In Kaffir Folk-Lore (Theal), p. 155, a girl became the wife of Long Snake; after she ran away her sister married him. When he visited their father the house was set on fire and he was killed. On p. 55 a girl married a five-headed snake who became a man. (See p. [401] below, also).
[1] Aciravatī, now the Rāpti. [↑]
[2] Nān̆ga bawanaṭa; throughout the text Nāgayā is spelt Nān̆gayā. [↑]
[3] In the Mahāvansa, chap, xxxi, the name of the Nāga King is Mahākāla, but in the Sin. Thūpavansaya, p. 87, it is Mahakela. [↑]
[5] This power over snakes by means of spells (mantras) is mentioned in the Mahā Bhārata (Ādi Parva, cxcii). There are spells which are believed to render any animal incapable of movement. See also vol. iii, Nos. 245 and 252. On one occasion, when I went after a “rogue” elephant I had with me an old tracker who claimed to know an infallible spell of this kind. After we had been charged by the animal, however, I discovered him in the upper part of an adjoining tree, his excuse being that the elephant was deaf and could not hear the words of the spell. [↑]