Folklore of the Santal Parganas

Translated byCecil Henry Bompasof the Indian Civil Service

1909

Preface

The Santals are a Munda tribe, a branch of that aboriginal elementwhich probably entered India from the North East. At the present daythey inhabit the Eastern outskirts of the Chutia Nagpore plateau. 

Originally hunters and dwellers in the jungle they are still butindifferent agriculturists. Like the Mundas and Hos and otherrepresentatives of the race, they are jovial in character, fond oftheir rice beer, and ready to take a joke. 

Their social organization is very complete; each village has itsheadman or manjhi, with his assistant the paranik; the jogmanghiis charged with the supervision of the morals of the young men andwomen; the naeke is the village priest, the godet is the villageconstable. Over a group of villages is the pargana or tribal chief. TheSantals are divided into exogamous septs--originally twelve in number, and their social observances are complex, e. G. While some relationstreat each other with the greatest reserve, between others the utmostfreedom of intercourse is allowed. 

Their religion is animistic, spirits (_bongas_) are everywhere aroundthem: the spirits of their ancestors, the spirit of the house, thespirit dwelling in the patch of primeval forest preserved in eachvillage. Every hill tree and rock may have its spirit. These spiritsare propitiated by elaborate ceremonies and sacrifices which generallyterminate in dances, and the drinking of rice beer. 

The Santal Parganas is a district 4800 sq. Miles in area, lyingabout 150 miles north of Calcutta, and was formed into a separateadministration after the Santals had risen in rebellion in 1856. TheSantals at present form about one-third of the population. 

The stories and legends which are here translated have been collectedby the Rev. O. Bodding, D. D. Of the Scandinavian Mission to theSantals. To be perfectly sure that neither language nor ideas should inany way be influenced by contact with a European mind he arranged formost of them to be written out in Santali, principally by a Christianconvert named Sagram Murmu, at present living at Mohulpahari in theSantal Parganas. 

Santali is an agglutinative language of great regularity and complexitybut when the Santals come in contact with races speaking an Aryanlanguage it is apt to become corrupted with foreign idioms. Thelanguage in which these stories have been written is beautifullypure, and the purity of language may be accepted as an index thatthe ideas have not been affected, as is often the case, by contactwith Europeans. 

My translation though somewhat condensed is very literal, and thestories have perhaps thereby an added interest as shewing the way inwhich a very primitive people look at things. The Santals are greatstory tellers; the old folk of the village gather the young peopleround them in the evening and tell them stories, and the men whenwatching the crops on the threshing floor will often sit up all nighttelling stories. 

There is however, no doubt that at the present time the knowledge ofthese stories tends to die out. Under the peace which British rulebrings there is more intercourse between the different communitiesand castes, a considerable, degree of assimilation takes place, and old customs and traditions tend to be obliterated. 

Several collections of Indian stories have been made, _e. G. _ Stokes, Indian Fairy Tales; Frere, Old Deccan Days; Day, Folk Tales ofBengal; and Knowles' Folk Tales of Kashmir, and it will be seenthat all the stories in the present collection are by no means ofpure Santal origin. Incidents which form part of the common stock ofIndian folklore abound, and many of the stories professedly relateto characters of various Hindu castes, others again deal with suchessentially Santal beliefs as the dealings of men and _bongas_. 

The Rev. Dr. Campbell of Gobindpore published in 1891 a collectionof Santal Folk Tales. He gathered his material in the District ofManbhum, and many of the stories are identical with those included inthe present volume. I have added as an appendix some stories which Icollected among the Hos of Singhbhum, a tribe closely related to theSantals, and which the Asiatic Society of Bengal has kindly permittedme to reprint here. 

My task has been merely one of translation; it is due solely to MrBodding's influence with, and intimate knowledge of, the people thatthe stories have been committed to writing, and I have to thank himfor assistance and advice throughout my work of translation. 

I have roughly classified the stories: in part 1 are stories of ageneral character; part 2, stories relating to animals; in part 3, stories which are scarcely folklore but are anecdotes relating toSantal life; in Part 4, stories relating to the dealings of _bongas_and men. In part 5, are some legends and traditions, and a few notesrelating to tribal customs. Part 6 contains illustrations of thebelief in witchcraft. I have had to omit a certain number of storiesas unsuited for publication. 

C. H. Bompas. 

Table of Contents

PART I

I. Bajun and JhoreII. Anuwa and His MotherIII. Ledha and the LeopardIV. The Cruel StepmotherV. Karmu and DharmuVI. The Jealous StepmotherVII. The Pious WomanVIII. The Wise Daughter-in-LawIX. The Oilman and His SonsX. The Girl Who Found HelpersXI. How to Grow RichXII. The Changed CalfXIII. The Koeri and the BarberXIV. The Prince Who Acquired WisdomXV. The Monkey BoyXVI. The Miser's ServantXVII. Kuwar and the Rajahs DaughterXVIII. The Laughing FishXIX. How the Cowherd Found a BrideXX. Kara and GujaXXI. The Magic CowXXII. Lita and His AnimalsXXIII. The Boy Who Found His FatherXXIV. The Oilman's BullockXXV. How Sabai Grass GrewXXVI. The Merchant's Son and the Rajah's DaughterXXVII. The Flycatcher's EggXXVIII. The Wife Who Would Not Be BeatenXXIX. Sahde GoalaXXX. The Rajah's Son and the Merchant's SonXXXI. The Poor WidowXXXII. The Monkey and the GirlXXXIII. Ramai and the AnimalsXXXIV. The Magic BedsteadXXXV. The GhormuhasXXXVI. The Boy Who Learnt MagicXXXVII. The Charitable JogiXXXVIII. Chote and MoteXXXIX. The DaydreamerXL. The Extortionate SentryXLI. The Broken FriendshipXLII. A Story Told By a HindooXLIII. The Raibar and the LeopardXLIV. The Ungrateful SnakeXLV. The Tiger's BrideXLVI. The Killing of the TigerXLVII. The DreamXLVIII. The King of the BhuyansXLIX. The Foolish SonsL. Kora and His SisterLI. A Story on CasteLII. Tipi and TepaLIII. The Child With the Ears of the OxLIV. The Child Who Knew His FatherLV. Jogeshwar's MarriageLVI. The Strong ManLVII. The Rajah's AdviceLVIII. The Four JogisLIX. The Charitable RajahLX. A Variant. --The Wandering RajaLXI. The Two WivesLXII. Spanling and His UnclesLXIII. The Silent WifeLXIV. The Dumb ShepherdLXV. The Good Daughter-in-LawLXVI. The Rajah's DreamLXVII. The Mongoose BoyLXVIII. The Stolen TreasureLXIX. Dukhu and His Bonga WifeLXX. The Monkey HusbandLXXI. Lakhan and the Wild BuffaloesLXXII. The Boy with the StagLXXIII. The Seven Brothers and the Bonga GirlLXXIV. The Tiger's Foster ChildLXXV. The Caterpillar BoyLXXVI. The Monkey NursemaidLXXVII. The Wife Who Could Not Keep a SecretLXXVIII. Sit and LakhanLXXIX. The Rajah Who went to HeavenLXXX. Seven Tricks and Single TrickLXXXI. Fuljhari RajahLXXXII. The Corpse of the Rajah's SonLXXXIII. The Sham ChildLXXXIV. The Sons of the Kherohuri-RajahLXXXV. The Dog BrideLXXXVI. Wealth or WisdomLXXXVII. A Goala and the CowLXXXVIII. The Telltale WifeLXXXIX. The Bridegroom Who Spoke in RiddlesXC. The Lazy ManXCI. Another Lazy ManXCII. The Widow's SonXCIII. The Boy Who Was Changed Into a DogXCIV. Birluri and BirbantaXCV. The Killing of the RakhasXCVI. The Children of the VulturesXCVII. The FerrymanXCVIII. Catching a ThiefXCIX. The Grasping RajahC. The Prince Who Would Not MarryCI. The Prince Who Found Two WivesCII. The Unfaithful WifeCIII. The Industrious BrideCIV. The Boy and His FateCV. The Messengers of DeathCVI. The Speaking CrabCVII. The Leopard OutwittedCVIII. The Wind and the SunCIX. The Coldest Season

PART II

CX. The Jackal and the CrowCXI. The Tiger Cub and the CalfCXII. The Jackal and the ChickensCXIII. The Jackal PunishedCXIV. The Tigers and the CatCXV. The Elephants and the AntsCXVI. A Fox and His WifeCXVII. The Jackal and the CrocodilesCXVIII. The Bullfrog and the CrabCXIX. The Hyena OutwittedCXX. The Crow and the EgretCXXI. The Jackal and the HareCXXII. The Brave JackalCXXIII. The Jackal and the Leopards

PART III

CXXIV. The Fool and His DinnerCXXV. The Stingy DaughterCXXVI. The Backwards and Forwards DanceCXXVII. The Deaf FamilyCXXVIII. The Father-in-Law's VisitCXXIX. Ramai and SomaiCXXX. The Two BrothersCXXXI. The Three FoolsCXXXII. The Cure For LazinessCXXXIII. The Brahmin's PowersCXXXIV. Ram's WifeCXXXV. PaloCXXXVI. The Women's SacrificeCXXXVII. The Thief's SonCXXXVIII. The DivorceCXXXIX. The Father and the Father-in-LawCXL. The ReproofCXLI. EnigmasCXLII. The Too Particular WifeCXLIII. The Paharia SocialistsCXLIV. How A Tiger Was KilledCXLV. The Goala's DaughterCXLVI. The Brahmin's ClothesCXLVII. The Winning of the Bride

PART IV

CXLVIII. Marriage With BongasCXLIX. The Bonga HeavenCL. Lakhan and the BongaCLI. The House BongaCLII. The Sarsagun-MaidenCLIII. The Schoolboy and the BongaCLIV. The Bonga's CaveCLV. The Bonga's VictimCLVI. Baijal and the BongaCLVII. Ramai and the BongaCLVIII. The Boundary BongaCLIX. The Bonga Exorcised

PART V

CLX. The Beginning of ThingsCLXI. Chando and His WifeCLXII. The Sikhar RajahCLXIII. The Origin of TobaccoCLXIV. The Transmigration of SoulsCLXV. The Next WorldCLXVI. After DeathCLXVII. Hares and MenCLXVIII. A LegendCLXIX. Pregnant WomenCLXX. The Influence of the MoonCLXXI. Illegitimate ChildrenCLXXII. The DeadCLXXIII. A Hunting Custom

Part VI

CLXXIV. WitchcraftCLXXV. Of Dains and OjhasCLXXVI. Initiation Into WitchcraftCLXXVII. Witch CraftCLXXVIII. Witch StoriesCLXXIX. Witch StoriesCLXXX. Witch StoriesCLXXXI. The Two WitchesCLXXXII. The Sister-in-Law Who Was a WitchCLXXXIII. Ramjit BongaCLXXXIV. The Herd Boy and the WitchesCLXXXV. The Man-Tiger

Glossary

Appendix

Folklore of the Kolhan

Part I. 

In these stories there are many incidents which appear in storiescollected in other parts of India, though it is rather surprisingthat so few of them appear elsewhere in their entirety. We havehowever, instances of the husk myth, the youngest son who surpasseshis brother, the life of the ogre placed in some external object, thejealous stepmother, the selection of a king by an elephant, the queenwhose husband is invariably killed on his wedding night, etc. Etc. 

Few of the old Indian stories found in the Kathâ Sarit Sâgara or theBuddhist Birth stories appear in recognizable form in the presentcollection. 

I. Bajun and Jhore. 

Once upon a time there were two brothers named Bajun and Jhore. Bajunwas married and one day his wife fell ill of fever. So, as he wasgoing ploughing, Bajun told Jhore to stay at home and cook the dinnerand he bade him put into the pot three measures of rice. Jhore stayedat home and filled the pot with water and put it on to boil; then hewent to look for rice measures; there was only one in the house andJhore thought "My brother told me to put in three measures and if Ionly put in one I shall get into trouble. " So he went to a neighbour'shouse and borrowed two more measures, and put them into the pot andleft them to boil. At noon Bajun came back from ploughing and foundJhore stirring the pot and asked him whether the rice was ready. Jhoremade no answer, so Bajun took the spoon from him, saying "Let me feelhow it is getting on", but when he stirred with the spoon he heard arattling noise and when he looked into the pot he found no rice butonly three wooden measures floating about; then he turned and abusedJhore for his folly, but Jhore said "You yourself told me to put inthree measures and I have done so. " So Bajun had to set to work andcook the rice himself and got his dinner very late. 

Next day Bajun said to Jhore, "You don't know how to cook the dinner;I will stay at home to-day, you go to plough, and take a hatchetwith you and if the plough catches in a root or anything, give acut with the hatchet. " So Jhore went ploughing and when the ploughcaught in anything and stopped, he gave a cut with his hatchet atthe legs of the bullocks; they backed and plunged with the pain andthen he only chopped at them the more until he lamed them both. Atnoon Bajun saw the bullocks come limping back and asked what wasthe matter with them. "O, " said Jhore, "that is because I cut atthem as you told me. " "You idiot, " said Bajun, "I meant you to givea cut at the roots in which the plough got caught, not at the legsof the bullocks; how will you live if you do such silly things? Youcannot plough, you must stay at home and cook the rice. I will showyou this evening how it is done. " So after that Jhore stayed at homeand cooked. Bajun's wife grew no better, so one day Bajun, before hewent to the fields, told Jhore to warm some water in order that hiswife might wash with it. But Jhore made the water boiling hot andthen took it and began to pour it over his sister-in-law as she layon her bed; she was scalded and shrieked out "Don't pour it over me, "but Jhore only laughed and went on pouring until he had scalded herto death. Then he wrapped her up in a cloth and brought her dinner toher and offered it her to eat, but she was dead and made no answer tohim, so he left it by her and went and ate his own rice. When Bajuncame back and found his wife scalded to death he was very angry andwent to get an axe to kill Jhore with; thereupon Jhore ran away intothe jungle and Bajun pursued him with the axe. 

In the jungle Jhore found a dead sheep and he took out its stomach andcalled out "Where are you, brother, I have found some meat. " But Bajunanswered, "I will not leave you till I have killed you. " So Jhore ranon and climbed up inside a hollow tree, where Bajun could not follow, Bajun got a long stick and poked at him with it and as he poked, Jhorelet fall the sheep's stomach, and when Bajun saw it he concluded thathe had killed his brother. So he went home and burned the body ofhis wife and a few days later he performed the funeral ceremonies tothe memory of his wife and brother; he smeared the floor of the housewith cowdung and sacrificed goats and fowls. Now Jhore had come backthat day and climbed up on to the rafters of the house, and he satthere watching all that his brother did. Bajun cooked a great basketof rice and stewed the flesh of the animals he had sacrified andoffered it to the spirits of the dead and he recited the dedication"My wife I offer this rice, this food, for your purification, " andso saying he scattered some rice on the ground; and he also offeredto Jhore, saying, "Jhore, my brother, I offer this rice, this food, for your purification, " and then Jhore called out from the roof "Well, as you offer it to me I will take it. " Bajun had not bargained to getany answer, so he was astounded and went to ask the villagers whethertheir spirits made answer when sacrificed to: and the villagers toldhim that they had never heard of such a thing. While Bajun was awayon this errand, Jhore took up the unguarded basket of rice and ranaway with it; after going some way he sat down by the road and ateas much as he wanted, then he sat and called out "Is there anyone onthe road or in the jungle who wants a feast?" A gang of thieves whowere on a thieving expedition heard him and went to see what he meant;he offered to let them eat the rice if they would admit him to theircompany; they agreed and he went on with them to steal; they brokeinto a rich man's house and the thieves began to collect the potsand pans but Jhore felt about in the dark and got hold of a drum andbegan to beat on it. This woke up the people of the house and theydrove away the thieves. Then the thieves abused Jhore and said thatthey could not let him stay with them: "Very well", said he, "thengive me back the rice you ate. " Of course they could not do this. Sothey had to let him stay with them. Then they went to the house of arich Hindu who had a stable full of horses and they planned to stealthe horses and ride away with them; so each thief picked out a horse, but Jhore got hold of a tiger which had come to the back of the stableto kill one of the horses; and when the thieves mounted their horses, Jhore mounted on the tiger, and the tiger ran off with him towards thejungle. Jhore kept on calling out "Keep to the road, you Hindu horse, keep to the road, you Hindu horse. " But it dragged him through thebriars and bushes till he was dead and that was the end of Jhore. 

II. Anuwa and His Mother. 

Once there was a young fellow named Anuwa who lived with his oldmother, and when he was out ploughing his mother used to take himhis breakfast. One day a jackal met her on her way to the field withher son's breakfast and told her to put down the food which she wascarrying or he would knock her down and bite her; so she put it downin a fright and the jackal ate most of it and then went away andthe old woman took what was left to her son and told him nothingabout what had happened. This happened several days in succession;at last one day Anuwa asked her why she brought so little rice andthat so untidily arranged; so she told him how she was attacked everyday by the jackal. Then they made a plan that the next day the mothershould take the plough afield, while Anuwa should dress up as an oldwoman and carry the breakfast. This they did and the jackal met Anuwaas usual and made him put down the breakfast basket, but while thejackal was eating, Anuwa knocked him head over heels with his stick;and the jackal got up and fled, threatening and cursing Anuwa. Amongother things the jackal as he ran away, had threatened to eat Anuwa's_malhan_ plants, so Anuwa put a fence of thorns round them and whenthe jackal came at night and tried to eat the pods he only got hisnose pricked. 

Foiled in this the jackal called out "Well, I will eat your fowlsto-morrow;" but Anuwa the next night sat by the fowl house with asickle and when the jackal came and poked in his head, Anuwa gave him arap on the snout with the sickle, so the jackal made off crying "Well, Anuwa, your fowls have pecked me on the head, you shall die. " So thenext day Anuwa pretended to be dead and his mother went about crying;she took her way to the jungle and there she met the jackal and shetold him that Anuwa had died in consequence of his curse and sheinvited him to the funeral feast, saying that he used to eat therice which she had cooked and he had become like a son to her. Thejackal gladly promised to attend, and he collected a number of hisfriends and at evening they went to Anuwa's house and sat down inthe courtyard. Then the old woman came out and began to bewail herson: but the jackal said "Stop crying, grannie, you cannot get backthe dead: let us get on to the feast. " So she said that she wouldfry some cakes first, as it would take some time before the rice wasready. The jackals approved of this but they asked her to tie them upwith a rope first lest they should get to fighting over the food, sothe old woman brought a thick rope and tied them all up and tightestof all she tied up the jackal which had cursed Anuwa; then she wentinside and put an iron pan on the fire and from time to time shesprinkled water on it and when the jackals heard the water hissingthey thought that it was the cakes frying and jumped about withjoy. Suddenly Anuwa came out with a thick stick and set to beatingthe jackals till they bit through the ropes and ran away howling;but the first jackal was tied so tightly that he could not escape, and Anuwa beat him till he was senseless and lay without moving allnight. The next morning Anuwa took the jackal and tied him to a stakenear the place where the village women drew water and he put a thickstick beside it and every woman who went for water would give thejackal one blow with the stick. After a few days beating the bodyof the jackal became all swollen and one night some other jackalscame there and asked him what he ate that he had got so fat and hesaid that every one who came to draw water gave him a handful of riceand that was why he was so fat; and if they did not believe him theycould take his place and try for themselves. 

So one jackal agreed to try and untied the first jackal and let himselfbe tied in his place, but in the morning five women came down andeach gave him a blow with the stick till he jumped about for pain, and seeing him jumping other women came and beat him till he died. 

III. Ledha and the Leopard. 

Once upon a time a boy named Ledha was tending cattle with otherboys at the foot of a hill, and these boys in fun used to call out"Ho, leopard: Ho, leopard, " and the echo used to answer from the hill"Ho, leopard. " Now there really was a leopard who lived in the hilland one day he was playing hide and seek with a lizard which alsolived there. The lizard hid and the leopard looked every where forit in vain. At last the leopard sat down to rest and it chanced thathe sat right on top of the lizard which was hiding in a hole. Thelizard thought that the leopard meant to hurt it and in revenge bithim and fastened on to his rump so that he could not get it off, so that day when the boys came calling out "Ho, leopard, " he rantowards them to get their help: but when they saw the leopard theyall fled for their lives. Ledha however could not run fast becausehe was lame, and the leopard headed him off and begged him to removethe lizard. This he did after the leopard had sworn not to eat him, and before they parted the leopard made him promise to tell no onethat the lizard had bitten him, and said that if he told then he wouldbe carried off and eaten. So Ledha rejoined his companions and toldthem nothing of what had passed between him and the leopard. But thatnight when they had all gone to bed, Ledha's sister-in-law began toworry him to tell her what the leopard had said to him, when it hadcaught him. He told her that the leopard would eat him if he told, but she coaxed him and said that no one could hear them inside thehouse; so at last he told her that he had taken off a lizard whichwas hanging on to its rump. Then they went to sleep; but the leopardwas hiding at the back of the house and heard all that they said;and when they were all asleep, he crept in and carried off Ledha's bedwith Ledha in it on his head. When Ledha woke up towards morning, hefound himself being carried through dense jungle and he quietly pulledhimself up into one of the trees which overhung the path. Thus whenthe leopard put down the bed and was going to eat Ledha, he found itempty. So he went back on his track and by and bye came to the treein which Ledha was hiding. The leopard begged Ledha to come down, as he had something to say to him, and promised not to eat him; butdirectly Ledha reached the ground the leopard said "Now I am going toeat you. " Ledha was powerless, so he only asked to be allowed to haveone chew of tobacco before he died; the leopard assented and Ledhafelt in his cloth for his tobacco, but the tobacco did not come outeasily and as Ledha felt about for it the dry tobacco leaves crackled;the leopard asked what the crackling sound was, and Ledha said "Thatis the lizard which bit you yesterday;" then the leopard got into aterrible fright and ran away as hard as he could, calling out "Don'tlet it loose: Don't let it loose. "

So Ledha was saved from the leopard, but he did not know his way outof the jungle. He wandered about, till he came to the place where thewild buffaloes used to sleep at night, and he swept up the place andmade it clean and then took refuge in a hollow tree; he stayed theresome days, sweeping up the place daily and supporting himself on thefruit of a fig-tree. At last one day the buffaloes left one cow behindto watch and see who it was who swept up their sleeping place. The cowpretended to be too ill to rise, and Ledha after watching for sometime came out and swept the ground as usual, and then tried to pullthe sick cow up by the tail; but she would not move so he went back tohis hollow tree. When the buffaloes returned they heard that it was akindhearted man who cleaned their sleeping place; so they called Ledhaout and said that they would keep him as their servant to clean theirsleeping place and to scrub them when they bathed in the river; theymade him taste the milk of all the cows and appointed the cow whosemilk he liked best to supply him. Thenceforward he used to wanderabout with the buffaloes and he made a flute and used to play on it. 

One day after scrubbing the buffaloes he washed his head in the riverand some of his hairs came out; so he wrapped them up in a leaf andset the packet to float down the stream. Lower down the stream twoprincesses were bathing with their attendants, and when they sawthe packet they tried who could fish it out and it was the youngerprincess who caught it. Then they measured the hairs and found themtwelve cubits long. The princess who had taken the packet from thewater went home and took to her bed and said that she would noteat until the man was found to whom the hairs belonged. Her father, the Raja, sent messengers in all directions to search for the manbut they could not find him. Then he sent a parrot and the parrotflew up high and looking down saw Ledha with the buffaloes in theforest; but it did not dare to go near, so the parrot returned andtold the Raja that the man was in the forest but that no messengercould approach for fear of the wild buffaloes. However a crow said, "I can bring him if any one can, " so they sent the crow and it wentand perched on the backs of the buffaloes and began to peck them;then Ledha threw stones at it, but it would not go away; then he threwa stick at it and last of all he threw his flute. The crow caught upthe flute and flew up to a tree with it. Ledha ran after it, but thecrow kept flying on a short distance and Ledha still pursued until hecame to the Raja's city. The crow flew on till it entered the roomwhere the princess lay, and dropped the flute into the hands of theprincess. Ledha followed right into the room and they shut him inand the princess gave him his flute after he had promised to marry her. 

So he stayed there a long time, but meanwhile the buffaloes all gotweak and ill for want of some one to look after them. One day Ledhaset off to the jungle with his wife to see them and when he saw howill the buffaloes were, he decided to build a house in the jungleand live there. And the Raja sent them money and horses and cattleand elephants and servants and they built a palace and Ledha subduedall the jungle and became a great Raja; and he made a highway to hisfather-in-law's home and used to go to and fro on it. 

IV. The Cruel Stepmother. 

There was once a Raja whose wife died leaving him with one youngchild. He reared it with great care and when it could toddle aboutit took a great fancy to a cat; the child was always playing with itand carrying it about. 

All his friends begged the Raja to marry again, but he said that hewas sure that a stepmother would be cruel to his child; at last theypersuaded him to promise to marry again, if a bride could be foundwho would promise to care for the child as her own, so his friendslooked out for a bride; but though they found plenty of girls whowere anxious to marry the Raja, not one would promise to care forhis child as her own. There was a young widow in a certain villagewho heard of what was going on, and one day she asked whether abride had been found for the Raja and she was told that no one waswilling to take charge of the child. "Why don't they agree, " said she, "I would agree fast enough. If I were Rani I should have nothing todo but look after the child and I would care for it more than its ownmother could. " This came to the ears of the Raja and he sent for thewidow and was pleased with her looks, and when she promised to lovehis child as her own, he married her. 

At first no one could be kinder to the child than she was, but in thecourse of time she had a child of her own and then she began to bejealous of the elder child; and she thought daily how she could getrid of him. He was still devoted to his cat and one day when he cameback to the house, he asked his stepmother where the cat was. Sheanswered angrily, "The cat has bewitched the boy! It is 'cat, cat, 'all day long. " At this the child began to cry; so she found the catand threw it to him, saying, "Here is your cat: you are mad aboutyour cat. " But the boy hugged it in his arms and kept on crying at hisstepmother's cross words. As he would not keep quiet his stepmother gotmore angry still; and catching hold of the cat she scratched her ownarms and legs with the cat's claws until the blood flowed; then shebegan to cry and scold and when the neighbours came to see what wasthe matter, she told them that the boy had let his cat scratch her;and the neighbours saw that she was not loving the boy as she promised. 

Presently the Raja came in and asked what was the matter; she turnedand scolded him saying: "You have reared the accursed cat and it hasscratched me finely; look, it has taken all the skin off; this is theway the boy repays me for all my trouble. I will not stay with you; ifI stay the boy will injure me like this again. " The Raja said, "Don'tcry like a baby; how can a simple child like that know better? whenhe grows up I will scold him. " But the woman persisted and declaredthat she would go away with her own child unless the Raja promisedto kill his elder son. The Raja refused to do this, so the Rani tookup her baby and went out of the house with it in a rage. Now the Rajawas deeply in love with her and he followed and stopped her, and saidthat he could not let her take away his younger child; she answered, "Why trouble about the child? it is mine; I have left you your boy, if you don't kill him, when he grows up, he will tell you some lieabout me and make you have me beaten to death. " At last the Rajasaid "Well, come back and if the boy does you any harm I will killhim. " But the Rani said. "Either kill him now or let me go. " So atlast the Raja promised and brought her back to the palace. Then theRaja called the boy and gave him his dinner and told him that theywere going on a visit to his uncle's: and the child was delightedand fetched his shoes and umbrella, and off they set, and a dog camerunning after them. When they came to a jungle the Raja told his sonto sit under a tree and wait for him, and he went away and killed thedog that had followed them and smeared the blood on his axe and wenthome, leaving the child. 

When his father did not return, the child began to cry, and Thakurheard him and came down, and to frighten the boy and make him leavethe jungle he came in the guise of a leopard; but the child would notmove from where he was; then Thakur appeared as a bear, and as a snakeand an elephant and in many other forms but the child would not move;so at last Thakur took the form of an old woman, who lifted him inher arms and soothed him and carried him to the edge of the jungleand left him on the outskirts of a village. 

In the morning a rich Brahman found him and took him home, and as noone claimed the child he brought him up and made him his goat-herd, and they gave him the name of Lela. The Brahman's sons and daughtersused to go school, and before he took his goats out to graze Lelaused to carry their books to the school. And going to the school everyday Lela got to know one or two letters and used to draw them in thesand while minding his goats; later he got the children to give himan old book saying that he wanted to pretend to the other boys thathe could read and out of this book he taught himself to read: and ashe grew up he became quite a scholar. One day he picked up a letterand found that it was from one of the village girls arranging to elopethat very evening with a young man. At the appointed time Lela went tothe rendez-vous and hid himself in a tree; soon he saw the Brahman'sdaughter come to the place, but as her letter had not been deliveredher lover did not appear. The girl got tired of waiting and then shebegan to call to her lover, thinking that perhaps he was hiding fora joke. When she called, Lela answered from the tree and she thoughtthat it was her lover and said "Come down and let us be off. " SoLela came down and they started off together; when day dawned she sawthat it was Lela who was with her and she sat down and upbraided himfor deceiving her. Lela said that they had met by chance; he had notenticed her away, no harm had been done and she could go home if sheliked or come away with him if she liked. The girl considered but shesaw that if she went home now she would be disgraced and her familywould be outcasted, so in the end she agreed to run away with Lela. 

They went on and after travelling some days they came to a greatcity, where they took up their quarters in a tumble-down house andthe next morning Lela went into the city to look for work. He went tothe cutcherry and enrolled himself as a _muktear_ (attorney) and soonthe litigants and the magistrates found out how clever he was and heacquired a big practice. One day the Raja said, "This fellow is veryhandsome, I wonder what his wife is like?" And he sent an old womanto see; so the old woman went and got into conversation with Lela'swife and returned to the Raja and told him that none of his wives wasso beautiful as Lela's wife; so the Raja determined to go and seeher himself, and as the old woman said that she would hide herselfin the house if she saw the Raja coming, he disguised himself as apoor man and went and saw her; he found that the old woman had notexaggerated and he determined to possess himself of Lela's wife. Hehad first to get Lela out of the way, so he sent for him and said, "You are a fine fellow and have given me satisfaction. I have onemore commission for you, if you perform it I will give you half mykingdom and my sister in marriage. " Lela said that he must hear whatit was before he made any promise. The Raja said "It is this: in acertain mountain grows the Chandmoni Kusum flower; bring it to meand I will give you what I have promised:"--but the Raja felt surethat if Lela went to the mountain he would be eaten by the Rakhas(ogress) who dwelt there. Lela said that he would go if the Rajagave him a written bond In the presence of witnesses; and this theRaja willingly did. Then Lela went and told his wife and she said, "This is excellent: I have a younger sister in the mountain, her nameis Chandmoni and it was she who planted the Chandmoni Kusum flower;when you get there call her by her name and she will certainly giveyou the flower. "

So Lela started off and when he was gone his wife fell ill, andher body became a mass of sores. Directly Lela was out of the way, the Raja sent the old woman to see what his wife was doing and shebrought back word that she was afflicted with illness; so the Rajasent medicines and told the old woman to nurse her. Lela went off andcame to the cave in the mountain where Chandmoni lived with the Rakhas;and the Rakhas was away hunting men, so Lela called out Chandmoni andtold her who he was and begged her to hide him; then they planned howthey should kill the Rakhas, and she hid him in the cave; presentlythe Rakhas returned and said to Chandmoni "I smell a man: where ishe?" But Chandmoni said that there was no one there but herself;and that the smell was probably due to the Rakhas having been eatinghuman flesh and recommended her to anoint herself with hot ghee. TheRakhas agreed: so Chandmoni put a great iron pan of ghee on to boil, and when it was boiling she called the Rakhas, and as the Rakhas wasleaning over the pan, Lela ran out and pushed her into the boilingghee and she died. Then Chandmoni asked Lela why he had come, andhe told her, "to fetch the flower. " She promised to give it to himbut asked what was to become of her now that the ogress with whom shelived was dead. Lela promised to take her with him, so they cut off thetongue and ears and claws of the Rakhas and returned to the city. Anddirectly Lela returned, his first wife recovered from her illness. 

Then the Raja saw that it was useless to contend with Lela, and hegave him half his kingdom and married him to his sister accordingto his bond. So Lela lived with his three Ranis and they bore himchildren and after some years he told them that he was the son of aRaja and he wished to visit his own country and see whether his fatherwas alive. So they set out in great style with horses and elephantsand came to the town where Lela's father lived. Now five or six daysafter abandoning Lela, his father had become blind and, he made overthe management of his kingdom to a Dewan, and the Dewan and the Ranimanaged everything. When the Dewan heard that Lela had come with agreat force he thought that he would loot the country and he ran awayin fear. Then Lela sent word to his father to come to him, as he wasthe son who had been abandoned in the jungle, so the Raja set forthjoyfully and after he had gone a few paces he began to see dimly, and by the time that he came to Lela's camp he had quite recoveredhis eyesight. When they met, father and son embraced and wept overeach other; and Lela ordered a feast to be prepared and while thiswas being done a maidservant came running to say that the wickedRani had hanged herself, so they went and burned the body and thenreturned and enjoyed the feast. Then the Raja resigned his kingdomto Lela and the ryots begged him to stay and rule over them; so heremained there and lived happily ever after. 

V. Karmu and Dharmu. 

There were once two brothers Karmu and Dharmu. Karmu was a farmer andDharmu was a trader; once when Dharmu was away from home Karmu gavea religious feast and did not invite Dharmu's household; when Dharmureturned and learnt this, he told his wife that he also would performthe ceremonies in his house, so they set to work and were employedin cooking rice and vegetables far into the night; and Karam Gosaincame down to see what preparations Dharmu was making in his honour, and he watched from the back of the house. 

Just then Dharmu strained off the water from the cooked rice and threwit out of the window, and it fell on Karam Gosain and scalded him, andas the flies and insects worried the wound, Karam Gosain went off tothe Ganges and buried himself in the middle of the stream. As he hadthus offended Karam Gosain, all Dharmu's undertakings failed and hefell into deep poverty, and had not even enough to eat, so he had totake service with his brother Karmu. When the time for transplantingthe rice came, Dharmu used to plough and dig the ditches and mend thegaps along with the day labourers. Karmu told him not to work himselfbut act as overseer of the other labourers, and the labourers also toldhim that it was not suitable for him to work as a labourer himself, but Dharmu said that he must earn his wages and insisted on working;and in the same way Dharmu's wife might have acted as overseer ofthe women, but she was ashamed not to work too. 

One day they were transplanting the rice and Karmu brought outbreakfast for the labourers; he told Dharmu and his wife to wash theirhands and come and eat; but they answered that they belonged to thehousehold and that the hired labourers should be fed first, so thelabourers ate and they ate up all the rice and there was nothing leftfor Dharmu and his wife. When the midday meal was brought the samething happened, Dharmu and his wife got nothing; but they hoped thatit would be made up to them when the wages were paid, and workedon fasting. At evening when they came to pay the wages in kind, Dharmu's name was called out first, but he told his brother to paythe labourers first, and in doing this the paddy was all used up andthere was nothing left for Dharmu and his wife; so they went homesorrowfully and their children cried for food and they had nothingto give them. In the night Dharmu's wife said "They promised to payus for merely looking after the work and instead, we worked hardand have still got nothing. We will not work for them anymore; come, let us undo the work we did to-day, you cut down the embankments yourepaired, and I will uproot the seedlings which I planted. " So theywent out into the night to do this. But whenever Dharmu raised hisspade a voice called out "Hold, hold!" And whenever his wife put outher hand to pull up the rice a voice called out "Hold, hold!" Then theysaid "Who are you who stop us?" And the voice answered "You have doneevil and offended Karam Gosain by scalding him; this is why you havebecome poor and to-day have worked without food and without wages;he has gone to the Ganges and you must go and propitiate him. " Andthey asked how they should propitiate him, and the voice said "Grindturmeric and put it on a plate, and buy new cloth and dye it withturmeric and make ready oil and take these things to the Ganges andcall on Karam Gosain. " And they believed the voice and the next daydid as it commanded, and set off, leaving their children in chargeof Karmu. On the way they came to a fig-tree full of figs and theywent to eat the fruit; but when they got near they found that allthe figs were full of grubs, and they sang:--

 "Exhausted by hunger we came to a fig-tree, And found it full of grubs, O Karam Gosain, how far off are you?"

Then they came to a mango tree and the same thing happened. And theywent on and saw a cow with a calf; and they thought that they wouldmilk the cow and drink the milk, but when they went to catch it itran away from them and would not let itself be caught; and they sang:--

 "We go to catch the cow and it runs away, We go to catch the calf and it runs away, O Karam Gosain how far off are you?"

But the cow said to them--"Go to the banks of the Ganges. " Thenthey came to a buffalo and went to milk it, but it lowered its headand charged them; and Dharam cried but his wife said "Don't cry"and sang:--

 "If you go to catch the buffalo, Dharmu, It will kill you. How shall we drink milk? How shall we drink milk? How far off are you, O our Karam Gosain?"

And the buffalo said "Go on to the bank of the Ganges. " Then they cameto a horse and they thought that they would catch it and mount it, but it kicked and snorted; and they sang:--

 "Dharmu tries to catch the horse: But it kicks and runs away. How shall we reach the Ganges? O Karam Gosain, how far off are you?"

And the horse said "Go to the banks of the Ganges. " Then they saw anelephant but it would not let them approach, so they decided to pushon straight for the river; and they saw under a banyan tree a largepot full of rupees, but they were so disheartened that they made noattempt to touch it; then they met a woman who asked where they weregoing and when she heard, she said "For twelve years I have had a _pai_measure stuck on my throat; ask Karam Gosain for me how I am to getrid of it, " and they promised; and going on they met a woman with abundle of thatching grass stuck to her head; and she made them promiseto ask Karam Gosain how she could be freed; then they met a woman withboth her feet burning in a fire and another with a stool stuck fastto her back and they promised to enquire how these might be delivered. 

So at last they came to the Ganges and they stood on the bank andcalled to Karam Gosain; and when he came they caught hold of him andhe said "Fie, what low caste person is touching me?" But they said. "Itis no low caste person, but Dharmu. " Then they bathed him and anointedhim with oil and turmeric and wrapped him in the new cloth which theyhad brought, and thus they persuaded him to return; so they rose upto go back, and Dharmu asked about the women whom they had met, andKaram Gosain said: "The woman has a stool stuck to her back becausewhen visitors came she never offered them a seat; let her do so infuture, and she will be freed; and the woman has her feet burning inthe fire because she pushed the fuel into the fire with her foot; lether not do so in future, and she will be freed; and the woman has thethatching grass stuck to her head because when she saw a friend withstraw sticking in her hair she did not tell her about it; let her doso in future and she will be freed; and the woman has the pai measurestuck to her throat because, when her neighbour wanted to borrow hermeasure, she would not lend it; let her do so in future and she willbe freed. " And Karam Gosain asked whether they had seen an elephantand a horse and a buffalo and a cow and money and mangoes and figs andDharmu said "Yes, " but that he had not been able to catch the animalsand the fruit was bad. Karam Gosain promised them that on their wayback they should take possession of all; and they did so and mountedon the elephant and returned to their home with great wealth. On theirway they met the four women and told them how they could be saved fromtheir troubles. The villagers welcomed Dharmu and he arranged a greatfeast and gave paddy to all the villagers to husk; but when they hadboiled it the weather became cloudy so that they could not dry it, so they prayed to the sun and he at once shone out and dried the paddy. 

Then a day was fixed and they prepared rice beer, and worshippedKaram Gosain and they danced all night and got very drunk and enjoyedthemselves. 

VI. The Jealous Stepmother. 

There was once a man whose wife died leaving him with one son andafter a year he married again. The second wife was very jealous of theson and she told her husband that she would not stay with him unlesshe killed the boy; at first he refused but she insisted and then hesaid that he was frightened to do the deed, but she might kill theboy herself if she liked. She said, "No: he is your son and you mustkill him; if he were mine I would do it. You need not be frightened;when you take him out ploughing make him drive the front plough, andyou sharpen your plough pole to a point and drive it into him frombehind and kill him and then it will seem to be an accident. " So theman promised and made a sharp point to his plough pole but wheneverthey ploughed, the son drove his plough so fast that the father couldnot catch him up and so the boy was not killed; then the woman abusedher husband and said that he was deceiving her. So he promised tofinish the business the next day and told her to give the boy a goodhot breakfast before they started, so that he might receive one lastkindness, and he said that they must find some other way of killinghim because all the ploughing was finished; but his wife told him hecould plough down their crop of _goondli_, the bullocks would stopto eat the _goondli_ as they went along and so he would easily catchup his son. Accordingly the next morning father and son took out theploughs and the boy asked where they should plough, and the father saidthat they would plough down the field of _goondli_. But the boy said"Why should we do that? it is a good crop and will be ripe in a dayor two; it is too late to sow again, we shall lose this crop and whoknows whether we shall get anything in its place?"

And the father thought 'What the boy says is true; the first cropis like the first child, if I kill him who will support me in myold age? Who knows whether my second wife will have children. I willnot kill him however angry she be;' so they unyoked their ploughs andwent home. He told his wife that he would not kill the boy and scoldedher and ended by giving her a beating. Then she ran away in a passionbut he did not trouble to go and look for her and in a few days herfather and brothers brought her back, and her husband told them whathad happened and they also scolded her and told her to mend her ways. 

VII. The Pious Woman. 

There was once a very pious woman and her special virtue was that shewould not eat or drink on any day until she had first given alms to abeggar. One day no beggar came to her house, so by noon she got tiredof waiting, and, tying in her cloth some parched rice, she went to theplace where the women drew water. When she got there she saw a Jugicoming towards her, she greeted him and said that she had broughtdried rice for him. He said that omens had bidden him come to herand that he came to grant her a boon: she might ask one favour andit would be given her. The woman said: "Grant me this boon--to knowwhere our souls go after death, and to see at the time of death howthey escape, whether through the nose or the mouth, and where theygo to; and tell me when I shall die and where my soul will go to;this I ask and no more. " Then the Jugi answered, "Your prayer isgranted, but you must tell no one; if you do, the power will departfrom you. " So saying he took from his bag something like a feather andbrushed her eyes with it and washed them with water. Then the woman'seyes were opened and she saw spirits--_bongas, bhuts, dains, churins_, and the souls of dead men; and the Jugi told her not to be afraid, but not to speak to them lest men should think her mad; then he tookhis leave, and she returned home. Now in the village lived a poor manand his wife and they were much liked because they were industriousand obedient; shortly afterwards this poor man died and the piouswoman saw men come with a palankin and take away the poor man's soulwith great ceremony. She was pleased at the sight and thought thatthe souls of all men were taken away like this. But shortly afterwardsher father-in-law died. He had been a rich man, but harsh, and whilethe family were mourning the pious woman saw four sipahis armed withiron-shod staves and of fierce countenance come to the house and twoentered and took the father-in-law by the neck and thrust him forth;they bound him and beat him, they knocked him down and as he couldnot walk they dragged him away by his legs. The woman followed him tothe end of the garden and when she saw him being dragged away, shescreamed. When her husband's relatives saw her screaming and cryingthey were angry and said that she must have killed her father-in-lawby witchcraft, for she did not sit by the corpse and cry but went tothe end of the garden. So after the body had been burnt they helda council and questioned her and told her that they would hold herto be a witch, if she could not explain. So she told them of thepower which the Jugi had conferred on her and of what she had seen, and they believed her and acquitted her of the charge of witchcraft;but from that time she lost her power and saw no more spirits. 

VIII. The Wise Daughter-in-Law. 

There was once a rich man who had seven sons, but one day his wifedied and after this the family fell into poverty. All their propertywas sold and they lived by selling firewood in the bazar. At last thewife of the eldest son said to her father-in-law. "I have a proposalto make: Do you choose one of us to be head of the family whom allshall obey; we cannot all be our own masters as at present. " The oldman said "Well, I choose you, " and he assembled the whole family andmade them promise to obey the wife of his eldest son. 

Thereupon she told them that they must all go out into the fieldsand bring her whatever they found. So the next day they went outin different directions and the old man found some human excrementand he thought "Well, my daughter-in-law told me to bring whateverI found" so he wrapped it up in leaves and took it home; and hisdaughter-in-law told him that he had done well and bade him hangup the packet at the back of the house. A few days later he foundthe slough of a snake and he took that home and his daughter-in-lawtold to tie a clod of earth to it to prevent its being blown away, and to throw it on to the roof of the house. 

Some years after the Raja of the country was ill with cancer of theface and none of the _ojhas_ could cure him. At last one _ojha_ saidthat there was only one medicine which could effect a cure, but hesaw no chance of obtaining it and that was human excrement 12 yearsold. Then the Raja sent messengers throughout the kingdom offering areward of 200 Rupees to any one who could supply excrement twelve yearsold; and when a messenger came to the village where this family livedthe daughter-in-law produced the packet which the old man had broughthome and received the reward of 200 Rupees; and they were all delightedat making so much money by what the old man had brought home in jest. 

And again it happened that the son of a Raja was bathing and he lefthis gold belt on the bank and a kite thought it was a snake and flewoff with it. The prince was much distressed at the loss but the Rajatold him not to grieve as the kite must have dropped it somewhere andhe would offer a reward of a thousand rupees for it. Now the kite hadsoon found that the belt was not good to eat and seeing the snake'sskin which the old man had thrown on to the roof of the house, itdropped the belt and flew off with the skin; and the daughter-in-lawpicked up the belt and when criers came round offering a reward sheproduced it and received the money. And they praised her wisdom andby this means the family became rich again. 

IX. The Oilman and His Sons. 

There was once an oilman with five sons and they were all marriedand lived jointly with their father. But the daughters-in-law werediscontented with this arrangement and urged their husbands to asktheir father to divide the family property. At first the old manrefused, but when his sons persisted, he told them to bring him alog two cubits long and so thick that two hands could just span it, and he said that if they could break the log in two, he would dividethe property; so they brought the log and then asked for axes, but hetold them that they must break it themselves by snapping it or twistingit or standing on it; so they tried and failed. Then the old man said, "You are five and I make six; split the log into six, " So they split itand he gave each a piece and told them to break them, and each easilysnapped his stick; then the old man said "We are like the whole log: wehave plenty of property and are strong and can overcome attack; but ifwe separate we shall be like the split sticks and easily broken. " Theyadmitted that this was true and proposed that the property should notbe divided but that they should all become separate in mess. But thefather would not agree to this for he thought that people would callhim a miser if he let his sons live separately without his givingthem their share in the property as their own, So as they persistedin their folly he partitioned the property. 

But in a few years they all fell into poverty and had not enough toeat nor clothes to wear, and the father and mother were no better off;then the old man called all his sons and their wives and said "You seewhat trouble you have fallen into; I have a riddle for you, explainit to me. There are four wells, three empty and one full of water;if you draw water from the full one and pour it into the three emptyones they will become full; but when they are full and the first oneis empty, if you pour water from the three full ones into the emptyone it will not be filled; what does this mean?" And they could notanswer and he said, "The four wells mean that a man had three sons, and while they were little he filled their stomachs as the wells werefilled with water; but when they separated they would not fill theold man's stomach. "

And it was true, that the sons had done nothing to help their fatherand they were filled with shame and they agreed that as long as theirfather lived they would be joint with him and would not separateagain until he died. 

X. The Girl Who Found Helpers. 

Once upon a time there were seven brothers, and they were all married, and they had one sister who was not married. The brothers went awayto a far country for a whole year, leaving their wives at home. Nowthe wives hated their sister-in-law and did their best to tormenther. So one day they gave her a pot full of holes and told her tobring it back full of water; and threatened that if she failed sheshould have no food. So she took the pot to the spring and there satdown and cried and sang:--

 "I am fetching water in a pot full of holes, I am fetching water in a pot full of holes, How far away have my brothers gone to trade. "

After she had cried a long time, a number of frogs came up out ofthe water and asked her what was the matter, and she told them thatshe must fill the pot with water, and was not allowed to stop theholes with clay or lac. Then they told her not to cry, and said, thatthey would sit on the holes and then the water would not run out;they did this and the girl dried her eyes and filled the pot withwater and took it home. Her sisters-in-law were much disappointed ather success, but the next day they told her to go to the jungle andbring back a bundle of leaves, but she was to use no rope for tyingthem up. So she went to the jungle and collected the leaves and thensat down and cried and sang:--

 "I am to fetch leaves without a rope I am to fetch leaves without a rope How far have my brothers gone to trade?"

and as she cried a _buka sobo_ snake came out and asked why she wascrying, and when she told it, it said that it would coil itself roundthe leaves in place of a rope. So it stretched itself out straightand she piled the leaves on the top of it and the snake coiled itselftightly round them and so she was able to carry the bundle home on herhead. Her sisters-in-law ran to see how she managed it, but she putthe bundle down gently and the snake slipped away unperceived. Stillthey resolved to try again; so the next day they sent her to fetcha bundle of fire wood, but told her that she was to use no rope totie it with. So she went to the jungle and collected the sticks andthen sat down and cried:--

 "I am to bring wood without tying it, I am to bring wood without tying it, How far have my brothers gone to trade?"

and as she cried a python came out and asked what was the matter, and when it heard, it told her not to cry and said that it would actas a rope to bind up the sticks; so it stretched itself out and shelaid the sticks on it and then it coiled itself round them and shecarried the bundle home. 

As the sisters-in-law had been baffled thus, they resolved on anotherplan and proposed that they should all go and gather sticks in thejungle; and on the way they came to a _machunda_ tree in full flowerand they wanted to pick some of the flowers. The wicked sisters-in-lawat first began to climb the tree, but they pretended that they couldnot and kept slipping down; then they hoisted their sister-in-law intothe branches and told her to throw down the flowers to them. But whileshe was in the tree, they tied thorns round the trunk so that she couldnot descend and then left her to starve. After she had been in the treea long time, her brothers passed that way on their return journey, and sat down under the tree to rest; the girl was too weak to speakbut she cried and her tears fell on the back of her eldest brother, and he looked up and saw her; then they rescued her and revived herand listened to her story; and they were very angry and vowed tohave revenge. So they gave their sister some needles and put her in asack and put the sack on one of the pack-bullocks. And when they gothome, they took the sack off gently and told their wives to carry itcarefully inside the house, and on no account to put it down. But whenthe wives took it up, the girl inside pricked them with the needles sothat they screamed and let the sack fall. Their husbands scolded themand made them take it up again, and they had to carry it in, thoughthey were pricked till the blood ran down. Then the brothers enquiredabout all that had happened in their absence, and at last asked aftertheir sister, and their wives said that she had gone to the junglewith some friends to get firewood. But the brothers turned on them andtold how they had found her in the _machunda_ tree and had brought herhome in the sack, and their wives were dumbfounded. Then the brotherssaid that they had made a vow to dig a well and consecrate it; so theyset to work to dig a well two fathoms across and three fathoms deep;and when they reached water, they fixed a day for the consecration;and they told their wives to put on their best clothes and do the_cumaura_ (betrothal) ceremony at the well. So the wives went to thewell, escorted by drummers, and as they stood in a row round the well, each man pushed his own wife into it and then they covered the wellwith a wooden grating and kept them in it for a whole year and atthe end of the year they pulled them out again. 

 * * * * *

Another version of this story gives three other tasks preliminary tothose given above and begins as follows:--

Once upon a time there was a girl named Hira who had sevenbrothers. The brothers went away to a far country to trade leavingher alone in the house with their wives; these seven sisters-in-lawhated Hira and did what they could to torment her; one day they soweda basketful of mustard seed in a field and then told her to go andpick it all up; she went to the field and began to lament, singing:--

 "They have sown a basket of mustard seed! Oh, how far away have my brothers gone to trade. "

As she cried a flock of pigeons came rustling down and asked her whatwas the matter, and when they heard, they told her to be comforted;they at once set to work picking up the mustard grain by grain andputting it into her basket; soon the basket was quite full and shejoyfully took it home and showed it to her sisters-in-law. Then theyset her another task and told her to bring them some bear's hair thatthey might weave it into a hair armlet for her wedding. So she went offto the jungle and sat down to cry; as she wept two bear cubs came upand asked what was the matter; when she told her story they bade herbe of good cheer and took her into their cave and hid her. Presentlythe mother bear came back and suckled her cubs, and when they hadfinished they asked their mother to leave them some of her hair thatthey might amuse themselves by plaiting it while she was away. Shedid so and directly she had gone off to look for food, the cubs gavethe girl the hair and sent her home rejoicing. The sisters-in-lawwere only made more angry by her success and plotted how to kill her, so they ordered her to bring them some tiger's milk that they mightmake it into curds for her wedding. Then she went off to the jungleand began to weep, singing:--

 "I brought the hair of a bear: How far away have my brothers gone to trade. "

At the sound two tiger cubs came running up and asked what was thematter; they told her to be comforted and they would manage to giveher what she wanted; and they took her and hid her near where theywere lying. Presently the tigress came back and suckled her cubs andas she did so she declared that she smelt a human being, but thecubs laughed at her and said that it must be they whom she smelt;so she was satisfied, and as she was leaving them they asked her toleave some of her milk in an earthern pot so that they might havesomething to drink if she were long in coming back. The tigress didso and directly she was gone the cubs gave the milk to the girl whotook it home. --The story then continues as before. 

XI. How to Grow Rich. 

Once upon a time there was a woman whose husband died while she waspregnant, and she was very unhappy and used to pray daily to SinghChando to give her a man child in place of her husband; she was leftwell off and among her property were three gold coins, and as she wasafraid of these being stolen she decided to place them in the careof the village headman. So she took them to him and asked him to keepthem till her child was born; and no one was present at the time butthe headman's wife. In due time her child was born and by the mercyof Singh Chando it was a son; and when the boy had grown a bit andcould run alone his mother decided to take back the gold coins, so shewent to the headman and asked him for them; but he and his wife said:"We do not understand what you are talking about? We know of no goldcoins: where are your witnesses? You must have had witnesses in sucha business. " And they drove her out. She went away crying and calledthe villagers together and asked them to decide the matter. So theyquestioned her and the headman but as it was word against word theycould come to no decision; so they settled to put the parties onoath, but the headman and the woman both swore that they had spokenthe truth, saying, "May we die if we have spoken falsely. " Thenthe villagers made them swear by their children and the woman andthe headman laid their hands on the heads of their sons and swore;and when the woman swore her son fell down dead and she took up thedead body in her arms and ran away with it. 

The villagers were very sorry for what had happened but the headmanand his wife abused them for not having believed their word. Thewoman had not gone very far before she met a stranger who asked whyshe was crying and when she told him, he said: "Do not cry: you toldone falsehood and so your son has died. Take your child back to thevillagers and tell them that it was five gold coins and not threethat you gave to the headman and if you do this the child will cometo life again. "

So the woman hastened back and found the villagers still assembledand she told them as the stranger had directed; and she agreed to besworn again on the body of the child, and the headman promised to payfive gold pieces if the child were restored to life. So the womanlaid her hands on the dead child and swore, and it was restored tolife. Then the headman was dumbfounded and reluctantly brought outfive gold pieces and gave them to the woman. She gave five rupeesto the villagers and they made the headman give them ten rupees forhaving deceived them, and they bought pigs and had a feast. 

In the course of time the boy grew up and his mother urged him tomarry. He asked her if she knew how to choose a wife and also whatsort of cattle to buy, and she said that she did not know; her husbandhad not told her this. So the youth said that he would go to SinghChando and ask. 

His mother washed his clothes for him and gave him food for thejourney and he set out. On the way he met a man who asked him wherehe was going and he answered that he was going to make a petition toSingh Chando. "Then, " said the man, "make a petition for me also. Ihave so much wealth that I cannot look after it all; ask him to takeaway half from me. " The youth promised and went on and he met anotherman who said that he had so many cattle that he could not build enoughcow-houses for them and asked him to petition Singh Chando to diminishtheir number; and he promised, and went on and came to Singh Chando, and there he asked how to choose a wife and how to buy cattle. AndSingh Chando said, "When you buy a bullock first put your hand onits quarter and if it shrinks and tries to get free, buy it; and whenyou want a wife enquire first as to the character of her father andmother; good parents make good children. " Then the youth asked aboutthe two men he had met; Singh Chando said;--"Tell the first man whenhe is ploughing to plough two or three furrows beyond the boundaryof his field and his wealth will diminish and tell the second man todrive away three or four of his cattle every day and their numberwill decrease. " So the youth returned and met the man who had toomany cattle and told him what Chando had said, and the man thought"If I drive away three or four head of cattle every day I shall soonbecome poor" so from that time he looked out for any straying cattleand would drive them home with his own; if the owner claimed them, he gave them up, but if no claimant appeared, he kept them and sohe became richer than ever. And the youth went on and met the manwho was too rich, and when he heard what Chando had said he thought"If I plough over the boundary on to my neighbour's land it willbe a great sin and I shall soon become poor;" and he went to hisploughmen and told them never to plough right up to the edge of thefield but to leave two of three furrows space, and they obeyed andfrom that time he grew richer than ever. And the youth returned tohis mother and told her all that had happened and they understoodthe meaning of the advice which Chando had given to the two men andacted accordingly. And it is true that we see that avaricious menwho trespass across boundaries become poor. 

XII. The Changed Calf. 

There was once a cowherd named Sona who saved a few rupees and hedecided to buy a calf so as to have something to show for his labours;and he went to a distant village and bought a bull calf and on the wayhome he was benighted. So he turned into a Hindu village and went to anoilman's house and asked to be allowed to sleep there. When the oilmansaw such a fine calf he coveted it and he told Sona to put it in thestable along with his own bullock and he gave him some supper and lethim sleep in the verandah. But in the middle of the night the oilmangot up and moistened some oil cake and plastered it over the calf;he then untied his own bullock and made it lick the oil cake off thecalf, and as the bullock was accustomed to eat oil cake it licked itgreedily; then the oilman raised a cry, "The bullock that turns theoil mill has given birth to a calf. " And all the villagers collected, and saw the bullock licking the calf and they believed the oilman. Sonadid not wake up and knew nothing of all this, the next morning hegot up and went to untie his calf and drive it away, but the oilmanwould not let him and claimed the calf as his own. Then Sona calledthe villagers to come and decide the matter: but they said that theyhad seen him bring no calf to the village and he had not called any ofthem to witness it, but they _had_ seen the bullock licking the calf;why should the bullock lick any but its own calf? No one ever saw abullock lick a strange bullock or cow and so they awarded the calfto the oilman. Then Sona said that he would call someone to argue thematter and he went away meaning to get some men from the next village:but he lost his way in the jungle and as he went along a night-jarflew up from under his feet; he called out to it to stay as he was ingreat distress, and the bird alighted and asked what was the matter, and Sona told it his trouble. Then the night-jar said that it wouldargue the matter for him but it must have a colleague and it told Sonato go on and ask the first living being he met to help; so he went onand met a jackal and the jackal agreed to help the night-jar, and theytold him to call the villagers to the edge of the jungle and not tolet them bring any dogs with them. So Sona brought all the villagersto the jungle and the night-jar and jackal sat side by side on a stone. 

Then Sona asked the villagers whether they would let him take awaythe calf or no, and they persisted in their previous opinion. At lastone man said, "What are your advocates doing? it seems to me that theyare asleep. " And at this the two woke up with a start and looked aboutthem, and the night-jar said "I have been asleep and dreamed a dream:will you men please hear it and explain its meaning?"

And the jackal said, "I too have had a dream, please explain it forme. If you can explain the meaning you shall keep the calf and, ifnot, the boy shall have it. " The villagers told them to speak and thenight-jar said, "I saw two night-jar's eggs and one egg was sittingon the other; no mother bird was sitting on them, tell me what thismeans. " And the jackal said, "I saw that the sea was on fire and thefishes were all being burnt up, and I was busy eating them and thatwas why I did not wake up, what is the meaning of this dream?" Andthe villagers said. "The two dreams are both alike: neither hasany meaning; an egg cannot sit on an egg, and the sea cannot catchfire. " The jackal said, "Why cannot it be? If you won't believe thatwater can catch fire why do you say that a bullock gave birth toa calf? Have you ever seen such a thing? Speak, " And they admittedthat they had never seen a bullock have a calf, but only cows. "Then, "said the jackal, "explain why you have given the oilman a decree. " Andthey admitted that they were wrong and awarded the calf to Sona andfined the oilman five rupees for having deceived them. 

XIII. The Koeri and the Barber. 

There was a well-to-do man of the Koeri (cultivating) caste andopposite his house lived a barber who was very poor; and the barberthought that if he carried on his cultivation just as the Koeri did hemight get better results; so every day he made some pretext to visitthe Koeri's house and hear what work he was going to do the next day, and with the same object he would listen outside his house at night;and he exactly imitated the Koeri: he yoked his cattle and unyokedthem, he ploughed and sowed and transplanted just when the Koeri didand the result was good, for that year he got a very fine crop. But hewas not content with this and resolved to continue to copy the Koeri;the Koeri suspected what the barber was doing and did not like it. Sohe resolved to put the matter to the test and at the same time teachthe barber to mind his own business. In January they both plantedsugar cane, and one day when the crop was half grown the barberwas sitting at the Koeri's house and the Koeri gave orders to hisservants to put the leveller over the crop the next day and break itdown; this was only a pretence of the Koeri's, but the barber wentaway and the next day crushed his sugar cane crop with the leveller, the whole village laughed to see what he had done; but it turned outthat each root of the barber's sugar cane sent up a number of shootsand in the end he had a much heavier crop than the Koeri. 

Another day the Koeri announced that he was going to sow _but_ (pulse)and therefore ordered his servants to bring out the seed and roastit well, that it might germinate quickly; and the barber hearing thiswent off and had his seed _but_ roasted and the next day he sowed it, but only a very few seeds germinated, while the crop of the Koeriwhich had not really been roasted sprouted finely. The barber askedthe Koeri why his crop had not come up well, and the Koeri told himthat it must be because he had not roasted the seed enough; the fewseeds that had come up must have been those which had been roastedmost. But in the end the laugh was against the Koeri, for the fewseeds of the barber's which germinated, produced such fine plantsthat when he came to thresh them out he had more grain than the Koeri, and so in 3 or 4 years the barber became the richer man of the two. 

XIV. The Prince Who Acquired Wisdom. 

There was once a Raja who had an only son and the Raja was alwaysurging his son to learn to read and write in order that when he cameto his kingdom he might manage well and be able to decide disputesthat were brought to him for judgment; but the boy paid no heed tohis father's advice and continued to neglect his lessons. At lastwhen he was grown up, the Prince saw that his father was right andhe resolved to go away to foreign countries to acquire wisdom; so heset off without telling anyone but his wife, and he took with hima purse of money and three pieces of gold. After travelling a longtime, he one day saw a man ploughing in a field and he went and gotsome tobacco from him and asked him whether there were any wise menliving in that neighbourhood. "What do you want with wise men?", asked the ploughman. The Prince said that he was travelling to getwisdom. The ploughman said that he would give him instruction ifhe were paid. Then the Prince promised to give him one gold piecefor each piece of wisdom. The ploughman agreed and said. "Listenattentively! My first maxim is this: You are the son of a Raja;whenever you go to visit a friend or one of your subjects and theyoffer you a bedstead, or stool, or mat to sit on, do not sit downat once but move the stool or mat a little to one side; this isone maxim: give me my gold coin. " So the Prince paid him. Then theploughman said. "The second maxim is this: You are the son of a Raja;whenever you go to bathe, do not bathe at the common bathing place, but at a place by yourself; give me my coin, " and the Prince didso. Then he continued, "My third maxim is this: You are the son of aRaja; when men come to you for advice or to have a dispute decided, listen to what the majority of those present say and do not followyour own fancy, now pay me;" and the Prince gave him his last goldcoin, and said that he had no more. "Well, " said the ploughman, "yourlesson is finished but still I will give you one more piece of advicefree and it is this: You are the son of a Raja; Restrain your anger, if anything you see or hear makes you angry, still do not at once takeaction; hear the explanation and weigh it well, then if you find causeyou can give rein to your anger and if not, let the offender off. "

After this the prince set his face homewards as he had spent allhis money; and he began to repent of having spent his gold pieceson advice that seemed worthless. However on his way he turned intoa bazar to buy some food and the shopkeepers on all sides called out"Buy, buy, " so he went to a shop and the shopkeeper invited him to siton a rug; he was just about to do so when he remembered the maxim ofhis instructor and pulled the rug to one side; and when he did so hesaw that it had been spread over the mouth of a well and that if hehad sat on it he would have been killed [1]; so he began to believein the wisdom of his teacher. Then he went on his way and on theroad he turned aside to a tank to bathe, and remembering the maximof his teacher he did not bathe at the common place but went to aplace apart; then having eaten his lunch he continued his journey, but he had not gone far when he found that he had left his pursebehind, so he turned back and found it lying at the place where hehad put down his things when he bathed; thereupon he applauded thewisdom of his teacher, for if he had bathed at the common bathingplace someone would have seen the purse and have taken it away. Whenevening came on he turned into a village and asked the headman to lethim sleep in his verandah, and there was already one other travellersleeping there and in the morning it was found that the traveller haddied in his sleep. Then the headman consulted the villagers and theydecided that there was nothing to be done but to throw away the body, and that as the Prince was also a traveller he should do it. At firsthe refused to touch the corpse as he was the son of a Raja, but thevillagers insisted and then he bethought himself of the maxim thathe should not act contrary to the general opinion; so he yielded anddragged away the body, and threw it into a ravine. 

Before leaving it he remembered that it was proper to remove theclothes, and when he began to do so he found round the waist of thebody a roll of coin; so he took this and was glad that he had followedthe advice of his teacher. 

That evening he reached the boundary of his own territory and decidedto press on home although it was dark; at midnight he reached thepalace and without arousing anyone went to the door of his wife'sroom. Outside the door he saw a pair of shoes and a sword; at thesight he became wild with rage and drawing the sword he called out:"Who is in my room?"

As a matter of fact the Prince's wife had got the Prince's littlesister to sleep with her, and when the girl heard the Prince's voiceshe got up to leave; but when she opened the door and saw the Princestanding with the drawn sword she drew back in fear; she told himwho she was and explained that they had put the shoes and sword atthe door to prevent anyone else from entering; but in his wrath thePrince would not listen and called to her to come out and be killed. 

Then she took off her cloth and showed it to him through the crack ofthe door and at the sight of this he was convinced; then he reflectedon the advice of his teacher and repented, because he had nearlykilled his sister through not restraining his wrath. 

XV. The Monkey Boy. 

There was once a man who had six sons and two daughters and he diedleaving his wife pregnant of a ninth child. 

And when the child was born it proved to be a monkey. 

The villagers and relations advised the mother to make away with it, but she refused saying "Chando knows why he has given me such a child, but as he has done so I will rear it. "

All her relations said that if she chose to rear a monkey they wouldturn her out of the family. However she persisted that she would doso at all costs. So they sent her to live with her child in a hutoutside the village, and the monkey boy grew up and learned to talklike a human being. 

One day his elder brothers began to clear the jungle for cultivationand the monkey boy took a hatchet and went with them; he asked wherehe could clear land for himself and in fun they showed him the placewhere the jungle was thickest. So he went there and drove his hatchetinto the trunk of a tree and then returned and watched his brothersworking hard clearing the scrub, and when they had finished their workhe went and fetched his hatchet and returned home with them. Everyday he did the same--and one day his brothers asked why he spent allhis time with them, but he said that he only came to them when he wastired of cutting down trees; they laughed at this and said that theywould like to see his clearing, so he took them to the place and totheir astonishment they saw a large clearing, bigger than they hadbeen able to make for themselves. Then the brothers burnt the junglethey had cut down and began to plough the land. 

But the monkey boy's mother had no plough or cattle nor any seed rice;the only thing in the house was a pumpkin, so he took the seed outof the pumpkin and sowed it in his clearing. His brothers asked whathe had sown and he told them--Rice. 

The brothers ploughed and sowed and used to go daily to watch thegrowing crop, and one day they went to have a look at the monkey boy'scrop and they saw that it was pumpkins and not rice and they laughedat him. When their crop was ripe the brothers prepared to offer thefirst fruits and the monkey boy watched them that he might observe thesame ceremonies as they. One day they brought home the first fruitsand offered them to the _bongas_, and they invited the monkey boyand his mother to come to the feast which followed the offering. 

They both went and enjoyed themselves; and two or three days laterthe monkey boy said that he would also have a feast of first fruits, so he told his mother to clear the courtyard and invited his brothersand he purified himself and went to his clearing and brought home thebiggest pumpkin that had grown there; this he offered to the spirits;he sliced off the top of it as if it were the head of a fowl, andas he did so he saw that the inside was full of rice; he called hismother and they filled a winnowing fan with the rice and there wasenough besides to nearly fill a basket; they were delighted at thiswindfall but kept the matter secret lest they should be robbed. Themonkey boy told his mother to be sure and cook enough rice so thathis brothers and their wives might have as much as ever they couldeat, and not merely a small helping such as they had given him, and if necessary he would go and fetch another pumpkin; so hismother boiled the rice. When the time fixed for the feast came, nothing was to be seen of the brothers because they did not expectthat there would really be anything for them to eat; so the monkeyboy went and fetched them, and when they came to the feast theywere astonished to have as much rice as they could eat. When thecrop was quite ripe the monkey boy gathered all the pumpkins andgot sufficient rice from them to last for the whole year. Afterthis the brothers went out to buy horses, and the monkey boy wentwith them and as he had no money he took nothing but a coil of rope;his brothers were ashamed to have him with them and drove him away, so he went on ahead and got first to the place where the horsedealerlived. The brothers arrived late in the evening and decided to maketheir purchases the following morning and ride their horses home, sothey camped for the night. The monkey boy spent the night hiding onthe rafters of the stable; and in the night the horses began to talkto each other and discussed which could gallop farthest, and one maresaid "I can gallop twelve _kos_ on the ground and then twelve _kos_in the air. " When the monkey boy heard this he got down and lamedthe mare by running a splinter into her hoof. The next morning thebrothers bought the horses which pleased them and rode off. Then themonkey boy went to the horsedealer and asked why the mare was lameand advised him to apply remedies. But the dealer said that thatwas useless: when horses got ill they always died; then the monkeyboy asked if he would sell the mare and offered to give the coil ofrope in exchange; the dealer, thinking that the animal was useless, agreed, so the monkey boy led it away, but when he was out of sighthe took out the splinter and the lameness at once ceased. Then hemounted the mare and rode after his brothers, and when he had nearlyovertaken them he rose into the air and flew past his brothers andarrived first at home. There he tied up the mare outside his houseand went and bathed and had his dinner and waited for his brothers. 

They did not arrive for a full hour afterwards and when they sawthe monkey boy and his mount they wanted to know how he had got homefirst. He boasted of how swift his mare was and so they arranged tohave a race and match their horses against his. The race took placetwo or three days later and the monkey boy's mare easily beat all theother horses, she gallopped twelve _kos_ on the ground and twelve_kos_ in the air. Then they wanted to change their horses for his, but he said they had had first choice and he was not going to change. 

In two or three years the monkey boy became rich and then he announcedthat he wanted to marry; this puzzled his mother for she thought thatno human girl would marry him while a monkey would not be able to talk;so she told him that he must find a bride for himself. One day he setoff to look for a wife and came to a tank in which some girls werebathing, and he took up the cloth belonging to one of them and ranup a tree with it, and when the girl missed it and saw it hangingdown from the tree she borrowed a cloth from her friends and wentand asked the monkey boy for her own; he told her that she could onlyhave it back if she consented to marry him; she was surprised to findthat he could talk and as he conversed she was bewitched by him andlet him pull her up into the tree by her hair, and she called out toher friends to go home and leave her where she was. Then he took heron his back and ran off home with her. 

The girl's father and relations turned out with bows and arrows tolook for the monkey who had carried her off but he had gone so faraway that they never found him. When the monkey boy appeared with hisbride all the villagers were astonished that he had found anyone tomarry him, but everything was made ready for the marriage as quicklyas possible and all the relations were invited and the wedding tookplace and the monkey boy and his wife lived happily ever after. 

XVI. The Miser's Servant. 

Once there was a rich man who was a miser. Although he kept farmservants they would never stay out the year with him; but ran away inthe middle. When the villagers asked why they ran away and so losttheir year's wages the servants answered. "You would do the same inour place: at the busy time of the year he speaks us fair and feedsus well, but directly the crops are gathered he begins to starve us;this year we have had nothing to eat since September. "

And the villagers said "Well, that is a good reason, a man canstand scolding but not starvation; we all work to fill our bellies, hunger is the worst disease of all. " The news that the miser made hisservants work for nothing spread throughout the neighbourhood so hecould get no servants near by and when he brought them from a distancethey soon heard of his character and ran away. Men would only workfor him on daily wages and because of his miserliness they demandedhigher wages than usual from him and would not work without. Nowthere was a young fellow named Kora who heard all this and he said"If I were that man's servant I would not run away. I would get thebetter of him; ask him if he wants a servant and if he says, yes, take me to him. " The man to whom Kora told this went to the miserand informed him that Kora was willing to engage himself to him;so Kora was fetched and they had a drink of rice beer and then themiser asked Kora whether he would work for the full year and not runaway in the middle. Kora said that he would stay if he were satisfiedwith the wages. The master said "I will fix your wages when I seeyour work; if you are handy at every thing I will give you 12 _Kats_of rice and if you are only a moderate worker then 9 or 10 _Kats_besides your clothes. How much do you ask for?"

And Kora said "Well, listen to me: I hear that your servants run awayin the middle of the year because you give them so little to eat, allI ask for my wages is that you give me once a year one grain of riceand I will sow it and you must give me low land to plant all the seedthat I get from it; and give me one seed of maize and I will sow it forseed, and you must give me upland to sow all the seed I get from it;and give me the customary quantity of clothes, and for food give meone leaf full of rice three times a day. I only want what will go on asingle leaf, you need not sew several leaves together into a plate. Iwill ask for no second helping but if you do not fill the leaf fullI shall have the right to abuse you, and if I do not do all the workyou give me properly, then you can abuse me and beat me. If I run awayfrom fear of hard work you may cut off the little finger of my righthand, and if you do not give me the wages we have agreed upon then Ishall have the right to cut off the little finger of your hand. Whatdo you say to this proposal: consult your friends and give me youranswer. " Then the miser answered "I engage you on these terms and ifI turn you off without reason you may cut off my little finger. " ThenKora turned to the man who had fetched him and said "Listen to allthis: if there is any dispute hereafter you will be my witness. "

So Kora began to work and the first day they gave him rice on asingle _sal_ leaf and he ate it up in one mouthful: but the nextday he brought a plantain leaf (_which is some three feet long_)and said "Give me my rice on this and mind you fill it full. " Andthey refused: but he said "Why not? it is only a single leaf" andthey had to give in because he was within his rights; so he ate asmuch as he wanted, and every day he brought a plantain leaf till hismaster's wife got tired and said to her husband "Why have you got aservant like this--he takes a whole pot of rice to himself every day, "but he answered "Never mind: his wages are nothing, he is working forhis keep alone;" so the whole year Kora got his plantain leaf filledand he was never lazy over his work so they could find no fault withhim on that score, and when the year was up they gave him one grainof rice and one seed of maize for his wages for the year. Kora keptthem carefully, and his master's sons laughed at him and said "Mindyou don't drop them or let a mouse eat them. "

Kora said nothing but when the time for sowing maize came he took hisgrain of maize and sowed it by the dung heap, and he called them tosee where he sowed it; and at the time of sowing rice he sowed hisgrain separately, and when the time for transplanting came he plantedhis rice seedling in a hollow and bade them note it. When the maizeripened it was found that his plant had two big cobs and one smallone on it, and his rice seedling sent up a number of ears; and whenit ripened he cut it and threshed it and got one _pai_ of rice, and hekept the maize and rice for seed. And the next year also he sowed thisseed separately and it produced a big basket of rice and another oneof maize, and he kept this also for seed; and in the course of fiveor six years he had taken all their high lands to sow his seed inand in a few years more he had taken all their rice lands too. Thenhis master was very miserable but he saw that it was useless to makeany complaint and the master became so poor that he had to work asa servant to Kora. At last the miser called the heads of the villagetogether and wept before them, and they had pity on him and intercededfor him; but Kora said "It is God who has punished him and not I; hemade poor men work for nothing for so long and now he has to suffer;"but they asked him to be merciful and give him some land, and he agreedand said "Cut off his little finger and I will let him off his bargain;and call all the servants whom he has defrauded and I will pay them"but the miser would not have his finger cut off; then Kora said "Lethim keep his finger and I will give him back half his land. " The miseragreed to this and promised to treat his servants well in future, and in order to lessen his shame he married his daughter to Kora;and he had to admit that it was by his own folly that this troublehad befallen him. 

XVII. Kuwar and the Rajah's Daughter. 

There was once a rich merchant who lived in a Raja's city; and theRaja founded a school in order that his own children might have someeducation, and the boys and the girls of the town used to go to theschool as well as the Raja's sons and daughters and among them therich merchant's son, whose name Was Kuwar. In the course of time thechildren all learned to read and write. In the evenings all the boysused to mount their horses and go for a ride. 

Now it happened that Kuwar and the Raja's daughter fell in love witheach other and she wrote him a letter saying that if he did not marryher she would forcibly install herself in his house. He wrote backand begged her not to come to his house as this would be the ruin ofhis family; but he said that he would willingly run away with her toa distant country, and spend his whole life with her, if she wouldoverlook the fact that they were of different castes; and if sheagreed to this they must settle to what country to go. Somehow newsof their intention got about, and the Raja was told that his daughterwas in love with the merchant's son. Then the Raja gave orders thathis daughter was not to be allowed to go outside the palace, and themerchant spoke severely to Kuwar and neither of them was allowed togo to the school any more. But one day the princess went to the placewhere the Raja's horses were tied up and among them was a mare namedPiyari and she went up to the mare and said "You have eaten our saltfor a long time, will you now requite me?" And Piyari said "CertainlyI will!". Then the princess asked "If I mount you, will you jumpover all these horses and this wall and escape?" And the mare said"Yes, but you will have to hold on very tight. " The princess said"That is my look-out: it is settled that on the day I want you youwill jump over the wall and escape. " Then she wrote a letter to Kuwarand gave it to her maid-servant to deliver into Kuwar's own hands, without letting anyone know: and in the letter she fixed a day fortheir elopement and told Kuwar to wait for her by a certain tree. Soon the day fixed after everyone was asleep Kuwar went to the tree andalmost at once the princess came to him riding on Piyari; he askedher how she had escaped and whether she had been seen and she toldhim how the mare had jumped over the wall without anyone knowing;then they both mounted Piyari and drove her like the wind and in onenight they passed through the territory of two or three Rajas and inthe morning were in a far country. 

Then they dismounted to cook their rice, and went to the house of anold woman to ask for a light with which to light their fire. Now thisold woman had seven sons and they were all robbers and murderers;and six of them had killed travellers and carried off their wivesand married them. When Kuwar and the princess came asking for alight the seven sons were away hunting and when the old woman sawthe princess she resolved to marry her to her youngest son, and madea plan to delay them; so she asked them to cook their rice at herhouse and offered them cooking pots and water pots and firewood andeverything necessary; they did not know that she meant to kill Kuwarand unsuspiciously accepted her offer. When they had finished cookingKuwar asked the old woman whether she lived alone and she told himthat she was a widow but had seven sons and they were all away on atrading expedition. The old woman kept on looking out to see if hersons were returning, and she had made an arrangement with them that ifshe ever wanted them she would set fire to a small hut and they wouldcome home at once when they saw the smoke rising. But before her sonscame back Kuwar and the princess finished their meal and paid the oldwoman and mounted Piyari and gallopped off. Then the old woman set fireto the hut and her sons, seeing the smoke hurried home. She told themthat a beautiful girl had just left who would make a suitable wife forthe youngest of the brothers. Then the brothers tied on their swordsand mounted their horses and went in pursuit. Kuwar and the princessknew nothing of their danger and rode on happily, but presently theyheard horses neighing behind them and looking round, saw men ridingafter them with drawn swords. Then the princess said to Kuwar "Ourenemies are upon us; do you sit in front and let me sit behind you, then they will kill us both together. If I am in front they may killyou alone and carry me off alive. " But while they were thinking ofthis the seven brothers caught them up, and began to abuse them andcharge them with having set fire to the house in which they had eatentheir rice, and told them to come back with them at once. Kuwar andthe princess were too frightened to answer and they had no sword withwhich to defend themselves. Then the robbers surrounded them and killedKuwar, and they said to the princess "You cannot stay here all alone;we will take you back and you shall marry one of us. " The princessanswered "Kill me here at once, never will I go with you. " They said"We shall take away your horse and all your food, will not that makeyou go?" But the princess threw herself on the dead body of Kuwarand for all they could do they could not drag her off it. Then themurderers said to the youngest brother "She is to be your wife: youmust pull her away. " But he refused saying "No, if I take her away shewill not stay with me, she will probably hang herself or drown herself;I do not want a wife like that, if any of you want her, you can haveher. " But they said that it would not be right for one of them to takea second wife while their youngest brother was unmarried, and thattheir mother intended him to marry this girl; if he would not theywould kill her there and then. But the youngest brother had pity onher and asked them to spare her life, so they took away her horse andher food and everything that she had and went away and left her there. 

