All original dramatic works including 'The Viziers of Bassora', 'Rodogune', 'Perseus the Deliverer', 'Eric' and 'Vasavadutta'.; and works of prose fiction.
All original dramatic works and works of prose fiction. Volume 1: The Viziers of Bassora, Rodogune, and Perseus the Deliverer. Volume II: Eric and Vasavadutta; seven incomplete or fragmentary plays; and six stories, two of them complete.
RANA CURRAN - Prince of Edur, of the Rahtore clan.
VISALDEO - a Brahmin, his minister; formerly in the service of the Gehlote Prince of Edur.
HARIPAL - a Rajpoot noble, General of Edur; formerly in the service of the Gehlote Prince.
BAPPA - son of the late Gehlote Prince of Edur, in refuge among the Bheels.
SUNGRAM, PRITHURAJ - young Rajpoot refugees, companions of Bappa.
KODAL - a young Bheel, foster-brother and lieutenant of Bappa.
TORAMAN - Prince of Cashmere.
CANACA - the King's jester of Cashmere.
HOOSHKA - Scythian captain.
PRATAP - Rao of Ichalgurh, a Chouhan noble.
RUTTAN - his brother.
A CAPTAIN of Rajpoot lances.
MÉNADEVI - wife of Curran; a Chouhan princess, sister of the King of Ajmere.
COMOL CUMARY - daughter of Rana Curran and Menadevi.
COOMOOD CUMARY - daughter of Rana Curran by a concubine.
NIRMOL CUMARY - daughter of Haripal, friend of Comol Cumary.
ISHANY - a Rajpoot maiden, in attendance on Comol Cumary.
Page 847
The Palace in Edur. The forests about Dongurh.
The Palace in Edur.
Rana Curran, Visaldeo.
CURRAN He is at Deesa then?
VISALDEO So he has written.
CURRAN Send out a troop for escort, yielding him Such honours as his mighty birth demands. Let him be lodged for what he is, a Prince Among the mightiest.
VISALDEO You have chosen then? You'll give your daughter, King, to this Cashmerian?
CURRAN My brother from Ajmere writes to forbid me, Because he's Scythian, therefore barbarous. A Scythian! He is Cashmere's mighty lord Who stretches out from those proud Himalayan hills His giant arms to embrace the North.
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VISALDEO But still A Scythian.
CURRAN Whom many Aryan monarchs crouch to appease When he but shakes his warlike lance. A soldier And conqueror,—what has the earth more noble? And he is of the great Cushanian stock That for these centuries bestride the hills Against all comers. World-renowned Asoca Who dominated half our kingly East, Sprang from a mongrel root.
VISALDEO Rana, you'll wed Your daughter to Prince Toraman?
CURRAN I'm troubled By Ajmere's strong persistence. He controls Our Rajpoot world and it were madly done To offend him.
VISALDEO That's soon avoided. Send your daughter out To your strong fort among the wooded hills, Dongurh; there while she walks among the trees, Let the Cashmerian snatch her to his saddle In the old princely way. You have your will And the rash Chouhan has his answer.
CURRAN Visaldeo, You are a counsellor! Call the queen hither; I'll speak to her.
Exit Visaldeo.
Page 850
O excellently counselled! What is it but a daughter? One mere girl And in exchange an emperor for my ally. It must be done.
Enter Menadevi and Visaldeo.
MENADEVI You sent for me, my lord?
CURRAN How many summers might our daughter count, Mena?
MENADEVI Sixteen, my lord.
CURRAN She flowers apace And like a rose in bloom expects the breeze With blushing petals. We can delay no longer Her nuptial rites.
MENADEVI The Rao of Ichalgurh Desires her. He's a warrior and a Chouhan.
CURRAN A petty baron! O my dearest lady, Rate not your child so low. Her rumoured charm Has brought an emperor posting from the north To woo her.
MENADEVI Give me the noble Rajpoot blood, I ask no more.
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CURRAN The son of great Cashmere Journeys to Edur for her.
MENADEVI Your royal will Rules her and me. And yet, my lord, a child Of Rajpoot princes might be better mated; So much I'll say.
CURRAN You are your brother's sister. He says he will not have a Scythian wed her.
MENADEVI He cherishes the lofty Chouhan pride. You know, my lord, we hold a Rajpoot soldier Without estate or purse deserves a queen More than a crowned barbarian.
CURRAN You are all As narrow as the glens where you were born And live immured. No arrogance can match The penniless pride of mountaineers who never Have seen the various world beyond their hills. Your petty baron who controls three rocks For all his heritage, exalts himself O'er monarchs in whose wide domains his holding's An ant-hill, and prefers his petty line To their high dynasties;—as if a mountain tarn Should think itself more noble than the sea To which so many giant floods converge.
MENADEVI Our tarns are pure at least, if small, they hold Sweet water only; but your seas are brackish.
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CURRAN Well, well; tomorrow send your little princess To Dongurh, there to dwell till we decide If great Cashmere shall have her. Visaldeo, Give ten good lances for her escort.
MENADEVI Only ten! It is not safe.
VISALDEO Rana, the queen is right. The Bheels are out among the hills; they have A new and daring leader and beset All wayside wealth with swarms of humming arrows.
CURRAN The lord of Edur should not fear such rude And paltry caterans. When they see our banner Advancing o'er the rocks, they will avoid Its peril. Or if there's danger, take the road That skirts the hills. Ten lances, Visaldeo!
Exit.
MENADEVI My blood shall never mingle with the Scythian. I am a Chouhan first and next your wife, Edur. What means this move to Dongurh, Visaldeo?
VISALDEO (as if to himself) Ten lances at her side! It were quite easy To take her from them, even for a Cashmerian.
MENADEVI I understand. The whole of Rajasthan Would cry out upon Edur, were this marriage Planned openly to soil their ancient purity.
Page 853
The means to check this shame?
VISALDEO Lady, I am The Rana's faithful servant.
MENADEVI So remain. I'll send a horse to Ichalgurh this hour. There may be swifter snatchers than the Scythian.
VISALDEO Or swifter even than any in Ichalgurh. I too have tidings to send hastily.
Page 854
The women's apartments in the Palace at Edur.
Comol Cumary, Coomood Cumary.
COMOL Tomorrow, Coomood, is the feast of May.
COOMOOD Sweetheart, I wish it were the feast of Will. I know what I would will for you.
COMOL What, Coomood?
COOMOOD A better husband than your father'll give you.
COMOL You mean the Scythian? I will not believe That it can happen. My father's heart is royal; The blood that throbs through it he drew from veins Of Rajpoot mothers.
COOMOOD But the brain's too politic. A merchant's mind into his princely skull Slipped in by some mischance, and it will sell you In spite of all the royal heart can say.
COMOL He is our father, therefore blame him not.
Page 855
COOMOOD I blame his brain, not him. Sweetheart, remember, Whomever you may marry, I shall claim Half of your husband.
COMOL If't be the Scythian, you may have The whole uncouth barbarian with Cashmere In the bad bargain.
COOMOOD We will not let him have you. We'll find a mantra that shall call Urjoon From Eden's groves to wed you; great Dushyanta Shall leave Shacoontala for these wide eyes Which you have stolen from the antelope To gaze men's hearts out of their bodies with, You lovely sorceress; or we'll have Udaian To ravish you into his rushing car, Edur's Vasavadutta. We'll bring crowding The heroes of romance out of the past For you to choose from, sweet, and not a Scythian In all their splendid ranks.
COMOL But my poor Coomood, Your hero of romance will never look at you, Finding my antelope eyes so beautiful. What will you do then?
COOMOOD I will marry him By sleight of hand and never let him know. For when the nuptial fire is lit and when The nuptial bond is tied, I'll slip my raiment's hem Into the knot that weds your marriage robes And take the seven paces with you both
Page 856
Weaving my life into one piece with yours For ever.
Enter Nirmol Cumary.
NIRMOL News, princesses, news! What will you give me for a sackful of news?
COMOL Two switches and a birch-rod. A backful for your sackful!
NIRMOL I will empty my sack first, if only to shame you for your base ingratitude. To begin with what will please you best, Prince Toraman is arrived. I hear he is coming to see and approve of you before he makes the venture; it is the Scythian custom.
COMOL He shall not have his Scythian custom. In India it is we girls who have the right of choice.
NIRMOL He will not listen. These Scythians stick to their customs as if it were their skin; they will even wear their sheepskins in midsummer in Agra.
COMOL Then, Nirmol, we will show you to him for the Princess Comol Cumary and marry you off into the mountains. Would you not love to be the Queen of Cashmere?
NIRMOL I would not greatly mind. They say he is big as a Polar bear and has the sweetest little pugnose and cheeks like two fat pouches. They say too he carries a knout in his hand with which he will touch up the bride during the ceremony as a promise of what
Page 857
she may expect hereafter; it is the Scythian custom. Oh, I envy you, Princess.
