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388 pages

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The First Volume Of This Collector S Edition Brings Together Five Of Bankimchandra S Best-Known Works In English Translation. Set In The Bengal Of Emperor Jehangir S Time, Kapalkundala Tells The Story Of Nabakumar, A Young Woman Named Kapalkundala Whom He Rescues From A Tantric Intent On Human Sacrifice, And The Beautiful Lutfunnisa Who Has Sold Her Heart On Marrying Him. In Bishabriksha (The Poison Tree), Set In Bankimchandra S Own Time, Nagendra Is Torn Between His Devoted Wife Suryamukhi And The Bewitching Young Widow Kundanandini. Unable To Prioritize Either Of The Women He Cares For, Nagendra Ends Up Losing Both. Indira Is A Lighthearted Tale Of Playful Intrigues: Upendra Does Not Realize That His Wife Indira Is Now Working As A Cook In His Friend S House, And Is Given A Royal Run-Around By Indira And Subhasini, Her Employer. Krishnakanta S Will Is A Tragedy Of Lust, Infidelity, Greed And Death Revolving Around Govindalal, His Wife Bhramar, The Attractive Widow Rohini, And A Stolen Will. Rajani, The Story Of A Blind Girl And Two Men, Sachindra And Amarnath, Is A Psychologically Taut Tale; It Is The First Indian Novel Where Characters Narrate Their Stories In The First Person. Evoking The Bengal Of Yore In All Its Hues, Bankimchandra S Novels Explore Love And Relationships And The Manner In Which Society Shapes Them. Translated Exclusively For Penguin, These Superbly Crafted Novels Are Sure To Hold Readers In Thrall Today Just As They Did Over A Century Ago.

Sujets

Philosophie et théologie

Hinduism

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Publié par	Penguin Books Ltd
Date de parution	29 novembre 2005
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9788184751000
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0650€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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BANKIMCHANDRA CHATTOPADHYAY
The Bankimchandra Omnibus
Volume 1
KAPALKUNDALA Translated by Radha Chakravarty BISHABRIKSHA (THE POISON TREE) Translated by Marian Maddern INDIRA Translated by Marian Maddern KRISHNAKANTA S WILL Translated by S.N. Mukherjee RAJANI Translated by Sreejata Guha

