Indian Antiquary Vol 14

Author(s): John Faithfull Fleet, Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 95

MARCH, 1885.)
FOLKLORE IN SOUTHERN INDIA.
77
Guardians of this:-the foar Malepas, those of the Five Hundred, and the five garland- makers.10
Whoso destroys a grant by the Maharajas of Sripura" incurs the five great sins of destroy
ing (at) Benares a thousand Brahmans and a thousand tawny cows! Whoso protects this acquires great merit!
Chandanandiyayya's writing. The grant of the Perggadůr basadi.
alre
FOLKLORE IN SOUTHERN INDIA.
BY S. M. NATESA SASTRI PANDIT. VI.-VIDAMUNDAN KODAMUNDAN. already been settled, and that if he came the Mr. Won't Give and Mr. Won't Leave. next day he would have his meal without fail. In a certain town there lived a clever old Mr. Won't Leave agreed to this, and left him for Brâhman, named Won't Give. He used to go that day. Mr. Won't Give had, of course, told out daily and to beg in all the houses round, him the very lie he was accustomed to tell all under the pretence that he had to feed several
that occasionally begged menls of him. Bråbmaņs in his own house. Good people, Now Mr. Won't Leave was not so stupid that believed in his words, used to give him as to be thus imposed upon. He stood bemuch rice and curry stuffs, with which he fore Mr. Won't Give's door precisely at the would come home, and explain to his wife appointed ghatiká (hour) the next day, and how he had deceived such and such a gentle- remiuded the master of the house of his proman by the imposition of feeding in charity mise. Mr. Won't Give had never before been many persons at home. But if any hungry taken at his word, and determined to send away Brahman, who had heard of his empty boast the impertinent guest by some stronger excuse of feeding Brahmans at home, came to him, he than the first, and so he spoke to him thus:-- was sent away with some excuse or other. In “Sir, I am very sorry to say that my wife fell this way Mr. Won't Give brought home a ill last night of a strong fever, from which basketful of rice and other necessaries every she has not yet recovered. Owing to this day, of which he only used a small portion unforeseen accident I have had to postpone my for himself and his wife, and converted the re- charitable feedings (samdrádhana) till her mainder into money. And thus by imposition recovery, so do not trouble me please for some and tricks he managed to live well for several days more." years.
Mr. Won't Leave heard these words with In an adjoining village there lived another an expression of sincere, or rather seemvery clever Brahman, named Won't Leave.' ingly sincere, sorrow in his face, and replied :Whenever he found any man reluctant and "Respected Sir, I am very sorry for the unwilling to give him anything that he begged illness of the mistress of the house, but to of him, he would persist in bothering him give up charitable feeding of Brahmans on that until he had wrung from him a dole. This account is a great sin. For the last ten years Mr. Won't Leave, hearing of the charity of Mr. I have been studying the art of cooking, and Won't-Give and his benevolent feeding of Brah- can now cook for even several hundreds of maņs, came to see him one day and requested Brahmans; so I can assist you now in preparhim to give him a meal. Mr. Won't Give told ing the necessaries for the samdrádhana." him that for that day ten Brâhmaņs had Mr. Won't Give could not refuse such a
Mr. Kittel cannot reconcile this with the Male second syllable is intended to be ma, and the first 118, adgirbbarum of No. 2, which he needlessly alters into
not dd, which would give us ay-damarigaruh, 'the five Malepa-adairbbarum. But I see no difficulty the one drummers, i.e. publie criers'; dangard Birisina, the refers to the four Male chiefs, the other to the Male proclamation by best of drum,' is well-known ancient Thousand, the extent of the country.-[Whether it is custom in the Kanarose country. This, at any rate, is coupled with Malepa, or with Male, airbbarna means
certain that the word does not mean garland-makers'. one thousand persons, not one thousand things'; and any more than, if as much an, it means apokenmen': Male-dairbbarut cannot possibly denote the Male for the word for garland-maker, as derived from Thousand (villages), the extent of the country,' the term
daman, '& garland,' would be damakara, not damariga. for which would be Male-sdeirash. ED.
ED.) 10 Mr. Kittel says here and in No. 2 "the five 11 Gadalor in the Nilgiris, as we know from the Honor spokomen."-[It is difficult to say exactly what the plates. Mysore Inscription, p. 286; Madras Jour. original means the lithograph shews in the second Lit. &c. 1878, p. 138. syllablo mo, not ma. But the probability is that the Kodamundan.
• Vidamundan.