Page:sacred books of the east

TRANSLATED AND ABRIDGED BYSIR MONIER MONIER-WILLIAMS.THE first scene represents a court in front of Caru-datta’s house. His friend Maitreya — who, although a Brahman, acts the part of a sort of jovial companion, and displays a disposition of mixed shrewdness and simplicity — laments Caru-datta’s fallen fortunes, caused by his too great liberality. Caru-datta replies thus —Caru-datta — Think not, my friend, I mourn departed wealth:One thing along torments me, — that my guestsDesert my beggared house, like to the beesThat swarm around the elephant, when dewsExhale from his broad front; but quickly leaveHis dried-up temples when they yield not sweets.32Maitreya— The sons of slaves! These guests you speak of are always ready to make a morning meal off a man’s property.Caru-datta —It is most true, but I bestow no thoughtOn my lost property, — as fate decreesWealth comes and goes; but this is torture to me, —That friendships I thought firm hang all relaxedAnd loose, when poverty sticks closest to me.From poverty ’tis but a step to shame —From shame to loss of manly self-respect;Then comes disdainful scorn, then dark despairO’erwhelms the mind with melancholy thoughts,Then reason goes, and last of all comes ruin.Oh! poverty is source of every ill.Maitreya— Ah well, cheer up! Let’s have no more of these woebegone memories. What’s lost can’t be recovered.Caru-datta —Good! I will grieve no more. Go you, my friend,And offer this oblation, just prepared,Unto the gods, and mothers of us all.Maitreya— Not I.Caru-datta — And why not, pray?Maitreya— Why, what’s the use, when the gods you have worshiped have done nothing for you?Caru-datta —Friend, speak not thus, for worship is the dutyOf every family; the gods are honoredBy offerings, and gratified by actsOf penance and restraint in thought and word.Therefore, delay not to present the oblation.Maitreya— I don’t intend to go; send some one else.Caru-datta —Stay quite then for a little, till I have finishedMy religious meditations and prayer.They are supposed here to retire, and a voices is heard behind the scenes: —Stop! Vasanta-sena, stop!The heroine of the play now appears in front of Caru-datta’s house, pursued by the king’s worthless but wealthy brother-in-law, called Samsthanaka, who is an embodiment of everything vicious and mean, in exact contrast to Caru-datta.Samsthanaka— Stop! Vasanta-sena, stop! Why do you run away? Don’t be alarmed. I am not going to kill you. My poor 33heart is on fire with love, like a piece of meat placed on a heap of burning coals.Vasanta-sena — Noble sir, I am only a weak woman.Samsthanaka— That is just why I don’t intend murdering you.Vasanta-sena — Why then do you pursue me? Do you seek my jewels?Samsthanaka— No, I only seek to gain your affections.At this point the frightened Vasanta-sena discovers that she is close to Caru-datta’s house. He is not only loved by her, but greatly respected as a man of honor; and under cover of the evening darkness, now supposed to have supervened, she slips into the courtyard of his house by a side door, and hides herself. A companion who is with the king’s brother now counsels him to desist from following her, by remarking: —An elephant is bound by a chain,A horse is curbed by a bridle and rein;But a woman is only held by her heart —If you can’t hold that, you had better depart.Samsthanaka, however, forces his way into Caru-datta’s house; and there finding Caru-datta’s friend and companion Maitreya, thus addresses him: —Take this message to Caru-datta. — Vasanta-sena loves you, and has taken refuge in your house. If you will deliver her up, you shall be rewarded by my everlasting friendship; if not, I shall remain your enemy till death. Give this message, so that I may hear you from the neighboring terrace; refuse to say exactly what I have told you, and I will crush your head as I would a wood apple beneath a door.He then leaves the stage.Maitreya accordingly delivers the message. Soon afterwards the heroine Vasanta-sena ventures into the presence of Caru-datta, asks pardon for intruding into his house, requests him to take charge of a golden casket containing her ornaments as a deposit left in trust, and solicits his friend’s escort back to her own house.Maitreya is too much alarmed to accompany her, so Caru-datta himself escorts Vasanta-sena home.So far is an epitome of the first act.At the commencement of the second act a gambler is introduced running away from the keeper of a gaming house, named 34Mathura, and another gambler to whom the first gambler has lost money, who are both pursuing him.First Gambler — The master of the tables and the gamester are at my heels: how can I escape them? Here is an empty temple: I will enter it walking backwards, and pretend to be its idol.Mathura— Ho there! stop, thief! A gambler has lost ten suvarnas, and is running off without paying. Stop him, stop him!Second Gambler —He has run as far as this point; but here the track is lost.Mathura— Ah! I see, — the footsteps are reversed: the rogue has walked backwards into this temple which has no image in it.They enter and make signs to each other on discovering the object of their search, who pretends to be an idol fixed on a pedestal.Second Gambler — Is this a wooden image, I wonder?Mathura— No, no, it must be made of stone, I think. Never mind, sit we down here, and play out our game. First Gambler — The rattling of dice is as tantalizing to a penniless man as the sound of drums to a dethroned monarch; verily it is sweet as the note of a nightingale. Second Gambler — The throw is mine, the throw is mine!Mathura— No, it is mine, I say.First Gambler — No, I tell you it is mine. Second Gambler — We’ve caught him!Mathura— Yes, rascal, you’re caught at last: hand over the suvarnas.First Gambler — Worthy sir, I’ll pay them in good time.Mathura— Hand them over this very minute, I say. First Gambler