ause I got tired
helping them with that wheel. Well, I'll go along. Get up, bullocks,
get up!

_A voice behind the scenes._ Police! Police! Every man at his post!
The young herdsman has just broken jail, killed the jailer, broken
his fetters, escaped, and run away. Catch him! Catch him!

[_Enter, in excited haste, Aryaka, an iron chain on one foot. Covering
his face, he walks about._]

_Sthavaraka._ [_To himself._] There is great excitement in the city. I
must get out of the way as fast as I possibly can. [_Exit._

_Aryaka._

I leave behind me that accursed sea
Of human woe and human misery,
The prison of the king.
Like elephants that break their chains and flee,
I drag a fettered foot most painfully
In flight and wandering. 1

King Palaka was frightened by a prophecy, took me from the
hamlet where I lived, fettered me, and thrust me into a solitary
cell, there to await my death. But with the help of my good friend
Sharvilaka I escaped. [_He sheds tears._]

If such my fate, no sin is mine at least,
That he should cage me like a savage beast.
A man may fight with kings, though not with fate--
And yet, can helpless men contend with great? 2

Whither shall I go with my wretchedness? [_He looks about._] Here is the
house of some good man who hasn't locked the side-door.

The house is old, the door without a lock,
The hinges all awry.
Some man, no doubt, who feels misfortune's shock
As cruelly as I. 3

[96.18. S.

I will enter here and wait.

_A voice behind the scenes._ Get up, bullocks, get up!

_Aryaka._ [_Listening._] Ah, a bullock-cart is coming this way.

If this should prove to be a picnic rig,
Its occupants not peevishly inclined;
Some noble lady's waiting carriage trig;
Or rich man's coach, that leaves the town behind--
And if it empty be, fate proving kind,
'T would seem a godsend to my anxious mind. 4

[_Enter Vardhamanaka with the bullock-cart._]

_Vardhamanaka._ There, I've got the cushion. Radanika, tell mistress
Vasantasena that the cart is ready and waiting for her to get
in and drive to the old garden Pushpakaranda.

_Aryaka._ [_Listening._] This is a courtezan's cart, going out of the
city. Good, I'll climb in. [_He approaches cautiously._]

_Vardhamanaka._ [_Hears him