Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/649

 _ ৬ ro VV.) BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. We have also descriptions of gold plate being profusely used by rich men. They used to sleep on couches made of pure gold, and when they would sit on these they would rest their feet on silver foot-stools. In the old stories and folk-lore we find references to such fine cloth that when exposed to the dew on the grass, it could scarcely be | seen. The Meghadumbura sad, made of an ex- ceedinely fine stuff, was a passion with women of the upper classes. This is only one side of the picture. In Maho- medan times the condition of the lower classes seems ‘0 have been deplorable. No description of distress and want can be more pathetic than the account which Phullara gives of herself. For want of a cup, liquid food hadto be stored up in a hole dug in the earth, and often a day and a night were passed without any food. The poor were not in- frequently subjected to capricious treatment from the rich. Many of the large tanks which were dug in Bengal at the time, seem to have been the work of forced labour. The custom of employing men by force without wages, which was called বেগার 2Weta, was very prevalent. Living was re- markably cheap and wants were few. Now-a-days no rustic in Bengal, however poor he may be, can help spending less than Rs. 100 for a marriage ceremony. There is a list of the expenditure in- curred on that account by a poor man, 300 years ago. Two dhadas or cloths Price for the bridegroom ... 3 pies Betels Me ... I cowri (less than a pie) Gatechu:: ... ৭২ ,) De 609 The cheap living and poverty. Marriage expense.