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DECEMBER, 1882.]
FOLKLORE FROM KASHMIR.
343
"Be it so," said the elder, “but take the pony, for then you will return the more quickly. I meanwhile will go on foot to the town: meet me there."
The younger brother accordingly rode back to the tree, but the snake-demon to whom it belonged had returned to his home in the interval.' 'No sooner had the prince arrived there than the serpent flew at him and killed him. So there the poor prince lay dead at the foot of the tree.
Meanwhile the elder prince arriving at the town found it in a state of great commotion. The king had recently died, and though all the inhabitants had marched past the sacred elephant in file, the animal had not elected any oue amongst them to the vacant throne by bowing down before and saluting the lucky in- dividual as he passed. For in this manner were kings elected in that country.' So the people were much puzzled what to do, and orders had been issued by the Council that any stranger entering the gates was forth with to be taken before the elephant to see if the particular animal preferred an alien to a citizen. No sooner, therefore, had the elder prince entered the gates than he was seized by the guards and dragged without much ceremony, for there had been so many disappointments, before the sacred elephant. But this time there was no mistake, and the instant the animal caught sight of the prince it went down on its knees, and began saluting with its trunk in ever such a hurry. So the prince was acknowledged as the rightful king, and there were great rejoicings all over the city.
All this time the younger prince lay dead under the tree, and the king, his brother, after waiting and searching for him in vain, gave him up for lost and appointed another minister. But it so happened that a wise man and his wife came to the tree to fetch water from the fountain which flowed from its roots, for they
. This is the old idea of the Tree and the Serpent again. The word for the serpent used by Mrs. Steel is isdor. The Persian word for it is vhdaha, vhdår, or jhdar ( ) and the Hindi word is ajgar Sansk. ajagara, goat-eater, a python. Both ijhdaha and ajgar are in common uso in the Panjab in this connection.B. C. T.
This must be the sufaid haths or dhauld gaj, the white elephant, the legend about which is this He is the representative of the Elephant-Rod Ganes and as euch he was kept by RajAs as a pet, and fed to surfeit every Tuesday (Mangalwar) with sweet cakes (chiris). After which he would go down on his knees to the Raja
being wise folk were not afraid of the serpent. Now the wise woman saw the dead lad, and thought she had never seen any one so handsome in her life. She therefore took pity on the lad, and said to her husband
"You talk much of your wisdom and power, show it me by bringing this dead lad to life."
At first the wise man refused, saying it was beyond his power, but when his wife mocked at him, and called him a humbug, he got angry, and said
"You shall see, that though I cannot myself bring the boy to life, I have power to make others do the deed."
Then he bid his wife fill her lota at the fountain, and lo! all the water in the spring ran into the little lotá and the fountain was dry. She was much astonished, but the wise man said
"Bring the lotd with you, and come home, you shall see what you shall see."
Now all the serpents that lived in the spring were dreadfully uncomfortable when it dried up, for serpents are thirsty creatures. They bore it for three days, but after that they went in a body to the wise man, and said
"Tell us what you want, but give us back our spring."
Then the wise man promised to do so if they would restore the prince to life. This they gladly did, and then the wise man emptied the lotd, and all the water flowed back to the spring, and the serpents drank and were happy.
The prince on coming to himself fancied he had fallen asleep, and fearing lest his brother should be angry at the delay seized the whip, mounted the pony which all this time had been qnietly grazing beside him, and rode off. But in his hurry he took the wrong road, and so it happened that he arrived at quite a different city to the one of which his brother had been made king. and swing his trunk to and fro, this was taken as a rign that he acknowledged his royalty. He was never ridden except occasionally by the Kajå himself. There are two common sayings still in use which comemorate these idens, " oh to Mahiraji hai dhinuli aj pr i r. He is indeed King, for ho rides the White Elephant." And " Maharaja dhanliiga pati ki dolin. I claim the protection of the Great King, the Lord of the White Elephant." Alian. Hist Anim. III, 36, quoting Megas thenes mention the white elephant : HOO Merindio. pp. 118-19 or Ind. Ant. vol. VI, p. 333, and footnota. R.C.T.
Small brass pot used for drinking purposes all over India.-R.C.T.
e morate these
King, for how hai dhom
