The Oyster

Up to this evening, which should have been the most delightful of all, everything had been delightful. “Delightful” was Gopal’s new word. “London is delightful,” he wrote home. “The college is delightful, Professor William Morgan is delightful and so is Mrs. Morgan and the little Morgans, but perhaps,” he added with pain, for he had to admit that the Morgan children were rough and spoiled, “perhaps not so delightful if you see them for a very long time… The hostel is delightful… I find my work delightful.” He had planned to write home that Paris was delightful. “We went to a famous French restaurant in the rue Perpignan,” he had meant to write, “it is called the Chez Perpignan. It is de-” Now tears made his dark eyes bright; he could not write that; it was not delightful at all.

Gopal’s family lived in Bengal; they were Brahmini Hindus and his mother kept the household to orthodox ways in spite of all he and his elder brother could do. Now Gopal saw her orthodox food: and flat brass platters of rice, the pile of luchis--flaky, puffed, pale gold biscuits—the vegetable fritters fried crisp, the great bowl of lentil puree, and the small accompanying bowls of relishes—shredded coconut or fried onion or spinach or chilis in tomato sauce or chutney, all to be put on the rice. He saw fruit piled on banana leaves, the bowl of fresh curd, the milk or orange or bel-fruit juice in the silver drinking tumblers; no meat or fish, not even eggs, were eaten in that house. “We shall not take life, ” said his mother. Gopal looked down at his plate in the Perpignan and shuddered.

He had come to Europe with shining intentions, eager, anxious to do as the Romans did, as the English, the French, as Romans everywhere. “There will be things you will not be able to stomach,” he had been warned; so far he had stomached everything. His elder brother Jai had been before him and had come back utterly accustomed to everything Western dishes; they ate meat, even beef, but not in their own home. “Not while I live,” said his mother.


Oyster: shellfish (used as food and usually eaten uncooked) some types of which produce pearls inside their shells 牡蛎，蠔
Orthodox: generally accepted
Chutney: hot-tasting mixture of fruit, vinegar, sugar and spices, eaten with curries, cold meat, cheese, etc. 酸辣酱
Hostel: a building that offers student rooms and meals at reasonable prices
Take life: kill
Shining intentions: the best intentions
As the Romans did: this refers to the saying, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”
Stomach: accept, tolerate
relish: spicy or strongly-flavored appetizer served with plain food 开胃小菜