________________
NOVEMBER, 1883.]
SOME NOTES ABOUT RAJA RASÅLƯ.
305
could not get him forth he hung his terrible
Rakhasan. bow of steel" in the cavern's mouth. And Kahan tumhari watan hai ? kaun nagari shahr whenever the Rakuss would come forth the
gráon ? sight of this bow sends him back howling to his Kis Rdja lá tá betra ? kya tumhard ndon ? retreat. And many who are living have heard
Rasála. his voice and I amongst others. It is like Hazrat Sialkot mera watan; wahi nagari shahr distant thunder. But the last twenty years it gráon: has almost if not wholly ceased."
Salibáhan dá main betra; Rasúlú mera ndon. "And many other acts were performed by
Rasálu. Russaloo contained in other traditions and Lofty palaces, mother mine, on both sides songs, and the steed of Russaloo still stands fort and bázár; . caparisoned in a cavern at the summit of The people seem all absent; the world seems Mount Sirbonn,18 waiting for his master." i empty and blank!
All the verses quoted by Abbott are hard toW eep not, ancient mother, drop no tears; follow, and are clearly very incorrectly recorded, If God will preserve thy boy, I will give my and as incorrectly translated. I will here head for him). write down those already quoted, giving the
Old Woman. words as I believe them to be in reality after Seven sons, Sir King, I bore, none bave much consultation with Panjabis who ought married. to know what they should be.
One only son remains; his turn is to-day. Rasúlu.
O man with the dark-grey horse, thou hasta Uchchhe mandal, Mátá merie, do rukh khila beard on thy face, a turban on thy head: bázár;
The evil fate I dreaded, alas! comes again Khere sabh dúr dissan, sakhná kora disse
to-day. sansár!
Rakshasas. Ná tú ro, Mai budhie, hanjú na dhalka : Where is thy home? what thy town, city or Je Rabb rakhsi terá betrd," maini sir desán village ? chá.
What king's son art thon? what is thy Budhia.
name? Sat bete, Rájájí, main jache ;15 kai na kita
Rasála. kaj:
Holy Sialkot is my home; that my town, city Ikalla bețá rah-gaya; us di beri áj.
and village : Nilo-ghosewali shakhsá, ti munh dari, sir pag: I am SAlibaban's son: RasAld is my name. Jehre zálim sújh'' de, ah! phir áni ajj.
General Abbott gives besides the above 1 Abbott, p. 155, gives good description of the reflected on to the plains as Gandgash's thunder. Gandforniation of the ordinary Panjabi bow. It is made of gash has not, however, spoken for many years (50 from three pieces of mulberry wood; one for centre or present date), and this Abbott ways can be secounted handle, and two for the horns or ends. These are joined for by the cataclysm of 1839 (see Cunningham, Ladak, by springs consisting of slips of buffalo horn, and the 1854, pp. 99-111), which has so cleared the sides of the Inwhole bound tightly together with gut, then covered dus gorge as to prevent large masses of rock again falling over with glue and varnished. They are wonderfully into it for many years. Cunningham's account of the elastic and strong considering the materials, and are cataclysm and its causes hardly bears out this theory. inoreover handy and light.
15 Sirbhan, one of the peaks of Gandgah. 13 Gandgarh, Naked Fort, is a remarkable mountain of black clay slate capped with blue limestone about
Betyd, little son, dim. from beta. In Panjabt the 30 miles long, and is the last through which the Indus
termination sd, and arare all diminutive. The followcuts its way from the Himalayas. It has always been
ing saying clearly shows this,"wohti to nahi mill, par an unusually strong place, and resisted the efforts of
wohtri Iya han, -I found no bride, but have brought Nadir Shah, and afterwards of Hari Singh N Alwa. The
only a kind of bride," said by disappointed bridebellowing or roaring of the mountain has been an
groom. My explanation of the r, J. 4. 8. B. vol. LL.established fact. It is described as being like distant
p. 165 (w), is therefore incomplete. See Hoernle, Gaudian thunder, and is of course put down to Teré by the people.
Grammar, p. 107, S 215, and pp. 123, 124, 257. Ham yun mentions it, calling the hill Garigach, Thunder w Jache: this is a new word to me, but is a legitimate ing Fort. Abbott (pp. 152, 153, 158, 159), thus accounts
form in its obvious sense of "brought forth, if we for it. Gandgarh is the last mountain in the long deep
admit it w . verb from the imported Persian word trough of the Indus, in parts of which sounds reverberato sachd or saja, a lying-in woman, to be found in Panjabt and multiply as in a speaking trumpet, and the last ss jachchan and in Hindt as jachd and jachchd in wave of sound being reflected from Gandgarh appears to Persian tachage is child-birth. people in the plains to come from the mountain itself. 10 Lit. the evil fate (adlim) of my sight. Ante; vol. XI, About 160 miles above Gåndgarh the Indas clove ite p. 348, the translation of sújhanharf adjh gae, se "our way through gigantic cliffs, masses of which were always fate has come," is rather free : literally it is that which plunging into it, and creating waves of sound to be was to be seen has been seen."
