Chapter IV: Part 4

Afterwards the Princess found the things, and after she gave them, the Prince, taking them, went to the house of a widow woman who worked for hire, and said, "Mother, I, also, came to stay with you."

Then the widow woman said, "It is good; stay. I am alone." Afterwards the Prince stayed there.

Staying there, this Prince began to steal the things of the city. Then the King made it public that they are to catch the thief. Afterwards they try to seize him; no one is able to seize him. That widow woman also does not know [that he is the thief].

The woman having come [home], tells at the hand of the Prince all the talk uttered at the royal palace: "A thief of this country is committing this robbery; they cannot catch the thief." All these words she said to the Prince.

Afterwards the Prince said, "Mother, cook a few cakes and give me them." So the woman cooked cakes and gave them.

Thereupon the Prince, taking the cakes, went to the chena jungle, and strung the cakes on the trees near a pool at the road (mankada) where a washerman is washing clothes. Having strung them, keeping still two or three cakes in his hand, and continuing to eat them, he came to the place where that washerman is washing clothes.

Then the washerman asked at the hand of the Prince, "Whence come you eating and eating certain cakes?"

The Prince said, "Ando! The cake stems on these trees having fruited, there are as many as you want (onae haetiye). Go there to look."

Afterwards, the washerman having said, "If so, Chief (nilame), be good enough to remain near these few clothes," the washerman went to pluck the cakes.

Then the Prince, taking those few clothes, came to the house of the widow woman. That washerman [after] plucking the cakes having come back, when he looked both the Prince was not there and the clothes were not there. Afterwards the washerman went home empty-handed. [60]

That Prince asked at the hand of the widow woman, "Mother, to-day, in the direction of that city--isn't it so?--there is a report about the thief?"

Then the widow woman said, "Ando! Why not, son? To-morrow the King is going, they say, to catch the thief."

On the following day, taking also a bundle of clothes, he went to a pool at the road, and having tied a cord to an earthen cooking-pot, and sent the earthen pot into the water, continuing to tread on the cord with his foot, [so as to keep the pot below the surface], he washes the clothes.

Then the King came on horseback, together with the Ministers. This Prince who is washing clothes asked at the hand of those Ministers, "Where are you going?"

The Ministers said, "We are going to seize the thief."

Then the Prince says, "Look here; he sprang into this water. Having seen him coming, the King must be ready to seize him when he comes to the surface."

Afterwards, the King descended from the back of his horse, and having taken off the royal ornaments, putting on the bathing cloth [61] got ready to seize the thief at the time when he rises to the surface.

Then this Prince deceitfully slackened a little the cord on which he was treading with his feet; then the earthen pot which was in the water rose to the surface a little. Having said, "Perhaps it is the head of the thief," those Ministers and the King sprang into the water.

Then this Prince who was washing clothes, putting on those royal ornaments, mounted on the [King's] horse, and said, "Look there! There is the thief, seize him!" Then all having come near that King seized him.

After that this Prince said, "Having tied him to the leg of this horse, [you are] to strike him fifty blows." Then those Ministers, having taken the King and tied him to the horse's leg, struck him fifty blows.

Having struck them, when they took him to the city the King's father says, "That thief is indeed like my son." Having looked in the direction of that Prince who was wearing the royal ornaments, he said, "This indeed is not my son. What of that? There is a little like my son's face."

After that, the Prince who was wearing the royal ornaments, said, "Ask at your son's hand who I am"; he said it at the hand of the Prince's grandfather. [62]

When he (the grandfather) asked at the hand of the King who had become the thief, he said, "I do not know who he is."

Then the Prince said, "If so, am I to tell you?" He said, "Ha."

Then at the hand of that King who had become the thief, this Prince says, "You brought for yourself the Queen of such and such a city, did you not? Before bringing her there was an anger-wager, was there not?"

Then the King said, "It is true."

Then the Prince said, "You will give punishment to the Queen, you said, did you not? Then the Queen said, did she not? 'After I have borne a Prince to you, having tied you to the leg of the horse I will cause you to be struck fifty blows.'"

Then the King said, "It is true."

"From there having brought the Queen, while you were giving her the punishment the Queen had previously reared two field rats. The two having come, dug [under] the brick wall, and the Queen went away from there.

"Having gone away, and been in a party of dancing women, while she was in it one day they came here, the Queen and those women, to dance. Having come and caused the Queen to stay, those women went away. After three or four months the women came back, and calling her, went away with her. While she was here, [63] I was born to you."

Afterwards the grandfather said, "You yourself remain exercising the sovereignty. My son cannot; a fool."

He having said this, the Prince himself received the sovereignty.

North-western Province.

