Chapter XIV: Part 14

[As the six Princes claimed to have caught the Fish themselves, the Prince, who had left his clothes at the Bo tree and had again taken the form of the Gourd], caused many persons to be brought, and told them to stretch out and look at the tongues of these six persons. [It also produced their finger-rings as proof that it was the Gourd who had caught the Fish]. Having shown that the tongues of the six persons were cut, the Gourd, having employed the servants, [made them] cut open the Gourd.

[The God Sakra then rose out of it in his Prince's form, and said,] "I am not [of] the things conceived in a womb. Because for the god Sakra that is impure, having created the Gourd I was born [in it]. As there was deficiency of merit for our father the King, I [thus] caused it to be cast away."

(Probably he then returned to Indraloka, his divine world, but the narrator omitted to state this. There were many other omissions at which it will be seen that I have endeavoured to supply the necessary words).

North-western Province.

In the Maha Bharata (Vana Parva, cvi), a wife of King Sagara bore a gourd. The King was about to throw it away, but a celestial voice ordered him to preserve the seeds carefully, and each became a son; these were sixty thousand in number.

In Korean Tales (Dr. H. N. Allen), p. 98 ff., a number of people made their appearance out of gourds which grew on plants obtained from seeds brought by swallows.

NO. 154

THE STORY OF THE SHELL SNAIL

In a certain country there are a Gamarala and a Gama-mahange (his wife), it is said. The children of those two are two sons and a daughter. The big son one day having worked a rice field, at noon came home for food. The Gama-mahange was a little late in giving the food. The son quarrelled [with her] over it. That day at night the Gama-mahange spoke to the Gamarala that he must bring and give an assistant (a wife) to the son.

On the next day the Gamarala having gone to seek a girl, while he was going asking and asking from village to village, in even a single place he did not meet with a girl.

Afterwards the Gamarala having come to the village, when he was there a considerable time, again the son of the Gamarala quarrelled with the Gama-mahange. While he was quarrelling, the Gamarala and the Gama-mahange, both of them, said, "Don't thou stay making and making quarrels here. Go to any place thou wantest." Afterwards the son went somewhere or other. The other younger son is going for rice-field work.

For that elder brother who went away the younger sister had much affection. Because of it, from the day on which the elder brother went away this younger sister through grief does not eat. Having said, "Without seeing our elder brother I cannot remain," she is weeping.

Then the younger elder brother says, "Why, younger sister? I am [here]; is that insufficient for you?"

Then the younger sister says, "Why, elder brother, are you saying thus? If two persons give me more assistance than the assistance of one person, how good it is for me!"

Afterwards, that elder brother one day having gone to the rice field, at the time when he was chopping the earthen ridges (niyara) met with a Shell Snail (golu-bellek). Having brought the Snail home, and given it into the hand of the younger sister, he said, "There, younger sister! I brought for you a small round-backed elder brother. Because of it, don't you be sorrowful now."

Afterwards, that younger sister, taking the Snail, having wrapped it in a cloth and placed it in a box, put it away. Having put it away, three times a day having taken the Snail and looked at it, she says, "Our two parents having quarrelled with our elder brother drove him away. On account of it our little elder brother brought you and gave you to me. Owing to it [also], little round-backed elder brother, there is grief in my mind." She having said and said [this], and every day having said thus when putting it away, one day the Gamarala stayed listening.

Having been listening he says at the hand of the Gama-mahange, "What, Bolan, is this thing that our girl is saying? You also come and listen." Then the Gama-mahange having come and been listening, the two persons spoke together, "It is through grief, indeed, that her elder brother is not [here]. There is no need to say anything about it."

Well then, while the girl in that manner for a considerable time is saying and saying thus to the Shell Snail, one day when the girl is saying so again, the snail shell having burst open a Prince was born looking like a sun or a moon.

After that, the girl having thrown away the bits of shell into which the snail shell burst, bathed the Prince, and took him. Having sent milk into a finger for the Prince, he continued to drink milk from her finger. When he was there no long time a tale-bearer told the King that there was a very good [looking] Prince at the Gamarala's house. Afterwards the King having sent Ministers caused them to look. The Ministers having looked and having gone, told the King, "The Prince, indeed, is the royal Prince sort."

Afterwards the King gave permission [300] for summoning the Prince and the mother who was rearing the Prince to come to the palace. After that, the Ministers having gone to the Gamarala's house brought the Prince and the Gamarala's girl to the palace.

Afterwards, the King taking charge of the Gamarala's girl and the Prince, when for the Prince the age of about twelve years was filled up, the King died. Having appointed the Prince to the sovereignty he remained ruling the kingdom with the ten kingly virtues.

North-western Province.

The feeding of a Prince from the finger is found in the Maha Bharata (Drona Parva, lxii), in which Indra is represented as thus feeding Prince Mandhatri, who made his appearance in the world out of his father's left side, as a consequence of the latter's having drunk some sacrificial butter or ghi, which had the magic property of causing the birth of a son. The food thus provided was so nourishing that the infant grew to twelve cubits in as many days. In A. von Schiefner's Tibetan Tales (Ralston), this Prince was not fed thus, but was suckled by the eighty thousand wives of his father, having been born from a tumour on the crown of the King's head; his boyhood occupied twenty-one million (and a few hundred thousand) years.

