different from previous

translations of Indian plays to require a word of explanation. The

difference consists chiefly in the manner in which I have endeavored

to preserve the form of the original. The Indian plays are

written in mingled prose and verse; and the verse portion forms

so large a part of the whole that the manner in which it is rendered

is of much importance. Now this verse is not analogous to

the iambic trimeter of Sophocles or the blank verse of Shakspere,

but roughly corresponds to the Greek choruses or the occasional

rhymed songs of the Elizabethan stage. In other words, the verse

portion of a Sanskrit drama is not narrative; it is sometimes descriptive,

but more commonly lyrical: each stanza sums up the

emotional impression which the preceding action or dialogue has

made upon one of the actors. Such matter is in English cast into

the form of the rhymed stanza ; and so, although rhymed verse is

very rarely employed in classical Sanskrit, it seems the most appropriate

vehicle for the translation of the stanzas of a Sanskrit

drama. It is true that we occasionally find stanzas which might

fitly be rendered in English blank verse, and, more frequently,

stanzas which are so prosaic as not to deserve a rendering in English

verse at all.

1 But, as the present translation may be regarded

as in some sort an experiment, I have preferred to hold rigidly to

the distinction found in the original between simple prose and

types of stanza which seem to me to correspond to English rhymed

verse.

It is obvious that a translation into verse, and especially into

rhymed verse, cannot be as literal as a translation into prose ; this

1 Stanzas of the latter sort in The Little Clay Cart are vii. 3 and viii. 5.

xxiv INTRODUCTION

disadvantage I have used my best pains to minimize. I hope it

may be said that nothing of real moment has been omitted from

the verses; and where lack of metrical skill has compelled expansion,

I have striven to make the additions as insignificant as

possible.

There is another point, however, in which it is hardly feasible

to imitate the original; this is the difference in the dialects used

by the various characters. In The Little Clay Cart, as in other

Indian dramas, some of the characters speak Sanskrit, others Prakrit.

Now Prakrit is the generic name for a number of dialects

derived from the Sanskrit and closely akin to it. The inferior personages

of an Indian play, and, with rare exceptions, all the

women, speak one or another of these Prakrits. Of the thirty

characters of this play, for example, only five (Charudatta, the

courtier, Aryaka, Sharvilaka, and the judge) speak Sanskrit; 1 the

others speak various Prakrit dialects. Only in the case of Sansthanaka

have I made a rude attempt to suggest the dialect by

substituting sh for s as he does. And the grandiloquence of Sharvilaka's

Sanskrit in the satirical portion of the third act I have

endeavored to imitate.

Whenever the language of the original is at all technical, the

translator labors under peculiar difficulty. Thus the legal terms

found in the ninth act are inadequately rendered, and, to some extent

at least, inevitably so ; for the legal forms, or lack of forms,

pictured there were never contemplated by the makers of the English

legal vocabulary. It may be added here that in rendering from a

literature so artificial as the Sanskrit, one must lose not only the

sensuous beauty of the verse, but also many plays on words.

In regard to the not infrequent repetitions found in the text, I

1 This statement requires a slight limitation ; compare, for example, the footnote to page 82.

INTRODUCTION xxv

have used my best judgment. Such repetitions have been given in

full where it seemed to me that the force or unity of the passage

gained by such treatment, or where the original repeats in full, as

in the case of v. 7, which is identical with iii. 29. Elsewhere, 1 have

merely indicated the repetition after the manner of the original.

The reader will notice that there was little effort to attain realism

in the presentation of an Indian play. He need not be surprised

therefore to find (page 145) that Viraka leaves the courtroom,

mounts a horse, rides to the suburbs, makes an investigation

and returns all within the limits of a stage-direction. The

simplicity of presentation also makes possible sudden shifts of

scene. In the first act, for example, there are six scenes, which take

place alternately in Charudatta's house and in the street outside.

In those cases where a character enters "seated

"

or "asleep," I have

substituted the verb "appear" for the verb "enter"; yet I am not

sure that this concession to realism is wise.

