THE POST OFFICE

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

HEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO DALLAS
ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO

MACMILLAN & CO.. LIMITED

LONDON BOMBAY CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD.

TORONTO
 THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
NEW YORK BOSTON CHICAGO
ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO

MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED

LONDON BOMBAV CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE
THE MACMILLAN CO OF CANADA, LTD
TORONTO
 OFFICE

BV
RABINDRANATH TAGOttE

THE MACMILLAN COMfANV

1916
AL1- RIGHTS RESERVED
 COPYRIGHT, 1914
BY MITCHELL KEXNERLEY

COPYRIGHT, 1914
BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

Set up and electrotyped. Published, March, 1911.

Reprinted, March, April, October, 1914; June, 1915;
August, 1916.
Bolpur Edition, October, 1916.
 DRAMATIS PERSONS
MADHAV
AMAL, his adopted child
SUDHA, a little flower girl
THE DOCTOR
DAIRYMAN
WATCHMAN
GAFFER
VILLAGE HEADMAN, a bully
KING'S HERALD
ROYAL PHYSICIAN
THE POST OFFICE
ACT I
 THE POST OFFICE
ACT I

[Madhav's House]

Madhav
What a state I am in! Before he
came, nothing mattered; I felt so free.
But now that he has come, goodness
knows from where, my heart is filled
with his dear self, and my home will
be no home to me when he leaves.
Doctor, do you think he

Physician
then he will
If there's life in his fate,
live long. But what the medical scrip-
tures say, it seems

Madhav
Great heavens, what?
9
10 THE POST OFFICE
Physician
Thescriptures have it: "Bile or pal-
sey, cold or gout spring all alike."

Madhav
Oh, get along, don't
fling your scrip-
tures at me; you only make me more
anxious; tell me what I can do.

Physician [Taking snuff]

The patient needs the most scrupu-
lous care.
Madhav
That's true; but tell me how.

Physician
I have already mentioned, on no ac-
count must he be let out of doors.

Madhav
Poor child, it is very hard to keep
him indoors all day long.
 THE POST OFFICE 11

Physician
What can you do? The autumn
else
sun and the damp are both very bad
for the little fellow for the scriptures
have it:

"In wheezing, swoon or in nervous fret,

"
In jaundice or leaden eyes

Madhav
Never mind the scriptures, please.
Eh, then we must shut the poor thing
up. Is there no other method?

Physician
"
None at all :
for, In the wind and in
"
the sun
Madhav
What will your "in this and in that"
do for me now? Why don't you let
them alone and come straight to the
point? What's to be done then? Your
system is very, very hard for the poor
boy; and he is so quiet too with all his
12 THE POST OFFICE
pain and sickness. It tears my heart to
see him wince, as he takes your medi-
cine.

Physician
The more he winces, the surer is the
effect. That's why the sage Chyabana
observes: "In medicine as in good ad-
vices, the least palatable ones are the
truest." Ah, well! I must be trotting
now. [Exit]

[Gaffer enters}

Madhav
Well, I'm jiggered, there's Gaffer
now.

Gaffer

Why, why, I won't bite you.

Madhav
No, but you are a devil to send chil-
dren off their heads.
 THE POST OFFICE 13

Gaffer
But you aren't a child, and you've
no child in the house; why worry then?

Madhav
Oh, but I have brought a child into
the house.

Gaffer

Indeed, how so?

Madhav
You remember how my wife was
dying to adopt a child?

Gaffer

Yes, but that's an old story; you

didn't like the idea.

Madhav
You know, brother, how hard all

this getting money in has been. That

somebody else's child would sail in and
14 THE POST OFFICE
waste all this money earned with so
much trouble Oh, I hated the idea.
But this boy clings to my
heart in
such a queer sort of way

Gaffer
So that's the trouble! and your
money goes all for him and feels jolly
lucky it does go at all.

Madhav
Formerly, earning was a sort of pas-
sion with me; I simply couldn't help
working for money. Now, I make
money and as I know it is all for this
dear boy, earning becomes a joy to me.

Gaffer
Ah, well, and where did you pick him
up?
Madhav
He is the son of a man who was a
brother to my wife by village ties. He
 THE POST OFFICE 15

has had no mother since infancy; and

now the other day he lost his father
as well.

Gaffer
Poor thing: and so he needs me all

the more.
Madhav
The doctor says all the organs of his
littlebody are at loggerheads with each
other, and there isn't much hope for
his life. There is only one
way to save
him and that is to keep him out of this
autumn wind and sun. But you are
such a terror What with this game of
!

yours at your age, too, to get children

out of doors !

Gaffer

God bless So I'm already

my soul!
as bad as autumn wind and sun, eh!
But, friend, I know something, too, of
the game of keeping them indoors.
When my day's work is over I am com-
 16 THE POST OFFICE
ing in to make friends with this child
of yours. [Exit]

[Amal enters]

Amal
Uncle, I say, Uncle!

Madhav
Hullo! Is that you, Amal?

Amal
Mayn't I be out of the courtyard at
all?

