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Frank Murray,

Murray. I

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DICTIONARY

OF

KASHMIRI PROVERBS & SAYINGS

Explained and Illustrated from the rich and interesting Folklore of the Valley.

BY THE

Rkv. J^INTON\kNOWLES, F.R.G.S., M.R.A.S., Ac,

(a M. s.)

MISSIONARY TO THK KASHMIRIS.

A wise man will endeavour "to understand a proverb and the interpretation.*' — Prov. I. w. 5, 6.

BOMBAY :

Education Society's Press.

CALCUTTA :—Th ACKER, Spink A Co.

LONDON :— Trubnkr & Co.

1885. [All rights reserved.']

t « Cf € . • C ',«

C^L

y-/.-.M.U-^.

KG

PREFACE.

That moment when an author dots the last period to his manuscript, and then rises up from the study-chair to shake its many and bulky pages together is almost as exciting an occasion as when he takes a quire or so of foolscap and sits down to write the 6rst Uoe of it. Many and mingled feelings pervade his mind, and hope and fear vie with one another and alternately overcome one another, until at length the author finds some slight relief for his feelings and a kind of excuse for his book, by writing a preface, in which he states briefly the nature and character of the work, and begs the pardon of the reader for his presomption in undertaking it.

A winter in Kashmir must be experienced to be realised. The air is most inyigorating, and the quiet is sublime. Even an ordinarily busy missionary enjoys much leisure through such a season in this beautiful country.

I have now spent two long quiet winters here, and this '* Dictionary of Kashmiri Proverbs and Sayings" is the result of many hours of labour, study, and anxiety, during these leisurable months. As a missionary, on arriving in the Valley, I at once devoted my attention to the study of the language ; and believing that Proverbs taught " the real people's speech," discovered "the genius, wit and spirit of a nation," and embodied its ** current and practical philosophy,'*

IV PREFACE.

I quickly began to make a collection of them.* This hook,

I believe, contains nearly all the Proverbs and Proverbial

sayings now extant among the Kashmiri people. They have

been gathered from various sources. Sometimes the great

and learned Pandit instinctively uttered a proverb in my

hearing; sometimes I got the barber to tell me a thing

or two, as he polled my head ; and sometimes the poor coolie

said something worth knowing, as carrying my load he

tramped along before me. A few learned Muhammadan

and Hindu friends also, have very materially helped me in

this collection and its arrangement ; and here I again heartily

acknowledge their kind and ready service.

Actum est. It is done ; and now the manuscript has to

be sent to the publishers, and notices have to be posted to the

different papers and journals interested to advertise the work

as *' in the press." "What will the little world say, into whose

hands it may chance to arrive ? How will the philologist, the

ethnologist, the antiquarian, the student of folklore, and the

general reader regard this which has cost some considerable

time and study. Dear reader, in order that your criticism

may not be so hard as it might, perhaps, otherwise be, please

permit me to remind you that Kashmir proper is but a small

country, a little vale surrounded by snow-capped mountain

ranges, about eighty-four miles long from north-west to

south-east, and from twenty to twenty-five miles in width,

with an area of about 1,850 square miles ; that the Kashmiri

* " The genius, wit and spirit of a nation are discovered in its proverbs. " — Bacon.

" Proverbs embody the current and practical philosophy of an age or nation."— Fleming.

" Proverbs teach the real people's speech, and open up the hitherto sealed book of the native mind." — John Beames.

PREFACE. V

language is virtually minus a Dictionary and Grammar, and that besides one or two very unimportant works* written in the Persian character, all true Kashmiri books are printed in a kind of mongrel- Devanagari character called Shiirada, which only a very small proportion of the population can properly read ; that the Kashmiri language itself is very difficult, and is spoken differently by different persons — the Hindiis and Muhammadans, especially, speaking distinct dialects; that information from books of travel, &c., like Vigne's, Hugers, Knight's, Drew's, Bellew's and others, is very crude, scanty, and contradictory, concerning the manners and customs of the Kashmiri ; and that this individual is not naturally so com- municative as mi[^ht be expected from his cheery look and humorous disposition.

