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164
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[JUNE, 1875.
SANTALI RIDDLES.
BY REV. F. T. COLE, TALJHARI, RAJMAHÅL. The Santals as a race, are very fond of telling He went and came back again instantly. tales and asking riddles. The young men of Meaning-The eye. the villages after coming home from their work Bes bes jo joakana, menkhan bang ko got are in the habit of meeting together at the vil- darea: kana. lage lounging-places. Having kindled a fire, Fruit fully ripe, but no one is able to pluck they will sit around it, and amuse themselves them. for hours together, either by telling tales or by Stars. asking riddles. Those who know the most Mit gote: hor do bae chasa, menkhan akhaeni tales and can tell them best are looked upon by do jaijuge go: baraea ? the rest as very clever; and it is reckoned a very Who is it that although he never cultivates, great acquisition to be able to tell a tale in an yet continually carries about with him his pitch. interesting manner. There are certain lads whose fork? presence is invariably sought by the rest on A dog, because he carries his tail with him account of their power to tell the old tales well. continually, as a man does his pitchfork.
Some of these stories are extremely interest- Mit tite tayo do muskil gia. ing, and show a great amount of originality. To clap one's hands, if we have only one These tales are more or less known by nearly hand, is diffionlt. every Santal.
A man when alone can't quarrel. In this paper I propose to give you a few of Mit gote: dhelak monre gote bhuga: ana ? their riddles with appended translations :
A clod of earth with five holes in it? Harta latarre pond bin ?
A head. Translation- A white snake under a skin ? Mit gote: dangra do gota teye joma, ar lai: Meaning -A sword.
reye pagura ? Seta: jokhe: do ponea janga, ar tikin jokhe: Something, like an ox, which swallows its do barea janga, ar ayup jokhe: do pea janga? food whole, and afterwards chews the cud ?
In the morning it has four feet, at noon two, A handmill for grinding corn. and in the evening three feet ?+
Mit tang machhi re bar hor kin durupa ar Jeaning - A man.
bakin jopoteta ? Man in his stages of life. In the morning- Two sitting on one small seat, and not touch in infancy, a child uses its hands and feet in the ing each other? act of crawling. At noon--man, in his prime, A cow's horns. walks without any assistance. At even-decre- Mit gote: pukri talare chak khunti mena:a, pit old age requires a staff.
ar ona khonti chhotre mit gote: chatom opa: Khekre khekre ora:re pak ko doneda.
ar ona osa: re tij mena: a. Ona ora: rea: In a dilapidated house they are dancing the sanam tij loena, osa ar khunti do banchaoena, war-dance?
ar da: hon bang anjetlena. Roasting Indian corn.
In the centre of a tank is a post, and on the top The Santals always roast the corn in a of the post is a house. In this house were many broken "ghara." The barsting of the corn stores. It happened one day that a fire broke during the process of roasting, reminds one of out. The house and the post were not destroyed, the wild war-dance.
neither was the water of the tank dried up, but Mit gote: pond goda mena:a, onare horet everything in the house was completely conko era ?
sumed. There is a white plain, and men are sowing The smoking of the hookah. black vetches in it ?
The tank-the cocoanut filled with water; the Meaniuy-Writing with ink on paper. post-the support of the earthen bowl which Hani calaoena no:oin he:ena ?
holds the tobacco and the fire.
• This is an accent and not a stop. It is used to denote a peculiar click-sound common to Santali. It occurs
sometimes in the middle, as well as at the end, of words.
This is the well-known riddle of the Sphinx.-ED.