For a day and a night the princess lay there weeping and lamentingher dead Kuwar and never ceased for a moment. Then Chando said "whois this who is weeping and what has happened to her?" And he sentBidhi and Bidha to see what was the matter; they came and told himthat a princess was weeping over the body of her dead husband andwould not leave him though she had been robbed of everything she had. 

Then Chando told them to go and frighten her, and if they couldfrighten her away from her husband's dead body he would do nothing, butif she would not leave him then they were to restore him to life. Sothey went and found her holding the dead body of her husband In herlap and weeping; and they first assumed the form of tigers and beganto circle round her roaring, but she only went on weeping and sang--

 "You have come roaring, tigress: First eat me, tigress: Then only will I let you eat the body of my lord. "

She would not quit the body nor run away from fear of the tigers, so they slunk away and came back in the form of two leopards, andprowled round her growling; but she only sang

 "You have come roaring, leopardess First eat me, leopardess Then only will I let you eat the body of my lord. "

and as she would not fly from them they slunk away and came backin the form of two bears, but the princess only sang the same song;then they appeared as two elephants; and then as two huge snakes whichhissed terribly but still she only wept; and in many forms they triedto frighten her away but she would not move nor leave the corpse ofKuwar, so in the end they saw that all the heart of the princess waswith Kuwar and that even in death they could not be separated, so atlast they drew near to her in the form of human beings and asked herwhy she was crying, as they had heard her weeping from a long way off, and had been filled with pity for her lamentations. Then the princesssaid "Alas, this youth and I are from such and such a country andas we loved and our lives were bound up in each other we ran awaytogether hither, and here on the road he has been killed and themurderers have left me without my horse or food; and this is why Iweep. " Then Bidhi and Bidha said "Daughter, rise up and we will takeyou to your home, or we will find you another husband; this one isdead and cannot be restored to you; you will find another; come arise, you have but one life, " But the princess answered "No I will not goand leave him here. I will not leave him while my life lasts; but Ipray you if you know of any medicine that might restore him to life, to try it. " Then they answered "We know something of medicine andif you wish we will try to cure him;" so saying, they ground up somesimples and told the princess to spread out a cloth and lay the deadbody on it and to put the head which had been cut off into position, and then to cover it with the cloth and hold the head in position;so she did as they bade, and they rubbed the medicine on the bodyand then they suddenly disappeared from her sight. 

Then in a few moments she saw Kuwar's chest heave as if he werebreathing; thereupon she shook him violently and he rose up and said"Oh, what a long time I have slept, " but the princess said "Do nottalk of sleep; you were killed and two men appeared from somewhereand applied medicine and brought you to life again;" then Kuwar askedwhere they were and she told him how they had disappeared withouther knowledge. 

Then they rose up and went in search of food to a village wherethere was a bazar, and they tried to get employment as servants;but the people advised them to go to the capital city where the Rajalived, and there if no one would take them as servants they could getemployment as coolies on a big tank which the Raja was excavating. Sothey went there, and as they could not get employment as servants theywent to work at the tank with the common coolies and were paid theirwages at the end of the week and so managed to live. Kuwar's desirewas to somehow save five or six rupees and then build a little housefor themselves. 

Now although the tank had been dug very deep there were no signs ofany water. Then the Raja ordered the centre post to be planted inhopes that this would make the water rise; and he told the cooliesnot to run away as he would make a feast to celebrate the making ofthe tank and would distribute presents among them, and at this thelabourers were very pleased. 

Now Kuwar's wife was very fair to see and the Raja saw her and fellin love with her and made a plot to get possession of her. So whenthe centre post had been planted and still no water came he said"We must see what sacrifice is required to make the water come. Ihave animals of all kinds; one by one they shall be offered and youshall sing and dedicate them. " So first an elephant was led down intothe bed of the tank and the people sang

 "Tank, we will sacrifice to you an elephant Let clear water bubble up, O tank, "

but no water came. 

Then they led down a horse and sang a similar song, but no water came;and then in succession a camel, a donkey, a cow, a buffalo, a goat anda sheep were offered but no water came; and so they stopped. Thenthe Raja asked why they stopped and they said that they had nomore animals. Then the Raja bade them sing a song dedicating a man, to see if that would bring the water; so they sang and as they sangwater bubbled up everywhere from the bottom of the tank and then thecoolies were stricken with fear for they did not know which of themwould be sacrificed. 

But the Raja sent his soldiers and they seized Kuwar and bound himto the post in the middle of the tank; and then a song was sungdedicating him to the tank and as the water rose around him theprincess wept bitterly; but the Raja said "Do not cry I will arrangefor your support and will give you part of my kingdom and you shalllive in my palace. " The princess said "Yes: hereafter I may stay withyou, but let me now watch Kuwar till he is drowned;" so Kuwar fixedhis eyes on the princess and tears streamed down his face until thewaters rose and covered him; and the princess also gazed at him tillhe was drowned. Then the Raja's soldiers told her to come with themand she said "Yes, I am coming, but let me first offer a libationof water to my dead husband;" and on this pretext she went into thewater and then she darted to the place where Kuwar had been bound andsank beneath the surface. The Raja bade men rescue her but all wereafraid to enter the water and she was seen no more. Then the Rajagave all the coolies a feast and scattered money among the crowd anddismissed them. And this is the end of the story. 

XVIII. The Laughing Fish. 

There was once a merchant who prospered in his business and in thecourse of time became very rich. He had five sons but none of themwas married. In the village where he lived was an old tank which washalf silted up and he resolved to clean it out and deepen it, if theRaja would give it to him; so he went to the Raja and the Raja saidthat he could have the tank if he paid forty rupees. The merchant paidthe money and then went home and called his family together and saidthat they would first improve the tank and then find wives for allhis sons. The sons agreed and they collected coolies and drainedoff the water and began to dig out the silt. When they had drainedoff the water they found in the bed of the tank a number of big fishof unknown age: which they caught and two of them they sent to theRaja as a present. When the fish were carried into the presence of theRaja they both began to laugh: then the Raja said "What is the meaningof this? Here are two dead fish, why are they laughing?" And he toldthe men who brought the fish to explain what was the matter or elseto take them away again. But they could give no explanation. Then theRaja called all his officers and astrologers and asked them what theythought it meant: but no one could give him any answer. Then the Rajatold the men to take the fish away again, and to tell the merchantthat, if he could not explain why the fish laughed, he would kill himand all his descendants; and he wrote a letter to the same effect, and fixed a day by which the merchant was to explain the matter. Whenthe merchant read the letter he fell into the greatest distress andfor two or three days he could not make up his mind whether to go onwith the work on the tank or no; but in the end he resolved to finishit so that his name might be held in remembrance. So they finished thework and then the merchant said to his sons: "My sons I cannot arrangefor your marriages, for the Raja has threatened to kill us all, if Icannot explain why the fish laughed; you must all escape from here sothat our family may not die out;" but the younger sons all answered"We are not able to take care of ourselves, either you come with usto protect us or we will stay here. " Then the merchant told his eldestson to escape alone so that their family might not become extinct. 

So the eldest son took a supply of money and went away into a farcountry. After travelling a long time he came to a town where aRaja lived and decided to stay there; so he first went to a tank andbathed and sat down on the bank to eat some refreshment; and as hesat the daughter of the Raja came down to the tank to bathe and shesaw the merchant's son and their eyes met. Then the princess senther maid-servants to ask him where he came from; and he told themwhere he came from and that he meant to make a stay in that town, and he promised them a rupee if they could persuade the princess touncover her face. They went and told their mistress all this and sheanswered "Go and get your rupee from him, I will uncover my face;and ask him what he wants. " And when they went, she drew aside thecloth from her face; then he gave them the rupee, and they asked himwhether he had seen her and what his intention was; then he said thathis wish was to marry the princess and live with her in her father'shouse! When the princess heard this she said "Yes, my heart has goneout to him also;" so then she bathed and went home and lay down inher room and would not get up, and when her father asked her whatwas the matter, she made no answer. Then they asked her maidens whatwas the matter and they said that she had seen a stranger by thetank and wished to marry him. The Rani asked whether the strangerwas still there and they said that they had left him by the tank. Sotwo men were sent to fetch the stranger or to find out where he hadgone. The two servants went and found the merchant's son just readyto continue his journey, and they asked him who he was and what hewanted. He said that he was looking for employment but would likebest to marry and live in the house of his father-in-law. Then theytold him not go away and they would arrange such a marriage for him, so they took him to a house in the town and left him there and wentback to the Raja. They told the Raja that the stranger had gone awaybut that they could follow him and bring him back if he gave them somemoney for their journey. So the Raja gave them two rupees; then theywent off but only ate their dinner at home, and then they broughtthe merchant's son to the Raja, pretending that they had overtakenhim a long way off. He was questioned about himself and he told hiswhole history except that the Raja had threatened to cut off hisfamily, and his account being satisfactory it was arranged that heshould marry the princess. Musicians were sent for and the marriagetook place at once. After his marriage the merchant's son was muchdepressed at the thought of his brothers' fate and in the middle ofthe night he used to rise up and weep till the bed was soaked withhis tears; the princess noticed this and one night she pretended togo to sleep but really lay awake and watched her husband; and in themiddle of the night saw him rise quietly and begin to sob. She wasfilled with sympathy and went to him and begged him to tell her whatwas the matter and whether he was sorry that he had married her; andhe answered "I cry because I am in despair; in the daytime I restrainmy tears before others with difficulty but in the night they cannotbe kept back; but I am ashamed for you to see me and I wait till youare asleep before I give way to my feelings. "

Then she asked what was the cause of his sorrow and he answered "Myfather and mother and brothers and sisters are all doomed to die;for our Raja has sworn to kill them by a certain day if he is nottold why two fish, which my father sent to him as a present, laughedwhen they were brought before him. In consequence of this threatmy father sent me from home that one of the family might surviveand although I may be safe here the thought of them and their fatemakes me weep. " The princess asked him what was the day fixed forthe mystery to be explained; and he told her that it was at thefull moon of a certain month. Then the princess said "Come take meto your father's house: I shall be able to explain why the fisheslaughed. " The merchant's son joyfully agreed to start off the nextday; so in the morning they told the Raja why they wished to go, andhe said to his daughter "Go and do not be afraid; go in confidence, I promise you that you will be able to explain why the fishes laughed. "

So they made ready and journeyed to the merchant's house; and whenthey arrived they told the merchant to go to the Raja and ask himto collect all the citizens on a certain day to hear the reason whythe fishes laughed. The merchant went to the Raja and the Raja gavehim a letter fixing the day and all the citizens were assembled inan open plain; and the princess dressed herself as a man and went tothe assembly and stood before the Raja. 

Then the Raja bade her explain why the fishes laughed, and the princessanswered "If you wish to know the reason order all your Ranis to bebrought here;" so the Ranis were summoned; then the princess said"The reason why the fishes laughed was because among all your wivesit is only the eldest Rani who is a woman and all the others aremen. What will you give me if this is not proved to be true?" Thenthe Raja wrote a bond promising to give the merchant half his kingdomif this were proved to be true. When enquiry was made it was foundthat the wives had really become men, and the Raja was put to shamebefore all his people. Then the assembly broke up and the merchantreceived half the Raja's kingdom. 

XIX. How the Cowherd Found a Bride. 

There was once a Goala who was in charge of a herd of cattle andevery day he used to bring the herd for their midday rest to thefoot of a peepul tree. One day the peepul tree spoke and said to him"If you pour milk every day at my roots I will grant you a boon. " Sothenceforward the Goala every day poured milk at the roots of the treeand after some days he saw a crack in the ground; he thought thatthe roots of the tree were cracking the earth but the fact was thata snake was buried there, and as it increased in size from drinkingthe milk it cracked the ground and one day it issued forth; at thesight of it the Goala was filled with fear and made sure that thesnake would devour him. But the snake said "Do not fear: I was shutup in the nether world, and you by your kindness have rescued me, I wish to show gratitude to you and will confer on you any boon forwhich you ask. " The Goala answered that the snake should choose whathe would give him; then the snake called him near, and breathed onhis hair which was very long and it became glistening as gold, and thesnake said that his hair would obtain for him a wife and that he wouldbe very powerful; and that whatever he said would come to pass. TheGoala asked what sort of things would come to pass. The snake answered"If you say a man shall die he will die and if you say he shall cometo life, he will come to life. But you must not tell this to anyone;not even to your wife when you marry; if you do the power will vanish. "

Some time afterwards it happened that the Goala was bathing in theriver; and as he bathed one of his hairs came out and the fancy tookhim to wrap it in a leaf and set it to float down the stream. Lowerdown the river a princess was bathing with her attendants and theysaw the packet come floating down and tried to stop it but it floatedstraight to the princess and she caught it and opened it and foundthe hair inside. It shone like gold and when they measured it, it wastwelve fathoms long. So the princess tied it up in her cloth and wenthome and shut herself up in her room, and would neither eat nor drinknor speak. Her mother sent two of her companions to question her, and at last she told them that she would not rise and eat until theyfound the person to whom the golden hair belonged; if it were thehair of a man he should be her husband and if it came from a girlshe would have that girl come and live with her. 

When the Raja and Rani heard this and that the hair had come floatingdown the river they went to their daughter and told her that theywould at once send messengers up the stream to find the owner of thehair. Then she was comforted and rose up and ate her rice. That veryday the Raja ordered messengers to follow up the banks of the streamand enquire in all the villages and question every one they met tofind trace of the owner of the golden hair; so the messengers set outon both banks of the stream and followed it to its source but theirsearch was vain and they returned without news; then holy mendicantswere sent out to search and they also returned unsuccessful. Then theprincess said "If you cannot find the owner of the golden hair I willhang myself!" At this a tame crow and a parrot which were chained toa perch, said "You will never be able to find the man with the goldenhair; he is in the depths of the forest; if he had lived in a villageyou would have found him, but as it is we alone can fetch him; unfastenour chains and we will go in search of him. " So the Raja ordered themto be unfastened and gave them a good meal before starting, for theycould not carry a bag of provisions with them like a man. Then thecrow and the parrot mounted into the air and flew away up the river, and after long search they spied the Goala in the jungle resting hiscattle under the peepul tree; so they flew down and perched on thepeepul tree and consulted how they could lure him away. The parrotsaid that he was afraid to go near the cattle and proposed that thecrow should fly down and carry off the Goala's flute, from where itwas lying with his stick and wrapper at the foot of the tree. So thecrow went flitting from one cow to another till it suddenly pouncedon the flute and carried it off in its beak; when the Goala saw thishe ran after the crow to recover his flute and the crow tempted himon by just fluttering from tree to tree and the Goala kept following;and when the crow was tired the parrot took the flute from him andso between them they drew the Goala on right to the Raja's city, and they flew into the palace and the Goala followed them in, andthey flew to the room in which the princess was and dropped theflute into the hand of the princess and the Goala followed and thedoor was shut upon him. The Goala asked the princess to give him theflute and she said that she would give it to him if he promised tomarry her and not otherwise. He asked how he could marry her all ofa sudden when they had never been betrothed; but the princess said"We have been betrothed for a long time; do you remember one daytying a hair up in a leaf and setting it to float downstream; wellthat hair has been the go-between which arranged our betrothal. " Thenthe Goala remembered how the snake had told him that his hair wouldfind him a wife and he asked to see the hair which the princess hadfound, so she brought it out and they found that it was like his, as long and as bright; then he said "We belong to each other" andthe princess called for the door to be opened and brought the Goalato her father and mother and told them that her heart's desire wasfulfilled and that if they did not allow the wedding to take place inthe palace she would run away with the Goala. So a day was fixed forthe wedding and invitations were issued and it duly took place. TheGoala soon became so much in love with his bride that he forgot allabout his herd of cattle which he had left behind, without any oneto look after them; but after some time he bethought himself of themand he told his bride that he must return to his cattle, whethershe came with him or no. She said that she would take leave of herparents and go with him; then the Raja gave them a farewell feast andhe made over to the Goala half his kingdom, and gave him a son's shareof his elephants and horses and flocks and herds and said to him "Youare free to do as you like: you can stay here or go to your own home;but if you elect to stay here, I shall never turn you out. " The Goalaconsidered and said that he would live with his father-in-law but thathe must anyhow go and see the cattle which he had abandoned withoutany one to look after them. So the next day he and his wife set offand when they got to the jungle they found that all the cattle werelying dead. At this the Goala was filled with grief and began to weep;then he remembered the promise of the snake that he should be ableto restore the dead to life and he resolved to put it to the test. 

So he told his wife that he would give the dead cows medicine and hegot some jungle roots as a blind and held them to the noses of the deadanimals and as he did so, he said "Come to life" and, behold, one byone the cows all got up and began lowing to their calves. Having thusproved the promises of the snake the Goala was loud in his gratitudeand he filled a large vessel with milk and poured it all out at thefoot of the peepul tree and the snake came and breathed on the hairof the princess and it too became bright as gold. 

The next day they collected all the cows and drove them back to theprincess' home and there the Goala and his wife lived happily, rulinghalf the kingdom. And some years after the Goala reflected that thesnake was to him as his father and mother and yet he had come away ina hurry without taking a proper farewell, so he went to see whetherit was still there; but he could not find it and he asked the peepultree and no answer came so he had to return home disappointed. 

XX. Kara and Guja. 

Once upon a time there were two brothers named Kara and Guja whowere first class shots with the bow and arrow. In the countrywhere they lived, a pair of kites were doing great damage: theyhad young ones in a nest in a tree and used to carry off childrento feed their nestlings until the whole country was desolated. Sothe whole population went in a body to the Raja and told him thatthey would have to leave the country if he could not have the kiteskilled. Then the Raja made proclamation that any one who could killthe two kites should receive a large tract of land as a reward, andthereupon many men tried to kill them; but the kites had made theirnest of ploughs and clod-crushers so that the arrows could not hitthem, and the shooters had to give up the attempt. At last Kara andGuja thought that they would try, so they made an ambush and waitedtill the birds came to the nest to feed their young and then shot themboth through the hole in a clod-crusher into which the pole fits, andthe two kites fell down dead, at the source of the Ganges and Jumna, and where they fell they made a great depression in the ground. ThenKara and Guja carried the bodies to the Raja and he gave them a grantof land; and their grateful neighbours made a large rice field of thedepression which the kites had made in the earth and this was givento Kara and Guja as service land to their great delight. 

Kara and Guja used to spend their time in the forest, living on whatthey could find there; they slept in a cave and at evening wouldcook their rice there or roast jungle roots. One day a tiger spiedthem out as they were roasting tubers and came up to them suddenlyand said. "What are you cooking? Give me some or I will eat you. " Sowhile they went on eating the roasted tubers, they threw the coalsfrom the fire to the tiger at the mouth of the cave and he crunchedthem up and every now and then they threw him a bit of something goodto eat; the tiger would not go away but lay there expecting to be fed, and Kara and Guja debated how to get rid of him. Then Guja suddenlyjumped up and dashed at the tiger and caught him by the tail and beganto twist the tail and he went on twisting until he twisted it rightoff and the tiger ran roaring away. Kara and Guja roasted the tailand ate it, and they found it so nice that they decided to hunt thetiger and eat the rest of him. So the two brothers searched for himeverywhere and when they found him they chased him until they ranhim down and killed him; then they lit a fire and singed the hairoff and roasted the flesh and made a grand meal: but they did noteat the paunch. Kara wanted to eat it but Guja would not let him, so Kara carried it away on his shoulder. 

Presently they sat down in the shade of a banyan tree by the side of aroad and along the road came a Raja's wedding procession; when Kara andGuja saw this they climbed into the tree and took the tiger's paunch upwith them. The wedding party came to a halt at the foot of the tree andsome of them lay down to eat and the Raja got out of his palki and laydown to sleep in the shade. After a time Kara got tired of holding thetiger's paunch in his arms and whispered to Guja that he could hold itno longer, Guja told him on no account to let it go but at last Karagot so tired that he let it fall right on the top of the Raja; thenall the Raja's attendants raised a shout that the Raja's stomach hadburst and all ran away in a panic leaving everything they had underthe tree; but after they had gone a little distance they thought ofthe goods they had left behind and how they could not continue thejourney without them, so they made their way back to the banyan tree. 

But meanwhile Kara and Guja had climbed down and gathered together allthe fine clothes and everything valuable and taken them up into thetree. And Kara took up a large drum which he found and in one end ofthe drum he made a number of little holes: and he caught a number ofwild bees which had a nest in the tree and put them one by one intothe drum. When the Raja's attendants came back and saw that therewere two men in the tree, they called out: "Why have you dishonouredour Raja? We will kill you. " Kara and Guja answered "Come and see whowill do the killing. " So they began to fight and the Raja's men firedtheir guns at Kara and Guja till they were tired of shooting, and hadused up all their powder and shot, but they never hit them. Then Karaand Guja called out "Now it is our turn!" And when the Raja's men sawthat Kara and Guja had nothing but a drum they said "Yes, it is yourturn. " So Kara and Guja beat the drum and called "At them, my dears:at them my dears. " And the wild bees flew out of the drum and stungthe Raja's men and drove them right away. Then Kara and Guja tookall their belongings and went home and ever after were esteemed asgreat Rajas because of the wealth which they had acquired. 

XXI. The Magic Cow. 

There was once a Raja who had an only son named Kara and in thecourse of time the Raja fell into poverty and was little better thana beggar. One day when Kara was old enough to work as a cowherd hisfather called him and said "My son, I am now poor but once I wasrich. I had a fine estate and herds of cattle and fine clothes; nowthat is all gone and you have scarcely enough to eat. I am old andlike to die and before I leave you I wish to give you this advice:there are many Rajas in the world, Raja above Raja; when I am deaddo you seek the protection of some powerful Raja. " As there was notenough to eat at home Kara had to take service as goat-herd under aneighbouring Raja; by which he earned his food and clothes and tworupees a year. Some time afterwards his father died and Kara wentto his master and asked for a loan of money with which to performhis father's funeral ceremonies, and promised to continue in hisservice until he had worked off the loan. So the Raja advanced himfive rupees and five rupees worth of rice, and with this money Karagave the funeral feast. Five or six days later his mother died, andhe again went to the Raja and asked for ten rupees more; at first theRaja refused but Kara besought him and promised to serve him for hiswhole life if he could not repay the loan. So at last the Raja lenthim ten rupees more, and he gave the funeral feast. But the Raja'sseven sons were very angry with their father because he had lent twentyrupees to a man who had no chance of paying, and they used to threatenand worry Kara because he had taken the money. Then Kara rememberedhow his father had said that there were many Rajas in the world, Raja above Raja, and he resolved to run away and seek service withthe greatest Raja in the world. So he ran away and after travellingsome distance he met a Raja being carried in a palki and going with alarge party to fetch a bride for his son; and when he heard who it washe decided to follow the Raja; so he went along behind the palki andat one place a she-jackal ran across the road; then the Raja got outof his palki and made a salaam to the jackal. When Kara saw this hethought "This cannot be the greatest Raja in the world or why shouldhe salaam to the jackal. The jackal must be more powerful than theRaja; I will follow the jackal. " So he left the wedding party andwent after the jackal; now the jackal was hunting for food for heryoung ones, and as Kara followed her wherever she went she couldfind no opportunity of killing a goat or sheep; so at last she wentback to the cave in which she lived. Then her cubs came whining tomeet her and she told her husband that she had been able to catchnothing that day because a man had followed her wherever she went, and had come right up to their cave and was waiting outside. 

Then the he-jackal told her to ask what the man wanted. So she wentout to Kara and asked him and Kara said "I have come to place myselfunder your protection;" then she called the he-jackal and they saidto him, "We are jackals and you are a man. How can you stay with us;what could we give you to eat and what work could we find for you todo?" Kara said that he would not leave them as all his hopes lay inthem; and at last the jackals took pity on him and consulted togetherand agreed to make him a gift as he had come to them so full ofhope; so they gave him a cow which was in the cave, and said to him:"As you have believed in us we have made up our minds to benefityou; take this cow, she will supply you with everything you want;if you address her as mother she will give you whatever you ask, but do not ask her before people for they would take her from you;and do not give her away whatever inducements are offered you. "

Then Kara thanked them and called down blessings on their headsand took the cow and led it away homewards. When he came to a tankhe thought he would bathe and eat; while he bathed he saw a womanwashing clothes at the other side of the tank but he thought thatshe would not notice him, so he went up to the cow and said "Mother, give me a change of clothes. " Thereupon the cow vomited up some nicenew clothes and he put them on and looked very fine. Then he askedthe cow for some plates and dishes and she gave them; then he askedfor some bread and some dried rice, and he ate all he wanted andthen asked the cow to keep the plates and dishes for him; and thecow swallowed them up again. 

Now the woman by the tank had seen all that had happened and ranhome and told her husband what she had seen and begged him to gethold of the wonderful cow by some means or other. Her husband couldnot believe her but agreed to put it to the test, so they both wentto Kara and asked where he was going and offered to give him supper, and put him up for the night and give grass for his cow. He acceptedthis invitation and went with them to their house and they gave himthe guest-room to sleep in and asked what he would have to eat, but hesaid that he did not want any supper, --for he intended to get a mealfrom the cow after every one was asleep. Then the man and his wifemade a plot and pretended to have a violent quarrel and after abusingeach other for some time the man flung out of the house in a passionand pretended to run away; but after going a short distance he creptback quietly to the guest-room. Hanging from the roof was the body of acart and he climbed up into that and hid himself, without Kara knowinganything about it. When Kara thought that every one was asleep, heasked his cow for some food and having made a good meal went to sleep. 

The man watching up above saw everything and found that his wife hadspoken the truth; so in the middle of the night he climbed down andled away Kara's magic cow and put in its place one of his own cows ofthe same colour. Early the next morning Kara got up and unfastened thecow and began to lead it away, but the cow would not follow him; thenhe saw that it had been changed and he called his host and charged himwith the theft. The man denied it and told him to call any villagerswho had seen him bring his cow the day before; now no one had seenhim come but Kara insisted that the cow had been changed and went tosummon the village headman and the villagers to decide the matter:but the thief managed to give a bribe of one hundred rupees to theheadman and one hundred rupees to the villagers and made them promiseto decide in his favour; so when they met together they told Karathat he must take the cow which he had found tied up in the morning. 

Kara protested and said that he would fetch the person from whom hehad got the cow and take whichever cow he pointed out. Telling themthat they were responsible for his cow while he was away, he hastenedoff to the cave where the jackals lived. The jackals somehow knewthat he had been swindled out of the cow, and they met him saying"Well, man, have you lost your cow?" And he answered that he hadcome to fetch them to judge between himself and the villagers: sothe jackals went with him and he went straight to the headman andtold him to collect all the villagers; meanwhile the jackals spreada mat under a peepul tree and sat on it chewing _pan_ and when thevillagers had assembled the jackal began to speak, and said: "If ajudge takes a bribe his descendants for several generations shall eatfilth, in this world and the next; but if he make public confession, then he shall escape this punishment. This is what our forefathers havesaid; and the man who defrauds another shall be thrust down into hell;this also they have said. Now all of you make honest enquiry into thismatter; we will swear before God to do justice and the complainant andthe accused shall also take oath and we will decide fairly. " Then thevillage headman was conscience stricken and admitted that he had takena bribe of one hundred rupees, and the villagers also confessed thatthey had been bribed; then the jackal asked the accused what he hadto say to this: but he persisted that he had not changed the cow;the jackal asked him what penalty he would pay if he were provedguilty and he said that he would pay double. Then the jackal calledthe villagers to witness that the man had fixed his punishment, andhe proposed that he and his wife should go to the herd of cattle, and if they could pick out the cow that Kara claimed it would besure proof that it was his. So the jackals went and at once pickedout the cow, and the villagers were astonished and cried. "This isa just judgment! They have come from a distance and have recognisedthe cow at once. " The man who had stolen it had no answer to give;then the jackal said: "You yourself promised to pay double; you gavea bribe of one hundred rupees to the headman and one hundred rupeesto the villagers and the cow you stole is worth two hundred rupeesthat is four hundred rupees, therefore you must pay a fine of eighthundred rupees;" and the man was made to produce eight hundred rupeesand the jackal gave all the money to the villagers except ten rupeeswhich he gave to Kara; and he kept nothing for himself. 

Then Kara and the jackals went away with the cow, and after gettingoutside the village the jackals again warned Kara not to ask the cowfor anything when anyone was by and took their leave of him and wenthome. Kara continued his journey and at evening arrived at a largemango orchard in which a number of carters were camping for thenight. So Kara stopped under a tree at a little distance from thecarters and tied his cow to the root. Soon a storm came up and thecarters all took shelter underneath their carts and Kara asked hiscow for a tent and he and the cow took shelter in it. It rained hardall night and in the morning the carters saw the tent and wonderedwhere it came from, and came to the conclusion that the cow must haveproduced it; so they resolved to steal the cow. 

Kara did not dare to make the cow swallow the tent in the day timewhile the carters were about, so he stayed there all the next day andat night the cow put away the tent. Then when Kara was asleep somecarters came and took away the cow and put in its place a cow witha calf, and they hid the magic cow within a wall of packs from theirpack bullocks. In the morning Kara at once saw what had happened andwent to the carters and charged them with the theft; they denied allknowledge of the matter and told him he might look for his cow if heliked; so he searched the encampment but could not see it. 

Then he called the village headman and chowkidar and they searchedand could not find the cow and they advised Kara to keep the cow andcalf as it must be better than his own barren cow; but he refused andsaid that he would complain to the magistrate and he made the headmanpromise not to let the carters go until he came back. So he went toa Mahommedan magistrate and it chanced that he was an honest man whogave just judgments and took no bribes, and made no distinction betweenthe rich and the poor; he always listened to both sides carefully, not like some rascally magistrates who always believe the storythat is first told them and pay no attention to what the other sidesay. So when Kara made his complaint this magistrate at once sent forthe carters and the carters swore that they had not stolen the cow:and offered to forfeit all the property they had with them, if thecow were found in their possession. 

Then the magistrate sent police to search the encampment and the policepulled down the pile of packs that had been put round the cow, andfound the cow inside and took it to the magistrate. Then the magistrateordered the carters to fulfil their promise and put them all in prisonand gave all their property to Kara. So Kara loaded all the merchandiseon the carts and pack bullocks and went home rejoicing. At first thevillagers did not recognise who it was who had come with so much wealthbut Kara made himself known to them and they were very astonished andhelped him to build a grand house. Then Kara went to the Raja fromwhom he had borrowed the money for his parents' funerals and paid backwhat he owed. The Raja was so pleased with him that he gave him hisdaughter in marriage and afterwards Kara claimed his father-in-law'skingdom and got possession of it and lived prosperously ever after. 

And the seven sons of his first master who used to scold him wereexcited by his success and thought that if they went to foreign partsthey also could gain great wealth; so they took some money from theirfather and went off. But all they did was to squander their capitaland in the end they had to come back penniless to their father. 

XXII. Lita and His Animals. 

Once upon a time there was a man who had four sons: two of them weremarried and two were unmarried and the youngest was named Lita. Oneday Lita went to his father and asked for fifty or sixty rupees thathe might go on a trading expedition and he promised that if he lostthe money he would not ask for any share in the paternal property. Ashe was very urgent his father at last gave him sixty rupees and heset out on his travels. After going some way he came to a village inwhich all the inhabitants were chasing a cat; he asked them what wasthe matter and they told him that the cat was always stealing theirRaja's milk and the Raja had offered a reward of twenty rupees toanyone who would kill it. Then Lita said to them "Do not kill the cat;catch it alive and give it to me and I will pay you twenty rupees forit; then you can go to the Raja and say that you have killed it and askfor the reward; and if the Raja asks to see the body tell him that astranger came and asked for the body, for he thought that a cat whichhad fed on milk should be good eating and so you gave it to him. " Thevillagers thought that this would be an excellent plan and promised tobring him the cat alive. They soon managed to catch it hiding undera heap of firewood and brought it to Lita and he paid them twentyrupees and then they went to the Raja and got twenty rupees from him. 

Then Lita went on, and by-and-bye came to a village where the villagerswere hunting an otter in a tank; they had made a cut in the bank andhad let out all the water. Lita went to them and asked what they weredoing; they said that they were hunting for an otter which had beendestroying the Raja's fish and the Raja had promised them a reward ifthey killed it, and they had driven it into the tank and were drainingoff the water in order to catch it. Then Lita offered to buy it of themif they brought it to him alive; so when they caught it they broughtit to him and he gave them money for it and continued his journeywith the cat and the otter. Presently he saw a crowd of men and hewent up to them and asked what they were doing: and they told him thatthey were hunting a rat which was always gnawing the Raja's pens andpapers and the Raja had offered a reward for it, and they had drivenit out of the palace, but it had taken refuge in a hole and they weregoing to dig it out Then Lita offered to buy it from them as he hadbought the other two animals and they dug it out and sold it to him. 

He went on and in the same way found a crowd of men hunting a snakewhich had bitten many people: and he offered to buy it for twentyrupees and when they had chased it till it was exhausted, theycaught it alive and sold it to Lita. As his money was all spent, he then set off homewards; and on the way the snake began to speakand said: "Lita, you have saved my life; had you not come by, thosemen would certainly have had my life; come with me to my home, wheremy father and mother are, and I will give you anything you ask for;we have great possessions. " But Lita was afraid and said: "When youget me there you will eat me, or if you don't, your father and motherwill. " But the snake protested that it could not be guilty of suchingratitude and at last Lita agreed to accompany it when he had leftthe other animals at his home. 

This he did and set off alone with the snake, and after some days theyreached the snake's home. The snake told Lita to wait outside while hewent and apprized his parents and he told Lita that when he was askedto choose his reward he should name nothing but the ring which was onthe father-snake's finger, for the ring had this property that if itwere placed in a _seer_ of milk and then asked to produce anythingwhatever, that thing would immediately appear. Then the snake wenton to his home and when the father and mother saw him they fell onhis neck and kissed him and wept over him saying that they had neverexpected to see him again; the snake told them how he had gone tothe country of men and how a reward had been set on his head and hehad been hunted, and how Lita had bought him from the men who wouldhave killed him. The father snake asked why he had not brought Litato be rewarded and the snake said that he was afraid that when theysaw him they would eat him. 

But the father and mother swore that they could not be guilty ofsuch ingratitude, and when he heard this the snake went and broughtin Lita, and they entertained him handsomely for two days; and onthe third day the father snake asked Lita what he would take as hisreward. Lita looked round at the shining palace in which they livedand at first was afraid to speak but at last he said: "I do not wantmoney or anything but the ring on your finger: if you will not giveme that, I will take nothing; I saved your son from peril and thatyou will remember all your lives, and if you give me the ring I willhonour you for it as long as I live. " Then the father and mother snakeconsulted together and the mother said "Give it to him as he asks forit" so the father snake drew it from his finger and gave it to Litaand they gave him also some money for his journey back; and he wenthome and found the other three animals safe and sound waiting for him. 

After a time his father said that Lita must marry; so marriagego-betweens were sent out to look for a bride and they found a veryrich and beautiful girl whose parents were agreeable to the match. Butthe girl herself said that she would only marry a man who would builda covered passage from her house to his, so that she could walk to hernew home in the shade. The go-betweens reported this, and Lita's fatherand brothers consulted and agreed that they could never make such apassage, but Lita said to his father: "Arrange the match; it shallbe my charge to arrange for making the covered passage; I will notlet you be put to shame over it. " For Lita had already put the ringto the test: he had dropped it into a _seer_ of milk and said "Letfive _bharias_ of parched rice and two _bharias_ of curds appear" andimmediately the parched rice and curds were before him; and thereuponhe had called out "The snake has worthily rewarded me for saving hislife;" and the cat and the otter and the rat overheard what he said. 

So the go-between was told to arrange for the wedding to take placethat very month, as Lita's birthday fell in the next month, whichtherefore was not suitable for his wedding. Then the bride's familysent him back to say that they were prepared to send a string of nineknots; and the next day the go-between told this to Lita's familyand they said that they were willing to accept it; so the go-betweenbrought a string of nine knots to signify that the wedding would takeplace in nine days. The days passed by and Lita's father and brothersbecame very anxious because they saw no sign of the covered passage;but on the very night before the wedding, Lita took his ring andordered a covered passage to be made from the one house to the otherwith a good path down the middle; and the next morning they foundit made; and the bridegroom's party passed along it to the bride'shouse and the bride was escorted home along it. 

Now the bride had been deeply in love with another young man who livedin her village and had much wished to marry him but her wishes ofcourse were not consulted in the matter. Some time after the marriageshe one day in the course of conversation asked her husband Lita howmuch he had spent on making the covered passage to her house and howhe had built it so quickly. He told her that he knew nothing about it;that his father and mother had arranged for it and no doubt had spent alarge sum of money. So the next day she took an opportunity of askingher mother-in-law about it, but Lita's mother said that nothing hadbeen spent at all; somehow the passage had been made in one night, she knew not how. 

Then Lita's wife saw that Lita was keeping a secret from her, andshe began to reproach him for having any secrets from his wife: andat last when she had faithfully promised never to reveal the matterto anyone, he told her the secret of the ring. Now her former loverused still to visit her and one day she sent for him and said that shewould no longer live with Lita, but wished to run away with him. Thelover at first objected that they would be pursued and killed while ifthey escaped to a distance he would have nothing to support her with;but the faithless woman said that there need be no anxiety about thatand she told him about the magic ring and how by means of it theycould provide themselves with a house and everything they wanted. Sothey fixed a night for the elopement and on that night when Litawas asleep his wife quietly drew the ring off his finger and wentout to her lover who was waiting outside and told him to get a goatfrom the pen; then they beheaded the goat and went inside and pouredall its blood on the ground under the bed on which Lita was sleeping, and then having hid the body and head of the goat, they ran away. 

Towards morning Lita woke up and missed his wife, so he lit a lamp tolook for her and then saw the pool of blood under the bed. At thissight he was terror stricken. Some enemy had killed and carried offhis wife and he would be charged with the murder. So he lay therewondering what would happen to him. At last his mother came into theroom to see why he and his wife had not got up as usual and when shesaw the blood she raised a cry; the village headman and chowkidarwere sent for and they questioned Lita, but he could only say thathe knew nothing of what had happened; he did not know what the bloodwas, he did not know where his wife was. Thereupon they sent two mento the house of the wife's parents to see if by any chance she hadrun away there and in any case to bring her relations to be presentat the enquiry into her disappearance. When her father and brothersheard what had happened they at once went to Lita's house in wrathand abused him as a murderer. They asked why, if his wife had not doneher duty to him, he had not sent her back to them to be chastised andtaught better, instead of murdering her and they went straight to themagistrate and complained: the magistrate sent police who arrestedLita and took him before the magistrate. 

Meanwhile it had become known that not only was Lita's wife missingbut also her lover; and Lita's father presented a petition to themagistrate bringing this to notice and asserting that the two musthave run away together. Then the magistrate ordered every search to bemade for the missing couple but said that Lita must remain in custodytill they were found, so he was shut up in prison. From prison he madean application to the magistrate that his three tame animals, the catand the otter and the rat might be brought to the place where he was;the magistrate kindly consented but the animals were not allowedinto the prison. However at night the rat being small made its wayinside and found out Lita, and asked what was to be done. Lita saidthat he wanted the three animals to save him from his great dangeras he had saved them; he wanted them to trace his wife and her loverand recover the ring; they would doubtless find them living in somegorgeous palace, the gift of the ring. 

The rat went out and gave the other two Lita's message and theyreadily undertook to do their best; so the next morning the threeanimals set off. In vain they hunted all over the country, till oneday they came to the bank of the Ganges and there on the other sidethey saw a palace shining like gold. At this their hopes revived, for this might be a palace made by the magic ring. But the cat andthe rat objected that they could not cross the river. The otter saidthat he would easily manage that and he took the cat on his back andthe rat climbed on to the back of the cat and so the otter ferriedthem both across the river; then they consulted and decided thatit would be safest to wait till the evening before they went to thepalace to see who lived in it. When they looked in in the evening, they at once recognised Lita's wife and her lover; but these two werein constant terror of being pursued and when they had had their eveningmeal they fastened and bolted every entrance so securely that no onecould gain admittance. Then the cat and the otter told the rat thathe must collect all the rats of the neighbourhood and they must burrowthrough the wall and find some way of abstracting the magic ring. 

So the rat collected a crowd of his friends and in no time they boreda hole through the wall; then they all began to look for the ring;they hunted high and low but could not find it; however the cat satat the entrance of the hole which they had made and vowed that theyshould not come out, unless they got the ring. Then the first ratclimbed on to the bed in which the couple were sleeping and searchedtheir clothes and examined their fingers and toes but in vain; thenhe thought that the woman might have it in her mouth so he climbedon to her chest and tickled her nose with the tip of his tail; thismade her sneeze and behold she sneezed out the ring which she hadhidden in her mouth. The rat seized it and ran off with it and whenthe cat was satisfied that he had really got it, she let him out andthe three friends set off rejoicing on their homeward journey. Theycrossed the river in the same way as when they came with the catriding on the otter and the rat on the cat: and the rat held thering in its mouth. Unfortunately when they were halfway across, a kite swooped down to try and carry off the rat. Twice it swoopedand missed its grasp but the second time it struck the rat with itswing and the rat in terror let the ring fall into the river. 

When they reached the bank the three friends consulted what theywere to do in this fresh misfortune. As the otter was the only onewho could swim it volunteered to look for the ring, so it plungedinto the water and searched the bottom of the river in vain; then itguessed that a fish must have swallowed the ring and it set to workto catch every fish it saw and tore them open; at last in the stomachof a big fish it found the ring, so it brought the fish to the bankand while they were all rejoicing and eating a little of the fish akite swooped down and carried off the fish, ring and all. 

The three animals watched the kite flying away with the fish; but somewomen who were gathering firewood ran after the kite and took the fishfrom it and putting it in their basket went home. Then the otter andthe rat said to the cat "Now it is your turn: we have both recoveredthe ring once, but we cannot go into the house of these humans. Theywill let you go near them easily enough; the ring is in the fish'sstomach, you must watch whether they throw away the stomach or cleanit, and find an opportunity for carrying off the ring. "

So the cat ran after the women and when they began to cut up thefish, it kept mewing round them. They threw one or two scraps to it, but it only sniffed at them and would not eat them; then they beganto wonder what on earth the cat wanted, and at last they threw thestomach to it. This it seized on gladly and carried it off and toreit open and found the ring and ran off with it to where the otterand the rat were waiting. Then the three friends travelled hard fora day and a night and reached the prison in which Lita was confined. 

When Lita got the ring he begged his jailer to get him a _seer_of milk and when it was brought he dropped the ring in it, and said"I wish the bed on which my faithless wife and her lover are sleepingto be brought here with them in it this very night" and before morningthe bed was brought to the prison. Then the magistrate was called andwhen he saw that the wife was alive he released Lita, and the loverwho had run away with her had to pay Lita double the expenditurewhich had been incurred on his marriage, and was fined beside. 

But Lita married another wife and lived happily with her. And sometime afterwards he called the otter and the cat and the rat to himand said that he purposed to let them go and before they parted hewould give them anything they wished for. They said that he owed themnothing, and they made Lita promise to let them know if ever he lostthe ring or fell into trouble, and he promised to help them if evertheir lives were in danger, and one morning he took them to a bazar, near which was a tank full of fish, and he turned the otter intothe tank and left the cat and the rat to support themselves in thebazar. The next day he went to see them and the otter came out ofthe tank and gave him a fish which it had caught, and the cat broughthim some milk it had stolen, and that was the last he saw of them. 

XXIII. The Boy Who Found His Father. 

There was once a boy who used always to cheat when playing _Kati_(pitch and toss) and for this the village boys with whom he played usedto quarrel with him, saying "Fatherless orphan, why do you cheat?" Soone day he asked his mother why they called him that name and whetherhis father was really dead. "He is alive" said she "but a long timeago a rhinoceros carried him off on its horn. " Then the boy vowedthat he would go in search of his father and made his mother put himup provisions for the journey; and he started off taking with him aniron bow and a big bundle of arrows. 

He journeyed on all day and at nightfall he came to a village; there hewent up to the house of an old woman to ask for a bed. He stood at thethreshhold and called out to her "Grannie, grannie, open the door. " "Ihave no son, and no grandchildren to call me grannie, " grumbled theold woman and went to open the door to see who was there, and when sheopened the door and saw him, she said "Ho, you are my grandson. " "Yes, "answered he, "I am your grandchild. " So she called him inside and gavehim a bed to sleep on. The old woman was called Hutibudi; and she andthe boy sat up late talking together and then they lay down to sleep;but in the middle of the night he heard the old woman crunching awaytrying to bite his bow to pieces. He asked her what she was eating:"Some pulse I got from the village headman, " "Give me a little totry" he begged. "I am sorry my child, I have finished it all. " Butreally she had none to give, however she only hurt her jaws bitingso that she began to groan with pain: "What are you groaning for, Grannie?" said the boy; "Because I have toothache" she answered: andin truth her cheeks were badly swollen. Then he told her that a goodcure for toothache was to bite on a white stone and she believed himand the next morning got a piece of white quartz and began to bite onit; but this only broke her teeth and made her mouth bleed so that thepain was worse than before: then the boy jeered at her and said. "Didyou think, Grannie, that you could bite my iron bow and arrows?"

So saying he left her and continued the search for his father andhis road led him to a dense jungle which seemed to have no end, andin the middle of the jungle he came to a lake and he sat down by itto eat what was left of the provisions he had brought: as he sat, he suddenly saw some cow-bison coming down to the lake: at this hecaught up his bow and arrows in a hurry and climbed up a tall _sal_tree: from the tree he watched the bison go down to the water to drinkand then go back into the jungle. And after them tigers and bearscame down to the water: the sight of them frightened him and he sang:--

 "Drink your fill, tiger, I shall not shoot you. I shall shoot the giant rhinceros. "

and they drank and went away. Then various kinds of birds came andafter them a great herd of rhinceroses and among them was one whichhad the dried up body of the boy's father stuck on its horn. The boywas rather frightened and sang

 "Drink your fill, rhinceroses, I shall not shoot you I shall shoot the giant rhinceros. "

and when the giant rhinceros with the body of his father stooped itshead to drink from the lake, he put an arrow through it and it turneda somersault and fell over dead: while all the other rhincerosesturned tail and ran away. Then the boy climbed down from the tree andpulled the dead body of his father off the horn of the dead animal andlaid it down at the foot of a tree and began to weep over it. As hewept a man suddenly stood before him and asked what was the matter, and when he heard, said "Cry no more: take a cloth and wet it in thelake and cover your father's body with it: and then whip the bodywith a _meral_ twig and he will come to life. " So saying the strangersuddenly disappeared; and the boy obeyed his instructions and beholdhis father sat up alive and rubbing his eyes said "I must have beenasleep a very long time. " Then his son explained to him all that hadhappened and gave him some food and took him home. 

XXIV. The Oilman's Bullock. 

There was once a poor but industrious oilman; he got a log of woodand carved out an oil mill and, borrowing some money as capital, he bought mustard and sesame seed and set to work to press it; as hehad no bullock he had to turn the mill himself. He was so industriousthat he soon began to prosper and was able to buy a bullock for hismill. By and bye he got so rich that he was able to buy some land anda cart and pair of bullocks and was quite a considerable man in thevillage. One day one of his cart bullocks died and this loss was asad blow to the oilman. However he tied up the surviving bullock inthe stable along with the old oil mill bullock and fed them well. Onenight it chanced that one of the villagers passed by the stable andhear the two animals talking and this is what he heard. 

The young bullock said "You came to this house first, friend; whatsort of treatment does one get here?"

"Why do you ask me?" said the other. "Oh, I see your shoulder isgalled and your neck shows mark of the yoke. " The old bullock answered"Whether my master treats me well or ill I owe him money and have tostay here until I have paid him off. When I have paid him five hundredrupees I shall go. " "How will you ever pay back such a sum?" "Ifmy master would only match me to fight the Raja's elephant for fivehundred rupees I should win the fight and my debt would be cleared;and if he does not do that I shall probably have to work for him allmy life. How long do you intend to stay?" "My debt will be clearedif I work for him two years" answered the new comer. 

The man who overheard this conversation was much astonished andwent off to the oilman and told him all about it. Next day the wholevillage had heard of it and they were all anxious for the oilman tomatch his bullock against the Raja's elephant; but the oilman wasvery frightened, for he feared that if he sent such a challenge, theRaja would be angry with him and drive him out of the country. Butthe leading villagers urged him and undertook to find the money if helost, and to persuade the Raja that the oilman was mad, if he becameangry with him. At last the oilman consented, provided that some ofthe villagers went to the Raja and proposed the match; he was toofrightened to go himself. So two of the village elders went to theRaja and asked him to match his elephant against the oilman's bullockfor five hundred rupees; the Raja was very much amused and at oncefixed a day for the fight. So they returned and told the oilman tobe ready and raised a subscription of five hundred rupees. 

The evening before the contest the oilman gave the bullock a big feedof meal and oilcake; and on the eventful morning the villagers allcollected and watched him oiling its horns and tying a bell round itsneck. Then the oilman gave the bullock a slap on its back and said"Take care: you are going to fight an elephant; if you owe me so muchmoney you will win, and if not, then you will be defeated. " Whenhe said this the bullock pawed the ground and snorted and put downits head. 

Then they all set out with the five hundred rupees to a level fieldnear the Raja's palace; a great crowd collected to see the fun andthe Raja went there expecting easily to win five hundred rupees. Theelephant was brought forward with vermilion on its cheeks, and apad on its back, and a big bell round its neck, and a mahout ridingit. The crowd called out "Put down the stakes:" so each side producedthe money and publicly announced that the owner of the animal whichshould be victorious should take all the stakes. But the oilmanobjected to the mahout's riding the elephant; no one was going to ridehis bullock. This was seen to be fair and the mahout had to get off;then the fight began. The bullock snorted and blew through its nose, and ran at the elephant with its head lowered. Then the elephant alsorushed forward but the bullock stood its ground and stamped; at thisthe elephant turned tail and ran away; the bullock ran after it andgored it from behind until it trumpeted with pain. The crowd shouted"The Raja's elephant is beaten. " And the oilman took the five hundredrupees and they all went home. From that day the oilman no longer putthe bullock to work the oil mill but fed it well and left it free togo where it liked. But the bullock only stayed on with him for onemonth and then died. 

XXV. How Sabai Grass Grew. 

Once upon a time there were seven brothers who had an onlysister. These brothers undertook the excavation of a large tank;but although they spent large sums and dug very deep they could notreach water and the tank remained dry. 

One day as they were consulting what to do to get the tank to fill, they saw a Jogi coming towards them with a lota in his hand; they atonce called to him to come and advise them, for they thought that, as he spent his time wandering from country to country, he mightsomewhere have learned some thing which would be of use to them. Allthe Jogi said to them was "You have a sister: if you sacrifice her, the tank will fill with water. " The brothers were fond of the girl, but in their despair at seeing their labour wasted they agreed to givethe advice of the Jogi a trial. So they told their mother the next daythat, when their sister brought them out their midday meal, she wasto be dressed in her best and carry the rice in a new basket and mustbring a new water pot to draw their water in. At midday the girl wentdown to her brothers with her best cloth and all her jewellry on; andwhen they saw their victim coming they could not keep from tears. Sheasked them what they were grieving for; they told her that nothing wasthe matter and sent her to draw water in her new water-pot from thedry tank. Directly the girl drew near to the bank the water began tobubble up from the bottom; and when she went down to the water's edgeit rose to her instep. She bent down to fill her pot but the pot wouldnot fill though the water rose higher and higher; then she sang:--

 "The water has risen, brother, And wetted my ankle, brother, But still the _lota_ in my hand Will not sink below the surface. "

But the water rose to her knees and the pot would not fill, andshe sang:--

 "The water has risen, brother, And wetted my knees, brother, But still the lota in my hand Will not sink below the surface. "

Then the water rose to her waist and the pot would not fill, andshe sang:--

 "The water has risen, brother, And wetted my waist, brother, But still the lota in my hand Will not sink below the surface. "

Then the water reached her neck and the pot would not fill; andshe sang:--

 The water has risen, brother, And wetted my neck, brother, But still the lota in my hand Will not sink below the surface. "

At last it flowed over her head and the water-pot was filled, but thegirl was drowned. The tank however remained brimful of sparkling water. 

Now the unhappy girl had been betrothed and her wedding day was justat hand. On the day fixed the marriage broker came to announce theapproach of the bridegroom; who shortly afterwards arrived at theoutskirts of the village in his palki. The seven brothers met him, and the usual dancing began. 

The bridegroom's party however wished to know why the bride did notappear. The brothers put them off with various excuses, saying thatthe girl had gone with her friends to gather firewood or to the riverto draw water. At last the bridegroom's party got tired of waitingand turned to go home in great wrath at the way in which they hadbeen treated. On their way they passed by the tank in which the girlhad been sacrificed and, growing in the middle of it, they saw a mostbeautiful flower. The bridegroom at once determined to possess this, and he told his drummers to pick it for him; but whenever one of themtried to pick it, the flower moved out of his reach and a voice camefrom the flower saying:--

 "Take the flower, drummer, But the branch you must not break. "

and when they told him what the flower sang the bridegroom said thathe would try and pick it himself; no sooner had he reached the bankthan the flower of its own accord floated towards him and he pulled itup by the roots and took it with him into the palki. After they hadgone a little way the palki bearers felt the palki strangely heavy:and when they looked in they found the bride also sitting in it, dressed in yellow garments; for the flower was really the girl whohad been drowned. 

So they joyfully took the happy couple with drumming and music tothe bridegroom's house. 

In a short time misfortune befel the seven brothers; they fell intothe deepest poverty and were forced to earn what they could by sellingleaves and sticks which they gathered in the jungle. As they went aboutselling these, they one day came to the village where their sisterwas living and as they cried their wares through the streets they weretold to go to the house where the marriage had taken place. They wentthere, and as they were selling their leaf plates their sister sawand recognised them; they had only ragged loincloths on, and theirskins were black and cracked like a crocodile's. 

At the sight their sister began to cry. Her friends asked what wasthe matter and she said a straw from the thatch had run into her eye, so they pulled down some of the thatch; she still went on crying andthey again asked what was wrong; she said that she had knocked herfoot against a stone in the ground; so they dug up the stone and threwit away. But she still went on weeping and at last confessed that themiserable-looking leaf-sellers were her brothers. Then her husband'sparents told her to be comforted, and they gave the brothers oil andbade them go and bathe and oil their bodies: but the brothers wereso hungry that when they got to the bathing place they drank the oiland ate the oil cake that had been given to them; and came back withtheir skins as rough as when they went. So then they were given moreoil and some of the household went with them and made them bathe andoil themselves properly and then brought them to the house and gavethem new clothes and made them a feast of meat and rice. According tothe custom of the country they were made to sit down in order of ageand were helped in that order; when they had all been helped and hadeaten, their sister said to them "Now brothers you come running tome for food, and yet you sacrificed me in the tank. " Then they wereoverwhelmed with shame: they looked up at the sky but there was noescape there; they looked down at the earth; and the earth split openand they all ran into the chasm. The sister tried to catch the youngestbrother by the hair and pull him out, calling "Come back, brother, come back brother, you shall carry my baby about for me!" but hishair came off in her hand and the earth swallowed them all up. Theirsister planted the hair in a corner of the garden and it is said thatfrom that human hair, _sabai_ grass originated. 

XXVI. The Merchant's Son and the Raja's Daughter. 

Once a merchant's wife and a Raja's wife were both with child and oneday as they bathed together they fell into conversation, and theyagreed that if they both bore daughters then the girls should be"flower friends" while if one had a son and one a daughter then thechildren should marry: and they committed the agreement to writing. Amonth or two later the Raja's wife bore a daughter and the merchant'swife a son. When the children grew up a bit they were sent to school, and as they were both very intelligent they soon learnt to read andwrite. At the school the boys used to be taught in an upstairs roomand the girls on the ground floor. One day the boy wrote out a copyof the agreement which their mothers had made and threw It down tothe girl who was below. 

She read it and from that day they began to correspond with each other;love soon followed and they decided to elope. They fixed a day andthey arranged that the boy should wait for the girl under a _turu_tree outside the town. When the evening came the girl made haste tocook her parents' supper and then, when they went to bed, she hadas usual to soothe them to sleep by rubbing their limbs; all thistook a long time and the merchant's son soon got tired of waiting, so he sang to the tree:--

 "Be witness be witness for me 'Turu tree' When the Raja's daughter comes. "

and so singing he tied his horse to the roots of the tree and himselfclimbed up into the branches, and sitting in the tree he pulled offand threw down a number of twigs. Late at night the Raja's daughtercame; she saw the horse tied and the twigs scattered on the ground, but no other sign of her lover. And at last she got tired of waitingand called the _Turu_ tree to witness, singing:--

 "Be witness be witness for me 'Turu tree' When the merchant's son comes. "

As she finished her song the merchant's son threw down a large branchto her, so she looked up and saw him sitting in the tree. Then sheclimbed up to him and began to scold him for putting her to the painof waiting so long. He retorted "It was you who made me anxious bykeeping me waiting. " "That was not my fault: you know how much worka woman has to do. I had to cook the supper and put my parents tobed and rub them to sleep. Climb down and let us be off. " So theyclimbed down from the tree and mounted the horse and rode off toa far country. On the road the girl became very thirsty but in thedense jungle they could find no water, at last the merchant's sonthrew a stone at hazard and they heard it splash in a pool; so theywent in the direction of the sound and there they found water but itwas foul and full of worms and the girl refused to drink it. She saidthat she would only drink water "which had a father and mother. "

So they went on their way, and after a time they came to a numberof crows holding a meeting and in the midst was an owl with its headnodding drowsily; it was seeing dreams for them; every now and thena crow would give it a shove and ask what it had dreamt, but the owlonly murmured that it had not finished and went off to sleep again. Atlast it said "I have seen a gander and a goose go down into a riverand swim about in it. "

The merchant's son and his companion went on and presently came toa river in full flood, which was quite uncrossable; on the far bankwas a cow lowing to a calf which had been left on the bank where theywere. When she saw them the girl began to sing:--

 "The cow lows for its calf The calf bleats for its mother: My father and mother Are weeping for me at home. "

When he heard her lament like this the merchant's son exclaimed

"You women are all alike, come let us go back. "

"How can we go back now?" answered the girl "You of course can pretendthat you have been hunting; but we women lose our character if weare hidden by a bush for a minute. "

So as they could not cross the river by themselves, a goose and gandercarried them across on their backs. As they went on the merchant'sson asked the girl how far she would like to go, a six days' journeyor a six months' journey. He told her that in the six months' journeythey would only have fruits and roots and such like to eat and waterto drink, but the six days' journey was easy and free from hardship. 

The girl chose the six days' journey, so they went on for six daysand came to a stream on the banks of which stood a cottage in whichlived an old woman. Before they went up to it the girl told her lovernot to eat any rice given to him by the old woman but to throw itto the fowls; then they went and asked to be allowed to cook theirfood there; now the old woman had seven unmarried sons, who were awayhunting at the time, and when she saw the Raja's daughter she wishedto detain her and marry her to one of her sons. So in order to delaythem she gave them a damp stove and green firewood to cook with;she also offered the merchant's son some poisoned rice but he threwit to the fowls, and when they ate it they fell down dead. 

The girl could not make the fire burn with the green wood, sothey hurried away as fast as they could without waiting to cook anyfood. Before they started however the old woman managed to tie up somemustard seed in a cloth and fasten it to their horse's tail, so thatas they rode, the seed was spilt along the road they took. When theold woman's sons came back from hunting she greeted them by saying:"Why did you not come back sooner? I have just found a pretty wifefor you; but I have tied mustard seed to their horse's tail and it isbeing scattered along the road: in one place it is sprouting in anotherit is flowering; in another it is seeding and in another it is ripe;when you get to the place where it is ripe you will catch them. " Sothe seven brothers pursued the two lovers and caught them up, butthe merchant's son cut down six of them with his sword; the seventhhowever hid under the horse's belly and begged for mercy and offered toserve them as groom to their horse. This man's name was Damagurguria;they spared his life and he followed them running behind the horse;but he watched his opportunity and caught the merchant's son unawaresand killed him with his sword. 

Then he told the girl that she belonged to him and she admitted it andasked that she might ride behind him on the horse, so Damagurguriamounted and took her up behind him and turned homewards. He couldnot see what the girl was doing and they had not gone far when shedrew his sword and killed him with it. 

Then she rode back to where the body of her lover lay and began to weepover it. As she sat there a man in shining white clothing appeared andasked what was the matter; she told him Damagurguria had killed herlover. Then he bade her stop crying and go and wet a _gamcha_ he gaveher and come straight back with it without looking behind her and thenpick a _meral_ twig and beat the corpse with it. So the girl took the_gamcha_ and went and dipped it in a pool but, as she was bringing itback, she heard a loud roaring behind her and she looked back to seewhat it was; so the stranger sent her back again to the pool and thistime she did not look round though she heard the same roaring. Thenthe stranger told her to join the severed head to the body and coverit with the wet _gamcha_; and then, after waiting a little, to beatthe body with the _meral_ twig. So saying he disappeared. The girlcarefully complied with these instructions and to her joy saw themerchant's son sit up and rub his eyes, remarking that he must havebeen asleep for a long time. Great was his astonishment when he heardhow Damagurguria had killed him and how he had been restored to lifeby the help of the stranger in white. This was the end of the lovers'troubles and they lived happily ever after. 

XXVII. The Flycatcher's Egg. 

One day a herd boy found a flycatcher's egg and he brought it homeand asked his mother to cook it for him, but she put it on a shelfand forgot about it. His mother was a poor woman and had to go out allday to work; so before she started she used always to cook her son'sdinner and leave it covered up all ready for him. No sooner had shegone to work than a _bonga_ girl used to come out of the flycatcher'segg and first eat up the rice that had been left for the herd boyand then quickly put water on to boil and cook some rice with pulse;and, having eaten part of it, cover up the rest, ready for the herdboy on his return. Then she used to comb and dress her hair and goback into the egg. This happened every day and at last the boy askedhis mother why she gave him rice cooked with pulse every day, as hewas tired of it. His mother was much astonished and said that someone must have been changing his food, because she always cooked hisrice with vegetables. At this the boy resolved to watch and see whowas touching his food; so one day he climbed up on to the raftersand lay in wait. Presently out of the egg came the _bonga_ girl andcooked the food and combed her hair as usual. Just as she was goingback into the egg, the herd boy sprang down and caught her. "Fi, Fi, "cried she "is it a _Dome_ or a _Hadi_ who is clasping me?" "No _Dome_or _Hadi_, " said he: "we are husband and wife:" so he took her towife and they lived happily together. 

He strictly forbade her ever to go outside the house and he saidincantations over some mustard seed and gave it to her, and toldher that, if any beggars came, she was to give them alms through thewindow and, if they refused to take them in that way, then she wasto throw the mustard seed at them; but on no account to go outsidethe house. One day when her husband was away a jugi came begging;the _bonga_ girl offered him alms through the window but the jugiflatly refused to take them; he insisted on her coming out of thehouse and giving them. Then she threw the mustard seed at him and heturned into ashes. By superior magic however he at once recovered hisown form and again insisted on her coming outside to give him alms, so she went out to him and he saw how beautiful she was. 

The jugi went away and one day he went to beg at the Raja's palace and, talking to the Raja, he told him how he had seen a girl of more thanhuman beauty. The Raja resolved to possess her, and one day he tookthe form of a fly and flew to the house and saw the beautiful _bonga_;a second day he came back in the same form and suddenly caught herup and flew off with her on his back to his palace, and in spite ofher weeping shut her up in a beautifully furnished room on the roofof his palace. There she had to stay and her food was brought to herthere. When the herd boy came home and found that his beautiful wifewas missing he filled the air with lamentations and leaving his homehe put on the garb of a jugi and went about begging. One day he cameto the palace of the Raja who had carried off his wife; as he beggedhe heard his wife's voice, so he sang:--

 "Give me, oh give me, my flycatcher wife, Give me my many-coloured wife. "

Then they offered him a jar full of money to pacify him, but he threwthe rupees away one by one and continued his lament. Then the Rajacalled for his two dogs Rauta and Paika and set them on the man andthey tore him to death. At this his wife wept grievously and beggedthem to let her out since there was no one to carry her away, nowthat her husband was dead. 

They prepared to take away the corpse to burn it and the _bonga_girl asked to be allowed to go with them as she had never seen thefuneral rites of a jugi: so they let her go. 

Before starting she tied a little salt in the corner of her cloth. Whenshe reached the burning place, she sang to the two dogs:--

 "Build the pyre, Rauta and Paika! Alas! The dogs have bitten the jugi, Alas! They have chased and killed the jugi. "

So the two dogs built the pyre and lay the body on it. Then sheordered them to split more wood, singing:--

 "Cut the wood, Rauta and Paika! Alas! The dogs have bitten the Jugi, Alas! They have chased and killed the jugi. "

So they split more wood and then she told them to apply the fire, singing:--

 "Light the fire, Rauta and Paika! Alas! The dogs have bitten the Jugi, Alas! they have chased and killed the jugi. "

When the pyre was in full blaze she suddenly said to the dogs "Look up, Rauta and Paika, see the stars are shining in the day time. " When thetwo dogs looked up, she threw the salt into their eyes, and, whilethey were blinded, she sprang into the flames and died as a _sati_on the body of her husband. 

XXVIII. The Wife Who Would Not Be Beaten. 

There was once a Raja's son who announced that he would marry no womanwho would not allow him to beat her every morning and evening. TheRaja's servants hunted high and low in vain for a bride who wouldconsent to these terms, at long last, they found a maiden who agreedto be beaten morning and evening if the prince would marry her. Sothe wedding took place and for two or three days the prince hesitatedto begin the beating; but one morning he got up and, taking a stickfrom the corner, went to his bride and told her that she must haveher beating. "Wait a minute" said she "there is one thing I want topoint out to you before you beat me. It is only on the strength ofyour father's position that you play the fine gentleman like this:your wealth is all your father's and it is on his wealth that youare relying. When you have earned something for yourself, and madea position for yourself, then I am willing that you should beat meand not before. "

The prince saw that what his bride said was true and held hishand. Then, in order to earn wealth for himself, he set out on atrading expedition, taking quantities of merchandise loaded in sacks;and he had a large band of retainers with him, mounted on horses andelephants, and altogether made a fine show. The princess sent one ofher own servants with the prince and gave him secret instructionsto watch his opportunity and if ever, when the prince was bathing, he should throw away a loin cloth, to take possession of it withoutthe prince knowing anything about it and bring it to her. The princejourneyed on till he came to the country called Lutia. 

The Raja of Lutia was walking on the roof of his palace and he sawthe cavalcade approaching, and he sent a _sipahi_ to meet the princeand ask him this question, "Have you the secret of prosperity for everor of prosperity for a day?" When this question was put to the princehe answered that he had the secret of prosperity for ever. When theLutia Raja was told of this answer, he ordered his men to stop theprince's train; so they surrounded them and seized all the merchandiseand the prince's retainers fled on their horses and elephants andleft him alone and penniless. In his distress the prince was forcedto take service with a rich Hindu, and he had nothing to live on butwhat his master chose to give him, and all he had to wear was a loincloth like the poorest labourer. 

The only man who did not desert him was the servant whom the Princesshad sent; and one day he saw that the prince had thrown away an oldloin cloth while bathing; this he picked up and took home to hismistress, who put it away. When she heard all that had happened toher husband, she set out in her turn to the Lutia country and allshe took with her was a mouse and a shawl. When she reached the Lutiacountry the Raja as before sent a messenger to ask whether she knewthe secret of prosperity for ever or of prosperity for a day. 

She answered "prosperity for a day. " Thereupon the Raja had her sentfor and also all the retainers who had deserted the Prince and whohad collected together in the neighbourhood. When they had all comethe Raja said that he would now decide who should have all the wealthwhich had been taken from the prince: he produced a cat and said thatthe person towards whom the cat jumped should have all the wealth. Sothey all sat round the Raja and the Princess had her mouse hiddenunder her shawl and every now and then she kept uncovering its headand covering it up again. The cat soon caught sight of the mouse and, when the Raja let it go, it jumped straight to the Princess in hopesof catching the mouse. The Raja at once adjudged all the merchandiseto her, and she loaded it on the horses and elephants and took ithome accompanied by her husband's retainers. 

A few days afterwards her husband came home, having got tired ofworking as a servant, and, putting a bold face on it, he went up toher and said that now he was going to beat her; all the retainers whohad accompanied him when he set out to trade and also the servant whomthe princess had sent with him were present. Then, before them all, the princess took up the old loin cloth and asked him if he knew towhom it had belonged; at this reminder of his poverty the prince wasdumb with shame. "Ask your retainers" continued the princess "to whomall the merchandise with which you set out now rightfully belongs, ask them whether it is yours or mine, and then say whether you willbeat me. "

The prince had no answer to give her and after this lesson gave upall idea of beating his bride. 

XXIX. Sahde Goala. 

Once a marriage was arranged between Sahde Goala and Princess Chandainiand on the wedding day when it began to get dusk Sahde Goala orderedthe sun to stand still. "How, " said he, "can the people see thewedding of a mighty man like myself in the dark?" So at his behestthe sun delayed its setting for an hour, and the great crowd whichhad assembled saw all the grand ceremonies. 

The next day Sahde and his bride set off home and it took them threedays to reach the place where he lived. Before they left they hadinvited the princess's father to come and see them; accordingly a dayor two later he set out, but it took him three months to accomplish thedistance which Sahde Goala had traversed in three days. When the oldRaja reached his son-in-law's house they welcomed him and washed hisfeet and offered him refreshments; and when he had eaten, he asked hisson-in-law to take him out for a stroll. So they went out, Sahde Goalain front and the old Raja following behind him and as they walked SahdeGoala struck his foot against a stone, and the stone was shattered topieces. When the Raja saw this proof of his son-in-law's superhumanstrength, he became alarmed for his daughter's safety. If Sahde everlost his temper with her he might clearly smash her to atoms, so hemade up his mind that he could not leave her in such keeping. Whenhe told his daughter what he had seen she was as frightened as herfather and begged him to take her home, so they agreed to escapetogether some time when Sahde Goala was out of the way. 

One morning Sahde Goala went out to watch his men working in thefields and the old Raja and his daughter seized this opportunity toescape. Sahde Goala had a sister named Lorokini and she ran to thefield to tell her brother that his wife was running away. "Let her go"said Sahde Goala. The old Raja travelled faster than his daughter andleft her behind and as she travelled along alone Sahde Goala made aflooded river flow across her path. It was quite unfordable so thePrincess stood on the bank and sang:--

 "My mother gave me birth, My father gave me in marriage: If the water upstream would stand still And the water downstream would flow away Then I could go and live in my own home. "

But no such thing happened and she had to go back to her husband'shouse. 

When she arrived her mother-in-law gave her a large basket of cookedrice and a pot of relish and told her to take them to the labourersin the field. Her mother-in-law helped her to lift the basket on toher head and she set off. When she reached the field she called toher sister-in-law:--

 "Come Lorokini, Lift down from my head The basket of rice And the pot of relish. "

But Lorokini was angry with her for trying to runaway and refused to help, singing:--

 "I will not come I will not lift down the basket: Prop it against a _murup_ tree: I will not lift it down. "

Then Chandaini Rani propped it against the trunk of a _murup_ tree, and so set it on the ground. 

Then she sang to her husband:--

 "Here, husband, is the lota of water: Here, husband, is the tooth stick; Come, and wash your hands: If you are angry with me Take me back to my father and mother. "

But Sahde Goala was ploughing at the head of his men and paid noattention to her: then she sang again:--

 "Seven hundred labourers And twenty hundred women labourers, You are causing to die of thirst. "

But still Sahde Goala paid no attention. Then Chandaini Rani gotangry and by leaning the basket against the _murup_ tree managed toget it on to her head again and carried it home, and from that timemurup trees grow slanting. Directly she had taken the rice and relishto the house she set off again to run away to her mother. As beforeSahde Goala caused a flooded river to flow across her path and asbefore she sang:--

 "My mother gave me birth, My father gave me in marriage: If the water upstream would stand still And the water downstream would flow away Then I could go and live in my own home, "

And this time the water did stand still and the water below allflowed away and she crossed over. As she crossed she said "If I amreally chaste no one will be able to touch me. " And as she reachedthe opposite bank she saw a young man sitting waiting for her; hisname was Bosomunda, he had been sitting waiting for her on the bankfor days without moving. When he saw Chandaini Rani mount the bankhe rose and said "Come: I have been waiting for you, you are to bemy mistress. " "Fie, fie!" answered she "Am I to belong to any Dome orHari?" Bosomunda swore that she should be his. "If so, then follow alittle behind me so as not to tread on my shadow. " So they went on, theRani in front and Bosomunda behind. Presently they came to a tamarindtree on which grew two enormous fruits; the Rani pointed to them saying"If I am to belong to you, you must pick me those fruits. " So Bosomundabegan to climb the tree, and as he climbed she prayed that the treemight grow and touch the sky; and in fact as fast as Bosomunda climbedso the tree grew and he got no nearer to the fruit. 

Then the Chandaini Rani picked up the weapons which he had laidon the ground and threw them away one to the north and one to thesouth, one to the east and one to the west, and ran off as fast asshe could. Bosomunda at first did not see her because his eyes werefixed on the tamarind fruit, but after she had gone a long way hecaught sight of her and came down as fast as he could and, gatheringup his weapons, went in pursuit. But Chandaini Rani had got a longstart, and as she hurried along she passed a thorn tree standing bythe side of the road and she called to it "Thorn tree, Bosomunda iscoming after me, do your best to detain him for a little. " As shespoke it seemed as if a weight descended on the tree and swayed itto and fro so that its branches swept the ground, and it answered her"I will do like this to him. " Then she went on and met a goat on theroad, and she asked it to do its best to delay Bosomunda, and thegoat pawed the ground and dug its horns into the earth and said thatit would do the same to Bosomunda. Then she went on and met a ram andmade the same request; the ram charged a tree and butted it right overand promised to treat Bosomunda in the same way. Afterwards she cameto a bull and the bull drove its horns into a bank and brought downa quantity of earth and said that that was the way he would treatBosomunda. Next she came to a buffalo and the buffalo charged a bankof earth to show what he would do to Bosomunda. Then she came to anelephant and the elephant trampled a clod of earth to dust and saidthat he would treat Bosomunda so. Then she went on and saw a paddybird feeding by the roadside and she asked it to do its best to delayBosomunda; the paddy bird drove its bill into the earth and said thatit would treat Bosomunda in the same way. 

Meanwhile Bosomunda was in hot pursuit. When he came to the thorntree, the tree swayed its branches and caught him with its thorns, but he cut down the tree and freed himself; he went on a little wayand met the goat which ran at him with its horns, but Bosomunda sang:--

 "Do not fight with me, goat, I will cut off your legs and cut off your head And take them to the shrine of Mahadeo. "

So saying, he killed the goat and cut off its head and tied it tohis waist and went on. Next the ram charged him but he sang:

 "Do not fight with me, Ram, I will cut off your legs and cut off your head And take them to the shrine of Mahadeo. "

So saying he killed the Ram and took its head. Then in succession hewas attacked by the bull and the buffalo and the elephant, but hekilled them all and cut off their heads. Then he came to the paddybird, which pretended to be busily engaged in picking up insectsand gradually worked its way nearer and nearer. Bosomunda let it getquite close and then suddenly seized it and gave its neck a pull whichlengthened it out considerably; "Thank you" said the paddy bird, ashe put it down "now I shall be able to catch all the fish in a poolwithout moving. " Thereupon Bosomunda caught it again and gave its necka jerk and that is why paddy birds have necks shaped like a letter S. 

Bosomunda continued his pursuit and caught up Chandaini Rani justas she was entering her father's house; he seized her by her hairand managed to cut off the edge of her cloth and pull off one of hergolden anklets, and then had to let her go. 

He took up his abode at the _ghat_ of a tank and began to kill everyone who came down to the water. The citizens complained to the Rajaof the destruction he was causing and the Raja ordered some valiantman to be searched for, fit to do battle with the murderer; so theysent for a Birbanta (giant) and the Raja promised to give him half hiskingdom and his daughter in marriage if he could slay Bosomunda. Sothe Birbanta made ready for the fight and advanced brandishing hisweapons against Bosomunda. Three days and three nights they fought, and in the end the Birbanta was defeated and killed. 

Then the Raja ordered his subjects to find another champion anda Birburi was found willing to undertake the fight in hope of thepromised reward; and as he was being taken to the field of battlehis mother met him with a ladle full of curds and told him to do awar dance, and as he was dancing round she threw the curds at him;he caught the whole of it on his shield except one drop which fell onhis thigh; from this his mother foresaw that he would bleed to deathIn the fight, so she took some rice and ran on ahead and again mether son and told him to do the war dance and show how he was going tofight; and as he danced his sword shivered to atoms. His mother said, "Is this the way in which you intended to fight, of a surety you wouldhave met your death. " Then she made him gather together the piecesof his sword and cover them with a wet cloth, and in a few minutesthe pieces joined together; then she allowed him to go to the fight. 

When the battle began the Birburi's mother kept calling out "Well, Bosomunda, have you killed my son?" This enraged Bosomunda and hekept running after the old woman to drive her away, and this gavethe opportunity to the Birburi to get in a good blow; in this waythey fought for seven days and nights and at the end Bosomunda wasdefeated and killed. Then the Raja gave half his kingdom to theBirburi and married him to his daughter Chandaini Rani. 

After their marriage they set out for their new home and on theway they met Sahde Goala who had come in search of his missingwife. "Hulloa" cried Sahde Goala "where are you taking my wifeto?" "I know nothing about your wife" said the Birburi "this isthe Raja's daughter whom I have married as a reward for killingBosomunda; he has given me half his kingdom from Sir Sikar to thefield of the cotton tree. " Then Sahde Goala told him to go his way, so the Birburi and the Rani went on and Sahde Goala caused a floodedriver with the water flowing bank high to cross their path. As theywaited on the bank Sahde Goala made the Birburi an offer that, if hecould carry the woman across the river without getting the sole ofher foot wet, then she should belong to him and if not Sahde Goalashould take her. The Birburi agreed and tried and tried again to getthe Rani across without wetting her, but the flood was too strong, so at last he gave in and Sahde Goala took her back with him to theirformer home. There they lived and in the course of time ChandainiRani bore a son and she named him Dhonontori, and after the birth oftheir son the family became so wealthy (dhon) that the Hindus reveredDhonontori as a god. And so ends the story. 

XXX. The Raja's Son and the Merchants Son. 

Once upon a time the son of a Raja and the son of a merchant were greatfriends; they neither of them had any taste for lessons but would playtruant from school and waste their time running about the town. TheRaja was much vexed at his son's behaviour; he wished him to grow upa worthy successor to himself, and with this object did all he couldto break off his friendship with the merchant's son, as the two boysonly led each other into mischief; but all his efforts failed and atlast he offered a reward of one hundred rupees to any one who couldseparate them. One of the Raja's concubines made up her mind to earnthe reward, and one day she met the two boys as they were going out tobathe. The Raja's son was walking ahead and the merchant's son a littleway behind; the woman ran after the merchant's son and threw her armsround him and putting her lips to his ear pretended to whisper to himand then ran away. When they met at the river the Prince asked themerchant's son what the woman had told him, his friend denied thatshe had said anything but for all his protestations the Prince wouldnot believe this. They quarrelled about it for a long time and atlast the Prince went home in a rage and shut himself up in his roomand refused to eat or be comforted. His father sent to enquire whatwas the matter with him and the Prince replied that food should notpass his lips until the merchant's son had been put to death. 

Thereupon the Raja sent for some soldiers and told them to devisesome means of killing the merchant's son. So they bound the youthand showed him to the Prince and said that they would take him to thejungle and kill and bury him there. They then led him off, but on theroad they caught a lamb and when they got to the jungle they killedthe lamb and steeped the clothes of the merchant's son in the bloodthat they might have something to show to the Prince and then wentback leaving the boy in the jungle. They took the bloody cloth tothe Prince and told him to rise and eat, but when he saw the blood, all his old friendship revived and he was filled with remorse andcould not eat for sorrow. Then the Raja told his soldiers to find outsome friend to comfort the Prince, and they told him that they wouldsoon set things straight and going off to the jungle brought back themerchant's son and took him to the Prince; and the two youths forgottheir differences and were as friendly as before. 

Time passed and one day the Prince proposed to his friend that theyshould run away and seek their fortunes in the world. So they fixeda day and stole away without telling anyone, and, as they had nottaken any money, they soon had to look about for employment. Theyfound work and the arrangement their masters made with them was this:their wages were to be as much rice each day as would go on a leaf;and if they threw up their work they were to forfeit one hand andone ear; on the other hand if their masters discharged them so longas they were willing to work for this wage the master was to lose onehand and one ear. The merchant's son was cunning enough to turn thisagreement to his advantage, for every day he brought a large lotusleaf to be rilled with rice; this gave him more than he could eatand he soon grew fat and flourishing, but the Raja's son only tookan ordinary _sal_ leaf to his master and the rice that he got on thiswas not enough to keep him alive, so he soon wasted away and died. 

Now the merchant's son had told his master that his name was Ujar:one day his master said "Ujar, go and hoe that sugar cane and looksharp about it. " So Ujar went and instead of hoeing the ground dugup all the sugar cane and piled it in a heap. When the master sawhis fine crop destroyed he was very angry and called the villagersto punish Ujar, but when they questioned him, Ujar protested thathe was bound to obey his master's orders; he had been ordered tohoe the sugar cane, not the ground, and he had done as he was told, and so they had to let him off. 

