This is indeed an instance of Shelley translated at his best. Tagore here makes his translated lines read natural and he shows an astounding faithfulness to the original. Even the suggestion of original ethereality in "The winds of heaven" is retained in "paban" which means 'wind' or 'air' while also referring to 'the wind-god' (comparable with the Latin Aeolus and the Greek Aiolos - god of the winds).

What could then possibly have happened to Tagore when he translated his own Bengali writings into English? For, in his self-translations, the source text often finds a simplified and generalized rendering; and, this is evident in his English translations of his own stories too. In fact, the laden implications of the titles, 'Jayparajay' and 'Manbhanjan', have been reduced to only 'The Victory' and a name, 'Giribala', respectively.

In his self-translations, Tagore seems to be more interested in communicating ideas. So, at places, he omits portions of the original or condenses drastically the source language text to a brief and bland expression. For example, of Giribala's elaboration to revenge herself upon her husband in 'Manbhanjan', all that finds representation in translation is: "…prayed in her mind that a day might come when she might have an opportunity to spurn him away with her contempt" (Tagore 1917: 503) The Bengali counterpart however reads:

"åa LLÛ×Ì[?Tö ×"Jôãwø ]ãX Eõ×Ì[?_, ^×V EõFãXç A]X ×VX %çãa å^, Töçc÷çÌ[? Ø'öç]Ý Töçc÷çÌ[ý Ì[ýÖãY %çEÊõrô c÷+Ì^ç V"ùYlù YTöã†Ì[? ]ãTöç Töçc÷çÌ[ý YVTöã_ %ç×aÌ^ç YäQÍö, A[?e åa %çYX "JôÌ[ýSXFãÌ[?Ì[ý YÒçÜ™ö c÷+ãTö =ãYlùç ×[?EõÝSï Eõ×Ì[?Ì^ç ×VÌ^ç %×\ö]çX\öãÌ[? "Jô×_Ì^ç ^ç+ãTö YçãÌ[?, Töã[ý+ Töçc÷çÌ[ý A+ [ýîUï Ì[?ÖY [ýîUï å^ì[?X açUïEõTöç _ç\ö Eõ×Ì[?ã[ý*"

Tagore the self-translator also showed an excessive and obsessive concern for his target readers. He nursed a grave anxiety about the degree to which the complex source specificities in his writings could be conveyed across cultures. That is why he sometimes resorted to target-friendly substitutes for source culture specificities. That is why even the simple specificity in "X]oõçÌ[?" in 'Jayparajay' gathers a western hue in Tagore's own rendering, "greeted…with a smile and a bow"(Various Writers 1985: 18). In the process of such transformations, the translated stories are shorn of much of their culture specificities and to that extent, the translated texts have become feebler representations of their originals. For example, the humour in re-christening 'Banbihari' as 'Konbihari' in 'Samskar' is lost when Tagore omits in his translation, (Tagore 1928), the short source sentence: "%ç×] TöçÌ[? Xç] ×VãÌ^×"K÷ åEõçS×[?c÷çÌ[ýÝ" 'Banbihari' implies roving in forests and groves, especially for pleasure It also bears references to Krishna, who used to rove in groves, playing his flute. In fact, 'bihari' means sporting, frolicking, dallying, promenading, or even indulging in amorous frolics, while 'kon' means an angle or a corner. And the humorous implication of the source sentence is that Banbihari, contrary to his name, is fond of sedentary discussions.

Finally, Tagore was illimitably freer in his creative and imaginative strokes while composing the original stories in his mother tongue than he was while translating them into a language of foreign origin. And in his letters, he has often expressed this apprehension of using English to full advantage. In all this, however, it has to be conceded that Tagore could generously take liberties with the originals because they were his own compositions. Probably, he even assumed that he had the right to take liberties. And so he could afford to forego the translator's fealty to the source text with a note of nonchalance.

Translation - A Transnational Perspective

Evidently, English translations of Tagore's short stories, like all cross-cultural translations, involve a translocation, a communication across languages and cultures. The source text, rooted in its own culture, is conveyed through another linguistic medium to a target group that generally hails from a different cultural milieu. The Bengali text in English translation thus encounters a new locational context in the target world. Patently or latently, the linguistic and cultural resources of the target language and the kind of target group tend to influence the translated text. Also, a translation ideally aspires to acquire a place in the literary repertoire of the target language, and it has to fulfill the primary criterion of readability. At the same time, a translation is invariably judged with reference to its original and this claims that a good translation should make an optimum effort to retain the source specificities. Indeed, most of the translational dilemmas can be traced to those conflicting demands of a shift in location. These complications usually intensify whenever the source and target counterparts do not enjoy equal standing in international power balance. There then arise chances of appropriation or misappropriation of the text and the conquest of the less powerful side by the more dominant one.

However, although propelled by economic logic of taking advantage of the opening of markets, the prevalent tendency all over the world, of regions coming closer and together, has offered tremendous scope for a spurt in translation activities. The European Union (EU), the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), and similar other collaborative efforts elsewhere are concrete manifestations of this trend. One of the positive effects of such endeavours is an impetus for interactions amongst different nations and cultures. In the context of these developments, the need for a liberal and transnational outlook of people becomes more and more relevant, and the translators are expected to encash these opportunities.

Fortunately, Tagore's personality, his thoughts and ideas reflected an all encompassing approach that found a crystallized expression in his concept of the Universal Man. Naturally, his writings voiced this vision and this is to be found in many of his short stories too. That is why, in promoting integration amongst nations, his writings have a great potential for translation, and translators are required to respond to this challenge. Possibly, it was Tagore's own transnational attitude that urged him to reach out to an international readership and prompted him to translate his own writings into English. After all, English translations enjoy a larger target readership as English has been operating on a global footing.