COMOL Nirmol, in sober earnest I will beat you.
NIRMOL Strike but hear! For I have still news in my sack. You must gather your traps; we are to start for Dongurh in an hour. What, have I made your eyes smile at last?
COMOL To Dongurh! Truth, Nirmol.
NIRMOL Beat me in earnest, if it is not. Visaldeo himself told me.
COMOL To Dongurh! To the woods! It is three years Since I was there. I wonder whether now The woodland flowers into a sudden blush Crimsoning at the sweet approach of Spring As once it did against that mooned white Of myriad blossoms. We shall feel again, Coomood, the mountain breezes kiss our cheeks Standing on treeless ridges and behold The valleys wind unnoticeably below In threads of green.
COOMOOD It is the feast of May. Shall we not dance upon the wind-blown peaks And put the peacock's feather in our hair And think we are in Brindavon the green?
NIRMOL With a snub-nosed Scythian Krishna to lead the dance. But they say Krishna was neither Scythian nor Rajpoot but a Bheel. Well,
Page 858
there is another Krishna of that breed out who will make eighth-century Rookminnies of you if you dance too far into the forest, sweethearts.
COOMOOD You mean this boy-captain of robbers who makes such a noise in our little world? Bappa they call him, do they not?
NIRMOL 'Tis some such congregation of consonants. Now which sort of husband would the most modern taste approve?—a coal-black sturdy young Bheel, his face as rugged as Rajpootana, or a red and white snub-nosed Scythian with two prosperous purses for his cheeks. There's a problem in aesthetics for you, Coomood.
COMOL A barbarous emperor or a hillside thief Are equals in a Rajpoot maiden's eyes. Yon mountain-peak or some base valley clod, 'Tis one to the heaven-sailing star above That scorns their lowness.
NIRMOL Yes, but housed with the emperor the dishonour is lapped in cloth of gold; on the thief's hillside it is black, naked and rough, its primitive and savage reality. To most women the difference would be great.
COMOL Not to me. I wonder they suffer this mountain springald to presume so long.
NIRMOL Why, they sent out a captain lately to catch him, but he came back a head shorter than he went. But how do you fancy my news, sweethearts?
Page 859
COMOL What, is your sack empty?
NIRMOL Your kingly father was the last to stalk out of it. I expect him here to finish my story.
Enter Rana Curran, Menadevi and Visaldeo.
CURRAN Maid Comol, are you ready yet for Dongurh?
COMOL I heard of it this moment, sir.
CURRAN Make ready. Prince Toraman arrives. You blush, my lily?
MENADEVI There is a maiden's blush of bashfulness, But there's her blush of shame too when her cheeks Offended scorn a suitor far too base Should bring such noble blood to flush their whiteness.
CURRAN Maid Comol, which was yours?
COMOL I would learn that, Father, from your high sovereign will. I am not The mistress of my blushes.
CURRAN Keep them for him, Comol, for whom their sweetness was created. Hearken, my little one, you are marked out To reign an empress; 'tis the stars decree it
Page 860
That in their calm irrevocable round Weave all our fates. Then shrink not if thou hearest The noise of battle round thy palanquin Filling the hills, nor fear its rude event, But veil thy cheeks in scarlet to receive Thy warlike husband.
COMOL Father!
CURRAN It is so. Thou journeyest not to Dongurh but thy nuptials.
COMOL With Toraman?
CURRAN With one whose lofty doom Is empire. Keep this in thy joyous bosom Throbbing in a sweet secrecy. Farewell. When we foregather next, I hope to greet My little empress.
MENADEVI Comol, what said he to thee?
COMOL What I unwillingly have heard. Mother, Must I be mated to a barbarous stock?
MENADEVI No, child. When you shall hear the trumpet's din Or clash of blades, think not 'tis Toraman, But your dear mother's care to save her child From shameful mating. Little sweetheart, go.
Page 861
When I shall meet you next, you'll shine a flower Upon the proudest crest in Rajasthan, No Scythian's portion. Visaldeo, prepare Her going quickly.
COMOL What plots surround me? Nirmol, Give me my sword with me. I'll have a friend To help me, should the world go wrong.
VISALDEO Our self, Lady, is our best helper.
COMOL I believe it. Which path's resolved on?
VISALDEO 'Tis the valley road That clings to the deep bases of the hills.
COMOL 'Tis not the shortest.
VISALDEO The easiest,—to Cashmere.
COMOL The other's safer then for Dongurh.
VISALDEO At least 'Tis green and beautiful, and love may walk there Unhindered.
Page 862
COMOL Thou seemst to be my friend, But I'll believe myself and no one else Except my sword whose sharpness I can trust Not to betray me. Come, girls, make we ready For this planned fateful journey.
COOMOOD Let them keep Our palanquins together. One fate for both, Sweetheart.
COMOL If we must marry Toraman, Coomood, it shall be in that shadowy country.
NIRMOL Where, I hope, justice will have set right the balance between his nose and his cheeks. Girls, we are the prizes of this handicap and I am impatient to know which jockey wins.
Exeunt.
Page 863
The forest near Dongurh.
Bappa, Sungram, Prithuraj.
BAPPA It is the secret friend from whom in childhood I learned to wing my mounting thoughts aloft High as an eagle's flight. I know the hand, Though yet his name is hid from me.
SUNGRAM Let's hear The very wording.
BAPPA "To the Sun's child, from Edur. Comol Cumary, Edur's princess, goes With her fair sister and a knot of lances To Dongurh. Bappa, young lion of the hills, Be as the lion in thy ranging; prey Upon earth's mightiest, think her princesses Meant only for thy spoil and serving-girls, Her kings thy subjects and her lands thy prey. Dare greatly and thou shalt be great; despise Apparent death and from his lifted hand Of menace pluck thy royal destinies By warlike violence. Thus thy fathers did From whose great blood thou springest, child of Kings. Thy friend in Edur."
SUNGRAM Writes he that? The child of Kings!
Page 864
He never spoke so plainly of your birth Till now.
PRITHURAJ A kindling hint to fire our blood! Two princesses and only a knot of swords For escort? The gods themselves arrange this for us.
SUNGRAM Bappa, you are resolved to court this peril?
PRITHURAJ Doubt you? Think how 'twill help our treasury. The palanquins alone must be a mint Of money and the girls' rich ornaments Purchase half Rajasthan.
SUNGRAM The immediate gain's Princely, nor the mere capture perilous. But afterwards the armed wrath of Edur Descends upon us in a thunder and whirlwind. Are we yet strong enough to bear the shock?
PRITHURAJ Why, let it come. I shall rejoice to feel The true and dangerous bite of war at last, Not always play the mountain cateran's part, To skulk among the hills and only assail The weak and timid, or butcher distant force With arrows. I long for open shocks of fight And glorious odds and all the world for audience.
BAPPA Sungram, I do not rashly take this step, But with fixed policy. Unless we break Edur's supreme contempt for our annoyance,
Page 865
How can we bring him to the difficult hills? So must we take the open where our Bheels Will scatter from the massed Rajpoot swords Nor face their charging horsemen. But if we capture Their princess, inconsiderate rage will hurl them Into our very fastnesses to wear Their strength out under our shafts. Then will I seize At the right moment, they being few and weary, Edur by force or guile and hold it fast Though all the warlike world come up against me.
SUNGRAM With Bheels?
BAPPA I will invite all Rajpoot swords That now are masterless and men exiled, And desperate fortunes. So the iron hands Join us and the adventurous hearts, to build A modern seat of empire;—minds like Sungram, Wise to forecast and bold to execute, Heroes like Prithuraj, who know not fear Nor put a limit to their vaulting thoughts Save death or unforgettable renown, The Rajpoot's choice. Are we not strong enough? We have a thousand hardy Bheels, expert In mountain warfare, swift unerring bowmen; We have ourselves to lead them, each worth thousands, Sheva Ekling above us and in our hands Our destiny and our swords.
SUNGRAM They are enough.
Enter Kodal.
KODAL Bappa, our scouts have come in. The prey is in the toils.
Page 866
BAPPA How many are they, Kodal?
KODAL Merely ten lances. The servants and women they have sent round by the lower road; the escort with four palanquins come up through the hills. They have run their heads into the noose. We will draw it tight, Bappa, and choke them.
BAPPA Is their escape Impossible?
SUNGRAM Bappa, a hundred Bheels surround the pass By which alone they can return. Myself Have posted them.
BAPPA Beside the waterfall Surround them, Sungram. Kodal, let there be No random shafts to imperil by mischance Our lovely booty.
KODAL Trust me for that, Bappa. We'll shoot through the twenty eye- balls of them and never even touch the white. Ten lances they are and ten arrows will stretch them flat; there shall be nothing left to be done but the burning. If I cannot do this, I am no Bheel, no Kodal and no foster-brother of Bappa.
