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Folk-Tales of Bengal

Lal Behari Dey
€19.99
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19th century
A01=Lal Behari Dey
A32=Mint Editions
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
Author_Lal Behari Dey
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Bengal
Bengali
Brahman
Category1=Fiction
Category=FA
Category=FBA
Category=FN
Category=FQ
COP=United States
Cultural heritage
Delivery_Delivery within 10-20 working days
elephant
eq_bestseller
eq_fiction
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_modern-contemporary
eq_nobargain
Fairy tales
folk tales
Folklore
Indian literature
jewels
Lal Behari Dey
Language_English
Mythology
Oral tradition
PA=Available
palace
peacocks
Price_€10 to €20
prince
princess
PS=Active
serpent
Short stories
softlaunch

Product details

  • ISBN 9781513134390
  • Dimensions: 127 x 203mm
  • Publication Date: 31 Mar 2022
  • Publisher: West Margin Press
  • Publication City/Country: US
  • Product Form: Hardback
  • Language: English
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Description

Folk Tales of Bengal: Life’s Secret (1883) is a collection of stories by Lal Behari Dey. Inspired by the stories told to him by village elders in his boyhood, Lal Behari Dey wrote Folk Tales of Bengal: Life’s Secret in order to portray the lives and traditions of Bengali peasants in a positive, human light. Praised by Charles Darwin for his novel Govinda Samanta: Or the History of a Bengal Raiyat, Lal Behari Dey was awarded a substantial prize for his literary achievements by a prominent Bengali zamindar, cementing his reputation as a pioneering figure in Bengali literature. “I have reason to believe that the stories given in this book are a genuine sample of the old old stories told by old Bengali women from age to age through a hundred generations.” With this certificate of authenticity, Lal Behari Dey presents the stories of his youth in Bengal, stories of kings and queens, gods and monsters, of rich and poor and everything in between. In “Life’s Secret,” he tells the tale of Suo, a beautiful queen who has been unable to give birth to a son for her impatient, powerful husband. Just as she is ready to give in to despair, a mysterious healer presents her with a magical drug that will grant her the fertility she seeks. In “Phakir Chand,” two young friends on a journey to a foreign land encounter a princess held captive by a terrifying serpent. Saving her, they agree to remain at her palace, but only one of them can take her hand in marriage. Charming, instructive, and often surprising, Folk Tales of Bengal: Life’s Secret is an underappreciated masterpiece of Bengali literature from Lal Behari Dey. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Lal Behari Dey’s Folk Tales of Bengal: Life’s Secret is a classic work of Bengali literature reimagined for modern readers.
About Lal Behari Dey
Lal Behari Dey (1824-1892) was a Bengali journalist and Christian missionary. Born near Bardhaman, Lal Behari moved to Calcutta with his father in 1834 to study with Reverend Alexander Duff. Over the next decade, he converted to Christianity and studied English, eventually publishing a prizewinning essay titled The Falsity of the Hindu Religion (1842). From 1865 to 1867, he served as a missionary and minister for the Free Church of Scotland before finding work as an English professor in Berhampore and Hooghly. A devoted student of English literature, he published Govinda Samanta: Or the History of a Bengal Raiyat (1874) and Folk Tales of Bengal: Life’s Secret (1883), earning a reputation as a leading Bengali novelist and advocate for the poor and oppressed.

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