Māthura. The swindler would leave the house and escape. No, we must besiege him and so capture him.
[Vasantasenā gives Madanikā a sign.]
Madanikā. Whence are you, sir? or who are you, sir? or whose son are you, sir? or what is your business, sir? or what are you afraid of?
Shampooer. Listen, madam. My birthplace is Pātaliputra, madam. I am the son of a householder. I practise the trade of a shampooer.
Vasantasenā. It is a very dainty art, sir, which you have mastered.
Shampooer. Madam, as an art I mastered it. It has now become a mere trade.
Madanikā. Your answers are most disconsolate, sir. Pray continue.
Shampooer. Yes, madam. When I was at home, I used to hear travelers tell tales, and I wanted to see new countries, and so I came here. And when I had come here to Ujjayinī, I became the servant of a noble gentleman. Such a handsome, courteous gentleman! When he gave money away, he did not boast; when he was injured, he forgot it. To cut a long story short: he was so courteous that he regarded his own person as the possession of others, and had compassion on all who sought his protection.
Madanikā. Who may it be that adorns Ujjayinī with the virtues which he has stolen from the object of my mistress' desires?
Vasantasenā. Good, girl, good! I had the same thought in mind.
Madanikā. But to continue, sir—
Shampooer. Madam, he was so compassionate and so generous that now—
Vasantasenā. His riches have vanished?
Shampooer. I didn't say it. How did you guess it, madam?
Vasantasenā. What was there to guess? Virtue and money seldom keep company. In the pools from which men cannot drink there is so much the more water.
Madanikā. But sir, what is his name?
