Four and five, nine brothers, Eighteen cousins, lads of little luck: A message came to them from the King, bidding them To go forth and fight in the far-off land of the Franks: “Thy blessing, mother, that we may go forth!” “May ye go forth nine brothers and come back eight; May John the youngest never return!” They set forth, and as they crossed the vast plain, They lived forty days without bread, Forty-five more without water, And then they found a dear little fount; but it was a spirit-haunted well: ’Twas thirty fathoms in depth; in breadth twenty. “Halt, dear brothers and let us cast lots, He on whom the lot will fall, let him go in,” The lot falls on John, the youngest. They bind John and let him down: “Draw, dear brothers, draw me out, Here there is no water; but only a Spirit.” “We are drawing, John, we are drawing; but thou stirrest not.” “The serpent has wound itself round my body, the Spirit is holding me. Come, set the Black One also to help you.” When the Black One heard, he neighed loud. He reared on his haunches to draw him out. When he drew out his arms, the mountains gleamed, He draws out his sword also, and the sea gleamed. They drew out John together with the spirit, They lifted their knives to cut it asunder, But instead of cutting the Spirit they cut the rope, And John falls in together with the Spirit: “Leave me, brothers, leave me and go home, Do not tell my dear mother that I am dead, Tell her, brothers, that I am married, That I have taken the tombstone for a mother-in-law, Black Earth for a wife, And the fine grass blades all for brothers and sisters-in-law.” The maleficent deities are also responsible for floods. When therefore, heavy floods threatened a village or a city in Gujarat, the king or the headman used to go in procession to propitiate the river with flowers, cocoanuts, and other offerings, so that the floods should subside. Similarly, in the Punjab, when a village is in danger of being flooded, the headman makes an offering of a cocoanut and a rupee to the flood-demon. The cocoanut represents the head of a human being and is believed to be acceptable to the water-demon in lieu of a human victim. The headman stands in the water and holds the offering in his hand. When the flood rises high enough to wash the offering from his hand, it is understood that the waters will abate. Some people throw seven handfuls of boiled wheat and sugar into the stream and distribute the remainder among the persons present. Some take a male buffalo, a horse, or a ram, and after boring the right ear of the victim, throw it into the water. If the victim is a horse, it is saddled before it is offered.