Shakuntala

by Kalidasa

  Or take your lily feet upon my knee

  And rub them till you rest more easily?

  Shakuntala . I will not offend against those to whom I owe honour. ( She rises weakly and starts to walk away .) King ( detaining her ). The day is still hot, beautiful Shakuntala, and you are feverish.

  Leave not the blossom-dotted couch

  To wander in the midday heat,

  With lotus-petals on your breast,

  With fevered limbs and stumbling feet.

  ( He lays his hand upon her .)

  Shakuntala . Oh, don't! Don't! For I am not mistress of myself. Yet what can I do now? I had no one to help me but my friends.

  King . I am rebuked.

  Shakuntala . I was not thinking of your Majesty. I was accusing fate.

  King . Why accuse a fate that brings what you desire?

  Shakuntala . Why not accuse a fate that robs me of self-control and tempts me with the virtues of another?

  King ( to himself ).

  Though deeply longing, maids are coy

  And bid their wooers wait;

  Though eager for united joy

  In love, they hesitate.

  Love cannot torture them, nor move

  Their hearts to sudden mating;

  Perhaps they even torture love

  By their procrastinating.

  (SHAKUNTALA moves away .)

  King . Why should I not have my way? ( He approaches and seizes her dress .)

  Shakuntala . Oh, sir! Be a gentleman. There are hermits wandering about.

  King . Do not fear your family, beautiful Shakuntala. Father Kanva knows the holy law. He will not regret it.

  For many a hermit maiden who

  By simple, voluntary rite

  Dispensed with priest and witness, yet

  Found favour in her father's sight.

  ( He looks about .) Ah, I have come into the open air. ( He leaves SHAKUNTALA and retraces his steps .) Shakuntala ( takes a step, then turns with an eager gesture ).

  O King, I cannot do as you would have me. You hardly know me after this short talk. But oh, do not forget me.

  King .

  When evening comes, the shadow of the tree

  Is cast far forward, yet does not depart;

  Even so, belovèd, wheresoe'er you be,

  The thought of you can never leave my heart.

  Shakuntala ( takes a few steps. To herself ). Oh, oh! When I hear him speak so, my feet will not move away. I will hide in this amaranth hedge and see how long his love lasts. ( She hides and waits .)

  King . Oh, my belovèd, my love for you is my whole life, yet you leave me and go away without a thought.

  Your body, soft as siris-flowers,

  Engages passion's utmost powers;

  How comes it that your heart is hard

  As stalks that siris-blossoms guard?

  Shakuntala . When I hear this, I have no power to go.

  King . What have I to do here, where she is not? ( He gazes on the ground .) Ah, I cannot go.

  The perfumed lotus-chain

  That once was worn by her

  Fetters and keeps my heart

  A hopeless prisoner. ( He lifts it reverently .)

  Shakuntala ( looking at her arm ). Why, I was so weak and ill that when the lotus-bracelet fell off, I did not even notice it.

  King ( laying the lotus-bracelet on his heart ). Ah!

  Once, dear, on your sweet arm it lay,

  And on my heart shall ever stay;

  Though you disdain to give me joy,

  I find it in a lifeless toy.

  Shakuntala . I cannot hold back after that. I will use the bracelet as an excuse for my coming. ( She approaches .)

  King ( seeing her. Joyfully ). The queen of my life! As soon as I complained, fate proved kind to me.

  No sooner did the thirsty bird

  With parching throat complain,

  Than forming clouds in heaven stirred

  And sent the streaming rain.

  Shakuntala ( standing before the king ). When I was going away, sir, I remembered that this lotus-bracelet had fallen from my arm, and I have come back for it. My heart seemed to tell me that you had taken it. Please give it back, or you will betray me, and yourself too, to the hermits.

  King . I will restore it on one condition.

  Shakuntala . What condition?

  King . That I may myself place it where it belongs.

  Shakuntala ( to herself ). What can I do? ( She approaches .)

  King . Let us sit on this stone bench. ( They walk to the bench and sit down .)

  King ( taking SHAKUNTALA'S hand ). Ah!

