Little Clay Cart

Śūdraka
The little clay cart / by Śūdraka ; translated by Diwakar Acharya ; with a foreword by Partha Chatterjee. - New York, NY : New York University Press ; JJC Foundation, 2009. - xli, 628 S. - (The Clay Sanskrit library ; 44)
Einheitssachtitel: Mṛcchakaṭika <Sanskrit, engl.>
ISBN 978-0-8147-0729-6 / 0-8147-0729-7
US$ 22,00
DDC: 891.22

Beschreibung
The Little Clay Cart is, for Sanskrit drama, atypically romantic, funny, and thrilling, replete with love, humor, courage, and intrigues. As Wilson put it, the ten-act play is “in many respect the most human of all the Sanskrit plays. There is something strikingly Shakespearian in the skilful drawing of characters, the energy and life of the large number of personages in the play, and in the directness and clearness of the plot itself.” One of the earliest Sanskrit plays, Little Clay Cart was created in South India, perhaps in the seventh century CE. The plot unfolds in the city of Ujjain, but so secular and universal is the story that it can be situated in any society in any period.
   The leading character Charudatta, a married merchant reduced to poverty, is extramaritally involved with a wealthy courtesan, Vasántasena. The king’s vile brother-in-law, unable to win Vasántasena’s love, strangles her, and accuses Charudatta in the court. Under the villain’s influence the court decides the case hastily and condemns Charudatta to death. Fortunately, our heroine rises from the dead to save her beloved, and everyone applauds their love. At this culminating moment, there is regime change, and the rebel-turned-king makes Charudatta lord of an adjacent city. [Verlagsinformation]

Inhalt
CSL Conventions. vii
Foreword. xv
Introduction. xix
Dramatis Personæ. xl
THE LITTLE CLAY CART
Prologue The Suitable Husband. 3
Act One The Deposition of Ornaments. 19
Act Two The Gambling Masseur. 81
Act Three Cutting a Hole. 129
Act Four Mádanika and Shárvilaka. 167
Act Five A Rainy Day. 221
Act Six Mix-up of Carriages. 273
Act Seven The Escape of Áryaka. 313
Act Eight Vasánta·sena Strangled. 327
Act Nine The Trial. 395
Act Ten The Conclusion. 455
Chāyā. 531
Notes. 617

Übersetzer
DIWAKAR ACHARYA, Visiting Lecturer at the Department of Indological Studies, Kyoto University, Japan.

Quellen: Clay Sanskrit Library; WorldCat; Amazon; New York University Press