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 NIL DARPAN; 
 
 THE INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR, 
 
 JUrama. 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE BENGALI 
 
 A NATIVE. 
 
 CAL CUTTA : 
 
 C. H. MANUEL, CALCUTTA PRINTING AND PUBLISHING PRESS, No. 10, 
 WESTOX'S LANE, COSSITOLLAH* 
 
 1861.
 
 Tukcik 
 
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 NIL DARPAN, 
 
 THE INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR, 
 
 Brama, 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE BENGALI 
 
 A NATIVE. 
 
 CAL CUTTA .- 
 
 C. H. MANUEL, CALCUTTA PRINTING AND PUBLISHING PRESS, No. 10, 
 WESTON'S LANE, COSSITOLLAJI. 
 
 1861.
 
 INTBODUCTION. 
 
 THE original Bengali of this Drama the NIL DARPAN, OR 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR having excited considerable in- 
 terest, a wish was expressed by various Europeans to see a 
 translation of it. This has been madefy a Native ; both the 
 original and translation are bond fide Native productions and 
 depiclthe Indigo Plan ting System as viewed by Natives at large. 
 
 The Drama is the favourite mode with the Hindus for 
 describing certain states of society, manners, customs. Since 
 the days of Sir W. Jones, by scholars at Paris, St. Peters- 
 burgh, and London, the Sanskrit Drama has, in this point of 
 view, been highly appreciated. The Bengali Prama imitates 
 in this respect its Sanskrit parent. The evils of Kulin 
 Brahminism, widow marriage prohibition, quackery, fanaticism, 
 have been depicted by it with great effect. 
 
 Nor has the system of Indigo planting escaped 
 notice : hence the origin of this work, the NIL DARPANT, 
 which, though exhibiting no marvellous or very tragic 
 scenes, yet, in simple homely language, gives the " annals 
 of the poor ;" pleads the cause of those who are the 
 feeble ; it describes a respectable ryot, a peasant proprietor, 
 happy with his family in the enjoyment of his land till the 
 Indigo System compelled him to take advances, to neglect his 
 own land, to cultivate crops which beggared him, reducing him 
 to the condition of a serf and a vagabond ; the effect of this 
 on his home, children, and relatives are pointed out in language, 
 plain but true ; it shows how arbitrary power debases the lord 
 as well as the peasant ; reference is also made to the partiality 
 of various Magistrates in favor of Planters and to the Act of 
 last year penally enforcing Indigo contracts. 
 
 2021470
 
 Attention has of late years been directed by Christian 
 Philanthropists to the condition of the ryots of Bengal, their 
 teachers, and the oppression which they suffer, and the con- 
 clusion arrived at is, that therels little prospect or possibility 
 of ameliorating the mental, moral, or spiritual condition of the 
 ryot without giving him security of landed-tenure. If the 
 Bengal ryot is to be treated as a serf, or a mere squatter or 
 day-labourer, the missionary, the school-master, even the 
 Developer of the resources of India, will find their work like 
 that of Sisyphus vain and useless. 
 
 Statistics have proved that in France, Switzerland, Hg"land, 
 Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Saxony, the education of the 
 peasant, along with the security of tenure he enjoys on his 
 small farms, has encouraged industrious, temperate, virtuous, 
 and cleanly habits, fostered a respect for property, increased 
 social comforts, cherished a spirit of healthy and active 
 independence, improved the cultivation of the land, lessened 
 pauperism, and has rendered the people averse to revolu- 
 tion, and friends of order. Even Russia is carrying out a 
 grand scheme of serf-emancipation in this spirit. 
 
 It is the earnest wish of the writer of these lines that 
 harmony may be speedily established Jbetween the Planter 
 and the Ryot, that mutual interests may bind the two 
 classes together, and that the European may be in the 
 Mofussil the protecting ^Egis of the peasants, who may be 
 able " to sit eaph man under his mango and tamarind tree, 
 none daring to make him afraid/'
 
 THE AUTHOK'S PEEFACE. 
 
 I PRESENT " The Indigo Planting Mirror " to the Indigo 
 Planters' hands ; now, let every one of them, having ob- 
 served his face, erase the freckle of the stain of selfishness 
 from his forehead, and, in its stead, place on it the sandal 
 powder of beneficence, then shall I think my labour success- 
 ful, Jfcod fortune for the helpless class of ryots, and preser- 
 vation of England's honor. Oh, ye Indigo Planters ! Your 
 malevolent conduct has brought a stain upon the English 
 Nation, which was so graced by the ever-memorable names of 
 Sydney, Howard, Hall, and other great men. Is your desire 
 for money so very powerful, that through the instigation 
 of that vain wealth, you are engaged in making holes like 
 rust in the long acquired and pure fame of the British 
 people ? Abstain now from that unjust conduct through 
 which you are raising immense sums as your profits ; and 
 then the poor people, with their families, will be able to spend 
 their days in ease. You are now-a-days purchasing things 
 worth a hundred rupees by expending only ten ; and you 
 well know what great trouble the ryots are suffering from that. 
 Still you are not willing to make that known, being entirely 
 given up to the acquisition of money. You say, that some 
 amongst you give donations to schools, and also medicine in time 
 of need but the Planters' donations to schools are more odious 
 than the application of the shoe for the destruction of a milch 
 cow, and their grants of medicine are like unto mixing the in- 
 spissated milk in the cup of poison. If the application of a little 
 turpentine after being beat by Shamchaud,* be forming a dis- 
 
 * Shamchand is an instrument made of leather, used by the Planters 
 for beating the ryots. 
 
 B
 
 ( 2 ) 
 
 pensary, then it may be said that in every factory there is a 
 dispensary. The Editors of two daily newspapers are filling 
 their columns with your praises ; and whatever other people may 
 think, you never enjoy pleasure from it, since you know fully the 
 reason of their so doing. What a surprising power of attraction 
 silver has ? The detestable Judas gave the great Preacher of 
 the Christian religion, Jesus, into the hands of odious Pilate 
 for the sake of thirty rupees; what wonder then, if the pro- 
 prietors of two newspapers, becoming enslaved by the hope of 
 gaining one thousand rupees, throw the poor helpless people of 
 this land into the terrible grasp of your mouths. But misery 
 and happiness revolve like a wheel, and that the sun of fcappi- 
 ness is about to shed his light on the people of this country, 
 is becoming veiy probable. The most kind-hearted Queen Vic- 
 toria, the mother of the people, thinking it unadvisable to suckle 
 her children through maid-servants, has now taken them on 
 her own lap to nourish them. The most learned, intelligent, 
 brave, and open-hearted Lord Canning is now the Governor- 
 General of India ; Mr. Grant, who always suffers in the suf- 
 ferings of his people, and is happy when they are happy, who 
 punishes the wicked and supports the good, has taken charge of 
 the Lieutenant-Governorship, and other persons, as Messrs. Eden, 
 Herschel, etc., who are. all well-known for their love of truth, for 
 their great experience and strict impartiality, are continually ex- 
 panding themselves lotus-like on the surface of the lake of the 
 Civil Service. Therefore, it is becoming fully evident that these 
 great men will very soon take hold of the rod of justice in order 
 to stop the sufferings which the ryots are enduring from the 
 great giant Baku, the Indigo Planter.
 
 PERSONS OF THE DRAMA. 
 
 GOLUK CHUNDER BASU. 
 
 NOBIN MADHAB 7 , , 
 
 _ >8ons of Goluk Chunder. 
 
 BINDU MADHAB 3 
 
 SADHU CHURN A neighbouring Ryot 
 RAY CHURN Sadhu'a brother. 
 Gqji CHURN DAS The Dewan. 
 
 J. J. WOOD ) T 7 . D7 
 
 } Indiqo Planters. 
 P. P. ROSE J 
 
 THE AJVIIN OR LAND MEASURER. 
 
 A KHALASI, a Tent-pitcher. 
 
 TAIDGIR Native Superintendent of Indigo Cultivation. 
 
 Magistrate, Amla, Attorney, Deputy Inspector, Pundit, 
 Keeper of the Gaol, Doctor, a Cow-keeper, a Native Doctor, 
 Four Boys, a Latyal or Club-man, and a Herdsman. 
 
 WOMEN. 
 
 SABITRI Wife of Goluk Chunder. 
 
 SOIRINDRI Wife of Nobin. 
 
 SARALOTA Wife of Bindu Madhab. 
 
 REBOTI Wife of Sadhu Churn. 
 
 KHETROMANI Daughter of Sadhu. 
 
 ADURI Maid-servant in Goluk Chunder 's house. 
 
 PODI MOYRANI A Sweetmeat Maker.
 
 FIRST ACT FIKST SCENE. 
 
 SVAROPUR GOLUK CHUNDER's GOLA OR STORE-HOUSE. 
 
 GOLUK CHUNDER BASU and SADHU CHURN sitting. 
 
 Sadhu. Master I told you then we cannot live any more 
 in this country. You did not hear me however. A poor 
 man's ivord bears fruit after the lapse of years. 
 
 Goluk. O my child ! Is it easy to leave one's country ? 
 My family has been here for seven ^nerations. The lands 
 Avhich our fore-fathers rented have enabled us never to acknow- 
 led<p ourselves servants of others. The rice which grows, 
 provides food for the whole year, means of hospitality to guests, 
 and also the expense of religious services ; the mustard seed 
 we get, supplies oil for the whole year, and, besides, we can sell 
 it for about sixty or seventy rupees. Svaropur is not a place 
 where people are in want. It has rice, peas, oil, molasses 
 from its fields, vegetables in the garden, and fish from 
 the tanks ; whose heart is not torn when obliged to leave 
 such a place ? And who can do that easily ? 
 
 Sadku. Now it is no more a place of happiness : your garden 
 is already gone, and your relatives are on the point of forsaking 
 you. Ah ! it is not yet three years since the Saheb took a lease 
 of this place, and he has already ruined the whole village. We 
 cannot bear to turn our eyes in the southern direction towards 
 the house of the heads of the villages (Mandal). Oh ! what was 
 it once, and what is it now ! Three years ago, about sixty men 
 used to make a daily feast in the house ; there were ten ploughs, 
 and about forty or fifty oxen ; as to the court-yard, it was 
 crowded like as at the horse races ; when they used to 
 arrange the ricks of corn, it appeared, as it were, that the 
 lotus had expanded itself on the surface of a lake bordered 
 by sandal groves ; the granary was as large as a hill ; but 
 last year the granary not being repaired, was on the point of
 
 6 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 falling into the yard. Because he was not allowed to plant 
 Indigo in the rice-field, the wicked Saheb beat the Ma jo and 
 Sajo Babus most severely ; and how very difficult was it to 
 get them out of his clutches ; the ploughs and kine were sold, 
 and at that crisis the two Mandals left the village. 
 
 Goluk. Did not the eldest Mandal go to bring his brethren 
 back? 
 
 Sadhu. They said, we would rather beg from door 
 to door than go to live there again. The eldest Mandal is 
 now left alone, and he !ias kept two ploughs, which are nearly 
 always engaged in the Indigo-fields. And even this per- 
 son is making preparations for flying off Oh, Sir ! IT tell 
 you also to throw aside this infatuated attachment (mayo) 
 for your native place. Last time your rice went, and this 
 time, your honour will go. 
 
 Goluk. What honor remains to us now ? The Planter 
 has prepared his places of cultivation round about the 
 tank, and will plant Indigo there this year. In that case, our 
 women will be entirely excluded from the tank. And also 
 the Saheb has said that if we do not cultivate our rice-fields 
 with Indigo, he will make Nobin Madhab to drink the 
 water of seven Factories (i.-e. to be confined in them). 
 
 Sadhu. Has not the eldest Babu gone to the Factory ? 
 
 Goluk. Has he gone of his own will? The pyeadah 
 (a servant) has carried him off there. 
 
 Sadhu. But your eldest Babu has very great courage. 
 On the day the Saheb said, " If you don't hear the Amin, and 
 don't plant the Indigo within the ground marked off, then shall 
 we throw your houses into the river Betraboti, and shall 
 make you eat your rice in the factory godown ;" the 
 eldest Babu replied, "As long as we shall not get the price 
 for the fifty bigahs of land sown with Indigo last year, we 
 will not give one bigah this year for Indigo. What do we 
 care for our house ? We shall even risk (pawn) our lives."
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 7 
 
 Goluk. What could he have done, without he said that ? 
 Just see, no anxiety would have remained in our family if the 
 fifty bigahs of rice produce had been left with us. And if 
 they give us the money for the Indigo, the greater part of our 
 troubles will go away. 
 
 NOBIN MADHAB enters. 
 
 O my son, what has been done ? 
 
 Nobin. Sir, does the cobra shrink* from biting the little 
 child on the lap of its mother on account of the sorrow of the 
 mo&er ? I flattered him much, but he understood nothing 
 by that. He kept to his word, and said, give us sixty 
 bigahs of land, secured by written documents, and take 50 
 Rupees, then we shall close the two years' account at once. 
 
 Goluk. Then, if we are to give sixty bigahs for the culti- 
 vation of the Indigo, we cannot engage in any other culti- 
 vation whafever. Then we shall die without rice crops. 
 
 Nobin. I said, " Saheb, as you engage all your men, our 
 ploughs, and our kine, every thing, in the Indigo field, only 
 give us every year through our food. We don't want hire." 
 On which, he with a laugh said, "You surely don't eat 
 Yaban's* rice." 
 
 Sadhu. Those whose only pay is a belly full of food are, 
 I think, happier than we are. 
 
 Goluk. We have nearly abandoned all the ploughs ; still 
 we have to cultivate Indigo. We have no chance in a 
 dispute with the Sahebs. They bind . and beat us, it 
 is for us to suffer. We are consequently obliged to work. 
 
 Nobin. I shall dp as you order, Sir ; but my design is 
 for once to bring an action into Court. 
 
 * The Mahomedans and all other nations who are not Hindus, are called 
 by that name.
 
 8 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 ADURI enters. 
 
 Aduri. Our Mistress is making noise within ; the day is 
 far advanced ; will you not go to bathe, and take your 
 food. The boiled rice is very near become dry. 
 
 Sadhu. (Standing up.) Sir, decide something about 
 this, or I shall die. If we give the labour of one-and-a-half of 
 our ploughs for the cultivation of nine bigahs of Indigo-fields, 
 our boiling pots of rice will go empty. Now, I am going 
 away, Sir, farewell, oui eldest Babu. 
 
 (Sadhu goes away.) 
 
 Goluh We don't think that God will any more allow us 
 to bathe and to take food in this land. Now, my son, go 
 and bathe. 
 
 (A II go away.) 
 
 FIKST ACT SECOND SCENE. 
 
 THE HOUSE OF SADHU CHURN. 
 
 KAY CHURN enters with his plough. 
 
 Ray. (Holding his plough.) The stupid Amin is a tiger. 
 The violence with which he came upon me ! Oh my God ! I 
 thought that he was coming to devour me. That villain did 
 not hear a single word and with force he marked off the 
 ground. If they take five bigahs of land, what will my 
 family eat. First, we will shed tears before them ; if they 
 don't let us alone, as a matter of course, we shall leave the 
 country. 
 
 KHETROMANI enters. 
 
 Is my brother come home ? 
 
 Khetra. Father is gone to the house of the Babu's and is 
 coming very soon. Will you not go to call my aunt ? 
 What were you talking about ?
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 9 
 
 llay. I am talking of nothing. Now, bring me a little 
 water, my stomach is on the point of bursting from thirst. 
 I told my brother-in-law* so much, but he did not 
 hear me. 
 
 SADHU enters, and KHETROMANI goes away. 
 
 Sadhu. Ray, why did you come so early ? 
 
 Ray. O my brother, the vile Amin has marked off the piece 
 of ground in Sanpoltola. What shall we eat ; and how 
 shall I pass the year ? Ah, our land was bright as the golden 
 chamjj>ah.-f* By the produce of only one corner of the field, 
 we satisfied the mahajans. What shall we eat now, and 
 what shall our children take ? This large family may die 
 without food. Every morning two recas (nearly 5 fts) of 
 rice are necessary. What shall we eat then ? Oh, my Ill-for- 
 tune ! Ill-fortune (burnt forehead ) ! what has the Indigo of 
 this white man done ? 
 
 Sadhu. We were living in the hope of cultivating those 
 bigahs of land ; and now, if these are gone, then what use is 
 there of remaining here any more. And the one or two bigahs 
 which are become saltish, they yield no produce. Again, the 
 ploughs are to remain in the Indigo-field ; and what can we 
 do. Don't weep now ; to-morrow we shall sell off the ploughs 
 and cows, leave this village, and go and live in the Zemin- 
 dary of Babu Basanta. 
 
 KHETROMANI and REBOTI enter with water. 
 
 Now, drink the water, drink the water ; what do you fear ? 
 He who has given life, will provide also food. Now, what did 
 you say to the Amin ? 
 
 Ray. What can I say ? He began to mark off the ground, 
 on which it seemed as if he began to thrust burnt sticks 
 
 * Here the word is used sarcastically ; and is taken to mean the brother 
 of the wife. 
 
 t The name of a beautiful yellow flower.
 
 10 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 into my breast, I entreated, holding him by his feet, and 
 wanted to give him money ; but he heard nothing. He said, 
 go to your eldest Babu ; go to your father. When I returned, 
 I only punished him with saying, " I shall bring this before 
 the Court/' 
 
 (Seeing the Amin at a distance.) 
 
 Just see, that villain (Shdld) is coming; he has brought 
 servants with him, and will take us to the Factory. 
 
 The AMIN and the two Servants enter. 
 Amin. Bind the hands of this villain. k 
 
 (Ray Churn is bound by the two Servants.) 
 
 Reboti. Oh ! What is this ? Why do they bind him ? 
 What ruin ! What ruin ! (to Sadhu) Why do you stand 
 looking on ? Go to the house of the Babus, and call the eldest 
 Babu here. 
 
 Amin. (To Sadhu.} Where shalt thou go now ? You are 
 also to go with me. To take advances is not the business of 
 Ray. We shall have much to bear with if we are to make 
 signature by cross marks. And because you know how to read 
 and to write, therefore you must go and make the signatures 
 in the Factory Account-book. 
 
 Sadhu. Sir, do you call this giving advances for Indigo ; 
 would it not be better to call it the cramming down Indigo ?* 
 Oh ! my Ill-fortune, you are still with me. That very blow 
 through fear of which I fled, I have to bear again. This land 
 was as the Kingdom of Rama before Indigo was established ; 
 but the ignorant fool is become a beggar, and famine has 
 come upon the land. 
 
 Amin. (To himself, observing Khetromani^) This 
 young woman is not bad-looking; if our younger Saheb 
 can get her, he will, with his whole heart, take her. But 
 
 * There is a play here on the words Dddan and Gddan.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 11 
 
 white I was unable to succeed in getting a peshkar's (over- 
 seer's) post by giving him my own sister, what can I expect 
 from getting him this woman ; but still she is very beautiful ; 
 I will try. 
 
 Reboti. Khetra, go into the room. 
 
 (Khetromani goes away.) 
 
 Amin. Now, Sadhu, if you want to come in a proper 
 manner, come with me to the Factory. 
 
 (Going forward.) 
 
 Reboti. Oh Amin ! have you no wKe nor children ? Have 
 you kept only the plough, and this beating (mdrpit) ? Did 
 he no% want to drink a little water ? By this time he ought to 
 take a second meal, how can he then, without taking any food, 
 go to the Saheb's house which is at such a distance. I ask 
 for the Saheb's grace ; just let him have some food ; and then 
 take him away. Oh ! he is so very much troubled for his wife 
 and his children. Oh ! he is shedding tears, his face is be- 
 come dry. What are you doing ? To what a burnt-up land 
 am I come ? Destruction has come upon me both in life and 
 money. Oh ! Oh ! Oh ! I am gone both in life and money. 
 (Weeps.) 
 
 Amin. Oh, stupid woman ! Now stop your grunting. 
 If you want to give water, bring it soon ; else I shall take 
 him away. (Ray Churn drinks water ; exit all.) 
 
 EIEST ACT THIKD SCENE. 
 
 THE FACTORY OF BEGUNBARI. THE VERANDA OF THE 
 LARGE BUNGALOW. 
 
 Enter J. J. WOOD and GOPI CHURN DAS, the Dewan. 
 
 Oopi. What fault have I done, my Lord ? You are 
 observing me day by day. I begin to move about early in the 
 morning, and return home at three o'Clock in the afternoon.
 
 12 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 Again, immediately after taking dinner, I sit down to look over 
 papers about Indigo advances ; and that takes my time to 
 twelve and sometimes to one o'Clock in the night. 
 
