tide from the central places of the sea.] When the moon is full, the tide rises to its highest point: it seems to start from some central place far out at sea and to come rolling and surging in.
silent troubled Mother.] Nature, with her full tide and full moon, seems troubled and longing to break out into speech, just as Subha longed to do.
they have caught your bridegroom.] Pratap employs the word "caught" from his favourite pursuit of fishing. The bridegroom has been caught just like a fish.
did her best to kill her natural beauty.] Her hair was much more beautiful when left in its natural way, instead of being all bound up in a net.
The God ... the great man.] These words refer to the bridegroom himself, who wields such mighty powers of choice or refusal. They are ironical.
[VII.—THE POSTMASTER]
like a fish out of water.] Completely out of place, because he was used to city life.
macadamised road.] He would have infinitely preferred the streets and shops and crowded markets of Calcutta.
smoke ... from the village cowsheds.] Such as is used to drive away the mosquitoes.
Baül.] A religious sect in Bengal whose members sing songs and often go about begging.