{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_11938/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_11938","id":"gutenberg_11938","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/11938","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Folklore","India","Santal (South Asian people) -- Folklore","Tales -- India"],"text":"Folklore of the Santal Parganas\n\n\n Translated by\n Cecil Henry Bompas\n of the Indian Civil Service\n\n\n\n 1909\n\n\n\n\n\nPreface\n\nThe Santals are a Munda tribe, a branch of that aboriginal element\nwhich probably entered India from the North East. At the present day\nthey inhabit the Eastern outskirts of the Chutia Nagpore plateau.\n\nOriginally hunters and dwellers in the jungle they are still but\nindifferent agriculturists. Like the Mundas and Hos and other\nrepresentatives of the race, they are jovial in character, fond of\ntheir rice beer, and ready to take a joke.\n\nTheir social organization is very complete; each village has its\nheadman or manjhi, with his assistant the paranik; the jogmanghi\nis charged with the supervision of the morals of the young men and\nwomen; the naeke is the village priest, the godet is the village\nconstable. Over a group of villages is the pargana or tribal chief. The\nSantals are divided into exogamous septs--originally twelve in number,\nand their social observances are complex, e.g. while some relations\ntreat each other with the greatest reserve, between others the utmost\nfreedom of intercourse is allowed.\n\nTheir religion is animistic, spirits (_bongas_) are everywhere around\nthem: the spirits of their ancestors, the spirit of the house, the\nspirit dwelling in the patch of primeval forest preserved in each\nvillage. Every hill tree and rock may have its spirit. These spirits\nare propitiated by elaborate ceremonies and sacrifices which generally\nterminate in dances, and the drinking of rice beer.\n\nThe Santal Parganas is a district 4800 sq. miles in area, lying\nabout 150 miles north of Calcutta, and was formed into a separate\nadministration after the Santals had risen in rebellion in 1856. The\nSantals at present form about one-third of the population.\n\nThe stories and legends which are here translated have been collected\nby the Rev. O. Bodding, D.D. of the Scandinavian Mission to the\nSantals. To be perfectly sure that neither language nor ideas should in\nany way be influenced by contact with a European mind he arranged for\nmost of them to be written out in Santali, principally by a Christian\nconvert named Sagram Murmu, at present living at Mohulpahari in the\nSantal Parganas.\n\nSantali is an agglutinative language of great regularity and complexity\nbut when the Santals come in contact with races speaking an Aryan\nlanguage it is apt to become corrupted with foreign idioms. The\nlanguage in which these stories have been written is beautifully\npure, and the purity of language may be accepted as an index that\nthe ideas have not been affected, as is often the case, by contact\nwith Europeans.\n\nMy translation though somewhat condensed is very literal, and the\nstories have perhaps thereby an added interest as shewing the way in\nwhich a very primitive people look at things. The Santals are great\nstory tellers; the old folk of the village gather the young people\nround them in the evening and tell them stories, and the men when\nwatching the crops on the threshing floor will often sit up all night\ntelling stories.\n\nThere is however, no doubt that at the present time the knowledge of\nthese stories tends to die out. Under the peace which British rule\nbrings there is more intercourse between the different communities\nand castes, a considerable, degree of assimilation takes place,\nand old customs and traditions tend to be obliterated.\n\nSeveral collections of Indian stories have been made, _e.g._ Stokes,\nIndian Fairy Tales; Frere, Old Deccan Days; Day, Folk Tales of\nBengal; and Knowles' Folk Tales of Kashmir, and it will be seen\nthat all the stories in the present collection are by no means of\npure Santal origin. Incidents which form part of the common stock of\nIndian folklore abound, and many of the stories professedly relate\nto characters of various Hindu castes, others again deal with such\nessentially Santal beliefs as the dealings of men and _bongas_.\n\nThe Rev. Dr. Campbell of Gobindpore published in 1891 a collection\nof Santal Folk Tales. He gathered his material in the District of\nManbhum, and many of the stories are identical with those included in\nthe present volume. I have added as an appendix some stories which I\ncollected among the Hos of Singhbhum, a tribe closely related to the\nSantals, and which the Asiatic Society of Bengal has kindly permitted\nme to reprint here.\n\nMy task has been merely one of translation; it is due solely to Mr\nBodding's influence with, and intimate knowledge of, the people that\nthe stories have been committed to writing, and I have to thank him\nfor assistance and advice throughout my work of translation.\n\nI have roughly classified the stories: in part 1 are stories of a\ngeneral character; part 2, stories relating to animals; in part 3,\nstories which are scarcely folklore but are anecdotes relating to\nSantal life; in Part 4, stories relating to the dealings of _bongas_\nand men. In part 5, are some legends and traditions, and a few notes\nrelating to tribal customs. Part 6 contains illustrations of the\nbelief in witchcraft. I have had to omit a certain number of stories\nas unsuited for publication.\n\nC. H. Bompas.\n\n\n\nTable of Contents\n\nPART I\n\n\nI. Bajun and Jhore\nII. Anuwa and His Mother\nIII. Ledha and the Leopard\nIV. The Cruel Stepmother\nV. Karmu and Dharmu\nVI. The Jealous Stepmother\nVII. The Pious Woman\nVIII. The Wise Daughter-in-Law\nIX. The Oilman and His Sons\nX. The Girl Who Found Helpers\nXI. How to Grow Rich\nXII. The Changed Calf\nXIII. The Koeri and the Barber\nXIV. The Prince Who Acquired Wisdom\nXV. The Monkey Boy\nXVI. The Miser's Servant\nXVII. Kuwar and the Raja's Daughter\nXVIII. The Laughing Fish\nXIX. How the Cowherd Found a Bride\nXX. Kara and Guja\nXXI. The Magic Cow\nXXII. Lita and His Animals\nXXIII. The Boy Who Found His Father\nXXIV. The Oilman's Bullock\nXXV. How Sabai Grass Grew\nXXVI. The Merchant's Son and the Raja's Daughter\nXXVII. The Flycatcher's Egg\nXXVIII. The Wife Who Would Not Be Beaten\nXXIX. Sahde Goala\nXXX. The Raja's Son and the Merchant's Son\nXXXI. The Poor Widow\nXXXII. The Monkey and the Girl\nXXXIII. Ramai and the Animals\nXXXIV. The Magic Bedstead\nXXXV. The Ghormuhas\nXXXVI. The Boy Who Learnt Magic\nXXXVII. The Charitable Jogi\nXXXVIII. Chote and Mote\nXXXIX. The Daydreamer\nXL. The Extortionate Sentry\nXLI. The Broken Friendship\nXLII. A Story Told By a Hindoo\nXLIII. The Raibar and the Leopard\nXLIV. The Ungrateful Snake\nXLV. The Tiger's Bride\nXLVI. The Killing of the Tiger\nXLVII. The Dream\nXLVIII. The King of the Bhuyans\nXLIX. The Foolish Sons\nL. Kora and His Sister\nLI. A Story on Caste\nLII. Tipi and Tepa\nLIII. The Child With the Ears of the Ox\nLIV. The Child Who Knew His Father\nLV. Jogeshwar's Marriage\nLVI. The Strong Man\nLVII. The Raja's Advice\nLVIII. The Four Jogis\nLIX. The Charitable Raja\nLX. A Variant.--The Wandering Raja\nLXI. The Two Wives\nLXII. Spanling and His Uncles\nLXIII. The Silent Wife\nLXIV. The Dumb Shepherd\nLXV. The Good Daughter-in-Law\nLXVI. The Raja's Dream\nLXVII. The Mongoose Boy\nLXVIII. The Stolen Treasure\nLXIX. Dukhu and His Bonga Wife\nLXX. The Monkey Husband\nLXXI. Lakhan and the Wild Buffaloes\nLXXII. The Boy with the Stag\nLXXIII. The Seven Brothers and the Bonga Girl\nLXXIV. The Tiger's Foster Child\nLXXV. The Caterpillar Boy\nLXXVI. The Monkey Nursemaid\nLXXVII. The Wife Who Could Not Keep a Secret\nLXXVIII. Sit and Lakhan\nLXXIX. The Raja Who went to Heaven\nLXXX. Seven Tricks and Single Trick\nLXXXI. Fuljhari Raja\nLXXXII. The Corpse of the Raja's Son\nLXXXIII. The Sham Child\nLXXXIV. The Sons of the Kherohuri Raja\nLXXXV. The Dog Bride\nLXXXVI. Wealth or Wisdom\nLXXXVII. A Goala and the Cow\nLXXXVIII. The Telltale Wife\nLXXXIX. The Bridegroom Who Spoke in Riddles\nXC. The Lazy Man\nXCI. Another Lazy Man\nXCII. The Widow's Son\nXCIII. The Boy Who Was Changed Into a Dog\nXCIV. Birluri and Birbanta\nXCV. The Killing of the Rakhas\nXCVI. The Children of the Vultures\nXCVII. The Ferryman\nXCVIII. Catching a Thief\nXCIX. The Grasping Raja\nC. The Prince Who Would Not Marry\nCI. The Prince Who Found Two Wives\nCII. The Unfaithful Wife\nCIII. The Industrious Bride\nCIV. The Boy and His Fate\nCV. The Messengers of Death\nCVI. The Speaking Crab\nCVII. The Leopard Outwitted\nCVIII. The Wind and the Sun\nCIX. The Coldest Season\n\n\nPART II\n\n\nCX. The Jackal and the Crow\nCXI. The Tiger Cub and the Calf\nCXII. The Jackal and the Chickens\nCXIII. The Jackal Punished\nCXIV. The Tigers and the Cat\nCXV. The Elephants and the Ants\nCXVI. A Fox and His Wife\nCXVII. The Jackal and the Crocodiles\nCXVIII. The Bullfrog and the Crab\nCXIX. The Hyena Outwitted\nCXX. The Crow and the Egret\nCXXI. The Jackal and the Hare\nCXXII. The Brave Jackal\nCXXIII. The Jackal and the Leopards\n\n\nPART III\n\n\nCXXIV. The Fool and His Dinner\nCXXV. The Stingy Daughter\nCXXVI. The Backwards and Forwards Dance\nCXXVII. The Deaf Family\nCXXVIII. The Father-in-Law's Visit\nCXXIX. Ramai and Somai\nCXXX. The Two Brothers\nCXXXI. The Three Fools\nCXXXII. The Cure For Laziness\nCXXXIII. The Brahmin's Powers\nCXXXIV. Ram's Wife\nCXXXV. Palo\nCXXXVI. The Women's Sacrifice\nCXXXVII. The Thief's Son\nCXXXVIII. The Divorce\nCXXXIX. The Father and the Father-in-Law\nCXL. The Reproof\nCXLI. Enigmas\nCXLII. The Too Particular Wife\nCXLIII. The Paharia Socialists\nCXLIV. How A Tiger Was Killed\nCXLV. The Goala's Daughter\nCXLVI. The Brahmin's Clothes\nCXLVII. The Winning of the Bride\n\n\nPART IV\n\n\nCXLVIII. Marriage With Bongas\nCXLIX. The Bonga Heaven\nCL. Lakhan and the Bonga\nCLI. The House Bonga\nCLII. The Sarsagun-Maiden\nCLIII. The Schoolboy and the Bonga\nCLIV. The Bonga's Cave\nCLV. The Bonga's Victim\nCLVI. Baijal and the Bonga\nCLVII. Ramai and the Bonga\nCLVIII. The Boundary Bonga\nCLIX. The Bonga Exorcised\n\n\nPART V\n\n\nCLX. The Beginning of Things\nCLXI. Chando and His Wife\nCLXII. The Sikhar Raja\nCLXIII. The Origin of Tobacco\nCLXIV. The Transmigration of Souls\nCLXV. The Next World\nCLXVI. After Death\nCLXVII. Hares and Men\nCLXVIII. A Legend\nCLXIX. Pregnant Women\nCLXX. The Influence of the Moon\nCLXXI. Illegitimate Children\nCLXXII. The Dead\nCLXXIII. A Hunting Custom\n\n\nPart VI\n\n\nCLXXIV. Witchcraft\nCLXXV. Of Dains and Ojhas\nCLXXVI. Initiation Into Witchcraft\nCLXXVII. Witch Craft\nCLXXVIII. Witch Stories\nCLXXIX. Witch Stories\nCLXXX. Witch Stories\nCLXXXI. The Two Witches\nCLXXXII. The Sister-in-Law Who Was a Witch\nCLXXXIII. Ramjit Bonga\nCLXXXIV. The Herd Boy and the Witches\nCLXXXV. The Man-Tiger\n\n\nGlossary\n\nAppendix\n\nFolklore of the Kolhan\n\n\n\n\n\nPart I.\n\nIn these stories there are many incidents which appear in stories\ncollected in other parts of India, though it is rather surprising\nthat so few of them appear elsewhere in their entirety. We have\nhowever, instances of the husk myth, the youngest son who surpasses\nhis brother, the life of the ogre placed in some external object, the\njealous stepmother, the selection of a king by an elephant, the queen\nwhose husband is invariably killed on his wedding night, etc. etc.\n\nFew of the old Indian stories found in the Kath\u00e2 Sarit S\u00e2gara or the\nBuddhist Birth stories appear in recognizable form in the present\ncollection.\n\n\n\n\n\nI. Bajun and Jhore.\n\nOnce upon a time there were two brothers named Bajun and Jhore. Bajun\nwas married and one day his wife fell ill of fever. So, as he was\ngoing ploughing, Bajun told Jhore to stay at home and cook the dinner\nand he bade him put into the pot three measures of rice. Jhore stayed\nat home and filled the pot with water and put it on to boil; then he\nwent to look for rice measures; there was only one in the house and\nJhore thought \"My brother told me to put in three measures and if I\nonly put in one I shall get into trouble.\" So he went to a neighbour's\nhouse and borrowed two more measures, and put them into the pot and\nleft them to boil. At noon Bajun came back from ploughing and found\nJhore stirring the pot and asked him whether the rice was ready. Jhore\nmade no answer, so Bajun took the spoon from him, saying \"Let me feel\nhow it is getting on\", but when he stirred with the spoon he heard a\nrattling noise and when he looked into the pot he found no rice but\nonly three wooden measures floating about; then he turned and abused\nJhore for his folly, but Jhore said \"You yourself told me to put in\nthree measures and I have done so.\" So Bajun had to set to work and\ncook the rice himself and got his dinner very late.\n\nNext day Bajun said to Jhore, \"You don't know how to cook the dinner;\nI will stay at home to-day, you go to plough, and take a hatchet\nwith you and if the plough catches in a root or anything, give a\ncut with the hatchet.\" So Jhore went ploughing and when the plough\ncaught in anything and stopped, he gave a cut with his hatchet at\nthe legs of the bullocks; they backed and plunged with the pain and\nthen he only chopped at them the more until he lamed them both. At\nnoon Bajun saw the bullocks come limping back and asked what was\nthe matter with them. \"O,\" said Jhore, \"that is because I cut at\nthem as you told me.\" \"You idiot,\" said Bajun, \"I meant you to give\na cut at the roots in which the plough got caught, not at the legs\nof the bullocks; how will you live if you do such silly things? You\ncannot plough, you must stay at home and cook the rice. I will show\nyou this evening how it is done.\" So after that Jhore stayed at home\nand cooked. Bajun's wife grew no better, so one day Bajun, before he\nwent to the fields, told Jhore to warm some water in order that his\nwife might wash with it. But Jhore made the water boiling hot and\nthen took it and began to pour it over his sister-in-law as she lay\non her bed; she was scalded and shrieked out \"Don't pour it over me,\"\nbut Jhore only laughed and went on pouring until he had scalded her\nto death. Then he wrapped her up in a cloth and brought her dinner to\nher and offered it her to eat, but she was dead and made no answer to\nhim, so he left it by her and went and ate his own rice. When Bajun\ncame back and found his wife scalded to death he was very angry and\nwent to get an axe to kill Jhore with; thereupon Jhore ran away into\nthe jungle and Bajun pursued him with the axe.\n\nIn the jungle Jhore found a dead sheep and he took out its stomach and\ncalled out \"Where are you, brother, I have found some meat.\" But Bajun\nanswered, \"I will not leave you till I have killed you.\" So Jhore ran\non and climbed up inside a hollow tree, where Bajun could not follow,\nBajun got a long stick and poked at him with it and as he poked, Jhore\nlet fall the sheep's stomach, and when Bajun saw it he concluded that\nhe had killed his brother. So he went home and burned the body of\nhis wife and a few days later he performed the funeral ceremonies to\nthe memory of his wife and brother; he smeared the floor of the house\nwith cowdung and sacrificed goats and fowls. Now Jhore had come back\nthat day and climbed up on to the rafters of the house, and he sat\nthere watching all that his brother did. Bajun cooked a great basket\nof rice and stewed the flesh of the animals he had sacrificed and\noffered it to the spirits of the dead and he recited the dedication\n\"My wife I offer this rice, this food, for your purification,\" and\nso saying he scattered some rice on the ground; and he also offered\nto Jhore, saying, \"Jhore, my brother, I offer this rice, this food,\nfor your purification,\" and then Jhore called out from the roof \"Well,\nas you offer it to me I will take it.\" Bajun had not bargained to get\nany answer, so he was astounded and went to ask the villagers whether\ntheir spirits made answer when sacrificed to: and the villagers told\nhim that they had never heard of such a thing. While Bajun was away\non this errand, Jhore took up the unguarded basket of rice and ran\naway with it; after going some way he sat down by the road and ate\nas much as he wanted, then he sat and called out \"Is there anyone on\nthe road or in the jungle who wants a feast?\" A gang of thieves who\nwere on a thieving expedition heard him and went to see what he meant;\nhe offered to let them eat the rice if they would admit him to their\ncompany; they agreed and he went on with them to steal; they broke\ninto a rich man's house and the thieves began to collect the pots\nand pans but Jhore felt about in the dark and got hold of a drum and\nbegan to beat on it. This woke up the people of the house and they\ndrove away the thieves. Then the thieves abused Jhore and said that\nthey could not let him stay with them: \"Very well\", said he, \"then\ngive me back the rice you ate.\" Of course they could not do this. So\nthey had to let him stay with them. Then they went to the house of a\nrich Hindu who had a stable full of horses and they planned to steal\nthe horses and ride away with them; so each thief picked out a horse,\nbut Jhore got hold of a tiger which had come to the back of the stable\nto kill one of the horses; and when the thieves mounted their horses,\nJhore mounted on the tiger, and the tiger ran off with him towards the\njungle. Jhore kept on calling out \"Keep to the road, you Hindu horse,\nkeep to the road, you Hindu horse.\" But it dragged him through the\nbriars and bushes till he was dead and that was the end of Jhore.\n\n\n\n\nII. Anuwa and His Mother.\n\nOnce there was a young fellow named Anuwa who lived with his old\nmother, and when he was out ploughing his mother used to take him\nhis breakfast. One day a jackal met her on her way to the field with\nher son's breakfast and told her to put down the food which she was\ncarrying or he would knock her down and bite her; so she put it down\nin a fright and the jackal ate most of it and then went away and\nthe old woman took what was left to her son and told him nothing\nabout what had happened. This happened several days in succession;\nat last one day Anuwa asked her why she brought so little rice and\nthat so untidily arranged; so she told him how she was attacked every\nday by the jackal. Then they made a plan that the next day the mother\nshould take the plough afield, while Anuwa should dress up as an old\nwoman and carry the breakfast. This they did and the jackal met Anuwa\nas usual and made him put down the breakfast basket, but while the\njackal was eating, Anuwa knocked him head over heels with his stick;\nand the jackal got up and fled, threatening and cursing Anuwa. Among\nother things the jackal as he ran away, had threatened to eat Anuwa's\n_malhan_ plants, so Anuwa put a fence of thorns round them and when\nthe jackal came at night and tried to eat the pods he only got his\nnose pricked.\n\nFoiled in this the jackal called out \"Well, I will eat your fowls\nto-morrow;\" but Anuwa the next night sat by the fowl house with a\nsickle and when the jackal came and poked in his head, Anuwa gave him a\nrap on the snout with the sickle, so the jackal made off crying \"Well,\nAnuwa, your fowls have pecked me on the head, you shall die.\" So the\nnext day Anuwa pretended to be dead and his mother went about crying;\nshe took her way to the jungle and there she met the jackal and she\ntold him that Anuwa had died in consequence of his curse and she\ninvited him to the funeral feast, saying that he used to eat the\nrice which she had cooked and he had become like a son to her. The\njackal gladly promised to attend, and he collected a number of his\nfriends and at evening they went to Anuwa's house and sat down in\nthe courtyard. Then the old woman came out and began to bewail her\nson: but the jackal said \"Stop crying, grannie, you cannot get back\nthe dead: let us get on to the feast.\" So she said that she would\nfry some cakes first, as it would take some time before the rice was\nready. The jackals approved of this but they asked her to tie them up\nwith a rope first lest they should get to fighting over the food, so\nthe old woman brought a thick rope and tied them all up and tightest\nof all she tied up the jackal which had cursed Anuwa; then she went\ninside and put an iron pan on the fire and from time to time she\nsprinkled water on it and when the jackals heard the water hissing\nthey thought that it was the cakes frying and jumped about with\njoy. Suddenly Anuwa came out with a thick stick and set to beating\nthe jackals till they bit through the ropes and ran away howling;\nbut the first jackal was tied so tightly that he could not escape,\nand Anuwa beat him till he was senseless and lay without moving all\nnight. The next morning Anuwa took the jackal and tied him to a stake\nnear the place where the village women drew water and he put a thick\nstick beside it and every woman who went for water would give the\njackal one blow with the stick. After a few days beating the body\nof the jackal became all swollen and one night some other jackals\ncame there and asked him what he ate that he had got so fat and he\nsaid that every one who came to draw water gave him a handful of rice\nand that was why he was so fat; and if they did not believe him they\ncould take his place and try for themselves.\n\nSo one jackal agreed to try and untied the first jackal and let himself\nbe tied in his place, but in the morning five women came down and\neach gave him a blow with the stick till he jumped about for pain,\nand seeing him jumping other women came and beat him till he died.\n\n\n\n\nIII. Ledha and the Leopard.\n\nOnce upon a time a boy named Ledha was tending cattle with other\nboys at the foot of a hill, and these boys in fun used to call out\n\"Ho, leopard: Ho, leopard,\" and the echo used to answer from the hill\n\"Ho, leopard.\" Now there really was a leopard who lived in the hill\nand one day he was playing hide and seek with a lizard which also\nlived there. The lizard hid and the leopard looked every where for\nit in vain. At last the leopard sat down to rest and it chanced that\nhe sat right on top of the lizard which was hiding in a hole. The\nlizard thought that the leopard meant to hurt it and in revenge bit\nhim and fastened on to his rump so that he could not get it off,\nso that day when the boys came calling out \"Ho, leopard,\" he ran\ntowards them to get their help: but when they saw the leopard they\nall fled for their lives. Ledha however could not run fast because\nhe was lame, and the leopard headed him off and begged him to remove\nthe lizard. This he did after the leopard had sworn not to eat him,\nand before they parted the leopard made him promise to tell no one\nthat the lizard had bitten him, and said that if he told then he would\nbe carried off and eaten. So Ledha rejoined his companions and told\nthem nothing of what had passed between him and the leopard. But that\nnight when they had all gone to bed, Ledha's sister-in-law began to\nworry him to tell her what the leopard had said to him, when it had\ncaught him. He told her that the leopard would eat him if he told,\nbut she coaxed him and said that no one could hear them inside the\nhouse; so at last he told her that he had taken off a lizard which\nwas hanging on to its rump. Then they went to sleep; but the leopard\nwas hiding at the back of the house and heard all that they said;\nand when they were all asleep, he crept in and carried off Ledha's bed\nwith Ledha in it on his head. When Ledha woke up towards morning, he\nfound himself being carried through dense jungle and he quietly pulled\nhimself up into one of the trees which overhung the path. Thus when\nthe leopard put down the bed and was going to eat Ledha, he found it\nempty. So he went back on his track and by and bye came to the tree\nin which Ledha was hiding. The leopard begged Ledha to come down,\nas he had something to say to him, and promised not to eat him; but\ndirectly Ledha reached the ground the leopard said \"Now I am going to\neat you.\" Ledha was powerless, so he only asked to be allowed to have\none chew of tobacco before he died; the leopard assented and Ledha\nfelt in his cloth for his tobacco, but the tobacco did not come out\neasily and as Ledha felt about for it the dry tobacco leaves crackled;\nthe leopard asked what the crackling sound was, and Ledha said \"That\nis the lizard which bit you yesterday;\" then the leopard got into a\nterrible fright and ran away as hard as he could, calling out \"Don't\nlet it loose: Don't let it loose.\"\n\nSo Ledha was saved from the leopard, but he did not know his way out\nof the jungle. He wandered about, till he came to the place where the\nwild buffaloes used to sleep at night, and he swept up the place and\nmade it clean and then took refuge in a hollow tree; he stayed there\nsome days, sweeping up the place daily and supporting himself on the\nfruit of a fig-tree. At last one day the buffaloes left one cow behind\nto watch and see who it was who swept up their sleeping place. The cow\npretended to be too ill to rise, and Ledha after watching for some\ntime came out and swept the ground as usual, and then tried to pull\nthe sick cow up by the tail; but she would not move so he went back to\nhis hollow tree. When the buffaloes returned they heard that it was a\nkindhearted man who cleaned their sleeping place; so they called Ledha\nout and said that they would keep him as their servant to clean their\nsleeping place and to scrub them when they bathed in the river; they\nmade him taste the milk of all the cows and appointed the cow whose\nmilk he liked best to supply him. Thenceforward he used to wander\nabout with the buffaloes and he made a flute and used to play on it.\n\nOne day after scrubbing the buffaloes he washed his head in the river\nand some of his hairs came out; so he wrapped them up in a leaf and\nset the packet to float down the stream. Lower down the stream two\nprincesses were bathing with their attendants, and when they saw\nthe packet they tried who could fish it out and it was the younger\nprincess who caught it. Then they measured the hairs and found them\ntwelve cubits long. The princess who had taken the packet from the\nwater went home and took to her bed and said that she would not\neat until the man was found to whom the hairs belonged. Her father,\nthe Raja, sent messengers in all directions to search for the man\nbut they could not find him. Then he sent a parrot and the parrot\nflew up high and looking down saw Ledha with the buffaloes in the\nforest; but it did not dare to go near, so the parrot returned and\ntold the Raja that the man was in the forest but that no messenger\ncould approach for fear of the wild buffaloes. However a crow said,\n\"I can bring him if any one can,\" so they sent the crow and it went\nand perched on the backs of the buffaloes and began to peck them;\nthen Ledha threw stones at it, but it would not go away; then he threw\na stick at it and last of all he threw his flute. The crow caught up\nthe flute and flew up to a tree with it. Ledha ran after it, but the\ncrow kept flying on a short distance and Ledha still pursued until he\ncame to the Raja's city. The crow flew on till it entered the room\nwhere the princess lay, and dropped the flute into the hands of the\nprincess. Ledha followed right into the room and they shut him in\nand the princess gave him his flute after he had promised to marry her.\n\nSo he stayed there a long time, but meanwhile the buffaloes all got\nweak and ill for want of some one to look after them. One day Ledha\nset off to the jungle with his wife to see them and when he saw how\nill the buffaloes were, he decided to build a house in the jungle\nand live there. And the Raja sent them money and horses and cattle\nand elephants and servants and they built a palace and Ledha subdued\nall the jungle and became a great Raja; and he made a highway to his\nfather-in-law's home and used to go to and fro on it.\n\n\n\n\n\nIV. The Cruel Stepmother.\n\nThere was once a Raja whose wife died leaving him with one young\nchild. He reared it with great care and when it could toddle about\nit took a great fancy to a cat; the child was always playing with it\nand carrying it about.\n\nAll his friends begged the Raja to marry again, but he said that he\nwas sure that a stepmother would be cruel to his child; at last they\npersuaded him to promise to marry again, if a bride could be found\nwho would promise to care for the child as her own, so his friends\nlooked out for a bride; but though they found plenty of girls who\nwere anxious to marry the Raja, not one would promise to care for\nhis child as her own. There was a young widow in a certain village\nwho heard of what was going on, and one day she asked whether a\nbride had been found for the Raja and she was told that no one was\nwilling to take charge of the child. \"Why don't they agree,\" said she,\n\"I would agree fast enough. If I were Rani I should have nothing to\ndo but look after the child and I would care for it more than its own\nmother could.\" This came to the ears of the Raja and he sent for the\nwidow and was pleased with her looks, and when she promised to love\nhis child as her own, he married her.\n\nAt first no one could be kinder to the child than she was, but in the\ncourse of time she had a child of her own and then she began to be\njealous of the elder child; and she thought daily how she could get\nrid of him. He was still devoted to his cat and one day when he came\nback to the house, he asked his stepmother where the cat was. She\nanswered angrily, \"The cat has bewitched the boy! It is 'cat, cat,'\nall day long.\" At this the child began to cry; so she found the cat\nand threw it to him, saying, \"Here is your cat: you are mad about\nyour cat.\" But the boy hugged it in his arms and kept on crying at his\nstepmother's cross words. As he would not keep quiet his stepmother got\nmore angry still; and catching hold of the cat she scratched her own\narms and legs with the cat's claws until the blood flowed; then she\nbegan to cry and scold and when the neighbours came to see what was\nthe matter, she told them that the boy had let his cat scratch her;\nand the neighbours saw that she was not loving the boy as she promised.\n\nPresently the Raja came in and asked what was the matter; she turned\nand scolded him saying: \"You have reared the accursed cat and it has\nscratched me finely; look, it has taken all the skin off; this is the\nway the boy repays me for all my trouble. I will not stay with you; if\nI stay the boy will injure me like this again.\" The Raja said, \"Don't\ncry like a baby; how can a simple child like that know better? when\nhe grows up I will scold him.\" But the woman persisted and declared\nthat she would go away with her own child unless the Raja promised\nto kill his elder son. The Raja refused to do this, so the Rani took\nup her baby and went out of the house with it in a rage. Now the Raja\nwas deeply in love with her and he followed and stopped her, and said\nthat he could not let her take away his younger child; she answered,\n\"Why trouble about the child? it is mine; I have left you your boy,\nif you don't kill him, when he grows up, he will tell you some lie\nabout me and make you have me beaten to death.\" At last the Raja\nsaid \"Well, come back and if the boy does you any harm I will kill\nhim.\" But the Rani said. \"Either kill him now or let me go.\" So at\nlast the Raja promised and brought her back to the palace. Then the\nRaja called the boy and gave him his dinner and told him that they\nwere going on a visit to his uncle's: and the child was delighted\nand fetched his shoes and umbrella, and off they set, and a dog came\nrunning after them. When they came to a jungle the Raja told his son\nto sit under a tree and wait for him, and he went away and killed the\ndog that had followed them and smeared the blood on his axe and went\nhome, leaving the child.\n\nWhen his father did not return, the child began to cry, and Thakur\nheard him and came down, and to frighten the boy and make him leave\nthe jungle he came in the guise of a leopard; but the child would not\nmove from where he was; then Thakur appeared as a bear, and as a snake\nand an elephant and in many other forms but the child would not move;\nso at last Thakur took the form of an old woman, who lifted him in\nher arms and soothed him and carried him to the edge of the jungle\nand left him on the outskirts of a village.\n\nIn the morning a rich Brahman found him and took him home, and as no\none claimed the child he brought him up and made him his goat-herd,\nand they gave him the name of Lela. The Brahman's sons and daughters\nused to go school, and before he took his goats out to graze Lela\nused to carry their books to the school. And going to the school every\nday Lela got to know one or two letters and used to draw them in the\nsand while minding his goats; later he got the children to give him\nan old book saying that he wanted to pretend to the other boys that\nhe could read and out of this book he taught himself to read: and as\nhe grew up he became quite a scholar. One day he picked up a letter\nand found that it was from one of the village girls arranging to elope\nthat very evening with a young man. At the appointed time Lela went to\nthe rendez-vous and hid himself in a tree; soon he saw the Brahman's\ndaughter come to the place, but as her letter had not been delivered\nher lover did not appear. The girl got tired of waiting and then she\nbegan to call to her lover, thinking that perhaps he was hiding for\na joke. When she called, Lela answered from the tree and she thought\nthat it was her lover and said \"Come down and let us be off.\" So\nLela came down and they started off together; when day dawned she saw\nthat it was Lela who was with her and she sat down and upbraided him\nfor deceiving her. Lela said that they had met by chance; he had not\nenticed her away, no harm had been done and she could go home if she\nliked or come away with him if she liked. The girl considered but she\nsaw that if she went home now she would be disgraced and her family\nwould be outcasted, so in the end she agreed to run away with Lela.\n\nThey went on and after travelling some days they came to a great\ncity, where they took up their quarters in a tumble-down house and\nthe next morning Lela went into the city to look for work. He went to\nthe cutcherry and enrolled himself as a _muktear_ (attorney) and soon\nthe litigants and the magistrates found out how clever he was and he\nacquired a big practice. One day the Raja said, \"This fellow is very\nhandsome, I wonder what his wife is like?\" And he sent an old woman\nto see; so the old woman went and got into conversation with Lela's\nwife and returned to the Raja and told him that none of his wives was\nso beautiful as Lela's wife; so the Raja determined to go and see\nher himself, and as the old woman said that she would hide herself\nin the house if she saw the Raja coming, he disguised himself as a\npoor man and went and saw her; he found that the old woman had not\nexaggerated and he determined to possess himself of Lela's wife. He\nhad first to get Lela out of the way, so he sent for him and said,\n\"You are a fine fellow and have given me satisfaction. I have one\nmore commission for you, if you perform it I will give you half my\nkingdom and my sister in marriage.\" Lela said that he must hear what\nit was before he made any promise. The Raja said \"It is this: in a\ncertain mountain grows the Chandmoni Kusum flower; bring it to me\nand I will give you what I have promised:\"--but the Raja felt sure\nthat if Lela went to the mountain he would be eaten by the Rakhas\n(ogress) who dwelt there. Lela said that he would go if the Raja\ngave him a written bond In the presence of witnesses; and this the\nRaja willingly did. Then Lela went and told his wife and she said,\n\"This is excellent: I have a younger sister in the mountain, her name\nis Chandmoni and it was she who planted the Chandmoni Kusum flower;\nwhen you get there call her by her name and she will certainly give\nyou the flower.\"\n\nSo Lela started off and when he was gone his wife fell ill, and\nher body became a mass of sores. Directly Lela was out of the way,\nthe Raja sent the old woman to see what his wife was doing and she\nbrought back word that she was afflicted with illness; so the Raja\nsent medicines and told the old woman to nurse her. Lela went off and\ncame to the cave in the mountain where Chandmoni lived with the Rakhas;\nand the Rakhas was away hunting men, so Lela called out Chandmoni and\ntold her who he was and begged her to hide him; then they planned how\nthey should kill the Rakhas, and she hid him in the cave; presently\nthe Rakhas returned and said to Chandmoni \"I smell a man: where is\nhe?\" But Chandmoni said that there was no one there but herself;\nand that the smell was probably due to the Rakhas having been eating\nhuman flesh and recommended her to anoint herself with hot ghee. The\nRakhas agreed: so Chandmoni put a great iron pan of ghee on to boil,\nand when it was boiling she called the Rakhas, and as the Rakhas was\nleaning over the pan, Lela ran out and pushed her into the boiling\nghee and she died. Then Chandmoni asked Lela why he had come, and\nhe told her, \"to fetch the flower.\" She promised to give it to him\nbut asked what was to become of her now that the ogress with whom she\nlived was dead. Lela promised to take her with him, so they cut off the\ntongue and ears and claws of the Rakhas and returned to the city. And\ndirectly Lela returned, his first wife recovered from her illness.\n\nThen the Raja saw that it was useless to contend with Lela, and he\ngave him half his kingdom and married him to his sister according\nto his bond. So Lela lived with his three Ranis and they bore him\nchildren and after some years he told them that he was the son of a\nRaja and he wished to visit his own country and see whether his father\nwas alive. So they set out in great style with horses and elephants\nand came to the town where Lela's father lived. Now five or six days\nafter abandoning Lela, his father had become blind and, he made over\nthe management of his kingdom to a Dewan, and the Dewan and the Rani\nmanaged everything. When the Dewan heard that Lela had come with a\ngreat force he thought that he would loot the country and he ran away\nin fear. Then Lela sent word to his father to come to him, as he was\nthe son who had been abandoned in the jungle, so the Raja set forth\njoyfully and after he had gone a few paces he began to see dimly,\nand by the time that he came to Lela's camp he had quite recovered\nhis eyesight. When they met, father and son embraced and wept over\neach other; and Lela ordered a feast to be prepared and while this\nwas being done a maidservant came running to say that the wicked\nRani had hanged herself, so they went and burned the body and then\nreturned and enjoyed the feast. Then the Raja resigned his kingdom\nto Lela and the ryots begged him to stay and rule over them; so he\nremained there and lived happily ever after.\n\n\n\n\n\nV. Karmu and Dharmu.\n\nThere were once two brothers Karmu and Dharmu. Karmu was a farmer and\nDharmu was a trader; once when Dharmu was away from home Karmu gave\na religious feast and did not invite Dharmu's household; when Dharmu\nreturned and learnt this, he told his wife that he also would perform\nthe ceremonies in his house, so they set to work and were employed\nin cooking rice and vegetables far into the night; and Karam Gosain\ncame down to see what preparations Dharmu was making in his honour,\nand he watched from the back of the house.\n\nJust then Dharmu strained off the water from the cooked rice and threw\nit out of the window, and it fell on Karam Gosain and scalded him, and\nas the flies and insects worried the wound, Karam Gosain went off to\nthe Ganges and buried himself in the middle of the stream. As he had\nthus offended Karam Gosain, all Dharmu's undertakings failed and he\nfell into deep poverty, and had not even enough to eat, so he had to\ntake service with his brother Karmu. When the time for transplanting\nthe rice came, Dharmu used to plough and dig the ditches and mend the\ngaps along with the day labourers. Karmu told him not to work himself\nbut act as overseer of the other labourers, and the labourers also told\nhim that it was not suitable for him to work as a labourer himself,\nbut Dharmu said that he must earn his wages and insisted on working;\nand in the same way Dharmu's wife might have acted as overseer of\nthe women, but she was ashamed not to work too.\n\nOne day they were transplanting the rice and Karmu brought out\nbreakfast for the labourers; he told Dharmu and his wife to wash their\nhands and come and eat; but they answered that they belonged to the\nhousehold and that the hired labourers should be fed first, so the\nlabourers ate and they ate up all the rice and there was nothing left\nfor Dharmu and his wife. When the midday meal was brought the same\nthing happened, Dharmu and his wife got nothing; but they hoped that\nit would be made up to them when the wages were paid, and worked\non fasting. At evening when they came to pay the wages in kind,\nDharmu's name was called out first, but he told his brother to pay\nthe labourers first, and in doing this the paddy was all used up and\nthere was nothing left for Dharmu and his wife; so they went home\nsorrowfully and their children cried for food and they had nothing\nto give them. In the night Dharmu's wife said \"They promised to pay\nus for merely looking after the work and instead, we worked hard\nand have still got nothing. We will not work for them anymore; come,\nlet us undo the work we did to-day, you cut down the embankments you\nrepaired, and I will uproot the seedlings which I planted.\" So they\nwent out into the night to do this. But whenever Dharmu raised his\nspade a voice called out \"Hold, hold!\" And whenever his wife put out\nher hand to pull up the rice a voice called out \"Hold, hold!\" Then they\nsaid \"Who are you who stop us?\" And the voice answered \"You have done\nevil and offended Karam Gosain by scalding him; this is why you have\nbecome poor and to-day have worked without food and without wages;\nhe has gone to the Ganges and you must go and propitiate him.\" And\nthey asked how they should propitiate him, and the voice said \"Grind\nturmeric and put it on a plate, and buy new cloth and dye it with\nturmeric and make ready oil and take these things to the Ganges and\ncall on Karam Gosain.\" And they believed the voice and the next day\ndid as it commanded, and set off, leaving their children in charge\nof Karmu. On the way they came to a fig-tree full of figs and they\nwent to eat the fruit; but when they got near they found that all\nthe figs were full of grubs, and they sang:--\n\n\n \"Exhausted by hunger we came to a fig-tree,\n And found it full of grubs,\n O Karam Gosain, how far off are you?\"\n\n\nThen they came to a mango tree and the same thing happened. And they\nwent on and saw a cow with a calf; and they thought that they would\nmilk the cow and drink the milk, but when they went to catch it it\nran away from them and would not let itself be caught; and they sang:--\n\n\n \"We go to catch the cow and it runs away,\n We go to catch the calf and it runs away,\n O Karam Gosain how far off are you?\"\n\n\nBut the cow said to them--\"Go to the banks of the Ganges.\" Then\nthey came to a buffalo and went to milk it, but it lowered its head\nand charged them; and Dharam cried but his wife said \"Don't cry\"\nand sang:--\n\n\n \"If you go to catch the buffalo, Dharmu,\n It will kill you.\n How shall we drink milk? How shall we drink milk?\n How far off are you, O our Karam Gosain?\"\n\n\nAnd the buffalo said \"Go on to the bank of the Ganges.\" Then they came\nto a horse and they thought that they would catch it and mount it,\nbut it kicked and snorted; and they sang:--\n\n\n \"Dharmu tries to catch the horse:\n But it kicks and runs away.\n How shall we reach the Ganges?\n O Karam Gosain, how far off are you?\"\n\n\nAnd the horse said \"Go to the banks of the Ganges.\" Then they saw an\nelephant but it would not let them approach, so they decided to push\non straight for the river; and they saw under a banyan tree a large\npot full of rupees, but they were so disheartened that they made no\nattempt to touch it; then they met a woman who asked where they were\ngoing and when she heard, she said \"For twelve years I have had a _pai_\nmeasure stuck on my throat; ask Karam Gosain for me how I am to get\nrid of it,\" and they promised; and going on they met a woman with a\nbundle of thatching grass stuck to her head; and she made them promise\nto ask Karam Gosain how she could be freed; then they met a woman with\nboth her feet burning in a fire and another with a stool stuck fast\nto her back and they promised to enquire how these might be delivered.\n\nSo at last they came to the Ganges and they stood on the bank and\ncalled to Karam Gosain; and when he came they caught hold of him and\nhe said \"Fie, what low caste person is touching me?\" But they said. \"It\nis no low caste person, but Dharmu.\" Then they bathed him and anointed\nhim with oil and turmeric and wrapped him in the new cloth which they\nhad brought, and thus they persuaded him to return; so they rose up\nto go back, and Dharmu asked about the women whom they had met, and\nKaram Gosain said: \"The woman has a stool stuck to her back because\nwhen visitors came she never offered them a seat; let her do so in\nfuture, and she will be freed; and the woman has her feet burning in\nthe fire because she pushed the fuel into the fire with her foot; let\nher not do so in future, and she will be freed; and the woman has the\nthatching grass stuck to her head because when she saw a friend with\nstraw sticking in her hair she did not tell her about it; let her do\nso in future and she will be freed; and the woman has the pai measure\nstuck to her throat because, when her neighbour wanted to borrow her\nmeasure, she would not lend it; let her do so in future and she will\nbe freed.\" And Karam Gosain asked whether they had seen an elephant\nand a horse and a buffalo and a cow and money and mangoes and figs and\nDharmu said \"Yes,\" but that he had not been able to catch the animals\nand the fruit was bad. Karam Gosain promised them that on their way\nback they should take possession of all; and they did so and mounted\non the elephant and returned to their home with great wealth. On their\nway they met the four women and told them how they could be saved from\ntheir troubles. The villagers welcomed Dharmu and he arranged a great\nfeast and gave paddy to all the villagers to husk; but when they had\nboiled it the weather became cloudy so that they could not dry it,\nso they prayed to the sun and he at once shone out and dried the paddy.\n\nThen a day was fixed and they prepared rice beer, and worshipped\nKaram Gosain and they danced all night and got very drunk and enjoyed\nthemselves.\n\n\n\n\nVI. The Jealous Stepmother.\n\nThere was once a man whose wife died leaving him with one son and\nafter a year he married again. The second wife was very jealous of the\nson and she told her husband that she would not stay with him unless\nhe killed the boy; at first he refused but she insisted and then he\nsaid that he was frightened to do the deed, but she might kill the\nboy herself if she liked. She said, \"No: he is your son and you must\nkill him; if he were mine I would do it. You need not be frightened;\nwhen you take him out ploughing make him drive the front plough, and\nyou sharpen your plough pole to a point and drive it into him from\nbehind and kill him and then it will seem to be an accident.\" So the\nman promised and made a sharp point to his plough pole but whenever\nthey ploughed, the son drove his plough so fast that the father could\nnot catch him up and so the boy was not killed; then the woman abused\nher husband and said that he was deceiving her. So he promised to\nfinish the business the next day and told her to give the boy a good\nhot breakfast before they started, so that he might receive one last\nkindness, and he said that they must find some other way of killing\nhim because all the ploughing was finished; but his wife told him he\ncould plough down their crop of _goondli_, the bullocks would stop\nto eat the _goondli_ as they went along and so he would easily catch\nup his son. Accordingly the next morning father and son took out the\nploughs and the boy asked where they should plough, and the father said\nthat they would plough down the field of _goondli_. But the boy said\n\"Why should we do that? it is a good crop and will be ripe in a day\nor two; it is too late to sow again, we shall lose this crop and who\nknows whether we shall get anything in its place?\"\n\nAnd the father thought 'What the boy says is true; the first crop\nis like the first child, if I kill him who will support me in my\nold age? Who knows whether my second wife will have children. I will\nnot kill him however angry she be;' so they unyoked their ploughs and\nwent home. He told his wife that he would not kill the boy and scolded\nher and ended by giving her a beating. Then she ran away in a passion\nbut he did not trouble to go and look for her and in a few days her\nfather and brothers brought her back, and her husband told them what\nhad happened and they also scolded her and told her to mend her ways.\n\n\n\n\nVII. The Pious Woman.\n\nThere was once a very pious woman and her special virtue was that she\nwould not eat or drink on any day until she had first given alms to a\nbeggar. One day no beggar came to her house, so by noon she got tired\nof waiting, and, tying in her cloth some parched rice, she went to the\nplace where the women drew water. When she got there she saw a Jugi\ncoming towards her, she greeted him and said that she had brought\ndried rice for him. He said that omens had bidden him come to her\nand that he came to grant her a boon: she might ask one favour and\nit would be given her. The woman said: \"Grant me this boon--to know\nwhere our souls go after death, and to see at the time of death how\nthey escape, whether through the nose or the mouth, and where they\ngo to; and tell me when I shall die and where my soul will go to;\nthis I ask and no more.\" Then the Jugi answered, \"Your prayer is\ngranted, but you must tell no one; if you do, the power will depart\nfrom you.\" So saying he took from his bag something like a feather and\nbrushed her eyes with it and washed them with water. Then the woman's\neyes were opened and she saw spirits--_bongas, bhuts, dains, churins_,\nand the souls of dead men; and the Jugi told her not to be afraid,\nbut not to speak to them lest men should think her mad; then he took\nhis leave, and she returned home. Now in the village lived a poor man\nand his wife and they were much liked because they were industrious\nand obedient; shortly afterwards this poor man died and the pious\nwoman saw men come with a palankin and take away the poor man's soul\nwith great ceremony. She was pleased at the sight and thought that\nthe souls of all men were taken away like this. But shortly afterwards\nher father-in-law died. He had been a rich man, but harsh, and while\nthe family were mourning the pious woman saw four sipahis armed with\niron-shod staves and of fierce countenance come to the house and two\nentered and took the father-in-law by the neck and thrust him forth;\nthey bound him and beat him, they knocked him down and as he could\nnot walk they dragged him away by his legs. The woman followed him to\nthe end of the garden and when she saw him being dragged away, she\nscreamed. When her husband's relatives saw her screaming and crying\nthey were angry and said that she must have killed her father-in-law\nby witchcraft, for she did not sit by the corpse and cry but went to\nthe end of the garden. So after the body had been burnt they held\na council and questioned her and told her that they would hold her\nto be a witch, if she could not explain. So she told them of the\npower which the Jugi had conferred on her and of what she had seen,\nand they believed her and acquitted her of the charge of witchcraft;\nbut from that time she lost her power and saw no more spirits.\n\n\n\n\nVIII. The Wise Daughter-in-Law.\n\nThere was once a rich man who had seven sons, but one day his wife\ndied and after this the family fell into poverty. All their property\nwas sold and they lived by selling firewood in the bazar. At last the\nwife of the eldest son said to her father-in-law. \"I have a proposal\nto make: Do you choose one of us to be head of the family whom all\nshall obey; we cannot all be our own masters as at present.\" The old\nman said \"Well, I choose you,\" and he assembled the whole family and\nmade them promise to obey the wife of his eldest son.\n\nThereupon she told them that they must all go out into the fields\nand bring her whatever they found. So the next day they went out\nin different directions and the old man found some human excrement\nand he thought \"Well, my daughter-in-law told me to bring whatever\nI found\" so he wrapped it up in leaves and took it home; and his\ndaughter-in-law told him that he had done well and bade him hang\nup the packet at the back of the house. A few days later he found\nthe slough of a snake and he took that home and his daughter-in-law\ntold to tie a clod of earth to it to prevent its being blown away,\nand to throw it on to the roof of the house.\n\nSome years after the Raja of the country was ill with cancer of the\nface and none of the _ojhas_ could cure him. At last one _ojha_ said\nthat there was only one medicine which could effect a cure, but he\nsaw no chance of obtaining it and that was human excrement 12 years\nold. Then the Raja sent messengers throughout the kingdom offering a\nreward of 200 Rupees to any one who could supply excrement twelve years\nold; and when a messenger came to the village where this family lived\nthe daughter-in-law produced the packet which the old man had brought\nhome and received the reward of 200 Rupees; and they were all delighted\nat making so much money by what the old man had brought home in jest.\n\nAnd again it happened that the son of a Raja was bathing and he left\nhis gold belt on the bank and a kite thought it was a snake and flew\noff with it. The prince was much distressed at the loss but the Raja\ntold him not to grieve as the kite must have dropped it somewhere and\nhe would offer a reward of a thousand rupees for it. Now the kite had\nsoon found that the belt was not good to eat and seeing the snake's\nskin which the old man had thrown on to the roof of the house, it\ndropped the belt and flew off with the skin; and the daughter-in-law\npicked up the belt and when criers came round offering a reward she\nproduced it and received the money. And they praised her wisdom and\nby this means the family became rich again.\n\n\n\n\nIX. The Oilman and His Sons.\n\nThere was once an oilman with five sons and they were all married\nand lived jointly with their father. But the daughters-in-law were\ndiscontented with this arrangement and urged their husbands to ask\ntheir father to divide the family property. At first the old man\nrefused, but when his sons persisted, he told them to bring him a\nlog two cubits long and so thick that two hands could just span it,\nand he said that if they could break the log in two, he would divide\nthe property; so they brought the log and then asked for axes, but he\ntold them that they must break it themselves by snapping it or twisting\nit or standing on it; so they tried and failed. Then the old man said,\n\"You are five and I make six; split the log into six,\" So they split it\nand he gave each a piece and told them to break them, and each easily\nsnapped his stick; then the old man said \"We are like the whole log: we\nhave plenty of property and are strong and can overcome attack; but if\nwe separate we shall be like the split sticks and easily broken.\" They\nadmitted that this was true and proposed that the property should not\nbe divided but that they should all become separate in mess. But the\nfather would not agree to this for he thought that people would call\nhim a miser if he let his sons live separately without his giving\nthem their share in the property as their own, So as they persisted\nin their folly he partitioned the property.\n\nBut in a few years they all fell into poverty and had not enough to\neat nor clothes to wear, and the father and mother were no better off;\nthen the old man called all his sons and their wives and said \"You see\nwhat trouble you have fallen into; I have a riddle for you, explain\nit to me. There are four wells, three empty and one full of water;\nif you draw water from the full one and pour it into the three empty\nones they will become full; but when they are full and the first one\nis empty, if you pour water from the three full ones into the empty\none it will not be filled; what does this mean?\" And they could not\nanswer and he said, \"The four wells mean that a man had three sons,\nand while they were little he filled their stomachs as the wells were\nfilled with water; but when they separated they would not fill the\nold man's stomach.\"\n\nAnd it was true, that the sons had done nothing to help their father\nand they were filled with shame and they agreed that as long as their\nfather lived they would be joint with him and would not separate\nagain until he died.\n\n\n\n\nX. The Girl Who Found Helpers.\n\nOnce upon a time there were seven brothers, and they were all married,\nand they had one sister who was not married. The brothers went away\nto a far country for a whole year, leaving their wives at home. Now\nthe wives hated their sister-in-law and did their best to torment\nher. So one day they gave her a pot full of holes and told her to\nbring it back full of water; and threatened that if she failed she\nshould have no food. So she took the pot to the spring and there sat\ndown and cried and sang:--\n\n\n \"I am fetching water in a pot full of holes,\n I am fetching water in a pot full of holes,\n How far away have my brothers gone to trade.\"\n\n\nAfter she had cried a long time, a number of frogs came up out of\nthe water and asked her what was the matter, and she told them that\nshe must fill the pot with water, and was not allowed to stop the\nholes with clay or lac. Then they told her not to cry, and said, that\nthey would sit on the holes and then the water would not run out;\nthey did this and the girl dried her eyes and filled the pot with\nwater and took it home. Her sisters-in-law were much disappointed at\nher success, but the next day they told her to go to the jungle and\nbring back a bundle of leaves, but she was to use no rope for tying\nthem up. So she went to the jungle and collected the leaves and then\nsat down and cried and sang:--\n\n\n \"I am to fetch leaves without a rope\n I am to fetch leaves without a rope\n How far have my brothers gone to trade?\"\n\n\nand as she cried a _buka sobo_ snake came out and asked why she was\ncrying, and when she told it, it said that it would coil itself round\nthe leaves in place of a rope. So it stretched itself out straight\nand she piled the leaves on the top of it and the snake coiled itself\ntightly round them and so she was able to carry the bundle home on her\nhead. Her sisters-in-law ran to see how she managed it, but she put\nthe bundle down gently and the snake slipped away unperceived. Still\nthey resolved to try again; so the next day they sent her to fetch\na bundle of fire wood, but told her that she was to use no rope to\ntie it with. So she went to the jungle and collected the sticks and\nthen sat down and cried:--\n\n\n \"I am to bring wood without tying it,\n I am to bring wood without tying it,\n How far have my brothers gone to trade?\"\n\n\nand as she cried a python came out and asked what was the matter,\nand when it heard, it told her not to cry and said that it would act\nas a rope to bind up the sticks; so it stretched itself out and she\nlaid the sticks on it and then it coiled itself round them and she\ncarried the bundle home.\n\nAs the sisters-in-law had been baffled thus, they resolved on another\nplan and proposed that they should all go and gather sticks in the\njungle; and on the way they came to a _machunda_ tree in full flower\nand they wanted to pick some of the flowers. The wicked sisters-in-law\nat first began to climb the tree, but they pretended that they could\nnot and kept slipping down; then they hoisted their sister-in-law into\nthe branches and told her to throw down the flowers to them. But while\nshe was in the tree, they tied thorns round the trunk so that she could\nnot descend and then left her to starve. After she had been in the tree\na long time, her brothers passed that way on their return journey,\nand sat down under the tree to rest; the girl was too weak to speak\nbut she cried and her tears fell on the back of her eldest brother,\nand he looked up and saw her; then they rescued her and revived her\nand listened to her story; and they were very angry and vowed to\nhave revenge. So they gave their sister some needles and put her in a\nsack and put the sack on one of the pack-bullocks. And when they got\nhome, they took the sack off gently and told their wives to carry it\ncarefully inside the house, and on no account to put it down. But when\nthe wives took it up, the girl inside pricked them with the needles so\nthat they screamed and let the sack fall. Their husbands scolded them\nand made them take it up again, and they had to carry it in, though\nthey were pricked till the blood ran down. Then the brothers enquired\nabout all that had happened in their absence, and at last asked after\ntheir sister, and their wives said that she had gone to the jungle\nwith some friends to get firewood. But the brothers turned on them and\ntold how they had found her in the _machunda_ tree and had brought her\nhome in the sack, and their wives were dumbfounded. Then the brothers\nsaid that they had made a vow to dig a well and consecrate it; so they\nset to work to dig a well two fathoms across and three fathoms deep;\nand when they reached water, they fixed a day for the consecration;\nand they told their wives to put on their best clothes and do the\n_cumaura_ (betrothal) ceremony at the well. So the wives went to the\nwell, escorted by drummers, and as they stood in a row round the well,\neach man pushed his own wife into it and then they covered the well\nwith a wooden grating and kept them in it for a whole year and at\nthe end of the year they pulled them out again.\n\n * * * * *\n\nAnother version of this story gives three other tasks preliminary to\nthose given above and begins as follows:--\n\nOnce upon a time there was a girl named Hira who had seven\nbrothers. The brothers went away to a far country to trade leaving\nher alone in the house with their wives; these seven sisters-in-law\nhated Hira and did what they could to torment her; one day they sowed\na basketful of mustard seed in a field and then told her to go and\npick it all up; she went to the field and began to lament, singing:--\n\n\n \"They have sown a basket of mustard seed!\n Oh, how far away have my brothers gone to trade.\"\n\n\nAs she cried a flock of pigeons came rustling down and asked her what\nwas the matter, and when they heard, they told her to be comforted;\nthey at once set to work picking up the mustard grain by grain and\nputting it into her basket; soon the basket was quite full and she\njoyfully took it home and showed it to her sisters-in-law. Then they\nset her another task and told her to bring them some bear's hair that\nthey might weave it into a hair armlet for her wedding. So she went off\nto the jungle and sat down to cry; as she wept two bear cubs came up\nand asked what was the matter; when she told her story they bade her\nbe of good cheer and took her into their cave and hid her. Presently\nthe mother bear came back and suckled her cubs, and when they had\nfinished they asked their mother to leave them some of her hair that\nthey might amuse themselves by plaiting it while she was away. She\ndid so and directly she had gone off to look for food, the cubs gave\nthe girl the hair and sent her home rejoicing. The sisters-in-law\nwere only made more angry by her success and plotted how to kill her,\nso they ordered her to bring them some tiger's milk that they might\nmake it into curds for her wedding. Then she went off to the jungle\nand began to weep, singing:--\n\n\n \"I brought the hair of a bear:\n How far away have my brothers gone to trade.\"\n\n\nAt the sound two tiger cubs came running up and asked what was the\nmatter; they told her to be comforted and they would manage to give\nher what she wanted; and they took her and hid her near where they\nwere lying. Presently the tigress came back and suckled her cubs and\nas she did so she declared that she smelt a human being, but the\ncubs laughed at her and said that it must be they whom she smelt;\nso she was satisfied, and as she was leaving them they asked her to\nleave some of her milk in an earthern pot so that they might have\nsomething to drink if she were long in coming back. The tigress did\nso and directly she was gone the cubs gave the milk to the girl who\ntook it home.--The story then continues as before.\n\n\n\n\nXI. How to Grow Rich.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a woman whose husband died while she was\npregnant, and she was very unhappy and used to pray daily to Singh\nChando to give her a man child in place of her husband; she was left\nwell off and among her property were three gold coins, and as she was\nafraid of these being stolen she decided to place them in the care\nof the village headman. So she took them to him and asked him to keep\nthem till her child was born; and no one was present at the time but\nthe headman's wife. In due time her child was born and by the mercy\nof Singh Chando it was a son; and when the boy had grown a bit and\ncould run alone his mother decided to take back the gold coins, so she\nwent to the headman and asked him for them; but he and his wife said:\n\"We do not understand what you are talking about? We know of no gold\ncoins: where are your witnesses? You must have had witnesses in such\na business.\" And they drove her out. She went away crying and called\nthe villagers together and asked them to decide the matter. So they\nquestioned her and the headman but as it was word against word they\ncould come to no decision; so they settled to put the parties on\noath, but the headman and the woman both swore that they had spoken\nthe truth, saying, \"May we die if we have spoken falsely.\" Then\nthe villagers made them swear by their children and the woman and\nthe headman laid their hands on the heads of their sons and swore;\nand when the woman swore her son fell down dead and she took up the\ndead body in her arms and ran away with it.\n\nThe villagers were very sorry for what had happened but the headman\nand his wife abused them for not having believed their word. The\nwoman had not gone very far before she met a stranger who asked why\nshe was crying and when she told him, he said: \"Do not cry: you told\none falsehood and so your son has died. Take your child back to the\nvillagers and tell them that it was five gold coins and not three\nthat you gave to the headman and if you do this the child will come\nto life again.\"\n\nSo the woman hastened back and found the villagers still assembled\nand she told them as the stranger had directed; and she agreed to be\nsworn again on the body of the child, and the headman promised to pay\nfive gold pieces if the child were restored to life. So the woman\nlaid her hands on the dead child and swore, and it was restored to\nlife. Then the headman was dumbfounded and reluctantly brought out\nfive gold pieces and gave them to the woman. She gave five rupees\nto the villagers and they made the headman give them ten rupees for\nhaving deceived them, and they bought pigs and had a feast.\n\nIn the course of time the boy grew up and his mother urged him to\nmarry. He asked her if she knew how to choose a wife and also what\nsort of cattle to buy, and she said that she did not know; her husband\nhad not told her this. So the youth said that he would go to Singh\nChando and ask.\n\nHis mother washed his clothes for him and gave him food for the\njourney and he set out. On the way he met a man who asked him where\nhe was going and he answered that he was going to make a petition to\nSingh Chando. \"Then,\" said the man, \"make a petition for me also. I\nhave so much wealth that I cannot look after it all; ask him to take\naway half from me.\" The youth promised and went on and he met another\nman who said that he had so many cattle that he could not build enough\ncow-houses for them and asked him to petition Singh Chando to diminish\ntheir number; and he promised, and went on and came to Singh Chando,\nand there he asked how to choose a wife and how to buy cattle. And\nSingh Chando said, \"When you buy a bullock first put your hand on\nits quarter and if it shrinks and tries to get free, buy it; and when\nyou want a wife enquire first as to the character of her father and\nmother; good parents make good children.\" Then the youth asked about\nthe two men he had met; Singh Chando said;--\"Tell the first man when\nhe is ploughing to plough two or three furrows beyond the boundary\nof his field and his wealth will diminish and tell the second man to\ndrive away three or four of his cattle every day and their number\nwill decrease.\" So the youth returned and met the man who had too\nmany cattle and told him what Chando had said, and the man thought\n\"If I drive away three or four head of cattle every day I shall soon\nbecome poor\" so from that time he looked out for any straying cattle\nand would drive them home with his own; if the owner claimed them,\nhe gave them up, but if no claimant appeared, he kept them and so\nhe became richer than ever. And the youth went on and met the man\nwho was too rich, and when he heard what Chando had said he thought\n\"If I plough over the boundary on to my neighbour's land it will\nbe a great sin and I shall soon become poor;\" and he went to his\nploughmen and told them never to plough right up to the edge of the\nfield but to leave two of three furrows space, and they obeyed and\nfrom that time he grew richer than ever. And the youth returned to\nhis mother and told her all that had happened and they understood\nthe meaning of the advice which Chando had given to the two men and\nacted accordingly. And it is true that we see that avaricious men\nwho trespass across boundaries become poor.\n\n\n\n\nXII. The Changed Calf.\n\nThere was once a cowherd named Sona who saved a few rupees and he\ndecided to buy a calf so as to have something to show for his labours;\nand he went to a distant village and bought a bull calf and on the way\nhome he was benighted. So he turned into a Hindu village and went to an\noilman's house and asked to be allowed to sleep there. When the oilman\nsaw such a fine calf he coveted it and he told Sona to put it in the\nstable along with his own bullock and he gave him some supper and let\nhim sleep in the verandah. But in the middle of the night the oilman\ngot up and moistened some oil cake and plastered it over the calf;\nhe then untied his own bullock and made it lick the oil cake off the\ncalf, and as the bullock was accustomed to eat oil cake it licked it\ngreedily; then the oilman raised a cry, \"The bullock that turns the\noil mill has given birth to a calf.\" And all the villagers collected,\nand saw the bullock licking the calf and they believed the oilman. Sona\ndid not wake up and knew nothing of all this, the next morning he\ngot up and went to untie his calf and drive it away, but the oilman\nwould not let him and claimed the calf as his own. Then Sona called\nthe villagers to come and decide the matter: but they said that they\nhad seen him bring no calf to the village and he had not called any of\nthem to witness it, but they _had_ seen the bullock licking the calf;\nwhy should the bullock lick any but its own calf? No one ever saw a\nbullock lick a strange bullock or cow and so they awarded the calf\nto the oilman. Then Sona said that he would call someone to argue the\nmatter and he went away meaning to get some men from the next village:\nbut he lost his way in the jungle and as he went along a night-jar\nflew up from under his feet; he called out to it to stay as he was in\ngreat distress, and the bird alighted and asked what was the matter,\nand Sona told it his trouble. Then the night-jar said that it would\nargue the matter for him but it must have a colleague and it told Sona\nto go on and ask the first living being he met to help; so he went on\nand met a jackal and the jackal agreed to help the night-jar, and they\ntold him to call the villagers to the edge of the jungle and not to\nlet them bring any dogs with them. So Sona brought all the villagers\nto the jungle and the night-jar and jackal sat side by side on a stone.\n\nThen Sona asked the villagers whether they would let him take away\nthe calf or no, and they persisted in their previous opinion. At last\none man said, \"What are your advocates doing? it seems to me that they\nare asleep.\" And at this the two woke up with a start and looked about\nthem, and the night-jar said \"I have been asleep and dreamed a dream:\nwill you men please hear it and explain its meaning?\"\n\nAnd the jackal said, \"I too have had a dream, please explain it for\nme. If you can explain the meaning you shall keep the calf and, if\nnot, the boy shall have it.\" The villagers told them to speak and the\nnight-jar said, \"I saw two night-jar's eggs and one egg was sitting\non the other; no mother bird was sitting on them, tell me what this\nmeans.\" And the jackal said, \"I saw that the sea was on fire and the\nfishes were all being burnt up, and I was busy eating them and that\nwas why I did not wake up, what is the meaning of this dream?\" And\nthe villagers said. \"The two dreams are both alike: neither has\nany meaning; an egg cannot sit on an egg, and the sea cannot catch\nfire.\" The jackal said, \"Why cannot it be? If you won't believe that\nwater can catch fire why do you say that a bullock gave birth to\na calf? Have you ever seen such a thing? Speak,\" And they admitted\nthat they had never seen a bullock have a calf, but only cows. \"Then,\"\nsaid the jackal, \"explain why you have given the oilman a decree.\" And\nthey admitted that they were wrong and awarded the calf to Sona and\nfined the oilman five rupees for having deceived them.\n\n\n\n\nXIII. The Koeri and the Barber.\n\nThere was a well-to-do man of the Koeri (cultivating) caste and\nopposite his house lived a barber who was very poor; and the barber\nthought that if he carried on his cultivation just as the Koeri did he\nmight get better results; so every day he made some pretext to visit\nthe Koeri's house and hear what work he was going to do the next day,\nand with the same object he would listen outside his house at night;\nand he exactly imitated the Koeri: he yoked his cattle and unyoked\nthem, he ploughed and sowed and transplanted just when the Koeri did\nand the result was good, for that year he got a very fine crop. But he\nwas not content with this and resolved to continue to copy the Koeri;\nthe Koeri suspected what the barber was doing and did not like it. So\nhe resolved to put the matter to the test and at the same time teach\nthe barber to mind his own business. In January they both planted\nsugar cane, and one day when the crop was half grown the barber\nwas sitting at the Koeri's house and the Koeri gave orders to his\nservants to put the leveller over the crop the next day and break it\ndown; this was only a pretence of the Koeri's, but the barber went\naway and the next day crushed his sugar cane crop with the leveller,\nthe whole village laughed to see what he had done; but it turned out\nthat each root of the barber's sugar cane sent up a number of shoots\nand in the end he had a much heavier crop than the Koeri.\n\nAnother day the Koeri announced that he was going to sow _but_ (pulse)\nand therefore ordered his servants to bring out the seed and roast\nit well, that it might germinate quickly; and the barber hearing this\nwent off and had his seed _but_ roasted and the next day he sowed it,\nbut only a very few seeds germinated, while the crop of the Koeri\nwhich had not really been roasted sprouted finely. The barber asked\nthe Koeri why his crop had not come up well, and the Koeri told him\nthat it must be because he had not roasted the seed enough; the few\nseeds that had come up must have been those which had been roasted\nmost. But in the end the laugh was against the Koeri, for the few\nseeds of the barber's which germinated, produced such fine plants\nthat when he came to thresh them out he had more grain than the Koeri,\nand so in 3 or 4 years the barber became the richer man of the two.\n\n\n\n\nXIV. The Prince Who Acquired Wisdom.\n\nThere was once a Raja who had an only son and the Raja was always\nurging his son to learn to read and write in order that when he came\nto his kingdom he might manage well and be able to decide disputes\nthat were brought to him for judgment; but the boy paid no heed to\nhis father's advice and continued to neglect his lessons. At last\nwhen he was grown up, the Prince saw that his father was right and\nhe resolved to go away to foreign countries to acquire wisdom; so he\nset off without telling anyone but his wife, and he took with him\na purse of money and three pieces of gold. After travelling a long\ntime, he one day saw a man ploughing in a field and he went and got\nsome tobacco from him and asked him whether there were any wise men\nliving in that neighbourhood. \"What do you want with wise men?\",\nasked the ploughman. The Prince said that he was travelling to get\nwisdom. The ploughman said that he would give him instruction if\nhe were paid. Then the Prince promised to give him one gold piece\nfor each piece of wisdom. The ploughman agreed and said. \"Listen\nattentively! My first maxim is this: You are the son of a Raja;\nwhenever you go to visit a friend or one of your subjects and they\noffer you a bedstead, or stool, or mat to sit on, do not sit down\nat once but move the stool or mat a little to one side; this is\none maxim: give me my gold coin.\" So the Prince paid him. Then the\nploughman said. \"The second maxim is this: You are the son of a Raja;\nwhenever you go to bathe, do not bathe at the common bathing place,\nbut at a place by yourself; give me my coin,\" and the Prince did\nso. Then he continued, \"My third maxim is this: You are the son of a\nRaja; when men come to you for advice or to have a dispute decided,\nlisten to what the majority of those present say and do not follow\nyour own fancy, now pay me;\" and the Prince gave him his last gold\ncoin, and said that he had no more. \"Well,\" said the ploughman, \"your\nlesson is finished but still I will give you one more piece of advice\nfree and it is this: You are the son of a Raja; Restrain your anger,\nif anything you see or hear makes you angry, still do not at once take\naction; hear the explanation and weigh it well, then if you find cause\nyou can give rein to your anger and if not, let the offender off.\"\n\nAfter this the prince set his face homewards as he had spent all\nhis money; and he began to repent of having spent his gold pieces\non advice that seemed worthless. However on his way he turned into\na bazar to buy some food and the shopkeepers on all sides called out\n\"Buy, buy,\" so he went to a shop and the shopkeeper invited him to sit\non a rug; he was just about to do so when he remembered the maxim of\nhis instructor and pulled the rug to one side; and when he did so he\nsaw that it had been spread over the mouth of a well and that if he\nhad sat on it he would have been killed[1]; so he began to believe\nin the wisdom of his teacher. Then he went on his way and on the\nroad he turned aside to a tank to bathe, and remembering the maxim\nof his teacher he did not bathe at the common place but went to a\nplace apart; then having eaten his lunch he continued his journey,\nbut he had not gone far when he found that he had left his purse\nbehind, so he turned back and found it lying at the place where he\nhad put down his things when he bathed; thereupon he applauded the\nwisdom of his teacher, for if he had bathed at the common bathing\nplace someone would have seen the purse and have taken it away. When\nevening came on he turned into a village and asked the headman to let\nhim sleep in his verandah, and there was already one other traveller\nsleeping there and in the morning it was found that the traveller had\ndied in his sleep. Then the headman consulted the villagers and they\ndecided that there was nothing to be done but to throw away the body,\nand that as the Prince was also a traveller he should do it. At first\nhe refused to touch the corpse as he was the son of a Raja, but the\nvillagers insisted and then he bethought himself of the maxim that\nhe should not act contrary to the general opinion; so he yielded and\ndragged away the body, and threw it into a ravine.\n\nBefore leaving it he remembered that it was proper to remove the\nclothes, and when he began to do so he found round the waist of the\nbody a roll of coin; so he took this and was glad that he had followed\nthe advice of his teacher.\n\nThat evening he reached the boundary of his own territory and decided\nto press on home although it was dark; at midnight he reached the\npalace and without arousing anyone went to the door of his wife's\nroom. Outside the door he saw a pair of shoes and a sword; at the\nsight he became wild with rage and drawing the sword he called out:\n\"Who is in my room?\"\n\nAs a matter of fact the Prince's wife had got the Prince's little\nsister to sleep with her, and when the girl heard the Prince's voice\nshe got up to leave; but when she opened the door and saw the Prince\nstanding with the drawn sword she drew back in fear; she told him\nwho she was and explained that they had put the shoes and sword at\nthe door to prevent anyone else from entering; but in his wrath the\nPrince would not listen and called to her to come out and be killed.\n\nThen she took off her cloth and showed it to him through the crack of\nthe door and at the sight of this he was convinced; then he reflected\non the advice of his teacher and repented, because he had nearly\nkilled his sister through not restraining his wrath.\n\n\n\n\nXV. The Monkey Boy.\n\nThere was once a man who had six sons and two daughters and he died\nleaving his wife pregnant of a ninth child.\n\nAnd when the child was born it proved to be a monkey.\n\nThe villagers and relations advised the mother to make away with it,\nbut she refused saying \"Chando knows why he has given me such a child,\nbut as he has done so I will rear it.\"\n\nAll her relations said that if she chose to rear a monkey they would\nturn her out of the family. However she persisted that she would do\nso at all costs. So they sent her to live with her child in a hut\noutside the village, and the monkey boy grew up and learned to talk\nlike a human being.\n\nOne day his elder brothers began to clear the jungle for cultivation\nand the monkey boy took a hatchet and went with them; he asked where\nhe could clear land for himself and in fun they showed him the place\nwhere the jungle was thickest. So he went there and drove his hatchet\ninto the trunk of a tree and then returned and watched his brothers\nworking hard clearing the scrub, and when they had finished their work\nhe went and fetched his hatchet and returned home with them. Every\nday he did the same--and one day his brothers asked why he spent all\nhis time with them, but he said that he only came to them when he was\ntired of cutting down trees; they laughed at this and said that they\nwould like to see his clearing, so he took them to the place and to\ntheir astonishment they saw a large clearing, bigger than they had\nbeen able to make for themselves. Then the brothers burnt the jungle\nthey had cut down and began to plough the land.\n\nBut the monkey boy's mother had no plough or cattle nor any seed rice;\nthe only thing in the house was a pumpkin, so he took the seed out\nof the pumpkin and sowed it in his clearing. His brothers asked what\nhe had sown and he told them--Rice.\n\nThe brothers ploughed and sowed and used to go daily to watch the\ngrowing crop, and one day they went to have a look at the monkey boy's\ncrop and they saw that it was pumpkins and not rice and they laughed\nat him. When their crop was ripe the brothers prepared to offer the\nfirst fruits and the monkey boy watched them that he might observe the\nsame ceremonies as they. One day they brought home the first fruits\nand offered them to the _bongas_, and they invited the monkey boy\nand his mother to come to the feast which followed the offering.\n\nThey both went and enjoyed themselves; and two or three days later\nthe monkey boy said that he would also have a feast of first fruits,\nso he told his mother to clear the courtyard and invited his brothers\nand he purified himself and went to his clearing and brought home the\nbiggest pumpkin that had grown there; this he offered to the spirits;\nhe sliced off the top of it as if it were the head of a fowl, and\nas he did so he saw that the inside was full of rice; he called his\nmother and they filled a winnowing fan with the rice and there was\nenough besides to nearly fill a basket; they were delighted at this\nwindfall but kept the matter secret lest they should be robbed. The\nmonkey boy told his mother to be sure and cook enough rice so that\nhis brothers and their wives might have as much as ever they could\neat, and not merely a small helping such as they had given him,\nand if necessary he would go and fetch another pumpkin; so his\nmother boiled the rice. When the time fixed for the feast came,\nnothing was to be seen of the brothers because they did not expect\nthat there would really be anything for them to eat; so the monkey\nboy went and fetched them, and when they came to the feast they\nwere astonished to have as much rice as they could eat. When the\ncrop was quite ripe the monkey boy gathered all the pumpkins and\ngot sufficient rice from them to last for the whole year. After\nthis the brothers went out to buy horses, and the monkey boy went\nwith them and as he had no money he took nothing but a coil of rope;\nhis brothers were ashamed to have him with them and drove him away,\nso he went on ahead and got first to the place where the horsedealer\nlived. The brothers arrived late in the evening and decided to make\ntheir purchases the following morning and ride their horses home, so\nthey camped for the night. The monkey boy spent the night hiding on\nthe rafters of the stable; and in the night the horses began to talk\nto each other and discussed which could gallop farthest, and one mare\nsaid \"I can gallop twelve _kos_ on the ground and then twelve _kos_\nin the air.\" When the monkey boy heard this he got down and lamed\nthe mare by running a splinter into her hoof. The next morning the\nbrothers bought the horses which pleased them and rode off. Then the\nmonkey boy went to the horsedealer and asked why the mare was lame\nand advised him to apply remedies. But the dealer said that that\nwas useless: when horses got ill they always died; then the monkey\nboy asked if he would sell the mare and offered to give the coil of\nrope in exchange; the dealer, thinking that the animal was useless,\nagreed, so the monkey boy led it away, but when he was out of sight\nhe took out the splinter and the lameness at once ceased. Then he\nmounted the mare and rode after his brothers, and when he had nearly\novertaken them he rose into the air and flew past his brothers and\narrived first at home. There he tied up the mare outside his house\nand went and bathed and had his dinner and waited for his brothers.\n\nThey did not arrive for a full hour afterwards and when they saw\nthe monkey boy and his mount they wanted to know how he had got home\nfirst. He boasted of how swift his mare was and so they arranged to\nhave a race and match their horses against his. The race took place\ntwo or three days later and the monkey boy's mare easily beat all the\nother horses, she gallopped twelve _kos_ on the ground and twelve\n_kos_ in the air. Then they wanted to change their horses for his,\nbut he said they had had first choice and he was not going to change.\n\nIn two or three years the monkey boy became rich and then he announced\nthat he wanted to marry; this puzzled his mother for she thought that\nno human girl would marry him while a monkey would not be able to talk;\nso she told him that he must find a bride for himself. One day he set\noff to look for a wife and came to a tank in which some girls were\nbathing, and he took up the cloth belonging to one of them and ran\nup a tree with it, and when the girl missed it and saw it hanging\ndown from the tree she borrowed a cloth from her friends and went\nand asked the monkey boy for her own; he told her that she could only\nhave it back if she consented to marry him; she was surprised to find\nthat he could talk and as he conversed she was bewitched by him and\nlet him pull her up into the tree by her hair, and she called out to\nher friends to go home and leave her where she was. Then he took her\non his back and ran off home with her.\n\nThe girl's father and relations turned out with bows and arrows to\nlook for the monkey who had carried her off but he had gone so far\naway that they never found him. When the monkey boy appeared with his\nbride all the villagers were astonished that he had found anyone to\nmarry him, but everything was made ready for the marriage as quickly\nas possible and all the relations were invited and the wedding took\nplace and the monkey boy and his wife lived happily ever after.\n\n\n\n\nXVI. The Miser's Servant.\n\nOnce there was a rich man who was a miser. Although he kept farm\nservants they would never stay out the year with him; but ran away in\nthe middle. When the villagers asked why they ran away and so lost\ntheir year's wages the servants answered. \"You would do the same in\nour place: at the busy time of the year he speaks us fair and feeds\nus well, but directly the crops are gathered he begins to starve us;\nthis year we have had nothing to eat since September.\"\n\nAnd the villagers said \"Well, that is a good reason, a man can\nstand scolding but not starvation; we all work to fill our bellies,\nhunger is the worst disease of all.\" The news that the miser made his\nservants work for nothing spread throughout the neighbourhood so he\ncould get no servants near by and when he brought them from a distance\nthey soon heard of his character and ran away. Men would only work\nfor him on daily wages and because of his miserliness they demanded\nhigher wages than usual from him and would not work without. Now\nthere was a young fellow named Kora who heard all this and he said\n\"If I were that man's servant I would not run away. I would get the\nbetter of him; ask him if he wants a servant and if he says, yes,\ntake me to him.\" The man to whom Kora told this went to the miser\nand informed him that Kora was willing to engage himself to him;\nso Kora was fetched and they had a drink of rice beer and then the\nmiser asked Kora whether he would work for the full year and not run\naway in the middle. Kora said that he would stay if he were satisfied\nwith the wages. The master said \"I will fix your wages when I see\nyour work; if you are handy at every thing I will give you 12 _Kats_\nof rice and if you are only a moderate worker then 9 or 10 _Kats_\nbesides your clothes. How much do you ask for?\"\n\nAnd Kora said \"Well, listen to me: I hear that your servants run away\nin the middle of the year because you give them so little to eat, all\nI ask for my wages is that you give me once a year one grain of rice\nand I will sow it and you must give me low land to plant all the seed\nthat I get from it; and give me one seed of maize and I will sow it for\nseed, and you must give me upland to sow all the seed I get from it;\nand give me the customary quantity of clothes, and for food give me\none leaf full of rice three times a day. I only want what will go on a\nsingle leaf, you need not sew several leaves together into a plate. I\nwill ask for no second helping but if you do not fill the leaf full\nI shall have the right to abuse you, and if I do not do all the work\nyou give me properly, then you can abuse me and beat me. If I run away\nfrom fear of hard work you may cut off the little finger of my right\nhand, and if you do not give me the wages we have agreed upon then I\nshall have the right to cut off the little finger of your hand. What\ndo you say to this proposal: consult your friends and give me your\nanswer.\" Then the miser answered \"I engage you on these terms and if\nI turn you off without reason you may cut off my little finger.\" Then\nKora turned to the man who had fetched him and said \"Listen to all\nthis: if there is any dispute hereafter you will be my witness.\"\n\nSo Kora began to work and the first day they gave him rice on a\nsingle _sal_ leaf and he ate it up in one mouthful: but the next\nday he brought a plantain leaf (_which is some three feet long_)\nand said \"Give me my rice on this and mind you fill it full.\" And\nthey refused: but he said \"Why not? it is only a single leaf\" and\nthey had to give in because he was within his rights; so he ate as\nmuch as he wanted, and every day he brought a plantain leaf till his\nmaster's wife got tired and said to her husband \"Why have you got a\nservant like this--he takes a whole pot of rice to himself every day,\"\nbut he answered \"Never mind: his wages are nothing, he is working for\nhis keep alone;\" so the whole year Kora got his plantain leaf filled\nand he was never lazy over his work so they could find no fault with\nhim on that score, and when the year was up they gave him one grain\nof rice and one seed of maize for his wages for the year. Kora kept\nthem carefully, and his master's sons laughed at him and said \"Mind\nyou don't drop them or let a mouse eat them.\"\n\nKora said nothing but when the time for sowing maize came he took his\ngrain of maize and sowed it by the dung heap, and he called them to\nsee where he sowed it; and at the time of sowing rice he sowed his\ngrain separately, and when the time for transplanting came he planted\nhis rice seedling in a hollow and bade them note it. When the maize\nripened it was found that his plant had two big cobs and one small\none on it, and his rice seedling sent up a number of ears; and when\nit ripened he cut it and threshed it and got one _pai_ of rice, and he\nkept the maize and rice for seed. And the next year also he sowed this\nseed separately and it produced a big basket of rice and another one\nof maize, and he kept this also for seed; and in the course of five\nor six years he had taken all their high lands to sow his seed in\nand in a few years more he had taken all their rice lands too. Then\nhis master was very miserable but he saw that it was useless to make\nany complaint and the master became so poor that he had to work as\na servant to Kora. At last the miser called the heads of the village\ntogether and wept before them, and they had pity on him and interceded\nfor him; but Kora said \"It is God who has punished him and not I; he\nmade poor men work for nothing for so long and now he has to suffer;\"\nbut they asked him to be merciful and give him some land, and he agreed\nand said \"Cut off his little finger and I will let him off his bargain;\nand call all the servants whom he has defrauded and I will pay them\"\nbut the miser would not have his finger cut off; then Kora said \"Let\nhim keep his finger and I will give him back half his land.\" The miser\nagreed to this and promised to treat his servants well in future,\nand in order to lessen his shame he married his daughter to Kora;\nand he had to admit that it was by his own folly that this trouble\nhad befallen him.\n\n\n\n\nXVII. Kuwar and the Raja's Daughter.\n\nThere was once a rich merchant who lived in a Raja's city; and the\nRaja founded a school in order that his own children might have some\neducation, and the boys and the girls of the town used to go to the\nschool as well as the Raja's sons and daughters and among them the\nrich merchant's son, whose name Was Kuwar. In the course of time the\nchildren all learned to read and write. In the evenings all the boys\nused to mount their horses and go for a ride.\n\nNow it happened that Kuwar and the Raja's daughter fell in love with\neach other and she wrote him a letter saying that if he did not marry\nher she would forcibly install herself in his house. He wrote back\nand begged her not to come to his house as this would be the ruin of\nhis family; but he said that he would willingly run away with her to\na distant country, and spend his whole life with her, if she would\noverlook the fact that they were of different castes; and if she\nagreed to this they must settle to what country to go. Somehow news\nof their intention got about, and the Raja was told that his daughter\nwas in love with the merchant's son. Then the Raja gave orders that\nhis daughter was not to be allowed to go outside the palace, and the\nmerchant spoke severely to Kuwar and neither of them was allowed to\ngo to the school any more. But one day the princess went to the place\nwhere the Raja's horses were tied up and among them was a mare named\nPiyari and she went up to the mare and said \"You have eaten our salt\nfor a long time, will you now requite me?\" And Piyari said \"Certainly\nI will!\". Then the princess asked \"If I mount you, will you jump\nover all these horses and this wall and escape?\" And the mare said\n\"Yes, but you will have to hold on very tight.\" The princess said\n\"That is my look-out: it is settled that on the day I want you you\nwill jump over the wall and escape.\" Then she wrote a letter to Kuwar\nand gave it to her maid-servant to deliver into Kuwar's own hands,\nwithout letting anyone know: and in the letter she fixed a day for\ntheir elopement and told Kuwar to wait for her by a certain tree. So\non the day fixed after everyone was asleep Kuwar went to the tree and\nalmost at once the princess came to him riding on Piyari; he asked\nher how she had escaped and whether she had been seen and she told\nhim how the mare had jumped over the wall without anyone knowing;\nthen they both mounted Piyari and drove her like the wind and in one\nnight they passed through the territory of two or three Rajas and in\nthe morning were in a far country.\n\nThen they dismounted to cook their rice, and went to the house of an\nold woman to ask for a light with which to light their fire. Now this\nold woman had seven sons and they were all robbers and murderers;\nand six of them had killed travellers and carried off their wives\nand married them. When Kuwar and the princess came asking for a\nlight the seven sons were away hunting and when the old woman saw\nthe princess she resolved to marry her to her youngest son, and made\na plan to delay them; so she asked them to cook their rice at her\nhouse and offered them cooking pots and water pots and firewood and\neverything necessary; they did not know that she meant to kill Kuwar\nand unsuspiciously accepted her offer. When they had finished cooking\nKuwar asked the old woman whether she lived alone and she told him\nthat she was a widow but had seven sons and they were all away on a\ntrading expedition. The old woman kept on looking out to see if her\nsons were returning, and she had made an arrangement with them that if\nshe ever wanted them she would set fire to a small hut and they would\ncome home at once when they saw the smoke rising. But before her sons\ncame back Kuwar and the princess finished their meal and paid the old\nwoman and mounted Piyari and gallopped off. Then the old woman set fire\nto the hut and her sons, seeing the smoke hurried home. She told them\nthat a beautiful girl had just left who would make a suitable wife for\nthe youngest of the brothers. Then the brothers tied on their swords\nand mounted their horses and went in pursuit. Kuwar and the princess\nknew nothing of their danger and rode on happily, but presently they\nheard horses neighing behind them and looking round, saw men riding\nafter them with drawn swords. Then the princess said to Kuwar \"Our\nenemies are upon us; do you sit in front and let me sit behind you,\nthen they will kill us both together. If I am in front they may kill\nyou alone and carry me off alive.\" But while they were thinking of\nthis the seven brothers caught them up, and began to abuse them and\ncharge them with having set fire to the house in which they had eaten\ntheir rice, and told them to come back with them at once. Kuwar and\nthe princess were too frightened to answer and they had no sword with\nwhich to defend themselves. Then the robbers surrounded them and killed\nKuwar, and they said to the princess \"You cannot stay here all alone;\nwe will take you back and you shall marry one of us.\" The princess\nanswered \"Kill me here at once, never will I go with you.\" They said\n\"We shall take away your horse and all your food, will not that make\nyou go?\" But the princess threw herself on the dead body of Kuwar\nand for all they could do they could not drag her off it. Then the\nmurderers said to the youngest brother \"She is to be your wife: you\nmust pull her away.\" But he refused saying \"No, if I take her away she\nwill not stay with me, she will probably hang herself or drown herself;\nI do not want a wife like that, if any of you want her, you can have\nher.\" But they said that it would not be right for one of them to take\na second wife while their youngest brother was unmarried, and that\ntheir mother intended him to marry this girl; if he would not they\nwould kill her there and then. But the youngest brother had pity on\nher and asked them to spare her life, so they took away her horse and\nher food and everything that she had and went away and left her there.\n\nFor a day and a night the princess lay there weeping and lamenting\nher dead Kuwar and never ceased for a moment. Then Chando said \"who\nis this who is weeping and what has happened to her?\" And he sent\nBidhi and Bidha to see what was the matter; they came and told him\nthat a princess was weeping over the body of her dead husband and\nwould not leave him though she had been robbed of everything she had.\n\nThen Chando told them to go and frighten her, and if they could\nfrighten her away from her husband's dead body he would do nothing, but\nif she would not leave him then they were to restore him to life. So\nthey went and found her holding the dead body of her husband In her\nlap and weeping; and they first assumed the form of tigers and began\nto circle round her roaring, but she only went on weeping and sang--\n\n\n \"You have come roaring, tigress:\n First eat me, tigress:\n Then only will I let you eat the body of my lord.\"\n\n\nShe would not quit the body nor run away from fear of the tigers,\nso they slunk away and came back in the form of two leopards, and\nprowled round her growling; but she only sang\n\n\n \"You have come roaring, leopardess\n First eat me, leopardess\n Then only will I let you eat the body of my lord.\"\n\n\nand as she would not fly from them they slunk away and came back\nin the form of two bears, but the princess only sang the same song;\nthen they appeared as two elephants; and then as two huge snakes which\nhissed terribly but still she only wept; and in many forms they tried\nto frighten her away but she would not move nor leave the corpse of\nKuwar, so in the end they saw that all the heart of the princess was\nwith Kuwar and that even in death they could not be separated, so at\nlast they drew near to her in the form of human beings and asked her\nwhy she was crying, as they had heard her weeping from a long way off,\nand had been filled with pity for her lamentations. Then the princess\nsaid \"Alas, this youth and I are from such and such a country and\nas we loved and our lives were bound up in each other we ran away\ntogether hither, and here on the road he has been killed and the\nmurderers have left me without my horse or food; and this is why I\nweep.