Part 8

_Sadhu._ Raychurn is gone a long time ago; he is not yet come.

_Reboti._ Our eldest Babu preserved her from the grasp of the tiger. The young Saheb killed my daughter, and the elder one killed the eldest Babu. Ah! Ah! there is no one to preserve the poor.

_Sadhu._ What virtuous actions have I done, that I shall see the face of my grand-child?

_Khetro._ My body is cut off—a cracked Tangrah (a fish) Ah! ah!

_Reboti._ I think the ninth of the moon is closed;[67] my image of gold is to go to the water, and what means shall I have? Who shall call me mother! mother! Did you bring her for this purpose. (_Taking hold of Sadhu’s neck, weeps_).

_Sadhu._ Be silent, don’t weep now; she will faint.

_Enter_ RAYCHURN _and the Physician_.

_Physician._ How is she now? Did you give her that medicine?

_Sadhu._ The medicine did not act, and whatever went down immediately came up by a vomit. See her pulse once more now; I think, it is n sign of her end.

_Reboti._ She is crying out, thorns, thorns. I have prepared her bed so thickly,[68] still she is tossing about. Now save her by a good medicine. Dear Sir, this relative is very dear unto me.

_Sadhu._ We don’t see any sign of the pulse.

_Physician._ (_Taking hold of the hand_). In this state, it is good for the pulse to be weak. “Weakness makes the pulse strong; to have a strong pulse is fatal.”

_Sadhu._ At this time, it is the same thing either to apply or not to apply the medicine. The parents have hope to the very end; therefore, see, if there be any means.

_Physician._ The water with which the Atapa (dried rice) is washed, is now necessary. The application of the Shuchikavaran (a medicine) is required.

_Sadhu._ That Atapa which the Barah Renee sent for offerings of prayer is in the other room. Raychurn, bring that here.

(_Exit Raychurn._)

_Reboti._ Is Annapurnah[69] now awake, that she shall with the rice in her hands come to me my Khetromani? It is through my ill-fate that our mistress is become mad.

_Physician._ She is already full of sorrow for the death of her husband; again, her son is on the point of death; her insanity is on the increase. I think she shall die before Nobin; she is become very weak.

_Sadhu._ Sir, how did you find our eldest Babu, to-day? I think, with his pure blood he has extinguished the fire of tyranny of the giants, the Indigo Planters. It is probable, that the Indigo Commission might produce to the ryots some advantages; but what effect has that? If one hundred serpents do bite at once my whole body I can bear that; if on a hearth made of bricks, a frypan placed full of molasses, and the same be boiling by a great fire, I can also bear the torments, if by accident I fall into the pan; if in the dark night of the new-moon a band of robbers with terrible sounds come upon and kill my only son who is honest and very learned, take away all the acquisitions made during the past seven generations, and then make me blind: all these also, I can bear; and in the place of one, even if there be ten Indigo Factories in the village, that also I can allow; but to be separated even for a moment from that elder Babu who is so much the supporter of his dependants, that can I never bear.

_Physician._ The blow through which the brain has oozed out is fatal. I have found the pulse indicate that death is near; either at mid-day or in the evening, life will depart. Bipin gave a little water of the Ganges in his mouth, but it came out by its sides. Nobin’s wife is quite distracted; but she is trying her utmost for his safety.

_Sadhu._ Ah! Ah! Had our mistress not been insane, her heart would have been burst asunder on seeing this. The doctor has also said, that the bruise on the head is fatal.

_Physician._ The doctor is a very kind-hearted man: when Babu Bindu wanted to give him money, he said, “Babu Bindu, the manner in which you are already troubled makes it improbable that the ceremony of your father will be performed. I cannot take any thing from you now, and also it is not necessary for you to give money for the bearers who brought me and who will now take me away.” Had the doctor been of a hard heart, he would have taken away the money kept for the ceremony. I have seen that kind of doctors twice; he is as scurrilous as avaricious.

_Sadhu._ Our young Babu brought along with him the doctor to see Khetromani; but he said nothing with certainty. The doctor observing my want, owing to the tyranny of the Planters, gave me two rupees in the name of Khetromani.

