Part 2

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.[26] 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 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;[27] 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 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, I 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 court-room, 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,[28] the vowels as in Italian. Diacritical marks have been avoided, with the exception of the macron. This sign has been used consistently[29] 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: Maitreya, Charudatta. 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 pre-antepenultimate receives the accent: Madanika, Sthavaraka.

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 gambling-house. At this point Darduraka enters, and engages the gambling-master 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 resolved 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 _Madanika and Sharvilaka_. Third day.--Sharvilaka

comes to Vasantasena's house to buy Madanika's freedom. Vasantasena overhears the facts concerning the theft of her gem-casket 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 of the 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 of the Bullock-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 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 Vasantasena_. 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 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.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 2: For an illuminating discussion of these matters, the reader is referred to Sylvain Levi's admirable work, Le Theatre Indien, Paris, 1890, pages 196-211.]

[Footnote 3: 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.]

[Footnote 4: Prasannaraghava, i. 22.]

[Footnote 5: Mahaviracarita, i. 4.]

[Footnote 6: History of Chinese Literature, by H. A. Giles, pages 145-146.]

[Footnote 7: Shakuntala, i. 15.]

[Footnote 8: Latter Acts of Rama, v. 17.]

[Footnote 9: _Prakarana._]

[Footnote 10: Dhurtasamkula: Dacarupa, iii. 38.]

[Footnote 11: _Sahityadarpana_, 428.]

[Footnote 12: As in Malati-madhava.]

[Footnote 13: Dacarupa, iii. 33.]

[Footnote 14: In Kalidasa's Shakuntala.]

[Footnote 15: In Bhavabhuti's Latter Acts of Rama.]

[Footnote 16: See page 128.]

[Footnote 17: Aryaka, Darduraka, Chandanaka, Sharvilaka, and the courtier.]

[Footnote 18: See x. 27.]

[Footnote 19: See v. 46 and the following stage-direction.]

[Footnote 20: In Kalidasa's play of that name.]

[Footnote 21: In Bhavabhuti's Latter Acts of Rama.]

[Footnote 22: See viii. 43.]

[Footnote 23: See pages 65-66 and page 174.]

[Footnote 24: See viii. 38 and compare the words, "Yet love bids me prattle," on page 86.]

[Footnote 25: Page 87.]

[Footnote 26: Stanzas of the latter sort in The Little Clay Cart are vii. 2 and viii. 5.]

[Footnote 27: This statement requires a slight limitation; compare, for example, the footnote to page 82.]

[Footnote 28: But the combination _th_ should be pronounced as in _ant-hill_, not as in _thin_ or _this_; similarly _dh_ as in _mad-house_; _bh_ as in _abhor._]

[Footnote 29: Except in the names Aryaka and Ahinta, where typographical considerations have led to the omission of the macron over the initial letter; and except also in head-lines.]

DRAMATIS PERSONAE

CHARUDATTA, _a Brahman merchant_

ROHASENA, _his son_

MAITREYA, _his friend_

VARDHAMANAKA, _a servant in his house_

SANSTHANAKA, _brother-in-law of King_ PALAKA

STHAVARAKA, _his servant_

_Another Servant of_ SANSTHANAKA

_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 } KUMBHILAKA } _servants of_ VASANTASENA

VIRAKA } CHANDANAKA } _policemen_

GOHA } AHINTA } _headsmen_

_Bastard pages, in_ VASANTASENA'S _house_

_A Judge_, _a Gild-warden_, _a Clerk_, _and a Beadle_

VASANTASENA, _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

PROLOGUE

_Benediction upon the audience_

His 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

[1.14. S.

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. [_Reflecting._] Ah, I understand.

P. 4.7]

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 of my 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. I'll 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. [_Speaking in 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?

[3.8. S.

_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 Jurnavriddha.

_Director._ [_Angrily._] Ah, Jurnavriddha, son of a slave-wench! When, oh, when shall I see King Palaka angry with you? Then you will be parted, as surely as the scented hair of some young bride.

P. 8.10]

_Actress._ Don't be angry, sir. It is only that I may have you in the next world that I celebrate this fast. [_She falls at his feet._]

_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 Ujjayini 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 Radanika._]

_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]

_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,