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NOVEMBER, 1883.)
SOME NOTES ABOUT RAJA RASÅLU.
* 307
has sometimes completely misunderstood the sense. The last four verses are nonsense from any view as they stand, and natives explain them allegorically. * First were the Pandoos, after them the Jusrat." Each said "the world remains mine own."
Yet none remains to either of you. What harm is there in arsenic, or in the well
whose odour is rotten ? " Spare to beat the jackal, that hath nor hide
nor flesh. What careth the rock for frost ? The eunuch
for matrimony ? To the blind what profiteth the lamp, tho' you
should light fifty. Man is an ignorant compound of hair and
flesh," The mother-in-law without her son-in-law,"
meat without huldi, Clothes without soap, these three things are
amiss. Bring not the swallow-wort to your teeth."
Eat not the flesh of snakes. Weep not despondently, nor laugh over much." Born an infant of seven ells, would you grow
into a man of four ? The father hath entered his son's boots, one
measure serves for both. The dog hath run off with the sugar press, the
Khán hath seized the millstone. The worm hath eaten the saddle of the village
of 84 figures (in letters).81"
These lines I would quote, and render thus:Allá de wari ! Awwal búfi Pandún pher búţi
Jasrath.
"Meri, mert" kar gae, tor kisí na á gae hath. Sumbal ki to badili kya, kahiye jis ki na mushk
na wás ? Gidr ko to sat na hoiye, jis dá na khal na más. Patthar ko to páld kya ? khusre ko gharwas? Andhe ko chanun kya ? torin die ballan panjás? Múrakh mano admi hast m de kú más. Sassú bdjh na sauhre; halda bájh na más; Bájh sabán na kaprá: tre thok na vás. Akk na karye dandná; sap na kháye más ; Nár na karye ladlí, na háson kare binds ! Jamme si to sath gaz, bhar joban gaz to chár: Piú putre mauján legaya donor iksi nár. Kaulú kuttar legayá, chakki legaya kahán? Teli katti nigalia; chaurási harf garán. God be praised! The first race was Pândû;
the second race was Jasrath. Each claimed the earth) as his; in the end it
came into no one's hand. What is the value of the cotton tree, in which
men say, is nor smell nor scent ? Let not the jackal be killed, which has nor
skin nor flesh (of any use). What is frost to a stone ? matrimony to a
eunuch ? What is lamplight to the blind, even though
you light fifty lamps P An ignorant man is like the (useless) flesh of
a dead elephant. Let not the bride's home be without the bride's
mother; let not flesh be without turmeric; Let not clothes be without soap; these three
things are amiss. Use not the swallow-wort for a tooth-brush;
eat not the flesh of snakes;
(meha indica) or babal (klkar) tree (acacia arabica).
* A carious mistranslation. Lit., make not thy wife & darling that she may not ruin thee by laughing. It expresses & universal sentiment among the Panjabi lower orders, and is a very widely known verse.'
* I read this to translate," she was born indeed sixty yarde, at full youth (she was) indeed four yards: father and son both enjoyed the same wife." I take it to be one of those riddles natives are so fond of, with the answer, "chhdyd, shadow." The natives say the morning and evening shadow of a tree is sixty yards," sdth
gas."
13 Abbott more than once notes curiously that the Påndů rule precedod the Jasrath in the Punjab. Panda Was of the Lunar race, and Jasrath is the modern form of Daratha, the father of Ramachandra of the Solar race. The bard probably refers vaguely to the two great races of Epic heroes. Chronologically if there be any real chronology in this matter-I fanoy Dasaraths must have been anterior to Panda.
** A complete mistranslation. Grammatically Abbott's kooah must stand for kahiye, they say, men say, on dit. At p. 131, footnote, Abbott mentions the sumbal or cotton-tree, which makes his misapprehension here all the more remarkable. The line is literally, "what in. deed is the value of the cotton-tree, of which, they say, is neither smell nor scent"
* Lit., the flesh of a dead elephant (i.e. something absolutely useless) is like an ignorant man.
* Lat., let not the bride's house be without the bride's mother. The Indian son-in-law looks chiefly to his wife's mother for affection of all her relatives. Abbott explains," alluding to the custom of treating the motherin-law with marked tenderness and affection, but this is incomplete.
91 Akkor ak is the asclepias gigantea or large swallowwort. It has an acrid and blistering milk. The aniversal Indian toothbrush is a twig of the nim troe
90 Lit., the words mean, "the little dog took away the small brass bowl, where has he taken the sweet-oake ?" but they appear to have no sense in the context.
$1 Lit., the little she-baffalo swallowed up the oilmaker, the village of 84 letters. I fancy really this last couplet is of the riddle nature, the three last words being the answer chaurdust jand, the 84 (Lakhs of) lives is a common erpression for transmigration of souls. The oguplet in, however, from any view confused. The turning of the oil-maker into his buffalo would be a just retribution, the life of the latter being universally and justly uphold as the personification of hard and thank loss toil for another's benefit.
