{"product_id":"2940012865380","title":"A BAYARD FROM BENGAL","description":"CONTENTS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    CHAP.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e       I. FROM CALCUTTA TO CAMBRIDGE OVERSEA ROUTE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e      II. HOW MR BHOSH DELIVERED A DAMSEL FROM A DEMENTED COW\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     III. THE INVOLUNTARY FASCINATOR\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e      IV. A KICK FROM A FRIENDLY FOOt\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e       V. THE DUEL TO THE DEATH\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e      VI. LORD JOLLY IS SATISFIED\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE UNWIELDY GIFTHORSE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    VIII. A RIGHTABOUT FACER FOR MR BHOSH\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e      IX. THE DARK HORSE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e       X. TRUST HER NOT! SHE IS FOOLING THEE!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e      XI. STONE WALLS DO NOT MAKE A CAGE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     XII. A RACE AGAINST TIME\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e    XIII. A SENSATIONAL DERBY STRUGGLE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e     XIV. A GRAND FINISH\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e       *       *       *       *       *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e          THE PARABLES OF PILJOSH\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePRELIMINARY\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI have the honour humbly to inform my readers that, after prolonged\u003cbr\u003econsumption of midnight oil, I succeeded in completing this imposing\u003cbr\u003esociety novel, which is now, by the indulgence of my friends and kind\u003cbr\u003efathers, the honble publishers, laid at their feet.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMy inducement to this enterprise was the spectacle of very inferior\u003cbr\u003erubbish palmed off by so-called popular novelists such as Honbles\u003cbr\u003eKipling, Joshua Barrie, Antony Weyman, Stanley Hope, and the\u003cbr\u003ecollaborative but feminine authoresses of \"The Red Thumb in the\u003cbr\u003ePottage,\" all of whom profess (very, very incorrectly) to give accurate\u003cbr\u003ereliable descriptions of Indian, English or Scotch episodes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe pity of it, that a magnificent and gullible British Public should be\u003cbr\u003esuckled like a babe on such spoonmeat and small beer!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWould no one arise, inflamed by the pure enthusiasm of his _cacoethes\u003cbr\u003escribendi_, and write a romance which shall secure the plerophory of\u003cbr\u003eBritish, American, Anglo-Indian, Colonial, and Continental readers by\u003cbr\u003edint of its imaginary power and slavish fidelity to Nature?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd since Echo answered that no one replied to this invitation, I (like\u003cbr\u003ea fool, as some will say) rushed in where angels were apprehensive of\u003cbr\u003ebeing too bulky to be borne.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBeing naturally acquainted with gentlemen of my own nationality and\u003cbr\u003eeducation, and also, of course, knowing London and suburban society _ab\u003cbr\u003eovo usque ad mala_ (or, from the new-laid egg to the stage when it is\u003cbr\u003ebeginning to go bad), I decided to take as my theme the adventures of a\u003cbr\u003etypically splendid representative of Young India on British soil, and I\u003cbr\u003eam in earnest hopes to avoid the shocking solecisms and exaggerations\u003cbr\u003eindulged in by ordinary English novelists.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI have been compelled to take to penmanship of this sort owing to\u003cbr\u003epressure of _res angusta domi_, the immoderate increase of hostages\u003cbr\u003eto fortune, and proportionate falling off of emoluments from my\u003cbr\u003eprofession as Barrister-at-Law.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTherefore, I hope that all concerned will smile favourably upon my new\u003cbr\u003edeparture, and will please kindly understand that, if my English\u003cbr\u003eliterary style has suffered any deterioration, it is solely due to my\u003cbr\u003ebeing out of practice, and such spots on the sun must be excused as mere\u003cbr\u003eflies in ointment.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter forming my resolution of writing a large novel, I confided it to\u003cbr\u003emy crony, Mr Ram Ashootosh Lall, who warmly recommended me to persevere\u003cbr\u003ein such a _magnum opus_. So I became divinely inflated periodically\u003cbr\u003eevery evening from 8 to 12 P.M., disregarding all entreaties from\u003cbr\u003efeminine relatives to stop and indulge in a blow-out on ordinary\u003cbr\u003eeatables, like Archimedes when Troy was captured, who was so engrossed\u003cbr\u003ein writing prepositions on the sand that he was totally unaware that he\u003cbr\u003ewas being barbarously slaughtered.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd at length my colossal effusion was completed, and I had written\u003cbr\u003emyself out; after which I had the indescribable joy and felicity to read\u003cbr\u003emy composition to my mothers-in-law and wives and their respective\u003cbr\u003eprogenies and offspring, whereupon, although they were not acquainted\u003cbr\u003ewith a word of English, they were overcome by such severe admiration for\u003cbr\u003emy fecundity and native eloquence that they swooned with rapture.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI am not a superstitious, but I took the trouble to consult a\u003cbr\u003esoothsayer, as to the probable fortunes of my undertaking, and he at\u003cbr\u003eonce confidently predicted that my novel was to render all readers dumb\u003cbr\u003eas fishes with sheer amazement and prove a very fine feather in my cap.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor all the above reasons, I am modestly confident that it will be\u003cbr\u003egenerally recognised as a masterpiece, especially when it is remembered\u003cbr\u003ethat it is the work of a native Indian, whose 'prentice hand is still a\u003cbr\u003enovice in wielding the _currente calamo_ of fiction.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47078913048816,"sku":"2940012865380","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940012865380_p0.jpg?v=1763573599","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940012865380","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}