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SCENE ONE. Front room in Ramap-Pantulu’s house in the Brahmin village Rama-chandra-puram. (Enter Madhura-vani.) madhura-vani: This Ramap-Pantulu may look shiny on the outside but he is hollow inside. People say his properties are mortgaged to his debtors. He has borrowed up to his neck and can’t raise any more loans. He gets people to fight among themselves and makes a living from their quarrels. I should make as much money as I can in this village and find another branch to hold on to, the sooner the better. (Sings:) Oooo, was I deceived! Was I naive . . . Oooo, was I deceived! (Ramap-Pantulu enters as she is singing.) ramap-pantulu: I wonder how you were deceived? Sing the next line. madhura-vani: There is no next line. I was deceived because I trusted you. ramap-pantulu: Why do you say so? I didn’t do anything to deceive you. In the city, I paid you two hundred rupees as agreed. I paid your monthly salary in advance. Is that deceiving you? madhura-vani: You take a strange view of things, Pantulu-garu! You seem to think that the only thing I care for is money. I treat money as trash, a piece of straw. I wouldn’t have accepted your two hundred if I had known that your lands are mortgaged to your debtors. You should cut down on your expenditure, begin saving, pay off your debts, and put your house in order. I get a good name only if people say that Pantulu-garu so-and-so kept such-and-such a pleasure-woman and flourished from her love and care. This is my family tradition, Pantulu-garu! I am not like all the other pleasurewomen in town. ramap-pantulu: Land under mortgage? I don’t know who told you these things. It’s all a big lie. I live like a prince. Act Three 36 Girls for Sale madhura-vani: I know that. Because you looked like a prince to me, I left everything, came away with you, and offered you my life and honor. Don’t dump me now. A huge sin will engulf you if you do so. ramap-pantulu: Do I look like a cheat? madhura-vani: Then tell me why did you fix a match for the old man Lubdha Avadhanlu? This move is entirely for your own pleasure. And you think I don’t see it? ramap-pantulu: Ha ha ha. Is this what you suspect? I hope you don’t think I’m an old man too, just because I have a few white hairs in my beard. madhura-vani: Trees get stronger when their trunk gets darker and men get younger when their hair gets grayer. Beauty lies in the occasional gray hair—like stars in a dark sky. ramap-pantulu: What a lovely image! Give me a kiss. (He tries to kiss Madhura-vani.) madhura-vani: (Hiding her face in her hands and turning her face away.) Don’t you have any sense of timing? I won’t let you kiss me until you undo this match you have fixed for Lubdha Avadhanlu . ramap-pantulu: It’s too late, it’s not within my power to stop the wedding . (Kisses Madhura-vani by force.) madhura-vani: You’re rough, just because you are strong! ramap-pantulu: What do you know about my strength? In my youth, I used to hit the base of the temple flagpole with my hand and the bells would ring for a whole hour. Ever since I fell sick, I have become a little weak. madhura-vani: A little weak? Look at my hand. It’s all red. You’re really rough. ramap-pantulu: A torn rug is still big enough to sit on. Your tender body can’t bear even my present strength. madhura-vani: If you don’t break up this match, I won’t talk to you. ramap-pantulu: You are like the crazy person in the proverb who says: “I am perfectly sane now, bring the pestle and I’ll wind it around my head like a turban.” For two years1 I have used all my tricks to fix this match for him. How can I undo it now? madhura-vani: What are these tricks? ramap-pantulu: I would love to tell you so you’ll know that I am strong in my mind too. This Lubdha Avadhanlu is a miser. His name truly translates...

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