Caru-datta —
Stay quiet then for a little, till I have finished My religious meditations and prayer.
Stay quiet then for a little, till I have finished My religious meditations and prayer.
Universal Anthology - v07
"
Mencius replied, " Your Majesty is fond of war. Let me take an illustration from war. The soldiers move forward to the sound of the drums ; and after their weapons have been crossed, on one side they throw away their coats of mail, trail their arms behind them, and run. Some run a hundred paces and stop ; some run fifty paces and stop. What would you think if those who run" fifty paces were to laugh at those who run a hundred paces ?
The king said, " They may not do so. They only did not run a hundred paces ; but they also ran away. "
"Since your Majesty knows this," replied Mencius, "you need not hope that your people will become more numerous than those of the neighboring kingdoms.
"If the seasons of husbandry be not interfered with, the grain will be more than can be eaten. If close nets are not allowed to enter the pools and ponds, the fishes and turtles will be more than can be consumed. If the axes and bills enter the hills and forests only at the proper time, the wood will be
276 THE ART OF GOVERNMENT.
more than can be used. When the grain and fish and turtles are more than can be eaten, and there is more wood than can be used, this enables the people to nourish their living and bury their dead, without any feeling against any. This con dition, in which the people nourish their living and bury their dead without any feeling against any, is the first step of royal government.
" Let mulberry trees be planted about the homesteads with their five mow, and persons of fifty years may be clothed with silk. In keeping fowls, pigs, dogs, and swine, let not their times of breeding be neglected, and persons of seventy years may eat flesh. Let there not be taken away the time that is proper for the cultivation of the farm with its hundred mow, and the family of several mouths that is supported by it shall not suffer from hunger. Let careful attention be paid to education in schools, inculcating in it especially the filial and fraternal duties, and gray-haired men will not be seen upon the roads, carrying burdens on their backs or on their heads. It never has been that the ruler of a state where such results were seen — persons of seventy wearing silk and eating flesh, and the black-haired people suffering neither from hunger nor cold — did not attain to the imperial dignity.
" Your dogs and swine eat the food of men, and you do not know to make any restrictive arrangements. There are people dying from hunger on the roads, and you do not know to issue the stores of your granaries for them. When people die you say,'Itisnotowingtome; itisowingtotheyear. ' Inwhat does this differ from stabbing a man and killing him, and then
'
empire the people will come to you. "
King Hwuy of Leang said : " There was not in the empire
saying, ' It was not I
; it was the weapon ?
cease to lay the blame on the year, and instantly from all the
a stronger state than Tsin, as you, venerable Sir, know. But since it descended to me, on the east we have been defeated by Ts'e, and then my eldest son perished ; on the west we have lost seven hundred li of territory to Ts'in ; and on the south we have sustained disgrace at the hands of Ts'oo. I have brought shame on my departed predecessors, and wish on their account to wipe it away, once for all. What course is to be pursued to accomplish this ? "
Mencius replied, " With a territory which is only a hundred li square, it is possible to attain the imperial dignity.
Let your Majesty
THE ART OF GOVERNMENT. 277
" If your Majesty will indeed dispense a benevolent govern ment to the people, being sparing in the use of punishments and fines, and making the taxes and levies light, so causing that the field shall be plowed deep, and the weeding of them be carefully attended to, and that the strong-bodied, during their days of leisure, shall cultivate their filial piety, fraternal respectfulness, sincerity, and truthfulness, serving thereby, at home, their fathers and elder brothers, and abroad, their elders and superiors, you will then have a people who can be employed, with sticks which they have prepared, to oppose the strong mail and sharp weapons of the troops of Ts'in and Ts'oo.
"The rulers of those states rob their people of their time, so that they cannot plow and weed their fields in order to support their parents. Their parents suffer from cold and hunger. Brothers, wives, and children are separated and scattered abroad.
" Those rulers, as it were, drive their people into pitfalls or drown them. Your Majesty will go to punish them. In such a case, who will oppose your Majesty ?
" In accordance with this is the saying, ' The benevolent has no enemy. ' I beg your Majesty not to doubt what I say. "
Mencius went to see the King Seang of Leang.
On coming out from the interview, he said to some persons : " When I looked at him from a distance, he did not appear like a sovereign ; when I drew near to him, I saw nothing venerable about him. Abruptly he asked me, ' How can the empire be settled? ' I replied, 'It will be settled by being united under one sway. '
'
"'Whocan giveittohim? '
" I replied : ' All the people of the empire will unanimously give it to him. Does your Majesty understand the way of the growing grain ? During the seventh and eighth months, when drought prevails, the plants become dry. Then the clouds col lect densely in the heavens, they send down torrents of rain, and the grain erects itself, as if by a shoot. When it does so, who can keep it back? Now among the shepherds of men throughout the empire, if there were one who did not find
" ' Who can so unite it?
" I replied, ' He who has no pleasure in killing men can so unite it. '
278 THE ART OF GOVERNMENT.
pleasure in killing men, all the people in the empire would look towards him with outstretched necks. Such being, indeed, the case, the people would flock to him, as water flows down wards with a rush, which no one can repress. ' "
The King Seuen of Ts'e asked, saying, " May I be informed by you of the transactions of Hwan of Ts'e and Wan of
Ts'in? " " Mencius replied :
There were none of the disciples of Chun- que who spoke about the affairs of Hwan and Wan, and there
fore they have not been transmitted to these after ages, — your servant has not heard them. If you will have me speak, let it be about imperial government. "
The king said, " What virtue must there be in order to the attainment of imperial sway ? " Mencius answered, " The love and protection of the people ; with this there is no power which can prevent a ruler from attaining it. "
The king asked again, " Is such an one as I competent to love and protect the people? " Mencius said, "Yes. " " From
what do you know that I am competent to that ? "
the following incident from Hoo Heih : ' The king,' said he, ' was sitting aloft in the hall, when a man appeared, leading an
ox past the lower part of it. The king saw him, and asked, Where is the ox going ? The man replied, We are going to con secrate a hell with its blood. The king said, Let it go. I can not bear its frightened appearance, as if it were an innocent person going to the place of death. The man answered, Shall we then omit the consecration of the hell? The king said, How can that be omitted? Change it for a sheep. ' I do not know whether this incident really occurred. "
The king replied, " It did," and then Mencius said, " The heart seen in this is sufficient to carry you to the imperial sway. The people all supposed that your Majesty grudged the animal, but your servant knows surely that it was your Majesty's not being able to bear the sight, which made you do as you did. " "
You are right. And yet there really was
The king said,
an appearance of what the people condemned. But though Ts'e be a small and narrow state, how should I grudge one ox? Indeed it was because I could not bear its frightened ap pearance, as if it were an innocent person going to the place of death, that therefore I changed it for a sheep. "
"
I heard
THE ART OF GOVERNMENT. 279
Mencius pursued, " Let not your Majesty deem it strange that the people should think you were grudging the animal. When you changed a large one for a small, how should they know the true reason? If you felt pained by its being led without guilt to the place of death, what was there to choose between an ox and a sheep ? "
I did not grudge the expense of it, and changed
it for a sheep ! There was reason in the people's saying that I
grudged it. "
" "There is no harm in their saying so," said Mencius.
Your conduct was an artifice of benevolence. You saw the ox, and had not seen the sheep. So is the superior man affected towards animals, that, having seen them alive, he cannot bear to see them die ; having heard their dying cries he cannot bear to eat their flesh. Therefore, he keeps away from his cook- room. " " '
The king was pleased, and said, It is said in the Book of Poetry,' 'The minds of others, I am able by reflection to measure ; ' this is verified, my master, in your discovery of my motive. I indeed did the thing, but when I turned my thoughts inward, and examined into it, I could not discover my own mind, when you, Master, spoke those words, the movements of compassion began to work in my mind. How is it that this heart has in it what is equal to the imperial sway ? "
Mencius replied, " Suppose a man were to make this state ment to your Majesty : ' My strength is sufficient to lift three thousand catties, but it is not sufficient to lift one feather; my eyesight is sharp enough to examine the point of an autumn hair, but I do not see a wagonload of fagots ; ' would your Majesty allow what he said ? " " No," was the answer, on which Mencius proceeded, "Now here is kindness sufficient to reach to animals, and no benefits are extended from it to the people. How is this? Is an exception to be made here? The truth is, the feather's not being lifted is because the strength is not used ; the wagonload of firewood's not being seen is because the vision is not used ; and the people's not being loved and protected is because the kind ness is not employed. Therefore your Majesty's not exercising the imperial sway is because you do not do it, not because you are not able to do it. "
The king laughed and said, " What really was my mind in
the matter?
