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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
FOLKLORE IN WESTERN INDIA. BY PUTLIBAI D. H. WADIA. No. 20. Dévkt Rúni.
[JUNE, 1894.
Once upon a time there lived a farmer, who was rich in all earthly possessions, but had the misfortune to lose his wife and to find his only daughter motherless at a very tender age. After the death of her mother, the whole burden of the household duties devolved upon the little girl, and among other things she had to cook the daily food for her father and herself. In the art of cookery, however, the poor little girl was very deficiont, and had, therefore, now and then to seek the advice of a neighbour, a woman who, thongh sweet of tongue and fair of form, was cunning and false hearted. She would often come into the house under pretence of directing the girl in her household duties, though in reality she made every endeavour to involve her more and more in difficulties, and painted her before her father as a girl hopelessly inefficient in every respect.
In doing this, the crafty woman had a double object. She wanted to ruin the poor girl in the estimation of her father, and to impress upon the old man the advisability of marrying a second wife, and that wife her own worthy self. Unfortunately for the poor motherless child, the plan succeeded, and the farmer married his fair neighbour one fine day. The little girl in her innocence welcomed her with every manifestation of delight, and she was duly installed mistress of the house.
Things went on smoothly for some days, but by degrees the false woman threw off her mask and revealed herself in her true colours. She treated her step-daughter very cruelly, and subjected her to all sorts of indignities. Somehow or other, the poor thing was always in trouble. Continual dropping will wear away a stone, and the complaints of her alleged misdoings were so frequent, that her father grew sick and tired of it all, and came to look upon his poor little daughter as a being utterly unworthy of his regard. She had, however, no one to whom she could tell her wrongs, and had, therefore, to bear her lot in silence.
The lapse of a year or two saw the birth of another daughter to the farmer, but this event only served to fill the cup of the poor child's misery to the brim, for the cruel step-mother, who had up to this time barely tolerated her step-daughter as a dependant in the house, now wished to get rid of her altogether. So one day she found out a pretext for sending her to the woods in the hope that some wild animal might devour her. She deputed to the poor oreature the task of taking out an old cow of her dead mother's to graze: "Take her out with you," she said, "for I cannot trust her with anyone else, she is your mother's cow, and" she added sarcastically" she perhaps might put up with your ill-nature and your stupid ways, and rid me for a time at least of your troublesome company."
These words brought tears to the unfortunate girl's eyes, but she meekly went to the stables, and throwing a halter round the cow's head, took her away with her to the fields.
A crust of dry bread was all that the hard-hearted woman had given her for her noon-day meal. She ate it, and took a cooling draught from a spring hard by, and wandered about in childish freedom through the fields with her charge,
Day after day was the girl thus sent out with the cow, a bit of dry bread for her food and little or no clothing to protect her from the sun and the rain. But the child was patient by nature, and complained not, nor had she any friend to whom she could turn for sympathy. The old cow, however, evinced great love for her and shed many a tear in pity for her sad lot. At last, one day, Isvara miraculously endowed the dumb creature with the power of speech, and she said to the girl: "My dear child, how your good mother must be weeping in heaven to see you so miserable! She was kind to me as well as to all around her, and Îsvara has for her sake given me the power to help you; so, do as I bid you. Place your dry crust of bread into my mouth, and see what follows." The girl did so, and rather regretfully watched the cow
