Santal (South Asian people) -- Folklore; Santali literature -- Translations into English; Tales -- India
It so happened that in the meantime the mother and brothers of the
girl had become poor. They were reduced to such straits as to be
compelled to sell firewood for a living. So one day the brothers
went to the bridegroom's village with firewood for sale. They offered
it to one and another, but no one would buy. At last some one said,
"Take it to the house in which the marriage party is assembled. They
may require it." So the brothers went there, and asked, "Will you buy
firewood?" They replied, "Yes. We will take it." Some one informed the
bride, that some men from somewhere had brought firewood for sale. So
she went out, and at once recognised her brothers, and said to them,
"Put down your loads," and when they had done so she placed beds
for them to sit on, and brought them water; but they did not know
that she was their sister, as she was so greatly changed. Then she
gave them vessels of oil, and said, "Go bathe, for you will dine
here to-day." So they took the oil, and went to bathe, but they
were so hungry that they drank the oil on the way. So they bathed,
and returned to the house. She then brought them water to wash their
hands, and they sat down in a row to eat. The bride gave her youngest
brother food on a brass plate, because he had not approved of what
had been done to her, but to the others she gave it on leaf plates.
They had only eaten one handful of rice when the girl placed herself
in front of them, and putting a hand upon her head, began to weep
bitterly. She exclaimed, "Oh! my brothers, you had no pity upon me. You
threw me away as an offering to the tank. You saw me lost, and then
went home." When the brothers heard this they felt as if their breasts
were torn open. If they looked up to heaven, heaven was high. Then
they saw an axe which they seized, and with it they struck the ground
with all their might. It opened like the mouth of a large tiger,
and the brothers plunged in. The girl caught the youngest brother by
the hair to pull him up, but it came away in her hand, and they all
disappeared into the bowels of the earth, which closed over them.
The girl held the hair in her hand and wept over it. She then planted
it, and from it sprang the hair like Bachkom [22] grass, and from
that time Bachkom grass grows in the jungles.
The sister had pity on her youngest brother because he did not join
heartily with the others in causing her death. So she tried to rescue
him from the fate which was about to overtake him, but in this she
failed, and he suffered for the sins of his brothers.
THE STORY OF JHORE.
There was a lad named Jhore, who herded goats, and every day while
with his flock he saw a tiger and a lizard fight. The lizard always
vanquished the tiger, and the latter after each encounter came to Jhore
and said, "Which of us won?" Jhore through fear every time replied,
"You won," and the tiger went away pleased.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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