Summary of The Bull by Bhim Nidhi Tiwari

Ramji Acharya

Jan 15, 2022

Summary of The Bull [One Act Play] by Bhim Nidhi Tiwari

The Bull Summary

The Bull Play is set in the time when it was the late eighteenth century. Ranabahadur Shah, the grandson of Prithvi Narayan Shah, was the king of Nepal. Ranabahadur Shah was fond of bulls. In his one-act play “The Bull,” Bhimnidhi Tiwari dramatizes an incident related to Ranabahadur Shah’s craze for bulls to make a biting satire on the feudal system, which dehumanizes human beings to such an extent that their existence depends on their deferential treatment towards the four-footed animals like bulls.

The Bull is a one-act play written by Bhimnidhi Tiwari, a well-known Nepali poet and playwright. The play criticized society's feudal system at the time (18th century). The drama depicts the death of King Rana Bahadur Shah's bull, Male, and the terror that three important characters, the bull doctor and two cowherds, Jitman and Gore, are experiencing

About the Author

Bhim Nidhi Tiwari, the writer of 'The Bull Bhimnidhi Tiwari' Bhimnidhi Tiwari (1911-1973) is a well-known poet, story writer and dramatist from Nepal. An ardent social reformer, Tiwari established Nepal Natak Sangh (Nepal Drama Society) in 1949. Through this organization, he promoted the Nepali plays by staging plays and encouraging the Nepali writers to write plays. In order to sustain this organization, he also wrote plays like Matoko Maya, Shilanyas and Sahansheela Sushila, among others. Tiwari won Madan Puraskar for literature in 1970.

Plot Summary of The Bull

The Bull" is a one-act play that has been written by a famous Nepali poet and dramatist Bhimnidhi Tiwari. The play has satirized the feudal system of the then society (18th century). The story of the play has presented the death of King Rana Bahadur Shah's bull called Male and the panic situation of three major characters as the bull doctor and two cowherds called Jitman and Gore. The play has taken place in the month of Ashwin in 1854 B.S. At the beginning of the play, we find two panic-stricken cowherds Gore and Jitman coming to the house of Laxminarayan. They have come there to inform about the death of the bull of king Ranabahadur Shah.

After hearing their story, Laxminarayan starts shivering. All of them become quite worried about the possible punishment from the king. The king can even give them the death penalty. Laxminarayan is afraid of being shaved as punishment. Once Laxminarayan's mouth was burnt as a punishment for speaking with a loud voice in front of the king. Laxminarayan moustache never grows in that side after that. Both cowherds state that the bull died because it didn't get enough food (grass) and couldn't digest fine rice and soup of split gram. Laxminarayan tells the cowherds not to tell the king that the bull has died. If they inform the king about bull's death, they will have a terrible fate.

After advising both cowherds, Laxminarayan moves toward the Basantpur palace to inform the king about the ill health of the bull. Laxminarayan bows down in front of the king with reverence and informs him that the bull is ill. He doesn't directly tell that the king that the bull has died. He relates to the king about the condition of the ill bull. According to him, the bull sir doesn't wake up and eat breakfast. He doesn't speak or move. He only stares with still eyes. Laxminarayan starts praising the beauty, walking style and valiant fight of the bull. He proposes the bull be taken to the hill for climate change and to heal the health of the bull.

After hearing Laxminarayan's words, the king decides to check the bull's condition himself and moves to the cowshed located at Thulo Gauchara with a convoy on the palanquin. On the other hand, both cowherds Jitman and Gore are waiting desperately at the cowshed to hear the decision of the king. They even think of escaping to save their life but they think they will be arrested again and killed.

The king approaches there. Laxminarayan runs ahead of the convoy at Thulo Gauchar to tell the cowherds to massage the back feet of the bull and wave the fan at the bull. They do accordingly. Laxminarayan even informs the king that they had been caring for the bull since midnight. The bull is actually lying dead on the mattress. There is no movement. It is neither breathing nor eating anything. Its tail has loosened and ears have drooped down. Yet, the cowherds and Laxminarayan cannot declare its death due to fear. King Ranabahadur Shah himself says the bull is dead.

After listening to the king, Jitman starts crying and says he has been an orphan after the bull's death. The King declares a tip of 400 rupees and tells him to be quiet. Gore also starts crying. He says that he loves the bull more than his mother, father, wife and children. He says he will go with the bull or hang himself. Hearing his words, the king declares the tip of 500 rupees. At last, Laxminarayan himself starts weeping and pretends to be in agony. The king scolds him and orders him to burry the bull and manage the funeral rites and give offerings to the priest himself.

At last, Gore and Jitman express their happiness to be alive. This play "The Bull" vividly portrays the feudal system of the then society where ordinary human beings were suppressed, dominated and dehumanized. Animals of the feudal lords deserved more respect than those ordinary people. It deals with the themes of dehumanization of ordinary people by the feudal lords, the servitude of the servants of Lords/kings, and subjugation /domination of women.

The Bull Play: Word Meanings

avid (adj.): passionate, obsessive, keen

bichari (n.): a legal officer in the court

baje (n.): (In Nepal) a grandfather; a Brahman, out of respect, is also called baje (grandpa) regardless of age

pathi (n.): a unit of measuring grains, a pot to measure grains (one pathi is approximately equal to3.2 kg.)

dharni (n.) : a unit of measuring weight (one dharni is approximately equal to 2.5 kg)

ana (n.): twenty five paisa, one fourth of a rupee

swosti (n.): a way of greeting, especially made by the subjects to their masters and mistresses in the feudal Hindu society

convoy (n.): a procession of horses or vehicles

wethers (n.): castrated male goats

palanquin (n.): (in the Asian countries like Nepal) a covered litter for one passenger, consisting of a large box carried on two horizontal poles by four or six bearers

chakari (n.): a service rendered to a person of higher rank with an expectation of receiving favour, an effort to appeal to a person of high ran by demonstrating one’s poverty or distress, sycophancy

carrion (n.): the dead body of an animal or a human being