MRCCHAKATIKA THE LITTLE CLAY CART by Sudrakah -2

INTRODUCTION

10 ACT THE FIRST [10.2 s.

Servant. Stop, courtezan, stop!

In fear you flee

Away from me,

As a summer peahen should ;

But my lord and master

Struts fast and faster,

Like a woodcock in the wood. 19

Courtier. Vasantasena! Stop, stop!

Why should you tremble, should you flee,

A-quiver like the plantain tree ?

Your garment's border, red and fair,

Is all a-shiver in the air;

Now and again, a lotus-bud

Falls to the ground, as red as blood.

A red realgar

1 vein you seem,

Whence, smitten, drops of crimson stream. 20

Sanstkanaka. Shtop, Vasantasena, shtop!

You wake my passion, my desire, my love ;

You drive away my shleep in bed at night;

Both fear and terror sheem your heart to move;

You trip and shtumble in your headlong flight.

But Havana forced Kunt! 2 to his will ;

Jusht sho shall I enjoy you to the fill. 21

Courtier. Ah, Vasantasena,

Why should your fleeter flight

Outstrip my flying feet ?

Why, like a snake in fright

Before the bird-king's might,

Thus seek to flee, my sweet?

1 Red arsenic, used as a cosmetic.

2 Here, as elsewhere, Sansthanaka's mythology is wildly confused. To a Hindu the effect must

be ludicrous enough ; but the humor is necessarily lost in a translation. It therefore seems hardly

worth while to explain his mythological vagaries in detail.

P. 19.9] THE GEMS ARE LEFT BEHIND 11

Could I not catch the storm-wind in his flight?

Yet would not seize upon you, though I might. 22

Sansthanaka. Lishten to me, shir !

Thish whip of robber Love, thish dancing-girl,

Eater of fish, deshtroyer of her kin,

Thish shnubnose, shtubborn, love-box, courtezan,

Thish clothes-line, wanton creature, maid of sin

I gave her ten shweet names, and shtill

She will not bend her to my will. 23

Courtier. As courtier's fingers strike the lute's tense string,

The dancing ear-ring smites your wounded cheek.

Why should you flee, with dreadful terror weak,

As flees the crane when heaven's thunders ring? 24

Sansth. Your jingling gems, girl, clink like anything;

Like Draupadi you flee, when Rama kisshed her.

I '11 sheize you quick, as once the monkey-king

Sheized Subhadra, Vishvavasu's shweet shishter. 25

Servant. He 's the royal protg ;

Do whatever he may say,

And you shall have good fish and flesh to eat.

For when dogs have all the fish

And the flesh that they can wish,

Even carrion seems to them no longer sweet. 26

Courtier. Mistress Vasantasena,

The girdle drooping low upon your hips

Flashes as brilliant as the shining stars;

The wondrous terror of your fleeing mars

Your charms; for red realgar, loosened, slips

As on an imaged god, from cheek and lips. 27

Sansth. We 're chasing you with all our main and might,

As dogs a jackal when they hunt and find it;

But you are quick and nimble in your flight,

And shteal my heart with all the roots that bind it. 28

12 ACT THE FIRST [n.s.

Vasantasenft. Pallavaka! Parabhritika!

Sansthanaka. Mashter! a man! a man!

Courtier. Don't be a coward.

Vasantasena. Madhavika! Madhavika!

Courtier. [Laughing.'] Fool ! She is calling her servants.

Sansthanaka. Mashter! Is she calling a woman?

Courtier. Why, of course.

Sansthanaka. Women ! I kill hundreds of 'em. I 'm a brave man.

Vasantasenn. [Seeing that no one answers.] Alas, how comes it that

my very servants have fallen away from me? I shall have to defend

myself by mother-wit.

Courtier. Don't stop the search.

Sansthanaka. Shqueal, Vasantasena, shqueal for your cuckoo Parabhritika,

or for your blosshom Pallavaka or for all the month of

May! Who's going to save you when I'm chasing you?

Why shpeak of Bhimasena? Or the shon

Of Jamadagni, that thrice-mighty one ?

The ten-necked ogre? Shon of KuntI fair?

Jusht look at me ! My fingers in your hair,

Jusht like Duhshasana, I'll tear, and tear. 29

Look, look!

My shword is sharp; good-by, poor head!

Let's chop it off, or kill you dead.

Then do not try my wrath to shun;

When you musht die, your life is done. 80

Vasantasena. Sir, I am a weak woman.

Courtier. That is why you are still alive.

Sansthanaka. That is why you're not murdered.

Vasantasena. [Aside.'] Oh! his very courtesy frightens me. Come,

I will try this. [Aloud.] Sir, what do you expect from this pursuit ?

my jewels?

P. 24.7] THE GEMS ARE LEFT BEHIND 13

Courtier. Heaven forbid I A garden creeper, mistress Vasantasena,

should not be robbed of its blossoms. Say no more about the jewels.

Vasantasena. What is then your desire?

