Chapter XIII: Part II (1)

STORIES TOLD
OF OR BY
THE LOWER CASTES

NO. 38

THE MONKEY AND THE WEAVER-BIRD

In the midst of a forest there were a Wandura (a large grey Monkey, Semnopithecus) and a Weaver-bird.

One day the Monkey came to the tree in which the Weaver-bird lodged, and after that a great rain-storm began. The Weaver-bird without getting wet remained in much comfort in its nest; the Monkey stayed in a fork of the tree, getting thoroughly soaked.

Then the Weaver-bird said, "Why does a person endowed with hands and feet, and strength, like thee, get soaked in this rain? Such a small animal as I am having built a house stays in it without getting wet. Not a drop of rain leaks into it. If I were equal to thee I should build a good house."

On account of that remark the Monkey became angry, and saying, "What is my business to thee?" broke down the nest of the Weaver-bird.

Then the Weaver-bird went to the [Monkey] King, and instituted an action [against the Monkey]. Afterwards, orders were issued by the King to seize the Monkey. After remaining in concealment, the Monkey, thinking, "If I should be caught they will kill me," plucked a Jak fruit, and went with it to the King. After that [the King] caused the Weaver-bird to be brought, so that he might try the case.

As he was inquiring into the case, it came to be accepted that on account of his breaking down the nest the fault lay with the Monkey. Then the Monkey said, "The action is coming to an end. Will the Maharaja be pleased to look behind me?"

At that very time, when the King having considered [his judgment], looked around, he saw that there was a Jak fruit behind the Monkey. Then the King, thinking, "The Jak fruit has been brought to be given to me for the sake of obtaining my favour," said to the Weaver-bird, "The fault is in thy hands. Whether he gets soaked or however he may be, it is no affair of thine."

Having said this, the King drove her away; and the Monkey, having given him the Jak fruit, went away.

At that time animals were able to talk.

Potter. North-western Province.

The first part of this story is given in the Hitopadesa, but not the trial before the Monkey King.

NO. 39

THE JACKAL DEVATAWA

In a certain country there was a dead Elephant, it is said. A Jackal having gone to eat the Elephant's carcase, and having eaten and eaten a hole into the Elephant from behind, passed inside it. While he was eating and eating the carcase of the Elephant as he remained inside it, the skin [dried and] became twisted up, and the path by which the Jackal entered became closed.

A man who was a tom-tom beater was going near it, taking a tom-tom for a devil-dance. Then among the bones the sound of tom-tom beating was heard. So the Jackal asked, "Who is going here?"

The tom-tom beater said, "I am going to this devil-dance."

The Jackal said, "What art thou going this way for, without permission?"

The tom-tom beater replied, "O Lord, I am going without knowing about this [permission's being necessary]."

The Jackal asked, "What wilt thou obtain for the dancing?"

The tom-tom beater said, "I receive presents and the like."

Then the Jackal said, "I will give thee a present better than money. It is owing to thy good luck that thou hast come this way. I am a Devatawa (deity) who is guarding his own treasure here. If I am to give thee the treasure, split one eye (end) of the tom-tom which is in thy hand, and having filled it with water and brought it here, pour it on this Elephant."

After that, the tom-tom beater having plucked out the eye of the tom-tom, filling it with water brought it, and poured it on the Elephant's dried up carcase. The Jackal, also, sitting inside it, worked and worked it into the skin with its muzzle. Having made the skin pliable it sprang out, and went away.

When this man looked inside, no deity was there, but there were many maggots. So the man, taking his broken tom-tom, went home.

In a few days afterwards, a rain having fallen, the Elephant's carcase floated, and went down into the water-course. From the water-course it passed down to the stream. A flock of crows covered the carcase. As they were going eating and eating the dead body, it descended into the river, and from the river it passed down to the great sea. There the skin having rotted began to fall to the bottom. After the crows had looked [around], there was not even a tree [to be seen], and before they were able to fly to a place where there were trees their wings were broken, and they died.

Washerman. North-western Province.

A variant related in another village is nearly the same. Some tom-tom beaters passing the Elephant's carcase were accosted by the Jackal, to whom they replied that they were going to "a poya tom-tom beating," that is, one given on the Buddhist sabbath, at the quarter of the moon. When he inquired what profit they would get from it, they stated that they would receive cakes and milk-rice. "You don't want cakes and milk-rice," he said, "I will give you gold. Bring water to this Elephant's carcase." They did so, breaking open the "eyes" of their tom-toms for the purpose, and the Jackal escaped.

The story concludes: "For the tom-tom beaters there was neither gold, nor cakes and milk-rice. Having broken their tom-toms, lamenting and lamenting they went to their village."

In the Jataka story No. 148 (vol. i, p. 315), a Jackal became imprisoned in the same way, but escaped when a tempest soaked the skin. The tale is also given in No. 490 (vol. iv, p. 206).

