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S IR RAB I N D RA N ATH T A GO RE

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! S on s ran s a e t e
W h an I by W B YE d a Po r t ra i t by
. .

xt d n t ro uc t ro n A TS an
W R C r 8 4 6d
. .

. E E
OT H NST IN . . vo . s. . n et.

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“
n a . s. . ne .

ST R AY B IR D S P m C r 8 .
4 6d ne t oe s . . vo . s . . .

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. . . .

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’
Cr 8 . . vo .

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6d ne t
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2 5. . .

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C S
S HI T IS H H A N D RA EN . . vo . s. . n e t.

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Cr 8 6 d ne t
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M UK ER E AJ . . vo . 25 . . .

THE CYCLE OP S P RI NG A Play C r s 3 6d ne t . . . vc . s . . .

S A C R IFI CE AND O T HE R P LAYS C r 8 5 ne t . . vo . 5. .

HU NGRY STO NE S AND O THE R STO RI E S 5 . 5 . n e t.

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: W it h
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.

E i8 5 . x . cr . vo . 5 . n e t.

MY R E MIN I S CEN CE S B y S ir R T E A B I N D RA N AT H A G OR
I ll us t ra t ed
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E 8 .
7 6d x . cr . vo . s . . n et .

NAT IO N ALISM E 8 4 6d. t x . cr . vo . s . . ne .

SAD HANA Th Re al i a t i o : of Life L t es E

e s n . ec ur . x . cr.

8 vo .
55 . n e t.

ONE H N RE
U D D P O EMS OP KAB IR T rans la t ed by S r i
T A ss i s t ed by E V E LYN U N D E R
.

R A B I N D R A N AI H ’ ’
A GO R E
Cr ne t
.

m LL . . 8 vo .
4s . 6d . .

LO N D ON : M AC M I LL AN A N D C O LT D .
 M ASH I

AN D O T HER S T O RI E S
 MA CMI LL A N A N D CO .
, LM
I IT ED

L ON D O N B OM B A Y C A LC U T T A M A D RA S
M E L BO U R N E

TH E M ACMI LL A N C OMP A N Y
N E W Y ORK B OS T O N C H I C AG O

D A LL A S S AN F RAN CISCO

TH E M A CM I LL A N CO . O F C A N A D A , LT D .
 MA SHI
AND OTH ER ST O R I E S

SI R R A B I N D R A N AT H TA G O RE

T RA N SLA T ED FROM T H E O R I G I NA L B E N G A LI

B Y V A RI O U S W RIT E R S

M A C M I LL A N A N D C O .
,
LI M I T E D

S T . M AR T I N ’
S S T R E E T, LO N D O N

1 9 1 8
C OP Y R IG H T
 CONTENTS

P A GE

MA S H I

TH E S KELET O N

THE AU SP I CI O US V I SI O N

TH E SU P R EME N I GHT

RAJA AN D RA N I

TH E T RU ST P RO P ERT Y

T HE R I D DLE S OL E V D

TH E ELD E R S I ST E R

SU BHA

THE P O ST M AST ER
T HE R I V E R S T A I Rs

TH E C ASTA WAY

S AV E D

MY FA I R N E I G H B O UR
 M A SHI

A
’ l
‘
J A S H l l

Try t o sleep Jo tin it is getting late

, , .
’

Never m i nd if it is I have not many days.

left I was thinki ng that Man i should go to her

.

father s hous e —I forget W here he is now

’

.
’

’
Sitarampur .

Oh yes ! Si t arampur Send her there She . .

shou l d not remain any longer near a sick man .

She herse l f is not strong .

’

‘
Just l isten to hi m ! H OW can she bear to
l eave you in this state
Does s he know W hat the d o ctors P

B ut she can see for herse l f ! The other day

she cried her eyes o u t at t h e merest hint o f havi n g
’ ’
to go t o her father s house .

We must explain t h at i n this statement there

1 T h e materna l aunt i s addressed as M as hi .
4 M ASHI

was a slight distortion O f truth to s ay the l east O f ,

it The actua l talk with M ani was as follows

.

I suppose m y child yo u have go t some news

, ,

fr o m your father ? I thought I saw your cous i n

’
A nath here .

Yes ! Next Friday w ill be my l ittle sister s

‘ ’

a nn a m r/ mn
’

p ceremony S O I m thinking .

A l l r i ght my dear Send her a g o ld necklace

,
. .

’
It w ill please your mother .

I m thinking O f going myself

’
I ve never .
’

seen my l itt l e sister and I wan t to ever s o ,

’
much .

Whatever d o you m ean P You sure l y d o n t

‘ ’

think o f leaving Jo t in alo n e P Haven t y o u heard ’

what the d o ctor says about him

’
Bu t he said that j ust now there s no special
‘

cause for
’
Even if he did y o u can see h i s state
, .

Th i s is the first girl aft er three brothers and ,

she s a great favourit e — I have heard that it s going

’ ’

to be a grand a ffair I f I d o n t go mother wil l

.
’

be very
’

Yes yes ! I d o n t understand your m other

‘
,
.

1 The p lm cerem o ny ta k es p l ace w h en a c hil d i s fi rst g i ven r i ce

a nn a ras n .

U sua ll y i t rece i ves i ts name o n t h at day .

 M A SHI 5

But I know very well that your father wil l be

’
angry enough if y o u leave Jo t in j ust n o w .

You ll have t o write a line to him say i ng that

’

there is n o special cause for anxiety and that even ,

if I go there will be n O
,

’
You re right there ; it w i ll certainly be no
great l oss if yo u do go But remember if I write .
,

’
to your father I ll tell h i m p l ain l y what is in my
,

’
mind .

Then yo u needn t write I s h a l l as k my ’

.

7
husband and he will sure l y
,

Look here child I ve borne a good deal fr om

, ,
’

you but i f yo u do t hat I won t stand i t for a

, ,
’

moment Your father knows you too wel l for

.

you to deceive him .

’

When Mashi had left her Mani lay down O n ,

her bed in a bad temper .

Her neighb o ur and fr i end came and asked

wha t was the matter .

’
‘
Lo o k here ! What a shame i t is ! Here s
my only sister s a nnapm s/z c m coming and they
’

’
don t want to l et me go t o it
Why Surely you re never t hinking O f going ’

are you with y o ur husband so ill

,

‘
I don t do anything for him and I co uldn t if
’

,
’
6 M A SHI
’
I tried It s so deadly dull in this house that I
.
,

te ll you frankly I can t bear it ’

.
’

Y o u are a strange woman

’
‘
B ut I can t pretend as you pe o ple d o and
, ,

’
lo ok glum lest an y o n e should think ill O f me .

’
Well te ll me y o ur plan
, .

’
I must go Nob o dy can prevent m e
. .

I sss What an imperious young woman you

are

Hear i ng that M ani had wept at t h e mere

th o ught o f go i ng to her father s house Jo t in was ’

so exc i ted that he sat up in bed Pulling his .

pillow towards him he leaned back and said

, ,

Mashi open this window a little and take that

, ,

lamp away .
’

The stil l night stood silently at the wind o w like

a pilgr i m O f etern ity and the stars gazed in ,

witnesses thr o ugh untold ages O f countless death

scenes .

Jo t in s aw his Man i 3 face traced o n the back

ground Of the dark night and saw those two big
,

dark eyes brim m i ng over with tears as i t were for ,

all etern i ty .
 M A SH I 7

Mashi felt re l ieved when s he saw him so quiet ,

thinking he was asleep .

Suddenly he started up and said Mashi ,

‘
,

you all thought that Mani was too frivolous

ever to be happy in o u r house But you s ee .

HO W

I s ee now my Baba I was mistaken

Yes , , ,
1

’
but tria l tests a person .

Mashi
D O try to sleep dear ,

’
Let me think a little let me talk Don t be ,
.

vexed Mash i,

Very well
’
.

Once when I used to think I cou l d not win

,

Mani s heart I bore it silently But you

’

,
.

’
No cl ear I won t allow yo u to s ay that ; I
‘
, ,

’
al s o bore it .

Our minds y o u know are n o t clods O f earth

, ,

which you can possess by mere l y picking up I .

fe l t that M an i did not know her o wn mind and ,

that o n e day at s o me great shock

’
Yes Jo t in you are r i ght
, , .

Therefore I never took much notice O f her

‘

’
waywardness .

1
Baba li tera ll y means Fat h e r but i s o ften used by e l de rs as a term o f
,

endea r ment I t h e same way M i s used

. n a
’
.
8 M A SHI

Mashi remained s il ent suppressing a sigh Not ,

.

once but O ften she had seen Jo t in spending the

,

night o n the verandah wet with the sp l ashing rain ,

yet not caring t o go into h is bedro o m Many a .

day he l ay with a thr o bbing head l onging sh e , ,

knew that Mani would com e and s oo the his brow

, ,

while Man i was getting ready t o g o to the theatre .

Yet when Mash i went t o fan him he sent her away ,

petu l antly She a l one knew what pain l ay hidden

.

i n that distress A gain and again she had wanted

.

t o say to Jo t in Don t pay so much attenti o n to

’

that s i lly ch il d my dear ; l et her learn to want

, ,

— t o cry fo r things ’
B ut these things cannot
.

be sa i d and are apt t o be m i sunderstood Jo t in

, .

had i n his heart a shrine set up to the g o ddess

Woman and there M ani had her throne I t was
,
.

hard fo r him to imagine that h i s o wn fate was to ,

be denied his share O f the wine Of l ove p o ured o u t

by that divinity Therefore the worship went o n
.
,

the sacrifice was O ffered and the hope O f a boon ,

never ceased .

Mashi i mag i ned once more that Jo t in was

s l eep i ng when he cr i ed o u t suddenly
,

‘
I know yo u thought t h at I was n o t happy
with Mani and therefore you were angry with her
,
.
IO M A SHI

Mas hi what is t h e time now

,

A b o ut nine
’
.

S O ear l y as that Why I thought it must be ,

at least two or three o c l ock My midnight you ’

.
,

know begins at sundown But wh y did you want

, .

me t o sleep then ,

Why you know how late last night yo u kept

,

awake tal king ; s o to -day y o u must get to sleep

early .
’

Is Mani asleep ?
‘

’
Oh no she s busy making some s o up for
,

’
You don t mean to sa
y so , Mashi ? Does
P

Certa i n l y Why she prepares a ll your fo od , ,

’
the busy little woman .

I th o ught per h aps Mani c o uld not

‘

It doesn t take long fo r a woman to learn

‘ ’

such th i ngs With the need it comes O f itself

. .
’

The fish s o up that I had i n the morn i ng

‘
, ,

had such a deli ca t e flavour I thought yo u had ,

’
made it .

’
Dear me no ! Sure l y you d o n t think M ani
‘
,

wou l d let me d o anything for you ? Why s he ,

.

does all your washing herse l f She knows you .

can t bear anything dirty ab o ut y o u If only you

’
.
 M A SH I I I

could se e your sitting room how spick and span -

,

s h e keeps it ! If I were to let her haunt your

’
sick room s he wo u ld wear h erself out But that s
-
, .

what she real ly wants to do .

’

’
‘
Is Mani s he alth t h en ,

The doctors think she shou l d not be allowed

’
to visit the sick room too O ften She s t o o tender
- .

hearted .
’

B ut Mashi how do you prevent her from

, ,

coming
‘
Because s he obeys m e i mplicitly But sti ll I .

have constant l y to be givi ng her news o f you .

’

The stars glistened i n t he s k y like tear-drops .

J n bowed his head i n gratitude to his life that

o t i
was abou t to depart and when Death stretched out
,

his right hand towards him thr o ugh the darkness ,

he took it in perfect trust .

Jo t in sighed and with a slight gesture

, ,
O f im
patience said
,

‘
Mashi if Mani is still awake then c o uld I
, , ,

if only fo r a
’
Very wel l I ll go and call her
’
.

‘
I won t keep her long only for fi v e minutes
’

, .

’
I have s o mething particular to tell her .
 M A SHI

Mashi s i gh i ng went out to ca ll M ani Mean

, ,
.

’
while Jo t in s pul se began to beat fast He knew .

too well that he had never been able t o have an

intimate talk w i th Mani The tw o i nstruments .

were tuned di fferently and i t was n o t easy to

play them in unison Aga i n and again Jo t in had
.
,

felt pangs O f j ealousy o n hearing Mani chattering

and laughing merrily with her girl companions .

J o t in blamed on l y himse l f —why cou l dn,

t he talk ’

irrelevant tri fles as they d i d N o t that he could

n ot fo r with his men fr i ends he O ften chatted
,

o n al l s o rts o f trivialities But the smal l ta l k that

.

suits men is n o t suitable for w o men Y o u can .

hold a phi l os o phical discourse i n m o nologue ,

ign o ri ng y o ur inattentive audience a l together but ,

small talk requ i res the co -operati o n o f at l east

two The bagpipes can b e played singly bu t
.
,

there m ust be a pair of cymbals H o w o ften in .

the evenings had Jo t in when s i tting o n t he open

,

veran d ah with Mani made some strained attempts

,

at conversation o nly t o feel the t hread snap And

, .

the very silence o f the evening felt ashamed Jo t in .

was certain that M ani l onged to get away He .

had even wished earnest l y that a t h ird person

would come For talking i s easy with t h ree
.
,

w h en it is h ard for tw o .
 M A SH I I 3

He began t o think what he shou l d s ay when

Mani came But such manufactured tal k wou l d
.

not satisfy him Jo t in fe l t afraid that this five

.

minutes of to— night would be wasted Yet for .

,

him there were but few m oments left for intimate

,

talk .

’
What s th i s chi l d you re not going anywhere
, ,
’

are y ou
’ ’
Of c o urse I m going to Sitarampur
,
.

What d o yo u mean ? Who is going to take

ou
y
’
A nath .

’
Not to day my c h ild some other day
-
, ,
.

But the compartment has already been r e

’
served .

What does that mat t er That l o ss can easily

’
be borne GO t o morr o w early i n the morning
.
-
, .

Mash i I don t hold by your inausp i c i ous

,
’

days What harm if I do go to —

. day ?
J o t in wants t o have a talk with you .
’

’ ’
All right ! there s stil l some time
‘
I l l j ust .

’
go and see him .

’
But you mustn t say that yo u are go i ng .
’

’
Very well I won t tell him but I shan t be
‘
, ,
’
I4 M A SHI
’
ab l e t o stay l ong To morrow is my sister s
.
-

a uua r a rh a
’

p u and I must go ,
to day - .

‘
Oh my child ! I beg yo u to listen to
,

me th i s once ! uiet your mind

. f o r a while
’
and s it by him Don t let him s ee your
.

’
hurry .

’
What can I do
‘
The train won t wait fo r
me Anath wi ll be back i n ten minutes I can
. .

’
s it by him til l then .

N O that w o n t do I shal l never let you go

’
‘
.
,

t o h i m in that frame o f mind Oh you .

,

wretch ! the man y o u are t o rturing i s soon to leave

th i s world ; but I warn yo u y o u wi ll remember ,

th i s day til l the end O f your days That there is

a G o d ! that there is a G o d ! you wil l some day
understand
’ ’
Mash i y o u mustn t curse me l i ke that
,
.

Oh my dar li ng boy ! my dar li ng ! wh y do

‘
,

o u go on living l onger
? There i s no end to
y
this sin yet I cannot check it
,

Mash i after de l aying a little returned to t h e

s i ck room hop i ng by that time Jo t in wou l d be
-
,

as l eep But Jo t in moved in his bed when s he

.

entered Mashi exclaimed

.

Just l o ok what she has done

 M A SHI I5
’ ’
What s happened ? Hasn t M ani come ?
Why have you been so lo n g Mashi ,

‘
I found her weeping bitterly because s he had
allowed the m ilk fo r your soup to get burnt ! I
tried to consol e her saying Why there s more , , ,
’

milk t o be had But t h at s he could be so careless

about the preparation o f your soup made her wi l d .

With great trouble ! managed to pacify her and

put her to bed So I haven t brought her t o —
. day ’
.

’
Let her sleep it o ff .

’
Thoug h Jo t in was pained when Mani didn t
come yet he felt a certain amount of relief He
, .

had half feared tha t M ani s bodily presence wou l d ’

’
do violence t o his heart s image of her Such .

things had happened before in his l ife A nd the .

g l adness o f the idea that Mani was miserable at

burning his mi l k fi ll ed his heart to overflowi ng .

Mashi
What is it Baba ? ,

‘
I feel quite certain that my days ar e drawing
to a close But I have no regre t s D o n t grieve
. .
’

’
fo r me .

’
N O dear I won t grieve I don t believe that
’
.
, ,

’
only life is good and n o t death .

Mashi I te l l yo u truly that death seems

,

’
sweet .
I 6 M A SH I

J o t in ,
gaz i ng at the dark sky fe l t that it was ,

’
Mani herself wh o was com i ng to h i m i n Death s
guise She had im m o rta l y o uth and the stars were
.

flowers o f b l essing showered up o n her dark tresses

,

by the hand o f the Wor l d-Mother It seemed as .

if o nce m o re he had his first sight o f his bride

under the ve il o f darkness 1
The immense night .

’
became fi l led with the l oving gaze o f Mani s dark
eyes Mani the bride of this house the l ittl e
.
, ,

g i r l became transformed into a w o rld image —her

,
-
,

throne o n the a l tar o f the stars at the confluence O f

l ife and death Jo t in said to himse l f w i th clasped
.

hands : A t last the veil is ra i sed the covering is ,

rent i n this deep darkness A h beaut i fu l o n e ! .

,

how O ften have y o u wrung my heart but n o ,

longer shall you forsake me !

IV

‘
su ffering Mashi but nothing like you
I m
’

, ,

imagine It seems to me as if my pain were

.

gradua l ly separat i ng i tself fr o m my life Like a .

laden boat it was s o long being towed behind but

, ,

the rope has sna pped and n o w it floats away with

,

all my burdens St ill I can see i t but it is no

.
,

1 T h e br i de and t h e br i degroo m see eac h o t h er s face for t h e fi r st t i me at

’

t h e m a rri age cerem o ny under a ve il t h r o wn o ve r t h e ir h eads .

r8 M A SH I
‘
Why are you worrying so much about that ,

dear ?
A l l I have I o we to you When you see my .

’
wi ll don t think fo r a moment that 9

‘
What do you mean Jo t in ? Do you th i nk ,

I sha ll mind for a m oment because you give to

Mani what belongs to you ? Surely I m not so ’

mean as that ?
But you also will have
Look here Jo t in I shal l get angry with yo u
, , .

Y o u want to console m e with m o n ey

Oh Mashi how I wish I cou l d give yo u
, ,

something better than money

That yo u have done Jo t in — more t h an ,

’
enough Haven t I had you to fill my l one l y
.

house I must have won that great good— fortune

in many previ o us births Y o u have given m e so
’
much that n ow if my destiny s due is exhausted
, ,

I shal l not complain Yes yes Give away every

.
,

th i ng in Mani s name —your house your money

’

, , ,

your carriage and your l and —such burdens are

,

t o o heavy for me

Of co urse I know you have l ost your taste for

the enj oyments o f life but Mani i s so yo u n g
,

that
N O ! you mustn t s ay t h at If yo u want to
’
‘
.
 M A SHI I9

l eave her your property it is all right but as for

, ,

enj oyment
What harm i f s h e does enj o y herself Mashi ,

N O no i t will be impossib l e
, , Her t h roat .

wil l become parched and it w i ll be dust and ashes

,

’
to her .

J o t in
remained silent He could n o t decide.

whether it was true or not and whether it was a ,

matter of regret or otherwise that the wor l d ,

would become distasteful to Mani for want of him .

The stars seemed to whisper in his heart

‘
Indeed it is true We have been watch .

i ng for thousands of years and kn ow that all ,

these great prepara t ions fo r enj o yment are but

’
vanity .

J o s
tIn
i ghed and said We cannot leave b e
'

’
hind u s what is really worth giving .

’
It s no trifle you are gi v ing dearest I only , .

pray s he may have t h e p o wer to know the value

’
of w h at is given her .

Give me a little more O f that pomegranate j uice ,

Mas h i I m thirsty Did M ani come to me yester

,
’
.

day I wonder ?
,

‘
Yes s he came but you were asleep She s at
, ,
.
20 M A SH I

by your head fanning yo u for a l ong time and

, ,

’
then went away to get y o ur clothes washed .

‘
H o w wonderfu l ! I bel ieve I was dreaming
that very moment that Mani was trying t o enter
m y r oo m The do o r was s l ightly o pen and sh e
.
,
’
was push i ng against i t but it wouldn t o pen , .

But Mash i you re g o ing t o o far —you ought to

, ,
’

let her see that I am dy i ng otherwise my death

’
wi ll be a terrib l e shock to her .

Baba l et me put th i s shawl over your feet ;

,

’
they are getting co l d .

N O Mashi I can t hear anything over me

’
‘
, ,
’
l ike that .

‘
D O y o u know Jo t in Mani made this shawl , ,

fo r you ? When s he ought to have been as l eep ,

s h e was busy at it It was finished o n l y yesterday ’

. .

J o t in to o k the shawl and touched it tenderly ,

with his hands It seemed to him that the s o ft

.

’
ness o f the w o o l was Mani s o wn Her loving .

thoughts had been woven night after night wi th

its threads It was not made m ere l y of wo o l but
.
,

al so o f her touch Therefore when Mashi drew .

,

that shaw l o ver his feet it seemed as if night after , ,

night Man i had been caressing h i s tired limbs

,
.

’
‘
But Mas h i I thought Mani didn t k now
, ,

how to knit — at any ra t e s he never liked it

,
.
’
 M ASH I 2 I
’
I t doesn t take long to learn a thing Of .

course I had t o teach her Then there are a good

many mistakes in it .
’

‘
Let there be mistakes ; we re not going to ’

send it t o the Par i s Ex h ibition It will keep my .

feet warm i n spite of it s m istakes .

’

Jo t in s mind began t o picture Mani a t h er task

’

blundering and struggling and yet patiently g o ing ,

on night after n i ght H o w sweet l y pathetic it

.

was ! And again he went over the shaw l w i th his

caressing fingers .

Mashi is t he doctor downstairs ?

,

Yes he wi ll stay here to -night

,
.
’

But tel l h i m it is useless for h i m t o give me a

s l eeping draught I t d o esn t bring m e rea l rest and
.
’

only adds to my pain Let me remain pr o perly .

awake D O you know Mashi that my wedding

.
, ,

took place o n the night of the ful l mo o n in the

m o nth O f B a isa kh To-morrow wil l be that day ,

and the stars O f that very night wil l be shining in

the sky Mani perhaps has forgotten I want to
. .

remind her o f it to— day j ust call her to me fo r a

minute o r two Why do you keep si l ent ?
.

I suppose the doctor has told y o u I am so weak

that any excitement will but I tell y o u truly ,

’
Mashi to night if I can have on l y a few minutes
,
-
,
22 M AS HI

talk with her there will be n o need for any

,

sleeping draughts Mas h i d o n t cry like that !