Madhav
No, my dear, no.
Amal
See, there where Auntie grinds lentils
in the quirn, the squirrel is
sitting with
his tail up and with his wee hands he's

picking up the broken grains of lentils

 THE POST OFFICE 17

and crunching them. Can't I run up

there?

Madhav
No, my darling, no.

Amal
Wish were a squirrel! it would be
I

lovely. Uncle, why won't you let me

go about?

Madhav
Doctor says it's bad for you to be
out.

Amal
How can the doctor know?

Madhav
What a thing to say! The doctor
can't know and he reads such huge
books !
18 THE POST OFFICE
Amal
Does his book-learning tell him
everything?
Madhav
Of course, don't you know!

Amal [With a sigh]

Ah, I am so stupid! I don't read
books.

Madhav
Now, think of very, very learned
it;

people are all like you; they are never

out of doors.
Amal
Aren't they really?

Madhav
No, how can they? Early and late
they toil and moil at their books, and
they've eyes for nothing else. Now,
my little man, you are going to be
 THE POST OFFICE 19

learned when you grow up; and then

you will stay at home and read such
big books, and people will notice you
and say, "he's a wonder."

Amal
No, no, Uncle; I
beg of you by your
dear feet I don't want to be learned,
I won't.

Madhav
Dear, dear; it would have been my
saving if I could have been learned.

Amal
No, I would rather go about and see
everything that there is.

Madhav
Listen to that ! See What will you
!

see, what is there so much to see?

20 THE POST OFFICE
Amal
See that far-away hill from our win-
dow I often long to go beyond those
hills and right away.

Madhav
Oh, you silly! As if there's nothing
more to be done but just get up to the
top of that hill and away! Eh! You
don't talk sense, my boy. Now listen,
since that hill stands there upright as
a barrier, means you can't get beyond
it

it. Else, what was the use in heaping

up so many large stones to make such
a big affair of it, eh!

Amal
do you think it is meant
Uncle,
to prevent your crossing over? It
seems to me because the earth can't
speak it raises its hands into the sky
and beckons. And those who live far
and sit alone by their windows can see
 THE POST OFFICE 21

the signal. But I suppose the learned

people

Madhav
No, they don't have time for that
sort of nonsense. They are not crazy
like you.

Amal
Do you know, yesterday I met some-
one quite as crazy as I am.

Madhav
Gracious me, really, how so?

Amal
He had a bamboo staff on his shoul-
der with a small bundle at the top, and
a brass pot in his left hand, and an old
pair of shoes on; he was making for
those hillsstraight across that meadow
there. I called out to him and asked,
'*
Where are you going?" He answered,
22 THE POST OFFICE
"I don't know, anywhere!" I asked
again, "Why are you going?" He
said, "I'm going out to seek work."
Say, Uncle, have you to seek work?

Madhav
Of course I have to. There's many
about looking for jobs.

Amal
How lovely ! I'll go about, like them
too, finding things to do.

Madhav
Suppose you seek and don't find.
Then
Amal
Wouldn't that be jolly? Then I
should go farther I watched that man
!

slowly walking on with his pair of worn

out shoes. And when he got to where
the water flows under the fig tree, he
 THE POST OFFICE 23

stopped and washed his feet in the

stream. Then he took out from his
bundle some gram-flour, moistened it
with water and began to eat. Then he
tied up his bundle and shouldered it

again; tucked up his cloth above his

knees and crossed the stream. I've
asked Auntie to let me go up to the
stream, and eat my gram-flour just
like him.

Madhav
And what did your Auntie say to
that?

Amal
Auntie said, "Get well and then I'll
take you over there." Please, Uncle,
when shall I get well?

Madhav
It won't be long, dear.
24 THE POST OFFICE
Amal
Really, but then I shall go right away
the moment I'm well again.

Madhav
And where will you go?

Amal
Oh, I will walk on, crossing so
many streams, wading through water.
Everybody be asleep with their
will
doors shut in the heat of the day and
I will tramp on and on seeking work
far, very far.

Madhav
I see! I think you had better be
getting well first; then

Amal
But then you won't want me to be
learned, will you, Uncle?
 THE POST OFFICE 25

Madhav
What would you rather be then?

Amal
I can't think of anything just now;
but I'll tell you later on.

Madhav
Very well. But mind you, you
aren't to call out and talk to strangers
again.

Amal
But I love to talk to strangers !

Madhav
Suppose they had kidnapped you?

Amal
That would have been splendid!
But no one ever takes me away. They
all want me to stay in here.
26 THE POST OFFICE
Madhav
I am off to my work but, darling,
you won't go out, will you?

Amal
No, I won't. But, Uncle, you'll let
me be in this room by the roadside.

[Exit Madhav]

Dairyman
Curds, curds, good nice curds.

Amal
Curdseller, I say, Curdseller.

Dairyman
Why do you call me? Will you buy
some curds?

Amal
How can I buy? I have no money.
 THE POST OFFICE 27

Dairyman
What a boy! Why call out then?
Ugh What a waste of time.
!

Amal
I would go with you if I could.

Dairyman
With me?

Amal
Yes, I seem to feel homesick when I
hear you call from far down the road.

Dairyman [Lowering his yoke-pole]

Whatever are you doing here, my
child?

