English
" story of the villager who, going to sell his eight brinjala in a village where there were nine headmen, returns minus vegetables and basket, because he had to conciliate the headmen with a brinjal apiece, and the ninth with the basket," given in " Notes on some Sinhalese Proverbs and Stories in the Atita-V^kya-Dipaniya," by A. M, Sendndyaka. Hahar is Kashmiri for the Hindustdni sdld. 109 Khojah, nun til Tcaht ? Khojah, what's your salt and oil ? Cited by people'when asked to do something beyond their power. A Kh(jjah through change in the prices of things lost all that he possossed. For some time, however, until his case was thoronghly known, the people came as usual to enquire the prices of his goods. The poor old man would sit at the back of his shop and cry, ' Humph ! What's your salt and oil ?" *' KhiOJah s/t ghwah han niyihawahy ** Asi trov pi'nai.** **0 K^oj"^* you were tumed out of your little village." "(Oh, no,) I left it of my own accord." Salvd dignitate. Khnjah tih inod tah Uds tih baUyih. TJie Khojah died and got relief from his cough. Death puts an end to all troubles. Khojah, Uah tih yik nah^ tah bnh tih samakhai nah zah, O Khojah, you will not come to me, and I shall never see you again. I^montatton over a oorpae. Khojah wagavi h*'yih mukimi'nah, tah Khojah wagavi kanih tah mukivit'nah. U the Khojah buys a mat, it is a fee, and if the Khojah sells a mat, it is a fee. Khojahs are very sharp in striking a bargain. Khojah^ wufhti tjhun tah sudah kamih. O Khojah, take a leap. What's the good ' Look before you leap. ** Khojahy wulash.^* "jSuA tultinponah pathrah.** O Khojah, (give me) the remains of your dinner. (Another man replies. What is the good of asking him ?) lie him- self even picks up (a piece, if it falls upon) the ground. A stingy person. Khokhar Mirun bror. Khokhar Mir's cat. Too lazy to do it himself. It is said concerning this cat that it would scratch the ground immediately on seeing a mouse, as if to inform its master that there was a mouse about, if he liked to try and catch it. 110 Khoran nah huhsh tah Pushi nuv. No shoes for her feet, and yet her name is Push. Kuhsh — a kind of shoe having high iron heels, and the uppers lessening towardsthe heels, worn only by the very respectable class. Push is a grand name. Khoran nah Tchrdv tah Padmuni nov. Not a patten even for her foot, yet called Padmdn. Padmdn is a Hindu female name of great honour. The Pad- mani or Padmini (Sanskrit) are the most excellent of the four grades into which womankind is divided by the Hind6s. Abu'l Fazl thus describes her :^" Padmini, an incomparable beauty, with a good disposition ; she is tall and well proportioned, has a melodious tone of voice, talks little, her breath resembles arose, she is chaste and obedient to her husband," &c. The name Pdmpur (chief town of the "Wihu parganah, Kashmir,) is supposed to be derived from padma, a lotus, and pur, city, hence, " the city of the lotus " or " the place of beauty," from the beauty of its inhabitants ; which must have very much degenerated of late years. Khosah hhen. Khosah's dinner. When a lot of men are hired for one work, so that the work may be quickly accompHshed, people say " Khosah khen " style. A certain king made a great feast for all his subjects, and com- manded them all to appear on a certain day, except the one-eyed people and those who had not beards (i.e., big beards, the Khosah folk). Everybody obeyed, and each had placed before him a great tray of food of about six sers in weight. The order was that each man was to finish his trayful on pain of punishment. This was a difficult matter. A Khosah, however, who had made up for his deficiency by an addition of a little goat's hair, was equal to the occasion. He suggested that they should all gather in small companies around the trays and eat their contents one after another. In this way the royal order was fulfilled. A variant of this story is as follows •• — A great man had married his daughter, and as is customary oi> such an occasion, he made an immense feast. He invited one hundred people, but ordered that only men who had beards should attend. However, a