In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. i, p. 77, a man crept inside the skin of an Elephant from which jackals had eaten the flesh. A rain-storm caused it to contract (?) and closed the aperture. The flood carried it into the Ganges and thence to the sea. There a Garuda [Rukh] picked it up, and took it to Ceylon, where the man escaped when it tore open the hide. I insert the following as an account of the supposed state of things in Ceylon under the rule of Vibhisana, the Rakshasa King of Ceylon, after the death of Ravana: "Two Rakshasas contemplated him from a distance with feelings of fear." They reported his arrival to Vibhisana, who sent for him and entertained him in a friendly and hospitable manner. When asked how he came to Ceylon, the Brahmana cunningly replied that he had been sent by Vishnu, who had informed him that Vibhisana would present him with wealth. He stayed some time in the island, and was allowed a young Garuda on which to ride about the country, and at last he was carried back to Mathura by it.

In Old Deccan Days (Frere), p. 179, a Jackal got inside a dead bullock, and informed the scavengers who came to bury it that he was the god of their village. They poured water on the hide, and he escaped.

In Indian Folk Tales (Gordon), p. 61, a live Elephant swallowed a Jackal. The Jackal fed on the heart and killed the Elephant, but was imprisoned inside when the skin dried up. When the God Mahadeo (Siva), who was passing, heard cries and inquired who was there, the Jackal, after ascertaining who it was, said that he was Sahadeo, father of Mahadeo, and induced the latter to prove his identity by causing a heavy rainfall, owing to which the skin was softened and he escaped.

It is said in the Southern Province that all tom-tom beaters are fools. [92] In the North-western Province the same opinion is held regarding some of them. To what extent it is justified I am unable to say, but an example which supported the general notion fell under my own observation. Some jungle was being cut for an irrigation channel, at the side of an uncultivated field belonging to a tom-tom beaters' village, and one of the men came to watch the progress of the work. I questioned him regarding eggs. He stated at first that only things which could fly laid eggs, but he admitted that this rule did not apply to crocodiles, lizards, and snakes. About bats he was not certain, but thought they do not lay eggs. Rats certainly do not lay them, he said.

I had seen a Green Bee-eater flying near us, and I observed a small hole such as this bird makes as its nest-hole, in the sandy ground. I drew his attention to it, and he at once asserted that it was a rat-hole; of that he had no doubt whatever. "Well then, let us see if there are any eggs in it," I said, knowing that it was then the breeding season of the Bee-eaters.

He looked on, smiling ironically, while I got one of my men to open the tunnel carefully. When he came to the end, there on the sand, in a little saucer-shaped cavity, were four shining, spherical white eggs of the bird. The man was astonished, but was quite satisfied that they were rat's eggs. "I saw them with my two eyes," he said to my men, who all laughed at him.

The following stories were written for me as the foolish doings traditionally attributed to the tom-tom beaters of a village in the North-western Province. Apparently the village is at the side of a rice field.

NO. 40

A KADAMBAWA MAN'S JOURNEY TO PUTTALAM

In order to go to Puttalam, a Kadambawa man having yoked his bull in his cart, sent it in advance with the cart, saying, "My bull knows the way to Puttalam." He himself walked behind the cart.

The bull [being without guidance], having gone completely round the rice field, came again to the path leading to the man's house. There the man's children came out, saying, "Ade! Has our father been to Puttalam and come back?"

The man [thinking he had come to another village] said, "What are you saying 'Father' to me for? I am a Kadambawa man. I am going to Puttalam." Then he again sent on the bull in front [as before].

In the same manner as before, the bull having gone round the rice field came again to the house. Then those children saying, "Ade! Has our father been to Puttalam and come back?" went on in front.

Then the man said, "Ha! At each place that I go to, the boys call me 'Father.' I am a Kadambawa man. I am going to Puttalam. At a village on the road, also, certain boys said 'Father' to me." So saying, he again sent on the bull in front.

In the same way as before, the bull turning round the rice field came again to the village. Again the man's children said, "Ade! Has our father been to Puttalam and come back? Have you come on in front [of the others who went]?"

Then the man said, "Ha! At each place that I go to, the boys say 'Father' to me. I am a Kadambawa man. I am going to Puttalam. At two villages on the road the boys called me 'Father.'"

As he was setting off to go again, the man's wife came and spoke to him. Then the man having recognised that it was his own house, unfastened the bull, and having sent it off to eat food stayed quietly at home.

In The Orientalist, vol. ii, p. 102, there is a story by Mr. A. E. R. Corea, in which a man who was going to a village in order to hire out his bull, allowed the animal to take its own way while he trudged behind it. The bull wandered about eating, and at last lay down near a stream. The man being tired out also lay down, and fell asleep. He was close to his own house, and was found by his children when they went for firewood. When they spoke to him, he denied that he was their father, and drove them away; but his wife afterwards came, and by means of her broom-stick convinced him that he was at home.

NO. 41

THE KADAMBAWA MEN AND THE HARES

The Kadambawa men having gone to set nets, a great many hares were caught in the nets. Afterwards the men, having seized the hares, doubled up the hind legs of the hares at the joints, and the fore-legs at the joints, and threw them on the ground, in order to make a heap of them in one place afterwards. Then all the hares ran away into the jungle.