Amal
The doctor says I'm not to be out,
so I sit here all day long.
28 THE POST OFFICE
Dairyman
My
poor child, whatever has hap-
pened to you?
Amal
I can't tell. You see I amnot
learned, so I don't know what's the
matter with me. Say, Dairyman,
where do you come from?

Dairyman
From our village.

Amal
Your village? Is it very far?

Dairyman
Our village lies on the river Shamli
at the foot of the Panch-mura hills.

Amal
Panch-mura hills! Shamli river! I
wonder. I may have seen your village.
I can't think when though !
 THE POST OFFICE 29

Dairyman
Have you seen it? Been to the foot
of those hills?

Amal
Never. But I seem to remember
having seen it. Your village is under
some very old big trees, just by the side
of the red road isn't that so?

Dairyman
That's right, child.

Amal
And on the slope of the hill cattle
grazing.

Dairyman
How wonderful Aren't there cattle
!

grazing in our village! Indeed, there

are!
30 THE POST OFFICE
Amal
And your women with red sarees fill

their pitchers from the river and carry

them on their heads.

Dairyman
Good, that's
right. Women from
our dairy village do come and draw
their water from the river; but then it
isn't everyone who has a red saree to
put on. my dear child, surely
But,
you must have been there for a walk
some time.

Amal
Really, Dairyman, never been there
at all. But the first day doctor lets
me go out, you are going to take me
to your village.

Dairyman
I will, my child, with pleasure.
 THE POST OFFICE 31

Amal
And you'll teach me to cry curds
and shoulder the yoke like you and
walk the long, long road?

Dairyman
Dear, dear, did you ever? Why
should you sell curds? No, you will
read big books and be learned.

Amal
No, want to be learned I'll
I never
be like
you and take my curds from the
village by the red road near the old
banyan tree, and I will hawk it from
cottage to cottage. Oh, how do you
cry "Curd, curd, good nice curd!"
Teach me the tune, will you?

Dairyman
Dear, dear, teach you the tune; what
an idea!
32 THE POST OFFICE
Amal
Please do. I love to hear it. I can't
tell you how queer I feel when I hear

you cry out from the bend of that road,

through the line of those trees! Do

you know I feel like that when I hear
the shrill cry of kites from almost the
end of the sky?

Dairyman
Dear child, will you have some
curds? Yes, do.
Amal
But I have no money.

Dairyman
No, no, no, don't talk of money!
You'll make me so happy if you have
a little curds from me.

Amal
Say, have I kept you too long?
 THE POST OFFICE 33

Dairyman
Not a bit; it has been no loss to me
at all; you have taught me how to be
happy selling curds. [Exit]

Amal [Intoning}

Curds, curds, good nice curds from

the dairy village from the country of
the Panch-mura hills by the Shamli
bank. good curds; in the
Curds,
early morning the women make the
cows stand in a row under the trees
and milk them, and in the evening they
turn the milk into curds. Curds, good
curds. Hello, there's the watchman on
his rounds. Watchman, I say, come
and have a word with me.

Watchman
What's all this row you are making?
Aren't you afraid of the likes of me?
Amal
No, why should I be?
34 THE POST OFFICE
Watchman
Suppose I march you off then?

Amal
Where will you take me to? Is it

very far, right beyond the hills?

Watchman
Suppose I march you straight to the
King?
Amal
To
the King! Do, will you? But
the doctor won't let me go out. No
one can ever take me away. I've got
to stay here all day long.

Watchman
Doctor won't let you, poor fellow!
So I see! Your face is pale and there
are dark rings round your eyes. Your
veins stick out from your poor thin
hands.
 THE POST OFFICE 35

Amal
Won't you sound the gong, Watch-
man?
Watchman
Time has not yet come.

Amal
How curious! Some say time has
not yet come, and some say time has
gone by! But surely your time will
come the moment you strike the gong!

Watchman
That's not possible; I strike up the
gong only when it is time.

Amal
Yes, I love to hear your gong. When
it is midday and our meal is over,

Uncle goes off to his work and Auntie

fallsasleep reading her Ramayana, and
in the courtyard under the shadow of
36 THE POST OFFICE
the wall our doggie sleeps with his nose
in his curled up tail; then your gong
strikes out, "Dong, dong, dong!" Tell
me why does your gong sound?

Watchman

My
gong sounds to tell the people,
Time waits for none, but goes on for-
ever.

Amal
Where, to what land?

Watchman
That none knows.

Amal
Then I suppose no one has ever been
there! Oh, I do wish to fly with the
time to that land of which no one
knows anything.
 THE POST OFFICE 37

Watchman
All of us have to get there one day,
my child.

Amal
Have I too?

Watchman
Yes, you too!

Amal
But doctor won't let me out.

Watchman
One day the doctor himself may take
you there by the hand.

Amal
He won't; you don't know him. He
only keeps me in.
38 THE POST OFFICE
Watchman
One greater than he comes and lets
us free.

Amal
When will this great doctor come for
me? I can't stick in here any more.

Watchman
Shouldn't talk like that, my child.

Amal
No. I am
here where they have left
me I never move a bit. But when
your gong goes off, dong, dong, dong,
it goes to my heart. Say, Watchman?

