Living and dead

The first paragraph

There was no one in the ancestral family of the widowed bride of the house of Shardashankarbabud, the zamindar of Ranihat; Everyone died one by one. There is no one to speak for you, no husband, no son. A brother-in-law, the youngest son of Sharadashankar, is the jewel in his eye. His mother had been suffering from severe pain for a long time after he was born, so it was this widowed aunt Kadambini who made him human. If the next son becomes a man, the pull of life will be more towards him, because he has no authority over him; There is no social claim on it, only the claim of affection - but only affection cannot prove your claim before the society according to any document and even if it wants to, it only loves the wealth of the uncertain soul with double eagerness.

Kadambini died suddenly one night in Shravan, sprinkling all her widowed love on the boy. Suddenly his heart stopped beating - time went on all over the world, only the clock in his tender little breasts stopped forever.

In order to prevent any disturbance by the police, the four Brahmin employees of the zamindar took the body for cremation without any further ado.

The crematorium at Ranihat is far away from the locality. A hut by the pool, and a huge banyan tree near it, in a large field কিছু nothing else. The river used to flow through here, now the river has dried up. A part of that dry waterway has been dug and a crematorium pond has been built. Today's people consider this pool to be the representative of the holy stream.

The corpse was placed in the hut and four people sat waiting for the cheetah wood to arrive. The time seemed so long that Nitai and Gurucharan became anxious and went to see why it was taking so long to fetch the wood. Bidhu and Banamali sat with their dead bodies.

The dark night of Shravan. There are clouds in the sky, not a single star can be seen in the sky; The two of them sat quietly in the dark room. One had a match and a lamp tied to a sheet. The rain-match did not burn with much effort - the lantern that was with it was extinguished.

After being silent for a long time, one of them said, “Brother Ray, it would have been a great benefit if we had a collection of tobacco. Nothing was brought overnight. ”

Another said, "I can run and collect everything in one go."

Understanding Banamali's intention to escape, Bidhu said, “Mairi! And, I understand I'll be sitting here alone! ”

The conversation stopped again. Five minutes seemed like an hour. They began to insult those who went to fetch firewood in their minds - the suspicion that they were sitting somewhere talking and smoking in the comfort of their divine homes was gradually growing in their minds.

There is no sound anywhere - only the restless membrane and the call of the frog can be heard from the pool. At that time, it seemed as if the bed was slightly shaken, as if the corpse was lying on its side.

Bidhu and Banamali began to tremble at the chanting of Ramnam. Suddenly a sigh was heard in the room. Bidhu and Banamali jumped out of the house in a moment and ran towards the village.

He went about a mile and a half and saw the other two companions coming back with lanterns in their hands. They actually went to smoke, didn't know any news about the wood, but reported that they were cutting down trees and chopping wood - they would leave soon. Then Bidhu and Banamali narrated all the events of the cottage. Nitai and Gurucharan flew away in disbelief, and began to rebuke the other two very angrily for leaving the duty.

Without delay, the four of them went to the crematorium and appeared in the hut. He entered the house and saw that there were no dead bodies, lying on an empty bed.

They kept looking at each other. What if it was taken to the jackal? But the cover is not up. When I went out to look for it, I saw that there was some mud near the door of the cottage, and there were new and small footprints of a woman in it.

Shardashankar is not an easy man, telling him the story of this ghost is not likely to bring any good results. After much deliberation, the four of them decided that it would be better to report that the cremation had been completed.

At dawn those who had brought the wood received the news that the work had already been completed due to delays, and that the wood was stored in the hut. No one can easily doubt this - because, corpses are not a valuable asset that can be stolen.

The second chapter

Everyone knows that when there are no signs of life, life is still hidden, and in time the dead body begins to function again. Kadambini did not die either - for some reason her life stopped working.

When he woke up, he saw darkness all around. As usual, it seems that this is not the place where he sleeps. Once called ‘Didi’ - no one responded in the dark room. He sat up in fear and remembered the death bed. A sudden pain near that chest - an attempt to suffocate. Her big brother was sitting in the corner of the room heating milk for the baby over a fireplace - Kadambini couldn't stand it and fell on the bed - she said in a hushed voice, 'Didi, bring the baby once, how is my soul doing.' It was as if ink-rolled ink rolled over a notebook - all the memories and consciousness of Kadambini, all the others in the universe became one in an instant. Whether Khoka once called her Kakima for the last time in that sweet voice of hers, whether she had collected this last affection from the eternal world on the way to her eternal unknown death, the widow does not even remember it.

At first it seemed that the Yamalaya understood such eternity and eternity. There is nothing to see, nothing to hear, nothing to work on, just to stay awake like this forever.

Then, when a cold wind blew through the open door and the call of the rain frog entered his ears, in an instant the memory of all the rainy days of his short life came to his mind and he could feel the closeness of the earth. Once the lightning flashed; In front of it were ponds, banyan trees, large fields and distant grasslands. I remembered that from time to time I used to come and bathe in this pool on the occasion of a holy day, and I remembered how horrible it must have been to see a dead body in this crematorium at that time.

