III UNIT THE CONNOISSEUR

 THE CONNOISSEUR ( Nergis Dalal )

The story of “The Connoisseur”:

In the short story “The Connoisseur”, the narrator and Miss Krishna are presented as a perfect foil to each other. While the narrator is a window, Miss Krishna is a spinster. Both are living alone. The narrator is an active writer, whereas Miss Krishna is living on a small annuity left by her mother. They meet at an art exhibition and become acquainted to each other. Miss Krishna is a tactical woman. She knows how to impress people and get the benefits she wants. She also makes people sympathize with her miserable situation. She has many complaints against her mother who was partial to her younger sister. She insists that her life is a continuous struggle because of poverty. She is sad about her coarse bed sheets, uncarpeted floors, Pottery cups and plates, and ugly and discarded furniture. She feels envious of the narrator’s house and articles in it. She declares that she is starved of beautiful things. She claims that beauty is the panacea for all her ills.

Compared to Miss Krishna, the narrator is a self-contained, self-satisfied and uncomplaining gentle lady. She keeps herself busily engaged in typing out her writings. She is thoughtful but not talkative like Miss Krishna. However, the narrator feels a sense of sympathy for Miss Krishna and even to pool their incomes. The narrator, on the other hand, enjoys living alone and making herself comfortable. She has no financial worries. With a few necessary luxuries she makes her life run smoothly. The narrator takes Miss Krishna to her house out of sympathy only. But Miss Krishna brings a number of black trunks and fills the house with them. She moves about the house, picks small things and asks a number of questions about them, and disturbs the narrator in her work. She even asks unwanted questions about the narrator’s late husband, their relations and their earnings. She probes into all matters and irritates the narrator. She even reads her manuscripts though it is unethical.

On the pretext that a thing of beauty is joy forever, Miss Krishna pilfers precious little things from the houses of her hosts. Her black trunks are filled with them. Even her large purse contains pilfered things belonging to others. She shows all her newly pilfered things to the narrator and claims that she bought them very cheaply. The narrator  understands that Miss Krishna wants beautiful things only to look at them but not to adorn her house with them or sell them for money. One day she offers to give the narrator a small Burmese box as a gift, but the latter rejects it because she does not accept gifts from anyone, being a self respecting woman.

The puzzling thing is that before her death, Miss Krishna bequeaths everything to the narrator. When the black trunks are opened, the narrator finds her missing clock among scores of small things. She takes only her clock and leaves the rest to Miss Krishna’s sister. Thus while the narrator is a plain, simple and honest woman, Miss Krishna is a curious, mysterious and enigmatic woman deserving the pseudonym Maya. Perhaps her puzzling character is due to the eccentricity common to ageing spinsters. Miss Krishna is the cross that the narrator bears with as much good humour as possible.

The Character of Miss Krishna:

Miss Krishna was a sixty-five year old spinster. She was living in a tiny cottage on a small annuity left by her mother. Miss Krishna bad a younger sister who received all the love and affection of their mother. It seems early life was a struggle because of poverty. Miss Krishna gave an impression that she had a passion for beauty. She used to pilfer beautiful things like teacups, spoons, candle holders, wooden statues, silver vases, jade Buddha, jade Buddha, jeweled watches and clocks which she securely stored in a number of black trunks. She knew how to work herself into the favour of others. As a credulous woman, the narrator believed her words and took her home for a cup of tea. Miss Krishna was all praise for the artistic and glowing cup as well as other things in the house. She cursed her own house as a hovel.

Miss Krishna had many stories to tell. One day she told the author that her house was being distempered and painted, and shifted into the author’s house at the narrator’s suggestion. She brought a large number of black trunks and said they contained her precious things. These precious things were those pilfered from other houses. Never for once did the narrator suspect her. Miss Krishna was an irritating guest. She used to ask endless questions, pick up things and distract the narrator. She was also fussy about food. This was unbecoming of a guest. She was also eager to know about the narrator’s late husband, their relations and earnings. She was planning to pool up their resources and shares the house permanently. The narrator was alarmed by this. One day finding that the distempering and painting of Miss Krishna’s house had been completed a week before, the narrator asked her to go back to her own house. At that time Miss Krishna had been reading the narrator’s manuscripts. It was unethical of the guest. The narrator hated the inquisitive nature of Miss Krishna.

Miss Krishna always carried a large leather purse with handles. The purse could accommodate any number of small things without a bulge. One day she opened it and showed to the narrator a coffee cup and saucer in red and gold colour. Later when the narrator visited a friend’s house, she came to know the coffee set was pilfered by Miss Krishna our of the friend’s twelve sets bought in Paris. Miss Krishna showed to the narrator the other things she had pilfered. Out of her little shop Miss Krishna offered to give a small Burmese box to the narrator but the latter refused to accept it.

The most astonishing thing was that before her death Miss Krishna left everything to the narrator. When the black boxes were opened by Miss Krishna’s sister, the narrator found only single pieces of beautiful things, all pilfered ones. Among these pieces, the narrator found her own missing clock and wanted to take it. It is clear that Miss Krishna loved beautiful things. Her sense of beauty was her panacea or remedy for all her ills. Perhaps these things of beauty gave her joy in life. The story has an air of mystery. Miss Krishna’s actions are puzzling. She remains an enigma. No wonder, her sister refers to her as Maya.