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

LXII. (Spanling and His Uncles.)

 

There was once a little man named Spanling (Bita) because he was

only a span (_Bita_) high; and he had a beard one span and four

finger-breadths long. His father was dead, and he lived alone with

his mother and he was as cunning as anyone in the world. He had one

cow-buffalo and this he always grazed at night, for fear that the sun

might melt it. Once it happened that as he was following his buffalo,

he got buried in its droppings and he was so small that he could not

get out.

 

However, next morning, some girls, who were gathering cowdung for fuel,

found him and set him free. Spanling decided to get rid of the buffalo

after this; so he killed it and flayed it and when the skin was dry,

took it away to sell. Before he found a purchaser night came on,

so he climbed a tree with his hide to be out of danger. During the

night a gang of thieves came to the tree, and began to divide their

booty. While there were busy over this, Spanling let the hide fall

with a clatter into their midst, and they all ran away in a fright,

leaving all their stolen goods behind.

 

When day dawned, Spanling climbed down and found piles of gold waiting

for him. He took it home and sent his mother to borrow a wooden measure

from his uncles to measure it with. When he returned the measure,

one of the gold pieces was left sticking in a crack. His uncles at

once hastened to enquire how he came to be measuring gold. Spanling

told them that he had sold his buffalo skin at a town which he named,

for an enormous price and no doubt they could find the same market, if

they chose to kill their buffaloes. The uncles hurried home and killed

all their buffaloes and took the hides to the city, which Spanling

had named, but they were only laughed at when they asked more than

the price which was paid every day for hides. The uncles came home

very angry at the way in which they had been tricked by Spanling,

and in revenge they burnt his house down. Finding himself homeless,

Spanling gathered the ashes of his house into sacks, loaded them on

a cart and drove away. When evening came he camped by the roadside

in company with some other carters and, in the middle of the night,

he quietly changed his sacks of ashes for some of the sacks in the

other carts. When he got home he found that the sacks which he had

stolen were full of gold coins. He again sent to his uncles for a

measure and when the measure was returned a gold coin was again left

sticking in a crack. The uncles at once came to enquire how Spanling

had got the money. He told them that he had sold the ashes of his

house for gold and, as their houses were bigger than his, they would

doubtless make their fortunes if they burnt them down and sold the

ashes. The uncles took his advice but when they tried to sell the

ashes they were only laughed at for their pains.

 

LXIII. (The Silent Wife.)

 

There was once a madcap of a fellow, whose wife got on very well with

him and did all the house work very nicely, but she would never speak

a single word to him. As nothing he tried would make her speak, the

madcap at last hit on a plan of taking her on a long journey. But even

when he told his wife that she must come with him to a far country,

she did not utter a word. When all was ready for a start the madcap

bathed his feet and took a _lota_ of water into the house and pouring

it out, prayed to the spirit of his grandfather thus "Grandfather,

grant that my wife may speak; if you do not fail me in this, I will

make offerings to you on my return; grant that we may come back

together happily; teach her to speak to me soon."

 

Then he set out with his wife and they travelled on until they entered

a dense forest, where there was no sign of human habitation. As they

went on, the tailor birds and babblers began to chatter and scream

at them. The madcap got angry at this and called out to the birds

that if they did not stop, he would chase them and go on chasing

them for a day and a night. Then he sat down and watched them. His

wife stood waiting by his side, and soon she began to wonder what she

would do and where she would go, if her husband really went in chase

of the birds. So at last she spoke to him and said "Come, get up;

we must make haste out of this jungle." Directly the words were out

of her mouth, the madcap knelt down and bowing to the ground said

"I thank you, Grandfather". Then he rose and went on with his wife.

 

Presently they met a bear; the madcap called out "You brute of a bear,

what do you mean by coming to meet us like this? I will chase you and

go on chasing you till to-morrow morning." But his wife besought him

to come along and not leave her. Directly she spoke, the madcap cried

"Bravo" and kneeling down thanked his grandfather. They went on and

presently a jackal crossed their path; the madcap cursed it and vowed

that he would chase it all the night. Again his wife urged him to

come on and again the madcap knelt down and thanked his grandfather;

but his wife did not know why he did so, nor did she trouble to ask.

 

Just as they reached the edge of the forest they saw a leopard and this

also the madcap threatened to chase. "Then go and chase it," said his

wife, who now felt safe. So he went in pursuit of the leopard, but

after going a little way he lost sight of it and went back to where

his wife was. "What has become of all your boasting?" said she. "You

have not chased it till to-morrow morning." "No," said the madcap

"I have killed it; if you don't believe me, come and see." But she

did not want to go back into the jungle and said no more about it. As

his wife had broken her silence the madcap saw no use in going further

and they turned homewards; all the way his wife went on chatting and

singing along with him. When he reached home he sacrificed a number of

goats to his grandfather, and lived happily with his wife ever after.

LXIV. (The Dumb Shepherd.)

 

There was once a very rich and powerful Raja and in his heart he

thought that there was no one so powerful in the world as himself;

thus he thought but he told no one of his thought. One day he made

up his mind to see whether others could guess what he was thinking,

so he called together his officers and servants and dependants and

bade them tell him what thought was in his heart. Many of them made

guesses, but not one gave an answer which satisfied the Raja.

 

Then the Raja told his dewan that he must without fail find some

one who would, guess his thought, and he gave the dewan exactly one

month's time in which to search. The dewan searched high and low but

all in vain, and as the time drew near he grew more and more anxious,

for he feared that he would fall into disgrace. But he had a daughter

and she consoled him and told him to cheer up, as she would find a

man on the day fixed to read the Raja's thoughts. The dewan had to

take what comfort he could from this promise, and when the appointed

day arrived, his daughter brought a dumb shepherd whom they employed

and bade her father take him to the Raja. The dewan thought it very

unlikely that the dumb shepherd would succeed where others had failed,

but he saw no alternative to following his daughter's advice.

 

So the dewan presented himself before the Raja with the dumb shepherd

and found a large company assembled to see what happened. The two

stood before the Raja and the dumb man looked at the Raja. Then

the Raja held up one finger, at this the dumb shepherd held up two

fingers. Then the Raja held up three fingers, but at this the dumb

man made signs of dissent and ran away as fast as he could. Then the

Raja laughed and seemed very pleased and praised the dewan for having

brought him such a clever man, and gave the dewan a rich reward.

 

The dewan was still at a loss to know what had happened, and begged the

Raja to explain what had passed between him and the shepherd. "When

I held up one finger," said the Raja "I asked him whether I alone

was Raja, and he by holding up two reminded me that there was God,

who was as powerful as I am. Then I asked him whether there was any

third, and he vehemently denied that there was. Thus he has read my

thoughts, for I have always been thinking that I alone am powerful,

but he has reminded me that there is God as well, but no third."

 

Then they all went their ways, and that night the dewan questioned

the dumb shepherd as to how he had been able to understand the Raja:

and the dumb man explained "I have only three sheep of my own, and

when I appeared before the Raja he held up one finger, meaning that

he wanted me to give him one of my sheep, and as he is a great Raja

I offered to give him two; but when he held up three ringers to show

that he wanted to take all three from me, I thought that he was going

too far and so I ran away."

By this lucky chance the dewan earned his reward from the Raja.