English
Your wife, of course, will be terribly frightened, and from the sight of the slain cat, and a hint from you that she will fare likewise if she is not very careful over hcniclf, you may de|)ond upon it that she will bo the proper, dutiful wife that she should be." Bror wuchhit ffatshih " bishtah " khasun. "When he sees a cat, he must cry " bishtah." "Why don't you sjiy this before the iniiu's face? What is tho good of threatening him, when he is absent ?" Buchih phuharih tah nindurih pathur. Burnt bread for the hungry and the bare ground for sleep. Appetite is the beat sauce and tiredness the best bed. 36 Buchis huni moz haltil. It is lawful for a hungry man to eat the flesh of a dog. Neccssitas nun habet li'jem. Budah ashah mohari mushah. An old man's love is worth a guinea a pinch. JHushak, a pinch (of snuS or tobacco, &c.) Budah h'wah jiigah jityah. Dancing an old crow (on the hand). Fussing about anything unworthy. Budnn tah lohulm hunz khidmal ff'ffhih nah Jiaruni. Do not enter the service of the old or the young (because the old will soon die, and the young do not remember). Budun tah toadun ; budun tah mashun ; budun tah nashun. To become old and to cry ; to become old and forget ; to become old and decay. " Yet is their strength labour and sorrow." — Ps. xc. 10. Buhogunns chhih bah fjuan. The Buhogun has twelve attributes. Buhogun or Bhog"n is a small brazen vessel, vrith a wide moath. In it the tea is made, rice is cooked, ghi is prepared, &c. Bvjih buthis kanahwt'jih. Earrings upon the face of an old woman. •* An old lady with a hat on !" Bujih (jabih chheh lifsan hanzan bastayi nun surun. The old ewe takes salt out of the skin of a weak sheep. It is the custom to carry salt, ftour, &c., about in skins. Salt is constantly given to animals. Bujih gniyih isii tas ov hit. An old woman tumbled down, and she got excused. A person full of excuses. Bujih labyax' Icujih tal fjimt ; ad ah gayih phut hit. An old woman found an apple under the tree, and after- wards she (always) went (to that tree) with a basket (live once, and they always expect ; and vei-y often expect more. Bujih vijuk bar tami nyuv mashidih hand. An old w^oman's door was taken away ; so she went and took the door of the mosque. It is a habit of the Kashmiii tradesman to make up for his losses by plundering other customei'S. 37 Bitjih tah brdrik tjiuweyih har tah wanakin hdpatan tj'yih Idr. An old woman and a cat fought with one another, and fear came upon the bears of the wood, Punisbment visiteU u\khi the wrong persons. Tliere was a poor oM helpless woman, who used to beg for her food by day and cook it at night, linlf of this food sho would eat in the morning and the other half in the evening. After a while a cat got to know of this arrangement ond came and nte the meal for her. This old woman whs very gtxxl and patient, and so sho continued for many days without saying err doing anything to the thief. But one night sho could not endure the cat's impudence, and BO laid hold of it. Sho argued with herself as to whether sho should kill it or not. " If I slay it." she said, " it will be a sin ; but if I retain it alive, it will be to my heavy lose." Accordingly she deter- mined to only punish it. She procured some cotton -wool and some oil, and soaking the one in the other tied it on to the cat's tail, and then set it on fire. Away rushed the cat across the yard — up the side of the window — and uixm the n>of, where its flaming tail ignited the thatch, and sot the whole houMe on fire. The Hames 8prad to the other houses, until after a short time the whole village was in one mighty blaze. The news R)>ri>ad far and wide, and the governor of the city sent the soldiers ; but they only increased the damage by shouting and in other ways exciting the |>oople, so that they ran about* wihlly. n)t knowing what they were doing; and many received very seriinis burns. The governor, who now had reached the village, seeing these poor snfferers, at the advice of the doi'tor, oniororl the soldiers to march at once for the jungle and kill as many bears