This three-volume English translation by Ratan Kumar Chattopadhyay called Selections from Galpaguchchha is a collection of sixty-one of Tagore’s short stories broadly grouped under the themes of parting of ways, the relationship between men and women, and the power within the woman, respectively.

In Volume 2, we find the ever- popular ‘Ramkanai’s Folly’, ‘The Ghat’s Story’, ‘Woman Bereft of Jewels’, ‘Grandfather’, and ‘The Matronly Boy’, among other stories. The travails of a timid man of indomitable honesty who attains a tragic heroism are narrated in ‘Ramkanai’s Folly’, while the theme of ‘The Ghat’s Story’ is the unstated, forbidden love of a young woman for a hermit who may or may not be her long-lost husband. The frisson in the haunting climax of the ‘Woman Bereft of Jewels’, a horrifying morality tale of egotism and greed, is justly famous.

Volume 3, the last in this series, is studded with gems such as ‘Hungry Stones’, ‘The Wife’s Letter’, ‘The Story of a Muslim Woman’, ‘Hidden Treasure’ and ’At Dead of Night’. The theme of ‘Hungry Stones’ is a tale hovering between dream and reality involving palace intrigue and unrequited love, and in ‘The Wife’s Letter’, Mrinal breaks free from the stifling marital ties of fifteen years in what is an indictment of existing gender relations. A traditional Hindu girl out of gratitude for her elderly Muslim protector embraces his religion and falls in love with his son in ‘The Story of a Muslim Woman’.

Translator

Ratan Kumar Chattopadhyay (translator from the Bengali original) is a graduate from the University of Calcutta.

Volume 1

Translator’s Preface vii

The Postmaster
(Postmaster)
Return of the Little Master
(Khokababur Pratyabartan)
Chhuti
(Holiday)
The Visitor
(Atithi)
The Exercise Book
(Khata)
The Pedlar from Kabul
(Kabuliwalla)
The Living and the Dead
(Jibito O Mrito)
The Golden Deer
(Swarnamriga)
A Bequest of Property
(Sampatti-Samarpan)
Trespass
(Anadhikar Prabesh)
Punishment
(Shashti)
Means of Freedom
(Muktir Upaay)
The Austere Woman
(Tapaswini)
The Silent Girl
(Subha)
A Single Night
(Ek-Ratri)
Jajneshwar’s Offering
(Jajneshwarer Jajna)
Taraprasanna’s Achievement
(Taraprasannar Kirti)
A Tale of Fantasy
(Ekta Asharhe Galpa)
Forlorn Hope
(Durasha)
Broken Nest
(Nashtanir)
Glossary

Volume 2

Translator’s Preface vii
Cloud and Sunshine
(Megh O Roudra)
The Ghat’s Story
(Ghater Katha)
The Matrimonial Deal
(Dena-Paaona)
Ramkanai’s Folly
(Ramkanaiyer Nirbuddhita)
Grandfather
(Thakurda)
Nuisance
(Aapad)
The Matronly Boy
(Ginni)
The Skeleton
(Kankal)
Folly
(Durbuddhi)
Wish-fulfilment
(Ichchhapuran)
The Rift
(Byabadhan)
Reciprocation
(Daan-Pratidaan)
Retaliation
(Pratihinsa)
Resentment Appeased
(Maanbhanjan)
The Wedding Garland
(Malyadaan)
The Intervening Woman
(Madhyabartini)
The Haldar Family
(Haldargoshthi)
Rasmani’s Son
(Rasmanir Chhele)
Fertility Sacrifice
(Putrayajna)
Nature’s Child
(Balai)
Woman Bereft of Jewels
(Manihara)
The Ending
(Samapti)
Glossary

Volume 3

Translator’s Preface vii
Hungry Stones
(Kshudhita Pashaan)
Hidden Treasure
(Guptadhan)
The Editor
(Sampadak)
The Gift of Sight
(Drishtidan)
Elder Sister
(Didi)
At Dead of Night
(Nishithe)
A Problem Solved
(Samasyapuran)
Atonement
(Prayashchitta)
The Inscrutable Woman
(Aparichita)
The Royal Mark
(Rajtika)
The Wife’s Letter
(Streer Patra)Galpaguchchha
An Unapproved Story
(Namanjur Galpo)
House Number One
(Poila Nambar)
In Quest of a Bride
(Patra o Patri)
The Laboratory
(Laboratory)
Throttling Progress
(Pragatisanghar)
Sunday
(Rabibar)
The Story of a Muslim Woman
(Mussalmanir Galpa)
The Epilogue
(Shesh Katha)
Glossary