 Wood. You, rascal, are very inexperienced. There are no 
 advances made in Svaropur, Shamanagar, and Santighata 
 villages. You will never learn without Shamchand, (the 
 leather strap). 
 
 Gopi. My Lord I am your servant. It is through favour 
 only that you have raised me from the peshkdri business to 
 the Dewani. You are my only Lord, you can either kill 
 me or can cut me in pieces. Certain powerful enemies have 
 arisen against this Factory ; and without their punish- 
 ment, there is no cultivation of Indigo. 
 
 Wood. How can I punish without knowing them ? As 
 for money, horses, latyals (club-men), I have a sufficiency ; 
 can they not be punished by these ? The former Dewan made 
 known to me about those enemies. You do not. I have 
 scourged those wicked people, taken away their kine, and 
 kept their wives in confinement, which is a very severe 
 punishment for them. You are a very great fool ; you know 
 nothing at all. The business of the Dewan is not that of the 
 Kayt caste ; I shall drive you off, and give the business to a 
 Keaot. 
 
 Gopi. My Lord, although I am by caste a Kaystha, I do 
 my work like a Keaot (a shoe-maker). The service which I 
 have rendered in stopping the rice cultivation and making 
 the Indigo to grow in the field of the Mollahs, and also to take 
 (Idkhraj) his rent-free lands of seven generations from 
 Goluk Chunder Bose, and to take away the iron crow* from 
 the Government ; the work I have done for these, I can dare 
 say, can never be done by a Keaot (a shoemaker). It is my 
 
 * An instrument made use of for breaking down buildings.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 13 
 
 ill-fortune only (evil forehead) that I don't get the least praise 
 for doing so much. 
 
 Wood. That fool, Nobin Madhab, wants the whole account 
 settled. I shall not give him a single cowrie. That fellow 
 is very well versed in the affairs of the Court ; but I shall 
 see, how that braggart takes the advances from me. 
 
 Gopi. Sir, he is one of the principal enemies of this 
 Factory. The burning down of Polasapore would never have 
 been proved, had Nobin no concern in the matter. That 
 fool himself prepared the draft of* the petition ; and it 
 was through his advice and intrigues that the Attorney 
 so rarned the mind of the Judge. Again, it was through 
 his intrigues that our former Dewan was confined for two 
 years. I forbade him, saying, " Babu Nobin, don't act against 
 our Saheb ; and, especially as he has not burnt your house." 
 To which he replied, " I have enlisted myself in order to save 
 the poor ryots. I shall think myself highly rewarded, if I can 
 preserve one poor ryot from the tortures of the cruel Indigo 
 Planters ; and throwing this Dewan into prison, I shall have 
 compensation for my garden." That braggart is become 
 like a Christian Missionary ; and I cannot say what prepa- 
 rations he is making this time. 
 
 Wood. You are afraid. Did I not tell you at first, you 
 are very ignorant ? No work is to be done through you. 
 
 Gopi. Saheb, what signs of fear hast thou seen in 
 me ? When I have entered on this Indigo profession, I have 
 thrown off all fear, shame, and honor ; and the destroying 
 of cows, of Brahmins, of women, and the burning down of 
 houses are become my ornaments, and I now lie down in bed 
 keeping the jail as my pillow (thinking of it}. 
 
 Wood. I do not want words, but works. 
 SADHU RAY, the AMIN, and the two Servants enter, making 
 
 salams. 
 Why are this wicked fool's hands bound with cords?
 
 14 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 Gopi. My Lord, this Sadhu Churn is a head ryot ; 
 but through the enticement of Nobin Bose he has been led 
 to engage in the destruction of Indigo. 
 
 Sadhu. My Lord, I do nothing unjust against your 
 Indigo, nor am I doing now, neither have I power to do 
 any thing wrong ; willingly or unwillingly I have prepared 
 the Indigo, and also I am ready to make it this time. But 
 then, every thing has its probability and improbability ; if 
 you want to make powder of eight inches' thickness to enter 
 a pipe half-an-inch thick, will it not burst ? I am a poor 
 ryot, keep only one-and-a-half ploughs, have only twenty 
 bigahs of land for cultivation ; and now, if I am to give'nine 
 bigahs out of that for Indigo, that must occasion my death, 
 but my Lord, what is that to you, it is only my death. 
 
 Gopi. The Saheb fears lest you keep him confined in the 
 godown of your eldest Babu. 
 
 Sadhu. Now, Sir Dewanji, what you say is striking 
 a corpse (useless labor). What mite am I that I shall im- 
 prison the Saheb, the mighty and glorious. 
 
 Gopi. Sadhu, now away with your high flown language ; 
 it does not sound well on the tongue of a peasant ; it is like a 
 sweeper's broom touching the body. 
 
 Wood. Now the rascal is become very wise. 
 
 Amin. That fool explains the laws and magistrate's orders 
 to the common people, and thus raises confusion. His 
 brother draws the ploughshare, and he uses the high word 
 pratdpshdli " glorious." 
 
 Gopi. The child of the preparer of cow-dung balls is 
 become a Court Naeb (deputy). My Lord, the establishment 
 of schools in villages has increased the violence of the ryots. 
 
 Wood. I shall write to our Indigo Planters' Association 
 to make a petition to the Government for stopping the 
 schools in villages ; we shall fight to secure stopping the 
 schools.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 15 
 
 Alain. That fool wants to bring the case into Court. 
 
 Wood. (To Sadhu) You are very wicked. You have 
 twenty bigahs, of which, if you employ nine bigahs for 
 Indigo, why can't you cultivate the other nine bigahs for rice. 
 
 Gopi. My Lord, the debt which is credited to him can be 
 made use of for bringing the whole twenty bigahs within our 
 own power. 
 
 SadJm. (To himself) O oh ! the witness for the spirit- 
 seller is the drunkard ? (Openly) K the nine bigahs which 
 are marked off for the cultivation of the Indigo were work- 
 ed % the plough and kine of the Factory, then can I 
 use the other nine bigahs for rice. The work which is to 
 be done in the rice-field is only a fourth of that which is 
 necessary in the Indigo-field, consequently if I am to remain 
 engaged in these nine bigahs, the remaining eleven bigahs 
 will be without cultivation. 
 
 Wood. You, dolt, are very wicked, you scoundrel 
 (hdramjddd) ; you must take the money in advance ; you 
 must cultivate the land ; you are a very scoundrel (kicks 
 him). You shall leave off every thing when you meet 
 with Shamchand (takes Shamchand from the wall.) 
 
 Sadhu. My Lord, the Iwnd is only blackened by killing 
 a fly, i. e., your beating me only injures you. I am too mean. 
 We 
 
 May. (Angrily) O my brother, you had better stop ; let 
 them take what they can ; our very stomach is on the point of 
 falling down from hunger. The whole day is passed, we have 
 not yet been able either to bathe or to take our food. 
 
 Amin. rascal, where is your Court now ? (Twists hia 
 ears}. 
 
 Ray. (With violent panting). I now die! My mother! 
 my mother ! 
 
 Wood. Beat that "bloody nigger," (beats ivith 
 chand, the hatter strap}.
 
 16 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 Enter NOBIN MADHAB. 
 
 Ray. O thou Babu ! I ain dying ! Give me some water. 
 I am just dead ! 
 
 Nobin. Saheb they have not bathed, neither have they 
 taken the least food. The members of their family have not 
 yet washed their faces. If you thus destroy your ryots by flog- 
 ging them, who will prepare your Indigo ? This Sadhu Churn 
 prepared the produce of about four bigahs last year with the 
 greatest trouble possible ; and if with such severe beatings 
 you make such cruel advances to them, that is only your loss. 
 For this day give them leave, and to-morrow I myself thai I 
 bring them with me, and do as thou do'st bid me. 
 
 Wood. Attend to your own business. "What concern have 
 you with another's affairs. Sadhu, give your opinion quickly, 
 as it is my dinner time. 
 
 Sadhu. What is the use of waiting for my opinion ? You 
 have already marked off the four bigahs of the most productive 
 land ; and the Amin has, to-day, marked off the remaining 
 part. The land is marked without my consent, the Indigo 
 shall be prepared in the same way ; and I also agree to 
 prepare it without taking any advances. 
 
 Wood. Do you say my advances are all fictitious you 
 cursed wretch, bastard and heretic, (beats him). 
 
 Nobin. (Covers with his hand the back of Sadhu). My 
 Lord, this poor man has many to support in his family. 
 Owing to the beating he has got, I think, he will be confined in 
 bed for a month. Oh ! What pains his family is suffering ? 
 Sir, you have also your family. Now, what sorrow would 
 affect the mind of your wife if you were' taken prisoner at 
 your dinner-time ? 
 
 Wood. Be silent thou fool, braggart, low fellow, cow-eater. 
 Don't think that this Magistrate is like that one of Amarana- 
 gara, that you can, for every word, lay complaints before him, 
 and imprison the men of the Factory. The Magistrate of
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 17 
 
 Iiidrabad is as death to you. You rascal, you must 
 first give me a hand-note to state you have received 
 the advance for sixty bigahs of land, or else I shall not 
 let you go this day. I shall break your head with this 
 Shamchand, you stupid. It is owing to your not taking ad- 
 vances, that I have not been able to force advances on ten 
 other villages. 
 
 Nobin. (With heavy sighs.) O my Mother Earth! separate 
 yourself that I may enter into you. In my life I never 
 suffered such an insult. 0, oh ! 
 
 GQpi, Babu Nobin, better go home, no use of making fuss. 
 
 Nobin. Sadhu, call on God, He is the only support of the 
 
 helpless. 
 
 (Nobin Madhab goes away.) 
 
 Wood. Thou slave of the slave. Take him to the Factory, 
 Dewan, and give him the advance according to rule. 
 
 ( Wood goes away.) 
 
 Gopi. Sadhu, come along to the Factory. Does the Saheb 
 forget his words ? 
 
 Now ashes have fallen on your ready-made, rice; the 
 Yama* of Indigo has attacked you, and you have no safety. 
 
 FIEST ACT FOURTH SCENE. 
 GOLUK CHUNDER BASU'S HALL. 
 
 Enter SOIRINDRI preparing a hair-string. 
 Soirindri. I never did prepare such a piece of hair- 
 string. The youngest Bouf is the most fortunate, since 
 whatever I do in her name proves successful. The hair- 
 string I have made, is the thinnest possible. According to 
 
 * Yama is Death, the king of terror. 
 
 f This is a term which is applied to one's son's wife ; but sometimes, 
 though rarely, it means wife. 
 
 D
 
 18 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 the hair, the hair-string is made. Oh ! how beautiful the hair 
 is ; it is like unto that of the Goddess Kali. The face 
 is as the lotus, always smiling. People may say what- 
 ever they choose to one whom they do not like. I don't 
 attend to that. For my part, I feel pleasure when I see the 
 face of the youngest Bou. I consider the youngest Bou in 
 the same light, as I do Bipin. The youngest Bou loves me 
 as her own mother. 
 
 SARALOTA enters with a braid in her hand. 
 
 Saralota. My sister, just see whether I have been able to 
 make the under part of this braid ? Is it not made ? 
 
 Soirindri. (Seeing the braid.) Yes, now it is well made. 
 O ! my sister, this part is made somewhat bad ; the yellow 
 does not look well after the red colour. 
 
 Saralota. I wove it by observing your braid. 
 
 Soirindri. Is the yellow after the red in that ? 
 
 Saralota. No ; in that the green is after the red. But 
 because my green thread is finished, therefore I placed the 
 yellow after that. 
 
 Soirindri. You were not able, I see, to wait for the 
 market-day. I see, my sister, every thing is in haste with you. 
 As it is said, "Hurry is in Brindabun; but as soon as the 
 desire rises, there is no more waiting"* 
 
 Saralota. Oh ! What fault have I committed for that ? 
 Can that be got in the market ? At the last market-day, my 
 mother-in-law sent for it ; but that was not got. 
 
 Soirindri. When they write a letter this time to my 
 husband's brother, we shall send to ask for threads of various 
 colours. 
 
 Saralota. Sister, how many days are there still remaining 
 of this month. 
 
 * This is only a quotation, explaining, by an example, the eagerness of the 
 mind when the tlesire is once excited.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR 19 
 
 Soirindri. (Laughingly.) On the place where the pain 
 is, the hand touches. As soon as his* College closes, he 
 shall come home, therefore you are counting the days. Ah ! 
 my sister, your mind's words are come out. 
 
 Saralota. I say truly, my sister ; I never meant that. 
 
 Soirindri. How very good-natured our Bindu Madhab is ? 
 His words are honey. When we hear his letters read, they 
 Tain like drops of nectar. I never saw such love towards 
 one's brother as his ; and also his brother shows the greatest 
 affection for him. When he hears the name of Bindu Madhab, 
 his taart overflows with joy, and it becomes, as it were, 
 expanded. Also, as he is, so our Saralota is, (pressing Sara- 
 lotas cheefy Saralota is as honesty itself (Saralota). Have 
 I not brought with me my huka ? I see, that as I 
 cannot remain without it for a moment, that is the first 
 thing which I have forgotten to bring along with me. 
 
 Enter ADURL 
 
 Aduri, will you just go and bring me some ashes of 
 tobacco ? 
 
 Aduri. Where shall I now seek for it ? 
 
 Soirindri. It is stuck on the thatched roof of the cook- 
 room, on the right side of the steps leading into the room. 
 
 Aduri. Then, let me bring the ladder from the thresh- 
 ing floor ; else how can I reach to the roof ? 
 
 Saralota. Very well. 
 
 Soirindri. Why can she not understand our mother-in- 
 law's word ? Don't you understand what steps are, and what 
 Dain^f- signifies ? 
 
 Aduri. Why shall T become a Dain ; it is my fate. As 
 soon as a poor woman becomes old and her teeth fall out 
 
 * This pronoun " his" refers to the husband of Saralota. 
 
 t This is a Beugalli term signifying sometimes sight and sometimes 
 a witch.
 
 20 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 she is immediately called a Dain. I shall speak of this to 
 our mistress ; am I become so old as to be called a Dain ? 
 
 Soirindri. (Rising up.*) Youngest Bon, sit down, I am 
 coming ; to-day we shall hear the Betal of Vidyeasagar. 
 
 (Soirindri goes away.) 
 
 Aduri. That Sagar allows marriage to the widows ; fie ! 
 fie ! Are there not two parties to that ? I am of the Ajah's * 
 party. 
 
 Saralota. Aduri, did your husband love you well ? 
 
 Aduri. O young Haldarni, do not raise that word of sor- 
 row now. Even up to this day, when his face comes Before 
 my mind's eye, my heart, as it were, bursts with sorrow. 
 He loved me very much. And he even wanted to give me a 
 daughter-in-law. He even did not give me time to sleep. 
 Whenever I felt drowsy, he said, "O my love, are you 
 
 Saralota. Did you call him by his name ? 
 Aduri. Fie ! fie ! fie ! The husband is one's Lord. Is it 
 proper to call him by his name ? 
 
 Saralota. Then, how did you call him ? 
 Aduri. I used to say, " O ! do you hear me." 
 
 Enter SOIRINDRI again. 
 
 Soirindri. Who has irritated this fool again ? 
 
 Aduri. She was inquiring after my husband, therefore 
 I was speaking with her. 
 
 Soirindri. (Laughing.) I never saw a greater fool than 
 this our youngest Bou. While having so many subjects of 
 talk, still you are exciting Aduri in order to hear from her 
 about her husband. 
 
 * The word Rajah is here pronounced in an odd form ; r.nd it has reference 
 to those rajahs who were against w'n'ow marriage. As the word is pronounced 
 by a woman of the lower cl;iss, it is spelt here incorrectly.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 21 
 
 Enter REBOTI and KHETROMANI. 
 
 Welcome, my dear sister, I have been sending for you for 
 these many days ; still I see, you don't get time to come. O 
 our youngest Bou, here take your Khetra ; here she is come. 
 She was troubling me for these days, saying, My sister 
 Khetra, of the Ghose family, is come from her father-in-law's 
 house ; then, why is she not yet coming to our house ? 
 
 Reboti. Yes, such is your love towards us. Khetra, 
 
 bow down before your aunt. 
 
 (Khetr^mani bows down.) 
 
 Sbirindri. Remain with your husband for life ; wear 
 vermillion even in your white hair ; let your iron circlet* 
 continue for ever, and the next time you go to your father- 
 in-law's house, take your new-born son with you. 
 
 Aduri. The young Haldarni speaks most fluently before 
 me ; but this young girl bowed down before her ; and she 
 spoke not a single word. 
 
 Soirindri. Oh ! what of that. Aduri, just go and call 
 our mother-in-law here. 
 
 (Aduri goes out.) 
 
 The fool knows not what she says. For how many months 
 is shef with child ? 
 
 Reboti. Did I yet express that ? The bad turn of my 
 fortune (broken forehead) is such, that I yet cannot say 
 whether that is actually the case or not ? It is because that 
 you are very familiar with us, that I tell it you : at the 
 end of this month she will be in her fourth month. 
 
 Saralota. Khetra, why did you cut off the curls of your 
 hair ? 
 
 KJietro. The elder brother of my husband was much 
 displeased at seeing the curls in my hair. Our mistress said, 
 
 * 1 he iron circlet worn by a woman 011 her left hand, is the maik or sign 
 of the husband being alive. 
 
 f Referring to Khelromani.
 
 22 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 that curls agree best with prostitutes and women of rich 
 families. I was so much ashamed at hearing his words, that 
 from that very day I cut off my curls. 
 
 Soirindri. Youngest Bou, the shades of evening are 
 spreading about ; just go, my sister, and bring the clothes. 
 
 Enter ADURI again. 
 
 Saralota. (Standing up.) Aduri, come with me ; let us 
 go up, and bring down the clothes. 
 
 Aduri. Let young ( f aldar first come home, ha ! ha ! ha ! 
 (Ashamed, Saralota goes aivay.) 
 
 Soirindri. (With anger, yet laughing.} Go thou unfor- 
 tunate fool ; at every word, you joke. Where is my mother- 
 in-law ? 
 
 Enters SABITRI. 
 
 Yes, she is come. 
 
 Sabitri. Ghose Bou, art thou come, and hast thou brought 
 your daughter with you ? Yes, you have done well. Bipin 
 was making noise, therefore, I sent him out and am come 
 here. 
 
 Rcboti. My mother, I bow down before you. Khetra, bow 
 down before your grand-mother. (Khetromani bows down.) 
 
 Sabitri. Be happy, be the mother of seven sons. 
 (Coughing aside.} My eldest Bou, just go into the room, 
 I think my son is up. Oh ! my son has no regular time for 
 bathing, neither for taking food. My Nobin is become very 
 weak by mere vain thoughts (aside, " Aduri ") Oh ! my 
 daughter, go in soon, I think, he is asking for water. 
 
 Soirindri. (Aside, to Aduri.) Aduri, calling for you. 
 
 Aduri. Calling for me, but asking for you. 
 
 Soirindri. Thou burnt-faced. Sister Ghose meet me 
 another day. 
 
 (Exit Soirindri.)
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 23 
 
 Rebotl O my mother, here is none else. Some great 
 danger has fallen upon me, that Podi Moyrani came to our 
 house yesterday. 
 
 Sabitri. Rama ! Kama ! Rama ! who allows that nasty 
 fool to enter his house ? What is left of her virtue ? She 
 has only to write her name in the public notices. 
 
 Reboti. My mother, but what shall I do ? My house is 
 not an enclosed one. When our males go to take dinner 
 outside, the house is no more a housfc ; but you may call 
 it a mart. That strumpet says (I do shrink at the thought), 
 she ftiys, that the young Saheb is become, as it were, mad 
 at seeing Khetromani ; and wants to see her in the Factory. 
 
 Aduri. Fye ! fye ! fye ! bad smell of the onion ! Can 
 we go to the Saheb. Fye ! fye ! bad smell of the onion ! I 
 shall never be out any more alone. I can bear every other 
 thing, but the smell of the onion I can never bear. Fye ! 
 fye ! bad smell of the onion ! 
 
 Reboti. But, my mother, is not the virtue of the poor 
 actual virtue ? That fool* says, he will give money, give 
 grants of lands for the cultivation of rice ; and also give 
 some employment to our son-in-law. Fie ! fie ! to money. Is 
 virtue something to be sold ? Has it any price ? What can 
 I say ? That fool was an agent of the Saheb, or else I would 
 have broken her mouth with one kick. My daughter is become 
 thunder-struck from yesterday ; and now and then, she is 
 starting with fear. 
 
 Aduri. Oh, the Beard ! When he speaks, it is like a 
 he-goat twisting about its mouth. For my part, I would 
 never be able to go there as long as he does not leave off 
 his onions and beard. Fie ! fie ! fie 1 the bad smell of the 
 onion. 
 
