A bird laid two eggs which got enclosed between two large stones. The bird asked a mason to split open the stones; the mason refused and the bird, asked a wild boar to destroy the mason’s paddy crop. The wild boar refused and the bird asked a hunter to shoot the wild boar. The hunter refused and the bird asked the elephant to kill the hunter as the hunter will not shoot the wild boar and the wild boar will not destroy the mason’s paddy, and the mason will not split open the stones. The bird asked a bloodsucker to creep into the elephant’s trunk, but the bloodsucker declined. The bird then asked a wild-fowl to peck at the bloodsucker as the bloodsucker would not creep up the elephant’s trunk, as the elephant would not kill the hunter; as the hunter would not shoot the wild boar, as the wild boar would not destroy the paddy crop of the mason who would not split the stones which enclosed the birds’ eggs. The wild-fowl refused and the bird asked a jackal to eat the wild-fowl. The jackal began to eat the fowl, the fowl began to peck at the bloodsucker, the bloodsucker began to creep up the elephants’ trunk; the elephant began to attack the hunter; the hunter began to shoot at the wild boar; the boar began to eat the mason’s paddy; the mason began to split the stones, and the bird gained access to her two eggs.
Apologues are narratives with a purpose, they point a moral and are serious in tone.
The moral “be upright to the upright; be kind to the kind, and dishonest to the deceitful” is illustrated by the following tale. A certain man having accidentally found a golden pumpkin gave it to a friend for safe keeping. When the owner asked for it back his friend gave him a brass one; and he went away apparently satisfied. Sometime after the friend entrusted the owner of the pumpkin with one of his sons, but when the father demanded the son back, he produced a large ape. Complaint was made to the king who ordered each men to restore what each had received from the other.
CHAPTER XVII.
SONGS AND BALLADS.
The ordinary folk songs of the country are called sivupada and can be heard sung in a drawn out melody by the peasants labouring on their fields or watching their crops at night, by the bullock drivers as they go with their heavy laden carts; by the elephant keepers engaged in seeking fodder, by the boat men busy at their oars, by the women nursing their infants, by the children as they swing under the shady trees, and by the pilgrims on their way to some distant shrine.
For rhythmic noise women and girls sit round a large tambourine placed on the ground and play on it notes representing jingle sounds like the following:—
Vatta katat katat tâ
Kumbura katat katat tâ