.
,
’

I am quite we ll TO-day my h eart is ful l as it has

.

’
never been i n my life before That s w h y I want .

’
to see M ani No n o Mashi I can t bear t o
.
, , ,

see yo u crying Y o u have been s o quiet all these

l ast days Why are y o u so troub l ed to night
.
-

Oh Jo t in I th o ught that I h ad exhausted al l

, ,
’
my tears but I find there are plenty left I can t
, .

bear it any l onger .

’

‘
Call Mani I ll remind her o f our weddi n g
.
’

night s o that to —
,
morrow she may
I m going dear Sho mb h u will wait at the
‘ ’
.
,

’
do o r I f yo u want anything call him
.
,
.

Mashi went to Mani s bedroom and s at down ’

o n the floor cryi n g Oh come come o nce you , , ,

heartless wretch ! Keep his last request wh o has

’
given you his a l l Don t kill him wh o i s already
dy i ng

hearing
o t in the sound o f footsteps started
J
saying Mani ,

I am Sho m b hu Did yo u call me

‘
.

Ask your mistress to come

As k whom
’
Your mistress .
 M A SH I 23

S h e h as not yet returned .

’

Returned From w h ere

From Sitarampur .
’

When did she go

Three days ago .
’

Fo r a m o ment Jo t in felt numb all over and his ,

head began to swim He slipped down from the

.

pillows o n which he was reclining and kicked o ff

, ,

the woollen shawl that was over h is feet .

When Mashi came back aft er a long time ,

Jo t in did not mention Mani s name and M ashi ,

th o ught he had forgotten al l about h er .

Suddenly Jo t in cried o u t : Mashi did I tell ,

you about the dream I had the other nigh t

‘
Which dream
‘
That in w h ich Mani was pushing the d o or ,

and t h e door wouldn t open more t han an inch

’
.

She stood outside unable to enter N o w I know .

that Mani has to stand outside my door t i ll the last .

’

Mas h i kept s ilent S h e realised t h at t h e h eaven

.

she h ad been building for Jo t in out of falsehood

had toppled down at las t I f sorrow comes it
.
,

is best to acknowledge ir —When God strikes we

.
,

cannot av o id t h e blow .
24 M A SH I

Mashi the love I have got from you will last

,

through al l my birt h s I have filled t h is life with .

i t to carry it with m e I n t h e next birth I am .

,

sure you w i ll be born as my daughter and I shall ,

’
tend you with all my l ove .

What are y o u saying Jo t in ? D O you mean ,

to say I shal l be born again as a woman ? Why

’
can t y o u pray that I shou l d come to your arms
as a son
‘
N O n o not a so n ! You will come to my
, ,

h o use i n that wonderful beauty whi ch yo u had

when you were young I can even i magine how .

’
I shall dress yo u .

D o n t tal k so much Jo t in but try t o sleep

’

, , .
’

”
‘
I sha l l name yo u L akshmi .

But that is an Ol d -fashioned name Jo t in ,

Yes but you are my O ld—

,
fashioned M ashi .

Come to my house again w i th th o se beautifu l Ol d

’
fashioned manners .

’
‘
I can t w i sh that I should come and burden
your home w i th the misfortune of a g i rl— chil d
Mashi you thi nk me weak an d are wanting
, ,

’
to save me al l tr o ubl e .

M y chi l d I am a woman so I have my weak

, ,

ness Therefore I have tried all my l i fe to save

.

you from all s o rts o f tr o ub l e —on l y to fail ,

.
’
26 M A SH I
’
All right Baba ! I wi ll s it quietly in that corner
,
.

’
‘
No n o ! you must s it by my side I can t
,
.

let go your hand not till the very end I have ,

.

been made by your hand and only from your ,

’
hand shall G o d take me .

’
‘
A l l right said the d o ctor you can rema i n
, ,
‘

there But Jo t in Babu you must not talk to

.
, ,

’ ’
h er . I t s time for you t o take your medic i ne .

‘
Time for my medicine ? Nonsense ! The
time for that is over To give medicine now is .

mere l y t o deceive besides I am not afraid to die .

Mashi Death is busy with his phys io ; why do

,

you add an o ther nuisance i n the shape O f a doctor ?

Send him away send him away It is y o u a l one
,

I need n o w ' No one else none whatever ! No

'

more false h o o d
‘
I protest as a doctor this exc i tement is doing
, ,

’
o u harm
y .

’
‘
Then go doctor don t excite me any more !
, ,

M ashi has he gone ? ,

That s good ’

N o w come and take my head in your lap

’
.

All rig h t dear Now Baba try to sleep !

, , ,
’

N O Mashi don t ask me to s l eep

’
‘
, If I, .

sleep I shal l never wake I stil l need to keep

,
.

’
awake a little longer Don t yo u hear a sound .

’
Somebody is coming .
 M A SHI 27

Jo t in d ear ,
j ust open your eyes a little She
‘
.

h as come Look once and see !

.

Wh o has come A dream ?

Not a dream darling Mani has c o me with
,

’
her fat h er .

Who are you ?

’
Can t you s ee ? Th i s is your Mani
Mani Has that door O pe n ed
Yes Bab a it is w i de O pen
, , .
’

N O M ashi n o t that s h aw l ! not tha t s h awl !

, ,

That shawl is a fraud

‘
It is not a shawl Jo t in ' It is o u r Mani
, ,

wh o h as flung h erself o n y o ur feet Put your .

’
hand o n her head and bless her Don t cry like .

t h at Mani
,
There will be t ime enough for t h at .

’
Keep quiet n o w for a little .
 THE SK ELETO N

IN t h e room next to the o ne in which we boys

used to sleep there hung a human ske l et o n In
,
.

the night i t would rattle in the breeze which

played about its bones I n the day t h ese bones
.

were rattled by us We were taking l essons in

.

osteo l ogy from a student in the Campbe l l Medical

Sc h ool for our guardians were determined to make
,

us masters O f all the sciences H o w far they .

succeeded we need n o t tell those who know us ;

and it is better hidden from t h ose wh o do not .

Many years have passed since then In the .

meantime the skeleton h as vanished from the

room and the science o f os t e o logy from o u r bra i ns
, ,

leaving no trace be h ind .

The other day our house was crowded with

,

guests and I h ad to pass the night i n the same

,

O ld room In these n o w unfamiliar surroundings

.
,

sleep refused to come and as I tossed fr o m side to

, ,

side I heard all the hours O f the night ch imed o n e

’

, ,

3I
3 2 T H E SK ELET O N

after another by the church c lo ck near by At

,
.

l ength the l amp in the corner o f the room after ,

some minutes O f choking and sp l uttering went ,

o ut a l together One or t wo bereavements had

.

recently happened in the fam ily so the going ,

o u t o f the l amp n at u rally Je d me t o th o ughts o f

death I n the great arena o f nature l thought

.
, ,

the light of a lamp l os i ng itself in eterna l dark

ness and the g o ing o u t O f the l ight o f o u r l ittle
,

human lives by day o r by night were much the

, ,

same thing .

M y train o f thought reca ll ed to my mind the

S kelet o n While I was trying to imagine what
.

the body which had c lo thed i t cou l d have been

l ike it sudden l y seemed to me that s o meth i ng was
,

walking r o und and round my bed groping alo n g ,

the walls o f the r o om I coul d hear its rapid

.

breathing It seemed as i f it was search i ng for

.

something which i t could n o t find and pacing ,

round the room w i th ever -hastier steps I felt .

quite sure that this was a mere fancy of my sleep

l ess excited brain and that the throbb i ng o f the
,

veins i n my temp l es was really the sound which

seemed like running fo o tsteps Neverthe l ess a .
,

cold sh i ver ran all over me To hel p to get rid

.

o f this hallucination I called out aloud

,
Wh o is
34 T H E SK E LET O N

curtain R esigning myself to the situation I r e

.
,

plied w i th as much cordiality as I could summon

‘
That will be very n i ce indeed Let us talk O f .

something cheerful .
’

The funniest thing I can th i n k o f is my o wn

’
l ife-story Let me te ll yo u that
. .

The church clock chimed the hour o f t wo .

‘
W hen I was in the land O f the l iv i ng an d ,

young I feared o n e th i ng like death i tsel f and

, ,

that was my husband My feelings can be li kened

.

o nly t o those o f a fish caught with a hook For .

it was as i f a stranger had snatched me away with

the sharpest o f hooks from the peacefu l cal m O f
my c h i l dhood s home—and fr o m h i m I had n o
’

means o f escape My husban d died t wo months

.

after my marriage and my friends and relati o ns

,
’
moaned pathetically on my behalf My husband s .

father aft er scrutinising my face w i th great care

, ,

said to my m o ther in -law -D O you not see s he ,

has the evi l eye ? Well are you l istening ? I ,

hope you are enj oying the story ?

Very much i ndeed sa i d I The beginn i ng .

’
is extremel y humor o us .

‘
Let me proceed then I ca me back to m y .

father s house in great g l ee Pe o p l e tried to

’
.

conceal it from me but I knew well that I was

,
 T H E SK ELET O N 35

endowed wit h a rare and radiant beauty W h at .

is your opinion
’
‘
Very likely I murmured
, But yo u must .
‘

remember that I never s aw you .

’

What Not seen me What about t h at

skeleton O f mine ? Ha ! ha ! ha ! Never mind .

I was only j oking H o w can I ever make yo u

.

be l ieve that those two cavern o us holl o ws contained

the brightest o f dark langu i shing eyes ? And,

t h at the smile which was revealed by those ruby

lips had no resemblance w h atever t o the grinning
teeth w h ich you used to s ee The mere attempt
to convey to you some idea of the grace the ,

charm the soft firm dimpled curves wh i ch in t h e

, , , ,

fulness of youth were growing and blossoming

over th ose dry O ld bones makes me smile it also
makes me angry The m o st em i nent doctors o f
.

my time could not have dreamed o f the bones

of that body o f mine as material s for teaching
oste ology D O yo u kn o w o n e young doct o r that
.
,

I knew o f actual l y compared me t o a go l den

,

eha m a h blossom I t meant that t him the

p . o

rest O f humankind was fit only to illustrate the

science O f physiology that I was a fl ower o f bea u ty
, .

Does any o n e th i nk o f the skeleton of a eha mp a h

flower
3 6 T HE SK ELET O N
‘
When I walked I fel t that like a dia mond
, ,

scatter i ng splendour my every movement set

,

waves of beauty rad i ating o n every s i de I used .

to spend hours gazing o n my hands—hands which

c o uld gracefully have reined the l ive l iest o f male
creatures .

‘
But that stark and star i ng o ld ske l et o n o f
mine has b o rne false w i tness t o y o u against me
-
,

wh i le I was unab l e to refute the shame l ess l ibel .

That is why o f al l men I hate yo u most ! I feel

I would l ike o nce fo r all to ban i sh sleep from your
eyes with a vision Of that warm rosy lo veliness
o f mine to sweep o u t w i th it all t h e wretched
,

oste ol og i ca l stu ff o f wh i ch y o ur bra i n i s ful l .

’

’
‘
I c o uld have sw o rn by your body cried I i f , ,
‘

o u had it st ill that no vest i ge o f o steo l ogy has

y ,

remained in my head and that the o n l y thing that

,

it is n o w full O f i s a radiant v i si o n o f perfect

l o ve l iness glow i ng aga i nst the b l ack backgr o und
,

’
o f night I cannot say more than that
. .

’
I had n o girl compan i ons went o n the voice
-
, .

My o nly brother had made u p his mind n o t t o

marry I n t h e zenana I was a l one A l o ne I
. .

used to S it in the garden under the S hade o f the

trees and dream that the whole wor l d was in love
,

with me ; that the stars with sleepless gaze were

 THE SK ELET O N 37

drinking in my beauty that t h e wind was

l anguishing in sighs as o n some pretext o r other it
brushed past me an d t h at the l awn on which my
feet rested had it been c o nsci o us would have lost
, ,

consciousness again at their t o uch I t seemed to .

me that all the y o ung m en in t he world were as

b l ades o f grass at my feet and my heart I know ,

not why used to grow s ad

, .

When my br o ther s friend S h ek h ar had passed

’

, ,

o u t O f the Medica l Col l ege he became o u r family

,

doct o r . I had already often seen him fr o m

behind a curtain My br o ther was a strange man
.
,

and di d not care to l ook o n the world with open

eyes It was n o t empty enough fo r his taste s o
.

he gradual ly moved away from it until he was ,

quite l ost in an obscure corner Shekhar was his .

o n e friend s o he was the only young man I could

,

ever get to se e And when I held my evening

.

court i n my garden then the host of imaginary

,

you n g men wh o m I had at my feet were each o n e

—
a Shekhar Are you l istening
.
? What are yo u
think i ng O f
I sighed as I replied : I was wis h ing I was ‘

Shekhar
Wait a bit Hear t h e w h ole story first One
. .

day in the rains I was feverish The doct o r

, ,
.
38 T H E SK ELET O N

came to see me That was Ou r first meet i ng I

. .

was rec l in i ng opp o s i te the window S O that the ,

b l ush o f the evening S ky might temper the pallor

O f my c o mp l exion When the doctor coming in
.
, ,

l ooked up int o my face I put myse l f into his p l ace

, ,

and gazed at myself i n imaginat i o n I saw in the .

gl o rious evening l ight that de l icate wan face l a i d

like a droo ping fl o wer agai ns t the s o ft white pillow ,

w i th the unrestrained curls playing over the fore

head and the bashfu ll y l owered eye l ids casting a
,

pathetic S hade over the whole countenance .

T he doct o r i n a tone bashfully low asked

‘
, ,

my brother Might I fee l her pulse

I put o u t a tired we ll—
‘
r o unded wrist from
,

“
beneath the coverlet Ah ! thought I as I lo oked
.
,
”
on i t if on l y there h ad been a sapphire bracelet
,
1
.

I have never before seen a doctor s o awkward

’
ab o ut fee l ing a patient s pulse His fingers .

trembled as they felt m y wrist He measured the .

heat o f my fever I gauged the pulse o f his heart

,
.

—D o n t y o u believe me
’

Very easily said I ; the human heart beat

‘
,
’ ‘ -

tells its tale .

’

Aft er I h ad been taken ill and restored to

‘

1
W i d o ws are supp o sed t o dress i n w hi t e o n l y w i t ho ut o rnaments o r
,

j ewe ll ery .
 THE SK ELET O N 39

health several times I found that the number of

,

the courtiers w ho attended my imaginary evening

reception began to dwi ndle till they were reduced
to o n l y o n e And at last in my l i tt l e wor l d there
remained only o n e doctor a nd one patient .

1
I n these evenings I used to dress myself
secretly in a canary-coloured sa ri twine about the
braided knot int o wh i ch I did my hair a garl and
O f white jasmine b l ossoms and with a lit t l e
mirr o r i n my hand betake myself t o my usual seat
under the trees .

‘
Wel l ! Are you perhaps t hinking that the
sight o f one s o wn beauty woul d soon grow
’

wearisome ? Ah no for I did n ot s ee mysel f

with my o wn eyes I was then o n e and also two
. .

I used to see myself as t ho ugh I were the d o ctor

I gazed I was charmed I fell madly in love
, , .

But in spite o f a l l the caresses I lavis h ed o n m y

,

self a S igh wou l d wander about my hear t moaning

, ,

l ike the evening breeze .

‘
Any h ow from that time I was never a l one
, .

When I walked I watched with downcast eyes the

play o f my dainty little toes o n the earth and ,

wondered what the doctor would h ave felt had he

been there to see At mid day the sky would be
.
-

1 S ee n o te o n p .
38 .
40 T H E SK E LET O N

fil l ed with the glare Of the su n without a sound , ,

save n o w and then t he distant cry O f a pass i ng kite .

Outside o u r garden -wa l ls the hawker would pass

with his mus i ca l cry of Bangles fo r sale crystal ,

”
bang l es. And I S preading a sn o w-white S heet on
,

the lawn fwo u ld lie o n it with my head o n my arm

,
.

W i t h studied carelessness t he other arm wou l d rest

li ghtl y o n the soft sheet and I would imagine to
,

m yse l f that some o n e had caught S ight of the

w o nderful pose O f my hand that some o n e had ,

c l asp ed it in b o th o f his and i mprinted a kiss o n i ts

r o sy palm and was slow l y walking away —What
,
.

i f I ended the story here ? How wou l d it do

’
Not half a bad ending I replied thoughtfully
, .

‘
I t w o uld n o d o ubt remain a l ittle inc o mp l ete but ,

I cou l d eas i ly spend the rest O f the night putt i ng

’
i n the finishing touches .

‘
But that wou l d make the st o ry too serious .

Where would the laugh c o me in ? Where w o u l d

be the skeleton with its grinn i ng teeth ?
So l et me go o n A s soon as the doctor had
.

got a little practice he took a room o n the ground

,

fl oo r of o u r house fo r a consu l ting - chamber I .

used then sometimes t o as k him j okingly about

medicines and p o is o ns and how m uch o f this
,

drug o r that would k i ll a man The subj ect was .

4 2 T H E SK ELET O N

‘
I gradua ll y l earnt that the br i de was an heiress ,

who wou l d br i ng the doctor a l arge sum o f money .

But wh y d id he insult me by hiding al l this from

me Had I ever begged and prayed h i m not to
marry because it would break my heart ? Men
,

are n o t to be trusted I have known o nly o n e

.

m an i n all my l i fe and in a m o ment I made this

,

d i scovery .

‘
When the d o ctor came in after his work and
was ready to s t ar t I said to him rippling with
, ,

l aughter t h e while : We l l d o ct o r so you are t o

, ,

be married to-night ?
‘
M y gaiety not only made the doctor l ose
countenance i t thorough l y irritated him .

“ “
How is it I went on
‘
,
that there i s no
,

i ll uminati o n no band of music

,

“
‘
With a S igh he replied : Is marriage then
such a j oyfu l occasion
I burst o ut into renewed l aughter No n o .
, ,

said I this will never do Who ever heard o f a

,
.

”
wedd i ng with o ut lig h ts and mus i c ?
I bothered my brother about it S O much t h at
he at once ordered all the trappings O f a gay
wedding .

All the time I ke pt o n gaily tal king o f the

bride o f what w o u l d happen of what I w o uld do
, ,
 T H E SK ELET O N 43
“
when the bride came home And doct o r I .
, ,

asked ,wil l yo u still g o o n feeling pu l ses

Ha ha ! ha Th o ugh the inner workings of
’ ’
people s especial l y men s minds are not visible
, , ,

stil l I can take my o ath that these words were

’
piercing the doctor s bos o m like dead l y darts .

The marriage was to be celebrated late at night .

Before starting the doctor and my brother were

,

hav i ng a gl ass o f wine together o n the terrace as ,

was their da il y hab i t The moon had j ust risen

. .

‘
I went up smiling and said Have you
,

forgotten your wedding doct o r ? It is time to ,

”
start .

I must here tell you o n e littl e thing I had .

meanwh il e gone down to the dispensary and got a

litt l e powder which at a convenient opportunity
,
’
I had dr o pped un o bserved into the doctor s g l ass .

The doctor draining his glass at a gu l p in a

, ,

voice thick with emotion and wi t h a look that ,

”
pierced me t o the heart said Then I must go
,
.

The music struck up I went into my room .

and dressed myself in my bridal robes o f silk and -

gold I took o u t my jewellery and ornaments from

.

the safe and pu t them all on I put t h e red mark

o f wifehood o n t h e parting in my hair And then .

under the tree in the garden I prepared my bed .

44 T H E SK ELET O N
‘
It was a beau t iful n i ght The gent l e s o uth
.

wind was k i ssing away the wear i ness o f t h e w o rld .

The scent o f j asmine and 58 14 fil l ed the garden

wi t h rej oicing .

When the sound o f the music began to grow

fa i nter and fainter ; the l ight o f the moon to get
dimmer and dimmer ; the w o r l d with its life l ong
assoc i ati o ns o f home and k in to fade away from
my percepti ons like s o me il lusion then I c l osed
my eyes and smiled
,
.

‘
I fanc i ed that when people came and found
me they would see that smile o f mine l ingering o n
my lips l i ke a trace of r o se coloured wine that
-
,

when I thus s l owly entered my eternal br i dal

chamber I should carry with me this smi l e ,

i l luminating my face But a l as for the bridal

.

chamber ! A las for t he brida l r o bes o f S ilk and

-

gold ! When I woke at the sound of a ratt l ing

Wi thin me ,
I fo und three urchins l earning
oste ol ogy from my skeleton Where in my .

b o s o m my j o ys and griefs used to thr o b and the

,

petals o f youth to open o n e by o n e there the,

master with his pointer was busy naming my bones .

And as to t ha t last smile whic h I h ad s o carefully

,

rehearsed did yo u see any sign of that ?

,

Well well how did y o u like the st o ry ?

, ,
 THE SKELETON
‘
I t has be en delightful said I
,
’
.

At t h is point the first crow began to caw .

Are you there ? I asked T h ere was no reply

. .

The morni ng light entered t h e room

.
T H E A U S P I C I O U S V I SI O N
50 TH E AU SP I C I O U S V ISI O N

c l eaning a favourite gun he suddenly started a t ,

what he th o ught was the cry o f wild duck L oo k .

ing up he saw a V i l lage maiden c o ming to the

, ,

’
water s edge with tw o white ducklings c l asped to
,

her breast The litt l e s t ream was al most stagnant

. .

Many weeds choked the current The girl put .

the birds into the water and watched them ,

anxiously Evident l y the presence o f the sports

.

men was the cause o f her care and not the wi l dness
o f the ducks .

’
The g i rl s beauty had a rare freshness as if -

sh e had j ust come fr o m Vishwakar m a s

’ 1
w o rkshop .

It was di ffi cult to guess her age Her figure was .

’
alm o st a woman s but her face was so chi l d i sh
,

that clearly the world had left no impression there .

She seemed n o t to kn o w herself th at s he had

reached the threshold o f y o uth .

’
Kanti s gun -c l eaning stopped for a while He .

was fasc i nated He had n o t expected to see such

.

a face in such a spot And yet i ts beauty suited

.

i ts surr o undi ngs better than it wou l d have suited

a pal ace A bud is l o ve l ier on the bough than i n
.

a golden vase That day the b l ossoming reeds

.

glittered in the autumn dew and morning s u n and ,

the fresh s i mp l e face set i n the midst was like a

,

1 T h e d i v i ne craftsman i n H i ndu mytholo gy .

 THE A USPI CI O US VI SI O N 51

picture of festival t o Kan t i s enchanted mind ’

.

Kalid o s h as forgotten to sing how S i va s M ountain

’

! ueen herself sometimes has come t o the young

Ganges with j ust such ducklings i n her breast
,
.

As h e gazed t h e maiden started in terror and

, ,

hurriedly took back t h e ducks int o h er bosom

with a half— articulate cry o f pain In another .

moment she had left the r i ver-bank and dis

,

appeared into the bamboo thicke t hard by .

