îñ"ò îøëæ ñéôåøé òí åôåì÷ìåø |
C. F. F |
|
THE GRAIN OF CORN
ONCE upon a time a farmer's
wife was winnowing corn, when a crow, flying past, swooped off with a grain
from the winnowing basket and perched on a tree close by to eat it. The
farmer's wife, greatly enraged, flung a clod at the bird with so good an aim
that the crow fell to the ground, dropping the grain of corn, which rolled into
a crack in the tree. The farmer's wife, seeing the crow fall, ran up to it, and
seizing it by the tail, cried, 'Give me back my grain of corn, or I will kill
you!'
The wretched bird, in
fear of death, promised to do so, but, lo and behold! when he came to search
for the grain, it had rolled so far into the crack that neither by beak nor
claw could he reach it.
So he flew off to a
woodman, and said–
'Man! man! cut tree;
I can't get the grain of corn
To save my life from the farmer's wife!'
But the woodman refused
to cut the tree; so the crow flew on to the King's palace, and said–
'King! king! kill man;
Man won't cut tree;
I can't get the grain of corn
To save my life from the farmer's wife!'
But the King refused to
kill the man; so the crow flew on to the Queen, and said–
'Queen! Queen! coax King;
King won't kill man;
Man won't cut tree;
I can't get the grain of corn
To save my life from the farmer's wife!'
But the Queen refused to coax
the King; so the crow flew on till he met a snake, and said–
'Snake! snake! bite Queen;
Queen won't coax King;
King won't kill man;
Man won't cut tree;
I can't get the grain of corn
To save my life from the farmer's wife!'
But the snake refused to
bite the Queen; so the crow flew on till he met a stick, and said–
'Stick! stick! beat
snake;
Snake won't bite Queen;
Queen won't coax King;
King won't kill man:
Man won't cut tree;
I can't get the grain of corn
To save my life from the farmer's wife!'
But the stick refused to
beat the snake; so the crow flew on till he saw a fire, and said–
'Fire!
fire! burn stick;
Stick won't beat snake;
Snake won't bite Queen;
Queen won't coax King;
King won't kill man;
Man won't cut tree;
I can't get the grain of corn
To save my life from the farmer's wife!'
But the fire refused to
burn the stick; so the crow flew on till he met some water, and said–
'Water!
water! quench fire;
Fire won't burn stick;
Stick won't beat snake;
Snake won't bite Queen;
Queen won't coax King;
King won't kill man;
Man won't cut tree;
I can't get the grain of corn
To save my life from the farmer's wife!'
But the water refused to
quench the fire; so the crow flew on till he met an ox, and said–
'Ox!
ox! drink water;
Water won't quench fire;
Fire won't burn stick;
Stick won't beat snake;
Snake won't bite Queen;
Queen won't coax King;
King won't kill man;
Man won't cut tree;
I can't get the grain of corn
To save my life from the farmer's wife!'
But the ox refused to
drink the water; so the crow flew on till he met a rope, and said–
'Rope!
rope! bind ox;
Ox won't drink water;
Water won't quench fire;
Fire won't burn stick;
Stick won't beat snake;
Snake won't bite Queen;
Queen won't coax King;
King won't kill man;
Man won't cut tree;
I can't get the grain of corn
To save my life from the farmer's wife!'
But the rope wouldn't
bind the ox; so the crow flew on till he met a mouse, and said–
'Mouse!
mouse! gnaw rope;
Rope won't bind ox;
Ox won't drink water;
Water won't quench fire;
Fire won't burn stick;
Stick won't beat snake;
Snake won't bite Queen;
Queen won't coax King;
King won't kill man;
Man won't cut tree;
I can't get the grain of corn
To save my life from the farmer's wife!'
But the mouse wouldn't
gnaw the rope; so the crow flew on until he met a cat, and said– 'Cat! cat! catch mouse;
Mouse won't gnaw rope;
Rope won't bind ox;
Ox won't drink water;
Water won't quench fire;
Fire won't burn stick;
Stick won't beat snake;
Snake won't bite Queen;
Queen won't coax King;
King won't kill man;
Man won't cut tree;
And I can't get the grain
of corn
To save my life from the
farmer's wife!'[1]
The moment the cat heard the name of mouse, she
was after it; for the world will come to an end before a cat will leave a mouse
alone.
