Santal (South Asian people) -- Folklore; Santali literature -- Translations into English; Tales -- India
It so happened that one morning a demon passing that way spied Jhore
dangling from the tree, and seizing him, put him in a bag and carried
him away. Being thirsty, he laid the bag down, and went to a spring
to drink. While he was absent, Jhore got out of the bag, and putting
a stone in instead, ran away. The demon having quenched his thirst,
returned, and lifting the bag carried it home. His daughter came to
welcome him, and he said to her, "Jhore is in the bag, cook him,
and we shall have a feast." He then went to invite his friends to
share it with him. When the demon's daughter had opened the bag,
she found the stone, and was angry, because her father had deceived
her. In a short time her father returned, bringing a large number of
jackals with him. He said to her, "Have you cooked Jhore?" She replied,
"Tush! tush! you brought me a stone."
The demon was highly incensed at having been outwitted, and exclaimed,
"I will track Jhore till I find him, and this time I shall bring him
home without laying him down." He then left, and before long found
Jhore swinging in the same branch as before. Catching hold of him, he
put him into a bag, the mouth of which he tied. This time he brought
him home without once laying him down. Calling to his daughter,
he said, "Cook Jhore, while I go to invite my friends." She untied
the bag, and took Jhore out, and seeing his long hair, she said,
"How is it that your hair has grown so long?" "I pounded it in the
dhenki," he replied, "Will you pound mine, so that it may become long
like yours," said the demon's daughter. Jhore replied, "I shall do so
with pleasure, put your head in the dhenki, and I shall pound it." So
she put in her head, and he pounded it so that he killed her. He then
possessed himself of all her jewellery, and dressing in her clothes,
cooked her body.
When the demon returned, accompanied by his friends, he said,
"Well! daughter, have you cooked Jhore?" Jhore replied, "Yes, I have
cooked him." On hearing this, the demon and the jackals who had come
with him, were delighted, and setting to, they devoured the body of
the demon's daughter.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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