The Talking Thrush Part 30

U roti main kohra ko dinh, 4 Kohra monkon metuki dinh, U metuki main tokon dinh, Kya tu mujhko makkhan na dega?

"I gave that cake to the Potter. (5) The Potter gave me an earthen vessel. (6) I gave that earthen vessel to thee. (7) Wilt not thou give me b.u.t.ter?"

Wah roti main k.u.mhara ko dinh, 4 k.u.mhara monkon metuki dinh, Wah metuki main gwalin ko dinh Gwalin monkon londi dinh, Wah londi main tokon dinh, Kya tu monkon ek bail bhi na dega?

"(6) I gave that earthen vessel to the cowherd's wife. (7) The cowherd's wife gave me a lump of b.u.t.ter. (8) I gave that lump to thee. (9) Wilt not thou give me an Ox?"

The others are not given, except the last lines:--

Baj meri dholaki dhamak dhun; Rani ke badle ai tun.

"O my drum, make sounds like _dhamak dhun_: thou art come in exchange for a Queen."

33.--The Monkey's Rebuke

Told and recorded by LaLa BHAWaNi DiN, teacher of Majhgaon district Hamirpur.

A Banya sold milk mixed with water--Earns 100 rupees--Sets out for home--Stops to wash at a tank--Lays the bag down--Monkey takes the bag up a tree--Drops 50 rupees in the tank--Throws down the bag to the man--"You sold half water and half milk: therefore I have thrown half your money into this tank"--Banya goes home a better man.

34.--The Bull and the Bullfinch

Told by PANDIT JAGANNaTH PRASaD, master of Marari Kalan village school, and recorded by Pandit Madhuban, second master of the same, Unao district, Oudh.

Khusat Bird and Bull--The rest as in the story, save that "the Almighty King of the Universe" promises his help to the Lion--Bull tells Bird--Bird says, "Did not I warn you? still I will help"--Tells him that he has dreamt a marriage has been arranged for himself with Mahadeva's spouse--They apply to Mahadeva for explanation--Mahadeva thinks, "If I say visions are real things, this Bird will claim my wife"--So says, "Dreams go by contraries: go home and don't be foolish."

See the value of friends.h.i.+p.

35.--The Swan and the Crow

Told by LaLA SHANKAR LaL, village accountant, and recorded by CHANGAN SINH, master of the school at Chamkari, Etah district, N.W.P.

No change, except Wazir for Judge and Gaya for Jerusalem. The Judge is a Hindu, and the Crow promises to take his father's bones to the sacred city of Gaya, in Bengal.

36.--Pride shall have a Fall

Told by AKBAR SHaH, Manjhi, one of the jungle-folk of Manbasa, district Mirzapur.

No change. The animal with one eye is supposed to be cunning and uncanny (Crooke, "Popular Religion and Folk-lore of Northern India," ii. 37, 51). Compare No. 37 of this collection.

37.--The Kid and the Tiger

Told by AKBAR SHaH, Manjhi, and recorded by PANDIT RAMGHARiB CHAUBe. A favourite nursery tale of the Kharwars of Mirzapur.

Tigress and She-goat great friends--Tigress has two cubs, Goat four kids named Khurbhur, Muddil, G.o.ddil, and Nathil--Tigress thinks: "It is hard that I have only two, and the Goat has four: suppose I eat two of hers to make things even"--Asks the Goat to let one kid sleep with her--Only Khurbhur consents--Khurbhur puts one of her cubs in his place--She eats it--Puts a stone in his place--She breaks her teeth--One-eyed Tiger calls--Tells a "story": "When I eat goats, all the four kids are one mouthful"--Khurbhur says, "When you come to eat us, Muddil will hold your head, Nathil the fore-paws, G.o.ddil the hind-paws, Khurbhur will cut off your head, if mother holds the light"--Tiger runs away--Meets six more--They go to Goat's house--Khurbhur climbs tree--They jump and miss him--They climb one on another, One-eye at bottom--Khurbhur says, "Mother, a lump of mud to throw in his eye"--One-eye jumps--They fall--They run away, and trouble the goats no more.

The one-eyed animal appears in No. 35 of this collection.

38.--The Stag, the Crow, and the Jackal

Told and recorded by BALBiR PRASaD, Brahman, of Mirzapur.

Stag and Crow are friends--Jackal covets Stag--Says, "A crow is not a friend for you; choose a denizen of earth like me"--They become friends--Jackal leads him to snare--Stag is trapped--"I cannot help you, because there is leather in the snare, and it is the Ekadas.h.i.+ (eleventh day of the lunar fortnight) when I fast"--Crow advises him to feign death--He does so, and escapes.

39.--The Monkey and the Crows

Told by SARIJU PRASaD, teacher of the school at Subhikha, Bahraich district, Oudh.

Crows build nests in a cotton-tree (_semal_)--In the rains a Monkey arrives soaking--Said the Crows, "We build nests with only a beak: can you not make a better with two hands and two feet?" "Wait till morning"--Then he tears down their nests--"Good advice given to a fool only kindles his malice."

40.--The Swan and the Paddy-bird

Told by DEVI DiN, student, and recorded by BADARI PRASaD, of the school at Musanagar, Cawnpur district.

No change. The lake in the original is the famous Mana Sarovar lake in Tibet. The Swan at the end repeats this couplet:--

Bit chhoto, chit saugun, bit men chit na samae: So murak binsat sadan, jirni bakuli nariyar khae.

("Desire is one thing, capacity is another. The desire exceeds the power. Thus die the foolish, as did the Paddy-bird when she tried to eat the cocoa-nut.")

The Paddy-bird is the Bagla, or Bagula, a sort of small heron (_Ardea torra_), which frequents the banks of ponds and catches little fish and frogs. In folk-lore, from its quaint appearance, it is the type of demure cunning, and a sanctimonious rogue ascetic is often compared to it.

Compare a similar tale of a crane: _Jataka_, No. 236 (Cambridge translation, ii. 161).

41.--What is a Man?

Told by _s.h.i.+bba Sinh Gaur_, Brahman, resident in Saharanpur, N.W.P.

No change, except that the order of the animals is Elephant, Camel, Ox.

Another version makes the man a carpenter--He goes away and makes a cage--Induces the Lion to enter--Leaves him to starve.

The complaints of the animals against men form the subject of a very amusing Hindustani book derived from the Persian, the Akhwan-us-safa.

42.--The Wound and the Scar

Told by SHAIKH FARiD AHMAD, and recorded by the teacher of the village school, Barhauli, district Bahraich, Oudh.

No change, except the Wound is dealt by the Woodman's axe, at the command of the Lion, when first he visits him after the sickness. The verses are--