 Reboti. Mother, again that unfortunate fool says, if you 
 
 * Referring to Podi Moyrani (sweet-meat maker).
 
 24 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 do not send her with me, I shall take her away by certain 
 latyals 
 
 Sabilrl. What more is the Burmese (Mug) power? Can 
 any one take away a woman from a house in the British 
 Dominion ? 
 
 Reboti. O my Mother ! Every violence can be commit- 
 ted in the ryot's house. Taking away the women, they bring 
 the men under their power. In giving advances for Indigo 
 they can do this ; onlyHhey cannot commit this before one's 
 eyes. Don't you know, my mother, the other day, because 
 certain parties did not agree to sign a fictitious receive of 
 advances, they broke down their house and took away by force 
 the wife of one of the Babus. 
 
 Sabitri. What anarchy is this ! Did you inform Sadhu 
 of this. 
 
 Reboti. No, my mother. He is already become mad on 
 account of the Indigo ; again, if he hear this, will he keep 
 quiet ? Through excessive anger he will rather smite his head 
 with the axe. 
 
 Sabitri. Very well, I shall make this known to Sadhu, 
 through my husband ; you need not say anything. What 
 misfortune is this ! The Indigo Planters can do anything. 
 Then why do I hear it generally said, that the Sahebs are 
 strict in dispensing justice. Again, my son Bindu Madhab 
 speaks much in praise of- them. Therefore I think that 
 these are not Sahebs ; no, they are the dregs, (Chanddl) of 
 Sahebs. 
 
 Reboti. Respecting another word which Moyrani has said, 
 I think the eldest Babu has not heard of it that a new 
 order has been proclaimed, by which the wicked Sahebs, by 
 opening a communication with the Magistrate, can throw any 
 one into prison for six months ; again, that they are making 
 preparations for doing the same with the Babus.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 25 
 
 Sabitri. (Sighing deeply.} If this be in the mind of God 
 it will be. 
 
 Reboti. Many other things she said, my mother ; but I 
 was not able to understand her. Is it the fact, that there is 
 no appeal when once a person is imprisoned ? 
 
 Aduri. I think, the wretch has aggravated this impri- 
 soning. 
 
 Sabitri. Aduri, be silent a little, my child. 
 
 Reboti. Moreover, the wife of the Indigo Planter, in order 
 to make her husband's case strong (pcucka), has sent a letter 
 to the Magistrate, since it is said that the Magistrate hears 
 her words most attentively. 
 
 Aduri. I saw the lady ; she has no shame at all. When 
 the Magistrate of the Zillah (whose name occasions great 
 terror) goes riding about through the village, the lady also 
 rides on horseback, with him. The Bou riding about on a 
 horse ! Because the aunt of Kesi once laughed before the elder 
 brother of her husband, all people ridiculed her; while 
 this was the Magistrate of the Zillah. 
 
 Sabitri. I see, wretched woman, thou wilt occasion some 
 great misfortune one day. Now it is evening, Ghose Bou, 
 better go home. There is Durga. 
 
 Reboti. Now, I go my mother. I shall buy some oil from 
 the shop ; then there will be light in the house. 
 
 (Exit Reboti and Khetromani.) 
 
 Sabitri. Can't you remain without speaking something at 
 every word. 
 
 Enter SARALOTA ivith clothes on her head. 
 
 Aduri. Here, our washerwoman is come with her 
 clothes. 
 
 Sabitri. Thou fool, why is she a washerwoman ? She is 
 my Bou of gold, my Goddess of good Fortune (patting 
 her back). Is there no one in my family excepting you to
 
 26 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 bring down the clothes ? Can't you, for one dunda* sit quiet 
 in one place ? Art thou born of such a mad woman ? How 
 did you tear off your cloth. I think you bruised yourself. 
 Ah, her body is, as it were, a red lotus ; and this one 
 bruise has made the blood to come out with violence. 
 Now, my daughter, I tell you, never move up and down the 
 steps in the dark, in such a manner. 
 
 Enter SOIRINDRI. 
 
 Soirindri. Now, o$r young Bou, let us go to the ghdt. 
 
 Sabitri. Now, my daughters, while the evening light con- 
 tinues, you two together go and wash yourselves. p 
 
 (Exit all) 
 
 SECOND ACT FIRST SCENE. 
 
 THE GODOWN OF BEGUNBARI FACTORY. 
 
 Torapa and four other Ryots sitting. 
 
 Torapa. Why do they not kill me at once ? I can never 
 show myself ungrateful. That eldest Babu, who has pre- 
 served my caste ; he through whose influence I am living here ; 
 he, who by preserving my plough and the cows, is preserving 
 my life, shall I by giving false evidence throw the father of 
 that Babu into prison ? I can never do that ; I would rather 
 give my life. 
 
 First Ryot. Before sticks there can be no ivords ; the 
 stroke of Shamchand is a very terrible thrust. Have we 
 a film on our eyes ; did we not serve our eldest Babu ? 
 But, then, what can we do ? If we do not give evidence 
 they will never keep us as we are. Wood Saheb stood 
 upon my breast and blood began to fall drop by drop. A nd 
 the feet of the horse were, as it were, the hoofs of the ox. 
 
 * A dunda is equal to 24 Knglish minutes.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 27 
 
 Second Ryot. Thrusting in the nails ; don't you know the 
 nails which are stuck under the shoes worn by the Sahebs ? 
 
 Torapa. (Grinding his teeth with anger.) , Why do you 
 speak of the nails ? My heart is bursting with having seen 
 this blood. What do I say ? If I can once get him in the 
 Vataramari field, with one slap I can raise him in the air ; 
 and at once put a stop to all his " gad dams" and other words 
 of chastisement. 
 
 Third Ryot. I am only a hireling,* and keep men under 
 me. When I heard about the plan which our master 
 fornfcd, I immediately refused to take any Indigo busi- 
 ness on my hand, saying I shall never work for that. 
 Why was I then confined in the godown ? I thought that 
 serving under him at this time, I shall be able to make a good 
 collection and shall be able to attend to my friend; but I am 
 rotting here in this place for five days, and again I am to go 
 to that Andarabad. 
 
 Second Ryot. I went to that Andarabad once or twice ; 
 as also to that Factory of Bhabnapore, every one speaks good 
 of the Saheb of that place ; that Saheb once sent me to the 
 Court, then I saw many things pleasant in that place. 
 
 Torapa. Did he find any fault with you ? The Saheb of 
 Bhabnapore never raises a false disturbance. " By speaking 
 the truth, we sliall ride on horseback." Had all Sahebs been 
 of the same character with him, then none would have spoken 
 ill of the Sahebs. 
 
 Second Ryot. My heart over-flows with joy. 
 
 Now his torturing is all put a stop to. In his godown 
 there are now seven persons ; one of them a child. The vile 
 man has filled his house also with kine and calves. Oh, 
 what robbery is he carrying on ! 
 
 Torapa. As soon as they get a Saheb who is a good man 
 they want to destroy him. They are holding a meeting to 
 drive off the Magistrate.
 
 28 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 Second Ryot. I cannot understand whether they have 
 found fault with the Magistrate of this or the other Zillah ? 
 
 Torapa. He did not go to dine in the Factory. They 
 prepared a dinner for the Magistrate, in order to get him 
 within their power, but the Magistrate concealed himself 
 like a stolen cow ; he did not go to dinner. He is a 
 person of a good family. Why should he go to the Indigo 
 Planters ? We have now understood, these Planters are the 
 low people of Belata.*^ 
 
 First Ryot. Then how did the late Governor Saheb go 
 about all the Indigo Factories, being feasted like a bride-g^oom 
 just before the celebration of the marriage.^ Did you not see 
 that the Planter Sahebs brought him to this Factory well- 
 adorned like a bride-groom ? 
 
 Second Ryot. I think he has some share in this Indigo 
 Company. 
 
 Torapa. No ! can the Governor take a share in Indi- 
 go affairs ? He came to increase his fame. If God pre- 
 serve our present Governor, then we shall be able to procure 
 something for our sustenance ; and the great burden of 
 Indigo shall no more hang on our shoulders. 
 
 Third Ryot. (With fear.) I die. If the ghost of this 
 burden once attack a person, is it true that it does not quit 
 him soon ? My wife said so. 
 
 Torapa. Why have you brought this my brother here ? 
 For fear of the Sahebs, people are leaving the village ; and 
 my uncle Bochoroddi has formed the following sentence : 
 
 " The man with eyes like those of the cat, is an ignorant fool ; 
 " So the Indigo of the Indigo Factory is an instrument of punish- 
 ment." 
 
 * Belata means England. 
 
 t This refers to a certain practice in India of the Bride-groom going to the 
 houses of relatives amid great feasting, before the celebration of the marriage,
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 29 
 
 Bochoroddi is very expert in forming such sentences. 
 Second Ryot. Did not you hear another sentence which 
 was composed by Nita Atai ? 
 
 " The Missionaries have destroyed the caste ; 
 " The Factory monkeys have destroyed the rice." 
 
 Torapa. Aola Nochen has composed " Destroyed the 
 Caste," what is it ? 
 Second Ryot 
 
 " The Missionaries have destroyed ftie caste : 
 " The Factory monkeys have destroyed the rice." 
 
 Fourth Ryot. Ha ! I do not know what is taking place 
 
 in my house ; I am become the inhabitant of three villages 
 at once. I came away to Svaropur, and through the advice 
 of Bose, I threw away the advance which was offered me. 
 When my young child was sick I came to Bose to get 
 from him a little sugar-candy. Ah ! how very kind he was ; 
 how agreeable and good-looking in countenance I found 
 him ; and sitting as solemn as an elephant. 
 
 Torapa. How many bigahs have they given this year ? 
 
 Fourth Ryot. Last year I prepared ten bigahs ; but as 
 to the price of that, they raised great confusion. This year 
 again, they have given advances for fifteen bigahs ; and I 
 am doing exactly as they are ordering me ; still, they leave 
 not off insulting me. 
 
 First Ryot. I am laboring with my plough for these two 
 years, and I have cultivated a little piece of ground. That 
 piece of ground which I prepared this year, I kept for sesa- 
 mum ; but one day, our young Saheb, riding on his horse, 
 came to the place, and waiting there himself, took posses- 
 sion of the whole piece. How can the ryots live if this is 
 to continue ? 
 
 Torapa This is only the intrigue of the wicked Amin. 
 Does the Saheb know every thing about land ? This fool
 
 30 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 goes about like a revengeful dog : when he sees any good piece 
 of land, he immediately gives notice of it to the Saheb. The 
 Saheb has no want of money, and he has no need for borrowing 
 money on credit. Then, why is it that the fool does so ; if he 
 have to cultivate Indigo, let him do so ; let him buy oxen ; let 
 him prepare ploughs ; if he cannot guide the plough himself, 
 jet him keep men under him. What want have you of lands ? 
 If you can cultivate the whole village ; and we do not refuse 
 to give the village. In that case the land can overflow with 
 Indigo in two years. But he will not do it. 
 
 (Aside, ho! ho! ho! md! md!) Gazi-Saheb ! azi- 
 Saheb ! Durga ! Durga !* call your Rama. Within this 
 there are ghosts. Be silent, be silent. 
 
 (Aside, Oh Indigo ! You came to this land for our utter 
 ruin. Ah ! I cannot any more suffer this torture. I cannot 
 say how many other Factories there are of this Concern. 
 Within this one month and-a-half, I have already drunk the 
 water of fourteen Factories ; and I do not know in what 
 Factory I am now ; and how can I know that, while I am 
 taken in the night from one Factory to another, with my 
 eyes entirely shut. Oh ! my mother where art thou now 1 ) 
 
 Third Ryot. Rama ! Rama ! Rama ! Kali ! Kali ! 
 Durga ! Ganesha ! Ashra ! 
 
 Torapa. Silence, silence. 
 
 (Aside, Ah ! I can make myself free from this hell, if I 
 take the advance for five bigahs of land. Oh ! my uncle, it 
 is now proper to take the advance. Now, I see no means 
 of giving the notice ; my life is on the point of leaving the 
 body. I have no more any power to speak. Oh my Mother, 
 where art thou now ? I have not seen thy holy feet for a 
 month-and-a-half.) 
 
 * These are 'all words used by Mahomedans in times of great alarm ; and 
 here it is used to express the fear of ghosts.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 31 
 
 Third Ryot. I shall speak of this to my wife ; did you 
 hear now ? Although these are become ghosts after death, 
 still have they not been able to extricate themselves from the 
 Indigo advances. 
 
 First Ryot. Art thou so very ignorant ? 
 
 Torapa. A person of a good family ; I have understood 
 that by the words. My uncle Prana, can you once take me 
 up on your shoulders, then I can ask him where his resi- 
 dence is ? 
 
 First Ryot. Thou art a Musulman. 
 
 TojKipa. Then, you had better rise on my shoulders and see 
 (sits down) rise up (sits on the shoulders) take hold of 
 the wall ; bring your face before the window (seeing Gopi 
 Churn at a distance) come down, come down, my uncle, 
 Gopi is coming (first Ryot falls down). 
 
 Enter GOPI CHURN and MR. ROSE with his Ramkanta* 
 in his hand. 
 
 Third Ryot. Dewan, there is a ghost in this room. 
 Now, it was crying aloud. 
 
 Gopi. If you don't say as I teach you, you must become 
 a ghost of the very same kind. (Aside, to Mr. Rose) These 
 persons have known about Mojumdar's confinement, we must 
 no more keep him in this Factory. It was not proper to 
 keep him in that room. 
 
 Rose. I shall hear of that afterwards. What ryot has 
 refused ; what rascal is so very wicked? (Stamps his feef). 
 
 Gopi. These are all well-prepared. This Musulman is very 
 wicked ; he says, I can never show myself ungrateful, (nimak 
 hardmi). 
 
 Torapa. (Aside.) O my father ! How very terrible the stick 
 is! Now I must agree with them ; as to future considera- 
 
 * It is very like Shamchand.
 
 32 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 tions I shall see what I can do afterwards. (Openly) Pardon 
 me, Saheb ! I, also, am become the same with you. 
 
 Planter. Be silent, thou child of the sow ! This Ram- 
 kant is very sweet. (Strikes with Ramkant and also kicks 
 him). 
 
 Torapa. Oh ! oh ! my mother, I am now dead ! My uncle 
 Prana, give me a little water ; I die for water. My father, 
 father ! 
 
 Rose. Shall not filth be discharged into your mouth? 
 
 (Strikes with his shoes'). 
 
 (9 
 Torapa. Whatever thou shalt say, I shall do. Before 
 
 God, I ask pardon of thee, my Lord. 
 
 Rose. Now the villain has left his wickedness. To-night 
 all must be sent. Just write to the Attorney, that as long as 
 the evidence is not given, not one of these shall be let out. 
 The Agent shall go with them. (To the Third Ryot}. Why 
 art thou crying ? (Gives a kick). 
 
 Third Ryot. Bou, where art thou ? These are murdering 
 me. O my mother ! Bou ! my mother ! I am killed, I am 
 killed. (Falls upside down on the ground). 
 
 Rose. Thou, stupid, art become (bonra) mad. 
 
 (Exit Mr. Rose). 
 
 Gopi. Now, Torapa, have you got your full of the onion 
 and the shoe ? 
 
 Torapa. Oh Dewanji, preserve me by giving a little 
 water. I am on the point of death. 
 
 Gopi. The Indigo ware-house and the steam-engine room 
 these are places where the sweat shoots forth and water is 
 drunk. Now, all of you, come with me, that you may at once 
 drink water. 
 
 (Exit all.}
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 33 
 
 SECOND ACT SECOND SCENE. 
 
 THE BED-ROOM OF BINDU MADHAB. 
 
 Saralota sitting with a letter in her hand. 
 
 Saralota. Now, my dear love with an honest tongue is 
 not come, and an elephant, as it were, is treading on the 
 lotus-like heart. I have become hop^ess amid very great 
 hope. In expectation of the coming of the Lord of my life, I 
 was aiting with greater disquietude of mind than the swallow 
 (chdtak) does when waiting for the drops of rain at the ap- 
 proaching rainy season. The way in which I was counting the 
 days exactly corresponded with what my sister said, that each 
 day appeared, as it were, a year, (deep sigh). The expectation 
 as to the coming of my husband is now of no effect. The, 
 course of his life itself will prove successful, if the great action 
 in which he is now engaged, can prove so. Oh, Lord 
 of my life ! We are born women, and cannot even go out to 
 walk in the garden ; we are unable to walk out in the city ; can 
 by no means form clubs for general good ; we have no Col- 
 leges nor Courts, nor Brahma Samajs of our own ; we have 
 nothing of our own, to compose the mind, when it is once 
 disturbed ; and, moreover, we can never blame a woman when 
 she feels any disquietude. O my Lord, we have only one to 
 depend upon, the husband is the object of the wife's thought, 
 of her understanding, her study, her acquisition, her meeting, 
 her society; in short, this jewel the husband is all to a 
 virtuous woman. O thou letter ! thou art come from the 
 hand of the dear object of my heart, I shall kiss thee, (kisses 
 it) ; in thee is the name of my Lord ; I shall hold thee on 
 my burnt heart, (keeps it on her breast}. Ah! how sweet are 
 the words of my Lord ; as often as I read it, my mind is more 
 and more charmed (reads'). 
 
 F
 
 34 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 MY DEAR SARALA, In my letter I cannot express 
 what anxiety my mind feels, to see your sweet face. 
 what inexpressible pleasure do I feel when I place 
 your beautiful (moonlike) face on my breast ! I thought 
 that that moment of happiness is come ; but pain im- 
 mediately overtook pleasure. The College is closed, but a 
 great misfortune has come upon me ; through the, grace, of 
 God, if 1 be not able to extricate myself from it, I shall 
 never be able any more to show my face to thee. The Indigo 
 Planters have secretly brought an accusation against my 
 ' father in the Court ; their main design being, in some- way 
 or other, to throw him into Jail. I have sent letters, one 
 after another, to my brother, giving him this information ; 
 and I myself am remaining here with the greatest care pos- 
 sible. Never disturb yourself with vain thoughts ? The mer- 
 ciful Father must certainly make us successful. My dear, 2 
 have not forgotten the Bengali translation of " Shakes' 
 peare ;" it cannot be got now in the shops ; but one of my 
 friends, Bonkima by name, has given me one copy. When 
 I come home, I shall bring it with me. My dear, what 
 a great source of pleasure is the acquisition of learn- 
 ing ! I am conversing with you, although at such a 
 great distance, Ah I what great happiness would my 
 mind have enjoyed if my mother did not forbid you to 
 send letters to me. 
 
 " I am, yours, 
 
 " BINDU MADHAB." 
 
 As to myself I have a full confidence as to that. If there 
 be any fault in your character, then who should be an 
 example of good conduct ? Because I am fickle ; cannot 
 sit, for some time quietly in one place, my mother-in-law 
 calls me the daughter of a mad woman. But, where is my 
 fickleness now. In the place, where I have opened the letter
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 35 
 
 of my dear Lord, I have spent nearly a fourth part of the 
 day. The fickleness of the exterior part has now gone into 
 the heart. As, on the boiling of the rice, the froth rising up 
 makes the surface quiet, but the rice within is agitated ; so 
 am I now. I have not that smiling face now. A sweet 
 smile is the wife of happiness ; and so soon as happiness dies > 
 the sweet smile goes along with it. My Lord, when thou shalt 
 prove successful, every thing shall be preserved ; if I am to 
 see your face disquieted, all sides will ^e dark unto me. O 
 my restless mind, wilt thou be not quieted ? If you remain 
 unqu^t, that can be suffered. As to your weeping, none can 
 see it, nor can hear it ; but my eyes ! you shall throw me into 
 shame, (rubbing her eyes) ; if ye are not pacified, I shall not 
 be able to go out of doors. 
 
 Enter ADURI. 
 
 Aduri. What are you doing here ? The elder Haldarni* is 
 not able to go to the tank-side. All whom I see are of a 
 disturbed countenance. 
 
 Saralota. (A deep sigh.) Let us then go. 
 
 Aduri. I see you have not yet touched the oil. Your 
 hairs are yet dusty, and you have not yet left the letter. 
 Does our young Haldar write my name in the letter ? 
 
 Saralota. Has the Bara Takur (the eldest brother of 
 the husband) finished his bathing ? 
 
 A duri. The eldest Haldar is gone to the village. A 
 law-suit is being carried on. Was that not written in your 
 letter ? Our master was weeping. 
 
 Saralota. (Aside.) Truly, my Lord ! Thou shalt not be 
 able to show thy face, if thou can'st not prove successful. 
 (Openly) Let us now rub ourselves with oil in the cook-room. 
 
