Page:Nil Durpan.djvu/35

 Sadhu.  (To himself) O, Oh! The witness for the spirit-seller is the drunkard! (Openly) If the nine bigahs which are marked off for the cultivation of the Indigo were worked by the plough and kine of the Factory, then can I use the other nine bigahs for rice. The work which is to be done in the ricefield is only a fourth of that which is necessary in the Indigo-field, consequently if I am to remain engaged in these nine bigahs, the remaining eleven bigahs will be without cultivation.

Wood.  You, dolt, are very wicked, you scoundrel (haramjada); you must take the money in advance; you must cultivate the land; you are a real scoundrel (kicks him). You shall leave off every thing when you meet with Shamchand (takes Shamchand from the wall).

Sadhu.  My Lord, the hand is only blackened by killing a fly, i. e. your beating me only injures you. I am too mean. We …

Ray.  (Angrily) O my brother, you had better stop; let them take what they can; our very stomach is on the point of falling down from hunger. The whole day is passed, we have not yet been able either to bathe or to take our food.

Amin.  O rascal, where is your Court now: (Twists his ears).

Ray.  (With violent panting) I now die! My mother! My mother!

Wood.  Beat that "bloody nigger" (beats with Shamchand, the leather strap).

Ray.  O thou Babu, I am dying! Give me some water. I am just dead!

Nobin.  Saheb, they have not bathed, neither have they taken the least food. The members of their family have not yet washed their faces. If you thus destroy your ryots by flogging them, who will prepare your Indigo? This Sadhu Churn prepared the produce of about four bigahs last year with the greatest trouble possible; and if with such severe beatings