Another day a Hindu neighbour came to Ujar's master and asked him tolend him his servant for a day. So Ujar went to the Hindu's houseand there was told to scrape and spin some hemp, but Ujar did notunderstand the Hindu language and when he got the knife to scrapethe hemp with, he proceeded to chop it all up into little pieces;when the Hindu saw what had happened he was very angry and called inthe neighbours, but Ujar protested that he had been told to cut thehemp and had done so; and so he got off. 

Ujar's master had an only child and one day he told Ujar to take thechild to a tank and give him a good washing, so Ujar took the childto a tank and there proceeded to dash the child against a stone inthe way that washermen wash clothes; he knocked the child about untilhe knocked the life out of him and then carefully washed him in thetank and brought the body home and put it on the bed. Next morningthe father was surprised not to hear the child running about and, going to look, found the dead body. The villagers assembled but Ujarprotested that his master had told him to wash the child thoroughlyand he had only obeyed orders; so they had to let him off again. 

After this the master made up his mind to get rid of Ujar, but hewas in a fix: he could not dismiss him because of the agreement thatif he did not continue to employ him so long as he was willing toserve for one leaf full of rice a day he was to lose a hand and anear. So he decided to kill him, but he was afraid to do so himselffor fear of being found out; so he decided to send Ujar to hisfather-in-law's house and get them to do the job. He wrote a letterto his father-in-law asking him to kill the bearer directly he arrivedbefore many people knew of his coming and this letter he gave to Ujarto deliver. 

On the way however Ujar had some misgivings and he opened the letterand read it; thereupon he tore it in pieces and instead of it wrote aletter to his master's father-in-law in which his master was made tosay that Ujar was a most valuable servant and they should give himtheir youngest daughter in marriage as soon as possible. The fraudwas not found out and directly Ujar arrived he was married to theyoungest daughter of his master's father-in-law. A few days later themaster went to see how his plan had worked and was disgusted to findUjar not only alive but happily married. 

So he thought that he would entice him into the jungle and kill himthere; with this object he one day invited Ujar to come out huntingwith him, but Ujar suspected what was up and took a hatchet with him;and directly they got to the jungle he fell behind his master andcut him down with his hatchet and then went home and told his wife'srelations that his master had got tired of hunting and had gone backto his own home; no doubts were raised about his story and he livedon happily with his wife till he died at a ripe old age. 

XXXI. The Poor Widow. 

Once there was a poor widow who had two children; she lived by dailylabour and if she got no work any day, then that day they had to gowithout food. One morning she went out to look for work and a richwoman called her and asked if she wanted a job; she said "Yes, thatis what I am looking for, " then the rich woman said "Stay here andpick the lice out of my hair, and I will pay you your usual wages andgive you your dinner as well. " So the poor widow agreed and spent theday picking out the lice and at evening the rich woman brought outa measure of rice to give her as her wages and, as she was measuringit, she felt her head itch and she put up her hand and scratched andpulled out a large louse. 

Then she got very angry and scolded the widow and said that she wouldpay her nothing as she had not done her work properly and she turnedher out. Then the widow was very unhappy for she had nothing to giveher starving children and she wished that she had stuck to her usualwork. When she got home and her children began to cry for food, sheremembered that she had seen some wild _saru_ (vegetable) growing ina certain place; so she took a basket and a sickle and telling herchildren not to cry went out to gather it. It was dark and lonelyand she felt frightened but then she thought of her children andwent on and gathered the _saru_, and returned home crying becauseshe had nothing better to give her offspring. On the way she met anold man who asked her why she was crying and she told him all herstory. Then he told her to take the herbs home and chop them all upand to put some in every basket and pot she had and to cook the restfor supper. So when she got home she did as she had been directed andwhen she came to take the herbs which she had cooked out of the pot, she found that they had turned into rice, and she and her childrenate it with joy. The next morning she found that every pot and basketinto which she had put the herbs was full of rice; and from that timeshe prospered and bought goats and pigs and cattle and lived happilyever after. 

But no one knew where the old man came from, as she had forgotten toask him. 

XXXII. The Monkey and the Girl. 

Once upon a time the boys and girls of a village used to watch thecrops of _but_ growing by a river, and there was a Hanuman monkey whowished to eat the _but, _ but they drove him away. So he made a plan:he used to make a garland of flowers and go with it to the field and, when he was driven away, he would leave the flowers behind; and thechildren were pleased with the flowers and ended by making friends withthe monkey and did not drive him away. There was one of the young girlswho was fascinated by the monkey and promised to marry him. Some ofthe other children told this in the village and the girl's father andmother came to hear of it and were angry and the father took some ofthe villagers and went and shot the monkey. Then they decided not tothrow away the body, but to burn it like the corpse of a man. So theymade a pyre and put the body on it and set fire to it; just then thegirl came and they told her to go away, but she said that she wishedto see whether they really burned him like a man. So she stood byand when the pyre was in full blaze, she called out "Oh look, what ishappening to the stars in the sky!" at this every one looked up at thesky; then she took some sand which she had in the fold of her clothand threw it into the air and it fell into their eyes and blinded them. 

While they were rubbing the sand out of their eyes the girl leapt on tothe pyre, and was burned along with the monkey and died a _sati_. Herfather and brothers were very angry at this and said that the girlmust have had a monkey's soul and so she was fascinated by him;and so saying they bathed and went home. 

XXXIII. Ramai and the Animals. 

Once there was a blacksmith who had five sons and the sons were alwaysquarrelling. Their father used to scold them, but they paid no heed;so he got angry and one day he sent for them and said: "You wasteyour time quarrelling. I have brought you up and have amassed wealth;I should like to see what you are worth. I will put it to the test:I will give you each one hundred rupees, and I will see how you employthe money; if any of you puts it to profitable use, I will call himmy son; but if any of you squander it, I shall call him a girl. " Sothey went forth with the money and one bought buffaloes and one boughthorses and another cattle, each according to his judgement, and broughtthem home. But the youngest son, who was named Ramai, soon after hestarted, found some men killing a cat and he begged them not to killthe cat, but let him have it and he bought it of them, and going onhe found some men killing a dog which they had caught stealing andhe bought it of them to save its life. By and bye he came to some menhunting an otter and he asked what they were doing, and they said thatthe otter ate the fish in a Raja's tank and so they were going to killit; and he asked them to catch it and sell it to him, and promisedto take it away where it could do no harm; and they did so. Then hewent on and came to some men who were killing a young black snakeand he saved that also, and then returned home with his four animals, and he tethered the cat and the dog and the otter in the yard and heput the snake into a pot with a lid on and hung it in the cow shed. 

When his father saw Ramai's animals, he was very angry and jeered athim and said that he had no more mind than a woman; and especiallyhe told him to throw away the snake at once, if he did not want itkilled. So Ramai took down the pot with the snake in it, and the snakesaid: "Take me to my father and mother and they will reward you, andwhen they ask what you would like, take nothing but the ring whichis on my father's hand: it is a magic ring and has the property thatit will give you whatever you ask. "

So Ramai took the young snake to its home and its father and motherwere very grateful and asked what reward he would accept: and he saidhe would take nothing but the ring, so they gave it to him. On the wayhome he thought that he would test its virtues: so he bathed and spreadout a cloth and then prayed: "Oh ring, give me some luncheon, " andbehold he saw a nice lunch heaped up in the middle of the cloth. He ateit joyfully and went back home, and there he found that his father hadkilled the other animals and he reproached him; but his father said:"They were useless and were only eating their heads off, why shouldnot I kill them?" Ramai answered: "These were not useless, they weremost valuable animals, much better than those my brothers bought; ifyou asked my brothers for a gold palace they could not make you one, but I could do so at once, thanks to the snake, and I could marry aprincess and get anything else I want. "

His father said that he would like to see him try: so Ramai askedthe ring for a gold palace and immediately one appeared in theirgarden. Then his father was very repentant about having killed theother animals. But Ramai's boast that he could marry a princess gotabroad and the Raja heard of it and as he was glad to have so richa son-in-law, he gave him his daughter in marriage. And with hisdaughter the Raja sent elephants and horses, but Ramai sent them backagain, lest it should be said that he had become rich through thebounty of the Raja; and by virtue of the ring they lived in wealthyand prosperity. 

XXXIV. The Magic Bedstead. 

Once upon a time a carpenter made a bedstead, and when it was ready heput it in his verandah. At night he heard the four legs of the bedsteadtalking together and saying: "We will save the life of anyone whosleeps on this bedstead and protect him from his enemies. " When thecarpenter heard this, he decided not to part with the bed for lessthan a hundred rupees. So next day he went out to try and get thisprice for the bed, but people laughed at him and said that no onecould pay such a price but the Raja; so he went to the Raja and theRaja asked why he wanted one hundred rupees for a bedstead that wasapparently worth only five or six annas. The carpenter answered thatthe bed would protect its owner from all enemies; the Raja doubted atfirst but as the man persisted in his story, he agreed to buy the bed, but he stipulated that if he found the story about it not to be true, he should take back his money. 

One night the king lay awake on the bed and he heard the legs of thebed talking, so he lay still and listened: and they said that theRaja was in danger and that they must try to save him. So one legloosened itself from the bed and went away outside and it found atiger which had come to eat the Raja, and it beat the tiger to death, and then came back and fixed itself into its place again. Soon asecond leg said that it would go outside; so it went and that leg meta leopard and a bear and it beat them to death and returned. Then thethird leg said that it was its turn, and it went outside and it foundfour burglars digging a hole through the wall of the palace, and itset upon them and broke their legs and left them lying there. Whenthis one returned, the fourth leg went out and it heard a voice inthe sky saying: "The Raja is very cunning, I will send a snake whichshall hide in his shoe and when he puts the shoe on in the morning, it will bite him and he will die. " When this leg came back, each onetold the others what it had seen and done, and the Raja heard them andlay awake till morning, and at dawn he called his servants and sentthem outside the palace and there they found the tiger and leopardand bear lying dead, and the four thieves with their legs broken. Thenthe Raja believed what the legs had said and he would not get up butfirst ordered his servants to make a fire in the courtyard and hehad all his shoes thrown into the fire and then he got up. 

After this the Raja ordered that great care was to be taken of thebedstead and that anyone who sat on it should be put to death; and hehimself used not to sleep in it anymore but he kept it in his bedroomthat it might protect him. 

XXXV. The Ghormuhas. 

Ghormuhas have heads like horses and bodies and arms like men andtheir legs are shaped like men's but they have only one leg each, and they eat human beings. 

One day a young man named Somai was hunting a deer and the deer ranaway to the country of the Ghormuhas and Somai pursued it, and theGhormuhas caught him and took him home to eat. First they smoked himfor two or three days so that all the vermin were driven out of hisbody and clothes and then they proceeded to fatten him; they fed himwell every day on rice cooked with turmeric. 

Somai saw how they dealt with their other victims: they tied them handand foot and threw them alive into a pot of boiling oil and when theywere cooked they hung the bodies up in the doorway and would take abite as they passed in and out; the liver and heart and brains theycooked separately. They used to eat their own parents also: for whena father or mother grew old they would throw them on to the roof ofthe house and when they rolled down and were killed they would say totheir friends, "The pumpkin growing on our roof has got ripe and fallenoff and burst, let us come and eat it;" and then they had a feast. 

Somai saw all this and was very frightened. The Ghormuhas could runvery fast and they made Somai run a race with them every day andtheir plan was that they would eat him when he was strong enough tobeat them in the race. In the course of time he came to beat them inrunning on the road; then they said that they would make him run inthe fields and, if he beat them there, they meant to eat him. 

Somai found out their plan and he decided to try and run away; if hestayed he would be eaten, so if they caught him when he tried to runaway he would be no worse off. So the first day they raced in thefields Somai was winning but he remembered and stopped himself andlet himself be beaten that day. But he resolved to try and escape thenext day and the Ghorarahas had decided to eat him that day whateverhappened. So when the race began, Somai set off towards the lower landswhere the rice fields were embanked and he jumped the embankments, butthe Ghormuhas who pursued him could not jump well and tumbled and fell;and thus he ran away to his own country and made good his escape. Andit was he who told men what Ghormuhas are like and how they live. 

XXXVI. The Boy Who Learnt Magic. 

Once upon a time there was a Raja who had seven wives and they wereall childless, and he was very unhappy at having no heir. One day aJogi came to the palace begging, and the Raja and his Ranis asked himwhether he could say what should be done in order that they mighthave children; the Jogi asked what they would give him if he toldthem and they said that they would give him anything that he askedfor and gave him a written bond to this effect. Then the Jogi said"I will not take elephants or horses or money, but you shall give methe child which is born first and any born afterwards shall be yours, do you agree?" And the Ranis consulted together and agreed. "Then, "said the Jogi, "this is what you must do: you must all go and bathe, and after bathing you must go to a mango orchard and the Raja mustchoose a bunch of seven mangoes and knock it down with his lefthand and catch it in a cloth, without letting it touch the ground;then you must go home and the Ranis must sit in a row according totheir seniority and the Raja must give them each one of the mangoesto eat, and he must himself eat the rinds which the Ranis throw away;and then you will have children. " And so saying the Jogi went awaypromising to return the next year. 

A few days later the Raja decided to give a trial to the Jogi'sprescription and he and the Ranis did as they had been told; but theRaja did not eat the rind of the youngest Rani's mango; he did not loveher very much. However five or six months after it was seen that theyoungest Rani was with child and then she became the Raja's favourite;but the other Ranis were jealous of her and reminded the Raja that hewould not be able to keep her child. But when her time was full shegave birth to twin sons, and the Raja was delighted to think that hewould be able to keep the younger of the two and he loved it much. 

When the year was up the Jogi came and saw the boys and he said thathe would return when they could walk; and when they could run about, he came again, and asked whether the Raja would fulfil his promise. 

The Raja said that he would not break his bond. Then the Jogi saidthat he would take the two boys and when the Raja objected that he wasonly entitled to one, he said that he claimed both as they were bornat the same time; but he promised that if he took both he would teachthem magic and then let one come back; and he promised also that allthe Ranis should have children. So the Raja agreed and sent away theboys with the Jogi and with them he sent goats and sheep and donkeysand horses and camels and elephants and furniture of all sorts. 

The Jogi was called Sitari Jogi and he was a Raja in his owncountry. But before they reached his country all the animals died, first the goats, then the sheep and the donkeys and the horses and thecamels and the elephants. And when the goats died the boys lamented:

 "The goats have died, father, How far, father, Is it to the country of the Sitari Jogi?"

and so they sang when the other animals died. 

At last they reached the Jogi's palace and every day he taught themincantations and spells. He bought them each a water pot and sentthem every morning to fill it with dew, but before they collectedenough, the sun came out and dried up the dew; one day they got acupful, another day half a cupful, but they never were able to fillthe pots. In the course of time they learnt all the spells the Jogiknew and one day when they went out to gather dew, the younger boysecretly took with him a rag and he soaked this in the dew and thensqueezed it into the pot and so he soon filled it; and the elderboy seeing his brother's pot full, filled his pot at a pool of waterand they took them to the Jogi; but the Jogi was not deceived by theelder boy and told him that he would never learn magic thoroughly;but the younger boy having learned all that the Jogi knew, learnt morestill from his friends, for all the people of that country knew magic. 

Then one day the Jogi took the two boys back to their home and he toldthe Raja that he would leave the elder boy at home. The Raja wantedto keep the younger one, but the Jogi insisted and the younger boywhispered to his mother not to mind as he would soon come back byhimself; so they let him go. 

The Jogi and the boy used to practise magic: the Jogi would take theform of a young man and the boy would turn into a bullock and theJogi would go to a village and sell the bullock for a good price;but he would not give up the tethering rope and then he would go awayand do something with the tethering rope and the boy would resume hisshape again and run off to the Jogi and when the purchasers lookedfor their bullock they found nothing, and when they went to look forthe seller the Jogi would change his shape again so that he couldnot be recognised; and in this way they deceived many people andamassed wealth. 

Then the Jogi taught the boy the spell he used with the rope, andwhen he had learnt this, he asked to be taught the spell by which hecould change his own shape without having a second person to work thespell with the rope. The Jogi said that he would teach him that laterbut he must wait. Then the boy reproached the Jogi and said that hedid not love him; and he went away to his friends in the town andlearnt the spell he wanted from them, so that he was able to changehis shape at will. 

Two or three days after the boy again went to the Jogi and said"Teach me the spell about which I spoke to you the other day, " andthe Jogi refused. "Then, " said the boy, "I shall go back to my father, for I see that you do not love me. "

At this the Jogi grew wrathful and said that if the away he wouldkill him, so the boy at this ran away in terror, and the Jogi becamea leopard and pursued him: then the boy turned himself into a pigeonand the Jogi became a hawk and pursued him; so the boy turned himselfinto a fly and the Jogi became a paddy bird and pursued him; the flyalighted on the plate of a Rani who was eating rice, and the Jogi tookon his natural shape and told the Rani to scatter the rice which shewas eating on the ground and she did so; but the boy turned himselfinto a bead of coral on the necklace which the Rani was wearing; andthe Jogi did not notice this but became a pigeon and ate up the ricewhich the Rani had thrown down. When he did not find the boy among therice he turned himself into a Jogi again and saw him in the necklace;then he told the Rani to break her necklace and scatter the beads onthe ground and she did so; then the Jogi again became a pigeon andbegan to pick up the beads, but the boy turned himself into a catand hid under the verandah and when the pigeon came near, he pouncedon it and killed it, and ran outside with it. Then he became a boyagain and twisted off the bird's head and wrapped it in his cloth andwent off home; and looking behind he saw the Jogi's head come rollingafter him, so when he came to a blacksmith's fire by the side of theroad he threw the pigeon's head into it, and then the Jogi's headalso ran into the fire and was consumed. 

And the boy went home to his parents. 

XXXVII. The Charitable Jogi. 

Once there was a very poor man with a large family; and when his eldestson grew up he tried to arrange a marriage for him. He selected a brideand arranged matters with her relations but then he found that he hadno money to pay for the performance of the marriage ceremonies. So hetried to borrow from his friends and from money lenders, but no onewould lend him anything. So he proposed to the bride's relatives toonly have the betrothal that year and the marriage the year after, butthey would not agree and said that the marriage must be then or never. 

Just then a Jogi came to his house to beg and he told the Jogi allabout his difficulties and asked for help; the Jogi took pity onhim and gave him twenty rupees which was all that he had collectedby begging. 

Now this Jogi had two wives at home and he thought that he would geta poor reception from them if he returned empty handed, so he pickedup two stones and wrapped them up in two pieces of cloth. And when hereached home his wives welcomed him and brought out a bed for him tosit on and asked about his adventures and when they saw the bundlesthey wished to know what was inside and they opened them before himand behold the stones had turned into gold. When the Jogi saw thishe wished that he had picked up three or four stones instead of onlytwo and he understood that Chando had given him the gold because hehelped the poor man. 

This is why no money lender will refuse a loan if one is asked forfor the performance of a marriage and money so borrowed is alwayspaid back punctually. When the Jogi came back the next year the poorman paid him the twenty rupees. 

XXXVIII. Chote and Mote. 

Once upon a time there were two brothers Chote and Mote; they werepoor but very industrious and they got tired of working as hiredlabourers in their own village so they decided to try their luckelsewhere. They went to a distant village and Chote took servicewith an oilman and Mote with a potter on a yearly agreement. Chotehad to drive the oil mill in the morning and then after having hisdinner to feed the mill bullock and take it out to graze. But thebullock having had a good meal of oilcake would not settle down tograze alone but kept running after all the herds of cattle it saw, and Chote had to spend his whole time running after it till he wasworn out and he was very soon sorry that he had taken up such hardservice; and was quite resolved not to stay on after his year was up. 

Mote was no better off; the potter overworked him, making him carrywater and dig earth from morn to night and for all he did he gotnothing but abuse. 

One day the brothers, met and Mote asked Chote how he was gettingon. Chote answered "Oh I have got a capital place; all the morningI sit at my ease on the oil mill, then I have a good dinner and takethe bullock out to graze and as it has had a good meal of oilcake itlies down without giving any trouble and I sit in the shade and enjoymyself. " Then Mote said "I am pretty lucky too. I have to fetch threeor four pots of water, then I have my dinner and a rest and then Ihave to dig earth and knead it. Still I cannot say that I have solittle work as you; will you change with me for three or four days, so that I may have a rest?"

Chote gladly agreed and each brother thought that he had got the betterof the other. In the morning while Mote was driving the oil mill hewas very pleased with his new job and when he had to take the bullockout to graze he took a bedstead with him to lie on. But directly thebullock got outside the village it rushed off bellowing towards someother cattle and Mote had to run after it with his bedstead on hishead, and all the afternoon the bullock kept him running about tillhe was worn out. 

Meanwhile Chote was no better off; his unaccustomed shoulders werequite bruised with constantly carrying water. At the potter's housewas a custard apple tree and it was believed that there was moneyburied at the foot of the tree; so as Chote was a stranger, thepotter told him to water the earth by the tree to soften it, as itwas to be used for pottery. Chote softened the earth and dug it andas he dug he uncovered pots of rupees; so he covered them up againand dug the earth elsewhere. And at evening he went and proposed toMote to run away with the money. So at midnight, they went and dug itup and ran off home. As they were not pursued, they felt safe aftera month or two, so they spent the money in buying land and cattle, and their cultivation prospered, and they became quickly rich. 

XXXIX. The Daydreamer. 

Once an oil man was going to market with his pots of oil arranged on aflat basket and he engaged a Santal for two annas to carry the basket;and as he went along, the Santal thought "With one anna I will buyfood and with the other I will buy chickens, and the chickens willgrow up and multiply and then I will sell some of the fowls and eggsand with the money I will buy goats; and when the goats increase, I will sell some and buy cows, and then I will exchange some of thecalves for she-buffaloes, and when the buffaloes breed, I will sellsome and buy land and start cultivation and then I will marry andhave children and I will hurry back from my work in the fields andmy wife will bring me water and I will have a rest and my childrenwill say to me 'Father, be quick and wash your hands for dinner, ' butI will shake my head and say 'No, no, not yet!'"--and as he thoughtabout it he really shook his head and the basket fell to the groundand all the pots of oil were smashed. 

Then the oilman abused him and said that he must pay two rupees forthe oil and one anna for the pots: but the Santal said that he hadlost much more than that and the oilman asked him how that could be:and the Santal explained how with his wages he was going to get fowlsand then goats and then oxen and buffaloes and land and how he came tospill the basket and at that the oilman roared with laughter and said"Well I have made up the account and I find that our losses are equal, so we will cry quits;" and so saying they went their ways laughing. 

XL. The Extortionate Sentry. 

There was once a sentry outside a Raja's palace who would let no one goin to sell anything to the Raja until they first promised to give himhalf the price they received from the Raja, and the poor traders hadto promise, for their livelihood depended on selling their goods. Oneday a fisherman caught an enormous fish and he thought that if hetook it to the Raja he would get a big price for it. 

So he went off to the palace, but when he came to the gate the sentrystopped him and would not let him go in, until he promised to give himhalf of what he got, and after some argument he had to promise. Sohe was admitted to the Raja's presence and when the Raja asked whatwas the price of the fish, the fisherman said "A hundred blows witha stick. "

The Raja was very astonished and asked the meaning of such arequest. Then the fisherman said that the sentry had extorted apromise that he should get half the price and he wanted him to getfifty blows. At this the Raja was very angry and he had the sentrybeaten with one hundred stripes and dismissed him. 

XLI. The Broken Friendship. 

Once upon a time there was a Raja and his Dewan and they each hadone son, and the two boys were great friends, and, when they grew oldenough, they took to hunting and when they became young men they wereso devoted to the sport that they spent their whole time in pursuit ofgame; they followed every animal they could find until they killed it, and they shot every bird in the town. 

Their parents were much distressed at this, for they thought thatif their boys spent all their time together hunting they would growup unruly and ignorant; so they made up their minds that they mustseparate the young men so that they would not be tempted to spend somuch time in sport, but would be able to learn something useful; theyscolded the youths and told them to give up their friendship and theirhunting, but this had no effect. Then the Raja told the villagersthat he would reward any one who would break up the friendship, and the villagers tried their best but effected nothing. 

There was however an old woman in the village who one day said, "If the Raja gave me ten rupees I would soon put a stop to theirfriendship. " This came to the ears of the Raja and he exclaimed "Whatis ten rupees to me! bring the old woman to me and I will give herten rupees, if she can put an end to this friendship. " So the oldwoman was brought trembling before the Raja and on being questionedundertook to break up the friendship if she were properly rewarded;and when this was promised she asked for two men to be given to herand she took them to her house and there she made them sling a bedon a pole, such as is used for carrying a man on a journey and shehung curtains all round it and drew them close and inside, on an oldwinnowing fan, they put some rotten manure from a dung hill. 

Then she made the two men take up the bed and she fetched a drumand she paraded all through the bazar beating the drum with thebed following behind her. She told the two carriers not to answerany questions as to what was in the bed. Thus they passed out ofthe town and went in the direction in which the two young men hadgone hunting. When these heard the sound of the drum and saw thetwo men carrying the bed they ran up to see what it was and toldthe carriers to put It down that they might look inside; so the bedwas put on the ground and the Raja's son peeped inside the curtain, but as he caught the smell he jumped back and the Dewan's son askedwhat was the matter and he said "it stinks: it is dung. " The Dewan'sson would not believe him and also looked to convince himself; thenthey both asked what the meaning of this was: the old woman saidthat she would explain the meaning of it but only to one of them, and the one who had heard could tell the other. 

So she made the carriers take away the bed and she called the Raja'sson aside saying "Come I will tell you what it means" then she puther arms round the neck of the Raja's son and put her lips to hisear and pretended to whisper to him, but really she said nothing;then she let him go and followed the carriers. The Dewan's son atonce ran to his friend and asked what the old woman had told him; theRaja's son answered "She told me nothing at all, she only pretendedto whisper. " The Dewan's son would not believe this and pressed himto tell, saying "We have been friends for so long and have had nosecrets from each other, why won't you tell me this? if you refuseto tell me there is an end of our friendship, " but the Raja's sonpersisted that he had been told nothing and proposed that they shouldgo and ask the old woman if it were not so; but the Dewan's son saidthat that was no good because the old woman and the Raja's son hadplainly made a plot to keep him in the dark. The quarrel grew hotterand hotter, till at last they parted in anger and each went to hisown home and from that time their friendship was broken off. 

And being separated they gave up hunting and took to usefulpursuits. Thus the old woman earned her reward from the Raja. 

XLII. A Story Told by a Hindu. 

Once upon a time there was a Raja who had two sons and after theirfather's death they divided the kingdom between them. The two brotherswere inveterate gamblers and spent their time playing cards witheach other; for a long time fortune was equal, but one day it turnedagainst the elder brother and he lost and lost until his money and hisjewelry, his horses and his elephants and every thing that he had, had been won by his younger brother. Then in desperation he stakedhis share in the kingdom and that too he lost. 

Then the younger brother sent drummers through the city to proclaimthat the whole kingdom was his; the shame of this was more than theelder prince could bear, so he resolved to quit the country and hetold his wife of his intention and bade her stay behind. But hisfaithful wife refused to be parted from him; she vowed that he hadmarried her not for one day nor for two but for good and all, andthat where he went, there she would go, and whatever troubles he met, she would share. So he allowed her to come with him and the two setoff to foreign parts. After sometime their path led them through anextensive jungle and after travelling through it for two days theyat last lost their way completely; their food gave out, they werefaint with starvation and torn with briars. 

The prince urged his wife to return but she would not hear of it, sothey pushed on, supporting life on jungle fruits; sometimes the princewould go far ahead, for his faithful wife could only travel slowly, and then he would return and wait for her; at last he got tired ofleading her on and made up his mind to abandon her. At night they laydown at the foot of a tree and the prince thought "If wild animalswould come and eat us it would be the best that could happen. I cannotbear to see my wife suffer any more; although her flesh is torn withthorns, she will not leave me. I will leave her here; may wild beastskill both her and me, but I cannot see her die before my eyes. " Sothinking he got up quietly and went off as quickly as he could. 

When the princess woke and found that she had been abandoned, she beganto weep and wept from dawn to noon without ceasing; at noon a being, in the guise of an old woman appeared and asked her why she wept, and comforted her and promised to lead her out of the wood and toldher that Chando had had compassion on her and would allow her to findher husband again if they both lived. 

So saying the old woman led the princess from the forest and showedher the way to a great city where a Raja lived. The princess wentbegging her way through the city to the Raja's palace and there theyengaged her as a servant. 

Now her husband had also escaped from the jungle and sought employmentas a labourer but no one would give him work for more than a dayor two, and at last his search for work brought him to the city inwhich the princess was; and there he was engaged as a groom in thepalace stables. The prince had changed his name and he had no chanceof knowing that his wife was in the palace, because she was confinedto the women's appartments; so some years passed without their havingnews of each other. 

At last one day the princess happened to go on to the roof and lookingdown at the stables saw and thought she recognised her husband;then she leaned over and listened till she heard his voice and atthat she was sure that it was he, so she hastened to the Raja andbegged to be allowed to meet her husband, and the Raja sent to callthe syce with the name which the princess had given but no one came, for the prince would not reveal himself. Then the princess told theirstory and how her husband had gambled away his half of the kingdom. TheRaja ordered any one with such a history to come forward, as his wifewas in the palace; but the prince did not reveal himself. 

Then the princess said "Let all the syces cook rice and bring me abit of each man's cooking to taste. " They did so, and when she tastedthe rice cooked by her husband, she at once said that it was his; herhusband was unable to deny it and admitted everything. Then they tookhim away from his work in the stables and let him live with his wife. 

After a time the Raja wrote to the younger brother asking whetherhe would restore the half of the kingdom which he had won; and theyounger brother answered that he would gladly do so, if his brotherwould sign an agreement never to gamble any more; it was with thisobject in view and to teach him the folly of his ways that he haddispossessed him. The elder brother gladly gave the required promiseand returned to his kingdom with his faithful wife and lived happilyever afterwards. 

XLIII. The Raibar and the Leopard. 

Once upon a time a _Raibar_ was going backwards and forwards betweentwo families arranging a marriage and part of the road which he usedto travel ran through a forest. 

One day as he was going to the bride's house he took a sack withhim intending to try and get the loan of some Indian corn from thebride's relations; but as he was passing through the piece of junglehe suddenly met a leopard; he was terribly frightened but collectinghis wits he addressed the animal thus "Leopard; I beg you not to eatme; I am engaged on a work of great merit, I am making two men outof one. " This address amazed the leopard and he at once asked the_raibar_ whether he could make him into two, and promised that ifhe could his life should be spared. The _raibar_ answered readily"Seeing that in pursuit of my profession I have made two men out ofone all over the country, of course I can make you into two leopardsif I try; all you have to do is to get into this sack and keep quiet;if you utter a sound you will spoil the charm. "

"Well, " said the leopard, "I will try and see; I undertake to keepquite quiet, and if you are successful I promise to tell the whole raceof leopards to spare the lives of _raibars_. " So saying the leopardjumped into the sack and allowed the man to tie him up tightly init. No sooner was this done than the _raibar_ took the sack on hishead and carried it to the bank of a river and having given it twoor three hearty whacks with his stick threw it into the water. Thesack went floating down the stream and it happened that lower down aleopardess sat watching the water and when she saw the sack comingalong she thought that it was a dead cow floating down. So when itcame near she jumped into the water and pulled it ashore. 

She then proceeded to tear open the sack, when out jumped the firstleopard; he soon explained how he came to be in the sack, and declaredthat the _raibar's_ promise had been fulfilled and that she was hisdestined mate. The leopardess agreed and the two set to work to tellall the other leopards what had happened and what a kindness the_raibar_ had done them; and so it came to pass that to the presentday leopards never interfere with _raibars_ when they are going aboutarranging a marriage; no one ever heard of one being injured. 

Meanwhile the _raibar_ went on his way rejoicing at having rid himselfof the leopard. But the next year, while engaged on the business ofanother marriage, the _raibar_ was passing through the same junglewhen he came face to face with the very leopard that he thought hehad safely disposed of; he at once took to his heels, but the leopardcalled out to him not to be afraid and to wait, as he had somethingto say to him. So the _raibar_ stopped and the leopard asked whetherhe did not recognise him; the _raibar_ stoutly denied all knowledgeof him. "Well, " said the leopard "I am the leopard of whom you madetwo out of one, and to show my gratitude I will give you any rewardyou like; would you like a cow or a deer or any other animal? I willkill you one and bring it to you. "

When the _raibar_ saw the turn that things had taken he thought thathe had better take advantage of it, so he asked for a good largenilgai. The leopard told him to come to a certain tree at noon thenext day and he would find the animal there. So they separated and thenext day at noon the _raibar_ went to the tree and found a fine nilgaiwaiting for him, which he and his friends took home and ate with joy. 

XLIV. The Ungrateful Snake. 

There was once a Raja and his dewan and they each had one son;these sons were married in infancy but as they grew up they neverheard anything about their having been married. When the boys reachedmanhood and found no arrangements being made for their weddings theybegan to wonder at the delay and often talked about it, and in the endthey agreed to run away to another country. Soon after this resolveof theirs some horse dealers came to their home with horses to sell;the two youths at once saw that if they could each have a horse andlearn to ride it, it would be easy for them to run away from home. Sothey hurried to their fathers and begged them to buy them each one ofthe beautiful horses which the dealers had brought. The Raja and thedewan did not like to disappoint their sons so they bought the horses, to the great delight of the boys, who used to ride them every day. 

One day the Raja's son was out riding by himself and he passed bya tank where a number of women and girls were bathing and drawingwater; as he came galloping along the women ran back in a fright;and as they could not draw their water while he was there, an oldwoman came up to him and told him to go away and not stay making eyesat the girls as if he had no wife of his own: "What wife have I?", said the prince, "I know nothing of having been married. " "You weremarried sure enough when you were an infant, " replied the old woman:"your wife is still in her father's house, but now that you havegrown up they will probably bring her home to you this year. "

Then the prince asked where his wife lived and having learnt the nameof the village he galloped off home and at once began to question hismother about his marriage; his mother told him that they intended tohave the bride brought home that year, but the prince was impatientand proposed that he should go off at once to his father-in-law's andsee his wife, and try to persuade them to let her come back with himwithout any ceremony; his mother made no objection, so he got readyfor the journey and started off on horseback. He had not gone farwhen he saw a field of thatching grass on fire, and in the middle, surrounded by the flames, was a huge poisonous snake, unable to escape. 

As the prince rode by, the snake called out to him "Prince, you aregoing joyously to bring home your bride, and here am I in danger ofbeing burned alive; will you not have pity on me and save me? If you doI will confer a boon on you. " "But if I save you, " objected the prince, "you will only eat me: snakes do not know what gratitude is. " "I amnot of that kind, " answered the snake: "here I am in danger of death, I beseech you to have pity on me. " These pleadings prevailed and theprince got off his horse and beat out the fire and then spread a clothover the embers so that the snake could crawl out. When the snake wassafe the prince asked for the boon that had been promised him: "No boonwill you get" said the snake: "you did a foolhardy thing in saving me, for now I am going to eat you, and you cannot escape from me. "

The prince saw that there was little hope for him but he begged thesnake to allow two or three judges to decide whether it was fair thathe should be killed, after what he had done. The snake agreed to thisprovided that the judges were not human beings; he was willing to bebound by the opinions of any one else. 

They set out together to look for judges and soon saw a herd of cattleresting under a banyan tree by a pool of water, so they agreed tomake these their judges; then the prince explained to one of thecows and the banyan tree and the water what they were to decide, whether it was fair for the snake, whose life he had saved, now towant to kill him. The banyan tree was the first to answer: it said"You did good to the snake and your wages for doing good are evil;you saved his life and he will now kill you, this is fair, this isthe justice we have learnt from human beings; you enjoy the shade ofus trees and in return you lop off our branches and sit on them, anddo us all manner of injury; it is right that the snake should eat you. "

Then the prince turned to the cow: "He may eat you, " answered thecow: "the tree is right, see how men treat cattle; you drive away ourcalves from us and take our milk and you beat us and make us work hard;for all this ill treatment the snake shall eat you. "

Then the prince asked the water what it had to say: "I agree with theother two" said the water: "to return evil for good is the justice ofmankind, it is by drinking water that your very lives are preserved;yet you spit into it and wash dirty things in it; shall not the snakereturn you evil for good?" So judgment was delivered, and the snakewanted to eat the prince; but the prince asked the tree and the cowand the water to listen while he made one prayer; he told them howhe had been married when he was too young to know anything about it, and how he was going for the first time to see his wife, when thismisfortune befell him; so he begged that he might be allowed to go andsee his bride and then be eaten on his way back; the banyan tree askedwhat the snake thought about this proposal and the snake said that itwould make no objection if the tree and the cow and the water would besureties for the return of the prince within three days. So the princepromised them faithfully that he would return and they let him go. 

The prince rode on to his father-in-law's house, and when he arrived, a bed was brought out for him to sit on and he was asked where hecame from. When he explained who he was, they at once brought waterand washed his feet and then gave him oil and a tooth stick and tookhim to bathe; then they brought him curds and dried rice to eat andafterwards killed a goat and made a feast and showed him every honour. 

That evening as his wife was rubbing his arms and legs, theprince remained silent and downcast and showed none of the joy ofa bridegroom; and when his bride asked what was the matter, he toldher that he had only come to see her for one day and that afterwardsshe must try and forget all about him. At first he would not tellher more, but when she urged him, he told her how he had to go andsurrender himself to the snake on the next day. When she heard thisshe vowed that she would go with him and die with him. 

The next morning came and the prince said that he must return, andhis wife said that she was going with him; so they made everythingready and set out on their way. When they came within sight of thebanyan tree where the prince was to be killed, he tried to turn hiswife back but though he used force she refused to leave him and saidthat she would first see him killed and then go home; so at last helet her accompany him. 

When they reached the tree she asked to be allowed to go in front andbe the first to meet the snake; to this the prince assented. Theyhad not gone far when they saw the snake awaiting them in the pathwith its crest raised, and when they drew near, the prince's bridebegged the snake to eat her first, as she had nowhere to live if shesurvived her husband. The snake refused and bade her go home to herparents; she said that that was impossible; they had sold her and theprince had bought her, in life and in death, bones and ashes. Butthe snake would not listen and made for the prince to eat him. Hiswife however kept in front of the snake and would not let it pass;she called the banyan tree to witness that the snake should not eather husband without first killing her; without her husband she wouldhave no one to support her. 

Then the snake promised to teach her an incantation by means of whichshe could support herself, so saying, the snake conferred some magicpower upon and taught her an incantation; and promised her that if shetook some dust in her hand and repeated the incantation and then blewon the dust, any person on whom she sprinkled the dust would at oncebe burnt to ashes. Then the prince's wife asked how she should restorethe people to life and the snake taught her that also, but she was notsatisfied and said that she must try at once to see whether the snakewas deceiving her or no; so the snake bade her experiment on a _tarop_tree which grew near. Thereupon she gathered up some dust and repeatedthe incantation and blew on it and suddenly threw it over the snake, which at once turned to ashes, and that was the end of the snake. 

Then the prince and his wife went on their way rejoicing, and he wasfilled with wonder at the way in which his bride had saved him bypersisting in going with him. 

XLV. The Tiger's Bride. 

One day a woman went to cut thatching grass and she cut such a quantitythat when she tied it up, the bundle was too big for her to lift onto her head; so she stood and called for some one to help her, butno one was within hearing and no one came. She called and called andat last began to promise that she would give her daughter in marriageto any one who would help her. 

After she had called out this a few times, a tiger suddenly appearedand asked what she wanted; she explained her difficulty and the tigerundertook to lift the load on to her head, if she would really givehim her daughter in marriage. She promised and with the help of thetiger took up the bundle and went home. 

Two or three days after, the tiger presented himself at her house andwas duly married to the daughter. After the wedding the couple startedfor the tiger's home; all the way the unhappy bride wept and sang:--

 "How far off is our home, big head?"

"You can just see the mouth of the cave" answered the tiger and in ashort time they came to a large cave. Then the tiger told her to setto work and cook a feast while he went off and invited his friendsto come and share it. But the bride when left alone caught a cat andkilled it and hung it over the fire, so that its blood dropped slowlyinto the pan and made a fizzling noise, as if cooking were going on;and then she ran off to her mother's house and climbed a tree whichgrew near it and began to sing:--

 "You married me to a ti-ti-tiger: You threw me to a bear: Take back the necklace you gave me Take back the bracelet and the diamonds and the coral. "

Meanwhile the tiger returned with his friends and sat down outside thecave and told his wife to be quick with the cooking of the cakes for heheard the hissing over the fire and thought that she was cooking. Atlast as she did not come out, he got tired of waiting and went in tofetch her: then he saw that she had disappeared and had to go and tellhis friends. They were very angry at being cheated out of a feast, and fell upon the tiger and beat him, till he ran away and was seenno more: but his bride was left to flit from tree to tree singing:--

 "You married me to a ti-ti-tiger: You threw me to a bear: Take back the necklace you gave me Take back the bracelet and the diamonds and the coral. "

XLVI. The Killing of the Tiger. 

They say that there was a time when all living things had a commonspeech and animals and men could understand each other, and in thosedays there was a man-eating tiger which infested a jungle throughwhich a highroad ran; it preyed on people passing along the roadtill no one ventured to travel, and as the country was so unsafe, thepeople went in a body to the Raja and told him of the ravages of thetiger and asked him to send a force of soldiers to hunt and shoot it. 

So the Raja called together all his soldiers and promised to give halfhis kingdom to any one of them who would kill the tiger, but not oneof them was brave enough to make the attempt; they said that theirbusiness was to fight men and not tigers and leopards; then the Rajaextended his offer to all his subjects and the petitioners went hometo consult about it; and the news was published that the Raja wouldgive half his kingdom to the slayer of the tiger. 

Now there was a poor man who was a very brave shikari of big game, and cunning into the bargain, and he offered to go and kill thetiger. They questioned him carefully, and when they saw that he was inearnest they took him to the Raja to hear from the Raja's lips whathis reward should be; and the Raja promised him half his kingdom, and wrote a bond to that effect, for he thought that the tiger wouldsurely kill the man. Then the shikari said that he would start thenext morning and return the next day either with the dead tiger orwith bits of its ears and claws to show that he had killed it. TheRaja told the people to watch carefully and see that the shikari didnot cheat by taking the claws and ears of a tiger with him. 

The next morning the shikari started off and all he took with him wasa looking-glass and three pictures of a tiger drawn on three piecesof paper and a hatchet; he went to the road which the tiger frequentedand climbed a banyan tree and spent the night in it. The tiger did notpass by at all that night but in the morning it appeared and calledout "Who is up in the tree?" The shikari said "It is I. " "Come downquickly, " said the tiger, "I have been looking for you. " "Wait aminute, " answered the shikari, "I have been looking for you also. "

"What for?" said the tiger: "Tell me first why you are looking for me, "said the man: "To eat you, " answered the tiger; then the man said, "Well I have been hunting for you to catch you and take you away. Ihave caught three or four like you and if you don't believe me, let meget down and I will show you". The tiger got into a fright and said:"Come down and show me. " So the shikari climbed down and uncoveredhis looking glass and told the tiger to look and he reflected in theglass the pictures of the tigers which he had brought and said, "NowI am going to catch you and put you in here also. " The tiger askedwhy he was to be caught and the shikari said that it was because hehad made the road unsafe by killing travellers; then the tiger beggedand prayed to be let off and promised that he would never kill anytravellers again. At last the shikari said that he would let him go, if he would allow him to cut off his claws and the tips of his earsand the tip of his tongue as a pledge of his good faith. The tigersaid, "Well, you may cut off one claw from each foot and the verytip of my ears and tongue. " So the shikari cut them off with hishatchet and, after again warning the tiger, went back home; and thenpresented himself with all his friends before the Raja and the Rajagave him the promised reward, But the tiger's tongue festered and, after roaring with pain for a whole day, it died. 

XLVII. The Dream. 

One night as a man and his wife lay talking in bed, the woman toldher husband that she had dreamt that in a certain place she had dugup a pot full of rupees, and she proposed that they should go andlook for it and see whether the dream was true. While they talked, itchanced that some thieves, who had climbed on to the roof, overheardthe conversation and at once decided to forestall the others. So theywent off to the place which the woman had described and began to dig, and after digging a little they were delighted to come on a pot witha lid on. But when they took off the lid an enormous snake raisedits head and hissed at them. At this the thieves cursed the womanwho had misled them and agreed to take the snake and drop it throughthe roof on to the man and his wife as they lay in bed. So they shutthe snake up again and carried it off to the house and, making a holein the thatch, dropped it through. But as it fell the snake changedinto a stream of money, which came rattling down on the couple below;the thieves found a snake, but it was not a real snake, it was Thakur;and it was his will to give the money to the man and his wife. Whenthese two had recovered from their astonishment, they gathered upthe money, and lived in wealth ever afterwards. 

XLVIII. The King of the Bhuyans. 

There was once a king of the Bhuyans and near his palace was a villageof Santals; he was a kind ruler and both Santals and Bhuyans were veryhappy under his sway. But when he died, he was succeeded by his son, who was a very severe master and soon fell out with the Santals. Ifhe found any cattle or buffaloes grazing anywhere near his crops, he had the cowherds beaten severely: so that no one dared to takethe cattle in that direction. 

The Santals were very angry at this and longed to get even with theRaja; they planned to turn the cattle into the Raja's crops at nightwhen no one could see them or catch them, but in the end their couragefailed them. 

One year after the rice had been cut, but before the millet crop wasgathered, the youths and maidens of the Santal village had a danceand danced all night till nearly morning; then they agreed that itwas not worth while to go to bed and they had better take the cattleout to graze at once. 

After grazing their fill, the cattle all collected at the middayresting place and the cowherds were so sleepy after their night'sdancing, that they fell fast asleep on the bare ground. After a timethe buffaloes began to move again and seeing a nice field of milletbelonging to the Raja soon made their way to it and grazed the wholefield down. The Raja happened to pass that way and was filled withwrath at the sight; he at once ordered his _sipahis_ to go and beatthe cowherds within an inch of their lives and so the _sipahis_ran to the place with sticks. Their approach roused the sleepingcowherds who jumped up and ran off home as hard as they could;all but the servant of the village _paramanik_ (assistant headman)he did not run away but went to drive the cattle out of the field;he knew that this was his duty to his master and he was resolved todo his duty even at the cost of his life. 

As all the other boys had got away the sipahis turned their attentionto him, but as they aimed blows at him with the sticks, he caught theblows on his arms and the sticks shivered to atoms without harming him;so then they went to kick him but a great _cibei_ snake came rustlingup behind them; so they saw it was no use to contend with him anddesisted: whereupon he drove all the village cattle home in triumph. 

The sipahis reported to the Raja how the cowherds had all made goodtheir escape, and how the paramanik's herd boy had driven off thecattle. Then the Raja told them to go that afternoon at the timethe cattle were brought home for the night and wait at the end ofthe village street and then give the cowherds the thrashing theydeserved; The sipahis did as they were ordered and that evening waitedfor the returning herd boys; and caught them as they came home andthrashed them within an inch of their lives. The others were allleft senseless on the ground: but the sipahis did not dare to layhands on the paramanik's herd boy, he drove the cattle back into thevillage, and told the villagers what had been done to their sons. Sothe villagers went out with beds and carried the wounded boys home;then they assembled and resolved to go and punish the Raja, so theywent to him and asked what he meant by killing their children. "Dearme, " said the Raja, "are they really dead?" "Well, if not not quitedead, they are very ill, " was the answer. "I am sorry, " said the Raja:"I admit that I have done wrong, but if you will forgive me this time, I will undertake to cure them in a minute and make them as well asever; go and fetch them here. "

So the Santals went off to fetch the wounded cowherds and carriedthem to the Raja, all lying senseless on beds and put them down beforehim. While they were away the Raja had told his sipahis to grind somegood hot _chilis_; and when the cowherds were brought to him he toldthe sipahis to thrust the chili paste up their noses; this was doneand the smarting soon made the cowherds jump up and run away in avery lively fashion, and that was the way the Raja kept his word andcured them. 

XLIX. The Foolish Sons. 

There was once a man of the blacksmith caste who had six sons; thesons were all married and the whole family lived together. But thesons' wives took to quarrelling and at last the sons went to theirparents and proposed that they should set up separate households, as the women folk could not live in peace. 

The blacksmith and his wife did not like the idea at all and pointedout that it would be most inadvisable; while, so far, there was plentyof food and clothing for all, they would find it much more expensiveto have seven separate households and split up what was quite enoughso long as they lived together, and what was to become of their oldparents who were now too old to work? The sons protested that theywould support their father and mother as long as they lived, eventhough the family separated. 

At last the old man said that he would put them to the test and seewhether they were clever enough to manage their own affairs and smartenough to cheat people into giving them what they wanted. "I willsee, " said he, "how you would manage to support the family in timeof famine or if we fell into poverty. I and your mother have managedto bring up a large family, and you know nothing of the anxiety thatit has cost us; you have merely had to enjoy yourselves and eat yourmeals; if you insist on it, I will let you separate, but don't blameme afterwards. However to-morrow I will take you on a journey andfind some means of testing your cleverness. "

So the next morning they made ready for the journey; their father onlyallowed them to take one meal of rice tied up in their cloths and hegave each of them one pice, which he said was their inheritance. Theyset off and after travelling some way they sat down and ate up theirrice and then went on again. By the middle of the afternoon theybegan to feel hungry, so the father proposed their going to a bazarwhich was in sight; but between them and the bazar was a channel ofstagnant water, very deep, and with its surface covered by a coatingof weeds. They tried to cross, but directly they set foot on it theysank through the weeds, and it was too deep for wading. So their fathersaid they would all camp on the bank and he would see whether they wereclever enough to get across the channel and bring food for a meal;if they could do that he would believe that they could support theirfamilies in time of famine. 

So the old man spread his cloth on the ground and set down and watchedthem try their luck one by one. The eldest brother first jumped upto try but he could not cross the channel; everytime he tried, hesank through the weeds, at last he gave up in despair and admittedthat he could not feed the party. Then the other brothers all triedin turn and failed. At last it came to the turn of the youngest; hemodestly said that he was not likely to succeed where his elders hadfailed but he would have a try, so he went to the edge of the waterand spreading out his cloth on the weeds lay down on it so that hisweight was distributed; in this position the weeds supported him andhe managed to wriggle himself across on his face to the other side. 

Once across, he went to the bazar, and going to a shop began totalk with the shopkeeper; after a little he asked for the loan of ananna; the shopkeeper said that he could not lend to a stranger; theblacksmith's son gave the name of some village as his home and pressedfor the loan, promising to pay him one anna as interest within a weekand pulling out his pice he said "See here, I will pay you this piceas part of the interest in advance. " At this the shopkeeper sufferedhimself to be persuaded and lent him the anna. 

With this the blacksmith's son went off to a second shop and beggedfor the loan of four annas, as he had pressing need of it; he promisedto pay an anna a week interest, and to pay down at once the interestfor the first week. After some hesitation the shopkeeper was deceivedinto lending the four annas. Then he went off to another shop andborrowed a rupee by promising to pay eight annas a month as interestand putting down four annas as advance. 

Then he went to a Marwari's shop and asked for the loan of ten rupees;the Marwari asked for interest at the rate of one rupee a day; theblacksmith's son protested that that was too high but offered to payone rupee every two days and to pay one rupee of interest in advance;the Marwari hesitated, but after being given a name and address--whichwere however false--he gave way and took his signature to a bondand lent him the ten rupees. At this the blacksmith's son set off intriumph to rejoin his brothers; he crossed the water in the same wayas before and took the ten rupees to his father. 

Then they all went on to another bazar and bought dried riceand sweetmeats and curds and had a grand feast. Then their fatherproceeded to point out to his sons how, except the youngest, they wereall useless; they had been unable to cross the channel or to makeanything of their own pice of capital; they had nothing to answer, and all went home and from that day nothing was heard of any proposalto divide the family until the old father and mother died. 

L. Kora and His Sister. 

There were once seven brothers and they had one sister who was theyoungest of the family. The six eldest brothers were married but nowife had been found for the youngest; for three years enquiries weremade to try and find a suitable bride for him, but all in vain. At lastthe young man, whose name was Kora, told his parents and brothers notto trouble any more, as he would find a wife for himself; he intendedto bring a flowering plant from the forest and plant it by the standon which the watering pots were kept, and then he would marry anymaiden who picked one of the flowers and put it in her hair. 

His father and mother approved of this proposal, so the next day hebrought some sort of flowering plant and planted it by the water-potstand. He charged all his family to be most careful that no oneof his own relations picked the flower and also to warn any of thevillage girls who wanted to pick it, that if she did so and put itin her hair, she would thereby become his wife; but if, knowing this, anyone wished to do so, they were not to prevent her. 

The neighbours soon got to hear what the plant meant and used oftento come and look at it, and Kora watched it growing, till aftera time it produced a bud and then a beautiful and sweet-scentedflower. All the village girls came to see the beautiful flower;and one day Kora's sister when she went to the water-stand to getsome water to drink, caught hold of it and longed to pick it, itlooked so pretty. Her mother saw what she was doing and scolded herfor touching the forbidden flower, but the girl begged to see whatit would look like in her hair; there could be no harm done if shepulled the whole plant up by its roots and put it in her hair andthen replanted it; no one would know what had happened. In spite ofher mother's remonstrances she insisted on doing this and having seenhow the flower looked in her hair carefully replarited it. 

Soon afterwards Kora came home and went to see his flower; he knewat once that some one had worn it and called to his mother and askedwho it was. She protested that she knew nothing about the matter, but Kora said that he could tell by the smell that it had beenworn and then he showed that there was also a hair sticking to theflower. Then his mother admitted that in spite of all she could say, his sister had worn the flower and planted it again in the ground. 

When she saw that she was found out, the girl began to cry, but herfather said that it was clearly fated that she and Kora should matryand this was the reason why they had been unable to find any otherbride; so they must now arrange for the wedding. Accordingly rice wasgot ready and all the usual preparations made for a marriage. Theunfortunate girl saw that flight was her only means of escape fromsuch a fate, so one day she ran away; all she took with her was apet parrot. 

For many days she travelled on and one day she stopped by a poolto bathe and as she rubbed her limbs she collected the scurf thatshe rubbed off her skin and put in on the ground in one place; thenshe went on with her bathing; but at the place where she had put thescurf of her skin, a palm tree sprang up and grew so rapidly, that, by the time she came out of the water, it had become a large tree. 

The girl was struck by this strange sight and at once thought thatthe tree would afford her a safe refuge; so she climbed up it withher parrot in her hand and when safely seated among the leaves shebegged the palm tree to grow so tall that no one would be able to findher, and the tree grew till it reached an unusual height. So the girlstayed in the tree top and the parrot used to go every day and bringher food. Meanwhile her parents and brothers searched high and lowfor her for two or three days, for the wedding day was close at hand, but their search was of course in vain; and they concluded that thegirl must have drowned herself in some river. 

Time passed and one day at noon, a Mahuli girl, who was taking herbasket-ware to market, stopped to rest in the shade of the palm tree:and as she sat there, Kora's sister called to her from the top ofthe tree and asked her to give her a small winnowing fan in exchangefor a bracelet The Mahuli girl told her to throw the bracelet downfirst. Kora's sister made no objection to this, and when she had gotthe bracelet, the Mahuli girl threw up a winnowing fan which soaredright up to where Kora's sister was sitting. Before the Mahuli girlwent on her way, Kora's sister made her promise never to let anyonesee the bracelet whew she went about selling her baskets as otherwiseit would be stolen from her; and secondly on no account to let it beknown that there was anyone in the palm tree, on pain of death. TheMahuli girl kept her promise and whenever she went out selling basketsshe used to keep her bracelet covered with her cloth. 

One day it chanced that she went to the house where Kora lived to sellher wares and they asked her why it was that she kept her arm covered;she told them that she had a sore on it; they wanted to see how bigthe sore was, but she refused to show it, saying that if she showedit she would die. They laughed at such a ridiculous story and at lastforced her to show her arm, which of course was quite well; but they atonce recognised the bracelet and asked where she had got it from. TheMahuli girl refused to tell them and said that if she did, she woulddie. "What a foolish girl you are" they objected "first you say youwill die if you show us your arm and then if you tell us where yougot this bracelet from; it belonged to our daughter whom we have lost, and so you must tell us! Come, we will give you a basket full of riceif you tell us. " The Mahuli girl could not resist this offer, and whenthe basket of rice was produced, she told them where the palm tree was, in which Kora's sister was hiding. In all haste the father and motherwent to the tree and found that it was much too high for them to climb:so they begged their daughter to come down and promised not to marryher to her brother; but she would not come down: then they sang:--

 "You have made a palm tree from the scrapings of your skin And have climbed up into it, daughter! Come daughter, come down. "

But she only answered:--

 "Father and mother, why do you cry? I must spend my life here: "Do you return home. "

So they went home in despair. 

Then her sisters-in-law came in their turn and sang:--

 "Palm tree, palm tree, give us back our sister: The brother and sister have got to be married. "

But she would not answer them nor come down from the tree, so theyhad to go home without her. 

Then all her other relations came and besought her to come down, but she would not listen to them. So they went away and invoked astorm to come to their aid. And a storm arose and cold rain fell, till the girl in the palm tree was soaked and shivering, and thewind blew and swayed the palm tree so that its top kept touching theground. At last she could bear the cold and wet no more and, seizingan opportunity when the tree touched the ground, she slipped off. Herrelations had made all the villagers promise on no account to lether into their houses; so when she went into the village and calledout at house after house no one answered her or opened to her. Thenshe went to her own home and there also they refused to open to her. 

But Kora had lit a big fire in the cow house and sat by it warminghimself, knowing that the girl would have to come to him; and as shecould find no shelter elsewhere she had to go to his fire, and thenshe sat and warmed herself and thought "I fled for fear of this manand now I have come back to him; this is the end, I can no longer stayin this world; the people will not even let me into their houses. Ihave no wish to see them again. "

So she sat and thought, and when she was warmed, she lay down bythe side of Kora; and he wore tied to his waist a nail-cutter; sheunfastened this and cut her throat with it as she lay. Her deathstruggles aroused Kora, and he got up and saw the ground covered withher blood and he saw that she had killed herself with his nail-cutter;then he took counsel with himself and also cut his throat in the sameway. In the morning the two corpses were found lying side by side, and it was seen that their blood refused to mingle but had flowed inopposite directions. 

So they took the bodies away to burn them and laid them on one pyre;and when the fire was lit, it was seen that the smoke from the twobodies rose separately into the air. Then all who saw it, said "Wewished to marry brother and sister but Chando would not approve of it;see how their blood would not mingle though spilt on the same floor, and how the smoke from the pyre rises in two separate columns; it isplain that the marriage of brother and sister is wrong. " From thattime such manages have been discontinued. 

LI. A Story on Caste. 

There was once a village inhabited only by Musahars. Among them wasone girl who was so beautiful that she seemed more than human. Herfather and mother were so proud of her looks that they determinednot to marry her to a man of their own caste. They were constantlydiscussing whom they should choose as a son-in-law; one day they beganto consider who were the greatest persons in the world. The old womanwas of opinion that there was no one greater than Chando, the Sun God, and suggested that they should marry the girl to him. Her husbandagreed and off they set and presented themselves before Chando. Chandoasked why they had come. "O Chando, we understand that you are thegreatest being in the world and we have come to marry our daughterto you, " Chando answered "I fancy there is some one greater than I, ""Who is he?" asked the parents. "The cloud is greater than I, for itcan hide my face and quench my rays. "

At this the father and mother hurried off with their daughter in searchof the Cloud, and when they found him, told him that they had broughttheir daughter to give him to wife, as he was the greatest being inthe world. "I may be great, " said the Cloud, "but there is a greaterthan I, the Wind. The Wind rises and blows me away in a minute. " Sothey went in search of the Wind and when they found him, explainedto him why they had brought him their daughter. The Wind said "I amstrong but there are stronger than I: the Mountains are stronger. I canblow things down or whirl them away, but I cannot move the mountains. "

So on they went to the Mountain and explained their errand. TheMountain said "I am great but there are more powerful than I. Theground-rat is more powerful, for however high I may be the ground-ratsburrow holes in me and I cannot resist them. "

The poor parents by this time began to feel rather discouraged, but still they made up their minds to persevere and went on to lookfor the ground-rat. They found him and offered him their daughter inmarriage, but the ground-rat denied that he was the most powerfulbeing on earth, the Musahars were more powerful for they lived bydigging out ground-rats and eating them. 

The hapless couple went home very dejectedly, reflecting that theyhad begun by despising their own caste and had gone in search ofsomething greater and had ended where they begun. So they arrangedto marry their daughter to a man of their own caste after all. 

_Moral_ You should not despise your own caste or race; you cannothelp what caste you are born into. A Santal may learn to read andwrite and associate with men of good position and thereby his mindmay be perverted. He may wish to change his caste become a Sadhu, ora Kherwar, or a Boistab, or a Mussulman, or a Christian or anythingelse; but people will still know him for a beef-eating Santal. If hebecomes a Christian, no one will think him the equal of a Saheb ora Brahman; no Saheb will marry his daughter or give him his daughterin marriage. Remember what happened to the Musahar, who despised hisown caste. God caused you to be born in a certain caste. He and notwe made the different castes and He knows what is good and bad for us. 

LII. Tipi and Tepa. 

Tipi and Tepa dwelt together and lived on baked cakes. One day theymet a bear in the jungle. "Now I will eat you" growled the bear. "Spareus, " said Tipi and Tepa "and to-morrow we will beg some food and bakeit into cakes and give it to you, " So the bear let them go away to beg;but when they came back they ate the food which they had procured andthen hid themselves inside a hollow gourd. The bear came and lookedabout for them but could not find them and went away. 

The next day Tipi and Tepa again went out begging and as luck wouldhave it again met the bear. "Now I will eat you" said the bear. "No"said they "let us go and beg some food for you. " So they went offbegging and came back and baked cakes and ate them and then hidinside the gourd. The bear came and carried off the gourd on itsshoulder and began to pick plums and other fruit and put them intothe gourd. As fast as the fruit was put in Tipi and Tepa ate itup. "It is a very funny thing that the gourd does not become full"thought the bear. But Tepa ate so much that at last he burst, withsuch a noise that the bear threw down the gourd and ran away. 

LIII. The Child with the Ears of an Ox. 

Once upon a time a son was born to a certain Raja and the child hadthe ears of an ox. The Raja was very much ashamed and let no oneknow. But the secret could not be kept from the barber who had toperform the ceremony of shaving the child's head. However the Rajamade the barber vow not to tell anyone of what he had seen. 

So the barber went away, but the secret which he might not tell had anunfortunate effect; it made his stomach swell to an enormous size. Asthe barber went along in this unhappy condition he met a Dom who askedwhy his stomach was so swollen. The barber said that it was becausehe had shaved the Raja's child and had seen that it had the ears ofan ox. Directly he had broken his vow and blurted out the secret, his stomach returned to its usual size. 

The Dom went his way and cut down a tree and made a drum out of thewood, and went about playing on the drum and begging. He came to theRaja's palace and there he drummed and sang:--

 "The son of the Raja Has the ears of an ox. "

When the Raja heard this, he was very angry, and swore to punish thebarber who must have broken his vow. But the Dom assured the Rajathat he knew nothing about the matter; that it was the drum that sangthe words and not he and that he had no idea what they meant. So theRaja was pacified and gave the Dom a present and sent him away andthe barber was not punished. 

LIV. The Child Who Knew His Father. 

Once upon a time there was a girl whose parents took the greatestcare that she should not be familiar with any of the young men ofthe village. But in spite of their precautions she formed an intimacywith a young man and was presently found to be with child. When thisbecame known the villagers held a panchayat to enquire into the matter, but the girl flatly declined to give any information and her fatherand brothers were unable to point out the offender. So the villageelders decided to let the matter stand over till the child was born. 

When the birth took place the question arose in whose name its headshould be shaved; as its father was still unknown, the villagersdecided that this should be settled when the child was old enough totalk. So when the child was two or three years old and could prattlea little, the girl's father went to the headman and _paranic_ andasked them what was to be done. They said that he must pay a fine tothem and another to the villagers, because he had made the villageunclean for so long, and give a feast to the villagers and then theywould find out the father of the child and make him marry the girl;and if he refused to do this, he would be outcasted. The unfortunateman agreed and then the _jog manjhi_ and _godet_ were sent to callall the men of the neighbourhood to a meeting. 

They assembled in their best clothes and pagris and sat down in rows, and in the middle a circle was drawn on the ground; then prayers wereoffered to Chando and the child was set in the circle and told to findits father. The child began to walk slowly along the lines of men butit did not stop till it came to its real father, who was sitting alittle apart, and then it threw itself into his arms. Thus the truthwas discovered and the man married the girl and, as he was very poor, went to live in his father-in-law's house. 

LV. Jogeshwar's Marriage. 

Once upon a time there was a young man of the weaver caste, namedJogeshwar. He was an orphan and lived all alone. One summer he planteda field of pumpkins on the sandy bed of a river. The plants grew welland bore plenty of fruit: but when the pumpkins were ripe, a jackalfound them out and went every night and feasted on them. Jogeshwarsoon found out from the foot-marks who was doing the damage; so he seta snare and a few days later found the jackal caught in it. He tooka stick to beat its life out, but the jackal cried: "Spare me and Iwill find you a wife. " So Jogeshwar stayed his hand and released thejackal who promised at once to set off about the business. 

The jackal kept his word and went to a city where a Raja lived. Therehe sat down on the bank of one of the Raja's tanks. To this tank theservants from the palace brought the pots and dishes to be washed, and to this tank also came the Rani and princesses to bathe. Wheneverthe servants came to wash their dishes, the jackal kept on repeating:"What sort of a Raja is this whose plates are washed in water inwhich people have bathed? there is no Raja like Raja Jogeshwar: heeats of golden plates and yet he never uses them a second time butthrows them away directly he has eaten off them once. "

The servants soon carried word to the Raja of the jackal who sat bythe tank and of his story of Raja Jogeshwar. Then the Raja sent forthe jackal and asked why he had come: the jackal answered that he waslooking for a bride for Raja Jogeshwar. Now the Raja had three or fourdaughters and he thought that he saw his way to a fine match for oneof them. So he sent for the young women and asked the jackal to saywhether one of them would be a suitable bride for Raja Jogeshwar. Thejackal chose the second sister and said that he would go and get theconsent of Raja Jogeshwar. 

The jackal hurried back and told the astonished weaver that he hadfound a Raja's daughter for him to marry. Jogeshwar had nothing todelay him and only asked that an early day might be fixed for thewedding. So the jackal went back to the Raja and received from himthe knotted string that fixed the date of the wedding. 

The jackal had now to devise some means by which Jogeshwar couldgo through the wedding ceremonies without his poverty being foundout. He first went to the Raja and asked how many attendants RajaJogeshwar should bring with him, as he did not want to bring morethan the bride's father could entertain. The Raja was too proud tofix any number and said they could bring as many as they liked. 

Jogeshwar having no relations and no money, was quite unable to arrangefor a grand procession to escort him; he could only just afford to hirea palki in which to be carried to the bride's house; so the jackalsent word to all the jackals and paddy birds of the neighbourhood tocome to a feast at the palace of the bride, an invitation which waseagerly accepted. At the time fixed they started off, with all thepaddy birds riding on the backs of the jackals. When they came withinsight of the palace, the jackal ran on ahead and invited the Raja tocome out and look at the procession as there was still time to sendthem back, if they were too many, but it would be a great disgraceif they were allowed to arrive and find no entertainment. The Rajawent out to look and when he saw the procession stretching away for adistance of two miles or more with all the paddy birds looking likewhite horsemen as they rode on the backs of the jackals, his heartfailed him and he begged the jackal to send them away, as he couldnot entertain such a host. 

So then the jackal hurried back and turned them all away and Jogeshwarreached the palace, accompanied only by his palki bearers. 

Before the wedding feast, the jackal gave Jogeshwar some hints as tohis behaviour. He warned him that three of four kinds of meat andvegetables would be handed round with the rice, and bade him to besure to help himself from each dish--of course in his own house thepoor weaver had never had more than one dish to eat with his rice--andwhen _pan_ was handed to him after the feast he was not to take anyuntil he had a handful of money given him; by such behaviour he wouldlead every one to think that he was really a prince. Jogeshwar didexactly as he was told and was thought a very grand personage. 

The next evening Jogeshwar set off homewards with his bride, thebride's brothers and attendants accompanying them. They travelled onand on till the bride's party began to grow tired and kept asking thejackal how much further they had to go. The jackal kept on putting themoff, till at last they came in sight of a grove of palm trees, and hetold them that Raja Jogeshwar's palace stood among the palm trees butwas so old and weather worn that it could not be seen from a distance. 

When they reached the palm grove and found nothing but Jogeshwar'shumble hut, the bride's brothers turned on the jackal and asked whathe meant by deceiving them. The jackal protested that he had told nolies: the weaver ate every day off plates made of dry leaves and threwthem away when done with and that was all he meant when he talked ofgolden plates. At this excuse they turned on him and wanted to beathim, but he ran away and escaped. 

The bride's friends went back and told the Raja how things had turnedout and as divorce was not lawful for them, the Raja could only sendfor his daughter and her husband and give them an estate to live on. 

LVI. The Strong Man. 

There was once a Strong man but no one knew of his strength. He was inthe service of a farmer who made him headman over all his labourers. Inthose days much of the country was still covered with jungle. Oneday the farmer chose a piece of forest land which he thought suitablefor cultivation and told his labourers to set to work and clear it, and as usual after giving his orders he troubled himself no moreabout the matter, as he could fully rely on the Strong man. 

The next morning, the Strong man set the other labourers to workploughing a field and then said that he would go and have a lookat the jungle which his master wanted cleared. So he went off alonewith only a stick in his hand. When he reached the place, he walkedall round it, and saw how much could be made into good arable land, and then he began to clear it. He pulled up the trees by the roots andpiled them into a heap and he took the rocks and threw them to one sideand made the ground quite clear and smooth, and then went back to thehouse. On being asked why he had been so long away, he answered that hehad been pulling up a few bushes at the place which was to be cleared. 

The following morning the Strong man told the farm labourers to taketheir ploughs to the clearing and begin to plough it. When the farmerheard this, he was puzzled to think how the land could be ready forploughing so soon, and went to see it and to his amazement found thewhole land cleared, every tree pulled up by the roots and all therocks removed. 

Then he asked the Strong man whether he had done the work byhimself. The Strong man answered "no, " a number of people hadvolunteered to help him and so the work had been finished in a day. 

The farmer said nothing but he did not believe the story and saw thathis servant must really be a man of marvellous strength. Neitherhe nor the farm labourers let any one else know what had happened, they kept it to themselves. 

Now the Strong man's wages were twelve measures of rice a year. Afterworking for four years he made up his mind to leave his master andstart farming on his own account. So he told the farmer that he wishedto leave but offered to finish any work there was to do before he went, that no one might be able to say that he had gone away, leaving hiswork half done. The farmer assured him that there was nothing forhim to do and gave him rice equal to his four years' wages. The ricemade two big _bandis_, each more than an ordinary man could lift, but the Strong man slung them on to a bamboo and carried them offover his shoulder. 

After he had gone a little way, it struck the farmer that it wouldnot do to let him display his strength in this way and that it wouldbe better if he took the rice away at night. So he had the Strong mancalled back and told him that there was one job which he had forgottento finish; he had put two bundles of sahai grass into the trough tosteep and had forgotten to twist it into string. Without a word theStrong man wait and picked the _sabai_ out of the water and beganto twist it, but he could tell at once by the feel that the _sabai_had only just been placed in the water and he charged the farmer withplaying a trick on him. The farmer swore that there was no trick and, rather than quarrel, the Strong man went on with the work. 

While he was so engaged the farmer offered him some tobacco, and theStrong man took it without washing and wiping his hands. Now no oneshould prepare or chew tobacco while twisting sabai; if one does notfirst wash and dry one's hands one's strength will go. The Strongman knew this, but he was so angry at being called back on falsepretences that he forgot all about it. 

But when he had finished the string and the farmer said that he mightgo, he essayed to take up the two _bandis_ of rice as before. To hissorrow he found that he could not lift them. Then he saw the mistakethat he had made. He had to leave one _bandi_ behind and divide theother into two halves and sling them on the bamboo and carry themoff with him. 

The Strong man's cultivation did not prosper, and after three or fouryears he found himself at the end of his means and had again to takeservice with a farmer. 

One day when field work was in full swing the Strong man had a quarrelwith his new master. So when he had finished the morning's ploughinghe pulled the iron point of the ploughshare out of its socket andsnapped it in two. Then he took the pieces to his master and explainedthat it had caught on the stump of a tree and got broken. The mastertook the broken share to the blacksmith and had it mended. The nextday the Strong man went through the same performance and his masterhad again to go the blacksmith. The same thing happened several daysrunning, till at last the farmer decided to keep watch and see whatreally happened. So he hid himself and saw the Strong man snap theploughshare in two; but in view of such a display of strength he wasmuch too frightened to let his servant know that he had found outthe trick that was being played on him. He took the pieces to theblacksmith as usual and at the smithy he found some of his friendsand told them what had happened. They advised him to set the Strongman to twisting sabai string and then by some pretext induce him totake tobacco. The farmer did as they advised and in about a fortnightthe Strong man lost all his strength and became as other men. Thenhis master dismissed him and he had to go back to his house and hisstrength never returned to him. 

LVII. The Raja's Advice. 

Once upon a time an aged Raja lay dying. Before he breathed hislast he sent for his only son and gave him the following advice. "Myson, " he said, "never go on a journey alone; do not associate withlow people, for if you do no one will respect you; never confide asecret to your wife; do not tell outsiders the affairs of your house;do not let village affairs go beyond the village street, and neverget into a rage. "

The son succeeded to the Raja and shortly afterwards set out to paya visit to his wife's relations. He started alone and after goingsome distance he remembered his father's injunctions never to go ona journey alone. He had gone too far to go back and he saw no onewithin call, so he looked about and presently found a crab hole. Heset to work and dug out the crab and fixing it in his _pagri_ continuedhis journey. 

By-and-bye he came to a river. Now in this river lived a crocodile, which had leagued with a crow to destroy travellers crossing theriver. Whenever the crow saw anyone coming, it gave warning to thecrocodile, and the crocodile then seized the traveller as he enteredthe river, while the crow pecked out his eyes. In this way they hadbeen the death of many travellers. So when the crow saw the youngRaja coming, it cawed to the crocodile, which hastened to the fordand seized the Raja as he stepped into the water, while the crow flewat his head. But the crab caught the crow by the leg and nipped it sohard that the crow, in agony, called out to the crocodile to let theman go, as it was being killed. So the crocodile released its holdand the Raja struggled to the bank, and then caught the crow whichwas held fast by the crab and wrung its neck. Then he went back homewith the crab, reflecting on the wisdom of his father's advice. 

Later on, the Raja thought that he would put another of his father'smaxims to the proof and see what would happen if he told his wifea secret. So he took a spade and buried an old earthen pot in thecorner of his garden. He let his wife see him and she promptly askedwhat he was burying; he put her off, but that night she insisted somuch on knowing, that, after swearing her to secrecy, he told herthat a child had come straying to his house and he had killed it toobtain good luck and had buried the body. 

Time passed, and one day the Raja had a quarrel with his wife, he beganto beat her and she in return abused him and kept on calling out thathe was a murderer, who had buried a child in his garden. Their nextdoor neighbour heard all this and, directly she found the Raja'swife alone, asked whether what she said was true. The Raja's wife, being still in a passion, asserted that it was quite true. The storywas soon all over the town, and the townspeople rose and seized theRaja and charged him with the murder. Then he took them to the gardenand made them dig up what he had buried and they found only an old pot. 

So they had to pay him compensation for making a false charge, andthe Raja valued more than ever the advice given him by his father. 

LVIII. The Four Jogis. 

Once four Jogis were out on a begging expedition and came to a citywere a Raja lived. As they went along they discussed how they shouldbeg of the Raja; and while they were discussing the point, they saw afield rat and one of them exclaimed "I know how I shall beg of him! Ishall say 'See, he throws up the earth, scrapety scrape!'" This did nothelp the other three, but, further on, some frogs jumped into a pond asthey passed by, and one of the others at once said "I know what I shallsay! I shall say 'plumpety plump! down he has sat. '" A little later, they saw a pig wallowing in the mud, and the third Jogi called out"I have it! I shall say 'Rub away, rub away! Now some more water! Rubaway, rub away! I know, my boys, what you are going to do. '" Thefourth Jogi was still in perplexity but, when they came in sight ofthe Raja's city, he exclaimed "I know what I shall say 'Highways andbyeways, what a big city! The kotwal is going his rounds, his rounds. '"

Then they got a man to write down these four forms of address on asheet of paper and presented it to the Raja. The Raja took it, andread it, and could not make head or tail of it. And when the fourJogis saw him looking so puzzled, they got frightened and took totheir heels, for they could not read themselves and were not sure ofwhat the paper really contained. 

Now the Raja's chief officer was a Tehsildar, and he had also a Barber, who shaved him every day, And that evening after the Jogis had runaway, the Tehsildar proposed to the Barber that, when shaving theRaja the next morning, he should cut the Raja's throat and they couldthen divide the kingdom between them, and the Barber consented. Notcontent with this, the Tehsildar and the palace chowkidar that samenight tried to break into the Raja's palace and steal his money andjewelry. They began to cut a hole through the mud wall of the Raja'sroom, but it chanced that the Raja was so puzzled by the paper whichthe Jogis had put into his hand, that he kept on reading it over andover again, and just as the Tehsildar and chowkidar had half cut theirway through the wall, they heard the Raja saying "See, he throwsup the earth, scrapety, scrape!" At once they concluded that theyhad been heard and they crouched down; the Raja went on "Plumpety, plump! down he has sat. " This made them think that they had been seenand the chowkidar crept to the door to listen: he heard the Raja saying"Highways and byeways, what a big city! The kotwal is going his rounds, his rounds!" Then the chowkidar felt sure that he was discovered andhe ran off with the Tehsildar, without completing their burglary. 

The next morning the Barber went to shave the Raja, and, while he wassharpening the razor, the Raja again began to study the mysteriouspaper, murmuring "Rub away, rub away, now some more water: Rub away, rub away! I know my boy what you are going to do. " The Barber thoughtthat the Raja referred to his rubbing water over his face for shaving, and concluded that the Tehsildar had revealed the plot; so he threwhimself at the Raja's feet and confessed everything, swearing thatthe Tehsildar and not he was to blame. The Raja at once sent forthe chowkidar to take the Tehsildar and Barber to prison. When thechowkidar came in he found the Raja repeating "See he throws up theearth, scrapety, scrape!" He at once concluded that the Raja wasreferring to the burglary and he fell on his knees and confessed allthat had happened. This was news to the Raja, but he went and saw theplace where the wall had been partly cut through, and then he sentall the guilty men to prison and despatched messengers to look forthe Jogis who had been the means of saving his life and property;but the Jogis had been so frightened and had run away so far, thatthey were never found. 

LIX. The Charitable Raja. 

There was once a Raja who was very charitable; he used to give a newcloth and a good meal to every one who came and begged of him. Butone day a Jogi came and refused to take what was offered to him: hedemanded that the Raja should give him his kingdom and everythingthat he had. The Raja thought it wrong to refuse the request, andwent out into the world with his wife and his two young children, a beggar. For a long time they wandered about living on charity, till their clothes were worn to rags, and then they chanced to hearof a rich merchant who gave a cloth to any beggar who asked it of him;so they resolved to go to him for help. When they reached the villagewhere the merchant lived, the Rani left the Raja with the two childrento cook some dinner and went to the merchant's house to beg for someclothes; but when the merchant saw her he fell in love with her andshut her up and would not let her go. To be saved from the merchant'sdesigns the Rani prayed that she might be smitten with disease andat once she became very ill. 

After waiting in vain for her return the Raja set off with his two sonsto look for her and presently came to a flooded river. He carried onechild across first but, as he was returning for the other, he was sweptaway by the current and the children were left alone. A Goala woman, going to the river for water, found them, and as she was childlesstook them home with her and brought them up. 