BAPPA Economise our strength. I will not lose A single man over this easy capture. You're captain, Sungram.
Exeunt Sungram and Kodal.
Prithuraj, my friend. Today begins our steep ascent to greatness.
Page 867
The forest near Dongurh. By the waterfall.
Enter Captain and soldiers escorting Comol Cumary, Coomood, Nirmol and Ishany in palanquins.
ISHANY (from her palanquin) Set down the palanquins. Captain, make void This region; here the princess would repose Beside the murmuring waterfall awhile And breathe into her heart the winds of Dongurh.
Exit Captain with soldiers and palanquin-bearers. The girls leave their palanquins.
COMOL Coomood, this is the waterfall we loved To lean by, singing to the lyre the deeds Our fathers wrought or listening silently Its soft continuous roar. Beyond that bend We shall see Dongurh,—Dongurh, our delight Where we were children, Coomood.
COOMOOD Comol, our tree's All scarlet, as if splashed with crimson fire, Just as of old.
COMOL O it is Spring, and this Is Dongurh.
ISHANY Girls, we must not linger long.
Page 868
Our Scythian, missing us, may take the hills.
NIRMOL Purse-cheeks? Oh, he has lifted Mera the servant-girl to his saddle-bow by now and is garlanding her Queen of Cashmere. I wish I were there to be bridesmaid.
COMOL That was a sweet touch of thine, Nirmol. But the child deserves her promotion; she has served me willingly. A Scythian throne is no great wages for service to a Rajpoot princess.
COOMOOD How the hill gives you back your laughter, repeating Its sweetness with delight, as if it had a soul To love you.
COMOL We have shaken them off prettily by turning away through the hills. Alas! my royal father will not greet his little empress this journey, nor my lady mother scent her blossom on a Rajpoot crest. They must even put up with their poor simple Comol Cumary just as she was,—(aside) and as she will be until her heart finds its mate.
NIRMOL It is a sin, I tell you, Comol; I am mad when I think of it. Why, I came out to be abducted; I did not come for a quiet stroll through the woodlands. But I have still hopes of our Bheel cateran, our tangle-locked Krishna of the hill-sides; surely he will not be so ungallant as to let such sweet booty pass through his kingdom ungathered.
COMOL I would gladly see this same stripling and talk to him face to face who sets his Bheel arrows against our Rajpoot swords. He should be a man at least, no Scythian Toraman.
Page 869
ISHANY The presumptuous savage! it will earn him a stake yet for his last session. Were I a man, I would burn these wasps from their nest and catch and crush them in my mailed gauntlet as they buzzed out into the open.
SHOUTS OUTSIDE Bappa! Bappa! Ho Sheva Ekling!
CAPTAIN (shouting within) Lances, lances, Rajpoots! Bearers, to the palanquins!
COMOL Bappa!
NIRMOL (laughing) You'll have that talk with Bappa yet, Comol.
COOMOOD Oh, let us flee! They swarm towards us.
ISHANY Stand firm! Our gallant lances soon will prick These bold hill-foxes to their lairs. Stand firm! We should but fly into the mouth of danger.
COMOL (climbing on to a rock) You Gods! our Rajpoots all are overwhelmed Before they used their weapons. What next, Ishany? Shall we sit still to be made prisoners?
ISHANY Get swiftly to your palanquin. The bearers Run hither. Flee towards the valley road! It may be that the swords of Ichalgurh Range there already.
Page 870
COMOL Shall I escape alone?
ISHANY Ah, save the glory of Edur from disgrace Of savage handling!
Enter the palanquin-bearers fleeing.
Halt! Take your princess, men, And flee with her into the valley road.
FIRST BEARER The funeral fire in the mouth of your princess! Every man save himself.
Exit with most of the bearers.
SECOND BEARER Halt, halt! We have eaten and shall we not pay for the salt? Yes, even with our blood. We four will take her, if we are not cut into pieces first. Into the palanquin, lady.
NIRMOL Quick, Comol! or are you longing for your palaver with Tangle-locks?
Comol enters the palanquin.
COOMOOD What will become of us?
NIRMOL We shall become Bheel housewives. After all, a Scythian throne Was better.
ISHANY We have our weapons to befriend us yet. Coomood, look not so pale.
Page 871
NIRMOL See, see, Ishany! The Bheels are leaping down upon our rear.
ISHANY Quick, bearers, bearers.
NIRMOL It is too late. She's taken.
Enter Kodal and Bheels.
KODAL Whoever wants an arrow through his skull, let him move his shanks. Women, you are my brother Bappa's prisoners; we have need of some Rajpoot slave-girls for his kitchen. Take them, my children, and tie them.
ISHANY Stab any who comes; let not these lumps of dirt Insult your Rajpoot bodies with their fingers.
KODAL Shut your mouth, Rajpootny, or I will skewer your tongue to your palate with an arrow. Knock their daggers out of their hands.
He lays his hand on Nirmol's wrist.
Enter Sungram.
NIRMOL Off, savage! I will have no tongue-skewerer for my husband.
SUNGRAM Release her, Kodal. Lay not thy Bheel hand Upon a Rajpoot virgin. Maiden of Edur, Expect no outrage. We are men who keep Some tincture of manners yet, though savage hills Harbour us and our looks and deeds are rugged
Page 872
As the wild land we dwell in.
NIRMOL I grant you that. If you are the master-jockey, the winners of this handicap are no such rank outsiders after all.
KODAL Because thou art a Rajpoot, must thou command me? To me, Bheels! Tie up these Rajpootnies hand and leg like so many chickens. Heed not Sungram.
SUNGRAM Mutineer! (draws his sword)
ISHANY (rapidly approaching the bearers) Slip off unnoticed while they brawl; run, run! O save the princess!
SECOND BEARER We will do our man's best. Silently, men, and swiftly.
KODAL I boggle not for your sword, Rajpoot. Taste my arrows.
Exeunt bearers with Comol in the palanquin. Bappa and Prithuraj enter from the other side.
BAPPA Now, what's the matter, Kodal?
KODAL Why, Bappa, these new servant-girls of yours will not come to heel; they talk proudly. Yet Sungram will not let me teach them manners, because, I think, they are his aunt's cousins.
BAPPA They shall be obedient, Kodal. Leave them to me. Remember Sungram's your commander, brother.
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What, you, a soldier, and break discipline!
KODAL I am your soldier, Bappa. Sungram, you shall have your Rajpootny. I am a soldier, Rajpoot, and know my duty.
COOMOOD Is this the Bheel? the rough and uncouth outlaw? He has a princely bearing. This is surely A Rajpoot and of a high-seated blood.
BAPPA Which of you's Edur's princess? Let her stand Before me.
ISHANY Who art thou that speakst so proudly As if a Rajpoot princess were thy slave, Outlaw?
BAPPA Whoe'er I am, you are in my hands, My spoil and captives. Speak, which is the princess?
COOMOOD Out of thy grip and now almost in safety, Chieftain, upon the valley road.
ISHANY Coomood, Thou hast betrayed thy sister by thy folly And into vilest shame.
COOMOOD At least I'll share it.
Page 874
BAPPA Ay, so? these maidens are but three. Kodal, Four palanquins were on the road, thou toldst me.
KODAL Sungram, give thy sword a twist in my guts. While I wrangled with thee, the best shikar of all has skedaddled.
BAPPA Nay, mend it,—intercept the fugitive.
Exit Kodal with Bheels.
The other too has fled? but she's on foot. Sungram and Prithuraj, lead these fair captives Into their prison. I will go and seize The runaways.
ISHANY They are not for thee yet, Hill-cateran, while I stand between.
PRITHURAJ Oh, here's A Rajpoot spirit.
BAPPA Foolish girl, canst thou Oppose the storm-blast with a dove's white wings?
As he goes out, she strikes at him with a dagger; he seizes her wrist and puts her by. Exit Bappa.
PRITHURAJ Thou hast a brave but headstrong spirit, maiden. It is no savages to whom your Fates Are kind, but men of Rajpoot blood and nurture. Have I your leave?
He lays his hand on her wrist.
Page 875
ISHANY (sullenly) You take it in these hills Before the asking, as it seems.
(throwing away her dagger)
Away, Thou useless helper.
PRITHURAJ Very useless, maiden. When help is needed, ask it of my sword.
ISHANY You play the courteous brigand. I shall need No help to cast myself out of the reach Of villains' courtesies.
PRITHURAJ (lifting her in his arms) 'Tis not so easy. Must I then teach you you're a prisoner? Come, be more patient. You shall yet be glad Of the sweet violence today we do you.
He carries her out.
SUNGRAM Must we follow in the same order?
NIRMOL By your leave, no. I turn eleven stone or thereabouts.
SUNGRAM I will not easily believe it. Will you suffer me to test the measure?
