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FEBRUARY, 1897.]
THE DEVIL WORSHIP OF THE TULUV AS.
51
Thinking thus, he started from the place, and while coming with his face to the west he saw ina forest at Mardal a budu which appeared to him beautiful; and he thought :-"Now in this place I must obtain a feast; here I must proclaim my name. I must find out some means for it."
Thus meditating, he wandorod about in the day-time in the forest about the budu in the form of a wind. At that time the cowherd boys came there, driving the cattle of that budu to the grassy plot for grazing. Then the Pañjarli in the form of a wind wandered about in that place, and, seeing the fat cows and he-buffaloes and she-buffaloes and their yoing ones, was very glad; and said to himself:-"What shall I do now P However, let the sun set. After sunset I will enter the budu and try to obtain a feast for myself."
Meditating in this manner, he wandered about in the forest till sunset, and afterwards entered into the cow-pen, and kept quiet in a corner, till the cowherd boys had collected all the cattle into the cow-pen. In the meantime the night came on, and it was time for the master of the house to take his meal. Then all the servants of the house, the bondmen, and those who had undertaken work on contract and day-labourers and rice-men and rice-water-men, all these came to take their meals. Then the bondmen went to the cow-pen to give fodder to the cattle, and gave rice-water to the buffaloes and oxen, and, after they had drunk, they put the watering trough upside down, and then put straw and green grass before them, and making everything comfortable for the cattle went their way. In the meantime, the mistress of the house, having served food to her husband, called the bondmen:-“O bondmen, bring your vessels and take your food."
Then they called their wives from their huts, and told them to bring the vessels. Then they took their children on their hips and the vessels on their heads, and each came to the budu and called the mistress of the house :-" O mistress, mistress, please bring me the rice; I have brought the vessel. I have no one in my hut. I have kept paddy on the fire to be boiled, and there is nobody to look after the fire."
At this the mistress qnickly bronght the rice and gave it to the bond women. She also brought a big spoon of cocoanut-shell and put out four spoonsful of rice and four spoonsful of conjee for each and sent away the bond-women to their huts. And after all had eaten and finished, all lay down to sleep. After one jama of night was over, the racing-buffaloes in the cow-pen began to cough. The master of the house, who was lying on the swinging-cot heard it. Then he called his wife, and awoke her, and said: "Do you hear, the he-buffaloes in the cow-pen are coughing; be quick and light a lamp."
At this, his wife quickly got up and ligh: ud a lamp and brought it to her husband. Then he quickly took the hand-lamp and went to the cow-pen, and there he saw two of the racing buffaloes lying prostrate on the floor. As soon as he saw it, his spirit left him, and suddenly falling on the floor he became insensible. In the meantime his nephews came to him, and applying water to his eyes and chest brought him to consciousness, and raised him up; and afterwards they tried to raise up the buffaloes. When they raised the buffaloes, they saw that they had no strength in their legs to stand. They also saw that they had not eaten a single straw out of the food that was before them.
Then they said :- " Alas! what is this! The buffaloes were quite well yesterday; what has become of them to-day ?”
When the uncle said thus to the nephew, he said :-"There must be some reason for this; if these buffaloes should survive till the morning, we can do something, we can prepare some medicine and try to save them."
When they said this the buffaloes began to gasp. Then the master became afraid ; but what could he do? They all kept awake till the morning as if they had put rice in their mouths. After it was morning the buffaloes became worse and worse. Then they said :-"We must call our neighbours and ask them what it is; it could not have taken place of itself."