In The Story of Madana Kama Raja (Natesa Sastri), p. 246, a Prince told an oilmonger's daughter that he would marry her and imprison her for life. She retorted that she would bear him a son who should chastise him after first tying him up in a sack. When they were married the Prince shut her up in a room, her food being supplied through a small window. She escaped by a tunnel made by her father for her, learnt rope-dancing, and in disguise made a display of it before the court. The Prince fell in love with her, visited her daily, and she obtained from him his pearl necklace, diamond necklace, and ring. When the rope-dancers left, the girl rejoined her father, and bore a son, who learnt robbery and committed such daring thefts that the Prince, his father, determined to seize him himself at night. By a trick he got the Prince to enter a sack, dressed himself in the Prince's clothes, and handed it to the soldiers as containing the thief. In the morning he opened the sack and struck the Prince gently with the cord. The robber then explained everything to the King and Prince, his mother when fetched produced the articles given to her, and all ended happily.

In Indian Fairy Tales (M. Stokes), p. 216, a merchant on leaving home on a long journey told his wife that on his return he expected to find that she had built a grand well, and had a son for him. By a trick she got money and built the well. Disguised as a milk-girl she met with her husband's boat, and sold milk at the river bank until he fell in love with her, married her, and took her to live on his boat. When he left after three months, giving her his cap and portrait, she returned home. On his arrival there she presented to him his son, and produced his gifts.

In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 620, a Brahmana told his bride, who had played a trick on him, that he would desert her; she retorted that a son whom she would bear him should bring him back. He put his ring on her finger while she slept, and went away to his own city, Ujjayini. She followed, and established herself as a courtesan, sending away each visitor without seeing her, until her husband came and, without recognising her, stayed some days with her. After returning home she bore a son, to whom she told the whole story. The boy went in search of his father, and by a wager made him his slave, took him back to his mother, and they were reconciled.

In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 104, a King of Kashmir and a girl whom he met while hunting made jokes at each other. The King married her and ignored her presence in his harem, so she returned to her parents. After three years she visited Kashmir, and stayed at the palace, where the King, who did not recognise her, fell in love with her. They exchanged rings, and she got his handkerchief, went home, and bore a son who became an expert thief, stealing an egg out of a hawk's nest without disturbing the bird. [64] He committed many impudent robberies in Kashmir, getting the high officials into ridiculous positions, and when the King offered his daughter in marriage and half the country if the thief would come forward, he confessed everything and restored the stolen money and goods. His mother came, explained everything and the impossibility of the marriage to his half-sister, produced the ring and handkerchief, and he became heir to the throne.

NO. 93

THE FEMALE FOWL THIEF

At a village a woman was married to a man. The woman has much fondness for food consisting of fowls' flesh. The woman having stolen the fowls, without the man's knowing it eats [them] in the night when the man has gone to sleep. When she was eating every day in this manner, the man perceived it one day.

After that, the man through the necessity for catching this theft, one day said to the woman at night, "Bolan, I cannot [bear] in the cold. Go to the place where the bundles of firewood are, and bring a little firewood." Then the woman says, "Ane! Appa! In this darkness I cannot go through fear." After that, the man, not saying it again, remained without doing anything.

On the following day, also, the man told her in the very same manner. On that day, also, this woman said, "Ane! Appa! I cannot go alone." On both these days he was unable to catch the woman's theft.

In the night of the following day the man lay down, and in the manner as though asleep the man began to snore. On that day, too, having said [to herself], "The man has gone to sleep," the woman arose and went for fowl stealing. The man having allowed the woman to go, and having arisen also, began to go behind her.

On that day a man of the village having died had been cremated also. The woman went to a village near the heap of fire-charcoal (the remains of the funeral pyre), and stealing a fowl from a house, came near that charcoal fire at the place of cremation (sohon), and having put the fowl upon the charcoal, roasted it. When she was eating the meat that man, having been hidden, threw a stone [at her]. When it struck her the woman says, "What are you throwing stones for?" [65] Having said, "Here. The demon-offering for ye; take that," she throws down a fowl bone.

The man gathers the bone which she throws. The man again throws a stone. Having spoken in that very manner she throws away a bone; that also the man gathers. The man again throws a stone. In this very manner, the man having thrown stones, collected seven or eight bones. [After] collecting them he came home before the woman, and lay down.

The woman having eaten the flesh and having finished, came back, and prepared to sleep. Then the man having gone to sleep [apparently], and as through arising having broken up his bodily reluctance [to get up], arose, and said, "Bolan, I cannot [bear] in the cold; bring a bundle of firewood from the place where the bundles of firewood are."

That day, also, the woman said, "Ane! Appa! I cannot go alone."

Then the man scolds her: "Bola, strumpet! During the whole night thou canst go to steal fowls; why canst thou not go to bring a bundle of firewood?"

Well then, the woman having said, "It is not so," began to swear [to it]. Then the man having said, "What are these, Bola?" showed her the fowl bones. Then the woman's breath was drawn upward [66]; in that very way the woman's life departed.

North-western Province.

NO. 94

GAMPOLAYA AND RAEHIGAMAYA

In a certain country there are a Gampolaya and a Raehigamaya, [67] it is said.

The person called Gampolaya, having put Iriya [68] fruits in two bags, and said they were areka-nuts, tied them as a pingo load (one bag hanging under each end of the stick). Having been in his own country, he is going away to another country.

