The Complete Short Stories

by Premchand

  Shiv Bilas remarked, ‘Looking at father’s present situation I have decided not to marry. Several times I felt like going to him to give him solace, but I feel like crying when I think of facing him. After all, it is us he is worried about, otherwise what would be there to think of. If he wants, he can take employment in any college with his sound knowledge of philosophy and economics.’

  Sant Bilas said, ‘There was no need for you to leave college. Medicine was a good field. You could have worked from home. You didn’t even ask father. He will be very sad to hear about it.’

  ‘That is the very reason I haven’t told him so far. However good the vocation, I do not want to make it my source of income. I will stick to what I have decided. Why, are you going to help me?’

  ‘I will hardly be able to help you before I finish my MA. For this year you better excuse me. Later I will definitely give you my time.’

  ‘Are you so eager on an MA?’

  Sri Bilas said with some mischief in his voice: ‘MA means . . . of . . .’

  Sant Bilas said, ‘This has been my wish for ages, and having come so close to my goal now I don’t want to draw back.’

  Shiv Bilas added, ‘After that there will be the prescribed term of LLB, and then you will set up a sign in big letters and start to brag in front of your clients.’

  Sant Bilas remarked, ‘You are speaking with so much contempt as if doing so would be a shame. I admit that I have this ambition, and I don’t think that I deserve to be despised for it. I don’t feel any love for the legal profession. It is possible that I may be forced to practise law out of necessity, but the degree I love without any doubt. Today a person’s dignity depends on his degrees. You will hardly have met anybody who out of his own free will has forsaken his official degrees. Even those who pose as champions of education do not feel it beneath themselves to attach the signs of their big degrees to their names. In national schools and colleges, too, those gentlemen are valued most who have degrees from England. This is the standard of our values. So then why should I restrain myself? Don’t take it otherwise, but in the first weeks of the newspaper you will most probably also print my degrees with my name.’

  Shiv Bilas said shamefully, ‘Yes, my friend, you are right. This is called spiritual slavery.’

  Sant Bilas remarked, ‘You must have thought about your policy. If you adopt the same stance as the other newspapers, then what is the need for one more?’

  Sri Bilas added, ‘You don’t ask me anything! I am also about to leave school. My name will also appear in the newspapers.’

  Shiv Bilas offered, ‘Join my newspaper as a clerk.’

  Sri Bilas replied, ‘Who will want to sit at a desk the whole day working his mind away. I have decided to till the land. I will plough the fields and develop new crops.’

  ‘Yes, I have not had time to discuss the paper’s policy with you. Instead of meddling in politics I want to concentrate on cultural reforms. At the moment we are blindly imitating Western society. I will speak up against extravagance, pomp and show. My guiding principle will be “an enlightened and simple society”. Aping the West has made wealth the measure of respectability, humanity, honour and dignity. We have forgotten the modesty, balance and purity of our forefathers. Wherever you look you see the display of capitalists, rich men and zamindars. I will make the support of the helpless my code of conduct. Although these ideas are not new, they have been discussed in newspapers every now and then, but so far, they have not gone beyond academic argumentations, and that too in imitation of some Western philosophers such as Edward Cantor, Russell, etc. The proponents of these ideas do not display any unity of words and deeds, and therefore their deliberations have no effect. My life will be a living example of these principles. I will be frank with you: Sometimes I lose all hope for my country when I see this run on wealth. Everybody, the highest and the lowest, the poor and the rich, all are its slaves. Respect for knowledge and perfection has gone. There were times when the highest rulers would bow their heads before persons of excellence. And now even religious movements are dominated by the rich. Our hermits, ascetics and religious preceptors hardly ever turn to the rural areas. They prefer to speak in beautifully decorated pavilions. They go around in motorcars and are invited by the wealthy. Educated and learned people also worship a golden idol. Those who are supposed to set examples of an awakened and simple society have become slaves to their desires. The spirit of sacrifice has vanished from the world.’

