The Reptile

The enormous three-storied building stood in the middle of a garden. Charu’s father-in-law had had to spend over one lakh rupees to buy the land and build the house. But a debt of a mere thirty thousand rupees had robbed her off the property, transferring the ownership to Bonomali. In her youth Charu had taken care of her father-in-law’s property so efficiently that none of the relatives, near or far, had succeeded in wasting a penny of hers. But there were three specific impediments to Charu’s using her dispassionate and sharp intelligence. First, she had had to remain a woman all her life. Second, her half-insane husband did not die during their entire twenty years together, although, like every innocent man, he remained extremely suspicious of his wife’s fidelity every moment of those years. Third, as he grew older, Charu’s only son displayed no sign of a naturally flowering intelligence."

Manik Bandopadhyay was an Indian writer and novelist, regarded as one of the major figures of 20th century Bengali literature. During a lifespan of 48 years, he produced 36 novels and nearly 250 short stories. His notable works include "Padma Nadir Majhi" which was later made into a film by Gautam Ghosh.

ترجمة: Arunava Sinha

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