In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. iii, p. 216, in a legend of the founding of the Vaisali kingdom, two children are described as being reared by a religious mendicant by means of a supply of milk which issued from his thumbs.

NO. 155

THE QUEEN OF THE ROCK HOUSE [301]

A certain Gamarala had two daughters and two sons. During the time when they were [there], the elder sister and the younger sister go to the pansala to make flower offerings. Having gone, the younger sister when making the flower offering wishes, "May I receive wealth," she says. The elder sister when making the flower offering wished, "May I succeed in eating the bodies of the relatives whom there are of mine." The younger sister does not mention the form in which she wishes this wish.

When there is a little time [gone] in this manner, having spoken about a marriage for the big daughter, the wedding was [made] ready. It having taken place, they went calling her to another village. Having gone, after a little time had gone the woman began to eat the men of that city. Having eaten and eaten them, after the men of the city were finished she ate also the husband who married [302] her. Belonging to him a female child was born. Keeping the child, without anyone of the city being with the woman she was alone.

Then her father came. That day night, having given him amply to eat and drink,--there was a house [303] adjoining the house [303] in which she is; in the direction of the house in which she is, between that house and this house the wall was closed with coconut leaves,--in the house she allowed her father who came, to sleep at night. Having given it she said, "Father, at this village is much small-pox. The men of this village and my husband were lost [by it]. Having been lost, [while] so much time was passing you did not remember me. It happened that you did not want me; you have wanted only younger sister. It is good. What am I to do?" Having said [this] she wept a weeping. [304]

Thereupon the old man says, "No, daughter, I have been ill. Because of it, indeed, I did not succeed in coming," he said.

In that manner having said false words, having been weeping and weeping, she told him to sleep in the house beyond the house in which she is, and having spread mats gave them. Having given them she said, "Father, don't you be afraid; I also, so long a time, remained alone, indeed, with this child," she said.

This woman also, having come away, lay down. [305] Having been lying down, after her father went to sleep this woman brought a stick, and having beaten and killed him, during that night ate that man also.

Owing to that man's being missing, his son came. Him, also, in that very way she ate. His younger brother also came; him, also, she ate in that manner.

Owing to the three persons, the persons who went, not coming, both [the father's] wife and younger daughter went. When they went, says this woman, "Ane! Mother, the men of this city, and father who came from there also, and both younger brothers and all, died. Keeping this girl, I am alone in this village. From anyone of you, at any time whatever, there will not be assistance [for me]. I said you will come; since yesterday I have been expecting you," and weeping she went in front of her mother and younger sister.

Having gone and talked, she allowed the two persons to sit in another house. Having allowed them to sit in it, she made ready and gave food and drink, and having allowed those two persons to lie down, she told them to go to sleep. She also having gone lay down.

What though she allowed this mother and daughter to sleep! In the mind of that younger sister of hers is that formerly wished word when making the flower offering. Owing to that circumstance she remained during that day and night without sleep. Her mother, snoring and snoring, was sleeping well.

Having heard the snoring, this human-flesh-eating woman, taking also the men-killing party, came in order to kill and eat these two persons. When [they were] coming there, that girl cried out, "Elder sister, a dog came," she cried.

Then this girl having gone into the house, and having been in the house, at the time of her coming half closing the door, said, "Ci, Ci, dog!" and came crying out. In this way [the elder sister] came two or three times. What of her coming! She was unable to eat them. [306]

In this manner the girl having been awake, at the watch when it becomes light came calling her mother, and they began to run away. At the time when they were going this human-flesh-eating Rakshasi awoke. Having awoke, when she looked she got to know that these two persons have gone. Ascertaining it, that woman, learning that they had done this very trick, began to run [after them]. At the time when she was going running she met with these two persons. When meeting with them that girl cried out. While [she was] coming, when the big woman looked [back], having seen that this one is running [after them] she became stone there.

That girl began to run [off alone]. That Rakshasi having eaten the point of the stone which her mother had become, when she looked that girl was running off. Because she was unable to eat the stone she bounded on the girl's path. When she was going bounding [on it], at the root of an Indi (wild date) tree the door of a rock house opened. After that, this Princess crept into the rock house [and the door closed again]. After that, the Rakshasi who became a demon went away.

Then, when a King, the Ministers, and gentlemen (mahattayo) came walking, [the King] said a four-line verse. When he was saying it, this Princess who was in the rock house at the root of the Indi tree also said a four-line verse. Then anger having come to the King, he said, "There! Who is the person who said that four-line verse? Look and seek," he said.

Thereupon, when the party sought and looked, anyone you like was not there. The party having gone back, and come to the King, told him, "O Lord, Your Majesty, we sought and looked everywhere; we indeed are unable to find her," they said.