The system of transliteration which I have adopted is intended

to render the pronunciation of proper names as simple as may be

to the English reader. The consonants are to be pronounced as in

English,

1 the vowels as in Italian. Diacritical marks have been

avoided, with the exception of the macron. This sign has been used

consistently

2 to mark long vowels except e and o, which are always

long. Three rules suffice for the placing of the accent. A long penult

is accented : Maitr^ya, Charuddtta. If the penult is short, the

antepenult is accented provided it be long: Sansthanaka. If both

penult and antepenult of a four-syllabled word are short, the preantepenultimate

receives the accent: Madanika, SthSvaraka.

1 But the combination th should be pronounced as in ant-hill, not as in thin or this; similarly

dh as in madrhouss ; bh as in abhor.

2 Except in the names Aryaka and Ahlnta, where typographical considerations have led to the

omission of the macron over the initial letter; and except also in head-lines.

xxvi INTRODUCTION

III. AN OUTLINE OF THE PLOT

ACT I., entitled The Gems are left Behind. Evening of the first

day. After the prologue, Charudatta, who is within his house,

converses with his friend Maitreya, and deplores his poverty.

While they are speaking, Vasantasena appears in the street outside.

She is pursued by the courtier and Sansthanaka; the latter makes

her degrading offers of his love, which she indignantly rejects.

Charudatta sends Maitreya from the house to offer sacrifice, and

through the open door Vasantasena slips unobserved into the

house. Maitreya returns after an altercation with Sansthanaka, and

recognizes Vasantasena. Vasantasena leaves a casket of gems in the

house for safe keeping and returns to her home.

ACT II., entitled The Shampooer who Gambled. Second day.

The act opens in Vasantasena's house. Vasantasena confesses to her

maid Madanika her love for Charudatta. Then a shampooer appears

in the street, pursued by the gambling-master and a gambler, who

demand of him ten gold-pieces which he has lost in the gamblinghouse.

At this point Darduraka enters, and engages the gamblingmaster

and the gambler in an angry discussion, during which the

shampooer escapes into Vasantasena's house. When Vasantasena

learns that the shampooer had once served Charudatta, she pays his

debt; the grateful shampooer resolves to turn monk. As he leaves

the house he is attacked by a runaway elephant, and saved by

Karnapuraka, a servant of Vasantasena.

ACT III., entitled The Hole in the Wall. The night following the

second day. Charudatta and Maitreya return home after midnight

from a concert, and go to sleep. Maitreya has in his hand the

gem-casket which Vasantasena has left behind. Sharvilaka enters.

He is in love with Madanika, a maid of Vasantasena's, and is reINTRODUCTION

xxvii

solved to acquire by theft the means of buying her freedom. He

makes a hole in the wall of the house, enters, and steals the casket

of gems which Vasantasena had left. Charudatta wakes to find

casket and thief gone. His wife gives him her pearl necklace with

which to make restitution.

ACT IV., entitled Madanikft and Sharvilaka. Third day. Sharvilaka

comes to Vasantasena's house to buy Madanika's freedom.

Vasantasena overhears the facts concerning the theft of her gemcasket

from Charudatta's house, but accepts the casket, and gives

Madanika her freedom. As Sharvilaka leaves the house, he hears

that his friend Aryaka, who had been imprisoned by the king, has

escaped and is being pursued. Sharvilaka departs to help him.

Maitreya comes from Charudatta with the pearl necklace, to repay

Vasantasena for the gem-casket. She accepts the necklace also, as

giving her an excuse for a visit to Charudatta.

ACT V., entitled The Storm. Evening of the third day. Charudatta

appears in the garden of his house. Here he receives a servant

of Vasantasena, who announces that Vasantasena is on her

way to visit him. Vasantasena then appears in the street with the

courtier ; the two describe alternately the violence and beauty of the

storm which has suddenly arisen. Vasantasena dismisses the courtier,

enters the garden, and explains to Charudatta how she has

again come into possession ofthe gem-casket. Meanwhile, the storm

has so increased in violence that she is compelled to spend the night

at Charudatta's house.

ACT VI., entitled The Swapping ofthe Buttock-carts. Morning of

the fourth day. Here she meets Charudatta's little son, Rohasena.

The boy is peevish because he can now have only a little clay cart

to play with, instead of finer toys. Vasantasena gives him her

gems to buy a toy cart of gold. Charudatta's servant drives up to

xxviii INTRODUCTION

take Vasantasena in Charudatta's bullock-cart to the park, where

she is to meet Charudatta; but while Vasantasena is making ready,

he drives away to get a cushion. Then Sansthanaka's servant drives

up with his master's cart, which Vasantasena enters by mistake.

