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42
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
(FEBRUARY, 1894.
“The great god is descending, O you boys!” said the brothers.
To this the cow-herds answered: -" It is not that the bull has brought forth a calf and is licking it, but that the ball is smelling its dung."
"O! they have solved our riddle, Channayya Baidya," said Koti. "We must get every information about the way from these boys," said they to each other.
So they said to the boys : -"Which is the way to the house of that rich man in Palli named Paiyya Baidya P"
“O, heroes, if you go by the road on the left, you will come to the village Edambur. If you go by the road on the right, you will come to the village Pañje. And if you go by the great road in the middle, you will find the house of that rich man in Palli called Paiyya Baidya."
“What are the signs by which we may know his house P" asked the brothers.
“There is a gate of bamboos, and a spacious cow-pen. The house has an upper-story, and the well a pump. The manoli creeper has been trained up a double pandál. The cocoanut tree bearing red fruit bas a circular basin round it, and in front of the house there is a shed with a thick roof."
Thus the boys told the brothers all the distinguishing marks. After hearing this, Kôți and Channayya proceeded on their way. They entered Paiyya's enclosure, crossing the hedge round it, and called out:-“ Paiyya, Paiyya !”
The first call, his wife merely heard, but did not answer. When they called out again she answered the call, and when they called out a third time she came out asking :-“Who is it that calls ? "
“It is we and none else. We the travellers. Is Paiyya, the rich man of Palli, present or not ?"
To this the woman answered :-"He is not present. He is gone to draw toddy from the keadamba and date trees in the forest called Bank in the East."
"At what time does he go out, and when does he return P"
"He goes out in the morning and returns at noon. If you are Brihmaņs wearing the thread, sit down on the round platform of the cocoanat tree bearing red fruit. If you belong to the tribe called Vakkatêr, sit down in the shed, built by the poor man. If you belong to our caste, sit down on the swinging cot within the house," said the woman.
Hearing this, they approached the house and said: “We will not enter into a house in which there are no males."
They spread out their dirty blanket within the shed and sat on it. They chewed betel-nat with much enjoyment. Then Channayya became thirsty.
"You, who are a member of Paiyya's family, please give us a cup of water," said he.
To this the woman answered : -"I will not go out of my honse to a place where there are no males belonging to my family."
She said this merely in jest, and did not mean it in earnest. She took off her dirty dress and put on a clean one; and then, taking a copper pot in her hands she went to the well which had been walled in, and by the means of the pump drew pure water from the deep well. She poured the water into a goblet and came into the house. As she was coming, in, the younger brother looked at the elder's face, and the elder looked at the younger's face, and they began a suppressed laughter. Said the woman :
“You men, are you laughing at my beauty, or are you laughing at my foolishness ?" "We did not laugh at your foolishness, but we laughed at your beauty," said they.
• 1. c., the Sun.
