Adding a legend to PyPlot in Matplotlib

Adding a legend to PyPlot in Matplotlib

TL;DR -> How can one create a legend for a line graph in Matplotlib's
PyPlot without creating any extra variables?
Please consider the graphing script below:
if __name__ == '__main__':
PyPlot.plot(total_lengths, sort_times_bubble, 'b-',
total_lengths, sort_times_ins, 'r-',
total_lengths, sort_times_merge_r, 'g+',
total_lengths, sort_times_merge_i, 'p-', )
PyPlot.title("Combined Statistics")
PyPlot.xlabel("Length of list (number)")
PyPlot.ylabel("Time taken (seconds)")
PyPlot.show()
As you can see, this is a very basic use of matplotlib's PyPlot. This
ideally generates a graph like the one below:

Nothing special, I know. However, it is unclear as to what data is being
plotted where (I'm trying to plot the data of some sorting algorithms,
length against time taken, and I'd like to make sure people know which
line is which). Thus, I need a legend, however, taking a look at the
following example below(from the official site):
ax = subplot(1,1,1)
p1, = ax.plot([1,2,3], label="line 1")
p2, = ax.plot([3,2,1], label="line 2")
p3, = ax.plot([2,3,1], label="line 3")
handles, labels = ax.get_legend_handles_labels()
# reverse the order
ax.legend(handles[::-1], labels[::-1])
# or sort them by labels
import operator
hl = sorted(zip(handles, labels),
key=operator.itemgetter(1))
handles2, labels2 = zip(*hl)
ax.legend(handles2, labels2)
You will see that I need to create an extra variable ax. How can I add a
legend to my graph without having to create this extra variable and
retaining the simplicity of my current script.