Looking round Kant i s aw o n e o f his men p o inting

,

an unloaded gun at the ducks He at once wen t .

up to him wrenched away his gun and bestowed

, ,

on h is cheek a prodigious s l ap The astonished .

hum o urist fin ished his j oke o n the fl o or Kanti .

went on c l eaning his gun .

But curi o s i ty drove Kanti to the thicket

where i n he had seen the gir l disappear Push i ng .

hi s way through he found h imself i n the yard o f

,

a well-t o— do househo l der On o n e side was a row

.

o f conical thatched barns on the other a c l ean

,

co w s h ed at the end o f which grew a z i z y fi bush

-
, p .

Under the bush was seated the gir l he had seen

that morning sobbing over a wounded dove int o
, ,

whose ye l low beak s he was try i ng t o wr i ng a l i ttl e

water from the moist corner o f her garment .

A grey cat it s fore paws o n her knee was lo oking

,
-
,
52 T H E A USPI CIOUS V I SI O N

eagerly at the bird and every now and then when

, ,

it g o t t o o fo rward she kept i t in its p l ace by a

,

warning tap o n the nose .

This l ittle p i cture s et i n the peacefu l mid day

,
-

’
surr o undings o f the householder s yard i nstantly ,

impressed itself o n Kanti s sensitive heart The ’

.

checkered l ight and shade flickering beneath the ,

’
delicate foliage o f the z iz yp/z played o n the girl s ,

lap Not far o ff a cow was chewing the cud an d

.
,

l azi l y keeping o f? the fl ies with s lo w m o vements

o f its head and tail The north wind whispered
.

s o ftly in the rustling bamb o o thickets And s he .

wh o at dawn o n the r i ver bank had looked like -

the F o rest ! ueen n o w in the si l ence o f noon

,

showed the eager pity o f the Div i ne Housewife .

Kanti c o ming in upon her with h i s gun had a sense

, ,

of intrus i on He fe l t l i ke a thief caught red

.

handed He longed t o explain that i t was not he

.

who had hurt the dove As he wondered how he .

shou l d begin there came a cal l o f Sudha ! from

,

the h o use The girl j umped up

. Sudha ! came .

the voice again She t o ok up her d o ve and ran

.
,

wit h in . Sudha‘
th o ught Kanti what an ap ,
‘

r o r iat e name
p p
Kanti returned to the boat handed his gun t o ,

1
S a dka means necta r ambr o s i a
, .
 THE A USPI CI O US VISI O N 53
h is men and went over to the front door o f the
,

house He found a midd l e -aged Brahmin wit h

.
,

a peace ful clean shaven face seated o n a bench

,
-
,

outside and reading a devotional book Kanti

, .

s aw in his kind l y thoug h tfu l face s o mething

,

o f the tenderness wh i ch shone in the face o f the

maiden .

Kanti sal uted him and said : M ay I as k for

,
‘

some water s ir I am very thirsty

,
The elder .
’

man welcomed him with eager h o spital ity and , ,

o ffering him a seat o n the bench went inside ,

and fetched with his own hands a little brass

plate o f sugar wafers and a bell metal vesse l -

full of water .

After Kanti had eaten and drunk the Brahmin ,

begged him to introduce himse l f Kanti gave his .

’
o wn name his father s name and the address of
, ,

his home and then said i n the usual way : If I

,
‘

can be o f any service sir I shall deem myself , ,

’
fortunate .

’
‘
I require no service my s o n said Nabin , ,

Banerj i I have on l y one care at present

‘
.
’

W h at is that s ir said Kanti , .

‘
It is my daughter Sudha wh o is growing up
, ,

! Kanti sm i led as h e thought of her babyish face ! ,

and fo r w h om I have not ye t been able to find a

54 T H E A USPI CI O US V I SI O N

worthy bridegr o om If I c o ul d o nly s ee her well

.

married all my debt t o this world woul d be paid

,
.

But there i s no suitab l e bridegroom here and I ,

cannot leave my charge o f Gopinath here to ,

search fo r a husband elsewhere .

’

‘
If yo u would see me i n my b o at sir we , ,

wou l d have a tal k ab o ut the marr i age o f your

’
daughter . S o sayi ng Kanti re peated h i s sal ute
,

and went back He then sent some of his men

.

into the v i l l age to i nq u ire and in answer heard ,

nothing but praise o f the beauty and Vi rtues o f

’
the Brahmin s daughter .

When next day the o ld man came t o the b o at

o n his pro m i sed V isit Kanti bent low i n sa l utation
, ,

and begged the hand o f his daughter for himsel f .

The Brahmin was so much overcome by this

undreamed — o f piece o f go o d fortune — for Kant i

n o t o n l y bel o nged t o a we ll kn o wn Brahm i n family

-
,

but was a l so a landed proprietor o f weal th and

pos i ti o n —that at first he cou l d hard l y utter a
word in reply He th o ught there must have been
.

some mistake and a t l ength mechanical ly repeated :

,

You desire to marry my daughter

‘
If y o u will deign to give her to me sa i d ,
’

Kanti .

Yo u mean Sudha ? he asked again .

 T H E A USPICI O US VI SI O N 55
’
Yes was the reply
,
.

But will you not first s ee and speak to

’
P

Kanti pretending he had not seen her already

, ,

said Oh t h at we sha ll do at the m o ment o f the

,

’
1
A uspicious Vision .

In a voice husky with emot i on the o ld man

said My Sudha is indeed a g o od girl well skilled ,

in al l the h o useh o ld arts As yo u are s o gener .

o u sl taking her on trust m ay s h e never cause

y ,
’
you a moment s regret This is my blessing .

The brick built mansion o f the M az u m dars

-

had been borrowed fo r the wedding ceremony ,

which was fixed for next M ag/z as Kanti did ,

n o t wish to delay In due t i me the bridegroom

.

arrived o n his elephant with drums and music ,

and with a torchlight pr o cess i on and the ceremony ,

began .

When the br i dal couple were covered wit h the

scarlet screen fo r t he rite o f the Ausp i c i ous Visio n ,

Kanti l ooked up at his bri de I n that bashful .

,

downcast face cr o wned with the wedding coronet

,

and bedecked with sanda l paste he c o uld scarcel y ,

recognise the V i l lage maiden o f his fancy and in ,

1 A fter betr o t h a l t h e pr o spect i ve br i de and br i degr oo m n o t supp o sed

are

t o see eac h o t h er aga i n t ill t h at part o f t h e wedd i ng cerem o ny w hi c h i s

ca ll ed h A pi i s i
t e us c ous on .
56 THE A USPICI O U S V ISI O N

the fu lness o f h i s em o t i on a mist seemed t o beclo ud

his eyes .

At the gathering o f women I n the bridal

chamber after the wedding ceremony w as over
, ,

an o ld v ill age dame insisted that Kant i himself

"
S hould take O H his wife s brida l vei l
’
As he did .

s o he started back It was n o t the same girl

. .

S o mething r o se from with i n h i s breast and

pierced i nto his brain The light o f the l amps
.

seemed to grow dim and darkness t o tarnish the

,

face of the bride herself .

At first he felt angry with his father— in —

l aw .

The old sc o undrel had shown him o n e girl and ,

marr i ed h i m to another But o n calmer reflect i on

.

he remembered that the o l d man had not shown

him any daughter at al l— that it was al l his Own
fau l t He thought it best n o t t o sh o w h i s arrant
.

fol ly to the wor l d and to o k his place again w i th

,

a pparent calmness .

He could swall ow the powder ; he cou l d not

get rid o f its taste He cou l d not bear the merry
.

maki ngs o f the festive thr o ng He was i n a .

blaze o f anger with himself as we ll as with every

body el se .

Suddenly he fe l t the bride seated by his side, ,

give a little start and a suppressed scream ; a

58 T H E A USPI CI O US VI SI O N

and dumb the compani o n o f al l the animals and

,

birds o f the lo ca l ity It was but by chance t h at

.

s h e rose the other day when t h e name o f Sudha

was called .

Kanti n o w received a sec o nd sh o ck A black

.

screen lifted from before h i s eyes W i th a sigh

.

of intense relief as o f escape from calamity he

, ,

lo o ked once m o re into the face o f his br i de .

Then came the true Auspici o us Vision The l ight

.

from his heart and from the smokeless lamps fel l

o n her graci o us face ; and he saw i t in i ts true

radiance know i ng that Nab in s b l essing would find

,
’

fulfil ment .
T H E S UP REM E N IG H T
 THE SUPREME NIGHT

S ED to g o t o the same dame s school with

’
I U

Su rab ala and play at marr i age w i th her When .

I paid v i s i ts to her house her mother w o uld pet

,

me and sett i ng us side by side would s ay to her

,

self : What a lo vely pair

I was a chi l d then but I c o uld understand her
,

meaning we ll en o ugh The idea became ro o ted

.

in my mind that I had a S pecial right to Sur ab ala

above that o f peop l e i n general So it happened .

that in the pride o f ownership at t i mes I punished

, ,

and tormen ted her ; and she too fagged fo r me , ,

and bore al l my punishments w i thout complaint .

The village was wont to praise her beauty ; but

in the eyes o f a y o ung barbarian l ike me that
beauty had n o gl ory —I knew on l y that Su r ab ala
’
h ad bee n born i n her father s house so l e l y to bear
my yoke and that therefo re she was the particul ar
,

obj ect o f my neg l ect

.

My father was the l and steward o f the Chaud

-

61
62 THE SUP REME NIGHT
huris a fami l y o f z eminda rs It was h i s plan as
, .
,

soon as I had l earn t to write a good h and to ,

train me i n the w o rk of estate management and

secure a rent collect o rship fo r me s o mewhere .

But i n my heart I dis l iked t h e proposal N ilr at an .

o f o u r v il lage h ad run away to Calcutta had ,

l earnt English there and final ly became the N a z i !

,
1 ”

o f the District
’
Magistrate ; tha t was my l i fe s
ideal I was secretly determ i ned t o be the H ead
Clerk o f the Judge s Co u rt even i f I c o uld not
’

become the M agistrate s N a z ir ’

.

I saw that my father always treated these court

o ffi cers with the greatest respect I kne w from .

my chi l dh o od that they had to be prop i tiated with

gifts o f fish vegetab l es and even money For
, , .

this reason I had given a sea t of high honour in

my heart to the court underlings even to the ,

bai l i ffs T h ese are the gods worshipped in o u r

.

Bengal —a modern miniature ed i tion o f the 3 3 0

,

millions o f deities of the Hindu pantheon Fo r .

gaining material success pe o pl e have more genuine

,

fai t h in t hem than in the good Ganesh t h e giver ,

of success ; hence the peop l e now o ffer to t h ese

o ffi cers everything tha t was formerly G an esh s ’

due .

1 S uper i ntendent o f ba ili ffs .

 THE SUPREME NIGHT 63

Fired by the example o f N ilr at an I too seized,

a suitable opportunity and ran away to Calcu t ta .

T h ere I first put up in the house o f a village

acquaintance and aft erward s got some funds fr o m
,

my father for my education T h us I carried on .

my studies regularly .

In addition I j oined political and benevolent

,

societies I had no doubt whatever that it was

.

urgen t ly necessary for me to give my life suddenly

for my country But I knew n o t how such a hard
.

task cou l d be carried o u t A l so n o o n e showed

.

me the way .

But nevertheless my enthusiasm did not abate

, ,

at all We country l ads had not l earnt to sneer

.

at everyt h ing like the precocious boys of Cal cutta ,

and hence our fait h was very str o ng The .

’
‘
leaders o f o u r assoc i ations delivered speeches ,

and we went begging fo r subscriptions fr om door

to door in the hot blaze o f n o on w ith o ut breaki n g
our fast o r we stood by t h e roads i de distributing
h and bills o r arranged the chairs and benches in
-
,

the lecture— h al l and if anybody W hispered a word

, ,

against our leader we go t ready t o fight him

,
.

For these t h ings t h e city boys used to l augh at u s

as provincials .

I had come to Cal cutta to be a N a z ir o r a

64 TH E S U P R E M E N I GH T

Head C l erk but I was prepar i ng to bec o me a

,

Mazzini o r a Gar i bal di .

At this time Su rab ala s father and my father

’

l aid the i r heads together to un i te us in marr i age .

I had come t o Calcutta at the age of fifteen ;

Su r ab ala was eight years o ld then I was now.

eighteen and i n my fat h er s O pini o n I was al most

,
’

past the age o f marr i age But it was my secret

.

v o w to remain u n marr i ed a ll my l ife and to die

for my c o untry ; so I t ol d my father that I

would n o t marry before I had finished my
educat i on .

In two o r three months I learnt tha t Su r ab ala

had been married to a pl eader n amed Ram Lochan .

I was then busy c o llecting subscripti o ns fo r rais i ng

fallen Ind i a and this news d id not seem w o rth my
,

though t
I had matriculated and was about to appear at
,

the Intermediate Exam i nation whe n my father,

died I was n o t alone in the worl d but had to

.
,

ma i ntain my m o ther and t wo sisters 1 had there

.

fore to l eave co ll ege and look o u t for employment .

A fter a good deal o f exerti o n I secured the post

of sec o nd master in the matriculation schoo l o f a
small town in the N o ak hali D i str i ct .

I thought here is j ust the work for me

,
By
 THE SUPREME N IGHT
One thing I have forgotten to mention and ,

indeed I h ad not s o long c o nsidered it worth

mentioning The l oca l Government pleader Ram
.
,

Lochan Ray lived near o u r schoo l I a l so knew

,
.

that his wife —m y early playmate Su rab ala— lived

,

with h i m .

I go t acqua i nted with Ram L o chan Babu I .

cannot s ay whether he knew that I had known

Su r ab ala in childhood . I did not think fit to
mention the fact at my first i ntroduction t o him .

Indeed I did n o t clear l y remember that Sur ab ala

,

had been ever linked with my l ife in any way .

One ho l iday I paid a visit to Ram Lochan Babu .

The subj ect o f our c o nversation has gone o u t o f

my mind pr o bab l y i t was the unhappy cond i tion
o f present -day India . No t that he was very much
concerned or heart-broken over the matter ; but
the subject was such that one c o ul d freely pour
’
fo rth one s sentimental sorrow over i t for an hour
,

o r tw o whi l e pu f ng at o ne s b owed
’
fi
l
.

Whi l e thus engaged I heard i n a side - room

,

the softest poss i b l e j ingle o f bracelets crackle o f

,

dress and footfall ; and I fe l t certain that tw o

,

curi o us eyes were watching me through a small

opening of the window .

A ll at once there flashed upon my memory a

 THE SUPREME NIGHT 67

pair of eyes — ,
a pair o f large eyes beaming with ,

trust simplicity and girlh ood s l ove —black pupils

, ,
’

, ,

—thick dark eye l ashes — a cal m fixed gaze , .

Sudden l y some unseen force squeezed my heart

in an iron grip and it thr o bbed with i ntense pain
, .

I returned to my h ouse but t h e pain c l ung to

,

me Whe ther I read wrote o r d i d an y other

.
, ,

work I could not shake that weight o ff my heart

,

a heavy l o ad seemed to be a l ways sw i nging from

my heart— strings .

In the evening cal ming myself a littl e I began

, ,

t o reflect : What ails me ? From Within came

‘

t h e questi o n Where is y our Su r ab ala now ? I

’

replied : I gave her up o f my free w i ll Surel y

'
‘
.

I did not expect her to wait fo r me for ever

’
.

But something kept saying : Tfiett you coul d

have got h er mere l y fo r the asking N ew you .

have n o t the right to lo o k at her even once do ,

what yo u will That Su r ab ala o f y o ur boyho o d

.

may come ver y c l ose to you ; yo u may hear the

j ing l e o f her brace l ets ; you may breathe the air
embalmed by t h e essence of her hair —but there
will al ways be a wal l between you two .

I answered : Be it so What is Su rab ala to

‘
.

me ?
M y heart rej oined To day Su r ab ala is n o b o dy
-
68 THE SUPREME NIGHT
to y ou . But what might she not have been to
ou
y
A h ! that s true
’
. Wha t might
not have s he
been to me ? Dearest to me o f al l things closer ,

t o me than the worl d besides the S harer o f a l l my ,

life s j oys and sorrows —she might have been

’

,
.

A nd now she is s o distant so much o f a stranger

, , ,

that t o l o o k o n her is forbidden to talk with her ,

is i mproper and to thin k o f her is a s in — while

,

this Ram Lochan c o ming suddenly from n o where

, ,

has muttered a few set re l igious texts and in o ne ,

sw o op has carried o ff Su rab ala from the rest o f

mank i nd
I have not come to preach a new ethical code ,

o r to revo l utionise society ; I have no wish to

tear asunder domestic ties I am o nly expressing .

the exact work i ng o f my mind though it may ,

not be reasonab l e I could n o t by any means

.

banish from my m i nd the sense t h at Su r ab ala ,

reigning t here w i t hi n shelter o f Ram Lochan s ’

home was mine far more t han his The t h ought

,
.

w as I admit unreasonable and impr o per — but it

, , ,

was not unnatural .

Thereaft er I could not s e t my m ind to any

kind o f work A t noon when the boys in m y
.

class hummed when Nature outside simmered in

,
 THE SUPREME NIGHT 69

the sun when the sweet scent o f t h e trim blossoms

,

entered the room on the tepid breeze I t h en ,

wished —I know no t w h at I w i s h ed for ; but this

,

I can say that I did not wish to pass all my l ife in

,

correct i ng the grammar exercises o f th o se future

hopes o f India .

When scho o l was o ver I coul d n o t bear to live

,

i n my l arge lonely h o use and yet i f any o n e paid ,

me a visit it bored me I n the gl o aming as I sat

, .

by the tank and listened t o the mean i ng l ess breeze

sighing through the betel and cocoa— nut palms I ,

used to muse that human society is a web of

mistakes ; n o bod y has the sense to do the right
thing at the rig h t time and when the chance is
,

gone we break o ur hearts over vain longings .

I cou l d have married Su r ab ala and l ived h appi l y .

But I must be a Garibaldi — and I ended by

,

becoming the second master o f a vi l lage sch o ol '

And pleader Ram Loc h an Ray wh o had no ,

spec i al call to be Sur abala s husband —to whom’

, ,

before his marriage Su r ab ala was n o wise d i fferent

,

fr o m a hundred other maidens —has very quiet l y ,

married her and is earning lots o f money as

,

G o vernment p l eader ; when his dinner is badly

c o oked he sc olds Sur ab ala and when he is in good
,

humour he gives her a bangle He is sleek and

7 0 TH E SUP RE ME N I G H T
fat tid ily dressed free from every k i nd o f worry
, ,

he never passes his even i ngs by the tank gazing at

the stars and sigh i ng .

Ram Lochan was called away from o u r t own

fo r a few days by a b i g case elsewhere Su r ab ala
.

in her h o use was as lo ne l y as I was i n my scho ol

bui l ding .

I remember i t was a Monday The sky was

.

overcast w i th c l ouds fr o m the morn i ng It began .

’
t o dr izzle at ten o cl o ck A t the aspect of the
.

heavens o u r headmaster closed the scho o l earl y .

All day the black detached clouds began to run

ab o ut in the s ky as if making ready for some grand
display Next day t o wards aft ern oo n the ra i n
.
, ,

descended in t orrents accompanied by st o rm

,
.

A s the night advanced the fury o f wind and

water increased At first the wind was easter l y ;
.

graduall y i t veered and b l ew towards the s o uth

,

and s o uth west - .

I t was i d l e t o try to s l eep on s u ch a night I .

remembered that in th i s terr i ble weather Su rab ala

was a l one in her house Our sch o ol was much
.

more strong l y bu il t than her bung al ow Often and .

often did I plan t o invite her t o the school -h o use ,

while I meant t o pass the night alone by the tank .

But I could not summon up courage for it .

 THE SUPREME NIGHT 71

When it was half— past o n e in the morning the ,

roar o f the tidal wave was suddenly heard — the ,

s ea was rushing on us ! I left my room and ran

towards Su r ab ala s house In the way st o od o n e
’
.

embankment o f o u r tank and as I was wading t o

,

it the flood already reached my knees W h en I .

mounted the bank a second wave broke o n it

, .

The highest part o f the bank was more than

seventeen feet above the plain .

As I climbed up the bank another person reached

,

it from the opposite side Who she was every

.
,

fibre o f my b o dy knew at once and my whole ,

s o ul was thri lled w i th the consciousness I had n o .

doubt that s he too had recognised me

, ,
.

On an island some three yards in area stood

we two all else was covered with water .

It was a t i me o f cat aclysm the stars had been

blotted out o f the sky all the lights of the earth
had been darkened ; there would have been n o
harm i f we had held c o nverse then B ut we could
.

n o t bring o urse l ves to utter a word ; neither o f

’
u s made even a forma l inquiry after the other s

health Onl y we st oo d gazing at the darkness

. .

At o u r feet swirled the dense b l ack wi l d roar i ng

, , ,

torrent o f death .

To day Su r ab ala has come to my side leaving

-
,
7 2 THE SUPREME NIGHT
the wh ol e wor l d T o day s h e has none be sides me
.
- .

In o u r far o ff childhood this Su r ab ala had come

-

from s o me dark primeva l realm o f mystery from a ,

l ife i n another o rb and st oo d by my s i de o n this

,

lumin o us peopled earth and t o -day after a wide ,

span of time s he has left that earth s o ful l o f

, ,

light and human beings to stand a l one by my side ,

’
amidst this terr i b l e desolate gloom o f Nature s
death -convulsion The stream o f birth had flung
.

that tender bud befo re me and the flood o f death ,

had wafted the same fl o wer now in fu ll bloom t o , ,

me and to none else One more wave an d we S hall

.

be swept away from this extr eme p o int of the earth ,

torn from the st al ks o n which we n o w s it apart ,

and made o n e in death .

M ay that wave never c ome ! May Surab ala

l ive l ong and happily girt round by husband and
,

chi l dren household and kinsfo l k

,
This o n e
night standing o n th e brink o f Nature s de
,
’

structi o n I have tasted eternal b l iss

, .

The night w o re o u t the tempest ceased the , ,

fl oo d abated ; W ithout a w o rd spoken Su r ab ala ,

went back to her house and I to o returned to , , ,

my shed w i thout hav i ng uttered a word .

I reflected True I have bec o me no Na z ir o r

,

Head Clerk n or a Garibaldi I am on l y the second

,
AJA A N D RAN I
 R AJA AND RANI

BI P INK IS O KE was born wit h a golden spoon in

‘

h is mout h ; hence he knew how to squander

’

money twice as wel l as ho w to earn it The .

n atural resul t was t h at h e could n o t live l ong in

the house where h e was born .

He was a delicate young man of comely appear

ance an adept in music a fo ol in business and
, , ,

’
unfit for life s handicap He ro ll ed al o ng l ife s
’
.

’
road like the wheel of Jagannath s car He could .

n o t long command h is wonted sty l e o f magnificen t

l iving .