NIRMOL I fear you would prove an unjust balance; so I will even walk, if you will help me over the rough places. It seems you were not Krishna after all?
Page 876
SUNGRAM Why, take me for brother Balaram then. Is not your name Revaty?
NIRMOL It is too early in the day for a proposal; positively, I will not say either yes or no till the evening. On, Balaram! I follow.
Page 877
Enter Bearers with Comol Cumary in the palanquin.
SECOND BEARER Courage, brothers, courage! We are almost out of the wood.
Enter Kodal, leaping down from a thicket in front.
KODAL But it is too soon to hollo. Stop, you plain-frogs, or you shall gutturalize your last croak.
SECOND BEARER Put down the palanquin; we are taken. Great emperor of Bheels, be merciful.
KODAL Stand still, rogues. I must first haul the runaway Rajpootny out of her dog-box.
As he approaches the palanquin, the Bearer strikes him down suddenly and throws his bow and arrows down the hillside.
SECOND BEARER Quick! Let us be off while he's stunned.
Enter Bappa and Coomood, followed by Bheels.
BAPPA Your sister cannot overstep the pass, Which is beset and ambushed. Ho, there, halt! Put down the palanquin. Insensate fools,
Page 878
Invite not death.
The Bheels crowd in and surround the bearers.
Is't Kodal? is he hurt?
KODAL (rising) Only stunned, Bappa. The hillside was a trifle harder than my head. Plain-frog, thou didst that trick handsomely. Give me thy paw, fellow.
BAPPA Take these men prisoners and keep them safely. Remove your men; and, Kodal, guard the road Barring all rescue.
Exit Kodal and Bheels with the bearers.
Princess, take your sister Out of the palanquin.
COOMOOD Comol, Comol, Dear fugitive from fate's arrest, you're taken. Come out.
COMOL How was it?
COOMOOD I told him of your flight. You'll leave me all alone to wed a Bheel? You'll break our compact? I have dragged you back To servitude.
COMOL Nay, let me see my captor then. For if you smile, my Coomood, I must be Out of misfortune's reach.
(leaving the palanquin)
Stand back, sweet. Come,
Page 879
Where is this mountain thief who wars with Kings And lays his hands on Edur's princesses As if his trunk were an immortal piece And he unhangable?
BAPPA (advancing) I am the man, Bappa, the outlaw.
COMOL This Bappa! this the Bheel?
They gaze at one another.
(smiling)
Why, Coomood, it was Krishna after all. Monarch of caterans, I am Edur's princess, Comol Cumary. Why didst thou desire me?
BAPPA O who would not desire thee, glorious virgin? Thou art the rose of Rajasthan and I Will wear thee on my crest.
COMOL 'Twas prophesied me. But roses, King of thieves, have thorns, and see! I have a sword.
BAPPA (smiling) Thinkst thou that pretty toy Will save thee from me?
COMOL It will do its best. And if you take me still, 'tis at your peril. I am a dangerous creature to possess.
Page 880
BAPPA I will embrace the peril as a bride If in thy shape it dwell.
COMOL I swear I pity you. You rush upon you know not what. Come now, If 'tis a gentle serving-girl you need, Here is my sister, Coomood, who can cook Divinely. Take her. Let me walk on to Dongurh. You will regret it, youth.
COOMOOD Believe her not, 'Tis she's a Droupadie; and who possesses her Is fated to be Emperor of the West.
BAPPA Nay, you are twin sweet roses on one stalk And I will pluck you both, O flowers of Edur.
COMOL Why did thy men beset me, mountaineer? What was thy hope?
BAPPA At first 'twas policy And some desire of thy imperial ransom. But now I've seen thee, I will hold thee fast. Thou art not ransomable.
COMOL You shall not have me, sir, till you have fought And beaten me. You shall not get me cheaply. I am a swashbuckler. Bheel, I can fight.
Page 881
BAPPA Marvel, thou mayst and with great ease be victor If thou but use thy soft and shining eyes To dazzle me out of all possibility Of sound defence.
COMOL Come, measure swords, on guard!
BAPPA Thou wilt persist then in this pretty folly?
COMOL Halt, halt! I will not fight except on terms. You'll yield yourself my prisoner, Bheel, and free My maidens, when I've drubbed you handsomely?
BAPPA If when I've conquered, you will utterly Surrender your sweet self into my arms, Princess of Edur.
COMOL Take me if you can.
BAPPA Thus then I take you.
(disarms her)
Rose, where is thy thorn? Now thou must yield indeed.
COMOL Foul play! foul play! It was not fair to rob me of my sword. Call you this fighting? I'll not yield myself.
Page 882
BAPPA Thou hast no choice.
He seizes her.
COMOL I was not fairly won. Avaunt! this is mere highway robbery. I will not bear it.
BAPPA Virgin, this is the moment For which thy loveliness was born.
COMOL (faintly) Alas, What will you do with me?
BAPPA I'll carry thee, A hungry lion, to my secret lair Among the mighty hills, where none shall come To save thee from me, O my glorious prey, Bright antelope of Edur!
COOMOOD Will you play With the young lion, Comol, and chafe his mood? Now you are borne down by his heavy mane And lie beneath his huge and tawny chest, Trembling and silent.
BAPPA Princess,—
COOMOOD May I walk on To Dongurh?
Page 883
BAPPA No, thou mayst not. Follow me. Hold fast my arm, nor, princess, fear to hang Thy whole slight weight on me up these abrupt And breathless places, for the high ascent Is steep and rough to our uncouth abodes. Descent's for your small feet impossible, Coomood, from your green prison on the heights. There Spring shall wall you in with flowers and make Her blossoming creepers chains for your bright limbs Softly forbidding you, when you'ld escape.
COOMOOD Comol, tomorrow is the feast of May.
Page 884
In the forest near Dongurh.
Bappa, Sungram. The Captain and Rajpoot soldiers, guarded by Bheels.
BAPPA Ponder it, captain. Sungram, see the bearers Released, but let those cowards first be scourged Who put their lives above their lady's honour. Give golden largess to the faithful four And send them with a script. Let Edur know That Bappa holds his cherished daughter fast And frees her not save for a lakh of mohurs, Her insufficient ransom. If it displease him, Let him come here with all his fighting-men And take her from my grip. Word it to wound him So that he shall come thundering up the hills Incensed inexorably.
Exit Sungram.
Soldier, again, 'Tis not my wont to slay my prisoners, Who am a Rajpoot, and to pen you here Eating your hearts away like prisoned lions Were the world's loss and to myself no profit. Take then your choice and either follow me Or to your Edur back return unharmed.
Page 885
CAPTAIN Thou art a noble enemy, young chieftain; But change thy boon; for I have lost my charge Ingloriously and now can only entreat The use of my own sword to avenge my honour On its betrayer. Living I go not back To Edur.
BAPPA Soldier, thou art too scrupulous. The wariest captain need not think it shame To be surprised among these mountains. If Edur Receive you not, follow my fortunes, Rajpoot. I am as noble as the prince you serve, And he who waits on Bappa's fateful star, May be more fortunate than kings.
CAPTAIN Chieftain, Save my old master's blood I serve no other Than noble Edur.
(suddenly with excitement)
What is that jewel, boy, Upon thy sword-hilt? Where hadst thou that weapon?
BAPPA What moves thee thus? It is my father's sword, Though who my father was, Fate hides from me.
CAPTAIN (with emotion) I take thy offer, prince. I am thy soldier, And all these men shall live and die for thee.
A SOLDIER What dost thou, captain?
Page 886
CAPTAIN I have never swerved From the high path of Rajpoot honour. Trust me, Rajpoots.
SOLDIER Thou wast our chief in war and always We found thee valiant, proud and honourable. Convince us that we may transfer unshamed Our falchions only stained with foemen's blood, And still we'll follow thee.
CAPTAIN I will convince you At a fit season.
BAPPA Knowst thou something, soldier, That's hid from me?
CAPTAIN Pardon my silence, chieftain. All things have their own time to come to light.
BAPPA I will expect my hour then and meanwhile Think myself twice as great as yesterday Whom your strong hands now serve. Come, friends, with me; Resume your swords for yet more glorious use In Bappa's service.
Page 887
The road through the valley to Dongurh.
Toraman, Canaca, Hooshka and Scythians.
TORAMAN I know not what impelled these mountain-boars To worry Death with their blunt tusks. This insult I will revenge in kind at first, then take A bloody reckoning.
CANACA Figh! it was a trick even beyond my wits. To put a servant-girl on the throne of Cashmere! All Asia would have been one grin had the jest prospered.
TORAMAN They take us for barbarians And thought such gross imposture good enough To puzzle Scythian brains. But I'll so shame The witty clowns, they shall hang down their waggish heads While they are still allowed to live. You'll wed A princess of the Rajpoots, Canaca?
CANACA I would prefer a haunch of Rajpoot venison any day; they have fat juicy stags in their mountains.
