22. There is a world of sentiment attached to the ornaments worn
by women in Bengal.
They are not merely indicative of the love and regard of the
giver, but the wearing of them symbolizes all that is held best
in wifehood--the constant solicitude for her husband's welfare,
the successful performance of the material and spiritual duties
of the household entrusted to her care. When the husband dies,
and the responsibility for the household changes hands, then are
all ornaments cast aside as a sign of the widow's renunciation of
worldly concerns. At any other time the giving up of omaments is
always a sign of supreme distress and as such appeals acutely to
the sense of chivalry of any Bengali who may happen to witness it
[Trans.].