The person called Raehigamaya tied up a pingo load of pepper (vine) leaves. The person called Raehigamaya, having said that the pingo load of pepper leaves was a pingo load of betel leaves, [69] is also going away to another country.

At the time when he was going along there was a travellers' shed; in that travellers' shed he lodged. That person called Gampolaya, taking that pingo load of Iriya fruits, came there. Well then, those two persons came in contact [there].

The areka-nut trader (Gampolaya) asked, "What, friend, is your pingo load?"

The betel trader (Raehigamaya) says, "[Betel leaves]. In our country areka-nuts are scarce to an inordinate (no-saehena) extent."

"Ane! Friend, [I have brought areka-nuts]. In that very way, for our country there is difficulty over betel leaves," Gampolaya said.

Having said, "If so, let us change our two pingo loads," the person possessing areka-nuts took the pingo load of betel leaves; the person who has the pingo load of betel leaves took the pingo load of areka-nuts.

Gampolaya [afterwards] says, "I indeed met with a trading at a profit!" When he asked, "What was it?" "I obtained a pingo load of betel leaves" [he said]. Who asked it? A man going on the road.

He took the pingo load of betel leaves to his country. Having gone there and having untied it, when he looked it was a pingo load of [worthless] pepper leaves. [The other man], taking the pingo load of areka-nuts, went to his village. Having gone [there] and unfastened it, when he looked they were [worthless] Iriya fruits.

Well then, those two persons came together at the travellers' shed on another day. They spoke: "That day our trading did not go on properly. Now then, friend, we two being thieves at this city, [after] cooking rice and having eaten [together], at night let us go for robbery."

Well then, except that those two say, "Let us cook," not even one of them brings the materials. [70] What is [the reason why] they do not bring them? They were persons who on former occasions had gone to the shop and brought things, [and had been cheated by another person's not bringing any], they said. In that manner it became night.

One person, having said he is going to bathe, [went away, and] having eaten cooked rice at the shop, came back. The other [thought], "While he has gone to bathe, that one, going to the shop, will eat rice;" so this one having gone to another place ate cooked rice [there].

A second time they came to the travellers' shed. [Afterwards] they broke [into] the palace of the King of that city. Taking the box containing the gold things, and having gone [off with it], and during that very night having arrived at a rice field, they went to sleep at the bottom of a tree. Through dishonesty to one of them, the other, taking the box of things, bounded off. Having sprung off and gone, he crept into a mound of straw, and remained there.

That [other] one having arisen, when he looked there was neither the man nor the box of things. Thereafter he seeks and looks about. When he was seeking and looking, [he noticed that] there was a threshing-floor near [the place] where they were sleeping. Having taken a [wooden] cattle-bell, on the following day, in the evening, he shook and shook the cattle-bell, and began to gore the corn stacks and mounds of straw that were at the threshing-floor. [71] Then that man who had got hid there, having said [to himself], "Perhaps it is a bull," spoke [to it, to drive it away]. Having spoken, when he looked it was the first thief.

[When] they two are talking [about it, he said], "I didn't bring this box of things through dishonesty to you, but to look at your cleverness." During all the time each one is thinking of quietly taking the box of goods, and bounding off [with it].

Well then, those two persons having come back, and having walked to the sands of the sea, it became night. Placing that box of things in the midst of the two, when they were lying down the person who stole it at first went to sleep.

Then the other man, taking the box, hid it at a recognisable place (ayiruwak) in the sea. Having hidden it and come back, and very quietly returned near the other one, he went to sleep. The person who hid the box of things and returned, went to sleep.

Then the other one, having arisen very quietly, when he looks for the box of things, the box of things is not there. When he sought and looked about for it, he did not meet with it. [But] when he tasted [with the tip of his tongue], and looked at the body (skin) of that person who is sleeping, until the time when he comes [upward] near the hip there is salt taste.

Now then, that one thought, "He will have hidden it in the water, waist deep in the sea." Having gone on account of the thought, when he looked in the water to the extent of a round [of the top] of the cloth (pili-watak, waist-deep) a tree was near. [The other man] having placed it near the tree he met with it [there].

As soon as he met with it, taking the box of things and having come to his village, he says to his wife and children, "Having sought me, should a man come here, say, 'He died yesternight. There is delay in going to bury him, until the time when his relatives assemble.'" Well then, they are lamenting falsely.

Well, Gampolaya [having come there] says, "We, indeed, called Gampolaya and Raehigamaya, walked about and committed robbery at [each] city in turn. Now then, don't you be grieved that he died; I am more troubled in my mind than you. The agreement of us two indeed is that should I die first, he having come,--that kind of creeper called Habalossa; it is an extremely bad sort of thorn, [72]--having put [some] of the creepers on the neck there is a promise to go dragging me until the time when he goes to the edge of the grave. Should he die first the promise is [that I should act] in that very manner."

Well then, having brought a Habalossa creeper, and put it round the neck of the person who was dead, when he prepared (lit., made) to drag him the person who was dead laughed. Having laughed, he says, "Friend, I did not bring the box of things on account of stealing it, [but] to look if you are a clever person."

