Indic drama; Sanskrit drama -- Translations into English
He only knows what riches are,
Whose love comes to him from afar,
Whose arms that dearest form enfold,
While yet with rain 't is wet and cold. 49
Vasantasenā, my belovèd,
The masonry is shaken; and so old
The awning, that 't will not much longer hold.
Heavy with water is the painted wall,
From which dissolving bits of mortar fall. 50
[_He looks up._] The rainbow! See, my belovèd, see!
See how they yawn, the cloudy jaws of heaven,
As by a tongue, by forkèd lightning riven;
And to the sky great Indra's fiery bow
In lieu of high-uplifted arms is given. 51
Come, let us seek a shelter. [_He rises and walks about._]
On palm-trees shrill,
On thickets still,
On boulders dashing,
On waters splashing,
Like a lute that, smitten, sings,
The rainy music rings. 52
[_Exeunt omnes._
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 60: In Indian love poetry, the rainy season is the time when
lovers most ardently long to be united.]
[Footnote 61: In allusion to Vishnu's name, Krishna, "black."]
[Footnote 62: A gesture of respect.]
[Footnote 63: The goddess of wealth and beauty, usually represented with
a lotus.]
[Footnote 64: Kāma's (Cupid's) arrows are flowers.]
[Footnote 65: Throughout this scene, Vasantasenā's verses are in
Sanskrit. Compare note 1 on page 73.]
[Footnote 66: The cry of the heron resembles the Sanskrit word for
"rain." Indian love-poetry often paints the sorrow, even unto death, of
her whose beloved does not return before the rainy season.]
[Footnote 67: The elephant of Indra. Indra is the god of the
thunderstorm.]
ACT THE SIXTH
THE SWAPPING OF THE BULLOCK-CARTS
[_Enter a maid._]
_Maid._
Isn't my mistress awake yet? Well, I must go in and wake
her. [_She walks about. Vasantasenā appears, dressed, but still
asleep. The maid discovers her._] It is time to get up, mistress. The
morning is here.
_Vasantasenā._ [_Awakening._] What! is the night over? is it morning?
_Maid._ For us it is morning. But for my mistress it appears to be
night still.
_Vasantasenā._ But girl, where is your gambler?
_Maid._ Mistress, after giving Vardhamānaka his orders, Chārudatta
went to the old garden Pushpakaranda.
_Vasantasenā._ What orders?
_Maid._ To have the bullock-cart ready before daylight; for, he
said, Vasantasenā was to come--
_Vasantasenā._ Where, girl?
_Maid._ Where Chārudatta is.
_Vasantasenā._ [_Embraces the maid._] I did not have a good look at
him in the evening. But to-day I shall see him face to face. Tell
me, girl. Have I found my way into the inner court?
_Maid._ You have found your way not only into the inner court,
but into the heart of every one who lives here.
_Vasantasenā._ Tell me, are Chārudatta's servants vexed?
_Maid._ They will be.
_Vasantasenā._ When?
_Maid._ When my mistress goes away.
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