61
CHAPTER - III
MYTHS, SYMBOLS AND IMAGERY OF
TAGORE’S SHORT STORIES
Myth has been playing a very important role in human society since
the past. It has had a significant role in our society from its inception as
'primitive religious narrative' to its recent development as 'an aid in the
exploration of the unconscious mind'.1 Myth has been used in literature too
since the past. Poets since Homer's time have shown their interest in myth
and mythology2 and, therefore, the study of poetry down the ages has also
been associated with the study of myth at the same time. In ancient Greek
and Latin literature myth has been associated with legend and folktale or fairy
tale. In the Iliad 'the legends of the Trojan war'3 and in the Odyssey 'the bizarre
folktales'4 are fused with the myths to which they are 'inextricably attached'.5
It is observed in the literary history of myth that "Poets from Hesiod (in
the Theogony) and the author of the Homeric Hymns to such nineteenthcentury poets as Keats, Tennyson, Meredith, and many twentieth century poets
Robert Graves, Ezra Pound, H.D., William Rose Benet, Edgar Lee Masters,
Kathleen Raine, Robert Lowell, and others have used this myth with varying
degrees of. effectiveness".6 For these reasons in literary criticism today myth
has its own importance.
It was Giambattista Vico (1668-1744), the Neapolitan scholar, who for the
first time had laid emphasis on the idea that myth was a kind of poetic language.
In fact Vico had failed to distinguish poetry from myth. Again, we find modem
critics like Richard Chase who has put emphasis on the idea that myth is only
poetry.7 Vico again said that primitive men expressed their emotions and feelings
through this language.8 By way of elaboration Vico also said that the first language
62
used by the primitive was a kind of gesture that had been developed into myth and
figurative language and ultimately through a process of developments it has
reached the modem stage.9
The eighteenth-century German critic and a contemporary of Kant (17241804), J. G. Herder (1744-1803), was influenced by Vico's theory. He accepted
Vico's point of view with modifications. By way of modifications he had laid
emphasis on the idea of derivation of language from myth and poetry preserved
the 'dynamic quality'10 of myth. Another critic of modem times Ernst Cassirer
(1874-1945), a follower of Kant, opposes Herder's idea of derivation of language
from myth. He suggests that both language and myth have originated from the
source language of symbolic formulation and that this source language has some
importance for his conception of poetry.11
All these views bear on the relationship between myth and poetry. But,
interestingly, the idea that narrative plays a vital role in myth to find out its meaning
has been excluded from these views. There is one definition ofmyth that includes
this idea:
Myth may be defined as a story or a complex of story element's
taken as expressing, and therefore as implicitly symbolizing, certain
deep-lying aspects of human and transhuman existence. ...n
So narrative has been an essential part of myth. The symbolic representation
of'certain deep-lying aspects of human and transhuman' obviously confirms the
idea that there is an essential relationship between myth and poetry. The symbolic
representation here includes the figurative language of metaphor and simile.
Primitive language was metaphorical in nature — metaphor not in the sense
of rhetorical metaphor as has been stated by Aristotle but in the sense of primary
or radical metaphor. So the presence of metaphor in the primitive language is
63
one of the factors for associating myth with poetry.13 The German critic J.G.
Herder in his essay on the origin of language Abhandlung uber den Ursprung
der Sprache (1772) had no hesitation in saying that the thinking of primitive
man was symbolic in nature and metaphor had been connected with the beginning
of speech itself. Herder also opined that the metaphors and symbols of the earliest
language had been combined to create mythology and a marvellous epic of the
actions and speeches of all beings a constant fable with passion and interest.'14
The litterateurs identify it as the most powerful device for the communication
of poetic vision. In support of metaphor Aristotle even stated that metaphor was
a sign of natural genius. But Aristotle made metaphor central to his Rhetoric and
not Poetics. It was Coleridge who first made metaphor central to his poetics. The
examples of imagination and fancy as given by Coleridge are the examples of
metaphor if metaphor can be considered in the wider sense of comparison. His
'reconciliation of opposites', the key factor of poetic imagination, is best illustrated
in metaphor. But the metaphor in the primitive language or in the primitive myth
had not been used as poetic symbol. With the development of the literary theories,
mythical thinking and myth emerged in literature in symbolic form. So the
deliberate and conscious use of myth as poetic symbol or metaphor in literature
has become a trend in recent times.
Another important aspect of myth that we should have to look at is its
ritualistic approach. A large number of anthropologists and classical scholars
spoke of the ritualistic approach of myth. Among them there are Jane Harrison,
Themis (1912), Francis M. Cornford, The Origins of Attic Comedy (1914),
A.B.Cook, Zeus (1914), S. H. Hooke, ed., Myth and Ritual (1933), Lord Raglan,
The Hero (1937) and the like.15 To define myth Harrison relies on a Greek
definition that explains myth as 'the things that are spoken in ritual acts.'16 This
definition of myth may raise one question whether a myth is always linked with
a ritual. In reply to this we may quote Don Cupitt's observation:
64
So we may say that a myth is typically a traditional sacred story of
anonymous authorship and archetypal or universal significance
which is recounted in a certain community and is often linked with
a ritual; that it tells of the deeds of superhuman beings such as
gods, demigods, heroes, spirits or ghosts; that it is set outside
historical time in primal or eschatological [i.e. last, ultimate] time
or in the supernatural world, or may deal with comings and goings
between the supernatural world and the world of human history; ...
We can add that myth-making is evidently a primal and universal
function of the human mind as it seeks a more-or-less unified vision
of the cosmic order, the social order, and the meaning of the
individual's life. Both for society at large and for the individual,
this story-generating function seems irreplaceable. The individual
finds meaning in his life by making of his life a story set within a
larger social and cosmic story.17
So myth has a kind of'story-generating' function and the story may be present
in religious or other narratives. In religious narrative, myth tells us about the
deeds of superhuman beings but in other narratives superhuman beings are
considered' more powerful beings that try to find out the meaning of their lives
by means of symbolism and story within the vision of social order or cosmic
order.
Symbol may have different meanings for different writers. For example,
rose generally symbolizes spiritual and eternal beauty but in the early poems of
W.B. Yeats, rose suggests Ireland, Maud Gonne, and some of the teachings of the
Golden Dawn, a
mystical society. W.H. Auden's views on symbol may be
quoted in this context:
65
A symbol is felt to be such before any possible meaning is
consciously recognised, i.e. an object or event which is felt to be
more important than the reason can consciously explain is
symbolic; secondly, a symbolic correspondence is never one to
one but always multiple and different persons perceive different
meanings.18
Under the influence of the Symbolist Movement and the Imagist
Movement, all modem writers, like W. B. Yeats (1865-1939), T. S. Eliot,
Ezra Pound (1885-1972) and W. H. Auden (1907-1973) identify myth as
a guide to and expression of unconscious feelings and instincts. But it
was Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) who first showed the new path for
scientific studies and how to adapt myth in poetry. He developed certain
theories regarding the personal unconscious. For Freud myth is a special
form of symbolic language to express the unconscious feelings and
instincts in a narrative form in order to reveal their operation and function
in the human psyche.
After Freud, Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961)19, a deciple of Freud who
founded the analytical school of psychology and developed a radical new
theory of the unconscious, expanded Freud's theories and opined that
beneath the personal unconscious there is always a collective unconscious
shared in the psychic inheritance of all members of the human family.
Jung is also of the opinion that from ancient times myths have been there
in world literature and these myths are the creations of the collective
unconscious. ‘ According to him, 'myth forming' structural elements are
always present in the unconscious psyche. He calls these elements as
'motifs', 'primordial images', or 'archetypes'. In Oxford English Dictionary,
the meaning of 'archetype' is original model or prototype. According to
66
Jung, archetypes are common mental pictures which all people have from
birth, and which appear frequently in art and literature.
Archetype has always a universal appeal. It has two aspects — a shape
and a creative energy. The present form is determined by the past history
and the creative energy is used to determine the future. Behind archetype
there is always an original imagination. In literature the presence of
archetype can be justified in two different ways:
1.
In a single stoiy there may be many more stories having a particular
property or quality.
2.
The subconscious mind of the writer pertaining to the race or the
traditional notion or culture may be found hidden in the background
of the story.
The critics of myth have made a list of the archetypal theme-motif-
image. Some of them are, birth, adolscence, love, guilty consciousness,
exoneration, logic for fighting against a dream, a dispute between an image
and a thing, and the like.20
One of the most important motifs is the Hero Archetype. In the Hero
Archetype, certain motifs have been identified as Quest,
Separation,
Transformation, Resurrection, and Return.21
In archetypal image there are:
The river : It indicates death, resurection and life-cycle.
The sea
:
It indicates boundlessness, universality, unconsciousness and
death.
Rising sun
: It indicates birth, creation and enlightenment.
Setting sun : It indicates death.
67
Appearance of a Witch : It indicates danger, anxiety and death.
Presence of a snake : It indicates evil, corruption, sensuality, destruction,
mystery, wisdom and unconsciousness.22
In archetypal image, there are different numbers :
Three : It indicates light, spiritual awareness and unity.
Four : It indicates four elements (earth, air, fire, water), life cycle
and four seasons.
Seven : It indicates the completion of a cycle.23
Again, there are certain colours present in the archetypal image:
Black (darkness) : It indicates chaos, mystery, the unknown, death, primal
wisdom, the unconscious, evil, melancholy.