_Physician._ Had the doctor been hard-hearted he would have taken hold of the hand, and said, she would die; and he would have taken the money by selling your kine.

_Reboti._ I can give money by selling off whatever I have, if they can only cure my Khetro.

_Enter_ RAYCHURN _with the rice_.

_Physician._ Having washed the rice, bring the water here. (_Reboti takes the rice_). Do not give much water. I see the plate is very beautiful.

_Reboti._ Our mistress (Sabitri) went to Gya and brought many plates; and she gave this to my Khetro. Ah! the same mistress is now turned mad, and her hands are bound with a rope, because she is slapping her cheeks.

_Physician._ Sadhu, bring the stone-mortar, I have the medicine here. (_Opens his box of medicine._)

_Sadhu._ Sir, don’t bring out your medicine; just see, how her eyes appear. Raychurn, come here.

_Reboti._ Oh mother! What is my fate now! Oh mother, how shall I forget the figure of Harana! Oh! Oh! Oh Khetro, Oh Khetro! Khetromoni! daughter. Wilt thou not speak any more, my daughter? Oh! Oh! Oh! (_Weeps_).

_Physician._ Her end is very near.

_Sadhu._ Raychurn take hold of her, take hold of her (_Sadhuchurn and Raychurn take Khetramoni from the bed, and go out-side_).

_Reboti._ I cannot leave my Laksmi of gold to float on the water. Where shall I go? Had she lived with the Saheb, that would have been better. I would have remained at rest by seeing her face. My daughter, ho! ho! ho! (_Goes behind Khetra, slapping herself_).

_Physician._ I die! I die! I die! What pains does the mother bear! It is good not to have a child.

(_Exit all._)

Footnote 64:

Reboti says, My daughter, what is it that gives you so much pain? The bed is all over cleared, there is nothing that can trouble the body.

Footnote 65:

These are words which are expressed through great grief.

Footnote 66:

Kartika is taken to be the most lovely in appearance among the gods—the symbol of male beauty. He is the son of Siva and Doorgah.

Footnote 67:

Here, the reference is to the last of the three days in which the goddess Doorgah is worshipped; and the last day is taken to be one of great pain, because on that day she is to take her departure from her parents to go to her husband Siva.

Footnote 68:

Thickly prepared signifies many coverings of the bed placed one above another.

Footnote 69:

It is one of the names of Doorgah. The term signifies “full of rice,” or the Goddess of Plenty.

FIFTH ACT—FOURTH SCENE. THE HALL IN THE HOUSE OF GOLUK CHUNDER BASU.

_Sabitri sitting with the dead body of Nobin on her lap._

_Sabitri._ Let my dear child sleep; my dear keeps my heart at rest. When I see the sweet face, I remember that other face[70] (_kisses_). My child is sleeping most soundly (_rubs the hand over the head of the corpse_). Ah! what have the musquitoes done? What shall I do for the heat? I must not lie down without letting the curtains fall (_rubs the hand on the breast of the body_) Ah! Can the mother suffer this, to see the bugs bite the child and let drops of blood come out. No one is here to prepare the bed of the child; how shall I let it lie down. I have no one for me; but all are gone with my husband. (_Weeps_). Oh unfortunate creature that I am! I am crying with my child here (_observing the face of Nobin_). The child of the sorrowful woman is now making deala[71] (_kissing the mouth_). No, my dear, I have forgotten all distress in seeing thee; I am not weeping (_placing the pap on its mouth_); my dear, suckle the pap, my dear, suckle it; I entreated the bad woman so much, even fell at her feet, still she did not bring my husband for once; he would have gone after settling about the milk of the child. This stupid person has such a friendship with Yama, that if she had written a letter, he would have immediately given him leave (_seeing the rope in her hand_). The husband never gets salvation if on his death the widow still wears ornaments; although I wept with such loud cries, still they made me wear the shanka.[72] I have burnt it by the lamp, still it is in my hands (_cuts off the rope with her teeth_). For a widow to wear ornaments it does not look good and is not tolerable. On my hands there has arisen a blister (_cries_). Whoever has stopped my wearing the shanka, let her shanka be taken off within three days[73] (_snaps the joints of her fingers on the ground_). Let me prepare the bed myself (_prepares the bed in fancy._) The mat was not washed (_extends her hands a little_). I can’t reach to the pillow; the coat of shreds is become dirty, (_rubs the floor with her hands_). Let me make the child lie down (_placing the dead body slowly on the ground._) My son, what fear near a mother? You lie down peacefully. I shall spit here (_spits on its breast_). If that Englishman’s lady come here this day, I shall kill her by pressing down her neck. I shall never have my child out of my sight. Let me place the bow round it (_gives a mark with her finger round the floor, while reading a certain verse as a sacred formula read to a God_). “The froth of the serpent, the tiger’s nose, the fire prepared by the Sala’s[74] resin, the whistling of the swinging machine, the white hairs of seven co-wives[75]—_bhanti_[76] leaves, the flowers of the _dhuturá_, the seeds of the Indigo, the burnt pepper, the head of the corpse, the root of the _maddar_, the mad dog, the thief’s reading of the Chundi; these together make the arrow to be directed against the gnashing teeth of Yama.”

