IN LOVE CONDEMNED
BY
FARZANA MOON
Dear Klaus Gerken, Thank you so much for your kind response to post my play on your web site. Truly appreciate your time and kindness. Now, will try the introduction: In love Condemned is adapted from a folktale written in epic (masnavi) form. This folktale was originally written by a Punjabi poet who titled it, Hir Ranjha. Waris Shah was the name of this poet, between 1800-1900, who made this story famous in the entire continent of India. It was recited by the poets and sung by the troubadours. Later made into a movie in Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi languages. It is still popular, an unforgettable classic recorded in many languages, and viewed by millions to catch the essence of time and tragedy. Hir and Ranjha are the ill-fated lovers of the Punjab (nascent Pakistan) still floating on the waters of river Chenab to recount their tragedy. Later, an anonymous poet wrote: Saqi! fill the oceans of Chenab with the sweet wine of Masnawi, for my heart yearns to embrace the Truth and Beauty of Hir, where the waters of grief purge my own Love. Thank you, Farzana Moon sfdatta@cfanet.com http://www.cfanet.com/sfdatta PS: Hope, this introduction is adequate. Doing some more research as to the exact date of this masnavi. As soon as I find out, will let you know. Thank you again and best wishes. Dear Klaus Gerken, Hope, you received the introduction to my play. Just found more information about Waris Shah (the Punjabi Poet) who wrote The Romance of Hir Ranjha. Waris Shah wrote his major works between 1736 to 1790. He wrote The Romance of Hir Ranjha based on 'the true account of two star-crossed lovers', who lived during the time when the Moghul empire had crumbled, paving way for the British Raj. If you need more information, please let me know. Thank you again and best wishes, Farzana Moon sfdatta@cfanet.com
FARZANA MOON
IN LOVE CONDEMNED
Cast:
Ranjha: a prince from Hazara
Hir: a princess from Jhang
Malki: Hir's mother
Chochuk: Hir's father
Kaidu: Hir's uncle
Rajni: Hir's maid
Mulla Abdul: Maulana (Muslim priest)
ACT 1
SCENE 1
A spring garden in the town of Jhang. The palace of King Chochuk
looms large in the distance. The garden is large, furnished with
streams and walkways. Purple hyacinths, flanked by daffodils are
a colorful medley by the path leading toward the palace. Under
one tamarind tree is suspended a small hammock. When the curtain
open, Ranjha is seen sleeping on the hammock. Hir and Rajni are
emerging out of the palace, and strolling toward the spot where
Ranjha lays sleeping.
HIR
Who dares sleep on my hammock, Rajni?
RAJNI
Some strange intruder, Mistress Hir. In this whole town of Jhang, I
have never seen anyone like him!
HIR
Then jolt him out of his rudeness, Rajni! And hurl him down the
stream yonder, where he can wallow in his own shame for tainting my
hammock with his foul presence.
RAJNI
Mistress Hir?
{Ranjha sits up, wide awake. Rajni approaches closer toward the
hammock. But Hir stands there suspended, as if stricken with shock
and bewilderment by the very warmth in Ranjha's eyes. Their eyes
are locked together. They appear stunned and speechless, unable to
pluck the arrows of cupid plunged deep into their hearts. Rajni
takes a step back, touching her mistress on the sleeve. Ranjha
bounces down from his hammock in one abrupt leap.
RANJHA
Pardon me. Poverty and hunger I have suffered for long, but they
are nothing as compared to this fire of love, which is burning my
very tongue to smoldering coals.
{Hir's lips part in a mute tremor, but no sound issues forth from there.}
RAJNI
You, sir, are rude, as I just told my mistress.
RANJHA
(Heedlessly, to Hir)
This paradise is a dream...or this dream, my paradise? You may
banish me forever, but misery will be my hopeless exile till
eternity. Forever and forever, I will carry the portrait of your
beauty in my eyes, and the volcano of love in my heart. Sighing like a
furnace, and blowing out anguished pleas to be admitted to this
paradise once again.
HIR
(Murmuring)
A rude stranger, indeed! Nay, a prophet sent by the very gods in
heaven. Perchance, have you seen my heart smoldering inside the
furnace of your sighs?
RAJNI
(Imploring)
Mistress Hir! I promise Malki Begum we won't tarry long.
{Hir stands there oblivious to all, but Ranjha. Rajni watches both,
wringing her hands under the spell of mute helplessness.}
RANJHA
No, fair Eve, or is it Mistress Hir? Even the fires of hell, I have
the power to blow out, if your heart was in danger of smoldering.
HIR
(Murmuring again)
And your name, gallant stranger?
RANJHA
Your slave, fair Hir, has forgotten all, even his name.
HIR
(Her eyes flashing suddenly)
Inconstant youth, then you will forget this too...this day and our
strange meeting. Begone.
RANJHA
(Wretchedly)
How can one ever forget the unforgettable? Your beauty has
splintered my memory to wounded throbs. And yet, the fear of
offending you has succeeded in wrenching out my unfortunate name.
Ranjha...in everlasting torment, is the name of this lowly servant of
yours.
HIR
Unfortunate? Torment? Lowly servant? Why, Ranjha? What
misfortunes have brought you to Jhang?
RANJHA
A great fortune, mistress Hir! The heavenly grace itself, now that
I stand before your loveliness as a suppliant.
HIR
Keep the flattering deceit to yourself, Ranjha. And tell me of your
misfortunes, so that I may acquaint myself with your honesty.
RAJNI
(In great consternation)
Mistress Hir. Your parents, they will be worried if you don't get back?
HIR
(Her eyes flashing again)
Occupy yourself with a better task than annoying me, Rajni. Take a
walk, or sit by the stream. Don't provoke my anger, lest I banish
you from my sight. Speak to me only when I summon you. Now, begone.
{Rajni retreats slowly, her eyes pleading. She saunters toward the
yonder stream.}
RANJHA
(Awed)
No flattery can win you love, fair Hir. And my misfortunes will
invoke your mockery, if not pity.
HIR
(Softly)
Ranjha, mockery has no place in the violence of my heart. And pity
swims not in the ocean of curiosity. Tell me all, so that the
violence in my heart may be appeased.
RANJHA
(Sadly)
In obedience to your wishes then, fair Eve. My misfortunes weigh
heavy, though. May I sit down to unburden such a load before my
fair audience?
{Hir and Ranjha drift toward a bench by the flowerbed, as if
sleepwalking. Ranjha lowers himself on one edge of the bench, his
eyes pleading with Hir. Hir seats herself at the other end, mutely
and thoughtfully. Both are silent. Rajni stops in her act of
pacing. Her glance is wild and apprehensive as she steals a look at
both the lovers.
HIR
(Gazes searchingly into the eyes of Ranjha)
Where do you live?
RANJHA
Inside the paradise of my dreams.
HIR
Where do they take you?
RANJHA
Into my soul, where your beauty lights the way.
HIR
Where do you stand in there?
RANJHA
Inside my very soul, where the light of your beauty annihilates me.
HIR
Then I am lost!
RANJHA
You are twice renewed and twice blessed in the humble abode of yours
where you are lost.
HIR
Where is your home, Ranjha, I must know?
RANJHA
If you must, sweet Hir, then the trail of my misfortunes will hurl
me back to the town of Hazara.
HIR
Hazara! So far? How long have you journeyed? Why, Ranjha?
RANJHA
The fame of your beauty summoned me to this paradise, Hir.
HIR
My beauty will rain arrows of rage, Ranjha, if you don't tell me the truth.
RANJHA
The truth is, fair Hir, I have no home.
HIR
No home! Where are your parents?
RANJHA
My mother died when I was a child of two. And now my father, after
twenty years of loving and caring, chose to join my mother.
Abandoning me to my own fate in grief and loneliness.
HIR
Don't you have any brothers or sisters?
RANJHA
Eight brothers! All drunk with the wine of greed and arrogance.
HIR
Then you do have a home?
RANJHA
They all drove me to exile.
HIR
Exile?
RANJHA
To despair, then. And into the very pit of misery and wretchedness.
My father had great riches and great lands. After my father's
death, my brothers divided the lands, bestowing all the riches on
their wives. A barren patch of land was my only share. I was too
grief-stricken to notice this injustice at that time. Didn't know,
more misfortunes were in store for me. My sisters-in-law were quick
to sow the seeds of hatred against me to my brothers. They were the
ones who forced me to leave Hazara, telling me to earn my living
somewhere else. So, I left.
HIR
(With a tender solicitude)
Where did you go?
RANJHA
(Reminiscing profoundly)
Me and my flute wandered aimlessly on the deserted alleyways for a while.
(Takes the flute out of his pocket, and watches it wistfully)
RANJHA (continued)
In my wanderings, I discovered a mosque, and abandoned myself on its
staircase. I thought I was all alone, but then the people started
gathering around me. I was playing my flute and they were moved by
its sweet notes. All of a sudden one maulvi appeared with daggers
of rage shining in his eyes. I begged him for a place to stay, but
he wouldn't listen. He flew into an unkind and violent tirade,
commanding me to leave and not ever to set foot in that village
again. So, me and my flute went wandering again.
HIR
Why was he unkind?
RANJHA
He told me that making music is evil, and that my music has
bewitched the villagers.
HIR
(Softly)
Where did you go?
RANJHA
Toward the sea and the storm, wherever my feet would take me. There
was a boat moored on the shore. I begged for a ride, but they
wouldn't let me board, for I couldn't pay. Overwhelmed with
despair, not knowing where I was, or what I was doing, I flung
myself on the sand and began playing my flute. Didn't know, my
gaze was riveted to the boat, though misery and longing were in my
heart. Something inside me was snapping and twisting. I could feel
a volcano of grief right inside the pit of my stomach. I wanted
to end my life. Without a care or a thought I jumped into the sea,
clutching my flute to my breast. A couple of boatmen dived after me
with the speed of lightning, got hold of me, and tossed me into the
boat. They were upbraiding me for my folly, and asking me why I
wanted to kill myself. The rest of the journey was uneventful.
They turned to be kind hosts, urging me to play on my flute, and
feeding me dates and dried mutton, which they had plenty to spare
and waste. When the boat docked at the shore, they all went
home jauntily. I went wandering again, and came upon this garden.
This hammock...very tempting, I must be sleep-walking, and fell
asleep, dreaming dreams. Another dream, I am sitting with a houri
of the paradise?
HIR
(Lamenting aloud, as if to herself)
And no home, no home!
RANJHA
(Gazing ardently into her eyes)
Jhang is my home now. I will find work here. I will work here all
my life, to stay close to you...to hear your voice, to look into
your beautiful eyes. This will be my home...it's my heaven.
HIR
Where will you find work? How will you...how can I endure?
(In her confusion and bewilderment she doesn't notice
warmth and ardor in Ranjha's eyes.)
HIR (Continued)
My father is a king, and rich beyond measure. He will give you
work. Then you can be near...
(A sudden flush washes over her cheeks)
RANJHA
My poverty does not dare, or even hope to share the wealth of your
beauty. My desire alone are my riches. Without food I can live.
Without you, I will perish.
HIR
(Murmuring)
Oh, Ranjha, say no more. My own heart is smitten. What's wrong
with me...I hear thunder? The bolts of lightning, in my very head?
Play your flute, Ranjha, let me catch the sweet notes of living in
this dream. I want to know...could I be more bewitched than
this? Will this feeling of misery and sadness go away?
RANJHA
The only witchcraft I see is in your beautiful eyes, sweet Hir. I
hear it too, in your voice, my sweet, if I may be as bold as to
utter such heresies. We are destined to be together, love! Sweet
fate robbed me of my home and riches, so that it could show me the
reward of a precious treasure which would never be purchased, but
conquered with love. And to be cherished, of course, inside the
holy of holies, inside my very heart. Your heart is longing for
songs, I know, and my own is dying to sing? To sing the paeans of
love, beauty, surrender.
(Begins to play the flute)
{A sudden hush pervades the garden. The air itself holding its
breath, as if drunk by the dulcet notes from Ranjha's flute. Hir
sits there mute and rapt. Rajni in her act of getting up, slumps
down again, stricken with awe and rapture. Kaidu is seen lumbering
along in the distance. He halts briefly, scratching his left stump
of a leg with his walking stick, and balancing his weight on the
good one. His gaze sweeping over the entire garden espies the
lovers, and he hobbles toward them, not in the least affected by the
hush and the enchantment all around.}
KAIDU
(Gouging the earth with his walking stick before he
could reach any closer.)
So, here is that evil troubadour again! That sorcerer. That's how
you enchant innocent people with your music and sorcery? You, you,
demented lout! Begging alms. Bewitching the poor, honest folks
with your diabolical flute. With your heathen music, you enchant
everyone with such skill that feed your furnace belly with all the
victuals they have, not even caring if their children go hungry.
HIR
(Leaping to her feet, her eyes flashing)
Uncle Kaidu!
RANJHA
(Softly, to Kaidu)
Never in my entire life have I begged alms from others. Eating
only, what is given to me voluntarily. Returning the rest to the
kind hosts, what I couldn't eat.
