The Post Office | Page 7

green hills; and in the time of the sunset when there is a red glow on the hillside, all the birds with their green wings flock back to their nests.
AMAL. And there are waterfalls!
GAFFER. Dear me, of course; you don't have a hill without its waterfalls. Oh, it's like molten diamonds; and, my dear, what dances they have! Don't they make the pebbles sing as they rush over them to the sea. No devil of a doctor can stop them for a moment. The birds looked upon me as nothing but a man, quite a trifling creature without wings--and they would have nothing to do with me. Were it not so I would build a small cabin for myself among their crowd of nests and pass my days counting the sea waves.
AMAL. How I wish I were a bird! Then--
GAFFER. But that would have been a bit of a job; I hear you've fixed up with the dairyman to be a hawker of curds when you grow up; I'm afraid such business won't flourish among birds; you might land yourself into serious loss.
MADHAV. Really this is too much. Between you two I shall turn crazy. Now, I'm off.
AMAL. Has the dairyman been, Uncle?
MADHAV. And why shouldn't he? He won't bother his head running errands for your pet fakir, in and out among the nests in his Parrots' Isle. But he has left a jar of curd for you saying that he is rather busy with his niece's wedding in the village, and he has got to order a band at Kamlipara.
AMAL. But he is going to marry me to his little niece.
GAFFER. Dear me, we are in a fix now.
AMAL. He said she would find me a lovely little bride with a pair of pearl drops in her ears and dressed in a lovely red saree; and in the morning she would milk with her own hands the black cow and feed me with warm milk with foam on it from a brand new earthen cruse; and in the evenings she would carry the lamp round the cow-house, and then come and sit by me to tell me tales of Champa and his six brothers.
[Transcriber's note: In act 1, Amal mentions to Sudha about Champa and his seven brothers. In this act, Amal mentions to Gaffer about Champa and his six brothers. Translator error?]
GAFFER. How delicious! The prospect tempts even me, a hermit! But never mind, dear, about this wedding. Let it be. I tell you when you wed there'll be no lack of nieces in his household.
MADHAV. Shut up! This is more than I can stand. [Exit]
AMAL. Fakir, now that Uncle's off, just tell me, has the King sent me a letter to the Post Office?
GAFFER. I gather that his letter has already started; but it's still on the way.
AMAL. On the way? Where is it? Is it on that road winding through the trees which you can follow to the end of the forest when the sky is quite clear after rain?
GAFFER. That's so. You know all about it already.
AMAL. I do, everything.
GAFFER. So I see, but how?
AMAL. I can't say; but it's quite clear to me. I fancy I've seen it often in days long gone by. How long ago I can't tell. Do you know when? I can see it all: there, the King's postman coming down the hillside alone, a lantern in his left hand and on his back a bag of letters climbing down for ever so long, for days and nights, and where at the foot of the mountain the waterfall becomes a stream he takes to the footpath on the bank and walks on through the rye; then comes the sugarcane field and he disappears into the narrow lane cutting through the tall stems of sugarcanes; then he reaches the open meadow where the cricket chirps and where there is not a single man to be seen, only the snipe wagging their tails and poking at the mud with their bills. I can feel him coming nearer and nearer and my heart becomes glad.
GAFFER. My eyes aren't young; but you make me see all the same.
AMAL. Say, Fakir, do you know the King who has this Post Office?
GAFFER. I do; I go to him for my alms every day.
AMAL. Good! When I get well, I must have my alms too from him, mayn't I?
GAFFER. You won't need to ask, my dear, he'll give it to you of his own accord.
AMAL. No, I would go to his gate and cry, "Victory to thee, O King!" and dancing to the tabor's sound, ask for alms. Won't it be nice?
GAFFER. It would be splendid, and if you're with me, I shall have my full share. But what'll you ask?
AMAL. I shall say, "Make me your