\" Then Bidhi and Bidha said \"Daughter, rise up and we will take\nyou to your home, or we will find you another husband; this one is\ndead and cannot be restored to you; you will find another; come arise,\nyou have but one life,\" But the princess answered \"No I will not go\nand leave him here. I will not leave him while my life lasts; but I\npray you if you know of any medicine that might restore him to life,\nto try it.\" Then they answered \"We know something of medicine and\nif you wish we will try to cure him;\" so saying, they ground up some\nsimples and told the princess to spread out a cloth and lay the dead\nbody on it and to put the head which had been cut off into position,\nand then to cover it with the cloth and hold the head in position;\nso she did as they bade, and they rubbed the medicine on the body\nand then they suddenly disappeared from her sight.\n\nThen in a few moments she saw Kuwar's chest heave as if he were\nbreathing; thereupon she shook him violently and he rose up and said\n\"Oh, what a long time I have slept,\" but the princess said \"Do not\ntalk of sleep; you were killed and two men appeared from somewhere\nand applied medicine and brought you to life again;\" then Kuwar asked\nwhere they were and she told him how they had disappeared without\nher knowledge.\n\nThen they rose up and went in search of food to a village where\nthere was a bazar, and they tried to get employment as servants;\nbut the people advised them to go to the capital city where the Raja\nlived, and there if no one would take them as servants they could get\nemployment as coolies on a big tank which the Raja was excavating. So\nthey went there, and as they could not get employment as servants they\nwent to work at the tank with the common coolies and were paid their\nwages at the end of the week and so managed to live. Kuwar's desire\nwas to somehow save five or six rupees and then build a little house\nfor themselves.\n\nNow although the tank had been dug very deep there were no signs of\nany water. Then the Raja ordered the centre post to be planted in\nhopes that this would make the water rise; and he told the coolies\nnot to run away as he would make a feast to celebrate the making of\nthe tank and would distribute presents among them, and at this the\nlabourers were very pleased.\n\nNow Kuwar's wife was very fair to see and the Raja saw her and fell\nin love with her and made a plot to get possession of her. So when\nthe centre post had been planted and still no water came he said\n\"We must see what sacrifice is required to make the water come. I\nhave animals of all kinds; one by one they shall be offered and you\nshall sing and dedicate them.\" So first an elephant was led down into\nthe bed of the tank and the people sang\n\n\n \"Tank, we will sacrifice to you an elephant\n Let clear water bubble up, O tank,\"\n\n\nbut no water came.\n\nThen they led down a horse and sang a similar song, but no water came;\nand then in succession a camel, a donkey, a cow, a buffalo, a goat and\na sheep were offered but no water came; and so they stopped. Then\nthe Raja asked why they stopped and they said that they had no\nmore animals. Then the Raja bade them sing a song dedicating a man,\nto see if that would bring the water; so they sang and as they sang\nwater bubbled up everywhere from the bottom of the tank and then the\ncoolies were stricken with fear for they did not know which of them\nwould be sacrificed.\n\nBut the Raja sent his soldiers and they seized Kuwar and bound him\nto the post in the middle of the tank; and then a song was sung\ndedicating him to the tank and as the water rose around him the\nprincess wept bitterly; but the Raja said \"Do not cry I will arrange\nfor your support and will give you part of my kingdom and you shall\nlive in my palace.\" The princess said \"Yes: hereafter I may stay with\nyou, but let me now watch Kuwar till he is drowned;\" so Kuwar fixed\nhis eyes on the princess and tears streamed down his face until the\nwaters rose and covered him; and the princess also gazed at him till\nhe was drowned. Then the Raja's soldiers told her to come with them\nand she said \"Yes, I am coming, but let me first offer a libation\nof water to my dead husband;\" and on this pretext she went into the\nwater and then she darted to the place where Kuwar had been bound and\nsank beneath the surface. The Raja bade men rescue her but all were\nafraid to enter the water and she was seen no more. Then the Raja\ngave all the coolies a feast and scattered money among the crowd and\ndismissed them. And this is the end of the story.\n\n\n\n\nXVIII. The Laughing Fish.\n\nThere was once a merchant who prospered in his business and in the\ncourse of time became very rich. He had five sons but none of them\nwas married. In the village where he lived was an old tank which was\nhalf silted up and he resolved to clean it out and deepen it, if the\nRaja would give it to him; so he went to the Raja and the Raja said\nthat he could have the tank if he paid forty rupees. The merchant paid\nthe money and then went home and called his family together and said\nthat they would first improve the tank and then find wives for all\nhis sons. The sons agreed and they collected coolies and drained\noff the water and began to dig out the silt. When they had drained\noff the water they found in the bed of the tank a number of big fish\nof unknown age: which they caught and two of them they sent to the\nRaja as a present. When the fish were carried into the presence of the\nRaja they both began to laugh: then the Raja said \"What is the meaning\nof this? Here are two dead fish, why are they laughing?\" And he told\nthe men who brought the fish to explain what was the matter or else\nto take them away again. But they could give no explanation. Then the\nRaja called all his officers and astrologers and asked them what they\nthought it meant: but no one could give him any answer. Then the Raja\ntold the men to take the fish away again, and to tell the merchant\nthat, if he could not explain why the fish laughed, he would kill him\nand all his descendants; and he wrote a letter to the same effect,\nand fixed a day by which the merchant was to explain the matter. When\nthe merchant read the letter he fell into the greatest distress and\nfor two or three days he could not make up his mind whether to go on\nwith the work on the tank or no; but in the end he resolved to finish\nit so that his name might be held in remembrance. So they finished the\nwork and then the merchant said to his sons: \"My sons I cannot arrange\nfor your marriages, for the Raja has threatened to kill us all, if I\ncannot explain why the fish laughed; you must all escape from here so\nthat our family may not die out;\" but the younger sons all answered\n\"We are not able to take care of ourselves, either you come with us\nto protect us or we will stay here.\" Then the merchant told his eldest\nson to escape alone so that their family might not become extinct.\n\nSo the eldest son took a supply of money and went away into a far\ncountry. After travelling a long time he came to a town where a\nRaja lived and decided to stay there; so he first went to a tank and\nbathed and sat down on the bank to eat some refreshment; and as he\nsat the daughter of the Raja came down to the tank to bathe and she\nsaw the merchant's son and their eyes met. Then the princess sent\nher maid-servants to ask him where he came from; and he told them\nwhere he came from and that he meant to make a stay in that town,\nand he promised them a rupee if they could persuade the princess to\nuncover her face. They went and told their mistress all this and she\nanswered \"Go and get your rupee from him, I will uncover my face;\nand ask him what he wants.\" And when they went, she drew aside the\ncloth from her face; then he gave them the rupee, and they asked him\nwhether he had seen her and what his intention was; then he said that\nhis wish was to marry the princess and live with her in her father's\nhouse! When the princess heard this she said \"Yes, my heart has gone\nout to him also;\" so then she bathed and went home and lay down in\nher room and would not get up, and when her father asked her what\nwas the matter, she made no answer. Then they asked her maidens what\nwas the matter and they said that she had seen a stranger by the\ntank and wished to marry him. The Rani asked whether the stranger\nwas still there and they said that they had left him by the tank. So\ntwo men were sent to fetch the stranger or to find out where he had\ngone. The two servants went and found the merchant's son just ready\nto continue his journey, and they asked him who he was and what he\nwanted. He said that he was looking for employment but would like\nbest to marry and live in the house of his father-in-law. Then they\ntold him not go away and they would arrange such a marriage for him,\nso they took him to a house in the town and left him there and went\nback to the Raja. They told the Raja that the stranger had gone away\nbut that they could follow him and bring him back if he gave them some\nmoney for their journey. So the Raja gave them two rupees; then they\nwent off but only ate their dinner at home, and then they brought\nthe merchant's son to the Raja, pretending that they had overtaken\nhim a long way off. He was questioned about himself and he told his\nwhole history except that the Raja had threatened to cut off his\nfamily, and his account being satisfactory it was arranged that he\nshould marry the princess. Musicians were sent for and the marriage\ntook place at once. After his marriage the merchant's son was much\ndepressed at the thought of his brothers' fate and in the middle of\nthe night he used to rise up and weep till the bed was soaked with\nhis tears; the princess noticed this and one night she pretended to\ngo to sleep but really lay awake and watched her husband; and in the\nmiddle of the night saw him rise quietly and begin to sob. She was\nfilled with sympathy and went to him and begged him to tell her what\nwas the matter and whether he was sorry that he had married her; and\nhe answered \"I cry because I am in despair; in the daytime I restrain\nmy tears before others with difficulty but in the night they cannot\nbe kept back; but I am ashamed for you to see me and I wait till you\nare asleep before I give way to my feelings.\"\n\nThen she asked what was the cause of his sorrow and he answered \"My\nfather and mother and brothers and sisters are all doomed to die;\nfor our Raja has sworn to kill them by a certain day if he is not\ntold why two fish, which my father sent to him as a present, laughed\nwhen they were brought before him. In consequence of this threat\nmy father sent me from home that one of the family might survive\nand although I may be safe here the thought of them and their fate\nmakes me weep.\" The princess asked him what was the day fixed for\nthe mystery to be explained; and he told her that it was at the\nfull moon of a certain month. Then the princess said \"Come take me\nto your father's house: I shall be able to explain why the fishes\nlaughed.\" The merchant's son joyfully agreed to start off the next\nday; so in the morning they told the Raja why they wished to go, and\nhe said to his daughter \"Go and do not be afraid; go in confidence,\nI promise you that you will be able to explain why the fishes laughed.\"\n\nSo they made ready and journeyed to the merchant's house; and when\nthey arrived they told the merchant to go to the Raja and ask him\nto collect all the citizens on a certain day to hear the reason why\nthe fishes laughed. The merchant went to the Raja and the Raja gave\nhim a letter fixing the day and all the citizens were assembled in\nan open plain; and the princess dressed herself as a man and went to\nthe assembly and stood before the Raja.\n\nThen the Raja bade her explain why the fishes laughed, and the princess\nanswered \"If you wish to know the reason order all your Ranis to be\nbrought here;\" so the Ranis were summoned; then the princess said\n\"The reason why the fishes laughed was because among all your wives\nit is only the eldest Rani who is a woman and all the others are\nmen. What will you give me if this is not proved to be true?\" Then\nthe Raja wrote a bond promising to give the merchant half his kingdom\nif this were proved to be true. When enquiry was made it was found\nthat the wives had really become men, and the Raja was put to shame\nbefore all his people. Then the assembly broke up and the merchant\nreceived half the Raja's kingdom.\n\n\n\n\nXIX. How the Cowherd Found a Bride.\n\nThere was once a Goala who was in charge of a herd of cattle and\nevery day he used to bring the herd for their midday rest to the\nfoot of a peepul tree. One day the peepul tree spoke and said to him\n\"If you pour milk every day at my roots I will grant you a boon.\" So\nthenceforward the Goala every day poured milk at the roots of the tree\nand after some days he saw a crack in the ground; he thought that\nthe roots of the tree were cracking the earth but the fact was that\na snake was buried there, and as it increased in size from drinking\nthe milk it cracked the ground and one day it issued forth; at the\nsight of it the Goala was filled with fear and made sure that the\nsnake would devour him. But the snake said \"Do not fear: I was shut\nup in the nether world, and you by your kindness have rescued me,\nI wish to show gratitude to you and will confer on you any boon for\nwhich you ask.\" The Goala answered that the snake should choose what\nhe would give him; then the snake called him near, and breathed on\nhis hair which was very long and it became glistening as gold, and the\nsnake said that his hair would obtain for him a wife and that he would\nbe very powerful; and that whatever he said would come to pass. The\nGoala asked what sort of things would come to pass. The snake answered\n\"If you say a man shall die he will die and if you say he shall come\nto life, he will come to life. But you must not tell this to anyone;\nnot even to your wife when you marry; if you do the power will vanish.\"\n\nSome time afterwards it happened that the Goala was bathing in the\nriver; and as he bathed one of his hairs came out and the fancy took\nhim to wrap it in a leaf and set it to float down the stream. Lower\ndown the river a princess was bathing with her attendants and they\nsaw the packet come floating down and tried to stop it but it floated\nstraight to the princess and she caught it and opened it and found\nthe hair inside. It shone like gold and when they measured it, it was\ntwelve fathoms long. So the princess tied it up in her cloth and went\nhome and shut herself up in her room, and would neither eat nor drink\nnor speak. Her mother sent two of her companions to question her,\nand at last she told them that she would not rise and eat until they\nfound the person to whom the golden hair belonged; if it were the\nhair of a man he should be her husband and if it came from a girl\nshe would have that girl come and live with her.\n\nWhen the Raja and Rani heard this and that the hair had come floating\ndown the river they went to their daughter and told her that they\nwould at once send messengers up the stream to find the owner of the\nhair. Then she was comforted and rose up and ate her rice. That very\nday the Raja ordered messengers to follow up the banks of the stream\nand enquire in all the villages and question every one they met to\nfind trace of the owner of the golden hair; so the messengers set out\non both banks of the stream and followed it to its source but their\nsearch was vain and they returned without news; then holy mendicants\nwere sent out to search and they also returned unsuccessful. Then the\nprincess said \"If you cannot find the owner of the golden hair I will\nhang myself!\" At this a tame crow and a parrot which were chained to\na perch, said \"You will never be able to find the man with the golden\nhair; he is in the depths of the forest; if he had lived in a village\nyou would have found him, but as it is we alone can fetch him; unfasten\nour chains and we will go in search of him.\" So the Raja ordered them\nto be unfastened and gave them a good meal before starting, for they\ncould not carry a bag of provisions with them like a man. Then the\ncrow and the parrot mounted into the air and flew away up the river,\nand after long search they spied the Goala in the jungle resting his\ncattle under the peepul tree; so they flew down and perched on the\npeepul tree and consulted how they could lure him away. The parrot\nsaid that he was afraid to go near the cattle and proposed that the\ncrow should fly down and carry off the Goala's flute, from where it\nwas lying with his stick and wrapper at the foot of the tree. So the\ncrow went flitting from one cow to another till it suddenly pounced\non the flute and carried it off in its beak; when the Goala saw this\nhe ran after the crow to recover his flute and the crow tempted him\non by just fluttering from tree to tree and the Goala kept following;\nand when the crow was tired the parrot took the flute from him and\nso between them they drew the Goala on right to the Raja's city,\nand they flew into the palace and the Goala followed them in, and\nthey flew to the room in which the princess was and dropped the\nflute into the hand of the princess and the Goala followed and the\ndoor was shut upon him. The Goala asked the princess to give him the\nflute and she said that she would give it to him if he promised to\nmarry her and not otherwise. He asked how he could marry her all of\na sudden when they had never been betrothed; but the princess said\n\"We have been betrothed for a long time; do you remember one day\ntying a hair up in a leaf and setting it to float downstream; well\nthat hair has been the go-between which arranged our betrothal.\" Then\nthe Goala remembered how the snake had told him that his hair would\nfind him a wife and he asked to see the hair which the princess had\nfound, so she brought it out and they found that it was like his,\nas long and as bright; then he said \"We belong to each other\" and\nthe princess called for the door to be opened and brought the Goala\nto her father and mother and told them that her heart's desire was\nfulfilled and that if they did not allow the wedding to take place in\nthe palace she would run away with the Goala. So a day was fixed for\nthe wedding and invitations were issued and it duly took place. The\nGoala soon became so much in love with his bride that he forgot all\nabout his herd of cattle which he had left behind, without any one\nto look after them; but after some time he bethought himself of them\nand he told his bride that he must return to his cattle, whether\nshe came with him or no. She said that she would take leave of her\nparents and go with him; then the Raja gave them a farewell feast and\nhe made over to the Goala half his kingdom, and gave him a son's share\nof his elephants and horses and flocks and herds and said to him \"You\nare free to do as you like: you can stay here or go to your own home;\nbut if you elect to stay here, I shall never turn you out.\" The Goala\nconsidered and said that he would live with his father-in-law but that\nhe must anyhow go and see the cattle which he had abandoned without\nany one to look after them. So the next day he and his wife set off\nand when they got to the jungle they found that all the cattle were\nlying dead. At this the Goala was filled with grief and began to weep;\nthen he remembered the promise of the snake that he should be able\nto restore the dead to life and he resolved to put it to the test.\n\nSo he told his wife that he would give the dead cows medicine and he\ngot some jungle roots as a blind and held them to the noses of the dead\nanimals and as he did so, he said \"Come to life\" and, behold, one by\none the cows all got up and began lowing to their calves. Having thus\nproved the promises of the snake the Goala was loud in his gratitude\nand he filled a large vessel with milk and poured it all out at the\nfoot of the peepul tree and the snake came and breathed on the hair\nof the princess and it too became bright as gold.\n\nThe next day they collected all the cows and drove them back to the\nprincess' home and there the Goala and his wife lived happily, ruling\nhalf the kingdom. And some years after the Goala reflected that the\nsnake was to him as his father and mother and yet he had come away in\na hurry without taking a proper farewell, so he went to see whether\nit was still there; but he could not find it and he asked the peepul\ntree and no answer came so he had to return home disappointed.\n\n\n\n\nXX. Kara and Guja.\n\nOnce upon a time there were two brothers named Kara and Guja who\nwere first class shots with the bow and arrow. In the country\nwhere they lived, a pair of kites were doing great damage: they\nhad young ones in a nest in a tree and used to carry off children\nto feed their nestlings until the whole country was desolated. So\nthe whole population went in a body to the Raja and told him that\nthey would have to leave the country if he could not have the kites\nkilled. Then the Raja made proclamation that any one who could kill\nthe two kites should receive a large tract of land as a reward, and\nthereupon many men tried to kill them; but the kites had made their\nnest of ploughs and clod-crushers so that the arrows could not hit\nthem, and the shooters had to give up the attempt. At last Kara and\nGuja thought that they would try, so they made an ambush and waited\ntill the birds came to the nest to feed their young and then shot them\nboth through the hole in a clod-crusher into which the pole fits, and\nthe two kites fell down dead, at the source of the Ganges and Jumna,\nand where they fell they made a great depression in the ground. Then\nKara and Guja carried the bodies to the Raja and he gave them a grant\nof land; and their grateful neighbours made a large rice field of the\ndepression which the kites had made in the earth and this was given\nto Kara and Guja as service land to their great delight.\n\nKara and Guja used to spend their time in the forest, living on what\nthey could find there; they slept in a cave and at evening would\ncook their rice there or roast jungle roots. One day a tiger spied\nthem out as they were roasting tubers and came up to them suddenly\nand said. \"What are you cooking? Give me some or I will eat you.\" So\nwhile they went on eating the roasted tubers, they threw the coals\nfrom the fire to the tiger at the mouth of the cave and he crunched\nthem up and every now and then they threw him a bit of something good\nto eat; the tiger would not go away but lay there expecting to be fed,\nand Kara and Guja debated how to get rid of him. Then Guja suddenly\njumped up and dashed at the tiger and caught him by the tail and began\nto twist the tail and he went on twisting until he twisted it right\noff and the tiger ran roaring away. Kara and Guja roasted the tail\nand ate it, and they found it so nice that they decided to hunt the\ntiger and eat the rest of him. So the two brothers searched for him\neverywhere and when they found him they chased him until they ran\nhim down and killed him; then they lit a fire and singed the hair\noff and roasted the flesh and made a grand meal: but they did not\neat the paunch. Kara wanted to eat it but Guja would not let him,\nso Kara carried it away on his shoulder.\n\nPresently they sat down in the shade of a banyan tree by the side of a\nroad and along the road came a Raja's wedding procession; when Kara and\nGuja saw this they climbed into the tree and took the tiger's paunch up\nwith them. The wedding party came to a halt at the foot of the tree and\nsome of them lay down to eat and the Raja got out of his palki and lay\ndown to sleep in the shade. After a time Kara got tired of holding the\ntiger's paunch in his arms and whispered to Guja that he could hold it\nno longer, Guja told him on no account to let it go but at last Kara\ngot so tired that he let it fall right on the top of the Raja; then\nall the Raja's attendants raised a shout that the Raja's stomach had\nburst and all ran away in a panic leaving everything they had under\nthe tree; but after they had gone a little distance they thought of\nthe goods they had left behind and how they could not continue the\njourney without them, so they made their way back to the banyan tree.\n\nBut meanwhile Kara and Guja had climbed down and gathered together all\nthe fine clothes and everything valuable and taken them up into the\ntree. And Kara took up a large drum which he found and in one end of\nthe drum he made a number of little holes: and he caught a number of\nwild bees which had a nest in the tree and put them one by one into\nthe drum. When the Raja's attendants came back and saw that there\nwere two men in the tree, they called out: \"Why have you dishonoured\nour Raja? We will kill you.\" Kara and Guja answered \"Come and see who\nwill do the killing.\" So they began to fight and the Raja's men fired\ntheir guns at Kara and Guja till they were tired of shooting, and had\nused up all their powder and shot, but they never hit them. Then Kara\nand Guja called out \"Now it is our turn!\" And when the Raja's men saw\nthat Kara and Guja had nothing but a drum they said \"Yes, it is your\nturn.\" So Kara and Guja beat the drum and called \"At them, my dears:\nat them my dears.\" And the wild bees flew out of the drum and stung\nthe Raja's men and drove them right away. Then Kara and Guja took\nall their belongings and went home and ever after were esteemed as\ngreat Rajas because of the wealth which they had acquired.\n\n\n\n\nXXI. The Magic Cow.\n\nThere was once a Raja who had an only son named Kara and in the\ncourse of time the Raja fell into poverty and was little better than\na beggar. One day when Kara was old enough to work as a cowherd his\nfather called him and said \"My son, I am now poor but once I was\nrich. I had a fine estate and herds of cattle and fine clothes; now\nthat is all gone and you have scarcely enough to eat. I am old and\nlike to die and before I leave you I wish to give you this advice:\nthere are many Rajas in the world, Raja above Raja; when I am dead\ndo you seek the protection of some powerful Raja.\" As there was not\nenough to eat at home Kara had to take service as goat-herd under a\nneighbouring Raja; by which he earned his food and clothes and two\nrupees a year. Some time afterwards his father died and Kara went\nto his master and asked for a loan of money with which to perform\nhis father's funeral ceremonies, and promised to continue in his\nservice until he had worked off the loan. So the Raja advanced him\nfive rupees and five rupees worth of rice, and with this money Kara\ngave the funeral feast. Five or six days later his mother died, and\nhe again went to the Raja and asked for ten rupees more; at first the\nRaja refused but Kara besought him and promised to serve him for his\nwhole life if he could not repay the loan. So at last the Raja lent\nhim ten rupees more, and he gave the funeral feast. But the Raja's\nseven sons were very angry with their father because he had lent twenty\nrupees to a man who had no chance of paying, and they used to threaten\nand worry Kara because he had taken the money. Then Kara remembered\nhow his father had said that there were many Rajas in the world,\nRaja above Raja, and he resolved to run away and seek service with\nthe greatest Raja in the world. So he ran away and after travelling\nsome distance he met a Raja being carried in a palki and going with a\nlarge party to fetch a bride for his son; and when he heard who it was\nhe decided to follow the Raja; so he went along behind the palki and\nat one place a she-jackal ran across the road; then the Raja got out\nof his palki and made a salaam to the jackal. When Kara saw this he\nthought \"This cannot be the greatest Raja in the world or why should\nhe salaam to the jackal. The jackal must be more powerful than the\nRaja; I will follow the jackal.\" So he left the wedding party and\nwent after the jackal; now the jackal was hunting for food for her\nyoung ones, and as Kara followed her wherever she went she could\nfind no opportunity of killing a goat or sheep; so at last she went\nback to the cave in which she lived. Then her cubs came whining to\nmeet her and she told her husband that she had been able to catch\nnothing that day because a man had followed her wherever she went,\nand had come right up to their cave and was waiting outside.\n\nThen the he-jackal told her to ask what the man wanted. So she went\nout to Kara and asked him and Kara said \"I have come to place myself\nunder your protection;\" then she called the he-jackal and they said\nto him, \"We are jackals and you are a man. How can you stay with us;\nwhat could we give you to eat and what work could we find for you to\ndo?\" Kara said that he would not leave them as all his hopes lay in\nthem; and at last the jackals took pity on him and consulted together\nand agreed to make him a gift as he had come to them so full of\nhope; so they gave him a cow which was in the cave, and said to him:\n\"As you have believed in us we have made up our minds to benefit\nyou; take this cow, she will supply you with everything you want;\nif you address her as mother she will give you whatever you ask,\nbut do not ask her before people for they would take her from you;\nand do not give her away whatever inducements are offered you.\"\n\nThen Kara thanked them and called down blessings on their heads\nand took the cow and led it away homewards. When he came to a tank\nhe thought he would bathe and eat; while he bathed he saw a woman\nwashing clothes at the other side of the tank but he thought that\nshe would not notice him, so he went up to the cow and said \"Mother,\ngive me a change of clothes.\" Thereupon the cow vomited up some nice\nnew clothes and he put them on and looked very fine. Then he asked\nthe cow for some plates and dishes and she gave them; then he asked\nfor some bread and some dried rice, and he ate all he wanted and\nthen asked the cow to keep the plates and dishes for him; and the\ncow swallowed them up again.\n\nNow the woman by the tank had seen all that had happened and ran\nhome and told her husband what she had seen and begged him to get\nhold of the wonderful cow by some means or other. Her husband could\nnot believe her but agreed to put it to the test, so they both went\nto Kara and asked where he was going and offered to give him supper,\nand put him up for the night and give grass for his cow. He accepted\nthis invitation and went with them to their house and they gave him\nthe guest-room to sleep in and asked what he would have to eat, but he\nsaid that he did not want any supper,--for he intended to get a meal\nfrom the cow after every one was asleep. Then the man and his wife\nmade a plot and pretended to have a violent quarrel and after abusing\neach other for some time the man flung out of the house in a passion\nand pretended to run away; but after going a short distance he crept\nback quietly to the guest-room. Hanging from the roof was the body of a\ncart and he climbed up into that and hid himself, without Kara knowing\nanything about it. When Kara thought that every one was asleep, he\nasked his cow for some food and having made a good meal went to sleep.\n\nThe man watching up above saw everything and found that his wife had\nspoken the truth; so in the middle of the night he climbed down and\nled away Kara's magic cow and put in its place one of his own cows of\nthe same colour. Early the next morning Kara got up and unfastened the\ncow and began to lead it away, but the cow would not follow him; then\nhe saw that it had been changed and he called his host and charged him\nwith the theft. The man denied it and told him to call any villagers\nwho had seen him bring his cow the day before; now no one had seen\nhim come but Kara insisted that the cow had been changed and went to\nsummon the village headman and the villagers to decide the matter:\nbut the thief managed to give a bribe of one hundred rupees to the\nheadman and one hundred rupees to the villagers and made them promise\nto decide in his favour; so when they met together they told Kara\nthat he must take the cow which he had found tied up in the morning.\n\nKara protested and said that he would fetch the person from whom he\nhad got the cow and take whichever cow he pointed out. Telling them\nthat they were responsible for his cow while he was away, he hastened\noff to the cave where the jackals lived. The jackals somehow knew\nthat he had been swindled out of the cow, and they met him saying\n\"Well, man, have you lost your cow?\" And he answered that he had\ncome to fetch them to judge between himself and the villagers: so\nthe jackals went with him and he went straight to the headman and\ntold him to collect all the villagers; meanwhile the jackals spread\na mat under a peepul tree and sat on it chewing _pan_ and when the\nvillagers had assembled the jackal began to speak, and said: \"If a\njudge takes a bribe his descendants for several generations shall eat\nfilth, in this world and the next; but if he make public confession,\nthen he shall escape this punishment. This is what our forefathers have\nsaid; and the man who defrauds another shall be thrust down into hell;\nthis also they have said. Now all of you make honest enquiry into this\nmatter; we will swear before God to do justice and the complainant and\nthe accused shall also take oath and we will decide fairly.\" Then the\nvillage headman was conscience stricken and admitted that he had taken\na bribe of one hundred rupees, and the villagers also confessed that\nthey had been bribed; then the jackal asked the accused what he had\nto say to this: but he persisted that he had not changed the cow;\nthe jackal asked him what penalty he would pay if he were proved\nguilty and he said that he would pay double. Then the jackal called\nthe villagers to witness that the man had fixed his punishment, and\nhe proposed that he and his wife should go to the herd of cattle,\nand if they could pick out the cow that Kara claimed it would be\nsure proof that it was his. So the jackals went and at once picked\nout the cow, and the villagers were astonished and cried. \"This is\na just judgment! They have come from a distance and have recognised\nthe cow at once.\" The man who had stolen it had no answer to give;\nthen the jackal said: \"You yourself promised to pay double; you gave\na bribe of one hundred rupees to the headman and one hundred rupees\nto the villagers and the cow you stole is worth two hundred rupees\nthat is four hundred rupees, therefore you must pay a fine of eight\nhundred rupees;\" and the man was made to produce eight hundred rupees\nand the jackal gave all the money to the villagers except ten rupees\nwhich he gave to Kara; and he kept nothing for himself.\n\nThen Kara and the jackals went away with the cow, and after getting\noutside the village the jackals again warned Kara not to ask the cow\nfor anything when anyone was by and took their leave of him and went\nhome. Kara continued his journey and at evening arrived at a large\nmango orchard in which a number of carters were camping for the\nnight. So Kara stopped under a tree at a little distance from the\ncarters and tied his cow to the root. Soon a storm came up and the\ncarters all took shelter underneath their carts and Kara asked his\ncow for a tent and he and the cow took shelter in it. It rained hard\nall night and in the morning the carters saw the tent and wondered\nwhere it came from, and came to the conclusion that the cow must have\nproduced it; so they resolved to steal the cow.\n\nKara did not dare to make the cow swallow the tent in the day time\nwhile the carters were about, so he stayed there all the next day and\nat night the cow put away the tent. Then when Kara was asleep some\ncarters came and took away the cow and put in its place a cow with\na calf, and they hid the magic cow within a wall of packs from their\npack bullocks. In the morning Kara at once saw what had happened and\nwent to the carters and charged them with the theft; they denied all\nknowledge of the matter and told him he might look for his cow if he\nliked; so he searched the encampment but could not see it.\n\nThen he called the village headman and chowkidar and they searched\nand could not find the cow and they advised Kara to keep the cow and\ncalf as it must be better than his own barren cow; but he refused and\nsaid that he would complain to the magistrate and he made the headman\npromise not to let the carters go until he came back. So he went to\na Mahommedan magistrate and it chanced that he was an honest man who\ngave just judgments and took no bribes, and made no distinction between\nthe rich and the poor; he always listened to both sides carefully,\nnot like some rascally magistrates who always believe the story\nthat is first told them and pay no attention to what the other side\nsay. So when Kara made his complaint this magistrate at once sent for\nthe carters and the carters swore that they had not stolen the cow:\nand offered to forfeit all the property they had with them, if the\ncow were found in their possession.\n\nThen the magistrate sent police to search the encampment and the police\npulled down the pile of packs that had been put round the cow, and\nfound the cow inside and took it to the magistrate. Then the magistrate\nordered the carters to fulfil their promise and put them all in prison\nand gave all their property to Kara. So Kara loaded all the merchandise\non the carts and pack bullocks and went home rejoicing. At first the\nvillagers did not recognise who it was who had come with so much wealth\nbut Kara made himself known to them and they were very astonished and\nhelped him to build a grand house. Then Kara went to the Raja from\nwhom he had borrowed the money for his parents' funerals and paid back\nwhat he owed. The Raja was so pleased with him that he gave him his\ndaughter in marriage and afterwards Kara claimed his father-in-law's\nkingdom and got possession of it and lived prosperously ever after.\n\nAnd the seven sons of his first master who used to scold him were\nexcited by his success and thought that if they went to foreign parts\nthey also could gain great wealth; so they took some money from their\nfather and went off. But all they did was to squander their capital\nand in the end they had to come back penniless to their father.\n\n\n\n\nXXII. Lita and His Animals.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a man who had four sons: two of them were\nmarried and two were unmarried and the youngest was named Lita. One\nday Lita went to his father and asked for fifty or sixty rupees that\nhe might go on a trading expedition and he promised that if he lost\nthe money he would not ask for any share in the paternal property. As\nhe was very urgent his father at last gave him sixty rupees and he\nset out on his travels. After going some way he came to a village in\nwhich all the inhabitants were chasing a cat; he asked them what was\nthe matter and they told him that the cat was always stealing their\nRaja's milk and the Raja had offered a reward of twenty rupees to\nanyone who would kill it. Then Lita said to them \"Do not kill the cat;\ncatch it alive and give it to me and I will pay you twenty rupees for\nit; then you can go to the Raja and say that you have killed it and ask\nfor the reward; and if the Raja asks to see the body tell him that a\nstranger came and asked for the body, for he thought that a cat which\nhad fed on milk should be good eating and so you gave it to him.\" The\nvillagers thought that this would be an excellent plan and promised to\nbring him the cat alive. They soon managed to catch it hiding under\na heap of firewood and brought it to Lita and he paid them twenty\nrupees and then they went to the Raja and got twenty rupees from him.\n\nThen Lita went on, and by-and-bye came to a village where the villagers\nwere hunting an otter in a tank; they had made a cut in the bank and\nhad let out all the water. Lita went to them and asked what they were\ndoing; they said that they were hunting for an otter which had been\ndestroying the Raja's fish and the Raja had promised them a reward if\nthey killed it, and they had driven it into the tank and were draining\noff the water in order to catch it. Then Lita offered to buy it of them\nif they brought it to him alive; so when they caught it they brought\nit to him and he gave them money for it and continued his journey\nwith the cat and the otter. Presently he saw a crowd of men and he\nwent up to them and asked what they were doing: and they told him that\nthey were hunting a rat which was always gnawing the Raja's pens and\npapers and the Raja had offered a reward for it, and they had driven\nit out of the palace, but it had taken refuge in a hole and they were\ngoing to dig it out Then Lita offered to buy it from them as he had\nbought the other two animals and they dug it out and sold it to him.\n\nHe went on and in the same way found a crowd of men hunting a snake\nwhich had bitten many people: and he offered to buy it for twenty\nrupees and when they had chased it till it was exhausted, they\ncaught it alive and sold it to Lita. As his money was all spent,\nhe then set off homewards; and on the way the snake began to speak\nand said: \"Lita, you have saved my life; had you not come by, those\nmen would certainly have had my life; come with me to my home, where\nmy father and mother are, and I will give you anything you ask for;\nwe have great possessions.\" But Lita was afraid and said: \"When you\nget me there you will eat me, or if you don't, your father and mother\nwill.\" But the snake protested that it could not be guilty of such\ningratitude and at last Lita agreed to accompany it when he had left\nthe other animals at his home.\n\nThis he did and set off alone with the snake, and after some days they\nreached the snake's home. The snake told Lita to wait outside while he\nwent and apprized his parents and he told Lita that when he was asked\nto choose his reward he should name nothing but the ring which was on\nthe father-snake's finger, for the ring had this property that if it\nwere placed in a _seer_ of milk and then asked to produce anything\nwhatever, that thing would immediately appear. Then the snake went\non to his home and when the father and mother saw him they fell on\nhis neck and kissed him and wept over him saying that they had never\nexpected to see him again; the snake told them how he had gone to\nthe country of men and how a reward had been set on his head and he\nhad been hunted, and how Lita had bought him from the men who would\nhave killed him. The father snake asked why he had not brought Lita\nto be rewarded and the snake said that he was afraid that when they\nsaw him they would eat him.\n\nBut the father and mother swore that they could not be guilty of\nsuch ingratitude, and when he heard this the snake went and brought\nin Lita, and they entertained him handsomely for two days; and on\nthe third day the father snake asked Lita what he would take as his\nreward. Lita looked round at the shining palace in which they lived\nand at first was afraid to speak but at last he said: \"I do not want\nmoney or anything but the ring on your finger: if you will not give\nme that, I will take nothing; I saved your son from peril and that\nyou will remember all your lives, and if you give me the ring I will\nhonour you for it as long as I live.\" Then the father and mother snake\nconsulted together and the mother said \"Give it to him as he asks for\nit\" so the father snake drew it from his finger and gave it to Lita\nand they gave him also some money for his journey back; and he went\nhome and found the other three animals safe and sound waiting for him.\n\nAfter a time his father said that Lita must marry; so marriage\ngo-betweens were sent out to look for a bride and they found a very\nrich and beautiful girl whose parents were agreeable to the match. But\nthe girl herself said that she would only marry a man who would build\na covered passage from her house to his, so that she could walk to her\nnew home in the shade. The go-betweens reported this, and Lita's father\nand brothers consulted and agreed that they could never make such a\npassage, but Lita said to his father: \"Arrange the match; it shall\nbe my charge to arrange for making the covered passage; I will not\nlet you be put to shame over it.\" For Lita had already put the ring\nto the test: he had dropped it into a _seer_ of milk and said \"Let\nfive _bharias_ of parched rice and two _bharias_ of curds appear\" and\nimmediately the parched rice and curds were before him; and thereupon\nhe had called out \"The snake has worthily rewarded me for saving his\nlife;\" and the cat and the otter and the rat overheard what he said.\n\nSo the go-between was told to arrange for the wedding to take place\nthat very month, as Lita's birthday fell in the next month, which\ntherefore was not suitable for his wedding. Then the bride's family\nsent him back to say that they were prepared to send a string of nine\nknots; and the next day the go-between told this to Lita's family\nand they said that they were willing to accept it; so the go-between\nbrought a string of nine knots to signify that the wedding would take\nplace in nine days. The days passed by and Lita's father and brothers\nbecame very anxious because they saw no sign of the covered passage;\nbut on the very night before the wedding, Lita took his ring and\nordered a covered passage to be made from the one house to the other\nwith a good path down the middle; and the next morning they found\nit made; and the bridegroom's party passed along it to the bride's\nhouse and the bride was escorted home along it.\n\nNow the bride had been deeply in love with another young man who lived\nin her village and had much wished to marry him but her wishes of\ncourse were not consulted in the matter. Some time after the marriage\nshe one day in the course of conversation asked her husband Lita how\nmuch he had spent on making the covered passage to her house and how\nhe had built it so quickly. He told her that he knew nothing about it;\nthat his father and mother had arranged for it and no doubt had spent a\nlarge sum of money. So the next day she took an opportunity of asking\nher mother-in-law about it, but Lita's mother said that nothing had\nbeen spent at all; somehow the passage had been made in one night,\nshe knew not how.\n\nThen Lita's wife saw that Lita was keeping a secret from her, and\nshe began to reproach him for having any secrets from his wife: and\nat last when she had faithfully promised never to reveal the matter\nto anyone, he told her the secret of the ring. Now her former lover\nused still to visit her and one day she sent for him and said that she\nwould no longer live with Lita, but wished to run away with him. The\nlover at first objected that they would be pursued and killed while if\nthey escaped to a distance he would have nothing to support her with;\nbut the faithless woman said that there need be no anxiety about that\nand she told him about the magic ring and how by means of it they\ncould provide themselves with a house and everything they wanted. So\nthey fixed a night for the elopement and on that night when Lita\nwas asleep his wife quietly drew the ring off his finger and went\nout to her lover who was waiting outside and told him to get a goat\nfrom the pen; then they beheaded the goat and went inside and poured\nall its blood on the ground under the bed on which Lita was sleeping,\nand then having hid the body and head of the goat, they ran away.\n\nTowards morning Lita woke up and missed his wife, so he lit a lamp to\nlook for her and then saw the pool of blood under the bed. At this\nsight he was terror stricken. Some enemy had killed and carried off\nhis wife and he would be charged with the murder. So he lay there\nwondering what would happen to him. At last his mother came into the\nroom to see why he and his wife had not got up as usual and when she\nsaw the blood she raised a cry; the village headman and chowkidar\nwere sent for and they questioned Lita, but he could only say that\nhe knew nothing of what had happened; he did not know what the blood\nwas, he did not know where his wife was. Thereupon they sent two men\nto the house of the wife's parents to see if by any chance she had\nrun away there and in any case to bring her relations to be present\nat the enquiry into her disappearance. When her father and brothers\nheard what had happened they at once went to Lita's house in wrath\nand abused him as a murderer. They asked why, if his wife had not done\nher duty to him, he had not sent her back to them to be chastised and\ntaught better, instead of murdering her and they went straight to the\nmagistrate and complained: the magistrate sent police who arrested\nLita and took him before the magistrate.\n\nMeanwhile it had become known that not only was Lita's wife missing\nbut also her lover; and Lita's father presented a petition to the\nmagistrate bringing this to notice and asserting that the two must\nhave run away together. Then the magistrate ordered every search to be\nmade for the missing couple but said that Lita must remain in custody\ntill they were found, so he was shut up in prison. From prison he made\nan application to the magistrate that his three tame animals, the cat\nand the otter and the rat might be brought to the place where he was;\nthe magistrate kindly consented but the animals were not allowed\ninto the prison. However at night the rat being small made its way\ninside and found out Lita, and asked what was to be done. Lita said\nthat he wanted the three animals to save him from his great danger\nas he had saved them; he wanted them to trace his wife and her lover\nand recover the ring; they would doubtless find them living in some\ngorgeous palace, the gift of the ring.\n\nThe rat went out and gave the other two Lita's message and they\nreadily undertook to do their best; so the next morning the three\nanimals set off. In vain they hunted all over the country, till one\nday they came to the bank of the Ganges and there on the other side\nthey saw a palace shining like gold. At this their hopes revived,\nfor this might be a palace made by the magic ring. But the cat and\nthe rat objected that they could not cross the river. The otter said\nthat he would easily manage that and he took the cat on his back and\nthe rat climbed on to the back of the cat and so the otter ferried\nthem both across the river; then they consulted and decided that\nit would be safest to wait till the evening before they went to the\npalace to see who lived in it. When they looked in in the evening,\nthey at once recognised Lita's wife and her lover; but these two were\nin constant terror of being pursued and when they had had their evening\nmeal they fastened and bolted every entrance so securely that no one\ncould gain admittance. Then the cat and the otter told the rat that\nhe must collect all the rats of the neighbourhood and they must burrow\nthrough the wall and find some way of abstracting the magic ring.\n\nSo the rat collected a crowd of his friends and in no time they bored\na hole through the wall; then they all began to look for the ring;\nthey hunted high and low but could not find it; however the cat sat\nat the entrance of the hole which they had made and vowed that they\nshould not come out, unless they got the ring. Then the first rat\nclimbed on to the bed in which the couple were sleeping and searched\ntheir clothes and examined their fingers and toes but in vain; then\nhe thought that the woman might have it in her mouth so he climbed\non to her chest and tickled her nose with the tip of his tail; this\nmade her sneeze and behold she sneezed out the ring which she had\nhidden in her mouth. The rat seized it and ran off with it and when\nthe cat was satisfied that he had really got it, she let him out and\nthe three friends set off rejoicing on their homeward journey. They\ncrossed the river in the same way as when they came with the cat\nriding on the otter and the rat on the cat: and the rat held the\nring in its mouth. Unfortunately when they were halfway across,\na kite swooped down to try and carry off the rat. Twice it swooped\nand missed its grasp but the second time it struck the rat with its\nwing and the rat in terror let the ring fall into the river.\n\nWhen they reached the bank the three friends consulted what they\nwere to do in this fresh misfortune. As the otter was the only one\nwho could swim it volunteered to look for the ring, so it plunged\ninto the water and searched the bottom of the river in vain; then it\nguessed that a fish must have swallowed the ring and it set to work\nto catch every fish it saw and tore them open; at last in the stomach\nof a big fish it found the ring, so it brought the fish to the bank\nand while they were all rejoicing and eating a little of the fish a\nkite swooped down and carried off the fish, ring and all.\n\nThe three animals watched the kite flying away with the fish; but some\nwomen who were gathering firewood ran after the kite and took the fish\nfrom it and putting it in their basket went home. Then the otter and\nthe rat said to the cat \"Now it is your turn: we have both recovered\nthe ring once, but we cannot go into the house of these humans. They\nwill let you go near them easily enough; the ring is in the fish's\nstomach, you must watch whether they throw away the stomach or clean\nit, and find an opportunity for carrying off the ring.\"\n\nSo the cat ran after the women and when they began to cut up the\nfish, it kept mewing round them. They threw one or two scraps to it,\nbut it only sniffed at them and would not eat them; then they began\nto wonder what on earth the cat wanted, and at last they threw the\nstomach to it. This it seized on gladly and carried it off and tore\nit open and found the ring and ran off with it to where the otter\nand the rat were waiting. Then the three friends travelled hard for\na day and a night and reached the prison in which Lita was confined.\n\nWhen Lita got the ring he begged his jailer to get him a _seer_\nof milk and when it was brought he dropped the ring in it, and said\n\"I wish the bed on which my faithless wife and her lover are sleeping\nto be brought here with them in it this very night\" and before morning\nthe bed was brought to the prison. Then the magistrate was called and\nwhen he saw that the wife was alive he released Lita, and the lover\nwho had run away with her had to pay Lita double the expenditure\nwhich had been incurred on his marriage, and was fined beside.\n\nBut Lita married another wife and lived happily with her. And some\ntime afterwards he called the otter and the cat and the rat to him\nand said that he purposed to let them go and before they parted he\nwould give them anything they wished for. They said that he owed them\nnothing, and they made Lita promise to let them know if ever he lost\nthe ring or fell into trouble, and he promised to help them if ever\ntheir lives were in danger, and one morning he took them to a bazar,\nnear which was a tank full of fish, and he turned the otter into\nthe tank and left the cat and the rat to support themselves in the\nbazar. The next day he went to see them and the otter came out of\nthe tank and gave him a fish which it had caught, and the cat brought\nhim some milk it had stolen, and that was the last he saw of them.\n\n\n\n\nXXIII. The Boy Who Found His Father.\n\nThere was once a boy who used always to cheat when playing _Kati_\n(pitch and toss) and for this the village boys with whom he played used\nto quarrel with him, saying \"Fatherless orphan, why do you cheat?\" So\none day he asked his mother why they called him that name and whether\nhis father was really dead. \"He is alive\" said she \"but a long time\nago a rhinoceros carried him off on its horn.\" Then the boy vowed\nthat he would go in search of his father and made his mother put him\nup provisions for the journey; and he started off taking with him an\niron bow and a big bundle of arrows.\n\nHe journeyed on all day and at nightfall he came to a village; there he\nwent up to the house of an old woman to ask for a bed. He stood at the\nthreshhold and called out to her \"Grannie, grannie, open the door.\" \"I\nhave no son, and no grandchildren to call me grannie,\" grumbled the\nold woman and went to open the door to see who was there, and when she\nopened the door and saw him, she said \"Ho, you are my grandson.\" \"Yes,\"\nanswered he, \"I am your grandchild.\" So she called him inside and gave\nhim a bed to sleep on. The old woman was called Hutibudi; and she and\nthe boy sat up late talking together and then they lay down to sleep;\nbut in the middle of the night he heard the old woman crunching away\ntrying to bite his bow to pieces. He asked her what she was eating:\n\"Some pulse I got from the village headman,\" \"Give me a little to\ntry\" he begged. \"I am sorry my child, I have finished it all.\" But\nreally she had none to give, however she only hurt her jaws biting\nso that she began to groan with pain: \"What are you groaning for,\nGrannie?\" said the boy; \"Because I have toothache\" she answered: and\nin truth her cheeks were badly swollen. Then he told her that a good\ncure for toothache was to bite on a white stone and she believed him\nand the next morning got a piece of white quartz and began to bite on\nit; but this only broke her teeth and made her mouth bleed so that the\npain was worse than before: then the boy jeered at her and said. \"Did\nyou think, Grannie, that you could bite my iron bow and arrows?\"\n\nSo saying he left her and continued the search for his father and\nhis road led him to a dense jungle which seemed to have no end, and\nin the middle of the jungle he came to a lake and he sat down by it\nto eat what was left of the provisions he had brought: as he sat,\nhe suddenly saw some cow-bison coming down to the lake: at this he\ncaught up his bow and arrows in a hurry and climbed up a tall _sal_\ntree: from the tree he watched the bison go down to the water to drink\nand then go back into the jungle. And after them tigers and bears\ncame down to the water: the sight of them frightened him and he sang:--\n\n\n \"Drink your fill, tiger,\n I shall not shoot you.\n I shall shoot the giant rhinceros.\"\n\n\nand they drank and went away. Then various kinds of birds came and\nafter them a great herd of rhinceroses and among them was one which\nhad the dried up body of the boy's father stuck on its horn. The boy\nwas rather frightened and sang\n\n\n \"Drink your fill, rhinceroses,\n I shall not shoot you\n I shall shoot the giant rhinceros.\"\n\n\nand when the giant rhinceros with the body of his father stooped its\nhead to drink from the lake, he put an arrow through it and it turned\na somersault and fell over dead: while all the other rhinceroses\nturned tail and ran away. Then the boy climbed down from the tree and\npulled the dead body of his father off the horn of the dead animal and\nlaid it down at the foot of a tree and began to weep over it. As he\nwept a man suddenly stood before him and asked what was the matter,\nand when he heard, said \"Cry no more: take a cloth and wet it in the\nlake and cover your father's body with it: and then whip the body\nwith a _meral_ twig and he will come to life.\" So saying the stranger\nsuddenly disappeared; and the boy obeyed his instructions and behold\nhis father sat up alive and rubbing his eyes said \"I must have been\nasleep a very long time.\" Then his son explained to him all that had\nhappened and gave him some food and took him home.\n\n\n\n\nXXIV. The Oilman's Bullock.\n\nThere was once a poor but industrious oilman; he got a log of wood\nand carved out an oil mill and, borrowing some money as capital,\nhe bought mustard and sesame seed and set to work to press it; as he\nhad no bullock he had to turn the mill himself. He was so industrious\nthat he soon began to prosper and was able to buy a bullock for his\nmill. By and bye he got so rich that he was able to buy some land and\na cart and pair of bullocks and was quite a considerable man in the\nvillage. One day one of his cart bullocks died and this loss was a\nsad blow to the oilman. However he tied up the surviving bullock in\nthe stable along with the old oil mill bullock and fed them well. One\nnight it chanced that one of the villagers passed by the stable and\nhear the two animals talking and this is what he heard.\n\nThe young bullock said \"You came to this house first, friend; what\nsort of treatment does one get here?\"\n\n\"Why do you ask me?\" said the other. \"Oh, I see your shoulder is\ngalled and your neck shows mark of the yoke.\" The old bullock answered\n\"Whether my master treats me well or ill I owe him money and have to\nstay here until I have paid him off. When I have paid him five hundred\nrupees I shall go.\" \"How will you ever pay back such a sum?\" \"If\nmy master would only match me to fight the Raja's elephant for five\nhundred rupees I should win the fight and my debt would be cleared;\nand if he does not do that I shall probably have to work for him all\nmy life. How long do you intend to stay?\" \"My debt will be cleared\nif I work for him two years\" answered the new comer.\n\nThe man who overheard this conversation was much astonished and\nwent off to the oilman and told him all about it. Next day the whole\nvillage had heard of it and they were all anxious for the oilman to\nmatch his bullock against the Raja's elephant; but the oilman was\nvery frightened, for he feared that if he sent such a challenge, the\nRaja would be angry with him and drive him out of the country. But\nthe leading villagers urged him and undertook to find the money if he\nlost, and to persuade the Raja that the oilman was mad, if he became\nangry with him. At last the oilman consented, provided that some of\nthe villagers went to the Raja and proposed the match; he was too\nfrightened to go himself. So two of the village elders went to the\nRaja and asked him to match his elephant against the oilman's bullock\nfor five hundred rupees; the Raja was very much amused and at once\nfixed a day for the fight. So they returned and told the oilman to\nbe ready and raised a subscription of five hundred rupees.\n\nThe evening before the contest the oilman gave the bullock a big feed\nof meal and oilcake; and on the eventful morning the villagers all\ncollected and watched him oiling its horns and tying a bell round its\nneck. Then the oilman gave the bullock a slap on its back and said\n\"Take care: you are going to fight an elephant; if you owe me so much\nmoney you will win, and if not, then you will be defeated.\" When\nhe said this the bullock pawed the ground and snorted and put down\nits head.\n\nThen they all set out with the five hundred rupees to a level field\nnear the Raja's palace; a great crowd collected to see the fun and\nthe Raja went there expecting easily to win five hundred rupees. The\nelephant was brought forward with vermilion on its cheeks, and a\npad on its back, and a big bell round its neck, and a mahout riding\nit. The crowd called out \"Put down the stakes:\" so each side produced\nthe money and publicly announced that the owner of the animal which\nshould be victorious should take all the stakes. But the oilman\nobjected to the mahout's riding the elephant; no one was going to ride\nhis bullock. This was seen to be fair and the mahout had to get off;\nthen the fight began. The bullock snorted and blew through its nose,\nand ran at the elephant with its head lowered. Then the elephant also\nrushed forward but the bullock stood its ground and stamped; at this\nthe elephant turned tail and ran away; the bullock ran after it and\ngored it from behind until it trumpeted with pain. The crowd shouted\n\"The Raja's elephant is beaten.\" And the oilman took the five hundred\nrupees and they all went home. From that day the oilman no longer put\nthe bullock to work the oil mill but fed it well and left it free to\ngo where it liked. But the bullock only stayed on with him for one\nmonth and then died.\n\n\n\n\nXXV. How Sabai Grass Grew.\n\nOnce upon a time there were seven brothers who had an only\nsister. These brothers undertook the excavation of a large tank;\nbut although they spent large sums and dug very deep they could not\nreach water and the tank remained dry.\n\nOne day as they were consulting what to do to get the tank to fill,\nthey saw a Jogi corning towards them with a lota in his hand; they at\nonce called to him to come and advise them, for they thought that,\nas he spent his time wandering from country to country, he might\nsomewhere have learned some thing which would be of use to them. All\nthe Jogi said to them was \"You have a sister: if you sacrifice her,\nthe tank will fill with water.\" The brothers were fond of the girl,\nbut in their despair at seeing their labour wasted they agreed to give\nthe advice of the Jogi a trial. So they told their mother the next day\nthat, when their sister brought them out their midday meal, she was\nto be dressed in her best and carry the rice in a new basket and must\nbring a new water pot to draw their water in. At midday the girl went\ndown to her brothers with her best cloth and all her jewellery on; and\nwhen they saw their victim coming they could not keep from tears. She\nasked them what they were grieving for; they told her that nothing was\nthe matter and sent her to draw water in her new water-pot from the\ndry tank. Directly the girl drew near to the bank the water began to\nbubble up from the bottom; and when she went down to the water's edge\nit rose to her instep. She bent down to fill her pot but the pot would\nnot fill though the water rose higher and higher; then she sang:--\n\n\n \"The water has risen, brother,\n And wetted my ankle, brother,\n But still the _lota_ in my hand\n Will not sink below the surface.\"\n\n\nBut the water rose to her knees and the pot would not fill, and\nshe sang:--\n\n\n \"The water has risen, brother,\n And wetted my knees, brother,\n But still the lota in my hand\n Will not sink below the surface.\"\n\n\nThen the water rose to her waist and the pot would not fill, and\nshe sang:--\n\n\n \"The water has risen, brother,\n And wetted my waist, brother,\n But still the lota in my hand\n Will not sink below the surface.\"\n\n\nThen the water reached her neck and the pot would not fill; and\nshe sang:--\n\n\n The water has risen, brother,\n And wetted my neck, brother,\n But still the lota in my hand\n Will not sink below the surface.\"\n\n\nAt last it flowed over her head and the water-pot was filled, but the\ngirl was drowned. The tank however remained brimful of sparkling water.\n\nNow the unhappy girl had been betrothed and her wedding day was just\nat hand. On the day fixed the marriage broker came to announce the\napproach of the bridegroom; who shortly afterwards arrived at the\noutskirts of the village in his palki. The seven brothers met him,\nand the usual dancing began.\n\nThe bridegroom's party however wished to know why the bride did not\nappear. The brothers put them off with various excuses, saying that\nthe girl had gone with her friends to gather firewood or to the river\nto draw water. At last the bridegroom's party got tired of waiting\nand turned to go home in great wrath at the way in which they had\nbeen treated. On their way they passed by the tank in which the girl\nhad been sacrificed and, growing in the middle of it, they saw a most\nbeautiful flower. The bridegroom at once determined to possess this,\nand he told his drummers to pick it for him; but whenever one of them\ntried to pick it, the flower moved out of his reach and a voice came\nfrom the flower saying:--\n\n\n \"Take the flower, drummer,\n But the branch you must not break.\"\n\n\nand when they told him what the flower sang the bridegroom said that\nhe would try and pick it himself; no sooner had he reached the bank\nthan the flower of its own accord floated towards him and he pulled it\nup by the roots and took it with him into the palki. After they had\ngone a little way the palki bearers felt the palki strangely heavy:\nand when they looked in they found the bride also sitting in it,\ndressed in yellow garments; for the flower was really the girl who\nhad been drowned.\n\nSo they joyfully took the happy couple with drumming and music to\nthe bridegroom's house.\n\nIn a short time misfortune befel the seven brothers; they fell into\nthe deepest poverty and were forced to earn what they could by selling\nleaves and sticks which they gathered in the jungle. As they went about\nselling these, they one day came to the village where their sister\nwas living and as they cried their wares through the streets they were\ntold to go to the house where the marriage had taken place. They went\nthere, and as they were selling their leaf plates their sister saw\nand recognised them; they had only ragged loincloths on, and their\nskins were black and cracked like a crocodile's.\n\nAt the sight their sister began to cry. Her friends asked what was\nthe matter and she said a straw from the thatch had run into her eye,\nso they pulled down some of the thatch; she still went on crying and\nthey again asked what was wrong; she said that she had knocked her\nfoot against a stone in the ground; so they dug up the stone and threw\nit away. But she still went on weeping and at last confessed that the\nmiserable-looking leaf-sellers were her brothers. Then her husband's\nparents told her to be comforted, and they gave the brothers oil and\nbade them go and bathe and oil their bodies: but the brothers were\nso hungry that when they got to the bathing place they drank the oil\nand ate the oil cake that had been given to them; and came back with\ntheir skins as rough as when they went. So then they were given more\noil and some of the household went with them and made them bathe and\noil themselves properly and then brought them to the house and gave\nthem new clothes and made them a feast of meat and rice. According to\nthe custom of the country they were made to sit down in order of age\nand were helped in that order; when they had all been helped and had\neaten, their sister said to them \"Now brothers you come running to\nme for food, and yet you sacrificed me in the tank.\" Then they were\noverwhelmed with shame: they looked up at the sky but there was no\nescape there; they looked down at the earth; and the earth split open\nand they all ran into the chasm. The sister tried to catch the youngest\nbrother by the hair and pull him out, calling \"Come back, brother,\ncome back brother, you shall carry my baby about for me!\" but his\nhair came off in her hand and the earth swallowed them all up. Their\nsister planted the hair in a corner of the garden and it is said that\nfrom that human hair, _sabai_ grass originated.\n\n\n\n\nXXVI. The Merchant's Son and the Raja's Daughter.\n\nOnce a merchant's wife and a Raja's wife were both with child and one\nday as they bathed together they fell into conversation, and they\nagreed that if they both bore daughters then the girls should be\n\"flower friends\" while if one had a son and one a daughter then the\nchildren should marry: and they committed the agreement to writing. A\nmonth or two later the Raja's wife bore a daughter and the merchant's\nwife a son. When the children grew up a bit they were sent to school,\nand as they were both very intelligent they soon learnt to read and\nwrite. At the school the boys used to be taught in an upstairs room\nand the girls on the ground floor. One day the boy wrote out a copy\nof the agreement which their mothers had made and threw It down to\nthe girl who was below.\n\nShe read it and from that day they began to correspond with each other;\nlove soon followed and they decided to elope. They fixed a day and\nthey arranged that the boy should wait for the girl under a _turu_\ntree outside the town. When the evening came the girl made haste to\ncook her parents' supper and then, when they went to bed, she had\nas usual to soothe them to sleep by rubbing their limbs; all this\ntook a long time and the merchant's son soon got tired of waiting,\nso he sang to the tree:--\n\n\n \"Be witness be witness for me 'Turu tree'\n When the Raja's daughter comes.\"\n\n\nand so singing he tied his horse to the roots of the tree and himself\nclimbed up into the branches, and sitting in the tree he pulled off\nand threw down a number of twigs. Late at night the Raja's daughter\ncame; she saw the horse tied and the twigs scattered on the ground,\nbut no other sign of her lover. And at last she got tired of waiting\nand called the _Turu_ tree to witness, singing:--\n\n\n \"Be witness be witness for me 'Turu tree'\n When the merchant's son comes.\"\n\n\nAs she finished her song the merchant's son threw down a large branch\nto her, so she looked up and saw him sitting in the tree. Then she\nclimbed up to him and began to scold him for putting her to the pain\nof waiting so long. He retorted \"It was you who made me anxious by\nkeeping me waiting.\" \"That was not my fault: you know how much work\na woman has to do. I had to cook the supper and put my parents to\nbed and rub them to sleep. Climb down and let us be off.\" So they\nclimbed down from the tree and mounted the horse and rode off to\na far country. On the road the girl became very thirsty but in the\ndense jungle they could find no water, at last the merchant's son\nthrew a stone at hazard and they heard it splash in a pool; so they\nwent in the direction of the sound and there they found water but it\nwas foul and full of worms and the girl refused to drink it. She said\nthat she would only drink water \"which had a father and mother.\"\n\nSo they went on their way, and after a time they came to a number\nof crows holding a meeting and in the midst was an owl with its head\nnodding drowsily; it was seeing dreams for them; every now and then\na crow would give it a shove and ask what it had dreamt, but the owl\nonly murmured that it had not finished and went off to sleep again. At\nlast it said \"I have seen a gander and a goose go down into a river\nand swim about in it.\"\n\nThe merchant's son and his companion went on and presently came to\na river in full flood, which was quite uncrossable; on the far bank\nwas a cow lowing to a calf which had been left on the bank where they\nwere. When she saw them the girl began to sing:--\n\n\n \"The cow lows for its calf\n The calf bleats for its mother:\n My father and mother\n Are weeping for me at home.\"\n\n\nWhen he heard her lament like this the merchant's son exclaimed\n\n\"You women are all alike, come let us go back.\"\n\n\"How can we go back now?\" answered the girl \"You of course can pretend\nthat you have been hunting; but we women lose our character if we\nare hidden by a bush for a minute.\"\n\nSo as they could not cross the river by themselves, a goose and gander\ncarried them across on their backs. As they went on the merchant's\nson asked the girl how far she would like to go, a six days' journey\nor a six months' journey. He told her that in the six months' journey\nthey would only have fruits and roots and such like to eat and water\nto drink, but the six days' journey was easy and free from hardship.\n\nThe girl chose the six days' journey, so they went on for six days\nand came to a stream on the banks of which stood a cottage in which\nlived an old woman. Before they went up to it the girl told her lover\nnot to eat any rice given to him by the old woman but to throw it\nto the fowls; then they went and asked to be allowed to cook their\nfood there; now the old woman had seven unmarried sons, who were away\nhunting at the time, and when she saw the Raja's daughter she wished\nto detain her and marry her to one of her sons. So in order to delay\nthem she gave them a damp stove and green firewood to cook with;\nshe also offered the merchant's son some poisoned rice but he threw\nit to the fowls, and when they ate it they fell down dead.\n\nThe girl could not make the fire burn with the green wood, so\nthey hurried away as fast as they could without waiting to cook any\nfood. Before they started however the old woman managed to tie up some\nmustard seed in a cloth and fasten it to their horse's tail, so that\nas they rode, the seed was spilt along the road they took. When the\nold woman's sons came back from hunting she greeted them by saying:\n\"Why did you not come back sooner? I have just found a pretty wife\nfor you; but I have tied mustard seed to their horse's tail and it is\nbeing scattered along the road: in one place it is sprouting in another\nit is flowering; in another it is seeding and in another it is ripe;\nwhen you get to the place where it is ripe you will catch them.\" So\nthe seven brothers pursued the two lovers and caught them up, but\nthe merchant's son cut down six of them with his sword; the seventh\nhowever hid under the horse's belly and begged for mercy and offered to\nserve them as groom to their horse. This man's name was Damagurguria;\nthey spared his life and he followed them running behind the horse;\nbut he watched his opportunity and caught the merchant's son unawares\nand killed him with his sword.\n\nThen he told the girl that she belonged to him and she admitted it and\nasked that she might ride behind him on the horse, so Damagurguria\nmounted and took her up behind him and turned homewards. He could\nnot see what the girl was doing and they had not gone far when she\ndrew his sword and killed him with it.\n\nThen she rode back to where the body of her lover lay and began to weep\nover it. As she sat there a man in shining white clothing appeared and\nasked what was the matter; she told him Damagurguria had killed her\nlover. Then he bade her stop crying and go and wet a _gamcha_ he gave\nher and come straight back with it without looking behind her and then\npick a _meral_ twig and beat the corpse with it. So the girl took the\n_gamcha_ and went and dipped it in a pool but, as she was bringing it\nback, she heard a loud roaring behind her and she looked back to see\nwhat it was; so the stranger sent her back again to the pool and this\ntime she did not look round though she heard the same roaring. Then\nthe stranger told her to join the severed head to the body and cover\nit with the wet _gamcha_; and then, after waiting a little, to beat\nthe body with the _meral_ twig. So saying he disappeared. The girl\ncarefully complied with these instructions and to her joy saw the\nmerchant's son sit up and rub his eyes, remarking that he must have\nbeen asleep for a long time. Great was his astonishment when he heard\nhow Damagurguria had killed him and how he had been restored to life\nby the help of the stranger in white. This was the end of the lovers'\ntroubles and they lived happily ever after.\n\n\n\n\n\nXXVII. The Flycatcher's Egg.\n\nOne day a herd boy found a flycatcher's egg and he brought it home\nand asked his mother to cook it for him, but she put it on a shelf\nand forgot about it. His mother was a poor woman and had to go out all\nday to work; so before she started she used always to cook her son's\ndinner and leave it covered up all ready for him. No sooner had she\ngone to work than a _bonga_ girl used to come out of the flycatcher's\negg and first eat up the rice that had been left for the herd boy\nand then quickly put water on to boil and cook some rice with pulse;\nand, having eaten part of it, cover up the rest, ready for the herd\nboy on his return. Then she used to comb and dress her hair and go\nback into the egg. This happened every day and at last the boy asked\nhis mother why she gave him rice cooked with pulse every day, as he\nwas tired of it. His mother was much astonished and said that some\none must have been changing his food, because she always cooked his\nrice with vegetables. At this the boy resolved to watch and see who\nwas touching his food; so one day he climbed up on to the rafters\nand lay in wait. Presently out of the egg came the _bonga_ girl and\ncooked the food and combed her hair as usual. Just as she was going\nback into the egg, the herd boy sprang down and caught her. \"Fi, Fi,\"\ncried she \"is it a _Dome_ or a _Hadi_ who is clasping me?\" \"No _Dome_\nor _Hadi_,\" said he: \"we are husband and wife:\" so he took her to\nwife and they lived happily together.\n\nHe strictly forbade her ever to go outside the house and he said\nincantations over some mustard seed and gave it to her, and told\nher that, if any beggars came, she was to give them alms through the\nwindow and, if they refused to take them in that way, then she was\nto throw the mustard seed at them; but on no account to go outside\nthe house. One day when her husband was away a jugi came begging;\nthe _bonga_ girl offered him alms through the window but the jugi\nflatly refused to take them; he insisted on her coming out of the\nhouse and giving them. Then she threw the mustard seed at him and he\nturned into ashes. By superior magic however he at once recovered his\nown form and again insisted on her coming outside to give him alms,\nso she went out to him and he saw how beautiful she was.\n\nThe jugi went away and one day he went to beg at the Raja's palace and,\ntalking to the Raja, he told him how he had seen a girl of more than\nhuman beauty. The Raja resolved to possess her, and one day he took\nthe form of a fly and flew to the house and saw the beautiful _bonga_;\na second day he came back in the same form and suddenly caught her\nup and flew off with her on his back to his palace, and in spite of\nher weeping shut her up in a beautifully furnished room on the roof\nof his palace. There she had to stay and her food was brought to her\nthere. When the herd boy came home and found that his beautiful wife\nwas missing he filled the air with lamentations and leaving his home\nhe put on the garb of a jugi and went about begging. One day he came\nto the palace of the Raja who had carried off his wife; as he begged\nhe heard his wife's voice, so he sang:--\n\n\n \"Give me, oh give me, my flycatcher wife,\n Give me my many-coloured wife.\"\n\n\nThen they offered him a jar full of money to pacify him, but he threw\nthe rupees away one by one and continued his lament. Then the Raja\ncalled for his two dogs Rauta and Paika and set them on the man and\nthey tore him to death. At this his wife wept grievously and begged\nthem to let her out since there was no one to carry her away, now\nthat her husband was dead.\n\nThey prepared to take away the corpse to burn it and the _bonga_\ngirl asked to be allowed to go with them as she had never seen the\nfuneral rites of a jugi: so they let her go.\n\nBefore starting she tied a little salt in the corner of her cloth. When\nshe reached the burning place, she sang to the two dogs:--\n\n\n \"Build the pyre, Rauta and Paika!\n Alas! The dogs have bitten the jugi,\n Alas! They have chased and killed the jugi.\"\n\n\nSo the two dogs built the pyre and lay the body on it. Then she\nordered them to split more wood, singing:--\n\n\n \"Cut the wood, Rauta and Paika!\n Alas! The dogs have bitten the Jugi,\n Alas! They have chased and killed the jugi.\"\n\n\nSo they split more wood and then she told them to apply the fire,\nsinging:--\n\n\n \"Light the fire, Rauta and Paika!\n Alas! The dogs have bitten the Jugi,\n Alas! they have chased and killed the jugi.\"\n\n\nWhen the pyre was in full blaze she suddenly said to the dogs \"Look up,\nRauta and Paika, see the stars are shining in the day time.\" When the\ntwo dogs looked up, she threw the salt into their eyes, and, while\nthey were blinded, she sprang into the flames and died as a _sati_\non the body of her husband.\n\n\n\n\nXXVIII. The Wife Who Would Not Be Beaten.\n\nThere was once a Raja's son who announced that he would marry no woman\nwho would not allow him to beat her every morning and evening. The\nRaja's servants hunted high and low in vain for a bride who would\nconsent to these terms, at long last, they found a maiden who agreed\nto be beaten morning and evening if the prince would marry her. So\nthe wedding took place and for two or three days the prince hesitated\nto begin the beating; but one morning he got up and, taking a stick\nfrom the corner, went to his bride and told her that she must have\nher beating. \"Wait a minute\" said she \"there is one thing I want to\npoint out to you before you beat me. It is only on the strength of\nyour father's position that you play the fine gentleman like this:\nyour wealth is all your father's and it is on his wealth that you\nare relying. When you have earned something for yourself, and made\na position for yourself, then I am willing that you should beat me\nand not before.\"\n\nThe prince saw that what his bride said was true and held his\nhand. Then, in order to earn wealth for himself, he set out on a\ntrading expedition, taking quantities of merchandise loaded in sacks;\nand he had a large band of retainers with him, mounted on horses and\nelephants, and altogether made a fine show. The princess sent one of\nher own servants with the prince and gave him secret instructions\nto watch his opportunity and if ever, when the prince was bathing,\nhe should throw away a loin cloth, to take possession of it without\nthe prince knowing anything about it and bring it to her. The prince\njourneyed on till he came to the country called Lutia.\n\nThe Raja of Lutia was walking on the roof of his palace and he saw\nthe cavalcade approaching, and he sent a _sipahi_ to meet the prince\nand ask him this question, \"Have you the secret of prosperity for ever\nor of prosperity for a day?\" When this question was put to the prince\nhe answered that he had the secret of prosperity for ever. When the\nLutia Raja was told of this answer, he ordered his men to stop the\nprince's train; so they surrounded them and seized all the merchandise\nand the prince's retainers fled on their horses and elephants and\nleft him alone and penniless. In his distress the prince was forced\nto take service with a rich Hindu, and he had nothing to live on but\nwhat his master chose to give him, and all he had to wear was a loin\ncloth like the poorest labourer.\n\nThe only man who did not desert him was the servant whom the Princess\nhad sent; and one day he saw that the prince had thrown away an old\nloin cloth while bathing; this he picked up and took home to his\nmistress, who put it away. When she heard all that had happened to\nher husband, she set out in her turn to the Lutia country and all\nshe took with her was a mouse and a shawl. When she reached the Lutia\ncountry the Raja as before sent a messenger to ask whether she knew\nthe secret of prosperity for ever or of prosperity for a day.\n\nShe answered \"prosperity for a day.\" Thereupon the Raja had her sent\nfor and also all the retainers who had deserted the Prince and who\nhad collected together in the neighbourhood. When they had all come\nthe Raja said that he would now decide who should have all the wealth\nwhich had been taken from the prince: he produced a cat and said that\nthe person towards whom the cat jumped should have all the wealth. So\nthey all sat round the Raja and the Princess had her mouse hidden\nunder her shawl and every now and then she kept uncovering its head\nand covering it up again. The cat soon caught sight of the mouse and,\nwhen the Raja let it go, it jumped straight to the Princess in hopes\nof catching the mouse. The Raja at once adjudged all the merchandise\nto her, and she loaded it on the horses and elephants and took it\nhome accompanied by her husband's retainers.\n\nA few days afterwards her husband came home, having got tired of\nworking as a servant, and, putting a bold face on it, he went up to\nher and said that now he was going to beat her; all the retainers who\nhad accompanied him when he set out to trade and also the servant whom\nthe princess had sent with him were present. Then, before them all,\nthe princess took up the old loin cloth and asked him if he knew to\nwhom it had belonged; at this reminder of his poverty the prince was\ndumb with shame. \"Ask your retainers\" continued the princess \"to whom\nall the merchandise with which you set out now rightfully belongs,\nask them whether it is yours or mine, and then say whether you will\nbeat me.\"\n\nThe prince had no answer to give her and after this lesson gave up\nall idea of beating his bride.\n\n\n\n\nXXIX. Sahde Goala.\n\nOnce a marriage was arranged between Sahde Goala and Princess Chandaini\nand on the wedding day when it began to get dusk Sahde Goala ordered\nthe sun to stand still. \"How,\" said he, \"can the people see the\nwedding of a mighty man like myself in the dark?\" So at his behest\nthe sun delayed its setting for an hour, and the great crowd which\nhad assembled saw all the grand ceremonies.\n\nThe next day Sahde and his bride set off home and it took them three\ndays to reach the place where he lived. Before they left they had\ninvited the princess's father to come and see them; accordingly a day\nor two later he set out, but it took him three months to accomplish the\ndistance which Sahde Goala had traversed in three days. When the old\nRaja reached his son-in-law's house they welcomed him and washed his\nfeet and offered him refreshments; and when he had eaten, he asked his\nson-in-law to take him out for a stroll. So they went out, Sahde Goala\nin front and the old Raja following behind him and as they walked Sahde\nGoala struck his foot against a stone, and the stone was shattered to\npieces. When the Raja saw this proof of his son-in-law's superhuman\nstrength, he became alarmed for his daughter's safety. If Sahde ever\nlost his temper with her he might clearly smash her to atoms, so he\nmade up his mind that he could not leave her in such keeping. When\nhe told his daughter what he had seen she was as frightened as her\nfather and begged him to take her home, so they agreed to escape\ntogether some time when Sahde Goala was out of the way.\n\nOne morning Sahde Goala went out to watch his men working in the\nfields and the old Raja and his daughter seized this opportunity to\nescape. Sahde Goala had a sister named Lorokini and she ran to the\nfield to tell her brother that his wife was running away. \"Let her go\"\nsaid Sahde Goala. The old Raja travelled faster than his daughter and\nleft her behind and as she travelled along alone Sahde Goala made a\nflooded river flow across her path. It was quite unfordable so the\nPrincess stood on the bank and sang:--\n\n\n \"My mother gave me birth,\n My father gave me in marriage:\n If the water upstream would stand still\n And the water downstream would flow away\n Then I could go and live in my own home.\"\n\n\nBut no such thing happened and she had to go back to her husband's\nhouse.\n\nWhen she arrived her mother-in-law gave her a large basket of cooked\nrice and a pot of relish and told her to take them to the labourers\nin the field. Her mother-in-law helped her to lift the basket on to\nher head and she set off. When she reached the field she called to\nher sister-in-law:--\n\n\n \"Come Lorokini,\n Lift down from my head\n The basket of rice\n And the pot of relish.\"\n\n\nBut Lorokini was angry with her for trying to run\naway and refused to help, singing:--\n\n\n \"I will not come\n I will not lift down the basket:\n Prop it against a _murup_ tree:\n I will not lift it down.\"\n\n\nThen Chandaini Rani propped it against the trunk of a _murup_ tree,\nand so set it on the ground.\n\nThen she sang to her husband:--\n\n\n \"Here, husband, is the lota of water:\n Here, husband, is the tooth stick;\n Come, and wash your hands:\n If you are angry with me\n Take me back to my father and mother.\"\n\n\nBut Sahde Goala was ploughing at the head of his men and paid no\nattention to her: then she sang again:--\n\n\n \"Seven hundred labourers\n And twenty hundred women labourers,\n You are causing to die of thirst.\"\n\n\nBut still Sahde Goala paid no attention. Then Chandaini Rani got\nangry and by leaning the basket against the _murup_ tree managed to\nget it on to her head again and carried it home, and from that time\nmurup trees grow slanting. Directly she had taken the rice and relish\nto the house she set off again to run away to her mother. As before\nSahde Goala caused a flooded river to flow across her path and as\nbefore she sang:--\n\n\n \"My mother gave me birth,\n My father gave me in marriage:\n If the water upstream would stand still\n And the water downstream would flow away\n Then I could go and live in my own home,\"\n\n\nAnd this time the water did stand still and the water below all\nflowed away and she crossed over. As she crossed she said \"If I am\nreally chaste no one will be able to touch me.\" And as she reached\nthe opposite bank she saw a young man sitting waiting for her; his\nname was Bosomunda, he had been sitting waiting for her on the bank\nfor days without moving. When he saw Chandaini Rani mount the bank\nhe rose and said \"Come: I have been waiting for you, you are to be\nmy mistress.\" \"Fie, fie!\" answered she \"Am I to belong to any Dome or\nHari?\" Bosomunda swore that she should be his. \"If so, then follow a\nlittle behind me so as not to tread on my shadow.\" So they went on, the\nRani in front and Bosomunda behind. Presently they came to a tamarind\ntree on which grew two enormous fruits; the Rani pointed to them saying\n\"If I am to belong to you, you must pick me those fruits.\" So Bosomunda\nbegan to climb the tree, and as he climbed she prayed that the tree\nmight grow and touch the sky; and in fact as fast as Bosomunda climbed\nso the tree grew and he got no nearer to the fruit.\n\nThen the Chandaini Rani picked up the weapons which he had laid\non the ground and threw them away one to the north and one to the\nsouth, one to the east and one to the west, and ran off as fast as\nshe could. Bosomunda at first did not see her because his eyes were\nfixed on the tamarind fruit, but after she had gone a long way he\ncaught sight of her and came down as fast as he could and, gathering\nup his weapons, went in pursuit. But Chandaini Rani had got a long\nstart, and as she hurried along she passed a thorn tree standing by\nthe side of the road and she called to it \"Thorn tree, Bosomunda is\ncoming after me, do your best to detain him for a little.\" As she\nspoke it seemed as if a weight descended on the tree and swayed it\nto and fro so that its branches swept the ground, and it answered her\n\"I will do like this to him.\" Then she went on and met a goat on the\nroad, and she asked it to do its best to delay Bosomunda, and the\ngoat pawed the ground and dug its horns into the earth and said that\nit would do the same to Bosomunda. Then she went on and met a ram and\nmade the same request; the ram charged a tree and butted it right over\nand promised to treat Bosomunda in the same way. Afterwards she came\nto a bull and the bull drove its horns into a bank and brought down\na quantity of earth and said that that was the way he would treat\nBosomunda. Next she came to a buffalo and the buffalo charged a bank\nof earth to show what he would do to Bosomunda. Then she came to an\nelephant and the elephant trampled a clod of earth to dust and said\nthat he would treat Bosomunda so. Then she went on and saw a paddy\nbird feeding by the roadside and she asked it to do its best to delay\nBosomunda; the paddy bird drove its bill into the earth and said that\nit would treat Bosomunda in the same way.\n\nMeanwhile Bosomunda was in hot pursuit. When he came to the thorn\ntree, the tree swayed its branches and caught him with its thorns,\nbut he cut down the tree and freed himself; he went on a little way\nand met the goat which ran at him with its horns, but Bosomunda sang:--\n\n\n \"Do not fight with me, goat,\n I will cut off your legs and cut off your head\n And take them to the shrine of Mahadeo.\"\n\n\nSo saying, he killed the goat and cut off its head and tied it to\nhis waist and went on. Next the ram charged him but he sang:\n\n\n \"Do not fight with me, Ram,\n I will cut off your legs and cut off your head\n And take them to the shrine of Mahadeo.\"\n\n\nSo saying he killed the Ram and took its head. Then in succession he\nwas attacked by the bull and the buffalo and the elephant, but he\nkilled them all and cut off their heads. Then he came to the paddy\nbird, which pretended to be busily engaged in picking up insects\nand gradually worked its way nearer and nearer. Bosomunda let it get\nquite close and then suddenly seized it and gave its neck a pull which\nlengthened it out considerably; \"Thank you\" said the paddy bird, as\nhe put it down \"now I shall be able to catch all the fish in a pool\nwithout moving.\" Thereupon Bosomunda caught it again and gave its neck\na jerk and that is why paddy birds have necks shaped like a letter S.\n\nBosomunda continued his pursuit and caught up Chandaini Rani just\nas she was entering her father's house; he seized her by her hair\nand managed to cut off the edge of her cloth and pull off one of her\ngolden anklets, and then had to let her go.\n\nHe took up his abode at the _ghat_ of a tank and began to kill every\none who came down to the water. The citizens complained to the Raja\nof the destruction he was causing and the Raja ordered some valiant\nman to be searched for, fit to do battle with the murderer; so they\nsent for a Birbanta (giant) and the Raja promised to give him half his\nkingdom and his daughter in marriage if he could slay Bosomunda. So\nthe Birbanta made ready for the fight and advanced brandishing his\nweapons against Bosomunda. Three days and three nights they fought,\nand in the end the Birbanta was defeated and killed.\n\nThen the Raja ordered his subjects to find another champion and\na Birburi was found willing to undertake the fight in hope of the\npromised reward; and as he was being taken to the field of battle\nhis mother met him with a ladle full of curds and told him to do a\nwar dance, and as he was dancing round she threw the curds at him;\nhe caught the whole of it on his shield except one drop which fell on\nhis thigh; from this his mother foresaw that he would bleed to death\nIn the fight, so she took some rice and ran on ahead and again met\nher son and told him to do the war dance and show how he was going to\nfight; and as he danced his sword shivered to atoms. His mother said,\n\"Is this the way in which you intended to fight, of a surety you would\nhave met your death.\" Then she made him gather together the pieces\nof his sword and cover them with a wet cloth, and in a few minutes\nthe pieces joined together; then she allowed him to go to the fight.\n\nWhen the battle began the Birburi's mother kept calling out \"Well,\nBosomunda, have you killed my son?\" This enraged Bosomunda and he\nkept running after the old woman to drive her away, and this gave\nthe opportunity to the Birburi to get in a good blow; in this way\nthey fought for seven days and nights and at the end Bosomunda was\ndefeated and killed. Then the Raja gave half his kingdom to the\nBirburi and married him to his daughter Chandaini Rani.\n\nAfter their marriage they set out for their new home and on the\nway they met Sahde Goala who had come in search of his missing\nwife. \"Hulloa\" cried Sahde Goala \"where are you taking my wife\nto?\" \"I know nothing about your wife\" said the Birburi \"this is\nthe Raja's daughter whom I have married as a reward for killing\nBosomunda; he has given me half his kingdom from Sir Sikar to the\nfield of the cotton tree.\" Then Sahde Goala told him to go his way,\nso the Birburi and the Rani went on and Sahde Goala caused a flooded\nriver with the water flowing bank high to cross their path. As they\nwaited on the bank Sahde Goala made the Birburi an offer that, if he\ncould carry the woman across the river without getting the sole of\nher foot wet, then she should belong to him and if not Sahde Goala\nshould take her. The Birburi agreed and tried and tried again to get\nthe Rani across without wetting her, but the flood was too strong,\nso at last he gave in and Sahde Goala took her back with him to their\nformer home. There they lived and in the course of time Chandaini\nRani bore a son and she named him Dhonontori, and after the birth of\ntheir son the family became so wealthy (dhon) that the Hindus revered\nDhonontori as a god. And so ends the story.\n\n\n\n\nXXX. The Raja's Son and the Merchant's Son.\n\nOnce upon a time the son of a Raja and the son of a merchant were great\nfriends; they neither of them had any taste for lessons but would play\ntruant from school and waste their time running about the town. The\nRaja was much vexed at his son's behaviour; he wished him to grow up\na worthy successor to himself, and with this object did all he could\nto break off his friendship with the merchant's son, as the two boys\nonly led each other into mischief; but all his efforts failed and at\nlast he offered a reward of one hundred rupees to any one who could\nseparate them. One of the Raja's concubines made up her mind to earn\nthe reward, and one day she met the two boys as they were going out to\nbathe. The Raja's son was walking ahead and the merchant's son a little\nway behind; the woman ran after the merchant's son and threw her arms\nround him and putting her lips to his ear pretended to whisper to him\nand then ran away. When they met at the river the Prince asked the\nmerchant's son what the woman had told him, his friend denied that\nshe had said anything but for all his protestations the Prince would\nnot believe this. They quarrelled about it for a long time and at\nlast the Prince went home in a rage and shut himself up in his room\nand refused to eat or be comforted. His father sent to enquire what\nwas the matter with him and the Prince replied that food should not\npass his lips until the merchant's son had been put to death.\n\nThereupon the Raja sent for some soldiers and told them to devise\nsome means of killing the merchant's son. So they bound the youth\nand showed him to the Prince and said that they would take him to the\njungle and kill and bury him there. They then led him off, but on the\nroad they caught a lamb and when they got to the jungle they killed\nthe lamb and steeped the clothes of the merchant's son in the blood\nthat they might have something to show to the Prince and then went\nback leaving the boy in the jungle. They took the bloody cloth to\nthe Prince and told him to rise and eat, but when he saw the blood,\nall his old friendship revived and he was filled with remorse and\ncould not eat for sorrow. Then the Raja told his soldiers to find out\nsome friend to comfort the Prince, and they told him that they would\nsoon set things straight and going off to the jungle brought back the\nmerchant's son and took him to the Prince; and the two youths forgot\ntheir differences and were as friendly as before.\n\nTime passed and one day the Prince proposed to his friend that they\nshould run away and seek their fortunes in the world. So they fixed\na day and stole away without telling anyone, and, as they had not\ntaken any money, they soon had to look about for employment. They\nfound work and the arrangement their masters made with them was this:\ntheir wages were to be as much rice each day as would go on a leaf;\nand if they threw up their work they were to forfeit one hand and\none ear; on the other hand if their masters discharged them so long\nas they were willing to work for this wage the master was to lose one\nhand and one ear. The merchant's son was cunning enough to turn this\nagreement to his advantage, for every day he brought a large lotus\nleaf to be filled with rice; this gave him more than he could eat\nand he soon grew fat and flourishing, but the Raja's son only took\nan ordinary _sal_ leaf to his master and the rice that he got on this\nwas not enough to keep him alive, so he soon wasted away and died.\n\nNow the merchant's son had told his master that his name was Ujar:\none day his master said \"Ujar, go and hoe that sugar cane and look\nsharp about it.\" So Ujar went and instead of hoeing the ground dug\nup all the sugar cane and piled it in a heap. When the master saw\nhis fine crop destroyed he was very angry and called the villagers\nto punish Ujar, but when they questioned him, Ujar protested that\nhe was bound to obey his master's orders; he had been ordered to\nhoe the sugar cane, not the ground, and he had done as he was told,\nand so they had to let him off.\n\nAnother day a Hindu neighbour came to Ujar's master and asked him to\nlend him his servant for a day. So Ujar went to the Hindu's house\nand there was told to scrape and spin some hemp, but Ujar did not\nunderstand the Hindu language and when he got the knife to scrape\nthe hemp with, he proceeded to chop it all up into little pieces;\nwhen the Hindu saw what had happened he was very angry and called in\nthe neighbours, but Ujar protested that he had been told to cut the\nhemp and had done so; and so he got off.