White
: It indicates light, purity, innocence and timelessness.
Red
: It indicates blood, sacrifies, violent passion and disorder.
Blue
: It indicates illusion (maya) and also religious feeling.
Green
It indicates growth, sensation, hope and fertility.24
/
In modem times, critics have given their opinions on myth. In the
essay Modern Mythology critic Friedrich Schlegel has said, :
I will go straight to my goal. It is my contention that our
poetry lacks a, center, such as mythology was for the
ancients, and the essential shortcoming of modem poetry in
relation to that of antiquity may be summed up in these
words: we have no
mythology. But let me add that we are
close to acquiring one, or rather it is time that we seriously
collaborate in producing one.25
68
Again, he has given us the idea of his 'new mythology' :
.... The new mythology must, on the contrary, be fashioned
out of the profoundest depths of the spirit ; it must be the
most artificial of all works of art, for it is to encompass
all others, it is to be a new course or a vessel for the ancient,
eternal fountainhead of poetry and itself the everlasting Poem
which contains within itself the seeds of all other poems.26
From his words it is clear that mythology or myth can become a
new vessel for the modem poets to keep the everlasting poem intact.
Imagery is a term that is commonly used to mean all figures of
speech, but a distinction is surely necessary to find out the actual meaning
of the language involving images. There are three essential
categories of
imagery : '(1) mental image, (2) figurative image, and (3) symbolic image.
The first categoiy deals with the sensation it
produces in the reader's
mind, while the second and the third categories deal with the significance
of the imagery bearing language.27
According to the psychologists, there are different kinds of mental
images like visual (sight, then brightness, clarity, colour and motion),
auditoiy (hearing), olfactory (smell), gustatory (taste), tactile (touch, then
temperature, texture),
organic(awareness of heartbeat, pulse, breathing,
digestion), and kinesthetic (awareness of muscle tension and movement).
These categories have been made for the purpose of
literary criticism
but each of them is responsible for defining the very nature of the material
and in this respect they are related to one another.28
A successful image confirms the writer's command over the object
or situation sought to be represented. Sometimes, surprising images are
69
also created by writers using the most familiar materials. These surprising
images play an inseparable part of the total expression of the whole work.
An image having its own value in a particular situation
of a work, may
also add strength and complexity to the total situation recalling other key
thoughts and feelings and attitudes. An image should not be a fanciful one,
because such an image destroys the reality of an object or a situation.
In this context we may quote H. Coombes' observation :
Images manufactured for the sole reason of striking forcibly abound
in our poetry. Sometimes they are approvingly called ingenious,
sometimes bold; but it can be repeated that what matters most is an
image's power to present vividly, suggestively, appositely, and an
image fancifully manufactured never does this
....29
The successful development of an image is possible if 'a sustained pressure
of imaginative truth and of intellectual control'30 work together. A good writer
always tries to do so, while a bad writer avoids them.
Imagery becomes one of the favourite topics for the modem critics when
they found that these distinguished common types of devices that provide grounds
upon which the nature and development of poetic language and the quality of the
poetic imagination may be based. The New Critics do not consider metaphor as a
rhetorical device as Aristotle stated. They consider metaphor as a mode of
apprehension by means of which moral truths different from prose or scientific
statement may be perceived and expressed. While Friedrich Max Muller observed
that primitive men expressed the abstract in terms of the concrete to compare
the objects, modem critics think that primitive men knowing the meaning of the
abstract and the concrete expressed them in a rich and imaginative fashion. So it
was a natural gift to the primitives whereas the modem poets are stmggling to
acquire this quality through a value-system. In this context we may quote from
70
Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics :
From these notions, a value-system has been constructed according
to which a good poet 'reconciles' abstract and concrete, thought
and feeling, reason and imagination, and a bad poet, like the
scientist, separates them. Thus the good poet aims at wholeness of
experience by means of the poetic imagination or 'mythic
consciousness,' where by he sees facts in terms of values, and
continually invents fresh metaphors (myths in little) and symbols
(expanded metaphors). ...31
Therefore, metaphor serves as the most powerful device through which a
good poet can achieve the 'wholeness of experience'.32 With the continuous
development of metaphors, myths, and symbols in literature, modem critics also
prefer metaphor to simile, symbol to personification, and myth to allegory for
their 'superior unifying powers'.33
The study of symbolic image emphasizes the basic assumption of repetition
and recurrence of images in particular and word patterns in general. These image
patterns can be traced out both in literary works and myths. Images or image
clusters occur mainly in two ways : (1) the recurrence of the same image in
different contexts throughout the work, and
(2) the recurrence of different
images together in different contexts throughout the work. The light and darkness
imagery ofRomeo and Juliet, the animal imagery in King Lear, and the imagery
of sickness in Hamlet are the best examples of recurrent image clusters.34
In modem criticism, imagery has been considered as a special poetic device.
With the help of this device the poet can more effectively explain, clarify, and
make a vivid presentation ofwhat he is talking about and thereby a sense-movement
can be produced in the mind of the readers. We, therefore, get a new form of
poetry where imagery gives place to movement. The movement, of course, derives
71
its force from imagexy. Therefore, movement and imagery demand equal attention
in the analysis of a poem.
Coleridge's point of view regarding the Primary Imagination is helpful for
us to think about the creativity of the mind. The creative mind becomes active
when the perception gets the proper nutrition from what Coleridge has called,
'the infinite I AM’. The Primary Imagination, therefore, is responsible for
\
perception first, and then organization of the perceived thought into a meaningful
design. But there is a difference between an ordinary perception and an artistic
perception. In case of the artist's perception a double sense has been working all
the time — the sense of'withness' and the sense of'otherness', while in ordinary
perception the sense of 'otherness' only prevails.35
The Secondary Imagination implies two types of activity. First, it works in
the field of synthesis and, second, it helps in the process of unification. Primary
Imaginations also synthesises sense with Reason and Reason with rapture. In this
respect the Secondary Imagination is 'an echo of the former'.36 The Secondary
Imagination differs from the Primary Imagination in its style of operation. It
tries to unify all the faculties that manifest themselves at the superconscious
level. It has a power to recreate while dissolving, diffusing and dissipating the
data provided by the Primary Imagination. It is also an echo of the Primary
Imagination in the sense that it co-exists with the conscious will and its agency is
of the same kind as that of the Primary Imagination.
The power of co-existence with the conscious will is the most important
factor of Imagination for which distinction can be made between Imagination
and Fancy. This distinction has been clarified by Coleridge :
[The Poet] diffuses a tone and spirit of unity, that blends and (as it
were) fuses, each into each, by that synthetic and magical power,
to which I would exclusively appropriate the name of Imagination.
72
This power, first put into action by the will and understanding, and
retained under their irremissive, though gentle and unnoticed
control, laxis effertur habenis, reveals itself in the balance and
reconcilement of opposite and discordant qualities : of sameness,
with difference; of the general with the concrete; the idea with the
image; the individual with the representative; the sense of novelty
and freshness with old and familiar objects; a more than usual state
of emotion with more than usual order; judgement ever awake and
steady self-possession with enthusiasm and feeling profound or
vehement; and while it blends and harmonizes the natural and the
artificial, still subordinates art to nature; the manner to the matter;
and our admiration of the poet to our sympathy with the poetry.37
And Fancy:
... has no other counters to play with, but fixities and definites.
The Fancy is indeed no other than a mode of Memory emancipated
from the order of time and space.... But equally with the ordinary
•
memory the Fancy must receive all its materials ready made from
the law of association.38
Imagination as a whole cannot be regarded as an act of will only. It has
dynamic activity like the powers of growth and productions. It acts in the line of
reshaping raw material into new and living wholes. Fancy, on the other hand, only
has the power to construct patterns from the ready made materials i.e. 'fixities
and definites' and in this regard it lies behind Imagination. It can juxtapose images
but does not have the power fusing the images into a unity.
In Indian writings too we can notice the extensive use of myths, symbols
and images. In using myths, symbols and images, the Indian writers always depend
on Indian culture and heritage to make their works meaningful to the readers.
73
Indian landscape, mythology and folklore provide a great number of materials
to them. Most of the Indian children are well acquainted with mythological stories
of the Indian tradition as in most of the Indian families grandmothers narrate
these stories to their grandchildren.
Rabindranath Tagore also heard mythological stories and fairy tales from
his great-aunt Shubhankari and servant Shyam in his childhood and boyhood.
Tagore's mother Sarada and his great-aunt Shubhankari hailed from Jessore
District, now in Bangladesh. For that reason many of their servants also came
from the then East Bengal. Tagore's boyhood had mostly been influenced by
those servants. Amongst those servants, Shyam influenced Tagore the most in
his boyhood days. Shyam always tried to confine the little boy, Rabi, to a
room by drawing a chalk circle round him and told him about the Lakshmana-Sita
episode from the Ramayana. In that process he warned the little boy not to come
out of the circle otherwise he would face the same consequences as faced by
Sita in the Ramayana. Then again, he heard the stories of Indian Yaksha or Jakh,
the treasure guarding spirit of Indian Mythology.39 These stories influenced the
little boy so much that later he used these myths in some of his short stories, like
Sampatti Samarpan (Wealth Surrendered) and Svarna Mriga (The Fool's
Gold).
