Chapter XI: Part I (7)

That man having come up, and seen that the Hare was dead, said, "Appa! Bola, there is meat for me." So he placed the bag of rice on the road, and went to get the Hare. Then the Jackal came running, and carried off the bag of rice into the bushes. When the man was approaching the Hare, it got up and ran away. So the man had neither the bag of rice nor the Hare. He went home empty-handed (nikam).

Again when the Jackal and Hare were looking out, they saw a man come, bringing a pingo (carrying-stick) load of coconuts, and the Hare went and lay down again in the grass field. The Jackal hid himself and looked out.

Afterwards that man came up, and as he was going on from there he saw that the Hare was lying dead, and saying, "Appa! Bola, there is a Hare," placed the pingo load of coconuts on the path, and went to get the Hare. The Jackal, taking the pingo load of coconuts, went into the bushes. As that man approached the Hare it got up and ran away. So the man had neither the pingo load of coconuts nor the Hare. He went home empty-handed.

As the Jackal and Hare were looking out again, they saw that a man was bringing a bill-hook and a betel-cutter, which he had got made at the forge. So the Hare went and lay down again in the field.

The man came up, and when going on from there, having seen that the Hare was dead, placed the bill-hook and betel-cutter on the path, and went to get the Hare. Then the Jackal carried the bill-hook and the betel-cutter into the bushes. As that man was coming near to take the Hare, it got up and ran away. So that man had neither the bill-hook, nor the betel-cutter, nor the Hare. He went home empty-handed.

As the Jackal and Hare were looking out again, they saw a potter coming, bringing a pingo load of pots, so the Hare went and lay down again in the grass field. The Jackal hid himself and waited.

When the potter was going on from there, he saw that the Hare was dead, and having placed the pingo load of pots on the path, he went to get it. Then the Jackal, taking the pingo load of pots, went off into the bushes. As the man was coming near the Hare it got up and ran away. So that man had neither the pingo load of pots nor the Hare. He went home empty-handed.

Then the Jackal and Hare took home the bag of rice, and the pingo load of coconuts, and the bill-hook, and the betel-cutter, and the pingo load of pots. After that, having plucked and cut up the pumpkin fruit, and washed the rice, and put it in the cooking pot, and placed it on the fire, and broken the coconut, and scraped out the inside, while squeezing it [in water in order to make coconut-milk], the Jackal said to the Hare, "Friend, I will pour this on the rice, and in the meantime before I take it off the fire, you go, and plucking leaves without a point bring them [to use] as plates."

While the Hare was going for them, the Jackal ate all the rice, and placed only a little burnt rice in the bottom of the cooking pot. Then he lay down on the ash-heap.

Afterwards the Hare returned, and saying, "Friend, there is not a leaf without a point. I have walked and walked through the whole of this jungle in search of one," gave into the paws of the Jackal two leaves with the ends bitten off. Then, without getting up, the Jackal said, "Ando! Friend, what is the use of a leaf without a point now? The rice people, the coconut people, the bill-hook and betel-cutter people, the pots people having eaten the rice, and beaten me also, rolled me over on this ash-heap. There will still be a little burnt rice in the bottom of the cooking pot. Scrape it off, and putting a little in your mouth, put a little in my mouth too." So the Hare having scraped off the burnt rice, and eaten a little of it, put a little in the Jackal's mouth.

Then the Jackal said, "Friend, a tick is biting my nose; rid me of it." When the Hare was coming near to rid him of it, the Jackal vomited all over the Hare's body. Then the Hare bounded off to the river, and jumped into it, and having become clean returned to the place where the Jackal was.

The Jackal asked, "How, Friend, did you become clean?"

The Hare said, "I went to a place where a washerman-uncle is washing clothes, and got him to wash me."

The Jackal asked, "Where is he washing?"

The Hare said, "Look there! He is washing at the river."

Afterwards the Jackal went to the river, and said to the washerman-uncle, "Ane! Washerman-uncle, wash me too, a little."

When the washerman-uncle, having taken hold of the Jackal's tail, had struck a couple of blows with him on the stone, the Jackal said, "That will do, that will do, washerman-uncle, I shall have become clean now." But the washerman-uncle, saying, "Will you eat my fowls again afterwards? Will you eat them?" gave him another stroke. Then the washerman-uncle, having washed the clothes, went home.

From that time the Jackal and Hare became unfriendly, and the Jackal said that whenever he saw Hares he would eat them.

North-western Province.

According to a variant, the washerman struck the Jackal on the stone until he was dead.

NO. 31

THE LEOPARD AND THE MOUSE-DEER

In a jungle wilderness in the midst of the forest there is a rock cave. In the cave a Leopard dwells. One day when the Leopard had gone for food a lame female Mouse-deer (Miminni) crept into the cave, and gave birth to two young ones.

Afterwards the Mouse-deer having seen that the Leopard, having got wet at the time of a very great rainfall, was coming to the cave, began to beat the young ones, so the young ones began to squall. Then the Mouse-deer came out, saying, "There is fresh Leopard's flesh, there is dried Leopard's flesh; what else shall I give you? Having eaten these, still you are crying in order to eat fresh Leopard's flesh!"

