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

to see what the letter was

really about; so he opened it and found that it contained a request

from the farmer to his father-in-law to kill the bearer of the letter

immediately on his arrival. The merchant's son at once tore this up

and wrote another letter in the farmer's name: saying that the bearer

of the letter was a most excellent servant and he wished him to marry

into the family; but that as he himself had no daughters he hoped that

his father-in-law would give him one of his daughters to wife. Armed

with this he proceeded on his journey. The father-in-law was rather

surprised at the contents of the letter and asked the merchant's

son if he knew what it was about; he protested complete ignorance:

the farmer had told him nothing, and as he was only a poor cowherd,

of course he could not read. This set suspicion at rest; the wedding

was at once arranged and duly took place, and the merchant's son

settled down to live with his wife's family.

 

After a time the farmer got news of what had happened, and when he

saw how the merchant's son had always been sharp enough to get the

better of him, he began to fear that in the end he would be made to

cut off his finger; so he sought safety in flight. He ran away from

his house and home and was never heard of more.

 

When news of this came to the ears of the merchant's son, he set

out to visit his old friend the Prince and found him still teaching

in the little village school. "What do you think now," he asked him,

"is wisdom or money the better. By my cleverness, I got the better of

that farmer; he had to give me more rice than I could eat. I killed his

bullock, I set fire to his house, and I got a wife without expending

a picc on my marriage; while you--you have spent all the money you

brought with you from home, and have met with nothing but starvation

and trouble; what good has your money done you?" The Prince had not

a word to answer.

 

Two or three days later the Prince proposed that they should go back to

their parents; his friend agreed but said that he must first inform his

wife's relations, so they went back to the village where the merchant's

son had married, and while they were staying there the Prince caught

sight of a Raja's daughter and fell violently in love with her.

 

Learning of the Prince's state of mind the merchant's son undertook

to arrange the match; so he sent his wife to the Raja's daughter with

orders to talk of nothing but the virtues and graces of the Prince

who was staying at their house. Her words had their due effect and

the Raja's daughter became so well disposed towards the Prince, that

when one day she met him, she also fell violently in love with him

and felt that she could not be happy unless she became his wife. So

the wedding duly took place, and then the Prince and the merchant's

son with their respective wives returned to their fathers' houses.

LXXXVII. (The Goala and the Cow.)

 

Once upon a time a young man of the Goala caste was going to his

wedding; he was riding along in a palki, with all his friends, to

the bride's house and as he was passing by a pool of water he heard a

voice saying, "Stop you happy bridegroom; you are happy, going to fetch

your bride; spare a thought for my misfortune and stay and pull me out

of this quagmire." Looking out he saw a cow stuck fast in the mud at

the edge of the pool, but he had no pity for it and harshly refused

to go to its help, for fear lest he should make his clothes muddy.

 

Then the cow cursed the Goala, saying, "Because you have refused to

help me in my extremity, this curse shall light on you, directly you

touch your bride you shall turn into a donkey." At these words the

Goala was filled with fear and telling the bearers to put down the

palki he alighted and ran and pulled the cow out of the mud; this done,

he begged her to withdraw the curse, but the cow declared that this

was impossible, what she had said was bound to come to pass. At these

words the Goala began to lament and threw himself at the feet of the

cow, beseeching her; at length the cow relented, and promised that

though the curse could not be withdrawn it should be mitigated and

it would be possible for his wife to restore him to human shape. So

the Goala had to take what comfort he could from this and returning

to the palki he told his friends what had passed. Much downcast the

procession continued its way, wondering what would be the upshot of

this adventure.

 

Arrived at the bride's house, they proceeded to celebrate the wedding;

but as the Goala touched the bride with his finger to apply the

vermilion mark to her forehead, he suddenly became a donkey. The

company were filled with dismay and the bride's parents declared that

they would never let their daughter go away with such a husband,

but the bride herself spoke up and said that as Thakur for some

reason had given her such a husband she would cleave to him, and

nothing that her relations said could shake her purpose; so when the

bridal party set out homewards, she went with them to her husband's

house. But there everyone laughed at her so much for having married

a donkey that she made up her mind to run away to another country;

so one day she packed up some provisions for the journey and set out,

driving the donkey before her.