Well then, these two correctly divided in two the articles in the box of things. The two persons [afterwards] dwelt in happiness.

North-western Province.

In The Orientalist, vol. i, p. 234, Mr. C. J. R. Le Mesurier gave a story in which five beggars agreed that each should put a handful of rice into a pot of boiling water, to make their common meal. When the time came to eat the meal the pot was found to contain only water, each one having placed an empty hand inside it, as though depositing rice.

In Folk-Tales of Bengal (L. Behari Day), p. 165, when two thieves were digging, the younger one came on a jar full of gold muhrs (each worth about thirty shillings), and at once said it was only a large stone. While the younger man slept the elder thief returned to the spot, found there two jars of the coins, buried them in the mud of an adjoining tank, returned, and fell asleep near the other. When the younger thief awoke and found that the coins had been removed, he noticed mud on his comrade's legs, made a search at the tank, got the two jars, and went off with them, loaded on a cow. At dawn the other man missed his partner and the money, and went in pursuit, and by the slipper trick [73] got the cow and its load, and went home. When the younger man came up they divided the money except an odd coin, which was to be changed in the morning. In the morning the elder man who had charge of it pretended to be dead. His friend affected to pity the wife, made a straw rope, and dragged the body to the burning ground, but having no fire he climbed up a tree. The two afterwards frightened some robbers there, and got their booty.

In Indian Nights' Entertainment (Swynnerton), p. 45, some of the Sinhalese incidents occur in an account of the doings of two merchants. One of them buried in the mud a brass plate which he stole from the other's house. The owner found and removed it, and the thief searched in vain for it. They cheated other people, and acquired forty thousand rupees with which one of them made off; the other recovered it by the slipper trick, buried it, pretended to be dead, and at the cemetery the two men frightened some robbers, got their booty, and made an equal division of all.

In Folk-Tales of the Telugus (G. R. Subramiah Pantulu), p. 63, a man set out with a packet containing a quart of sand; a man of a different village was journeying with a packet containing a lump of cow-dung. They met in the evening, and halted at the same rest-house. Each wanted to get the other's packet, thinking it contained food. The second man said he had a packet of food (apparently cooked) but was not hungry, and asked the other what he had brought. The first one replied that he had uncooked rice with him, and felt very hungry. They exchanged packets, went off at once to avoid recriminations, and discovered that they were mutually cheated.

In The Indian Antiquary, vol. xxv, p. 21, in a Tamil story by Natesa Sastri, a man of Tanjore who was carrying a large ball of clay entirely hidden under cooked rice grains which his wife had stuck on it met with a man of Trichinopoly who had a brass pot full of sand covered with raw rice a quarter of an inch deep. Each wanted the other's rice. The first man stated that not being very well he was afraid to eat the cold rice he had brought, and would like to cook some raw rice. The second man made an exchange with him. After discovering that they were mutually cheated they became friendly, and had other experiences of each other's roguery (see the variant given after No. 248).

In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. ii, p. 109, a foolish man, in order to avoid sharing with a friend some tasty food which his wife was cooking, pretended to be dead. The friend lamented loudly, neighbours came, they made a pyre at the burning ground, put the body on it and burnt it, the man having determined to die rather than give a share of the food.

In Folk-Tales of Kashmir (Knowles), 2nd ed., p. 299, when two thieves had stolen some treasure from a caravan, one of them by means of the slipper trick got the whole, hurried home, and the pretended death and adventure with the robbers followed.

In Folk-Tales from Tibet (O'Connor), p. 131, when two thieves by a fraud had secured a heavy bag of gold, one of them absconded with it. The other recovered the money by the boot-trick.

In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. ii, p. 316, a Brahmana who had some peas which were so old that it was impossible to cook them, took them to the market, and exchanged them for an ass which would never move when a load was put on its back, each of the barterers thinking he had got the best of the bargain.

In the Sierra Leone stories, Cunnie Rabbit, etc. (Cronise and Ward), p. 300, there is a variant of the latter part of the Sinhalese tale in an account of two greedy men who lived in the east and west. The eastern man came to the western man's house carrying a box, and would not leave, intending to share in the rice that had been cooked. The owner of the house at last lay down, and told his wife to say he had died. The visitor remained all night, supplied clothes for the corpse, made a coffin, dug the grave, and had nearly covered the body when it requested to be taken out. In the end, the visitor got a share of their food.

NO. 95

THE STORY OF THE TWO LIARS

There are two Liars called the Eastern Liar and the Western Liar, it is said. The Eastern Liar was minded to go to seek the Western Liar, it is said. [74] Should you say, "What was that for?" it was for telling lies in competition (i.e., a lying match), it is said.

Tying up the packet of cooked rice from one and a half amunas [75] of uncooked rice, and the flesh of twelve goats, and bringing it for the [mid] day food, he went to the house of the Western Liar. At the time when he was going there, the Liar was not at home; a daughter of his was there. He gave her the packet of cooked rice to put away. She took the packet of cooked rice with the point of the needle with which she was sewing and sewing, and put it away.

