The King of the Dark Chamber

I

[A street. A few wayfarers, and a CITY GUARD]

FIRST MAN.
Ho, Sir!

CITY GUARD.
What do you want?

SECOND MAN.
Which way should we go? We are strangers here. Please tell us which street weshould take.

CITY GUARD.
Where do you want to go?

THIRD MAN.
To where those big festivities are going to be held, you know. Which way do wego?

CITY GUARD.
One street is quite as good as another here. Any street will lead you there. Gostraight ahead, and you cannot miss the place. [Exit.]

FIRST MAN.
Just hear what the fool says: “Any street will lead you there!”Where, then, would be the sense of having so many streets?

SECOND MAN.
You needn’t be so awfully put out at that, my man. A country is free toarrange its affairs in its own way. As for roads in our country—well,they are as good as non-existent; narrow and crooked lanes, a labyrinth of rutsand tracks. Our King does not believe in open thoroughfares; he thinks thatstreets are just so many openings for his subjects to fly away from hiskingdom. It is quite the contrary here; nobody stands in your way, nobodyobjects to your going elsewhere if you like to; and yet the people are far fromdeserting this kingdom. With such streets our country would certainly have beendepopulated in no time.

FIRST MAN.
My dear Janardan, I have always noticed that this is a great fault in yourcharacter.

JANARDAN.
What is?

FIRST MAN.
That you are always having a fling at your country. How can you think that openhighways may be good for a country? Look here, Kaundilya; here is a man whoactually believes that open highways are the salvation of a country.

KAUNDILYA.
There is no need, Bhavadatta, of my pointing out afresh that Janardan isblessed with an intelligence which is remarkably crooked, which is sure to landhim in danger some day. If the King comes to hear of our worthy friend, he willmake it a pretty hard job for him to find any one to do him his funeral riteswhen he is dead.

BHAVADATTA.
One can’t help feeling that life becomes a burden in this country; onemisses the joys of privacy in these streets—this jostling and brushingshoulders with strange people day and night makes one long for a bath. Andnobody can tell exactly what kind of people you are meeting with in thesepublic roads—ugh!

KAUNDILYA.
And it is Janardan who persuaded us to come to this precious country! We neverhad any second person like him in our family. You knew my father, of course; hewas a great man, a pious man if ever there was one. He spent his whole lifewithin a circle of a radius of 49 cubits drawn with a rigid adherence to theinjunctions of the scriptures, and never for a single day did he cross thiscircle. After his death a serious difficulty arose—how cremate him withinthe limits of the 49 cubits and yet outside the house? At length the priestsdecided that though we could not go beyond the scriptural number, the only wayout of the difficulty was to reverse the figure and make it 94 cubits; onlythus could we cremate him outside the house without violating the

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