Watchman
Yes, my dear.
Amal
Say, what's going on there in that
big house on the other side, where
 THE POST OFFICE 39

there is a flag flying high up and the

people are always going in and out?

Watchman
Oh, there? That's our new Post
Office.

Amal
Post Office? Whose?

Watchman
Whose? Why, the King's surely!

Amal
Do letters come from the King to his
office here?
Watchman
Of course. One fine day there may
be a letter for you in there.

Amal
A letter for me? But I am only a
little boy.
40 THE POST OFFICE
Watchman
The King sends tiny notes to little

boys.

Amal
Oh, how lovely! When shall I have
my letter? How do you guess he'll
write to me?
Watchman
Otherwise why should he set his
Post Office here right in front of your
open window, with the golden flag
flying?

Amal
But who will fetch me my King's
when it comes?
letter

Watchman
The King has many postmen. Don't
you see them run about with round
gilt badges on their chests?
 THE POST OFFICE 41

Amal
Well, where do they go?

Watchman
Oh, from door to door, all through
the country.

Amal
I'll be the King's postman when I
grow up.
Watchman
Ha! ha! Postman, indeed! Rain
or shine, rich or poor, from house to
house delivering letters that's very
great work !

Amal
That's what I'd like best. What
makes you smile so? Oh, yes, your
work is great too. When it is silent
everywhere in the heat of the noonday,
your gong sounds, Dong, dong, dong,
and sometimes when I wake up at
42 THE POST OFFICE
night all sudden and find our lamp
of a
blown out, I can hear through the
darkness your gong slowly sounding,
Dong, dong, dong!

Watchman
There's the village headman I must!

be off., If he catches me gossiping with

you there'll be a great to do.

Amal
The headman? Whereabouts is he?

Watchman

Right down the road there; see that

huge palm-leaf umbrella hopping along?
That's him!

Amal
I suppose the King's made him our
headman here?
 THE POST OFFICE 43

Watchman
Made him? Oh, no! A fussy busy-
body! He knows so many ways of
making himself unpleasant that every-
body is afraidof him. It's just a game
for the likes of him, making trouble
for everybody. I must be off now!
Mustn't keep work waiting, you know!
I'll drop in again to-morrow
morning
and tell you all the news of the town.
[Exit]

Amal
It would be splendid to have a letter
from the King every day. I'll read
them at the window. But, oh! I can't
read writing.Who'll read them out to
me, I wonder! Auntie reads her Ra-
mayana; she may know the King's
writing. If no one will, then I must

keep them carefully and read them

when I'm grown up. But if the post-
man can't find me? Headman, Mr.
Headman, may I have a word with you?
44 THE POST OFFICE
Headman
Who is yelling after me on the high-
way? Oh, you wretched monkey !

Amal
You're the headman. Everybody
minds you.

Headman [Looking pleased}

Yes, oh yes, they do !

They must !

Amal
Do the King's postmen listen to you?

Headman
They've got to. By Jove, I'd like to
see

Amal
Will you tell the postman it's Amal
who sits by the window here?
 THE POST OFFICE 45

Headman
What's the good of that?

Amal
In case there's a letter for me.

Headman
A letter for you! Whoever's going
to write to you?

Amal
If the King does.

Headman
Ha! ha! What an uncommon little

fellow you are! Ha! ha! the King in-

deed, aren't you his bosom friend, eh!

You haven't met for a long while and
the King is pining, I am sure. Wait
till to-morrow and you'll have your
letter.
46 THE POST OFFICE
Amal
Say, Headman, why do you speak
to me Are you
in that tone of voice?
cross?

Headman
Upon my word! Cross, indeed!
You write to the King! Madhav is
devilish swell nowadays. He'd made
a little pile; and so kings and padishahs
are everyday talk with his people. Let
me find him once and I'll make him
dance. Oh, you snipper-snapper! I'll
get the King's letter sent to your house
indeed I will!

Amal
No, no, please don't trouble your-
self about it.

Headman
And why not, pray! I'll tell the
King about you and he won't be very
 THE POST OFFICE 47

long. One footmen will come

of his
news of you. Mad-
along presently for
hav's impudence staggers me. If the
King hears of this, that'll take some
of his nonsense out of him. [Exit]

Amal
Who are you walking there? How
your anklets tinkle! Do stop a while,
dear, won't you?

[A Girl enters]

Girl

I haven't a moment to spare; it is

already late!
Amal
I see, you don't wish to stop ; I don't
care to stay on here either.

Girl

You make me think of some late star

of themorning ! Whatever's the matter
with you?
48 THE POST OFFICE
Amal
I don't know; the doctor won't let

me out.

Girl
i

Ah me! Don't Should listen

then!
to the doctor. People'll be cross with
you if you're naughty. I know, always
looking out and watching must make
you feel tired. Let me close the win-
dow a bit for you.

A mat
No, don't, only this one's open ! All
the others are shut. But
will you tell

me who you are? Don't seem to know

you.

Girl

I am Sudha.

Amal
What Sudha?
 THE POST OFFICE 49

Sudha
Don't you know? Daughter of the
flower-seller here.

Amal
What do you do?