  When Shiva's anger burned the tree

  Of love in quenchless fire,

  Did heavenly fate preserve a shoot

  To deck my heart's desire?

  Shakuntala ( feeling his touch ). Hasten, my dear, hasten.

  King ( joyfully to himself ). Now I am content. She speaks as a wife to her husband. ( Aloud .) Beautiful Shakuntala, the clasp of the bracelet is not very firm. May I fasten it in another way?

  Shakuntala ( smiling ). If you like.

  King ( artfully delaying before he fastens it ). See, my beautiful girl!

  The lotus-chain is dazzling white

  As is the slender moon at night.

  Perhaps it was the moon on high

  That joined her horns and left the sky,

  Believing that your lovely arm

  Would, more than heaven, enhance her charm.

  Shakuntala . I cannot see it. The pollen from the lotus over my ear has blown into my eye.

  King ( smiling ). Will you permit me to blow it away?

  Shakuntala . I should not like to be an object of pity. But why should I not trust you? King . Do not have such thoughts. A new servant does not transgress orders.

  Shakuntala . It is this exaggerated courtesy that frightens me.

  King ( to himself ). I shall not break the bonds of this sweet servitude. ( He starts to raise her face to his . SHAKUNTALA resists a little, then is passive .)

  King . Oh, my bewitching girl, have no fear of me.

  (SHAKUNTALA darts a glance at him, then looks down. The king raises her face. Aside .)

  Her sweetly trembling lip

  With virgin invitation

  Provokes my soul to sip

  Delighted fascination.

  Shakuntala . You seem slow, dear, in fulfilling your promise.

  King . The lotus over your ear is so near your eye, and so like it, that I was confused. ( He gently blows her eye .)

  Shakuntala . Thank you. I can see quite well now. But I am ashamed not to make any return for your kindness.

  King . What more could I ask?

  It ought to be enough for me

  To hover round your fragrant face;

  Is not the lotus-haunting bee

  Content with perfume and with grace?

  Shakuntala . But what does he do if he is not content?

  King . This! This! ( He draws her face to his .)

  A voice behind the scenes . O sheldrake bride, bid your mate farewell. The night is come.

  Shakuntala ( listening excitedly ). Oh, my dear, this is Mother Gautami, come to inquire about me. Please hide among the branches. ( The king conceals himself. Enter GAUTAMI, with a bowl in her hand .)

  Gautami . Here is the holy water, my child. ( She sees SHAKUNTALA and helps her to rise .) So ill, and all alone here with the gods?

  Shakuntala . It was just a moment ago that Priyamvada and Anusuya went down to the river.

  Gautami ( sprinkling SHAKUNTALA with the holy water ). May you live long and happy, my child. Has the fever gone down? ( She touches her .)

  Shakuntala . There is a difference, mother.

  Gautami . The sun is setting. Come, let us go to the cottage.

  Shakuntala ( weakly rising. To herself ). Oh, my heart, you delayed when your desire came of itself. Now see what you have done. ( She takes a step, then turns around. Alo
ud .) O bower that took away my pain, I bid you farewell until another blissful hour. ( Exeunt SHAKUNTALA and GAUTAMI.)

  King ( advancing with a sigh .) The path to happiness is strewn with obstacles.

  Her face, adorned with soft eye-lashes,

  Adorable with trembling flashes

  Of half-denial, in memory lingers;

  The sweet lips guarded by her fingers,

  The head that drooped upon her shoulder—

  Why was I not a little bolder?

  Where shall I go now? Let me stay a moment in this bower where my belovèd lay. ( He looks about .)

  The flower-strewn bed whereon her body tossed;

  The bracelet, fallen from her arm and lost;

  The dear love-missive, in the lotus-leaf

  Cut by her nails: assuage my absent grief

  And occupy my eyes—I have no power,

  Though she is gone, to leave the reedy bower.

  ( He reflects .) Alas! I did wrong to delay when I had found my love. So now

  If she will grant me but one other meeting,

  I'll not delay; for happiness is fleeting;

  So plans my foolish, self-defeated heart;

  But when she comes, I play the coward's part.