As the Mouse-deer was saying it, the Leopard heard it, and thought, "They are going to eat me," and having become afraid, sprang off and ran away, thinking, "I will go to my Preceptor, and tell him."

Having gone to him, the Jackal said, "What is it, Sir? You are running as though afraid. Why?" he asked.

The Leopard then replied, "Preceptor, the danger that has happened to me is thus: A Mouse-deer having crept into the cave that I live in, and having borne young ones there, as I was returning came shouting and springing to eat me. Through fear of it I came running away," he said to the Jackal.

The Jackal then said, "What of that! Don't be afraid. I will come with you and go there. As soon as I go I will bite her and cast her out."

As they went near the cave, the Leopard having lagged a very little behind, said, "Friend, I cannot go, I cannot go."

Then the Jackal said, "If you are afraid to that extent, be so good as to go after tying a creeper to my neck, and tying the other end to your waist, Sir," he said to the Leopard.

So bringing a creeper, and tying one end to the Jackal's neck, and tying the other end to the Leopard's waist, they set off to go to the cave.

As they were going there, the Mouse-deer, having seen that the Jackal was bringing the Leopard, began to beat the young ones. When the young ones were squalling, the Mouse-deer having come out, says, "Don't cry; the Jackal is bringing another Leopard for you." Then she says to the Jackal, "Jackal-artificer, after I told you to bring seven yoke of Leopards, what has the Jackal-artificer come for, tying a creeper to only this one lean Leopard?"

After she had asked this, the Leopard thought, "They have joined with the Jackal, and are going to kill me," and began to run off. Then the creeper having become tightened round the Jackal's neck, the Leopard ran away, taking him along, causing the Jackal-artificer to strike and strike against that tree, this tree, that stone, this stone.

The Leopard having gone a great distance in the jungle, after he looked [found that] the creeper had become thoroughly tightened on the Jackal-artificer's neck. Having seen that he was grinning and showing his teeth, the Leopard says, "The laugh is at the Jackal-artificer. I was frightened, and there is no blood on my body," he said.

When he looked again, the Jackal was dead, grinning with his teeth and mouth.

North-western Province.

This story is given in The Orientalist, vol. iv, p. 79 (D. A. Jayawardana), but the animals that went to the cave are wrongly termed tiger and fox, which are not found in Ceylon.

It is also related in vol. iv, p. 121 (S. J. Goonetilleke), the animals being a hind and a tiger.

In vol. i, p. 261, there is a Santal story (J. L. Phillips), in which a goat with a long beard, which had taken refuge in a tiger's cave frightened it when asked, "Who are you with long beard and crooked horns in my house?" by saying, "I am your father." A monkey returned with it, their tails being tied together. When they came to the cave, the monkey asked the same question, and received the same answer, which frightened both animals so much that they fled, the monkey's tail being pulled off. When the tiger stopped, and began to lick himself, he found the monkey's tail so sweet that he went back and ate the monkey.

In the Panchatantra (Dubois), a bearded goat frightened a lion that he found in a cave in which he took refuge, by saying, "I am the Lord He-goat. I am a devotee of Siva, and I have promised to devour in his honour 101 tigers, 25 elephants, and 10 lions." He had eaten the rest, and was now in search of the lions. A jackal persuaded the lion to return, but the goat frightened them again.

In Old Deccan Days (Frere), p. 303, a pandit frightened a demon in this manner, by scolding a wrestler who brought for dinner an apparent goat which the pandit recognised as a demon.

In Wide-Awake Stories (Steel and Temple), p. 132 ff.--Tales of the Punjab, p. 123 ff.--a farmer's wife frightened a tiger that was going to eat a cow. A jackal persuaded it to return, their tails being tied together. On the tiger's running off again, the jackal was jolted to death.

In The Indian Antiquary, vol. iv, p. 257, there is a Santal story by Rev. E. T. Cole, of a tiger which was frightened by two brothers. The three sat round a fire and asked riddles. The tiger's was, "One I will eat for breakfast, and another like it for supper." The men expressed their inability to guess the answer, and their riddle was, "One will twist the tail, the other will wring the ear." When the tiger was escaping, they held the tail till it came off.

In Tota Kahani (Small), p. 98, a lynx took possession of a tiger's cave, and behaved like the mouse-deer when the tiger came up. When the tiger returned with a monkey, the lynx frightened it like the mouse-deer, by telling its young ones that a monkey friend had sworn to bring a tiger that day. On hearing this, the tiger killed the monkey, and fled.

NO. 32

THE CROCODILE'S WEDDING

In a certain country there is a Crocodile in the river, it is said. On the high ground on the other bank there was a dead Elephant. A Jackal of the high ground on this side came to the river bank, and on his saying "Friend," the Crocodile rose to the surface.

Then the Jackal said, "Now then, how are you getting on, living in that [solitary] way? I could find a wife for you, but to fetch you a mate I have no means of going over to the land on that bank."

The Crocodile said, "Ane! Friend, if you would become of assistance to me in that way can't I put you on the other bank?"

The Jackal said, "If so, Friend, put me on the ground on the other side, so that I may go to-day and ask for a mate for you, and come back again."