KAIDU
(Unheeding Ranjha, and venting his rage on Hir)
And you, my pretty niece, how dare you sit with this beggar? Alone
and uncheperoned?
HIR
(Incensed beyond reason)
I am not alone, uncle Kaidu, not alone! The birds and the trees are
with me, to protect me from your evil eye and from the wickedness in
your heart. And I am not unchaperoned. Where is...
(Her flashing eyes turn toward the stream)
HIR (Continued)
Rajni, come here. Why didn't you tell me, that my prying bully of
an uncle was coming?
RAJNI
(Walking toward her mistress in a daze)
Mistress Hir. Your yourself told me...
KAIDU
(Wild and raving)
Wait, young rebel, wait. Wait till your parents hear about it!
What rudeness? Your impudence will win you no husbands. Get you
gone into the house. I myself will deal with this deceiving lout.
HIR
(Choked with rage and tears)
You have no right to treat a noble, young man with insults.
KAIDU
(Derisively)
Noble!
RANJHA
(In pleading tone, to Kaidu)
The fault is mine, sir. Please spare the innocent maiden. I will leave.
HIR
(Weeping with tears of shame and bitterness)
Leave! You cannot leave, Ranjha, you cannot. I will atone for
these insults, I will!
(Turning to her uncle, her eyes flashing)
HIR (Continued)
You have no shame, uncle, no shame. Why do you live with us? Why
don't you go away somewhere? Why do you torment all who have never
been unkind to you? My parents are kind, loving...you can't repay
their kindness'.
KAIDU
(Unintimidated)
Oh, what a scandal? You will taint the good name of your family, of
your great ancestors. Our family is proud and honorable. Virtuous
and unapproachable. And look at you, raving and weeping like...
{Malki and Chochuk arrayed in colorful fineries are seen approaching
this maudlin scene. Kaidu is the first one to notice, his speech
truncated, his face flushed. Ranjha sits there in wretched misery.
Rajni touches Hir's sleeve bashfully, trying to draw her attention
toward her parents.
CHOCHUK
What is this, Kaidu? Tormenting my daughter again? How many times
I have to warn you?
HIR
(Falls sobbingly into her mother's arms)
Mamma!
MALKI
Hush, my princess, hush.
KAIDU
She will bring disgrace to your family, Chouchuk, I warn you.
Sitting here with a stranger, whispering and...
CHOCHUK
(Interrupting with an impatient wave of his arm)
Mend your speech, Kaidu, or I will make you swallow your tongue.
Malign not virtue with your evil thoughts. Go, efface yourself, or
sit down on that bench. I will deal with the stranger myself.
KAIDU
(Discomfited and muttering)
I will not sit close to that lowly beggar.
RANJHA
(Easing himself up slowly)
This lowly beggar relinquishes this seat to you most humbly.
CHOCHUK
(To Kaidu)
Lame excuses come easy to you, being lame of body and soul.
{Kaidu hobbles to the bench, wearing hauteur on his shoulders. He
seats himself reluctantly, seething with rage and hatred}
MALKI
(To Rajni)
Take the princess inside. Attend to all her needs, and devise some
means to soothe her.
RAJNI
Yes, Malki Begum.
HIR
No!
(She abandons the comfort of her mother's arms with a
sudden violence, and faces her father)
Papa. All these lies? Make Kaidu uncle go away.
CHOCHUK
Calm yourself, my sweet princess. No more of these tears. He will
be sent away, if your mother allows it.
MALKI
(To Hir)
Don't you forget, my sweet, he is my brother. Much like your own
brothers, whom you love and adore, I am sure.
HIR
(Lifting her tearstreaked face to her mother)
Mamma!
CHOCHUK
(To Ranjha)
What's your name, young man? And what brought you here?
RANJHA
(Bowing his head)
Your servant, sir, is Ranjha. My...
HIR
(Turning wildly to her father)
Ranjha, Papa, is no beggar. His brothers banished him. He has been
wandering, came here by chance...fell asleep in my hammock and then...
CHOCHUK
(Commanding Hir to silence)
Permit your father, my pretty child, to speak with the young man.
HIR
Yes, Papa.
(Returns to her mother, mute and obedient)
MALKI
(To Rajni)
Go, lay the table for tea. Tell the cooks to brew it very strong, I
want to drink by the teapots.
{Rajni obeys promptly. Kaidu sits there sullen, his eyes smoldering
with disgust and helplessness}
CHOCHUK
Now, Ranjha, what's the real story? How you came to Jhang, tell us
simply and briefly. I can't endure details or profusion. Besides,
teatime is a ritual with me, and I rarely delay it, unless it is
absolutely necessary.
RANJHA
I am from the village of Hazara, sir. Have lived there all my life.
After my father died, my brothers robbed me of my inheritance, since
I am the youngest. They gave me a barren strip of land, though. I
tilled and ploughed, but in vain. If that was not enough, my
sisters-in-law came everyday to mock and laugh, seeing me pant and
sweat. One day, I lost my patience. Wearied with grief and
exhaustion, I told them to leave me alone. They went away, but told
my brothers that I had insulted them. Next day, my brothers came
simmering with rage, and demanded that I leave Hazara. I had no
place to go, so I wandered and wandered aimlessly. Not knowing what
to do, or where to go. This morning, I found myself in this town...
this garden...this hammock? Don't know how long I slept, or when I
fell asleep?
KAIDU
(Murmuring aloud)
Shameless lies.
CHOCHUK
Your late father, what's his name?
RANJHA
The same as mine, your servant's, sir.
CHOCHUK
Ah, King Ranjha? We exchanged letters long time ago. Didn't he
have eight sons, yes! I must write to your brothers, the justice
must be done.
MALKI
Oh, and his lovely wife. We grew up together.
KAIDU
(Spitting on the ground)
Oh, hideous fates!
HIR
Papa! He has no home, no work. Where will he go? Could you find
something for him to do, please?
CHOCHUK
My lovely daughter and the beloved princess, always the kind, loving
philanthropist? There is a possibility, your father the king might
have use for him? Our cattle is breeding and multiplying, we always
need a shepherd.
(Turning to Ranjha, thoughtfully)
CHOCHUK (Continued)
Would you consider tending the flock; considering, you were born in
luxury?
MALKI
(Murmuring to herself)
How unfortunate?
RANJHA
After all these hardships, Sir, I can even sleep with the cattle.
KAIDU
And he will charm the cows and the sheep with his sorcery too!
Break his flute, Chochuk, before you even think of employing him in
your service.
CHOCHUK
(Ignoring Kaidu)
So, you play flute, Ranjha? Musicians are always welcome in our
court. Entertain us a bit with your flute. I will be the only
judge as to your lack of skill, or to your accomplishment.
HIR
(Bashfully, to Ranjha)
Will you play the same tune, Ranjha?
{Ranjha begins to play, affirming Hir's request with his gaze alone.
Before he could charm his audience, Mulla Abdul enters the garden
with the speed of a hurricane. Approaching closer, he throws up his
hands in the air in a gesture of utter hopelessness}
ABDUL
(Waving a fist before Ranjha)
Oh, here is that ragged ruffian again! I don't have to see horns on
your head to know that you are the devil incarnate. How you became
the king's jester here, is beyond me? Don't give me that besotted
look, young man? Our Rajah Chochuk here is the king of Jhang.
CHOCHUK
(Irately)
And the king of Jhang, Abdul, commands you to cease this tirade.
KAIDU
(A strident laughter trembling on his lips)
Ah, the charms of sorcery. I forgot to warn you, Chochuk, that this
evil baggage will corrupt your house, if you decide to keep him here.
ABDUL
I beg you, king Chochuk, pay heed to your pious maulvi. This
heathen here has no fear of God. He is all evil, bewitching all with
his magic flute. Black magic! Blackness of heart! Ask him, ask
him, king Chochuk? How he cast the spell over the pious men of my
whole congregation! They sat listening to his music with tears in
their eyes, as if their hearts were breaking.
HIR
(Exclaiming wildly)
Mulla Abdul is lying, Papa, he is lying.
MALKI
(With a gentle reprimand)
Bite your tongue, sweet child. Have you lost your senses?
CHOCHUK
(To Ranjha)
Are these accusations true?
RANJHA
There is no magic in my flute, and no evil in my heart, king
Chochuk. I woo and worship God through music. Music is my soul, my
sole art. And all art is beautiful. Music and beauty throbs in the
very heart of nature. And to reach God through music is the purest,
gentlest way. Maybe, Mulla Abdul seeks the love of God too, but in
a different way?
ABDUL
(To Chochuk, protestations shining in his eyes)
Now, he is accusing me of levity! And of ignorance and wickedness?
This Godless serpent of evil!
CHOCHUK
You will gain wisdom, Abdul, if you can succeed in breeding love for
mankind in your heart.
ABDUL
So, you too have tasted poison from the evil lips of this serpent,
king Chochuk! I should have hurled him into some gutter, instead of
throwing him out of my mosque? Down there, his foul breath would
have lost the power to corrupt this earth, forever mingled with the
foulness in death.
CHOCHUK
And the gutter of inequity in all of us! Could it ever save us from
the corruptions in our own souls?
MALKI
Dear husband, offend not the learned Mulla with your sufic thoughts!
KAIDU
(Chuckling to himself)
The curse, the curse! We would all become heretics, if this
handsome pagan stayed with us.
CHOCHUK
(Heedless to others, exclaiming incredulously)
You threw him out of the mosque?
ABDUL
If I didn't, he would have worked his evil spells inside the
sanctuary of God too! Defiling the holiness within, and striking
the very walls with the demonic chants of music from his flute.
RANJHA
(Murmuring in great misery)
All I wanted to do was to snatch a few hours of sleep inside the
four walls of God's protection. The night was cold.
CHOCHUK
(Prophetically, to Abdul)
Do you know Mulla Abdul, perdition is allotted to those who deny
shelter to the hungry and the homeless.
HIR
(Pleading suddenly)
Papa, please, let's go inside. Mulla Abdul frightens me.
MALKI
(With a quick reprimand)
Sweet princess, where are your manners? Speaking thus of a pious man?
ABDUL
(With a desperate gesture of his arm)
And you, young princess, should be repenting of your sins, the sins
of youth and impudence and heedlessness. Run along, dear child.
Escape the wickedness, which is a great temptation to us all. Find
comfort inside the palace walls, and shun the shadow of evil.
CHOCHUK
Purge your heart with the waters of your own false piety, Abdul, and
dare not impute any sins to my chaste daughter!
{Abdul stands there stunned, blinking away haze and stupefaction.
Chochuk's eyes are fixed on him with inimical intensity}
MALKI
Dear husband, you will provoke the anger of God on your very
kingdom, if you do not relent.
HIR
Papa has done nothing wrong, Mamma?
KAIDU
(Adjusting his cane to heave himself up)
I can smell the odor of misfortunes all around me.
CHOCHUK
Now that you have sprayed my garden with the venom of your spite and
hatred, you have no right to stay here. Begone, I say.
ABDUL
(Startled)
Before I go, king Chochuk, may I take this heathen with me? He is
an evil nightmare to all sight, and must be chastised?
CHOCHUK
Are you deaf, Abdul? Haven't you heard me? Begone, I said. This
young man has found favor in my sight, and I have employed him.
ABDUL
(Flushed and incredulous)
You have employed...king Chochuk, this beggar? Why, I beg?
CHOCHUK
This beggar, as you call him, is the son of a king!
ABDUL
(Aghast)
The son of a king?
CHOCHUK
And he is humble.
ABDUL
Humble?
CHOCHUK
The virtue of humility. Have you ever heard of it?
{Abdul is speechless, his gaze bright and smoldering}
CHOCHUK
No! How can anyone hear about it, it has to be experienced?
ABDUL
I beg you, king Chochuk, I beg? Evil and darkness will visit you, if...
CHOCHUK
(Impatiently)
Begone! Begone!
ABDUL
(Retreating)
You will need me. Yes, you will? Oh, misfortunes all?
CHOCHUK
I will summon you, when God's own justice will banish you from the
merciful heavens on this earth and beyond.
{Abdul retreats under some spell of daze and disbelief. Kaidu limps
closer to Chochuk.}
KAIDU
You are tempting the fates and courting misfortunes, Chochuk, I tell
you.
CHOCHUK
(Thundering)
Begone! Efface yourself from my sight, lest my anger is kindled to
unreason. I have a mind to break your good leg, just to see if you
can learn to crawl under the weight of your own greed and mendacity.
KAIDU
(Hobbling away)
May you suffer the tortures of the damned.
CHOCHUK
Now, my good wife and beloved princess, I advise you to leave us. I
need to speak with Ranjha alone.
MALKI
May God protect us from all evil.
HIR
Papa!
MALKI
(To Hir)
Come, sweet princess.
CHOCHUK
No evil lurks over our shoulders, Malki. What a strange prayer.
Coming from your lips, I mean? The false piety of Abdul is not
rubbed on you, I hope?