After that, the King said yet a four-line verse. To that also the Princess, being in the rock, said a four-line verse. At that time, also, he told the Ministers to seek; on that occasion, too, they could not find her. On that occasion, also, having come to the King, they said, "O Lord, Your Majesty, we this time also looked; we indeed are unable to find her," they said.

After that, the King having gone near the spot where she said the four-line verse, said yet also a four-line verse. When [he was] saying it, having been very near under the ground she said a four-line verse. Then the King asks, "Did a Yaka, or a Yaksani, or a Deity, or a Devatawa (Godling) say that four-line verse? You must inform me to-day," the King said.

Then the Princess who is in the rock house at the root of the Indi tree, said, "I am not a Yaka, and not a Deity, and not a Devatawa; I am a human being. Who speaks outside there I cannot ascertain. Because of it you must tell me who it is," the Princess who is in the rock house at the root of the Indi tree said.

Then the King says, "I am not a Yaka. Me indeed they call the King of this city," the King said.

"If so, is the truth the contrary, is the truth the contrary?" three times she asked.

The King also assured her of his kingly state. After that the stone door of the rock house at the root of the Indi tree opened. After it opened, having seen that the Queen was there, possessing a figure endowed with much beauty, to the degree that he was unable to look [at her], the King was minded to marry her. Having been so minded, placing her on the back of the tusk elephant he went to the city at which he stayed.

Having gone [there, and married her], when a little time was going a child was conceived (uppannaya) in the Queen's womb. When it was conceived, because the city in which she stayed was a solitary city (tani nuwara) in that country there was no midwife-mother. Because of it, when going through the middle of the jungle in order to proceed to yet [another] city, [she and the King arrived at an abandoned city].

Having arrived, this King walked around the city, and when he looked about, from one house, only, he saw that smoke goes. Having seen it he went to the house, and when he looked a woman and the woman's little girl were [there]. After that, this woman saw that the King is going. Having seen him she asked at the King's hand, "Lord, where is Your Majesty going?" she asked.

Then the King said, "The Queen of the rock house at the root of the Indi tree having married me, she is with a child. For it there being no midwife, I came to seek one," the King said.

Then the Rakshasa-goblin [307] got into her mind, "What of my younger sister's being hidden that day indeed! To-day I shall eat her." Thinking [this], this woman-Rakshasi said, "Maharaja, I well know midwifery. Regarding that indeed, why will you go to another place and become wearied?" she said.

The King having said, "It is good," on hearing her word went summoning her.

On the very day she went, in the night pains seized the Queen of the rock house at the root of the Indi tree. She went to the place where they were seizing her. When she went that Queen got to know that she came in order to eat her. Although ascertaining it she did not mention it to the King.

Well then, [the Rakshasi] having come, during the night she bore [a child]. After she bore [the child] that Rakshasi ate all the after-birth (waedu-mas) that was there. The Queen did not tell that also to the King.

Well then, having finished (nimadu wela) at the parturition house (waedu-ge[yi]n), during that night [the Queen] went to sleep. After she went to sleep, lifting up the child and the Queen with the bed on which they were sleeping, this Rakshasi during the night began to go away. When going this Queen awoke. Having awoke, when going under trees she broke and broke dead sticks, and put them into the bed for weight to be caused (bara-gaehenda). On her placing them [there], when the bed is being made heavy the Rakshasi says, "It is good; make it heavy. What of my being unable to eat you, you having crept into the rock house at the root of the Indi tree!" Saying and saying, "To-day indeed I shall eat you," disputing and disputing with her she went along.

When she was going thus, a banyan branch had bent down to the path; on the banyan branch this Queen hung. This Rakshasi went on, carrying simply the bed. Having gone, having put the bed on the ground, when she looked the Queen was not on the bed.

Afterwards she came bounding again very near this banyan tree. This one ascertained that unless [the Queen] goes near the banyan tree, she is unable to go by another place. Ascertaining it, and having gone on and on among the branches and among the leaves in the tree, saying and saying, "I will eat thee, I will eat thee," she began to walk about. Although she is walking about that Queen is not visible through the power of the resolution of the Gods.

Then, on the morning of the following day, when [the King] looked this Queen is not [present]. Afterwards the King, together with the Ministers, for the purpose of seeking the Queen having entered the jungle forest wilderness, when going away to seek her, in the midst of the forest, near a leafy banyan tree they heard a sound of a human voice, "I will eat thee, I will eat thee."

When they look what affair this is, the King's Queen and the child are in the tree. That Rakshasi having said [to herself] that this King will cut her down, ran off through fear.

The King asked the royal Queen, "By what means came you here?" he asked.

Then the Queen said, "The midwife-mother came lifting my child and me with the bed, in order to eat me."

After that, the King having taken the Queen and gone, and having sent her to the palace, made a bonfire (lit., fire-heap) in the midst of the wilderness, and set fire to it. Having set fire to it, when the smoke was going that Rakshasi having walked [there] asked, "Regarding what circumstance is [this done]?" she asked.

When she was asking the King said, "The Queen of the rock house at the root of the Indi tree having died, we are making the tomb for her relics (da sohon)," he said.