Horace says somewhere " Nonum prematur in annum ; " and perhaps it would have been better to have kept by me what I have written, for nine years before publishing it. But other work demands much of my leisure time, — the prepara- tion of a Kashmiri Dictionary, of which these proverbs, and the words that contain them, form but a stepping-stone, and the translations of the ** Psalms of David** and ** Proverbs of Solomon,'* which have been deferred only because of the non- appearance as yet of the revised edition of the Old Testament, However, I trust the reader will accept my various excuses and forgive any error, whether in the romanizing, or the style, or the information, as the case may be.

The Proverbs and Sayings have all been translated as liter- ally as possible ; and with a fairly-trained ear I have honestly tried hard to render correctly in the Roman character what

* A short interesting account of the origin of this character is given in Dr. Klmslie's Kashmiri Vocabulary, p. 149.

VI PREFACE.

I heard ; but the different dialects made this very confasing work ; and there were some sounds which could not possibly be written like Roroan-Urdd, except with the following addi- tional vowels : —

An o as the German o, but short.

An o as the German o, but long and drawling. These two vowels, I believe, exist in Hungarian.

An u as the German u.

An M as the German m, but long and drawling.

In addition to these there is a sound which is something like a very short i, to which I have given the name of Miydli zer ; it is frequently the sign of the instrumental case as ktcriy a dog, huni by a dog, &c. This sound, I believe, is to be found in Russian, and is in that language written as j. In the Roman character this sound will be represented by the simple letter «, and in order that this i may always appear, I have always written the final Ae {hd,e mukhtaji). With the exception of this i or hhiydli zer^ 1 have, however, avoided introducing any diacritical points. The following is the Roman- Kashmiri alphabet with the powers of the letters : —

A a pronounced	as a in woman.	P d pronounced as d in barf —
A i			a in art.			the point of the
Ai ai			ai in aisle.			tongue is struck
An au			au in our.			back on the palate.
B b			b in hwt.	E	e	„ e in there.
Chch			ch in church	E	e	„ e in pet.
D d		point	d in </ew, the of the tongue	F	f	„ / in /ind, the English / is only
		is pressed on the			sounded, and then
		upper fore-teeth.			very badly, in the

PREFACE.

VU

middle or at the end of a word. If it occurs at the commeacement of a word it is most distinctly and inva- riably turned into pA.

6 g pronounced as ^ in ^. The Arabic letter hgain gK,

with its peculiar guttural sound

is seldom heard in pure Kaah-

mfri.

H h pronounced as h in ^use.

I i is a kind of half

t. I hear that there is something analogous to this to be found in Rus- sian and is written as ;'.

I ( pronounced as t in police.

J j ,, j injust.

K k M A in feec^le*

Kh kh „ ch in the Scotch and Irish \ocht or the final ch of the German schacA and hvLch.

L 1 pronounced as 2 in lane.

M m pronounced as m in man. N n „ n in noon

N n „ n in the

French words saws, bon. O o pronounced as o in no. P P „ p in^aint,

Ph ph „ similar to

ph in ^Alegm. The Kashmirfs turn the Persian «J/? into phe, e.g., phaklr and phatah for fakir and fatb, except perhaps when this letter, or rather sound, comes in the mid- dle, and at the end of a word.

R r pronounced as r in ran. A Scotchman's r is perhaps not met with in pure Kashmiri.

The euphonic r is very com- mon, e.g., bonth and brohth« by or and bror, &c. The Mu- hammadans generally omit the r in these and similar words. S s pronounced as s in sin. Sh sh „ th in Mine.

vin

PREFACE,

T t pronounced as t in <ake.	Ts ts pror	lounc	ed as ts in ge^*.
the point of the	U u	j»	0 in top.
tongue is press-	U d	;»	w in rwle.
ed on the upper	V 1	)>	both having
fore-teeth.		a power be-
T t „ ^injfuh,the			tween the
point of the			English V
tongue is press-			and w.
ed back on the	Y y	J?	y in year.
palate*	Z z	>»	z in zeal.

