【国外英文文学】Chitra, a Play in One Act.doc

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1、【国外英文文学】Chitra, a Play in One ActChitra, a Play in One Actby Rabindranath Tagore TO MRS. WILLIAM VAUGHN MOODY PREFACETHIS lyrical drama was written about twenty-five years ago. It is based on the following story from the Mahabharata.In the course of his wanderings, in fulfilment of a vow of penance,

2、 Arjuna came to Manipur. There he saw Chitrangada, the beautiful daughter of Chitravahana, the king of the country. Smitten with her charms, he asked the king for the hand of his daughter in marriage. Chitravahana asked him who he was, and learning that he was Arjuna the Pandara, told him that Prabh

3、anjana, one of his ancestors in the kingly line of Manipur, had long been childless. In order to obtain an heir, he performed severe penances. Pleased with these austerities, the god Shiva gave him this boon, that he and his successors should each have one child. It so happened that the promised chi

4、ld had invariably been a son. He, Chitravahana, was the first to have only a daughter Chitrangada to perpetuate the race. He had, therefore, always treated her as a son and had made her his heir.Continuing, the king said:The one son that will be born to her must be the perpetuator of my race. That s

5、on will be the price that I shall demand for this marriage. You can take her, if you like, on this condition.Arjuna promised and took Chitrangada to wife, and lived in her fathers capital for three years. When a son was born to them, he embraced her with affection, and taking leave of her and her fa

6、ther, set out again on his travels. THE CHARACTERSGODS: MADANA (Eros). VASANTA (Lycoris).MORTALS: CHITRA, daughter of the King of Manipur. ARJUNA, a prince of the house of the Kurus. He is of the Kshatriya or warrior caste, and during the action is living as a Hermit retired in the forest.VILLAGERS

7、from an outlying district of Manipur.NOTE.-The dramatic poem Chitra has been performed in India without scenery-the actors being surrounded by the audience. Proposals for its production here having been made to him, he went through this translation and provided stage directions, but wished these omi

8、tted if it were printed as a book. SCENE I ChitraART thou the god with the five darts, the Lord of Love? MadanaI am he who was the first born in the heart of the Creator. I bind in bonds of pain and bliss the lives of men and women! ChitraI know, I know what that pain is and those bonds.-And who art

9、 thou, my lord? VasantaI am his friend-Vasanta-the King of the Seasons. Death and decrepitude would wear the world to the bone but that I follow them and constantly attack them. I am Eternal Youth. ChitraI bow to thee, Lord Vasanta. MadanaBut what stern vow is thine, fair stranger? Why dost thou wit

10、her thy fresh youth with penance and mortification? Such a sacrifice is not fit for the worship of love. Who art thou and what is thy prayer? ChitraI am Chitra, the daughter of the kingly house of Manipur. With godlike grace Lord Shiva promised to my royal grandsire an unbroken line of male descent.

11、 Nevertheless, the divine word proved powerless to change the spark of life in my mothers womb -so invincible was my nature, woman though I be. MadanaI know, that is why thy father brings thee up as his son. He has taught thee the use of the bow and all the duties of a king. ChitraYes, that is why I

12、 am dressed in mans attire and have left the seclusion of a womans chamber. I know no feminine wiles for winning hearts. My hands are strong to bend the bow, but I have never learnt Cupids archery, the play of eyes. MadanaThat requires no schooling, fair one. The eye does its work untaught, and he k

13、nows how well, who is struck in the heart. ChitraOne day in search of game I roved alone to the forest on the bank of the Purna river. Tying my horse to a tree trunk I entered a dense thicket on the track of a deer. I found a narrow sinuous path meandering through the dusk of the entangled boughs, t

14、he foliage vibrated with the chirping of crickets, when of a sudden I came upon a man lying on a bed of dried leaves, across my path. I asked him haughtily to move aside, but he heeded not. Then with the sharp end of my bow I pricked him in contempt. Instantly he leapt up with straight, tall limbs,

