Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/190

Rh দিগের মঞ্জুর হইলে দশ সনের পরেও অস্থির ও ফেরফার না হইয়া চিরকাল স্থিরতর ও বহাল রহিবেক ইতি।"

The next noticeable book is the "Tota-Itihas." It is a translation of an Urdu book, the "Tota-Kahini". The "Tota-Itihas" was compiled by Chandi Charan Munshi, a native of Bengal, but the book was printed in London in 1825. The work seems to have been compiled some time before its publication. The reader will be surprised to hear, that Bengali books were printed in England even before 1825. The "Krishna-Chandra-Charita" was printed in London so far back as 1811. Is it not strange that Bengali types were introduced into England, and Bengali proof-sheets could be corrected there so early? However, to revert. The "Tota-Itihas" deals with certain topics in the form of stories, narrated by a parrot. There is a similar book in Hindi, titled the "Suka-Bahattari." The language of the "Tota-Itihas", although written by a Bengali, is much similar to that of the European Christian Missionaries. It is full of provincialisms, and impregnated with foreign ideas and notions. The mixture of provincialisms with purely Sanskrit words has made it harsh and jarring, though the words are plain and easy. The style is neither elegant, nor idiomatic and correct. A specimen of the language is given below:—

"পূর্ব্বকালে ধনবানদের মধ্যে আমদ-সুলতান নামে এক জন ছিলেন; তাঁহার প্রচুর ধন ঐশ্বর্য্য এবং বিস্তর সৈন্য-সামন্ত ছিল; একসহস্র অশ্ব পঞ্চশত হস্তী নবশত উষ্ট্র ভারের সহিত তাঁহার দ্বারে হাজির থাকিত।