Note. — Bh, chh, gh, kh, ph, th, th and tsh are respec- tively the aspirates of ch, g, k, p, t and t, and ts, and are pro- nounced as one letter.

With regard to the '* point" of the different proverbs and sayings, I have been through them all, as here written, with a little council of learned Muhamraadan and Hindu Kashmiri friends, and not allowed one to pass, until I got their full and undivided sanction to my explanation of it. The notes and facetiae, &c., are such as cropped-up in the course of writing, and have been jotted down in the hope that they will be interesting to some readers.

And lastly, but by no means of the last importance, I trust that if any reader is pleased with this book, and thinks fit, he will kindly recommend it to others, as the whole profits of the work are to be devoted to the sorely-strained funds of the *' Medical Mssion Hospital," Kashmir.

J. HINTON KNOWLES.

Kashmir, February 1th, 1885.

KASHMIRI PROVERBS,

Ab tih ioth bab iih toth.

I love myself and I love my father.

The reply of a very covetous man to a friend, when that friend said that he would give him only one oat of the two thingi which be coveted.

A grasping disposition.

Abah tali shrdk, A knife in the water.

A traitor in the camp.

Ab is the word generally nsed by Uobammedani ia the valley. The Hind6s invariably say pint or poni.

Abas andar krand.

A hig basket in the water.

A man, who ex officio is a person of some position and influence, is like a krand in tho water. So long as he retains his employment, he retains his authority, but as soon as he is dismissed, he loses that authority and hononr. The basket as long as it floats in the stream is filled with water, but inunodiately yon take it out of the stream it is emptied.

Achh kdnijdn tah wat kdni nak.

Better that the eye be blind than that the way be blind. He that goes a*borrowing goes a-sorrowing.

Achh waUhah tah ffdshah raUhah. May your eyes be opened but see nothing. A Kashmiri curse.

Achhin ungujeh thukanih. To strike the eyes with the fingen. To tease, to bother.

1

/.■.;;/i,v:0 •:;..;, ^' '

Achhuv andarah riyih surmah kadit.

He'll take the fvery) antimony out of your eyes (and you'll

not know it).

A sharp fellow, Beware ! . . .

Surmah is black sulphuret of antimony, used for pencilling the eyes.

jidal tah wadal zandnah chhai pashich zadal Uhai. A contrary woman is like bad grass on the roof.

Grass not fitted for thatching does not set well, but lets the rain through the roof. Cf. Prov. xxvii. 15.

Adi dadi yeUhih tah adi dadi reUhih.

Half (the people) are burnt with wishing and half are burnt

with scandal.

The struggle for popularity and place.

Adi Ldr tah adi Dor. v Half at Lar and half at Dar.

A man of large and scattered property ; but who cannot get at it or obtain anything from it.

Adin khash tah adin ash.

To half (the people) wretchedness and to half happiness,

Admi bastan andar chhtih sir. ~'--J . (■ ^^ ft Z^ "^ A secret is (concealed) under the skin of man.(;u^/^^^ \^^A^ Man is a make-up of mystery.

Adui umr tah badui baUi. Half-life and great misfortune (be to you). A Kashmiri curse.

Adyav kheyih chinih adyav khhjih idki.

Half (the people) ate from the large dishes and half from the

small dishes.

A badly-arranged dinner.

Affah bod paharas nnukar bod icaharas.

The master is great in three hours, the servant is great in

a year.

Some people earn as much in three hours as others do in twelve months.

Agah Icardn nethar tah varzun nah m/indn. The master gets married, but the servant does not agree to it, A contrary servant.

Agar Khdn tjuyov ffagar to'iji^ talih no mijis kum-t/jt. Agar Khin entered into a rat's hole, and there he did not

get, even, a bran-cake.

In ertremis.

Once Agar Kli&u wm rodacod to such distress that he was glad to take shelter in a little broken-down hut and sleep there.