Sudha
I gather flowers in my basket.

Amal
Oh, flower gathering! That is why
your feet seem so glad and your anklets
jingle so merrily as you walk. Wish I
could be out too. Then I would pick
some flowers for you from the very
topmost branches right out of sight.

Sudha
Would you really? Do you know
more about flowers than I?
50 THE POST OFFICE
Amal
Yes, I do, quite as much. I know all
about Champa of the fairy tale and
his seven brothers. If only
they let
me, I'll go right into the dense forest
where you can't find your way. And
where the honey-sipping humming-
bird rocks himself on the end of the
thinnest branch, I will flower out as a
champa. Would you be my sister
Parul?

Sudha
You are silly! How can I be sister
Parul when I am Sudha and my mother
is Sasi, the flower-seller? I have to
weave so many garlands a day. It
would be jolly if I could lounge here
like you!

Amal
What would you do then, all the
day long?
 THE POST OFFICE 51

Sudha
I could have great times with my doll
Benay the bride, and Meni the pussy-
cat and but I say it is getting late
and I mustn't stop, or I won't find a

single flower.

Amal
Oh, wait a little longer; I do like it so!

Sudha
Ah, well now don't you be naughty.
Be good and sit still and on my way
back home with the flowers I'll come
and talk with you.

Amal
And you'll let me have a flower then?

Sudha
No, how can I? It has to be paid
for.
52 THE POST OFFICE
Amal
I'll pay when I grow up before I
leave to look for work out on the other
side of that stream there.

Sudha

Very well, then.

Amal
And you'll come back when you have
your flowers?

Sudha
I will.

Amal
You will, really?

Sudha

Yes, I will.
 THE POST OFFICE 53

Amal
You won't forget me? I am Amal,
remember that.

Sudha
I won't forget you, you'll see. [Exit]

[A Troop of Boys enter]

Amal
Say, brothers, where are you all off

to? Stop here a little.

Boys
We're off to play.

Amal
What will you play at, brothers?

Boys
We'll play at being ploughmen.
 54 THE POST OFFICE
First Boy [Showing a stick]

This is our ploughshare.

Second Boy
We two are the pair of oxen.
Amal
And you're going to play the whole
day?
Boys
Yes, all day long.

Amal
And you'll come back home in the
.
evening by the road along the river
bank?
Boys
Yes.
Amal
Do you pass our house on your way
home?
 THE POST OFFICE 55

Boys
You come out to play with us, yes do.

Amal
Doctor won't let me out.

Boys
Doctor! Suppose the likes of you
mind the doctor. Let's be off; it is

getting late.

Amal
Don't. Whynot play on the road
near this window? I could watch you
then.

Third Boy

What can we play at here?

Amal
With all these toys of mine lying
about. Here you are, have them. I
56 THE POST OFFICE
can't play alone. They are getting
dirty and are of no use to me.

Boys
How jolly! What fine toys! Look,
here's a ship. There's old mother
Jatai; say, chaps, ain't he a gorgeous
sepoy ? And you'll let us have them all ?
You don't really mind?

Amal
No, not a bit; have them by all

means.

Boys
You don't want them back?

Amal
Oh, no, I shan't want them.

Boys
Say, won't you get a scolding for
this?
 THE POST OFFICE 57

Amal
No one will scold me. But will you
play with them in front of our door for
a while every morning? I'll get you
new ones when these are old.

Boys
Oh, yes, we will. Say, chaps, put
these sepoys into a line. We'll play at
war; where can we get a musket? Oh,
look here, this bit of reed will do nicely.
Say, but you're off to sleep already.

Amal
I'm afraid I'm sleepy. I don't
know, I feel like it have
at times. I
been sitting a long while and I'm tired;
my back aches.
Boys
It's only early noon now. How is it

you're sleepy? Listen! The gong's

sounding the first watch.
58 THE POST OFFICE
Amal
Yes, dong, dong, dong, it tolls me
to sleep.

Boys
We had better go then. We'll come
in again to-morrow morning.

Amal
want to ask you something before
I
you go. You are always out do you
know of the King's postmen?

Boys
Yes, quite well.

Amal
Who are they? Tell me their names.

Boys
One's Badal, another's Sarat.
There's so many of them.
 59

Do you think they will know me if

there's a letter for me?

Boys
Surely, if your name's on the letter

they will find you out.

Amal
When you to-morrow morn-
call in

ing, will you bring one of them along

so that he'll know me?

Boys
Yes, if you like.

CURTAIN
THE POST OFFICE
ACT II
 THE POST OFFICE
ACT II

[Amal in Bed]

Amal
Can't I go near the window to-day,
Uncle? Would the doctor mind that
too?

Madhav
Yes, darling, you see you've made
yourself worse squatting there day after
day.

Amal
Oh, no, I don't know if it's made me
more ill, but I always feel well when
I'm there.
63
64 THE POST OFFICE
Madhav
No, you don't; you squat there and
make friends with the whole lot of
people round here, old and young, as if
they are holding a fair right under my
eaves flesh and blood won't stand
that strain. Just see your face is

quite pale.

Amal
Uncle, I fear my
f akir'll pass and not
see me by the window.

