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

away, take me home with you and you

will prosper." So she let it stay and that day she found that she

collected a whole basketful of rice; at this she was delighted, and

put the caterpillar on the top of her basket and took it home. There

she asked the caterpillar what work it would do, and it said that

it would watch the paddy, when it was spread out to dry after being

boiled, and prevent the fowls and pigs from eating it.

 

So the caterpillar used to watch the paddy while the old woman went out

looking for food; and every day she brought back a full basket of rice,

and so she soon became rich. It got whispered about that the old woman

was so prosperous, because she had a caterpillar boy in her house.

 

One day the caterpillar said that he wanted to go and bathe, so he

went to the river and took off his caterpillar skin, and bathed, and

as he rubbed his head, one or two hairs came out, and these he wrapped

up in a leaf and set the packet to float down the stream. Lower down

the stream a princess was bathing and when she saw the packet come

floating down, she had it fished out, and when she opened it she saw

the hairs inside and she measured them and found them to be twelve

fathoms long; then the princess vowed that she would not eat rice,

till she found the man to whom the hairs belonged. And she went home

and shut herself in her room and refused to eat.

 

At this her father and mother were much distressed, and when they heard

what had happened the Raja said "Well she wants a husband, I will find

him for her." And he sent a notice throughout his kingdom saying that

he would give his daughter and half his kingdom to the man who had

hair twelve fathoms long. Everyone who heard this came with his sons

and the princess was told to look at them and choose whom she liked;

but none had hair twelve fathoms long, and she would take none of

them. Then the Raja asked whether everyone in the kingdom had come,

and he was told that there was a caterpillar boy, who lived with an

old woman, who had not come, so the Raja sent to fetch him, but he

said that he had no arms or legs and could not go; so they sent a

palki for him and he was brought in that. And when the palki was set

on the ground, the caterpiller boy rolled out and the princess said

that he should be her husband.

 

At this her father and mother were much ashamed and remonstrated with

her, but she persisted in her fancy, so the marriage took place. They

sent the newly married pair to live in a house at the outskirts of the

village and only one maidservant accompanied the princess. Every night

the caterpillar boy used to take off his skin and go out to dance,

and one night the maidservant saw him and told her mistress. And they

agreed to watch him, so the next night they pretended to go to sleep,

but when the caterpillar boy went out, they took his skin and burnt

it on the fire; and when he came back, he looked for it, but could

not find it. Then the princess got up and caught him in her arms,

and he retained his human form, and he was as handsome as a god.

 

In the morning the caterpillar boy and his wife stayed inside the

house, and the Raja sent some children to see what had happened, and

the children brought back word that there was a being in the house,

but whether human or divine they could not say. Then the Raja went

and fetched his son-in-law to the palace, but the caterpillar was not

pleased and said to his wife; "They treat me very well now that they

see that I am a man, but what did they do before?" However he stayed

in his father-in-law's palace.

 

Presently the Raja said that his kingdom was too small to give half of

it to his son-in-law, so he proposed that they should go and conquer

fresh territory, and carve out a kingdom for the caterpillar boy. So

they went to war and attacked another Raja, but they were defeated and

their army cut to pieces. Then the son-in-law said that he would fight

himself; so he drew his sword and brandished it and it flashed like

lightning and dazzled the eyes of the enemy and his shield clanged

on his thigh with a noise like thunder; and he defeated the other

Raja and took his kingdom and carried off all his wealth.

 

But the Raja thought that as his son-in-law was so strong, he would

one day kill him also and take his kingdom: so he resolved to find a

means to kill him. On their way back from the war they found no water

on the road and were distressed with thirst. One day they came to a

large tank and found it dry. So they made a sacrifice in the hopes

that water would flow. First they sacrificed goats and sang:--

 

 

    "Tank, we are giving goats

    Trickle out water!

    Tank, we are giving goats

    Flow, water!"

 

 

But no water came. Then in succession they sacrificed sheep, and oxen

and buffaloes, and horses and elephants, but all in vain: and after

each failure the Raja said "Son-in-law, it is your turn," and at

last his son-in-law said "Well, let it be me;" and he armed himself

and mounted his horse and went and stood in the middle of the tank,

and he sang:--

 

 

    "Up to my knees the water, father,

    The water, father, has oozed out."