Then the Crocodile, placing the Jackal on his back, swam across the river, and after placing the Jackal on the other bank returned to the water.

The Jackal went and ate the body of that dead Elephant. Having eaten it during the whole of that day, he returned again to the river. Having arrived there, when he said "Friend," the Crocodile rose to the surface and asked the Jackal, "Friend, did you ask for a mate for me?"

Then the Jackal said, "Friend, I did indeed ask for a mate; we have not come to an agreement about it yet. To-morrow I must go again to settle it. On that account put me on the ground on the other side." So the Crocodile, placing the Jackal on his back, swam across the river, and placed the Jackal on this bank.

Next day, as it became light, the Jackal went to the river, and as he was saying "Friend," the Crocodile rose to the surface. The Jackal said, "Friend, in order that I may go and make a settlement of yesterday's affair and return again, put me on the other bank."

Then the Crocodile, placing the Jackal on his back crossed the river, and having placed the Jackal on the other bank went again into the water.

The Jackal having gone to the dead body of the Elephant, and eaten it even until nightfall, came to the river after night had set in. As he was saying "Friend," the Crocodile rose to the surface, and asked, "Friend, did you get it settled to-day?"

The Jackal said, "Friend, I have indeed settled the matter. They told me to come to-morrow in order to summon her to come. On that account put me on the far bank."

After that, the Crocodile, placing the Jackal on his back, went across the river, and having placed the Jackal on the ground on this side returned to the water.

The Jackal next day also, as it became light, went to the river. When he said "Friend," the Crocodile rose to the surface. The Jackal said, "Friend, if I must bring and give you your mate to-day, put me on the other bank."

After that, the Crocodile, placing the Jackal on his back, went across the river, and having placed the Jackal on the ground on the other side, went into the water.

The Jackal went that day to the dead body of the Elephant, and having eaten it until nightfall the Elephant's carcase became finished. In the evening the Jackal came to the river, and when he was saying "Friend," the Crocodile rose to the surface, and asked, "Friend, where is the mate?"

Then the Jackal said, "Ando! Friend, they made a mistake about it to-day; they told me to return to-morrow to invite her to come. Because of that put me on the other bank again. Having come to-morrow I will bring and give you the mate."

After that, the Crocodile, placing the Jackal on his back, swam across the river, and having put down the Jackal on the ground on this side, went into the water.

Then the Jackal, sitting down on the high ground on this bank, said to the Crocodile, "Foolish Crocodiles! Is it true that a Jackal King like me is going to ask for a wedding for thee, for a Crocodile who is in the water like thee? I went to the land on that bank to eat the carcase of an Elephant which died on that side. To-day the carcase was finished. So now I shall not come again. Thou art a fool indeed."

Having said this, the Jackal came away.

North-western Province.

This story is known by the Village Vaeddas.

In The Orientalist, vol. ii, p. 46, this story is given by Mr. E. Goonetilleke, the Crocodile being termed an Alligator.

In Wide-Awake Stories (Steel and Temple), p. 243--Tales of the Punjab, p. 230--there is a variant in which the Jackal was attracted by a fruit-laden wild plum tree. He made love to a lady Crocodile, and was carried across the river by her.

NO. 33

THE GAMARALA'S CAKES

At a village there are a Gamarala (a village headman or elder) and a Gama-Mahage (his wife) and their four sons, it is said.

One day while they were there the Gamarala said to his wife, "Bolan, it is in my mind to eat cakes. For the boys and for me fry ample cakes, and give us them," he said.

The Gamarala was looking out for them for many days; the Gama-Mahage did not cook and give him the cakes.

Again one day the Gamarala thought of eating cakes. That day, also, the Gamarala reminded her of the matter of the cakes. On the following day the Gama-Mahage having fried five large cakes, placed them in the corn store. The boys having gone to the chena and come back, after they had asked, "Is there nothing to eat?" the Gama-Mahage said to the boys, "Look there! There are cakes in the corn store. I put them there for father, too; eat ye also," she said. The boys having gone to the corn store, all four ate the cakes.

After they had eaten them, the Gamarala, having gone to the watch-hut, came back. After he came the boys said, "Father, we ate cakes." When the Gamarala asked, "Where are [some] for me?" "Mother puts them in the corn store," they said.

When the Gamarala went to the corn store for the cakes to eat, there were no cakes. "Where, Bolan, are the cakes?" he asked.

Saying, "Why are you asking for them at my hands? If there are none the boys will have eaten them," the Gama-Mahage pushed against the Gamarala.

Then the Gamarala said, "Now I shall not remind you again. You do not make and give me the food I tell you about." Having said, "It is good," and thinking, "Having pounded and taken about half a quart of rice, and given it at a place outside, and got the cakes fried, I must eat them," pounding the rice he took it away.

As he was going he saw a poor house. Having seen it the Gamarala thought, "Should I give it at this house, these persons because they are poor will take the rice, and I shall not be able to eat cakes properly." So having gone to a tiled house near it, and given a little rice, he said, "Make and give me five cakes out of this, please."

