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

found no rice but

only three wooden measures floating about; then he turned and abused

Jhore for his folly, but Jhore said "You yourself told me to put in

three measures and I have done so." So Bajun had to set to work and

cook the rice himself and got his dinner very late.

 

Next day Bajun said to Jhore, "You don't know how to cook the dinner;

I will stay at home to-day, you go to plough, and take a hatchet

with you and if the plough catches in a root or anything, give a

cut with the hatchet." So Jhore went ploughing and when the plough

caught in anything and stopped, he gave a cut with his hatchet at

the legs of the bullocks; they backed and plunged with the pain and

then he only chopped at them the more until he lamed them both. At

noon Bajun saw the bullocks come limping back and asked what was

the matter with them. "O," said Jhore, "that is because I cut at

them as you told me." "You idiot," said Bajun, "I meant you to give

a cut at the roots in which the plough got caught, not at the legs

of the bullocks; how will you live if you do such silly things? You

cannot plough, you must stay at home and cook the rice. I will show

you this evening how it is done." So after that Jhore stayed at home

and cooked. Bajun's wife grew no better, so one day Bajun, before he

went to the fields, told Jhore to warm some water in order that his

wife might wash with it. But Jhore made the water boiling hot and

then took it and began to pour it over his sister-in-law as she lay

on her bed; she was scalded and shrieked out "Don't pour it over me,"

but Jhore only laughed and went on pouring until he had scalded her

to death. Then he wrapped her up in a cloth and brought her dinner to

her and offered it her to eat, but she was dead and made no answer to

him, so he left it by her and went and ate his own rice. When Bajun

came back and found his wife scalded to death he was very angry and

went to get an axe to kill Jhore with; thereupon Jhore ran away into

the jungle and Bajun pursued him with the axe.

 

In the jungle Jhore found a dead sheep and he took out its stomach and

called out "Where are you, brother, I have found some meat." But Bajun

answered, "I will not leave you till I have killed you." So Jhore ran

on and climbed up inside a hollow tree, where Bajun could not follow,

Bajun got a long stick and poked at him with it and as he poked, Jhore

let fall the sheep's stomach, and when Bajun saw it he concluded that

he had killed his brother. So he went home and burned the body of

his wife and a few days later he performed the funeral ceremonies to

the memory of his wife and brother; he smeared the floor of the house

with cowdung and sacrificed goats and fowls. Now Jhore had come back

that day and climbed up on to the rafters of the house, and he sat

there watching all that his brother did. Bajun cooked a great basket

of rice and stewed the flesh of the animals he had sacrified and

offered it to the spirits of the dead and he recited the dedication

"My wife I offer this rice, this food, for your purification," and

so saying he scattered some rice on the ground; and he also offered

to Jhore, saying, "Jhore, my brother, I offer this rice, this food,

for your purification," and then Jhore called out from the roof "Well,

as you offer it to me I will take it." Bajun had not bargained to get

any answer, so he was astounded and went to ask the villagers whether

their spirits made answer when sacrificed to: and the villagers told

him that they had never heard of such a thing. While Bajun was away

on this errand, Jhore took up the unguarded basket of rice and ran

away with it; after going some way he sat down by the road and ate

as much as he wanted, then he sat and called out "Is there anyone on

the road or in the jungle who wants a feast?" A gang of thieves who

were on a thieving expedition heard him and went to see what he meant;

he offered to let them eat the rice if they would admit him to their

company; they agreed and he went on with them to steal; they broke

into a rich man's house and the thieves began to collect the pots

and pans but Jhore felt about in the dark and got hold of a drum and

began to beat on it. This woke up the people of the house and they

drove away the thieves. Then the thieves abused Jhore and said that

they could not let him stay with them: "Very well", said he, "then

give me back the rice you ate." Of course they could not do this. So

they had to let him stay with them. Then they went to the house of a

rich Hindu who had a stable full of horses and they planned to steal

the horses and ride away with them; so each thief picked out a horse,

but Jhore got hold of a tiger which had come to the back of the stable

to kill one of the horses; and when the thieves mounted their horses,

Jhore mounted on the tiger, and the tiger ran off with him towards the

jungle. Jhore kept on calling out "Keep to the road, you Hindu horse,

keep to the road, you Hindu horse." But it dragged him through the

briars and bushes till he was dead and that was the end of Jhore.