Agar Khunitn hustti luslu tih lustu; lust a nah tah khiUlu. Should Agar Kh in's elephant live, it lives ; and if it does

not live, then never mind.

Some people arc so little respected, that it does not mnch matter whether they live or die.

Agar Khfiti was one of the old Pathdn governors of Kashmir. In his time attiiirs arrived at a crisis. The army had robolled, and the treasury was <?mpty. To support his family and servants he parted with his jewels and other treasures, and yet all through this time of the direst distress he wa!< keeping a favourite elephant. When he could no longer feed the pot beast, he let it go to wander whither it pleased.

Agar ijer hxrihjald yiyih^ agarjahi karih tjir yigih.

If he delays he will come quickly, bat if he h.istcns he will

come slowly.

More Iiaste, worse speed.

Ahalamari ratah-khari.

The quarrelsome people of .\halamar.

AhaUimar is one of the chief divisions ot trH* nry of Srfnagar. In olden days it was the regular thing on evory Frilay for tins young people of one division to ohallonge in fight tho young ]H'Ople of another division. A certain place and hour would be arranged, and the youths armed with sticks and slings, drc, would assemble on their respective sides. At a signal from their leaders they would join combat, and generally there were several broken limbs and sometimes deaths, resulting from these fights. His Utghncss the late Maharajah GaI4b Singh put an end to these disgraceful proceedings.

The youngsters of Ahalamar were very pugnacious, and especially so respecting the people of Snth, a noighbjuring division. Perhaps this was because they generally " got a.n good as they gave " At any rate these two divisions had many fights with one another. The Ahalamar youth would march in a crowd shouting : — Snthen zachih tah kuthcn ndr Ahalamariav yand ik Uir. ** Bagged clothes to the people of Suth, and may their bundles catch fire. The people of Ahalamar gave chase to them."

v^-

Then the crowd from Suth would meet them shouting : — Ahalamari ratah-khari ; Lejan chhik nah hatah phali ; Chandan chhik nah hdrah nali. ** The quarrelsome jJeople of Ahalamar They have not a rice-grain in their pots. They have not a cowrie in their pockets." One is reminded of the English custom of *' beating the bounds " on Holy Thursday, when the parish school children, accompanied by the clergyman and parish oflBcers, used to walk through their parish from end to end. The boys had willow wands with which they struck the lines of boundary, (and sometimes the boys of the adjoining parish).

'' AihakUahkatih&kr'

"Az khdnai Mumah Tdkr

" Nah tsah nm nah Uah p&k,

" Birav hinshin bdld-i-tok.^*

*' O cabbage, whence came ye ?"

*• From the house of Mumah Tak."

" You are neither salted nor cooked.

" Heugh ! go and sit on the window."

Hdk sometimes called HSk-wak, or (as in Persian) Sag, a cabbage OP any edible vegetable.

Whenever the hak is badly cooked the above lines are sure to be quoted.

liumah Tdk was a great greengrocer in Srinagar city.

Aib panun mushok.

A man loves his own fault.

" Oh, wad some power the giftie gie us To see oursels as others see us. "

Aibo jpeyiyo gaibuch balai, mandachhih patah chhai khijulat. O sin, let Heaven's misfortune fall upon you— to you is shame

upon shame.

" Be Bure your sin will find you out."

Ak ai tah untham kyah ? Timah ai tah khyawaham kyah ? If you have come, what have you brought ? If I come, what

will you give me to eat ?

A mercenary individual.

Ak bdnah, beyih pdnah^ beyih talab&nahy beyih koriadilh gdnah.

r,a*t^f ^'" ■■'■■ "^■t';

First (they seized) my dish, then myself, then (I had) to pay ^)^ the witnesses, and then (they abused me, calling me) the eater of ray daughter's hire, and the keeper of a brothel. A poor prisoner in tho hands of the policeman.

Ak bard,e KhufiH tah hh/ih hastis khd^it. g . //, ..

A man begs and then gets up on an elephant, ^*J

" To mo Wit an elephant " is an expression for beooxnisg proud or angry.

