SUDARSHANA. Will he not let me know him also?
GRANDFATHER. Why, he will, of course. Nothing else will satisfy him.
SUDARSHANA. Very well, I shall see how hard he can be! I shall stay here near the window without saying a word; I shall not move an inch; let me see if he will not come!
GRANDFATHER. You are young still—you can afford to wait for him; but to me, an old man, a moment’s loss is a week. I must set out to seek him whether I succeed or not.[_Exit._]
SUDARSHANA. I do not want him—I will not seek him! Surangama, I have no need of your King! Why did he fight with the princes? Was it for me at all? Did he want to show off his prowess and strength? Go away from here—I cannot bear your sight. He has humbled me to the dust, and is not satisfied still!
FIRST CITIZEN. When so many Kings met together, we thought we were going to have some big fun; but somehow everything took such a turn that nobody knows what happened at all!
SECOND CITIZEN. Did you not see, they could not come to an agreement among themselves?—every one distrusted every one else.
THIRD CITIZEN. None kept to their original plans; one wanted to advance, another thought it better policy to recede; some went to the right, others made a rush to the left: how can you call that a fight?
FIRST CITIZEN. They had no eye to real fighting—each had his eye on the others.
SECOND CITIZEN. Each was thinking, “Why should I die to enable others to reap the harvest?”
THIRD CITIZEN. But you must all admit that Kanchi fought like a real hero.
FIRST CITIZEN. He for a long time after his defeat seemed loth to acknowledge himself beaten.
SECOND CITIZEN. He was at last fixed in the chest by a deadly missile.
THIRD CITIZEN. But before that he did not seem to realise that he had been losing ground at every step.
FIRST CITIZEN. As for the other Kings—well, nobody knows where they fled, leaving poor Kanchi alone in the field.
SECOND CITIZEN. But I have heard that he is not dead yet.
THIRD CITIZEN. No, the physicians have saved him—but he will carry the mark of his defeat on his breast till his dying day.
FIRST CITIZEN. None of the other Kings who fled has escaped; they have all been taken prisoners. But what sort of justice is this that was meted out to them?