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

the three princesses solemnly promised

that each would marry the man on whom the fly marked with her colour

settled, and the flies were let loose. The red fly and the blue fly

soon settled on two of the men sitting in the crowd but the white

fly flew high in the air and circled round and at last settled on

the dog which was sitting beside the six brothers.

 

At this the crowd laughed and jeered but the eldest princess said

that she must accept what fate had decreed and that she would marry

the dog. So the betrothal ceremony of the three princesses took place

at once, soon followed by their weddings. The husbands of the two

youngest princesses took their brides home, but the eldest princess

stayed in her father's house with her dog.

 

One day after its dinner the dog was lying on its side asleep and the

princess chanced to see the heads of the iron nails in its feet: "Ah,"

thought she, "that is why the poor dog limps." So she ran and fetched

a pair of pincers and pulled out the nails: no sooner had she done

so than the dog was restored to its human shape and the princess was

delighted to find that not only was he a man but also very handsome:

and they settled down to live happily together.

 

Some months later the six brothers resolved to go and visit the Raja,

so that the princess might not feel that the dog she had married had

no friends in the world. Off they set and when they reached the Raja's

palace they were amazed to find their younger brother and still more

so when they heard the story of all that had happened to him.

 

They immediately decided to take vengeance on their wives and when

they reached home gave orders for a large well to be dug: when it

was ready they told their wives to join in the consecration ceremony

which was to ensure a pure and plentiful supply of water: so the

six witches went to the well and while their attention was occupied,

their husbands pushed them all into the well and filled it up with

earth and that was the end of the witches.

XCIV. (Birluri and Birbanta.)

Birluri was of the Goala caste and Birbanta of the oilman's caste. And

this is the story of their fight.

 

Birluri was very rich, with great herds of cattle and buffaloes but

Birbanta's wealth consisted in tanks and ponds. Birluri used every

day to water his cattle at Birbanta's ponds: and this made Birbanta

very angry: he felt it an injustice that though Birluri was so rich

he would not dig his own ponds: so he sent word that Birluri must

stop watering his cattle or he would be killed. Birluri answered

the messengers that he was quite ready to fight Birbanta: for though

Birbanta had made the tanks, it was God who had made the water in them

and so he considered that his cattle had a perfect right to drink the

water. When Birbanta heard this he fell into a rage and vowed that

he would not let the cattle drink, but would kill every living thing

that went down to the water. From that day he let no one drink from

his tanks: when women went to draw water he used to smash their water

pots and put the rims round their necks like necklaces: all wild birds

and animals he shot: and the cattle and buffaloes he cut down with his

axe: and at last he proceeded to kill any human beings who went there.

 

When the Raja of the country heard this he was very angry and bade

his _sipahis_ search for some one strong enough to overcome and kill

Birbanta: and he promised as a reward the hand of one of his daughters

and half his kingdom. So the _sipahis_ made proclamation all through

the country and at last Birluri heard of it and volunteered to fight

Birbanta. Then the Raja fixed a day for the fight, so that all the

country might know and Birbanta also have due warning.

 

Both the combatants made ready for the fray: Birbanta was armed with

a sword and a shield like a cart wheel and was skilful at sword play,

while Birluri's weapon was the quarter-staff. The day arrived and

Birluri girded up his loins and set out, twirling his staff round

his head. Now his father and mother were both dead; but on the road

his mother met him in the guise of an old woman, so that he did not

recognise her. She greeted him and asked where he was going and when

she heard that it was to fight Birbanta she said "My son, you are very

strong: but if he asks for water do not give it him, for if you do,

he will assuredly kill you: but when he throws away his sword, do you

make haste and take it and slay him with it." So saying she went on her

way and when Birluri came within a _kos_ of the fighting place he began

to twirl his staff and he made such a cloud of dust that it became

dark as night and in the darkness the staff gleamed like lightning.