_Enter_ SARALOTA.

_Saralota._ Where are these gone to? Ah! she is turning round the dead body. I think, my husband, tired with excessive travelling, has given himself up to Sleep, that goddess who is the destroyer of all sorrows and pains. Oh Sleep! how very miraculous is thy greatness, thou makest the widow to be with her husband in this world, thou bringest the traveller to his country; at thy touch, the prisoner’s chain breaks; thou art the Dhannantari[77] of the sick; thou hast no distinction of castes in thy dominions; and thy laws are never different on account of the difference of nations or castes; thou must have made my husband a subject of thy impartial power; or else, how is it, that the insane mother brings away the dead son from him. My husband is become quite distracted by being deprived of his father and his brother. The beauty of his countenance has faded by and by, as the full-moon decreases day by day. My mother, when hast thou come up? I have left off food and sleep, and am looking after thee continually; and did I fall into so much insensibility; I promised, that I shall bring thy husband from Yama, (Invisible) in order to cure thee, and therefore thou remainedest quiet for some. In this formidable night, so full of darkness, like unto that which shall take place on the destruction of the Universe; when the skies are spread over with the tenors of the clouds, the ashes of lightning are giving a momentary light, like the arrows of fire, and the race of living creatures are given up, as it were, to the sleep of Death; all are silent; when the only sound is the cry of jackals in the wilderness and the loud noise of the dogs, the great band of enemies to thieves. My mother, how is it possible, that in such a night as this then wast able to bring thy dead son from out-side the house. (_Goes near the corpse_).

_Sabitri._ I have placed the circle; and why do you come within it?

_Saralota._ Ah! my husband can never be able to live on seeing the death of this his land-conquering and most dear brother. (_Weeps_).

_Sabitri._ You are envying my child; you all-destroying wretch, the daughter of a wretch! Let your husband die. Go out, just now; be out; or else, I shall place my foot on your throat, take out your tongue and kill you immediately.

_Saralota._ Ah! such Shoranan[78] (six-mouthed) of gold, whom our father-in-law and mother-in-law had, is now gone into the water.

_Sabitri._ Don’t look on my child; I forbid you—you destroyer of your husband. I see, your death is very near. (_Goes a little towards her_).

_Saralota._ Ah! how very cruel are the formidable arms of Death? Ah Yama! you gave so much pain to my honest mother-in-law.

_Sabitri._ Calling again! Calling again! (_takes hold of Saralota’s neck by her two hands and throws her down on the ground_). Thou stupid, beloved of Yama. Now will I kill thee (_stands upon her neck_). Thou hast devoured my husband; again, thou art calling your paramour to swallow my dear infant. Die, die, die, die now. (_Begins to skip upon the neck._)

_Saralota._ Gah, a, a, (_death of Saralota._)

_Enter_ BINDU MADHAB.