Meanwhile the Raja was carried down stream by the flood and was washedashore, bruised and wounded, a long way down. At the place where helanded a large crowd was collected; for the Raja of the country hadlately died leaving no heir, and the widow had ordered all the peopleto assemble in order that two elephants, belonging to the late Raja, might choose his successor. The half-drowned Raja joined the crowd andas he sat looking on, one elephant, passing by all its own people, came to him and put the golden necklace on his neck and the otherelephant lifted him on to its back and carried him off and seated himon the Raja's throne; and as he sat on the throne all his wounds andbruises were healed. Years passed and the Raja's two sons grew up, and as the Goala woman who had adopted them was very poor, they wentout into the world to earn their living. As it chanced, they tookservice as sipahis with the Raja their father, whom of course theydid not recognise. Just after their arrival the Raja arranged a greatfestival at which people from all parts assembled; and among othersthe merchant went there with the Raja's wife, in hopes that amongthe crowd he might find some physician able to cure the woman. Whenhe arrived, he went to the Raja and asked that two sipahis might bedeputed to keep watch over the woman he had brought. The Raja senthis two newly enlisted sipahis, and thus the sons were set to guardtheir own mother, and it was not long before they found out theirrelationship. The Rani was delighted to recover her long lost children, but when she heard that her husband had been washed away by the riverand drowned, she began to weep and wail. The merchant went to the Rajaand complained that the sipahis who had been sent, had thrown the womaninto great distress and the Raja thereupon sent for all the partiesin order that he might enquire into the matter. When he heard theirstory, he at once recognised that it was his own wife and sons whostood before him and thus the whole family was happily united. Thenhis wife prayed to Thakur that if she were really the wife he hadlost and had been faithful to him, she might be restored to health;water was poured over her and she was at once cured of her disease, and they all lived happily ever afterwards. 

LX. A Variant. --The Wandering Raja. 

Once there was a Raja who was very prosperous; but his wife foundtheir life of wealth and ease monotonous, and she continually urgedhim to travel into other countries and to see whether other modesof life were pleasant or distressful; she pestered her husband somuch that at last he gave way. He put his kingdom in charge of hisfather's sister and her husband and set off with his wife and histwo sons as an ordinary traveller. 

After travelling some days they got tired of eating the parched ricewhich they had brought with them and thought they would boil some ricefor their dinner. So the Rani went into a bazar to get cooking pots, and a light for the fire. She went to the house of a rich merchant forthese, but he was attracted by her beauty and seized her and shut herup and would not let her go back, but kept her as his wife. The Rajaand his sons soon got tired of waiting for her; he concluded thatthe journey was merely a pretext of his wife's to escape from him, as she had disappeared the first time that he let her out of his sight. 

So he turned to go home and soon came to a river which had to becrossed, he left his sons on the bank and went into the water tosee how deep it was and as he was wading in, a large fish came andswallowed him. The fish swam away down stream and was caught in thenet of some fishermen. When they saw how big a fish they had caught, they decided to take it to the Raja of that country. The Raja boughtit at a high price, but when it was cut open at the palace the manit had swallowed was found alive inside; so the Raja of the countryappointed him one of his retainers. 

Meanwhile the two boys had been found abandoned on the bank of theriver by a cowherd, who was too poor to bring them up, so he tookthem also to the Raja; and they rejoiced to meet their father andwhen they grew up, were also appointed retainers. 

They had to travel all over the country on the Raja's business and ithappened that they one day came to the village where their mother wasand they met and recognised her; she told them how she had been seizedand confined and begged them to bring her husband to her. So the sonsfetched their father and the Rani told her husband how unhappy she wasand begged him to get her released, and he promised to ask the helpof his master. When the Raja of the country heard the story he tookpity on them and went with a body of soldiers and seized the wickedmerchant and ordered him to give up all his wealth and as the merchanttried to conceal where some of his money was buried, the Raja cuthim down with his sword. He also laid a heavy fine on the villagers, because they had not sent word to him of the capture of the Rani. 

Then he took home the Raja who had been swallowed by the fish and hiswife and sons, and entertained them for some days, and then gave themelephants and horses and men and all the merchant's property and sentthem to their own country. The uncle and aunt who had been appointedRegents came out to meet them and escorted them home. 

Two or three days after the aunt asked the Raja how he had got hiselephants and horses and money, and he said "They are the profitsof my wife's sin; I will not tell you the whole story for if youheard it you also might be led astray; my wife induced me to travelby false pretences. It is not good to follow the advice of a woman;it is by mere chance that you see me alive to-day. " His wife heardwhat he said, and she went out and cut her throat from remorse;and they went and burned her body. 

LXI. The Two Wives. 

There were once a Raja and his Dewan who had each one son, and thetwo boys were great friends. Both had been married in their infancyand when they grew up and heard that they had wives, they agreed togo together and visit them. So they set out, and they arranged thaton account of the superior rank of the Raja's son they would go firstand visit his wife; and they also agreed that, as they were going toa strange place, they would keep together day and night. 

When they reached the house of the Prince's father-in-law they werereceived with great honour and when night came they lay down withtheir beds side by side. Presently the Prince's wife came to himand began to rub his arms and legs, until she had soothed him off tosleep. The Dewan's son pretended also to go fast asleep, but reallyhe was careful to keep awake, for he thought it safer to be on thewatch in a strange place. 

His prudence was rewarded, for after a time he saw the Prince's wifeleave her sleeping husband and go out of the house. 

The Dewan's son followed her and saw her enter the house of a Gosainwho lived on the outskirts of the village. He went near and listened atthe door. He heard the Gosain ask the young woman why she was so latein coming, and her answer that she had been detained by the visit ofher husband. The Gosain reproached her for not having told him thatshe was married, and she protested that she had known nothing aboutit until her husband appeared. The Gosain said that she must choosebetween him and her husband, and she answered that she would nevergive him up. "Then" said the Gosain "if you really mean it, go andbring me your husband's head. " At this the Dewan's son hurried backand lay down on his bed. Presently he saw the woman come with a swordand cut off her husband's head. But when she took it to the Gosain, he rose and beat her with his iron pincers and drove her out, swearingthat he would have nothing more to do with a woman who was so heartlessas to kill her own husband. Then the woman returned and placed thesevered head by her husband's body and raised a great outcry, thather husband had been murdered. The people of the house came and atfirst they charged the Dewan's son with the crime and were about toput him to death; but he called the Gosain as a witness and the realfacts were proved by his evidence, and the murderess was hanged. 

The Dewan's son would not allow the Prince's body to be burnt butinsisted on taking it with him, that it might be cremated at his ownhome. So he took it on his back and carried it off. 

He thought that, as he had come so far, it would be better to visithis own wife before going home. So, when he reached the village wherehis wife lived, he hid the Prince's body in a hollow tree and wentto his father-in-law's house. 

That night when they had gone to bed, the Dewan's son saw that hiswife had something on her mind, so he resolved to watch her. 

When she thought that he was asleep, he saw her rise and go out of thehouse. He followed her to a shrine of Mahadeb; there she smeared theground with cowdung and worshipped the god and said "O Siva! I haveworshipped you for many days; now my husband has come to take me tohis house, and you must find another worshipper. " The Mahadeb answered"You have served me for many days; call hither your husband; as youhave worshipped me for so long, I will confer a boon on you. " So shewent and called her husband and as he knew what had happened, he hadno hesitation in going with her to the shrine. There the Siv bade himask a boon, and he prayed that the Raja's son might be restored tolife, The Siv bade them bring the body and cover it with a wet cloth;and when they had done so, the body began to breathe and presentlythe Prince rose up alive and well. The Dewan's son told him all thathad happened and the next day they went home, taking with them thewife of the Dewan's son, through whose virtue and piety the Princehad been restored to life. 

LXII. Spanling and His Uncles. 

There was once a little man named Spanling (Bita) because he wasonly a span (_Bita_) high; and he had a beard one span and fourfinger-breadths long. His father was dead, and he lived alone withhis mother and he was as cunning as anyone in the world. He had onecow-buffalo and this he always grazed at night, for fear that the sunmight melt it. Once it happened that as he was following his buffalo, he got buried in its droppings and he was so small that he could notget out. 

However, next morning, some girls, who were gathering cowdung for fuel, found him and set him free. Spanling decided to get rid of the buffaloafter this; so he killed it and flayed it and when the skin was dry, took it away to sell. Before he found a purchaser night came on, so he climbed a tree with his hide to be out of danger. During thenight a gang of thieves came to the tree, and began to divide theirbooty. While there were busy over this, Spanling let the hide fallwith a clatter into their midst, and they all ran away in a fright, leaving all their stolen goods behind. 

When day dawned, Spanling climbed down and found piles of gold waitingfor him. He took it home and sent his mother to borrow a wooden measurefrom his uncles to measure it with. When he returned the measure, one of the gold pieces was left sticking in a crack. His uncles atonce hastened to enquire how he came to be measuring gold. Spanlingtold them that he had sold his buffalo skin at a town which he named, for an enormous price and no doubt they could find the same market, ifthey chose to kill their buffaloes. The uncles hurried home and killedall their buffaloes and took the hides to the city, which Spanlinghad named, but they were only laughed at when they asked more thanthe price which was paid every day for hides. The uncles came homevery angry at the way in which they had been tricked by Spanling, and in revenge they burnt his house down. Finding himself homeless, Spanling gathered the ashes of his house into sacks, loaded them ona cart and drove away. When evening came he camped by the roadsidein company with some other carters and, in the middle of the night, he quietly changed his sacks of ashes for some of the sacks in theother carts. When he got home he found that the sacks which he hadstolen were full of gold coins. He again sent to his uncles for ameasure and when the measure was returned a gold coin was again leftsticking in a crack. The uncles at once came to enquire how Spanlinghad got the money. He told them that he had sold the ashes of hishouse for gold and, as their houses were bigger than his, they woulddoubtless make their fortunes if they burnt them down and sold theashes. The uncles took his advice but when they tried to sell theashes they were only laughed at for their pains. 

LXIII. The Silent Wife. 

There was once a madcap of a fellow, whose wife got on very well withhim and did all the house work very nicely, but she would never speaka single word to him. As nothing he tried would make her speak, themadcap at last hit on a plan of taking her on a long journey. But evenwhen he told his wife that she must come with him to a far country, she did not utter a word. When all was ready for a start the madcapbathed his feet and took a _lota_ of water into the house and pouringit out, prayed to the spirit of his grandfather thus "Grandfather, grant that my wife may speak; if you do not fail me in this, I willmake offerings to you on my return; grant that we may come backtogether happily; teach her to speak to me soon. "

Then he set out with his wife and they travelled on until they entereda dense forest, where there was no sign of human habitation. As theywent on, the tailor birds and babblers began to chatter and screamat them. The madcap got angry at this and called out to the birdsthat if they did not stop, he would chase them and go on chasingthem for a day and a night. Then he sat down and watched them. Hiswife stood waiting by his side, and soon she began to wonder what shewould do and where she would go, if her husband really went in chaseof the birds. So at last she spoke to him and said "Come, get up;we must make haste out of this jungle. " Directly the words were outof her mouth, the madcap knelt down and bowing to the ground said"I thank you, Grandfather". Then he rose and went on with his wife. 

Presently they met a bear; the madcap called out "You brute of a bear, what do you mean by coming to meet us like this? I will chase you andgo on chasing you till to-morrow morning. " But his wife besought himto come along and not leave her. Directly she spoke, the madcap cried"Bravo" and kneeling down thanked his grandfather. They went on andpresently a jackal crossed their path; the madcap cursed it and vowedthat he would chase it all the night. Again his wife urged him tocome on and again the madcap knelt down and thanked his grandfather;but his wife did not know why he did so, nor did she trouble to ask. 

Just as they reached the edge of the forest they saw a leopard and thisalso the madcap threatened to chase. "Then go and chase it, " said hiswife, who now felt safe. So he went in pursuit of the leopard, butafter going a little way he lost sight of it and went back to wherehis wife was. "What has become of all your boasting?" said she. "Youhave not chased it till to-morrow morning. " "No, " said the madcap"I have killed it; if you don't believe me, come and see. " But shedid not want to go back into the jungle and said no more about it. Ashis wife had broken her silence the madcap saw no use in going furtherand they turned homewards; all the way his wife went on chatting andsinging along with him. When he reached home he sacrificed a number ofgoats to his grandfather, and lived happily with his wife ever after. 

LXIV. The Dumb Shepherd. 

There was once a very rich and powerful Raja and in his heart hethought that there was no one so powerful in the world as himself;thus he thought but he told no one of his thought. One day he madeup his mind to see whether others could guess what he was thinking, so he called together his officers and servants and dependants andbade them tell him what thought was in his heart. Many of them madeguesses, but not one gave an answer which satisfied the Raja. 

Then the Raja told his dewan that he must without fail find someone who would, guess his thought, and he gave the dewan exactly onemonth's time in which to search. The dewan searched high and low butall in vain, and as the time drew near he grew more and more anxious, for he feared that he would fall into disgrace. But he had a daughterand she consoled him and told him to cheer up, as she would find aman on the day fixed to read the Raja's thoughts. The dewan had totake what comfort he could from this promise, and when the appointedday arrived, his daughter brought a dumb shepherd whom they employedand bade her father take him to the Raja. The dewan thought it veryunlikely that the dumb shepherd would succeed where others had failed, but he saw no alternative to following his daughter's advice. 

So the dewan presented himself before the Raja with the dumb shepherdand found a large company assembled to see what happened. The twostood before the Raja and the dumb man looked at the Raja. Thenthe Raja held up one finger, at this the dumb shepherd held up twofingers. Then the Raja held up three fingers, but at this the dumbman made signs of dissent and ran away as fast as he could. Then theRaja laughed and seemed very pleased and praised the dewan for havingbrought him such a clever man, and gave the dewan a rich reward. 

The dewan was still at a loss to know what had happened, and begged theRaja to explain what had passed between him and the shepherd. "WhenI held up one finger, " said the Raja "I asked him whether I alonewas Raja, and he by holding up two reminded me that there was God, who was as powerful as I am. Then I asked him whether there was anythird, and he vehemently denied that there was. Thus he has read mythoughts, for I have always been thinking that I alone am powerful, but he has reminded me that there is God as well, but no third. "

Then they all went their ways, and that night the dewan questionedthe dumb shepherd as to how he had been able to understand the Raja:and the dumb man explained "I have only three sheep of my own, andwhen I appeared before the Raja he held up one finger, meaning thathe wanted me to give him one of my sheep, and as he is a great RajaI offered to give him two; but when he held up three ringers to showthat he wanted to take all three from me, I thought that he was goingtoo far and so I ran away. "

By this lucky chance the dewan earned his reward from the Raja. 

LXV. The Good Daughter-in-Law. 

There was once a very rich man who had seven sons and the sons wereall married and lived with their father. The father was a miser: helived in the poorest manner in spite of all his wealth and hoardedall his money. His eldest daughter-in-law managed the household andshe alone of the family did not approve of the miserly way in whichthe family affairs were conducted. 

One day a Jugi came to the house and asked for alms. The eldestdaughter-in-law happened to be away at the time, fetching water fromthe stream. Those of the family who were at home flatly declined togive the poor beggar anything and turned him away from the house. Sothe Jugi went away, cursing them for their miserliness. On his wayhe met the eldest daughter-in-law coming back with her jar of waterand she asked the Jugi why he seemed so angry. When she heard how hehad been treated, she at once besought him to return to the house andexplained that she was the housekeeper and that that was the reasonwhy none of the others had ventured to give him alms. 

The Jugi returned with her and she gave him a _seer_ of rice to putin his bag. At first the Jugi refused to take it, on the ground thatshe was only giving it for fear of his curses but she assured himthat she never refused alms to anyone who begged. So the Jugi tookthe rice and then asked what boon she would accept in return. Thewoman at first said that she was in want of nothing, but, on the Jugipressing her, she said that she would like to be able to understandthe language of birds and beasts and to see the disembodied souls ofmen. Then the Jugi took a feather from his bag and drew it across hereyes and blew into her eyes and ears and she found herself possessedof the powers for which she had asked. But before he left, the Jugitold her that she must never reveal to any human being the boon hehad conferred on her, for if she did she would die. 

Years passed and nothing happened but then it chanced that a Chamarwho lived at the end of the village died, and as he had been a goodand kind man his family wept bitterly at their loss. The woman saw thespirit of the Chamar being taken away in a grand chariot and she alsowept for the death of so good a man. Her family became very suspiciousat her showing sorrow for the death of a stranger of another caste. 

A few days later the miserly father-in-law died and the woman sawthree beings dragging him out of the house by his heels, and shelaughed to see him treated so for his sins. But the family wereshocked by her laughter and concluded that she was a witch and hadkilled her father-in-law by her witchcraft; so after the funeralthey held a family council and called on the woman to explain whyshe had laughed. She assured them that if she told she would die, but they insisted and at last she told them of the boon conferred onher by the Jugi, and what she had seen, and then she lay down uponher bed and died. 

LXVI. The Raja's Dream. 

Once upon a time there was a Raja who had no children. So he and hiswife agreed that he should marry again. His second wife bore him twosons, and they were very pleased that the Raja should have heirs andall lived happily together. But after the two sons had been born, the elder Rani also gave birth to a son. This caused discord in thefamily, for the younger Rani had counted on her sons succeeding tothe Raja, but now she feared that the son of the elder Rani would bepreferred. So she went to the Raja and besought him to send away theelder Rani and her son. The Raja listened to her and gave the firstwife a separate estate and a separate house and sent them away. 

Time passed and one night the Raja had a dream, the meaning of whichhe could not understand; he dreamt that he saw a golden leopardand a golden snake and a golden monkey dancing together. The Rajacould not rest until he had found out the meaning of the dream, so he sent for his younger wife and her two sons and consultedthem. They could give no explanation, but the younger son said thathe had a presentiment that his brother, the son of the elder Rani, could interpret the dream. So that son was sent for, and when heappeared before his father and heard the story of the dream, he said"This is the interpretation: the three golden animals represent usthree brothers, for we are like gold to you. Thakur has sent thisdream in order that we may not fight hereafter; we cannot all threesucceed to the Raj and we shall assuredly fight if one is not chosenas the heir. It is intended that whichever of us can find a goldenleopard, and a golden snake and a golden monkey and make them dancebefore the people, he is your principal son and shall be your heir, "The Raja was pleased with this interpretation and told his three sonsthat he would give the Raj to whichever of them could find the threeanimals by that day year. 

The sons of the younger Rani went away, feeling that it was uselessfor them to make any attempt to fulfil the conditions; even if theygot a goldsmith to make the animals, they would never be able to makethem dance. 

But the other brother went to his mother and told her all that hadhappened, and she bade him be of good courage and he would find theanimals; if he went to a Gosain who lived in the jungle, he would betold what to do. 

So the Raja's son set out, and after travelling for some days he foundhimself benighted in a dense jungle. Wandering about, he at last sawa fire burning in the distance, so he went to it and sat down by itand began to smoke. Now the Gosain was sleeping near by and the smellof the smoke awoke him, and he rose and asked who was there. 

"O uncle, it is I. "

"Really, is it you my nephew? Where have you come from so lateat night?"

"From home, uncle. "

"What has brought me to your memory now? You have never paid me avisit before. I am afraid that something has happened. "

"You need not fear that, I have come to you because my mother tellsme that you can help me to find the golden leopard and the goldensnake and the golden monkey. "

At this the Gosain promised to help the Raja's son to find the animalsand then put the cooking-pot on the fire to boil; and in it he putonly three grains of rice, but when it was cooked, they found thatthere was enough to make a meal of. When they had eaten, the Gosainsaid "Nephew, I cannot tell you what you have to do; but further inthe jungle lives my younger brother: go to him and he will tell you. "

So when it was morning the Raja's son set out, and in two days hereached the second Gosain and told him of his quest. The Gosainlistened to his story and put the cooking-pot on to boil and in itthrew two grains of rice, and this, when cooked, was sufficient fora good meal. After they had eaten, the Gosain said that he couldnot tell how the animals were to be found, but that he had a stillyounger brother who could tell. So the next morning the Raja's soncontinued his journey, and in two or three days he came to the thirdGosain and there he learnt what was to be done. This Gosain also putthe pot on to boil but in the pot he only put one grain of rice anda bit of a grain, yet when cooked it was enough for a meal. 

In the morning the Gosain told the Raja's son to go to a blacksmithand have a shield made of twelve maunds of iron and with its edge sosharp that a leaf falling on it would be cut in two. So he went tothe blacksmith and had a shield made, and took it to the Gosain. TheGosain said that they must test it, and he set it edgewise in theground under a tree and told the Raja's son to climb the tree andshake some leaves down. The Raja's son climbed the tree and shookthe branches, but not a leaf fell. Then the Gosain climbed up andgave the tree a shake and the leaves fell in showers and every leafthat touched the edge of the shield was cut in two. Then the Gosainwas satisfied that the shield was rightly made. 

Then the Gosain told the Raja's son, that further on in the junglehe would find a pair of snakes living in a bamboo house; and theyhad a daughter whom they never allowed to come out of the house; hemust fix the sharp shield in the door of the house and hide himselfin a tree, and when the snakes came out they would be cut to pieces;then, when the snakes were dead, he was to go to their daughter andshe would show him where to find the golden animals. So the Raja'sson set out and about noon he came to the home of the snakes, and heset the shield in the doorway as the Gosain had said, and at evening, when the snakes tried to come out of the house, they were cut topieces. When her father and mother were dead, the daughter came outto see what had happened, and the Raja's son saw that she was verybeautiful. He went to her and began to talk and it did not take themlong to fall in love with each other. The snake maiden soon forgother father and mother, and she and the Raja's son lived together inthe bamboo house many days. 

The snake maiden strictly forebade him to go anywhere to the west orsouth of the house, but one day he disobeyed her and wandered awayto the west. After going a short distance he saw golden leopardsdancing, and directly he set eyes on them, he himself was changedinto a golden leopard and began to dance with the others. The snakemaiden soon knew what had happened, and she followed him and led himback and restored him to his own shape. 

A few days later, the Raja's son went away to the south and there hefound golden snakes dancing on the bank of a tank and directly he sawthem, he too became a golden snake and joined the dance. Again thesnake maiden fetched him back and restored him to his own form. Butagain the Raja's son went out to the south-west and there he sawgolden monkeys dancing under a banyan tree, and when he saw them hebecame a golden monkey; again the snake maiden brought him back andrestored him to human shape. 

After this the Raja's son said that it was time for him to go backhome. The snake maiden asked why he had come there at all, and thenhe told her all about the Raja's dream and said that as he had foundthe animals he would now go home. 

"Kill me first" said the snake maiden; "you have killed my parentsand I cannot live alone here. " "No, I will not kill you, I will takeyou with me" answered the Raja's son, and the snake maiden gladlyagreed. Then the Raja's son asked how he was to take the golden animalswith him, for so far he had only seen where they were. The snakemaiden said that if he faithfully promised never to desert her, nortake another wife, she would produce the animals for him when the timecame. So he swore never to leave her and they set out for his home. 

When they reached the place where the third Gosain lived, the Raja'sson said that he had promised to visit the Gosain on his homewardjourney and show him the golden animals; but he did not know whatto do, as he had not got the animals with him. Then the snake maidentied three knots in his cloth and bade him untie them when the Gosainasked to see the animals. So the Raja's son went to see the Gosain, and the Gosain asked whether he had brought the golden leopard andsnake and monkey. 

"I am not sure" answered the other, "but I have something tied up inmy cloth, " and he untied the three knots and found in them a clod ofearth, a potsherd and a piece of charcoal. He threw them away and wentback to the snake maiden, and asked why she had put worthless rubbishin his cloth. "You had no faith" said she "if you had believed, theanimals would not have turned into the clod and the potsherd and thecharcoal. " So they journeyed on, till they came to the second Gosain, and he also asked to see the golden animals and this time the Raja'sson set his mind hard to believe and, when he untied the knots, therewere a golden leopard and a golden snake and a golden monkey. Thenthey went on and showed the animals to the first Gosain, and thenwent to the house where his mother lived. 

When the appointed day came, the Raja's son sent word to his fatherto have a number of booths and shelters erected in a spacious plain, and to have a covered way made from his mother's house to the plain, and then he would show the dancing animals. So the Raja gave thenecessary orders, and on the day fixed all the people assembledto see the fun. Then the Raja's son set the three animals on theground and his wife remained hidden in the covered way and causedthe animals to dance. The people stayed watching all day till eveningand then dispersed, That night all the booths and shelters which hadbeen erected were changed into houses of gold; and when he saw this, the Raja left his younger wife and her children and went and livedwith his first wife. 

LXVII. The Mongoose Boy. 

Once upon a time there was a Raja who had two wives. By his firstwife he had six sons, but the second wife bore only one son and hewas born as a mongoose. When the six sons of the elder wife grew up, they used to jeer at their mongoose brother and his mother, so theRaja sent his second wife to live in a separate house. The Mongooseboy could talk like any man but he never grew bigger than an ordinarymongoose and his name was Lelsing. 

One day the Raja called all his sons to him and said that he wished, before he died, to divide his property among them. But the sons saidthat they had rather he did not do so then; they wished to go abroadand see the world, and if he would give each of them some capital tostart, with, they would go abroad and trade and even if they did notmake much profit they would have the advantage of seeing the world. 

So the Raja gave his six sons twenty rupees each to start businesswith; but when Lelsing also asked for some money, his brothers jeeredat him and declared that he certainly could not go with them, forhe would only get eaten up by some dog. Lelsing made no answer atthe time but afterwards he went to his father alone and begged againfor some money. At last the Raja, though he scarcely believed thatLelsing would really go out trading, gave him ten rupees. 

The six brothers made everything ready and one morning set out ontheir travels, without saying anything to Lelsing. But Lelsing saw themstart and followed after them, and as the brothers were resting in themiddle of the day they looked back and saw Lelsing galloping along toovertake them. So they all travelled together for three or four days, till they came to a great jungle and camped on its outskirts. Therethey debated how long they should stay away from home and they decidedthat they would trade for six months and then go back. 

The next morning they entered the jungle, and as they travelled throughit, the six brothers managed to give Lelsing the slip, so that whenthey came out of the forest they found themselves at Nilam bazar, butLelsing after wandering about for some time came out at Sujan bazar. 

The six brothers bought sun-horses at Nilam bazar, and began totrade. But Lelsing at Sujan bazar looked about for someone who wouldengage him as a servant. No one would employ a mongoose, and Lelsingwas in despair, for he had very little money. At last he began toenquire whether anyone would sell him a cheap horse, and learnt thatthe horse market was at Nilam bazar; so he went to Nilam bazar andthere found his brothers trading, but he did not make himself knownto them. He tried to buy a horse but they were all too highly pricedfor him, so at last he had to be content with buying a donkey forthree rupees and some articles to trade with. 

When the six months expired, the brothers went home; and a little afterthem came Lelsing, leading his donkey, his brothers laughed at himbut the Raja did not laugh; and Lelsing showed his father and motherwhat profits he had made by his trading, which his brothers declinedto do. The Raja was pleased with Lelsing for this and declared that, in spite of his shape, he was a man and a Raja. It only made hisbrothers more angry with him to hear Lelsing praised. 

Two or three years later there was a famine in the land. Lelsingforesaw it and he dug a large hole in the floor of his house and buriedin it all the grain on which he could lay his hand. The famine grewsevere, but Lelsing and his mother always had enough to eat from theirprivate store. But his brothers were starving and their children criedfrom want of food. Lelsing had pity on them and sent his mother withsome rice for them to eat. The Raja and his sons were amazed thatLelsing should have rice to give away, and they went to his houseto see how much he had; but they found the house apparently empty, for they did not know of the store buried in the ground. Puzzledand jealous the brothers made up their minds to burn down Lelsing'shouse. So one night they set fire to it, and it was burnt to ashes:the store buried in the ground was however uninjured. 

Lelsing put the ashes of his house into sacks and, loading them onhis donkey, set out to sell them. As he found no buyers, he rested forthe night under a tree by the road side. Presently a band of merchantswith well loaded pack-bullocks came to the place. "You must not camphere" called out Lelsing to them "I have two sacks of gold coin hereand you may take an opportunity to steal them. If you are honest men, you will go to a distance. " So the merchants camped a little way off, but in the middle of the night they came and carried off Lelsing'ssacks, leaving two of their own in their place, and hurried on theirway. In the morning Lelsing made haste to carry home the sacks whichhad been changed, and when he came to open them he found them fullof rice and rupees. He sent his mother to borrow a measure from hisbrothers with which to measure the rupees; and when he returned it, he sent it to them full of rupees. 

His brothers came running to know where he had found so much money. "Igot it by selling the ashes of my house" said Lelsing "and it is apity that I had only one house; if I had had more houses, I shouldhave had more ashes, and should have got more money still. " On hearingthis the brothers at once made up their mind to burn their own houses, and take the ashes for sale. But when they did so and took the ashesfor sale from village to village they were only laughed at for theirpains, and in the end had to throw away the ashes and come back emptyhanded. They were very angry at the trick which Lelsing had playedon them and decided to kill him and his mother; but when they wentto the house to do the murder, Lelsing happened to be away from homeand so they were only able to kill his mother. 

When Lelsing came home he found his mother lying dead. He placed thebody on his donkey and carried it off to burn it on the banks of theGanges. As he went, he saw a large herd of paek bullocks coming alongthe road. He quickly propped the body of his mother against a treewhich grew by the road and himself climbed into its branches, and whenthe bullocks came up he began to call out "Take care, take care: youwill have my sick mother trampled to death. " But the drivers were toofar behind to hear what he said. When they came up, he climbed downfrom the tree and charged them with having allowed their bullocks tokill his mother. The drivers had no wish to face a charge of murder;and in the end, to secure their release, they made over to Lelsingall their bullocks, with the merchandize which they were carrying. 

Lelsing threw his mother's corpse into some bushes, and drove theladen bullocks home. Naturally his brothers wanted to know where hehad got such wealth from, and he explained that it was by sellingthe dead body of his mother and he was sorry that he had only oneto dispose of. At once his brothers went and killed all their wives, and took the corpses away to sell; but no one would buy and they hadto return disappointed. 

Another trick that Lelsing played his brothers was this: he used tomix rupees in the food he gave his donkey, and these passed out inthe droppings; and Lelsing took care that his brothers should know ofit. They found no rupees in the dung of their horses, and consultedLelsing as to the reason why. He told them that if they gave theirhorses a blow with an axe while they ate their grain, they wouldfind rupees in the dung. The brothers did as they were advised, but the only result was that they killed all their horses. 

More and more angry, the brothers resolved to kill Lelsing by guile. Sothey went to him and said that they had found a wife for him, andwould take him to be married. When the procession was ready, Lelsinggot into a palki. His brothers made the doors of the palki fast andcarried him off towards a deep river, into which they meant to throwhim, palki and all. 

When they reached the river, they put the palki down and went tolook for a suitably deep pool. Lelsing found that he was outwitted, and began to weep and wail. Just then a shepherd came by, driving aflock of sheep and asked what was the matter. Lelsing cried out thatthey were going to marry him against his will, but that anyone whowould take his place in the palki could marry his bride. The shepherdthought that this would be a great opportunity to get a wife withoutspending any money on the marriage, and readily changed places withLelsing, who drove away the flock of sheep. The brothers soon cameback and, picking up the paiki, threw it into the river and went home, thinking that they had at last got rid of Lelsing. 

But four or five days later Lelsing appeared, driving a large flock ofsheep. His brothers asked him, in amazement where he had come from, "You threw me" said Lelsing "into a shallow pool of the river wherethere were only sheep, but in the deeper parts there are cattleand buffaloes as well. I can take you to fetch some of them if youlike. You take your palkis to the bank of the river, --for I cannotcarry you all--and then shut yourselves inside and I will push youinto the water. " So the brothers took their palkis to the river sideand shut themselves in, and each called out "Let me have the deepestplace, brother. " Then Lelsing pushed them in one by one and they wereall drowned. Then he went home rejoicing at the revenge which he hadtaken for their ill treatment of him. 

LXVIII. The Stolen Treasure. 

Once upon a time three jars full of money were stolen from a Raja'spalace. As all search was fruitless the Raja at last gave notice that, whoever could find them, should receive one half of the money. Theoffer brought all the _jans_ and _ojhas_ in the country to try theirhand, but not one of them could find the treasure. 

The fact was that the money had been stolen by two of the Raja's ownservants and it fell to the duty of these same two men to entertainthe _ojhas_ who came to try and find the money. Thus they were ableto keep watch and see whether any of them got on the right track. 

Not far from the Raja's city lived a certain tricky fellow. From hisboyhood he had always been up to strange pranks, and he had marriedthe daughter of a rich village headman. At the time that the Raja'smoney was stolen his wife was on a visit to her father, and aftershe had been some time away, he went to fetch her home. However, onhis way, he stopped to have a flirtation with a girl he knew in thevillage and the result was that he did not get to his father-in-law'shouse till long after dark. As he stood outside he heard his wife'srelations talking inside, and from their conversation he learnt thatthey had killed a capon for supper, and that there was enough foreach of them to have three slices of capon and five pieces of thevegetable which was cooked with it. 

Having learnt this he opened the door and went in. The householdwas amazed at his arriving so late at night but he explained that hehad dreamt that they had killed a capon and were having a feast: andthat there was enough for them each to have three slices of capon andfive pieces of vegetable, so he had come to have a share. At this hisfather-in-law could do nothing but have another fowl killed and givehim supper; he was naturally astonished at the Trickster's powers ofdreaming and insisted that he must certainly go and try his luck atfinding the Raja's stolen money. 

The Trickster was taken aback at this, but there was no gettingout of it; so the next morning he set out with his father-in-law tothe Raja's palace. When they arrived they were placed in charge ofthe two guilty servants, who offered them refreshments of curds andparched rice. As he was washing his hands after eating, the Tricksterejaculated, "Find or fail I have at any rate had a square meal, "Now the two servants were named Find and Fail and when they heardwhat the Trickster said, they thought he was speaking of them, andhad by some magic already found out that they were the thieves. 

This threw them into consternation, and they took the Trickster asideand begged him not to tell the Raja that they were the thieves. Heasked where they had put the money, and they told him that they hadhidden it in the sand by the river. Then he promised not to revealtheir guilt, if they would show him where to find the money whenthe time came. They gladly promised and took him to the Raja. TheTrickster pretended to read an incantation over some mustard seed, and then taking a bamboo went along tapping the ground with it. Herefused to have a crowd with him, because they would spoil the spell, but Find and Fail followed behind him and showed him where to go. So hesoon found the jars of money and took them to the Raja, who accordingto his promise gave him half their contents. 

LXIX. Dukhu and His Bonga Wife. 

Once upon a time there was a man named Bhagrit who had two sons namedLukhu and Dukhu; and Lukhu used to work in the fields, while Dukhuherded the buffaloes. In summer Dukhu used to take his buffaloes todrink and rest at a pool in the bed of a dry river. 

Now in the pool lived a _bonga_ girl and she fell in love withDukhu. So one day as he was sitting on the bank she appeared tohim in the guise of a human maiden. She went up to him and began totalk, and soon they became great friends and agreed to meet at thesame place every day. As the girl was beautiful Dukhu fell deeply inlove with her and resolved to marry her, not knowing that she was a_bonga_. One day the _bonga_-girl asked Dukhu to come home with her todinner, as he had stayed too late to go to his own house; but he saidhe was too shy to do so, as her parents knew nothing about him. The_bonga_-girl said "Oh no, I have told my people all about our love, but if you won't come with me, stay here till I fetch you some rice;it is too late for you to go home now; by the time you come back, thebuffaloes will have wandered off for their afternoon grazing. " So Dukhuagreed to wait while she brought the rice, and she got up and movedaway and disappeared behind some bushes, but a minute later Dukhu sawher come smiling towards him with a pot of rice on her head; thoughhow she had fetched it so quickly he could not make out. She came tohim and put it down and told him to wash his hands and come and eathis dinner. Dukhu asked her whether she had had her own dinner and shesaid that she would go back and have that later. Then he proposed thatshe should eat part of what she had brought; and she said that shewould do so, if he did not want it all. Dukhu resolved to test her, for it would be a proof of true love, if she ate what he left over. Soafter eating half the rice he said that he was satisfied and when shefound that Dukhu would eat no more she took what was left; then he wassatisfied that she really loved him and they began to talk of gettingmarried, and he told her that there would be no difficulty about it, as his elder brother Lukhu was already married. 

Then Dukhu asked the _bonga_ to take him to her house to see herparents, so one day she led him into the pool and as he went in, thewater never came above his ankles; and somehow they passed along abroad road until they came to the _bonga_ girl's house, and this wasfull of tigers and leopards and snakes. At the sight of them Dukhu wastoo frightened to speak; the _bonga_ said that she would not let themtouch him and offered him a large coiled-up snake to sit on; but hewould not sit down till she came and sat by his side. Then the _bonga_father and mother asked their daughter whether this was her husband, and when she said "yes" they came and made obeisance to him. 

After they had had their dinner she took him back and he knew thatshe was a _bonga_; but still he could not give her up. After thisthe _bonga_ girl brought Dukhu his dinner every day on the bank ofthe river, and he never went home for his midday-meal at all. Hisbrother's wife asked him why he did not come home and he said thathe did not get hungry and was content with some buffalo's milk; butshe did not believe him and resolved to watch and see who broughthim his dinner, but though she went and watched every day she onlysaw him sitting alone, and the _bonga_ girl was invisible to her. Butone day she saw him disappear into the pool, and come out again. 

When she told this at home, Dukhu's father, Bhagrit, got very angryand decided to find out who made Dukhu disappear into the pool. Heresolved to bale out the water and find out what was at the bottom. Sohe sent for men with baling baskets and began to divide off the waterwith dams, but out of the water a voice was heard, singing;--

 "Do not dam the water, father, Do not dam the water, father, Your daughter-in-law, the Ginduri fish is dying. "

At this sound the workmen were frightened and stopped; but Bhagritmade them go on, saying that whatever happened should be on hishead. And when the dams were finished, they began to bale out thewater; thereupon a voice sang:--

 "Do not bale the water, father, Do not bale the water, father. Your daughter-in-law, the Ginduri fish is dying. "

But they paid no attention and baled the water dry, and at the bottomof the pool they found an enormous fish, for the _bonga_ girl hadturned into a fish. And they went to kill it, but the fish sang:--

 "Do not hit me, father, Do not hit me, father, Your daughter-in-law, the Ginduri fish is dying. "

Nevertheless they killed it and dragged it on to the bank. Then theybegan to cut it up, and as they did so, it sang:--

 "Do not cut me, father, Do not cut me, father, Your daughter-in-law, the Ginduri fish, is dying. "

Nevertheless they cut it up, and Bhagrit divided the pieces among theworkmen, but they were too frightened to take any and preferred totake the smaller fishes as their share. So he told Lukhu's wife to takeup the pieces and wash them: and as she did so the song was heard:--

 "Do not wash me, sister, Do not wash me, sister, The Ginduri fish is dying. "

And she was very frightened, but her father made her wash them andthen they took home the pieces and lit a fire and ground spices andturmeric and heated oil and made ready to cook the fish. Then thefish sang again:--

 "Do not cook me, sister, Do not cook me, sister, The Ginduri fish, sister, is dying. '

But she nevertheless put the pieces into the pot to boil, when lo andbehold, out of the pot jumped the pretty _bonga_ girl. Then Bhagritsaid to his neighbours. --"You see by my persistence I have got adaughter-in-law"--and she was duly married to Dukhu. At the weddingthe _bonga_ girl said "Listen, Father and all of you: I tell you andI tell my husband--however much we quarrel let not my husband strikeme on the head, let him beat me on the body, I shall not mind; buton the day that he hits me on the head: I shall depart for good. "

After the marriage the family became very prosperous and theircrops flourished and every one liked the _bonga_ girl; but betweenher and her husband there were constant quarrels and their friendscould not stop them. One day it happened that Dukhu smacked heron the head. Then the _bonga_ girl began to cry and called herfather-in-law and mother-in-law and said "Father, listen, the fatherof your grandson has turned me out, you must do your work yourselvesto-day;" then she took her child on her hip and left the house; andthey ran after her and begged her to return, but she would not heed;and they tried to snatch the child from her but she would not giveit up, and went away and was seen no more. 

LXX. The Monkey Husband. 

One very hot day some children were bathing in a pool, when a Hanumanmonkey snatched up the cloth which one of the girls had left on thebank and ran up a tree with it. When the children came out of the waterand went to take up their clothes, they found one missing, and lookingabout, they saw the monkey in the tree with it. They begged the Hanumanto give it back, but the monkey only said--"I will not give it unlessits owner consents to marry me. "--Then they began to throw sticksand stones at him but he climbed to the top of the tree out of the way. 

Then they ran and told the parents of the girl whose cloth had beenstolen; and they called their neighbours and went with bows and arrowsand threatened to shoot the monkey if he did not give up the cloth, but he still said that he would not, unless the girl would marryhim. Then they shot all their arrows at him but not one of them hithim; then the neighbours said. "This child is fated to belong to themonkey and that is why we cannot hit him. " Then the girl's fatherand mother began to cry and sang:--

 "Give the girl her cloth, Her silk cloth, monkey boy, "

and he answered

 "If she consents to marry me I will give it: If she consents I will put it in her hand. "

And as he did not listen to the father and mother, her father'syounger brother and his wife sang the same song, but in vain; andthen the girl herself begged for it, and thereupon the monkey letdown one end of the cloth to her; and when she caught hold of it, he pulled her up into the tree, and there made her put on her clothand ran off with her on his back. 

The girl was quite willing to go with him and called out as she wascarried away: "Never mind, father and mother, I am going away. " TheHanuman took her to a cave in the mountains and they lived onfruit, --mangoes or jack or whatever fruit was in season. The monkeyclimbed the trees and shook the fruit down; but if the girl saw bythe marks of teeth that the monkey had bitten off any fruit, insteadof only shaking it down, she would not eat it, and pretended thatshe had had enough; for she would not eat the leavings of the monkey. 

At last the girl got tired of having only fruit to eat; and demandedrice. So the monkey took her to a bazar, and leaving her on theoutskirts of the village under a tree, he went and stole some pots froma potter and rice and salt and turmeric and pulse and sweetmeats fromother shops, and brought them to the girl. Then she collected sticksand lit a fire and cooked a meal; and the monkey liked the cookedfood, and asked her to cook for him every day. So they stayed thereseveral days. Then the girl asked for more clothes and the monkeytried to steal them too, but the shopkeepers were on the watch anddrove him away. 

The girl soon got tired of sleeping under a tree so they went backto the cave and the monkey gathered mangoes and jackfruit and toldher to go and sell them in the market and then she would be able tobuy cloth. But when she had sold the fruit, she stayed in the villageand took service with a well-to-do shopkeeper, and never returned tothe monkey. The monkey watched for her and searched for her in vain, and returned sorrowfully to his hill; but the girl stayed on in thevillage and eventually married one of the villagers. 

LXXI. Lakhan and the Wild Buffaloes. 

Once upon a time there was the only son of a widow, who used to tendthe sheep and goats of a Raja and his name was Lakhan. One day heharnessed one of the goats to a plough and ploughed up a piece of highland and sowed hemp there. The crop grew finely, but one night a herdof wild buffaloes came and ate it all up; at this Lakhan resolved topursue the buffaloes and shoot them. 

His mother did all she could to dissuade him but he made up a bundleof provisions, and set off on his journey with a stick, and a bowand arrows, and a flute made of the castor oil plant. He tracked thebuffaloes for some days and one evening he came to the house of anold witch (hutibudhi) and he went up to it and asked the witch if hemight sleep there. She answered "My house is rough and dirty, butyou can choose a corner to sleep in; I can give you nothing more, as I have not a morsel of food in the house. " "Then, " said he, "I must go to bed hungry" and he lay down supperless. 

In the middle of the night the witch began to gnaw at Lakhan's bowand he heard her gnawing and called out "What are you munching? Giveme at bit, " but she answered that it was only a little pulse whichshe had gleaned from the fields and she had finished it. So Lakhansaid no more; but during the night the witch bit his bow to piecesand when he saw this in the morning, he was very unhappy; for it wasuseless to find the bison, if he had nothing to shoot them with. 

So he went home and had an iron bow and arrows made by a blacksmith, and then started off again. As before he came to the witch's houseand arranged to sleep there; and in the night the witch tried tobite the bow to pieces, and Lakhan heard her crunching it and askedher what she was eating: she said it was only a little grain whichshe had gleaned. In the morning he found the bow all right, but thewitch's jaws were badly swollen. Lakhan laughed at her and asked whatwas the matter and she said that she had toothache. 

So Lakhan went on his way rejoicing and at last reached the placewhere the wild buffaloes rested at night; he waited there and while hewaited he swept away all the droppings and made the place clean, andthen climbed up into a tree. At evening great herds of buffaloes cameto the place and they were so many that Lakhan was afraid to shoot. Sohe stayed there, and every day he used to sweep the place clean, whilethe buffaloes were away, and at night time hid himself in the tree. 

The buffaloes determined to find out who their benefactor was, and theychose an old cow to stay behind and watch. The next day the old cowpretended that she was too weak to rise, and was left behind when theherd went out to graze. Lakhan thought that she was too old to do himany harm, so, although she was there, he got down from the tree andcleaned up the place as usual, and even swept quite close up to theold cow buffalo. In the evening the other buffaloes came back and theold cow told them that it was a human being who swept their restingplace clean; and when they promised not to hurt him, she pointed outthe tree where Lakhan was. Then the buffaloes told him to come downand swore not to kill him but to support him and keep him as theirservant. They told him to make a leaf bowl and they filled this withtheir milk, as much as he could drink, and they arranged that he shouldstay at the sleeping place and keep it clean, and when he wanted milkhe was to play on his flute and they would come at the sound. 

So every noon he used to blow the flute and the cows came, runningand gave him more milk than he wanted so that he used even to bathehimself in milk, and this made his hair grow very long. 

One day a parrot belonging to a Raja saw him drying his long hairin the sun and the parrot went to the Raja and told him that he hadfound a husband for the Raja's daughter, with beautiful long hair;but that no one could go near where he lived because of the wildbuffaloes; however the parrot undertook to bring him with the helpof a tame crow of the Raja's: so the crow and the parrot flew off tothe jungle, and they decided that the best way to entice Lakhan away, was to carry off his flute. So when the cows gave him milk at noon andhe put down his flute, the crow seized it in his beak and flew away tothe top of a tree. When Lakhan missed the flute and saw the crow withit, he began to throw stones but the crow flew off with it, keepingjust out of range; the crow flew from tree to tree and seemed to bealways just about to drop the flute and in this way enticed Lakhan on, till they came to the Raja's palace and Lakhan followed the crow rightinside and they shut the door on him and made him marry the princess. 

After some time his wife's brothers began to talk rudely abouthim saying "I suppose this fellow is some poor orphan, without anyrelations" and when Lakhan heard this he said that if they wantedto see his cattle and buffaloes they must make a yard for them. Sothe Raja gave orders for a large cattle yard to be made, and when itwas ready Lakhan took his flute and put his wife on the roof of thepalace and he himself climbed a tree and blew on the flute. Then thewild buffaloes came running at the sound and gored to death everyone they met, and Lakhan and his wife became Raja and Rani. 

LXXII. The Boy with the Stag. 

Once all the men of a village went out to hunt in the hills and acertain orphan boy wanted to go with them, and although they told himthat there was no water in the hills and he would die of thirst, heinsisted on starting. The first day they found no water, but the orphanboy managed to endure it; but the second day he suffered so much, thathe begged the hunters to take him to water; they told him that therewas no water and they could not take him to any. So he set off alonein the direction in which he understood there might be water, but hesoon lost his way in the jungle; so in despair he climbed a _meral_tree and picked the fruit and threw it in all directions and to hisjoy he heard one fruit splash as it fell into water; so he climbed downand sure enough close to the tree he found a pool and drank his fill. 

And then he saw a fawn stuck fast in the mud at the edge of the pool, so he fixed an arrow to his bow and crept towards it, resolved tocatch it alive if he could, but if it ran away, to shoot it. The fawndid not move and he managed to seize it and pulling it out of the mud, he rubbed it clean and put his bow string round its neck and took ithome. The fawn grew up into a stag and he trained it to fight andone day he matched it to fight with a goat. The agreement was thatthe owner of the winner should take both the animals; in the fightthe stag was victorious, so the boy won the goat. Then he matched hisstag with a ram and a bullock and even with a buffalo, and the stagwas always victorious and in this way he soon grew rich. Seeing himso rich one of the villagers gave him his daughter in marriage andtook him to live in his house, and so he lived happily ever afterwards. 

LXXIII. The Seven Brothers and the Bonga Girl. 

Once upon a time there were seven brothers who lived all alone inthe jungle, far from human habitations. None of them was marriedand they lived on the game they killed. It chanced that a _bonga_maiden saw the youngest brother and fell deeply in love with him. Soone day when all the brothers were away hunting, she placed in theirhouse seven nicely cooked plates of rice. 

When the brothers returned in the evening from the chase, they wereastonished to find the rice waiting for them; all but the youngest saidthat it must be some plot to kill them and refused to touch the food, but the youngest wished to eat it. His brothers would not let him andtold him to throw the rice away; so he took it outside the house, butinstead of throwing it away, he ate up the whole seven plates full, without letting his brothers know. But when they went to bed thatnight, the youngest brother snored loudly, because he had eaten somuch, and thereby his brothers guessed that he had eaten the rice, and they were very unhappy for they were sure that he was about todie. However in the morning he was none the worse; so they went outhunting as usual but the youngest brother suffered continually fromthirst, the result of overeating, and this convinced his brothersthat he had eaten the rice, though he denied it. 

When they reached home that evening, they again found seven dishes ofrice placed ready for them. And that day the youngest brother and theyoungest but one ate; and the day after there was the rice again, andthe three youngest ate it. Then the eldest brother said: "To-morrowI will stay behind and watch, and see who it is who brings the rice;we have no servant, if I can catch the person who is so kind to us, I will engage him as a cook for us, and we need have no more of thismystery. Do you bring back my share of the game you shoot. "

So the next morning the eldest brother stayed behind and hid himselfand watched. But he could not see the _bonga_, though she broughtthe rice as usual; and when he told his brothers this, it was decidedthat the second brother should stay behind the next day, and see ifhe had better luck; and that day they all ate the rice, except theeldest brother, who said that he would never eat it, until he knewwho brought it; so the next day the second brother watched but healso could not see the _bonga_. 

One by one all the brothers watched in vain, until only the youngestone was left. Then they said to the youngest brother: "Now it isyour turn and if our friend does not show himself to you, we willeat no more of his rice. " So the next day the other brothers wentoff to hunt and the youngest stayed at home; he did not trouble tohide himself, but sat in the house making a bow. At noon he saw the_bonga_ girl coming with the rice on her head, but he took no noticeand pretended to be looking down at something. Then the _bonga_ cameinto the courtyard and put down the rice and looked about and said:"I saw something like a man here, where has he got to?" and shelooked into the house and still the youngest brother kept silent;then she spoke to him and asked whether he was ill, that he had notgone hunting. He answered her that he was not ill, but had been leftto watch for the person who brought them rice every day. Thereuponthe _bonga_ went outside and brought in the rice and putting it down, said: "It is I who do it. Come, wash your hands and I will give youyour dinner, " but he said: "First tell me what all this means, " andshe said: "It means that I want to live with you. " He objected. "Howcan I marry you when my brothers are not married?" She answered thatif he married her, they would soon find wives for his brothers. Thenshe urged him to eat, but he said that if he ate one plateful, hisbrothers would question him, so the _bonga_ girl went and brought anextra dish and he ate that. And as they talked together, he soon felldeeply in love with her, and promised to consult his brothers abouther living with them; but he saw a difficulty which would arise ifshe married him, for his elder brothers would not care even to askher for water, and thus she would be really of very little use in thehouse; so with some hesitation he proposed that she should marry theeldest brother and then they could all talk freely to her; but thegirl would not agree to this and said that there would be no harm atall in their talking to her, provided that they did not touch her, and she would not mind giving his elder brothers water. 

So they plighted their troth to each other, subject to the consent ofthe brothers, and towards evening the _bonga_ girl left, promisingto return on the morrow. When the brothers returned they discussedthe matter and agreed that the youngest should marry the girl, provided that she promised to keep house for them. So the next daythe girl came back and stayed with them; and they found wives forthe other brothers, and got cattle and buffaloes and broke up landfor cultivation and though the brothers did not altogether give uphunting, they became rich. 

A certain jogi found out where they lived and once every year he cameto ask for alms; one year he came just after the _bonga_ girl hadborne a child, so as she was doing no work, it was her sisters-in-lawwho brought out food for the jogi. But at this he was displeased, andsaid that he would only eat at the hands of the girl, who had givenhim food the year before. They told him that she was in child-bed andcould not come out. Then he said: "Go and tell her that the Jhades Jogihas come and wants her arm tassel. " So she sent out her arm tasselto him and he put it in his bag and got up and went away. Thereuponthe _bonga_ girl arose and left her baby, and followed him, and nevercame back. At evening the brothers returned from hunting, and heardwhat had happened. They were very distressed and told their wivesto look after the baby while they went in pursuit. They followed ashard as they could and caught up the Jogi on the banks of a river;then they tried to shoot him, but their arrows were powerless againsthim, and he by magic turned the seven brothers into stones. 

So the Jogi carried off the woman to his home. He was a Raja in hisown country and he had a big garden; and an old woman who lookedafter it used to make garlands every day and bring them to the Rani, and the Rani used to pay their weight in silver for them. In thecourse of time the child who was left behind grew up and when heused to play with his fellows at pitch and toss and there was anydispute about the game his playmates would say "Fatherless boy, you want to cheat!" So he asked his aunts whether it was true thathe had no father and they told him that the Jhades jogi had carriedoff his mother, and how his father and uncles had gone in pursuit andhad never returned. So the boy decided to go in search of his motherand he set off, and first he met some goatherds and he sang to them:--

 "Ho, Ho, goatherds Have you seen the Jhades Jogi On this road?"

But they could tell him nothing. And then he met some shepherd boys, and he sang to them:--

 "Ho, Ho, shepherds, Have you seen the Jhades jogi On this road?"

But they could tell him nothing. Then he met some boys tendingbuffaloes and he sang;--

 "Ho, ho, buffalo herds, Have you seen the Jhades jogi On this road?"

But they could tell him nothing. Then he came to a thorn bush, witha number of rags fluttering on it, and he sang:--

 "Ho, ho, plum bush, Have you seen the Jhades jogi On this road?"

And the plum tree said "The Jhades jogi brought your mother this way, and I did my best to stop them. If you don't believe me see the rags asa proof. " And he put his hand on the tree and went on. And then he cameto a squirrel which was chattering in a banyan tree, and he sang:--

 "Ho, ho, squirrel, Have you seen the Jhades jogi On this road?"

And the squirrel said "I have been calling you since yesterday. Thejogi brought your mother this way, go on and you will overtakethem. And your father and uncles also came this road. " The boy wascheered by this news and he put his hand on the squirrel's back andsaid "You are a fine fellow to give me this clue" and the marks ofhis fingers were imprinted on the squirrel and that is why squirrelshave striped backs to the present day. 

Then he went on and came to a river and he decided to sit and havehis lunch there; he did not know that his father and uncles had beenturned into stones in that very place, but as he sat and ate, his eyeswere opened and he saw the stones weeping, and he recognised them, and he dropt a little food on each that they might eat, and pursuedhis way, until he came to the Jhades jogi's kingdom, and he went tothe old woman who kept the Jogi's garden and asked to be allowed tostay with her and help her to make the garlands. 

One day when he had made a garland, he tied to it a ring which hadbelonged to his mother. So when the old woman took the garland to theRani, the Rani wondered why it weighed so heavy, and when she examinedit she saw her own ring. Then she asked the old woman who had tied thering there, and when she heard that a strange boy had come, she atonce ran to him and recognised her own son. 

Then they planned how they could kill the Jhades jogi and escape! Themother agreed to find out in what lay the life of the Jogi. So shequestioned him and worried him till he told her that his life lay in acertain pumpkin vine. Then the boy went and cut down the pumpkin vine, but the Jogi did not die; then the Rani worried and worried the Jogitill he told her that his life lay in his sword; then the boy stolethe sword and burnt it in a fire of cowdung, but still the Jogi did notdie; then his mother again worried and plagued the Jogi till at last hetold her the truth and said "In the middle of the sea is a cotton tree, and on the tree are two Bohmae birds; if they are killed I shall die. "

So the boy set off to the sea and on the road he met three oldwomen and one had a stool stuck to her back, and one had a bundle ofthatching grass stuck on her head, and the third had her foot stuckfast to a rice-pounder, and they asked him where he was going, and hetold them, "to visit the shrine of the Bohmae bird": then they askedhim to consult the oracle and find out how they could be freed fromthe things which were stuck fast to them, and he promised to do so. 

By-and-bye he came to the sea and was puzzled as to how he was tocross it. As he walked up and down the shore he saw an alligatorrolling about in pain with a swollen stomach; and when it saw the boyit said "I am like to die with this pain in my stomach, how can I becured?" and the boy proposed that it should take him to the cottontree in the midst of the sea and there they might learn a remedy fromthe Bohmae birds. The alligator agreed, so the boy got on its backand was taken across the water. Then the boy sat at the foot of thecotton tree and sang:--

 "Come down, Bohmae birds, I wish to consult the oracle. "

But the birds were frightened and flew to the top of the tree. But ashe went on singing, they became curious and came down and asked whatwas the matter, and he said "There are three old woman and one has astool stuck to her and one a bundle of grass and one a rice pounder;how are they to be freed?" And they said "The first old woman neverasked visitors to her house to take a seat; if she does so in futureshe will get rid of the stool, "--and as they said this they camenearer--"and the second old woman, if she saw anyone with strawssticking in their hair never offered to take them out. If she doesso in future she will be freed, " and as they said this they camenearer still--"and the third old woman would not allow widows andorphans to use her rice pounder: if she does so she will be freed:"and as they said this they came quite near, and the boy seized themand broke their wings, and as he did so the Jogi's arms were broken;then he snapped off their legs, and as he did so the Jogi's legs werebroken; and the birds screamed and the Jogi howled. 

Then the alligator carried the boy back, and by the time it reachedthe shore it was cured of its pain. On his way back the boy told thethree old women of what the birds had said; and when he got to theJogi's palace he twisted off the heads of the Bohmae birds and thenthe Jogi's head fell to the ground. 

Then he started homewards with his mother, carrying the birds andtheir heads; and the Jogi's head came rolling after them. But he sawa blacksmith's fire burning by the side of the road and he threw thebirds into the fire and the Jogi's head rolled into the fire and wasburnt, and that was the end of him. When they came to the river wherehis father and uncles were turned into stones, he bathed in the river, and then put a cloth over the stones and they were restored to humanshape; and they rubbed their eyes and said "We must have slept a longtime" and were astonished when they heard how the Jogi had turnedthem into stones. Then they all went home and lived happily ever after. 

LXXIV. The Tiger's Foster Child. 

Once upon a time a Potter woman went to dig earth for making pots, and while she was working she was prematurely delivered of a boy. Andshe considered whether she should carry the child home, or the basketof clay, but in the end decided to take the clay which was urgentlywanted, while she would doubtless have plenty more children in thecourse of time. So she went away, leaving the baby in the pit. Atevening a tiger came by and heard the child crying and he took pityon it and carried it away and he and his wife reared it. 

As the child grew up they used to take him to the tigers' assembly. Hewas not at all afraid of the tigers and understood all they saidand one day he heard them saying that the Pargana (tribal chief)tiger was a great man-eater. At this he was very angry and set off tolook for the man-eater, without telling his foster parents. When thePargana tiger saw the boy coming he had just finished cleaning histeeth, and he thought "This is lucky, here is my breakfast coming;"but just as he was about to spring on the boy, the boy caught holdof him and tore him to pieces. 

The news of this exploit soon spread, and the tigers called a meetingto consider the matter, and they told the foster father that he musttake steps to prevent the boy doing any such thing again. So thetiger and tigress went home and told the boy that it was time thathe went back to his own people, as he had brought shame upon them;the boy objected that men would not receive him, but they told him togo as an orphan boy and beg in the villages till he found his mother. 

So he went away and when he came to a village he sang:--

 "My mother went to dig earth And left me in the pit; The tiger and the tigress of the jungle Reared me--give me alms, "

And thus he went begging from village to village and one day he cameto the village where his father and mother lived. His mother heardhim a long way off and running to him knew him for her son. Then shebrought water and oil and turmeric and bathed him and anointed him, and gave him new clothes and fed him on curds and parched rice. Andthe villagers collected, and when they heard the stories of the motherand son, they believed them and gave a feast in honour of the boy, and took him into the village. 

LXXV. The Caterpillar Boy. 

Once there was an old woman who lived on the grain she could collectfrom other people's threshing floors. One day as she swept up athreshing floor she found a caterpillar among the paddy; she threwit away but it came crawling back again; she threw it away again, but it said "Do not throw me away, take me home with you and youwill prosper. " So she let it stay and that day she found that shecollected a whole basketful of rice; at this she was delighted, andput the caterpillar on the top of her basket and took it home. Thereshe asked the caterpillar what work it would do, and it said thatit would watch the paddy, when it was spread out to dry after beingboiled, and prevent the fowls and pigs from eating it. 

So the caterpillar used to watch the paddy while the old woman went outlooking for food; and every day she brought back a full basket of rice, and so she soon became rich. It got whispered about that the old womanwas so prosperous, because she had a caterpillar boy in her house. 

One day the caterpillar said that he wanted to go and bathe, so hewent to the river and took off his caterpillar skin, and bathed, andas he rubbed his head, one or two hairs came out, and these he wrappedup in a leaf and set the packet to float down the stream. Lower downthe stream a princess was bathing and when she saw the packet comefloating down, she had it fished out, and when she opened it she sawthe hairs inside and she measured them and found them to be twelvefathoms long; then the princess vowed that she would not eat rice, till she found the man to whom the hairs belonged. And she went homeand shut herself in her room and refused to eat. 

At this her father and mother were much distressed, and when they heardwhat had happened the Raja said "Well she wants a husband, I will findhim for her. " And he sent a notice throughout his kingdom saying thathe would give his daughter and half his kingdom to the man who hadhair twelve fathoms long. Everyone who heard this came with his sonsand the princess was told to look at them and choose whom she liked;but none had hair twelve fathoms long, and she would take none ofthem. Then the Raja asked whether everyone in the kingdom had come, and he was told that there was a caterpillar boy, who lived with anold woman, who had not come, so the Raja sent to fetch him, but hesaid that he had no arms or legs and could not go; so they sent apalki for him and he was brought in that. And when the palki was seton the ground, the caterpiller boy rolled out and the princess saidthat he should be her husband. 

At this her father and mother were much ashamed and remonstrated withher, but she persisted in her fancy, so the marriage took place. Theysent the newly married pair to live in a house at the outskirts of thevillage and only one maidservant accompanied the princess. Every nightthe caterpillar boy used to take off his skin and go out to dance, and one night the maidservant saw him and told her mistress. And theyagreed to watch him, so the next night they pretended to go to sleep, but when the caterpillar boy went out, they took his skin and burntit on the fire; and when he came back, he looked for it, but couldnot find it. Then the princess got up and caught him in her arms, and he retained his human form, and he was as handsome as a god. 

In the morning the caterpillar boy and his wife stayed inside thehouse, and the Raja sent some children to see what had happened, andthe children brought back word that there was a being in the house, but whether human or divine they could not say. Then the Raja wentand fetched his son-in-law to the palace, but the caterpillar was notpleased and said to his wife; "They treat me very well now that theysee that I am a man, but what did they do before?" However he stayedin his father-in-law's palace. 

Presently the Raja said that his kingdom was too small to give half ofit to his son-in-law, so he proposed that they should go and conquerfresh territory, and carve out a kingdom for the caterpillar boy. Sothey went to war and attacked another Raja, but they were defeated andtheir army cut to pieces. Then the son-in-law said that he would fighthimself; so he drew his sword and brandished it and it flashed likelightning and dazzled the eyes of the enemy and his shield clangedon his thigh with a noise like thunder; and he defeated the otherRaja and took his kingdom and carried off all his wealth. 

But the Raja thought that as his son-in-law was so strong, he wouldone day kill him also and take his kingdom: so he resolved to find ameans to kill him. On their way back from the war they found no wateron the road and were distressed with thirst. One day they came to alarge tank and found it dry. So they made a sacrifice in the hopesthat water would flow. First they sacrificed goats and sang:--

 "Tank, we are giving goats Trickle out water! Tank, we are giving goats Flow, water!"

But no water came. Then in succession they sacrificed sheep, and oxenand buffaloes, and horses and elephants, but all in vain: and aftereach failure the Raja said "Son-in-law, it is your turn, " and atlast his son-in-law said "Well, let it be me;" and he armed himselfand mounted his horse and went and stood in the middle of the tank, and he sang:--

 "Up to my knees the water, father, The water, father, has oozed out. "

And the Raja answered:--

 "Do you, my son, remain standing there, "

And as he sang the water welled out up to his horse's knee and thento its belly; and he still sang and the water rose to the horse'sback and then to his own waist, and to his chest, and he still sang, and it reached his mouth and then he was completely submerged andthe tank was full. Then they all drank their fill and the Raja saidto his men "We have sacrificed this Saru prince. I will kill any ofyou who tells my daughter what has happened" and they promised notto tell, but they forgot that there were two dogs with them. Andwhen they got home each man's wife brought out water and welcomedhim and the princess asked where her husband, the Saru prince, was, and no one answered; then she sang:--

 "Oh Father, my father; How far away Is the Saru Prince, the Gindu Raja?"

and the Raja answered

 "My daughter, my darling, the Saru Prince, the Gindu Raja Is very far away, amusing himself with hunting. "

And she sang to them all, but no one told her anything, and then shesang to the two dogs, who were named Chaura and Bhaura:--

 "Oh Chaura, oh Bhaura, How far away Is the Saru Prince, the Gindu Raja?"

and they answered

 "Oh sister, oh Rani! Your father has sacrificed him In the big tank. "

Thereupon she began to cry, and every day she sat and cried on thebank of the tank. 

Now the two daughters of the Snake King and Queen had received theSaru Prince as he disappeared under the water, and when they heardthe princess crying every day they had pity on her; she used to sing:--

 "Oh husband! Oh Raja! My father has sacrificed you In the big tank. Oh husband! Oh Raja, Take me with you too. "

So the daughters of the Snake King and Queen took pity on her andtold their frog chowkidar to restore the Saru Prince to his wife;and the Prince and his wife went home together. When the Raja andhis wife saw their son-in-law again, they were terrified, but he saidnothing to reproach them. The princess however could not forgive themfor trying to kill her husband and always looked angrily at them;then the Raja and the Rani took counsel together and agreed thatthey had done wrong to the prince, and that he must be a magician;and they thought that their daughter must also be a magician, as shehad recognised the prince when he was a caterpillar, and she couldnot even see his long hair; so they were afraid and thought it bestto make over the kingdom to their son-in-law, and they abdicated inhis favour, and he took the kingdom. 

LXXVI. The Monkey Nursemaid. 

Once upon a time there were seven brothers who were all married andeach had one child and the brothers arranged to engage a boy to carrythe children about; so they sent for a boy and to see if he was strongenough, they made a loaf as big as a door and they told the boy to takeit away and eat it; but he was not strong enough to lift it; so theytold him that he could not carry their children. Now a Hanuman monkeywas looking on from the top of a tree, and he came down and carriedoff the loaf and ate it. Thereupon the mothers engaged him to carrythe children, and he used to carry the whole seven about on his back. 

One day the children were running about the house and kept interferingwith their mothers' work, and the mothers scolded the monkey for notkeeping them out of the way. Then the monkey got sulky and carriedoff the children to a distant hill and did not bring them back atevening. So the mothers got very anxious, but the villagers laughedat them for engaging a monkey, instead of a human being, to lookafter the children. 

When the mothers heard that the monkey had taken the children tothe hill, they were still more unhappy, for in the hill lived a_rakhas_ (ogre) but it was too late to go in search of them thatnight. Meanwhile the monkey for fear of the _rakhas_ had carried thechildren up to the top of a palm tree and when the _rakhas_ spiedthem out he tried to climb the tree, but the monkey drove him awayby throwing the palm fruit at him. 

However the monkey was really in a fix, for he was sure that the Rakhaswould return, and he knew that if he let the children be eaten, theirparents would make him pay for it with his life. So he went off to ablacksmith and bought sharp knives and tied them on to the trunk of thepalm tree: and when the Rakhas came back and tried to climb the tree, he was so badly cut by the knives, that he fell down to the ground witha thud and lay there groaning. Then the monkey cautiously descended andthe Rakhas begged him to cure his wounds; the monkey answered that hewould cure him if he gave him complete outfits for the children. TheRakhas said that he would give them directly he was cured. So themonkey applied some medicines and recited the following spells:--

 "Rustling, rustling sesamum, Slender sesamum: Tell your grandfather, Tell him of seven waist strings. 

 Rustling, rustling sesamum, Slender sesamum: Tell your grandfather, Tell him of seven dhotis. "

And in succeeding verses, he mentioned seven coats, seven pair ofshoes, seven hats, seven swords, seven horses, and seven hogs; and ashe repeated the incantation he blew on the Rakhas, and he was healed. 

The Rakhas was to give the things mentioned in the incantation, butwhen seven hogs were mentioned he objected and wished only to give one, and in the end the monkey agreed to be content with two; so the Rakhasdeparted and the next day appeared with seven waist strings, sevendhoties, seven coats, seven hats, seven pairs of shoes, seven swords, seven horses and two hogs. Then the monkey rigged the children out inthis apparel and mounted them on the horses; and the monkey and theRakhas mounted on the two hogs, --the Rakhas having faithfully promisednot to eat the children or their parents, --and they all set out forthe children's home. When the mothers saw the cavalcade come jinglingalong, they were frightened at first; but when they recognised theirchildren they were delighted, and they gave the monkey and Rakhas agood dinner. Then the monkey made over the children to their parentsand gave up his post as nurse, and left amid the good wishes of all. 

LXXVII. The Wife Who Could Not Keep a Secret. 

Once there was a man of the Goala caste, who looked after the cattleof a rich farmer. One day a cow dropped a calf in the jungle withoutthe Goala knowing, and at evening the cow came running to join theothers, without the calf. When they got home the cow kept on lowingand the master asked whether she had had a calf; the Goala had toconfess that the calf had been left in the jungle; the master scoldedhim well, so he took a rope and stick and went out into the night. 

But when he got to the jungle he could not hear the calf, so hedecided to wait where he was till the morning; he was too frightenedof wild animals to stay on the ground, so he climbed a tree leavingthe stick and rope at the foot of it. Soon a tiger smelt him out andcame to the place. Then the stick and the rope took council togetheras to how they could save their master; the stick saw that it couldnot see in the dark and so was powerless; so the rope agreed to fightfirst, and it whirled itself round in the air with a whistling noise, and the tiger hearing the noise and seeing no one, got frightened, and thought that there was an evil spirit there; so it did not dareto come very near and in the morning it took itself off. 

Then the Goala saw the cow come to look for her calf, so he took up thestick and rope and followed her. The cow soon found her calf and askedit whether it had not been very cold and uncomfortable all night; butthe calf said "No mother, I put my foot in these four pots of rupeesand they kept me warm, " The Goala heard this and resolved to see ifit were true; so he dug up the earth where the calf had been lying andsoon uncovered the rims of four pots full of money. But the Goala didnot care to take the money home for fear his wife should talk aboutit; he resolved to see first whether his wife could keep a secret. 

So he went home and told her to cook him some food quickly; she askedwhy, and he said "The Raja has a tortoise inside him and I am goingto look at him. " Then his wife said that she must fetch some water, and she went off with the water pot. On the way she met several womenof the village, who asked her why she was fetching water so early, andshe said, "Because the Raja has a tortoise inside him and my husband isgoing off to see it. " In less than an hour the village was full of thenews, and the rumour spread until it reached the ears of the Raja. TheRaja was very angry and said that he would kill the man who startedthe report, unless he could prove it to be true. So he sent messengersthroughout the country to trace back the rumour to its source. 

One messenger found out that it was the Goala who had started the storyand told him that the Raja wanted to give him a present; so he gladlyput on his best clothes and went off to the Raja's palace. But theRaja had him bound with ropes, and then questioned him as to why hehad told a false story. The Goala admitted that his story was false, but explained that he had only told it to his wife, in order to seewhether she could keep a secret, because he had found four pots ofmoney. The Raja asked where the money was and the Goala said that hewould show it, but he wanted to know first how much of it he was tohave, for himself. The Raja promised him half; so the Goala led mento the place and they dug up the money, and the Goala kept half andbecame a rich man. 

_Moral_. However friendly you are with a man do not tell him what isin your heart, and never tell your wife the real truth, for one dayshe will lose her temper and let the matter out. 

LXXVIII. Sit and Lakhan. 

Once upon a time there was a Raja who had two wives and a concubine, but after giving birth to her second son, the first Rani died, and thename of her elder boy was Sit and that of the younger was Lakhan. Thetwo children used to cry for their mother but the second Rani nevercomforted them, for she hated them; it was the concubine who used tobathe them and care for them, and their father loved them much. Theyused to go to the place where their father sat administering justiceand Sit would sit behind his father and Lakhan in front. The secondRani hated to see them with their father and would tell the concubineto drive them away; but she refused and said that it was natural fora father to love his motherless children; so the Rani kept silent, but anger remained in her heart. 

At last the Rani feigned to be ill and kept her bed; the Raja sentfor doctors and _ojhas_, and they came and saw that she could notrise and they wanted to feel her pulse, but she would not let themtouch her; all she would do was to make the concubine tie a stringto her wrist and let the doctors hold the other end of the string;so the doctors diagnosed the disease as best they could in this wayand gave her medicines, but she got no better. 

After some days the Rani sent for the Raja and said "I am dying andyou don't care; these doctors' medicines do me no good; there is onemedicine only which will cure me. " The Raja asked "What is it? I willget it for you. " Then the Rani made him swear by Kali that he wouldgive her the medicine she wanted, and he swore blindly. Then theRani said "If I eat the livers of Sit and Lakhan I shall get well, and if not I shall die. " At this request the Raja was struck dumb. 

Now the concubine and a sipahi had overheard the conversation, andwhen they heard what the Rani said, they withdrew and the concubinewent and told Sit and Lakhan of what was in store for them, and Sitbegan to cry:--but Lakhan said "Do not cry brother, our father gaveus life, and it is for him to take it away if he will. " So the Rajacame out from the Rani's room and when he saw the boys he wept andhe went to them and told them to eat their rice quickly, but theywould not eat; then he had their best clothes brought for them andtold them to put them on, but they refused. Then the Raja called for_sipahis_ and the _sipahi_ who had been with the concubine, and twoothers, came and the Raja told them with tears in his voice to takethe two boys away and let him never see them again, and he added sothat the boys should not hear "Bring me their livers. " So the sipahistook away the boys, and as they passed through the bazar they boughtthem some sweetmeats. After walking for a time they came to a jungle;then Sit said to the sipahis "How far are we to go? Do here what isin your minds. "

But the sipahis went on further; then Sit again told them to do whatthey had to do. But the sipahis said "Do not be frightened, we shallnot kill you; we shall not obey your father; you must go away andnever come back here. "

Now two dogs had followed them, attracted by the smell of thesweetmeats, and the _sipahis_ caught and killed them and cut out theirlivers, and they put them on a plate and took them to the Raja. TheRani was delighted and had the livers cooked, and ate them and thenext day she rose from her bed. 

Meanwhile Sit and Lakhan travelled on, and in a few days they hadeaten all their food and were very tired, and one evening they satdown at the foot of a tree in the jungle intending to spend the nightthere. In that tree a pair of birds had their nest. Every year theyhatched their eggs and reared the young: but every year when the youngwere half grown, a snake came and devoured them. That year also therewere two young in the nest, and on the day that the boys rested at thefoot of the tree the snake had resolved to eat them. But when it came, the boys heard it moving in the leaves and killed it. 

At evening the old birds returned and the nestlings said that the boyshad saved their lives, and asked the old birds to give them some ofthe food that they had brought. So they threw down two bits of food, and it was ordained that whoever ate the first piece, should marrythe daughter of a Raja, and whoever ate the second piece, shouldspit gold; and it chanced that Sit ate the first piece, and Lakhanthe second. The next morning the boys went on their way, and the Rajaof the country was looking for a husband for his daughter and he hadsent an elephant out with a flower in its trunk and it was arrangedthat the princess should marry the man to whom the elephant gave theflower. The elephant came upon Sit sitting by the side of the road, while Lakhan was at a distance; and when the elephant saw Sit, itwent up and gave him the flower and the attendants mounted him onthe elephant and took him to the Raja and he married the princess. 

A few days after the wedding Sit sat outside the palace with his wife, and did not come in though it was evening, and the Raja asked him whyhe was sitting outside in the dew. Then Sit began to cry and lamenthis brother, singing--

 "O Brother Lakhan, where have you gone? O younger brother, where have you gone?"

Then the Raja heard how he had been separated from his brother, and he promised to send men in search of Lakhan, and they foundhim in the house of a potter; but the potter refused to give him upuntil he had been paid for the days that he had entertained him; butreally the Potter had become wealthy, because whenever Lakhan openedhis mouth he spat gold, and he did not wish to lose such a valuableguest. Then Sit mounted his horse and took five rupees and gave them tothe Potter in payment for his entertainment, and brought Lakhan homewith him. When they found that Lakhan spat gold they were very gladto keep him and the Raja gave him his second daughter in marriage;and Lakhan made the whole family rich. 

Meanwhile Sit and Lakhan's father had fallen into poverty; his countryhad been conquered and his army destroyed and he and his wife wanderedabout begging; when the boys heard this, they sent for the concubinewho had been good to them, and she came and lived with them, but theydid not forgive their father and step-mother. 

_Moral_. There is no controlling a second wife and they are hard toget on with. First wives are the best, they are obedient and agreewith the opinions of their husband. 

LXXIX. The Raja Who Went To Heaven. 

Once upon a time there was a Raja, who had many water reservoirsand tanks, and round the edges he planted trees, mangoes, pipals, palms and banyans; and the banyan trees were bigger than any. Everyday after bathing the Raja used to walk about and look at his trees, and one morning, as he did so, he saw a maiden go up to a banyan treeand climb it, and the tree was then carried up to the sky, but whenhe went in the evening he saw the tree in its place again; the samething happened three or four days running. The Raja told no one, butone morning he climbed the banyan tree before the maiden appeared, andwhen she came, he was carried up to the sky along with the tree. Thenhe saw the maiden descend and go and dance with a crowd of Gupinis(Divine milk maids) and the Raja also got down and joined in the dance. 

He was so absorbed in the dance that he took no note of time; sowhen at last he tore himself away, he found that the banyan tree haddisappeared. There was nothing to be done, but stay where he was;so he began to wander about and he soon came to some men building apalace as hard as they could. He asked them for whom the palace wasbeing built, and they named his own name. He asked why it was beingbuilt for him, and they said that Thakur intended to bring him there, because he was a good ruler, who did not oppress his subjects andgave alms to the poor and to widows and orphans. 

There was no difference between night and day up in the sky, butwhen the Raja came back, he found that the banyan tree was there, and he climbed up it and was carried back to earth by it. Thenhe went home and told his people that he had been on a visit to afriend. After that the Raja used to visit the banyan tree every day, and when he found that it did not wither although it had been takenup by the roots, he concluded that what he had seen was true and hebegan to prepare for death. So he distributed all his wealth amonghis friends and among the poor; and when his officers remonstratedhe made them no answer. A few days later he died, and was taken tothe palace which he had seen being built. 

It is said that what you give away in this world, you will get backin the next; there you will get good wages for what you have done inthis life. 

LXXX. Seven-Tricks and Single-Trick. 

Seven-Tricks and Single-Trick were great friends, but some onetold Seven-Tricks that Single-Trick was the cleverer man of thetwo. Seven-Tricks pondered over this but felt sure that his very nameshowed that he was the cleverer; so one day he went to pay a visitto Single-Trick, and put the matter to the test When Single-Trick sawhim coming, he called a pretty girl and hid her inside the house andtold his wife to put the rice on to boil. Seven-Tricks arrived and waspressed to stay for the midday meal; he accepted and Single-Trick'swife brought them water to wash their hands and when they sat down, helped them to the rice. 

As they ate, Single-Trick pretended to get very angry and began toabuse his wife "You lazy slattern, why have you put no salt in therice? I will beat you for this, I will beat you into a girl again. " Sosaying he caught up a club and gave her a blow with it, and pushed herinto the house and pretended to continue the beating inside; and thencame out dragging with him the pretty girl whom he had hidden. WhenSeven-Tricks saw this transformation he made up his mind to steal theclub, and try whether he could beat his own wife into a girl again. Sowhen he went home he secretly took away the club, and the next day whenhis wife was giving him his dinner he pretended to get angry with herfor not putting salt in the rice, and snatching up the club gave hera good pounding with it, and drove her into the house and then pulledher forth again; but to his dismay she did not look a day younger thanbefore. Seven-Tricks was puzzled but could only opine that he had notbeaten the woman hard enough, so he beat her till her bones cracked;but still there was no result and he had to give up in despair. 

After a time Seven-Tricks paid another visit to Single-Trick, andSingle-Trick invited him to come hunting in the forest; before theystarted Single-Trick told his wife to go and buy a hare and keepit in the house. The two friends set off, and after a time theyput up a hare; Single-Trick had brought with him his dog, whichwas a shocking coward and no good at hunting; when they saw the hareSingle-Trick loosed the dog calling "After it, after it, drive it righthome. " And the coward of a dog, directly it was free, put its tailbetween its legs and ran straight home. "Come along home now; thatis a splendid sporting dog, it is sure to have taken the hare home;"so saying Single-Trick set off back, and when they arrived he askedhis wife whether the dog had brought home a hare. "Yes", said she, "I have put it in that room" and promptly produced the hare that shehad bought. Seven-Tricks at once resolved to possess himself of a dogthat brought the game home by itself, and the next night he came andstole it, and in the morning took it out hunting. He soon started ahare and loosed the dog after it; the dog ran straight away in thedirection of the house, and Seven-Tricks followed at his leisure, and asked his wife where the dog had put the hare. "Hare, " said she"there is no hare, the dog came running back alone. " "Perhaps I wastoo slow and gave him time to eat the hare, " thought Seven-Tricks;so he took it out again and when he loosed it after a hare, he ranafter it as fast as he could to see what it did. Everyone laughed tosee the hunter chasing his dog, instead of his game. When he got to thehouse of course there was no hare, and so he gave up trying to hunt. 