MALKI
(Dragging Hir along)
No, dear husband, no! But some dark forebodings are constricting my
heart. You did tempt the fates by offending Abdul...and my brother!
{Both Hir and Malki follow the path toward the palace gates}
CHOCHUK
Come, Ranjha, take a stroll with me. We must crush the webs of
fates under our feet, and unearth a few mysteries.
{Both Ranjha and Chochuk start promenading side by side}
RANJHA
(sadly)
Mysteries of the mysterious fates, king Chochuk, are locked behind
the portals of our little perceptions.
CHOCHUK
(Laughing)
With a sufi as my companion, I will be exiled into the Eden of sin
and contemplation. What misfortunes have landed a curse on you that
you are accused of the most hated of demons before the sight of my
kin and mulla?
RANJHA
Fortunes are lurking behind me to smile, king Chochuk, if I can but
kiss the dust under your feet.
CHOCHUK
Flatterer and a sorcerer indeed! What great merits of mine have
raised me so high in your sufic esteem?
RANJHA
Your benevolence, for one, king Chochuk. And your compassion toward
a lowly and the most sinful of creatures like me.
CHOCHUK
Lowly! The son of a king? Sinful in what respect? And what sins
have you committed so far?
RANJHA
The sin of coveting your friendship, of admiring beauty, of
longing...to know God.
CHOCHUK
And I, no less a sinner than you, then?
RANJHA
You, a sinner and a prophet both, king Chochuk.
CHOCHUK
How do you mean?
RANJHA
The prophecy of noble living in your eyes, king Chochuk. Who can
miss to see that light?
CHOCHUK
And what other prophecies do you divine in there?
RANJHA
The stairway to wisdom.
CHOCHUK
Not the enlightened heart?
RANJHA
The will inviolate.
CHOCHUK
And you can't see the burden of cares and doubts on my shoulders?
RANJHA
Only the scepter of resolve and fortitude.
CHOCHUK
(Stopping near the placid stream, and facing Ranjha)
O, inexperienced youth! Even the sages cannot penetrate the
darkness' in their souls, save alone perceive the burdens weighing
down the shoulders of all the living, suffering men. Well, my heart
is yearning for that divine music, which mulla interrupted with his
rude intrusion, rather invasion. Play the flute for me, Ranjha. My
heart is heavy for some nameless reason?
{Ranjha begins to play. Chochuk stands there rapt and unthinking.
Oblivious even to the gentle approach of Hir, who had returned to
fetch them for tea. Even before Hir could approach her father, he
begins to retrace his steps toward the palace in some sort of daze.
After he disappears behind the massive doors, Hir slips closer to
Ranjha, facing him. Ranjha keeps playing, the candles of love and
longing in his eyes flaring and flickering. Suddenly, the flute
slips from his hands, and falls on the ground noiselessly. Their
eyes are locked and they stand there gazing at each other like the
lovers united after centuries of wait.}
HIR
Ranjha!
RANJHA
My dream! How blessed is this dream. Say, that you will never
leave me?
HIR
Ranjha, Mamma is inviting you for tea.
RANJHA
How can I swallow even one drop, when I am drunk with the wine from
your beautiful eyes.
HIR
We must go, Ranjha. The longings in your eyes, I can't...
RANJHA
I was talking about my sins with your father, my Beloved Hir, and
couldn't voice my thoughts, as my longing for love? I can't explain
this love, it's like the skies and the heavens. I only know that I
do love you, completely and absolutely, with the absolute surrender
of a devotee to its lord. Like one loves God, praying and worshipping.
Longing for that bliss in Union, which no mortals could ever dare
hope for!
HIR
Ranjha, please, words are choking inside me. Let's go, my
heart...even my lips are trembling.
RANJHA
And my heart too! Holy are the kisses which are dying to meet your
lips. Silence is the language of the lovers, and our thundering
hearts the orchestra of love.
{Kisses Hir, folding her into his arms in one eager embrace.}
The Curtain
ACT TWO
SCENE 1
The same garden as in Act One. Hir and Ranjha are strolling side by
side.
RANJHA
We have been engaged a whole year, my love, and your parents still
refuse to set a date for our wedding.
HIR
You are so impatient, Ranjha. This one year has been a like a day
to me. The same blessed day when you stole my heart.
RANJHA
And you have stolen both my heart and my soul. You did, my pretty
thief, you did. Only the nights are long and tortured with
longings, when I don't see you beside me.
HIR
And mine short and filled with bliss by your presence, in my thoughts.
RANJHA
With my heart and soul in your captivity, how could they be
otherwise! My heart and soul, your devoted worshipers, lulling you
to sleep.
HIR
I lay awake at nights, Ranjha. Moonlit nights longest than the
darkest days when I don't see you.
RANJHA
Now, you forswear your own truth, my sweet?
HIR
You don't believe me, Ranjha?
RANJHA
Your words are holy, my love. Holier than the loveliest of shrines
in your eyes, which light the way to Truth. How can I doubt then?
Tormented as I am by the mute agony of your confessions, my own
torment finds a little solace to meet your longings.
HIR
Not longings, Ranjha, fears!
RANJHA
Ah, unfortunate me! What fears crave your attentions?
HIR
Only one fear, Ranjha, that we will be torn apart by the cruel hands
of some dark fate.
RANJHA
Remember, sweet, Fate has brought me to you! Fate smiles upon us.
We are destined to be together. It was decreed by the pen of
ageless time, even before time itself could speak.
HIR
You are right, Ranjha, my parents are postponing our wedding, and on
purpose.
RANJHA
What purpose?
HIR
Kaidu uncle is planting seeds of doubts in their hearts.
RANJHA
What doubts, sweet Hir?
HIR
They have started to think you are not good enough for me. Yes, my
parents are thinking of an alliance, a rich family. I can tell, I
have heard them saying that they have found a worthy prince for
their daughter.
RANJHA
You are my betroth, love. How can your parents go back on their word?
HIR
You don't know my parents, Ranjha? They would sacrifice the love of
their sons and daughters, if new kingdoms came their way to be ruled
and subjugated.
RANJHA
I have a kingdom of my own. My brothers, since they found out I am
engaged to you, have relented. They are offering me home and lands,
they want us to live there.
HIR
Ranjha, have you not noticed a cavalcade of guests coming and going
since the past few months?
RANJHA
How can I sweet Hir, when my soul and senses are drunk with the wine
of your beauty?
HIR
Those guests, Ranjha, have young sons. All of them suing for my
hand, it seems.
RANJHA
And you will leave me buried under the mountains of grief and
desolation, Hir?
HIR
I would rather be buried alive, Ranjha, than go anywhere without you.
RANJHA
Why are we talking such absurdities, love? What has come over us?
HIR
The whispering and the plotting?
RANJHA
What whispering and plotting?
HIR
My uncle and my parents? I heard the name of a wealthy family by
the name of Khairas...and their son Saida. They are planning to
marry me off to him.
RANJHA
I will kill any man who lays any claim on you, sweet Hir.
HIR
I am afraid, Ranjha, afraid. They will kill you.
RANJHA
I can avert the assault of both fate and death, as long as I know
you love me.
HIR
I am afraid, I am afraid.
RANJHA
What do you fear, love?
HIR
That we would be separated.
RANJHA
Then, let's elope.
HIR
My heart! How can I live to shame my parents, thus?
RANJHA
They can't force you to marry someone you don't love.
HIR
Cruel and heartless, I have known them to be, when it comes to
wealth and prestige. They will banish you, just like your brothers
did.
RANJHA
Why are we talking like this, love? What dark spell is gnawing at
your heart? Look at those flowers, and the clear, blue skies! And
our love, young and blooming, everlastingly? Inside the eternal
springs of our own hearts. Let's talk about something else.
HIR
My dreams! The dark, abysmal voids of hopelessness?
RANJHA
Come, sweet, no more of it. No evil is lurking behind us. What is
it, love?
HIR
I will be forced to marry someone, the dark, hideous dream? I am dead
in that dream too, watching you die...darkness and darkness.
RANJHA
My dreams are bright and luminous, love. And they have the power to
dissolve the darkness' in yours. My dreams, they are radiant as the
heavens. I carry you to the moon in a chariot of stars. Perfume and
paradise, and the scent of your beauty!
HIR
Only, if uncle Kaidu will go away? The glint of mockery in his eyes.
And Mulla Abdul, he had been visiting my parents day and night. The
odor of piety and disdain around him, I can't endure it.
RANJHA
Dreams, love, and illusions. Have no fear, you are mine, mine, mine!
Where would you like to go after we are married?
HIR
To the moon, in a chariot of stars.
RANJHA
I would harness the moon, and it would bring the stars to me. You would
live in a palace of twinkling stars.
HIR
What's happening to me, Ranjha? I have never felt like this before? As
if, as if this beautiful day is going to turn into the blackest of sorrows.
RANJHA
Someone has cast a spell over you. Kaidu! I will break his other leg,
and his neck too?
HIR
No spell, Ranjha, no. But all this whispering and plotting? Visitors coming in
droves. Aunts wagging their tongues. My nerves are breaking.
RANJHA
I would talk to your parents about the wedding, this very day.
HIR
They won't listen.
RANJHA
Why?
HIR
Because, to them, you are another shepherd, they have already begun to
think in those terms. I myself have heard them say such things.
RANJHA
It doesn't matter what they say, my sweet. They have to listen to me,
you are my betroth.
HIR
Before my parents, even a bridegroom will get tongue-tied as if fates
stand against him.
RANJHA
What fates, Hir? We are fated to be together. It was written by the
pen of destiny itself.
HIR
(Laughing suddenly)
So you can predict fortunes and the future, Ranjha? Why does my heart,
then...breathes misfortunes...
{Rajni steals upon them unnoticed. When she speaks, both Hir and Ranjha
are startled.}
RAJNI
Mistress Hir, your mother has sent me to fetch you. Quickly, she has
commanded.
HIR
What's the hurry? I just got here. Not dinner time yet, is it? Too
early for that?
RAJNI
No, Mistress. Your mother is summoning Ranjha too. She, they, your
parents want to talk to you both.
RANJHA
Fortunate me! I was thinking of talking to them myself.
HIR
Are my aunts gone?
RAJNI
Yes, Mistress. They left not too long ago.
HIR
(Relieved)
Good. So, no one else is with my parents right now.
RAJNI
Abdul and your uncle. I saw them talking to your parents before I left.
HIR
Oh, Lucifer and Mephistopheles together! How I hate them both!
RANJHA
That pious man, Abdul! Don't be hard on him, sweet Hir. And your uncle,
he is not that evil?
HIR
Pious, that mulla? He wears false piety on his sleeves, and hides
poisoned arrows in his cloak. Gloating over his wickedness in finding
innocent victims, when he can torture them all with malicious glee as
his weapons. And as to my uncle, he is not only evil, but corrupt in
body and soul. And you know it too! Didn't you want to break his leg,
and his neck too?
RAJNI
God have mercy on us.
{Rajni retraces her steps toward the palace, almost running. Hir and
Ranjha watch her apprehensively.}
HIR
We must follow her, Ranjha. Or, she too might speak evil of us.
RANJHA
I have been dying to talk to your parents.
{Hir and Ranjha walk toward the palace, and are seen entering a large
parlor with scanty furniture. Malki is lolling against one satiny pillow
on a large davenport. Chochuk is pacing slowly and deliberately. Kaidu
is nursing his leg, while luxuriating in a low chair. Seated next to him
is Abdul, austere and thoughtful. They are aware of Hir and Ranjha,
but none speak.}
RANJHA
(To Chochuk)
A man cannot wait for the consecration of his love till judgment day,
sir. I humbly request that a wedding date to be set soon, so that we
can begun our married life with your blessings.
CHOCHUK
(Incensed)
Blessings, Ranjha! Curses, the more appropriate word as it stands. You
have forfeited the right to this holy wedlock by your unlawful conduct.
By dragging my daughter into the fields and...too scandalous for
expression?
HIR
(Exclaiming)
Papa! What has come over you? How can you believe in such ugly lies?
Mamma, she is the one who tells me to take lunch to Ranjha in the fields.
RANJHA
(Appalled)
And I thought, sir, you loved me like a father! A father, who loves his
long lost child with more than he bestows on others?
CHOCHUK
(Absently)
You were dearer to me than a son, until you revealed your evil nature.
HIR
Papa!
MALKI
This match has been evil since the beginning. Tongues wagging, and our
relatives blaming us for pushing our princess into the very pits of mud
and poverty.
HIR
Mamma!
KAIDU
A king's daughter cannot wed a shepherd! A lowly man with no means?
Hired help with no manners?
ABDUL
To agree to this union is below the dignity of our king, and he belonging
to the most illustrious of families, Sail! How can anyone forget that?
The difference between our king's family and Ranjha's is like the sky and
the earth.
HIR
What's happening? Can someone tell me? Papa, Mamma! Why is everyone
insulting Ranjha so?
RANJHA
(Murmuring to himself)
This family! All kindness' are fled from them like the drifting mists.
MALKI
Ranjha is without provisions, Hir, and it is not a good match for you.