The people of the house replied, "It is good," and taking a little of the rice fried some cakes. The woman who fried them then looked into the account. "For the trouble of pounding the rice and grinding it into flour, I want ten cakes," she said. "Also for the oil and coconuts I want ten cakes, and for going for firewood, and for the trouble of frying the cakes, I want ten cakes." So that on the whole account for cooking the cakes it was made out that the Gamarala must give five cakes.

Next day the Gamarala, having eaten nothing at home, came to eat the cakes. Having sat down, "Where are the cakes?" he asked.

Then the woman who fried the cakes said, "Gamarala, from the whole of the rice I fried twenty-five cakes. For pounding the rice and grinding it into flour I took ten cakes. For the oil and coconuts I took ten cakes. For going for firewood, and for the trouble of frying the cakes ten more having gone, still the Gamarala must bring and give me five cakes."

Then the Gamarala thought, "Ada! What a cake eating is this that has happened to me!"

After thinking thus, having gone outside and walked along, and come to that poor house, he sat down. As he was thinking about it that poor man asked, "What is it, Gamarala, that you are thinking about in that way?"

The Gamarala said, "The manner in which they fried and gave me cakes at that house," and he told him about it.

Then the man of that poor house said to the Gamarala, "Since we are poor you did not give the rice to us. If he had given it to us wouldn't the Gamarala have been well able to eat cakes? The Gamarala having given us the rice would have had cakes to eat, and still five cakes to give for that debt.

"For those cakes I will teach the Gamarala a trick," that poor man said to the Gamarala. "The husband of the woman who fried the cakes has gone to his village. The woman is now connected with another man. Every day the man having come at night taps at the door when he comes. After she has asked from inside the house, 'Who is it?' he makes a grunt, 'Hum.' Then having opened the door he is given by her to eat and drink. To-day she will give the cakes made for the Gamarala.

"After the Gamarala has gone at night in that manner, and tapped at the door, she will ask, 'Who is it?' Then say, 'Hum.' Then she will open the door. Having gone into the house without speaking, she will give to eat and drink. Having eaten and drunk, and been there a little time, open the door and come away." Thus the poor man taught his lesson to the Gamarala.

In that manner, the Gamarala having gone after it became night, tapped at the house door. [82] "Who is it?" she asked. "Hum," he said. Then having opened the door and taken the Gamarala into the house, she gave him cakes and sweetmeats to eat.

As he was eating them, some one else having come taps at the door. The Gamarala became afraid. "Don't be afraid," she said, and sent the Gamarala to the corn loft [under the roof of the house, at the level of the top of the side walls].

Having sent him there she asked, "Who tapped at the door?" "Hum," he said. Then she opened the door, and after she had looked it was the Tambi-elder-brother, [83] who was trading in the village. She got him also into the house, and gave him sweetmeats to eat.

When a little time had gone, again some one tapped at the door. Then the Tambi-elder-brother, having become afraid, prepared to run off without eating the sweetmeats. "Don't be afraid," she said, and she put the Tambi also in another part of the corn loft [and he lay down].

Having come back, after she had opened the door and looked, it was the man of the house who, having been to the village, had come back. She gave him water to wash his face, hands, and feet. After he had finished washing, she gave him cakes and the like to eat, and water to drink. The man afterwards lay down to sleep.

When a little time had gone, the man who went first to the corn loft, the Gamarala, asked for water, saying, "Water, water." Then the man of the house having opened his eyes, asked, "What is speaking in the corn loft?"

"When you went to the village, as you were away a long time, I made an offering of a leaf-cup of water to the deity. Perhaps the deity is asking for it now," she said.

Then the man told her to put a coconut in the corn loft. So the woman put a coconut in the corn loft.

The Gamarala, taking the coconut in his hand, sought for a place on which to strike it [in order to break it, so that he might drink the water in it]. As he was going feeling with his hand, the Gamarala's hand touched a lump like a stone in hardness, the head of Tambi-elder-brother. After he touched it, the Tambi-elder-brother [not knowing what it was] through fear trembled and trembled, and did not speak. Then the Gamarala, taking the coconut, struck it very hard on the head of the Tambi-elder-brother, thinking it was a stone.

The man of the house thought [before this], "The water in the coconut is insufficient for the deity. He will be ascending [and leaving us]." After he had quickly opened the door, and gone out to get more water to give him, the Tambi-elder-brother sprang from the corn loft, breaking his head, and ran away.

Then the man who came out to get the water said, "My deity! Here is water, here is water," holding the water kettle in his hand. While he was calling out to him, the woman having opened her eyes said, "What is it, Bolan?" As she was coming outside the man said, "The deity jumped down and ran away."

At that very time, breaking out from the corn loft, the Gamarala also jumped down and ran off. Then the man of the house asks the woman, "Who is that running away?"

The woman says, "Why, Bolan, don't you understand in this way? Didn't the God Saman also run behind him?"

Village Vaedda of Bintaenna.

NO. 34

THE KINNARA AND THE PARROTS

In a large forest there is a great Banyan tree. In that tree many Parrots roost. While they were doing so, one day, having seen a Crow flying near, a Parrot spoke to the other Parrots, and said, "Bolawu, [84] do not ye ever give a resting-place to this flying animal," he said.