The story Sampatti Samarpan (Wealth Surrendered) centres round the
myth of Indian Yaksha or Jakh. Indian Yaksha or Jakh, somewhat like the
European Mammon, symbolizes the guardian deity of wealth; but above all the
Yaksha myth is an admixture of the study of formal classical symbolic meaning
alongwith Indian Tantricism and rich traditional folk culture of ancient India.
This admixture shows us the typical conflict of the Yaksha.
In Sampatti Samarpan (Wealth Surrendered), this typical conflict is very
much present in Yajnanath Kunda, the main character of the story. The name of
74
the character has its speciality. The first five letters of the name Yajna and the
myth of Yaksha are almost homophones.40 Also, Kunda was the name of Yaksha's
son. Again, Yajnnath also means 'Lord of Sacrifies'. This use of unique meaningful
name shows us Tagore's conscious effort of using the myth of Indian Yaksha or
Jakh in this particular story.
The story Sampatti Samarpan (Wealth Surrendered)
centres round
the universe of Yajnanath who is a miser, suspicious and ruthless by nature.
The story has characters (Yajnanath, Brindaban, Yajnanath's son and
Gokulchandra, Yajnanath's grandson who is later known as Nitai) who
interact with one another to create events. The universe of Yajnanath is
created on a visionary plane though all the characters are strongly toned
by its peculiar atmosphere. At the beginning of the story, the situation
is created by the announcement of Brindaban Kunda to his father that he
is leaving the house right now because his miser father lets his wife die
without medicine. He is really dissatisfied with his father. On the other
hand, Yajnanath gives him an instant permission to go thinking that he
cannot only save a fair amount of money but also Brindaban may one day
poison him. So he is relieved when his son leaves home. He is pained
to find that Brindaban has taken his four-year-old son Gokulchandra with
him. He cannot stay peacefully at home without his grandchild. Even in
the afternoon, when people after taking lunch sleep at home, he wanders
about the village path with a hookah in his hand. In one such wanderings,
he meets the boy Nitai who has run away from home. He shelters him
with the intent of employing him as the Yaksha to guard his wealth. He
gets an opportunity accordingly when the boy wants to flee from the house
hearing his father Damodar Pal is coming here in search of him. He does
not want to go home as his father wants that he should go to school.
75
Yajnanath takes control of the situation by assuring the boy, 'I'll hide you
where no one will be able
to find you. Not even the people in this
village.'41
The main events occur in
the
dark paths of the sleeping village,
in a temple surrounded by jungle in a dark night where they are alone:
^ ^ fraFrwti sitW
^%rr
Wi
Tjjvs
SttCSRT WFt?r
*l*r ^ <?m
ct?:
r
^FTI ^IW-C¥tCTt
c^-c^
^^
^
^f<r %
Tstfwf ^fH <*rr
ctm
m
■» ■« frURr <f#t
■Rut ^t$Ut C5|9TI
WT
f^Ti
^ Tjp ^Ftuut *iiui42
(The night wore on. Though he was doing his utmost to stay awake,
Nitai began to nod as he sat. At one in the morning, Yajnanath took
Nitai by the hand and led him along the dark paths of the sleeping
village. There was no sound anywhere, except for a dog barking
from time to time, answered loudly by other dogs near and far.
Sometimes nocturnal birds, startled by the sound of footsteps,
flapped away through the forest. Nitai nervously clasped Yajnanath's
hand.)43
The event described here by the third person narrator is filled with a sense
of decay and corruption, and a sense of some approaching disaster. The atmosphere
projects the impending danger to Nitai. In the use of animal imagery, the narrator
creates an atmosphere of guilt and shame for which 'there was no sound anywhere',
even a dog cannot bark frequently and also the other barking dog cannot come
closer to them. Again, some night birds alarmed by the sound of footsteps cannot
stay there to witness the shameful incident. In T.S. Eliot's Murder in the
76
Cathedral (1935), the chorus has a premonition of the approaching murder of
Thomas A Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury, In horrifying animal imagery
the chorus paint a dreadful picture of death. In Sampatti Samarpan (Wealth
Surrendered), the story-teller employs the same technique to give the readers
an inkling of the shape of things to come. The atmosphere of the night is the
messenger of the impending disaster here. She is the one and only witness of
this event. The dark colour symbolizes an archetypal image here. The critics of
myth have drawn an attention to the types of colour imagery. The colour dark
corresponds to black only, an archetypal image, indicating disorder, mystery,
unfamiliarity, death, unconsciousness, destruction, melancholy, matter related
to original knowledge, and the like. In this story we may notice Tagore's conscious
effort to use this particular colour to create an archetypal image. The dark colour
here indicates disorder because the event has not been done here in an orderly
manner, rather it has been done in a mysterious way. This is also something
unfamiliar happening to the village. Nitai, the little boy, is also unconscious
about the factThe event also has created a melancholic atmosphere. And lastly,
why has Yajnanath done this? He has done this because he wants to make Nitai a
Yaksha to guard his property.
Yajnanath now enters into the temple surrounded by jungle, with Nitai. There
he lifts up a slab in the middle of the temple and the little boy notices that beneath
it there is a kind of cellar with a lamp flickering. The little boy is surprised and
curious, but also afraid. After that Yajnanath climbs down a ladder and the nervous
Nitai follows him. Down there Nitai notices some brass water-pots, a mat in the
centre, Vermillion, Sandal-paste, garlands and other objects generally used for
ritual. He is surprised to find the brass-pots full of gold and silver coins. He
jumps with joy when Yajnanath declares that he will surrender all his wealth to
the little boy.
77
According to the declaration, Yajnanath asks the little boy to sit on the mat
to perform the ritual. The boy carries out the order. Yajnanath starts the puja
smearing sandal-paste on his forehead and a spot of Vermillion and also putting a
garland round his neck. Then sitting before him, he starts muttering mantras
continuously without caring for the plight of the little boy who is terrified by this
act. At last he drags the pots one by one before Nitai, making him say each time:
fs wc
w
^
^
w
c%r
W%\
^ stfint fan”44
... I count and bequeath this money to Gokulchandra Kunda son of
Brindaban Kunda son of Yajnanath Kunda son of Paramananda
Kunda son of Prankrishna Kunda son of Gadadhar Kunda son of
Yudhisthira Kunda; or to Gokulchandra's son or grandson or greatgrandson or any of his true descendants.45
What is involved here is the use of archetypal image of number. While
giving his property to Nitai, Yajnanath mentions his seven generations downward.
Number seven symbolizes the completion of a cycle. As the boy says these
words repeatedly, he feels so drowsy all the while. As a result he cannot
pronounce the words distinctly. At the end of the ritual, the air of the small chamber
becomes thick with lamp-smoke and the breath of Yajnanath and Nitai. Nitai's
mouth becomes dry and his hands and feet become feverishly hot and he cannot
even take breath in a proper way. Suddenly the lamp flickers and goes out and
there is darkness all around. In the darkness, the boy realises only that Yajnanath
is climbing up the ladder and the boy gets panicky and asks out of fear:
“...TW,
-qta?”46
(Where are you going DadaTf7
78
wtN
'tRw,
•$%it
tiffsiN i ^
^fti c^
^rfi 1w ^ *tfH w«r c*ffa ftflw
*$
c^i^i”48
('I'm leaving you', said Yajnanath. 'You stay here: no one will find
you but remember Gokulchandra son of Brindaban son o.f
Yajnanath.)'49
The whole event has occurred in the dark again. In the darkness Yajnanath
completes his work to make Nitai the Yaksha of his wealth.
The story, Svarna Mriga {Fool's Gold) serves the paradigm of the
Yaksha myth again. The Indian people are well acquainted with the term the
golden deer which is there in the Ramayana. In the Ramayana, Ravana's minister,
Maricha, takes the form of a golden deer to tempt Sita. Sita, attracted by the
golden deer, compels Rama to catch the deer for her. Ultimately it isolates Sita
from Rama. In the Ramayana, the golden deer was sent by the Rakshasa and
not by Yaksha50. But here, in this story, the image of Rakshasa has been
transformed to the image of Yaksha, the protector of wealth, by Rabindranath
Tagore. In Hindu mythology, Shiva, the god of peace, mocks at Yaksha and
rejects his company because the protector of wealth always destroys peace. The
goddess Durga, the wife of Shiva, on the other hand, differs with her husband
in this regard.
The story, Svarna Mriga, {Fool's Gold), centres round the conflict between
husband and wife under the indirect influence of Yaksha. The names of the herb
and the heroine of the story, Baidyanath and Mokshada, are symbolic in nature.
Baidyanath corresponds to Shiva and Mokshada to Durga.
Shibnath and Maheshchandra are two brothers. They have two sons Adyanath
and Baidyanath. Maheshchandra has no interest in money matters, and he relies
on Shibnath's judgement in this regard. Consequently, Maheshchandra is cheated
79
by his elder brother Shibnath of his rightful shares. He only gets a few Company
Bonds to maintain his life. Shibnath manages his son's marriage to a rich man's
only daughter to increase his wealth further. On the other hand, the impractical
Maheshchandra can only manage to have his son's marriage to the eldest of the
seven daughters of a poor Brahmin on whom he has taken pity, without getting
dowry.
