ACT V
SHAKUNTALA'S REJECTION
(Enter
a chamberlain.)
Chamberlain
(sighing).
Alas! To what a state am I reduced!
I once
assumed the staff of reed
For custom's sake alone,
As officer to guard at need
The ladies round the throne.
But years have passed away and made
It serve, my tottering steps to aid.
The king is within. I will tell him of the urgent business
which demands his attention. (He
takes a few steps.) But
what is the business? (He
recalls it.) Yes,
I remember. Certain hermits, pupils of Kanva, desire to see
his Majesty. Strange, strange!
The mind
of age is like a lamp
Whose oil is running thin;
One moment it is shining bright,
Then darkness closes in.
(He
walks and looks about.) Here
is his Majesty.
He does
not seek--until a father's care
Is shown his subjects--rest in solitude;
As a great elephant reeks not of the sun
Until his herd is sheltered in the wood.
In truth, I hesitate to announce the coming of Kanva's
pupils to the king. For he has this moment risen from the
throne of justice. But kings are never weary. For
The sun
unyokes his horses never;
Blows night and day the breeze;
Shesha upholds the world forever:
And kings are like to these.
(He
walks about. Enter the king, the clown, and retinue
according to rank.)
King
(betraying
the cares of office). Every
one is happy on attaining his desire--except a king. His
difficulties increase with his power. Thus:
Security
slays nothing but ambition;
With great possessions, troubles gather thick;
Pain grows, not lessens, with a king's position,
As when one's hand must hold the sunshade's
stick.
Two
court poets behind the scenes.
Victory to your Majesty.
First
poet.
The
world you daily guard and bless,
Not heeding pain or weariness;
Thus is your nature made.
A tree will brave the noonday, when
The sun is fierce, that weary men
May rest beneath its shade.
Second
poet.
Vice
bows before the royal rod;
Strife ceases at your kingly nod;
You are our strong defender.
Friends come to all whose wealth is sure,
But you, alike to rich and poor,
Are friend both strong and tender.
King
(listening).
Strange! I was wearied by the demands of my office, but
this renews my spirit.
Clown.
Does a bull forget that he is tired when you call him the
leader of the herd?
King
(smiling).
Well, let us sit down. (They
seat themselves, and the retinue arranges itself. A lute is
heard behind the scenes.)
Clown
(listening).
My friend, listen to what is going on in the music-room.
Some one is playing a lute, and keeping good time. I
suppose Lady Hansavati is practising.
King.
Be quiet. I wish to listen.
Chamberlain
(looks
at the king). Ah,
the king is occupied. I must await his leisure.
(He
stands aside.)
A
song behind the scenes.
You who
kissed the mango-flower,
Honey-loving bee,
Gave her all your passion's power,
Ah, so tenderly!
p. 53
How can you be tempted so
By
the lily, pet?
Fresher
honey 's sweet, I know;
But
can you forget?
King.
What an entrancing song!
Clown.
But, man, don't you understand what the words mean?
King
(smiling).
I was once devoted to Queen Hansavati. And the rebuke comes
from her. Friend Madhavya, tell Queen Hansavati in my name
that the rebuke is a very pretty one.
Clown.
Yes, sir. (He
rises.) But,
man, you are using another fellow's fingers to grab a
bear's tail-feathers with. I have about as much chance of
salvation as a monk who hasn't forgotten his passions.
King.
Go. Soothe her like a gentleman.
Clown.
I suppose I must. (Exit.)
King
(to
himself). Why
am I filled with wistfulness on hearing such a song? I am
not separated from one I love.
And yet
In face
of sweet presentment
Or harmonies of sound,
Man e’er forgets contentment,
By wistful longings bound.
There must be recollections
Of
things not seen on earth,
Deep
nature's predilections,
Loves
earlier than birth.
(He
shows the wistfulness that comes from unremembered things.)
Chamberlain
(approaching).
Victory to your Majesty. Here are hermits who dwell in the
forest at the foot of the Himalayas. They bring women with
them, and they carry a message from Kanva. What is your
pleasure with regard to them?
King
(astonished).
Hermits? Accompanied by women? From Kanva?
Chamberlain.
Yes.
King.