280 THE ART OF GOVERNMENT.
The king asked, " How may the difference between the not doing a thing and the not being able to do it, be represented ? " Mencius replied : " In such a thing as taking the T'ae Moun tain under your arm, and leaping over the North Sea with it, if you say to your people, ' I am not able to do it,' that is a real case of not being able. In such a matter as breaking off a branch from a tree at the order of a superior, if you say to people, ' I am not able to do it,' that is a case of not doing it, it is not a case of not being able to do it. Therefore your Maj esty's not exercising the imperial sway is not such a case as that of taking the T'ae Mountain under your arm, and leaping over the North Sea with it. Your Majesty's not exercising the imperial sway is a case like that of breaking off a branch from a tree.
" Treat with the reverence due to age the elders in your own family, so that the elders in the families of others shall be simi larly treated ; treat with the kindness due to youth the young in your own family, so that the young in the families of others shall be similarly treated ; do this, and the empire may be made to go round in your palm. It is said in the ' Book of Poetry,' ' His example affected his wife. It reached to his brothers, and his family of the state was governed by it. ' The language shows how King Wan simply took this kindly heart, and exercised it towards those parties. Therefore, the carrying out his kindly heart by a prince will suffice for the love and protection of all within the four seas, and if he do not carry it out, he will not be able to protect his wife and children. The way in which the ancients came greatly to surpass other men was no other than this, — simply that they knew how to carry out, so as to affect others, what they themselves did. Now, your kindness is sufficient to reach to animals, and no benefits are extended from it to reach the people. How is this ? Is an exception to be made here ?
" By weighing, we know what things are light, and what heavy. By measuring we know what things are long, and what short. The relations of all things may be thus deter mined, and it is of the greatest importance to estimate the motions of the mind. I beg your Majesty to measure it.
" You collect your equipments of war, endanger your sol diers and officers, and excite the resentment of the other princes : do these things cause you pleasure in your mind ? "
The king laughed, and did not speak. Mencius resumed :
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281
" Are you led to desire it because you have not enough of rich and sweet food for your mouth ? Or because you have not enough of light and warm clothing for your body? Or because you have not enow of beautifully colored objects to delight your eyes ? Or because you have not voices and tones enow to please your ears ? Or because you have not enow of attendants and favorites to stand before you and receive your orders ? Your Majesty's various officers are sufficient to sup ply you with those things. How can your Majesty be led to entertain such a desire on account of them ? " " No," said the king; "my desire is not on account of them. " Mencius added, " Then, what your Majesty greatly desires may be known. You wish to enlarge your territories, to have Ts'in and Ts'oo wait at your court, to rule the Middle Kingdom, and to attract to you the barbarous tribes that surround it. But to do what you do to seek for what you desire is like climbing a tree to seek for fish. " "
The king said, "Is it so bad as that?
was the reply. " If you climb a tree to seek for fish, although you do not get the fish, you will not suffer any subsequent calamity. But if you do what you do to seek for what you desire, doing it moreover with all your heart, you will as suredly afterwards meet with calamities. " The king asked, " May I hear from you the proof of that ? " Mencius said, " If the people of Tsow should fight with the people of Ts'oo, which of them does your Majesty think would conquer ? " "The people of Ts'oo could conquer. " "Yes; — and so it is certain that a small country cannot contend with a great, that few cannot contend with many, that the weak cannot contend with the strong. The territory within the four seas embraces nine divisions, each of a thousand li square. All Ts'e to gether is but one of them. If with one part you try to subdue the other eight, what is the difference between that and Tsow's contending with Ts'oo ? For, with the desire which you have, you must likewise turn back to the radical course for its attainment.
" Now, if your Majesty will institute a government whose action shall all be benevolent, this will cause all the officers in the empire to wish to stand in your Majesty's court, and the farmers all to wish to plow in your Majesty's fields, and the merchants, both traveling and stationary, all to wish to store their goods in your Majesty's market places, and traveling
"Itis even worse,"
282 THE ART OF GOVERNMENT.
strangers all to wish to make their tours on your Majesty's roads, and all throughout the empire who feel aggrieved by their rulers to wish to come and complain to your Majesty. And when they are so bent, who will be able to keep them back? " "
I am stupid, and not able to advance to this. I wish you, my master, to assist my intentions. Teach me clearly ; although I am deficient in intelligence and vigor, I
The king said,
will essay and try to carry your instructions into effect. " Mencius replied, "They are only men of education, who,
without a certain livelihood, are able to maintain a fixed heart. As to the people, if they have not a certain livelihood, it follows that they will not have a fixed heart. And if they have not a fixed heart, there is nothing which they will not do, in the way of self-abandonment, of moral deflection, of depravity, and of wild license. When they thus have been involved in crime, to follow them up and punish them, — this is to entrap the people. How can such a thing as entrapping the people be done under the rule of a benevolent man ?
" Therefore an intelligent ruler will regulate the livelihood of the people, so as to make sure that, above, they shall have sufficient wherewith to serve their parents, and, below, suffi cient wherewith to support their wives and children ; that in good years they shall always be abundantly satisfied, and that in bad years they shall escape the danger of perishing. After this he may urge them, and they will proceed to what is good, for in this case the people will follow after that with ease.
"Now, the livelihood of the people is so regulated that, above, they have not sufficient wherewith to serve their parents, and below, they have not sufficient wherewith to support their wives and children. Notwithstanding good years, their lives are continually embittered, and, in bad years, they do not escape perishing. In such circumstances they only try to save them selves from death, and are afraid they will not succeed. What leisure have they to cultivate propriety and righteousness ?
" If your Majesty wishes to effect this regulation of the livelihood of the people, why not turn to that which is the essential step to it ?
" Let mulberry trees be planted about the homesteads with their five mow, and persons of fifty years may be clothed with silk. In keeping fowls, pigs, and swine, let not their times of breeding be neglected, and persons of seventy years may eat
THE CLAY CART. 283
flesh. Let there not be taken away the time that is proper for the cultivation of the farm with its hundred mow, and the family of eight mouths that is supported by it shall not suffer from hunger. Let careful attention be paid to education in schools, — the inculcation in it especially of the filial and fra ternal duties, and gray -haired men will not be seen upon the roads, carrying burdens on their backs or on their heads. It never has been that the ruler of a state where such results were seen, — the old wearing silk and eating flesh, and the black-haired people suffering neither from hunger nor cold, — did not attain to the imperial dignity. "
THE CLAY CART.
Translated and Abridged by Sir MONIER MONIER-WILLIAMS.
[Sir Monier Monier- Williams : A leading Anglo-Indian lexicographer and Orientalist ; born at Bombay, India, November 12, 1819 ; died 1889. From 1860 on he was professor of Sanskrit in Oxford. He published several Sanskrit dictionaries, a Sanskrit and a Hindustani grammar; "Indian Epic Poetry" (1863), "Indian Wisdom" (1875), "Hinduism" (1877), "Modern India and the Indians" (1878), "Buddhism," etc. , 1889. ]
[The earliest extant Sanskrit drama : attributed to King Sudraka, who is sometimes said to have reigned in the first or second century B. C. ; but the play in fact is probably not much earlier than the fifth century a. d. , and by some playwright who judiciously gave the king the honor. ]
The first scene represents a court in front of Caru-datta's house. His friend Maitreya — who, although a Brahman, acts the part of a sort of jovial companion, and displays a disposi tion of mixed shrewdness and simplicity — laments Caru-datta's fallen fortunes, caused by his too great liberality.
replies thus : —
Carurdatta —
Think not, my friend, I mourn departed wealth : One thing alone torments me, — that my guests Desert my beggared house, like to the bees
That swarm around the elephant, when dews Exhale from his broad front ; but quickly leave His dried-up temples when they yield no sweets.
Caru-datta
284
THE CLAY CART.
Maitreya — The sons of slaves! These guests you speak of are always ready to make a morning meal off a man's property.
Caru-datta —
It is most true, but I bestow no thought
On my lost property, — as fate decrees — Wealth comes and goes ; but this is torture to me, That friendships I thought firm hang all relaxed And loose, when poverty sticks closest to me.
From poverty 'tis but a step to shame —
From shame to loss of manly self-respect ;
Then comes disdainful scorn, then dark despair O'erwhelms the mind with melancholy thoughts, Then reason goes, and last of all comes ruin.
Oh ! poverty is source of every ill.
Maitreya — Ah well, cheer up ! Let's have no more of these woe begone memories. What's lost can't be recovered.
Caru-datta —I will grieve no more. Go you, my friend, Good !
And offer this oblation, just prepared,
Unto the gods, and mothers of us all.
Maitreya —Not I.
Caru-datta — And why not, pray?
Maitreya —Why, what's the use, when the gods you have wor
shiped have done nothing for you ? Caru-datta —
Friend, speak not thus, for worship is the duty Of every family ; the gods are honored
By offerings, and gratified by acts
Of penance and restraint in thought and word. Therefore, delay not to present the oblation.