Madhav
Your fakir, whoever's that?

Amal
He comes and chats to me of the

many lands where he's been. I love

to hear him.
 THE POST OFFICE 65

Madhav
How's that? I don't know of any
fakirs.

Amal
This is about the time he comes in.
I beg of you, by your dear feet, ask him
in for a moment to talk to me here.

[Gaffer Enters in a Fakir's Guise]

Amal
There you are. Come here, Fakir,
by my bedside.

Madhav
Upon my word, but this is

Gaffer [Winking hard]

I am the fakir.

Madhav
It beats my reckoning what you're
not.
66 THE POST OFFICE
Amal
Where have you been this time,
Fakir?
Fakir
To the Isle of Parrots. I am just
back.
Madhav
The Parrots' Isle!

Fakir

very astonishing? Am I like

Is it so

you, man? A journey doesn't cost a

thing. I tramp just where I like.

Amal [Clapping]
How jolly for you! Remember your
promise to take me with you as your
follower when I'm well.

Fakir

course, and I'll teach you such

Of
secrets too of travelling that nothing
 THE POST OFFICE 67

in sea or forest or mountain can bar

your way.
Madhav
What's all this rigmarole?

Gaffer

Amal, my dear, I bow to nothing in

sea or mountain; but if the doctor joins
in with this uncle of yours, then I with
all my magic must own myself beaten.

Amal
No. Uncle shan't tell the doctor.
And I promise to lie quiet; but the day
I am well, off I go with the Fakir and
nothing in sea or mountain or torrent
shall stand in my way.

Madhav
Fie, dear child, don't keep on harp-
ing upon going! It makes me so sad
to hear you talk so.
68 THE POST OFFICE
Amal
Tell me, Fakir, what the Parrots' Isle
is like.

Gaffer
a land of wonders; it's a haunt
It's
of birds. There's no man; and they
neither speak nor walk, they simply
sing and they fly.

Amal
How glorious ! And it's by some sea?

Gaffer
Of course. It's on the sea.

Amal
And green hills are there?

Gaffer

Indeed, they live among the green

hills ; and in the time of the sunset when
there is a red glow on the hillside, all
 THE POST OFFICE 69

the birds with their green wings flock

back to their nests.

Amal
And there are waterfalls !

Gaffer

Dear me, of course; you don't have

a without its waterfalls. Oh, it's
hill

like molten diamonds; and, my dear,

what dances they have! Don't they
make the pebbles sing as they rush
over them to the sea. No devil of a
doctor can stop them for a moment.
The birds looked upon me as nothing
but a man, quite a trifling creature
without wings and they would have
nothing to do with me. Were it not
so I would build a small cabin for my-
self among their crowd of nests and
pass my days counting the sea waves.
70 THE POST OFFICE
Amal
How I wish I were a bird ! Then-

Gafer
But that would have been a bit of a

job; I hear you've fixed up with the

dairyman to be a hawker of curds when
you grow up; I'm afraid such business
won't flourish among birds; you might
land yourself into serious loss.

Madhav
Really this is too much. Between
you two I shall turn crazy. Now, I'm
off.

Amal
Has the dairyman been, Uncle?

Madhav
And why shouldn't he? He won't
bother his head running errands for
your pet fakir, in and out among the
 THE POST OFFICE 71

nests in his Parrots' Isle. But he has

left a jar of curd for you saying that he
is rather busy with his niece's wedding
in the village, and he has got to order
a band at Kamlipara.

Amal
But he is going to marry me to his
little niece.

Gaffer
Dear me, we are in a fix now.

Amal
He said she would find me
a lovely
little bride with a pair of pearl drops

in her ears and dressed in a lovely red

sdree; and in the morning she would

milk with her own hands the black cow
and feed me with warm milk with foam
on it from a brand new earthen cruse;
and would carry the
in the evenings she

lamp round the cow-house, and then

72 THE POST OFFICE
come and sit by me to tell me tales of

Champa and his six brothers.

Gaffer
How delicious The prospect tempts
!

even me, a hermit! But never mind,

dear, about this wedding. Let it be.
I tell you when you wed there'll be no
lack of nieces in his household.

Madhav
Shut up! This is more than I can
stand. [Exit]

Amal
Fakir, now that Uncle's off, just tell
me, has the King sent me a letter to the
Post Office?

Gaffer
I gather that his letter has already
started; but it's still on the way.
 THE POST OFFICE 73

Amal
On the way? Where is it? Is it on
that road winding through the trees
which you can follow to the end of the
forest when the sky is quite clear
after rain?

Gaffer

That's so. You know all about it

already.

Amal
I do, everything.

Gaffer

So I see, but how?

Amal
I can't say; but it's quite clear to me.
I fancy I've seen it often in days long
gone by. How long ago I can't tell.
74 THE POST OFFICE
Do you know when? I can see it all:

there, the King's postman coming down

the hillside alone, a lantern in his left
hand and on his back a bag of letters;
climbing down for ever so long, for
days and nights, and where at the foot
of the mountain the waterfall becomes
a stream he takes to the footpath on
the bank and walks on through the rye;
then comes the sugarcane field and he
disappears into the narrow lane cutting
through the tall stems of sugarcanes;
then he reaches the open meadow where
the cricket chirps and where there is
not a single man to be seen, only the
snipe wagging their tails and poking
at the mud with their bills. I can feel
him coming nearer and nearer and my
heart becomes glad.