TORAMAN I give thee Edur's daughter. While I ride With half my lances to our mountains, thou Shalt ruffle round as Scythian Toraman And wed the princess.
Page 888
CANACA Shall I indeed? Do you take me for a lettuce that you would have me sliced for a Rajpoot salad? Oh, I'ld love to be a prince if only to comfort myself with one full meal in a lifetime; but an empty plebeian paunch is a more comfortable possession than a princely belly full of Rajpoot lances.
TORAMAN Why should they at all Discover thee, dull fool? None know me here. The Rana and his men have not received me. No doubt the arrogant princeling scorned to eat As host and guest with me in Edur; even to dine With us is thought a soil! Therefore 'twas fixed In this rare plot that I should ride from Deesa On a fool's errand. Well, it helps me now, Though I'll avenge it fearfully. 'Tis feasible. None know us, you are richer-robed than I, And what's uncouth in you, they will put down To Scythia's utter barbarousness, whose princes Are boors and boors unhuman. Oh, 'twill work.
CANACA Will it? Well, so long as I keep my belly unprodded, 'tis a jest after my own heart.
TORAMAN And mine. These haughty Rajpoots think themselves The only purity on earth; their girls So excellent in Aryan chastity, That without Rajpoot birth an emperor's wooing Is held for insult. This they hoped to avenge By foisting a baseborn light serving-wench On the prince of all the North. How will they stare, How gnash their teeth and go stark-mad with shame When they discover their sweet cherished lily, The pride of Rajasthan, they thought too noble
Page 889
To lower herself to Cashmere's lofty throne, Bedded with the court-jester of Cashmere, Soiled by the embraces of a low buffoon Who patters for a wage, her pride a jest, Her purity a puddle and herself The world's sole laughing-stock.
CANACA Hem! 'Twill be a jest for the centuries.
TORAMAN About it, then. Feign to laugh off the insult put on you And urge your suit. Bound by their trick that failed, They must, though with great sullenness, consent; And that's desirable: the shame will taste A thousand times more bitter afterwards. Have her by force, if they are obstinate; But have her. Soon, be sure, I will be back With an avenging host and ring in Edur With loud assaults till I have crucified King, queen and princess on her smoking ruins.
Exit with a number of Scythians.
CANACA Well then, I am Prince Toraman of Cashmere; remember that, villains. Or why not Prince Toraman-Canaca or Prince Canaca-Toraman? it is rounder and more satisfying to the mouth. Yet simple Prince Toraman has a chastity of its own and all the magnificence of Cashmere marches after it. Ho, slave! What sounds are those approaching my majesty? Send scouts and reconnoitre. Prince Toraman, the imperial son of Cashmere! It is a part I shall play with credit; Nature made me for it of sufficient proportions and gave me a paunch imperial.
Page 890
HOOSHKA (approaching) Prince Canaca-Toraman or Prince Toraman-Canaca or very simple Toraman, I hear tramp of men and the clang of armour. No doubt, the princess of Edur, thinking all safe by now, rides to Dongurh. Will you charge them and seize her?
CANACA To cover, thou incompetent captain, to cover. Hast thou learned war and knowest not the uses of ambush? We will hide, slave. See thou pokest not out that overlong nose of thine! Find thyself a branch big enough to cover it.
HOOSHKA Humph! What signal shall we expect from your Majesty for the charge?
CANACA Prate not to me of signals! How lacking are thy dull soldier-wits in contrivance! If I jump down into the road and howl, you will all come jumping and howling after me; but if I run, you will catch hold of my tail and run too like the very devil. Nay, I have a rare notion of tactics. To cover, to cover!
They conceal themselves. Enter the Rao of Ichalgurh, Ruttan and Rajpoots.
ICHALGURH She has escaped me, or the Scythian has her. The last were my dishonour.
RUTTAN We've held the road Since dawn. The Scythian had the serving-women. The princess has escaped.
ICHALGURH I'm glad of it.
Page 891
RUTTAN Will you pursue it farther?
ICHALGURH Ambition only Engaged me once to woo her; now my honour Is deeply pledged. The spur of chivalry Suffers me not to yield a Rajpoot flower To Scythian handling; nor could I refuse A challenge to adventurous emprise So fairly given. About, to Dongurh!
RUTTAN Brother, The place is strong, nor we equipped for sieges.
ICHALGURH I'll have her out even from that fortressed keeping And set her in my crest at Ichalgurh For gods to gaze at.
Canaca leaps down into the road brandishing a sword, followed by Hooshka and his Scythians.
CANACA Ho Amitabha! Buddha for Cashmere!
ICHALGURH The Scythians on us! Swords!
CANACA Put up your skewers! Quiver not, ye wretches; steady, steady your quaking kneecaps. Though I have cause for anger, yet am I merciful. Ye would have robbed me of some very pretty property, but ye are mountain-thieves by nature and nurture and know no better. Therefore peace. Sleep in thy scabbard, thou dreadful servant of the wrath of Toraman; await a fitter subject than these carcasses. Courage, Rajpoots, you shall not die.
Page 892
ICHALGURH (smiling) Who is Your Mightiness?
CANACA I am the very formidable and valiant hero and Scythian, Toraman, prince of Cashmere. Nevertheless, tremble not. I am terrible to look at, but I have bowels;—ay, a whole paunchful of them.
ICHALGURH You sought the Princess? What, she has slipped through your most valiant fingers?
CANACA As if she had greased herself with butter. But I am going to Dongurh straight away to demand her and dinner.
ICHALGURH Together then. We're comrades in her loss; Why not allies to win her?
CANACA Am I to be so easily bamboozled? wilt thou insult my cranium? Thou wouldst use my valiant and invincible sword to win her, thinking to steal her from me afterwards when I am not looking.
ICHALGURH Who would dare Defraud the formidable Toraman, The valiant and heroic Scythian?
CANACA Well! I am content; fall in behind me, mountaineers.
ICHALGURH Ruttan, we'll keep an eye upon this Scythian.
Page 893
His show of braggart folly hides, I fear, A deal of knavishness.
CANACA Trumpets! To Dongurh! March!
Page 894
Bappa's cot on the hillside.
Bappa; the captain; Coomood, decorating the cot with flowers.
BAPPA Where was she when you had the script from her?
CAPTAIN Singing of battle on the rocks alone With wrestling winds in her wild hair and raiment, A joyous Oread.
BAPPA Said she anything?
CAPTAIN She gave it me with glad and smiling eyes And laughed: "This for my noble Bheel, my sovereign Of caterans, my royal beast of prey. These to their mighty owners."
COOMOOD Will you read it?
BAPPA (reads) "Cateran, I have given thy captain letters which when thou hast read them, fail not to despatch. I have sent for teachers for thee to beat thee into modesty and lesson thee in better behaviour to a lady and princess.—"
What letters has she given thee, captain? These?
Page 895
CAPTAIN To Pratap, Rao of Ichalgurh;—and one To Toraman the Scythian.
BAPPA Deliver them. Thou'lt find at Dongurh both these warlike princes. No, I'll not read them.
Exit Captain.
COOMOOD Let me hear the rest.
BAPPA "Cateran, I will show thee the sum of thy bold and flagitious offences, though I dare not to hope that it will make thee ashamed. Thou hast laid injurious hands on a royal maiden, being thyself a mere Bheel and outlaw and of no parentage; thou hast carried me most violently to this thy inconsiderable and incommodious hut, treating the body of a princess as if it were a sack of potatoes; thou hast unmercifully and feloniously stripped my body with thy own rude Bheel hands of more ornaments than thou hast seen in thy lifetime and didst hurt me most cruelly in the deed, though thou vainly deniest it; thou hast compelled and dost yet compel me, the princess of Edur, by the infamous lack of women-servants in thy hut, to minister to thee, a common Bheel, menially with my own royal hands, so that my fingers are sore with scrubbing thy rusty sword which thou hast never used yet on anything braver than a hill-jackal, and my face is still red with leaning over the fire cooking thy most unroyal meals for thee; and to top these crimes, thou hast in thy robustious robber fashion taken a kiss from my lips without troubling thyself to ask for it, and thou yet keepest it with thee. All which are high misdoings and mortal offences; yet would I have pardoned them knowing thee to be no more than a boy and a savage. But now thou darest to tell me that I, a Rajpoot maiden, am in love with thee, a Bheel, and that even if I deny it, thou carest not; for I am
Page 896
thine already whether I will or no, thy captive and thy slave-girl. This is not to be borne. So I have written to my noble suitors of Ichalgurh and Scythia to avenge me upon thy Bheel body; I doubt not, they will soon carry thy head to Edur in a basket, if thou hast the manners to permit them. Yet since thy followers call thee Smiter of the Forest and Lion of the Hills, let me see thee smite more than jackals and rend braver than flesh of mountain-deer. Cateran, when thou trundlest the Scythian down-hill like a ball, thou mayst marry me in spite of thy misdeeds, if thou darest; and when thou showest thyself a better man than the Chouhan of Ichalgurh, which is impossible, thou mayst even keep me for thy slave-girl and I will not deny thee. Meanwhile, thou shalt give me a respite till the seventh morn of the May. Till then presume not to touch me. Thy captive, Comol Cumary."