  Sant Bilas remarked, ‘Your ideas look like those of the Bolsheviks. Don’t you know how they have honoured the learned and the educated?’

  ‘Yes, I know. But these people deserved no better. In the same manner in which the landowners use their property and the merchants their goods to fulfil their own needs, our clerics too sacrifice their expertise and knowledge for worldly gain. They get regular salaries from educational institutions. This is the level of their esteem and rank. Is this situation not deplorable?’

  ‘So is it your intention to return to the semi-barbaric civilization of two thousand years ago? To bring back that simple society into this developed age is a ridiculous idea.’

  ‘You involve me in a fruitless discussion. You call our times an age of development because natural physics has made amazing discoveries. Human knowledge has increased immensely, and limitless opportunities to earn wealth have opened up. And you call the old times semi-barbaric because they didn’t have such inventions, such practical discoveries, such opportunities for trade and for acquiring wealth. May I ask you what in your opinion should be a person’s aim in life?’

  ‘A person’s aim in life is to stay alive, to make use of the means given by nature, to discover the hidden treasures of nature, and to make human life more perfect, to extend and elevate it.’

  ‘I fully agree with you. The only difference is that you believe in physics and in ideologies, and I believe in the purification and refinement of the self. You are led by fantasy and I by reality. Look, father is coming!’

  7

  The three boys got up to pay their respects to their father and then sat down again with their heads bent low. Hari Bilas looked at Shiv Bilas thoughtfully and asked, ‘When is your college reopening?’

  ‘The college will open on the second, but I no longer want to go. I have resigned.’

  Hari Bilas was annoyed, ‘What folly is this? You ought to have asked me at least. Did I not have the right to know?’

  ‘I admit my mistake, but in fact my course has ended. Now I only have to take my exams, and because I don’t want to work in this profession I do not feel the need to take the examination.’

  ‘But you will have to do something for a living. What have you decided for that?’

  ‘This does not worry me too much because I can reduce my necessities and can get by with very little. I can work as a gardener for a living. The rest of the time I intend to devote to the service of the nation. My main aim is to bring out a newspaper.’

  ‘Do you think it is easy to publish a newspaper? First of all you will need enough capital, then you will have to face the adverse conditions in the country. You still don’t have any idea of the difficulties. You think that this is an easy path, but after a few steps you will realize that there are stumbling stones at every step. I am not so selfish and opportunistic that I would like to suppress your enthusiasm for service to the nation, but I think it my duty to advise you to think well before entering this field. If not, you will stumble after a few steps which will be an utter disgrace for all of us. Neither do I want any help from you, nor am I not proud of my son who wants to be a fearless servant of the nation. I just want to make you aware of the difficulties. When are you leaving, Santo?’

  Sant Bilas said, ‘My college is opening on 15 January.’

  Hari Bilas asked, ‘How much money do you need?’

  ‘At least two hundred and fifty rupees because we will have to pay the fees for six months right now.’

  Hari Bilas shrugged his s
houlders. ‘Do you really need so much? I am a bit short of money these days.’

  ‘You know my habits. I live as modestly as possible. It will not be possible to do with less. Apart from the fees I also need a suit. I don’t have any good suits.’

  ‘My dear, forget about the suit for the moment. As soon as I get the means I will think of it. But yes, I will arrange for fees and boarding. There is no way out, whether you study or not.’

  ‘I do not want to burden you unnecessarily. If you can’t procure the money I will find a solution, but there can be no cuts in my estimate.’

  ‘It is a bad habit of yours that you flare up so easily. You see my circumstances, but even that is not enough to open your eyes. I do not know whether I will be able to pay off all the creditors even after all the furniture has been sold.’

  ‘If you wish that I also should leave the college I will not object.’