Maitreya — I don't intend to go; send some one else.
Caru-datta —
Stay quiet then for a little, till I have finished My religious meditations and prayer.
They are supposed here to retire, and a voice is heard be hind the scenes : —
Stop ! Vasanta-sena, stop !
The heroine of the play now appears in front of Caru- datta's house, pursued by the king's worthless but wealthy brother-in-law, called Samsthanaka, who is an embodiment of everything vicious and mean, in exact contrast to Caru-datta.
Samsthanaka — Stop! Vasanta-sena, stop! Why do you run away ? Don't be alarmed. I am not going to kill you. My poor
THE CLAY CART. 285
heart is on fire with love, like a piece of meat placed on a heap of burning coals.
Vasanta-sena — Noble sir, I am only a weak woman. Samstlianaka — That is just why I don't intend murdering you. Vasanta-sena — Why then do you pursue me ? Do you seek my
jewels ?
Samsthandka — No, I only seek to gain your affections.
At this point the frightened Vasanta-sena discovers that she is close to Caru-datta's house. He is not only loved by her, but greatly respected as a man of honor ; and under cover of the evening darkness, now supposed to have supervened, she slips into the courtyard of his house by a side door, and hides herself. A companion who is with the king's brother now counsels him to desist from following her, by remarking: —
An elephant is bound by a chain,
A horse is curbed by a bridle and rein ; — But a woman is only held by her heart
If you can't hold that, you had better depart.
Samsthanaka, however, forces his way into Caru-datta's house ; and there finding Caru-datta's friend and companion Maitreya, thus addresses him: —
Take this message to Caru-datta. — Vasanta-sena loves you, and has taken refuge in your house. If you will deliver her up, you shall be rewarded by my everlasting friendship; if not, I shall remain your enemy till death. Give this message, so that I may hear you from the neighboring terrace; refuse to say exactly what I have told you, and I will crush your head as I would a wood apple beneath a door.
He then leaves the stage.
Maitreya accordingly delivers the message. Soon after wards the heroine Vasanta-sena ventures into the presence of Caru-datta, asks pardon for intruding into his house, requests him to take charge of a golden casket containing her ornaments as a deposit left in trust, and solicits his friend's escort back to her own house.
Maitreya is too much alarmed to accompany her, so Caru- datta himself escorts Vasanta-sena home.
So far is an epitome of the first act.
At the commencement of the second act a gambler is intro duced running away from the keeper of a gaming house, named
286 THE CLAY CART.
Mathura, and another gambler to whom the first gambler has lost money, who are both pursuing him.
First Gambler — The master of the tables and the gamester are at my heels : how can I escape them ? Here is an empty temple: I will enter it walking backwards, and pretend to be its idol.
Mathura — Ho there ! stop, thief ! A gambler has lost ten suvar- nas, and is running off without paying. Stop him, stop him !
Second Gambler — He has run as far as this point ; but here the
They enter and make signs to each other on discovering the object of their search, who pretends to be an idol fixed on a pedestal.
track is lost. — Mathura Ah !
I see, — the footsteps are reversed : the rogue has walked backwards into this temple which has no image in it.
Second Gambler — Is this a wooden image, I wonder?
Mathura — No, no, it must be made of stone, I think. [So say ing, they shake and pinch him. ] Never mind, sit we down here, and play out our game. [They commence playing. ]
First Gambler [still acting the image, but looking on and toith difficulty restraining his wish to join in the game. Aside] — The rat tling of dice is as tantalizing to a penniless man as the sound of drums to a dethroned monarch ; verily it is sweet as the note of a nightingale.
Second Gambler — The throw is mine, the throw is mine! Mathura — No, it is mine, I say.
First Gambler [forgetting himself and jumping off his pedestal] —
No, I tell you it is mine.
Second Gambler — We've caught him!
Mathura — Yes, rascal, you're caught at last: hand over the
suvarnas. — First Gambler
Worthy sir, I'll pay them in good time.
Mathura — Hand them over this very minute, I say. [ They beat
him. ]
First Gambler [aside to Second Gambler] — I'll pay you half if
you will forgive me the rest.
Second Gambler — Agreed.
First Gambler [aside to Mathura] — I'll give you security for
half if you will let me off the other half.
Mathura — Agreed.
First Gambler — Then good morning to you, sirs; I'm off.
THE CLAY CART. 287
Mathura —Hullo! stop there, where are you going so fast? Hand over the money.
First Gambler — See here, my good sirs, one has taken security for half, and the other has let me off another half. Isn't it clear I have nothing to pay ?
Mathura —No, no, my fine fellow: my name is Mathura, and I'm not such a fool as you take me for. Don't suppose I'm going to be cheated out of my ten suvarnas in this way. Hand them over, you scoundrel.
Upon that they set to work beating the unfortunate gam bler, whose cries for help bring to his rescue another gamester who happens to be passing. A general scuffle now takes place, and in the midst of the confusion the first gambler escapes. In his flight he comes to the house of Vasanta-sena, and finding the door open, rushes in. Vasanta-sena inquires who he is and what he wants. He then recites his story, and makes known to her that having been once in the service of Caru-datta, and having been discharged by him on account of his reduced cir cumstances, he has been driven to seek a livelihood by gambling. The mention of Caru-datta at once secures Vasanta-sena's aid ; and the pursuers having now tracked their fugitive to the door of her house, she sends them out a jeweled bracelet, which satis fies their demands, and they retire. The gambler expresses the deepest gratitude, hopes in return to be of use to Vasanta-sena at some future time, and announces his intention of abandoning his disreputable mode of life and becoming a Buddhist mendicant.
The third act opens with a scene inside Caru-datta's house. The time is supposed to be night. Caru-datta and Maitreya are absent at a concert. A servant is preparing their sleeping couches, and commences talking to himself thus : —
A good master who is kind to his servants, even though he be poor, is their delight ; while a harsh fellow, who is always finding fault and has nothing but his money to be proud of, is a perpetual torment from morning to night. Well, well ! one can't alter nature ; an ox can't be kept out of a field of corn, and a man once addicted to gambling can't be induced to leave off. My good master has gone to a concert. I must await his return ; so I may as well take a nap in the hall.
Meanwhile Caru-datta and Maitreya come back, and the servant delivers Vasanta-sena's golden casket, saying that it is his turn to take charge of it by night. They now lie down.
288
THE CLAY CART.
Maitreya — Are you sleepy ? Carvr&atta —
Yes:
I feel inconstant sleep, with shadowy form Viewless and wayward, creep across my brow And weigh my eyelids down ; her soft approach Is like Decay's advance, which stronger grows Till it has mastered all our faculties,
And life is lost in blank unconsciousness.
The whole household is soon buried in slumber, when a thief named Sarvilaka is seen to approach. His soliloquy, while he proceeds to accomplish his design of breaking into the house, is curious, as showing that an Indian burglar's mode of operation in ancient times differed very little from that now in fashion. Moreover, it appears that the whole practice of housebreaking was carried on by professional artists according to certain fixed rules and principles, which a master of the science, named Yogacarya, had embodied in a kind of "Thieves' Manual," for the better training of his disciples. It is evident, too, that the fraternity of thieves, burglars, and rogues had a special presiding Deity and Patron in India, much in the same way as in ancient Greece and Rome.
It may be noted also, as still more curious, that the particu lar burglar here introduced is represented as a Brahman, that he is made to speak the learned language, Sanskrit, and to dis play acquaintance with Sanskrit literature ; while all the sub ordinate characters in Indian dramas, including women of rank, are represented as speaking one or other of the provincial dia lects called Prakrit. Here is part of the burglar's soliloquy : —
I advance creeping stealthily along the ground, like a snake wig gling out of its worn-out skin, making a path for my operations by the sheer force of my scientific craft, and artfully constructing an opening just big enough to admit my body with ease.
This friendly night which covers all the stars With a thick coat of darkness, acts the part Of a kind mother, shrouding me, her son, Whose valor is displayed in night assaults Upon my neighbors, and whose only dread
Is to be pounced upon by royal watchmen.
Good ! I have made a hole in the garden wall, and am now in the midst of the premises. Now for an attack on the four walls of the house itself.
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Men call this occupation mean, which thrives By triumphing o'er sleeping enemies.
This, they say, is not chivalry but burglary : But better far reproach with independence, Than cringing service without liberty ;
And did not Aswatthaman long ago CFerpower in night attack his slumbering foe?