 (Exit both.) 
 * Referring to Soirindri, the wife of Nobin Madhab.
 
 36 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 SECOND ACT THIED SCENE. 
 A ROAD POINTING THREE WAYS. 
 
 Enter PODI MOYRANI, 
 
 Podi. It is the degenerate Amin who is ruining the 
 country. Is it through ray own choice that I am levelling the 
 axe at my feet,* by giving the young woman to the Saheb ? 
 As to that preparation which Ray made, had it not been 
 caught-f by Sadhu, she would have been provided with food 
 and clothing for life. Ah, it bursts my heart wl sn I 
 see the face of Khetromani. Have I no feelings of com- 
 passion, because I have made a paramour my companion ? 
 Whenever she sees me still, she comes to me, calling me 
 Aunt ! Aunt ! Can the mother, with a firm heart, give 
 such a golden deer into the grasp of the tiger ? How 
 detestable is this, that for the sake of money, I have 
 given up my caste and my life ; and also am obliged 
 to touch the bed of a Buno (rude tribe). That libertine, 
 the elder Saheb, has made it a practice to beat me whenever 
 he finds me, and has also said, he will cut off my nose and 
 ears ; that vile man is come to an old age, can keep women 
 in confinement, and can kick them ; such a vile man, I 
 have not seen in the present day. Let me go to the black- 
 mouthed Amin and tell him that shall not be effected by 
 me. Have I any power to go out in the town? When- 
 ever the nasty fellows of the neighbourhood see me, they 
 follow me as the Phinga (a kind of bird) does the crow. 
 
 (Aside, a song.} Whenever I sit down to reap the rice in 
 the field, his eyes immediately come before my sight. 
 
 * This expression " striking the axe on my feet" signifies ruining myself, 
 t That is, had the intrigue used by Ray not been detected, it would have 
 proved very advantageous.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 37 
 
 Enter a Cow-herd. 
 
 Cow-herd. Saheb, have not insects attacked thine Indigo- 
 twigs ? 
 
 Podi. Let them attack thy mother and sister, thou 
 degenerate fool. Leave off thy mother's breast, go to the 
 house of Death ; go to Colmighata, to the grave.* 
 
 Cow-herd. I have also sent orders to prepare a pair of 
 weeding knives. 
 
 Enter a Latyal or Clitb-man. 
 Oh ! the Latyal of the Indigo Factory. 
 
 The Cow-herd flies off swiftly. 
 
 Latyal. Thou, Oh lotus-faced, hast made the tooth-powder 
 very dear. 
 
 Podi. (Seeing the silver chain round the waist of the 
 Latyal?) Your chain is very grand. 
 
 Club-man. Don't you know, my dear, the clothing of 
 the bailiff and the dress of the dancer ? 
 
 Podi. I wanted a black calf from you a long while ago, 
 but yet you did not give it me. My brother, I shall not 
 ask from thee any more. 
 
 Club-man. Dear lotus-faced, don't be angry with me. 
 To-morrow, we shall go to plunder the place called Shama- 
 nagara ; and if I can get a black calf, I shall immediately 
 keep that in your cow-house. When I shall return with my 
 fish, I shall pass by your house. 
 
 (Exit the Club-man) 
 
 Podi. The Planter Sahebs do nothing but rob. If the 
 ryots be loaded in a less degree with exactions they can 
 preserve their lives ; and you*f* can get your Indigo. The 
 Munshies of Shamanagara entreated most earnestly to get ten 
 
 * All these signify that let Death come upon thee. 
 f The word " you" refers to the Indigo Planters.
 
 38 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 portions of land free. " The Thief never hears the instruc- 
 tions of Religion." The wretched elder Saheb remained quiet, 
 having burnt his wretched tongue. 
 
 Enter four Boys of a Native Patskala. 
 
 Four Boys. (Keeping down their mats, and expressing 
 great mirth with the clapping of their hands.) 
 My dear Moyrani, where is your Indigo ? 
 My dear Moyrani, where is your Indigo ? 
 My dear Moyrani, where is your Indigo ? 
 Podi. My child Kesoba, I am your aunt. -Never use 
 such words to me. 
 
 Four Boys. (Dance together.) My dear Moyrani ; where 
 is your Indigo ? 
 
 Podi. My dear Ambika, I am your sister ; don't use me 
 in this manner, 
 
 Four Boys. (Dance round Podi.) 
 
 My dear Moyrani, where is your Indigo ? 
 My dear Moyrani, where is your Indigo ? 
 My dear Moyrani, where is your Indigo ? 
 
 Enter NOBIN MADHAB. 
 Podi. What a shame is this, that I exposed my face to the 
 
 elder Babu. 
 
 (Exit Podi, covering herself with a veil) 
 
 Nobin. Wicked and profligate woman. (To the children) 
 You are playing on the road still ; it is now too late, go 
 
 home now. 
 
 (Exit four boys.) 
 
 Ah ! I can within five days establish a school for these 
 boys, if only the tyranny of the Indigo be once stopped. 
 The Inspector of this part of the country is a very good man. 
 How very good a man becomes, if only learning be 
 acquired. He is young ; but in his conversation he has the 
 experience of years. He has a great desire that a school be
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 39 
 
 established in this country. I am also not unwilling 
 to give money for this purpose ; the large Bungalow 
 which I have, can be a good place for a school ; moreover, 
 what is more happy than to have the boys of one's own 
 country to read and write, and study in his own house, this is 
 the true success of wealth and of labour. Bindu Madhab 
 brought the Inspector with him, and it is his desire, that all 
 with one mind try to establish the school. But observing the 
 unfortunate state of the country, he was obliged to keep 
 his design to himself; how vory mild, quiet, good- 
 nat^red, and wise is he become now ! Wisdom in younger 
 years is as beautiful as the fruits in a small plant. In 
 reading of the sorrow which my brother has expressed in hig 
 letter even the hard stone is melted and the heart of the 
 Indigo Planter would become soft. I cannot now rise up to 
 go home, I do not see any means ; I was not able to 
 bring one of the five to my side, and I cannot find where 
 they are taken away.* I think Torapa will never speak 
 a lie. It shall be a great loss to us, if the other four give 
 evidence ; especially as I was not able to make the least 
 preparation ; and again the Magistrate is a great friend of 
 Mr. Wood. 
 
 Enter a Ryot, two Peadas or Bailiffs of the Police, and 
 a Taidgir of the Indigo Factory. 
 
 Ryot. My elder Babu, preserve my two children ; there 
 is no one else to feed them. Last year, I gave eight carts' 
 load of Indigo, and I did not get a single pice for that, and 
 also I am bound, as with cords, for the remainder. Again, 
 they will take me to Andarabad. 
 
 Guard. The advance-money of the Indigo and the mark- 
 ing nut of the washer-man, as soon as they come in contact, 
 
 * This number, five, here referred to, are the persons whom he was trying 
 to bring on his side for the law-suit.
 
 40 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 become mostly joined. You villain come ; you must first go 
 to the Dewanji ; your elder Babu also shall come to this. 
 
 Ryot. Come, I don't fear this. I would rather have my 
 body rot in the Jail than any more prepare the Indigo of 
 that white man. My God ! my God ! none looks on the poor 
 (weeps). My elder Babu, give my children food ; they 
 brought me to the field ; and I was not able to see them 
 once. 
 
 (Exit all, except Nobin Madhab.) 
 
 Nobin. What injustice ! These two children will die 
 without food in the same way as the new-born young o the 
 hare suffer when the hare is in the hand of the savage 
 hunters. 
 
 Enter RAY CHURN. 
 
 Ray. Had not my brother caught hold of us, I would have 
 put a stop to her breathing. I would have killed her ; then, 
 at the utmost, I had been hanged within six months.* That 
 villain ! 
 
 Nobin. Ray Churn, where art thou going ? 
 
 Ray. Our mistress ordered me to call Putakur. The 
 stupid Podi told me that the bailiff will bring the summons 
 to-morrow. 
 
 (Exit Ray Churn.} 
 
 Nobin. Oh! oh! oh! That which never took place in this 
 family, has now come to pass. My father is very peaceful, 
 honest, and of a sincere mind ; knows not what disputes and 
 enmities are ; never goes out of the village ; trembles with 
 fear at the name of Court affairs, and even shed tears when he 
 read the letter. If he is to go to Indrabad, he will turn 
 mad ; and if, to the jail, he will throw himself into the stream. 
 Ah, such are the misfortunes that are to fall on him, while 
 
 * This expression " had been hanged for six month*," is only used sarcas- 
 tically.
 
 INDIGfO PLANTING MIRROR. 41 
 
 I, his son, am living ! My mother is not so much afraid as 
 my father is ; she does not lose hope at once ; with a firm 
 mind, she is now invoking God. My deer-eyed is be- 
 come, as it were, the deer in my volcano* ; she is become 
 mad with fear and anxiety. Her father died in an Indigo 
 Factory ; and her fear, now, is lest the same happens to 
 her husband. How many sides am I to keep quiet ? Is it 
 proper to fly off with the whole family ; or, is it not right 
 that to do good unto others is the highest virtue ? I shall 
 not turn aside hastily. I see, I am not able to do any 
 goo% to Shaman agara ; still, what work is. there which 
 is beyond the po\ver of exertion ? Let me see what I can do. 
 
 Enter tiuo Pundits. 
 
 First P. My child, is the house of Goluk Chunder Bose 
 in this quarter.? I heard from my uncle, that person is very 
 honest the grandeur of the Bose family. 
 
 Ndbin. (Bowing before hir.i.) Sir, I am his eldest son. 
 
 First P. Yes ! yes ! very honest ! To have such a son is 
 not the result of a little virtue. 
 
 Second P. We had been invited by Babu Arabindu, of 
 Sougandha. To-day, we remain in the house of Goluk 
 Chunder ; and shall do good unto you. 
 
 Nob in. This is my great fortune. Sirs, come by this way. 
 
 " (Exit all.) 
 
 THIED ACT FIEST SCEXE. 
 BEFORE THE FACTORY IN BEGUNBARI. 
 
 Enter GOPI CHURN and a Native Jailor. 
 
 Gom. Ao long as your share is not less, don't bring 
 anything to my notice. 
 
 * That is, as the doer feels disquieted when exposed in a volcano, so is uiy 
 mate troubled by the many nnxieties in my mind. 
 
 G
 
 42 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 Jailor. Can that filth be digested by one person eating 
 the whole ? I told him, if you eat, give a part to the 
 Dewanji ; but he says what power has your Dewan? He is 
 not so much the son of a Keat, (shoemaJcer caste) that he shall 
 direct the Saheb like unto one leading a monkey, 
 
 Gopi. Very well, now go ; I shall show that Kaot (what a 
 club) how strong he is. 
 
 (Exit Rhdldsi.) 
 
 The fellow has got sb much power through the authority of 
 the younger Saheb. I shall also say it is a- very easy 
 thing for one to carry on his work, if his master be 1 the 
 husband of his sister ; the elder Saheb becomes very angry 
 at this word. But the fellow is very angry with me ; at 
 every word, he shows me the Shamchand. That day he 
 kicked me with his stockings on. These few days, I see that 
 his temper is become somewhat mild towards me ; since 
 Goluk Bose is summoned, he has expressed a little kindness. 
 A person is considered very expert by the Saheb, if he can 
 bring about the ruin of many. " One becomes a good Physi- 
 cian by the death of one hundred patients" 
 
 (Seeing Mr. Wood.) 
 
 Here he is coming ; let me first soften his mind by giving 
 him some information about the Boses. 
 
 Enter MR. WOOD. 
 
 Saheb, tears have now come out of the eyes of Nobin Bose. 
 Never was he punished more severely. His garden is taken 
 away from him ; the small pieces of land he had are all 
 included among the lands which are given to Gada, Poda 
 (low castes) ; his cultivation is nearly put a stop to; 
 his magazines are all become empty, and he was sent into 
 Court twice ; in the midst of so many troubles, he still 
 stood firm ; but now he has fallen down.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIBROR. 43 
 
 Planter. That rascal was not able to do any thing in 
 Shamanagara. 
 
 Gopi. Saheb, the Munshis came to him ; but he told 
 them, my mind is not at rest now, " my limbs are become 
 powerless through weeping for my father, and I am, as it 
 were, become mad." On observing the wretched condition of 
 Nobin, about seven or eight ryots of Shamanagara have all 
 given up, and all are doing exactly as your Honour is ordering 
 them. 
 
 Planter. You are a very good Dewan, and you have 
 fornjf d a very good plan. 
 
 Gopi. I knew Goluk Bose to be a coward, and that if he 
 were obliged to go to Court, he would turn mad. As Nobin has 
 a great affection for his father, he will of course be punished ; 
 and it was for this reason that I gave the advice to mako 
 the old man the defendant. Also, the plan which your 
 Honour formed was not the less good. Our Indigo cultivation 
 has been newly made on the sides of his tank ; thus laying 
 the snake's eggs in his heart. 
 
 Planter. With one stone two birds have been killed ; 
 ten bigahs of land are cultivated with Indigo, and also that 
 fool is punished. He shed much tears, saying that if Indigo 
 be planted near the tank we shall be obliged to leave our 
 habitation ; but I said, to cultivate Indigo in one's habita- 
 tion is to the best advantage. 
 
 Gopi. And the fool brought an action in the Court, on 
 hearing that reply. 
 
 Planter. That will be of no effect ; that Magistrate is 
 a very good man. If the case turn into a civil one it will 
 never be concluded in less than five years. That Magistrate 
 is a great friend of mine. Just see, by the new Act, the four 
 rascals were thrown into prison only by making your 
 evidence strong. This Act is become the brother of the 
 sword.
 
 44 NIL DARPAN, OB 
 
 Gopl. Saheb, in order that those four ryots might not 
 suffer loss in their cultivation, Nobin Bose has given his own 
 plough, kine, and harrow for the ploughing of their lands ; 
 and he is trying his utmost that their families might not 
 suffer great trouble. 
 
 Planter. When he is required to plough this land, for 
 which advances are allowed, he says, my ploughs and kine 
 are less in number. He is very wicked ; and now he 
 is very well punished^. Dewan, now you have done very 
 well, and now I see work may be carried on by you, 
 without loss. " | 
 
 Gopi. Saheb, it is your own favour. My desire is, that 
 advances should be increased every year. But that cannot 
 be done by me alone ; some confident Amin and Khalasis 
 are necessary. Can the Indigo cultivation be improved by 
 those who, for the sake of two rupees, occasioned the loss of 
 the produce of three bigahs of land ? 
 
 Planter. I have understood it, the rascally Amin oc- 
 casioned this confusion. 
 
 Gopi. Saheb, the new habitation, and the taking of ad- 
 vances of Chunder Goladar are not allowed here. The 
 Amin once, according to regular custom, threw one rupee 
 on his ground as an advance. That person, in order 
 to l)e allowed to return that rupee even shed tears and came 
 along with the Amin as far as Ruthtollah, begging him 
 earnestly to take it back. There he met with Nilkanta 
 Babu, who has chosen the profession of an Attorney imme- 
 diately after leaving the College. 
 
 Planter. I know that rascal ; he, it is, who writes every 
 thing concerning me in the newspapers. 
 
 Gopi. Their papers can never stand before yours, can 
 by no means bear a comparison ; and, moreover, they are as 
 the earthen bottles for cooling water compared to tlie jars 
 of Dacca. But, to bring the newspapers within your in-
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR 45 
 
 fluence, great expense has been incurred. That takes place 
 according to time ; as is said, 
 
 ' ' According to circumstances, the friend becomes an enemy : 
 
 " The lame ass is sold at the price of the horse." 
 
 Planter. What did Nilkanta do ? 
 
 Gopi. He sharply rebuked the Amin ; and the Amin 
 with, no little shame brought back that one rupee, with 
 two rupees more, from Goladar's house. Chunder Goladar 
 would have been able very easily to supply the Indigo for 
 three or four bigalis. Is this the work of a servant ? If I 
 canSonduct the Dewanny and the business of the Amin ; 
 then this kind of ingratitude can be stopped. 
 
 Planter. Great wickedness this is ; evident ingratitude. 
 
 Gopi. Saheb, grant pardon for this bad conduct ; the 
 Amin brought his own sister to our younger Saheb's room. 
 
 Planter. Yes ! Yes ! I know ; that rascal and Podi 
 corrupted our young Saheb. I must give that wicked fool 
 some instruction very soon. Send him to my sitting room. 
 
 (Exit Mr. Wood) 
 
 Gopi. Just see, in whose hand the monkey plays best. 
 The Khali is one rogue, and the Crow another. 
 
 " Now have you fallen under the stroke of the Khait ; 
 where even the grand-father of the sister's husband loses the 
 game." 
 
 THIBD ACT SECOND SCENE. 
 THE BED-ROOM OF NOBIN MADHAB. 
 
 NOBIN MADHAB and SOIRINDRI sitting. 
 Soirindri. Lord of my soul, what is preferable, whether 
 the ornament or my father-in-law ? That, for which thou 
 art wandering about day and night ; that, for which thou hast
 
 46 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 left thy food and sleep ; that, for which thou art shedding 
 tears incessantly ; that, for which thy pleasant face has 
 been depressed ; and that which has occasioned thy 
 head-ache ; my dear Lord, can I not for that give away this 
 my trifling ornament. 
 
 Nobln. My dear, you can, with case, give ; but with what 
 face shall I take it ? What great troubles the husband is to 
 undergo in order to dress his wife : he has to swim in the 
 rapid stream, to thro\v ( himself into the deep ocean, engage 
 in battles, to climb mountains, to live in the wilderness, and 
 to go before the mouth of the tiger. The husband a^rns 
 his wife with so much trouble ; am I so very foolish as to 
 take away the ornament from the very same wife. O my 
 lotus-eyed, wait a little. Let me see this day, and if, 
 filially I cannot procure it, then I shall take your ornaments 
 afterwards. 
 
 Soirindri. O my heart's love ! We are very unfortunate 
 now ; and who is there that shall give you on loan the sum 
 of Co.'s Us. 500 at such a time. I am entreating you again, 
 take my ornaments and those of our youngest Bou, and try 
 to procure money from a banker. Observing your troubles 
 the lotus-like young Bou is become sad. 
 
 Nobin. Ah ! my sweet-faced, the cruel words which you 
 used struck on my heart like arrows of fire. Our youngest 
 Bou, she is a girl ; good clothes and beautiful ornaments are 
 objects of pleasure to her. What understanding has she 
 now ? What does she know of family business. As our 
 young Bipin cries when his neck-lace is taken from him in 
 play, so our youngest Bou weeps when her ornaments 
 are taken away. Oh, oh ! am I formed so mean-spirited 
 a man ? Am I to be so cruel a robber ? Shall I deceive a 
 young girl ? This can never be, as long as life exists. The 
 worthless Indigo Planters even cannot commit such a crime. 
 Mv dear, never use such a word before me.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 47 
 
 Soirindri. Beloved of my soul, that pain with which I 
 told these words, is only known to me and the omniscient 
 God. What doubt is there, that they are fiery arrows ? 
 They have burst my heart and burnt my tongue, and then 
 having divided the lips, have entered your heart. It is 
 with great pain that I told you to take the ornaments 
 of the youngest Bou. Can there be any pleasure iu 
 the mind, after having observed this your insane wander- 
 ing, this weeping of my father-in-law, Jiie deep sighs of my 
 mother-in-law, the sad face of the youngest Bou, the deject- 
 ed c^intenance of relatives and friends, and the sorrowful 
 mournings of the ryots \ If by any means we can restore 
 safety, then all shall be safe. My Lord, I do feel the 
 same pain in giving the ornaments of our youngest Bou, as 
 if I had to give those of Bipin ; but if I give away the or- 
 naments of Bipin, before giving those of the youngest Bou, 
 that would prove an act of cruelty to her ; since, she might 
 think that my sister looks on me as a stranger. Can I give 
 pain to her honest heart by doing this ? Is this the work 
 of the elder sister who is like a mother ? 
 
 Nobin. My dear love ! Your heart is very sincere. There 
 is not a second to you in sincerity in the female race. Is this 
 my family reduced to this state ! What was I, and what am 
 I now become ! The sum of my profits was seven hundred 
 Rupees. I had fifteen warehouses for corn, sixteen bigahs of 
 garden land, twenty ploughs and fifty harrows. What great 
 feasts had I at the time of the Puja ; the house filled with 
 men, feasting the Brahmins, gifts to the poor, the feasting of 
 friends and relations, the musical entertainments of the 
 Voishnabas, and also pleasant theatrical representations. I 
 have expended such large sums, and even given as donations 
 one hundred Rupees. Being so rich, now I am obliged 
 to take away the ornaments of my wife, and the wife 
 of my young brother. What affliction ? God, thou didst
 
 48 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 give these, and thou hast taken them again. Then, what 
 sorrow ? 
 
