Tales from the Hindu Dramatists

Tales from the Hindu Dramatists

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Title: Tales from the Hindu Dramatists
Author: R. N. Dutta
Editor: J. S. Zemin
Release Date: April 29, 2006 [EBook #18285]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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TALES FROM
THE HINDU DRAMATISTS.
BY
R. N. DUTTA, B.A., B.L.,
_Late Officiating Head-Master, Metropolitan Institution, Bowbazar Branch, Calcutta;_
AUTHOR OF "THE BOY'S RAMAYANA."
REVISED BY J. S. ZEMIN,
_Professor of English Literature, Bishop's College, and Central College, Calcutta; Late Principal, Doveton College, Calcutta; Hon. Fellow and Examiner, University of Calcutta_.

Calcutta. B. BANERJEE & Co., 26, Cornwallis Street, and 54, College Street.
1912.
[All Rights Reserved.] Ans. 12.
CALCUTTA,
PRINTED BY K.C. DATTA AT THE VICTORIA PRINTING WORKS 203/2 CORNWALLIS STREET.
PUBLISHED BY B. BANERJEE & Co., 25, Cornwallis Street, and 54, College Street.
To
The Hon'ble Sir Justice
ASHUTOSH MOOKERJEE, SARASWATI, Kt.
C.S.I., M.A., D.L., D.S.C., F.R.A.S., F.R.S.E.
_Vice-Chancellor of the University of CALCUTTA._
THIS BOOK
IS
DEDICATED
as a sincere token of the esteem and admiration of the
AUTHOR
for his eminent services to the cause of the
ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Transcriber's Note: There are some inconsistencies in spelling and| |punctuation which have been left as the original. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+

PREFACE.
Many educationists think that our Indian boys should be encouraged to read the stories of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the two great Epics of India and Tales from the Sanskrit Dramatists when they are recommended to read "The Boy's Odyssey," "Legends of Greece and Rome," "Arabian Nights' Tales" and Lamb's "Tales from Shakespeare." It was perhaps from this view of the matter that the University of Calcutta recommended "The Boy's Ramayana" and "Tales from the Hindu Dramatists" for the Matriculation Examination. As no books were published in time, the University had to issue an amended notice omitting the books from the list. To supply the want, I have ventured to write the "Boy's Ramayana" and this humble book. I have tried my best to narrate briefly, in simple and idiomatic English, the stories on which the chief Sanskrit dramas are based. I hope that the University will be pleased to re-insert "The Boy's Ramayana" and this book in the list of books recommended for the Matriculation Examination.
BALARAMADHAM, } 4, Madan Mitter's Lane, } RAMA NATH DUTT. Calcutta } 1911--December. }

TALES
FROM
THE HINDU DRAMATISTS.

SAKUNTALA OR THE LOST RING.
In ancient days, there was a mighty king of the Lunar dynasty by name Dushyanta. He was the king of Hastinapur. He once goes out a-hunting and in the pursuit of a deer comes near the hermitage of the sage Kanwa, the chief of the hermits, where some anchorites request him not to kill the deer. The king feels thirsty and was seeking water when he saw certain maidens of the hermits watering the favourite plants. One of them, an exquisitely beautiful and bashful maiden, named Sakuntala, received him. She was the daughter of the celestial nymph Menaka by the celebrated sage Viswamitra and foster-child of the hermit Kanwa. She is smitten with love at the first sight of the king, standing confused at the change of her own feeling. The love at first sight which the king conceives for her is of too deep a nature to be momentary. Struck by her beauty he exclaims:--
"Her lip is ruddy as an opening bud; her graceful arms resemble tender shoots; attractive as the bloom upon the tree, the glow of youth is spread on all her limbs."
Seizing an opportunity of addressing her, he soon feels that it is impossible for him to return to his capital. His limbs move forward, while his heart flies back, like a silken standard borne against the breeze. He seeks for opportunities for seeing her. With the thought about her haunting him by day and night, he finds no rest, and no pleasure even in his favourite recreation--sporting. Mathavya, the jester, friend and companion of the king, however, breaks the dull monotony of his anxious time. The opportunity which the king seeks offers itself. The hermits send an embassy to the king asking him to come over to the hermitage to guard their sacrifices. As he was making preparations for departure to the hermitage, Karavaka, a messenger from the queen-mother, arrives asking his presence at the city of Hastinapur.
He is at first at a loss to extricate himself from this difficulty but a thought strikes him and he acts upon it. He sends the jester as his substitute to the city. He is now at leisure to seek out the love-sick Sakuntala who is drooping on account of