(Exit all, except Nobin Madhab.)
Nobin. What injustice! These two children will die without food in the same way as the new-born young of the hare suffer when the hare is in the hand of the savage hunters.
Enter Ray Churn.
Ray. Had not my brother caught hold of us, I would have put a stop to her breathing. I would have killed her; then, at the utmost, I had been hanged within six months.[[27]] That villain!
Nobin. Ray Churn, where art thou going?
Ray. Our mistress ordered me to call Putakur. The stupid Podi told me that the bailiff will bring the summons to-morrow.
(Exit Ray Churn.)
Nobin. Oh! oh! oh! That which never took place in this family, has now come to pass. My father is very peaceful, honest, and of a sincere mind; knows not what disputes and enmities are; never goes out of the village; trembles with fear at the name of Court affairs, and even shed tears when he read the letter. If he is to go to Indrabad, he will turn mad; and if, to the jail, he will throw himself into the stream. Ah, such are the misfortunes that are to fall on him, while I, his son, am living! My mother is not so much afraid as my father is; she does not lose hope at once; with a firm mind, she is now invoking God. My deer-eyed is become, as it were, the deer in my volcano[[28]]; she is become mad with fear and anxiety. Her father died in an Indigo Factory; and her fear, now, is lest the same happens to her husband. How many sides am I to keep quiet? Is it proper to fly off with the whole family; or, is it not right that to do good unto others is the highest virtue? I shall not turn aside hastily. I see, I am not able to do any good to Shamanagara; still, what work is there which is beyond the power of exertion? Let me see what I can do.
Enter two Pundits.
First P. My child, is the house of Goluk Chunder Bose in this quarter? I heard from my uncle, that person is very honest—the grandeur of the Bose family.