Gaffer

My eyes aren't young; but you make

me see all the same.
 THE POST OFFICE 75

Amal
Say, Fakir, do you know the King
who has this Post Office?

Gaffer

I do; I go to him for my alms every

day.

Amal
Good ! When I get well, I must have
my alms too from him, mayn't I?

Gaffer

You won't need to ask, my dear,

he'll give it to you of his own accord.

Amal
No, would go to his gate and cry,
I

"Victory to thee, O King!" and danc-

ing to the tabor's sound, ask for alms.
Won't it be nice?
76 THE POST OFFICE
Gaffer
would be splendid, and if you're
It
with me, I shall have my full share.
But what'll you ask?

Amal
I shall say, "Make me your postman,
that I may go about lantern in hand,
delivering your letters from door to
door. Don't let me stay at home all
day!

Gaffer
What is there to be sad for, my child,
even were you to stay at home?

Amal
It isn't sad. When they shut me in
here first I felt the day was so long.
Since the King's Post Office I like it

more and more being indoors, and as I

think I shall get a letter one day, I feel
quite happy and then I don't mind be-
 THE POST OFFICE 77

ing quiet and alone. I wonder if I shall

make out what '11 be in the King's
letter?

Gaffer
Even if you didn't wouldn't it be
enough if it just bore your name?

[Madhav enters]

Madhav
Have you any idea of the trouble
you've got me into, between you two?

Gaffer
What's the matter?

Madhav
I hear you've let it get rumored
about that the King has planted his
office here to send messages to both
of you.
78 THE POST OFFICE
Gaffer

Well, what about it?

Madhav
Our headman Panchanan has had it

told to the King anonymously.

Gaffer
Aren't we aware that everything
reaches the King's ears?

Madhav
Then why don't you look out? Why
take the King's name in vain? You'll
bring me to ruin if you do.

Amal
Say, Fakir, will the King be cross?

Gaffer

Cross, nonsense! And with a child

like you and a fakir such as I am. Let's
 THE POST OFFICE 79

see the King be angry, and then

if

won't I give him a piece of my mind.

Amal
Say, Fakir, I've been feeling a sort
of darkness coming over my eyes since
the morning. Everything seems like
a dream. I long to be quiet. I don't
feel like talking at all. Won't the
King's letter come? Suppose this
room melts away all on a sudden,
suppose

Gaffer [Fanning Amal]

The letter's sure to come to-day,
my boy.

[Doctor enters]

Doctor

And how do you feel to-day?

80 THE POST OFFICE
Amal
Peel awfully well to-day, Doctor.
All pain seems to have left me.

Doctor [Aside to Madhav]

Don't quite like the look of that
smile. Bad sign that, his feeling well!
Chakradhan has observed

Madhav
For goodness sake, Doctor, leave
Chakradhan alone. Tell me what's
going to happen?

Doctor

Can't hold him in much longer, I

fear! I warned you before This looks
like a fresh exposure.

Madhav
No, I've used the utmost care, never
let him out of doors; and the windows

have been shut almost all the time.

 THE POST OFFICE 81

Doctor
There's a peculiar quality in the air
to-day. As I came in I found a fearful
draught through your front door.
That's most hurtful. Better lock it at
once. Would it matter if this kept
your visitors off for two or three days?
If someone happens to call unexpect-

edly there's the back door. You had

better shut this window
as well, it's
letting in the sunset rays only to keep
the patient awake.

Madhav
Amal has shut his eyes. I expect he
is sleeping. His face tells me Oh,
Doctor, I bring in a child who is a
stranger and .love him as my own, and
now I suppose I must lose him!

Doctor
What's that? There's your headman
sailing in! What a bother! I must
82 THE POST OFFICE
be going, brother. You had better stir
about and see to the doors being prop-
erly fastened. I will send on a strong
dose directly I get home. Try it on
him it may save him at last, if he can
be saved at all. [Exeunt Hadhav and
Doctor.]

[The Headman enters]

Headman
Hello, urchin!

Gaffer [Rising hastily]

5
Sh, be quiet.

Amal
No, Fakir, did you think I was
asleep? I wasn't. I can hear every-

thing; yes, and voices far away. I feel

that mother and father are sitting by
my pillow and speaking to me.
[Madhav enters]
 THE POST OFFICE 83

Headman
I say, Madhav, I hear you hobnob
with bigwigs nowadays.

Madhav
Spare me your jests, Headman, we
are but common people.

Headman
But your child here is expecting a
letter from the King.

Madhav
Don't you take any notice of him,
a mere foolish boy !

Headman
Indeed, why not! It'll beat the
King hard to find a better family!
Don't you see why the King plants his
new Post Office right before your win-
dow? Why there's a letter for you from
the King, urchin.
84 THE POST OFFICE
Amal [Starting up]

Indeed, really!