After all the hares in the nets had been finished, when they looked for the dead hares there was not even one hare. Then the men were astonished at the coming to life of the hares which they had killed, saying, "How thoroughly we killed the hares!" After having become fixed like stone [with astonishment] until nightfall, they went in the evening to their houses.

NO. 42

THE KADAMBAWA MEN AND THE MOUSE-DEER

The Kadambawa men having appointed a wedding-[day], and having caught a great many Mouse-deer [for eating at it], tied clappers on their necks like those on goats, and having made an enclosure put them in it, and came away. The Mouse-deer escaped into the jungle.

Having gone to it on the wedding-day, when they looked there was not one Mouse-deer left. Then the men, saying, "Ane! The Mouse-deer that we reared have all gone," came back to the village, much astonished.

NO. 43

THE KADAMBAWA MEN AND THE BUSH

As the Kadambawa men were going away with some drums one night, to attend a devil-dance, they met with a Wara [93] bush on the path, which looked like an elephant. The men became afraid, thinking, "Maybe an elephant has come onto the path." At the shaking of the leaves of the Wara bush they said, "He is shaking his ears."

Being afraid to go past the elephant, they beat the drums until it became light, to frighten the Wara bush. When they looked after it became light, it was not an elephant; it was a Wara tree. After that, they came back to their village. So they had neither the devil-dance nor went to sleep.

NO. 44

HOW THE KADAMBAWA MEN COUNTED THEMSELVES

Twelve Kadambawa men having gone to cut fence sticks, and having cut and tied up twelve bundles of them, set them on end leaning against each other [before carrying them home]. Then a man said, "Are our men all right? Have all come? We must count and see."

Afterwards a man counted them. When he was counting he only counted the other men, omitting himself. "There are only eleven men; there are twelve bundles of fence sticks," he said.

Then another man saying, "Maybe you made a mistake," counted them again in the same way. He said, "This time also there are eleven men; there are indeed twelve bundles of fence sticks."

Thus, in that manner each one of the twelve men counted in the same way as at first. "There are eleven men and twelve bundles of fence-sticks. There is a man short," they said, and they went into the jungle to look for him.

While they were in the chena jungle seeking and seeking, a man of another village, hearing a loud noise of shouting while he was going along the road, having come there to see what it was, found these twelve men quarrelling over it. Then this man asked, "What are you saying?"

The men said, "Twelve of our men came to cut fence sticks. There are now twelve bundles of sticks; there are only eleven men. A man is short yet."

When this man looked there were twelve men. So he said, "All of you take each one his own bundle of fence sticks." Then the twelve men having taken the twelve bundles of sticks came to their village.

In Indian Fables (Ramaswami Raju), p. 61, twelve pigs crossed a stream, and counting themselves in the same way on the opposite bank, thought that one had been drowned.

In Indian Nights' Entertainment (Swynnerton), p. 305, seven Buneyr men [weavers] counted their number as six, and were so delighted when a shepherd proved that there were seven that they insisted on doing a month's free labour for him. Next day, however, one killed his mother in driving a fly off her face, and another chopped off the heads of several goats for mocking him by chewing their cud while he was eating, so he dispensed with the rest of their services.

In the Adventures of the Guru Paramarta (Dubois, 1872) the Guru and his five foolish disciples, after long delay because of the danger, crossed a river in which the water was only knee-deep. On reaching the far bank one of them counted the party several times, omitting himself, and they concluded that one had been drowned in the river, which they had heard was a treacherous one. They lamented, and cursed the river, one after another, until a traveller arrived. When he had heard their story he offered to restore the missing man to them by means of magic, for which service they agreed to pay him all the money they had, forty panams of gold. He said to the Guru, "It is a very little thing in comparison with the service that I promise to render you. However, as you say it is all that you possess, and as you are in other respects a good man who does not intend any malice thereby, I consent." He set the six persons in a row, and struck each one a good blow on the back with his stick as he counted him in a loud voice.

In the Laughable Stories, of Bar-Hebraeus (Budge), the counting tale is No. 569. A man counted his asses and found there were ten, then having mounted on one he omitted it, and made the number nine. He dismounted and found there were ten; mounted again and counted only nine. He got down again, and saw that there were ten. Then saying, "Verily there is a devil in me, for whenever I mount an ass I lose one of them," he went on foot for fear of losing one permanently.

The counting incident is found in China also. In A String of Chinese Peach-Stones, by W. A. Cornaby, p. 276, a stupid Yamun underling who was taking a rascally monk to prison, kept counting the things he had with him, "Bundle, umbrella, cangue (the heavy wooden collar on the prisoner's neck), warrant, monk, myself." On the way he got drunk and went to sleep. The monk took advantage of the opportunity to shave his head and place the cangue on his neck, after which he absconded. When the man awoke, and began to count the things, he found everything there but himself.

NO. 45

THE KADAMBAWA MEN AND THE DREAM

When some Kadambawa men, having joined together, were going away to Puttalam, it became night while they were on the road. Having got a resting-place, and cooked and eaten, while they were sleeping a tusk elephant appeared to a man in a dream.

