The Ghost-Brahman Question Answer | Class 11 English Second Semester WBCHSE
1. What problem did the Brahman face? How did he settle the issue? Was the solution sustainable
The anonymous Brahman was ridiculously poor. To add insult to his injury, he was not a Kulin, i.e. Brahmin from Kannauj noted for their purity of blood, wisdom of the Vedas and superiority of their class. Consequently, the said Brahman found it hard to marry a suitable wife.
The problem was, he had to offer a huge dowry to marry a bride. So he begged from door to door, buttered up solvent masters and finally managed to gather the sum required to meet the expenses of his wedding.
The make-shift solution proved futile a few days after marriage. The fever of romanticism went out. He, therefore, decided to visit distant countries to collect some cash to earn his keep with dignity. Taking blessings from his mother and permission from his wife, the Bramhan disppeared for years together.
2. Describe the episode of ‘that very day’ when the ghost replaced the Brahman
In the fateful evening of the day on which the insolvent Brahman disappeared to test his fate, a miracle took place. A ghost, an itinerant soul who was wandering to gratify his human desires, put in the body of the same Brahman. To the utter astonishment of the mother and the wife, who expected him not to return so early, the ghost-Brahman impersonated the human-Brahman. They looked like two peas in a pod. So nobody suspected him. By and by, he owned the Brahman’s house, drew his mother’s affection and enjoyed his wife’s company. His illusory household might give him the feel of a flesh and blood reality.
3. “What happened when the human-Brahman returned home? What was the Brahman’s reaction
In Lal Behari Dey’s funny skit, ‘The Ghost-Brahman’, the dramatic action culminates in an inevitable conflict between the real and the virtual, between the Brahman and his fake counterpart. Years rolled by and the homesick Brahman headed home. To his utter chagrin he met his own replication in a stranger. Both claimed the house, the mother and the wife to be their own. The legitimate owner-poor and pious-couldn’t prove the ghost to be spurious or fraudulent. Calling him insane the pseudo-Brahman drove the real Brahman out of his house. The Brahman was so stunned that words got stuck in his throat.
4. Being expelled from his own house, what did the poor Brahman do? What treatment did he get from the king? Was he satisfied with the king’s judgement
Lal Behari Dey’s elegant folktale ‘The Ghost- Brahman’ falls under the category of trickster tale. Here a ghost plays a practical joke on naive Brahman and proves him to be fake. Even so, the ghost drives him out of his rightful seat. The Brahman was initially nonplussed. When his good sense returned, he thought of filing a case before the king.
The king’s confusion knew no bounds when he saw two exactly alike persons standing before him and claiming each other to be counterfeit. The non- plussed king put him off to the following day. He dilly- dallied stating briefly, “Come to-morrow”.
The Brahman fell into despair and exclaimed in frustration, “And what a king this is! He does not do justice.” Perhaps he knew the byword “Justice delayed is justice denied.”
5. Who was the neat-herd king? How did the Brahman come across him? What was the neat-herd king do- ing at that time
The expression ‘neat-herd’ literally means a cowboy or herdsman. In L. B. Dey’s story ‘The Ghost-Brahman’ a cowboy was playing at royalty with other fellow- shepherds. So he was called the ‘neat-herd king’.
One day when the king dilly-dallied to give justice to the Brahman, the latter felt upset. He happened to pass a spot on the meadow where the cowboys were playing. It is at this point of time when the neat-herd king noticed the Brahman and directed his vizier to summon him for a mock trial.
The cowboy king was seated in his mock court and asked the Brahman the reason of his despair. He then assured the Brahman of justice only if he could obtain due permission from the lawful king of the land.
6. Whom did the Brahman seek permission from? Did he/she give him the mentioned permission? Why
In Lal Behari Dey’s retelling of the Bengali folktale ‘The Ghost-Brahman’, the innocent Brahman lost possession of his mother, wife and household to a ghost who impersonated his human form. To beg justice the Brahman made plea to the king, who however was too non-plussed to deliver justice. At this juncture, the Brahman was instructed by the neat-herd king to seek due permission to transfer the case from the royal court to the mock court of the neat-herd king.
The sovereign of the land happily allowed the Brahman to be heard in the neat-herd’s mock court.
It was because the ruler himself was puzzled enough to tell the original Brahman from his spectral counterpart. Secondly, he was curious to know how such a complex issue could be solved by a common shepherd. Thirdly, his failure to distinguish between the earthly and the ethereal the real person and the unreal phantom triggered his questioning mind.
7. How did the neat-herd king finally deliver justice to the Brahman
In Lal Behari Dey’s folktale ‘The Ghost-Brahman’ a conflict arises out of a simple impoverished Brahman’s crisis of identity. In his absence, an evil ghost assuming his form occupies his household along with his mother and wife. When the Brahman returns, the phantom in his person disowns and drives him away. The earthly claimant loses his right to an unearthly entity. The case is heard in the king’s court but the ruler fails miserably to distinguish the Brahman from his dummy. Finally the case is brought in the court of a neat-herd king for a mock trial. The shrewd shepherd asks each of the petitioners to enter a phial. One who enters will be announced the rightful owner. The Brahman laughs at the sheer absurdity of the proposal but the ghost dwarfs himself and fits himself into the phial. At once, his spectral identity is disclosed and the Brahman wins the verdict.
8. Do you find a socio-economic picture of Bengal at that time from this story? Reason out your an- swer
Lal Behari Dey, a scholar, professor and Christian Missionary collected and retold this folktale in 1883. Bengal was then under the British Raj. The economic condition of most of the peasants was pathetic. They were crushed under the wheels of the system controlled by zaminders and tax collectors. Brahmans too were not exempted from this exploitation. They were mostly impoverished and borrowed money from the lenders. They had to work abroad to earn their keep. The caste-ridden Bengali society strictly maintained the division of social classes-Brahmans Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Sudras. The ‘Kulins’ enjoyed and exercised their right to polygamy. Child marriage was prevalent. Non-Kulin Brahmans found it hard to tie a marital knot. Prejudice and superstitions loomed large. The kings were subjected to the British.
9. Evaluate ‘The Ghost-Brahman’ as a traditional folktale
A folktale is a tale circulated by word of mouth among the common folk down the ages. It is akin to a fable, myth, a legend, a fairy tale or a tall tale. Folktales tell us our history, past tradition, values etc. They tell us where we live and who we are. Like any other tale, L.B. Dey’s ‘The Ghost-Brahman’ also has plot, characters, setting, theme, events and real life. Here a trickster ghost impersonates as a poor Brahman and enjoys the company of his mother and wife. The other characters are a real king, a shepherd king and some cowboys. The events take a u-turn when the Brahman is evicted from his own house. He goes to the king who fails to deliver justice. Finally the stupid ghost is locked in a phial by an intelligent shepherd. Thus virtue is awarded and vice punished. It teaches us the superiority of human intelligence but also presents the pathetic yet simple rural life of undivided Bengal. So the story qualifies the nature of a folktale per se.
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