Khosah, sticking goat's hair upon his chin and face, determined to go. Now the bride's father, being very anxious that his wish should be carried out, himself stood at the entrance door and tried the beards of the guests as they passed in. The Khosah feared the examination ; so when the time came for him to have his beard pulled, he begged that that appendage might be left alone, as nearly one hundred people had passed in and were found to be thorough bearded men. The host, supposing him to be some great man Ill — perhaps the father of the bridegroom — allowed him to go bj Tvithout a trial. '^rwent J large dishes of food were provided for the gaests, and as a good dinner such as this, was not to be obtained every day, the Khosah suggested that they should finish the dishee; and the only way to finish them, was for them all to stick at one dish until they had got through it, and then go on to the next, and so forth, until the whole twenty dishes were completed. The plan succeeded. The Hev. A. W. Burman, in a most interesting article contribute*! to the "Church Missionary Intelligencer" for October, 1883, and ' iititled "Notes on the Sioux Indians," thus writes :— > " During their sacred feasts a curious law is enforced. Each perscm is compelled to eat whatever may be net before him, no matter h ow great a portion he may receive, or eUe pay eome one of the eom- pa/ny to do $o for him. Not a scrap of food m^mt remain uneaten tehen the company brenks up. As no invitation to such a meeting can be refused, and there may be occasionally, two or throe in a night, at each of which a bountiful help will be served, this most prove a somewliat formidable rule." lyhotan lontj pulan tah hohshih badai ehhes ati, Khotan had arrived to grass shoes, but a little shoe was in her walk and manner. A person considerably reduced pecuniarily, but who still con* tinues the same high manner and extravagant way of living. Khudd chhuh fhulas zu diwdn. (led makes the egg to Kve. Have faith in God. Khitddi ehhuh diwan ijhali yd bafi^ nah tah zttniinih tali. Ciod gives without our knowing or working, or else from out of the ground. Khudt'iyih sund pdwur, yami y^tih dwur, God dwells, where he has taken possession. Khuduyih sunz hhar tah m'twidah 9undj)hath. God's scab, and the barber's rubbing. To trouble 'a man, whom God has terribly afflicted. Kashmiris suffer very much from a disease called scald-head (favus). Khuntis peth Mvnf. Misfortune after misfortune. Khur ai 6sih bilTcuU suf totih asanas hat phepharah. If a scabby head be perfectly clean, still there remains a hundred pimples upon it. A great man who bears traces of liis previous mean estate. 112 Khuri tih zogun tah wdlah-wdshih tih, A fishing-net, a lying-in-wait, and a net spread for the bird. Per fas et nefas, Khru, Shar, tah Manddk Pal ; manzhog chhus Ludawis nar. Khrii, Shar, and Mandak Pal ; in the middle of them Ludu is burnt by fire. Shekh Nur-ud-din cursed the village of Lndu, because the inhabi- tants were once rather uncivil to him. In consequence of his curse* every year some houses in this village are destroyed by fire. The natives, both Muhammedans and Hindfis, are terribly afraid of the curses of their saints and religious leaders. Only a few- months since I witnessed the burning-down of a house at Pdmp6r, which had been cursed the previous evening by a Jogi, because the owner would not give him some wood for a fiire. The Jogi was present at the time, and from his manner and a few hints which I picked up on the occasion, I am almost convinced that the Jogi was the incendiary. Khyun dyunjpuUiv tah athah chhalun grumit. Giving pulav to eat and cow's urine to wash the hands in. To nullify the good done by abuse of word or look. Khyun gaUhih teuthui yuih heyis hhush yiyih. Dinner must be eaten in a manner pleasing to the other. Kibras chhuh nash. Destruction to pride. Pride goes before destmction. Kijih peth hdjuvaf ; welinjih pefh wvkhvl. A pestle upon a peg, and a mortar upon a clothes-line (will not hold, but will tumble). A man appointed to a work for which he is in every way unfit- ted. A weak man thrust into temptation. Prendre la lune avec les dents.