Chapter 4Scene 3

The forest near Dongurh. Bappa, Sungram, Prithuraj. BAPPA It is the secret friend from whom in childhood I learned to wing my mounting thoughts aloft High as an eagle’s flight. I know the hand, Though yet his name is hid from me. SUNGRAM Let’s hear The very wording. BAPPA “To the Sun’s child, from Edur. Comol Cumary, Edur’s princess, goes With her fair sister and a knot of lances To Dongurh. Bappa, young lion of the hills, Be as the lion in thy ranging; prey Upon earth’s mightiest, think her princesses Meant only for thy spoil and serving-girls, Her kings thy subjects and her lands thy prey. Dare greatly and thou shalt be great; despise Apparent death and from his lifted hand Of menace pluck thy royal destinies By warlike violence. Thus thy fathers did From whose great blood thou springest, child of Kings. Thy friend in Edur.” SUNGRAM Writes he that? The child of Kings!

Act I, Scene 3 He never spoke so plainly of your birth Till now. PRITHURAJ A kindling hint to fire our blood! Two princesses and only a knot of swords For escort? The gods themselves arrange this for us. SUNGRAM Bappa, you are resolved to court this peril? PRITHURAJ Doubt you? Think how ’twill help our treasury. The palanquins alone must be a mint Of money and the girls’ rich ornaments Purchase half Rajasthan. SUNGRAM The immediate gain’s Princely, nor the mere capture perilous. But afterwards the arm`ed wrath of Edur Descends upon us in a thunder and whirlwind. Are we yet strong enough to bear the shock? PRITHURAJ Why, let it come. I shall rejoice to feel The true and dangerous bite of war at last, Not always play the mountain cateran’s part, To skulk among the hills and only assail The weak and timid, or butcher distant force With arrows. I long for open shocks of fight And glorious odds and all the world for audience. BAPPA Sungram, I do not rashly take this step, But with fixed policy. Unless we break Edur’s supreme contempt for our annoyance,

The Prince of Edur How can we bring him to the difficult hills? So must we take the open where our Bheels Will scatter from the mass`ed Rajpoot swords Nor face their charging horsemen. But if we capture Their princess, inconsiderate rage will hurl them Into our very fastnesses to wear Their strength out under our shafts. Then will I seize At the right moment, they being few and weary, Edur by force or guile and hold it fast Though all the warlike world come up against me. SUNGRAM With Bheels? BAPPA I will invite all Rajpoot swords That now are masterless and men exiled, And desperate fortunes. So the iron hands Join us and the adventurous hearts, to build A modern seat of empire; — minds like Sungram, Wise to forecast and bold to execute, Heroes like Prithuraj, who know not fear Nor put a limit to their vaulting thoughts Save death or unforgettable renown, The Rajpoot’s choice. Are we not strong enough? We have a thousand hardy Bheels, expert In mountain warfare, swift unerring bowmen; We have ourselves to lead them, each worth thousands, Sheva Ekling above us and in our hands Our destiny and our swords. SUNGRAM They are enough. Enter Kodal. KODAL Bappa, our scouts have come in. The prey is in the toils.

Act I, Scene 3 BAPPA How many are they, Kodal? KODAL Merely ten lances. The servants and women they have sent round by the lower road; the escort with four palanquins come up through the hills. They have run their heads into the noose. We will draw it tight, Bappa, and choke them. BAPPA Is their escape Impossible? SUNGRAM Bappa, a hundred Bheels surround the pass By which alone they can return. Myself Have posted them. BAPPA Beside the waterfall Surround them, Sungram. Kodal, let there be No random shafts to imperil by mischance Our lovely booty. KODAL Trust me for that, Bappa. We’ll shoot through the twenty eye- balls of them and never even touch the white. Ten lances they are and ten arrows will stretch them flat; there shall be nothing left to be done but the burning. If I cannot do this, I am no Bheel, no Kodal and no foster-brother of Bappa. BAPPA Economise our strength. I will not lose A single man over this easy capture. You’re captain, Sungram. Exeunt Sungram and Kodal. Prithuraj, my friend. Today begins our steep ascent to greatness. Exeunt.