289
Where shall I make my breach ? Ah ! here's a rat hole — this is the very thing we disciples of the god Skanda hail as the best guide to our operations, and the best omen of success. Here then I must begin my excavation, that is clear; but how shall I pro ceed ? The golden-speared god has taught four methods of making a breach : namely, — pulling out baked bricks, cutting through un baked ones; soaking a mud wall with water, and boring through one made of wood. This wall is evidently of baked bricks, so they must be pulled out. Now for the shape of the hole. It must be carved according to some orthodox pattern : shall it be like a lotus
Then follows a little of the burglar's plain prose : —
Imust do it cleverly, so that to-morrow morning people may look at my handi
blossom, the sun, a crescent, a lake, a triangle, or a jar ?
work with wonder, and say to each other, " None but a skilled artist could have done this ! " The jar shape looks best in a wall of baked bricks. Be it so : now, then, to work ! Reverence to the golden- speared god Karttikeya, the giver of all boons ! Reverence to
Yogacarya, whose chief disciple I
am, and who was so pleased with his pupil that he gave me a magical pigment, which, when spread
over my body, prevents any police officer from catching sight of me
I have forgotten my measuring line. Never mind, I can use my Brahmanical cord, — a most serviceable implement to all Brahmans,
and any weapons from harming my limbs. Ah ! what a pity !
especially to men of my profession. It serves to measure a wall, or to throw round ornaments which have to be drawn from their places, or to lift the latch of a door, or to bind up one's finger when bitten by insects or snakes. And now, to commence measur ing. Good! the hole is exactly the right size; only one brick
I must bind up my finger and apply the antidote that's the only cure. Now I
remains ! Ah ! botheration !
I am bitten by a snake :
am all right again. Let me first peep in. What ! A light gleams somewhere ! Never mind ! the breach being perfect, I must creep in. Reverence to Karttikeya ! How now ! two men asleep ! Are they really asleep, or only shamming ? If they are shamming, they won't bear the glimmer of this lamp when passed over their faces ; — they are fast asleep, I believe, — their breathing is regular, their eyes are firmly closed, their joints are all relaxed, and their limbs
VOL. VII. — 19
290 THE CLAY CART.
of a dancing master ; I had better be off.
Maitreya here calls out in his sleep : —
protrude beyond the bed. What have we here ? Here are tabors, a lute, flutes, and books ; why, I must have broken into the house
an old bathing dress. Very good !
I took it for the mansion of a man of rank.
Master, I am afraid some thief is breaking into the house ; take you charge of the golden casket.
Sarvilaka — What! does he see me? Shall I have to kill him? No, no, it's all right, — he's only dreaming and talking in his sleep. But sure enough, he has hold of a casket of jewels wrapped up in
I will relieve him of his burden ; — but no, it's a shame to take the only thing the poor creature seems
to possess ; so I'll be off without more ado.
Maitreya — My good friend, if you won't take the casket, may
you incur the curse of disappointing the wishes of a cow and of a Brahman.
Sarvilaka — The wishes of a cow and a Brahman! These are much too sacred to be opposed ; so take the casket I must.
Accordingly he helps himself to the casket, and proceeds to make good his escape.
The noise he makes in going out rouses its inmates, and they discover that the house has been robbed. Caru-datta is greatly shocked at the loss of Vasanta-sena's casket, which had been deposited with him in trust. He has only one valuable thing left, — a necklace or string of jewels, forming part of the private property of his wife. This he sends by Maitreya to Vasanta-sena as a substitute for the casket.
The fourth act commences with a scene in Vasanta-sena's house. The burglar Sarvilaka is seen to approach, but this time with no burglarious designs. It appears that he is in love with Vasanta-sena's slave girl, and hopes to purchase her freedom by offering as a ransom the stolen casket of jewels, being of course ignorant that he is offering it to its owner. —
As he advances towards the house, he thus soliloquizes :
I have brought blame and censure on the night, I've triumphed over slumber, and defied
The vigilance of royal watchmen ; now
I imitate the moon, who, when the night
Is closing, quickly pales beneath the rays Of the ascending sun, and hides himself. I tremble, or I run, or stand aside,
THE CLAY CART. 291
Or seek deliverance by a hundred shifts,
If haply from behind some hurried step Appears to track me, or a passer-by
Casts but a glance upon me ; every one
Is viewed by me suspiciously, for thus
A guilty conscience makes a man a coward, Affrighting him with his unrighteous deeds.
On reaching the house, he sees the object of his affections, the female slave of Vasanta-sena. He presents her with the casket, and begs her to take it to her mistress, and request in return freedom from further service. The servant girl, on see ing the casket, recognizes the ornaments as belonging to her mistress. She then reproaches her lover, who is forced to con fess how they came into his possession, and to explain that they were stolen entirely out of love for her. The altercation which ensues leads him to make some very disparaging remarks on the female sex generally. Here is a specimen of his asperities, which are somewhat softened down in the translation : —
A woman will for money smile or weep
According to your will ; she makes a man
Put trust in her, but trusts him not herself.
Women are as inconstant as the waves
Of ocean, their affection is as fugitive
As streak of sunset glow upon a cloud.
They cling with eager fondness to the man
Who yields them wealth, which they squeeze out like sap Out of a juicy plant, and then they leave him.
Therefore are men thought foolish who confide
In women and in fortune, for their windings
Are like the coils of serpent nymphs, insidious.
Well is it said, you cannot alter nature ;
The lotus grows not on the mountain top,
Asses refuse to bear a horse's burden,
He who sows barley reaps not fields of rice :
Do what you will, a woman will be a woman.
After other still more caustic aspersions, the thief Sarvilaka and his lover make up their differences, and it is agreed be tween them that the only way out of the difficulty is for him to take the casket to Vasanta-sena, as if he were a messenger from Caru-datta, sent to restore her property. This he does : and Vasanta-sena, who, unknown to the lovers, has overheard
292 THE CLAY CART.
their conversation, astonishes Sarvilaka by setting her slave girl free and permitting her to become his wife, thus affording a practical refutation of his charge against women of selfish ness and want of generosity.
Soon after the departure of the lovers, an attendant an nounces the arrival of a Brahman from Caru-datta. This turns out to be Maitreya, who is honored by an introduction into the private garden attached to the inner apartments of Vasanta- sena's house. His passage through the courts of the mansion, no less than seven in number, is made an occasion for describ ing the interior of the splendid residence which a Hindu lady of wealth and fashion might be supposed, allowing for a little play of the imagination, to occupy.
The description affords a striking picture of Indian life and manners, which to this day are not greatly changed. The account of the courtyards will remind those who have seen Pompeii of some of the houses there, and will illustrate the now universally received opinion of the common origin of Hindus, Greeks, and Romans. Of course the object of Maitreya's visit to Vasanta-sena is to confess the loss of the casket, and to request her acceptance of the string of jewels from Caru-datta as a compensation. The good man in his simplicity expects that she will politely decline the costly present tendered by Caru-datta as a substitute for her far less valuable casket of ornaments ; but to his surprise and disgust she eagerly accepts the proffered compensation, and dismisses him with a few com plimentary words, — intending however, as it afterwards appears, to make the acceptance of Caru-datta's compensation an excuse for going in person to his house, that she may see him once again and restore to him with her own hand both the necklace and casket.
The fifth act opens with a scene in Caru-datta's garden. A heavy thunderstorm is supposed to be gathering, when Maitreya enters, salutes Caru-datta, and informs him of the particulars of his interview with Vasanta-sena. The rain now begins to descend in torrents, when a servant arrives to announce that Vasanta-sena is waiting outside. On hearing this, Maitreya says : —
What can she have come for ? Oh ! I know what she wants. She considers the casket worth more than the necklace of jewels, and so she wants to get the balance out of you.
Caru-datta — Then she shall go away satisfied.
THE CLAY CART. 293
Meanwhile some delay occurs in admitting Vasanta-sena, which is made an occasion for introducing a dialogue between her and her attendant, in the course of which they are made to describe very poetically the grandeur of the approaching storm : the sudden accumulation of dense masses of threatening clouds, the increasing gloom followed by portentous darkness, the ter rific rolling of thunder, the blaze of blinding lightning, the sud den outburst of rain, as if the very clouds themselves were falling, and the effect of all this upon the animals, — some of which, such as the peacocks and storks, welcome the strife of elements with their shrillest cries. In her descriptions of the scene, Vasanta-sena speaks Sanskrit, which is quite an unusual circumstance, and an evidence of her superior education (no good sign, however, according to Eastern ideas), — the female characters in Indian dramas being supposed to be incapable of speaking anything but the ordinary provincial Prakrit. Vasanta-sena is ultimately admitted to the presence of Caru- datta, and before returning the necklace practices a little play ful deception upon him as a set-off against that tried upon herself. She pretends that the string of pearls sent to her by Caru-datta has been accidentally lost by her ; she therefore pro duces a casket which she begs him to accept in its place. This, of course, turns out to be the identical casket which the thief had carried off from Caru-datta's house. In the end the whole matter is explained, and both casket and necklace are given over to Caru-datta ; and the storm, having now increased in violence, Vasanta-sena, to her great delight, is obliged to accept the shelter of his roof and is conducted to his private apartments. This brings five acts of the drama to a close.
