Chapter (অধ্যায়): THE STORY OF THE BOY GOPALA PAGE-173Page: 173 of 519
her widowhood, her poverty, and blessed her miseries a thousand times.
Then there came some religious ceremonies which the teacher had to perform in honour of his ancestors. These village teachers, managing alone a number of boys and receiving no fixed fees from them, have to depend a great deal upon presents when the occasion requires them.
Each pupil brought in his share, in goods or money. And Gopala, the orphan, the widow's son!-the other boys smiled a smile of contempt on him when they talked of the present they were bringing.
That night Gopala's heart was heavy, and he asked his mother for some present for the teacher, and the poor mother had nothing.
But she determined to do what she had been doing all her life, to depend on the Cowherd, and told her son to ask from his brother Gopala in the forest for some presents for the teacher.
The next day, after Gopala had met the Cowherd boy in the woods as usual and after they had some games together, Gopala told his brother of the forest the grief that was in his mind and begged him to give him something to present his teacher with.
"Brother Gopala," said the cowherd, "I am only a cowherd you see, and have no money, but take this pot of cream as from a poor cowherd and present it to your teacher."
Gopala, quite glad that he now had something to give his teacher, more so because it was a present from his brother in the forest, hastened to the home of the teacher and stood with an eager heart behind a crowd of boys handing over their presents to the teacher. Many and varied were the presents they had brought, and no one thought of looking even at the present of the orphan.
The neglect was quite disheartening; tears stood in the eyes of Gopala, when by a sudden stroke of fortune the