15、like a sudden tongue of fire from a heap of ashes. An amused smile flickered round the corners of his mouth, perhaps at the sight of my boyish countenance. Then for the first time in my life I felt myself a woman, and knew that a man was before me. MadanaAt the auspicious hour I teach the man and th

16、e woman this supreme lesson to know themselves. What happened after that? ChitraWith fear and wonder I asked him Who are you? I am Arjuna, he said, of the great Kuru clan. I stood petrified like a statue, and forgot to do him obeisance. Was this indeed Arjuna, the one great idol of my dreams! Yes, I

17、 had long ago heard how he had vowed a twelve-years celibacy. Many a day my young ambition had spurred me on to break my lance with him, to challenge him in disguise to single combat, and prove my skill in arms against him. Ah, foolish heart, whither fled thy presumption? Could I but exchange my you

18、th with all its aspirations for the clod of earth under his feet, I should deem it a most precious grace. I know not in what whirlpool of thought I was lost, when suddenly I saw him vanish through the trees. O foolish woman, neither didst thou greet him, nor speak a word, nor beg forgiveness, but st

19、oodest like a barbarian boor while he contemptuously walked away! . . . Next morning I laid aside my mans clothing. I donned bracelets, anklets, waist-chain, and a gown of purple red silk. The unaccustomed dress clung about my shrinking shame; but I hastened on my quest, and found Arjuna in the fore

20、st temple of Shiva. MadanaTell me the story to the end. I am the heart-born god, and I understand the mystery of these impulses. ChitraOnly vaguely can I remember what things I said, and what answer I got. Do not ask me to tell you all. Shame fell on me like a thunderbolt, yet could not break me to

21、pieces, so utterly hard, so like a man am I. His last words as I walked home pricked my ears like red hot needles. I have taken the vow of celibacy. I am not fit to be thy husband! Oh, the vow of a man! Surely thou knowest, thou god of love, that unnumbered saints and sages have surrendered the meri

22、ts of their life-long penance at the feet of a woman. I broke my bow in two and burnt my arrows in the fire. I hated my strong, lithe arm, scored by drawing the bowstring. O Love, god Love, thou hast laid low in the dust the vain pride of my manlike strength; and all my mans training lies crushed un

23、der thy feet. Now teach me thy lessons; give me the power of the weak and the weapon of the unarmed hand. MadanaI will be thy friend. I will bring the world-conquering Arjuna a captive before thee, to accept his rebellions sentence at thy hand. ChitraHad I but the time needed, I could win his heart

24、by slow degrees, and ask no help of the gods. I would stand by his side as a comrade, drive the fierce horses of his war-chariot, attend him in the pleasures of the chase, keep guard at night at the entrance of his tent, and help him in all the great duties of a Kshatriya, rescuing the weak, and met

25、ing out justice where it is due. Surely at last the day would have come for him to look at me and wonder, What boy is this? Has one of my slaves in a former life followed me like my good deeds into this? I am not the woman who nourishes her despair in lonely silence, feeding it with nightly tears an

26、d covering it with the daily patient smile, a widow from her birth. The flower of my desire shall never drop into the dust before it has ripened to fruit. But it is the labour of a life time to make ones true self known and honoured. Therefore I have come to thy door, thou world-vanquishing Love, an

27、d thou, Vasanta, youthful Lord of the Seasons, take from my young body this primal injustice, an unattractive plainness. For a single day make me superbly beautiful, even as beautiful as was the sudden blooming of love in my heart. Give me but one brief day of perfect beauty, and I will answer for t

28、he days that follow. MadanaLady, I grant thy prayer. VasantaNot for the short span of a day, but for one whole year the charm of spring blossoms shall nestle round thy limbs. SCENE II ArjunaWAS I dreaming or was what I saw by the lake truly there? Sitting on the mossy turf, I mused over bygone years

29、 in the sloping shadows of the evening, when slowly there came out from the folding darkness of foliage an apparition of beauty in the perfect form of a woman, and stood on a white slab of stone at the waters brink. It seemed that the heart of the earth must heave in joy under her bare white feet. M

