Folklore of the Santal Parganas - Cecil Henry Bompas (paper ebook reader .TXT) 📗

the village headman," "Give me a little to

try" he begged. "I am sorry my child, I have finished it all." But

really she had none to give, however she only hurt her jaws biting

so that she began to groan with pain: "What are you groaning for,

Grannie?" said the boy; "Because I have toothache" she answered: and

in truth her cheeks were badly swollen. Then he told her that a good

cure for toothache was to bite on a white stone and she believed him

and the next morning got a piece of white quartz and began to bite on

it; but this only broke her teeth and made her mouth bleed so that the

pain was worse than before: then the boy jeered at her and said. "Did

you think, Grannie, that you could bite my iron bow and arrows?"

 

So saying he left her and continued the search for his father and

his road led him to a dense jungle which seemed to have no end, and

in the middle of the jungle he came to a lake and he sat down by it

to eat what was left of the provisions he had brought: as he sat,

he suddenly saw some cow-bison coming down to the lake: at this he

caught up his bow and arrows in a hurry and climbed up a tall _sal_

tree: from the tree he watched the bison go down to the water to drink

and then go back into the jungle. And after them tigers and bears

came down to the water: the sight of them frightened him and he sang:--

 

 

    "Drink your fill, tiger,

    I shall not shoot you.

    I shall shoot the giant rhinceros."

 

 

and they drank and went away. Then various kinds of birds came and

after them a great herd of rhinceroses and among them was one which

had the dried up body of the boy's father stuck on its horn. The boy

was rather frightened and sang

 

 

    "Drink your fill, rhinceroses,

    I shall not shoot you

    I shall shoot the giant rhinceros."

 

 

and when the giant rhinceros with the body of his father stooped its

head to drink from the lake, he put an arrow through it and it turned

a somersault and fell over dead: while all the other rhinceroses

turned tail and ran away. Then the boy climbed down from the tree and

pulled the dead body of his father off the horn of the dead animal and

laid it down at the foot of a tree and began to weep over it. As he

wept a man suddenly stood before him and asked what was the matter,

and when he heard, said "Cry no more: take a cloth and wet it in the

lake and cover your father's body with it: and then whip the body

with a _meral_ twig and he will come to life." So saying the stranger

suddenly disappeared; and the boy obeyed his instructions and behold

his father sat up alive and rubbing his eyes said "I must have been

asleep a very long time." Then his son explained to him all that had

happened and gave him some food and took him home.

 

XXIV. (The Oilman's Bullock.)

 

There was once a poor but industrious oilman; he got a log of wood

and carved out an oil mill and, borrowing some money as capital,

he bought mustard and sesame seed and set to work to press it; as he

had no bullock he had to turn the mill himself. He was so industrious

that he soon began to prosper and was able to buy a bullock for his

mill. By and bye he got so rich that he was able to buy some land and

a cart and pair of bullocks and was quite a considerable man in the

village. One day one of his cart bullocks died and this loss was a

sad blow to the oilman. However he tied up the surviving bullock in

the stable along with the old oil mill bullock and fed them well. One

night it chanced that one of the villagers passed by the stable and

hear the two animals talking and this is what he heard.

 

The young bullock said "You came to this house first, friend; what

sort of treatment does one get here?"

 

"Why do you ask me?" said the other. "Oh, I see your shoulder is

galled and your neck shows mark of the yoke." The old bullock answered

"Whether my master treats me well or ill I owe him money and have to

stay here until I have paid him off. When I have paid him five hundred

rupees I shall go." "How will you ever pay back such a sum?" "If

my master would only match me to fight the Raja's elephant for five

hundred rupees I should win the fight and my debt would be cleared;

and if he does not do that I shall probably have to work for him all

my life. How long do you intend to stay?" "My debt will be cleared

if I work for him two years" answered the new comer.

