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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Madanikā. Is that the reason why you left your jewels with him?
Vasantasenā. You have guessed it.
A voice[40] behind the scenes. Oh, sir, a shampooer owes me ten gold-pieces, and he got away from us. Hold him, hold him! [To the fleeing shampooer.] Stop, stop! I see you from here. [Enter hurriedly a frightened 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 of gestures, takes his place, and waits.]
[Enter Māthura and the gambler.]
[30.1. S.
Māthura. 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.
With Indra, the god, you may stay:
For there's never a god can save your skin.
While Māthura wants his pay.3
Māthura.
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.
Māthura. [Gazes at the footprints. Reflectively.] Look! The feet are turned around. And the temple hasn'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.
Māthura. All right. [They enter the temple and take a good look, then make signs to each other.]
Gambler. What! a wooden image?
Māthura. 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 haven't a copper left;
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!
P. 56.10]
Māthura. Not much! it's my turn.
Shampooer. [Coming up quickly from behind.] Isn't it my turn?
Gambler. We've got our man.
Māthura. [Seizing him.] You jail-bird, you're caught. Pay me my ten gold-pieces.
Shampooer. I'll pay you this very day.
Māthura. Pay me this very minute!
Shampooer. I'll pay you. Only have mercy!
Māthura. Come, will you pay me now?
Shampooer. My head is getting dizzy. [He falls to the ground. The others beat him with all their might.]
Māthura. 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?
Māthura. 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 Māthura.] I'll give you surety for a half. You might forgive me the other half.
Māthura. All right. Where's the harm?
Shampooer. [Aloud.] You forgave me a half, sir?
[31.24. S.
Māthura. Yes.
Shampooer. [To the gambler.] And you forgave me a half?
Gambler. Yes.
Shampooer. Then I think I'll be going.
Māthura. 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 me!
Māthura. [Seizing him.] My name is Māthura, 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?
Māthura. Sell your father and pay.
Shampooer. Where can I get a father?
Māthura. Sell your mother and pay.
Shampooer. Where can I get a mother?
Māthura. Sell yourself and pay.
Shampooer. Have mercy! Lead me to the king's highway.
Māthura. 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. I'll 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 Chārudatta lost his fortune.
Māthura. Will you pay?
Shampooer. How can I pay? [He falls down. Māthura drags him about.] Good gentlemen, save me, save me!
[Enter Darduraka.]
P. 61.5]
Darduraka. Yes, gambling is a kingdom without a throne.
Great are the sums you spend and win;
While kingly revenues roll in,
Rich men, like slaves, before you fall.7
And again:
Your friends and wife by gambling,
Your gifts and food by gambling;
Your last cent goes by gambling.8
And again:
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 Māthura, our sometime gambling-master. Well, as I can't escape, I think I'll put on my veil. [He makes any number of gestures with his cloak, then examines it.]
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,
The other on the ground must lie.[41]
The elevation's rather high,
But the sun stands it. Why can't I?11
Māthura. Pay, pay!
Shampooer. How can I pay? [Māthura 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"? I'll save him myself. [He presses forward.] Stand back, stand back!
[33.25. S.
[He takes a look.] Well, if this isn't that swindler Māthura. 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.[42]
Why should this tall and dainty man
Be so in love with gambling?12
Well, I must pacify Māthura. [He approaches.] How do you do, Māthura? [Māthura returns the greeting.]
Darduraka. What does this mean?
Māthura. He owes me ten gold-pieces.
Darduraka. A mere bagatelle!
Māthura. [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
Māthura. 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.
Māthura. And what then?
Darduraka. If he wins, he will pay you.
P. 63.12]
Māthura. And if he doesn't win?
Darduraka. Then he won't pay you.
Māthura. This is no time for nonsense. If you say that, you can give him the money yourself. My name is Māthura. 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?
Māthura. You're immoral.
Darduraka. Your father is immoral. [He gives the shampooer a sign to escape.]
Māthura. You cur! That is just the way that you gamble.
Darduraka. That is the way I gamble?
Māthura. Come, shampooer, pay me my ten gold-pieces.
Shampooer. I'll pay you this very day. I'll pay at once. [Māthura drags him about.]
Darduraka. Fool! You may maltreat him when I am away, but not before my eyes.
[Māthura seizes the shampooer and hits him on the nose. The shampooer bleeds, faints, and falls flat. Darduraka approaches and interferes. Māthura strikes Darduraka, and Darduraka strikes back.]
Māthura. Oh, oh, you accursèd hound! But I'll 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.
Māthura. Yes, I'll open my eyes.
Darduraka. How will you open your eyes?
Māthura. [Opening his eyes wide.] This is the way I'll open my eyes.
[Darduraka throws dust in Māthura's eyes, and gives the shampooer a sign to escape. Māthura shuts his eyes and falls down. The shampooer escapes.]
[35.20. S.
Darduraka. [Aside.] I have made an enemy of the influential gambling-master Māthura. I had better not stay here. Besides, my good friend Sharvilaka told me that a young herdsman named Aryaka has been designated by a soothsayer as our future king. Now everybody in my condition is running after him. I think I will join myself to him.[Exit.
Shampooer. [Trembles as he walks away and looks about him.] Here is a house where somebody has left the side-door open. I will go in. [He enters and perceives Vasantasenā.] Madam, I throw myself upon your protection.
Vasantasenā. He who throws himself upon my protection shall be safe. Close the door, girl.
[The maid does so.]
Vasantasenā. What do you fear?
Shampooer. A creditor, madam.
Vasantasenā. You may open the door now, girl.
Shampooer. [To himself.] Ah! Her reasons for not fearing a creditor are in proportion to her innocence. The proverb is right:
The man who knows his strength and bears a load
Proportioned to that strength, not more nor less,
Is safe from stumbling and from sore distress,
Although he wander on a dreary road.14
That means me.
Māthura. [Wiping his eyes. To the gambler.] Pay, pay!
Gambler. While we were quarreling with Darduraka, sir, the man escaped.
Māthura. I broke that shampooer's nose for him with my fist Come on! Let's trace him by the blood. [They do so.]
Gambler. He went into Vasantasenā's house, sir.
Māthura. Then that is the end of the gold-pieces.
Gambler. Let's go to court and lodge a complaint.
P. 67.1]
Māthura. The swindler would leave the house and escape. No, we must besiege him and so capture him.
[Vasantasenā gives Madanikā a sign.]
Madanikā. Whence are you, sir? or who are you, sir? or whose son are you, sir? or what is your business, sir? or what are you afraid of?
Shampooer. Listen, madam. My birthplace is Pātaliputra, madam. I am the son of a householder. I practise
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