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308
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
with him. One day the merchant informed him that he was about to set sail to an island afar off, and asked him to look after his affairs till he returned. The minister thereupon said that he would accompany the merchant, as he could not endure the pangs of separation. They both went on board the vessel, and saw a very beautiful woman on an island. On being questioned by the minister who she was, the merchant replied that he did not know, but that he saw her every time he crossed that way. As soon as their business was finished, both of them reached home safely. Sometime afterwards the minister took leave of the merchant, went to his own place, was received very cordially by the king, who enquired of him why he had left him. To which the minister replied: You were wholly immersed in female charms, and as I guided the State, numerous scandals were spread abroad that I had misused my authority, and so I went away to a foreign place. I then made friendship with a merchant, and went on board his vessel to a far off island and there saw near the temple of the goddess Kali a large bark tree, underneath whose umbrageous branches was a woman, the very type of perfect womanhood.' On hearing this the king was very much astonished, and wanted to see the girl, and having received instructions from the minister, reached the island, saw the girl and thought that the minister was an unusually self-controlled man, for every
[NOVEMBER, 1897.
man who had seen her had conceived a passion for her. Thus he praised the minister, and went and prostrated himself before the goddess Kali, and then approached the girl, who turned her back on him. The king then took hold of the hem of her garment and asked her not to treat him with contempt. The girl, understanding that he was the greatest of kings, did according to his wishes. Sometime after, the girl went to bathe in the waters of a tank for the observance of a vrata, when she was unfortunately devoured by a rákshasa. The king, on seeing this, immediately drew his sword and slew the rakshasa and drew the girl out of his body. The girl then informed the king why she was devoured by the rakshasa, and lived happily with the king as usual. The king then took her to his capital and remained there more than ever addicted to female allurements. The minister then poisoned himself and died." Vikramarka was then questioned by Bêthâla:- "Why did the minister die? For the king's return? For the king's marrying the girl whom he (the minister) had fallen in love with?" To which Vikramarka replied that the minister poisoned himself because he foolishly communicated to the king the excellence of the girl in question, being fully aware of the king's previous conduct. Bê thâla once more disappeared.
Thus did Bethåla abscond twenty-four times,, and thus was he fetched again and again by Vikramarka.
(To be continued.)
NOTES AND QUERIES.
DAYS OF REST.
TO-DAY (29th November 1883) in passing through the Jât and Ahir villages in Rohtak, I noticed that no work was being done at the wells or in the fields, and that the peasants, usually so hard at work, were idling in the village homestead. On enquiring the reason, I was told that to-day was the amawas, the last day of the moon, and that on this day of the month the bullocks are always given a rest. The men themselves do any work that is to be done without using the cattle, but no one yokes his bullocks in the plough or at the well, or, if he can help it, in the cart. I noticed that some of the peasants were busy making thornfences, or doing other light work, but no bullocks were at work anywhere, and as there is little to be done at this season without their help, the custom practically gave the men a rest also, and the unusual idleness gave the villages a sort of Sunday look. The bullocks are given this rest once a month, on the last day of the moon, and also on
the Makar ka Sankrant, which comes about January, when the sun enters into the sign of Capricorn (Makar), and on the Diwall and Gordhan (the day after the Diwâli) in the middle of Kartik (October). Except on these fifteen days it is lawful for a man to yoke his cattle on all other days of the year, but these particular days are strictly a Sabbath for the cattle, and no one thinks of yoking them on these days. If any one did it would be a sin (páp), and his fellows would at once stop him. There is no such Sabbath for man, and it is not thought wrong (pap) for a man to work on any day of the year, though, of course, there are many holidays (téohár) on which very little work of any kind is done. On the Makar kå Sankrânt the cows are not milked, and the calves are allowed to suck the whole of the milk, and on the amáwas of every month the milk is not allowed to curdle, but is consumed while still sweet.
J. WILSON in P. N. and Q., 1883.
