বাংলা 
English 
Not far from Kushtia town, Cheuria is a village of deep shade and quiet seclusion. On one side flows the Gorai, on the other the Kaliganga — two ever-flowing rivers. Nearly two hundred and seventeen years ago, one dawn, the unconscious seventeen-year-old Lalon drifted with the current until he came ashore on the bank of the Kaliganga. Maulana Molom Karikor of Cheuria village was a prayer-keeping man. His father was Munshi Khairullah. Munshi Khairullah had four sons — Molom, Alom, Kolom and Tilom Karikor.
Except for Alom Karikor, Molom's other two brothers, Kolom and Tilom, were childless. From childhood Molom was drawn to prayer and the Islamic way of life. Later he was enrolled in a well-known madrasa in Kushtia, and from there he passed as a Hafez and a Maulana.
Hafez Molom was self-taught and well read. For his modesty and graceful manners everyone held him in equal respect. His fame spread beyond Cheuria to the neighbouring villages. At twenty-two, Molom married Motijan, the twelve-year-old daughter of a devout weaver family of Koya village across the Gorai river. Motijan's voice was heavy with sweetness, and she was ever attentive to her husband. This woman of refined taste kept everything in perfect order, and she recited the Quran in a sweet voice. Their household was remarkably beautiful. Yet after all this, a childless emptiness lay between the two of them. More than a decade passed in longing for a child.
One dawn, after saying the Fajr prayer, Maulana Molom went out toward the Kaliganga to breathe the river breeze. Suddenly he saw an unknown, unconscious young man lying half-submerged in the water; marks of smallpox showed on the boy's face and body. Coming closer he found the boy alive, breathing very slowly. A throb rose in the chest of the childless Hafez Molom — this was no stranger; it was as if God had floated his own child to him. Molom hurried home at once and returned with his other three brothers.
Then the four brothers together carried the unconscious youth to Molom's own house. Molom and Motijan nursed him day and night with utmost care. Little by little the light of life returned to the stranger's face. Motijan asked him — "Father, what is your name?"
---- Fakir Lalon.