 Soirindri. My dear, when I see you weep, my life 
 itself weeps (tears in her eyes). Was there so much pain in 
 my fate ; am I thus destined to see such distress in my Lord ? 
 Do not prevent m<? any more. (Takes out the amulet.) 
 
 Nobin. My heast bursts when I see your tears (rubbing 
 the tears'). Stop my dear, of the moon-like face, stop (taking 
 hold of her hands). Jeep these ; one day more, let me see. 
 
 Soirindri. My dear, what further resource is left? Do, as 
 I tell you now. If it be so destined, there shall be (-Hany 
 ornaments afterwards (aside, sneezing) ; true, true. Adnri 
 is coming. 
 
 Enter ADURI with tivo letters. 
 
 Aduri. I can't say whence the letters came ; but my 
 mistress told me to give them to you. 
 
 (Exit Aduri, after giving the letters.) 
 
 Nobin. It shall be known by these letters whether 
 your ornaments are to be taken or not. (Opens the first 
 letter.) 
 
 Soirindri. Read it aloud. 
 
 Nobin. (Reads the letter.) 
 
 " DEAR FRIEND, TJiis is to make it known to you, that to 
 give a sum of money to you at present is only to make a 
 return of favours. My mother has taken leave of this 
 ^vorld yesterday ; and the day of her first funeral obse- 
 quies is very near. This have / written yesterday. The 
 tobacco is not yet sold. 
 
 " I am, yours, 
 
 " GHONOSYAH MUKERJI." 
 
 What misfortune is this ! Is this my assistance on the 
 funeral obsequies of the mother of the honorable Mukerji ?
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 49 
 
 Let me see what deadly weapon hast thou brought. (Opens 
 the letter.) 
 
 Soirindri. My dear, it is very miserable to fall into 
 despair after entertaining high hopes. Let the letter re- 
 main as it is. 
 
 Nobin. (Reads the letter.) 
 
 " HONORED SIR, I received your last letter, and was 
 much pleased with reading of your good fortune. I have 
 already collected the sum of three hundred Rupis, and 
 shall take that along with me to you to-morrow. As to the 
 remaining one hundred, I shall clear that on the coming 
 month. The great benefit which you have bestowed on me, 
 excites me to give some interest. 
 
 " I am, your most obdt. Servt., 
 
 "GOKUL KRISHNA PALITA." 
 
 Soirindri. I think God has turned his face towards us ; 
 now, let me go, and give this information to our youngest Bou. 
 
 (Exit Soirindri.) 
 
 Nobin. (Aside.) My life is, as it were, the idol of sin- 
 cerity ; it is a piece of a straw in a rapid stream. Let me 
 take my father now to Indrabad, depending on this ; as to the 
 future it shall be according to Fate. With me I have one 
 hundred and fifty Rupis. As to the tobacco, if I had kept 
 it for a month more, I would have sold that for the sum 
 of five hundred Rupis ; but what can I do ? I am obliged 
 to give it for three hundred and fifty Rupis, since I have to 
 pay much for the Officers of the Court ; and also heavy ex- 
 penses for going to and returning from the place. If on account 
 of this false case, there be a delay, then am I certain that the 
 destruction of this land is very near. What a brutal Act is 
 passed ? But, what is the fault of the Act ; or of those who 
 passed the Act ? What misery can the country suffer if those 
 who are to carry out the Act, do it with impartiality ? Ah, 
 
 H
 
 50 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 by tins Act how many persons are suffering in prison-houses 
 without a fault ! It bursts the heart to see the miseries of 
 their wives and children ; the pots for boiling rice on the 
 hearths are remaining as they are ; the several kinds of grain 
 in their yards are being dried up ; their kine in the rooms 
 are all remaining bound in their places ; the cultivation of the 
 fields is not fully carried out, the seeds are not sown, and 
 the wild grass in the rice fields is not cut off. What further 
 prospects are there in^he present year ? All are crying aloud, 
 with the exclamation, Where is my lord ? Where is my 
 father ? Some Magistrates are dispensing justice with proper 
 consideration ; in their hands this Act is not become the rod 
 of death. Ah ! Had all Magistrates been as just as the 
 Magistrate of Amaranagara is, then could the harrow fall on 
 the ripe grain and the locusts destroy the fields ? Had that 
 been the case, would I ever have been thrown into 
 so many dangers ? O, thou Lieutenant-Governor ! had'st 
 thou engaged men of the same good character as thou had'st 
 enacted laws, then the country would never have been 
 miserable. O, thou Governor of the land ! had'st thou made 
 such a regulation, that every plaintiff, when his case is prov- 
 ed false, shall be put in prison, then the jail of Amara- 
 nagara would have been crowded with Indigo Planters ; and 
 they would never have been so very powerful. Our Magis- 
 trate is transferred, but our case is to continue here to the 
 end ; and that will occasion our ruin. 
 
 (Enter Sabitri.) 
 
 Sabitri. If you are to give up all the ploughs, is it that 
 even then you are to take the advance-money ? Sell all 
 your ploughs and kine, and engage in trade ; we shall enjoy 
 ourselves with the profits that shall accrue from that. We 
 can no longer endure this. 
 
 Nobin. Mother, I, also, have the same desire. Only, I 
 wait till Bindu is engaged in some service. If we leave off
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 51 
 
 ploughing the land, it will be impossible for us to maintain 
 the family ; and it is for this reason, that we have still, with 
 so much trouble, kept these ploughs. 
 
 Sabitri. How shalt thou go with this headache ? Oh oh ! 
 was such Indigo produced in this land ! (Places her hand on 
 
 Nobin 1 s head}. 
 
 (Enter Reboti.) 
 
 Reboti. My mother ! Where shall I go ? What shall I do ? 
 They have done what ! Why is it that through ill-fortune I 
 brought her ? Having brought one of a strange caste, I am 
 bec||ne unable to preserve propriety. My eldest Babu ! pre- 
 serve me ; my life is on the point of bursting out. Bring me 
 Khetromani ; bring me my puppet of gold. 
 
 Sabitri. These destroyers can do all things. Ye are 
 taking by force the pieces of ground of men, their grain, their 
 kine and calves. By the force of clubs, ye are cultivating 
 Indigo, and the people are doing your work with cries and 
 sobbings. 
 
 Reboti. My mother ! I am preparing the Indigo, taking 
 only half the food. Those bigahs which they had marked, on 
 them I worked. When Ray works, he weeps with deep sighs ; if 
 he hear of this my work, he would become, as it were, insane. 
 
 Nobin. Where is Sadhu now ? 
 
 Reboti. He is sitting outside, and is weeping. 
 
 Nobin. To a woman of good family, constancy in faith- 
 fulness to her husband is, as it were, the loadstone ; and 
 how very beautiful does she appear (ramaniki ramaniyd) 
 when she is decorated with that ornament. Is a woman of a 
 good family carried off, when the Bliima-like Svaropur of 
 my father is still in existence ? At this very moment shall I 
 go. I shall see what manner of injustice this is. The Indigo 
 frog can never sit on the white waterlily-like constancy of 
 a woman. 
 
 (Exit Nobin Madhab.)
 
 52 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 Sabitri. Chastity is the store of gold which is given by 
 Providence ; it is so valuable that it makes the beggar 
 woman, a queen. If you can rescue this jewel before it is 
 soiled, from the hands of the Indigo monkey, then shall I 
 say that you have actually answered the purpose of my being 
 your mother. Such injustice I never heard of. Now, Ghose 
 Bou, let us go out-side. 
 
 THIED ^CT THIED SCENE. 
 
 MR. ROSE'S CHAMBER. 
 
 MR. ROSE sitting. Enter PODI MOYRANI & KHETROMANI. 
 
 Khetra. My aunt, don't speak of such things to me ; I 
 can give up my life, but my chastity never ; cut me in 
 pieces, burn me in the fire, throw me into the water, and 
 bury me under ground ; but as to touching another man that 
 can I never do. What will my husband think ? 
 
 Podi. Where is your husband now, and where are you ? 
 This shall no one know. Within this night, I shall bring you 
 back with me to your mother. 
 
 Khetra. Very well, the husband may not know it but 
 God above will know it, and I shall never be able to throw dust 
 in his eyes. Like the fire of the brick-kiln it will still burn 
 within my breast, and the more my husband shall love me for 
 my constancy, the more my soul shall be tortured. Openly or 
 secretly, I never can take a paramour. 
 
 Podi. My child, come, come to the Saheb. Whatever you 
 have to say, say to him. To speak to me is like crying in 
 the wilderness. 
 
 Planter Rose. To speak to me is throwing pearls at the 
 hog's feet. Ha, ha, ha, we Indigo Planters, are become the 
 companions of Death ; can our Factories remain, if we have
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 53 
 
 pity ? By nature, we are not bad ; our evil disposition has 
 increased by Indigo cultivation. Before, we felt sorrow in 
 beating one man ; now, we can beat ten persons with the 
 Ramkant (leather strap), making them senseless ; and im- 
 mediately after, we can, with great laughter, take our dinner 
 or supper. 
 
 Torap. I will swim over the stream to my house, 
 this night. What more shalt thou hear of my fate ; I 
 broke down the window of the Attorney's stable, and im- 
 mediately ran off to the Zemindary of Babu Bosonto, and 
 therf^ in the night came to my wife and children. This 
 Planter has stopped every thing; has he left any means 
 for men to live by ploughing ? How very terrible are 
 the thrusts of the Indigo ? Again, the advice is given to 
 serve for it. Now, Sir, where are your kicks with your 
 shoes on, and your beating on the head ? (Thrusts him 
 with his knees}. 
 
 Nobin. Torap, what is the use of beating him ? We ought 
 not to be cruel, because they are so ; I am going. 
 
 (Exit Nobin, with Khetromani.) 
 
 Torap. Do you want to show such ill-usage and bad 
 conduct? Speak to your old father and carry on your 
 business by mutual consent ; how long shall your force of 
 hand continue ? You shall not be able to do anything, when 
 I shall fly. There is no abuse more horrid than to say, 
 Die ! When your destiny shall decide, you shall have to enter 
 the Factory of the Tomb. Just settle our eldest Babu's 
 account of the last year ; and take what he consents to sow 
 of Indigo in the present year. It is owing to you that 
 they have fallen into a state of confusion. It is not merely 
 to load one with advances, but cultivation is necessary. Good 
 evening, our young Saheb. Now, I go. (Throws him about, 
 lying on his back, and flies off.)
 
 54 XIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 TRIED ACT FOUETH SCENE. 
 
 THE HALL IN THE HOUSE OF GOLUK BOSK 
 
 Enter SABITRI. 
 
 Sabitri. (With a deep sigh.) O thou cruel Magistrate ! 
 Why didst not thou also give me a summons ? I would have 
 gone to the zillah with my husband and my child ; that 
 would have been far better than remaining in this desert. 
 Ah ! my husband always remains in the house, never goes 
 out to another village even on invitation. Is he destined to 
 suffer so much ? The peadahs taking him away, and he himself 
 to go to the jail. Bhagavati, my mother ! was there so much 
 in thy mind ? Ah ! he says, that he can never sleep, but 
 in a room very long and broad ; he eats only the boiled 
 Atapa rice ; * he takes the food prepared by no other hand 
 but that of the eldest Bou. Ah ! he brought out blood out 
 of his breast by severe slaps ; he made his eyes swollen 
 by tears ; and at the same time, he took his leave, he said this 
 is my going to the side of the Ganges*!* (iveeps). Nobin says, 
 Mother call on Bhagavati. I must return home having 
 gained my object and bring him home also. Ah ! the face of 
 my son, like unto that of gold, is blackened ; what great 
 troubles for the collection of money ! Wandering about with- 
 out rest, his brain is become like a whirl-pool. Lest I give 
 away the ornaments of the Bous, my son encourages me, 
 saying, My mother, what want of money ? What large 
 sum will be necessary for this case ? How shall my 
 child grieve, if my ornaments be given in mortgage for our 
 suit on small portions of land ! He says, as soon as I get a 
 small sum of money, I shall immediately bring back the 
 
 * When the rce is cleansed from its husks by being placed in the sun, 
 instead of being boiled, it is called the Atapa rice, 
 t That is, this is his last leave.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 55 
 
 ornaments. My son has courage in his tongue and tears in 
 his eyes. Ah ! he started with tears in his eyes. My dear 
 Nobin, in this heat of the sun, went to Indrabad ; arid I, 
 a great sinner, remained confined in my room. Is this the 
 life thy mother spends ! 
 
 Enter SOIRINDRI. 
 
 Soirindri. Madam, it is now too late. Now bathe. It is 
 our unfortunate destiny ; else, why shall such an occurrence 
 come to pass ? 
 
 Sabitri. (With tears.} No, my daughter, as long as my 
 No^n does not return, I shall never give rice and water to 
 my body. Who shall give food to my son ? 
 
 Soirindri. His brother has a lodging house there, and 
 they have a Brahmin ; there will be no disturbance. You 
 had better come and bathe. 
 
 Enter SARALOTA, with a cup of oil. 
 
 Young Bou, you had better rub the oil on her body, and 
 make her bathe, and bring her to the cook-room. Let me go 
 to prepare the place. 
 
 (Exit /Soirindri.) 
 
 (Saralota rubs the oil on her mother-in-law's body.) 
 
 Sabitri. My parrot * is become silent ; my daughter has 
 no more words in her mouth ; she is faded like a stale 
 flower. Ah ! ah ! for how long have I not seen Bindu Mad- 
 hab? I am waiting in expectation that the College 
 will be closed, and my son will come home. But this 
 danger is come (applying her hand on Saralota 's chin). Ah ! 
 the mouth of my dear one is dry, I think you have not 
 yet taken any food. While I have fallen into this danger, 
 
 * The word parrot here refers to Saralota. As the parrot is generally an 
 object of fondness to persons, so Saralota was called a parrot, because she was 
 much loved by her mother-in-law.
 
 56 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 when shall I examine, whether any have taken their food or 
 not. Let me bathe you, go and take some food. I am 
 
 also going. 
 
 (Exit loth.) 
 
 FOUKTH ACT FIRST SCENE. 
 
 THE CRIMINAL COURT OF INDRABAD. 
 
 Enter MR. WOOD, C MR. ROSE, the Magistrate, and an 
 Officer, sitting. GOLUK CHUNDER, NOBIN' MADHAB, 
 BINDU MADHAB, the Attorneys of the Plaintiff ana the 
 Defendant, the Agent, Nazir, a Bailiff, Servants, Ryots, &c., 
 standing. 
 
 Defendant's Attorney. May the prayer in this applica- 
 tion be granted. (Gives the application to the Sheristadar.) 
 
 Magistrate. Veiy well ; read it. (Speaks with Mr. 
 Wood, and laughs.) 
 
 Sheristadar. (To the Defendant's Attorney.) You have 
 written here what equals the length of the Ramayan. Can 
 the petition be read without its being in abstract ? (Turns to 
 another page of the application). 
 
 Magistrate. (Having spoken with Mr. Wood, and con- 
 cealing his laughter). Read clearly. 
 
 Sheristadar. In the absence of the defendant and his 
 attorneys, the evidence is already taken from the witnesses of 
 the plaintiff. We pray that the witnesses of the plaintiff be 
 again called. 
 
 Plaintiffs Attorney. My Lord, it is true that attorneys 
 are given up to lying, deceiving, and forgery ; they easily 
 forge and tell lies, and are incessantly engaged in immoral 
 actions. They lead astray married women ; and then they 
 themselves enjoy their houses and every thing else. The 
 Zemindars hate the attorneys ; but for the effecting their
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 57 
 
 special purposes, they call them, and give them a seat on 
 their couch. My Lord, the very profession of the attorneys is a 
 cheating one. But the attorneys of the Indigo Planters can never 
 deceive. The Indigo Planters are Christians ; falsehood is ac- 
 counted a great sin in the Christian Religion. Stealing, licen- 
 tiousness, murder, and other actions of that nature are also 
 looked upon aS hateful in that religion not taking evil actions 
 into consideration, even forming evil designs in the mind 
 dooms a man to burn in the fire of Jiell. The main aim of 
 the Christian Religion is to show kindness, to forgive, to be 
 niil^| and to do good unto others ; so, it is by no means pro- 
 bable that the Indigo Planters, who follow such a true and 
 pure religion, ever give false evidence. My Lord, we do 
 serve such Indigo Planters ; we have reformed our character 
 according to theirs, and even, if we desire, we can, by no 
 means, teach the witness anything false ; since if the Sahebs, 
 the lovers of truth, find the least fault in their servants, 
 they punish them according to the rules of justice. The Amin 
 of the Factory, the witness of the defendant, is an example 
 of that. Because he deprived the ryot of his advances, the 
 kind Saheb drove him from his office ; and being angry on ac- 
 count of the cries of the poor ryot, he also beat him severely. 
 
 Wood the Planter. (To the Magistrate.) Extreme provo- 
 cation ! Extreme provocation ! 
 
 Plaintiffs Attorney. My Lord, many questions were put 
 to my witnesses ; had they been witnesses who were prepared 
 ones (perjured) they would have been caught by those 
 very questions. The lawyers have said, " The Judge is as the 
 advocate of the defendant," consequently the questions to be 
 put by the defendant, are already asked by your Honour. 
 Therefore, there is no probability of any advantage to the de- 
 fendant, if the witnesses be brought here again ; but on the 
 other hand, it will prove very disadvantageous to them. 
 Honored Sir, the witnesses are poor people who live by hold- 
 
 I
 
 58 NIL DARPAN, OB 
 
 ing the plough. By the plough they maintain their wives 
 and children ; their fields become ruined if they do not re- 
 main there for the whole day ; so much so, that because it 
 proves a loss to them if they come home, their wives bring 
 boiled rice and refreshments bound in handkerchiefs to them 
 in the fields, and make them eat that. It proves an entire 
 loss to the ryots to come away from the fields' for one day ; 
 and at such a time, if they be brought to such a distant 
 part of the zillah by summons, then the labours of the whole 
 year will go for nothing. Honored Sir, Honored Sir, do as 
 you think just. 
 
 Magistrate. I don't see any reason for that ( as advised by 
 Mr. Wood). There seems no necessity for that. 
 
 Defendant's Attorney. My Lord, the ryots of no village 
 take the advances of the Indigo Planters with their full 
 consent. The Indigo Planter, accompanied by the Amins and 
 servants, or his Dewan, goes on horse-back to the field, marks off 
 the best pieces of land, and orders the preparation of the Indigo. 
 Then the owner of the land brings the ryots to the Factory, 
 and having made known to them the particulars of the 
 matter, takes their signatures for the advances. The ryots, 
 taking the money in advance, come home with tears in 
 their eyes ; and the day on which any of them comes home 
 with the money, his house, becomes filled, as it were, with 
 the tears of persons weeping for the death of a relative or 
 friend. On the payment of the Indigo to the Indigo Planter, 
 even if the latter have something still to pay to the farmers 
 above the sum of the advances as the price of that 
 article, yet they keep it in their Account-books that the farm- 
 ers have still something to pay. The ryots, when they have 
 once taken the advance, will suffer pain for not less than 
 seven generations. The sorrow which the ryots endure in the 
 preparation of the Indigo is known only to themselves and 
 the Great God, the Preserver of the poor. Whenever some sit
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 59 
 
 together, they converse about the advances and inform each 
 other of their respective sums ; and also try how to save them- 
 selves. They have no necessity for forming plans and mutually 
 taking the advice of each other. Of themselves they are be- 
 come as mad as the dog who received a blow on the 
 head. The witnesses gave evidence that the ryots were 
 willing to prepare Indigo ; but that the person who has en- 
 gaged me had, by advice and intimidation, stopped their en- 
 gaging in the preparation of Indigo. This is a very striking 
 and an evident forgery. Honored Sir, once more bring them 
 before the Bench, and your servant will by two questions dis- 
 close the falsity of their evidence. I do acknowledge, that Nobin 
 Madhab Bose, the son of Goluk Chunder Bose, who engaged 
 me, tried his utmost to extricate the helpless ryots from the 
 hands of the giant-like Indigo Planters. I do acknowledge 
 this. He also proved himself successful in stopping the 
 tyranny of Mr. Wood ; which is known fully by the case 
 which was brought here for the burning of the village of 
 Polaspore. But Goluk Chunder Bose is of a very peaceful 
 character ; he fears the Indigo Planters more than the tigers, 
 never engages in any quarrels ; at no time injures another, and 
 even is not courageous enough to save another from danger. 
 My Saheb, that Goluk Chunder Bose is a man of a good 
 character, is known to all persons in the zillah, and can be 
 known even by enquiring of the Amlas of the Court. 
 