  A voice behind the scenes . O King!

  The flames rise heavenward from the evening altar;

  And round the sacrifices, blazing high,

  Flesh-eating demons stalk, like red cloud-masses,

  And cast colossal shadows on the sky.

  King ( listens. Resolutely ). Have no fear, hermits. I am here. ( Exit .)

  ACT IV

  SCENE I (Enter the two friends, gathering flowers.)

  Anusuya. Priyamvada, dear Shakuntala has been properly married by the voluntary ceremony and she has a husband worthy of her. And yet I am not quite satisfied.

  Priyamvada. Why not?

  Anusuya. The sacrifice is over and the good king was dismissed to-day by the hermits. He has gone back to the city and there he is surrounded by hundreds of court ladies. I wonder whether he will remember poor Shakuntala or not.

  Priyamvada. You need not be anxious about that. Such handsome men are sure to be good. But there is something else to think about. I don't know what Father will have to say when he comes back from his pilgrimage and hears about it.

  Anusuya. I believe that he will be pleased.

  Priyamvada. Why?

  Anusuya. Why not? You know he wanted to give his daughter to a lover worthy of her. If fate brings this about of itself, why shouldn't Father be happy?

  Priyamvada. I suppose you are right. (She looks at her flower-basket.) My dear, we have gathered flowers enough for the sacrifice.

  Anusuya. But we must make an offering to the gods that watch over Shakuntala's marriage. We had better gather more.

  Priyamvada. Very well. (They do so.)

  A voice behind the scenes. Who will bid me welcome?

  Anusuya (listening). My dear, it sounds like a guest announcing himself.

  Priyamvada. Well, Shakuntala is near the cottage. (Reflecting.) Ah, but to-day her heart is far away. Come, we must do with the flowers we have. (They start to walk away.)

  The voice.

  Do you dare despise a guest like me?

  Because your heart, by loving fancies blinded,

  Has scorned a guest in pious life grown old,

  Your lover shall forget you though reminded,

  Or think of you as of a story told.

  (The two girls listen and show dejection.)

  Priyamvada. Oh, dear! The very thing has happened. The dear, absent-minded girl has offended some worthy man.

  Anusuya (looking ahead). My dear, this is no ordinary somebody. It is the great sage Durvasas, the irascible. See how he strides away!

  Priyamvada. Nothing burns like fire. Run, fall at his feet, bring him back, while I am getting water to wash his feet.

  Anusuya. I will. (Exit.)

  Priyamvada (stumbling). There! I stumbled in my excitement, and the flower-basket fell out of my hand. (She collects the scattered flowers. ANUSUYA returns.)

  Anusuya. My dear, he is anger incarnate. Who could appease him? But I softened him a little.

  Priyamvada. Even that is a good deal for him. Tell me about it.

  Anusuya. When he would not turn back, I fell at his feet and prayed to him. "Holy sir," I said, "remember her former devotion and pardon this offence. Your daughter did not recognise your great and holy power to-day."

  Priyamvada. And then—

  Anusuya. Then he said: "My words must be fulfilled. But the curse shall be lifted when her lover sees a gem which he has given her for a token." And so he vanished.

  Priyamvada. We can breathe again. When the good king went away, he put a ring, engraved with his own name, on Shakuntala's finger to remember him by. That will save her.

  Anusuya. Come, we must finish the sacrifice for her. (They walk about.)

  Priyamvada (gazing). Just look, Anusuya! There is the dear girl, with her cheek resting on her left hand. She looks like a painted picture. She is thinking about him. How could she notice a guest when she has forgotten herself?

  Anusuya. Priyamvada, we two must keep this thing to ourselves. We must be careful of the dear girl. You know how delicate she is.

  Priyamvada. Would any one sprinkle a jasmine-vine with scalding water? (Exeunt ambo.)

  SCENE II.—Early Morning

  (Enter a pupil of KANVA, just risen from sleep.)