After his father's death, Baidyanath is perfectly happy and satisfied with the
Company Bonds he has inherited. Like his father he has no interest in money
matters and so never thinks of earning a living to increase his property. He runs
his life peacefully cutting branches off trees and carefully shaping them into
walking-sticks. He even gives away these sticks as gifts to young and old —
whoever asks for these. He also, spending hours of time, makes — in the name
of extended charity — fishing-rods and kite reels. So he enjoys a very easy­
going and carefree life. But life is not so peaceful as he thinks it to be. Trouble
starts on his homefront. His wife, Mokshada, becomes jealous of her elder sisterin-law Bindhyabasini's fortune. Her ornaments, Benarasi silk saris, her refined
conversation exhibiting her sense of pride create unbearable mental disturbance
for Mokshada. Consequently, conflict starts between the husband and the wife.
Mokshada’ becomes more and more discontented with her life everyday.
Baidyanath is unable to fmd any solution to fulfill her wants. In such a situation,
one morning a Sannyasi arrives at his door. He invites the holy man in and feeds
him lavishly visualising future wealth which flashes through his mind like lightning.
After much effort, he learns that the holy man knows the art of making gold, and
is willing to share the secret with him. Knowing this Mokshada becomes
excited :
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^ri51
(Mokshada was enthralled. Like people with jaundice finding that
everything looks yellow, the world seemed full of gold to her. As
her imagination magically turned beds, furnishings and the walls
of the house to gold, she mentally invited Bindhyabasini for a visit.
The sannyasi, meanwhile, consumed two seers of milk a day and
one-and-a-half seers of mohanbhog; and by extracting the Company
Bonds from Baidyanath raised large sums of money.
The seekers of fishing-rods, sticks and reels had to go away
disappointed when they knocked on Baidyanath’s door. His children
might not get their meals on time, might fall and bruise their
foreheads, might shakes the heavens with their howls, but neither
parent took notice. They sat stock-still in front of the sannyasi’s
cauldron — unblinking, speechless. The restless flames, casting
reflections, turned pupils of their eyes into touch-stones. Their
gaze grew red and fiery as a setting sun).52
81
When two of the Company Bonds have been burnt as offering to
that golden fire, the holy man, assures them that the gold will take its
colour the next day. But the next morning he has vanished from the house:
^Itl 3TOt% CFT^tt
^
'Pllt 1W
^g9j«r Tetter ^
1%r
*rtf^n53
(Next morning the holy man was nowhere to be seen. The
golden gleam vanished; even the raise of the sun looked dark.
The bed, the furnishings, the whole house looked four times
more shabby and poor).54
What is projected here is the indirect influence of Yaksha on the husband
and the wife causing damage to the family. The decay and destruction of the
family have been presented here through archetypal images. Sitting round the
holy man's cauldron, with the hope of becoming richer and richer, 'Their gaze
grew red and fiery as a setting sun.' In archetypal image the red symbolizes danger
and the setting sun indicates death. The danger of false hope causes their
destruction and mental death.
Mokshada somehow gets over her mental block and starts exhibiting her
superiority over her husband. Baidyanath's condition in the house becomes
unbearable'. Meanwhile, she consults soothsayers showing them her palms and
her horoscope. Some of them predict that widowhood is not her lot. Some of
them predict that her childbearing chances are good. She is not satisfied with
their readings at all. However, one astrologer predicts
that Baidyanath will find
a hidden treasure within a year. He even takes oath that if it does not happen, he
will bum all his books and almanacs. She is highly satisfied. She gets the
opportunity when she hears from her paternal uncle, a lawyer in Benares, who
has just returned home from Benares for pw/a-holidays, that there is a certain
82
house in Benares that contains hidden treasure and it is based on a popular belief.
She sends Baidyanath to Benares to find out the hidden treasure. Reaching Benares,
Baidyanath takes possession of the house. At night he cannot sleep out of fear
thinking that he is the lone member in that empty house. Late at night he hears a
faint but clear clinking sound. He is afraid but out of curiosity and with the false
hope of getting hidden treasure he starts creeping from one room to another
with a lamp in his trembling hand throughout the night. Many nights has been
passed in this fashion. Then, one afternoon, locking all his doors he starts tapping
the floors with a crowbar. Suddenly, he hears a hollow sound from a small side
room. Late at night he starts digging at the spot. By dawn, he is able to make a
hole there. He sees an underground room there. It is so dark that he is afraid of
stepping down there. He covers up the hole with a mattress. The continuous distinct
sound terrifies him. Though he flees from the room out of fear, yet he cannot go
far away leaving the room unprotected. After having his dinner, he enters fearfully
into the hole.
After much effort, he finds a huge copper pot dangling from a thick iron
chain in the water flowing over the floor. Every time the water level increases,
the iron chain dashes against the pot making a clinking sound. Splashing through
the water, however, he manages to reach the pot, but finds it empty. He cannot
believe his eyes. He shakes the jar, turns it upside down. But nothing is to be
found. He behaves like a madman to find that hidden treasure in vain. He gives up
his hope and climbs out of the hole covering his body with mud.
One winter evening he returns back to his house with a broken heart.
Mokshada is dissatified with her husband and behaves badly with him. At night
she enters into her bedroom keeping her husband outside and locks the door
from inside. In the morning Baidyanath is found nowhere.
83
The separation between the husband and the wife is created by the universal
symbol of mankind's greed and aspiration. The separation between Rama and Sita
in the Ramayana exemplifies mankind's greed and aspiration too. Mokshada's
universe is created on a visionaiy plane and the character of Baidyanath is strongly
toned by its peculiar atmosphere.
Anadhikar Prabesh (Tresspass) centres round two different myths. In the
beginning and middle of the story, the story-teller builds up a myth of ritual and
convention and in the end, he, himself, breaking up the previous myth, establishes
a different myth that the religion of man triumphs over the religion of ritual and
convention to win a place at the top of the universe.55 More clearly, the last part
of the story serves the paradigm of the hero myth.
In the beginning of the story, Anadhikar Prabesh (Tresspass), the third
person narrator presents Jaykali Debi, the widow of Madhabchandra
Tarkavachaspati and the mistress of the Radhanath temple, as a woman having a
strong personality to control not only the temple but also the whole locality.
Every person of the village is really afraid of her looks, gestures, words and even
her silence can bum up anybody whom she condemns. Even she has no female
friends. Most women are afraid of her. She has no patience with gossip or small
talk. She does not approve of petty complaints and winnings. She is such a strong
and sturdy woman. Her husband being a Tarkavachaspati could never justify his
title in her presence. She is a tireless worker in the village. During rituals, or any
other occasion and times of danger and difficulties, she always extends
community service. She has an another quality of nursing sick people. But her
patients are afraid of her, considering her the god of death Yama himself. She
has a strong personality to dominate all affairs in the village. Nobody in the village
has the courage to ignore her. The widow has no children of her own but she has
the responsibility of upbringing two orphaned nephews. She deals with them
84
strictly. She does not like to spoil their lives by giving indulgence. The elder
nephew named Pulin is eighteen-year old. Proposal of his marriage occasionally
come to her. But she unlike others never encourages Pulin to marry at that stage.
The logic behind her decision is that Pulin should begin earning money and then
he can bring a wife home. Such a practical woman she is.
In the middle of the story, Jaykali's dedication to manage the temple is
represented as something veiy laudable. She takes immense care in the dressing,
bathing, and feeding rituals of the idol. She is so dedicated in the affairs of the
temple management that even the priest carrying out the idol worship stands in
awe of her. In the past the deity had not received all that was offered to him
because there was another hidden object of worship in the temple, her name was
Nistarini. The offerings of ghee, milk, curds, and flours were shared between
heaven and hell. But the situation has now changed. As the temple is Jaykali's
most precious possession, she takes utmost care to look after every affair of the
temple. The courtyard of the temple now looks spotlessly clean without having a
blade of grass anywhere. On one side of the temple there is a madhabi creeper
supported by a bamboo trellis. She removes each dry leaf of the creeper herself.
She cannot bear any slackness in the maintenance of the temple. Earlier, local
children used to enter the courtyard to play hide and seek and sometimes young
goats entering there chewed up the bark of the madhabi creeper. All these have
stopped now. Children cannot enter there except on festival days and the hungry
young goat has to return from the gate bleating to its mother tasting only of the
stick. Persons involved in unscriptural practises, even if they are close relatives,
are not given permission to enter into the courtyard of the temple. Once Jaykali's
sister's husband, who liked to eat chicken-meat cooked by Muslims, came to
visit his relations in the village. During his stay at the village, one day when he
tried to enter into the temple, Jaykali strongly objected his entry and consequently,
85
there was a permanent rift between the two sisters. In her personal life, she is
harsh and independent but she has surrendered completely to the idol. In front of
the idol, treating all in one with watchfulness, tenderness, grace and complete
submission, she considers the idol as her husband and son, her entire world.
Such a strong believer of the religion has been changed by one incident.
In the end of the stoiy the narrator has shattered the earlier myth of ritual
and convention creating an atmosphere to show that everyone is the product of
the atmosphere. The incident is that one day she hears the sound of a frightened
animal close by the temple as well as the distant noise of people in chase of the
animal. Suddenly footsteps are heard in the courtyard of the temple. Turning
round she sees the madhabi creeper shaking. She thinks that her younger nephew
Nalin to be there whom she has punished for entering the courtyard to pluck
madhabi flowers earlier the day. With that asssumption angrily she comes
towards the creeper. She cries out with the name of the boy. But nobody answers
back. She then discovers a very dirty pig parting the branches of the creeper. It
has taken shelter for fear of its life. She becomes sympathetic to this unhappy
creature. The pujari brahmin comes with a stick to drive away the dirty pig but
she stops him from doing so. The atmosphere of the courtyard has suddenly
changed her mind and she cannot control her love for the creature :
OT s'MR'oH
W fsfiRPte
■«
C^r-#RlW
(This madhabi grove in the temple yard was a little image of
Vrindavan. The fragrance of its flowers was redolent of the sweet
breath ofthe cowgirls with whom young Krishna played: it recalled
dreams of luxuriant bliss by the river Kalindi. The holy soil of that
86
paradise tended by the widow's tireless dedication, was suddenly
defiled in this grotesque manner.)57
Imagery has been used here to create an atmosphere where Krishna, a super
human, can only live. In Indian mythology, Krishna has been presented as a saviour
of the poor, downtrodden people. He is our hero. He is bom repeatedly on this
earth with the intention of quelling the villain and save the life of the righteous
(^W,
The atmosphere has influenced Jaykali, too. So when the
priest of the temple has rushed in with a stick, Jaykali stops him. She closes the
gate of the temple from inside. The drunken, untouchable mob has arrived and
clamoured for the animal. But Jaykali orders them to go back and not to pollute
her temple. The crowd, knowing that the animal has been there inside the temple,
return back. They cannot believe that Jaykali can give shelter to that wretched
animal in the temple of her Radhanath. The great god is satisfied because through
Jaykali he has saved the life of the animal.
The story Putrayajna (Son Sacrifice) might serve as the paradigm of
fertility myth. The story-teller has presented the myth in an ironical way. The
story has characters, (Baidyanath, Binoda, Kusum, Nagendra, and the maidservent) that interact with one another to create events.
The protagonist Baidyanath married to Binoda with the motive of
having a son
He did not feel love for her. But it was the irony of his fate that Binoda
failed in child-bearing. Baidyanath grew alarmed because he could visualise the
open gates of the hell where men are condemned for not having sons. He was
worried about who would inherit his wealth after his death. He could know the
future more realistically than the present. But Binoda wanted her husband's love
and attention. For her it was a sad situation :
87
t%i; ...58
(... her budding youth was withering away through lack of love. The
hunger of her heart in this world burned too strongly for her to
care about the hunger of the spirit in the next.
...)59
Binoda wanted what a woman wants at this age—giving and receiving love.
But she was an ill-fated bride. The beauty of her youth have been wasted away due
to lack of love. The fire image has been used here to evoke an actual and homely
experience of a barren village bride. Then again :
'$FCrftT'Q<F'G 'Qipwr coflw *f3M>
60
(... But instead of the delicate showers of new love, Fate decreed a
stinging, roaring hailstorm, poured down by her husband and his
lofty family hierarchy. They all accused her of being barren. Her
wasted youth wilted, like a flowering plant kept indoors away from
light and air.)61
A vivid simile, 'her wasted youth wilted, like a flowering plant kept indoors
away from light and air', has been used here to evoke Binoda's growth and decay.
When she could not bear their scolding, she would go to Kusum's house to
play cards. She could enjoy playing cards and talking to her. Sometimes Kusum
invited her young brother-in-law to play with them. In that way Binoda and
Nagendra could meet each other often. Both of them enjoyed each other's
88
company. Again there is growth and dacay. One day at noon Binoda, Kusum and
Nagendra were playing cards. After a while Kusum heard her young child crying,
and went out of the room.
Nagendra kept on chatting to Binoda, but he had no idea about what he was
saying:
t<n<H RHC^fl Wlf*!
RchIhN klN°
■ ’Neel
°i3^1
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(.*pPl«1,"<5^K
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(... his heart galloped, and his blood surged through every vessel
in his body. Suddenly youthful passion broke through the barriers
of modesty : he seized Binoda's arms, wrenched her towards him,
and kissed her. Shocked, angered, wounded, flustered by this
affront, Binoda struggled to get free — but suddenly they noticed
a third person in the room, a servant-woman. Nagendra looked at
the ground, searching for an escape-route).63
Nagendra had been hypnotised and consequently he made the mistake.
But his mistake brought misery to Binoda. The hypnotic effect in his mind has
been created by 'his heart galloped' and 'his blood surged through every vassel in
his body'. The effect was so much on him that he seized her arms, wrenched her
towards him, and kissed her. The maid-servant spread the news of the incident in
detail to the members of the house. Binoda was out of the house. But it is a
paradox that the inheritor of Baidyanath in the meantime took shelter in her womb.
Nobody knew, even she did not know that.
89
After that Baidyanath became richer and richer. He married two more
times. But' no son was bom to him. Baidyanath married one more time with the
hope that he could be the father of a son. Even the astrologers examining the
girl's horoscope predicted that there would be a quick increase in numbers in
Baidyanath's household. But it did not happen. He was frustrated. At last the pundit
advised him to arrange an expensive fertility rite to acquire a son. It continued
for four months. One morning, an extremely lean and thin woman entered the
house with an emaciated boy. She begged for food especially for the boy. But
Baidyanath asked his servant to chase off the woman and the little boy. The little
boy was Baidyanath's only son and the woman was his wife Binoda. The astrologers'
prediction that his household would quickly increase its numbers was true but he
could not identify his son.
In the storyJdithi {Guest) , we can notice the stoiy-teller's superb use of
symbols and imageiy. The story centres round the restlessness of a teenaged
boy, Tarapada, who never wants to settle down in any place. He has a very unusual
character compared to other boys of his age group. Escaping from his house, he
joins a yatra company. When the master of the company starts loving him like a
son and other members of the troupe show their love for him, he leaves the
company one day without prior intimation. The third person narrator presents
Tarapada's restlessness and his love for music through appropriate animal
imagery :
wr
i ...64
(Tarapada was as wary of ties as a young fawn, and was also like a
deer in his love for music....)65
So his restlessness is the outcome of his apprehension of tying down and
also his love for music.
90
His passion for music compels him to join in a group of panchali singers
next. The master of the group likes him and under his able guidance Tarapada
learns to recite panchali. But when the relationship grows deeper, he vanishes
from the group once again. The narrator again presents his second escape through
bird imagery—^si'gM
cffi l”66 ("... Like apet
cage-bird, Tarapada learnt a few songs, and then one morning flew away.")67 In
colloquail language there is a term called Pakshibritti. The literary meaning of
the term is that a bird never stores its food. After satisfying its hunger, the bird
flies away leaving the remaining portion of its food. Tarapada, too, like a bird
flies away after satisfying his hunger.
Finally, he joins a group of gymnasts. He learns to play the flute very well.
He even plays Lucknow Thumris in his flute during gymnastic display. But, again,
he flies away from the group one day. After that he comes to know that the
zaminders at Nandigram have started an amateur ya^ra-group. So he sets for
Nandigram to join the group and on the way he meets Matilal Babu's household
on a boat. Matilal Babu is a zaminder of Kathaliya. Knowing that the boat has
been heading towards Kathaliya, the boy asks him ifhe can drop him at Nandigram
on the way. Matilal Babu agrees to that and invites Tarapada. Both Matilal Babu
and his wife Annapurna show great tenderness to this boy. Specially, Annapurna
takes great care to feed the boy. Both the husband and the wife are really impressed
of him and start loving him like their son. But their love for Tarapada hurt their
only little daughter Charushashi. The little girl is filled with jealousy and hatred.
Being the only child, Charushashi is the sole claiment of all their love. She is
whimsical in nature and a source of unlimited wilfulness. She always gives
opinions about every little thing of her like eating, dressing or doing hair-styles.
Her parents' affection for Tarapada makes her more and more hostile to
him. Realising her daughter's jealousy, Annapurna stops showing her affection
for Tarapada in her presence.
91
Reaching in Kathaliya, Tarapada makes a quick survey of the village and
within two or three hours he becomes able to establish friendly relations with
everyone in the village addressing them Dada or Kkura or Didi or Mashi as
appropriate. He can make friendship so easily because he has no real ties
anywhere.
The hitch between Tarapada and Charushashi has been continued. And
amazingly Tarapada stays at this house almost two years which is contradictory
to his character. Possibly he stays with the family because he fails to fathom the
little girl. More and more he fails, he feels atracted towards her. But this attraction
is not love or sexual attraction. Charushashi also starts showing a little bit of
likings for Tarapada.
In the meantime, Charushashi reaches almost eleven of her age. Matilal
Babu has already sought out two or three matches for her. One day Annapurna
asks him why he searches outside for a groom. She then suggests that Tarapada is
a fine boy and Charushashi actually likes him. Matilal Babu is surprised and he is
reluctant to consider Tarapada as the bride-groom of their only daughter on the
ground that they know nothing about his family background. But later on he changes
his mind. Finally, the husband and wife together send a messenger to Tarapada's
village to find out about his ancestry. The messenger informs that the family is
poor though belongs to high-caste. So Matilal Babu sends a formal proposal to
Tarapada's mother and elder brother. They are overjoyed and accept the proposal
at once. The wedding date has been fixed in Sraban. Matilal Babu makes the
arrangement for Tarapada's mother and elder brother to bring them over from the
village. But he conceals it from Tarapada. The arrangement for the wedding has
been ready even a trumpet-and-drum band has been hired from Calcutta to mark
this special occasion. An outburst ofjoy has been noticed both inside and outside
the world. The joyous scene of the outside world has been presented by the
92
story-teller through the imageiy of movement about thing which are motionless
by attributing to them human feelings and actions :
to
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%ir ^ to ctk fmt rotw^i *j*r tomtom
^ifrot kkkm ^kt*fcp *Hie*ipF*> <j#?jt ^ri68
(Early monsoon clouds formed in the sky. The village-river
had been dried up for weeks; there was water only in holes
here and there; small boats lay stuck in these pools of muddy
water, and the dry river-bed was rutted with bullock-cart
tracks. But now, like Parvati returning to her parents' home,
gurgling waters returned to the empty arms of the village -:
naked children danced and shouted on the river-bank, jumped
93
into the water with voracious joy as if trying to embrace the
river; the villagers gazed at the river like a dear friend; a huge
wave of life and delight rolled through the parched village.
There were boats big and small with cargoes from far and
wide; in the evenings the ghat resounded with the songs of
foreign boatmen. The villages along the river had spent the
whole year confined to their own small worlds : now, with
the rains, the vast outside world had come in its earthcoloured wateiy chariot, carrying wondrous gifts to the
villages, as if on a visit to its daughters. Rustic smallness
was temporarily subsumed by proud of contact with the world;
everything became more active; the bustle of distant cities
came to this sleepy region, and the whole sky rang.)69
What is involved here are the recurrent image of movement and the
image of sound. Imagery of movement and sound have been created by
the 'early monsoon clouds formed in the sky', 'gurgling waters returned
to the empty arms of the village', 'naked children danced and shouted on
the river bank, jumped into the water with voracious joy as if trying to
embrace the water', 'a huge wave of life and delight rolled through the
parched village', coming of 'boats big and small with cargoes from far and
wide', 'the ghat resounded with the songs of foreign boatmen' in the
evenings, 'the bustle of distant cities' and 'the whole sky rang'. The river
and the village are personified here. Two vivid similes, 'like
Parvati
returning to her parents' home' and 'the villagers gazed at the river like
a dear friend' have been used here to evoke the feelings of the readers.
So happy a picture this is indeed. But the question is about the
attitude of Tarapada — whether he would like to settle down in his life
94
marrying Charushashi. He escaped from everywhere previously without
caring the affection of other people for him. This time also the same
thing happens to him. One moonlit evening he gets the opportunity to
escape from the family.
It may be mentioned here that William Radice has
misinterpreted
the colour of the chariot. Instead of 'earthly-coloured watery chariot', it
should be saffron-coloured watery chariot because in the original story the
colour has been called Gairik meaning saffron. And this colour may be
one of the factors for Tarapada's flight from the village. Because the
saffron colour symbolizes renunciation. The saffron-coloured watery chariot
brings a sense of renunciation to Tarapada's mind. Again, the chariot
symbolizes movement. So both the colour and the image of movement
act like a driving force for Tarapada to fly away from the village.
His escape from the village has been presented by the story-teller
through the
imagery of movement :
<4% mm
iptef
* csplt T&5TI
fnit
m&\ '<l%vs '<dlR5T, CTOT
w'wn
^rf ^r, fir mm
C5R- -^?It FpFT,
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95
C¥T ^0 fint 'WfaM* ffe- ^tf^l
w^si ^Wft—pW 1%^,
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#rferr %r f^i^r ^sifevsMit^Ti70
(Meanwhile at Kurulkata, on the Nag family estate, a famous
chariot-festival was due to be held. One moonlit evening
Tarapada went to the ghat and saw, on the swift flood-tide, boats
with merry-go-rounds and ya/ra-troupes, and cargo-boats rapidly
making for the fair. An orchestra from Calcutta was practising
loudly as it passed; the yatra-troupe was singing to violin
accompaniment, shouting out the beats; boatmen from lands to
the west split the sky with cymbals and thudding drums. Such
excitement ! Then clouds from the east covered the moon with
their huge black sails; an east wind blew sharply; cloud after
cloud rolled by; the river gushed and swelled; darkness thickened
in the swaying riverside trees; frogs croaked; crickets rasped
liked wood-saws. To Tarapada the whole world seemed like a
chariot festival : wheels turning, flags flying, earth trembling,
clouds swirling, wind rushing, river flowing, boats sailing, songs
rising ! There were rumbles of thunder, and slashes of lightning
in the sky : the smell of torrential rain approached from the
dark distance. But Kathaliya village next to the river ignored all
this : she shut her doors, turned out her lamps and went to
sleep.)71
96
What attracts here most is the use of the image of movement and
the sound image. The dominant image in this story in fact is the image
of movement which can be notice from the beginning to die end. The
image of movement has been created by the phrases 'the swift flood-tide.',
'boats with merry-go-rounds and yatfra-troupes, and cargo-boats rapidly
making for the fair', 'clouds from the east covered the moon with thenhuge black sails', 'east wind blew sharply', 'cloud after cloud rolled by',
'darkness thickened in the swaying riverside trees' and 'slashes of lightning
in the sky'. The sound image has been created by 'an orchestra from
Calcutta was practising loudly', 'the yatra-troupe was singing to violin
accompaniment, shouting out the beats', 'boatmen from lands to the west
split the sky with cymbals and thudding drums', 'the river gushed and
swelled', 'frogs croaked', 'crickets rasped like wood-saws' and the 'rumble's
of thunder'. Kathaliya village can ignore this but Tarapada cannot. Everything
in nature is full of action and this suits his nature too. So without much
ado he flies away from the village without caring that 'clouds from the
east covered the moon with their huge black sails'. The literary meaning
of Charushashi is beautiful moon. As the moon in the sky is covered with
black clouds, so darkness has descended on Charushashi's life.
Tagore's use of verbs, particularly of movement, in this story specially
in this. passage is noteworthy. With the use of the verbs of movement
following
inanimate and motionless things, as subjects, like 'turning',
'flying', 'trembling', 'swirling', 'rushing', 'flowing', 'sailing', and 'rising', he
gives life to the whole passage in general and to the whole stoiy in
particular. Another notable thing here is the use of the family name Nag.
The family name Nag has been used here as an archetypal image. Nag
actually means snake. In an archetypal image, the presence of snake
97
indicates a shocking sight causing horror, decomposition and destruction.
Though the snake is not physically present here, yet the
story-teller
intentionally uses the name to indicate the dissolution of the relationship
between Tarapada and Charushashi. Tarapada's escape from the village
signifies that he is indeed a guest in this world. His philosophy of life
may be correlated with Tagore's philosophy of life:
to
ssrpriw
srpis
to i72
(I have had my invitation to this world's
festival, and thus my life has been
blessed. My eyes have seen and my ears
have heard.)73
The
story,
Malyadan
{The
Wedding
Garland),
deals
with
a
complicated and tragic love-affair. In the story, the third person narrator
presents Jatin, the tragic hero of the story, as the victim of circumstances.
The story centres round Patal's childish pranks projecting Jatin as the
husband of Kurani, the parentless sixteen-year old girl. The events occur
in Patal's house in the village, the hospital in Calcutta and in Jatin's
lodgings in Calcutta. The problems of rural life do not come to the fore
here; On the other hand, the story is charactered by a prolonged meditation
on the innocense of a village bride ending in a tragic love-affair.
98
The main story starts with Jatin's spending the first day of his visit
on the quiet shady varandah of his sister Patal's house, basking in the cosy
indolence of the spring afternoon. At this time Patal enters into the scene
and starts teasing Jatin for not having a wife. It is spring now and the
season serves as a background to this tale of romance. The mention of
the spring season clearly brings out the picture of the intoxicating power
of youth. When Patal teases Jatin and compares his luck with Dhana's
(Dhana, the gardener, has a wife to quarrel with) he makes a vow that
he will exchange garland with the first wood-gathering girl he sees the
next morning. Jatin's vow reminds us of a well known story of fairy tales,
where a prince like Jatin takes a vow to marry a poor girl in the form
of wood-gathering girl. Jatin, a doctor by profession, makes the vow
without thinking its serious consequences. This is the irony of his fate
that Patal at once presents Kurani before him and asks the innocent girl
whether she likes her cousin or if he is not handsome. Jatin feels ashamed
and leaves the place. The literal meaning of Kurani is foundling but here
etymologically it means the wood-gathering girl.
The presence of Kurani encourages us to imagine the perfect
situation for Jatin to keep his promise. When Kurani innocently replies
to the questions of Patal in the positive, Jatin embarassingly complains
to Harakumar Babu, Patal's husband, against Patal's silly jokes.
From the next day, Patal's teasing seems to be a torture for Jatin.
Even when Jatin is at lunch, she sends Kurani to sit by his side and fanning
away the flies. Jatin becomes angry and warns not to take his
meal any
more. The next morning a peculiar incident happens with the conspiracy
of Patal directly and the season indirectly :
99
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TOTO TOrat
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TOTOI”
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^ Rw TOrf ^Rr cRH fRR ^fro TO TO^ -^m
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^itotR to top4
(Next morning, Jatin was sitting on the verandah. Koels were
calling incessantly among the trees, and the air was heavy with
the scent of mango blossom. He noticed Kurani standing by
hesitantly with a cup of tea. Her deer-like eyes showed a trace
of piteous apprehension, as though see could not make out
whether Jatin would be annoyed if she brought him his tea. Jatin
100
felt sorry and got up to take the cup from her. How could anyone
frivolously hurt this young fawn of human parentage? As Jatin
took the cup of tea, Patal appeared at the other end of the
verandah. She shook her fist at him and laughed soundlessly as
if to say, 'I've caught you out!'
That evening, while Jatin was reading a medical journal,
he was startled by the scent of flowers. He looked up to see
Kurani entering the room with a garland of bakul flowers. Jatin
told himself, 'Things are really going much too far. Patal mustn't
be allowed to cany on with this cruel joke any longer.'
He said to Kurani, 'What a shame Kurani! Don't you see
that your Didi is simply having some fun with you?'
Before he had finished, Kurani was on the point of leaving
the room from fear and embarrassment. Jatin quickly called her
back: 'Let's see your garland, Kurani.' He took it from her.
Kurani's face beamed with happiness. At that very moment, a
burst of loud laughter rose from the next room).75
The atmosphere created here symbolizes the platform for a perfect
romantic situation. Season of spring and specially the bird image bring
out the superb manifestation of youth. The Koel's springtime call is
traditionally associated with the romantic mood of human beings. The girl's
innocent nature has been presented here through animal imagery. Jatin takes
a cup of tea and accepts the garland of bakul flowers from Kurani because
her 'deer-like eyes' symbolize her innocence and also he does not want
to hurt 'this young fawn of human parentage.' Auditory, visual and olfactory
images are fused here as one sensation. The images have been created
by 'koels were calling incessantly among the trees', 'the air was heavy with
101
the scent of mango blossom', 'he was startled by the scent of flowers',
'Kurani's face beamed with happiness' and 'a burst of loud laughter rose
from the next room'.
The next morning Jatin is not found anywhere in the house. On
entering the room, Kurani finds the room empty, but the garland that Kurani
presented to him was lying on the table. Something has happened to her
at that moment because the season's romantic mood is not over :
<nror
<?m
1wi
^
«?r
^ri
£fc#R5fi#-#r, cw<w^r,vsfa *fcsr^^ ^
^ C5|9T
i ‘W ipfolsr
C¥RtW
stfM
^
C¥M
^ri^itc¥ ^rfsrtat t^r i wtot <4% w-fcc^pjvs 3W
Wl W C¥
’^TNIW
(The spring morning was soothingly beautiful. The sunlight
filtered through the trembling branches of a gulmohar tree and,
laced with shadows, fell on the verandah. Squirrels ran to and
fro with their tails up, and birds sang their varied notes in chorus,
as if unable to exhaust their store of thoughts. The joy of life
had awakened in this comer of the earth among the sunlight and
leafy shadow. Yet in the midst of this, the foolish girl could
102
find no meaning in her life and surroundings. Everything seemed
to be a harsh riddle. What could have happened and how, to make
the morning, the house, and everything else so utterly desolate?
She had very little power to understand anything : who had
suddenly cast her into the occult pit of her heart's fathomless
pain, with no light to lead her? Who would raise her again to
the realm of easy spontaneous life, among the self-oblivious
voice of trees, birds and animals?)77
The images of light, sound and motion are fused here as one
sensation. The images have been created by 'the sunlight filtered through
the trembling branches of a gulmohar tree and, laced with shadows, fell
on the verandah', 'squirrels ran to and fro with their tails up', 'birds sang
their varied notes in chorus' and 'the joy of life had awakened in this comer
of the earth among the sunlight and leafy shadow'. The girl now begins
to feel unhappy against the backdrop of romance all around. She, like
Radha, is now eager to be united with her lover. In Vaishnava love poetry,
there are poems that evoke the pangs of separation experienced by Radha
and Krishna. Kurani behaves like Radha because she unknowingly falls in
love with Jatin. She is a victim of the cmel ironies of life. She feels
separated from her husband. She keeps herself lying on the floor of Jatin's
empty room clutching the leg of Jatin's bed as if dedicating herself at
her beloved's feet.
In the end, we see that Jatin gets his appointment at a hospital in
Calcutta. One afternoon, during his duty hours, he has been informed that
a new patient has been admitted to the female ward. He goes to examine
the patient and identifies her as Kurani. After that he brings her to his
lodging. Previously, he got the information from Patal about her escaping
from the house:
103
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m ^sta*
*oi^l%i
cf#
cawM^ ^?r
'BiRfe
tit'l^ft ^iwi ^wt^ Ti^teRr
^sf®t ##f
*\m ^?t%
%f witc^ ^*ter ^flSfotsr csrtt
>$)w4 itw
www #5M
^i«f otI:
t$K c^ PFT^tPmt qffol ^
^0=14 ’sj^st
*?1^ji1 “Hfi^rf ijj«*>p i&Qo
■5il% w ^Prfett 1wft c^n ^rlw ^ ct c^ «tl®tfl» W% '&m\ Rw
^•IBT
^ ^w *i||<i(rt4 ^Itp w ^ fafaRT ^Itvs,
^o cwrfa ^sisr ^!%
^tnt, qfar CTWftri/q^ft Rt ^ ^-ra
•1w <?ft;
‘®t'5ITt¥ 'sl^M ^Cil?t
W» 1<#,
##1 ^l?Jl %5V3 <Jlf®r5jf S$H1 (7T
*Tt
"sputt^
«ti *$m ^ ^?m£t ^ir -#w <#«
ct ^MrW w R#it ^$jw ^r
^iPrat \j^> #Jt
*p%»
c^H; cefl¥ (?ft: c^r^smt tHcw^tc^fi ,®#flfti78
(Jatin had come to know everything about Kurani from Patal.
In his leisure hours, his thoughts were haunted by her pitiful
yet tearless deer-eyes, darkened by the shadow of unspoken
emotions. Now in her illness, the long lashes of those eyes cast
a dark line across her emaciated face. Jatin felt a tightening of
the heart at her very sight. Why had God made this girl as
delicate as a flower if only' to let her drift from famine to
epidemic? How could her soft slender body, now lying stricken
on the bed, have borne so much danger and suffering in such
a short life? And from where had Jatin come to invade her life
and create a third crisis? His suppressed sighs pounded at his
104
heart; yet the surging pain also struck a chord of pleasure on
his heart-strings. Even without his asking for it, a love rare in
this world had fallen at his feet on a spring afternoon, like a
sprig of madhabi flowers in full bloom. What man on earth could
deserve this worshipful offering fit for a god — a love that cast
itself down at the very threshold of death?)79
Seeing Kurani in such a condition, Jatin feels both pain and pleasure
at his heart. He feels pain seeing the condition of Kurani and he feels
pleasure because, 'a love rare in this world had fallen at his feet on a
spring afternoon, like a sprig of madhabi flowers in full bloom.' He
considers himself lucky because a man in this world cannot expect more
than what Kurani offers to him in the name of love.
Jatin sympathetically treats Kurani by taking his sit beside her and
feeding her warm milk sip by sip. After a long time, Kurani sighs and
opens her eyes but she cannot identify Jatin at first. But when he calls
her name, she recognises Jatin. Jatin then tells her to drink up the milk
in a very tender voice. Kurani at once sits up and follows his beloved's
advice. Jatin sends message to Patal of these development. In the evening,
Jatin notices the garland of dried bakul flowers round her neck. He at
once understands which garland it is. In the middle of the night, Harakumar
Babu and Patal come to his lodgings. Knowing that she will not survive,
Patal asks Jatin if he does not love Kurani. Jatin does not reply but enters
into Kurani's room and tells her to put the garland of dried bakul flowers
round his neck. Kurani at first shows her resentment for his earlier
rejection. But when Jatin declares that he loves her, she puts the garland
round his neck. Wedding took place with this little gesture during spring.
Before dawn Kurani sets for an another world leaving her husband. The
affair ends in a tragedy.
105
What we have found in this discussion that the four stories, like
Sampatti Samarpan (Wealth Surrendered), Svarnamriga
Anadhikar Prabesh
{.Fool's Gold),
(Trespass) and Putrayajna (Son Sacrifice) have been
centred round the conception of myth. As Tagore heard mythological
stories in his childhood and boyhood respectively, so he used these myths
in he above mentioned stories. Critic like Bhudeb Choudhury has not put
forward any discussion in favour of the technique of myth used by the
story-teller in these four stories. But critic Tapobrata Ghosh has put
forward his own opinion regarding myth in favour of the stories like
Sampatti Samarpan (Wealth surrendered)', Svarnamriga {.Fool's Gold)
and Anadhikar Prabesh (Tresspass).m But he has not put forward sufficient
analysis in favour of the said stories. Again, the critic has considered the
story Khokababur Pratyabartan {Little Master's Return) as a myth —
an archetype.81 Considering the word Pratyabartan, he has opined that the
first Khokababu is the archetype of the second.82 But this story has not
been considered as an archetype here because the concluding part of the
stoiy does not show the sign of archetype. At the end of the story
Raicharan faces the hard reality. He has confessed that he has stolen the
son of Anukul. And the day when Phelna has been brought back to Anukul
and his wife as their own son, Raicharan has lost the faith of everyone
including his own son Phelna. When Anukul has told him to leave the
house and 'annoyed' Phelna requested his father to give him a monthly
allowance instead of allowing him to stay in the house, he has been really
hurt. At last looking once at his son and making an obeisance to all,
Raicharan leaves the house without saying anything .In this way the story
ends on the hard ground of the modem short story.
