Folklore of the Santal Parganas, Cecil Henry Bompas [sad books to read .TXT] 📗

as his wife was rubbing his arms and legs, the

prince remained silent and downcast and showed none of the joy of

a bridegroom; and when his bride asked what was the matter, he told

her that he had only come to see her for one day and that afterwards

she must try and forget all about him. At first he would not tell

her more, but when she urged him, he told her how he had to go and

surrender himself to the snake on the next day. When she heard this

she vowed that she would go with him and die with him.

 

The next morning came and the prince said that he must return, and

his wife said that she was going with him; so they made everything

ready and set out on their way. When they came within sight of the

banyan tree where the prince was to be killed, he tried to turn his

wife back but though he used force she refused to leave him and said

that she would first see him killed and then go home; so at last he

let her accompany him.

 

When they reached the tree she asked to be allowed to go in front and

be the first to meet the snake; to this the prince assented. They

had not gone far when they saw the snake awaiting them in the path

with its crest raised, and when they drew near, the prince's bride

begged the snake to eat her first, as she had nowhere to live if she

survived her husband. The snake refused and bade her go home to her

parents; she said that that was impossible; they had sold her and the

prince had bought her, in life and in death, bones and ashes. But

the snake would not listen and made for the prince to eat him. His

wife however kept in front of the snake and would not let it pass;

she called the banyan tree to witness that the snake should not eat

her husband without first killing her; without her husband she would

have no one to support her.

 

Then the snake promised to teach her an incantation by means of which

she could support herself, so saying, the snake conferred some magic

power upon and taught her an incantation; and promised her that if she

took some dust in her hand and repeated the incantation and then blew

on the dust, any person on whom she sprinkled the dust would at once

be burnt to ashes. Then the prince's wife asked how she should restore

the people to life and the snake taught her that also, but she was not

satisfied and said that she must try at once to see whether the snake

was deceiving her or no; so the snake bade her experiment on a _tarop_

tree which grew near. Thereupon she gathered up some dust and repeated

the incantation and blew on it and suddenly threw it over the snake,

which at once turned to ashes, and that was the end of the snake.

 

Then the prince and his wife went on their way rejoicing, and he was

filled with wonder at the way in which his bride had saved him by

persisting in going with him.

XLV. (The Tiger's Bride.)

 

One day a woman went to cut thatching grass and she cut such a quantity

that when she tied it up, the bundle was too big for her to lift on

to her head; so she stood and called for some one to help her, but

no one was within hearing and no one came. She called and called and

at last began to promise that she would give her daughter in marriage

to any one who would help her.

 

After she had called out this a few times, a tiger suddenly appeared

and asked what she wanted; she explained her difficulty and the tiger

undertook to lift the load on to her head, if she would really give

him her daughter in marriage. She promised and with the help of the

tiger took up the bundle and went home.

 

Two or three days after, the tiger presented himself at her house and

was duly married to the daughter. After the wedding the couple started

for the tiger's home; all the way the unhappy bride wept and sang:--

 

 

    "How far off is our home, big head?"

 

 

"You can just see the mouth of the cave" answered the tiger and in a

short time they came to a large cave. Then the tiger told her to set

to work and cook a feast while he went off and invited his friends

to come and share it. But the bride when left alone caught a cat and

killed it and hung it over the fire, so that its blood dropped slowly

into the pan and made a fizzling noise, as if cooking were going on;

and then she ran off to her mother's house and climbed a tree which

grew near it and began to sing:--

 

 

    "You married me to a ti-ti-tiger:

    You threw me to a bear:

    Take back the necklace you gave me

    Take back the bracelet and the diamonds and the coral."

 

 

Meanwhile the tiger returned with his friends and sat down outside the

cave and told his wife to be quick with the cooking of the cakes for he

heard the hissing over the fire and thought that she was cooking. At

last as she did not come out, he got tired of waiting and went in to

fetch her: then he saw that she had disappeared and had to go and tell

his friends. They were very angry at being cheated out of a feast,

and fell upon the tiger and beat him, till he ran away and was seen

no more: but his bride was left to flit from tree to tree singing:--

 

 

    "You married me to a ti-ti-tiger:

    You threw me to a bear:

    Take back the necklace you gave me

    Take back the bracelet and the diamonds and the coral."

XLVI. (The Killing of the Tiger.)

 

They say that there was a time when all living things had a common

speech and animals and men could understand each other, and in those

days there was a man-eating tiger which infested a jungle through

which a highroad ran; it preyed on people passing along the road

till no one ventured to travel, and as the country was so unsafe, the

people went in a body to the Raja and told him of the ravages of the

tiger and asked him to send a force of soldiers to hunt and shoot it.

 

So the Raja called together all his soldiers and promised to give half

his kingdom to any one of them who would kill the tiger, but not one

of them was brave enough to make the attempt; they said that their

business was to fight men and not tigers and leopards; then the Raja

extended his offer to all his subjects and the petitioners went home

to consult about it; and the news was published that the Raja would

give half his kingdom to the slayer of the tiger.

 

Now there was a poor man who was a very brave shikari of big game,

and cunning into the bargain, and he offered to go and kill the

tiger. They questioned him carefully, and when they saw that he was in

earnest they took him to the Raja to hear from the Raja's lips what

his reward should be; and the Raja promised him half his kingdom,

and wrote a bond to that effect, for he thought that the tiger would

surely kill the man. Then the shikari said that he would start the

next morning and return the next day either with the dead tiger or

with bits of its ears and claws to show that he had killed it. The

Raja told the people to watch carefully and see that the shikari did

not cheat by taking the claws and ears of a tiger with him.

 

The next morning the shikari started off and all he took with him was

a looking-glass and three pictures of a tiger drawn on three pieces

of paper and a hatchet; he went to the road which the tiger frequented

and climbed a banyan tree and spent the night in it. The tiger did not

pass by at all that night but in the morning it appeared and called

out "Who is up in the tree?" The shikari said "It is I." "Come down

quickly," said the tiger, "I have been looking for you." "Wait a

minute," answered the shikari, "I have been looking for you also."

 

"What for?" said the tiger: "Tell me first why you are looking for me,"

said the man: "To eat you," answered the tiger; then the man said,

"Well I have been hunting for you to catch you and take you away. I

have caught three or four like you and if you don't believe me, let me

get down and I will show you". The tiger got into a fright and said:

"Come down and show me." So the shikari climbed down and uncovered

his looking glass and told the tiger to look and he reflected in the

glass the pictures of the tigers which he had brought and said, "Now

I am going to catch you and put you in here also." The tiger asked

why he was to be caught and the shikari said that it was because he

had made the road unsafe by killing travellers; then the tiger begged

and prayed to be let off and promised that he would never kill any

travellers again. At last the shikari said that he would let him go,

if he would allow him to cut off his claws and the tips of his ears

and the tip of his tongue as a pledge of his good faith. The tiger

said, "Well, you may cut off one claw from each foot and the very

tip of my ears and tongue." So the shikari cut them off with his

hatchet and, after again warning the tiger, went back home; and then

presented himself with all his friends before the Raja and the Raja

gave him the promised reward, But the tiger's tongue festered and,

after roaring with pain for a whole day, it died.

XLVII. (The Dream.)

 

One night as a