On the morning of the following day the man said to the other men, "Friends, last night I saw an evil dream."

The men asked, "What was in the dream?"

The man said, "I saw a tusk elephant."

Then the men began to interpret the dream. They said, "What is the meaning? If there is a tusk elephant there will be elephant's dung; if elephant's dung, paddy [which the elephant has eaten]; if paddy, uncooked rice; if uncooked rice, cooked rice; if cooked rice, it is a thing [found only] in the village. Therefore the elephant means the village. Something must have happened. It is useless for us to go on. Let us go back to the village." So all, weeping and weeping, set out to return to the village.

As they came to the rice field of the village, the women and boys of the village having heard the men coming crying and crying aloud, said, "Ane! Our men are coming crying and crying. What is it? It will be a dreadful thing." So the women and boys, having come from the houses to that side of the field before those men came across, began to cry also.

On seeing them, the man who saw the dream said to those other men, "Look there! Did I tell you falsely?" Then the men cried the more. Having seen it, these boys and women, they also cried more and more. The two parties having come quite near each other still cried. The women and boys on that side of the stile [at the edge of the field], these men on the field side of it, except that they cried said nothing.

While they were crying and crying until it became night, as a man from another village was going along the path he heard this uproar, and came to see what it was. He asked at the hand of the men, "What is it? Who is dead?"

Then the men, crying and crying, said, "Who is dead we don't know."

After that, the man having gone near those women and boys, asked, "What is it? Who is dead?"

Then those persons also said, crying and crying, "Who is dead we don't know."

Afterwards the man having stopped the crying of both parties, when he had asked them about it, there was nothing dreadful. So the man went away, and these men and women and boys, they also went to their houses.

In Indian Nights' Entertainment (Swynnerton), p. 348, a weaver girl said to herself that it would be a good thing if she married in her own village, but if she had a son and he were to die, how her relatives and friends would lament! The thought of it made her cry. When her aunts and friends observed it they all cried too, and her father and uncles and brothers coming up and seeing all these people crying, also cried. When a neighbour asked the men what it was about, who was dead? they could not tell him, but referred him to the women. He then learnt that these also did not know, but cried because they saw the girl crying.

NO. 46

THE FOUR TOM-TOM BEATERS

This story is told in the Southern Province to illustrate the foolishness of this caste.

Four Tom-tom Beaters when proceeding along a road together, met a man of lower caste than themselves. Before passing them he made an obeisance, and (as usual in such cases) said, "Awasara," "Permission"--that is, "Have I permission (to pass)?"--and then walked away.

While the Tom-tom Beaters were going along afterwards a dispute arose over it, each person claiming that he was the one who had been addressed, and to whom the obeisance had been made, as being the superior man of the party. Each maintaining his own view, and being unable to settle it in any other way, the four persons decided to refer the matter to the man himself. They therefore turned back and ran after him, and on overtaking him requested him to state from which of them he had asked the permission. As the question plainly indicated the sort of persons they were, he replied, "From the biggest fool among you."

This left matters just where they were, as each one, in order to prove his claim to the obeisance, then declared himself to be the greatest fool; and at last they related their foolish actions. These were pointless, and I did not preserve the details. Each, however, had two wives, this being one of the grounds on which all based their claims, and the details they gave consisted of accounts of the ill-treatment that they received from these women.

In Indian Nights' Entertainment (Swynnerton), p. 65, a traveller threw four pence to four weavers, each of whom claimed all the money. A second traveller's reasonable suggestion that each should take a penny was rejected, and they ran after the man, and asked for whom he had given them. When he inquired which was the wisest they told stories that only indicated their extreme stupidity, and in the end he gave them four pence each, all being equal in this respect.

The Abbé Dubois gave a similar story from the Tamil of Southern India, the men being four Brahmanas to whom a soldier said, "Saranam, eiyar" ("Homage, Sir"). The four replied, "Asirvatam" ("Benediction"), and the man went off. After disputing about it, they ran after him for a league, and asked him whom he saluted. He said, "Well, it is the biggest fool of four whom I intended to salute." Eventually the matter was referred to the headmen of the next village, who after hearing their accounts of their silly deeds, decided that each one might claim superiority over the others. "Thus," said they, "each one of you has gained his case." The men were satisfied, as each had won.

In Folk-Tales of Hindustan (Shaik Chilli), p. 1, there is a version in which two men were saluted by an old woman as they passed her. After a dispute over it, when they ran back and asked her about it, she replied that she saluted the greater fool of the two. Then they related their experiences to her, and she adjudged one to be a bigger fool than the other.

NO. 47

THE GOLDEN TREE

At a certain city there is a King, it is said; there are three Princes of that King. The King, while sleeping, saw in a dream that a Golden Tree sprang up, and on that Golden Tree a Silver Flower blossomed. A Silver Cock that was sitting on the Silver Flower crowed.

Afterwards the King caused the three Princes to be fetched. When the eldest Prince had been brought he asked him, "Son, can you explain this dream which I have had?"

The Prince asked, "What appeared in the dream, Father-King?"

The King said, "A Golden Tree having been created, on it a Silver Flower blossomed, and a Silver Cock crowed while sitting upon the flower."