 Goluk. Honored Sir, the whole sum due for my Indigo of 
 the last year was not paid ; still only through fear of coming 
 into Court, I consented to take the advance for sixty bigahs of 
 land. My eldest son said, "Father, we have other ways of 
 living ; the loss in Indigo for one year or two might stop feasts 
 and religious ceremonies, but will not produce want of food. 
 But those who entirely depend on their ploughs ; what means 
 have they ? Losing this case if we be obliged again to en- 
 gage in the Indigo cultivation, all will be obliged to do the
 
 60 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 same afterwards." He said this is a wise man ; and conse- 
 quently I told him to make the Saheb, by entreaties and sup- 
 plications, to agree to fifty bigahs. The Saheb said nothing, 
 neither Yes nor No ; and secretly made preparations to bring 
 me in my old age, to gaol. I know that the only way to get 
 happiness is to keep the Sahebs contented ; the country is the 
 Saheb's, the Judges are their brothers and friends ; and is it 
 proper to do anything against them? Extricate me, and I 
 make this promise, that if I cannot prepare the Indigo 
 from want of ploughs and kine, I will annually give the 
 Saheb Co.'s Us. 100 in the place of that. Am I a person to 
 tutor the ryots ? Do I meet them? 
 
 Defendant's Attorney. Honored Sir, of the four ryots who 
 came as witnesses, one is of the Tikiri caste ; he has no 
 knowledge of what a plough is ; he has no lands and no rents 
 to pay ; has no kine and no cow-house ; and this can be best 
 known by proper examination. Kanai Torofdar is a ryot of 
 a different village ; and as to our Babu he has no acquaintance 
 with him. For these reasons we do pray that these men be 
 brought again. The legislators have said, before the decision, 
 the defendant ought to be supplied with all proper means. 
 Saheb, if this my prayer be granted, I shall have no more 
 reasons for complaint. 
 
 Plaintiff's Attorney. Saheb. 
 
 Magistrate. (Writes a letter.} Speak, speak ; I am not 
 writing from hearsay. 
 
 Plaintiff's Attorney. Saheb, if at this time, the ryots be 
 brought here they will suffer great loss ; else, I, also, would 
 have prayed for their being brought here again, since the 
 offences of the defendant which are already proved, may 
 receive stronger confirmation. Sir, the bad character of 
 Goluk Chunder Bose is known throughout the country; 
 he who benefits him, in return, receives injuries. The 
 Indigo Planters crossing the immeasurable ocean have come
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. Cl 
 
 to this land, and have brought out its secret wealth ; have 
 done great benefit to the country, have increased the royal 
 treasure, and have profited themselves. What place, besides 
 the prison, can best befit a person who thus opposes the great 
 actions of these noble men. 
 
 Magistrate. ( Writes the address.) Chaprasi ! 
 
 Chaprasi. Sir ! (Gomes to the Saheb.) >> 
 
 Magistrate. (Advises with Mr. Wood.) Give this to Mrs. 
 Wood. Tell the Khansamah, the Saheb, who is come here, 
 will not go to-day. 
 
 Sheristadar. Sir, what orders are to be written I 
 
 Magistrate. Let it remain within the Nathi or Court 
 documents. 
 
 Sheristadar. ( Writes.} It is ordered that it remains within 
 the Nathi (signed by the Magistrate). Saheb, thou hast not 
 yet made a signature on the orders to the reply of the 
 defendant. 
 
 Magistrate. Read it. 
 
 Sheristadar. It is ordered, that the defendant is to give 
 Co.'s Rs. 200, or two persons as security, and that the subpoenas 
 be sent to the truthful witnesses. (The Magistrate gives the 
 signature}. 
 
 Magistrate. Bring the case of the robbery in Mirghan to 
 the Court to-morrow. 
 
 (Exit Magistrate, Mr. Wood, Mr. Rose, 
 
 Chaprasi, and Bearers.) 
 
 Sheristadar. Nazir, take the security-bond from the 
 defendant properly. 
 
 (Exit sheristadar, agent, the plaintiff's 
 
 attorney, the ryots.) 
 
 Nazir. (To the Defendant's Attorney.) How can we write 
 now, while it is evening ; moreover, I am somewhat busy 
 now.
 
 62 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 Defendant's Attorney. The name is great, but in property 
 there is nothing (speaks with the Nazir.) This money they 
 will give by selling the ornaments. 
 
 Nazir. I have no estates, have no trade nor lands for cul- 
 tivation. This is my whole stock. It is for your sake 
 only that I have agreed to take Rupees 1 00. Let us go to our 
 lodging. Be careful that the Dewan does not hear this- 
 Have not they got something as their own. 
 
 (Exit all.) 
 
 FOUKTH ACT SECOND SCENE.r 
 
 INDRABAD, THE DWELLING of BINDU MADHAB. 
 
 NOBIN MADHAB, BINDU MADHAB, and SADHU sitting. 
 
 Nobin. I am now obliged to go home. My mother will 
 die as soon as she hears of this. What more shall I do now 
 for you? See that our father does not suffer great sorrow. I 
 have now determined on leaving our habitation. I shall sell 
 off everything, and send the money. Whoever wants any 
 sum, I will give him that. 
 
 Bindu. The Darogah does not want money ; only, for fear 
 of the Magistrate, he does* not allow the cooking Brahmin to 
 be taken there. 
 
 Nobin. Give him money and also entreat him. Ah ! His* 
 body is old ; he has been without food for three days ! I 
 explained to him, and entreated him greatly. He says, 
 " Nobin, let three days pass and then shall I think, whether I 
 shall take foqd or not ; within these three days, I shall not 
 take any thing." 
 
 Bindu. I do not find any means, how I can be able to 
 make my father take some boiled rice. The hand which he 
 
 * This pronoun refers to the father of Nobin.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 63 
 
 has placed on his eyes from the time when the Magistrate, 
 the slave of the Indigo Planters, ordered him to be kept in 
 the prison, that hand he has not yet removed. The hand 
 is filled with the tears; and the place where he was made to 
 sit down at first, is still that where he now is. Being entire- 
 ly silent, and remaining weak in body and without power 
 to move, he is become like a dead pigeon in this cage- 
 like prison. This day is the fourth, and to-day I nrust make 
 him take food. You had better go lnjine, and I shall send a 
 letter every day. 
 
 Nyfrin. O God, what great sorrow art thou giving to our 
 father ! If they do allow you, my dear Bindu, to remain day 
 and night in the prison ; then can I quietly go to our house. 
 
 Sadhu. Let me steal, and you bring me before the Court 
 as a thief. I will make the confession ; they will put me in 
 prison ; then I will be best able to serve my master. 
 
 Nobin. Sadhu ! Thou art the actual Sadhu (the honest 
 man). Ah ! you are now very sorry on learning the deadly 
 sorrow of Khetromani ; and the sooner I can take you home* 
 the better. 
 
 Sadhu. (Deep sigh.) My eldest Babu ! Shall I see my 
 daughter on my return. I have none other. 
 
 Bindu. If you make her take that draught which I gave 
 you, she must be cured by that. The Doctor heard every 
 particular of her disease, and has given that medicine. 
 
 Enter the Deputy Inspector. 
 
 D. Inspector. Bindu -Babu, Mr. Commissioner has written 
 very urgently about releasing your father. 
 
 Bindu. There is no doubt the Lieutenant-Governor will 
 grant him release. 
 
 Nobin. After what time can the notice of the release 
 come ? 
 
 Bindu. It will not be more than fifteen days.
 
 64s NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 D. Inspector. The Deputy Magistrate of Amaranagara 
 gave an order of imprisonment for six months to a certain 
 Mooktyar according to this law ; but he had to remain for 
 sixteen days in the gaol. 
 
 Nobin. Shall such a time ever come, that the Governor, 
 becoming friendly, destroy the evil desires of the unfriendly 
 Magistrate ? 
 
 Bindu. There is a God, the Lord of the Universe ; and he 
 must do it. Sir, you Jiad better start, for there is a long way 
 to go. 
 
 (Exit Nobin, Bindu, and Sa^hu.) 
 
 D. Inspector. Alas ! The two brothers, burnt up by these 
 anxieties, have, as it were, become dead, while living. The 
 order of release from the Lieutenant-Governor will be as the 
 restoration of life to them. Babu Nobin Chunder is of a 
 brave spirit, does good to others, is very munificent, a great 
 improver of learning, and also of a patriotic mind ; but the 
 mist of the cruel Indigo Planters withered all his good 
 qualities in the bud. 
 
 Enter the Pundit of the College. 
 
 Welcome, Sir ! 
 
 Pundit. My body is naturally somewhat of a warm na- 
 ture. I cannot bear the sunshine. The heat of the sun 
 makes me, as it were, mad in the months of March, April, 
 and May. I had a very severe head-ache for a few days ; and 
 was not able to attend Bindu Madhab at all. 
 
 D. Inspector. The Vishnu Toila (a kind of oil) can do you 
 some good. The oil is prepared for Babu Vishnu, and to- 
 morrow I shall send some to your house. 
 
 Pundit. I am much obliged to you for that. A man of 
 a healthy constitution becomes mad by teaching children ; 
 such am I. 
 
 D. Inspector. Why don't we see our elder Pundit any more?
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 65 
 
 Pundit. He is now trying some means to leave this 
 doggish service. While his good son is making some acqui- 
 sition of property, the family will be maintained like that of 
 a King. It does not seem good for him now to go to and 
 come from the College looking with his books under his arm 
 like a bull bound to the cart. He is now of age. 
 
 Re-enter BINDU MADHAB. 
 
 Bindu. The Pundit is come. * 
 
 Pundit. Did the sinful creature show so much injustice 1 
 You^d not hear it ; at Christmas he spent ten days conti- 
 nually in that Factory. The ryot is to have justice from him ! 
 Can the Hindu celebrate his religious services before the 
 Kazi (the Mahomedan judge). 
 
 Bindu. The decree of Providence. 
 
 Pundit. Whom did you appoint as Muktyar ? 
 
 Bindu. Prandhan Mullik. 
 
 Pundit. Why did you appoint him as your Muktyar ? 
 It would have been better if you had engaged some other 
 person. " All Gods are equal. To make a separation from 
 the wicked, the village becomes empty." * 
 
 Bindu. The Commissioner has made a report to the 
 Government recommending the release of my father. 
 
 Pundit. One is ashes and so is the other as is the 
 Magistrate such is the Commissioner. 
 
 Bindu. Sir, you know not the Commissioner ; and, there- 
 fore, you spoke thus of him. The pommissioner is very 
 impartial, and is always desirous of the improvement of the 
 natives. 
 
 Pundit. Whatever that be ; now if, through the blessing 
 of God, your father be released, then all shall be well. In 
 what condition is he in the gaol ? 
 
 * This is a proverb, signifying you cannot separate the tares from wheat. 
 
 K
 
 66 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 Bindu. He is shedding tears day and night, and for 
 the last three days has taken no food. Just now I shall 
 go to the gaol, and shall make him happy by giving him 
 this good news. 
 
 Enter a Chaprasi. 
 Art thou a chaprasi of the gaol ? 
 
 Chaprasi. Sir, come quickly to the gaol. The Darogah 
 has called you. 
 
 Bindu. Have you seen my father this day ? 
 Chaprasi. Come, Sir. I cannot say anything. 
 Binda. Come, Sir (to the Pundit). I don't suppose all 
 good. I go. 
 
 (Exit Binda Madhab and Chaprasi.) 
 
 Pundit. Yes ; let us all-go. I think some bad accident 
 has taken place. 
 
 (Exit loth.) 
 
 FOURTH ACT THIRD SCENE. 
 
 THE PRISON-HOUSE OF INDRABAD. 
 
 The, dead body of Ooluk Chunder swinging, bound by his 
 
 outer garment twisted like a rope ; the Darogah of the 
 
 Gaol and the Jamadar sitting. 
 
 Darogah. Who is gone to call Babu Bindu Madhab ? 
 
 \Tamadar. Manirodi is gone there. Till the Doctor 
 comes, we cannot bring it down. 
 
 Darogah. Did not the Magistrate say, he will come here 
 this day ? 
 
 Jamadar. No, Sir, he has four days more to come. At 
 Sachigunge on Saturday, they have a Champagne-party and 
 ladies' dance. Mrs. Wood can never dance with any other, 
 but our Saheb ; and I saw that, when I was a bearer. Mrs.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 67 
 
 Wood is very kind : through the influence of one letter, she 
 got me the Jamadary of the Jail. 
 
 Darogah. Ah ! The father of Babu Bindu Madhab 
 expressed great sorrow at his not getting food. When Babu 
 Bindu sees this, he will quit life. 
 
 Enter BINDU MADHAB. 
 
 All things are by the will of God. 
 
 Bindu. What is this ! What is this ! Ah ! ah ! My father 
 is dead while bound above ground with*a rope ! I was coming 
 to try some means for his release. What sorrow ! (places his 
 owi'Mhead on the breast of the dead body, then clasps the 
 corpse, and weeps}. Oh father ! Hast thou at once broken the 
 ties of affection, towards us ? Shalt thou no more praise 
 Bindu before other men for his English education ? Calling 
 Nobin Madhab by the name of " Bhima* of Svaropur ;" is 
 that now put at an end ? You have now made a treaty with 
 Bipin (the son of Nobin) with whom you always had a 
 quarrel, saying to the eldest Bou, " My mother, my mother." 
 Ah ! as in the case of a heron and its mate, with their 
 young ones flying in the air, in search of food, if the heron be 
 killed by a fowler, the mate with her young ones falls into 
 great danger, so shall my mother be when she hears of your 
 being put to death, while hung above ground by a rope. 
 
 Darogah. (Bringing Babu Bindu aside by taking Jwld 
 of his hands.*) Babu Bindu do not be so impatient now. Get 
 the permission of the Doctor, and try to take the corpse 
 soon to the Amritaghata. 
 
 Enter Deputy Inspector and the Pundit, 
 
 Bindu,. Darogah, do not speak of anything to me. 
 Whatever consultation you have to make, make that with 
 the Pundit and the Deputy Inspector. Through sorrow, I 
 
 * Bhima or Brikadar was the .second brother of Yudliistira and the second 
 son of Pandu.
 
 68 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 have lost the power of speech ; let me take my father's 
 feet once on my breast. (Sits up, taking the feet of Goluk 
 on his breast.) 
 
 Pundit (To the Deputy Inspector?) Let me take 
 Bindu Madhab on my lap ; you had better unloose the rope. 
 It is never proper to keep such a godly body in this hell. 
 
 Darogah. It will be necessary to wait for a short time. 
 
 Pundit. Are you the chowkidar of hell, else why have 
 you such a character?,. 
 
 Daroga. Sir, you are wise, you are reproaching me. 
 
 Enter the Doctor. ** 
 
 Doctor. Ho ! Ho ! Bindu Madhab ! God's will. The Pundit 
 is come. Bindu must not leave the College. 
 
 Pundit. It is not proper for Bindu to leave the College. 
 
 Bindu. As to our estates and possessions, we have lost 
 every thing ; at last, our father has left us beggars (weeps} ; 
 how can studying be any more carried on ? 
 
 Pundit. The Indigo Planters have taken away the all 
 of Bindu Madhab arid his family. 
 
 Doctor. I have heard of these Planters from the 
 Missionaries and also I have seen them myself. Once as I 
 was coming from a certain Planter's Factory at Matanagara, 
 while I was sitting in a village, two ryots of the place 
 were passing by the side of my palanquin ; one of 
 them had some milk with him, which I wanted to 
 buy. Immediately, one whispered to the other, " The 
 Indigo giant, the Indigo giant." Then having left the 
 milk, they ran off. I asked another ryot, and he said, 
 that these persons ran off for fear of being compelled to take 
 advances for Indigo ; and as I had taken the advance, what 
 reason is there for going to his godown. I understood, he 
 took me for a planter ; I gave the milk into that ryot's hand, 
 and went away from the place.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 69 
 
 D. Inspector. A certain Missionary was passing through a 
 village within the concern of Mr. Vally. As soon as the 
 ryots saw him, they began to cry aloud, " The Indigo ghost 
 is come out, the Indigo ghost is come out ;" and having left 
 that path, flew into their own houses. But as the ryots 
 found, by and by, the bounty, mildness, and forgiving 
 temper of these gentlemen, they began to wonder ; and as 
 much as the Missionaries showed heartfelt sorrow for the tor- 
 tures which the poor people suffered from the Indigo 
 Planters, so much the more they began to love them, and to 
 ha VA faith in them. Now the ryots say to each other, " All 
 bamboos are of one tuft ; but of one is made the frame of the 
 Goddess Durga, and of another the sweeper's basket." 
 
 Pundit. Let us take away the dead body. 
 
 Doctor. We must be sharp. You can bring it out. 
 
 (Bindu Madhab and the Deputy Inspector loosening the 
 rope bring out the corpse) 
 
 (Exit all) 
 
 FIFTH ACT FIKST SCENE. 
 
 BEFORE THE OFFICE OF THE BAGHUNBARI FACTORY. 
 
 Enter GOPINATH DAS and a Herdsman. 
 
 Gopi. How did you get so much information ? 
 
 Cowherd. We are their neighbours ; day and night, 
 we go to their house. Whenever we are in want of any thing, 
 either a little salt or a ladle of oil, we immediately go to them 
 and bring it ; if the child cry, we bring a little molasses from 
 them and give it ; we are getting our support for nearly 
 seven generations from the Bose family ; and can't we 
 get information about them ? 
 
 Gopi. Where was Bindu Madhab married ? 
 
 Coivherd. Oh, it is in a village to the west of Calcutta.
 
 70 NIL DARPAN, OE 
 
 lu which they wanted to have the Kaistas* wear the poita. 
 We cannot satisfy all the Brahmins now in existence in a great 
 feast, and still they wanted to increase the number. The father- 
 in-law of our young Babu is greatly respected. The Judge or 
 Magistrate when they come to him take off their hats. 
 Do such men give their daughters to men of these places ? 
 Observing the improvements in learning made by our young 
 Babu, they did not care about the village belonging to ryots. 
 People say that the women in cities are showy, and 
 that there is no distinction between those who live within 
 the house and those who live in the bazar, f But WP. do 
 not at all find a young woman of a mild temper as the Bou 
 of the Bose family is. The mother of Goma goes to their 
 house every day, still, although she has been married for 
 nearly five years, she has never seen her face. We saw her 
 only on that day when she came here. We thought 
 that the Babus in the city keep company with the Euro- 
 peans ; therefore they have brought their females into public 
 like English ladies. 
 
 Gopi But the Bou is always engaged in attending on 
 her mother-in-law. 
 
 Cowherd. Dewanji, what shall I say ? The mother of 
 Goma says, I heard a report that, had not the youngest Bou 
 been in the house when the news of Nobin being bound by the 
 rope and thus killed came, the mistress of the family would 
 have died. We heard also that the women in the city treat 
 their husbands as sheep (slaves) and murder their parents by 
 not giving them any support ; but observing this Bou, I now 
 know that it is a mere report. 
 
 Gopi. I think, the mother of Babu Nobin Chunder also 
 loves her. 
 
 * The writer class among the Natives of this country 
 t Signifying the distinction between the women of a good and that of a 
 licentious character.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 71 
 
 Cowherd. I don't see any one in the world whom she 
 does not love. Ah ! She is an Annapurnah* (full of rice). 
 But have you kept the rice that she shall be full of it ?-f- The 
 vile Planters have swallowed up the old man, and they are 
 now on the point of swallowing up the old woman. 
 
 Gopi'. Thou braggart fool, if the Saheb hear this; he will 
 bring out your new moon.J 
 
 Cowherd. What can I do ? Is it my desire to sit in 
 the Factory and abuse the Sahebs ? 
 
 Gopi. I am very sorry that I have destroyed this man 
 of jjjQ&t honour by a false law-suit. I have also felt great 
 pain on hearing of Nobiu's severe head-ache and the miser- 
 able condition of his mother. 
 
 Cowherd. It is the cold attacking a frog. Dewanji, 
 don't be angry with me, I am as a mad goat ; shall I pre- 
 pare the tobacco ? 
 
 Gopi. This stupid fellow of Nanda's family is very senseless. 
 
 Cowherd. The Sahebs are doing all : they themselves are 
 blacksmiths and at the same time the cimeter ; where they 
 make one to fall, there they themselves also fall. If 
 ruin come upon these Sahebs' Factories, then the people of 
 the villages save themselves by ba thing. || * .-' 
 
 Gopi. You are very foolish. I don't want to hear any 
 more ? Go out, the Saheb will come very soon. 
 
