Sudarshana. I recognised him at once, of course, but it is you who had your doubts.
Rohini. We are apt to make mistakes, my Queen, and we are afraid to offend you in case we are wrong.
Sudarshana. Would that Surangama were here! There would remain no room for doubt then.
Rohini. Do you think her cleverer than any of us?
Sudarshana. Oh no, but she would recognise him instantly.
Rohini. I cannot believe that she would. She merely pretends to know him. There is none to test her knowledge if she professes to know the King. If we were as shameless as she is, it would not have been difficult for us to boast about our acquaintance with the King.
Sudarshana. But no, she never boasts.
Rohini . It is pure affectation, the whole of it: which often goes a longer way than open boasting. She is up to all manner of tricks: that is why we could never like her.
Sudarshana. But whatever you may say, I should have liked to ask her if she were here.
Rohini. Very well, Queen. I shall bring her here. She must be lucky if she is indispensable for the Queen to know the King.
Sudarshana. Oh no-it isn't for that-but I would like to hear it said by every one.
Rohini. Is not every one saying it? Why, just listen, the aeclamations of the people mount up even to this height!
Sudarshana. Then do one thing: put these flowers on a lotus leaf, and take them to him.
Rohini. And what am I to say if he asks who sends them?
Sudarshana. You will not have to say anything-he will know. He thought that I would not be able to recognise him: I cannot let him off without showing that I have found him out. [ROHINI goes out with the flowers.]
Sudarshana. My heart is all a-quiver and restless to-night: I have never felt like this before. The white, silver light of the full moon is flooding the heavens and brimming over on every side like the bubbling foam of wine, . . . It seizes on me like a yearning, like a mantling intoxication. Here, who is here?
[Enter a SERVANT]
Servant. What is your pleasure, your Majesty?
Sudarshana. Do you see those festive boys singing and moving through the alleys and avenues of the mango trees? Call them hither, bring them to me: I want to hear them sing. [SERVANT goes out and enters with the boys.] Come, living emblems of youthful spring, begin your festive song! All my mind and body is song and music to-night-but the ineffable melody escapes my tongue: do you then sing for my sake!
Song.
My sorrow is sweet to me in this spring night.My pain smites at the chords of my love and softly sings.Visions take birth from my yearning eyes and flit in the moonlit sky.The smells from the depths of the woodlands have lost their way in my dreams.Words come in whispers to my ears, I know not from where,And bells in my anklets tremble and jingle in time with my heart thrills.
Sudarshana. Enough, enough-I cannot bear it any more! Your song has filled my eyes with tears. . . . A fancy comes to me-that desire can never attain its object-it need never attain it. What sweet hermit of the woods has taught you this song? Oh that my eyes could see him whose song my ears have heard! Oh, how I wish-I wish I could wander rapt and lovely in the thick woodland arbours of the heart! Dear boys of the hermitage! how shall I reward you? This necklace is but made of jewels, hard stones-its hardness will give you pain-I have got nothing like the garlands of flowers you have on. [The boys bow and go out.]
[Enter ROHINI]
Sudarshana. I have not done well-I have not done well, Rohini. I feel ashamed to ask you what happened. I have just realised that no hand can really give the greatest of gifts. Still, let me hear all.
Rohini. When I gave the King those flowers, he did not appear to understand anything.
Sudarshana. You don't say so? He did not understand Rohini. No; he sat there like a doll, without uttering a single word. I think he did not want to show that he understood nothing, so he just held his tongue.
Sudarshana. Fie on me! My shamelessness has been justly punished. Why did you not bring back my flowers?
Rohini. How could I? The King of Kanchi, a very clever man, who was sitting by him, took in everything at a glance, and he just smiled a bit and said, "Emperor, the Queen Sudarshana sends your Majesty her greetings with these blossoms-the blossoms that belong to the God of Love, the friend of Spring." The King seemed to awake with a start, and said, "This is the crown of all my regal glory to-night." I was coming back, all out of countenance, when the King of Kanchi took off this necklace of jewels from the King's person, and said to me, "Friend, the King's garland gives itself up to you, in return for the happy fortune you have brought."
Sudarshana. What, Kanchi had to make the King understand all this! Woe is me, to-night's festival has opened wide for me the doors of ignominy and shame! What else could I expect? Leave me alone, Rohini; I want solitude for a time. [ROHINI goes out.] A great blow has shattered my pride to atoms to-day, and yet . . . I cannot efface from my mind that beautiful, fascinating figure! No pride is left me-I am beaten, vanquished, utterly helpless. . . . I cannot even turn away from him. Oh, how the wish comes back to me again and again-to ask that garland of Rohini! But what would she think! Rohini!
[Enter ROHINI]
Rohini. What is your wish?
Sudarshana. What reward do you deserve for your services to-day?
Rohini. Nothing from you-but I had my reward from the King as it should be.
Sudarshana. That is no free gift, but an extortion, of reward. I do not like to see you put on what was given in so indifferent a manner. Take it off-I give you my bracelets if you leave it here. Take these bracelets, and go now. [ROHINI goes out.] Another defeat! I should have thrown this necklace away,-but I could not! It is pricking me as if it were a garland of thorns-but I cannot throw it away. This is what the god of the festival has brought me to-night-this necklace of ignominy and shame!
V.
[GRANDFATHER near the door of the Pleasure House. A Company of Men]
Grandfather. Have you had enough of it, friends?
First Man. Oh, more than that, Grandpa. Just see, they have made me red all over. None has escaped.