\n\nUjar's master had an only child and one day he told Ujar to take the\nchild to a tank and give him a good washing, so Ujar took the child\nto a tank and there proceeded to dash the child against a stone in\nthe way that washermen wash clothes; he knocked the child about until\nhe knocked the life out of him and then carefully washed him in the\ntank and brought the body home and put it on the bed. Next morning\nthe father was surprised not to hear the child running about and,\ngoing to look, found the dead body. The villagers assembled but Ujar\nprotested that his master had told him to wash the child thoroughly\nand he had only obeyed orders; so they had to let him off again.\n\nAfter this the master made up his mind to get rid of Ujar, but he\nwas in a fix: he could not dismiss him because of the agreement that\nif he did not continue to employ him so long as he was willing to\nserve for one leaf full of rice a day he was to lose a hand and an\near. So he decided to kill him, but he was afraid to do so himself\nfor fear of being found out; so he decided to send Ujar to his\nfather-in-law's house and get them to do the job. He wrote a letter\nto his father-in-law asking him to kill the bearer directly he arrived\nbefore many people knew of his coming and this letter he gave to Ujar\nto deliver.\n\nOn the way however Ujar had some misgivings and he opened the letter\nand read it; thereupon he tore it in pieces and instead of it wrote a\nletter to his master's father-in-law in which his master was made to\nsay that Ujar was a most valuable servant and they should give him\ntheir youngest daughter in marriage as soon as possible. The fraud\nwas not found out and directly Ujar arrived he was married to the\nyoungest daughter of his master's father-in-law. A few days later the\nmaster went to see how his plan had worked and was disgusted to find\nUjar not only alive but happily married.\n\nSo he thought that he would entice him into the jungle and kill him\nthere; with this object he one day invited Ujar to come out hunting\nwith him, but Ujar suspected what was up and took a hatchet with him;\nand directly they got to the jungle he fell behind his master and\ncut him down with his hatchet and then went home and told his wife's\nrelations that his master had got tired of hunting and had gone back\nto his own home; no doubts were raised about his story and he lived\non happily with his wife till he died at a ripe old age.\n\n\n\n\nXXXI. The Poor Widow.\n\nOnce there was a poor widow who had two children; she lived by daily\nlabour and if she got no work any day, then that day they had to go\nwithout food. One morning she went out to look for work and a rich\nwoman called her and asked if she wanted a job; she said \"Yes, that\nis what I am looking for,\" then the rich woman said \"Stay here and\npick the lice out of my hair, and I will pay you your usual wages and\ngive you your dinner as well.\" So the poor widow agreed and spent the\nday picking out the lice and at evening the rich woman brought out\na measure of rice to give her as her wages and, as she was measuring\nit, she felt her head itch and she put up her hand and scratched and\npulled out a large louse.\n\nThen she got very angry and scolded the widow and said that she would\npay her nothing as she had not done her work properly and she turned\nher out. Then the widow was very unhappy for she had nothing to give\nher starving children and she wished that she had stuck to her usual\nwork. When she got home and her children began to cry for food, she\nremembered that she had seen some wild _saru_ (vegetable) growing in\na certain place; so she took a basket and a sickle and telling her\nchildren not to cry went out to gather it. It was dark and lonely\nand she felt frightened but then she thought of her children and\nwent on and gathered the _saru_, and returned home crying because\nshe had nothing better to give her offspring. On the way she met an\nold man who asked her why she was crying and she told him all her\nstory. Then he told her to take the herbs home and chop them all up\nand to put some in every basket and pot she had and to cook the rest\nfor supper. So when she got home she did as she had been directed and\nwhen she came to take the herbs which she had cooked out of the pot,\nshe found that they had turned into rice, and she and her children\nate it with joy. The next morning she found that every pot and basket\ninto which she had put the herbs was full of rice; and from that time\nshe prospered and bought goats and pigs and cattle and lived happily\never after.\n\nBut no one knew where the old man came from, as she had forgotten to\nask him.\n\n\n\n\nXXXII. The Monkey and the Girl.\n\nOnce upon a time the boys and girls of a village used to watch the\ncrops of _but_ growing by a river, and there was a Hanuman monkey who\nwished to eat the _but,_ but they drove him away. So he made a plan:\nhe used to make a garland of flowers and go with it to the field and,\nwhen he was driven away, he would leave the flowers behind; and the\nchildren were pleased with the flowers and ended by making friends with\nthe monkey and did not drive him away. There was one of the young girls\nwho was fascinated by the monkey and promised to marry him. Some of\nthe other children told this in the village and the girl's father and\nmother came to hear of it and were angry and the father took some of\nthe villagers and went and shot the monkey. Then they decided not to\nthrow away the body, but to burn it like the corpse of a man. So they\nmade a pyre and put the body on it and set fire to it; just then the\ngirl came and they told her to go away, but she said that she wished\nto see whether they really burned him like a man. So she stood by\nand when the pyre was in full blaze, she called out \"Oh look, what is\nhappening to the stars in the sky!\" at this every one looked up at the\nsky; then she took some sand which she had in the fold of her cloth\nand threw it into the air and it fell into their eyes and blinded them.\n\nWhile they were rubbing the sand out of their eyes the girl leapt on to\nthe pyre, and was burned along with the monkey and died a _sati_. Her\nfather and brothers were very angry at this and said that the girl\nmust have had a monkey's soul and so she was fascinated by him;\nand so saying they bathed and went home.\n\n\n\n\nXXXIII. Ramai and the Animals.\n\nOnce there was a blacksmith who had five sons and the sons were always\nquarrelling. Their father used to scold them, but they paid no heed;\nso he got angry and one day he sent for them and said: \"You waste\nyour time quarrelling. I have brought you up and have amassed wealth;\nI should like to see what you are worth. I will put it to the test:\nI will give you each one hundred rupees, and I will see how you employ\nthe money; if any of you puts it to profitable use, I will call him\nmy son; but if any of you squander it, I shall call him a girl.\" So\nthey went forth with the money and one bought buffaloes and one bought\nhorses and another cattle, each according to his judgement, and brought\nthem home. But the youngest son, who was named Ramai, soon after he\nstarted, found some men killing a cat and he begged them not to kill\nthe cat, but let him have it and he bought it of them, and going on\nhe found some men killing a dog which they had caught stealing and\nhe bought it of them to save its life. By and bye he came to some men\nhunting an otter and he asked what they were doing, and they said that\nthe otter ate the fish in a Raja's tank and so they were going to kill\nit; and he asked them to catch it and sell it to him, and promised\nto take it away where it could do no harm; and they did so. Then he\nwent on and came to some men who were killing a young black snake\nand he saved that also, and then returned home with his four animals,\nand he tethered the cat and the dog and the otter in the yard and he\nput the snake into a pot with a lid on and hung it in the cow shed.\n\nWhen his father saw Ramai's animals, he was very angry and jeered at\nhim and said that he had no more mind than a woman; and especially\nhe told him to throw away the snake at once, if he did not want it\nkilled. So Ramai took down the pot with the snake in it, and the snake\nsaid: \"Take me to my father and mother and they will reward you, and\nwhen they ask what you would like, take nothing but the ring which\nis on my father's hand: it is a magic ring and has the property that\nit will give you whatever you ask.\"\n\nSo Ramai took the young snake to its home and its father and mother\nwere very grateful and asked what reward he would accept: and he said\nhe would take nothing but the ring, so they gave it to him. On the way\nhome he thought that he would test its virtues: so he bathed and spread\nout a cloth and then prayed: \"Oh ring, give me some luncheon,\" and\nbehold he saw a nice lunch heaped up in the middle of the cloth. He ate\nit joyfully and went back home, and there he found that his father had\nkilled the other animals and he reproached him; but his father said:\n\"They were useless and were only eating their heads off, why should\nnot I kill them?\" Ramai answered: \"These were not useless, they were\nmost valuable animals, much better than those my brothers bought; if\nyou asked my brothers for a gold palace they could not make you one,\nbut I could do so at once, thanks to the snake, and I could marry a\nprincess and get anything else I want.\"\n\nHis father said that he would like to see him try: so Ramai asked\nthe ring for a gold palace and immediately one appeared in their\ngarden. Then his father was very repentant about having killed the\nother animals. But Ramai's boast that he could marry a princess got\nabroad and the Raja heard of it and as he was glad to have so rich\na son-in-law, he gave him his daughter in marriage. And with his\ndaughter the Raja sent elephants and horses, but Ramai sent them back\nagain, lest it should be said that he had become rich through the\nbounty of the Raja; and by virtue of the ring they lived in wealthy\nand prosperity.\n\n\n\n\nXXXIV. The Magic Bedstead.\n\nOnce upon a time a carpenter made a bedstead, and when it was ready he\nput it in his verandah. At night he heard the four legs of the bedstead\ntalking together and saying: \"We will save the life of anyone who\nsleeps on this bedstead and protect him from his enemies.\" When the\ncarpenter heard this, he decided not to part with the bed for less\nthan a hundred rupees. So next day he went out to try and get this\nprice for the bed, but people laughed at him and said that no one\ncould pay such a price but the Raja; so he went to the Raja and the\nRaja asked why he wanted one hundred rupees for a bedstead that was\napparently worth only five or six annas. The carpenter answered that\nthe bed would protect its owner from all enemies; the Raja doubted at\nfirst but as the man persisted in his story, he agreed to buy the bed,\nbut he stipulated that if he found the story about it not to be true,\nhe should take back his money.\n\nOne night the king lay awake on the bed and he heard the legs of the\nbed talking, so he lay still and listened: and they said that the\nRaja was in danger and that they must try to save him. So one leg\nloosened itself from the bed and went away outside and it found a\ntiger which had come to eat the Raja, and it beat the tiger to death,\nand then came back and fixed itself into its place again. Soon a\nsecond leg said that it would go outside; so it went and that leg met\na leopard and a bear and it beat them to death and returned. Then the\nthird leg said that it was its turn, and it went outside and it found\nfour burglars digging a hole through the wall of the palace, and it\nset upon them and broke their legs and left them lying there. When\nthis one returned, the fourth leg went out and it heard a voice in\nthe sky saying: \"The Raja is very cunning, I will send a snake which\nshall hide in his shoe and when he puts the shoe on in the morning,\nit will bite him and he will die.\" When this leg came back, each one\ntold the others what it had seen and done, and the Raja heard them and\nlay awake till morning, and at dawn he called his servants and sent\nthem outside the palace and there they found the tiger and leopard\nand bear lying dead, and the four thieves with their legs broken. Then\nthe Raja believed what the legs had said and he would not get up but\nfirst ordered his servants to make a fire in the courtyard and he\nhad all his shoes thrown into the fire and then he got up.\n\nAfter this the Raja ordered that great care was to be taken of the\nbedstead and that anyone who sat on it should be put to death; and he\nhimself used not to sleep in it anymore but he kept it in his bedroom\nthat it might protect him.\n\n\n\n\nXXXV. The Ghormuhas.\n\nGhormuhas have heads like horses and bodies and arms like men and\ntheir legs are shaped like men's but they have only one leg each,\nand they eat human beings.\n\nOne day a young man named Somai was hunting a deer and the deer ran\naway to the country of the Ghormuhas and Somai pursued it, and the\nGhormuhas caught him and took him home to eat. First they smoked him\nfor two or three days so that all the vermin were driven out of his\nbody and clothes and then they proceeded to fatten him; they fed him\nwell every day on rice cooked with turmeric.\n\nSomai saw how they dealt with their other victims: they tied them hand\nand foot and threw them alive into a pot of boiling oil and when they\nwere cooked they hung the bodies up in the doorway and would take a\nbite as they passed in and out; the liver and heart and brains they\ncooked separately. They used to eat their own parents also: for when\na father or mother grew old they would throw them on to the roof of\nthe house and when they rolled down and were killed they would say to\ntheir friends, \"The pumpkin growing on our roof has got ripe and fallen\noff and burst, let us come and eat it;\" and then they had a feast.\n\nSomai saw all this and was very frightened. The Ghormuhas could run\nvery fast and they made Somai run a race with them every day and\ntheir plan was that they would eat him when he was strong enough to\nbeat them in the race. In the course of time he came to beat them in\nrunning on the road; then they said that they would make him run in\nthe fields and, if he beat them there, they meant to eat him.\n\nSomai found out their plan and he decided to try and run away; if he\nstayed he would be eaten, so if they caught him when he tried to run\naway he would be no worse off. So the first day they raced in the\nfields Somai was winning but he remembered and stopped himself and\nlet himself be beaten that day. But he resolved to try and escape the\nnext day and the Ghorarahas had decided to eat him that day whatever\nhappened. So when the race began, Somai set off towards the lower lands\nwhere the rice fields were embanked and he jumped the embankments, but\nthe Ghormuhas who pursued him could not jump well and tumbled and fell;\nand thus he ran away to his own country and made good his escape. And\nit was he who told men what Ghormuhas are like and how they live.\n\n\n\n\nXXXVI. The Boy Who Learnt Magic.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Raja who had seven wives and they were\nall childless, and he was very unhappy at having no heir. One day a\nJogi came to the palace begging, and the Raja and his Ranis asked him\nwhether he could say what should be done in order that they might\nhave children; the Jogi asked what they would give him if he told\nthem and they said that they would give him anything that he asked\nfor and gave him a written bond to this effect. Then the Jogi said\n\"I will not take elephants or horses or money, but you shall give me\nthe child which is born first and any born afterwards shall be yours,\ndo you agree?\" And the Ranis consulted together and agreed. \"Then,\"\nsaid the Jogi, \"this is what you must do: you must all go and bathe,\nand after bathing you must go to a mango orchard and the Raja must\nchoose a bunch of seven mangoes and knock it down with his left\nhand and catch it in a cloth, without letting it touch the ground;\nthen you must go home and the Ranis must sit in a row according to\ntheir seniority and the Raja must give them each one of the mangoes\nto eat, and he must himself eat the rinds which the Ranis throw away;\nand then you will have children.\" And so saying the Jogi went away\npromising to return the next year.\n\nA few days later the Raja decided to give a trial to the Jogi's\nprescription and he and the Ranis did as they had been told; but the\nRaja did not eat the rind of the youngest Rani's mango; he did not love\nher very much. However five or six months after it was seen that the\nyoungest Rani was with child and then she became the Raja's favourite;\nbut the other Ranis were jealous of her and reminded the Raja that he\nwould not be able to keep her child. But when her time was full she\ngave birth to twin sons, and the Raja was delighted to think that he\nwould be able to keep the younger of the two and he loved it much.\n\nWhen the year was up the Jogi came and saw the boys and he said that\nhe would return when they could walk; and when they could run about,\nhe came again, and asked whether the Raja would fulfil his promise.\n\nThe Raja said that he would not break his bond. Then the Jogi said\nthat he would take the two boys and when the Raja objected that he was\nonly entitled to one, he said that he claimed both as they were born\nat the same time; but he promised that if he took both he would teach\nthem magic and then let one come back; and he promised also that all\nthe Ranis should have children. So the Raja agreed and sent away the\nboys with the Jogi and with them he sent goats and sheep and donkeys\nand horses and camels and elephants and furniture of all sorts.\n\nThe Jogi was called Sitari Jogi and he was a Raja in his own\ncountry. But before they reached his country all the animals died,\nfirst the goats, then the sheep and the donkeys and the horses and the\ncamels and the elephants. And when the goats died the boys lamented:\n\n\n \"The goats have died, father,\n How far, father,\n Is it to the country of the Sitari Jogi?\"\n\n\nand so they sang when the other animals died.\n\nAt last they reached the Jogi's palace and every day he taught them\nincantations and spells. He bought them each a water pot and sent\nthem every morning to fill it with dew, but before they collected\nenough, the sun came out and dried up the dew; one day they got a\ncupful, another day half a cupful, but they never were able to fill\nthe pots. In the course of time they learnt all the spells the Jogi\nknew and one day when they went out to gather dew, the younger boy\nsecretly took with him a rag and he soaked this in the dew and then\nsqueezed it into the pot and so he soon filled it; and the elder\nboy seeing his brother's pot full, filled his pot at a pool of water\nand they took them to the Jogi; but the Jogi was not deceived by the\nelder boy and told him that he would never learn magic thoroughly;\nbut the younger boy having learned all that the Jogi knew, learnt more\nstill from his friends, for all the people of that country knew magic.\n\nThen one day the Jogi took the two boys back to their home and he told\nthe Raja that he would leave the elder boy at home. The Raja wanted\nto keep the younger one, but the Jogi insisted and the younger boy\nwhispered to his mother not to mind as he would soon come back by\nhimself; so they let him go.\n\nThe Jogi and the boy used to practise magic: the Jogi would take the\nform of a young man and the boy would turn into a bullock and the\nJogi would go to a village and sell the bullock for a good price;\nbut he would not give up the tethering rope and then he would go away\nand do something with the tethering rope and the boy would resume his\nshape again and run off to the Jogi and when the purchasers looked\nfor their bullock they found nothing, and when they went to look for\nthe seller the Jogi would change his shape again so that he could\nnot be recognised; and in this way they deceived many people and\namassed wealth.\n\nThen the Jogi taught the boy the spell he used with the rope, and\nwhen he had learnt this, he asked to be taught the spell by which he\ncould change his own shape without having a second person to work the\nspell with the rope. The Jogi said that he would teach him that later\nbut he must wait. Then the boy reproached the Jogi and said that he\ndid not love him; and he went away to his friends in the town and\nlearnt the spell he wanted from them, so that he was able to change\nhis shape at will.\n\nTwo or three days after the boy again went to the Jogi and said\n\"Teach me the spell about which I spoke to you the other day,\" and\nthe Jogi refused. \"Then,\" said the boy, \"I shall go back to my father,\nfor I see that you do not love me.\"\n\nAt this the Jogi grew wrathful and said that if the away he would\nkill him, so the boy at this ran away in terror, and the Jogi became\na leopard and pursued him: then the boy turned himself into a pigeon\nand the Jogi became a hawk and pursued him; so the boy turned himself\ninto a fly and the Jogi became a paddy bird and pursued him; the fly\nalighted on the plate of a Rani who was eating rice, and the Jogi took\non his natural shape and told the Rani to scatter the rice which she\nwas eating on the ground and she did so; but the boy turned himself\ninto a bead of coral on the necklace which the Rani was wearing; and\nthe Jogi did not notice this but became a pigeon and ate up the rice\nwhich the Rani had thrown down. When he did not find the boy among the\nrice he turned himself into a Jogi again and saw him in the necklace;\nthen he told the Rani to break her necklace and scatter the beads on\nthe ground and she did so; then the Jogi again became a pigeon and\nbegan to pick up the beads, but the boy turned himself into a cat\nand hid under the verandah and when the pigeon came near, he pounced\non it and killed it, and ran outside with it. Then he became a boy\nagain and twisted off the bird's head and wrapped it in his cloth and\nwent off home; and looking behind he saw the Jogi's head come rolling\nafter him, so when he came to a blacksmith's fire by the side of the\nroad he threw the pigeon's head into it, and then the Jogi's head\nalso ran into the fire and was consumed.\n\nAnd the boy went home to his parents.\n\n\n\n\nXXXVII. The Charitable Jogi.\n\nOnce there was a very poor man with a large family; and when his eldest\nson grew up he tried to arrange a marriage for him. He selected a bride\nand arranged matters with her relations but then he found that he had\nno money to pay for the performance of the marriage ceremonies. So he\ntried to borrow from his friends and from money lenders, but no one\nwould lend him anything. So he proposed to the bride's relatives to\nonly have the betrothal that year and the marriage the year after, but\nthey would not agree and said that the marriage must be then or never.\n\nJust then a Jogi came to his house to beg and he told the Jogi all\nabout his difficulties and asked for help; the Jogi took pity on\nhim and gave him twenty rupees which was all that he had collected\nby begging.\n\nNow this Jogi had two wives at home and he thought that he would get\na poor reception from them if he returned empty handed, so he picked\nup two stones and wrapped them up in two pieces of cloth. And when he\nreached home his wives welcomed him and brought out a bed for him to\nsit on and asked about his adventures and when they saw the bundles\nthey wished to know what was inside and they opened them before him\nand behold the stones had turned into gold. When the Jogi saw this\nhe wished that he had picked up three or four stones instead of only\ntwo and he understood that Chando had given him the gold because he\nhelped the poor man.\n\nThis is why no money lender will refuse a loan if one is asked for\nfor the performance of a marriage and money so borrowed is always\npaid back punctually. When the Jogi came back the next year the poor\nman paid him the twenty rupees.\n\n\n\n\nXXXVIII. Chote and Mote.\n\nOnce upon a time there were two brothers Chote and Mote; they were\npoor but very industrious and they got tired of working as hired\nlabourers in their own village so they decided to try their luck\nelsewhere. They went to a distant village and Chote took service\nwith an oilman and Mote with a potter on a yearly agreement. Chote\nhad to drive the oil mill in the morning and then after having his\ndinner to feed the mill bullock and take it out to graze. But the\nbullock having had a good meal of oilcake would not settle down to\ngraze alone but kept running after all the herds of cattle it saw,\nand Chote had to spend his whole time running after it till he was\nworn out and he was very soon sorry that he had taken up such hard\nservice; and was quite resolved not to stay on after his year was up.\n\nMote was no better off; the potter overworked him, making him carry\nwater and dig earth from morn to night and for all he did he got\nnothing but abuse.\n\nOne day the brothers, met and Mote asked Chote how he was getting\non. Chote answered \"Oh I have got a capital place; all the morning\nI sit at my ease on the oil mill, then I have a good dinner and take\nthe bullock out to graze and as it has had a good meal of oilcake it\nlies down without giving any trouble and I sit in the shade and enjoy\nmyself.\" Then Mote said \"I am pretty lucky too. I have to fetch three\nor four pots of water, then I have my dinner and a rest and then I\nhave to dig earth and knead it. Still I cannot say that I have so\nlittle work as you; will you change with me for three or four days,\nso that I may have a rest?\"\n\nChote gladly agreed and each brother thought that he had got the better\nof the other. In the morning while Mote was driving the oil mill he\nwas very pleased with his new job and when he had to take the bullock\nout to graze he took a bedstead with him to lie on. But directly the\nbullock got outside the village it rushed off bellowing towards some\nother cattle and Mote had to run after it with his bedstead on his\nhead, and all the afternoon the bullock kept him running about till\nhe was worn out.\n\nMeanwhile Chote was no better off; his unaccustomed shoulders were\nquite bruised with constantly carrying water. At the potter's house\nwas a custard apple tree and it was believed that there was money\nburied at the foot of the tree; so as Chote was a stranger, the\npotter told him to water the earth by the tree to soften it, as it\nwas to be used for pottery. Chote softened the earth and dug it and\nas he dug he uncovered pots of rupees; so he covered them up again\nand dug the earth elsewhere. And at evening he went and proposed to\nMote to run away with the money. So at midnight, they went and dug it\nup and ran off home. As they were not pursued, they felt safe after\na month or two, so they spent the money in buying land and cattle,\nand their cultivation prospered, and they became quickly rich.\n\n\n\n\nXXXIX. The Daydreamer.\n\nOnce an oil man was going to market with his pots of oil arranged on a\nflat basket and he engaged a Santal for two annas to carry the basket;\nand as he went along, the Santal thought \"With one anna I will buy\nfood and with the other I will buy chickens, and the chickens will\ngrow up and multiply and then I will sell some of the fowls and eggs\nand with the money I will buy goats; and when the goats increase,\nI will sell some and buy cows, and then I will exchange some of the\ncalves for she-buffaloes, and when the buffaloes breed, I will sell\nsome and buy land and start cultivation and then I will marry and\nhave children and I will hurry back from my work in the fields and\nmy wife will bring me water and I will have a rest and my children\nwill say to me 'Father, be quick and wash your hands for dinner,' but\nI will shake my head and say 'No, no, not yet!'\"--and as he thought\nabout it he really shook his head and the basket fell to the ground\nand all the pots of oil were smashed.\n\nThen the oilman abused him and said that he must pay two rupees for\nthe oil and one anna for the pots: but the Santal said that he had\nlost much more than that and the oilman asked him how that could be:\nand the Santal explained how with his wages he was going to get fowls\nand then goats and then oxen and buffaloes and land and how he came to\nspill the basket and at that the oilman roared with laughter and said\n\"Well I have made up the account and I find that our losses are equal,\nso we will cry quits;\" and so saying they went their ways laughing.\n\n\n\n\nXL. The Extortionate Sentry.\n\nThere was once a sentry outside a Raja's palace who would let no one go\nin to sell anything to the Raja until they first promised to give him\nhalf the price they received from the Raja, and the poor traders had\nto promise, for their livelihood depended on selling their goods. One\nday a fisherman caught an enormous fish and he thought that if he\ntook it to the Raja he would get a big price for it.\n\nSo he went off to the palace, but when he came to the gate the sentry\nstopped him and would not let him go in, until he promised to give him\nhalf of what he got, and after some argument he had to promise. So\nhe was admitted to the Raja's presence and when the Raja asked what\nwas the price of the fish, the fisherman said \"A hundred blows with\na stick.\"\n\nThe Raja was very astonished and asked the meaning of such a\nrequest. Then the fisherman said that the sentry had extorted a\npromise that he should get half the price and he wanted him to get\nfifty blows. At this the Raja was very angry and he had the sentry\nbeaten with one hundred stripes and dismissed him.\n\n\n\n\nXLI. The Broken Friendship.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Raja and his Dewan and they each had\none son, and the two boys were great friends, and, when they grew old\nenough, they took to hunting and when they became young men they were\nso devoted to the sport that they spent their whole time in pursuit of\ngame; they followed every animal they could find until they killed it,\nand they shot every bird in the town.\n\nTheir parents were much distressed at this, for they thought that\nif their boys spent all their time together hunting they would grow\nup unruly and ignorant; so they made up their minds that they must\nseparate the young men so that they would not be tempted to spend so\nmuch time in sport, but would be able to learn something useful; they\nscolded the youths and told them to give up their friendship and their\nhunting, but this had no effect. Then the Raja told the villagers\nthat he would reward any one who would break up the friendship,\nand the villagers tried their best but effected nothing.\n\nThere was however an old woman in the village who one day said,\n\"If the Raja gave me ten rupees I would soon put a stop to their\nfriendship.\" This came to the ears of the Raja and he exclaimed \"What\nis ten rupees to me! bring the old woman to me and I will give her\nten rupees, if she can put an end to this friendship.\" So the old\nwoman was brought trembling before the Raja and on being questioned\nundertook to break up the friendship if she were properly rewarded;\nand when this was promised she asked for two men to be given to her\nand she took them to her house and there she made them sling a bed\non a pole, such as is used for carrying a man on a journey and she\nhung curtains all round it and drew them close and inside, on an old\nwinnowing fan, they put some rotten manure from a dung hill.\n\nThen she made the two men take up the bed and she fetched a drum\nand she paraded all through the bazar beating the drum with the\nbed following behind her. She told the two carriers not to answer\nany questions as to what was in the bed. Thus they passed out of\nthe town and went in the direction in which the two young men had\ngone hunting. When these heard the sound of the drum and saw the\ntwo men carrying the bed they ran up to see what it was and told\nthe carriers to put It down that they might look inside; so the bed\nwas put on the ground and the Raja's son peeped inside the curtain,\nbut as he caught the smell he jumped back and the Dewan's son asked\nwhat was the matter and he said \"it stinks: it is dung.\" The Dewan's\nson would not believe him and also looked to convince himself; then\nthey both asked what the meaning of this was: the old woman said\nthat she would explain the meaning of it but only to one of them,\nand the one who had heard could tell the other.\n\nSo she made the carriers take away the bed and she called the Raja's\nson aside saying \"Come I will tell you what it means\" then she put\nher arms round the neck of the Raja's son and put her lips to his\near and pretended to whisper to him, but really she said nothing;\nthen she let him go and followed the carriers. The Dewan's son at\nonce ran to his friend and asked what the old woman had told him; the\nRaja's son answered \"She told me nothing at all, she only pretended\nto whisper.\" The Dewan's son would not believe this and pressed him\nto tell, saying \"We have been friends for so long and have had no\nsecrets from each other, why won't you tell me this? if you refuse\nto tell me there is an end of our friendship,\" but the Raja's son\npersisted that he had been told nothing and proposed that they should\ngo and ask the old woman if it were not so; but the Dewan's son said\nthat that was no good because the old woman and the Raja's son had\nplainly made a plot to keep him in the dark. The quarrel grew hotter\nand hotter, till at last they parted in anger and each went to his\nown home and from that time their friendship was broken off.\n\nAnd being separated they gave up hunting and took to useful\npursuits. Thus the old woman earned her reward from the Raja.\n\n\n\n\nXLII. A Story Told by a Hindu.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Raja who had two sons and after their\nfather's death they divided the kingdom between them. The two brothers\nwere inveterate gamblers and spent their time playing cards with\neach other; for a long time fortune was equal, but one day it turned\nagainst the elder brother and he lost and lost until his money and his\njewellery, his horses and his elephants and every thing that he had,\nhad been won by his younger brother. Then in desperation he staked\nhis share in the kingdom and that too he lost.\n\nThen the younger brother sent drummers through the city to proclaim\nthat the whole kingdom was his; the shame of this was more than the\nelder prince could bear, so he resolved to quit the country and he\ntold his wife of his intention and bade her stay behind. But his\nfaithful wife refused to be parted from him; she vowed that he had\nmarried her not for one day nor for two but for good and all, and\nthat where he went, there she would go, and whatever troubles he met,\nshe would share. So he allowed her to come with him and the two set\noff to foreign parts. After sometime their path led them through an\nextensive jungle and after travelling through it for two days they\nat last lost their way completely; their food gave out, they were\nfaint with starvation and torn with briars.\n\nThe prince urged his wife to return but she would not hear of it, so\nthey pushed on, supporting life on jungle fruits; sometimes the prince\nwould go far ahead, for his faithful wife could only travel slowly,\nand then he would return and wait for her; at last he got tired of\nleading her on and made up his mind to abandon her. At night they lay\ndown at the foot of a tree and the prince thought \"If wild animals\nwould come and eat us it would be the best that could happen. I cannot\nbear to see my wife suffer any more; although her flesh is torn with\nthorns, she will not leave me. I will leave her here; may wild beasts\nkill both her and me, but I cannot see her die before my eyes.\" So\nthinking he got up quietly and went off as quickly as he could.\n\nWhen the princess woke and found that she had been abandoned, she began\nto weep and wept from dawn to noon without ceasing; at noon a being,\nin the guise of an old woman appeared and asked her why she wept,\nand comforted her and promised to lead her out of the wood and told\nher that Chando had had compassion on her and would allow her to find\nher husband again if they both lived.\n\nSo saying the old woman led the princess from the forest and showed\nher the way to a great city where a Raja lived. The princess went\nbegging her way through the city to the Raja's palace and there they\nengaged her as a servant.\n\nNow her husband had also escaped from the jungle and sought employment\nas a labourer but no one would give him work for more than a day\nor two, and at last his search for work brought him to the city in\nwhich the princess was; and there he was engaged as a groom in the\npalace stables. The prince had changed his name and he had no chance\nof knowing that his wife was in the palace, because she was confined\nto the women's apartments; so some years passed without their having\nnews of each other.\n\nAt last one day the princess happened to go on to the roof and looking\ndown at the stables saw and thought she recognised her husband;\nthen she leaned over and listened till she heard his voice and at\nthat she was sure that it was he, so she hastened to the Raja and\nbegged to be allowed to meet her husband, and the Raja sent to call\nthe syce with the name which the princess had given but no one came,\nfor the prince would not reveal himself. Then the princess told their\nstory and how her husband had gambled away his half of the kingdom. The\nRaja ordered any one with such a history to come forward, as his wife\nwas in the palace; but the prince did not reveal himself.\n\nThen the princess said \"Let all the syces cook rice and bring me a\nbit of each man's cooking to taste.\" They did so, and when she tasted\nthe rice cooked by her husband, she at once said that it was his; her\nhusband was unable to deny it and admitted everything. Then they took\nhim away from his work in the stables and let him live with his wife.\n\nAfter a time the Raja wrote to the younger brother asking whether\nhe would restore the half of the kingdom which he had won; and the\nyounger brother answered that he would gladly do so, if his brother\nwould sign an agreement never to gamble any more; it was with this\nobject in view and to teach him the folly of his ways that he had\ndispossessed him. The elder brother gladly gave the required promise\nand returned to his kingdom with his faithful wife and lived happily\never afterwards.\n\n\n\n\nXLIII. The Raibar and the Leopard.\n\nOnce upon a time a _Raibar_ was going backwards and forwards between\ntwo families arranging a marriage and part of the road which he used\nto travel ran through a forest.\n\nOne day as he was going to the bride's house he took a sack with\nhim intending to try and get the loan of some Indian corn from the\nbride's relations; but as he was passing through the piece of jungle\nhe suddenly met a leopard; he was terribly frightened but collecting\nhis wits he addressed the animal thus \"Leopard; I beg you not to eat\nme; I am engaged on a work of great merit, I am making two men out\nof one.\" This address amazed the leopard and he at once asked the\n_raibar_ whether he could make him into two, and promised that if\nhe could his life should be spared. The _raibar_ answered readily\n\"Seeing that in pursuit of my profession I have made two men out of\none all over the country, of course I can make you into two leopards\nif I try; all you have to do is to get into this sack and keep quiet;\nif you utter a sound you will spoil the charm.\"\n\n\"Well,\" said the leopard, \"I will try and see; I undertake to keep\nquite quiet, and if you are successful I promise to tell the whole race\nof leopards to spare the lives of _raibars_.\" So saying the leopard\njumped into the sack and allowed the man to tie him up tightly in\nit. No sooner was this done than the _raibar_ took the sack on his\nhead and carried it to the bank of a river and having given it two\nor three hearty whacks with his stick threw it into the water. The\nsack went floating down the stream and it happened that lower down a\nleopardess sat watching the water and when she saw the sack coming\nalong she thought that it was a dead cow floating down. So when it\ncame near she jumped into the water and pulled it ashore.\n\nShe then proceeded to tear open the sack, when out jumped the first\nleopard; he soon explained how he came to be in the sack, and declared\nthat the _raibar's_ promise had been fulfilled and that she was his\ndestined mate. The leopardess agreed and the two set to work to tell\nall the other leopards what had happened and what a kindness the\n_raibar_ had done them; and so it came to pass that to the present\nday leopards never interfere with _raibars_ when they are going about\narranging a marriage; no one ever heard of one being injured.\n\nMeanwhile the _raibar_ went on his way rejoicing at having rid himself\nof the leopard. But the next year, while engaged on the business of\nanother marriage, the _raibar_ was passing through the same jungle\nwhen he came face to face with the very leopard that he thought he\nhad safely disposed of; he at once took to his heels, but the leopard\ncalled out to him not to be afraid and to wait, as he had something\nto say to him. So the _raibar_ stopped and the leopard asked whether\nhe did not recognise him; the _raibar_ stoutly denied all knowledge\nof him. \"Well,\" said the leopard \"I am the leopard of whom you made\ntwo out of one, and to show my gratitude I will give you any reward\nyou like; would you like a cow or a deer or any other animal? I will\nkill you one and bring it to you.\"\n\nWhen the _raibar_ saw the turn that things had taken he thought that\nhe had better take advantage of it, so he asked for a good large\nnilgai. The leopard told him to come to a certain tree at noon the\nnext day and he would find the animal there. So they separated and the\nnext day at noon the _raibar_ went to the tree and found a fine nilgai\nwaiting for him, which he and his friends took home and ate with joy.\n\n\n\n\nXLIV. The Ungrateful Snake.\n\nThere was once a Raja and his dewan and they each had one son;\nthese sons were married in infancy but as they grew up they never\nheard anything about their having been married. When the boys reached\nmanhood and found no arrangements being made for their weddings they\nbegan to wonder at the delay and often talked about it, and in the end\nthey agreed to run away to another country. Soon after this resolve\nof theirs some horse dealers came to their home with horses to sell;\nthe two youths at once saw that if they could each have a horse and\nlearn to ride it, it would be easy for them to run away from home. So\nthey hurried to their fathers and begged them to buy them each one of\nthe beautiful horses which the dealers had brought. The Raja and the\ndewan did not like to disappoint their sons so they bought the horses,\nto the great delight of the boys, who used to ride them every day.\n\nOne day the Raja's son was out riding by himself and he passed by\na tank where a number of women and girls were bathing and drawing\nwater; as he came galloping along the women ran back in a fright;\nand as they could not draw their water while he was there, an old\nwoman came up to him and told him to go away and not stay making eyes\nat the girls as if he had no wife of his own: \"What wife have I?\",\nsaid the prince, \"I know nothing of having been married.\" \"You were\nmarried sure enough when you were an infant,\" replied the old woman:\n\"your wife is still in her father's house, but now that you have\ngrown up they will probably bring her home to you this year.\"\n\nThen the prince asked where his wife lived and having learnt the name\nof the village he galloped off home and at once began to question his\nmother about his marriage; his mother told him that they intended to\nhave the bride brought home that year, but the prince was impatient\nand proposed that he should go off at once to his father-in-law's and\nsee his wife, and try to persuade them to let her come back with him\nwithout any ceremony; his mother made no objection, so he got ready\nfor the journey and started off on horseback. He had not gone far\nwhen he saw a field of thatching grass on fire, and in the middle,\nsurrounded by the flames, was a huge poisonous snake, unable to escape.\n\nAs the prince rode by, the snake called out to him \"Prince, you are\ngoing joyously to bring home your bride, and here am I in danger of\nbeing burned alive; will you not have pity on me and save me? If you do\nI will confer a boon on you.\" \"But if I save you,\" objected the prince,\n\"you will only eat me: snakes do not know what gratitude is.\" \"I am\nnot of that kind,\" answered the snake: \"here I am in danger of death,\nI beseech you to have pity on me.\" These pleadings prevailed and the\nprince got off his horse and beat out the fire and then spread a cloth\nover the embers so that the snake could crawl out. When the snake was\nsafe the prince asked for the boon that had been promised him: \"No boon\nwill you get\" said the snake: \"you did a foolhardy thing in saving me,\nfor now I am going to eat you, and you cannot escape from me.\"\n\nThe prince saw that there was little hope for him but he begged the\nsnake to allow two or three judges to decide whether it was fair that\nhe should be killed, after what he had done. The snake agreed to this\nprovided that the judges were not human beings; he was willing to be\nbound by the opinions of any one else.\n\nThey set out together to look for judges and soon saw a herd of cattle\nresting under a banyan tree by a pool of water, so they agreed to\nmake these their judges; then the prince explained to one of the\ncows and the banyan tree and the water what they were to decide,\nwhether it was fair for the snake, whose life he had saved, now to\nwant to kill him. The banyan tree was the first to answer: it said\n\"You did good to the snake and your wages for doing good are evil;\nyou saved his life and he will now kill you, this is fair, this is\nthe justice we have learnt from human beings; you enjoy the shade of\nus trees and in return you lop off our branches and sit on them, and\ndo us all manner of injury; it is right that the snake should eat you.\"\n\nThen the prince turned to the cow: \"He may eat you,\" answered the\ncow: \"the tree is right, see how men treat cattle; you drive away our\ncalves from us and take our milk and you beat us and make us work hard;\nfor all this ill treatment the snake shall eat you.\"\n\nThen the prince asked the water what it had to say: \"I agree with the\nother two\" said the water: \"to return evil for good is the justice of\nmankind, it is by drinking water that your very lives are preserved;\nyet you spit into it and wash dirty things in it; shall not the snake\nreturn you evil for good?\" So judgment was delivered, and the snake\nwanted to eat the prince; but the prince asked the tree and the cow\nand the water to listen while he made one prayer; he told them how\nhe had been married when he was too young to know anything about it,\nand how he was going for the first time to see his wife, when this\nmisfortune befell him; so he begged that he might be allowed to go and\nsee his bride and then be eaten on his way back; the banyan tree asked\nwhat the snake thought about this proposal and the snake said that it\nwould make no objection if the tree and the cow and the water would be\nsureties for the return of the prince within three days. So the prince\npromised them faithfully that he would return and they let him go.\n\nThe prince rode on to his father-in-law's house, and when he arrived,\na bed was brought out for him to sit on and he was asked where he\ncame from. When he explained who he was, they at once brought water\nand washed his feet and then gave him oil and a tooth stick and took\nhim to bathe; then they brought him curds and dried rice to eat and\nafterwards killed a goat and made a feast and showed him every honour.\n\nThat evening as his wife was rubbing his arms and legs, the\nprince remained silent and downcast and showed none of the joy of\na bridegroom; and when his bride asked what was the matter, he told\nher that he had only come to see her for one day and that afterwards\nshe must try and forget all about him. At first he would not tell\nher more, but when she urged him, he told her how he had to go and\nsurrender himself to the snake on the next day. When she heard this\nshe vowed that she would go with him and die with him.\n\nThe next morning came and the prince said that he must return, and\nhis wife said that she was going with him; so they made everything\nready and set out on their way. When they came within sight of the\nbanyan tree where the prince was to be killed, he tried to turn his\nwife back but though he used force she refused to leave him and said\nthat she would first see him killed and then go home; so at last he\nlet her accompany him.\n\nWhen they reached the tree she asked to be allowed to go in front and\nbe the first to meet the snake; to this the prince assented. They\nhad not gone far when they saw the snake awaiting them in the path\nwith its crest raised, and when they drew near, the prince's bride\nbegged the snake to eat her first, as she had nowhere to live if she\nsurvived her husband. The snake refused and bade her go home to her\nparents; she said that that was impossible; they had sold her and the\nprince had bought her, in life and in death, bones and ashes. But\nthe snake would not listen and made for the prince to eat him. His\nwife however kept in front of the snake and would not let it pass;\nshe called the banyan tree to witness that the snake should not eat\nher husband without first killing her; without her husband she would\nhave no one to support her.\n\nThen the snake promised to teach her an incantation by means of which\nshe could support herself, so saying, the snake conferred some magic\npower upon and taught her an incantation; and promised her that if she\ntook some dust in her hand and repeated the incantation and then blew\non the dust, any person on whom she sprinkled the dust would at once\nbe burnt to ashes. Then the prince's wife asked how she should restore\nthe people to life and the snake taught her that also, but she was not\nsatisfied and said that she must try at once to see whether the snake\nwas deceiving her or no; so the snake bade her experiment on a _tarop_\ntree which grew near. Thereupon she gathered up some dust and repeated\nthe incantation and blew on it and suddenly threw it over the snake,\nwhich at once turned to ashes, and that was the end of the snake.\n\nThen the prince and his wife went on their way rejoicing, and he was\nfilled with wonder at the way in which his bride had saved him by\npersisting in going with him.\n\n\n\n\nXLV. The Tiger's Bride.\n\nOne day a woman went to cut thatching grass and she cut such a quantity\nthat when she tied it up, the bundle was too big for her to lift on\nto her head; so she stood and called for some one to help her, but\nno one was within hearing and no one came. She called and called and\nat last began to promise that she would give her daughter in marriage\nto any one who would help her.\n\nAfter she had called out this a few times, a tiger suddenly appeared\nand asked what she wanted; she explained her difficulty and the tiger\nundertook to lift the load on to her head, if she would really give\nhim her daughter in marriage. She promised and with the help of the\ntiger took up the bundle and went home.\n\nTwo or three days after, the tiger presented himself at her house and\nwas duly married to the daughter. After the wedding the couple started\nfor the tiger's home; all the way the unhappy bride wept and sang:--\n\n\n \"How far off is our home, big head?\"\n\n\n\"You can just see the mouth of the cave\" answered the tiger and in a\nshort time they came to a large cave. Then the tiger told her to set\nto work and cook a feast while he went off and invited his friends\nto come and share it. But the bride when left alone caught a cat and\nkilled it and hung it over the fire, so that its blood dropped slowly\ninto the pan and made a fizzling noise, as if cooking were going on;\nand then she ran off to her mother's house and climbed a tree which\ngrew near it and began to sing:--\n\n\n \"You married me to a ti-ti-tiger:\n You threw me to a bear:\n Take back the necklace you gave me\n Take back the bracelet and the diamonds and the coral.\"\n\n\nMeanwhile the tiger returned with his friends and sat down outside the\ncave and told his wife to be quick with the cooking of the cakes for he\nheard the hissing over the fire and thought that she was cooking. At\nlast as she did not come out, he got tired of waiting and went in to\nfetch her: then he saw that she had disappeared and had to go and tell\nhis friends. They were very angry at being cheated out of a feast,\nand fell upon the tiger and beat him, till he ran away and was seen\nno more: but his bride was left to flit from tree to tree singing:--\n\n\n \"You married me to a ti-ti-tiger:\n You threw me to a bear:\n Take back the necklace you gave me\n Take back the bracelet and the diamonds and the coral.\"\n\n\n\n\n\nXLVI. The Killing of the Tiger.\n\nThey say that there was a time when all living things had a common\nspeech and animals and men could understand each other, and in those\ndays there was a man-eating tiger which infested a jungle through\nwhich a highroad ran; it preyed on people passing along the road\ntill no one ventured to travel, and as the country was so unsafe, the\npeople went in a body to the Raja and told him of the ravages of the\ntiger and asked him to send a force of soldiers to hunt and shoot it.\n\nSo the Raja called together all his soldiers and promised to give half\nhis kingdom to any one of them who would kill the tiger, but not one\nof them was brave enough to make the attempt; they said that their\nbusiness was to fight men and not tigers and leopards; then the Raja\nextended his offer to all his subjects and the petitioners went home\nto consult about it; and the news was published that the Raja would\ngive half his kingdom to the slayer of the tiger.\n\nNow there was a poor man who was a very brave shikari of big game,\nand cunning into the bargain, and he offered to go and kill the\ntiger. They questioned him carefully, and when they saw that he was in\nearnest they took him to the Raja to hear from the Raja's lips what\nhis reward should be; and the Raja promised him half his kingdom,\nand wrote a bond to that effect, for he thought that the tiger would\nsurely kill the man. Then the shikari said that he would start the\nnext morning and return the next day either with the dead tiger or\nwith bits of its ears and claws to show that he had killed it. The\nRaja told the people to watch carefully and see that the shikari did\nnot cheat by taking the claws and ears of a tiger with him.\n\nThe next morning the shikari started off and all he took with him was\na looking-glass and three pictures of a tiger drawn on three pieces\nof paper and a hatchet; he went to the road which the tiger frequented\nand climbed a banyan tree and spent the night in it. The tiger did not\npass by at all that night but in the morning it appeared and called\nout \"Who is up in the tree?\" The shikari said \"It is I.\" \"Come down\nquickly,\" said the tiger, \"I have been looking for you.\" \"Wait a\nminute,\" answered the shikari, \"I have been looking for you also.\"\n\n\"What for?\" said the tiger: \"Tell me first why you are looking for me,\"\nsaid the man: \"To eat you,\" answered the tiger; then the man said,\n\"Well I have been hunting for you to catch you and take you away. I\nhave caught three or four like you and if you don't believe me, let me\nget down and I will show you\". The tiger got into a fright and said:\n\"Come down and show me.\" So the shikari climbed down and uncovered\nhis looking glass and told the tiger to look and he reflected in the\nglass the pictures of the tigers which he had brought and said, \"Now\nI am going to catch you and put you in here also.\" The tiger asked\nwhy he was to be caught and the shikari said that it was because he\nhad made the road unsafe by killing travellers; then the tiger begged\nand prayed to be let off and promised that he would never kill any\ntravellers again. At last the shikari said that he would let him go,\nif he would allow him to cut off his claws and the tips of his ears\nand the tip of his tongue as a pledge of his good faith. The tiger\nsaid, \"Well, you may cut off one claw from each foot and the very\ntip of my ears and tongue.\" So the shikari cut them off with his\nhatchet and, after again warning the tiger, went back home; and then\npresented himself with all his friends before the Raja and the Raja\ngave him the promised reward, But the tiger's tongue festered and,\nafter roaring with pain for a whole day, it died.\n\n\n\n\nXLVII. The Dream.\n\nOne night as a man and his wife lay talking in bed, the woman told\nher husband that she had dreamt that in a certain place she had dug\nup a pot full of rupees, and she proposed that they should go and\nlook for it and see whether the dream was true. While they talked, it\nchanced that some thieves, who had climbed on to the roof, overheard\nthe conversation and at once decided to forestall the others. So they\nwent off to the place which the woman had described and began to dig,\nand after digging a little they were delighted to come on a pot with\na lid on. But when they took off the lid an enormous snake raised\nits head and hissed at them. At this the thieves cursed the woman\nwho had misled them and agreed to take the snake and drop it through\nthe roof on to the man and his wife as they lay in bed. So they shut\nthe snake up again and carried it off to the house and, making a hole\nin the thatch, dropped it through. But as it fell the snake changed\ninto a stream of money, which came rattling down on the couple below;\nthe thieves found a snake, but it was not a real snake, it was Thakur;\nand it was his will to give the money to the man and his wife. When\nthese two had recovered from their astonishment, they gathered up\nthe money, and lived in wealth ever afterwards.\n\n\n\n\nXLVIII. The King of the Bhuyans.\n\nThere was once a king of the Bhuyans and near his palace was a village\nof Santals; he was a kind ruler and both Santals and Bhuyans were very\nhappy under his sway. But when he died, he was succeeded by his son,\nwho was a very severe master and soon fell out with the Santals. If\nhe found any cattle or buffaloes grazing anywhere near his crops,\nhe had the cowherds beaten severely: so that no one dared to take\nthe cattle in that direction.\n\nThe Santals were very angry at this and longed to get even with the\nRaja; they planned to turn the cattle into the Raja's crops at night\nwhen no one could see them or catch them, but in the end their courage\nfailed them.\n\nOne year after the rice had been cut, but before the millet crop was\ngathered, the youths and maidens of the Santal village had a dance\nand danced all night till nearly morning; then they agreed that it\nwas not worth while to go to bed and they had better take the cattle\nout to graze at once.\n\nAfter grazing their fill, the cattle all collected at the midday\nresting place and the cowherds were so sleepy after their night's\ndancing, that they fell fast asleep on the bare ground. After a time\nthe buffaloes began to move again and seeing a nice field of millet\nbelonging to the Raja soon made their way to it and grazed the whole\nfield down. The Raja happened to pass that way and was filled with\nwrath at the sight; he at once ordered his _sipahis_ to go and beat\nthe cowherds within an inch of their lives and so the _sipahis_\nran to the place with sticks. Their approach roused the sleeping\ncowherds who jumped up and ran off home as hard as they could;\nall but the servant of the village _paramanik_ (assistant headman)\nhe did not run away but went to drive the cattle out of the field;\nhe knew that this was his duty to his master and he was resolved to\ndo his duty even at the cost of his life.\n\nAs all the other boys had got away the sipahis turned their attention\nto him, but as they aimed blows at him with the sticks, he caught the\nblows on his arms and the sticks shivered to atoms without harming him;\nso then they went to kick him but a great _cibei_ snake came rustling\nup behind them; so they saw it was no use to contend with him and\ndesisted: whereupon he drove all the village cattle home in triumph.\n\nThe sipahis reported to the Raja how the cowherds had all made good\ntheir escape, and how the paramanik's herd boy had driven off the\ncattle. Then the Raja told them to go that afternoon at the time\nthe cattle were brought home for the night and wait at the end of\nthe village street and then give the cowherds the thrashing they\ndeserved; The sipahis did as they were ordered and that evening waited\nfor the returning herd boys; and caught them as they came home and\nthrashed them within an inch of their lives. The others were all\nleft senseless on the ground: but the sipahis did not dare to lay\nhands on the paramanik's herd boy, he drove the cattle back into the\nvillage, and told the villagers what had been done to their sons. So\nthe villagers went out with beds and carried the wounded boys home;\nthen they assembled and resolved to go and punish the Raja, so they\nwent to him and asked what he meant by killing their children. \"Dear\nme,\" said the Raja, \"are they really dead?\" \"Well, if not not quite\ndead, they are very ill,\" was the answer. \"I am sorry,\" said the Raja:\n\"I admit that I have done wrong, but if you will forgive me this time,\nI will undertake to cure them in a minute and make them as well as\never; go and fetch them here.\"\n\nSo the Santals went off to fetch the wounded cowherds and carried\nthem to the Raja, all lying senseless on beds and put them down before\nhim. While they were away the Raja had told his sipahis to grind some\ngood hot _chilis_; and when the cowherds were brought to him he told\nthe sipahis to thrust the chili paste up their noses; this was done\nand the smarting soon made the cowherds jump up and run away in a\nvery lively fashion, and that was the way the Raja kept his word and\ncured them.\n\n\n\n\nXLIX. The Foolish Sons.\n\nThere was once a man of the blacksmith caste who had six sons; the\nsons were all married and the whole family lived together. But the\nsons' wives took to quarrelling and at last the sons went to their\nparents and proposed that they should set up separate households,\nas the women folk could not live in peace.\n\nThe blacksmith and his wife did not like the idea at all and pointed\nout that it would be most inadvisable; while, so far, there was plenty\nof food and clothing for all, they would find it much more expensive\nto have seven separate households and split up what was quite enough\nso long as they lived together, and what was to become of their old\nparents who were now too old to work? The sons protested that they\nwould support their father and mother as long as they lived, even\nthough the family separated.\n\nAt last the old man said that he would put them to the test and see\nwhether they were clever enough to manage their own affairs and smart\nenough to cheat people into giving them what they wanted. \"I will\nsee,\" said he, \"how you would manage to support the family in time\nof famine or if we fell into poverty. I and your mother have managed\nto bring up a large family, and you know nothing of the anxiety that\nit has cost us; you have merely had to enjoy yourselves and eat your\nmeals; if you insist on it, I will let you separate, but don't blame\nme afterwards. However to-morrow I will take you on a journey and\nfind some means of testing your cleverness.\"\n\nSo the next morning they made ready for the journey; their father only\nallowed them to take one meal of rice tied up in their cloths and he\ngave each of them one pice, which he said was their inheritance. They\nset off and after travelling some way they sat down and ate up their\nrice and then went on again. By the middle of the afternoon they\nbegan to feel hungry, so the father proposed their going to a bazar\nwhich was in sight; but between them and the bazar was a channel of\nstagnant water, very deep, and with its surface covered by a coating\nof weeds. They tried to cross, but directly they set foot on it they\nsank through the weeds, and it was too deep for wading. So their father\nsaid they would all camp on the bank and he would see whether they were\nclever enough to get across the channel and bring food for a meal;\nif they could do that he would believe that they could support their\nfamilies in time of famine.\n\nSo the old man spread his cloth on the ground and set down and watched\nthem try their luck one by one. The eldest brother first jumped up\nto try but he could not cross the channel; everytime he tried, he\nsank through the weeds, at last he gave up in despair and admitted\nthat he could not feed the party. Then the other brothers all tried\nin turn and failed. At last it came to the turn of the youngest; he\nmodestly said that he was not likely to succeed where his elders had\nfailed but he would have a try, so he went to the edge of the water\nand spreading out his cloth on the weeds lay down on it so that his\nweight was distributed; in this position the weeds supported him and\nhe managed to wriggle himself across on his face to the other side.\n\nOnce across, he went to the bazar, and going to a shop began to\ntalk with the shopkeeper; after a little he asked for the loan of an\nanna; the shopkeeper said that he could not lend to a stranger; the\nblacksmith's son gave the name of some village as his home and pressed\nfor the loan, promising to pay him one anna as interest within a week\nand pulling out his pice he said \"See here, I will pay you this pice\nas part of the interest in advance.\" At this the shopkeeper suffered\nhimself to be persuaded and lent him the anna.\n\nWith this the blacksmith's son went off to a second shop and begged\nfor the loan of four annas, as he had pressing need of it; he promised\nto pay an anna a week interest, and to pay down at once the interest\nfor the first week. After some hesitation the shopkeeper was deceived\ninto lending the four annas. Then he went off to another shop and\nborrowed a rupee by promising to pay eight annas a month as interest\nand putting down four annas as advance.\n\nThen he went to a Marwari's shop and asked for the loan of ten rupees;\nthe Marwari asked for interest at the rate of one rupee a day; the\nblacksmith's son protested that that was too high but offered to pay\none rupee every two days and to pay one rupee of interest in advance;\nthe Marwari hesitated, but after being given a name and address--which\nwere however false--he gave way and took his signature to a bond\nand lent him the ten rupees. At this the blacksmith's son set off in\ntriumph to rejoin his brothers; he crossed the water in the same way\nas before and took the ten rupees to his father.\n\nThen they all went on to another bazar and bought dried rice\nand sweetmeats and curds and had a grand feast. Then their father\nproceeded to point out to his sons how, except the youngest, they were\nall useless; they had been unable to cross the channel or to make\nanything of their own pice of capital; they had nothing to answer,\nand all went home and from that day nothing was heard of any proposal\nto divide the family until the old father and mother died.\n\n\n\n\nL. Kora and His Sister.\n\nThere were once seven brothers and they had one sister who was the\nyoungest of the family. The six eldest brothers were married but no\nwife had been found for the youngest; for three years enquiries were\nmade to try and find a suitable bride for him, but all in vain. At last\nthe young man, whose name was Kora, told his parents and brothers not\nto trouble any more, as he would find a wife for himself; he intended\nto bring a flowering plant from the forest and plant it by the stand\non which the watering pots were kept, and then he would marry any\nmaiden who picked one of the flowers and put it in her hair.\n\nHis father and mother approved of this proposal, so the next day he\nbrought some sort of flowering plant and planted it by the water-pot\nstand. He charged all his family to be most careful that no one\nof his own relations picked the flower and also to warn any of the\nvillage girls who wanted to pick it, that if she did so and put it\nin her hair, she would thereby become his wife; but if, knowing this,\nanyone wished to do so, they were not to prevent her.\n\nThe neighbours soon got to hear what the plant meant and used often\nto come and look at it, and Kora watched it growing, till after\na time it produced a bud and then a beautiful and sweet-scented\nflower. All the village girls came to see the beautiful flower;\nand one day Kora's sister when she went to the water-stand to get\nsome water to drink, caught hold of it and longed to pick it, it\nlooked so pretty. Her mother saw what she was doing and scolded her\nfor touching the forbidden flower, but the girl begged to see what\nit would look like in her hair; there could be no harm done if she\npulled the whole plant up by its roots and put it in her hair and\nthen replanted it; no one would know what had happened. In spite of\nher mother's remonstrances she insisted on doing this and having seen\nhow the flower looked in her hair carefully replanted it.\n\nSoon afterwards Kora came home and went to see his flower; he knew\nat once that some one had worn it and called to his mother and asked\nwho it was. She protested that she knew nothing about the matter,\nbut Kora said that he could tell by the smell that it had been\nworn and then he showed that there was also a hair sticking to the\nflower. Then his mother admitted that in spite of all she could say,\nhis sister had worn the flower and planted it again in the ground.\n\nWhen she saw that she was found out, the girl began to cry, but her\nfather said that it was clearly fated that she and Kora should marry\nand this was the reason why they had been unable to find any other\nbride; so they must now arrange for the wedding. Accordingly rice was\ngot ready and all the usual preparations made for a marriage. The\nunfortunate girl saw that flight was her only means of escape from\nsuch a fate, so one day she ran away; all she took with her was a\npet parrot.\n\nFor many days she travelled on and one day she stopped by a pool\nto bathe and as she rubbed her limbs she collected the scurf that\nshe rubbed off her skin and put in on the ground in one place; then\nshe went on with her bathing; but at the place where she had put the\nscurf of her skin, a palm tree sprang up and grew so rapidly, that,\nby the time she came out of the water, it had become a large tree.\n\nThe girl was struck by this strange sight and at once thought that\nthe tree would afford her a safe refuge; so she climbed up it with\nher parrot in her hand and when safely seated among the leaves she\nbegged the palm tree to grow so tall that no one would be able to find\nher, and the tree grew till it reached an unusual height. So the girl\nstayed in the tree top and the parrot used to go every day and bring\nher food. Meanwhile her parents and brothers searched high and low\nfor her for two or three days, for the wedding day was close at hand,\nbut their search was of course in vain; and they concluded that the\ngirl must have drowned herself in some river.\n\nTime passed and one day at noon, a Mahuli girl, who was taking her\nbasket-ware to market, stopped to rest in the shade of the palm tree:\nand as she sat there, Kora's sister called to her from the top of\nthe tree and asked her to give her a small winnowing fan in exchange\nfor a bracelet The Mahuli girl told her to throw the bracelet down\nfirst. Kora's sister made no objection to this, and when she had got\nthe bracelet, the Mahuli girl threw up a winnowing fan which soared\nright up to where Kora's sister was sitting. Before the Mahuli girl\nwent on her way, Kora's sister made her promise never to let anyone\nsee the bracelet whew she went about selling her baskets as otherwise\nit would be stolen from her; and secondly on no account to let it be\nknown that there was anyone in the palm tree, on pain of death. The\nMahuli girl kept her promise and whenever she went out selling baskets\nshe used to keep her bracelet covered with her cloth.\n\nOne day it chanced that she went to the house where Kora lived to sell\nher wares and they asked her why it was that she kept her arm covered;\nshe told them that she had a sore on it; they wanted to see how big\nthe sore was, but she refused to show it, saying that if she showed\nit she would die. They laughed at such a ridiculous story and at last\nforced her to show her arm, which of course was quite well; but they at\nonce recognised the bracelet and asked where she had got it from. The\nMahuli girl refused to tell them and said that if she did, she would\ndie. \"What a foolish girl you are\" they objected \"first you say you\nwill die if you show us your arm and then if you tell us where you\ngot this bracelet from; it belonged to our daughter whom we have lost,\nand so you must tell us! Come, we will give you a basket full of rice\nif you tell us.\" The Mahuli girl could not resist this offer, and when\nthe basket of rice was produced, she told them where the palm tree was,\nin which Kora's sister was hiding. In all haste the father and mother\nwent to the tree and found that it was much too high for them to climb:\nso they begged their daughter to come down and promised not to marry\nher to her brother; but she would not come down: then they sang:--\n\n\n \"You have made a palm tree from the scrapings of your skin\n And have climbed up into it, daughter!\n Come daughter, come down.\"\n\n\nBut she only answered:--\n\n\n \"Father and mother, why do you cry?\n I must spend my life here:\n \"Do you return home.\"\n\n\nSo they went home in despair.\n\nThen her sisters-in-law came in their turn and sang:--\n\n\n \"Palm tree, palm tree, give us back our sister:\n The brother and sister have got to be married.\"\n\n\nBut she would not answer them nor come down from the tree, so they\nhad to go home without her.\n\nThen all her other relations came and besought her to come down,\nbut she would not listen to them. So they went away and invoked a\nstorm to come to their aid. And a storm arose and cold rain fell,\ntill the girl in the palm tree was soaked and shivering, and the\nwind blew and swayed the palm tree so that its top kept touching the\nground. At last she could bear the cold and wet no more and, seizing\nan opportunity when the tree touched the ground, she slipped off. Her\nrelations had made all the villagers promise on no account to let\nher into their houses; so when she went into the village and called\nout at house after house no one answered her or opened to her. Then\nshe went to her own home and there also they refused to open to her.\n\nBut Kora had lit a big fire in the cow house and sat by it warming\nhimself, knowing that the girl would have to come to him; and as she\ncould find no shelter elsewhere she had to go to his fire, and then\nshe sat and warmed herself and thought \"I fled for fear of this man\nand now I have come back to him; this is the end, I can no longer stay\nin this world; the people will not even let me into their houses. I\nhave no wish to see them again.\"\n\nSo she sat and thought, and when she was warmed, she lay down by\nthe side of Kora; and he wore tied to his waist a nail-cutter; she\nunfastened this and cut her throat with it as she lay. Her death\nstruggles aroused Kora, and he got up and saw the ground covered with\nher blood and he saw that she had killed herself with his nail-cutter;\nthen he took counsel with himself and also cut his throat in the same\nway. In the morning the two corpses were found lying side by side,\nand it was seen that their blood refused to mingle but had flowed in\nopposite directions.\n\nSo they took the bodies away to burn them and laid them on one pyre;\nand when the fire was lit, it was seen that the smoke from the two\nbodies rose separately into the air. Then all who saw it, said \"We\nwished to marry brother and sister but Chando would not approve of it;\nsee how their blood would not mingle though spilt on the same floor,\nand how the smoke from the pyre rises in two separate columns; it is\nplain that the marriage of brother and sister is wrong.\" From that\ntime such manages have been discontinued.\n\n\n\n\nLI. A Story on Caste.\n\nThere was once a village inhabited only by Musahars. Among them was\none girl who was so beautiful that she seemed more than human. Her\nfather and mother were so proud of her looks that they determined\nnot to marry her to a man of their own caste. They were constantly\ndiscussing whom they should choose as a son-in-law; one day they began\nto consider who were the greatest persons in the world. The old woman\nwas of opinion that there was no one greater than Chando, the Sun God,\nand suggested that they should marry the girl to him. Her husband\nagreed and off they set and presented themselves before Chando. Chando\nasked why they had come. \"O Chando, we understand that you are the\ngreatest being in the world and we have come to marry our daughter\nto you,\" Chando answered \"I fancy there is some one greater than I,\"\n\"Who is he?\" asked the parents. \"The cloud is greater than I, for it\ncan hide my face and quench my rays.\"\n\nAt this the father and mother hurried off with their daughter in search\nof the Cloud, and when they found him, told him that they had brought\ntheir daughter to give him to wife, as he was the greatest being in\nthe world. \"I may be great,\" said the Cloud, \"but there is a greater\nthan I, the Wind. The Wind rises and blows me away in a minute.\" So\nthey went in search of the Wind and when they found him, explained\nto him why they had brought him their daughter. The Wind said \"I am\nstrong but there are stronger than I: the Mountains are stronger. I can\nblow things down or whirl them away, but I cannot move the mountains.\"\n\nSo on they went to the Mountain and explained their errand. The\nMountain said \"I am great but there are more powerful than I. The\nground-rat is more powerful, for however high I may be the ground-rats\nburrow holes in me and I cannot resist them.\"\n\nThe poor parents by this time began to feel rather discouraged,\nbut still they made up their minds to persevere and went on to look\nfor the ground-rat. They found him and offered him their daughter in\nmarriage, but the ground-rat denied that he was the most powerful\nbeing on earth, the Musahars were more powerful for they lived by\ndigging out ground-rats and eating them.\n\nThe hapless couple went home very dejectedly, reflecting that they\nhad begun by despising their own caste and had gone in search of\nsomething greater and had ended where they begun. So they arranged\nto marry their daughter to a man of their own caste after all.\n\n_Moral_ You should not despise your own caste or race; you cannot\nhelp what caste you are born into. A Santal may learn to read and\nwrite and associate with men of good position and thereby his mind\nmay be perverted. He may wish to change his caste become a Sadhu, or\na Kherwar, or a Boistab, or a Mussulman, or a Christian or anything\nelse; but people will still know him for a beef-eating Santal. If he\nbecomes a Christian, no one will think him the equal of a Saheb or\na Brahman; no Saheb will marry his daughter or give him his daughter\nin marriage. Remember what happened to the Musahar, who despised his\nown caste. God caused you to be born in a certain caste. He and not\nwe made the different castes and He knows what is good and bad for us.\n\n\n\n\nLII. Tipi and Tepa.\n\nTipi and Tepa dwelt together and lived on baked cakes. One day they\nmet a bear in the jungle. \"Now I will eat you\" growled the bear. \"Spare\nus,\" said Tipi and Tepa \"and to-morrow we will beg some food and bake\nit into cakes and give it to you,\" So the bear let them go away to beg;\nbut when they came back they ate the food which they had procured and\nthen hid themselves inside a hollow gourd. The bear came and looked\nabout for them but could not find them and went away.\n\nThe next day Tipi and Tepa again went out begging and as luck would\nhave it again met the bear. \"Now I will eat you\" said the bear. \"No\"\nsaid they \"let us go and beg some food for you.\" So they went off\nbegging and came back and baked cakes and ate them and then hid\ninside the gourd. The bear came and carried off the gourd on its\nshoulder and began to pick plums and other fruit and put them into\nthe gourd. As fast as the fruit was put in Tipi and Tepa ate it\nup. \"It is a very funny thing that the gourd does not become full\"\nthought the bear. But Tepa ate so much that at last he burst, with\nsuch a noise that the bear threw down the gourd and ran away.\n\n\n\n\n\nLIII. The Child with the Ears of an Ox.\n\nOnce upon a time a son was born to a certain Raja and the child had\nthe ears of an ox. The Raja was very much ashamed and let no one\nknow. But the secret could not be kept from the barber who had to\nperform the ceremony of shaving the child's head. However the Raja\nmade the barber vow not to tell anyone of what he had seen.\n\nSo the barber went away, but the secret which he might not tell had an\nunfortunate effect; it made his stomach swell to an enormous size. As\nthe barber went along in this unhappy condition he met a Dom who asked\nwhy his stomach was so swollen. The barber said that it was because\nhe had shaved the Raja's child and had seen that it had the ears of\nan ox. Directly he had broken his vow and blurted out the secret,\nhis stomach returned to its usual size.\n\nThe Dom went his way and cut down a tree and made a drum out of the\nwood, and went about playing on the drum and begging. He came to the\nRaja's palace and there he drummed and sang:--\n\n\n \"The son of the Raja\n Has the ears of an ox.\"\n\n\nWhen the Raja heard this, he was very angry, and swore to punish the\nbarber who must have broken his vow. But the Dom assured the Raja\nthat he knew nothing about the matter; that it was the drum that sang\nthe words and not he and that he had no idea what they meant. So the\nRaja was pacified and gave the Dom a present and sent him away and\nthe barber was not punished.\n\n\n\n\n\nLIV. The Child Who Knew His Father.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a girl whose parents took the greatest\ncare that she should not be familiar with any of the young men of\nthe village. But in spite of their precautions she formed an intimacy\nwith a young man and was presently found to be with child. When this\nbecame known the villagers held a panchayat to enquire into the matter,\nbut the girl flatly declined to give any information and her father\nand brothers were unable to point out the offender. So the village\nelders decided to let the matter stand over till the child was born.\n\nWhen the birth took place the question arose in whose name its head\nshould be shaved; as its father was still unknown, the villagers\ndecided that this should be settled when the child was old enough to\ntalk. So when the child was two or three years old and could prattle\na little, the girl's father went to the headman and _paranic_ and\nasked them what was to be done. They said that he must pay a fine to\nthem and another to the villagers, because he had made the village\nunclean for so long, and give a feast to the villagers and then they\nwould find out the father of the child and make him marry the girl;\nand if he refused to do this, he would be outcasted. The unfortunate\nman agreed and then the _jog manjhi_ and _godet_ were sent to call\nall the men of the neighbourhood to a meeting.\n\nThey assembled in their best clothes and pagris and sat down in rows,\nand in the middle a circle was drawn on the ground; then prayers were\noffered to Chando and the child was set in the circle and told to find\nits father. The child began to walk slowly along the lines of men but\nit did not stop till it came to its real father, who was sitting a\nlittle apart, and then it threw itself into his arms. Thus the truth\nwas discovered and the man married the girl and, as he was very poor,\nwent to live in his father-in-law's house.\n\n\n\n\nLV. Jogeshwar's Marriage.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a young man of the weaver caste, named\nJogeshwar. He was an orphan and lived all alone. One summer he planted\na field of pumpkins on the sandy bed of a river. The plants grew well\nand bore plenty of fruit: but when the pumpkins were ripe, a jackal\nfound them out and went every night and feasted on them. Jogeshwar\nsoon found out from the foot-marks who was doing the damage; so he set\na snare and a few days later found the jackal caught in it. He took\na stick to beat its life out, but the jackal cried: \"Spare me and I\nwill find you a wife.\" So Jogeshwar stayed his hand and released the\njackal who promised at once to set off about the business.\n\nThe jackal kept his word and went to a city where a Raja lived. There\nhe sat down on the bank of one of the Raja's tanks. To this tank the\nservants from the palace brought the pots and dishes to be washed,\nand to this tank also came the Rani and princesses to bathe. Whenever\nthe servants came to wash their dishes, the jackal kept on repeating:\n\"What sort of a Raja is this whose plates are washed in water in\nwhich people have bathed? there is no Raja like Raja Jogeshwar: he\neats of golden plates and yet he never uses them a second time but\nthrows them away directly he has eaten off them once.\"\n\nThe servants soon carried word to the Raja of the jackal who sat by\nthe tank and of his story of Raja Jogeshwar. Then the Raja sent for\nthe jackal and asked why he had come: the jackal answered that he was\nlooking for a bride for Raja Jogeshwar. Now the Raja had three or four\ndaughters and he thought that he saw his way to a fine match for one\nof them. So he sent for the young women and asked the jackal to say\nwhether one of them would be a suitable bride for Raja Jogeshwar. The\njackal chose the second sister and said that he would go and get the\nconsent of Raja Jogeshwar.\n\nThe jackal hurried back and told the astonished weaver that he had\nfound a Raja's daughter for him to marry. Jogeshwar had nothing to\ndelay him and only asked that an early day might be fixed for the\nwedding. So the jackal went back to the Raja and received from him\nthe knotted string that fixed the date of the wedding.\n\nThe jackal had now to devise some means by which Jogeshwar could\ngo through the wedding ceremonies without his poverty being found\nout. He first went to the Raja and asked how many attendants Raja\nJogeshwar should bring with him, as he did not want to bring more\nthan the bride's father could entertain. The Raja was too proud to\nfix any number and said they could bring as many as they liked.\n\nJogeshwar having no relations and no money, was quite unable to arrange\nfor a grand procession to escort him; he could only just afford to hire\na palki in which to be carried to the bride's house; so the jackal\nsent word to all the jackals and paddy birds of the neighbourhood to\ncome to a feast at the palace of the bride, an invitation which was\neagerly accepted. At the time fixed they started off, with all the\npaddy birds riding on the backs of the jackals. When they came within\nsight of the palace, the jackal ran on ahead and invited the Raja to\ncome out and look at the procession as there was still time to send\nthem back, if they were too many, but it would be a great disgrace\nif they were allowed to arrive and find no entertainment. The Raja\nwent out to look and when he saw the procession stretching away for a\ndistance of two miles or more with all the paddy birds looking like\nwhite horsemen as they rode on the backs of the jackals, his heart\nfailed him and he begged the jackal to send them away, as he could\nnot entertain such a host.\n\nSo then the jackal hurried back and turned them all away and Jogeshwar\nreached the palace, accompanied only by his palki bearers.\n\nBefore the wedding feast, the jackal gave Jogeshwar some hints as to\nhis behaviour. He warned him that three of four kinds of meat and\nvegetables would be handed round with the rice, and bade him to be\nsure to help himself from each dish--of course in his own house the\npoor weaver had never had more than one dish to eat with his rice--and\nwhen _pan_ was handed to him after the feast he was not to take any\nuntil he had a handful of money given him; by such behaviour he would\nlead every one to think that he was really a prince. Jogeshwar did\nexactly as he was told and was thought a very grand personage.\n\nThe next evening Jogeshwar set off homewards with his bride, the\nbride's brothers and attendants accompanying them. They travelled on\nand on till the bride's party began to grow tired and kept asking the\njackal how much further they had to go. The jackal kept on putting them\noff, till at last they came in sight of a grove of palm trees, and he\ntold them that Raja Jogeshwar's palace stood among the palm trees but\nwas so old and weather worn that it could not be seen from a distance.\n\nWhen they reached the palm grove and found nothing but Jogeshwar's\nhumble hut, the bride's brothers turned on the jackal and asked what\nhe meant by deceiving them. The jackal protested that he had told no\nlies: the weaver ate every day off plates made of dry leaves and threw\nthem away when done with and that was all he meant when he talked of\ngolden plates. At this excuse they turned on him and wanted to beat\nhim, but he ran away and escaped.\n\nThe bride's friends went back and told the Raja how things had turned\nout and as divorce was not lawful for them, the Raja could only send\nfor his daughter and her husband and give them an estate to live on.\n\n\n\n\nLVI. The Strong Man.\n\nThere was once a Strong man but no one knew of his strength. He was in\nthe service of a farmer who made him headman over all his labourers. In\nthose days much of the country was still covered with jungle. One\nday the farmer chose a piece of forest land which he thought suitable\nfor cultivation and told his labourers to set to work and clear it,\nand as usual after giving his orders he troubled himself no more\nabout the matter, as he could fully rely on the Strong man.\n\nThe next morning, the Strong man set the other labourers to work\nploughing a field and then said that he would go and have a look\nat the jungle which his master wanted cleared. So he went off alone\nwith only a stick in his hand. When he reached the place, he walked\nall round it, and saw how much could be made into good arable land,\nand then he began to clear it. He pulled up the trees by the roots and\npiled them into a heap and he took the rocks and threw them to one side\nand made the ground quite clear and smooth, and then went back to the\nhouse. On being asked why he had been so long away, he answered that he\nhad been pulling up a few bushes at the place which was to be cleared.\n\nThe following morning the Strong man told the farm labourers to take\ntheir ploughs to the clearing and begin to plough it. When the farmer\nheard this, he was puzzled to think how the land could be ready for\nploughing so soon, and went to see it and to his amazement found the\nwhole land cleared, every tree pulled up by the roots and all the\nrocks removed.\n\nThen he asked the Strong man whether he had done the work by\nhimself. The Strong man answered \"no,\" a number of people had\nvolunteered to help him and so the work had been finished in a day.\n\nThe farmer said nothing but he did not believe the story and saw that\nhis servant must really be a man of marvellous strength. Neither\nhe nor the farm labourers let any one else know what had happened,\nthey kept it to themselves.\n\nNow the Strong man's wages were twelve measures of rice a year. After\nworking for four years he made up his mind to leave his master and\nstart farming on his own account. So he told the farmer that he wished\nto leave but offered to finish any work there was to do before he went,\nthat no one might be able to say that he had gone away, leaving his\nwork half done. The farmer assured him that there was nothing for\nhim to do and gave him rice equal to his four years' wages. The rice\nmade two big _bandis_, each more than an ordinary man could lift,\nbut the Strong man slung them on to a bamboo and carried them off\nover his shoulder.\n\nAfter he had gone a little way, it struck the farmer that it would\nnot do to let him display his strength in this way and that it would\nbe better if he took the rice away at night. So he had the Strong man\ncalled back and told him that there was one job which he had forgotten\nto finish; he had put two bundles of sahai grass into the trough to\nsteep and had forgotten to twist it into string. Without a word the\nStrong man wait and picked the _sabai_ out of the water and began\nto twist it, but he could tell at once by the feel that the _sabai_\nhad only just been placed in the water and he charged the farmer with\nplaying a trick on him. The farmer swore that there was no trick and,\nrather than quarrel, the Strong man went on with the work.\n\nWhile he was so engaged the farmer offered him some tobacco, and the\nStrong man took it without washing and wiping his hands. Now no one\nshould prepare or chew tobacco while twisting sabai; if one does not\nfirst wash and dry one's hands one's strength will go. The Strong\nman knew this, but he was so angry at being called back on false\npretences that he forgot all about it.\n\nBut when he had finished the string and the farmer said that he might\ngo, he essayed to take up the two _bandis_ of rice as before. To his\nsorrow he found that he could not lift them. Then he saw the mistake\nthat he had made. He had to leave one _bandi_ behind and divide the\nother into two halves and sling them on the bamboo and carry them\noff with him.\n\nThe Strong man's cultivation did not prosper, and after three or four\nyears he found himself at the end of his means and had again to take\nservice with a farmer.\n\nOne day when field work was in full swing the Strong man had a quarrel\nwith his new master. So when he had finished the morning's ploughing\nhe pulled the iron point of the ploughshare out of its socket and\nsnapped it in two. Then he took the pieces to his master and explained\nthat it had caught on the stump of a tree and got broken. The master\ntook the broken share to the blacksmith and had it mended. The next\nday the Strong man went through the same performance and his master\nhad again to go the blacksmith. The same thing happened several days\nrunning, till at last the farmer decided to keep watch and see what\nreally happened. So he hid himself and saw the Strong man snap the\nploughshare in two; but in view of such a display of strength he was\nmuch too frightened to let his servant know that he had found out\nthe trick that was being played on him. He took the pieces to the\nblacksmith as usual and at the smithy he found some of his friends\nand told them what had happened. They advised him to set the Strong\nman to twisting sabai string and then by some pretext induce him to\ntake tobacco. The farmer did as they advised and in about a fortnight\nthe Strong man lost all his strength and became as other men. Then\nhis master dismissed him and he had to go back to his house and his\nstrength never returned to him.\n\n\n\n\nLVII. The Raja's Advice.\n\nOnce upon a time an aged Raja lay dying. Before he breathed his\nlast he sent for his only son and gave him the following advice. \"My\nson,\" he said, \"never go on a journey alone; do not associate with\nlow people, for if you do no one will respect you; never confide a\nsecret to your wife; do not tell outsiders the affairs of your house;\ndo not let village affairs go beyond the village street, and never\nget into a rage.\"\n\nThe son succeeded to the Raja and shortly afterwards set out to pay\na visit to his wife's relations. He started alone and after going\nsome distance he remembered his father's injunctions never to go on\na journey alone. He had gone too far to go back and he saw no one\nwithin call, so he looked about and presently found a crab hole. He\nset to work and dug out the crab and fixing it in his _pagri_ continued\nhis journey.\n\nBy-and-bye he came to a river. Now in this river lived a crocodile,\nwhich had leagued with a crow to destroy travellers crossing the\nriver. Whenever the crow saw anyone coming, it gave warning to the\ncrocodile, and the crocodile then seized the traveller as he entered\nthe river, while the crow pecked out his eyes. In this way they had\nbeen the death of many travellers. So when the crow saw the young\nRaja coming, it cawed to the crocodile, which hastened to the ford\nand seized the Raja as he stepped into the water, while the crow flew\nat his head. But the crab caught the crow by the leg and nipped it so\nhard that the crow, in agony, called out to the crocodile to let the\nman go, as it was being killed. So the crocodile released its hold\nand the Raja struggled to the bank, and then caught the crow which\nwas held fast by the crab and wrung its neck. Then he went back home\nwith the crab, reflecting on the wisdom of his father's advice.\n\nLater on, the Raja thought that he would put another of his father's\nmaxims to the proof and see what would happen if he told his wife\na secret. So he took a spade and buried an old earthen pot in the\ncorner of his garden. He let his wife see him and she promptly asked\nwhat he was burying; he put her off, but that night she insisted so\nmuch on knowing, that, after swearing her to secrecy, he told her\nthat a child had come straying to his house and he had killed it to\nobtain good luck and had buried the body.\n\nTime passed, and one day the Raja had a quarrel with his wife, he began\nto beat her and she in return abused him and kept on calling out that\nhe was a murderer, who had buried a child in his garden. Their next\ndoor neighbour heard all this and, directly she found the Raja's\nwife alone, asked whether what she said was true. The Raja's wife,\nbeing still in a passion, asserted that it was quite true. The story\nwas soon all over the town, and the townspeople rose and seized the\nRaja and charged him with the murder. Then he took them to the garden\nand made them dig up what he had buried and they found only an old pot.\n\nSo they had to pay him compensation for making a false charge, and\nthe Raja valued more than ever the advice given him by his father.\n\n\n\n\n\nLVIII. The Four Jogis.\n\nOnce four Jogis were out on a begging expedition and came to a city\nwere a Raja lived. As they went along they discussed how they should\nbeg of the Raja; and while they were discussing the point, they saw a\nfield rat and one of them exclaimed \"I know how I shall beg of him! I\nshall say 'See, he throws up the earth, scrapety scrape!'\" This did not\nhelp the other three, but, further on, some frogs jumped into a pond as\nthey passed by, and one of the others at once said \"I know what I shall\nsay! I shall say 'plumpety plump! down he has sat.'\" A little later,\nthey saw a pig wallowing in the mud, and the third Jogi called out\n\"I have it! I shall say 'Rub away, rub away! Now some more water! Rub\naway, rub away! I know, my boys, what you are going to do.'\" The\nfourth Jogi was still in perplexity but, when they came in sight of\nthe Raja's city, he exclaimed \"I know what I shall say 'Highways and\nbyeways, what a big city! The kotwal is going his rounds, his rounds.'\"\n\nThen they got a man to write down these four forms of address on a\nsheet of paper and presented it to the Raja. The Raja took it, and\nread it, and could not make head or tail of it. And when the four\nJogis saw him looking so puzzled, they got frightened and took to\ntheir heels, for they could not read themselves and were not sure of\nwhat the paper really contained.\n\nNow the Raja's chief officer was a Tehsildar, and he had also a Barber,\nwho shaved him every day, And that evening after the Jogis had run\naway, the Tehsildar proposed to the Barber that, when shaving the\nRaja the next morning, he should cut the Raja's throat and they could\nthen divide the kingdom between them, and the Barber consented. Not\ncontent with this, the Tehsildar and the palace chowkidar that same\nnight tried to break into the Raja's palace and steal his money and\njewellery. They began to cut a hole through the mud wall of the Raja's\nroom, but it chanced that the Raja was so puzzled by the paper which\nthe Jogis had put into his hand, that he kept on reading it over and\nover again, and just as the Tehsildar and chowkidar had half cut their\nway through the wall, they heard the Raja saying \"See, he throws\nup the earth, scrapety, scrape!\" At once they concluded that they\nhad been heard and they crouched down; the Raja went on \"Plumpety,\nplump! down he has sat.\" This made them think that they had been seen\nand the chowkidar crept to the door to listen: he heard the Raja saying\n\"Highways and byeways, what a big city! The kotwal is going his rounds,\nhis rounds!\" Then the chowkidar felt sure that he was discovered and\nhe ran off with the Tehsildar, without completing their burglary.\n\nThe next morning the Barber went to shave the Raja, and, while he was\nsharpening the razor, the Raja again began to study the mysterious\npaper, murmuring \"Rub away, rub away, now some more water: Rub away,\nrub away! I know my boy what you are going to do.\" The Barber thought\nthat the Raja referred to his rubbing water over his face for shaving,\nand concluded that the Tehsildar had revealed the plot; so he threw\nhimself at the Raja's feet and confessed everything, swearing that\nthe Tehsildar and not he was to blame. The Raja at once sent for\nthe chowkidar to take the Tehsildar and Barber to prison. When the\nchowkidar came in he found the Raja repeating \"See he throws up the\nearth, scrapety, scrape!\" He at once concluded that the Raja was\nreferring to the burglary and he fell on his knees and confessed all\nthat had happened. This was news to the Raja, but he went and saw the\nplace where the wall had been partly cut through, and then he sent\nall the guilty men to prison and despatched messengers to look for\nthe Jogis who had been the means of saving his life and property;\nbut the Jogis had been so frightened and had run away so far, that\nthey were never found.\n\n\n\n\nLIX. The Charitable Raja.\n\nThere was once a Raja who was very charitable; he used to give a new\ncloth and a good meal to every one who came and begged of him. But\none day a Jogi came and refused to take what was offered to him: he\ndemanded that the Raja should give him his kingdom and everything\nthat he had. The Raja thought it wrong to refuse the request, and\nwent out into the world with his wife and his two young children,\na beggar. For a long time they wandered about living on charity,\ntill their clothes were worn to rags, and then they chanced to hear\nof a rich merchant who gave a cloth to any beggar who asked it of him;\nso they resolved to go to him for help. When they reached the village\nwhere the merchant lived, the Rani left the Raja with the two children\nto cook some dinner and went to the merchant's house to beg for some\nclothes; but when the merchant saw her he fell in love with her and\nshut her up and would not let her go. To be saved from the merchant's\ndesigns the Rani prayed that she might be smitten with disease and\nat once she became very ill.\n\nAfter waiting in vain for her return the Raja set off with his two sons\nto look for her and presently came to a flooded river. He carried one\nchild across first but, as he was returning for the other, he was swept\naway by the current and the children were left alone. A Goala woman,\ngoing to the river for water, found them, and as she was childless\ntook them home with her and brought them up.