[Aloud.] Very well. I go.
Vasantasenā. [Seizing the hem of his garment.] Did I not throw myself upon your protection?
Courtier. Do not fear, Vasantasenā. Jackass, Vasantasenā is a pledge, committed to your hand.
Sansthānaka. All right. Jusht let her be committed to my hand. It 's a pledge that I 'll execute.
Courtier. Are you honest?
Sansthānaka. Honesht.
Courtier. [Takes a few steps.] No! If I go, the wretch might kill her. I will conceal myself for a moment, and see what he intends to do. [He stands apart.]
Sansthānaka. Good! I 'll murder her. But no! Perhaps thish tricky trickshter, thish Brahman, thish old jackal, has gone and hidden himshelf; he might raise a howl like the jackal he is. I 'll jusht do thish to deceive him. [He gathers flowers and adorns himself.] Vasantasenā, my love, my love! Come!
Courtier. Yes, he has turned lover. Good! I am content. I will go.[Exit.
[127.12. S.
Sansthānaka.
Vasantasenā. How can you ask? [She bows her head and recites the following verses.]
And I, who have loved the mango-tree, I cannot cling to the locust-tree.
Sansthānaka. Wench, you make that poor little Chārudatta into a mango-tree, and me you call a locusht-tree, not even an acacia! That 's the way you abuse me, and even yet you remember Chārudatta.
Vasantasenā. Why should I not remember him who dwells in my heart?
Sansthānaka. Thish very minute I 'm going to shtrangle "him who dwells in your heart," and you too. Shtand shtill, you poor-merchant-man's lover!
Vasantasenā. Oh speak, oh speak again these words that do me honor!
Sansthānaka. Jusht let poor Chārudatta—the shon of a shlave—reshcue you now!
Vasantasenā. He would rescue me, if he saw me.
Sansthānaka.
P. 212.11]
But even if he was, he could n't reshcue you.
[He raises his arm to strike her.]
Vasantasenā. Mother! where are you? Oh, Chārudatta! my heart's longing is unfulfilled, and now I die! I will scream for help. No! It would bring shame on Vasantasenā, should she scream for help. Heaven bless Chārudatta!
Sansthānaka. Does the wench shpeak that rashcal's name even yet? [He seizes her by the throat.] Remember him, wench, remember him!
Vasantasenā. Heaven bless Chārudatta!
Sansthānaka. Die, wench! [He strangles her. Vasantasenā loses consciousness, and falls motionless.]
Sansthānaka. [Gleefully.]
[129.4. S.
Good! The old jackal will be here in a minute. I 'll shtep ashide
and wait. [He does so.]
[Enter the courtier, with Sthāvaraka.]
Courtier. I have persuaded the servant Sthāvaraka to come back, and now I will look for the jackass. [He walks about and looks around him.] But see! A tree has fallen by the roadside, and killed a woman in its fall. O cruel! How couldst thou do this deed of shame? And when I see that a woman was slain by thy fatal fall, I too am felled to the earth. Truly, my heart's fear for Vasantasenā was an evil omen. Oh, heaven grant that all may yet be well! [He approaches Sansthānaka.] Jackass, I have persuaded your servant Sthāvaraka to return.
Sansthānaka. How do you do, shir? Sthāvaraka, my little shon, my shlave, how do you do?
Sthāvaraka. Well, thank you.
Courtier. Give me my pledge.
Sansthānaka. What pledge?
Courtier. Vasantasenā.
Sansthānaka. She's gone.
Courtier. Where?
Sansthānaka. Right after you.
Courtier. [Doubtfully.] No, she did not go in that direction.
Sansthānaka. In what direction did you go?
Courtier. Toward the east.
Sansthānaka. Well, she went shouth.[81]
Courtier. So did I.
P. 216.2]
Sansthānaka. She went north.
Courtier. This is nonsense. My heart is not satisfied. Speak the truth.
Sansthānaka. I shwear by your head, shir, and my own feet. You may be easy in your heart. I murdered her.
Courtier. [Despairingly.] You really killed her?
Sansthānaka. If you don't believe my words, then shee the firsht heroic deed of Sansthānaka, the king's brother-in-law. [He points out the body.]
