7 NOVEMBER 1885, Page 21

Kopal-Kundala : a Tale of Bengal Life. Translated from the

Bengali of Bunkin Chandra Chatterjee, by H. A. D. Phillips. (Triibner and Co.)—This tale takes us back to the times of Akber Shah and Jehangir. This is a disadvantage. Historical tales, when the history is as familiar to us as our own is, or should be, do not easily arrest the attention. And the difficulty is increased when we have so vague an idea of the time and scene as we have of Bengal under the great Mahommetan emperors. Still, there is some vigorous writing in the story ; and the heroine, though we do not quite realise her surroundings, is a brilliant figure.