Why, here's a warlike and most hectoring letter, Coomood.
COOMOOD She pours her happy heart out so In fantasies; I never knew her half so wayward. The more her soul is snared between your hands, The more her lips will chide you.
BAPPA Can you tell Why she has set these doughty warriors on me, Coomood?
COOMOOD You cannot read a woman's mind. It's to herself a maze inextricable Of vagrant impulses with half-guessed tangles Of feeling her own secret thoughts are blind to.
BAPPA But yet?
Page 897
COOMOOD Her sudden eager headstrong passion Would justify its own extravagance By proving you unparalleled. Therefore she picks Earth's brace of warriors out for your opponents.
BAPPA Pratap the Chouhan, Rao of Ichalgurh! To meet him merely were a lifetime's boast; But to cross swords with him! Oh, she has looked Into my heart.
COOMOOD You'll give her seven days?
BAPPA Not hours,—the dainty rebel! Great Ichalgurh Will wing here like an eagle; soon I'll meet him And overthrow, who feel a giant's strength, Coomood, since yesterday. My fate mounts sunward.
COOMOOD Ours, Bappa, has already arrived. Our sun Rose yesterday upon the way to Dongurh.
Curtain
Page 898
Outside Dongurh.
Ichalgurh, a letter in his hand; Ruttan, the Captain.
ICHALGURH Who art thou, soldier?
CAPTAIN The leader of the lances That guarded Edur's princess and with her Were captived by the Bheels. Their chief I serve.
ICHALGURH Thou hast dishonoured then the Rajpoot name Deserting from thy lord to serve a ruffian Under the eyes of death, thou paltry trembler.
CAPTAIN My honour, Rao of Ichalgurh, is mine To answer for, and at a fitting time I will return thy insults on my sword-point. But now I am only a messenger.
ICHALGURH I'll read The princess' writing. (reads) "Baron of Ichalgurh, My mother's clansman, warrior, noble Rajpoot, Thrice over therefore bound to help the weak And save the oppressed! A maiden overpowered, Comol Cumary, Edur's princess, sues For thy heroic arm of rescue, prince, To the Bheel outlaws made a prey, unsought
Page 899
By her own kin; whom if thou save, I am A princess and thy handmaid, else a captive Only and Bappa's slave-girl." Go! my war-cry Echoing among the hills shall answer straightway This piteous letter. Ruttan, swift! Arm! arm! I will not vent my wrath in braggart words But till it leap into my sword, I suffer.
RUTTAN You shall not wait for long.
CAPTAIN I have a letter To Toraman the Scythian.
ICHALGURH Give it to him, For this is he.
Enter Canaca, Hooshka and Scythians.
CANACA It will not fill. This paltry barren Rajpootana has not the where-withal to choke up the gulf within me. Ha! avaunt! Dost thou flutter paper before me? I have no creditors in Rajpootana.
CAPTAIN I understand thee not. This is a script Comol Cumary sends thee, Edur's princess.
CANACA Is it so? Well then, thou mayst kneel and lay it at my feet; I will deign to read it. (The Captain flings it into his hands.) What, thou dirty varlet! (The Captain lays his hand on his sword.) Nay, it is a game? Oh, I can catch, I can catch.
Page 900
(reads)
"Prince Toraman, they say thou desirest me and camest from Cashmere as far as Edur for my sake. Thou must come a little farther, prince! Bappa, the outlaw, has been beforehand with thee and holds me in durance among the hills. Prince, if thou yet desirest this little beauty one poor body can hold, come up hither and fight for its possession which otherwise I must in seven days perforce yield to my captor. From whom if thou canst rescue me,—but I will not drive bargains with thee, trusting rather to thy knightly princeliness to succour a distressed maiden for no hope of reward. Comol Cumary."
No, no, no; there is too much butter about thee. No hope of reward! What! I shall fight like an enraged rhinoceros, I shall startle the hills by my valour, I shall stick three thousand Bheels with my own princely hand like so many boar-pigs; and all this violent morning exercise for what? To improve my appetite? I have more gastric juice than my guts can accommodate. They roar to me already for a haunch of venison.
HOOSHKA Prince Toraman, shall I give the order for the hills?
CANACA Ay, Hooshka Long-nose, hast thou news of venison, good fellow?
HOOSHKA I meant, to rescue the Princess Comol Cumary from the Bheels.
CANACA Didst thou mean so? Nay, I will not hinder thy excellent intentions. But bring some venison with thee as thou comest along with her, Hooshka.
HOOSHKA Prince of Cashmere, lead us to the hills and tear her from the grip of the outlaws. As a prince and a soldier thou canst do no less.
Page 901
CANACA Thou liest through thy long nose! I can do much less than that. I will not suffer thee to put limits to my infinite ability. And I can tell a decoy- duck from a live gander. Shall I waddle my shins into Bappa's trap? This letter was written under compulsion.
HOOSHKA The Princess must be rescued. I wonder, Prince Toraman, that thou wilt jest over a thing so grave and unhappy.
CANACA Why, genius will out, you cannot stable it for long, Hooshka; it will break bounds and gallop. Yet go, Hooshka, go; take all my men, Hooshka. Hooshka, slay the Bheel; rescue the lady, Hooshka. I wish I could go with thee and swing my dreadful blade with my mighty arm till the mountains re-echoed. But the simple truth is, I have a bleeding dysentery. Willingly would I shed my princely blood for my sweet lady, but it is shedding itself already otherwise.
HOOSHKA (aside) Thou fat-gutted cowardly rogue, wilt thou blacken the name of a hero with thy antics? Out at once, or the Rajpoots shall know who thou art and carve thee into little strips for a dog's dinner.
CANACA Sayst thou, my little captain? Thy arguments are strangely conclusive. Arms! arms! my horse! my horse! Out, Scythians, to the hills! My horse, I say! I will do deeds; I will paint the hills in blood and tattoo the valleys. (Enter Scythians.) Amitabha! Amitabha! Yell, you rogues, have you no lungs in your big greasy carcasses? With what will you fight then?
SCYTHIANS Amitabha!
Enter Ruttan and Rajpoots.
Page 902
RUTTAN Rajpoots, to save a noble lady captived We march today. No gallant open enemy, But savages who lurk behind the rocks Are our opposers. Sweep them from the hills, Rajpoots, with the mere flashing of your swords And rescue from their villain touch a princess.
Exeunt Ichalgurh, Ruttan and Rajpoots.
CANACA March, Scythians! (aside) Hooshka, what say you? We will keep behind these mad-dog Rajpoots and fight valiantly in their shadow. That is but strategy.
HOOSHKA (aside) If thou dost, I will kick thee into the enemy's midst with my jackboots.
CANACA (aside) Wilt thou muddy such a fine coat as this is? Hast thou the heart? (aloud) Trumpets! Into the breach, into the breach, my soldiers!
Page 903
In the forest.
Ichalgurh, Ruttan and Rajpoots.
OUTSIDE Bappa! Bappa! Ho, Sheva Ekling!
An arrow descends and a Rajpoot falls.
RUTTAN Still upwards!
ICHALGURH Upwards still! Death on the height Sits crowned to meet us; downwards is to dishonour And that's no Rajpoot movement. Brother Ruttan, We're strangled with a noose intangible. O my brave Rajpoots, by my headlong folly Led to an evil death!
RUTTAN What is this weakness, Chouhan of famous Ichalgurh? Remember Thyself, my brother. But a little more And we have reached their wasps'-nest on the hills.
ICHALGURH Not one alive.
Another arrow. A Rajpoot falls.
RUTTAN I ask no better fate, Brother, than at thy side however slain,
Page 904
Victorious or defeated.
ICHALGURH We have acted Like heedless children, thinking we had to stamp Our armoured heel on a mere swarm and rabble, But find ourselves at grips with skilful fighters And a great brain of war. Safe under cover They pick us off; we battle blindly forwards Without objective, smiting at the wind, Stumbling as in a nightmare and transfixed Ignobly by a foe invisible Our falchions cannot reach,—like crows, like jackals, Not like brave men and battle-famous warriors.
RUTTAN Still on!
ICHALGURH Yes, on, till the last man falls pierced Upon the threshold that immures the sweetness We could not save. Forward the Chouhan!
KODAL Halt! A parley!
ICHALGURH Speak, but talk not of surrender.
