Chapter 11

Banker taught his parrot to speak--A Sadhu passed by--Quoth Parrot, "Salaam, Maharáj, how can I get out?" "Let me ask my Guru"--Guru when asked swooned--Sádhu told Parrot what had happened, and apologised for not being able to help--"I understand," says Parrot--Feigns death--Cage opened.

31.--The Lion and the Hare

Told by SURYABALI, Mirzápur.

No change. The verse is:--

Biná budhí ke bágh biláná: Kharhá san kahún bágh maráná.

32.--The Monkey's Bargains

Told and recorded by RAMESWAR-PURI, teacher, Khairwá village school, district Mirzápur.

The Story of Gangá Bûrhi (name of the old woman). No change in the incidents, except that the cowherd is grinding corn, and the last sentence is added. The verses are:--

Wáh, jangle men se lakari láyá, Wáh, lakari main burhyá ko dinh, Burhiyá monkon roti dinh, Wáh rotiyá main tokôn dinh Kyá tun mokôn mataki na degá? 5

"Hullo! I brought fuel from the forest. (2) I gave it to the old woman. (3) The old woman gave me cake. (4) I gave that cake to thee. (5) Wilt not thou give me jugs?"

U roti main kohrá ko dinh, 4 Kohrá monkôn metuki dinh, U metuki main tokôn dinh, Kyá tu mujhko makkhan na degá?

"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 butter?"

Wáh roti main kumhará ko dinh, 4 Kumhará monkon metuki dinh, Wáh metuki main gwálin ko dinh Gwálin monkon londi dinh, Wáh londi main tokôn dinh, Kyá tu monkôn ek bail bhí na degá?

"(6) I gave that earthen vessel to the cowherd's wife. (7) The cowherd's wife gave me a lump of butter. (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 dhámak dhûn; Râni ke badle ái tun.

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

33.--The Monkey's Rebuke

Told and recorded by LÁLÁ BHAWÁNÍ DÍN, teacher of Majhgáon 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 JAGANNÁTH PRASÁD, master of Marári Kalán village school, and recorded by Pandit Madhuban, second master of the same, Unáo 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 friendship.

35.--The Swan and the Crow

Told by LÁLA SHANKAR LÁL, 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 Gayá for Jerusalem. The Judge is a Hindu, and the Crow promises to take his father's bones to the sacred city of Gayá, in Bengal.

36.--Pride shall have a Fall

Told by AKBAR SHÁH, Mánjhi, one of the jungle-folk of Manbasa, district Mirzápur.

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 SHÁH, Mánjhi, and recorded by PANDIT RAMGHARÍB CHAUBÉ. A favourite nursery tale of the Kharwárs of Mirzápur.

Tigress and She-goat great friends--Tigress has two cubs, Goat four kids named Khurbhur, Muddil, Goddil, 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, Goddil 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 BALBÍR PRASÁD, Brahman, of Mirzápur.

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 Ekádashi (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 PRASÁD, 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 DÍN, student, and recorded by BADARI PRASÁD, 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 samáe: So murak binsat sadan, jirni bakuli nariyar kháe.

("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: _J[=a]taka_, No. 236 (Cambridge translation, ii. 161).

41.--What is a Man?

Told by _Shibbá 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 Akhwán-us-safa.

42.--The Wound and the Scar

Told by SHAIKH FARÍD 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--

Samman dhaga prem ka jin toryo chatkay Jore se na jurat hai, aut ganth par jay.

43.--The Cat and the Parrot

Told by BISESHAR DAYÁL, Banya (or corn-chandler), of Bindki, district Fatehpur, N.W.P., and recorded by PANDIT BALDEO PRASÁD, teacher of the Tahsili school, Bindki.

No change, except the Parrot says, "I am sitting on the branch of a mango-tree and getting a bill made." Number of cakes not given. And after meeting the Raja, the Cat meets (1) four young of the wild cow (Surahgáya), which she eats, and (2) a pair of Surahgáya, which fall upon her, and tear her stomach open, when all those she has eaten troop out.

Here, as in other tales of this collection, the Parson is the Guru or spiritual adviser of pious Hindus.

PRINTED BY THE TEMPLE PRESS AT LETCHWORTH IN GREAT BRITAIN

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