Another day he paid a visit to Single-Trick and Single-Trick asked himto come out fishing. Before they started Single-Trick told his wife tobuy some live _codgo_ fish and keep them ready in the house. When theycame to a pool, Single-Trick at once let down his line and soon gota bite from a _codgo_ fish; as he pulled it out he threw it, rod andall, behind him in the direction of his home and said to Seven-Tricks"_Come_ along home, I expect that all the fish in the pool will havereached home by now, " Directly they got to the house Single-Trickasked his wife whether the fish had come. "Yes", said she, "I haveput them all in this basket" and brought out a basket of live _codgo_fish. Seven-Tricks at once made up his mind to steal the wonderfulfishingrod, so he came back that evening and managed to abstract it, and next morning went fishing with it. Directly he had caught a _codgo_fish, he threw it over his shoulder and went off home and asked whetherthe fish had arrived, but he only got laughed at for his folly. Thenhe was convinced that Single-Trick was more than a match for him, and he would have nothing more to do with him. 

LXXXI. Fuljhari Raja. 

There was once a Raja named Fuljhari and he was childless; he and hiswife made pilgrimages to many shrines but all in vain, the wished-forson never arrived. One day a Jugi came to the palace begging andthe Raja asked the holy man to tell him how he could have a son;then the Jugi examined the palms of their hands but having doneso remained silent. The Raja urged him to speak but the Jugi saidthat he feared that the reply would be distasteful to the Raja andmake him angry. But the Raja and his wife begged for his advice, and promised to do him no harm whatever he said. At last the Jugiexplained that they could never have a child unless they separated, and the Raja went right away and the Rani lived with another man;with this he took his departure. 

Then the Raja and his wife consulted together and the Raja proposed totake the Jugi's advice, as he felt that he could not leave his kingdomwithout an heir; so he said that he would go away to a far country, on pretence of visiting a distant shrine; but the Rani feared thatif, on his return, he found that she had borne a child, he wouldkill her or at least turn her and the child out to beg their bread;but the Raja assured her that he would never treat her in that wayand after making his final arrangements he went off to a far country. 

There he stayed some years and in the meanwhile the Rani had five sons;at last she wrote to her husband to come home and directly he reachedthe palace he bade the Rani to bring the boys to him, that he mightembrace and acknowledge them; so they were brought and he took themone by one in his arms and kissed them, and he saw that they wereall the images of himself. But when he kissed the youngest child hewas suddenly struck with blindness. Then he rose in wrath and orderedthe child to be taken away and killed; but the mother had pity on itand persuaded the soldiers not to kill it but to convey it away toa far country. 

The child's name was Lita and he grew up and was married to thedaughter of the Raja of the land and lived in his father-in-law'shouse. But Lita was always tormented by the thought that he had beenthe cause of his father's blindness; although he would not tell anyoneof his sorrow, he used to get up when every one was asleep and spendthe night in tears. One night his wife surprised him weeping andbegged him to tell her what was the matter. She pressed him until hetold her how, immediately his father kissed him, he had gone blindand how his mother had smuggled him out of the country and saved hislife, but how the recollection of the harm he had done tormented himand how he longed to be able to return to his own country and restorehis father's sight. His wife on hearing this at once began to comforthim and assured him that she would help him to obtain a medicine whichwould restore his father's sight. In a range of mountains was a Rakhaswho had a daughter who was buried in a heap of Fuljhari flowers; ifLita went and could persuade the Rakhas to let him marry his daughter, he could then get a Fuljhari flower and if that were rubbed on hisfather's eyes his sight would be restored. 

So Lita set out towards the mountains and sat down by the road sideat their foot. Presently the Rakhas and his wife came by; the wifeasked him what he was sitting there for; he said that he was lookingout for some one who would have him to come and live in his house asa son-in-law. The Rakhas paid no heed to this and proposed to eat upLita at once, but his wife begged him to spare the young man and takehim home and marry him to their daughter, who was very lonely. TheRakhas gave way and they took Lita to the cavern in which they livedand there was their daughter buried under a heap of flowers. Theymade her get up, and told her that they had brought a husband for her. 

Lita and his bride lived happily together and were soon deeplyin love with each other, and after a time he told her about hisfather's blindness and how he wished to try to cure it with one ofher flowers. She readily agreed to help him; so the next day shewent to her father and said that she wished to pay a short visit toher husband's home; the Rakhas consented and she and Lita took theirleave. She told Lita that when the Rakhas offered him a farewell gift, he should take nothing but a hair from the Rakhas' head; this he didand they tied the flower and the hair up carefully and set off to thehome, where Lita's first wife was awaiting them. She told her parentsthat Lita had come back with one of his sisters, and that she nowwished to go back with them on a visit to their home. Her parentsassented and the three of them set out and one evening reached theoutskirts of the village in which Lita had been born. They campedunder a roadside tree, but in the middle of the night they took outthe Rakhas' hair and said to it "Make us a golden palace" and atonce a golden palace sprang up. Next morning all the residents ofthe village collected to see the wonderful new palace, and Lita toldthem to bring their Raja and he would cure him of his blindness. Sothey went and fetched the old blind Raja and directly Lita touchedhis eyes with the flower his sight was restored. Then they wept overeach other and told all that had happened. And the old Raja and hiswife came and lived with Lita and his wives and the other brothersstayed on at their old home; and they all lived happily ever after. 

LXXXII. The Corpse of the Raja's Son. 

There was once a blacksmith named Chitru who had a very prettywife; and the woman attracted the attention of the son of theRaja. Chitru suspected that his wife was unfaithful to him, and onenight he pretended to go away from home, but really he lay in waitand surprised the prince visiting his wife; then he sprang out uponhim and strangled him. 

But when he found himself with the corpse of the prince on his hands, he began to wonder what he should do to avoid being convicted of themurder. At last he took up the corpse and carried it to the houseof two dancing girls who lived in the village, and laid it downinside. Soon after the dancing girls woke up and saw the corpselying in their room; they at once aroused their parents, and whenthey found that it was the corpse of the Prince, they were filledwith consternation. 

Now Chitru had a reputation for cunning, so they decided to sendfor him quietly and take his advice. When he came they begged him tosave them; he pretended to be much surprised and puzzled and at lastundertook to get them out of their difficulty, if they paid him onehundred rupees; they gladly paid him the money, and then he took upthe corpse and carried it off and laid it down on the verandah of thehouse of a _mahajan_ who lived near. Soon after some one came out ofthe house and found the corpse; at once they were all in consternationand sent for the clever Chitru to help them out of their difficulty. 

Chitru refused to lift a finger unless he were paid two hundred rupees, and when he had got the money he took up the corpse and put it in asitting position in a little patch of _brinjals_ which a Koeri hadplanted by his front door. At dawn the Koeri came out and saw whathe thought was a thief stealing his brinjals, and promptly threwa stone at the man. The corpse fell over, and when the Koeri wentto see who it was he found the dead body of the Raja's son. As itwas daylight, he had no opportunity of making away with the body, so he was arrested and sent for trial. He was acquitted, because hehad acted unwittingly, but he was too frightened of the Raja to stayany longer in the village and absconded as soon as he could. 

Chitru, who was the real murderer, made his wife promise to keepsilence by threats and was three hundred rupees the better for thebusiness. 

LXXXIII. The Sham Child. 

There was once a Raja who had two wives and each Rani had a maidservantwho was the Raja's concubine; but none of them had any children. Inthe course of time the ladies began to quarrel and when they appealedto the Raja, he found that the elder Rani was to blame and turnedher out of the palace, and sent her to live in a palm leaf hut onthe outskirts of the town. Her faithful maidservant followed her, and the two supported themselves by begging. But they barely gotenough to keep body and soul together. 

After a few days the maidservant asked permission of her mistress toplay a trick on the Raja, by which they should at least get sufficientfood. The Rani assented and the maidservant went off to the Rajaand told him that the wife whom he had turned out was five monthswith child, and that it was a disgrace that one who was to be themother of his heir should have to beg her bread. On hearing this theRaja somewhat relented towards the Rani, and he ordered money to besent her sufficient to provide her with food, and had a proper houseprepared for her. When the proper time arrived, the maidservant wentto the Raja and told him that a son had been born; at this joyfulnews the Raja became still more generous and told the maidservantthat she was free to take whatever was wanted for the child. 

This suited the maid and her mistress excellently; so long as theycould keep up the deception they lived in comfort; when the childwas supposed to have grown old enough to run about, they asked forthe price of some anklets with bells on them and bought a pair, and whenever the Raja passed by the house in which the Rani lived, the maidservant made her mistress rattle the anklets, and then wentoutside and told the Raja to listen to the anklets tinkling as his sonran about the house. The Raja would tell the maidservant not to let theboy run about too much, lest he should fall and hurt himself; then shewould hurry inside and tell the Rani to stop the jingling, and thencome and tell the Raja that the boy was resting in his mother's lap;but for all this the Raja was never given an opportunity of seeinghis son. 

However as time went on the Raja chose a bride and arranged forhis son's wedding; the bride's friends did not come to inspect thebridegroom; a day was fixed right off for the wedding. As this day drewnear, the Rani became more and more frightened, for it seemed that herdeception must at last be discovered, and she would probably be putto death. But the maidservant encouraged her and promised to devisea plan; so when the day came for them to start for the bride's houseshe made a paste of ground mowah flowers and out of this fashionedan image of a child; and when the procession started off, with theRaja in a palki, and drummers, and palki-bearers, the maidservantwas also carried in a palki and pretended that she was holding thechild. Off they started and as it was too far to go in one day, they stopped for the night at a bazar, where there was the shrineof a saint. At midnight the maidservant arose and went to the shrineand called to the spirit (bonga) which dwelt there, and said that hemust grant her a boon, and if not it would be the worse for him; thespirit asked what she wanted and she showed the paste image and saidthat she was going with the procession to marry her son, and somehowon the way he had been turned into paste; if the spirit would notgive her another son, she would spit on him and curse him. The spiritsaw that she meant what she said, and for fear of being spat upon, he produced a boy from somewhere and gave him to her. The maidservantwas delighted at her success and bowed down three times in reverenceto the spirit and took away the boy and put him in her palki. 

The next morning they rose and reached the bride's house andthe wedding took place in due form. As they were returning, themaidservant sent on two men to warn her mistress of what had happenedand to tell her to get ready a feast. So when they reached home therewas a feast ready and the bride's friends were duly entertained anddismissed. Afterwards the Raja fell out with his second wife and leftthe palace where she lived and came and stayed with the elder Rani, whom he had formerly turned out. 

LXXXIV. The Sons of the Kherohuri Raja. 

The Kherohuri Raja had five sons, and he made up his mind that he wouldonly marry them to five sisters. So he sent out Brahmans and Jugis tosearch the world to find a Raja with five unmarried daughters. Andat the same time the Chandmuni Raja had five marriagable daughters, and he made up his mind that he would marry them to five brothers;he did not care what their rank in life was, but he was determinedto find a family of five brothers to marry his daughters. And healso told all the Brahmans and Jugis who wandered about begging, to look out for a family of five unmarried brothers. 

One day it chanced that the emissaries of the Kherohuri Raja andthose of the Chandmuni Raja met at a river; both parties were restingafter taking their midday meal and as they smoked they fell intoconversation, and soon found that their meeting was most fortunate;each party had found the Tery thing they wanted, so they all set offto the palace of the Kherohuri Raja in order that the Chandmuni Raja'smessengers might see the young men. 

The Kherohuri Raja ordered them to be hospitably entertained and foodto be set before them; they however refused to eat anything till theyhad seen the five bridegrooms. The five young men were then introducedand as they appeared to be sound in wind and limb and in all respectssatisfactory, there was no further obstacle to the entertainment. Thenext day the Kherohuri Raja sent out officials to visit and inspect thedaughters of the Chandmuni Raja, and as their report was satisfactory, nothing remained but to fix the day for the wedding. 

When the time came for the bridegrooms and their retinue to set offto the country of the Chandmuni Raja, they and their servants andfollowers all started, so that no one was left at home but theirmother. After they had gone a little way the eldest prince stoppedthem and said "that they could not leave their mother all alone, whatwould she do supposing some sudden danger arose?" The others agreedthat this was so, but the difficulty was to decide who should stay;not one of the other brothers would consent to do so. So at last theeldest brother said that he would stay, and he gave them his shieldand sword and told them to perform his marriage for him by puttingthe vermilion on the bride's forehead with his sword. 

When they reached the home of the Chandmuni Raja they proceeded atonce to perform the vermilion ceremony, beginning with the eldestdaughter; but when the sword was produced and she was told that shemust go through the ceremony with the sword, as her bridegroom had notcome, she began to cry and make a great to-do. Nothing would induceher to consent. "Why was her husband the only one who had not comein person? he must be blind or lame or married;" this resistance putall the others into a difficulty, for the younger sisters could notbe married before the elder. At last after much talking her fatherand mother persuaded the eldest daughter to go through the ceremony;the women put vermilion on the sword and with the sword the markwas made on the bride's forehead; and then the younger sisters weremarried and after a grand feast the whole party set out for the palaceof the Kherohuri Raja. 

On the way they were benighted in the midst of a great jungle twelve_kos_ wide, and the palki bearers declined to go any further inthe dark, so they had all to camp where they were. In the middle ofthe night, suddenly sixteen hundred Rakhases descended on them andswallowed up the whole cavalcade, elephants and horses and palkis andmen. In this danger the eldest princess who had been married to thesword prayed to Chando saying "O Chando! I have never yet set eyeson my husband; he is not with me here. I pray thee carry my palki insafety up into the sky. " And Chando heard her prayer and lifted herpalki up into the air and preserved her, but all those who were lefton the ground were swallowed up by the Rakhases; when the day dawnednot one was to be seen. 

As the princess from mid air gazed on this melancholy spectacle, aparrot came flying over and she called to it and begged it to take aletter for her to her husband in the palace of the Kherohuri Raja. Theparrot obeyed her behest, and when the eldest prince read the letterand learned what had happened, he made a hasty meal and saddled hishorse and was ready to start; but as it was nearly evening he thoughtit better to wait till the next day. 

Very early the following morning he set out and when his bride sawhim come riding along she prayed to Chando that if it were really herhusband the palki might descend to the ground; it immediately sank, andthe bride and bridegroom met; then she told him all that had happenedand gave him the shield and sword that he had sent to represent him atthe marriage; with these in his hands he waited and when at nightfallthe Rakhases returned, the Prince slew everyone of them with hissword; and as he killed them the Rakhases vomited up the elephants, horses and men that they had eaten. Then his wife told the prince todip a cloth in water and wring it out over the dead and as the waterfell on them they all became alive again, elephants, horses and men. 

But his brothers far from being grateful to him for having restoredthem to life, took counsel together saying. "Now that he has deliveredus from this danger, he will think that he has a claim on us and willtreat us as his servants; let us cut open his stomach and then theRakhas will eat him. " So they turned on him, cut open his stomach, and went their ways. Then the wounded prince told the palki-bearersto carry his bride back to her father's house. 

When they appeared before the Chandmuni Raja, he upbraided them fornot having brought the prince too, to try if he could not have beenhealed. Meanwhile the prince lay in the jungle groaning for a wholeday and night; then Chando and his wife heard his cries and camedown and told him to push in his entrails and when he had done so, they gave him a slap on his stomach and he became whole again. Then ashe was afraid to return to his home where his brothers were, he wentbegging to his father-in-law's house; as he came to it, his wife saidto her sister-in-law that the beggar seemed to be like her husband, so she went to him and they recognised each other and he was taken inand well treated and lived there many years. In the end he was seizedwith a desire to go and see his old mother, and, his wife consentingto go with him, they set off to his father's home; when his brotherssaw him come, they were filled with fear and made him Raja over themand they became his servants and he lived in prosperity for the restof his life. 

LXXXV. The Dog Bride. 

Once upon a time there was a youth who used to herd buffaloes; and ashe watched his animals graze he noticed that exactly at noon everyday a she-dog used to make its way to a ravine, in which there weresome pools of water. This made him curious and he wondered to whomit belonged and what it did in the ravine; so he decided to watch, and one day when the dog came he hid himself and saw that when itgot to the water, it shed its dog skin and out stepped a beautifulmaiden, and began to bathe; and when she had finished bathing she puton the skin and became a dog again, and went off to the village; theherdboy followed her and watched into what house she entered, and heenquired to whom the house belonged. Having found out all about it, he went back to his work. 

That year the herdboy's father and mother decided that it was timefor him to marry and began to look about for a wife for him; but heannounced that he had made up his mind to have a dog for his wifeand he-would never marry a human girl. 

Everyone laughed at him for such an extraordinary idea, but he couldnot be moved; so at last they concluded that he must really havethe soul of a dog in him, and that it was best to let him have hisown way. So his father and mother asked him whether there was anyparticular dog he would like to have for his bride, and then he gavethe name of the man into whose house he had tracked the dog thathe had seen going to the ravine. The master of the dog laughed atthe idea that anyone should wish to marry her, and gladly accepteda bride's price for her; so a day was fixed for the wedding and thebooth built for the ceremony and the bridegroom's party went to thebride's house and the marriage took place in due form and the bridewas escorted to her husband's house. 

Every night when her husband was asleep, the bride used to come outof the dog's skin and go out of the house; and when her husband foundout this, he one night only pretended to go to sleep and lay watchingher, and when she was about to leave the room he jumped up and caughthold of her and seizing the dog skin, threw it into the fire, whereit was burnt to ashes, so his bride remained a woman, but she wasof more than human beanty. This soon became known in the village andeveryone congratulated the herdboy on his wisdom in marrying a dog. 

Now the herdboy had a friend named Jitu and when Jitu saw what aprize his friend had got, he thought that he could not do betterthan marry a dog himself. His relations made no objection and abride was selected and the marriage took place, but when they wereputting vermilion on the bride's forehead she began to growl; butin spite of her growling they dragged her to the bridegroom's house, and forcibly anointed her with oil and turmeric; but when the bride'sparty set off home, the dog broke loose and ran after them; theneveryone shouted to Jitu to run after his bride and bring her back, but she only growled and bit at him, so that he had at last to giveit up. Then everyone laughed at him so much that he was too ashamedto speak, and two or three days later he hanged himself. 

LXXXVI. Wealth or Wisdom. 

Once upon a time there were a Raja and a rich merchant, and theyeach had one son. The two boys went to the same school and in thecourse of time became great friends; they were always together out ofschool hours; the merchant's son would take his meals at the Raja'spalace or the Raja's son would eat with his friend at the merchant'shouse. One day the two youths began a discussion as to whether wealthor wisdom were the more powerful: the Raja's son said that wealthwas most important, while the merchant's son declared for wisdom; thediscussion waxed hot and neither would yield his opinion. At last themerchant's son declared; "It is of no use for us to argue like this, let us put it to the test: let us both go to some far country andtake service with some master for a year, and try whether wealth orwisdom is the more successful. " The Prince agreed to this plan andthey fixed a day for starting

Then they both went home and collected what money they could lay handson and, when the time arrived, started off early one morning. Afterthey had travelled some distance the Prince began to think of how hisparents must be searching for him, for he had said nothing about hisgoing away; but the merchant's son comforted him by saying that hehad left word of their intentions at his home, and his relations wouldtell the Raja; so they continued on their way, and after a time theycame to a certain country where the merchant's son proposed that theyshould look for employment. But now that it had come to the point, theprince did not like the idea of becoming a servant and he said that hewould live on the money which he had brought with him, and which wouldlast for a year or two. "You may do as you like" answered his friend"but for my part I must look for work. " So he went to a village andfound employment as a teacher in a school; his pupils gave him hisfood and also some small wages, so that he had enough to live on, without spending any of the money he had brought with him. 

Meanwhile the Raja's son hired a house in the village and beganto lead a riotous life; in a very short time He had wasted all hismoney on his evil companions and was reduced to absolute starvation;for when his money came to an end, all his so-called friends desertedhim. Thin and wretched, he went to the merchant's son and asked himeither to take him back to his father's home or to find him work. Hisfriend agreed to find him some employment, and after a little enquiryheard of a farmer who wanted a servant to take a bullock out to grazeand to fill a trough with water once a day. The prince thought thathe could easily manage that amount of work, so he went to the farmerand engaged himself as his servant. 

The terms of service were these:--If the prince threw up his work oneof his little fingers was to be cut off, but if the farmer dismissedhim while he was working well then the farmer was to lose a littlefinger; and if the prince grazed the bullock and filled the troughwith water regularly, he was to get as much cooked rice as wouldcover a plantain leaf, but if he did not do the work he was to getonly what would go on a tamarind leaf. The prince readily agreed tothese terms, for he thought that the work would not take him more thanan hour or two. But unhappily for him, things did not turn out as heexpected. On the first morning he took the bullock out to graze, butthe animal would not eat; whenever it saw any other cattle passing, it would gallop off to join them, and when the prince had run afterit and brought it back, nothing would make it graze quietly; itkept running away in one direction or another with the prince inpursuit. So at last he had to bring it home and shut it up in thecow-shed and even that he found difficult. 

Then they set him to filling the trough, and he found that he couldnot do that either, for the trough had a hole in the bottom and hadbeen set over the mouth of an old well; and as fast as the princepoured the water in, it ran away, but he was too stupid to see whatwas the matter and went on pouring till he was quite tired out; so ashe had not completed the tasks set him, he only got a tamarind leaffull of rice for his supper; this went on every day and the princebegan to starve, but he was afraid to run away and tell his troublesto the merchant's son, lest he should have his little finger cut off. 

But the merchant's son had not forgotten his friend and began towonder why the Prince kept away from him. So one day he went to payhim a visit and was horrified to find him looking so ill and starved;when he heard how the prince was only getting a tamarind leaf fullof rice every day, because he could not perform the task set him, heoffered to change places with the Prince and sent him off to teach inthe school while he himself stayed with the farmer. The next morningthe merchant's son took the bullock out to graze and he also foundthat the animal would not graze quietly but spent its time in chasingthe other cattle, so at noon he brought it home and set to work tofill the trough; he soon found the hole in the bottom through whichthe water escaped and stopped it up with a lump of clay and then heeasily filled the trough to the brim. Then in the afternoon he tookthe bullock out again to graze and when he brought it back at sunsethe was given a plantain leaf full of rice; this meant more food thanhe could possibly eat in a day. 

He was determined that the bullock should not give him any moretrouble, so the next morning when he took it out to graze, he took withhim a thick rope and tethered the animal to a tree; this saved himall the trouble of running after it, but it was clear that it wouldnot get enough to eat in that way, so he made up his mind to get ridof it altogether, and when he took it out in the afternoon, he tookwith him a small axe and drove the bullock to a place where a herd ofcattle were grazing and then knocked it on the head with the axe andthrew the body into a ravine near by. Then he hid the axe and ran offto his master and told him that the bullock had started fighting withanother animal in the herd and had been pushed over the edge of theravine and killed by the fall. The farmer went out to see for himselfand when he found the dead body lying in the ravine he could not butbelieve the story, and had no fault to find with his cunning servant. 

A few days later, as the rice crop was ripe, the farmer told themerchant's son to go to the fields to reap the rice. "How shall Ireap it?" asked he. "With a sickle, " replied the farmer. "Then itwill be the the sickle and not I, that reaps it" "As you like, "said the farmer, "you go along with the sickle, no doubt it knowsall about it;" so they got him a sickle and he went off to thefields. When he got there, he noticed how bright the sickle looked, and when he touched it, he found it quite hot from being carriedin the sun. "Dear, dear, " said he, "I cannot let this sickle reapthe rice: it is so hot that it must have very bad fever; I will letit rest in the shade until it gets better, " so he laid it down in ashady spot and began to stroll about. Presently up came the farmer, and was very angry to find no work going on. "Did I send you out tostroll about, or to start cutting the rice?" roared he. "To cut therice, " answered the merchant's son, "but the sickle has fallen illwith high fever and is resting in the shade; come and feel how hotit is. " "You are nothing but an idiot, " answered the farmer. "Youare no good here; go back home and start a fire in the big house andboil some water by the time I get back. " The merchant's son was onlyon the lookout for an excuse to annoy the farmer and the words usedby the farmer were ambiguous; so he went straight back to the farmand set the biggest house on fire. The farmer saw the conflagrationand came rushing home and asked the merchant's son what on earth hemeant by doing such mischief. "I am only doing exactly what you toldme; nothing would induce me to disobey any order of yours, my worthymaster. " The farmer had nothing more to say; his words would bear theconstruction put upon them by the merchant's son, and he was afraidto dismiss him lest he should have to lose his little finger; so hemade up his mind to get rid of this inconvenient servant in anotherway, and the next day he called him and told him that he must sendword to his father-in-law of the unfortunate burning of the house, and the merchant's son must carry the letter. 

The latter accordingly set off with the letter, but on the road hethought that it would be just as well to see what the letter wasreally about; so he opened it and found that it contained a requestfrom the farmer to his father-in-law to kill the bearer of the letterimmediately on his arrival. The merchant's son at once tore this upand wrote another letter in the farmer's name: saying that the bearerof the letter was a most excellent servant and he wished him to marryinto the family; but that as he himself had no daughters he hoped thathis father-in-law would give him one of his daughters to wife. Armedwith this he proceeded on his journey. The father-in-law was rathersurprised at the contents of the letter and asked the merchant'sson if he knew what it was about; he protested complete ignorance:the farmer had told him nothing, and as he was only a poor cowherd, of course he could not read. This set suspicion at rest; the weddingwas at once arranged and duly took place, and the merchant's sonsettled down to live with his wife's family. 

After a time the farmer got news of what had happened, and when hesaw how the merchant's son had always been sharp enough to get thebetter of him, he began to fear that in the end he would be made tocut off his finger; so he sought safety in flight. He ran away fromhis house and home and was never heard of more. 

When news of this came to the ears of the merchant's son, he setout to visit his old friend the Prince and found him still teachingin the little village school. "What do you think now, " he asked him, "is wisdom or money the better. By my cleverness, I got the better ofthat farmer; he had to give me more rice than I could eat. I killed hisbullock, I set fire to his house, and I got a wife without expendinga picc on my marriage; while you--you have spent all the money youbrought with you from home, and have met with nothing but starvationand trouble; what good has your money done you?" The Prince had nota word to answer. 

Two or three days later the Prince proposed that they should go back totheir parents; his friend agreed but said that he must first inform hiswife's relations, so they went back to the village where the merchant'sson had married, and while they were staying there the Prince caughtsight of a Raja's daughter and fell violently in love with her. 

Learning of the Prince's state of mind the merchant's son undertookto arrange the match; so he sent his wife to the Raja's daughter withorders to talk of nothing but the virtues and graces of the Princewho was staying at their house. Her words had their due effect andthe Raja's daughter became so well disposed towards the Prince, thatwhen one day she met him, she also fell violently in love with himand felt that she could not be happy unless she became his wife. Sothe wedding duly took place, and then the Prince and the merchant'sson with their respective wives returned to their fathers' houses. 

LXXXVII. The Goala and the Cow. 

Once upon a time a young man of the Goala caste was going to hiswedding; he was riding along in a palki, with all his friends, tothe bride's house and as he was passing by a pool of water he heard avoice saying, "Stop you happy bridegroom; you are happy, going to fetchyour bride; spare a thought for my misfortune and stay and pull me outof this quagmire. " Looking out he saw a cow stuck fast in the mud atthe edge of the pool, but he had no pity for it and harshly refusedto go to its help, for fear lest he should make his clothes muddy. 

Then the cow cursed the Goala, saying, "Because you have refused tohelp me in my extremity, this curse shall light on you, directly youtouch your bride you shall turn into a donkey. " At these words theGoala was filled with fear and telling the bearers to put down thepalki he alighted and ran and pulled the cow out of the mud; this done, he begged her to withdraw the curse, but the cow declared that thiswas impossible, what she had said was bound to come to pass. At thesewords the Goala began to lament and threw himself at the feet of thecow, beseeching her; at length the cow relented, and promised thatthough the curse could not be withdrawn it should be mitigated andit would be possible for his wife to restore him to human shape. Sothe Goala had to take what comfort he could from this and returningto the palki he told his friends what had passed. Much downcast theprocession continued its way, wondering what would be the upshot ofthis adventure. 

Arrived at the bride's house, they proceeded to celebrate the wedding;but as the Goala touched the bride with his finger to apply thevermilion mark to her forehead, he suddenly became a donkey. Thecompany were filled with dismay and the bride's parents declared thatthey would never let their daughter go away with such a husband, but the bride herself spoke up and said that as Thakur for somereason had given her such a husband she would cleave to him, andnothing that her relations said could shake her purpose; so when thebridal party set out homewards, she went with them to her husband'shouse. But there everyone laughed at her so much for having marrieda donkey that she made up her mind to run away to another country;so one day she packed up some provisions for the journey and set out, driving the donkey before her. 

She journeyed on and on till one day she happened to come to a tankwith a large well near it; she turned the donkey loose to graze onthe banks of the tank and sat down by the well to eat some of thefood which she had with her. In the fields below the tank were sometwenty ploughmen in the service of the Raja of that country, drivingtheir ploughs; and when it got past noon these men began to grumble, because; no one had brought them their dinner; as it got later andlater they became more and more violent, and vowed that when anyonedid come they would give him a good beating for his laziness. At lastone of the maid-servants of the Raja was seen coming along, carryingtheir food in a basket on her head and with her child running by herside. The sight pacified the ploughmen and the maid-servant hastenedto set down the basket near them and then went off to the well todraw some water for them. 

Just as she was ready to let down the water-pot, a wedding processionpassed along the road with drums and music, making a fine show. Themaid could not keep her eyes off this, but at the same time did notwish to keep the ploughmen waiting any longer; so, with her eyes onthe procession, she tied the well-rope, as she thought round the neckof the water-pot, but really, without knowing it, she tied the roperound the neck of her own little child and proceeded to lower himinto the well. When she pulled up the rope she found that she hadstrangled her own child. 

She was of course much distressed at this, but she was even moreafraid of what might be done to her and at once hit on a device to saveherself from the charge of murder. Taking the dead child in her armsshe ran to the ploughmen and scattered all the food she had broughtabout the ground; then with the child still in her arms, she ran tothe Raja and complained to him that his ploughmen had assaulted her, because she was late in taking them their dinner, had knocked thebasket of food all about the ground and had beaten her child to death;she added that a strange woman was grazing a donkey near the placeand must have seen all that passed. 

The Raja at once sent a Sipahi to fetch the ploughmen and when theycame before him he asked them what had happened, and bade them swearbefore _Sing bonga_ whether they were guilty of the murder. Theploughmen solemnly swore to speak the truth, and then told the Rajaexactly what had happened, how the woman had killed her child bymistake and then falsely charged them with the murder. Then theRaja asked them whether they had any witnesses, and they said thatthere was no one of their own village present at the time, but thata strange woman was grazing an ass on the banks of the tank, whomust have seen all that happened. Then the Raja sent two sipahis tofetch the woman, telling them to treat her well and bring her alonggently. So the sipahis went to the woman and told her that the Rajawanted her on very important business; she made no demur and went tofetch her donkey. The sipahis advised her to leave it behind to graze, but she said that wherever she went the donkey must go and drove italong with her. 

When she appeared before the Raja he explained to her what hadhappened, and how the maid-servant told one story about the deathof the child and the ploughmen another, and he charged her to speakthe truth as to what she had seen. The Goala's bride answered thatshe was ready to take an oath and to swear by her donkey: if shespoke the truth the donkey would turn into a man, and if she liedit would retain its shape. "If you take that oath, " said the Raja, "the case shall be decided accordingly. " Then the Goala's wife beganto tell all that she had seen and how the ploughmen were angry becausetheir dinner was late, and how the maid-servant had gone to the well todraw water and had strangled her child by mistake and had then knockedover the basket and charged the ploughmen with the murder. "If I havelied may Chando punish me and if I have spoken the truth may this assbecome a man;" so saying she laid her hand on the back of the animaland it at once resumed its human shape. 

This was sufficient to convince the Raja, who turned to themaid-servant and reproached her with trying to ruin the ploughmen byher false charge. She had no answer to make but took up the dead bodyof the child and went out without a word. 

Thus the Goala was restored to his original shape, but he and hisfaithful wife did not return to their own relations; they took servicewith a farmer of that country and after a time they saved money andtook some land and lived prosperously and well. From that time menof the Goala caste have always been very careful to treat cattle well. 

LXXXVIII. The Telltale Wife. 

Once upon a time a man was setting out in his best clothes to attenda village meeting. As he was passing at the back of the house hismaid-servant happened to throw a basket of cowdung on the manure heapand some of it accidentally splashed his clothes. He thought that hewould be laughed at if he went to the meeting in dirty clothes so hewent back to change them; and he put the dirty cloth he took off inan earthen pot and covered the mouth with leaves and hung it to theroof of the room in which he and his wife slept. 

Two or three days later his wife began to question him as to whatwas in the pot hanging from the roof. At first he refused to tellher; but every time she set eyes on it she renewed her questioning;for a time he refused to gratify her curiosity, saying that no womancould keep a secret, but she protested that she would tell no one;her husband's secrets were her own; at last he pretended that hispatience was worn out and having made her promise never to tell a soul, he said "I have killed a man, and to prevent the murder being tracedI cut off his head and hid it in that pot; mind you do not say a wordor my life will be forfeit. "

For a time nothing more was said, but one day husband and wife hada quarrel; high words and blows passed between them and at last thewoman ran out of the house, crying: "You have struck me, I shall letit be known that you are a murderer. " She went to the village headmanand told him what was hidden in the pot; the villagers assembled andbound the supposed murderer with ropes and took him to the police. Thepolice officer came and took down the pot and found in it nothing buta stained cloth. So he fined the headman for troubling him with falseinformation and went away. Then the man addressed his fellow-villagersin these words "Listen to me: never tell a secret to a woman and becareful in your conversation with them; they are sure to let out asecret and one day will turn your accusers. "

From that time we have learnt the lesson that anything which you tellto a woman will become known. 

LXXXIX. The Bridegroom Who Spoke in Riddles. 

Once upon a time there were two brothers; the elder was namedBhagrai and was married, but the younger, named Kora, was still abachelor. One day Bhagrai's wife asked her husband when he intendedto look out for a wife for Kora, for people would think it very meanof them if they did not provide for his marriage. But to his wife'sastonishment Bhagrai flatly refused to have anything to do with thematter. He said that Kora must find a wife for himself. His wifeprotested that that was impossible as Kora had no money of his own, but Bhagrai would not listen to her and refused even to give Korahis share in the family property. 

Bhagrai's cruel conduct was very distressing to his wife; and one dayas she was sitting picking the lice out of Kora's head, she began tocry and Kora felt her tears dropping on to his back; he turned roundand asked his sister-in-law why she was crying. She said that shecould not tell him, as it would only make him unhappy, but he wouldnot be put off and said that she had no right to have any secretsfrom him and at last she told him that Bhagrai had said that he mustarrange his own marriage without any help from them. At this cruelnews Kora began to cry too and falling on his sister-in-law's neckhe wept bitterly. Then he went and fetched his clothes and bow andarrows and flute and what other little property he had, and told hissister-in-law that he must go out into the world and seek his fortune, for he would never get a wife by staying at home. So she tied up somedried rice for him to eat by the way and let him go. 

Kora set out and had not travelled far, before he fell in with anold man who was travelling in the same direction as himself and theyagreed to continue their way together. After walking some miles, Korasaid "I have a proposal to make: let us take it in turns to carry eachother: then we shall neither of us get tired and shall do the journeycomfortably. " The old man refused to have anything to do with such anextraordinary arrangement: so on they went and by and bye came to atank which seemed a good place to rest and eat some food by. The oldman sat down at the steps leading down to the water, but Kora wentand sat on the bank where it was covered with rough grass. Presentlyhe called out "Friend, I do not like the look of this tank: to whomdoes it belong?" The old man told him the name of the owner, "Thenwhy has he put no post in the middle of it?" This question amazed hiscompanion for there was the usual post sticking up in the middle ofthe tank in front of them: he began to think that he had fallen inwith a lunatic: however he said nothing and they went on together:and presently they passed a large herd of cow-buffaloes: looking atthem Kora said "Whose are these: why have they no horns?" "But theyhave got horns: what on earth do you mean by saying that they havenot?" replied his companion, Kora however persisted "No, there is nota horn among them. " The old man began to lose his temper but they wenton and presently passed by a herd of cows, most of them with bells tiedround their necks. No sooner did Kora catch sight of them than he beganagain "Whose can these cows be? Why have they not got bells on?" "Lookat the bells, " said the old man "cannot you use your eyes?" "No, " saidKora, "I cannot see a bell among them. " The old man did not think itworth while to argue with him and at evening they reached the villagewhere he lived: and Kora asked to be allowed to stay with him for thenight. So they went to his house and sat down on a string bed in thecow-shed while the women folk brought them out water to wash theirfeet. After sitting awhile, Kora suddenly said "Father, why did younot put up a king post when you were making this cow-shed?" Now atthat very moment he was leaning against the king post and the old manwas too puzzled and angry at his idiotic question to say anything: sohe got up and went into the house to tell his wife to put some extrarice into the pot for their visitor. His wife and daughter at oncebegan asking him who their guest was: he said that he knew nothingabout him except that he was an absolute idiot. "What is the matterwith him, " asked the daughter: "he looks quite sensible": then herfather began to tell her all the extraordinary things that Kora hadsaid: how he had proposed that they should carry each other in turn:and had declared that there was no post in the middle of the tank: andthat the buffaloes had no horns and the cows no bells: and that therewas no king post to the cow house. His daughter listened attentivelyand then said "I think it is you, father, who have been stupid andnot our guest: I understand quite well what he meant. I suppose thatwhen he proposed that you should carry each other, you had not beendoing much talking as you went along?" "That is so, " said her father, "we had not spoken for a long time:" "Then all he meant was that youshould chat as you went along and so make the way seem shorter: and asto the tank, were there any trees on its banks?" "No, they were quitebare. " "Then that is what he meant when he talked about the post:he meant that the tank should have had trees planted round it: andas to the buffaloes and cows, there was doubtless no bull with eitherherd. " "I certainly did not notice one, " said her father. "Then that iswhat he was talking about: I think that it was very stupid of you notto understand him. " "Then what does he mean by the king post in thecow house" asked the old man. "He meant that there was no cross beamfrom wall to wall, " "Then you don't think him a fool at all?" "No, he seems to me very sensible. " "Then perhaps you would like to havehim for your husband?" "That is for you and my mother to decide. "

So the old man went off to his wife and asked her what she thoughtabout the match and they both agreed that it would be very suitable:the girl understood Kora's riddles so well that they seemed made foreach other. So the next morning when Kora proposed to start off onhis journey again, the old man asked whether he would care to staywith them and marry his daughter. Kora was delighted to find a wife sosoon, and readily agreed to work for five years in his father-in-law'shouse to win his bride: so a day was fixed for the betrothal ceremony, and thus Kora succeeded in arranging his own marriage. 

XC. The Lazy Man. 

Once upon a time three brothers lived together: the youngest ofthem was named Kora and he was the laziest man alive: he was neverwilling to do any work but at meal times he was always first on thespot. His laziness began to drag the family down in the world, forthey could not afford to feed a man who did no work. His two elderbrothers were always scolding him but he would not mend his ways:however the scolding annoyed him and one day he ran away from home. 

He had become so poor that he had nothing on but a loin cloth: itwas the middle of winter and when the evening drew on he began toshiver with cold: so he was very glad when he came to a village tosee a group of herdboys sitting round a fire in the village street, roasting field rats. He went up to them and sat down by the fire towarm himself. The herd boys gave him some of the rats to eat and whenthey had finished their feast went off to their homes to sleep. It wasnice and warm by the fire and Kora was too lazy to go round the villagelooking for some one who would take him in for the night: so he madeup his mind to go to sleep by the fire. He curled himself up beside itand was about to take off his waist cloth to spread over himself asa sheet when he found a bit of thread which he had tied up in one ofthe corners of the cloth. "Why!" thought he "cloth is made of thread:so this thread must be cloth! I will use it as a sheet. " So he tiedone end of the thread round his big toe and wound the other end roundhis ears and stretching himself out at full length soon fell asleep. 

During the night the fire died down and a village dog which was onthe prowl came and coiled itself up on the warm ashes and also wentto sleep alongside Kora. 

Now the headman of that village was a well-to-do man with much landunder cultivation and a number of servants, and as it was the timewhen the paddy was being threshed he got up very early in the morningto start the work betimes. As he walked up the village street he cameon the man and dog lying fast asleep side by side. He roused up Koraand asked him who he was and whether he did not find it very cold, lying out in the open. "No" answered Kora, "I don't find it cold:this is my dog and he has eaten up all my cold: he will eat up thecold of a lakh of people. " The headman at once thought that a dogthat could do this would be a very useful animal to possess: he hadto spend a lot of money in providing clothes for his farm labourersand yet they all suffered from the cold, while if he could get holdof the dog he and all his household would be permanently warm: so heasked Kora what price he set on the dog. Kora said that he would sellit for fifty lakhs of rupees and no less: he would not bargain aboutthe matter: the headman might take it or leave it as he liked. Theheadman agreed to the terms and taking Kora to his house paid himover the money. Kora made no delay in setting off homewards and whenhe arrived the first thing he did was to tell his brothers to findhim a wife as he had now enough money to pay all the expenses of hismarriage. When his brothers found that the lazy one of the familyhad come home with such a fortune they gave him a very differentreception from what they used to before, and set to work to arrangehis marriage and the three brothers all lived happily ever after. 

Meanwhile the headman who had bought the dog sent for his labourers andtold them of his luck in finding such a valuable animal. He bade themtie it up at the door of the hut on the threshing floor in which theyslept: and in the morning to lead it round with them as they drovethe oxen that trod out the grain, and then they would none of themfeel cold. That night the labourers put the matter to the test butalthough the dog was tied up by the door the men in the hut shiveredall night long as usual. Then in the morning they one after the othertried leading the dog as they drove the oxen round the threshing floorbut it did not make them any warmer, so they soon got tired and tiedthe dog up again. Presently their master came along and asked whatthey had done with the dog and was told that the animal would noteat up the cold at all. The headman would not believe that he hadbeen duped and began to lead the dog round to try for himself. Onlytoo soon he had to admit that it made no difference. So, in a ragehe caught up a stick and beat the poor dog to death. Thus he losthis money and got well laughed at by all the village for his folly. 

XCI. Another Lazy Man. 

Once upon a time there was a man named Kora who was so lazy that hisbrothers turned him out of the house and he had to go out into theworld to seek his fortune. At first he tried to get some other youngman of the village to keep him company on his travels but they allrefused to have anything to do with such a lazy fellow, so he had toset out alone. However, he was resolved to have a companion of somesort, so when he came to a place where a crab had been burrowing heset to work and dug it out of the ground and took it along with him, tied up in his cloth. 

He travelled on for days and weeks until he came to a country whichwas being devastated by a Rakhas who preyed on human beings, and theRaja of the country had proclaimed that any one who could kill theRakhas should have one of his sisters in marriage and a large grant ofland. Kora however knew nothing of all this and that evening he campedfor the night under a tree on the outskirts of a village. Presentlythe villagers came out and begged him to come and spend the nightin one of their houses, as it was impossible for a man to sleepsafely in the open by himself. "Do not trouble about me, " said Kora, "I am not alone: I have a companion and we two shall be quite safetogether. " The villagers saw no one with him and could not understandwhat he was talking about, but as he would not listen to them theyhad to leave him to his fate. 

Night came on and as usual Kora untied the crab from his cloth andsoon fell asleep. About midnight the Rakhas came prowling along andseeing Kora sleeping alone made towards him. But the crab rushed atthe Rakhas and climbing up his body seized his neck with its clawsand slit the windpipe. Down fell the Rakhas and lay kicking on theground. The noise awoke Kora, who seized a big stone and dashed outthe brains of the Rakhas. He then cut off the tips of the ears andtongue and claws and wrapped them up in his cloth and lay down tosleep again with the crab in his bosom. 

At dawn the chowkidar of the village, who was a Dome, came on hisrounds and found the Rakhas lying dead. He thought that it would beeasy for him to obtain the credit of having killed it: so he cut offone of the legs and hurrying home told his wife and children to clearout of the house at once: he had nothing more to do with them, as hewas going to marry the Raja's sister and become a great landowner. Thenhe rushed out into the village, shouting out that he had killed theRakhas. The villagers all went to see the dead body and found it lyingnear the tree under which they had left Kora to spend the night. Theywere not quite convinced that the Dome's story was true and askedKora who had really killed the Rakhas. He declined to answer but askedthat he and the Dome might both be taken to the Raja, and then proofwould be forthcoming as to who was really entitled to the Reward. 

So the villagers took up the dead body and carried it off to the Raja, taking Kora and the Dome with them. The Raja asked what proof therewas as to who had killed the Rakhas: and first the Dome produced theleg which he had cut off; but Kora unrolled his cloth and showed theears and tongue and claws of the Rakhas. It was at once seen thatthe leg which the Dome had brought wanted the claws, so his fraud wasclearly proved and he was driven from the assembly with derision andhad to go and humbly make his peace with the wife whom he had turnedout of his house. But the nuptials of Kora and the Raja's sistertook place at once and they were given a fine palace to live in anda large tract of country for their own. 

Kora never allowed himself to be separated from his faithful crab andthis led to his life being saved a second time. A few nights afterhe was married, Kora was lying asleep with the crab upon his breast, when two snakes began to issue from the nostrils of his bride: theirpurpose was to kill Kora but when they saw the watchful crab theydrew in their heads again. A few minutes later they again looked out:then the crab went and hid under the chin of the Princess and whenthe snakes put out their heads far enough it seized both of them withits claws: the snakes wriggled and struggled until they came entirelyout of the nose of the princess and were dragged to the floor wherethe crab strangled them. In the morning Kora awoke and saw what thecrab had done: he asked what he could do to show his gratitude tohis faithful friend, and the crab asked to be set free in some pondwhich never dried up and that Kora would rescue it if any one eversucceeded in catching it. So Kora chose a tank and set the crab freeand every day he used to go and bathe in that tank and the crab usedto come and meet him. 

After living in luxury for a time Kora went with a grand processionof horses and elephants to visit his industrious brothers who hadturned him out of their home for laziness, and he showed them thathe had chosen the better part, for they would never be able to keephorses and elephants for all their industry: so he invited them tocome and live with him on his estate and when they had reaped thatyear's crops they went with him. 

XCII. The Widow's Son. 

Once upon a time there was a poor woman whose husband died suddenlyfrom snake bite, leaving her with one little girl. At the time shewas expecting another child and every day she lamented the loss ofher husband and prayed to Chando that the child she should bear mightbe a son: but fresh troubles came upon her, for when her husband'sbrothers saw that she was with child they declared that she had beenunfaithful to her husband and had murdered him to conceal her shame:and although they had no proof of this, they seized on all their deadbrother's property and land and left the widow nothing but the barehouse to live in. 

But Chando had pity on her and when her time was full a boy was bornto her. She gave thanks to Chando and devoted herself to bringing upthe child. The boy grew up and learned to walk and talk and one day heasked his mother where his father was. She told him that a snake hadbitten his father before he was born. Thereupon the boy embraced herand told her not to cry as he would support her and take the placeof his father. The mother was filled with wonder and gratitude atthe boy's intelligence. 

In answer to her daily prayers she met with kindness at all hands:when she went out working her employers gave her extra wages: whenshe went gleaning something extra was left for her, and if she hadto beg no one refused to give her alms, so in time she was able toget together some household requisites and start keeping fowls andpigs. By selling these she saved enough money to buy goats and sheep:and in course of time was able to think of buying a cow. 

By that time her son--whom she called Bhagraihad grown up to be a boyand took an interest in all that went on: so he asked his mother howhe could tell when to buy a heifer. She said that if when the sellerwas showing a cow to an intending purchaser the animal dropped dung, it should be bought without hesitation, as such a cow was sure to takekindly to its new home and to have plenty of calves: another equallygood sign was if the cow had nine teeth. Thereupon Bhagrai declaredthat he would set out to buy a cow and be guided in his choice bythese signs and not come back till he found one. His mother thoughtthat he was too young to undertake such a business but at last yieldedto his entreaties. Then he tried to get some one in the village to gowith him on his expedition but no one of his own friends or relationswould go, so he had to arrange with a man of the blacksmith caste tokeep him company. 

Early one morning they set out, enquiring as they went along whetherany one had a cow for sale. For a long time they were unsuccessfulbut after passing right through the territories of one Raja, they atlength came to a village where they heard of a heifer for sale. Asthey were examining it it dropped dung, and on inspection its mouthshowed nine teeth. Bhagrai at once declared that he must buy itand would not listen to the blacksmith who tried to dissuade himbecause, although the animal was full grown, it had had no calf andwas probably barren. Bhagrai however preferred to be guided by thesigns of which his mother had told him, and after a certain amountof haggling bought the animal for five rupees. The money was paidand he and the blacksmith set off homewards with the cow. 

Night overtook them and they turned into a village and asked to beallowed to sleep in the verandah of one of the houses: and permissionbeing given they tied the cow to a post and went to sleep. In themiddle of the night the owner of the house came and took away theircow and tied an old and worthless one of his own in its place. Onwaking in the morning Bhagrai and the blacksmith saw at once whathad happened and charged the owner of the house with the theft. Hevehemently denied all knowledge of the matter and after they hadquarrelled for a long time went to call the villagers to arbitratebetween them. But he took care to promise the headman and leadingvillagers a bribe of five rupees if they decided the case in hisfavour: so the result was a foregone conclusion and the arbitratorstold Bhagrai to take away the old worthless cow. 

He however refused to accept the decision and said that he would go andfind two people to represent him on the panchayat. The villagers raisedno objection for they knew that he was a stranger, and thought thatthey could easily convince any persons he might pick up. Bhagrai setoff towards a village he saw in the distance but lost his way in thejungle, and as he was wandering about he came on two jackals. On seeinghim they started to run but he called to them to stop and tellingthem all that had happened asked them to come to the panchayat. Thejackals answered that it was clear that the villagers had been bribed, but they would come and do what was possible. They told him to bringthe villagers with both the cows to a big banyan tree outside thevillage. All the villagers went out to meet the jackals and Bhagraistood up in the midst and began to explain his grievance. 

Meanwhile the jackals sat quite still, seeming to take no interestin what was going on. "A fine pair these are to have on a panchayat"said the villagers to each other, "they are nearly asleep: they havebeen up all night catching crabs and grasshoppers and now are too tiredto keep awake. " "No, " said one jackal, "we are not as sleepy as youthink: we are quite willing to take a part in deciding this dispute:but the fact is that I and my wife have a quarrel and we want youfirst to decide that for us and then we will take up the question ofthe cow; if you villagers can settle our difference satisfactorilywe shall be able to conclude that you have given a fair judgement onthe complaint of this orphan boy. "

The villagers told him to continue and he explained "I and my wifealways go about together: we eat at the same time and drink at thesame time and yet she drops dung twice a day while I do so only once:what is the reason of this?" The villagers could think of no answer andthe jackal bade them ask his wife: so they laughed and asked whetherit was true that she dropped dung twice to the he-jackal's once. Butthe jackal reproved them for their levity, wise men of old had saidthat it was wrong to jest when men of weight met to decide a dispute;so they became serious and the she-jackal answered "It is true thatI drop dung twice to his once: there is an order laid on me to do so:I drop dung once at the same time that he does: that excrement fallsto the ground and stays there: but the second time the excrement fallsinto the mouths of the ancestors of those men who take bribes anddo injustice to the widow and orphan and when such bribetakers reachthe next world they will also have to eat it. If however they confesstheir sin and ask pardon of me they will be let off the punishment:this is the reason why I have been ordered to drop dung twice. " "Nowyou have heard what she has to say" put in the he-jackal "what to youthink of the explanation? I hope that there are no such bribetakersamong you: if there are they had better confess at once. "

Then all the villagers who had agreed to take a share of the bribeand had helped to rob the boy of his cow confessed what they had doneand declared that the boy should have his cow again, and they finedthe thief five rupees. So Bhagrai and the blacksmith went gladly ontheir way and the blacksmith soon told all his neighbours of the twowonderful jackals who talked like men and had compelled the villagersto restore the stolen cow. "Ah" said the boy's mother "they were notjackals, they were Chando, " When Bhagrai's uncles heard all this andsaw how he and his mother had prospered in spite of the loss of alltheir property, they became frightened and gave back the land andcattle which they had taken, without waiting for them to be claimed. 

XCIII. The Boy Who Was Changed into a Dog. 

Once upon a time there were seven brothers: the six eldest weremarried, but the youngest was only a youth and looked after thecattle. The six married brothers spent their life in hunting andused often to be away from home for one or two months at a time. Nowall their six wives were witches and directly their husbands lefthome the six women used to climb a peepul tree and ride away on it, to eat men or do some other devilry. The youngest brother saw themdisappear every day and made up his mind to find out what they did. Soone morning he hid in a hollow in the trunk of the peepul tree andwaited till his sisters-in-law came and climbed up into the branches:then the tree rose up and was carried through the air to the banks ofa large river, where the women climbed down and disappeared. After atime they came back and climbed into the tree and rode on it back tothe place where it came from. But as they descended they saw theirbrother-in-law hiding in the trunk and at first they tried to makehim promise not to tell what he had seen, but he swore that he wouldlet his brothers know all about it: so then they thought of killinghim, but in the end the eldest said that this was not necessary andshe fetched two iron nails and drove them into the soles of his feetwhereupon he at once became a dog. He could understand all that wassaid but of course could not speak. He followed them home and theytreated him well and always gave him a regular helping at meals asif he were a human being and did not merely throw him the scraps asif he were a dog: nor would he have eaten them if they had. 

A month afterwards the other brothers came home and asked if all hadgone well in their absence. Their wives said that all was well exceptthat the youngest brother had unfortunately disappeared without leavingany trace. While they were talking the dog came up and fawned on thebrothers, so they asked where it had come from and the women saidthat it had followed them home on the day that they were looking forthe missing boy: and they had kept it ever since. So matters rested:the brothers searched high and low but could not find the missingboy and so gave up the quest. 

Now the Raja of that country had three daughters whom he had tried invain to get married: whenever a bridegroom was proposed to them theydeclared that he was not to their liking and they would have nothingto do with him. At last their father said that as they would not lethim choose husbands for them, they must make the choice themselves:he proposed to assemble all the men in his kingdom on a certain dayand there and then they must take to themselves husbands. 

So proclamation was made that all the men were to assemble outsidethe palace and that three of them would receive the Raja's daughtersin marriage without having to pay any brideprice. On the fixed daya great crowd collected and among others went the six brothers: andthe dog followed them. Then the three princesses were brought outand three flies were caught: round one fly was tied a piece of whitethread for the eldest princess and round the second fly a red threadfor the second princess: and round the last fly a blue thread forthe youngest princess. Then the three princesses solemnly promisedthat each would marry the man on whom the fly marked with her coloursettled, and the flies were let loose. The red fly and the blue flysoon settled on two of the men sitting in the crowd but the whitefly flew high in the air and circled round and at last settled onthe dog which was sitting beside the six brothers. 

At this the crowd laughed and jeered but the eldest princess saidthat she must accept what fate had decreed and that she would marrythe dog. So the betrothal ceremony of the three princesses took placeat once, soon followed by their weddings. The husbands of the twoyoungest princesses took their brides home, but the eldest princessstayed in her father's house with her dog. 

One day after its dinner the dog was lying on its side asleep and theprincess chanced to see the heads of the iron nails in its feet: "Ah, "thought she, "that is why the poor dog limps. " So she ran and fetcheda pair of pincers and pulled out the nails: no sooner had she doneso than the dog was restored to its human shape and the princess wasdelighted to find that not only was he a man but also very handsome:and they settled down to live happily together. 

Some months later the six brothers resolved to go and visit the Raja, so that the princess might not feel that the dog she had married hadno friends in the world. Off they set and when they reached the Raja'spalace they were amazed to find their younger brother and still moreso when they heard the story of all that had happened to him. 

They immediately decided to take vengeance on their wives and whenthey reached home gave orders for a large well to be dug: when itwas ready they told their wives to join in the consecration ceremonywhich was to ensure a pure and plentiful supply of water: so thesix witches went to the well and while their attention was occupied, their husbands pushed them all into the well and filled it up withearth and that was the end of the witches. 

XCIV. Birluri and Birbanta. 

Birluri was of the Goala caste and Birbanta of the oilman's caste. Andthis is the story of their fight. 

Birluri was very rich, with great herds of cattle and buffaloes butBirbanta's wealth consisted in tanks and ponds. Birluri used everyday to water his cattle at Birbanta's ponds: and this made Birbantavery angry: he felt it an injustice that though Birluri was so richhe would not dig his own ponds: so he sent word that Birluri muststop watering his cattle or he would be killed. Birluri answeredthe messengers that he was quite ready to fight Birbanta: for thoughBirbanta had made the tanks, it was God who had made the water in themand so he considered that his cattle had a perfect right to drink thewater. When Birbanta heard this he fell into a rage and vowed thathe would not let the cattle drink, but would kill every living thingthat went down to the water. From that day he let no one drink fromhis tanks: when women went to draw water he used to smash their waterpots and put the rims round their necks like necklaces: all wild birdsand animals he shot: and the cattle and buffaloes he cut down with hisaxe: and at last he proceeded to kill any human beings who went there. 

When the Raja of the country heard this he was very angry and badehis _sipahis_ search for some one strong enough to overcome and killBirbanta: and he promised as a reward the hand of one of his daughtersand half his kingdom. So the _sipahis_ made proclamation all throughthe country and at last Birluri heard of it and volunteered to fightBirbanta. Then the Raja fixed a day for the fight, so that all thecountry might know and Birbanta also have due warning. 

Both the combatants made ready for the fray: Birbanta was armed witha sword and a shield like a cart wheel and was skilful at sword play, while Birluri's weapon was the quarter-staff. The day arrived andBirluri girded up his loins and set out, twirling his staff roundhis head. Now his father and mother were both dead; but on the roadhis mother met him in the guise of an old woman, so that he did notrecognise her. She greeted him and asked where he was going and whenshe heard that it was to fight Birbanta she said "My son, you are verystrong: but if he asks for water do not give it him, for if you do, he will assuredly kill you: but when he throws away his sword, do youmake haste and take it and slay him with it. " So saying she went on herway and when Birluri came within a _kos_ of the fighting place he beganto twirl his staff and he made such a cloud of dust that it becamedark as night and in the darkness the staff gleamed like lightning. 

When Birbanta saw this he rose up and shouted "Here comes my enemy:I will fight my best and we will see who will conquer" and when he sawBirluri armed only with a quarter-staff he felt sure that he wouldnot be overcome by such a weapon: so he grasped his sword and tookhis shield on his arm and went out to the fight The fray was fastand furious: Birbanta hacked and hacked with his sword but Birluricaught all the blows on his quarterstaff and took no injury. Atlast the end of the staff was hacked off leaving a sharp point:then Birluri transfixed Birbanta with the pointed end and Birbantafaltered: again he thrust him through and Birbanta acknowledgedhimself defeated, saying "My life is yours: let me drink some waterat your hands before you kill me. " So Birluri agreed to a truce andthey stopped fighting. Then Birluri cut down a palm tree and dippedit into Birbanta's tank and holding out the end to Birbanta told himto suck it. Birbanta refused to take it and asked him to give himwater in his hands: but Birluri remembered his mother's warning andrefused. Then Birbanta in despair threw away his sword and shieldand Birluri snatched up the sword and smote off his head: and thisis the song of victory which Birluri sang. --

 "Birbanta stopped the _ghat_ for the golden oxen-- The dust is raised up to heaven! Birbanta sat by the _ghat_ of the oxen-- The lightning is flashing in the sky! He has made an embankment: he has made a tank: But the water he collected in it, has become his enemy!"

Then Birluri was taken to the Raja and married to one of the Raja'sdaughters and given one half of the Raja's kingdom. 

After a time Birluri told his wife that they must go back to hishome to look after the large herds of cattle which he had left behindhim. But his wife laughed at him and would not believe that he ownedso much property: then Birluri said that if she would not go withhim he would call the cattle to come to him: so he called them all byname and the great herd came running to the Raja's palace and filledthe whole barn yard and as there was no room for them to stay there, they went away into the jungle and became wild cattle. 

XCV. The Killing of the Rakhas. 

Once upon a time a certain country was ravaged by a Rakhas to suchan extent that there were only the Raja and a few ryots left. Whenthings came to this pass, the Raja saw that something must be done:for he could not be left alone in the land. Ryots need a Raja and aRaja needs ryots: if he had no ryots where was he to get money forhis support: and he repeated the verse of the poet Kalidas:

"When the jungle is destroyed, the deer are in trouble without jungle:When the Raja is destroyed, the ryots are in trouble without theirRaja:When the good wife of the house is destroyed, good fortune flees away. "

So thinking the Raja made a proclamation throughout all the land thatif any one could kill the Rakhas he would reward him with the hand ofone of his daughters and half his kingdom. This proclamation was readout by the headman of a certain village to the assembled villagersand among the crowd was a mischievous youth, named Jhalka, who whenhe heard the proclamation called out that he could kill the Rakhas inten minutes. The villagers turned on him "Why don't you go and do so:then you would marry the Raja's daughter and we should all bow downto you. " At the thought of this Jhalka began to skip about crying "Iwill finish him off in no time. " The headman heard him and took himat his word and wrote to the Raja that in his village there was a manwho undertook to kill the Rakhas. When Jhalka heard this he hurriedto the headman and explained that he had only been joking. "I cannottreat such things as a joke" answered the headman: "Don't you knowthat this is a Raja's matter: to deal with Rajas is the same as todeal with _bongas_: you may make a promise to the _bongas_ in jest, but they will not let you off it on that plea. You are much too fondof playing the fool. "

Ten or twelve days later sipahis came from the Raja to fetch Jhalka:he told them that he had only spoken in jest and did not want to goto the Raja, but they took him away all the same. 

Before he started he picked out a well-tempered battle axe and beggedhis father to propitiate the _bongas_ and pray that he might besaved from the Rakhas. When he was produced before the Raja, Jhalkaagain tried to explain that there had been a mistake, but the Rajatold him that he would be taken at his word and must go and kill theRakhas. Then he saw that there was nothing left for him but to puthis trust in God: so he asked that he might be given two mirrors anda large box and when these were brought he had the box taken to thefoot of a large banyan tree which grew by a ford in the river whichflowed by the hill in which the Rakhas lived: it was at this fordthat the Rakhas used to lie in wait for prey. 

Left alone there Jhalka put one of the mirrors into the box and thentightened his cloth and climbed the banyan tree with his battle axeand the other mirror. He was not at all happy as he waited for theRakhas, thinking of all the people who had been killed as they passedalong the road below the tree: however he was determined to outwitthe Rakhas if he could. All night long he watched in vain but just atdawn the Rakhas appeared. At the sight of him Jhalka shook so muchwith fright that the branches of the tree swayed. The Rakhas smeltthat there was a human being about and looking up into the tree sawthe branches waving. "Ha, " said he, "here is my breakfast. "' Jhalkaretorted "Ha! here is another Rakhas to match those I have got""What are you talking about?" asked the Rakhas: "I am glad to havemet you at last" returned Jhalka. "Why?" asked the Rakhas, "and whatare you trembling for?" "I am trembling with rage: we shall now seewhether I am to eat you or you are to eat me. "

"Come down and try. "

"No, you come up here and try. "

Jhalka would not leave the tree and the Rakhas would not climb it:so they waited. At last the Rakhas asked "Who are you? I have seen athousand men like you" And Jhalka answered "Who are you? I have seena thousand like you. " At this the Rakhas began to hesitate and wonderwhether Jhalka was really his equal in strength, so he changed thesubject and asked what the big box was. "That is the box into whichI put Rakhases like you when I catch them; I have got plenty more athome. " "How many are there in the box?" "Two or three. "

The Rakhas asked to see them, but Jhalka would not leave the tree untilthe Rakhas had sworn an oath to do him no harm; then he came down andopened the box and made the Rakhas look into the mirror inside the box;and he also held up the second mirror saying that there was anotherRakhas. The Rakhas was fascinated at the sight of his own reflection;when he grinned or opened his mouth the reflection did the same; andwhile he was amusing himself with making different grimaces Jhalkasuddenly cut him down with the battleaxe, and he fell down dead. ThenJhalka cut off the ears and tongue and toes and hastened with themto the Raja. When it was found that the Rakhas was really dead theRaja assembled all his subjects and in their presence married Jhalkato his daughter and made over to him half the kingdom and gave himhorses and elephants and half of everything in his palace. 

XCVI. The Children and the Vultures. 

Once upon a time all the women of a village went to the jungle togather _karla_ fruit; and one of them was pregnant. In the jungle shefelt that her time was come and she went aside without telling anyof her friends and gave birth to twin boys. The other women went ongathering fruit and when they had filled their baskets and were ontheir way home they noticed that one of their number was missing, but as it was late they were afraid to go back and look for her, and besides they felt sure that she must have been devoured by somewild animal. 

Meanwhile the mother of the twins began to call to her friends, but they were far out of hearing; so she debated whether she shouldcarry home the two babes or her basket of _karla_ fruit; she didnot feel strong enough to carry both the infants in her arms and soshe decided to take the basket of fruit, especially as she wouldprobably have plenty more children, while the _karla_ fruit couldnot be replaced. She covered the twins with leaves of the Asan treeand went home. 

But when her husband heard what had happened he was very angry, and scolded her well; she could easily have thrown away the fruitand carried home the children in the basket tinsead of taking somuch trouble about the _karla_ fruit, as if no one had ever seenany before. He wanted to take a few friends and go and look for thechildren at once; but his father and mother begged him not to risk hislife in the jungle at night; the woman had been a fool but that couldnot be remedied; people must learn by experience; as the Hindu proverbsays "When your caste goes, wisdom comes. " They could not allow thebreadwinner of the family to risk his life; though the roof and doorsof the house had gone, the walls remained; as long as the tree stoodnew branches would grow; but if the tree fell there was no more hope;so in the end the children were left where they were. 

No sooner had the mother gone than a pair of king vultures swooped downto make a meal of the children but they cried so pitifully that thevultures had hot the heart to kill them but instead carried them upto their nest and brought them food: and nurtured them. And when thechildren began to walk they carried them down to the ground and whenthey were big enough to take care of themselves they told them to gointo the neighbouring villages and beg; but they forbade them to gotowards the village in which their real parents lived. So every daythe two boys went out begging, and as they went from house to house, they sang:--

 "Our mother took away the _karla_ fruit She covered us up with Asan leaves. The pair of King vultures Reared us. --Give us alms. "

And people had pity on them and gave them enough to live on. One daythe two boys thought that they would go and see what the country waslike in the direction which had been forbidden to them; so they setout singing their usual song, and when they came to the house wheretheir mother lived she heard them sing and knew that they must be herchildren; so she called them and bathed them and oiled their bodiesand told them that she was their mother and they were very glad tostay with her. 

But when the children did not return, the vultures flew in searchof them and circled round and round in the air looking for them. Themother saw them and knew what they wanted, so she took the childreninto the house and hid them under a large basket. But the vultures flewdown to the house and tore a hole in the thatch and entered through itand overturned the basket and seized the children. Then the father andmother also caught hold of them and the vultures pulled and the parentspulled until the children were torn in two and the vultures flew awaywith the portions they had secured. The father and mother sorrowfullyburnt on a pyre the remains of the children that were left to them. 

The vultures when they reached their nest were unwilling to eat theflesh of the children they had reared, so they set fire to their nest;but as the flames rose high, some juice spirted out from the burningflesh on to the vultures and they tasted it and found it so goodthat they pulled the rest of the flesh out of the flames and ate it, and from that time vultures feed on human bodies. 

XCVII. The Ferryman. 

There was once a ferryman who plied a ferry across a big river, and hehad two wives. By the elder wife he had five sons and by the youngeronly one. When he grew old he gave up work himself and left his sonsto manage the boats; but the step-brothers could not agree and werealways quarrelling. So the father gave one boat to the son of theyounger wife and told him to work it by himself at a separate crossinghigher up the river, while the five other brothers plied to old ferry. 

It turned out that most passengers used to cross at the youngestbrother's ferry and as he had no one to share the profits with him, his earnings were very large. Because of this he used to jeer at hisother brothers who were not so well off. This made them hate him morethan ever, and they resolved to be revenged; so one day when he wasalone in the boat they set it adrift down the river without any oars. 

As he drifted helplessly down the river he saw a river snake, aslong as the river was broad, waiting for him with open mouth. Hethought that his last hour had come, but he seized a knife which wasin the boat and waited. When the stream brought him within reach, the snake swallowed him, boat and all, and swam to the bank. When hefelt the snake climbing up the bank he began to cut his way out of itsstomach with his knife, and soon made a wound which killed the snakeand enabled him to make his way out and pull out the boat. Then helooked about him and saw a large village near by; so he went towardsit to tell the villagers how he had killed the great snake. But whenhe reached it he found it deserted; he went from house to house butfound no one. At last he came to a house in which there was one girl, who told him that she was the only inhabitant left, as the great riversnake had eaten up all the other people. Then he told her how he hadkilled the snake and took her to see its dead body. The village wasfull of the wealth left by its former inhabitants; so he and the girldecided to stay there, and there were such riches that they livedlike a Raja and Rani. 

One morning his wife told him that she had had a dream, in whichshe was warned that he must on no account go out towards the southof the village; but he laughed at her, because he had up to thattime moved about wherever he liked without any harm. She begged himto listen to her advice, because it was by her wisdom that she hadsaved her life when every one else in the village had been killed, so for a few days he obeyed her, but one morning he took a sword andwent off towards the south. He had not gone far when he came to a cow, which had fallen into a pit, and it called to him. "Oh Brother, I havefallen into great trouble; help me out and one day I will do the sameto you, if you ask my aid. " So he took pity on the cow and pulled itout. Going on a little further he came to a buffalo which had stuckfast in a bog and it also called to him for help and promised to dothe like for him in case of need. So he pulled it out of the mud, and went on his way. Presently he came to a well and from the depthsof the well a man who had fallen into it cried to him for help; so hewent and pulled him up; but no sooner had the man reached the surfacethan he turned and pushed his rescuer down the well and ran away. 

His wife waited and waited for his return and when he did not come, she divined that he had gone towards the south in spite of herwarning. So she went to look for him and presently found him at thebottom of the well. So she let down a rope and pulled him up and gavehim a scolding for his folly. 

After this they thought it best to leave that country, so they embarkedon the boat and travelled back to his father's house. 

XCVIII. Catching a Thief. 

There was once a rich Raja; and in order to frighten away thieveswhenever he woke up at night he used to call out--

 "What are you people saying? I know all about it: You are digging the earth and throwing the earth away: I know all about it: you are skulking there scraping a hole. "

One night a gang of thieves really came and began to dig a holethrough the mud wall of the Raja's house. And while they were at workthe Raja woke up and called out as usual. The thieves thought thatthey were discovered and bolted. The next morning the hole they hadbeen making was found, and the Raja ordered his sipahies to catch thethieves. The head of all the thieves was a Bhuyan by caste and forfive rupees he would catch any thief you wanted. So the sipahies weretold to bring this Bhuyan and they went to a potter and asked. "Ho, maker of pots, he who makes whole paddy into _china_: where does helive?" And the potter answered. "He who heats pewter; his house isover there. " Following this direction they found the Bhuyan and hecaught the thieves for them. 

CHAPTER XCIX

XCIX. The Grasping Raja. 

There was once a Raja who was very rich. He was a stern man andoverbearing and would brook no contradiction. Not one of his servantsor his subjects dared to question his orders; if they did so they gotnothing but abuse and blows. He was a grasping man too; if a cow or agoat strayed into his herds he would return the animal if its ownerclaimed in the same day; but he would not listen to any claim madelater. He was so proud that he thought that there was no one in theworld wiser than himself. 

It happened that a certain man living in the kingdom of this Rajalost a cow; one evening it did not come back to its stall fromthe grazing-ground; so the next day he set out to search for it andquestioned every one he met. He soon got news that a cow like his hadbeen seen in the Raja's herd. So he went to look, and there, amongthe Raja's cattle, he saw his own cow. He asked the cowherd to let himtake it away; but the cowherd refused to do so without a written orderfrom the Raja. So the owner went off to the Raja and claimed his cow;but the Raja would not listen and gave him only abuse and turned himout. Then he went to his friends and asked them to help him but theywere afraid to do anything and advised him to regard the cow as lostfor good. 

So the unfortunate man took his way homeward very unhappily; on the wayhe sat down by the bank of a stream and began to bewail his loss. Ashe cried, Thakur took pity on him and sent a jackal to him. The jackalcame and asked why he was crying, and when it had heard the story ofthe loss of the cow, it said "Cheer up! go back to the Raja and tellhim that you want a panchayat to settle the matter about the cow;and that you intend to call one whether he agrees to abide by itsdecision or no. If he agrees, come back quickly to me and I willarrange to get back your cow for you. " So off went the owner of thecow to the Raja and told him that he wanted to call a panchayat. TheRaja made no objection and bade him call the neighbours together. Thepoor man did so and then hurried off to the jackal and told it howthings had turned out. The jackal returned with him to the outskirtsof the city and then sent him to the Raja to say that the panchayatmust be held on the plain outside the city--for the jackal was afraidof the dogs in the city. 

When the Raja received this message it made him very angry, however hewent outside the city and met the panchayat and ordered them to getto business quickly. Then the owner of the cow stood up and told hisstory and the neighbours who had assembled called to him encouragingly, but the jackal sat in the background and pretended to be asleep. Whenthe tale was finished, the Raja told the people who had assembled togive their decision, but they were all so afraid of the Raja that notone ventured to speak. As they kept silence the Raja turned to theowner of the cow. "Well, where are the people who are going to judgethe case? No one here will say a word. " "That is my judge, " said theman pointing to the jackal. "Why it is fast asleep; what sort of ajudge is that?" But just then the jackal shook itself and said. "Ihave had a most remarkable dream. " "There, he has been dreaming, instead of listening to the case. " exclaimed the Raja. 

"O Raja don't be so scornful" said the jackal, "I am a cleverer judgethan you. " "You, who are you? I have grown old in judging cases andrinding out the truth; and you dare to talk to me like that!" "Well, "retorted the jackal, "if you are so clever guess the meaning of mydream; and if you cannot, give the man back his cow; if you can saywhat it means, I will acknowledge that you are fit to be a Raja. Thisis what I dreamt. --I saw three die in one place; one from sleepiness;one from anger and one from greed. Tell me what were the three andhow did they come to be in one place. "

This riddle puzzled every one, but the friends of the man who hadlost his cow saw their opportunity and began to call out to the Rajato be quick and give the answer. The Raja made several guesses, butthe jackal each time said that he was wrong, and asserted that thereal answer would strike every one present as satisfactory. The Rajawas completely puzzled and then suggested that there was no coherencyin dreams: if the jackal had had some meaningless dream, no one couldguess it. "No, " said the jackal, "you just now laughed at the idea thatany one should come to a panchayat and go to sleep; and what you saidwas true; I would not really go to sleep on an occasion like this;and I did not really dream. Now show that you are cleverer than I;if you can, you keep the cow. "

The Raja thought and thought in vain, and at last asked to be told theanswer to the puzzle. First the jackal made him write out a promiseto restore the cow and to pay twenty-five rupees to the panchayat;and then it began:--"In a forest lived a wild elephant and everynight it wandered about grazing and in the day it returned to itsretreat in a certain hill. One dawn as it was on its way back aftera night's feeding, it felt so sleepy that it lay down where it was;and it happened that its body blocked the entrance to a hole whichwas a poisonous snake. When the snake wanted to come out and foundthe way blocked, it got angry and in its rage bit the elephant and theelephant died then and there. Presently a jackal came prowling by andsaw the elephant lying dead; it could not restrain itself from such afeast and choosing a place where the skin was soft began to tear atthe flesh. Soon it made such a large hole that it got quite insidethe elephant and still went on eating. But when the sun grew strong, the elephant's skin shrunk and closed the hole and the jackal couldnot get out again and died miserably inside the elephant. The snaketoo in its hole soon died from want of food and air. So the elephantmet its death through sleepiness and the snake through anger and thejackal through greed. This is the answer to the puzzle, but Chandoprevented your guessing it, because you unjustly took the poor man'scow and as a lesson to you that he is lord of all, of the poor andweak as well as of Rajas and Princes. "

When the jackal concluded all present cried out that the answer wasa perfect one; but the Raja said "I don't think much of that; I knowa lot of stories like that myself. " However he had to give back thecow and pay twenty-five rupees to the panchayat. In gratitude to thejackal the owner of the cow bought a goat and gave it to the jackaland then the jackal went away and was seen no more. 

C. The Prince Who Would Not Marry. 

There was once a Raja who in spite of having many wives was childless;and his great desire was to have a son. He made many vows and performedevery ceremony that was recommended to him, but in vain. At last aJogi came to his kingdom and hearing of his case told him that if hewould pray to Thakur and give away to the poor one-fourth of all hiswealth, he should have a son. 

The Raja followed the Jogi's advice, and in due time his youngest wifebore him a son; a son so fair and so beautiful that there was no oneon earth to match him. When the boy grew up, they began to think abouthis marriage and the Raja said that he would only marry him to a brideas fair and as beautiful as himself. It did not matter whether she werepoor or rich, all that was needful was that she should be a match forhis son in looks. So messengers were sent out to all the surroundingkingdoms to look for such a bride. They searched for years; nine years, ten years passed and still no bride was found to match in looks thePrince. After ten years had passed the Prince heard of this search andhe went to his father and announced that he did not wish to marry; andthat if he ever should wish to do so, he would find a wife for himself. 

The Raja was very angry at this and said that the Prince wished tobring him to shame; every one would say that the Raja was too meanto arrange a marriage for his only son. But the Prince was obstinateand persisted that he did not wish the Raja to take any steps in thematter. At this the Raja grew more and more angry, until at last heordered the Prince to be taken to prison and kept there, until hepromised to marry any one whom his father chose. 

Every day the warders asked whether he would yield and every day herefused; and it is impossible to say how long he would have languishedin prison, had not the wife of the Parganna of the Bongas come onenight to the prison with two other bongas. They began to talk aboutthe Prince's hard case. The warders heard them talking, but could seeno one. The Bonga Parganna's wife proposed that they should providea _bonga_ bride for the Prince, for it was certain that no humanbride could be his match for beauty. The two bongas agreed that itwas a good idea but the Prince had declared that he would not marryand that was a difficulty. "Let him see the bride I offer him and seewhat happens" answered the old _Bonga's_ wife. So the next night whenthe Prince was asleep a beautiful bonga maiden was brought to theprison and when he awoke he saw her sitting by his side. He fell inlove with her at first sight and exchanging rings with her promisedthat she should be his wife. 

Then the warders, who had been watching, ran to the Raja and told himthat the Prince had agreed to marry. The Raja came and took the Princeand his bride out of the prison, and the wedding was celebrated withgreat rejoicings throughout the kingdom. 

CI. The Prince Who Found Two Wives. 

There was once a Raja who had an only son. When the Prince grew up thecourtiers proposed to the Raja that he should arrange for his son'smarriage; the Raja however wished to postpone it for a time. So thecourtiers used to laugh and say to the Prince "Wait a little andwe will find you a couple of wives;" the young man would answer, "What is that? I can find them for myself. If you offered to find meten or twelve wives there would be something in it. " The Raja heardof his boasting like this and was very angry and said "Well if he isso sure that he can find a wife for himself, let him do it;" and hetook no further steps to arrange for his son's marriage. 

Now the Prince had a most beautiful voice and used also to play onthe one-stringed lute. He used often to sit up half the night singingand playing to himself. One night as he sat singing, he heard a laughand looking round saw a beautiful _bonga_ girl. He asked who she wasand how she had come there, and she told him that she lived closeby and could not help coming to see who it was, who was singing sobeautifully. After that she used to visit the Prince every night, but always disappeared before dawn. This went on for some weeksand then the Prince asked her to stay and be his wife. She agreed, provided he would first go to her home and see her relations. Sothe next night he went with her; and found that her father was alsoa Raja and very rich. He stayed there three or four days; while hismysterious disappearance caused the greatest consternation at his ownhome. However he returned quietly by night and was found sleeping asusual in his bed one morning. Then he told his parents all that hadhappened and how he had left his wife behind at her father's house. 

Two or three days later the Prince fell very ill: every sort of remedywas tried in vain. As he grew worse and worse, one day a messenger camefrom his father-in-law and offered to cure him if he were removed tohis wife's house. So he was carried thither and when he arrived hefound that his wife was also very ill; but directly he was broughtto where she lay, at the mere sight of each other they both becamewell again. 