Soon after, Charudatta's servant returns with his cart. Then the

escaped prisoner Aryaka appears and enters Charudatta's cart.

Two policemen come on the scene; they are searching for Aryaka.

One of them looks into the cart and discovers Aryaka, but agrees

to protect him. This he does by deceiving and finally maltreating

his companion.

ACT VII., entitled Aryaka's Escape. Fourth day. Charudatta

is awaiting Vasantasena in the park. His cart, in which Aryaka lies

hidden, appears. Charudatta discovers the fugitive, removes his

fetters, lends him the cart, and leaves the park.

ACT VIII., entitled The Strangling of Vasantasend,. Fourth

day. A Buddhist monk, the shampooer of the second act, enters

the park. He has difficulty in escaping from Sansthanaka, who

appears with the courtier. Sansthanaka's servant drives in with the

cart which Vasantasena had entered by mistake. She is discovered

by Sansthanaka, who pursues her with insulting offers of love.

When she repulses him, Sansthanaka gets rid of all witnesses,

strangles her, and leaves her for dead. The Buddhist monk enters

again, revives Vasantasena, and conducts her to a monastery.

ACT IX., entitled The Trial Fifth day. Sansthanaka accuses

Charudatta of murdering Vasantasena for her money. In the course

of the trial, it appears that Vasantasena had spent the night of the

storm at Charudatta's house; that she had left the house the next

morning to meet Charudatta in the park; that there had been a

struggle in the park, which apparently ended in the murder of a

woman. Charudatta's friend, Maitreya, enters with the gems which

INTRODUCTION xxix

Vasantasena had left to buy Charudatta's son a toy cart of gold.

These gems fall to the floor during a scuffle between Maitreya and

Sansthanaka. In view of Charudatta's poverty, this seems to establish

the motive for the crime, and Charudatta is condemned to

death.

ACT X., entitled The End. Sixth day. Two headsmen are conducting

Charudatta to the place of execution. Charudatta takes

his last leave of his son and his friend Maitreya. But Sansthanaka's

servant escapes from confinement and betrays the truth ; yet he is

not believed, owing to the cunning displayed by his master. The

headsmen are preparing to execute Charudatta, when Vasantasena

herself appears upon the scene, accompanied by the Buddhist

monk. Her appearance puts a summary end to the proceedings.

Then news is brought that Aryaka has killed and supplanted the

former king, that he wishes to reward Charudatta, and that he has

by royal edict freed Vasantasena from the necessity of living as a

courtezan. Sansthanaka is brought before Charudatta for sentence,

but is pardoned by the man whom he had so grievously injured.

The play ends with the usual Epilogue.

DRAMATIS

CHARUDATTA, a Brahman merchant

ROHASENA, his son

MAITREYA, hisfriend

VARDHAMANAKA, a servant in his house

SANSTHANAKA, brother-in-law ofKing PALAKA

STHAVARAKA, his servant

Another Servant ofSANSTHANAKA

A Courtier

ARYAKA, a herdsman who becomes king

SHARVILAKA, a Brahman, in love with MADANIKA

A Shampooer, who becomes a Buddhist monk

MATHURA, a gambling-master

DARDURAKA, a gambler

Another Gambler

KARNAPURAKA)

,r f servants of VASANTASENA

KUMBHILAKA }

'y

VlRAKA 1 ~ } policemen

CHANDANAKA/ r

GOHA \

. r headsmen

AHINTAJ

Bastard pages, in VASANTASENA'S house

A Judge, a Gild-warden, a Clerk, and a Beadle

VABANTASENA, a courtezan

Her Mother

MADANIKA, maid to VASANTASENA

Another Maid to VASANTASENA

The Wife of CHARUDATTA

RADANIKA, a maid in CHARUDATTA'S house

SCENE

UJJAYINI (called also AVANTI) and its Environs

THE LITTLE CLAY CART

H

PROLOGUE

Benediction upon the audience

IS bended knees the knotted girdle holds,

Fashioned by doubling of a serpent's folds ;

His sensive organs, so he checks his breath,

Are numbed, till consciousness seems sunk in death;

Within himself, with eye of truth, he sees

The All-soul, free from all activities.