'So
the cat began to catch the mouse,
The mouse began to gnaw the rope,
The rope began to bind the ox,
The ox began to drink the water,
The water began to quench the fire,
The fire began to burn the stick,
The stick began to beat the snake,
The Queen began to coax the King,
The King began to kill the man,
The man began to cut the tree;
So the crow got the grain of corn,
And saved his life from
the farmer's wife!'[2]
[1] In the original they were–
Phir gîâ billî ke pâs,
'Billî, rî billî, mûsâ khâogî?
Khâtî khûnd pâr nâ!
Khûnd chanâ de nâ!
Râjâ khâtî dande nâ!
Râjâ rânî russe nâ!
Sapnâ rânî dase nâ!
Lâthî sapnâ mâre nâ!
Âg lâthî jalâve nâ!
Samundar âg bujhâve nâ!
Hâthî samundar sukhe nâ!
Nâre hâthî bandhe nâ!
Mûsâ nâre kâte nâ!
Lûngâ phir chorûn nâ!'
He then went to the cat (saying),
'Cat, cat, eat mouse,
Woodman won't cut tree!
Tree won't give peas!
King won't beat woodman!
Queen won't storm at king!
Snake won't bite queen!
Stick won't beat snake!
Fire won't burn stick!
Sea won't quench fire!
Elephant won't drink up sea!
Thong won't bind elephant!
Mouse won't nip thong!
I'll take (the pea) yet, I won't let it go!'
It will be
seen that in the text the order has been transposed for obvious literary
convenience.
[2] In the original these are–
Usne
kahâ, 'Lap, lap, khâûngî!'
Phir gîâ mûsâ ke pâs, 'Mûsâ, re
mûsâ, ab khâ jâoge ?' 'Ham bhî nâre
katenge.'
Phir gîâ nâre ke pâs, 'Nâre, re nâre, ab
kâte jâoge ?' 'Ham bhî hâthî bandhenge.'
Phir gîâ hâthî ke pâs, 'Hâthî, re
hâthî, ab bandhe jâoge ?' 'Ham bhî samundar
sûkhenge.'
Phir gîâ samundar ke pâs, 'Samundar, re samundar, ab sukhe
jâoge ?' 'Ham bhî âg bujhâenge.'
Phir gîâ âg ke pâs, 'Âg, rî âg, ab
bujhâî jâogî ?' 'Ham bhî lâthî
jalâvenge.'
Phir gîâ lâthî ke pâs, 'Lâthî, re
lâthî, ab jal jâoge ?' 'Ham bhî sâmp
mârenge.'
Phir gîâ sâmp ke pâs, 'Sâmp, re sâmp, ab
mâre jâoge ?' 'Ham bhî rânî dasenge.'
Phir gîâ rânî ke pâs, 'Rânî, rî
rânî, ab dasî jâoge ?' 'Ham bhî râjâ
rusenge.'
Phir gîâ râjâ ke pâs, 'Râjâ, re
râjâ, ab rânî rus jâoge ?' 'Ham bhî
khâtî dândenge.'
Phir gîâ khâtî ke pâs, 'Khâtî, re
khâtî, ab dande jâoge ?' 'Ham bhî khund kâtenge.'
Phir gîâ khund ke pâs, 'Khund, re khund, ab khâte
jâoge ?' 'Ham bhî chanâ denge.'
Phir woh chanâ lekar chalâ gîâ?
The cat said,
'I will eat him up at once!'
(So) he went to the mouse, 'Mouse, mouse, will you be eaten?' 'I will gnaw the
thong.'
He went to the thong, 'Thong, thong, will you be gnawed?' 'I will bind the
elephant.'
He went to the elephant, 'Elephant, elephant, will you be bound?' 'I will drink
up the ocean.'
He went to the ocean, 'Ocean, ocean, will you be drunk up?' 'I will quench the
fire.'
He went to the fire, 'Fire, fire, will you be quenched?' 'I will burn the
stick.'
He went to the stick, 'Stick, stick, will you be burnt?' 'I will beat the
snake.'
He went to the snake, 'Snake, snake, will you be beaten?' 'I will bite the
queen.'
He went to the queen, 'Queen, queen, will you be bitten?' 'I will storm at the
king.'
He went to the king, 'King, king, will you be stormed at by the queen?' 'I will
beat the woodman.'
He went to the woodman, 'Woodman, woodman, will you be beaten?' 'I will cut
down the trunk.'
He went to the trunk, 'Trunk, trunk, will you be cut down?' 'I will give you
the pea.'
So he got the pea and went away.