The Little Clay Cart [Mṛcchakaṭika]

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                       HARVARD ORIENTAL SERIES

               WITH THE COÖPERATION OF VARIOUS SCHOLARS



                                  BY

                       CHARLES ROCKWELL LANMAN

          WALES PROFESSOR OF SANSKRIT IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY


                             Volume Nine




                       CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

                   Published by Harvard University

                                 1905

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                         THE LITTLE CLAY CART

                            [MṚCCHAKAṬIKA]



                            A Hindu Drama

                     ATTRIBUTED TO KING SHŪDRAKA



          TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL SANSKRIT AND PRĀKRITS

                     INTO ENGLISH PROSE AND VERSE



                                  BY

                     ARTHUR WILLIAM RYDER, PH.D.

             INSTRUCTOR IN SANSKRIT IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY





                       CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS

                   Published by Harvard University

                                 1905



                COPYRIGHT, 1905, BY HARVARD UNIVERSITY

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TO MY FATHER

WILLIAM HENRY RYDER

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CONTENTS


NOTE BY THE EDITOR OF THE SERIES

PREFACE BY THE TRANSLATOR


INTRODUCTION

THE AUTHOR AND THE PLAY

THE TRANSLATION

AN OUTLINE OF THE PLOT

DRAMATIS PERSONAE


TRANSLATION OF THE LITTLE CLAY CART

PROLOGUE

ACT I.    THE GEMS ARE LEFT BEHIND

ACT II.   THE SHAMPOOER WHO GAMBLED

ACT III.  THE HOLE IN THE WALL

ACT IV.   MADANIKĀ AND SHARVILAKA

ACT V.    THE STORM

ACT VI.   THE SWAPPING OF THE BULLOCK-CARTS

ACT VII.  ARYAKA'S ESCAPE

ACT VIII. THE STRANGLING OF VASANTASENĀ

ACT IX.   THE TRIAL

ACT X.    THE END


EPILOGUE

DEPARTURES OF THE TRANSLATION FROM PARAB'S TEXT

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NOTE BY THE EDITOR


With _the battle of the Sea of Japan another turning-point in the
brief course of recorded human history has been reached. Whatever the
outcome of the negotiations for peace, one thing is sure: for better,
for worse, and whether we will or no, the West must know the East, and
the East must know the West. With that knowledge will inevitably come
an interchange of potent influences, of influences that will affect
profoundly the religion and morals, the philosophy, the literature,
the art, in short, all the elements that make up the civilizations of
the two hemispheres. It is a part of the responsibility resting upon
the molders and leaders of the thought and life of our time, and upon
our Universities in particular, to see to it that these new forces,
mighty for good or for evil, are directed aright._

_The fruitfulness of those scions of Western civilization which the
Japanese have grafted upon their own stock is to-day the admiration
of the world. In our wonder, let us not forget that that stock is the
growth of centuries, and that it is rooted in a soil of racial character
informed by ethical ideals which we are wont to regard, with
arrogant self-complacency, as exclusively proper to Christianity, but
which were, in fact, inculcated twenty-four centuries ago through
precept and example by Gotama the Enlightened, or, as the Hindus
called him, Gotama the Buddha. It has often been said that India
has never influenced the development of humanity as a whole. Be that
as it may, it now seems no less probable than strange that she is yet
destined to do so, on the one hand, indirectly, through the influence
of Indian Buddhism upon Japan, and, on the other, directly, by the
diffusion in the West of a knowledge of her sacred writings, especially
those of Vedantism and Buddhism. To judge the East aright,
we must know not only what she is, but also how she has become what
she is; know, in short, some of the principal phases of her spiritual
history as they are reflected in her ancient literature, especially that
of India. To interpret to the West the thought of the East, to bring
her best and noblest achievements to bear upon our life_,--_that is to-day
the problem of Oriental philology._

_The Harvard Oriental Series embodies an attempt to present to Western
scholars, in trustworthy texts and translations, some of the greatest
works of the Hindu literature and philosophy and religion, together
with certain instruments, such as the Vedic Concordance or the History
of the Beast-fable, for their critical study or elucidation. Some
account of the volumes completed or in progress may be found at the
end of this book.