The Little Clay Cart | Page 4

is
there such humor. Let us consider, a little more in detail, these three
characteristics of our author; his variety, his skill in the drawing of
character, his humor.
To gain a rough idea of Shudraka's variety, we have only to recall the
names of the acts of the play. Here The Shampooer who Gambled and
The Hole in the Wall are shortly followed by The Storm; and The
Swapping of the Bullock-carts is closely succeeded by The Strangling
of Vasantasena. From farce to tragedy, from satire to pathos, runs the
story, with a breadth truly Shaksperian. Here we have philosophy:

The lack of money is the root of all evil. (i. 14)
And pathos:
My body wet by tear-drops falling, falling; My limbs polluted by the
clinging mud; Flowers from the graveyard torn, my wreath appalling;
For ghastly sacrifice hoarse ravens calling, And for the fragrant
incense of my blood. (x. 3)
And nature description:
But mistress, do not scold the lightning. She is your friend, This golden
cord that trembles on the breast Of great Airavata; upon the crest Of
rocky hills this banner all ablaze; This lamp tn Indra's palace; but most
blest As telling where your most belovèd stays. (v. 33)
And genuine bitterness:
Pride and tricks and lies and fraud Are in your face; False playground
of the lustful god, Such is your face; The wench's stock in trade, in fine,
Epitome of joys divine, I mean your face-- For sale! the price is
courtesy. I trust you'll find a man to buy Your face. (v. 36)
It is natural that Shudraka should choose for the expression of matters
so diverse that type of drama which gives the greatest scope to the
author's creative power. This type is the so-called "drama of
invention,"[9] a category curiously subordinated in India to the heroic
drama, the plot of which is drawn from history or mythology. Indeed,
The Little Clay Cart is the only extant drama which fulfils the spirit of
the drama of invention, as defined by the Sanskrit canons of
dramaturgy. The plot of the "Malati and Madhava," or of the "Mallika
and Maruta," is in no true sense the invention of the author; and The
Little Clay Cart is the only drama of invention which is "full of
rascals."[10]
But a spirit so powerful as that of King Shudraka could not be confined
within the strait-jacket of the minute, and sometimes puerile, rules of
the technical works. In the very title of the drama, he has disregarded

the rule[11] that the name of a drama of invention should be formed by
compounding the names of heroine and hero.[12] Again, the books
prescribe[13] that the hero shall appear in every act; yet Charudatta
does not appear in acts ii., iv., vi., and viii. And further, various
characters, Vasantasena, Maitreya, the courtier, and others, have vastly
gained because they do not conform too closely to the technical
definitions.
The characters of The Little Clay Cart are living men and women. Even
when the type makes no strong appeal to Western minds, as in the case
of Charudatta, the character lives, in a sense in which Dushyanta[14] or
even Rama[15] can hardly be said to live. Shudraka's men are better
individualized than his women; this fact alone differentiates him
sharply from other Indian dramatists. He draws on every class of
society, from the high-souled Brahman to the executioner and the
housemaid.
His greatest character is unquestionably Sansthanaka, this combination
of ignorant conceit, brutal lust, and cunning, this greater than Cloten,
who, after strangling an innocent woman, can say:[16] "Oh, come!
Let's go and play in the pond." Most attractive characters are the
five[17] conspirators, men whose home is "east of Suez and the ten
commandments." They live from hand to mouth, ready at any moment
to steal a gem-casket or to take part in a revolution, and preserving
through it all their character as gentlemen and their irresistible conceit.
And side by side with them moves the hero Charudatta, the Buddhist
beau-ideal of manhood,
A tree of life to them whose sorrows grow, Beneath its fruit of virtue
bending low. (i. 48)
To him, life itself is not dear, but only honor.[18] He values wealth
only as it supplies him with the means of serving others. We may, with
some justice, compare him with Antonio in The Merchant of Venice.
There is some inconsistency, from our point of view, in making such a
character the hero of a love-drama; and indeed, it is Vasantasena who
does most of the love-making.[19]

Vasantasena is a character with neither the girlish charm of
Shakuntala[20] nor the mature womanly dignity of Sita.[21] She is
more admirable than lovable. Witty and wise she is, and in her love as
true as steel; this too, in a