At first I thought I would have to go back home. But then he thought, ‘I am not alive, why take me home. There will be that misfortune. That I have been exiled from the kingdom of life - that I am my ghost. '

If not, then how did he come to this inaccessible crematorium from Surati inner city of Sharadashankar in the middle of the night. If his funeral is not over yet, where did the cremators go? The last moment of his death was remembered in the illuminated house of Sharadashankar, after which he saw you alone in this far-off, desolate, dark crematorium, and knew, I am my ghost. '

As soon as this thought came to his mind, he felt as if all the bonds of world law had been severed from all around him. As if his strange power, infinite freedom যেখানে wherever the will may go, whatever the will may do. With the appearance of this unprecedented new feeling, he suddenly went out of the house like a gust of wind and walked over the dark crematorium - there was not a trace of shame-fear-thought left in his mind.

As he walked, his feet became tired and his body began to weaken. Field after field never ends আর sometimes in Dhanyatre, somewhere or one-knee water is standing. When the light of dawn faded, a couple of birds could be heard calling from the bamboo bushes in the distance.

Then he began to fear. He does not know what kind of new relationship he has with the living man on earth. As long as he was in the field, in the crematorium, in the darkness of Sravanarajani, as if he was fearless, as if in his kingdom. In broad daylight, the locality seemed to be a very scary place for him. People are afraid of ghosts, ghosts are also afraid of people, two people live on both sides of the river of death.

The third chapter

People could be frightened to see Kadambini in the form of mud on her clothes, strange look and madness in the night, and the boys seemed to run away and hit her. Fortunately, a traveling gentleman was the first to see him in this condition.

She came and said, 'Mom, you look like a gentleman, where are you going alone?'

Kadambini stared at him without answering at first. Suddenly he could not think of anything. The world in which she lives, the way she looks like a gentleman, the question the passer-by asks her on the way to the village, all these seemed unimaginable to her.

The passer-by said to her again, "Come on mother, I'll take you home - tell me where your house is."

Kadambini began to think. I can't remember returning to my father-in-law's house, my father's house is not there - then I remembered my childhood signature.

Although he has been separated from Sai Jogmaya since childhood, there are occasional correspondences. From time to time, the battle of love continues - Kadambini wants to know, love is strong towards her; Yogamaya wants to convey that Kadambini does not reciprocate her love. Once the two met at any opportunity, there was no doubt that one sentence could not be overlooked.

Kadambini said to the gentleman, "I will go to Sripaticharanbabu's house in Nishindapur."

The traveler was going to Calcutta; Although Nishindapur is not nearby, it is within his reach. He arranged for Kadambini to be taken to Sripaticharanbabu's house.

The two signed. At first there was a slight delay in the sugar, after which the childhood resemblance gradually became apparent in both eyes.

Jogmaya said, “Oma, what is my fate. I never thought I would see you. But, brother, what did you do? Your in-laws have let you go! ”

Kadambini remained silent; Finally he said, “Brother, don't ask me about my father-in-law's house. Give me a place at the end of the house like a maid, and I will make you work. ”

Jogmaya said, “Oma, what is he talking about. Why be like a maid. You are my signature, you are mine - ”etc.

At that time Sripati entered the house. Kadambini stared at his face for a moment and slowly walked out of the house - with no clothes on her head, or any hint of shyness or reverence.

Lest Sripati think of anything against his signature, Yogamaya became preoccupied and began to explain it to him in various ways.

But, so little had to be explained and Sripati so easily approved of all the proposals of Jogmaya that Jogmaya was not particularly satisfied in his mind.

Kadambini came to Saiya's house, but could not mix with Saiya - there was a gap of death in between. If there is always a doubt and consciousness about the self, it cannot be matched with the next. Kadambini looks at Jogmaya's face and thinks, 'She is in a different world with her husband and housewife. With affection and with all duties, he is like a man of the earth, and I am like an empty shadow. He is in the land of existence, and I am in eternity. '

I couldn't understand how Jogmaya felt either. The woman cannot bear the mystery. Because poetry can be used to take the uncertain, heroism can be done, scholarship can be done, but gharakanna cannot be done. For this reason, the woman does not have anything to do with what she does not understand, either by abolishing her existence, or by making a new idol of her own with her own hands - if neither of them can, she becomes very angry with him.

The more Kadambini became confused, the more Jogmaya became angry with her; I thought, what is this nuisance pressing on the shoulder.

Another danger. Kadambini fears you. He cannot escape from himself at all. Those who are afraid of ghosts are afraid of your back - fear is where they can't look. But, Kadambini is most afraid of you, she is not afraid outside.

That is why in the middle of the day he would wake up alone in the house screaming one day, and in the evening when he saw your shadow in the light, his body would tremble.

Seeing this fear of his, a fear arose in the minds of the people of the house. The maids and Jogmaya also started seeing ghosts from time to time.

One day, Kadambini came out of her bedroom in the middle of the night crying and came to the door of Jogmaya's house and said, “Didi, didi, fall on your two feet! Don't leave me alone. ”

As Jogmaya was frightened, so was he angry. He removed Kadambini as he wished. Mercifully, Sripati tried hard to cool him down and put him in a nearby house.

The next day, Sripati was summoned to the inner city at an inopportune time. Yogamaya suddenly started scolding him, “Yeah, what a man you are.

Chapter Four