Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Bruce Albrecht, Suzanne Lybarger, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Print project.) HARVARD ORIENTAL SERIES WITH THE COÖPERATION OF VARIOUS SCHOLARS BY CHARLES ROCKWELL LANMAN WALES PROFESSOR OF SANSKRIT IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY Volume Nine CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS Published by Harvard University 1905 * * * * * THE LITTLE CLAY CART [MṚCCHAKAṬIKA] A Hindu Drama ATTRIBUTED TO KING SHŪDRAKA TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL SANSKRIT AND PRĀKRITS INTO ENGLISH PROSE AND VERSE BY ARTHUR WILLIAM RYDER, PH.D. INSTRUCTOR IN SANSKRIT IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS Published by Harvard University 1905 COPYRIGHT, 1905, BY HARVARD UNIVERSITY * * * * * TO MY FATHER WILLIAM HENRY RYDER * * * * * CONTENTS NOTE BY THE EDITOR OF THE SERIES PREFACE BY THE TRANSLATOR INTRODUCTION THE AUTHOR AND THE PLAY THE TRANSLATION AN OUTLINE OF THE PLOT DRAMATIS PERSONAE TRANSLATION OF THE LITTLE CLAY CART PROLOGUE ACT I. THE GEMS ARE LEFT BEHIND ACT II. THE SHAMPOOER WHO GAMBLED ACT III. THE HOLE IN THE WALL ACT IV. MADANIKĀ AND SHARVILAKA ACT V. THE STORM ACT VI. THE SWAPPING OF THE BULLOCK-CARTS ACT VII. ARYAKA'S ESCAPE ACT VIII. THE STRANGLING OF VASANTASENĀ ACT IX. THE TRIAL ACT X. THE END EPILOGUE DEPARTURES OF THE TRANSLATION FROM PARAB'S TEXT * * * * * NOTE BY THE EDITOR With _the battle of the Sea of Japan another turning-point in the brief course of recorded human history has been reached. Whatever the outcome of the negotiations for peace, one thing is sure: for better, for worse, and whether we will or no, the West must know the East, and the East must know the West. With that knowledge will inevitably come an interchange of potent influences, of influences that will affect profoundly the religion and morals, the philosophy, the literature, the art, in short, all the elements that make up the civilizations of the two hemispheres. It is a part of the responsibility resting upon the molders and leaders of the thought and life of our time, and upon our Universities in particular, to see to it that these new forces, mighty for good or for evil, are directed aright._