While returning from a lengthy pilgrimage, Nabakumar encounters a wicked Tantric sage who intends to sacrifice him to the goddess Shamshaan Kali. Freed by Kapalkundala, a beautiful young forest dweller, Nabakumar marries her the next day. Despite their happiness, he soon encounters his first wife, who has secretly joined forces with the sage. Kapalkundala is a novel by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.

Kapalkundala (1866) is a novel by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. Set in Dariapur, Contai, Kapalkundala was Chatterjee's second novel. Recognized as a pioneering work of Bengali literature with universal romantic themes, Kapalkundala has been adapted several times for film and television, most recently for a popular Indian Bengali soap opera of the same name. On his way home to Saptagram from a pilgrimage to Gangasagar, Nabakumar encounters a Tantric sage in the forest. After exchanging their greetings, the sage captures the young gentleman in order to sacrifice him to the goddess Shamshaan Kali. Rescued by the sage's foster daughter, the beautiful Kapalkundala, Nabakumar marries her the next day. Despite their happiness, the past refuses to let them live in peace. As the sage plots his revenge, Nabakumar's first wife, who left him after converting to Islam, has returned seeking forgiveness. As doubt begins to penetrate their bond, Nabakumar and Kapalkundala lose sight of the only thing that matters: each other. Tragic and timeless, Kapalkundala is a brilliant romance from a legendary figure in Bengali literature. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's Kapalkundala is a classic of Bengali literature and utopian science fiction reimagined for modern readers.

Chandra Shekhar (1875) is a novel by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. Recognized as a pioneering work of Bengali literature with universal romantic themes, Chandra Shekhar is a story that engages with the subjects of marriage, suicide, and heredity in Hindu culture. "On the bank of the Ganges, there was seated a boy under the green mantles of the mango groves, enjoying the evening melody of the flowing Bhagirathi. Under his feet lay, on the green bed of grass, a little girl, casting upon his face her lingering glances-silent and motionless." Along the banks of the sacred river, two star-crossed lovers count the boats as they pass. Although they love one another, Pratap and Shaibalini cannot marry-they are distant relatives, and such a match is forbidden. Distraught, Pratap proposes they commit suicide together by slipping into the slow, silent water, disappearing in a marriage of death. As his head goes under, Shaibalini begins to have doubts, surfacing just in time to see the gallant Chandra Shekhar dive in to save Pratap. Unaware of his intentions, the older man makes sure the younger is alright, then sets his sights on the lovely Shaibalini. Tragic and timeless, Chandra Shekhar is a brilliant romance from a legendary figure in Bengali literature. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's Chandra Shekhar is a classic of Bengali literature and utopian science fiction reimagined for modern readers.

Krishna Kanta's Will (1878) is a novel by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. Recognized as a pioneering work of Bengali literature with universal romantic themes, Krishna Kanta's Will is a story that engages with the subjects of widow remarriage, land ownership, and heredity in Hindu culture. "If Krishna Kanta had ever desired to cheat his brother's son, and appropriate the entire property, there was now no obstacle in his way. But he had no such evil intention. He placed Gobind Lal with his own family, and treated him in all respects like his own sons; he determined to draw up a will bequeathing to Gobind Lal the half-share justly belonging to Ram Kanta Rai." Raised in a loving home, orphan Gobind Lal hopes to carry on his father's legacy while honoring his uncle, who could have cut him out of the will entirely. Married to the beautiful Bhramar, he seems to have a life of fortune ahead of him. Meanwhile, Krishna Kanta's sons, outraged at their father's generosity, hatch a plan to switch the will with one they have written, employing the seductive widow Rohini to do their dirty work. Tragic and timeless, Krishna Kanta's Will is a brilliant romance from a legendary figure in Bengali literature. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's Krishna Kanta's Will is a classic of Bengali literature and utopian science fiction reimagined for modern readers.

The Poison Tree (1873) is a novel by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. Originally serialized in Bangadarshan, a popular literary magazine founded by Chatterjee in 1872 and later edited by Rabindranath Tagore, The Poison Tree is a story that engages with the subject of widow remarriage. "The river flowed smoothly on-leaped, danced, cried out, restless, unending, playful. On shore, herdsmen were grazing their oxen-one sitting under a tree singing, another smoking, some fighting, others eating. Inland, husbandmen were driving the plough, beating the oxen, lavishing abuse upon them, in which the owner shared." With his wife's blessing, Nagendra sets out on a journey by boat down the river. When a sudden storm forces him to leave his boat for safety, he comes across the ruined home of Kundanandini, a young widow caring for her father in his final days. When the old man dies, Kundanandini begs him to take her to Calcutta. As he begins to fall for the beautiful woman, he struggles with the demands of family, religion, and tradition, knowing that love wields power over them all. Tragic and timeless, The Poison Tree is a brilliant romance from a legendary figure in Bengali literature. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's The Poison Tree is a classic of Bengali literature and utopian science fiction reimagined for modern readers.