May His, may Shiva's meditation be

Your strong defense ; on the Great Self thinks he,

Knowing full well the world's vacuity. 1

And again:

May Shiva's neck shield you from every harm,

That seems a threatening thunder-cloud, whereon,

Bright as the lightning-flash, lies Gauri's arm. 2

Stage-director. Enough of this tedious work, which fritters away

the interest of the audience ! Let me then most reverently salute

the honorable gentlemen, and announce our intention to produce

a drama called "The Little Clay Cart." Its author was a man

Who vied with elephants in lordly grace ;

Whose eyes were those of the chakora bird

That feeds on moonbeams; glorious his face

As the full moon ; his person, all have heard,

Was altogether lovely. First in worth

Among the twice-born was this poet, known

As Shudraka far over all the earth,

His virtue's depth unfathomed and alone. 3

2 ACT THE FIRST [I.HS.

And again :

The Samaveda, the Rigveda too,

The science mathematical, he knew;

The arts wherein fair courtezans excel,

And all the lore of elephants as well.

Through Shiva's grace, his eye was never dim ;

He saw his son a king in place of him.

The difficult horse-sacrifice he tried

Successfully; entered the fiery tide,

One hundred years and ten days old, and died. 4

And yet again :

Eager for battle; sloth's determined foe;

Of scholars chief, who to the Veda cling;

Rich in the riches that ascetics know;

Glad, gainst the foeman's elephant to show

His valor; such was Shudraka, the king. 5

And in this work of his,

Within the town, Avanti named,

Dwells one called Charudatta, famed

No less for youth than poverty;

A merchant's son and Brahman, he.

His virtues have the power to move

Vasantasena's inmost love ;

Fair as the springtime's radiancy,

And yet a courtezan is she. 6

So here king Shudraka the tale imparts

Of love's pure festival in these two hearts,

Of prudent acts, a lawsuit's wrong and hate,

A rascal's nature, and the course of fate. 7

[He walks about and looks around him.'] Why, this music-room of

ours is empty. I wonder where the actors have gone. [ReflectingJ]

Ah, I understand.

P. 4.7] PROLOGUE 3

Empty his house, to whom no child was born ;

Thrice empty his, who lacks true friends and sure;

To fools, the world is empty and forlorn;

But all that is, is empty to the poor. 8

I have finished the concert. And I Ve been practising so long that

the pupils ofmy eyes are dancing, and I'm so hungry that my eyes

are crackling like a lotus-seed, dried up by the fiercest rays of the

summer sun. Ill just call my wife and ask whether there is anything

for breakfast or not.

Hello! here I am but no! Both the particular occasion and the

general custom demand that I speak Prakrit. [Speakingin Prakrit.]

Confound it! I've been practising so long and I'm so hungry that

my limbs are as weak as dried-up lotus-stalks. Suppose I go home

and see whether my good wife has got anything ready or not. [He

walks about and looks around him.] Here I am at home. I'll just go

in. [He enters and looks about.] Merciful heavens ! Why in the world

is everything in our house turned upside down? A long stream of

rice-water is flowing down the street. The ground, spotted black

where the iron kettle has been rubbed clean, is as lovely as a girl

with the beauty-marks of black cosmetic on her face. It smells so

good that my hunger seems to blaze up and hurts me more than

ever. Has some hidden treasure come to light? or am I hungry

enough to think the whole world is made of rice? There surely isn't

any breakfast in our house, and I 'm starved to death. But everything

seems topsyturvy here. One girl is preparing cosmetics, another

is weaving garlands of flowers. [Reflecting.] What does it all

mean? Well, I'll call my good wife and learn the truth. [He looks

toward the dressing-room.'] Mistress, will you come here a moment?

[Enter an actress.]

Actress. Here I am, sir.

Director. You are very welcome, mistress.

Actress. Command me, sir. What am I to do?

4 ACT THE FIRST p.ss.

Director. Mistress, I've been practising so long and I'm so hungry

that my limbs are as weak as dried-up lotus-stalks. Is there anything

to eat in the house or not?

Actress. There's everything, sir.

Director. Well, what?

Actress. For instance there's rice with sugar, melted butter, curdled

milk, rice; and, all together, it makes you a dish fit for

heaven. May the gods always be thus gracious to you!

Director. All that in our house? or are you joking?

