19 
The Bengali Poem, Candi. 
Rambha in secret scrutinized his face, 
And sent to call the matrons of the place. 
From street to street the maid the message bore, 
And trooping come the gossips to the door; 
Their garments in disorder and their hair 
Loose streaming in their hurry to be there ; 
This had one bracelet and one anklet on, 
That had one eye with powder, one with none ; 
One leaves her hungry babe, nor heeds its cries, 
One bears her baby with her as she flies. 
The invitation comes by name to few, 
Rut all the neighbours hear and flock to view, 
And each is welcomed with the honours due. 
Each sees the bridegroom as he sits in state, 
And every one wends homeward, heart and soul elate. 
The author next describes the angry grief of Dhanapati’s childless wife 
Lahana, when she hears from her neighbours that he is thinking of a second 
marriage, and that the new wife is to be her own uncle’s daughter. At 
first she upbraids her husband with his inconstancy:— 
“ You have forgotten all your vows, but not for fault of mine ; ’t was fate, 
"Who made not woman’s youth and life run side by side, of equal date. 
When the sun sets, the lotus fades nor stays to see itself undone; 
Rut, when the palm has lost its youth, its withered leaves still linger on.” 
' * 
She is, however, consoled by the gift of a silk dress and five pans of 
gold to be made into a bracelet. The ojjha or astrologer is next sent 
for, and he goes with Janardan, the family priest, to the house of the bride’s 
father to fix the day for the marriage. The astrologer announces that 
the next year, as a ‘ seventh year,’ will be very unlucky, which terrifies 
the father, as his daughter will then be twelve years of age. The marriage, 
therefore, is hastened in order to fall within the current twelvemonth, and 
they finally fix on the 21st of the current month, Phalgun^ (which 
corresponds to part of our February and March). The poet now proceeds 
to describe the marriage itself, beginning with what takes place in the 
bride’s house:— 
* The day of the asterism Uttaraphalgunl. 
