Dinabandhu Mitra

“ Does the Saheb know everything about land? This fool goes about like a revengeful dog; when he sees any good piece of land, he immediately gives notice of it to the Saheb. The Saheb has no want of money, and he has no need for borrowing money on credit. Then, why is it that the fool does so; if he has to cultivate Indigo, let him do so; let him buy oxen; let him prepare ploughs; if he cannot guide the plough himself, let him keep men under him. What want have you of lands? Why not cultivate the village from end to end? We stand ready to help in the cultivation. ”

“ Oh young Bou, take hold of our mother-in-law; let me once see the Lord of my life, in the fulness of my heart. (Sits near the mouth of Nobin.
Priest. (To Soirindri.) My daughter, thou art a great lover of thy husband, a woman of constancy; the frame of thy body was created in a good moment. For one who is so entirely devoted to her husband, and who has every thing good on her part, Fortune may give life to her husband again; he is moving his eyes, serve him without fear. Sadhu, remain here till our madam be in her senses. ”

“ We cannot wonder that a press habituated to such free-speaking as that of India should fall foul of Sir Mordaunt Wells. But Indian journalists ought to know better than to dream that a judge could be, or ought to be, recalled because he has delivered a foolish charge. We heartily wish that Anglo-Indians would get rid of the pernicious notion—one of the very worst triumphant in America—that an official who displeases popular critics is to be immediately turned out of his office. The independence of judges is of more consequence than the imprisonment or release of a thousand missionaries. ”

“ I do not see a single person in this large house; but a person of a different caste and of another village, is weeping near the Babu. Ah! the poor man is a day-labourer, and his very hand is cut off. Why is his face all daubed over with blood?
Sadhu. When the young Saheb struck his hand with the sword, like an ichneumon making a noise when its tail is cut off, he in agony from the pain of hand flew off after seizing with a bite the nose of the elder Saheb. ”

“ Sabitri. Don't look on my child; I forbid you—you destroyer of your husband. I see, your death is very near. (Goes a little towards her) .
Saralota. Ah! how very cruel are the formidable arms of Death? Ah! Yama! You gave so much pain to my honest mother-in-law.
Sabitri. Calling again! Calling again! (Takes hold of Saralota's neck by her two hands, and throws her down on the ground.) Thou stupid, beloved of Yama! Now will I kill thee (stands upon her neck) . Thou hast devoured my husband; again, thou art calling your paramour to swallow my dear infant. Die, die, die, die now! ”

“ The slipper was symbolic of the nation's reply to the atrocities of the Indigo planters. Never in his life did Ardhendu Sekhar receive better appreciation of his histrionic skill.
These two incidents help to show the two aspects of this powerful drama. Obviously it could both bite and rouse. It is no mean drama that can, on the one hand, draw British swords out of their scabbards, and on the other, slippers off the feet of righteously indignant countrymen.
Nil Darpan is indeed a magic mirror which reflects two faces: the face of the tyrant, and the face of the aggrieved victim of tyranny. ”

“ As our young Bipin cries when his necklace is taken from him in play, so our youngest Bou weeps when her ornaments are taken away. Oh! oh! Am I formed so mean-spirited a man? Am I to be so cruel a robber? Shall I deceive a young girl? This can never be, as long as life exists. The worthless Indigo Planters even cannot commit such a crime. ”

“ As the sleeping mother having destroyed the child she was fondling for making it sleep on her lap, on awaking will go to kill herself, so wilt thou, oh my mother! go to kill thyself, if thine insanity passing off, thou canst understand that thy most beloved Saralota was murdered by thee. It will be good if that lamp no more give its light to thee. Ah! how very pleasant it is for a woman to be mad, who has lost her husband and son! The deer-like mind being enclosed within the stone walls of madness can never be attacked by the great tiger, Sorrow. ”

“ My mother is not so much afraid as my father is, she does not lose hope at once; with a firm mind she is now invoking God. My dear-eyed is become, as it were, the deer in my volcano; she is become mad with fear and anxiety. [6] Her father died in an Indigo Factory and her fear now, is lest the same happens to her husband. How many sides am I to keep quiet; is it proper to fly off with the whole family or, is it not right that to do good unto others is the highest virtue? ”

“ Wilt thou not speak any more, my daughter? Oh! Oh! Oh! (Weeps) .
Physician. Her end is very near.
Sadhu. Ray Churn, take hold of her, take hold of her (Sadhu Churn and Ray Churn take Khetromony from the bed, and go outside) .
Reboti. I cannot leave my Laksmi of gold to float on the water. Where shall I go? Had she lived with the Saheb, that would have been better. I would have remained at rest by seeing her face. My daughter! Oh, Oh, Oh! (Goes behind Khetro, slapping herself) .
Physician. I die; I die; I die! What pains does the mother bear; it is good not to have a child. ”

“ His second ground for opposing the charge of libel was that the publication was a drama, and not a pamphlet, and by every principle of propriety, usage, and custom no other character but that of a fiction could be assigned to a drama. He could not deny that there were atrocious characters such as Wood and Rose, represented in the play, but the jury's dramatical experience would teach them that every play had its evil genius. Because a certain barrister, clergyman or merchant is a scoundrel of the deepest dye, is that a reason that all barristers, clergymen, and merchants are of the same stamp? ”

