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

the jungle hunting

while the sister minded the house and cooked the dinner against

their return.

 

One day while the brothers were hunting the girl went to cut herbs

to cook with the dinner: as she was doing so she chanced to cut her

finger and some drops of blood fell on the herbs, which were put in

the pot. When the brothers came home to dinner they noticed how very

sweet the food was and asked the reason. The girl said that she was

afraid that it must be because some drops of her blood had fallen

on it. Then the brothers took counsel together and agreed that if

a few drops of her blood were so sweet, she must be very nice to

eat. So they agreed to murder her and eat her. But the youngest

brother named Lita, though he did not dare to oppose his elders,

was sorry for the decision. The next day when the brothers came

from the jungle they brought with them a beautiful flower of seven

colours and gave it to their sister. She was delighted with it:

she had never seen so beautiful a flower before and wanted to know

where it grew and whether were others like it. They said that if she

liked to come with them they would take her to the tree on which the

flowers grew and she could pick as many as she liked. So the next

morning she gladly went with them and they took her to the tree with

the seven-coloured flowers. She climbed the tree to pick the flowers

and when she was up in the tree they shot arrows at her to kill her;

but though they shot many arrows they could not kill her. Then they

compelled Lita to shoot and he with his first arrow killed his sister.

 

Then they cut up the body of the girl ready for cooking and sent

Lita to a well to fetch water in which to cook the flesh. Lita went

to the well and overcome with sorrow sat down and wept. As he wept a

large frog came to the surface of the water and asked him what was

the matter; he said that he had been made to kill his sister and

that now they were going to cook her flesh. The frog told him to be

comforted and gave him a large _rohu_ fish. Lita took this back and

when his brothers told him to cook the food, he hid the pieces of

his sister's body and cooked the _rohu_ fish. The brothers ate this

thinking that it was their sister. Then they went on into the jungle

hunting. After going a short way Lita said that he had forgotten to

recover his arrow and that he must go back and fetch it. He went back

to the place, and taking his sister's body buried it and building

a hut near, spent the days in weeping over the grave. After he had

spent some time thus the girl appeared alive out of the ground. Lita

was overjoyed and he and his sister remained happily in the jungle.

 

One day a Raja hunting in the jungle passed that way and seeing the

girl at once fell in love with her and took her away and married

her. Lita he also took with him and made him ruler of half the kingdom.

 

In honour of his marriage the Raja resolved to construct an enormous

tank: and people came from far and near to work at it. Among others

came Lita's five elder brothers, who had fallen into great poverty,

owing to their wickedness. When their sister saw them she forgave

them and sending for them bestowed on them food and clothing. But

they were so ashamed and repentent that they could only kneel on the

ground and beat the earth with their hands. As they continued to do

so the earth opened and swallowed them up: only their hair stuck out

of the ground and that became _sabai_ grass, and this was the origin

of all the _sabai_ grass which exists.

 

 

 

 

(11)--The Faithless Sister.

 

Once upon a time there was a man who had a son and daughter: he used

to cultivate his land and his son and daughter used to take his dinner

to him. One day the man went to plough and while ploughing he stuck

the spear which he had brought with him into the ground. As the man

ploughed a tiger came and waited an opportunity to spring upon the

man: but from whichever side the tiger approached, the spear which was

stuck in the ground bent its point towards the tiger and so protected

its master. Just then the boy and girl came along with their father's

dinner. The baffled tiger was hiding in some bushes by the field. As

the children went along they saw a paddy bird on the ground. The

boy of course had his bow and bird arrows with him and he shot an

arrow at the paddy bird: he missed the bird, but it happened that

the tiger was just in the line of fire; the arrow pierced the eye

of the tiger and killed it instantaneously. When the girl saw the

tiger lying dead she said that it was clear that their father had

enticed them there in order that the tiger might kill them when they

brought him his dinner: clearly the only way for them to save their

lives was to leave their home at once. The boy agreed; drawing his

arrow from the tiger's head and taking the tiger's eyes with him, he

went away with his sister as fast as they could run. After going some

little distance they met in the way two tigers. The boy threw at the

tiger the eyes of the first tiger which he had brought with him. The

tigers at once fell down dead, but from the body of one proceeded,

a hare, and from the body of the other, two dogs which peaceably

followed the boy and his sister. Having escaped to a distance they

lived in the jungle happily for some time with their three animal

friends. One day the hare said that he would like to have a spear,

so the boy went with him to a blacksmith and got a spear made. As

they were returning they met in the way a giant _Rakshasa_ who

wished to devour them, but the hare holding the spear kept jumping

in and out of the giant's mouth with such speed that the _Rakshasa_

was dumbfounded and surrendered at discretion, promising to be a

faithful servant to them henceforth. With the help of the _Rakshasa_

they had great success in hunting. The boy with the hare and the two

dogs used to beat the jungle and drive the game towards the _Rakshasa_

who caught it in his mouth. One day they thus caught a monkey, whose

life they spared and who joined their band. The monkey took a large

drum and caught in it a nest of wild bees, which he preserved.