KODAL 'Tis that I'll talk of. I am Bappa's mouthpiece. Rajpoots, you're quite surrounded. If we choose, Our arrows buzzing through your brains can end you In five swift minutes. Lay then at Bappa's feet Your humble heads; else like mad dogs be skewered
Page 905
And yelp your lives out.
ICHALGURH Return unpunished; the name Of envoy guards thy barbarous insolence.
SUNGRAM You speak too insolently your message, Kodal. Chouhan of Ichalgurh, thou art too great To die thus butchered. We demand a parley For courteous equal terms, not base surrender.
ICHALGURH Thou art a Rajpoot; dost thou lead these arrows?
SUNGRAM I lead the shafts that wear thee out; another Surrounds the Scythian; but we are the hands Of one more godlike brain.
ICHALGURH With him I'll parley.
SUNGRAM 'Tis well. Go, Kodal, learn our chieftain's will.
Exit Kodal.
ICHALGURH Young man, thou hast a Rajpoot form and bearing, Yet herdst with the wild forest tribes, remote From arms and culture. Dost thou hide thy name too?
SUNGRAM I am a Chouhan like thyself, of birth As princely. Ask the warriors of Ajmere Who valiant Martund was; his sons are we,
Page 906
Sungram and Prithuraj.
ICHALGURH O youth, thy father Was my great pattern and my guide in war. Brother and enemy, embrace me.
They embrace.
Sungram, Who is thy captain? For the sons of Martund Serve not a Bheel.
SUNGRAM Thine eyes shall answer thee.
Enter Bappa and Kodal.
ICHALGURH A noble-featured youth! What son of Kings Lives secret in these rugged hills?
BAPPA Chouhan Of famous Ichalgurh, now if I'm slain In battle, I can tell the dead I've seen thee, Thou god of war. O let there be no hatred, Hero, between us, but only faith.
ICHALGURH Young chieftain, Thou bearst a godlike semblance, but thy deeds Are less than noble. Hast thou not seized a princess By robber violence, forced her with thee To thy rude lair and threatenest her sweet body With shameful mastery?
BAPPA We are warriors, Rajpoot; Two ways of mating only fit for us,
Page 907
By mutual sweet attraction undenied To grow to oneness as they do in heaven, Or else with lion leap to seize our bride And pluck her from the strong protecting spears Taking her heart by violence. We mate not Like castes unwarlike, from a father's hand Drawing an innocent wide-eyed wondering child Like cattle given or sold. This was the way Of Rajpoots long before the earth grew aged; And shall a Rajpoot blame it? Wherefore then rod'st thou Clanging last morn from Ichalgurh in arms, Pratap the Chouhan?
ICHALGURH Chieftain, I am pledged To save the girl from thee.
BAPPA But canst redeem The vow with thy dead body only. Hero, I too am sworn to keep her 'gainst the world. Let us in the high knightly way decide it. Deign to cross swords with me and let the victor Possess the maiden.
ICHALGURH O thou springing stem That surely yet wilt rise to meet the sun! Agreed. Let no man intervene betwixt us.
BAPPA Kodal, restrain thy Bheels.
Exit Kodal. They fight.
RUTTAN Bold is thy chieftain To match his boyish arm against my brother!
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SUNGRAM He is a mighty warrior, but not age Nor bulk can measure strength; the exultant spirit Pressing towards glory gives the arm a force Mightier than physical. He's down.
Ichalgurh falls wounded.
RUTTAN Great Ichalgurh! Who is this godlike combatant?
BAPPA Surrender My princess, Chouhan.
ICHALGURH Thou hast her who deserv'st Much more than her.
He rises.
Young hero who in thy first battle o'erbearst Maturer victors! know Pratap the Chouhan Unalterably thy friend. When thou shalt ask My sword, 'tis thine.
BAPPA Thou'rt wounded?
ICHALGURH (binding his wound) I have been worse And ridden far to meet the foe. Another day We'll share one rocky pillow on the hills And talk of battles.
BAPPA Pratap, I could but offer A rude and hillside hospitality. But when I hold my court in mighty Edur
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I will absolve this morning's debt.
Enter Captain.
ICHALGURH Farewell.
BAPPA Escort him, friend.
Exeunt Sungram, Ichalgurh, Ruttan and Rajpoots.
How speeds the battle, comrade, There with the Scythians?
CAPTAIN It is finished, prince. They fell in slaughtered heaps.
BAPPA Prince Toraman?
CAPTAIN Lay flat and bellowed. We'ld have taken him, But Prithuraj, mad for the joy of battle, Leaped on their foremost; while he hewed them down, Like an untiring woodman, one giant Scythian Crashing through bush and boulder hurled himself Out of thy net; with him a loyal handful Carried this Toraman.
Enter Prithuraj.
PRITHURAJ Pardon my error, Bappa.
BAPPA It was a noble fault, my soldier. We have done all we hoped. The amorous Scythian Will not return in haste mid our green hills
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To woo a Rajpoot maiden. Let us go. I wonder when great Edur moves upon us. I long to hear his war assail our mountains.
Page 911
Outside Bappa's cot.
Comol Cumary alone.
COMOL Have I too dangerously ventured my all Daring a blast so rude? The Scythian roar Appals no more the forest, nor the war-cry Of Ichalgurh climbs mightily the hills; The outlaws' fierce triumphant shout is stilled Of their young war-god's name. Who has won? who fallen?
Enter Bappa.
COMOL (coming eagerly to him) How went the fight? You're safe! And Ichalgurh?
BAPPA Give me your hands; I'll tell you.
COMOL I see your head's Not in the basket.
He takes her hands and draws her towards him.
Cateran, I forbade you To touch me till the seventh day.
BAPPA I touch What is my own. To bid or to forbid Is mine upon this hillside where I'm sovereign. Sit down by me.
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COMOL I will not be commanded.
She sits down at his feet.
BAPPA Oh, you are right, love. At my feet's more fitting Who am your master and monarch. Come, no rising. Stay there, where I can watch your antelope eyes Look up at me bright with all love's own sunshine.
COMOL Oh, you provoke me. You've not met the Chouhan, Or you'ld have been much chastened.
BAPPA I have met him.
COMOL Great Ichalgurh?
BAPPA We soon o'ercame the Scythians. Your lover, Comol, the great Toraman, Was borne, a mass of terror-stricken flesh, By faithful fugitives headlong down the hillside.
COMOL You need not triumph. These were only Scythians. But what of Ichalgurh?
BAPPA We fought. I conquered.
COMOL Thou? thou? It is impossible.
Page 913
BAPPA But done.
COMOL Why, you're a boy, a child! O my bright lion, You are a splendid and a royal beast, But very youthful. This was the maned monarch Whose roar shook all the forest when he leaped Upon his opposite. Then the great tusker Went down beneath his huge and tawny front As if it were an antelope. Him you've conquered?
BAPPA He fell and yielded.
COMOL You have learned romance From the wild hill-tops and the stars at night And take your visions for the fact.
BAPPA Arch-infidel! Ask Sungram.
COMOL Then I understand. You won As in your duel with me, quite unfairly. You used your sleight of hand?
BAPPA Perhaps, my princess, His foot slipped and he fell; 'twas my good fortune, Not I that conquered him.
COMOL Indeed it was Your high resistless fortune. O my king,
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My hero, thou hast o'erborne great Ichalgurh; Then who can stand against thee? Thou shalt conquer More than my heart.
(Bappa takes her into his arms)
What dost thou, Bheel? Forbear! I did but jest.
BAPPA Do you recall your letter, Comol? I have outdone the Chouhan, girl.
COMOL Bheel, I wrote nothing, nothing.
BAPPA I'll keep you now For my sweet slave-girl, princess? You will not Deny me?
COMOL 'Twas not my hand. Your Coomood forged it. I'll not admit it.
BAPPA Rebel against your heart! You're trapped in your own springe. My antelope!
(kisses her)
I've brought you to my lair; shall I not prey on you? Kiss me.
COMOL I will not.
(kisses him)
O not now! O give me The memory of this May to keep with me Till death and afterwards, a dream of greenness With visions of the white and vermeil spring,
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A prelude set to winds and waterfalls Among the mountains of immortal Dongurh Far from the earth, in a delightful freedom Treading the hill-tops, all the joy of life In front of me to dream of its perfection, Bappa.
BAPPA When you entreat, who shall refuse you, O lips of honey?
COMOL Till the seventh morning, Bappa.
BAPPA Only till then.
COMOL That is a promise.
(escaping from him)
Which, having won, I do deny, unsay, Wholly recant and absolutely abjure Whatever flattery I have said or done To win it. You are still my Bheel and brigand, My lawless cateran; I great Edur's princess. I love you! Do not dream of it. Six days! By then my father'll smoke you from your lair, And take me from your dreadful claws, my lion, An antelope undevoured.
BAPPA Have you yet thought Of the dire punishments you'll taste for this, Deceiver?
Page 916
COMOL Not till the seventh morning, lion.
