Page:The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago.djvu/148

Rh gracefully. ‘In addition to this she was taught to play on the lute, the drum and the flute, to sing songs composed in foreign tongues, to draw pictures, to sport in the bath, to adorn the person with powders of bright colors, to make pretty garlands, to deck herself with jewels, to arrange and beautify the bed, to calculate the divisions of time, to know what was appropriate for each season, to discuss the chief points of the various sciences, to propose puzzles, to solve problems and to read the thoughts of others ! In short she learnt everything that was calculated to amuse and please, to dazzle and captivate the minds of men. In her twelfth year she made her first entry on the stage, in the presence of the monarch and the noblemen of the city. She was accompanied by a poet who could improvise verses suited to the occasion, a music master who could set the poet’s words to music, a lute-player, a flute-player, and a drummer who were all trained men in their respective callings. The stage was in the form of a platform two feet high, fourteen feet broad and sixteen feet long. At a height of eight feet above the platform, was erected a canopy which rested on pillars. Figures of guardian deities were set up above the canopy, and painted curtains were hung up on all sides of the platform. The performance commenced after nightfall when the theatre was brilliantly lighted. The front part of the platform to the breadth of 6 feet was reserved for the actress; behind her stood two or three old actresses who prompted her in her performance; and behind these stood a few songsters, who sang at intervals to relieve the actress. The musicians such as the drummer, the lute and flute-players stood in the last row. As the curtains were drawn up, the actress appeared on the stage, decorated in her best costume, and literally blazing with jewels, in which burnished gold and brilliant diamonds seemed to emit a thousand rays. She began the performance with a hymn which she sang in silvery tones, invoking the gods for their blessings and for their aid to ward off all evil. Then she went through a choice programme of songs and dances, throwing her body and limbs into, every graceful attitude which the most flexible form was capable of exhibiting Her youth and beauty, her witching voice and graceful person, the brilliant