Page:A history of Sanskrit literature (1900), Macdonell, Arthur Anthony.djvu/376

 Indian Romeo and Juliet with a happy ending, the part played by the nun Kāmandakī being analogous to that of Friar Laurence in Shakespeare's drama. The contrast produced by scenes of tender love, and the horrible doings of the priestess of the dread goddess Durgā, is certainly effective, but perhaps too violent. The use made of swoons, from which the recovery is, however, very rapid, is rather too common in this play.

The ninth act contains several fine passages describing the scenery of the Vindhya range. The following is a translation of one of them:—


 * This mountain with its towering rocks delights
 * The eye: its peaks grow dark with gathering clouds;
 * Its groves are thronged with peacocks eloquent
 * In joy; the trees upon its slopes are bright
 * With birds that flit about their nests; the caves
 * Reverberate the growl of bears; the scent
 * Of incense-trees is wafted, sharp and cool,
 * From branches broken off by elephants.

The other two dramas of Bhavabhūti represent the fortunes of the same national hero, Rāma. The plot of the Mahāvīra-charita, or "The Fortunes of the Great Hero," varies but slightly from the story told in the Rāmāyaṇa. The play, which is divided into seven acts and is crowded with characters, concludes with the coronation of Rāma. The last act illustrates well how much is left to the imagination of the spectator. It represents the journey of Rāma in an aërial car from Ceylon all the way to Ayodhyā (Oudh) in Northern India, the scenes traversed being described by one of the company.

The Uttara-rāma-charita, or "The Later Fortunes of Rāma," is a romantic piece containing many fine passages. Owing to lack of action, however, it is rather a