________________
34
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
(FEBRUARY, 1894.
-
Three or six days afterwards, Channayya said to Kôti: "Now them uddy water in the fields must be let out and pure water let in, and we should see what the seed has come to. Will you go, my brother? or shall I?"
“The bluntness of Buddyanta and your angry disposition will not well agree," replied Kbti.
Then he took his harrow with him and set out from his house; he passed Uddanda Bottu, and went through the field named Anilaje, and walked by the side of a paddy field named Pamaje Rajya in Munilaje. On his way he observed that Buddyanta's field had not even so much water in it as would be sufficient for a fly. Buddyanta was engaged in scaring birds from his field. The fields of these brothers presented the appearance of the sea bearing Råma's name.
Buddyanta was sitting in his house at Vali Manje with great enjoyment, when Kôti laid down the harrow on the ground, and exclaimed :-"Salutation to my lord !"
When he saluted him from the eastern side Buddyanta turned his face to the north; when from the north he turned his face to the west; when from the west he turned himself round to the south; and when he saluted him from the southern side Buddyanta looked down on the earth.
At last Koti said "I saluted you full four times and not even once did you return my salute! If I had saluted the wild kásana tree in the jungle, even that would have dropped its fruit and leaves, and its tendrils would have greeted me. You have not returned me even 80 much. Let one of my salutations go to the god) Narayana on high, another to the (goddess) Earth below, a third to your ancestors, and the last to the Bhuta, Brahmara of Kemmule.”
Saying this, he took up his harrow with him and went to the banks of his field. He made a wide opening in one of the banks; the water flowed out with a rapidity equal to that of rivers during the monsoon. Seeing this, Buddyanta called out his servants and they shut up the opening made by Kôți by means of grass.
Koti then said :-"Take care, Buddyanta! The suggi crop is the only means of food for the monsoon for you as well as for us! If you have enmity against us, avenge yourself on our persons, and not on the crop that we have cultivated. Let, therefore, the water, which is flowing out according to custom, flow on in its proper course."
“Who has given you a right, my youthful Billavar, to fell the trees in the forest, and to dig a channel, and let out the water of your field through that channel ? " said Buddyanta.
“As it was I that came here, matters have come only to this; but if my brother had come they would have borne a serious aspect," replied Kôți.
"Did your brother descend from heaven, or did he spring out of the earth? Was he born in a peacock's plame? Was he suckled by the wild buffaloe ? Can he make the water in a small earthern pot flow out in a rapid current ? Will he ride to this place on a noseless horse ? Ah! your brother will surely come, and shall I not get ready a bundle of thorny plants ? Shall I not strike his face with it P” said Buddyanta.
At this time Channayya came to Uddanda Bottu and looked around him, and said to himself:-"What could possibly have delayed my brother so long? He is not yet to be seen."
Meanwhile words rose to a high pitch between Buddyanta and the elder brother, and Channayya heard them. He went to his bouse, and, unsheathing his dagger, proceeded to the place, and when he reached it, he saw his brother and Buddyanta quarrelling with each other. He remonstrated with Buddyanta and warned him not to interfere, saying :-“Will the water that is poured on the feet come up to the head? Or will the water poured on the head come down to the feet? Let the water, which is flowing out according to custom, have its proper course."
