Chitra, a Play in One Act | Page 8

home.
Chitra
Home! But this love is not for a home!
Arjuna
Not for a home?
Chitra
No. Never talk of that. Take to your home what is abiding and strong.
Leave the little wild flower where it was born; leave it beautifully to
die at the day's end among all fading blossoms and decaying leaves. Do
not take it to your palace hall to fling it on the stony floor which knows
no pity for things that fade and are forgotten.
Arjuna
Is ours that kind of love?
Chitra
Yes, no other! Why regret it? That which was meant for idle days

should never outlive them. Joy turns into pain when the door by which
it should depart is shut against it. Take it and keep it as long as it lasts.
Let not the satiety of your evening claim more than the desire of your
morning could earn. . . . The day is done. Put this garland on. I am tired.
Take me in your arms, my love. Let all vain bickerings of discontent
die away at the sweet meeting of our lips.
Arjuna
Hush! Listen, my beloved, the sound of prayer bells from the distant
village temple steals upon the evening air across the silent trees!
SCENE V
Vasanta
I CANNOT keep pace with thee, my friend! I am tired. It is a hard task
to keep alive the fire thou hast kindled. Sleep overtakes me, the fan
drops from my hand, and cold ashes cover the glow of the fire. I start
up again from my slumber and with all my might rescue the weary
flame. But this can go on no longer.
Madana
I know, thou art as fickle as a child. Ever restless is thy play in heaven
and on earth. Things that thou for days buildest up with endless detail
thou dost shatter in a moment without regret. But this work of ours is
nearly finished. Pleasure-winged days fly fast, and the year, almost at
its end, swoons in rapturous bliss.
SCENE VI
Arjuna
I WOKE in the morning and found that my dreams had distilled a gem.
I have no casket to inclose it, no king's crown whereon to fix it, no
chain from which to hang it, and yet have not the heart to throw it away.
My Kshatriya's right arm, idly occupied in holding it, forgets its duties.
Enter CHITRA.
Chitra
Tell me your thoughts, sir!
Arjuna
My mind is busy with thoughts of hunting today. See, how the rain
pours in torrents and fiercely beats upon the hillside. The dark shadow
of the clouds hangs heavily over the forest, and the swollen stream, like
reckless youth, overleaps all barriers with mocking laughter. On such
rainy days we five brothers would go to the Chitraka forest to chase

wild beasts. Those were glad times. Our hearts danced to the drumbeat
of rumbling clouds. The woods resounded with the screams of
peacocks. Timid deer could not hear our approaching steps for the
patter of rain and the noise of waterfalls; the leopards would leave their
tracks on the wet earth, betraying their lairs. Our sport over, we dared
each other to swim across turbulent streams on our way back home.
The restless spirit is on me. I long to go hunting.
Chitra
First run down the quarry you are now following. Are you quite certain
that the enchanted deer you pursue must needs be caught? No, not yet.
Like a dream the wild creature eludes you when it seems most nearly
yours. Look how the wind is chased by the mad rain that discharges a
thousand arrows after it. Yet it goes free and unconquered. Our sport is
like that, my love! You give chase to the fleet-footed spirit of beauty,
aiming at her every dart you have in your hands. Yet this magic deer
runs ever free and untouched.
Arjuna
My love, have you no home where kind hearts are waiting for your
return? A home which you once made sweet with your gentle service
and whose light went out when you left it for this wilderness?
Chitra
Why these questions? Are the hours of unthinking pleasure over? Do
you not know that I am no more than what you see before you? For me
there is no vista beyond. The dew that hangs on the tip of a Kinsuka
petal has neither name nor destination. It offers no answer to any
question. She whom you love is like that perfect bead of dew.
Arjuna
Has she no tie with the world? Can she be merely like a fragment of
heaven dropped on the earth through the carelessness of a wanton god?
Chitra
Yes.
Arjuna
Ah, that is why I always seem about to lose you. My heart is unsatisfied,
my