[The scene changes by open curtain. A veil comes down, and when its goes up again we see the bed chamber of Siddhattha and Yasodhara dimly lit by tapers.]
Yasodhara (Y) on the bed with babe in arms, two maids in waiting. Siddhattha (B) comes in. A halo of light (not too strong) surrounds his head. The princess rises, lays the babe down and advances toward her husband.
Y. O good my Lord, my Prince, my Husband!
A pause. She changes her voice as if ashamed of her show of feeling. With a matter-of-fact intonation.
Rahula fell asleep again.
B. Why art thou sad, my good Yasodhara?
I see a tear that glitters in thine eye.
Y. An unspeakable melancholy steals over my soul when I hear you speak of your religious longings.
B. Wouldest thou not rejoice if I fulfilled
My mission; if I reached the highest goal?
Y. Oh! Siddhattha! you do not love me.
B. My heart embraces all the world—and thee.
Y. If you loved me truly, there would not be much room for all the world. You think of the world all day long, and have not a minute's time for your wife.
B. I have, my dear!
Y. My noble Husband!
B. Speak!
Y. Scarcely do I dare to call you by that name. You are kind and gentle, but for a husband you are too lofty, too distant in your dignity. It may be wrong in me, it may be sinful, but I wish you were less lofty and more loving.
B. My dearest "Wife," I call thee so on purpose—
My dearest "Wife," thou dost not understand:
The misery and ills of all the world
Weigh heavy on my heart. I'll find no peace
Until at last a remedy be found.
Y. Why dost thou trouble about others? Think of thy son, thy sweetest Rahula, and if thou lovest me a little only, think of me.
B. I think of thee, my loving Wife, but when
I think of thee I think of all—of all
The loving wives, the happy trembling mothers
All over in the world. Happy they are,
But trembling for their babes. Oh! bear in mind,
We all are in the net of sorrow caught.
This world is full of pain, disease and death;
And even death brings no relief. Because
The wheel of life rolls on. The ills continue
In births that constantly repeat themselves.
Y. Oh! do not speak of it my Lord, it makes me sad. Why do you think of misery, while here we are surrounded by wealth and comfort, and even the prospects of our future are most auspicious. Why borrow trouble before it comes?
B. My dear Yasodhara, change is the law
Of being. Now we prosper, but the wheel
Goes round and brings the high into the dust.
Y. You suffer from bad dreams;
B.Listen to me.
In this luxurious palace and these gardens,
Surrounding it, was I brought up with care.
I saw naught but the fair, the beautiful,
The pleasant side of life.
Y.I know, Siddhattha—
I know it very well.
B.You know, my father
Has kept me ignorant of evil things.
I might have thought that such is life throughout,
But I began to doubt and asked for leave
To see the world outside these palace walls.
Not without difficulty did I gain
Permission, and with Channa in a chariot
I drove away—when suddenly before me
I saw a sight I'd never seen before.
There was a man with wrinkled face, bleared eyes,
And stooping gait, a sight most pitiable.
While I was horror-struck, Channa passed by
Indifferent, for he had seen such men.
Too well he knew the common fate of all;
But I, the first time in my life, did learn
That, if we but live long enough, we all
Shall be such miserable wretched dotards.
Y. Too sudden came this saddening truth to you.
B. Channa sped on his horses out of town,
But there again! what an ungainly sight!
A man lay on the road-side, weak and helpless,
With trembling frame and feverish cramps.
I shut mine eyes to so much racking pain,
Still I could hear his groaning and his moaning.
"Oh, Channa," said I to the charioteer:
"Why does this happen? How deserves this man
The wretchedness of his great agonies?"
"How do I know?" said Channa, "for we all
Are subject to distemper and disease.
Sometimes the best are stricken—and must die!"
"Must die?" cried I, "What does that word portend?"
For, you must know, I never heard of death.
My father had forbidden, at his court
To speak to me of anything unpleasant.
"Yea, die!" said Channa, "Look around and see!"
Along the road a funeral procession
Moved slowly, solemnly and mournfully
And on the bier a corpse, stark, stiff and cold.
Y. Do not be troubled, death is still far off.
B. Oh do not feel secure, for the three evils
Surround us constantly and everywhere,
And even now death hovers o'er our house.
When I was born my mother went to heaven,
Which means, she died when she gave life to me.
Y. My Lord don't think of evils that are past.
B. The world's impermanence is still the same,
And all material things are conformations
Subject to pain, decay and dissolution.
Yet unconcerned in blessed carelessness
Man hunteth after pleasure. Transiency
Has set its mark on life, and there is none
Who can escape its curse. There is no mortal
Who's always happy. Misery surprises
The luckiest with unexpected terror.
Then, in addition, unseen powers breed
Most heinous maladies and fever heat.
E'en if we were exceptions, thou must grant
That finally we too will meet our doom.
The ghastly specter Death, the stern king Yama,
Awaiteth all of us. Such is our fate!
Y. O put away these gloomy thoughts, and think
Of life and love, and of thy lovely child.
B. Could we be truly happy while the world
Is filled with misery? Mine eyes are opened;
I see how death his gruesome revel holds.
He owns the world and sways its destinies.
One creature ruthlessly preys on the other,
And man, the cleverest, preys on them all.
Nor is he free, for man preys upon man!
Nowhere is peace, and everywhere is war;
Life's mighty problem must be solved at last.—
I have a mission to fulfil.
Y.And me
Wouldst sacrifice for a philosophy,
For the idea of an idle quest!
B. 'Tis not for me to ask whether my quest
Be vain: for me 'tis to obey the call.
Y. [with passionate outburst] Siddhattha, O my Lord, my husband, what wilt thou do? Dost thou forget the promise made me on our wedding day?
B. Yasodhara, a higher duty calls.
The time will come, and it is close at hand,
When I shall wander into homelessness.
I'll leave this palace and its splendid gardens
I'll leave the pleasures of this world behind
To go in quest of Truth, of saving Truth.
Yasodhara sinks on her knees before him and clasps his knees.
Y. And me, my Lord, thy quest will make a widow!
Oh, stay, and build thee here a happy home.
B. My dear Yasodhara, it cannot be.
The Prince stands lost in thought. Rahula is restless. Yasodhara rises and turns toward the child.
Y. He wakes again. I come, my babe, I come.
[The veil comes down again, and when it rises it shows the garden before the palace as in the first scene, but it is night and all is wrapped in darkness.]
