Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/751

 VI.] BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. 709 fully equal to the task. Here is. the extempore doggerel with which he made his retort. There is no greater abusive word in Bengali than that of ‘Cala’ (wife’s brother, and Antony accosted his rival as such, although not in so many words. natives, and from having been elected as son-in- law to the father of Thakura Sinha, I have lost my taste for hat and coat.” Such abuse, as I have said, stains that portion of the savi-literature which had found favour: in cities and large towns. In the cool recesses of the villages, the rustic folk assembled to hear tales of sacrifice, resignation, sufferings for love, and of tender domestic scenes sung by their unassuming bards. Nor do I know if anywhere else than in India the lowest stratum of society, which the kaviwalas mainly represented, could show so much spirituality, love, and tender pathos in their literature, chiefly contributed as this was by illiterate men of the lowest classes. The gentler classes, the dilettantes belonging to the aristo- cracy, favoured the kaviwa/as in later times only to stamp this folk-lore with their depraved taste ; but away from the town, the villages preserved unspoiled, the well of Hindu thought—undefiled, and fit to satisfy the spiritual thirst of those who were humble in spirit, kindly in disposition and who approached God as the Hindu wife approaches her husband,—in deep reverence and love. হ'য়ে ঠাকৃরে সিংএর বাপের জামাই, কুন্তিটুপি ছেড়েছি ॥ The town and city—a contrast.
 * “T am happy in Bengal in the costumes of the
 * " এই বাঙগলায় বাঙ্গালীর বেশে আনন্দে আছি।