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MAROH, 1926]
FOLK-TALES FROM NORTHERN INDIA
55
Hearing this, the Brahmans shouted out, "He is not a Brahman." The Muhammadan said; “Why do you say that I am not a Brahman ? Don't you see that I have here Sale ghulam (instead of Salagram) in the small wooden box?" That settled the matter, and they drove him out of the house.
This story illustrates the Hindi proverb, Sikhde pat darbár ko nahin jdle hain, le "Tutor's sons do not suit a Darbar."-ED.]
108. The Bee's Seeret. (Told and recorded by Durga Prasad, teacher, Aligarh District.) Four women, drawing water at a well, saw a bee rolling in the dust, and said to ono another, “Why should this beo, who inhabits fair gardens and enjoys the honey of flowers, be thus rolling in the dirt ?" Then the first woman said:
Ban nahin beld nahin, nahin Ketaki sang;
Madhukar kaun sé karmë bhasm lapété ang. i.e., "Nor forest, nor bela blossom, nor ketaki are with you. Why then, O Bee, do you smear your body with ashes ?” Then said the second woman:
Pahile hi yahan Ketakt jar gai dhaun ke sang,
Prit purdni karat hain, jase bhasm lapété ang. i.e., "Perhaps Ketaki burnt herself here with some one in old days, and the bee smears himself with ashes in memory of the old love." The third woman said :
Jab lo jari thi Kelakt, tab to jaryo na sang :
Log hansdr karat hain, yd tên bhaam lapete ang. i.e., "When Ketaki burnt herself, he did not share her fate. The world laughs now at his unfaithfulness, and therefore he smears his body with ashes." The fourth woman then said:
Jab to jart thi Ketaks, tab to na ho aang;
Prit purdni karat hain, lai pahuchawain Gang. i.e., "When Ketaki burnt herself, he was absent. So now he testifies to his ancient love by bearing her ashes to the Ganges."
109. The Fruit of Immortality.
(Told by Thakur Prasad Pujari, Sitapur.) Once on a time Raja Vikrama performed so much penance that Bhagwan as a reward gave him a fruit, which caused whosoever ate it to become immortal. The charitable Raja gave it to a Brahman, who sold it to Raja Bhartrihari for a large sum. Bhartrihari in turn gave the fruit to his beloved wife, who conferred it upon the Kotwal, who happened to be her paramour. Now the KotwAl at the time was enamoured of a prostitute and thercfore gave her the fruit. This girl used to dance in the Raja's Palace, and one day he saw the fruit in her possession and enquired how she had come by it. When he heard the whole story, he exclaimed :
Yam chintydmi sat tam mayi sd birakta sápanyam
ichhati janam jan nonya saktah. Asmat krite cha paritushyati káchi danya, dhaktàn cha
tan cha mada nam cha imam cha man ch. i.e., "She, of whom I am always thinking, is averse from me. She thinks of another map, who loves another, and another woman finds delight in me. So fie upon her ; fie vpon lust; fie upon her and fie on me!”
They say that from that day Bhartrihari decided to renounce the world.
