PRINCE OF EDUR

    PERSONS OF THE DRAMA

RANA CURRAN, Prince of Edur, of the Rahtore clan.

VISALDEO, a Brahmin, his minister; formerly in the service of the Gehelote Prince of Edur.

HARIPAL, a Rajpoot noble. General of Edur; formerly in the service of the Gehelote Prince.

BAPPA, son of the late Gehelote Prince of Edur, in refuge among the Bheels.

KODAL, a young Bheel, foster brother and lieutenant of Bappa.

TORAMAN, Prince of Cashmere.

CANACA, the King's jester of Cashmere.

PRATAP, Rao of Ichalgurh, a Chouhan noble.

RUTTAN, his brother.

A CAPTAIN OF RAJPOOT LANCES.

MENADEVI, wife of Curran; a Chouhan princess, sister of the King of Ajmere.

COMOL CUMARY, daughter of Rana Curran and Menadevi.
COOMOOD CUMARY, daughter of Rana Curran by a concubine.
NIRMOL CUMARY, daughter of Haripal, friend of Comol Cumary.
ISHANY, a Rajpoot maiden, in attendance on Comol Cumary.

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Act One  

The palace in Edur. The forests about Dongurh.  

 SCENE I

The palace in Edur.
Rana Curran, Visaldeo.

CURRAN

He is at Delsa then ?

VISALDEO

So he has written.

CURRAN

Send out a troop for escort, yielding him
Such honour as his mighty birth demands.
Let him be lodged for what he is, a Prince
Among the mightiest.

VISALDEO

You have chosen then?
You'll give your daughter. King, to this Cashmerian?

CURRAN

My brother from Ajmere writes to forbid me,

Because he's Scythian, therefore barbarous.

A Scythian? He is Cashmere's mighty lord

Who stretches out from those proud Himalayan hills

His giant arms to embrace the North.

VISALDEO

But still

A Scythian.

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CURRAN

Whom many Aryan monarchs crouch to appease
When he but shakes his warlike lance. A soldier
And conqueror, — what has the earth more noble ?
And he is of the great Cushanian stock
That for these centuries bestride the hills
Against all comers. World-renowned Asoca
Who dominated half our kingly East,
Sprang from a mongrel root.

VISALDEO

Rana, you'll wed
Your daughter to Prince Toraman.

CURRAN

I'm troubled
By Ajmere's strong persistence. He controls
Our Rajpoot world and it were madly done
To offend him.

VISALDEO

That's soon avoided. Send your daughter out
To your strong fort among the wooded hills,
Dongurh; there while she walks among the trees,
Let the Cashmerian snatch her to his saddle
In the old princely way. You have your will
And the rash Chouhan has his answer.

CURRAN

Visaldeo,
You are a counsellor! Call the queen hither;

I'll speak to her.

Exit Visaldeo.

O excellently counselled!
What is it but a daughter ? One mere girl
And in exchange an emperor for my ally.
It must be done.

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Enter Menadevi and Visaldeo.

MENADEVI ,

You sent for me, my lord!

CURRAN

How many summers might our daughter count,
Mena ?

MENADEVI

Sixteen, my lord.

CURRAN

She flowers apace
And like a rose in bloom expects the breeze
With blushing petals. We can delay no longer
Her nuptial rites.

MENADEVI

The Rao of Ichalgurh
Desires her. He's a warrior and a Chouhan.

CURRAN

A petty baron! O my dearest lady,
Rate not your child so low. Her rumoured charm
Has brought an emperor posting from the north
To woo her.

MENADEVI

Give me the noble Rajpoot blood,
I ask no more.

CURRAN

The son of great Cashmere
Journeys to Edur for her.

MENADEVI

Your royal will

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Rules her and me. And yet, my lord, a child
Of Rajpoot princes might be better mated;

So much I'll say.

CURRAN

You are your brother's sister.
He says he will not have a Scythian wed her.

MENADEVI

He cherishes the lofty Chouhan pride.
You know, my lord, we hold a Rajpoot soldier
Without estate or purse deserves a queen
More than a crowned barbarian.

CURRAN

You are all
As narrow as the glen where you were born
And live immured. No arrogance can match
The penniless pride of mountaineers who never
Have seen the various world beyond their hills.
Your petty baron who controls three rocks
For all his heritage, exalts himself
O'er monarchs in whose wide domains his holding's
An ant-hill, and prefers his petty line
To their high dynasties; — as if a mountain tarn
Should think itself more noble than the sea
To which so many giant floods converge.

MENADEVI

Our tarns are pure at least; if small, they hold
Sweet water only; but your seas are brackish.

CURRAN

Well, well; tomorrow send your little princess
To Dongurh, there to dwell till we decide
If great Cashmere shall have her. Visaldeo,
Give ten good lances for her escort.

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MENADEVI

It is not safe.

Only ten!

VISALDEO

Rana, the queen is right.
The Bheels are out among the hills; they have
A new and daring leader and beset
All wayside wealth with swarms of humming arrows.

CURRAN

The lord of Edur should not fear such rude
And paltry caterans. When they see our banner
Advancing o'er the rocks, they will avoid
Its peril. Or if there's danger, take the road
That skirts the hills. Ten lances, Visaldeo!

Exit.

MENADEVI

My blood shall never mingle with the Scythian.

I am a Chouhan first and next your wife,

Edur. What means this move to Dongurh, Visaldeo ?

VISALDEO (as if to himself)

Ten lances at her side! It were quite easy
To take her from them, even for a Cashmerian.

MENADEVI

I understand. The whole of Rajasthan
Would cry out upon Edur, were this marriage
Planned openly to soil their ancient purity.
The means to check this shame ?

VISALDEO

Lady, I am
The Rana's faithful servant.  

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MENADEVI

So remain.
I'll send a horse to Ichalgurh this hour.
There may be swifter snatchers than the Scythian.

Exit.

VISALDEO

Or swifter even than any in Ichalgurh.
I too have tidings to send hastily.

Exit.

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