Chapter 7Act III, Scene 1

Act III Avunthy. In the palace. Scene 1 A room in the royal apartments. Mahasegn, Ungarica. MAHASEGN I conquer still though not with glorious arms. He’s seized! the young victorious Vuthsa’s mine, A prisoner in my grasp. UNGARICA (laughing) Thou holdst the sun Under thy arm-pit as the tailed god did. What wilt thou do with it? MAHASEGN Make him my moon And shine by him upon the eastern night. UNGARICA Thou canst? MAHASEGN Loved sceptic of my house, I can. What thing desired has long escaped my hands Since out of thy dim world I dragged thee conquered Into our sun and breeze and azure skies By force, my fortune?

Vasavadutta UNGARICA Yes, by force, but this By force thou hast not done. Wilt thou depart From thy own nature, Chunda Mahasegn, And hop’st for victory? MAHASEGN Thou wert my strength, my fortune, But never my counsellor! My own mind’s my seer. UNGARICA I do not counsel, but obey and watch. That is enough for me in your strange world, For in your light I cannot guide myself. Man is a creature blinded by the sun Who errs by seeing; but the world that to you Is darkness, — they who walk there, they have sight. Such am I, for the shades have reared my soul. MAHASEGN What dost thou see? UNGARICA That Vuthsa is too great For thy greatness, too cunning for thy cunning. He Will bend not to thy pressure. MAHASEGN Thou hast bent, The Titaness. This is a delicate boy Softer than summer dews or like the lily That yields to every gentle, insistent wave. A hero? yes: all Aryan boys are that. UNGARICA Thou thinkst thy daughter thy proud fortune’s wave, He its bright flower — a nursling reared by gods

Act III, Scene 1 Only to be thy servant? MAHASEGN Thou hast seen? I kept my counsel hidden in my soul. UNGARICA It is good; it is the thing my heart desires. My daughter shall have empire. MAHASEGN No, thy son. UNGARICA No matter which. The first man of the age Will occupy her heart; the pride and love That are her faults will both be satisfied. She will be happy. MAHASEGN Call thy child, my queen. For I will teach her what her charm must weave. UNGARICA Her heart’s her teacher. Call here, Vullabha, The princess. MAHASEGN O, the heart, it is a danger, A madness! Let the thinking mind prevail. UNGARICA We are women, king. MAHASEGN Be princesses! My daughter Has dignity, pride, wisdom, noble hopes;

Vasavadutta She will not act as common natures do. UNGARICA Love will unseat them all and put them down Under his flower-soft feet. MAHASEGN Thou hast ever loved To oppose my thoughts! UNGARICA That is our poor revenge Who in our acts must needs obey. Vasavadutta enters. Let now Thy princely cunning teach a woman’s brain To use for statecraft’s ends her dearest thoughts. MAHASEGN My daughter Vasavadutta, my delight, Now is thy hour to pay the long dear debt Thou ow’st thy parents by whom thou wast made. Vuthsa, Cowsamby’s king, my rival, foe, My Fate’s high stumbling-block, captive today Is brought to Avunthy. I mean he shall become Thy husband, Vasavadutta, and my slave. By thee he shall become my subject king. Then shall thy father’s fate outleap all bounds, Thy house and nation rule the prostrate world. This is my will, my daughter; is it thine? VASAVADUTTA Father, thy will is mine, as it is fate’s. Thou givest me to whom thou wilt; what share In this have I except only to obey?

Act III, Scene 1 MAHASEGN A greater part which makes thee my ally And golden instrument; for thou, my child, Must be, who only canst, my living sceptre, Thou my ambassador to win his mind And thou my viceroy over his subject will. VASAVADUTTA Will he submit to this? MAHASEGN Yes, if thou choose. VASAVADUTTA I choose, my father, since it is thy will. That thou shouldst rule the world, is my desire; My nation’s greatness is my dearest good. MAHASEGN Thou hast kept my proudest lessons; lose them not. O, thou art not as feebler natures are! Thou wilt not put thy own ambitions first, Nor justify a blind and clamorous heart. VASAVADUTTA My duty to my country and my sire Shall lead me. MAHASEGN I will not teach thy woman’s brain How thou shalt mould this youth, nor warn thy will Against the passions of the blood. The heart And senses over common women rule; Thou hast a mind. VASAVADUTTA Father, this is my pride,

Vasavadutta That thou ennoblest me to be the engine Of thy great fortunes; that alone I am. MAHASEGN Thou wilt not yield then to the heart’s desire? VASAVADUTTA Let him desire, but I will nothing yield. I am thy daughter; greatest kings should sue And take my grace as an unhoped-for joy. MAHASEGN Thou art my pupil; statecraft was not wasted Upon thy listening brain. Thou seest, my queen? UNGARICA As if this babe could understand! Go, go And leave me with my child. I will speak to her Another language. MAHASEGN Breathe no breath against My purpose! UNGARICA Fearst thou that? MAHASEGN No; speak to her. He goes out from the chamber. UNGARICA (taking Vasavadutta into her arms) Rest here, my child, to whom another bosom Will soon be refuge. Thou hast heard the King; Hear now thy mother. Thou wilt know, my bliss, The fiercest sweet ordeal that can seize A woman’s heart and body. O my child,

Act III, Scene 1 Thou wilt house fire, thou wilt see living gods, And all thou hast thought and known will melt away Into a flame and be reborn. What now I speak, thou dost not understand, but wilt Before many nights have kept thy sleepless eyes. My child, the flower blooms for its flowerhood only, To fill the air with fragrance and with bloom, And not to make its parent bed more high. Not for thy sire thy mother brought thee forth But thy own nature’s growth and heart’s delight And for a husband and for children born. My child, let him who clasps thee be thy god That thou mayst be his goddess; make your wedded arms Heaven’s fences; let his will be thine and thine Be his, his happiness thy regal throne. O Vasavadutta, when thy heart awakes Thou shalt obey thy sovereign heart, nor yield Allegiance to the clear-eyed selfish gods. Do now thy father’s will, the god awake Shall do his own. Fear not, whatever threatens. Thy mother watches over thee, my child. She goes out. VASAVADUTTA I love her best, but do not understand; My mind can always grasp my father’s thoughts. If I must wed, it shall be one I rule. Vuthsa! Vuthsa Udaian! I have heard Only a far-flung name. What is the man? A flame? a flower? High like Gopalaca Or else some golden-fair and soft-eyed youth? I have a fluttering in my heart to know.