Shakuntala

by Kalidasa

  Anusuya . Yes.

  King . It is as it should be.

  To beauty such as this

  No woman could give birth;

  The quivering lightning flash

  Is not a child of earth.

  (SHAKUNTALA hangs her head in confusion .) King ( to himself ). Ah, my wishes become hopes.

  Priyamvada ( looking with a smile at SHAKUNTALA). Sir, it seems as if you had more to say. (SHAKUNTALA threatens her friend with her finger .)

  King . You are right. Your pious life interests me, and I have another question.

  Priyamvada . Do not hesitate. We hermit people stand ready to answer all demands.

  King . My question is this:

  Does she, till marriage only, keep her vow

  As hermit-maid, that shames the ways of love?

  Or must her soft eyes ever see, as now,

  Soft eyes of friendly deer in peaceful grove?

  Priyamvada . Sir, we are under bonds to lead a life of virtue. But it is her father's wish to give her to a suitable lover.

  King ( joyfully to himself ).

  O heart, your wish is won!

  All doubt at last is done;

  The thing you feared as fire,

  Is the jewel of your desire.

  Shakuntala ( pettishly ). Anusuya, I'm going.

  Anusuya . What for?

  Shakuntala . I am going to tell Mother Gautami that Priyamvada is talking nonsense. ( She rises .)

  Anusuya . My dear, we hermit people cannot neglect to entertain a distinguished guest, and go wandering about.

  (SHAKUNTALA starts to walk away without answering .)

  King ( aside ). She is going! ( He starts up as if to detain her, then checks his desires .) A thought is as vivid as an act, to a lover.

  Though nurture, conquering nature, holds

  Me back, it seems

  As had I started and returned

  In waking dreams.

  Priyamvada ( approaching SHAKUNTALA). You dear, peevish girl! You mustn't go.

  Shakuntala ( turns with a frown ). Why not?

  Priyamvada . You owe me the watering of two trees. You can go when you have paid your debt. ( She forces her to come back .)

  King . It is plain that she is already wearied by watering the trees. See!

  Her shoulders droop; her palms are reddened yet;

  Quick breaths are struggling in her bosom fair;

  The blossom o'er her ear hangs limply wet;

  One hand restrains the loose, dishevelled hair.

  I therefore remit her debt. ( He gives the two friends a ring. They take it, read the name engraved on it, and look at each other .)

  King . Make no mistake. This is a present—from the king.

  Priyamvada . Then, sir, you ought not to part with it. Your word is enough to remit the debt.

  Anusuya . Well, Shakuntala, you are set free by this kind gentleman—or rather, by the king himself. Where are you going now?

  Shakuntala ( to herself ). I would never leave him if I could help myself.

  Priyamvada . Why don't you go now?

  Shakuntala . I am not your servant any longer. I will go when I like.

  King ( looking at SHAKUNTALA. To himself ). Does she feel toward me as I do toward her? At least, there is ground for hope.

  Although she does not speak to me,

  She listens while I speak;

  Her eyes turn not to see my face,

  But nothing else they seek.

  A voice behind the scenes . Hermits! Hermits! Prepare to defend the creatures in our pious grove. King Dushyanta is hunting in the neighbourhood.

  The dust his horses' hoofs have raised,

  Red as the evening sky,

  Falls like a locust-swarm on boughs

  Where hanging garments dry.

  King ( aside ). Alas! My soldiers are disturbing the pious grove in their search for me. The voice behind the scenes . Hermits! Hermits! Here is an elephant who is terrifying old men, women, and children.

  One tusk is splintered by a cruel blow

  Against a blocking tree; his gait is slow,

  For countless fettering vines impede and cling;

  He puts the deer to flight; some evil thing

  He seems, that comes our peaceful life to mar,

  Fleeing in terror from the royal car.

  ( The girls listen and rise anxiously .)

  King . I have offended sadly against the hermits. I must go back.

  The two friends . Your Honour, we are frightened by this alarm of the elephant. Permit us to return to the cottage.

  Anusuya ( to SHAKUNTALA). Shakuntala dear, Mother Gautami will be anxious. We must hurry and find her.

  Shakuntala ( feigning lameness ). Oh, oh! I can hardly walk.

  King . You must go very slowly. And I will take pains that the hermitage is not disturbed.

  The two friends . Your honour, we feel as if we knew you very well. Pray pardon our shortcomings as hostesses. May we ask you to seek better entertainment from us another time?

  King . You are too modest. I feel honoured by the mere sight of you.

  Shakuntala . Anusuya, my foot is cut on a sharp blade of grass, and my dress is caught on an amaranth twig. Wait for me while I loosen it. ( She casts a lingering glance at the king, and goes out with her two friends .)

  King ( sighing ). They are gone. And I must go. The sight of Shakuntala has made me dread the return to the city. I will make my men camp at a distance from the pious grove. But I cannot turn my own thoughts from Shakuntala.

  It is my body leaves my love, not I;

  My body moves away, but not my mind;

  For back to her my struggling fancies fly

  Like silken banners borne against the wind.