  Hari Bilas was enraged. ‘Very well, have your name cancelled! I see that you are becoming a slave to your necessities. Today not only in India but in Europe as well, enlightened people are more and more inclined towards simple living. From educated people one now expects dedication and service, not pomp and display. Lawyers no longer command respect in society. People grow more and more suspicious of them, and indeed this class does not deserve any better. In accordance with common practice, I wanted to have you trained in this profession, but now I see its drawbacks. Thanks to this profession it has become so expensive to get justice in a court of law that it is almost unaffordable for the common people. When two hundred or four hundred or even up to one thousand rupees is charged for one hearing, then it is obvious that this is no remuneration for time and labour, but just the cost for those people’s greed and selfishness. A profession which is based on human meanness and weakness cannot bring any good to society. I will not force you. If you choose a more legitimate profession than law I would be happy.’

  Sant Bilas did not answer. He left with a frown on his face.

  Hari Bilas asked Sri Bilas, ‘Are you preparing for the examinations?’

  ‘What is the use of this kind of education which only aims at getting rich when you say that nowadays nobody respects the wealthy? Please take me also out of school. I want to profit from participating in your work. I would like to take up farming. After all if you live in the village you will definitely have us work in the fields. Let me do this work! I will practise agriculture according to new experiences and principles. In my spare time I will teach the boys of the village and will learn from you.’

  In the meantime Sumitra had also come. Hari Bilas looked at her and said, ‘You see, Sri Bilas has put an end to your worries. You were wondering what would happen. Now you can go to the village and live there peacefully. Store your grains in big jars and remember Lord Rama!’

  8

  On the third day Hari Bilas arrived in his village. The house was in disrepair. It was surrounded by grass on all sides. The villagers had thrown heaps of manure and garbage in front of the door. Hari Bilas had not come to the house for years. He felt a kind of disgust while entering the house. He had become accustomed to living in clean bungalows. Shiv Bilas unloaded their luggage and began to sweep the doorway clean. Hari Bilas’s eldest daughter Anjani started to sweep inside the house. For some time Sri Bilas stood there watching them. Then he took a basket and began to remove the garbage. Sant Bilas had not come with them. He had somehow talked his mother into giving him money and had gone to Allahabad.

  As soon as the news of Hari Bilas’s resignation spread, people started to come from here and there to inquire after his health. Hari Bilas was sitting outside on a broken bedstead in a depressed mood thinking about how to retrieve the ancestral property. Sumitra was standing inside wondering how to get rid of the heaps of dung and garbage. When they used to come to the village before, the villagers regarded them with amazed envy and looked at their possessions as if they were items in a museum. They didn’t have the courage to talk to them. But now everything was gone. Neither did the boys show any arrogance, nor did the Deputy Sahib and Sumitra talk in a patronizing tone. The people felt some sympathy for them. The women began to help Anjani with the cleaning. Some men relieved Shiv Bilas of the broom and Sri Bilas of the basket. They were both covered in sweat and were thinking that however noble hard labour may be theoretically regarded in the world, in reality it was not so pleasant. Pandit Ram Bharose told Hari Bilas, ‘Brother, it is good that you resigned. You were moving around from district to district. Now you will stay put in your house. The house was about to collapse. Now it will be settled again.’

  Sheikh Idu said, ‘Employment, may it be high or low, after all, is employment. Why should you be anybody’s servant when God has given you everything!’

  The watchman Gobar added, ‘But it was such a high post!’

  Kurmi Bhoju said, ‘The post was high, no doubt, but it meant to cut many poor people’s throats. You must have sent hundreds to jail. You will have forced many to give loans to the government for the war. When you went on tour you must have used forced labour. How many peasants will have lost their lands because of you! When you stay at home you will be freed from these troubles.’

  The watchman Gobar remarked, ‘But how much power and respect you had!’

  Bhoju said, ‘Respect does not come from a post, it is based on being a good person, on wisdom and dharma. What kind of post does Pandit Ram Bharose have? Why then do people stand up respectfully for him? When the policeman comes people feel it a burden to offer him even some tobacco for his pipe, but when the shastri comes with five to ten pupils everybody praises his good fortune. We have so many officers in our district, but none of them command as much respect as the shastri. He would just have to say a word, and they would be ready to jump into fire.’