Mencius replied, " Your Majesty is fond of war. Let me take an illustration from war. The soldiers move forward to the sound of the drums ; and after their weapons have been crossed, on one side they throw away their coats of mail, trail their arms behind them, and run. Some run a hundred paces and stop ; some run fifty paces and stop. What would you think if those who run" fifty paces were to laugh at those who run a hundred paces ?
The king said, " They may not do so. They only did not run a hundred paces ; but they also ran away. "
"Since your Majesty knows this," replied Mencius, "you need not hope that your people will become more numerous than those of the neighboring kingdoms.
"If the seasons of husbandry be not interfered with, the grain will be more than can be eaten. If close nets are not allowed to enter the pools and ponds, the fishes and turtles will be more than can be consumed. If the axes and bills enter the hills and forests only at the proper time, the wood will be
276 THE ART OF GOVERNMENT.
more than can be used. When the grain and fish and turtles are more than can be eaten, and there is more wood than can be used, this enables the people to nourish their living and bury their dead, without any feeling against any. This con dition, in which the people nourish their living and bury their dead without any feeling against any, is the first step of royal government.
" Let mulberry trees be planted about the homesteads with their five mow, and persons of fifty years may be clothed with silk. In keeping fowls, pigs, dogs, and swine, let not their times of breeding be neglected, and persons of seventy years may eat flesh. Let there not be taken away the time that is proper for the cultivation of the farm with its hundred mow, and the family of several mouths that is supported by it shall not suffer from hunger. Let careful attention be paid to education in schools, inculcating in it especially the filial and fraternal duties, and gray-haired men will not be seen upon the roads, carrying burdens on their backs or on their heads. It never has been that the ruler of a state where such results were seen — persons of seventy wearing silk and eating flesh, and the black-haired people suffering neither from hunger nor cold — did not attain to the imperial dignity.
" Your dogs and swine eat the food of men, and you do not know to make any restrictive arrangements. There are people dying from hunger on the roads, and you do not know to issue the stores of your granaries for them. When people die you say,'Itisnotowingtome; itisowingtotheyear. ' Inwhat does this differ from stabbing a man and killing him, and then
'
empire the people will come to you. "
King Hwuy of Leang said : " There was not in the empire
saying, ' It was not I
; it was the weapon ?
cease to lay the blame on the year, and instantly from all the
a stronger state than Tsin, as you, venerable Sir, know. But since it descended to me, on the east we have been defeated by Ts'e, and then my eldest son perished ; on the west we have lost seven hundred li of territory to Ts'in ; and on the south we have sustained disgrace at the hands of Ts'oo. I have brought shame on my departed predecessors, and wish on their account to wipe it away, once for all. What course is to be pursued to accomplish this ? "
Mencius replied, " With a territory which is only a hundred li square, it is possible to attain the imperial dignity.
Let your Majesty
THE ART OF GOVERNMENT. 277
" If your Majesty will indeed dispense a benevolent govern ment to the people, being sparing in the use of punishments and fines, and making the taxes and levies light, so causing that the field shall be plowed deep, and the weeding of them be carefully attended to, and that the strong-bodied, during their days of leisure, shall cultivate their filial piety, fraternal respectfulness, sincerity, and truthfulness, serving thereby, at home, their fathers and elder brothers, and abroad, their elders and superiors, you will then have a people who can be employed, with sticks which they have prepared, to oppose the strong mail and sharp weapons of the troops of Ts'in and Ts'oo.
"The rulers of those states rob their people of their time, so that they cannot plow and weed their fields in order to support their parents. Their parents suffer from cold and hunger. Brothers, wives, and children are separated and scattered abroad.
" Those rulers, as it were, drive their people into pitfalls or drown them. Your Majesty will go to punish them. In such a case, who will oppose your Majesty ?
" In accordance with this is the saying, ' The benevolent has no enemy. ' I beg your Majesty not to doubt what I say. "
Mencius went to see the King Seang of Leang.
On coming out from the interview, he said to some persons : " When I looked at him from a distance, he did not appear like a sovereign ; when I drew near to him, I saw nothing venerable about him. Abruptly he asked me, ' How can the empire be settled? ' I replied, 'It will be settled by being united under one sway. '
'
"'Whocan giveittohim? '
" I replied : ' All the people of the empire will unanimously give it to him. Does your Majesty understand the way of the growing grain ? During the seventh and eighth months, when drought prevails, the plants become dry. Then the clouds col lect densely in the heavens, they send down torrents of rain, and the grain erects itself, as if by a shoot. When it does so, who can keep it back? Now among the shepherds of men throughout the empire, if there were one who did not find
" ' Who can so unite it?
" I replied, ' He who has no pleasure in killing men can so unite it. '
278 THE ART OF GOVERNMENT.
pleasure in killing men, all the people in the empire would look towards him with outstretched necks. Such being, indeed, the case, the people would flock to him, as water flows down wards with a rush, which no one can repress. ' "
The King Seuen of Ts'e asked, saying, " May I be informed by you of the transactions of Hwan of Ts'e and Wan of
Ts'in? " " Mencius replied :
There were none of the disciples of Chun- que who spoke about the affairs of Hwan and Wan, and there
fore they have not been transmitted to these after ages, — your servant has not heard them. If you will have me speak, let it be about imperial government. "
The king said, " What virtue must there be in order to the attainment of imperial sway ? " Mencius answered, " The love and protection of the people ; with this there is no power which can prevent a ruler from attaining it. "
The king asked again, " Is such an one as I competent to love and protect the people? " Mencius said, "Yes. " " From
what do you know that I am competent to that ? "
the following incident from Hoo Heih : ' The king,' said he, ' was sitting aloft in the hall, when a man appeared, leading an
ox past the lower part of it. The king saw him, and asked, Where is the ox going ? The man replied, We are going to con secrate a hell with its blood. The king said, Let it go. I can not bear its frightened appearance, as if it were an innocent person going to the place of death. The man answered, Shall we then omit the consecration of the hell? The king said, How can that be omitted? Change it for a sheep. ' I do not know whether this incident really occurred. "
The king replied, " It did," and then Mencius said, " The heart seen in this is sufficient to carry you to the imperial sway. The people all supposed that your Majesty grudged the animal, but your servant knows surely that it was your Majesty's not being able to bear the sight, which made you do as you did. " "
You are right. And yet there really was
The king said,
an appearance of what the people condemned. But though Ts'e be a small and narrow state, how should I grudge one ox? Indeed it was because I could not bear its frightened ap pearance, as if it were an innocent person going to the place of death, that therefore I changed it for a sheep. "
"
I heard
THE ART OF GOVERNMENT. 279
Mencius pursued, " Let not your Majesty deem it strange that the people should think you were grudging the animal. When you changed a large one for a small, how should they know the true reason? If you felt pained by its being led without guilt to the place of death, what was there to choose between an ox and a sheep ? "
I did not grudge the expense of it, and changed
it for a sheep ! There was reason in the people's saying that I
grudged it. "
" "There is no harm in their saying so," said Mencius.
Your conduct was an artifice of benevolence. You saw the ox, and had not seen the sheep. So is the superior man affected towards animals, that, having seen them alive, he cannot bear to see them die ; having heard their dying cries he cannot bear to eat their flesh. Therefore, he keeps away from his cook- room. " " '
The king was pleased, and said, It is said in the Book of Poetry,' 'The minds of others, I am able by reflection to measure ; ' this is verified, my master, in your discovery of my motive. I indeed did the thing, but when I turned my thoughts inward, and examined into it, I could not discover my own mind, when you, Master, spoke those words, the movements of compassion began to work in my mind. How is it that this heart has in it what is equal to the imperial sway ? "
Mencius replied, " Suppose a man were to make this state ment to your Majesty : ' My strength is sufficient to lift three thousand catties, but it is not sufficient to lift one feather; my eyesight is sharp enough to examine the point of an autumn hair, but I do not see a wagonload of fagots ; ' would your Majesty allow what he said ? " " No," was the answer, on which Mencius proceeded, "Now here is kindness sufficient to reach to animals, and no benefits are extended from it to the people. How is this? Is an exception to be made here? The truth is, the feather's not being lifted is because the strength is not used ; the wagonload of firewood's not being seen is because the vision is not used ; and the people's not being loved and protected is because the kind ness is not employed. Therefore your Majesty's not exercising the imperial sway is because you do not do it, not because you are not able to do it. "
The king laughed and said, " What really was my mind in
the matter?