 

One day while the others were away a Raja who was hunting in the

jungle found the girl sitting alone and at once fell in love with her

and wanted to marry her. The girl said that she was willing but that

she was sure that her brother would never consent. The only thing was

to kill her brother and the Raja could never do that as the faithful

animals would protect him. At last the girl consented to try and

compass her brother's death. To this end she became very melancholy and

seemed to pine away: her brother asked what was the matter and she said

that she would never recover unless he could fetch her a certain flower

which grew in the midst of a certain lake. Now this lake swarmed with

gigantic fish and poisonous snakes. But the brother, never daunted,

went to the lake and began to swim out to the centre where the flower

grew. Before he got half way there one of the gigantic fish swallowed

him up. The Rakshasa however saw this and set to work to drink the lake

up: he soon drank the lake dry and not only caught the big fish but

also was able to gather the flower that had grown in the lake. They

then cut open the fish and took the boy unharmed from its belly. The

Rakshasa then vomited up the water he had swallowed and filled up

the lake again. Meanwhile the Raja thinking that the boy had died,

carried off his sister. But the boy setting out with the hare and the

dogs and the Rakshasa and the monkey proceeded to attack the Raja's

capital and recover his sister. The monkey opened his drum and the

bees issued forth and attacked the Raja's army so that it fled. The

Raja had to capitulate and give the boy half his kingdom and his own

daughter in marriage, then peace was declared and the animals all

disappeared into the jungle and our hero lived happily ever after.

 

 

 

 

(12)--The Cruel Sisters-in-Law.

 

Once upon a time there lived six brothers who had one sister. The

brothers were all married and their wives hated their sister-in-law. It

happened that the brothers all went away to trade in a far country and

her sisters-in-law took the opportunity to illtreat the girl. They

said "If you do not obey us and do what we tell you we will kill

you." The girl said that she would obey their behests to the best of

her ability. They said "Then go to the well and bring this earthen pot

back full of water." The khalsi had a large hole in the bottom so that

as fast as it was filled the water ran out. The girl took the pot to

the well and sitting down began to weep over her fate. As she wept a

large frog rose out of the water and asked her what was the matter. She

said "My last hour has come. If I cannot fill this pot with water

I shall be killed and it has a hole in the bottom." The frog said,

"Be comforted, I will cure that: I will sit on the hole and stop it

up with my body and you will be able to fill it." This it did and

the girl took the water back to the house. The sisters-in-law were

very angry but could say nothing so they set her another task. They

told her to go the jungle and bring home a full bundle of sticks:

but she was not to take any rope with which to tie them. The girl

collected a large quantity of sticks and then sat down and cried

because she was unable to carry them home: as she cried a large snake

came up and asked what was the matter. The girl told him, whereupon

the snake said that he would curl himself round the sticks and serve

as a rope. This he did and the girl was able to carry the sticks home

on her head. Defeated in this attempt the sisters-in-law the next day

told the girl to go to a field of pulse which had been sown the day

before and bring back all the grain by the evening. The girl went to

the field and picked up a few grains but it had been sown broadcast

and the girl soon saw that the task was hopeless: she sat down and

cried and as she cried a flock of pigeons flew to her and asked her

what was the matter: she said that she could not pick up all the

grain in the field. They said that that was easily managed, and the

pigeons spreading over the field soon picked up all the grain and

put it into the girl's basket, so that by evening she returned with

the basket full. The sisters-in-law were more than ever enraged. They

gave her a pot and told her that she must go to the jungle and bring

it back full of bear's milk. The girl went to the jungle and being

very frightened sat down and began to cry: a large she bear came by

and asked what was the matter. The girl explained and the she bear,

sorry for her distress willingly allowed herself to be milked without

doing the girl any harm. The sisters-in-law then resolved to make a

more direct attempt on the girl's life. They took her into the jungle

and told her to climb a certain tree and pick them the fruit. The

tree had a tall smooth trunk and the girl had to climb the tree

by driving pegs into the trunk. When she reached the branches the

sisters-in-law pulled the pegs out of the tree and went home leaving

the girl to