Luckily h owever Raj a Chittaranj an having

, , ,

got back h is property from the Court o f Wards ,

was intent upon organising an Amateur Theatre

Party Captivated by t h e prep o ssessing looks of
.

B ipin Kis o r e and h is musical endow m ents the ,

’
Raj a gladly admitted him of his crew .

Chittaranj an w as a B A He was not given

.

to any excesses Thoug h the s o n o f a rich man

.
,

77
78 RAJ A AN D RANI
he used to dine and S leep at appo i nted hours
and even at appoi nted places And he sudde n ly
.

became enamoured o f Bipin l i ke o n e unto drink .

Often did meals coo l and n i ghts grow ol d while

he li stened to B ipin and discussed with h i m the
mer i ts o f operat i c comp o sitions The Dewan.

remarked that the o n l y blem ish in the otherwise

perfect character of his master was his inordinate
fo ndness for Bipin Kiso r e .

Rani Basanta Kumari raved at her husband ,

and said that he was wast i ng himse l f o n a luckless

babo o n The s o oner s he could do away with h i m
.
,

the easier she wou l d feel .

The Raj a was much p l eased in his heart at this

seem i ng j ealousy o f his youthfu l wife He smiled .
,

and thought that women - fol k know o n l y one

man upon the earth — him whom they l ove ; and
’
never think of other men s deserts That there .

may be many whose merits deserve regard i s n o t ,

rec o rded in the scriptures o f w o men The only .

go o d man and the only obj ect o f a woman s favours ’

is he who has blabbered int o her ears the matri

monia l incantati o ns A l ittle m oment behind the
.

’
usual hour o f her husband s meals is a world of
anx i ety to h er but she never cares a brass button
,

i f her h usband s dependents have a mouthful o r

’
 R AJ A AND RA N I 79

not . This i nconsiderate partiality of the softer

sex mig h t be cavi l led at but t o Chittaranj an it ,

did not seem unp l easant T h us he wou l d often .

,

indulge in hyperbolic l audati o ns of Bipin in his

wife s presence j ust to provoke a disp l ay o f her
’

delightful fulminations .

’
But what was sport to the roya l coupl e was ,

death to poor B ipin T h e servants o f t h e house

.
,

as is their wont took their cue from the Rani s

,
’

apathetic and wilfu l neglect o f the wretched

hanger o n and grew m o re apathetic and wilful
-
,

still They contrived to forget t o look after h i s

.

’
comfo rts to Bipin s infinite chagrin and unt ol d
,

su fferings .

Once the Rani rebuked the servant P u t é and ,

said Y o u are al ways shirking work ; what do

‘

you do all thr o ugh the day ? Pray madam the , ,

whole day is taken up in serving B ipin Babu

’ ’
under the Maharaj a s orders stammered the po or ,

valet .

The Rani retorted : Y o ur B ipin Babu is a grea t ‘

Nawab eh ? Th i s was enough for Put e He

,
’
.

t o ok the hint From the very next day he left

.

Bipin Babu s orts as they were and at times forgot

’

to cover the fo o d for him Wit h unpractised .

hands B ipin o ften sc o ured h is own dishes and n o t

80 RAJ A A ND R A N I

unfrequently went w i thout meals But it was n o t .

i n him t o whine and report to the Raj a It was .

not in him to lower himself by petty sq u ab b lin gs

with menials He did not mind it ; he t o ok
.

everything i n good part A nd thus while the

.

Raj a s favours grew the Rani s disfavour in

’

,
’

t e n s ified and at last knew no bounds

, .

Now the opera o f S u hha dm ha m n was ready

after due rehearsal The stage was fitted up in
.

the pa l ace court yard The Raj a acted t h e part

- .

’
of Krishna and Bipin that o f A rj una
‘
,
’
Oh ‘
.
,

how sweet l y he sang h o w beautiful he loo ked

The audience applauded in transports o f j oy .

The play o ver the Raj a came to the Ran i and

,

asked her h o w s h e l iked it T he Rani replied .

‘
Indeed Bipin acted the part o f Arj una g l ori
,

o u sl ! He d o es l ook l ike the sci o n o f a n ob l e

y
’
fami l y . His voice is rare ! The Raj a said
j ocosel y And how d o I look ? A m I not fair
Have I n o t a sweet voice ? Oh yours is a ’
‘
,

di fferent case added the Rani and again fell to ,

dilating o n the histrionic abilities o f Bipin Kiso r e .

T h e tables were now turned He who used .

to praise now began to deprecate The Raj a who

,
.
,

was never weary o f indu l ging i n high-sounding

panegyrics o f Bipin before his consort n o w ,
82 R AJ A AND R A N I

befo re took his cue and Bipin lapsed back into

, ,

his fo rmer wretched ness .

The Rani li ked Bipin s song s —they were sweet

’

—there was no gainsayi ng it When her husband .

sat with Bipin to the wonted discourses of sweet

music o f an evening s he would l isten fr o m behind
,

the screen i n an adj oi ning room Not l ong after .

wards the Raj a began again h i s o ld habit o f d i ning

,

and sleeping at regul ar h o urs The music came .

’
to an end B ipin s even i ng ser vices were no more
.

needed .

Raj a Ch i ttaranj an used to l ook after his

z emi n da m a ffairs at noon One day he came
’

earl ier to the zenana and found his cons o rt read

,

i ng something On his asking her what she read

.
,

the Rani was a l ittle taken aback but promptly ,

rep l ied : I am c o nning o ver a few songs from

‘

B ipin Babu s s o ng — book We have not had any

’
.

music since you tired abruptly o f your musica l

h o bby . Poor woman i t was s he who had herself
’

made n o end o f e fforts to eradicate the hobby

’
from her husband s mind .

On the morr o w the Raj a dism i ssed Bipin

w i th o ut a thought as t o how and where the p o o r
fe ll ow w o ul d get a m orsel hencefo rth
No r was th i s the on l y matter o f regret t o
 RAJA AND R A NI 83

Bipin . He h ad been b o und to t h e Raj a by the

dearest and most sincere tie o f at t ach men t He
w .

served h im more for a ffection than for pay He .

was fonder of hi s friend than o f t h e wages he

received Even after deep cog i tation B ipin coul d
.
,

’
not ascertain t h e cause of the Raj a s sudden
"
estrangement . Tis Fate ! all is Fate B ipin
said to himself And then S i l ently and bravely
.
, ,

h e heaved a deep sigh picked up his o ld guitar

, ,

put it up i n the case paid t h e l ast two coins in his

,

pocket as a farewel l ha hshz s h to P u t é and wal ked

’

o u t into the wide wide world where he had not a

s ou l to cal l his friend .

T HE T R U S T P R O P E RT Y
 THE TRUST PROPE RTY

B R I N D A B A N K U N D U came t o his father in a rage

’
and said I am o ff this moment
‘
.

Ungratefu l wretch sneered the father ,

J g n at h Kundu
a a . When you have paid me
back all that I have spent o n your fo o d and cloth
ing it wi l l be time enough to give yourse l f these
,

’
airs.

Such food and c lo thing as was customary in

Jg
’
a a n at h s h o usehold could not have cost very
much Our r is his o f o ld managed to feed and
.

clothe themse l ves o n an incredib l y smal l outlay .

Jg h behavio r showed that his ideal i n these

’
a a n a t s u

respects was equally high That he could not

.

fu lly live up to it was due partly to th e bad in flu

ence of the degenerate s o c i ety around him and ,

partl y to certain unreasonabl e demands o f Nature

i n her attempt to keep body and soul together .

So l ong as Brindaban was single t hings went

,

87
88 THE TRUST PROPERTY
smoothly en o ugh but after his marriage he began
,

to depart fr o m the high and rarefied standard

’
cherished by h is sire It was c l ear that the s o n s
.

ideas o f c o mfort were moving away from the

spiritua l to the materia l and im itating the ways ,

of the world He was unwilling to put up

.

with the discomforts o f heat and c ol d thirst and ,

hunger His minimum o f fo od and clothing rose

.

apace .

Frequent were the quarre l s between the fat h er

’
and the son A t last Br in dab an s wife became
. .

ser io usl y ill and a ha himj was ca l led in But l

.

when the doctor prescribed a c o stly medic i ne for

his pat i ent Jagan at h took it as a pro o f o f S heer
,

i nc o mpetence and tur n ed him o u t immediate l y :

,

A t first Brindaban besought h i s father to all o w the

treatment to c o nt i nue ; then he quarrel l ed with
h i m about it but to n o purp o se When his wife
, .

died he abused h i s father and called him a

,

murderer .

'
Nonsense sa i d the fat h er Don t peop l e die .

even after swallowing all kinds o f drugs ? If

c o stly medicines cou l d save life how is it that ,

’
kings and emper o rs are n o t immorta l ? Y o u don t
expect your wife to die with more pomp and
1
C o untry d o ct o r un qua li fied by any med i ca l tra i n i ng
,
.
9 0 THE TRUST PROPE RTY
sma l l rev ol ut io n as a great re l ief after a long peri o d
o f monot o ny A nd when Jagan at h disinher i ted
.

h i s on l y s o n every o n e did his best to console him

,
.

A ll were unan i mous i n the opini o n that t o quarre l

w i th a father for the sake of a wife was possib l e
o nly i n these degenerate days A nd the reason .

’
they gave was s o und t o o When your wife dies
.
,

they said yo u can find a second o n e with o ut delay

,
.

’
But when y o ur father dies yo u can t get another ,

’
to rep l ace him for l ove o r money Their l o gic .

no d o ubt was perfect but we suspect that the

,

u tter h o e l essness of getting another father did

p
not tr o u b l e the misguided so n very much On .

the c o ntrary he l o o ked up o n i t as a mercy

, .

N o r did separati o n from Brindaban weigh

heavi l y o n the mind o f his father In the first .

p l ace h i s absence fr o m h o me reduced the house

,

hold expenses Then again the father was freed

.
, ,

fr o m a great anx i ety The fear of bei n g p o isoned

.

by h i s so n and he i r had al ways haunted him .

When he ate h i s scanty fare he coul d never ban i sh ,

the th o ught o f p o is o n from h i s mind This fear .

had abated somewhat a fter the death o f h is

da u ghter in -l aw and n o w that the so n was g o ne
-
, , ,

i t disappeared altogether .

But there was o n e tender spot in the ol d man s ’

 THE TRUST PROPERTY 9 1

heart Brindaban had taken away with him his

.

four year old son Gokul Chandra N o w the

- -
,
.
,

expense of keeping the ch i ld was c o mparatively

small and so Jagan at h s a ff ec t ion fo r him was
,
’

without a drawback Stil l when Brindaban took

.
,

him away his grief sincere as i t was was mingled

, , ,

at first with calculation as t o how much he wou l d

save a mont h by the absence o f the t wo h o w much ,

the s u m w o uld come t o in the year and what ,

wou l d be the capital to br i ng it in as interest .

But the empty house without G o ku l Chandra

,

in it to make m i schief became more and m o re

,

difli cu lt fo r the o ld man to live in There was n o .

o n e now to p l ay tricks u o n him when he was

p
‘
engaged in his p uj a n o o n e t o snatch away his
,

food and eat it no o n e to run away with his ink

,

p o t when he was writing up his accounts H is

,
.

daily routine o f life n o w uninterrupted became

, ,

an intol erable burden to him He bethought h i m .

that this unworried peace was endurab l e o nly i n

the worl d to come W h en he caught sight of t h e
.

hol es made in his qui l t by his grandch i ld and the ,

pen — and ink sketches executed by the same artist

-

o n his rush -mat his heart was heavy w i th grief

, .

Once upon a time h e had reproached t h e boy

1
A cerem o n i a l w or s hi p .
9 2 THE T RUST PROPERTY
'

bitterl y because h e h ad torn his dhotz into pieces

within the short space o f two years ; n o w tears
st o od in Jagan at h s eyes as he gazed upon the ’

dirty remnants lying in the bedr o om He care .

fully put the m away in his safe and registered a ,

vow that shou l d G o kul ever come back again he

, ,

should n o t be reprimanded even if he destroyed

o n e dhot i a year .

B ut Gokul did not return and poor Jagan at h ,

aged rapidly H is empty home seemed emptier .

every day .

No l onger could the ol d man stay peacefully at

home Even in the m iddle o f the day whe n all
.
,

respectab l e fo lks in the V illage enj oyed their after

dinner s i esta Jagan at h might be seen roaming over
,

t h e vi ll age hooka in hand T h e boys at sight o f

,
.
,

him wou l d give up their play and retiring in a

, , ,

body t o a safe distance chant verses composed by ,

a loca l poet praising t h e o ld gentleman s economi

,
’

cal habits No o n e ventured to say his real name

.
,

lest he sho u l d have to go wit h out his meal that

day —and so people gave him n ames after their
1

o wn fancy E l derly people cal l ed him Jagan ash f

.

1
i s a superst i t io n current i n B eng l t h at i f a man pr o n o unces th e
It a

name o f a very m i ser ly i nd i v i dua l h e h as t o g o w i t ho ut hi s mea l t h at day

, .

2
t h i s t h e Lo rd o f Fest i v i ty and J g h w o u l d mean t h e desp oil er
j g a an a ,
a a na s

of i t .
94 TH E TRUST PROPERTY
The n o vel attentions o f th i s manikin came as a
great re l ief to Jagan at h It was long since any .

boy had taken such freed o m with him A fter a .

good dea l o f c o ax i ng and many fair pr o mises he ,

at l ast persuaded the b o y t o come to h im and this ,

was the conversat i on which followed

’
What s your name my boy ,

’
Nitai Pa l .

’
Where s y o ur home
’ ’
‘
Won t tell .

’ ’
Who s your father ?
’ ’
W o n t tell .

’
Why w o n t yo u
Because I have run away from home .
’

What made you d o it

M y father wanted to send me to sch o ol .
’

It o ccurred to Jagan at h that it would be use l ess

extravagance to send such a boy t o school and his ,

father must have been an unpract i cal foo l not to

have thought so .

‘
We l l we l l said Jagan at h how woul d you
, ,
’

,
‘

l i ke to come and stay w i th me

Don t mind sa i d the b o y and forthw i th he
’

,
’

’
installed himself in Jagan at h s house He felt as .

l itt l e hesitat i on as though it were the shadow o f

a tree by the wayside A nd n o t only that He . .
 TH E T RUST P ROPERTY 95

began to proclaim his wis h es as regards h is food

and clo t hing wi t h such coolness that you would
h ave thought he had paid his reckoning in ful l
beforehand and w h en anyt h ing went wr o ng he
, ,

did not scruple to quarrel with the o l d man It .

had been easy en ough for Jagan at h to get the better

’

o f h is o wn child but now where another man s

, ,

child w as concerned he had to acknow l edge defeat

,
.

The people of the vi ll age marvelled when

Nitai Pal was unexpectedly made so much o f by
’

Jg
a a n at h
. T h ey felt sure that the old man s end
was n ear and the prospect o f his bequeath i ng all
,

his property to this unknown brat made the i r

hearts sore Furious with envy they determined
.
,

to do the boy an inj ury but the o ld man took care

,

o f him as though he was a rib in his breast .

A t times the boy threatened that he wo u ld go

,

away and the o ld man used to say t o him tempt

,

in gly I will l eave you a ll the property I possess

’
.

Young as he was the boy fu l ly understo o d the

,

grandeur of this promise .

The village peop l e then began t o make inquiries

after the father o f the boy Their hearts melted
.

with compassion fo r the agonised parents and t hey ,

96 TH E T RUST PROPERTY
dec l ared that the son must be a rascal t o cause
them so much su ffer i ng They heaped abuses on.

his head but the heat with which they did it

,

betrayed envy rather than a sense of j ustice .

One day the old man learned from a wayfarer

that o n e Damodar Pal was seek i ng his l ost son ,

and was even now c o ming towards the V illage .

Nitai when he heard this became very restless

, ,

and was ready t o run away l eaving his future ,

wea l th to take care o f itself Jagan at h reassured .

h im saying I mean t o hide yOu where n o body

‘

can find yo u —not even the v i llage people

,

’
themselves .

This whetted the curiosity of the boy and he

’
sa i d : Oh where,
D o show me .

Peop l e will know if I S how you now Wait

, .

’
ti ll it is night said Jagan at h
,
.

The h o pe o f discovering the mysterious hiding

p l ace delighted Nitai He p l anned to himse l f how
.
,

as soon as his father had gone away without him ,

he would have a bet with h is comrades and play ,

hide— and— seek Nobody would be able t o find

.

H is father too would

’
him Wouldn t it be fun
.
, ,

ransack the whole vil l age and n o t fi nd him —that

,

would be rare fun also .

At noon Jagan at h shut the boy up in h is house

, ,
9 8 TH E TRUST PROPERTY
’
without a g o d in it What here ! exc l aimed
.
‘
,

Nitai in a tone o f disappoi ntment I t was nothing

'
.

like what h e had i m agined There was not much .

mystery about it Often S ince running away fr o m

.
,

home he had passed nig h ts i n deserted temples like

,

this It was not a bad place fo r p l aying hide—

. and
seek ; sti ll it was qu i te p o ssible that his comrades
might track him there .

From the middle o f the floor ins i de Jagan at h ,

rem oved a s l ab o f stone and an undergr o und ro o m ,

with a lamp burn i ng in i t was revea l ed to the

ast o nished eyes o f the b o y Fear and cur i osity .

assa il ed h is l i tt l e heart Jagan at h descended by a .

l adder and Nita i fo l lowed him .

Looking around the boy saw that there were

,

brass ghtt rm s o n al l sides o f him In the middle

1
.

l ay spread an a s m n f and in front o f it were

arranged vermi l ion sandal paste flowers and o ther
, , ,

articles of p uj d To sat i sfy his curi o sity the boy

.

dipped his hand into some o f the ghur r a s and ,

drew o u t their contents They were r u pees and .

gold moh urs .

Jagan at h addressing the boy said

,
I to l d yo u , ,

N i tai that I w o uld give you al l my m o ney I

, . I

1 A water p o t hol d i ng ab o ut t h ree ga llo ns o f water

- .

A prayer carpet
2
.
 THE TRUST PROPERTY 99

have not got much —these ghur m s are a ll that I

,

possess These I will make over to you to day

.
-
.
’

The boy j umped with delight All ? he ‘ ’

’
excla i med ; you won t take back a rupee w i ll
‘
,
’
you ?
’
‘
If I do said the o l d man in s olemn tones
, ,

‘
may my hand be attacked with l eprosy But .

there is o n e condition If ever my grandson .

,

Gokul C h andra or his so n o r his grandson or h is

, , ,

great grandson o r any o f his progeny should happen

-

to pass t h is way then you must make over to

,

him o r to them every rupee and every mohur

, ,

’
here .

The boy th o ug h t that t h e old man was raving .

’
Very wel l he replied , .

T h en s it on this a sm n said Jagan at h ,

’
.

What fo r ?
’
Because p uj a will be done to you .

But wh y said the boy taken aback , .

’
This is the ru l e .

The b o y squatted o n t h e 4 554 72 as he was told .

a an at h smeared his forehead with sanda l paste

Jg ,

pu t a mark o f vermilion between his eyebr ows ,

flung a garland of flowers round his neck and ,

began to recite ma ntr a s .

1

1
I ncanta t io ns .
1 00 THE TRUST PROPERTY
To s it there like a go d and h ear ma ntra s recited
,

made p o or Nitai fee l very uneasy Grandfather

.
,
’

he whispered .

But Jagan at h d i d not reply and went on ,

muttering his incantations .

F i nally with great di ffi cu l ty he dragged each

,

h a r r a before the boy and made him repeat the

g
fol l o wing v o w after him
‘
I d o solemn l y promise that I wil l make o ver
all th i s treasure to Gokul Chandra Kundu the s o n ,

o f Brindaban Kundu the grandson o f Jagan at h

,

Kundu o r to the so n o r to the grandson o r to

,

the great - grandson of the said Gokul Chandra

Kundu or t o any o ther progeny of his wh o may
,

’
be the rightful he i r .

The boy repeated this over and o ver again ,

unti l he fe l t s t u pefied and his tongue began t o

,

grow sti ff i n his m o uth When the ceremony was

.

over the air o f the cave was laden with the sm o ke

,

of the earthen lamp and the breath pois o n o f the -

t wo. The b o y fe l t that the r o of o f his mouth had

become dry as dust and h is hands and feet were
,

burn i ng He was nearly su ffocated

. .

The l amp became dimmer and dimmer and ,

then went out alt o gether In the total darkness

.

that fol l owed Nitai could hear the o ld man c limb

,
1 02 THE TRUST PROPE RTY
h im that the n i ght—
sky was fl oo ded with that o n e
sound that the sleeping humanity o f all the w o rl d
,

w as awake and was sitting o n its beds trying to

, ,

listen .

The o ld man i n his frenzy kept o n heaping

earth higher and higher He wanted somehow t o .

stifle that s o und but stil l he fancied he cou l d hear

,

’
Father .

He struck the spot with al l his might and said

‘
B e quiet— pe o ple might hear you But still he .
’

imagined h e heard Father .

’

The su n lighted up the eastern horizon .

J g at h then left t h e temple and came into the

a an ,

open fields .

’
There to o somebody cal l ed o u t Father
, , .

Start l ed at the sound he turned back and saw his

,

son at h i s heels .

’
‘
Father said Brindaban I hear my boy is
, ,
‘

hiding himself in your h ouse I must have him .

back .
’

With eyes dilated and d i storted m o uth the ,

o ld man leaned forward and exclaimed Your ‘

’
boy ?
‘
Yes my b o y Gokul He is Nitai Pal now
,
.
,

and I myself go by the name o f Damodar Pal .

Your fa me has spread s o widely i n t h e neighbour

 THE TRUST PROPERTY I O
3

h ood , that we were obliged to cover up origin o ur ,

lest people should have refused to pronounce o u r

names .
’

Sl owly the old man lifted both h is arms above

his head His fingers began to twitch convul sivel y
.
,

as t h ough he was trying to catch h old o f some

imaginary object in the air He t h en fell on the
.

ground .

When he came t o his senses again he dragged ,

h is son towards the rui ned temple When they .

were bot h inside it h e said : Do you hear any

,

wailing sound
’ ’
No I don t said Brindaban
, ,
.

Just listen very carefully D O yo u hear any .

body calling o u t Father

’
No .

This seemed to relieve him great l y .

From that day forward h e used to go about ,

asking people Do yo u hear any wailing sound

They laughed at the raving dotard .

A bout four years later Jagan at h l ay o n h is

,

death— bed When the l ight o f this world was

.

gradually fading away from h is eyes and his ,

breat h ing became more and more di ffi cult he ,

sudden l y sa t up in a state of delirium Throwing .

both his hands in the ai r he seemed to grope about

 1 04 THE TRUST PROPERTY
for something muttering : Nitai who has removed
, ,

’
my l adder ?
Unable to find the ladder to climb o u t o f his
terrib l e dunge o n where there was no l ight to s ee
,

a n d n o a i r to breathe he fel l o n h i s be d o nce

,

more and disa ppeared int o that region where n o

,

’
o ne has ever been fo und out in the w o rld s eterna l
game o f hide and seek
- 1 - .