Chandra Shekhar (1875) is a novel by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. Recognized as a pioneering work of Bengali literature with universal romantic themes, Chandra Shekhar is a story that engages with the subjects of marriage, suicide, and heredity in Hindu culture. "On the bank of the Ganges, there was seated a boy under the green mantles of the mango groves, enjoying the evening melody of the flowing Bhagirathi. Under his feet lay, on the green bed of grass, a little girl, casting upon his face her lingering glances-silent and motionless." Along the banks of the sacred river, two star-crossed lovers count the boats as they pass. Although they love one another, Pratap and Shaibalini cannot marry-they are distant relatives, and such a match is forbidden. Distraught, Pratap proposes they commit suicide together by slipping into the slow, silent water, disappearing in a marriage of death. As his head goes under, Shaibalini begins to have doubts, surfacing just in time to see the gallant Chandra Shekhar dive in to save Pratap. Unaware of his intentions, the older man makes sure the younger is alright, then sets his sights on the lovely Shaibalini. Tragic and timeless, Chandra Shekhar is a brilliant romance from a legendary figure in Bengali literature. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's Chandra Shekhar is a classic of Bengali literature and utopian science fiction reimagined for modern readers.

Kapalkundala (1866) is a novel by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee. Set in Dariapur, Contai, Kapalkundala was Chatterjee's second novel. Recognized as a pioneering work of Bengali literature with universal romantic themes, Kapalkundala has been adapted several times for film and television, most recently for a popular Indian Bengali soap opera of the same name. On his way home to Saptagram from a pilgrimage to Gangasagar, Nabakumar encounters a Tantric sage in the forest. After exchanging their greetings, the sage captures the young gentleman in order to sacrifice him to the goddess Shamshaan Kali. Rescued by the sage's foster daughter, the beautiful Kapalkundala, Nabakumar marries her the next day. Despite their happiness, the past refuses to let them live in peace. As the sage plots his revenge, Nabakumar's first wife, who left him after converting to Islam, has returned seeking forgiveness. As doubt begins to penetrate their bond, Nabakumar and Kapalkundala lose sight of the only thing that matters: each other. Tragic and timeless, Kapalkundala is a brilliant romance from a legendary figure in Bengali literature. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's Kapalkundala is a classic of Bengali literature and utopian science fiction reimagined for modern readers.

Rajmohan's Wife and Sultana's Dream (1864/1908) features the debut novel of Indian writer Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and a story by Bengali writer, feminist, and educator Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain. Rajmohan's Wife, Chattopadhyay's only work in English, launched his career as a leading Bengali intellectual and political figure. Written in English, Sultana's Dream originated as a way of passing time for its young author while her husband was away on work. Initially published in The Indian Ladies Magazine, Sultana's Dream helped establish Rokeya's reputation as a leading figure in Bengali arts and culture. Rajmohan's Wife is the story of Matangini, a beautiful woman married to a violent, jealous man. Unable to marry the man she loves-who happens to be her own sister's husband-she settles for the villainous Rajmohan, an abusive man who rules his middle-class Bengali household with an iron fist. With the help of her friend Kanak, Matangini does her best to avoid her husband's wrath, illuminating the importance of solidarity among women faced with oppression. Vindictive and cruel, Rajmohan secretly enacts a plan to rob Madhav, his brother-in-law, in order to obtain and invalidate a will. Sultana's Dream is set in Ladyland is a feminist utopia ruled by women, a perfect civilization with no need for men, who remain secluded and without power. Free to develop their own society, women have invented flying cars, perfected farming to the point where no one must work, and harnessed the energy of the sun. With men under control, there is no longer fear, crime, or violence. Ultimately, Ladyland is a world made to mirror our own, a satirical exploration of the absolute power wielded by men over women, and a political critique of Bengali society at large. Sultana's Dream is more than a science fiction story; it is an act of resistance made by a woman who would shape the lives of her people through advocacy, education, and activism for generations to come. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain's Rajmohan's Wife and Sultana's Dream is a classic of Bengali literature and utopian science fiction reimagined for modern readers.

