/*
We have nothing, indeed we have nothing at all!
We sing merrily fol de rol de rol!
Some build high walls of their houses
On the bog of the sands of gold.
We stand before them and sing
Fol de rol de rol.
Pickpockets hover about us
And honour us with covetous glances.
We shake our empty pockets and sing
Fol de rol de rol.
When death, the old hag, steals to our doors
We snap our fingers at her face,
And we sing in a chorus with gay flourishes
Fol de rol de rol.
*/
KANCHI. Look over there, Koshala, who are those coming this way?
A pantomime? Somebody is out masquerading as a King.
KOSHALA. The King of this place may tolerate all this
tomfoolery, but we won't.
AVANTI. He is perhaps some rural chief.
[Enter GUARDS on foot]
KANCHI. What country does your King come from?
FIRST SOLDIER. He is the King of this country. He is going to
command the festivities. [They go out.]
KOSHALA. What! The King of this country come out for the
festivities!
AVANTI. Indeed! We shall then have to return with a sight of
him only--leaving the delectable Queen unseen.
KANCHI. Do you really think that fellow spoke the truth?
Anybody can pass himself off as the King of this kingless
country. Can you not see that the man looks like a dressed-up
King--much too over-dressed?
AVANTI. But he looks handsome--his appearance is not without a
certain pleasing attractiveness.
KANCHI. He may be pleasing to your eye, but if you look at him
closely enough there can be no mistaking him . You will see how
I expose him before you all.
[Enter the trumped-up "KING".]
"KING". Welcome, princes, to our kingdom! I trust your
reception has been properly looked after by my officials?
KINGS. [with feigned courtesy] Oh yes--nothing was lacking in
the reception.
KANCHI. If there was any shortcoming at all, it has been made up
by the honour of our sight of your Majesty.
"KING". We do not show ourselves to the general public, but your
great devotion and loyalty to us has made it a pleasure for us
not to deny ourselves to you.
KANCHI. It is truly hard for us, your Majesty, to bear the
weight of your gracious favours.
"KING". We are afraid we shall not be able to stop here long.
KANCHI. I have thought so, already: you do not quite look up to
it.
"KING". In the meantime if you have any favours to ask of us
KANCHI. We have: but we would like to speak a little more in
private.
"KING". [to his attendants] Retire a little from our presence.
[They retire.] Now you can express your desires without any
reserve.
KANCHI. There will be no reserve on our part--our only fear is
that you might think restraint necessary for yourself.
"KING". Oh no, you need have no scruples on that score.
KANCHI. Come, then, do us homage by placing your head on the
ground before us.
"KING". It seems my servants have distributed the Varuni spirits
too liberally in the reception camps.
KANCHI. False pretender, it is you who are suffering from an
overdose of arrogant spirits. Your head will soon kiss the dust.
"KING". Princes, these heavy jokes are not worthy of a king.
KANCHI. Those who will jest properly with you are near at hand.
General!
"KING". No more, I entreat you. I can see plainly I owe homage to
you all. The head is bowing down of itself--there is no need for
the application of any sharp methods to lay it low. So here I do
my obeisance to you all. If you kindly allow me to escape I
shall not inflict my presence long on you.
KANCHI. Why should you escape? We will make you king of this
place--let us carry our joke to its legitimate finish. Have you
got any following?
"KING". I have. Every one who sees me in the streets flocks after
me. When I had a meagre retinue at first every one regarded me
with suspicion, but now with the increasing crowd their doubts
are waning and dissolving. The crowd is being hypnotised by its
own magnitude. I have not got to do anything now.
KANCHI. That's excellent! From this moment we all promise to
help and stand by you. But you will have to do us one service in
return.
"KING". Your commands and the crown you are putting on my head
will be equally binding and sacred to me.
KANCHI. At present we want nothing more than a sight of the
Queen Sudarshana. You will have to see to this.
"KING". I shall spare no pains for that.
KANCHI. We cannot put much faith on your pains--you will be
solely directed by our instructions. But now you can go and join
the festivities in the royal arbour with all possible splendour
and magnificence.[They go out.]
[Enter GRANDFATHER and a band of people]
FIRST CITIZEN. Grandfather, I cannot help saying--yes, and
repeating it five hundred times--that our King is a perfect
fraud.
GRANDFATHER. Why only five hundred times? There is no need to
practise such heroic self-control--you can say it five thousand
times if that adds to your pleasure.
SECOND CITIZEN. But you cannot keep up a dead lie forever.
GRANDFATHER. It has made me alive, my friend.
THIRD CITIZEN. We shall proclaim to the whole world that our
King is a lie, the merest and emptiest shadow!
FIRST CITIZEN. We shall all shout from our housetops that we
have no King--let him do whatever he likes if he exists.
GRANDFATHER. He will do nothing at all.
SECOND CITIZEN. My son died untimely at twenty-five of raging
fever in seven days. Could such a calamity befall me under the
rule of a virtuous King?
GRANDFATHER. But you still have got two sons left: while I have
lost all my five children one after another.
THIRD CITIZEN. What do you say now?
GRANDFATHER. What then? Shall I lose my King too because I have
lost my children? Don't take me for such a big fool as that.
FIRST CITIZEN. It is a fine thing to argue whether there is a
King or not when one is simply starving for want of food! Will
the King save us?
GRANDFATHER. Brother, you are right. But why not <i>find</i>
the King who owns all the food? You certainly will not find by
your wailings at home.
SECOND CITIZEN. Look at the justice of our King! That
Bhadrasen--you know what a touching sight he is when he is
speaking of his King--the sentimental idiot! He is reduced to
such a state of penury that even the bats that infest his house
find it a too uncomfortable place.
GRANDFATHER. Why, look at me! I am toiling and slaving night
and day for my King, but I have not yet received so much as a
brass farthing for my pains.
THIRD CITIZEN. Now, what do you think of that?
GRANDFATHER. What should I think? Does any one reward his
friends? Go, my friends, and say if you like that our King
exists nowhere. That is also a part of our ceremony in
celebrating this festival.