Actress. [Aside.] Yes, I will have my joke. [Aloud.] It's in the

market-place, sir.

Director. [Angrily] You wretched woman, thus shall your own

hope be cut off! And death shall find you out! For my expectations,

like a scaffolding, have been raised so high, only to fall again.

Actress. Forgive me, sir, forgive me! It was only a joke.

Director. But what do these unusual preparations mean? One girl

is preparing cosmetics, another is weaving garlands, and the very

ground is adorned with sacrificial flowers of five different colors.

Actress. This is a fast day, sir.

Director. What fast?

Actress. The fast for a handsome husband.

Director. In this world, mistress, or the next?

Actress. In the next world, sir.

Director. [Wrathfully] Gentlemen! look at this. She is sacrificing

my food to get herself a husband in the next world.

Actress. Don't be angry, sir. I am fasting in the hope that you

may be my husband in my next birth, too.

Director. But who suggested this fast to you ?

Actress. Your own dear friend Jiirnavriddha.

Director. [Angrily] Ah, Jiirnavriddha, son of a slave-wench!

When, oh, when shall I see King Palaka angry with you ? Then

P. s.io] PROLOGUE 5

you will be parted, as surely as the scented hair of some young

bride.

Actress. Don't be angry, sir. It is only that I may have you in the

next world that I celebrate this fast. [Shefalls at hisfeet.'}

Director. Stand up, mistress, and tell me who is to officiate at this

fast.

Actress. Some Brahman of our own sort whom we must invite.

Director. You may go then. And I will invite some Brahman of

our own sort.

Actress. Very well, sir. [Exit.

Director. [Walking about.'] Good heavens! In this rich city of

Ujjayim how am I to find a Brahman of our own sort? [He looks

about him.'] Ah, here comes Charudatta's friend Maitreya. Good!

I'll ask him. Maitreya, you must be the first to break bread in

our house to-day.

A voice behind the scenes. You must invite some other Brahman.

I am busy.

Director. But, man, the feast is set and you have it all to yourself.

Besides, you shall have a present.

The voice. I said no once. Why should you keep on urging me?

Director. He says no. Well, I must invite some other Brahman.

[Exit.

END OF THE PROLOGUE

ACT THE FIRST

THE GEMS ARE LEFT BEHIND

[Enter, with a cloak in his hand, Maitreya.~]

Maitreya.

YOU must invite some other Brahman. I am busy." And yet

I really ought to be seeking invitations from a stranger. Oh,

what a wretched state of affairs ! When good Charudatta was still

wealthy, I used to eat my fill of the most deliciously fragrant

sweetmeats, prepared day and night with the greatest of care. I

would sit at the door of the courtyard, where I was surrounded by

hundreds of dishes, and there, like a painter with his paint-boxes,

I would simply touch them with my fingers and thrust them aside.

I would stand chewing my cud like a bull in the city market.

And now he is so poor that I have to run here, there, and everywhere,

and come home, like the pigeons, only to roost. Now here

is this jasmine-scented cloak, which Charudatta's good friend

Jurnavriddha has sent him. He bade me give it to Charudatta, as

soon as he had finished his devotions. So now I will look for Charudatta.

[He walks about and looks around him.] Charudatta has

finished his devotions, and here he comes with an offering for the

divinities of the house.

[Enter Charudatta as described, and Radanikfi,.]

Charudatta. [Looking up and sighing wearily.,]

Upon my threshold, where the offering

Was straightway seized by swans and flocking cranes,

The grass grows now, and these poor seeds I fling

Fall where the mouth of worms their sweetness stains. 9

[He walks about very slowly and seats himself.]

Maitreya. Charudatta is here. I must go and speak to him. [Approaching.]

My greetings to you. May happiness be yours.

p. 13.1] THE GEMS ARE LEFT BEHIND 7

Charudatta. Ah, it is my constant friend Maitreya. You are very

welcome, my friend. Pray be seated.

Maitreya. Thank you. [He seats himself.'] Well, comrade, here is a

jasmine-scented cloak which your good friend Jurnavriddha has

sent. He bade me give it you as soon as you had finished your devotions.

[He presents the cloak. Charudatta takes it and remains

sunk in thought.] Well, what are you thinking about?