BAPPA Till then, my antelope, range my hills and make them An Eden for me with thy wondrous beauty Moving in grace and freedom of the winds, Sweetness of the green woodlands; for of these Thou seemst a part and they thy natural country.
Page 917
Comol, Coomood, meeting in the forest.
COOMOOD Where were you hidden, Comol, all this morning?
COMOL I have been wandering in my woods alone Imagining myself their mountain queen. O Coomood, all the woodland worshipped me! Coomood, the flowers held up their incense-bowls In adoration and the soft-voiced winds Footing with a light ease among the leaves Paused to lean down and lisp into my ear, Oh, pure delight. The forest's unnamed birds Hymned their sweet sovran lady as she walked Lavishing melody. The furry squirrels Peeped from the leaves and waved their bushy tails, Twittering, "There goes she, our beloved lady, Comol Cumary"; and the peacocks came Proud to be seen by me and danced in front, Shrilling, "How gorgeous are we in our beauty, Yet not so beautiful as is our lady, Comol Cumary." I will be worshipped, Coomood.
COOMOOD You shall be. There's no goddess of them all
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That has these vernal looks and such a body Remembering the glory whence it came Or apt to tread with the light vagrant breeze Or rest with moonlight.
COMOL That was what they told me, The voices of the forest, sister Coomood,— The myriad voices.
COOMOOD What did they tell you, Comol?
COMOL They told me that my hair was a soft dimness With thoughts of light imprisoned in't; the gods, They said, looked down from heaven and saw my eyes Wishing that that were heaven. They told me, child, My face was such as Brahma once had dreamed of But could not,—no, for all the master-skill That made the worlds,—recapture in the flesh So rare a sweetness. They called my perfect body A feast of gracious beauty, a refrain And harmony in womanhood embodied. They told me all these things,—Coomood, they did, Though you will not believe it. I understood Their leafy language.
COOMOOD Come, you did not need So to translate the murmurings of the leaves And the wind's whisper. 'Twas a human voice I'll swear, so deftly flattered you.
COMOL Fie, Coomood, It was the trees, the waters; the pure, soft flowers
Page 919
Took voices.
COOMOOD One voice. Did he roar softly, sweetheart, To woo you?
COMOL Oh, he's a recreant to his duty. He loves the wild-deer fleeing on the hills And the strong foeman's glittering blade, not Comol. You must not talk of him, but of the hills And greenness and of me.
COOMOOD And Edur, Comol?
COMOL Edur! It is a name that I have heard In some dim past, in some old far-off world I moved in, oh, a waste of centuries And many dreams ago. I'll not return there. It had no trees, I'm sure, no jasmine-bushes, No happy breezes dancing with linked hands Over the hill-tops, no proud-seated hills Softening the azure, high-coped deep-plunging rocks Or flowery greenness round, no birds, no Spring.
COOMOOD We are the distance of a world from Edur. Tomorrow is the May-feast's crowning day, Comol.
COMOL Oh then we shall be happy breezes And dance with linked hands upon the hills All the Spring-morning.
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COOMOOD It is a May to be Remembered.
COMOL It is the May-feast of my life, Coomood, the May-feast of my life, the May That in my heart shall last for ever, sweet, For ever and for ever. Where are our sisters?
COOMOOD Nirmol is carrying water from the spring; Ishany hunts the browsing stag today, A sylvan archeress.
COMOL What have you in the basket?
COOMOOD Flowers I have robbed the greenest woodland of For Bappa's worship. They must hide with bloom Sheva Ekling today. Tomorrow, sweet, I'll gather blossoms for your hair instead And weave you silver-petalled anklets, earrings Of bright maybloom, zones of Spring honeysuckle, And hide your arms in vernal gold. We'll set you Under a bough, our goddess of the Spring, And sylvanly adore, covering your feet With flowers that almost match their moonbeam whiteness Or palely imitate their rose;—our Lady, Comol Cumary.
COMOL Will Bappa worship me? But I am an inferior goddess, Coomood, And dare not ask the King of Paradise To adore me.
Page 921
COOMOOD You must adore him, that's your part.
COMOL I will, while 'tis the May.
COOMOOD And afterwards?
COMOL Coomood, we will not think of afterwards In Dongurh, in the springtide.
COOMOOD Tomorrow dawns The seventh morning, Comol.
COMOL I did not hear you. Are these our hunters?
Enter Prithuraj and Ishany.
ISHANY I have a better aim Than yours.
PRITHURAJ Did I deny it? Oh, you shoot Right through the heart.
ISHANY I'll never marry one Whom I outdo at war or archery. You tell me you are famous Martund's son, The mighty Gehlote. Wherefore lurk you then In unapproachable and tangled woods Warding off glory with your distant shafts,
Page 922
While life sweeps past in the loud vale below? Not breast the torrent, not outbrave its shocks To carve your names upon the rocks of Time Indelibly?
PRITHURAJ We will affront, Ishany, The Ganges yet with a victorious gleam Of armour. But our fates are infant still And in their native thickets they must wait To flesh themselves and feel their lion strengths Before they roar abroad.
ISHANY Until they do, Talk not of love.
PRITHURAJ What would you have me do? O'erbear in arms the Scythian Toraman, And slay the giant Hooshka? meet Ichalgurh And come unharmed, or with my single sword Say halt to a proud score of the best lances You have in Edur? This and more I can For thee, Ishany.
ISHANY You talk, but do it first. Doers were never talkers, Prithuraj.
PRITHURAJ Oh, that's a narrow maxim. Noble speech Is a high prelude fit for noble deeds; It is the lion's roar before he leaps. Proud eloquence graces the puissant arm And from the hall of council to the field Was with the great and iron men of old
Page 923
Their natural stepping.
ISHANY You only roar as yet. I beat you with the bow today; sometime I'll fight you with the sword and beat you.
PRITHURAJ Will you? Just as your lady did?
ISHANY She played, she played, But I would aim in earnest at your heart. One day we'll fight and see.
PRITHURAJ Why, if we do, I'll claim a conqueror's right on your sweet body, Ishany.
ISHANY And my heart? You must do more, If you'll have that.
PRITHURAJ It cannot now be long Before the mailed heel of Edur rings Upon our hillside rocks. Then I'll deserve it.
ISHANY Till then you are my fellow-hunter only, Not yet my captain.
Enter Nirmol.
NIRMOL Idlers and ne'er-do-weels, home! Here have I carried twelve full jars from the spring, set wood on the stove, kindled the fire,
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while you play gracefully the sylvan gadabouts. Where is the venison?
PRITHURAJ Travelling to the cooking-pot on a Bheel's black shoulders.
NIRMOL To your service, Ishany! or you shall not taste the stag you have hunted.
ISHANY Child, do not tyrannize. I am as hungry with this hunting as a beef-swallowing Scythian.
NIRMOL Off with you, hero, and help her with your heroic shoulders.
Exit Prithuraj.
COMOL A pair of warlike lovers!
NIRMOL You are there, sister-truants? Have you no occupation but to lurk in leaves and eavesdrop upon the prattle of lovers?
COMOL Why, Nirmol, I did my service before I came.
NIRMOL Yes, I know! To sweep one room—oh, scrupulously clean, for is it not Bappa's? and to scrub his armour for a long hour till it is as bright as your eyes grow when they are looking at Bappa,—do they not, Coomood?
COOMOOD They do, like stars allowed to gaze at God.
Page 925
NIRMOL Exact! I have seen her—
COMOL Nirmol, I do not know how many twigs there are in the forest, but I will break them all on your back, if you persevere.
NIRMOL Do you think you are princess of Edur here that you threaten me? No, we are in the democracy of Spring where all sweet flowers are equals. Oh, I will be revenged on you for your tyrannies in Edur. I have seen her, Coomood, when she thought none was looking, lay her cheek wistfully against the hilt of his sword, trying to think that the cold hard iron was the warm lips of its master and hers. I have seen her kiss it furtively—
COMOL (embracing and stopping her mouth) Hush, hush, you wicked romancer.
NIRMOL Go then and cook our meal like a good princess and I will promise not to repeat all the things I have heard you murmur to yourself when you were alone.
COMOL Nirmol, you grow in wickedness with years. Wait till I have you back in Edur, maiden; I'll scourge this imp of mischief out of you.
NIRMOL I have heard her, Coomood,—
COMOL I am off, I am away! I am an arrow from Kodal's bow.
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NIRMOL She is hard to drive, but I have the whiphand of her.
COOMOOD Have you the crimson sandal-powder ready? Flowers for the garlands Spring in sweet abundance Provides us.
NIRMOL Yes. She shall be wedded fast Before she knows it.
COOMOOD Unless my father's sword Striking us through the flowery walls we hide in, Prevent it, Nirmol.
NIRMOL Coomood, our fragile flowers will weave A bond that steel cannot divide, nor death Dissever.
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