Page:Little Clay Cart (Ryder 1905).djvu/87

P. 89.9] Maitreya. Now I shall sleep as peacefully as a merchant who has sold his wares.

Sharvilaka. O great Brahman, sleep a hundred years! Alas that a Brahman family should thus be plunged in darkness for the sake of Madanikā, a courtezan! Or better, I myself am thus plunged in darkness.

A curse on poverty, I say!

'Tis stranger to the manly will;

This act that shuns the light of day

I curse indeed, but do it still.

Well then, I must go to Vasantasenā's house to buy Madanikā's freedom. [He walks about and looks around him.] Ah, I think I hear footsteps. I hope they are not those of policemen. Never mind. I will pretend to be a pillar, and wait. But after all, do policemen exist for me, for Sharvilaka? Why, I am

A cat for crawling, and a deer for flight,

A hawk for rending, and a dog for sight

To judge the strength of men that wake or sleep,

A snake, when 'tis advisable to creep,

Illusion's self, to seem a saint or rogue,

Goddess of Speech in understanding brogue;

A light in blackest night, in holes a lizard I can be,

A horse on terra firma, and a ship upon the sea.

And again:

Quick as a snake, and steady as a hill;

In flight the prince of birds can show no greater skill;

In searching on the ground I am as keen as any hare,

In strength I am a lion, and a wolf to rend and tear.

Radanikā. [Entering.] Dear me! Vardhamānaka went to sleep in the outer court, and now he is not there. Well, I will call Maitreya. [She walks about.]