Tales of the Sun Part 22

[31] The creator of the Hindu mythology.

[32] A Hindu feast.

[33] Fee.

[34] Vedas--The sacred books of the Hindus.

[35] Minister.

[36] The chief officer of the realm next to the minister.

[37] The image of the belly-G.o.d.

[38] The world of Indra, the regent of the sky.

[39] Names of divine damsels.

[40] Cinnamon-stone.

[41] Diamond.

[42] A precious stone (cat's eye).

[43] A sort of paint for the eye (Hindustani--Surma).

[44] A mark on the forehead.

[45] Serpent sacrifice.

[46] Sacrifice.

[47] Brahman woman.

[48] Throne.

[49] Tevai is the cla.s.sical name of the modern town of Ramnad in the district of Madura.

[50] Kodamundan.

[51] Vidamundan.

[52] Vayalvallan.

[53] Kaiyalvallan.

[54] There is no such word as kuta in Tamil. The Tamil and other Dravidian languages allow rhyming repet.i.tions of word, like this--bhuta-kuta.

[55] [Compare the tale of Fattu, the Valiant Weaver, Indian Antiquary, Vol. XI., p. 282 ff.--R. C. T.]

[56] Which in Tamil are exclamations of lamentation, meaning, Ah! Alas!

[57] A place of public feeding.

[58] Among high caste Hindus, when girls leave one village and go to another, the old woman of the house--the mother or grandmother--always places in her bundles and on her head a few margosa leaves as a talisman against demons.

[59] A ghatika is twenty-four minutes. The story being Hindu, the Hindu method of reckoning distance is used.

[60] A "watch" is a yama, or three hours.

[61] Tamil, to'sai.

[62] A fragrant herb, held in great veneration by the Hindus; Ocymum sanctum. This herb is sacred alike to Siva and Vishnu. Those species specially sacred to Siva are--Vendulasi, Siru-tulasi, and Siva-tulasi; those to Vishnu are Sendulasi, Karundulasi and Vishnu-tulasi.

[63] Compare the Singalese folktale given on p. 62, Vol I. of the Orientalist.--Ed.

[64] Uparani or upavastra, an upper garment.

[65] This kind of statement often occurs in stories in proof of the just reign of a monarch. The Hindu idea is that so long as justice and equity characterise a king's rule, even beasts naturally inimical are disposed to live in friends.h.i.+p. When timely rain fails or famine stalks through the land, turning his eyes from the natural causes, the orthodox Hindu will say that such a king is now reigning over them unjustly, and hence the calamity.--Translator.

[66] "Distinguis.h.i.+ng the peculiarities of an animal by its footsteps, &c., is often met with in Indian stories. Precisely the reverse of this is the tale of the four blind men who disputed about the form of an elephant. One of them had felt only the elephant's ears, and said it was like a winnow; another examined the breast and a foreleg, and said it was like a thick stump of wood; the third felt the trunk, and said it was like a heavy crook; while the fourth, having touched only the tail, declared it was like a sweeping rake."--W. A. Clouston.

[67] The night-watch hearing the tutelary G.o.ddess of the village mourning, is a very ancient idea. It also occurs, for example, in the story of Viravara, in the Sanskrit book of fables ent.i.tled "Hitopadesa." Sambhavi and Mahamayi are different names of Kali--a fierce G.o.ddess, much wors.h.i.+pped as the presiding deity of cholera and smallpox.--T.

[68] A ghatika = 24 minutes.--T.

[69] Apparently the arrows were attached to some kind of mechanism which discharged them on the opening of the jar. There is "nothing new under the sun." Dynamite is perhaps a discovery of our own times, but "infernal machines," which served the purpose of king-killers, are of ancient date.

[70] The Hindus, at their meals, squat on the ground, with leaves in place of earthenware dishes, on which their food is served.--T.

[71] A sum of money varying in different localities of the South of India. In the Chola grants "pon" also occurs.

[72] An Indian word meaning clumps of trees.

[73] It is a very common practice to dupe the ordinary people in this manner in Hindu temples. Some impostor will proclaim to the crowd that the spirit of a G.o.d, or G.o.ddess, is upon him, and utters whatever comes uppermost in his mind. He occasionally contrives to accomplish his private ends by such "revelations." The ignorant are greatly misled by these impostors, and learned Hindus condemn the practice as gross superst.i.tion.--T.

[74] Corresponding to the English proverb: "Quarrelling with one's bread and b.u.t.ter."

[75] Full grown and ripe bamboo bears a kind of corn which when collected and sh.e.l.led resembles wheat. Hunters cook a most excellent food of bamboo grain and honey.--T.

[76] Compare the story of "The Rat's Wedding" from the Panjab, The Indian Antiquary, Vol. XI., pp, 226ff: where, however, a better moral from the tale is drawn.

[77] A low caste man; Pariah.

[78] In response to the sound of the tom-tom.

[79] Traders have also certain secret symbols for marking their prices on their cloths.

[80] This story, apart from its folklore value, is specially interesting as showing that the customs mentioned in the Indian Antiquary, Vol. XIV., pp. 155ff., as being prevalent at Delhi, regarding secret trade language are universal in India.