Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/118

{{rh||{{smaller|FURTHER STUDIES— CONCLUSION OF &c}|79}}{{rule}} little girl to live the austere, ascetic life of a Hindu widow.

It has already been mentioned, that his third brother, Sambhuchandra, had joined Thakurdas's little family in Calcutta, and the number of members had risen from three to four. Moreover, Thakurdas having, at this time, married his second son, Dinabandhu, he had contracted some debts. He was, therefore, constrained to considerably reduce his family expenses, which had never been very liberal. It is said that only one pice was now allowed for the tiffin of the four members. The dishes prepared for the daily meals were very poor, and hardly fit for eating. Nor did their troubles end here. Jagaddurlabh Babu, who had so long given them shelter, was also deeply immersed in debts. The room in the third floor of his house, where Thakurdas slept with his sons, Jagaddurlabh Babu had let to a tenant. Thakurdas was, therefore, obliged to remove with his sons to a room in the lowest floor, quite unfit for a gentleman's lodging. What trying difficulties! In later years, Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, alluding to the painful situation of these days, thus spoke to one of his friends:—'I suffered many troubles in my early years, but I never minded them for my own sake. They rather served to heighten my zeal—to invigorate me—to incite me to action. But the sufferings and privations of my brothers rent my heart. The very sight of