Indian Antiquary Vol 50

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 261

SEPTEMBER, 1921)
FOLK-TALES OF THE CAR NICOBARESE
251
A person found it and took it away with him, and all the people of the village, every one, ate some of the paste. There was just one little child that did not eat any ; perhaps he was asleep when all the others were eating the pandanus. The child was quite small and not old enough to understand things.
Now early next morning a man was going out from an adjoining village to spear fish, and he saw that child playing all alone on the beach. He thought to himself, "That child is the only one to get up early here this morning," and did not trouble himself any more about the matter.
When he was returning from spearing fish, on his way home, he again saw the child, still playing alone.So he went up into a house, and lit his cigarette; and on looking round saw every one stretched out stiff and still.
The little child came up the ladder too, and began to suck at his mother's breast, not knowing that she was dead; but the man who had been fishing realised that all the people were dead.
So he picked up the child and went off with him to his own village, "Ot-ra-höön" (or Kemnyûs), and hunted around for some people to come and help him to bury those who had thus died all together.
It was as when the bolt that has been shot strikes against a tree, and ricochets, and hits the archer who shot it. We are sure to have falling on our own heads the consequences of our actions ; if they do not come at once, they will find us out in the future.
XII.-THE TWO WOMEN WHO WERE MAKING TRIPE, Long long ago two women were once making tripe on some rocks which jutted out a good way into the sea, and were bare at low water, whilst below them lay the deep sea. One of the women accidentally let their knife drop into the water, and it was immediately swallowed by a fish. That fish, which was called a ka-ha-kö, had an enormous mouth; it is never seen in these days.
Quick! jump down, and dive after our knife," said the other woman to her companion. So she dived down after it ; and she too went straight down into the belly of that big fish, just as their pocket-knife had done.
The other woman waited for her companion for a long time, idly playing with a pebble in her hand ; and then she said to herself, "Why is she all this time ?”
Splash I she too had dived down into the water for the knife; and she too went straight into the belly of that big fish. .
The big fish then swam away and went right out into the middle of the ocean.
Now, some considerable time after they had gone down into the belly of the fish, one of the women said, "We are getting hungry."
"Why not cut off some meat for yourselves from my liver ?" said the fish to them. They took the fish at his word and helped themselves to a considerable quantity of his liver.
"Oh! Oh!" said the fish, "Are not you two going beyond all bounds in doing this ?" But the women replied, "Oh ! no ! no !"
When they had gone a long distance further and it was now another day again, they began to get hungry; and again the fish said to them: "Help yourselves again to some more of my liver;" and they did so.
"Oh ! is not this going too far ?" said the fish again ; and again the women cried, “No! no!”