Sansthanaka. I'm a man, a big man, a regular Vasudeva.1 You

musht love me.

Vasantasena. [Indignantly.] Heavens ! You weary me. Come, leave

me ! Your words are an insult.

Sansthanaka. [Laughing and clapping his hands] Look, mashter,

look! The courtezan's daughter is mighty affectionate with me,

is n't she ? Here she says

" Come on ! Heavens, you 're weary. You 're

tired !

"

No, I have n't been walking to another village or another

city. No, little mishtress, I shwear by the gentleman's head, I

shwear by my own feet! It's only by chasing about at your heels

that I Ve grown tired and weary.

Courtier. [Aside] What! is it possible that the idiot does not

understand when she says "You weary me"? [Aloud] Vasantasena,

your words have no place in the dwelling of a courtezan,

Which, as you know, is friend to every youth ;

Remember, you are common as the flower

That grows beside the road; in bitter truth,

Your body has its price ; your beauty's dower

Is his, who pays the market's current rate:

Then serve the man you love, and him you hate. 31

And again:

The wisest Brahman and the meanest fool

Bathe in the selfsame pool ;

Beneath the peacock, flowering plants bend low,

No less beneath the crow;

The Brahman, warrior, merchant, sail along

With all the vulgar throng.

You are the pool, the flowering plant, the boat;

And on your beauty every man may dote. 32

1 A name of Krishna, who is perhaps the most amorous character in Indian story.

14 ACT THE FIRST [laws.

Vasantasenft. Yet true love would be won by virtue, not violence.

Sansthanaka. But, mashter, ever since the shlave-wench went into

the park where Kama's1

temple shtands, she has been in love with

a poor man, with Charudatta, and she doesn't love me any more.

His house is to the left. Look out and don't let her shlip out of our

hands.

Courtier. [Aside.] Poor fool, he has said the very thing he should

have concealed. So Vasantasena is in love with Charudatta? The

proverb is right. Pearl suits with pearl. Well, I have had enough

of this fool. [Aloud.'] Did you say the good merchant's house was

to the left, you jackass?

Sansthanaka. Yes. His house is to the left.

Vasantasena. [Axide.] Oh, wonderful ! If his house is really at my

left hand, then the scoundrel has helped me in the very act of hurting

me, for he has guided me to my love.

Sansthanaka. But mashter, it's pitch dark and it's like hunting

for a grain of soot in a pile of shpotted beans. Now you shee Vasantasena

and now you don't.

Courtier. Pitch dark it is indeed.

The sudden darkness seems to steal

The keenness of my sight;

My open eyes, as with a seal,

Are closed by blackest night. 33

And again :

Darkness anoints my body, and the sky

Drops ointment of thick darkness, till mine eye

Is all unprofitable grown to me,

Like service done to them who cheat and lie. 34

Sansthanaka. Mashter, I 'm looking for Vasantasena.

Courtier. Is there anything you can trace her by, jackass?

Sansthanaka. Like what, for inshtance?

i Cupid.

p. 28.3] THE GEMS ARE LEFT BEHIND 15

Courtier. Like the tinkling of her jewels, for instance, or the fragrance

of her garlands.

Sansth&naka. I hear the shmell of her garlands, but my nose is

shtuffed so full of darkness that I don't shee the shound of her

jewels very clearly.

Courtier. [To Vasantasenft. Aside.] Vasantasena,

T is true, the night is dark, O timid maid,

And like the lightning hidden in the cloud,

You are not seen; yet you will be betrayed

By fragrant garlands and by anklets loud. 35

Have you heard me, Vasantasena?

Vasantasenci. {To herself.] Heard and understood. [She removes

the ankle-rings, lays aside the garlands, and takes afew steps,feeling

her way.] I can feel the wall of the house, and here is a sideentrance.

But alas! my fingers tell me that the door is shut.

Ch&rudatta [who is within the house']. Comrade, my prayer is done.

Go now and offer sacrifice to the Mothers.

Maitreya. No, I 'm not going.

Charudatta. Alas!

The poor man's kinsmen do not heed his will;

The friends who loved him once, now stand afar;

His sorrows multiply; his strength is nil;

Behold ! his character's bright-shining star

Fades like the waning moon ; and deeds of ill

That others do, are counted to him still. 36

And again:

No man holds converse with him; none will greet

With due respect the poor man when they meet.

Where rich men hold a feast, if he draw near,

He meets with scornful looks for looks of cheer.

16 ACT THE FIRST [15.19 s.

Where vulgar throngs are gathered, 'tis the same;

His scanty raiment wakes his heartfelt shame.

Five are the deadly sins 1 we knew before;

Alas! I find the sixth is to be poor. 37

And yet again :

Ah, Poverty, I pity thee, that so

To me thou clingest, as thy dearest friend;

When my poor life has met its woeful end,

I sadly wonder, whither thou wilt go. 38

Maitreya. \Betrayinghis embarrassment.'] Well, comrade, if I must

go, at least let Radanika go with me, to keep me company.

