Always, he had this peace. What could be more dangerous than a man-eating tale? In this world, no one remains forever, not even a trace of anyone lingers—whoever realizes this always, what could be more fearsome than a tiger or a crocodile?

“They say, we are ploughmen, we are laborers, we are madmen, we are savages—we have driven away the big folk. But what does it matter if someone climbs over nature and tramples it, or if someone snatches fish from nature! We steal cattle, they steal people—neither a mother nor a cow is spared—when our children are hungry, we cannot think straight, sometimes we even harm our own people. Those who cannot bear the weight of a plough, what fear do they have left? There is nothing left to say or to hear.”

Hayi Mishra’s evening companion was always the village headman. The son of Bha’ was Karaju Pradhan, a son born of a father’s misfortune, now an outsider. If a cow is milked, milk will flow—Mishra always had this saying.

Chapter Six

Baraju noticed, the household was growing more restless by the day. Sometimes, when there was a quarrel, there was no peace at home—the house and its people—like a cremation ground, silent and desolate. By the shed, near the well...

Just as the cow, the bullock, and the dog are tethered to their posts, so too have the affairs of the household become entangled, bound up in endless knots. When there is discord, a man cannot sit peacefully even for a moment. I have kept the six acres of land for the elder brother’s family—otherwise, who would listen to the complaints and accusations that would follow? When the brother’s daughter was married, when expenses were made, what was done, who can keep track of all that? When the mind becomes estranged, what meaning remains in kinship? Now, poor Subhadra must go to her father’s house with an empty stomach!

The younger daughter-in-law—if she falls ill, the elder daughter-in-law must arrange for her daughter’s marriage and feed the children. She is just one person; how much can she bear, and who will help her? The younger daughter-in-law, along with her five children, will have to struggle, and even the elder daughter-in-law will have to fight—who knows who will break down first?

What can be done? At least now there will be some peace in the household, and the endless bickering and quarrels may come to an end. What more can happen now? Yes, things have come to this point, and everyone is climbing over each other, the house is filled with suspicion and emptiness! If they live separately and both households find happiness, then that is for the best! What is the use if everyone is crowded together in one place, always at odds? If the hearts do not unite, there is no harm in living apart—if the hearts are united and they separate, that is one thing; but if the hearts are already divided, then separation is