In this era of interdisciplinary approach and vigorous co-operative ventures amongst nations, translation activity needs to be attended to by a liberated mind that will be, as far as practicable, free from any incriminating influences of major-minor power equations in conveying cultures across national boundaries. The translational forum would thereby ensure mutual respect and appreciation for cultures other than one's own and encourage receptivity and responsiveness to new literatures. In such an atmosphere, source specificities would be conserved as indispensable elements of a world culture and not be mowed down by target language-oriented substitutes of a more dominant culture. It should then be possible to initiate a process of reterritorialisation and relocation by which people will view themselves in a wider context without compromising their distinctive identities. This realization of a symbiotic relationship between one's roots and the world outside would provide a positive perspective for translation as a subject of study as well as an area of operation.

A look into the available English translations of Tagore's short stories reveals that Jatindra M. Bagchi's rendering of the Bengali 'Subha', which appeared in the 16 September 1901 issue of New India: A Weekly Record and Review of Modern Thought & Life, is the first published English translation. However, a year before this, an attempt at translating Tagore's short stories into English had already been made. Three translated stories were a part of his debut, but only one of these translations appeared in print (Paul 1988: 298) and that too, not until 1912. Yet, in the emerging context of a global village, this maiden translation and its translator acquire a symbolic significance.

NOTES

1. All portions quoted in this paper from the Bengali texts of Tagore's short stories bear reference to this publication.

REFERENCES

Bardhan, Kalpana (Trans.) (1990) 'The Punishment' in Bardhan, Kalpana (ed.) Of Women, Outcastes, Peasants, and Rebels: A Selection of Bengali Short Stories, California: University of California Press.

Chakravarty, Amiya, Mary Lago and Tarun Gupta (Trans). (1965) Punishment in Amiya  Chakravarty, (ed.), The Housewarming and Other Selected Writings. New York: The New American Library.

Chakravarty, Amiya, Mary Lago and Tarun Gupta (Trans). (1965) The Girl Between in Amiya Chakravarty, (ed.), The Housewarming and Other Selected Writings. New  York: The New American Library.

Das, Sisir Kumar (ed.), (1994) The English Writings of Rabindranath Tagore, Vol. 1. New Delhi: Sahitya Akademi.

Dutta, Krishna and Mary Lago (Trans.), (1991) The Girl Between, in Selected Short  Stories of Rabindranath Tagore, London: Macmillan London Ltd. Rpt. 1992, Rupa & Co., Calcutta.

Dutta, Krishna and Mary Lago (Trans.), (1991) The Postmaster, in Selected Short  Stories of Rabindranath Tagore, London: Macmillan London Ltd. Rpt. 1992, Rupa & Co., Calcutta.   

E.P. Thompson (1993) 'Alien Homage': Edward Thompson and Rabindranath Tagore. Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Lago, Mary (2001) "India's Prisoner": A Biography of Edward John Thompson, 1886-1946, Columbia: University of Missouri Press.

Mitter, Debendra Nath (Trans.) (1911) The Postmaster, Ramananda Chatterjee (ed.), The Modern Review: A Monthly Review and Miscellany, January 1911.

Paul, Prasanta Kumar (1988) Rabijibani, Vol. 4, Ananda Publishers Pvt. Ltd., Calcutta.

Radice, William (1991) (Trans.) Punishment in Rabindranath Tagore: Selected Short  Stories, London: Penguin Books. Rev. ed. (1994)

Radice, William (Trans.) (1994) The Living and the Dead, in Rabindranath Tagore: Selected Short Stories, London: Penguin Books.

Radice, William (Trans.) (1994) The Postmaster, in Rabindranath Tagore: Selected  Short Stories, London: Penguin Books.

Sen, Rajani Ranjan (1913) The Sentence, in Glimpses of Bengal Life, Madras: G.A. Natesan & Co.,

Sikdar, Asrukumar (1998) Kabir Anubad, Calcutta: Rabindrabharati Viswavidyalaya.

Supriya Chaudhuri (Trans.) (2000) Punishment, in Sukanta Chaudhuri (Ed.)  Rabindranath Tagore: Selected Short Stories. New Delhi: Oxford University  Press.

Tagore, Rabindranath (1917) Giribala Swati Datta (Trans.) Giribala, Ramananda  Chatterjee, (ed.) The Modern Review: A Monthly Review and Miscellany. Calcutta, May 1917.

Tagore, Rabindranath (1918) The Postmaster, Mashi and Other Stories London: Macmillan and co. Rpt. 1988, Madras: Macmillan Pocket Tagore Ed., Macmillan India  Ltd.

Tagore, Rabindranath (1928) Samskar Tagore, Rabindranath (Trans.) The Patriot, in The Modern Review, July 1928

Tagore, Rabindranath Rabindra Rachanabali, (posthumous compilation 1961a) Birth Centenary Edition, Vol. 1, Government of West Bengal Publication.

Tagore, Rabindranath Rabindra Rachanabali (posthumous compilation 1961b) Birth  Centenary Edition, Vol. 7. Calcutta: Government of West Bengal Publication.

Various Writers (Trans.) (1916) The Victory in Hungry Stones and Other Stories. London: Macmillan. (rpt. 1985) Madras: Macmillan Pocket Tagore Ed., Macmillan  India Ltd.

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