The Eastern Liar [asked] the female child, "Where is thy father? In the forest?"

Thereupon the child [said], "Our father [in order] to cover up the thundering went to skin a mosquito, and come back."

Thereupon this very Liar, having become afraid, thinks, "At the time when this very child told lies to this degree, when her father has come to what extent will he tell lies?" Thinking it, and asking for the packet of cooked rice again, he went off back again. Because it was not yet day [76] [enough] for eating in the daytime, [76] having hung the bundle of cooked rice on a large Banyan tree he went to sleep.

After that, at the time when the Western Liar, cutting sticks and creepers for a house and placing them under his armpits, was coming, the little female child who was at the house having gone in front [of him], says, "A man came to seek you," she said.

Thereupon the man asked, "Where?"

"Look; he went there," she said.

Thereupon this very person, taking those sticks and creepers, and turning to the same quarter, went in chase of him. [77]

At that time the Eastern Liar had gone to sleep. Having heard the sound of the coming of the Western Liar, he arose. That person having become frightened at the sound of his (the Western Liar's) coming, to take the packet of cooked rice seized the branch on which is the packet of cooked rice. Thereupon the tree, being completely uprooted, came into his hand. Taking also the tree itself, the same person having got in front ran away. This very person (the Western Liar), for [the purpose of] looking who it is, began to drive this very person backwards.

Having heard this very sound, and having said, "Something is coming to happen in the country," an elephant-keeper who looked after a hundred tusk elephants, having sent off the elephants to their food and having become afraid, was looking about. Through that very despondency [which he felt] that some danger was coming to arrive at this very village, he said, "I must go to some other quarter"; and folding up the cloth in which he was dragging (= carrying) them, and in which were the whole hundred tusk elephants, he bolted.

Then having gone to an outer open place, and having unfastened the cloth, when he looked [inside it], only the two white lice called Gourd and Ash-pumpkin were [there], having eaten the whole hundred tusk elephants.

North-western Province.

Nonsense stories such as this are rather unusual in the East. There is one in No. 29, vol. i, and an Indian one is quoted after it. No. 130 in this vol. is another Sinhalese variant, and No. 263 in vol. iii, is also a tale of this type.

NO. 96

THE THREE HETTIYAS

In a certain country there were three persons, Big Hettiya, Middle Hettiya, and Little Hettiya. During the time while they were there, the three persons having gone to dig [for] gems, dug [for] gems until the money of the parties was finished. They did not meet with even one gem.

Because they did not, having come again to the village, certain acquaintances of those people were there. Taking (that is, borrowing) a little money from those parties, the whole three persons dug [for] gems again in partnership until the money was finished. They met with only one gem.

It was in the mind of Big Hettiya to get it into a big box. It was in the mind of Middle Hettiya to get it into a middle [sized] box. It was in the mind of Little Hettiya to get it into a little box.

Well then, the three persons having quarrelled about it, Little Hettiya made a little box, Middle Hettiya made a box larger than that, Big Hettiya made a box still larger than that.

Having made them, they placed the gem in the little box of Little Hettiya, that box they placed inside Middle Hettiya's box, and having put it in they placed that box inside Big Hettiya's box. [Each one kept the key of his own box.]

Having put it away in that manner, those three still borrowing a little money from suitable persons of the neighbourhood, went again to dig [for] gems.

During the time while they were staying in that way, Little Hettiya, having made two false keys for Big Hettiya's box and Middle Hettiya's box, and opened both the boxes, taking out his own box and opening that box with the key he had, took the gem and hid it. This one, having thrown away both the false keys, remained like a man who had not committed theft.

Not a long time after that, the men who lent the money came to ask for the money. Until the time when the money was finished they dug [for] gems; from it also they obtained nothing.

After that, these three persons spoke to the creditors, "Having sold the gem which we have, let us give the money to these people."

Having said so, the whole three having come, Big Hettiya, with the key that he had, opened the big box; Middle Hettiya, with the key that he had, opened [his]; Little Hettiya, with the key that he had, opened [his]. When they looked there was no gem.

After that, the three keys being in the hands of the three persons, having said, "Who opened [the boxes]?" the three persons struck each other.

[After] striking, they went near the King for a law suit. Having gone, the whole three persons said, "O Lord, Your Majesty, we three had a gem. Having put the gem into a little box, and put that into a still larger box, and put that into a still larger box, we three persons kept in our hands the three keys. Thereafter, when we three persons came together and looked [for it], it was not [there]. Because of it, Sir, somehow or other you must clear up this for us."

After that, the King made much effort to sift the law suit. He being unable to explain the case, began to postpone it.

The King's Queen having seen that the three Hettiyas are coming every day in this manner to the court of justice, one day asked the King, "O Lord, Your Majesty, three Hettiyas come every day to the court of justice. Why?" she asked.