 Cowherd. Now, I am going. You must attend to my 
 milk bill, and also give me one rupi to-morrow. We shall 
 go to bathe in the Ganges. 
 
 (Exit Cowherd.) 
 
 * This is one of the nnmes of Durga, meaning the goddess of Plenty. 
 
 t Signifying, have you not taken away her whole possession ? Then, how 
 can she show her pity by supporting the poor ? 
 
 J That is, he will make every thing dark to you, as at the time of the 
 new moon. In short, he will kill you. 
 
 That is, nothing ; us the cold has no effect on the frog. 
 
 |J That is, purify themselves by bathing.
 
 72 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 Gopi. I think the thunder-bolt will strike this head, 
 which is aching. No one will be able to stop the Saheb in 
 sowing the Indigo seed on the sides of your tank. The 
 Sahebs did something improper. These persons engaged 
 themselves to sow Indigo on fifty bigahs of land, although they 
 did not get the full price for the last year. Yet the Sahebs 
 are not satisfied ; these disputes arose only for certain pieces 
 of grounds ; and it would have been good for Nobin Bose 
 to have given them the^e to keep the goddess Sitola* well- 
 pleased is the best. Nobin will bite once more even after 
 his death. (Seeing the Saheb at a distance). Here the wfc te- 
 bodied man with a blue dress is coming. I think, I am 
 to remain as a companion with the former Dewan for 
 some days. 
 
 Enter MR. WOOD. 
 
 Wood. There will be a great quarrel at Matanagara : 
 and all the latyals will be there. Let no one hear this ? 
 For this place, make a collection of ten of the poda caste of 
 (Surki) brickpowder makers or sellers. I, Mr. Rose, and 
 you are to go there. The fool while he has taken his cachaf 
 will not be able to increase the row greatly. He is sick ; 
 then how can he go to bring assistance from the Darogah. 
 
 Gopi. The extreme weakness to which these are reduced, 
 makes it unnecessary to bring any surkiwalld among the 
 Hindus, for a person to die with a rope round his neck, 
 especially within a prison is very disgraceful ; so he is 
 greatly punished by this occurrence. 
 
 * Sitola is the goddess of the small-pox; and the meaning of the above is 
 that if that goddess be kept satisfied, the disease of the sinall-pox cannot 
 come; and if coine, will pass away. 
 
 t This refers t^ Nobin Bose. The cacha signifies tho piece of cloth kept 
 by the sons on the death of their parents for one month, when the pinda or 
 offering to the dead is made.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 73 
 
 Wood. You do not understand this. The rascal is become 
 very happy on the death of his father. He took the ad- 
 vances for a long time only through fear of his father ; 
 now that fea,r is gone, and he will do as he likes. The 
 rascal has given a bad name to my Factory, and I will im- 
 prison him to-morrow and keep him along with Mojum- 
 dar. If the Magistrate be of the same character with him 
 of Amaranagara, the wicked people will be able to do every 
 thing. , 
 
 Gopi. With respect to what they planned about the case of 
 Mo^imdar, I cannot say how very terrible it would have 
 been, had not Nobin Bose fallen into this great danger. I 
 cannot say what they still will do ? Moreover, as the 
 Magistrate, who is coming, we have heard, is on the 
 side of the ryots ; and when he comes to the villages, he 
 brings along with him his tents. Observing this, we may say 
 it might occasion great confusion, and also it is somewhat 
 fearful. 
 
 Wood. You are always puzzling me with speaking of 
 fear ; the Indigo Planters, in nothing whatever, have any 
 fear. If you don't desire it, leave your business, thou great 
 fool ! 
 
 Gopi. Sir, fear comes on good grounds. When the former 
 Dewan was put in prison, his son came to ask for the 
 last six months' salary of his father. On which you told him 
 to make an application. Then, on his making the application, 
 you again said the salary cannot be given before the accounts 
 are closed. Honored Sir, is this the judgment on a servant 
 when he is put in prison ? 
 
 Wood. Did not I know this ? Thou stupid, ungrateful 
 creature ! What becomes of your salaries ? If you did not 
 devour the price of the Indigo, would there be any deadly 
 Commission ? Would the poor ryots have gone to the 
 Missionaries with tears in their eyes? You, rascal, have 
 
 L
 
 74 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 destroyed every thing. If the Indigo lessen in quantity, I 
 shall sell your houses and indemnify myself ; thou arrant 
 coward, hellish knave ! 
 
 Gopi. Sir, we are like butcher's dogs : we fill our bellies 
 with the intestines. Had you, Sir, taken the Indigo from 
 the ryots in the very same way as the (Mahajans) factors take 
 the corn from their debtors, then the Indigo Factories would 
 never have suffered such disgrace ; there would have been 
 no necessity for an ovejpeer and the khalasis, and the people 
 would never have reproached me with saying " Cursed 
 Gopi ! Cursed Gopi 1" ^ 
 
 Wood. Thou art blind, thou hast no eyes. 
 
 Enter an Umadar (an Apprentice). 
 
 I have seen with my own eyes (applying his hand to his 
 own eyes) the Mahajans go to the ricefield, and quarrel 
 with the ryots (their debtors). Ask this person. 
 
 Apprentice. Honored Sir, I can give many examples of 
 that. The ryots say, it is through the grace of the Indigo 
 Planters only that we are preserved from the hands of the 
 Mahajans. 
 
 Gopi. (Aside, to the Apprenticed) My child, it is vain 
 flattery. No employment is vacant now. (To Mr. Wood) 
 It is true that the Mahajans go to the rice-fields and dispute 
 with the ryots ; but if your Honor had been acquainted 
 with the mysterious intention of the Mahajans in going to 
 the fields and raising disputes, you would never have com- 
 pared with the going of the Mahajans to the fields, the 
 punishment of the poor with Shamchand resembling the 
 tortures which Lakhman, the son of Sumitra, suffered by 
 the Sacti-sela,* while they are without food. 
 
 * Lakhman was the brother of Rama. When they were gone to make 
 war with Ravana of Lunka, (Ceylon) in a certain battle Lakhman suffered 
 rery much by the Sacti-sela (the name of a superior engine in a battle).
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 75 
 
 Wood. Very well, explain it to me. There must be some 
 reason why these fools speak to us of every thing else ; but 
 of the Mahajans they don't say a single word. 
 
 GopL Honored Sir, these debtors, whatever sum of money 
 they require for the whole year, they take from the Mahajans, 
 and that quantity of rice which is necessary for them for 
 that time, they also take from their creditors. At the end 
 of the year, the debtors clear their debts either by selling the 
 tobacco, sugar-cane, sesamum, and other things which they 
 have, and then giving the sum collected to their creditors with 
 the_ interest on the sum for the time ; or by giving those very 
 articles according to the market price : and of the corn 
 which grows, they send to the Mahajans' houses, a part half- 
 prepared. That which remains proves sufficient for the ex- 
 penses of the family for three or four months. If through 
 famine or any improper expenses of the debtors, there fall 
 any arrears in their supplies, the remainder of the debt is 
 carried into the new account-book. Then, by and by, the re- 
 mainder is filled up. The Mahajans never bring an action 
 against their debtors ; consequently the falling into arrears 
 appears to them, as it were, a present loss. I suppose 
 the Mahajans for that reason, sometimes go to the fields, 
 observe the preparation of the rice and also enquire 
 whether the extent of land for which the debtors 
 have asked the revenue from them, is all cultivated 
 with grain. Some inexperienced persons, taking under 
 false pretences a larger sum than is necessary, and thus being 
 burdened with heavy debts, cause losses on the part of the 
 Mahajans and also themselves suffer great trouble. The Maha- 
 jans go to the fields for stopping these, and not like " Indigo 
 Giants" (strikes his tongue}* Sir, the stupid, shameless 
 Mahajans speak thus. 
 
 * This is a sign of shame or fear.
 
 76 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 Wood. I see, Saturn * has come upon you to your des- 
 truction ; else why art thou become so very inquisitive, and 
 why so presumptuous, you stupid, incestuous brute ? 
 
 Gopi. Sir, we are made to swallow abuse, to submit to 
 shoe-beating, and also we are the men to go to the Shrighurf* 
 (the prison) ; the men should there be a dispensary or school 
 in the Factory you get the credit ; should there be murders, 
 we are the men. When I come to you for advice, you, Sir, 
 become angry. That anxiety which I have felt for the 
 law-suit of the Mojumdars, is only known to the Lord of all. 
 
 Wood. The fool is such, that whenever I tell him ta do 
 any action requiring courage, he brings to my ears the law-suit 
 of the Mojumdar. I am saying always that thou art an ig- 
 norant fool ; why don't you become satisfied with sending 
 Nobin Bose to the godown of Sochigunge. 
 
 Gopi. Thou, Sir, art the parent of this poor man ; it 
 would be good, if for the benefit of thy poor servant, thou 
 sendest him once to Nobin Bose to ask him about this case. 
 
 Wood. Stop, thou upstart of a son. Shall I go to 
 meet a dog for you ? You coward son of a Kaista^: (throws 
 him down with kicks'). Were you sent as a witness to the Com- 
 mission, you would have ruined every thing, you diabolical 
 niggar (two kicks more) ; with such a tongue you shall do 
 your work like a Caot, you stupid Kaet. Were it not for 
 your work on to-morrow, I would send you to the jail. 
 
 (Exit Mr. Wood and the Apprentice.) 
 
 Gopi. ( Rubbing his body all over and rising up ). A 
 person becomes the Dewan of an Indigo Planter after being 
 
 * The planet Saturn is said to have a very bad influence. Whenever it 
 comes upon one, the utter ruin of that persou is thought very near. 
 
 f Ironically, the house of Prosperity. 
 
 J The Kaista is the caste of writers. 
 
 Caot is the name of a mean caste, and the word Kaet is only a common 
 orm of expression for the term Kaista.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 77 
 
 born a vulture* seven hundred times ; else, how are 
 numberless stockings digested ?j- Oh ! what kickings ! Oh ! 
 the fool is, as it were, the wife of a student who is out of 
 College.} 
 
 (Aside) Dewan, Dewan. 
 
 Gopi. Your servant is present. Whose turn is it ? 
 
 " In the sea of love are many waves." 
 
 (Exit Gopi.) 
 
 * 
 
 FIFTH ACT SECOND SCENE. 
 THE BEDROOM OF NOBIN BOSE. 
 
 Aduri crying when preparing Nobin' s bed. 
 
 Aduri. Ah ! ha ! ha ! where shall I go ? My heart is on 
 the point of bursting. They have beaten him so Severely 
 that the pulse is moving very slowly ; our mistress will die 
 as soon as she sees this. When Nobin was taken by force to 
 the Factory, they were tearing themselves and weeping under 
 the shade of that tree ; but when brought towards our house, 
 they did not see that. 
 
 (Aaide.J We shall take him into the house. 
 
 Aduri. Bring him into the house. None of them are here. 
 
 Enter SADHU and TORAPA bearing the senseless Nobin 
 on their shoulders. 
 
 Sadhu. (Making Nobin Madhab to lie on the bed.) 
 Madam, where art thou ? 
 
 Aduri. They began to see, standing under the tree. 
 When this person (pointing to Torapa) flew away with him, 
 we thought he was taken to the Factory. They began to 
 
 * The vulture is tnken for a detestable bird. 
 
 t Signifying, else how can he bear so many kickings ? 
 
 J This is said only in reference to his dress.
 
 78 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 tear themselves under the tree. I came to the house to 
 call certain persons. Will our mistress remain alive when 
 she sees this dead son? Do you stand here; let me call them 
 here. 
 
 (Exit Aduri.) 
 
 Enter the Priest. 
 
 Priest. Oh God, hast thou killed such a man ! Hast thou 
 stopped the provision of so many men ! We do not find any 
 such symptom that our eldest Babu will sit up again. 
 
 Sadhu. God's will. He can give life to a dead man^ 
 
 Priest. On the third day, Bindu Babu, according to the 
 Shastras, celebrated the offering of the funeral cake(pindaddri) 
 on the banks of the Ganges ; it is only through the entreaties 
 of his mother that preparations are being made for the monthly 
 ceremony (shradh). It was determined that after the cele- 
 bration of the ceremony, their dwelling place is to be 
 removed ; and I also heard that they will no more meet with 
 that cruel Saheb ; then why did he go there to-day ? 
 
 Sadhu. Our eldest Babu has no fault, nor has he any 
 want of judgment. "Our madam and the eldest Bou forbad 
 him many times. They said, " During the days we are 
 to remain here, we will bathe with the water of the well, or 
 Aduri will bring the water from the tank ; we shall have no 
 trouble." The eldest Babu said " With a present of 50 Rupis, 
 I shall fall at the Saheb's feet, and thus stop the cultivation 
 of the Indigo on the side of the tank, and shall speak nothing 
 of the dispute in such a dangerous time." With this inten- 
 tion our eldest Babu took me and Torap with him, and going 
 there with tears in his eyes, said to the Saheb, " Saheb, I bring 
 you a present of 50 Rupis ; only for this year, stop the 
 cultivation of the Indigo in this place : and if this be not 
 granted, take the money, and delay that business only till the 
 time when the ceremony is to be performed." There is sin
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 79 
 
 even in repeating the answer which the wretch gave, and the 
 hairs of our body stood on an end. The rascal said, " Your 
 father was hung in the jail of the Yabans* with thieves and 
 robbers ; therefore keep your money for the sacrifice of many 
 bulls which are necessary for his ceremony." Then placing his 
 shoe on one of the eldest Babus knees, he said " This is the 
 gift for your father's ceremony." 
 
 Priest. Narayan! Narayan.f (Placing his hand on his 
 ears). ^ 
 
 Sadhu. Instantly the eyes of the eldest Babu became 
 red ^Lke blood, his whole body began to tremble, he bit his 
 lips with his teeth and then remaining silent for a short time 
 gave the Saheb a hard kick on the breast, so that he fell 
 on the ground upside down like a bundle of bena (a certain 
 grass). Kes Dali, who is now the jamadar of the Factory, and 
 other ten surkiola immediately stood round him. The eldest 
 Babu had once saved these from the hands of robbers ; so they 
 felt a little ashamed to raise their hand against him. Mr. Wood 
 gave a blow to the jamadar, took the stick out of his hand 
 and smote with it the head of the eldest Babu. The head 
 was cracked, and he fell down senseless on the ground ; I tried 
 much, but was not able to go into that crowd. Torapa. was 
 observing this from a distance : and as soon as the men 
 stood round the eldest Babu, he with violence rushed into 
 this crowd like an obstinate buffalo, took him up, and 
 flew off. 
 
 Torapa. I was told " to stand at a distance, lest they take 
 me away by force." The fools hate me very much ; do I 
 hide myself when there is a tumult ? If I had gone a little 
 before, I would have brought the Babu safe, and would have 
 sacrificed two of those rascals in the Durgah of Borkat Bibi 
 
 * This term Yabans has reference to the Mahomedans, the Europeans, 
 t The name of Vishnu, God.
 
 80 NIL DARPAN, OB 
 
 (the temple of Benediction). My whole body is shrunk on ob- 
 serving the head of the Babu ; then, when shall I kill 
 these? Oh ! oh ! the eldest Babu saved me so many times, 
 but I was not able to save him once. (Beats his forehead 
 and cries.) 
 
 Priest. I see a wound from a weapon on his breast. 
 
 Sadhu. As soon as Torapa rushed into the crowd, the 
 young Saheb struck the Babu with the sword. Torapa saved 
 the Babu by placing^ his hand in front of his own, which 
 was cut, and there was the sign of a slight bruise on the 
 Babu's breast. 
 
 Priest. (Deeply thinking for some time, reads). 
 
 " Man knows this for certain, that understanding and 
 goodness are necessary in the friend, the wife, and in 
 servants." I do not see a single person in this large house ; 
 but a person of a different caste and of another village, is 
 weeping near the Babu. Ah ! the poor man is a day-laborer, 
 and his very hand is cut off. Why is his face all daubed 
 over with blood ? 
 
 Sadhu. When the young Saheb struck his hand with 
 the sword, like an ichneumon making a noise when its 
 tail is cut off, he in agony from the pain of his hand 
 flew off after seizing with a bite the nose of the elder 
 Saheb. 
 
 Torapa. That nose I have kept with me, and when the 
 Babu will rise up alive again I will show him that ( shows 
 the nose cut off). Had the Babu been able to fly off himself, 
 I would have taken his ears ; but I would not have killed 
 him, as he is a creature of God. 
 
 Priest. Justice is still alive. The Gods were saved from 
 the injustice of Ravana, when the nose of Surpanaka was 
 cut off : shall not the people be saved from the tyranny 
 of the Indigo Planters by the cutting off of the elder 
 Saheb's nose ?
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 81 
 
 Torapa. Let me now hide myself ; I shall fly off in the 
 night. That fool will overturn the whole village on account 
 
 of his nose. 
 
 (Exit Torapa bowing down twice on the 
 
 earth near Nobin Madhab' s bed.) 
 
 Sadku. So very weak is our madam become by the 
 death of her husband, that there is no doubt she will die, when 
 she sees Babu Nobin in this condition. I applied so much 
 water, rubbed my hand over the head,so long ; but nothing 
 is bringing him to his senses again. You, Sir, call him once. 
 Finest. Eldest Babu ! Eldest Babu ! Nobin Madhab ! 
 ( with tears in his eyes ) Guardian of ryots ! Giver of food ! 
 moving his eyes now ! Ah ! The mother will die immediately. 
 When she heard of his being bound with ropes above ground, 
 she resolved not to take the rice of this sinful world for ten 
 days. This is the fifth ; this morning, Nobin Madhab taking 
 hold of her shoulders shed much tears and said, " Mother, 
 if thou dost not take food this day, then I shall never 
 take the rice with the clarified butter ; thus placing the sin 
 of disobedience to the mother on my head ; but shall re- 
 main without food/' On which the mother kissing her son 
 Nobin, said, " My son, I was a queen, now am I become- the 
 mother of a king. I would never have been sorry, had I once 
 been able to place his* feet on my head at the time when 
 he departed this life. Did such a virtuous person die an 
 inauspicious death ? It is for this reason that I am remain- 
 ing without food. Ye are the children of this poor woman ; 
 looking on you and Bindu Madhab, I shall, this day, take 
 for my food the orts of our reverend priest. Do not shed 
 
 your tears before me." 
 
 (Aside, cries of sorrow.) 
 Coming. 
 
 * This pronoun " his" stands for Goluk Chunder, the father of Nobin 
 Madhab.
 
 82 NIL DARPAN, OK 
 
 Enter SABITRI, SOIRINDRI, SARALOTA, ADURI, REBOTI, 
 the Aunt of Nobin, and other ivomen of the neighbour- 
 hood. 
 
 There is no fear, he is still alive. 
 
 Sabitri. (Observing Nobin . on the point of death.) 
 Nobin Madhab ! my son, my son, my son, where, where, 
 where art thou ! Oh ! Alas ! 
 
 (Falls senseless.) 
 
 Soirindri. (With tears in her eyes.) Oh young Bout 
 take hold of our mother-in-law ; let me once see the Lord 
 of my life, in the fulness of my heart. (Sits near the mouth 
 of Nobin.) 
 
 Priest. (To Soirindri.) My daughter, thou art a great 
 lover of thy husband, a woman of constancy ; the frame of 
 thy body was created in a good moment. For one who is so 
 entirely devoted to her husband, and who has every thing 
 good on her part, Fortune may give life to her husband again ; 
 he is moving his eyes, serve him without fear. Sadhu, remain 
 here till our madam be in her senses. 
 
 (Exit Priest.) 
 
 Sadhu. Just see and place your hand on her nose. The 
 body is become stiffer than that of a dead body. 
 
 Saralota. (Speaking slowly to Reboti, after placing the 
 hand on the nose.) Her breathing is full, but the fire com- 
 ing out of the head is so very intense that my throat, as it 
 were, burns. 
 
 Sadhu. Has the Gomastah (head clerk) fallen into th e 
 hands of the Sahebs while he is gone to bring the physician ? 
 Let me go to the lodging-house of that physician. 
 
 '(Exit Sadhu.) 
 