As soon as he says it, [308] having said, "Ane! If I did not eat a little flesh from my younger sister to-day, what am I living for?" she sprang into the blazing heap; having sprung [into it] she died. The King after that, together with the Queen, remained in happiness.

Because through fear on the day when the stone door at the root of the Indi tree opened, she sprang into the house, and having been there was married to the King, she kept the name, "The Queen of the Rock House at the root of the Indi tree."

North-western Province.

This story contains references to several notions that are still preserved in the villages, such as the fulfilment of wishes, either silent or expressed aloud, when presenting offerings at the wiharas, the protection of human beings by the personal intervention of guardian deities, and the existence of internal apartments in certain rock masses. A high rounded hill of gneiss is pointed out at Nirammulla, in the North-western Province, [309] inside which King Vira-Bahu is stated to have constructed a palace; and many flat rocks which emit a hollow sound when trodden on are supposed to contain such an apartment or "house" as that mentioned in this tale. The belief that a human being may become a demon before death is, I think, not now held; but in the Jataka story No. 321 (vol. iii, p. 48) a wicked boy became a preta "while still alive."

Examples of the wishes made on presenting religious offerings are to be seen in the Jataka stories Nos. 514, 527, and 531. In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. ii, p. 137, it is stated, "Thus, when one pronounces a wish in the name of acts productive of goodness that one has effected, the realisation depends solely on the heart and good fortune; whatever may be the mark at which one aims there is no one who does not attain it."

In Tales of the Sun (Mrs. H. Kingscote and Pandit Natesa Sastri), p. 220, a girl who was being carried off by robbers while on her cot, escaped like the Queen in this story.

In Tales of the Punjab (Mrs. F. A. Steel), p. 227, the same incident is found, the person who escaped being the wife of a barber, whom thieves were carrying off. In this case she did not first increase the load on the bed by branches or fruits. (See also vol. i, p. 357.)

In Indian Fairy Tales (M. Stokes), p. 140, a Prince who was going in search of a magic Bel fruit was instructed by a fakir how to take it, and was warned that if he looked back while returning, he and his horse would be turned into stone. This occurred, and nothing was then done to them by the fairies and demons who were chasing them. Afterwards the fakir found them, cut his little finger from the tip to the palm, smeared the blood from it on the Prince's forehead and on the horse, prayed to God, and they became alive again.

In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. i, p. 210, the son of a Brahmana smashed with a lighted piece of wood the skull of a person who was being burnt in a funeral pyre in a cemetery. Some of the brain flew out and entered his open mouth, and he immediately became a Rakshasa.

In the same work, vol. ii, p. 578, an Apsaras who was the wife of a gambler was by a curse of Indra's turned into an image (apparently a wooden or stone relief) on a pillar in a temple. The Jewish legend of Lot's wife shows that the notion of such transformations, especially when a person disobeyed an injunction not to look back, was of very ancient date.

In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., pp. 191 ff., four Princes were changed into stones by a Jogi, or Hindu ascetic. In a footnote, p. 192, Mr. Knowles gives references to such metamorphoses elsewhere, among them being the turning of a hunter into stone [310] owing to a curse by Damayanti. Mr. Knowles states that many stones in Kashmir are believed to be the petrified bodies of men who have been cursed. I do not remember seeing or hearing of any instances of such petrifaction in Ceylon, but we may gather from the story just given and that numbered 136 that such a belief is held there.

In the same work, pp. 401-403, there is an account of two Princes who went in search of a wonderful bird, and were changed into stone when they turned back in alarm. Their younger brother was more successful, and got a pot of magic water, which when sprinkled on his brothers and on many other stones lying on the ground, caused them to resume their human state.

In Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest (W. Skeat), p. 67, it is remarked that the Malays believe that there were once numerous gigantic spirits who could transform people whom they addressed by name into wood or stone.

In the Preface to The Kathakoça, p. xiii, Mr. Tawney quoted Dr. Bühler's words regarding the Jain belief in animism,--that souls are to be found "in apparently lifeless masses, in stone, in clods of earth, in drops of water, in fire and in wind"--and mentions that as far as he knew, the Jains stand alone in this belief. Nevertheless, in the cases of Ahalya and Rambha, and the Apsaras of the Katha Sarit Sagara,--who, while she was in the form of an image or relief, shed tears on seeing her husband,--as well as in the examples in the other folk-tales, [311] the notion appears to be that the soul or spirit continued to exist in the petrified body, which was ready to return to its original state as soon as some necessary occurrence took place, whether a sprinkling of charmed water which neutralised the former spell, or the termination of a period fixed by a curse, or otherwise. We can perhaps see further evidence of the existence of the same belief in India and Ceylon in the stone statues of guardian deities, such as Bhairava, Nagas, Yakshas, and Rakshasas, carved at religious edifices; they, as well as the figures in the Euphrates Valley and Egypt, appear to have been thought to act as protectors because, although formed of stone, a soul existed in them, that is, so far as evil spirits were concerned they were living stones, and not mere scarecrows.

