Folk-Tales Of Bengal - free ebook by Lal Behari Day

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Folk-Tales Of Bengal

Lal Behari Day

25 chapters

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25 chapters

Preface

Preface

In my Peasant Life in Bengal I make the peasant boy Govinda spend some hours every evening in listening to stories told by an old woman, who was called Sambhu’s mother, and who was the best story-teller in the village. On reading that passage, Captain R. C. Temple, of the Bengal Staff Corps, son of the distinguished Indian administrator Sir Richard Temple, wrote to me to say how interesting it would be to get a collection of those unwritten stories which old women in India recite to little child

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I Life’s Secret

I Life’s Secret

Dalim. What is that, mamma? Where can my life be except in me? Duo. No, child; that is not what I mean. A holy mendicant told your mother that your life is bound up with something. I wish to know what that thing is. Dalim. I never heard of any such thing, mamma. Duo. If you promise to inquire of your mother in what thing your life is, and if you tell me what your mother says, then I will let you have the pigeons, otherwise not. Dalim. Very well, I’ll inquire, and let you know. Now, please, give

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II Phakir Chand

II Phakir Chand

Leaving the minister’s son to wend his way to his country and to make preparations for the return of his king’s son, let us see how the happy couple in the subterranean palace were passing their time. One day, while the prince was sleeping after his noonday meal, the princess, who had never seen the upper regions, felt the desire of visiting them, and the rather as the snake-jewel, which alone could give her safe conduct through the waters, was at that moment shedding its bright effulgence in th

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III The Indigent Brahman

III The Indigent Brahman

The Brahman then bethought himself of an interview with the goddess Durga who had given him the handi , and accordingly went to the forest where he had met her. Siva and Durga again favoured the Brahman with an interview. Durga said—“So, you have lost the handi I gave you. Here is another, take it and make good use of it.” The Brahman, elated with joy, made obeisance to the divine couple, took up the vessel, and went on his way. He had not gone far when he turned it upside down, and shook it in

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IV The Story of the Rakshasas

IV The Story of the Rakshasas

What with the stately mansion in which he was lodged, with the most delectable provisions which seemed to rise as if by enchantment, what with the caresses and endearments of his two wives, the one human and the other demoniac, who vied with each other in making him happy and comfortable, the Brahman had a jolly time of it. He was steeped as it were in an ocean of enjoyment. Some fifteen or sixteen years were spent by the Brahman in this state of Elysian pleasure, during which period his two wiv

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V The Story of Swet-Basanta

V The Story of Swet-Basanta

It so happened one day that a fisherman brought to the merchant (we shall no longer call him the merchant’s son, as his father had died) a fish of singular beauty. It was unlike any other fish that had been seen. The fish had marvellous qualities ascribed to it by the fisherman. If any one eats it, said he, when he laughs maniks 2 will drop from his mouth, and when he weeps pearls will drop from his eyes. The merchant, hearing of the wonderful properties of the fish, bought it at one thousand ru

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VI The Evil Eye of Sani

VI The Evil Eye of Sani

Leaving Sribatsa to arrange his gold-bricks under the tree on the river-side we must follow the fortunes of his wife. Chintamani was a woman of great beauty; and thinking that her beauty might be her ruin, she, when seized by the boatmen, offered to Lakshmi the following prayer——“O Mother Lakshmi! have pity upon me. Thou hast made me beautiful, but now my beauty will undoubtedly prove my ruin by the loss of honour and chastity. I therefore beseech thee, gracious Mother, to make me ugly, and to c

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VII The Boy whom Seven Mothers Suckled

VII The Boy whom Seven Mothers Suckled

then immediately the club and rope will take him to the other side of the ocean.” Observing a bird in a cage hanging in one corner of the room, the boy inquired what it was. The old Rakshasi replied, “It contains a secret, child, which must not be disclosed to mortals, and yet how can I hide it from my own grandchild? That bird, child, contains the life of your mother. If the bird is killed, your mother will at once die.” Armed with these secrets, the boy went to bed that night. Next morning the