Courtier. Alas! Ah, woe is me! [He falls in a swoon.]
Sansthānaka. Hee, hee! The gentleman is calm enough now!
Sthāvaraka. Oh, sir! Come to yourself! I am the first murderer, for I brought the bullock-cart hither without looking into it.
Courtier. [Comes to himself. Mournfully.] Alas, Vasantasenā!
[Tearfully.] Ah, woe is me!
[Aside.] Ah! Perhaps the wretch means to lay this sin to my charge. I must go hence. [He walks about. Sansthānaka approaches and holds him back.] Scoundrel! Touch me not. I have done with you. I go.
Sansthānaka. Aha! Firsht you murder Vasantasenā, then you abuse me, and now where will you run to? And sho a man like me has n't anybody to protect him.
[131.8. S.
Courtier. You are an accursèd scoundrel!
Sansth.
Courtier. A curse upon you! Yours, and yours only, be the deed.
Sthāvaraka. Heaven avert the omen! [Sansthānaka bursts out laughing.]
Courtier.
Sansthānaka. Don't be angry. Come, let's go and play in the pond.
Courtier.
[Mournfully.] Vasantasenā,
Sansthānaka. Firsht you murder Vasantasenā in my old garden Pushpakaranda, and now where will you run to? Come, defend yourshelf in court before my shishter's husband! [He holds him back.]
Courtier. Enough, you accursèd scoundrel! [He draws his sword.]
Sansthānaka. [Recoiling in terror.] Shcared, are you? Go along, then.
Courtier. [Aside.] It would be folly to remain here. Well, I will go and join myself to Sharvilaka, Chandanaka, and the rest.[Exit.
P. 219.5]
Sansthānaka. Go to hell. Well, my little shon Sthāvaraka, what kind of a thing is thish that I 've done?
Sthāvaraka. Master, you have committed a terrible crime.
Sansthānaka. Shlave! What do you mean by talking about a crime? Well, I 'll do it thish way. [He takes various ornaments from his person.] Take these gems. I give 'em to you. Whenever I want to wear them, I 'll take them back again, but the resht of the time they are yours.
Sthāvaraka. They should be worn only by my master. What have I to do with such things?
Sansthānaka. Go along! Take these bullocks, and wait in the tower of my palace until I come.
Sthāvaraka. Yes, master.[Exit.
Sansthānaka. The gentleman has made himshelf invisible. He wanted to save himshelf. And the shlave I 'll put in irons in the palace tower, and keep him there. And sho the shecret will be shafe. I 'll go along, but firsht I 'll take a look at her. Is she dead, or shall I murder her again? [He looks at Vasantasenā.] Dead as a doornail! Good! I 'll cover her with thish cloak. No, it has my name on it. Shome honesht man might recognize it. Well, here are shome dry leaves that the wind has blown into a heap. I 'll cover her with them. [He does so, then pauses to reflect.] Good! I 'll do it thish way. I 'll go to court at once, and there I 'll lodge a complaint. I 'll shay that the merchant Chārudatta enticed Vasantasenā into my old garden Pushpakaranda, and killed her for her money.
Now I 'm ready to go. [He starts to go away, but perceives something that frightens him.] Goodnessh gracioush me! Wherever I go, thish damned monk comes with his yellow robes. I bored a hole in his nose once and drove him around, and he hates me. Perhaps he'll shee me, and will tell people that I murdered her. How shall I eshcape? [He looks about.] Aha! I 'll jump over the wall where it is half fallen down, and eshcape that way.
[133.8. S.
[Enter hurriedly the Buddhist monk, ex-shampooer.]
Monk. I 've washed these rags of mine. Shall I let them dry on a branch? no, the monkeys would steal them. On the ground? the dust would make them dirty again. Well then, where shall I spread them out to dry? [He looks about.] Ah, here is a pile of dry leaves which the wind has blown into a heap. I 'll spread them out on that. [He does so.] Buddha be praised! [He sits down.] Now I will repeat a hymn of the faith.
