Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/52

22 "On the east, let there be the ducks (i.e. there should be a tank); on the west, an avenue of bamboos; on the north, a garden of fruit-trees; and the south should be left open"

The chapter on medicine is not taken from any learned Sanskrit medical work. The indigenous plants and herbs of rural Bengal are prescribed as remedies, the effects of which seem to be infallible on the human system and were known by direct experiment. The discourse on the culinary art of Bengal in Dãker vachan has a particular interest to us, as it describes the simple but exceedingly delicious fare, cooked by our village women. In plainness and in delicacy of taste, these dishes bear a striking contrast with the rich preparations of meat, introduced in the later times by the Mahammadans.

In Dāker-vachan we find an interesting study of female character which, I am afraid, will not be fully appreciated by people unacquainted with the life in our zenana. We give some extracts below:—

"The husband is inside the house, the wife sits out-doors, and turns her head on all sides and smiles. With such a wife, says Dāk, the husband's life is not secure."