THE SHADOW-PLAY
MYSTICISM AND SLAPSTICK

The long penance of Ardjuna worries the gods, who decide to send the most beautiful dedari to bring him out of his abstraction so that he may help them to make war against the demon. The nymphs find him in a deep trance and all immediately fall in love with him. They display their charms and employ every artifice to attract his attention, but they cannot break his penance.

In the play the main baris dancer sits with closed eyes and hands clasped in an attitude of prayer while his patih and Kertalah make poor attempts at meditation. Two beautiful girls appear; they are Supraba and Tilotama, the nymphs, who dance in front of him, embracing and kissing Ardjuna, who remains unmoved, while the clowns appear indignant at his indifference. The dedari go away broken-hearted, when suddenly a blood, curdling roar is heard off-stage.

The clowns are paralysed with fear. A monster with the head of a wild pig leaps into the arena He is Mang Mang Murka, the patih of Detya Wata Kewatja. Ardjuna shows signs of coming to life as the clowns run madly about trying to find a place to hide and getting caught unexpectedly in the path of the monster. Ardjuna wakes, takes his magic bow, and kills the hog with a symbolical arrow given him by the gods.

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