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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[NOVEMBER, 1896.
At this, Channaya said:"It is true, we could have played with them, but we have neither pichis nor palles. How can we play without them?"
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"There is a way of doing that," said Koți. "Now I will borrow one hundred pichis, promising to return them with interest."
"How will you pay them back?" said Channaya.
"Oh! do you ask me how?" said Koți. "I am not like them. They only hit once or twice out of ten tries. I shall not be like them; I shall hit every time I strike, and I shall win all their pichis in no time. You just stand by and see the fun."
"Then do as you say," said Channaya.
One of the boys who overheard this conversation between the brothers went to the grandsons of Buddhivanta and repeated it to them. When they heard this they became angry, and said:"Who are these that speak so proudly? Let us see them. When Billavar boys have become so proud, what is the use of our being here?"
So saying, they went towards the group with their informer. When they went there, they saw the brothers sitting in a reclining posture, stretching out their legs before them, the one across the other. Seeing the boys in this posture, the grandsons of Buddhivanta said to them:"You, Billavar boys! You do not rise up when you see us. You are reclining with your legs before you. What do you mean? It seems that the time of your destruction is nigh." Are you not also Bant boys? We never called you. We
At this, they replied:-"It is true, we are Billavar boys. When you come to us, we have no need to rise up before you. never came to the place where you were. We are by ourselves alone."
At this, the grandsons of Buddhivanta became very angry, and said to the boys who had come with them:-"What do you see? Give them two knocks to each on their temples. Do you feel a pleasure in hearing their arrogant' words ?"
At this, all the boys pacified them, and said :-"Don't be so angry. This is the first time that they have come to this place. We shall meet again to-morrow, and then we can see Let us go home to-day. Let them also return to their home to-day."
After they were pacified, all of them returned to their respective homes. The boys on both sides did not say a word of what had occurred on the cattle-grazing-hill. At night when they were going to sleep, Deyi Beidyadi asked her sons:-"How did you play to-day, my children ?"
They told her how they had played at many games and enjoyed the day. But they whis pered not a word about the quarrel. So she told them to go to sleep. Early in the morning on the next day they got up and provided themselves with pichis and palles, and taking their breakfast went with the cowherd boys to the hills. After reaching the hills they began to play at yettu with their companions. As they were playing, the grandsons of Buddhivanta came up, putting on their best suit of clothes and ornaments. They came with many cowherd boys who formed their retinue. Proudly they came to the place where the boys were playing with their companions, and stood looking at their play. But the boys did not speak a word to them. Then they were very angry, and not knowing how to contain their anger, said to the cowherd boys:-"What is this, ye boys? Why are you playing with these toddydrawer's boys? Do you not find more respectable companions to play with ?"
At this Channaya Beidys said :-"Why do you abuse us? It is true we are the children of toddy-drawers, and yet if we did not draw toddy, your fathers and mothers and wives and other relations will die of indigestion or diarrhoea. Therefore, we save you from dying of such diseases. We are your saviours in that sense. So do not abuse us."
1 (To be continued.)
41 The allusion is that arrack distilled from teddy is said to cure people of indigestion and many other diseases. Arrack is drunk by Banta and other Sûdras.
