The Little Clay Cart by Sudraka (best classic romance novels TXT) 📕
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 rule[11] that the name of a drama of invention should be formed by compounding the names of heroine and hero.[12] Again, the books prescribe[13] 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 Dushyanta[14] or even Rama[15] can
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Nor on the truth that eye will bend;
Though telling all, I cannot fly
A wretched and inglorious end.32
Judge. Alas! Alas!
Beside them both there seems to rise
A comet-planet[84] in the skies.33
Gild-warden and Clerk. [Looking at the casket. To Vasantasenā's mother.] Madam, pray examine this golden casket attentively, to see whether it be the same or not.
Mother. [Examining the casket.] It is similar, but not the same.
Sansthānaka. Oh, you old bawd! You confessh it with your eyes, and deny it with your lips.
Mother. Away, you scoundrel!
Gild-warden and Clerk. Speak carefully. Is it the same or not?
Mother. Sir, the craftsman's skill captivates the eye. But it is not the same.
Judge. My good woman, do you know these jewels?
Mother. No, I said. No! I don't recognize them; but perhaps they were made by the same craftsman.
Judge. Gild-warden, see!
When the artist's mind on form and beauty plays;
For craftsmen imitate what they have seen,
And skilful hands remake what once has been.34
Gild-warden and Clerk. Do these jewels belong to Chārudatta?
Chārudatta. Never!
Gild-warden and Clerk. To whom then?
[153.12. S.
Chārudatta. To this lady's daughter.
Gild-warden and Clerk. How did she lose them?
Chārudatta. She lost them. Yes, so much is true.
Gild-warden and Clerk. Chārudatta, speak the truth in this matter. For you must remember,
Through speaking truth, no evils rise;
Truth, precious syllable!—Refrain
From hiding truth in lies.35
Chārudatta. The jewels, the jewels! I do not know. But I do know that they were taken from my house.
Sansthānaka. Firsht you take her into the garden and murder her. And now you hide it by tricky trickinessh.
Judge. Noble Chārudatta, speak the truth!
This moment on thy tender flesh;
And we—we can but think it right.36
Chārudatta.
And sin in me was never found;
Yet if suspicion taints my worth,
What boots it though my heart be sound?37
[Aside.] And yet I know not what to do with life, so I be robbed of Vasantasenā. [Aloud.] Ah, why waste words?
Nor think of earth, nor heaven blest;
That sweetest maid, in passion's flame—
But he will say the rest.38
Sansthānaka. Killed her! Come, you shay it too. "I killed her."
Chārudatta. You have said it.
Sansthānaka. Lishten, my mashters, lishten! He murdered her! No one but him! Doubt is over. Let punishment be inflicted on the body of thish poor Chārudatta.
P. 253.1]
Judge. Beadle, we must do as the king's brother-in-law says. Guardsmen, lay hold on this Chārudatta. [The guardsmen do so.]
Mother. Be merciful, good gentlemen, be merciful! [She repeats what she had said before, beginning "When the golden casket:" page 143.] If my daughter is killed, she is killed. Let him live for me—bless him! And besides, a lawsuit is a matter between plaintiff and defendant. I am the real plaintiff. So let him go free!
Sansthānaka. You shlave, get out of the way! What have you got to shay about him?
Judge. Go, madam. Guardsmen, conduct her forth.
Mother. Oh, my child, my son![Exit weeping.
Sansthānaka. [Aside.] I 've done shomething worthy of myshelf. Now I 'll go.[Exit.
Judge. Noble Chārudatta, the decision lies with us, but the rest depends on the king. And yet, beadle, let King Pālaka be reminded of this:
May not be slain, but banished from the realm,
And with his wealth entire abroad may fare.39
Beadle. Yes, Your Honor. [He goes out, then reënters in tears.] Oh, sirs, I was with the king. And King Pālaka says: "Inasmuch as he killed Vasantasenā for such a trifle, these same jewels shall be hung about his neck, the drum shall be beaten, he shall be conducted to the southern burying-ground, and there impaled." And whoever else shall commit such a crime, shall be punished with the like dreadful doom.
Chārudatta. Oh, how wanton is this act of King Pālaka! Nevertheless,
Into injustice' dangers great,
Yet he will reap the woe and suffering;
And 't is a righteous fate.40
[155.10. S.
And more than this:
The white crow's part who play,
Have slain their thousands innocent,
And slay, and slay, and slay.41
My friend Maitreya, go, greet the mother of my son in my name for the last time. And keep my son Rohasena free from harm.
Maitreya. When the root is cut away, how can the tree be saved?
Chārudatta. No, not so.
In living son yet liveth he;
Bestow on Rohasena love
No less than that thou gavest me.42
Maitreya. Oh, my friend! I will prove myself your friend by continuing the life that you leave unfinished.
Chārudatta. And let me see Rohasena for a single moment.
Maitreya. I will. It is but fitting.
