Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/419

376 Bodhini Patrika. The publication being incomplete, it did not bring him much profits, though the language is very nice.

On the 12th April, 1861, appeared his Sitar Vanavas (i.e. The Banishment of Sita), a Bengali version of Bhavabhuti's "Uttara-Charita," but it differs from the original in many respects. Though the original is one of the best dramas in Sanskrit, Vidyasagar has not dramatised his book. The original is not a pure tragedy, because the Sanskrit Rhetoric does not permit composition of tragic dramas, but Vidyasagar has made his book purely tragical. Besides these, there are some minor differences too numerous to notice. But the language of the book is very elegant, chaste, refined, and attractive. It is an excellent model for writers of Bengali prose. Vidyasagar wrote the book in four days. Pressure of business would afford him no leisure in the day-time to write. He applied himself to its composition in the morning from 2-30 to 10 O'clock. He could not make even so much time as to revise it.

We will again relate here, in passing, one or two incidents displaying his affability, amiability, generosity and physical strength. The reader may be vexed with us for repeated digressions, but there is no help, and we crave earnestly the reader's indulgence.

On his retirement from the service of the Sanskrit College, when he was free, he visited his