PENGUIN BOOKS
Contents
About the Author
Kapalkundala
Part 1
1 At the Estuary
2 On the Beach
3 In the Wilderness
4 On the Crest of the Sand-dune
5 On the Seashore
6 With the Kapalik
7 The Hunt
8 Refuge
9 In the Temple
Part 2
1 On the Highway
2 The Wayside Inn
3 A View of Female Beauty
4 The Palanquin Ride
5 Back Home
6 In Seclusion
Part 3
1 In the Past
2 Change of Route
3 In the Rival s Home
4 At the Royal Palace
5 In the Temple of the Self
6 Obeisance
7 On the Outskirts of the City
Part 4
1 Inside the Bedchamber
2 In the Woods
3 In the World of Dreams
4 Hints and Signals
5 On the Threshold
6 Re-encounter
7 In Conversation with the Co-wife
8 On the Way Home
9 In the Land of Spirits
Bishabriksha (The Poison Tree)
1 Nagendra s Boat-journey
2 The Lamp Goes Out
3 Coming Events Cast Their Shadow Before
4 That is the One
5 Of Different Matters
6 Taracharan
7 You, With Eyes Like Lotus Petals! Who Are You?
8 A Reason for Great Anger on the Part of the Gentle Reader
9 Haridasi the Vaishnavi
10 Babu
11 Suryamukhi s Letter
12 The Seed Sprouts
13 A Great Battle
14 Found Out
15 Hira
16 No
17 Birds of a Feather
18 Protectorless
19 Hira s Anger
20 Hira s Malice
21 Hira s Quarrel-the Poison Tree Buds
22 Highway Robbery on Top of Theft
23 The Caged Bird
24 Descent
25 Good News
26 Who Has Any Objection?
27 Suryamukhi and Kamalamani
28 Letter of Blessing
29 What Is the Poison Tree?
30 The Search
31 All Happiness Has Bounds
32 The Fruit of the Poison Tree
33 As a Sign of Love
34 By the Roadside
35 In Hope
36 Hira s Poison Tree Flowers
37 News of Suryamukhi
38 Eventually, Everything Was Lost
39 All Was Lost, But Not Suffering
40 The Fruit of Hira s Poison Tree
41 Hira s Grandmother
42 Dark House-Dark Life
43 Return
44 By the Dim Lamp
45 Shadow
46 What Had Happened
47 The Simple-hearted and the Snake
48 Kunda s Prompt Action
49 After So Long, Speech
50 Conclusion
Endnotes
Indira
1 I Am to Go to My Father-in-law s House
2 I Go to My Father-in-law s House
3 The Pleasure of Travelling to My Father-in-law s House
4 Now Where Do I Go?
5 We Will Make Our Anklets Sound as We Go
6 Subo
7 A Bottle of Ink
8 The Pandavas Queen
9 A Grey-Haired Person s Happiness and Sorrow
10 The Lamp of Hope
11 A Stolen Glance
12 Haramani s Laughter Is Checked
13 I Am Given an Examination
14 My Vow to Cast Off This Life
15 A Loose Woman
16 Having Committed Murder, I Am Hanged
17 After the Hanging, the Lawsuit s Investigation
18 Plans for a Great Deception
19 Demi-Goddess
20 Disappearance of the Demi-Goddess
21 How It Was Then
22 Conclusion
Endnotes
Krishnakanta s Will
Part 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Part 2
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
10 Second Year
11 Third Year
12 Fifth Year
13 Sixth Year
14 Seventh Year
Chapter 15
Epilogue
Endnotes
Rajani
Part I
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Part II Amarnath
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Part III Sachindra
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Part IV Everyone
1 Labangalata
2 Amarnath
3 Labangalata
4 Labangalata
5 Sachindra
6 Sachindra
7 Labangalata
Part V Amarnath
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Copyright
PENGUIN BOOKS
THE BANKIMCHANDRA OMNIBUS VOLUME 1
Radha Chakravarty is a Reader in English at Gargi College, University of Delhi. Her doctoral thesis is a cross-cultural study of contemporary women writers. Her translations include Crossings: Stories from Bangladesh and India , Rabindranath Tagore s Chokher Bali and Shesher Kabita: Farewell Song, and Mahasweta Devi s In the Name of the Mother.
*
Marian Maddern has lectured in Literature in the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne and has translated variously from Bengali prose and poetry.
*
Soumyendra Nath Mukherjee has taught History at Oxford, Cambridge and Sydney. Author of several books on India, S.N. Mukherjee has also edited a number of translations from Bengali.
*
Sreejata Guha has an MA in Comparative Literature from State University of New York at Stony Brook. She has translated Saradindu Bandyopadhyay s Picture Imperfect and Band of Soldiers, Taslima Nasrin s French Lover, Rabindranath Tagore s Chokher Bali: A Grain of Sand and Home and the World, and Saratchandra Chattopadhyay s Devdas for Penguin.
Kapalkundala
Part 1
1 At the Estuary
Floating straight obedient to the stream .
-The Comedy of Errors
EARLY IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, LATE ONE NIGHT IN THE MONTH OF Magh, a passenger boat was on its way back from Gangasagar. It was customary those days for passenger boats to travel together in groups, to protect themselves from the Portuguese and other pirates. But this boat was unaccompanied, because in the dense fog that had enveloped the horizon in the wee hours, the sailors, losing their orientation, had steered the vessel away from the rest of the fleet. Now they had no idea where they were headed, or in which direction. Many of the passengers were asleep. Only two men remained awake: one was old, the other young. They were engaged in conversation.
How far can we travel tonight? the old man broke off, to inquire of the sailors.
I couldn t say, replied the oarsman, after some hesitation.
Enraged, the old man began to rant at the oarsman.
Sir, when matters are in God s hands, even learned men cannot predict what might transpire, the young man intervened. How can this illiterate man say anything for certain? Please don t agitate yourself.
Not be agitated? exclaimed the old man sharply. How is that possible, when rascally robbers have snatched away the paddy from twenty to twenty-five acres of my land? What will my children survive on, all year?
He had received these tidings after he was already at the estuary, from travellers who arrived there subsequently.
I did point out earlier that it was not a good idea for Sir to have come on this pilgrimage, because his household has no other guardian, the young man reminded him.
Not come on this pilgrimage? exclaimed the old man as sharply as before. With three-quarters of my lifespan over already? When should I build my store of virtue for the life to come, if not at this stage?
If I understand the scriptures correctly, observed the young man, it s possible to prepare for the afterlife in one s own home, just as well as on a pilgrimage.
Then why did you undertake this journey? the old man demanded.
As I ve said before, I had a great desire to see the ocean, replied the young man. That is why I came here.
Ah! What a vision! he mused, in a softer voice. Never to be forgotten in all eternity! In Sanskrit, he quoted:
Behold the remote blue shore, densely encircled by tal and tamal!
And there, like a long, dark stain, stretch the salt waters of the deep.
The old man paid no attention to the poetry. He was listening with rapt attention to the conversation of the sailors.
O bhai, my brother! What a terrible thing we ve done! one sailor was saying to another. Are we now in the open seas? Or are we approaching some unknown land? I couldn t say!
The speaker sounded very frightened. The old man realized that there was cause for anxiety.
What s the matter? he asked the oarsman, fearfully.
The oarsman made no reply. But the young man stepped out on deck without waiting for an answer. He found that it was almost dawn. The world, all around, was enveloped in dense fog; sky, stars, moon, shore, nothing could be seen. He realized that the sailors had lost their way. Unable to ascertain the direction in which they were going, they were terrified of drowning in the open seas.
The passengers within the boat had remained unaware of all this, because of a screen draped over the front of the cabin, to protect them from the cold. But the young traveller understood their predicament, and explained it to the old man. This caused a huge commotion on board. Some of the female passengers, aroused from slumber by the sound of voices, began to scream as soon as they heard the news.
To the shore! To the shore! To the shore! cried the old man.
If we knew where the shore was, would we be in such grave danger? asked the young man, with a faint smile.
At this, the passengers began to scream even more loudly. The young traveller somehow managed to calm them down.
There s no cause for anxiety, he assured the sailors. Day has broken. In a few hours, the sun will be up. The boat will certainly not be destroyed in two or three hours. Stop rowing now, and let the boat drift with the current. Later, once the sun comes up, we can discuss what is to be done.
The sailors accepted his advice and proceeded accordingly.
For a long time, the sailors sat idle. The passengers were half-dead with fright. There was not much of a breeze, so they could not really sense the undulation of the waves. All the same, everyone assumed that death was close at hand. The men began to silently chant Goddess Durga s name, the women wailed in many voi