Let the matter rest at that. To avoid our shame and to protect the honor
of our family's name, we should never speak about it.
RANJHA
Condemned by love, am I going to burn in the everlasting fires of this
hell forever?
KAIDU
Can the dust ever reach to the Moon?
HIR
Rest that matter, Mamma, how? I am his betroth. Love has no eyes, no
ears. It sees no shame, hears no evil.
ABDUL
Evil is in your tongue, child. Have you no shame? Talking of love like
the daughter of some peasant, and you, the daughter of a king?
HIR
(Screaming)
Papa! Tell me, what's happening? I will go mad!
CHOCHUK
You are mad, daughter, raving mad! We cannot fight with our fates.
RANJHA
Fates! Fates have decreed Hir to be my wife. I too don't understand?
Will someone tell us?
CHOCHUK
Nothing to tell. You are banished, Ranjha. We don't need your services
anymore.
HIR
Papa! What are you saying?
RANJHA
Banished? Like my brothers did? Hir is my betroth. I will take her with
me.
CHOCHUK
You are no more her betroth than she is yours.
RANJHA
No more betroth? Will I ever wake up from this nightmare?
HIR
What does this all mean? My head is spinning?
MALKI
This means, daughter, that your father has pledged you to the Khairas.
You are to be wedded to the most wealthiest and the most handsomest of
men. Saida is the name of your lucky bridegroom.
HIR
The mountains are crashing on my head.
RANJHA
Pledge! I am roasting alive in the fires of hell. You pledged Hir to me,
sir! How can you break that pledge honorably?
CHOCHUK
That pledge was erected on false foundations. Those foundations have come
crumbling down, now that your brothers refuse to share any of their riches
or kingdoms with you.
KAIDU
Didn't I always say, he is a lout and a vagrant.
ABDUL
Living on the crumbs of hopes and enjoying the generosity of the rich,
I said that from the beginning.
RANJHA
My brothers! They are giving back my kingdom, as soon as we are married.
MALKI
It's impossible to break the pledge now. Chochuk has given his word to
the Khairas, and he will stick to it till his death.
HIR
I will not marry anyone but Ranjha. If the Khairas come to marry me off
to their son, I will tell them everything...our love, our engagement.
CHOCHUK
What impudence, my princess? I would rather bury you alive, than permit
you the liberty of displaying your rudeness and madness.
RANJHA
I am doomed! If I can't stay close to Hir, I will surely die.
HIR
What happened to your love for your daughter, Papa? How cruel and
heartless? I would rather die than marry Saida. I love Ranjha.
CHOCHUK
Love has nothing to do with marriage, princess. Ask your mother?
Wisdom lies in obeying your parents.
MALKI
Love comes after the marriage, not before. Love doesn't feed you,
riches do.
RANJHA
The whole world lives on love. Even the animals understand it, though
no words are neccessary to convey its bliss.
HIR
I am old enough to know about love and marriage. And I will not marry
Saida, for you promised me to Ranjha.
KAIDU
It's the devil speaking through your tongue, Hir. You need to learn
to obey your parents.
HIR
Even the devil has been kind to you, uncle. Only breaking your leg,
not pulling your tongue out?
CHOCHUK
Stop that rudeness, princess. Now!
ABDUL
Parent's place is next to God. Parents have rights over their children,
Hir. If you do not obey your parents, you will choose hell for yourself.
HIR
Have you read your Quran, Mulla Abdul? If a girl doesn't wish to marry
a person chosen by her parents, she has the right to marry someone else
she chooses.
ABDUL
O, child, fear from God's anger. Escape from the tortures in the grave.
Do not burn your youth in love. Take refuge from sin.
HIR
O, sinful Mulla, the fires of hell breathe through your lips. Leave
this house, or I will claw your eyes out?
CHOCHUK
Princess! Cease this madness, at once! Go to your chamber, and dare
not leave until I command.
HIR
(Running to Ranjha)
Ranjha, help me. Take me away. I will never leave you.
MALKI
Oh, shameless child! My own daughter, acting like a hussy?
CHOCHUK
(Snatching Hir away from Ranjha's arms)
Begone, I say. Rajni, take your mistress away.
ABDUL
(Murmuring)
Evil is visiting this palace. It will not leave us, until Ranjha leaves.
KAIDU
(Declaring aloud)
Evil is in the air. Hir is possessed by the demons.
{Rajni edges closer flustered. Hir falls into her arms, weeping.}
HIR
Rajni, help me. My parents are turned against me. I see daggers in
their eyes. My heart is bleeding.
CHOCHUK
Leave this house, Ranjha, or I will have you thrown out. And never dare
to set foot in Jhang, if you value your life.
RAJNI
Hush, Mistress, hush.
RANJHA
My life belongs to Hir, sir. And I will not leave, if I can't take her
with me.
CHOCHUK
(Striking Ranjha a fierce blow on the cheek)
You impudent mite! I will pound your tongue to dust, if you but profess
any claim over my daughter.
MALKI
(To Rajni)
Take your mistress away.
HIR
(Rushes toward her father, pounding his chest with wild
fists)
Kill me, Papa, kill me! I will die if you make Ranjha go away.
CHOCHUK
(Aiming to strike Ranjha again)
You will see him die first, princess, before you breathe your last.
ABDUL
(Coming between Ranjha and Chochuk)
No need to get violent, my king. God does not like violence. Let's
escape this farce in a friendly manner.
(Turning to Ranjha)
ABDUL (Continued)
Ranjha, if you love Hir, then leave at once. You are spoiling the
peace of this house, and tormenting the one you profess to love.
RANJHA
(Nursing his cheek)
It's love, which is chaining me to this spot.
MALKI
You have eaten the salt of this house, Ranjha. Leave us in peace.
RANJHA
I have tasted the sweetness of love.
KAIDU
No pride, no honor, Ranjha? Getting beaten and staying in this house
where you are shamed and insulted. Youth is left with no weapons to
defend its honor?
RANJHA
How can I even think of lifting my hand against the father of my
Beloved, whom I revere and worship?
ABDUL
Such blasphemy? Only God is to be revered and worshipped.
RANJHA
All God's creatures deserve worship and reverence. God and Beloved are
the same.
KAIDU
God will punish you for such heresy, Ranjha. Fear of God is wisdom,
Allah tells us.
RANJHA
God is love, not fear.
ABDUL
God is Truth.
RANJHA
To know Truth, one must know God, and one must love God.
CHOCHUK
Let's leave God out of this family squabble. God has given me this
ungrateful child! And God is not granting her Grace to melt her
ingratitude...Such a wilful and undisciplined mind she has?
MALKI
Chochuk! I can't endure it? What devil is prompting us all to utter
heresies? God is going to punish us all. We must stop this madness.
ABDUL
(To Ranjha)
Let me escort you, Ranjha. We will talk on the way.
RANJHA
I am not leaving.
CHOCHUK
You are to leave right now, Ranjha!
RANJHA
Not until Hir tells me so, sir.
CHOCHUK
(Impatiently)
Hir is demented. No one can expect a sensible request or command from
her, as it stands.
RANJHA
Love is not dementia, sir, but wisdom and resilience.
CHOCHUK
Don't try my patience, Ranjha? Get you gone, or I will kill you with
my bare hands.
RANJHA
You have killed my soul, sir. My flesh has grown insensitive to any
pain or injury.
HIR
(Frantically and hysterically, flying toward Ranjha)
We will die together, Ranjha. You can't leave me, even in death.
RAJNI
(Weeping)
Mistress, let me bathe your feet with tears.
KAIDU
What contagion is in the air? Evil and madness corrupting the hearts
of the young!
MALKI
(Rushing to her daughter wildly)
Tears of shame are choking my own heart, Hir. Come back to your senses.
Saida is to be your husband. Don't kick the good fortunes away.
HIR
(Clinging to Ranjha, and screaming)
Misfortunes! Most cruel and hideous, misfortune! Why didn't you
poison me, Mamma, when I was in the cradle?
MALKI
I will poison you yet, daughter, if you do not obey?
CHOCHUK
(Commanding Abdul and Kaidu)
Take him away. Beat him to pulp, till he has no limbs to return.
{Abdul and Kaidu drag Ranjha away from Hir, and clamp him down}
RANJHA
Wait for me, sweet, I will come back.
HIR
Ranjha, Ranjha!
RANJHA
(Struggling to free himself)
Love is a gift of God, Beloved, remember that. Not to be unsealed by
anyone, but by the hands of the lovers.
The Curtain
ACT THREE
SCENE 1
Khaira's house in Rangpur. A large parlor, sumptuously furnished.
Hir is sitting couchant on a velvety davenport. Her lips are parted,
and eyes half closed. When the curtain opens, Rajni is seen carrying
a silver tray laden with sweets, biscuits and a teaset.
RAJNI
Lemon tea and biscuits, Mistress. Good for your appetite. No
breakfast, that's not healthy. Didn't want anything for lunch,
can't imagine? How are you going to get well if you refuse to eat?
HIR
Eclipsed by grief, I have no desire to live. Let me die in peace,
Rajni. Don't prolong my sorrow by making me live?
RAJNI
(Pouring tea)
Hush, Mistress, hush. You will see joy, one of these days? Let's not
lose hope. If you but looked into the hearts of the others, you would
know that all carry sorrows greater than yours.
HIR
How heartless you are, Rajni! The whole world carrying stones in their
eyes and wounding my heart with every glance, and you talk of hopes.
What bleeding hopes?
RAJNI
Hope of seeing Ranjha one day? Lovers' hearts by miracles are united.
your parents might relent. They might ask Ranjha to work for them
again, and when you visit...
HIR
Visit! Never! I never thought my parents would be so cruel as to
bury me in this den of everlasting torment. I did, but I never
believed it, until they succeeded in marrying me off without my consent.
RAJNI
How could they get your consent, Mistress, when you fell into a fainting
fit from which you could not be aroused?
HIR
My tears and pleadings could not move their hearts, neither did my
mute sufferings, could they deserve to be called parents? Unfortunate
wretch that I am! When I lay sensible they bribed Abdul to sign the
marriage contract in my name, isn't that the truth? Oh, that I had died!
RAJNI
Live, Mistress, live, to avenge the evil that has been done to you.
HIR
How? Where's my Ranjha?
RAJNI
Probably, longing to have a glimpse of you, and devising means to
reach you?
HIR
I will die in peace, if I saw him but one last time.
(Handing the teacup back to Rajni)
HIR (Continued)
This tea tastes like poison. I wish it was? My stomach is churning
again.
RAJNI
Have some biscuits, Mistress. You haven't touched food since your
wedding day...
HIR
(Tossing her head with a sudden violence)
Wedding day! Don't remind me of that, Rajni. The day of my shame and
death! I died that day. Why doesn't this miserable breath leave me?
I can't endure it anymore.
RAJNI
Wish, you had heard the thundering of the band, and the camels loaded
with treasures for you?
HIR
I should have died in my mother's womb. Why didn't she poison me with
the milk in her breasts? Suckling me to such misfortune?
RAJNI
And everyone dancing with joy?
HIR
While I was being wrapped in the sheets of death?
RAJNI
At least your husband and your in-laws are kind to you.
HIR
They are killing me with their kindness'. Hurling me down into some
horrible pit of degradation, from where there is no escape, but the
pangs of a slow, lingering death.
RAJNI
Master Saida is always praying for your life and health, Mistress?
HIR
So that he can defile my body and soul with his passion foul and savage?
RAJNI
He will not touch you until you consent, Mistress. Your yourself
told me so?
HIR
He would have raped me if I was healthy.
RAJNI
Mistress!
HIR
Nothing shocks me anymore, Rajni, nothing. Even the cruelty of my
parents have lost its sting. The world lancing my true passion with
the arrows of blame and mockery? The faithlessness of Ranjha? Why
didn't he save me from this ocean of misery and despair? Where has
he gone? Why doesn't he come?
RAJNI
Master Saida will kill Ranjha if he ever came this way.
HIR
He is afraid of death, then?
RAJNI
Only fearing for your own life and honor, Mistress. And wishing you
happiness, though his own heart is bleeding.
HIR
Life! I am dying, if not dead? Happiness! Without him? How is it
possible?
RAJNI
You will not die, Mistress. Master Saida's love might conquer you yet.
HIR
You doubt my love, then? As if it is some shallow stream inside my
raging heart?
RAJNI
Love unrequited, Mistress, dies of its own accord. In its wake, blooms
a new love upon a hearth, where the warmth of a home polishes it to the
sheen of peace and bliss in living.
HIR
You have been reading poetry, I suspect, while your mistress has been
longing and suffering? Ranjha and I took sacred oaths. Our love is
eternal. Unlike this holy bondage in wedlock, where the bride is more
like a corpse than an unworthy ornament.
RAJNI
A thinking corpse, Mistress, with rage and bitterness still throbbing
in its breast. Now that I am blamed of reading poetry, I might as well
borrow some lines from the dead poets. Love is a curse! A foul,
hideous curse, to bury the young lovers inside the tombs of their own
madness'!
