Of these, ttvo are personages ; the interpreter and intro--ducer ; the Vishkambhaka and the Prave£>*ka. These are* members of the theatrical company, apparently, who may be-supposed to sit by, and upon any interruption in the regular course of the piece, explain to the audience its course and object. The Vishkambhaka, it is said, may appear at the-beginning, in the middle or at the end of an act: the Prove--cnka, it is said, may appear only between the acts. But this is contradicted by the constant practice, for in every place the Pravecako- indicates a change of scene. The duty of the Pravecaka was probably of a very simple nature and he merely announced the change of scene and approach of a certain character. The Vishkambhaka had a more diversified duty, and besides filling up all the blanks in the story, he was expected to divert the audience by his wit and repartee. The employment of the Vishkambhaka and Pnwecaka is indicated by a simple naming of them, and what either is to do or say is left to the person who fills the character.
The first act or the Ankamulcha furnishes a due to the subject of the whole story and the ensuing acts Garry on the * business of the story to its final development in the last/ The piece closes, as it began, with a benediction or prayer,. which is always repeated by the principal personage, who expresses his wishes for general plenty and happiness.
SECTION IV. Its Characteristics.
The Indian drama presents an obvious analogy to the -tx&gedy bf the Greeks, which was "the imitation of a solemn < and perfect action, of adequate importance, told in pleasing: nor dqea total change of place often occur. Contrivances have been resorted to, to fill up the seeming chasm which such an ipterruption as a total •change of scene requir.es, an,d tto aypid such solecism which the •entrance of a character, whose approach is unannounced, J£ considered to be.