\n\nMeanwhile the Raja was carried down stream by the flood and was washed\nashore, bruised and wounded, a long way down. At the place where he\nlanded a large crowd was collected; for the Raja of the country had\nlately died leaving no heir, and the widow had ordered all the people\nto assemble in order that two elephants, belonging to the late Raja,\nmight choose his successor. The half-drowned Raja joined the crowd and\nas he sat looking on, one elephant, passing by all its own people,\ncame to him and put the golden necklace on his neck and the other\nelephant lifted him on to its back and carried him off and seated him\non the Raja's throne; and as he sat on the throne all his wounds and\nbruises were healed. Years passed and the Raja's two sons grew up,\nand as the Goala woman who had adopted them was very poor, they went\nout into the world to earn their living. As it chanced, they took\nservice as sipahis with the Raja their father, whom of course they\ndid not recognise. Just after their arrival the Raja arranged a great\nfestival at which people from all parts assembled; and among others\nthe merchant went there with the Raja's wife, in hopes that among\nthe crowd he might find some physician able to cure the woman. When\nhe arrived, he went to the Raja and asked that two sipahis might be\ndeputed to keep watch over the woman he had brought. The Raja sent\nhis two newly enlisted sipahis, and thus the sons were set to guard\ntheir own mother, and it was not long before they found out their\nrelationship. The Rani was delighted to recover her long lost children,\nbut when she heard that her husband had been washed away by the river\nand drowned, she began to weep and wail. The merchant went to the Raja\nand complained that the sipahis who had been sent, had thrown the woman\ninto great distress and the Raja thereupon sent for all the parties\nin order that he might enquire into the matter. When he heard their\nstory, he at once recognised that it was his own wife and sons who\nstood before him and thus the whole family was happily united. Then\nhis wife prayed to Thakur that if she were really the wife he had\nlost and had been faithful to him, she might be restored to health;\nwater was poured over her and she was at once cured of her disease,\nand they all lived happily ever afterwards.\n\n\n\n\nLX. A Variant.--The Wandering Raja.\n\nOnce there was a Raja who was very prosperous; but his wife found\ntheir life of wealth and ease monotonous, and she continually urged\nhim to travel into other countries and to see whether other modes\nof life were pleasant or distressful; she pestered her husband so\nmuch that at last he gave way. He put his kingdom in charge of his\nfather's sister and her husband and set off with his wife and his\ntwo sons as an ordinary traveller.\n\nAfter travelling some days they got tired of eating the parched rice\nwhich they had brought with them and thought they would boil some rice\nfor their dinner. So the Rani went into a bazar to get cooking pots,\nand a light for the fire. She went to the house of a rich merchant for\nthese, but he was attracted by her beauty and seized her and shut her\nup and would not let her go back, but kept her as his wife. The Raja\nand his sons soon got tired of waiting for her; he concluded that\nthe journey was merely a pretext of his wife's to escape from him,\nas she had disappeared the first time that he let her out of his sight.\n\nSo he turned to go home and soon came to a river which had to be\ncrossed, he left his sons on the bank and went into the water to\nsee how deep it was and as he was wading in, a large fish came and\nswallowed him. The fish swam away down stream and was caught in the\nnet of some fishermen. When they saw how big a fish they had caught,\nthey decided to take it to the Raja of that country. The Raja bought\nit at a high price, but when it was cut open at the palace the man\nit had swallowed was found alive inside; so the Raja of the country\nappointed him one of his retainers.\n\nMeanwhile the two boys had been found abandoned on the bank of the\nriver by a cowherd, who was too poor to bring them up, so he took\nthem also to the Raja; and they rejoiced to meet their father and\nwhen they grew up, were also appointed retainers.\n\nThey had to travel all over the country on the Raja's business and it\nhappened that they one day came to the village where their mother was\nand they met and recognised her; she told them how she had been seized\nand confined and begged them to bring her husband to her. So the sons\nfetched their father and the Rani told her husband how unhappy she was\nand begged him to get her released, and he promised to ask the help\nof his master. When the Raja of the country heard the story he took\npity on them and went with a body of soldiers and seized the wicked\nmerchant and ordered him to give up all his wealth and as the merchant\ntried to conceal where some of his money was buried, the Raja cut\nhim down with his sword. He also laid a heavy fine on the villagers,\nbecause they had not sent word to him of the capture of the Rani.\n\nThen he took home the Raja who had been swallowed by the fish and his\nwife and sons, and entertained them for some days, and then gave them\nelephants and horses and men and all the merchant's property and sent\nthem to their own country. The uncle and aunt who had been appointed\nRegents came out to meet them and escorted them home.\n\nTwo or three days after the aunt asked the Raja how he had got his\nelephants and horses and money, and he said \"They are the profits\nof my wife's sin; I will not tell you the whole story for if you\nheard it you also might be led astray; my wife induced me to travel\nby false pretences. It is not good to follow the advice of a woman;\nit is by mere chance that you see me alive to-day.\" His wife heard\nwhat he said, and she went out and cut her throat from remorse;\nand they went and burned her body.\n\n\n\n\nLXI. The Two Wives.\n\nThere were once a Raja and his Dewan who had each one son, and the\ntwo boys were great friends. Both had been married in their infancy\nand when they grew up and heard that they had wives, they agreed to\ngo together and visit them. So they set out, and they arranged that\non account of the superior rank of the Raja's son they would go first\nand visit his wife; and they also agreed that, as they were going to\na strange place, they would keep together day and night.\n\nWhen they reached the house of the Prince's father-in-law they were\nreceived with great honour and when night came they lay down with\ntheir beds side by side. Presently the Prince's wife came to him\nand began to rub his arms and legs, until she had soothed him off to\nsleep. The Dewan's son pretended also to go fast asleep, but really\nhe was careful to keep awake, for he thought it safer to be on the\nwatch in a strange place.\n\nHis prudence was rewarded, for after a time he saw the Prince's wife\nleave her sleeping husband and go out of the house.\n\nThe Dewan's son followed her and saw her enter the house of a Gosain\nwho lived on the outskirts of the village. He went near and listened at\nthe door. He heard the Gosain ask the young woman why she was so late\nin coming, and her answer that she had been detained by the visit of\nher husband. The Gosain reproached her for not having told him that\nshe was married, and she protested that she had known nothing about\nit until her husband appeared. The Gosain said that she must choose\nbetween him and her husband, and she answered that she would never\ngive him up. \"Then\" said the Gosain \"if you really mean it, go and\nbring me your husband's head.\" At this the Dewan's son hurried back\nand lay down on his bed. Presently he saw the woman come with a sword\nand cut off her husband's head. But when she took it to the Gosain,\nhe rose and beat her with his iron pincers and drove her out, swearing\nthat he would have nothing more to do with a woman who was so heartless\nas to kill her own husband. Then the woman returned and placed the\nsevered head by her husband's body and raised a great outcry, that\nher husband had been murdered. The people of the house came and at\nfirst they charged the Dewan's son with the crime and were about to\nput him to death; but he called the Gosain as a witness and the real\nfacts were proved by his evidence, and the murderess was hanged.\n\nThe Dewan's son would not allow the Prince's body to be burnt but\ninsisted on taking it with him, that it might be cremated at his own\nhome. So he took it on his back and carried it off.\n\nHe thought that, as he had come so far, it would be better to visit\nhis own wife before going home. So, when he reached the village where\nhis wife lived, he hid the Prince's body in a hollow tree and went\nto his father-in-law's house.\n\nThat night when they had gone to bed, the Dewan's son saw that his\nwife had something on her mind, so he resolved to watch her.\n\nWhen she thought that he was asleep, he saw her rise and go out of the\nhouse. He followed her to a shrine of Mahadeb; there she smeared the\nground with cowdung and worshipped the god and said \"O Siva! I have\nworshipped you for many days; now my husband has come to take me to\nhis house, and you must find another worshipper.\" The Mahadeb answered\n\"You have served me for many days; call hither your husband; as you\nhave worshipped me for so long, I will confer a boon on you.\" So she\nwent and called her husband and as he knew what had happened, he had\nno hesitation in going with her to the shrine. There the Siv bade him\nask a boon, and he prayed that the Raja's son might be restored to\nlife, The Siv bade them bring the body and cover it with a wet cloth;\nand when they had done so, the body began to breathe and presently\nthe Prince rose up alive and well. The Dewan's son told him all that\nhad happened and the next day they went home, taking with them the\nwife of the Dewan's son, through whose virtue and piety the Prince\nhad been restored to life.\n\n\n\n\nLXII. Spanling and His Uncles.\n\nThere was once a little man named Spanling (Bita) because he was\nonly a span (_Bita_) high; and he had a beard one span and four\nfinger-breadths long. His father was dead, and he lived alone with\nhis mother and he was as cunning as anyone in the world. He had one\ncow-buffalo and this he always grazed at night, for fear that the sun\nmight melt it. Once it happened that as he was following his buffalo,\nhe got buried in its droppings and he was so small that he could not\nget out.\n\nHowever, next morning, some girls, who were gathering cowdung for fuel,\nfound him and set him free. Spanling decided to get rid of the buffalo\nafter this; so he killed it and flayed it and when the skin was dry,\ntook it away to sell. Before he found a purchaser night came on,\nso he climbed a tree with his hide to be out of danger. During the\nnight a gang of thieves came to the tree, and began to divide their\nbooty. While there were busy over this, Spanling let the hide fall\nwith a clatter into their midst, and they all ran away in a fright,\nleaving all their stolen goods behind.\n\nWhen day dawned, Spanling climbed down and found piles of gold waiting\nfor him. He took it home and sent his mother to borrow a wooden measure\nfrom his uncles to measure it with. When he returned the measure,\none of the gold pieces was left sticking in a crack. His uncles at\nonce hastened to enquire how he came to be measuring gold. Spanling\ntold them that he had sold his buffalo skin at a town which he named,\nfor an enormous price and no doubt they could find the same market, if\nthey chose to kill their buffaloes. The uncles hurried home and killed\nall their buffaloes and took the hides to the city, which Spanling\nhad named, but they were only laughed at when they asked more than\nthe price which was paid every day for hides. The uncles came home\nvery angry at the way in which they had been tricked by Spanling,\nand in revenge they burnt his house down. Finding himself homeless,\nSpanling gathered the ashes of his house into sacks, loaded them on\na cart and drove away. When evening came he camped by the roadside\nin company with some other carters and, in the middle of the night,\nhe quietly changed his sacks of ashes for some of the sacks in the\nother carts. When he got home he found that the sacks which he had\nstolen were full of gold coins. He again sent to his uncles for a\nmeasure and when the measure was returned a gold coin was again left\nsticking in a crack. The uncles at once came to enquire how Spanling\nhad got the money. He told them that he had sold the ashes of his\nhouse for gold and, as their houses were bigger than his, they would\ndoubtless make their fortunes if they burnt them down and sold the\nashes. The uncles took his advice but when they tried to sell the\nashes they were only laughed at for their pains.\n\n\n\n\n\nLXIII. The Silent Wife.\n\nThere was once a madcap of a fellow, whose wife got on very well with\nhim and did all the house work very nicely, but she would never speak\na single word to him. As nothing he tried would make her speak, the\nmadcap at last hit on a plan of taking her on a long journey. But even\nwhen he told his wife that she must come with him to a far country,\nshe did not utter a word. When all was ready for a start the madcap\nbathed his feet and took a _lota_ of water into the house and pouring\nit out, prayed to the spirit of his grandfather thus \"Grandfather,\ngrant that my wife may speak; if you do not fail me in this, I will\nmake offerings to you on my return; grant that we may come back\ntogether happily; teach her to speak to me soon.\"\n\nThen he set out with his wife and they travelled on until they entered\na dense forest, where there was no sign of human habitation. As they\nwent on, the tailor birds and babblers began to chatter and scream\nat them. The madcap got angry at this and called out to the birds\nthat if they did not stop, he would chase them and go on chasing\nthem for a day and a night. Then he sat down and watched them. His\nwife stood waiting by his side, and soon she began to wonder what she\nwould do and where she would go, if her husband really went in chase\nof the birds. So at last she spoke to him and said \"Come, get up;\nwe must make haste out of this jungle.\" Directly the words were out\nof her mouth, the madcap knelt down and bowing to the ground said\n\"I thank you, Grandfather\". Then he rose and went on with his wife.\n\nPresently they met a bear; the madcap called out \"You brute of a bear,\nwhat do you mean by coming to meet us like this? I will chase you and\ngo on chasing you till to-morrow morning.\" But his wife besought him\nto come along and not leave her. Directly she spoke, the madcap cried\n\"Bravo\" and kneeling down thanked his grandfather. They went on and\npresently a jackal crossed their path; the madcap cursed it and vowed\nthat he would chase it all the night. Again his wife urged him to\ncome on and again the madcap knelt down and thanked his grandfather;\nbut his wife did not know why he did so, nor did she trouble to ask.\n\nJust as they reached the edge of the forest they saw a leopard and this\nalso the madcap threatened to chase. \"Then go and chase it,\" said his\nwife, who now felt safe. So he went in pursuit of the leopard, but\nafter going a little way he lost sight of it and went back to where\nhis wife was. \"What has become of all your boasting?\" said she. \"You\nhave not chased it till to-morrow morning.\" \"No,\" said the madcap\n\"I have killed it; if you don't believe me, come and see.\" But she\ndid not want to go back into the jungle and said no more about it. As\nhis wife had broken her silence the madcap saw no use in going further\nand they turned homewards; all the way his wife went on chatting and\nsinging along with him. When he reached home he sacrificed a number of\ngoats to his grandfather, and lived happily with his wife ever after.\n\n\n\n\nLXIV. The Dumb Shepherd.\n\nThere was once a very rich and powerful Raja and in his heart he\nthought that there was no one so powerful in the world as himself;\nthus he thought but he told no one of his thought. One day he made\nup his mind to see whether others could guess what he was thinking,\nso he called together his officers and servants and dependants and\nbade them tell him what thought was in his heart. Many of them made\nguesses, but not one gave an answer which satisfied the Raja.\n\nThen the Raja told his dewan that he must without fail find some\none who would, guess his thought, and he gave the dewan exactly one\nmonth's time in which to search. The dewan searched high and low but\nall in vain, and as the time drew near he grew more and more anxious,\nfor he feared that he would fall into disgrace. But he had a daughter\nand she consoled him and told him to cheer up, as she would find a\nman on the day fixed to read the Raja's thoughts. The dewan had to\ntake what comfort he could from this promise, and when the appointed\nday arrived, his daughter brought a dumb shepherd whom they employed\nand bade her father take him to the Raja. The dewan thought it very\nunlikely that the dumb shepherd would succeed where others had failed,\nbut he saw no alternative to following his daughter's advice.\n\nSo the dewan presented himself before the Raja with the dumb shepherd\nand found a large company assembled to see what happened. The two\nstood before the Raja and the dumb man looked at the Raja. Then\nthe Raja held up one finger, at this the dumb shepherd held up two\nfingers. Then the Raja held up three fingers, but at this the dumb\nman made signs of dissent and ran away as fast as he could. Then the\nRaja laughed and seemed very pleased and praised the dewan for having\nbrought him such a clever man, and gave the dewan a rich reward.\n\nThe dewan was still at a loss to know what had happened, and begged the\nRaja to explain what had passed between him and the shepherd. \"When\nI held up one finger,\" said the Raja \"I asked him whether I alone\nwas Raja, and he by holding up two reminded me that there was God,\nwho was as powerful as I am. Then I asked him whether there was any\nthird, and he vehemently denied that there was. Thus he has read my\nthoughts, for I have always been thinking that I alone am powerful,\nbut he has reminded me that there is God as well, but no third.\"\n\nThen they all went their ways, and that night the dewan questioned\nthe dumb shepherd as to how he had been able to understand the Raja:\nand the dumb man explained \"I have only three sheep of my own, and\nwhen I appeared before the Raja he held up one finger, meaning that\nhe wanted me to give him one of my sheep, and as he is a great Raja\nI offered to give him two; but when he held up three ringers to show\nthat he wanted to take all three from me, I thought that he was going\ntoo far and so I ran away.\"\n\nBy this lucky chance the dewan earned his reward from the Raja.\n\n\n\n\nLXV. The Good Daughter-in-Law.\n\nThere was once a very rich man who had seven sons and the sons were\nall married and lived with their father. The father was a miser: he\nlived in the poorest manner in spite of all his wealth and hoarded\nall his money. His eldest daughter-in-law managed the household and\nshe alone of the family did not approve of the miserly way in which\nthe family affairs were conducted.\n\nOne day a Jugi came to the house and asked for alms. The eldest\ndaughter-in-law happened to be away at the time, fetching water from\nthe stream. Those of the family who were at home flatly declined to\ngive the poor beggar anything and turned him away from the house. So\nthe Jugi went away, cursing them for their miserliness. On his way\nhe met the eldest daughter-in-law coming back with her jar of water\nand she asked the Jugi why he seemed so angry. When she heard how he\nhad been treated, she at once besought him to return to the house and\nexplained that she was the housekeeper and that that was the reason\nwhy none of the others had ventured to give him alms.\n\nThe Jugi returned with her and she gave him a _seer_ of rice to put\nin his bag. At first the Jugi refused to take it, on the ground that\nshe was only giving it for fear of his curses but she assured him\nthat she never refused alms to anyone who begged. So the Jugi took\nthe rice and then asked what boon she would accept in return. The\nwoman at first said that she was in want of nothing, but, on the Jugi\npressing her, she said that she would like to be able to understand\nthe language of birds and beasts and to see the disembodied souls of\nmen. Then the Jugi took a feather from his bag and drew it across her\neyes and blew into her eyes and ears and she found herself possessed\nof the powers for which she had asked. But before he left, the Jugi\ntold her that she must never reveal to any human being the boon he\nhad conferred on her, for if she did she would die.\n\nYears passed and nothing happened but then it chanced that a Chamar\nwho lived at the end of the village died, and as he had been a good\nand kind man his family wept bitterly at their loss. The woman saw the\nspirit of the Chamar being taken away in a grand chariot and she also\nwept for the death of so good a man. Her family became very suspicious\nat her showing sorrow for the death of a stranger of another caste.\n\nA few days later the miserly father-in-law died and the woman saw\nthree beings dragging him out of the house by his heels, and she\nlaughed to see him treated so for his sins. But the family were\nshocked by her laughter and concluded that she was a witch and had\nkilled her father-in-law by her witchcraft; so after the funeral\nthey held a family council and called on the woman to explain why\nshe had laughed. She assured them that if she told she would die,\nbut they insisted and at last she told them of the boon conferred on\nher by the Jugi, and what she had seen, and then she lay down upon\nher bed and died.\n\n\n\n\nLXVI. The Raja's Dream.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Raja who had no children. So he and his\nwife agreed that he should marry again. His second wife bore him two\nsons, and they were very pleased that the Raja should have heirs and\nall lived happily together. But after the two sons had been born,\nthe elder Rani also gave birth to a son. This caused discord in the\nfamily, for the younger Rani had counted on her sons succeeding to\nthe Raja, but now she feared that the son of the elder Rani would be\npreferred. So she went to the Raja and besought him to send away the\nelder Rani and her son. The Raja listened to her and gave the first\nwife a separate estate and a separate house and sent them away.\n\nTime passed and one night the Raja had a dream, the meaning of which\nhe could not understand; he dreamt that he saw a golden leopard\nand a golden snake and a golden monkey dancing together. The Raja\ncould not rest until he had found out the meaning of the dream,\nso he sent for his younger wife and her two sons and consulted\nthem. They could give no explanation, but the younger son said that\nhe had a presentiment that his brother, the son of the elder Rani,\ncould interpret the dream. So that son was sent for, and when he\nappeared before his father and heard the story of the dream, he said\n\"This is the interpretation: the three golden animals represent us\nthree brothers, for we are like gold to you. Thakur has sent this\ndream in order that we may not fight hereafter; we cannot all three\nsucceed to the Raj and we shall assuredly fight if one is not chosen\nas the heir. It is intended that whichever of us can find a golden\nleopard, and a golden snake and a golden monkey and make them dance\nbefore the people, he is your principal son and shall be your heir,\"\nThe Raja was pleased with this interpretation and told his three sons\nthat he would give the Raj to whichever of them could find the three\nanimals by that day year.\n\nThe sons of the younger Rani went away, feeling that it was useless\nfor them to make any attempt to fulfil the conditions; even if they\ngot a goldsmith to make the animals, they would never be able to make\nthem dance.\n\nBut the other brother went to his mother and told her all that had\nhappened, and she bade him be of good courage and he would find the\nanimals; if he went to a Gosain who lived in the jungle, he would be\ntold what to do.\n\nSo the Raja's son set out, and after travelling for some days he found\nhimself benighted in a dense jungle. Wandering about, he at last saw\na fire burning in the distance, so he went to it and sat down by it\nand began to smoke. Now the Gosain was sleeping near by and the smell\nof the smoke awoke him, and he rose and asked who was there.\n\n\"O uncle, it is I.\"\n\n\"Really, is it you my nephew? Where have you come from so late\nat night?\"\n\n\"From home, uncle.\"\n\n\"What has brought me to your memory now? You have never paid me a\nvisit before. I am afraid that something has happened.\"\n\n\"You need not fear that, I have come to you because my mother tells\nme that you can help me to find the golden leopard and the golden\nsnake and the golden monkey.\"\n\nAt this the Gosain promised to help the Raja's son to find the animals\nand then put the cooking-pot on the fire to boil; and in it he put\nonly three grains of rice, but when it was cooked, they found that\nthere was enough to make a meal of. When they had eaten, the Gosain\nsaid \"Nephew, I cannot tell you what you have to do; but further in\nthe jungle lives my younger brother: go to him and he will tell you.\"\n\nSo when it was morning the Raja's son set out, and in two days he\nreached the second Gosain and told him of his quest. The Gosain\nlistened to his story and put the cooking-pot on to boil and in it\nthrew two grains of rice, and this, when cooked, was sufficient for\na good meal. After they had eaten, the Gosain said that he could\nnot tell how the animals were to be found, but that he had a still\nyounger brother who could tell. So the next morning the Raja's son\ncontinued his journey, and in two or three days he came to the third\nGosain and there he learnt what was to be done. This Gosain also put\nthe pot on to boil but in the pot he only put one grain of rice and\na bit of a grain, yet when cooked it was enough for a meal.\n\nIn the morning the Gosain told the Raja's son to go to a blacksmith\nand have a shield made of twelve maunds of iron and with its edge so\nsharp that a leaf falling on it would be cut in two. So he went to\nthe blacksmith and had a shield made, and took it to the Gosain. The\nGosain said that they must test it, and he set it edgewise in the\nground under a tree and told the Raja's son to climb the tree and\nshake some leaves down. The Raja's son climbed the tree and shook\nthe branches, but not a leaf fell. Then the Gosain climbed up and\ngave the tree a shake and the leaves fell in showers and every leaf\nthat touched the edge of the shield was cut in two. Then the Gosain\nwas satisfied that the shield was rightly made.\n\nThen the Gosain told the Raja's son, that further on in the jungle\nhe would find a pair of snakes living in a bamboo house; and they\nhad a daughter whom they never allowed to come out of the house; he\nmust fix the sharp shield in the door of the house and hide himself\nin a tree, and when the snakes came out they would be cut to pieces;\nthen, when the snakes were dead, he was to go to their daughter and\nshe would show him where to find the golden animals. So the Raja's\nson set out and about noon he came to the home of the snakes, and he\nset the shield in the doorway as the Gosain had said, and at evening,\nwhen the snakes tried to come out of the house, they were cut to\npieces. When her father and mother were dead, the daughter came out\nto see what had happened, and the Raja's son saw that she was very\nbeautiful. He went to her and began to talk and it did not take them\nlong to fall in love with each other. The snake maiden soon forgot\nher father and mother, and she and the Raja's son lived together in\nthe bamboo house many days.\n\nThe snake maiden strictly forebade him to go anywhere to the west or\nsouth of the house, but one day he disobeyed her and wandered away\nto the west. After going a short distance he saw golden leopards\ndancing, and directly he set eyes on them, he himself was changed\ninto a golden leopard and began to dance with the others. The snake\nmaiden soon knew what had happened, and she followed him and led him\nback and restored him to his own shape.\n\nA few days later, the Raja's son went away to the south and there he\nfound golden snakes dancing on the bank of a tank and directly he saw\nthem, he too became a golden snake and joined the dance. Again the\nsnake maiden fetched him back and restored him to his own form. But\nagain the Raja's son went out to the south-west and there he saw\ngolden monkeys dancing under a banyan tree, and when he saw them he\nbecame a golden monkey; again the snake maiden brought him back and\nrestored him to human shape.\n\nAfter this the Raja's son said that it was time for him to go back\nhome. The snake maiden asked why he had come there at all, and then\nhe told her all about the Raja's dream and said that as he had found\nthe animals he would now go home.\n\n\"Kill me first\" said the snake maiden; \"you have killed my parents\nand I cannot live alone here.\" \"No, I will not kill you, I will take\nyou with me\" answered the Raja's son, and the snake maiden gladly\nagreed. Then the Raja's son asked how he was to take the golden animals\nwith him, for so far he had only seen where they were. The snake\nmaiden said that if he faithfully promised never to desert her, nor\ntake another wife, she would produce the animals for him when the time\ncame. So he swore never to leave her and they set out for his home.\n\nWhen they reached the place where the third Gosain lived, the Raja's\nson said that he had promised to visit the Gosain on his homeward\njourney and show him the golden animals; but he did not know what\nto do, as he had not got the animals with him. Then the snake maiden\ntied three knots in his cloth and bade him untie them when the Gosain\nasked to see the animals. So the Raja's son went to see the Gosain,\nand the Gosain asked whether he had brought the golden leopard and\nsnake and monkey.\n\n\"I am not sure\" answered the other, \"but I have something tied up in\nmy cloth,\" and he untied the three knots and found in them a clod of\nearth, a potsherd and a piece of charcoal. He threw them away and went\nback to the snake maiden, and asked why she had put worthless rubbish\nin his cloth. \"You had no faith\" said she \"if you had believed, the\nanimals would not have turned into the clod and the potsherd and the\ncharcoal.\" So they journeyed on, till they came to the second Gosain,\nand he also asked to see the golden animals and this time the Raja's\nson set his mind hard to believe and, when he untied the knots, there\nwere a golden leopard and a golden snake and a golden monkey. Then\nthey went on and showed the animals to the first Gosain, and then\nwent to the house where his mother lived.\n\nWhen the appointed day came, the Raja's son sent word to his father\nto have a number of booths and shelters erected in a spacious plain,\nand to have a covered way made from his mother's house to the plain,\nand then he would show the dancing animals. So the Raja gave the\nnecessary orders, and on the day fixed all the people assembled\nto see the fun. Then the Raja's son set the three animals on the\nground and his wife remained hidden in the covered way and caused\nthe animals to dance. The people stayed watching all day till evening\nand then dispersed, That night all the booths and shelters which had\nbeen erected were changed into houses of gold; and when he saw this,\nthe Raja left his younger wife and her children and went and lived\nwith his first wife.\n\n\n\n\nLXVII. The Mongoose Boy.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Raja who had two wives. By his first\nwife he had six sons, but the second wife bore only one son and he\nwas born as a mongoose. When the six sons of the elder wife grew up,\nthey used to jeer at their mongoose brother and his mother, so the\nRaja sent his second wife to live in a separate house. The Mongoose\nboy could talk like any man but he never grew bigger than an ordinary\nmongoose and his name was Lelsing.\n\nOne day the Raja called all his sons to him and said that he wished,\nbefore he died, to divide his property among them. But the sons said\nthat they had rather he did not do so then; they wished to go abroad\nand see the world, and if he would give each of them some capital to\nstart, with, they would go abroad and trade and even if they did not\nmake much profit they would have the advantage of seeing the world.\n\nSo the Raja gave his six sons twenty rupees each to start business\nwith; but when Lelsing also asked for some money, his brothers jeered\nat him and declared that he certainly could not go with them, for\nhe would only get eaten up by some dog. Lelsing made no answer at\nthe time but afterwards he went to his father alone and begged again\nfor some money. At last the Raja, though he scarcely believed that\nLelsing would really go out trading, gave him ten rupees.\n\nThe six brothers made everything ready and one morning set out on\ntheir travels, without saying anything to Lelsing. But Lelsing saw them\nstart and followed after them, and as the brothers were resting in the\nmiddle of the day they looked back and saw Lelsing galloping along to\novertake them. So they all travelled together for three or four days,\ntill they came to a great jungle and camped on its outskirts. There\nthey debated how long they should stay away from home and they decided\nthat they would trade for six months and then go back.\n\nThe next morning they entered the jungle, and as they travelled through\nit, the six brothers managed to give Lelsing the slip, so that when\nthey came out of the forest they found themselves at Nilam bazar, but\nLelsing after wandering about for some time came out at Sujan bazar.\n\nThe six brothers bought sun-horses at Nilam bazar, and began to\ntrade. But Lelsing at Sujan bazar looked about for someone who would\nengage him as a servant. No one would employ a mongoose, and Lelsing\nwas in despair, for he had very little money. At last he began to\nenquire whether anyone would sell him a cheap horse, and learnt that\nthe horse market was at Nilam bazar; so he went to Nilam bazar and\nthere found his brothers trading, but he did not make himself known\nto them. He tried to buy a horse but they were all too highly priced\nfor him, so at last he had to be content with buying a donkey for\nthree rupees and some articles to trade with.\n\nWhen the six months expired, the brothers went home; and a little after\nthem came Lelsing, leading his donkey, his brothers laughed at him\nbut the Raja did not laugh; and Lelsing showed his father and mother\nwhat profits he had made by his trading, which his brothers declined\nto do. The Raja was pleased with Lelsing for this and declared that,\nin spite of his shape, he was a man and a Raja. It only made his\nbrothers more angry with him to hear Lelsing praised.\n\nTwo or three years later there was a famine in the land. Lelsing\nforesaw it and he dug a large hole in the floor of his house and buried\nin it all the grain on which he could lay his hand. The famine grew\nsevere, but Lelsing and his mother always had enough to eat from their\nprivate store. But his brothers were starving and their children cried\nfrom want of food. Lelsing had pity on them and sent his mother with\nsome rice for them to eat. The Raja and his sons were amazed that\nLelsing should have rice to give away, and they went to his house\nto see how much he had; but they found the house apparently empty,\nfor they did not know of the store buried in the ground. Puzzled\nand jealous the brothers made up their minds to burn down Lelsing's\nhouse. So one night they set fire to it, and it was burnt to ashes:\nthe store buried in the ground was however uninjured.\n\nLelsing put the ashes of his house into sacks and, loading them on\nhis donkey, set out to sell them. As he found no buyers, he rested for\nthe night under a tree by the road side. Presently a band of merchants\nwith well loaded pack-bullocks came to the place. \"You must not camp\nhere\" called out Lelsing to them \"I have two sacks of gold coin here\nand you may take an opportunity to steal them. If you are honest men,\nyou will go to a distance.\" So the merchants camped a little way off,\nbut in the middle of the night they came and carried off Lelsing's\nsacks, leaving two of their own in their place, and hurried on their\nway. In the morning Lelsing made haste to carry home the sacks which\nhad been changed, and when he came to open them he found them full\nof rice and rupees. He sent his mother to borrow a measure from his\nbrothers with which to measure the rupees; and when he returned it,\nhe sent it to them full of rupees.\n\nHis brothers came running to know where he had found so much money. \"I\ngot it by selling the ashes of my house\" said Lelsing \"and it is a\npity that I had only one house; if I had had more houses, I should\nhave had more ashes, and should have got more money still.\" On hearing\nthis the brothers at once made up their mind to burn their own houses,\nand take the ashes for sale. But when they did so and took the ashes\nfor sale from village to village they were only laughed at for their\npains, and in the end had to throw away the ashes and come back empty\nhanded. They were very angry at the trick which Lelsing had played\non them and decided to kill him and his mother; but when they went\nto the house to do the murder, Lelsing happened to be away from home\nand so they were only able to kill his mother.\n\nWhen Lelsing came home he found his mother lying dead. He placed the\nbody on his donkey and carried it off to burn it on the banks of the\nGanges. As he went, he saw a large herd of pack bullocks coming along\nthe road. He quickly propped the body of his mother against a tree\nwhich grew by the road and himself climbed into its branches, and when\nthe bullocks came up he began to call out \"Take care, take care: you\nwill have my sick mother trampled to death.\" But the drivers were too\nfar behind to hear what he said. When they came up, he climbed down\nfrom the tree and charged them with having allowed their bullocks to\nkill his mother. The drivers had no wish to face a charge of murder;\nand in the end, to secure their release, they made over to Lelsing\nall their bullocks, with the merchandise which they were carrying.\n\nLelsing threw his mother's corpse into some bushes, and drove the\nladen bullocks home. Naturally his brothers wanted to know where he\nhad got such wealth from, and he explained that it was by selling\nthe dead body of his mother and he was sorry that he had only one\nto dispose of. At once his brothers went and killed all their wives,\nand took the corpses away to sell; but no one would buy and they had\nto return disappointed.\n\nAnother trick that Lelsing played his brothers was this: he used to\nmix rupees in the food he gave his donkey, and these passed out in\nthe droppings; and Lelsing took care that his brothers should know of\nit. They found no rupees in the dung of their horses, and consulted\nLelsing as to the reason why. He told them that if they gave their\nhorses a blow with an axe while they ate their grain, they would\nfind rupees in the dung. The brothers did as they were advised,\nbut the only result was that they killed all their horses.\n\nMore and more angry, the brothers resolved to kill Lelsing by guile. So\nthey went to him and said that they had found a wife for him, and\nwould take him to be married. When the procession was ready, Lelsing\ngot into a palki. His brothers made the doors of the palki fast and\ncarried him off towards a deep river, into which they meant to throw\nhim, palki and all.\n\nWhen they reached the river, they put the palki down and went to\nlook for a suitably deep pool. Lelsing found that he was outwitted,\nand began to weep and wail. Just then a shepherd came by, driving a\nflock of sheep and asked what was the matter. Lelsing cried out that\nthey were going to marry him against his will, but that anyone who\nwould take his place in the palki could marry his bride. The shepherd\nthought that this would be a great opportunity to get a wife without\nspending any money on the marriage, and readily changed places with\nLelsing, who drove away the flock of sheep. The brothers soon came\nback and, picking up the paiki, threw it into the river and went home,\nthinking that they had at last got rid of Lelsing.\n\nBut four or five days later Lelsing appeared, driving a large flock of\nsheep. His brothers asked him, in amazement where he had come from,\n\"You threw me\" said Lelsing \"into a shallow pool of the river where\nthere were only sheep, but in the deeper parts there are cattle\nand buffaloes as well. I can take you to fetch some of them if you\nlike. You take your palkis to the bank of the river,--for I cannot\ncarry you all--and then shut yourselves inside and I will push you\ninto the water.\" So the brothers took their palkis to the river side\nand shut themselves in, and each called out \"Let me have the deepest\nplace, brother.\" Then Lelsing pushed them in one by one and they were\nall drowned. Then he went home rejoicing at the revenge which he had\ntaken for their ill treatment of him.\n\n\n\n\nLXVIII. The Stolen Treasure.\n\nOnce upon a time three jars full of money were stolen from a Raja's\npalace. As all search was fruitless the Raja at last gave notice that,\nwhoever could find them, should receive one half of the money. The\noffer brought all the _jans_ and _ojhas_ in the country to try their\nhand, but not one of them could find the treasure.\n\nThe fact was that the money had been stolen by two of the Raja's own\nservants and it fell to the duty of these same two men to entertain\nthe _ojhas_ who came to try and find the money. Thus they were able\nto keep watch and see whether any of them got on the right track.\n\nNot far from the Raja's city lived a certain tricky fellow. From his\nboyhood he had always been up to strange pranks, and he had married\nthe daughter of a rich village headman. At the time that the Raja's\nmoney was stolen his wife was on a visit to her father, and after\nshe had been some time away, he went to fetch her home. However, on\nhis way, he stopped to have a flirtation with a girl he knew in the\nvillage and the result was that he did not get to his father-in-law's\nhouse till long after dark. As he stood outside he heard his wife's\nrelations talking inside, and from their conversation he learnt that\nthey had killed a capon for supper, and that there was enough for\neach of them to have three slices of capon and five pieces of the\nvegetable which was cooked with it.\n\nHaving learnt this he opened the door and went in. The household\nwas amazed at his arriving so late at night but he explained that he\nhad dreamt that they had killed a capon and were having a feast: and\nthat there was enough for them each to have three slices of capon and\nfive pieces of vegetable, so he had come to have a share. At this his\nfather-in-law could do nothing but have another fowl killed and give\nhim supper; he was naturally astonished at the Trickster's powers of\ndreaming and insisted that he must certainly go and try his luck at\nfinding the Raja's stolen money.\n\nThe Trickster was taken aback at this, but there was no getting\nout of it; so the next morning he set out with his father-in-law to\nthe Raja's palace. When they arrived they were placed in charge of\nthe two guilty servants, who offered them refreshments of curds and\nparched rice. As he was washing his hands after eating, the Trickster\nejaculated, \"Find or fail I have at any rate had a square meal,\"\nNow the two servants were named Find and Fail and when they heard\nwhat the Trickster said, they thought he was speaking of them, and\nhad by some magic already found out that they were the thieves.\n\nThis threw them into consternation, and they took the Trickster aside\nand begged him not to tell the Raja that they were the thieves. He\nasked where they had put the money, and they told him that they had\nhidden it in the sand by the river. Then he promised not to reveal\ntheir guilt, if they would show him where to find the money when\nthe time came. They gladly promised and took him to the Raja. The\nTrickster pretended to read an incantation over some mustard seed,\nand then taking a bamboo went along tapping the ground with it. He\nrefused to have a crowd with him, because they would spoil the spell,\nbut Find and Fail followed behind him and showed him where to go. So he\nsoon found the jars of money and took them to the Raja, who according\nto his promise gave him half their contents.\n\n\n\n\nLXIX. Dukhu and His Bonga Wife.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a man named Bhagrit who had two sons named\nLukhu and Dukhu; and Lukhu used to work in the fields, while Dukhu\nherded the buffaloes. In summer Dukhu used to take his buffaloes to\ndrink and rest at a pool in the bed of a dry river.\n\nNow in the pool lived a _bonga_ girl and she fell in love with\nDukhu. So one day as he was sitting on the bank she appeared to\nhim in the guise of a human maiden. She went up to him and began to\ntalk, and soon they became great friends and agreed to meet at the\nsame place every day. As the girl was beautiful Dukhu fell deeply in\nlove with her and resolved to marry her, not knowing that she was a\n_bonga_. One day the _bonga_-girl asked Dukhu to come home with her to\ndinner, as he had stayed too late to go to his own house; but he said\nhe was too shy to do so, as her parents knew nothing about him. The\n_bonga_-girl said \"Oh no, I have told my people all about our love,\nbut if you won't come with me, stay here till I fetch you some rice;\nit is too late for you to go home now; by the time you come back, the\nbuffaloes will have wandered off for their afternoon grazing.\" So Dukhu\nagreed to wait while she brought the rice, and she got up and moved\naway and disappeared behind some bushes, but a minute later Dukhu saw\nher come smiling towards him with a pot of rice on her head; though\nhow she had fetched it so quickly he could not make out. She came to\nhim and put it down and told him to wash his hands and come and eat\nhis dinner. Dukhu asked her whether she had had her own dinner and she\nsaid that she would go back and have that later. Then he proposed that\nshe should eat part of what she had brought; and she said that she\nwould do so, if he did not want it all. Dukhu resolved to test her,\nfor it would be a proof of true love, if she ate what he left over. So\nafter eating half the rice he said that he was satisfied and when she\nfound that Dukhu would eat no more she took what was left; then he was\nsatisfied that she really loved him and they began to talk of getting\nmarried, and he told her that there would be no difficulty about it,\nas his elder brother Lukhu was already married.\n\nThen Dukhu asked the _bonga_ to take him to her house to see her\nparents, so one day she led him into the pool and as he went in, the\nwater never came above his ankles; and somehow they passed along a\nbroad road until they came to the _bonga_ girl's house, and this was\nfull of tigers and leopards and snakes. At the sight of them Dukhu was\ntoo frightened to speak; the _bonga_ said that she would not let them\ntouch him and offered him a large coiled-up snake to sit on; but he\nwould not sit down till she came and sat by his side. Then the _bonga_\nfather and mother asked their daughter whether this was her husband,\nand when she said \"yes\" they came and made obeisance to him.\n\nAfter they had had their dinner she took him back and he knew that\nshe was a _bonga_; but still he could not give her up. After this\nthe _bonga_ girl brought Dukhu his dinner every day on the bank of\nthe river, and he never went home for his midday-meal at all. His\nbrother's wife asked him why he did not come home and he said that\nhe did not get hungry and was content with some buffalo's milk; but\nshe did not believe him and resolved to watch and see who brought\nhim his dinner, but though she went and watched every day she only\nsaw him sitting alone, and the _bonga_ girl was invisible to her. But\none day she saw him disappear into the pool, and come out again.\n\nWhen she told this at home, Dukhu's father, Bhagrit, got very angry\nand decided to find out who made Dukhu disappear into the pool. He\nresolved to bale out the water and find out what was at the bottom. So\nhe sent for men with baling baskets and began to divide off the water\nwith dams, but out of the water a voice was heard, singing;--\n\n\n \"Do not dam the water, father,\n Do not dam the water, father,\n Your daughter-in-law, the Ginduri fish is dying.\"\n\n\nAt this sound the workmen were frightened and stopped; but Bhagrit\nmade them go on, saying that whatever happened should be on his\nhead. And when the dams were finished, they began to bale out the\nwater; thereupon a voice sang:--\n\n\n \"Do not bale the water, father,\n Do not bale the water, father.\n Your daughter-in-law, the Ginduri fish is dying.\"\n\n\nBut they paid no attention and baled the water dry, and at the bottom\nof the pool they found an enormous fish, for the _bonga_ girl had\nturned into a fish. And they went to kill it, but the fish sang:--\n\n\n \"Do not hit me, father,\n Do not hit me, father,\n Your daughter-in-law, the Ginduri fish is dying.\"\n\n\nNevertheless they killed it and dragged it on to the bank. Then they\nbegan to cut it up, and as they did so, it sang:--\n\n\n \"Do not cut me, father,\n Do not cut me, father,\n Your daughter-in-law, the Ginduri fish, is dying.\"\n\n\nNevertheless they cut it up, and Bhagrit divided the pieces among the\nworkmen, but they were too frightened to take any and preferred to\ntake the smaller fishes as their share. So he told Lukhu's wife to take\nup the pieces and wash them: and as she did so the song was heard:--\n\n\n \"Do not wash me, sister,\n Do not wash me, sister,\n The Ginduri fish is dying.\"\n\n\nAnd she was very frightened, but her father made her wash them and\nthen they took home the pieces and lit a fire and ground spices and\nturmeric and heated oil and made ready to cook the fish. Then the\nfish sang again:--\n\n\n \"Do not cook me, sister,\n Do not cook me, sister,\n The Ginduri fish, sister, is dying.'\n\n\nBut she nevertheless put the pieces into the pot to boil, when lo and\nbehold, out of the pot jumped the pretty _bonga_ girl. Then Bhagrit\nsaid to his neighbours.--\"You see by my persistence I have got a\ndaughter-in-law\"--and she was duly married to Dukhu. At the wedding\nthe _bonga_ girl said \"Listen, Father and all of you: I tell you and\nI tell my husband--however much we quarrel let not my husband strike\nme on the head, let him beat me on the body, I shall not mind; but\non the day that he hits me on the head: I shall depart for good.\"\n\nAfter the marriage the family became very prosperous and their\ncrops flourished and every one liked the _bonga_ girl; but between\nher and her husband there were constant quarrels and their friends\ncould not stop them. One day it happened that Dukhu smacked her\non the head. Then the _bonga_ girl began to cry and called her\nfather-in-law and mother-in-law and said \"Father, listen, the father\nof your grandson has turned me out, you must do your work yourselves\nto-day;\" then she took her child on her hip and left the house; and\nthey ran after her and begged her to return, but she would not heed;\nand they tried to snatch the child from her but she would not give\nit up, and went away and was seen no more.\n\n\n\n\nLXX. The Monkey Husband.\n\nOne very hot day some children were bathing in a pool, when a Hanuman\nmonkey snatched up the cloth which one of the girls had left on the\nbank and ran up a tree with it. When the children came out of the water\nand went to take up their clothes, they found one missing, and looking\nabout, they saw the monkey in the tree with it. They begged the Hanuman\nto give it back, but the monkey only said--\"I will not give it unless\nits owner consents to marry me.\"--Then they began to throw sticks\nand stones at him but he climbed to the top of the tree out of the way.\n\nThen they ran and told the parents of the girl whose cloth had been\nstolen; and they called their neighbours and went with bows and arrows\nand threatened to shoot the monkey if he did not give up the cloth,\nbut he still said that he would not, unless the girl would marry\nhim. Then they shot all their arrows at him but not one of them hit\nhim; then the neighbours said. \"This child is fated to belong to the\nmonkey and that is why we cannot hit him.\" Then the girl's father\nand mother began to cry and sang:--\n\n\n \"Give the girl her cloth,\n Her silk cloth, monkey boy,\"\n\n\nand he answered\n\n\n \"If she consents to marry me I will give it:\n If she consents I will put it in her hand.\"\n\n\nAnd as he did not listen to the father and mother, her father's\nyounger brother and his wife sang the same song, but in vain; and\nthen the girl herself begged for it, and thereupon the monkey let\ndown one end of the cloth to her; and when she caught hold of it,\nhe pulled her up into the tree, and there made her put on her cloth\nand ran off with her on his back.\n\nThe girl was quite willing to go with him and called out as she was\ncarried away: \"Never mind, father and mother, I am going away.\" The\nHanuman took her to a cave in the mountains and they lived on\nfruit,--mangoes or jack or whatever fruit was in season. The monkey\nclimbed the trees and shook the fruit down; but if the girl saw by\nthe marks of teeth that the monkey had bitten off any fruit, instead\nof only shaking it down, she would not eat it, and pretended that\nshe had had enough; for she would not eat the leavings of the monkey.\n\nAt last the girl got tired of having only fruit to eat; and demanded\nrice. So the monkey took her to a bazar, and leaving her on the\noutskirts of the village under a tree, he went and stole some pots from\na potter and rice and salt and turmeric and pulse and sweetmeats from\nother shops, and brought them to the girl. Then she collected sticks\nand lit a fire and cooked a meal; and the monkey liked the cooked\nfood, and asked her to cook for him every day. So they stayed there\nseveral days. Then the girl asked for more clothes and the monkey\ntried to steal them too, but the shopkeepers were on the watch and\ndrove him away.\n\nThe girl soon got tired of sleeping under a tree so they went back\nto the cave and the monkey gathered mangoes and jackfruit and told\nher to go and sell them in the market and then she would be able to\nbuy cloth. But when she had sold the fruit, she stayed in the village\nand took service with a well-to-do shopkeeper, and never returned to\nthe monkey. The monkey watched for her and searched for her in vain,\nand returned sorrowfully to his hill; but the girl stayed on in the\nvillage and eventually married one of the villagers.\n\n\n\n\nLXXI. Lakhan and the Wild Buffaloes.\n\nOnce upon a time there was the only son of a widow, who used to tend\nthe sheep and goats of a Raja and his name was Lakhan. One day he\nharnessed one of the goats to a plough and ploughed up a piece of high\nland and sowed hemp there. The crop grew finely, but one night a herd\nof wild buffaloes came and ate it all up; at this Lakhan resolved to\npursue the buffaloes and shoot them.\n\nHis mother did all she could to dissuade him but he made up a bundle\nof provisions, and set off on his journey with a stick, and a bow\nand arrows, and a flute made of the castor oil plant. He tracked the\nbuffaloes for some days and one evening he came to the house of an\nold witch (hutibudhi) and he went up to it and asked the witch if he\nmight sleep there. She answered \"My house is rough and dirty, but\nyou can choose a corner to sleep in; I can give you nothing more,\nas I have not a morsel of food in the house.\" \"Then,\" said he,\n\"I must go to bed hungry\" and he lay down supperless.\n\nIn the middle of the night the witch began to gnaw at Lakhan's bow\nand he heard her gnawing and called out \"What are you munching? Give\nme at bit,\" but she answered that it was only a little pulse which\nshe had gleaned from the fields and she had finished it. So Lakhan\nsaid no more; but during the night the witch bit his bow to pieces\nand when he saw this in the morning, he was very unhappy; for it was\nuseless to find the bison, if he had nothing to shoot them with.\n\nSo he went home and had an iron bow and arrows made by a blacksmith,\nand then started off again. As before he came to the witch's house\nand arranged to sleep there; and in the night the witch tried to\nbite the bow to pieces, and Lakhan heard her crunching it and asked\nher what she was eating: she said it was only a little grain which\nshe had gleaned. In the morning he found the bow all right, but the\nwitch's jaws were badly swollen. Lakhan laughed at her and asked what\nwas the matter and she said that she had toothache.\n\nSo Lakhan went on his way rejoicing and at last reached the place\nwhere the wild buffaloes rested at night; he waited there and while he\nwaited he swept away all the droppings and made the place clean, and\nthen climbed up into a tree. At evening great herds of buffaloes came\nto the place and they were so many that Lakhan was afraid to shoot. So\nhe stayed there, and every day he used to sweep the place clean, while\nthe buffaloes were away, and at night time hid himself in the tree.\n\nThe buffaloes determined to find out who their benefactor was, and they\nchose an old cow to stay behind and watch. The next day the old cow\npretended that she was too weak to rise, and was left behind when the\nherd went out to graze. Lakhan thought that she was too old to do him\nany harm, so, although she was there, he got down from the tree and\ncleaned up the place as usual, and even swept quite close up to the\nold cow buffalo. In the evening the other buffaloes came back and the\nold cow told them that it was a human being who swept their resting\nplace clean; and when they promised not to hurt him, she pointed out\nthe tree where Lakhan was. Then the buffaloes told him to come down\nand swore not to kill him but to support him and keep him as their\nservant. They told him to make a leaf bowl and they filled this with\ntheir milk, as much as he could drink, and they arranged that he should\nstay at the sleeping place and keep it clean, and when he wanted milk\nhe was to play on his flute and they would come at the sound.\n\nSo every noon he used to blow the flute and the cows came, running\nand gave him more milk than he wanted so that he used even to bathe\nhimself in milk, and this made his hair grow very long.\n\nOne day a parrot belonging to a Raja saw him drying his long hair\nin the sun and the parrot went to the Raja and told him that he had\nfound a husband for the Raja's daughter, with beautiful long hair;\nbut that no one could go near where he lived because of the wild\nbuffaloes; however the parrot undertook to bring him with the help\nof a tame crow of the Raja's: so the crow and the parrot flew off to\nthe jungle, and they decided that the best way to entice Lakhan away,\nwas to carry off his flute. So when the cows gave him milk at noon and\nhe put down his flute, the crow seized it in his beak and flew away to\nthe top of a tree. When Lakhan missed the flute and saw the crow with\nit, he began to throw stones but the crow flew off with it, keeping\njust out of range; the crow flew from tree to tree and seemed to be\nalways just about to drop the flute and in this way enticed Lakhan on,\ntill they came to the Raja's palace and Lakhan followed the crow right\ninside and they shut the door on him and made him marry the princess.\n\nAfter some time his wife's brothers began to talk rudely about\nhim saying \"I suppose this fellow is some poor orphan, without any\nrelations\" and when Lakhan heard this he said that if they wanted\nto see his cattle and buffaloes they must make a yard for them. So\nthe Raja gave orders for a large cattle yard to be made, and when it\nwas ready Lakhan took his flute and put his wife on the roof of the\npalace and he himself climbed a tree and blew on the flute. Then the\nwild buffaloes came running at the sound and gored to death every\none they met, and Lakhan and his wife became Raja and Rani.\n\n\n\n\nLXXII. The Boy with the Stag.\n\nOnce all the men of a village went out to hunt in the hills and a\ncertain orphan boy wanted to go with them, and although they told him\nthat there was no water in the hills and he would die of thirst, he\ninsisted on starting. The first day they found no water, but the orphan\nboy managed to endure it; but the second day he suffered so much, that\nhe begged the hunters to take him to water; they told him that there\nwas no water and they could not take him to any. So he set off alone\nin the direction in which he understood there might be water, but he\nsoon lost his way in the jungle; so in despair he climbed a _meral_\ntree and picked the fruit and threw it in all directions and to his\njoy he heard one fruit splash as it fell into water; so he climbed down\nand sure enough close to the tree he found a pool and drank his fill.\n\nAnd then he saw a fawn stuck fast in the mud at the edge of the pool,\nso he fixed an arrow to his bow and crept towards it, resolved to\ncatch it alive if he could, but if it ran away, to shoot it. The fawn\ndid not move and he managed to seize it and pulling it out of the mud,\nhe rubbed it clean and put his bow string round its neck and took it\nhome. The fawn grew up into a stag and he trained it to fight and\none day he matched it to fight with a goat. The agreement was that\nthe owner of the winner should take both the animals; in the fight\nthe stag was victorious, so the boy won the goat. Then he matched his\nstag with a ram and a bullock and even with a buffalo, and the stag\nwas always victorious and in this way he soon grew rich. Seeing him\nso rich one of the villagers gave him his daughter in marriage and\ntook him to live in his house, and so he lived happily ever afterwards.\n\n\n\n\nLXXIII. The Seven Brothers and the Bonga Girl.\n\nOnce upon a time there were seven brothers who lived all alone in\nthe jungle, far from human habitations. None of them was married\nand they lived on the game they killed. It chanced that a _bonga_\nmaiden saw the youngest brother and fell deeply in love with him. So\none day when all the brothers were away hunting, she placed in their\nhouse seven nicely cooked plates of rice.\n\nWhen the brothers returned in the evening from the chase, they were\nastonished to find the rice waiting for them; all but the youngest said\nthat it must be some plot to kill them and refused to touch the food,\nbut the youngest wished to eat it. His brothers would not let him and\ntold him to throw the rice away; so he took it outside the house, but\ninstead of throwing it away, he ate up the whole seven plates full,\nwithout letting his brothers know. But when they went to bed that\nnight, the youngest brother snored loudly, because he had eaten so\nmuch, and thereby his brothers guessed that he had eaten the rice,\nand they were very unhappy for they were sure that he was about to\ndie. However in the morning he was none the worse; so they went out\nhunting as usual but the youngest brother suffered continually from\nthirst, the result of overeating, and this convinced his brothers\nthat he had eaten the rice, though he denied it.\n\nWhen they reached home that evening, they again found seven dishes of\nrice placed ready for them. And that day the youngest brother and the\nyoungest but one ate; and the day after there was the rice again, and\nthe three youngest ate it. Then the eldest brother said: \"To-morrow\nI will stay behind and watch, and see who it is who brings the rice;\nwe have no servant, if I can catch the person who is so kind to us,\nI will engage him as a cook for us, and we need have no more of this\nmystery. Do you bring back my share of the game you shoot.\"\n\nSo the next morning the eldest brother stayed behind and hid himself\nand watched. But he could not see the _bonga_, though she brought\nthe rice as usual; and when he told his brothers this, it was decided\nthat the second brother should stay behind the next day, and see if\nhe had better luck; and that day they all ate the rice, except the\neldest brother, who said that he would never eat it, until he knew\nwho brought it; so the next day the second brother watched but he\nalso could not see the _bonga_.\n\nOne by one all the brothers watched in vain, until only the youngest\none was left. Then they said to the youngest brother: \"Now it is\nyour turn and if our friend does not show himself to you, we will\neat no more of his rice.\" So the next day the other brothers went\noff to hunt and the youngest stayed at home; he did not trouble to\nhide himself, but sat in the house making a bow. At noon he saw the\n_bonga_ girl coming with the rice on her head, but he took no notice\nand pretended to be looking down at something. Then the _bonga_ came\ninto the courtyard and put down the rice and looked about and said:\n\"I saw something like a man here, where has he got to?\" and she\nlooked into the house and still the youngest brother kept silent;\nthen she spoke to him and asked whether he was ill, that he had not\ngone hunting. He answered her that he was not ill, but had been left\nto watch for the person who brought them rice every day. Thereupon\nthe _bonga_ went outside and brought in the rice and putting it down,\nsaid: \"It is I who do it. Come, wash your hands and I will give you\nyour dinner,\" but he said: \"First tell me what all this means,\" and\nshe said: \"It means that I want to live with you.\" He objected. \"How\ncan I marry you when my brothers are not married?\" She answered that\nif he married her, they would soon find wives for his brothers. Then\nshe urged him to eat, but he said that if he ate one plateful, his\nbrothers would question him, so the _bonga_ girl went and brought an\nextra dish and he ate that. And as they talked together, he soon fell\ndeeply in love with her, and promised to consult his brothers about\nher living with them; but he saw a difficulty which would arise if\nshe married him, for his elder brothers would not care even to ask\nher for water, and thus she would be really of very little use in the\nhouse; so with some hesitation he proposed that she should marry the\neldest brother and then they could all talk freely to her; but the\ngirl would not agree to this and said that there would be no harm at\nall in their talking to her, provided that they did not touch her,\nand she would not mind giving his elder brothers water.\n\nSo they plighted their troth to each other, subject to the consent of\nthe brothers, and towards evening the _bonga_ girl left, promising\nto return on the morrow. When the brothers returned they discussed\nthe matter and agreed that the youngest should marry the girl,\nprovided that she promised to keep house for them. So the next day\nthe girl came back and stayed with them; and they found wives for\nthe other brothers, and got cattle and buffaloes and broke up land\nfor cultivation and though the brothers did not altogether give up\nhunting, they became rich.\n\nA certain jogi found out where they lived and once every year he came\nto ask for alms; one year he came just after the _bonga_ girl had\nborne a child, so as she was doing no work, it was her sisters-in-law\nwho brought out food for the jogi. But at this he was displeased, and\nsaid that he would only eat at the hands of the girl, who had given\nhim food the year before. They told him that she was in child-bed and\ncould not come out. Then he said: \"Go and tell her that the Jhades Jogi\nhas come and wants her arm tassel.\" So she sent out her arm tassel\nto him and he put it in his bag and got up and went away. Thereupon\nthe _bonga_ girl arose and left her baby, and followed him, and never\ncame back. At evening the brothers returned from hunting, and heard\nwhat had happened. They were very distressed and told their wives\nto look after the baby while they went in pursuit. They followed as\nhard as they could and caught up the Jogi on the banks of a river;\nthen they tried to shoot him, but their arrows were powerless against\nhim, and he by magic turned the seven brothers into stones.\n\nSo the Jogi carried off the woman to his home. He was a Raja in his\nown country and he had a big garden; and an old woman who looked\nafter it used to make garlands every day and bring them to the Rani,\nand the Rani used to pay their weight in silver for them. In the\ncourse of time the child who was left behind grew up and when he\nused to play with his fellows at pitch and toss and there was any\ndispute about the game his playmates would say \"Fatherless boy,\nyou want to cheat!\" So he asked his aunts whether it was true that\nhe had no father and they told him that the Jhades jogi had carried\noff his mother, and how his father and uncles had gone in pursuit and\nhad never returned. So the boy decided to go in search of his mother\nand he set off, and first he met some goatherds and he sang to them:--\n\n\n \"Ho, Ho, goatherds\n Have you seen the Jhades Jogi\n On this road?\"\n\n\nBut they could tell him nothing. And then he met some shepherd boys,\nand he sang to them:--\n\n\n \"Ho, Ho, shepherds,\n Have you seen the Jhades jogi\n On this road?\"\n\n\nBut they could tell him nothing. Then he met some boys tending\nbuffaloes and he sang;--\n\n\n \"Ho, ho, buffalo herds,\n Have you seen the Jhades jogi\n On this road?\"\n\n\nBut they could tell him nothing. Then he came to a thorn bush, with\na number of rags fluttering on it, and he sang:--\n\n\n \"Ho, ho, plum bush,\n Have you seen the Jhades jogi\n On this road?\"\n\n\nAnd the plum tree said \"The Jhades jogi brought your mother this way,\nand I did my best to stop them. If you don't believe me see the rags as\na proof.\" And he put his hand on the tree and went on. And then he came\nto a squirrel which was chattering in a banyan tree, and he sang:--\n\n\n \"Ho, ho, squirrel,\n Have you seen the Jhades jogi\n On this road?\"\n\n\nAnd the squirrel said \"I have been calling you since yesterday. The\njogi brought your mother this way, go on and you will overtake\nthem. And your father and uncles also came this road.\" The boy was\ncheered by this news and he put his hand on the squirrel's back and\nsaid \"You are a fine fellow to give me this clue\" and the marks of\nhis fingers were imprinted on the squirrel and that is why squirrels\nhave striped backs to the present day.\n\nThen he went on and came to a river and he decided to sit and have\nhis lunch there; he did not know that his father and uncles had been\nturned into stones in that very place, but as he sat and ate, his eyes\nwere opened and he saw the stones weeping, and he recognised them,\nand he dropt a little food on each that they might eat, and pursued\nhis way, until he came to the Jhades jogi's kingdom, and he went to\nthe old woman who kept the Jogi's garden and asked to be allowed to\nstay with her and help her to make the garlands.\n\nOne day when he had made a garland, he tied to it a ring which had\nbelonged to his mother. So when the old woman took the garland to the\nRani, the Rani wondered why it weighed so heavy, and when she examined\nit she saw her own ring. Then she asked the old woman who had tied the\nring there, and when she heard that a strange boy had come, she at\nonce ran to him and recognised her own son.\n\nThen they planned how they could kill the Jhades jogi and escape! The\nmother agreed to find out in what lay the life of the Jogi. So she\nquestioned him and worried him till he told her that his life lay in a\ncertain pumpkin vine. Then the boy went and cut down the pumpkin vine,\nbut the Jogi did not die; then the Rani worried and worried the Jogi\ntill he told her that his life lay in his sword; then the boy stole\nthe sword and burnt it in a fire of cowdung, but still the Jogi did not\ndie; then his mother again worried and plagued the Jogi till at last he\ntold her the truth and said \"In the middle of the sea is a cotton tree,\nand on the tree are two Bohmae birds; if they are killed I shall die.\"\n\nSo the boy set off to the sea and on the road he met three old\nwomen and one had a stool stuck to her back, and one had a bundle of\nthatching grass stuck on her head, and the third had her foot stuck\nfast to a rice-pounder, and they asked him where he was going, and he\ntold them, \"to visit the shrine of the Bohmae bird\": then they asked\nhim to consult the oracle and find out how they could be freed from\nthe things which were stuck fast to them, and he promised to do so.\n\nBy-and-bye he came to the sea and was puzzled as to how he was to\ncross it. As he walked up and down the shore he saw an alligator\nrolling about in pain with a swollen stomach; and when it saw the boy\nit said \"I am like to die with this pain in my stomach, how can I be\ncured?\" and the boy proposed that it should take him to the cotton\ntree in the midst of the sea and there they might learn a remedy from\nthe Bohmae birds. The alligator agreed, so the boy got on its back\nand was taken across the water. Then the boy sat at the foot of the\ncotton tree and sang:--\n\n\n \"Come down, Bohmae birds,\n I wish to consult the oracle.\"\n\n\nBut the birds were frightened and flew to the top of the tree. But as\nhe went on singing, they became curious and came down and asked what\nwas the matter, and he said \"There are three old woman and one has a\nstool stuck to her and one a bundle of grass and one a rice pounder;\nhow are they to be freed?\" And they said \"The first old woman never\nasked visitors to her house to take a seat; if she does so in future\nshe will get rid of the stool,\"--and as they said this they came\nnearer--\"and the second old woman, if she saw anyone with straws\nsticking in their hair never offered to take them out. If she does\nso in future she will be freed,\" and as they said this they came\nnearer still--\"and the third old woman would not allow widows and\norphans to use her rice pounder: if she does so she will be freed:\"\nand as they said this they came quite near, and the boy seized them\nand broke their wings, and as he did so the Jogi's arms were broken;\nthen he snapped off their legs, and as he did so the Jogi's legs were\nbroken; and the birds screamed and the Jogi howled.\n\nThen the alligator carried the boy back, and by the time it reached\nthe shore it was cured of its pain. On his way back the boy told the\nthree old women of what the birds had said; and when he got to the\nJogi's palace he twisted off the heads of the Bohmae birds and then\nthe Jogi's head fell to the ground.\n\nThen he started homewards with his mother, carrying the birds and\ntheir heads; and the Jogi's head came rolling after them. But he saw\na blacksmith's fire burning by the side of the road and he threw the\nbirds into the fire and the Jogi's head rolled into the fire and was\nburnt, and that was the end of him. When they came to the river where\nhis father and uncles were turned into stones, he bathed in the river,\nand then put a cloth over the stones and they were restored to human\nshape; and they rubbed their eyes and said \"We must have slept a long\ntime\" and were astonished when they heard how the Jogi had turned\nthem into stones. Then they all went home and lived happily ever after.\n\n\n\n\nLXXIV. The Tiger's Foster Child.\n\nOnce upon a time a Potter woman went to dig earth for making pots,\nand while she was working she was prematurely delivered of a boy. And\nshe considered whether she should carry the child home, or the basket\nof clay, but in the end decided to take the clay which was urgently\nwanted, while she would doubtless have plenty more children in the\ncourse of time. So she went away, leaving the baby in the pit. At\nevening a tiger came by and heard the child crying and he took pity\non it and carried it away and he and his wife reared it.\n\nAs the child grew up they used to take him to the tigers' assembly. He\nwas not at all afraid of the tigers and understood all they said\nand one day he heard them saying that the Pargana (tribal chief)\ntiger was a great man-eater. At this he was very angry and set off to\nlook for the man-eater, without telling his foster parents. When the\nPargana tiger saw the boy coming he had just finished cleaning his\nteeth, and he thought \"This is lucky, here is my breakfast coming;\"\nbut just as he was about to spring on the boy, the boy caught hold\nof him and tore him to pieces.\n\nThe news of this exploit soon spread, and the tigers called a meeting\nto consider the matter, and they told the foster father that he must\ntake steps to prevent the boy doing any such thing again. So the\ntiger and tigress went home and told the boy that it was time that\nhe went back to his own people, as he had brought shame upon them;\nthe boy objected that men would not receive him, but they told him to\ngo as an orphan boy and beg in the villages till he found his mother.\n\nSo he went away and when he came to a village he sang:--\n\n\n \"My mother went to dig earth\n And left me in the pit;\n The tiger and the tigress of the jungle\n Reared me--give me alms,\"\n\n\nAnd thus he went begging from village to village and one day he came\nto the village where his father and mother lived. His mother heard\nhim a long way off and running to him knew him for her son. Then she\nbrought water and oil and turmeric and bathed him and anointed him,\nand gave him new clothes and fed him on curds and parched rice. And\nthe villagers collected, and when they heard the stories of the mother\nand son, they believed them and gave a feast in honour of the boy,\nand took him into the village.\n\n\n\n\nLXXV. The Caterpillar Boy.\n\nOnce there was an old woman who lived on the grain she could collect\nfrom other people's threshing floors. One day as she swept up a\nthreshing floor she found a caterpillar among the paddy; she threw\nit away but it came crawling back again; she threw it away again,\nbut it said \"Do not throw me away, take me home with you and you\nwill prosper.\" So she let it stay and that day she found that she\ncollected a whole basketful of rice; at this she was delighted, and\nput the caterpillar on the top of her basket and took it home. There\nshe asked the caterpillar what work it would do, and it said that\nit would watch the paddy, when it was spread out to dry after being\nboiled, and prevent the fowls and pigs from eating it.\n\nSo the caterpillar used to watch the paddy while the old woman went out\nlooking for food; and every day she brought back a full basket of rice,\nand so she soon became rich. It got whispered about that the old woman\nwas so prosperous, because she had a caterpillar boy in her house.\n\nOne day the caterpillar said that he wanted to go and bathe, so he\nwent to the river and took off his caterpillar skin, and bathed, and\nas he rubbed his head, one or two hairs came out, and these he wrapped\nup in a leaf and set the packet to float down the stream. Lower down\nthe stream a princess was bathing and when she saw the packet come\nfloating down, she had it fished out, and when she opened it she saw\nthe hairs inside and she measured them and found them to be twelve\nfathoms long; then the princess vowed that she would not eat rice,\ntill she found the man to whom the hairs belonged. And she went home\nand shut herself in her room and refused to eat.\n\nAt this her father and mother were much distressed, and when they heard\nwhat had happened the Raja said \"Well she wants a husband, I will find\nhim for her.\" And he sent a notice throughout his kingdom saying that\nhe would give his daughter and half his kingdom to the man who had\nhair twelve fathoms long. Everyone who heard this came with his sons\nand the princess was told to look at them and choose whom she liked;\nbut none had hair twelve fathoms long, and she would take none of\nthem. Then the Raja asked whether everyone in the kingdom had come,\nand he was told that there was a caterpillar boy, who lived with an\nold woman, who had not come, so the Raja sent to fetch him, but he\nsaid that he had no arms or legs and could not go; so they sent a\npalki for him and he was brought in that. And when the palki was set\non the ground, the caterpillar boy rolled out and the princess said\nthat he should be her husband.\n\nAt this her father and mother were much ashamed and remonstrated with\nher, but she persisted in her fancy, so the marriage took place. They\nsent the newly married pair to live in a house at the outskirts of the\nvillage and only one maidservant accompanied the princess. Every night\nthe caterpillar boy used to take off his skin and go out to dance,\nand one night the maidservant saw him and told her mistress. And they\nagreed to watch him, so the next night they pretended to go to sleep,\nbut when the caterpillar boy went out, they took his skin and burnt\nit on the fire; and when he came back, he looked for it, but could\nnot find it. Then the princess got up and caught him in her arms,\nand he retained his human form, and he was as handsome as a god.\n\nIn the morning the caterpillar boy and his wife stayed inside the\nhouse, and the Raja sent some children to see what had happened, and\nthe children brought back word that there was a being in the house,\nbut whether human or divine they could not say. Then the Raja went\nand fetched his son-in-law to the palace, but the caterpillar was not\npleased and said to his wife; \"They treat me very well now that they\nsee that I am a man, but what did they do before?\" However he stayed\nin his father-in-law's palace.\n\nPresently the Raja said that his kingdom was too small to give half of\nit to his son-in-law, so he proposed that they should go and conquer\nfresh territory, and carve out a kingdom for the caterpillar boy. So\nthey went to war and attacked another Raja, but they were defeated and\ntheir army cut to pieces. Then the son-in-law said that he would fight\nhimself; so he drew his sword and brandished it and it flashed like\nlightning and dazzled the eyes of the enemy and his shield clanged\non his thigh with a noise like thunder; and he defeated the other\nRaja and took his kingdom and carried off all his wealth.\n\nBut the Raja thought that as his son-in-law was so strong, he would\none day kill him also and take his kingdom: so he resolved to find a\nmeans to kill him. On their way back from the war they found no water\non the road and were distressed with thirst. One day they came to a\nlarge tank and found it dry. So they made a sacrifice in the hopes\nthat water would flow. First they sacrificed goats and sang:--\n\n\n \"Tank, we are giving goats\n Trickle out water!\n Tank, we are giving goats\n Flow, water!\"\n\n\nBut no water came. Then in succession they sacrificed sheep, and oxen\nand buffaloes, and horses and elephants, but all in vain: and after\neach failure the Raja said \"Son-in-law, it is your turn,\" and at\nlast his son-in-law said \"Well, let it be me;\" and he armed himself\nand mounted his horse and went and stood in the middle of the tank,\nand he sang:--\n\n\n \"Up to my knees the water, father,\n The water, father, has oozed out.\"\n\n\nAnd the Raja answered:--\n\n\n \"Do you, my son, remain standing there,\"\n\n\nAnd as he sang the water welled out up to his horse's knee and then\nto its belly; and he still sang and the water rose to the horse's\nback and then to his own waist, and to his chest, and he still sang,\nand it reached his mouth and then he was completely submerged and\nthe tank was full. Then they all drank their fill and the Raja said\nto his men \"We have sacrificed this Saru prince. I will kill any of\nyou who tells my daughter what has happened\" and they promised not\nto tell, but they forgot that there were two dogs with them. And\nwhen they got home each man's wife brought out water and welcomed\nhim and the princess asked where her husband, the Saru prince, was,\nand no one answered; then she sang:--\n\n\n \"Oh Father, my father; How far away\n Is the Saru Prince, the Gindu Raja?\"\n\n\nand the Raja answered\n\n\n \"My daughter, my darling, the Saru Prince, the Gindu Raja\n Is very far away, amusing himself with hunting.\"\n\n\nAnd she sang to them all, but no one told her anything, and then she\nsang to the two dogs, who were named Chaura and Bhaura:--\n\n\n \"Oh Chaura, oh Bhaura,\n How far away\n Is the Saru Prince, the Gindu Raja?\"\n\n\nand they answered\n\n\n \"Oh sister, oh Rani!\n Your father has sacrificed him\n In the big tank.\"\n\n\nThereupon she began to cry, and every day she sat and cried on the\nbank of the tank.\n\nNow the two daughters of the Snake King and Queen had received the\nSaru Prince as he disappeared under the water, and when they heard\nthe princess crying every day they had pity on her; she used to sing:--\n\n\n \"Oh husband! Oh Raja!\n My father has sacrificed you\n In the big tank.\n Oh husband! Oh Raja,\n Take me with you too.\"\n\n\nSo the daughters of the Snake King and Queen took pity on her and\ntold their frog chowkidar to restore the Saru Prince to his wife;\nand the Prince and his wife went home together. When the Raja and\nhis wife saw their son-in-law again, they were terrified, but he said\nnothing to reproach them. The princess however could not forgive them\nfor trying to kill her husband and always looked angrily at them;\nthen the Raja and the Rani took counsel together and agreed that\nthey had done wrong to the prince, and that he must be a magician;\nand they thought that their daughter must also be a magician, as she\nhad recognised the prince when he was a caterpillar, and she could\nnot even see his long hair; so they were afraid and thought it best\nto make over the kingdom to their son-in-law, and they abdicated in\nhis favour, and he took the kingdom.\n\n\n\n\nLXXVI. The Monkey Nursemaid.\n\nOnce upon a time there were seven brothers who were all married and\neach had one child and the brothers arranged to engage a boy to carry\nthe children about; so they sent for a boy and to see if he was strong\nenough, they made a loaf as big as a door and they told the boy to take\nit away and eat it; but he was not strong enough to lift it; so they\ntold him that he could not carry their children. Now a Hanuman monkey\nwas looking on from the top of a tree, and he came down and carried\noff the loaf and ate it. Thereupon the mothers engaged him to carry\nthe children, and he used to carry the whole seven about on his back.\n\nOne day the children were running about the house and kept interfering\nwith their mothers' work, and the mothers scolded the monkey for not\nkeeping them out of the way. Then the monkey got sulky and carried\noff the children to a distant hill and did not bring them back at\nevening. So the mothers got very anxious, but the villagers laughed\nat them for engaging a monkey, instead of a human being, to look\nafter the children.\n\nWhen the mothers heard that the monkey had taken the children to\nthe hill, they were still more unhappy, for in the hill lived a\n_rakhas_ (ogre) but it was too late to go in search of them that\nnight. Meanwhile the monkey for fear of the _rakhas_ had carried the\nchildren up to the top of a palm tree and when the _rakhas_ spied\nthem out he tried to climb the tree, but the monkey drove him away\nby throwing the palm fruit at him.\n\nHowever the monkey was really in a fix, for he was sure that the Rakhas\nwould return, and he knew that if he let the children be eaten, their\nparents would make him pay for it with his life. So he went off to a\nblacksmith and bought sharp knives and tied them on to the trunk of the\npalm tree: and when the Rakhas came back and tried to climb the tree,\nhe was so badly cut by the knives, that he fell down to the ground with\na thud and lay there groaning. Then the monkey cautiously descended and\nthe Rakhas begged him to cure his wounds; the monkey answered that he\nwould cure him if he gave him complete outfits for the children. The\nRakhas said that he would give them directly he was cured. So the\nmonkey applied some medicines and recited the following spells:--\n\n\n \"Rustling, rustling sesamum,\n Slender sesamum:\n Tell your grandfather,\n Tell him of seven waist strings.\n\n Rustling, rustling sesamum,\n Slender sesamum:\n Tell your grandfather,\n Tell him of seven dhotis.\"\n\n\nAnd in succeeding verses, he mentioned seven coats, seven pair of\nshoes, seven hats, seven swords, seven horses, and seven hogs; and as\nhe repeated the incantation he blew on the Rakhas, and he was healed.\n\nThe Rakhas was to give the things mentioned in the incantation, but\nwhen seven hogs were mentioned he objected and wished only to give one,\nand in the end the monkey agreed to be content with two; so the Rakhas\ndeparted and the next day appeared with seven waist strings, seven\ndhoties, seven coats, seven hats, seven pairs of shoes, seven swords,\nseven horses and two hogs. Then the monkey rigged the children out in\nthis apparel and mounted them on the horses; and the monkey and the\nRakhas mounted on the two hogs,--the Rakhas having faithfully promised\nnot to eat the children or their parents,--and they all set out for\nthe children's home. When the mothers saw the cavalcade come jingling\nalong, they were frightened at first; but when they recognised their\nchildren they were delighted, and they gave the monkey and Rakhas a\ngood dinner. Then the monkey made over the children to their parents\nand gave up his post as nurse, and left amid the good wishes of all.\n\n\n\n\n\nLXXVII. The Wife Who Could Not Keep a Secret.\n\nOnce there was a man of the Goala caste, who looked after the cattle\nof a rich farmer. One day a cow dropped a calf in the jungle without\nthe Goala knowing, and at evening the cow came running to join the\nothers, without the calf. When they got home the cow kept on lowing\nand the master asked whether she had had a calf; the Goala had to\nconfess that the calf had been left in the jungle; the master scolded\nhim well, so he took a rope and stick and went out into the night.\n\nBut when he got to the jungle he could not hear the calf, so he\ndecided to wait where he was till the morning; he was too frightened\nof wild animals to stay on the ground, so he climbed a tree leaving\nthe stick and rope at the foot of it. Soon a tiger smelt him out and\ncame to the place. Then the stick and the rope took council together\nas to how they could save their master; the stick saw that it could\nnot see in the dark and so was powerless; so the rope agreed to fight\nfirst, and it whirled itself round in the air with a whistling noise,\nand the tiger hearing the noise and seeing no one, got frightened,\nand thought that there was an evil spirit there; so it did not dare\nto come very near and in the morning it took itself off.\n\nThen the Goala saw the cow come to look for her calf, so he took up the\nstick and rope and followed her. The cow soon found her calf and asked\nit whether it had not been very cold and uncomfortable all night; but\nthe calf said \"No mother, I put my foot in these four pots of rupees\nand they kept me warm,\" The Goala heard this and resolved to see if\nit were true; so he dug up the earth where the calf had been lying and\nsoon uncovered the rims of four pots full of money. But the Goala did\nnot care to take the money home for fear his wife should talk about\nit; he resolved to see first whether his wife could keep a secret.\n\nSo he went home and told her to cook him some food quickly; she asked\nwhy, and he said \"The Raja has a tortoise inside him and I am going\nto look at him.\" Then his wife said that she must fetch some water,\nand she went off with the water pot. On the way she met several women\nof the village, who asked her why she was fetching water so early, and\nshe said, \"Because the Raja has a tortoise inside him and my husband is\ngoing off to see it.\" In less than an hour the village was full of the\nnews, and the rumour spread until it reached the ears of the Raja. The\nRaja was very angry and said that he would kill the man who started\nthe report, unless he could prove it to be true. So he sent messengers\nthroughout the country to trace back the rumour to its source.\n\nOne messenger found out that it was the Goala who had started the story\nand told him that the Raja wanted to give him a present; so he gladly\nput on his best clothes and went off to the Raja's palace. But the\nRaja had him bound with ropes, and then questioned him as to why he\nhad told a false story. The Goala admitted that his story was false,\nbut explained that he had only told it to his wife, in order to see\nwhether she could keep a secret, because he had found four pots of\nmoney. The Raja asked where the money was and the Goala said that he\nwould show it, but he wanted to know first how much of it he was to\nhave, for himself. The Raja promised him half; so the Goala led men\nto the place and they dug up the money, and the Goala kept half and\nbecame a rich man.\n\n_Moral_. However friendly you are with a man do not tell him what is\nin your heart, and never tell your wife the real truth, for one day\nshe will lose her temper and let the matter out.\n\n\n\n\nLXXVIII. Sit and Lakhan.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Raja who had two wives and a concubine,\nbut after giving birth to her second son, the first Rani died, and the\nname of her elder boy was Sit and that of the younger was Lakhan. The\ntwo children used to cry for their mother but the second Rani never\ncomforted them, for she hated them; it was the concubine who used to\nbathe them and care for them, and their father loved them much. They\nused to go to the place where their father sat administering justice\nand Sit would sit behind his father and Lakhan in front. The second\nRani hated to see them with their father and would tell the concubine\nto drive them away; but she refused and said that it was natural for\na father to love his motherless children; so the Rani kept silent,\nbut anger remained in her heart.\n\nAt last the Rani feigned to be ill and kept her bed; the Raja sent\nfor doctors and _ojhas_, and they came and saw that she could not\nrise and they wanted to feel her pulse, but she would not let them\ntouch her; all she would do was to make the concubine tie a string\nto her wrist and let the doctors hold the other end of the string;\nso the doctors diagnosed the disease as best they could in this way\nand gave her medicines, but she got no better.\n\nAfter some days the Rani sent for the Raja and said \"I am dying and\nyou don't care; these doctors' medicines do me no good; there is one\nmedicine only which will cure me.\" The Raja asked \"What is it? I will\nget it for you.\" Then the Rani made him swear by Kali that he would\ngive her the medicine she wanted, and he swore blindly. Then the\nRani said \"If I eat the livers of Sit and Lakhan I shall get well,\nand if not I shall die.\" At this request the Raja was struck dumb.\n\nNow the concubine and a sipahi had overheard the conversation, and\nwhen they heard what the Rani said, they withdrew and the concubine\nwent and told Sit and Lakhan of what was in store for them, and Sit\nbegan to cry:--but Lakhan said \"Do not cry brother, our father gave\nus life, and it is for him to take it away if he will.\" So the Raja\ncame out from the Rani's room and when he saw the boys he wept and\nhe went to them and told them to eat their rice quickly, but they\nwould not eat; then he had their best clothes brought for them and\ntold them to put them on, but they refused. Then the Raja called for\n_sipahis_ and the _sipahi_ who had been with the concubine, and two\nothers, came and the Raja told them with tears in his voice to take\nthe two boys away and let him never see them again, and he added so\nthat the boys should not hear \"Bring me their livers.\" So the sipahis\ntook away the boys, and as they passed through the bazar they bought\nthem some sweetmeats. After walking for a time they came to a jungle;\nthen Sit said to the sipahis \"How far are we to go? Do here what is\nin your minds.\"\n\nBut the sipahis went on further; then Sit again told them to do what\nthey had to do. But the sipahis said \"Do not be frightened, we shall\nnot kill you; we shall not obey your father; you must go away and\nnever come back here.\"\n\nNow two dogs had followed them, attracted by the smell of the\nsweetmeats, and the _sipahis_ caught and killed them and cut out their\nlivers, and they put them on a plate and took them to the Raja. The\nRani was delighted and had the livers cooked, and ate them and the\nnext day she rose from her bed.\n\nMeanwhile Sit and Lakhan travelled on, and in a few days they had\neaten all their food and were very tired, and one evening they sat\ndown at the foot of a tree in the jungle intending to spend the night\nthere. In that tree a pair of birds had their nest. Every year they\nhatched their eggs and reared the young: but every year when the young\nwere half grown, a snake came and devoured them. That year also there\nwere two young in the nest, and on the day that the boys rested at the\nfoot of the tree the snake had resolved to eat them. But when it came,\nthe boys heard it moving in the leaves and killed it.\n\nAt evening the old birds returned and the nestlings said that the boys\nhad saved their lives, and asked the old birds to give them some of\nthe food that they had brought. So they threw down two bits of food,\nand it was ordained that whoever ate the first piece, should marry\nthe daughter of a Raja, and whoever ate the second piece, should\nspit gold; and it chanced that Sit ate the first piece, and Lakhan\nthe second. The next morning the boys went on their way, and the Raja\nof the country was looking for a husband for his daughter and he had\nsent an elephant out with a flower in its trunk and it was arranged\nthat the princess should marry the man to whom the elephant gave the\nflower. The elephant came upon Sit sitting by the side of the road,\nwhile Lakhan was at a distance; and when the elephant saw Sit, it\nwent up and gave him the flower and the attendants mounted him on\nthe elephant and took him to the Raja and he married the princess.\n\nA few days after the wedding Sit sat outside the palace with his wife,\nand did not come in though it was evening, and the Raja asked him why\nhe was sitting outside in the dew. Then Sit began to cry and lament\nhis brother, singing--\n\n\n \"O Brother Lakhan, where have you gone?\n O younger brother, where have you gone?\"\n\n\nThen the Raja heard how he had been separated from his brother,\nand he promised to send men in search of Lakhan, and they found\nhim in the house of a potter; but the potter refused to give him up\nuntil he had been paid for the days that he had entertained him; but\nreally the Potter had become wealthy, because whenever Lakhan opened\nhis mouth he spat gold, and he did not wish to lose such a valuable\nguest. Then Sit mounted his horse and took five rupees and gave them to\nthe Potter in payment for his entertainment, and brought Lakhan home\nwith him. When they found that Lakhan spat gold they were very glad\nto keep him and the Raja gave him his second daughter in marriage;\nand Lakhan made the whole family rich.\n\nMeanwhile Sit and Lakhan's father had fallen into poverty; his country\nhad been conquered and his army destroyed and he and his wife wandered\nabout begging; when the boys heard this, they sent for the concubine\nwho had been good to them, and she came and lived with them, but they\ndid not forgive their father and step-mother.\n\n_Moral_. There is no controlling a second wife and they are hard to\nget on with. First wives are the best, they are obedient and agree\nwith the opinions of their husband.\n\n\n\n\nLXXIX. The Raja Who Went To Heaven.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Raja, who had many water reservoirs\nand tanks, and round the edges he planted trees, mangoes, pipals,\npalms and banyans; and the banyan trees were bigger than any. Every\nday after bathing the Raja used to walk about and look at his trees,\nand one morning, as he did so, he saw a maiden go up to a banyan tree\nand climb it, and the tree was then carried up to the sky, but when\nhe went in the evening he saw the tree in its place again; the same\nthing happened three or four days running. The Raja told no one, but\none morning he climbed the banyan tree before the maiden appeared, and\nwhen she came, he was carried up to the sky along with the tree. Then\nhe saw the maiden descend and go and dance with a crowd of Gupinis\n(Divine milk maids) and the Raja also got down and joined in the dance.\n\nHe was so absorbed in the dance that he took no note of time; so\nwhen at last he tore himself away, he found that the banyan tree had\ndisappeared. There was nothing to be done, but stay where he was;\nso he began to wander about and he soon came to some men building a\npalace as hard as they could. He asked them for whom the palace was\nbeing built, and they named his own name. He asked why it was being\nbuilt for him, and they said that Thakur intended to bring him there,\nbecause he was a good ruler, who did not oppress his subjects and\ngave alms to the poor and to widows and orphans.\n\nThere was no difference between night and day up in the sky, but\nwhen the Raja came back, he found that the banyan tree was there,\nand he climbed up it and was carried back to earth by it. Then\nhe went home and told his people that he had been on a visit to a\nfriend. After that the Raja used to visit the banyan tree every day,\nand when he found that it did not wither although it had been taken\nup by the roots, he concluded that what he had seen was true and he\nbegan to prepare for death. So he distributed all his wealth among\nhis friends and among the poor; and when his officers remonstrated\nhe made them no answer. A few days later he died, and was taken to\nthe palace which he had seen being built.\n\nIt is said that what you give away in this world, you will get back\nin the next; there you will get good wages for what you have done in\nthis life.\n\n\n\n\n\nLXXX. Seven-Tricks and Single-Trick.\n\nSeven-Tricks and Single-Trick were great friends, but some one\ntold Seven-Tricks that Single-Trick was the cleverer man of the\ntwo. Seven-Tricks pondered over this but felt sure that his very name\nshowed that he was the cleverer; so one day he went to pay a visit\nto Single-Trick, and put the matter to the test When Single-Trick saw\nhim coming, he called a pretty girl and hid her inside the house and\ntold his wife to put the rice on to boil. Seven-Tricks arrived and was\npressed to stay for the midday meal; he accepted and Single-Trick's\nwife brought them water to wash their hands and when they sat down,\nhelped them to the rice.\n\nAs they ate, Single-Trick pretended to get very angry and began to\nabuse his wife \"You lazy slattern, why have you put no salt in the\nrice? I will beat you for this, I will beat you into a girl again.\" So\nsaying he caught up a club and gave her a blow with it, and pushed her\ninto the house and pretended to continue the beating inside; and then\ncame out dragging with him the pretty girl whom he had hidden. When\nSeven-Tricks saw this transformation he made up his mind to steal the\nclub, and try whether he could beat his own wife into a girl again. So\nwhen he went home he secretly took away the club, and the next day when\nhis wife was giving him his dinner he pretended to get angry with her\nfor not putting salt in the rice, and snatching up the club gave her\na good pounding with it, and drove her into the house and then pulled\nher forth again; but to his dismay she did not look a day younger than\nbefore. Seven-Tricks was puzzled but could only opine that he had not\nbeaten the woman hard enough, so he beat her till her bones cracked;\nbut still there was no result and he had to give up in despair.\n\nAfter a time Seven-Tricks paid another visit to Single-Trick, and\nSingle-Trick invited him to come hunting in the forest; before they\nstarted Single-Trick told his wife to go and buy a hare and keep\nit in the house. The two friends set off, and after a time they\nput up a hare; Single-Trick had brought with him his dog, which\nwas a shocking coward and no good at hunting; when they saw the hare\nSingle-Trick loosed the dog calling \"After it, after it, drive it right\nhome.\" And the coward of a dog, directly it was free, put its tail\nbetween its legs and ran straight home. \"Come along home now; that\nis a splendid sporting dog, it is sure to have taken the hare home;\"\nso saying Single-Trick set off back, and when they arrived he asked\nhis wife whether the dog had brought home a hare. \"Yes\", said she,\n\"I have put it in that room\" and promptly produced the hare that she\nhad bought. Seven-Tricks at once resolved to possess himself of a dog\nthat brought the game home by itself, and the next night he came and\nstole it, and in the morning took it out hunting. He soon started a\nhare and loosed the dog after it; the dog ran straight away in the\ndirection of the house, and Seven-Tricks followed at his leisure,\nand asked his wife where the dog had put the hare. \"Hare,\" said she\n\"there is no hare, the dog came running back alone.