Chfirudatta. Radanika, you are to accompany Maitreya.

Radanika. Yes, sir.

Maitreya. Mistress Radanika, do you take the offering and the

candle while I open the side-door. [He does so.']

Vasantasenn. It seems as if the door took pity on me and opened

of itself. I will lose no time, but enter. [She looks in.~] What? a

candle? Oh dear, oh dear! [Sheputs it out with her skirt and enters.]

Charudatta. What was that, Maitreya?

Maitreya. I opened the side-door and the wind came through all

in a lump and blew out the candle. Suppose you go out by the

side-door, Radanika, and I will follow as soon as I have gone into

the courtyard and lighted the candle again. [Exit.

Sansth&naka. Mashter! mashter! I 'm looking for Vasantasena.

Courtier. Keep on looking, keep on looking!

Sanstkanaka. [Does so.] Mashter! mashter! I Ve caught her! I Ve

caught her!

Courtier. Idiot, you Ve caught me.

Sansth&naka. You shtand right here, mashter, and shtay where

you 're put. [He renews the search and seizes the servant.] Mashter!

1 The five deadly sins are : the slaying of a Brahman, the drinking of wine, theft, adultery

with the wife of one's teacher, and association with one guilty of these crimes.

P. 3i.3] THE GEMS ARE LEFT BEHIND 17

mashter! I Ve caught her! I Ve caught her!

Servant. Master, you Ve caught me, your servant.

Sansthanaka. Mashter here, shervant here! Mashter, shervant;

shervant, mashter. Now shtay where you 're put, both of you. [He

renews the search and seizes Radanika by the hair.~] Mashter! mashter!

Thish time I Ve caught her! I Ve caught Vasantasena!

Through the black night she fled, fled she ;

Her garland's shmell betrayed her;

Like Chanakya caught DraupadI,

I caught her hair and shtayed her. 39

Courtier. Ah, proud to be so young, so fair !

Too high thy love must not aspire;

For now thy blossom-fragrant hair,

That merits richest gems and rare,

Serves but to drag thee through the mire, 40

Sansth. I Ve got your head, girl, got it tight,

By the hair, the locks, and the curls, too.

Now shcream, shqueak, shqueal with all your might

"Shiva! Ishvara! Shankara! Shambhu!" 1 41

Radanikft. [In terror.~] Oh, sirs, what does this mean?

Courtier. You jackass! It's another voice.

Sansthanaka. Mashter, the wench has changed her voice, the way a

cat changes her voice,when she wants shome cream of curdled milk.

Courtier. Changed her voice? Strange! Yet why so strange?

She trod the stage; she learned the arts;

She studied to deceive our hearts;

And now she practises her parts. 42

[Enter Maitreya.~]

Maitreya. Look ! In the gentle evening breeze the flame of the

candle is fluttering like the heart of a goat that goes to the altar.

[He approaches and discove?*s Radanika.] Mistress Radanika!

1 These are all epithets of the same god.

18 ACT THE FIRST [n.ns.

Sansthanaka. Mashter, mashter! A man! a man!

Maitreya. This is right, this is perfectly right, that strangers should

force their way into the house, just because Charudatta is poor.

Radanika. Oh, Maitreya, see how they insult me.

Maitreya. What! insult you? No, they are insulting us.

Radanika. Very well. They are insulting you, then.

Maitreya. But they aren't using violence?

Radanika. Yes, yes!

Maitreya. Really?

Radanika. Really.

Maitreya. [Raising his staffangrily.] No, sir! Man, a dog will show

his teeth in his own kennel, and I am a Brahman! Mystaff is crooked

as my fortunes, but it can still split a dry bamboo or a rascal's pate.

Courtier. Have mercy, O great Brahman, have mercy.

Maitreya. [Discovers the courtier.'] He is not the sinner. [Discovers

Sansthanaka.] Ah, here is the sinner. Well, you brother-in-law to

the king, Sansthanaka, you scoundrel, you coward, this is perfectly

proper, isn't it? Charudatta the good is a poor man now true,

but are not his virtues an ornament to UjjayinI? And so men break

into his house and insult his servants !

Insult not him, laid low by poverty;

For none are counted poor by mighty fate:

Yet he who falls from virtue's high estate,

Though he be rich, no man is poor as he. 43

Courtier. [Betraying his embarrassment.] Have mercy, O great

Brahman, have mercy. We intended no insolence; we merely mistook

this lady for another. For

We sought an amorous maiden,

Maitreya. What! this one?

Courtier. Heaven forbid !

one whose youth

Is in the guidance of her own sweet will;

P. 35.4] THE GEMS ARE LEFT BEHIND 19

She disappeared ; unconscious of the truth,

We did what seems a purposed deed of ill. 44

I pray you, accept this all-in-all ofhumblest supplication. [Hedrops

his sword, folds his hands, andJails at Maitreyasfeet.]

Maitreya. Good man, rise, rise. When I reviled you, I did not know

you. Now I know you and I ask your pardon.