In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. iii, p. 219, there is an account of the death and burial of a Prince aged fifteen, whose soul remained in his body afterwards. When a pine tree which had been planted over the grave sent down a root that reached his heart, the soul became alarmed, climbed up the root, and lodged among the leaves of the tree. It had other adventures.

In the Arabian Nights (Lady Burton's ed., vol. i, p. 145), a lady described her arrival at a city in which the King and Queen and all the inhabitants had been transformed by Allah into black stones, with the sole exception of the King's only son, a devout Muhammadan.

In vol. vi of the same work, p. 121, a man arrived at a great city in which all the inhabitants, with the exception of the royal Princess, had been changed into stone at the prayer of a Muhammadan Prophet. In both these instances the petrified persons were not revived.

See also the Notes after the last story in vol. iii.

In Kaffir Folk-Lore (Theal), p. 36, a rock opened at a boy's request, and he and his sister lived in it, leaving and returning at will. At p. 83, some boys when chased by cannibals took refuge in a rock which "a little man" turned into a hut; to the cannibals it was still a rock.

With regard to the remarks on the last page, two Sinhalese histories, the Rajavaliya and Pujavaliya, give a legend which indicates a belief that even the statues of guardian animals possessed souls. It is recorded of King Mitta-Sena (A.D. 435-436) that on one occasion when the state elephant was not ready for him when he had been worshipping the Tooth-relic of Buddha, "the King became angry and asked whether the great elephant image could not take him on its back. The elephant, made of tile [brick] and mortar, approached the King, made him to sit on his back, took the King to the city, placed him in the palace, and went away" (Raj., Gunasekara's translation, p. 54).

It is probable that the figures of guardian animals or deities carved only in relief, or even represented in paintings, may have been thought to possess souls of their own--that is, to act protectively as sentient beings.

It is merely a step forward to the idea in the Quatrain of wise old Omar Khayyam:--

"I saw a busy potter by the way
Kneading with might and main a lump of clay;
And lo! the clay cried, 'Use me tenderly,
I was a man myself but yesterday!'"

NO. 155A

THE STORY OF THE ELDER SISTER AND YOUNGER BROTHER

At a certain village there was a Gamarala. While a woman contracting (lit., tying) marriage with him was [there], a female child and a male child were born. After they two were born the woman died.

After that, for the man they again brought a woman. Because the woman [312] did not take notice of the children, the children think, "There is no advantage to us in staying here; let us leave the country and go." Having said [this] they began to go.

While they were thus going they entered a forest jungle, and at the time when they were proceeding in it the flowers of a Kina tree [313] having blossomed and faded, the elder sister picked up flowers that had fallen, and took them and smelt them.

Having said, "These flowers are not good," the younger brother went up the tree and plucked flowers. At the time when he was descending the younger brother disappeared (naeti-wuna). The elder sister through grief at it remained at the bottom of the tree.

While a King of the city was going hunting, having seen that the woman is staying under the tree, the King came near and spoke [to her]. Thereupon the woman did not speak; but the King, holding her by the hand, [314] went summoning her to the city [and married her].

While staying at the city, the woman having become pregnant a child was born. The King told her to fix a name for the child. Then also (et) the woman did not speak.

While the two persons were staying thus for a little time, again a child was born. The King told the woman to fix a name for that child also. Then also this woman did not speak. "Why don't you speak?" the King asked. Then also she did not speak.

On yet a day, the King went hunting with the Ministers, and having gone walking and come near the city, told the Ministers to go. The Ministers having gone there, say at the hand of that woman, "A bear bit (lit., ate) the King to-day."

When they are saying it falsely, the Queen, taking the two children, and having descended from the palace to the path, and fallen on the ground, sitting down says to the two Princes, "Sun-rays Prince, Moon-rays Prince, weep ye for your father; I am weeping for my younger brother."

The King having secretly come again near the palace, remained listening. Having seen it, the Queen, taking the two Princes, got into (etul-wunaya) the palace. The King having come to the palace and entered it, said, "Why did you not speak for so much time?"

Then the Queen says, "After our mother was summoned and came to our father, after I and a younger brother were born our mother died. Then they brought a step-mother. Because that mother disregards [315] younger brother and me, younger brother and I left the country, and having entered a forest jungle, when we were coming the flowers of a Kina tree had blossomed and fallen. Taking the faded flowers I smelt them. Thereupon younger brother said, 'Don't smell the faded flowers; I will pluck and give [you] flowers.' Having said [this] and gone up the tree, at the time when [after] plucking the flowers he was descending, younger brother disappeared. Owing to grief at that I remained unable to speak."

Afterwards the King, taking axe and saw and calling people, having gone near the Kina tree, and cut and sawn the tree, when he looked [inside it] the younger brother who was lost was [there]. Then the King, calling the younger brother, came to the city, and showed him to the elder sister. The elder sister arrived at happiness again.

North-western Province.