The Prince said, "Ane! Father-King, I cannot interpret it; perhaps my two younger brothers will explain it."

Then the King having caused the next Prince to be fetched, asked him, "Son, can you explain this dream?"

The Prince asked, "Father-King, what appeared in the dream?"

The King told him the manner in which the things appeared in the dream.

The Prince said, "Father-King, I cannot explain it; perhaps younger brother will interpret it."

Then the King having caused the youngest Prince to be brought asked him, "Son, can you explain this dream?"

The Prince asked, "Father-King, what appeared in the dream?"

The King told him the manner in which the things appeared in the dream.

Then the Prince said, "O Lord, Your Majesty, I will interpret that dream, but I must first go in search of the explanation."

After that, the three Princes obtained leave of absence for three years. Having got it, the three persons, cooking a bundle of rice, and taking from their father permission to depart, started to go in search of the interpretation. Having gone on and on, they came to a junction of three roads. Having arrived at it, and eaten the bundle of cooked rice, the eldest Prince said, "I will go along this road; you go on those two roads." So the eldest Prince went along one road, the second Prince went along another road, and the youngest Prince went on the remaining road.

Having gone on and on, the youngest Prince arrived at the house of a widow woman. The woman said, "Ane! Son, what have you come here for? We have not even firewood for cooking."

The Prince asked, "Why, mother, is that?"

The widow woman said, "There is a Yaka in the jungle in which is the firewood. The Yaka has now eaten all the people of this city; few people are now in it."

The Prince asked, "How does that Yaka seize the men?"

The widow woman said, "When they go to the jungle and are cutting firewood, he comes saying 'Hu,' and eats them."

Afterwards the Prince, taking his sword, went to the jungle, and chopped a piece of firewood. The Yaka came, saying "Hu." Then the Prince chopped at the Yaka with that very sword, and the Yaka died there. After that, the Prince, taking a bundle of firewood, returned to the house of the widow woman.

The widow woman asked, "Son, did you meet with the Yaka?"

The Prince said, "I met with him; I killed the Yaka."

Then having cooked with the firewood, she gave the Prince to eat.

On the morning of the following day the King went to the jungle, and chopped firewood. That day the Yaka did not come, saying "Hu." Afterwards, through the Yaka's not saying "Hu," the King went to look for him, and saw that the Yaka was dead. So the King returned to the city, and saying, "I must find now, in a moment, the man who killed the Yaka," caused proclamation to be made by beat of tom-toms to that effect.

Having heard it, this widow woman, summoning the Prince, went to the palace, and told the King that he had killed the Yaka. After that the King asked at the hand of the Prince, "How did you kill the Yaka?"

The Prince said, "I went to the jungle, and while I was chopping firewood the Yaka having come crying "Hu," sprang onto me. Then I speedily chopped at him and killed him." Having heard this, the King gave the Prince a district of that kingdom, and an elephant's load of goods.

Afterwards the Prince gave all those things to the widow woman, and having gone away to another city, came to the house of a widow-mother. Having arrived there, the Prince said to her, "Ane! Mother, you must give me a resting-place to-day."

The widow-mother said, "I can indeed give you a resting-place, but there is no place to sleep in. You cannot sleep in the veranda; a light falls there during the night, and any person who sees that light dies. Nobody can stop the light. In order to stop it, the King has made public proclamation by beat of tom-toms that to any person who stops it he will give an elephant's load of goods, and a district of the kingdom."

The Prince asked her, "Mother, where does the light fall first?"

The widow-mother said, "In an open grass field in the middle of the city."

The Prince then said, "If so, go and tell the King to fix a raised platform at the place where the light falls, and having placed there a winnowing basket made of cow-dung, and a large pot of water, to come away. I will go there to-night and stop it."

So the widow-mother went and told the King. After that, the King prepared the things in that very manner, and came away.

In the evening, the Prince, having eaten food, went onto the platform. Near midnight, while he was there the light fell there. When the Prince looked, the Naga King of the world of the Nagas, having come there, had ejected from his mouth the Cobra Stone, and having gone far away was eating food [as a cobra].

Then this Prince put the cow-dung winnowing basket on the stone, whereupon the Naga King came crying out to the water-pot, taking it for the person [who had done it]. The Prince then chopped at him with his sword, and the Naga King died. After that, taking the Cobra Stone, the Prince washed it with water from the pot, and put it away in the waist pocket of his cloth.

While he was there it became light. Then the King came to see if he had stopped the light. When he looked he saw that the cobra was lying in a heap. The King asked at the hand of the Prince, "Did you stop the light?" The Prince said, "Look there! The very one that made the light has been killed there." Afterwards the King gave the Prince an elephant's load of goods, and a district of that kingdom.

Afterwards, the Prince having given to the widow woman all the things that had been given to him, went along the path on which the Naga King had come, to the world of the Nagas. When he got there, all the three Princesses of the Naga King whom he had killed were there, sitting in one spot.

The Princesses said to this Prince, "What have you come for? Should our father the King return now he will eat you."

