Page:Hutcheson Macaulay Posnett - Comparative Literature (1886).djvu/337

 Then follow lines peculiarly interesting for their allusions to the story and persons of the epic Mahábhárata; the Dhritárashtra mentioned here has above been already referred to in our notice of the epic, while Duryodhan is one of the Kauravas, and Yudhishthira the eldest son of Pándu. Chárudatta continues:—

In the same act of the "Toy-cart" occurs a famous description of the rainy season in a dialogue between Vasantasena, the Víta, and an attendant. The Víta, it must be added, like the Vidúshaka, or Buffoon, is a stock-character of the Hindu theatre; this personage must be accomplished in poetry, music, singing, may be the companion of a man or a woman, is on familiar terms with his associate, and may be compared with the Parasite of the Greek and Latin plays. The passage is here quoted at length as one of the best specimens of Natural description in the Indian drama.

"Atten. Lady, upon the mountain's brow the clouds

Hang dark and drooping, as the aching heart

Of her who sorrows for her distant lord;

Their thunders rouse the peafowl, and the sky

Is agitated by their wings, as fanned

By thousand fans with costly gems enclosed.

The chattering frog quaffs the pellucid drops

That cleanse his miry jaws; the peahen shrieks

With transport, and the Nipa freshly blooms.

The moon is blotted by the driving scud,

As is the saintly character by those

Who wear its garb to veil their abject lives;

And, like the damsel whose fair fame is lost

In ever-changing loves, the lightning, true

To no one quarter, flits along the skies.

Vas. You speak it well, my friend; …