HIR
You are mad...and raving, Rajni! Snatching foulness from the graves of
the stinking poets, and corrupting the very breath of air. Love is a
gift from God, not a curse. Lovers seal this gift with holiness, not
ever to be unsealed by anyone but by the hands of the lovers themselves.
RAJNI
Lovers no more, Mistress? The Lover is Lost, and the Beloved is Married.
HIR
Ashes in your mouth, Rajni. The whole world is turned against me.
RAJNI
I am your most devoted friend, Mistress.
HIR
A foe turned friend is more dangerous than the friend turned foe.
RAJNI
I am your friend, Mistress. How can you ever doubt that?
HIR
Alone and disconsolate, I wander into the valleys of torments
indescribable. And no one lifts a finger to find me my Ranjha?
RAJNI
I am trying mistress, God is my witness. All day at your beck and
call, since you don't want to be left alone, and all night blowing
my brains out to find a solution?
HIR
Leave me alone, Rajni. Leave me alone, I say! Let your mistress die
here alone. Go, and search for Ranjha.
RAJNI
Mistress!
{A slight knock is heard at the door. Rajni scrambles toward the
door, dazed and flustered.}
HIR
(Her eyes shining with great agitation)
Don't let anyone in, Rajni, don't! I am in no condition to receive
anyone.
{Rajni disappears behind the closed door. She returns immediately,
her look wild and feverish.}
RAJNI
Your mother-in-law, Mistress, invited Abdul in. He is insisting on
seeing you.
HIR
Didn't I tell you, I don't want to see anyone. What? Did you say,
Abdul? Send him back to hell from where he came in the first place.
I have nothing to say to him. That impostor, breeding lies in his
own wicked heart, and waving the rags of false piety!
{Rajni scampers back to the door under some spell of fear and
confusion. Hir is startled to her feet, pacing and murmuring.}
HIR
I should kill him...I will. He cannot escape the gallows of my rage
and anguish.
{Rajni returns, her eyes shining with fear and excitement.}
RAJNI
Mistress, Abdul says he has come in all good faith? He told me, he
is hoping to find Ranjha himself.
HIR
Bring him in, Rajni. That deceiver and plotter of evils, why shouldn't
he taste my rage and grief?
{Rajni flies back to the door as if pressed by her own urgency to
welcome company. She returns followed by Abdul. Abdul stands aghast
in the middle of the room, as Hir whirls to face him, her eyes flashing
and ringed with fever and delirium.}
ABDUL
What wretched state you are in, my poor child?
HIR
Child! What bribe in gold and jewels did you accept from the Khairas
to sell me off into this bondage?
ABDUL
None! How you accuse an old man, my child?
HIR
Then what fair fortunes my parents promised you to go through with
this treacherous deed? Marrying me off to Saida without my consent?
ABDUL
In the name of God, I perform my duties, child. Receiving no
compensation from man, but from the mercy of God.
HIR
Greed burns like fire in your heart, Abdul, while your lips dare
utter the name of God?
ABDUL
Have some respect for an old man's beard, Hir, if not for his piety?
HIR
A web of deceit is woven in your beard, Mulla! Didn't you forge my
signature on the marriage certificate, and left the mark of your own
corruption on this so called holy contract?
ABDUL
I have been praying for you since then, my child. The scar on my brow
is witness to this truth. Lifting not my head from the ground, lest
I forget to pray.
HIR
That scar on your brow is the stain of shame, Abdul! For your life
is packed with sins, and your mind is a beehive of lies.
ABDUL
Restrain your tongue, child, though I forgive you. Devil is speaking
through your lips to foil the holiness in my thoughts.
HIR
You are the devil incarnate, Mulla, the Iblis himself. Wearing the
mantle of holiness, while corruption bleeds through your garments of
false piety?
ABDUL
If you only knew the truth, child, you would not rage so, and would
not pelt my gentleness with insults.
HIR
Gentle! What mockery? All gentleness on the face of this earth is an
enemy to your deceptive mind.
RAJNI
How can you, Mistress? Insulting a true Muslim...unforgivable! He
being a Mulla?
HIR
(Rage and delirium shining in her eyes)
True Muslim! He should be the laughing-stock of all the pious and
the disdained, who act not upon what they preach. And he! Yes, a
mulla, reciting the holy verses without understanding a word of God,
or God's truth.
ABDUL
Faith is my shield, child, against evil and anger. If you only knew
why I came, you would not rant so?
HIR
Your love for wealth is the executioner to your faith, Abdul. Leave
me alone, Sir, I have no desire to know why you came. And never dare
return, or I will claw your eyes out with my bare hands.
RAJNI
Mistress, at least have the satisfaction of knowing why he came. He
means no harm.
ABDUL
Heed the advice of your maid, Hir. You might learn wisdom that way.
You would wish me to stay, if you could only let me explain the reason
of my coming.
HIR
Why did you come, then? To torment me thus? Tell me and begone!
ABDUL
To unite you with Ranjha, child.
HIR
Oh, evil misfortune! Now what wickedness is breeding in your mind,
to commit more evil? Are you spying on Ranjha, so that you could
murder him? Are you not content that you have killed me? Can't
you see that I am buried alive in this dungeon of a matrimony?
ABDUL
My intentions are pure, child. God's ways are mysterious. Slander
is loud where goodwill resides, and people see corruption where purity
breathes.
HIR
Didn't you corrupt the hearts of my parents; knowing, that they
themselves were the ones who promised me to Ranjha? Didn't you sign
my marriage contract when I was ill with grief and sorrow, knowing
not whether I breathed or not?
ABDUL
I have come here to right the wrongs I have done. I have been praying
and doing penance.
HIR
If this be true I might snatch a little peace out of my grief before
I die.
(She sits down, covering her face in her hands)
ABDUL
I myself will die if my sins are not forgiven.
HIR
How can your sins be forgiven, when you have chained me to the Khairas?
And what can you do now which may restore my Ranjha to me?
ABDUL
God is all Merciful. He will show me the way as I pray and do penance.
HIR
What way? Where is my Ranjha?
ABDUL
I will find him.
HIR
What then?
ABDUL
The plan has just come to my head like a revelation. My prayers are
answered. I will convince your parents that you are ill-treated here.
They will sue for divorce, and you will be married to Ranjha as planned
before.
HIR
More lies, more evils, more misfortunes. Is your heart not corrupted
enough with evil and wickedness, yet? Your cunningness, Mulla, oh,
how it surpasses the wisdom of a devil?
ABDUL
I see angels in my dreams, Hir. And God is guiding me toward piety.
I have already seen you wedded to Ranjha, in my dreams.
HIR
Oh, sweet fortunes, how you mock me?
(Leaps to her feet, facing Abdul)
HIR (Continued)
You wear piety on your sleeves, which are soiled by the torments to
the others caused by your own hatred and malevolence. You will torment
me still with your lies and deception, I can see? Why have you come
here, tormenting me with your lies?
ABDUL
To make you the wife of Ranjha, Hir, as I said before. It's you who
have chosen to mistake my goodwill and generosity as torments to you.
HIR
You have lost your power to torment me anymore, Abdul. These are no
torments to me. Even if they are, for such torments! In hope of
seeing Ranjha, I am willing to sell my soul to the devil.
ABDUL
Talk not of the devil, Hir. I am guided by the angels.
HIR
(Laughing hysterically)
Have angels lent you perception to see where my Ranjha dwells?
ABDUL
My friends are looking for him everywhere, and I will find him soon.
I know I will. As soon as I do, I myself will bring you the good news.
HIR
What else? Are you rewarding the cruelty of my parents with kindness?
ABDUL
They have not been cruel, Hir, I wouldn't say that! Merely obeying the
laws of their ancestors, finding a wealthy husband for their daughter.
HIR
Obeying your wicked commands, Abdul, why don't you confess the truth?
And now, how will you change their minds...succeeding probably, wickedly
as before?
ABDUL
I have been talking to them. They too are relenting. I have been to
see Ranjha's brothers too. They promise riches and lands to Ranjha,
once you two are married. They too have been repenting of their sin
in robbing Ranjha of his inheritance after the death of their father.
HIR
Oh, I am doomed! Khairas will never let me go. Saida will kill
Ranjha, as Rajni said.
RAJNI
I was just babbling, to cheer the Mistress.
ABDUL
What impudent tongue she has, your maid, Hir, she confesses herself.
You will leave this house to visit your parents, and we will make sure
you never return...leave the rest to us.
HIR
Simple as that!
ABDUL
God's Will will be done. Now I have to leave, child. I am expecting
news of Ranjha.
HIR
(Tugging at Abdul's sleeve under some spell of delirium)
When will you come back? When will I see Ranjha? Will you bring him
back with you?
ABDUL
Have patience, child. I will come back sooner than you expect. If I
don't bring him back with me, I will tell you where he is. My plans
work swifter than dreams, and you will be wedded to him before you know.
{Abdul leaves hurriedly.}
HIR
(Wringing her hands, and talking to herself)
No, there is no need to bring him here. I am dreaming, yes, I am
dreaming, Rajni. When I wake up, all will be gone, all lost. Such
sweet, painful dreams!
RAJNI
(Dreamily)
Dreams come true, Mistress. The sweeter they are, the more sweet
they taste to the lips of reality.
HIR
Poetry again! All these dreams and nightmares. Is Abdul lying, Rajni?
Is he plotting evil upon evil?
RAJNI
He has grown gentle, Mistress. Looks genuinely troubled and remorseful.
HIR
I will die, Rajni, I am dying. Will I ever see Ranjha again?
RAJNI
True lovers are united in the end, always, Mistress. I said that
before, I think?
HIR
Such happiness after so much torment? I will surely die!
RAJNI
You will not die, Mistress. You will live. I told you so, didn't I?
{Another slight knock is heard. Rajni looks around startled. Then
flies to the door as before.}
HIR
Don't let anyone in, Rajni. If it's Saida, send him away. I can't
see him, I feel faint.
(She flings herself on the davenport, and covers her face
in her hands)
{Rajni returns, more befuddled than ever.}
RAJNI
Your uncle Kaidu, Mistress! He insists on seeing you.
HIR
Another evil spirit! Now I am having nightmares. Tell him, I am
not feeling well. He can visit my in-laws if he wants, and then he
must leave.
RAJNI
He says, Mistress, he is bringing good news, and must speak with you.
Besides, he says, he has already talked to your in-laws.
HIR
Not even one word of any good import ever escapes his lips, Rajni,
unless deceit and malevolence are hiding in its wake.
RAJNI
He is waiting gentle as a lamb, Mistress. By the look of him, it
seems, that he harbors nothing evil.
HIR
Let him in then, Rajni. Let this nightmare end too. When his
wickedness has spilt its venom, he will leave. How I long to die?
{Rajni hastens back to the door. She invites Kaidu by a frantic
wave of her arm. Kaidu hobbles into the room, and sinks into a
chair without a word. His look is kind and wearied, as he adjusts
his cane in the crook of his chair.}
KAIDU
The rough roads, child, and a long journey for an old, lame man.
You yourself don't look good, Hir. Living in the grave of sorrow,
I suppose?
HIR
You dug that grave for me, uncle! Now, you have come to gloat over
your success.
KAIDU
Life has been unfair to me, Hir. And I have been unfair to others.
Now I repent and want to atone my sins with good deeds. I have good
news for you.
HIR
What good news could you possibly bring me? Nothing could pull me
out of this grave now.
KAIDU
Your parents are lost without you, Hir. They mourn and repent that
they treated Ranjha badly. They want you both back, hoping that you
would forgive. They have been searching for Ranjha, sending their
servants to the remotest of villages to find him. Once they find
him, they want you to be wedded to him.
HIR
I must be dreaming! How come their cruelty has decided to wear the
rags of kindness all of a sudden?
KAIDU
They have not been cruel, Hir, but swayed by their own need to find
you a rich and comfortable home. Realizing too late, that they have
done a terrible wrong. They have wronged you, they know, and now sit
wailing and repenting, and praying and hoping that all wrongs could be
righted.
HIR
They have no cause to wail and lament, do they? I am the one who is
weighed down with grief and sorrow. Suffering, and praying for death.
KAIDU
Besides remorse and penance, Hir, they are burdened with fresh
misfortunes of their own. Cattle dying, and the fields ravaged by
unruly herds, mostly cows. Remember, how Ranjha used to sing to them,
while he played his flute. The new shepherd whom they hired can't
control any of the farm animals. Cows run wild in the corn fields
and can't be restrained. Goats and sheep are straying into the
marshes and dying. Chickens have taken a fancy to jump into the lake,
drowning and perishing.
HIR
Too familiar am I with the greed of my parents, holding their birds,
cattle and beasts dearer than gold! How could they give any thought
to their daughter, whom they tossed away as a pebble to be kicked on
the sands of misfortunes? Now I know why Abdul came to see me. He
too is looking for Ranjha, so that he could serve my parents as a
good, humble shepherd once again. Thinking most wickedly that I am
hiding him under the very nose of my unfortunate husband. Oh, what
am I saying? Even the word, husband, scalds my very lips! Does that
mean I have a husband, or do I wish that I never had one? Is Ranjha
going to fight with Saida?