Courtier. It is I who should ask pardon. I will rise on one condition.

Maitreya. And that is

Courtier. That you will not tell Charudatta what has happened here.

Maitreya. I will be silent.

Courtier. Brahman, this gracious act of thine

I bow my neck to bear;

For never could this sword of mine

With virtue's steel compare. 45

Sansthanaka. [Indignantly.] But mashter, what makes you fold

your hands sho helplesshly and fall at the feet of thish manikin?

Courtier. I was afraid.

Sansthanaka. What were you afraid of?

Courtier. Of Charudatta's virtues.

Sansthanaka. Virtues? He? You can go into his houshe and not

find a thing to eat.

Courtier. No, no.

His loving-kindness unto such as we

Has brought him low at last;

From him could no man learn what insults be,

Or e'er his wealth was past.

This well-filled pool, that in its summer day

Gave others drink, itself is dried away. 46

Sansthanaka. [Impatiently] Who is the shon of a shlave-wench

anyway?

Brave Shvetaketu is he, Pandu's child?

Or Radha's shon, the ten-necked ogre wild?

20 ACT THE FIRST [w.ws.

Or Indradatta? or again, is he

Shon of brave Rama and of fair Kunti?

Or Dharmaputra ? Ashvatthaman bold ?

Perhaps Jatayu's shelf, that vulture old? 47

Courtier. Fool! I will tell you who Charudatta is.

A tree of life to them whose sorrows grow,

Beneath its fruit of virtue bending low;

Father to good men; virtue's touchstone he;

The mirror of the learned; and the sea

Where all the tides of character unite;

A righteous man, whom pride could never blight;

A treasure-house, with human virtues stored;

Courtesy's essence, honor's precious hoard.

He doth to life its fullest meaning give,

So good is he; we others breathe, not live. 48

Let us be gone.

Sansthanaka. Without Vasantasena?

Courtier. Vasantasena has disappeared.

Sansthanaka. How?

Courtier. Like sick men's strength, or like the blind man's sight,

Like the fool's judgment, like the sluggard's might,

Like thoughtless scoundrels' store of wisdom's light,

Like love, when foemen fan our slumbering wrath,

So did she vanish, when you crossed her path. 49

Sansthanaka. I 'm not going without Vasantasena.

Courtier. And did you never hear this?

To hold a horse, you need a rein ;

To hold an elephant, a chain;

To hold a woman, use a heart;

And if you have n't one, depart. 50

Sansthanaka. If you 're going, go along. I 'm not going.

Courtier. Very well. I will go. [Exit

P. 38.2] THE GEMS ARE LEFT BEHIND 21

Sansthanaka. Mashter's gone, sure enough. {To Maitreya.'] Well,

you man with the head that looks like a caret, you manikin, take a

sheat, take a sheat.

Maitreya. We have already been invited to take a seat.

Sansthanaka. By whom?

Maitreya. By destiny.

Sansthanaka. Shtand up, then, shtand up!

Maitreya. We shall.

Sansthanaka. When?

Maitreya. When fate is kind again.

Sansthanaka. Weep, then, weep!

Maitreya. We have wept.

Sansthanaka. Who made you?

Maitreya. Poverty.

Sansthanaka. Laugh, then, laugh!

Maitreya. Laugh we shall.

Sansthanaka. When?

Maitreya. When Charudatta is happy once more.

Sansthanaka. You manikin, give poor little Charudatta thish messhage

from me. "Thish wench with golden ornaments and golden

jewels, thish female shtage-manager looking after the rehearsal of

a new play, thish Vasantasena she has been in love with you ever

shince she went into the park where Kama's temple shtands. And

when we tried to conciliate her by force, she went into your houshe.

Now if you shend her away yourshelf and hand her over to me, if

you reshtore her at once, without any lawshuit in court, then I '11

be friends with you forever. But if you don't reshtore her, there

will be a fight to the death." Remember:

Shmear a pumpkin-shtalk with cow-dung;

Keep your vegetables dried ;

Cook your rice in winter evenings;

22 ACT THE FIRST [21.17 s.

And be sure your meat is fried.

Then let 'em shtand, and they will not

Bothershomely shmell and rot. 51

Tell it to him prettily, tell it to him craftily. Tell it to him sho that

I can hear it as I roosht in the dove-cote on the top of my own

palace. If you shay it different, I '11 chew your head like an apple

caught in the crack of a door.

Maitreya. Very well. I shall tell him.

Sansthanaka. [Aside.] Tell me, shervant. Is mashter really gone?

Servant. Yes, sir.

Sansthanaka. Then we will go as quickly as we can.

Servant. Then take your sword, master.

Sansthanaka. You can keep it.

Servant. Here it is, master. Take your sword, master.

Sansthanaka. [Taking it by the wrong end.]

My shword, red as a radish shkin,

Ne'er finds the time to molder;

Shee how it shleeps its sheath within!

I put it on my shoulder.