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VIII The Story of Prince Sobur

VIII The Story of Prince Sobur

In the meantime the merchant himself with his wife and six daughters had been frowned upon by the goddess of wealth. By a sudden stroke of misfortune he lost all his money, his house and property were sold, and he, his wife, and six daughters, were turned adrift penniless into the world. It so happened that they lived in a village not far from the place where the two strange women had built a palace and were digging a tank. As the once rich merchant was now supporting his family by the pittance

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IX The Origin of Opium1

IX The Origin of Opium1

Postomani lived in the Rishi’s hut, and spent her time in tending the flowers and watering the plants. One day, as she was sitting at the door of the hut during the Rishi’s absence, she saw a man dressed in a very rich garb come towards the cottage. She stood up and asked the stranger who he was, and what he had come there for. The stranger answered that he had come a-hunting in those parts, that he had been chasing in vain a deer, that he felt thirsty, and that he came to the hut of the hermit

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X Strike but Hear

X Strike but Hear

“‘Husband, take up all this large quantity of gold and these precious stones’” The king then called his second son to him, and said, “If a man to whom I intrust my honour and my life prove faithless, how should he be punished?” The second prince replied, “Doubtless such a man’s head should be cut off, but before you kill you should see whether the man is really faithless.” “What do you mean?” inquired the king. “Let your majesty be pleased to listen,” answered the prince. “Once on a time there r

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Part I

Part I

The elder thief in the fields was in no better case. He took the cow beside the tank which the younger thief had spoken of, put his charpoy under the large tree hard by, and then let the cow loose. As soon as the cow was let loose it went scampering about in the meadow, jumping over hedges and ditches, running through paddy-fields, and injuring sugar-cane plantations. The elder thief was not a little put about. He had to run about the whole day, and to be insulted by the people whose fields had

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Part II

Part II

“The camel-driver alighted, tied the camel to a tree on the spot, and began smoking” The next morning when the king heard that the camel-driver was lying drunk in the street, and that the camel had been made away with together with the treasure, he was almost beside himself with anger. Proclamation was made in the city to the effect that whoever caught the thief would get the reward of a lakh of rupees. The son of the younger thief—who, by the way, was in the same school of roguery with the son

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XII The Ghost-Brahman

XII The Ghost-Brahman

Once on a time a religious mendicant came to a king who had no issue, and said to him, “As you are anxious to have a son, I can give to the queen a drug, by swallowing which she will give birth to twin sons; but I will give the medicine on this condition, that of those twins you will give one to me, and keep the other yourself.” The king thought the condition somewhat hard, but as he was anxious to have a son to bear his name, and inherit his wealth and kingdom, he at last agreed to the terms. A

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XIII The Man who wished to be Perfect

XIII The Man who wished to be Perfect

In the course of a few days the mendicant’s devotions were completed. On the following day he told the prince to go along with him to the temple of Kali, for what reason he did not mention; but the prince knew it was to offer him up as a victim to the goddess. The younger prince also went with them, but he was not allowed to go inside the temple. The mendicant then stood in the presence of Kali and said to the prince, “Bow down to the goddess.” The prince replied, “I have not, as a prince, bowed

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XIV A Ghostly Wife

XIV A Ghostly Wife

1 Sankchinnis or Sankhachurnis are female ghosts of white complexion. They usually stand at the dead of night at the foot of trees, and look like sheets of white cloth. 2 An exorcist, one who drives away ghosts from possessed persons. Once on a time there lived a poor Brahman who had a wife. As he had no means of livelihood, he used every day to beg from door to door, and thus got some rice which they boiled and ate, together with some greens which they gleaned from the fields. After some time i

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XV The Story of a Brahmadaitya1