\" \"Perhaps I was\ntoo slow and gave him time to eat the hare,\" thought Seven-Tricks;\nso he took it out again and when he loosed it after a hare, he ran\nafter it as fast as he could to see what it did. Everyone laughed to\nsee the hunter chasing his dog, instead of his game. When he got to the\nhouse of course there was no hare, and so he gave up trying to hunt.\n\nAnother day he paid a visit to Single-Trick and Single-Trick asked him\nto come out fishing. Before they started Single-Trick told his wife to\nbuy some live _codgo_ fish and keep them ready in the house. When they\ncame to a pool, Single-Trick at once let down his line and soon got\na bite from a _codgo_ fish; as he pulled it out he threw it, rod and\nall, behind him in the direction of his home and said to Seven-Tricks\n\"_Come_ along home, I expect that all the fish in the pool will have\nreached home by now,\" Directly they got to the house Single-Trick\nasked his wife whether the fish had come. \"Yes\", said she, \"I have\nput them all in this basket\" and brought out a basket of live _codgo_\nfish. Seven-Tricks at once made up his mind to steal the wonderful\nfishingrod, so he came back that evening and managed to abstract it,\nand next morning went fishing with it. Directly he had caught a _codgo_\nfish, he threw it over his shoulder and went off home and asked whether\nthe fish had arrived, but he only got laughed at for his folly. Then\nhe was convinced that Single-Trick was more than a match for him,\nand he would have nothing more to do with him.\n\n\n\n\nLXXXI. Fuljhari Raja.\n\nThere was once a Raja named Fuljhari and he was childless; he and his\nwife made pilgrimages to many shrines but all in vain, the wished-for\nson never arrived. One day a Jugi came to the palace begging and\nthe Raja asked the holy man to tell him how he could have a son;\nthen the Jugi examined the palms of their hands but having done\nso remained silent. The Raja urged him to speak but the Jugi said\nthat he feared that the reply would be distasteful to the Raja and\nmake him angry. But the Raja and his wife begged for his advice,\nand promised to do him no harm whatever he said. At last the Jugi\nexplained that they could never have a child unless they separated,\nand the Raja went right away and the Rani lived with another man;\nwith this he took his departure.\n\nThen the Raja and his wife consulted together and the Raja proposed to\ntake the Jugi's advice, as he felt that he could not leave his kingdom\nwithout an heir; so he said that he would go away to a far country,\non pretence of visiting a distant shrine; but the Rani feared that\nif, on his return, he found that she had borne a child, he would\nkill her or at least turn her and the child out to beg their bread;\nbut the Raja assured her that he would never treat her in that way\nand after making his final arrangements he went off to a far country.\n\nThere he stayed some years and in the meanwhile the Rani had five sons;\nat last she wrote to her husband to come home and directly he reached\nthe palace he bade the Rani to bring the boys to him, that he might\nembrace and acknowledge them; so they were brought and he took them\none by one in his arms and kissed them, and he saw that they were\nall the images of himself. But when he kissed the youngest child he\nwas suddenly struck with blindness. Then he rose in wrath and ordered\nthe child to be taken away and killed; but the mother had pity on it\nand persuaded the soldiers not to kill it but to convey it away to\na far country.\n\nThe child's name was Lita and he grew up and was married to the\ndaughter of the Raja of the land and lived in his father-in-law's\nhouse. But Lita was always tormented by the thought that he had been\nthe cause of his father's blindness; although he would not tell anyone\nof his sorrow, he used to get up when every one was asleep and spend\nthe night in tears. One night his wife surprised him weeping and\nbegged him to tell her what was the matter. She pressed him until he\ntold her how, immediately his father kissed him, he had gone blind\nand how his mother had smuggled him out of the country and saved his\nlife, but how the recollection of the harm he had done tormented him\nand how he longed to be able to return to his own country and restore\nhis father's sight. His wife on hearing this at once began to comfort\nhim and assured him that she would help him to obtain a medicine which\nwould restore his father's sight. In a range of mountains was a Rakhas\nwho had a daughter who was buried in a heap of Fuljhari flowers; if\nLita went and could persuade the Rakhas to let him marry his daughter,\nhe could then get a Fuljhari flower and if that were rubbed on his\nfather's eyes his sight would be restored.\n\nSo Lita set out towards the mountains and sat down by the road side\nat their foot. Presently the Rakhas and his wife came by; the wife\nasked him what he was sitting there for; he said that he was looking\nout for some one who would have him to come and live in his house as\na son-in-law. The Rakhas paid no heed to this and proposed to eat up\nLita at once, but his wife begged him to spare the young man and take\nhim home and marry him to their daughter, who was very lonely. The\nRakhas gave way and they took Lita to the cavern in which they lived\nand there was their daughter buried under a heap of flowers. They\nmade her get up, and told her that they had brought a husband for her.\n\nLita and his bride lived happily together and were soon deeply\nin love with each other, and after a time he told her about his\nfather's blindness and how he wished to try to cure it with one of\nher flowers. She readily agreed to help him; so the next day she\nwent to her father and said that she wished to pay a short visit to\nher husband's home; the Rakhas consented and she and Lita took their\nleave. She told Lita that when the Rakhas offered him a farewell gift,\nhe should take nothing but a hair from the Rakhas' head; this he did\nand they tied the flower and the hair up carefully and set off to the\nhome, where Lita's first wife was awaiting them. She told her parents\nthat Lita had come back with one of his sisters, and that she now\nwished to go back with them on a visit to their home. Her parents\nassented and the three of them set out and one evening reached the\noutskirts of the village in which Lita had been born. They camped\nunder a roadside tree, but in the middle of the night they took out\nthe Rakhas' hair and said to it \"Make us a golden palace\" and at\nonce a golden palace sprang up. Next morning all the residents of\nthe village collected to see the wonderful new palace, and Lita told\nthem to bring their Raja and he would cure him of his blindness. So\nthey went and fetched the old blind Raja and directly Lita touched\nhis eyes with the flower his sight was restored. Then they wept over\neach other and told all that had happened. And the old Raja and his\nwife came and lived with Lita and his wives and the other brothers\nstayed on at their old home; and they all lived happily ever after.\n\n\n\n\nLXXXII. The Corpse of the Raja's Son.\n\nThere was once a blacksmith named Chitru who had a very pretty\nwife; and the woman attracted the attention of the son of the\nRaja. Chitru suspected that his wife was unfaithful to him, and one\nnight he pretended to go away from home, but really he lay in wait\nand surprised the prince visiting his wife; then he sprang out upon\nhim and strangled him.\n\nBut when he found himself with the corpse of the prince on his hands,\nhe began to wonder what he should do to avoid being convicted of the\nmurder. At last he took up the corpse and carried it to the house\nof two dancing girls who lived in the village, and laid it down\ninside. Soon after the dancing girls woke up and saw the corpse\nlying in their room; they at once aroused their parents, and when\nthey found that it was the corpse of the Prince, they were filled\nwith consternation.\n\nNow Chitru had a reputation for cunning, so they decided to send\nfor him quietly and take his advice. When he came they begged him to\nsave them; he pretended to be much surprised and puzzled and at last\nundertook to get them out of their difficulty, if they paid him one\nhundred rupees; they gladly paid him the money, and then he took up\nthe corpse and carried it off and laid it down on the verandah of the\nhouse of a _mahajan_ who lived near. Soon after some one came out of\nthe house and found the corpse; at once they were all in consternation\nand sent for the clever Chitru to help them out of their difficulty.\n\nChitru refused to lift a finger unless he were paid two hundred rupees,\nand when he had got the money he took up the corpse and put it in a\nsitting position in a little patch of _brinjals_ which a Koeri had\nplanted by his front door. At dawn the Koeri came out and saw what\nhe thought was a thief stealing his brinjals, and promptly threw\na stone at the man. The corpse fell over, and when the Koeri went\nto see who it was he found the dead body of the Raja's son. As it\nwas daylight, he had no opportunity of making away with the body,\nso he was arrested and sent for trial. He was acquitted, because he\nhad acted unwittingly, but he was too frightened of the Raja to stay\nany longer in the village and absconded as soon as he could.\n\nChitru, who was the real murderer, made his wife promise to keep\nsilence by threats and was three hundred rupees the better for the\nbusiness.\n\n\n\n\nLXXXIII. The Sham Child.\n\nThere was once a Raja who had two wives and each Rani had a maidservant\nwho was the Raja's concubine; but none of them had any children. In\nthe course of time the ladies began to quarrel and when they appealed\nto the Raja, he found that the elder Rani was to blame and turned\nher out of the palace, and sent her to live in a palm leaf hut on\nthe outskirts of the town. Her faithful maidservant followed her,\nand the two supported themselves by begging. But they barely got\nenough to keep body and soul together.\n\nAfter a few days the maidservant asked permission of her mistress to\nplay a trick on the Raja, by which they should at least get sufficient\nfood. The Rani assented and the maidservant went off to the Raja\nand told him that the wife whom he had turned out was five months\nwith child, and that it was a disgrace that one who was to be the\nmother of his heir should have to beg her bread. On hearing this the\nRaja somewhat relented towards the Rani, and he ordered money to be\nsent her sufficient to provide her with food, and had a proper house\nprepared for her. When the proper time arrived, the maidservant went\nto the Raja and told him that a son had been born; at this joyful\nnews the Raja became still more generous and told the maidservant\nthat she was free to take whatever was wanted for the child.\n\nThis suited the maid and her mistress excellently; so long as they\ncould keep up the deception they lived in comfort; when the child\nwas supposed to have grown old enough to run about, they asked for\nthe price of some anklets with bells on them and bought a pair,\nand whenever the Raja passed by the house in which the Rani lived,\nthe maidservant made her mistress rattle the anklets, and then went\noutside and told the Raja to listen to the anklets tinkling as his son\nran about the house. The Raja would tell the maidservant not to let the\nboy run about too much, lest he should fall and hurt himself; then she\nwould hurry inside and tell the Rani to stop the jingling, and then\ncome and tell the Raja that the boy was resting in his mother's lap;\nbut for all this the Raja was never given an opportunity of seeing\nhis son.\n\nHowever as time went on the Raja chose a bride and arranged for\nhis son's wedding; the bride's friends did not come to inspect the\nbridegroom; a day was fixed right off for the wedding. As this day drew\nnear, the Rani became more and more frightened, for it seemed that her\ndeception must at last be discovered, and she would probably be put\nto death. But the maidservant encouraged her and promised to devise\na plan; so when the day came for them to start for the bride's house\nshe made a paste of ground mowah flowers and out of this fashioned\nan image of a child; and when the procession started off, with the\nRaja in a palki, and drummers, and palki-bearers, the maidservant\nwas also carried in a palki and pretended that she was holding the\nchild. Off they started and as it was too far to go in one day,\nthey stopped for the night at a bazar, where there was the shrine\nof a saint. At midnight the maidservant arose and went to the shrine\nand called to the spirit (bonga) which dwelt there, and said that he\nmust grant her a boon, and if not it would be the worse for him; the\nspirit asked what she wanted and she showed the paste image and said\nthat she was going with the procession to marry her son, and somehow\non the way he had been turned into paste; if the spirit would not\ngive her another son, she would spit on him and curse him. The spirit\nsaw that she meant what she said, and for fear of being spat upon,\nhe produced a boy from somewhere and gave him to her. The maidservant\nwas delighted at her success and bowed down three times in reverence\nto the spirit and took away the boy and put him in her palki.\n\nThe next morning they rose and reached the bride's house and\nthe wedding took place in due form. As they were returning, the\nmaidservant sent on two men to warn her mistress of what had happened\nand to tell her to get ready a feast. So when they reached home there\nwas a feast ready and the bride's friends were duly entertained and\ndismissed. Afterwards the Raja fell out with his second wife and left\nthe palace where she lived and came and stayed with the elder Rani,\nwhom he had formerly turned out.\n\n\n\n\nLXXXIV. The Sons of the Kherohuri Raja.\n\nThe Kherohuri Raja had five sons, and he made up his mind that he would\nonly marry them to five sisters. So he sent out Brahmans and Jugis to\nsearch the world to find a Raja with five unmarried daughters. And\nat the same time the Chandmuni Raja had five marriagable daughters,\nand he made up his mind that he would marry them to five brothers;\nhe did not care what their rank in life was, but he was determined\nto find a family of five brothers to marry his daughters. And he\nalso told all the Brahmans and Jugis who wandered about begging,\nto look out for a family of five unmarried brothers.\n\nOne day it chanced that the emissaries of the Kherohuri Raja and\nthose of the Chandmuni Raja met at a river; both parties were resting\nafter taking their midday meal and as they smoked they fell into\nconversation, and soon found that their meeting was most fortunate;\neach party had found the Tery thing they wanted, so they all set off\nto the palace of the Kherohuri Raja in order that the Chandmuni Raja's\nmessengers might see the young men.\n\nThe Kherohuri Raja ordered them to be hospitably entertained and food\nto be set before them; they however refused to eat anything till they\nhad seen the five bridegrooms. The five young men were then introduced\nand as they appeared to be sound in wind and limb and in all respects\nsatisfactory, there was no further obstacle to the entertainment. The\nnext day the Kherohuri Raja sent out officials to visit and inspect the\ndaughters of the Chandmuni Raja, and as their report was satisfactory,\nnothing remained but to fix the day for the wedding.\n\nWhen the time came for the bridegrooms and their retinue to set off\nto the country of the Chandmuni Raja, they and their servants and\nfollowers all started, so that no one was left at home but their\nmother. After they had gone a little way the eldest prince stopped\nthem and said that they could not leave their mother all alone, what\nwould she do supposing some sudden danger arose? The others agreed\nthat this was so, but the difficulty was to decide who should stay;\nnot one of the other brothers would consent to do so. So at last the\neldest brother said that he would stay, and he gave them his shield\nand sword and told them to perform his marriage for him by putting\nthe vermilion on the bride's forehead with his sword.\n\nWhen they reached the home of the Chandmuni Raja they proceeded at\nonce to perform the vermilion ceremony, beginning with the eldest\ndaughter; but when the sword was produced and she was told that she\nmust go through the ceremony with the sword, as her bridegroom had not\ncome, she began to cry and make a great to-do. Nothing would induce\nher to consent. \"Why was her husband the only one who had not come\nin person? he must be blind or lame or married;\" this resistance put\nall the others into a difficulty, for the younger sisters could not\nbe married before the elder. At last after much talking her father\nand mother persuaded the eldest daughter to go through the ceremony;\nthe women put vermilion on the sword and with the sword the mark\nwas made on the bride's forehead; and then the younger sisters were\nmarried and after a grand feast the whole party set out for the palace\nof the Kherohuri Raja.\n\nOn the way they were benighted in the midst of a great jungle twelve\n_kos_ wide, and the palki bearers declined to go any further in\nthe dark, so they had all to camp where they were. In the middle of\nthe night, suddenly sixteen hundred Rakhases descended on them and\nswallowed up the whole cavalcade, elephants and horses and palkis and\nmen. In this danger the eldest princess who had been married to the\nsword prayed to Chando saying \"O Chando! I have never yet set eyes\non my husband; he is not with me here. I pray thee carry my palki in\nsafety up into the sky.\" And Chando heard her prayer and lifted her\npalki up into the air and preserved her, but all those who were left\non the ground were swallowed up by the Rakhases; when the day dawned\nnot one was to be seen.\n\nAs the princess from mid air gazed on this melancholy spectacle, a\nparrot came flying over and she called to it and begged it to take a\nletter for her to her husband in the palace of the Kherohuri Raja. The\nparrot obeyed her behest, and when the eldest prince read the letter\nand learned what had happened, he made a hasty meal and saddled his\nhorse and was ready to start; but as it was nearly evening he thought\nit better to wait till the next day.\n\nVery early the following morning he set out and when his bride saw\nhim come riding along she prayed to Chando that if it were really her\nhusband the palki might descend to the ground; it immediately sank, and\nthe bride and bridegroom met; then she told him all that had happened\nand gave him the shield and sword that he had sent to represent him at\nthe marriage; with these in his hands he waited and when at nightfall\nthe Rakhases returned, the Prince slew everyone of them with his\nsword; and as he killed them the Rakhases vomited up the elephants,\nhorses and men that they had eaten. Then his wife told the prince to\ndip a cloth in water and wring it out over the dead and as the water\nfell on them they all became alive again, elephants, horses and men.\n\nBut his brothers far from being grateful to him for having restored\nthem to life, took counsel together saying. \"Now that he has delivered\nus from this danger, he will think that he has a claim on us and will\ntreat us as his servants; let us cut open his stomach and then the\nRakhas will eat him.\" So they turned on him, cut open his stomach,\nand went their ways. Then the wounded prince told the palki-bearers\nto carry his bride back to her father's house.\n\nWhen they appeared before the Chandmuni Raja, he upbraided them for\nnot having brought the prince too, to try if he could not have been\nhealed. Meanwhile the prince lay in the jungle groaning for a whole\nday and night; then Chando and his wife heard his cries and came\ndown and told him to push in his entrails and when he had done so,\nthey gave him a slap on his stomach and he became whole again. Then as\nhe was afraid to return to his home where his brothers were, he went\nbegging to his father-in-law's house; as he came to it, his wife said\nto her sister-in-law that the beggar seemed to be like her husband,\nso she went to him and they recognised each other and he was taken in\nand well treated and lived there many years. In the end he was seized\nwith a desire to go and see his old mother, and, his wife consenting\nto go with him, they set off to his father's home; when his brothers\nsaw him come, they were filled with fear and made him Raja over them\nand they became his servants and he lived in prosperity for the rest\nof his life.\n\n\n\n\nLXXXV. The Dog Bride.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a youth who used to herd buffaloes; and as\nhe watched his animals graze he noticed that exactly at noon every\nday a she-dog used to make its way to a ravine, in which there were\nsome pools of water. This made him curious and he wondered to whom\nit belonged and what it did in the ravine; so he decided to watch,\nand one day when the dog came he hid himself and saw that when it\ngot to the water, it shed its dog skin and out stepped a beautiful\nmaiden, and began to bathe; and when she had finished bathing she put\non the skin and became a dog again, and went off to the village; the\nherdboy followed her and watched into what house she entered, and he\nenquired to whom the house belonged. Having found out all about it,\nhe went back to his work.\n\nThat year the herdboy's father and mother decided that it was time\nfor him to marry and began to look about for a wife for him; but he\nannounced that he had made up his mind to have a dog for his wife\nand he would never marry a human girl.\n\nEveryone laughed at him for such an extraordinary idea, but he could\nnot be moved; so at last they concluded that he must really have\nthe soul of a dog in him, and that it was best to let him have his\nown way. So his father and mother asked him whether there was any\nparticular dog he would like to have for his bride, and then he gave\nthe name of the man into whose house he had tracked the dog that\nhe had seen going to the ravine. The master of the dog laughed at\nthe idea that anyone should wish to marry her, and gladly accepted\na bride's price for her; so a day was fixed for the wedding and the\nbooth built for the ceremony and the bridegroom's party went to the\nbride's house and the marriage took place in due form and the bride\nwas escorted to her husband's house.\n\nEvery night when her husband was asleep, the bride used to come out\nof the dog's skin and go out of the house; and when her husband found\nout this, he one night only pretended to go to sleep and lay watching\nher, and when she was about to leave the room he jumped up and caught\nhold of her and seizing the dog skin, threw it into the fire, where\nit was burnt to ashes, so his bride remained a woman, but she was\nof more than human beauty. This soon became known in the village and\neveryone congratulated the herdboy on his wisdom in marrying a dog.\n\nNow the herdboy had a friend named Jitu and when Jitu saw what a\nprize his friend had got, he thought that he could not do better\nthan marry a dog himself. His relations made no objection and a\nbride was selected and the marriage took place, but when they were\nputting vermilion on the bride's forehead she began to growl; but\nin spite of her growling they dragged her to the bridegroom's house,\nand forcibly anointed her with oil and turmeric; but when the bride's\nparty set off home, the dog broke loose and ran after them; then\neveryone shouted to Jitu to run after his bride and bring her back,\nbut she only growled and bit at him, so that he had at last to give\nit up. Then everyone laughed at him so much that he was too ashamed\nto speak, and two or three days later he hanged himself.\n\n\n\n\nLXXXVI. Wealth or Wisdom.\n\nOnce upon a time there were a Raja and a rich merchant, and they\neach had one son. The two boys went to the same school and in the\ncourse of time became great friends; they were always together out of\nschool hours; the merchant's son would take his meals at the Raja's\npalace or the Raja's son would eat with his friend at the merchant's\nhouse. One day the two youths began a discussion as to whether wealth\nor wisdom were the more powerful: the Raja's son said that wealth\nwas most important, while the merchant's son declared for wisdom; the\ndiscussion waxed hot and neither would yield his opinion. At last the\nmerchant's son declared; \"It is of no use for us to argue like this,\nlet us put it to the test: let us both go to some far country and\ntake service with some master for a year, and try whether wealth or\nwisdom is the more successful.\" The Prince agreed to this plan and\nthey fixed a day for starting.\n\nThen they both went home and collected what money they could lay hands\non and, when the time arrived, started off early one morning. After\nthey had travelled some distance the Prince began to think of how his\nparents must be searching for him, for he had said nothing about his\ngoing away; but the merchant's son comforted him by saying that he\nhad left word of their intentions at his home, and his relations would\ntell the Raja; so they continued on their way, and after a time they\ncame to a certain country where the merchant's son proposed that they\nshould look for employment. But now that it had come to the point, the\nprince did not like the idea of becoming a servant and he said that he\nwould live on the money which he had brought with him, and which would\nlast for a year or two. \"You may do as you like\" answered his friend\n\"but for my part I must look for work.\" So he went to a village and\nfound employment as a teacher in a school; his pupils gave him his\nfood and also some small wages, so that he had enough to live on,\nwithout spending any of the money he had brought with him.\n\nMeanwhile the Raja's son hired a house in the village and began\nto lead a riotous life; in a very short time He had wasted all his\nmoney on his evil companions and was reduced to absolute starvation;\nfor when his money came to an end, all his so-called friends deserted\nhim. Thin and wretched, he went to the merchant's son and asked him\neither to take him back to his father's home or to find him work. His\nfriend agreed to find him some employment, and after a little enquiry\nheard of a farmer who wanted a servant to take a bullock out to graze\nand to fill a trough with water once a day. The prince thought that\nhe could easily manage that amount of work, so he went to the farmer\nand engaged himself as his servant.\n\nThe terms of service were these:--If the prince threw up his work one\nof his little fingers was to be cut off, but if the farmer dismissed\nhim while he was working well then the farmer was to lose a little\nfinger; and if the prince grazed the bullock and filled the trough\nwith water regularly, he was to get as much cooked rice as would\ncover a plantain leaf, but if he did not do the work he was to get\nonly what would go on a tamarind leaf. The prince readily agreed to\nthese terms, for he thought that the work would not take him more than\nan hour or two. But unhappily for him, things did not turn out as he\nexpected. On the first morning he took the bullock out to graze, but\nthe animal would not eat; whenever it saw any other cattle passing,\nit would gallop off to join them, and when the prince had run after\nit and brought it back, nothing would make it graze quietly; it\nkept running away in one direction or another with the prince in\npursuit. So at last he had to bring it home and shut it up in the\ncow-shed and even that he found difficult.\n\nThen they set him to filling the trough, and he found that he could\nnot do that either, for the trough had a hole in the bottom and had\nbeen set over the mouth of an old well; and as fast as the prince\npoured the water in, it ran away, but he was too stupid to see what\nwas the matter and went on pouring till he was quite tired out; so as\nhe had not completed the tasks set him, he only got a tamarind leaf\nfull of rice for his supper; this went on every day and the prince\nbegan to starve, but he was afraid to run away and tell his troubles\nto the merchant's son, lest he should have his little finger cut off.\n\nBut the merchant's son had not forgotten his friend and began to\nwonder why the Prince kept away from him. So one day he went to pay\nhim a visit and was horrified to find him looking so ill and starved;\nwhen he heard how the prince was only getting a tamarind leaf full\nof rice every day, because he could not perform the task set him, he\noffered to change places with the Prince and sent him off to teach in\nthe school while he himself stayed with the farmer. The next morning\nthe merchant's son took the bullock out to graze and he also found\nthat the animal would not graze quietly but spent its time in chasing\nthe other cattle, so at noon he brought it home and set to work to\nfill the trough; he soon found the hole in the bottom through which\nthe water escaped and stopped it up with a lump of clay and then he\neasily filled the trough to the brim. Then in the afternoon he took\nthe bullock out again to graze and when he brought it back at sunset\nhe was given a plantain leaf full of rice; this meant more food than\nhe could possibly eat in a day.\n\nHe was determined that the bullock should not give him any more\ntrouble, so the next morning when he took it out to graze, he took with\nhim a thick rope and tethered the animal to a tree; this saved him\nall the trouble of running after it, but it was clear that it would\nnot get enough to eat in that way, so he made up his mind to get rid\nof it altogether, and when he took it out in the afternoon, he took\nwith him a small axe and drove the bullock to a place where a herd of\ncattle were grazing and then knocked it on the head with the axe and\nthrew the body into a ravine near by. Then he hid the axe and ran off\nto his master and told him that the bullock had started fighting with\nanother animal in the herd and had been pushed over the edge of the\nravine and killed by the fall. The farmer went out to see for himself\nand when he found the dead body lying in the ravine he could not but\nbelieve the story, and had no fault to find with his cunning servant.\n\nA few days later, as the rice crop was ripe, the farmer told the\nmerchant's son to go to the fields to reap the rice. \"How shall I\nreap it?\" asked he. \"With a sickle,\" replied the farmer. \"Then it\nwill be the the sickle and not I, that reaps it\" \"As you like,\"\nsaid the farmer, \"you go along with the sickle, no doubt it knows\nall about it;\" so they got him a sickle and he went off to the\nfields. When he got there, he noticed how bright the sickle looked,\nand when he touched it, he found it quite hot from being carried\nin the sun. \"Dear, dear,\" said he, \"I cannot let this sickle reap\nthe rice: it is so hot that it must have very bad fever; I will let\nit rest in the shade until it gets better,\" so he laid it down in a\nshady spot and began to stroll about. Presently up came the farmer,\nand was very angry to find no work going on. \"Did I send you out to\nstroll about, or to start cutting the rice?\" roared he. \"To cut the\nrice,\" answered the merchant's son, \"but the sickle has fallen ill\nwith high fever and is resting in the shade; come and feel how hot\nit is.\" \"You are nothing but an idiot,\" answered the farmer. \"You\nare no good here; go back home and start a fire in the big house and\nboil some water by the time I get back.\" The merchant's son was only\non the lookout for an excuse to annoy the farmer and the words used\nby the farmer were ambiguous; so he went straight back to the farm\nand set the biggest house on fire. The farmer saw the conflagration\nand came rushing home and asked the merchant's son what on earth he\nmeant by doing such mischief. \"I am only doing exactly what you told\nme; nothing would induce me to disobey any order of yours, my worthy\nmaster.\" The farmer had nothing more to say; his words would bear the\nconstruction put upon them by the merchant's son, and he was afraid\nto dismiss him lest he should have to lose his little finger; so he\nmade up his mind to get rid of this inconvenient servant in another\nway, and the next day he called him and told him that he must send\nword to his father-in-law of the unfortunate burning of the house,\nand the merchant's son must carry the letter.\n\nThe latter accordingly set off with the letter, but on the road he\nthought that it would be just as well to see what the letter was\nreally about; so he opened it and found that it contained a request\nfrom the farmer to his father-in-law to kill the bearer of the letter\nimmediately on his arrival. The merchant's son at once tore this up\nand wrote another letter in the farmer's name: saying that the bearer\nof the letter was a most excellent servant and he wished him to marry\ninto the family; but that as he himself had no daughters he hoped that\nhis father-in-law would give him one of his daughters to wife. Armed\nwith this he proceeded on his journey. The father-in-law was rather\nsurprised at the contents of the letter and asked the merchant's\nson if he knew what it was about; he protested complete ignorance:\nthe farmer had told him nothing, and as he was only a poor cowherd,\nof course he could not read. This set suspicion at rest; the wedding\nwas at once arranged and duly took place, and the merchant's son\nsettled down to live with his wife's family.\n\nAfter a time the farmer got news of what had happened, and when he\nsaw how the merchant's son had always been sharp enough to get the\nbetter of him, he began to fear that in the end he would be made to\ncut off his finger; so he sought safety in flight. He ran away from\nhis house and home and was never heard of more.\n\nWhen news of this came to the ears of the merchant's son, he set\nout to visit his old friend the Prince and found him still teaching\nin the little village school. \"What do you think now,\" he asked him,\n\"is wisdom or money the better. By my cleverness, I got the better of\nthat farmer; he had to give me more rice than I could eat. I killed his\nbullock, I set fire to his house, and I got a wife without expending\na pice on my marriage; while you--you have spent all the money you\nbrought with you from home, and have met with nothing but starvation\nand trouble; what good has your money done you?\" The Prince had not\na word to answer.\n\nTwo or three days later the Prince proposed that they should go back to\ntheir parents; his friend agreed but said that he must first inform his\nwife's relations, so they went back to the village where the merchant's\nson had married, and while they were staying there the Prince caught\nsight of a Raja's daughter and fell violently in love with her.\n\nLearning of the Prince's state of mind the merchant's son undertook\nto arrange the match; so he sent his wife to the Raja's daughter with\norders to talk of nothing but the virtues and graces of the Prince\nwho was staying at their house. Her words had their due effect and\nthe Raja's daughter became so well disposed towards the Prince, that\nwhen one day she met him, she also fell violently in love with him\nand felt that she could not be happy unless she became his wife. So\nthe wedding duly took place, and then the Prince and the merchant's\nson with their respective wives returned to their fathers' houses.\n\n\n\n\nLXXXVII. The Goala and the Cow.\n\nOnce upon a time a young man of the Goala caste was going to his\nwedding; he was riding along in a palki, with all his friends, to\nthe bride's house and as he was passing by a pool of water he heard a\nvoice saying, \"Stop you happy bridegroom; you are happy, going to fetch\nyour bride; spare a thought for my misfortune and stay and pull me out\nof this quagmire.\" Looking out he saw a cow stuck fast in the mud at\nthe edge of the pool, but he had no pity for it and harshly refused\nto go to its help, for fear lest he should make his clothes muddy.\n\nThen the cow cursed the Goala, saying, \"Because you have refused to\nhelp me in my extremity, this curse shall light on you, directly you\ntouch your bride you shall turn into a donkey.\" At these words the\nGoala was filled with fear and telling the bearers to put down the\npalki he alighted and ran and pulled the cow out of the mud; this done,\nhe begged her to withdraw the curse, but the cow declared that this\nwas impossible, what she had said was bound to come to pass. At these\nwords the Goala began to lament and threw himself at the feet of the\ncow, beseeching her; at length the cow relented, and promised that\nthough the curse could not be withdrawn it should be mitigated and\nit would be possible for his wife to restore him to human shape. So\nthe Goala had to take what comfort he could from this and returning\nto the palki he told his friends what had passed. Much downcast the\nprocession continued its way, wondering what would be the upshot of\nthis adventure.\n\nArrived at the bride's house, they proceeded to celebrate the wedding;\nbut as the Goala touched the bride with his finger to apply the\nvermilion mark to her forehead, he suddenly became a donkey. The\ncompany were filled with dismay and the bride's parents declared that\nthey would never let their daughter go away with such a husband,\nbut the bride herself spoke up and said that as Thakur for some\nreason had given her such a husband she would cleave to him, and\nnothing that her relations said could shake her purpose; so when the\nbridal party set out homewards, she went with them to her husband's\nhouse. But there everyone laughed at her so much for having married\na donkey that she made up her mind to run away to another country;\nso one day she packed up some provisions for the journey and set out,\ndriving the donkey before her.\n\nShe journeyed on and on till one day she happened to come to a tank\nwith a large well near it; she turned the donkey loose to graze on\nthe banks of the tank and sat down by the well to eat some of the\nfood which she had with her. In the fields below the tank were some\ntwenty ploughmen in the service of the Raja of that country, driving\ntheir ploughs; and when it got past noon these men began to grumble,\nbecause; no one had brought them their dinner; as it got later and\nlater they became more and more violent, and vowed that when anyone\ndid come they would give him a good beating for his laziness. At last\none of the maid-servants of the Raja was seen coming along, carrying\ntheir food in a basket on her head and with her child running by her\nside. The sight pacified the ploughmen and the maid-servant hastened\nto set down the basket near them and then went off to the well to\ndraw some water for them.\n\nJust as she was ready to let down the water-pot, a wedding procession\npassed along the road with drums and music, making a fine show. The\nmaid could not keep her eyes off this, but at the same time did not\nwish to keep the ploughmen waiting any longer; so, with her eyes on\nthe procession, she tied the well-rope, as she thought round the neck\nof the water-pot, but really, without knowing it, she tied the rope\nround the neck of her own little child and proceeded to lower him\ninto the well. When she pulled up the rope she found that she had\nstrangled her own child.\n\nShe was of course much distressed at this, but she was even more\nafraid of what might be done to her and at once hit on a device to save\nherself from the charge of murder. Taking the dead child in her arms\nshe ran to the ploughmen and scattered all the food she had brought\nabout the ground; then with the child still in her arms, she ran to\nthe Raja and complained to him that his ploughmen had assaulted her,\nbecause she was late in taking them their dinner, had knocked the\nbasket of food all about the ground and had beaten her child to death;\nshe added that a strange woman was grazing a donkey near the place\nand must have seen all that passed.\n\nThe Raja at once sent a Sipahi to fetch the ploughmen and when they\ncame before him he asked them what had happened, and bade them swear\nbefore _Sing bonga_ whether they were guilty of the murder. The\nploughmen solemnly swore to speak the truth, and then told the Raja\nexactly what had happened, how the woman had killed her child by\nmistake and then falsely charged them with the murder. Then the\nRaja asked them whether they had any witnesses, and they said that\nthere was no one of their own village present at the time, but that\na strange woman was grazing an ass on the banks of the tank, who\nmust have seen all that happened. Then the Raja sent two sipahis to\nfetch the woman, telling them to treat her well and bring her along\ngently. So the sipahis went to the woman and told her that the Raja\nwanted her on very important business; she made no demur and went to\nfetch her donkey. The sipahis advised her to leave it behind to graze,\nbut she said that wherever she went the donkey must go and drove it\nalong with her.\n\nWhen she appeared before the Raja he explained to her what had\nhappened, and how the maid-servant told one story about the death\nof the child and the ploughmen another, and he charged her to speak\nthe truth as to what she had seen. The Goala's bride answered that\nshe was ready to take an oath and to swear by her donkey: if she\nspoke the truth the donkey would turn into a man, and if she lied\nit would retain its shape. \"If you take that oath,\" said the Raja,\n\"the case shall be decided accordingly.\" Then the Goala's wife began\nto tell all that she had seen and how the ploughmen were angry because\ntheir dinner was late, and how the maid-servant had gone to the well to\ndraw water and had strangled her child by mistake and had then knocked\nover the basket and charged the ploughmen with the murder. \"If I have\nlied may Chando punish me and if I have spoken the truth may this ass\nbecome a man;\" so saying she laid her hand on the back of the animal\nand it at once resumed its human shape.\n\nThis was sufficient to convince the Raja, who turned to the\nmaid-servant and reproached her with trying to ruin the ploughmen by\nher false charge. She had no answer to make but took up the dead body\nof the child and went out without a word.\n\nThus the Goala was restored to his original shape, but he and his\nfaithful wife did not return to their own relations; they took service\nwith a farmer of that country and after a time they saved money and\ntook some land and lived prosperously and well. From that time men\nof the Goala caste have always been very careful to treat cattle well.\n\n\n\n\nLXXXVIII. The Telltale Wife.\n\nOnce upon a time a man was setting out in his best clothes to attend\na village meeting. As he was passing at the back of the house his\nmaid-servant happened to throw a basket of cowdung on the manure heap\nand some of it accidentally splashed his clothes. He thought that he\nwould be laughed at if he went to the meeting in dirty clothes so he\nwent back to change them; and he put the dirty cloth he took off in\nan earthen pot and covered the mouth with leaves and hung it to the\nroof of the room in which he and his wife slept.\n\nTwo or three days later his wife began to question him as to what\nwas in the pot hanging from the roof. At first he refused to tell\nher; but every time she set eyes on it she renewed her questioning;\nfor a time he refused to gratify her curiosity, saying that no woman\ncould keep a secret, but she protested that she would tell no one;\nher husband's secrets were her own; at last he pretended that his\npatience was worn out and having made her promise never to tell a soul,\nhe said \"I have killed a man, and to prevent the murder being traced\nI cut off his head and hid it in that pot; mind you do not say a word\nor my life will be forfeit.\"\n\nFor a time nothing more was said, but one day husband and wife had\na quarrel; high words and blows passed between them and at last the\nwoman ran out of the house, crying: \"You have struck me, I shall let\nit be known that you are a murderer.\" She went to the village headman\nand told him what was hidden in the pot; the villagers assembled and\nbound the supposed murderer with ropes and took him to the police. The\npolice officer came and took down the pot and found in it nothing but\na stained cloth. So he fined the headman for troubling him with false\ninformation and went away. Then the man addressed his fellow-villagers\nin these words \"Listen to me: never tell a secret to a woman and be\ncareful in your conversation with them; they are sure to let out a\nsecret and one day will turn your accusers.\"\n\nFrom that time we have learnt the lesson that anything which you tell\nto a woman will become known.\n\n\n\n\n\nLXXXIX. The Bridegroom Who Spoke in Riddles.\n\nOnce upon a time there were two brothers; the elder was named\nBhagrai and was married, but the younger, named Kora, was still a\nbachelor. One day Bhagrai's wife asked her husband when he intended\nto look out for a wife for Kora, for people would think it very mean\nof them if they did not provide for his marriage. But to his wife's\nastonishment Bhagrai flatly refused to have anything to do with the\nmatter. He said that Kora must find a wife for himself. His wife\nprotested that that was impossible as Kora had no money of his own,\nbut Bhagrai would not listen to her and refused even to give Kora\nhis share in the family property.\n\nBhagrai's cruel conduct was very distressing to his wife; and one day\nas she was sitting picking the lice out of Kora's head, she began to\ncry and Kora felt her tears dropping on to his back; he turned round\nand asked his sister-in-law why she was crying. She said that she\ncould not tell him, as it would only make him unhappy, but he would\nnot be put off and said that she had no right to have any secrets\nfrom him and at last she told him that Bhagrai had said that he must\narrange his own marriage without any help from them. At this cruel\nnews Kora began to cry too and falling on his sister-in-law's neck\nhe wept bitterly. Then he went and fetched his clothes and bow and\narrows and flute and what other little property he had, and told his\nsister-in-law that he must go out into the world and seek his fortune,\nfor he would never get a wife by staying at home. So she tied up some\ndried rice for him to eat by the way and let him go.\n\nKora set out and had not travelled far, before he fell in with an\nold man who was travelling in the same direction as himself and they\nagreed to continue their way together. After walking some miles, Kora\nsaid \"I have a proposal to make: let us take it in turns to carry each\nother: then we shall neither of us get tired and shall do the journey\ncomfortably.\" The old man refused to have anything to do with such an\nextraordinary arrangement: so on they went and by and bye came to a\ntank which seemed a good place to rest and eat some food by. The old\nman sat down at the steps leading down to the water, but Kora went\nand sat on the bank where it was covered with rough grass. Presently\nhe called out \"Friend, I do not like the look of this tank: to whom\ndoes it belong?\" The old man told him the name of the owner, \"Then\nwhy has he put no post in the middle of it?\" This question amazed his\ncompanion for there was the usual post sticking up in the middle of\nthe tank in front of them: he began to think that he had fallen in\nwith a lunatic: however he said nothing and they went on together:\nand presently they passed a large herd of cow-buffaloes: looking at\nthem Kora said \"Whose are these: why have they no horns?\" \"But they\nhave got horns: what on earth do you mean by saying that they have\nnot?\" replied his companion, Kora however persisted \"No, there is not\na horn among them.\" The old man began to lose his temper but they went\non and presently passed by a herd of cows, most of them with bells tied\nround their necks. No sooner did Kora catch sight of them than he began\nagain \"Whose can these cows be? Why have they not got bells on?\" \"Look\nat the bells,\" said the old man \"cannot you use your eyes?\" \"No,\" said\nKora, \"I cannot see a bell among them.\" The old man did not think it\nworth while to argue with him and at evening they reached the village\nwhere he lived: and Kora asked to be allowed to stay with him for the\nnight. So they went to his house and sat down on a string bed in the\ncow-shed while the women folk brought them out water to wash their\nfeet. After sitting awhile, Kora suddenly said \"Father, why did you\nnot put up a king post when you were making this cow-shed?\" Now at\nthat very moment he was leaning against the king post and the old man\nwas too puzzled and angry at his idiotic question to say anything: so\nhe got up and went into the house to tell his wife to put some extra\nrice into the pot for their visitor. His wife and daughter at once\nbegan asking him who their guest was: he said that he knew nothing\nabout him except that he was an absolute idiot. \"What is the matter\nwith him,\" asked the daughter: \"he looks quite sensible\": then her\nfather began to tell her all the extraordinary things that Kora had\nsaid: how he had proposed that they should carry each other in turn:\nand had declared that there was no post in the middle of the tank: and\nthat the buffaloes had no horns and the cows no bells: and that there\nwas no king post to the cow house. His daughter listened attentively\nand then said \"I think it is you, father, who have been stupid and\nnot our guest: I understand quite well what he meant. I suppose that\nwhen he proposed that you should carry each other, you had not been\ndoing much talking as you went along?\" \"That is so,\" said her father,\n\"we had not spoken for a long time:\" \"Then all he meant was that you\nshould chat as you went along and so make the way seem shorter: and as\nto the tank, were there any trees on its banks?\" \"No, they were quite\nbare.\" \"Then that is what he meant when he talked about the post:\nhe meant that the tank should have had trees planted round it: and\nas to the buffaloes and cows, there was doubtless no bull with either\nherd.\" \"I certainly did not notice one,\" said her father. \"Then that is\nwhat he was talking about: I think that it was very stupid of you not\nto understand him.\" \"Then what does he mean by the king post in the\ncow house\" asked the old man. \"He meant that there was no cross beam\nfrom wall to wall,\" \"Then you don't think him a fool at all?\" \"No,\nhe seems to me very sensible.\" \"Then perhaps you would like to have\nhim for your husband?\" \"That is for you and my mother to decide.\"\n\nSo the old man went off to his wife and asked her what she thought\nabout the match and they both agreed that it would be very suitable:\nthe girl understood Kora's riddles so well that they seemed made for\neach other. So the next morning when Kora proposed to start off on\nhis journey again, the old man asked whether he would care to stay\nwith them and marry his daughter. Kora was delighted to find a wife so\nsoon, and readily agreed to work for five years in his father-in-law's\nhouse to win his bride: so a day was fixed for the betrothal ceremony,\nand thus Kora succeeded in arranging his own marriage.\n\n\n\n\nXC. The Lazy Man.\n\nOnce upon a time three brothers lived together: the youngest of\nthem was named Kora and he was the laziest man alive: he was never\nwilling to do any work but at meal times he was always first on the\nspot. His laziness began to drag the family down in the world, for\nthey could not afford to feed a man who did no work. His two elder\nbrothers were always scolding him but he would not mend his ways:\nhowever the scolding annoyed him and one day he ran away from home.\n\nHe had become so poor that he had nothing on but a loin cloth: it\nwas the middle of winter and when the evening drew on he began to\nshiver with cold: so he was very glad when he came to a village to\nsee a group of herdboys sitting round a fire in the village street,\nroasting field rats. He went up to them and sat down by the fire to\nwarm himself. The herd boys gave him some of the rats to eat and when\nthey had finished their feast went off to their homes to sleep. It was\nnice and warm by the fire and Kora was too lazy to go round the village\nlooking for some one who would take him in for the night: so he made\nup his mind to go to sleep by the fire. He curled himself up beside it\nand was about to take off his waist cloth to spread over himself as\na sheet when he found a bit of thread which he had tied up in one of\nthe corners of the cloth. \"Why!\" thought he \"cloth is made of thread:\nso this thread must be cloth! I will use it as a sheet.\" So he tied\none end of the thread round his big toe and wound the other end round\nhis ears and stretching himself out at full length soon fell asleep.\n\nDuring the night the fire died down and a village dog which was on\nthe prowl came and coiled itself up on the warm ashes and also went\nto sleep alongside Kora.\n\nNow the headman of that village was a well-to-do man with much land\nunder cultivation and a number of servants, and as it was the time\nwhen the paddy was being threshed he got up very early in the morning\nto start the work betimes. As he walked up the village street he came\non the man and dog lying fast asleep side by side. He roused up Kora\nand asked him who he was and whether he did not find it very cold,\nlying out in the open. \"No\" answered Kora, \"I don't find it cold:\nthis is my dog and he has eaten up all my cold: he will eat up the\ncold of a lakh of people.\" The headman at once thought that a dog\nthat could do this would be a very useful animal to possess: he had\nto spend a lot of money in providing clothes for his farm labourers\nand yet they all suffered from the cold, while if he could get hold\nof the dog he and all his household would be permanently warm: so he\nasked Kora what price he set on the dog. Kora said that he would sell\nit for fifty lakhs of rupees and no less: he would not bargain about\nthe matter: the headman might take it or leave it as he liked. The\nheadman agreed to the terms and taking Kora to his house paid him\nover the money. Kora made no delay in setting off homewards and when\nhe arrived the first thing he did was to tell his brothers to find\nhim a wife as he had now enough money to pay all the expenses of his\nmarriage. When his brothers found that the lazy one of the family\nhad come home with such a fortune they gave him a very different\nreception from what they used to before, and set to work to arrange\nhis marriage and the three brothers all lived happily ever after.\n\nMeanwhile the headman who had bought the dog sent for his labourers and\ntold them of his luck in finding such a valuable animal. He bade them\ntie it up at the door of the hut on the threshing floor in which they\nslept: and in the morning to lead it round with them as they drove\nthe oxen that trod out the grain, and then they would none of them\nfeel cold. That night the labourers put the matter to the test but\nalthough the dog was tied up by the door the men in the hut shivered\nall night long as usual. Then in the morning they one after the other\ntried leading the dog as they drove the oxen round the threshing floor\nbut it did not make them any warmer, so they soon got tired and tied\nthe dog up again. Presently their master came along and asked what\nthey had done with the dog and was told that the animal would not\neat up the cold at all. The headman would not believe that he had\nbeen duped and began to lead the dog round to try for himself. Only\ntoo soon he had to admit that it made no difference. So, in a rage\nhe caught up a stick and beat the poor dog to death. Thus he lost\nhis money and got well laughed at by all the village for his folly.\n\n\n\n\n\nXCI. Another Lazy Man.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a man named Kora who was so lazy that his\nbrothers turned him out of the house and he had to go out into the\nworld to seek his fortune. At first he tried to get some other young\nman of the village to keep him company on his travels but they all\nrefused to have anything to do with such a lazy fellow, so he had to\nset out alone. However, he was resolved to have a companion of some\nsort, so when he came to a place where a crab had been burrowing he\nset to work and dug it out of the ground and took it along with him,\ntied up in his cloth.\n\nHe travelled on for days and weeks until he came to a country which\nwas being devastated by a Rakhas who preyed on human beings, and the\nRaja of the country had proclaimed that any one who could kill the\nRakhas should have one of his sisters in marriage and a large grant of\nland. Kora however knew nothing of all this and that evening he camped\nfor the night under a tree on the outskirts of a village. Presently\nthe villagers came out and begged him to come and spend the night\nin one of their houses, as it was impossible for a man to sleep\nsafely in the open by himself. \"Do not trouble about me,\" said Kora,\n\"I am not alone: I have a companion and we two shall be quite safe\ntogether.\" The villagers saw no one with him and could not understand\nwhat he was talking about, but as he would not listen to them they\nhad to leave him to his fate.\n\nNight came on and as usual Kora untied the crab from his cloth and\nsoon fell asleep. About midnight the Rakhas came prowling along and\nseeing Kora sleeping alone made towards him. But the crab rushed at\nthe Rakhas and climbing up his body seized his neck with its claws\nand slit the windpipe. Down fell the Rakhas and lay kicking on the\nground. The noise awoke Kora, who seized a big stone and dashed out\nthe brains of the Rakhas. He then cut off the tips of the ears and\ntongue and claws and wrapped them up in his cloth and lay down to\nsleep again with the crab in his bosom.\n\nAt dawn the chowkidar of the village, who was a Dome, came on his\nrounds and found the Rakhas lying dead. He thought that it would be\neasy for him to obtain the credit of having killed it: so he cut off\none of the legs and hurrying home told his wife and children to clear\nout of the house at once: he had nothing more to do with them, as he\nwas going to marry the Raja's sister and become a great landowner. Then\nhe rushed out into the village, shouting out that he had killed the\nRakhas. The villagers all went to see the dead body and found it lying\nnear the tree under which they had left Kora to spend the night. They\nwere not quite convinced that the Dome's story was true and asked\nKora who had really killed the Rakhas. He declined to answer but asked\nthat he and the Dome might both be taken to the Raja, and then proof\nwould be forthcoming as to who was really entitled to the Reward.\n\nSo the villagers took up the dead body and carried it off to the Raja,\ntaking Kora and the Dome with them. The Raja asked what proof there\nwas as to who had killed the Rakhas: and first the Dome produced the\nleg which he had cut off; but Kora unrolled his cloth and showed the\nears and tongue and claws of the Rakhas. It was at once seen that\nthe leg which the Dome had brought wanted the claws, so his fraud was\nclearly proved and he was driven from the assembly with derision and\nhad to go and humbly make his peace with the wife whom he had turned\nout of his house. But the nuptials of Kora and the Raja's sister\ntook place at once and they were given a fine palace to live in and\na large tract of country for their own.\n\nKora never allowed himself to be separated from his faithful crab and\nthis led to his life being saved a second time. A few nights after\nhe was married, Kora was lying asleep with the crab upon his breast,\nwhen two snakes began to issue from the nostrils of his bride: their\npurpose was to kill Kora but when they saw the watchful crab they\ndrew in their heads again. A few minutes later they again looked out:\nthen the crab went and hid under the chin of the Princess and when\nthe snakes put out their heads far enough it seized both of them with\nits claws: the snakes wriggled and struggled until they came entirely\nout of the nose of the princess and were dragged to the floor where\nthe crab strangled them. In the morning Kora awoke and saw what the\ncrab had done: he asked what he could do to show his gratitude to\nhis faithful friend, and the crab asked to be set free in some pond\nwhich never dried up and that Kora would rescue it if any one ever\nsucceeded in catching it. So Kora chose a tank and set the crab free\nand every day he used to go and bathe in that tank and the crab used\nto come and meet him.\n\nAfter living in luxury for a time Kora went with a grand procession\nof horses and elephants to visit his industrious brothers who had\nturned him out of their home for laziness, and he showed them that\nhe had chosen the better part, for they would never be able to keep\nhorses and elephants for all their industry: so he invited them to\ncome and live with him on his estate and when they had reaped that\nyear's crops they went with him.\n\n\n\n\nXCII. The Widow's Son.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a poor woman whose husband died suddenly\nfrom snake bite, leaving her with one little girl. At the time she\nwas expecting another child and every day she lamented the loss of\nher husband and prayed to Chando that the child she should bear might\nbe a son: but fresh troubles came upon her, for when her husband's\nbrothers saw that she was with child they declared that she had been\nunfaithful to her husband and had murdered him to conceal her shame:\nand although they had no proof of this, they seized on all their dead\nbrother's property and land and left the widow nothing but the bare\nhouse to live in.\n\nBut Chando had pity on her and when her time was full a boy was born\nto her. She gave thanks to Chando and devoted herself to bringing up\nthe child. The boy grew up and learned to walk and talk and one day he\nasked his mother where his father was. She told him that a snake had\nbitten his father before he was born. Thereupon the boy embraced her\nand told her not to cry as he would support her and take the place\nof his father. The mother was filled with wonder and gratitude at\nthe boy's intelligence.\n\nIn answer to her daily prayers she met with kindness at all hands:\nwhen she went out working her employers gave her extra wages: when\nshe went gleaning something extra was left for her, and if she had\nto beg no one refused to give her alms, so in time she was able to\nget together some household requisites and start keeping fowls and\npigs. By selling these she saved enough money to buy goats and sheep:\nand in course of time was able to think of buying a cow.\n\nBy that time her son--whom she called Bhagraihad grown up to be a boy\nand took an interest in all that went on: so he asked his mother how\nhe could tell when to buy a heifer. She said that if when the seller\nwas showing a cow to an intending purchaser the animal dropped dung,\nit should be bought without hesitation, as such a cow was sure to take\nkindly to its new home and to have plenty of calves: another equally\ngood sign was if the cow had nine teeth. Thereupon Bhagrai declared\nthat he would set out to buy a cow and be guided in his choice by\nthese signs and not come back till he found one. His mother thought\nthat he was too young to undertake such a business but at last yielded\nto his entreaties. Then he tried to get some one in the village to go\nwith him on his expedition but no one of his own friends or relations\nwould go, so he had to arrange with a man of the blacksmith caste to\nkeep him company.\n\nEarly one morning they set out, enquiring as they went along whether\nany one had a cow for sale. For a long time they were unsuccessful\nbut after passing right through the territories of one Raja, they at\nlength came to a village where they heard of a heifer for sale. As\nthey were examining it it dropped dung, and on inspection its mouth\nshowed nine teeth. Bhagrai at once declared that he must buy it\nand would not listen to the blacksmith who tried to dissuade him\nbecause, although the animal was full grown, it had had no calf and\nwas probably barren. Bhagrai however preferred to be guided by the\nsigns of which his mother had told him, and after a certain amount\nof haggling bought the animal for five rupees. The money was paid\nand he and the blacksmith set off homewards with the cow.\n\nNight overtook them and they turned into a village and asked to be\nallowed to sleep in the verandah of one of the houses: and permission\nbeing given they tied the cow to a post and went to sleep. In the\nmiddle of the night the owner of the house came and took away their\ncow and tied an old and worthless one of his own in its place. On\nwaking in the morning Bhagrai and the blacksmith saw at once what\nhad happened and charged the owner of the house with the theft. He\nvehemently denied all knowledge of the matter and after they had\nquarrelled for a long time went to call the villagers to arbitrate\nbetween them. But he took care to promise the headman and leading\nvillagers a bribe of five rupees if they decided the case in his\nfavour: so the result was a foregone conclusion and the arbitrators\ntold Bhagrai to take away the old worthless cow.\n\nHe however refused to accept the decision and said that he would go and\nfind two people to represent him on the panchayat. The villagers raised\nno objection for they knew that he was a stranger, and thought that\nthey could easily convince any persons he might pick up. Bhagrai set\noff towards a village he saw in the distance but lost his way in the\njungle, and as he was wandering about he came on two jackals. On seeing\nhim they started to run but he called to them to stop and telling\nthem all that had happened asked them to come to the panchayat. The\njackals answered that it was clear that the villagers had been bribed,\nbut they would come and do what was possible. They told him to bring\nthe villagers with both the cows to a big banyan tree outside the\nvillage. All the villagers went out to meet the jackals and Bhagrai\nstood up in the midst and began to explain his grievance.\n\nMeanwhile the jackals sat quite still, seeming to take no interest\nin what was going on. \"A fine pair these are to have on a panchayat\"\nsaid the villagers to each other, \"they are nearly asleep: they have\nbeen up all night catching crabs and grasshoppers and now are too tired\nto keep awake.\" \"No,\" said one jackal, \"we are not as sleepy as you\nthink: we are quite willing to take a part in deciding this dispute:\nbut the fact is that I and my wife have a quarrel and we want you\nfirst to decide that for us and then we will take up the question of\nthe cow; if you villagers can settle our difference satisfactorily\nwe shall be able to conclude that you have given a fair judgement on\nthe complaint of this orphan boy.\"\n\nThe villagers told him to continue and he explained \"I and my wife\nalways go about together: we eat at the same time and drink at the\nsame time and yet she drops dung twice a day while I do so only once:\nwhat is the reason of this?\" The villagers could think of no answer and\nthe jackal bade them ask his wife: so they laughed and asked whether\nit was true that she dropped dung twice to the he-jackal's once. But\nthe jackal reproved them for their levity, wise men of old had said\nthat it was wrong to jest when men of weight met to decide a dispute;\nso they became serious and the she-jackal answered \"It is true that\nI drop dung twice to his once: there is an order laid on me to do so:\nI drop dung once at the same time that he does: that excrement falls\nto the ground and stays there: but the second time the excrement falls\ninto the mouths of the ancestors of those men who take bribes and\ndo injustice to the widow and orphan and when such bribetakers reach\nthe next world they will also have to eat it. If however they confess\ntheir sin and ask pardon of me they will be let off the punishment:\nthis is the reason why I have been ordered to drop dung twice.\" \"Now\nyou have heard what she has to say\" put in the he-jackal \"what to you\nthink of the explanation? I hope that there are no such bribetakers\namong you: if there are they had better confess at once.\"\n\nThen all the villagers who had agreed to take a share of the bribe\nand had helped to rob the boy of his cow confessed what they had done\nand declared that the boy should have his cow again, and they fined\nthe thief five rupees. So Bhagrai and the blacksmith went gladly on\ntheir way and the blacksmith soon told all his neighbours of the two\nwonderful jackals who talked like men and had compelled the villagers\nto restore the stolen cow. \"Ah\" said the boy's mother \"they were not\njackals, they were Chando,\" When Bhagrai's uncles heard all this and\nsaw how he and his mother had prospered in spite of the loss of all\ntheir property, they became frightened and gave back the land and\ncattle which they had taken, without waiting for them to be claimed.\n\n\n\n\nXCIII. The Boy Who Was Changed into a Dog.\n\nOnce upon a time there were seven brothers: the six eldest were\nmarried, but the youngest was only a youth and looked after the\ncattle. The six married brothers spent their life in hunting and\nused often to be away from home for one or two months at a time. Now\nall their six wives were witches and directly their husbands left\nhome the six women used to climb a peepul tree and ride away on it,\nto eat men or do some other devilry. The youngest brother saw them\ndisappear every day and made up his mind to find out what they did. So\none morning he hid in a hollow in the trunk of the peepul tree and\nwaited till his sisters-in-law came and climbed up into the branches:\nthen the tree rose up and was carried through the air to the banks of\na large river, where the women climbed down and disappeared. After a\ntime they came back and climbed into the tree and rode on it back to\nthe place where it came from. But as they descended they saw their\nbrother-in-law hiding in the trunk and at first they tried to make\nhim promise not to tell what he had seen, but he swore that he would\nlet his brothers know all about it: so then they thought of killing\nhim, but in the end the eldest said that this was not necessary and\nshe fetched two iron nails and drove them into the soles of his feet\nwhereupon he at once became a dog. He could understand all that was\nsaid but of course could not speak. He followed them home and they\ntreated him well and always gave him a regular helping at meals as\nif he were a human being and did not merely throw him the scraps as\nif he were a dog: nor would he have eaten them if they had.\n\nA month afterwards the other brothers came home and asked if all had\ngone well in their absence. Their wives said that all was well except\nthat the youngest brother had unfortunately disappeared without leaving\nany trace. While they were talking the dog came up and fawned on the\nbrothers, so they asked where it had come from and the women said\nthat it had followed them home on the day that they were looking for\nthe missing boy: and they had kept it ever since. So matters rested:\nthe brothers searched high and low but could not find the missing\nboy and so gave up the quest.\n\nNow the Raja of that country had three daughters whom he had tried in\nvain to get married: whenever a bridegroom was proposed to them they\ndeclared that he was not to their liking and they would have nothing\nto do with him. At last their father said that as they would not let\nhim choose husbands for them, they must make the choice themselves:\nhe proposed to assemble all the men in his kingdom on a certain day\nand there and then they must take to themselves husbands.\n\nSo proclamation was made that all the men were to assemble outside\nthe palace and that three of them would receive the Raja's daughters\nin marriage without having to pay any brideprice. On the fixed day\na great crowd collected and among others went the six brothers: and\nthe dog followed them. Then the three princesses were brought out\nand three flies were caught: round one fly was tied a piece of white\nthread for the eldest princess and round the second fly a red thread\nfor the second princess: and round the last fly a blue thread for\nthe youngest princess. Then the three princesses solemnly promised\nthat each would marry the man on whom the fly marked with her colour\nsettled, and the flies were let loose. The red fly and the blue fly\nsoon settled on two of the men sitting in the crowd but the white\nfly flew high in the air and circled round and at last settled on\nthe dog which was sitting beside the six brothers.\n\nAt this the crowd laughed and jeered but the eldest princess said\nthat she must accept what fate had decreed and that she would marry\nthe dog. So the betrothal ceremony of the three princesses took place\nat once, soon followed by their weddings. The husbands of the two\nyoungest princesses took their brides home, but the eldest princess\nstayed in her father's house with her dog.\n\nOne day after its dinner the dog was lying on its side asleep and the\nprincess chanced to see the heads of the iron nails in its feet: \"Ah,\"\nthought she, \"that is why the poor dog limps.\" So she ran and fetched\na pair of pincers and pulled out the nails: no sooner had she done\nso than the dog was restored to its human shape and the princess was\ndelighted to find that not only was he a man but also very handsome:\nand they settled down to live happily together.\n\nSome months later the six brothers resolved to go and visit the Raja,\nso that the princess might not feel that the dog she had married had\nno friends in the world. Off they set and when they reached the Raja's\npalace they were amazed to find their younger brother and still more\nso when they heard the story of all that had happened to him.\n\nThey immediately decided to take vengeance on their wives and when\nthey reached home gave orders for a large well to be dug: when it\nwas ready they told their wives to join in the consecration ceremony\nwhich was to ensure a pure and plentiful supply of water: so the\nsix witches went to the well and while their attention was occupied,\ntheir husbands pushed them all into the well and filled it up with\nearth and that was the end of the witches.\n\n\n\n\nXCIV. Birluri and Birbanta.\n\nBirluri was of the Goala caste and Birbanta of the oilman's caste. And\nthis is the story of their fight.\n\nBirluri was very rich, with great herds of cattle and buffaloes but\nBirbanta's wealth consisted in tanks and ponds. Birluri used every\nday to water his cattle at Birbanta's ponds: and this made Birbanta\nvery angry: he felt it an injustice that though Birluri was so rich\nhe would not dig his own ponds: so he sent word that Birluri must\nstop watering his cattle or he would be killed. Birluri answered\nthe messengers that he was quite ready to fight Birbanta: for though\nBirbanta had made the tanks, it was God who had made the water in them\nand so he considered that his cattle had a perfect right to drink the\nwater. When Birbanta heard this he fell into a rage and vowed that\nhe would not let the cattle drink, but would kill every living thing\nthat went down to the water. From that day he let no one drink from\nhis tanks: when women went to draw water he used to smash their water\npots and put the rims round their necks like necklaces: all wild birds\nand animals he shot: and the cattle and buffaloes he cut down with his\naxe: and at last he proceeded to kill any human beings who went there.\n\nWhen the Raja of the country heard this he was very angry and bade\nhis _sipahis_ search for some one strong enough to overcome and kill\nBirbanta: and he promised as a reward the hand of one of his daughters\nand half his kingdom. So the _sipahis_ made proclamation all through\nthe country and at last Birluri heard of it and volunteered to fight\nBirbanta. Then the Raja fixed a day for the fight, so that all the\ncountry might know and Birbanta also have due warning.\n\nBoth the combatants made ready for the fray: Birbanta was armed with\na sword and a shield like a cart wheel and was skilful at sword play,\nwhile Birluri's weapon was the quarter-staff. The day arrived and\nBirluri girded up his loins and set out, twirling his staff round\nhis head. Now his father and mother were both dead; but on the road\nhis mother met him in the guise of an old woman, so that he did not\nrecognise her. She greeted him and asked where he was going and when\nshe heard that it was to fight Birbanta she said \"My son, you are very\nstrong: but if he asks for water do not give it him, for if you do,\nhe will assuredly kill you: but when he throws away his sword, do you\nmake haste and take it and slay him with it.\" So saying she went on her\nway and when Birluri came within a _kos_ of the fighting place he began\nto twirl his staff and he made such a cloud of dust that it became\ndark as night and in the darkness the staff gleamed like lightning.\n\nWhen Birbanta saw this he rose up and shouted \"Here comes my enemy:\nI will fight my best and we will see who will conquer\" and when he saw\nBirluri armed only with a quarter-staff he felt sure that he would\nnot be overcome by such a weapon: so he grasped his sword and took\nhis shield on his arm and went out to the fight The fray was fast\nand furious: Birbanta hacked and hacked with his sword but Birluri\ncaught all the blows on his quarterstaff and took no injury. At\nlast the end of the staff was hacked off leaving a sharp point:\nthen Birluri transfixed Birbanta with the pointed end and Birbanta\nfaltered: again he thrust him through and Birbanta acknowledged\nhimself defeated, saying \"My life is yours: let me drink some water\nat your hands before you kill me.\" So Birluri agreed to a truce and\nthey stopped fighting. Then Birluri cut down a palm tree and dipped\nit into Birbanta's tank and holding out the end to Birbanta told him\nto suck it. Birbanta refused to take it and asked him to give him\nwater in his hands: but Birluri remembered his mother's warning and\nrefused. Then Birbanta in despair threw away his sword and shield\nand Birluri snatched up the sword and smote off his head: and this\nis the song of victory which Birluri sang.--\n\n\n \"Birbanta stopped the _ghat_ for the golden oxen--\n The dust is raised up to heaven!\n Birbanta sat by the _ghat_ of the oxen--\n The lightning is flashing in the sky!\n He has made an embankment: he has made a tank:\n But the water he collected in it, has become his enemy!\"\n\n\nThen Birluri was taken to the Raja and married to one of the Raja's\ndaughters and given one half of the Raja's kingdom.\n\nAfter a time Birluri told his wife that they must go back to his\nhome to look after the large herds of cattle which he had left behind\nhim. But his wife laughed at him and would not believe that he owned\nso much property: then Birluri said that if she would not go with\nhim he would call the cattle to come to him: so he called them all by\nname and the great herd came running to the Raja's palace and filled\nthe whole barn yard and as there was no room for them to stay there,\nthey went away into the jungle and became wild cattle.\n\n\n\n\nXCV. The Killing of the Rakhas.\n\nOnce upon a time a certain country was ravaged by a Rakhas to such\nan extent that there were only the Raja and a few ryots left. When\nthings came to this pass, the Raja saw that something must be done:\nfor he could not be left alone in the land. Ryots need a Raja and a\nRaja needs ryots: if he had no ryots where was he to get money for\nhis support: and he repeated the verse of the poet Kalidas:\n\n\n \"When the jungle is destroyed, the deer are in trouble without jungle:\n When the Raja is destroyed, the ryots are in trouble without their Raja:\n When the good wife of the house is destroyed, good fortune flees away.\"\n\n\nSo thinking the Raja made a proclamation throughout all the land that\nif any one could kill the Rakhas he would reward him with the hand of\none of his daughters and half his kingdom. This proclamation was read\nout by the headman of a certain village to the assembled villagers\nand among the crowd was a mischievous youth, named Jhalka, who when\nhe heard the proclamation called out that he could kill the Rakhas in\nten minutes. The villagers turned on him \"Why don't you go and do so:\nthen you would marry the Raja's daughter and we should all bow down\nto you.\" At the thought of this Jhalka began to skip about crying \"I\nwill finish him off in no time.\" The headman heard him and took him\nat his word and wrote to the Raja that in his village there was a man\nwho undertook to kill the Rakhas. When Jhalka heard this he hurried\nto the headman and explained that he had only been joking. \"I cannot\ntreat such things as a joke\" answered the headman: \"Don't you know\nthat this is a Raja's matter: to deal with Rajas is the same as to\ndeal with _bongas_: you may make a promise to the _bongas_ in jest,\nbut they will not let you off it on that plea. You are much too fond\nof playing the fool.\"\n\nTen or twelve days later sipahis came from the Raja to fetch Jhalka:\nhe told them that he had only spoken in jest and did not want to go\nto the Raja, but they took him away all the same.\n\nBefore he started he picked out a well-tempered battle axe and begged\nhis father to propitiate the _bongas_ and pray that he might be\nsaved from the Rakhas. When he was produced before the Raja, Jhalka\nagain tried to explain that there had been a mistake, but the Raja\ntold him that he would be taken at his word and must go and kill the\nRakhas. Then he saw that there was nothing left for him but to put\nhis trust in God: so he asked that he might be given two mirrors and\na large box and when these were brought he had the box taken to the\nfoot of a large banyan tree which grew by a ford in the river which\nflowed by the hill in which the Rakhas lived: it was at this ford\nthat the Rakhas used to lie in wait for prey.\n\nLeft alone there Jhalka put one of the mirrors into the box and then\ntightened his cloth and climbed the banyan tree with his battle axe\nand the other mirror. He was not at all happy as he waited for the\nRakhas, thinking of all the people who had been killed as they passed\nalong the road below the tree: however he was determined to outwit\nthe Rakhas if he could. All night long he watched in vain but just at\ndawn the Rakhas appeared. At the sight of him Jhalka shook so much\nwith fright that the branches of the tree swayed. The Rakhas smelt\nthat there was a human being about and looking up into the tree saw\nthe branches waving. \"Ha,\" said he, \"here is my breakfast.\"' Jhalka\nretorted \"Ha! here is another Rakhas to match those I have got\"\n\"What are you talking about?\" asked the Rakhas: \"I am glad to have\nmet you at last\" returned Jhalka. \"Why?\" asked the Rakhas, \"and what\nare you trembling for?\" \"I am trembling with rage: we shall now see\nwhether I am to eat you or you are to eat me.\"\n\n\"Come down and try.\"\n\n\"No, you come up here and try.\"\n\nJhalka would not leave the tree and the Rakhas would not climb it:\nso they waited. At last the Rakhas asked \"Who are you? I have seen a\nthousand men like you\" And Jhalka answered \"Who are you? I have seen\na thousand like you.\" At this the Rakhas began to hesitate and wonder\nwhether Jhalka was really his equal in strength, so he changed the\nsubject and asked what the big box was. \"That is the box into which\nI put Rakhases like you when I catch them; I have got plenty more at\nhome.\" \"How many are there in the box?\" \"Two or three.\"\n\nThe Rakhas asked to see them, but Jhalka would not leave the tree until\nthe Rakhas had sworn an oath to do him no harm; then he came down and\nopened the box and made the Rakhas look into the mirror inside the box;\nand he also held up the second mirror saying that there was another\nRakhas. The Rakhas was fascinated at the sight of his own reflection;\nwhen he grinned or opened his mouth the reflection did the same; and\nwhile he was amusing himself with making different grimaces Jhalka\nsuddenly cut him down with the battleaxe, and he fell down dead. Then\nJhalka cut off the ears and tongue and toes and hastened with them\nto the Raja. When it was found that the Rakhas was really dead the\nRaja assembled all his subjects and in their presence married Jhalka\nto his daughter and made over to him half the kingdom and gave him\nhorses and elephants and half of everything in his palace.\n\n\n\n\nXCVI. The Children and the Vultures.\n\nOnce upon a time all the women of a village went to the jungle to\ngather _karla_ fruit; and one of them was pregnant. In the jungle she\nfelt that her time was come and she went aside without telling any\nof her friends and gave birth to twin boys. The other women went on\ngathering fruit and when they had filled their baskets and were on\ntheir way home they noticed that one of their number was missing,\nbut as it was late they were afraid to go back and look for her,\nand besides they felt sure that she must have been devoured by some\nwild animal.\n\nMeanwhile the mother of the twins began to call to her friends,\nbut they were far out of hearing; so she debated whether she should\ncarry home the two babes or her basket of _karla_ fruit; she did\nnot feel strong enough to carry both the infants in her arms and so\nshe decided to take the basket of fruit, especially as she would\nprobably have plenty more children, while the _karla_ fruit could\nnot be replaced. She covered the twins with leaves of the Asan tree\nand went home.\n\nBut when her husband heard what had happened he was very angry,\nand scolded her well; she could easily have thrown away the fruit\nand carried home the children in the basket instead of taking so\nmuch trouble about the _karla_ fruit, as if no one had ever seen\nany before. He wanted to take a few friends and go and look for the\nchildren at once; but his father and mother begged him not to risk his\nlife in the jungle at night; the woman had been a fool but that could\nnot be remedied; people must learn by experience; as the Hindu proverb\nsays \"When your caste goes, wisdom comes.\" They could not allow the\nbreadwinner of the family to risk his life; though the roof and doors\nof the house had gone, the walls remained; as long as the tree stood\nnew branches would grow; but if the tree fell there was no more hope;\nso in the end the children were left where they were.\n\nNo sooner had the mother gone than a pair of king vultures swooped down\nto make a meal of the children but they cried so pitifully that the\nvultures had hot the heart to kill them but instead carried them up\nto their nest and brought them food: and nurtured them. And when the\nchildren began to walk they carried them down to the ground and when\nthey were big enough to take care of themselves they told them to go\ninto the neighbouring villages and beg; but they forbade them to go\ntowards the village in which their real parents lived. So every day\nthe two boys went out begging, and as they went from house to house,\nthey sang:--\n\n\n \"Our mother took away the _karla_ fruit\n She covered us up with Asan leaves.\n The pair of King vultures\n Reared us.--Give us alms.\"\n\n\nAnd people had pity on them and gave them enough to live on. One day\nthe two boys thought that they would go and see what the country was\nlike in the direction which had been forbidden to them; so they set\nout singing their usual song, and when they came to the house where\ntheir mother lived she heard them sing and knew that they must be her\nchildren; so she called them and bathed them and oiled their bodies\nand told them that she was their mother and they were very glad to\nstay with her.\n\nBut when the children did not return, the vultures flew in search\nof them and circled round and round in the air looking for them. The\nmother saw them and knew what they wanted, so she took the children\ninto the house and hid them under a large basket. But the vultures flew\ndown to the house and tore a hole in the thatch and entered through it\nand overturned the basket and seized the children. Then the father and\nmother also caught hold of them and the vultures pulled and the parents\npulled until the children were torn in two and the vultures flew away\nwith the portions they had secured. The father and mother sorrowfully\nburnt on a pyre the remains of the children that were left to them.\n\nThe vultures when they reached their nest were unwilling to eat the\nflesh of the children they had reared, so they set fire to their nest;\nbut as the flames rose high, some juice spirted out from the burning\nflesh on to the vultures and they tasted it and found it so good\nthat they pulled the rest of the flesh out of the flames and ate it,\nand from that time vultures feed on human bodies.\n\n\n\n\nXCVII. The Ferryman.\n\nThere was once a ferryman who plied a ferry across a big river, and he\nhad two wives. By the elder wife he had five sons and by the younger\nonly one. When he grew old he gave up work himself and left his sons\nto manage the boats; but the step-brothers could not agree and were\nalways quarrelling. So the father gave one boat to the son of the\nyounger wife and told him to work it by himself at a separate crossing\nhigher up the river, while the five other brothers plied to old ferry.\n\nIt turned out that most passengers used to cross at the youngest\nbrother's ferry and as he had no one to share the profits with him,\nhis earnings were very large. Because of this he used to jeer at his\nother brothers who were not so well off. This made them hate him more\nthan ever, and they resolved to be revenged; so one day when he was\nalone in the boat they set it adrift down the river without any oars.\n\nAs he drifted helplessly down the river he saw a river snake, as\nlong as the river was broad, waiting for him with open mouth. He\nthought that his last hour had come, but he seized a knife which was\nin the boat and waited. When the stream brought him within reach,\nthe snake swallowed him, boat and all, and swam to the bank. When he\nfelt the snake climbing up the bank he began to cut his way out of its\nstomach with his knife, and soon made a wound which killed the snake\nand enabled him to make his way out and pull out the boat. Then he\nlooked about him and saw a large village near by; so he went towards\nit to tell the villagers how he had killed the great snake. But when\nhe reached it he found it deserted; he went from house to house but\nfound no one. At last he came to a house in which there was one girl,\nwho told him that she was the only inhabitant left, as the great river\nsnake had eaten up all the other people. Then he told her how he had\nkilled the snake and took her to see its dead body. The village was\nfull of the wealth left by its former inhabitants; so he and the girl\ndecided to stay there, and there were such riches that they lived\nlike a Raja and Rani.\n\nOne morning his wife told him that she had had a dream, in which\nshe was warned that he must on no account go out towards the south\nof the village; but he laughed at her, because he had up to that\ntime moved about wherever he liked without any harm. She begged him\nto listen to her advice, because it was by her wisdom that she had\nsaved her life when every one else in the village had been killed,\nso for a few days he obeyed her, but one morning he took a sword and\nwent off towards the south. He had not gone far when he came to a cow,\nwhich had fallen into a pit, and it called to him. \"Oh Brother, I have\nfallen into great trouble; help me out and one day I will do the same\nto you, if you ask my aid.\" So he took pity on the cow and pulled it\nout. Going on a little further he came to a buffalo which had stuck\nfast in a bog and it also called to him for help and promised to do\nthe like for him in case of need. So he pulled it out of the mud,\nand went on his way. Presently he came to a well and from the depths\nof the well a man who had fallen into it cried to him for help; so he\nwent and pulled him up; but no sooner had the man reached the surface\nthan he turned and pushed his rescuer down the well and ran away.\n\nHis wife waited and waited for his return and when he did not come,\nshe divined that he had gone towards the south in spite of her\nwarning. So she went to look for him and presently found him at the\nbottom of the well. So she let down a rope and pulled him up and gave\nhim a scolding for his folly.\n\nAfter this they thought it best to leave that country, so they embarked\non the boat and travelled back to his father's house.\n\n\n\n\nXCVIII. Catching a Thief.\n\nThere was once a rich Raja; and in order to frighten away thieves\nwhenever he woke up at night he used to call out--\n\n\n \"What are you people saying? I know all about it:\n You are digging the earth and throwing the earth away:\n I know all about it: you are skulking there scraping a hole.\"\n\n\nOne night a gang of thieves really came and began to dig a hole\nthrough the mud wall of the Raja's house. And while they were at work\nthe Raja woke up and called out as usual. The thieves thought that\nthey were discovered and bolted. The next morning the hole they had\nbeen making was found, and the Raja ordered his sipahies to catch the\nthieves. The head of all the thieves was a Bhuyan by caste and for\nfive rupees he would catch any thief you wanted. So the sipahies were\ntold to bring this Bhuyan and they went to a potter and asked. \"Ho,\nmaker of pots, he who makes whole paddy into _china_: where does he\nlive?\" And the potter answered. \"He who heats pewter; his house is\nover there.\" Following this direction they found the Bhuyan and he\ncaught the thieves for them.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XCIX\n\nXCIX. The Grasping Raja.\n\nThere was once a Raja who was very rich. He was a stern man and\noverbearing and would brook no contradiction. Not one of his servants\nor his subjects dared to question his orders; if they did so they got\nnothing but abuse and blows. He was a grasping man too; if a cow or a\ngoat strayed into his herds he would return the animal if its owner\nclaimed in the same day; but he would not listen to any claim made\nlater. He was so proud that he thought that there was no one in the\nworld wiser than himself.\n\nIt happened that a certain man living in the kingdom of this Raja\nlost a cow; one evening it did not come back to its stall from\nthe grazing-ground; so the next day he set out to search for it and\nquestioned every one he met. He soon got news that a cow like his had\nbeen seen in the Raja's herd. So he went to look, and there, among\nthe Raja's cattle, he saw his own cow. He asked the cowherd to let him\ntake it away; but the cowherd refused to do so without a written order\nfrom the Raja. So the owner went off to the Raja and claimed his cow;\nbut the Raja would not listen and gave him only abuse and turned him\nout. Then he went to his friends and asked them to help him but they\nwere afraid to do anything and advised him to regard the cow as lost\nfor good.\n\nSo the unfortunate man took his way homeward very unhappily; on the way\nhe sat down by the bank of a stream and began to bewail his loss. As\nhe cried, Thakur took pity on him and sent a jackal to him. The jackal\ncame and asked why he was crying, and when it had heard the story of\nthe loss of the cow, it said \"Cheer up! go back to the Raja and tell\nhim that you want a panchayat to settle the matter about the cow;\nand that you intend to call one whether he agrees to abide by its\ndecision or no. If he agrees, come back quickly to me and I will\narrange to get back your cow for you.\" So off went the owner of the\ncow to the Raja and told him that he wanted to call a panchayat. The\nRaja made no objection and bade him call the neighbours together. The\npoor man did so and then hurried off to the jackal and told it how\nthings had turned out. The jackal returned with him to the outskirts\nof the city and then sent him to the Raja to say that the panchayat\nmust be held on the plain outside the city--for the jackal was afraid\nof the dogs in the city.\n\nWhen the Raja received this message it made him very angry, however he\nwent outside the city and met the panchayat and ordered them to get\nto business quickly. Then the owner of the cow stood up and told his\nstory and the neighbours who had assembled called to him encouragingly,\nbut the jackal sat in the background and pretended to be asleep. When\nthe tale was finished, the Raja told the people who had assembled to\ngive their decision, but they were all so afraid of the Raja that not\none ventured to speak. As they kept silence the Raja turned to the\nowner of the cow. \"Well, where are the people who are going to judge\nthe case? No one here will say a word.\" \"That is my judge,\" said the\nman pointing to the jackal. \"Why it is fast asleep; what sort of a\njudge is that?\" But just then the jackal shook itself and said. \"I\nhave had a most remarkable dream.\" \"There, he has been dreaming,\ninstead of listening to the case.\" exclaimed the Raja.\n\n\"O Raja don't be so scornful\" said the jackal, \"I am a cleverer judge\nthan you.\" \"You, who are you? I have grown old in judging cases and\nfinding out the truth; and you dare to talk to me like that!\" \"Well,\"\nretorted the jackal, \"if you are so clever guess the meaning of my\ndream; and if you cannot, give the man back his cow; if you can say\nwhat it means, I will acknowledge that you are fit to be a Raja. This\nis what I dreamt.--I saw three die in one place; one from sleepiness;\none from anger and one from greed. Tell me what were the three and\nhow did they come to be in one place.\"\n\nThis riddle puzzled every one, but the friends of the man who had\nlost his cow saw their opportunity and began to call out to the Raja\nto be quick and give the answer. The Raja made several guesses, but\nthe jackal each time said that he was wrong, and asserted that the\nreal answer would strike every one present as satisfactory. The Raja\nwas completely puzzled and then suggested that there was no coherency\nin dreams: if the jackal had had some meaningless dream, no one could\nguess it. \"No,\" said the jackal, \"you just now laughed at the idea that\nany one should come to a panchayat and go to sleep; and what you said\nwas true; I would not really go to sleep on an occasion like this;\nand I did not really dream. Now show that you are cleverer than I;\nif you can, you keep the cow.\"\n\nThe Raja thought and thought in vain, and at last asked to be told the\nanswer to the puzzle. First the jackal made him write out a promise\nto restore the cow and to pay twenty-five rupees to the panchayat;\nand then it began:--\"In a forest lived a wild elephant and every\nnight it wandered about grazing and in the day it returned to its\nretreat in a certain hill. One dawn as it was on its way back after\na night's feeding, it felt so sleepy that it lay down where it was;\nand it happened that its body blocked the entrance to a hole which\nwas a poisonous snake. When the snake wanted to come out and found\nthe way blocked, it got angry and in its rage bit the elephant and the\nelephant died then and there. Presently a jackal came prowling by and\nsaw the elephant lying dead; it could not restrain itself from such a\nfeast and choosing a place where the skin was soft began to tear at\nthe flesh. Soon it made such a large hole that it got quite inside\nthe elephant and still went on eating. But when the sun grew strong,\nthe elephant's skin shrunk and closed the hole and the jackal could\nnot get out again and died miserably inside the elephant. The snake\ntoo in its hole soon died from want of food and air. So the elephant\nmet its death through sleepiness and the snake through anger and the\njackal through greed. This is the answer to the puzzle, but Chando\nprevented your guessing it, because you unjustly took the poor man's\ncow and as a lesson to you that he is lord of all, of the poor and\nweak as well as of Rajas and Princes.\"\n\nWhen the jackal concluded all present cried out that the answer was\na perfect one; but the Raja said \"I don't think much of that; I know\na lot of stories like that myself.\" However he had to give back the\ncow and pay twenty-five rupees to the panchayat. In gratitude to the\njackal the owner of the cow bought a goat and gave it to the jackal\nand then the jackal went away and was seen no more.\n\n\n\n\nC. The Prince Who Would Not Marry.\n\nThere was once a Raja who in spite of having many wives was childless;\nand his great desire was to have a son. He made many vows and performed\nevery ceremony that was recommended to him, but in vain. At last a\nJogi came to his kingdom and hearing of his case told him that if he\nwould pray to Thakur and give away to the poor one-fourth of all his\nwealth, he should have a son.\n\nThe Raja followed the Jogi's advice, and in due time his youngest wife\nbore him a son; a son so fair and so beautiful that there was no one\non earth to match him. When the boy grew up, they began to think about\nhis marriage and the Raja said that he would only marry him to a bride\nas fair and as beautiful as himself. It did not matter whether she were\npoor or rich, all that was needful was that she should be a match for\nhis son in looks. So messengers were sent out to all the surrounding\nkingdoms to look for such a bride. They searched for years; nine years,\nten years passed and still no bride was found to match in looks the\nPrince. After ten years had passed the Prince heard of this search and\nhe went to his father and announced that he did not wish to marry; and\nthat if he ever should wish to do so, he would find a wife for himself.\n\nThe Raja was very angry at this and said that the Prince wished to\nbring him to shame; every one would say that the Raja was too mean\nto arrange a marriage for his only son. But the Prince was obstinate\nand persisted that he did not wish the Raja to take any steps in the\nmatter. At this the Raja grew more and more angry, until at last he\nordered the Prince to be taken to prison and kept there, until he\npromised to marry any one whom his father chose.\n\nEvery day the warders asked whether he would yield and every day he\nrefused; and it is impossible to say how long he would have languished\nin prison, had not the wife of the Parganna of the Bongas come one\nnight to the prison with two other bongas. They began to talk about\nthe Prince's hard case. The warders heard them talking, but could see\nno one. The Bonga Parganna's wife proposed that they should provide\na _bonga_ bride for the Prince, for it was certain that no human\nbride could be his match for beauty. The two bongas agreed that it\nwas a good idea but the Prince had declared that he would not marry\nand that was a difficulty. \"Let him see the bride I offer him and see\nwhat happens\" answered the old _Bonga's_ wife. So the next night when\nthe Prince was asleep a beautiful bonga maiden was brought to the\nprison and when he awoke he saw her sitting by his side. He fell in\nlove with her at first sight and exchanging rings with her promised\nthat she should be his wife.\n\nThen the warders, who had been watching, ran to the Raja and told him\nthat the Prince had agreed to marry. The Raja came and took the Prince\nand his bride out of the prison, and the wedding was celebrated with\ngreat rejoicings throughout the kingdom.\n\n\n\n\nCI. The Prince Who Found Two Wives.\n\nThere was once a Raja who had an only son. When the Prince grew up the\ncourtiers proposed to the Raja that he should arrange for his son's\nmarriage; the Raja however wished to postpone it for a time. So the\ncourtiers used to laugh and say to the Prince \"Wait a little and\nwe will find you a couple of wives;\" the young man would answer,\n\"What is that? I can find them for myself. If you offered to find me\nten or twelve wives there would be something in it.\" The Raja heard\nof his boasting like this and was very angry and said \"Well if he is\nso sure that he can find a wife for himself, let him do it;\" and he\ntook no further steps to arrange for his son's marriage.