Page:Isvar Chandra Vidyasagar, a story of his life and work.djvu/45

8 did not last long. As ill luck would have it, in a short time, the paltry income of this benevolent benefactor was still reduced, and what he daily earned, was not always sufficient to maintain two persons with comfort. He used to leave his house early in the morning, and toiled hard to earn a few pice, not only for his own sake, but also for the sake of the poor Brahman boy, whom he had kindly taken under his protection. But, unfortunately, many a day he could not return to his house in time, and consequently, on those days, Thakurdas had to remain without mid-day meal.

"Thakurdas had no other property than a small brass thala (shallow dish) and a lota (waterpot) of the same metal. He used to eat his rice from the thala, and drink his water from the lota. In some parts of India, even in Calcutta, a few teak leaves stitched together are used by the poor to eat their rice from. Now, Thakurdas thought within himself thus:—'The purposes of a thala may be well-served by teak-leaves, I shall be able to manage the eating of my rice even without a thala. So if I part with it I shall not feel its want. Let me sell this thala and retain the lota. The sale proceeds shall be my pocket money. I shall use this money in cases of utmost emergency. The day I shall be deprived of my midday meal, I shall lay out a pice in buying something to eat, and thus save myself from starvation. Having thus bethought himself, he went one day to a brazier's shop, and offered the