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

CXLII. (The Too Particular Wife.)

 

There was once a man with a large tumour on his forehead and his wife

was so ashamed of it that she would never go about with him anywhere

for fear of being laughed at. One day she went with a party of friends

to see the _Charak Puja_. Her husband wished to go with her but she

flatly declined to allow him.

 

So when she had gone he went to a friend's house and borrowed a

complete set of new clothes and a large pagri. When he had rigged

himself out in these he could hardly be recognised; but his forehead

with the tumour was quite visible. Then he too went off to the fair

and found his wife busy dancing. After watching her for some time he

borrowed one of the drums and began to play for the dancers; and in

particular he played and danced just in front of his wife.

 

When he saw that his wife was preparing to go home he started

off ahead, got rid of his fine clothes and took the cattle out to

graze. Presently he went back to the house and asked his wife whether

she had enjoyed the fun. "You should have come to see it for yourself,"

said she.

 

"But you would not let me! Otherwise I should have gone."

 

"Yes," answered his wife, "I was ashamed of the lump on your forehead

but other people do not seem to mind, for there was a man there with

a lump just like yours who was playing the drum and taking a leading

part in the fun and no one seemed to laugh at him: so in future I

shall not mind going about with you."

 

 

 

CXLIII. (The Paharia Socialists.)

 

Formerly before the Santals came into the country the four _taluqs_

of Sankara, Chiptiam, Sulunga and Dhaka formed the Paharia Raj and

the whole country was dense jungle. Then the Santals came and cleared

the jungle, and brought the land under cultivation. The Paharia Raja

of Gando was named Somar Singh and he paid tribute to the Burdwan Raja.

 

Once ten or twelve Paharias went to Burdwan to pay the annual

tribute. After they had paid in the money the Raja gave them a feast

and a room to sleep in and sent them one bed. The Paharias had a

discussion as to who should sleep on the bed and in order to avoid any

ill-feeling about it they decided that they would all sleep on the

ground and put their feet on the bed and then they could feel that

they had all an equal share of it. This they did and in the morning

the Burdwan Raja came in and found them all lying in this strange

position and was very much amused. He explained that he had sent the

bed for the use of the chief man among them and asked whether they had

no distinctions of rank. "Yes" they said "we have in our own villages;

but here we are in a foreign land and as we do not all belong to one

village who is to decide which is the chief among us. Away from home

we are all equal."

 

CXLIV. (How a Tiger Was Killed.)

 

In the days when the Santals lived in the jungle country there was

once a man who had a patch of maize by the bank of a stream; and to

watch his crop he had put up a platform in his field. Now one day

he stole a goat and killed it; he did not take it home nor tell his

family; he took it to the maize patch with some firewood and fire and

a knife and a hatchet; and he hoisted all these on to his platform

and lit a fire in the bottom of an earthen pot and cut up the goat

and began to cook and eat the flesh. And a tiger smelt the flesh and

came and sat down under the platform.

 

As the man ate he threw down the bones and as he threw them the tiger

caught them in its mouth; and after a time the man noticed that he

did not hear the bones strike the ground; so he looked down quietly

and saw the tiger; then he was very frightened for he thought that

when he could no longer keep the tiger quiet by throwing down bits

of meat, the tiger would spring up unto the platform and eat him.

 

At last a thought struck him and he drew the head of his hatchet off

the handle and put it in the fire till it became red-hot; and meanwhile

he kept the tiger quiet by throwing down pieces of meat. Then when

the axe head was ready he picked it out of the fire and threw it down;

the tiger caught it as it fell and roared aloud with pain; its tongue

and palate and throat were so burnt that it died.

 

Thus the man saved himself from the tiger and whether the story be

true or no, it is known to all Santals.

CXLV. (The Goala's Daughter.)

There was once a man of the _Goala_ caste who had an only daughter and

she grew up and was married, but had no child; and after twenty years

of married life she gave up all hope of having any. This misfortune

preyed on her mind and she fell into a melancholy. Her parents asked

her why she was always weeping and all the answer she would give was

"My sorrow is that I have never worn clothes of "Dusty cloth" and

that is a sorrow which you cannot cure." But her father and mother

determined to do what they could for their daughter and sent servants

with money into all the bazars to buy "Dusty cloth". The shopkeepers

had never heard of such an article so they bought some cloth of any

sort they could get and brought it to the Goala; when he offered it

to his daughter she thanked him and begged him not to waste his money:

 

"You do not understand" said she--"what I mean by "Dusty cloth." God

has not given it to me and no one else can; what I mean by 'Dusty

cloth' is the cloth of a mother made dusty by the feet of her

child." Then her father and mother understood and wept with her,

saying that they would do what man could do but this was in the hands

of God; and they sang:--

 

 

"Whatever the child of another may suffer, we care not:

But our own child, we will take into our lap, even when it is covered

with dust."

CXLVI. (The Brahman's Clothes.)

There was once a Brahman who had two wives; like many Brahmans he lived

by begging and was very clever at wheedling money out of people. One

day the fancy took him to go to the market place dressed only in

a small loin cloth such as the poorest labourers wear and see how

people treated him. So he set out but on the road and in the market

place and in the village no one salaamed to him or made way to him

and when he begged no one gave him alms. He soon got tired of this

and hastened home and putting on his best _pagri_ and coat and dhoti

went back to the market place. This time every one who met him on the

road salaamed low to him and made way for him and every shopkeeper

to whom he went gave him alms: and the people in the village who had

refused before gladly made offerings to him. The Brahman went home

smiling to himself and took off his clothes and put them in a heap

and prostrated himself before them three or four times, saying each

time. "O source of wealth: O source of wealth! it is clothes that

are honoured in this world and nothing else."

 

 

CXLVII. (The Winning of a Bride.)

 

Formerly this country was all jungle; and when the jungle was first

cleared the crops were very luxuriant; and the Santals had large

herds of cattle, for there was much grazing; so they had milk and

curds in quantities and _ghee_ was as common as water; but now milk

and curds are not to be had. In those days the Santals spent their

time in amusements and did not trouble about amassing wealth, but

they were timid and were much oppressed by their Rajas who looted any

man who showed signs of wealth. Well, in those days the winters were

very