After all, what have I to do with heaven, before I have paid my debt to Vasantasenā, my sister in Buddha? She bought my freedom for ten gold-pieces from the gamblers, and since that day I regard myself as her property. [He looks about.] What was that? a sigh that arose from the leaves? It cannot be.
[Vasantasenā begins to recover consciousness, and stretches out her hand.]
P. 222.12]
Monk. Ah, there appears a woman's hand, adorned with beautiful gems. What! a second hand? [He examines it with the greatest care.] It seems to me, I recognize this hand. Yes, there is no doubt about it. Surely, this is the hand that saved me. But I must see for myself. [He uncovers the body, looks at it, and recognizes it.] It is my sister in Buddha. [Vasantasenā pants for water.] Ah, she seeks water, and the pond is far away. What shall I do? An idea! I will hold this robe over her and let it drip upon her. [He does so. Vasantasenā recovers consciousness, and raises herself. The monk fans her with his garment.]
Vasantasenā. Who are you, sir?
Monk. Has my sister in Buddha forgotten him whose freedom she bought for ten gold-pieces?
Vasantasenā. I seem to remember, but not just as you say. It were better that I had slept never to waken.
Monk. What happened here, sister in Buddha?
Vasantasenā. [Despairingly.] Nothing but what is fitting—for a courtezan.
Monk. Sister in Buddha, support yourself by this creeper[82] that clings to the tree, and rise to your feet [He bends down the creeper. Vasantasenā takes it in her hand, and rises.]
Monk. In yonder monastery dwells one who is my sister in the faith. There shall my sister in Buddha be restored before she returns home. You must walk very slowly, sister. [He walks about and looks around him.] Make way, good people, make way! This is a young lady, and I am a monk, yet my conduct is above reproach.
[Exeunt.
[72] An allusion to the practice by which the Buddhists induced a state of religious ecstasy.
[73] The five senses.
[74] Ignorance.
[75] The body.
[76] The conceit of individuality.
[77] Used as an appetiser.
[78] The elaborate puns of this passage can hardly be reproduced in a translation.
[80] The four cardinal points, the four intermediate points, the zenith, and the nadir.
[81] The region of Yama, god of death.
[82] A monk may not touch a woman.
[Enter a beadle.]
Beadle.
The magistrates said to me "Come, beadle, go to the court-room, and make ready the seats." So now I am on my way to set the court-room in order. [He walks about and looks around him.] Here is the court-room, I will enter. [He enters, sweeps, and puts a seat in its place.] There! I have tidied up the court-room and put the seats in readiness, and now I will go and tell the magistrates. [He walks about and looks around him.] But see! Here comes that arrant knave, the king's brother-in-law. I will go away without attracting his attention. [He stands apart. Enter Sansthānaka, in gorgeous raiment.]
Sansth.
And beshides, I 've found a big hole, like a worm that has crawled into the knot of a lotush-root, and is looking for a hole to creep out at. Now who was I going to accuse of thish wicked deed? [He recalls something.] Oh, yesh! I remember. I was going to accuse poor Chārudatta of thish wicked deed. Beshides, he's poor. They 'll believe anything about him. Good! I 'll go to the court-room and lodge a public complaint against Chārudatta, how he shtrangled Vasantasenā and murdered her. Sho now I 'm on my way to the court-room. [He walks about and looks around him.] Here is the court-room. I 'll go in. [He enters and looks about.] Well, here are the sheats, all arranged. While I 'm waiting for the magishtrates, I 'll jusht sit down a minute on the grass. [He does so.]
P. 226.10]
Beadle. [Walks about in another direction, and looks before him.] Here come the magistrates. I will go to them. [He does so.]
[Enter the judge, accompanied by a gild-warden, a clerk, and others.]
Judge. Gild-warden and clerk!
Gild-warden and Clerk. We await your bidding.
Judge. A trial depends to such an extent upon others that the task of the magistrates—the reading of another's thoughts—is most difficult.
And again:
For the judge must be
[137.94. S.
Gild-warden and Clerk. And do men speak of defects in your virtue? If so, then they speak of darkness in the moonlight.
Judge. My good beadle, conduct me to the court-room.
