The King of the Dark Chamber | Page 4

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 for the common light of day.
[Enter the "KING"]
[Transcriber's note: The author indicates the trumped up King as "KING" in this play, enclosing the word King in double quotes to help us distinguish the imposter from the real one.]
MADHAV. Prosperity and victory attend thee, O King! We have been standing here to have a sight of thee since the early morning. Forget us not, your Majesty, in your favours.
KUMBHA. The mystery deepens. I will go and call Grandfather.[Goes out.]
[Enter another band of MEN]
FIRST MAN. The King, the King! Come along, quick, the King is passing this way.
SECOND MAN. Do not forget me, O King! I am Vivajadatta, the grandson of Udayadatta of Kushalivastu. I came here at