\n\nNow the Prince had a most beautiful voice and used also to play on\nthe one-stringed lute. He used often to sit up half the night singing\nand playing to himself. One night as he sat singing, he heard a laugh\nand looking round saw a beautiful _bonga_ girl. He asked who she was\nand how she had come there, and she told him that she lived close\nby and could not help coming to see who it was, who was singing so\nbeautifully. After that she used to visit the Prince every night,\nbut always disappeared before dawn. This went on for some weeks\nand then the Prince asked her to stay and be his wife. She agreed,\nprovided he would first go to her home and see her relations. So\nthe next night he went with her; and found that her father was also\na Raja and very rich. He stayed there three or four days; while his\nmysterious disappearance caused the greatest consternation at his own\nhome. However he returned quietly by night and was found sleeping as\nusual in his bed one morning. Then he told his parents all that had\nhappened and how he had left his wife behind at her father's house.\n\nTwo or three days later the Prince fell very ill: every sort of remedy\nwas tried in vain. As he grew worse and worse, one day a messenger came\nfrom his father-in-law and offered to cure him if he were removed to\nhis wife's house. So he was carried thither and when he arrived he\nfound that his wife was also very ill; but directly he was brought\nto where she lay, at the mere sight of each other they both became\nwell again.\n\nAfter some months the Prince and his wife set out to return to their\nown home. They were benighted on the way; so they tied their horses\nto a tree and prepared to camp under it. The Prince went to a bazar\nto buy provisions and while there, was arrested on a false charge\nand was sent to prison. The Princess waited and waited and at last\nfelt sure that something must have detained him against his will. She\nwould not leave the spot, and to make it less likely that she should\nbe molested, she dressed herself as a man.\n\nSome days passed and the Prince did not return; then one morning an\nold woman passing by came and asked for a light for her hookah, and\nstayed talking for some time. The old woman was struck by the sweet\nface and gentle voice of the stranger, and on her return told the\ndaughter of the Raja of that country that there was a strange young\nman, who looked and talked very differently from any of the young men\nof that neighbourhood. The Raja's daughter was curious to see him,\nand the next morning she went with the old woman and talked with the\ndisguised Princess. Before she left she was deeply in love with him,\nand directly she reached home she sent word to her father that she\nhad seen the man whom she must marry. \"It is of no use to thwart\none's children,\" said the Raja and at once sent messengers to bring\nthe stranger to marry his daughter.\n\nWhen the disguised Princess was brought before the Raja, she said\nthat she had no objection to being married provided that it was done\naccording to the custom of her own country, and that was that the\nvermilion should be applied to the bride's forehead with a sword. The\nRaja made no objection; so the Princess took her husband's sword and\nput vermilion on it and then applied it to the bride's forehead; and\nso the marriage was complete. But when the Princess was left alone\nwith her bride, she confessed that she was a woman and told her all\nher history and how her husband had disappeared in the bazar.\n\nThen the Raja's daughter went to her father and told him what had\nhappened and had enquiries made and speedily had the Prince released\nfrom prison. Then the prince himself again put vermilion on the\nforehead of the Raja's daughter, and a few days later set off home\nwith both his wives. This was the way in which he found two wives\nfor himself, as he had boasted that he would.\n\n\n\n\nCII. The Unfaithful Wife.\n\nOnce upon a time there were two brothers and as their wives did not\nget on well together, they lived separately. After a time it came\nto the ears of the elder brother that the younger brother's wife\nwas carrying on an intrigue with a certain Jugi; so he made up his\nmind to watch her movements. One night he saw a white figure leave\nhis brother's house and, following it quietly, he saw it go into the\nJugi's house, and creeping nearer, he heard his sister-in-law's voice\ntalking inside. He was much grieved at what he had seen, but could\nnot make up his mind to tell his brother.\n\nOne day the elder brother found that he had no milk in the house,\nas all his cows had run dry; so he sent a servant to his brother's\nhouse to ask for some milk; but the younger brother's wife declined\nto give any, and sent word that her brother-in-law was quite rich\nenough to buy milk cows if he wanted milk. The elder brother said\nnothing at this rebuff, but after a time it happened that the younger\nbrother's cows all became dry, and he in his turn sent to his elder\nbrother for milk. The elder brother's wife was not disposed to give\nit, but her husband bade her not bear malice and to send the milk.\n\nAfter this the elder brother sent for the other and advised him to\nwatch his wife and see where she went to at night. So that night the\nyounger brother lay awake and watched; and in the middle of the night\nsaw his wife get up very quietly and leave the house. He followed her;\nas the woman passed down the village street, some Mahommedans, who had\nbeen sitting up smoking ganja, saw her and emboldened by the drug set\nout to see who it was, who was wandering about so late at night. The\nwoman took refuge in a clump of bamboos and pulled down one of the\nbamboos to conceal herself. The Mahommedans surrounded the clump but\nwhen they saw the one bamboo which the woman held shaking, while all\nthe rest were still--for it was a windless night--they concluded that\nit was an evil spirit that they were pursuing and ran away in a panic.\n\nWhen they were gone, the woman came out from the bamboos and went on to\nthe Jugi's house. Her husband who had been watching all that happened\nfollowed her: and having seen her enter the Jugi's house hastened\nhome and bolted his door from inside. Presently his wife returned\nand found the door which she had left ajar, fastened; then she knew\nthat she was discovered. She was however full of resource; she began\nto beg to be let her in, but her husband only showered abuse upon her\nand bade her go back to the friend she had left. Then she took a large\nstone and heaved it into a pool of water near the house. Her husband\nheard the splash and concluded that she was drowning herself. He did\nnot want to get into trouble with the police, as would surely be the\ncase if his wife were found drowned, so he ran out of the house to the\npool of water to try and save her. Seizing this opportunity his wife\nslipped into the house and in her turn locked the door from inside;\nso that her husband had to spend the rest of the night out-of-doors.\n\nHe could not be kept out of the house permanently and the next day he\ngave his wife a thrashing and turned her out. At evening however she\ncame back and sat outside in the courtyard, weeping and wailing. The\nnoise made her husband more angry than ever, and he shouted out to her\nthat if she did not keep quiet he would come and cut off her nose. She\nkept on crying, and the Jugi heard her and sent an old woman to call\nher to him. She declared that if she went her husband would know and be\nthe more angry with her, but she might go if the old woman would sit\nin her place and keep on crying, so that her husband might believe\nher to be still in the courtyard. The old woman agreed and began\nto weep and wail, while the other went off to the Jugi. She wept to\nsuch purpose that the husband at last could not restrain his anger,\nand rushing out into the darkness with a knife, cut off the nose,\nas he supposed, of his wife.\n\nPresently the wife came back and found the old woman weeping in real\nearnest over the loss of her nose. \"Never mind, I'll find it and fix it\non for you,\" so saying she felt about for the nose till she found it,\nclapped it on to the old woman's face and told her to hold it tight\nand it would soon grow again. Then she sat down where she had sat\nbefore and began to lament the cruelty of her husband in bringing a\nfalse charge against her and challenged him to come out and see the\nmiracle which had occurred to indicate her innocence. She repeated\nthis so often that at last her husband began to wonder what she meant,\nand took a lamp and went out to see. When he found her sitting on the\nground without a blemish on her face, although he had seen her with\nhis own eyes go to the Jugi's house, he could not doubt her virtue\nand had to receive her back into the house.\n\nThus by her cunning the faithless wife escaped the punishment which\nshe deserved.\n\n\n\n\nCIII. The Industrious Bride.\n\nOnce upon a time a party of three or four men went to a village to\nsee if a certain girl would make a suitable bride for the son of one\nof their friends; and while they were talking to her, another young\nwoman came up. The visitors asked the first girl where her father\nwas and she told them that he had gone to \"meet water.\"\n\nThen they asked where her mother was, and she said that she had gone\n\"to make two men out of one.\" These answers puzzled the questioners,\nand they did not know what more to say; as they stood silent the other\ngirl got up and went away remarking, \"While I have been waiting here,\nI might have carded a seer of cotton.\" The men who were looking for\na girl who would make a good wife, at once concluded that they had\nfound what they wanted: \"How industrious she must be to talk like\nthat\" thought they--\"much better than this other girl who can only\ngive us incomprehensible answers.\" And before they left the village\nthey set everything in train for a match between their friend's son\nand the girl who seemed so industrious.\n\nWhen they got home and told their wives what they had done they\ngot well laughed at: their wives declared that it was quite easy to\nunderstand what the first girl had meant: of course she meant that\nher father had gone to reap thatching grass and her mother had gone\nto thresh _dal_. The poor men only gaped with astonishment at this\nexplanation.\n\nHowever the marriage they had arranged duly took place, but the fact\nwas that the bride was entirely ignorant of how to clean and spin\ncotton. It was not long before this was found out, for, in the spring,\nwhen there was no work in the fields, her father-in-law set all the\nwomen of the household to spinning cotton; and told them that they\nand their husbands should have no new clothes until they had finished\ntheir task. The bride, who had been so carefully chosen, tried to learn\nhow to spin by watching the others, but all in vain. The other women\nlaughed at her efforts and she protested that it was the fault of the\nspinning wheel: it did not know her; her mother's spinning wheel knew\nher well and she could spin capitally with that. They jeered at the\nidea of a spinning wheel having eyes and being able to recognise its\nowner; however one day the young woman went and fetched her mother's\nspinning wheel and tried to spin with that. She got on no better than\nbefore, and could only explain it by saying that the spinning wheel\nhad forgotten her.\n\nWhatever the reason was, the other women all finished their spinning\nand received their new clothes, while she had nothing to show. Then her\nfather-in-law scolded her and told her that it was too late to make\nother arrangements and as she could not get any new clothes the best\nthing for her to do would be to smear her body with _Gur_ and stick\nraw cotton all over it. A _parrab_ soon came round and all the other\nwomen got out their new clothes and went to see the fun. The clumsy\nbride had no new clothes and she took her father-in-law's advice and\nsmeared her body with _gur_ and covered herself with raw cotton and\nso went to the _parrab_.\n\nHer husband was very angry that she should have taken her\nfather-in-law's jest in earnest, and when she came home he gave her\na good beating and turned her out of the house. And that was the end\nof the \"industrious\" bride.\n\n\n\n\nCIV. The Boy and His Fate.\n\nThere was once a Raja and Rani who had had three sons, but they had\nall died when only three or four months old. Then a fourth son was\nborn, a fine handsome child; and he did not die in infancy but grew\nup to boyhood. It was however fated that he should die when he was\nsixteen years old and his parents knew this and when they saw him\ncoming happily home from his games of play, their eyes filled with\ntears at the thought of the fate that hung over him.\n\nOne day the boy asked his father and mother why it was that they were\nso sorrowful: and they told him how his three little brothers had died\nand how they feared that he had but little longer to live. On hearing\nthis the boy proposed that he should be allowed to go away into a\nfar country, as perhaps by this means he might avoid his fate. His\nfather was glad to catch at the faintest hope and readily gave his\nconsent: so they supplied him with money and mounted him on a horse,\nand off he set.\n\nHe travelled far and settled down in a place that pleased him. But\nin a short time the messengers of death came to the Raja's palace to\ntake him away. When they did not find him, they followed in pursuit\nalong the road which he had taken; they wore the likeness of men and\nsoon traced out the Raja's son. They presented themselves to him and\nsaid that they had come to take him home again. The prince said that\nhe was ready to go, but asked them to allow him to cook and eat his\nrice before starting. They told him that he might do this if he were\nquick about it: he promised to hurry, and set to his cooking: he put\nsufficient rice into the pot to feed them all and when it was ready\nhe offered some to each of the messengers. They consulted together\nas to whether they should eat it, but their appetites got the better\nof their caution and they agreed to do so, and made a good meal. But\ndirectly they had finished they began to debate what they should do;\nthey had eaten his rice and could no longer compass his death.\n\nSo they told him frankly that Chando had sent them to call him;\nhe was to die that night and they were to take away his spirit; but\nthey had made the mistake of eating at his hands and although they\nmust take him away, they would give him advice as to how he might\nsave his life: he was to take a thin piece of lamp-wick and when\nChando questioned him, he was to put it up his nose and make himself\nsneeze. The prince promised to remember this, and that night they\ntook his spirit away to Chando, but when Chando began to question\nhim he made himself sneeze with the lamp-wick; thereupon Chando at\nonce wrote that he should live for sixty years more and ordered the\nmessengers to immediately restore his spirit to its body. Then the\nprince hastened back to his father and mother, and told them that he\nhad broken through his fate and had a long life before him; and they\nhad better make arrangements for his marriage at once. This they did\nand he lived to a ripe old age, as he had been promised.\n\n\n\n\nCV. The Messengers of Death.\n\nThere was once a Brahman who had four sons born to him, but they\nall died young; a fifth son however was born to him, who grew up\nto boyhood. But it was fated that he too should die before reaching\nmanhood. One day while his father was away from home, the messengers of\ndeath came to take him away. The Brahman's wife thought that they were\nthree friends or relations of her husband, who had come to pay a visit,\nand gave them a hearty welcome. And when she asked who they were,\nthey also told her that they were connections of her husband. Then\nshe asked them to have some dinner and they said that they would eat,\nprovided that she used no salt in the cooking. She promised not to\ndo, but what she did was to scatter some salt over the bottom of the\ndish. Then she cooked the rice and turned it into the dish and gave\nit to them to eat. They ate but when they came to the bottom of the\ndish they tasted the salt which had been underneath. Then the three\nmessengers said \"She has got the better of us; we have eaten her salt\nand can no longer deceive her; we must tell her why we have come.\"\n\nSo they told her that her son was to die that night and that Chando\nhad sent them to take away his spirit: all they could do was to\nlet her come too, and see the place to which her son's spirit was\ngoing. The mother thought that this would be a consolation to her,\nso she went with them. When they arrived in the spirit world they\ntold the Brahman's wife to wait for them by a certain house in which\ndwelt her son's wife; and they took the boy to Chando. Presently they\nbrought him back to the house in which his wife dwelt and near which\nhis mother was waiting and she overheard the following conversation\nbetween the boy and his wife. The wife said \"Have you come for good\nthis time, or must you again go back to the world?\"\n\n\"I have to go back once more.\"\n\n\"And how will you manage to return again here?\"\n\n\"I shall ask for the dust of April and May and if it is not given\nto me I shall cry myself to death; and if that fails, I shall cry\nfor a toy winnowing fan; and if they give me that, then I will cry\nfor an elephant and if that fails then on my wedding day there will\nbe two thorns in the rice they give me to eat and they will stick\nin my throat and kill me. And if that does not come to pass, then,\nwhen I return home after the wedding, a leopard will kill a cow and\nI shall run out to chase the leopard and I shall run after it, till\nI run hither to you.\"\n\n\"When you come back,\" said his wife, \"bring me some of the vermilion\nthey use in the world\" and the boy promised.\n\nThe messengers then took the Brahman's wife home, and shortly\nafterwards the boy was born again. His mother had carefully guarded\nthe memory of all that she had heard in the other world; and when\nthe child asked for the dust and the winnowing fan and the elephant,\nshe at once gratified his desires. So the boy grew up, and his wedding\nday arrived. His mother insisted on accompanying him to the bride's\nhouse, and when the rice was brought for the bride and bridegroom\nto eat together, she asked to be allowed to look at it first, and on\nexamining it pulled out the the two thorns; and then her son ate it\nunharmed. But when the wedding party returned home and the ceremony\nof introducing the bride to the house was being performed, word\nwas brought that a leopard had killed one of the cows; at once the\nbridegroom ran out in pursuit; but his mother followed him and called\nout, \"My son, your wife told you to take her some of the vermilion of\nthis world; here is some that I have brought, take it with you.\" At\nthis her son stopped and asked her to explain what she meant; then\nshe told him all and he went no more in pursuit of the leopard:\nso he stayed and grew up and lived to a good old age.\n\n\n\n\nCVI. The Speaking Crab.\n\nThere was once a farmer who kept a labourer and a field woman to do\nthe work of the farm; and they were both very industrious and worked\nas if they were working on their own account and not for a master.\n\nOnce at the time of transplanting rice, they were so busy that they\nstayed in the fields all day and had their meals there and did not\ngo home till the evening. During this time it happened that the man\nhad unyoked his plough bullocks and taking his hoe began to dress the\nembankment of the field, and as he dug, he dug out a very large crab;\nso he plucked some leaves from the bushes and wrapped the crab in\nthem and fetching the yoke rope from the plough, he tied the bundle\nup tightly with it and put it on the stump of a tree, intending to\ntake it home in the evening; but when he went home he forgot about it.\n\nNow the crab was alive and in the middle of the night it began to\nstruggle to get out, but could not free itself. It happened that just\nthen the farmer was walking in the field to see that no one came to\nsteal his rice seedlings, and the crab began to sing:--\n\n\n \"This servant, this servant, father,\n And this maidservant, this maidservant, father,\n Caught me while digging the bank:\n And in leaves, leaves, father,\n With the yoke rope, yoke rope, father\n Tied me and left me on the stump.\"\n\n\nAt this sound the farmer was very frightened, and puzzled also;\nfor he thought, \"If this were a human being crying, every one in\nthe neighbourhood would have heard and woke up, but it seems that\nI alone am able to hear the sound; who can it be who is talking\nabout my servants?\" So he went back to bed and told no one. The next\nmorning when the labourer looked for his yoke ropes, he missed one;\nand then he remembered that he had used it to tie up the crab; so he\nwent to the place and found his rope. When his master brought them\ntheir breakfast that day and they had finished eating, the labourer\nbegan to tell how he had lost one of the yoke ropes and had found\nit again: and how he had used it for tying up the crab which he had\nfound. The master asked whether the crab was alive or dead; and the\nlabourer said that it was dead.\n\nThen the master said \"My man you have done a very foolish thing;\nwhy did you tie it up alive? Last night I could not sleep for its\ncrying. Why did you imprison the innocent creature until it died?\" And\nhe told them the song it had sung, and forbade them ever to cause\nsuch pain to living creatures. He said \"Kill them outright or you will\nbring disgrace on me; when I heard the lament I thought it was a man,\nbut now I learn from you that it was a crab. I forbid you ever to do\nthe like again.\" And at the time of the Sohrai festival the farmer\ncalled together all his household and sang them the song and explained\nits meaning to them, and the men who heard it remember it to this day.\n\n\n\n\nCVII. The Leopard Outwitted.\n\nThere was once a man-eating leopard, whose depredations became so\nserious, that the whole neighbouring population decided to have a\ngreat hunt and kill it. On the day fixed a great crowd of beaters\ncollected, and their drums made a noise as if the world were being\nturned upside down.\n\nWhen the leopard heard the shouting and the drumming, it started to\nescape to another jungle, and as it was crossing a road it came on\na merchant driving a packbullock. The merchant tried to run away,\nbut the leopard stopped him and said \"You must hide me or I will eat\nyou.\" The merchant continued to run, thinking that if he helped the\nleopard it would surely eat him afterwards, but the leopard swore an\noath not to eat him if he would only hide it. So the merchant stopped\nand took one of his sacks off the bullock and emptied it out and tied\nup the leopard in it, and put it on the bullock and then drove on.\n\nWhen they got out of hearing of the hunters the leopard asked to be\nlet out; but directly the sack was untied it said that it would devour\nthe merchant. The merchant said \"You can of course eat me, but let us\nconsult an arbitrator as to whether it is fair.\" The leopard agreed\nand as they were near a stream, the man asked the water whether it was\nfair that he should be killed, after he had saved the leopard's life;\nthe water answered \"Yes; you men wash all manner of filthy things\nin me; let it eat you!\" Then the leopard wanted to eat him, but the\nmerchant asked leave to take two more opinions; so he asked a tree;\nbut the tree said \"Men cut me down; let the leopard eat you.\"\n\nThe merchant was very downcast to find everyone against him and\nthe leopard said, \"Well, whom will you consult next? You have so\nmany friends;\" so they went on and presently met a jackal and the\nmerchant said that he would appeal to him. The jackal considered for\nsome time and then said \"I don't understand how you hid the leopard;\nlet me see how it was done; and then I shall be able to decide,\" The\nmerchant said \"I hid him in this sack.\" \"Really,\" said the jackal,\n\"show me exactly how you did it\" So the leopard got into the sack\nto show how he was hidden; then the jackal asked to be shown how\nthe leopard was carried out of danger; so the merchant tied up the\nsack and put it on the bullock. \"Now,\" said the jackal, \"drive on,\nand when we come to yonder ravine and I tell you to put the sack down,\ndo you knock in the head of the leopard with a stone.\" And the merchant\ndid so and when he had killed the leopard, he took it out of the sack\nand the jackal ate its body.\n\n\n\n\nCVIII. The Wind and the Sun.\n\nOnce the Wind and the Sun disputed as to which was the more\npowerful. And while they were quarrelling a man came by wrapped\nin a shawl and wearing a big _pagri_. And they said \"It is no good\nquarrelling; let us put our power to the test and see who can deprive\nthis man of the shawl he has wrapped round him.\" Then the Wind asked\nto be allowed to try first and said \"You will see that I will blow\naway the blanket in no time,\" and the Sun said, \"All right, you go\nfirst.\" So the Wind began to blow hard; but the man only wrapped\nhis shawl more tightly round him to prevent its being blown away and\nfastened it round himself with his _pagri_; and though the Wind blew\nfit to blow the man away, it could not snatch the shawl from him;\nso it gave up and the Sun had a try; he rose in the sky and blazed\nwith full force and soon the man began to drip with sweat; and he took\noff his shawl and hung it on the stick he carried over his shoulder\nand the Wind had to admit defeat.\n\n\n\n\nCIX. The Coldest Season.\n\nOne winter day a bear and a tiger began to dispute as to which is\nthe coldest season of the year; the bear said July and August, which\nis the rainy season, and the tiger said December and January, which\nis the winter season. They argued and argued but could not convince\neach other; for the bear with his long coat did not feel the cold of\nwinter but when he got soaked through in the rain he felt chilly.\n\nAt last they saw a man coming that way and called on him to\ndecide--\"but have a care\"--said the tiger--\"if you give an opinion\nfavourable to the bear, I will eat you;\" and the bear said \"If you\nside with the tiger, _I_ will eat you.\" At this the man was terror\nstricken but an idea struck him and he made the tiger and the bear\npromise not to eat him if he gave a fair decision and then he said\n\"It is not the winter which is the coldest, nor the rainy season which\nis the coldest, but windy weather; if there is no wind no one feels\nthe cold much either in the winter or in the rainy season.\" And the\ntiger and the bear said \"You are right, we never thought of that\"\nand they let him go.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II\n\nPart II.\n\nTo a people living in the jungles the wild animals are much more than\nanimals are to us. To the man who makes a clearing in the forest,\nlife is largely a struggle against the beasts of prey and the animals\nwho graze down the crops. It is but natural that he should credit\nthem with feelings and intelligence similar to those of human beings,\nand that they should seem to him suitable characters around which to\nweave stories.\n\nThese stories are likely to be particularly current among a people\noccupying a forest country, and for this reason are less likely to\nappear in collections made among the inhabitants of towns. It is a\nstrange coincidence and presumably only a coincidence that Story 118,\n'The Hyena outwitted' is known in a precisely similar form among the\nKaffirs of South Africa.\n\n\n\n\n\nCX. The Jackal and the Crow.\n\nOnce upon a time a crow and a jackal became bosom friends and they\nagreed that the crow should support the jackal in the hot weather\nand the jackal support the crow in the rainy season. By-and-bye the\njackal got discontented with the arrangement, and vowed that it would\nnot go on supporting an animal of another species, but would take\nsome opportunity of eating it up. But he did not let this appear,\nand one day he invited the crow to a feast and gave him as many frogs\nand grasshoppers as he could eat and treated him well and they parted\nvery affectionately.\n\nThen a few days later the crow invited the jackal to dinner in\nreturn; and when the jackal arrived the crow led him to an ant-hill\nand showed him a hollow gourd which he had filled with live mice and\nsaid \"Here is your dinner.\" The jackal could not get his nose into\nthe hole of the gourd so, to get at the mice, he had to break it. And\nthe mice ran all over the place and the jackal jumped about here and\nthere trying to catch them. At this sight the crow stood and laughed;\nand the jackal said to himself \"Very well, my friend, you invited me\nhere to have a laugh at me; wait till I have finished with the mice;\nthen it will be your turn.\"\n\nSo when he had caught all the mice he could, he declared that he\nhad had as much as he could eat and would like to go and sleep off\nhis meal. As they said farewell and were salaaming to each other,\nthe jackal pounced on the crow and ate him up; not a bone or a claw\nwas left. Then the jackal began to skip with joy and sang:--\n\n\n \"I ate a gourdful of mice\n And by the side of the ant-hill\n I ate the crow: Hurrah!\"\n\n\nAnd singing thus he went skipping homewards; and on the way he\nmet a fowl and called to it to get out of the way or he would eat\nit,--singing:--\n\n\n \"I ate a gourdful of mice\n And by the side of the ant-hill\n I ate the crow:--Hurrah!\"\n\n\nAnd as the fowl did not move he ate it up; then he skipped on and\ncame to a goat and he sang his verse and told it to get out of the\nway and as it did not, he ate it; and in the same way he met and\nkilled a sheep and a cow and he ate the liver and lungs of the cow;\nand then he killed a buffalo and ate its liver and lungs; and by this\ntime he was as full as he could hold. Then he came to a pool of water\nand he called to it to get out of the way or he would drink it up and\nas it did not move, he drank it dry. Then he came to a post and said\n\"Get out of my way or I will jump over you\"--\n\n\n \"I ate a gourdful of mice\n And by the side of the ant-hill\n I ate the crow--Hurrah!\"\n\n\nAnd so saying he tried to jump over it; but he was so full of what\nhe had eaten and drunk that he leaped short and fell on the point of\nthe stake and was transfixed, so that he died.\n\n\n\n\nCXI. The Tiger Cub and the Calf.\n\nA Tigress and a Cow used to graze in a dense jungle, and they were\nboth with young. They became great friends and agreed that they\nwould marry their children to each other. In the course of time the\ntigress gave birth to a she-cub and the cow to a bull-calf. They kept\nthe young ones in the same place and used to go and graze together,\nand then return at the same time to suckle their young. On their way\nback they used to drink at a certain river, the tigress up the stream\nand the cow lower down. One day it happened that the cow got first\nto the river and drank at the upper drinking place, and the tigress\ndrank lower down. And the froth from the cow's mouth floated down the\nstream and the tigress tasted it and found it nice, and this made her\nthink that the flesh of the cow must also be good; so she resolved to\neat the cow one day. The cow saw what was in the mind of the tigress\nand she left some of her milk in a bowl, and said to her calf:\n\"The tigress has resolved to eat me; watch this milk and when you\nsee it turn red like blood, you will know that I have been killed;\"\nthen she went off to graze with the tigress.\n\nThe two youngsters always used to play together very happily but\nthat day the calf would not play but kept going to look at the bowl\nof milk; and the tigress cub asked the reason. The calf told her\nwhat his mother had said; then the tigress cub said that if this\nhappened she would never suck from her mother again and it would\nbe better for them both to run away. So the two kept going to look\nat the bowl of milk, and about midday they saw that it had changed\nto blood and they both began to weep. Shortly after, the tigress\ncame back, and flies were clustered round her mouth because of the\nblood on it. The tigress told her daughter to come and suck, but she\nsaid that she would wait till the cow came and then she and the calf\ncould have their meal together as usual; at this the tigress frowned\nterribly and the cub was frightened, so she said, \"Very well, mother,\nI will suck, but first go and wash your mouth; why are the flies\nclustered round it?\" So the tigress went off but she did not wash,\nshe only ate some more of the cow. While she was away, the calf and\nthe cub ran off to another jungle, and when the tigress came back,\nshe searched for them with horrid roarings and could not find them,\nand if she had found them she would have killed them.\n\n\n\n\nCXII. The Jackal and the Chickens.\n\nOnce upon a time a jackal and a hen were great friends and regarded\neach other as brother and sister; and they agreed to have a feast to\ncelebrate their friendship; so they both brewed rice beer and they\nfirst drank at the jackal's house and then went to the hen's house;\nand there they drank so much that the hen got blind drunk, and while\nshe lay intoxicated the jackal ate her up. The jackal found the flesh\nso nice that he made up his mind to eat the hen's chickens too; so\nthe next day he went to their house and found them all crying \"Cheep,\ncheep,\" and he asked what was the matter; they said that they had lost\ntheir mother; he told them to cheer up and asked where they slept;\nthey told him 'on the shelf in the wall'.\n\nThen he went away; but the chickens saw that he meant to come and eat\nthem at night, so they did not go to sleep on the shelf but filled\nit with razors and knives and when the jackal came at night and felt\nabout the shelf he got badly cut and ran away screaming.\n\nBut a few day later he paid another visit to the chickens, and condoled\nwith them on the loss of their mother and again asked where they slept,\nand they told him, 'in the fireplace.' Directly the jackal was gone,\nthey filled the stove with live embers and covered them up with ashes;\nand went to sleep themselves inside a drum. At night the jackal\ncame and put his paws into the fireplace; but he only scraped the\nhot embers up against his belly and got burnt; this made him scream\nand the chickens burst out laughing. The jackal heard them and said\n\"You have got me burnt; now I am going to eat you.\" They said, \"Yes,\nuncle, but please eat us outside the house; you did not eat our mother\nin her own house; take us to yonder flat rock.\"\n\nSo the jackal took up the drum but when he got to the rock he\naccidentally let it fall and it broke and the chickens ran away in\nall directions; but the chicken that had been at the bottom of the\ndrum had got covered with the droppings of the others and could not\nfly away; so the jackal thought \"Well it is the will of heaven that\nI should have only one chicken; it is doubtless for the best!\" The\nchicken said to the jackal, \"I see that you will eat me, but you\ncannot eat me in this state; wash me clean first.\"\n\nSo the jackal took the chicken to a pool and washed it; then the\nchicken asked to be allowed to get a little dry; but the jackal said\nthat if it got dry it would fly away. \"Then,\" said the chicken, \"rub\nme dry with your snout and I will myself tell you when I am ready to\nbe eaten;\" so the jackal rubbed it dry and then proceeded to eat it;\nbut directly the jackal got it in his mouth it voided there, so the\njackal spat it out and it flew away.\n\nThe jackal thought that it had gone into a hole in a white ant-hill,\nbut really it had hidden elsewhere; however the jackal felt for it\nin the hole and then tried in vain to scrape the hole larger; as he\ncould not get into the hole he determined to sit and wait till hunger\nor suffocation forced the chicken to come out. So he sat and watched,\nand he sat so long that the white ants ate off his hind quarters;\nat last he gave up and went off to the rice fields to look for fish\nand crabs. There he saw an old woman catching fish, and he asked\nto be allowed to help her. So the old woman sat on the bank and the\njackal jumped and twisted about in the water and presently he caught\na _potha_ fish which he ate; but as the jackal had no hind quarters\nthe fish passed through him none the worse. Soon the jackal caught the\nsame fish over again, and he laughed at the old woman because she had\ncaught none. She told him that he was catching the same fish over and\nover again, and when he would not believe her she told him to mark with\na thorn the next one which he caught; he did so and then found that\nhe really was catching and eating the same fish over and over again.\n\nAt this he was much upset and asked what he should do. The old woman\nadvised him to go to a cobbler and get patched up; so he went and\nkilled a fowl and took it to a cobbler and offered it to him if he\nwould put him to rights; so the cobbler sewed on a leather patch\nwith a long leather tail which rapped on the ground as the jackal\nwent along. Then the jackal went to a village to steal fowls and he\ndanced along with his tail tapping, and sang:\n\n\n \"Now the Moghul cavalry are coming\n And the Koenda Rajas.\n Run away or they will utterly destroy you.\"\n\n\nAnd when the villagers heard this they all ran away and the jackal\nentered the village and killed as many fowls as he wanted.\n\nA few days later he went again to the village and frightened away the\nvillagers as before; but one old woman was too feeble to run away and\nshe hid in a pig sty, and one fowl that the jackal chased, ran into\nthis sty and the jackal followed it, and when he saw the old woman,\nhe told her to catch the fowl for him or he would knock her teeth out;\nbut she told him to catch it himself; so he caught and ate it. Then\nhe said to the old woman. Say \"Toyo\" (jackal) and she said \"Toyo;\"\nthen he took a currypounder and knocked all her teeth out and told\nher again to say \"Toyo;\" but as she had no teeth she said \"Hoyo;\"\nthis amused the jackal immensely and he went away laughing.\n\nWhen the villagers returned, the old woman told them that it was only\na jackal who had attacked the village, so they decided to kill him;\nbut one man said \"You won't be able to catch him; let us make an image\nof this old woman and cover it with birdlime and set it up at the end\nof the village street; he will stop and abuse her, and we shall know\nwhere he is.\" So they did this, and the next morning, when the jackal\ncame singing along the road, they hid inside their houses. When the\njackal reached the village, he saw the figure of the old woman with\nits arms stretched out, and he said to it, \"What are you blocking\nmy road for? get out of the way; I knocked your teeth out yesterday:\narn't you afraid? Get out of the way or I will kick you out.\"\n\nAs the figure did not move he gave it a kick and his leg was caught\nin the birdlime; then he said, \"Let me go, you old hag, or I will\ngive you a slap.\" Then he gave it a slap and his front paw was stuck\nfast; then he slapped at it with his other paw and that stuck; then\nhe tried to bite the figure and his jaws got caught also; and when\nhe was thus helpless the villagers came out and beat him to death\nand that was the end of the jackal.\n\n\n\n\nCXIII. The Jackal Punished.\n\nOnce a hen and a jackal were great friends, and they decided to\nhave a feast and each brewed beer for the occasion; the hen brewed\nwith rice, and maize and millet and the jackal brewed with lizards,\nlocusts, frogs and fish. And when the brew was ready, they first\nwent to the jackal's house, but the hen could not touch his beer,\nit smelt so bad and the jackal drank it all; then they went to the\nhen's house and her beer was very nice and they both drank till the\nhen got very drunk and began to stagger about; and the jackal made\nup his mind that the hen must be very nice to eat, as her beer was\nso good to drink and when he saw her drunk he was delighted and sang:\n\n\n \"Fowl, do not graze in the field!\n The jackal laughs to see you.\n Paddy bird, do not fish in the pond!\n You pecked a piece of sedge thinking it was a frog's leg!\n Do not drink rice beer, O fowl!\n The jackal laughs to see you.\n\n\nAnd so saying he gobbled her up; and her chickens cried at the\nsight. Then the jackal resolved to eat the chickens also, so he came\nback the next day, and asked them where they slept and they said\n\"In the hearth.\" But when the jackal had gone, the chickens planned\nhow they should save their lives.\n\nTheir mother had laid an egg and as there was no one to hatch it now,\nthey said, \"Egg, you must lie in the fireplace and blind the jackal;\"\nand they said to the paddy husker, \"You must stand by the door and\nwhen the jackal runs out you must knock him down;\" and they told the\npaddy mortar to wait on the roof over the door and fall and crush\nthe jackal. So they put the egg among the hot ashes in the fireplace\nand they themselves sat in a cupboard with axes ready; and when the\njackal came he went to the fireplace and scratched out the ashes;\nand the egg burst and spirted into his eyes and blinded him and as\nhe ran out of the door the paddy husker knocked him over; and as he\ncrawled away the paddy mortar fell on him from the roof and crushed\nhim; then the chickens ran out and chopped him to pieces with their\naxes and revenged the death of their mother.\n\n\n\n\nCXIV. The Tigers and the Cat.\n\nIn former days tigers and cats were friends and used to hunt together\nand share the game they caught; and they did not eat the game raw\nbut used to cook it as men do.\n\nOne day some tigers and a cat had killed a deer and they had no fire\nwith which to cook it; then the tigers said to the cat \"You are small,\ngo and beg a light from yonder village.\" But the cat said that he was\nafraid to go; however they urged him saying \"You have a thin tail and\nplump feet; you can bring it in a trice.\" So, as they all insisted on\nhis going, he at last consented; and said \"Well, I will go; but don't\nexpect me to be very quick; if I get a good opportunity for fetching\nthe fire, I will come back soon.\" They said \"All right, go and run\noff with a small fire-brand and we will meet you outside the village.\"\n\nSo the cat went off and coming to a house, went inside to pull a\nfirebrand from the hearth. On the fire some milk was boiling; and\nthe cat thought \"This smells very nice, I will have a taste of it\"\nand he found it so nice that he made up his mind to drink it all,\nbefore he took away the fire-brand. But in order to lap the milk\nhe had to put his feet on the fireplace, and it was so hot that he\nburnt his feet and had to get down; so then he sat down and waited\ntill the fire went out and the hearth grew cool, and then he lapped\nup the milk and ran off with a piece of smouldering wood.\n\nMeanwhile the tigers had got tired of waiting and had eaten the deer\nraw; and they were very angry at being made to eat raw flesh and swore\nthat they would eat the cat too. When they saw the cat bringing the\nfire they ran to meet him and abused him and cried out \"You have made\nus eat raw flesh; we will eat you too, dung and all\" On hearing this\nthreat the cat ran back to the village in fear of his life; and the\ntigers followed in pursuit; but when they got near the village, the\nvillage dogs all ran out barking and the tigers were frightened and\nturned back and the cat was saved. From that day tigers and leopards\nhave eaten raw flesh; and cats bury their excrement, because of what\nthe tigers had said.\n\nEvery day the tigers went to the village in search of the cat; but when\nthe dogs barked they slunk away; for the tigers were very frightened\nat the sight of the dogs' curly tails; they thought that the tails\nwere nooses and that they would be strangled by them. One day one\nof the tigers met a jackal and called to him \"Nephew, listen to me;\na cat made us eat raw flesh and has escaped into this village and I\nwant to catch it, but the dogs come barking at me. I don't mind that,\nbut I am very frightened of their nooses. Now, you are very like a\ndog, cannot you go and tell them not to use their nooses.\" The jackal\nanswered, \"Uncle, you are quite mistaken; what you see are their tails,\nnot nooses; they will not strangle you with them.\" So the tiger took\ncourage and the next day went to the village to hunt for the cat,\nbut he could not find it. And when the dogs barked he got angry and\ncaught and killed one of them; and from that time tigers and leopards\neat dogs.\n\n\n\n\nCXV. The Elephant and the Ants.\n\nIn the days of old there was a great deal more jungle than there is\nnow, and wild elephants were very numerous; once upon a time a red ant\nand a black ant were burrowing in the ground, when a wild elephant\nappeared and said \"Why are you burrowing here; I will trample all\nyour work to pieces;\" the ants answered \"Why do you talk like this;\ndo not despise us because we are small; perhaps we are better than\nyou in some ways;\" The elephant said \"Do not talk nonsense: there is\nnothing at which you could beat me; I am in all ways the largest and\nmost powerful animal on the face of the earth.\" Then the ants said\n\"Well, let us run a race and see who will win, unless you win we\nwill not admit that you are supreme.\" At this the elephant got into\na rage and shouted; \"Well, come we will start at once,\" and it set\noff to run with all its might and when it got tired it looked down\nat the ground and there were two ants. So it started off again and\nwhen it stopped and looked down, there on the ground were two ants;\nso it ran on again, but wherever it stopped it saw the ants, and at\nlast it ran so far that it dropped down dead from exhaustion.\n\nNow it is a saying that ants are more numerous in this world than\nany other kind of living creature; and what happened was that the\ntwo ants never ran at all, but stayed where they were; but whenever\nthe elephant looked at the ground, it saw some ants running about\nand thought that they were the first two, and so ran itself to death.\n\nThis story teaches us not to despise the poor man, because one day\nhe may have an opportunity to put us to shame.\n\nFrom this story of the elephant we should learn this lesson; the\nCreator knows why He made some animals big and some small and why\nHe made some men fools; so we should neither bully nor cheat men who\nhappen to be born stupid.\n\n\n\n\nCXVI. A Fox and His Wife.\n\nOnce upon a time there were a fox and his wife who lived in a hole with\ntheir five little ones. Every evening the two foxes used to make their\nway to a bazar to feed on the scraps thrown away by the bazar people;\nand every night on their way home the following conversation passed\nbetween them. The fox would say to his wife, \"Come tell me how much\nwit you have,\" and she would answer him by, \"Only so much as would\nfill a small vegetable basket.\" Then she in her turn would ask \"And\nhow much wit have you?\" \"As much as would load twelve buffaloes.\"\n\nOne night as they were on their way home as usual, the two suddenly\nfound themselves face to face with a tiger, who greeted them by saying\n\"At last my friends, I have got you.\"\n\nAt this the fox for all his wit, could not utter a word but crouched\ndown and shook with fright. Mrs Fox however was not at all inclined\nto give way to despair. She saluted the tiger and said \"Ah, uncle,\ndo not eat us up just now; I and my husband have a dispute and we want\nyou to settle it for us.\" The tiger was mollified by being addressed by\nso respectful a name as uncle, and answered in a gentler voice \"Well,\nmy niece, tell me what is the point and I will decide it for you.\"\n\n\"It is this,\" went on Mrs. Fox, \"we have five children and we wish\nto divide them between us but we cannot decide how to do so; I say\nthat I will take three and leave him two; while he wants to take\nthree and leave me two. We came out to look for some man to settle\nthe dispute but have not met one: and now providentially you have\nappeared before us like a god; no doubt you will be able to make the\ndivision for us.\" The tiger reflected that if he managed things well,\nhe would be able to eat not only the two foxes but their young ones\nas well, so he graciously agreed to make the division.\n\nThe foxes then invited him to come back with them to the hole in which\nthey lived, and when they reached it, Mr. Fox bolted into it saying\nthat he was going to bring out the children. As however he did not come\nout again, Mrs. Fox said that it was clear that he could not manage the\nchildren by himself, and she would go and help; and thereupon proceeded\nto back into the hole, keeping her face turned towards the tiger.\n\nSeeing her disappearing the tiger thought to seize her, but as she kept\nher eyes on him he could only say \"Hullo, what is the matter? Why are\nyou going in backwards?\" \"Oh, uncle,\" replied Mrs. Fox, \"how could\nI turn my back on so great a personage as you?\" and with that she\ndisappeared. Presently the tiger heard the two foxes calling out from\ninside \"Goodbye, uncle, you can go away now; we have arranged how to\ndivide the children ourselves.\" Then he saw how he had been fooled\nand flew into a terrible rage and tried to squeeze his way into the\nhole; but it was much too small and at last he had to go away baffled:\nand so the foxes were saved by Mrs. Fox's wit.\n\n\n\n\nCXVII. The Jackal and the Crocodiles.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Raja who had an only son. As the boy grew\nup his father sent him to a school to learn to read and write. One\nday on his way back from school, the boy sat down by the road side to\nrest, and placed his school books on the ground by his side. Suddenly\na jackal came along and snatched up the bundle of books and ran away\nwith it; and though the boy ran after it, he failed to catch the jackal\nand had to go and tell his father how he had lost his school books. The\nRaja told him not to mind, as it was a very good omen and meant that\nhe would grow up as clever as a jackal; and so the matter ended as far\nas the boy was concerned; and his father bought him a new set of books.\n\nBut the jackal ran off to the side of a tank and taking a book from\nthe bundle sat down and began to read it aloud. He kept on saying over\nand over again \"Ibor, obor, iakoro sotro\" \"Ibor obor iakoro sotro.\"\n\nHearing the noise a crocodile who lived in the tank poked his head\nout of the water and began \"Well, nephew, what is that you are\nrepeating?\" \"I am only reading a book, uncle.\"\n\n\"What, nephew, do you know how to read and write?\"\n\n\"Yes, certainly I do,\" answered the jackal.\n\n\"In that case,\" returned the crocodile \"would you mind teaching my\nfive children?\" The jackal was quite willing to be their master, but\na difficulty struck the crocodile; the jackal lived on high land, and\nthe little crocodiles could not go so far from the water. The jackal\nat once suggested a way out of the difficulty: \"Let the crocodile\ndig a little pool near where the jackal lived and put the children\ninto it. Then the jackal could take the little crocodiles out of it\nwhen he was giving them their lessons and put them back again when\nthey had finished.\" So it was arranged, and in two or three days the\ncrocodile dug the pool and the jackal began the lessons.\n\nEach morning the jackal took the five little crocodiles out of the\nwater and told them to repeat after him what he said, and then he began\n\"Ibor obor iakoro sotro\" \"Ibor obor iakoro sotro.\" But try as they\nmight the little crocodiles could not pronounce the words properly;\nthen the jackal lost his temper and cuffed them soundly. In spite of\nthis they still showed no signs of improvement, till at last the jackal\nmade up his mind that he could not go on with such unsatisfactory\npupils, and that the best thing he could do would be to eat them up\none at a time. So the next morning he addressed the little crocodiles,\n\"I see that you can't learn, when I take you in class all together: in\nfuture I will have you up one at a time and teach you like that.\" So\nhe took one out of the water and began to teach it; but the little\ncrocodile could not pronounce its words properly, so in a very short\ntime the jackal got angry and gobbled it up. The next day he took out\nanother, which soon met the same fate as its brother; and so things\nwent on till the jackal had eaten four out of the five.\n\nWhen there was only one left, the crocodile came to see how the lessons\nwere getting on. The sight of him put the jackal in a terrible fright;\nbut he answered the crocodile that the children were making very fair\nprogress. \"Well, I want to see them. Come along and let us have a\nlook at them.\"\n\nThis was awkward for the jackal, but his wits did not desert him;\nhe ran on ahead to the pool and going into the water, caught the one\nlittle crocodile which remained, and held it up, saying \"See here is\none.\" Then he popped it under the water and brought it up again and\nsaid \"See, here's another\" and this he did five times and persuaded\nthe crocodile that he had seen his five children.\n\nThe crocodile pretended to be satisfied but he was not quite easy in\nhis mind and would have preferred to see all the five little ones\nat once. However, he said nothing, but made up his mind to watch\nthe jackal; so the next day he hid himself and waited to see what\nhappened. He saw the jackal take the little crocodile out of the water\nand begin the lesson--\"Ibor obor iakoro.\" Then when the unfortunate\npupil still failed to pronounce the words, the jackal began to give\nit cuffs and blows. At this sight the crocodile ran forward and\ncaught the jackal, crying out \"Show me my other four little ones;\nis this the way you treat my children?\" The jackal had no answer to\ngive and the crocodile soon put an end to his life and took back his\none remaining child to the tank where he lived.\n\n\n\n\n\nCXVIII. The Bullfrog and the Crab.\n\nThere was a Raja who had no head and there was a Tiger who had no\ntail. One day they met in a nullah. \"Here's a fine dinner for me\"\nsaid the Tiger. \"Here's a fine dinner for me!\" said the Raja. At\nthis retort the Tiger's courage oozed away; and he did not dare to go\nany nearer; but he called out \"Well, if I am to be your dinner, come\nand catch me:\" and the Raja called out \"If I am to be your dinner,\ncome and catch me.\" So they stood challenging each other, but neither\ntook a step forward. Then the Tiger became abusive and called out,\n\"What have you done with your head?\" The Raja retorted \"What is a tiger\nwithout a tail? You also are short of a member. I may have no head\nbut I have more legs than you.\" The Tiger could think of no retort\nto make to this and so said \"Come, don't let us quarrel any more;\nlet us be friends; I live near here, where do you live?\"\n\n\"My home is also near here.\"\n\n\"Then we are neighbours: there is no reason why we should be enemies.\"\n\n\"Who knows what you are at?\" answered the Raja: \"for you are\npretending that you cannot see aright, but it is quite true that we\nare neighbours.\" \"You are right,\" said the other, \"I admit that I\ndid wrong, and I bow down before you.\" So they saluted each other and\nthe Tiger said \"Let's have a song to show what good friends we are:\nand he sang (to the rice planting tune):\n\n\n \"The Frog King and the Frog Queen\n Sat at their front door.\n The Frog King's marriage is going on:\n Look, my master!\n The Frog King and the Frog Queen!\n The Frog King's marriage is going on.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCXIX. The Hyaena Outwitted.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a great tiger who lived in a forest;\nand all the other animals that lived in the forest treated him as\ntheir Raja, down to the very birds. They all felt safe under his\nprotection, because he was so much feared that no men dared hunt in\nthat forest. One day it happened that this Raja tiger killed a man\nand made such a enormous meal on the flesh, that he got very bad\nindigestion. The pain grew worse and worse, till he felt sure that\nhis last hour was come.\n\nIn his agony he sent for a hyaena and offered to make him his _dewan_,\nif only he would call all the other animals of the forest to come\nand pay a farewell visit to their lord. The hyaena readily agreed\nbut thought it would be better to send another messenger, while\nhe stayed by the tiger to see that all the animals duly presented\nthemselves. Just then a crow flew overhead; so they called him and\ndeputed him to summon all the animals.\n\nThe crow flew off and in a short time all the animals assembled before\nthe tiger and paid their respects to him and expressed wishes for his\nspeedy recovery;--all except the jackals. They had been summoned along\nwith the others; but somehow they paid no attention and only remembered\nabout it in the afternoon. Then they were very frightened as to what\nwould be the consequence of their remissness; but one chief jackal\nstood up and told them not to fear, as he would contrive a way of\ngetting the better of the hyaena. There was nothing else to be done,\nso they had to put what trust they could in their chief and follow\nhim to the Tiger.\n\nOn his way the chief jackal picked up a few roots, and took them with\nhim. When they reached the place where the suffering monarch lay,\nthe hyaena at once began to abuse them for being late, and the Tiger\nalso angrily asked why they had not come before; then the chief jackal\nbegan humbly \"O Maharaja, we were duly summoned; your messenger is not\nto blame; but we reflected that it was useless merely to go and look at\nyou when you were so ill: that could do you no good; so we bestirred\nourselves to try and find some medicine that would cure you. We have\nsearched the length and breadth of the jungle and have found all that\nis necessary, except one thing and that we have failed to find.\" \"Tell\nme what it is,\" said the hyaena, \"and I will at once despatch all\nthese animals to look for it and it will surely be found.\" \"Yes,\"\nechoed the tiger, \"what is it?\" \"Maharaja,\" said the jackal, \"when you\ntake these medicines, you must lie down on the fresh skin of a hyaena,\nwhich has been flayed alive; but the only hyaena we can find in the\nforest is your _dewan_\" \"The world can well bear the loss of one\nhyaena,\" said the Tiger: \"take him and skin him.\" At these words all\nthe animals set upon the hyaena and flayed him alive; and the tiger\nlay down on the skin and took the medicines brought by the jackal;\nand as he was not seriously ill, his pain soon began to pass away.\n\n\"That is a lesson to the hyaena not to scold us and get us into\ntrouble,\" said the jackal, as he went home.\n\n\n\n\nCXX. The Crow and the Egret.\n\nA crow and a white egret once made their nests in the same tree,\nand when the nestlings began to grow up the crow saw how pretty and\nwhite the young egrets were, and thought them much nicer than her\nown black young ones. So one day when the egret was away, the crow\nchanged the nestlings and brought the little white egrets, to her\nown nest. When the mother egret returned and found the ugly little\nblack crows in her own nest, it did not take her long to see what\nhad happened and she at once taxed the crow with the theft. The crow\ndenied all knowledge of the matter and a fine quarrel ensued.\n\nQuarrelling led to nothing and they agreed to refer the dispute\nto the decision of a money-lender, whose house stood by the tree\nin which the two nests were. The crow, as the less shy of the two,\nflew down and asked the money-lender to come out and settle their\ndispute. The first question the money-lender asked was what they were\ngoing to give him. The egret promised to catch him a fine _rohu_ fish,\nwhich was what she was accustomed to eat, but the crow said that she\nwould give him a golden necklace. The money-lender said that the fees\nmust be brought first before he heard the case, so the egret flew off\nand caught a big fish, but the crow went to where a Raja was bathing\nand carried off the gold chain which the Raja had left on the bank\nof the river. The money-lender then gave his decision, which was in\nfavour of the party who had given him the most valuable present;\nhe decided that the young birds must stay where they were. \"But,\"\nprotested the egret \"how have my white nestlings become black?\" \"That\nis quite natural\" answered the money-lender, \"a white cow may have a\nblack or brown calf: why should not you have black young ones?\" And\nso saying he drove them away.\n\nThe poor egret was not at all content with this unjust decision,\nand was about to renew the quarrel, when a jackal came racing by;\nit had just made its escape from some hunters. \"Where are you off to\nso fast, uncle?\" called out the egret. \"I am in arrears with my rent\nand am hurrying to pay it to the Raja,\" answered the jackal. \"Stay and\nlisten to my grievance,\" begged the egret, and she told the jackal all\nthat had happened and how the money-lender had let himself be bribed\nby the gold necklace. The jackal was very indignant, \"A man who could\ngive a decision like that would call a buffalo, a bullock or a pig,\na sheep. It is no decision at all; I cannot stop now, but I will come\nback to-morrow and decide the matter for you and before doing so,\nI will stuff the mouth of that unjust judge with filth.\" So saying\nthe jackal hurried off.\n\nThe money-lender heard all that passed and was filled with shame at\nhaving earned the contempt of the jackal; he feared more disgrace on\nthe morrow, so he at once called the crow and made her return the\negret's nestlings, and the next morning when the jackal came back\nit found that everything had been settled to the satisfaction of\nthe egret.\n\n\n\n\nCXXI. The Jackal and the Hare.\n\nA jackal and a hare were sworn friends. One day they planned to have\na dinner of rice cooked with milk. So the hare crouched down under a\nbush which grew by the side of a road leading to a busy market; and\nthe jackal stayed watching a little way off. Presently some men came\nalong, taking rice to sell at the market. When they saw the hare by\nthe side of the road, they put down their baskets of rice and ran to\ncatch the hare. He led them a long chase, and then escaped. Meanwhile\nthe jackal carried off as much of the unguarded rice as he wanted. By\nthe same trick they got hold of milk, and firewood, and a cooking pot,\nand some leaf plates; Thus they had everything necessary for the meal\nexcept fire.\n\nSo the jackal ran off to a village and went to the house of a poor old\nwoman who was pounding dried plum fruit into meal, and asked her for\na light \"Go into the house and take a brand from the fire yourself\"\nsaid the old woman: \"No\" said the jackal \"you go and get it; and I\nwill pound your meal for you, while you are away.\" So the old woman\nwent into the house; and while she was away the jackal put filth into\nthe mortar and covered it up with meal. Then he took away the lighted\nbrand, and after he had gone the old woman found that all her meal\nwas spoilt.\n\nThen the jackal cooked their rice and milk and when it was ready,\nthey began to discuss which should first go and bathe, before they\nbegan to eat. At last the jackal went off; he hurried over his bath\nand came back as quickly as possible. Then the hare went, and he\nspent a long time having a thorough bath. While the hare was away,\nthe jackal ate as much of the rice as he wanted and then filled the\npot with filth and covered it over with rice. When the hare came\nback, they debated which should help the rice. At last they agreed\nthat the hare should do so; but when the hare had taken out a little\nrice he found the pot full of filth. \"So it is for this that I took\nall the trouble to get the provisions for our meal\" cried the hare;\nand threw the contents of the pot over the jackal and drove him away.\n\nThe jackal went off and made a drum, and every day he sat in the sun\nbeneath a bank and played the drum. The hare heard the sound and one\nday he went to the jackal and asked to be allowed to play the drum. The\njackal handed it over but the hare beat it and shook it so vigorously\nthat at last it was smashed to pieces. Then the hare ran away.\n\n\n\n\nCXXII. The Brave Jackal.\n\nOnce upon a time a he-goat ran away for fear of being slaughtered and\ntook refuge in a leopard's cave. When the leopard came back to the\ncave the goat called out \"Hum Pakpak,\" and the leopard ran away in\na fright. Presently it met a jackal and called out \"Ah! my sister's\nson, some fearful animal has occupied my house!\" \"What is it like,\nuncle?\" asked the jackal \"It has a wisp of hemp tied to its chin,\"\nanswered the leopard: \"I am not afraid, uncle,\" boasted the jackal,\n\"I have eaten many animals like that, bones and all.\" So they tied\ntheir tails together and went back to the leopard's cave. When the\ntwo drew near the goat stood up: and the leopard said \"This morning\nhe called out something dreadful at me.\" At this they both fled,\nand in their struggles to separate all the hair on the jackal's\ntail was scraped off and the jackal called out \"Alas, alas! Uncle,\nyou have scraped off all my skin!\"\n\n\n\n\nCXXIII. The Jackal and the Leopards.\n\nOnce upon a time a leopard and a leopardess were living with their\ncubs; and when the parents were away a jackal used to go to the cubs\nand say \"If you won't pay up the paddy you owe, give me something on\naccount.\" And the cubs gave him all the meat which their parents had\nbrought; and as this happened every day the cubs began to starve. The\nleopard asked why they looked so thin although he brought them lots of\ngame and the cubs explained that they had to give up all their food to\nthe jackal from whom he had borrowed paddy. So the leopard lay in wait\nand when the jackal came again to beg of the cubs he chased him. The\njackal ran away and hid in a crack in the ground; the leopard tried\nto follow and got stuck in the crack and was squeezed to death. The\njackal came out and kicked the dead body, crying \"I see you lying in\nwait for me.\"\n\nNow the jackal wore silk shoes and a silk dhoti and he went back to\nthe leopard's family and asked who would look after them now the\nleopard was dead. They said that they would live with him; so the\njackal stayed there and they all went hunting deer. The jackal lay in\nwait and the leopards drove the game to him. But when the deer came\nout, the jackal was too frightened to attack them and climbed to the\ntop of an ant-hill to be out of the way. So when the leopards came\nup they found that the jackal had killed nothing. But the jackal only\ncomplained that they had not driven the deer in the right direction. So\nthe next day the leopardess lay in wait and the jackal and the cubs\nbeat the jungle; when they came up they found that the leopardess\nhad killed a fine deer. \"Now,\" said the jackal \"let me first offer\nthe game as a sacrifice to the spirit of our dead leopard;\" so saying\nhe tried to bite a hole in the deer but the skin was too tough. So\nhe made the leopardess tear the skin and then he pushed inside the\ncarcase and ate up all the entrails. When he had had as much as he\ncould eat he came out and let the leopards begin their meal.\n\nAnother day they wished to cross a flooded river. The young leopards\noffered to carry the jackal over on their shoulders but the jackal was\ntoo proud to allow this. So the leopards all jumped across the stream\nsafely but when the jackal tried he fell into the middle of the water\nand was carried away down stream. Lower down a crocodile was lying on\nthe bank sunning itself \"Pull me out, pull me out!\" called the jackal\n\"and I will bring you some fat venison.\" So the crocodile pulled him\nout. \"Now open your mouth and shut your eyes\" said the jackal and when\nthe crocodile obeyed he popped a large stone into its jaws and ran\naway. This made the crocodile very angry and it vowed to be revenged.\n\nThe jackal used to go every day to a certain tank to drink: and to\nreach the water he used to sit on the root of an _arjun_ tree which\nprojected from the bank. The crocodile observed this habit and one\nday lay in wait under the water by the _arjun_ tree and when the\njackal came to drink caught him by the leg. The jackal did not lose\nhis presence of mind but called out \"What a fool of a crocodile to\ncatch hold of the root of the tree instead of my leg.\" On hearing\nthis the crocodile let go its hold and the jackal laughed and ran away.\n\nEvery day the jackal used to lie in the sun on the top of a stack of\nstraw. The crocodile found this out and buried itself in the straw\nand waited for the jackal. That day it happened that the jackal found\na sheep-bell and tied it round his neck so that it tinkled as he\nran. When it heard the bell the crocodile said \"What a bother! I am\nwaiting for the jackal and here comes a sheep tinkling its bell.\" The\njackal heard the crocodile's exclamation and so detected the trick;\nhe at once went and fetched a light and set fire to the heap of straw\nand the crocodile was burnt to death.\n\n\n\n\n\nCXXIV. The Fool and His Dinner.\n\nA man once went to visit his mother-in-law and for dinner they gave\nhim rice with a relish made of young bamboo shoots. The man liked it\nextremely and thought that it was meat, but he saw no pieces of meat;\nso he asked his mother-in-law what it was made of; and behind him was\na door made of bamboos: so the mother-in-law said, \"I have cooked\nthat which is behind you;\" and he looked round and saw the door;\nso he resolved to carry off the door, as it made such good eating,\nand in the middle of the night he took it off the hinges and ran away\nwith it. In the morning the door was missed and the mother-in-law\nguessed what had happened and had a hearty laugh.\n\nMeanwhile the man went home with the door and chopped it up and gave\nthe pieces to his wife to cook; the wife said that it was useless\nto cook dry chips but he insisted and said that her mother had made\na beautiful dish of them. So they were cooked and the man sat down\nto eat; but they were all hard and tasteless; then he scolded his\nwife and she told him to cook them himself if he was not pleased;\nso he cooked some himself and the result was the same; and his wife\nlaughed at him and when the villagers heard of it they nicknamed him\n\"Silly\", and used to call the name after him when they met him.\n\n\n\n\nCXXV. The Stingy Daughter.\n\nOnce a man went to visit his married daughter: he intended to arrive\nin time for dinner; so though he passed some edible herbs on the way\nhe did not stop to eat them.\n\nWhen he arrived he was duly welcomed and after some conversation he\ntold his daughter that he must return the same day; she said \"All\nright, but wait till it gets hot.\" (The father understood this to be\na metaphorical way of saying \"Wait till the dinner is cooked.\") But\nthe daughter was determined not to cook the rice while her father was\nthere: so they sat talking and when the sun was high the daughter\nwent into the yard and felt the ground with her foot and finding\nit scorching she said \"Now father, it is time for you to be going:\nit has got hot\" Then the old man understood that she was not going\nto give him his dinner. So he took his stick and got up to go.\n\nNow the son-in-law was a great hunter and that day he had killed\nand brought home a peacock; as he was leaving, the father said \"My\ndaughter, if your husband ever brings home a peacock I advise you\nto cook it with mowah oil cake; that makes it taste very nice.\" So\ndirectly her father had gone, the woman set to work and cooked\nthe peacock with mowah oil cake; but when her husband and children\nbegan to eat it they found it horribly bitter and she herself tasted\nit and found it uneatable; then she told them that her father had\nmade fun of her and made her spoil all the meat. Her husband asked\nwhether she had cooked rice for her father; and when she said \"No\"\nhe said that this was the way in which he had punished her; he had\nhad nothing to eat and so he had prevented their having any either;\nshe should entertain all visitors and especially her father. So they\nthrew away the meat and had no dinner.\n\n\n\n\nCXXVI. The Backwards and Forwards Dance.\n\nThere was once a Santal who owed money to a money-lender: the lender\nwent to dun him every day but as he had nothing to pay with he used\nto hide in the jungle and as he had no warm clothes he used to light a\nfire to warm himself by; and when the fire was low he would sit near it\nand when it blazed up he would move back from it. When the money-lender\nasked the man's wife where he was, she always replied \"He is dancing\nthe 'Backwards and Forwards' dance.\" The money-lender got curious\nabout this; and said that he would like to learn the dance. So one\nevening the Santal met him and offered to teach him the dance but,\nhe said he must be paid and what would the money-lender give? The\nmoney-lender said that he would give any thing that was asked; so the\nSantal called two witnesses and before them the money-lender promised\nthat if the Santal taught him the dance he would let him off his debt.\n\nThe next morning the Santal took the money-lender to the jungle and\ntold him to take off his clothes as they would dance with only loin\ncloths on; then he lit a heap of straw and they sat by it warming\nthemselves; and he purposely made only a small fire at first. Then\nthe money-lender asked when they were going to begin to dance but the\nSantal said \"Let us warm ourselves first, I am very cold,\" so saying he\npiled on more straw and as the fire blazed up they moved away from it;\nand when it sank they drew nearer again. While this was going on the\ntwo witnesses came up and the money-lender began to object that he was\nnot being taught to dance; but the Santal said, \"What more do you want;\ndon't you keep moving backwards and forwards in front of the fire? This\nis the 'Backwards and Forwards' dance.\" Seeing how he had been tricked\nthe money-lender was much upset and he appealed to the witnesses, but\nthey decided against him; and he went home crying and lost his money.\n\n\n\n\nCXXVII. The Deaf Family.\n\nFormerly Santals were very stupid and much afraid of Hindus; and once\na Santal was ploughing at a place where two roads met and a Hindu\ncame along and asked him, in Hindi, where the two roads went to; now\nthe Santal did not understand Hindi and was also deaf and he thought\nthat the Hindu said \"These two bullocks are mine,\"--and he answered\n\"When did I take your bullocks?\" The Hindu sat down and repeated his\nquestion; but the Santal did not understand and continued to assert\nthat the bullocks were his and were named Rice eater and Jaituk[2]\nand had formed part of his wife's dowry; the Hindu kept on asking\nabout the roads and at last the Santal got frightened and thought\n\"perhaps my father-in-law took the bullocks from this man and at\nany rate he will beat me and take them by force\"; so he unyoked his\nbullocks and handed them over to the stranger; and the Hindu when he\nfound out what was meant went off with them as fast as he could.\n\nSoon after the Santal's mother brought him out his dinner and he\ntold her what had happened about the bullocks! And she also was deaf\nand thought that he was complaining that the rice had no salt in\nit; so she answered, \"Your wife gave it to me like this; I cannot\nsay whether she put salt into it; come, eat it up.\" After he had\neaten his dinner the old woman took the dishes home; and she found\nher husband cutting out a rice pounder; and she told him how their\nson had scolded her because there was no salt in the rice; and the\nhusband was also deaf and he thought that she wanted to know what\nhe was making and he answered crossly \"It may be a rice pounder and\nit may be a rice mortar.\" And as often as she repeated her story he\nmade this answer and told her not to worry him. Then she went to her\ndaughter-in-law who was also deaf and sat spinning in the verandah;\nand she scolded her for not putting salt in the rice; and she answered\n\"Who knows what I am spinning; the thread may be all knotty, but\nstill I reel it up.\" And this is the end of the story. Thus the man\nlost his bullocks through cross questions and crooked answers; and\nas the whole family talked like that they soon became poor.\n\n\n\n\nCXXVIII. The Father-in-Law's Visit.\n\nA man once went to visit his married daughter in the month of October\nand he went round the fields with his son-in-law to see how his crop\nwas growing. At each rice field they came to, the father-in-law said\n\"You have not dammed up the outlets\" and the son-in-law said \"Yes,\nI have; the water is standing in the fields all right,\" and could not\nunderstand what the old man meant. The next day they both set off to\nvisit some friends at a distance; and the son-in-law carried his shoes\nin his hand except when they came to a river when he always put them\non; and when they were going along in the sun he carried his umbrella\nunder his arm, but when they came to any shady trees he put it up;\nand he did the same on the way back. The old man was very astounded\nat this but made no remark. On reaching the house however he told his\ndaughter that he was sorry that her husband was a mad man and told\nher what had happened. His daughter said, \"No, father, he is not mad:\nhe has a very good reason; he does not wear his shoes on dry ground\nbecause he can see where he is going; but in a river you cannot see\nwhat is under-foot; there may be sharp stones or thorns and so he\nputs on his shoes then; and he puts up his umbrella under trees lest\nfalling branches should hit him or the droppings of birds fall on him,\nbut in the open he can see that there is nothing to hurt him.\"\n\nHer father admitted that these were good reasons and he had been\nfoolish not to understand them; he then took his leave.\n\nAnd in the following January he visited them again; and when he saw\ntheir stock of rice he asked how much they had, and the son-in-law\nsaid that there was only what he saw. \"But,\" said the old man, \"When\nI saw your fields you had a very fine crop coming on.\" \"The crop was\ngood,\" answered the son-in-law \"but I owed rice to the money-lender\nand I have had to pay that back and I have had to pay my rent and\nthis is all that I have left.\" \"Ah!\" said the father-in-law, \"when\nI saw your fields I told you that you had not dammed up the outlets;\nby outlets I meant these drains; as water flows away through an outlet\nso has your wealth flowed away to money-lenders and landlords; is not\nthis so?\" And the son-in-law admitted that he was right and that his\nwords had had a meaning.\n\n\n\n\nCXXIX. Ramai and Somai.\n\nOnce two poor men named Ramai and Somai came to a village and took\nsome waste land from the headman, and ploughed it and sowed millet;\nand their plough was only drawn by cows and their ploughshare was\nvery small, what is called a \"stumpy share;\" and when they had sowed\na little the rains came on; and Somai gave up cultivation and took\nto fishing and for a time he made very good profits by catching and\nselling fish; and he did not trouble even to reap the millet he had\nsown; he laughed at Ramai who was toiling away clearing more land\nand sowing maize and rice. He used to go and look at him and tell\nhim that he would never get a crop while he had nothing better than a\n\"stumpy\" plough; it would probably break to pieces one day and then he\nwould be helpless; he had much better take to fishing which gave quick\nand easy returns. Ramai made no answer, but when the rains were over\nthere was no more fishing to be done; and Somai was left to starve\nand had to go from village to village begging. But Ramai reaped his\nmillet and lived on that till his maize was ripe and then his maize\nsupported him until his rice was ripe and he always had plenty to eat;\nand to show his despite for Somai, after he had had a good dinner,\nhe would come out in front of his house and call out \"What of the\nstumpy share now?\" Every day after eating he would come out and say\n\"At first I worked hard and suffered hunger but now I am eating in\nhappiness; and you were happy then but now you are starving.\"\n\n\n\n\nCXXX. The Two Brothers.\n\nThere were once two brothers who were constantly quarrelling and\none afternoon after a heated quarrel the younger brother asked the\nvillagers to come and judge between them. The villagers agreed to meet\nthe next morning. At cockcrow the next day the elder brother went to\nthe other's house and woke him up and said \"Brother, this is a bad\nbusiness; you have called in the villagers and they will certainly\nfine us both for quarrelling; it would be much better for us to save\nthe money and spend it on a pig; then we and our families could have\na feast.\" \"I quite agree,\" said the younger brother, \"but now I have\nsummoned the villagers, what can be done? If I merely tell them to\ngo away, they will never come again when I summon them.\"\n\nThe elder brother said, \"I have a plan; when they come they will ask\nhow the quarrel began and what abusive words I used; and then you\nmust tell them that that is a point which they have to decide; and\nthen they will be able to do nothing and will go away.\" The younger\nbrother agreed to this and when the villagers came and asked what the\nquarrel was about he said, \"Don't you know what the quarrel was? That\nwas the very matter I wanted you to decide; if you don't know, how\ncan you judge about it?\" And this answer he repeated to all their\nquestioning; then they got angry and said that he was mocking them;\nand they declined to give any decision, but said that the brothers\nmust give them dinner as they had detained them so long; but the\nbrothers flatly declined to do so as no decision had been given,\nand the villagers went away grumbling, while the brothers bought a\npig with the money they had saved and had a jolly feast and as they\nate the elder brother said: \"See what a good plan mine was; but for\nit we should now have been feasting others at our expense.\"\n\n\n\n\nCXXXI. The Three Fools.\n\nOnce upon a time three men were sitting at the foot of a tamarind\ntree and a stranger came up to them with a bunch of plantains on his\nshoulder and he put the plantains on the ground in front of them and\nbowed and went away. Thereupon the three men began to quarrel as to\nwho was to have the plantains; each said that they were his because\nit was to him that the man had bowed. So they started calling each\nother \"Fool\" and after quarrelling for some time one said \"Well, yes,\nI admit that I am a great fool\" and the other two asked why he thought\nhimself a fool and he said \"Well one day my wife went to the jungle\nwith the other village women to get firewood and left our baby in my\ncharge; as she was a long time coming back the child became hungry\nand began to cry; I walked him about but he would not stop crying;\nI tried to feed him with rice and with rice water and with _Gur_\nand with cow's milk but he would not eat or stop crying; I was in\ndespair when his mother came back and took him up and gave him the\nbreast and the child was quiet at once.\n\nSeeing this I said to my wife \"Human milk must be sweeter than\nanything else.\" My wife said \"Who can say whether it is nice; we\nall drink it when we are infants; but when we grow up we cannot say\nwhat it is like.\" Then I said that I would try what it was like and I\nsucked her breast and found that it was much sweeter than cow's milk;\nafter that I formed the habit and used to drink her milk every day;\nand as I left none for the child it died soon afterwards of starvation;\nthis shows what a fool I am.\"\n\nThen one of the other men said \"But I am a bigger fool than you.\" And\nthey asked him in what way; and he said \"I was married and was very\nmuch in love with my wife; once when she had gone on a visit to her\nfather's I went to fetch her home; and she was got up in all her\nfinery, with her hair well dressed and vermilion on her forehead\nand red _arta_ on her feet. On our way home it began to rain and we\ntook shelter in a village; and when the shower was over we went on;\nand we came to a river which was in flood from the rain; the water\nwas up to a man's armpits and I decided to carry my wife across so\nthat the _arta_ on her feet might not get washed off. So I took her\non my shoulder and to prevent her feet getting wet I held her feet\nuppermost and as her head was under water when I got across I found\nthat she had been drowned; and if I had not been such a fool she\nwould not have been killed.\"\n\nThen the third man said \"And I also am a fool. I had quarrelled with\nmy own family so I lived with my wife in a house alone at the end of\nthe village and we had no children. Now I was very fond of smoking;\nand one night I wanted a light for my hookah but there was none in the\nhouse; so I started to go and ask for a light from some neighbour;\nbut as it was very dark I did not like to leave my wife all alone:\nnor did I like to send her out alone to ask for the light; so at last\nI took my hookah in my hand and set my wife astride on my shoulder\nand went round from house to house like that, asking for a light;\nand all the villagers laughed like anything; so I am a fool.\" Then\nthey agreed that they were all three fools and had better divide the\nplantains equally among them and go home; and that is what they did.\n\n\n\n\nCXXXII. The Cure for Laziness.\n\nThere was once a man who lived happily with his wife, but she was very\nlazy; when work in the fields was at its height she would pretend\nto be ill. In June and July, she would begin to moan as if in pain,\nand when every one else had gone off to work she would eat any rice\nthat they had left over; or if there were none, would cook some for\nherself; Her father-in-law decided to call in some _ojhas_ to examine\nher and if they could not cure her, then to send her back to her\nfather: so he called in two _ojhas_ and told them to do their best,\nas he did not want the woman's relations to complain that she had\nnot been properly treated.\n\nSo the first _ojha_ felt her pulse and smiled and said nothing, and\nthe second _ojha_ felt her pulse and smiled and said nothing, and\nwhen the father-in-law asked them if they knew what was the matter,\nthey answered that the illness was very serious and medicines must be\napplied; the father-in-law said \"Yes; but you must get the medicines\nor tell me exactly what is wanted and I will arrange for it;\" this\nconversation took place before the woman; the _ojhas_ said \"Very well,\nwe will do what you want but before applying the medicine we shall\nhave to do some incantations;\" the father-in-law answered \"Do whatever\nis necessary to make a good job of it. Don't spare anything; try and\nget everything ready by to-morrow: for we are in great difficulty; I\ndo not like to leave the patient alone in the house and yet I cannot\nspare anyone to look after her;\" the _ojhas_ promised and got up\nand went out with the father-in-law, and in the village street they\ntold him that laziness was all that was the matter with the woman,\nbut that they knew a medicine which would cure her; so they went\nto the jungle and dug up two very big tubers of the _tirra_ plant,\nas big as pumpkins, and in the evening they went to the man's house\nand told him that they had found the medicine, and that the whole\nhousehold was to come to the cross roads at the end of the village\nvery early the next morning with the patient and they would exorcise\nthe disease and apply remedies.\n\nAt cockcrow the next morning the two _ojhas_ brought the two tubers\nand put them down at the end of the village street, and then went to\nthe house where the sick woman lived and awoke the inmates, and they\nborrowed a pot of water and some vermilion and an old winnowing fan\nand then they all went to the place where the tubers had been left,\nand the _ojhas_ made the patient sit on the winnowing fan facing the\neast and painted her with vermilion; then they waved pig's dung round\nher head and tied the two tubers round her neck and told her to walk\nup and down the village street three times; and that would remove\nthe spell that was on her. So the woman began to walk up the village\nstreet and every one laughed at her and the children ran after her\nand smacked her and jumped and shouted for joy and the _ojhas_ called\nout to her \"You must not take off the tubers until you are cured.\"\n\nThe woman walked up and down twice, but then she was so ashamed at\nbeing laughed at that she threw away the tubers and ran off home;\nthen they all laughed the more; and followed her to the house, and\nthe _ojhas_ asked whether she was cured that she had taken off the\nremedies they had applied; she only smiled in answer and they told\nher to take care because if she ever got ill again they would apply\nthe same remedy; but from that day the woman completely recovered\nand did her fair share of all the work.\n\n\n\n\nCXXXIII. The Brahman's Powers.\n\nA long time ago a Brahman came from the west and did many wonders to\nthe astonishment of those who saw him. He came to a certain village\nand at first put up in an old bamboo hut; there he sat motionless\nfor three or four days and so far as anyone could see ate and drank\nnothing. The villagers said that he must eat during the night, so\nfour men arranged to watch him continuously; two by day and two by\nnight; but though they watched they could not detect him eating or\ndrinking. Then the villagers collected and began to question him\nand as his answers seemed worthy of credit they began to bring him\nofferings of milk; one day he asked to be supplied with coolies\nthat he might rebuild the hut in which he had taken up his abode;\nso coolies were brought and he made them collect bricks and prepare\nmortar and at the end of the day's work they asked to be paid; then\nthe Brahman wrapped himself in his cloth and repeated some _mantras_,\nwhereupon pice fell tinkling down from his body and with them he paid\nthe coolies; and so it was every day until the house was finished. All\nthis was a source of great wonder to those who saw it.\n\n\n\n\nCXXXIV. Ram's Wife.\n\nIt is a custom among us Santals that husband and wife do not mention\neach other's names; and even if a husband sometimes mentions his\nwife's name in a case of urgent necessity, the wife will never speak\nher husband's; in the same way a man may not mention the name of his\nyounger brother's wife or of his wife's elder sister; women again may\nnot use the name of their younger sister's husband or their husband's\nelder brother. Our forefathers have said that if any one breaks this\nrule his children will be born deaf or dumb; we believe this and fear\nto break through the custom.\n\nThere was once a man named Ram who was ploughing his field; when he\ngot to the end he found that he had not brought the seed with him;\nso he called out to his wife, pretending however that he was speaking\nto his daughter \"Seed, daughter, seed!\" And she called back \"What\ndo you want it for? Are you going to sow it?\" (eram = will you sow)\nand every time he called, she answered \"Eram?\" At this he lost his\ntemper and ran up to the house and asked what she meant by speaking\nhis name, when he told her to bring out the seed for sowing; and\nthereupon he proceeded to give her a good thrashing. His wife said to\nhim \"Your name is the same as the word for 'sow,' it is a very fine\nname you have got.\" At this Ram laughed and asked how he could help\nhaving the name which his father and mother had given him. At this\nshe giggled. \"Then why are you hurt by it? You had better in future\ntake out the seed corn with you and then you won't have to call to me;\nif you do I shall answer you as I did to-day.\"\n\nTo the present day people do not use the forbidden words; or if\ncompelled to they spit on the ground first; even Christian converts do\nnot like to infringe the rule if many people are present and usually\nspeak of a person with a forbidden name as the father, or mother of\nsuch and such a child.\n\n\n\n\nCXXXV. Palo.\n\nThere was once a man named Dhuju, and he had sons named Ret Mongla,\nSaru Sama and Chapat champa; and their wives were named Chibo, Porbet\nand Palo.\n\nOne rainy season the family was busy with the ploughing: Ret Mongla\nused to take the plough cattle out to get some grazing before the sun\nrose; and his two brothers took the ploughs to the fields a little\nlater and the old father used to look on and tell them what to do. It\nwas their practice when they wanted to attract each other's attention\nto call out: \"Ho!\" and not \"Ya!\" or \"Brother.\" One day it had been\narranged that they should sow _gundli_ in a field; but when the\neldest brother arrived at the place with the bullocks ready to plough\nhe found that his two brothers had not turned up with the ploughs;\nso he began to call \"Pal, ho!\" (Pal = plough share).\n\nNow just then the wife of the youngest brother, Palo, had gone towards\nthat field to throw away the sweepings of the cowshed and she thought\nRet Mongla was calling her name; this surprised her and made her\nvery angry; and she made up her mind to pay him back and then if she\nwere scolded for not paying proper respect to her husband's eldest\nbrother to explain that he had insulted her first. So that morning\nwhen she took out their breakfast to the men working in the field,\nshe pretended to be in great hurry, and putting down her basket near\nthe place where the three brothers were ploughing, called out to them:\n\"Come, stop ploughing,\" and then with scarcely an interval: \"Look\nsharp and come and eat; or if you don't I will take your breakfast away\nagain.\" So the brothers stopped their work and ate their breakfasts.\n\nBut when Palo had gone back and they were sitting having a chew\nof tobacco, the eldest brother began: \"Did you notice how that girl\nbehaved to me just now; she spoke to me in a most rude way as if I were\nnot a person to whom she owed respect.\" The other two said that they\nhad noticed it themselves, and her husband Chapat Champa said that he\nwould punish her for it when he got home. Directly he got to the house\nhe began scolding her and she made no answer, but that night when they\nwere alone together she told him that what she had done was because\nRet Mongla had insulted her by calling her by name. The next day her\nmother-in-law took her to task but Palo gave the same explanation.\n\nThen Ret Mongla's mother went to him and asked him whether there was\nany truth in this counter-charge; he saw at once what had happened\nand explained that he had never called out his sister-in-law by name;\nhe had called out for the plough; \"Pal ho! Pal ho!\" because his brothers\nhad not got the ploughs ready; when Palo understood what a mistake she\nhad made, she was covered with confusion and they brought water and she\nwashed Ret Mongla's feet as she had done on the day of her marriage,\nand they salaamed to each other and peace was restored. But if the\nmistake had not been explained Palo would have been turned out of\nthe family.\n\n\n\n\nCXXXVI. The Women's Sacrifice.\n\nThis is a story of the old days when the Santals both men and women\nwere very stupid. Once upon a time the men of a certain village had\nfixed a day for sacrificing a bullock; but the very day before the\nsacrifice was to take place, the Raja's _sipahis_ came to the village\nand carried off all the men to do five days forced labour at the Raja's\ncapital. The women thus left alone suffered the greatest anxiety;\nthey thought it quite possible that their husbands and fathers would\nnever be allowed to return or even be put to death; so they met in\nconclave and decided that the best thing they could do would be to\ncarry out the sacrifice which the men had intended to make and which\nhad been interrupted so unexpectedly.\n\nSo they made haste to wash their clothes and bathe, and by way\nof purification they fasted that evening and slept on the bare\nground. Then at dawn they made ready everything wanted for the\nsacrifice and went to the jungle with the bullock that was to be\nthe victim. There at the foot of a _sal_ tree they scraped a piece\nof ground bare and smeared it with cow dung; then they put little\nheaps of rice at the four corners of a square and marked the place\nwith vermilion; then they sprinkled water over the bullock and led\nit up to the square.\n\nBut here their difficulties began for none of them knew what\nincantations the men said on such an occasion; they wasted a lot of\ntime each urging the other to begin, at last the wife of the headman\nplucked up courage and started an invocation like this: \"We sacrifice\nthis bullock to you; grant that our husbands may return; let not the\nRaja sacrifice them but grant them a speedy return.\" Having got as\nfar as this she wanted the other women to take a turn, but they said\nthat her invocation was capital and quite sufficient; and they had\nbetter get on to the sacrifice at once. Easier said than done; they\nnone of them knew how to do it; as they all hung back the headman's\nwife scolded them roundly and bade them take the axe and kill the\nbeast; then they all asked where they were to strike the animal:\n\"Where its life resides,\" said the headman's wife. \"Where is that,\"\nasked the women. \"Watch and see what part of it moves,\" answered she,\n\"and strike there.\" So they looked and presently the bullock moved\nits tail: \"That's where its life is,\" shouted they; so three or\nfour of them caught hold of the rope round the animal's neck and\none woman seized the axe and struck two blows at the root of the\nanimal's tail. She did it no harm but the pain of the blow made\nthe bullock pass water. \"See the blood flowing,\" cried the women,\nand eagerly caught the stream in a vessel; then the sacrificer dealt\nanother blow which made the bullock jump and struggle until it broke\nloose and galloped off. The women followed in pursuit and chased it\nthrough a field of cotton; the bullock knocked off many of the ripe\ncotton pods and these the women thought were lumps of fat fallen from\nthe wounded bullock, so they took them home and ate them; such fools\nwere the women in those days.\n\n\n\n\nCXXXVII. The Thief's Son.\n\nOnce upon a time a goat strayed into the house of a certain man who\npromptly killed it and hid the body. At evening the owner of the\ngoat missed it and came in search of it. He asked the man who had\nkilled it whether he had seen it, but the latter put on an innocent\nair and declared that he knew nothing about it but he invited the\nowner of the missing animal to look into the goat house and see if\nit had accidentally got mixed up with the other goats. The search\nwas of course in vain.\n\nDirectly the owner had gone the thief brought out the body and skinned\nand cut it up, and every one in the house ate his fill of flesh. Before\nthey went to sleep the thief told his sons to be careful not to go\nnear any of the other boys when they were grazing the cattle next day,\nlest they should smell that they had been eating meat.\n\nNext morning the thief's son took his goats out to graze and was\ncareful not to go near any of the other boys who were tending cattle;\nwhenever they approached him he moved away. At last they asked him what\nwas the matter; and he told them that they must keep at a distance lest\nthey should smell what he had been eating. \"What have you eaten?\" The\nsimpleton replied that he had been eating goat's flesh and that there\nwas still some in the house. The cowherds at once ran off and told the\nowner of the lost goat. The news soon spread and the villagers caught\nthe man who had killed the goat and searched his house and found the\nflesh of the goat. Then they fined him one rupee four annas and made\nhim give another goat in exchange for the one he had stolen.\n\n\n\n\nCXXXVIII. The Divorce.\n\nThere was once a man who had reason to suspect his wife's\nfaithfulness. He first tried threatening and scolding her; but this\nhad no good effect, for far from being ashamed she only gave him\nback harder words than she received. So he set to work to find some\nway of divorcing her without making a scandal. One day when he came\nhome with a fine basket of fish which he had caught he found that his\nfather-in-law had come to pay them a visit. As he cleaned the fish\nhe grumbled at the thought that his wife would of course give all the\nbest of them to her father; at last an idea struck him. As he handed\nover the fish to his wife he told her to be careful not to give her\nfather the heads of the _mangri_ fish nor the dust of tobacco, as\nit was very wrong to give either of those things to a visitor. \"Very\nwell,\" she answered; but to herself she thought \"What does he mean by\nforbidding me to do these things? I shall take care to give my father\nnothing but the heads of the fish\" for her pleasure was to thwart her\nhusband. So when the evening meal was ready she filled a separate plate\nfor her father with nothing but the fish heads. As her husband heard\nthe old man munching and crunching the bones he smiled to himself at\nthe success of the plot. When his father was about to leave he asked\nfor some tobacco, and the woman brought him only tobacco dust which she\nhad carefully collected out of the bottom of the bag. The old gentleman\nwent off without a word but very disappointed with his treatment.\n\nA few days later the woman went to visit her father's house, and\nthen he at once asked her what she meant by treating him as she had\ndone. \"I am sorry,\" said she: \"I did it to spite my husband; he went\nout of his way to tell me not to give you the heads of the fish and\nthe dust of tobacco, and so I picked out nothing but heads for you\nand gave you all the tobacco dust I could collect because I was so\nangry with him.\" From this her father easily understood that husband\nand wife were not getting on well together.\n\nTime passed and one day her mother went to visit the troublesome\nwife. As she was leaving, her daughter asked whether there was any\nspecial reason for her coming. Her mother admitted that she had come\nhoping to borrow a little oil to rub on the cattle at the coming\nSohrae festival, but as her son-in-law was not there she did not like\nto mention it and would not like to take any without his consent. \"O\nnever mind him!\" said the woman and insisted on her mother taking\naway a pot--not of cheap mowah or mustard oil,--but of ghee.\n\nNow a little girl saw her do this and the tale was soon all over the\nvillage; but the undutiful wife never said a word about it to her\nhusband, and it was only after some days that he heard from others\nof his wife's extravagance. When it did reach his ears he seized\nthe opportunity and at once drove her out of the house, and when\na panchayat was called insisted on divorcing her for wasting his\nsubstance behind his back. No one could deny that the reason was a\ngood one and so the panchayat had to allow the divorce. Thus he got\nrid of his wife without letting his real reason for doing so be known.\n\n\n\n\n\nCXXXIX. The Father and the Father-in-Law.\n\nThere was once a Raja who had five sons and his only daughter was\nmarried to a neighbouring Raja.\n\nIn the course of time this Raja fell into poverty; all his horses\nand cattle died and his lands were sold. At last they had even to\nsell their household utensils and clothes for food. They had only\ncups and dishes made of gourds to use and the Raja's wife and sons\nhad to go and work as day labourers in order to get food to eat. At\nlast one day the Raja made up his mind to go and visit his married\ndaughter and ask her husband's family to give him a brass cup (_bati_)\nthat he might have something suitable to drink out of. Off he went\nand when he reached the house he was welcomed very politely by his\ndaughter's father-in-law and given a seat and water to wash his feet,\nand a hookah was produced and then the following conversation began.\n\n\"Where have you come from, father of my daughter-in-law?\"\n\n\"I have walked from home, father of my son-in-law?\"\n\n\"You come here so often that you make me quite frightened! How is\nit? Is it well with you and yours? with body and skin? Would it not\nbe well for us to exchange news?\"\n\n\"Yes indeed; for how can you know how I am getting on if I do not tell\nyou. By your kind enquiries my life has grown as big as a mountain,\nmy bosom is as broad as a mat, and my beard has become as long as a\nbuffalo horn.