 

She journeyed on and on till one day she happened to come to a tank

with a large well near it; she turned the donkey loose to graze on

the banks of the tank and sat down by the well to eat some of the

food which she had with her. In the fields below the tank were some

twenty ploughmen in the service of the Raja of that country, driving

their ploughs; and when it got past noon these men began to grumble,

because; no one had brought them their dinner; as it got later and

later they became more and more violent, and vowed that when anyone

did come they would give him a good beating for his laziness. At last

one of the maid-servants of the Raja was seen coming along, carrying

their food in a basket on her head and with her child running by her

side. The sight pacified the ploughmen and the maid-servant hastened

to set down the basket near them and then went off to the well to

draw some water for them.

 

Just as she was ready to let down the water-pot, a wedding procession

passed along the road with drums and music, making a fine show. The

maid could not keep her eyes off this, but at the same time did not

wish to keep the ploughmen waiting any longer; so, with her eyes on

the procession, she tied the well-rope, as she thought round the neck

of the water-pot, but really, without knowing it, she tied the rope

round the neck of her own little child and proceeded to lower him

into the well. When she pulled up the rope she found that she had

strangled her own child.

 

She was of course much distressed at this, but she was even more

afraid of what might be done to her and at once hit on a device to save

herself from the charge of murder. Taking the dead child in her arms

she ran to the ploughmen and scattered all the food she had brought

about the ground; then with the child still in her arms, she ran to

the Raja and complained to him that his ploughmen had assaulted her,

because she was late in taking them their dinner, had knocked the

basket of food all about the ground and had beaten her child to death;

she added that a strange woman was grazing a donkey near the place

and must have seen all that passed.

 

The Raja at once sent a Sipahi to fetch the ploughmen and when they

came before him he asked them what had happened, and bade them swear

before _Sing bonga_ whether they were guilty of the murder. The

ploughmen solemnly swore to speak the truth, and then told the Raja

exactly what had happened, how the woman had killed her child by

mistake and then falsely charged them with the murder. Then the

Raja asked them whether they had any witnesses, and they said that

there was no one of their own village present at the time, but that

a strange woman was grazing an ass on the banks of the tank, who

must have seen all that happened. Then the Raja sent two sipahis to

fetch the woman, telling them to treat her well and bring her along

gently. So the sipahis went to the woman and told her that the Raja

wanted her on very important business; she made no demur and went to

fetch her donkey. The sipahis advised her to leave it behind to graze,

but she said that wherever she went the donkey must go and drove it

along with her.

 

When she appeared before the Raja he explained to her what had

happened, and how the maid-servant told one story about the death

of the child and the ploughmen another, and he charged her to speak

the truth as to what she had seen. The Goala's bride answered that

she was ready to take an oath and to swear by her donkey: if she

spoke the truth the donkey would turn into a man, and if she lied

it would retain its shape. "If you take that oath," said the Raja,

"the case shall be decided accordingly." Then the Goala's wife began

to tell all that she had seen and how the ploughmen were angry because

their dinner was late, and how the maid-servant had gone to the well to

draw water and had strangled her child by mistake and had then knocked

over the basket and charged the ploughmen with the murder. "If I have

lied may Chando punish me and if I have spoken the truth may this ass

become a man;" so saying she laid her hand on the back of the animal

and it at once resumed its human shape.

 

This was sufficient to convince the Raja, who turned to the

maid-servant and reproached her with trying to ruin the ploughmen by

her false charge. She had no answer to make but took up the dead body

of the child and went out without a word.

 

Thus the Goala was restored to his original shape, but he and his

faithful wife did not return to their own relations; they took service

with a farmer of that country and after a time they saved money and

took some land and lived prosperously and well. From that time men

of the Goala caste have always been very careful to treat cattle well.

 

 

LXXXVIII. (The Telltale Wife.)