Tales from the Hindu Dramatists

Tales from the Hindu Dramatists

Project Gutenberg's Tales from the Hindu Dramatists, by R. N. Dutta
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Title: Tales from the Hindu Dramatists
Author: R. N. Dutta
Editor: J. S. Zemin
Release Date: April 29, 2006 [EBook #18285]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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FROM THE HINDU DRAMATISTS ***

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TALES FROM
THE HINDU DRAMATISTS.

BY
R. N. DUTTA, B.A., B.L.,
_Late Officiating Head-Master, Metropolitan Institution, Bowbazar
Branch, Calcutta;_
AUTHOR OF "THE BOY'S RAMAYANA."
REVISED BY J. S. ZEMIN,
_Professor of English Literature, Bishop's College, and Central College,
Calcutta; Late Principal, Doveton College, Calcutta; Hon. Fellow and
Examiner, University of Calcutta_.

Calcutta. B. BANERJEE & Co., 26, Cornwallis Street, and 54, College
Street.
1912.
[All Rights Reserved.] Ans. 12.
CALCUTTA,
PRINTED BY K.C. DATTA AT THE VICTORIA PRINTING
WORKS 203/2 CORNWALLIS STREET.
PUBLISHED BY B. BANERJEE & Co., 25, Cornwallis Street, and 54,
College Street.
To
The Hon'ble Sir Justice
ASHUTOSH MOOKERJEE, SARASWATI, Kt.
C.S.I., M.A., D.L., D.S.C., F.R.A.S., F.R.S.E.

_Vice-Chancellor of the University of CALCUTTA._
THIS BOOK
IS
DEDICATED
as a sincere token of the esteem and admiration of the
AUTHOR
for his eminent services to the cause of the
ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+ |
Transcriber's Note: There are some inconsistencies in spelling and|
|punctuation which have been left as the original. |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

PREFACE.
Many educationists think that our Indian boys should be encouraged to
read the stories of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the two great
Epics of India and Tales from the Sanskrit Dramatists when they are
recommended to read "The Boy's Odyssey," "Legends of Greece and
Rome," "Arabian Nights' Tales" and Lamb's "Tales from Shakespeare."
It was perhaps from this view of the matter that the University of
Calcutta recommended "The Boy's Ramayana" and "Tales from the
Hindu Dramatists" for the Matriculation Examination. As no books
were published in time, the University had to issue an amended notice
omitting the books from the list. To supply the want, I have ventured to
write the "Boy's Ramayana" and this humble book. I have tried my best
to narrate briefly, in simple and idiomatic English, the stories on which
the chief Sanskrit dramas are based. I hope that the University will be
pleased to re-insert "The Boy's Ramayana" and this book in the list of

books recommended for the Matriculation Examination.
BALARAMADHAM, } 4, Madan Mitter's Lane, } RAMA NATH
DUTT. Calcutta } 1911--December. }

TALES
FROM
THE HINDU DRAMATISTS.

SAKUNTALA OR THE LOST RING.
In ancient days, there was a mighty king of the Lunar dynasty by name
Dushyanta. He was the king of Hastinapur. He once goes out a-hunting
and in the pursuit of a deer comes near the hermitage of the sage
Kanwa, the chief of the hermits, where some anchorites request him not
to kill the deer. The king feels thirsty and was seeking water when he
saw certain maidens of the hermits watering the favourite plants. One
of them, an exquisitely beautiful and bashful maiden, named Sakuntala,
received him. She was the daughter of the celestial nymph Menaka by
the celebrated sage Viswamitra and foster-child of the hermit Kanwa.
She is smitten with love at the first sight of the king, standing confused
at the change of her own feeling. The love at first sight which the king
conceives for her is of too deep a nature to be momentary. Struck by
her beauty he exclaims:--
"Her lip is ruddy as an opening bud; her graceful arms resemble tender
shoots; attractive as the bloom upon the tree, the glow of youth is
spread on all her limbs."
Seizing an opportunity of addressing her, he soon feels that it is
impossible for him to return to his capital. His limbs move forward,
while his heart flies back, like a silken standard borne against the
breeze. He seeks for opportunities for seeing her. With the thought

about her haunting him by day and night, he finds no rest, and no
pleasure even in his favourite recreation--sporting. Mathavya, the jester,
friend and companion of the king, however, breaks the dull monotony
of his anxious time. The opportunity which the king seeks offers itself.
The hermits send an embassy to the king asking him to come over to
the hermitage to guard their sacrifices. As he was making preparations
for departure to the hermitage, Karavaka, a messenger from the
queen-mother, arrives asking his presence at the city of Hastinapur.