After some months the Prince and his wife set out to return to theirown home. They were benighted on the way; so they tied their horsesto a tree and prepared to camp under it. The Prince went to a bazarto buy provisions and while there, was arrested on a false chargeand was sent to prison. The Princess waited and waited and at lastfelt sure that something must have detained him against his will. Shewould not leave the spot, and to make it less likely that she shouldbe molested, she dressed herself as a man. 

Some days passed and the Prince did not return; then one morning anold woman passing by came and asked for a light for her hookah, andstayed talking for some time. The old woman was struck by the sweetface and gentle voice of the stranger, and on her return told thedaughter of the Raja of that country that there was a strange youngman, who looked and talked very differently from any of the young menof that neighbourhood. The Raja's daughter was curious to see him, and the next morning she went with the old woman and talked with thedisguised Princess. Before she left she was deeply in love with him, and directly she reached home she sent word to her father that shehad seen the man whom she must marry. "It is of no use to thwartone's children, " said the Raja and at once sent messengers to bringthe stranger to marry his daughter. 

When the disguised Princess was brought before the Raja, she saidthat she had no objection to being married provided that it was doneaccording to the custom of her own country, and that was that thevermilion should be applied to the bride's forehead with a sword. TheRaja made no objection; so the Princess took her husband's sword andput vermilion on it and then applied it to the bride's forehead; andso the marriage was complete. But when the Princess was left alonewith her bride, she confessed that she was a woman and told her allher history and how her husband had disappeared in the bazar. 

Then the Raja's daughter went to her father and told him what hadhappened and had enquiries made and speedily had the Prince releasedfrom prison. Then the prince himself again put vermilion on theforehead of the Raja's daughter, and a few days later set off homewith both his wives. This was the way in which he found two wivesfor himself, as he had boasted that he would. 

CII. The Unfaithful Wife. 

Once upon a time there were two brothers and as their wives did notget on well together, they lived separately. After a time it cameto the ears of the elder brother that the younger brother's wifewas carrying on an intrigue with a certain Jugi; so he made up hismind to watch her movements. One night he saw a white figure leavehis brother's house and, following it quietly, he saw it go into theJugi's house, and creeping nearer, he heard his sister-in-law's voicetalking inside. He was much grieved at what he had seen, but couldnot make up his mind to tell his brother. 

One day the elder brother found that he had no milk in the house, as all his cows had run dry; so he sent a servant to his brother'shouse to ask for some milk; but the younger brother's wife declinedto give any, and sent word that her brother-in-law was quite richenough to buy milk cows if he wanted milk. The elder brother saidnothing at this rebuff, but after a time it happened that the youngerbrother's cows all became dry, and he in his turn sent to his elderbrother for milk. The elder brother's wife was not disposed to giveit, but her husband bade her not bear malice and to send the milk. 

After this the elder brother sent for the other and advised him towatch his wife and see where she went to at night. So that night theyounger brother lay awake and watched; and in the middle of the nightsaw his wife get up very quietly and leave the house. He followed her;as the woman passed down the village street, some Mahommedans, who hadbeen sitting up smoking ganja, saw her and emboldened by the drug setout to see who it was, who was wandering about so late at night. Thewoman took refuge in a clump of bamboos and pulled down one of thebamboos to conceal herself. The Mahommedans surrounded the clump butwhen they saw the one bamboo which the woman held shaking, while allthe rest were still--for it was a windless night--they concluded thatit was an evil spirit that they were pursuing and ran away in a panic. 

When they were gone, the woman came out from the bamboos and went on tothe Jugi's house. Her husband who had been watching all that happenedfollowed her: and having seen her enter the Jugi's house hastenedhome and bolted his door from inside. Presently his wife returnedand found the door which she had left ajar, fastened; then she knewthat she was discovered. She was however full of resource; she beganto beg to be let her in, but her husband only showered abuse upon herand bade her go back to the friend she had left. Then she took a largestone and heaved it into a pool of water near the house. Her husbandheard the splash and concluded that she was drowning herself. He didnot want to get into trouble with the police, as would surely be thecase if his wife were found drowned, so he ran out of the house to thepool of water to try and save her. Seizing this opportunity his wifeslipped into the house and in her turn locked the door from inside;so that her husband had to spend the rest of the night out-of-doors. 

He could not be kept out of the house permanently and the next day hegave his wife a thrashing and turned her out. At evening however shecame back and sat outside in the courtyard, weeping and wailing. Thenoise made her husband more angry than ever, and he shouted out to herthat if she did not keep quiet he would come and cut off her nose. Shekept on crying, and the Jugi heard her and sent an old woman to callher to him. She declared that if she went her husband would know and bethe more angry with her, but she might go if the old woman would sitin her place and keep on crying, so that her husband might believeher to be still in the courtyard. The old woman agreed and beganto weep and wail, while the other went off to the Jugi. She wept tosuch purpose that the husband at last could not restrain his anger, and rushing out into the darkness with a knife, cut off the nose, as he supposed, of his wife. 

Presently the wife came back and found the old woman weeping in realearnest over the loss of her nose. "Never mind, I'll find it and fix iton for you, " so saying she felt about for the nose till she found it, clapped it on to the old woman's face and told her to hold it tightand it would soon grow again. Then she sat down where she had satbefore and began to lament the cruelty of her husband in bringing afalse charge against her and challenged him to come out and see themiracle which had occurred to indicate her innocence. She repeatedthis so often that at last her husband began to wonder what she meant, and took a lamp and went out to see. When he found her sitting on theground without a blemish on her face, although he had seen her withhis own eyes go to the Jugi's house, he could not doubt her virtueand had to receive her back into the house. 

Thus by her cunning the faithless wife escaped the punishment whichshe deserved. 

CIII. The Industrious Bride. 

Once upon a time a party of three or four men went to a village tosee if a certain girl would make a suitable bride for the son of oneof their friends; and while they were talking to her, another youngwoman came up. The visitors asked the first girl where her fatherwas and she told them that he had gone to "meet water. "

Then they asked where her mother was, and she said that she had gone"to make two men out of one. " These answers puzzled the questioners, and they did not know what more to say; as they stood silent the othergirl got up and went away remarking, "While I have been waiting here, I might have carded a seer of cotton. " The men who were looking fora girl who would make a good wife, at once concluded that they hadfound what they wanted: "How industrious she must be to talk likethat" thought they--"much better than this other girl who can onlygive us incomprehensible answers. " And before they left the villagethey set everything in train for a match between their friend's sonand the girl who seemed so industrious. 

When they got home and told their wives what they had done theygot well laughed at: their wives declared that it was quite easy tounderstand what the first girl had meant: of course she meant thather father had gone to reap thatching grass and her mother had goneto thresh _dal_. The poor men only gaped with astonishment at thisexplanation. 

However the marriage they had arranged duly took place, but the factwas that the bride was entirely ignorant of how to clean and spincotton. It was not long before this was found out, for, in the spring, when there was no work in the fields, her father-in-law set all thewomen of the household to spinning cotton; and told them that theyand their husbands should have no new clothes until they had finishedtheir task. The bride, who had been so carefully chosen, tried to learnhow to spin by watching the others, but all in vain. The other womenlaughed at her efforts and she protested that it was the fault of thespinning wheel: it did not know her; her mother's spinning wheel knewher well and she could spin capitally with that. They jeered at theidea of a spinning wheel having eyes and being able to recognise itsowner; however one day the young woman went and fetched her mother'sspinning wheel and tried to spin with that. She got on no better thanbefore, and could only explain it by saying that the spinning wheelhad forgotten her. 

Whatever the reason was, the other women all finished their spinningand received their new clothes, while she had nothing to show. Then herfather-in-law scolded her and told her that it was too late to makeother arrangements and as she could not get any new clothes the bestthing for her to do would be to smear her body with _Gur_ and stickraw cotton all over it. A _parrab_ soon came round and all the otherwomen got out their new clothes and went to see the fun. The clumsybride had no new clothes and she took her father-in-law's advice andsmeared her body with _gur_ and covered herself with raw cotton andso went to the _parrab_. 

Her husband was very angry that she should have taken herfather-in-law's jest in earnest, and when she came home he gave hera good beating and turned her out of the house. And that was the endof the "industrious" bride. 

CIV. The Boy and His Fate. 

There was once a Raja and Rani who had had three sons, but they hadall died when only three or four months old. Then a fourth son wasborn, a fine handsome child; and he did not die in infancy but grewup to boyhood. It was however fated that he should die when he wassixteen years old and his parents knew this and when they saw himcoming happily home from his games of play, their eyes filled withtears at the thought of the fate that hung over him. 

One day the boy asked his father and mother why it was that they wereso sorrowful: and they told him how his three little brothers had diedand how they feared that he had but little longer to live. On hearingthis the boy proposed that he should be allowed to go away into afar country, as perhaps by this means he might avoid his fate. Hisfather was glad to catch at the faintest hope and readily gave hisconsent: so they supplied him with money and mounted him on a horse, and off he set. 

He travelled far and settled down in a place that pleased him. Butin a short time the messengers of death came to the Raja's palace totake him away. When they did not find him, they followed in pursuitalong the road which he had taken; they wore the likeness of men andsoon traced out the Raja's son. They presented themselves to him andsaid that they had come to take him home again. The prince said thathe was ready to go, but asked them to allow him to cook and eat hisrice before starting. They told him that he might do this if he werequick about it: he promised to hurry, and set to his cooking: he putsufficient rice into the pot to feed them all and when it was readyhe offered some to each of the messengers. They consulted togetheras to whether they should eat it, but their appetites got the betterof their caution and they agreed to do so, and made a good meal. Butdirectly they had finished they began to debate what they should do;they had eaten his rice and could no longer compass his death. 

So they told him frankly that Chando had sent them to call him;he was to die that night and they were to take away his spirit; butthey had made the mistake of eating at his hands and although theymust take him away, they would give him advice as to how he mightsave his life: he was to take a thin piece of lamp-wick and whenChando questioned him, he was to put it up his nose and make himselfsneeze. The prince promised to remember this, and that night theytook his spirit away to Chando, but when Chando began to questionhim he made himself sneeze with the lamp-wick; thereupon Chando atonce wrote that he should live for sixty years more and ordered themessengers to immediately restore his spirit to its body. Then theprince hastened back to his father and mother, and told them that hehad broken through his fate and had a long life before him; and theyhad better make arrangements for his marriage at once. This they didand he lived to a ripe old age, as he had been promised. 

CV. The Messengers of Death. 

There was once a Brahman who had four sons born to him, but theyall died young; a fifth son however was born to him, who grew upto boyhood. But it was fated that he too should die before reachingmanhood. One day while his father was away from home, the messengers ofdeath came to take him away. The Brahman's wife thought that they werethree friends or relations of her husband, who had come to pay a visit, and gave them a hearty welcome. And when she asked who they were, they also told her that they were connections of her husband. Thenshe asked them to have some dinner and they said that they would eat, provided that she used no salt in the cooking. She promised not todo, but what she did was to scatter some salt over the bottom of thedish. Then she cooked the rice and turned it into the dish and gaveit to them to eat. They ate but when they came to the bottom of thedish they tasted the salt which had been underneath. Then the threemessengers said "She has got the better of us; we have eaten her saltand can no longer deceive her; we must tell her why we have come. "

So they told her that her son was to die that night and that Chandohad sent them to take away his spirit: all they could do was tolet her come too, and see the place to which her son's spirit wasgoing. The mother thought that this would be a consolation to her, so she went with them. When they arrived in the spirit world theytold the Brahman's wife to wait for them by a certain house in whichdwelt her son's wife; and they took the boy to Chando. Presently theybrought him back to the house in which his wife dwelt and near whichhis mother was waiting and she overheard the following conversationbetween the boy and his wife. The wife said "Have you come for goodthis time, or must you again go back to the world?"

"I have to go back once more. "

"And how will you manage to return again here?"

"I shall ask for the dust of April and May and if it is not givento me I shall cry myself to death; and if that fails, I shall cryfor a toy winnowing fan; and if they give me that, then I will cryfor an elephant and if that fails then on my wedding day there willbe two thorns in the rice they give me to eat and they will stickin my throat and kill me. And if that does not come to pass, then, when I return home after the wedding, a leopard will kill a cow andI shall run out to chase the leopard and I shall run after it, tillI run hither to you. "

"When you come back, " said his wife, "bring me some of the vermilionthey use in the world" and the boy promised. 

The messengers then took the Brahman's wife home, and shortlyafterwards the boy was born again. His mother had carefully guardedthe memory of all that she had heard in the other world; and whenthe child asked for the dust and the winnowing fan and the elephant, she at once gratified his desires. So the boy grew up, and his weddingday arrived. His mother insisted on accompanying him to the bride'shouse, and when the rice was brought for the bride and bridegroomto eat together, she asked to be allowed to look at it first, and onexamining it pulled out the the two thorns; and then her son ate itunharmed. But when the wedding party returned home and the ceremonyof introducing the bride to the house was being performed, wordwas brought that a leopard had killed one of the cows; at once thebridegroom ran out in pursuit; but his mother followed him and calledout, "My son, your wife told you to take her some of the vermilion ofthis world; here is some that I have brought, take it with you. " Atthis her son stopped and asked her to explain what she meant; thenshe told him all and he went no more in pursuit of the leopard:so he stayed and grew up and lived to a good old age. 

CVI. The Speaking Crab. 

There was once a farmer who kept a labourer and a field woman to dothe work of the farm; and they were both very industrious and workedas if they were working on their own account and not for a master. 

Once at the time of transplanting rice, they were so busy that theystayed in the fields all day and had their meals there and did notgo home till the evening. During this time it happened that the manhad unyoked his plough bullocks and taking his hoe began to dress theembankment of the field, and as he dug, he dug out a very large crab;so he plucked some leaves from the bushes and wrapped the crab inthem and fetching the yoke rope from the plough, he tied the bundleup tightly with it and put it on the stump of a tree, intending totake it home in the evening; but when he went home he forgot about it. 

Now the crab was alive and in the middle of the night it began tostruggle to get out, but could not free itself. It happened that justthen the farmer was walking in the field to see that no one came tosteal his rice seedlings, and the crab began to sing:--

 "This servant, this servant, father, And this maidservant, this maidservant, father, Caught me while digging the bank: And in leaves, leaves, father, With the yoke rope, yoke rope, father Tied me and left me on the stump. "

At this sound the farmer was very frightened, and puzzled also;for he thought, "If this were a human being crying, every one inthe neighbourhood would have heard and woke up, but it seems thatI alone am able to hear the sound; who can it be who is talkingabout my servants?" So he went back to bed and told no one. The nextmorning when the labourer looked for his yoke ropes, he missed one;and then he remembered that he had used it to tie up the crab; so hewent to the place and found his rope. When his master brought themtheir breakfast that day and they had finished eating, the labourerbegan to tell how he had lost one of the yoke ropes and had foundit again: and how he had used it for tying up the crab which he hadfound. The master asked whether the crab was alive or dead; and thelabourer said that it was dead. 

Then the master said "My man you have done a very foolish thing;why did you tie it up alive? Last night I could not sleep for itscrying. Why did you imprison the innocent creature until it died?" Andhe told them the song it had sung, and forbade them ever to causesuch pain to living creatures. He said "Kill them outright or you willbring disgrace on me; when I heard the lament I thought it was a man, but now I learn from you that it was a crab. I forbid you ever to dothe like again. " And at the time of the Sohrai festival the farmercalled together all his household and sang them the song and explainedits meaning to them, and the men who heard it remember it to this day. 

CVII. The Leopard Outwitted. 

There was once a man-eating leopard, whose depredations became soserious, that the whole neighbouring population decided to have agreat hunt and kill it. On the day fixed a great crowd of beaterscollected, and their drums made a noise as if the world were beingturned upside down. 

When the leopard heard the shouting and the drumming, it started toescape to another jungle, and as it was crossing a road it came ona merchant driving a packbullock. The merchant tried to run away, but the leopard stopped him and said "You must hide me or I will eatyou. " The merchant continued to run, thinking that if he helped theleopard it would surely eat him afterwards, but the leopard swore anoath not to eat him if he would only hide it. So the merchant stoppedand took one of his sacks off the bullock and emptied it out and tiedup the leopard in it, and put it on the bullock and then drove on. 

When they got out of hearing of the hunters the leopard asked to belet out; but directly the sack was untied it said that it would devourthe merchant. The merchant said "You can of course eat me, but let usconsult an arbitrator as to whether it is fair. " The leopard agreedand as they were near a stream, the man asked the water whether it wasfair that he should be killed, after he had saved the leopard's life;the water answered "Yes; you men wash all manner of filthy thingsin me; let it eat you!" Then the leopard wanted to eat him, but themerchant asked leave to take two more opinions; so he asked a tree;but the tree said "Men cut me down; let the leopard eat you. "

The merchant was very downcast to find everyone against him andthe leopard said, "Well, whom will you consult next? You have somany friends;" so they went on and presently met a jackal and themerchant said that he would appeal to him. The jackal considered forsome time and then said "I don't understand how you hid the leopard;let me see how it was done; and then I shall be able to decide, " Themerchant said "I hid him in this sack. " "Really, " said the jackal, "show me exactly how you did it" So the leopard got into the sackto show how he was hidden; then the jackal asked to be shown howthe leopard was carried out of danger; so the merchant tied up thesack and put it on the bullock. "Now, " said the jackal, "drive on, and when we come to yonder ravine and I tell you to put the sack down, do you knock in the head of the leopard with a stone. " And the merchantdid so and when he had killed the leopard, he took it out of the sackand the jackal ate its body. 

CVIII. The Wind and the Sun. 

Once the Wind and the Sun disputed as to which was the morepowerful. And while they were quarreling a man came by wrappedin a shawl and wearing a big _pagri_. And they said "It is no goodquarrelling; let us put our power to the test and see who can deprivethis man of the shawl he has wrapped round him. " Then the Wind askedto be allowed to try first and said "You will see that I will blowaway the blanket in no time, " and the Sun said, "All right, you gofirst. " So the Wind began to blow hard; but the man only wrappedhis shawl more tightly round him to prevent its being blown away andfastened it round himself with his _pagri_; and though the Wind blewfit to blow the man away, it could not snatch the shawl from him;so it gave up and the Sun had a try; he rose in the sky and blazedwith full force and soon the man began to drip with sweat; and he tookoff his shawl and hung it on the stick he carried over his shoulderand the Wind had to admit defeat. 

CIX. The Coldest Season. 

One winter day a bear and a tiger began to dispute as to which isthe coldest season of the year; the bear said July and August, whichis the rainy season, and the tiger said December and January, whichis the winter season. They argued and argued but could not convinceeach other; for the bear with his long coat did not feel the cold ofwinter but when he got soaked through in the rain he felt chilly. 

At last they saw a man coming that way and called on him todecide--"but have a care"--said the tiger--"if you give an opinionfavourable to the bear, I will eat you;" and the bear said "If youside with the tiger, _I_ will eat you. " At this the man was terrorstricken but an idea struck him and he made the tiger and the bearpromise not to eat him if he gave a fair decision and then he said"It is not the winter which is the coldest, nor the rainy season whichis the coldest, but windy weather; if there is no wind no one feelsthe cold much either in the winter or in the rainy season. " And thetiger and the bear said "You are right, we never thought of that"and they let him go. 

CHAPTER II

Part II. 

To a people living in the jungles the wild animals are much more thananimals are to us. To the man who makes a clearing in the forest, life is largely a struggle against the beasts of prey and the animalswho graze down the crops. It is but natural that he should creditthem with feelings and intelligence similar to those of human beings, and that they should seem to him suitable characters around which toweave stories. 

These stories are likely to be particularly current among a peopleoccupying a forest country, and for this reason are less likely toappear in collections made among the inhabitants of towns. It is astrange coincidence and presumably only a coincidence that Story 118, 'The Hyena outwitted' is known in a precisely similar form among theKaffirs of South Africa. 

CX. The Jackal and the Crow. 

Once upon a time a crow and a jackal became bosom friends and theyagreed that the crow should support the jackal in the hot weatherand the jackal support the crow in the rainy season. By-and-bye thejackal got discontented with the arrangement, and vowed that it wouldnot go on supporting an animal of another species, but would takesome opportunity of eating it up. But he did not let this appear, and one day he invited the crow to a feast and gave him as many frogsand grasshoppers as he could eat and treated him well and they partedvery affectionately. 

Then a few days later the crow invited the jackal to dinner inreturn; and when the jackal arrived the crow led him to an ant-hilland showed him a hollow gourd which he had filled with live mice andsaid "Here is your dinner. " The jackal could not get his nose intothe hole of the gourd so, to get at the mice, he had to break it. Andthe mice ran all over the place and the jackal jumped about here andthere trying to catch them. At this sight the crow stood and laughed;and the jackal said to himself "Very well, my friend, you invited mehere to have a laugh at me; wait till I have finished with the mice;then it will be your turn. "

So when he had caught all the mice he could, he declared that hehad had as much as he could eat and would like to go and sleep offhis meal. As they said farewell and were salaaming to each other, the jackal pounced on the crow and ate him up; not a bone or a clawwas left. Then the jackal began to skip with joy and sang:--

 "I ate a gourdful of mice And by the side of the ant-hill I ate the crow: Hurrah!"

And singing thus he went skipping homewards; and on the way hemet a fowl and called to it to get out of the way or he would eatit, --singing:--

 "I ate a gourdful of mice And by the side of the ant-hill I ate the crow:--Hurrah!"

And as the fowl did not move he ate it up; then he skipped on andcame to a goat and he sang his verse and told it to get out of theway and as it did not, he ate it; and in the same way he met andkilled a sheep and a cow and he ate the liver and lungs of the cow;and then he killed a buffalo and ate its liver and lungs; and by thistime he was as full as he could hold. Then he came to a pool of waterand he called to it to get out of the way or he would drink it up andas it did not move, he drank it dry. Then he came to a post and said"Get out of my way or I will jump over you"--

 "I ate a gourdful of mice And by the side of the ant-hill I ate the crow--Hurrah!"

And so saying he tried to jump over it; but he was so full of whathe had eaten and drunk that he leaped short and fell on the point ofthe stake and was transfixed, so that he died. 

CXI. The Tiger Cub and the Calf. 

A Tigress and a Cow used to graze in a dense jungle, and they wereboth with young. They became great friends and agreed that theywould marry their children to each other. In the course of time thetigress gave birth to a she-cub and the cow to a bull-calf. They keptthe young ones in the same place and used to go and graze together, and then return at the same time to suckle their young. On their wayback they used to drink at a certain river, the tigress up the streamand the cow lower down. One day it happened that the cow got firstto the river and drank at the upper drinking place, and the tigressdrank lower down. And the froth from the cow's mouth floated down thestream and the tigress tasted it and found it nice, and this made herthink that the flesh of the cow must also be good; so she resolved toeat the cow one day. The cow saw what was in the mind of the tigressand she left some of her milk in a bowl, and said to her calf:"The tigress has resolved to eat me; watch this milk and when yousee it turn red like blood, you will know that I have been killed;"then she went off to graze with the tigress. 

The two youngsters always used to play together very happily butthat day the calf would not play but kept going to look at the bowlof milk; and the tigress cub asked the reason. The calf told herwhat his mother had said; then the tigress cub said that if thishappened she would never suck from her mother again and it wouldbe better for them both to run away. So the two kept going to lookat the bowl of milk, and about midday they saw that it had changedto blood and they both began to weep. Shortly after, the tigresscame back, and flies were clustered round her mouth because of theblood on it. The tigress told her daughter to come and suck, but shesaid that she would wait till the cow came and then she and the calfcould have their meal together as usual; at this the tigress frownedterribly and the cub was frightened, so she said, "Very well, mother, I will suck, but first go and wash your mouth; why are the fliesclustered round it?" So the tigress went off but she did not wash, she only ate some more of the cow. While she was away, the calf andthe cub ran off to another jungle, and when the tigress came back, she searched for them with horrid roarings and could not find them, and if she had found them she would have killed them. 

CXII. The Jackal and the Chickens. 

Once upon a time a jackal and a hen were great friends and regardedeach other as brother and sister; and they agreed to have a feast tocelebrate their friendship; so they both brewed rice beer and theyfirst drank at the jackal's house and then went to the hen's house;and there they drank so much that the hen got blind drunk, and whileshe lay intoxicated the jackal ate her up. The jackal found the fleshso nice that he made up his mind to eat the hen's chickens too; sothe next day he went to their house and found them all crying "Cheep, cheep, " and he asked what was the matter; they said that they had losttheir mother; he told them to cheer up and asked where they slept;they told him 'on the shelf in the wall'. 

Then he went away; but the chickens saw that he meant to come and eatthem at night, so they did not go to sleep on the shelf but filledit with razors and knives and when the jackal came at night and feltabout the shelf he got badly cut and ran away screaming. 

But a few day later he paid another visit to the chickens, and condoledwith them on the loss of their mother and again asked where they slept, and they told him, 'in the fireplace. ' Directly the jackal was gone, they filled the stove with live embers and covered them up with ashes;and went to sleep themselves inside a drum. At night the jackalcame and put his paws into the fireplace; but he only scraped thehot embers up against his belly and got burnt; this made him screamand the chickens burst out laughing. The jackal heard them and said"You have got me burnt; now I am going to eat you. " They said, "Yes, uncle, but please eat us outside the house; you did not eat our motherin her own house; take us to yonder flat rock. "

So the jackal took up the drum but when he got to the rock heaccidentally let it fall and it broke and the chickens ran away inall directions; but the chicken that had been at the bottom of thedrum had got covered with the droppings of the others and could notfly away; so the jackal thought "Well it is the will of heaven thatI should have only one chicken; it is doubtless for the best!" Thechicken said to the jackal, "I see that you will eat me, but youcannot eat me in this state; wash me clean first. "

So the jackal took the chicken to a pool and washed it; then thechicken asked to be allowed to get a little dry; but the jackal saidthat if it got dry it would fly away. "Then, " said the chicken, "rubme dry with your snout and I will myself tell you when I am ready tobe eaten;" so the jackal rubbed it dry and then proceeded to eat it;but directly the jackal got it in his mouth it voided there, so thejackal spat it out and it flew away. 

The jackal thought that it had gone into a hole in a white ant-hill, but really it had hidden elsewhere; however the jackal felt for itin the hole and then tried in vain to scrape the hole larger; as hecould not get into the hole he determined to sit and wait till hungeror suffocation forced the chicken to come out. So he sat and watched, and he sat so long that the white ants ate off his hind quarters;at last he gave up and went off to the rice fields to look for fishand crabs. There he saw an old woman catching fish, and he askedto be allowed to help her. So the old woman sat on the bank and thejackal jumped and twisted about in the water and presently he caughta _potha_ fish which he ate; but as the jackal had no hind quartersthe fish passed through him none the worse. Soon the jackal caught thesame fish over again, and he laughed at the old woman because she hadcaught none. She told him that he was catching the same fish over andover again, and when he would not believe her she told him to mark witha thorn the next one which he caught; he did so and then found thathe really was catching and eating the same fish over and over again. 

At this he was much upset and asked what he should do. The old womanadvised him to go to a cobbler and get patched up; so he went andkilled a fowl and took it to a cobbler and offered it to him if hewould put him to rights; so the cobbler sewed on a leather patchwith a long leather tail which rapped on the ground as the jackalwent along. Then the jackal went to a village to steal fowls and hedanced along with his tail tapping, and sang:

 "Now the Moghul cavalry are coming And the Koenda Rajas. Run away or they will utterly destroy you. "

And when the villagers heard this they all ran away and the jackalentered the village and killed as many fowls as he wanted. 

A few days later he went again to the village and frightened away thevillagers as before; but one old woman was too feeble to run away andshe hid in a pig sty, and one fowl that the jackal chased, ran intothis sty and the jackal followed it, and when he saw the old woman, he told her to catch the fowl for him or he would knock her teeth out;but she told him to catch it himself; so he caught and ate it. Thenhe said to the old woman. Say "Toyo" (jackal) and she said "Toyo;"then he took a currypounder and knocked all her teeth out and toldher again to say "Toyo;" but as she had no teeth she said "Hoyo;"this amused the jackal immensely and he went away laughing. 

When the villagers returned, the old woman told them that it was onlya jackal who had attacked the village, so they decided to kill him;but one man said "You won't be able to catch him; let us make an imageof this old woman and cover it with birdlime and set it up at the endof the village street; he will stop and abuse her, and we shall knowwhere he is. " So they did this, and the next morning, when the jackalcame singing along the road, they hid inside their houses. When thejackal reached the village, he saw the figure of the old woman withits arms stretched out, and he said to it, "What are you blockingmy road for? get out of the way; I knocked your teeth out yesterday:arn't you afraid? Get out of the way or I will kick you out. "

As the figure did not move he gave it a kick and his leg was caughtin the birdlime; then he said, "Let me go, you old hag, or I willgive you a slap. " Then he gave it a slap and his front paw was stuckfast; then he slapped at it with his other paw and that stuck; thenhe tried to bite the figure and his jaws got caught also; and whenhe was thus helpless the villagers came out and beat him to deathand that was the end of the jackal. 

CXIII. The Jackal Punished. 

Once a hen and a jackal were great friends, and they decided tohave a feast and each brewed beer for the occasion; the hen brewedwith rice, and maize and millet and the jackal brewed with lizards, locusts, frogs and fish. And when the brew was ready, they firstwent to the jackal's house, but the hen could not touch his beer, it smelt so bad and the jackal drank it all; then they went to thehen's house and her beer was very nice and they both drank till thehen got very drunk and began to stagger about; and the jackal madeup his mind that the hen must be very nice to eat, as her beer wasso good to drink and when he saw her drunk he was delighted and sang:

 "Fowl, do not graze in the field! The jackal laughs to see you. Paddy bird, do not fish in the pond! You pecked a piece of sedge thinking it was a frog's leg! Do not drink rice beer, O fowl! The jackal laughs to see you. 

And so saying he gobbled her up; and her chickens cried at thesight. Then the jackal resolved to eat the chickens also, so he cameback the next day, and asked them where they slept and they said"In the hearth. " But when the jackal had gone, the chickens plannedhow they should save their lives. 

Their mother had laid an egg and as there was no one to hatch it now, they said, "Egg, you must lie in the fireplace and blind the jackal;"and they said to the paddy husker, "You must stand by the door andwhen the jackal runs out you must knock him down;" and they told thepaddy mortar to wait on the roof over the door and fall and crushthe jackal. So they put the egg among the hot ashes in the fireplaceand they themselves sat in a cupboard with axes ready; and when thejackal came he went to the fireplace and scratched out the ashes;and the egg burst and spirted into his eyes and blinded him and ashe ran out of the door the paddy husker knocked him over; and as hecrawled away the paddy mortar fell on him from the roof and crushedhim; then the chickens ran out and chopped him to pieces with theiraxes and revenged the death of their mother. 

CXIV. The Tigers and the Cat. 

In former days tigers and cats were friends and used to hunt togetherand share the game they caught; and they did not eat the game rawbut used to cook it as men do. 

One day some tigers and a cat had killed a deer and they had no firewith which to cook it; then the tigers said to the cat "You are small, go and beg a light from yonder village. " But the cat said that he wasafraid to go; however they urged him saying "You have a thin tail andplump feet; you can bring it in a trice. " So, as they all insisted onhis going, he at last consented; and said "Well, I will go; but don'texpect me to be very quick; if I get a good opportunity for fetchingthe fire, I will come back soon. " They said "All right, go and runoff with a small fire-brand and we will meet you outside the village. "

So the cat went off and coming to a house, went inside to pull afirebrand from the hearth. On the fire some milk was boiling; andthe cat thought "This smells very nice, I will have a taste of it"and he found it so nice that he made up his mind to drink it all, before he took away the fire-brand. But in order to lap the milkhe had to put his feet on the fireplace, and it was so hot that heburnt his feet and had to get down; so then he sat down and waitedtill the fire went out and the hearth grew cool, and then he lappedup the milk and ran off with a piece of smouldering wood. 

Meanwhile the tigers had got tired of waiting and had eaten the deerraw; and they were very angry at being made to eat raw flesh and sworethat they would eat the cat too. When they saw the cat bringing thefire they ran to meet him and abused him and cried out "You have madeus eat raw flesh; we will eat you too, dung and all" On hearing thisthreat the cat ran back to the village in fear of his life; and thetigers followed in pursuit; but when they got near the village, thevillage dogs all ran out barking and the tigers were frightened andturned back and the cat was saved. From that day tigers and leopardshave eaten raw flesh; and cats bury their excrement, because of whatthe tigers had said. 

Every day the tigers went to the village in search of the cat; but whenthe dogs barked they slunk away; for the tigers were very frightenedat the sight of the dogs' curly tails; they thought that the tailswere nooses and that they would be strangled by them. One day oneof the tigers met a jackal and called to him "Nephew, listen to me;a cat made us eat raw flesh and has escaped into this village and Iwant to catch it, but the dogs come barking at me. I don't mind that, but I am very frightened of their nooses. Now, you are very like adog, cannot you go and tell them not to use their nooses. " The jackalanswered, "Uncle, you are quite mistaken; what you see are their tails, not nooses; they will not strangle you with them. " So the tiger tookcourage and the next day went to the village to hunt for the cat, but he could not find it. And when the dogs barked he got angry andcaught and killed one of them; and from that time tigers and leopardseat dogs. 

CXV. The Elephant and the Ants. 

In the days of old there was a great deal more jungle than there isnow, and wild elephants were very numerous; once upon a time a red antand a black ant were burrowing in the ground, when a wild elephantappeared and said "Why are you burrowing here; I will trample allyour work to pieces;" the ants answered "Why do you talk like this;do not despise us because we are small; perhaps we are better thanyou in some ways;" The elephant said "Do not talk nonsense: there isnothing at which you could beat me; I am in all ways the largest andmost powerful animal on the face of the earth. " Then the ants said"Well, let us run a race and see who will win, unless you win wewill not admit that you are supreme. " At this the elephant got intoa rage and shouted; "Well, come we will start at once, " and it setoff to run with all its might and when it got tired it looked downat the ground and there were two ants. So it started off again andwhen it stopped and looked down, there on the ground were two ants;so it ran on again, but wherever it stopped it saw the ants, and atlast it ran so far that it dropped down dead from exhaustion. 

Now it is a saying that ants are more numerous in this world thanany other kind of living creature; and what happened was that thetwo ants never ran at all, but stayed where they were; but wheneverthe elephant looked at the ground, it saw some ants running aboutand thought that they were the first two, and so ran itself to death. 

This story teaches us not to despise the poor man, because one dayhe may have an opportunity to put us to shame. 

From this story of the elephant we should learn this lesson; theCreator knows why He made some animals big and some small and whyHe made some men fools; so we should neither bully nor cheat men whohappen to be born stupid. 

CXVI. A Fox and His Wife. 

Once upon a time there were a fox and his wife who lived in a hole withtheir five little ones. Every evening the two foxes used to make theirway to a bazar to feed on the scraps thrown away by the bazar people;and every night on their way home the following conversation passedbetween them. The fox would say to his wife, "Come tell me how muchwit you have, " and she would answer him by, "Only so much as wouldfill a small vegetable basket. " Then she in her turn would ask "Andhow much wit have you?" "As much as would load twelve buffaloes. "

One night as they were on their way home as usual, the two suddenlyfound themselves face to face with a tiger, who greeted them by saying"At last my friends, I have got you. "

At this the fox for all his wit, could not utter a word but croucheddown and shook with fright. Mrs Fox however was not at all inclinedto give way to despair. She saluted the tiger and said "Ah, uncle, do not eat us up just now; I and my husband have a dispute and we wantyou to settle it for us. " The tiger was mollified by being addressed byso respectful a name as uncle, and answered in a gentler voice "Well, my niece, tell me what is the point and I will decide it for you. "

"It is this, " went on Mrs. Fox, "we have five children and we wishto divide them between us but we cannot decide how to do so; I saythat I will take three and leave him two; while he wants to takethree and leave me two. We came out to look for some man to settlethe dispute but have not met one: and now providentially you haveappeared before us like a god; no doubt you will be able to make thedivision for us. " The tiger reflected that if he managed things well, he would be able to eat not only the two foxes but their young onesas well, so he graciously agreed to make the division. 

The foxes then invited him to come back with them to the hole in whichthey lived, and when they reached it, Mr. Fox bolted into it sayingthat he was going to bring out the children. As however he did not comeout again, Mrs. Fox said that it was clear that he could not manage thechildren by himself, and she would go and help; and thereupon proceededto back into the hole, keeping her face turned towards the tiger. 

Seeing her disappearing the tiger thought to seize her, but as she kepther eyes on him he could only say "Hullo, what is the matter? Why areyou going in backwards?" "Oh, uncle, " replied Mrs. Fox, "how couldI turn my back on so great a personage as you?" and with that shedisappeared. Presently the tiger heard the two foxes calling out frominside "Goodbye, uncle, you can go away now; we have arranged how todivide the children ourselves. " Then he saw how he had been fooledand flew into a terrible rage and tried to squeeze his way into thehole; but it was much too small and at last he had to go away baffled:and so the foxes were saved by Mrs. Fox's wit. 

CXVII. The Jackal and the Crocodiles. 

Once upon a time there was a Raja who had an only son. As the boy grewup his father sent him to a school to learn to read and write. Oneday on his way back from school, the boy sat down by the road side torest, and placed his school books on the ground by his side. Suddenlya jackal came along and snatched up the bundle of books and ran awaywith it; and though the boy ran after it, he failed to catch the jackaland had to go and tell his father how he had lost his school books. TheRaja told him not to mind, as it was a very good omen and meant thathe would grow up as clever as a jackal; and so the matter ended as faras the boy was concerned; and his father bought him a new set of books. 

But the jackal ran off to the side of a tank and taking a book fromthe bundle sat down and began to read it aloud. He kept on saying overand over again "Ibor, obor, iakoro sotro" "Ibor obor iakoro sotro. "

Hearing the noise a crocodile who lived in the tank poked his headout of the water and began "Well, nephew, what is that you arerepeating?" "I am only reading a book, uncle. "

"What, nephew, do you know how to read and write?"

"Yes, certainly I do, " answered the jackal. 

"In that case, " returned the crocodile "would you mind teaching myfive children?" The jackal was quite willing to be their master, buta difficulty struck the crocodile; the jackal lived on high land, andthe little crocodiles could not go so far from the water. The jackalat once suggested a way out of the difficulty: "Let the crocodiledig a little pool near where the jackal lived and put the childreninto it. Then the jackal could take the little crocodiles out of itwhen he was giving them their lessons and put them back again whenthey had finished. " So it was arranged, and in two or three days thecrocodile dug the pool and the jackal began the lessons. 

Each morning the jackal took the five little crocodiles out of thewater and told them to repeat after him what he said, and then he began"Ibor obor iakoro sotro" "Ibor obor iakoro sotro. " But try as theymight the little crocodiles could not pronounce the words properly;then the jackal lost his temper and cuffed them soundly. In spite ofthis they still showed no signs of improvement, till at last the jackalmade up his mind that he could not go on with such unsatisfactorypupils, and that the best thing he could do would be to eat them upone at a time. So the next morning he addressed the little crocodiles, "I see that you can't learn, when I take you in class all together: infuture I will have you up one at a time and teach you like that. " Sohe took one out of the water and began to teach it; but the littlecrocodile could not pronounce its words properly, so in a very shorttime the jackal got angry and gobbled it up. The next day he took outanother, which soon met the same fate as its brother; and so thingswent on till the jackal had eaten four out of the five. 

When there was only one left, the crocodile came to see how the lessonswere getting on. The sight of him put the jackal in a terrible fright;but he answered the crocodile that the children were making very fairprogress. "Well, I want to see them. Come along and let us have alook at them. "

This was awkward for the jackal, but his wits did not desert him;he ran on ahead to the pool and going into the water, caught the onelittle crocodile which remained, and held it up, saying "See here isone. " Then he popped it under the water and brought it up again andsaid "See, here's another" and this he did five times and persuadedthe crocodile that he had seen his five children. 

The crocodile pretended to be satisfied but he was not quite easy inhis mind and would have preferred to see all the five little onesat once. However, he said nothing, but made up his mind to watchthe jackal; so the next day he hid himself and waited to see whathappened. He saw the jackal take the little crocodile out of the waterand begin the lesson--"Ibor obor iakoro. " Then when the unfortunatepupil still failed to pronounce the words, the jackal began to giveit cuffs and blows. At this sight the crocodile ran forward andcaught the jackal, crying out "Show me my other four little ones;is this the way you treat my children?" The jackal had no answer togive and the crocodile soon put an end to his life and took back hisone remaining child to the tank where he lived. 

CXVIII. The Bullfrog and the Crab. 

There was a Raja who had no head and there was a Tiger who had notail. One day they met in a nullah. "Here's a fine dinner for me"said the Tiger. "Here's a fine dinner for me!" said the Raja. Atthis retort the Tiger's courage oozed away; and he did not dare to goany nearer; but he called out "Well, if I am to be your dinner, comeand catch me:" and the Raja called out "If I am to be your dinner, come and catch me. " So they stood challenging each other, but neithertook a step forward. Then the Tiger became abusive and called out, "What have you done with your head?" the Raja retorted "What is a tigerwithout a tail? You also are short of a member. I may have no headbut I have more legs than you. " The Tiger could think of no retortto make to this and so said "Come, don't let us quarrel any more;let us be friends; I live near here, where do you live?"

"My home is also near here. "

"Then we are neighbours: there is no reason why we should be enemies. "

"Who knows what you are at?" answered the Raja: "for you arepretending that you cannot see aright, but it is quite true that weare neighbours. " "You are right, " said the other, "I admit that Idid wrong, and I bow down before you. " So they saluted each other andthe Tiger said "Let's have a song to show what good friends we are:and he sang (to the rice planting tune):

 "The Frog King and the Frog Queen Sat at their front door. The Frog King's marriage is going on: Look, my master! The Frog King and the Frog Queen! The Frog King's marriage is going on. "

CXIX. The Hyaena Outwitted. 

Once upon a time there was a great tiger who lived in a forest;and all the other animals that lived in the forest treated him astheir Raja, down to the very birds. They all felt safe under hisprotection, because he was so much feared that no men dared hunt inthat forest. One day it happened that this Raja tiger killed a manand made such a enormous meal on the flesh, that he got very badindigestion. The pain grew worse and worse, till he felt sure thathis last hour was come. 

In his agony he sent for a hyaena and offered to make him his _dewan_, if only he would call all the other animals of the forest to comeand pay a farewell visit to their lord. The hyaena readily agreedbut thought it would be better to send another messenger, whilehe stayed by the tiger to see that all the animals duly presentedthemselves. Just then a crow flew overhead; so they called him anddeputed him to summon all the animals. 

The crow flew off and in a short time all the animals assembled beforethe tiger and paid their respects to him and expressed wishes for hisspeedy recovery;--all except the jackals. They had been summoned alongwith the others; but somehow they paid no attention and only rememberedabout it in the afternoon. Then they were very frightened as to whatwould be the consequence of their remissness; but one chief jackalstood up and told them not to fear, as he would contrive a way ofgetting the better of the hyaena. There was nothing else to be done, so they had to put what trust they could in their chief and followhim to the Tiger. 

On his way the chief jackal picked up a few roots, and took them withhim. When they reached the place where the suffering monarch lay, the hyaena at once began to abuse them for being late, and the Tigeralso angrily asked why they had not come before; then the chief jackalbegan humbly "O Maharaja, we were duly summoned; your messenger is notto blame; but we reflected that it was useless merely to go and look atyou when you were so ill: that could do you no good; so we bestirredourselves to try and find some medicine that would cure you. We havesearched the length and breadth of the jungle and have found all thatis necessary, except one thing and that we have failed to find. " "Tellme what it is, " said the hyaena, "and I will at once despatch allthese animals to look for it and it will surely be found. " "Yes, "echoed the tiger, "what is it?" "Maharaja, " said the jackal, "when youtake these medicines, you must lie down on the fresh skin of a hyaena, which has been flayed alive; but the only hyaena we can find in theforest is your _dewan_" "The world can well bear the loss of onehyaena, " said the Tiger: "take him and skin him. " At these words allthe animals set upon the hyaena and flayed him alive; and the tigerlay down on the skin and took the medicines brought by the jackal;and as he was not seriously ill, his pain soon began to pass away. 

"That is a lesson to the hyaena not to scold us and get us intotrouble, " said the jackal, as he went home. 

CXX. The Crow and the Egret. 

A crow and a white egret once made their nests in the same tree, and when the nestlings began to grow up the crow saw how pretty andwhite the young egrets were, and thought them much nicer than herown black young ones. So one day when the egret was away, the crowchanged the nestlings and brought the little white egrets, to herown nest. When the mother egret returned and found the ugly littleblack crows in her own nest, it did not take her long to see whathad happened and she at once taxed the crow with the theft. The crowdenied all knowledge of the matter and a fine quarrel ensued. 

Quarrelling led to nothing and they agreed to refer the disputeto the decision of a money-lender, whose house stood by the treein which the two nests were. The crow, as the less shy of the two, flew down and asked the money-lender to come out and settle theirdispute. The first question the money-lender asked was what they weregoing to give him. The egret promised to catch him a fine _rohu_ fish, which was what she was accustomed to eat, but the crow said that shewould give him a golden necklace. The money-lender said that the feesmust be brought first before he heard the case, so the egret flew offand caught a big fish, but the crow went to where a Raja was bathingand carried off the gold chain which the Raja had left on the bankof the river. The money-lender then gave his decision, which was infavour of the party who had given him the most valuable present;he decided that the young birds must stay where they were. "But, "protested the egret "how have my white nestlings become black?" "Thatis quite natural" answered the money-lender, "a white cow may have ablack or brown calf: why should not you have black young ones?" Andso saying he drove them away. 

The poor egret was not at all content with this unjust decision, and was about to renew the quarrel, when a jackal came racing by;it had just made its escape from some hunters. "Where are you off toso fast, uncle?" called out the egret. "I am in arrears with my rentand am hurrying to pay it to the Raja, " answered the jackal. "Stay andlisten to my grievance, " begged the egret, and she told the jackal allthat had happened and how the money-lender had let himself be bribedby the gold necklace. The jackal was very indignant, "A man who couldgive a decision like that would call a buffalo, a bullock or a pig, a sheep. It is no decision at all; I cannot stop now, but I will comeback to-morrow and decide the matter for you and before doing so, I will stuff the mouth of that unjust judge with filth. " So sayingthe jackal hurried off. 

The money-lender heard all that passed and was filled with shame athaving earned the contempt of the jackal; he feared more disgrace onthe morrow, so he at once called the crow and made her return theegret's nestlings, and the next morning when the jackal came backit found that everything had been settled to the satisfaction ofthe egret. 

CXXI. The Jackal and the Hare. 

A jackal and a hare were sworn friends. One day they planned to havea dinner of rice cooked with milk. So the hare crouched down under abush which grew by the side of a road leading to a busy market; andthe jackal stayed watching a little way off. Presently some men camealong, taking rice to sell at the market. When they saw the hare bythe side of the road, they put down their baskets of rice and ran tocatch the hare. He led them a long chase, and then escaped. Meanwhilethe jackal carried off as much of the unguarded rice as he wanted. Bythe same trick they got hold of milk, and firewood, and a cooking pot, and some leaf plates; Thus they had everything necessary for the mealexcept fire. 

So the jackal ran off to a village and went to the house of a poor oldwoman who was pounding dried plum fruit into meal, and asked her fora light "Go into the house and take a brand from the fire yourself"said the old woman: "No" said the jackal "you go and get it; and Iwill pound your meal for you, while you are away. " So the old womanwent into the house; and while she was away the jackal put filth intothe mortar and covered it up with meal. Then he took away the lightedbrand, and after he had gone the old woman found that all her mealwas spoilt. 

Then the jackal cooked their rice and milk and when it was ready, they began to discuss which should first go and bathe, before theybegan to eat. At last the jackal went off; he hurried over his bathand came back as quickly as possible. Then the hare went, and hespent a long time having a thorough bath. While the hare was away, the jackal ate as much of the rice as he wanted and then filled thepot with filth and covered it over with rice. When the hare cameback, they debated which should help the rice. At last they agreedthat the hare should do so; but when the hare had taken out a littlerice he found the pot full of filth. "So it is for this that I tookall the trouble to get the provisions for our meal" cried the hare;and threw the contents of the pot over the jackal and drove him away. 

The jackal went off and made a drum, and every day he sat in the sunbeneath a bank and played the drum. The hare heard the sound and oneday he went to the jackal and asked to be allowed to play the drum. Thejackal handed it over but the hare beat it and shook it so vigorouslythat at last it was smashed to pieces. Then the hare ran away. 

CXXII. The Brave Jackal. 

Once upon a time a he-goat ran away for fear of being slaughtered andtook refuge in a leopard's cave. When the leopard came back to thecave the goat called out "Hum Pakpak, " and the leopard ran away ina fright. Presently it met a jackal and called out "Ah! my sister'sson, some fearful animal has occupied my house!" "What is it like, uncle?" asked the jackal "It has a wisp of hemp tied to its chin, "answered the leopard: "I am not afraid, uncle, " boasted the jackal, "I have eaten many animals like that, bones and all. " So they tiedtheir tails together and went back to the leopard's cave. When thetwo drew near the goat stood up: and the leopard said "This morninghe called out something dreadful at me. " At this they both fled, and in their struggles to separate all the hair on the jackal'stail was scraped off and the jackal called out "Alas, alas! Uncle, you have scraped off all my skin!"

CXXIII. The Jackal and the Leopards. 

Once upon a time a leopard and a leopardess were living with theircubs; and when the parents were away a jackal used to go to the cubsand say "If you won't pay up the paddy you owe, give me something onaccount. " And the cubs gave him all the meat which their parents hadbrought; and as this happened every day the cubs began to starve. Theleopard asked why they looked so thin although he brought them lots ofgame and the cubs explained that they had to give up all their food tothe jackal from whom he had borrowed paddy. So the leopard lay in waitand when the jackal came again to beg of the cubs he chased him. Thejackal ran away and hid in a crack in the ground; the leopard triedto follow and got stuck in the crack and was squeezed to death. Thejackal came out and kicked the dead body, crying "I see you lying inwait for me. "

Now the jackal wore silk shoes and a silk dhoti and he went back tothe leopard's family and asked who would look after them now theleopard was dead. They said that they would live with him; so thejackal stayed there and they all went hunting deer. The jackal lay inwait and the leopards drove the game to him. But when the deer cameout, the jackal was too frightened to attack them and climbed to thetop of an ant-hill to be out of the way. So when the leopards cameup they found that the jackal had killed nothing. But the jackal onlycomplained that they had not driven the deer in the right direction. Sothe next day the leopardess lay in wait and the jackal and the cubsbeat the jungle; when they came up they found that the leopardesshad killed a fine deer. "Now, " said the jackal "let me first offerthe game as a sacrifice to the spirit of our dead leopard;" so sayinghe tried to bite a hole in the deer but the skin was too tough. Sohe made the leopardess tear the skin and then he pushed inside thecarcase and ate up all the entrails. When he had had as much as hecould eat he came out and let the leopards begin their meal. 

Another day they wished to cross a flooded river. The young leopardsoffered to carry the jackal over on their shoulders but the jackal wastoo proud to allow this. So the leopards all jumped across the streamsafely but when the jackal tried he fell into the middle of the waterand was carried away down stream. Lower down a crocodile was lying onthe bank sunning itself "Pull me out, pull me out!" called the jackal"and I will bring you some fat venison. " So the crocodile pulled himout. "Now open your mouth and shut your eyes" said the jackal and whenthe crocodile obeyed he popped a large stone into its jaws and ranaway. This made the crocodile very angry and it vowed to be revenged. 

The jackal used to go every day to a certain tank to drink: and toreach the water he used to sit on the root of an _arjun_ tree whichprojected from the bank. The crocodile observed this habit and oneday lay in wait under the water by the _arjun_ tree and when thejackal came to drink caught him by the leg. The jackal did not losehis presence of mind but called out "What a fool of a crocodile tocatch hold of the root of the tree instead of my leg. " On hearingthis the crocodile let go its hold and the jackal laughed and ran away. 

Every day the jackal used to lie in the sun on the top of a stack ofstraw. The crocodile found this out and buried itself in the strawand waited for the jackal. That day it happened that the jackal founda sheep-bell and tied it round his neck so that it tinkled as heran. When it heard the bell the crocodile said "What a bother! I amwaiting for the jackal and here comes a sheep tinkling its bell. " Thejackal heard the crocodile's exclamation and so detected the trick;he at once went and fetched a light and set fire to the heap of strawand the crocodile was burnt to death. 

CXXIV. The Fool and His Dinner. 

A man once went to visit his mother-in-law and for dinner they gavehim rice with a relish made of young bamboo shoots. The man liked itextremely and thought that it was meat, but he saw no pieces of meat;so he asked his mother-in-law what it was made of; and behind him wasa door made of bamboos: so the mother-in-law said, "I have cookedthat which is behind you;" and he looked round and saw the door;so he resolved to carry off the door, as it made such good eating, and in the middle of the night he took it off the hinges and ran awaywith it. In the morning the door was missed and the mother-in-lawguessed what had happened and had a hearty laugh. 

Meanwhile the man went home with the door and chopped it up and gavethe pieces to his wife to cook; the wife said that it was uselessto cook dry chips but he insisted and said that her mother had madea beautiful dish of them. So they were cooked and the man sat downto eat; but they were all hard and tasteless; then he scolded hiswife and she told him to cook them himself if he was not pleased;so he cooked some himself and the result was the same; and his wifelaughed at him and when the villagers heard of it they nicknamed him"Silly", and used to call the name after him when they met him. 

CXXV. The Stingy Daughter. 

Once a man went to visit his married daughter: he intended to arrivein time for dinner; so though he passed some edible herbs on the wayhe did not stop to eat them. 

When he arrived he was duly welcomed and after some conversation hetold his daughter that he must return the same day; she said "Allright, but wait till it gets hot. " (The father understood this to bea metaphorical way of saying "Wait till the dinner is cooked. ") Butthe daughter was determined not to cook the rice while her father wasthere: so they sat talking and when the sun was high the daughterwent into the yard and felt the ground with her foot and findingit scorching she said "Now father, it is time for you to be going:it has got hot" Then the old man understood that she was not goingto give him his dinner. So he took his stick and got up to go. 

Now the son-in-law was a great hunter and that day he had killedand brought home a peacock; as he was leaving, the father said "Mydaughter, if your husband ever brings home a peacock I advise youto cook it with mowah oil cake; that makes it taste very nice. " Sodirectly her father had gone, the woman set to work and cookedthe peacock with mowah oil cake; but when her husband and childrenbegan to eat it they found it horribly bitter and she herself tastedit and found it uneatable; then she told them that her father hadmade fun of her and made her spoil all the meat. Her husband askedwhether she had cooked rice for her father; and when she said "No"he said that this was the way in which he had punished her; he hadhad nothing to eat and so he had prevented their having any either;she should entertain all visitors and especially her father. So theythrew away the meat and had no dinner. 

CXXVI. The Backwards and Forwards Dance. 

There was once a Santal who owed money to a money-lender: the lenderwent to dun him every day but as he had nothing to pay with he usedto hide in the jungle and as he had no warm clothes he used to light afire to warm himself by; and when the fire was low he would sit near itand when it blazed up he would move back from it. When the money-lenderasked the man's wife where he was, she always replied "He is dancingthe 'Backwards and Forwards' dance. " The money-lender got curiousabout this; and said that he would like to learn the dance. So oneevening the Santal met him and offered to teach him the dance but, he said he must be paid and what would the money-lender give? Themoney-lender said that he would give any thing that was asked; so theSantal called two witnesses and before them the money-lender promisedthat if the Santal taught him the dance he would let him off his debt. 

The next morning the Santal took the money-lender to the jungle andtold him to take off his clothes as they would dance with only loincloths on; then he lit a heap of straw and they sat by it warmingthemselves; and he purposely made only a small fire at first. Thenthe money-lender asked when they were going to begin to dance but theSantal said "Let us warm ourselves first, I am very cold, " so saying hepiled on more straw and as the fire blazed up they moved away from it;and when it sank they drew nearer again. While this was going on thetwo witnesses came up and the money-lender began to object that he wasnot being taught to dance; but the Santal said, "What more do you want;don't you keep moving backwards and forwards in front of the fire? Thisis the 'Backwards and Forwards' dance. " Seeing how he had been trickedthe money-lender was much upset and he appealed to the witnesses, butthey decided against him; and he went home crying and lost his money. 

CXXVII. The Deaf Family. 

Formerly Santals were very stupid and much afraid of Hindus; and oncea Santal was ploughing at a place where two roads met and a Hinducame along and asked him, in Hindi, where the two roads went to; nowthe Santal did not understand Hindi and was also deaf and he thoughtthat the Hindu said "These two bullocks are mine, "--and he answered"When did I take your bullocks?" The Hindu sat down and repeated hisquestion; but the Santal did not understand and continued to assertthat the bullocks were his and were named Rice eater and Jaituk [2]and had formed part of his wife's dowry; the Hindu kept on askingabout the roads and at last the Santal got frightened and thought"perhaps my father-in-law took the bullocks from this man and atany rate he will beat me and take them by force"; so he unyoked hisbullocks and handed them over to the stranger; and the Hindu when hefound out what was meant went off with them as fast as he could. 

Soon after the Santal's mother brought him out his dinner and hetold her what had happened about the bullocks! And she also was deafand thought that he was complaining that the rice had no salt init; so she answered, "Your wife gave it to me like this; I cannotsay whether she put salt into it; come, eat it up. " After he hadeaten his dinner the old woman took the dishes home; and she foundher husband cutting out a rice pounder; and she told him how theirson had scolded her because there was no salt in the rice; and thehusband was also deaf and he thought that she wanted to know whathe was making and he answered crossly "It may be a rice pounder andit may be a rice mortar. " And as often as she repeated her story hemade this answer and told her not to worry him. Then she went to herdaughter-in-law who was also deaf and sat spinning in the verandah;and she scolded her for not putting salt in the rice; and she answered"Who knows what I am spinning; the thread may be all knotty, butstill I reel it up. " And this is the end of the story. Thus the manlost his bullocks through cross questions and crooked answers; andas the whole family talked like that they soon became poor. 

CXXVIII. The Father-in-Law's Visit. 

A man once went to visit his married daughter in the month of Octoberand he went round the fields with his son-in-law to see how his cropwas growing. At each rice field they came to, the father-in-law said"You have not dammed up the outlets" and the son-in-law said "Yes, I have; the water is standing in the fields all right, " and could notunderstand what the old man meant. The next day they both set off tovisit some friends at a distance; and the son-in-law carried his shoesin his hand except when they came to a river when he always put themon; and when they were going along in the sun he carried his umbrellaunder his arm, but when they came to any shady trees he put it up;and he did the same on the way back. The old man was very astoundedat this but made no remark. On reaching the house however he told hisdaughter that he was sorry that her husband was a mad man and toldher what had happened. His daughter said, "No, father, he is not mad:he has a very good reason; he does not wear his shoes on dry groundbecause he can see where he is going; but in a river you cannot seewhat is under-foot; there may be sharp stones or thorns and so heputs on his shoes then; and he puts up his umbrella under trees lestfalling branches should hit him or the droppings of birds fall on him, but in the open he can see that there is nothing to hurt him. "

Her father admitted that these were good reasons and he had beenfoolish not to understand them; he then took his leave. 

And in the following January he visited them again; and when he sawtheir stock of rice he asked how much they had, and the son-in-lawsaid that there was only what he saw. "But, " said the old man, "WhenI saw your fields you had a very fine crop coming on. " "The crop wasgood, " answered the son-in-law "but I owed rice to the money-lenderand I have had to pay that back and I have had to pay my rent andthis is all that I have left. " "Ah!" said the father-in-law, "whenI saw your fields I told you that you had not dammed up the outlets;by outlets I meant these drains; as water flows away through an outletso has your wealth flowed away to money-lenders and landlords; is notthis so?" And the son-in-law admitted that he was right and that hiswords had had a meaning. 

CXXIX. Ramai and Somai. 

Once two poor men named Ramai and Somai came to a village and tooksome waste land from the headman, and ploughed it and sowed millet;and their plough was only drawn by cows and their ploughshare wasvery small, what is called a "stumpy share;" and when they had soweda little the rains came on; and Somai gave up cultivation and tookto fishing and for a time he made very good profits by catching andselling fish; and he did not trouble even to reap the millet he hadsown; he laughed at Ramai who was toiling away clearing more landand sowing maize and rice. He used to go and look at him and tellhim that he would never get a crop while he had nothing better than a"stumpy" plough; it would probably break to pieces one day and then hewould be helpless; he had much better take to fishing which gave quickand easy returns. Ramai made no answer, but when the rains were overthere was no more fishing to be done; and Somai was left to starveand had to go from village to village begging. But Ramai reaped hismillet and lived on that till his maize was ripe and then his maizesupported him until his rice was ripe and he always had plenty to eat;and to show his despite for Somai, after he had had a good dinner, he would come out in front of his house and call out "What of thestumpy share now?" Every day after eating he would come out and say"At first I worked hard and suffered hunger but now I am eating inhappiness; and you were happy then but now you are starving. "

CXXX. The Two Brothers. 

There were once two brothers who were constantly quarrelling andone afternoon after a heated quarrel the younger brother asked thevillagers to come and judge between them. The villagers agreed to meetthe next morning. At cockcrow the next day the elder brother went tothe other's house and woke him up and said "Brother, this is a badbusiness; you have called in the villagers and they will certainlyfine us both for quarrelling; it would be much better for us to savethe money and spend it on a pig; then we and our families could havea feast. " "I quite agree, " said the younger brother, "but now I havesummoned the villagers, what can be done? If I merely tell them togo away, they will never come again when I summon them. "

The elder brother said, "I have a plan; when they come they will askhow the quarrel began and what abusive words I used; and then youmust tell them that that is a point which they have to decide; andthen they will be able to do nothing and will go away. " The youngerbrother agreed to this and when the villagers came and asked what thequarrel was about he said, "Don't you know what the quarrel was? Thatwas the very matter I wanted you to decide; if you don't know, howcan you judge about it?" And this answer he repeated to all theirquestioning; then they got angry and said that he was mocking them;and they declined to give any decision, but said that the brothersmust give them dinner as they had detained them so long; but thebrothers flatly declined to do so as no decision had been given, and the villagers went away grumbling, while the brothers bought apig with the money they had saved and had a jolly feast and as theyate the elder brother said: "See what a good plan mine was; but forit we should now have been feasting others at our expense. "

CXXXI. The Three Fools. 

Once upon a time three men were sitting at the foot of a tamarindtree and a stranger came up to them with a bunch of plantains on hisshoulder and he put the plantains on the ground in front of them andbowed and went away. Thereupon the three men began to quarrel as towho was to have the plantains; each said that they were his becauseit was to him that the man had bowed. So they started calling eachother "Fool" and after quarrelling for some time one said "Well, yes, I admit that I am a great fool" and the other two asked why he thoughthimself a fool and he said "Well one day my wife went to the junglewith the other village women to get firewood and left our baby in mycharge; as she was a long time coming back the child became hungryand began to cry; I walked him about but he would not stop crying;I tried to feed him with rice and with rice water and with _Gur_and with cow's milk but he would not eat or stop crying; I was indespair when his mother came back and took him up and gave him thebreast and the child was quiet at once. 

Seeing this I said to my wife "Human milk must be sweeter thananything else. " My wife said "Who can say whether it is nice; weall drink it when we are infants; but when we grow up we cannot saywhat it is like. " Then I said that I would try what it was like and Isucked her breast and found that it was much sweeter than cow's milk;after that I formed the habit and used to drink her milk every day;and as I left none for the child it died soon afterwards of starvation;this shows what a fool I am. "

Then one of the other men said "But I am a bigger fool than you. " Andthey asked him in what way; and he said "I was married and was verymuch in love with my wife; once when she had gone on a visit to herfather's I went to fetch her home; and she was got up in all herfinery, with her hair well dressed and vermilion on her foreheadand red _arta_ on her feet. On our way home it began to rain and wetook shelter in a village; and when the shower was over we went on;and we came to a river which was in flood from the rain; the waterwas up to a man's armpits and I decided to carry my wife across sothat the _arta_ on her feet might not get washed off. So I took heron my shoulder and to prevent her feet getting wet I held her feetuppermost and as her head was under water when I got across I foundthat she had been drowned; and if I had not been such a fool shewould not have been killed. "

Then the third man said "And I also am a fool. I had quarrelled withmy own family so I lived with my wife in a house alone at the end ofthe village and we had no children. Now I was very fond of smoking;and one night I wanted a light for my hookah but there was none in thehouse; so I started to go and ask for a light from some neighbour;but as it was very dark I did not like to leave my wife all alone:nor did I like to send her out alone to ask for the light; so at lastI took my hookah in my hand and set my wife astride on my shoulderand went round from house to house like that, asking for a light;and all the villagers laughed like anything; so I am a fool. " Thenthey agreed that they were all three fools and had better divide theplantains equally among them and go home; and that is what they did. 

CXXXII. The Cure for Laziness. 

There was once a man who lived happily with his wife, but she was verylazy; when work in the fields was at its height she would pretendto be ill. In June and July, she would begin to moan as if in pain, and when every one else had gone off to work she would eat any ricethat they had left over; or if there were none, would cook some forherself; Her father-in-law decided to call in some _ojhas_ to examineher and if they could not cure her, then to send her back to herfather: so he called in two _ojhas_ and told them to do their best, as he did not want the woman's relations to complain that she hadnot been properly treated. 

So the first _ojha_ felt her pulse and smiled and said nothing, andthe second _ojha_ felt her pulse and smiled and said nothing, andwhen the father-in-law asked them if they knew what was the matter, they answered that the illness was very serious and medicines must beapplied; the father-in-law said "Yes; but you must get the medicinesor tell me exactly what is wanted and I will arrange for it;" thisconversation took place before the woman; the _ojhas_ said "Very well, we will do what you want but before applying the medicine we shallhave to do some incantations;" the father-in-law answered "Do whateveris necessary to make a good job of it. Don't spare anything; try andget everything ready by to-morrow: for we are in great difficulty; Ido not like to leave the patient alone in the house and yet I cannotspare anyone to look after her;" the _ojhas_ promised and got upand went out with the father-in-law, and in the village street theytold him that laziness was all that was the matter with the woman, but that they knew a medicine which would cure her; so they wentto the jungle and dug up two very big tubers of the _tirra_ plant, as big as pumpkins, and in the evening they went to the man's houseand told him that they had found the medicine, and that the wholehousehold was to come to the cross roads at the end of the villagevery early the next morning with the patient and they would exorcisethe disease and apply remedies. 

At cockcrow the next morning the two _ojhas_ brought the two tubersand put them down at the end of the village street, and then went tothe house where the sick woman lived and awoke the inmates, and theyborrowed a pot of water and some vermilion and an old winnowing fanand then they all went to the place where the tubers had been left, and the _ojhas_ made the patient sit on the winnowing fan facing theeast and painted her with vermilion; then they waved pig's dung roundher head and tied the two tubers round her neck and told her to walkup and down the village street three times; and that would removethe spell that was on her. So the woman began to walk up the villagestreet and every one laughed at her and the children ran after herand smacked her and jumped and shouted for joy and the _ojhas_ calledout to her "You must not take off the tubers until you are cured. "

The woman walked up and down twice, but then she was so ashamed atbeing laughed at that she threw away the tubers and ran off home;then they all laughed the more; and followed her to the house, andthe _ojhas_ asked whether she was cured that she had taken off theremedies they had applied; she only smiled in answer and they toldher to take care because if she ever got ill again they would applythe same remedy; but from that day the woman completely recoveredand did her fair share of all the work. 

CXXXIII. The Brahman's Powers. 

A long time ago a Brahman came from the west and did many wonders tothe astonishment of those who saw him. He came to a certain villageand at first put up in an old bamboo hut; there he sat motionlessfor three or four days and so far as anyone could see ate and dranknothing. The villagers said that he must eat during the night, sofour men arranged to watch him continuously; two by day and two bynight; but though they watched they could not detect him eating ordrinking. Then the villagers collected and began to question himand as his answers seemed worthy of credit they began to bring himofferings of milk; one day he asked to be supplied with cooliesthat he might rebuild the hut in which he had taken up his abode;so coolies were brought and he made them collect bricks and preparemortar and at the end of the day's work they asked to be paid; thenthe Brahman wrapped himself in his cloth and repeated some _mantras_, whereupon pice fell tinkling down from his body and with them he paidthe coolies; and so it was every day until the house was finished. Allthis was a source of great wonder to those who saw it. 

CXXXIV. Ram's Wife. 

It is a custom among us Santals that husband and wife do not mentioneach other's names; and even if a husband sometimes mentions hiswife's name in a case of urgent necessity, the wife will never speakher husband's; in the same way a man may not mention the name of hisyounger brother's wife or of his wife's elder sister; women again maynot use the name of their younger sister's husband or their husband'selder brother. Our forefathers have said that if any one breaks thisrule his children will be born deaf or dumb; we believe this and fearto break through the custom. 

There was once a man named Ram who was ploughing his field; when hegot to the end he found that he had not brought the seed with him;so he called out to his wife, pretending however that he was speakingto his daughter "Seed, daughter, seed!" And she called back "Whatdo you want it for? Are you going to sow it?" (eram = will you sow)and every time he called, she answered "Eram?" At this he lost histemper and ran up to the house and asked what she meant by speakinghis name, when he told her to bring out the seed for sowing; andthereupon he proceeded to give her a good thrashing. His wife said tohim "Your name is the same as the word for 'sow, ' it is a very finename you have got. " At this Ram laughed and asked how he could helphaving the name which his father and mother had given him. At thisshe giggled. "Then why are you hurt by it? You had better in futuretake out the seed corn with you and then you won't have to call to me;if you do I shall answer you as I did to-day. "

To the present day people do not use the forbidden words; or ifcompelled to they spit on the ground first; even Christian converts donot like to infringe the rule if many people are present and usuallyspeak of a person with a forbidden name as the father, or mother ofsuch and such a child. 

CXXXV. Palo. 

There was once a man named Dhuju, and he had sons named Ret Mongla, Saru Sama and Chapat champa; and their wives were named Chibo, Porbetand Palo. 

One rainy season the family was busy with the ploughing: Ret Monglaused to take the plough cattle out to get some grazing before the sunrose; and his two brothers took the ploughs to the fields a littlelater and the old father used to look on and tell them what to do. Itwas their practice when they wanted to attract each other's attentionto call out: "Ho!" and not "Ya!" or "Brother. " One day it had beenarranged that they should sow _gundli_ in a field; but when theeldest brother arrived at the place with the bullocks ready to ploughhe found that his two brothers had not turned up with the ploughs;so he began to call "Pal, ho!" (Pal = plough share). 

Now just then the wife of the youngest brother, Palo, had gone towardsthat field to throw away the sweepings of the cowshed and she thoughtRet Mongla was calling her name; this surprised her and made hervery angry; and she made up her mind to pay him back and then if shewere scolded for not paying proper respect to her husband's eldestbrother to explain that he had insulted her first. So that morningwhen she took out their breakfast to the men working in the field, she pretended to be in great hurry, and putting down her basket nearthe place where the three brothers were ploughing, called out to them:"Come, stop ploughing, " and then with scarcely an interval: "Looksharp and come and eat; or if you don't I will take your breakfast awayagain. " So the brothers stopped their work and ate their breakfasts. 

But when Palo had gone back and they were sitting having a chewof tobacco, the eldest brother began: "Did you notice how that girlbehaved to me just now; she spoke to me in a most rude way as if I werenot a person to whom she owed respect. " The other two said that theyhad noticed it themselves, and her husband Chapat Champa said that hewould punish her for it when he got home. Directly he got to the househe began scolding her and she made no answer, but that night when theywere alone together she told him that what she had done was becauseRet Mongla had insulted her by calling her by name. The next day hermother-in-law took her to task but Palo gave the same explanation. 

Then Ret Mongla's mother went to him and asked him whether there wasany truth in this counter-charge; he saw at once what had happenedand explained that he had never called out his sister-in-law by name;he had called out for the plough; "Pal ho! Pal ho!" because his brothershad not got the ploughs ready; when Palo understood what a mistake shehad made, she was covered with confusion and they brought water and shewashed Ret Mongla's feet as she had done on the day of her marriage, and they salaamed to each other and peace was restored. But if themistake had not been explained Palo would have been turned out ofthe family. 

CXXXVI. The Women's Sacrifice. 

This is a story of the old days when the Santals both men and womenwere very stupid. Once upon a time the men of a certain village hadfixed a day for sacrificing a bullock; but the very day before thesacrifice was to take place, the Raja's _sipahis_ came to the villageand carried off all the men to do five days forced labour at the Raja'scapital. The women thus left alone suffered the greatest anxiety;they thought it quite possible that their husbands and fathers wouldnever be allowed to return or even be put to death; so they met inconclave and decided that the best thing they could do would be tocarry out the sacrifice which the men had intended to make and whichhad been interrupted so unexpectedly. 

So they made haste to wash their clothes and bathe, and by wayof purification they fasted that evening and slept on the bareground. Then at dawn they made ready everything wanted for thesacrifice and went to the jungle with the bullock that was to bethe victim. There at the foot of a _sal_ tree they scraped a pieceof ground bare and smeared it with cow dung; then they put littleheaps of rice at the four corners of a square and marked the placewith vermilion; then they sprinkled water over the bullock and ledit up to the square. 

But here their difficulties began for none of them knew whatincantations the men said on such an occasion; they wasted a lot oftime each urging the other to begin, at last the wife of the headmanplucked up courage and started an invocation like this: "We sacrificethis bullock to you; grant that our husbands may return; let not theRaja sacrifice them but grant them a speedy return. " Having got asfar as this she wanted the other women to take a turn, but they saidthat her invocation was capital and quite sufficient; and they hadbetter get on to the sacrifice at once. Easier said than done; theynone of them knew how to do it; as they all hung back the headman'swife scolded them roundly and bade them take the axe and kill thebeast; then they all asked where they were to strike the animal:"Where its life resides, " said the headman's wife. "Where is that, "asked the women. "Watch and see what part of it moves, " answered she, "and strike there. " So they looked and presently the bullock movedits tail: "That's where its life is, " shouted they; so three orfour of them caught hold of the rope round the animal's neck andone woman seized the axe and struck two blows at the root of theanimal's tail. She did it no harm but the pain of the blow madethe bullock pass water. "See the blood flowing, " cried the women, and eagerly caught the stream in a vessel; then the sacrificer dealtanother blow which made the bullock jump and struggle until it brokeloose and galloped off. The women followed in pursuit and chased itthrough a field of cotton; the bullock knocked off many of the ripecotton pods and these the women thought were lumps of fat fallen fromthe wounded bullock, so they took them home and ate them; such foolswere the women in those days. 

CXXXVII. The Thief's Son. 

Once upon a time a goat strayed into the house of a certain man whopromptly killed it and hid the body. At evening the owner of thegoat missed it and came in search of it. He asked the man who hadkilled it whether he had seen it, but the latter put on an innocentair and declared that he knew nothing about it but he invited theowner of the missing animal to look into the goat house and see ifit had accidentally got mixed up with the other goats. The searchwas of course in vain. 

Directly the owner had gone the thief brought out the body and skinnedand cut it up, and every one in the house ate his fill of flesh. Beforethey went to sleep the thief told his sons to be careful not to gonear any of the other boys when they were grazing the cattle next day, lest they should smell that they had been eating meat. 

Next morning the thief's son took his goats out to graze and wascareful not to go near any of the other boys who were tending cattle;whenever they approached him he moved away. At last they asked him whatwas the matter; and he told them that they must keep at a distance lestthey should smell what he had been eating. "What have you eaten?" Thesimpleton replied that he had been eating goat's flesh and that therewas still some in the house. The cowherds at once ran off and told theowner of the lost goat. The news soon spread and the villagers caughtthe man who had killed the goat and searched his house and found theflesh of the goat. Then they fined him one rupee four annas and madehim give another goat in exchange for the one he had stolen. 

CXXXVIII. The Divorce. 

There was once a man who had reason to suspect his wife'sfaithfulness. He first tried threatening and scolding her; but thishad no good effect, for far from being ashamed she only gave himback harder words than she received. So he set to work to find someway of divorcing her without making a scandal. One day when he camehome with a fine basket of fish which he had caught he found that hisfather-in-law had come to pay them a visit. As he cleaned the fishhe grumbled at the thought that his wife would of course give all thebest of them to her father; at last an idea struck him. As he handedover the fish to his wife he told her to be careful not to give herfather the heads of the _mangri_ fish nor the dust of tobacco, asit was very wrong to give either of those things to a visitor. "Verywell, " she answered; but to herself she thought "What does he mean byforbidding me to do these things? I shall take care to give my fathernothing but the heads of the fish" for her pleasure was to thwart herhusband. So when the evening meal was ready she filled a separate platefor her father with nothing but the fish heads. As her husband heardthe old man munching and crunching the bones he smiled to himself atthe success of the plot. When his father was about to leave he askedfor some tobacco, and the woman brought him only tobacco dust which shehad carefully collected out of the bottom of the bag. The old gentlemanwent off without a word but very disappointed with his treatment. 

A few days later the woman went to visit her father's house, andthen he at once asked her what she meant by treating him as she haddone. "I am sorry, " said she: "I did it to spite my husband; he wentout of his way to tell me not to give you the heads of the fish andthe dust of tobacco, and so I picked out nothing but heads for youand gave you all the tobacco dust I could collect because I was soangry with him. " From this her father easily understood that husbandand wife were not getting on well together. 

Time passed and one day her mother went to visit the troublesomewife. As she was leaving, her daughter asked whether there was anyspecial reason for her coming. Her mother admitted that she had comehoping to borrow a little oil to rub on the cattle at the comingSohrae festival, but as her son-in-law was not there she did not liketo mention it and would not like to take any without his consent. "Onever mind him!" said the woman and insisted on her mother takingaway a pot--not of cheap mowah or mustard oil, --but of ghee. 

Now a little girl saw her do this and the tale was soon all over thevillage; but the undutiful wife never said a word about it to herhusband, and it was only after some days that he heard from othersof his wife's extravagance. When it did reach his ears he seizedthe opportunity and at once drove her out of the house, and whena panchayat was called insisted on divorcing her for wasting hissubstance behind his back. No one could deny that the reason was agood one and so the panchayat had to allow the divorce. Thus he gotrid of his wife without letting his real reason for doing so be known. 

CXXXIX. The Father and the Father-in-Law. 

There was once a Raja who had five sons and his only daughter wasmarried to a neighbouring Raja. 

In the course of time this Raja fell into poverty; all his horsesand cattle died and his lands were sold. At last they had even tosell their household utensils and clothes for food. They had onlycups and dishes made of gourds to use and the Raja's wife and sonshad to go and work as day labourers in order to get food to eat. Atlast one day the Raja made up his mind to go and visit his marrieddaughter and ask her husband's family to give him a brass cup (_bati_)that he might have something suitable to drink out of. Off he wentand when he reached the house he was welcomed very politely by hisdaughter's father-in-law and given a seat and water to wash his feet, and a hookah was produced and then the following conversation began. 

"Where have you come from, father of my daughter-in-law?"

"I have walked from home, father of my son-in-law?"

"You come here so often that you make me quite frightened! How isit? Is it well with you and yours? with body and skin? Would it notbe well for us to exchange news?"

"Yes indeed; for how can you know how I am getting on if I do not tellyou. By your kind enquiries my life has grown as big as a mountain, my bosom is as broad as a mat, and my beard has become as long as abuffalo horn. "

"And I also, father of my daughter-in-law, am delighted at yourcoming and enquiring about me; otherwise I should wonder where you hadsettled down, and be thinking that you did not know the way relationsshould behave to each other; at present, I am glad to say, the seedleft after sowing, the living who have been left behind by death, by your favour and the goodness of God, are all doing well. Is it nota proverb. 'The eye won't walk, but the ear will go and come back inno time. ' Now the ear is the visitor and so far as it has looked ourfriends up, it is well with all, so far as I know. "

The other answered; "Then I understand that by the goodness of God, all is very well with you all, O father of my son-in-law. That iswhat we want, that it may be well with us, body and soul. "

"Life is our wealth; life is great wealth. So long as life lastswealth will come. Even if there is nothing in the house, we can workand earn wealth, but if life goes where shall we obtain it?"

The visitor answered "That is true; and we have been sufferingmuch from the 'standing' disease; (i. E. Hunger) I have tried to getmedicine to cure it in vain; the Doctors know of none. I should begreatly obliged if you could give me some medicine for it. "

"The very same disease has overflowed this part of the country"was the reply:--at this they both laughed; and the visitor resumed, --

"Don't they say 'we asked after them and they did not ask anythingabout us in return;'? it is right now for me to ask how you aregetting on" and so saying he proceeded in his turn to put the samequestions and to receive the same answers. 