While curs and bitches yelp at me, I roam,

Like a hunted jackal, home. 52

[Sansthanaka and the servant walk about, then exeunt.

Maitreya. Mistress Radanika, you must not tell good Charudatta

of this outrage. I am sure you would only add to the poor man's

sorrows.

Radanika. Good Maitreya, you know Radanika. Her lips are sealed.

Maitreya. So be it.

Charudatta. [To Fasantasend,.] Radanika, Rohasena likes the fresh

air, but he will be cold in the evening chill. Pray bring him into the

house, and cover him with this mantle. [He gives her the mantle.]

P. 42.12] THE GEMS ARE LEFT BEHIND 23

Vasantasena. [To herself] See! He thinks I am his servant. [She

takes the mantle andperceives its perfume. Ardently to herself.] Oh,

beautiful 1 The mantle is fragrant with jasmine. His youthful days

are not wholly indifferent to the pleasures of the world. [She wraps

it about her, without letting Charudatta see.]

Charudatta. Come, Radanika, take Rohasena and enter the heart

of the house.

Vasantasena. [To herself.] Ah me unhappy, that have little part

or lot in your heart!

Charudatta. Come, Radanika, will you not even answer? Alas!

When man once sees that miserable day,

When fate almighty sweeps his wealth away,

Then ancient friendships will no longer hold,

Then all his former bosom-friends grow cold. 53

Maitreya. [Drawing1 near to Radanika.] Sir, here is Radanika.

Charudatta. Here is Radanika? Who then is this

This unknown lady, by my robe

Thus clinging, desecrated,

Vasantasena. [To herself.] Say rather "consecrated."

Charudatta.

Until she seems the crescent moon,

With clouds of autumn 1 mated? 54

But no! I may not gaze upon another's wife.

Maitreya. Oh, you need not fear that you are looking at another

man's wife. This is Vasantasena, who has been in love with you

ever since she saw you in the garden where Kama's temple stands.

Charudatta. What! this is Vasantasena? [Aside]

My love for whom my fortune spent

My wretched self in twain has rent,

Like coward's anger, inward bent. 55

1 Which look pretty, but do not rain. He doubtless means to suggest that the cloak, belonging

to a strange man, is as useless to Vasantasena as the veil of autumn clouds to the earth.

24 ACT THE FIRST [23.195.

Maitreya. My friend, that brother-in-law of the king says

Charudatta. Well?

Maitreya. "This wench with golden ornaments and golden jewels,

this female stage-manager looking after the rehearsal of a new

play, this Vasantasena she has been in love with you ever since

she went into the park where Kama's temple stands. And when we

tried to conciliate her by force, she went into your house."

Vasantasena [To herself.] "Tried to conciliate me by force"

truly, I am honored by these words.

Maitreya. "Now if you send her away yourself and hand her over

to me, if you restore her at once, without any lawsuit in court,

then I '11 be friends with you forever. Otherwise, there will be a

fight to the death."

Charudatta. [Contemptuously.'] He is a fool. [To himself.'] How is

this maiden worthy of the worship that we pay a goddess 1 For now

Although I bade her enter, yet she seeks

To spare my poverty, nor enters here;

Though men are known to her, yet all she speaks

Contains no word to wound a modest ear. 56

[Aloud.] Mistress Vasantasena, I have unwittingly made myself

guilty of an offense ; for I greeted as a servant one whom I did not

recognize. I bend my neck to ask your pardon.

Vasantasena. It is I who have offended by this unseemly intrusion.

I bow my head to seek your forgiveness.

Maitreya. Yes, with your pretty bows you two have knocked your

heads together, till they look like a couple of rice-fields. I also bow

my head like a camel colt's knee and beseech you both to stand

up. \He does so, then rises.']

Charudatta. Very well, let us no longer trouble ourselves with conventions.

Vasantasena. [To herself.'] What a delightfully clever hint! But

it would hardly be proper to spend the night, considering how I

P. 45.14] THE GEMS ARE LEFT BEHIND 25

came hither. Well, I will at least say this much. [Aloud.] If I am

to receive thus much of your favor, sir, I should be glad to leave

these jewels in your house. It was for the sake of the jewels that

those scoundrels pursued me.

Charudatta. This house is not worthy of the trust.

Vasantasena. You mistake, sir! It is to men that treasures are entrusted,

not to houses.

Charudatta. Maitreya, will you receive the jewels?

Vasantasena. I am much indebted to you. {She hands him the

jewels.]

Maitreya. [Receiving them.'] Heaven bless you, madam.

Charudatta. Fool! They are only entrusted to us.

Maitreya. [Aside."] Then the thieves may take them, for all I care.

Charudatta. In a very short time

Maitreya. What she has entrusted to us, belongs to us.

Charudatta. I shall restore them.

Vasantasena. I should be grateful, sir, if this gentleman would

accompany me home.

Charudatta. Maitreya, pray accompany our guest.