The Poison Tree A Tale of Hindu Life in Bengal BY Bankim Chandra Chatterjee TRANSLATED BY MIRIAM S. KNIGHT WITH A PREFACE BY EDWIN ARNOLD, C.S.I. PREFACE had been asked by the accomplished lady who has translated the subjoined story to introduce it with a few words of comment to the English public. For that purpose I commenced the perusal of the proof sheets; but soon found that what was begun as a literary task became a real and singular pleasure, by reason of the author's vivid narrative, his skill in delineating character, and, beyond all, the striking and faithful pictures of Indian life with which his tale is filled. Nor do these qualities suffer, beyond what is always inevitable, in the transfer of the novel from its original Bengali to English. Five years ago, Sir William Herschel, of the Bengal Civil Service, had the intention of translating this Bisha Briksha; but surrendered the task, with the author's full consent, to Mrs. Knight, who has here performed it with very remarkable skill and success. To accomplish that, more was wanted than a competent knowledge of the language of the original and a fluent command of English: it was necessary to be familiar with the details of native life and manners, and to have a sufficient acquaintance with the religious, domestic, and social customs of Bengali homes. Possessing these, Mrs. Knight has now presented us with a modern Hindu novelette, smoothly readable throughout, perfectly well transferred from its vernacular (with such omissions as were necessary), and valuable, as I venture to affirm, to English readers as well from its skill in construction and intrinsic interest as for the light which it sheds upon the indoor existence of well-to-do Hindus, and the excellent specimen which it furnishes of the sort of indigenous literature happily growing popular in their cities and towns. The author of "The Poison Tree" is Babu Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, a native gentleman of Bengal, of superior intellectual acquisitions, who ranks unquestionably as the first living writer of fiction in his Presidency. His renown is widespread among native readers, who recognize the truthfulness and power of his descriptions, and are especially fond of "Krishna Kanta's Will," "Mrinalini," and this very story of the Bisha Briksha, which belongs to modern days in India, and to the new ideas which are spreading-not always quite happily-among the families of the land. Allowance being made for the loss which an original author cannot but sustain by the transfer of his style and method into another language and system of thought, it will be confessed, I think, that the reputation of "Bankim Babu" is well deserved, and that Bengal has here produced a writer of true genius, whose vivacious invention, dramatic force, and purity of aim, promise well for the new age of Indian vernacular literature. It would be wrong to diminish the pleasure of the English reader by analysing the narrative and forestalling its plot. That which appears to me most striking and valuable in the book is the faithful view it gives of the gentleness and devotion of the average Hindu wife. Western people are wont to think that because marriages are arranged at an early age in India, and without the betrothed pair having the slightest share in the mutual choice, that wedded love of a sincere sort must be out of the question, and conjugal happiness very rare.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++ The Poison Tree, A Tale, Tr. By M.S. Knight Bankim Chandra Chatterjee Miriam S Knight

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

Nagendra Natha Datta is about to travel by boat. It is the month Joisto (May - June), the time of storms. His wife, Surja Mukhi, had adjured him, saying, "Be careful; if a storm arises be sure you fasten the boat to the shore. Do not remain in the boat." Nagendra had consented to this, otherwise Surja Mukhi would not have permitted him to leave home; and unless he went to Calcutta his suits in the Courts would not prosper. Nagendra Natha was a young man, about thirty years of age, a wealthy zemindar (landholder) in Zillah Govindpur. He dwelt in a small village which we shall call Haripur. He was travelling in his own boat. The first day or two passed without obstacle. The river flowed smoothly on - leaped, danced, cried out, restless, unending, playful. On shore, herdsmen were grazing their oxen - one sitting under a tree singing, another smoking, some fighting, others eating. Inland, husbandmen were driving the plough, beating the oxen, lavishing abuse upon them, in which the owner shared.

Nagendra Natha Datta is about to travel by boat. It is the month Joisto (May - June), the time of storms. His wife, Surja Mukhi, had adjured him, saying, "Be careful; if a storm arises be sure you fasten the boat to the shore. Do not remain in the boat." Nagendra had consented to this, otherwise Surja Mukhi would not have permitted him to leave home; and unless he went to Calcutta his suits in the Courts would not prosper. Nagendra Natha was a young man, about thirty years of age, a wealthy zemindar (landholder) in Zillah Govindpur. He dwelt in a small village which we shall call Haripur. He was travelling in his own boat. The first day or two passed without obstacle. The river flowed smoothly on - leaped, danced, cried out, restless, unending, playful. On shore, herdsmen were grazing their oxen - one sitting under a tree singing, another smoking, some fighting, others eating. Inland, husbandmen were driving the plough, beating the oxen, lavishing abuse upon them, in which the owner shared.