280 THE ART OF GOVERNMENT.
The king asked, " How may the difference between the not doing a thing and the not being able to do it, be represented ? " Mencius replied : " In such a thing as taking the T'ae Moun tain under your arm, and leaping over the North Sea with it, if you say to your people, ' I am not able to do it,' that is a real case of not being able. In such a matter as breaking off a branch from a tree at the order of a superior, if you say to people, ' I am not able to do it,' that is a case of not doing it, it is not a case of not being able to do it. Therefore your Maj esty's not exercising the imperial sway is not such a case as that of taking the T'ae Mountain under your arm, and leaping over the North Sea with it. Your Majesty's not exercising the imperial sway is a case like that of breaking off a branch from a tree.
" Treat with the reverence due to age the elders in your own family, so that the elders in the families of others shall be simi larly treated ; treat with the kindness due to youth the young in your own family, so that the young in the families of others shall be similarly treated ; do this, and the empire may be made to go round in your palm. It is said in the ' Book of Poetry,' ' His example affected his wife. It reached to his brothers, and his family of the state was governed by it. ' The language shows how King Wan simply took this kindly heart, and exercised it towards those parties. Therefore, the carrying out his kindly heart by a prince will suffice for the love and protection of all within the four seas, and if he do not carry it out, he will not be able to protect his wife and children. The way in which the ancients came greatly to surpass other men was no other than this, — simply that they knew how to carry out, so as to affect others, what they themselves did. Now, your kindness is sufficient to reach to animals, and no benefits are extended from it to reach the people. How is this ? Is an exception to be made here ?
" By weighing, we know what things are light, and what heavy. By measuring we know what things are long, and what short. The relations of all things may be thus deter mined, and it is of the greatest importance to estimate the motions of the mind. I beg your Majesty to measure it.
" You collect your equipments of war, endanger your sol diers and officers, and excite the resentment of the other princes : do these things cause you pleasure in your mind ? "
The king laughed, and did not speak. Mencius resumed :
THE ART OF GOVERNMENT.
281
" Are you led to desire it because you have not enough of rich and sweet food for your mouth ? Or because you have not enough of light and warm clothing for your body? Or because you have not enow of beautifully colored objects to delight your eyes ? Or because you have not voices and tones enow to please your ears ? Or because you have not enow of attendants and favorites to stand before you and receive your orders ? Your Majesty's various officers are sufficient to sup ply you with those things. How can your Majesty be led to entertain such a desire on account of them ? " " No," said the king; "my desire is not on account of them. " Mencius added, " Then, what your Majesty greatly desires may be known. You wish to enlarge your territories, to have Ts'in and Ts'oo wait at your court, to rule the Middle Kingdom, and to attract to you the barbarous tribes that surround it. But to do what you do to seek for what you desire is like climbing a tree to seek for fish. " "
The king said, "Is it so bad as that?
was the reply. " If you climb a tree to seek for fish, although you do not get the fish, you will not suffer any subsequent calamity. But if you do what you do to seek for what you desire, doing it moreover with all your heart, you will as suredly afterwards meet with calamities. " The king asked, " May I hear from you the proof of that ? " Mencius said, " If the people of Tsow should fight with the people of Ts'oo, which of them does your Majesty think would conquer ? " "The people of Ts'oo could conquer. " "Yes; — and so it is certain that a small country cannot contend with a great, that few cannot contend with many, that the weak cannot contend with the strong. The territory within the four seas embraces nine divisions, each of a thousand li square. All Ts'e to gether is but one of them. If with one part you try to subdue the other eight, what is the difference between that and Tsow's contending with Ts'oo ? For, with the desire which you have, you must likewise turn back to the radical course for its attainment.
" Now, if your Majesty will institute a government whose action shall all be benevolent, this will cause all the officers in the empire to wish to stand in your Majesty's court, and the farmers all to wish to plow in your Majesty's fields, and the merchants, both traveling and stationary, all to wish to store their goods in your Majesty's market places, and traveling
"Itis even worse,"
282 THE ART OF GOVERNMENT.
strangers all to wish to make their tours on your Majesty's roads, and all throughout the empire who feel aggrieved by their rulers to wish to come and complain to your Majesty. And when they are so bent, who will be able to keep them back? " "
I am stupid, and not able to advance to this. I wish you, my master, to assist my intentions. Teach me clearly ; although I am deficient in intelligence and vigor, I
The king said,
will essay and try to carry your instructions into effect. " Mencius replied, "They are only men of education, who,
without a certain livelihood, are able to maintain a fixed heart. As to the people, if they have not a certain livelihood, it follows that they will not have a fixed heart. And if they have not a fixed heart, there is nothing which they will not do, in the way of self-abandonment, of moral deflection, of depravity, and of wild license. When they thus have been involved in crime, to follow them up and punish them, — this is to entrap the people. How can such a thing as entrapping the people be done under the rule of a benevolent man ?
" Therefore an intelligent ruler will regulate the livelihood of the people, so as to make sure that, above, they shall have sufficient wherewith to serve their parents, and, below, suffi cient wherewith to support their wives and children ; that in good years they shall always be abundantly satisfied, and that in bad years they shall escape the danger of perishing. After this he may urge them, and they will proceed to what is good, for in this case the people will follow after that with ease.
"Now, the livelihood of the people is so regulated that, above, they have not sufficient wherewith to serve their parents, and below, they have not sufficient wherewith to support their wives and children. Notwithstanding good years, their lives are continually embittered, and, in bad years, they do not escape perishing. In such circumstances they only try to save them selves from death, and are afraid they will not succeed. What leisure have they to cultivate propriety and righteousness ?
" If your Majesty wishes to effect this regulation of the livelihood of the people, why not turn to that which is the essential step to it ?
" Let mulberry trees be planted about the homesteads with their five mow, and persons of fifty years may be clothed with silk. In keeping fowls, pigs, and swine, let not their times of breeding be neglected, and persons of seventy years may eat
THE CLAY CART. 283
flesh. Let there not be taken away the time that is proper for the cultivation of the farm with its hundred mow, and the family of eight mouths that is supported by it shall not suffer from hunger. Let careful attention be paid to education in schools, — the inculcation in it especially of the filial and fra ternal duties, and gray -haired men will not be seen upon the roads, carrying burdens on their backs or on their heads. It never has been that the ruler of a state where such results were seen, — the old wearing silk and eating flesh, and the black-haired people suffering neither from hunger nor cold, — did not attain to the imperial dignity. "
THE CLAY CART.
Translated and Abridged by Sir MONIER MONIER-WILLIAMS.
[Sir Monier Monier- Williams : A leading Anglo-Indian lexicographer and Orientalist ; born at Bombay, India, November 12, 1819 ; died 1889. From 1860 on he was professor of Sanskrit in Oxford. He published several Sanskrit dictionaries, a Sanskrit and a Hindustani grammar; "Indian Epic Poetry" (1863), "Indian Wisdom" (1875), "Hinduism" (1877), "Modern India and the Indians" (1878), "Buddhism," etc. , 1889. ]
[The earliest extant Sanskrit drama : attributed to King Sudraka, who is sometimes said to have reigned in the first or second century B. C. ; but the play in fact is probably not much earlier than the fifth century a. d. , and by some playwright who judiciously gave the king the honor. ]
The first scene represents a court in front of Caru-datta's house. His friend Maitreya — who, although a Brahman, acts the part of a sort of jovial companion, and displays a disposi tion of mixed shrewdness and simplicity — laments Caru-datta's fallen fortunes, caused by his too great liberality.
replies thus : —
Carurdatta —
Think not, my friend, I mourn departed wealth : One thing alone torments me, — that my guests Desert my beggared house, like to the bees
That swarm around the elephant, when dews Exhale from his broad front ; but quickly leave His dried-up temples when they yield no sweets.
Caru-datta
284
THE CLAY CART.
Maitreya — The sons of slaves! These guests you speak of are always ready to make a morning meal off a man's property.
Caru-datta —
It is most true, but I bestow no thought
On my lost property, — as fate decrees — Wealth comes and goes ; but this is torture to me, That friendships I thought firm hang all relaxed And loose, when poverty sticks closest to me.
From poverty 'tis but a step to shame —
From shame to loss of manly self-respect ;
Then comes disdainful scorn, then dark despair O'erwhelms the mind with melancholy thoughts, Then reason goes, and last of all comes ruin.
Oh ! poverty is source of every ill.
Maitreya — Ah well, cheer up ! Let's have no more of these woe begone memories. What's lost can't be recovered.
Caru-datta —I will grieve no more. Go you, my friend, Good !
And offer this oblation, just prepared,
Unto the gods, and mothers of us all.
Maitreya —Not I.
Caru-datta — And why not, pray?
Maitreya —Why, what's the use, when the gods you have wor
shiped have done nothing for you ? Caru-datta —
Friend, speak not thus, for worship is the duty Of every family ; the gods are honored
By offerings, and gratified by acts
Of penance and restraint in thought and word. Therefore, delay not to present the oblation.