1
T h e i nc i dents desc ri bed i n t hi s st o ry n o w h app il y a t hi ng o f t h e past
, ,

were by n o means r are i n B enga l at o ne t i me Our autho r ho wever .

, ,

s li g h t l y d eparts fr o m t h e curren t acc o unts S uc h cr i m i na ll y superst i t io us

.

pract i ces were res o rted t o by m i serl y pers o ns under t h e i dea t h at t h ey t h em

se l ves w o u l d -ac qu i re t h e treasure i n a fu t ure state o f e i stence W h en
te x .
‘

y o u see me i n a futu r e b irt h pass i ng t hi s way y o u must mak e o ver a ll t hi s

treasure t o me G u ard i t t ill t hen and s t i r n o t —was t h e usua l pr o m i se
,
’
.
,

e acted fr o m t h e v i ct i m befor e h e became y k M any were t h e true

x a .
‘ ’

st o r i es we h eard i n c hil d hoo d o f p o p l e bec o m i ng sudden l y ri c h by c o m i ng

e

ac ro ss g ho st l y cus t o d i ans o f wea l t h be lo ng i ng t o t h em i n a past b irt h

.
 THE RIDDLE SOLVED

K R I S H N A G O P A L S I R C A R zemindar of Jhik rak o t a

, ,

made over his estates to his e l dest so n and retired,

to Kasi as befits a go o d Hindu to spend the

, ,

evening o f his life in re l igious devotion All t h e .

poor and the destitute o f the ne i ghbourho o d were

i n tears at t h e parting . Every o n e dec l ared t h at
such piety and benevolence were rare i n these
degenerate days .

His son Bipin Bihari was a y o ung man well

, ,

educated aft er the modern fashion and h ad taken ,

the degree of Bache l or o f A rts .He sported a

pair o f spectacles wore a beard and seldom mixed
, ,

with others His private life was unsullied He

. .

did not smoke and never touched cards He

,
.

was a man of stern disposition though he lo o ked

,

soft and pliable T h is trait o f his character soon

.

came home to his tenantry i n diverse ways Un l ike .

his father h e would o n no account all o w t h e

,

1 07
1 08 THE R IDDLE SOLVED
remission of one single pice o u t o f the rents j ustl y
due to him In no circumstances wou l d he grant
.

’
any tenant o n e single day s grace i n paying up .

On taking over the management o f the pro

perty Bipin Bihari disc o vered that his father had
,

al lowed a large number o f Brahmins to hold land

entire l y rent free and a l arger number at rents
-
,

much bel o w the prevailing rates His father was .

incapable o f resisting the importunate so l icitation

o f others —such was the weakness o f his character .

Bipin Bihari said this could never be He .

c o uld n o t aband o n the inc o me of hal f h is property

—and he reasoned with himself t h us Firstly the ,

persons who were in actua l enj o yment o f the con

cessi o ns and getting fat at h is expense were a lot
o f worthless people and whol l y undeserving o f
,

char i ty Char i ty bestowed o n such obj ects only

.

encouraged idl eness Secondly living nowadays

.
,

had become much costl i er than in the days o f his

ancestors Wants had increased apace Fo r a
. .

gentl eman to keep up his position had become

four times as expensive as in days past So he .

cou l d n o t a fford to scatter gifts r i ght and left as

his father had done O n the c o ntrary it was h is
.
,

bounden duty to cal l back as many o f them as he

possibly could .
1 10 THE RIDDLE SOLVED
end o wments and the preservation o f o u r property
,

and the keep i ng up o f o u r pos i ti o n w ill be rendered

’
very d iffI cu lt .

Krishna G o pal became uneasy at find i ng that

times should have changed so much Wel l .
,

we ll he murmured to himse l f the you n ger

,
’
,

generation knows best I suppo se ,

Our old .

’
fashioned methods won t do now If I interfere .
,

my son might refuse to manage the property and ,

insist o n my going back N o thank you—I would

.
,

rather n o t I prefer to devote the few days that

.

’
are left me t o the serv i ce of my G o d .

II

So things went on Bipin Bihari put his a ffairs

.

in order after much l itigat i on in the Courts and ,

by l ess constitutiona l methods outside M ost .

o f the tenants submitted t o his wi ll o u t o f fear .

On l y a fell o w called Asimu ddin so n of M irza ,

Bibi rema i ned refractory

,
.

’
B ipin s displeasure was kee n est against this
man He could quite understand his father having
.

granted rent-free lands to Brahmi ns but why t his ,

Mohammedan sh o uld be h o l ding s o muc h land ;

some free and some at rents lower than the pre
vailing rates was a r i dd l e to h i m A nd what
,
.
 THE RIDDLE SOLVED II I

was he The s o n of a low Mo h ammedan widow ,

giving himself airs and defying the whole world ,

simply because h e had l earnt t o read and write a

l ittle at t h e village scho ol .To Bipin i t was in
tolerable .

He made inquiries of h is clerks about A simu d

’
din s hol dings A l l that they could tell him was
.

that Babu Krishna Gopal h imself had made these

grants to the family many years back but they ,

had no idea as to what his mo t ive mig h t h ave

been T h ey imagined h owever that perhaps t h e
.
, ,

widow won the compassion of the kind hearted -

z eminda r by representing to him her wo e and

,

misery .

To B ipin t h ese favours seemed to be utterl y

undeserved He had not seen the pitiable con
.

dition of these people i n days gone by Their .

compar at i ve ease at the present day and their

arrogance drove him to the conclusion that they
had impudently swind l ed h is tender hearted father-

o u t o f a part o f h is lawfu l income .

A s im u d d in was a s t i ff n ecked sort o f a fellow

-
,

too He vowed that he would lay down his life

.

sooner than give up an inc h o f his l and Then .

came open hostilities .

T h e poor o ld widow tried her best to pacify

1 1 2 THE RIDDLE SOLVED
’
her son .It is no good fighting with the z eminda r
‘
,

she w o uld often say to him H is kindness has.

kept us al ive s o long ; let us depend up o n him

still though he may curta il his fav o urs Surrender
, .

t o him part o f the l ands as he desires .

’

‘
Oh mother ! protested A simu d din
,
’
What .
‘

do y o u know o f these matters pray ? ,

’

One by one Asimu d din l ost the cases i nstituted

,

aga i nst him The m o re he l ost the m o re h is

.
,

o bstinacy increased Fo r the sake o f his all he

.
,

staked al l that was his .

One after n o on Mirza Bibi col l ected s o me fruits

,

and vegetables from her little garden and u n ,

known to her s o n went and sought an interview

w i th Bipin Babu She lo oked at h i m with a
.

tenderness maternal in its intensity and spoke ,

May Al l ah bless y o u my s o n D o n o t destroy

, .

Asim —it w o uldn t be right o f yo u To your

’
.

charge I commit him Take him as though he .

were o n e whom it is your duty to support— as

though he were a ne er do— ’
well younger brother
-

o f yours Vast is your wealth— d o n t grudge him

.
’

’
a smal l particle o f i t my s o n , .

This assumpt i on o f familiarity o n the part o f

the garru l ous o ld w o man annoyed Bipin n o t a
l ittle . What do you know o f these thi n gs my
‘
,
1 14 TH E RIDD LE SOLVED
Many of the stall hol ders apprehending a down -
,

po u r had stretched a piece o f cl o th overhead

, ,

across bamboo poles put up fo r the purpose .

A s imu dd in had come t o o — but he had n o t a

copper with him No shopkeepers allowed him .

credit nowadays He therefore had brought a .

brass tha h and a a a o with him T hese he w o uld

'
1 2 ’
.

pawn and then buy what he needed

,
.

T o wards evening Bipin Babu was o u t fo r a ,

wa l k attended by t wo o r three retainers armed

3
w i th la th i5 A ttracted by the noise he d i rected
.
,

his steps towards the market On his arrival he .

,

stopped awhile before the sta l l o f D war i the o il ,

man and made kindly i nquiries ab o ut his business

,
.

Al l on a sudden Asimu ddin raised his cia o and ran

,

towards B ipin Babu roaring l ike a tiger The ,

.

market people caught hold o f him half way and -

,

quick l y disarmed him He was forthwith given .

in custody t o the p ol ice Business i n the market .

then went o n as usua l .

We cannot say that Bipin Babu was n o t in

war dly p l eased at this incident It i s into l erable .

that the creature we are hunting down should turn

and S how fight The ba dma sh Bipin chuckled
.
,
’

’
I have got him at l ast .

1 Tha lz :
pl ate .
2 D ao : k n i fe .
3
La t ht s : s t i ck .
 THE RIDDLE SOLVED 1 1 5

The lad i es o f Bipin Babu s house when they ’

heard the news exclaimed with horror

,
Oh the ,

r u fli an What a mercy they seized him in time

They found consolation in the prospect o f the man
being punished as he richly deserved .

I n another part o f t h e village t h e same evening

’
the widow s humble cottage devoid of bread and ,

bereft o f her so n became darker than death

, .

Others dismissed the incident of the afternoon

from their minds s at down to their meals retired
, ,

to bed and went to sleep but to the widow t he

,

event loomed l arger than anything else i n t h is wide

world But alas wh o was there to combat i t ?
.
, ,

Only a bundle o f wearied bones and a he l p l ess

’
mot h er s heart tremb l ing with fear .

IV

T h ree days have passed in the meanwhile To .

morrow the case woul d come up for trial before a

Deputy Magistrate Bipin Babu would have to
.

be examined as a witness Never before this did a

.

z emin da r o f Jhik r ako t a appe ar in the witness box -

,

but B ipin did not mind .

T h e next day at the appointed hour Bipin Babu ,

arrived at the Court i n a palanquin i n great state .

He wore a turban on his head and a watch chain ,

-
1 1 6 THE RI DDLE SOLVED
dang l ed o n his breast The Deputy M agis t rate .

i n v ited him to a seat on the dais beside his o wn ,

.

T h e Court— room was cr o wded t o su ffo cation So .

great a sensati o n had not been witnessed in th i s

Court for many years .

When the time for the case to be call ed drew

near a chap r am came and wh i spered something in
’

’
Bipin Babu s ear He got up very agitated and
.

wa l ked out begging the Deputy Magistrate to

,

excuse him for a few minutes .

Outs i de he saw hi s o ld father a little way o ff ,

standing under a ba nia n tree barefooted and ,

wrapped in a p i ece o f n a ma ha h l
A string o f
’

beads was in his hand His slender form shone .

with a gentle lustre and tranquil c o mpass i on ,

seemed to radiate fr o m his forehead .

B ipin hampered by his c l ose -fi t t in g trousers

,

’
and h i s flowing chap ka n touched his fat h er s feet ,

with his forehead As he did this his turban came

.

o ff and kissed his nose and his watch p o pp i ng out , ,

of his pocket swung to and fro i n the a i r B ipin

, .

hurri edly straightened his turban and begged his ,

’
father t o c o me to his pl eader s house c l ose by .

’
No thank you Kris h na Gopal replied I wi l l
, , ,

’
tel l you here what I have got to say .

1 A garment w i t h t h e name o f K r i s h na pr i nted o ver i t .

I 1 8 THE RIDDLE SOLVED
Even m y s o n was the calm reply
so , ,
’
.

B ipin stood t h ere for some time i n mute as

t o n is h m en t Then he found words to s ay : Come ‘
.

’
h o me father we wi ll ta l k about it afterwards
, .

’
No my s o n rep l ied the old man having
, , ,
‘

o nce re l inquished the world to serve my G o d I ,

cannot go home again I return hence N o w I . .

leave you to do what your sense o f duty may

’
suggest He then blessed his son and checking
.
, ,

his tears with di fficulty walked o ff with tottering ,

steps .

B ipin was dumbfounded n o t know i ng what to ,

n o r what to do So such was the piety of

‘
sa
y .
,

’
the older generat i on he said t o himself He r e,
.

fl e ct ed w i th pride how much better he was t h an his

fat h er in point o f education and mora l ity This .

was the result he c o ncluded of not h aving a

, ,

’
principle to guide one s act i ons .

Returning to t h e C o urt he saw A simu dd in ,

outside between tw o c o nstables awa i t i ng his trial ,

.

He looked emaciated and worn o u t His lips .

were pal e and d r y and his eyes unnatura ll y bright

, .

A dirty piece o f c l oth worn to shreds covered h im .

Th i s my bro t her ! Bipin shuddered at the

’

t h ough t
T h e Deputy Magistrate and B ipin were friends ,
 THE RIDDLE SOLVED 1 1 9

and t he case ended in a fiasco In a few days .

A sim u dd in was restored to his former c o ndition .

Why all th i s happened he cou l d not understand

, .

The vi ll age peop l e were greatly surprised als o .

H o wever the news o f Kris h na G o pal s arrival

,
’

j ust before the tr i al soon go t abroad Pe o ple .

began to exchange meaning glances The p l eaders .

i n their s h rewdness guessed the w hole a ffair One .

of t h em Ram Taran Babu was behol den to Kris h na

, ,

Gopal for h is educati o n and his start i n life Some .

h ow o r other he had always suspected that the

virtue and piety o f his benefactor were S hams N o w .

h e was fully convinced that if a searching inquiry ,

’
were made all pious men might be found o u t
, .

Let them tel l their beads as muc h as they like he ,

’

thought wit h glee everybody i n this world is j ust

,

as bad as myself The only di fference between

.

a good and a bad man is that the go o d practise

’ ’
diss i mulation while the bad don t The revelation .

t h at Krishna G o pal s far— ’

famed piety benevole n ce , ,

and magnanimity were n o th i ng but a c l oak o f

hypocrisy settled a di ffi culty that had oppressed
,

Ram Taran Babu fo r many years By what pr o .

cess o f reasoning we do not know the burden o r

, ,

gratitude was greatly lifted o ff his mind It was .

a vast relief to hi m
 THE ELDE R SISTE R

H A V I N G described at length the misdeeds of an

’
unfortunate w o man s wicked tyrannical husband , ,

Tara the woman s neighb o ur in the village very

,
’

s h ortly decl ared her verdict Fire be to such a ‘

husband s mouth ’
.
’

’
At this Jo ygo pal Babu s wife felt much hurt
it did n o t become womankind to wish in any ,

circumstances wha t ever a worse species o f fire

,

than that o f a ci gar i n a husband s mout h ’

.

W h en t h erefore she m i ldly disapproved the

, ,

verdict hard h earted Tara cried wit h redoubled

,
-

vehemence : Twere better to be a widow seven

’

’
births over than the wife of such a husband ,

and saying this s he broke up the meeting and

le ft .

Sasi said within hersel f : I can t imagine any ‘

’

’
o fl e n ce i n a husband that could s o harden the
heart against him Even as she turned the ma t ter
.
’

1 23
1 24 TH E ELDER SISTER
over in her mind a l l the tenderness o f her l o ving
,

soul gushed fo rth towards her o wn husband now

abr o ad Throwing herself with outstretched arms
.

on that part o f the bed whereon her husband

was wont to l ie she kissed the empty pil low
, ,

caught the smel l o f her husband s head and shut ’

, ,

t i ng the door br o ught o u t from a wooden box an

,

o ld and a l most faded photograph with s o me letters

in his handwr i ting and s at gazing upon them , .

Thus she passed the hushed no o nt i de alone in

her room musing of old mem o ries and shedd i ng
,

tears o f sadness .

It w as n o new yoke this between Sasikala and

Jo ygo pal T hey had been married at an earl y
.

age and had children T he i r lo ng compani o nsh i p

.

had made the days go by in an easy common pl ace ,

s o rt of way On neither s i de had there been any

.

symptoms o f excessive pass io n They h ad lived .

together nearly sixteen years without a break ,

when her husband was suddenly cal l ed away from

home o n business and the n a great impulse o f
,

A s separati o n stra i ned

’
lo ve aw o ke in Sasi s soul .

’
the tie love s knot grew tighter and the passion
, , ,

whose existence Sasi had n o t felt now m ade her ,

throb with pain .

S o i t h appened that after so many lo ng years ,

I 26 THE ELDER SISTER
had enough to support them i n a vi l lage with
royal state .

A nd then i n his o ld age a s o n was born u n

’
timely to Sasik ala s father To te l l the truth .
,

Sasi was very s o re i n her mind at this un l ooked

fo r improper and unj ust action of her parents ;
, ,

n or was Jo ygo pal particularly p l eased .

’
The parents l ove centred i n this s o n o f their
advanced years and when the newly arrived , ,

diminutive s l eepy br o ther-in -l aw seized w i th his

,

two weak tiny fists a l l the hopes and expectations

o fj o o al Jo o al found a place i n a tea garden -
yg p yg p ,

in A ssam .

His friends urged him to lo o k fo r emp l oyment

hard— b y but whether o u t o f a genera l fee l ing o f
,

resentment or knowing the chances o f rapid rise i n

,

a tea— garden Jo ygo pal w o uld not pay heed to any

,

body He sent his wife and childre n to h i s father

.

’
in l aw s and l eft for A ssam It was the first separa
-
,
.

tion between husband and wi fe i n their married li fe .

This i ncident made Sasikala very angry with

her baby brother The soreness wh i ch may not .

pass the lips is felt the more keenly within .

When the little fe ll ow sucked and slept at his

ease his big S ister foun d a hundred reasons such
, ,

as the rice is cold the boys are t o o late fo r school , ,

 TH E ELDER SI STER 1 27

to worry herself and others day and night with , ,

her petulant humours .

’
But in a short time the child s m o ther died .

Before her deat h S he committed her infant son to

,

’
her daughter s care .

Then did the motherless chil d easily conquer

’
h is sister s heart
. With loud whoops he would
fling himself upon her and wit h right good will
,
-

try to get her mouth nose eyes within his o wn

, ,

t i ny mou t h ; he wou l d seize her hair within his

little fis t s and refuse to give it u p awaking before
the dawn h e would roll over to her side and t h rill
,

her with his soft touc h and babble like a noisy

,

bro o k later o n he would call her j zj z and j gjz ma

' ' ’

, ,

and in hours o f work and rest by doi n g forbidden ,

things eating forbidden food going to forbidden

, ,

places would set up a regular tyranny over her ;

,

then Sasi could resist no l onger She surrendered .

h erself complete l y to this wayward litt l e tyrant .

Since the child had no mother his i nfluence over ,

h er became the greater .

II

The child was named N ilman i When he was .

two years old his father fel l ser io usly ill A l etter .

reached Jo ygo pal asking h im to come as quick l y

1 28 THE ELDE R SISTER
as possibl e When after much troub l e he got
.

l eave and arrived Kalipr as an n a s last hour had

’

come .

Before he d i ed Kalipr asan n a entrusted Jo ygo pal

w i th the charge o f his so n and l eft a quarter of
,

his estate to his daughter .

So Jo ygo pal gave up his appointmen t and ,

came home to look after his property .

A fter a l ong ti m e husband and wife met aga i n .

When a material body breaks it may be put to

gether again But when t wo human be i ngs are
.

div i ded after a l ong separation they never r e unite

, ,
-

at the same p l ace and to the same t i me ; for the

,

mind is a l i ving thing and moment by moment it

,

grows and changes .

In Sas i reun io n stirred a new emotion The .

numbness of age -l ong hab i t in their o ld marr i age

was ent i re l y removed by the l o nging born o f
separation and she seemed t o win her husband
,

much more c l osely than before Had she not .

vowed in her mind that whatever days might

c o me and how l ong s o ever they might be she
, ,

wou l d never l et the brightness o f this g l owing

love for her husband be dimmed .

Of this reuni o n h owever Jo ygo pal felt dif

, ,

fer en t ly When they were c o nstantly together

.
1 30 TH E ELDER SISTER

Nilman i
’
wou l d c l asp Sas i s neck and hide h i s ,

face o n her sh o u l der and admit no o bligat i on

,

o f k i ndred Sasi wished that her little br o ther

.

m i ght sh o w Jo ygo pal al l the arts he had l earnt to

capture a man s mind But Jo ygo pal was n o t
’
.

very keen abo u t it H o w could t h e child show

.

enthusiasm ? could at all

an
y J yg p
o o al n o t

understand what there was in the heavy-pated ,

grave-faced dusky chi l d that so much l ove shou l d

,

be wasted o n him .

Women quickly understand the ways o f lo ve .

Sasi at o nce understood that Jo ygo pal did not

care fo r N ilman i Hencefo rth she used to screen
.

her brother with the greatest care—to keep him

away from the un lo ving repel l ing l o o k o f her ,

husband Thus the ch il d came to be the treasure

.

of her secret care the obj ect o f her iso l ated love
, .

J yg p
o o al w as great l y annoyed when N ilm an i
cried ; s o Sas i would quickly press the chi l d to
her breast and with her whole heart and soul try
,

to soothe him A nd when N ilm an i s cry happened

.
’

t o disturb Jo ygo pal s sleep at n i ght and Jo ygo pal ,

with an expression o f displeasure and in a tort u red ,

spirit gr owl ed at the chi l d Sasi fe l t humbl ed and

, ,

fluttered like a guilty t h ing Then she wo u l d .

take up the chi l d in her lap retire t o a d i stance , ,

 THE ELDER SI STER 1
3 1

and i n a voice of pleading love with such endear ,

’
ments as my gold my treasure m y j ewel lu l l
‘
, , ,

h im to sleep .

Children will fall o u t for a h undred things .

Formerl y in such cases Sasi wou l d punish her ,

chi l dren and side with her brother for he was

, ,

motherless Now the law changed w i th the judge

. .

N ilm an i h ad often to bear heavy punishment

w i thout fault and wi t hout inquiry This wrong .

’
went like a dagger to Sas i s heart ; so she would
take her punished brother into her r oo m and ,

with sweets and toys and by caressing and ,

kissing him S ol ace as much as she c o ul d his

,

stricken heart .

T h us the more Sasi l oved N ilm an i t he more ,

Jo ygo pal was annoyed with him On the other .

hand the more Jo ygo pal showed his contem pt

,

for N ilm an i the more would Sasi bathe the chi l d

,

with the nectar o f her l ove .

A nd when the fe llo w Jo ygo pal behaved harsh l y

to his wife Sasi would minister t o him silent l y
, ,

meekly and with l ovi n g kindness But inwardly

,
-
.

t h ey h urt each other moment by moment about

, ,

N ilman i .

The hid d en c l ash o f a si l ent conflict like this is

far harder to bear than an open quarrel .
 1 3 2 THE ELDE R SISTER

N ilm an i s
’
head was the l argest part o f h i m .

It seemed as if the Creator had blown through

a S l ender stick a big bubb l e at its t o p The .

doctors feared s o metimes that the chi l d might be

as frai l and as quick l y evanescent as a bubb l e .

For a l ong time he could neit h er speak nor walk .