  Ram Bharose said, ‘Babu Sant Bilas is nowhere to be seen.’

  Hari Bilas replied, ‘He has gone away to study law.’

  ‘Brother, it is not right of you to have him study this subject. It involves many bad deeds. The solicitors have ruined the whole district. They have turned everybody into beggars with their law suits.’

  Idu pleaded, ‘Brother, try to get your land back and let me till it. You have been in service for a long time. Now enjoy the life of a householder. Here you won’t have so many things, but you will lead a healthy life. What you earned away from home you must have spent on clothes, furniture, fruits, sweets, milk and cream. Twenty, twenty-five must have gone for milk alone, and at least fifty for renting a house. After the everyday expenses nothing would have been left.’

  Hari Bilas asked, ‘From where should I get the money to release my land?’

  Everybody looked at him in astonishment as if he had said something strange. Finally, Bhoju said, ‘What are you saying, brother? That would not amount to much. You will certainly have three or four thousand kept in your box. You earned so much, and you must have made some money on the side as well. Where has all this money gone?’

  ‘I did not take any presents, gratuities and bribes. It was difficult to cover all the expenses even with my salary. How could I have saved anything?’

  ‘How is this possible? You must have made at least ten or twenty thousand extra.’

  ‘No, Uncle. Believe me! My hands are completely empty.’

  ‘Then what are you going to live on?’

  ‘God is my master. I don’t know yet.’

  These talks were going on when Thakur Karan Singh, the biggest landlord of the area, appeared on an elephant, accompanied by two companions. People got up from their charpoys. As long as Hari Bilas was in office, countless zamindars like him had come every day to pay their respects, but when he saw Karan Singh he sat up respectfully. The elephant stopped when it had come close to them. Karan Singh got down, made Hari Bilas sit on the charpoy and sat down himself, saying: ‘Babu Sahib, today this village has been sanctified by your praiseworthy step. When I opened the newspaper and saw the news about you I was filled with pride. Praise to
your courage and dedication!’

  Hari Bilas said with thankful modesty, ‘Are you in good health? You are looking a bit thin.’

  ‘Thanks to you I am feeling very well now. For months I have been ill. Seeing your news today I immediately became well. God has given you the motivation to succeed in our actions. Here we have formed a panchayat some days ago but we haven’t found a sarpanch so far whom everybody would trust. The Lord has sent you to end this crisis. I got up early this morning and went to meet Raja Mala’un, Thakur Bagha and Duni Chand Shah. All three were delighted to hear your name. I have come to ask you in their name to take up the position of the sarpanch. It will be a great favour.’

  ‘I am at your service but I don’t think that I deserve this honour. I cannot dare to become the head of a council which consists of men of such high standing.’

  ‘Don’t say this, Babu Sahib. You don’t have any idea how the people here regard you. High and low, everybody has faith in you. Earlier you ruled the sub-district, now you rule the hearts of the people. Please accept my humble request.’

  Hari Bilas was so embarrassed by this honour that he could not raise his head. His silence signalled consent. Karan Singh got up, took a garland of flowers from one of his companions and put it around Hari Bilas’s neck. Then he hesitated for a moment before he said in a slightly embarrassed voice, ‘Babuji, you have accepted one of my requests, now please allow me to put forth one more.’

  ‘With pleasure! I am at your service, body and soul.’

  Karan Singh took an envelope from his pocket and said, ‘I ask your permission to offer this at your feet.’

  Hari Bilas looked at the envelope with curiosity. It was labelled ‘Ram Bilas Kurmi’s letter of sale and mortgage, village Badukhar’.

  His eyes filled with tears of gratefulness. He was searching for words to express his gratitude, but Karan Singh did not allow him to speak. He picked up the papers and tore them into pieces.