Jk budih tah methih, by/ik hudih tah teihih.

One man U old and sweet, another old and bitter.) / / ...

Ak chhiwyov ma»ah bynk hAkah rasah.

One man is intoxicated with the juice of thegrapc, another

with the juice of vegetables.

Pride dwells in every one, bo ho rich or poor.

" Kashmir is tho only part of India whore wino is made from the jnico of the grape, a fact to bo attribatod rather to it« aoeBcent quality than to any loaroity of tho fruit."

Ak ffavjani y^r, by/tic gav nuni y&r.

One is a thorough friend, another is a " loafer."

7V<ini yar, a bread friend. P«r»«an~rar't.j(iH o ydr-i-ncin.

Ak gub neriht ak Ichor huehih, petjih gdsah, wafui nah kehh. One sheep in a meadow, one kharwar (of grain) in thehouse»

and the bulrush (these three) do not last.

The shoop and tho khanv&r are bat " as a drop in the ocean," Boon ■wallowed up, and tho bulrush quickly rots.

Kh.ir or Khancdr, is a dry measure, containing lbs. 192. The literal meaning of the word is an ass-load. Khar is tho Kushmirf word for an ass (liko tho Persian).

Ak hhojas suet batah khyun, beya sinis kun athah nyun ? When a person is dining with a great man, will he stretch

out his hand towards the dish (to help himself) 1

Give him a yard, and he'll take an ell.

Ak kot tah beyih kutis garawani.

First there's the gallows, then there's the trouble of making

the gallows.

A difficult and losing game.

Ak lewon graitas byuk Ihvon gratloioidi sunzih chinih. One licks the mill-stone, the other licks the millers dish.

As fast as one earns, the other spends. r

Ak nyuv Yaman tah hyok khyav braman. iG. - '

Death took one and the other was seduced from his own

country to another country in hope of gain.

A man of large family, but not one child left to him, all scattered.

Yama is the Hindu god and judge of the dead.

Ak n'lfiz tah beyih gumah rufiz. A Shi'a and also a village Shi'a.

There are Shi'as and Shi'as.

The village Shi'as are much more superstitions and bigoted than the city Shi'as. Altogether there are about six thousand Shi'as in the valley. They are found chiefly at Zadibal, a few miles to the north of Srinagar, and at Hasandbad near to the city lake, where their prin- cipal mosque is.

Great bitterness of feeling exists between the Sunfs and the Shi'as, the rival sects of Muhammedanism, which occasionally manifests itself in open fights ending in loss of life and great destruction of property. In 1874 the Maharajah's troops were obliged to be called out to quell the rioters. During the Pathan rule in the valley the Shi'as were forbidden to celebrate the Muharram. About the time when the country vvas annexed to the Durrdni empire (1753-1819 a.d.), the Shi'as determined to enact this sacred feast ; and acordingly compelled a Suni boy to eat salt ; then tantalized him with water ; and just as he was about to drink it they shot him to death with arrows, so, that he might perish like Husain, who was killed by Yazid near Eufa, in the desert, of thirst. When 'Abdu'lM Kbdn, who had just conquered this country, heard of this, he was much enraged and immediately gave the order for the collecting of all the Shi'as in Srinagar, that their noses might be pierced, and one line of string run through the whole of them, and that, thus fastened together, they might be conducted through the principal thoroughfares of the city. Nothing daunted, however, they very soon again tried to celebrate their sacred festival, and notably in the time of the Sikh governor Bama Singh ( 1830 a.d.) There was a great Suni living in Kashmir in the fifteenth century, whose name was Muqaddam Sahib, He had a large number of followers, amongst whom was Shams-ud-din, a Persian Shi'a, who managed to conceal his religious views and to ingratiate himself into his master's favour, though all the time he was really proselytising. He thus made many converts to the Shi'a faith, and in consequence is much respected by the Shi'as, for these people have a j)rinciple of religious compromise called takia, whereby the Shi'a thinks that he is perfectly justified in lying and deceiving to save himself from religious persecution. It appears that during the year or so of Bama Singh's governorship in Kashmir,

the Shfas when celebrating the Muharram purposely spat ia tka direction of the MuqiMldam Sahib's tomb, and this so enraged the Sunis that they foil ufK)ii thorn then and there and slew fifteen of them, besides doing much damage to their property. Since then 1 Persian traders have kept at a distance from Kashmir.