 

The man who overheard this conversation was much astonished and

went off to the oilman and told him all about it. Next day the whole

village had heard of it and they were all anxious for the oilman to

match his bullock against the Raja's elephant; but the oilman was

very frightened, for he feared that if he sent such a challenge, the

Raja would be angry with him and drive him out of the country. But

the leading villagers urged him and undertook to find the money if he

lost, and to persuade the Raja that the oilman was mad, if he became

angry with him. At last the oilman consented, provided that some of

the villagers went to the Raja and proposed the match; he was too

frightened to go himself. So two of the village elders went to the

Raja and asked him to match his elephant against the oilman's bullock

for five hundred rupees; the Raja was very much amused and at once

fixed a day for the fight. So they returned and told the oilman to

be ready and raised a subscription of five hundred rupees.

 

The evening before the contest the oilman gave the bullock a big feed

of meal and oilcake; and on the eventful morning the villagers all

collected and watched him oiling its horns and tying a bell round its

neck. Then the oilman gave the bullock a slap on its back and said

"Take care: you are going to fight an elephant; if you owe me so much

money you will win, and if not, then you will be defeated." When

he said this the bullock pawed the ground and snorted and put down

its head.

 

Then they all set out with the five hundred rupees to a level field

near the Raja's palace; a great crowd collected to see the fun and

the Raja went there expecting easily to win five hundred rupees. The

elephant was brought forward with vermilion on its cheeks, and a

pad on its back, and a big bell round its neck, and a mahout riding

The crowd called out "Put down the stakes:" so each side produced

the money and publicly announced that the owner of the animal which

should be victorious should take all the stakes. But the oilman

objected to the mahout's riding the elephant; no one was going to ride

his bullock. This was seen to be fair and the mahout had to get off;

then the fight began. The bullock snorted and blew through its nose,

and ran at the elephant with its head lowered. Then the elephant also

rushed forward but the bullock stood its ground and stamped; at this

the elephant turned tail and ran away; the bullock ran after it and

gored it from behind until it trumpeted with pain. The crowd shouted

"The Raja's elephant is beaten." And the oilman took the five hundred

rupees and they all went home. From that day the oilman no longer put

the bullock to work the oil mill but fed it well and left it free to

go where it liked. But the bullock only stayed on with him for one

month and then died.

XXV. (How Sabai Grass Grew.)

 

Once upon a time there were seven brothers who had an only

sister. These brothers undertook the excavation of a large tank;

but although they spent large sums and dug very deep they could not

reach water and the tank remained dry.

 

One day as they were consulting what to do to get the tank to fill,

they saw a Jogi corning towards them with a lota in his hand; they at

once called to him to come and advise them, for they thought that,

as he spent his time wandering from country to country, he might

somewhere have learned some thing which would be of use to them. All

the Jogi said to them was "You have a sister: if you sacrifice her,

the tank will fill with water." The brothers were fond of the girl,

but in their despair at seeing their labour wasted they agreed to give

the advice of the Jogi a trial. So they told their mother the next day

that, when their sister brought them out their midday meal, she was

to be dressed in her best and carry the rice in a new basket and must

bring a new water pot to draw their water in. At midday the girl went

down to her brothers with her best cloth and all her jewellry on; and

when they saw their victim coming they could not keep from tears. She

asked them what they were grieving for; they told her that nothing was

the matter and sent her to draw water in her new water-pot from the

dry tank. Directly the girl drew near to the bank the water began to

bubble up from the bottom; and when she went down to the water's edge

it rose to her instep. She bent down to fill her pot but the pot would

not fill though the water rose higher and higher; then she sang:--

 

 

    "The water has risen, brother,

    And wetted my ankle, brother,

    But still the _lota_ in my hand

    Will not sink below the surface."

 

 

But the water rose to her knees and the pot would not fill, and

she sang:--

 

 

    "The water has risen, brother,

    And wetted my knees, brother,

    But still the lota in my hand

    Will not sink below the surface."

 

 

Then the water rose to her waist and the pot would not fill, and

she sang:--

 

 

    "The water has risen, brother,

    And wetted my waist, brother,

    But still the lota in my hand

    Will not sink below the surface."

 

 

Then the water reached her neck and the pot would not fill; and

she sang:--

 

 

    The water has risen, brother,

    And wetted my neck, brother,

    But still the lota in my hand

    Will not sink below the surface."

 

 

At last it flowed over her head and the water-pot was filled, but the

girl was drowned. The tank however remained brimful of sparkling water.

 

Now the