\"\n\n\"And I also, father of my daughter-in-law, am delighted at your\ncoming and enquiring about me; otherwise I should wonder where you had\nsettled down, and be thinking that you did not know the way relations\nshould behave to each other; at present, I am glad to say, the seed\nleft after sowing, the living who have been left behind by death,\nby your favour and the goodness of God, are all doing well. Is it not\na proverb. 'The eye won't walk, but the ear will go and come back in\nno time.' Now the ear is the visitor and so far as it has looked our\nfriends up, it is well with all, so far as I know.\"\n\nThe other answered; \"Then I understand that by the goodness of God,\nall is very well with you all, O father of my son-in-law. That is\nwhat we want, that it may be well with us, body and soul.\"\n\n\"Life is our wealth; life is great wealth. So long as life lasts\nwealth will come. Even if there is nothing in the house, we can work\nand earn wealth, but if life goes where shall we obtain it?\"\n\nThe visitor answered \"That is true; and we have been suffering\nmuch from the 'standing' disease; (i.e. hunger) I have tried to get\nmedicine to cure it in vain; the Doctors know of none. I should be\ngreatly obliged if you could give me some medicine for it.\"\n\n\"The very same disease has overflowed this part of the country\"\nwas the reply:--at this they both laughed; and the visitor resumed,--\n\n\"Don't they say 'we asked after them and they did not ask anything\nabout us in return;'? it is right now for me to ask how you are\ngetting on\" and so saying he proceeded in his turn to put the same\nquestions and to receive the same answers.\n\nThen they went out and bathed and came back and had some curds and rice\nand sat for a while smoking their hookahs. Then a goat was killed and\ncooked and they had a grand feast. But the Raja did not forget about\nthe _bati_, and he took his daughter aside and told her to sound her\nmother-in-law about it. She brought back a message that if he wanted\nanything he should ask for it himself. So he went very shamefacedly\nto his host and told him that be must he leaving: \"Well, good-bye, are\nyou sure you only came to pay us a visit and had no other object?\" The\nRaja seized the opening that this reply gave him and said \"Yes, I had\nsomething in my mind; we are so poor now that we have not even a brass\ncup to drink out of, and I hoped that you would give me one of yours.\"\n\n\"My dear Sir, you say that you have gourds to drink but of: we have\nnot even that; we have to go down to the stream and drink out of our\nhands; I certainly cannot give you a _bati._\" At this rebuff the poor\nRaja got up and went away feeling very angry at the manner in which\nhe had been treated.\n\nWhen he reached home the Raja vowed that he would not even live in the\nneighbourhood of such faithless friends so he went with all his family\nto a far country. In their new home his luck changed and he prospered\nso much that in a few years he became the Raja of the country.\n\nMeanwhile the other Raja--the father-in-law,--fell into such poverty\nthat he and his family had to beg for their living.\n\nThe first Raja heard about this and made a plan to attract them to the\nplace where he lived. He ordered a great tank to be dug and promised\nthe workers one pice for each basket of earth they removed. This\nliberal wage attracted labourers from all sides; they came in such\nnumbers that they looked like ants working and among them came the\nfather-in-law and his family and asked the Raja for work. The Raja\nrecognised them at once though they did not know him; at first the\nsight of their distress pleased him but then he reflected that if he\ncherished anger Chando would be angry with him, so he decided to treat\nthem well and invited them to his palace. The poor creatures thought\nthat they were probably doomed for sacrifice but could only do as\nthey were bid. Great was their amazement when they were well fed and\nentertained and when they learnt who their benefactor was they burst\ninto tears; and the Raja pointed out to them how wrong it was to laugh\nat the poor, because wealth might all fly away as theirs had done.\n\n\n\n\nCXL. The Reproof.\n\nA poor man once went to visit his daughter's father-in-law who was very\nrich. The rich man was proud of his wealth and looked down on poverty;\nso he made no special entertainment for his visitor and only gave him\nrice and _dal_ for his dinner. When they went out to bathe he stood\non the bank of the tank and began to boast. \"I made this tank; all the\nland over there belongs to me; all those buffaloes and cattle you see,\nbelong to me; I have so many that I have to keep two men to milk them.\"\n\nThe visitor said nothing at the time but that afternoon as host and\nguest sat smoking together they saw a beggar standing in front of\nthe house. The sun was very powerful and the ground was so hot that\nthe beggar kept shifting from one foot to another as he stood out\nin the sun. Then the poor visitor spoke up and said \"It is strange\nthat when you made such a nice house you made the roof without\neaves.\" \"Where are your eyes? Cannot you see the eaves?\" asked the\nhost in astonishment. The other answered \"I see that you have made\na house as high as a hill but if it had any eaves, surely that poor\nbeggar there would not be standing out in the sun; and this morning\nyou must have been mistaken in saying that that tank was yours for\notherwise you would have given me fish for dinner; and I think that\nthey were only rocks and tufts of grass which you pointed out to me\nas your flocks and herds for otherwise you would have offered me some\nmilk or curds.\" And the rich man was ashamed and had no answer to make.\n\n\n\n\nCXLI. Enigmas.\n\nOnce upon a time a man and his son went on a visit to the\nson's father-in-law. They were welcomed in a friendly way;\nbut the father-in-law was much put out at the unexpected visit\nas he had nothing ready for the entertainment of his guest. He\ntook an opportunity to go into the house and said to one of his\ndaughters-in-law. \"Now, my girl, fill the little river and the big\nriver while I am away; and polish the big axe and the little axe and\ndig out five or six channels, and put hobbles on these relations who\nhave come to visit us and bar them Into the cow house. I am going to\nbathe and will come back with a pot full of the water of dry land,\nthen we will finish off these friends.\"\n\nThe two visitors outside overheard this strange talk and began to\nwonder what it meant. They did not like the talk about axes and digging\nchannels, it sounded as if their host meant to kill them as a sacrifice\nand bury their bodies in a river bed; rich men had been known to do\nsuch things. With this thought in their minds they got up and began\nto run away as fast as their legs could carry them. But when the young\nwoman saw what they were doing she ran after them and called them back.\n\nThey reluctantly stopped to hear what she had to say; and when she came\nup they reproached her for not having warned them of the fate in store\nfor them. But she only laughed at their folly and explained that what\nher father-in-law meant was that she should wash their feet and give\nthem a seat in the cow house; and make ready two pots of rice beer and\npolish the big and little brass basins and make five or six leaf cups\nand he would bring back some liquor and they would all have a drink. At\nthis explanation they had a hearty laugh and went back to the house.\n\n\n\n\nCXLII. The Too Particular Wife.\n\nThere was once a man with a large tumour on his forehead and his wife\nwas so ashamed of it that she would never go about with him anywhere\nfor fear of being laughed at. One day she went with a party of friends\nto see the _Charak Puja_. Her husband wished to go with her but she\nflatly declined to allow him.\n\nSo when she had gone he went to a friend's house and borrowed a\ncomplete set of new clothes and a large pagri. When he had rigged\nhimself out in these he could hardly be recognised; but his forehead\nwith the tumour was quite visible. Then he too went off to the fair\nand found his wife busy dancing. After watching her for some time he\nborrowed one of the drums and began to play for the dancers; and in\nparticular he played and danced just in front of his wife.\n\nWhen he saw that his wife was preparing to go home he started\noff ahead, got rid of his fine clothes and took the cattle out to\ngraze. Presently he went back to the house and asked his wife whether\nshe had enjoyed the fun. \"You should have come to see it for yourself,\"\nsaid she.\n\n\"But you would not let me! Otherwise I should have gone.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" answered his wife, \"I was ashamed of the lump on your forehead\nbut other people do not seem to mind, for there was a man there with\na lump just like yours who was playing the drum and taking a leading\npart in the fun and no one seemed to laugh at him: so in future I\nshall not mind going about with you.\"\n\n\n\n\n\nCXLIII. The Paharia Socialists.\n\nFormerly before the Santals came into the country the four _taluqs_\nof Sankara, Chiptiam, Sulunga and Dhaka formed the Paharia Raj and\nthe whole country was dense jungle. Then the Santals came and cleared\nthe jungle, and brought the land under cultivation. The Paharia Raja\nof Gando was named Somar Singh and he paid tribute to the Burdwan Raja.\n\nOnce ten or twelve Paharias went to Burdwan to pay the annual\ntribute. After they had paid in the money the Raja gave them a feast\nand a room to sleep in and sent them one bed. The Paharias had a\ndiscussion as to who should sleep on the bed and in order to avoid any\nill-feeling about it they decided that they would all sleep on the\nground and put their feet on the bed and then they could feel that\nthey had all an equal share of it. This they did and in the morning\nthe Burdwan Raja came in and found them all lying in this strange\nposition and was very much amused. He explained that he had sent the\nbed for the use of the chief man among them and asked whether they had\nno distinctions of rank. \"Yes\" they said \"we have in our own villages;\nbut here we are in a foreign land and as we do not all belong to one\nvillage who is to decide which is the chief among us. Away from home\nwe are all equal.\"\n\n\n\n\nCXLIV. How a Tiger Was Killed.\n\nIn the days when the Santals lived in the jungle country there was\nonce a man who had a patch of maize by the bank of a stream; and to\nwatch his crop he had put up a platform in his field. Now one day\nhe stole a goat and killed it; he did not take it home nor tell his\nfamily; he took it to the maize patch with some firewood and fire and\na knife and a hatchet; and he hoisted all these on to his platform\nand lit a fire in the bottom of an earthen pot and cut up the goat\nand began to cook and eat the flesh. And a tiger smelt the flesh and\ncame and sat down under the platform.\n\nAs the man ate he threw down the bones and as he threw them the tiger\ncaught them in its mouth; and after a time the man noticed that he\ndid not hear the bones strike the ground; so he looked down quietly\nand saw the tiger; then he was very frightened for he thought that\nwhen he could no longer keep the tiger quiet by throwing down bits\nof meat, the tiger would spring up unto the platform and eat him.\n\nAt last a thought struck him and he drew the head of his hatchet off\nthe handle and put it in the fire till it became red-hot; and meanwhile\nhe kept the tiger quiet by throwing down pieces of meat. Then when\nthe axe head was ready he picked it out of the fire and threw it down;\nthe tiger caught it as it fell and roared aloud with pain; its tongue\nand palate and throat were so burnt that it died.\n\nThus the man saved himself from the tiger and whether the story be\ntrue or no, it is known to all Santals.\n\n\n\n\nCXLV. The Goala's Daughter.\n\nThere was once a man of the _Goala_ caste who had an only daughter and\nshe grew up and was married, but had no child; and after twenty years\nof married life she gave up all hope of having any. This misfortune\npreyed on her mind and she fell into a melancholy. Her parents asked\nher why she was always weeping and all the answer she would give was\n\"My sorrow is that I have never worn clothes of 'Dusty cloth' and\nthat is a sorrow which you cannot cure.\" But her father and mother\ndetermined to do what they could for their daughter and sent servants\nwith money into all the bazars to buy \"Dusty cloth\". The shopkeepers\nhad never heard of such an article so they bought some cloth of any\nsort they could get and brought it to the Goala; when he offered it\nto his daughter she thanked him and begged him not to waste his money:\n\n\"You do not understand\" said she--\"what I mean by 'Dusty cloth.' God\nhas not given it to me and no one else can; what I mean by 'Dusty\ncloth' is the cloth of a mother made dusty by the feet of her\nchild.\" Then her father and mother understood and wept with her,\nsaying that they would do what man could do but this was in the hands\nof God; and they sang:--\n\n\n \"Whatever the child of another may suffer, we care not:\n But our own child, we will take into our lap, even when it is\n covered with dust.\"\n\n\n\n\n\nCXLVI. The Brahman's Clothes.\n\nThere was once a Brahman who had two wives; like many Brahmans he lived\nby begging and was very clever at wheedling money out of people. One\nday the fancy took him to go to the market place dressed only in\na small loin cloth such as the poorest labourers wear and see how\npeople treated him. So he set out but on the road and in the market\nplace and in the village no one salaamed to him or made way to him\nand when he begged no one gave him alms. He soon got tired of this\nand hastened home and putting on his best _pagri_ and coat and dhoti\nwent back to the market place. This time every one who met him on the\nroad salaamed low to him and made way for him and every shopkeeper\nto whom he went gave him alms: and the people in the village who had\nrefused before gladly made offerings to him. The Brahman went home\nsmiling to himself and took off his clothes and put them in a heap\nand prostrated himself before them three or four times, saying each\ntime. \"O source of wealth: O source of wealth! it is clothes that\nare honoured in this world and nothing else.\"\n\n\n\n\nCXLVII. The Winning of a Bride.\n\nFormerly this country was all jungle; and when the jungle was first\ncleared the crops were very luxuriant; and the Santals had large\nherds of cattle, for there was much grazing; so they had milk and\ncurds in quantities and _ghee_ was as common as water; but now milk\nand curds are not to be had. In those days the Santals spent their\ntime in amusements and did not trouble about amassing wealth, but\nthey were timid and were much oppressed by their Rajas who looted any\nman who showed signs of wealth. Well, in those days the winters were\nvery cold and there used to be heavy frost at nights. And there was a\nman who had seven grown-up daughters and no son; and at the time of\nthreshing the paddy he had to undergo much hardship because he had\nno son to work for him; he had to sleep on the threshing floor and\nto get up very early to let out the cattle; and as the hoar frost\nlay two inches deep he found it bitterly cold.\n\nIn those days the villagers had a common threshing floor; and one\nday this man was talking to a friend and he jestingly asked whether\nhe would spend a night naked on the threshing floor; and the friend\nsaid that he would if there were sufficient inducement but certainly\nnot for nothing. Then the father of the seven daughters said \"If\nyou or any one else will spend a night naked on the threshing floor\nI will give him my eldest daughter in marriage without charging any\nbride price.\"--for he wanted a son-in-law to help him in his work. A\ncommon servant in the employ of the village headman heard him and\nsaid \"I will accept the offer;\" the man had not bargained for such\nan undesirable match but he could not go back from his word; so he\nagreed and said that he would choose a night; and he waited till it\nwas very cold and windy and then told the headman's servant to sleep\nout that night. The servant spent the night on the threshing floor\nwithout any clothes in spite of the frost and won his bride.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV\n\nPart IV\n\nThe following stories illustrate the belief in Bongas, i.e. the spirits\nwhich the Santals believe to exist everywhere, and to take an active\npart in human affairs. Bongas frequently assume the form of young men\nand women and form connections with human beings of the opposite sex.\n\nAt the bidding of witches they cause disease, or they hound on the\ntiger to catch men. But they are by no means always malevolent and\nare capable of gratitude. The Kisar Bonga or Brownie who takes up his\nabode in a house steals food for the master of the house, and unless\noffended will cause him to grow rich.\n\n\n\n\n\nCXLVIII. Marriage with Bongas.\n\nThere have been many cases of Santals marrying _bonga_ girls. Not of\ncourse with formal marriage ceremonies but the marriage which results\nfrom merely living together.\n\nIn Darbar village near Silingi there are two men who married\n_bonga_. One of them was very fond of playing on the flute and his\nplaying attracted a _bonga_ girl who came to him looking like a human\ngirl, while he was tending buffaloes. After the intimacy had lasted\nsome time she invited him to visit her parents, so he went with her\nand she presented him to her father and mother as her husband. But he\nwas very frightened at what he saw; for the seats in the house were\ngreat coiled up snakes and on one side a number of tigers and leopards\nwere crouching. Directly he could get a word alone with his wife he\nbegged her to come away but she insisted on his staying to dinner;\nso they had a meal of dried rice and curds and _gur_ and afterwards\nhe smoked a pipe with his _bonga_ father-in-law and then he set off\nhome with his _bonga_ wife. They were given a quantity of dried rice\nand cakes to take with them when they left.\n\nAfter seeing him home his wife left him; so he thought that he would\nshare the provisions which he had brought with a friend of his; he\nfetched his friend but when they came to open the bundle in which\nthe rice and cakes had been tied, they found nothing but _meral_\nleaves and cow dung cakes such as are used for fuel. This friend saw\nthat the food must have been given by _bongas_ and it was through\nthe friend that the story became known.\n\nIn spite of this the young man never gave up his _bonga_ wife until\nhis family married him properly. She used to visit his house secretly,\nbut would never eat food there; and during his connection with her\nall his affairs prospered, his flocks and herds increased and he\nbecame rich, but after he married he saw the _bonga_ girl no more.\n\nThe adventures of the other young man of the same village were much\nthe same. He made the acquaintance of a _bonga_ girl thinking that\nshe was some girl of the village, but she really inhabited a spring,\non the margin of which grew many _ahar_ flowers. One day she asked\nhim to pick her some of the _ahar_ flowers and while he was doing\nso she cast some sort of spell upon him and spirited him away into\nthe pool. Under the water he found dry land and many habitations;\nthey went on till they came to the _bonga_ girl's house and there he\ntoo saw the snake seats and tigers and leopards.\n\nHe was hospitably entertained and stayed there about six months;\none of his wife's brothers was assigned to him as his particular\ncompanion and they used to go out hunting together. They used tigers\nfor hunting-dogs and their prey was men and women, whom the tigers\nkilled, while the _bonga_ took their flesh home and cooked it. One\nday when they were hunting the _bonga_ pointed out to the young\nman a wood cutter in the jungle and told him to set the tiger on to\n\"yonder peacock\"; but he could not bring himself to commit murder;\nso he first shouted to attract the wood cutter's attention and then\nlet the tiger loose; the wood cutter saw the animal coming and killed\nit with his axe as it sprang upon him.\n\nHis _bonga_ father-in-law was so angry with him for having caused\nthe death of the tiger, that he made his daughter take her husband\nback to the upper world again.\n\nIn spite of all he had seen the young man did not give up his _bonga_\nwife and every two or three months she used to spirit him away under\nthe water: and now that man is a _jan guru_.\n\n\n\n\nCXLIX. The Bonga Headman.\n\nSarjomghutu is a village about four miles from Barhait Bazar on\nthe banks of the Badi river. On the river bank grows a large banyan\ntree. This village has no headman or _paranic_; any headman who is\nappointed invariably dies; so they have made a _bonga_ who lives in\nthe banyan tree their headman.\n\nWhen any matter has to be decided, the villagers all meet at the banyan\ntree, where they have made their _manjhi than_; they take out a stool\nto the tree and invite the invisible headman to sit on it. Then they\ndiscuss the matter and themselves speak the answers which the headman\nis supposed to give. This goes on to the present day and there is no\ndoubt that these same villagers sometimes offer human sacrifices,\nbut they will never admit it, for it would bring them bad luck to\nspeak about it.\n\nThe villagers get on very well with the _bonga_. If any of them has\na wedding or a number of visitors at his house, and has not enough\nplates and dishes, he goes to the banyan tree and asks the headman\nto lend him some. Then he goes back to his house, and returning in a\nlittle while finds the plates and dishes waiting for him under the\ntree; and when he has finished with them he cleans them well and\ntakes them back to the tree.\n\n\n\n\n\nCL. Lakhan and the Bongas.\n\nOnce a young man named Lakhan was on a hunting party and he pursued\na deer by himself and it led him a long chase until he was far from\nhis companions; and when he was close behind it they came to a pool\nall overgrown with weeds and the deer jumped into the pool and Lakhan\nafter it; and under the weeds he found himself on a dry high road\nand he followed the deer along this until it entered a house and he\nalso entered. The people of the house asked him to sit down but the\nstool which was offered him was a coiled up snake, so he would not\ngo near it; and he saw that they were _bongas_ and was too frightened\nto speak. And in the cattle pen attached to the house he saw a great\nherd of deer.\n\nThen a boy came running in and asked the mistress of the house\nwho Lakhan was; she said that he had brought their kid home for\nthem. Lakhan wanted to run away but he could not remember the road\nby which he had come. Two daughters of the house were there and they\nwanted their father to keep Lakhan as a son-in-law; but their father\ntold them to catch him a kid and let him go; so they brought him a\nfawn and the two girls led him back and took him through the pool to\nthe upper world: but on the way they put some enchantment on him,\nfor two or three weeks later he went mad and in his madness he ran\nabout from one place to another and one day he ran into the pool and\nwas seen no more, and no one knows where he went or whether the two\nbonga maidens took him away.\n\n\n\n\nCLI. The House Bonga.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a house _bonga_ who lived in the house\nof the headman of a certain village; and it was a shocking thief;\nit used to steal every kind of grain and food, cooked and uncooked;\nout of the houses of the villagers. The villagers knew what was going\non but could never catch it.\n\nOne evening however the _bonga_ was coming along with a pot of boiled\nrice which it had stolen, when one of the villagers suddenly came upon\nit face to face; the _bonga_ slunk into the hedge but the villager\nsaw it clearly and flung his stick at it, whereupon the _bonga_ got\nfrightened and dropped the pot of rice on the ground so that it was\nsmashed to pieces and fled. The villager pursued the _bonga_ till he\nsaw it enter the headman's house. Then he went home, intending the\nnext morning to show the neighbours the spilt rice lying on the path;\nbut when the morning came he found that the rice had been removed,\nso he kept quiet.\n\nAt midday he heard the headman's servants complaining that the rice\nwhich had been given them for breakfast was so dirty and muddy that\nsome of them had not been able to eat it at all; then he asked how\nthey were usually fed \"Capitally,\" they answered \"we get most varied\nmeals, often with turmeric and pulse or vegetables added to the rice;\nbut that is only for the morning meal; for supper we get only plain\nrice.\" \"Now, I can tell you the reason of that\" said the villager,\n\"there is a greedy _bonga_ in your house who goes stealing food at\nnight and puts some of what he gets into your pots for your morning\nmeal.\" \"That's a fine story\" said the servants: \"No, it's true\" said\nthe villager, and told them how the evening before he had made the\n_bonga_ drop the rice and how afterwards it had been scraped up off\nthe ground; and when they heard this they believed him because they\nhad found the mud in their food.\n\nSome time afterwards the same man saw the _bonga_ again at night\nmaking off with some heads of Indian corn; so he woke up a friend\nand they both took sticks and headed off the _bonga_, who threw down\nthe Indian corn and ran away to the headman's house. Then they woke\nup the headman and told him that a thief had run into his house. So\nhe lit a lamp and went in to look, and they could hear the _bonga_\nrunning about all over the house making a great clatter and trying to\nhide itself; but they could not see it. Then they took the headman to\nsee the Indian corn which the _bonga_ had dropped in its flight. The\nnext day the villagers met and fined the headman for having the\n_bonga_ in his house; and from that time the _bonga_ did not steal\nin that village, and whenever the two men who had chased it visited\nthe headman's house the _bonga_ was heard making a great clatter as\nit rushed about trying to hide.\n\n\n\n\nCLII. The Sarsagun Maiden.\n\nThere was once a Sarsagun girl who was going to be married; and a\nlarge party of her girl friends went to the jungle to pick leaves\nfor the wedding. The Sarsagun girl persisted in going with them as\nusual though they begged her not to do so. As they picked the leaves\nthey sang songs and choruses; so they worked and sang till they came\nto a tree covered with beautiful flowers; they all longed to adorn\ntheir hair with the flowers but the difficulty was that they had no\ncomb or looking glass; at last one girl said that a _bonga Kora_\nlived close by who could supply them; thereupon there was a great\ndispute as to who should go to the _bonga Kora_ and ask for a mirror\nand comb; each wanted the other to go; and in the end they made the\nSarsagun girl go. She went to the _bonga Kora_ and called \"Bonga Kora\ngive a me mirror and comb that we may adorn our hair with _Mirjin_\nflowers.\" The Bonga Kora pointed them out to her lying on a shelf\nand she took them away.\n\nThen they had a gay time adorning their hair; but when they had\nfinished not one of the girls would consent to take back the mirror\nand comb. The Sarsagun maiden urged that as she had brought them it\nwas only fair that someone else should take them back; but they would\nnot listen, so in the end she had to take them. The Bonga Kora pointed\nto a shelf for her to place them on but when she went to do so and\nwas well inside his house he closed the door and shut her in. Her\ncompanions waited for her return till they were tired and then went\nhome and told her mother what had happened. Then her father and brother\nwent in search of her and coming to the Bonga Kora's home they sang:\n\n\n \"Daughter, you combed yourself with a one row comb\n Daughter, you put _mirjin_ flowers in your hair\n Daughter, come hither to us.\"\n\n\nBut she only answered from within--\n\n\n \"He has shut me in with a stone, father\n He has closed the door upon me, father\n Do you and my mother go home again.\"\n\n\nThen her eldest brother came and sang the same song and received the\nsame answer; her mothers's brother and father's sister then came and\nsang, also in vain; so they all went home.\n\nJust then the intended bridegroom with his party arrived at the village\nand were welcomed with refreshments and invited to camp under a tree;\nbut while the bridegroom's party were taking their ease, the bride's\nrelations were in a great to-do because the bride was missing; and\nwhen the matchmaker came and asked them to get the marriage ceremony\nover at once that the bridegroom might return, they had to take\nhim into the house and tell him what had happened. The matchmaker\nwent and told the bridegroom, who at once called his men to him and\nmounted his horse and rode off in a rage. Now it happened that the\ndrummers attached to the procession had stopped just in front of the\nhome of the _Bonga Kora_ and were drumming away there; so when the\nbridegroom rode up to them his horse passed over the door of the Bonga\nKora's home and stamped on it so hard that it flew open; standing just\ninside was the Sarsagun girl; at once the bridegroom pulled her out,\nplaced her on his horse and rode off with her to his home.\n\n\n\n\nCLIII. The Schoolboy and the Bonga.\n\nThere was once a boy who went every day to school and on his way\nhome he used always to bathe in a certain tank. Every day he left his\nbooks and slate on the bank while he bathed and no one ever touched\nthem. But one day while he was in the water a _bonga_ maiden came\nout of the tank and took his books and slate with her under the\nwater. When the boy had finished bathing he searched for them a\nlong time in vain and then went home crying. When the midday meal\nwas served he refused to eat anything unless his books were found:\nhis father and mother promised to find them for him and so he ate a\nvery little. When the meal was finished his father and mother went\nto the bonga maiden and besought her--singing\n\n\n \"Give daughter-in-law, give\n Give our boy his pen, give up his pen.\"\n\n\nThe _bonga_ maiden sang in answer\n\n\n \"Let the owner of the pen\n Come himself and fetch it.\"\n\n\nThen the boy's eldest brother and his wife went and sang\n\n\n \"Give, sister-in-law, give,\n Give our brother his pen: give up his pen.\"\n\n\nThe _bonga_ maiden sing in answer\n\n\n \"Let the owner of the pen\n Come himself and fetch it\"\n\n\nThen the boy's maternal uncle and his wife went and sang the same\nsong and received the same answer. So they told the boy that he must\ngo himself.\n\nWhen he reached the tank the _bonga_ girl came up and held out his\nbooks to him; but when he went to take them she drew back and so she\nenticed him into the tank; but when once he was under the water he\nfound he was in quite a dry and sandy place. There he stayed and was\nmarried to the _bonga_ girl. After he had lived with her a long time\nhe became homesick and longed to see his father and mother. So he\ntold his _bonga_ wife that he must go and visit them. \"Then do not\ntake your school books with you,\" said she; \"perhaps you won't come\nback.\" \"No, I will surely return,\" he answered; so she agreed to his\ngoing and said that she would sit on the door step and watch for his\nreturn; and he must promise to be very quick. She tied up some cakes\nand dried rice for him and also gave him back his school books.\n\nShe watched him go to his home and sat and watched for his return but\nhe never came back. Evening came and night came but he did not return:\nthen the _bonga_ girl rose and went after him. She went through the\ngarden and up to her husband's house in a flame of fire: and there\nshe changed herself into a Karinangin snake and entering the house\nclimbed on to the bed where the boy lay sleeping and climbed on to\nhis breast and bit him.\n\n\n \"Rise mother, rise mother,\n The Karinangin snake\n Is biting me.\"\n\n\nhe called--\n\nBut no one heard him though he kept on calling: so he died and the\n_bonga_ girl went away with his spirit.\n\n\n\n\n\nCLIV. The Bonga's Cave.\n\nThere was once a young _bonga_ who dwelt in a cave in the side of a\nhill in the jungle; and every day he placed on a flat stone outside,\na pot of oil and a comb and a looking glass and some lamp black or\nvermilion; any woman who went to the jungle could see these things\nlying there; but they were never visible to a man. After a time the\ngirls who went to the jungle began to use the comb and looking glass\nand to dress and oil their hair there; it became a regular custom for\nthem to go first to the flat stone before collecting their firewood\nor leaves.\n\nOne day five girls went together to the jungle and after they had\ncombed and dressed their hair it happened that one got left behind;\nand seeing her alone the _bonga_ came out of the cave and creeping\nup quietly from behind threw his arms round her; and although she\nshouted to her friends for help he dragged her inside the cave. Her\ncompanions were just in time to see her disappear; and they begged\nand prayed the _bonga_ to let the girl go for once; but the _bonga_\nanswered from within that he would never let her go but was going to\nkeep her as his wife; and he drew a stone door over the mouth of the\ncave. News of the misfortune was sent to the girl's parents and they\ncame hastening to the place; and her mother began to sing:\n\n\n \"My daughter, you rubbed your hair with oil from a pot:\n My daughter, you combed your hair with a comb with one row of teeth;\n Come hither to me, my daughter.\"\n\n\nAnd the girl sang from within the cave:\n\n\n \"Mother, he has shut me in with a stone\n With a stone door he has shut me in, mother\n Mother, you must go back home.\"\n\n\nThen her father sang the same song and got the same answer; so they\nall went home. Then the girl's father's younger brother and his wife\ncame and sang the song and received the same answer and then her\nmother's brother and father's sister came and then all her relations,\nbut all in vain. Last of all came her brother riding on a horse and\nwhen he heard his sister's answer he turned his horse round and made\nit prance and kick until it kicked open the stone door of the cave;\nbut this was of no avail for inside were inner doors which he could not\nopen; so he also had to go home and leave his sister with the _bonga_.\n\nThe girl was not unhappy as the wife of the _bonga_ and after a time\nshe proposed to him they should go and pay a visit to her parents. So\nthe next day they took some cakes and dried rice and set off; they were\nwelcomed right warmly and pressed to stay the night. In the course of\nthe afternoon the girl's mother chanced to look at the provisions which\nthey had brought with them; and was surprised to see that in place of\ncakes was dried cowdung and instead of rice, leaves of the _meral_\ntree. The mother called her daughter in to look but the girl could\ngive no explanation; all she knew was that she had put up cakes and\ndried rice at starting. Her father told them all to keep quiet about\nthe matter lest there should be any unpleasantness and the _bonga_\ndecline to come and visit them again.\n\nNow the girl's brother had become great friends with his _bonga_\nbrother-in-law and it was only natural that when the _bonga_ and his\nwife set off home the next morning he should offer to accompany them\npart of the way. Off they started, the girl in front, then the _bonga_\nand then her brother; now the brother had hidden an axe under his cloth\nand as they were passing through some jungle he suddenly attacked the\n_bonga_ from behind and cut off his head. Then he called to his sister\nthat he had killed the _bonga_ and bade her come back with him; so the\ntwo turned back and as they looked round this saw that the _bonga's_\nhead was coming rolling after them. At this they started to run and ran\nas hard as they could until they got to the house and all the way the\nhead came rolling after until it rolled right into the house. There\nwas a fire burning on the hearth and they plucked up courage to take\nthe head and throw it into the fire where it was burnt to ashes. That\nwas the end of the _bonga_ but eight or nine days later the girl's\nhead began to ache and in spite of all medicines they applied it got\nworse and worse until in a short time she died. Then they knew that\nthe _bonga_ had taken her away and had not given her up.\n\n\n\n\nCLV. The Bonga's Victim.\n\nOnce upon a time there were seven brothers and they had one\nsister. Every day they used to go out hunting leaving their wives\nand sister at home. One very hot day they had been hunting since dawn\nand began to feel very thirsty; so they searched for water but could\nfind none. Then one of them climbed a tree and from its summit saw a\nbeautiful pool of water close by: so he came down and they all went in\nthe direction in which he had seen the water; but they could not find\nit anywhere; so another of the brothers climbed a tree and he called\nout that he could see the pool close by, but when he came down and led\nthem in what he thought was the right direction he was equally unable\nto find the water; and so it went on; whenever they climbed a tree\nthey could see the water close by, but when on the ground they could\nnot find it; and all the time they were suffering tortures from thirst.\n\nThen they saw that some _bonga_ was deluding them and that they must\noffer some sacrifice to appease him.\n\nAt first they proposed to devote one of their wives to the _bonga_;\nbut not one of the brothers was willing that his wife should be the\nvictim; and they had no children to offer so at last they decided to\ndedicate their only sister as the sacrifice. Then they prayed \"Ye who\nare keeping the water from us, listen; we dedicate to you our only\nsister; show us where the water is.\" No sooner had they said this\nthan they saw a pool of water close beside them and hastened to it\nand quenched their thirst. Then they rested and began to discuss how\nthey should sacrifice their sister; and at last they decided that\nas they had devoted her to the _bonga_ because they wanted water,\nit would be best to cast her into the water; and they planned to go\nand work one day near a pond of theirs and make their sister bring\ntheir breakfast out to them and then drown her.\n\nSo they went home and two or three days later the eldest brother\nsaid that the time had come for the sacrifice; but the two youngest\nloved their sister very much and begged for a little delay. Out of\npity the others agreed; but almost at once one of the brothers fell\nill and was like to die. Medicines were tried but had no effect;\nthen they called in an _ojha_ and he told them that the _bonga_ to\nwhom they had made the vow while out hunting had caused the illness\nand that if they did not fulfil the vow their brother would die. Then\nthey all went to the sick man's bedside and poured out water on the\nground and swore that they would fulfil their vow; no sooner had they\ndone so than the sick man was restored to health.\n\nSo the very next day they arranged to go and level the field near\ntheir pond and they told their wives to send their sister to them with\ntheir breakfast. When the time came the girl took out their breakfast\nand put it down by them and they sent her to draw water for them from\nthe pond but when she put her water pot down to the surface it would\nnot sink so as to let the water run in. The girl called out to her\nbrothers that the pot would not fill; they told her to go a little\nfurther into the water; so she went in till the water was up to her\nthighs but still the pot would not fill: then they called to her\nto go in further and she went in waist deep but still it would not\nfill; then she went in up to her neck and still it would not fill;\nthen she went in a little further and the water closed over her and\nshe was drowned. At this sight the brothers threw away the food which\nshe had brought and hastened home.\n\nSome days later the body rose and floated to the bank and at the place\nwhere it lay a bamboo sprang up and grew and flourished. One day a\nDome went to cut it down to make a flute of; as he raised his axe\nthe voice of the girl spoke from within the bamboo \"O Dome, do not\ncut high up; cut low down.\" The Dome looked about but could not see\nwho it was who spoke; however he obeyed the voice and cut the bamboo\nclose to the ground and made a flute of it. The sound of the flute\nwas surpassingly sweet and the Dome used to play on it every day. One\nday he was playing on it at a friend's house and a Santal heard it\nand was so taken by its sweet tone that he came at night and stole it.\n\nHaving got possession of it he used to play on it constantly and\nalways keep it by him. Every night the flute became a woman and the\nSantal found her in his house without knowing where she came from and\nused to spend the night talking to her but towards morning she used\nto go outside the house on some pretext and disappear. But one night\nas she was about to depart the Santal seized her and forced her to\nstay with him. Then she retained her human form but the flute was\nnever seen afterwards; so they called the girl the Flute girl and\nshe and the Santal were betrothed and soon afterwards married.\n\n\n\n\nCLVI. Baijal and the Bonga.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a young man named Baijal and he was\nvery skilful at playing on the bamboo flute. He played so sweetly\nthat a _bonga_ girl who heard him fell deeply in love with him and\none day when Baijal was alone in the jungle she took the form of a\npretty girl and pretended that she had come to the jungle to gather\nleaves. The two met and acquaintance soon became love and the two\nused to meet each other every day in the jungle. One day the _bonga_\ngirl asked Baijal to come home with her; so they went to a pool of\nwater and waded into it but when the water had risen to the calf of\nhis leg Baijal suddenly found himself on a broad dry road which led to\nhis mistress's house. When they reached it the bonga girl introduced\nBaijal to her father and brothers as her husband and told him not to be\nafraid of anything he saw; but he could not help feeling frightened,\nfor the stools on which they sat were coiled-up snakes and the house\ndogs were tigers and leopards.\n\nAfter he had been there three of four day his brothers-in-law one\nmorning asked him to come out hunting pea fowl. He readily agreed and\nthey all set out together. The Bongas asked Baijal to lead the dog\nbut as the dog was a tiger he begged to be excused until they reached\nthe jungle. So they hunted through the hills and valleys until they\ncame to a clearing in which there was a man chopping up a tree. Then\nthe _bongas_ called to Baijal \"There is a peacock feeding; take the\ndog; throw a stick and knock the bird over and then loose the dog at\nit.\" Baijal pretended not to understand and said that he could see no\npeacock; then they told him plainly that the man chopping the log was\ntheir game. Then he saw that he was meant to kill the man and not only\nso, but that he would have to eat the flesh afterwards. However he was\nafraid to refuse, so he took the tiger in the leash and went towards\nthe clearing but instead of first throwing his stick at the man he\nmerely let the tiger loose and cheered it on. The wood cutter heard\nthe shout and looking round saw the tiger; grasping his axe he ran to\nmeet it and as the animal sprang on him he smote it on the head and\nkilled it. Then Baijal went back and told his brothers-in-law that\nthe peacock had pecked their hound to death. They were very angry\nwith him for not throwing his stick first but he explained that he\nthought that such a big dog as theirs would not need any help.\n\nTwo or three days later Baijal told his _bonga_ wife to come home with\nhim, so they set off with a bundle of provisions for the journey. When\nthey had passed out through the pool Baijal opened the bundle to have\nsomething to eat but found that the bread had turned into cowdung\nfuel cakes; and the parched rice into _meral_ leaves; so he threw\nthem all away. However he would not give up the _bonga_ girl and they\nused to meet daily and in the course of time two children were born\nto them. Whenever there was a dance in the village the _bonga_ girl\nused to come to it. She would leave the two children on Baijal's bed\nand spend the whole night dancing with the other women of the village.\n\nThe time came when Baijal's parents arranged for his marriage,\nfor they knew nothing of his _bonga_ wife; and before the marriage\nthe _bonga_ made him promise that if he had a daughter he would name\nthe child after her. Even when he was married he did not give up his\n_bonga_ wife and used to meet her as before. One night she came with\nher children to a dance and after dancing some time said that she was\ntired and would go away; Baijal urged her not to go but to come with\nher children and live in his house along with his other wife. She\nwould not agree and he tried to force her and shut the door of the\nhouse; but she and her children rose to the roof in a flash of light\nand disappeared over the top of the house wall and passed away from\nthe village in a flame of fire. At this Baijal was so frightened that\nfrom that time he gave her up and never went near her again.\n\nBy and bye his wife bore him a daughter but they did not name the\nchild after the _bonga_ and the consequence was that it soon pined\naway and died. Two or three more were born but they also all died\nyoung because he had not named them after the _bonga_. At last he did\ngive a daughter the right name and from that time his children lived.\n\n\n\n\nCLVII. Ramai and the Bonga.\n\nOnce a _bonga_[3] haunted the house of a certain man and became such\na nuisance that the man had him exorcised and safely pegged down to\nthe ground; and they fenced in the place where the _bonga_ lay with\nthorns and put a large stone on the top of him. Just at the place\nwas a clump of \"Kite's claws\" bushes and one day when the berries\non the bushes were ripe, a certain cowherd named Ramai went to pick\nthem and when he came round to the stone which covered the _bonga_\nhe stood on it to pick the fruit and the _bonga_ called out to him\nto get off the stone; Ramai looked about and seeing no one said \"Who\nis that speaking?\" and the voice said \"I am buried under the stone;\nif you will take it off me I will give you whatever boon you ask\";\nRamai said that he was afraid that the _bonga_ would eat him but the\n_bonga_ swore to do him no harm, so he lifted up the stone and the\n_bonga_ came out and thanking Ramai told him to ask a boon.\n\nRamai asked for the power to see _bongas_ and to understand the\nlanguage of ants. \"I will give you the power,\" said the _bonga_,\n\"but you must tell no one about it, not even your wife; if you do\nyou will lose the power and in that case you must not blame me,\"\nThen the _bonga_ blew into his ear and he heard the speech of ants;\nand the _bonga_ scratched the film of his eye balls with a thorn\nand he saw the _bongas_: and there were crowds of them living in\nvillages like men. In December when we thresh the rice the _bongas_\ncarry off half of it; but Ramai could see them and would drive them\naway and so was able to save his rice.\n\nOnce a young fellow of his own age was very ill; and his friends blew\ninto his ears and partially brought him to his senses and he asked\nthem to send for Ramai; so they called Ramai and he had just been\nmilking his cows and came with the tethering rope in his hand; and\nwhen he entered the room he saw a _bonga_ sitting on the sick man's\nchest and twisting his neck; so he flogged it with the rope till it\nran away and he pursued it until it threw itself into a pool of water;\nand then the sick man recovered.\n\nBut Ramai soon lost his useful power; one day as he was eating his\ndinner he dropped some grains of rice and two ants fell to quarrelling\nover one grain and Ramai heard them abusing each other and was so\namused that he laughed out loud.\n\nHis wife asked why he laughed and he said at nothing in particular,\nbut she insisted on knowing and he said that it was at some scandal he\nhad heard in the village; but she would not believe him and worried\nhim until he told her that it was at the quarrel of the ants. Then\nshe made him tell her how he gained the power to understand what\nthey said: but from that moment he lost the powers which the _bonga_\nhad conferred on him.\n\n\n\n\nCLVIII. The Boundary Bonga.\n\nThere was once a man who owned a rich swampy rice field. Every year\nhe used to sacrifice a pig to the boundary _bonga_ before harvest;\nbut nevertheless the _bonga_ always reaped part of the crop. One year\nwhen the rice was ripening the man used to go and look at it every\nday. One evening after dusk as he was sitting quietly at the edge of\nthe field he overheard the _bonga_ and his wife talking. The _bonga_\nsaid that he was going to pay a visit to some friends but his wife\nbegged him not to go because the rice was ripe and the farmer would\nbe cutting it almost at once. However the _bonga_ would not listen\nto her advice and set off on his journey.\n\nThe farmer saw that there was no time to be lost and the very next\nday he sacrificed the usual pig and reaped the whole of the crop. That\nevening when work was over he stayed and listened to hear whether the\n_bonga_ had come back, but all was quiet. The next day he threshed\nthe paddy and instead of twenty bushels as usual he found that he had\ngot sixty bushels of rice, That evening he again went to the field\nand this time he found that the _bonga_ had returned and was having\na fine scolding from his wife, because he had let the farmer reap the\nwhole crop. \"Take your silly pig and your silly plate of flour from the\nsacrifice,\" screamed the _bonga's_ wife, throwing them at her spouse,\n\"that is all you have got; this is all because you would go away when\nI told you not to do it; how could I reap the crop with the children\nto look after? If you had stayed we might have got five _bandis_\nof rice from that field.\"\n\n\n\n\n\nCLIX. The Bonga Exorcised.\n\nA very poor man was once ploughing his field and as he ploughed the\nshare caught fast in something. At first he thought that it was\na root and tried to divide it with his axe; but as he could not\ncut it he looked closer and found that it was a copper chain. He\nfollowed the chain along and at either end he found a brass pot full\nof rupees. Delighted with his luck he wrapped the pots in his cloth\nand hurried home. Then he and his wife counted the money and buried\nit under the floor of their house.\n\nFrom that time the man began to prosper; his crops were always good;\nand his cattle increased and multiplied; he had many children and\nthey grew up strong and healthy and were married and had children of\ntheir own.\n\nBut after many years luck changed. The family was constantly ill and\nevery year a child died. The _jan guru_ who was consulted declared\nthat a _Kisar bonga_ was responsible for their misfortunes. He told\nthe sons how their father had found the money in the ground and said\nthat the _bonga_ to whom the money belonged was responsible for their\nmisfortunes and was named Mainomati.\n\nHe told them how to get rid of the _bonga_. They were to dig up\nthe buried money and place it in bags; and load it on the back of a\nyoung heifer; and take five brass nails and four copper nails, and\ntwo rams. If the _bonga_ was willing to leave the house the heifer\nwould walk away to another village directly the bags were placed on\nits back; but if the _bonga_ would not go the heifer would not move.\n\nSo they did as the _Janguru_ advised and when the bags were placed\non the heifer it walked away to a large peepul tree growing on the\nbanks of a stream in another village and there it stopped. Then they\nsacrificed the rams and uttering vows over the nails drove them into\nthe peepul tree and went home, turning the heifer loose. From that\ntime their troubles ceased.\n\nBut that evening a man driving his cattle home saw a young woman\nnailed to the peepul tree; and not knowing that she was a _bonga_\nhe released her and took her home and married her.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V\n\nPart V.\n\nThe legends and customary beliefs contained in this part are definitely\nconnected with the Santals.\n\n\n\n\n\nCLX. The Beginning of Things.\n\nIn the days of old, Thakur Baba had made everything very convenient for\nmankind and it was by our own fault that we made Thakur Baba angry so\nthat he swore that we must spend labour in making things ready for use.\n\nThis is the story that I have heard.\n\nWhen the Santals lived in Champa and the Kiskus were their kings, the\nSantals were very simple and religious and only worshipped Thakur. In\nthose days the rice grew ready husked, and the cotton bushes bore\ncloth all ready woven and men did not have to pick the lice out of\neach others' hair; men's skulls grew loose and each man could lift\noff his own skull and clean it and then replace it. But all this was\nspoilt by the misdeeds of a serving girl of one of the Rajas. When\nshe went into the field for purposes of nature she would at the same\ntime pick and eat the rice that grew by her; and when she had made\nher hands dirty cleaning out a cow house she would wipe them on the\ncloth which she was wearing. Angered by these dirty habits Thakur Baba\ndeprived men of the benefits which he had conferred upon them and the\nrice began to grow in a husk and the cotton plants only produced raw\ncotton and men's skulls became fixed so that they could not be removed.\n\nIn those old days too the sky was quite close to the earth and Thakur\nBaba used to come and visit men in their houses. So it was a saying\namong our forefathers \"Do, not throw your dirty leaf plates near the\nfront or back door and do not let your brass plates and dishes remain\nunwashed at night; for if Thakur Baba come along and see them so, he\nwill not come into the house but will be angry and curse us.\" But one\nday a woman after finishing her meal threw the used leaf plate out of\nthe door, and a gust of wind carried it up to the sky; this displeased\nThakur Baba and he resolved no longer to dwell in the neighbourhood of\nmen as they were so ill-mannered as to throw their dirty leaf plates\nat him and so he lifted the sky to its present height above the earth.\n\nTo this day men who have heard of this scold those who throw their\nrefuse into the street and bid them heap it up in some out-of-the-way\nplace.\n\nThe misdeeds of men at length made Thakur Baba so angry that he\nresolved to destroy them all. Now Thakur Baba is Sing Chando or\nthe Sun, and the Moon is his wife: and at first there were as many\nstars by day as there are by night and they were all the children of\nthe Sun and Moon who had divided them between them. So Sing Chando\nhaving resolved to destroy mankind blazed with a fierce heat till man\nand beast writhed under the torture of it. But when the Moon looked\ndown and saw their sufferings she was filled with pity and thought\nhow desolate the earth would be without a living being on it. So she\nhastened to Sing Chando and prayed him not to desolate the earth; but\nfor all her beseeching the utmost that she could obtain was a promise\nfrom her Lord that he would spare one or two human beings to be the\nseed of a future race. So Sing Chando chose out a young man and a young\nwoman and bade them go into a cave in a hill side and close the mouth\nof the cave with a raw hide and when they were safely inside he rained\nfire from heaven and killed every other living being on the earth.\n\nFive days and five nights it rained fire and the man and woman in\nthe cave sang--(to the Baha tune)\n\n\n \"Five days and five nights the fire will rain, ho!\n Five days and five nights, all night long, ho!\n Where will you two human beings stay?\n Where will you two take shelter?\n There is a hide, a hide:\n There is also a hill:\n There is also a cave in the rock!\n There will we two stay:\n There will we two take shelter.\"\n\n\nWhen they came out of the cave the first thing they saw was a cow lying\nburnt to death with a _karke_ tree fallen on the top of it and near\nit was lying a buffalo cow burnt to death; at the sight they sang:--\n\n\n \"The cow is glowing cinders, glowing cinders:\n The _karke_ tree is burnt:\n The buffalo cow has fallen and has been burnt\n to ashes, to ashes.\"\n\n\nAnd as they went on, they sang a similar lament over the remains of\neach living being as they saw it.\n\nAlthough these two had been spared to raise up a new race, Ninda\nChando, the Moon, feared that the Sun would again get angry with the\nnew race and destroy it; and so she made a plan to trick him. She\ncovered up all her children with a large basket and smeared her mouth\nand lips with red and going to Sing Chando told him that she had eaten\nup every one of her children and proposed that he should now eat up\nhis. At first Sing Chando declined to believe her but she pointed to\nher lips and said that they were red with the blood of the children;\nso Sing Chando was convinced and agreed to eat up his children except\ntwo whom he would keep to play with. So they devoured all but two\nand the two that were saved are the morning and evening stars.\n\nThus Sing Chando was deprived of the power to again burn up the earth;\nbut when that night Ninda Chando let out her own children from under\nthe basket she warned them to beware of the wrath of their father when\nhe found out the trick that had been played him. When Sing Chando\nsaw Ninda Chando's children still alive he flew to her in a passion\nand the children at the sight of him scattered in all directions and\nthat is why the stars are now spread all over the sky; at first they\nwere all in one place. Although the stars escaped, Sing Chando could\nnot restrain his wrath and cut Ninda Chando in two and that is why\nthe Moon waxes and wanes; at first she was always full like the sun.\n\nSome men say that the man and woman whom Thakur hid in the cave were\nPilchu Haram and Pilchu Budhi and they had twelve sons and twelve\ndaughters and mankind is descended from them and has increased\nand filled the earth; and that it was in that country that we were\ndivided into twelve different races according to the food which our\nprogenitors chose at a feast.\n\n\n\n\nCLXI. Chando and His Wife.\n\nOnce upon a time Chando went to the hills to fashion a plough out of\na log of wood; and his wife was left at home alone, Chando was so\nlong in coming back that his wife grew impatient; so she made some\nmosquitos and sent them to worry him and drive him home. But Chando\nmade some dragon-flies and they ate up the mosquitos and he went on\nwith his work. His wife made various other animals and sent them out,\nbut Chando destroyed them all. At last she made a tiger and sent it\nto frighten him home; but Chando took up a handful of chips from the\nlog he was cutting and threw them at the tiger and they turned into\nwild dogs and chased the tiger away. Ever since that no tiger will\nface wild dogs.\n\nThen Chando's wife shut up a locust in an iron pot and when Chando at\nlast came home she asked him \"Why have you been so long? Who is to\ngive food and drink to all the living creatures if you don't attend\nto business.\" Chando answered that he had fed them all.\n\n\"No you have not, you have not fed the locust!\"\n\n\"But I have\" said Chando.\n\nThen she took the lid off the iron pot and showed him the locust\neating grass inside; and Chando had nothing to say.\n\n\n\n\nCLXII. The Sikhar Raja.\n\nSantals say that the Sikhar Raja was a _bonga_ and this is the story\nthey tell about him. A certain woman was with child but could not\nsay by whom she was pregnant so she fled into the jungle and at the\nfoot of a clump of bamboos gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl;\nand then went home leaving the children lying in the jungle. The\nchildren lay there crying very pitifully. Now a herd of wild bison\nwas grazing in the jungle and they heard the crying and one of the\ncows went to see what was the matter and took pity on the children and\nsuckled them. Every day she came three times and fed them; and under\nher care the children grew up strong and healthy. If any man came\nto hunt in the jungle the bison-cow used to attack him and drive him\naway; she used to bring the bows and arrows which the hunters threw\naway in their flight to the boy that he might learn how to shoot. And\nwhen any basket makers passed by the jungle on their way to market to\nsell their wares she used to charge out at them and then bring to the\ngirl the winnowing fans and baskets they threw down in their fright,\nso that she might learn to sift rice.\n\nThus the children prospered; and the boy was named Harichand and he\nand his sister looked like gods. When they grew up they married each\nother and then the bison-cow left them. Then Thakur sent from heaven\nsixteen hundred _gopinis_ and the _gopinis_ said that Harichand and\nhis wife should be king and queen in that land of Sikhar. Then they\ntook counsel together as to where the royal fort should be. Three\nscribes sat down to study the books with Harichand and his wife in\ntheir midst; on the right sat the scribe Hikim, and on the left the\nscribe Bhuja and the scribe Jaganath opened the book to see where\nthe fort should be; and all the gopinis sat round in a circle and\nsang while the book was read.\n\n\n \"Raja Harichand of the Sikhar stock, of Jhalamala,\n Where is his abode!\n Raja Harichand of the Sikhar stock, of Jhalamala,\n In the bamboo clump is his abode!\"\n\n \"Raja Harichand of the Sikhar stock of Jhalamala\n In the banyan-tree field in his abode!\n Raja Harichand, of the Sikhar stock, of Jhalamala,\n In the brinjal corner is his abode.\"\n\n\nAnd they found in the book that the fort should be in Pachet hill;\nthen they sang in triumph:--\n\n\n \"It will not do, O Raja, to build a fort here:\n We will leave Paras and build a fort on Pachet hill:\n There in the happy Brinda forest.\"\n\n\nThen they brought the Raja and Rani from the jungle to Pachet and\non the top of the Pachet hill a stone fort sprang up for them; and\nall the country of Sikhar acknowledged their sway. After that the\nSantals made their way from Champa and dwelt in Sikhar and cleared all\nthe jungle in it and abode there many years. They called the Sikhar\nRaja a _bonga_ because no one knew his father or mother. Under Raja\nHarichand the Santals were very contented and happy, and when he\ncelebrated the Chatar festival they used to sing this song, because\nthey were so contented:--\n\n\n \"Harichand Raja was born of a bison-cow,\n Sirguja Rana was born of a snake.\"\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCLXIII. The Origin of Tobacco.\n\nThis is the way that the chewing tobacco began. There was once a\nBrahmin girl whose relations did not give her in marriage and she\ndied unmarried. After the body had been burned and the people had\ngone home, Chandu thought \"Alas, I sent this woman into the world\nand she found favour with no one; well, I will confer a gift on her\nwhich will make men ask for her every day,\" So he sowed tobacco at\nthe burning place and it grew up and flourished. And there was a boy\nof the cowherd caste who used to graze his cattle about that place;\nhe saw his goats greedily eating the tobacco leaf and he wondered\nwhat the leaf was and tasted a bit but finding it bitter he spat it\nout. Some time after however he had tooth-ache and having tried many\nremedies in vain he bethought himself of the bitter tobacco and he\nchewed some of that and kept it in his mouth and found that it cured\nthe tooth-ache; from that time he formed the habit of chewing it. One\nday he saw some burnt bones or lime and he picked up the powder and\nrubbed it between his fingers to see what it was and after doing so he\nate some tobacco and found that the taste was improved, so from that\ntime he always chewed lime with the tobacco. He recommended the leaf\nto other men who had tooth-ache and they formed the habit of chewing\nit too and called it tobacco; and then men who had no tooth-ache took\nto it; and acquired a craving for it. This is the way tobacco chewing\nbegan, as our forefathers say.\n\n\n\n\nCLXIV. The Transmigration of Souls.\n\nAll the cats of Hindus have believed and believe, and the Santals also\nhave said and say, that Thakur made the land and sky and sea and man\nand animals and insects and fish and the creation was complete and\nfinal: he made their kinds and castes once for all and did not alter\nthem afterwards; and he fixed the time of growth and of dwelling in\nthe body; and for the flowers to seed and he made at that time as\nmany souls as was necessary and the same souls go on being incarnated\nsometimes in a human body and sometimes in the body of an animal;\nand so it is that many human beings really have the souls of animals;\nif a man has a man's soul he is of a gentle disposition; but if he gets\nthe soul of a dog or cat then he is bad tempered and ready to quarrel\nwith everyone; and the man with a frog's soul is silent and sulky and\nthose who get tiger's souls when they start a quarrel never give up\ntill they gain their point. There is a story which proves all this.\n\nThere was once a Brahman who had two wives and as he knew something\nof herbs and simples he used to leave his wives at home and go about\nthe country as a quack doctor; but whenever he came home his two wives\nused to scold him and find fault with him for no reason at all till\nthey made his life a burden. So he resolved to leave two such shrews\nand one day when they had been scolding as usual he put on the garb\nof a _jogi_ and in spite of their protests went out into the world.\n\nAfter journeying two or three days he came to a town in which a\npestilence was raging and he sat down to rest under a tree on the\noutskirts. There he noticed that many corpses had been thrown out and\nhe saw two vultures fly down to feed on the bodies; and the he-vulture\nsaid to his mate \"Which corpse shall we eat first?\" Now the Brahman\nsomehow understood the language of the birds--but the mate returned\nno answer though the he-vulture kept on repeating the question; at\nlast she said \"Don't you see there is a man sitting at the foot of\nthe tree?\" Then they both approached the Brahman and asked why he was\nsitting in such a place and whether he was in distress; he told them\nthat trouble had driven him from his home and that he was wandering\nabout the world as chance led him, because the continual quarrelling of\nhis two wives was more than he could bear. The vultures said \"We will\ngive you a means by which you may see your wives as they really are\"\nand one of them pulled out a wing feather and told him when he went\nto any house begging to stick it behind his ear and then he would\nsee what the people were really like; and they advised him to marry a\nwoman who gave him alms with her hands. Then he got up and went away\nwith the feather, leaving the birds to prey on the corpses.\n\nWhen the Brahman came to a village to beg he saw by the aid of the\nfeather, that some of the people were really cats and some were dogs\nand other animals and when they gave him alms they brought it in their\nteeth; then he made up his mind to go home and see what his wives\nreally were; and he found that one was a bitch and one was a sow;\nand when they brought him water they carried the cup in their months;\nat this sight he left the house again in disgust, determined to marry\nany woman who offered him alms with her hands.\n\nHe wandered for days till at last the daughter of a Chamar, when he\nbegged, brought him alms in her hands; and he at once determined to\nstay there and marry her at all costs; so he sat down and when the\nChamar asked why he did not go away he said that he meant to marry the\ngirl who had given him alms and live in his house as his son-in-law;\nthe Chamar did all he could to remonstrate at such an extraordinary\nproposal as that a Brahman should destroy his caste by marrying a\nChamar; the Brahman said that they might do what they liked to him\nbut that he would not leave till he obtained his bride. So at last\nthe Chamar called in his castefellows and relations to advise him\nwhether he would be guilty of any sin in yielding to the proposal of\nthe Brahman; and they called into council the principal villagers of\nall the other castes and after fully questioning the Chamar and the\nBrahman the judgment of the villagers was that the marriage should\ntake place and they would take the responsibility. Then the Brahman\nwas made to give a full account of himself and where he had come from,\nand when this was found to be true, the bride price was fixed and\npaid and the marriage took place and the Brahman became a Chamar.\n\n\n\n\nCLXV. The Next World.\n\nThis is what the Santals say about the next world. After death men\nhave a very hard time of it in the next world. _Chando bonga_ makes\nthem work terribly hard; the woman have to pound the fruit of the\ncastor oil plant with a pestle; and from the seeds Chando bonga makes\nhuman beings. All day long they have to work; those women who have\nbabies get a little respite on the excuse of suckling their babies;\nbut those who have no children get no rest at all; and the men are\nallowed to break off to chew tobacco but those who have not learnt to\nchew have to work without stopping from morning to night. And this is\nthe reason why Santals learn to chew tobacco when they are alive; for\nit is of no use to merely smoke a _huka_: in the next world we shall\nnot be allowed to knock off work in order to smoke. In the next world\nalso it is very difficult to get water to drink. There are frogs who\nstand on guard and drive away any who comes to the water to drink;\nand so when Satals die we send drinking vessels with them so that\nthey may be able to run quickly to the water and fill the vessels\nand get away before they are stopped. And it is said that if a man\nduring his lifetime has planted a peepul tree he gets abused for it\nin the next world and is told to go and pick the leaves out of the\nwater which have fallen into it and are spoiling it and such a man is\nable to get water to drink while he is picking the leaves out of it;\nbut whether this is all true I cannot say.\n\n\n\n\nCLXVI. After Death.\n\nWhen grown-up people die they become ancestral _bongas_ and sacrifices\nare offered to them at the Flower and Sohrai festivals; and when\nchildren die they become _bhuts_. When a pregnant woman dies, they\ndrive long thorns into the soles of the feet before the body is\nburned for such women become _churins_. The reason of this is that\nwhen the _churin_ pursues any one the thorns may hurt her and prevent\nher from running fast: and so the man who is pursued may escape; for\nif the _churin_ catches him she will lick all the flesh off his bones;\nthey especially attack the belly and their tongues are very rough.\n\nThere was once a man who had been to get his ploughshare sharpened by\nthe blacksmith and as he was on his way home it came on to rain, so he\ntook shelter in a hollow tree. While he was waiting for the weather\nto clear he saw a _churin_ coming along singing and she also came to\ntake shelter in the same tree. Fortunately she pushed in backwards\nand the man took the ploughshare which was still nearly red hot and\npressed it against her back; so she ran away screaming and he made\ngood his escape in the other direction; otherwise he would assuredly\nhave been licked to death.\n\n\n\n\n\nCLXVII. Hares and Men.\n\nIn former days hares used to eat men and a man presented himself before\nThakur and said \"O Father, these hares do us much damage; they are\nlittle animals and hide under leaves and then spring out and eat us;\nbig animals we can see coming and can save ourselves. Have pity on\nus and deliver us from these little animals,\" So Thakur summoned the\nchief of the hares and fixed a day for hearing the case; and when the\nman and the hare appeared he asked the hare whether they ate men and\nthe hare denied it and asserted on the contrary that men ate hares; but\nthe man when questioned denied that men killed hares. Then Thakur said\n\"O hare and man, I have questioned you both and you give contradictory\nanswers; and neither admits the charge; the matter shall be decided in\nthis way; you, hare, shall watch a _Kita_ tree and if within a year you\nsee a leaf fall from the tree you shall be allowed to eat men; and you,\nman, shall watch a _Korkot_ tree and if you see a leaf fall, then men\nshall be allowed to eat hares. Begin your watch to-day and this day\nnext year bring me your leaves.\" So the man and the hare departed and\neach sat under a tree to see a leaf fall but they watched and watched\nin vain until on the last day of the year a _korkot_ leaf fell and\nthe man joyfully picked it up and took it to Thakur; and the hare\nfailing to see a leaf fall bit off a leaf with its teeth and took it\nto Thakur. Then Thakur examined the two leaves and said to the hare,\n\"This leaf did not fall of itself; see, the tip of the stalk is quite\ndifferent from the stalk of the leaf this man has brought; you bit\nit off.\" And the hare was silent Then Thakur rubbed the legs of the\nhare with a ball of cleaned cotton and passed this sentence on him,\nthat thenceforward he should skip about like a leaf blown by the wind\nand that men should hunt hares wherever they found them and kill and\neat them, entrails and all.\n\nAnd this is the reason why Santals do not clean the hares they kill,\nbut eat them entrails and all.\n\n\n\n\nCLXVIII. A Legend.\n\nOnce upon a time a woman was found to be with child by her own brother,\nso the two had to fly the country. In their flight they came to the\nMustard Tank and Flower Lake, on the banks of which they prepared\nto cook their food. They boiled water and cooked rice in it; and\nthen they boiled water to cook pulse to eat with the rice. But when\nthe water was ready they found that they had forgotten to bring any\npulse. While they were wondering what they could get to eat with their\nrice they saw a man of the fisher caste (Keot) coming along with his\nnet on his shoulder. Then the woman sang--\n\n\n \"The son of a Keot is standing on the bank of the tank:\n The fish are jumping: the son of a Keot is catching the fish.\"\n\n\nSo the Keot caught them some fish, which they ate with their rice.\n\nThen they went on and by the side of the road they saw a date palm\nthe juice of which had been tapped; and they wished to drink the juice\nbut they found that they had brought no drinking vessel with them. The\nwoman looked about and saw near by a fan palm tree and she sang--\n\n\n \"The peepul's leaves go flicker, flicker:\n The banyan's leaves are thick and fleshy:\n Of the fan palm's leaf, brother, make a cup.\n And we will drink the juice of the date palm.\"\n\n\nSo her brother made a drinking vessel of a palm leaf and they drank\nthe date juice and went on their way. At nightfall they rested at\nthe foot of a Bael tree and fell into a drunken sleep from the date\njuice they had drunk.\n\nAs the woman lay senseless her child was born to her and no sooner\nwas the child born than a bael fruit fell on to its head and split it\ninto four pieces which flew apart and became four hills. From falling\non the new-born child the bael fruit has ever since had a sticky\njuice and the tree is covered with thorns which are the hair of the\nchild. In the morning the man and woman went on and came to a forest\nof _Tarop_ trees and the woman wiped her bloody hands on the _Tarop_\ntrees and so the _Tarop_ tree ever since exudes a red juice like blood.\n\nNext morning they went on and came to a spring and drank of its water\nand afterwards the woman bathed in it and the blood stained water\nflowed over all the country and so we see stagnant water covered\nwith a red scum. Going on from there they reached a low lying flat\nand halted; almost at once they saw a thunder storm coming up from\nthe South and West; and the woman sang--\n\n\n \"A storm as black as the _so_ fruit, brother,\n Is coming, full of danger for us:\n Come let us flee to the homestead of the liquor seller.\"\n\n\nBut the brother answered--\n\n\n \"The liquor seller's house is an evil house:\n You only wish to go there for mischief.\"\n\n\nSo they stayed where they were and the lightning came and slew\nthem both.\n\n\n\n\nCLXIX. Pregnant Women.\n\nPregnant women are not allowed to go about alone outside the village;\nfor there are _bongas_ everywhere and some of them dislike the sight of\npregnant women and kill them or cause the child to be born wry-necked.\n\nA pregnant woman may not make a mud fireplace for if she does her child\nwill be born with a hare-lip; nor may she chop vegetables during an\neclipse or the same result will follow. She may not ride in a cart,\nfor if she does the child will be always crying and will snore in its\nsleep; if she eats the flesh of field rats the child's body will be\ncovered with hair and if she eats duck or goose flesh the child will\nbe born with its fingers and toes webbed. Nor may a pregnant woman\nlook on a funeral, for if she does her child will always sleep with\nits eyes half open.\n\n\n\n\nCLXX. The Influence of the Moon.\n\nIf a child is born on the day before the new moon the following\nceremony is observed. After bathing the child they place an old broom\nin the mother's arms instead of the child; then the mother takes\nthe child and throws it out on the dung heap behind the house. The\nmidwife then takes an old broom and an old winnowing fan and sweeps\nup a little rubbish on to the fan and takes it and throws it on the\ndung hill; there she sees the child and calls out. \"Here is a child\non the dung heap\" then she pretends to sweep the child with the broom\ninto the winnowing fan and lifts it up and carries it into the house;\nand asks the people of the house whether they will rear it. They ask\nwhat wages she will give them and she promises to give them a heifer\nwhen the child is grown up.\n\nIf this is not done the child will be unlucky when it grows up; if\nit is a boy, however often he may marry, his wife will die and so,\nif it is a girl, her husbands will die.\n\nAnother fact is that they always shave a child's head for the first\ntwo times during the same moon; if it is shaved first during one moon\nand then during the following moon; it will always have a headache\nonce a month.\n\nSimilarly when they tie the knots in a string to fix the date of a\nwedding the wedding must take place in the lunar month in which the\nknots are tied or else the children born of the marriage will die.\n\n\n\n\nCLXXI. Illegitimate Children.\n\nIf a woman has an illegitimate child and from fear or shame will not\nname its father the bastard is called a child of Chando. At its birth\nthere is no assembly of the neighbours; its head is not ceremonially\nshaved and there is no _narta_ ceremony. The midwife does what is\nnecessary; and the child is admitted into no division of the tribe. If\nit is a boy it is called Chandu or Chandrai or sometimes Birbanta and\nif a girl Chandro or Chandmuni or perhaps Bonela. Sometimes after the\nchild is born the mother will under seal of secrecy tell its father's\nname to her mother or the midwife; and then between themselves they\nwill call the child by a name taken from the father's family but\nthey will never tell it to anyone else. When the child grows up he\nis given some nickname and if he turns out well and is popular his\nname is often changed again and he is recognised as a Santal.\n\nOften if a father will not acknowledge a child the mother will strangle\nit at birth and bury the body. Men who practise sorcery dig up the\nbones of such murdered infants and use them as rattles when doing\ntheir sorceries and are helped by them to deceive people.\n\n\n\n\nCLXXII. The Dead.\n\nSantals are very much afraid of burial grounds; for dead men become\n_bongas_ and _bongas_ eat men. If a man meet such a _bonga_ in a\nburial ground it is of little use to fight for the _bonga_ keeps on\nchanging his shape. He may first appear as a man and then change into\na leopard or a bear or a pig or a cat: very few escape when attacked\nby such a being.\n\nIt is said that the spirits of young children become _bhuts_ and those\nof grown-up people _bongas_ and those of pregnant women _churins_.\n\n\n\n\nCLXXIII. Hunting Custom.\n\nFormerly when the men went to a hunt the mistress of the house would\nnot bathe all the time they were away and when the hunters returned\nshe met them at the front door and washed their feet and welcomed\nthem home. The wife of the _dehri_ used to put a dish of water under\nher bed at night and if the water turned red like blood they believed\nthat it was a sign that game had been killed.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI\n\nPart VI.\n\nThe belief in witchcraft is very real to the present day among the\nSantals. All untimely deaths and illness which does not yield to\ntreatment are attributed to the machinations of witches, and women\nare not unfrequently murdered in revenge for deaths which they are\nsupposed to have caused, or to prevent the continuance of illness\nfor which they are believed to be responsible.\n\nThe Santal writer in spite of his education is a firm believer in\nwitchcraft, and details his own experiences. He has justification for\nhis belief, for as was the case in Mediaeval Europe, women sometimes\nplead guilty to having caused death by witchcraft when there appears\nto be no adequate motive for a confession, which must involve them\nin the severest penalties.\n\nMr. Bodding is aware that Santal women do actually hold meetings at\nnight at which mantras and songs are repeated, and at which they may\nbelieve they acquire uncanny powers; the exercise of such powers may\nalso on occasion be assisted by the knowledge of vegetable poisons.\n\nThe witch may either herself cause death by 'eating,' or eating the\nliver of, her victim, or may cause her familiar \"bonga\" to attack\nthe unfortunate. That witches eat the liver is an old idea in India\nmentioned by the Mughal historians.\n\nThe Jan guru is employed to detect who is the woman responsible for\nany particular misfortune. His usual method is to gaze on a leaf\nsmeared with oil, in which as in a crystal he can doubtless imagine\nthat shapes present themselves. The witch having been detected, she is\nliable to be beaten and maltreated until she withdraws her spells, and\nif this does not lead to the desired result she may be put to death.\n\n\n\n\n\nCLXXIV. Witchcraft.\n\nThe higher castes do not believe in witchcraft. If a man is ill they\ngive him medicines and if he dies in spite of the medicine they do\nnothing further. But all the lower castes believe in witchcraft and\nknow that it is a reality. The Santal women learnt the craft first\nfrom Marang Burn by playing a trick on him when he meant to teach\ntheir husbands. And now they take quite little girls out by night\nand teach them so that the craft may not die out.\n\nWe know of many cases to prove that witchcraft is a reality. Pirthi\nwho lives in Pankha's house was once ill: and it was an aunt of his who\nwas \"eating\" him. One night as he lay ill the witch came and bent over\nhim to take out his liver: but he woke up just in time and saw her and\ncatching her by the hair he shouted for the people in the house. They\nand the villagers came and took the woman into custody. When the\nPargana questioned her she confessed everything and was punished.\n\nAnother time a boy lay ill and senseless. A cowherd who was driving\ncattle home at evening ran to the back of the house where the sick boy\nlay, after a cow which strayed there. There he found a woman in a state\nof possession (rum) he told the villagers what he had seen and they\ncaught the woman and gave her a severe beating: whereupon the sick\nboy recovered. But about two months afterwards the cowherd suddenly\nfell down dead: and when they consulted a _jan_ as to the reason he\nsaid that it was the witch who had been beaten who had done it.\n\n\n\n\n\nCLXXV. Of Dains and Ojhas.\n\nOnce upon a time Marang Buru decided that he would teach men\nwitchcraft. In those days there was a place at which men used to\nassemble to meet Marang Buru and hold council with him: but they only\nheard his voice and never saw his face. One day at the assembly when\nthey had begun to tell Marang Buru of their troubles he fixed a day\nand told them to come to him on it, dressed all in their cleanest\nclothes and he would teach them witchcraft.\n\nSo the men all went home and told their wives to wash their clothes\nwell against the fixed day, as they were going to Thakur to learn\nwitchcraft. The women of course all began to discuss this new plan\namong themselves and the more they talked of it the less they liked it;\nit seemed to them that if the men were to get this new strange power\nit would make them more inclined to despise and bully women than ever;\nso they made a plot to get the better of their husbands. They arranged\nthat each woman should brew some rice beer and offer it to her husband\nas he was starting to meet Marang Buru and beg him to drink some lest\nhis return should be delayed. They foresaw that the men would not be\nable to resist the drink; and that having started they would go on till\nthey were dead drunk: it would then be easy for the women to dress\nthemselves like men and go off to Marang Buru and learn witchcraft\nin place of their husbands. So said, so done;--the women duly made\ntheir husbands drunk and then put on _pagris_ and _dhoties_ and stuck\ngoats' beards on their faces and went off to Marang Buru to learn\nwitchcraft. Marang Buru did not detect the imposition and according\nto his promise taught them all the incantations of witchcraft.\n\nAfter the women had come home with their new knowledge their\nhusbands gradually recovered their senses and bethought them of their\nappointment with Marang Buru. So they hurried off to the meeting place\nand asked him to teach them what he had promised. \"Why, I taught it\nall to you this morning,\" answered Marang Buru, \"what do you mean by\ncoming to me again?\" The men could not understand what he meant and\nprotested that they had not been to him at all in the morning. \"Then\nyou must have told your wives what I was going to do!\" This they could\nnot deny: \"I see,\" said Marang Buru \"then they must have played a trick\non you and learnt the _mantras_ in your place,\" At this the men began\nto lament and begged that they might be taught also: but Marang Buru\nsaid that this was impossible; he could only teach them a very little;\ntheir wives had reaped the crop and they could only have the gleanings;\nso saying, he taught them the art of the _ojha_ and in order that\nthey might have the advantage of their wives in one respect and be\nable to overawe them he also taught them the craft of the _jan_ and\nwith that they had to be content. This is why only women are witches.\n\n\n\n\nCLXXVI. Initiation into Witchcraft.\n\nWhen girls are initiated into witchcraft they are taken away by\nforce and made to lead tigers about. This makes them fearless. They\nare then taken to all the most powerful _bongas_ in succession; and\nare taught to invoke them, as school boys are taught lessons, and to\nbecome possessed _(rum)_. They are also taught _mantras_ and songs and\nby degrees they cease to be afraid. The novice is made to come out of\nthe house with a lamp in her hand and a broom tied round her waist;\nshe is then conducted to the great _bongas_ one of whom approves of her\nand when all have agreed she is married to that _bonga_. The _bonga_\npays the usual brideprice and applies _sindur_ to her forehead. After\nthis she can also marry a man in the usual way and he also pays the\nbride price. When a girl has learnt everything she is made to take\nher degree (_sid atang_) by taking out a man's liver and cooking it\nwith rice in a new pot; then she and the young woman who is initiating\nher, eat the feast together; a woman who has once eaten such a stew\nis completely proficient and can never forget what she has learnt.\n\nThis is the way in which girls learn witchcraft; and if any girl\nrefuses to take the final step and will not eat men she is caused to\ngo mad or die. Those however who have once eaten men have a craving\nfor it.\n\nGenerally it is only women who are witches; but there are men who have\nlearnt witchcraft and there are others who without being initiated\nhave kept company with witches. For instance in Simra village there\nis Chortha who was once a servant of the Parganna. He says that the\nParganna's wife used to take him out with her at night. The women used\nto sacrifice fowls and goats and make him skin them and cut them up:\nhe had then to roast cakes of the flesh and give them to the Parganna's\nwife who distributed them among the other women.\n\nSometimes also witches take a man with them to their meetings to beat\nthe drum: and sometimes if a man is very much in love with a girl he\nis allowed to go with them and is taught witchcraft. For instance\nthere was a man who had a family of daughters and no son and so he\nengaged a man servant by the year to work for him.\n\nAfter being some years in service this man servant one night was for\nsome reason unusually late in letting the buffaloes out to graze,\nand while doing so he saw all the women of the household assembled\nout of doors; they came up to him and told him not to be afraid\nand promised to do him no harm provided he told no one what he had\nseen. Two or three days later the young women of the house invited\nhim to go to a witches' meeting. He went but felt rather frightened\nthe whole time; however nothing happened to him, so he got over his\nfear and after that he used to go with them quite willingly and learnt\nall about witchcraft. At last they told him that he must _sid atang_\nby \"eating\" a human being. He objected that he was an orphan and so\nthere was no relation whom he could eat. This was a difficulty that\nseemed insurmountable; and he suggested that he should be excused the\nfull course and taught only a little such as how to \"eat\" fowls. The\nwomen agreed but it was arranged that to deceive people he should go\nfor two or three days and study with a _jan guru_ and be initiated by\nhim. Thus it would be thought that he learnt his magic from the _guru_\nbut really he learnt it from the witches who taught him everything\nexcept how to \"eat\" human beings. He learnt how to make trees wither\naway and come to life again; and to make rain fall where he wished\nwhile any place he chose remained quite dry; he learnt to walk upon\nthe surface of water without getting wet; he could exorcise hail so\nthat none would touch his house though it fell all around. For a joke\nhe could make stools stick fast to his friends when they sat on them;\nand anyone he scolded found himself unable to speak properly. All\nthis we have seen him do; but it was no one's business to question\nhim to find out how much he really knew.\n\nOnce at the shield and sword dance they cast a spell on a youth till\nhis clothes fell off him in shreds and he was ashamed to dance. Then\nthis servant had the pieces of cloth brought to him; and he covered\nthem with his own cloth and mumbled some _mantras_ and blew on it and\nthe pieces joined together and the cloth was as good as ever. This\nwe have seen ourselves.\n\nHe lived a long time with his master who found him a wife; but because\nhis first child died he left the place and went to live near Amrahat\nwhere he is now.\n\nAnother case is Tipu of Mohulpahari. They say that an old witch Dukkia\ntaught him to be an _ojha_. No one has dared to ask him whether he\nalso learnt witchcraft from her but he himself admits that she taught\nhim to be an _ojha_.\n\nAlthough it is true that there are witches and that they \"eat\" men\nyou will never see them except when you are alone.\n\nThe son-in-law of Surai of Karmatane village, named Khade, died from\nmeeting witches; he told us all about it as he lay dying. He was\ncoming home with some other men: they had all had a little too much\nto drink and so they got separated. Khade was coming along alone and\nhad nearly reached his house when he saw a crowd of witches under a\ntree. He went up and asked who they were. Thereupon they turned on\nhim and seized him and dragged him away towards Maluncha. There they\ndid something to him and let him go. Next morning he was seized with\npurging and by mistake some of the witches' vengeance fell also on\nthe other men and they were taken ill too. They however recovered,\nbut Khade died. If you meet witches you die, but not of course if\nthey take you with them of their own will and teach you their craft.\n\n\n\n\nCLXXVII. Witchcraft.\n\nGirls are taught witchcraft when they are young and are married to a\n_bonga_ husband. Afterwards when they marry a man they still go away\nand visit the _bonga_ and when they do so they send in their place a\n_bonga_ woman exactly like them in appearance and voice; so that the\nhusband cannot tell that it is not his real wife. There is however a\nway of discovering the substitution; for if the man takes a brand from\nthe fire and burns the woman with it, then if it is really a _bonga_\nand not his wife she will fly away in a flame of fire.\n\n\n\n\nCLXXVIII. Witch Stories.\n\nI will now tell you something I have seen with my own eyes. In the\nvillage of Dhubia next to mine the only son of the Paranik lay ill\nfor a whole year. One day I went out to look at my _rahar_ crop\nwhich was nearly ripe and as I stood under a mowah tree I heard a\nvoice whispering. I stooped down to try and see through the _rahar_\nwho was there but the crop was so thick that I could see nothing;\nso I climbed up the mowah tree to look. Glancing towards Dhubia\nvillage I saw the third daughter of the Paranik come out of her house\nand walk towards me. When about fifty yards from me she climbed a\nbig rock and waited. Presently an old aunt of hers came out of the\nvillage and joined her. Then the old woman went back to her house and\nreturned with a lota of water. Meanwhile the girl had come down from\nthe rock and sat at its foot near a thicket of _dhela_ trees. The old\nwoman caused the girl to become possessed (_rum_) and they had some\nconversation which I could not hear, Then they poured out the water\nfrom the lota and went home.\n\nOn my way home I met a young fellow of the village and found that\nhe had also seen what the two women did. We went together to the\nplace and found the mark of the water spilled on the ground and two\nleaves which had been used as wrappers and one of which was smeared\nwith vermilion and _adwa_ rice had been scattered about. We decided\nto tell no one till we saw whether what had been done was meant to\nbenefit or injure the sick boy. Fifteen days later the boy died:\nand when his parents consulted a _jan_ he named a young woman of the\nvillage as the cause of the boy's death and she was taken and punished\nseverely by the villagers.\n\nIt is plain that the boy's sister and aunt in order to save themselves\ncaused the _jan_ to see an innocent woman. I could not bring the boy\nback to life so it was useless for me to say anything, especially as\nthe guilty women were of the Paranik's own family. This I saw myself\nin broad daylight.\n\nAnother thing that happened to me was this. I had been with the\nHeadman to pay in the village rent. It was night when we returned\nand after leaving him I was going home alone. As I passed in front\nof a house a bright light suddenly shone from the cowshed; I looked\nround and saw a great crowd of women-witches standing there. I ran\naway by the garden at the back of the house until I reached a high\nroad; then I stopped and looked round and saw that the witches were\ncoming after me; and looking towards the hamlet where my house was I\nsaw that witches were coming with a bright light from that direction\nalso. When I found myself thus hemmed in I felt that my last hour\nhad come but I ran on till I came to some jungle.\n\nLooking back from there I saw that the two bands had joined together\nand were coming after me. I did not feel safe there for I knew that\nthere were _bongas_ in the jungle who might tell the witches where\nI was. So I ran on to the _tola_ where an uncle and aunt of mine\nlived. As I ran down the street I saw two witches at the back of\none of the houses. They were sitting down; one was in a state of\npossession _(rum)_ and the other was opposite her holding a lamp. So\nI left the street and made my way through the fields till I Came to\nmy uncle's house. I knocked and was admitted panting and breathless;\nmy uncle and aunt went outside to see what it was that had scared me\nand they saw the witches with the two lights flashing and made haste\nto bolt the door. None of us slept for the rest of the night and in\nthe morning I told them all that had happened.\n\nSince that night I have been very frightened of witches and do not like\nto go out at night. It was lucky that the witches did not recognise\nme; otherwise I should not have lived. Ever since I have never stayed\nat home for long together; I go there for two or three months at a\ntime and then go away and work elsewhere. I am too frightened to stay\nin my own village. Now all the old women who taught witchcraft are\ndead except one: when she goes I shall not be frightened any more. I\nshall be able to go home when I like. I have never told any one but\nmy uncle and aunt what I saw until now that I have written it down.\n\nSo from my own experience I have no doubt about the existence of\nwitches; I cannot say how they \"eat\" men, whether by magic or whether\nthey order _\"bongas\"_ to cause a certain man to die on a certain\nday. Some people say that when a witch is first initiated she is\nmarried to a _bonga_ and if she wants to \"eat\" a man she orders her\n_bonga_ husband to kill him and if he refuses she heaps abuse on him\nuntil he does.\n\n\n\n\nCLXXIX. Witch Stories.\n\nYoung girls are taught witchcraft against their wills and if they\nrefuse to \"eat\" their father or brother they die or go mad. There\nwas a girl in my own village and she went out gathering herbs with\nanother girl who was a witch. As usual they sang at their work and the\nwitch girl sang songs the tune of which the other thought so pretty\nthat she learnt them by heart. When she had learnt them the witch\ngirl told her that they were witch songs and explained to her their\nmeaning. The girl was very angry at having been taught them unawares\nbut the witch girl assured her that she would never be able to forget\nthe songs or their interpretation; then she assigned her to a _bonga_\nbridegroom and then told her to _sid atang_ and all would be well\nwith her otherwise she would have trouble.\n\nWhen the girl learnt that she must _sid atang_ by \"eating\" her father\nor brother or mother she began to make excuses; she could not kill\nher father for he was the support of the family; nor her only brother\nfor he was wanted too at the _Baha_ and _Sohrai_ nor her mother who\nhad reared her in childhood. The witch girl said that if she refused\nshe would die; and she said that she would rather die than do what\nwas required of her. Then the witch did something and the girl began\nto rave and talk gibberish and from that time was quite out of her\nsenses. _Ojhas_ tried to cure her in vain until at last one suggested\nthat she should be taken to another village as the madness must be\nthe work of witches living in her own village. So they took her away\nand the remedies then cured her. She stayed in her new home and was\nmarried there. A long time afterwards she went back to pay a visit to\nher father's house: but the day after she arrived her head began to\nache and she fell ill and though her husband came and took her away\nshe died the day after she reached her home.\n\nThere was another girl; her friends noticed that when she came home\nwith them in the evening after planting rice she was very careful\nnot to fall behind or be left alone and they used to laugh at her for\nbeing a coward. But one day she was gathering Indian corn with a friend\nand as they talked she said \"You will all have lovely dancing at the\nSohrai.\" \"You!\" said her friend: \"won't you be there? Are you going\naway?\" Then the girl began to cry and sobbed out that her mother had\ntaught her witchcraft and married her to a _bonga_; and it was for\nfear of the _bonga_ that she did not like to be alone in the dark;\nand because she had refused to \"eat\" anyone her mother intended to\n\"eat\" her and so she had no hope of living to see the Sohrai. Three\ndays later the girl fell ill and died, and after her death her friend\ntold how she had foreseen it.\n\n\n\n\nCLXXX. Witch Stories.\n\nIn the village of Mohulpahari there was a youth named Jerba. He was\nservant to Bepin Teli of Tempa and often had to come home in the dark\nafter his day's work. One night he was coming back very late and,\nbefore he saw where he was, suddenly came upon a crowd of witches\nstanding under a hollow mowah tree at the foot of the field that\nthe dhobie has taken. Just as he caught sight of them they seized\nhold of him and flung him down and did something which he could not\nremember--for he lost his senses when they threw him down. When he\ncame to himself he managed to struggle free and run off. The witches\npursued but failed to overtake him and he reached his home in a state\nof terror. The witches however had not finished with him for two or\nthree days after they caused him to fall from a tree and break his\narm. Ojhas were called in but their medicines did him no good. The\narm mortified and maggots formed and in a few days Jerba himself told\nthem that he would not recover; he told them how the witches chased\nhim and that he had recognised them as women of his own village and\nshortly afterwards he became speechless and died.\n\nMy own brother-in-law lived at Mubundi. One night he and several other\nmen were sitting up on the threshing-floor watching their rice. In\nthe middle of the night they saw lights shining and flickering in\nthe courtyard of my brother-in-law's house and he went to see what\nwas the matter. When he got near, the lights went into the house:\nhe went up quietly and as he looked in found the house full of women\nwho extinguished the light directly they saw him and rushed out of\nthe house. Then he asked my sister what the light was; but she could\nonly stammer out \"What light? I saw no light,\" so he struck her a blow\nand went back to the threshing-floor and told the others what he had\nseen. That night he would not tell them the names of the women he had\nseen; and before morning his right arm swelled and became very painful;\nthe swelling quickly increased and by noon he lost consciousness and\na few hours later he died.\n\n\n\n\nCLXXXI. The Two Witches.\n\nThere were once a woman and her daughter-in-law who were both\nwitches. One night during the annual Sohrai festival the men of the\nvillage were going from house to house singing and getting rice beer\nto drink; and one young man named Chandrai got so drunk that when they\ncame to the house where the two witch-women lived he rolled himself\nunder the shelf on which rice was stored and fell asleep. Next morning\nhe came to his senses but he did not like to come out and show himself\nfor fear of ridicule so he made up his mind to wait till a party came\nround singing again and then to slip out with them unperceived.\n\nHe lay waiting and presently all the men of the house went away to\njoin in the _danka_ dance; leaving the mistress of the house and\nher daughter-in-law alone. Presently, the two began to talk and the\nelder woman said \"Well what with the pigs and the goats that have been\nsacrificed during this Sohrai we have had plenty of meat to eat lately\nand yet I don't feel as if I had had any.\" \"That is so,\" answered her\ndaughter-in-law; \"fowls' and pig's flesh is very unsatisfying.\" \"Then\nwhat are we to do?\" rejoined the old woman, \"I don't know unless you\ndo for the father of your grandchild.\" When he heard this Chandrai\nshivered with fright and hid himself further under the rice shelf,\nfor he saw that the two women must be witches.\n\nThat day was the day on which a bullock is tied to a post outside each\nhouse and at noon the husband of the younger witch began to dig a hole\noutside the house to receive the post. While he was working Chandrai\nheard the two women begin to talk again. \"Now is your opportunity,\"\nsaid the younger woman, \"while he is digging the hole.\" \"But perhaps\nthe _ojha_ will be able to discover us,\" objected the other. \"Oh\nwe can prevent that by making the _ojha_ see in the oiled leaf the\nfaces of Rupi and Bindi--naming two girls of the village--and we can\nsay that my husband had seduced them and then declined to marry them\nand that that was why they killed him.