Then they went out and bathed and came back and had some curds and riceand sat for a while smoking their hookahs. Then a goat was killed andcooked and they had a grand feast. But the Raja did not forget aboutthe _bati_, and he took his daughter aside and told her to sound hermother-in-law about it. She brought back a message that if he wantedanything he should ask for it himself. So he went very shamefacedlyto his host and told him that be must he leaving: "Well, good-bye, areyou sure you only came to pay us a visit and had no other object?" TheRaja seized the opening that this reply gave him and said "Yes, I hadsomething in my mind; we are so poor now that we have not even a brasscup to drink out of, and I hoped that you would give me one of yours. "

"My dear Sir, you say that you have gourds to drink but of: we havenot even that; we have to go down to the stream and drink out of ourhands; I certainly cannot give you a _bati. _" At this rebuff the poorRaja got up and went away feeling very angry at the manner in whichhe had been treated. 

When he reached home the Raja vowed that he would not even live in theneighbourhood of such faithless friends so he went with all his familyto a far country. In their new home his luck changed and he prosperedso much that in a few years he became the Raja of the country. 

Meanwhile the other Raja--the father-in-law, --fell into such povertythat he and his family had to beg for their living. 

The first Raja heard about this and made a plan to attract them to theplace where he lived. He ordered a great tank to be dug and promisedthe workers one pice for each basket of earth they removed. Thisliberal wage attracted labourers from all sides; they came in suchnumbers that they looked like ants working and among them came thefather-in-law and his family and asked the Raja for work. The Rajarecognised them at once though they did not know him; at first thesight of their distress pleased him but then he reflected that if hecherished anger Chando would be angry with him, so he decided to treatthem well and invited them to his palace. The poor creatures thoughtthat they were probably doomed for sacrifice but could only do asthey were bid. Great was their amazement when they were well fed andentertained and when they learnt who their benefactor was they burstinto tears; and the Raja pointed out to them how wrong it was to laughat the poor, because wealth might all fly away as theirs had done. 

CXL. The Reproof. 

A poor man once went to visit his daughter's father-in-law who was veryrich. The rich man was proud of his wealth and looked down on poverty;so he made no special entertainment for his visitor and only gave himrice and _dal_ for his dinner. When they went out to bathe he stoodon the bank of the tank and began to boast. "I made this tank; all theland over there belongs to me; all those buffaloes and cattle you see, belong to me; I have so many that I have to keep two men to milk them. "

The visitor said nothing at the time but that afternoon as host andguest sat smoking together they saw a beggar standing in front ofthe house. The sun was very powerful and the ground was so hot thatthe beggar kept shifting from one foot to another as he stood outin the sun. Then the poor visitor spoke up and said "It is strangethat when you made such a nice house you made the roof withouteaves. " "Where are your eyes? Cannot you see the eaves?" asked thehost in astonishment. The other answered "I see that you have madea house as high as a hill but if it had any eaves, surely that poorbeggar there would not be standing out in the sun; and this morningyou must have been mistaken in saying that that tank was yours forotherwise you would have given me fish for dinner; and I think thatthey were only rocks and tufts of grass which you pointed out to meas your flocks and herds for otherwise you would have offered me somemilk or curds. " And the rich man was ashamed and had no answer to make. 

CXLI. Enigmas. 

Once upon a time a man and his son went on a visit to theson's father-in-law. They were welcomed in a friendly way;but the father-in-law was much put out at the unexpected visitas he had nothing ready for the entertainment of his guest. Hetook an opportunity to go into the house and said to one of hisdaughters-in-law. "Now, my girl, fill the little river and the bigriver while I am away; and polish the big axe and the little axe anddig out five or six channels, and put hobbles on these relations whohave come to visit us and bar them Into the cow house. I am going tobathe and will come back with a pot full of the water of dry land, then we will finish off these friends. "

The two visitors outside overheard this strange talk and began towonder what it meant. They did not like the talk about axes and diggingchannels, it sounded as if their host meant to kill them as a sacrificeand bury their bodies in a river bed; rich men had been known to dosuch things. With this thought in their minds they got up and beganto run away as fast as their legs could carry them. But when the youngwoman saw what they were doing she ran after them and called them back. 

They reluctantly stopped to hear what she had to say; and when she cameup they reproached her for not having warned them of the fate in storefor them. But she only laughed at their folly and explained that whather father-in-law meant was that she should wash their feet and givethem a seat in the cow house; and make ready two pots of rice beer andpolish the big and little brass basins and make five or six leaf cupsand he would bring back some liquor and they would all have a drink. Atthis explanation they had a hearty laugh and went back to the house. 

CXLII. The Too Particular Wife. 

There was once a man with a large tumour on his forehead and his wifewas so ashamed of it that she would never go about with him anywherefor fear of being laughed at. One day she went with a party of friendsto see the _Charak Puja_. Her husband wished to go with her but sheflatly declined to allow him. 

So when she had gone he went to a friend's house and borrowed acomplete set of new clothes and a large pagri. When he had riggedhimself out in these he could hardly be recognised; but his foreheadwith the tumour was quite visible. Then he too went off to the fairand found his wife busy dancing. After watching her for some time heborrowed one of the drums and began to play for the dancers; and inparticular he played and danced just in front of his wife. 

When he saw that his wife was preparing to go home he startedoff ahead, got rid of his fine clothes and took the cattle out tograze. Presently he went back to the house and asked his wife whethershe had enjoyed the fun. "You should have come to see it for yourself, "said she. 

"But you would not let me! Otherwise I should have gone. "

"Yes, " answered his wife, "I was ashamed of the lump on your foreheadbut other people do not seem to mind, for there was a man there witha lump just like yours who was playing the drum and taking a leadingpart in the fun and no one seemed to laugh at him: so in future Ishall not mind going about with you. "

CXLIII. The Paharia Socialists. 

Formerly before the Santals came into the country the four _taluqs_of Sankara, Chiptiam, Sulunga and Dhaka formed the Paharia Raj andthe whole country was dense jungle. Then the Santals came and clearedthe jungle, and brought the land under cultivation. The Paharia Rajaof Gando was named Somar Singh and he paid tribute to the Burdwan Raja. 

Once ten or twelve Paharias went to Burdwan to pay the annualtribute. After they had paid in the money the Raja gave them a feastand a room to sleep in and sent them one bed. The Paharias had adiscussion as to who should sleep on the bed and in order to avoid anyill-feeling about it they decided that they would all sleep on theground and put their feet on the bed and then they could feel thatthey had all an equal share of it. This they did and in the morningthe Burdwan Raja came in and found them all lying in this strangeposition and was very much amused. He explained that he had sent thebed for the use of the chief man among them and asked whether they hadno distinctions of rank. "Yes" they said "we have in our own villages;but here we are in a foreign land and as we do not all belong to onevillage who is to decide which is the chief among us. Away from homewe are all equal. "

CXLIV. How a Tiger Was Killed. 

In the days when the Santals lived in the jungle country there wasonce a man who had a patch of maize by the bank of a stream; and towatch his crop he had put up a platform in his field. Now one dayhe stole a goat and killed it; he did not take it home nor tell hisfamily; he took it to the maize patch with some firewood and fire anda knife and a hatchet; and he hoisted all these on to his platformand lit a fire in the bottom of an earthen pot and cut up the goatand began to cook and eat the flesh. And a tiger smelt the flesh andcame and sat down under the platform. 

As the man ate he threw down the bones and as he threw them the tigercaught them in its mouth; and after a time the man noticed that hedid not hear the bones strike the ground; so he looked down quietlyand saw the tiger; then he was very frightened for he thought thatwhen he could no longer keep the tiger quiet by throwing down bitsof meat, the tiger would spring up unto the platform and eat him. 

At last a thought struck him and he drew the head of his hatchet offthe handle and put it in the fire till it became red-hot; and meanwhilehe kept the tiger quiet by throwing down pieces of meat. Then whenthe axe head was ready he picked it out of the fire and threw it down;the tiger caught it as it fell and roared aloud with pain; its tongueand palate and throat were so burnt that it died. 

Thus the man saved himself from the tiger and whether the story betrue or no, it is known to all Santals. 

CXLV. The Goala's Daughter. 

There was once a man of the _Goala_ caste who had an only daughter andshe grew up and was married, but had no child; and after twenty yearsof married life she gave up all hope of having any. This misfortunepreyed on her mind and she fell into a melancholy. Her parents askedher why she was always weeping and all the answer she would give was"My sorrow is that I have never worn clothes of "Dusty cloth" andthat is a sorrow which you cannot cure. " But her father and motherdetermined to do what they could for their daughter and sent servantswith money into all the bazars to buy "Dusty cloth". The shopkeepershad never heard of such an article so they bought some cloth of anysort they could get and brought it to the Goala; when he offered itto his daughter she thanked him and begged him not to waste his money:

"You do not understand" said she--"what I mean by "Dusty cloth. " Godhas not given it to me and no one else can; what I mean by 'Dustycloth' is the cloth of a mother made dusty by the feet of herchild. " Then her father and mother understood and wept with her, saying that they would do what man could do but this was in the handsof God; and they sang:--

"Whatever the child of another may suffer, we care not:But our own child, we will take into our lap, even when it is coveredwith dust. "

CXLVI. The Brahman's Clothes. 

There was once a Brahman who had two wives; like many Brahmans he livedby begging and was very clever at wheedling money out of people. Oneday the fancy took him to go to the market place dressed only ina small loin cloth such as the poorest labourers wear and see howpeople treated him. So he set out but on the road and in the marketplace and in the village no one salaamed to him or made way to himand when he begged no one gave him alms. He soon got tired of thisand hastened home and putting on his best _pagri_ and coat and dhotiwent back to the market place. This time every one who met him on theroad salaamed low to him and made way for him and every shopkeeperto whom he went gave him alms: and the people in the village who hadrefused before gladly made offerings to him. The Brahman went homesmiling to himself and took off his clothes and put them in a heapand prostrated himself before them three or four times, saying eachtime. "O source of wealth: O source of wealth! it is clothes thatare honoured in this world and nothing else. "

CXLVII. The Winning of a Bride. 

Formerly this country was all jungle; and when the jungle was firstcleared the crops were very luxuriant; and the Santals had largeherds of cattle, for there was much grazing; so they had milk andcurds in quantities and _ghee_ was as common as water; but now milkand curds are not to be had. In those days the Santals spent theirtime in amusements and did not trouble about amassing wealth, butthey were timid and were much oppressed by their Rajas who looted anyman who showed signs of wealth. Well, in those days the winters werevery cold and there used to be heavy frost at nights. And there was aman who had seven grown-up daughters and no son; and at the time ofthreshing the paddy he had to undergo much hardship because he hadno son to work for him; he had to sleep on the threshing floor andto get up very early to let out the cattle; and as the hoar frostlay two inches deep he found it bitterly cold. 

In those days the villagers had a common threshing floor; and oneday this man was talking to a friend and he jestingly asked whetherhe would spend a night naked on the threshing floor; and the friendsaid that he would if there were sufficient inducement but certainlynot for nothing. Then the father of the seven daughters said "Ifyou or any one else will spend a night naked on the threshing floorI will give him my eldest daughter in marriage without charging anybride price. "--for he wanted a son-in-law to help him in his work. Acommon servant in the employ of the village headman heard him andsaid "I will accept the offer;" the man had not bargained for suchan undesirable match but he could not go back from his word; so heagreed and said that he would choose a night; and he waited till itwas very cold and windy and then told the headman's servant to sleepout that night. The servant spent the night on the threshing floorwithout any clothes in spite of the frost and won his bride. 

CHAPTER IV

Part IV

The following stories illustrate the belief in Bongas, i. E. The spiritswhich the Santals believe to exist everywhere, and to take an activepart in human affairs. Bongas frequently assume the form of young menand women and form connections with human beings of the opposite sex. 

At the bidding of witches they cause disease, or they hound on thetiger to catch men. But they are by no means always malevolent andare capable of gratitude. The Kisar Bonga or Brownie who takes up hisabode in a house steals food for the master of the house, and unlessoffended will cause him to grow rich. 

CXLVIII. Marriage with Bongas. 

There have been many cases of Santals marrying _bonga_ girls. Not ofcourse with formal marriage ceremonies but the marriage which resultsfrom merely living together. 

In Darbar village near Silingi there are two men who married_bonga_. One of them was very fond of playing on the flute and hisplaying attracted a _bonga_ girl who came to him looking like a humangirl, while he was tending buffaloes. After the intimacy had lastedsome time she invited him to visit her parents, so he went with herand she presented him to her father and mother as her husband. But hewas very frightened at what he saw; for the seats in the house weregreat coiled up snakes and on one side a number of tigers and leopardswere crouching. Directly he could get a word alone with his wife hebegged her to come away but she insisted on his staying to dinner;so they had a meal of dried rice and curds and _gur_ and afterwardshe smoked a pipe with his _bonga_ father-in-law and then he set offhome with his _bonga_ wife. They were given a quantity of dried riceand cakes to take with them when they left. 

After seeing him home his wife left him; so he thought that he wouldshare the provisions which he had brought with a friend of his; hefetched his friend but when they came to open the bundle in whichthe rice and cakes had been tied, they found nothing but _meral_leaves and cow dung cakes such as are used for fuel. This friend sawthat the food must have been given by _bongas_ and it was throughthe friend that the story became known. 

In spite of this the young man never gave up his _bonga_ wife untilhis family married him properly. She used to visit his house secretly, but would never eat food there; and during his connection with herall his affairs prospered, his flocks and herds increased and hebecame rich, but after he married he saw the _bonga_ girl no more. 

The adventures of the other young man of the same village were muchthe same. He made the acquaintance of a _bonga_ girl thinking thatshe was some girl of the village, but she really inhabited a spring, on the margin of which grew many _ahar_ flowers. One day she askedhim to pick her some of the _ahar_ flowers and while he was doingso she cast some sort of spell upon him and spirited him away intothe pool. Under the water he found dry land and many habitations;they went on till they came to the _bonga_ girl's house and there hetoo saw the snake seats and tigers and leopards. 

He was hospitably entertained and stayed there about six months;one of his wife's brothers was assigned to him as his particularcompanion and they used to go out hunting together. They used tigersfor hunting-dogs and their prey was men and women, whom the tigerskilled, while the _bonga_ took their flesh home and cooked it. Oneday when they were hunting the _bonga_ pointed out to the youngman a wood cutter in the jungle and told him to set the tiger on to"yonder peacock"; but he could not bring himself to commit murder;so he first shouted to attract the wood cutter's attention and thenlet the tiger loose; the wood cutter saw the animal coming and killedit with his axe as it sprang upon him. 

His _bonga_ father-in-law was so angry with him for having causedthe death of the tiger, that he made his daughter take her husbandback to the upper world again. 

In spite of all he had seen the young man did not give up his _bonga_wife and every two or three months she used to spirit him away underthe water: and now that man is a _jan guru_. 

CXLIX. The Bonga Headman. 

Sarjomghutu is a village about four miles from Barhait Bazar onthe banks of the Badi river. On the river bank grows a large banyantree. This village has no headman or _paranic_; any headman who isappointed invariably dies; so they have made a _bonga_ who lives inthe banyan tree their headman. 

When any matter has to be decided, the villagers all meet at the banyantree, where they have made their _manjhi than_; they take out a stoolto the tree and invite the invisible headman to sit on it. Then theydiscuss the matter and themselves speak the answers which the headmanis supposed to give. This goes on to the present day and there is nodoubt that these same villagers sometimes offer human sacrifices, but they will never admit it, for it would bring them bad luck tospeak about it. 

The villagers get on very well with the _bonga_. If any of them hasa wedding or a number of visitors at his house, and has not enoughplates and dishes, he goes to the banyan tree and asks the headmanto lend him some. Then he goes back to his house, and returning in alittle while finds the plates and dishes waiting for him under thetree; and when he has finished with them he cleans them well andtakes them back to the tree. 

CL. Lakhan and the Bongas. 

Once a young man named Lakhan was on a hunting party and he pursueda deer by himself and it led him a long chase until he was far fromhis companions; and when he was close behind it they came to a poolall overgrown with weeds and the deer jumped into the pool and Lakhanafter it; and under the weeds he found himself on a dry high roadand he followed the deer along this until it entered a house and healso entered. The people of the house asked him to sit down but thestool which was offered him was a coiled up snake, so he would notgo near it; and he saw that they were _bongas_ and was too frightenedto speak. And in the cattle pen attached to the house he saw a greatherd of deer. 

Then a boy came running in and asked the mistress of the housewho Lakhan was; she said that he had brought their kid home forthem. Lakhan wanted to run away but he could not remember the roadby which he had come. Two daughters of the house were there and theywanted their father to keep Lakhan as a son-in-law; but their fathertold them to catch him a kid and let him go; so they brought him afawn and the two girls led him back and took him through the pool tothe upper world: but on the way they put some enchantment on him, for two or three weeks later he went mad and in his madness he ranabout from one place to another and one day he ran into the pool andwas seen no more, and no one knows where he went or whether the twobonga maidens took him away. 

CLI. The House Bonga. 

Once upon a time there was a house _bonga_ who lived in the houseof the headman of a certain village; and it was a shocking thief;it used to steal every kind of grain and food, cooked and uncooked;out of the houses of the villagers. The villagers knew what was goingon but could never catch it. 

One evening however the _bonga_ was coming along with a pot of boiledrice which it had stolen, when one of the villagers suddenly came uponit face to face; the _bonga_ slunk into the hedge but the villagersaw it clearly and flung his stick at it, whereupon the _bonga_ gotfrightened and dropped the pot of rice on the ground so that it wassmashed to pieces and fled. The villager pursued the _bonga_ till hesaw it enter the headman's house. Then he went home, intending thenext morning to show the neighbours the spilt rice lying on the path;but when the morning came he found that the rice had been removed, so he kept quiet. 

At midday he heard the headman's servants complaining that the ricewhich had been given them for breakfast was so dirty and muddy thatsome of them had not been able to eat it at all; then he asked howthey were usually fed "Capitally, " they answered "we get most variedmeals, often with turmeric and pulse or vegetables added to the rice;but that is only for the morning meal; for supper we get only plainrice. " "Now, I can tell you the reason of that" said the villager, "there is a greedy _bonga_ in your house who goes stealing food atnight and puts some of what he gets into your pots for your morningmeal. " "That's a fine story" said the servants: "No, it's true" saidthe villager, and told them how the evening before he had made the_bonga_ drop the rice and how afterwards it had been scraped up offthe ground; and when they heard this they believed him because theyhad found the mud in their food. 

Some time afterwards the same man saw the _bonga_ again at nightmaking off with some heads of Indian corn; so he woke up a friendand they both took sticks and headed off the _bonga_, who threw downthe Indian corn and ran away to the headman's house. Then they wokeup the headman and told him that a thief had run into his house. Sohe lit a lamp and went in to look, and they could hear the _bonga_running about all over the house making a great clatter and trying tohide itself; but they could not see it. Then they took the headman tosee the Indian corn which the _bonga_ had dropped in its flight. Thenext day the villagers met and fined the headman for having the_bonga_ in his house; and from that time the _bonga_ did not stealin that village, and whenever the two men who had chased it visitedthe headman's house the _bonga_ was heard making a great clatter asit rushed about trying to hide. 

CLII. The Sarsagun Maiden. 

There was once a Sarsagun girl who was going to be married; and alarge party of her girl friends went to the jungle to pick leavesfor the wedding. The Sarsagun girl persisted in going with them asusual though they begged her not to do so. As they picked the leavesthey sang songs and choruses; so they worked and sang till they cameto a tree covered with beautiful flowers; they all longed to adorntheir hair with the flowers but the difficulty was that they had nocomb or looking glass; at last one girl said that a _bonga Kora_lived close by who could supply them; thereupon there was a greatdispute as to who should go to the _bonga Kora_ and ask for a mirrorand comb; each wanted the other to go; and in the end they made theSarsagun girl go. She went to the _bonga Kora_ and called "Bonga Koragive a me mirror and comb that we may adorn our hair with _Mirjin_flowers. " The Bonga Kora pointed them out to her lying on a shelfand she took them away. 

Then they had a gay time adorning their hair; but when they hadfinished not one of the girls would consent to take back the mirrorand comb. The Sarsagun maiden urged that as she had brought them itwas only fair that someone else should take them back; but they wouldnot listen, so in the end she had to take them. The Bonga Kora pointedto a shelf for her to place them on but when she went to do so andwas well inside his house he closed the door and shut her in. Hercompanions waited for her return till they were tired and then wenthome and told her mother what had happened. Then her father and brotherwent in search of her and coming to the Bonga Kora's home they sang:

 "Daughter, you combed yourself with a one row comb Daughter, you put _mirjin_ flowers in your hair Daughter, come hither to us. "

But she only answered from within--

 "He has shut me in with a stone, father He has closed the door upon me, father Do you and my mother go home again. "

Then her eldest brother came and sang the same song and received thesame answer; her mothers's brother and father's sister then came andsang, also in vain; so they all went home. 

Just then the intended bridegroom with his party arrived at the villageand were welcomed with refreshments and invited to camp under a tree;but while the bridegroom's party were taking their ease, the bride'srelations were in a great to-do because the bride was missing; andwhen the matchmaker came and asked them to get the marriage ceremonyover at once that the bridegroom might return, they had to takehim into the house and tell him what had happened. The matchmakerwent and told the bridegroom, who at once called his men to him andmounted his horse and rode off in a rage. Now it happened that thedrummers attached to the procession had stopped just in front of thehome of the _Bonga Kora_ and were drumming away there; so when thebridegroom rode up to them his horse passed over the door of the BongaKora's home and stamped on it so hard that it flew open; standing justinside was the Sarsagun girl; at once the bridegroom pulled her out, placed her on his horse and rode off with her to his home. 

CLIII. The Schoolboy and the Bonga. 

There was once a boy who went every day to school and on his wayhome he used always to bathe in a certain tank. Every day he left hisbooks and slate on the bank while he bathed and no one ever touchedthem. But one day while he was in the water a _bonga_ maiden cameout of the tank and took his books and slate with her under thewater. When the boy had finished bathing he searched for them along time in vain and then went home crying. When the midday mealwas served he refused to eat anything unless his books were found:his father and mother promised to find them for him and so he ate avery little. When the meal was finished his father and mother wentto the bonga maiden and besought her--singing

 "Give daughter-in-law, give Give our boy his pen, give up his pen. "

The _bonga_ maiden sang in answer

 "Let the owner of the pen Come himself and fetch it. "

Then the boy's eldest brother and his wife went and sang

 "Give, sister-in-law, give, Give our brother his pen: give up his pen. "

The _bonga_ maiden sing in answer

 "Let the owner of the pen Come himself and fetch it"

Then the boy's maternal uncle and his wife went and sang the samesong and received the same answer. So they told the boy that he mustgo himself. 

When he reached the tank the _bonga_ girl came up and held out hisbooks to him; but when he went to take them she drew back and so sheenticed him into the tank; but when once he was under the water hefound he was in quite a dry and sandy place. There he stayed and wasmarried to the _bonga_ girl. After he had lived with her a long timehe became homesick and longed to see his father and mother. So hetold his _bonga_ wife that he must go and visit them. "Then do nottake your school books with you, " said she; "perhaps you won't comeback. " "No, I will surely return, " he answered; so she agreed to hisgoing and said that she would sit on the door step and watch for hisreturn; and he must promise to be very quick. She tied up some cakesand dried rice for him and also gave him back his school books. 

She watched him go to his home and sat and watched for his return buthe never came back. Evening came and night came but he did not return:then the _bonga_ girl rose and went after him. She went through thegarden and up to her husband's house in a flame of fire: and thereshe changed herself into a Karinangin snake and entering the houseclimbed on to the bed where the boy lay sleeping and climbed on tohis breast and bit him. 

 "Rise mother, rise mother, The Karinangin snake Is biting me. "

he called--

But no one heard him though he kept on calling: so he died and the_bonga_ girl went away with his spirit. 

CLIV. The Bonga's Cave. 

There was once a young _bonga_ who dwelt in a cave in the side of ahill in the jungle; and every day he placed on a flat stone outside, a pot of oil and a comb and a looking glass and some lamp black orvermilion; any woman who went to the jungle could see these thingslying there; but they were never visible to a man. After a time thegirls who went to the jungle began to use the comb and looking glassand to dress and oil their hair there; it became a regular custom forthem to go first to the flat stone before collecting their firewoodor leaves. 

One day five girls went together to the jungle and after they hadcombed and dressed their hair it happened that one got left behind;and seeing her alone the _bonga_ came out of the cave and creepingup quietly from behind threw his arms round her; and although sheshouted to her friends for help he dragged her inside the cave. Hercompanions were just in time to see her disappear; and they beggedand prayed the _bonga_ to let the girl go for once; but the _bonga_answered from within that he would never let her go but was going tokeep her as his wife; and he drew a stone door over the mouth of thecave. News of the misfortune was sent to the girl's parents and theycame hastening to the place; and her mother began to sing:

 "My daughter, you rubbed your hair with oil from a pot: My daughter, you combed your hair with a comb with one row of teeth; Come hither to me, my daughter. "

And the girl sang from within the cave:

 "Mother, he has shut me in with a stone With a stone door he has shut me in, mother Mother, you must go back home. "

Then her father sang the same song and got the same answer; so theyall went home. Then the girl's father's younger brother and his wifecame and sang the song and received the same answer and then hermother's brother and father's sister came and then all her relations, but all in vain. Last of all came her brother riding on a horse andwhen he heard his sister's answer he turned his horse round and madeit prance and kick until it kicked open the stone door of the cave;but this was of no avail for inside were inner doors which he could notopen; so he also had to go home and leave his sister with the _bonga_. 

The girl was not unhappy as the wife of the _bonga_ and after a timeshe proposed to him they should go and pay a visit to her parents. Sothe next day they took some cakes and dried rice and set off; they werewelcomed right warmly and pressed to stay the night. In the course ofthe afternoon the girl's mother chanced to look at the provisions whichthey had brought with them; and was surprised to see that in place ofcakes was dried cowdung and instead of rice, leaves of the _meral_tree. The mother called her daughter in to look but the girl couldgive no explanation; all she knew was that she had put up cakes anddried rice at starting. Her father told them all to keep quiet aboutthe matter lest there should be any unpleasantness and the _bonga_decline to come and visit them again. 

Now the girl's brother had become great friends with his _bonga_brother-in-law and it was only natural that when the _bonga_ and hiswife set off home the next morning he should offer to accompany thempart of the way. Off they started, the girl in front, then the _bonga_and then her brother; now the brother had hidden an axe under his clothand as they were passing through some jungle he suddenly attacked the_bonga_ from behind and cut off his head. Then he called to his sisterthat he had killed the _bonga_ and bade her come back with him; so thetwo turned back and as they looked round this saw that the _bonga's_head was coming rolling after them. At this they started to run and ranas hard as they could until they got to the house and all the way thehead came rolling after until it rolled right into the house. Therewas a fire burning on the hearth and they plucked up courage to takethe head and throw it into the fire where it was burnt to ashes. Thatwas the end of the _bonga_ but eight or nine days later the girl'shead began to ache and in spite of all medicines they applied it gotworse and worse until in a short time she died. Then they knew thatthe _bonga_ had taken her away and had not given her up. 

CLV. The Bonga's Victim. 

Once upon a time there were seven brothers and they had onesister. Every day they used to go out hunting leaving their wivesand sister at home. One very hot day they had been hunting since dawnand began to feel very thirsty; so they searched for water but couldfind none. Then one of them climbed a tree and from its summit saw abeautiful pool of water close by: so he came down and they all went inthe direction in which he had seen the water; but they could not findit anywhere; so another of the brothers climbed a tree and he calledout that he could see the pool close by, but when he came down and ledthem in what he thought was the right direction he was equally unableto find the water; and so it went on; whenever they climbed a treethey could see the water close by, but when on the ground they couldnot find it; and all the time they were suffering tortures from thirst. 

Then they saw that some _bonga_ was deluding them and that they mustoffer some sacrifice to appease him. 

At first they proposed to devote one of their wives to the _bonga_;but not one of the brothers was willing that his wife should be thevictim; and they had no children to offer so at last they decided todedicate their only sister as the sacrifice. Then they prayed "Ye whoare keeping the water from us, listen; we dedicate to you our onlysister; show us where the water is. " No sooner had they said thisthan they saw a pool of water close beside them and hastened to itand quenched their thirst. Then they rested and began to discuss howthey should sacrifice their sister; and at last they decided thatas they had devoted her to the _bonga_ because they wanted water, it would be best to cast her into the water; and they planned to goand work one day near a pond of theirs and make their sister bringtheir breakfast out to them and then drown her. 

So they went home and two or three days later the eldest brothersaid that the time had come for the sacrifice; but the two youngestloved their sister very much and begged for a little delay. Out ofpity the others agreed; but almost at once one of the brothers fellill and was like to die. Medicines were tried but had no effect;then they called in an _ojha_ and he told them that the _bonga_ towhom they had made the vow while out hunting had caused the illnessand that if they did not fulfil the vow their brother would die. Thenthey all went to the sick man's bedside and poured out water on theground and swore that they would fulfil their vow; no sooner had theydone so than the sick man was restored to health. 

So the very next day they arranged to go and level the field neartheir pond and they told their wives to send their sister to them withtheir breakfast. When the time came the girl took out their breakfastand put it down by them and they sent her to draw water for them fromthe pond but when she put her water pot down to the surface it wouldnot sink so as to let the water run in. The girl called out to herbrothers that the pot would not fill; they told her to go a littlefurther into the water; so she went in till the water was up to herthighs but still the pot would not fill: then they called to herto go in further and she went in waist deep but still it would notfill; then she went in up to her neck and still it would not fill;then she went in a little further and the water closed over her andshe was drowned. At this sight the brothers threw away the food whichshe had brought and hastened home. 

Some days later the body rose and floated to the bank and at the placewhere it lay a bamboo sprang up and grew and flourished. One day aDome went to cut it down to make a flute of; as he raised his axethe voice of the girl spoke from within the bamboo "O Dome, do notcut high up; cut low down. " The Dome looked about but could not seewho it was who spoke; however he obeyed the voice and cut the bambooclose to the ground and made a flute of it. The sound of the flutewas surpassingly sweet and the Dome used to play on it every day. Oneday he was playing on it at a friend's house and a Santal heard itand was so taken by its sweet tone that he came at night and stole it. 

Having got possession of it he used to play on it constantly andalways keep it by him. Every night the flute became a woman and theSantal found her in his house without knowing where she came from andused to spend the night talking to her but towards morning she usedto go outside the house on some pretext and disappear. But one nightas she was about to depart the Santal seized her and forced her tostay with him. Then she retained her human form but the flute wasnever seen afterwards; so they called the girl the Flute girl andshe and the Santal were betrothed and soon afterwards married. 

CLVI. Baijal and the Bonga. 

Once upon a time there was a young man named Baijal and he wasvery skilful at playing on the bamboo flute. He played so sweetlythat a _bonga_ girl who heard him fell deeply in love with him andone day when Baijal was alone in the jungle she took the form of apretty girl and pretended that she had come to the jungle to gatherleaves. The two met and acquaintance soon became love and the twoused to meet each other every day in the jungle. One day the _bonga_girl asked Baijal to come home with her; so they went to a pool ofwater and waded into it but when the water had risen to the calf ofhis leg Baijal suddenly found himself on a broad dry road which led tohis mistress's house. When they reached it the bonga girl introducedBaijal to her father and brothers as her husband and told him not to beafraid of anything he saw; but he could not help feeling frightened, for the stools on which they sat were coiled-up snakes and the housedogs were tigers and leopards. 

After he had been there three of four day his brothers-in-law onemorning asked him to come out hunting pea fowl. He readily agreed andthey all set out together. The Bongas asked Baijal to lead the dogbut as the dog was a tiger he begged to be excused until they reachedthe jungle. So they hunted through the hills and valleys until theycame to a clearing in which there was a man chopping up a tree. Thenthe _bongas_ called to Baijal "There is a peacock feeding; take thedog; throw a stick and knock the bird over and then loose the dog atit. " Baijal pretended not to understand and said that he could see nopeacock; then they told him plainly that the man chopping the log wastheir game. Then he saw that he was meant to kill the man and not onlyso, but that he would have to eat the flesh afterwards. However he wasafraid to refuse, so he took the tiger in the leash and went towardsthe clearing but instead of first throwing his stick at the man hemerely let the tiger loose and cheered it on. The wood cutter heardthe shout and looking round saw the tiger; grasping his axe he ran tomeet it and as the animal sprang on him he smote it on the head andkilled it. Then Baijal went back and told his brothers-in-law thatthe peacock had pecked their hound to death. They were very angrywith him for not throwing his stick first but he explained that hethought that such a big dog as theirs would not need any help. 

Two or three days later Baijal told his _bonga_ wife to come home withhim, so they set off with a bundle of provisions for the journey. Whenthey had passed out through the pool Baijal opened the bundle to havesomething to eat but found that the bread had turned into cowdungfuel cakes; and the parched rice into _meral_ leaves; so he threwthem all away. However he would not give up the _bonga_ girl and theyused to meet daily and in the course of time two children were bornto them. Whenever there was a dance in the village the _bonga_ girlused to come to it. She would leave the two children on Baijal's bedand spend the whole night dancing with the other women of the village. 

The time came when Baijal's parents arranged for his marriage, for they knew nothing of his _bonga_ wife; and before the marriagethe _bonga_ made him promise that if he had a daughter he would namethe child after her. Even when he was married he did not give up his_bonga_ wife and used to meet her as before. One night she came withher children to a dance and after dancing some time said that she wastired and would go away; Baijal urged her not to go but to come withher children and live in his house along with his other wife. Shewould not agree and he tried to force her and shut the door of thehouse; but she and her children rose to the roof in a flash of lightand disappeared over the top of the house wall and passed away fromthe village in a flame of fire. At this Baijal was so frightened thatfrom that time he gave her up and never went near her again. 

By and bye his wife bore him a daughter but they did not name thechild after the _bonga_ and the consequence was that it soon pinedaway and died. Two or three more were born but they also all diedyoung because he had not named them after the _bonga_. At last he didgive a daughter the right name and from that time his children lived. 

CLVII. Ramai and the Bonga. 

Once a _bonga_ [3] haunted the house of a certain man and became sucha nuisance that the man had him exorcised and safely pegged down tothe ground; and they fenced in the place where the _bonga_ lay withthorns and put a large stone on the top of him. Just at the placewas a clump of "Kite's claws" bushes and one day when the berrieson the bushes were ripe, a certain cowherd named Ramai went to pickthem and when he came round to the stone which covered the _bonga_he stood on it to pick the fruit and the _bonga_ called out to himto get off the stone; Ramai looked about and seeing no one said "Whois that speaking?" and the voice said "I am buried under the stone;if you will take it off me I will give you whatever boon you ask";Ramai said that he was afraid that the _bonga_ would eat him but the_bonga_ swore to do him no harm, so he lifted up the stone and the_bonga_ came out and thanking Ramai told him to ask a boon. 

Ramai asked for the power to see _bongas_ and to understand thelanguage of ants. "I will give you the power, " said the _bonga_, "but you must tell no one about it, not even your wife; if you doyou will lose the power and in that case you must not blame me, "Then the _bonga_ blew into his ear and he heard the speech of ants;and the _bonga_ scratched the film of his eye balls with a thornand he saw the _bongas_: and there were crowds of them living invillages like men. In December when we thresh the rice the _bongos_carry off half of it; but Ramai could see them and would drive themaway and so was able to save his rice. 

Once a young fellow of his own age was very ill; and his friends blewinto his ears and partially brought him to his senses and he askedthem to send for Ramai; so they called Ramai and he had just beenmilking his cows and came with the tethering rope in his hand; andwhen he entered the room he saw a _bonga_ sitting on the sick man'schest and twisting his neck; so he flogged it with the rope till itran away and he pursued it until it threw itself into a pool of water;and then the sick man recovered. 

But Ramai soon lost his useful power; one day as he was eating hisdinner he dropped some grains of rice and two ants fell to quarrellingover one grain and Ramai heard them abusing each other and was soamused that he laughed out loud. 

His wife asked why he laughed and he said at nothing in particular, but she insisted on knowing and he said that it was at some scandal hehad heard in the village; but she would not believe him and worriedhim until he told her that it was at the quarrel of the ants. Thenshe made him tell her how he gained the power to understand whatthey said: but from that moment he lost the powers which the _bonga_had conferred on him. 

CLVIII. The Boundary Bonga. 

There was once a man who owned a rich swampy rice field. Every yearhe used to sacrifice a pig to the boundary _bonga_ before harvest;but nevertheless the _bonga_ always reaped part of the crop. One yearwhen the rice was ripening the man used to go and look at it everyday. One evening after dusk as he was sitting quietly at the edge ofthe field he overheard the _bonga_ and his wife talking. The _bonga_said that he was going to pay a visit to some friends but his wifebegged him not to go because the rice was ripe and the farmer wouldbe cutting it almost at once. However the _bonga_ would not listento her advice and set off on his journey. 

The farmer saw that there was no time to be lost and the very nextday he sacrificed the usual pig and reaped the whole of the crop. Thatevening when work was over he stayed and listened to hear whether the_bonga_ had come back, but all was quiet. The next day he threshedthe paddy and instead of twenty bushels as usual he found that he hadgot sixty bushels of rice, That evening he again went to the fieldand this time he found that the _bonga_ had returned and was havinga fine scolding from his wife, because he had let the farmer reap thewhole crop. "Take your silly pig and your silly plate of flour from thesacrifice, " screamed the _bonga's_ wife, throwing them at her spouse, "that is all you have got; this is all because you would go away whenI told you not to do it; how could I reap the crop with the childrento look after? If you had stayed we might have got five _bandis_of rice from that field. "

CLIX. The Bonga Exorcised. 

A very poor man was once ploughing his field and as he ploughed theshare caught fast in something. At first he thought that it wasa root and tried to divide it with his axe; but as he could notcut it he looked closer and found that it was a copper chain. Hefollowed the chain along and at either end he found a brass pot fullof rupees. Delighted with his luck he wrapped the pots in his clothand hurried home. Then he and his wife counted the money and buriedit under the floor of their house. 

From that time the man began to prosper; his crops were always good;and his cattle increased and multiplied; he had many children andthey grew up strong and healthy and were married and had children oftheir own. 

But after many years luck changed. The family was constantly ill andevery year a child died. The _jan guru_ who was consulted declaredthat a _Kisar bonga_ was responsible for their misfortunes. He toldthe sons how their father had found the money in the ground and saidthat the _bonga_ to whom the money belonged was responsible for theirmisfortunes and was named Mainomati. 

He told them how to get rid of the _bonga_. They were to dig upthe buried money and place it in bags; and load it on the back of ayoung heifer; and take five brass nails and four copper nails, andtwo rams. If the _bonga_ was willing to leave the house the heiferwould walk away to another village directly the bags were placed onits back; but if the _bonga_ would not go the heifer would not move. 

So they did as the _Janguru_ advised and when the bags were placedon the heifer it walked away to a large peepul tree growing on thebanks of a stream in another village and there it stopped. Then theysacrificed the rams and uttering vows over the nails drove them intothe peepul tree and went home, turning the heifer loose. From thattime their troubles ceased. 

But that evening a man driving his cattle home saw a young womannailed to the peepul tree; and not knowing that she was a _bonga_he released her and took her home and married her. 

CHAPTER V

Part V. 

The legends and customary beliefs contained in this part are definitelyconnected with the Santals. 

CLX. The Beginning of Things. 

In the days of old, Thakur Baba had made everything very convenient formankind and it was by our own fault that we made Thakur Baba angry sothat he swore that we must spend labour in making things ready for use. 

This is the story that I have heard. 

When the Santals lived in Champa and the Kiskus were their kings, theSantals were very simple and religious and only worshipped Thakur. Inthose days the rice grew ready husked, and the cotton bushes borecloth all ready woven and men did not have to pick the lice out ofeach others' hair; men's skulls grew loose and each man could liftoff his own skull and clean it and then replace it. But all this wasspoilt by the misdeeds of a serving girl of one of the Rajas. Whenshe went into the field for purposes of nature she would at the sametime pick and eat the rice that grew by her; and when she had madeher hands dirty cleaning out a cow house she would wipe them on thecloth which she was wearing. Angered by these dirty habits Thakur Babadeprived men of the benefits which he had conferred upon them and therice began to grow in a husk and the cotton plants only produced rawcotton and men's skulls became fixed so that they could not be removed. 

In those old days too the sky was quite close to the earth and ThakurBaba used to come and visit men in their houses. So it was a sayingamong our forefathers "Do, not throw your dirty leaf plates near thefront or back door and do not let your brass plates and dishes remainunwashed at night; for if Thakur Baba come along and see them so, hewill not come into the house but will be angry and curse us. " But oneday a woman after finishing her meal threw the used leaf plate out ofthe door, and a gust of wind carried it up to the sky; this displeasedThakur Baba and he resolved no longer to dwell in the neighbourhood ofmen as they were so ill-mannered as to throw their dirty leaf platesat him and so he lifted the sky to its present height above the earth. 

To this day men who have heard of this scold those who throw theirrefuse into the street and bid them heap it up in some out-of-the-wayplace. 

The misdeeds of men at length made Thakur Baba so angry that heresolved to destroy them all. Now Thakur Baba is Sing Chando orthe Sun, and the Moon is his wife: and at first there were as manystars by day as there are by night and they were all the children ofthe Sun and Moon who had divided them between them. So Sing Chandohaving resolved to destroy mankind blazed with a fierce heat till manand beast writhed under the torture of it. But when the Moon lookeddown and saw their sufferings she was filled with pity and thoughthow desolate the earth would be without a living being on it. So shehastened to Sing Chando and prayed him not to desolate the earth; butfor all her beseeching the utmost that she could obtain was a promisefrom her Lord that he would spare one or two human beings to be theseed of a future race. So Sing Chando chose out a young man and a youngwoman and bade them go into a cave in a hill side and close the mouthof the cave with a raw hide and when they were safely inside he rainedfire from heaven and killed every other living being on the earth. 

Five days and five nights it rained fire and the man and woman inthe cave sang--(to the Baha tune)

 "Five days and five nights the fire will rain, ho! Five days and five nights, all night long, ho! Where will you two human beings stay? Where will you two take shelter? There is a hide, a hide: There is also a hill: There is also a cave in the rock! There will we two stay: There will we two take shelter. "

When they came out of the cave the first thing they saw was a cow lyingburnt to death with a _karke_ tree fallen on the top of it and nearit was lying a buffalo cow burnt to death; at the sight they sang:--

 "The cow is glowing cinders, glowing cinders: The _karke_ tree is burnt: The buffalo cow has fallen and has been burnt to ashes, to ashes. "

And as they went on, they sang a similar lament over the remains ofeach living being as they saw it. 

Although these two had been spared to raise up a new race, NindaChando, the Moon, feared that the Sun would again get angry with thenew race and destroy it; and so she made a plan to trick him. Shecovered up all her children with a large basket and smeared her mouthand lips with red and going to Sing Chando told him that she had eatenup every one of her children and proposed that he should now eat uphis. At first Sing Chando declined to believe her but she pointed toher lips and said that they were red with the blood of the children;so Sing Chando was convinced and agreed to eat up his children excepttwo whom he would keep to play with. So they devoured all but twoand the two that were saved are the morning and evening stars. 

Thus Sing Chando was deprived of the power to again burn up the earth;but when that night Ninda Chando let out her own children from underthe basket she warned them to beware of the wrath of their father whenhe found out the trick that had been played him. When Sing Chandosaw Ninda Chando's children still alive he flew to her in a passionand the children at the sight of him scattered in all directions andthat is why the stars are now spread all over the sky; at first theywere all in one place. Although the stars escaped, Sing Chando couldnot restrain his wrath and cut Ninda Chando in two and that is whythe Moon waxes and wanes; at first she was always full like the sun. 

Some men say that the man and woman whom Thakur hid in the cave werePilchu Haram and Pilchu Budhi and they had twelve sons and twelvedaughters and mankind is descended from them and has increasedand filled the earth; and that it was in that country that we weredivided into twelve different races according to the food which ourprogenitors chose at a feast. 

CLXI. Chando and His Wife. 

Once upon a time Chando went to the hills to fashion a plough out ofa log of wood; and his wife was left at home alone, Chando was solong in coming back that his wife grew impatient; so she made somemosquitos and sent them to worry him and drive him home. But Chandomade some dragon-flies and they ate up the mosquitos and he went onwith his work. His wife made various other animals and sent them out, but Chando destroyed them all. At last she made a tiger and sent itto frighten him home; but Chando took up a handful of chips from thelog he was cutting and threw them at the tiger and they turned intowild dogs and chased the tiger away. Ever since that no tiger willface wild dogs. 

Then Chando's wife shut up a locust in an iron pot and when Chando atlast came home she asked him "Why have you been so long? Who is togive food and drink to all the living creatures if you don't attendto business. " Chando answered that he had fed them all. 

"No you have not, you have not fed the locust!"

"But I have" said Chando. 

Then she took the lid off the iron pot and showed him the locusteating grass inside; and Chando had nothing to say. 

CLXII. The Sikhar Raja. 

Santals say that the Sikhar Raja was a _bonga_ and this is the storythey tell about him. A certain woman was with child but could notsay by whom she was pregnant so she fled into the jungle and at thefoot of a clump of bamboos gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl;and then went home leaving the children lying in the jungle. Thechildren lay there crying very pitifully. Now a herd of wild bisonwas grazing in the jungle and they heard the crying and one of thecows went to see what was the matter and took pity on the children andsuckled them. Every day she came three times and fed them; and underher care the children grew up strong and healthy. If any man cameto hunt in the jungle the bison-cow used to attack him and drive himaway; she used to bring the bows and arrows which the hunters threwaway in their flight to the boy that he might learn how to shoot. Andwhen any basket makers passed by the jungle on their way to market tosell their wares she used to charge out at them and then bring to thegirl the winnowing fans and baskets they threw down in their fright, so that she might learn to sift rice. 

Thus the children prospered; and the boy was named Harichand and heand his sister looked like gods. When they grew up they married eachother and then the bison-cow left them. Then Thakur sent from heavensixteen hundred _gopinis_ and the _gopinis_ said that Harichand andhis wife should be king and queen in that land of Sikhar. Then theytook counsel together as to where the royal fort should be. Threescribes sat down to study the books with Harichand and his wife intheir midst; on the right sat the scribe Hikim, and on the left thescribe Bhuja and the scribe Jaganath opened the book to see wherethe fort should be; and all the gopinis sat round in a circle andsang while the book was read. 

 "Raja Harichand of the Sikhar stock, of Jhalamala, Where is his abode! Raja Harichand of the Sikhar stock, of Jhalamala, In the bamboo clump is his abode!"

 "Raja Harichand of the Sikhar stock of Jhalamala In the banyan-tree field in his abode! Raja Harichand, of the Sikhar stock, of Jhalamala, In the brinjal corner is his abode. "

And they found in the book that the fort should be in Pachet hill;then they sang in triumph:--

 "It will not do, O Raja, to build a fort here: We will leave Paras and build a fort on Pachet hill: There in the happy Brinda forest. "

Then they brought the Raja and Rani from the jungle to Pachet andon the top of the Pachet hill a stone fort sprang up for them; andall the country of Sikhar acknowledged their sway. After that theSantals made their way from Champa and dwelt in Sikhar and cleared allthe jungle in it and abode there many years. They called the SikharRaja a _bonga_ because no one knew his father or mother. Under RajaHarichand the Santals were very contented and happy, and when hecelebrated the Chatar festival they used to sing this song, becausethey were so contented:--

 "Harichand Raja was born of a bison-cow, Sirguja Rana was born of a snake. "

CLXIII. The Origin of Tobacco. 

This is the way that the chewing tobacco began. There was once aBrahmin girl whose relations did not give her in marriage and shedied unmarried. After the body had been burned and the people hadgone home, Chandu thought "Alas, I sent this woman into the worldand she found favour with no one; well, I will confer a gift on herwhich will make men ask for her every day, " So he sowed tobacco atthe burning place and it grew up and flourished. And there was a boyof the cowherd caste who used to graze his cattle about that place;he saw his goats greedily eating the tobacco leaf and he wonderedwhat the leaf was and tasted a bit but finding it bitter he spat itout. Some time after however he had tooth-ache and having tried manyremedies in vain he bethought himself of the bitter tobacco and hechewed some of that and kept it in his mouth and found that it curedthe tooth-ache; from that time he formed the habit of chewing it. Oneday he saw some burnt bones or lime and he picked up the powder andrubbed it between his fingers to see what it was and after doing so heate some tobacco and found that the taste was improved, so from thattime he always chewed lime with the tobacco. He recommended the leafto other men who had tooth-ache and they formed the habit of chewingit too and called it tobacco; and then men who had no tooth-ache tookto it; and acquired a craving for it. This is the way tobacco chewingbegan, as our forefathers say. 

CLXIV. The Transmigration of Souls. 

All the cats of Hindus have believed and believe, and the Santals alsohave said and say, that Thakur made the land and sky and sea and manand animals and insects and fish and the creation was complete andfinal: he made their kinds and castes once for all and did not alterthem afterwards; and he fixed the time of growth and of dwelling inthe body; and for the flowers to seed and he made at that time asmany souls as was necessary and the same souls go on being incarnatedsometimes in a human body and sometimes in the body of an animal;and so it is that many human beings really have the souls of animals;if a man has a man's soul he is of a gentle disposition; but if he getsthe soul of a dog or cat then he is bad tempered and ready to quarrelwith everyone; and the man with a frog's soul is silent and sulky andthose who get tiger's souls when they start a quarrel never give uptill they gain their point. There is a story which proves all this. 

There was once a Brahman who had two wives and as he knew somethingof herbs and simples he used to leave his wives at home and go aboutthe country as a quack doctor; but whenever he came home his two wivesused to scold him and find fault with him for no reason at all tillthey made his life a burden. So he resolved to leave two such shrewsand one day when they had been scolding as usual he put on the garbof a _jogi_ and in spite of their protests went out into the world. 

After journeying two or three days he came to a town in which apestilence was raging and he sat down to rest under a tree on theoutskirts. There he noticed that many corpses had been thrown out andhe saw two vultures fly down to feed on the bodies; and the he-vulturesaid to his mate "Which corpse shall we eat first?" Now the Brahmansomehow understood the language of the birds--but the mate returnedno answer though the he-vulture kept on repeating the question; atlast she said "Don't you see there is a man sitting at the foot ofthe tree?" Then they both approached the Brahman and asked why he wassitting in such a place and whether he was in distress; he told themthat trouble had driven him from his home and that he was wanderingabout the world as chance led him, because the continual quarrelling ofhis two wives was more than he could bear. The vultures said "We willgive you a means by which you may see your wives as they really are"and one of them pulled out a wing feather and told him when he wentto any house begging to stick it behind his ear and then he wouldsee what the people were really like; and they advised him to marry awoman who gave him alms with her hands. Then he got up and went awaywith the feather, leaving the birds to prey on the corpses. 

When the Brahman came to a village to beg he saw by the aid of thefeather, that some of the people were really cats and some were dogsand other animals and when they gave him alms they brought it in theirteeth; then he made up his mind to go home and see what his wivesreally were; and he found that one was a bitch and one was a sow;and when they brought him water they carried the cup in their months;at this sight he left the house again in disgust, determined to marryany woman who offered him alms with her hands. 

He wandered for days till at last the daughter of a Chamar, when hebegged, brought him alms in her hands; and he at once determined tostay there and marry her at all costs; so he sat down and when theChamar asked why he did not go away he said that he meant to marry thegirl who had given him alms and live in his house as his son-in-law;the Chamar did all he could to remonstrate at such an extraordinaryproposal as that a Brahman should destroy his caste by marrying aChamar; the Brahman said that they might do what they liked to himbut that he would not leave till he obtained his bride. So at lastthe Chamar called in his castefellows and relations to advise himwhether he would be guilty of any sin in yielding to the proposal ofthe Brahman; and they called into council the principal villagers ofall the other castes and after fully questioning the Chamar and theBrahman the judgment of the villagers was that the marriage shouldtake place and they would take the responsibility. Then the Brahmanwas made to give a full account of himself and where he had come from, and when this was found to be true, the bride price was fixed andpaid and the marriage took place and the Brahman became a Chamar. 

CLXV. The Next World. 

This is what the Santals say about the next world. After death menhave a very hard time of it in the next world. _Chando bonga_ makesthem work terribly hard; the woman have to pound the fruit of thecastor oil plant with a pestle; and from the seeds Chando bonga makeshuman beings. All day long they have to work; those women who havebabies get a little respite on the excuse of suckling their babies;but those who have no children get no rest at all; and the men areallowed to break off to chew tobacco but those who have not learnt tochew have to work without stopping from morning to night. And this isthe reason why Santals learn to chew tobacco when they are alive; forit is of no use to merely smoke a _huka_: in the next world we shallnot be allowed to knock off work in order to smoke. In the next worldalso it is very difficult to get water to drink. There are frogs whostand on guard and drive away any who comes to the water to drink;and so when Satals die we send drinking vessels with them so thatthey may be able to run quickly to the water and fill the vesselsand get away before they are stopped. And it is said that if a manduring his lifetime has planted a peepul tree he gets abused for itin the next world and is told to go and pick the leaves out of thewater which have fallen into it and are spoiling it and such a man isable to get water to drink while he is picking the leaves out of it;but whether this is all true I cannot say. 

CLXVI. After Death. 

When grown-up people die they become ancestral _bongas_ and sacrificesare offered to them at the Flower and Sohrai festivals; and whenchildren die they become _bhuts_. When a pregnant woman dies, theydrive long thorns into the soles of the feet before the body isburned for such women become _churins_. The reason of this is thatwhen the _churin_ pursues any one the thorns may hurt her and preventher from running fast: and so the man who is pursued may escape; forif the _churin_ catches him she will lick all the flesh off his bones;they especially attack the belly and their tongues are very rough. 

There was once a man who had been to get his ploughshare sharpened bythe blacksmith and as he was on his way home it came on to rain, so hetook shelter in a hollow tree. While he was waiting for the weatherto clear he saw a _churin_ coming along singing and she also came totake shelter in the same tree. Fortunately she pushed in backwardsand the man took the ploughshare which was still nearly red hot andpressed it against her back; so she ran away screaming and he madegood his escape in the other direction; otherwise he would assuredlyhave been licked to death. 

CLXVII. Hares and Men. 

In former days hares used to eat men and a man presented himself beforeThakur and said "O Father, these hares do us much damage; they arelittle animals and hide under leaves and then spring out and eat us;big animals we can see coming and can save ourselves. Have pity onus and deliver us from these little animals, " So Thakur summoned thechief of the hares and fixed a day for hearing the case; and when theman and the hare appeared he asked the hare whether they ate men andthe hare denied it and asserted on the contrary that men ate hares; butthe man when questioned denied that men killed hares. Then Thakur said"O hare and man, I have questioned you both and you give contradictoryanswers; and neither admits the charge; the matter shall be decided inthis way; you, hare, shall watch a _Kita_ tree and if within a year yousee a leaf fall from the tree you shall be allowed to eat men; and you, man, shall watch a _Korkot_ tree and if you see a leaf fall, then menshall be allowed to eat hares. Begin your watch to-day and this daynext year bring me your leaves. " So the man and the hare departed andeach sat under a tree to see a leaf fall but they watched and watchedin vain until on the last day of the year a _korkot_ leaf fell andthe man joyfully picked it up and took it to Thakur; and the harefailing to see a leaf fall bit off a leaf with its teeth and took itto Thakur. Then Thakur examined the two leaves and said to the hare, "This leaf did not fall of itself; see, the tip of the stalk is quitedifferent from the stalk of the leaf this man has brought; you bitit off. " And the hare was silent Then Thakur rubbed the legs of thehare with a ball of cleaned cotton and passed this sentence on him, that thenceforward he should skip about like a leaf blown by the windand that men should hunt hares wherever they found them and kill andeat them, entrails and all. 

And this is the reason why Santals do not clean the hares they kill, but eat them entrails and all. 

CLXVIII. A Legend. 

Once upon a time a woman was found to be with child by her own brother, so the two had to fly the country. In their flight they came to theMustard Tank and Flower Lake, on the banks of which they preparedto cook their food. They boiled water and cooked rice in it; andthen they boiled water to cook pulse to eat with the rice. But whenthe water was ready they found that they had forgotten to bring anypulse. While they were wondering what they could get to eat with theirrice they saw a man of the fisher caste (Keot) coming along with hisnet on his shoulder. Then the woman sang--

 "The son of a Keot is standing on the bank of the tank: The fish are jumping: the son of a Keot is catching the fish. "

So the Keot caught them some fish, which they ate with their rice. 

Then they went on and by the side of the road they saw a date palmthe juice of which had been tapped; and they wished to drink the juicebut they found that they had brought no drinking vessel with them. Thewoman looked about and saw near by a fan palm tree and she sang--

 "The peepul's leaves go flicker, flicker: The banyan's leaves are thick and fleshy: Of the fan palm's leaf, brother, make a cup. And we will drink the juice of the date palm. "

So her brother made a drinking vessel of a palm leaf and they drankthe date juice and went on their way. At nightfall they rested atthe foot of a Bael tree and fell into a drunken sleep from the datejuice they had drunk. 

As the woman lay senseless her child was born to her and no soonerwas the child born than a bael fruit fell on to its head and split itinto four pieces which flew apart and became four hills. From fallingon the new-born child the bael fruit has ever since had a stickyjuice and the tree is covered with thorns which are the hair of thechild. In the morning the man and woman went on and came to a forestof _Tarop_ trees and the woman wiped her bloody hands on the _Tarop_trees and so the _Tarop_ tree ever since exudes a red juice like blood. 

Next morning they went on and came to a spring and drank of its waterand afterwards the woman bathed in it and the blood stained waterflowed over all the country and so we see stagnant water coveredwith a red scum. Going on from there they reached a low lying flatand halted; almost at once they saw a thunder storm coming up fromthe South and West; and the woman sang--

 "A storm as black as the _so_ fruit, brother, Is coming, full of danger for us: Come let us flee to the homestead of the liquor seller. "

But the brother answered--

 "The liquor seller's house is an evil house: You only wish to go there for mischief. "

So they stayed where they were and the lightning came and slewthem both. 

CLXIX. Pregnant Women. 

Pregnant women are not allowed to go about alone outside the village;for there are _bongas_ everywhere and some of them dislike the sight ofpregnant women and kill them or cause the child to be born wry-necked. 

A pregnant woman may not make a mud fireplace for if she does her childwill be born with a hare-lip; nor may she chop vegetables during aneclipse or the same result will follow. She may not ride in a cart, for if she does the child will be always crying and will snore in itssleep; if she eats the flesh of field rats the child's body will becovered with hair and if she eats duck or goose flesh the child willbe born with its fingers and toes webbed. Nor may a pregnant womanlook on a funeral, for if she does her child will always sleep withits eyes half open. 

CLXX. The Influence of the Moon. 

If a child is born on the day before the new moon the followingceremony is observed. After bathing the child they place an old broomin the mother's arms instead of the child; then the mother takesthe child and throws it out on the dung heap behind the house. Themidwife then takes an old broom and an old winnowing fan and sweepsup a little rubbish on to the fan and takes it and throws it on thedung hill; there she sees the child and calls out. "Here is a childon the dung heap" then she pretends to sweep the child with the broominto the winnowing fan and lifts it up and carries it into the house;and asks the people of the house whether they will rear it. They askwhat wages she will give them and she promises to give them a heiferwhen the child is grown up. 

If this is not done the child will be unlucky when it grows up; ifit is a boy, however often he may marry, his wife will die and so, if it is a girl, her husbands will die. 

Another fact is that they always shave a child's head for the firsttwo times during the same moon; if it is shaved first during one moonand then during the following moon; it will always have a headacheonce a month. 

Similarly when they tie the knots in a string to fix the date of awedding the wedding must take place in the lunar month in which theknots are tied or else the children born of the marriage will die. 

CLXXI. Illegitimate Children. 

If a woman has an illegitimate child and from fear or shame will notname its father the bastard is called a child of Chando. At its birththere is no assembly of the neighbours; its head is not ceremoniallyshaved and there is no _narta_ ceremony. The midwife does what isnecessary; and the child is admitted into no division of the tribe. Ifit is a boy it is called Chandu or Chandrai or sometimes Birbanta andif a girl Chandro or Chandmuni or perhaps Bonela. Sometimes after thechild is born the mother will under seal of secrecy tell its father'sname to her mother or the midwife; and then between themselves theywill call the child by a name taken from the father's family butthey will never tell it to anyone else. When the child grows up heis given some nickname and if he turns out well and is popular hisname is often changed again and he is recognised as a Santal. 

Often if a father will not acknowledge a child the mother will strangleit at birth and bury the body. Men who practise sorcery dig up thebones of such murdered infants and use them as rattles when doingtheir sorceries and are helped by them to deceive people. 

CLXXII. The Dead. 

Santals are very much afraid of burial grounds; for dead men become_bongas_ and _bongas_ eat men. If a man meet such a _bonga_ in aburial ground it is of little use to fight for the _bonga_ keeps onchanging his shape. He may first appear as a man and then change intoa leopard or a bear or a pig or a cat: very few escape when attackedby such a being. 

It is said that the spirits of young children become _bhuts_ and thoseof grown-up people _bongas_ and those of pregnant women _churins_. 

CLXXIII. Hunting Custom. 

Formerly when the men went to a hunt the mistress of the house wouldnot bathe all the time they were away and when the hunters returnedshe met them at the front door and washed their feet and welcomedthem home. The wife of the _dehri_ used to put a dish of water underher bed at night and if the water turned red like blood they believedthat it was a sign that game had been killed. 

CHAPTER VI

Part VI. 

The belief in witchcraft is very real to the present day among theSantals. All untimely deaths and illness which does not yield totreatment are attributed to the machinations of witches, and womenare not unfrequently murdered in revenge for deaths which they aresupposed to have caused, or to prevent the continuance of illnessfor which they are believed to be responsible. 

The Santal writer in spite of his education is a firm believer inwitchcraft, and details his own experiences. He has justification forhis belief, for as was the case in Mediaeval Europe, women sometimesplead guilty to having caused death by witchcraft when there appearsto be no adequate motive for a confession, which must involve themin the severest penalties. 

Mr. Bodding is aware that Santal women do actually hold meetings atnight at which mantras and songs are repeated, and at which they maybelieve they acquire uncanny powers; the exercise of such powers mayalso on occasion be assisted by the knowledge of vegetable poisons. 

The witch may either herself cause death by 'eating, ' or eating theliver of, her victim, or may cause her familiar "bonga" to attackthe unfortunate. That witches eat the liver is an old idea in Indiamentioned by the Mughal historians. 

The Jan guru is employed to detect who is the woman responsible forany particular misfortune. His usual method is to gaze on a leafsmeared with oil, in which as in a crystal he can doubtless imaginethat shapes present themselves. The witch having been detected, she isliable to be beaten and maltreated until she withdraws her spells, andif this does not lead to the desired result she may be put to death. 

CLXXIV. Witchcraft. 

The higher castes do not believe in witchcraft. If a man is ill theygive him medicines and if he dies in spite of the medicine they donothing further. But all the lower castes believe in witchcraft andknow that it is a reality. The Santal women learnt the craft firstfrom Marang Burn by playing a trick on him when he meant to teachtheir husbands. And now they take quite little girls out by nightand teach them so that the craft may not die out. 

We know of many cases to prove that witchcraft is a reality. Pirthiwho lives in Pankha's house was once ill: and it was an aunt of his whowas "eating" him. One night as he lay ill the witch came and bent overhim to take out his liver: but he woke up just in time and saw her andcatching her by the hair he shouted for the people in the house. Theyand the villagers came and took the woman into custody. When thePargana questioned her she confessed everything and was punished. 

Another time a boy lay ill and senseless. A cowherd who was drivingcattle home at evening ran to the back of the house where the sick boylay, after a cow which strayed there. There he found a woman in a stateof possession (rum) he told the villagers what he had seen and theycaught the woman and gave her a severe beating: whereupon the sickboy recovered. But about two months afterwards the cowherd suddenlyfell down dead: and when they consulted a _jan_ as to the reason hesaid that it was the witch who had been beaten who had done it. 

CLXXV. Of Dains and Ojhas. 

Once upon a time Marang Buru decided that he would teach menwitchcraft. In those days there was a place at which men used toassemble to meet Marang Buru and hold council with him: but they onlyheard his voice and never saw his face. One day at the assembly whenthey had begun to tell Marang Buru of their troubles he fixed a dayand told them to come to him on it, dressed all in their cleanestclothes and he would teach them witchcraft. 

So the men all went home and told their wives to wash their clotheswell against the fixed day, as they were going to Thakur to learnwitchcraft. The women of course all began to discuss this new planamong themselves and the more they talked of it the less they liked it;it seemed to them that if the men were to get this new strange powerit would make them more inclined to despise and bully women than ever;so they made a plot to get the better of their husbands. They arrangedthat each woman should brew some rice beer and offer it to her husbandas he was starting to meet Marang Buru and beg him to drink some lesthis return should be delayed. They foresaw that the men would not beable to resist the drink; and that having started they would go on tillthey were dead drunk: it would then be easy for the women to dressthemselves like men and go off to Marang Buru and learn witchcraftin place of their husbands. So said, so done;--the women duly madetheir husbands drunk and then put on _pagris_ and _dhoties_ and stuckgoats' beards on their faces and went off to Marang Buru to learnwitchcraft. Marang Buru did not detect the imposition and accordingto his promise taught them all the incantations of witchcraft. 

After the women had come home with their new knowledge theirhusbands gradually recovered their senses and bethought them of theirappointment with Marang Buru. So they hurried off to the meeting placeand asked him to teach them what he had promised. "Why, I taught itall to you this morning, " answered Marang Buru, "what do you mean bycoming to me again?" The men could not understand what he meant andprotested that they had not been to him at all in the morning. "Thenyou must have told your wives what I was going to do!" This they couldnot deny: "I see, " said Marang Buru "then they must have played a trickon you and learnt the _mantras_ in your place, " At this the men beganto lament and begged that they might be taught also: but Marang Burusaid that this was impossible; he could only teach them a very little;their wives had reaped the crop and they could only have the gleanings;so saying, he taught them the art of the _ojha_ and in order thatthey might have the advantage of their wives in one respect and beable to overawe them he also taught them the craft of the _jan_ andwith that they had to be content. This is why only women are witches. 

CLXXVI. Initiation into Witchcraft. 

When girls are initiated into witchcraft they are taken away byforce and made to lead tigers about. This makes them fearless. Theyare then taken to all the most powerful _bongas_ in succession; andare taught to invoke them, as school boys are taught lessons, and tobecome possessed _(rum)_. They are also taught _mantras_ and songs andby degrees they cease to be afraid. The novice is made to come out ofthe house with a lamp in her hand and a broom tied round her waist;she is then conducted to the great _bongas_ one of whom approves of herand when all have agreed she is married to that _bonga_. The _bonga_pays the usual brideprice and applies _sindur_ to her forehead. Afterthis she can also marry a man in the usual way and he also pays thebride price. When a girl has learnt everything she is made to takeher degree (_sid atang_) by taking out a man's liver and cooking itwith rice in a new pot; then she and the young woman who is initiatingher, eat the feast together; a woman who has once eaten such a stewis completely proficient and can never forget what she has learnt. 

This is the way in which girls learn witchcraft; and if any girlrefuses to take the final step and will not eat men she is caused togo mad or die. Those however who have once eaten men have a cravingfor it. 

Generally it is only women who are witches; but there are men who havelearnt witchcraft and there are others who without being initiatedhave kept company with witches. For instance in Simra village thereis Chortha who was once a servant of the Parganna. He says that theParganna's wife used to take him out with her at night. The women usedto sacrifice fowls and goats and make him skin them and cut them up:he had then to roast cakes of the flesh and give them to the Parganna'swife who distributed them among the other women. 

Sometimes also witches take a man with them to their meetings to beatthe drum: and sometimes if a man is very much in love with a girl heis allowed to go with them and is taught witchcraft. For instancethere was a man who had a family of daughters and no son and so heengaged a man servant by the year to work for him. 

After being some years in service this man servant one night was forsome reason unusually late in letting the buffaloes out to graze, and while doing so he saw all the women of the household assembledout of doors; they came up to him and told him not to be afraidand promised to do him no harm provided he told no one what he hadseen. Two or three days later the young women of the house invitedhim to go to a witches' meeting. He went but felt rather frightenedthe whole time; however nothing happened to him, so he got over hisfear and after that he used to go with them quite willingly and learntall about witchcraft. At last they told him that he must _sid atang_by "eating" a human being. He objected that he was an orphan and sothere was no relation whom he could eat. This was a difficulty thatseemed insurmountable; and he suggested that he should be excused thefull course and taught only a little such as how to "eat" fowls. Thewomen agreed but it was arranged that to deceive people he should gofor two or three days and study with a _jan guru_ and be initiated byhim. Thus it would be thought that he learnt his magic from the _guru_but really he learnt it from the witches who taught him everythingexcept how to "eat" human beings. He learnt how to make trees witheraway and come to life again; and to make rain fall where he wishedwhile any place he chose remained quite dry; he learnt to walk uponthe surface of water without getting wet; he could exorcise hail sothat none would touch his house though it fell all around. For a jokehe could make stools stick fast to his friends when they sat on them;and anyone he scolded found himself unable to speak properly. Allthis we have seen him do; but it was no one's business to questionhim to find out how much he really knew. 

Once at the shield and sword dance they cast a spell on a youth tillhis clothes fell off him in shreds and he was ashamed to dance. Thenthis servant had the pieces of cloth brought to him; and he coveredthem with his own cloth and mumbled some _mantras_ and blew on it andthe pieces joined together and the cloth was as good as ever. Thiswe have seen ourselves. 

He lived a long time with his master who found him a wife; but becausehis first child died he left the place and went to live near Amrahatwhere he is now. 

Another case is Tipu of Mohulpahari. They say that an old witch Dukkiataught him to be an _ojha_. No one has dared to ask him whether healso learnt witchcraft from her but he himself admits that she taughthim to be an _ojha_. 

Although it is true that there are witches and that they "eat" menyou will never see them except when you are alone. 

The son-in-law of Surai of Karmatane village, named Khade, died frommeeting witches; he told us all about it as he lay dying. He wascoming home with some other men: they had all had a little too muchto drink and so they got separated. Khade was coming along alone andhad nearly reached his house when he saw a crowd of witches under atree. He went up and asked who they were. Thereupon they turned onhim and seized him and dragged him away towards Maluncha. There theydid something to him and let him go. Next morning he was seized withpurging and by mistake some of the witches' vengeance fell also onthe other men and they were taken ill too. They however recovered, but Khade died. If you meet witches you die, but not of course ifthey take you with them of their own will and teach you their craft. 

CLXXVII. Witchcraft. 

Girls are taught witchcraft when they are young and are married to a_bonga_ husband. Afterwards when they marry a man they still go awayand visit the _bonga_ and when they do so they send in their place a_bonga_ woman exactly like them in appearance and voice; so that thehusband cannot tell that it is not his real wife. There is however away of discovering the substitution; for if the man takes a brand fromthe fire and burns the woman with it, then if it is really a _bonga_and not his wife she will fly away in a flame of fire. 

CLXXVIII. Witch Stories. 

I will now tell you something I have seen with my own eyes. In thevillage of Dhubia next to mine the only son of the Paranik lay illfor a whole year. One day I went out to look at my _rahar_ cropwhich was nearly ripe and as I stood under a mowah tree I heard avoice whispering. I stooped down to try and see through the _rahar_who was there but the crop was so thick that I could see nothing;so I climbed up the mowah tree to look. Glancing towards Dhubiavillage I saw the third daughter of the Paranik come out of her houseand walk towards me. When about fifty yards from me she climbed abig rock and waited. Presently an old aunt of hers came out of thevillage and joined her. Then the old woman went back to her house andreturned with a lota of water. Meanwhile the girl had come down fromthe rock and sat at its foot near a thicket of _dhela_ trees. The oldwoman caused the girl to become possessed (_rum_) and they had someconversation which I could not hear, Then they poured out the waterfrom the lota and went home. 

On my way home I met a young fellow of the village and found thathe had also seen what the two women did. We went together to theplace and found the mark of the water spilled on the ground and twoleaves which had been used as wrappers and one of which was smearedwith vermilion and _adwa_ rice had been scattered about. We decidedto tell no one till we saw whether what had been done was meant tobenefit or injure the sick boy. Fifteen days later the boy died:and when his parents consulted a _jan_ he named a young woman of thevillage as the cause of the boy's death and she was taken and punishedseverely by the villagers. 

It is plain that the boy's sister and aunt in order to save themselvescaused the _jan_ to see an innocent woman. I could not bring the boyback to life so it was useless for me to say anything, especially asthe guilty women were of the Paranik's own family. This I saw myselfin broad daylight. 

Another thing that happened to me was this. I had been with theHeadman to pay in the village rent. It was night when we returnedand after leaving him I was going home alone. As I passed in frontof a house a bright light suddenly shone from the cowshed; I lookedround and saw a great crowd of women-witches standing there. I ranaway by the garden at the back of the house until I reached a highroad; then I stopped and looked round and saw that the witches werecoming after me; and looking towards the hamlet where my house was Isaw that witches were coming with a bright light from that directionalso. When I found myself thus hemmed in I felt that my last hourhad come but I ran on till I came to some jungle. 

Looking back from there I saw that the two bands had joined togetherand were coming after me. I did not feel safe there for I knew thatthere were _bongas_ in the jungle who might tell the witches whereI was. So I ran on to the _tola_ where an uncle and aunt of minelived. As I ran down the street I saw two witches at the back ofone of the houses. They were sitting down; one was in a state ofpossession _(rum)_ and the other was opposite her holding a lamp. SoI left the street and made my way through the fields till I Came tomy uncle's house. I knocked and was admitted panting and breathless;my uncle and aunt went outside to see what it was that had scared meand they saw the witches with the two lights flashing and made hasteto bolt the door. None of us slept for the rest of the night and inthe morning I told them all that had happened. 

Since that night I have been very frightened of witches and do not liketo go out at night. It was lucky that the witches did not recogniseme; otherwise I should not have lived. Ever since I have never stayedat home for long together; I go there for two or three months at atime and then go away and work elsewhere. I am too frightened to stayin my own village. Now all the old women who taught witchcraft aredead except one: when she goes I shall not be frightened any more. Ishall be able to go home when I like. I have never told any one butmy uncle and aunt what I saw until now that I have written it down. 

So from my own experience I have no doubt about the existence ofwitches; I cannot say how they "eat" men, whether by magic or whetherthey order _"bongas"_ to cause a certain man to die on a certainday. Some people say that when a witch is first initiated she ismarried to a _bonga_ and if she wants to "eat" a man she orders her_bonga_ husband to kill him and if he refuses she heaps abuse on himuntil he does. 

CLXXIX. Witch Stories. 

Young girls are taught witchcraft against their wills and if theyrefuse to "eat" their father or brother they die or go mad. Therewas a girl in my own village and she went out gathering herbs withanother girl who was a witch. As usual they sang at their work and thewitch girl sang songs the tune of which the other thought so prettythat she learnt them by heart. When she had learnt them the witchgirl told her that they were witch songs and explained to her theirmeaning. The girl was very angry at having been taught them unawaresbut the witch girl assured her that she would never be able to forgetthe songs or their interpretation; then she assigned her to a _bonga_bridegroom and then told her to _sid atang_ and all would be wellwith her otherwise she would have trouble. 

When the girl learnt that she must _sid atang_ by "eating" her fatheror brother or mother she began to make excuses; she could not killher father for he was the support of the family; nor her only brotherfor he was wanted too at the _Baha_ and _Sohrai_ nor her mother whohad reared her in childhood. The witch girl said that if she refusedshe would die; and she said that she would rather die than do whatwas required of her. Then the witch did something and the girl beganto rave and talk gibberish and from that time was quite out of hersenses. _Ojhas_ tried to cure her in vain until at last one suggestedthat she should be taken to another village as the madness must bethe work of witches living in her own village. So they took her awayand the remedies then cured her. She stayed in her new home and wasmarried there. A long time afterwards she went back to pay a visit toher father's house: but the day after she arrived her head began toache and she fell ill and though her husband came and took her awayshe died the day after she reached her home. 

There was another girl; her friends noticed that when she came homewith them in the evening after planting rice she was very carefulnot to fall behind or be left alone and they used to laugh at her forbeing a coward. But one day she was gathering Indian corn with a friendand as they talked she said "You will all have lovely dancing at theSohrai. " "You!" said her friend: "won't you be there? Are you goingaway?" Then the girl began to cry and sobbed out that her mother hadtaught her witchcraft and married her to a _bonga_; and it was forfear of the _bonga_ that she did not like to be alone in the dark;and because she had refused to "eat" anyone her mother intended to"eat" her and so she had no hope of living to see the Sohrai. Threedays later the girl fell ill and died, and after her death her friendtold how she had foreseen it. 

CLXXX. Witch Stories. 

In the village of Mohulpahari there was a youth named Jerba. He wasservant to Bepin Teli of Tempa and often had to come home in the darkafter his day's work. One night he was coming back very late and, before he saw where he was, suddenly came upon a crowd of witchesstanding under a hollow mowah tree at the foot of the field thatthe dhobie has taken. Just as he caught sight of them they seizedhold of him and flung him down and did something which he could notremember--for he lost his senses when they threw him down. When hecame to himself he managed to struggle free and run off. The witchespursued but failed to overtake him and he reached his home in a stateof terror. The witches however had not finished with him for two orthree days after they caused him to fall from a tree and break hisarm. Ojhas were called in but their medicines did him no good. Thearm mortified and maggots formed and in a few days Jerba himself toldthem that he would not recover; he told them how the witches chasedhim and that he had recognised them as women of his own village andshortly afterwards he became speechless and died. 

My own brother-in-law lived at Mubundi. One night he and several othermen were sitting up on the threshing-floor watching their rice. Inthe middle of the night they saw lights shining and flickering inthe courtyard of my brother-in-law's house and he went to see whatwas the matter. When he got near, the lights went into the house:he went up quietly and as he looked in found the house full of womenwho extinguished the light directly they saw him and rushed out ofthe house. Then he asked my sister what the light was; but she couldonly stammer out "What light? I saw no light, " so he struck her a blowand went back to the threshing-floor and told the others what he hadseen. That night he would not tell them the names of the women he hadseen; and before morning his right arm swelled and became very painful;the swelling quickly increased and by noon he lost consciousness anda few hours later he died. 

CLXXXI. The Two Witches. 

There were once a woman and her daughter-in-law who were bothwitches. One night during the annual Sohrai festival the men of thevillage were going from house to house singing and getting rice beerto drink; and one young man named Chandrai got so drunk that when theycame to the house where the two witch-women lived he rolled himselfunder the shelf on which rice was stored and fell asleep. Next morninghe came to his senses but he did not like to come out and show himselffor fear of ridicule so he made up his mind to wait till a party cameround singing again and then to slip out with them unperceived. 

He lay waiting and presently all the men of the house went away tojoin in the _danka_ dance; leaving the mistress of the house andher daughter-in-law alone. Presently, the two began to talk and theelder woman said "Well what with the pigs and the goats that have beensacrificed during this Sohrai we have had plenty of meat to eat latelyand yet I don't feel as if I had had any. " "That is so, " answered herdaughter-in-law; "fowls' and pig's flesh is very unsatisfying. " "Thenwhat are we to do?" rejoined the old woman, "I don't know unless youdo for the father of your grandchild. " When he heard this Chandraishivered with fright and hid himself further under the rice shelf, for he saw that the two women must be witches. 

That day was the day on which a bullock is tied to a post outside eachhouse and at noon the husband of the younger witch began to dig a holeoutside the house to receive the post. While he was working Chandraiheard the two women begin to talk again. "Now is your opportunity, "said the younger woman, "while he is digging the hole. " "But perhapsthe _ojha_ will be able to discover us, " objected the other. "Ohwe can prevent that by making the _ojha_ see in the oiled leaf thefaces of Rupi and Bindi--naming two girls of the village--and we cansay that my husband had seduced them and then declined to marry themand that that was why they killed him. " The old woman seemed to besatisfied, for she took up a hatchet and went out to where her sonwas digging the hole. She waited till he bent down to throw out theearth with his hands and then cut open his back and pulled out hisliver and heart and brought them into the house. Her unfortunate sonfelt a spasm of pain when his mother struck him but he did not knowwhat had hurt him and there was no visible wound. The two women thenchopped up the liver and heart and cooked and ate them. 

That night when the village youths came round to the house, singing, Chandrai slipped out with them unperceived and hastened home. Two orthree days later the bewitched man became seriously ill; medicinesand sacrifices did him no good; the _ojhas_ were called in but couldmake nothing of the illness. The villagers were very angry with themfor the failure and the headman told them that they must ascertainby means of the oiled leaf who had caused the illness, or it wouldbe the worse for them. So the _ojhas_ went through their ceremoniesand after a time declared that the oiled leaf showed the faces ofthe two girls Rupi and Bindi; and that it was they who were eatingup the sick man. So the two girls were sent for and questioned butthey solemnly swore that they knew nothing about the matter. No onebelieved their protestations and the headman ordered that filth shouldbe put into their mouths and that they should be well beaten to makethem confess. However before any harm was done them Chandrai sprangup and called out to the headman: "You have proof that these girlsare witches, but I will not let you beat them here. Let us take themto yonder open field; the token of their oath is there and we willmake them first remove it. If we beat them first they will probablyrefuse to remove the oath. " "How do you know about their oath?" askedthe headman. "Never mind, I do know. " The villagers were convinced byhis confident manner and all went with the two girls to the open field. 