  ( Exit .)

  ACT II

  THE SECRET

  ( Enter the clown .)

  Clown ( sighing ). Damn! Damn! Damn! I'm tired of being friends with this sporting king. "There's a deer!" he shouts, "There's a boar!" And off he chases on a summer noon through woods where shade is few and far between. We drink hot, stinking water from the mountain streams, flavoured with leaves—nasty! At odd times we get a little tepid meat to eat. And the horses and the elephants make such a noise that I can't even be comfortable at night. Then the hunters and the bird-chasers—damn 'em—wake me up bright and early. They do make an ear-splitting rumpus when they start for the woods. But even that isn't the whole misery. There's a new pimple growing on the old boil. He left us behind and went hunting a deer. And there in a hermitage they say he found—oh, dear! oh, dear! he found a hermit-girl named Shakuntala. Since then he hasn't a thought of going back to town. I lay awake all night, thinking about it. What can I do? Well, I'll see my friend when he is dressed and beautified. ( He walks and looks about .) Hello! Here he comes, with his bow in his hand, and his girl in his heart. He is wearing a wreath of wild flowers! I'll pretend to be all knocked up. Perhaps I can get a rest that way. ( He stands, leaning on his staff. Enter the king, as described .)

  King ( to himself ).

  Although my darling is not lightly won,

  She seemed to love me, and my hopes are bright;

  Though love be balked ere joy be well begun,

  A common longing is itself delight.

  ( Smiling .) Thus does a lover deceive himself. He judges his love's feelings by his own desires.

  Her glance was loving—but 'twas not for me;

  Her step was slow—'twas grace, not coquetry;

  Her speech was short—to her detaining friend.

  In things like these love reads a selfish end!

  Clown ( standing as before ). Well, king, I can't move my hand. I can only greet you with my voice.

  King ( looking and smiling ). What makes you lame?

  Clown . Good! You hit a man in the eye, and then ask him why the tears come.

  King . I do not understand you. Speak plainly.

  Clown . When a reed bends over like a hunchback, do you blame
the reed or the river-current?

  King . The river-current, of course.

  Clown . And you are to blame for my troubles.

  King . How so?

  Clown . It's a fine thing for you to neglect your royal duties and such a sure job—to live in the woods! What's the good of talking? Here I am, a Brahman, and my joints are all shaken up by this eternal running after wild animals, so that I can't move. Please be good to me. Let us have a rest for just one day.

  King ( to himself ). He says this. And I too, when I remember Kanva's daughter, have little desire for the chase. For

  The bow is strung, its arrow near;

  And yet I cannot bend

  That bow against the fawns who share

  Soft glances with their friend.

  Clown ( observing the king ). He means more than he says. I might as well weep in the woods.

  King ( smiling ). What more could I mean? I have been thinking that I ought to take my friend's advice.

  Clown ( cheerfully ). Long life to you, then. ( He unstiffens .)

  King . Wait. Hear me out.

  Clown . Well, sir?

  King . When you are rested, you must be my companion in another task—an easy one.

  Clown . Crushing a few sweetmeats?

  King . I will tell you presently.

  Clown . Pray command my leisure.

  King . Who stands without? ( Enter the door-keeper .)

  Door-keeper . I await your Majesty's commands.

  King . Raivataka, summon the general.

  Door-keeper . Yes, your Majesty. ( He goes out, then returns with the general .) Follow me, sir. There is his Majesty, listening to our conversation. Draw near, sir.

  General ( observing the king, to himself ). Hunting is declared to be a sin, yet it brings nothing but good to the king. See!

  He does not heed the cruel sting

  Of his recoiling, twanging string;

  The mid-day sun, the dripping sweat

  Affect him not, nor make him fret;

  His form, though sinewy and spare,

  Is most symmetrically fair;

  No mountain-elephant could be

  More filled with vital strength than he.

  ( He approaches .) Victory to your Majesty! The forest is full of deer-tracks, and beasts of prey cannot be far off. What better occupation could we have?

  King . Bhadrasena, my enthusiasm is broken. Madhavya has been preaching against hunting.

  General ( aside to the clown ). Stick to it, friend Madhavya. I will humour the king a moment. ( Aloud .) Your Majesty, he is a chattering idiot. Your Majesty may judge by his own case whether hunting is an evil. Consider:

  The hunter's form grows sinewy, strong, and light;

  He learns, from beasts of prey, how wrath and fright

  Affect the mind; his skill he loves to measure

  With moving targets. 'Tis life's chiefest pleasure.

  Clown ( angrily ). Get out! Get out with your strenuous life! The king has come to his senses. But you, you son of a slave-wench, can go chasing from forest to forest, till you fall into the jaws of some old bear that is looking for a deer or a jackal.

  King . Bhadrasena, I cannot take your advice, because I am in the vicinity of a hermitage. So for to-day

  The hornèd buffalo may shake

  The turbid water of the lake;

  Shade-seeking deer may chew the cud,

  Boars trample swamp-grass in the mud;

  The bow I bend in hunting, may

  Enjoy a listless holiday.

