________________
176
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
(June, 1906.
These two men bad received money of the oldman, vnknowne how he caime by it. It left them, & on to yo howse I lodged at 4 days before, and out of y howse & in at y gat of y* Citty. We weere not pūnitted to goe in. Prently it brought out the Old man & stack on his left brest, 1000da of people following out of the Citty to se it. Away it led y Oldman, And wee followed, & brought him before Timmenagg [Trimal Näik). But when he caime out of yo Citty gate & se me, he held vp his hands & gaped, but could not speake. Soe soone as he saw Timmenage, he sa, Ram Ram [Rám, Rām), wch is, 6 King be mercyfull to me; y Kinge sd, Cetteram Citan [? Sitā Rām Shaitan), yts, Thou wicked Devell, why hast thou deceived a Traveller ; wth that yo Battica fell to yo ground from his brest.77 The Kinge askt, wbeeres this travellers money. He sd, I hade only 100 pagodays, the 23 Ropees I hage spent, Sd yo King, give w' thon hast, I make good ye rest to him, wch y King did.
The King gd to me, yarr (yar], woh is, friend, y must have a care of partinge wth yor money, for these are Citans [shailans], Devells. And if they receive but la from yu they will have all about ya more or less.
Now yo man is heere, iudge him what death he shalbe put to. I replyed, I have got my owne, I desire noe maps death. Sd yo kinge, that ye may thanke me for. But if I let him passe, An other Traveller may not only loose his money, but his life, & then none can come to complaine to me, Soo my Contrey will gett a bad naime.
Next morning y Man was brought to a place where two great Millstones weere drawne wth 6 Oxen; yo King himselfe went out to se yo Oldman executed. Before yo Man was put to death, he askt for water, wpch they call Neele (nil), And sprinckled his face & gd some words, & vollantaryly put himselfe betweene y stones & was in aninstant ground to poother, wthout saying or criing soe much sa, abh.
The Kinge sskt if we had such iustice in of Contrey. I sd, we did burne witches or those gilty of such Orimes, woh he approved not of, for they burne all of theire Cast & iudge they goe to heaven, bnt those ground do goe to Hell to be further punisht for theire Orimes,
The Kinge Commanded 3, 4 & 5 at a tyme to trie, when yo Battica lay on yo ground, to take it y & they yeed Iron Crowes but could not moue it; to yo number of 500 of his Baryta tried, but could not. Observeing me looke ernestly, sd, will ya trie, wth leate, I said, yes. He gave it, &I went, & wth as much ease tooke it vp as ever I did anie pottinger; wth ye his eies beinge large, seemed to be in a flame, but said not ought.
Haneing beene well Treated by Timmenage [Trimal Näik], I tooke my Jurney from Kissnes [Kistna] to Hydrobadd [Hyderabad), y Chiefe Citty belonginge to yo Kinge of Baggenogar [Bhägnagar) in the Osbucks [Uzbegs] Contrey. I caime in about 8 Clock at Night into the Citty; But was taken vp for a spio, my selfe, sarv! & borss put in pšon. I demanded the reason of my Impdonm!. They told me I was a spie & should have my heade Out of, by reason I caime from Kissnoa [Kistna] wth whome they warred, beinge a Gentues Controy. Theire are neŭall kings of y. Glentues, As y Rashpoats (Rajputs) and78
?
Next day they Caused me to be pumpt, yt is to hold my Mouth vnder y pump yt y water may forsse it selfe into my beliy; this was don 3 tymes a day to make me Confess.
The Cadwall [lcotwāl] or justice, seinge this would not doe, Caused me back to peon, And as I past in Naked, wth Chaines on me, he caused at ye doore 2 men to bat me wth Elbow and ffist.
T The author here telle, MA matter of his own experience, what is really an old Indian folk-tale out of the Bhagavata Purāsa. Campbell had doubtles board it related, and it is still a story commonly told in Southern Indis. See onte, VoL XXXV. p. 50,
* Hintas here in the MS
