________________
NOVEMBER, 1879.]
METRICAL VERSIONS FROM THE MAHABHARATA.
MISCELLANEA.
BY JOHN MUIR, D.C.L., LL.D., &c. (Continued from p. 205.)
THE ARTFUL CHARACTER OF WOMEN. Freely translated from the Mahabharata, xiii. 2236ff.
I have elsewhere quoted from this great poem passages in which the fair sex is cordially eulogized, directly or indirectly. The following picture, though in some respects it is flattering to women, as testifying to their great cleverness and powers of allurement, is otherwise far from laudatory; and luckily applies only to the worst part of female society. As the names of the Indian sophists referred to in these lines are not familiar to the English reader, I have substituted that of Machiavelli.
Deep steeped in Machiavellian wiles,
With those that smile a woman smiles, With those that weep dissolves in tears, The sad with words of comfort cheers, By loving tones the hostile gains, And thus firm hold on men attains,
Her action suiting well to all
Th' occasions that can e'er befall. As words of truth she praises lies, As arrant falsehood truth decries, And, mistress of deceptive sleight, Treats right as wrong, and wrong as right. All powers which wizard demons old, Of whom such wondrous tales are told, Displayed, the gods themselves to cheat, To blind, elude, and so defeat,Such fascinating powers we find In artful women all combined. So skilfully they men deceive, So well their viewless nets can weave, That few whom once these syrens clasp Can soon escape their magic grasp. Yet, once their earlier ardour cooled, They jilt the men they've thus befooled ; And fickly newer objects seek
To suit their changing passion's freak. Such charmers well to guide and guard, For men must prove a task too hard. The following is a nearly literal translation of the greater part of these verses:
"Women know all the wiles of Sambara, of Namuchi, of Bali, of Kambhinasi. They laugh with him who laughs, weep with him that weeps, with sweet words lay hold on him who dislikes them, all according to the requirements of the situation. The doctrines in which Usanas and Brihaspati were skilled are not different from the ideas of women. How then can men watch over them? They call falsehood truth, and truth falsehood. I
consider that the selfish doctrines which have been devised by Brihaspati and others were principally derived from observation of the ingenuity of women. When they receive honour from men females pervert their minds."
NOTES AND QUERIES. COBILY-MASH.-With regard to the origin of this word (see ante p. 201), there is no need to go to old Singhalese for it: it is found in modern Singhalese under the form Kabali-mas. The learned Mudaliyar L. De Zoysa, to whom I referred the question, writes me as follows:-"I think the true derivation of Cobolly mass' is kabali-mas 'piece-fish,' from kæbella, piece, and mus, fish or flesh. Kabalikaranavá is to cut or break into pieces. There are similar compound words in Singhalese, e.g., hun or hunu-sal, 'powder,' 'broken into pieces, rice." The word Kabella is of course the Pâli kabala, Sans. kavala. I may mention that Mr. A. Gray, in his paper on the Maldive Islands (Journal, R. A. S. N. S., vol. X.) follows Pyrard de la V. in the mistake of referring the word to the Sin. Kalu-mas, black fish, a derivation which is manifestly untenable. DONALD FERGUSON.
Colombo, 29th July 1879.
PROPER NAMES. It is the custom in Behår when a man's elder children die, to give any children that may be subsequently born, names signifying an unpleasant or disgusting object, and also to bore their noses. This is supposed to make the children, thus named and with their noses thus bored, live long.
This custom obtains amongst all castes from Brahmans down.
Is there any similar or parallel custom prevalent in Western India, and has the origin of the superstition been explained ?
I append a list of names thus applied to younger children for the sake of comparison :
No.
Name in Någari Character.
1 अकलुआ
2 अन्धरा
3 छा
4 after
5 किरवा
6
321
कुकरा 7 कंटिटरा
8 गिरगिटवा
9 गोनौरा 10 चिलरा
Name in English Character. Akalua
Andhra
Anpuchhân
Kariâ
Kirwa
Kukrå
Kantiṭrå
Girgitw&
Gonaura Chilrå
Meaning.
Famine-stricken
Blind.
One not inquir. ed about.
Black. Worm.
Dog. One-eyed.
Lizard.
Dung-hill. Louse.