Chandrai's object was to get away from the witches' house for he wasafraid to speak there; but when they were out in the open he stood upand told the villagers all that he had seen and heard the two witchesdo; they remembered that he had been missing for a whole day duringthe Sohrai festival and believed him. So the sick man's wife andmother were fetched and well beaten to make them restore the sickman to health; but his liver and heart had been eaten so that thecase was hopeless and in a few days he was dead. His relations inrevenge soon killed the two witches. 

Rupi and Bindi whose lives had been saved by Chandrai went andestablished themselves in his house, for they declared that as theyowed their lives to him it was plain that he must marry them. 

CLXXXII. The Sister-in-Law Who Was a Witch. 

There were once two brothers who lived together; the elder was marriedbut the younger had no wife. The elder brother used to cultivatetheir lands and his wife used to draw water and fetch fuel and theyounger brother used to take the cattle out to graze. One year whenthe elder brother was busy in the fields the younger one used to takehis cattle to graze near where his brother was working and the wifeused to bring out the breakfast for both of them. One day the youngerbrother thought he would play a trick on his sister-in-law by notanswering when she called him to his breakfast; so when her husbandhad finished his meal and she called out for the younger brother tocome he gave no answer; she concluded that the cattle were strayingand would not let him come so she took up her basket and went tolook for him; but when he saw her coming he climbed up a tree andhid himself and for all her calling gave no answer, but only sat andlaughed at her although she came quite close to where he was. 

At last the woman got into a passion and putting down the breakfastby the side of a pool which was close to the tree up which herbrother-in-law had climbed she stripped off her clothes and beganbowing down and calling. "Ho, Dharmal Chandi! come forth !" When hesaw this the man was amazed and waited to see whom she was calling, meaning to let her know he was there directly she turned to go awayhome with the breakfast. But the woman kept on calling to DharmalChandi and at last out of the pool appeared an immense bearded _bonga_with long and matted hair. When the woman saw him her tongue flickeredin and out like a snake's and she made a hissing noise, such as a crabmakes. Then the woman began "Dharmal Chandi I have a request whichyou must promise to grant. " And when the _bonga_ had promised sheproceeded. "You must have my brother-in-law killed by a tiger the dayafter to-morrow; he has put me to endless trouble making me go shoutingafter him all through the jungle; I wanted to go back quickly becauseI have a lot of work at home; he has wasted my time by not answering;so the day after to-morrow you must have him killed. " The _bonga_promised to do what she asked and disappeared into the pool and thewoman went home. 

While the younger brother was up in the tree his cattle had got into a_gundli_ field and eaten up the crop: and the owner found it out andgot the brothers fined. So that evening the elder brother asked himwhere he had been that he had not looked after the cattle properlynor eaten any breakfast. In answer the younger brother only began tocry; at that his sister-in-law said. "Let him alone; he is crying forwant of a wife; he is going silly because we have not married him;"and so nothing more was said. But the elder brother was not satisfiedand the next day when they went together to work he asked the youngerwhat was the real reason for his crying. 

Then the younger answered. "Brother, I am in great trouble; it makesme cry all day; if you wish ever to look on my face again, you mustnot work in the fields to-morrow but keep me company while I tendthe cattle; if we are separated for a moment a tiger will kill me;it will be quickly over for me but you I know will miss me much andso I am grieving for you; if you have any tenderness for me do notleave me to-morrow but save me from the tiger. " His brother asked thereason for this foreboding but the younger man said that he wouldexplain nothing and accuse no one until the events of the next dayhad shown whether he was speaking the truth; if a tiger really cameto stalk him then that would be proof that he had had good reasonfor his apprehension; and he begged his brother not to speak a wordabout it to anyone and especially not to his wife. 

The elder brother promised to keep the matter a secret and cheered hisbrother up and told him to be of good heart; they would take their bowsand axes and he would like to see the tiger that would touch them. Sothe next morning the two brothers went off together well armed andtended the cattle in company; nothing happened and at midday theybrought the cattle home; when the woman saw them with bows in theirhands she asked where they had been. Her husband told her that he hadbeen to look for a hare which he had seen on the previous day but hehad not been able to find it. Then his brother said that he had seena hare in its form that very morning but had not had time to shootit. So they pretended to arrange to go and hunt this hare and afterhaving eaten their rice they drove out the cattle again. 

As they went along they kept close together with their arrows on thestring, so that the tiger which came to stalk the younger brother gotno opportunity to attack; at last it showed itself at the edge of thejungle; the cattle were thrown into a turmoil and the brothers sawthat it was really following them; and the elder brother was convincedthat there was some reason for his brother's fears. So they turnedthe cattle back and cautiously drove them home, keeping a good lookout all the way; the tiger prowled round them hiding in the bushes, sometimes in front and sometimes behind, but found no opening toattack while they for their part did not dare to shoot at it. Thetiger followed them right up to the house; but the elder brother didnot leave the other for a moment nor let him go outside the door andat night he slept on the same bed with him. 

The next morning he begged his brother to tell him all that hadhappened and explain how he knew that a tiger would seek hislife on the previous day. "Come then" said the other, "to yonderopen ground. I cannot tell you in the house;" so they went outtogether and then the younger told all that had happened and how hissister-in-law had ordered the _Bonga_ to have him killed by a tiger;"I did not tell you before till my story had been put to the prooffor fear that you would not believe me and would tell your wife; butnow you know all. I cannot live with you any longer; from this veryday I must go and find a home elsewhere. " "Not so" said the other, "I will not keep such a woman with me any longer; she is dangerous;I will go home now and put her to death, " and so saying he went homeand killed his wife with an axe. 

CLXXXIII. Ramjit Bonga. 

Once upon a time a man went out to snare quail: he set his snaresby the side of a mountain stream and then sat down under a bush towatch them. As he waited he saw a young woman come along with herwater pot under her arm to draw water from the stream. When she gotto the _ghat_ she put down her pot and made her way up the streamtowards where the snares had been set; she did not notice the hunterbut went to the stump of an ebony tree near him and looking roundand seeing no one she suddenly became possessed and started dancinground the ebony tree and singing some song which he could not clearlycatch; and as she danced she called out "The Pig's fat is overflowing:brother-in-law Ramjit come here to me. " When she called out like thisthe quail catcher quietly crept nearer still to her. Although thewoman repeatedly summoned him in this way the Bonga would not comeout because he was aware of the presence of the onlooker; the womanhowever got into a passion at his non-appearance and stripping off herclothes she danced naked round the tree calling out "The Pig's fatis overflowing: brother-in-law Ramjit come hither at once. " At lastout of the _nala_ appeared the bonga, dark, enormous and shaggy; andapproached the woman: Then the woman said "Brother-in-law Ramjit thereis something that you must do for me; my nephew is ill; he must dieon such and such a day; that day I must see the smoke of his funeralpyre; but you must save me from the witch-finder; let the blame fallnot on me but on so and so; this is what I came to urge on you; thatyou protect me from discovery and then we shall always be friends. "

The Bonga at first knowing that they were being watched would not makethe promise but when the woman insisted he promised in a low voiceand then disappeared into the _nala_; and the witch went back to theghat, filled her water pot and went home. The quail catcher also wenttrembling home and he remembered the day fixed for the death of thenephew of the witch and he decided to wait and see what happened beforesaying anything to the villagers. Sure enough on the day before thatfixed by the witch the invalid became unconscious and was obviouslyat the point of death. When he heard this the quail catcher went tothe sick man's bedside and seeing his condition told his relatives tocollect all the villagers to beat the woman whom he had seen with theBonga and he told them all that had passed; the villagers believedhim and summoning all the women of the village they scolded them;and then being excited by this they rose up and began to beat thewomen; to each they gave one blow with a stick, but the woman whomthe quail catcher pointed out they beat till she fainted. 

Then they ordered her to cure the sick man and threatened to burn heralong with him if he died, but she insisted that she was innocent. Thenthey told her that they knew all that had passed between her andthe Bonga Ramjit, she persisted that it was all a mistake. So theystarted to beat her again; they beat her from her heels to her neckand then from her neck down to her heels till the blood flowed andthey swore that they would not let her go unless she cured the sickman and that if he died they would cut her to pieces. At last thetorture made her confess that it was she who was eating the sick man;and she promised to cure him; so they first made her tell the namesof all the other witches in the village and then tied her to a postand kept her there, and did not untie her till in four or five daysthe sick man recovered. When she was let loose the quail catcher ranaway from the village and would not live there any more. 

But the villagers threatened the witch woman that if her nephew or anyof his family got ill again they would kill her; and they told her thatas her secret had been found out she was henceforth to be their _ojha_and cure their diseases; and they would supply her with whatever shewanted for the purpose; they asked what sacrifice her nephew must makeon his recovery; and she told them to get a red cock, a grasshopper:a lizard; a cat and a black and white goat; so they brought her theseand she sacrificed them and the villagers had a feast of rice andrice beer and went to their homes and the matter ended. 

CLXXXIV. The Herd Boy and the Witches. 

Once upon a time a cowherd lost a calf and while looking for it hewas benighted in the jungle; for he was afraid to go home lest heshould be scolded for losing the calf. He had with him his bow andarrows and flute and a stick but still he was afraid to stay thenight in the jungle; so he made up his mind to go to the _jahirthan_as _More Turuiko_ would protect him there; so he went to the _jahirthan_ and climbed a tree in which a spirit abode; he took his bowand arrows up with him but he was too frightened to go to sleep. 

About supper time he saw a number of women who were witches collectfrom all sides at the _jahir than_: at this sight he was morefrightened than ever; the witches then called up the _bongas_ andthey also summoned two tigers; then they danced the _lagre_ dance andthey combed the hair of the two tigers. Then they also called _MoreTurniko_ and when they came, one bonga said "I smell a man" and _MoreTurniko_ scolded him saying "Faith, you smelt nothing until we came;and directly we come you say you smell a man; it must be us you smell";and the chief of the _bongas_ agreed that it must be all right. Thenwhile the women were dancing the boy took his bow and shot the twotigers, and the tigers enraged by their wounds fell on the witchesand killed them all; and then they died themselves; and as they weredying they roared terribly so that the people in the villages nearheard them. When it grew light the boy climbed down and drawing thearrows from the bodies of the tigers went home. 

Then the people asked him where he had spent the night and he saidthat he was benighted while looking for his calf and as he heard tigersroaring near the _jahir than_ he was frightened and had stayed in thejungle. They told him that when the tigers began to roar the calfhad come running home by itself and this was good news to the herdboy. Then he found that all the children in the village were crying fortheir mothers and the men were asking what had become of their wives;then the herdboy said that in the night he had seen some women going inthe direction of the _jahir than_ but he had not seen them come backand they had better go and look there. So the villagers went off andfound their wives lying dead by the _jahir than_ and the two tigersalso dead; and they knew that the women must have been witches to gothere at night; so they wept over them and burned the bodies. And along time afterwards the boy told them all that he had seen and done;and they admitted that he had done right in destroying the witchesand that it would be well if all witches met the same fate. 

This story whether true or not is told to this day. 

CLXXXV. The Man-Tiger. 

There was once a young man who when a boy had learnt witchcraft fromsome girl friends; he was married but his wife knew nothing aboutthis. They lived happily together and were in the habit of payingfrequent visits to the wife's parents. One day they were on theirway together to pay such a visit and in passing through some junglethey saw, grazing with a herd of cattle, a very fine and fat bullcalf. The man stopped and stripped himself to his waist cloth andtold his wife to hold his clothes for him while he went and ate thecalf that had stirred his appetite. His wife in astonishment askedhim how he was going to eat a living animal; he answered that hewas going to turn into a tiger and kill the animal and he impressedon her that she must on no account be frightened or run away and hehanded her a piece of root and told her that she must give it him tosmell when he came back and he would at once regain his human shape. 

So saying he retired into a thicket and took off his waist cloth andat once became a tiger; then he swallowed the waist cloth and therebygrew a fine long tail. Then he sprang upon the calf and knocked it overand began to suck its blood. At this sight his wife was overwhelmedwith terror and forgetting everything in her fear ran right off toher father's house taking with her her husband's clothes and themagic root. She arrived breathless and told her parents all that hadhappened. Meanwhile her husband had been deprived of the means ofregaining his own form and was forced to spend the day hiding in thejungle as a tiger; when night fell he made his way to the villagewhere his father-in-law lived. But when he got there all the dogsbegan to bark and when the villagers saw that there was a tiger theybarricaded themselves in their houses. 

The man-tiger went prowling round his father-in-law's house and atlast his father-in-law plucked up courage and went out and threwthe root which the wife had brought under the tiger's nose and heat once became a man again. Then they brought him into the houseand washed his feet; and gave him hot rice-water to drink; and ondrinking this he vomited up lumps of clotted blood. The next morningthe father-in-law called the villagers and showed them this blood andtold them all that had happened; then he turned to his son-in-law andtold him to take himself off and vowed that his daughter should nevergo near him again. The man-tiger had no answer to make but went backsilently and alone to his own home. 

_Note_:--The following is a prescription for making an _Ulat bag_or were-tiger. 

"The fibre of a plant (Bauhinia vahli) beaten out and cooked inmustard oil in a human skull. "

Glossary. 

_Adwa_. Rice husked without having been boiled. 

_Arta_. Red pigment applied to the feet for ornament. 

_Baha Porob_. The flower festival; the spring festival held aboutFebruary. 

_Bandi_. A receptacle for storing grain, made of straw rope. 

_Bharia_. A bamboo carried on the shoulder with a load slung ateach end. 

_Bhut_. A ghost, a harmful spirit, not originally a Santal word. 

_Bonga_. The name for all gods, godlings and supernatural beings. Singbonga is the sun god; the spirits of ancestors are bongas, there arebongas of the hills, streams and the forest; others are like fairiesand take human form. Sacrifices are offered to bongas on all occasions. 

_Brinjal_. The egg plant. 

_But_. Grain, a kind of pulse. 

_Chamar_. A low caste, workers in leather. 

_Chando_. The sun, the supreme god of the Santals. 

_Champa_. A country in which according to their traditions, theSantals once lived. 

_Charak Puja_. The festival at which men are swung by hooks froma pole. 

_Chatar_. A festival at which dancing takes place round an umbrella. 

_Chowkidar_. A watchman. 

_Churin_. The spirit of a woman who has died while pregnant, her feetare turned backwards. Not originally Santal. 

_Chumaura_. A ceremony observed at marriage, and Sohrae festival. 

_Dain_. A witch. Witches are supposed to use their powers to causesickness and death; women accused of witchcraft are often murdered. 

_Dehri_. The president of the annual hunt; he presides over theCourt which during the hunt hears appeals against unjust decisionsof paganas. 

_Dewan_. The chief minister of a Raja. 

_Dhobi_. A washerman. 

_Dhoti_. The waistcloth worn by men. 

_Dom_. A low caste, scavengers, basketmakers and drummers. 

_Gamcha_. A small piece of cloth worn round the neck, or when bathing. 

_Ghât_. The approach to a pool or river at which people bathe; thecrossing place of a river. 

_Ghormuha_. A horse-headed monster; not a Santal name. 

_Goâla_. A man of the cow keeping caste. 

_Godet_. The village constable, the official messenger of the headman. 

_Goondli_. A small millet. 

_Gosain_. A religious ascetic, usually of the Vishnuite persuasion. 

_Gupinî_. A celestial milkmaid, such as those who danced with Krishna;not a Santal creation. 

_Gûr_. Juice of sugar cane, molasses. 

_Hadi_. A low caste of scavengers. 

_Jan_ or _Jan guru_. A witch finder. When a man is ill the Jan isconsulted as to what witch is responsible. The Jan usually divinesby gazing at an oiled leaf. 

_Jahirtkan_. The group of sacred trees left in each village for theaccomodation of the spirits of the forest when the jungle is cleared. 

_Jai tuk_. A bullock given to a woman at her marriage. 

_Jhalka_. A boastful man. 

_Jogi_ or _Jugi_. A religious ascetic, a mendicant. 

_Lota_. A small brass water pot. 

_Lakh_. One hundred thousand. 

_Mahadeo_. The great god, i. E. Siva. 

_Mahajan_. A moneylender. 

_Mahuli_. A tribe akin to the Santals, basket makers by profession. 

_Malhan_. A cultivated leguminous plant. 

_Manjhithan_. The little pavilion in the centre of every Santal villageat which the spirits of dead headmen are worshipped and where villagecouncils are held. 

_Mantra_. An incantation, sacred or magic formula. 

_Marang Burn_. The great spirit, the original chief god of the Santals. 

_Marwari_. A trader from Rajputana and the adjoining parts. 

_Maund_. A weight, 40 seers or 82 pounds. 

_Meral_. A small tree. Phyllanthus emblica. 

_More Turuiko_. Lit. : The five or six--certain Santal godlings. 

_Mowah_. A tree, Bassia latifolia, the fleshy flower is eaten andspirit is distilled from it. 

_Musahar_. A semi-aboriginal caste which catches and eats rats. 

_Nala_. A water course with steep banks. 

_Narta_. The namegiving ceremony observed three or five days afterbirth, by which the child is formally admitted into the tribe. 

_Ninda Chando_. The moon godess, wife of Singchando the Sun god. 

_Kat_. A dry measure used for grain. 

_Kisar Bonga_. A spirit which takes up its abode in the house, frolicsome and mischievous. 

_Kisku_. One of the twelve exogamous septs of Santals, by traditionit was formerly the royal sept. 

_Koeri_. A cultivating caste of Hindus. 

_Kora_. A youth or young man, the hero of a story is often called sothroughout, and I have for convenience adopted it as a proper name. 

_Kos_. A measure of distance, two miles. 

_Ojha_. An exorcist, a charm doctor, one who counteracts the effectsof witchcraft. 

_Pachet_. A place in the Manbhum district which the Santals occupiedin the course of their immigrations. 

_Panchayat_. A council primarily of five which meets to decidea dispute. 

_Pagri_. A cloth worn round the head, a turban. 

_Paharia_. A hill man; the Saurias or Malé of the Rajmahal hills. 

_Pai_. A wooden or metal measure containing half a seer. 

_Pan_. Betel used for chewing. 

_Parganna_. A Santal chief having jurisdiction over a number ofvillages. 

_Paranic_. The assistant headman of a village. 

_Parrab_. A festival. 

_Peepul_ or _pipal_. A tree, ficus religiosa. 

_Pilchu Haram_ and _Pilchu Budhi_. The first man and woman. 

_Rahar_. A cultivated crop, a kind of pulse. 

_Raibar_. A marriage go-between, a man employed to arrange a marriage. 

_Rakas_. An ogre. Sanskrit Rakhshya. 

_Rum_. To be possessed, to fall into a cataleptic state. 

_Sabai_. A kind of grass used for making rope. 

_Sal_. A forest tree. Shorea robusta. 

_Seer_. A weight, about two pounds. 

_Sid atang_. To take the final step, to be completely initiated. 

_Sing bonga_. The Sun god. 

_Sipahi_. An armed guard, a soldier, armed messenger. 

_Sohrai_. The great winter festival of the Santals. 

_Taluq_. A revenue division of the country. 

_Tarop tree_. A small tree, Buchanania latifolia. 

_Thakur_. The supreme Being. 

_Tika_. A mark on the forehead, the giving of which correspondsto coronation. 

_Tola_. A hamlet, a detached quarter of a village. 

Appendix

Introduction. 

The Kolhan forms the western half of the district of Singhbhum inChota Nagpur. The Hos or Larka Hos who form the bulk of the inhabitantsare a branch of the Mundas of the Chota Nagpur Plateau. They are oneof those Kolarian tribes of which the Santals are perhaps the bestknown. I have collected some of the Folklore stories current amongthem, the recollection of which would, however, appear to be dying out. 

The Rev. A. Campbell of the Free Church of Scotland, Santal Mission, has printed a volume of Santal Folk Tales collected by him in Manbhum, a neighbouring district to Singhbhum. As might be expected there isconsiderable resemblance between those Santal Tales and the ones nowreproduced. I have heard some of Mr. Campbell's Santal stories told byHos precisely as he relates them, and there are many incidents commonto both collections. On the other hand there is no resemblance betweenthese Kolarian tales, and the Bengal stories published by Rev. LalBehari De. In the latter I only notice one incident which appears inthe Kolhan stories, the bringing together of two lovers through a longhair floating down a stream, but in Bengal it is the lady's hair thatfloats to her lover, while in the Kolhan it is always the long hairof the hero which inspires love in the heart of the Raja's daughter. 

The stories may be divided into two groups, the animal storiesin which the principal characters are animals, for the most partdenizens of the jungles, and the stories which deal with a settledstate of Society with Rajas, priests and members of the differentHindu castes following their usual occupations. It is interesting, but perhaps scarcely profitable, to try and deduce from the latter somehints of the previous history of the Hos, who, as we know them, are astrongly democratic race, with a well developed tribal system. Theylook on themselves as the owners, of the soil and are unwilling toadmit the claims of any overlord. 

I have made no attempt to put the following stories into a literarydress; I merely bring them as a few stones to the hands of the builderswho build the structure of comparative mythology. 

(1)--The River Snake. 

Once upon a time a certain woman had been on a visit to a distantvillage. As she was going home she reached the bank of a floodedriver. She tried to wade across but soon found that the water was toodeep and the current too strong. She looked about but could see nosigns of a boat or any means of crossing. It began to grow dark andthe woman was in great distress at the thought that she would not beable to reach her home. 

While she thus stood in doubt, suddenly out of the river came agreat snake an said to her: "Woman, what will you give me if I ferryyou across the river?" She answered: "Snake, I have nothing to giveyou. " The snake said I cannot take you across the river unless youpromise to give me something. Now the woman at the time was pregnantand not knowing what else to do, she promised that when her child wasborn, if it were a daughter she would marry her to the river snakeand if it were a son that, when the boy grew up he should become the"_juri_" or "name friend" of the snake. The woman swore to do this withan oath and then the snake took her on his back and bore her safelyacross the flooded stream. The woman safely reached her home and in alittle time a daughter was born to her. Years passed away and the womanforgot all about the snake and her oath. One day she went to the riverto fetch water and the snake came out of the stream and said to her:"Woman, where is the wife whom you promised to me?" The woman thenremembered her oath and going back to her house she returned to theriver with her daughter. When the girl came to the bank of the riverthe snake seized her and drew her underneath the water and her mothersaw her no more. The girl lived with the snake at the bottom of theriver and in the course of years bore him four snake sons. 

Afterwards the girl remembered her home and one day she went tovisit her mother. Her brothers when they came home were astonishedto see her and said: "Sister, we thought that you were drowned inthe river. " She answered: "No, I was not drowned, but I am marriedand have children. " The brothers said: "Where is this brother-in-lawof ours?" Their sister said: "Go to the river and call him. " So theywent to the river and called and the snake came up out of the waterand went to their house with them. Then they welcomed the snake andgave him great quantities of rice beer to drink. After drinking thisthe snake became sleepy and coiling himself in great coils went tosleep. Then the brothers who did not like a snake brother-in-lawtook their axes and cut off the head of the snake while he slept, and afterwards their sister lived in their house. 

(2)--The Sons of the Tigress. 

Once upon a time a cow and a tigress lived in a jungle and were greatfriends, they were never separated. Now in those days tigers did noteat flesh, but grazed like cattle, so the tigress never thought ofdoing any harm to her friend the cow. The tigress had given birthto two men children who were growing up fine and sturdy lads. Oneafternoon the cow and the tigress went down to a stream to drink, the cow went into the stream and drank and the tigress drank lowerdown. The cow fouled the water of the stream and the tigress tastingthe water found it sweet and thought if the cow can make the water sosweet how sweet the flesh of the cow must be. So on the way back fromthe stream the tigress suddenly sprang on the cow and killed her andate her up, leaving nothing but the bones. When she got home her sonsasked her where the cow was, but the tigress said that she did not knowand that the cow must have deserted them, but afterwards the boys foundthe bones of the cow and they guessed what had happened. Then theythought, if our mother has killed her friend the cow, she will surelykill and eat us next. So when the tigress was asleep they killed herwith axes. Then they ran away and after going for many days throughthe jungle they reached a city and they found all the people in greatdistress because a tiger was devastating the kingdom and killing allthe inhabitants and no one could kill the tiger. The Raja of the citymade a a proclamation that any one who could kill the tiger shouldhave half the kingdom and his daughter in marriage. The two boys beingthe sons of a tigress were able by their knowledge of tiger ways tokill the tiger. So they were given half the kingdom and the elder ofthem married the king's daughter and they lived happily ever after. 

(3)--The Tiger's Marriage. 

Once upon a time there lived a Raja who had one son and manydaughters. One day the Raja went into the jungle to cut grass. Hecut a great deal of grass and tied it up in a big bundle and thenhe found that he had cut so much that it was more than he couldcarry. As he was wondering what he should do a tiger came by thatway and seeing the Raja in difficulties asked what he could doto help him. The Raja explained that he had cut a bundle of grasswhich was too heavy to carry. The tiger said that he would carry thegrass if he were rewarded for it: the Raja asked him what reward hewanted. The tiger said that he wished for one of the Raja's daughtersin marriage. The Raja reflected that he had many daughters and agreedto the proposition. Thereupon the grass was placed on the tiger's backand he carried it to the Raja's palace. Now the Raja was ashamed togive his daughter openly to the tiger so he told the tiger to waitby the water hole, and sending for one of his daughters bade her goand fetch water; the girl went to the water hole where the tiger waswaiting and was carried off by the tiger. But the Raja's son missedhis sister and went in search of her. After searching some time hecame to a cave in the jungle and looking in he was the tiger finishingthe remains of the girl whom he had killed. Then the Raja's son ranhome as quickly as he could, and told the Raja what he had seen. 

The next day the tiger came openly to the Raja's palace and asked tosee the Raja. He was taken to the Raja and treated politely. Then thetiger said to the Raja: "I am sorry to say that the wife whom you gaveme has died, so you must give me another. " [4] The Raja said he wouldthink about the matter and invited the tiger to stay at the palace. Sothe tiger was given a good bed, and quickly went to sleep. In thenight the Raja's son boiled some large vessels of water and pouredthe scalding water over the sleeping tiger and killed him. And inthis way the tiger died. 

(4)--The Jackal and His Neighbours. 

Once upon a time a jackal killed a kid in a village and taking it to alittle distance began to enjoy a good meal. But the crows who alwaysmake a noise about other people's business, gathered in a tree overhis head and made a great cawing, so the villagers went to see whatwas the matter and beat the jackal severely and deprived him of hisfeast. On this account the jackal was very angry with the crows anddetermined to be revenged. 

Shortly afterwards a great storm came on with wind and heavy rainand all the birds and animals were in danger of being drowned. Thenthe jackal pretended to be sorry for the crows and invited them allto come and take shelter in his house. But when the jackal had gotthem safely into his house he killed and ate them all; all exceptone _nilkanth_ bird which he decided to keep for his breakfast thenext day, so he tied the _nilkanth_ bird, on to his tail and wentaway from that part of the country. But the _nilkanth_ bird peckedand pecked at the jackal's tail until it not only pecked itself loosebut hurt the tail so much that it became festered and swollen. 

As the jackal went along with his swollen tail he met a potter going tomarket with earthern pots for sale. Then the jackal put on a bullyingair and said that he was a sipahi of the Raja, and one pot of thosebeing taken to market must be given to him; at first the potterrefused, but being frightened he in the end gave one to the jackal. 

Into this the jackal pressed the matter which had accumulated in hisswollen tail and covered it over with leaves. Going on, the jackal meta boy tending goats, he told the boy that he had arranged with theboy's father to buy one of the goats in exchange for a pot of ghee, the boy believed this and took the chatty with its contents from thejackal and gave him a fine goat. 

The jackal went off to his home in triumph with the goat. 

His friends and neighbours were very jealous when they saw that hehad so fine a goat and waiting till his back was turned, they killedand ate the goat, and then they filled the skin with stones and gravelso that it might seem that the whole goat was still there. The jackalfound out what his neighbours had done, and he took the goat skin toa _muchi_ and got the _muchi_ to make it into a drum. Then he went tothe banks of a deep river and began to play the drum. All the otherjackals collected round and were lost in admiration of the tone ofthe drum. They wanted to know where so beautiful a drum was got, thefirst jackal said that there were many drums as good at the bottom ofthe river, and if they tied stones round their necks and jumped inthey would find them. So the other jackals in their anxiety to getsuch drums jumped into the river and were drowned, and the jackalwas revenged on all his enemies. 

(5)--The Jackal and the Tigers. 

Once upon a time a pair of tigers lived in a jungle with their twocubs, and every day the two tigers used to go out hunting deer andother animals that they might bring home food for the cubs. Near thejungle lived a jackal, and he found it very hard to get enough to liveupon; however, one day he came upon the tiger's den when the fatherand mother tiger were out hunting, and there he saw the two tigercubs with a large piece of venison which their parents had broughtthem. Then the jackal put on a swaggering air and began to abusethe tiger cubs for having so much venison, saying: "I am the sipahiof the Raja and the Raja has demanded venison and none can be found, while low people like you have a fine piece like this: give it at onceor I will take it and report against you to the Raja. " Then the tigercubs were frightened and gave up the venison and the jackal went offgleefully and ate it. The next day the jackal came again and in thesame way took off more meat. The jackal continued taking their mealfrom the tiger cubs every day till the cubs became very thin: thefather tiger determined to find out why this was, so he hid himselfin the bushes and watched: he saw the jackal come and take away themeat from the cubs. Then he was very angry and ran after the jackalto kill him and the jackal ran away very fast and the tiger ran afteras fast as he could: at last the jackal ran into a cleft between tworocks and the tiger running after him stuck fast between the tworocks and could not come out and so was starved to death. But thejackal being smaller ran out on the other side. 

Then the jackal went back to the tiger's den and told the tigress thather husband had been caught by the Raja and thrown into prison forinterfering with his sipahi. The tigress and her cubs were very unhappyat this news for they thought that they would starve. Then the jackalcomforted them and told them not to be afraid as he would stay withthem and protect them, and help them with their hunting. So the nextday they all four went hunting. They arranged that the jackal shouldwait at a certain place, while the tigers beat the jungle and drovethe game towards him. The jackal had boasted about the amount of gamethat he could catch and when a herd of deer broke by him he tried toseize one but they easily escaped: then the jackal was ashamed butin order not to be detected he lay down and pretended that he hadbeen suddenly taken very ill. And when the tigers came up they weresorry for him and forgave him for catching no game. The next day itwas arranged that the tigress should be in wait and the jackal andthe two young tigers should beat: the tigress soon killed a finedeer. When the others came up the tigers wanted to eat it at once, but the jackal would not let them and said that they must go to alittle distance while he did puja to make the food wholesome. Thetigers obeyed and under pretence of doing puja the jackal ate upall the tit bits and then allowed the tigers to come and eat therest. This happened daily and the jackal lived in comfort all his days. 

(6)--The Wild Buffaloes. 

There was once a man so poor that he had no land, no plough and noplough cattle: all that he had was a pair of fine goats. This mandetermined to plough with the goats, so he made a little plough andyoked the goats to it, and with it he ploughed a piece of barrenupland. Having ploughed he had no seed paddy to sow; he went to tryand borrow some paddy from the neighbours, but they would lend himnothing. Then he went and begged some paddy chaff, and a neighbourreadily gave him some. The man took the chaff and sowed it as if ithad been seed. Wonderful to relate from this chaff grew up the finestcrop of paddy that ever was seen. Day by day the man went and watchedwith joy his paddy grow and ripen. One morning when he went to seeit he was horrified to find that in the night wild buffaloes had comeand eaten and destroyed the whole crop. Having now no other resourcethe man determined to follow the wild buffaloes into the jungle:he readily tracked them and came to a large open space where everynight the wild buffaloes used to sleep. As it was very dirty he madea broom of twigs and brushed the place clean. At nightfall he heardthe buffaloes coming back and he went and hid in a hollow tree. Whenthe buffaloes saw how clean their sleeping place had been made theywere very pleased and wondered who had done it. The next morning thebuffaloes all went away into the jungle to graze, and the man cameout of his hollow tree and again swept up the place: the buffaloes ontheir return saw that the place had again been swept and decided toleave one of their number to watch and see who did this. They left abuffalo who was lame to watch: when the day got hot however the lamebuffalo went to sleep, and the man then came out of his tree and sweptup the place and hid himself again without being discovered. So thenext day the buffaloes left a blind one behind. 

The blind buffalo was of very acute hearing and he heard the man comeout and sweep the place and return to the tree: so when the otherbuffaloes came back he told them of the man's hiding place. Thebuffaloes made him come out and arranged that they would providefor him if he would stay with them and sweep their sleeping placedaily. The next day the buffaloes lay in wait for a band of merchantswho were travelling through the forest and suddenly charging downupon them put the merchants to flight: they fled leaving behindthem all their goods and provisions: these the buffaloes took ontheir horns and carried to the man, and in this way they from timeto time supplied him with all he needed. As he was alone all daythey gave him a pair of horns, and said that wherever he was if heblew on the horns all the buffaloes in the forest would come to hisassistance. But one day when he was bathing he put the horns down onthe bank of the stream and crows flew away with them and he did notcare to tell the buffaloes that he had lost them. 

One day he went to bathe in the river and after bathing he sat andcombed his hair on the bank. Now his hair was so long that it reachedto his knees. One of his long hairs came out and so he took it andsplitting open a _loa_ fruit he coiled the hair inside and closed thefruit up and then set it to float down the river. A long way downthe stream a Raja's daughter happened to be bathing and the _loa_fruit floated past her: she caught hold of it and when she opened itshe found the long hair inside. At once she went to her father andvowed that she would marry no one except the man to whom the longhair belonged. As nothing would alter her determination the Raja sentmen up the river to search for the owner of the long hair. One ofthem found the man at the home of the buffaloes and brought him tothe Raja. He was at once married with great grandeur to the princessand promised the succession to the kingdom. So our hero began to livein great luxury. One day as he was standing in the courtyard of thepalace some crows flew overhead and dropped the pair of horns that hehad lost. He picked them up and boasted that if he blew on them thewhole town would be at once destroyed. The bystanders laughed at him, whereupon he got angry and blew on the horns. Then there was a greatnoise and an enormous herd of wild buff aloes was seen rushing downto destroy the town. However before they could do any damage he ranout and assured them that he was unhurt; at this the buffaloes werepacified; then all the straw and grain in the palace was brought outand given to the buffaloes to eat: after eating all they wanted theywent back into the jungle, all except one pair which stayed behind inthe palace; and from this pair are descended all the tame buffaloeswhich we see to-day. 

(7)--The Grateful Cow. 

Once upon a time there were two brothers who were very poor and livedonly by begging and gleaning. One day at harvest time they went outto glean. On their way they came to a stream with muddy banks andin the mud a cow had stuck fast and was unable to get out. The youngbrother proposed that they should help it out, but the elder brotherobjected saying that they might be accused of theft: the youngerbrother persisted and so they pulled the cow out of the mud. The cowfollowed them home and shortly afterwards produced a calf. In a fewyears the cow and her descendants multiplied in a marvellous mannerso that the brothers became rich by selling the milk and _ghi_. Theybecame so rich that the elder brother was able to marry; he livedat home with his wife and the younger brother lived in the junglegrazing the cattle. The elder brother's son used every day to take outhis uncle's dinner to the jungle. This was not really necessary forthe cow used to supply her master with all sorts of dainties to eat, so the younger brother, when his nephew brought out the rice used togive the boy some of the sweetmeats with which the cow supplied him, but he charged him not to tell his parents about this nor to take anyhome. But one day the boy hid some of the sweetmeats in his cloth andtook them home and showed them to his mother. His mother had neverseen such sweetmeats before and was convinced that her brother-in-lawwished to poison her son. So she took the sweetmeats away and thenext day she herself took out the dinner to her brother-in-law andafter he had eaten it she said that she would comb his hair and pickout the lice from it; so he put his head on her lap and as she combedhis hair in a soothing way he went off to sleep. When he was asleepthe woman took out a knife and cut off his head. Then she got up andleaving the head and body lying at the place went home. But the cowhad seen what occurred and with her horns she pushed the head alonguntil it joined the neck: whereupon the man immediately came to lifeagain and learned what had happened to him. So he drove off all thecattle to a distant part of the jungle and began to live there. 

Every day he milked his large herd of cows and got a great quantityof milk; he asked his friend the cow what he was to do with it andshe told him to pour it into a hole in the ground at the foot of apipal tree Every day he poured the milk into the hole and one day ashe was doing so out of the hole came a large snake and thanked himfor his kindness in supplying the milk and asked him what reward hewould wish to receive in return. Acting on a hint from the cow theman said that he would like to have all the milk back again. Whereuponthe snake vomited up all the milk which it had drunk and died on thespot. But the milk mingled with poison fell over the man and importedto his body a glorious and shining appearance, so that he seemed tobe made of fire. 

After this the man used every day to go and bathe in a river, and eachday when he bathed he threw one of his hairs into the water: and hishairs were very long. Lower down the river a princess used to batheand one day she saw one of the hairs come floating down and vowed thatshe would marry no one but the owner of the hair. So the father of theprincess sent a Brahman up the river to look for the man with the longhair. The Brahman was a very thin man with his ribs showing throughhis skin. After some days he found our hero and was amazed at hisshining appearance. He told him that a princess wished to marry him:he was invited to stay some days; he did so, living on the milk fromthe herd of cows and in a short time became very fat. The cow told theman to take a basket and creep into the hole from which the snake hadcome he did so and at the bottom he found a heap of gold and silver:he filled his basket with this and came back and gave it all to theBrahman, and told him to go home and inform his master that he wouldcome in a few days and marry his daughter. When the Raja saw the goldand silver and how fat the Brahman had got he was very pleased tothink what a son-in-law he was getting. In a few days the cow saidthat it was time to start and as he had no other conveyance he setout riding on the cow. When they reached the boundary of the Raja'skingdom the man woke up one morning and found that a great retinue ofelephants and horses and _palkis_ and _sipahis_ had appeared during thenight. This was owing to the magic of the cow. So the man mounted anelephant and went in state to the Raja and married his daughter withgreat ceremony. After staying some days he decided to return homeand started off with his wife and grand retinue. When they reachedthe boundary of the kingdom all the elephants and horses and _palkis_and _sipahis_ vanished into air, and the princess found that she andher husband had nothing but an old cow to ride upon. At this she wasvery unhappy but she was ashamed to go back to her father, so shewent on with her husband and helped to tend the cows in the jungle. 

One morning they woke up and found that in the night a grand palacehad sprung up fitted with wealth of every kind, this was the last giftof the cow which soon afterwards died. Thus the man became a Raja andfounded a kingdom and he gave a rupee to every one who would come andsettle in his kingdom. Many people came and among others his brotherand sister-in-law who had fallen into great proverty. When they sawtheir brother they were afraid and thought that they would be killed, but he forgave them and gave them clothes and land and they all livedhappily ever after. 

(8)--The Belbati Princess. 

Once upon a time there were seven brothers the youngest of whom borethe name of Lita. The six elder brothers were all married but Litarefused to marry and when questioned he said that he would not marryany one but the Belbati Princess. His sisters-in-law laughed very muchat the idea that he would marry a princess and worried him so much thatat length he decided to set out in search of the Belbati princess. Soone day he started off and after some time came to a jungle in whichwas sitting a holy _muni_. Lita went to him and asked if he knewwhere he would find the Belbati-princess. The _muni_ said that he didnot know but that a day's journey farther on was another _muni_ whomight be able to tell him. So Lita travelled on for a day and foundanother _muni_ who was in the midst of performing a three month'sspell of fasting and meditation. Lita had to wait till the _muni_returned to thoughts of this world and then made his enquiry. The_muni_ said that he did not know but that three days' journey fartheron was another _muni_ who might be able to help him. So Lita wenton and found the third _muni_ who was in the midst of a six months'fast. When this _muni_ came to himself and heard what Lita wanted hesaid that he would be very glad to help him. The Belbati princesswas at the time imprisoned in the biggest _bel_ fruit growing on a_bel_ tree which was guarded by Rakshasas. If he went and pluckedthis fruit he would secure the princess, but if he took any but thebiggest fruit he would be ruined. 

Lita promised to bear this in mind and then the _muni_ changed himinto a _biti_ bird and told him the direction in which to fly. Litaflew off and soon came to the tree, which was covered with fruit;he was very frightened when he saw the Rakshasas there, so in a greathurry he went and bit off the first fruit that he came to; but thiswas not the biggest on the tree and the Rakshasas immediately fellupon him and ate him up. The _muni_, when Lita did not come back, knew that something must have happened to him so he sent a crow tosee what was the matter. The crow came back and said that one _bel_fruit had been picked but that he could not see Lita. Then the _muni_sent the crow to bring him the droppings of the Rakshasas. The crowdid so and from the droppings the _muni_ restored Lita to life. The_muni_ reproved Lita for his failure and told him that if he wishedto make a second attempt he must remember his behest to pick only thebiggest _bel_ fruit. Lita promised and the _muni_ turned him into aparroquet. In this form Lita again flew to the _bel_ tree and pickedthe biggest fruit on the tree. When the Rakshasas saw the parrotmaking off with the fruit they pursued him in fury; but the _muni_turned the parrot into a fly so small that the Rakshasas could notsee it, so they had to give up the chase. 

When they had departed Lita recovered his own form and went to the_muni_ with the _bel_ fruit and asked what more was to be done in orderto find the princess. The _muni_ said that the princess was inside thefruit; that Lita was to take it to a certain well and very gently breakit open against the edge of the well. Lita hurried off to the well andin his anxiety to see the princess he knocked the fruit with all hisforce and split it suddenly in two. The result of this was that theprincess burst out of the fruit in such a blaze of light that Litafell down dead. When the princess saw that her brightness had killedher lover she was very distressed and taking his body on her lap shewept over him. While she was doing so a girl of the Kamar caste came byand asked what was the matter. The princess said: "My lover is dead, if you will draw water from the well I will revive him by givinghim to drink, " but the Kamar girl at once formed a wicked plan. Shesaid that she could not reach the water in the well. Then said theprincess: "Do you hold this dead body while I draw the water. " "No, "said the Kamar girl, "I see you mean to run away leaving me withthe dead body and I shall get into trouble. " Then said the princess:"If you do not believe me take off my fine clothes and keep them asa pledge. " Then the princess let the Kamar girl take off all herjewellery and her beautiful dress and went to draw water from thewell. But the Kamar girl followed her and as the princess leant overthe edge she pushed her in, so that she was drowned. Then the Kamargirl drew water from the well and went back to Lita and poured someinto his mouth, and directly the water touched his lips he came backto life, and as the Kamar girl had put on the dress and jewellery ofthe Belbati princess he thought that she was the bride for whom hehad sought. So he took her home to his brothers' house and married her. 

After a time Lita and his brothers went to hunt in the jungle;it was very hot and Lita grew very thirsty; he found himself nearthe well at which he had broken the _bel_ fruit and went to it forwater. Looking down he saw floating on the water a beautiful flower;he was so pleased with it that he picked it and took it home to hisKamar wife; but when she saw it she was very displeased and cut it upinto pieces and threw the pieces out of the house. Lita was sorry andnoticed shortly afterwards that at the place where the pieces of theflower had been thrown a small _bel_ tree was sprouting. He had thisplanted in his garden and carefully watered. It grew well and aftera time it produced ripe fruit. One day Lita ordered his horse, andas it was being brought it broke loose and run away into the garden:as it ran under the _bel_ tree one of the _bel_ fruits fell on to thesaddle and stayed there. When the syce caught the horse he saw thisand took the fruit home with him. When he went to cut open the fruit hefound inside it a beautiful woman; he kept the woman in his house. Atthis time the Kamar woman fell ill and was like to die. Lita was verydistressed at the thought of losing his Belbati princess. At last theKamarin said that she was being bewitched by the girl who was livingin the syce's house and that one or other of them must die. Lita atonce ordered the girl to be taken into the jungle and killed. FourGhasis took her away and put her to death. Her last request to themwas that they should cut off her hands and feet and put them at thefour sides of her grave. This they did. After the death of the girlthe Kamar wife recovered her health. 

After a time Lita again went hunting and at nightfall came to theplace where the girl had been put to death. There he found standinga fine palace. He went in but the only living creatures he saw weretwo birds who seemed to live there; he lay down on a bed and went tosleep. While he slept the birds sat by him and began talking. One toldthe other the story of the search for the Belbati princess and howthe Kamar girl had thrown her into the well and taken her place. WhenLita heard this he awoke and was very unhappy. The birds told himthat once a year the Belbati princess visited the palace in whichhe was; her next visit would be in six months. So Lita stayed thereand at the end of the six months he hid behind the door to await theprincess. She came and as she passed through the door he caught herby the hand, but she wrenched herself away and fled. Lita was verydepressed but the birds told him to be more careful the next time. Sohe waited a year and when the princess was expected he hid himself:the princess came and seeing no one entered the palace and went tosleep. While she slept Lita secured her. They were married and livedhappily ever after, and the wicked Kamar girl was put to death. 

(9)--The Bread Tree. 

There once was a boy who lived with his mother and was engaged all dayin tending cattle. Every morning when he started his mother gave himtwo pieces of bread called "hunger bread" and "stuffing bread, "--one tosatisfy hunger with and the other to over-eat oneself on. One day theboy could not eat all his bread and he left the piece that remainedover on a rock. When he went back the next day he was surprised tosee that from the piece of bread a tree had grown which bore loavesof bread instead of fruit. After that the boy no longer took breadfrom his mother, but lived on the fruit of his tree. 

One day he had climbed his tree to pick a loaf when an old woman cameby with a bag over her shoulder and saying that she was very poorbegged for a piece of bread. The old woman was really a Rakshasi. Theboy was kindhearted and told her that he would throw her down a loaf, but the old woman objected that it would get dirty if it fell on theground. Then he told her to hold out her cloth and he would throw itinto that: but she said that she could not see well enough to catchthe loaf: he must come down and give it to her: so the boy came downto give her the loaf and when the Rakshasi had him on the ground, she seized him and put him in her bag and went off with him. 

After going some way she came to a pool of water and as she was ratherthirsty from carrying such a burden, she put down her bag and went todrink. Opportunely some travellers came by and hearing the boy's shoutslet him out of the bag. The boy filled the bag with stones and tiedit up as before and made the best of his way home. The old Rakshasiwent off with the heavy bag and when she got to her abode told herdaughter with whom she lived that she had captured a fine dinner butwhen the daughter opened the bag she found in it nothing but stones:at this she was very angry and abused her mother: then the old womansaid that the boy had escaped on the road: so the next day she wentback to the place where the boy was tending cattle and by the sametrick she caught him and put him in her bag and this time went straighthome. She made him over to her daughter and went out to collect firewood with which to cook him. The boy being left alone with the daughterbegan to ask how he was to be killed; she said that his head was tobe pounded in a _Dhenki_. He pretended not to understand and askedhow that was to be done. The girl not understanding such stupidityput her head under the striker of the _Dhenki_ to show him what wouldhappen. Then the boy at once pounded her head in the _Dhenki_ andkilled her: he then put on her clothes and cut her body up in piecesready for cooking. When the old woman came back with the fire wood shewas pleased to find that her daughter, as she thought, had got everything ready; and the meal was soon cooked and eaten. After the oldwoman had thus made a hearty meal off the remains of her own daughtershe felt sleepy and took a nap. While she slept the boy struck her onthe head with a large stone and killed her; thus he saved his life andtook all the property of the old Rakshasi and lived happily ever after. 

(10)--The Origin of _Sabai_ Grass (Ischaemum Angustifolium). 

Once upon a time there were six brothers who lived with theirsister. The brothers used to spend their days in the jungle huntingwhile the sister minded the house and cooked the dinner againsttheir return. 

One day while the brothers were hunting the girl went to cut herbsto cook with the dinner: as she was doing so she chanced to cut herfinger and some drops of blood fell on the herbs, which were put inthe pot. When the brothers came home to dinner they noticed how verysweet the food was and asked the reason. The girl said that she wasafraid that it must be because some drops of her blood had fallenon it. Then the brothers took counsel together and agreed that ifa few drops of her blood were so sweet, she must be very nice toeat. So they agreed to murder her and eat her. But the youngestbrother named Lita, though he did not dare to oppose his elders, was sorry for the decision. The next day when the brothers camefrom the jungle they brought with them a beautiful flower of sevencolours and gave it to their sister. She was delighted with it:she had never seen so beautiful a flower before and wanted to knowwhere it grew and whether were others like it. They said that if sheliked to come with them they would take her to the tree on which theflowers grew and she could pick as many as she liked. So the nextmorning she gladly went with them and they took her to the tree withthe seven-coloured flowers. She climbed the tree to pick the flowersand when she was up in the tree they shot arrows at her to kill her;but though they shot many arrows they could not kill her. Then theycompelled Lita to shoot and he with his first arrow killed his sister. 

Then they cut up the body of the girl ready for cooking and sentLita to a well to fetch water in which to cook the flesh. Lita wentto the well and overcome with sorrow sat down and wept. As he wept alarge frog came to the surface of the water and asked him what wasthe matter; he said that he had been made to kill his sister andthat now they were going to cook her flesh. The frog told him to becomforted and gave him a large _rohu_ fish. Lita took this back andwhen his brothers told him to cook the food, he hid the pieces ofhis sister's body and cooked the _rohu_ fish. The brothers ate thisthinking that it was their sister. Then they went on into the junglehunting. After going a short way Lita said that he had forgotten torecover his arrow and that he must go back and fetch it. He went backto the place, and taking his sister's body buried it and buildinga hut near, spent the days in weeping over the grave. After he hadspent some time thus the girl appeared alive out of the ground. Litawas overjoyed and he and his sister remained happily in the jungle. 

One day a Raja hunting in the jungle passed that way and seeing thegirl at once fell in love with her and took her away and marriedher. Lita he also took with him and made him ruler of half the kingdom. 

In honour of his marriage the Raja resolved to construct an enormoustank: and people came from far and near to work at it. Among otherscame Lita's five elder brothers, who had fallen into great poverty, owing to their wickedness. When their sister saw them she forgavethem and sending for them bestowed on them food and clothing. Butthey were so ashamed and repentent that they could only kneel on theground and beat the earth with their hands. As they continued to doso the earth opened and swallowed them up: only their hair stuck outof the ground and that became _sabai_ grass, and this was the originof all the _sabai_ grass which exists. 

(11)--The Faithless Sister. 

Once upon a time there was a man who had a son and daughter: he usedto cultivate his land and his son and daughter used to take his dinnerto him. One day the man went to plough and while ploughing he stuckthe spear which he had brought with him into the ground. As the manploughed a tiger came and waited an opportunity to spring upon theman: but from whichever side the tiger approached, the spear which wasstuck in the ground bent its point towards the tiger and so protectedits master. Just then the boy and girl came along with their father'sdinner. The baffled tiger was hiding in some bushes by the field. Asthe children went along they saw a paddy bird on the ground. Theboy of course had his bow and bird arrows with him and he shot anarrow at the paddy bird: he missed the bird, but it happened thatthe tiger was just in the line of fire; the arrow pierced the eyeof the tiger and killed it instantaneously. When the girl saw thetiger lying dead she said that it was clear that their father hadenticed them there in order that the tiger might kill them when theybrought him his dinner: clearly the only way for them to save theirlives was to leave their home at once. The boy agreed; drawing hisarrow from the tiger's head and taking the tiger's eyes with him, hewent away with his sister as fast as they could run. After going somelittle distance they met in the way two tigers. The boy threw at thetiger the eyes of the first tiger which he had brought with him. Thetigers at once fell down dead, but from the body of one proceeded, a hare, and from the body of the other, two dogs which peaceablyfollowed the boy and his sister. Having escaped to a distance theylived in the jungle happily for some time with their three animalfriends. One day the hare said that he would like to have a spear, so the boy went with him to a blacksmith and got a spear made. Asthey were returning they met in the way a giant _Rakshasa_ whowished to devour them, but the hare holding the spear kept jumpingin and out of the giant's mouth with such speed that the _Rakshasa_was dumbfounded and surrendered at discretion, promising to be afaithful servant to them henceforth. With the help of the _Rakshasa_they had great success in hunting. The boy with the hare and the twodogs used to beat the jungle and drive the game towards the _Rakshasa_who caught it in his mouth. One day they thus caught a monkey, whoselife they spared and who joined their band. The monkey took a largedrum and caught in it a nest of wild bees, which he preserved. 

One day while the others were away a Raja who was hunting in thejungle found the girl sitting alone and at once fell in love with herand wanted to marry her. The girl said that she was willing but thatshe was sure that her brother would never consent. The only thing wasto kill her brother and the Raja could never do that as the faithfulanimals would protect him. At last the girl consented to try andcompass her brother's death. To this end she became very melancholy andseemed to pine away: her brother asked what was the matter and she saidthat she would never recover unless he could fetch her a certain flowerwhich grew in the midst of a certain lake. Now this lake swarmed withgigantic fish and poisonous snakes. But the brother, never daunted, went to the lake and began to swim out to the centre where the flowergrew. Before he got half way there one of the gigantic fish swallowedhim up. The Rakshasa however saw this and set to work to drink the lakeup: he soon drank the lake dry and not only caught the big fish butalso was able to gather the flower that had grown in the lake. Theythen cut open the fish and took the boy unharmed from its belly. TheRakshasa then vomited up the water he had swallowed and filled upthe lake again. Meanwhile the Raja thinking that the boy had died, carried off his sister. But the boy setting out with the hare and thedogs and the Rakshasa and the monkey proceeded to attack the Raja'scapital and recover his sister. The monkey opened his drum and thebees issued forth and attacked the Raja's army so that it fled. TheRaja had to capitulate and give the boy half his kingdom and his owndaughter in marriage, then peace was declared and the animals alldisappeared into the jungle and our hero lived happily ever after. 

(12)--The Cruel Sisters-in-Law. 

Once upon a time there lived six brothers who had one sister. Thebrothers were all married and their wives hated their sister-in-law. Ithappened that the brothers all went away to trade in a far country andher sisters-in-law took the opportunity to illtreat the girl. Theysaid "If you do not obey us and do what we tell you we will killyou. " The girl said that she would obey their behests to the best ofher ability. They said "Then go to the well and bring this earthen potback full of water. " The khalsi had a large hole in the bottom so thatas fast as it was filled the water ran out. The girl took the pot tothe well and sitting down began to weep over her fate. As she wept alarge frog rose out of the water and asked her what was the matter. Shesaid "My last hour has come. If I cannot fill this pot with waterI shall be killed and it has a hole in the bottom. " The frog said, "Be comforted, I will cure that: I will sit on the hole and stop itup with my body and you will be able to fill it. " This it did andthe girl took the water back to the house. The sisters-in-law werevery angry but could say nothing so they set her another task. Theytold her to go the jungle and bring home a full bundle of sticks:but she was not to take any rope with which to tie them. The girlcollected a large quantity of sticks and then sat down and criedbecause she was unable to carry them home: as she cried a large snakecame up and asked what was the matter. The girl told him, whereuponthe snake said that he would curl himself round the sticks and serveas a rope. This he did and the girl was able to carry the sticks homeon her head. Defeated in this attempt the sisters-in-law the next daytold the girl to go to a field of pulse which had been sown the daybefore and bring back all the grain by the evening. The girl went tothe field and picked up a few grains but it had been sown broadcastand the girl soon saw that the task was hopeless: she sat down andcried and as she cried a flock of pigeons flew to her and asked herwhat was the matter: she said that she could not pick up all thegrain in the field. They said that that was easily managed, and thepigeons spreading over the field soon picked up all the grain andput it into the girl's basket, so that by evening she returned withthe basket full. The sisters-in-law were more than ever enraged. Theygave her a pot and told her that she must go to the jungle and bringit back full of bear's milk. The girl went to the jungle and beingvery frightened sat down and began to cry: a large she bear came byand asked what was the matter. The girl explained and the she bear, sorry for her distress willingly allowed herself to be milked withoutdoing the girl any harm. The sisters-in-law then resolved to make amore direct attempt on the girl's life. They took her into the jungleand told her to climb a certain tree and pick them the fruit. Thetree had a tall smooth trunk and the girl had to climb the treeby driving pegs into the trunk. When she reached the branches thesisters-in-law pulled the pegs out of the tree and went home leavingthe girl to starve. Night came on and the girl stayed in the tree:it so happened that that day the six brothers were returning homeand being benighted stopped to sleep under that very tree. The girlthought that they were dacoits and stayed still. She could not helpcrying in her despair and a warm tear fell on the face of one thebrothers sleeping below and woke him up. He looked, up and recognizedhis sister. The brothers soon rescued her and when they heard of thecruelty of their wives they went home and put them all to death. 

(13)--The False Rani. 

Once upon a time a Raja who had just married was returning with hisbride to his kingdom. It was hot weather and a long journey and as theypassed through a jungle the Raja and all his men went down to a streamto drink leaving the bride sitting in her _palki_. As the bride thussat all alone she was frightened at seeing a she-bear come up. Thebear asked the bride who she was and where she was going. When sheheard, she thought that she would like to share so agreeable a fate, so by threats she made the Rani get out of her _palki_ and give herall her fine clothes and jewellery and go away into the jungle. Thebear dressing herself in the Rani's clothes, got into the _palki_, and when the men came back they took up the _palki_ and went on theirway without noticing any change, nor did the Raja detect the fraud:he took the bear to his palace and installed her as his wife. Meanwhilethe real bride had picked up the walking stick of the Raja and a clothwhich he had left on the road when he went to the stream, and ran intothe jungle. She made her way to the house of a Ghasi woman who livedby the Raja's palace with her daughters. The daughters earned a livingby selling flowers and one day one daughter, as she sold the Raja agarland, told him that his real bride was living in their house. TheRaja was very distressed and at once went to see his bride and wassatisfied of her identity when she produced his stick and cloth. Thereal Rani refused to go to his palace until the she bear had been putto death. Thereupon the Raja gave instructions to his followers andsent word to the palace that he was dead. The officers and servantsat the palace then prepared a big pit and lit a large fire in it:they then sent for the she bear and told her that she must performthe funeral ceremonies of her husband. They made her take off herfine clothes and told her to kneel down by the burning pit and makesalaam to it. As she was doing so they pushed her into the pit andshe was burned to death. Then the Raja brought home his real bride intriumph. But from that time bears attack men when they get the chance. 

(14)--The Jackal and the Kite. 

Once upon a time a jackal and a kite agreed to join forces and gettheir food together. In pursuance of their plan they sent word to aprosperous village that a Raja with his army was marching that way andintended the next day to loot the village. The next morning the jackaltook an empty _kalsi_ and marched towards the village drumming on the_kalsi_ with all his might, and the kite flew along overhead screamingas loud as he could. The villagers thought that the Raja's army wasapproaching and fled into the jungle. The jackal and the kite began tofeast on all the good things that had been left in the houses. Therewas however one old woman who was too infirm to run away with theother inhabitants: and had hid herself inside her house. When she sawthat no army came but only a jackal and a kite she crawled away intothe jungle and told her friends. They came back, and surrounding thevillage, caught the jackal: they began to beat the jackal with sticksto kill it: the jackal uttered no sound and pretended that it did notmind being beaten: after a time it began to jeer at its captors andtold them that they could never kill it by beating. The asked how itcould be killed and it said by burning. So they tied a bunch of oldcloths on to its tail and poured oil over them and set them on fire:the jackal ran off with the burning bundle at the end of its tailand jumping on to the nearest house set fire to the thatch: the firespread and the whole village was burnt down. The jackal then ran toa tank and jumping into the water extinguished its blazing tail. Butif you look you will see that all jackals have a burnt tip to theirtail to this day. 

(15)--The Sons of the Raban Raja. 

There was a Raja who used to bathe daily at a certain tank. In thetank was a great fish: as the Raja washed his mouth this fish useddaily to swallow the rinsings of his mouth. In consequence of thisthe fish after a time gave birth to two human children. As the twoboys grew up they used to go into the village near the tank and playwith the other children. One day however, a man beat them and drovethem away from the other children jeering at them because they hadno father. Much disturbed at this they went to the fish and askedwhether it was true that they had no father. The fish told themthat their father was the Raban Raja. The two boys resolved to go insearch of the Raban Raja: they set out and after a time met a man andasked him if he knew the Raban Raja. The man asked why they wished toknow. They said that they were his sons. Then the man at once killedthem because the Raban Raja was an enemy of his country. From theplace where the bodies of the dead boys lay, two large bamboos grewup. When the bamboos had grown very big, a Jogi came by that way andcut them down, making from them two flutes. These flutes produced suchbeautiful music that every one was charmed and the fame of the Jogispread far and wide: so when in his wanderings the Jogi reached thekingdom of the Raban Raja the Raja sent for him and the Jogi came tothe palace with his two bamboo flutes. When the flutes were broughtinto the presence of the Raja they burst open and from them appearedthe two boys. When the Raja heard their history he recognized themas his sons, and sent the Jogi away with large rewards. 

(16)--The Potter's Son. 

Once upon a time there was a Kumhar whose wife was about to have achild. As they were very poor the pair resolved that if the childshould prove to be a boy they would abandon it, but if it were a girlthey would bring it up. When the child was born it was found to be ason, so the Kumhar took it into the jungle and left it there. Thereit was found by a tiger and tigress whose cubs had just died and whodetermined to bring up the man-child as their own. They accordinglyfed it and looked after it; the boy grew up strong and healthy. Whenhe got big, the tiger went to a blacksmith and had made for him a bowand arrows of iron with which he used to hunt. When the boy became ayoung man the tiger decided that his marriage must be arranged for. Sohe went to the capital of a neighbouring Raja, and when the Raja'sdaughter came to a tank to bathe, the tiger seized her and carried heroff into the jungle, where she was married to the Kumhar's son. Theprincess was very pleased with her new husband, but found the lifewith the tigers in the jungle very irksome. She constantly begged herhusband to run away, until at last he agreed. One day when the tigerswere at a distance they started off and soon arrived at the palaceof the princess' father. Leaving her husband by the palace tank, theprincess went ahead to see how matters stood and to prepare a welcomefor her husband. He being left alone decided to bathe in the tank. Nowa dhoba was there washing the palace clothes, and seeing a stranger heconcluded that it was a thief come to steal the clothes. He accordinglykilled him and then in fear threw the body into the water. When theprincess returned she was distressed to find no sign of her husbandbut his iron bow and arrows. Search was made everywhere and the tankwas netted but no trace could be discovered of her missing spouse. 

Shortly afterwards a Ghasi girl came to catch _chingris_ in the tank, and while doing so suddenly laid hold of a large fish. In great delightshe took it home. When she came to cut it up she found inside the bellyof the fish a living child. Pleased with its appearance she decidedto adopt it. She put it in a basket, and tying the basket under hercloth pretended to be pregnant, and shortly afterwards announced thatshe had given birth to a child. The boy grew with marvellous rapidity. 

Meanwhile the father of the widowed princess insisted that she shouldmarry again. But she was faithful to the memory of her husband anddeclared that she would only marry the man who could draw the ironbow. Many suitors came but they all failed to draw the bow. At lengththe reputed son of the Ghasi woman came and pulling the bow with easeannounced himself as the true husband of the princess with whom helived happily ever after. 

(17)--The Wonderful Cowherd. 

Once upon a time there was a Raja who had seven daughters. The sevenprincesses used to bathe daily in a tank and when they bathed they usedto put the scrapings from their bodies in a hole in the ground. Fromthis hole there grew a tree, and the eldest princess announced thatshe would marry the man who could tell her what had caused the tree togrow; many suitors came and made guesses but none divined the truth;heir father was anxious that she should be married, and insistedon every one in the kingdom being questioned. At last a miserable, poverty stricken and sickly cowherd was asked; he had always grazedhis cattle on the banks of the tank and had often seen the princessesbathing so he knew from what the tree had spring. The princess beingbound by her oath had to marry the miserable cowherd and go and livewith him in his hut. 

All day long the cowherd used to be groaning in sickness and misery;but at night he used to come out of his skin and appear as a beautifuland shining man; in this form he used to go and play and dance inthe moonlight in the court yard of the Raja's palace. One night theprincess's maid-servant saw her master return and creep into his uglyskin; she told her mistress who resolved to keep watch the next night;when she saw her husband assume his shining form and go out of thehouse leaving his ugly skin lying on the ground, she took the skinand burnt it in the fire. Immediately her husband came rushing backdeclaring that he was suffering the agonies of burning; but the skinwas burnt and the former cowherd retained his glorious and shiningappearance; and on the application of oil the pain of the burningceased. The princess then began to live with pleasure in the companyof so glorious a husband, who however only went out of the house atnight as his body was too bright for ordinary eyes to look upon. 

It began however to be whispered about among the neighbours that ashining being was to be seen at the princess's house and the rumoureventually reached the ears of the Raja. The Raja sent a messengerto see who the being was, but when the messenger saw the shining manhe was blinded and driven out of his senses and returned to the Rajain a state of madness. Two or three other messengers successivelymet the same fate. At length the Raja resolved to go himself; whenhe saw the shining form of his son-in-law he fell down in a faint;the princess's husband ran and lifted up the Raja in his arms andrevived him. After this the former cowherd became only bearably bright, and being recognized as the heir to the kingdom went to live withhis wife in the Raja palace. 

(18)--The Strong Prince. 

There was once a king who, though he had two wives, had no son. Hewas very anxious to have a son and heir and went away into themidst of the hills and jungles and there began a course of worshipand sacrifices. His prayers were heard and while he was away it wasfound that both his wives were pregnant. In due time the senior Ranigave birth to a son and sent a Brahman to the king with the welcomenews. The Brahman was a very holy man and he had to pray and bathe sooften that he made very slow progress on his journey. A day or twolater the younger Rani also gave birth to a son and she sent a lowcaste Ghasi to give the news to the Raja. The Ghasi travelled straightahead and reached the Raja some time before the holy Brahman. Onhearing the news that the younger Rani had given birth to a son theRaja had at once declared that this boy should be his heir. He wastherefore much put out when the Brahman arrived with the news thatthe senior Rani had given birth to a son first. 

The Raja returned home and entering the palace saw the senior Ranisleeping with her babe beside her. The boy had sore eyes and the Raja, declaring that the child bore no resemblance to himself said that itwas not his son and that the Rani had been unfaithful to him. 

The Rani indignantly denied the accusation and said that if the twobrothers fought her son would prove his parentage. Accordingly thetwo boys were set to wrestle with each other. The struggle was aneven one. As they swayed to and fro it happened that the elder boycaught hold of the Raja and pulled him to the ground. This incensedthe Raja more than ever and he ordered the senior Rani to leave thekingdom with her child. On the road by which they had to pass theRaja stationed a _mast_ elephant in order that they might be killed, but when in due course the elephant attacked them the boy caughthold of it and threw it to a distance of four _kos_. After this featthe prince and his mother journeyed to another kingdom. There theytook up their quarters near the ground where the Raja's _palwans_wrestled. The prince went to wrestle with them and easily overcamethe most renowned _palwans_. In many ways he showed his strength. Oneday he went to a mahajan's shop and the Mahajan instead of servinghim promptly kept him waiting. In indignation the boy took up theentire building and threw it to a distance; hearing of these featsthe Raja of the country sent for him and took him into his service;but here also he caused trouble. He insisted on being treated withdeference. Going up to the highest officials he would tell them notto twist their moustaches at him, and knock them down. On the thronein the palace when the Raja was absent a pair of the Raja's shoes wasplaced and every one who passed by had to salaam to these. This ourhero flatly refused to do. In fact he became such a nuisance that hewas promised that he would be given his pay regularly if he would onlystay away from the palace. After this he spent his days in idlenessand by night he used to go to the shore and disport himself in the sea. 

One night the goddess Kali came to the Raja's palace and knocked atthe gate: but no one would come to open it. Just then the princecame back from bathing in the sea. Seeing him, Kali Ma, said thatshe was so hungry that she must eat him, though she had intendedto eat the people in the palace. She, however, promised him thatthough eaten he should be born again. The boy agreed to form a mealfor the goddess on these terms and was accordingly eaten. Afterwardsgaining admission to the palace Kali Ma ate up everyone in it exceptthe Raja's daughter. Then our hero was born again and marrying theRaja's daughter succeeded to the kingdom, and lived happily ever after. 

(19)--The Prince Who Became King of the Jackals. 

Once upon a time there lived a Raja whose son formed a great friendshipwith a barber. For some reason the Raja quarrelled with his son andordered him to leave the kingdom. Accordingly the prince departed to afar country in company with his friend, the barber. In order to earna living the barber opened a school and the prince took service witha mahajan. They were in such straits that the prince had to submitto very hard terms, it was arranged that his wages were to be oneleaf-plate full of rice a day: and that if he threw up the service hewas to lose a piece of his skin a span long. After a short time theprince who had been brought up in luxury found the work so hard andthe food so scanty that he resolved to leave the mahajan: but before hewent he had to submit to a piece of skin being cut off, in terms of theagreement. The prince then went to the barber and told him how ill hehad fared. The barber vowed that he should be avenged. So he went andoffered himself as a servant to the mahajan: he was engaged and it wasagreed that whichever party first proposed to terminate the contractshould lose a piece of skin a span long. The barber worked so badlyand ate so much that one day the mahajan in a fit of rage ordered himto leave the place and in consequence forfeited a piece of his skin. 

Having repaid the mahajan in his own coin the prince and thebarber left those parts and journeyed to the land of the king ofthe jackals. They found the king of the jackals asleep in front ofhis cave. While he still slept the barber shaved all the hair offhis tail. Then the two friends hid in the cave, drawing a cart infront of the entrance. When the jackal awoke and found that he hadbeen shaved he concluded that there were _bongas_ (spirits) about;and ran away in terror. After going a short distance he met a bearwho asked where he was going in such a hurry. The king of the jackalssaid that some _bongas_ had taken possession of his cave and shavedoff his hair. The bear agreed to go back with the jackal and see ifhe could exorcise the spirits. Going to the cave the bear climbed onto the cart to offer a sacrifice. As he sat there the barber caughthold of his tail and held on to it while the prince began to stabthe bear with a knife. The bear howled and groaned but could notget away. The king of the jackals who was looking on was delighted, for he concluded that the _bongas_ had taken possession of the bearwho would learn who they were and how they were to be exorcised. Atlast the bear broke free and ran away: the jackal ran after him andasked him what the _bongas_ had told him: but the bear only said 'ugh''ugh' and ran into the jungle. Then the jackal met a tiger and tellinghis story persuaded the tiger also to try his hand at exorcising thespirits. The tiger was treated in the same way as the bear had beenand ran off without giving the jackal any information. 

Then the king of the jackals resolved to try himself and mountedon to the cart. But the barber stabbed him through the bamboos andkilled him. Then the prince succeeded to the kingdom of the jackals, and not only so, but replaced the piece of skin which he had forfeitedto the mahajan by a piece of the skin of the dead jackal. 

(20)--The Mongoose Boy. 

Once upon a time there was a Raja who had seven wives but nochildren. In hope of issue he retired to the jungle and began a courseof prayers and sacrifices. While he was so engaged a Brahman came tohim and told him to take a stick and with it knock down seven mangoesfrom a neighbouring tree, and catch them before they reached theground: he promised that if the Ranis ate these mangoes they wouldbear children. The Raja did as he was directed and took the mangoeshome and gave one to each of his wives. 

The youngest Rani happened at the time to be sweeping out a room and soshe put her mango in a niche in the wall. Just then a neighbour senta mongoose, who was her servant, to ask for a light. While the Raniwas fetching a firebrand from the hearth the mongoose saw the mangoand climbing up nibbled part of it without being seen. After this theRani ate the mango. In due time the seven Ranis each gave birth toa son: but the son of the youngest Rani was the most beautiful witha face like a mongoose. The eldest Rani was jealous of the beautyof the youngest Rani's son so one day she sent the youngest Rani tofetch some water: and during her absence took up the mongoose boyand putting a stone and a broom in its place took the child away andburied it in the pit from which the potters dig their earth. Whenthe Raja heard that his youngest wife had given birth to nothing buta stone and a broom he was very angry and turned her out of the palace. 

Meanwhile a potter had found the mongoose boy still alive and hadtaken him to his home. There the child grew up and became a strongboy. One day he asked the potter to make him an earthenware horse. Onthis horse he used to ride about, for directly he mounted it, itwas endowed with life. One day the mongoose boy took his earthenwarehorse to water it at a tank near the palace and there his six brotherssaw it and insisted that they also should have earthenware horses toride. Horses were accordingly made for them but when they mounted, the horses would not budge an inch. Enraged at this the princescomplained to their mothers. The Ranis at once suspected the identityof the potter's boy and told their sons to kill him. 

So one day when the young princes met him at the tank they killedthe mongoose boy and buried his body. At the place where the bodywas buried there grew up a bamboo of extraordinary size and a bushwith sweet and beautiful flowers: many people tried to cut down thebig bamboo and to pluck the beautiful flowers but every arm that wasraised to do so was restrained by some unseen power. Eventually thenews of this portent reached the ears of the Raja who went to seewhat was happening. When the Raja trid to pluck a flower he succeededat the first attempt. The Raja then cut down the bamboo and out ofit stepped the mongoose boy who told of the illtreatment which hehad received at the hands of the six Ranis and their sons. The Rajawished him to come to the palace but he insisted that his mothershould first be sent for. This was at once done. 

Then the Raja had a wide and deep well dug and announced that aPuja was to be performed at the opening of the well. To the ceremonycame the six Ranis and their sons. As they all knelt at the edge ofthe well doing puja the Raja had them pushed into it, so that theywere all drowned. Thus the wicked were punished and the mongoose boyeventually succeeded to his father's kingdom. 

(21)--The Prince and the Tigress. 

Once upon a time there was a Raja who had seven sons. One day a tigresscame to the palace and asked the Raja to allow one of his sons to beher servant and look after her cattle. The Raja consented and orderedhis eldest son to go with the tigress. The young man took his axeand bow and arrows and went with the tigress to her cave. When hegot there he asked where were the cattle which he was to tend. Thetigress pointed out to him all the bears which were roaming in thejungle and said that they were her cattle. By the cave stood a largerock and the tigress told the prince to take his axe and cut it intwo. The prince tried, but the rock only turned the edge of his axeand he quite failed to cut it. The tigress being thus satisfied thatthe prince had no superhuman powers sprang upon him and killed himand devoured his body. Then she went back to the Raja and said thatshe had too much work to be done, that she wished him to give hera second son. The Raja agreed, but this prince met the same fate asthe first; and in succession, all the sons of the Raja, except theyoungest, went with the tigress and were devoured by her. At lastthe youngest son went with the tigress: when bidden to cut the rockin two, he easily accomplished the task. Then the tigress knew thatshe had met her master and ran into her cave. Looking into the cave, the prince saw the bones of his dead brothers. Gathering the bonestogether, he prayed for fire to burn them, and fire fell from aboveand burned the bones. 

Then he climbed a tree in order to be out of the reach of the tigress, and the tigress came and sat at the foot of the tree so that he couldnot descend. Then he prayed again and wind arose and wafted him awayand set him down by a house where lived an old man and his wife. Thetigress followed in pursuit, but the aged couple hid the prince andassured the tigress that he had not been seen; so the tigress returneddisappointed. The prince stayed with the old people and worked ontheir land. One day as he was ploughing, the tigress came and killedone of the bullocks that were drawing the plough. The prince at onceran to the house to fetch his bow and arrow that he might kill thetigress. When he returned, he found that several tigers were suckingthe blood of the bullock and with them a wild boar. He shot an arrowwhich wounded the boar. The boar maddened by the pain turned on thetigers and killed them all; including the tigress which had killedthe Raja's sons. 

The prince then being no longer in danger from the tigress returnedto his father's palace. 

(22)--The Cunning Potter. 

Once upon a time there lived at the gate of a Raja's palace a Potterwho had a pretty wife. The Raja fell in love with the Potter's wifeand schemed to get rid of the husband. He could not bring himself tocommit a cold blooded murder, but he tried to accomplish his objectindirectly by setting the Potter impossible tasks which he was toaccomplish on pain of death. The Raja accordingly sent for the Potterand ordered him to bring him the heads of twenty-four jackals. 

The Potter went away to the jungle and began to dig a large holein the side of a hill. A jackal presently came by and stopped toask why he was digging the hole. The Potter said that it was goingto rain fire from heaven, and that every one who had not such ashelter would be burnt. At this the jackal became very frightened;the Potter thereupon said that he was so sorry for them that hewould allow the jackal and his friends to share the hole which he wasdigging. The jackal gratefully ran away and returned with a numberof other jackals. They all went into the hole and the Potter closedthe entrance. After a time the Potter looked out and said that thefire was over; he then stationed himself at the mouth of the hole andas the jackals came out he cut off their heads with a knife; in thisaway he beheaded twenty-three jackals; but the last jackal saw whatwas happening and dodged the knife and escaped. The Potter took thetwenty-three heads to the Raja; but the Raja pretended to be angryand said that if the Potter did not at once procure a twenty-fourthhead, he would be beheaded himself. The Potter took a pot of _gur_and went to a pool of water which lay in the direction in which thetwenty-fourth jackal had fled. Smearing his body all over with _gur_, he lay down by the water and pretended to be dead. Presently thejackal which had escaped passed that way with a friend. Seeing thebody the second jackal proposed at once to go and eat it; but the firstjackal warned the other that there was probably some plot and relatedhow twenty-three of his friends had lost their lives at the hands ofthis very Potter. But the second jackal would not listen to adviceand going to the supposed corpse smelt it and then began to lick it;finding the taste of the _gur_ very pleasant it set to work to lickthe body all over beginning at the feet; it licked the feet and thenthe legs, when it reached his waist it was within reach of his handand the Potter stabbed it with his knife and took the head to the Raja. 

Foiled in this design, the Raja next ordered the Potter to bring hima jar of tiger's milk. Taking some loaves of bread, the Potter wentinto the jungle and soon found a cave in which was a pair of tigercubs whose parents were away hunting. The Potter told the cubs thathe was their uncle and gave them the bread to eat; they liked thetaste of the bread very much. Then the Potter hid himself in a treenear the cave. Presently the tigress came back but her cubs refusedto suck her milk as usual, the tigress asked the reason of this andthe cubs said that their uncle had come and fed them with somethingnicer than milk and they were no longer hungry. They then pointedout the Potter in the tree and the tigress wanted to know what he hadgiven her cubs to eat. He told her that it was bread: the tigress saidthat she would like to try some herself, whereupon the potter repliedthat he would give her some if she would first give him some of hermilk. The tigress agreed and also consented that her legs should betied while she was being milked in order that she might not be ableto harm the potter. The tigress having been milked, the Potter gaveher a loaf of bread and then ran away as fast as he could. 

Finding that he would not be able to get rid of the Potter by anysuch devices, the Raja then persuaded the faithless wife to putthe Potter to death. She accordingly set up an idol in her houseand prayed daily to this that her husband might become blind anddie. One day the Potter overheard her prayers: the next day he hidbehind the idol and when the woman came and prayed he answered frombehind the idol that her prayer was granted and that in two days herhusband would become blind. Accordingly, two days later the Potterpretended to become blind. Then the woman sent word to the Raja thather husband was blind and that they had nothing to fear from him. TheRaja accordingly came one night to visit the woman, and the Potterkilled them both with an axe. He buried the body of his wife, but hewas in great trouble as to how to dispose of the body of the Raja:for he knew that there would be a hue and cry when the disappearance ofthe Raja was discovered. At last he decided to put the body in a fieldof _brinjals_ belonging to a neighbour. Towards morning, the owner ofthe field came to see that his property was all right, and seeing someone among the _brinjals_, thought that it was a thief. He accordinglyhit the supposed thief on the head; and when he came to examine thebody, he was shocked to find that he had, as he thought, killed theRaja. In great distress he went to consult his friend, the Potter;the Potter advised him to put the body among the buffaloes belongingto a Goala. At dawn the Goala came to look at his buffaloes and seeingthe body of the Raja thought that it was a thief stealing the milk ofthe buffaloes: catching up a club, he inflicted a blow which causedthe body to fall over. When the Goala, found that the body was thatof the Raja and that he had apparently killed him, he was in greatfear and went to his friend, the Potter, for advice. It was finallydecided to dispose of the body by putting it down a well. The next daygreat search was made for the missing Raja and the body was found inthe well by a Brahman. Preparations were made for the obsequies anda funeral pyre erected. The Potter saw his opportunity and digginga hole in the ground under the pyre hid himself in it. When the bodyhad been cremated and the mourners were still collected at the spot, the Potter began to speak from the hole in which he was concealed:the bystanders thought that they heard the voice of the Raja declaringthat the Potter had always been his true friend and that he desiredthat he should be given half the kingdom and the hand of his daughterin marriage. The supposed wishes of the late Raja were obeyed andthe Potter lived in luxury for the rest of his life. 

NOTES

[1] This is why Santals when going to eat, move the stool that isoffered to them before they sit down on it. 

[2] Jaituk is a bullock given to a girl by her parents at the timeof her marriage. 

[3] Kisar bonga = brownie. 

[4] This is quite in accordance with Ho notions. If a man buys awife there is an implied warranty that she is to last a reasonabletime. If she dies shortly after marriage a sister or cousin has tobe given to replace her.