THE Vaidyabati house was enveloped in gloom: there was no one to
superintend affairs or look after the maintenance of the household;
the family was in a very bad way, and had great difficulty even
in procuring food. The villagers began to say amongst themselves:
"How long can an embankment of sand last? A virtuous household
is as a building of stone." Matilall was all this time an exile
from home, and his companions had also vanished; nothing more was
heard of all their display. Great was the delight of Premnarayan
Mozoomdar. He was sitting one day in the verandah of Beni Babu's
house, snapping his fingers and singing a popular song:--
"The babul's sweet flower doth its petals unfold,
"While it swings in your ear with its colour of gold.
"Your talk is of silver rupees and of rice,"
"Of sweetmeats delicious, and all that is nice."
Inside the house, Beni Babu was playing on the _sitar_ and
devising a special song for it, in accompaniment to the tune of
"_The Champac Flower._" Suddenly, Becharam Babu was seen approaching;
causing great excitement among the children in the street, as he
caught up the popular measure of Nara Chandri:--
"With dice in my hand, all prepared for the game,
"Born into the world as a gambler I came." [66]
The boys were all laughing and clapping their hands, and Becharam
was angrily expostulating with them. When Nadir Shah attacked
Delhi, Mahomed Shah was absorbed in listening to music and singing;
and even when Nadir Shah appeared suddenly before him in the full
panoply of war, Mahomed Shah said not a word, and for a time ceased
not drinking in with his ears the sweet nectar of song; at last,
and still not speaking a word, he left his throne. Not thus did
Beni Babu behave upon the arrival of Becharam Babu; he at once put
down his _sitar_ and rising quickly from his seat, courteously
invited him to be seated. After a somewhat lengthy exchange of
courtesies, Becharam Babu observed: "Ah, my dear friend Beni,
we have at last reached the end of the chapter[67]! Thakchacha has
come to utter grief by his wicked conduct: your Matilall too, by
his lack of intelligence has gone to the bad. Ah, my friend! you
have always told me some terrible misfortune is sure to happen to
a boy when he has not been so educated from his early childhood
as to have a cultivated intellect and a knowledge of rectitude:
Matilall is an instance of this. It is a sorrowful subject: what
more can I say? The whole fault was Baburam's; he had only the wit
of a Muktar: he was sharp enough where trifles were in question,
but blind in the really important concerns of life[68]."
_Beni_.-- What is the good of casting reproach upon him by saying
this all over again: it was demonstrated a long time ago. When
there was such an utter want of attention in the matter of Mati's
education, and no means adopted for keeping evil companions from
him, it was a foregone conclusion[69]. "It is the _Ramayana_ without
Ram." Be that as it may, it is Becharam who has been the chief
gainer. Bakreswar has got nothing by all his importunities. No
school-master has ever been seen with an equal capacity for
flattering the children of the rich: the education he was supposed
to give was all a sham: his thoughts day and night were directed
solely to getting gain, while appearing still to the outside
world to be doing a great work. Anyhow the Vaishnava's hopes
of making a good thing out of Matilall were never extinguished;
like the little _chátak_ bird, he rent the heavens with his cry:
"Give me water! give me water!" but not even a cloudlet could he
ever see, much less a shower[70].
_Premnarayan Mozoomdar_.-- Have you, gentlemen, nothing else to talk
about? Have you nothing to say on the subject of Kavi Kankan, or
of Valmiki, or of Vyasa[71]? Have you nothing to say on business?
I am tired to death of discussing the troubles connected with the
name of Baburam. Mati has only met with the fate which so wicked
a boy deserved: let him go to perdition: need we feel any anxiety
on his account?
Meanwhile Hari, the servant, who had been busy preparing tobacco,
brought a _hooka_, and putting it into Beni Babu's hands, said:--
"That Babu from Eastern Bengal is just approaching." Beni Babu at
once rose from his seat and saw Barada Babu approaching rather
hurriedly with a stick in his hand. Both Beni Babu and Becharam
Babu greeted him courteously and invited him to be seated.
When they had enquired after each other's welfare, Barada Babu
said:-- "Now at length what has been long expected has come
to pass. I have a request to make of you just now; I have been
living for a long time past at Vaidyabati, and for this reason
it became my duty to help the people of the place to the best
of my ability. I have no great wealth, it is true, but when I
consider what I am, the Lord has given me plenty: if I were to
hope for greater abundance, I should be finding fault with His
good judgment, and that is not a proper course for me to take:
it was my duty to help my neighbours, but whether from laziness,
or ill fortune, I have not discharged my duty thoroughly of late."
_Becharam_.-- What language is this? Why, you have assisted
all the poor and afflicted people of Vaidyabati in a hundred
different ways, with supplies of food, with clothing, with money,
with medicines, with books, with advice, and by your own personal
exertions on their behalf. In no single detail have there been
any shortcomings on your part. Why, my dear friend, they shed
tears when they proclaim your virtues. I know all this well:
why do you try to impose on me like this?
_Barada_.-- My dear sir, it is no imposition; I am telling
you the plain truth: if any have derived any help from me, I am
humiliated when I think how trifling that help has been. However,
the request I have now to make is this; the families of Matilall
and Thakchacha are starving; it has come to my knowledge that they
often have to fast for days. It has been a great grief to me to
hear this; I have therefore brought two hundred rupees that I had
by me, and I shall be exceedingly gratified if you will somehow
contrive to have this money sent to them without revealing my name.
Beni Babu was astounded on hearing these words, and Becharam
Babu, after a short interval, looking towards Barada Babu,
his eyes filling with tears of emotion, said to him, as he put
his hand on his shoulder: "Ah, my dear friend! you know what
rectitude really is: as for us, we have spent our lives in vain:
it is written in the Vedas and in the Puranas: 'The man whose
mind is pure and upright, he shall see God.' What shall I say
about your mind? I have never hitherto seen even the slightest
taint of impurity in it. God keep you in happiness acceptable to
yourself. But tell me, have you had any news of Ramlall lately?"
_Barada_.-- Some months back I received a letter from Hurdwar:
he was well: he did not say anything about returning.
_Becharam_.-- Ramlall is a very good boy: the mere sight of him
would refresh my eyes: he is bound to be good, and it has all
come about by reason of his association with you.
Meanwhile, Thakchacha and Bahulya had passed Saugor on a vessel
The pair were for all the world like two cranes: they sat together,
ate together, slept together, and were perfectly inseparable: their
mutual woes formed the continual theme of their conversation. One
day Thakchacha, with a deep sigh, said to his companion:-- "Our
destiny is a very hard one: we have become mere lumps of earth:
our trickery is of no further avail, and as for my stratagems,
they have all escaped from my head. My house is ruined: I did
not even have an interview with my wife before leaving: I am
very much afraid that she will marry again." Bahulya replied:
"Friend, pluck all these matters out of your heart: life in
the world is after all but a pilgrimage: we are here to-day,
gone to-morrow: no one has anything he can call his own. You
have one wife, I have four. Throw everything else to the winds,
consider only carefully the means whereby it may go well with
self." The wind soon began to blow hard, and the ship went on
her way with a strong list to one side. A terrible storm then got
up. Thakchacha, trembling all over with fright, said to Bahulya:
"Oh, my friend, I am in a terrible fright! I think my death
must be very near." Bahulya replied: "Are we not already within
an ace of death? We are but ghosts of our former selves. Come,
and let us go below, and say our prayers to Allah and his prophet:
I have them all by heart: if we are swamped, we shall at any rate
have the name of our patron saint to accompany us on our journey."