_Bindu._ Oh! She is lying flat here. Oh mother, what is that? Thou hast killed my Saralota (_taking hold of Saralota’s head_). My dear Sarala has left this sinful world. (_After weeping, kisses Saralota._)

_Sabitri._ Gnaw the wretch and destroy her. She was calling Yama to devour my infant; and therefore I killed her. (_Standing on her neck_).

_Bindu._ As the mother, having destroyed the child whom she was fondling for making it sleep on her lap, on awaking will go to destroy herself, so wilt thou, Oh my mother! go to kill thyself, if thine insanity passing off thou can’st understand, that thy most beloved Saralota was murdered by thee. It will be good if that lamp no more give its light to thee. Ah! how very pleasant it is for a woman to be mad, who has lost her husband and son! The deer-like mind being enclosed within the stone walls of madness can never be attacked by the great tiger Sorrow. I am thy Bindu Madhab.

_Sabitri._ What, what do you say?

_Bindu._ Mother, I can no longer keep my life, becoming mad by the death of my father bound by the rope, and the death of my older brother; thou hast destroyed my Saralota, and thus hast applied salt to my wounded heart.

_Sabitri._ What! Is my Nobin dead! Is my Nobin dead! Ah, my dear son, my dear Bindu Madhab! Have I killed your Saralota? Have I killed my young Bou by becoming mad (_embracing the dead body of Saralota_). I would have remained alive, although deprived of my husband and my son. Ah, but on murdering you by my own hands, my heart is on the point of being burnt. Ho! Ho! Mother, (_embracing Saralota, she falls down, dead on the ground_).

_Bindu._ (_Placing his hand on Sabitri’s body._) What I said, took place actually. My mother died on recovering her understanding. What affliction! My mother will no more take me on her lap, and kiss me. Oh mother! the word mama will no more come out of my mouth, (_weeps_). Let me place the dust of her feet on my head (_takes the dust from her feet and places that on his own head_). Let me also purify my body by eating that dust. (_Eats the dust of her feet_).

_Enter_ SOIRINDRI.

_Soirindri._ I am going to die with my husband; do not oppose me, my brother-in-law? My Bipin shall live happily with Saralota. What’s this, what’s this? Why are our mother-in-law and Bou both lying in this manner?

_Bindu._ Oh eldest Bou! our mother first killed Saralota, then getting her understanding again, she fell into such excess of sorrow, that she also died.

_Soirindri._ Now! In what manner? What loss! What is this! What is this! Ah! Ah! my sister, thou hast not yet worn that most pleasant lock of hair on the head which I prepared for thee! Ah! ah! thou shalt no more call me, sister (_cries_). Mother-in-law, thou art gone to your Rama, but did’st not let me go there. Oh my mother-in-law, when I got thee, I did not for a moment remember my mother.

_Enter_ ADURI.

_Aduri._ Oh eldest Haldarni, come soon; thy young Bipin is afraid.

_Soirindri._ Why did you not call me thence? You left him there alone. (_Goes out hastily with Aduri_).

_Bindu._ My Bipin is now the pole-star in the ocean of dangers! (_with deep sigh_). In this world of short existence, human life is as the bank of a river which has a most violent course and the greatest depth. How very beautiful are the banks, the fields covered over with new grass, most pleasant to the view, the trees full of branches newly coming out; in some places the cottages of fishermen; in others the kine feeding with their young ones. To walk about in such a place enjoying the sweet songs of the beautiful birds, and the charming gale full of the sweet smell of flowers, only wraps the mind in the contemplation of that Being who is full of pleasure. Accidentally, a hole small as a line is observed in the field, and immediately that most pleasant bank falls down into the stream. How very sorrowful! The Bose family of Svaropur is destroyed by Indigo, the great destroyer of honour. How very terrible are the arms of Indigo!

