In literature a drama genre deserves your attention. Dramas are usually called plays. Every person is made up of two parts: good and evil. Due to life circumstances, the human reveals one or another side of his nature. In drama we can see the full range of emotions : it can be love, jealousy, hatred, fear, etc. The best drama books are full of dialogue. This type of drama is one of the oldest forms of storytelling and has existed almost since the beginning of humanity. Drama genre - these are events that involve a lot of people. People most often suffer in this genre, because they are selfish. People always think to themselves first, they want have a benefit.The Little Clay Cart by Sudraka (summer beach reads .txt) š
- Author: Sudraka
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Headsmen. So be it.
A voice behind the scenes. My father! oh, my father! [ChÄrudatta hears the words, and mournfully repeats his request.]
Headsmen. Citizens, make way a moment. Let the noble ChÄrudatta look upon the face of his son. [Turning to the back of the stage.] This way, sir! Come on, little boy!
P. 261.15]
[Enter Maitreya, with Rohasena.]
Maitreya. Make haste, my boy, make haste! Your father is being led to his death.
Rohasena. My father! oh, my father!
Maitreya. Oh, my friend! Where must I behold you now?
ChÄrudatta. [Perceives his son and his friend.] Alas, my son! Alas, Maitreya! [Mournfully.] Ah, woe is me!
Through all my sojourn dread;
This vessel[86] small will not contain
The water for the dead.17
What may I give my son? [He looks at himself, and perceives the sacrificial cord.] Ah, this at least is mine.
Is unadorned with pearls and gold;
Yet, girt therewith, they sacrifice
To gods above and fathers[87] old.18
[He gives Rohasena the cord.]
Goha. Come, ChÄrudatta! Come, man!
AhÄ«nta. Man, do you name the noble ChÄrudatta's name, and forget the title? Remember:
Roving as free as a yet unbroken colt,
Fate wanders on her unrestricted way.19
And again:
Shall our reproaches bow his head?
Although eclipse may seize the moon,
We worship while it seems but dead.20
Rohasena. Oh, headsmen, where are you leading my father?
[161.10. S.
ChÄrudatta. My darling,
The oleander-wreath;
Upon my shoulder I must bear
The stake, and in my heart the care
Of near-approaching death.
I go to-day to meet a dastard's ending,
A victim, at the fatal altar bending.21
Goha. My boy,
Though born of headsman race;
Thy father's life who mar,
These, these are headsmen base.22
Rohasena. Then why do you murder my father?
Goha. Bless you, 't is the king's orders must bear the blame, not we.
Rohasena. Kill me, and let father go free.
Goha. Bless you, may you live long for saying that!
ChÄrudatta. [Tearfully embracing his son.]
To rich and poor alike is given;
Than sandal better, or than balm,
To soothe the heart and give it calm.23
The oleander-wreath,
Upon my shoulder I must bear
The stake, and in my heart the care
Of near-approaching death.
I go to-day to meet a dastard's ending,
A victim, at the fatal altar bending.(21)
[He looks about. Aside.]
They stand afar, whom once I counted friends:
Even foes have smiles(16)
P. 264.7]
Maitreya. My good men, let my dear friend ChÄrudatta go free, and kill me instead.
ChÄrudatta. Heaven forbid! [He looks about. Aside.] Now I understand.
But friends prove faithless when good fortune ends.(16)
[Aloud.]
From half-shut windows peering, thus lament,
"Alas for ChÄrudatta! Woe the day!"
And pity-streaming eyes on me are bent.(11)
Goha.
Why gaze upon the good man so,
When shame his living hope lays low?
The cord was broken at the well,
And down the golden pitcher fell.24
ChÄrudatta. [Mournfully.]
Betraying teeth more bright than moonbeams fair,
My soul with heaven's nectar once was fed.
How can I, helpless, taste that poison dread,
To drink shame's poisoned cup how can I bear?(13)
Ahīnta. Proclaim the sentence again, man.[Goha does so.]
ChÄrud.
Till such an ending seem not loss, but gain!
Yet o'er my heart there creeps a saddening pain,
To hear them cry abroad "You murdered her!"25
[162.18. S.
[Enter SthÄvaraka, fettered, in the palace tower.]
SthÄvaraka. [After listening to the proclamation. In distress.] What! the innocent ChÄrudatta is being put to death? And my master has thrown me into chains! Well, I must shout to them.āListen, good gentlemen, listen! It was I, wretch that I am, who carried VasantasenÄ to the old garden Pushpakaranda, because she mistook my bullock-cart for another. And then my master, SansthÄnaka, found that she would not love him, and it was he, not this gentleman, who murdered her by strangling.āBut they are so far away that no one hears me. What shall I do? Shall I cast myself down? [He reflects.] If I do, then the noble ChÄrudatta will not be put to death. Yes, through this broken window I will throw myself down from the palace tower. Better that I should meet my end, than that the noble ChÄrudatta should perish, this tree of life for noble youths. And if I die in such a cause, I have attained heaven. [He throws himself down.] Wonderful! I did not meet my end, and my fetters are broken. So I will follow the sound of the headsmen's voices. [He discovers the headsmen, and hastens forward.] Headsmen, headsmen, make way!
Headsmen. For whom shall we make way?
SthÄvaraka. Listen, good gentlemen, listen! It was I, wretch that I am, who carried VasantasenÄ to the old garden Pushpakaranda, because she mistook my bullock-cart for another. And then my master, SansthÄnaka, found that she would not love him, and it was he, not this gentleman, who murdered her by strangling.