  General . Yes, your Majesty.

  King . Send back the archers who have gone ahead. And forbid the soldiers to vex the hermitage, or even to approach it. Remember:

  There lurks a hidden fire in each

  Religious hermit-bower;

  Cool sun-stones kindle if assailed

  By any foreign power.

  General . Yes, your Majesty.

  Clown . Now will you get out with your strenuous life? ( Exit general .)

  King ( to his attendants ). Lay aside your hunting dress. And you, Raivataka, return to your post of duty.

  Raivataka . Yes, your Majesty. ( Exit .)

  Clown . You have got rid of the vermin. Now be seated on this flat stone, over which the trees spread their canopy of shade. I can't sit down till you do.

  King . Lead the way.

  Clown . Follow me. ( They walk about and sit down .)

  King . Friend Madhavya, you do not know what vision is. You have not seen the fairest of all objects.

  Clown . I see you, right in front of me.

  King . Yes, every one thinks himself beautiful. But I was speaking of Shakuntala, the ornament of the hermitage.

  Clown ( to himself ). I mustn't add fuel to the flame. ( Aloud .) But you can't have her because she is a hermit-girl. What is the use of seeing her?

  King . Fool!

  And is it selfish longing then,

  That draws our souls on high

  Through eyes that have forgot to wink,

  As the new moon climbs the sky?

  Besides, Dushyanta's thoughts dwell on no forbidden object.

  Clown . Well, tell me about her.

  King .

  Sprung from a nymph of heaven

  Wanton and gay,

  Who spurned the blessing given,

  Going her way;

  By the stern hermit taken

  In her most need:

  So fell the blossom shaken,

  Flower on a weed.

  Clown . ( laughing ). You are like a man who gets tired of good dates and longs for sour tamarind. All the pearls of the palace are yours, and you want this girl!

  King . My friend, you have not seen her, or you could not talk so.

  Clown . She must be charming if she surprises you .

  King . Oh, my friend, she needs not many words.

  She is God's vision, of pure thought

  Composed in His creative mind;

  His reveries of beauty wrought

  The peerless pearl of womankind.

  So plays my fancy when I see

  How great is God, how lovely she.

  Clown . How the women must hate her!

  King . This too is in my thought.

  She seems a flower whose fragrance none has tasted,

  A gem uncut by workman's tool,

  A branch no desecrating hands have wasted,

  Fresh honey, beautifully cool.

  No man on earth deserves to taste her beauty,

  Her blameless loveliness and worth,

  Unless he has fulfilled man's perfect duty—

  And is there such a one on earth?

  Clown . Marry her quick, then, before the poor girl falls into the hands of some oily-headed hermit.

  King . She is dependent on her father, and he is not here.

  Clown . But how does she feel toward you?

  King . My friend, hermit-girls are by their very nature timid. And yet

  When I was near, she could not look at me;

  She smiled—but not to me—and half denied it;

  She would not show her love for modesty,

  Yet did not try so very hard to hide it.

  Clown . Did you want her to climb into your lap the first time she saw you?

  King . But when she went away with her friends, she almost showed that she loved me.

  When she had hardly left my side,

  "I cannot walk," the maiden cried,

  And turned her face, and feigned to free

  The dress not caught upon the tree.

  Clown . She has given you some memories to chew on. I suppose that is why you are so in love with the pious grove.

  King . My friend, think of some pretext under which we may return to the hermitage.

  Clown . What pretext do you need? Aren't you the king?

  King . What of that?

  Clown . Collect the taxes on the hermits' rice.

  King . Fool! It is a very different tax which these herm
its pay—one that outweighs heaps of gems.

  The wealth we take from common men,

  Wastes while we cherish;

  These share with us such holiness

  As ne'er can perish.

  Voices behind the scenes . Ah, we have found him.

  King ( Listening ). The voices are grave and tranquil. These must be hermits. ( Enter the door-keeper .)

  Door-keeper . Victory, O King. There are two hermit-youths at the gate.

  King . Bid them enter at once.

  Door-keeper . Yes, your Majesty. ( He goes out, then returns with the youths .) Follow me.

  First youth ( looking at the king ). A majestic presence, yet it inspires confidence. Nor is this wonderful in a king who is half a saint. For to him

  The splendid palace serves as hermitage;

  His royal government, courageous, sage,

  Adds daily to his merit; it is given

  To him to win applause from choirs of heaven

  Whose anthems to his glory rise and swell,

  Proclaiming him a king, and saint as well.

  Second youth . My friend, is this Dushyanta, friend of Indra?

  First youth . It is.

  Second youth .

  Nor is it wonderful that one whose arm

  Might bolt a city gate, should keep from harm

  The whole broad earth dark-belted by the sea;

  For when the gods in heaven with demons fight,

  Dushyanta's bow and Indra's weapon bright

  Are their reliance for the victory.

  The two youths ( approaching ). Victory, O King!

  King ( rising ). I salute you.

  The two youths . All hail! ( They offer fruit .)

  King ( receiving it and bowing low ). May I know the reason of your coming?