Stories from Tagore
=Some "what then?"=] Some future existence about which explanations
might be asked.
=no grandmother of a grandmother.=] No one, however old.
=never admits defeat.=] Refuses to believe in death.
=teacherless evening=.] Evening on which the teacher did not come.
=chamber of the great end.=] Death itself is referred to; it is the
end of human life on earth and what is beyond death is shut out
from us.
=incantation.=] Sacred verses or _mantras_.
IV.--THE RETURN OF THE CHILD
=found two masters.=] The wife was his master now, as well as her
husband.
=make for safety.=] Get to some place where he could not be caught.
=will be a judge some day.=] The baby seemed so wise to Raicharan,
that he thought he would certainly grow up to be a judge.
=epoch in human history.=] It seemed to Raicharan as though some great
event had happened which ought to be recorded.
=wrestler's trick.=] The writer, in fun, makes Raicharan's skill
depend on doing just what the wrestler tries to avoid, i.e. being
thrown on his back.
=swallowed down.=] Washed them away in a flood.
=little despot.=] The baby, who was able to make Raicharan do exactly
what he liked.
=The silent ceremonial.=] The author pictures the sunset as like some
splendid kingly ceremony, where every gorgeous colour can be seen.
="Pitty fow."=] "Pretty flower." The baby can only lisp the words.
=He was promoted from a horse into a groom.=] He was no longer asked
by the baby to be a "horse" in his games, but to look after this
toy carriage, as a groom would.
=with all sorts of curious noises.=] He began to imitate the sounds of
birds.
=destined to be a judge.=] The baby could see through Raicharan's
attempts to deceive, as a judge would see through false evidence.
=wavelets.=] The little waves seemed like so many thousand little
children running away in fun or mischief.
=there was no one there.=] These words are repeated again and again to
give the sense of utter loss and desolation.
=overwhelming resentment.=] His own baby seemed to have been given to
him in order to tempt him to forget his little Master. Raicharan
was angry to think that any one could imagine such forgetfulness
to be possible.
=The little Master could not cast off the spell.=] Could not keep away
from the servant who loved him so much. He fancies his little
Master has come back to life again in this new little baby, drawn
as it were by some enchantment of love.
=accumulated.=] Gathered together: referring to the idea of _karma_.
=personal appearance.=] He spent a long time in arranging his clothes
and making himself look handsome.
=country manners.=] Country people have habits and ways of speaking
which seem absurd to town people.
=a kind of condescension.=] As if he were superior and Raicharan were
beneath him.
=mendicant quack.=] A beggar dealing in herbs and medicines and
charms.
=hungry, eager eyes.=] As if she could never gaze long enough upon
him.
=the magistrate in him.=] The magistrate's way of looking at things.
=magisterial conscience.=] His instincts as a judge, who must condemn
the guilty.
V.--MASTER MASHAI
=Ratikanta.=] He is represented throughout as a typical hanger-on of
the rich family, selfish and flattering.
=Victor Hugo.=] The most famous of Victor Hugo's stories is called
"Les Miserables." Its opening scene of San Valjean and the saintly
Bishop is very well known in literature.
=deep-laid plot.=] Notice how throughout this story the different
members of this wealthy house appear to be unable to take account
of unselfish motives.
=this is sheer kidnapping.=] Adhar Babu believes that Haralal has
acquired some hypnotic influence over Venu and is trying to rob
him of his money.
=brokers and middlemen.=] Those who bought the grain from the peasants
and sold it to the English firm.
=any security.=] A money payment which would be forfeited if anything
went wrong.
=a note of hand.=] A paper signed by Venugopal saying that he owed so
much money.
=filed a suit.=] Brought an action in the law courts against the
father to recover the money lent to the son.
=Currency notes.=] Notes of twenty, fifty, a hundred rupees,--such as
could be changed for money.
=theft the night before.=] Adhar Babu had already missed the things
that Venu had taken away.
=it's a paying business.=] Adhar Babu imagines that Venu and Haralal
have become partners in order to swindle other people.
=with your connivance.=] With your secret knowledge and approval.
=Deliverance was in the infinite sky.=] He felt that all the evils,
which were pressing close around him, were broken through and
that he had come out beyond them into the clear light of truth. It
was like coming out of some narrow confined place into the open
sky.
VI.--SUBHA
=Subhashini.=] Sweetly speaking.
=Sukheshini.=] With lovely hair.
=Suhashini.=] Sweetly smiling.
=process of translation.=] To change the unspoken language of thought
into the spoken language of words is like translating the mother
tongue into a foreign language. Much of the beauty is lost.
=that speech of the dark eyes.=] Nature was speaking in every part of
her own great being, in the same silent way as those dark eyes of
Subha were speaking.
=without any common language.=] The cows had the common language of
looks with which to talk to Subha. But Pratap, who could speak,
had not learnt Subha's language of looks.