While they were there many days after he said it, one day, as a great rain was falling at night, on that day the flying Crow, saying, "Ka, Ka," came and settled on the tree near those Parrots.

That night one Parrot out of the flock of Parrots was unable to come because of that day's rain. Having seen that this Crow was roosting on the tree, all the Parrots, surrounding and pecking and pecking the Crow, drove it out in the rain.

Again, saying, "Ka, Ka," having returned it roosts in the same tree. As the Parrots getting soaked and soaked were driving off the Crow in this way, an old Parrot, sitting down, says, "What is it doing? Because it cannot go and come in this rain it is trying [85] to roost here. What [harm] will it do if it be here this little time in our company?" thus this old Parrot said. So the other Parrots allowed it to be there, without driving away the Crow.

While it was there, the Crow in the night left excreta, and in the morning went away. At the place where the excreta fell a tree sprang up [from a seed that was in them]; it became very large.

As it was thus, one day as Kinnaras were going near that [Crows'] village, having seen that another tree was near the tree in which the Parrots roosted, the Kinnaras spoke with each other, "In these days cannot we catch the Parrots that are in this tree?" they said.

Before that, the Kinnaras were unable to catch the Parrots in the tree. There was then only that tree in which the Parrots roosted. When the Kinnaras were going along the tree to catch the Parrots, the Parrots got to know [owing to the shaking of the tree], so all the Parrots flew away. Because of that they were unable to catch the Parrots.

The Kinnaras having [now] gone along the tree which had grown up through the Crow's dropping the seed under the tree, easily placed the net [over the Parrots' tree]. All the Parrots having come in the evening had settled in the tree. Having settled down, and a little time having gone, after they looked, all the Parrots being folded in the net were enclosed. The Parrots tried to go; they could not.

While they were under the net in that way, the Parrot Chief says to the other Parrots, "How has another tree grown up under this tree that we live in?" thus the Parrot Chief asked the other Parrots. "At a time when I was not here did ye give a resting-place to any one else?"

Then the Parrots say, "One day when it was raining at night, a Crow having come and stayed here, went away," they said.

Then the Parrot Chief says, "I told you that very thing, 'Don't give a resting-place to any one whatsoever.' Now we all have become appointed to death. To-morrow morning the Kinnaras having come and broken our wings, seizing us all will go away."

When a little time had gone, the Parrot Chief [again] spoke to the Parrots, and said, "I will tell you a trick. Should you act in that way the whole of us can escape," the Parrot Chief said. "When the Kinnaras come near the tree, all of you, tightly shutting your eyes and mouths, be as though dead, without even flapping your wings. Then the Kinnaras, thinking we are dead, having freed us one by one from the net, when they are throwing us down on the ground, and have taken and placed all there, fly away after they have thrown down the last one on the ground," he said.

"That is good," they said.

While they were there, a Kinnara, tying a large bag at his waist, having come to the bottom of the tree, says, "Every day [before], I couldn't [catch] ye. To-day ye are caught in my net."

Having ascended the tree, as he was going [along it] the Kinnara says, "What is this, Bola? Are these dead without any uncanny sound?" Having climbed onto the tree, after he looked [he saw that] a part having hung neck downwards, a part on the branches, a part in the net, they were as though dead.

Then the Kinnara saying, "Ada! Tell ye the Gods! Yesterday having climbed the tree I had no trouble in spreading the net; to-day having come to the tree I have no trouble in releasing the net. Ada! May the Gods be witnesses of the event that has occurred! What am I to do with these dead bodies!" and freeing and freeing each one from the net, threw it down on the ground.

As he threw them to the ground he said "One" at the first one that he threw to the ground, and having taken the account [of them], after all had fallen, at the time when the Kinnara, freeing the net, was coming descending from the tree, the whole flock of Parrots went flying away.

Village Vaedda of Bintaenna.

A version of this story from the North-western Province, by a Duraya, though shorter, contains the same incidents, the tree, however, being another Fig, the Aehaetu, Ficus tsiela. It ends as follows--

"As he [the Kinnara] was throwing them down in this way, having been counting and counting 'One,' the Parrot which he counted last having flapped its wings and screamed, [according to a pre-arranged plan, to show] that the man was cheated and that it had escaped, flew away. All the Parrots having gone, after they had looked into the account of the whole flock [found that] they were all correct.

"Then the Parrots said, 'Let us not give a resting-place to the Crow. At the places where he goes he is a dangerous one. To us also, this danger came now [through him]. Ada! Because we gave this one a resting-place. O Vishnu, burst thou lightning on him who did this to us! Ada! Where shall we all go now?' After flying and flying in the midst of the forest, all went to each place where they had relatives."

The story is given in Old Deccan Days (Frere), p. 114, with the variations that a thousand crows came to the tree instead of one, and that snares of thread were used in place of the net. The last parrot did not escape, but was taken away and sold.

In Tota Kahani (Small), p. 64, when a parrot and its young ones were caught in a net they feigned death. All the young ones escaped by this means. The mother was captured and sold to the King, and regained her liberty by pretending to fetch some medicine to cure his illness.

