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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
Semitic words in modern Pahlavi and that of its equivalent letter in Sasanian Pahlavi. Of such words ending in man there are three occurrences of barman, one of nafshman, and two of denman in this inscription. In lin. 1 the -man in barman differs but slightly from its Sasanian form; there is no open loop to the m, and then is decidedly curved. In the word nafshman in lin. 2 the loop of the m is open, but unlike the usual form of that letter, and the n is still curved. In barman in lin. 7 the n is straighter, but the -man still differs from the following word, min, composed of the same letters. While in denman in 11. 5, 9 there is hardly any difference between the final -man and any ordinary min or mû. There is thus a regular gradation of forms in this inscription from the Sasanian letter to its modern representative -man, illustrative of the progress from the one form to the other, and showing that this final syllable -man can hardly have arisen from a combination of the letters m and n, but from a gradual alteration of the form of a
FOLKLORE IN THE PANJAB.
COLLECTED BY MRS. F. A. STEEL.
WITH NOTES BY LIEUT. R. C. TEMPLE, B.S.C., F.RG.S., M.R.A.S., &c.
No. 16.-The Rat's Wedding.' Once upon a time a rat was caught in a shower of rain. Being far from shelter, he set to work and soon dug a hole in the ground, in which he sat as dry as a bone. Now while he was digging he came on a fine bit of a dry root. "This is quite a prize," said he to himself, "I must take it home."
(Continued from p. 172.)
So when the rain was over, he took the dry root in his mouth, and set off home. On the way he saw a man trying to light a fire while his children stood by and howled with hunger. "Dear me," said the rat, "what an awful noise! What is the matter ?"
"The bairns are hungry," answered the man, "and want their breakfast, but the fire won't light because the sticks are wet, so how can I cook the bread ?"
[AUGUST, 1882.
single letter of the Sasanian alphabet, which letter in the great majority of cases corresponds to the Chaldee emphatic suffix .á.
"If that is all," said the good-natured rat, "take this dry root. I'll warrant it will make a fine blaze."
With regard to the stone itself, although it has, no doubt, been used as an amulet, there is nothing in the inscription to indicate that it was manufactured for that purpose. It seems to be merely a record of part of an insulting correspondence between two men, possibly imaginary, engraved probably by direction of Khasmbakht who, from the allusion to the útúr myazd or 'sacred feast of fire' being despised by his opponent may perhaps be conjectured to have been a Zoroastrian, and may be represented by the man's bust on the reverse of the stone. Whether the demon on the obverse be intended as a fancy portrait of the son of Dûshtbakht, or as a representation of the accursed' evil spirit in whose name he is told to curse himself, it is hardly safe to guess. It is also difficult to conceive the object of engraving such an inscription as a permanent record.
1 Told at Muzaffargarh by a boy of Pârbia origin named Namdar.-F. A. S.
"That's really most kind of you," replied the man gratefully, "and in return take this bit of dough."
"What a clever fellow I am," thought the. rat as he trotted off, "what bargains I make! Fancy getting food that will last me for five days for an old stick! Wah!"
Soon after he saw a potter trying to pacify three little children who were howling, and crying, and screaming. "Dear! dear! what is the matter ?" asked the rat.
"The bairns are hungry," answered the potter, "I haven't any food to give them."
"Is that all ?" said the soft-hearted rat. "Here take this dough, cook it quickly."
"You are most obliging," cried the potter delighted, "and in return take one of those pipkins. "
The rat was delighted at this exchange though he found the pot rather hard to carry. At last, however, he managed to balance it on his head,
Ghard-a round earthon pot.-R. C. T.
