In the language of the Zenana there are two twilights, “when the Sun drops into the sea,” and “when he splashes up stars for spray,” . . . the Union, that is, of Earth and Sun, and, again, of Light and Darkness.
And the space between is the time of times in these sun-wearied plains in which I dwell. One sees the world in a gentle haze of reminiscence—reminiscence of the best. There, across the horizon, flames the Sun’s “good-bye.” Great cave of mystery, or lake of liquid fire: anon pool of opal and amethyst, thoughts curiously adjustable to the day that is done, memory of joy or sorrow, of strength of love, or disregard of pain. Gradually the colour fades, now to a golden fleece of the softest, now to wisps of translucence, blush-pink, violet: oft-times the true ecstasy of colour is in the east, away from the Sun’s setting. Or, now again, the sky is a study in grays and blue-grays, in that peculiar heat-haze which belongs to May and September, and the pale curve of the new moon looks old and weary. Is not all Life marching towards the Silence? it seems to say.
Yes, the manner of its loitering is varied, but always, always, is it an hour of enchantment, this hour Between the Twilights: and it is my very own. I choose it, from out the day’s full sheaf, and I sit with it in the Silences on my roof-tree.
It was in this hour, through a hot summer, that the thoughts which make this little book came to me, and were written down. I had spent my days going in and out among my friends of the Zenana, and a great yearning was in my heart that others should know them as I did, in their simplicity and their wisdom.
The half is not yet told: much would not bear telling—I had no business to take strangers into the walled garden of our intimacy—and some things were too elusive for speech, but the sounds which have thridded the Silence have been echoes of reality, and I can only hope that they may convey some impression of the gently pulsing life of the Zenana.
Not by any means are the Studies meant to be exhaustive. I have left out of count the Anglicized and English-educated Indian, the capable woman who earns her own living, the cultured woman of the world or philanthropist. There was little to learn about her which a common language and the opportunity of intercourse might not teach any sojourner in India at first-hand.
But these others of whom I have written seemed to justify in a very special sense the hour of my meditation. … They float elusive in the half-light between two civilizations, sad by reason of something lost, sad by reason of the more that may come to be rejected hereafter. … And none but God knoweth when will toll for them that final Hour of Union, and whether, when it is here, we shall be able to see the stars through the blue veil of the Light that lies slain for all Eternity.
* “Portraits of some Indian Women” is reprinted from “The Nineteenth Century and After,” by the kind permission of the late Sir J. Knowles.
GLOSSARY
Amla, officer of a household.
Bina, a musical instrument (stringed).
Brahmin, highest or priestly caste.
Didi, elder sister.
Guru, spiritual guide.
Jog, Hindu Vedantic system of meditation and of acquiring sanctity.
Kincab, gold brocade.
Khattriya, the fighter: of the fighting or second highest Caste.
Mali, gardener.
Mantras, incantations.
Munias, small speckled birds.
Namascar, the salutation to the learned: and to a superior.
Pandas, pilgrim guides at holy places.
Pooja, worship of a God.
Pujari, a Temple servant.
Purdahnashin, she who sits behind the curtain: the secluded.
Sais, groom.
Saree, a long winding-sheet, which forms the drapery worn by women.
Shastras, sacred writings.
Sudra, the server; of the fourth or Serving Class.
Takht-posh, a wooden plank on four legs used as a bedstead.
Veishya, originally of the third or agricultural, now often of the professional caste.
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1954, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 69 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
