Summary

In “The Cabuliwallah,” the narrator’s young daughter Mini talked constantly. Although her mother hated Mini’s chattering, the narrator delighted in it.

One morning, while the narrator worked on his writing, Mini played and talked under his table. She exclaimed when she saw a peddler, or Cabuliwallah, passing below. Although the narrator was preoccupied with his writing, he invited the peddler in. Although Mini was initially afraid of the peddler, Rahman, her fears dissipated when he gave her nuts and seeds. The narrator tried paying him, but Rahman refused.

When Rahman asked Mini if she was “going to [her] father-in-law’s house,” Mini responded “with ready tact” (12). She was unaware that the phrase was “a euphemism for jail” (12, Tagore’s italics). Mini and Rahman laughed at the joke they had made together.

Over the following months, Rahman continued visiting. Although Mini’s...