NO. 35

HOW A JACKAL SETTLED A LAWSUIT.

In a village there is a rich foolish man. One son was born to the man. When they had been there in that way for a long time, as the rich man's son was growing up, his father died. Then all this wealth came into the hands of his son. The son was a fool just like the father.

One day, having seen a wealthy man going in a carriage in which a horse was yoked, that rich man's son thought he ought to go in that way in a carriage in which a horse was yoked. This rich man having gone home spoke to a servant, and said, "I will give thee thy expenses for going and coming. Go thou, and buy and bring me a horse," he said. Having said it, he gave him a hundred masuran, and having given them sent him away.

This servant having gone on and on, went to a great big country. Having gone there, he made inquiry throughout the country--"Are there horses to sell in this country?"

Then a man of that country said, "The Gamarala of this country has many horses," he said. This servant who went to bring horses having given a masurama to the man whom he had met, said, "Please show me the house of the Gamarala who has the horses," he said. So the man, calling the servant, having gone to the Gamarala's house, sent him there.

The Gamarala asked these men, "What have you come here for?"

The servant who went to get horses said, "I have come to take a horse for money," he said.

"For whom?" he asked.

"For a rich man in a village," he said.

Having given fifty masuran he got a horse. After he got it he again gave a masurama to that man who went with him. Having given it, and the two persons having gone a considerable distance, [86] this man left both the horse and the man to go [alone], and went home.

When the servant had taken the horse, and gone a considerable distance, after he looked [he found that] night was coming on. On seeing it, taking the horse and saying, "This night I cannot go," having sought and sought for a resting-place, he met with a place where there were chekkus (mills for expressing oil). There this man found a resting-place; and having tied the horse to an oil-mill, this servant went to a village, and ate and drank, and having returned went to a shed at the side of the oil-mill, and lay down to sleep. Having become much fatigued because he had brought this horse very far, the servant went to sleep.

At dawn, the man who owned the oil-mill, having arisen and come near the oil-mill, when he looked saw that a horse was tied near the oil-mill. So this man thought, "Last night the oil-mill gave birth to a horse"; and unloosing it from the place where it was tied, the owner of the oil-mill, having taken the horse home, tied it in the garden.

Then the servant having opened his eyes, after he looked, because the horse was not near the oil-mill went seeking it. Having seen it tied in a garden close to a house, he spoke to the [people in the] house, "Having tied this horse near the oil-mill, in the night I went to sleep. This one breaking loose in the night came here." Unfastening it, as he was making ready to go, the man who owned the house came running, [and saying], "Where did my oil-mill give birth to this horse for thee last night?" he brought the horse back, and began to scold the servant. Then the servant thought, "Now I shall not be allowed to go and give this horse to the rich man. Because of it, I must go for a lawsuit."

As he was going seeking a trial he met with a place where lawsuits were heard. The servant having gone [there] told the judge about the business: "When I was bringing yesterday the horse that I am taking for a rich man, it became night while I was on the road. As there was no way to go or come, I tied and placed the horse at this oil-mill, and went to sleep. Having arisen in the morning, after I looked, because the horse that I brought was not there I went looking and looking along its foot-prints. Having seen that it was tied in the garden near the house of the oil-mill worker, thinking, 'This one breaking loose has come here,' I unfastened it. As I was making ready to bring it away, having scolded me and said that the oil-mill gave birth to the horse, he took it," he said to the judge; and stopped.

Then the judge says, "If the oil-mill gave birth to the horse, the horse belongs to the man who owns the oil-mill," the judge said.

The servant having become grieved says, "What am I to do now? Without the masuran which the rich man gave me, and without the horse that I got after giving fifty masuran, having gone to the village what shall I say to the rich man, so that I may escape?" he said with much grief.

Then a Jackal having come there along the same road, and having seen it, asks the servant, "Because of what matter are you going sorrowing in this way?"

The servant says to the Jackal, "Jackal-artificer, [87] is the trouble that happened to me right to thee, according to what was said?"

As they were going along, the Jackal, having gone behind him, asks again, "Tell me a little about it, and let us go. More difficult things than that have happened to us--folds [full] of scare-crows tangled together. As we cleared up those with extreme care there is no difficulty in clearing up this also." So the Jackal-artificer said to the servant.

Then the servant told the Jackal the way in which the rich man gave the servant one hundred masuran; the way in which, having given fifty masuran, he got the horse; the way in which, having brought the horse, he tied and placed it at the oil-mill; the way in which the oil-mill owner, unfastening the horse, went and tied it; the way in which, after he went to ask for it he would not give it, saying that the oil-mill gave birth to the horse, and came to scold him; then also what the judge said. The servant told [these] to the Jackal-artificer, making all clear.

Then the Jackal-artificer says, "Ane! That's thick work. I'll put that right for you. You must assist me also," he said. "You yourself having gone near the judge again, and made obeisance, you must say, 'The oil-mill did not give birth to the horse. The owner of the oil-mill, unfastening it from the place where I tied it, took it away. I have evidence of it. Having heard the evidence please do what you want,'" so the Jackal taught him.