ChÄrudatta. Thank heaven!
When in Time's snare I struggle all forlorn,
A streaming cloud above the rainless corn?26
Listen! do you hear what I say?
My death were welcome, coming free from shame,
As were a son, new-born to bear my name.27
And again:
Stained me with sin wherewith himself was mated,
An arrow, with most deadly poison baited.28
Headsmen. Are you telling the truth, SthÄvaraka?
P. 266.13]
SthÄvaraka. I am. And to keep me from telling anybody, he cast me into chains, and imprisoned me in the tower of his palace.
[Enter SansthÄnaka.]
SansthÄnaka. [Gleefully.]
Of meat and herbs and shoup and fish;
I tried at home my tongue to tickle
With rice-cakes plain, and rice with treacle.29
[He listens.] The headsmen's voices! They shound like a broken brass cymbal. I hear the music of the fatal drum and the kettle-drums, and sho I shuppose that that poor man, ChÄrudatta, is being led to the place of execution. I musht go and shee it. It is a great delight to shee my enemy die. Beshides, I 've heard that a man who shees his enemy being killed, is sure not to have shore eyes in his next birth. I acted like a worm that had crept into the knot of a lotush-root. I looked for a hole to crawl out at, and brought about the death of thish poor man, ChÄrudatta. Now I 'll climb up the tower of my own palace, and have a look at my own heroic deeds. [He does so and looks about.] Wonderful what a crowd there is, to shee that poor man led to his death! What would it be when an arishtocrat, a big man like me, was being led to his death? [He gazes.] Look! There he goes toward the shouth, adorned like a young shteer. But why was the proclamation made near my palace tower, and why was it shtopped? [He looks about.] Why, my shlave SthÄvaraka is gone, too. I hope he has n't run away and betrayed the shecret. I musht go and look for him. [He descends and approaches the crowd.]
SthÄvaraka. [Discovers him.] There he comes, good masters!
Headsmen.
Be silent, and say nothing more!
Here comes a mad bull through the press,
Whose horns are sharp with wickedness.30
[164.16. S.
SansthÄnaka. Come, come, make way! [He approaches.] SthÄvaraka, my little shon, my shlave, come, let 's go home.
SthÄvaraka. You scoundrel! Are you not content with the murder of VasantasenÄ? Must you try now to murder the noble ChÄrudatta, that tree of life to all who loved him?
SansthÄnaka. I am beautiful as a pot of jewels. I kill no woman!
Bystanders. Oho! you murdered her, not the noble ChÄrudatta.
SansthÄnaka. Who shays that?
Bystanders. [Pointing to SthÄvaraka.] This honest man.
SansthÄnaka. [Fearfully. Aside.] Merciful heavens! Why did n't I chain that shlave SthÄvaraka fasht? Why, he was a witnessh of my crime. [He reflects.] I 'll do it thish way. [Aloud.] Lies, lies, good gentlemen. Why, I caught the shlave shtealing gold, and I pounded him, and murdered him, and put him in chains. He hates me. What he shays can't be true. [He secretly hands SthÄvaraka a bracelet, and whispers.] SthÄvaraka, my little shon, my shlave, take thish and shay shomething different.
SthÄvaraka. [Takes it.] Look, gentlemen, look! Why, he is trying to bribe me with gold.
SansthÄnaka. [Snatches the bracelet from him.] That 's the gold that I put him in chains for. [Angrily.] Look here, headsmen! I put him in charge of my gold-chest, and when he turned thief, I murdered him and pounded him. If you don't believe it, jusht look at his back.
Headsmen. [Doing so.] Yes, yes. When a servant is branded that way, no wonder he tells tales.
SthÄvaraka. A curse on slavery! A slave convinces nobody. [Mournfully.] Noble ChÄrudatta, I have no further power. [He falls at ChÄrudatta's feet.]
ChÄrudatta. [Mournfully.]
Brave friend who lendest such unselfish aid!
Thy greatest toil to save me was in vain,
For fate would not. Thy duty now is paid.31
P. 270.15]
Headsmen. Beat your servant, master, and drive him away.
SansthÄnaka. Out of the way, you! [He drives SthÄvaraka away.] Come, headsmen, what are you waiting for? Kill him.
Headsmen. Kill him yourself, if you are in a hurry.
Rohasena. Oh, headsmen, kill me and let father go free.
SansthÄnaka. Yesh, shon and father, kill them both.
ChÄrudatta. This fool might do anything. Go, my son, to your mother.
Rohasena. And what should I do then?
ChÄrud.
No moment, dear, delay;
Lest of thy father's fault thou reap the wage,
And tread the selfsame way.32
And you, my friend, go with him.
Maitreya. Oh, my friend, have you so known me as to think that I can live without you?
ChÄrudatta. Not so, my friend. Your life is your own. You may not throw it away.
Maitreya. [Aside.] True. And yet I cannot live apart from my friend. And so, when I have taken the boy to his mother, I will follow my friend even in death. [Aloud.] Yes, my friend, I will take him to her at once. [He embraces ChÄrudatta, then falls at his feet. Rohasena does the same, weeping.]
SansthÄnaka. Look here! Did n't I tell you to kill ChÄrudatta, and his shon, too? [At this, ChÄrudatta betrays fear.]
Headsmen. We have n't any orders from the king to kill ChÄrudatta, and his son, too.
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