Indian Antiquary Vol 12

SR No.: 032504
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Jas Burgess
Publisher: Swati Publications
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 390
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 18 MB

Page 119

APRIL, 1883.]
FOLKLORE IN THE PANJAB.
103
FOLKLORE IN THE PANJAB.
COLLECTED BY MRS. F. A. STEEL. WITH NOTES BY CAPT. B. C. TEMPLE, B.S.C., F.R.G.S., M.B.A.S., &o.
(Continued from vol. XI, p. 230.) No. 18.-LITTLE ANKLE BONE.
in the sunlight, and the winds whistled softly Once upon a time there was a little boy who through it. went to live with his aunt,' and she set him Now one day three robbers who had just to tend sheep. So all day long he tended robbed a palace came by, and seating themselves sheep in the wilds and blew on his little shep- under the oak began to divide the spoil. Just herd's pipe from morn till eve. Now one day a as they were beginning to divide the golden pang great big wolf appeared and looked hungrily and the silk apparel and the silver vessels into at the little boy, and then at his fat sheep, three heaps a jackal howled, and at the same and said:
instant as luck would have it the Little Ankle "Little boy, shall I eat you or your sheep P" Bone's thread snapped and down it fell on the
Then the little boy answered, "I don't know, hend of one of the thieves like a stone. This Mr. Wolf; I must ask my aunt."
the thieves considered to be a warning, and So all day long he played on the pipe, and in whispering to each other that they were disthe evening when he brought the flock home | covered they fled, leaving the treasure behind he asked his aunt, saying :
them. "Auntie, dear, a great big wolf asked me "Now," said Little Ankle Bone to himself, to-day if he should eat me or my sheep. Which "I shall lead a fine life." So he went into shall it be ?"
the town and bought a new shepherd's pipe, Then his aunt looked at him and then at the and played so sweetly on it that all the beasts fat sheep, and answered sharply,-"Why, you, of the field and forest and all the birds of the of course!"
air and the very fishes in the pond flocked to So the little shepherd went off with his flock hear him. Then Little Ankle Bone built next morning and blew away contentedly on marble basins round the pond for the animals his pipe till the wolf came, and then he said :- to drink out of, and sat all day under the oak "If you please, Mr. Wolf, auntie says you are and played to them, and in the evening the to eat me."
does and the tigresses and the she-wolves Now the wolf, savage as he was, could not all came to him to be milked. Some of the help having just a little pity for the tiny milk he drank and the rest flowed into the pond shepherd with his tiny pipe, and said kindly,- until at last it became a pond of milk which "Could I do anything for you after I have grew bigger and bigger day by day. eater you ?”
At last an old woman passing by heard the "Thank you," replied the little shepherd, shepherd's pipe and following the sound came " If you would be so kind after you have to the pond of milk. She was wonder-struck, picked my bones to thread my ankle bone on especially when Little Ankle Bone called out:a string and hang it on the wild oak that "Fill your pitcher, mother, fill your pitcher. weeps over the pond yonder, I shall be much All may drink who come hither." obliged."
So she filled her pitcher with milk and went So the wolf when he had eaten the little boy her way. And as she journeyed she fell in and picked the bones did as he had promised, with the king of the country, who, while hantand hung the ankle bone by a string to the ing in the forest, had lost his way. Seeing the branches of the oak, where it danced and swung old woman's pitcher he called out :-"Give me
The word used wað gert, which appears to be local, • ban phuquercus arcana, the wild oak of India. Its and to be arrived at thus : girl, dim, from gerd.gitta, branches grow very low, frequently touching the ground. Panj. gatta, Hindi, an ankle bone. In the verse at the -R. C. T. end of the tale Little Ankle Bone calls himself Giteti . Dogs barking (or jackals howling) during an enterRam a very interesting instance of the manner in which
prise is a commonly considered a bad omen in India as modern Panjab proper names are formed.-R.C.T.
in Europe.-R. C.T. Miel - maternal aunt.R.O.T.
• Daurian; daura, Panj..Hind. nand, a wide-mouthed bdnert, banal, or murti; a flute, reed, pipe; made earthen vessel, a marble drinking place for animals; . famous to all time by the legend of Krishna.-R.C.T. marble trough.R.C.T.