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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[MAY, 1881.
they came to a plum tree. Aahiâ climbed up, watchmen stopped him, and asked him, “Who but the others could not. They asked Adhiâ are you? Whence have you come ? Where are you for the fruit, but he would not give any, saying going ?" Adhia said, “ I am a physician, "Remember the time of the sweets." Again come to cure the Princess." The watchmen they shouted and called the owner of the plum said, "Be off! A great many doctors like you tree, who seized Adhiâ, and the six brothers went have come here to lose their heads." And on. Then Adhiâ called to the rope, “Break, they showed him a string of their heads, but rope, my companions have gone on." The rope Adhil was not at all frightened, and said, "If broke and Adhiâ joined his brothers. Next they I cannot cure the Princess, then take my came to a well. Adhia said "I am thirsty," head. If I cure her, then marry me to her and began to draw water, but the brothers and give me half the kingdom, as the King has pashed him from behind, and he fell in. They proclaimed.” Adhiî gave her the medicine, but left him there, and went on. In the well there first made his conditions sure. In a few days was a one-eyed demon,'' a pigeon, and a serpent. the Princess got well and was married to Adhi, In the night the three began to talk and Adhia and he got half the kingdom. The six brothers listened. The demon asked the serpent "What heard of this, and came to the Raja and told him is your power ?" The serpent said " I have the a wicked story about Adhià, and said "Adhia treasure of seven kings underneath me." And is of low caste."The Raja, hearing this, ordered the serpent asked the demon "What is your him to be turned out of the kingdom. But power ?" The demon said "A certain Raja's Adhia said "I am a king's son, and have the daughter is possessed of me. She is always ill." treasure of seven kings. Come with me and The demon then asked the pigeon "What is I'll show you." The Råjå gave Adhiâ mules to your power ?" The pigeon said " Whosoever eats fetch the treasure, and Adhill went and fetched my dung will be cured of his disease whatever it the treasure. The King was very pleased, and is." Meanwhile the day broke and each of them gave him back his share of the kingdom. The went off to his own haunt. During the day a six brothers then began to say to each other, camel-driver came and sat down by the well, and 1 "Adhiả got the treasure by falling into the went to get water from it. Adhiâ caught hold well, so let us throw ourselves in too." So of the rope, and the camel-driver looked into the they threw themselves in, and in the night the well. Adhill called out, "I am not an evil spirit, serpent, the pigeon, and the demon came tobuta mortal man : take me out if you are kind." gether. The pigeon saw its dung was not there, The camel-driver took him out. Adhiâ took and said " Feel round and see if any one is the pigeon's dang out with him, and went off to here." The six brothers were found inside, and the Raja's city, where the princess was lying ill, the demons said, "These are the thieves !" and and proclaimed that he was a physician. The ate them ap.us
R.C.T.
15 The word used for demon here is carious. It is de
Panj form. There are two words of similar form, but different sense, current in India, which have probably really become mixed among the illiterate :-(1) dev or deo also daf and dafv, Hindi from Sanskrit
deva and daiva, a god, deity. Prak. devam, daivam and dafum, Lat deus and divus, Gr. Beos tbeos; and (2)
dov (valgo deo), Persian, & giant, monster, demon. The latter is obviously the sense here. Regarding the evil spirita in the well; this is common belief in tbe Panjab about wells in the jangal or country. Town and village wells are not supposed to be thus possessed, eceept those haunted by churdle, a particular kind of ghost, of which more anon.
10 The word sed in the original tale for "watchman" is very remarkable, as showing the gradual incorporation of certain English terms into the common parlance of the
country folk, it is w santri, our "sentry with a regularly formed plural o ils santrián. In this connection I may mention another peculiar word baruk with plu, barakhai, barracks, used in most Cantonment Courts.
19 When the brothers traduced Adhia by saying he was of " low caste," the word used is chumyar (Hindt Jl chammdr-any worker or dealer in leather), a leather-dealer, but frequently in the Panjab a sweeper, scavenger, lowcaste creature.
16 As before remarked, the narrator of this tale, too, seemed to forget towards the end, and said there was something about a witch which he could not remember. The fact is, I think, that there are current several tales with incidents like those in the present one, which have either become mixed up or have been fastened on to this "Seventh Son." The title "The Mother of Seven Sons" is that given by the narrator, who insisted on the title of the tale being in his vernacular "sat Bachydin dyan Minin." A more appropriate title would be "Adhil or the Seventh Son."
with fact is, I thinz Witch which had, and said thale, too,