L oo king at his sad grave face you might think ,

that his parents had unburdened a l l the sad weight

o f the i r advanced years upon the head o f this
l i ttle ch il d .

With h i s sister s care and nursing Nilm an i

’

passed the period o f danger and arr i ved at his .

,

sixth year .

I n the m o nth o f Kartik o n the hha zph oto day

1
’

, ,

Sasi had dressed N ilman i up as a l ittle Babu in ,

'

coat and cha da r and red bordered ahatl and was -

,
’ ’
g i ving him t h e brother s mark when her o u t
‘
,

spoken neighbour Tara came in and for o n e ,

reason or another began a quarrel , .

’ ’
Tis no u se cried she giving the brother s
’

, ,

1
Lit . t h e br ot h e r s ma r k A beaut i fu l and t o uc hi ng ce r em o ny i n
’
.
’

w hi c h a H i ndu s i ster ma k es a mar k o f sanda l w oo d paste o n t h e fo re h ead o f

h er br o t h er and u t ters a fo rmu l a putt i ng t h e barr i er i n Y ama s d oo rway
,
’

! fi gurat i ve for w i s hi ng lo ng li fe ! On t h ese o ccas io ns t h e s i ste r s enterta i n

.
,

t h e i r b ro t h ers and ma k e t h em presents o f c lot h es etc , .

1 34 T H E ELDE R SISTE R

her supreme refuge was n o th i ng m o re than a crue l

snare of self interest which h ad surrounded them
-
, ,

brother and s i ster o n al l S ides She was a

, .

w o man s i ngle-handed and she knew not h o w

, ,

sh e cou l d save the helpless N ilm an i The m ore .

she thought t h e more her heart filled w i th terror

, ,

l o ath i ng and an infinite love fo r her imper illed

,

l i ttle brother She thought that if s he only knew

.
,

h o w s he wou l d appear befo re the L a t Sa h eb nay

,
1
, ,

’
write to the M aharan i hersel f to save her brother s ,

property The M aharani would surely n o t a llo w

.

Nilm an i s ta ln h o f Hasilpur with an income of

’ 2
,

seven hundred and fi ft y— eight rupees a year to be ,

sol d .

When Sas i was thus th i nking o f bringing her

’
husband s cousi n to book by appealing to the
Maharan i herse l f N ilm an i was suddenly se i zed
,

with fever and convuls io ns .

Jo ygo pal called i n the v i l l age doctor When .

Sasi asked for a better doct o r Jo ygo pal said ,

Why M at ilal isn t a bad sort

,
’
.
’

Sasi fel l at his feet and charged him with an ,

oath o n her o wn head whereup o n Jo ygo pal said

’
Well I shall send for the doctor from town
,
.

Sasi lay with N ilm an i in her lap nor wou l d ,

1
T h e V i cer o y .
2
L and .
 THE ELDER SISTER 1
35

N ilm an i let her out of h is sig h t for a minute he

clung to her lest by some pretence s he should
esca pe even whi l e he slept he would not loosen
h is hold o f her dress .

Thus the whol e day passed and Jo ygo pal ,

came after nightfall to say that the doct o r was

n o t at home ; he had gone to see a patient at a
distance He added that he himself had to leave
.

that very day on account o f a lawsuit and that he ,

had tol d M at ilal wh o would regular ly call to s ee

,

the patient .

At nig h t N ilm an i wandered in his S l eep As .

soon as the morning dawned Sasi without the , ,

least scruple took a boat with her S ick brother

, ,

’
and went straight to the doctor s h ouse The .

doct o r was at home— h e h ad n o t l eft the town .

He quickly found lodgings fo r her and having ,

installed her under the care o f an elderly widow ,

undert o ok the treatment of the boy .

The next day Jo ygo pal arrived Blazing with .

fury h e ordered h is wife to return home wit h h i m

,

at once .

’
Even if you cut me to pieces I won t return , ,
’

replied h is wife Y o u all want to kill my N ilm an i

.
‘
,

who h as no father no mother none other than me

, , ,

but I will save him .

’
I 3 6 THE ELDER SISTER
’
Then you rema i n here and d o n t c o me back ,

’
to my house cried Jo ygo pal i ndignantly
, .

Sasi at l ength fired up Your h o use Why .

,

’ ’
t i s my brother s
All right we ll see
’ ’

,
said Jo ygo pal The ,
.

neighbours made a great stir over th i s i nc i dent .

’
‘
If you want t o quarrel w i th y o ur husband sai d ,

Tara d o so at home What i s the good o f leaving

,
.

’
your house ? A fter all Jo ygo pal is your husband,
.

By spending a l l the m o ney she had with her ,

and se l ling her o rnaments Sasi saved her brother ,

from the j aws o f death Then sh e heard that the .

big property which they had in Dwarigram where ,

their dwe l ling—h o use stood the income o f which ,

was more than RS I go o a year had been transferred

.
,

by Jo ygo pal int o his o wn name with the help o f

t h e Jem in dar And now the wh o le property
.

bel onged t o them n o t t o her br o ther

, .

When h e had recovered from his illness ,

N ilm an i wou l d cry plaintively Let us go home ,

s i ster . His heart was pining fo r his nephews and

’

n ieces his c o mpanions So he repeatedly said

,
.

Let us g o home sister to that o ld house of ours

, , .
’

At this Sasi wept Where was the i r home

.

But it was no good crying Her brother had .

no o n e e l se bes i des herself in the w o rld Sasi .

1 38 TH E ELDE R SIST E R
natured Nilm an i i n i mpert u rbab l e curi o sity serenely
gazed at the Saheb .

The Saheb was amused and came up and asked

in Bengali : Yo u read at the p a thsa la r
1
The b o y silently n o dded What p nsta hs do .

o u read asked the Saheb

y .

A s N ilm an i d i d not understand the word p us ta h ,

’
he silently fixed his gaze on the Mag i strate s face .

N ilm an i told h i s sister the story o f his meet i ng

the Magistrate w i th great enthus i asm .

2
A t no o n Jo ygo pal dressed in trousers chap ka n
, , , ,

3
and p agr i went to pay his salams to the Saheb
,
.

A crowd o f suit o rs eha 1> ra5ies and c o nstab l es

, , ,
4

stood ab o ut him Fearing the heat the Saheb had

.
,

seated h i mse l f at a court table outs i de the tent in

-
,

the open shade and p l acing Jo ygo pal in a chair

, ,

questioned him about the state o f the V i ll age .

Having taken the seat of hon o ur i n open V iew o f

the commun i ty Jo ygo pal swe ll ed inward l y and
, ,

thought it wou l d be a good thing if any o f the

C hak r ab ar t is or Nandis came and saw him there .

At this moment a woman close l y veiled and , , ,

acc o mpanied by N ilman i came straight up to the ,

Magistrate She sa i d Saheb into your ha n ds I

.
,

1 A li te r a r y w o rd for b oo k s . T h e c ollo qu i a l w ill be b i o .

2 A cha
pka rx i s a lo ng c o at .
3 T urban
. S e vants
1
‘
r .
 THE ELDER SISTER 1 39
’
resign my helpless brother Save him .The .

Saheb S eeing t h e large headed solem n boy w h ose

,
-
, ,

acquaintance h e had already made and thinking ,

that the w o man mus t be o f a respec t able family ,

’
at once sto o d up and said Please enter the tent .

The woman said What I have to say I wi ll

sa
y here .
’

Jo ygo pal writhed and turned pale The curious .

villagers thought it capital fun and pressed clos er ,

.

But t h e moment the Saheb lifted his cane they

scampered o ff .

Hol ding her brot her by the hand Sasi n arrated ,

t he history of the orphan from the beginning As .

J yg p
o o al tried to interrupt now and then the ,

Magistrate thundered with a flushed face Chap ,

ra o
,
’
and wit h t h e tip of his cane motioned to
Jo ygo pal t o leave the chair and stand up .

Jo ygo pal inwardly ragi n g against Sasi stood

, ,

speec h less N ilm an i n estled up close to h is sister

.
,

and listened awe struck - .

When Sasi had finis h ed her story t h e Magi strate ,

put a few questions to Jo ygo pal and o n hearing ,

his answers kept silence for a long while and t hen

, ,

addressed Sasi thus : M y good woman thoug h

‘
,

t h is matter m ay not come up before me still rest ,

assured I will do all that is needful about it You .

1 49 TH E ELDE R SISTER
can return home w i th your brother without the
least misgiving .
’

Sas i said : Saheb s o l ong as he does not get

‘
,

back his o wn home I dare not take him there , .

Un l ess you keep N ilman i wit h yo u n o ne else will ,

’
be ab l e to save him .

And what w o ul d yo u do ? queried the Saheb .

‘
I will reti re to m y husband s house said Sasi ’

,
’

there is nothing to fear for me .

’

The Saheb sm iled a litt l e and as there was , ,

nothing else to do agreed t o take charge o f this

,

lean dusty grave sedate gentle Be n gali boy wh o se

, , , ,

neck was r i nged with amulets .

W h en Sas i was about to take her l eave the boy ,

’
clutched her dress Don t be frightened ha ha
.
‘
, ,

— come said the Saheb W i th tear s streaming

,
’
.

beh i nd her veil Sasi said : Do go my brot h er

,
‘
, ,

my darling br o ther—yo u will mee t your sister

again !
Saying this she embraced h i m and stroked hi s
head and back and re l easing her dress hast i ly
, ,

withdrew and j ust then the Saheb put his left arm
round him The child wailed out
. Sister oh my , ,

sister Sasi turned round at o n ce and with o u t ,

stretched arm made a sign of speechl ess solace and ,

with a bursting heart withdrew .

S UBHA

x 43
1 46 SUBH A
’
wh o can forget pain Night and day her parents
m i nds were aching o n her account Especial l y .

her m o ther looked upon her as a deformity i n

herself To a mother a daughter is a more c l osely
.

int i mate part o f herse l f than a s o n can be ; and a

faul t i n her is a s o urce o f pers o nal shame Bani .

’
kantha Subha s father loved her rather better
, ,

than h is o ther daughters ; her mother regarded

her with aversion as a stain upon her o wn body .

If Subha lacked speech she did not l ack a pair ,

o f l arge dark eyes shaded with long lashes ; and

,

her l ips trembled l ike a leaf in response t o any

th o ught that r o se i n her mind .

When we express o u r thought in words the ,

medium is n o t found eas il y There must be a .

pr o cess of translation which is often inexact and

, ,

then we fal l i nt o err o r B ut b l ack eyes need no

.

translating the mind itself throws a shadow u pon

them I n them thought opens o r shuts shines
.
,

forth o r g o es o u t in darkness hangs steadfast l ike

, ,

the setting m o on o r like the swift and rest l ess

, ,

l ightnin g illumines all quarters o f the sky They

, .

who fr o m birth have had no other speech than

the trembling of their l ips l earn a l anguage o f the
eyes end l ess in expressi o n deep as t he s ea c l ear as
, , ,

the heavens where i n pl ay dawn and sunset light

, ,
 SUBHA 1 47

and shad o w The dumb have a l onely grandeur

.

like Nature s o wn Wherefo re the other children

’
.

almost dreaded Subha and never p l ayed w i th her

,
.

She was silent and companionless as no o ntide .

The hamlet where she lived was Chandipur Its .

river small for a river of Bengal kept t o its narrow

, ,

bounds like a daughter o f the middle c l ass This .

busy streak o f water never o v er flo wed its banks but ,

went about its duties as t h o ugh it were a member

of every family in t h e V illages beside it On either .

side were houses and banks shaded with trees .

So stepping from her queen l y throne the river ,

goddess became a garden deity of each h o me

and forgetful o f hersel f performed her task o f
,

endless benedic t ion with swift and cheerful foot .

’
B an ik an t ha s h o use looked upon the stream .

Every hut and stack in the place cou l d be seen by

the passing boatmen I know not if amid these
.

signs o f worldly weal th any o n e noticed the little

girl who when her work was done stole away to
, ,

the waterside and s at there But here Nature

, .

fulfi l led her want of speech and spoke fo r her, .

The murmur o f t h e brook the voice o f the village

,

fo lk the s o ngs of the boatmen t he crying of t h e

, ,

birds and rustle o f trees mingled and were one ,

with the tremb l ing o f her heart They became .

I SUB H A
o ne vast wave o f sound which beat upon her rest
,

less soul This murmur and movement of Nature

.

’
were the dumb g i r l s l anguage ; that speech o f
the dark eyes which the l ong l ashes shaded was
, ,

the language o f the w o r l d about her Fr o m the .

trees where the cical as chirpe d to the quiet stars

, ,

there was n o thing but signs and gestures weeping ,

and sighing And in the deep mid noon when

.
-
,

the boatmen and fi sher fo lk had gone to their

dinner when the vi ll agers s l ept and birds were
, ,

sti l l when the ferry—

, boats were id l e when t h e grea t ,

busy w orld paused i n its toi l and became suddenly ,

a lonely awfu l gian t then beneath the vast im

, ,

press i ve heavens t h ere were on l y dumb Nature

and a dumb gir l S itting very silent—one under
,

the spread i ng sun l ight the other where a small

,

tree cast its shad ow .

But Subha was not altogether without friends .

In the stal l were two c o ws Sarb b ashi and P an gu li

, .

They had never heard their names from her l ips ,

but they knew her fo otfall Though s he had no .

words she murmured lovingly and they under

,

sto o d her gentle murmuring better t h an all speech .

When s he fo ndled them o r scol ded o r coaxed them ,

they underst oo d her better than men coul d d o .

Subha w o uld come to the shed and thr o w her ,

1 50 SUB H A
that he would ever make his l iving Now l ose l s .

have this advantage that th o ugh their o wn folk

, ,

disapprove o f them they are generally popular

,

with every o n e else Having no work to chain

.

them they become public property Just as every

,
.

town needs an ope n space where all may breathe ,

so a vil l age needs two o r three gentlemen o f

le i sure who can give ti me to a ll ; so that if we
, ,

are l azy and want a c o mpanion o n e is to hand ,

.

’
P r at ap s chief ambition was t o catch fish He .

managed to waste a lot o f time th i s way and ,

might be seen almost any aftern o on so emp l oyed .

It was thus m o st often that h e met Subha What .

ever he was about he l iked a compan i on ; and

, ,

when o n e i s catching fi sh a s i lent compan io n is

,

best o f a ll Pratap respected Subha for her tac i

.

t u r n it y and as every o n e called her Subha

, ,
he ,

’
showed his afl e ct io n by calling her Su Subha .

used t o sit beneath a tamarind and Pratap a little , ,

distance o ff would cast his l ine Pratap took

,
.

with him a small al l owance o f betel and Subha ,

prepared it fo r him And I th i nk that sitting and

.
,

gazing a l ong while sh e desired ardent l y to bri n g

,

some great hel p t o Pratap to be o f rea l aid to , ,

prove by any means that she was n o t a useless

burden to t he world But there was nothing to
.
 SUBH A 1
5
1

do Then she turned to the Creator in prayer

.

for some rare power that by an astonishing ,

miracle she might startle Pratap into exc l aiming

“
My ! I n ev er dreamt our Su coul d have done
t h is
On l y think if Subha had been a water nymph ,

she might have risen slowly from the r i ver bring ,

ing the gem of a snake s crown t o the landing ’

place Then Pratap leaving his pal try fish i ng

.
, ,

might dive into the l ower world an d s ee there on , ,

a golden bed in a palace of silver whom else but ,

’
dumb little Su Ban ikan t h a s child ? Yes o u r Su
, , ,

the on l y daughter of the king of that shini n g city

o f j ewels But that m i ght n o t be it was impo s ,

sible N o t that anything is rea ll y impossible but

.
,

Su had been born not into the royal house of

,

1 ’
P at alpu r but into Ban ikan tha s fami l y and she
, ,

’
knew no means o f ast o nishing t h e G o sain s boy .

Gradua ll y she grew up Gradually she began .

to find herself A new inexpressib l e consciousness

.

like a tide from the central places o f the sea when ,

the m o on is full swept through her She s aw

,
.

herself questioned herself but n o answer came

, ,

that s he could understand .

O nce upon a time late o n a night o f fu ll moon

, ,

1 T h e Lo wer W o r l d .
I 52 SUBH A
s he sl owly opened her door and peeped out t i midly
,
.

Nature hersel f at ful l moon l ike l onely Subha

, , ,

was l ooking down o n the sleeping earth Her .

str o ng y o ung life beat within her ; j oy and sadness

filled her being t o i ts brim ; she reached the
lim i ts even o f her o wn il l imitable lo neliness nay , ,

passed beyond them Her heart was heavy and she

.
,

cou l d not speak ! A t the skirts of this silent ,

troubled M o ther there stood a si l ent troub l ed

girl .

The thought o f her marriage filled her parents

with an anxious care Peop l e b l amed them and
.
,

even talked o f making them outcasts Ban ik an t h a .

was we ll o ff they had fi sh curry twice da i ly and

-

c o nsequent l y he did not lack enemies Then the .

women interfered and Ban i went away for a few

,

“
days Presently he returned and said :
. We
,

must go to Cal cutta .

They g o t ready t o go to this strange country .

Subha s heart was heavy with tears like a mist

’

wrapt dawn With a vague fear that had been

.

gat h ering for days she dogged her father and

,

m o ther like a dumb animal W i th her large eyes .

w i de o pen she scanned the i r faces as t hough she

,

wis h ed t o l earn something But n o t a word did .

they vouchsafe One afternoon in the midst o f

.
I 54 . SUB H A
’
One day i n a h o use i n Ca l cutta Subha s mother ,

dressed her up with great care She i mprisoned .

her ha i r knotting it up i n l aces she hung her

, ,

about wit h ornaments and d i d her best to kill her ,

natura l beauty Subha s eyes fi ll ed w i th tears

.
’
.

Her mother fear i ng they w o uld gr o w swo ll en w i th

,

weeping sco l ded her harsh l y but the tears dis

, ,

regarded the sco l ding The br i degroom came w i th.

a friend to inspect the bride Her parents were .

dizzy w i th anxiety and fear when they saw the

god arr i ve to sel ect the beast for his sacrifice .

Behind the stage the m o ther ca l led her in

,

’
s t r u ct io n s a lo ud and increased her daughter s
,

weeping tw o fold before s he sent h er into the

,

’
examiner s presence The great man after scan .
,

’
ning her a long t i me observed Not so bad
,
.

He took special note of her tears and thought ,

she must have a tender heart H e put i t to her .

credit i n the account arguing that the heart wh i ch

, ,

to day was distressed at l eaving her parents would

-
,

presently pr o ve a useful possession Like the .

’
oyster s pear l s the chi l d s tears only i ncreased her
’

val ue and he made no other comment

,
.

The almanac was consul ted and the marriage ,

to o k place o n an auspic i ous day Having delivered .

’ ’
over their dumb girl into another s hands Subha s ,
 SUBHA I 55

parents returned home Thank G o d Their caste

.

in t h is and their safety in the next wor l d were

’
assured The bridegr o om s work lay in the west ,

and shortly after the marriage he took his wife

thith er .

I n less than ten days every o n e knew that t h e

bride was dumb ! At l east if any o n e d id n o t it
, ,

was not her fault for s he deceived no o n e Her

, .

eyes told them everythi ng though n o o n e under

,

stood her S h e looked o n every h and s he found

.

no speech ; s he missed t h e faces familiar from

,

’
birt h of those who had understood a dumb gir l s
,

language In her silent heart there s o unded an

.

endless voiceles s weeping which on l y the Searcher

, ,

of Hearts c ou l d hear .

Using both eyes and ears this time her lord,

made an o ther carefu l examination using his ears

,

t h is time as well as h is eyes and married a second

,

wife who could speak .

 THE POSTM A STER

TH E postmaster first took up his duties in the

village o f U lapu r Though the village was a
.

small one t h ere was an indigo fact o ry near by and

, ,

the proprietor an Englishman had managed to

, ,

get a post o fli ce established

'
.

Our postmaster belonged to Calcutta He fel t .

like a fish o u t of water in this remote village .

H is o fli ce and l iving room were in a dark thatched

-

shed not far from a green slimy pond surrounded

, , ,

o n all S i des by a dense grow t h .

The men employed in the indigo factory had

no leisure ; moreover they were hardly desirab l e
,

companions for decent folk N o r is a Calcutta .

boy an adept in the art o f associating with ot h ers .

Among strangers he appears either proud o r i l l

at ease At any rate the postmaster had but
.
,

little company nor had h e much to do .

At times he tr i ed his h and at wr i ting a V erse o r

two That the movement o f the leaves and the
.

1 59
I 60 THE POSTM A STER
clouds o f the sky were enough to fill life with j oy
such were the sentiments to which he sought
t o give expressi o n B ut God kn o ws that the
.

poor fe ll ow would have felt i t as the gift of a

new l ife if s o me genie o f the d r a hz a n Nights
’

had i n o n e n i ght swep t away the trees leaves ,

and all and rep l aced them with a macadamised

,

road hiding the c l ouds from v i ew w i th rows of

,

ta l l houses .

’
The po stmaster s sal ary was sma l l He h ad to .

co o k h i s o wn meal s which he used to share with,

Ratan an or phan girl of the village wh o did odd

, ,

j o bs for h i m .

When i n the evening the smoke began t o curl

up fr o m the vi l lage cow-sheds and the cicalas ,
1

chirped in every bush ; when the faquirs of the

Ba ul sect sang their shr il l songs in their dail y
meeting-place when any poet who had attempted
, ,

t o watch the movement o f the l eaves in t he dense

ba mboo thickets wou l d h ave felt a ghostly shiver

,

run d o wn his back the p o stmaster w o uld l ight his

,

’
little l am p and call o u t Ratan
,
.

Ratan w o uld sit o utside waiting for this cal l ,

and instead of coming in at once wou l d reply

, ,

Did you ca l l me s ir ,

1 S m o k y fi res are li t i n t h e c o w -s h eds t o dr i ve o ff m o s qu t o es

i .
1 62 THE POSTM A ST E R
wo u ld o ften get very l ate and the p o stmaster ,

w o u l d fee l too l azy to d o any co o king at al l .

Ratan w o uld then hasti l y light the fire and t o ast ,

some unleavened bread which with the cold , ,

remnants o f the morning m eal was enough for ,

their sup per .

On s o me even i ngs seated at his desk in the

,

corner o f the b i g empty shed the postmaster t o o ,

w o uld ca l l up mem o ries o f h i s o wn home o f his ,

m o ther and h i s sister o f those for wh o m in his

,

exi le his heart was sad - memor i es wh i ch were

,

a l ways h aunting him but which he could not

,

ta l k ab o ut with the men o f the fact o ry though he ,

fo und himse l f naturally recal ling them aloud in the

presence o f the simp l e l i ttle girl And so it came .

about that the gir l w o u ld allude to h is people as

1
m o ther brother and sister as if s he had kn o wn
, , ,

them al l her life I n fact s he had a c o mp l ete

.
,

picture of each o ne o f them pai nted i n her l ittle

heart .

