Rabindranath Tagore

The King of the Dark Chamber Rabindranath Tagore

Book Excerpt: ...eet with all the self-confidence of innocence. And now, when perhaps the real King has come, I simply must blurt out treason. It is fate, my dear friend!MADHAV. My faith is, to go on obeying the King--it does not matter whether he is a real one or a pretender. What do we know of Kings that we should judge them! It is like throwing stones in the dark--you are almost sure of hitting your mark. I go on obeying and acknowledging--if it is a real King, well and good: if not, what harm is there?KUMBHA. I should not have minded if the stones were nothing better than stones. But they are often precious things: here, as elsewhere, extravagance lands us in poverty, my friend. MADHAV. Look! There comes the King! Ah, a King indeed! What a figure, what a face! Whoever saw such beauty--lily-white, creamy-soft! What now, Kumbha? What do you think now?KUMBHA. He looks all right--yes, he may be the real King for all I know. MADHAV. He looks as if he were moulded and carved for kingship, aClose...