The Little Clay Cart Part 44

_Sansthanaka._ 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 Vasantasena._] 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 Charudatta enticed Vasantasena into my old garden Pushpakaranda, and killed her for her money.

Yesh, Charudatta musht be shlaughtered now, And I 'll invent the plan, forgetting pity; The shacrificing of a sinless cow Is cruel in the kindesht-hearted city. 44

Now I 'm ready to go. [_He starts to go away, but perceives something that frightens him._] Goodnessh gracioush me! Wherever I go, thish d.a.m.ned 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.

I run, I run, I go, In heaven, on earth below, In h.e.l.l, and in Ceylon, Hanumat's peaks upon-- Like Indra's self, I go. [_Exit._] 45

[_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.

Who slays the Five Men, and the Female Bane, By whom protection to the Town is given, By whom the Outcaste impotent is slain, He cannot fail to enter into heaven. (2)

After all, what have I to do with heaven, before I have paid my debt to Vasantasena, 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.

The heated breezes heat the leaves, The wetted garment wets the leaves, And so, I guess, the scattered leaves Curl up like any other leaves. 46

[_Vasantasena 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.

[_Vasantasena 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. Vasantasena recovers consciousness, and raises herself. The monk fans her with his garment._]

_Vasantasena._ Who are you, sir?

_Monk._ Has my sister in Buddha forgotten him whose freedom she bought for ten gold-pieces?

_Vasantasena._ 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?

_Vasantasena._ [_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.

Vasantasena 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.

The man whose hands, whose lips are free from greed, Who curbs his senses, he is man indeed.

He little recks, if kingdoms fall or stand; For heaven is in the hollow of his hand. 47

[_Exeunt._

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 72: An allusion to the practice by which the Buddhists induced a state of religious ecstasy.]

[Footnote 73: The five senses.]

[Footnote 74: Ignorance.]

[Footnote 75: The body.]

[Footnote 76: The conceit of individuality.]

[Footnote 77: Used as an appetiser.]

[Footnote 78: The elaborate puns of this pa.s.sage can hardly be reproduced in a translation.]

[Footnote 79: See page 13.]

[Footnote 80: The four cardinal points, the four intermediate points, the zenith, and the nadir.]

[Footnote 81: The region of Yama, G.o.d of death.]

[Footnote 82: A monk may not touch a woman.]

ACT THE NINTH

THE TRIAL

[_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 Sansthanaka, in gorgeous raiment._]

_Sansth._

I bathed where water runs and flows and purls; I shat within a garden, park, and grove With women, and with females, and with girls, Whose lovely limbs with grace angelic move. 1

My hair is shometimes done up tight, you shee; In locks, or curls, it hangs my forehead o'er; Shometimes 't is matted, shometimes hanging free; And then again, I wear a pompadour.

I am a wonder, I'm a wondrous thing.

And the husband of my s.h.i.+shter is the king. 2