One noon during a break in the rains there

, ,

was a cool soft breeze b lowing the smel l of the

cl amp grass and leaves in the hot s u n felt l ike the
’
warm breath i ng o f the tired earth on one s b od y .

1 am il y servants ca ll t h e master and m i stress fat h er and m o t h e r and

F
t h e c hil dren e l de r b ro t h ers and s i sters
.
 THE POSTM A STER 1 63

A persistent b i rd went o n all the afterno o n repeat

’
ing the burden o f its o n e complaint in Nature s
audience chamber .

T h e postmaster had not h ing to do Th e .

shimmer o f the fresh l y washed l eaves and the ,

banked u p remnants o f the retreating rain —

- cl o uds
were sights to see and the p o stmaster was watc h
ing them and thinking to himself : Oh if on l y
,
‘
,

s o me kindred soul were near—j ust o n e lovi n g

human being whom I cou l d ho l d n ear my h eart
This was exact l y he went o n to think what that
, ,

bird was try i ng to say and it was the same feel

,

ing which the murmuring leaves were striving

to express But no o n e knows o r would believe
.
, ,

that such an i dea might also take possession o f an

il l paid village postmaster in the deep silent mid
-
,

day interva l o f his work .

The postmaster sighed and called out Ratan ,

.
’

Ratan was then sprawling benea t h the guava -tree ,

busily engaged in eating unripe guavas At the .

voice of her master she ran up breathlessly saying

, ,

Were y o u ca ll ing me Dada I was t h inking

,
‘
,
’

sa i d t h e postmaster of teaching you to read

,
‘
,
’

and then for the rest of the aftern o on he taught

her the al phabet .

1
D ada = e lde r br o t h er .
1 64 TH E POSTM A STER
Thus i n a very short t i me Ratan had got as
, ,

far as the d o uble consonants .

It seemed as though the showers of the season

wou l d n ever end Canals d i tches and ho ll ows
.
, ,

were all overfl o w i n g with water Day and night .

the patter o f rai n was heard and the croak i ng o f ,

frogs The vil l age roads became impassab l e and

.
,

marketing had t o be done i n punts .

’
One heavily c l o u ded m orning the postmaster s ,

litt l e pupi l had been l ong wa i ting outside the d o or

for her call but n o t hearing it as usua l she t o ok
, , ,

up her dog eared bo o k and sl owly entered the

-
,

room She fo und her master stretched out o n his

.

pallet an d think i ng he was resting she was about

, , ,

to retire o n t i p t o e when she suddenly heard her

-
,

name Ratan She turned at o nce and asked

Were you s l eep i ng Dada The p o stmaster in
,

a plaintive v o ice said I am n o t wel l Fee l my ‘

.

head I s i t very hot

In the loneliness o f his exile and i n the g l oom ,

o f the rains h is ai l ing b o dy needed a l itt l e tender

,

nursing He lo nged t o remember the touch On

.

the forehead o f soft hands with tinkling bracel ets ,

to i mag i ne the presence o f l o v i ng w o manh ood the ,

nearness o f mother and sister A nd the exile was .

n o t disapp o inted Ratan ceased to be a little girl

. .
1 66 THE POSTM A STER
The postmaster sa i d I a m going away to
: ‘

’
morrow Ratan , .

Where are y o u go i ng Dada ,

’
‘
I am go i ng home .

When wi l l you come back

‘
I am not c o ming back .

Ratan asked no o ther question The post .

master o f his o wn accord went o n to tell her that

, ,

his application for a transfer had been rej ected so ,

he had res i gned his p o st and was go i ng h o me

, .

For a l ong t ime ne i ther o f them spoke a n other

word The l amp went o n dim l y burning and
.
,

from a leak in one corner o f the thatch water

dripped steadi l y int o an earthen vessel o n the
floor beneath i t .

A fter a while Ratan rose and went o ff to the ,

k i tchen t o prepare the meal ; but she was n o t so

qui ck about i t as o n other days Many new thi n gs .

to th i nk o f had entered her l ittle bra i n When .

the postmaster had finished his s u pper the gir l ,

sudden l y asked him Dada w i ll y o u take m e to ,

your home ?
’
The postmaster l aughed What an idea ! .
‘

sa i d he ; but he d i d n o t thi nk i t necessary t o

exp l ain to the gir l where i n lay the absurdity .

That wh ole n i ght i n her wak i ng and i n her

,
 THE POSTMASTE R I 67
’
dreams the postmaster s laughing rep l y haunted
,

her What an i dea

On getting up in the morning the postmaster ,

found his bath ready He h ad stuck to his

.

Ca l cutta habit of bathing in water drawn and kept

in pitchers instead o f taking a p l u n ge in the
,

river as was the custom of the vil l age For some .

reason o r o ther the girl could n o t ask him about the

,

time of his departure so she had fetched the water

,

from the r i ver long before sunrise that it S hould ,

be ready as early as he might want it A fter the .

bath came a c all for Ratan She entered noiseless l y

.
,
’
and looked si l ently into h er master s face for
orders . The master said You need n o t be ‘

anxious ab o ut my g o ing away Ratan I shall te l l ,

’
my success o r to l ook after you These words .

were kindly meant no d o ubt : but inscrutabl e

,

are the ways o f a woman s heart ’

Ratan had b o rne many a sc ol ding from her

master without complaint but these kind words ,

s h e cou l d not bear She burst o u t weeping and

.
,

sa i d : No n o you need not tell anybody any

‘
, ,

thing at al l about me ; I don t want to stay on ’

’
here.

The postmaster was dumbfounded He had .

never see n Ratan like this before .

I 68 THE POST MASTER
The new incumbent du l y arr i ved and the ,

postmaster having given over charge prepared t o

, ,

de part Just before starting he c alled Ratan

.
,

and sa i d : Here is somethi n g fo r yo u ; I h ope

‘

it wil l keep you for some littl e t i me He br o ught .

’

’
o u t fr o m his pocket the wh o le o f his m o nt h s
sal ary retaining only a tr i fle fo r h i s travelling
,

expenses Then Ratan fell at h i s feet and cr i ed

.

’
Oh Dada I pray you don t g i ve me anyth i ng
, , , ,

’
d o n t in any way troub l e about me and then she ,
’

ran away o u t of sight .

The postmaster heaved a S i gh t o ok up his ,

carpet bag put his umbrella over his shoulder and

, , ,

acc o mpan i ed by a man carrying his many -coloured

tin trunk he slowly made for the boat
, .

When he go t in and the boat was under way ,

and t h e rain swo ll en river like a stream o f tears

-
,

well ing up from the earth swirl ed and sobbed at ,

her bows then he felt a sort o f pain at hear t ;

,

the gr i ef-str i cken face o f a village gir l seemed to

represent for him the great unspoken pervad i ng
grief of Mother Earth hersel f A t one time he .

had an i mpulse t o g o back and br i ng away al o ng ,

w i th h i m that l onesome waif forsaken o f the ,

wor l d But the w i nd had j ust filled the sails the

.
,

boat had go t well into the midd l e o f t h e turbulent

THE R I VE R STAI RS
1
74 TH E RIVER STA IRS
arr i ved in tw o s and threes to draw water I .

knew this was the t i me o f Ku su m s coming to the ’

bathing stairs - .

But that morning I missed her Bhuban and .

Swar n o mourned at the ghat They said that .

1

’
the i r friend had been l ed away to her husband s
house wh i ch was a pl ace far away from the river
, ,

with strange pe o ple strange ho u ses and strange

, ,

roads .

I n time s he a l most faded out o f my mind A .

year passed The w o men at t h e ghat n o w rare l y

.

talked of Kusum But o n e evening I was s t artled

.

by the touch o f the l o ng familiar feet Ah ,

yes but those feet were now w i t h out ank l ets

, ,

they had l ost their o ld music .

Kusum had bec o me a wid o w They said that .

her husband had w o rked in some far o ff p l ace -

,

and that she had met him only once o r twice .

A letter br o ught her th e news o f his death A .

w i dow at e i ght years o ld s he had rubbed o u t the

,

wife s red m ark from her fo rehead stripped o ff

’

her bangles and come back t o her o ld ho m e by

,

the Ganges But she found few o f her o ld play

.

mates there Of them B huban Swar n o and

.
, , ,

A m ala were marr i ed and gone away ; o n l y S arat

,

1 B t a hi ng-p l ace .
 THE RIVE R ST A IRS 1 75

remained and she t oo they said w o ul d be wed in

, , ,

December next .

As the Ganges rapidly grows to fulness with

the coming o f the rains even s o did Kusum day ,

by day grow to the fu lness of beauty and y outh .

But her dul l co l oured robe her pensive face and

-
, ,

quiet manners drew a vei l over her youth and h id ,

it from men s eyes as in a mist Ten years slipped

’
.

away and none seemed to have noticed that Kusum

,

had gr o wn up .

O n e morning suc h as this at the end o f a far ,

of f September a tall young fair skinned Sanyasi

, , ,
-
,

c o ming I know n o t whence took shelter in the ,

Shiva temple in front of me His ar r iv al was .

noised abroad i n the v il lage The w o men left .

their pitchers behind and cr o wded into the temple

,

to b o w to the hol y man .

The cr o wd increased day by day The Sanyas i s .

’

fame rapidly spread among the womenkind One .

day he w o uld recite the Bhagha t an o ther day h e ,

would expound the Gita or hold fo rt h upon a ,

holy book i n the temple Some sought him for .

c o unse l s o me for spells some for medicines

, , .

So mont h s passed away In April at the time .

,

o f the sol ar ecl i pse vast crowds came here to bathe

,

i n the Ganges A fair was he l d under the hahla

.
1
7 6 THE RIVE R S TA I R S
tree Many o f the pilgr i ms went to v i si t the
.

Sanyasi and among them were a party o f w o men

,

from the v ill age where Kusum had been married .

It was m o rning The Sanyasi was counting.

h is beads o n my ste ps when all of a sudden o n e ,

o f the w o men p il grims nudged another and said ,

Why He is o ur Ku su m s husband ! Anot h er ’

parted her vei l a l ittle in the m i dd l e with two

fingers and cried o u t Oh dear me ! So it i s ! ‘

He is the y o unger son o f the Chat t e r gu family o f

o u r v il lage Said a third who made l ittle parade ,

of her vei l : A h ! he has go t exactly the same

‘

’
brow nose and eyes !
,
Yet an o ther woman
, ,

without turning to the Sanyas i stirred the water ,

with her pitcher and sighed Alas That young

,

man is n o m o re ; he w ill not come back Bad .

luck to Kusu m
But obj ected o n e H e had n o t such a big
, ,
‘

’ ’
beard and another He was not so thi n , or
’
He was m o st probab l y not so ta ll That settled .

the question for the t i me and the matter spread ,

no further .

One evening as t h e ful l mo o n arose Kusum

, ,

came and s at upon my l ast step ab o ve the water ,

and cast her shad ow upon me .

There was no o ther at the ghat j ust then The .

1 78 TH E R IVER S T A I RS
went s lo w l y back t o her h o use which was hard by .

But the Sanyas i remained sitting o n my steps for

l ong hours that n i ght A t last when the mo o n
.

’
passed fr o m the east to the west and the Sanyasi s ,

shadow shift i ng from behind fel l in front o f him

, , ,

he rose up and entered the temple .

Henceforth I saw Kusum c o me dail y to bow at

h i s feet When he exp o unded the h o ly books she
.
,

sto o d i n a corner listening to h i m A fter fin i shing .

his m o rning service he used to call her t o himself

,

and speak o n rel igion She c o ul d n o t have under

.

sto o d it al l ; but listening attentively i n si l ence

, ,

s h e tried to understand it A s he d i rected her

.
,

s o s he acted impl i cit l y She dai l y served at the

.

temp l e—ever a l ert in the g o d s worship —gather ’

i ng fl o wers for the p nj a and drawing water fr o m

,

the Ganges to wash the temp l e fl o or .

T he winter was draw i ng t o its c l ose We had .

c ol d winds B ut n o w and then in the evening the

.

warm spr i ng breeze wou l d b l ow unexpectedly from

the south ; the s ky would l o se its chilly aspect ;
pipes would sound and music be heard in the
,

vi ll age after a l o ng silence The boatmen woul d

.

set their boats drifting down the current stop ,

row i ng and begin to sing the s o ngs of Krishna

, .

This was the season .

 THE RIVER STAI RS 1 79

Just then I bega n to miss Kusum For some .

time she had given up visit i ng the temple the ,

h a t or the Sanyasi
g
c , .

What happened next I d o not know but after ,

a while the two met together on my steps o ne

evening .

With downcast l ooks Kusum asked : Master , ,

did yo u send for me

Yes why d o I not see you
,
Why have you
grown neglectful o f l ate in serving the gods
She kept s i lent .

’
Te l l me your thoughts w i thout reserve .

Half averting h er face s he replied : I am a ,

‘

sinner M aster and hence I have failed i n the

, ,
’
worship .

The Sanyasi sa i d Kusum I know there is ‘

,

unrest in your hear t .

’

She gave a slight start and draw i ng the end o f , ,

her s ari over her face she sat d own o n the step at
,
’
the Sanyasi s feet and wept , .

He moved a litt l e away and said : Te l l me ,

‘

what y o u have in your heart and I shall S h o w ,

y o u t h e way to peace .
’

She replied in a tone o f uns h aken faith stopping ,

now and then for words I f you bid me I must ‘

,

speak o u t But then I cannot expla i n it clearl y

.
, , .
1 80 THE RIVER STA I RS
Yo u , Master m ust have guessed it all I adored
, .

o n e as a god I w o rshipped him and the bliss o f that

, ,

devotion fi ll ed my heart t o fulness B ut o n e night .

I dreamt that the lord of my heart was sitting in

a garden somewhere c l asping m y right hand in
,

his l eft and whisper i ng t o me o f love The

,
.

whole scene did n o t appear t o me at all strange .

The dream van i shed but its ho l d o n me remained

, .

Next d ay when I beheld him he appeared in

another li ght than before That dream — picture
.

continued to haunt my m i nd I fled far from .

him in fear and the picture c l ung to me Thence

, .

forth my heart has known no peace — al l h as ,

grown dark w i thin me

While she was wipi n g her tears and telling
this tale I fe l t that the Sanyasi was firm l y pressing
,

my stone surface with his right foot .

Her speec h done the Sanyasi said ,

‘
You must te ll me whom yo u s aw in your
’
dream .

’
With folded hands s h e entreated I cannot
,
.

’
He insisted Y o u must tel l me who he was .

Wringing her hands she asked : M ust I tell it ‘

’
He replied Yes you must ,
.

’
T h en crying Yo u are he Master ! she fell
,
‘
,

o n h er face on my stony bosom and sobbed ,

.
T H E C A S T A WA Y
1 86 T HE C A S TA WAY

Every marr i ed pers o n will at once understand

that the conversation was not quite so brief as I
have reported i t The matter was not d ifli cu lt
.
,

but the arguments for and against did not ad vance

it towards a solution Like a rudderl ess boat
.
,

the discussion kept turn i ng round and round the

same point and at l ast it threatened to be over
whelmed i n a flood o f tears .

Sharat said : The d o ctor thinks yo u shoul d

‘

stop here a few days longer .

’

Kiran rep l ied : Your doctor kn o ws everything

’
Well said Sharat y o u know that j ust now
, ,

all sorts o f illness are abroad You would do .

’
we l l to stop here a month o r tw o more .

‘
A nd at this moment I sup pose every o n e i n
this p l ace is perfectly wel l !
What had happened was this : K i ran was a
universal favour i te with her family an d n eighbours ,

so that when she fe ll ser io usly i ll they were al l

, ,

anxious The v illage wiseacres thought it shame

.

l ess for her husband to make so much fuss about

a mere w i fe and even to suggest a change o f air ,

and asked i f Sharat supposed that no woman had

ever been i ll before o r whether he had found o u t
,

that the folk o f the p l ace to wh i ch he meant to

take her were immortal D i d he imagi n e that the
.
 THE C A S TAW AY 1 87

writ o f Fate did n o t run there ? But Sharat and

his mother turned a deaf ear to them thinking ,

t hat t h e little life o f their darli n g was of greater

importance t han the united Wisdom o f a village .

People are wont t o reason thus when danger

threatens their loved o nes So Sharat went to
.

C handernagore and Kiran recovered though she

, ,

was sti ll very weak There was a pinc h ed l ook

.

on h er face which filled the beho l der wi t h pity ,

and made his heart tremb l e as he th o ught h o w

,

narrowly she had escaped death .

Kiran was fond o f society and amusement ;

the loneliness o f her rivers i de Vil la did n o t suit
her at all There was nothing to do there were
.
,

no interesting ne i ghbours and she hated to be

,

busy all day with medicine and dieti ng There .

was no fun in measur i ng d o ses and making

fomentations Such was t h e subject discussed i n
.

t h eir c l osed ro o m o n this st o rmy evening .

S o l ong as Kiran deigned t o argue there was a

,

chance o f a fair fight When she ceased t o rep l y ,

and w i th a t oss o f her head discons ol ately l o oked

the other way the p o or man was disarmed He
,
.

was on the point o f surrender i ng uncond iti o nally

when a servant shouted a message through the shut
door .
I 88 THE C A STAWA Y
Sharat got up and open i ng the door learnt
, , ,

that a boat had been upset i n the st o rm and t h at ,

o n e of the occupants a y o ung Brahmin boy

,
had ,

succeeded i n swimming ashore in their garden .

Kiran was at once her o wn sweet sel f and set ,

t o work to get o u t s o me dry clothes fo r the boy .

She then warmed a cup of milk and inv i ted hi m

,

to her r oo m.

The boy had long curl y ha i r b i g expressive

,

eyes and n o S ign yet o f hair o n the face Kiran

,
.
,

after getting him to drink s o me mi l k asked him ,

all about himsel f.

He t ol d her that his name was N ilk an t a and ,

that he be l onged to a theatr i cal troupe T h ey .

were c o ming t o play in a ne i ghbouring vi ll a when

the b o at had sudden l y foundered i n the st o rm .

He had no idea what had become o f his

c o mpan i ons He was a go o d sw i mmer and had
.
,

j ust managed to reach the shore .

The boy stayed with them H i s narrow

.

escape fr o m a terr i ble death made Kiran take a

’
warm interest i n him Sharat th o ught the boy s
.

appearance at this moment rather a g o od thing ,

as his wife w o u l d n o w have s o meth i ng to amuse

her and might be persuaded to stay o n for some
,

time longer Her mother—

. in law t o o was pleased
-
, ,
1 90 T H E CA STA W AY
him t o her o wn room A fter her bath and mid day
.
-

meal Kiran would be seated o n the bedstead with

her bete l - leaf box by her side ; and while her
maid c o mbed and dried her ha i r N ilkan t a w o uld
,

stand in fr o nt and recite p ieces o ut of his repertory

with appropr i ate gesture and song h i s e l f lo cks ,
-

waving wi l dly Thus the long afternoon hours

.

passed merr i ly away Kiran would o ft en try t o

.

persuade Sharat t o sit w i th her as o n e o f the

audience but Sharat who had taken a c o rdial
, ,

d i slike t o the boy refused nor c o u l d N ilkan t a d o

, ,

his part half s o wel l when Sharat was there H i s .

m o ther would somet i mes be l ured by the hope o f

hearing sacred names in the rec i tat i on ; but l ove
o f her m i d -day s l eep speedily overcame devoti o n ,

and s h e lay l apped in dreams .

The boy often got his ears b o xed and pu l led

by Sharat but as this was n o thing t o what he
,

had been used to as a member o f the tr o upe ,

he did not mind i t i n the l east In his short ex

.

er ien ce o f t h e w o rld he had c o me to the c o nc l usi o n

p
that as the earth c o nsisted o f land and water so
, ,

human li fe was made up o f eatings and beat i ngs ,

and that the beat i ngs l arge l y predominated .

It was hard t o tel l N ilkan t a s age If it was

’
.

about fourteen o r fifteen then his face was t o o o ld

,
 THE C A ST A WAY I91

for his years if seventeen o r eighteen then it was ,

too young He was either a man too early o r

.

a b o y t o o late T h e fact was that j oining the

.
,

theatrical band when v ery y o ung he had played ,

the parts o f Radhik a D am ayn t i Sita and Bidya s

, , ,
’

Companion A thoughtful Providence so arranged

.

thi n gs that he grew to the exact stature that his

manager required and then growth ceased Since
, .

every one saw h ow smal l he was and he himself ,

felt smal l he did n o t receive due respect for his

,

years These causes natura l and artificial c o m

.
, ,

b in e d to make him sometimes seem immature for

seventeen years and at o ther times a l ad of four
,

teen but far too knowing for seventeen And as .

no sign of ha i r appeared o n his face the confusion ,

became greater Either because he smoked o r

.

because he used language beyond his years his lips ,

puckered into l ines that showed him t o be old and

hard but i nnocence and youth sh o ne in his large
eyes I fancy that his heart remained young but
.
,

t h e hot glare of publicity had been a forcing house -

that ripened untimely h is out ward aspect .

’
I n the quiet shelter of Shar at s house and garden
at Chandernagore Nature h ad leisure to work her
,

way unimpeded He had lingered in a kind o f

.

unnatural yout h but now h e silent l y and swiftl y

,
1
9 2 THE C A ST A WAY

o ver passed t hat stage His seventeen o r eighteen

.

years came t o adequate revel ati o n N o o n e observed.

the change and its first s i gn was this , that when

,

K i ran treated him like a boy he felt ashamed , .

W h en the gay Kiran o n e day proposed that he

sh o ul d play the part of lady s c o mpani o n the idea
’

o f woman s dress hurt him

’
th o ugh he coul d not
,

sa w h So now when s he cal l ed for him to act

y y
.
,

over aga i n his ol d characters he d i sappeared It

, .

never o ccurred to him that he was even now n o t

much more than a l ad-o f— all—work in a strol ling
company H e even made up his mind to p i ck
.

up a li tt l e education fr o m Shar at s factor But ’

.
,

because N ilkan t a was the pet o f his master s wi fe ’

the factor cou l d not endure the sight o f him Al s o .

,

his rest l ess tra i ning made it imp o ssib l e for him to
keep his mi nd l o ng engaged presently the alphabet ,

d i d a m i sty dance before his eyes He would sit .

lo ng en o ugh w i th an open book o n his lap leaning ,

against a cha mpa h bush bes i de the Ganges The .

waves sighed bel o w boats floated past birds flit t ed

, ,

and twittered restlessly ab o ve What t houghts .

passed thr o ugh his mind as he lo o ked down o n

that book he a lo ne knew if indeed h e did know
, .

He never advanced from o n e word to another but ,

the glori o us thought that he was actual l y reading

1 94 THE CAST AWAY
of prince and pri ncess and fab l ed gold then in the ,

dark hovel with its dim flickering cand le his mind ,

springs free from her bonds of p o verty and misery ,

and walks i n fresh beauty and glowi ng raiment ,

strong beyond all fear o f hi ndrance through that ,

fairy real m where al l is p o ssib l e .