 

 

And the Raja answered:--

 

 

    "Do you, my son, remain standing there,"

 

 

And as he sang the water welled out up to his horse's knee and then

to its belly; and he still sang and the water rose to the horse's

back and then to his own waist, and to his chest, and he still sang,

and it reached his mouth and then he was completely submerged and

the tank was full. Then they all drank their fill and the Raja said

to his men "We have sacrificed this Saru prince. I will kill any of

you who tells my daughter what has happened" and they promised not

to tell, but they forgot that there were two dogs with them. And

when they got home each man's wife brought out water and welcomed

him and the princess asked where her husband, the Saru prince, was,

and no one answered; then she sang:--

 

 

    "Oh Father, my father; How far away

    Is the Saru Prince, the Gindu Raja?"

 

 

and the Raja answered

 

 

    "My daughter, my darling, the Saru Prince, the Gindu Raja

    Is very far away, amusing himself with hunting."

 

 

And she sang to them all, but no one told her anything, and then she

sang to the two dogs, who were named Chaura and Bhaura:--

 

 

    "Oh Chaura, oh Bhaura,

    How far away

    Is the Saru Prince, the Gindu Raja?"

 

 

and they answered

 

 

    "Oh sister, oh Rani!

    Your father has sacrificed him

    In the big tank."

 

 

Thereupon she began to cry, and every day she sat and cried on the

bank of the tank.

 

Now the two daughters of the Snake King and Queen had received the

Saru Prince as he disappeared under the water, and when they heard

the princess crying every day they had pity on her; she used to sing:--

 

 

    "Oh husband! Oh Raja!

    My father has sacrificed you

    In the big tank.

    Oh husband! Oh Raja,

    Take me with you too."

 

 

So the daughters of the Snake King and Queen took pity on her and

told their frog chowkidar to restore the Saru Prince to his wife;

and the Prince and his wife went home together. When the Raja and

his wife saw their son-in-law again, they were terrified, but he said

nothing to reproach them. The princess however could not forgive them

for trying to kill her husband and always looked angrily at them;

then the Raja and the Rani took counsel together and agreed that

they had done wrong to the prince, and that he must be a magician;

and they thought that their daughter must also be a magician, as she

had recognised the prince when he was a caterpillar, and she could

not even see his long hair; so they were afraid and thought it best

to make over the kingdom to their son-in-law, and they abdicated in

his favour, and he took the kingdom.

LXXVI. (The Monkey Nursemaid.)

 

Once upon a time there were seven brothers who were all married and

each had one child and the brothers arranged to engage a boy to carry

the children about; so they sent for a boy and to see if he was strong

enough, they made a loaf as big as a door and they told the boy to take

it away and eat it; but he was not strong enough to lift it; so they

told him that he could not carry their children. Now a Hanuman monkey

was looking on from the top of a tree, and he came down and carried

off the loaf and ate it. Thereupon the mothers engaged him to carry

the children, and he used to carry the whole seven about on his back.

 

One day the children were running about the house and kept interfering

with their mothers' work, and the mothers scolded the monkey for not

keeping them out of the way. Then the monkey got sulky and carried

off the children to a distant hill and did not bring them back at

evening. So the mothers got very anxious, but the villagers laughed

at them for engaging a monkey, instead of a human being, to look

after the children.

 

When the mothers heard that the monkey had taken the children to

the hill, they were still more unhappy, for in the hill lived a

_rakhas_ (ogre) but it was too late to go in search of them that

night. Meanwhile the monkey for fear of the _rakhas_ had carried the

children up to the top of a palm tree and when the _rakhas_ spied

them out he tried to climb the tree, but the monkey drove him away

by throwing the palm fruit at him.

 

However the monkey was really in a fix, for he was sure that the Rakhas

would return, and he knew that if he let the children be eaten, their

parents would make him pay for it with his life. So he went off to a

blacksmith and bought sharp knives and tied them on to the trunk of the

palm tree: and when the Rakhas came back and tried to climb the tree,

he was so badly cut by the knives, that he fell down to the ground with

a thud and lay there groaning. Then the monkey cautiously descended and

the Rakhas begged him to cure his wounds; the monkey answered that he

would cure him if he gave him complete outfits for the children. The

Rakhas said that he would give them directly he was cured. So the

monkey applied some medicines and recited the following spells:--

 

 

    "Rustling, rustling sesamum,

    Slender sesamum:

    Tell your grandfather,

    Tell him of seven waist strings.

 

    Rustling, rustling sesamum,

    Slender sesamum:

    Tell your grandfather,

    Tell him of seven dhotis."

 

 

And in succeeding verses, he mentioned seven coats, seven pair of

shoes, seven hats, seven swords, seven horses, and seven hogs; and as

he repeated the incantation he blew on the Rakhas, and he was healed.

 

The Rakhas was to give the things mentioned in the incantation, but

when seven hogs were mentioned he objected and wished only to give one,

and in the end the monkey agreed to be content with two; so the Rakhas

departed and the next day appeared with