Ak tah ak gav hah. One and one are eleven.

Two heads are better than one.

Ak woTn'n wayivi byuk pilanuwnn chhus petj.

One weaves the mat and another holds out to him the reed.

The mat-maker could work much better alone. Hence the above is quoted when uunecesaary help is received.

Ak wukur heyih trdkur.

First, you are unfortunate ; secondly, you are proud. Pride without reason.

Ak zulih bachhih tal hihit toh, tah hijuk zulih tumul.

One will sit by tho tire-place and buru chaff, while another

will burn rice.

Economy and extravagance.

Ak saw'tnah chhai dnulatthy<ik zattat.

One woman is wealth to you, another is ruination.

Ak zow'nah chhai hat lanjih bunt, bjfuk chhai bar tal hmi

hish. One woman is (like) a hundred-branch plane-tree to you,

another is like a bitch at the door.

The 6an< or chiniir {VI atanus Or ientalis) of Kashmiris one of the finest and most shado-giviug trees. It was intnxluced by the Mn- hamraadans from iho West, and under tho fostering attention of royalty this splendid tree with its palmate loaves and spreading bi-anches, has reached Uie greatest ago and attention in Kashmir.

Akhu ffamut yirah tah w'lrih mangdn tang.

A man is contused and asks for pears from the willow tree.

Akha khut hastis bigi'kh'i khaslan dusih.

One man rode upouan elephant, another mounted the wall.

Uigh and low ; rich and poor.

Panjdbi. — Uik yinne, te diyd ghoreghinne.

AkhA lasin susas mar as.

Let one man live for the sake of a thousand houses.

Go<l spare tho public b«>nofactor.

8

Akhi latik khasih nah gvris, beyih lalih pakih nah piyudah. At one time he will ride on a horse, at another time he will

go on foot.

Diruit cedificat miitat quadrdta rotundis»

Akhi waktah prdnah'Ttuj tah heyih waktah pranah-dyal.

At one time the onion-plant, and at another time the onion- skin. Good and bad times.

Ahi sund dazih ub tah heyih sund dazih nah til.

One man can burn water, where another cannot even burn

oil.

A matter of luck. AH sund dyurah chandah beyih sund hata. One man's pocketful of money (is no more than) another

man's word.

Ahi tsat sum tah sas gav hulih.

One man cut the bridge, and a thousand people fell into the river.

Ptmishment visited upon many because of the iniquity of one.

This is a saying derived from a true story (so a native friend says). A very long time ago a large crowd of people were travelling toge- ther;— perhaps they were going on a visit to some popular shrine. In the midst of the crowd there was a very wicked man who did not seem to be able to think, or say, or do, anything except that which was evil. On seeing a swift and deep stream in front, this wicked man ran on ahead and crossed the ordinary plank bridge built over it ; and no sooner had he himself crossed over, than with his big hatchet he hacked and hewed away at the supporting beam of the bridge, until it broke into two pieces and the whole structure fell down, and was soon carried away by the angry waters. Now what were the people to do ? — go they must to this place, concerning which they had been making preparations many-a-long-day before. At length two or three of the bolder spirits among them determined to wade the stream ; and the others encouraged by their example resolved to venture also. They all started together, but, alas ! when they reached the middle of the water the swiftness and depth proving too much for them they all lost heart, gave themselves to be carried away by the waters, and were drowned.

AM tsond dunyd tah beyih ahi imdn ; dunyd tah imdn chhih

nah donawai athih yiwdn. One man sought the world and another sought for faith ; the

world and faith both do not come into the same hand.

