ancient.costurrie, ajid .pgrfo,rm, their partes-yithT gaace,, elegance, \and precision
; but,tbe. whole tjpejJ^tipgtipe bas-more th,e £hag$c|er of a ballet 1jhan
that of a Regular dramatic exhibition, ^.either 'of-the tragip oj^qpnjjc kind, ip
which human passions, human follies xoT{Suf^i'ings),>ane^ represented ii^^uch
appropriate langu^geLa^d just^ac^pn;. as;£o'seem;pply a reflectigpjgf idjature.
Love and war are .thejpon^tant. themes,; apd the, .cambats^pfrGpffitending
chiefs generally (close t^jSpqne.Hft^^^e^ljPj perform before [jfrhe sovereign
and repeat .t^eir parts, previously study th,eir-.oharaeters- (rom written compositions
expressly prepared , for;i tfye, purpgsej but in other.vGasesjj^he
Ddlang, well vprsedip the principalincidents,^deserip,^igmgj.,and speechljppf
the history, furnishes^thf, dialogue between the,, actors.r.exljempore^ • ^p a rty
of $ ym g generally consists ,of tgnjpefsons, b,esisdes: the jpdlang,
four play the gdrnefafc&nd six perform the';cbapacters.^;They ajre^engaged
to.playchy'ther night, for about ten rupees (twenty-five shiUmg^an^a
tapper. #
Buffoonery is sometimes introduced,. to. increa^e ^ ^ t 4 of. these entertainments
with the multitude, but it does not- interfere with ;therr^egnlar
course of the’ ; performance, the actcps Joeing« ^ontelfisturbed^ ohganxjq^^by
the, actions of, an extraneous character, who^whethegrepEesenfeig, a-do^^,a
monkey, or an idiot, seldom fails to excite considerable mirth, andMBt
unfrequentlyin the most interesting part pf ihe^performanqe^
-' T h^e is also a kind of paptomine, or rather an. assemblageiof ’ wild-beasts
called Bay&ng’an ; in this entertainmenment men dressed up to4 repijes^nt
various animals are made to appear in-procession^nd^comhats, ^Thi^. is
generally performedfor the amusement of:children,^and.is only_accompttnied
byrjthe beat o f the; gong and drum.
| {n.Jihgjiwayangs, or scenic shadows, thefsppjecl jof^thg .performances is
taken from the-earliest period of history and fable,. down to'the destruction
of. the Hind.li';empire of l$qjapdfrit. ' J£hese- are distinguished,, acemdmg > to
the periods of, the history •whichdhey represent, bvfl&e,, terms wdyapg^pw’Wa,
wayang g&ftogn and wdyang klitik.
The different characters . in the history are in these ?vdyangs represented
by figures, about eighteen inches or two feet high, stamped-, or cut out of
pieces of thick leather, generally .-of buffalo’s hide, which .are painted and
gilt with; great pare and at considerable expense,'so as to form, some supposed
resemblance of the character to the. individual intended fo ■ be personified.
The whole figure is, however, strangely distorted and grotesque,
\La2azio Svm eranq
Wife WM
BztaraM. Bctara, Gurtt