The King of the Dark Chamber | Page 4

That is why I see him everywhere. I went
far away to hear his own words, But, ah, it was vain! When I came
back I heard them In my own songs. Who are you who seek him like a

beggar from door to door! Come to my heart and see his face in the
tears of my eyes! */
[Enter HERALDS and ADVANCE GUARDS of the KING]
FIRST HERALD. Stand off! Get away from the street, all of you!
FIRST CITIZEN. Eh, man, who do you think you are? You weren't of
course born with such lofty strides, my friend?--Why should we stand
off, my dear sir? Why should we budge? Are we street dogs, or what?
SECOND HERALD. Our King is coming this way.
SECOND CITIZEN. King? Which King?
FIRST HERALD. Our King, the King of this country.
FIRST CITIZEN. What, is the fellow mad? Whoever heard of our King
coming out heralded by these vociferous gentry?
SECOND HERALD. The King will no longer deny himself to his
subjects. He is coming to command the festivities himself.
SECOND CITIZEN. Brother, is that so?
SECOND HERALD. Look, his banner is flying over there.
SECOND CITIZEN. Ah, yes, that is a flag indeed.
SECOND HERALD. Do you see the red Kimshuk flower
painted on it?
SECOND CITIZEN. Yes, yes, it is the Kimshuk indeed!--what
a bright scarlet flower!
FIRST HERALD. Well! do you believe us now?
SECOND CITIZEN. I never said I didn't. That fellow Kumbha started
all this fuss. Did I say a word?
FIRST HERALD. Perhaps, though a pot-bellied man, he is quite empty
inside; an empty vessel sounds most, you know.
SECOND HERALD. Who is he? Is he any kinsman of yours?
SECOND CITIZEN. Not at all. He is just a cousin of our village chief's
father-in-law, and he does not even live in the same part of our village
with us.
SECOND HERALD. Just so: he quite looks the seventh cousin of
somebody's father-in-law, and his understanding appears also to bear
the stamp of uncle-in-lawhood.
KUMBHA. Alas, my friends, many a bitter sorrow has given my poor
mind a twist before it has become like this. It is only the other day that
a King came and paraded the streets, with as many titles in front of him
as the drums that made the town hideous by their din, ... What did I not

do to serve and please him! I rained presents on him, I hung about him
like a beggar--and in the end I found the strain on my resources too
hard to bear. But what was the end of all that pomp and majesty? When
people sought grants and presents from him, he could not somehow
discover an auspicious day in the Calendar: though all days were
red-letter days when we had to pay our taxes!
SECOND HERALD. Do you mean to insinuate that our King is a
bogus King like the one you have described?
FIRST HERALD. Mr. Uncle-in-law, I believe the time has come for
you to say good-bye to Aunty-in-law.
KUMBHA. Please, sirs, do not take any offence. I am a poor
creature--my sincerest apologies, sirs: I will do anything to be excused.
I am quite willing to move away as far as you like.
SECOND HERALD. All right, come here and form a line. The King
will come just now--we shall go and prepare the way for him. [They go
out.]
SECOND CITIZEN. My dear Kumbha, your tongue will be your death
one day.
KUMBHA. Friend Madhav, it isn't my tongue, it is fate. When the
bogus King appeared I never said a word, though that did not prevent
my striking at my own feet with all the self-confidence of innocence.
And now, when perhaps the real King has come, I simply must blurt
out treason. It is fate, my dear friend!
MADHAV. My faith is, to go on obeying the King--it does not matter
whether he is a real one or a pretender. What do we know of Kings that
we should judge them! It is like throwing stones in the dark--you are
almost sure of hitting your mark. I go on obeying and
acknowledging--if it is a real King, well and good: if not, what harm is
there?
KUMBHA. I should not have minded if the stones were nothing better
than stones. But they are often precious things: here, as elsewhere,
extravagance lands us in poverty, my friend.
MADHAV. Look! There comes the King! Ah, a King indeed! What a
figure, what a face! Whoever saw such beauty--lily-white, creamy-soft!
What now, Kumbha? What do you think now?
KUMBHA. He looks all right--yes, he may be the real King for all I
know.

MADHAV. He looks as if he were moulded and carved for kingship, a
figure too exquisite and delicate