Judge. My good beadle, remove this man. [The beadle does so.] Who is there? Let the headsmen receive their orders. [The guardsmen loose their hold on Chārudatta, and all of them go out.]
Beadle. Come with me, sir.
Chārudatta. [Mournfully repeats the verse, page 146, beginning "My friend Maitreya!" Then, as if speaking to one not present.]
By water, poison, scales, and thus had known
That I deserved that saws should bite my bone,
My Brahman's frame, more could I not desire.
You trust a foeman, slay me thus? 'T is well.
With sons, and sons' sons, now you plunge to hell!43
I come! I come![Exeunt omnes.
[83] Elephants were employed as executioners; and, according to Lallādīkṣita, the horses served the same purpose.
[84] This refers to the fallen jewels.
ACT THE TENTH THE END[Enter Chārudatta, accompanied by two headsmen.]
Headsmen.
In just a second you 'll be slain.
We understand the fashions new
To fetter you and kill you too.
In chopping heads we never fail,
Nor when the victim we impale.1
Out of the way, gentlemen, out of the way! This is the noble Chārudatta.
In headsmen's hands you see him now;
Like a lamp whose oil runs nearly dry,
His light fades gently, ere it die.2
Chārudatta. [Gloomily.]
My limbs polluted by the clinging mud;
Flowers from the graveyard torn, my wreath appalling;
For ghastly sacrifice hoarse ravens calling,
And for the fragrant incense of my blood.3
Headsmen.
Why gaze upon the good man so?
The ax of death soon lays him low.
Yet good men once sought shelter free,
Like birds, upon this kindly tree.4
Come, Chārudatta, come!
Chārudatta. Incalculable are the ways of human destiny, that I am come to such a plight!
O'er all my body have been placed;
The man, with meal and powder strewn,
Is now to beast of offering grown.5
[157.19. S.
[He gazes intently before him.] Alas for human differences!
[Mournfully.]
With tears for death's poor victim freely given,
The citizens cry "shame," yet cannot save,—
Can only pray that I attain to heaven.6
Headsmen. Out of the way, gentlemen, out of the way! Why do you gaze upon him?
The calving cow, the falling star,
The good man when he needs must die,—
These four behold not from afar.7
Goha. Look, Ahīnta! Look, man!
Goes to his death at fate's behest,
Does heaven thus weep that he must die?
Does lightning paint the cloudless sky?8
Ahīnta. Goha, man,
Nor lightning paints the cloudless sky;
Yet streams are falling constantly
From many a woman's clouded eye.9
And again:
No man nor woman here but sorely weeps;
And so the dust, by countless tear-drops fed,
Thus peacefully upon the highway sleeps.10
Chārudatta. [Gazes intently. Mournfully.]
From half-shut windows peering, thus lament,
"Alas for Chārudatta! Woe the day!"
And pity-streaming eyes on me are bent.11
P. 258.12]
Headsmen. Come, Chārudatta, come! Here is the place of proclamation. Beat the drum and proclaim the sentence.
Listen, good people, listen! This is the noble Chārudatta, son of Sāgaradatta, and grandson of the merchant Vinayadatta. This malefactor enticed the courtezan Vasantasenā into the deserted old garden Pushpakaranda, and for a mere trifle murdered her by strangling. He was taken with the booty, and confessed his guilt. Therefore are we under orders from King Pālaka to execute him. And if any other commit such a crime, accursèd in this world and the next, him too King Pālaka condemns to the like punishment.
Chārudatta. [Despondently. Aside.]
My radiant name
Was once proclaimed by countless altars' side,
And knew no blame.
Now comes my hour of death, and evil men
Of baser fame
In public spots proclaim it once again,
But linked with shame.12
[He looks up and stops his ears.]
From thy dear lips, that vied with coral's red,
Betraying teeth more bright than moonbeams fair,
My soul with heaven's nectar once was fed.
How can I, helpless, taste that poison dread,
To drink shame's poisoned cup how can I bear?13
Headsmen.
This treasure-house, with pearls of virtue stored,
This bridge for good men o'er misfortune's river,
This gem now robbed of all its golden hoard,
Departs our town to-day, departs forever.14
[159.15. S.
And again:
That all the world is kind;
Whose happy days are ended,
Are rarely thus befriended.15
Chārudatta. [Looks about him.]
They stand afar, whom once I counted friends:
Even foes have smiles for men with Fortune biding:
But friends prove faithless when good fortune ends.16
Headsmen. They are out of the way. The street is cleared. Lead on the condemned criminal.
Chārudatta. [Sighing.]
My wife, thou issue of a spotless strain!
My Rohasena! Here am I, laid low
By sternest fate; and thou, thou dost not know
That all thy childish games are played in vain.
Thou playest, heedless of another's pain!(ix. 29)
Voices behind the scenes. My father! Oh, my friend!
Chārudatta. [Listens. Mournfully.] You are a leader in your own caste. I would beg a favor at your hands.
Headsmen. From our hands you would receive a favor?
Chārudatta. Heaven forbid! Yet a headsman is neither so wanton
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