So the servant having gone, made obeisance to the judge. "What have you come again for?" the judge asked.

Then the servant says, "The oil-mill did not give birth to the horse. Unfastening it from the place where I tied it, and having gone, he tied it up. I have evidence of it. Having heard the evidence do what you want, Sir," he said.

The judge says, "It is good. Who is your witness?"

"The Jackal-artificer," he said. So the judge sent a message to the Jackal to come. That day the Jackal did not come. On the following day, also, he sent a message. He did not come. Next day he sent a message. That day the Jackal, having thoroughly prepared himself, came to the judgment court.

After the judge asked, "Dost thou know about this lawsuit?" "Yes, Sir," the Jackal-artificer said.

"Why didst thou not come yesterday," the judge asked the Jackal.

"Yesterday I did not come; I saw the sky," he said. While saying it the Jackal was sleepy.

Again he asked, "Why didst thou not come on the first day?"

"On that day I saw the earth," he said. While saying it the Jackal was sleepy.

"Why hast thou come to-day?" he asked.

"To-day I saw the fire," he said.

"Having seen the sky why didst thou not come?" the judge asked.

Then the Jackal says, "O Lord, the sky cannot be trusted. Sometimes it rains, sometimes it clears up. Because of that I did not come." Having said it he was sleepy.

"Having seen the earth why didst thou not come?" he asked.

"That also cannot be trusted," he said. "In some places there are mounds, in some places it is flat; in some places there is water, in some places there is not water," he said. Having said it he was sleepy.

"What hast thou come to-day for?" the judge asked.

"To-day I saw the fire," he said. "Because of that I came," he said. Then the Jackal says, "After the fire has blazed up you do not look after your cold hut. I do not look after my palace also." [88] Having said it the Jackal was sleepy.

On account of that saying the judge having become angry, "Being here what art thou sleeping for?" he asked.

"Ane! O Lord who will become a thousand Buddhas [in future existences], I am very sleepy indeed," he said.

"Why, Bola?" he asked.

"Last night I went to look at the fishes sporting on the land. Because of that I am sleepy," he said.

Then the judge having become angry with the Jackal, says very severely, "Having beaten him, cast ye him out."

This rascally Jackal having prayed with closed paws, saying, "O Lord, who will become a thousand Buddhas," fell down and made obeisance.

"In what country, Bola, Jackal, do the fish who are in the water sport on the land?" the judge asked the Jackal.

The Jackal said, "I must receive permission [to ask also a question], O Lord. How does an oil-mill which expresses the kinds of oils give birth to horses?"

Then the judge, having become ashamed and his anger having gone, told the rich man's servant to take away the horse.

Village Vaedda of Bintaenna.

In Indian Fables, p. 45, Mr. P. V. Ramaswami Raju gives a South Indian variant of the latter part of this story. A thief stole a horse that was tethered to a tree, and then stated that he saw the tree eat the horse. The case was referred to a fox [jackal]. The fox said he felt dull. "All last night the sea was on fire; I had to throw a great deal of hay into it to quench the flames, so come to-morrow and I shall hear your case." When he was asked how hay could quench flames, he replied, "How could a tree eat up a horse?"

In Indian Nights' Entertainment, Panjab (Swynnerton), p. 142, there is a story about a foal that was born in the night while a mare was left near an oil-press, and was claimed by the oil man. The King who tried the case decided that the "mare could not possibly have had this foal, because, you see, it was found standing by the oil-press." A jackal assisted the owner to recover it, and fell down several times in the court, explaining that during the night the sea caught fire, and he was tired out by throwing water on it with a sieve, to extinguish it. When asked how this could be possible, the jackal retorted by inquiring if any one in the world ever heard of an oil-press's bearing a foal.

In the interior of West Africa there is a variant, given in Contes Soudanais (C. Monteil), p. 23. A mare was buried near a house, and a pumpkin spread from the adjoining piece of land, until it extended round the stake to which she was formerly tied. When the owner of the pumpkin split open a fruit that grew near the stake, there were two foals inside it, which the owner of the mare claimed. The judgment was that as a dead mare could not bear foals nor a pumpkin contain horses, neither of the claimants had a right to the foals; but as one sowed the pumpkin, and the other had watered it, each should take one foal.

In another tale in the same volume, p. 141, a hyaena had a bull and a hare a cow, which bore a calf in the hare's absence. This was claimed by the hyaena, as having been borne by the bull. The dispute was referred to a male rat, which sent its young ones to say that it could not leave its hole, as it was about to bear young ones. When the hyaena laughed at the idea, and inquired when such an occurrence had been known, the rat replied, "Since it has been the bulls which bore calves."

NO. 36

THE JACKAL AND THE TURTLE

At a village there is a large pond. At the margin of the pond two Storks [89] live. When they had been eating the small fishes in that pond in that way for a long time, the pond became dried up by a very great drought. These two Storks having eaten the small fishes in the pond until they were becoming finished, one day a Stork of these two Storks having spoken to the other Stork, says, "Friend, now then, that we have been here is no matter to us. Because of it let us go to another district." Thus he spoke.

