“wûrâdr “whole year nols day Teikuteidi tan himself ennâth without numbering piriedkin, I will divide, at vokh!” go away!”
When Teikuteidi heard of this prophecy he was much grieved, and was very careful to do all the following ceremonies:—erkumptthiti, upatiti, punkudrtiti, tatmadthkudrtiti, petkudrtiti, mukudrtiti, adikudrtiti, parivkudrtiti, tatòtiti, muòtiti, ponkastiti and irpalvusthi—viz., sacrifice of calf, salt-giving, purification of pun, tat and madth, pet, mu, adi, and pariv, etc.[6] He performed all these ceremonies to escape the prophesied evil, for if he had succeeded in doing them all for the whole twelve months the prophecy would not have been fulfilled. On the very last day he forgot the prophecy and did not perform the ceremonies, but went to a place called Kirspem, where he sat under the shade of pülmän. There is a flower which blossoms on this tree in the rainy season only, and then the bees come. When Teikuteidi was sitting under the tree it was not the rainy season and he was very much surprised to hear the humming of honey bees in the tree. The noise was being made by a kazun[7] which had taken the form of a [[199]]bee. He looked up to see if there were any flowers to attract the bees and could not see them, neither could he see any bees. Then he thought for a little while and remembered Anto’s prophecy, so he did not remain under the tree, but went away to Kirsgòrs to attend the funeral of a wursol of Nòdrs (see p. 439). When the funeral was over Teikuteidi set out with companions to go to Kerkars (a place near Paikara). On the way they passed Kwongudrpem (near Kuudi). There he stopped and began to count his companions; he counted them, but forgot to include himself, saying that there were twenty when they started and now only nineteen, and he thought for a long time who the lost person could be. When he was looking in the direction of the funeral-place for the lost companion, he saw a lame man named Keikarskutan, who had a purs and ab (bow and arrow). Keikarskutan lay down and shot the arrow[8] and it came towards Teikuteidi with a sound like a bird’s voice. Teikuteidi was looking to see what sort of bird it was when the arrow pierced both his eyes[9] and he died. When his companions found that he was dead, they held the funeral at Kerâs, and at the place where he died they made a mark with four stones like a cross, one for his head, one for his legs and one for each hand.
Kwoten was responsible for various features of the organisation of the Pan people. He divided them into two parts, the Panol and Kuirsiol, and also divided the ti into two parts, the wars ti, which was to belong to the Panol, and the tars ti to the Kuirsiol. He settled that the palol of the ti should be chosen from the people of Keadr. When there is a funeral in any clan a palol belonging to that clan must give up his office; hence, in order that his ti should never be without a palol, Kwoten separated the people of Keadr into two divisions, the Keadrol and the Kwaradrol, so that a member of one division might be palol if a member of the other division died. [[200]]This was the origin of the division of the Keadr people into the Keadrol and the Kwaradrol.
One day Kwoten went to the wars ti of Pan and took buttermilk and slept there, and he did the same at the arsaiir ti of Kwòdrdoni, and since that day the people of Pan have had the privilege of taking buttermilk and sleeping at the places of each ti.
Kwoten also made two teiks (stones or wooden posts at which buffaloes are killed at the funerals), the parsteiks for the Panol and the kirshteiks for the Kuirsiol.
It is owing to the example of Kwoten that the Todas now take meals in Kurumba villages. Before his time they had never done so, but Kwoten one day went to a Kurumba village and took food, and since that time all Todas have done so.
Kwoten was also the first Toda to go to a Kota village. He wanted one day to go to Mitur in the Wainad, and as it was getting dark and he was still on his way, he went to the Kota village of Kulgadi (Gudalur). He sat on their tün, or bed, got new pots and food from them, and, taking both to the stream called Marspa or Marsva, he cooked and ate the food there, and then, returning to the village, slept on a Kota tün. Since that time Todas have gone to that village, and have done as Kwoten did, but they will not go to any other Kota village.
One day Kwoten went with Erten of Keadr, who was spoken of as his servant, to Pòni, in the direction of Polkat (Calicut). At Pòni there is a stream called Palpa, the commencement of which may be seen on the Kundahs. Kwoten and Erten went to drink water out of the stream at a place where a goddess (teu) named Terkosh had been bathing. When Kwoten was about to drink from his hands, he found in the water a long golden hair; he measured the length of the hair and found it was greater than his height; he had a long stick in his hand called pirs, and found that the hair was longer than this stick. Then he asked Erten about it. Erten knew it was the hair of a teu, but thought it best not to tell Kwoten, and tried to persuade him that it was of no importance, and proposed that they should return home. [[201]]Kwoten, however, insisted on finding out from whom the hair came, so they went along the stream. Kwoten went first and Erten had to follow him. As they went they met the bird called karpüls going from the right side to the left,[10] uttering its cry. Kwoten asked Erten why they met the bird, why it went from right to left, and why it made a cry. Erten replied as follows:—
“Nòdr udoi “Country (God) if there is kwudrpedrshai; Naraian sami kaipedrshai.” you will die; Naraian will kill you.”
In spite of this warning, Kwoten persisted in going on, and finally they came to Terkosh, who said to Kwoten, “Do not come near me, I am a teu.” Kwoten paid no heed to this, but said, “You are a beautiful woman,” and went and lay with her. Then Terkosh went away to her hill at Pòni, where she is now, and to this day the Kurumbas go there once a year and offer plantains to her and light lamps in her honour.