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The Prince of Edur
Persons of the Drama
R ANA CURRAN, Prince of Edur, of the Rahtore clan.V ISALDEO, a Brahmin, his minister; formerly in the service of the Gehlote Prince of Edur.H ARIPAL, a Rajpoot noble, General of Edur; formerly in the service of the Gehlote Prince.B APPA, son of the late Gehlote Prince of Edur, in refuge among the Bheels.
K ODAL, a young Bheel, foster-brother and lieutenant of Bappa.T ORAMAN, Prince of Cashmere.C ANACA, the King’s jester of Cashmere.H OOSHKA, Scythian captain.P RATAP, Rao of Ichalgurh, a Chouhan noble.R UTTAN, his brother.A C APTAIN of Rajpoot lances.
M ENADEVI, wife of Curran; a Chouhan princess, sister of the King of Ajmere.C OMOL CUMARY, daughter of Rana Curran and Menadevi.C OOMOOD CUMARY, daughter of Rana Curran by a concubine.N IRMOL CUMARY, daughter of Haripal, friend of Comol Cumary.I SHANY, a Rajpoot maiden, in attendance on Comol Cumary.Act I
The Palace in Edur. The forests about Dongurh.
The Palace in Edur. Rana Curran, Visaldeo.
C URRANHe 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 V ISALDEOBut 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
The women’s apartments in the Palace at Edur. Comol Cumary, Coomood Cumary.
C OMOLTomorrow, 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
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! <p align="center" style="text-indent: 0pt; line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-top: 0;<p align="center" style="text-indent: 0pt; line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-top: 0; 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. <p align="center" style="text-indent: 0pt; line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0pt; margin-right: 0pt; margin-top: 0;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
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. S ECOND BEARERHalt, 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
The forest near Dongurh. Enter Bearers with Comol Cumary in the palanquin.
S ECOND BEARERCourage, 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 |
