?thereupon fell to heaping ice on it. Ever since it has held ice on its head. Etcetera, etcetera.
Through the malice of Fortune, Ashmani was a widow.
On coming to Diggaja's cottage, she found the door shut; a lamp was burning within.
"What ho! holy man," called she.
No one answered.
"What ho! Gosain,[1] ho!"
Still no answer.
"Hang him! What is the hypocritical fellow about? Lord[2] Rasik Das,[3] ho!'
No reply still.
Ashmani peeped through a chink in the door, and saw that the Brahmin was engaged in taking his meal; and it was for this reason that he did not speak; for Brahmins do not eat if they happen to speak while eating their meal.
"He pretend to sanctity!" said Ashmani to herself. "I shall see whether he eats after speaking."
"I say, slave of a gallant!"
No reply.
"Ho! prince of gallants!"
Answer. "Hum!"
- ↑ A Gosain is a spiritual guide of the Vaishnavas—the followers of Chaitanya, a Bengali religious reformer contemporary with Luther.
- ↑ The Brahmins are looked upon as gods by the inferior castes. The epithet प्रभु—lord (in the religious sense) is often applied to them.
- ↑ The word Rasik means a person witty with women on the subject of love. Here and elsewhere the author has combined this word with others, to express ludicrousness. These combinations defy translation.