The Prince saying, "Your father the King cannot come. I have come here after killing your father the King," showed them the Cobra Stone.

Then the Princesses asked, "What have you come here for?"

The Prince said, "I have come on account of a sooth-saying, in order to get it explained."

The Princesses asked, "What is the sooth?"

The Prince said, "At the time when our father the King was sleeping, a Golden Tree having sprung up, and a Silver Flower having blossomed on it, a Silver Cock which was sitting upon the flower crowed."

The three Princesses said, "We cannot explain it here. Let us go to your father the King."

The Prince said "Ha," and the three Princesses and the Prince set off to come to him.

They came to the junction of the three roads at which at first the three Princes separated. Having arrived there they went along the road on which the eldest brother of the Prince had gone, and having met with him the Prince said, "Let us go back, elder brother, these three Princesses will explain the dream"; so they returned. Then they all went along the road on which the next brother had gone, and having found him the Prince said, "Let us go back."

Having summoned him to go with them, those three Princes and the three Princesses, six persons, having met together in this manner, came to the Princes' city. Having arrived there, this youngest Prince caused their father the King to be called. So the King came to them.

Then these three Princesses who had come from the world of the Nagas said to this youngest Prince, "Cause us three persons to stand at the thread" (that is, to toe the line). So this Prince caused them to stand at the thread.

Then the three Princesses said, "Cut off our three heads at one stroke." So this youngest Prince cut off their three heads at one stroke. Thereupon the Golden Tree was created, and the Silver Flower having blossomed on it, the Silver Cock that was sitting on the top of the flower crowed.

Then this youngest Prince chopped down the Golden Tree with his sword, and the three Princesses came to life again. Having come to life, the three Princesses asked at the hand of the King, the father of the Princes, "Was it thus in the dream that appeared to you?" The King said "Yes." Then the three Princesses told him that they were the Golden Tree, and the Silver Flower, and the Silver Cock.

After that, the three Princesses, having been married to the three Princes, remained there.

Tom-tom Beater. North-western Province.

The Cobra King with the gem, a diamond, which he laid down while feeding, and swallowed afterwards, occurs in Old Deccan Days (Frere), p. 36. A girl, disguised as a Prince, hung in a tree a large iron trap fitted with knives underneath. Below it she scattered flowers and sweet scents "such as cobras love," and when the Cobra came at night she dropped the trap on him, and killed him. When she went to wash the diamond in the lake, the water on being touched by it rolled aside, and revealed a path which led to the garden at the Cobra's palace. In the garden she found a tree with a silver stem, golden leaves, and clusters of pearls as fruits. In the end, the Cobra's daughter came away with her.

In Folk-Tales of Bengal (Day), p. 18, a Cobra rose out of a tank, with a brilliant gem on its hood, which shone "like a thousand diamonds," and lit up everything around. The snake put it down and went in search of food, and swallowed the two horses of a Prince and his friend, the son of the Minister, who were belated, and sitting in a tree. While the snake was at some distance, the Minister's son descended, covered the gem with horse dung, and climbed back. The snake rushed to the spot, but could not find the gem, and eventually died. Next morning they descended, washed the gem in water, and saw by its light a palace under the water, in which they found a Princess whom the Prince married.

In the Jataka story No. 253 (vol. ii, p. 197) we learn that the Naga King called Mani-Kantha, "Jewel-throat," appears to have kept the gem in his throat. He said--

Rich food and drink in plenty I can have
By means of this fine jewel which you crave.

In the story No. 543 (vol. vi, p. 94), the Naga gem is mentioned as "the jewel which grants all desires." Naga youths are described as placing it on a hillock of sand, and "playing all night in the water by its radiance." One on the head of the Naga King is referred to on p. 97 as being one which, "bright-red like a lady-bird, glows on his head a diadem."

In the Panchatantra (Dubois), three jogis when killed while eating became three large copper pots filled with gold and valuable jewels.

In Wide-Awake Stories (Steel and Temple), p. 176--Tales of the Punjab (Steel), p. 166--a Princess was brought to life by cutting off, at one blow of the Sword, the heads of a pair of ducks.

In The Indian Antiquary, vol. i., p. 115, in a Bengal story by Mr. G. H. Damant, a King dreamt of a silver tree, with golden branches, diamond leaves, and pearl fruits; peacocks were playing in the branches and eating the fruits. The tree was a girl, imprisoned by Rakshasas. When a Prince cut her in two she became the tree; when he dropped the knife she took her own shape again.

NO. 48

THE SEVEN PRINCESSES

In a certain country there are a King and a Queen, it is said; there are seven Princesses [the daughters] of the King. A Prince younger than those seven is born.

The King went to a war, and having gone there the King was defeated in the war. When he returned, the royal food was not made ready for the King. Having arrived, he asked the Queen, "Why did you not prepare the royal food for me?"

Then the Queen said, "I cannot bring up your children, and prepare the royal food for you also."

The King asked, "Why? What have the Princesses done?"

The Queen replied, "They go to the river, and after bathing there come back and rub oil on their heads, and comb their hair, [instead of assisting me to prepare the food]."