Maitreya. She walks as gracefully as a female swan, and you are

the gay flamingo to accompany her. But I am only a poor Brahman,

and wherever I go, the people will fall upon me just as dogs will

snap at a victim dragged to the cross-roads.

Charudatta. Very well. I will accompany her myself. Let the

torches be lighted, to ensure our safety on the highway.

Maitreya. Vardhamanaka, light the torches.

Vardhamanaka. {Aside to Maitreija.'} What! light torches without

oil?

Maitreya. [Aside to Charudatta.] These torches of ours are like

courtezans who despise their poor lovers. They won't light up unless

you feed them.

26 ACT THE FIRST [25.233.

Charudatta. Enough, Maitreya ! We need no torches. See, we have

a lamp upon the king's highway.

Attended by her starry servants all,

And pale to see as a loving maiden's cheeks,

Rises before our eyes the moon's bright ball,

Whose pure beams on the high-piled darkness fall

Like streaming milk that dried-up marshes seeks. 57

[His voice betraying' his passion.'] Mistress Vasantasena, we have

reached your home. Pray enter. [ Vasantasenagazes ardently at him,

then exit.'} Comrade, Vasantasena is gone. Come, let us go home.

All creatures from the highway take their flight;

The watchmen pace their rounds before our sight;

To forestall treachery, is just and right,

For many sins find shelter in the night. 58

[He walks about.'] And you shall guard this golden casket by night,

and Vardhamanaka by day.

Maitreya. Very well. [Exeunt ambo.

ACT THE SECOND

THE SHAMPOOER1 WHO GAMBLED

Maid. Writer a maid.]

I

AM sent with a message to my mistress by her mother. I must

go in and find my mistress. [She walks about and looks around

her.~] There is my mistress. She is painting a picture, and putting

her whole heart into it. I must go and speak to her.

[Then appear the love-lorn Vasantasena, seated^ and Madanika]

Vasantasenft. Well, girl, and then

Madanikn. But mistress, you were not speaking of anything. What

do you mean ?

Vasantasena. Why, what did I say?

Madanika. You said, "and then"

Vasantasenft. [Puckering her brows.] Oh, yes. So I did.

Maid. [Approaching.] Mistress, your mother sends word that you

should bathe and then offer worship to the gods.

Vasantasenft. You may tell my mother that I shall not take the

ceremonial bath to-day.ABrahman must offer worship in my place.

Maid. Yes, mistress. [Exit.

Madanika. My dear mistress, it is love, not naughtiness, that asks

the question but what does this mean?

Vasantasena. Tell me, Madanika. How do I seem to you ?

Madanika. My mistress is so absent-minded that I know her heart

is filled with longing for somebody.

Vasantasena. Well guessed. My Madanika is quick to fathom

another's heart.

Madanika. I am very, very glad. Yes, Kama is indeed mighty, and

1 Perhaps masseur would be more accurate.

28 ACT THE SECOND [*us.

his great festival is welcome when one is young. But tell me, mistress,

is it a king, or a king's favorite, whom you worship ?

Vasantasena. Girl, I wish to love, not to worship.

Madanika. Is it a Brahman that excites your passion, some youth

distinguished for very particular learning?

Vasantasena. A Brahman I should have to reverence.

Madanika. Or is it some young merchant, grown enormously

wealthy from visiting many cities?

Vasantasena. A merchant, girl, must go to other countries and

leave you behind, no matter how much you love him. And the

separation makes you very sad.

Madanika. It is n't a king, nor a favorite, nor a Brahman, nor a

merchant. Who is it then that the princess loves ?

Vasantasena. Girl! Girl! You went with me to the park where

Kama's temple stands?

Madanika. Yes, mistress.

Vasantasena. And yet you ask, as if you were a perfect stranger.

Madanika. Now I know. Is it the man who comforted you when

you asked to be protected?

Vasantasena. Well, what was his name?

Madanika. Why, he lives in the merchants' quarter.

Vasantasena. But I asked you for his name.

Madanika. His name, mistress, is a good omen in itself. His name

is Charudatta.

Vasantasena. \Joyj ully.~\ Good, Madanika, good. You have guessed

it.

Madanika. [Aside.] So much for that. [Aloud.] Mistress, they say

he is poor.

Vasantasena. That is the very reason why I love him. For a courtezan

who sets her heart on a poor man is blameless in the eyes of

the world.

P.W.H] THE SHAMPOOER WHO GAMBLED 29

Madanika. But mistress, do the butterflies visit the mango-tree

when its blossoms have fallen?

Vasantasena. That is just why we call that sort of a girl a butterfly.

Madanika. Well, mistress, if you love him, why don't you go and

visit him at once?

Vasantasena. Girl, if I should visit him at once, then, because he

can't make any return no, I don't mean that, but it would be

hard to see him.

Madanikft. Is that the reason why you left your jewels with him?

Vasantasenft. You have guessed it.