The story provides no explanation of the cause of the brother's imprisonment inside the trunk of the tree. Apparently the deity--presumably a Yaka--who resided in the tree punished him in this manner for plucking the flowers, yet the King cut down the tree with impunity. At the present day, the Sinhalese villagers would not venture to injure or pluck flowers from a tree infested by a Yaka. Many years ago all refused to fell a Kumbuk tree of this kind which it was necessary to remove from an embankment I was restoring; but some of my Tamil coolies had not the same scruples when encouraged by extra pay, to counterbalance the risk. Probably they would have been less venturesome in their own country.

The notion that a person may exist inside a tree trunk in a state of suspended animation is found in other folk-tales. In No. 47, vol. i, a Naga Princess became a tree; in an Indian variant on p. 269, the tree was a girl imprisoned thus by Rakshasas. (See the notes after No. 155, and also p. 245 of this volume.)

NO. 156

THE QUEEN AND THE BEGGAR

At a city there exists a Beggar, begging, and continuing to eat [thus]. There is a travellers' shed near the pool at which the Queen of that city bathes. The Beggar having come [after] begging and begging, eats at that travellers' shed.

When the Queen was coming [after] bathing in the water, the Beggar went in front of her. Having said, "Why did a Beggar like thee come, and come in contact with me?" [316] she spat three times.

He having felt (lit., thought) much shame, went to the house of the washerman who cleans the cloths of the city. He remained doing work for him for wages. The washerman asked, "Why are you working for wages?"

"[In order] one day to get the crown and [royal] suit of clothes [317] I am working for wages,--at the time when the King (raju) is coming to the chamber," [he said].

At the time when [the King] was coming to the chamber in which is the Queen, he stopped, investigating [matters]. Before the King came, [the Beggar], putting on the royal ornaments [and clothes], went. The guards finished the auspicious wish; [318] after that he went into the chamber.

The Queen having come and given the auspicious wish, he forbade the adjuration. [319] When forbidding it, having said, "What [sort of] woman art thou also!" he spat in her face. This one having spat went away.

After that the King came. The guards thought, "To-day the King went here; what came he again for?" After he went to the chamber the Queen did not give him the auspicious wish. The King inquired why she did that.

Having said, "Now, on one occasion (gamanaka), as I am bad you spat in my face; have I now become good?" she asked.

After that, the King [on hearing her account] sitting down there, wrote two bars of a four-line stanza (siwpada de padayak):--

"The angry tone displayed, the King is desolating;
The courier bold who charmed my love, long bound, is flying.
Speak not so harshly, here with frowns me eyeing;
He will not long rejoice, I pride that day abating." [320]

Having given these two bars of a four-line stanza to the Ministers, [321] he said he will give many offices to persons who explain them. [322]

North-western Province.

NO. 157

THE FROG IN THE QUEEN'S NOSE

In a certain country there are a woman and a man, it is said. The woman has also a paramour. One day the man went to a rice field to plough. At that time, this woman having quickly cooked milk-rice, made it ready to give to her paramour to eat.

While that man (her husband) was ploughing, the yoke broke; after that, the man came home. Having seen that the man was coming, she quickly put the pot of milk-rice under the bed in the maduwa (open shed). That man as soon as he came sat upon the bed; then the man was burnt [by the hot rice under him]. Thereupon the man looked under the bed. When he was looking he saw the pot of milk-rice. Afterwards, having taken the milk-rice the man ate it.

At that time, when the Queen of the King of the country was smelling a flower, a little young frog that was in the flower had gone into her nose, seven days before. Up to that very time, six men came, saying that they can take out the frog; they came at the rate of a man a day. Having come there, when he is unable to take it out they cut the man's neck. At that rate they beheaded the six men who came.

That day the King caused the proclamation tom-toms to be beaten:--"To the person who should take out the young frog that is in the Queen's nose, I will give a district from the kingdom, and goods [amounting] to a tusk elephant's load."

Then this woman having heard it, went running, and said, "My husband can," and stopped the proclamation tom-toms. [323] She stopped them because the man of the house ate the milk-rice without her succeeding in giving it to the paramour, with the motive that having killed this man she should take the paramour to live [there].

Having stopped the proclamation tom-toms, and come near her husband, she said, "I stopped the proclamation tom-toms now. You go, and having taken out that young frog which is in the Queen's nose, come back."

Then this man through fear of death lamented, and said, "Now six men have been beheaded, men who thoroughly know medical treatment. I not knowing anything of this, when I have gone there they will seize me at once and behead me. What is this you did?"

Thereupon, through anger about the milk-rice she said, "There is no staying talking and talking in that way. Go quickly." As she was saying the words, the messenger whom the King sent arrived there to take the man to the palace.

Well then, having [thus] quickly driven away the man, the woman speedily cooked milk-rice again, and having sent to the paramour to come, and given him to eat, made the man stop at that very house.

Then the woman says to the paramour, "Thus, in that manner the gallows-bird [324] of our house by this time will be killed. Now then, you remain [here] without fear." The paramour having said, "It is good," stayed there.

Well then, when the messenger brought that man to the palace, he said to the King: "Maharaja, Your Majesty, this man can take out the frog."

While he was there, having become ready for death, the King, having been sitting at the place where the Queen is, says to this man, "Ha, it is good. Now then, don't stop [there] looking. If thou canst, apply medical treatment for this and take thou out the young frog. If thou canst not, be ready for death."

