Page:Stories from Tagore (IA storiesfromtagor00tago).pdf/242

228 punishment to fit the crime.] An amusing reference to the doctrine of karma, which states that each deed will have its due reward or punishment.

as me.] Strictly speaking it should be “ I ” not “ me ” but he is writing not too strictly.

I hope no child.] The author here amusingly pretends that the child’s way of getting out of his lessons was too shocking for young boys in the junior school to read about.

I will marry my daughter to him.] The verb to “ marry ” in English can be used in two senses:—

(1) To wed some one: to take in marriage.

(2) To get some one wedded: to give in marriage.

The latter sense is used here.

in the dawn of some indefinite time.] In some past existence long ago.

If my grandmother were an author.] Here Rabindranath returns to his mocking humour. A modern author, he says, would be obliged to explain all sorts of details in the story.

hue and cry.] This is a phrase used for the noise and bustle that is made when people are searching for a thief.

Her readers.] Referring back to the Grandmother.

in an underhand way.] Under the disguise of a fairy story.

grandmother again.] That is, in the old conditions when people were not too exacting about accuracy.

luckless grandson. A humorous way of referring to himself. The author had the misfortune to be born in the modern age of science.

Seven wings.] The word “ wings ” is here used, not for “ wings ” like those of birds, but for the sides of a large building, projecting out at an angle from the main building.

But what is the use....] The author here breaks off the story, as though it were useless to go on any further