Collected Plays and Stories

 

CONTENTS

 

Pre-content

 

PLAYS

THE VIZIERS OF BASSORA

 

Rodogune

Act One

Act Two

Act Three

Act Four

Act Five

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

SCENE I

SCENE II  

SCENE III

SCENE IV

SCENE V

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

 

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

SCENE IV

SCENE V

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

SCENE IV

 

 

Perseus the Deliverer

Act One

Act Two

Act Three

Act Four

Act Five

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

SCENE IV

SCENE V

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

 

Eric

Act One

Act Two

Act Three

Act Four

Act Five

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE III

SCENE IV

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE I

 

Vasavadutta

 

Incomplete and Fragmentary Plays

The Witch of Ilni

Act One

 

Act Two

 

Act Three

SCENE I

SCENE II

 

SCENE I

 

 SCENE I

SCENE II

 

The House of Brut

Act  twO

 

SCENE I

 

The Maid in the Mill

Act One

 

 

 

Act Two

SCENE I

SCENE II

SCENE Iii

SCENE Iv

SCENE v

 

 

 

SCENE I

 

The Prince of Edur

The Prince of Mathura

Act  One

SCENE I

 

The Birth of Sin

Act ONE

 

Fragment of a Play

Act  One

SCENE I

 

STORIES

Occult Idylls

The Phantom Hour

 The Door at Abelard

 

Incomplete and Fragmentary Stories

Fictional Jottings

Fragment of a Story

The Devil's Mastiff

The Golden Bird

 

 

The Prince of Edur

 


Persons of the Drama

 

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.

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.

 

MENADEVI, 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.


Act I

 

The Palace in Edur. The forests about Dongurh.

 

Scene 1

 

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.

 

Page – 849


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.

Page – 851


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.

Page – 852


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.

Exit.

VISALDEO

Or swifter even than any in Ichalgurh.

I too have tidings to send hastily.

Exit.

Page – 854


Scene 2

 

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.

Exit.

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.

Exit.

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.

Exit.

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


Scene 3

 

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!

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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.

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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.

Exeunt.

Page – 867


Scene 4

 

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.

 

Page – 874


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.

Exit.

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.

Exeunt.

Page – 877


Scene 5

 

The forest near Dongurh.

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 – 882


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.

Exeunt.

Page – 884