This story appears to be a well-known Indian folk-tale, and it has certainly been a recent acquisition of the Todas.
It will be seen that there is much reason to believe that the greater part, if not all of the ideas of the Todas about the stars have been borrowed. In their own folk-lore there seems to be very little concerning the heavenly bodies except in the story of the man and the honey, and I even suspect this to be a borrowed legend which has been somewhat modified by Toda ideas.
It is interesting, and I think important, that references to Swami occur in these stars-myths. In an earlier chapter I have given it as my opinion that the idea of Swami has only recently been acquired by the Todas, and I attach importance to the occurrence of the name in legends which have certainly been borrowed from another race. [[596]]
Games
It is not altogether easy to draw the line between Toda games and Toda ceremonies. The sport which is practised with the greatest zest is undoubtedly the catching of the buffaloes at the funeral ceremonies, and in the old days when the marvainolkedr lasted two days, the first day, devoted to catching the buffaloes and putting them in the pen, must have been largely of a sportive character. Even now it is evident that the catching of the buffaloes is a spectacle which is much enjoyed by all in spite of the sad event which has led to its taking place.
The Todas have, however, pure games, though it is doubtful whether some of them have not acquired in a certain degree a ceremonial character.
In one of these games called narthpimi, a boy squeezes through a narrow tunnel formed by a flat slab of stone over two upright slabs. Two boys start from different distances, and the object of the nearer boy is to squeeze through the tunnel before the other can touch his feet. I did not have an opportunity of seeing this game, and I only saw the stones with which it is played at one village. This was at Nòdrs, where the three stones are called menkars and mark the spot at which one of the ordinary buffaloes is killed at the funeral ceremonies. The menkars is shown in [Fig. 12] in front of and a little to the right of the entrance to the dairy.
Another game resembling tip-cat is called eln, and at some villages there is a special stone where the game is played. A piece of wood pointed at both ends is propped against the stone and struck with a stick, and should be caught by someone at a distance. The name for this game is probably Badaga,[9] and this suggests that the game has been borrowed from this people.
According to Breeks another game called kâriâlapimi, resembling ‘puss in the corner’ is played by the Todas. The name suggests a true Toda game and I regret that I know nothing about it. [[597]]