Maitreya — I don't intend to go; send some one else.
Caru-datta —
Stay quiet then for a little, till I have finished My religious meditations and prayer.
They are supposed here to retire, and a voice is heard be hind the scenes : —
Stop ! Vasanta-sena, stop !
The heroine of the play now appears in front of Caru- datta's house, pursued by the king's worthless but wealthy brother-in-law, called Samsthanaka, who is an embodiment of everything vicious and mean, in exact contrast to Caru-datta.
Samsthanaka — Stop! Vasanta-sena, stop! Why do you run away ? Don't be alarmed. I am not going to kill you. My poor
THE CLAY CART. 285
heart is on fire with love, like a piece of meat placed on a heap of burning coals.
Vasanta-sena — Noble sir, I am only a weak woman. Samstlianaka — That is just why I don't intend murdering you. Vasanta-sena — Why then do you pursue me ? Do you seek my
jewels ?
Samsthandka — No, I only seek to gain your affections.
At this point the frightened Vasanta-sena discovers that she is close to Caru-datta's house. He is not only loved by her, but greatly respected as a man of honor ; and under cover of the evening darkness, now supposed to have supervened, she slips into the courtyard of his house by a side door, and hides herself. A companion who is with the king's brother now counsels him to desist from following her, by remarking: —
An elephant is bound by a chain,
A horse is curbed by a bridle and rein ; — But a woman is only held by her heart
If you can't hold that, you had better depart.
Samsthanaka, however, forces his way into Caru-datta's house ; and there finding Caru-datta's friend and companion Maitreya, thus addresses him: —
Take this message to Caru-datta. — Vasanta-sena loves you, and has taken refuge in your house. If you will deliver her up, you shall be rewarded by my everlasting friendship; if not, I shall remain your enemy till death. Give this message, so that I may hear you from the neighboring terrace; refuse to say exactly what I have told you, and I will crush your head as I would a wood apple beneath a door.
He then leaves the stage.
Maitreya accordingly delivers the message. Soon after wards the heroine Vasanta-sena ventures into the presence of Caru-datta, asks pardon for intruding into his house, requests him to take charge of a golden casket containing her ornaments as a deposit left in trust, and solicits his friend's escort back to her own house.
Maitreya is too much alarmed to accompany her, so Caru- datta himself escorts Vasanta-sena home.
So far is an epitome of the first act.
At the commencement of the second act a gambler is intro duced running away from the keeper of a gaming house, named
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Mathura, and another gambler to whom the first gambler has lost money, who are both pursuing him.
First Gambler — The master of the tables and the gamester are at my heels : how can I escape them ? Here is an empty temple: I will enter it walking backwards, and pretend to be its idol.
Mathura — Ho there ! stop, thief ! A gambler has lost ten suvar- nas, and is running off without paying. Stop him, stop him !
Second Gambler — He has run as far as this point ; but here the
They enter and make signs to each other on discovering the object of their search, who pretends to be an idol fixed on a pedestal.
track is lost. — Mathura Ah !
I see, — the footsteps are reversed : the rogue has walked backwards into this temple which has no image in it.
Second Gambler — Is this a wooden image, I wonder?
Mathura — No, no, it must be made of stone, I think. [So say ing, they shake and pinch him. ] Never mind, sit we down here, and play out our game. [They commence playing. ]
First Gambler [still acting the image, but looking on and toith difficulty restraining his wish to join in the game. Aside] — The rat tling of dice is as tantalizing to a penniless man as the sound of drums to a dethroned monarch ; verily it is sweet as the note of a nightingale.
Second Gambler — The throw is mine, the throw is mine! Mathura — No, it is mine, I say.
First Gambler [forgetting himself and jumping off his pedestal] —
No, I tell you it is mine.
Second Gambler — We've caught him!
Mathura — Yes, rascal, you're caught at last: hand over the
suvarnas. — First Gambler
Worthy sir, I'll pay them in good time.
Mathura — Hand them over this very minute, I say. [ They beat
him. ]
First Gambler [aside to Second Gambler] — I'll pay you half if
you will forgive me the rest.
Second Gambler — Agreed.
First Gambler [aside to Mathura] — I'll give you security for
half if you will let me off the other half.
Mathura — Agreed.
First Gambler — Then good morning to you, sirs; I'm off.
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Mathura —Hullo! stop there, where are you going so fast? Hand over the money.
First Gambler — See here, my good sirs, one has taken security for half, and the other has let me off another half. Isn't it clear I have nothing to pay ?
Mathura —No, no, my fine fellow: my name is Mathura, and I'm not such a fool as you take me for. Don't suppose I'm going to be cheated out of my ten suvarnas in this way. Hand them over, you scoundrel.
Upon that they set to work beating the unfortunate gam bler, whose cries for help bring to his rescue another gamester who happens to be passing. A general scuffle now takes place, and in the midst of the confusion the first gambler escapes. In his flight he comes to the house of Vasanta-sena, and finding the door open, rushes in. Vasanta-sena inquires who he is and what he wants. He then recites his story, and makes known to her that having been once in the service of Caru-datta, and having been discharged by him on account of his reduced cir cumstances, he has been driven to seek a livelihood by gambling. The mention of Caru-datta at once secures Vasanta-sena's aid ; and the pursuers having now tracked their fugitive to the door of her house, she sends them out a jeweled bracelet, which satis fies their demands, and they retire. The gambler expresses the deepest gratitude, hopes in return to be of use to Vasanta-sena at some future time, and announces his intention of abandoning his disreputable mode of life and becoming a Buddhist mendicant.
The third act opens with a scene inside Caru-datta's house. The time is supposed to be night. Caru-datta and Maitreya are absent at a concert. A servant is preparing their sleeping couches, and commences talking to himself thus : —
A good master who is kind to his servants, even though he be poor, is their delight ; while a harsh fellow, who is always finding fault and has nothing but his money to be proud of, is a perpetual torment from morning to night. Well, well ! one can't alter nature ; an ox can't be kept out of a field of corn, and a man once addicted to gambling can't be induced to leave off. My good master has gone to a concert. I must await his return ; so I may as well take a nap in the hall.
Meanwhile Caru-datta and Maitreya come back, and the servant delivers Vasanta-sena's golden casket, saying that it is his turn to take charge of it by night. They now lie down.
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Maitreya — Are you sleepy ? Carvr&atta —
Yes:
I feel inconstant sleep, with shadowy form Viewless and wayward, creep across my brow And weigh my eyelids down ; her soft approach Is like Decay's advance, which stronger grows Till it has mastered all our faculties,
And life is lost in blank unconsciousness.
The whole household is soon buried in slumber, when a thief named Sarvilaka is seen to approach. His soliloquy, while he proceeds to accomplish his design of breaking into the house, is curious, as showing that an Indian burglar's mode of operation in ancient times differed very little from that now in fashion. Moreover, it appears that the whole practice of housebreaking was carried on by professional artists according to certain fixed rules and principles, which a master of the science, named Yogacarya, had embodied in a kind of "Thieves' Manual," for the better training of his disciples. It is evident, too, that the fraternity of thieves, burglars, and rogues had a special presiding Deity and Patron in India, much in the same way as in ancient Greece and Rome.
It may be noted also, as still more curious, that the particu lar burglar here introduced is represented as a Brahman, that he is made to speak the learned language, Sanskrit, and to dis play acquaintance with Sanskrit literature ; while all the sub ordinate characters in Indian dramas, including women of rank, are represented as speaking one or other of the provincial dia lects called Prakrit. Here is part of the burglar's soliloquy : —
I advance creeping stealthily along the ground, like a snake wig gling out of its worn-out skin, making a path for my operations by the sheer force of my scientific craft, and artfully constructing an opening just big enough to admit my body with ease.
This friendly night which covers all the stars With a thick coat of darkness, acts the part Of a kind mother, shrouding me, her son, Whose valor is displayed in night assaults Upon my neighbors, and whose only dread
Is to be pounced upon by royal watchmen.
Good ! I have made a hole in the garden wall, and am now in the midst of the premises. Now for an attack on the four walls of the house itself.
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Men call this occupation mean, which thrives By triumphing o'er sleeping enemies.
This, they say, is not chivalry but burglary : But better far reproach with independence, Than cringing service without liberty ;
And did not Aswatthaman long ago CFerpower in night attack his slumbering foe?