Request my chaplain Somarata in my name to
receive these hermits in the manner prescribed by
Scripture, and to conduct them himself before me. I will
await them in a place fit for their reception.
Chamberlain.
Yes, your Majesty. (Exit.)
King
(rising).
Vetravati, conduct me to the fire-sanctuary.
Portress.
Follow me, your Majesty. (She
walks about.) Your
Majesty, here is the terrace of the fire-sanctuary. It is
beautiful, for it has just been swept, and near at hand is
the cow that yields the milk of sacrifice. Pray ascend it.
King
(ascends
and stands leaning on the shoulder of an
attendant.)
Vetravati, with what purpose does Father Kanva send these
hermits to me?
Do
leagučd powers of sin conspire
To balk religion's pure desire?
Has wrong been done to beasts that roam
Contented round the hermits' home?
Do plants no longer bud and flower,
To warn me of abuse of power?
These doubts and more assail my mind,
But leave me puzzled, lost, and blind.
Portress.
How could these things be in a hermitage that rests in the
fame of the king's arm? No, I imagine they have come to pay
homage to their king, and to congratulate him on his pious
rule.
(Enter
the chaplain and the chamberlain, conducting the two pupils
of KANVA,
With
GAUTAMI
and
SHAKUNTALA.)
Chamberlain.
Follow me, if you please.
Sharngarava.
Friend Sharadvata,
The king
is noble and to virtue true;
None dwelling here commit the deed of shame;
Yet we ascetics view the worldly crew
As in a house all lapped about with flame.
Sharadvata.
Sharngarava, your emotion on entering the city is quite
just. As for me,
Free
from the world and all its ways,
I see them spending worldly days
As clean men view men smeared with oil,
As pure men, those whom passions soil,
As waking men view men asleep,
As free men, those in bondage deep.
Chaplain.
That is why men like you are great.
Shakuntala
(observing
an evil omen). Oh,
why does my right eye throb?
Gautami.
Heaven avert the omen, my child. May happiness wait upon
you. (They
walk about.)
Chaplain
(indicating
the king). O
hermits, here is he who protects those of every station and
of every age. He has already risen, and awaits you. Behold
him.
Sharngarava.
Yes, it is admirable, but not surprising. For
Fruit-laden
trees bend down to earth;
The water-pregnant clouds hang low;
Good men are not puffed up by power
The unselfish are by nature so.
Portress.
Your Majesty, the hermits seem to be happy. They give you
gracious looks.
King
(observing
SHAKUNTALA).
Ah!
Who is
she, shrouded in the veil
That dims her beauty's lustre,
Among the hermits like a flower
Round which the dead leaves cluster?
Portress.
Your Majesty, she is well worth looking at.
King.
Enough! I must not gaze upon another's wife.
Shakuntala
(laying
her hand on her breast. Aside). Oh,
my heart, why tremble so? Remember his constant love and be
brave.
Chaplain
(advancing).
Hail, your Majesty. The hermits have been received as
Scripture enjoins. They have a message from their teacher.
May you be pleased to hear it.
King
(respectfully).
I am all attention.
The
two pupils (raising
their right hands).
Victory, O King.
King
(bowing
low). I
salute you all.
The
two pupils. All
hail.
King.
Does your pious life proceed without disturbance?
The
two pupils.
How
could the pious duties fail
While you defend the right?
Or how could darkness' power prevail
O’er sunbeams shining bright?
King
(to
himself).
Indeed, my royal title is no empty one.
(Aloud.)
Is holy Kanva in health?
Sharngarava.
O King, those who have religious power can command health.
He asks after your welfare and sends this message.
King.
What are his commands?
Sharngarava.
He says: "Since you have met this my daughter and have
married her, I give you my glad consent. For
You are
the best of worthy men, they say;
And she, I know, Good Works personified;
The Creator wrought for ever and a day,
In wedding such a virtuous groom and bride.
She is with child. Take her and live with her in virtue."
Gautami.
Bless you, sir. I should like to say that no one invites me
to speak.
King.
Speak, mother.
Gautami.
Did she
with father speak or mother?
Did you engage her friends in speech?
Your faith was plighted each to other;
Let each be faithful now to each.
Shakuntala.
What will my husband say?
King
(listening
with anxious suspicion). What
is this insinuation?
