Page:The Second Daughter-in-law.djvu/29

158 "Grandfather, grandfather." The Korta would be disturbed and a little quarrel with the house mistress would ensue. In reality the Grihini had some reason to scold, for sometimes at night he would rouse the child from sleep and give it food. Then Pramada would laugh and say, "Father, in this way you will not have enough for yourself."

Banerjee Mahashoi would reply, "Wait till you are a mother, then you will understand the pleasure of eating in this way."

In fact so happy a household as that of Banerjee Mahashoi is seldom to be seen, so peaceful a family is very rare. Whether it was that there was no other daughter in the house, or from whatever cause, Banerjee Grihini loved her daughter-in-law as a daughter and never gave her a proud word. Indeed the daughter-in-law was so amiable that there was no cause for harshness. The daughter-in-law was of the same age as Pramada, so there was great affection between the two. Since the return of Pramada the Bou felt as though she had attained the summit of her desires (literally, reached the moon in the sky). Always with smiling faces the two eat together, walked together, read together and slept together.

So Pramada dwelt at home surrounded by the affection of her family. The faded look caused by anxiety and fasting after her father-in-law's death had disappeared, and her beauty was renewed two-fold. When she had left her father's house she had gone forth with her trunk full of clothes and a box full of ornaments. She had come back almost empty-handed, but Banerjee Mahashoi again supplied her with dress and ornaments.

Pramada had not much cause for unhappiness, only that for so many days she had not seen Prabodh Chandra, and that his letters still told of discord in his house. So passed her time. At length a beautiful little daughter adorned her bosom.

In the Hindu family the birth of a daughter produces melancholy faces, but the faces of Pramada's father and mother did not become sad, they were not of that way of thinking. They regarded Pramada's first-born child more dearly than a son, and rejoiced.