A voice l behind the scenes. Oh, sir, a shampooer owes me ten goldpieces,

and he got away from us. Hold him, hold him! [To thefleeing

shampooer.^ Stop, stop! I see you from here. \Enter hurriedly

afrightened shampooer.']

Shampooer. Oh, confound this gambling business!

Freed from its tether, the ace

I might better say "ass" how it kicks me!

And the cast of the dice called the "spear"

Proves true to its name; for it sticks me. 1

The keeper's whole attention

Was busy with the score;

So it took no great invention

To vanish through the door.

But I cannot stand forever

In the unprotected street.

Is there no one to deliver?

I would fall before his feet. 2

While the keeper and the gambler are looking somewhere else

for me, I'll just walk backwards into this empty temple and turn

goddess. [He makes all sorts ofgestures, takes his place, and waits.

Enter Mathura and the gambler'.]

1 That of Mathura, the keeper of the gambling-house.

30 ACT THE SECOND [so.is.

Mathura. Oh, sir, a shampooer owes me ten gold-pieces, and he got

away from us. Hold him, hold him! Stop, stop! I see you from

here.

Gambler. You may run to hell, if they'll take you in;

With Indra, the god, you may stay:

For there's never a god can save your skin,

While Mathura wants his pay. 3

Mathura. Oh, whither flee you, nimble rambler,

You that cheat an honest gambler ?

You that shake with fear and shiver,

All a-tremble, all a-quiver;

You that cannot trip enough,

On the level ground and rough;

You that stain your social station,

Family, and reputation! 4

Gambler. {Examining the footprints.] Here he goes. And here the

tracks are lost.

M&thura. [Gazes at thefootprints. Reflectively.] Look! The feet are

turned around. And the temple has n't any image. [After a moment's

thought.] That rogue of a shampooer has gone into the temple

with his feet turned around.

Gambler. Let's follow him.

Mathura. All right. [They enter the temple and take a good look,

then make signs to each other.]

Gambler. What! a wooden image?

Mathura. Of course not. It 's stone. [He shakes it with all his might,

then makes signs.] What do we care? Come, let's have a game. [He

starts to gamble as hard as he can.]

Shampooer. [Trying with all his might to repress the gambling

fever. Aside.] Oh, oh!

Oh, the rattle of dice is a charming thing,

When you have n't a copper left;

p. ae.io] THE SHAMPOOER WHO GAMBLED 31

It works like a drum on the heart of a king,

Of all his realm bereft. 5

For gamblers leap down a mountain steep

I know I shall not play.

Yet the rattle of dice is as sweet as the peep

Of nightingales in May. 6

Gambler. My turn, my turn!

M&thura. Not much! it's my turn.

Shampooer. [Coming up quicklyfrom behind.] Isn't it my turn?

Gambler. We Ve got our man.

Mctthura. [Seizing him.'] You jail-bird, you 're caught. Pay me

my ten gold-pieces.

Shampooer. I '11 pay you this very day.

Mathura. Pay me this very minute!

Shampooer. 1 11 pay you. Only have mercy!

M&thura. Come, will you pay me now?

Shampooer. My head is getting dizzy. [Hefalls to the ground. The

others beat him with all their might.]

Mathura. There [drawing the gamblers ring] you're bound by

the gamblers' ring.

Shampooer. [Rises. Despairingly.] What! bound by the gamblers'

ring? Confound it! That is a limit which we gamblers can't pass.

Where can I get the money to pay him?

M&thura. Well then, you must give surety.

Shampooer. I have an idea. [He nudges the gambler.] I'll give you

half, if you'll forgive me the other half.

Gambler. All right.

Shampooer. [To M&thura.] 1 11 give you surety for a half. You

might forgive me the other half.

M&thura. All right. Where 's the harm?

Shampooer. [Aloud.] Yoti forgave me a half, sir?

32 ACT THE SECOND [

Mftthura. Yes.

Shampooer. [To the gambler.] And you forgave me a half?

Gambler. Yes.

Shampooer. Then I think I '11 be going.

Mathura. Pay me my ten gold-pieces! Where are you going?

Shampooer. Look at this, gentlemen, look at this ! Here I just gave

surety to one of them for a half, and the other forgave me a half.

And even after that he is dunning me, poor helpless rne !

M&thura. [Seizing him.] My name is Mathura, the clever swindler,

and you 're not going to swindle me this time. Pay up, jail-bird,

every bit of my money, and this minute, too.

Shampooer. How can I pay?

Mathura. Sell your father and pay.

Shampooer. Where can I get a father?

M&thura. Sell your mother and pay.

Shampooer. Where can I get a mother?

Mathura. Sell yourself and pay.

Shampooer. Have mercy! Lead me to the king's highway.

M&thura. Go ahead.

Shampooer. If it must be. [He walks about.] Gentlemen, will you

buy me for ten gold-pieces from this gambling-master? [He sees

a passer-by and calls out.] What is that? You wish to know what

I can do? I will be your house-servant. What! he has gone without

even answering. Well, here 's another. 1 11 speak to him. [He repeats

his offer.] What ! this one too takes no notice of me. He is

gone. Confound it ! I Ve had hard luck ever since Charudatta lost

his fortune.

