At length the Gand Garur alighted on the edge of the lake to drink, and he at once drew his bow, and sent an arrow to its heart, for he had seen the dried and shrivelled corpse of his father still adhering to its horns. The Gand Garur being dead, he detached what remained of his parent’s body from its horns, and taking it in his arms pressed it to his bosom and wept bitterly.
As he wept, Bidi and Bidhati descended from the sky and asked him the reason of his sorrow. So he told them all. They spoke words of comfort to him, and said, “Dip your gamcha cloth in the lake, and cover the corpse with it. And don’t you cry, rather bathe and cook some food. And do not cook for one only, but prepare portions for two. And when the food is ready, you partake of one portion, and set the other aside. Then tap your father on the back and say, ‘Rise father, here is your food.’” He did as his kind friends bade him, and the dead came to life again. The father sat up and said, “Oh! my son, what a lengthened sleep I have had.” The son replied, “A sleep? you must be demented, you were pierced through by the horns of the Gand Garur, and your dried carcase was adhering to them. See I have killed it. It is lying here. Bidi and Bidhati instructed me how to proceed, and I have brought you to life again.
So they returned joyfully home singing the praises of Bidi and Bidhati.
[1] A mythical bird which figures largely in Indian folk lore.
[2] Huti is the name given by Santals to a certain timber boring insect. Budhi is an old woman.
The Tiger and Ulta’s Mother.
A tiger cub was in the habit of playing under the shade of a certain tree, in which was a crane’s nest with a young one in it. The parent cranes brought frogs and lizards to their young one, and what it could not eat it used to throw down to the young tiger, and in this way the two became greatly attached to each other. After a time the tigress died, and left the cub alone in the world. The young crane felt much pity for its afflicted friend, and could not bear the thought of itself being in a better position. So one day it said to the tiger, “Let us kill my mother.” The tiger replied, “Just as you please. I cannot say do it, nor can I say do not do it.” When the mother crane came to give its young one food, the latter set upon her and killed her. The friendship between the two increased so that they could not be separated from each other. Day and night they spent in each other’s society.