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The Life Of A Citizen

HAVING thus acquired learning, a man, with the wealth that he may have gained …. should become a householder,  and pass the life of a citizen.

He should take a house in a city, or large village, or in the vicinity of good men, or in a place which is the resort of many persons. This abode should be ….. divided into different compartments for different purposes.

It should be surrounded by a garden, and also contain two rooms, an outer and an inner one. The inner room should be occupied by the females, while the outer room, balmy with rich perfumes, should contain a bed, soft, agreeable to the sight, covered with a clean white cloth, low in the middle part, having garlands and bunches of flowers upon it, and a canopy above it, and two pillows, one at the top, another at the bottom.

There should be also a sort of couch besides, and at the head of this a sort of stool, on which should be placed the fragrant ointments for the night, as well as flowers, pots containing collyrium and other fragrant substances, things used for perfuming the mouth, and the bark of the common citron tree.

Near the couch, on the ground, there should be also a lute [music system] ….., a board for drawing, a pot containing perfume, some books, and some garlands of the yellow amaranth flowers.

Not far from the couch, and on the ground, there should be a round seat, a toy cart, and a board for playing with dice [gentle board games].

Outside the outer room there should be cages of birds,  and a separate place for spinning, carving and such like diversions. In the garden there should be a whirling swing and a common swing, as also a bower of creepers covered with flowers, in which a raised parterre should be made for sitting.

Now the householder, having got up in the morning and performed his necessary duties, should wash his teeth, apply a limited quantity of ointments and perfumes to his body, put some ornaments on his person …and look at himself in the glass. Having then eaten …. Things that give fragrance to the mouth, he should perform his usual business. He should bathe daily, …..and the sweat of the armpits should also be removed. Meals should be taken in the forenoon, in the afternoon, and again at night, according to Charayana.

After breakfast, parrots and other birds should be taught to speak, ….. and then should be taken the midday sleep. After this the householder, having put on his clothes and ornaments, should, during the afternoon, converse with his friends. In the evening there should be singing, and after that the householder, along with his friend, should await in his room, previously decorated and perfumed, the arrival of the woman that may be attached to him, or he may send a female messenger for her, or go for her himself. After her arrival at his house, he and his friend should welcome her, and entertain her with a loving and agreeable conversation. Thus end the duties of the day.