The King said, "The three Hettiyas having dug [for] gems, there was one gem. Little Hettiya having made a box and put it in, locked it and kept the key near him. Middle Hettiya having made a larger box than that, and placed that Little Hettiya's little box inside it, locked it and kept that key. Big Hettiya having made a large box, taking both those boxes placed them inside that box, and having locked it, he kept that key. Leaving the keys in the hands of the three persons, the gem was missing. I have been unable to explain the case. Because of it I postpone it every day," he said.

After that, the Queen said, "If you will give me the sovereignty I will clear up the case."

Thereupon he said, "It is good. Until you have heard the action I will give [you] the sovereignty."

Having said, "It is good," the Queen went away and informed the Ministers, and told them to bring three bundles of cord and a whip. These people came bringing them.

After that, the Queen having placed Big Hettiya on a support, told them to tie him. Having tied him, taking the whip and having said, "Will you give the gem? Will you give the gem?" she told them to flog him well. They flogged the Hettiya until blood came. Even after that he said, "No, indeed (naema)."

Having also tied Middle Hettiya in that manner, they flogged him; that Hettiya said, "No, indeed."

Having seized and tied up Little Hettiya also, they flogged him in that very way. When they had been striking four or five blows, he said, "I will give the gem." After that, she told him to bring the gem.

That Little Hettiya having gone running, when he came [after] taking it from the dung-hill where he had buried and kept it, she told Big Hettiya and Middle Hettiya to divide [the value of] it. She gave nothing to Little Hettiya.

Big Hettiya and Middle Hettiya divided [the value of] it between them.

North-central Province.

NO. 97

CONCERNING TWO FRIENDS

At a certain time there were two men, friends. Of them, one person not having [food] to eat, was very poor. The other man had amply to eat and drink. At that time the man who had not [food] to eat, in order to get an assistance went near the friend who had [food] to eat. Then at the time when he went to the friend's house, having amply given him food and drink, the friend asked, "What have you come for?"

Thereupon the man said, "Ane! Dear friend, not having to eat and to wear I came near you in order to get an assistance."

Then the man having gone calling him to the bread shop, taking bread for ten shillings gave it to him, and said, "Here, friend, selling these things get a living. I am unable to give an assistance for more than ten shillings."

Thereupon the man having said, "It is good," at the time when he was bounding about taking the bread box having walked until it was becoming black, did not sell [anything]. Through anger that he did not sell it, this man sat down near a tree, and said, "This day on which I got the evil-looking (musala) bread is not good; I will eat these things."

At that time, the Devatawa who was in the tree, having become afraid, said, "Ane! O Lord, don't eat me; I will give you a good article," and gave him a plate.

The man, taking the plate, asked, "With this plate what shall I do?"

The Devatawa said, "Having taken away the plate, and well polished it, and spread a white cloth, place it upon the table. Then you will receive tasty food [from it]." So the man, taking the plate, came to the Hettiya's shop.

The Hettiya asked, "Appuhami, have you met with anything even to-day?"

The man said, "To-day, indeed, I met with a plate." [He gave the Hettiya an account of its good properties.]

Thereupon, the Hettiya, having made the man drink arrack (spirit distilled from palm-juice), and made him drunk, and allowed him to sleep on the bed, took the plate. Taking it, he put another plate into the man's bread box.

Then the man having become conscious, and gone home, told the man's wife, "Don't cook; we shall receive food." Having well polished the plate, and spread a white cloth, placing it upon the table he waited.

Having ascertained that cooked rice did not descend, the man's wife came, and taking the plate threw it away, and having cooked, ate.

On the following day, also, the man having walked without selling bread, came near that tree, and said in the former way, "I will eat. I will eat." [78]

Thereupon, the Yaka [79] on that day gave him a ring, and said, "Having sold the ring, when you are going ten fathoms away the ring will come and place itself again in your hand."

On that day, also, the Hettiya asked [what he had met with]. The man, just as in the former manner, said, "I obtained a ring," [and told him its property]. So the Hettiya on that day, also, made the man drunk, and taking the ring and having caused another ring to be made, put it on the man's hand.

The man having become conscious, and gone away taking the ring, sold it. Having sold it, he went ten fathoms, and looked. That, also, did not come.

Then the man on the following day also came without having sold the bread, and having come near that tree, said on that day, also, just as in the former manner.

At that time the Devatawa gave him a cow which drops gold. "Having taken away this cow, take good care of it, and tie it up and keep it," he said.

Thereupon the man, taking also the cow, just as before went away near that Hettiya's house. The Hettiya that day also asked, "What is it, Appuhami, that you have obtained to-day?"

The man said, "To-day, indeed, I obtained, Hettirala, a cow which drops gold."

So the Hettiya, that day also having given the man arrack to drink, and made him drunk, and allowed him to sleep on the bed, brought the Hettiya's old cow, and having tied it there the Hettiya took the cow which drops gold.

Then that man having become conscious, and having gone away taking that cow also, washed the cow-dung which the cow dropped. Excepting cow-dung, there was no gold.