Charudatta. My good friend,

A candle shining through the deepest dark

Is happiness that follows sorrow's strife;

But after bliss when man bears sorrow's mark,

His body lives a very death-in-life. 10

Maitreya. Well, which would you rather, be dead or be poor?

Charudatta. Ah, my friend,

Far better death than sorrows sure and slow;

Some passing suffering from death may flow,

But poverty brings never-ending woe. 11

Maitreya. My dear friend, be not thus cast down. Your wealth has

been conveyed to them you love, and like the moon, after she has

yielded her nectar to the gods, your waning fortunes win an added

charm.

Charudatta. Comrade, I do not grieve for my ruined fortunes. But

This is my sorrow. They whom I

Would greet as guests, now pass me by.

"This is a poor man's house," they cry.

As flitting bees, the season o'er,

Desert the elephant, whose store

Of ichor 1

spent, attracts no more. 1 2

Maitreya. Oh, confound the money ! It is a trifle not worth thinking

about. It is like a cattle-boy in the woods afraid of wasps; it

does n't stay anywhere where it is used for food.

1 During the mating season, a fragrant liquor exudes from the forehead of the elephant. Of

this liquor bees are very fond.

8 ACT THE FIRST pus.

Charud. Believe me, friend. My sorrow does not spring

From simple loss of gold ;

For fortune is a fickle, changing thing,

Whose favors do not hold ;

But he whose sometime wealth has taken wing,

Finds bosom-friends grow cold. 13

Then too:

A poor man is a man ashamed ; from shame

Springs want of dignity and worthy fame;

Such want gives rise to insults hard to bear;

Thence comes despondency ; and thence, despair ;

Despair breeds folly ; death is folly's fruit

Ah! the lack of money is all evil's root! 14

Maitreya. But just remember what a trifle money is, after all, and

be more cheerful.

Charudatta. My friend, the poverty of a man is to him

A home of cares, a shame that haunts the mind,

Another form of warfare with mankind ;

The abhorrence of his friends, a source of hate

From strangers, and from each once-loving mate ;

But if his wife despise him, then 't were meet

In some lone wood to seek a safe retreat.

The flame of sorrow, torturing his soul,

Burns fiercely, yet contrives to leave him whole. 15

Comrade, I have made my offering to the divinities of the house.

Do you too go and offer sacrifice to the Divine Mothers at a place

where four roads meet.

Maitreya. No!

Charudatta. Why not?

Maitreya. Because the gods are not gracious to you even when

thus honored. So what is the use of worshiping?

Charudatta. Not so, my friend, not so! This is the constant duty

of a householder.

P. 16.8] THE GEMS ARE LEFT BEHIND 9

The gods feel ever glad content

In the gifts, and the self-chastisement,

The meditations, and the prayers,

Of those who banish worldly cares. 16

Why then do you hesitate ? Go and offer sacrifice to the Mothers.

Maitreya. No, I 'm not going. You must send somebody else. Anyway,

everything seems to go wrong with me, poor Brahman that

I am! It 's like a reflection in a mirror; the right side becomes the

left, and the left becomes the right. Besides, at this hour of the

evening, people are abroad upon the king's highway courtezans,

courtiers, servants, and royal favorites. They will take me now for

fair prey, just as the black-snake out frog-hunting snaps up the

mouse in his path. But what will you do sitting here?

Ch&rudatta. Good then, remain; and I will finish my devotions.

Voices behind the scenes. Stop, Vasantasena, stopl

[Enter Vasantasena, pursued by the courtier9 by Sansthanaka9 and

the servant."]

Courtier. Vasantasena! Stop, stop!

Ah, why should fear transform your tenderness?

Why should the dainty feet feel such distress,

That twinkle in the dance so prettily?

Why should your eyes, thus startled into fear,

Dart sidelong looks? Why, like the timid deer

Before pursuing hunters, should you flee? 17

Sansthanafca. Shtop,

1 Vasantasena, shtop!

Why flee? and run? and shtumble in your turning?

Be kind! You shall not die. Oh, shtop your feet!

With love, shweet girl, my tortured heart is burning,

As on a heap of coals a piece of meat. 18

1 The most striking peculiarity of Sansthanaka's dialect his substitution of sh for 8 I have

tried to imitate in the translation.

Om Tat Sat

(Continued ..)

(My humble salutations to Brahmasri Sudrakah and  greatfulness to Sreeman William Ryder

 for the collection)