Wedged between Maname and Macbeth

Disciple was wondering why master stood rooted to the spot. When he tried to whisper and ask him the reason, master motioned him not to. Then he showed him something. Disciple's eyes followed master's finger. Their gaze roamed around the dark caverns of the small attic, and then in a moment disciple could spot two lean figures - one tall and the other not so tall - with only their rear exposed. Master started moving out of the premises, and disciple tagged along somewhat anxious. "Who are they?" he inquired right off the bat.

"What's your guess?" Master shot back with another question. "Well, I'm not so good at making out people from their backs. One foreigner with a local darkie..." Disciple hesitated.

"You will regret about your slang when you see who it is actually." Disciple bit his lips and said: "You know master I really didn't mean it." "They are Sarachchandra and Shakespeare." Master's abrupt response left the disciple gobsmacked. They both fell silent for a good while. "So we are not going to talk to them?" "We will, son. We will. In a few minutes." Disciple's expression would have given out his emotions. They are now out of their sight, but still disciple cannot forget what he heard. That language was obscure, but somehow it made perfect sense.

"What is that language master?" Master looked at the disciple and smiled. Their eyes meandered on a little and finally met each other. No one else would have grasped the meaning of it better than disciple. "I got it master. Thank you." "But still you are thinking of something." It's disciple's chance to smile this time. "In a way yes. I'm wondering what they may be discussing. I mean what do they have in common?" "That's a hard question. But still I think we can work on it together." And master fell silent again - this time, thoughtful. Both Sarachchandra and Shakespeare were largely influenced by their traditions and culture. Works like Hamlet and Othello, Shakespeare reworked. He cut and chopped them to his heart's content and brushed up according to the modern audience. Sarachchandra did the same thing with works like Maname and Sinhabahu.

"I think Sarachchandra had more creative capacity." Master would not mean anything simple, disciple thought. "Well... isn't it something hard to conclude?" "But I have my points. First Sarachchandra was a university teacher." Disciple thought he should chime in.

"Master, you said universities hardly produce a genius. Most of the brilliant writers are self-taught, you said, remember?" "It's true son. But Sarachchandra is an exception. He took the maximum of his university education. He knew several languages for instance." "What about Shakespeare? Didn't he know?" "You don't listen to me. Let me finish first." Disciple knew it was mere pretension of annoyance. Master carried on.

"Sarachchandra knew Pali, Sanskrit, Sinhala and English. I don't say he performed very smart in all these languages, but that knowledge helped him a lot in the creative process. That's why he could easily write more than 50 stage-plays." Now this is impressive, disciple thought. He had no inkling about Sarachchandra's plays earlier though he knew Shakespeare had written some 37 plays. But the Bard could live only for 52 years, while Sarachchandra passed away well past 80 years. Disciple however did not raise this point. He wanted to listen. "Now don't get me wrong here. Both Sarachchandra and Shakespeare had not only creativity, they had amazing insights.

They could see life in an extraordinary way." "Yes, I agree. I mean some of those lines in Macbeth about brevity of life, and those lines in Maname justifying the human nature... Yes... I love both Macbeth and Maname for that matter. But master, honestly I think I admire Shakespeare more." "Well in that case, I would like to hear your views." "As a university teacher Sarachchandra already had an authority. Or civil power you can say. He could use that authority to manipulate the language and convince the audience at the same time. But Shakespeare did not enjoy that privilege. He was a poor man who had to think about his bread first. And he had to work hard to earn his position."

"Well that worked well for him, didn't it? Shakespeare is revered to this day." "Can't you say the same thing for Sarachchandra too?" "Not globally acclaimed though." "Come on master. You are trying to compare Sinhala with English. English is an international language and obviously a masterpiece in English would be recognized. Sarachchandra would be revered for ever in Sri Lanka, I'm sure." Master smiled. He loved this rebellious nature of the young man. "And young man you missed one point." He paused to look at disciple who was giving him an uninterrupted audience.

"That Sarachchandra was a university teacher and Shakespeare was not. But still it didn't make much difference. Sarachchandra couldn't produce a student of his calibre. Can you guess why?" "Obviously because genius cannot be produced. They are born." "Not only that." Master said, but suddenly his words took a different path. "Maybe I will tell that later." "Why master what's wrong?" "I think they are getting closer now." "Really, I didn't notice that. So what are we going to do?" "Seems like we provided them enough material." "I didn't get you master..." Master had his rare sheepish grin.

"Well, let me be honest now. They wanted me to work on this because they wanted to hear your honest opinion about them." "But we have been out of their earshot." "That's what they wanted you to think son. They have been listening to us all this while." "And now they are coming...?" "To thank you. To thank you for inspiring their latest work, an autobiography." Disciple grew uneasy. "That is called...?" "Searching for Sarachspeare - wedged between Maname and Macbeth." Master mumbled yet making sure disciple heard him properly.

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