Thereupon the man on the following day, also, having gone for bread-selling did not sell [any]. That day, also, he went near that tree, and said, "Thou son of a courtesan, when I told thee to provide me with a living thou cheatedst me. On account of it, to-day I shall eat thee indeed," and he began to chase the Yaka on the path.

Then the Yaka said, "O Lord, do not chase me on the path." The Devatawa well knows about the theft of the articles. Having said, "The things that I give to this man yet [another] man takes," he gave him a cudgel.

The man asked, "With this cudgel what shall I do?"

The Yaka said, "Should anyone ask, 'What is this?' say 'Allan Bostan.' [80] Having said it, say, 'Stop, Bostan,' [in order to stop it]."

Then the man, taking the cudgel, went just as before to the Hettiya's house. At that time the Hettiya, in the very same way as before, asked [what he had received].

The man said, "To-day I obtained a cudgel."

Then the Hettiya asked, "What is the name of the cudgel?"

The man said, "That, indeed, is Allan Bostan." Then the cudgel went and began to beat the Hettiya.

Thereupon the Hettiya said, "Lord, don't beat me. I will give you all the things I took."

So the man said, "Stop, Bostan." Then the cudgel stopped the beating. After that [the Hettiya] gave him that stolen plate and ring, and the cow that dropped gold, these very three things. After that, the man having become wealthy, remained so.

North-central Province.

In The Story of Madana Kama Raja (Natesa Sastri), p. 130, a Prince stole the articles left by a dying Sannyasi,--a cup which supplied food, a bag which yielded everything desired, sandals that transported their wearer where he wished to go, and a cudgel which thrashed all enemies but is not mentioned again. By means of the bag he obtained a palace, but two dancing women cheated him and stole all his magical articles; he recovered them by the aid of some miraculous fruits.

In Folk-Tales of Bengal (L. Behari Day), p. 53, an indigent Brahmana received from the goddess Durga an earthen pot out of which food fell when it was reversed. At an inn it was changed for a common one, and he was driven away. Durga gave him another pot out of which when reversed a number of demons issued and beat him, returning to it when it was set mouth upwards. When he was bathing the innkeeper reversed the pot, was thrashed by the demons, and the Brahmana regained the pot formerly stolen.

In Folklore of the Santal Parganas (collected by Dr. Bodding), p. 83, an indigent Prince received a magic cow that granted everything desired, from a jackal whose protection he craved. It was afterwards changed by a man at whose house he lodged for the night, but by the help of the jackal he recovered it.

In Old Deccan Days (M. Frere), p. 182, a Brahmana who had seven daughters married the eldest to a jackal who was in reality a Raja in disguise and a magician. He gave the Brahmana a melon to plant; the fruits, which were ripe next day, contained precious stones, but, unaware of it, the man sold some and was cheated out of the others. The jackal gave him a pot which contained food when required, a Raja took it, and the man then received from his son-in-law another pot containing a stick and rope which would tie and beat people when ordered. When the Raja, hearing he had got a better pot than before, came to take it, the man caused him and his attendants to be beaten until he got back the former pot. In the same way he recovered all the precious stones.

In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. iii, p. 256, a religious mendicant gave an inexhaustible jar of copper to a poor man who had presented food to him, and warned him against inviting the King to his house. The man neglected the advice, and the King took the jar. He then received from the donor a pot filled with sticks and stones. When he demanded the copper jar the King ordered him to be seized, but the men were beaten by the articles which issued from the second jar, and the King returned the first one. In the same volume, p. 267, there is an account of a rice measure, a jar of ambrosia, and a bag of jewels which were all inexhaustible. When a King sent men to take them a magical stick drove them away.

In Indian Fairy Tales (M. Stokes), p. 32, a foolish youth broke cakes into five pieces in the jungle, and said, "Now I'll eat this one, then the second, then the third, then the fourth, and then the fifth." The fairies who haunted the place thought he was about to devour them, and gave him a cooking pot out of which any food could be procured; at a cook's shop it was changed for a common one. When no food issued from this, he took five more cakes, repeated the words, received a box which produced any clothes required, and was drugged by the cook, who substituted a common box for it. He again took five cakes, and received a rope and stick which would tie and beat men when ordered. With these he recovered the other articles.

In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. i, p. 13, a King called Putraka persuaded two Asuras to race for the possession of articles left by their father,--shoes on which one could fly, a staff that wrote only truth, and a food vessel. The King then put on the shoes, carried off the other things, and founded the city called Pataliputra after Patali (his wife) and himself. The translator gave references to an Indian variant in which the rod is replaced by a purse, and to European examples.

In vol. ii., p. 3, of the same work four Yakshas presented a poor man with an inexhaustible food pitcher. When his kinsmen inquired about it he took it on his shoulder and began to dance, his foot slipped, the pitcher fell and was broken, and he reverted to his former poverty. This story is found in Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. ii, p. 74. Inexhaustible bowls filled with jewels are mentioned in vol. ii, p. 220, also.