M&thura. Will you pay?

Shampooer. How can I pay? [Hefalls down. Mathura drags him

about.] Good gentlemen, save me, save me ! [Enter Darduraka.]

Darduraka. Yes, gambling is a kingdom without a throne.

P. 6i.5] THE SHAMPOOER WHO GAMBLED 33

You do not mind defeat at all ;

Great are the sums you spend and win ;

While kingly revenues roll in,

Rich men, like slaves, before you fall. 7

And again :

You earn your coin by gambling,

Your friends and wife by gambling,

Your gifts and food by gambling;

Your last cent goes by gambling. 8

And again:

My cash was taken by the trey;

The deuce then took my health away;

The ace then set me on the street;

The four completed my defeat. 9

[He looks before him.] Here comes Mathura, our sometime gambling-

master. Well, as I can't escape, I think 1 11 put on my veil.

[He makes any number ofgestures with his cloak, then examines it.]

This cloth is sadly indigent in thread;

This lovely cloth lets in a lot of light;

This cloth's protective power is nearly fled;

This cloth is pretty when it 's rolled up tight. 10

Yet after all, what more could a poor saint do ? For you see,

One foot I Ve planted in the sky,

The other on the ground must lie.

1

The elevation 's rather high,

But the sun stands it Why can't I? 11

Mftthura. Pay, pay!

Shampooer. How can I pay? [Mathura drags him about]

Darduraka. Well, well, what is this I see? [He addresses a bystander]

What did you say, sir? "This shampooer is being maltreated

by the gambling-master, and no one will save him" ? 1 11

save him myself. [He pressesforward] Stand back, stand back!

*

1 A humorously exaggerated reference to Indian ascetic practices.

34 ACT THE SECOND

[He takes a lookJ] Well, if this is n't that swindler Mathura. And

here is the poor saintly shampooer; a saint to be sure,

Who does not hang with bended head

Rigid till set of sun,

Who does not rub his back with sand

Till boils begin to run,

Whose shins dogs may not browse upon,

As they pass him in their rambling.

1

Why should this tall and dainty man

Be so in love with gambling? 12

Well, I must pacify Mathura. [He approaches.] How do you do,

Mathura? [Mathura returns the greeting.']

Darduraka. What does this mean?

Mathura. He owes me ten gold-pieces.

Darduraka. A mere bagatelle!

Mathura. [Pulling the rolled-up cloak from under Darduraka s

arm.'] Look, gentlemen, look! The man in the ragged cloak calls

ten gold-pieces a mere bagatelle.

Darduraka. My good fool, don't I risk ten gold-pieces on a cast

of the dice? Suppose a man has money is that any reason why

he should put it in his bosom and show it? But you,

You'll lose your caste, you'll lose your soul,

For ten gold-pieces that he stole,

To kill a man that's sound and whole,

With five good senses in him. 13

Mathura. Ten gold-pieces may be a mere bagatelle to you, sir. To

me they are a fortune.

Darduraka. Well then, listen to me. Just give him ten more, and

let him go to gambling again.

Mathura. And what then?

Darduraka. If he wins, he will pay you.

1 See note on page 33.

P. 63.12] THE SHAMPOOER WHO GAMBLED 35

Mathura. And if he does n't win?

Darduraka. Then he won't pay you.

Mathura. This is no time for nonsense. If you say that, you can

give him the money yourself. My name is Mathura. I'm a swindler

and I play a crooked game, and I 'm not afraid of anybody. You

are an immoral scoundrel.

Darduraka. Who did you say was immoral?

Mathura. You're immoral.

Darduraka. Your father is immoral. [He gives the shampooer a

sign to escape.]

M&thura. You cur! That is just the way that you gamble.

Darduraka. That is the way I gamble?

Mathura. Come, shampooer, pay me my ten gold-pieces.

Shampooer. I '11 pay you this very day. I '11 pay at once. [Mathura

drags him about.]

Darduraka. Fool! You may maltreat him when I am away, but

not before rny eyes.

[Mathura seizes the shampooer and hits him on the nose. The shampooer

bleeds, faints, andfallsflat. Darduraka approaches and interferes.

Mathura strikes Darduraka, and Darduraka strikes backJ]

Mathura. Oh, oh, you accursed hound ! But I '11 pay you for this.

Darduraka. My good fool, I was walking peaceably along the

street, and you struck me. If you strike me to-morrow in court,

then you will open your eyes.

Mathura. Yes, I '11 open my eyes.

Darduraka. How will you open your eyes?

Mathura. [Opening his eyes wide.] This is the way I'll open my

eyes.

[Darduraka throws dust in Mathura"s eyes, and gives the shampooer

a sign to escape. Mathura shuts his eyes andfalls down. The shampooer

escapes.]

Om Tat Sat

(Continued ..)

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

 for the collection)