Now, a Turtle stayed in the pond. The Turtle having heard the speech of these two Storks, the Turtle says, "Ane! Friends, I also now have been staying in this pond a long time. The pond having now dried up, I also have nothing to eat, nor water to be in, and nowhere to go. Because of it, friends, having taken me to the village to which you two go, put me down there," the Turtle said to the two Storks.

Then one Stork says to the Turtle, "Ane! Bola, foolish Turtles! How wilt thou go with us to another village?"

Then the Turtle says, "Ane! Friends, I indeed cannot go flying to the village to which you go. You two somehow or other having gone with me must put me there."

Then the two Storks say to the Turtle, "If thou, shutting thy mouth, wilt remain without speaking anything, we two having gone to the place where there is water will put thee down there," the two Storks said.

Having said this they brought a stick, and said to the Turtle, "Grasp the middle of this stick tightly with the mouth, and hold it tightly."

Having said this, the two Storks [holding the stick near the ends] took the Turtle. While they were going flying, as they were going above a dried field a Jackal saw the shadow going with the two Storks carrying the Turtle. Having seen it the Jackal says, "Isn't this a troublesome comrade they are taking?"

Then the Turtle having become angry, says, "The troublesome comrade whom they are taking is for thy mother." So the Turtle's mouth was opened. Then the Turtle fell on the ground. The two Storks left him and went away.

The Jackal having come running, after he looked saw the Turtle, and turning and turning it over to eat, when he tried to eat it the Turtle says, "I have now for a long time been staying dried up without water. In that way you cannot eat me. Having gone with me to a place where there is water and put me in it, should I become soaked you will be able to eat me," he said to the Jackal.

Then the Jackal having taken hold of the Turtle with his mouth, and placed it in a pond containing water, when he had been treading on it [to prevent it from escaping] for a little time, the Turtle says, "Now every place is soaked. Under the sole of your foot, Sir, I have not got wet. Should you raise the sole of your foot a little it would be good," it said. So the Jackal raised the foot a little. Then the Turtle crept to the bottom of the mud. The Jackal quickly seized the Turtle [by its leg] again.

After he had caught it the Turtle says, "The Jackal-elder-brother being cheated has got hold of the Ketala [plant] root." The Jackal-elder-brother quickly having let go the Turtle, speedily got hold of the Ketala root that was near by. Then the Jackal being unable [to go deeper], the Turtle going yet a little further in the water, says, "Bola! Even to-day you are Jackals! When didst thou eat us?"

Many Jackals prated to the Jackal about the Turtle. On account of the Jackal's being unable to eat the Turtle or to seize it, he became much ashamed. While he was there, having contrived and contrived a trick, saying he must somehow or other kill the Turtle, another Jackal came there to drink water. Having drunk water, he asks the other Jackal, "What, friend, are you thinking of and clenching your nails about?"

Then the Jackal who was unable to seize the Turtle, says, "Friend, a Turtle cheated me, and went into this pond. Having become angry on account of that, I am looking for it in order to kill that one should that one come onto the land," he said to the other Jackal.

That Jackal says, "Ae, Bola! Fool! How many Turtles are there yet in the pond? How canst thou seek out the one that cheated thee?" the Jackal that came to drink water said.

Every day in that manner this Jackal comes to the pond to drink water. One day when he came to drink water, having seen that a crowd of Turtles are grimacing on the lotus, the Jackal says, "If ye and we be friends, how much advantage we can gain by it!" Having spoken thus on that day the Jackal went away.

Having gone, when he met the Jackal whom the Turtle cheated he said, "Friend, having met with a crowd of Turtles while they were in the pond to-day, I spoke words [to them]. We must devise together a trick to kill them." Having said this the two Jackals talked together.

Again, on a day when the Jackal went to the pond to drink water, having seen in the [same] way as on that day the Turtles grimacing on the lotus, the Jackal says, "How can ye and we remain in this manner? Should ye and we, both parties, take wives [from each other] wouldn't it be good?" the Jackal asked the Turtles.

Then the Turtles say, "If so, indeed how good it would be!"

"Then one day we will come and speak with ye [about] the wedding." Having said this the Jackal went away.

Having gone he says to the Jackals, "[After] speaking words with the Turtles who are in that pond regarding taking and giving wives I have come away."

Then the other Jackals said, "It is very good. Some day let us all go." So they spoke.

Again on a day, after the Jackal had gone to the pond to drink water, on that day, having seen that Turtles more than on the other day were [there], he says, "Friends, to-day about all of you are [here]. Because of it, on what day will it be good to come and summon [our wives]?" he asked.

"We will say in a day or two days," they said.

The Jackal having drunk water and having gone, said to the other Jackals, "They said they will say in a day or two days [on which day we are to go to summon our wives]."

Then the Jackal whom the Turtle cheated said, "In some way or other we must completely destroy them. Friends, somehow or other having gone and spoken about this wedding, make ready quickly," he said.

On the following day this Jackal went to drink water, and to speak about the wedding. Having drunk water the Jackal asked the Turtles, "When will it be good to come?"

"To-morrow will be good," the Turtles said.

Then the Jackal says, "We shall all come. All ye also having got ready be present."