In Les Avadanas (Julien), vol. ii, p. 8, and Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues, vol. ii, p. 185, the story of the demons (Pisacas) is almost the same as that above quoted. In the latter work, vol. iii, p. 259, two persons were quarrelling over a hat which rendered the wearer invisible, shoes with which he could walk on water, and a cudgel that would beat a person to death. When they raced for an arrow that a man shot he made off with the things.

In Sagas from the Far East, p. 84, in a Kalmuk tale, a man who frightened away some demons found that they had left an inexhaustible gold goblet which provided food and drink. He exchanged it for a magic cudgel, a hammer which when struck on the ground nine times caused a nine story tower to rise, and a goat-skin bag out of which rain fell when it was shaken, in each case sending back the cudgel to recover the articles.

In the Maha Bharata (Vana Parva, iii) Yudhishthira recited a Hymn to the Sun, on which this deity bestowed on him an inexhaustible copper pot out of which fruit, roots, meat, and vegetables were produced.

There is a Bamana variant from the interior of Senegambia, given in Contes Soudanais (C. Monteil), p. 58. A hyæna found a small pot called The Generous Pot, out of which he obtained rice, kus-kus (large millet), and other food. His hostess informed the King, who after testing it, kept it, and attached it to his arm. The hyæna then found a cutlas which told him its name was Cutlas-who-strikes. The King heard from his hostess that it was better than the pot. When he took it the hyæna stood beside his arm on which the pot hung, told him the name of the cutlas, and while it was striking him snatched away the pot and absconded.

In Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria (Dayrell), p. 20, a King had a drum the beating of which caused food to appear, but if the owner stepped over a stick or tree the food went bad, and men with sticks beat the guests and owner.

NO. 98

CONCERNING FOUR FRIENDS

In a single country there were four friends. During the time while they were staying there all four reared a dog. At the time when it had grown up the dog became extremely large.

After that, the four persons having spoken together: "Let us divide the [ownership of the] dog [among us]," divided the dog, to one person the fore-leg, to one person the hind-leg; in this manner the four persons divided it into four [shares].

[After] dividing it, when no long time had gone, one fore-leg of the dog was broken. After it was broken, the other three persons having told the man who owned the fore-leg that the fore-leg was broken, found fault [with him for not attending to it].

Thereupon the man, taking a medicine and an oil for it, soaked a rag, and tied it round [the leg]. After he had tied it round, the dog went near the hearth, and while it was staying there the fire caught that oiled rag.

The four persons had planted a cotton garden, and having [picked and] dried the cotton, had heaped it up. This dog's body coming against the heap of cotton, the fire caught it, and all the cotton burnt away.

After that, the four persons quarrelled [over it], and beat each other. [After] beating each other, they went near the King of the country. The whole three persons brought actions against the man [for the value of their shares of the burnt cotton].

How did they bring them? "Ane! O Lord, Your Majesty, we were rearing a dog and planting a cotton garden. We four persons divided the [ownership of the] dog [into shares]. While we were there after dividing it, the fore-leg belonging to this owner was broken. He wrapped it in a cloth [soaked in] oil for wounds. The dog, having gone near the hearth, was sleeping. The fire caught the dog. When it caught it, the dog having gone, jumped upon the heap of cotton which had been dried and heaped up. The cotton was burnt up. Because of it, we ask for [the amount of] the loss from this man." They brought the action thus.

The man says, "I am not a guilty person. I only wrapped the oiled rag on the fore-leg for the wound to heal. I did not do it in order to burn the cotton."

Thereupon those other three persons [said], "We don't know that. It is owing to you indeed that the cotton was burnt. Because of it, you must pay the [amount of the] loss to us three."

After that the King asked, "Was the dog's broken leg so thoroughly broken that it could not place the foot on the ground?"

The three persons said, "It could not place the foot on the ground even a little."

Then the King having considered, said regarding it, "Because it went by means of the three legs which belonged to you three persons, by your fault the cotton has been burnt, and [the amount of] his loss must be given to that one by you three persons."

After that, by those three persons the price of his share of the cotton was paid to the other man.

North-central Province.

This is one of the stories related of Mariyada Raman (translation by Mr. P. Ramachandra Rao, p. 11), in which four dealers in cotton reared a cat, each one owning one leg. The judgment was that given by the King in the Sinhalese version. This form of the story is known in Ceylon, and was related by a Tom-tom Beater of the interior of the North-western Province.

NO. 99

CONCERNING A HORSE

A man, taking a horse, went on its back. When so going the [skin on the] horse's back was broken, [a sore being formed which rendered the horse unserviceable]. After it was broken, the man removing the few horse cloths, while the horse was [left] there went away.

An oil trader, when coming on that path taking oil, having seen that [the skin on] this horse's back was broken, smeared a little of that oil on it, and went away.

Still [another] man having come, when he looked [saw that] a horse had fallen down. When the man looked at it he saw that the [skin on the] back was broken, and that man, taking a great many large rags, bandaged the back well, for it to become strong. Having bandaged it, and having further poured a little oil on it, he went away.