Page:Indira and Other Stories.pdf/167

 this pious observance. I dwelt a long time in this commodious and safe place of residence. Surrounded by so many comforts and conveniences, for a while I was contented and even happy. But, before long, I began to feel the ache of homesickness. When the vision of this my sacred native land came to my memory, I gave vent to my emotion in the most pathetic roarings and howls. Ah, Motherland of the Sunderbans, could I ever forget thee? At the thought of thy dear forests, I would refuse the flesh of sheep and of goats. Or rather, to be quite accurate, I rejected their skin and bones, and revealed my disquietude to the anxious spectators by the furious lashings of my tail. Ah, land of my birth! So long as I was absent from thee, I never ate—save when I was very hungry; never slept unless I was really sleepy! What better proof of my grief can I give than the solemn assertion that never, no, never, did I eat more than a mere bellyful—or at most a pound or two more. Never more!"

The lecturer was so overcome by these