Beadle. Follow me, Your Honor. [They walk about.] Here is the court-room. May the magistrates be pleased to enter. [All enter.]
Judge. My good beadle, do you go outside and learn who desires to present a case.
Beadle. Yes, sir. [He goes out.] Gentlemen, the magistrates ask if there is any here who desires to present a case.
Sansthānaka. [Gleefully.] The magishtrates are here. [He struts about.] I desire to present a cashe, I, an arishtocrat, a man, a Vāsudeva, the royal brother-in-law, the brother-in-law of the king.
Beadle. [In alarm.] Goodness! The king's brother-in-law is the first who desires to present a case. Well! Wait a moment, sir. I will inform the magistrates at once. [He approaches the magistrates.] Gentlemen, here is the king's brother-in-law who has come to court, desiring to present a case.
Judge. What! the king's brother-in-law is the first who desires to present a case? Like an eclipse at sunrise, this betokens the ruin of some great man. Beadle, the court will doubtless be very busy to-day. Go forth, my good man, and say "Leave us for to-day. Your suit cannot be considered."
Beadle. Yes, Your Honor. [He goes out, and approaches Sansthānaka.] Sir, the magistrates send word that you are to leave them for to-day; that your suit cannot be considered.
P. 229.13]
Sansthānaka. [Wrathfully.] Confound it! Why can't my shuit be conshidered? If it is n't conshidered, then I 'll tell my brother-in-law, King Pālaka, my shishter's husband, and I 'll tell my shishter and my mother too, and I 'll have thish judge removed, and another judge appointed. [He starts to go away.]
Beadle. Oh, sir! Brother-in-law of the king! Wait a moment. I will inform the magistrates at once. [He returns to the Judge.] The brother-in-law of the king is angry, and says—[He repeats Sansthānaka's words.]
Judge. This fool might do anything. My good man, tell him to come hither, that his suit will be considered.
Beadle. [Approaching Sansthānaka.] Sir, the magistrates send word that you are to come in, that your suit will be considered. Pray enter, sir.
Sansthānaka. Firsht they shay it won't be conshidered, then they shay it will be conshidered. The magishtrates are shcared. Whatever I shay, I 'll make 'em believe it. Good! I 'll enter. [He enters and approaches the magistrates.] I am feeling very well, thank you. Whether you feel well or not—that depends on me.
Judge. [Aside.] Well, well! We seem to have a highly cultivated plaintiff. [Aloud.] Pray be seated.
Sansthānaka. Well! Thish floor belongs to me. I 'll sit down wherever I like. [To the gild-warden.] I'll sit here. [To the beadle.] Why should n't I sit here? [He lays his hand on the Judge's head.] I 'll sit here. [He sits down on the floor.]
Judge. You desire to present a case?
Sansthānaka. Of courshe.
Judge. Then state the case.
Sansthānaka. I 'll whishper it. I was born in the great family of a man as glorioush as a wine-glass.
[140.1. S.
Judge. All this we know.
State your case.
Sansthānaka. I will, but even if I was guilty, he wouldn't do anything to me. Well, my shishter's husband liked me, and gave me the besht garden there is, the old garden Pushpakaranda, to play in and look after. And there I go every day to look at it, to keep it dry, to keep it clean, to keep it blosshoming, to keep it trimmed. But fate decreed that I shaw—or rather, I didn't shee—the proshtrate body of a woman.
Judge. Do you know who the unfortunate woman was?
Sansthānaka. Hello, magishtrates! Why shouldn't I know? A woman like that! the pearl of the city! adorned with a hundred golden ornaments! Shomebody's unworthy shon enticed her into the old garden Pushpakaranda when it was empty, and for a mere trifle—for her money!—shtrangled Vasantasenā and killed her. But I didn't—[He breaks off, and puts his hand over his mouth.]
Judge. What carelessness on the part of the city police! Gild-warden and clerk, write down the words "I didn't," as the first article in the case.
Clerk. Yes, sir. [He does so.] Sir, it is written.
