author - "Bankim Chandra Chatterjee"

ated bedstead lay an old manwho seemed to be at death's door; his eyes were sunk, his breathhurried, his lips trembling. By the side of his bed stood an earthenlamp upon a fragment of brick taken from the ruins of the house. In itthe oil was deficient; so also was it in the body of the man. Anotherlamp shone by the bedside--a girl of faultlessly fair face, of soft,starry beauty.

Whether because the light from the oil-less lamp was dim, or becausethe two occupants of the house were absorbed in thinking of theirapproaching separation, Nagendra's entrance was unseen. Standing inthe doorway, he heard the last sorrowful words that issued from themouth of the old man. These two, the old man and the young girl, werefriendless in this densely-peopled world. Once they had had wealth,relatives, men and maid servants--abundance of all kinds; but by thefickleness of fortune, one after another, all had gone. The mother ofthe family, seeing the faces of her son and daughter daily fading likethe dew-drench