KAIDU
Ranjha might be raving mad...or bent double with love and grief, but
he will never come here to spoil your happiness, Hir.
HIR
(Screaming hysterically)
Happiness! Can my grief and sorrow ever find the mask of happiness?
Am I happy, what mocking absurdity?
KAIDU
Ranjha thinks you are. False rumors have reached him.
HIR
What rumors?
KAIDU
What else, that you are happy? That you professed to love him, while
you regarded him only a shepherd to your parents. That you have been
faithless in consenting to marry Saida. He is grief-stricken that you
have left him for the wealth of the Khairas.
HIR
Oh, doom and darkness! I myself will go looking for him. Where is he
hiding? Has he gone back to his brothers?
KAIDU
His brothers! They seem devastated by his disappearance. They are
feeling guilty, I guess, and truly distressed. I have seen their eyes
filling with tears of shame and contrition.
HIR
Why has the whole world turned repentant all of a sudden?
KAIDU
Because Ranjha's curses and laments have a way to reach all who have
wronged him.
HIR
He is here in Rangpur then, how else could have you gathered his
curses and laments?
KAIDU
He was seen on the road to Rangpur, Hir. But he is not here, I am sure.
HIR
Seen?
KAIDU
Yes, by some peasants who didn't know him, until the couriers sent by
your parents reached that village. He was seen, I hear, wandering
quite oblivious to his own needs and appearance. Wearing rags, playing
on his flute, and pinning verses on the trees. The ones who saw him
said, that he would disappear as mysteriously as he came, and then
would be seen again on some street dancing like a whirling dervish.
HIR
He has gone mad! Oh, my Ranjha! How can anyone ever find him?
KAIDU
Not mad, I hope not! Just besotted, wearing his love and grief on
his sleeves. Next time, our couriers see a fakir or a whirling
dervish, they are going to tie him hand and foot and bring him back
to Jhang. Those are Chochuk's orders.
HIR
Mad indeed! Writing verses and gone stark mad? No hope to bring him
back to sanity?
KAIDU
He says he is the Lover, seeking his Beloved.
HIR
Beloved! Faithless he? Abandoning me in my plight, and making me
journey alone on the road to misfortunes.
KAIDU
He is heard saying that he is the God, but despised by all the gods
for not spiriting away his Beloved from the hands of fate.
HIR
Wandering over the lands and the oceans, while I lay here imprisoned!
Suffering a slow, lingering death?
KAIDU
You are not going to die, Hir, but live. I heard you were ill and my
heart somersaulted. You won't believe me, but that's how I felt.
This beautiful child can't die, while I an old man live, that's what
I said to myself. Promise me, child, you will take care of yourself
and get well. I promise too, that I will find Ranjha, and then you
two will be married.
RAJNI
That's what I have been telling my mistress all along. Live,
Mistress, live.
HIR
Well enough to fall into Ranjha's arms, and then die.
KAIDU
To be wedded for life, Hir, not to be courting death.
HIR
How will I ever escape this prison? Caged bird that I am, and no
wings to fly away.
KAIDU
Your in-laws are kind and loving, Hir, I know that much. They will
believe in anything you say. All you need is a simple pretense that
you want to visit you parents, and then we will make sure that you
never come back.
HIR
Alas, Saida will never let me go. Alone, that is! He says he loves
me, but he will never accede to my leaving so soon.
KAIDU
Ranjha's love will dissolve all obstacles, Hir. Believe in miracles.
Most of all, believe in your own love, child, and you will be wedded
to Ranjha before you know it. I better go and find Ranjha, before
death corners me to thwart my search.
HIR
Ranjha! Wandering, going hungry? Possessed by madness?
{Kaidu hobbles out of the room without any word of advice or comfort.
Rajni watches him leave in utter silence. Hir snatches a pillow,
hugging it frantically. Her whole body feverish and shivering.}
HIR
Nightmares are true, and dreams are shuddering to reveal more
nightmares. Where are the happy, carefree days of my childhood,
Rajni? Where did I lose them? Where is Ranjha?
RAJNI
They are with you, Mistress, if you only but look back. And Ranjha
too, he is with you, if you look deep into your heart.
HIR
My heart, shattered like glass! Did an evil spirit visit us just now?
RAJNI
Only your uncle, Mistress.
HIR
Alas, the most hated by all. By me, by his friends and foes, and by
our whole family with the exception of my mother?
{A slow, hesitant knock. Only Rajni is aware of it, and plods toward
the door as if sleepwalking. She disappears behind the door, while
Hir closes her eyes.}
HIR
The evil spirits are looming everywhere. Returning, edging closer.
Come, sweet dreams, lull me to sleep, cradled into the arms of my Ranjha.
{Rajni returns, her face flushed and her eyes shining.}
RAJNI
Mistress, a jogi wants to see you.
HIR
(Her eyes closed, and her lips parted in the semblance of
a prayer)
Give him alms and send him away.
RAJNI
He knows your name, Mistress. And requests most humbly to see you,
alone.
HIR
I am tired, Rajni, go away.
RAJNI
Jogis like him never go from door to door. And once turned away,
they never return, says Ranjha himself.
HIR
(Her eyes shot open)
Ranjha! Jogi! Bring him in. Bar all the doors. Stay out and stay
guard. Hurry, don't delay.
{Rajni disappears behind the door jauntily. Hir tosses the pillow
away and sits hugging her knees.}
HIR
God, you are my light and salvation, stay with me. You have come
back, God, you are love, not fear. Guide me in life and death. Never,
not ever abandon me. I pray...hoping, you will not be angry.
{Ranjha enters attired in a white robe. The big, round earrings
shining in his ears. A jade necklace from his neck clear to his waist
is of the same color as his begging bowl, painted green. He is
carrying a staff in one hand, and his flute is seen tucked in his
cummerbund.
{As soon as he enters, he abandons his bowl and staff on the floor.
In a flash, he gathers Hir into his arms in one crushing embrace.}
HIR
How I prayed and prayed for death, Ranjha!
RANJHA
(Holding Hir before him, and gazing into her eyes)
Your prayers will never be answered, Beloved. I die each moment to
keep the spark of your life glowing. You live eternally in my heart
and inside my soul.
HIR
My own heart, Ranjha, broken and bleeding.
RANJHA
(Holding her hand and making her sit beside him on the
davenport)
My love will heal it, sweet Hir. I cannot live without you.
HIR
Eclipsed is my love in sorrow, Ranjha.
RANJHA
True lovers are born to suffer for their great love, Hir. But ours
will conquer all sufferings.
HIR
How, Ranjha? You left me in the oceans of tears and grief.
RANJHA
How bitterly I cried, Beloved! Did you not hear one single cry? My
laments reaching to the sky, and hurling back thunder and lightning
into my own heart.
HIR
Where did you go, Ranjha? How could you leave me alone? Why didn't
you come back?
RANJHA
Know not where I went, or what I did? Knowing only that you Beloved
is my final destination. You are mine alone, Hir, and we will not
ever be parted again.
HIR
And you remember nothing, Ranjha? Nothing of your wanderings?
RANJHA
Only the waters of Chenab. The tempests raging at my cowardliness.
Pale nights mourning for our separation. The nightingales singing
the saddest of songs. Of sorrow and parting?
HIR
How did this world change so quickly, Ranjha? It must have been
waiting to destroy us, our love and our lives?
RANJHA
Garden of our love may seem plundered, Hir, but it is filled with
eternal bloom unseen by the ones who know no love. I have come to
take you away, Beloved. I don't know where, but we will not ever
be parted again.
HIR
To my parents home, I suppose?
RANJHA
Your parents, who forced you to...
HIR
They are repenting now, Ranjha. Everyone seems to be repenting!
Abdul, Kaidu, the whole world? They came to see me. My parents
want me back, they want you back. Remember how you used to sing to
the cattle. With you gone, they are gone wild. The new shepherd
can't control them. If they are not dying in the lakes and the
marshes, they are busy destroying the crops.
RANJHA
They never cared about my precious loss when I lost you, my love.
And now the loss of cattle has moved them to repentance?
HIR
You don't understand, Ranjha. They are repenting for the wrong they
did to us. They are planning a divorce, so that we could be married
as agreed.
RANJHA
If Khairas ever got wind of this plan, Hir, they would murder you in
sleep. What would happen then? I would slaughter the whole clan to
avenge my Love. If I don't kill myself in the end, I would be
wandering on the face of this earth like a restless spirit whose thirst
for vengeance could never be quenched even by the rivers of blood.
HIR
Kaidu said you have gone mad?
RANJHA
Stark mad, being separated from you. Suffering the tortures of the
damned, and searching for truth which only your pure heart can offer
and sustain. As for keeping you with me, I am taking you to a mansion
built by my brothers, not to your parents' home. My brothers have
promised me lands rich and a mansion of my own.
HIR
I am dreaming again, Ranjha! Abdul and Kaidu...did they really come?
Is it true, that they all are searching for you?
RANJHA
For their own evil designs, I am sure.
HIR
(Her fingers tracing Ranjha's cheeks dreamily)
I can't think, Ranjha. Are you in my dream too, or are you real?
RANJHA
(Gazing into her eyes)
As real as your beautiful eyes, my love. How sad and profound they
are! You have grown so pale and slender. Let's go, Beloved, before
Saida discovers us.
HIR
Where, Ranjha?
RANJHA
To Hazara, Beloved, where my brothers live.
HIR
You mean, elope?
RANJHA
To spend the rest of our lives together. Loving eternally!
HIR
To Jhang then, Ranjha. We will be wedded there, and then go to Hazara.
RANJHA
My home is where my Love is, Beloved. A slave to your wishes, I will
go where you lead me.
HIR
Rajni must come with us.
RANJHA
(Carrying her into his arms and hugging her to him)
Your most obedient servant, Hir. Command me as you will.
HIR
This beautiful dream again, Ranjha.
RANJHA
A dream which will last as long as I live.
HIR
Some cruel jest might awaken me from this dream?
RANJHA
Nothing could, Love. Not ever as long as you are with me.
HIR
Uncle Kaidu said he would come and get me, when he found you.
RANJHA
You were lost to me, Beloved. I am the one who found you, and I am
the one who will take you back home.
HIR
Ranjha, what if Saida doesn't agree to divorce. Comes storming to
Jhang and...
RANJHA
(Grazing her lips with a small kiss)
Hush, love, hush. We are going to our own paradise, where no one can
enter and where nothing exists, but our love!
HIR
(Burying her face in his chest)
My heaven is right here, Ranjha. How can I look for it elsewhere?
The Curtain
ACT FOUR
SCENE 1
The same parlor as in first scene at the palace of Hir's parents.
Malki and Kaidu are sitting side by side on a tapestried davenport.
Abdul is facing them sunk in his own large chair laden with pillows.
Chochuk is pacing absently and thoughtfully.
MALKI
(Wringing her hands)
What a shame? Nothing that I could think of can ever wash this
disgrace off our family name. I wish I had died before Hir was born.
CHOCHUK
What's the use digging the past, and smearing Present with the mud?
MALKI
Eloping with Ranjha! I even shudder to imagine that our daughter
could do this. Then telling us all the lies. Did Saida ever laid
his hands on her, as she claims, as if he had nothing better to do
but to beat her? Kind and loving Khairas. I don't blame them, they
have a right to be furious. Who put such lies in her head, can't
imagine?
ABDUL
(Fondling his beard)
Her wild imaginations alone, what else?
CHOCHUK
At least our cattle is restrained, now that Ranjha is back
MALKI
You are more concerned about the cattle than disgrace, which is
burying us alive in the pit of shame and degradation.
CHOCHUK
Why do you keep harping about the disgrace which is no more. There
is no shame in divorce, as it is settled with no ill-feelings. No
shame either in Hir marrying anyone she chooses.
MALKI
Divorce! There is no divorce?
CHOCHUK
No divorce! I thought? Didn't you say?
MALKI
I lied! Lies are so very infectious, they are all around us. I am
infected with this disease from my own chaste and beautiful daughter.
CHOCHUK
This marriage can't go on then. No disgrace is more shameful than
the one to marry one's daughter to another; knowing, that she is
married to someone else.
MALKI
Abdul has been kind enough to find a solution to that.
CHOCHUK
Always a pious solution from this man of piety, who could dare
dispute his wickedness, not even a king? And what purgatory you
have chosen for us, Mulla Abdul?
ABDUL
(Exchanging en enigmatic look with Malki, and whispering)
I thought that was our secret, not to be disclosed?
MALKI
(Murmuring back)
No secrets, when shame and disgrace are piled high on the mounds of
tragedies past and griefs to come.
KAIDU
Secrets are no secrets when they run like wildfire out of lying tongues.
CHOCHUK
Speak, pious Mulla, or I will tie the chord of your own piety around
your neck.
ABDUL
To end this disgrace, o king, your daughter must die.
CHOCHUK
My daughter, die? How? Why? Is she ill, is she dying?
