# Little Clay Cart (Ryder 1905)

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Mṛcchakaṭikā (Sanskrit: मृच्छकटिका) is unusual among Sanskrit drama for presenting mundane events and everyday people, rather than a mythical story with noble characters.
This translation was published as Vol. 9 of the Harvard Oriental Series.
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THE LITTLE CLAY CART [ MṚCCHAKAṬIKA ] A Hindu Drama ATTRIBUTED TO KING SHŪDRAKA
TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL SANSKRIT AND PRĀKRITS INTO ENGLISH PROSE AND VERSE BY
ARTHUR WILLIAM RYDER, Ph.D. INSTRUCTOR IN SANSKRIT IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS Published by Harvard University 1905
TO MY FATHER
WILLIAM HENRY RYDER
CONTENTS
| NOTE BY THE EDITOR OF THE SERIES | NOTE BY THE EDITOR OF THE SERIES | NOTE BY THE EDITOR OF THE SERIES | ix |
| PREFACE BY THE TRANSLATOR | PREFACE BY THE TRANSLATOR | PREFACE BY THE TRANSLATOR | xi |
| INTRODUCTION |||
| | THE AUTHOR AND THE PLAY | THE AUTHOR AND THE PLAY | xv |
| | THE TRANSLATION | THE TRANSLATION | xxiii |
| | AN OUTLINE OF THE PLOT | AN OUTLINE OF THE PLOT | xxvi |
| | DRAMATIS PERSONAE | DRAMATIS PERSONAE | xxx |
| TRANSLATION OF THE LITTLE CLAY CART |||
| | PROLOGUE | PROLOGUE | 1 |
| | ACT I. | THE GEMS ARE LEFT BEHIND | 6 |
| | ACT II. | THE SHAMPOOER WHO GAMBLED | 27 |
| | ACT III. | THE HOLE IN THE WALL | 43 |
| | ACT IV. | MADANIKĀ AND SHARVILAKA | 57 |
| | ACT V. | THE STORM | 75 |
| | ACT VI. | THE SWAPPING OF THE BULLOCK-CARTS | 93 |
| | ACT VII. | ARYAKA'S ESCAPE | 105 |
| | ACT VIII. | THE STRANGLING OF VASANTASENĀ | 109 |
| | ACT IX. | THE TRIAL | 132 |
| | ACT X. | THE END | 153 |
| | EPILOGUE | EPILOGUE | 176 |
| DEPARTURES OF THE TRANSLATION FROM PARAB'S TEXT | DEPARTURES OF THE TRANSLATION FROM PARAB'S TEXT | DEPARTURES OF THE TRANSLATION FROM PARAB'S TEXT | 177 |
HARVARD ORIENTAL SERIES
EDITED WITH THE COÖPERATION OF VARIOUS SCHOLARS
BY CHARLES ROCKWELL LANMAN WALES PROFESSOR OF SANSKRIT IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Volume Nine
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS Published by Harvard University 1905
| Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A. | Publication Agent of Harvard University |
| Boston and New York | Ginn and Company |
| Chicago and San Francisco | Ginn and Company |
| London | Ginn and Company, 9 St. Martin's Street, Leicester Square |
| Leipzig | Otto Harrassowitz, Querstrasse, 14 |
| A copy of this volume, postage paid, may be obtained directly anywhere within the limits of the Universal Postal Union, by sending a Postal Order for the price as given below, to The Publication Agent of Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America. The price of this volume is one dollar and fifty cents ($1.50). According to the conversion-tables used in the United States money-order system as the basis of international money-orders, one dollar and fifty cents ($1.50) = 6 shillings and 2 pence = 6 marks and 27 pfennigs = 7 francs or lire and 70 centimes = 5 kroner and 58 öre = 3 florins and 70 cents Netherlandish. ||
COPYRIGHT, 1905, BY HARVARD UNIVERSITY
PRINTED BY D. B. UPDIKE AT THE MERRYMOUNT PRESS BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
This work is a translation and has a separate copyright status to the applicable copyright protections of the original content.