=they become public property.=] Everyone can amuse himself by talking
with them in idle moments.
=water nymph.=] Referring to the legends, common in all countries, of
water fairies or mermaids living at the bottom of a river or
beneath the sea and dwelling in wonderful palaces.
=tide from the central places of the sea.=] When the moon is full, the
tide rises to its highest point: it seems to start from some
central place far out at sea and to come rolling and surging in.
=silent troubled Mother.=] Nature, with her full tide and full moon,
seems troubled and longing to break out into speech, just as Subha
longed to do.
=they have caught your bridegroom.=] Pratap employs the word "caught"
from his favourite pursuit of fishing. The bridegroom has been
caught just like a fish.
=did her best to kill her natural beauty.=] Her hair was much more
beautiful when left in its natural way, instead of being all bound
up in a net.
=The God ... the great man.=] These words refer to the bridegroom
himself, who wields such mighty powers of choice or refusal. They
are ironical.
VII.--THE POSTMASTER
=like a fish out of water.=] Completely out of place, because he was
used to city life.
=macadamised road.=] He would have infinitely preferred the streets
and shops and crowded markets of Calcutta.
=smoke ... from the village cowsheds.=] Such as is used to drive away
the mosquitoes.
=BaA1/4l.=] A religious sect in Bengal whose members sing songs and often
go about begging.
=No more of this.=] He was afraid he might become too deeply attached
to Ratan if he stayed.
=Its fond mistakes are persistent.=] We continually try to deceive
ourselves that what we _wish_ to be true _is_ true. When at last
we find out the truth, we could almost wish we had not done so.
VIII.--THE CASTAWAY
=Like a rudderless boat.=] Notice how the metaphor is kept up to the
end of the sentence.
=The writ of Fate.=] They said that if she was to die, she was to die,
and nothing could prevent it.
=profiting their Brahmin guest.=] She would believe this to be an act
of merit for which she would be rewarded.
=out of his repertory.=] Out of the stock of plays he recited when he
belonged to the theatrical troupe.
=hearing sacred names.=] This also, she believed, would bring her
merit.
=forcing house.=] Like some glass conservatory used for exotic
flowers.
=exact stature.=] The manager wished him to take the parts of women
who are smaller than men.
=came to adequate revelation.=] Were now abundantly apparent.
=twice-born bird.=] Once born in the egg and once after the breaking
of the egg. The goose in the story was the messenger between Nala
and Damayanti.
=the tiger has no wish to become a mouse.=] A reference to a folk
story of a saint who turned a pet mouse into a tiger.
=German silver.=] A kind of cheap silver containing much alloy in it.
=to look for your Damayanti.=] To find Satish a wife.
IX.--THE SON OF RASHMANI
=do the duty of the father.=] By disciplining and punishing the
child.
=crippling his patrimony.=] Injuring the estate.
=this is preposterous.=] The natural thing would be for the property
to be divided between the two brothers and their descendants, but
by this will only one son was recognized and one set of grandsons.
=given to the grandsons.=] To Shyama Charan's and Bhavani's sons.
According to this preposterous will Bhavani was left out
altogether, and also his son.
=Shyama Charan's treachery.=] She fully believed that he had stolen
the will and put this false one in its place.
=Noto used to get reprimands.=] Used to be blamed for wishing to save
this waste of money. Of course the whole thing was imaginary, but
it gave Bhavani the pleased feeling of being generous.
=traditional extravagance.=] Such as had always been displayed in
former days when the family was prosperous.
=Some imaginary dog.=] She would say that some dog had run off with
the food which she had prepared.
=Bhavani had confessed.=] Rashmani, Noto and Bhavani himself were all
alike ready to keep up the illusion that the old magnificence was
still there, if only this or that accident had not deprived them
of its display.
=invisible ink.=] Ink which is invisible when first written with, but
when heated becomes visible.
=Baba, wait a little.=] In Bengal daughters are often called Ma
(mother) and sons Baba (father).
=it became absurdly easy.=] Because, after this, both the mother and
her son could join in the pretence together.
=lacking in proper enthusiasm.=] Did not care much about the subject.
=more than compensated.=] The pleasure of telling the news was greater
than the pain of knowing that such a sacrilege was going to take
place.
=with all the more deadly force.=] The thrower being up above, the
speed would increase all the more on the downward flight of the
missile.
=requiring expensive fodder.=] Vanity can feed itself on the idea of
self importance.
=to graze at large.=] Merely to feed on what is before it. He gave it
extra food by paying for a number of flatterers, just as a horse
is stall-fed with extra supplies of food.
=turned round on him.=] His vanity would be offended and he would be
his enemy instead of his helper.
=forced extravagance.=] Kalipada had been forced by the sneers of the
students to give far more than he could afford.
=draw tears from the eyes.=] An amusing way of saying that no burglar
would ever dream of trying to rob such a room.