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

one could go near where he lived because of the wild

buffaloes; however the parrot undertook to bring him with the help

of a tame crow of the Raja's: so the crow and the parrot flew off to

the jungle, and they decided that the best way to entice Lakhan away,

was to carry off his flute. So when the cows gave him milk at noon and

he put down his flute, the crow seized it in his beak and flew away to

the top of a tree. When Lakhan missed the flute and saw the crow with

it, he began to throw stones but the crow flew off with it, keeping

just out of range; the crow flew from tree to tree and seemed to be

always just about to drop the flute and in this way enticed Lakhan on,

till they came to the Raja's palace and Lakhan followed the crow right

inside and they shut the door on him and made him marry the princess.

 

After some time his wife's brothers began to talk rudely about

him saying "I suppose this fellow is some poor orphan, without any

relations" and when Lakhan heard this he said that if they wanted

to see his cattle and buffaloes they must make a yard for them. So

the Raja gave orders for a large cattle yard to be made, and when it

was ready Lakhan took his flute and put his wife on the roof of the

palace and he himself climbed a tree and blew on the flute. Then the

wild buffaloes came running at the sound and gored to death every

one they met, and Lakhan and his wife became Raja and Rani.

LXXII. (The Boy with the Stag.)

 

Once all the men of a village went out to hunt in the hills and a

certain orphan boy wanted to go with them, and although they told him

that there was no water in the hills and he would die of thirst, he

insisted on starting. The first day they found no water, but the orphan

boy managed to endure it; but the second day he suffered so much, that

he begged the hunters to take him to water; they told him that there

was no water and they could not take him to any. So he set off alone

in the direction in which he understood there might be water, but he

soon lost his way in the jungle; so in despair he climbed a _meral_

tree and picked the fruit and threw it in all directions and to his

joy he heard one fruit splash as it fell into water; so he climbed down

and sure enough close to the tree he found a pool and drank his fill.

 

And then he saw a fawn stuck fast in the mud at the edge of the pool,

so he fixed an arrow to his bow and crept towards it, resolved to

catch it alive if he could, but if it ran away, to shoot it. The fawn

did not move and he managed to seize it and pulling it out of the mud,

he rubbed it clean and put his bow string round its neck and took it

home. The fawn grew up into a stag and he trained it to fight and

one day he matched it to fight with a goat. The agreement was that

the owner of the winner should take both the animals; in the fight

the stag was victorious, so the boy won the goat. Then he matched his

stag with a ram and a bullock and even with a buffalo, and the stag

was always victorious and in this way he soon grew rich. Seeing him

so rich one of the villagers gave him his daughter in marriage and

took him to live in his house, and so he lived happily ever afterwards.

LXXIII. (The Seven Brothers and the Bonga Girl.)

 

Once upon a time there were seven brothers who lived all alone in

the jungle, far from human habitations. None of them was married

and they lived on the game they killed. It chanced that a _bonga_

maiden saw the youngest brother and fell deeply in love with him. So

one day when all the brothers were away hunting, she placed in their

house seven nicely cooked plates of rice.

 

When the brothers returned in the evening from the chase, they were

astonished to find the rice waiting for them; all but the youngest said

that it must be some plot to kill them and refused to touch the food,

but the youngest wished to eat it. His brothers would not let him and

told him to throw the rice away; so he took it outside the house, but

instead of throwing it away, he ate up the whole seven plates full,

without letting his brothers know. But when they went to bed that

night, the youngest brother snored loudly, because he had eaten so

much, and thereby his brothers guessed that he had eaten the rice,

and they were very unhappy for they were sure that he was about to

die. However in the morning he was none the worse; so they went out

hunting as usual but the youngest brother suffered continually from

thirst, the result of overeating, and this convinced his brothers

that he had eaten the rice, though he denied it.

