The Little Clay Cart.

• Author: Rocher, Ludo
• Position: Review

An English translation of the Mrcchakatika of Sudraka, as adapted for the stage by A. L. BASHAM. Edited by Arvind Sharma. Introduced by Robert E. Goodwin. SUNY Series in Hindu Literature. Albany: STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS, 1994. Pp. xi + 175.

Among the unpublished papers of Professor Basham there was "a mimeographed script of the drama The Little Clay Cart" (p. ix), which was entrusted to Arvind Sharma for publication. Upon enquiry, Sharma found out that, when Basham was shown Revilo Pendleton Oliver's translation (which had been used by the Hampstead Theater Club in 1964), he was critical of it and "then and there" offered to write his own translation of the Mrcchakatika; "he did this very rapidly and improved on the translation immensely" (p. x). The new translation was adapted for the theater, and it was staged by the Arts Council of Australia in conjunction with the Kalidasa Society on the campus of the Australian National University on four successive nights (July 17-20, 1968).

It is not quite clear to me whether Sharma edits Basham's translation or its adaptation for the theater, or whether both were identical from the beginning: in the preface he refers to the time when he was "engaged in the preparation of the translation of Professor Basham's adaptation of The Little Clay Cart" (p. x). The preface is followed by Robert Goodwin's invited "Carudatta in Love, or, How to Appreciate The Little Clay Cart," a scholarly article on the...