XV The Story of a Brahmadaitya1

The joy of the Brahman knew no bounds. He easily got a hundred sickles, as the husbandmen of the village, knowing that he had become rich, readily lent him what he wanted. At sunset he took the hundred sickles and put them beneath the vakula -tree. He also selected a spot of ground near his hut for his magazine of paddy and for his ricks of straw; and washed the spot with a solution of cow-dung and water. After making these preparations he went to sleep. In the meantime, soon after nightfall, wh

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XVI The Story of a Hiraman1

XVI The Story of a Hiraman1

Hiraman. What is required is a pakshiraj . 2 If you can procure a horse of that species, you can ride upon it, and in no time we shall cross the seven oceans and thirteen rivers, and stand at the door of the lady’s palace. King. I have, as you know, a large stud of horses; we can now go and see if there are any pakshirajes amongst them. The king and the hiraman went to the royal stables and examined all the horses. The hiraman passed by all the fine-looking horses and those of high mettle, and a

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XVII The Origin of Rubies

XVII The Origin of Rubies

“Coming up to the surface they climbed into the boat” Here my story endeth, The Natiya-thorn withereth, etc. Once on a time there lived a weaver, whose ancestors were very rich, but whose father had wasted the property which he had inherited in riotous living. He was born in a palace-like house, but he now lived in a miserable hut. He had no one in the world, his parents and all his relatives having died. Hard by the hut was the lair of a jackal. The jackal, remembering the wealth and grandeur o

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XVIII The Match-making Jackal

XVIII The Match-making Jackal

On his return the jackal busied himself with making preparations for the great ceremony. As the weaver was clad in tatters, he told him to go to the washermen of the village and borrow from them a suit of clothes. As for himself, he went to the king of his race, and told him that on a certain day he would like one thousand jackals to accompany him to a certain place. He went to the king of crows, and begged that his corvine majesty would be pleased to allow one thousand of his black subjects to

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XIX The Boy with the Moon on his Forehead

XIX The Boy with the Moon on his Forehead

At last the day of the seventh queen’s deliverance arrived. On first feeling the pains she rang the golden bell. She waited, but the king did not make his appearance. She rang again with all her might, still the king did not make his appearance. The king certainly did hear the sound of the bell; but he did not come as he was displeased with the queen. When the six queens saw that the king did not come, they went to the seventh queen and told her that it was not customary with the ladies of the p

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XX The Ghost who was Afraid of being Bagged

XX The Ghost who was Afraid of being Bagged

Here my story endeth, The Natiya-thorn withereth, etc. Once on a time there lived a king who had a son. The young prince had three friends, the son of the prime minister, the son of the prefect of the police, and the son of the richest merchant of the city. These four friends had great love for one another. Once on a time they bethought themselves of seeing distant lands. They accordingly set out one day, each one riding on a horse. They rode on and on, till about noon they came to the outskirts

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XXI The Field of Bones

XXI The Field of Bones

Prefect’s son. Friends, this is what I saw. The hermit looked at the heap of bones lying before him, and uttered some words which I well remember. No sooner had the words been uttered than I heard a noise among the bones, and, strange to say, the bones jumped up, each bone joined itself to its fellow, and the heap became a perfect skeleton. At that moment my watch came to an end, and I had to rouse my respected friend the minister’s son. Minister’s son. Well, when I began my watch I saw the said

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XXII The Bald Wife

XXII The Bald Wife

Here my story endeth, The Natiya-thorn withereth; “Why, O Natiya-thorn, dost wither?” “Why does thy cow on me browse?” “Why, O cow, dost thou browse?” “Why does thy neat-herd not tend me?” “Why, O neat-herd, dost not tend the cow?” “Why does thy daughter-in-law not give me rice?” “Why, O daughter-in-law, dost not give rice?” “Why does my child cry?” “Why, O child, dost thou cry?” “Why does the ant bite me?” “Why, O ant, dost thou bite?” Koot! koot! koot! “Why does my child cry?” “Why, O child, d

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Corrections

Corrections

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