Thereupon that man, having become more afraid also than he was, began to relate the things that happened to the man:--

"When to plough I went away, snapped the wooden yoke in twain;
When the yoke in pieces broke, slowly home I come again;
When I to the house returned, I upon the bed remain;
When upon the bed I lay, felt my rear a burning pain;
When my hinder part I burned, 'neath the bed I search amain;
When beneath the bed I look, hidden milk-rice there had lain.
As I ate that rice, I ween these afflictions on me rain.
Having this affliction seen, jump out, O Froggy-pawn!" [325]

Having said [this] he ended. The Queen, from the time when he began to tell this story being without a place for passing down the breath, when this story was becoming ended, because that breath had been shut back gave a snort [326] (huh gala), and when she was sending the breath from her nose, the young frog quite of itself fell to the ground.

Well then, having given this man a district from the kingdom, and goods [amounting] to a tusk elephant's load, they made him stay at the palace itself. That woman became bound to that paramour.

North-western Province.

In the Arabian Nights (Lady Burton's ed., vol. iii, p. 360), an Arab doctor was taken before a King, who ordered him to cure his sick daughter. He was told by the attendants that all who failed were put to death. He discovered that her malady was a religious one, and cured her.

NO. 158

CONCERNING A BEAR AND THE QUEEN

At a certain city there were a sister and two brothers. These three one day went to eat Damba [fruits]. Having gone thus, the two brothers went up the Damba tree, [327] the sister remained on the ground.

At that time a Bear having come, went off, taking the woman. Having thus gone, placing her in a rock cave he provided subsistence for her. Thereupon the two brothers, being unable to find her, went home.

During the time while the Princess was in the rock cave she was rearing a cock. On yet [another] day the two Princes in order to make search for the Princess went into the midst of the forest. Then having heard the crowing of the cock which the Princess was rearing, they went to that place. At that time the Bear was not there; on account of food it went into the midst of the forest.

Then [the brothers] having met with the sister, they spoke to her. The Princess said, "The time when the Bear comes is near. Because of that return to the village, and come to-morrow morning to go with me." So both of them went to the village.

After that, the Bear having come, at the words which he had heard walked away growling and growling with anger. Thereafter the two brothers came, and returned with the Princess to the village. Two children had been born to the Bear; with those two also they went.

Thereupon the Bear having come to the rock cave, and perceived when he looked that the Princess and children were not [there], came [after them] of his own accord. When he came, he saw by the light the Queen and two children. Those two sprang off and went away.

The Bear asked the Queen, "What are you going for?"

"A cleverer Bear than you told me to come. Because of that I am going," she said.

The Bear having said, "Where is there a cleverer Bear than I? Show me him," went [with her].

Then the Queen, having gone near a well, showed the reflection of the Bear that was at the bottom of the water. At that time the Bear which was on the ground sprang into the well in order to bite the Bear that was in the well. Having sprung in he died.

Then the two brothers, and the Princess, and the two children went home and stayed there.

North-central Province.

In Le Pantcha-Tantra of the Abbé Dubois, the animals had made an agreement with a savage lion that one of them should be given to it each day. When the jackal's turn came he determined to find some way of destroying their enemy. Seeing his own reflection in a well, he went to the lion and informed him that another lion was concealed in a well, and waiting for an opportunity to kill him. When the lion demanded to be shown him, the jackal led him to the well; showed him his own reflection, and the lion sprang at it. The jackal then summoned the other animals, which rolled large stones into the well and killed the lion.

In the Hitopadesa there is a similar story, the two animals being a lion and a stag which said another lion had delayed it.

In Indian Fables (Ramaswami Raju), p. 82, the animals were a tiger and hare.

In Folk-lore of the Telugus (G. R. Subramiah Pantulu), p. 15, they were a lion and fox (jackal) which stated that another lion had carried off a fox that it was bringing as the lion's food.

In Indian Nights' Entertainment (Swynnerton), p. 4, they were a tiger and a hare which laid the blame on another tiger for his being late, saying it claimed the country.

In Old Deccan Days (M. Frere), p. 172, they were a lion and a jackal and his wife who stated that they had been delayed by another lion.

In The Enchanted Parrot (Rev. B. H. Wortham) this story is No. XXXI. The animals were a lion and a hare which said he had been kept a prisoner by a rival lion. This is the form of the tale in the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 32.

In Folk-Tales from Tibet (O'Connor), p. 51, they were also a lion and a hare which recommended the lion to eat a large and fierce animal that lived in a pond, in place of itself.

In Fables and Folk-Tales from an Eastern Forest (W. Skeat), p. 28, they were a tiger and a mouse-deer which said it had been stopped by an old tiger with a flying-squirrel sitting on its muzzle, and so had been unable to bring it an animal for food. The squirrel which accompanied the mouse-deer sat on the tiger's muzzle and the deer on its hind-quarters when it went to drive the other away. The tiger then sprang at its reflection in the river, and was drowned.

