English
Any thing to accomplish his purpose. Mattanuh batah tak Paiiamtk Dumb, The Mattan JPandit and the Pattan Dumb. There was a Dumb from the village of Pattan, who had to take a letter of the K&rd&r's to the city. (KArd4r is the Hindb overseer of a village, a government official, whose business it is to see thafc H. H. the Mahdrajah gets his proper share of the grain.) The letter was delivered to the man at evening time, and he rose early the next morning to go to the city. It was so dark when he got up that he conld not see what he was about, and so he put on the first garment that came to hand, thinking it to be his own. By the time the day 140 dawned he had proceeded far on his jouraey, and the more sorrow for him that he had walked so fast and had so many miles to re- turn, for he found that he had clothed himself with his brother's wife's long cloak instead of his own. He determined to run back as quickly as possible, because, said he, *' I have sinned in that I have done this thing, and I must rectify it by all means within my power." Sohe went back to his house, quickly, changed his cloak, and started oflf the second time, and when he reached Srlnagar, he car- ried the letter to its destination, and then went to S5d, Lai DSd's teacher, and told him what sin he had unwittingly been guilty of ; and asked him what he must do to atone for it. Sed ordered him to visit a certain Brahman who resided at Mattan, and explain mat- ters to him. Now this Brdhman was a very bad character, and was at that time living with his brother's wife. When he heard what the Dumb had related to him, he fell into a paroxysm of grief, and kept on saying, " What a sinner I am ! Here is this poor fellow in such a terrible state simply because he once put on his sister-in-laVs cloak, whilst I, who am living day after day with my sister-in-law, do not have the slightest qualms of conscience." The Brdhman asked the Damb wherefore he had come to him, and who had sent him. The i)amb replied that Sed had told him to come. Then they both, the Brdhman and the Damb, visited Sed and asked his counsel. The Dumb was quickly dismissed with the order to perform some very small penance. The Brahman was detained alone with Sed for many hours. Sed told him that the only atonement he could make for his enormous crime was to offer himself as a burnt-offering to the god. The Brdhman accepted the advice, ordered the pile of wood to be prepared, and was burnt. It is written that if any man gives himself up to be burnt upon the pyre he shall ask anything that his heart may wish for at the time of burning, and it shall be granted him. Accordingly this Brahman was enquired of as to what he liked. He answered, " I want you to give me some milk and some flesh." When S6d heard his reply, he became exceedingly sorrowful, and said to the people who crowded around the burning man : " O people, this man will be- come a Muhammedan king, who will destroy all our idols and cast all our shrines down to the ground." This prophecy was fulfilled. Sikandar, surnamed Butshikan, or Image breaker, was the sixth Muhammedan king of Kashmir and reigned in 1396 a.d. He destroyed all the Hindu temples and broke their idols into pieces ; and when there remained not another temple for this monster to destroy, he determined to go to Amarauclth and break np the sacred emblem of Shiva, which is there in a cave. On arriving at Ganesha Bal on the way, he struck a blow at Ganesha (the son of Shiva by a daughter of Himalaya). There is a fragment of a rock here, which lies in the torrent of the Ledur, and has been worn by the angry waters into what the imaginative mind of the Hindu discovers to bear a striking 141 likeness to the head of an elephant, the representation of Ganesha ; ( — a trunk and a pair of eyes have been painted on by a native artist), and broke his knee. Blood flowed forth in snoh abondance from tho wound that the whole stream was colotired by it. Seeing this Sikatidar became very much frightened and left off his sacrile- gions works, and returned home. Mattan, a celebrated spring of water in the village of Mattan or Bawan, near to which are the magnificent roina of the temple of M (bland or the sun. Pattern is a little village in the Bingil pargana. Matyav aneyih nosM, 9uh tih mateyih. The mad men brought a daughter-iu-Iaw, and she also became mad. Evil commonications cormpt good mcurals. Mdydrdmuni nosh. Mnyuram's daughter-in-law. A contrary person. Afai/cinim'* daughter waa celebrated for hor contrariness. She always did tho opposite to what she was told. Tell hor to bring water, and she would bring earth, Ac. One day a friend advised hor fathor-in-Iaw to ordor tho girl to do tho very opposite of what ho wanted. Accordingly tho man ono morning askeil her to jnmp ittto the fire. She wont and drowned herself in the river, and there was an end of her ; and tho father-in-law lived happily ever after- wards. Meh chham gdmui£ grafias tal phusi. My hat is under the mill-stone. A work to be done — no alternative. Phu\ is the cap of a Taoh or Yech, the clMsical Takahas. Some say that this cap is made from the skin of some animal— perhaps, the jackal ; whilo others declare that it is perfectly white — and that is all one can know aboat it. This cap possesses wonderful powers. It is a mist-cap (nebolkappe) by which the wearer becomes invisible (of. Schwartz' '' Der Ursprnng der Mythologie darg^legt an grie- chischer and dentsoher sage, " p. 247) ; and tho person, who should be so hieky as to obtain one, can compel the rightful owner to do his bidding — to bring gold vrithont stint, to furnish the rarest dolicacies, and to removo the gpreatest difficulties. The Yoch or Yech, however, remains the humble servant of the possessor of his hat only so long as that precious article is kept safely either under a mill-stone, or under a vessel containing sadurkdnz (. e., rice water kept in a ghard for several months until quite sour, and then cooked with salt and spices ; and drunk, especially, during the hot season). From underneath these two things a Yach cannot remove his cap, though he could carry great rocks and with a brush 142 of his hand clear away great streams, that his master might pass over without danger. This cap has come into the possession of several people, who apparently have not failed to profit by it. These fortunate folk, if they are Hindus, have become distinguished into a separate com- munity, and bear the title of Yach, as Kawal Yach, Gana or Granesha Yach, Sokha Yach, Dam6dar Yach, &c. Much might be written, if needed here, concerning the ancient and modem idea of the Yach, his origin and general character, and many stories might be told concerning the seizing of this man or creature, whatever he may be. It is my idea to get these published in a separate book or pamphlet. Captain Temple has a few interest- ing notes on the Yach in the "Indian Antiquary," Vol. XI., Pt. cxxxvi. p. 260. Mehar-i-ardhi chhuh hahr-i Khudd. A farmer's love is like God's anger. Persian. — Ydr i dih td kdr i dih. Mehnatas chheh mazuri. Wages for labour. Metras gahar zdi^ dushmanas zangih di. Sons are born to a friend, and they go to their (father's) enemy and bless him. General reply of an enemy to a friend, who wishes to be reconciled. " Metro shethar mvdui" ** Metras tih chhuh marun,** " O friend, your enemy is dead." Ans. — ** The friend also will die." Death is every man's debt. Mewagarif munjigarit beyih bdghwdn. Tim treshawai chhih Kaum-i-Marwdn. The fruiterer, confectioner and gardener, these three area Qaum-i-Marwdn.(2'.e., a dirtily clothed, wandering sort of a class. Kaum-i-marwdn. — Marwdn was the ninth caliph of the house of Abbas. Some Kashmiris say " hal-i-hairdn" instead of these words. Miri rairi phatj. From horses to asses. If The above is not the translation but only the meaning of the saying. Miri miri phats is a favourite game in Kashmir both amongst children and adults. Two holes are made in the ground, one about half-a-foot deep and half-a-foot in circumference called mir, and another close beside it, about two inches deep and two inches round, called phats. The players two, three, or six, as the case may 143 be, raijgo thomsolves in order at aboat a distance of two yards from those holes, and one after another try to fling a walnut into the big hole.