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

killed all their horses.

 

More and more angry, the brothers resolved to kill Lelsing by guile. So

they went to him and said that they had found a wife for him, and

would take him to be married. When the procession was ready, Lelsing

got into a palki. His brothers made the doors of the palki fast and

carried him off towards a deep river, into which they meant to throw

him, palki and all.

 

When they reached the river, they put the palki down and went to

look for a suitably deep pool. Lelsing found that he was outwitted,

and began to weep and wail. Just then a shepherd came by, driving a

flock of sheep and asked what was the matter. Lelsing cried out that

they were going to marry him against his will, but that anyone who

would take his place in the palki could marry his bride. The shepherd

thought that this would be a great opportunity to get a wife without

spending any money on the marriage, and readily changed places with

Lelsing, who drove away the flock of sheep. The brothers soon came

back and, picking up the paiki, threw it into the river and went home,

thinking that they had at last got rid of Lelsing.

 

But four or five days later Lelsing appeared, driving a large flock of

sheep. His brothers asked him, in amazement where he had come from,

"You threw me" said Lelsing "into a shallow pool of the river where

there were only sheep, but in the deeper parts there are cattle

and buffaloes as well. I can take you to fetch some of them if you

like. You take your palkis to the bank of the river,--for I cannot

carry you all--and then shut yourselves inside and I will push you

into the water." So the brothers took their palkis to the river side

and shut themselves in, and each called out "Let me have the deepest

place, brother." Then Lelsing pushed them in one by one and they were

all drowned. Then he went home rejoicing at the revenge which he had

taken for their ill treatment of him.

LXVIII. (The Stolen Treasure.)

 

Once upon a time three jars full of money were stolen from a Raja's

palace. As all search was fruitless the Raja at last gave notice that,

whoever could find them, should receive one half of the money. The

offer brought all the _jans_ and _ojhas_ in the country to try their

hand, but not one of them could find the treasure.

 

The fact was that the money had been stolen by two of the Raja's own

servants and it fell to the duty of these same two men to entertain

the _ojhas_ who came to try and find the money. Thus they were able

to keep watch and see whether any of them got on the right track.

 

Not far from the Raja's city lived a certain tricky fellow. From his

boyhood he had always been up to strange pranks, and he had married

the daughter of a rich village headman. At the time that the Raja's

money was stolen his wife was on a visit to her father, and after

she had been some time away, he went to fetch her home. However, on

his way, he stopped to have a flirtation with a girl he knew in the

village and the result was that he did not get to his father-in-law's

house till long after dark. As he stood outside he heard his wife's

relations talking inside, and from their conversation he learnt that

they had killed a capon for supper, and that there was enough for

each of them to have three slices of capon and five pieces of the

vegetable which was cooked with it.

 

Having learnt this he opened the door and went in. The household

was amazed at his arriving so late at night but he explained that he

had dreamt that they had killed a capon and were having a feast: and

that there was enough for them each to have three slices of capon and

five pieces of vegetable, so he had come to have a share. At this his

father-in-law could do nothing but have another fowl killed and give

him supper; he was naturally astonished at the Trickster's powers of

dreaming and insisted that he must certainly go and try his luck at

finding the Raja's stolen money.

 

The Trickster was taken aback at this, but there was no getting

out of it; so the next morning he set out with his father-in-law to

the Raja's palace. When they arrived they were placed in charge of

the two guilty servants, who offered them refreshments of curds and

parched rice. As he was washing his hands after eating, the Trickster

ejaculated, "Find or fail I have at any rate had a square meal,"

Now the two servants were named Find and Fail and when they heard

what the Trickster said, they thought he was speaking of them, and

had by some magic already found out that they were the thieves.

 

This threw them into consternation, and they took the Trickster aside

and begged him not to tell the Raja that they were the thieves. He

asked where they had put the money, and they told him that they had

hidden it in the sand by the river. Then he promised not to reveal

their guilt, if they would show him where to find the money when

the time came. They gladly promised and took him to the Raja. The

Trickster pretended to read an incantation over some mustard seed,

and then taking a bamboo went along tapping the ground with it. He

refused to have a crowd with him, because they would spoil the spell,

but Find and Fail followed behind him and showed him where to go. So he

soon found the jars of money and took them to the Raja, who according

to his promise gave him half their contents.