  Pupil. Father Kanva has returned from his pilgrimage, and has bidden me find out what time it is. I will go into the open air and see how much of the night remains. (He walks and looks about.) See! The dawn is breaking. For already

  The moon behind the western mount is sinking;

  The eastern sun is heralded by dawn;

  From heaven's twin lights, their fall and glory linking,

  Brave lessons of submission may be drawn.

  And again:

  Night-blooming lilies, when the moon is hidden,

  Have naught but memories of beauty left.

  Hard, hard to bear! Her lot whom heaven has bidden

  To live alone, of love and lover reft.

  And again:

  On jujube-trees the blushing dewdrops falter;

  The peacock wakes and leaves the cottage thatch;

  A deer is rising near the hoof-marked altar,

  And stretching, stands, the day's new life to catch.

  And yet again:

  The moon that topped the loftiest mountain ranges,

  That slew the darkness in the midmost sky,

  Is fallen from heaven, and all her glory changes:

  So high to rise, so low at last to lie!

  Anusuya (entering hurriedly. To herself). That is just what happens to the innocent. Shakuntala has been treated shamefully by the king. Pupil. I will tell Father Kanva that the hour of morning sacrifice is come. (Exit.)

  Anusuya. The dawn is breaking. I am awake bright and early. But what shall I do now that I am awake? My hands refuse to attend to the ordinary morning tasks. Well, let love take its course. For the dear, pure-minded girl trusted him—the traitor! Perhaps it is not the good king's fault. It must be the curse of Durvasas. Otherwise, how could the good king say such beautiful things, and then let all this time pass without even sending a message? (She reflects.) Yes, we must send him the ring he left as a token. But whom shall we ask to take it? The hermits are unsympathetic because they have never suffered. It seemed as if her friends were to blame and so, try as we might, we could not tell Father Kanva that Shakuntala was married to Dushyanta and was expecting a baby. Oh, what shall we do? (Enter PRIYAMVADA.)

  Priyamvada. Hurry, Anusuya, hurry! We are getting Shakuntala ready for her journey.

  Anusuya (astonished). What do you mean, my dear?

  Priyamuada. Listen. I just went to Shakuntala, to ask if she had slept well.

  Anusuya. And then—

  Priyamvada. I found her hiding her face f
or shame, and Father Kanva was embracing her and encouraging her. "My child," he said, "I bring you joy. The offering fell straight in the sacred fire, and auspicious smoke rose toward the sacrificer. My pains for you have proved like instruction given to a good student; they have brought me no regret. This very day I shall give you an escort of hermits and send you to your husband."

  Anusuya. But, my dear, who told Father Kanva about it?

  Priyamvada. A voice from heaven that recited a verse when he had entered the fire-sanctuary.

  Anusuya (astonished). What did it say?

  Priyamvada. Listen. (Speaking in good Sanskrit.)

  Know, Brahman, that your child,

  Like the fire-pregnant tree,

  Bears kingly seed that shall be born

  For earth's prosperity.

  Anusuya (hugging PRIYAMVADA). I am so glad, dear. But my joy is half sorrow when I think that Shakuntala is going to be taken away this very day.

  Priyamvada. We must hide our sorrow as best we can. The poor girl must be made happy to-day.

  Anusuya. Well, here is a cocoa-nut casket, hanging on a branch of the mango-tree. I put flower-pollen in it for this very purpose. It keeps fresh, you know. Now you wrap it in a lotus-leaf, and I will get yellow pigment and earth from a sacred spot and blades of panic grass for the happy ceremony. (PRIYAMVADA does so. Exit ANUSUYA.)

  A voice behind the scenes. Gautami, bid the worthy Sharngarava and Sharadvata make ready to escort my daughter Shakuntala.

  Priyamvada (listening). Hurry, Anusuya, hurry! They are calling the hermits who are going to Hastinapura. (Enter ANUSUYA, with materials for the ceremony.)

  Anusuya. Come, dear, let us go. (They walk about.)

  Priyamvada (looking ahead). There is Shakuntala. She took the ceremonial bath at sunrise, and now the hermit-women are giving her rice-cakes and wishing her happiness. Let's go to her. (They do so. Enter SHAKUNTALA with attendants as described, and GAUTAMI.)