 

When Birbanta saw this he rose up and shouted "Here comes my enemy:

I will fight my best and we will see who will conquer" and when he saw

Birluri armed only with a quarter-staff he felt sure that he would

not be overcome by such a weapon: so he grasped his sword and took

his shield on his arm and went out to the fight The fray was fast

and furious: Birbanta hacked and hacked with his sword but Birluri

caught all the blows on his quarterstaff and took no injury. At

last the end of the staff was hacked off leaving a sharp point:

then Birluri transfixed Birbanta with the pointed end and Birbanta

faltered: again he thrust him through and Birbanta acknowledged

himself defeated, saying "My life is yours: let me drink some water

at your hands before you kill me." So Birluri agreed to a truce and

they stopped fighting. Then Birluri cut down a palm tree and dipped

it into Birbanta's tank and holding out the end to Birbanta told him

to suck it. Birbanta refused to take it and asked him to give him

water in his hands: but Birluri remembered his mother's warning and

refused. Then Birbanta in despair threw away his sword and shield

and Birluri snatched up the sword and smote off his head: and this

is the song of victory which Birluri sang.--

 

 

    "Birbanta stopped the _ghat_ for the golden oxen--

    The dust is raised up to heaven!

    Birbanta sat by the _ghat_ of the oxen--

    The lightning is flashing in the sky!

    He has made an embankment: he has made a tank:

    But the water he collected in it, has become his enemy!"

 

 

Then Birluri was taken to the Raja and married to one of the Raja's

daughters and given one half of the Raja's kingdom.

 

After a time Birluri told his wife that they must go back to his

home to look after the large herds of cattle which he had left behind

him. But his wife laughed at him and would not believe that he owned

so much property: then Birluri said that if she would not go with

him he would call the cattle to come to him: so he called them all by

name and the great herd came running to the Raja's palace and filled

the whole barn yard and as there was no room for them to stay there,

they went away into the jungle and became wild cattle.

 

 

XCV. (The Killing of the Rakhas.)

 

Once upon a time a certain country was ravaged by a Rakhas to such

an extent that there were only the Raja and a few ryots left. When

things came to this pass, the Raja saw that something must be done:

for he could not be left alone in the land. Ryots need a Raja and a

Raja needs ryots: if he had no ryots where was he to get money for

his support: and he repeated the verse of the poet Kalidas:

 

 

"When the jungle is destroyed, the deer are in trouble without jungle:

When the Raja is destroyed, the ryots are in trouble without their

Raja:

When the good wife of the house is destroyed, good fortune flees away."

 

 

So thinking the Raja made a proclamation throughout all the land that

if any one could kill the Rakhas he would reward him with the hand of

one of his daughters and half his kingdom. This proclamation was read

out by the headman of a certain village to the assembled villagers

and among the crowd was a mischievous youth, named Jhalka, who when

he heard the proclamation called out that he could kill the Rakhas in

ten minutes. The villagers turned on him "Why don't you go and do so:

then you would marry the Raja's daughter and we should all bow down

to you." At the thought of this Jhalka began to skip about crying "I

will finish him off in no time." The headman heard him and took him

at his word and wrote to the Raja that in his village there was a man

who undertook to kill the Rakhas. When Jhalka heard this he hurried

to the headman and explained that he had only been joking. "I cannot

treat such things as a joke" answered the headman: "Don't you know

that this is a Raja's matter: to deal with Rajas is the same as to

deal with _bongas_: you may make a promise to the _bongas_ in jest,

but they will not let you off it on that plea. You are much too fond

of playing the fool."

 

Ten or twelve days later sipahis came from the Raja to fetch Jhalka:

he told them that he had only spoken in jest and did not want to go

to the Raja, but they took him away all the same.

 

Before he started he picked out a well-tempered battle axe and begged

his father to propitiate the _bongas_ and pray that he might be

saved from the Rakhas. When he was produced before the Raja, Jhalka

again tried to explain that there had been a mistake, but the Raja

told him that he would be taken at his word and must go and kill the

Rakhas. Then he saw that there was nothing left for him but to put

his trust in God: so he asked that he might be given two mirrors and

a large box and when these were brought he had the box taken to the

foot of a large banyan tree which grew by a ford in the river which

flowed by the hill in which the Rakhas lived: it was at this ford

that the Rakhas used to lie in wait for prey.

 

Left alone there Jhalka put one of the mirrors into the box and then

tightened his cloth and climbed the banyan tree with his battle axe

and the other mirror. He was not at all happy as he