Even so t h is drudge o f wandering players

,

fashioned himself and his wor l d jan ew as h e moved ,

in spirit amid h i s s o ngs The l apping water

.
,

rustl i ng leaves and cal l ing birds ; the goddess who

,

h ad given shelter to him the he l pless the God

, ,

forsaken ; her gracious lovely face her exquisite

, ,

arms with their shining bangles her rosy feet as ,

soft as fl o wer petal s ; all these by s o me m agic

-

became o n e with the music of his song When the .

singing ended t h e m irage faded and N ilkan t a o f

, ,

the stage appeared again with his w il d elf—

,
l o cks .

Fresh from the complaints of his neighbour t h e ,

owner o f the despoiled mango orchard Sharat -

,

would come and box his ears and cu ff h i m The , .

boy Nilkan ta the misleader of adoring youths

, ,

went fo rth once more to make ever new mischief

,

by l and and water and in the branches that are

above the earth .

Shortly after t h e advent o f N ilkan t a Sharat s ,

’

younger brother Sat ish came t o S pend his college

, ,
 TH E C A STAWAY 1 95

vacation with t h em Kiran was hugel y pleased at

.

finding a fresh occupation S h e and Sat ish were .

o f the same age and the time passed p l easantly in

,

games and quarrels and makings— u

p and laughter
and even tears Suddenly she would clasp him
.

o ver the eyes fro m behind with vermi lio n stained

, ,
-

hands s h e would wr i te monkey o n his back

,
‘
,

and somet i mes b o lt the d o or o n him from o utside

amidst peals o f l aughter Sat ish i n his t urn did
.

not take things lying d own ; he would take her

keys and r i ngs he wou l d put pepper among her
,

bete l ; he w o uld tie her to the bed when she was

not lo oking .

Meanwhil e heaven only knows what possessed

,

poor N ilk an t a He was suddenly fi l led with a

.

bitterness wh i ch he must avenge on somebody o r

something He thrashed his devoted boy followers
.
-

fo r no fault and sent t h em away crying He

,
.

w o u l d kick his pet mongrel till it made the skies

resound with its whinings W h en he went o u t .

for a walk he would litter his path wit h twigs

,

and leaves beaten from the roadside shrubs with

his cane .

Kiran liked to s ee people enj oying good fare .

N ilkan t a had an immense capacity for eat i ng and ,

never refused a go o d th i ng however often it was ,

1 96 THE CASTAW AY
o ffered 50 Kiran l iked to send fo r him to have
.

his mea l s in her presence and p l y him with deli ,

cacies happy i n the b l iss o f seeing this Brahmin

,

boy eat to sa t iety A fter Sat ish s arr i v al s he had

.
’

much less spare t i me on her hands and was seldom ,

’
present when N ilkan t a s meals were served Before .
,

’
her absence made n o d ifl eren ce to t h e boy s app c ’

tite and he w o uld n o t rise til l he had drained his

,

cup o f mi l k and rinsed it th o rough l y with water

, .
1

But n o w if K iran was not present to ask

,

h i m to try this and that he was miserable and , ,

nothing tasted right He w o u l d get up without.

eating much and say t o the serving maid in a

,
-

’
choking v o ice I am not hungry ‘
He thought .

i n imagination that the news o f his repeated refusal ,

’
I am not hungry w o uld reach Kiran he pictured
,

her concern and h oped that she w o uld send for

,

him and press him t o eat But noth i ng o f the

,
.

sort happened Kiran never knew and never sent

.
,

fo r him ; and the maid fin i shed whatever he left .

He w o u l d then put out the l amp in his room and ,

throw himself on his bed in the darkness burying ,

his head in the pil l ow in a paroxysm o f sobs .

What was his grievance A gainst whom And

1
A h ab i t w hi c h was re li c fr o m h i s days o f p o verty w h en m il k was t oo
,

r are a l u ury t o a llo w o f even i ts sta i ns i n t h e cup be i ng was t ed

x .
1 9 8 THE CA ST A W AY
sen t for N ilkan t a to recite as usual but he sto o d ,

there in gloomy silence ! uite surprised K i ran .

,

asked him what was the matter But he remained .

silent A nd when again pressed by her to repeat

.

some particular fav o urite p i ece o f hers he answered ,

‘
I don t remember and wa l ked away
’

,
’
.

A t l ast the time came fo r their return h o me .

Everybody was busy packing up Sat ish was going .

with them But t o N ilk an t a nobody sa i d a word

. .

The quest io n whether he was to go o r not seemed

not to have o ccurred to anybody .

The question as a matter o f fact had been

, ,

raised by Kiran who had prop o sed t o take him

,

along w i th them But her husband and his mother

.

and brother had a l l obj ected s o strenuously that

she l et t h e matter drop A coup l e o f days before .

they were t o start she sent fo r the boy and with

, ,

kind words advised him t o g o back to his own

home .

So many days had he fe l t negl ected that this

touch o f kindness was t o o much for h i m he burst
’
into tears Kiran s eyes were also brimming over
. .

She was filled with remorse a t the thought that sh e

h ad created a tie o f a ffecti o n wh i ch cou l d n o t be ,

permanent .

But Sat ish was much annoyed at the bl ubbering

 THE C ASTAWAY I 99

of this overgrown boy Why d o es t h e fool stand

.

there ho wling instead o f speak i ng said b e .

When Kiran scolded h im for an unfeeling creature ,

he replied Sister mine you d o not understand , .

Yo u are too good and trustful T h is fellow turns .

up from the Lord knows where and i s treated like ,

a king Natur al ly the tiger has no wish to become

.

a m ouse again 1
And he has evidentl y d i scovered
.

that there is nothing like a tear o r tw o to soft en

’
yo u r heart .

N ilkan t a hurriedly l eft the spot He felt he .

would l ike to be a knife to cut Sat ish t o pieces a

needle to pierce him through and throug h a fire to
burn him to ashes B ut Sat ish was not even sc arred
. .

It was only his o wn heart that bled and bled .

Sat ish had brought with him from Calcutta a

grand inkstand The i nkpot was s et in a mother
.

o f pearl boat drawn by a German - s il ver goose

-

supporting a penholder It was a great fav o urite .

o f his and he cleaned it careful ly every day with

,

a n o ld si l k handkerchief Kiran would laugh and .

,

tapping the S ilver bird s beak would sav ’

T w i c e -b o rn b i r d , ah w h ere fo re s t i r re d
To w ro ng o ur r o y a l la dy

1 A reference t o a fol k -st o ry o f a sa i nt w ho t urned a pet m o use i nt o

a t ig r
e .
20 0 THE C A STA W A Y
and the usua l war of words wou l d break o u t
between her and her brother-in — law .

The day befo re they were to start the in kstand ,

was miss i ng and coul d nowhere be found

,
K i ran .

smil ed and sa i d
,
Brother in law your go o se has - -
,

”
flown o ff t o l ook for y o ur D am ayn t i .
1

But Sat ish was in a great rage He was certain .

that N ilk an t a had sto l en it — for several peopl e said

they had seen h i m prow l ing about the room the
night before He had the accused brought before
.

him Kiran al so was there

. You have stol en .

my inkstand you th i ef ! he blurted out

,
Bri n g .

N ilkan t a had always taken

’
it back at once .

punishment from Sharat deserved o r undeserved , ,

with perfect equanim i ty B ut when he was cal l ed

.
,
’
a thief i n K i ran s presence his eyes blazed with a ,

fierce anger his breast swell ed and h i s thr o at

, ,

choked I f Sat ish had said another word he woul d

.

have flown at him l ike a wild cat and used his n ai l s ,

l ike c l aws .

Kiran was greatly distressed at the scene and ,

taking the boy into another ro o m said i n her sweet ,

kind way : Nilu if you real l y have taken that

‘
,

inkstand gi ve it to me quietly a n d I shall see that ,

’
no o n e says another word to y o u about it Big .

1
To fi nd S at is h a w i fe .
20 2 THE CA STA WAY
c l othes would not go i n S o she tho u ght she had
.

better take everythi n g o u t and pack the b o x for

him . A t first knives tops kite flyin g reels , ,
-
,

bamboo twigs p ol ished shel l s for peeling green

,

mangoes bottoms of broken tumblers and such

,

’
like things dear to a boy s heart were discovered .

Then there came a l ayer of linen clean and o ther ,

wise A nd from under the l inen there emerged

.

t h e missing inkstand goose and al l ! ,

Kiran with flushed face s at d own helplessl y

, ,

with the inkstand in her hand puzz l ed and ,

wondering .

I n the meant i me N ilk an t a had come into the

,

ro o m fr o m behind without K iran knowing i t .

He had seen the wh ole thing and thought that ,

Kiran had come l ike a thief to catch him in h is

thieving —and that h i s deed was o u t H o w
,
.

could he ever h ope to convince her that he was

not a thief and t h at on l y revenge had prompted
,

him t o take the i nkstand which he meant t o ,

thro w into the river at the first chance I n a weak

moment he h ad put it in his box instead He .

was not a th i ef his hea rt cried o u t not a thief

,
’

Then what was he ? What could he s ay ? He

had s t olen and yet he was not a t h ief ! He could
,

never exp l ain to Kiran how grievousl y wrong

 THE CASTAWAY 29 3

s he was in taking h im for a thief ; h o w could he

bear the tho u g h t t h at s he had tried to spy on him ?
At last Kiran with a deep sigh replaced the
inkstand in t he box and as i f s he were t h e thief
, ,

h erself covered it up with t he linen and t h e

,

trinkets as they were before ; and at t h e top she

placed the presents toge t her with the banknote
whic h s h e had broug h t fo r h im .

T h e next day the boy was nowhere t o be found .

The villagers had not seen h im t h e police could

discover no trace of him Said S h arat : Now .
‘
,

as a matter of curiosity let us h ave a look at ,

his box . But Kiran was obstinate in her refusal

’

to allow t h at to be done .

S h e had the box brought up to her own room

and t aking o u t the inkstand alone threw it into ,

the river .

T h e whole family went h ome I n a day t h e .

garden became desol ate And on l y that starving

.

mongrel of N ilk an t a s remained prowling along

’

the river bank w h ining and whining as if its h eart

-
,

would break .
 SA VED

G O U R I was t h e beautiful delicately nurtured c h ild

,

of an ol d and wealthy family Her husband .

,

Paresh had recently by h is o wn e fforts improved

,

his straitened circumstances So long as he

.

was poor G o u r i s parents had kep t their daughter

,
’

at h o me unwi lling t o surrender her to privation

,

s o s h e was no longer young when at l ast s he wen t

’
to h er husband s house And Paresh never fel t
.

quite that s he belonged to him He was an .

advocate i n a small western town and had ,

no close k insman with him All his thought

.

was about his wife s o muc h so t h at some t imes

,

he would come home before the rising o f the

Court At first Gouri was at a loss to understand
.

why he came back suddenly Sometimes too he.

, ,

would dismiss one of t h e servants wit h out reason

none o f them ever suited him long Especially .

i f Gouri desired to keep any particular servant

because he was useful that man was sure to be
,

20 7
20 8 S A VED
got rid o f fo rthwith The high spirited Gouri
.
-

greatly resented this but her resentment on l y made

,

’
her husband s behaviour still stranger .

A t last when Paresh unable to contain himself

,

any l onger began i n secret t o cr o ss questi o n the

,
-

’
maid ab o ut her the wh ol e thing reached his wife s
,

ears She was a woman o f few w o rds but her pride

.

raged w i th i n like a w o unded li o ness at these insu l ts ,

’
and this mad suspicion swept like a destr o yer s
s wo rd between them Pares h as so o n as he saw
.
,

that his wife understood his motive fe l t n o m ore ,

delicacy ab o ut taxing Gouri t o her face and the

more his wife treated it with si l ent conte m pt ,

the more did the fire o f his j ea l ousy c o nsume

him .

Deprived o f wedded happiness the childless ,

G o u ri betook hersel f to the c o nsolati o ns o f religion .

She sent for Paramananda Swam i the young ,

preacher o f the Prayer-House hard by and form , ,

al l y acknowledging him as her spiritual preceptor ,

asked him to exp o und the Gila to her Al l the .

wasted l o ve and a ffection of her woman s heart was ’

p o ured o u t in reverence at the feet o f her Guru .

No o n e had any doubts ab o ut the purity of

’
P aram an an d a s character All w o rshipped him
. .

And beca u se Paresh did n o t dare to hint at any

21o S A VED
N o one ! his wife rep l ied I have been t o .
‘

the house o f my Guru .

’

Why ? asked Paresh pal e and red by turns , .

’
Because I wanted to .

Fr o m that day Paresh had a guard kept o ver

the house and behaved so absurdly that the tale
,

o f his j eal ousy was told al l over the town .

The news o f the shamefu l insu l ts that were

daily heaped o n his disc i ple disturbed the religious
meditations o f Paramananda He fe l t he ought to .

leave the p l ace at o nce at the same t i me he could

n o t make up h is mind t o fo rsake the t o rtured
woman Who can say h o w the po o r ascetic go t
.

t h r o ugh th o se terrible days and nights ?

A t l ast o n e day the impr i soned G o uri got a
’
letter . M y ch i ld it ran it i s true that m any
, ,
‘

h ol y w o men have l eft the w o r l d to dev o te them

selves t o G o d Sh o uld i t happen that the tria l s o f
.

this w o rld are driving yo ur thoughts away from

’
God I wil l w i th God s help rescue his handmaid
,

fo r the h o ly service o f his feet If yo u desire you .

,

may meet me by the tank in your garden at two

’ ’
o cl ock t o-morrow afternoon .

Go u r i hid the l etter in the loops o f her hair .

At no o n next day when she was undoing her hair

before her bat h she found that the letter was n o t
 SAVED 21 1

there Could it have fal len o n t o the bed and go t

.

’
i nto her husband s h ands s he wondered ,
At first .
,

s h e fe l t a kind of fierce pleasure in thinking that

it would enrage h im and then s he could n o t bear

to think that this letter worn as a halo o f del i ver
,

ance o n her head might be d e filed by the touch o f

,

insolent hands .

’
With swift steps s he hurr i ed to her husband s
ro o m He lay gr oaning o n the flo o r wit h eyes
.
,

rolled back and foaming mouth She detached the .

l etter from his clenched fist and sent quickly for ,

a doctor .

The doctor said it was a case o f ap o plexy The .

pat i ent had died before his arr i val .

Th at very day as i t happened Paresh had

, ,

an important appointment away from h o me .

Paramananda had found t hi s o u t and acc o rdingly ,

had made his app oi ntment w i th Gouri T o such a .

depth had he fa ll en
When the widowed Gouri caught sight from the
W indow of her Guru stealing like a t h ief to the side
of t h e pool s he lowered h er eyes as at a lightning
,

flas h And in t h at flas h sh e s aw c l ear l y W hat a fall

.

his had been .

’
The G u ru called Gouri .

’
‘
I am c o ming she replied, .
212 SAVED

When Paresh s friends heard o f h is death and

’

came to ass i st i n the l ast rites they fo und the dead

,

body o f G o uri lying beside that o f her husband She .

had p oi soned herself All were lost in admiration

.

o f the w i fe l y l oya l ty s h e had shown in her s a ti a ,

loyalty rare indeed i n these degenerate days .

 MY FA I R NEIGHBOUR

M Y feelings towards the young widow wh o lived

in the next h ouse to mine were fee li ngs o f worship
at l east t h at i s what I to l d t o my friends and my
,

self
. Even my nearest intimate Nabin knew
, ,

noth i ng o f the real state o f my mind A nd I had

.

a sort o f pride that I could keep my passion pure

by thus concealing i t in the inmost recesses o f
my h eart She was like a de w drenched s ep ha li
.
-

blossom untimely fallen to earth To o radiant and

,
.

holy for the flower -decked marriage bed sh e had

-
,

been dedicated to Heaven .

But passi o n is like the mountain stream and ,

refuses to be enclosed in the place of i ts birth ;

it must seek an outlet That is why I tried to
.

give expression to my em o tions in poems but my

unwilling pen refused to desecrate the object o f
my worship .

It h appened curi o usl y that j ust at this time

my friend Nabin was a ffl icted with a madness o f
21 5
21 6 MY FAI R NEIGHBO UR
verse It came upon him like an earthquake It
. .

’
was the poor fell o w s first attack and he was equally ,

unprepared for rhyme and rhythm N ev er t he .

less he cou l d not refrain fo r he succumbed to ,

t h e fascinatio n as a widower to his second

,

wife .

S o Nabin sought help from me The subject o f .

h i s p o ems was t h e o ld o ld o n e which is ever new

, ,

his p oems were al l addressed to the bel oved o n e .

I sl apped his back i n j est and asked him ,

Well ,

o ld c h ap who is s h e
,

Nabi n laughed as he rep l ied

,
That I h a ve ‘

n o t yet discovered

I c o nfess that I found considerable comfort i n

bringing help to my friend Like a hen brood .

’
ing on a duck s egg I l avished al l the warmth
,

N
’
o f my pent u - passion on ab in s e flh sio n s So
p .

v i gorously did I rev i se and impr o ve his crude

producti o ns that the l arger part o f each poem
,

became my o wn .

The n Nabin would say in surprise : That i s ‘

j ust what I wanted to s ay but could not How , .

o n eart h d o yo u manage to get hold of al l these

fi ne sentiments ?

Poet l ike I woul d rep l y : They come from

-
,
‘

my imagination for as you know truth is silent

, , ,
21 8 MY F A I R NEIGHBOU R
clar i fy al l that was turbulent and u nworthy in my
emoti o ns .

But o n e d ay I was startled Could I bel i eve.

my eyes I t was a ho t summer aftern o on One .

of the fierce and fi t fu l n o r -westers was threatening

’
.

B l ack c l ouds were massed i n the n o rth west corner-

of the sky ; and against the strange and fearful

light of that background my fa i r neighbour sto o d ,

gazing out into empty space A nd what a wor l d

.

o f forlorn l ong i ng d i d I discover in the far — away

look of those lustrous b l ack eyes Was there
then perchance sti l l s o me l i v i ng volcano w i thin
, ,

t h e serene radiance o f that m o on o f mine ? A l as

that l ook o f l imit l ess yearn i n g which was wi n ging
,

its way through the c l ouds l ike an eager bird ,

sure l y s o ught—n o t heaven —but the nest o f s o me

human heart
At the sight o f the unutterab l e pass i on o f that
l o ok I could hard l y c o nta i n mysel f I was no .

longer sat i sfied with c o rrecting crude poems M y .

who l e being lo nged to express itself in some worthy

action At last I thought I would devote myself
.

to making wid o w remarr i age pop u l ar in my

-

country I was prepared not o n l y to speak and

.

write o n the subj ect but also to spend m o ney o n

,

its cause .
 M Y F A I R NEIG H BOU R 21 9

Nabin began t o argue with me Permanent .

‘

’
widowhood sa i d he h as in it a sense o f immense
, ,

purity and peace ; a calm beauty like that o f t h e

silent places o f the dead shimmering in t h e wan
light of the eleventh moon Would not the .
1

mere possibili t y o f remarriage destr oy i ts divine

’
beauty ?
Now this sort o f sentimental ity always makes
me furious In time o f famine if a well-fed man
.
,

speaks scornfull y o f food and adv i ses a starving

,

man at p o int o f dea t h to glut his hunger o n the

fragrance o f fl o wers and the so n g o f birds what ,

are we to think o f him P I said w i th some heat

L o ok here Nabin to the artist a ruin may be a
, ,

beaut i ful obj ect ; but houses are bui l t n o t o nly

fo r the contemp l ation of artists but that people ,

may live therein ; so they have t o be kept in

repair in spite o f artistic susceptib i lities It .

is a l l very well fo r yo u to idealise widow

h oo d from your safe distance but you sh o uld ,

remember that within widowho o d there is a

sensitive h uman heart throbbing with pain and
,
’
desire .

I had an impressi o n that the c o nvers io n o f

Nabin would be a di ffi cu l t matter so perhaps I ,

1
T h e e l even t h day o f t h e m oo n i s a day o f fast i ng and penance .
2 20 MY F A I R NEIGHBOU R
was m o re i mpassioned than I need have been I .

was somewhat surprised t o fi n d at the conclus i on

of my littl e speech that Nab i n after a single
tho u ghtful sigh comp l etely agreed w i th me The .

even m ore convincing per o ration wh i ch I felt I

might have delivered was not needed !
After about a week Nabin came t o me and ,

sai d that if I w o u l d help him he was prepared t o

lead the way by marry i ng a widow h i msel f .

I was overj oyed I embraced h i m e ffusive l y

.
,

and promised him any money that might be r e

quired fo r the pur pose Then Nabin told me his
.

st o ry .

I l earned that N ab in s l oved o n e was not an

’

imaginary be i ng I t appeared that Nabin too

.
, ,

had for some t i me adored a widow from a distance ,

but had not spo ken o f h i s feeli ngs to any living

so ul . Then the magaz i nes i n which N abin s ’

poems o r rather my poems used to appear had

, ,
’
reached the fa i r o ne s hands ; and the poems had
not been i ne ffective .

Not that Nabin had del i berate l y intended as ,

he was careful to explain to conduct l ove—,

making
i n that way In fact said he he had n o idea
.
, ,

that the widow knew h o w t o read He u sed to .

’
post the magaz i ne without d i sc l osi n g the sender s
,
222 MY FAI R NEIGHBOU R
’
Take i t at once sa i d I , .

’
‘
But Nabin went o n yo u know it w il l be
, ,
‘

s o me months before I can appease my father

su ffi c i ently for him to conti nue my all owance .

’
How are we t o live i n the meantime ? I wr o t e
out the necessary cheque w i thout a w o rd and then ,

I said Now te ll me who she is Y o u need not .

loo k o n me as a possib l e r i val for I swear I ,

w il l n o t wr i te poems to her ; and even if I d o

I wi l l n o t send them t o her br o ther but to ,

ou
y
’ ’
‘
Don t be absurd said Nabin ; I have n o t ,
‘

kept back her name because I feared your rival ry

The fact is she was very much perturbed at taking
,

this unusua l step and had asked me not to talk

,

about the matter t o my fr i ends But it no lo nger .

matters n o w that everything has been satisfactor il y

,

settled She l ives at N o 1 9 the house next to

. .
,

’
yours .

If my heart had been an ir o n boiler it would

have burst So she has n o obj ecti on to r e
.
‘

marr i age I simply asked .

’
‘
Not at the present moment rep l ied Nabin ,

with a smile .

‘
And was it the p oems alone which wroug h t
the magic change
 M Y F A I R NEIGHB OUR 223

’
We ll my poems were n o t s o bad you kn ow
, , ,

said N abin were they

,

I sw o re mentall y .

But at whom was I t o swear A t him At

myself ? At Providence Al l the same I swore ,
.

THE END

P r i n t ed éy R . R . C LA R K LI M I T E D , E d z n é u rg lz .