[Author's note: During the spring festival in India people throw red powder on each other. In this play this red powder has been taken to be the symbol of the passion of love.]
Grandfather. No? Did they throw the red dust on the Kings too?
Second Man. But who could approach them? They were all secure inside the enclosures.
Grandfather. So they have escaped you! Could you not throw the least bit of colour on them? You should have forced your way there.
Third Man. My dear old man, they have a different sort of red specially to themselves. Their eyes are red: the turbans of their guards and retinue are red too. And the latter flourished their swords about so much that a little more nearness on our part would have meant a lavish display of the fundamental red colour.
Grandfather. Well done, friends-always keep them at a distance. They are the exiles of the Earth-and we have got to keep them so.
Third Man. I am going home, Grandpa; it is past midnight.[Goes out.]
[Enter a BAND of SINGERS, singing.]
All blacks and whites have lost their distinctionAnd have become red-red as the tinge of your feet.Red is my bodice and red are my dreams,My heart sways and trembles like a red lotus.
Grandfather. Excellent, my friends, splendid! So you had a really enjoyable time!
Singers. Oh, grand! Everything was red, red! Only the moon in the sky gave us the slip-it remained white.
Grandfather. He only looks so innocent from the outside. If you had only taken off his white disguise, you would have seen his trickery. I have been watching what red colours he is throwing on the Earth to-night. And yet, fancy his remaining white and colourless all the while!
Song.
With you is my game, love, my love!My heart is mad, it will never own defeat,Do you think you will escape stainless yourself reddening me with red powder?Could I not colour your robe with the red pollens of the blossom of my heart?
[They go out.]
[Enter the "KING" and KANCHI.]
Kanchi. You must do exactly as I have told you. Let there be no mistake of any kind.
"King". There shall be no mistake.
Kanchi. The Queen Sudarshana's mansions are in the . . .
"King". Yes, sire, I have seen the place well.
Kanchi. What you have got to do is to set fire to the garden, and then you will take advantage of the bustle and confusion to accomplish your object straightway.
"King". I shall remember.
Kanchi. Look here, Sir Pretender, I cannot help thinking that a needless fear is troubling us-there is really no King in this country.
"King". My sole aim is to rid this country of this anarchy. Your common man cannot live without a King, whether a real one or a fraud! Anarchy is always a source of danger.
Kanchi. Pious benefactor of the people, your wonderful self-sacrifice should really be an example to all of us. I am thinking of doing this extraordinary service to the people myself. [They go out.]
VI.
Rohini. What is the matter? I cannot make out what is all this! (To the gardeners.) Where are you all going away in such a hurry?
First Gardener. We are going out of the garden.
Rohini. Where?
Second Gardener. We do not know where-the King has called us.
Rohini. Why, the King is in the garden. Which King has called you?
First Gardener. We cannot say.
Second Gardener. The King we have been serving all our life, of course.
Rohini. Will you all go?
First Gardener. Yes, all-we have to go instantly. Otherwise we might get into trouble. [They go out.]
Rohini. I cannot understand their words. . . . I am afraid. They are scampering off like wild animals that fly just before the bank of a river breaks down into the water.
[Enter KING OF KOSHALA]
Koshala. Rohini, do you know where your King and Kanchi have gone?
Rohini. They are somewhere in the garden, but I could not tell you where.
Koshala. I cannot really understand their intentions. I have not done well to put my trust in Kanchi. [Exit.]
Rohini. What is this dark affair going on amongst these kings? Something dreadful is going to happen soon. Shall I too be drawn into this affair? [Enter AVANTI]
Avanti. Rohini, do you know where the other princes are?
Rohini. It is difficult to say which of them is where. The King of Koshala just passed by in this direction.
Avanti. I am not thinking of Koshala. Where are your King and Kanchi?
Rohini. I have not seen them for a long time.
Avanti. Kanchi is always avoiding us. He is certainly planning to deceive us all. I have not done well to put my hand in this imbroglio. Friend, could you kindly tell me any way out of this garden?
Rohini. I have none.
Avanti. Is there no man here who will show me the way out?
Rohini. The servants have all left the garden.
Avanti. Why did they do so?
Rohini. I could not exactly understand what they meant. They said the King had commanded them to leave the garden at once.
Avanti. King? Which King? Rohini They could not say exactly.
Avanti. This does not sound well. I shall have to find a way out at any cost. I cannot stay here a single moment more.[Goes out hurriedly.]
Rohini. Where shall I find the King? When I gave him the flowers the Queen had sent, he did not seem much interested in me at the time; but ever since that hour he has been showering gifts and presents on me. This causeless generosity makes me more afraid. . . . Where are the birds flying at such an hour of the night? What has frightened them all on a sudden? This is not the usual time of their flight, certainly, . . . Why is the Queen's pet deer running that way? Chapata! Chapata! She does not even hear my call. I have never seen a night like this! The horizon on every side suddenly becomes red, like a madman's eye! The sun seems to be setting at this untimely hour on all sides at the same time. What madness of the Almighty is this! . . . Oh, I am frightened! . . . Where shall I find the King?
VII.
[At the Door of the QUEEN'S Palace]
"King". What is this you have done, Kanchi?
Kanchi. I wanted to fire only this part of the garden near the palace. I had no idea that it would spread so quickly on all sides. Tell me, quick, the way out of this garden.
"King". I can tell you nothing about it. Those who brought us here have all fled away.
VII.
Kanchi. You are a native of this country-you must know the way.
"King". I have never entered these inner royal gardens before.