but somewhat nerveless language, of scenes selected from Valmiki’s poem. The scenes are well chosen, and the expulsion of the supernatural element gives them a more realistic tone, but Vidyasagar is not free from the tautology and bombast which always disfigure the writers of the school to which he belongs.
The only other writer of the Sanskrit school whom we shall stop to mention, is Pandit Ram Narayan Tarkaratna; and we mention him more on account of his reputation than for any merit to be found in his writings. Among his plays are Kulin Kulasarbaswa, directed against the evils of Kulinism, and Naba Natak, a protest against polygamy. He has also made translations of the Ratnavali, the Malati Madhava and Sakuntala. These translations are execrably bad, and, like his original works, full of bombastic writing. On the whole we consider that this writer’s popular reputation is entirely undeserved.
It is with pleasure that we turn from him to the Anglicist school of writers. We have already mentioned Tekchánd Thakur, the nom de plume of Babu Peary Chand Mitra. His best work is the Áláler Gharer Dulál, which may be said to be the first novel in the Bengali language. The story is extremely simple and may soon be told. Baburam Babu of Baidyabati is an old Kulin Brahman, who has amassed a large fortune by fleecing the suitors in a Court of which he was an employé. He has retired on his gains, and is a zemindar and merchant. He has four children, two sons and two daughters. The eldest son, Mati Lal, is an ignorant, selfish, dissipated young fellow—spoiled from the effect of the over-indulgent treatment of his father. A Gurumahásay who had taught him Bengali, an ignorant Pujari Brahman, employed from motives of economy as Sanskrit tutor, and a retired tailor who instructed him in Persian, laboured, as might have been anticipated, with but indifferent success. The Gurumahasay, after some little time, retired from office in consequence of the playful habits of his pupil, who used to put quick-lime in his daily whey, deposit burning embers in the folds of his garments, and indulge in many other like pleasantries. The Pujari resigned because he found it impossible to restrain his scholar’s habit of throwing brick-bats at the head of his instructor, as occasion offered. The Mûnshî’s experience as a teacher abruptly closed, on the occasion of his discovering that Mati Lal had amused himself by setting fire to his venerable beard.
Highly gratified with the progress which his son had made in Oriental learning, Baburam Babu now thought it time that he should learn English. So Mati Lal was sent to Calcutta, where he attended an English school. But he did no more good at English than at Persian and Sanskrit, and preferred to devote his time with other congenial spirits to cards, dice, cock-fighting,