NO. 159

THE LEOPARD AND THE PRINCESS

In a certain country there are seven Princes, it is said. Younger than all seven there is their younger sister. For the seven Princes seven Princesses have been brought; a Prince having been brought for the younger sister, is settled there.

While they are thus, the younger sister has pregnancy longings (doladuk). One day, while the younger sister and her elder brothers were going to their houses, having seen the whole seven Princesses eating Damba [fruits] the younger sister also stayed there to eat them, and asked at the hand of the eldest sister-in-law, "Sister-in-law, a Damba fruit for me also."

Then the sister-in-law said, "There will not be Damba here to give."

She asked at the hand of the next sister-in-law. That sister-in-law also replied in the same way. Thus, in that manner having asked at the hand of the whole seven, not even one person gave it.

Afterwards, the younger sister having cooked and eaten, went alone to pluck Damba, and having ascended the Damba tree, while she was eating Damba it became night.

A Leopard having come near the Damba tree [said], "[How] if you should throw down a Damba branch with your golden little hand?"

After that, the Princess threw down a Damba branch. The Leopard having eaten [the fruit on] it, said again, "[How] if you should throw down a Damba branch with your golden little hand?"

Again she threw one down. Then the Leopard said, "Holding fast, fast, [how] if you should slowly slowly descend?"

Then through fear the Princess is there without descending.

The Leopard another time said, "Holding fast, fast, [how] if you should slowly slowly descend?"

The Princess descended. Then the Leopard, placing the Princess on his back, went to his rock cave. While living in that manner the Princess bore a child. The Leopard and Princess stayed there very trustfully. The Leopard had much goods. The paddy store-rooms had been filled, the millet store-rooms had been filled, the meneri store-rooms had been filled, there are many cattle.

When they had been living there many days, the Leopard said, "I am about to go on a journey to-morrow; I shall be unable to return for two or three days. You, shutting the rock cave, must be [here]. Until the time when I come do not go outside." On the following day the Leopard went away.

Well then, while the Princess was alone in the rock cave, the elder brothers of the Princess having come hunting, a great rain rained. The Princes having been [sheltering] near a tree, when they were walking along in the rain they met with the rock cave, and saw also their younger sister.

"What art thou here for? We sought and sought so much time, and could not find thee. Here thou art! What was the manner in which thou camest here?" they asked at the hand of their younger sister.

Then the younger sister said, "I asked for Damba at the hand of sisters-in-law. The whole seven did not give it. On account of that I came to eat Damba, and while I was alone in the Damba tree the Leopard came.

"Afterwards he told me to throw down a Damba branch; I threw down two Damba branches. Saying and saying [it was only] until the time when the Leopard was going, I stayed in the tree.

"While I was there it became night. Then the Leopard told me to descend. I stayed [there] without descending. The Leopard told me twice to descend. Afterwards I descended. The Leopard, putting me on his back, came here. From that day I am living here."

Then the Princes asked, "Where is the Leopard?"

The Princess said, "This morning he went somewhere or other; he said he will not come for a day or two."

After that, the Princes said, "No matter for that one; let us go away home. We will take the things that are here."

The Princess said, "I will not." What of her saying, "I will not!" The Princes, having taken all the [household] things that were there, said to the Princess, "Let us go."

Afterwards the Princess through anger cut that child, and hung it aloft, near the hearth. She placed the small pot on the hearth, and taking a [piece of] muslin, all along the path tore and tore and threw down pieces, until the time when they went to the house. Having gone there, without eating she is crying and crying.

Then the Leopard came near the rock cave, and saw that the child having been cut had been hung up; and having seen, also, that the Princess was not there, came away.

Having come all along the path on which the muslin has been torn and thrown down, and having come up to the house [in a human form]; he saw that the Princess is there. While the Leopard is in the open space in front of the house, the Princess saw that the Leopard is [there]; and having come laughing, and given water to the Leopard to wash his face, and given sitting accommodation, and betel to eat, she is cooking in order to give the Leopard to eat.

Then the Princes placed an earthen pot of water on the hearth, to become heated. After it became heated, they cut a hole very deeply, and put sticks on it, and above that leaves, and above that earth; and having taken the pot of water and placed it there, they came near the Leopard, and said to the Leopard, "Let us go, brother-in-law, to bathe."

The Leopard said, "I cannot bathe, brother-in-law. As I was coming I bathed; I cannot bathe another time."

While the Leopard was saying he could not, having gone calling the Leopard they told him to place his feet at the place where those sticks and leaves and earth have been put; and having told him to bend, they poured that pot of boiling water on the Leopard's body. That one having fallen into the hole that was cut deep, died. Those seven Princes having thrown in earth and filled it up, came away and ate cooked rice.

That younger sister, having cooked and finished, seeks the Leopard. While she is seeking him the sisters-in-law say, "Sister-in-law, you eat that cooked rice. Elder brother is eating cooked rice here."

The Princess is [there] without eating. While she is there the sisters-in-law say again, "Sister-in-law, eat; elder brother is eating cooked rice here. He will not come there, having become angry that you have come [away]."