On account of that the King settled to behead the seven royal Princesses next day.

The Queen having cooked a bundle of rice and given it to those seven said, "Go to any place you like, or the King will behead you to-morrow."

After that, they went off to the river, and after sitting there and eating the bundle of rice, the seven went away.

Having gone on and on, they went to the house of a Rakshasa. When they got there the Rakshasa was not at home. The seven persons asked for and obtained a resting place from the Rakshasi (female Rakshasa). Then the youngest Princess said, "We have no food; give us something to cook." So the Rakshasi gave them a little paddy.

The youngest Princess, taking the paddy, said to the other six Princesses, "Elder sisters, come and pound this small quantity of paddy." The six persons refused.

After that, the Princess having pounded it, when she went out to winnow it saw that there was a heap of human bones behind the house. The Princess bearing that in mind winnowed it, and returned without speaking about them. Then she called the Princesses to come and cook it; they did not come.

Afterwards the Princess having cooked, summoned those six persons to eat the rice. The six persons refused. Thereupon the Princess fed the six Princesses [by dividing the rice and giving each one her share of it].

Now, in the evening the seven Princesses went to sleep. There were seven girls at the house, the daughters of the Rakshasa, and the seven wore white clothes. The seven Princesses wore blue clothes. Then the youngest Princess having awoke in the night, took the seven white cloths of the seven Rakshasa girls, and put them on the Princesses, placing the dark cloths of the Princesses on the girls.

The Rakshasa having returned during the night, and having learnt from his wife of the arrival of the Princesses, put one of the girls out of those who wore the dark cloths, in a large cooking-pot, and having boiled her the Rakshasa ate his own daughter.

After seeing this, when the Rakshasa had gone to sleep, the little Princess, awaking those six Princesses, told them about it, and all the Princesses escaped together during the night. Having come to a river they remained there lying on a sandbank.

A King having come that way while they were there, asked, "Are you Yakas or human beings?"

The Princesses asked, "Is it a Yaka or a human being who asks?"

The King replied, "It is indeed a human being who asks, not a Yaka."

Then the Princesses said, "We indeed are human beings, not Yakas," [and they told him how they had escaped from the house of the Rakshasa and had come there].

On hearing this the King said, "Can you go with me?"

The Princesses having said, "We can," went with the King to his palace, and became his Queens. [94]

On the night of the following day, a daughter of the Rakshasa, having heard how the King had taken away the Princesses, came there, and remained lying on the sandbank.

On the next day, also, the King having come that way asked, "Are you a Yaka or a human being?"

The Rakshasa's daughter said, "Is it a Yaka or a human being who asks?"

The King replied, "It is indeed a human being who asks, not a Yaka."

The Rakshasa's daughter said, "I also am indeed a human being, not a Yaka."

Then the King said, "If so, can you go with me?"

The Rakshasi having said, "I can," went with the King to the palace, [and also became his wife.]

After a long time had gone by, all those seven Princesses were about to have children. One night, when the Princesses were asleep, the Rakshasi plucked out the eyes of the seven Princesses by magic, without awaking them, and having done so hid all the eyes. Then when the seven Princesses, having arisen, tried to go about, they were unable to go; they found that they could not see, so they lay down again.

Afterwards the King came to awake them. "Why are you sleeping yet?" he said.

The seven Princesses replied, "We are unable to get up; we have no eyes."

The King asked, "How have your eyes become displaced?"

The seven Princesses said, "What has happened we do not know; they have been plucked out while we were asleep."

Afterwards the King having said, "If so, go where you like," drove them away. The King allowed only the Rakshasi to stay.

The seven Princesses, having gone on and on, and having fallen down at a pool, gave birth to seven Princes there. Now, there was no food for the seven, so having cut up the Prince of the eldest Princess, and divided the body into seven parts, they ate for a day. On the next day, having cut up the next Princess's Prince and divided the body, they ate it. Thus, in that manner they ate the six Princes of the six persons.

On the next day they settled to cut up the Prince of the youngest Princess. Then the youngest Princess, on each of the days having put away her portions of flesh, said, "You shall not cut up my Prince. Look, here is your flesh," she said, and gave them the six portions of flesh. The six persons ate them.

[The narrator did not state how they subsisted after that.]

While this youngest Princess was rearing that Prince there, after the Prince went to the chena jungle one day, he met with a Vaedda. The Vaedda said, "Let us go together to the King's city." [95] The Prince said "Ha," and went with him. There the King saw him, and being pleased with him gave him food and the like. The Prince having eaten, after he had come again to the pool the Prince's mother asked, "Where did you go?"

The Prince said, "I went to the King's city."

His mother asked, "What did you go for?"

The Prince replied, "I went 'simply'" (that is, for no special purpose).

The Princess having said, "Aha!" while she was still there the Prince said, "I am going to the forge."

Having gone to the forge he said to the smith, "Make and give me a bow and an arrow." The smith said, "Cut a stick and come with it." So the Prince went to the chena jungle to cut a stick. There was no suitable stick, but a golden shoot had fallen down there, and having taken it he gave it to the smith. The smith said, "This is not good; bring another stick," so the Prince went and brought another stick. The smith made a good bow and arrow out of the stick, and gave them to him.