Shakuntala
(to
herself). Oh,
oh! So haughty and so slanderous!
Sharngarava.
"What is this insinuation?" What is your question? Surely
you know the world's ways well enough.
Because
the world suspects a wife
Who does not share her husband's lot,
Her kinsmen wish her to abide
With him, although he love her not.
King.
You cannot mean that this young woman is my wife.
Shakuntala
(sadly
to herself). Oh,
my heart, you feared it, and now it has come.
Sharngarava.
O King,
A king,
and shrink when love is done,
Turn coward's back on truth, and flee!
King.
What means this dreadful accusation?
Sharngarava
(furiously).
O drunk
with power! We might have known
That you were steeped in treachery.
King.
A stinging rebuke!
Gautami
(to
SHAKUNTALA).
Forget your shame, my child. I will remove your veil. Then
your husband will recognise you. (She
does so.)
King
(observing
SHAKUNTALA.
To
himself).
As my
heart ponders whether I could ever
Have wed this woman that has come to me
In tortured loveliness, as I endeavour
To bring it back to mind, then like a bee
That hovers round a jasmine flower at
dawn,
While
frosty dews of morning still o’erweave
it,
And
hesitates to sip ere they be gone,
I
cannot taste the sweet, and cannot leave it.
Portress
(to
herself). What
a virtuous king he is! Would any other man hesitate when he
saw such a pearl of a woman coming of her own accord?
Sharngarava.
Have you nothing to say, O King?
King.
Hermit, I have taken thought. I cannot believe that this
woman is my wife. She is plainly with child. How can I take
her, confessing myself an adulterer?
Shakuntala
(to
herself). Oh,
oh, oh! He even casts doubt on our marriage. The vine of my
hope climbed high, but it is broken now.
Sharngarava.
Not so.
You
scorn the sage who rendered whole
His child befouled, and choked his grief,
Who freely gave you what you stole
And added honour to a thief!
Sharadvata.
Enough, Sharngarava. Shakuntala, we have
said what we were sent to say. You hear his words. Answer
him.
Shakuntala
(to
herself). He
loved me so. He is so changed. Why remind him? Ah, but I
must clear my own character. Well, I will try.
(Aloud.)
My dear husband--(She
stops.) No,
he doubts my right to call him that. Your Majesty, it was
pure love that opened my poor heart to you in the
hermitage. Then you were kind to me and gave me your
promise. Is it right for you to speak so now, and to reject
me?
King
(stopping
his ears).
Peace, peace!
A stream
that eats away the bank,
Grows foul, and undermines the tree.
So you would stain your honour, while
You plunge me into misery.
Shakuntala.
Very well. If you have acted so because you really fear to
touch another man's wife, I will remove your doubts with a
token you gave me.
King.
An excellent idea!
Shakuntala
(touching
her finger). Oh,
oh! The ring is lost. (She
looks sadly at GAUTAMI.)
Gautami.
My child, you worshipped the holy Ganges at the spot where
Indra descended. The ring must have fallen there.
King.
Ready wit, ready wit!
Shakuntala.
Fate is too strong for me there. I will tell you something
else.
King.
Let me hear what you have to say.
Shakuntala.
One day, in the bower of reeds, you were holding a
lotus-leaf cup full of water.
King.
I hear you.
Shakuntala.
At that moment the fawn came up, my adopted son. Then you
took pity on him and coaxed him. "Let him drink first," you
said. But he did not know you, and he would not come to
drink water from your hand. But he liked it afterwards,
when I held the very same water. Then you smiled and said:
"It is true. Every one trusts his own sort. You both belong
to the forest."
King.
It is just such women, selfish, sweet, false, that entice
fools.
Gautami.
You have no right to say that. She grew up in the pious
grove. She does not know how to deceive.
King.
Old hermit woman,
The
female's untaught cunning may be seen
In beasts, far more in women selfish-wise;
The cuckoo's eggs are left to hatch and rear
By foster-parents, and away she flies.
Shakuntala
(angrily).
Wretch! You judge all this by your own false heart. Would
any other man do what you have done? To hide behind virtue,
like a yawning well covered over with grass!
King
(to
himself). But
her anger is free from coquetry, because she has lived in
the forest. See!
