Only free men can laugh . . . and love
Farida Shaikh reads a tale twice over and likes it
Kreetadasher Hashi is Shaukat Osman's masterpiece dedicated to A.K.M.Ahsan, civil servant, poet Sanaul Huq, and Harihar Juglashu. More significant is Abdul Bari Warsi who supported the publication of this work. There are remembrances of atrocities committed during the rule of Ayub Khan, the period referred to in Osman's work. Kreetadasher Hashi was awarded the year's 1963 best literary award. It is interesting how the manuscript leading to this work was discovered. The writer and two of his compatriots set out on a visit to a village and came upon Roufannesa, a meritorious student of English literature at Dhaka University. She had been jilted in love. She dedicated herself to education for girls, and had set up a school in the village. She lived with her ninety year old grandfather Shah Fariduddin Jaunpur. During World War II he fought in the Lusai sector and in Bihar. He returned to the village as an Arabic-Persian scholar. His library of books was a treasure house. It was over a festive breakfast session in Roufannesa's house that Maulana Jalal jokingly made a reference to The Thousand and One Nights. As the grand old man Dadu Fariduddin heard this, he at once made a correction and said the title of the book was Thousand and Two Nights, Alif laila wa Lailanai; the literal meaning is two nights, and not Alif Laila wah Laila, meaning one night. Dadu also said that the reason behind this misconception was on account of seeking information on Oriental subjects from British sources. The people of the subcontinent were their slaves for over one hundred and fifty years, which fact had framed the mentality of the people to accept their point of view without challenge. Dadu Fariduddin got a copy of the manuscript from his library. It was during the reign of Halaku Khan that Baghdad was destroyed and this document passed through many places and persons and reached Hindustan. It then reached Shah Shuja.As the later was escaping to Arakan, the document was left in Murshidabad, from where it went to Jaunpur and into the hands of Shah Fariduddin. Everyone began looking at the book. The last tale in The Thousand and One Nights was on Shahjada Habib, as everyone knew. The next story after this was Jahakul Abad, meaning slave's laughter. After the writer's return from the village, he sought cooperation from Maulana Jalal and began translating in Bangla the last story; he had obtained permission from Dadu and made a copy of the manuscript for the library, even though a page was missing. So Jahakul Abad translated into Bangla is Kreetadaser Hashi and translated into English it is The Laughter of a Slave. The story is about love, life and living. Laughter is symbolic of living with 'a happy heart' or 'to live profoundly', as Milan Kundera would say. The Laughter of a Slave is a farce and sarcasm on the prevailing social order. Slavery is a social construct. Physically the slaves are bonded to their masters' or mistresses' whims. However, the soul of a man is always free; so even though a man may be a slave, his soul is not bonded if he has a clear conscience. Laughter signifies that freedom of the soul. Laughter and good words are reflections of man's soul. Harun-al-Rashid is the fifth Abbasid Caliph (786-809) of Baghdad, Begum Zubaida his wife and Meherjan is Zubaida's slave-companion. The black slave Tatari and Meherjan love each other and are secretly married. The Begum knows about this and encourages Meherjan to enjoy herself with her lover. But without the consent of the Caliph, the master of all slaves, the marriage is illegal. Man is a solitary being and mental loneliness and heaviness of the heart are part of everyday life. The voice of the dead is louder than that of the living. Man is not capable of making judgments of the self or make distinctions between the morally right and the wrong. Masrur, the slave companion, notes the Caliph's reflections as he strolls through his palace. The Caliph is a sad man. He has punished his sister for loving a man from an enemy tribe. He has also signed the death warrant of the chief minister. In the midst of such melancholia he hears the mirthful laughter of two beings, one full-throated and the other high pitched. It is the laughter of the slaves. The Caliph exclaims, 'They will laugh, and I can't. No, no, that can't be.' He wants to laugh like slaves, but alas he couldn't as his conscience was so much burdened. The Caliph finds that slaves keep awake till late night, for 'sleep is not the only form of rest.' He orders a search for the laughing slaves. When they are found, Tatari the African slave is rewarded with a gift of the Caliph's garden estate, all for his laughter. The Armenian slave girl Meherjan is no longer a slave girl and returns to Begum Zubaida. Tatari is grateful for his reward, but he is not happy, so he does not laugh. He tells the caretaker that slaves do not feel comfortable unless they earn their reward by their own labour. That enjoyment is attained only through 'effort, intelligence and physical strength.' 'And the real slaves of this world are the people who crave reward without any work or worth.' Tatari is whipped and tortured for not laughing. On orders from the Caliph, Meherjan beseeches Tatari to speak. He does not; seeing this, the Caliph begins to laugh. Meherjan, the free woman, announces Tatari's thoughts --- that there is a difference between the love of a slave and the love of a wealthy man. The rich understand the value of wealth. For the rich money is miracle, it can make the impossible possible. 'Power of money is immeasurable. It is limitless.' Reading Shawkat Osman's original Bangla alongside Kabir Chowdhury's translation, any reader will be impressed by the 'completely faithful' presentation. The re-creation comes close to the original, and this is a tremendous satisfaction for the reader. Reading The Laughter of A Slave is a joy! If an opportunity to make suggestion arises, then let it be said that this work, both in English and Bangla, should be recommended for a course in the sociology of literature.
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