ABDUL
No, but she will. The ritual of drinking milk after the marriage
vows, is all prepared. The milk is poisoned.
CHOCHUK
Is that your secret, Malki? Must Hir die?
MALKI
No other choice, Chochuk, no choice. My Hir, my Hir. This disgrace,
this disgrace!
KAIDU
I am a sinful man, but I have never heard of a more heinous sin than
this to be perpetrated by the parents.
MALKI
What if the Khairas come back to claim Hir?
CHOCHUK
She will be no more, no more? I will chain Ranjha to slavery, and he
will tend my cattle all his life.
MALKI
Cattle, cattle! Oh, madness and madness?
KAIDU
This madness must stop. No marriage, till we convince Saida to grant
divorce.
ABDUL
Saida will never agree. He is much too much in love. Hir must die.
{Rajni straggles into the room. Her look is wild and her hair
disheveled. She is staggering as if about to swoon, but Malki's
flashing eyes transfix her to a chilling halt.}
MALKI
How much have you heard, Rajni? Speak, o, impudent wretch.
RAJNI
Nothing, Mistress. I just came to ask...preparations for the wedding.
MALKI
What preparations, you rude simpleton? This is a private affair, just
for the family members. No one is invited. Of course, two garlands
of flowers, and a glass of milk, that's all we need.
{Rajni flees, tears welling into her eyes. Malki storms after her.}
MALKI
I will pull your tongue out, if you but say a word.
KAIDU
(Balancing his cane to ease himself up)
I will not be an accomplice to this dark deed. The most horrible and
darkest of all deeds!
ABDUL
The rod of God's own justice will humble and silence you. You should
know, God chastises his children when they go astray, and gives
guidance to pious men like myself to do the same as He wills.
CHOCHUK
(Incensed and impatient)
Sit down, Kaidu. Let us be reasonable. Let not your emotions sway
you, but Reason. No father wants his child's death, unless the sword
of honor and disgrace threatens his sanity, if not life.
KAIDU
(Sinking back into his chair with a loud sigh)
Reason has gone insane! And piety is smoldering inside the pot of
wickedness.
ABDUL
You went to see Hir, Kaidu, didn't you? And you promised her that
she would be married to Ranjha, isn't that the truth? Are you going
to deny all that?
KAIDU
You visited her too, Mulla! But we were all thinking about divorce,
nothing else, but an honorable settlement.
ABDUL
Since divorce is not possible, what do you propose?
CHOCHUK
Divorce or no divorce! I will not agree to killing my own child.
ABDUL
What do you propose, o king?
CHOCHUK
To postpone the wedding, till divorce is secured.
ABDUL
And to reveal this murderous plot to Hir? This terrible plot
concocted by her own mother? How else can you appease her misery
and curiosity, if you plan to announce the delay in marriage?
CHOCHUK
You concocted that plot, you impious, stinking worm, didn't you?
Not my wife, not my wife, don't shift that blame on a loving mother?
ABDUL
She suggested it to me, I can swear it on the Quran.
KAIDU
God's pious men? How easily they are misled, falling into a pool of
corruption? And I the most wretched of sinners, shuddering at the
mere thought of such an enormity.
CHOCHUK
A mother's heart is pure gold. But Malki, she is visited by madness
since Hir's wedding. Weeping and grieving?
ABDUL
And Hir will bring more shame and disgrace to the family, if she lives.
CHOCHUK
(Pacing, his arms shooting up in the air)
What can a noble parent do when his child rebels and disobeys?
ABDUL
Bury her under the cold earth, where peace and darkness will be her
companions.
KAIDU
God may never forgive you, if you succeed in practicing your cruelty
and wickedness to your heart's corruption.
ABDUL
Flinging curses at a pious man, Kaidu? You are the one who planted
the seeds of discord in her parents' hearts, when she wanted to marry
Ranjha!
KAIDU
I didn't know the extent of her love, then. I was only thinking of
comfort and riches in life, for her, for her.
ABDUL
Reason, not love, is the law of life.
KAIDU
Impiety, blasphemy and wickedness are the laws of your life, Mulla!
They are going to blow out the mask of your false piety, and you
will be left only with stinking rags to cover your shame if you do
not desist from evil.
ABDUL
(Leaping to his feet)
How dare you insult a pious man? You lame, accursed vermin? Your
own deformities are a witness that your soul is the abode of the
foul, wicked lies.
(Pounces on Kaidu. Shaking him by the shoulders in a fit of
rage and violence)
CHOCHUK
(Startled to awareness)
Gentlemen! This is a palace of peace...and death, not a den of brawls.
{Chochuk is trying to disengage Abdul and Kaidu. Malki rushes in,
pressed by her own blind rage. She is dragging Rajni by the hair,
and screaming.}
MALKI
This faithless slut. She is spying on us. Stealing away to tell Hir...
(Becomes aware of the men entangled in a fight, her voice
choking. Rajni falls in a heap on the floor, sobbing)
MALKI (Continues)
More shame and disgrace! Are men going to die before this wedding?
I see death and darkness...
The Curtain
ACT FOUR
SCENE 11
The same garden as in Act one, scene one. Hir and Ranjha are
strolling side by side.
HIR
Our wedding day, Ranjha! So beautiful, so peaceful. Peaceful as death.
RANJHA
Hush, my love, hush. It's the day of life. Life eternal and life
everlasting. Why speak of death this blessed day?
HIR
Isn't death the beginning of life, Ranjha?
RANJHA
Perhaps, love? But we are taking the path of Light, where darkness
will never reveal itself. Are you not happy, my love?
HIR
I can't contain this joy, Ranjha. Can one die of sheer bliss and
happiness?
RANJHA
Death again! Tell me, are you happy? I want to hear from you the
truth, Beloved, nothing but the absolute truth.
HIR
I am happier than the twinkling stars, Ranjha, much more than that,
can't explain! But I have that same feeling of foreboding which I
had, when...
RANJHA
When my precious jewel was lost to the Khairas, isn't that it, love?
But that is behind us now, Hir. The clouds of grief and sorrow are
gone. Now sunshine of joy and hope, warms our hearts. My prayers
have brought you back, and my prayers will keep us together.
HIR
I don't pray anymore, Ranjha. Strange that I can't pray. No prayers
touched my lips, even when I lay mired in grief...in the death-throes
of agony and despair. I used to pray, but no more, no more.
RANJHA
You must pray, Beloved. If not for yourself, for others. Prayers
bring joy and peace. They are some sort of gifts, rather treasures,
which can be bestowed upon others without the fear or loss of wealths
material or spiritual. They add love and light to the hidden mysteries
within us. Treasures indeed, which could never be purchased, but
nurtured.
HIR
Ranjha, pray...pray for me, so that my heart be moved to prayers.
Are we really getting married, Ranjha? Is this not some dream,
concealing lies? No more nightmares in its wake, if I can only pray?
Hope and love, are they ours at last? No dangers, no darkness'!
RANJHA
This is the garden of reality, my love. Only the sprigs of love,
where neither dreams, nor nightmares can ever flourish. Our love
alone is the perfume of this Reality, and our bliss its only essence.
HIR
I still can't believe, Ranjha, that we are getting married, that Saida
consented to divorce?
RANJHA
Ranjha's love is too mighty, it can achieve miracles. How can my
beloved stay tied to the spool of an unholy matrimony, when my love
can cut the hearts of the mountains?
HIR
Don't boast, Ranjha. Where did you conceal your mighty love when you
adopted the guise of a jogi? Were you not mad enough to say, you are
God?
RANJHA
I am the god of Love and Truth, Hir. And that is the Truth, total and
absolute Truth.
HIR
Then I am the goddess. For a god can't wed a mere mortal like me.
RANJHA
You are a goddess, love. That's why your marriage to Saida was
considered sinful by the gods. They were angered.
HIR
Suppose, the gods are still angry, with me, with us?
RANJHA
Not when my own goddess is willing to marry the god of her love.
HIR
Suppose still, the gods are angry. If they kill me, what would you do?
RANJHA
You are my Truth, Beloved! And my love will embrace you forever, in
Light or Darkness. Even in death, we will not ever be parted.
HIR
Mystery, this love of ours, isn't it? We suffered so! What's the
purpose of pain and suffering?
RANJHA
To enjoy more, the fruits of joy in living, I suppose.
HIR
Pain and suffering serve no purpose in life, Ranjha. Besides, they
breed despair and cultivate bitterness.
RANJHA
If the buds of joy bloomed from the sprigs of joy eternally, the
sweetness of joy would be lost on them, simply, because no comparison
of pain or suffering could ever exist for them.
HIR
Are you inventing these parables, Ranjha, or speaking through the
tongues of wisdom and experience.
RANJHA
Wisdom alone guides my tongue, Hir.
HIR
Now you are lying, Ranjha. Your heart alone is your guide, not your
head. Has anyone heard of a wise heart?
RANJHA
Jogis never lie, Beloved. If a head carries wisdom in its eyes, then
the heart compliments it with its own throne of wisdom.
HIR
Where is the Truth then, which forswears the foolishness of a heart?
RANJHA
Only a handful of Truths measure the worth of Love and Wisdom.
HIR
Do you know any which do, Ranjha?
RANJHA
One and one only. And that's you! You are my Truth, my love. The
only Truth in this whole wide world.
HIR
What do you know, Ranjha? Vanity dances in my head, and inside my
heart is a glittering mirage, of what I know not.
RANJHA
You are chaste, Hir. And faithful and loving. These three virtues
which are the essence of one absolute Truth.
HIR
How do you know I am chaste? I was wedded to...oh, grief and misery,
I want to forget all.
RANJHA
Did you...did Saida...are you...
HIR
Oh, Ranjha. If he did, I would have killed myself right there and then.
RANJHA
Hir! Truth! Beloved!
HIR
You doubt me?
RANJHA
If one can doubt one's own divine breath, Hir, drawing in and sucked
out into oblivion, then one might doubt one's Beloved.
HIR
Let us pray then, Ranjha, together.
RANJHA
At your feet, my love, which will be washed with my tears of gratitude.
HIR
No, Ranjha. I said, together.
RANJHA
Strange, no prayers are coming to my lips.
HIR
My heart is thundering
RANJHA
A storm, for sure, before bliss and serenity.
HIR
How long will it last. The storm, I mean, inside my heart?
RANJHA
It is subsiding, I can feel it. Isn't it?
HIR
Yes. Should we kneel, and pray?
RANJHA
I can't.
HIR
Why?
RANJHA
A tearing, stabbing longing in my heart is numbing my senses.
HIR
All this, on our wedding day, Ranjha, why? We don't have to wait that
long now.
RANJHA
To embrace you forever and forever, I must.
HIR
Let's go in, Ranjha.
RANJHA
Yes, I cannot wait any longer.
HIR
I am dying to be your wife.
RANJHA
Please, Beloved, keep death and dying out of your thoughts.
HIR
It's just an expression, Ranjha. Why are you so superstitious?
RANJHA
Love is an expression too, my love, until it finds fulfillment in
consummation.
{Ranjha slips his arm around Hir's waist, as they drift closer to the
house. Kaidu is seen hobbling toward them, his look wearied and
thoughtful.}
HIR
We are coming, Uncle. You didn't have to come and drag us to our own
wedding ceremony.
KAIDU
Just wanted to make sure if my love-birds are well and alive.
HIR
Why, uncle? Who would like to kill oneself on one's own wedding day,
unless it is marked with despair? As was mine once, and I didn't have
the strength to do it.
RANJHA
And no gods could be so cruel as to strike one dead on one's wedding day.
KAIDU
Bite your tongue, Ranjha, or gods will be angry with you.
RANJHA
I implore God's mercy at all time and in all circumstance. Without His
mercy, I will surely be lost.
KAIDU
Now listen, children, and be truthful. Are you sure you two love each
other, and are ready to get married?
HIR
Uncle! Isn't it ridiculous to ask such a question; knowing, what we
went through?
RANJHA
Passing strange, Kaidu, passing strange?
KAIDU
Just making sure. This is my old age, a touch of senility. Do you
need more time? Wouldn't it be better if you waited a little longer?
One is never sure. Love is blind. Better to clear all the doubts,
before one feels ready to share the burden of this holy commitment for
life.
HIR
Uncle! Burden?
RANJHA
You are not feeling well, uncle Kaidu, I presume. You do look
worried...and distraught?
KAIDU
My sins are crushing my old bones to dust.
HIR
What sins?
KAIDU
The sins of deformity in my body and soul, which I have carried for
too long.
RANJHA
All your sins are forgiven, Uncle Kaidu, be rest assured. You have
helped banish our grief and misery by bringing us together.
KAIDU
Together? I wish you...
{Rajni is seen flying toward them. She appears dazed, her look wild
and searching. Malki is racing after her in one desperate attempt to
impede her approach.}
RAJNI
Mistress! Mistress!
MALKI
Turn back, Rajni, this instant, I say. You will be flogged to death
alive, if you don't. Didn't I tell you to fetch the garlands for the
wedding?