as they could, and bring their fat to him ; for the doctor had said, that if for tho space of two days bear's grease were applied to tho bums, they would perfectly heal. Tho soldiers were rather afraid to veniuru their lives in this work, and not a few of thom ran away, when thoy saw the boiirs. The score or vo who kept their ground were slain ; and ono poor fellow, whilst dnng, spoke tho above words, which liave long since pa^^sed into a proverb. Eventually many beai-s were slain. Hence tho boars an well as tho |>oor soldiers were killed, and all because of the quarrel between the old woman and the cat. Bulchik kaldl tah hi'r han'm. Buiuilc lawful, but cowrie prohibited. Straining at a gnat, but swallowing a camel. Bnlih'ri gayih w'sur-i-lchi'.na. The fire-place is the ulcer of the house {i.e., cats up the expenses, and souietimcs burns the whole place down). 38 BuTchdri, a fire-place in shape like our English stove, built of dried mud, and used only by the few wealthier classes for warming the house, but never for cooking purposes. Wood only is burnt in the bukhari. Bumasinui zdnih satuti sunz dig. The worm will know the pecking of the lapwing. Bun lam wuchhit Uun him nazar. (Apparently) looking below, but (really) seeing in every direction. A slirewd, careful master. Buth wuchhit bog tah Ualdj wuchhit ts/hgij. The face sees the dinner and the backside sees the tsangij. Suu>}i' cuique tribuito. Tsdhgij is a round piece of matting for squatting upon. Buzi busi gudah ItUewun osm('inas suet. He cooks his fish by the sun and eats. A man so full of himself, that he listens to nobody. Buzun bror kdmuni, kahan garan kuni thov, buzun bror h'.muni. A cat for roasting is obtained with difficulty; only one frying- pan for eleven houses; a cat for roasting is obtained with difficulty. Hard times. These words are said to have been first spoken in the time of 'Azim Khan, one of the old Path.'in conquerors, whose reign of terror and oppression will long be remembered in the valley. The Hindus are especially bitter against his raeinorv, as he used to fine them so much a head, and so much extra for the tiki, the I'eligious mark, which they wear on their foreheads. 39 C Chiu ham yn y'ii± lekin tatj. It does not mutter whether the tea is less or more, but it nriust he hot. Two kinds of tea, aiul two ways of preparing it, aro mot with in the valley. Thcro is the Surati chiU, something liko our Engliuh tea, which is imported from the Panji'ib and Latl^k ; and the Sabz chiU, the cek>brated bnck toa, which n>aches Kashmir vid Iiad6k. The first way of pre(>anition is called tho Mughal method, Mugul eluU, Hero is the receipt : — For every tola or rupee's weight of tea in the pot put five cups of cold water, boil for half-an-hour, then add more cold water together with sugar and condiments, and allow to boil fbr another half-an-hour. Then add milk, stir well, and serve roun<l hot to tho guests ad libHum. Tho second moduit pn-parandi is called Shiri chdi, of which this is the rccifie: — Place the required quantity in tho tea-{M>t together with a little soda and cold water and boil for half-an-hour. Then add milk, salt, and butter, nnd allow to boil for another half-an-hour, when it is ready for drink- ing. The salt used in the infusion of tea is called phul. It is found in the Nubra valley in Ladak, and contains the oarbonato aud sulphate of so<la, and a little of the chloride of sodium. Chakih-khor ehhuk min's-dtW, An old servant is au heir (t.f ., you must make some provision for his old age). Chi'.ni bari'mdah ham ehhai nah th. Your doorstep is not straight. Something wrong with the wife. There were two friends, one of whom was wise and the other foolish. Upon a certain day, as they were strolling along the same path together, the wise man remarked to his less acute companion that his '* doorstep was not straight." The stupid friend replied in a soMiowhat aggrieved tone, *' Why, my doorstep is as straight as youis. I paid five rupees for it. Yours is a common stone. Why do yon boast over me that ' your doorstep is not straight ?