The cobra de capello, like the Indigo Planters, with mouths full of poison, threw all happiness into the flame of fire. The father, through injustice, died in the prison; the elder brother in the Indigo-field, and the mother, being insane through grief for her husband and son, murdered with her own hands a most honest woman. Getting her understanding again, and observing my sorrow, the ocean of grief again swelled in her. With that disease of sorrow came the poison of want; and thus without attending to consolation, she also departed this life. Incessantly do I call, Where is my father? Where is my father? Embrace me once more with a smiling face. Crying out, Oh mother! Oh mother! I look on all sides; but that countenance of joy do I find no where. When I used to call, Mama, she immediately took me on her breast, and rubbed my mouth. Who knows the greatness of maternal affection? The cry of mama, mama, mama, mama do I make in the battle-field and the wilderness whenever fear arises in the mind. Oh my brother, dear unto the heart, in the place of whom there is not one, as a friend in this world! Thy Bindu Madhab is come! open thine eyes once more and see. Ah! ah! it bursts my heart, not to know where my hearts Sarala is gone to. The most beautiful, wise, and entirely devoted to me; she walked as the swan,[79] and her eyes were handsome as those of the deer. With a smiling face and with the sweetest voice, thou didst read to me the _Betal_. The mind was charmed by thy sweet reading which was as the singing of the bird in the forest. Thou, Sarala, hadst a most beauteous face, and didst brighten the lake of my heart. Who did take away my lotus with a cruel heart? The beautiful lake became dark. The world I look upon is as a desert full of corpses; while I have lost my father, my mother, my brother, and my wife.

Ah! where are they gone to in search of the dead body of my brother? I am to prepare for going to the Ganges as soon as they come. Ah! how very terrible, the last scene of the drama of the lion-like Nobin Madhab is? (_Sits down, taking hold of Sabitri’s feet_).

[_The curtain falls down._

_FINIS._

Footnote 70:

The face of her husband.

Footnote 71:

It sometimes happens, that during sleep the child either cries or laughs; that is called, the Deala of the child.

Footnote 72:

An ornament made of shell for the wrists of women.

Footnote 73:

That is, let her become a widow within three days, who has made me so.

Footnote 74:

The Sala is the native name of the tree _Shorea robusta_.

Footnote 75:

The wives of the same husband.

Footnote 76:

_Volkmeria odorata._

Footnote 77:

Dhannantari is the Physician of the Gods.

Footnote 78:

Shoranan is one of the names of Kartikeya. In this place, it refers to Nobin Madhab, on account of the great honor which he had acquired from the people of the country; and he is compared with Kartikeya, because he had much honour among the gods.

Footnote 79:

The gait of the swan is considered in this country the most beautiful model of the motion of the feet.

Calcutta Printing and Publishing Press, No. 10, Weston’s Lane.

Transcriber’s Note

Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original, including those which occur in the footnotes. Minor lapses of punctuation in the formatting of the dialog itself are corrected without comment here.

18.31 how many days are there still remaining of Replaced. this month[./?]

19.32 This is a Bengal[l]i term Removed.

24.1 I shall take her away by certain latyals[.] Added.

24.15 Did you inform Sadhu of this[./?] Replaced.

34.19 but one of my friends[./,] Bonkima by name, Replaced.

42.5 like unto one leading a [,/.] Replaced.

45.11 business of the Amin[;/,] then this kind Replaced.

46.6 My dear, you can, with [c/e]ase, give Replaced.

48.7 My hea[s/r]t bursts Replaced.

65.13 the Kazi (the Mahomedan judge)[./?] Replaced.

66.11 _Bind[a/u]._ Have you seen my father this day? Replaced.

66.13 _Exit Bind[a/u] Madhab and Chaprasi_ Replaced.

66.15 (_Exit Bind[a/u] Madhab and Chaprasi._) Replaced.

68.10 _Daroga[h]._ Sir, you are wise Added.

76.34 a common [f]orm of expression for the term Restored. Kaista.

84.18 there is no preparation for Sita’s going with Added. him[.]

88.30 It is necessary to see her pulse on[c]e. Added.

88.31 let me observe the[y] pulse once. Removed.

89.30 on account [of the ]of the pain in his nose Redundant.

90.24 How very extravagant are my daug[th/ht]er’s Transposed. desires!

95.2 take Khetramoni from the[.] bed Removed.