{Rajni is chilled to one spot in her act of running, as if struck by
a bolt of lightning. Suddenly, she whirls back and flees toward the
house, as if pursued by a pack of demons.}
HIR
Mamma, what's wrong with Rajni? Is she ill?
MALKI
(Her eyes shooting daggers at Kaidu, before she turns
to Hir)
God knows, what's with her, my princess! She is acting up strange
since this morning. Maybe, coming down with a fever, that's all I
can think of.
RANJHA
Malki Begum, you yourself don't look too well?
MALKI
My nerves are frayed. This wedding, and Rajni acting demented.
RANJHA
I hope, you are not worried about Hir, Malki Begum. She will be
protected and cherished by me all her life.
MALKI
I wish I could believe that!
HIR
You doubt, Mamma?
MALKI
(Ignoring Hir, and flashing a murderous look at Kaidu)
Your leg is hurting, Kaidu. Didn't I tell you to stay indoors?
RANJHA
Why do I feel...the very air is charged with some sort of threat, all
of a sudden?
MALKI
Come, children, come. The wedding must not be delayed anymore. There
is peace waiting...peace and...
The Curtain
ACT FOUR
SCENE 111
The same parlor as the one at the beginning of Act 1V. Hir and Ranjha
are seated together on a davenport. Abdul is seated opposite them, his
eyes fixed to the copy of the Quran in his lap. Kaidu is sitting next
to Abdul, perusing the marriage contract. Malki is seated to the right
of Ranjha in her own tapestried chair. The low table beside her
displaying a silver tray with a glass of milk, is holding her utmost
attention. Chochuk is pacing as usual. Rajni is crouched in the
corner under some spell of shock and stupor. She is almost crushing
the garlands of flowers in her arms.
HIR
The happiest day of my life, Rajni, and what evil spirit is visiting
you?
RAJNI
(Murmuring inaudibly)
Mistress.
MALKI
She has been raving, princess, raving mad! She is afraid she is going
to lose you...by being married to Ranjha, of course.
HIR
Lose me! I am only going to Hazara, that's not the end of the world.
She is coming with me, isn't she?
MALKI
(Murmuring to herself)
Wish, that was possible.
RANJHA
Everyone looks so mournful! Though the music in my heart is enough
for a wedding march. Kaidu uncle, what is troubling you? It seems
a mountain is going to fall over your shoulders?
KAIDU
Aged and lame as I am, I am ready to fall into my own grave before
any mountain crashes over me.
RANJHA
You are to live many more decades, Kaidu uncle, to tell our kids the
story of our love and marriage.
KAIDU
Love and peace! If I have any breath left to tell such a story.
HIR
The only person in this room who looks calm, is Mulla Abdul. Can't
figure why everybody else look so distraught? Rather, worried about
something which I can't perceive.
ABDUL
Piety and prayer lead one to peace and contentment. The holy
scriptures are my refuge, I am one with the words of God.
Surrendering my will to the Will of God.
RANJHA
King Chochuk, you have been showering us with your blessings since
we returned. And now...are you not happy that we are getting married?
CHOCHUK
(Coming to an abrupt halt in the middle of the room)
Happy! I think I am going to die of sheer happiness? My princess,
moving far, far away. Farther than the oceans and the continents,
even beyond that? Deeper and deeper...
MALKI
Chochuk, get hold of your senses! Our Hir, she is not moving that far.
HIR
Hazara is not that far, Papa! Even less than Rangpur, where I was
forced to go? I will visit often, I promise.
CHOCHUK
If I live to see that, my princess, peace will follow me in death.
RANJHA
Our blessed wedding, and everyone is talking so strange? Never before
in my life have I ever heard the word of death on weddings.
ABDUL
Let's seal this blessed wedding with your signature, Ranjha. That is
if Kaidu is kind enough to sign his name as a witness without pondering
so much!
HIR
Two witnesses are required to sign the marriage contract, Abdul, isn't
that true?
ABDUL
Your father has already signed, o gentle bride.
{Kaidu signs, holding out the parchment to Abdul. Abdul passes it
to Ranjha. Both Hir and Ranjha sign their names quickly. Their
fingers trembling and their eyes shining. Abdul retrieves the
signed parchment, and Hir and Ranjha join hands.}
ABDUL
Now the simple ritual of a blessed wedding may commence. I will read
the holy words of the God silently, for fortunes and blessings.
MALKI
Rajni, put one garland around Hir's neck, and the other around Ranjha's.
{Rajni obeys somnambulantly. Ranjha bows his head as he receive the
garland. Rajni draws her face close to Hir's ear, while slipping the
garland over her head.}
MALKI
(Thundering)
Stop, Rajni. Don't dare whisper one of your demented gossips into the
bride's ears. Do your duty, and begone.
{Rajni steps back as if stung. She is caught in abeyance, more chilled
than stunned.}
HIR
Rajni, what is it? What has come over you?
RAJNI
Mistress...I am...you...
MALKI
(Thundering again)
Rajni, didn't I say, begone?
HIR
Mamma! Let Rajni talk, I want to hear what she has to say. It's my
wedding day, don't be upset with her.
MALKI
She can't say one sane word, Hir, I tell you. She is afflicted with
some sort of fever...thinks, you are going to be imprisoned in Hazara.
HIR
Rajni, don't worry. Hazara is not like Rangpur, dark and lonely.
Hazara is heaven, it will be going to be my heaven. You will be with
me, you are my friend. Say something, Rajni?
RANJHA
I have always been kind to you, Rajni, talk to your Mistress, be kind
to her. Say something, anything? In Hazara you will be treated with
respect as Hir's friend should be. You will not be our servant, but
the mistress of your own will.
HIR
What's wrong with Rajni, Papa, why doesn't she speak?
CHOCHUK
(His pace dwindling and his look dazed)
Papa!
HIR
Yes, Papa! You too are acting strange. I, we asked for your
blessings, and you gave them most truly and happily. What happened,
what's happening? It seems, you don't see us.
CHOCHUK
Blessings, yes, I did give...did I?
HIR
Mamma! What's wrong with papa?
MALKI
Nothing. He was like that at your first wedding too.
HIR
Uncle Kaidu! Could you please tell me, why is everyone acting so
strange? I used to sit in your lap and you told me all sorts of
strange stories, remember? Now tell me, what's happening, make a
story, something?
KAIDU
You will fare well in Heaven, Hir, that's all I can say. Rest in peace.
ABDUL
(Closing the Quran reverently)
Peace and happiness to all.
RANJHA
I have never seen you so calm and peaceful, Abdul, as Hir noticed
before. Could you please tell us the reason of all this strangeness?
ABDUL
God's ways are mysterious, Ranjha, how do I know?
HIR
Is this all your doing, Abdul? Have you cast a spell? What have you
done to them all?
ABDUL
Nothing! The only thing I have done so far is to perform the wedding
ceremony. Making you the bride of Ranjha as you wished.
RANJHA
Let's go, Beloved. I smell the reek of danger.
HIR
I can't leave, Ranjha, not like this! Everyone acting so strange.
MALKI
(Holding out the glass of milk to Hir)
No, you can't, my princess, not until you drink this holy milk. This
is to seal your marriage vows, as you know, and bring you prosperity.
RAJNI
Mistress, no!
HIR
(Smiling to herself)
Why, Rajni? This is the last sacred rite of my wedding!
(She takes two sips, gasping for breath and her eyes
bulging out)
{Ranjha snatches the glass from Hir, pressing her close to his with
one arm. His own voice is choked, though he is trying to speak.}
RAJNI
My mistress is poisoned. Dead. Murdered by...
(She falls at Hir's feet, sobbing violently)
RANJHA
God's mockery! Truth desecrated. No...Truth is...embracing...death...
(Swallows the whole glass of milk in one gulp)
{The empty glass crashes on the floor, as Ranjha's body falls limp.
His one arm is still holding Hir's own limp body, both falling in one
soft heap. Chochuk is standing in the middle of the room with his arms
stretched out, as if trying to embrace something. Kaidu sits there
motionless, his eyes are closed. A volley of hysterical mirth breaks
forth on Malki's lips, all of a sudden. Abdul is grinning, his eyes
riveted to the dead lovers with a burning intensity.}
The Curtain
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. REMEMBERY: EPYLLION IN ANAMNESIS (1996), poems by Michael R. Collings . DYNASTY (1968), Poems by Klaus J. Gerken . THE WIZARD EXPLODED SONGBOOK (1969), songs by KJ Gerken . STREETS (1971), Poems by Klaus J. Gerken . BLOODLETTING (1972) poems by Klaus J. Gerken . ACTS (1972) a novel by Klaus J. Gerken . RITES (1974), a novel by Klaus J. Gerken . FULL BLACK Q (1975), a poem by KJ Gerken . ONE NEW FLASH OF LIGHT (1976), a play by KJ Gerken . THE BLACKED-OUT MIRROR (1979), a poem by Klaus J. Gerken . JOURNEY (1981), a poem by Klaus J. Gerken . LADIES (1983), a poem by Klaus J. Gerken . FRAGMENTS OF A BRIEF ENCOUNTER (1984), poems by KJ Gerken . THE BREAKING OF DESIRE (1986), poems by KJ Gerken . FURTHER SONGS (1986), songs by KJ Gerken . POEMS OF DESTRUCTION (1988), poems by KJ Gerken . THE AFFLICTED (1991), a poem by KJ Gerken . DIAMOND DOGS (1992), poems by KJ Gerken . KILLING FIELD (1992), a poem by KJ Gerken . BARDO (1994-1995), a poem by Klaus J. Gerken . FURTHER EVIDENCES (1995-1996) Poems by Klaus J. Gerken . CALIBAN'S ESCAPE AND OTHER POEMS (1996), by Klaus J. Gerken . CALIBAN'S DREAM (1996-1997), a poem by Klaus J. Gerken . THE LAST OLD MAN (1997), a novel by Klaus J. Gerken . WILL I EVER REMEMBER YOU? (1997), poems by Klaus J. Gerken . SONGS FOR THE LEGION (1998), song-poems by Klaus J. Gerken . REALITY OR DREAM? (1998), poems by Klaus J. Gerken . APRIL VIOLATIONS (1998), poems by Klaus J. Gerken . THE VOICE OF HUNGER (1998), a poem by Klaus J. Gerken . SHACKLED TO THE STONE, by Albrecht Haushofer - translated by JR Wesdorp . MZ-DMZ (1988), ramblings by Igal Koshevoy . DARK SIDE (1991), ramblings by Igal Koshevoy . STEEL REIGNS & STILL RAINS (1993), ramblings by Igal Koshevoy . BLATANT VANITY (1993), ramblings by Igal Koshevoy . ALIENATION OF AFFECTION (1993), ramblings by Igal Koshevoy . LIVING LIFE AT FACE VALUE (1993), ramblings by Igal Koshevoy . HATRED BLURRED (1993), ramblings by Igal Koshevoy . CHOKING ON THE ASHES OF A RUNAWAY (1993), ramblings by I. Koshevoy . BORROWED FEELINGS BUYING TIME (1993), ramblings by Igal Koshevoy . HARD ACT TO SWALLOW (1994), ramblings by Igal Koshevoy . HALL OF MIRRORS (1994), ramblings by Igal Koshevoy . ARTIFICIAL BUOYANCY (1994), ramblings by Igal Koshevoy . THE POETRY OF PEDRO SENA, poems by Pedro Sena . THE FILM REVIEWS, by Pedro Sena . THE SHORT STORIES, by Pedro Sena . INCANTATIONS, by Pedro Sena . POEMS (1970), poems by Franz Zorn All books are on disk and cost $10.00 each. Checks should be made out to the respective authors and orders will be forwarded by Ygdrasil Press. YGDRASIL MAGAZINE may also be ordered from the same address: $5.00 an issue to cover disk and mailing costs, also specify computer type (IBM or Mac), as well as disk size and density. Allow 2 weeks for delivery. Note that YGDRASIL MAGAZINE is free when downloaded from Ygdrasil's World-Wide Web site at http://www.synapse.net/~kgerken.
All poems copyrighted by their respective authors. Any reproduction of
these poems, without the express written permission of the authors, is
prohibited.
YGDRASIL: A Journal of the Poetic Arts - Copyright (c) 1993, 1994, 1995,
1996, 1997 & 1998 by Klaus J. Gerken.
The official version of this magazine is available on Ygdrasil's
World-Wide Web site http://www.synapse.net/~kgerken. No other
version shall be deemed "authorized" unless downloaded from there.
Distribution is allowed and encouraged as long as the issue is unchanged.
All checks should be made out to: YGDRASIL PRESS
COMMENTS
* Klaus Gerken, Chief Editor - for general messages and ASCII text
submissions. Use Klaus' address for commentary on Ygdrasil and its
contents: kgerken@synapse.net
* Pedro Sena, Production Editor - for submissions of anything
that's not plain ASCII text (ie. archives, GIFs, wordprocessored
files, etc) in any standard DOS, Mac or Unix format, commentary on
Ygdrasil's format, distribution, usability and access:
art@accces.com
We'd love to hear from you!
Or mailed with a self addressed stamped envelope, to:
