The Poison Tree | Page 8

flowers by a Malini (flower-girl).
He, being a poor Brahmin, could not pay for the flowers, but in place of
that he used to read some of his own verses to the Malini. One day
there bloomed in the _Malini's_ tank a lily of unparalleled beauty.
Plucking it, the Malini offered it to Kalidas. As a reward the poet read
to her some verses from the Megha Duta (Cloud Messenger). That

poem is an ocean of wit, but every one knows that its opening lines are
tasteless. The Malini did not relish them, and being annoyed she rose to
go.
The poet asked: "Oh! friend Malini, are you going?"
"Your verses have no flavour," replied the Malini.
"Malini! you will never reach heaven."
"Why so?"
"There is a staircase to heaven. By ascending millions of steps heaven
is reached. My poem has also a staircase; these tasteless verses are the
steps. If you can't climb these few steps, how will you ascend the
heavenly ladder?"
The Malini then, in fear of losing heaven through the Brahmin's curse,
listened to the Megha Duta from beginning to end. She admired the
poem; and next day, binding a wreath of flowers in the name of Cupid,
she crowned the poet's temples therewith.
This ordinary poem of mine is not heaven; neither has it a staircase of a
million steps. Its flavour is faint and the steps are few. These few
tasteless chapters are the staircase. If among my readers there is one of
the _Malini's_ disposition, I warn him that without climbing these steps
he will not arrive at the pith of the story.
Surja Mukhi's father's house was in Konnagar. Her father was a
Kaystha of good position. He was cashier in some house at Calcutta.
Surja Mukhi was his only child. In her infancy a Kaystha widow named
Srimati lived in her father's house as a servant, and looked after Surja
Mukhi. Srimati had one child named Tara Charan, of the same age as
Surja Mukhi. With him Surja Mukhi had played, and on account of this
childish association she felt towards him the affection of a sister.
Srimati was a beautiful woman, and therefore soon fell into trouble. A
wealthy man of the village, of evil character, having cast his eyes upon

her, she forsook the house of Surja Mukhi's father. Whither she went no
one exactly knew, but she did not return. Tara Charan, forsaken by his
mother, remained in the house of Surja Mukhi's father, who was a very
kind-hearted man, and brought up this deserted boy as his own child;
not keeping him in slavery as an unpaid servant, but having him taught
to read and write. Tara Charan learned English at a free mission-school.
Afterwards Surja Mukhi was married, and some years later her father
died. By this time Tara Charan had learned English after a clumsy
fashion, but he was not qualified for any business. Rendered homeless
by the death of Surja Mukhi's father, he went to her house. At her
instigation Nagendra opened a school in the village, and Tara Charan
was appointed master. Nowadays, by means of the grant-in-aid system
in many villages, sleek-haired, song-singing, harmless Master Babus
appear; but at that time such a being as a Master Babu was scarcely to
be seen. Consequently, Tara Charan appeared as one of the village gods;
especially as it was known in the bazaar that he had read the Citizen of
the World, the Spectator, and three books of Euclid. On account of
these gifts he was received into the Brahmo Samaj of Debendra Babu,
the zemindar of Debipur, and reckoned as one of that Babu's retinue.
Tara Charan wrote many essays on widow-marriage, on the education
of women, and against idol-worship; read them weekly in the Samaj,
and delivered many discourses beginning with "Oh, most merciful
God!" Some of these he took from the Tattwa Bodhini,[3] and some he
caused to be written for him by the school pandit. He was forever
preaching: "Abandon idol-worship, give choice in marriage, give
women education; why do you keep them shut up in a cage? let women
come out." There was a special cause for this liberality on the subject of
women, inasmuch as in his own house there was no woman. Up to this
time he had not married. Surja Mukhi had made great efforts to get him
married, but as his mother's story was known in Govindpur, no
respectable Kaystha consented to give him his daughter. Many a
common, disreputable Kaystha girl he might have had; but Surja Mukhi,
regarding Tara Charan as a brother, would not give her consent, since
she did not choose to call such a girl sister-in-law. While she was
seeking for a respectable Kaystha girl, Nagendra's letter came,
describing Kunda Nandini's