Then the Prince having taken the bow and arrow, and shot a deer, carried it to the city. After he had gone there they gave him paddy, rice, flesh, and cooking-pots, and the like for it. Then the Prince having taken them to the pool where the Princesses were, gave them to his mother the Queen. Afterwards he shot a deer every day, and having taken it to the city carried back to the Princesses the things that he received for it.

One day having shot a deer, as he was about to take it to the city the Prince's mother told him to carry it to the palace. While he was there the Rakshasi saw him, and having made inquiry got to know that he was the son of the youngest Princess. So she said to him, "Take a letter to our house for me," and gave it to him.

As the Prince was going that day taking the letter, it became night, so he went to a city, and asked a widow woman for a resting-place for the night. The woman of the house said, "Ane! What have you come to this city for? A Yaka has eaten all who were in this city. To-night he will be coming for my daughter."

The Prince asked, "How will the Yaka come?"

The woman said, "Four miles away he says, 'Hu'; then a mile away he says, 'Hu'; and having come from there near the stile at the road, he says, 'Hu'."

The Prince asked, "Are there Kaekuna [96] seeds here?"

The daughter said, "There are," and she gave him a sackful of them.

Then he told the daughter, whose father had been the King of the city, not to be afraid. "If the Yaka should come I will kill him," he said. So the Prince went to sleep, placing a sword that he had brought at his side, and laying his head on the waist pocket of the Princess.

Afterwards the Yaka cried "Hu," when four miles away, and tears fell from the eyes of the Princess on the breast of the Prince when she heard it. Next, the Yaka cried "Hu," when a mile away. The Princess having spoken words to him on hearing it, he arose. "What is it?" he asked. The Princess said, "The Yaka is coming." Then the Prince emptied the sack of Kaekuna seeds at the door, and took up his sword.

As the Yaka, having come, was springing into the doorway, he slipped on the seeds, and fell. Thereupon the Prince cut and killed the Yaka with his sword, and having put his body in a well which was there, covered it up with earth.

After the Prince had told the Princess about himself and the seven Princesses, he said, "I must go now."

The Princess asked him, "What else is there in your hands?"

The Prince replied, "There is a letter which the Queen has ordered me to take to her home."

The Princess having said, "Where is it? Let me look at it," took it, and when she looked at it there was written in it, "Mother, eat the Prince who brings this letter, and eat the eyes of those seven persons."

Then the Princess having torn up the letter, wrote another letter, "Mother, having taken care of the Prince who brings this letter, send medicine for the eyes of those seven persons." Having written it she gave it into the hands of the Prince.

The Prince carrying the letter, and having taken a bundle of cooked rice to eat on the way, went to the house of the Rakshasi. As he was coming near the house he saw a Rakshasi sitting at the road. When she saw him she said, "The flesh of that one who is coming is for me."

The Prince asked, "What art thou saying?" and gave the letter to the Rakshasi, and asked for the medicine for the eyes. After reading the letter the Rakshasi prepared abundant food for him, and gave him lodgings that day.

Next day, showing him a tree, she said, "After you have rubbed the juice of this tree on the eyes of the persons who are blind, their eyes will become well."

The Prince said, "If so, tie a little of it in a packet and give me it." So the Rakshasi having tied up a packet of it gave him it.

Then the Prince having taken it back, rubbed it on the eyes of those seven persons, and their eyes became well.

Afterwards, the Prince having gone with them to the city where he killed the Yaka, married the Princess, and remained there.

North-western Province.

This story does not appear to have been met with among the people of Southern India, but variants are well-known in other parts of the country. In all these forms of the tale the wicked Rakshasa Queen is killed.

In Indian Fairy Stories (Ganges Valley), by Miss Stokes, there are two variants, pp. 51 and 176. In both, a demoness or Rakshasi whom the King married induced him to cause the eyes of his other seven Queens to be plucked out, and six of the infants whom they bore were eaten, the seventh being saved as in Ceylon.

In one story the boy was sent for the milk of a tigress, an eagle's feather, and night-growing rice; in the other he went for rose-water, flowers, and a dress. A friendly Fakir in one tale, and a Princess in the other, substituted other letters for those in which the demons or ogres were instructed to kill him, so that he was well received and succeeded in his errands. In one case he got the blind Queens' eyes, and ointment to make them as before; in the other he brought back magic water that cured them.

In Tales of the Punjab (Steel), p. 89, and Wide-Awake Stories (Steel and Temple), p. 98, the demoness Queen persuaded the King to give her the eyes of the seven Queens, which she strung as a necklace for her mother. The seventh boy, who was shooting game for the blind Queens' food, was sent for the eyes and got thirteen, one having been eaten. The written message which requested that he should be killed was changed by a Princess. On two other journeys he obtained the Jogi's white cow which gave milk unceasingly, and rice that bore a million-fold, by the aid of which the seven Queens became the richest people in the kingdom. After he had married the Princess who assisted him, the King heard the whole story, and killed the demoness.