\" The old woman seemed to be\nsatisfied, for she took up a hatchet and went out to where her son\nwas digging the hole. She waited till he bent down to throw out the\nearth with his hands and then cut open his back and pulled out his\nliver and heart and brought them into the house. Her unfortunate son\nfelt a spasm of pain when his mother struck him but he did not know\nwhat had hurt him and there was no visible wound. The two women then\nchopped up the liver and heart and cooked and ate them.\n\nThat night when the village youths came round to the house, singing,\nChandrai slipped out with them unperceived and hastened home. Two or\nthree days later the bewitched man became seriously ill; medicines\nand sacrifices did him no good; the _ojhas_ were called in but could\nmake nothing of the illness. The villagers were very angry with them\nfor the failure and the headman told them that they must ascertain\nby means of the oiled leaf who had caused the illness, or it would\nbe the worse for them. So the _ojhas_ went through their ceremonies\nand after a time declared that the oiled leaf showed the faces of\nthe two girls Rupi and Bindi; and that it was they who were eating\nup the sick man. So the two girls were sent for and questioned but\nthey solemnly swore that they knew nothing about the matter. No one\nbelieved their protestations and the headman ordered that filth should\nbe put into their mouths and that they should be well beaten to make\nthem confess. However before any harm was done them Chandrai sprang\nup and called out to the headman: \"You have proof that these girls\nare witches, but I will not let you beat them here. Let us take them\nto yonder open field; the token of their oath is there and we will\nmake them first remove it. If we beat them first they will probably\nrefuse to remove the oath.\" \"How do you know about their oath?\" asked\nthe headman. \"Never mind, I do know.\" The villagers were convinced by\nhis confident manner and all went with the two girls to the open field.\n\nChandrai's object was to get away from the witches' house for he was\nafraid to speak there; but when they were out in the open he stood up\nand told the villagers all that he had seen and heard the two witches\ndo; they remembered that he had been missing for a whole day during\nthe Sohrai festival and believed him. So the sick man's wife and\nmother were fetched and well beaten to make them restore the sick\nman to health; but his liver and heart had been eaten so that the\ncase was hopeless and in a few days he was dead. His relations in\nrevenge soon killed the two witches.\n\nRupi and Bindi whose lives had been saved by Chandrai went and\nestablished themselves in his house, for they declared that as they\nowed their lives to him it was plain that he must marry them.\n\n\n\n\n\nCLXXXII. The Sister-in-Law Who Was a Witch.\n\nThere were once two brothers who lived together; the elder was married\nbut the younger had no wife. The elder brother used to cultivate\ntheir lands and his wife used to draw water and fetch fuel and the\nyounger brother used to take the cattle out to graze. One year when\nthe elder brother was busy in the fields the younger one used to take\nhis cattle to graze near where his brother was working and the wife\nused to bring out the breakfast for both of them. One day the younger\nbrother thought he would play a trick on his sister-in-law by not\nanswering when she called him to his breakfast; so when her husband\nhad finished his meal and she called out for the younger brother to\ncome he gave no answer; she concluded that the cattle were straying\nand would not let him come so she took up her basket and went to\nlook for him; but when he saw her coming he climbed up a tree and\nhid himself and for all her calling gave no answer, but only sat and\nlaughed at her although she came quite close to where he was.\n\nAt last the woman got into a passion and putting down the breakfast\nby the side of a pool which was close to the tree up which her\nbrother-in-law had climbed she stripped off her clothes and began\nbowing down and calling. \"Ho, Dharmal Chandi! come forth!\" When he\nsaw this the man was amazed and waited to see whom she was calling,\nmeaning to let her know he was there directly she turned to go away\nhome with the breakfast. But the woman kept on calling to Dharmal\nChandi and at last out of the pool appeared an immense bearded _bonga_\nwith long and matted hair. When the woman saw him her tongue flickered\nin and out like a snake's and she made a hissing noise, such as a crab\nmakes. Then the woman began \"Dharmal Chandi I have a request which\nyou must promise to grant.\" And when the _bonga_ had promised she\nproceeded. \"You must have my brother-in-law killed by a tiger the day\nafter to-morrow; he has put me to endless trouble making me go shouting\nafter him all through the jungle; I wanted to go back quickly because\nI have a lot of work at home; he has wasted my time by not answering;\nso the day after to-morrow you must have him killed.\" The _bonga_\npromised to do what she asked and disappeared into the pool and the\nwoman went home.\n\nWhile the younger brother was up in the tree his cattle had got into a\n_gundli_ field and eaten up the crop: and the owner found it out and\ngot the brothers fined. So that evening the elder brother asked him\nwhere he had been that he had not looked after the cattle properly\nnor eaten any breakfast. In answer the younger brother only began to\ncry; at that his sister-in-law said. \"Let him alone; he is crying for\nwant of a wife; he is going silly because we have not married him;\"\nand so nothing more was said. But the elder brother was not satisfied\nand the next day when they went together to work he asked the younger\nwhat was the real reason for his crying.\n\nThen the younger answered. \"Brother, I am in great trouble; it makes\nme cry all day; if you wish ever to look on my face again, you must\nnot work in the fields to-morrow but keep me company while I tend\nthe cattle; if we are separated for a moment a tiger will kill me;\nit will be quickly over for me but you I know will miss me much and\nso I am grieving for you; if you have any tenderness for me do not\nleave me to-morrow but save me from the tiger.\" His brother asked the\nreason for this foreboding but the younger man said that he would\nexplain nothing and accuse no one until the events of the next day\nhad shown whether he was speaking the truth; if a tiger really came\nto stalk him then that would be proof that he had had good reason\nfor his apprehension; and he begged his brother not to speak a word\nabout it to anyone and especially not to his wife.\n\nThe elder brother promised to keep the matter a secret and cheered his\nbrother up and told him to be of good heart; they would take their bows\nand axes and he would like to see the tiger that would touch them. So\nthe next morning the two brothers went off together well armed and\ntended the cattle in company; nothing happened and at midday they\nbrought the cattle home; when the woman saw them with bows in their\nhands she asked where they had been. Her husband told her that he had\nbeen to look for a hare which he had seen on the previous day but he\nhad not been able to find it. Then his brother said that he had seen\na hare in its form that very morning but had not had time to shoot\nit. So they pretended to arrange to go and hunt this hare and after\nhaving eaten their rice they drove out the cattle again.\n\nAs they went along they kept close together with their arrows on the\nstring, so that the tiger which came to stalk the younger brother got\nno opportunity to attack; at last it showed itself at the edge of the\njungle; the cattle were thrown into a turmoil and the brothers saw\nthat it was really following them; and the elder brother was convinced\nthat there was some reason for his brother's fears. So they turned\nthe cattle back and cautiously drove them home, keeping a good look\nout all the way; the tiger prowled round them hiding in the bushes,\nsometimes in front and sometimes behind, but found no opening to\nattack while they for their part did not dare to shoot at it. The\ntiger followed them right up to the house; but the elder brother did\nnot leave the other for a moment nor let him go outside the door and\nat night he slept on the same bed with him.\n\nThe next morning he begged his brother to tell him all that had\nhappened and explain how he knew that a tiger would seek his\nlife on the previous day. \"Come then\" said the other, \"to yonder\nopen ground. I cannot tell you in the house;\" so they went out\ntogether and then the younger told all that had happened and how his\nsister-in-law had ordered the _Bonga_ to have him killed by a tiger;\n\"I did not tell you before till my story had been put to the proof\nfor fear that you would not believe me and would tell your wife; but\nnow you know all. I cannot live with you any longer; from this very\nday I must go and find a home elsewhere.\" \"Not so\" said the other,\n\"I will not keep such a woman with me any longer; she is dangerous;\nI will go home now and put her to death,\" and so saying he went home\nand killed his wife with an axe.\n\n\n\n\nCLXXXIII. Ramjit Bonga.\n\nOnce upon a time a man went out to snare quail: he set his snares\nby the side of a mountain stream and then sat down under a bush to\nwatch them. As he waited he saw a young woman come along with her\nwater pot under her arm to draw water from the stream. When she got\nto the _ghat_ she put down her pot and made her way up the stream\ntowards where the snares had been set; she did not notice the hunter\nbut went to the stump of an ebony tree near him and looking round\nand seeing no one she suddenly became possessed and started dancing\nround the ebony tree and singing some song which he could not clearly\ncatch; and as she danced she called out \"The Pig's fat is overflowing:\nbrother-in-law Ramjit come here to me.\" When she called out like this\nthe quail catcher quietly crept nearer still to her. Although the\nwoman repeatedly summoned him in this way the Bonga would not come\nout because he was aware of the presence of the onlooker; the woman\nhowever got into a passion at his non-appearance and stripping off her\nclothes she danced naked round the tree calling out \"The Pig's fat\nis overflowing: brother-in-law Ramjit come hither at once.\" At last\nout of the _nala_ appeared the bonga, dark, enormous and shaggy; and\napproached the woman: Then the woman said \"Brother-in-law Ramjit there\nis something that you must do for me; my nephew is ill; he must die\non such and such a day; that day I must see the smoke of his funeral\npyre; but you must save me from the witch-finder; let the blame fall\nnot on me but on so and so; this is what I came to urge on you; that\nyou protect me from discovery and then we shall always be friends.\"\n\nThe Bonga at first knowing that they were being watched would not make\nthe promise but when the woman insisted he promised in a low voice\nand then disappeared into the _nala_; and the witch went back to the\nghat, filled her water pot and went home. The quail catcher also went\ntrembling home and he remembered the day fixed for the death of the\nnephew of the witch and he decided to wait and see what happened before\nsaying anything to the villagers. Sure enough on the day before that\nfixed by the witch the invalid became unconscious and was obviously\nat the point of death. When he heard this the quail catcher went to\nthe sick man's bedside and seeing his condition told his relatives to\ncollect all the villagers to beat the woman whom he had seen with the\nBonga and he told them all that had passed; the villagers believed\nhim and summoning all the women of the village they scolded them;\nand then being excited by this they rose up and began to beat the\nwomen; to each they gave one blow with a stick, but the woman whom\nthe quail catcher pointed out they beat till she fainted.\n\nThen they ordered her to cure the sick man and threatened to burn her\nalong with him if he died, but she insisted that she was innocent. Then\nthey told her that they knew all that had passed between her and\nthe Bonga Ramjit, she persisted that it was all a mistake. So they\nstarted to beat her again; they beat her from her heels to her neck\nand then from her neck down to her heels till the blood flowed and\nthey swore that they would not let her go unless she cured the sick\nman and that if he died they would cut her to pieces. At last the\ntorture made her confess that it was she who was eating the sick man;\nand she promised to cure him; so they first made her tell the names\nof all the other witches in the village and then tied her to a post\nand kept her there, and did not untie her till in four or five days\nthe sick man recovered. When she was let loose the quail catcher ran\naway from the village and would not live there any more.\n\nBut the villagers threatened the witch woman that if her nephew or any\nof his family got ill again they would kill her; and they told her that\nas her secret had been found out she was henceforth to be their _ojha_\nand cure their diseases; and they would supply her with whatever she\nwanted for the purpose; they asked what sacrifice her nephew must make\non his recovery; and she told them to get a red cock, a grasshopper:\na lizard; a cat and a black and white goat; so they brought her these\nand she sacrificed them and the villagers had a feast of rice and\nrice beer and went to their homes and the matter ended.\n\n\n\n\nCLXXXIV. The Herd Boy and the Witches.\n\nOnce upon a time a cowherd lost a calf and while looking for it he\nwas benighted in the jungle; for he was afraid to go home lest he\nshould be scolded for losing the calf. He had with him his bow and\narrows and flute and a stick but still he was afraid to stay the\nnight in the jungle; so he made up his mind to go to the _jahirthan_\nas _More Turuiko_ would protect him there; so he went to the _jahir\nthan_ and climbed a tree in which a spirit abode; he took his bow\nand arrows up with him but he was too frightened to go to sleep.\n\nAbout supper time he saw a number of women who were witches collect\nfrom all sides at the _jahir than_: at this sight he was more\nfrightened than ever; the witches then called up the _bongas_ and\nthey also summoned two tigers; then they danced the _lagre_ dance and\nthey combed the hair of the two tigers. Then they also called _More\nTurniko_ and when they came, one bonga said \"I smell a man\" and _More\nTurniko_ scolded him saying \"Faith, you smelt nothing until we came;\nand directly we come you say you smell a man; it must be us you smell\";\nand the chief of the _bongas_ agreed that it must be all right. Then\nwhile the women were dancing the boy took his bow and shot the two\ntigers, and the tigers enraged by their wounds fell on the witches\nand killed them all; and then they died themselves; and as they were\ndying they roared terribly so that the people in the villages near\nheard them. When it grew light the boy climbed down and drawing the\narrows from the bodies of the tigers went home.\n\nThen the people asked him where he had spent the night and he said\nthat he was benighted while looking for his calf and as he heard tigers\nroaring near the _jahir than_ he was frightened and had stayed in the\njungle. They told him that when the tigers began to roar the calf\nhad come running home by itself and this was good news to the herd\nboy. Then he found that all the children in the village were crying for\ntheir mothers and the men were asking what had become of their wives;\nthen the herdboy said that in the night he had seen some women going in\nthe direction of the _jahir than_ but he had not seen them come back\nand they had better go and look there. So the villagers went off and\nfound their wives lying dead by the _jahir than_ and the two tigers\nalso dead; and they knew that the women must have been witches to go\nthere at night; so they wept over them and burned the bodies. And a\nlong time afterwards the boy told them all that he had seen and done;\nand they admitted that he had done right in destroying the witches\nand that it would be well if all witches met the same fate.\n\nThis story whether true or not is told to this day.\n\n\n\n\nCLXXXV. The Man-Tiger.\n\nThere was once a young man who when a boy had learnt witchcraft from\nsome girl friends; he was married but his wife knew nothing about\nthis. They lived happily together and were in the habit of paying\nfrequent visits to the wife's parents. One day they were on their\nway together to pay such a visit and in passing through some jungle\nthey saw, grazing with a herd of cattle, a very fine and fat bull\ncalf. The man stopped and stripped himself to his waist cloth and\ntold his wife to hold his clothes for him while he went and ate the\ncalf that had stirred his appetite. His wife in astonishment asked\nhim how he was going to eat a living animal; he answered that he\nwas going to turn into a tiger and kill the animal and he impressed\non her that she must on no account be frightened or run away and he\nhanded her a piece of root and told her that she must give it him to\nsmell when he came back and he would at once regain his human shape.\n\nSo saying he retired into a thicket and took off his waist cloth and\nat once became a tiger; then he swallowed the waist cloth and thereby\ngrew a fine long tail. Then he sprang upon the calf and knocked it over\nand began to suck its blood. At this sight his wife was overwhelmed\nwith terror and forgetting everything in her fear ran right off to\nher father's house taking with her her husband's clothes and the\nmagic root. She arrived breathless and told her parents all that had\nhappened. Meanwhile her husband had been deprived of the means of\nregaining his own form and was forced to spend the day hiding in the\njungle as a tiger; when night fell he made his way to the village\nwhere his father-in-law lived. But when he got there all the dogs\nbegan to bark and when the villagers saw that there was a tiger they\nbarricaded themselves in their houses.\n\nThe man-tiger went prowling round his father-in-law's house and at\nlast his father-in-law plucked up courage and went out and threw\nthe root which the wife had brought under the tiger's nose and he\nat once became a man again. Then they brought him into the house\nand washed his feet; and gave him hot rice-water to drink; and on\ndrinking this he vomited up lumps of clotted blood. The next morning\nthe father-in-law called the villagers and showed them this blood and\ntold them all that had happened; then he turned to his son-in-law and\ntold him to take himself off and vowed that his daughter should never\ngo near him again. The man-tiger had no answer to make but went back\nsilently and alone to his own home.\n\n_Note_:--The following is a prescription for making an _Ulat bag_\nor were-tiger.\n\n\"The fibre of a plant (Bauhinia vahli) beaten out and cooked in\nmustard oil in a human skull.\"\n\n\n\n\n\nGlossary.\n\n_Adwa_. Rice husked without having been boiled.\n\n_Arta_. Red pigment applied to the feet for ornament.\n\n_Baha Porob_. The flower festival; the spring festival held about\nFebruary.\n\n_Bandi_. A receptacle for storing grain, made of straw rope.\n\n_Bharia_. A bamboo carried on the shoulder with a load slung at\neach end.\n\n_Bhut_. A ghost, a harmful spirit, not originally a Santal word.\n\n_Bonga_. The name for all gods, godlings and supernatural beings. Sing\nbonga is the sun god; the spirits of ancestors are bongas, there are\nbongas of the hills, streams and the forest; others are like fairies\nand take human form. Sacrifices are offered to bongas on all occasions.\n\n_Brinjal_. The egg plant.\n\n_But_. Grain, a kind of pulse.\n\n_Chamar_. A low caste, workers in leather.\n\n_Chando_. The sun, the supreme god of the Santals.\n\n_Champa_. A country in which according to their traditions, the\nSantals once lived.\n\n_Charak Puja_. The festival at which men are swung by hooks from\na pole.\n\n_Chatar_. A festival at which dancing takes place round an umbrella.\n\n_Chowkidar_. A watchman.\n\n_Churin_. The spirit of a woman who has died while pregnant, her feet\nare turned backwards. Not originally Santal.\n\n_Chumaura_. A ceremony observed at marriage, and Sohrae festival.\n\n_Dain_. A witch. Witches are supposed to use their powers to cause\nsickness and death; women accused of witchcraft are often murdered.\n\n_Dehri_. The president of the annual hunt; he presides over the\nCourt which during the hunt hears appeals against unjust decisions\nof paganas.\n\n_Dewan_. The chief minister of a Raja.\n\n_Dhobi_. A washerman.\n\n_Dhoti_. The waistcloth worn by men.\n\n_Dom_. A low caste, scavengers, basketmakers and drummers.\n\n_Gamcha_. A small piece of cloth worn round the neck, or when bathing.\n\n_Gh\u00e2t_. The approach to a pool or river at which people bathe; the\ncrossing place of a river.\n\n_Ghormuha_. A horse-headed monster; not a Santal name.\n\n_Go\u00e2la_. A man of the cow keeping caste.\n\n_Godet_. The village constable, the official messenger of the headman.\n\n_Goondli_. A small millet.\n\n_Gosain_. A religious ascetic, usually of the Vishnuite persuasion.\n\n_Gupin\u00ee_. A celestial milkmaid, such as those who danced with Krishna;\nnot a Santal creation.\n\n_G\u00fbr_. Juice of sugar cane, molasses.\n\n_Hadi_. A low caste of scavengers.\n\n_Jan_ or _Jan guru_. A witch finder. When a man is ill the Jan is\nconsulted as to what witch is responsible. The Jan usually divines\nby gazing at an oiled leaf.\n\n_Jahirthan_. The group of sacred trees left in each village for the\naccommodation of the spirits of the forest when the jungle is cleared.\n\n_Jai tuk_. A bullock given to a woman at her marriage.\n\n_Jhalka_. A boastful man.\n\n_Jogi_ or _Jugi_. A religious ascetic, a mendicant.\n\n_Lota_. A small brass water pot.\n\n_Lakh_. One hundred thousand.\n\n_Mahadeo_. The great god, i.e. Siva.\n\n_Mahajan_. A moneylender.\n\n_Mahuli_. A tribe akin to the Santals, basket makers by profession.\n\n_Malhan_. A cultivated leguminous plant.\n\n_Manjhithan_. The little pavilion in the centre of every Santal village\nat which the spirits of dead headmen are worshipped and where village\ncouncils are held.\n\n_Mantra_. An incantation, sacred or magic formula.\n\n_Marang Burn_. The great spirit, the original chief god of the Santals.\n\n_Marwari_. A trader from Rajputana and the adjoining parts.\n\n_Maund_. A weight, 40 seers or 82 pounds.\n\n_Meral_. A small tree. Phyllanthus emblica.\n\n_More Turuiko_. Lit.: The five or six--certain Santal godlings.\n\n_Mowah_. A tree, Bassia latifolia, the fleshy flower is eaten and\nspirit is distilled from it.\n\n_Musahar_. A semi-aboriginal caste which catches and eats rats.\n\n_Nala_. A water course with steep banks.\n\n_Narta_. The namegiving ceremony observed three or five days after\nbirth, by which the child is formally admitted into the tribe.\n\n_Ninda Chando_. The moon goddess, wife of Singchando the Sun god.\n\n_Kat_. A dry measure used for grain.\n\n_Kisar Bonga_. A spirit which takes up its abode in the house,\nfrolicsome and mischievous.\n\n_Kisku_. One of the twelve exogamous septs of Santals, by tradition\nit was formerly the royal sept.\n\n_Koeri_. A cultivating caste of Hindus.\n\n_Kora_. A youth or young man, the hero of a story is often called so\nthroughout, and I have for convenience adopted it as a proper name.\n\n_Kos_. A measure of distance, two miles.\n\n_Ojha_. An exorcist, a charm doctor, one who counteracts the effects\nof witchcraft.\n\n_Pachet_. A place in the Manbhum district which the Santals occupied\nin the course of their immigrations.\n\n_Panchayat_. A council primarily of five which meets to decide\na dispute.\n\n_Pagri_. A cloth worn round the head, a turban.\n\n_Paharia_. A hill man; the Saurias or Mal\u00e9 of the Rajmahal hills.\n\n_Pai_. A wooden or metal measure containing half a seer.\n\n_Pan_. Betel used for chewing.\n\n_Parganna_. A Santal chief having jurisdiction over a number of\nvillages.\n\n_Paranic_. The assistant headman of a village.\n\n_Parrab_. A festival.\n\n_Peepul_ or _pipal_. A tree, ficus religiosa.\n\n_Pilchu Haram_ and _Pilchu Budhi_. The first man and woman.\n\n_Rahar_. A cultivated crop, a kind of pulse.\n\n_Raibar_. A marriage go-between, a man employed to arrange a marriage.\n\n_Rakas_. An ogre. Sanskrit Rakhshya.\n\n_Rum_. To be possessed, to fall into a cataleptic state.\n\n_Sabai_. A kind of grass used for making rope.\n\n_Sal_. A forest tree. Shorea robusta.\n\n_Seer_. A weight, about two pounds.\n\n_Sid atang_. To take the final step, to be completely initiated.\n\n_Sing bonga_. The Sun god.\n\n_Sipahi_. An armed guard, a soldier, armed messenger.\n\n_Sohrai_. The great winter festival of the Santals.\n\n_Taluq_. A revenue division of the country.\n\n_Tarop tree_. A small tree, Buchanania latifolia.\n\n_Thakur_. The supreme Being.\n\n_Tika_. A mark on the forehead, the giving of which corresponds\nto coronation.\n\n_Tola_. A hamlet, a detached quarter of a village.\n\n\n\nAppendix\n\n\nIntroduction.\n\nThe Kolhan forms the western half of the district of Singhbhum in\nChota Nagpur. The Hos or Larka Hos who form the bulk of the inhabitants\nare a branch of the Mundas of the Chota Nagpur Plateau. They are one\nof those Kolarian tribes of which the Santals are perhaps the best\nknown. I have collected some of the Folklore stories current among\nthem, the recollection of which would, however, appear to be dying out.\n\nThe Rev. A. Campbell of the Free Church of Scotland, Santal Mission,\nhas printed a volume of Santal Folk Tales collected by him in Manbhum,\na neighbouring district to Singhbhum. As might be expected there is\nconsiderable resemblance between those Santal Tales and the ones now\nreproduced. I have heard some of Mr. Campbell's Santal stories told by\nHos precisely as he relates them, and there are many incidents common\nto both collections. On the other hand there is no resemblance between\nthese Kolarian tales, and the Bengal stories published by Rev. Lal\nBehari De. In the latter I only notice one incident which appears in\nthe Kolhan stories, the bringing together of two lovers through a long\nhair floating down a stream, but in Bengal it is the lady's hair that\nfloats to her lover, while in the Kolhan it is always the long hair\nof the hero which inspires love in the heart of the Raja's daughter.\n\nThe stories may be divided into two groups, the animal stories\nin which the principal characters are animals, for the most part\ndenizens of the jungles, and the stories which deal with a settled\nstate of Society with Rajas, priests and members of the different\nHindu castes following their usual occupations. It is interesting,\nbut perhaps scarcely profitable, to try and deduce from the latter some\nhints of the previous history of the Hos, who, as we know them, are a\nstrongly democratic race, with a well developed tribal system. They\nlook on themselves as the owners, of the soil and are unwilling to\nadmit the claims of any overlord.\n\nI have made no attempt to put the following stories into a literary\ndress; I merely bring them as a few stones to the hands of the builders\nwho build the structure of comparative mythology.\n\n\n\n\n(1)--The River Snake.\n\nOnce upon a time a certain woman had been on a visit to a distant\nvillage. As she was going home she reached the bank of a flooded\nriver. She tried to wade across but soon found that the water was too\ndeep and the current too strong. She looked about but could see no\nsigns of a boat or any means of crossing. It began to grow dark and\nthe woman was in great distress at the thought that she would not be\nable to reach her home.\n\nWhile she thus stood in doubt, suddenly out of the river came a\ngreat snake an said to her: \"Woman, what will you give me if I ferry\nyou across the river?\" She answered: \"Snake, I have nothing to give\nyou.\" The snake said I cannot take you across the river unless you\npromise to give me something. Now the woman at the time was pregnant\nand not knowing what else to do, she promised that when her child was\nborn, if it were a daughter she would marry her to the river snake\nand if it were a son that, when the boy grew up he should become the\n\"_juri_\" or \"name friend\" of the snake. The woman swore to do this with\nan oath and then the snake took her on his back and bore her safely\nacross the flooded stream. The woman safely reached her home and in a\nlittle time a daughter was born to her. Years passed away and the woman\nforgot all about the snake and her oath. One day she went to the river\nto fetch water and the snake came out of the stream and said to her:\n\"Woman, where is the wife whom you promised to me?\" The woman then\nremembered her oath and going back to her house she returned to the\nriver with her daughter. When the girl came to the bank of the river\nthe snake seized her and drew her underneath the water and her mother\nsaw her no more. The girl lived with the snake at the bottom of the\nriver and in the course of years bore him four snake sons.\n\nAfterwards the girl remembered her home and one day she went to\nvisit her mother. Her brothers when they came home were astonished\nto see her and said: \"Sister, we thought that you were drowned in\nthe river.\" She answered: \"No, I was not drowned, but I am married\nand have children.\" The brothers said: \"Where is this brother-in-law\nof ours?\" Their sister said: \"Go to the river and call him.\" So they\nwent to the river and called and the snake came up out of the water\nand went to their house with them. Then they welcomed the snake and\ngave him great quantities of rice beer to drink. After drinking this\nthe snake became sleepy and coiling himself in great coils went to\nsleep. Then the brothers who did not like a snake brother-in-law\ntook their axes and cut off the head of the snake while he slept,\nand afterwards their sister lived in their house.\n\n\n\n\n(2)--The Sons of the Tigress.\n\nOnce upon a time a cow and a tigress lived in a jungle and were great\nfriends, they were never separated. Now in those days tigers did not\neat flesh, but grazed like cattle, so the tigress never thought of\ndoing any harm to her friend the cow. The tigress had given birth\nto two men children who were growing up fine and sturdy lads. One\nafternoon the cow and the tigress went down to a stream to drink,\nthe cow went into the stream and drank and the tigress drank lower\ndown. The cow fouled the water of the stream and the tigress tasting\nthe water found it sweet and thought if the cow can make the water so\nsweet how sweet the flesh of the cow must be. So on the way back from\nthe stream the tigress suddenly sprang on the cow and killed her and\nate her up, leaving nothing but the bones. When she got home her sons\nasked her where the cow was, but the tigress said that she did not know\nand that the cow must have deserted them, but afterwards the boys found\nthe bones of the cow and they guessed what had happened. Then they\nthought, if our mother has killed her friend the cow, she will surely\nkill and eat us next. So when the tigress was asleep they killed her\nwith axes. Then they ran away and after going for many days through\nthe jungle they reached a city and they found all the people in great\ndistress because a tiger was devastating the kingdom and killing all\nthe inhabitants and no one could kill the tiger. The Raja of the city\nmade a a proclamation that any one who could kill the tiger should\nhave half the kingdom and his daughter in marriage. The two boys being\nthe sons of a tigress were able by their knowledge of tiger ways to\nkill the tiger. So they were given half the kingdom and the elder of\nthem married the king's daughter and they lived happily ever after.\n\n\n\n\n\n(3)--The Tiger's Marriage.\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a Raja who had one son and many\ndaughters. One day the Raja went into the jungle to cut grass. He\ncut a great deal of grass and tied it up in a big bundle and then\nhe found that he had cut so much that it was more than he could\ncarry. As he was wondering what he should do a tiger came by that\nway and seeing the Raja in difficulties asked what he could do\nto help him. The Raja explained that he had cut a bundle of grass\nwhich was too heavy to carry. The tiger said that he would carry the\ngrass if he were rewarded for it: the Raja asked him what reward he\nwanted. The tiger said that he wished for one of the Raja's daughters\nin marriage. The Raja reflected that he had many daughters and agreed\nto the proposition. Thereupon the grass was placed on the tiger's back\nand he carried it to the Raja's palace. Now the Raja was ashamed to\ngive his daughter openly to the tiger so he told the tiger to wait\nby the water hole, and sending for one of his daughters bade her go\nand fetch water; the girl went to the water hole where the tiger was\nwaiting and was carried off by the tiger. But the Raja's son missed\nhis sister and went in search of her. After searching some time he\ncame to a cave in the jungle and looking in he was the tiger finishing\nthe remains of the girl whom he had killed. Then the Raja's son ran\nhome as quickly as he could, and told the Raja what he had seen.\n\nThe next day the tiger came openly to the Raja's palace and asked to\nsee the Raja. He was taken to the Raja and treated politely. Then the\ntiger said to the Raja: \"I am sorry to say that the wife whom you gave\nme has died, so you must give me another.\"[4] The Raja said he would\nthink about the matter and invited the tiger to stay at the palace. So\nthe tiger was given a good bed, and quickly went to sleep. In the\nnight the Raja's son boiled some large vessels of water and poured\nthe scalding water over the sleeping tiger and killed him. And in\nthis way the tiger died.\n\n\n\n\n(4)--The Jackal and His Neighbours.\n\nOnce upon a time a jackal killed a kid in a village and taking it to a\nlittle distance began to enjoy a good meal. But the crows who always\nmake a noise about other people's business, gathered in a tree over\nhis head and made a great cawing, so the villagers went to see what\nwas the matter and beat the jackal severely and deprived him of his\nfeast. On this account the jackal was very angry with the crows and\ndetermined to be revenged.\n\nShortly afterwards a great storm came on with wind and heavy rain\nand all the birds and animals were in danger of being drowned. Then\nthe jackal pretended to be sorry for the crows and invited them all\nto come and take shelter in his house. But when the jackal had got\nthem safely into his house he killed and ate them all; all except\none _nilkanth_ bird which he decided to keep for his breakfast the\nnext day, so he tied the _nilkanth_ bird, on to his tail and went\naway from that part of the country. But the _nilkanth_ bird pecked\nand pecked at the jackal's tail until it not only pecked itself loose\nbut hurt the tail so much that it became festered and swollen.\n\nAs the jackal went along with his swollen tail he met a potter going to\nmarket with earthern pots for sale. Then the jackal put on a bullying\nair and said that he was a sipahi of the Raja, and one pot of those\nbeing taken to market must be given to him; at first the potter\nrefused, but being frightened he in the end gave one to the jackal.\n\nInto this the jackal pressed the matter which had accumulated in his\nswollen tail and covered it over with leaves. Going on, the jackal met\na boy tending goats, he told the boy that he had arranged with the\nboy's father to buy one of the goats in exchange for a pot of ghee,\nthe boy believed this and took the chatty with its contents from the\njackal and gave him a fine goat.\n\nThe jackal went off to his home in triumph with the goat.\n\nHis friends and neighbours were very jealous when they saw that he\nhad so fine a goat and waiting till his back was turned, they killed\nand ate the goat, and then they filled the skin with stones and gravel\nso that it might seem that the whole goat was still there. The jackal\nfound out what his neighbours had done, and he took the goat skin to\na _muchi_ and got the _muchi_ to make it into a drum. Then he went to\nthe banks of a deep river and began to play the drum. All the other\njackals collected round and were lost in admiration of the tone of\nthe drum. They wanted to know where so beautiful a drum was got, the\nfirst jackal said that there were many drums as good at the bottom of\nthe river, and if they tied stones round their necks and jumped in\nthey would find them. So the other jackals in their anxiety to get\nsuch drums jumped into the river and were drowned, and the jackal\nwas revenged on all his enemies.\n\n\n\n\n(5)--The Jackal and the Tigers.\n\nOnce upon a time a pair of tigers lived in a jungle with their two\ncubs, and every day the two tigers used to go out hunting deer and\nother animals that they might bring home food for the cubs. Near the\njungle lived a jackal, and he found it very hard to get enough to live\nupon; however, one day he came upon the tiger's den when the father\nand mother tiger were out hunting, and there he saw the two tiger\ncubs with a large piece of venison which their parents had brought\nthem. Then the jackal put on a swaggering air and began to abuse\nthe tiger cubs for having so much venison, saying: \"I am the sipahi\nof the Raja and the Raja has demanded venison and none can be found,\nwhile low people like you have a fine piece like this: give it at once\nor I will take it and report against you to the Raja.\" Then the tiger\ncubs were frightened and gave up the venison and the jackal went off\ngleefully and ate it. The next day the jackal came again and in the\nsame way took off more meat. The jackal continued taking their meal\nfrom the tiger cubs every day till the cubs became very thin: the\nfather tiger determined to find out why this was, so he hid himself\nin the bushes and watched: he saw the jackal come and take away the\nmeat from the cubs. Then he was very angry and ran after the jackal\nto kill him and the jackal ran away very fast and the tiger ran after\nas fast as he could: at last the jackal ran into a cleft between two\nrocks and the tiger running after him stuck fast between the two\nrocks and could not come out and so was starved to death. But the\njackal being smaller ran out on the other side.\n\nThen the jackal went back to the tiger's den and told the tigress that\nher husband had been caught by the Raja and thrown into prison for\ninterfering with his sipahi. The tigress and her cubs were very unhappy\nat this news for they thought that they would starve. Then the jackal\ncomforted them and told them not to be afraid as he would stay with\nthem and protect them, and help them with their hunting. So the next\nday they all four went hunting. They arranged that the jackal should\nwait at a certain place, while the tigers beat the jungle and drove\nthe game towards him. The jackal had boasted about the amount of game\nthat he could catch and when a herd of deer broke by him he tried to\nseize one but they easily escaped: then the jackal was ashamed but\nin order not to be detected he lay down and pretended that he had\nbeen suddenly taken very ill. And when the tigers came up they were\nsorry for him and forgave him for catching no game. The next day it\nwas arranged that the tigress should be in wait and the jackal and\nthe two young tigers should beat: the tigress soon killed a fine\ndeer. When the others came up the tigers wanted to eat it at once,\nbut the jackal would not let them and said that they must go to a\nlittle distance while he did puja to make the food wholesome. The\ntigers obeyed and under pretence of doing puja the jackal ate up\nall the tit bits and then allowed the tigers to come and eat the\nrest. This happened daily and the jackal lived in comfort all his days.\n\n\n\n\n(6)--The Wild Buffaloes.\n\nThere was once a man so poor that he had no land, no plough and no\nplough cattle: all that he had was a pair of fine goats. This man\ndetermined to plough with the goats, so he made a little plough and\nyoked the goats to it, and with it he ploughed a piece of barren\nupland. Having ploughed he had no seed paddy to sow; he went to try\nand borrow some paddy from the neighbours, but they would lend him\nnothing. Then he went and begged some paddy chaff, and a neighbour\nreadily gave him some. The man took the chaff and sowed it as if it\nhad been seed. Wonderful to relate from this chaff grew up the finest\ncrop of paddy that ever was seen. Day by day the man went and watched\nwith joy his paddy grow and ripen. One morning when he went to see\nit he was horrified to find that in the night wild buffaloes had come\nand eaten and destroyed the whole crop. Having now no other resource\nthe man determined to follow the wild buffaloes into the jungle:\nhe readily tracked them and came to a large open space where every\nnight the wild buffaloes used to sleep. As it was very dirty he made\na broom of twigs and brushed the place clean. At nightfall he heard\nthe buffaloes coming back and he went and hid in a hollow tree. When\nthe buffaloes saw how clean their sleeping place had been made they\nwere very pleased and wondered who had done it. The next morning the\nbuffaloes all went away into the jungle to graze, and the man came\nout of his hollow tree and again swept up the place: the buffaloes on\ntheir return saw that the place had again been swept and decided to\nleave one of their number to watch and see who did this. They left a\nbuffalo who was lame to watch: when the day got hot however the lame\nbuffalo went to sleep, and the man then came out of his tree and swept\nup the place and hid himself again without being discovered. So the\nnext day the buffaloes left a blind one behind.\n\nThe blind buffalo was of very acute hearing and he heard the man come\nout and sweep the place and return to the tree: so when the other\nbuffaloes came back he told them of the man's hiding place. The\nbuffaloes made him come out and arranged that they would provide\nfor him if he would stay with them and sweep their sleeping place\ndaily. The next day the buffaloes lay in wait for a band of merchants\nwho were travelling through the forest and suddenly charging down\nupon them put the merchants to flight: they fled leaving behind\nthem all their goods and provisions: these the buffaloes took on\ntheir horns and carried to the man, and in this way they from time\nto time supplied him with all he needed. As he was alone all day\nthey gave him a pair of horns, and said that wherever he was if he\nblew on the horns all the buffaloes in the forest would come to his\nassistance. But one day when he was bathing he put the horns down on\nthe bank of the stream and crows flew away with them and he did not\ncare to tell the buffaloes that he had lost them.\n\nOne day he went to bathe in the river and after bathing he sat and\ncombed his hair on the bank. Now his hair was so long that it reached\nto his knees. One of his long hairs came out and so he took it and\nsplitting open a _loa_ fruit he coiled the hair inside and closed the\nfruit up and then set it to float down the river. A long way down\nthe stream a Raja's daughter happened to be bathing and the _loa_\nfruit floated past her: she caught hold of it and when she opened it\nshe found the long hair inside. At once she went to her father and\nvowed that she would marry no one except the man to whom the long\nhair belonged. As nothing would alter her determination the Raja sent\nmen up the river to search for the owner of the long hair. One of\nthem found the man at the home of the buffaloes and brought him to\nthe Raja. He was at once married with great grandeur to the princess\nand promised the succession to the kingdom. So our hero began to live\nin great luxury. One day as he was standing in the courtyard of the\npalace some crows flew overhead and dropped the pair of horns that he\nhad lost. He picked them up and boasted that if he blew on them the\nwhole town would be at once destroyed. The bystanders laughed at him,\nwhereupon he got angry and blew on the horns. Then there was a great\nnoise and an enormous herd of wild buff aloes was seen rushing down\nto destroy the town. However before they could do any damage he ran\nout and assured them that he was unhurt; at this the buffaloes were\npacified; then all the straw and grain in the palace was brought out\nand given to the buffaloes to eat: after eating all they wanted they\nwent back into the jungle, all except one pair which stayed behind in\nthe palace; and from this pair are descended all the tame buffaloes\nwhich we see to-day.\n\n\n\n\n(7)--The Grateful Cow.\n\nOnce upon a time there were two brothers who were very poor and lived\nonly by begging and gleaning. One day at harvest time they went out\nto glean. On their way they came to a stream with muddy banks and\nin the mud a cow had stuck fast and was unable to get out. The young\nbrother proposed that they should help it out, but the elder brother\nobjected saying that they might be accused of theft: the younger\nbrother persisted and so they pulled the cow out of the mud. The cow\nfollowed them home and shortly afterwards produced a calf. In a few\nyears the cow and her descendants multiplied in a marvellous manner\nso that the brothers became rich by selling the milk and _ghi_. They\nbecame so rich that the elder brother was able to marry; he lived\nat home with his wife and the younger brother lived in the jungle\ngrazing the cattle. The elder brother's son used every day to take out\nhis uncle's dinner to the jungle. This was not really necessary for\nthe cow used to supply her master with all sorts of dainties to eat,\nso the younger brother, when his nephew brought out the rice used to\ngive the boy some of the sweetmeats with which the cow supplied him,\nbut he charged him not to tell his parents about this nor to take any\nhome. But one day the boy hid some of the sweetmeats in his cloth and\ntook them home and showed them to his mother. His mother had never\nseen such sweetmeats before and was convinced that her brother-in-law\nwished to poison her son. So she took the sweetmeats away and the\nnext day she herself took out the dinner to her brother-in-law and\nafter he had eaten it she said that she would comb his hair and pick\nout the lice from it; so he put his head on her lap and as she combed\nhis hair in a soothing way he went off to sleep. When he was asleep\nthe woman took out a knife and cut off his head. Then she got up and\nleaving the head and body lying at the place went home. But the cow\nhad seen what occurred and with her horns she pushed the head along\nuntil it joined the neck: whereupon the man immediately came to life\nagain and learned what had happened to him. So he drove off all the\ncattle to a distant part of the jungle and began to live there.\n\nEvery day he milked his large herd of cows and got a great quantity\nof milk; he asked his friend the cow what he was to do with it and\nshe told him to pour it into a hole in the ground at the foot of a\npipal tree Every day he poured the milk into the hole and one day as\nhe was doing so out of the hole came a large snake and thanked him\nfor his kindness in supplying the milk and asked him what reward he\nwould wish to receive in return. Acting on a hint from the cow the\nman said that he would like to have all the milk back again. Whereupon\nthe snake vomited up all the milk which it had drunk and died on the\nspot. But the milk mingled with poison fell over the man and imported\nto his body a glorious and shining appearance, so that he seemed to\nbe made of fire.\n\nAfter this the man used every day to go and bathe in a river, and each\nday when he bathed he threw one of his hairs into the water: and his\nhairs were very long. Lower down the river a princess used to bathe\nand one day she saw one of the hairs come floating down and vowed that\nshe would marry no one but the owner of the hair. So the father of the\nprincess sent a Brahman up the river to look for the man with the long\nhair. The Brahman was a very thin man with his ribs showing through\nhis skin. After some days he found our hero and was amazed at his\nshining appearance. He told him that a princess wished to marry him:\nhe was invited to stay some days; he did so, living on the milk from\nthe herd of cows and in a short time became very fat. The cow told the\nman to take a basket and creep into the hole from which the snake had\ncome he did so and at the bottom he found a heap of gold and silver:\nhe filled his basket with this and came back and gave it all to the\nBrahman, and told him to go home and inform his master that he would\ncome in a few days and marry his daughter. When the Raja saw the gold\nand silver and how fat the Brahman had got he was very pleased to\nthink what a son-in-law he was getting. In a few days the cow said\nthat it was time to start and as he had no other conveyance he set\nout riding on the cow. When they reached the boundary of the Raja's\nkingdom the man woke up one morning and found that a great retinue of\nelephants and horses and _palkis_ and _sipahis_ had appeared during the\nnight. This was owing to the magic of the cow. So the man mounted an\nelephant and went in state to the Raja and married his daughter with\ngreat ceremony. After staying some days he decided to return home\nand started off with his wife and grand retinue. When they reached\nthe boundary of the kingdom all the elephants and horses and _palkis_\nand _sipahis_ vanished into air, and the princess found that she and\nher husband had nothing but an old cow to ride upon. At this she was\nvery unhappy but she was ashamed to go back to her father, so she\nwent on with her husband and helped to tend the cows in the jungle.\n\nOne morning they woke up and found that in the night a grand palace\nhad sprung up fitted with wealth of every kind, this was the last gift\nof the cow which soon afterwards died. Thus the man became a Raja and\nfounded a kingdom and he gave a rupee to every one who would come and\nsettle in his kingdom. Many people came and among others his brother\nand sister-in-law who had fallen into great poverty. When they saw\ntheir brother they were afraid and thought that they would be killed,\nbut he forgave them and gave them clothes and land and they all lived\nhappily ever after.\n\n\n\n\n(8)--The Belbati Princess.\n\nOnce upon a time there were seven brothers the youngest of whom bore\nthe name of Lita. The six elder brothers were all married but Lita\nrefused to marry and when questioned he said that he would not marry\nany one but the Belbati Princess. His sisters-in-law laughed very much\nat the idea that he would marry a princess and worried him so much that\nat length he decided to set out in search of the Belbati princess. So\none day he started off and after some time came to a jungle in which\nwas sitting a holy _muni_. Lita went to him and asked if he knew\nwhere he would find the Belbati-princess. The _muni_ said that he did\nnot know but that a day's journey farther on was another _muni_ who\nmight be able to tell him. So Lita travelled on for a day and found\nanother _muni_ who was in the midst of performing a three month's\nspell of fasting and meditation. Lita had to wait till the _muni_\nreturned to thoughts of this world and then made his enquiry. The\n_muni_ said that he did not know but that three days' journey farther\non was another _muni_ who might be able to help him. So Lita went\non and found the third _muni_ who was in the midst of a six months'\nfast. When this _muni_ came to himself and heard what Lita wanted he\nsaid that he would be very glad to help him. The Belbati princess\nwas at the time imprisoned in the biggest _bel_ fruit growing on a\n_bel_ tree which was guarded by Rakshasas. If he went and plucked\nthis fruit he would secure the princess, but if he took any but the\nbiggest fruit he would be ruined.\n\nLita promised to bear this in mind and then the _muni_ changed him\ninto a _biti_ bird and told him the direction in which to fly. Lita\nflew off and soon came to the tree, which was covered with fruit;\nhe was very frightened when he saw the Rakshasas there, so in a great\nhurry he went and bit off the first fruit that he came to; but this\nwas not the biggest on the tree and the Rakshasas immediately fell\nupon him and ate him up. The _muni_, when Lita did not come back,\nknew that something must have happened to him so he sent a crow to\nsee what was the matter. The crow came back and said that one _bel_\nfruit had been picked but that he could not see Lita. Then the _muni_\nsent the crow to bring him the droppings of the Rakshasas. The crow\ndid so and from the droppings the _muni_ restored Lita to life. The\n_muni_ reproved Lita for his failure and told him that if he wished\nto make a second attempt he must remember his behest to pick only the\nbiggest _bel_ fruit. Lita promised and the _muni_ turned him into a\nparroquet. In this form Lita again flew to the _bel_ tree and picked\nthe biggest fruit on the tree. When the Rakshasas saw the parrot\nmaking off with the fruit they pursued him in fury; but the _muni_\nturned the parrot into a fly so small that the Rakshasas could not\nsee it, so they had to give up the chase.\n\nWhen they had departed Lita recovered his own form and went to the\n_muni_ with the _bel_ fruit and asked what more was to be done in order\nto find the princess. The _muni_ said that the princess was inside the\nfruit; that Lita was to take it to a certain well and very gently break\nit open against the edge of the well. Lita hurried off to the well and\nin his anxiety to see the princess he knocked the fruit with all his\nforce and split it suddenly in two. The result of this was that the\nprincess burst out of the fruit in such a blaze of light that Lita\nfell down dead. When the princess saw that her brightness had killed\nher lover she was very distressed and taking his body on her lap she\nwept over him. While she was doing so a girl of the Kamar caste came by\nand asked what was the matter. The princess said: \"My lover is dead,\nif you will draw water from the well I will revive him by giving\nhim to drink,\" but the Kamar girl at once formed a wicked plan. She\nsaid that she could not reach the water in the well. Then said the\nprincess: \"Do you hold this dead body while I draw the water.\" \"No,\"\nsaid the Kamar girl, \"I see you mean to run away leaving me with\nthe dead body and I shall get into trouble.\" Then said the princess:\n\"If you do not believe me take off my fine clothes and keep them as\na pledge.\" Then the princess let the Kamar girl take off all her\njewellery and her beautiful dress and went to draw water from the\nwell. But the Kamar girl followed her and as the princess leant over\nthe edge she pushed her in, so that she was drowned. Then the Kamar\ngirl drew water from the well and went back to Lita and poured some\ninto his mouth, and directly the water touched his lips he came back\nto life, and as the Kamar girl had put on the dress and jewellery of\nthe Belbati princess he thought that she was the bride for whom he\nhad sought. So he took her home to his brothers' house and married her.\n\nAfter a time Lita and his brothers went to hunt in the jungle;\nit was very hot and Lita grew very thirsty; he found himself near\nthe well at which he had broken the _bel_ fruit and went to it for\nwater. Looking down he saw floating on the water a beautiful flower;\nhe was so pleased with it that he picked it and took it home to his\nKamar wife; but when she saw it she was very displeased and cut it up\ninto pieces and threw the pieces out of the house. Lita was sorry and\nnoticed shortly afterwards that at the place where the pieces of the\nflower had been thrown a small _bel_ tree was sprouting. He had this\nplanted in his garden and carefully watered. It grew well and after\na time it produced ripe fruit. One day Lita ordered his horse, and\nas it was being brought it broke loose and run away into the garden:\nas it ran under the _bel_ tree one of the _bel_ fruits fell on to the\nsaddle and stayed there. When the syce caught the horse he saw this\nand took the fruit home with him. When he went to cut open the fruit he\nfound inside it a beautiful woman; he kept the woman in his house. At\nthis time the Kamar woman fell ill and was like to die. Lita was very\ndistressed at the thought of losing his Belbati princess. At last the\nKamarin said that she was being bewitched by the girl who was living\nin the syce's house and that one or other of them must die. Lita at\nonce ordered the girl to be taken into the jungle and killed. Four\nGhasis took her away and put her to death. Her last request to them\nwas that they should cut off her hands and feet and put them at the\nfour sides of her grave. This they did. After the death of the girl\nthe Kamar wife recovered her health.\n\nAfter a time Lita again went hunting and at nightfall came to the\nplace where the girl had been put to death. There he found standing\na fine palace. He went in but the only living creatures he saw were\ntwo birds who seemed to live there; he lay down on a bed and went to\nsleep. While he slept the birds sat by him and began talking. One told\nthe other the story of the search for the Belbati princess and how\nthe Kamar girl had thrown her into the well and taken her place. When\nLita heard this he awoke and was very unhappy. The birds told him\nthat once a year the Belbati princess visited the palace in which\nhe was; her next visit would be in six months. So Lita stayed there\nand at the end of the six months he hid behind the door to await the\nprincess. She came and as she passed through the door he caught her\nby the hand, but she wrenched herself away and fled. Lita was very\ndepressed but the birds told him to be more careful the next time. So\nhe waited a year and when the princess was expected he hid himself:\nthe princess came and seeing no one entered the palace and went to\nsleep. While she slept Lita secured her. They were married and lived\nhappily ever after, and the wicked Kamar girl was put to death.\n\n\n\n\n(9)--The Bread Tree.\n\nThere once was a boy who lived with his mother and was engaged all day\nin tending cattle. Every morning when he started his mother gave him\ntwo pieces of bread called \"hunger bread\" and \"stuffing bread,\"--one to\nsatisfy hunger with and the other to over-eat oneself on. One day the\nboy could not eat all his bread and he left the piece that remained\nover on a rock. When he went back the next day he was surprised to\nsee that from the piece of bread a tree had grown which bore loaves\nof bread instead of fruit. After that the boy no longer took bread\nfrom his mother, but lived on the fruit of his tree.\n\nOne day he had climbed his tree to pick a loaf when an old woman came\nby with a bag over her shoulder and saying that she was very poor\nbegged for a piece of bread. The old woman was really a Rakshasi. The\nboy was kindhearted and told her that he would throw her down a loaf,\nbut the old woman objected that it would get dirty if it fell on the\nground. Then he told her to hold out her cloth and he would throw it\ninto that: but she said that she could not see well enough to catch\nthe loaf: he must come down and give it to her: so the boy came down\nto give her the loaf and when the Rakshasi had him on the ground,\nshe seized him and put him in her bag and went off with him.\n\nAfter going some way she came to a pool of water and as she was rather\nthirsty from carrying such a burden, she put down her bag and went to\ndrink. Opportunely some travellers came by and hearing the boy's shouts\nlet him out of the bag. The boy filled the bag with stones and tied\nit up as before and made the best of his way home. The old Rakshasi\nwent off with the heavy bag and when she got to her abode told her\ndaughter with whom she lived that she had captured a fine dinner but\nwhen the daughter opened the bag she found in it nothing but stones:\nat this she was very angry and abused her mother: then the old woman\nsaid that the boy had escaped on the road: so the next day she went\nback to the place where the boy was tending cattle and by the same\ntrick she caught him and put him in her bag and this time went straight\nhome. She made him over to her daughter and went out to collect fire\nwood with which to cook him. The boy being left alone with the daughter\nbegan to ask how he was to be killed; she said that his head was to\nbe pounded in a _Dhenki_. He pretended not to understand and asked\nhow that was to be done. The girl not understanding such stupidity\nput her head under the striker of the _Dhenki_ to show him what would\nhappen. Then the boy at once pounded her head in the _Dhenki_ and\nkilled her: he then put on her clothes and cut her body up in pieces\nready for cooking. When the old woman came back with the fire wood she\nwas pleased to find that her daughter, as she thought, had got every\nthing ready; and the meal was soon cooked and eaten. After the old\nwoman had thus made a hearty meal off the remains of her own daughter\nshe felt sleepy and took a nap. While she slept the boy struck her on\nthe head with a large stone and killed her; thus he saved his life and\ntook all the property of the old Rakshasi and lived happily ever after.\n\n\n\n\n\n(10)--The Origin of _Sabai_ Grass (Ischaemum Angustifolium).\n\nOnce upon a time there were six brothers who lived with their\nsister. The brothers used to spend their days in the jungle hunting\nwhile the sister minded the house and cooked the dinner against\ntheir return.\n\nOne day while the brothers were hunting the girl went to cut herbs\nto cook with the dinner: as she was doing so she chanced to cut her\nfinger and some drops of blood fell on the herbs, which were put in\nthe pot. When the brothers came home to dinner they noticed how very\nsweet the food was and asked the reason. The girl said that she was\nafraid that it must be because some drops of her blood had fallen\non it. Then the brothers took counsel together and agreed that if\na few drops of her blood were so sweet, she must be very nice to\neat. So they agreed to murder her and eat her. But the youngest\nbrother named Lita, though he did not dare to oppose his elders,\nwas sorry for the decision. The next day when the brothers came\nfrom the jungle they brought with them a beautiful flower of seven\ncolours and gave it to their sister. She was delighted with it:\nshe had never seen so beautiful a flower before and wanted to know\nwhere it grew and whether were others like it. They said that if she\nliked to come with them they would take her to the tree on which the\nflowers grew and she could pick as many as she liked. So the next\nmorning she gladly went with them and they took her to the tree with\nthe seven-coloured flowers. She climbed the tree to pick the flowers\nand when she was up in the tree they shot arrows at her to kill her;\nbut though they shot many arrows they could not kill her. Then they\ncompelled Lita to shoot and he with his first arrow killed his sister.\n\nThen they cut up the body of the girl ready for cooking and sent\nLita to a well to fetch water in which to cook the flesh. Lita went\nto the well and overcome with sorrow sat down and wept. As he wept a\nlarge frog came to the surface of the water and asked him what was\nthe matter; he said that he had been made to kill his sister and\nthat now they were going to cook her flesh. The frog told him to be\ncomforted and gave him a large _rohu_ fish. Lita took this back and\nwhen his brothers told him to cook the food, he hid the pieces of\nhis sister's body and cooked the _rohu_ fish. The brothers ate this\nthinking that it was their sister. Then they went on into the jungle\nhunting. After going a short way Lita said that he had forgotten to\nrecover his arrow and that he must go back and fetch it. He went back\nto the place, and taking his sister's body buried it and building\na hut near, spent the days in weeping over the grave. After he had\nspent some time thus the girl appeared alive out of the ground. Lita\nwas overjoyed and he and his sister remained happily in the jungle.\n\nOne day a Raja hunting in the jungle passed that way and seeing the\ngirl at once fell in love with her and took her away and married\nher. Lita he also took with him and made him ruler of half the kingdom.\n\nIn honour of his marriage the Raja resolved to construct an enormous\ntank: and people came from far and near to work at it. Among others\ncame Lita's five elder brothers, who had fallen into great poverty,\nowing to their wickedness. When their sister saw them she forgave\nthem and sending for them bestowed on them food and clothing. But\nthey were so ashamed and repentant that they could only kneel on the\nground and beat the earth with their hands. As they continued to do\nso the earth opened and swallowed them up: only their hair stuck out\nof the ground and that became _sabai_ grass, and this was the origin\nof all the _sabai_ grass which exists.\n\n\n\n\n(11)--The Faithless Sister.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a man who had a son and daughter: he used\nto cultivate his land and his son and daughter used to take his dinner\nto him. One day the man went to plough and while ploughing he stuck\nthe spear which he had brought with him into the ground. As the man\nploughed a tiger came and waited an opportunity to spring upon the\nman: but from whichever side the tiger approached, the spear which was\nstuck in the ground bent its point towards the tiger and so protected\nits master. Just then the boy and girl came along with their father's\ndinner. The baffled tiger was hiding in some bushes by the field. As\nthe children went along they saw a paddy bird on the ground. The\nboy of course had his bow and bird arrows with him and he shot an\narrow at the paddy bird: he missed the bird, but it happened that\nthe tiger was just in the line of fire; the arrow pierced the eye\nof the tiger and killed it instantaneously. When the girl saw the\ntiger lying dead she said that it was clear that their father had\nenticed them there in order that the tiger might kill them when they\nbrought him his dinner: clearly the only way for them to save their\nlives was to leave their home at once. The boy agreed; drawing his\narrow from the tiger's head and taking the tiger's eyes with him, he\nwent away with his sister as fast as they could run. After going some\nlittle distance they met in the way two tigers. The boy threw at the\ntiger the eyes of the first tiger which he had brought with him. The\ntigers at once fell down dead, but from the body of one proceeded,\na hare, and from the body of the other, two dogs which peaceably\nfollowed the boy and his sister. Having escaped to a distance they\nlived in the jungle happily for some time with their three animal\nfriends. One day the hare said that he would like to have a spear,\nso the boy went with him to a blacksmith and got a spear made. As\nthey were returning they met in the way a giant _Rakshasa_ who\nwished to devour them, but the hare holding the spear kept jumping\nin and out of the giant's mouth with such speed that the _Rakshasa_\nwas dumbfounded and surrendered at discretion, promising to be a\nfaithful servant to them henceforth. With the help of the _Rakshasa_\nthey had great success in hunting. The boy with the hare and the two\ndogs used to beat the jungle and drive the game towards the _Rakshasa_\nwho caught it in his mouth. One day they thus caught a monkey, whose\nlife they spared and who joined their band. The monkey took a large\ndrum and caught in it a nest of wild bees, which he preserved.\n\nOne day while the others were away a Raja who was hunting in the\njungle found the girl sitting alone and at once fell in love with her\nand wanted to marry her. The girl said that she was willing but that\nshe was sure that her brother would never consent. The only thing was\nto kill her brother and the Raja could never do that as the faithful\nanimals would protect him. At last the girl consented to try and\ncompass her brother's death. To this end she became very melancholy and\nseemed to pine away: her brother asked what was the matter and she said\nthat she would never recover unless he could fetch her a certain flower\nwhich grew in the midst of a certain lake. Now this lake swarmed with\ngigantic fish and poisonous snakes. But the brother, never daunted,\nwent to the lake and began to swim out to the centre where the flower\ngrew. Before he got half way there one of the gigantic fish swallowed\nhim up. The Rakshasa however saw this and set to work to drink the lake\nup: he soon drank the lake dry and not only caught the big fish but\nalso was able to gather the flower that had grown in the lake. They\nthen cut open the fish and took the boy unharmed from its belly. The\nRakshasa then vomited up the water he had swallowed and filled up\nthe lake again. Meanwhile the Raja thinking that the boy had died,\ncarried off his sister. But the boy setting out with the hare and the\ndogs and the Rakshasa and the monkey proceeded to attack the Raja's\ncapital and recover his sister. The monkey opened his drum and the\nbees issued forth and attacked the Raja's army so that it fled. The\nRaja had to capitulate and give the boy half his kingdom and his own\ndaughter in marriage, then peace was declared and the animals all\ndisappeared into the jungle and our hero lived happily ever after.\n\n\n\n\n(12)--The Cruel Sisters-in-Law.\n\nOnce upon a time there lived six brothers who had one sister. The\nbrothers were all married and their wives hated their sister-in-law. It\nhappened that the brothers all went away to trade in a far country and\nher sisters-in-law took the opportunity to illtreat the girl. They\nsaid \"If you do not obey us and do what we tell you we will kill\nyou.\" The girl said that she would obey their behests to the best of\nher ability. They said \"Then go to the well and bring this earthen pot\nback full of water.\" The khalsi had a large hole in the bottom so that\nas fast as it was filled the water ran out. The girl took the pot to\nthe well and sitting down began to weep over her fate. As she wept a\nlarge frog rose out of the water and asked her what was the matter. She\nsaid \"My last hour has come. If I cannot fill this pot with water\nI shall be killed and it has a hole in the bottom.\" The frog said,\n\"Be comforted, I will cure that: I will sit on the hole and stop it\nup with my body and you will be able to fill it.\" This it did and\nthe girl took the water back to the house. The sisters-in-law were\nvery angry but could say nothing so they set her another task. They\ntold her to go the jungle and bring home a full bundle of sticks:\nbut she was not to take any rope with which to tie them. The girl\ncollected a large quantity of sticks and then sat down and cried\nbecause she was unable to carry them home: as she cried a large snake\ncame up and asked what was the matter. The girl told him, whereupon\nthe snake said that he would curl himself round the sticks and serve\nas a rope. This he did and the girl was able to carry the sticks home\non her head. Defeated in this attempt the sisters-in-law the next day\ntold the girl to go to a field of pulse which had been sown the day\nbefore and bring back all the grain by the evening. The girl went to\nthe field and picked up a few grains but it had been sown broadcast\nand the girl soon saw that the task was hopeless: she sat down and\ncried and as she cried a flock of pigeons flew to her and asked her\nwhat was the matter: she said that she could not pick up all the\ngrain in the field. They said that that was easily managed, and the\npigeons spreading over the field soon picked up all the grain and\nput it into the girl's basket, so that by evening she returned with\nthe basket full. The sisters-in-law were more than ever enraged. They\ngave her a pot and told her that she must go to the jungle and bring\nit back full of bear's milk. The girl went to the jungle and being\nvery frightened sat down and began to cry: a large she bear came by\nand asked what was the matter. The girl explained and the she bear,\nsorry for her distress willingly allowed herself to be milked without\ndoing the girl any harm. The sisters-in-law then resolved to make a\nmore direct attempt on the girl's life. They took her into the jungle\nand told her to climb a certain tree and pick them the fruit. The\ntree had a tall smooth trunk and the girl had to climb the tree\nby driving pegs into the trunk. When she reached the branches the\nsisters-in-law pulled the pegs out of the tree and went home leaving\nthe girl to starve. Night came on and the girl stayed in the tree:\nit so happened that that day the six brothers were returning home\nand being benighted stopped to sleep under that very tree. The girl\nthought that they were dacoits and stayed still. She could not help\ncrying in her despair and a warm tear fell on the face of one the\nbrothers sleeping below and woke him up. He looked, up and recognized\nhis sister. The brothers soon rescued her and when they heard of the\ncruelty of their wives they went home and put them all to death.\n\n\n\n\n(13)--The False Rani.\n\nOnce upon a time a Raja who had just married was returning with his\nbride to his kingdom. It was hot weather and a long journey and as they\npassed through a jungle the Raja and all his men went down to a stream\nto drink leaving the bride sitting in her _palki_. As the bride thus\nsat all alone she was frightened at seeing a she-bear come up. The\nbear asked the bride who she was and where she was going. When she\nheard, she thought that she would like to share so agreeable a fate,\nso by threats she made the Rani get out of her _palki_ and give her\nall her fine clothes and jewellery and go away into the jungle. The\nbear dressing herself in the Rani's clothes, got into the _palki_,\nand when the men came back they took up the _palki_ and went on their\nway without noticing any change, nor did the Raja detect the fraud:\nhe took the bear to his palace and installed her as his wife. Meanwhile\nthe real bride had picked up the walking stick of the Raja and a cloth\nwhich he had left on the road when he went to the stream, and ran into\nthe jungle. She made her way to the house of a Ghasi woman who lived\nby the Raja's palace with her daughters. The daughters earned a living\nby selling flowers and one day one daughter, as she sold the Raja a\ngarland, told him that his real bride was living in their house. The\nRaja was very distressed and at once went to see his bride and was\nsatisfied of her identity when she produced his stick and cloth. The\nreal Rani refused to go to his palace until the she bear had been put\nto death. Thereupon the Raja gave instructions to his followers and\nsent word to the palace that he was dead. The officers and servants\nat the palace then prepared a big pit and lit a large fire in it:\nthey then sent for the she bear and told her that she must perform\nthe funeral ceremonies of her husband. They made her take off her\nfine clothes and told her to kneel down by the burning pit and make\nsalaam to it. As she was doing so they pushed her into the pit and\nshe was burned to death. Then the Raja brought home his real bride in\ntriumph. But from that time bears attack men when they get the chance.\n\n\n\n\n(14)--The Jackal and the Kite.\n\nOnce upon a time a jackal and a kite agreed to join forces and get\ntheir food together. In pursuance of their plan they sent word to a\nprosperous village that a Raja with his army was marching that way and\nintended the next day to loot the village. The next morning the jackal\ntook an empty _kalsi_ and marched towards the village drumming on the\n_kalsi_ with all his might, and the kite flew along overhead screaming\nas loud as he could. The villagers thought that the Raja's army was\napproaching and fled into the jungle. The jackal and the kite began to\nfeast on all the good things that had been left in the houses. There\nwas however one old woman who was too infirm to run away with the\nother inhabitants: and had hid herself inside her house. When she saw\nthat no army came but only a jackal and a kite she crawled away into\nthe jungle and told her friends. They came back, and surrounding the\nvillage, caught the jackal: they began to beat the jackal with sticks\nto kill it: the jackal uttered no sound and pretended that it did not\nmind being beaten: after a time it began to jeer at its captors and\ntold them that they could never kill it by beating. The asked how it\ncould be killed and it said by burning. So they tied a bunch of old\ncloths on to its tail and poured oil over them and set them on fire:\nthe jackal ran off with the burning bundle at the end of its tail\nand jumping on to the nearest house set fire to the thatch: the fire\nspread and the whole village was burnt down. The jackal then ran to\na tank and jumping into the water extinguished its blazing tail. But\nif you look you will see that all jackals have a burnt tip to their\ntail to this day.\n\n\n\n\n(15)--The Sons of the Raban Raja.\n\nThere was a Raja who used to bathe daily at a certain tank. In the\ntank was a great fish: as the Raja washed his mouth this fish used\ndaily to swallow the rinsings of his mouth. In consequence of this\nthe fish after a time gave birth to two human children. As the two\nboys grew up they used to go into the village near the tank and play\nwith the other children. One day however, a man beat them and drove\nthem away from the other children jeering at them because they had\nno father. Much disturbed at this they went to the fish and asked\nwhether it was true that they had no father. The fish told them\nthat their father was the Raban Raja. The two boys resolved to go in\nsearch of the Raban Raja: they set out and after a time met a man and\nasked him if he knew the Raban Raja. The man asked why they wished to\nknow. They said that they were his sons. Then the man at once killed\nthem because the Raban Raja was an enemy of his country. From the\nplace where the bodies of the dead boys lay, two large bamboos grew\nup. When the bamboos had grown very big, a Jogi came by that way and\ncut them down, making from them two flutes. These flutes produced such\nbeautiful music that every one was charmed and the fame of the Jogi\nspread far and wide: so when in his wanderings the Jogi reached the\nkingdom of the Raban Raja the Raja sent for him and the Jogi came to\nthe palace with his two bamboo flutes. When the flutes were brought\ninto the presence of the Raja they burst open and from them appeared\nthe two boys. When the Raja heard their history he recognized them\nas his sons, and sent the Jogi away with large rewards.\n\n\n\n\n(16)--The Potter's Son.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Kumhar whose wife was about to have a\nchild. As they were very poor the pair resolved that if the child\nshould prove to be a boy they would abandon it, but if it were a girl\nthey would bring it up. When the child was born it was found to be a\nson, so the Kumhar took it into the jungle and left it there. There\nit was found by a tiger and tigress whose cubs had just died and who\ndetermined to bring up the man-child as their own. They accordingly\nfed it and looked after it; the boy grew up strong and healthy. When\nhe got big, the tiger went to a blacksmith and had made for him a bow\nand arrows of iron with which he used to hunt. When the boy became a\nyoung man the tiger decided that his marriage must be arranged for. So\nhe went to the capital of a neighbouring Raja, and when the Raja's\ndaughter came to a tank to bathe, the tiger seized her and carried her\noff into the jungle, where she was married to the Kumhar's son. The\nprincess was very pleased with her new husband, but found the life\nwith the tigers in the jungle very irksome. She constantly begged her\nhusband to run away, until at last he agreed. One day when the tigers\nwere at a distance they started off and soon arrived at the palace\nof the princess' father. Leaving her husband by the palace tank, the\nprincess went ahead to see how matters stood and to prepare a welcome\nfor her husband. He being left alone decided to bathe in the tank. Now\na dhoba was there washing the palace clothes, and seeing a stranger he\nconcluded that it was a thief come to steal the clothes. He accordingly\nkilled him and then in fear threw the body into the water. When the\nprincess returned she was distressed to find no sign of her husband\nbut his iron bow and arrows. Search was made everywhere and the tank\nwas netted but no trace could be discovered of her missing spouse.\n\nShortly afterwards a Ghasi girl came to catch _chingris_ in the tank,\nand while doing so suddenly laid hold of a large fish. In great delight\nshe took it home. When she came to cut it up she found inside the belly\nof the fish a living child. Pleased with its appearance she decided\nto adopt it. She put it in a basket, and tying the basket under her\ncloth pretended to be pregnant, and shortly afterwards announced that\nshe had given birth to a child. The boy grew with marvellous rapidity.\n\nMeanwhile the father of the widowed princess insisted that she should\nmarry again. But she was faithful to the memory of her husband and\ndeclared that she would only marry the man who could draw the iron\nbow. Many suitors came but they all failed to draw the bow. At length\nthe reputed son of the Ghasi woman came and pulling the bow with ease\nannounced himself as the true husband of the princess with whom he\nlived happily ever after.\n\n\n\n\n(17)--The Wonderful Cowherd.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Raja who had seven daughters. The seven\nprincesses used to bathe daily in a tank and when they bathed they used\nto put the scrapings from their bodies in a hole in the ground. From\nthis hole there grew a tree, and the eldest princess announced that\nshe would marry the man who could tell her what had caused the tree to\ngrow; many suitors came and made guesses but none divined the truth;\nheir father was anxious that she should be married, and insisted\non every one in the kingdom being questioned. At last a miserable,\npoverty stricken and sickly cowherd was asked; he had always grazed\nhis cattle on the banks of the tank and had often seen the princesses\nbathing so he knew from what the tree had spring. The princess being\nbound by her oath had to marry the miserable cowherd and go and live\nwith him in his hut.\n\nAll day long the cowherd used to be groaning in sickness and misery;\nbut at night he used to come out of his skin and appear as a beautiful\nand shining man; in this form he used to go and play and dance in\nthe moonlight in the court yard of the Raja's palace. One night the\nprincess's maid-servant saw her master return and creep into his ugly\nskin; she told her mistress who resolved to keep watch the next night;\nwhen she saw her husband assume his shining form and go out of the\nhouse leaving his ugly skin lying on the ground, she took the skin\nand burnt it in the fire. Immediately her husband came rushing back\ndeclaring that he was suffering the agonies of burning; but the skin\nwas burnt and the former cowherd retained his glorious and shining\nappearance; and on the application of oil the pain of the burning\nceased. The princess then began to live with pleasure in the company\nof so glorious a husband, who however only went out of the house at\nnight as his body was too bright for ordinary eyes to look upon.\n\nIt began however to be whispered about among the neighbours that a\nshining being was to be seen at the princess's house and the rumour\neventually reached the ears of the Raja. The Raja sent a messenger\nto see who the being was, but when the messenger saw the shining man\nhe was blinded and driven out of his senses and returned to the Raja\nin a state of madness. Two or three other messengers successively\nmet the same fate. At length the Raja resolved to go himself; when\nhe saw the shining form of his son-in-law he fell down in a faint;\nthe princess's husband ran and lifted up the Raja in his arms and\nrevived him. After this the former cowherd became only bearably bright,\nand being recognized as the heir to the kingdom went to live with\nhis wife in the Raja palace.\n\n\n\n\n(18)--The Strong Prince.\n\nThere was once a king who, though he had two wives, had no son. He\nwas very anxious to have a son and heir and went away into the\nmidst of the hills and jungles and there began a course of worship\nand sacrifices. His prayers were heard and while he was away it was\nfound that both his wives were pregnant. In due time the senior Rani\ngave birth to a son and sent a Brahman to the king with the welcome\nnews. The Brahman was a very holy man and he had to pray and bathe so\noften that he made very slow progress on his journey. A day or two\nlater the younger Rani also gave birth to a son and she sent a low\ncaste Ghasi to give the news to the Raja. The Ghasi travelled straight\nahead and reached the Raja some time before the holy Brahman. On\nhearing the news that the younger Rani had given birth to a son the\nRaja had at once declared that this boy should be his heir. He was\ntherefore much put out when the Brahman arrived with the news that\nthe senior Rani had given birth to a son first.\n\nThe Raja returned home and entering the palace saw the senior Rani\nsleeping with her babe beside her. The boy had sore eyes and the Raja,\ndeclaring that the child bore no resemblance to himself said that it\nwas not his son and that the Rani had been unfaithful to him.\n\nThe Rani indignantly denied the accusation and said that if the two\nbrothers fought her son would prove his parentage. Accordingly the\ntwo boys were set to wrestle with each other. The struggle was an\neven one. As they swayed to and fro it happened that the elder boy\ncaught hold of the Raja and pulled him to the ground. This incensed\nthe Raja more than ever and he ordered the senior Rani to leave the\nkingdom with her child. On the road by which they had to pass the\nRaja stationed a _mast_ elephant in order that they might be killed,\nbut when in due course the elephant attacked them the boy caught\nhold of it and threw it to a distance of four _kos_. After this feat\nthe prince and his mother journeyed to another kingdom. There they\ntook up their quarters near the ground where the Raja's _palwans_\nwrestled. The prince went to wrestle with them and easily overcame\nthe most renowned _palwans_. In many ways he showed his strength. One\nday he went to a mahajan's shop and the Mahajan instead of serving\nhim promptly kept him waiting. In indignation the boy took up the\nentire building and threw it to a distance; hearing of these feats\nthe Raja of the country sent for him and took him into his service;\nbut here also he caused trouble. He insisted on being treated with\ndeference. Going up to the highest officials he would tell them not\nto twist their moustaches at him, and knock them down. On the throne\nin the palace when the Raja was absent a pair of the Raja's shoes was\nplaced and every one who passed by had to salaam to these. This our\nhero flatly refused to do. In fact he became such a nuisance that he\nwas promised that he would be given his pay regularly if he would only\nstay away from the palace. After this he spent his days in idleness\nand by night he used to go to the shore and disport himself in the sea.\n\nOne night the goddess Kali came to the Raja's palace and knocked at\nthe gate: but no one would come to open it. Just then the prince\ncame back from bathing in the sea. Seeing him, Kali Ma, said that\nshe was so hungry that she must eat him, though she had intended\nto eat the people in the palace. She, however, promised him that\nthough eaten he should be born again. The boy agreed to form a meal\nfor the goddess on these terms and was accordingly eaten. Afterwards\ngaining admission to the palace Kali Ma ate up everyone in it except\nthe Raja's daughter. Then our hero was born again and marrying the\nRaja's daughter succeeded to the kingdom, and lived happily ever after.\n\n\n\n\n\n(19)--The Prince Who Became King of the Jackals.\n\nOnce upon a time there lived a Raja whose son formed a great friendship\nwith a barber. For some reason the Raja quarrelled with his son and\nordered him to leave the kingdom. Accordingly the prince departed to a\nfar country in company with his friend, the barber. In order to earn\na living the barber opened a school and the prince took service with\na mahajan. They were in such straits that the prince had to submit\nto very hard terms, it was arranged that his wages were to be one\nleaf-plate full of rice a day: and that if he threw up the service he\nwas to lose a piece of his skin a span long. After a short time the\nprince who had been brought up in luxury found the work so hard and\nthe food so scanty that he resolved to leave the mahajan: but before he\nwent he had to submit to a piece of skin being cut off, in terms of the\nagreement. The prince then went to the barber and told him how ill he\nhad fared. The barber vowed that he should be avenged. So he went and\noffered himself as a servant to the mahajan: he was engaged and it was\nagreed that whichever party first proposed to terminate the contract\nshould lose a piece of skin a span long. The barber worked so badly\nand ate so much that one day the mahajan in a fit of rage ordered him\nto leave the place and in consequence forfeited a piece of his skin.\n\nHaving repaid the mahajan in his own coin the prince and the\nbarber left those parts and journeyed to the land of the king of\nthe jackals. They found the king of the jackals asleep in front of\nhis cave. While he still slept the barber shaved all the hair off\nhis tail. Then the two friends hid in the cave, drawing a cart in\nfront of the entrance. When the jackal awoke and found that he had\nbeen shaved he concluded that there were _bongas_ (spirits) about;\nand ran away in terror. After going a short distance he met a bear\nwho asked where he was going in such a hurry. The king of the jackals\nsaid that some _bongas_ had taken possession of his cave and shaved\noff his hair. The bear agreed to go back with the jackal and see if\nhe could exorcise the spirits. Going to the cave the bear climbed on\nto the cart to offer a sacrifice. As he sat there the barber caught\nhold of his tail and held on to it while the prince began to stab\nthe bear with a knife. The bear howled and groaned but could not\nget away. The king of the jackals who was looking on was delighted,\nfor he concluded that the _bongas_ had taken possession of the bear\nwho would learn who they were and how they were to be exorcised. At\nlast the bear broke free and ran away: the jackal ran after him and\nasked him what the _bongas_ had told him: but the bear only said 'ugh'\n'ugh' and ran into the jungle. Then the jackal met a tiger and telling\nhis story persuaded the tiger also to try his hand at exorcising the\nspirits. The tiger was treated in the same way as the bear had been\nand ran off without giving the jackal any information.\n\nThen the king of the jackals resolved to try himself and mounted\non to the cart. But the barber stabbed him through the bamboos and\nkilled him. Then the prince succeeded to the kingdom of the jackals,\nand not only so, but replaced the piece of skin which he had forfeited\nto the mahajan by a piece of the skin of the dead jackal.\n\n\n\n(20)--The Mongoose Boy.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Raja who had seven wives but no\nchildren. In hope of issue he retired to the jungle and began a course\nof prayers and sacrifices. While he was so engaged a Brahman came to\nhim and told him to take a stick and with it knock down seven mangoes\nfrom a neighbouring tree, and catch them before they reached the\nground: he promised that if the Ranis ate these mangoes they would\nbear children. The Raja did as he was directed and took the mangoes\nhome and gave one to each of his wives.\n\nThe youngest Rani happened at the time to be sweeping out a room and so\nshe put her mango in a niche in the wall. Just then a neighbour sent\na mongoose, who was her servant, to ask for a light. While the Rani\nwas fetching a firebrand from the hearth the mongoose saw the mango\nand climbing up nibbled part of it without being seen. After this the\nRani ate the mango. In due time the seven Ranis each gave birth to\na son: but the son of the youngest Rani was the most beautiful with\na face like a mongoose. The eldest Rani was jealous of the beauty\nof the youngest Rani's son so one day she sent the youngest Rani to\nfetch some water: and during her absence took up the mongoose boy\nand putting a stone and a broom in its place took the child away and\nburied it in the pit from which the potters dig their earth. When\nthe Raja heard that his youngest wife had given birth to nothing but\na stone and a broom he was very angry and turned her out of the palace.\n\nMeanwhile a potter had found the mongoose boy still alive and had\ntaken him to his home. There the child grew up and became a strong\nboy. One day he asked the potter to make him an earthenware horse. On\nthis horse he used to ride about, for directly he mounted it, it\nwas endowed with life. One day the mongoose boy took his earthenware\nhorse to water it at a tank near the palace and there his six brothers\nsaw it and insisted that they also should have earthenware horses to\nride. Horses were accordingly made for them but when they mounted,\nthe horses would not budge an inch. Enraged at this the princes\ncomplained to their mothers. The Ranis at once suspected the identity\nof the potter's boy and told their sons to kill him.\n\nSo one day when the young princes met him at the tank they killed\nthe mongoose boy and buried his body. At the place where the body\nwas buried there grew up a bamboo of extraordinary size and a bush\nwith sweet and beautiful flowers: many people tried to cut down the\nbig bamboo and to pluck the beautiful flowers but every arm that was\nraised to do so was restrained by some unseen power. Eventually the\nnews of this portent reached the ears of the Raja who went to see\nwhat was happening. When the Raja tried to pluck a flower he succeeded\nat the first attempt. The Raja then cut down the bamboo and out of\nit stepped the mongoose boy who told of the illtreatment which he\nhad received at the hands of the six Ranis and their sons. The Raja\nwished him to come to the palace but he insisted that his mother\nshould first be sent for. This was at once done.\n\nThen the Raja had a wide and deep well dug and announced that a\nPuja was to be performed at the opening of the well. To the ceremony\ncame the six Ranis and their sons. As they all knelt at the edge of\nthe well doing puja the Raja had them pushed into it, so that they\nwere all drowned. Thus the wicked were punished and the mongoose boy\neventually succeeded to his father's kingdom.\n\n\n\n\n(21)--The Prince and the Tigress.\n\nOnce upon a time there was a Raja who had seven sons. One day a tigress\ncame to the palace and asked the Raja to allow one of his sons to be\nher servant and look after her cattle. The Raja consented and ordered\nhis eldest son to go with the tigress. The young man took his axe\nand bow and arrows and went with the tigress to her cave. When he\ngot there he asked where were the cattle which he was to tend. The\ntigress pointed out to him all the bears which were roaming in the\njungle and said that they were her cattle. By the cave stood a large\nrock and the tigress told the prince to take his axe and cut it in\ntwo. The prince tried, but the rock only turned the edge of his axe\nand he quite failed to cut it. The tigress being thus satisfied that\nthe prince had no superhuman powers sprang upon him and killed him\nand devoured his body. Then she went back to the Raja and said that\nshe had too much work to be done, that she wished him to give her\na second son. The Raja agreed, but this prince met the same fate as\nthe first; and in succession, all the sons of the Raja, except the\nyoungest, went with the tigress and were devoured by her. At last\nthe youngest son went with the tigress: when bidden to cut the rock\nin two, he easily accomplished the task. Then the tigress knew that\nshe had met her master and ran into her cave. Looking into the cave,\nthe prince saw the bones of his dead brothers. Gathering the bones\ntogether, he prayed for fire to burn them, and fire fell from above\nand burned the bones.\n\nThen he climbed a tree in order to be out of the reach of the tigress,\nand the tigress came and sat at the foot of the tree so that he could\nnot descend. Then he prayed again and wind arose and wafted him away\nand set him down by a house where lived an old man and his wife. The\ntigress followed in pursuit, but the aged couple hid the prince and\nassured the tigress that he had not been seen; so the tigress returned\ndisappointed. The prince stayed with the old people and worked on\ntheir land. One day as he was ploughing, the tigress came and killed\none of the bullocks that were drawing the plough. The prince at once\nran to the house to fetch his bow and arrow that he might kill the\ntigress. When he returned, he found that several tigers were sucking\nthe blood of the bullock and with them a wild boar. He shot an arrow\nwhich wounded the boar. The boar maddened by the pain turned on the\ntigers and killed them all; including the tigress which had killed\nthe Raja's sons.\n\nThe prince then being no longer in danger from the tigress returned\nto his father's palace.\n\n\n\n\n(22)--The Cunning Potter.\n\nOnce upon a time there lived at the gate of a Raja's palace a Potter\nwho had a pretty wife. The Raja fell in love with the Potter's wife\nand schemed to get rid of the husband. He could not bring himself to\ncommit a cold blooded murder, but he tried to accomplish his object\nindirectly by setting the Potter impossible tasks which he was to\naccomplish on pain of death. The Raja accordingly sent for the Potter\nand ordered him to bring him the heads of twenty-four jackals.\n\nThe Potter went away to the jungle and began to dig a large hole\nin the side of a hill. A jackal presently came by and stopped to\nask why he was digging the hole. The Potter said that it was going\nto rain fire from heaven, and that every one who had not such a\nshelter would be burnt. At this the jackal became very frightened;\nthe Potter thereupon said that he was so sorry for them that he\nwould allow the jackal and his friends to share the hole which he was\ndigging. The jackal gratefully ran away and returned with a number\nof other jackals. They all went into the hole and the Potter closed\nthe entrance. After a time the Potter looked out and said that the\nfire was over; he then stationed himself at the mouth of the hole and\nas the jackals came out he cut off their heads with a knife; in this\naway he beheaded twenty-three jackals; but the last jackal saw what\nwas happening and dodged the knife and escaped. The Potter took the\ntwenty-three heads to the Raja; but the Raja pretended to be angry\nand said that if the Potter did not at once procure a twenty-fourth\nhead, he would be beheaded himself. The Potter took a pot of _gur_\nand went to a pool of water which lay in the direction in which the\ntwenty-fourth jackal had fled. Smearing his body all over with _gur_,\nhe lay down by the water and pretended to be dead. Presently the\njackal which had escaped passed that way with a friend. Seeing the\nbody the second jackal proposed at once to go and eat it; but the first\njackal warned the other that there was probably some plot and related\nhow twenty-three of his friends had lost their lives at the hands of\nthis very Potter. But the second jackal would not listen to advice\nand going to the supposed corpse smelt it and then began to lick it;\nfinding the taste of the _gur_ very pleasant it set to work to lick\nthe body all over beginning at the feet; it licked the feet and then\nthe legs, when it reached his waist it was within reach of his hand\nand the Potter stabbed it with his knife and took the head to the Raja.\n\nFoiled in this design, the Raja next ordered the Potter to bring him\na jar of tiger's milk. Taking some loaves of bread, the Potter went\ninto the jungle and soon found a cave in which was a pair of tiger\ncubs whose parents were away hunting. The Potter told the cubs that\nhe was their uncle and gave them the bread to eat; they liked the\ntaste of the bread very much. Then the Potter hid himself in a tree\nnear the cave. Presently the tigress came back but her cubs refused\nto suck her milk as usual, the tigress asked the reason of this and\nthe cubs said that their uncle had come and fed them with something\nnicer than milk and they were no longer hungry. They then pointed\nout the Potter in the tree and the tigress wanted to know what he had\ngiven her cubs to eat. He told her that it was bread: the tigress said\nthat she would like to try some herself, whereupon the potter replied\nthat he would give her some if she would first give him some of her\nmilk. The tigress agreed and also consented that her legs should be\ntied while she was being milked in order that she might not be able\nto harm the potter. The tigress having been milked, the Potter gave\nher a loaf of bread and then ran away as fast as he could.\n\nFinding that he would not be able to get rid of the Potter by any\nsuch devices, the Raja then persuaded the faithless wife to put\nthe Potter to death. She accordingly set up an idol in her house\nand prayed daily to this that her husband might become blind and\ndie. One day the Potter overheard her prayers: the next day he hid\nbehind the idol and when the woman came and prayed he answered from\nbehind the idol that her prayer was granted and that in two days her\nhusband would become blind. Accordingly, two days later the Potter\npretended to become blind. Then the woman sent word to the Raja that\nher husband was blind and that they had nothing to fear from him. The\nRaja accordingly came one night to visit the woman, and the Potter\nkilled them both with an axe. He buried the body of his wife, but he\nwas in great trouble as to how to dispose of the body of the Raja:\nfor he knew that there would be a hue and cry when the disappearance of\nthe Raja was discovered. At last he decided to put the body in a field\nof _brinjals_ belonging to a neighbour. Towards morning, the owner of\nthe field came to see that his property was all right, and seeing some\none among the _brinjals_, thought that it was a thief. He accordingly\nhit the supposed thief on the head; and when he came to examine the\nbody, he was shocked to find that he had, as he thought, killed the\nRaja. In great distress he went to consult his friend, the Potter;\nthe Potter advised him to put the body among the buffaloes belonging\nto a Goala. At dawn the Goala came to look at his buffaloes and seeing\nthe body of the Raja thought that it was a thief stealing the milk of\nthe buffaloes: catching up a club, he inflicted a blow which caused\nthe body to fall over. When the Goala, found that the body was that\nof the Raja and that he had apparently killed him, he was in great\nfear and went to his friend, the Potter, for advice. It was finally\ndecided to dispose of the body by putting it down a well. The next day\ngreat search was made for the missing Raja and the body was found in\nthe well by a Brahman. Preparations were made for the obsequies and\na funeral pyre erected. The Potter saw his opportunity and digging\na hole in the ground under the pyre hid himself in it. When the body\nhad been cremated and the mourners were still collected at the spot,\nthe Potter began to speak from the hole in which he was concealed:\nthe bystanders thought that they heard the voice of the Raja declaring\nthat the Potter had always been his true friend and that he desired\nthat he should be given half the kingdom and the hand of his daughter\nin marriage. The supposed wishes of the late Raja were obeyed and\nthe Potter lived in luxury for the rest of his life.\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNOTES\n\n[1] This is why Santals when going to eat, move the stool that is\noffered to them before they sit down on it.\n\n[2] Jaituk is a bullock given to a girl by her parents at the time\nof her marriage.\n\n[3] Kisar bonga = brownie.\n\n[4] This is quite in accordance with Ho notions. If a man buys a\nwife there is an implied warranty that she is to last a reasonable\ntime. If she dies shortly after marriage a sister or cousin has to\nbe given to replace her.","title":"Folklore of the Santal Parganas","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":162448}