in listening to music and singing; and even when Nadir Shah appeared suddenly before him in the full panoply of war, Mahomed Shah said not a word, and for a time ceased not drinking in with his ears the sweet nectar of song; at last, and still not speaking a word, he left his throne. Not thus did Beni Babu behave upon the arrival of Becharam Babu; he at once put down his sitar and rising quickly from his seat, courteously invited him to be seated. After a somewhat lengthy exchange of courtesies, Becharam Babu observed: "Ah, my dear friend Beni, we have at last reached the end of the chapter[67]! Thakchacha has come to utter grief by his wicked conduct: your Matilall too, by his lack of intelligence has gone to the bad. Ah, my friend! you have always told me some terrible misfortune is sure to happen to a boy when he has not been so educated from his early childhood as to have a cultivated intellect and a knowledge of rectitude: Matilall is an instance of this. It is a sorrowful subject: what more can I say? The whole fault was Baburam's; he had only the wit of a Muktar: he was sharp enough where trifles were in question, but blind in the really important concerns of life[68]."
Beni.-- What is the good of casting reproach upon him by saying this all over again: it was demonstrated a long time ago. When there was such an utter want of attention in the matter of Mati's education, and no means adopted for keeping evil companions from him, it was a foregone conclusion[69]. "It is the Ramayana without Ram." Be that as it may, it is Becharam who has been the chief gainer. Bakreswar has got nothing by all his importunities. No school-master has ever been seen with an equal capacity for flattering the children of the rich: the education he was supposed to give was all a sham: his thoughts day and night were directed solely to getting gain, while appearing