 Soirindri. Ah ! Ah, my Lord ! that mother for whose 
 abstinence from food thou hast grieved so much ; that mother,
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 83 
 
 for whose weakness thou hadst served her feet ; that mother, 
 who for some days was, by no means, able to sleep without 
 placing thee in her lap, that very same dear mother is now 
 lying senseless before thee, and thou art not seeing her once 
 (seeing jSabitri). As tJie cow losing her young one wanders 
 about with loud cries, then being bit by a serpent falls down 
 dead on thejield ; so the mother is lying senseless on the 
 ground being grieved for her dear son. My Lord open thine eyes 
 once more ; call thy maid-servant* once more with thy sweet 
 voice and thus satisfy her ears onca . ifie sun of happiness 
 has set at noon for me; what shall my Bipin do 1 (With tears 
 in hW eyes falls upon the breast of Nobin Madhab.) 
 
 Saralota. Ye who an here take hold of our sister. 
 
 Soirindri. (Rising up). I became an orphan while very 
 young ; it is for this death-like Indigo that my father was 
 taken to the Factory, and he returned no more. That 
 place became to him 'the residence of Yama (Death). My 
 poor mother took me to the house of my maternal uncle, and 
 there through grief for her husband, she bade adieu to the 
 world. My uncles preserved me ; I remained like a flower 
 accidently let fall from the hand of the gardener. My Lord 
 took me up with love and increased my honour. I forgot the 
 sorrow for my parents, and in the life of my husband my 
 parents were, as it were, revived (deep sigh). All my griefs 
 are rising up anew in my mind. Ah ! If I be deprived of 
 that husband who keeps every thing under the shade of 
 his protection, I shall again become the same helpless orphan. 
 
 Nobin' s Aunt. (Raising her with the hands}. What fear 
 my daughter ? Why become so full of anxiety ? A letter 
 is sent to Bindu Madhab to bring a doctor. He will be 
 cured when the doctor comes. (Falls down upon the 
 ground. ) 
 
 * The term maid-servant here refers to Soiriudri, tho wife of Nobin 
 MadLab.
 
 84 NIL DAEPAN, OR 
 
 SoirindrL My aunt-in-law, wliile I was a girl I made a 
 celebration of a certain religions observance ; and placing 
 my hands on the Alpana* (the white-washing prepared for 
 the festival) prayed for these blessings : that my husband be 
 like Rama, my mother-in-law like Kousalya, my father-in-law 
 like Dasaratha, my brother-in-law like Lakshman. My aunt ! 
 God gave me more than I prayed for. My husband is as Ra- 
 ghunath (Rama) brave and a provider of his dependants ; my 
 mother-in-law is as Kousalya. having a sweet speech and an 
 earnest love for her sons' wives ; my father-in-law is always 
 happy in saying Badhumata, Badhumata,-f and is the bright- 
 ener of the ten sides.! Bindu Madhab, who surpasses the au- 
 tumnal moon in purity, is dearer to me than was Lakshman- 
 deva to Sita-devi. My aunt, all has taken place according to my 
 desire ; only there is one in which I find some disagree- 
 ment I am still alive. Rama is making preparations for going 
 to the forests, but there is no preparation for Sita's going with 
 him Ah ! he was so much grieved on the abstinence of his 
 father ; again, he took the cacha for the celebration of his 
 funeral ceremony ; but before that was done he is preparing 
 to go up to heaven (to die.) (Looking on his face with a steady 
 sight} Ah ! his lips are dry. Oh ! my friends and com- 
 panions, call my Bipin at once from the school ; I shall once 
 more (with weeping eyes) through his hands pour a little water 
 of the Ganges into his dry mouth. (Places her mouth on that 
 of his) 
 
 * It is a general custom in this country to apply the alpaua on the floor 
 nearly in all religious observances. 
 
 t This term signifies the wife of one's son. 
 
 J This expression, " the brightener of the ten sides " signifies that he did 
 good wherever he went. The ten sides are the north, south, east, west, 
 north-east, north-west, south-east, south-west, the top, and the under sides. 
 
 The reference here is to the wanderings of Rama in the wilderness of the 
 Deccan. The signification of the original is that while the husband Nobin is 
 he on the point of death, there is no preparation for hia wife to die with him.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 85 
 
 All at once. Ah ! Ah ! 
 
 Nobin s Aunt. (Takes hold of her body and raises her.") 
 My daughter, do not speak such words now (weeps) ; 
 if my sister were in her senses, her heart would have 
 been burst. 
 
 Soirindri Oh ! mother, my desire is that my husband be 
 happy in a future state in the same proportion as he had 
 suffered misery in this. My Lord, I your bond-maid will 
 pray to God for life ; thou wast most virtuous, the 
 doer of great good to others and the supporter of the 
 ipo&L The Great Lord of the Universe, who provides for 
 the helpless, must give you a place. Ah ! take me, 
 my Lord, with thee, that I may supply thee, with the 
 flowers for the worship of God. " Ah ! what loss ! what 
 ruin ! I see that Rama is going to the wilderness leaving 
 his Sita alone. What shall I do? Where shall I go ? 
 and how shall I preserve my life ? Oh friend of the 
 distressed, Oh Romanath ! Oh Great Wealth of the 
 woman, supply me some means in this distress, and pre- 
 serve me. I see that Nobin Madhab is now being burnt in 
 the fire of Indigo. Oh, Lord of the distressed ! Where is 
 my husband going now, making me unfortunate and without 
 support," (placing her hand on the breast of Nobin, and 
 raising a deep sigh). The husband now takes leave of his 
 family, having placed all at the feet of God. Oh Lord, thou 
 who art the sea of mercy, the supporter of the helpless, now 
 give safety, now save ! 
 
 Saralota. Sister, our mother-in-law has opened her eyes ; 
 but is looking on me with a distorted countenance, (weeping). 
 My sister, our mother-in-law never turned her face towards me 
 with eyes so full of anger. 
 
 Soirindri. Ah ! ah ! our mother-in-law loves Saralota so 
 much, that it is through insensibility only that with such an 
 angry face she had thrown this champa on the burning
 
 86 ^ NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 pot.* Oh my sister, do not weep now ; when our mother-in- 
 law becomes sensible she will again kiss you and with great 
 affection call you "the mad-woman's daughter." (Sabitri 
 rises up and sits near Nobin ; and looking steadily on him, 
 with certain expressions of pleasure). 
 
 Sabitri. There is no pain so excessive as the delivery of 
 a child, but that invaluable wealth which I have brought 
 forth made me forget all my sorrows on observing its face 
 {weeping}. Ah ! if Madam Sorrow did not write a letter to 
 Yama (Death) and thus* kill my husband, how very much 
 would he have been pleased on seeing this child. (Clasps 
 with her hand). 
 
 All at once. Ah ! ah ! she is become mad. 
 
 Sabitri. Nurse, put the child once more on my lap ; let 
 me pacify my burnt limbs. Let me once more kiss it in the 
 name of my husband. (Kisses Nobin}. 
 
 Soirindri. Mother, I am your eldest Bou ; do you not see 
 me. Your dear Hama is senseless ; he is not able to speak now. 
 
 Sabitri. It would speak when it shall first get rice. Ah, 
 ah, had rny husband been living what great joy ! .How many 
 musical performances ! (Weeps). 
 
 Soirindri. It is misfortune upon misfortune ! Is my 
 mother-in-law mad now ? 
 
 Saralota. Take our mother-in-law from the bed, my sister; 
 let me take care of her. 
 
 Sabitri. Did you write such a letter, that there is no 
 musical performance on this day of joy ? (Looking on all sides 
 and having risen from the bed by force, then going to 
 Saralota) I do entreat thee, falling at thy feet, madam, to send 
 another letter to Yama, and bring back my husband for once. 
 Thou art the wife of a Saheb ; else, why shall I fall at thy feet ? 
 
 * That is, she liad expressed so much anger against her j or as the origi- 
 nal, thrown her into the burning-pot of disgust and hatred. The Champa is 
 the name of a fragrant yellow flower.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 87 
 
 Saralota. My mother-in-law, thou lovest me more than a 
 mother, and such words from your mouth have given me more 
 pain than that of death. (Taking Jiold of the two hands of 
 Sabitri) Observing this your state, my mother, fire is, as it 
 were, raining on my breast. 
 
 Sabitri. Thou strumpet, stupid woman, and a Yabana, 
 why dost thou touch me on this eleventh day of the moon ?* 
 (Takes of her oivn hand}. 
 
 Saralota. On hearing such wor^s from your mouth I 
 cannot live (lies down on the ground taldng hold of her 
 tnGjfyer-in-law's feef). My mother, I shall take leave of this 
 world at your feet. (Weeps). 
 
 Sabitri. This is good, that the bad woman is dead. 
 My husband is gone to heaven ; but thou shalt go to hell. 
 (Claps with her hand and laughs). 
 
 Soirindri. (Rising up}. Ah ! ah ! our Saralota is very 
 good-natured. Now having heard harsh words from her 
 mother-in-law, she is become exceedingly sorry ! (To Sabitri) 
 Come to me, mother. 
 
 Sabitri' Nurse, hast thou left the child alone ? Let me 
 go there. (Goes to Nobin hastily, and sits near him). 
 
 Eeboti. (To Sabitri). Oh my mother ! Dost thou call 
 that young Bou a bad woman, who you said was incomparable 
 in the village ; and without whose taking food you never took 
 food. My mother, you do not hear my words ; we were 
 trained by you, you gave us much food. 
 
 Sabitri. Come on the Ata Couriaf of the child, and I 
 shall give you many sweetmeats. 
 
 Nobin' s Aunt. My sister, Nobin will be alive again ; do not 
 be mad. 
 
 * This day is kept sacred by the widows of this country. 
 t A certain ceremony performed on the eighth day after the lirth for 
 securing its goo<I fortune.
 
 88 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 Sabitri. How did you know this ? That name is known to 
 no one. My father-in-law said, when my daughter-in-law gets 
 a child, I shall give it (if male) the name " Nobin Madhab." 
 Now the child is born, I shall give it that name. My husband 
 always said, When shall the child be born, and I shall call him 
 by the name " Nobin Madhab" (weeps). If he had been 
 alive, he would have satisfied that desire on this day. (Aside, 
 a sound). There, the musicians are comiog. (Claps with her 
 hands). , 
 
 Soirindri. Bou, go into that room, the physician is 
 coming. 4' 
 
 Enter SADHU CHURN and the Physician. 
 
 (Exit Saralota, Meboti, and all the neigh- 
 bouring women ; and Soirindri, put- 
 ting a veil on her head, stands in 
 one side of the room.') 
 
 Sadhu. Our madam has risen up. 
 
 Sabitri. ( Weeps.) Is it because that my husband is not 
 here that you have left your drums at home. 
 
 Aduri. She has no understanding ; she is become 
 entirely insane. She called that dead elder Haldar 
 " My infant child," and chastised the young Haldar's wife, 
 calling her an European's wife. That young woman is weep- 
 ing severely. Again, she is calling you musicians. 
 
 Sadhu. So great a misfortune has now come to pass ! 
 
 Physician. (Sitting near Nobin). It is very probable 
 and also according to the Nidana* that while she is not 
 taking food for the death of her husband, and while she has 
 seen this miserable condition of her dearest son, she should 
 become thus. It is necessary to see her pulse one. Madam, 
 let me observe they pulse once. (Stretching out his hand 
 towards her). 
 
 * A treatise on the scieae of medicine.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 89 
 
 Sabitri. Thou vile man must be a creature of the 
 Factory, else why dost thou want to take hold of the hand 
 of the woman of a good family ? (rising up). Nurse keep 
 your eyes upon the child ; I go to take a little water. I 
 shall give you a silk sarhi. 
 
 Physician. Ah ! the light of the understanding will not 
 brighten again. I will send the Hima Sagara Toila (a medici- 
 nal oil) which is now necessary for her (observing the pulse 
 of Nobiii). His pulse is only very weak, but I do not find 
 any other bad symptom. The doctors are ignorant in other 
 matters, but in anatomical operations they are very expert 
 The expense will be heavy, but it is of urgent necessity to 
 call one in. 
 
 Sadhu. A letter has been sent to the young Babu to 
 come along with a doctor. 
 
 Physician. That is very good. 
 
 Enter Four Relatives. 
 
 First. We never even dreamt that such an accident would 
 come to pass. At noon-day, some were eating, some bathing, 
 and some were going to lie down in their beds after 
 dinner. I heard of it now. 
 
 Second. The stroke on the head appears fatal. What 
 ill-fated accident ! There was no probability of a quarrel on 
 this day ; or else, many of the ryots would have been 
 present. 
 
 Sadhu. Two hundred ryots with clubs in their hands 
 are crying aloud, " Strike off, Strike off, " and are weeping 
 with these words in their mouths, " Ah ! eldest Babu ! Ah 
 eldest Babu !" I told them to go to their own houses, since 
 if the Saheb get the least excuse, he will, on account of the 
 of the pain in his nose, burn the whole village. 
 
 Physician. Now, wash the head and apply turpentine 
 to it ; in the evening, I shall come again and try some other 
 
 N
 
 90 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 means. To make noise in a sick person's room is to increase 
 his disease ; so, let there be no noise here. 
 
 (Exit the Physician, Sadhu Churn and the 
 
 relatives in one way, and Aduri, the other ; 
 
 Soirindri sits down). The curtain falls. 
 
 FIFTH ACT THIRD SCENE. 
 THE BpOM OF SADHU CHURN. 
 
 On one side, Khetromani in great torment on he^ bed, 
 and Sadhu ; on the other side, Reboti, sitting. 
 
 Khetro. Sweep over my bed ; mother, sweep over my bed ! 
 
 Reboti. My dear, dear daughter, why art thou doing so ? 
 I have swept on the bed ; there is nothing then on the coat 
 of shreds. I have placed another which your aunt gave.* 
 
 Khetro. Thorns are pinching me, I die ! I die ! Oh ! turn 
 me to my father's side. 
 
 Sadhu. (Silently turning her to the other side. To him 
 self). This agony is the presage to death. (Openly) 
 Daughter, thou art the precious jewel of this poor man ; my 
 daughter, take a little food. I have brought some pome- 
 granates from Indrabad, and also the ornamented sarhi ; 
 but you did not at all express your pleasure when you saw 
 that. 
 
 Reboti. How very extravagant are my daugther's desires ! 
 She said once, give me a flower garland at the time of Semon- 
 ton. What is that countenance now become ? What shall I 
 do ? Oh oh ! Oh oh ! (Places her mouth on the mouth 
 of her daughter}. Ah ! my Khetro of gold is become a 
 piece of charcoal. Where are the pupils of the eye ? See, see. 
 
 * 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.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 91 
 
 Sadhu. Khetromani ! Khetromani ! Open your eyes fully 
 my daughter. 
 
 Khetro. My mother ! my father ! Ah, it is an axe ! 
 (Turns on the other side}* 
 
 Reboti. Let me take her on my lap ; she will remain 
 quiet there. (Comes to take her on tier lap}. 
 
 Sadhu. Do not take her up ; she will faint. 
 
 Reboti. Am I so very unfortunate ! Ah ! Ah ! My 
 Harana is as Kartika on his peacoc^f How can I forget 
 him ? Dear me ! my Siva ! 
 
 Sf^hu. 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 ? 
 
 Rhetro. My body is cut off a cracked Tangrah (a fish) 
 Ah ! ah ! 
 
 Reboti. I think the ninth of the moon is closed \\ 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. (Talcing hold of Sadhu' 8 neck, 
 weeps). 
 
 Sadhu. Be silent, don't weep now ; she will faint. 
 
 * These are wor<is which are expressed through great grief. 
 
 f Kartika is taken to be the most lovely in appearance among tho gods 
 the symbol of male beauty. He in the son of Siva and Doorgah. 
 
 J Here, the reference is to the last of the three days in which the god- 
 dess Doorgah is worshipped ; und 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.
 
 92 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 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 a sign of her end. 
 
 Reboti. She is crying out, thorns, thorns. I have prepared 
 her bed so thickly,* 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. C 
 
 Physician. (Talcing hold of tJie 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. A.t 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 Shuchi- 
 kavaran (a medicine) is required. 
 
 Sadhu. That Atapa which the Barah Ranee sent for 
 offerings of prayer is in the other room. Raychurn, bring 
 that here. 
 
 (Exit Raychurn.) 
 
 Reboti. Is Annapurnah -f- 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 
 
 * Thickly prepared signifies many coverings of the bed placed one above 
 another. 
 
 t It is one of the names of Doorgah. The term signifies " full of rice," 
 or the Goddess of Plenty.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 93 
 
 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 fiypan be placed full of 
 molasses, and the same be boiling by a great fire, I can also 
 berj^ 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 per- 
 formed. I cannot take any thing from you now, and also it
 
 94 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 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 alorg with him the 
 doctor to see Khetromani ; but he said nothing with cer- 
 tainty. The doctor observing my want, owing to the tyranny 
 of the Planters, gave t 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, ray daughter ? Oh ! Oh ! Oh ! (Weeps). 
 
 Physician. Her end is very near.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 95 
 
 Sadhu Raychurn take hold of her, take hold of her 
 (Sadhuchurn and Raychurn take Khetramoni from the. 
 bed, and go out-side}. 
 
 Rehoti. 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) 
 
 FIFTH ACT FOUETH SCENE. 
 THE HALL IN THE HOUSE OF GOLUK CHUNDER BASIL 
 
 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* (kisses). My child is sleeping most soundly (rubs the 
 hand over the head of the cm*pse). Ah ! what have the mus- 
 quitoes 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 th 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-\- (kissing the mouth). No, my dear, I have forgotten 
 
 * The face of her husband. 
 
 f It sometimes happens, that during sleep the child either cries or 
 laughs ; that is called, the Dealn of the child.
 
 96 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 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 loucl cries, still they made me wear the 
 shanka.* 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-f- (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, ^ukile 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'sJ resin, the whistling of the 
 
 * An ornament made of shell for the wrists of women, 
 f That is, let her become a widow within three days, who has made 
 me so. 
 
 J The Sala is the native name of the tree Shores rolusta.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIHROR. 97 
 
 swinging machine, the white hairs of seven co-wives* 
 bhanti f leaves, the flowers of the dhuturd, 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 j 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 bro- 
 ther. 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 sometime. 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 terrors of the clouds, the flashes of lightning are 
 
 * The wives of the same husband, 
 t Volkmeria odorata. 
 
 J Dhannnntari is the Physician of the Gods. 
 
 O
 
 98 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 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 thou 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 4k,' ar 
 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 Shoranau* (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 Sa- 
 ralota's neck by her two hands and throws her doiun on the 
 ground). Thou stupid, beloved of Yama. Now will I 
 kill thee (stands upon her neck). Thou hast devoured my 
 
 * Slioranan is one of the names of Kartikeya. In this phice, it refers to 
 Nobin Madhab, oil account of the great honor which he had acquired from 
 the people of the country ; and he is compared with Kartikeya, because lie 
 liad much honour among the gods.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 99 
 
 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 Saralo- 
 ta 's head). My dear Sarala has left this sinful world. (After 
 weeping, kisses Saralota.) 
 
 J^abitri. Gnaw the wretch and destroy her. She was call- 
 ing Yama to^devour my iofaiit ; 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 under- 
 stand, that thy most beloved Saralota was murdered by 
 thee. It will be good if that lamp no more give its light to 
 t-hee. Ah ! how very pleasant it is for a woman to be mad, 
 who has lost her husband and son ! The deer-like mind be- 
 ing enclosed within the stone walls of madness can never be 
 attacked by the great tiger Sorrow. I am thy Bindu 
 M^adhab. 
 
 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 elder brother ; thou hast destroyed my Saralota, 
 and thus hast applied salt to my wounded heart. 
 
 Sabitri. W T hat ! 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 re- 
 mained alive, although deprived of my husband and my son.
 
 300 NIL DARPAN, OR 
 
 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 dus^ } of 
 her feet"). 
 
 Enter SOJRINDRI. 
 
 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 ex- 
 cess 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}.
 
 INDIGO PLANTING MIRROR. 101 
 
 Bindu. My Bipin is now the pole-star in the ocean of 
 dangers ! (with a 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 plea- 
 sant to the view, the trees full of branches newly coining 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 th^ beautiful birds, and 
 the charming gale full of the sweet smell of flowers, only 
 WK>~^ 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 understand- 
 ing 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 rub- 
 bed my mouth. Who knows the greatness of maternal affec- 
 tion ? 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
 
 102 NIL DARPAN. 
 
 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 heart's Sarala 
 is gone to. The most beautiful, wise, and entirely devoted to 
 me ; she walked as the swan,* 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 Jake 
 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 Gauges 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 Sabitris feefy 
 
 [The curtain falls down. 
 
 * The gait of the swan is considered in this country the most beautiful 
 model of the motion of the feet. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 Calcutta Printing and Publishing Press, No. 10, AYcston's Lane.

 
 from which It was borrowed.
 
 Hill Hill Hill 
 A 000026036 4
 
 Univen 
 
 Soul 
 
 Lit