 

LXIX. (Dukhu and His Bonga Wife.)

 

Once upon a time there was a man named Bhagrit who had two sons named

Lukhu and Dukhu; and Lukhu used to work in the fields, while Dukhu

herded the buffaloes. In summer Dukhu used to take his buffaloes to

drink and rest at a pool in the bed of a dry river.

 

Now in the pool lived a _bonga_ girl and she fell in love with

Dukhu. So one day as he was sitting on the bank she appeared to

him in the guise of a human maiden. She went up to him and began to

talk, and soon they became great friends and agreed to meet at the

same place every day. As the girl was beautiful Dukhu fell deeply in

love with her and resolved to marry her, not knowing that she was a

_bonga_. One day the _bonga_-girl asked Dukhu to come home with her to

dinner, as he had stayed too late to go to his own house; but he said

he was too shy to do so, as her parents knew nothing about him. The

_bonga_-girl said "Oh no, I have told my people all about our love,

but if you won't come with me, stay here till I fetch you some rice;

it is too late for you to go home now; by the time you come back, the

buffaloes will have wandered off for their afternoon grazing." So Dukhu

agreed to wait while she brought the rice, and she got up and moved

away and disappeared behind some bushes, but a minute later Dukhu saw

her come smiling towards him with a pot of rice on her head; though

how she had fetched it so quickly he could not make out. She came to

him and put it down and told him to wash his hands and come and eat

his dinner. Dukhu asked her whether she had had her own dinner and she

said that she would go back and have that later. Then he proposed that

she should eat part of what she had brought; and she said that she

would do so, if he did not want it all. Dukhu resolved to test her,

for it would be a proof of true love, if she ate what he left over. So

after eating half the rice he said that he was satisfied and when she

found that Dukhu would eat no more she took what was left; then he was

satisfied that she really loved him and they began to talk of getting

married, and he told her that there would be no difficulty about it,

as his elder brother Lukhu was already married.

 

Then Dukhu asked the _bonga_ to take him to her house to see her

parents, so one day she led him into the pool and as he went in, the

water never came above his ankles; and somehow they passed along a

broad road until they came to the _bonga_ girl's house, and this was

full of tigers and leopards and snakes. At the sight of them Dukhu was

too frightened to speak; the _bonga_ said that she would not let them

touch him and offered him a large coiled-up snake to sit on; but he

would not sit down till she came and sat by his side. Then the _bonga_

father and mother asked their daughter whether this was her husband,

and when she said "yes" they came and made obeisance to him.

 

After they had had their dinner she took him back and he knew that

she was a _bonga_; but still he could not give her up. After this

the _bonga_ girl brought Dukhu his dinner every day on the bank of

the river, and he never went home for his midday-meal at all. His

brother's wife asked him why he did not come home and he said that

he did not get hungry and was content with some buffalo's milk; but

she did not believe him and resolved to watch and see who brought

him his dinner, but though she went and watched every day she only

saw him sitting alone, and the _bonga_ girl was invisible to her. But

one day she saw him disappear into the pool, and come out again.

 

When she told this at home, Dukhu's father, Bhagrit, got very angry

and decided to find out who made Dukhu disappear into the pool. He

resolved to bale out the water and find out what was at the bottom. So

he sent for men with baling baskets and began to divide off the water

with dams, but out of the water a voice was heard, singing;--

 

 

    "Do not dam the water, father,

    Do not dam the water, father,

    Your daughter-in-law, the Ginduri fish is dying."

 

 

At this sound the workmen were frightened and stopped; but Bhagrit

made them go on, saying that whatever happened should be on his

head. And when the dams were finished, they began to bale out the

water; thereupon a voice sang:--

 

 

    "Do not bale the water, father,

    Do not bale the water, father.

    Your daughter-in-law, the Ginduri fish is dying."

 

 

But they paid no attention and baled the water dry, and at the bottom

of the pool they found an enormous fish, for the