The systematic analysis of four short stories like Sampatti Samarpan
{Wealth Surrendered), Svarnamriga {Fool's Gold), Anadhikar Prabesh
106
{Trespass) and Putrayajna (Son Sacrifice) has been done in this chapter
taking into account of the criticism of myth in the light of the western
method of criticism. This analysis has been made here to show how the
symbols and imagery have been used here recurrently to illuminate the
poetic qualities of myth. These stories also show that Tagore has used
myth as the expression of unconscious, feelings and instincts. Tagore’s use
of symbolic language have also shows his adoptation of myth in the light
of Sigmund Freud. Through this analysis we have observed here that like
Freud Tagore also has used a special form of symbolic language to express
the unconscious feelings and instincts in a narrative from in order to reveal
their operation and function in the human psyche.
Though the other two stories like A tithi (Guest) and Malyadan
(The
Wedding Garland) have not been centred round myth, yet the stories have
been analysed here to show Tagore's superb skill in 'image-making' and
'symbol-making' qualities.
While discussing Tagore's Atithi
Bhudeb Choudhury has remarked,
(Guest),
efiftf83
('....The story is completely musical and dominated by the atmosphere'.)84
In his words we have found what G. Wilson knight has said about the
'atmospheric suggestion',85 But the critic Bhudeb Choudhury has not put
forward sufficient elaboration in support of his comment.
The story Malyadan (The Wedding Garland) has not been discussed
in his study. In this chapter six stories have been analysed under the light
of western method of criticism that have been discussed in the beginning
of this chapter. G. Wilson Knight's interpretation has also been used while
analysing the stories. In our discussion it is observed here that without
focusing the light from different angles nobody can get the taste of the
inner beauty of the short stories of Rabindranath Tagore.
107
NOTES AND REFERENCES
1.
Lillian Feder : Ancient Myth in Modern Potery, p. 4.
2.
Ibid, p. 8-9.
3.
Ibid, p. 23.
4.
Ibid, p. 23.
5.
Ibid, p. 23.
6.
Ibid, p. 16.
7.
William K. Wimsatt JR. and Cleanth Brooks : Literary Criticism A Short
History, p. 700.
8.
Ibid, p. 700.
9.
Ibid, p. 700.
10. The phrase has been taken from William K.Wimsatt JR. and Cleanth Brooks
: Literary Criticism A Short History, p. 700.
11. Ibid, p. 700-701.
12. Alex Preminger (Ed.) : Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, p.538.
13. Terence Hawkes : Metaphor, p. 38.
14. Ibid, p. 38.
15. Alex Preminger (Ed.): Princeton
Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics,
p. 538-539.
16. Ibid, p. 539.
17. Laurence Coupe : Myth, The New Critical Idiom, p.5-6.
18. W. H. Auden : The Enchafed Flood, quoted by John Bayley in The Romantic
Survival, p.164.
108
19. This reference has been taken from Guerin Wilfred L., Labor Earle, Morgan
Lee, Reesman Jeanne C. and
Willingham
John
R. : A Handbook of
Critical Approaches to Literature, p. 177.
20. This reference has been taken from Tapobrata Ghosh : Rabindra Chhotagalper
Shilparup. p. 63.
21. This reference has been taken from Guerin Wilfred L., Labor Earle, Morgan
Lee, Reesman Jeanne C. and
Willingham
John
R. : A
Handbook of
Critical Approaches to Literature, p. 166.
22. Ibid, p. 161-163.
23. Ibid, p. 163.
24. Ibid, p. 161.
25. Friedrich Schlegel : Modern Mythology, composed in Richard Ellmann and
Charles Feidelson, Jr. (Ed.) : The Modern Tradition, p. 660.
26. Ibid, p. 660.
27. Alex Preminger (Ed.) : Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics,
p. 538.
28. Alex Preminger and T.V.F. Brogan (Ed.) : The New Princeton Encyclopedia
of Poetry and Poetics, p. 560.
29. H. Coombes : Literature and Criticism, p. 47.
30. Ibid, p. 55-56.
31. Alex Preminger (Ed.) : Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics,
p. 366.
32. Ibid, p. 366.
33. Ibid, p. 366.
34. Alex Preminger and T.V.F. Brogan (Ed.) : The New Princeton Encyclopedia
of Poetry and Poetics, p. 562.
109
35. This reference has been taken from George Whalley : Poetic Process, p. 51.
36. The phrase has been used by Coleridge and in the present context it has
been taken from George Whalley : Poetic Process, p. 51.
37. Ibid, p. 51-52.
38. Basil Willey: Nineteenth Century Studies, p. 24.
39. Rabindranath Tagore: Chhelehela, composed in Rabindranath Tagore: Rabindra
Rachanavali, Vol. XIII, p. 716 & 719 and also from Tapobrata Ghosh: Introduction,
translated by Sukanta Chaudhuri, quoted from Sukanta Chaudhuri.(Ed.) :
Rabindranath Tagore Selected Short Stories, p. 1.
40. Tapobrata Ghosh : Introduction, translated by Sukanta Chaudhuri, quoted from
Sukanta Chaudhuri.(Ed.): Rabindranath Tagore Selected Short Stories,
p. 14.
41. William Radice (Tr.) : Rabindranath Tagore Selected Short Stories, p. 80.
42. Rabindranath Tagore : Galpaguccha Akhanda. p. 52.
43. William Radice (Tr.) : Rabindranath Tagore Selected Short Stories, p. 80.
44. Rabindranath Tagore : Galpaguccha Akhanda. p. 53.
45. William Radice (Tr.) : Rabindranath Tagore Selected Short Stories, p. 81.
46. Rabindranath Tagore : Galpaguccha Akhanda. p. 53.
47. William Radice (Tr.) : Rabindranath Tagore Selected Short Stories, p. 82.
48.
Rabindranath Tagore : Galpaguccha Akhanda. p. 53.
49. William Radice (Tr.) : Rabindranath Tagore Selected Short Stories, p. 82.
50. Tapobrata Ghosh : Introduction, translated by Sukanta Chaudhuri, quoted from
Sukanta Chaudhuri.(Ed.) : Rabindranath Tagore Selected Short Stories,
p. 15.
51. Rabindranath Tagore : Galpaguccha Akhanda. p. 110.
52. William Radice (Tr.): Rabindranath Tagore Selected Short Stories, p. 99.
110
53. Rabindranath Tagore : Galpaguccha Akhanda. p. 110
54. Sukanta Chaudhuri (Ed.) : Rabindranath Tagore Selected Short Stones, p.89.
55. Tapobrata Ghosh : Introduction, translated by Sukanta Chaudhuri, quoted from
Sukanta Chaudhuri (Ed.) : Rabindranath Tagore Selected Short Stories,p. 15.
56. Rabindranath Tagore : Galpaguccha Akhanda. p. 224.
57. Sukanta Chaudhuri (Ed.) : Rabindranath Tagore Selected Short Stories, p.124,
58. Rabindranath Tagore : Galpaguccha Akhanda. p. 358.
59. William Radice (Tr.) : Rabindranath Tagore Selected Short Stories, p. 229.
60. Rabindranath Tagore : Galpaguccha Akhanda. p. 358.
61. William Radice (Tr.) : Rabindranath Tagore Selected Short Stories, p. 229.
62. Rabindranath Tagore : Galpaguccha Akhanda. p. 359.
63. William Radice (Tr.) : Rabindranath Tagore Selected Short Stories, p. 230.
64. Rabindranath Tagore : Galpaguccha Akhanda. p. 330.
65. William Radice (Tr.) : Rabindranath Tagore Selected Short Stories, p. 200.
66. Rabindranath Tagore :
Galpaguccha Akhanda. p. 330.
67. William Radice (Tr.) : Rabindranath Tagore Selected Short Stories, p. 200.
68. Rabindranath Tagore : Galpaguccha Akhanda. p. 340.
69. William Radice (Tr.) : Rabindranath Tagore Selected Short Stories,
p. 210-211.
70. Rabindranath Tagore : Galpaguccha Akhanda, p. 340-341.
71. William Radice (Tr.) : Rabindranath Tagore Selected Short Stories, p. 211.
72. Rabindranath Tagore : Gitanjali (Bilingual Edition), p. 46.
73. Ibid, p. 47.
74. Rabindranath Tagore : Galpaguccha Akhanda, p. 509-510.
75. Sukanta Chaudhuri (Ed.) : Rabindranath Tagore
Selected Short Stories,
p. 182.
76. Rabindranath Tagore : Galpaguccha Akhanda, p. 510.
77. Sukanta Chaudhuri (Ed.) : Rabindranath Tagore Selected Short Stories, p.183.
78. Rabindranath Tagore : Galpaguccha Akhanda, p. 512.
79. Sukanta Chaudhuri (Ed.) : Rabindranath Tagore
p. 184-185.
Selected Short Stories,
Ill
80. Tapobrata Ghosh : Introduction, translated by Sukanta Chaudhuri, quoted from
Sukanta Chaudhuri (Ed.) : Rabindranath Tagore Selected Short Stories,
p. 14-15.
81. Tapobrata Ghosh : Rabindra Chhotagalper Shilparup, p. 62.
82. Ibid., p. 63.
83. Bhudeb Choudhury : Bangla Sahityer Chotogalpa O Galpakar, P. 133.
84. Translation, mine.
85. G. Wilson Knight : The Wheel of Fire, p. 11.