Indian Antiquary Vol 11

SR No.: 032503
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 396
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 19 MB

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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
suddenly the deer fled towards where the Prince stood, and he, pursuing it, caught it by one golden horn. Then the creature found human voice, and cried "Let me go, O Prince! and I will give you treasures."
But the Prince Bahrâm-i-Ghor laughed, saying, "I have gold and jewels enough, but I have no golden deer."
"Aye," returned the deer, "but I will give you more than gold and riches."
"What is that?" laughed the Prince. "Many things;" pleaded the deer, "for one thing I will give you such a ride as mortal man before never had."
"Done," said the gay Prince, and vaulted on the golden deer's back. Then, like a bird from a thicket, the golden deer rose through the air, and for seven days and seven nights it carried the Prince over all the world, over the hills and above the rivers and fields and towers." On the seventh day it touched the earth again, and instantly vanished from sight.
Prince Bahrâm-i-Ghor rubbed his eyes. He had never seen such a strange country before, everything was new and unfamiliar. He wandered about looking for the trace of a house or footstep, when out of the ground popped a wee old man.
"How did you come here, my son ?" asked he politely.
Then Bahrâm-i-Ghor told him of the golden deer and of his ride, and how he was now quite lost and bewildered and knew not what road to take. Then the little old man said, "Do not fear; this, it is true, is demon-land," but no one will hurt you while I am by, for I am the demon Jasdrûl, whose life you saved in the shape of the golden deer."
Then the demon Jasdrûl took Prince Bahrâm-i-Ghor to his house and gave him a hundred keys, saying,-"These are the keys of my hundred palaces and gardens. Amuse yourself by looking at them. Mayhap you may find something worth having."
Cf. The Arabian Nights' tale of the enchanted horse. Several similar tales' of deer exist in the Panjab and India. There is one in the Bigh-o-Bahir.-R. C. T.
3 Deostin, demon-land in Persian: Dewasthan, land of gods, or Rakshasthan, demon-land in Hindi.-R. C. T.
Demon: The word throughout the tale is deo or dev, frequently before alluded to in these tales. Here they appear to be malicious spirits, something of the nature of jinns.-R. C T.
Jasdril.-This word is a puzzle and any derivation for it must be a guess. Some natives have given me, Jastrau jumping demon; Justrau, finding demon;
[OCTOBER, 1882.
So, to amuse himself, Prince Bahrâm-i-Ghor opened one garden and palace every day, and in one he found gold and in another silver, in a third jewels, in a fourth rich stuffs, and so on through everything the heart could desire till he came to the hundredth palace.
When he opened the door of the garden which was surrounded by a high wall, he saw a miserable hovel full of poisonous things, herbs and stones and snakes and insects. So he shut the hovel door sharp, and turned to look at the garden. It was seven miles square, seven miles this way and that way and every way, and full of fruit trees, flowers, fountains, summer houses and streams.
He wandered seven miles this way and seven that, till he was so tired, that he lay down in a marble summer-house to rest on a golden bed spread with shawls, which he found there. Now while he slept the Princess Shâhpasand," the fairy, came to take the air, fairy-like in the shape of a pigeon, and came flying over the garden and caught sight of the sleeping Prince. He looked so handsome and beautiful and splendid that she sank to the earth at once, resuming her natural shape, as fairies always do when they touch the earth, and gave the Prince a kiss.
He woke up in a hurry, when the Princess Shahpasand kneeling gracefully before him said, "Dear Prince! I have been looking for you everywhere."
The Prince no sooner set eyes on Princess Shahpasand than he fell desperately in love with her, so that they agreed to get married without delay. But the Prince was doubtful as to what the demon Jasdrûl might say, and he felt bound to ask his consent. This to the Prince's surprise and delight he gave readily, rubbing his hands with glee, and saying," I thought you would find her somehow. Now you will be happy. Remain here, and never think of going back to your own country any more."
So the Prince Bahrâm-i-Ghor and the fairy, Jasadrau, metal demon. All these appear to me to be fanciful. I offer the following as a solution: Rawal and Raul-Rio or Rai, chief, in proper names, e. g. Harjas Rai and Harjas Rawal. Rûl may here be for Rai; we then get the name Jasd or Jasad Rão or Rai. Now Jasrat Rai is a very popular hero in legends and tales (vide my Hindu Folksongs from the Panjab, J. A. S. B. for 1882), and possibly Jasdrul (or Jasad Rai) stands for Jasrat Rai. The latter name is a corruption of Dasaratha, the name of the father of Rama Chandra.-R. C. T.
Shahpasand means king's delight, and is probably merely a fancy name.-R. C. T.