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Where shall I make my breach ? Ah ! here's a rat hole — this is the very thing we disciples of the god Skanda hail as the best guide to our operations, and the best omen of success. Here then I must begin my excavation, that is clear; but how shall I pro ceed ? The golden-speared god has taught four methods of making a breach : namely, — pulling out baked bricks, cutting through un baked ones; soaking a mud wall with water, and boring through one made of wood. This wall is evidently of baked bricks, so they must be pulled out. Now for the shape of the hole. It must be carved according to some orthodox pattern : shall it be like a lotus
Then follows a little of the burglar's plain prose : —
Imust do it cleverly, so that to-morrow morning people may look at my handi
blossom, the sun, a crescent, a lake, a triangle, or a jar ?
work with wonder, and say to each other, " None but a skilled artist could have done this ! " The jar shape looks best in a wall of baked bricks. Be it so : now, then, to work ! Reverence to the golden- speared god Karttikeya, the giver of all boons ! Reverence to
Yogacarya, whose chief disciple I
am, and who was so pleased with his pupil that he gave me a magical pigment, which, when spread
over my body, prevents any police officer from catching sight of me
I have forgotten my measuring line. Never mind, I can use my Brahmanical cord, — a most serviceable implement to all Brahmans,
and any weapons from harming my limbs. Ah ! what a pity !
especially to men of my profession. It serves to measure a wall, or to throw round ornaments which have to be drawn from their places, or to lift the latch of a door, or to bind up one's finger when bitten by insects or snakes. And now, to commence measur ing. Good! the hole is exactly the right size; only one brick
I must bind up my finger and apply the antidote that's the only cure. Now I
remains ! Ah ! botheration !
I am bitten by a snake :
am all right again. Let me first peep in. What ! A light gleams somewhere ! Never mind ! the breach being perfect, I must creep in. Reverence to Karttikeya ! How now ! two men asleep ! Are they really asleep, or only shamming ? If they are shamming, they won't bear the glimmer of this lamp when passed over their faces ; — they are fast asleep, I believe, — their breathing is regular, their eyes are firmly closed, their joints are all relaxed, and their limbs
VOL. VII. — 19
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of a dancing master ; I had better be off.
Maitreya here calls out in his sleep : —
protrude beyond the bed. What have we here ? Here are tabors, a lute, flutes, and books ; why, I must have broken into the house
an old bathing dress. Very good !
I took it for the mansion of a man of rank.
Master, I am afraid some thief is breaking into the house ; take you charge of the golden casket.
Sarvilaka — What! does he see me? Shall I have to kill him? No, no, it's all right, — he's only dreaming and talking in his sleep. But sure enough, he has hold of a casket of jewels wrapped up in
I will relieve him of his burden ; — but no, it's a shame to take the only thing the poor creature seems
to possess ; so I'll be off without more ado.
Maitreya — My good friend, if you won't take the casket, may
you incur the curse of disappointing the wishes of a cow and of a Brahman.
Sarvilaka — The wishes of a cow and a Brahman! These are much too sacred to be opposed ; so take the casket I must.
Accordingly he helps himself to the casket, and proceeds to make good his escape.
The noise he makes in going out rouses its inmates, and they discover that the house has been robbed. Caru-datta is greatly shocked at the loss of Vasanta-sena's casket, which had been deposited with him in trust. He has only one valuable thing left, — a necklace or string of jewels, forming part of the private property of his wife. This he sends by Maitreya to Vasanta-sena as a substitute for the casket.
The fourth act commences with a scene in Vasanta-sena's house. The burglar Sarvilaka is seen to approach, but this time with no burglarious designs. It appears that he is in love with Vasanta-sena's slave girl, and hopes to purchase her freedom by offering as a ransom the stolen casket of jewels, being of course ignorant that he is offering it to its owner. —
As he advances towards the house, he thus soliloquizes :
I have brought blame and censure on the night, I've triumphed over slumber, and defied
The vigilance of royal watchmen ; now
I imitate the moon, who, when the night
Is closing, quickly pales beneath the rays Of the ascending sun, and hides himself. I tremble, or I run, or stand aside,
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Or seek deliverance by a hundred shifts,
If haply from behind some hurried step Appears to track me, or a passer-by
Casts but a glance upon me ; every one
Is viewed by me suspiciously, for thus
A guilty conscience makes a man a coward, Affrighting him with his unrighteous deeds.
On reaching the house, he sees the object of his affections, the female slave of Vasanta-sena. He presents her with the casket, and begs her to take it to her mistress, and request in return freedom from further service. The servant girl, on see ing the casket, recognizes the ornaments as belonging to her mistress. She then reproaches her lover, who is forced to con fess how they came into his possession, and to explain that they were stolen entirely out of love for her. The altercation which ensues leads him to make some very disparaging remarks on the female sex generally. Here is a specimen of his asperities, which are somewhat softened down in the translation : —
A woman will for money smile or weep
According to your will ; she makes a man
Put trust in her, but trusts him not herself.
Women are as inconstant as the waves
Of ocean, their affection is as fugitive
As streak of sunset glow upon a cloud.
They cling with eager fondness to the man
Who yields them wealth, which they squeeze out like sap Out of a juicy plant, and then they leave him.
Therefore are men thought foolish who confide
In women and in fortune, for their windings
Are like the coils of serpent nymphs, insidious.
Well is it said, you cannot alter nature ;
The lotus grows not on the mountain top,
Asses refuse to bear a horse's burden,
He who sows barley reaps not fields of rice :
Do what you will, a woman will be a woman.
After other still more caustic aspersions, the thief Sarvilaka and his lover make up their differences, and it is agreed be tween them that the only way out of the difficulty is for him to take the casket to Vasanta-sena, as if he were a messenger from Caru-datta, sent to restore her property. This he does : and Vasanta-sena, who, unknown to the lovers, has overheard
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their conversation, astonishes Sarvilaka by setting her slave girl free and permitting her to become his wife, thus affording a practical refutation of his charge against women of selfish ness and want of generosity.
Soon after the departure of the lovers, an attendant an nounces the arrival of a Brahman from Caru-datta. This turns out to be Maitreya, who is honored by an introduction into the private garden attached to the inner apartments of Vasanta- sena's house. His passage through the courts of the mansion, no less than seven in number, is made an occasion for describ ing the interior of the splendid residence which a Hindu lady of wealth and fashion might be supposed, allowing for a little play of the imagination, to occupy.
The description affords a striking picture of Indian life and manners, which to this day are not greatly changed. The account of the courtyards will remind those who have seen Pompeii of some of the houses there, and will illustrate the now universally received opinion of the common origin of Hindus, Greeks, and Romans. Of course the object of Maitreya's visit to Vasanta-sena is to confess the loss of the casket, and to request her acceptance of the string of jewels from Caru-datta as a compensation. The good man in his simplicity expects that she will politely decline the costly present tendered by Caru-datta as a substitute for her far less valuable casket of ornaments ; but to his surprise and disgust she eagerly accepts the proffered compensation, and dismisses him with a few com plimentary words, — intending however, as it afterwards appears, to make the acceptance of Caru-datta's compensation an excuse for going in person to his house, that she may see him once again and restore to him with her own hand both the necklace and casket.
The fifth act opens with a scene in Caru-datta's garden. A heavy thunderstorm is supposed to be gathering, when Maitreya enters, salutes Caru-datta, and informs him of the particulars of his interview with Vasanta-sena. The rain now begins to descend in torrents, when a servant arrives to announce that Vasanta-sena is waiting outside. On hearing this, Maitreya says : —
What can she have come for ? Oh ! I know what she wants. She considers the casket worth more than the necklace of jewels, and so she wants to get the balance out of you.
Caru-datta — Then she shall go away satisfied.
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Meanwhile some delay occurs in admitting Vasanta-sena, which is made an occasion for introducing a dialogue between her and her attendant, in the course of which they are made to describe very poetically the grandeur of the approaching storm : the sudden accumulation of dense masses of threatening clouds, the increasing gloom followed by portentous darkness, the ter rific rolling of thunder, the blaze of blinding lightning, the sud den outburst of rain, as if the very clouds themselves were falling, and the effect of all this upon the animals, — some of which, such as the peacocks and storks, welcome the strife of elements with their shrillest cries. In her descriptions of the scene, Vasanta-sena speaks Sanskrit, which is quite an unusual circumstance, and an evidence of her superior education (no good sign, however, according to Eastern ideas), — the female characters in Indian dramas being supposed to be incapable of speaking anything but the ordinary provincial Prakrit. Vasanta-sena is ultimately admitted to the presence of Caru- datta, and before returning the necklace practices a little play ful deception upon him as a set-off against that tried upon herself. She pretends that the string of pearls sent to her by Caru-datta has been accidentally lost by her ; she therefore pro duces a casket which she begs him to accept in its place. This, of course, turns out to be the identical casket which the thief had carried off from Caru-datta's house. In the end the whole matter is explained, and both casket and necklace are given over to Caru-datta ; and the storm, having now increased in violence, Vasanta-sena, to her great delight, is obliged to accept the shelter of his roof and is conducted to his private apartments. This brings five acts of the drama to a close.