Sansthānaka. [Aside.] Goodnessh! Now I've ruined myshelf, like a man that shwallows a cake of rice and milk in a hurry. Well, I'll get out of it thish way. [Aloud.] Well, well, magishtrates! I was jusht remarking that I didn't shee it happen. What are you making thish hullabaloo about? [He wipes out the written words with his foot.]
P. 233.3]
Judge. How do you know that she was strangled—and for her money?
Sansthānaka. Hello! Why shouldn't I think sho, when her neck was shwollen and bare, and the places where you wear jewels did n't have any gold on them?
Gild-warden and Clerk. That seems plausible.
Sansthānaka. [Aside.] Thank heaven! I breathe again. Hooray!
Gild-warden and Clerk. Upon whom does the conduct of this case depend?
Judge. The case has a twofold aspect.
Gild-warden and Clerk. How so?
Judge. We have to consider the allegations, then the facts. Now the investigation of the allegations depends upon plaintiff and defendant. But the investigation of the facts must be carried out by the wisdom of the judge.
Gild-warden and Clerk. Then the conduct of the case depends upon the presence of Vasantasenā's mother?
Judge. Precisely. My good beadle, summon Vasantasenā's mother, without, however, giving her cause for anxiety.
Beadle. Yes, Your Honor. [He goes out, and returns with the mother of the courtezan.] Follow me, madam.
Mother. My daughter went to the house of a friend to enjoy her youth. But now comes this gentleman—long life to him!—and says "Come! The judge summons you." I find myself quite bewildered. My heart is palpitating. Sir, will you conduct me to the court-room?
Beadle. Follow me, madam. [They walk about.] Here is the court-room. Pray enter, madam. [They enter.]
Mother. [Approaching.] Happiness be yours, most worthy gentlemen.
Judge. My good woman, you are very welcome. Pray be seated.
[141.24. S.
Mother. Thank you. [She seats herself.]
Sansthānaka. [Abusively.] You 're here, are you, you old bawd?
Judge. Tell me. Are you Vasantasenā's mother?
Mother. I am.
Judge. Whither has Vasantasenā gone at this moment?
Mother. To the house of a friend.
Judge. What is the name of her friend?
Mother. [Aside.] Dear me! Really, this is very embarrassing. [Aloud.] Any one else might ask me this, but not a judge.
Judge. Pray do not be embarrassed. The conduct of the case puts the question.
Gild-warden and Clerk. The conduct of the case puts the question. You incur no fault. Speak.
Mother. What! the conduct of the case? If that is so, then listen, worthy gentlemen. There lives in the merchants' quarter the grandson of the merchant Vinayadatta, the son of Sāgaradatta, a man whose name is a good omen in itself—that name is Chārudatta. In his house my daughter enjoys her youth.
Sansthānaka. Did you hear that? Write those words down. My contention is with Chārudatta.
Gild-warden and Clerk. It is no sin for Chārudatta to be her friend.
Judge. The conduct of this case demands the presence of Chārudatta.
Gild-warden and Clerk. Exactly.
Judge. Dhanadatta, write as the first article in the case "Vasantasenā went to the house of Chārudatta." But must we summon the worthy Chārudatta also? No, the conduct of the case summons him. Go, my good beadle, summon Chārudatta,—but gently, without haste, without giving him cause for anxiety, respectfully, as it were incidentally,—with the words "The judge wishes to see you."
P. 236.11]
Beadle. Yes, Your Honor. [He goes out, then returns with Chārudatta.] Follow me, sir.
Chārudatta. [Thoughtfully.]
[Reflectively. Aside.]
But why consider thus? I must go to the court-room. My good beadle, conduct me to the court.
Beadle. Follow me, sir. [They walk about.]
Chārudatta. [Apprehensively.] And what means this?
Beadle. Follow me, sir, gently and without haste.
Chārudatta. [Walks about and looks before him.]
[He looks in another direction.] But see! a snake!
[143.21. S.
And more than this:
Surely, the gods will grant that all may yet be well.
Beadle. Follow me, sir. Here is the court-room. Pray enter.
Chārudatta. [Enters and looks about.] How wonderfully splendid is the court-room. For it seems an ocean,
Come! [As he enters, he strikes his head against the door. Reflectively.] Alas! This also?