Headman
Howcan it be false? You're the
King's chum. Here's your letter [show-
ing a blank slip of paper]. Ha, ha, ha!
This is the letter.

Amal
Please don't mock me. Say, Fakir,
is it so?

Gaffer

Yes, my dear. I as Fakir tell you it

is his letter.

Amal
How is it I can't see? It all looks so
blank to me. What is there in the
letter, Mr. Headman?
 THE POST OFFICE 85

Headman
The King says, "I am calling on you
shortly; you had better arrange puffed
rice offerings for me. Palace fare is

quite tasteless to me now. " Ha ha ha

! ! !

Madhav [With folded palms]

I beseech you, headman, don't you
joke about these things

Gaffer

Cutting jokes indeed, dare he!

Madhav
Are you out of your mind too, Gaffer?

Gaffer

Out of my mind, well then I am; I

can read plainly that the King writes
he will come himself to see Amal, with
the state physician.
86 THE POST OFFICE
Amal
Fakir, Fakir, 'sh, his trumpet! Can't
you hear?
Headman
Ha! ha! ha! I fear he won't until
he's a bit more off his head.

Amal
Mr. Headman, I thought you were
cross with me and didn't love me. I
never could think you would fetch me
the King's letter. Let me wipe the
dust off your feet.

Headman
This little child does have an in-
stinct of reverence. Though a little

silly, he has a good heart.

Amal
hard on the fourth watch now,
It's
I suppose Hark the gong, "Dong,
 THE POST OFFICE 87

dong, ding," "Dong, dong, ding." Is

the evening star up? How is it I can't
see

Ga/er
Oh, the windows are all shut, I'll

open them.

[A knocking outside}

Madhav
What's that? Who is it what a
bother !

Voice [From outside]

Open the door.

Madhav
Say, Headman Hope they're not
robbers.

Headman
Who's there? It's Panchanan, the
headman, calls Aren't you afraid of
88 THE POST OFFICE
the like of me? Fancy! The noise has
ceased! Panchanan's voice carries far.
Yes, show me the biggest rob-
bers !

Madhav [Peering out of the window}

I should think the noise has ceased,

they've smashed the door.

[The King's Herald enters]

Herald
Our Sovereign King conies to-night!

Headman
My God!
Amal
At what hour of the night, Herald?

Herald
On the second watch.
 THE POST OFFICE 89

Amal
When from the city gates my friend
the watchman will strike his gong,
"ding dong ding, ding dong ding"
then?
Herald

Yes, then. The King sends his

greatest physician to attend on his

young friend.

State Physician enters

State Physician

What's this? How close it is here!

Open wide all the doors and windows.
[Feeling AmaTs body} How do you feel,
my child?

Amal
I feel very well, Doctor, very well.
All pain is gone. How fresh and open!
I can see all the stars now twinkling
from the other side of the dark.
90 THE POST OFFICE
Physician
you feel well enough to leave
Will
your bed with the King when he comes
in the middle watches of the night?

Amal
Of course, I'm dying to be about for
ever so long. I'll ask the King to find
me the polar star. I must have seen
it often, but I don't know exactly which
it is.

Physician
He will
tell you everything. [To
Madhav] Will you go about and ar-

range flowers through the room for the

King's visit? [Indicating the Headman]
We can't have that person in here.

Amal
No, let him be, Doctor. He is a
friend. It was he who brought me the
King's letter.
 THE POST OFFICE 91

Physician
Very well, my child. He may re-
main if he is a friend of yours.

Madhav [Whispering into AmaVs ear}

My King loves you. He

child, the
iscoming Beg for a gift from
himself.
him. You know our humble circum-
stances.

Amal
Don't you worry, Uncle. I've made
up my mind about it.

Madhav
What is it, my child?

Amal
him to make me one of his
I shall ask
postmen that I may wander far and
wide, delivering his message from door
to door.
92 THE POST OFFICE
Madhav [Slapping his forehead]

Alas, is that all?

Amal
What '11 be our offerings to the King,
Uncle, when he comes?

Herald
He has commanded puffed rice.

Amal
Puffed rice! Say, Headman, you're
right. You said so. You knew all we
didn't.

Headman
you send word to my house then I
If
could manage for the King's advent
really nice

Physician
No need at all. Now
be quiet all of
you. Sleep is coming over him. I'll
 THE POST OFFICE 93

sit by his pillow; he's dropping into

slumber. Blow out the oil-lamp. Only
let the star-light stream in. Hush,
he slumbers.

Madhav [Addressing Gaffer]

What are you standing there for like
a statue, folding your palms. I am
nervous. Say, are they good omens?
Why are they darkening the room?
How will star-light help?

Gaffer

Silence, unbeliever.

[Sudha enters]

Sudha
Amal!

Physician
He's asleep.
94 THE POST OFFICE
Sudha
I have some flowers for him. Mayn't
I give them into his own hand?

Physician

Yes, you may.

Sudha
When will he be awake?

Physician

Directly the King comes and calls

him.

Sudha
Will you whisper a word for me in his
ear?

Physician
What shall I say?
 THE POST OFFICE 95

Sudha
Tell him Sudha has not forgotten
him.

CURTAIN

Printed in the United States of America.

^SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY

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