30、ethought the vague veilings of her body should melt in ecstasy into air as the golden mist of dawn melts from off the snowy peak of the eastern hill. She bowed herself above the shining mirror of the lake and saw the reflection of her face. She started up in awe and stood still; then smiled, and wit

31、h a careless sweep of her left arm unloosed her hair and let it trail on the earth at her feet. She bared her bosom and looked at her arms, so flawlessly modelled, and instinct with an exquisite caress. Bending her head she saw the sweet blossoming of her youth and the tender bloom and blush of her

32、skin. She beamed with a glad surprise. So, if the white lotus bud on opening her eyes in the morning were to arch her neck and see her shadow in the water, would she wonder at herself the livelong day. But a moment after the smile passed from her face and a shade of sadness crept into her eyes. She

33、bound up her tresses, drew her veil over her arms, and sighing slowly, walked away like a beauteous evening fading into the night. To me the supreme fulfilment of desire seemed to have been revealed in a flash and then to have vanished. . . . But who is it that pushes the door? Enter CHITRA, dressed

34、 as a woman.Ah! it is she. Quiet, my heart! . . . Fear me not, lady! I am a Kshatriya. ChitraHonoured sir, you are my guest. I live in this temple. I know not in what way I can show you hospitality. ArjunaFair lady, the very sight of you is indeed the highest hospitality. If you will not take it ami

35、ss I would ask you a question. ChitraYou have permission. ArjunaWhat stern vow keeps you immured in this solitary temple, depriving all mortals of a vision of so much loveliness? ChitraI harbour a secret desire in my heart, for the fulfilment of which I offer daily prayers to Lord Shiva. ArjunaAlas,

36、 what can you desire, you who are the desire of the whole world! From the easternmost hill on whose summit the morning sun first prints his fiery foot to the end of the sunset land have I travelled. I have seen whatever is most precious, beautiful and great on the earth. My knowledge shall be yours,

37、 only say for what or for whom you seek. ChitraHe whom I seek is known to all. ArjunaIndeed! Who may this favourite of the gods be, whose fame has captured your heart? ChitraSprung from the highest of all royal houses, the greatest of all heroes is he. ArjunaLady, offer not such wealth of beauty as

38、is yours on the altar of false reputation. Spurious fame spreads from tongue to tongue like the fog of the early dawn before the sun rises. Tell me who in the highest of kingly lines is the supreme hero? ChitraHermit, you are jealous of other mens fame. Do you not know that all over the world the ro

39、yal house of the Kurus is the most famous? ArjunaThe house of the Kurus! ChitraAnd have you never heard of the greatest name of that far-famed house? ArjunaFrom your own lips let me hear it. ChitraArjuna, the conqueror of the world. I have culled from the mouths of the multitude that imperishable na

40、me and hidden it with care in my maiden heart. Hermit, why do you look perturbed? Has that name only a deceitful glitter? Say so, and I will not hesitate to break this casket of my heart and throw the false gem to the dust. ArjunaBe his name and fame, his bravery and prowess false or true, for mercy

41、s sake do not banish him from your heart-for he kneels at your feet even now. ChitraYou, Arjuna! ArjunaYes, I am he, the love-hungered guest at your door. ChitraThen it is not true that Arjuna has taken a vow of chastity for twelve long years? ArjunaBut you have dissolved my vow even as the moon dis

42、solves the nights vow of obscurity. ChitraOh, shame upon you! What have you seen in me that makes you false to yourself? Whom do you seek in these dark eyes, in these milk-white arms, if you are ready to pay for her the price of your probity? Not my true self, I know. Surely this cannot be love, thi

43、s is not mans highest homage to woman! Alas, that this frail disguise, the body, should make one blind to the light of the deathless spirit! Yes, now indeed, I know, Arjuna, the fame of your heroic manhood is false. ArjunaAh, I feel how vain is fame, the pride of prowess! Everything seems to me a dream. You alone are perfect; you are the wealth of the world, the end of all poverty, the goal of all efforts, the one woman! Others there are who can be but slowly known. While to see you for a moment is to see perfect completeness onc