“ In the place, where I have opened the letter of my dear Lord, I have spent nearly a fourth part of the day. The fickleness of the exterior part has now gone into the heart. As, on the boiling of the rice, the froth rising up makes the surface quiet, but the rice within is agitated; so am I now. I have not that smiling face now. A sweet smile is the wife of happiness; and so soon as happiness dies, the sweet smile goes along with it. My Lord, when thou shalt prove successful, every thing shall be preserved; if I am to see your face disquieted, all sides will be dark unto me. ”

“ Podi. It is the degenerate Amin who is ruining the country. Is it through my own choice that I am levelling the axe at my feet, by giving the young women to the Saheb? Oh to think of the club which Rai (Ray Churn) , lifted against me that day! If it were not for Sadhuda, the day would have proved my last. Ah, it bursts my heart when I see the face of Khetromany. Have I no feeling of compassion, because I have made a paramour my companion? Whenever she sees me still, she comes to me, calling me Aunt, Aunt! Can the mother, with a firm heart, give such a golden deer into the grasp of the tiger? ”

“ But the libel contained within itself the proof of malice, and if the jury did not believe the existence of the state of society therein depicted, they must admit it to be a libel; if they did not consider it a libel they must believe in the truth of the charges made, not as against any planter, but as against the general body of European Indigo Planters; they would believe them to be men placed beyond the pale of civilisation, and deserving of all they had got because guilty of the most horrid atrocities. They would believe that virtue existed among the Natives alone and some few officials. ”

“ Sweep over my bed; mother, sweep over my bed!
Reboti. My dear, dear daughter, why art thou doing so; I have swept on the bed, there is nothing then on the coat of shreds. I have placed another which your aunt gave.
Khetro. Thorns are pinching me, I die; I die; oh! turn me to my father's side.
Sadhu. (Silently turning her to the other side. To himself) . This agony is the presage to death. (Openly) Daughter, thou art the precious jewel of this poor man; my daughter, take a little food. ”

“ Oh mother, my desire is that my husband be happy in a future state in the same proportion as he had suffered misery in this. My Lord, I, your bond-maid, will pray to God for life; thou wast most virtuous, the doer of great good to others and the supporter of the poor. The Great Lord of the Universe, who provides for the helpless, must give you a place. Ah! take me, my Lord, with thee, that I may supply thee with the flowers for the worship of God. Ah! what loss! what ruin! I see that Rama is going to the wilderness leaving his Sita alone. ”

“ Any man is at liberty to think as he likes, or exercise his own judgement, provided that he does not enter into personalities, or attack individuals or particular bodies of men. It was perfectly idle to attempt to deny that a great struggle has for years existed, and was still going on between the official and non-official community in India. The different phases of society in India have been, and are daily canvassed by the press of this country, and what sensible man objected to a free and open discussion by means of the press? ”

“ If it meant that, would it not be a libel! That the jury had to determine. His Lordship had a right, according to the law, to express his opinion, as a matter of advice to them in deciding that question; but he would rather leave it entirely to them. If those gentlemen had not belonged to the press but had been private individuals, how would the case have stood if such persons had been charged with taking bribes to vilify the character of a neighbour for £100? Would they not lay themselves open to such disgrace that they could never again hope to hold up their heads among their fellow men? ”

“ The editors of two daily newspapers are filling their columns with your praises; and whatever other people may think, you never enjoy pleasure from it, since you know fully the reason of their so doing. What a surprising power of attraction silver has? The detestable Judas gave the great preacher of the Christian religion, Jesus, into the hands of odious Pilate for the sake of thirty rupees; what wonder, then, if the proprietors of two newspapers, becoming enslaved by the hope of gaining one thousand rupees, throw the poor helpless people of this land into the terrible grasp of your mouths. ”

“ Thou, Sarala, hadst a most beauteous face, and didst brighten the lake of my heart. Who did take away my lotus with a cruel heart? The beautiful lake became dark. The world, I look upon, is as a desert full of corpses, while I have lost my father, my mother, my brother, and my wife" [11] .
Ah! where are they gone to in search of the dead body of my brother? I am to prepare for going to the Ganges as soon as they come. Ah! how very terrible, the last scene of the drama of the lion-like Nobin Madhab is? (Sits down, taking hold of Sabitri's feet.) ”

“ There is not a person who would have rejoiced more than myself if the Jury had returned a verdict of 'not guilty' on the ground that they believed you had acted conscientiously and for the interest of society in publishing this book. I grieve to say that verdict could not have been given without those twelve gentlemen believing that you have been actuated by a feeling of animosity towards the Indigo planters in publishing and circulating such a gross and scandalous libel. ”

“ If Dinabandhu were not a Bengali, he would have long before his death become the Postmaster General, and then the Director General. Such was his efficiency in work, and so wide was his understanding of things! But just as coal would take no other hue, so also to some people, black skin set off against a thousand and one virtues would yet be black after all! Charity hides a thousand faults, but black skin, a thousand virtues. ”

“ My child, come, come to the Saheb. Whatever you have to say, say to him. To speak to me is like crying in the wilderness.
Planter Rogue. To speak to me is throwing pearls at the hog's feet. Ha, ha, ha, we Indigo Planters, are become the companions of Death. Right in our presence our men have burnt down villages. Women died in the fire with babies at their breasts. Have we ever shown any compassion? Can our Factories remain, if we have pity? By nature, we are not bad; our evil disposition has increased by Indigo cultivation. Before, we felt sorrow in beating one man ”

“ Could anything be, to men of high feeling and sensitive honor, more likely to lead to parties taking the law into their own hands, when they were thus maligned as selling for so paltry a bribe, the cause of the weak, and singing the praises of those Indigo Planters, who, if this preface were anything but a libel, had cast an everlasting stain on the English name. ”