 

When they reached home that evening, they again found seven dishes of

rice placed ready for them. And that day the youngest brother and the

youngest but one ate; and the day after there was the rice again, and

the three youngest ate it. Then the eldest brother said: "To-morrow

I will stay behind and watch, and see who it is who brings the rice;

we have no servant, if I can catch the person who is so kind to us,

I will engage him as a cook for us, and we need have no more of this

mystery. Do you bring back my share of the game you shoot."

 

So the next morning the eldest brother stayed behind and hid himself

and watched. But he could not see the _bonga_, though she brought

the rice as usual; and when he told his brothers this, it was decided

that the second brother should stay behind the next day, and see if

he had better luck; and that day they all ate the rice, except the

eldest brother, who said that he would never eat it, until he knew

who brought it; so the next day the second brother watched but he

also could not see the _bonga_.

 

One by one all the brothers watched in vain, until only the youngest

one was left. Then they said to the youngest brother: "Now it is

your turn and if our friend does not show himself to you, we will

eat no more of his rice." So the next day the other brothers went

off to hunt and the youngest stayed at home; he did not trouble to

hide himself, but sat in the house making a bow. At noon he saw the

_bonga_ girl coming with the rice on her head, but he took no notice

and pretended to be looking down at something. Then the _bonga_ came

into the courtyard and put down the rice and looked about and said:

"I saw something like a man here, where has he got to?" and she

looked into the house and still the youngest brother kept silent;

then she spoke to him and asked whether he was ill, that he had not

gone hunting. He answered her that he was not ill, but had been left

to watch for the person who brought them rice every day. Thereupon

the _bonga_ went outside and brought in the rice and putting it down,

said: "It is I who do it. Come, wash your hands and I will give you

your dinner," but he said: "First tell me what all this means," and

she said: "It means that I want to live with you." He objected. "How

can I marry you when my brothers are not married?" She answered that

if he married her, they would soon find wives for his brothers. Then

she urged him to eat, but he said that if he ate one plateful, his

brothers would question him, so the _bonga_ girl went and brought an

extra dish and he ate that. And as they talked together, he soon fell

deeply in love with her, and promised to consult his brothers about

her living with them; but he saw a difficulty which would arise if

she married him, for his elder brothers would not care even to ask

her for water, and thus she would be really of very little use in the

house; so with some hesitation he proposed that she should marry the

eldest brother and then they could all talk freely to her; but the

girl would not agree to this and said that there would be no harm at

all in their talking to her, provided that they did not touch her,

and she would not mind giving his elder brothers water.

 

So they plighted their troth to each other, subject to the consent of

the brothers, and towards evening the _bonga_ girl left, promising

to return on the morrow. When the brothers returned they discussed

the matter and agreed that the youngest should marry the girl,

provided that she promised to keep house for them. So the next day

the girl came back and stayed with them; and they found wives for

the other brothers, and got cattle and buffaloes and broke up land

for cultivation and though the brothers did not altogether give up

hunting, they became rich.

 

A certain jogi found out where they lived and once every year he came

to ask for alms; one year he came just after the _bonga_ girl had

borne a child, so as she was doing no work, it was her sisters-in-law

who brought out food for the jogi. But at this he was displeased, and

said that he would only eat at the hands of the girl, who had given

him food the year before. They told him that she was in child-bed and

could not come out. Then he said: "Go and tell her that the Jhades Jogi

has come and wants her arm tassel." So she sent out her arm tassel

to him and he put it in his bag and got up and went away. Thereupon

the _bonga_ girl arose and left her baby, and followed him, and never

came back. At evening the brothers returned from hunting, and heard

what had happened. They were very distressed and told their wives

to look after the baby while they went in pursuit. They followed as

hard as they could and caught up the Jogi on the banks of a river;

then they tried to shoot him, but their arrows were powerless against

him, and he by magic turned the seven brothers into stones.

 

So the Jogi carried off the woman to his home. He was a Raja in his

own country and he had a big garden; and an old woman who looked

after it used to make garlands every day and bring