Santal (South Asian people) -- Folklore; Santali literature -- Translations into English; Tales -- India
As the sun went down the denizens of the forest began to come to the
lake to drink. They came in quick succession, and as each made its
appearance, he sang assurance to it, that he harboured no evil design
against it.
The quail led the way, and to it he sang,
"Oh! quail, you need not fear to drink,
I'll not harm you, I you assure;
But I will slay on this lake's brink,
Cruel Sindura Gand Garur.
He sang in a similar strain to each bird as it came, naming it by
its name.
At length the Gand Garur alighted on the edge of the lake to drink,
and he at once drew his bow, and sent an arrow to its heart, for he
had seen the dried and shrivelled corpse of his father still adhering
to its horns. The Gand Garur being dead, he detached what remained of
his parent's body from its horns, and taking it in his arms pressed
it to his bosom and wept bitterly.
As he wept, Bidi and Bidhati descended from the sky and asked him
the reason of his sorrow. So he told them all. They spoke words
of comfort to him, and said, "Dip your gamcha cloth in the lake,
and cover the corpse with it. And don't you cry, rather bathe and
cook some food. And do not cook for one only, but prepare portions
for two. And when the food is ready, you partake of one portion,
and set the other aside. Then tap your father on the back and say,
'Rise father, here is your food.'" He did as his kind friends bade
him, and the dead came to life again. The father sat up and said,
"Oh! my son, what a lengthened sleep I have had." The son replied,
"A sleep? you must be demented, you were pierced through by the horns
of the Gand Garur, and your dried carcase was adhering to them. See
I have killed it. It is lying here. Bidi and Bidhati instructed me
how to proceed, and I have brought you to life again.
So they returned joyfully home singing the praises of Bidi and Bidhati.
THE TIGER AND ULTA'S MOTHER.
A tiger cub was in the habit of playing under the shade of a certain
tree, in which was a crane's nest with a young one in it. The parent
cranes brought frogs and lizards to their young one, and what it could
not eat it used to throw down to the young tiger, and in this way the
two became greatly attached to each other. After a time the tigress
died, and left the cub alone in the world. The young crane felt much
pity for its afflicted friend, and could not bear the thought of
itself being in a better position. So one day it said to the tiger,
"Let us kill my mother." The tiger replied, "Just as you please. I
cannot say do it, nor can I say do not do it." When the mother crane
came to give its young one food, the latter set upon her and killed
her. The friendship between the two increased so that they could
not be separated from each other. Day and night they spent in each
other's society.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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