II. (Anuwa and His Mother.)

 

Once there was a young fellow named Anuwa who lived with his old

mother, and when he was out ploughing his mother used to take him

his breakfast. One day a jackal met her on her way to the field with

her son's breakfast and told her to put down the food which she was

carrying or he would knock her down and bite her; so she put it down

in a fright and the jackal ate most of it and then went away and

the old woman took what was left to her son and told him nothing

about what had happened. This happened several days in succession;

at last one day Anuwa asked her why she brought so little rice and

that so untidily arranged; so she told him how she was attacked every

day by the jackal. Then they made a plan that the next day the mother

should take the plough afield, while Anuwa should dress up as an old

woman and carry the breakfast. This they did and the jackal met Anuwa

as usual and made him put down the breakfast basket, but while the

jackal was eating, Anuwa knocked him head over heels with his stick;

and the jackal got up and fled, threatening and cursing Anuwa. Among

other things the jackal as he ran away, had threatened to eat Anuwa's

_malhan_ plants, so Anuwa put a fence of thorns round them and when

the jackal came at night and tried to eat the pods he only got his

nose pricked.

 

Foiled in this the jackal called out "Well, I will eat your fowls

to-morrow;" but Anuwa the next night sat by the fowl house with a

sickle and when the jackal came and poked in his head, Anuwa gave him a

rap on the snout with the sickle, so the jackal made off crying "Well,

Anuwa, your fowls have pecked me on the head, you shall die." So the

next day Anuwa pretended to be dead and his mother went about crying;

she took her way to the jungle and there she met the jackal and she

told him that Anuwa had died in consequence of his curse and she

invited him to the funeral feast, saying that he used to eat the

rice which she had cooked and he had become like a son to her. The

jackal gladly promised to attend, and he collected a number of his

friends and at evening they went to Anuwa's house and sat down in

the courtyard. Then the old woman came out and began to bewail her

son: but the jackal said "Stop crying, grannie, you cannot get back

the dead: let us get on to the feast." So she said that she would

fry some cakes first, as it would take some time before the rice was

ready. The jackals approved of this but they asked her to tie them up

with a rope first lest they should get to fighting over the food, so

the old woman brought a thick rope and tied them all up and tightest

of all she tied up the jackal which had cursed Anuwa; then she went

inside and put an iron pan on the fire and from time to time she

sprinkled water on it and when the jackals heard the water hissing

they thought that it was the cakes frying and jumped about with

joy. Suddenly Anuwa came out with a thick stick and set to beating

the jackals till they bit through the ropes and ran away howling;

but the first jackal was tied so tightly that he could not escape,

and Anuwa beat him till he was senseless and lay without moving all

night. The next morning Anuwa took the jackal and tied him to a stake

near the place where the village women drew water and he put a thick

stick beside it and every woman who went for water would give the

jackal one blow with the stick. After a few days beating the body

of the jackal became all swollen and one night some other jackals

came there and asked him what he ate that he had got so fat and he

said that every one who came to draw water gave him a handful of rice

and that was why he was so fat; and if they did not believe him they

could take his place and try for themselves.

 

So one jackal agreed to try and untied the first jackal and let himself

be tied in his place, but in the morning five women came down and

each gave him a blow with the stick till he jumped about for pain,

and seeing him jumping other women came and beat him till he died.

III. (Ledha and the Leopard.)

 

Once upon a time a boy named Ledha was tending cattle with other

boys at the foot of a hill, and these boys in fun used to call out

"Ho, leopard: Ho, leopard," and the echo used to answer from the hill

"Ho, leopard." Now there really was a leopard who lived in the hill

and one day he was playing hide and seek with a lizard which also

lived there. The lizard