Her
glance is straight; her eyes are flashing red;
Her speech is harsh, not drawlingly well-bred;
Her whole lip quivers, seems to shake with cold;
Her frown has straightened eyebrows arching bold.
No, she saw that I was doubtful, and her anger was feigned.
Thus
When I
refused but now
Hard-heartedly, to know
Of love or secret vow,
Her eyes grew red; and so,
Bending her arching brow,
She fiercely snapped Love's bow.
(Aloud.)
My good girl, Dushyanta's conduct is known to the whole
kingdom, but not this action.
Shakuntala.
Well, well. I had my way. I trusted a king, and put myself
in his hands. He had a honey face and a heart of stone.
(She covers her face with her dress and weeps.)
Sharngarava.
Thus does unbridled levity burn.
Be slow
to love, but yet more slow
With secret mate;
With those whose hearts we do not know,
Love turns to hate.
King.
Why do you trust this girl, and accuse me of an imaginary
crime?
Sharngarava
(disdainfully).
You have learned your wisdom upside down.
It would
be monstrous to believe
A girl who never lies;
Trust those who study to deceive
And think it very wise.
King.
Aha, my candid friend! Suppose I were to admit that I am
such a man. What would happen if I deceived the girl?
Sharngarava.
Ruin.
King.
It is unthinkable that ruin should fall on Puru's line.
Sharngarava.
Why bandy words? We have fulfilled our Father's bidding. We
are ready to return.
Leave
her or take her, as you will;
She is your wife;
Husbands have power for good or ill
O’er woman's life.
Gautami, lead the way. (They
start to go.)
Shakuntala.
He has deceived me shamelessly. And will you leave me too?
(She
starts to follow.)
Gautami
(turns
around and sees her).
Sharngarava, my son, Shakuntala is following us, lamenting
piteously. What can the poor child do with a husband base
enough to reject her?
Sharngarava
(turns
angrily). You
self-willed girl! Do you dare show independence?
(SHAKUNTALA shrinks
in fear.)
Listen.
If you
deserve such scorn and blame,
What will your father with your shame?
But if you know your vows are pure,
Obey your husband and endure.
Remain. We must go.
King.
Hermit, why deceive this woman? Remember:
Night-blossoms
open to the moon,
Day-blossoms to the sun;
A man of honour ever strives
Another's wife to shun.
Sharngarava.
O King, suppose you had forgotten your former actions in
the midst of distractions. Should you now desert your
wife--you who fear to fail in virtue?
King.
I ask you
which is
the heavier sin:
Not
knowing whether I be mad
Or falsehood be in her,
Shall I desert a faithful wife
Or turn adulterer?
Chaplain
(considering).
Now if this were done------
King.
Instruct me, my teacher.
Chaplain.
Let the woman remain in my house until her child is born.
King.
Why this?
Chaplain.
The chief astrologers have told you that your first child
was destined to be an emperor. If the son of the hermit's
daughter is born with the imperial birthmarks, then welcome
her and introduce her into the palace. Other- wise, she
must return to her father.
King.
It is good advice, my teacher.
Chaplain
(rising).
Follow me, my daughter.
Shakuntala.
O mother earth, give me a grave! (Exit
weeping, with the chaplain, the hermits, and
GAUTAMI.
The
king, his memory clouded by the curse, ponders
on SHAKUNTALA.)
Voices
behind the scenes. A
miracle! A miracle!
King
(listening).
What does this mean? (Enter
the chaplain.)
Chaplain
(in
amazement). Your
Majesty, a wonderful thing has happened.
King.
What?
Chaplain.
When Kanva's pupils had departed,
She
tossed her arms, bemoaned her plight,
Accused her crushing fate------
King.
What then?
Chaplain.
Before
our eyes a heavenly light
In woman's form, but shining bright,
Seized her and vanished straight.
(All
betray astonishment.)
King.
My teacher, we have already settled the matter. Why
speculate in vain? Let us seek repose.
Chaplain.
Victory to your Majesty. (Exit.)
King.
Vetravati, I am bewildered. Conduct me to my apartment.
Portress.
Follow me, your Majesty.
King
(walks
about. To himself).
With a
hermit-wife I had no part,
All memories evade me;
And yet my sad and stricken heart
Would more than half persuade me.
(Exeunt
omnes.)