'* Ye cannot serve God and mammon. "

9

uihis ehhiik daz&n ddr tah byak ekhus tovshanawun athah. One man's beard is on fire, and another man warms his

hands by it.

To be glad at another's misfortune.

P&njibi. — Kini ki ghar jale, koi tape.

Akia gom zah ; ffHthar gdm ihethar ; knwas gdyam kukil. One became two ; friends became enemies ; the crow became a dove.

An old man's answer to a friend, who had sent to enquire how he was. The meaning is that a staff was now "part and parcel " of him ; that his teeth had deterted him ; and that hia raven-black hair had tnrned grey

Aklah chhuni gara Mm tah garu mynni,

Aklnh, the carpenter's wife, sometimes yours, and sometimes

mine.

A stupid, g&rmloas, onfaithfal woman.

Akut abur tah J\Ug san; leunui phuiah tah drug tan.

A single cloud, and it is as the month of January ; a single

fast, and it is as though a famine.

Au jour le jonr.

Al Kashmir murdah-pasand.

The Kashmiri people are fond of the dead.

To •' never speak evil of the dead " is a prominent good feature in the Kashmiri's character.

Alagadih buddn tah malagndih wotalan ; Witha hukhan; hhiar grasan ; filiht hd tnuliht ds% wundur rt'.j.

The great man will sink; the base man will rise; the river will dry up ; the sewer will roar (by reason of the much water); then, O Father, will be the monkey rule {i.e., a time of utter irreligion and great oppression). A saying of Shekh NOr-nd-din, who wasa very famous Muhammedan

aaint in Kashmir about six hundred years ag^. His shrine is at Tsrir,

a village about fifteen miles from Srinagar; and every October there

is a great mel& there in his honour.

Wetha is the Jholum river in its course through Kashmir. Hind 6

priests call it Yetasta.

Alah kulis tulah kul, A mulberry tree from a pumpkin plant A mountain from a mole>hilI.

1

10

Alak ruwuni w&ngan Icaduni.

To sow pumpkins, and reap egg-plants.

To begin a thing and not finish it.

Wdngun is known in Hindustan by the name of brinj41 ( solO' nurn melongena), the egg-plant. The Kashmiris dry it, and eat it during the winter.

Alan chhuh phal tah nindan chhuh donih.

There is fruit to the plough, and rice for the raking.

Thrift brings its own reward.

j/ilbailas nah chhas akl tah nah maut. Neither understanding nor death to a fat man.

" Fat paunches have lean pates. " — Shaks.

All ('ngun samMle ; fakir auye damule.

O All, prepare your garden ; the fakir has come to dance.

Quoted as a warning to prepare for any person's coming.

^'FaTiir has come to dance" Fakirs stamp upon the ground, gesticulate, and in other ways annoy people, if their demands for largesse are not quickly complied with.

Ali dits'jv talih gyav zuwav kurus lyav tah lyav.

All oiled her head with ghi, and the lice licked and licked

it all up.

Money in the hands of a worthless person.

Alih drds tah talih logum tsel.

In the moment of birth my head was squeezed.

Man commences his troublous career as soon as he is bom.

Alikmini dandah hatoar ; ale nah atsan garah, tah hy&k nah

neran barah. One-eyed 'All's yoke of oxen, — one will not enter the house^

and the other will not come out of it.

A poor man with a refractory family.

Most people in the valley will remember one-eyed 'A15 and hia two troublesome bullocks.

Alond U/mdun

Seeking to get at a thing which is hanging out of reach.

Clavam Hercule extorqu^re.

Amal gav gulih mat.

Employment is like dirt upon the wrist.

Employment is uncertain ; like dirt upon the wrist, it quioklf comes and goes.

11

Am^inalas khiydnat.

To embezzle a deposit (is a tremeDdous sin). The height of dishonour.

Amanuk tot, Aman's pony,

A bad, lazy fellow who requires a lot of uiifing before he will do anything,

Aman is a small Kashmiri village. A man once porohased a pony from this place, and was setting forth on his way home, when the beast suddenly stopped, and nearly threw the rider over his head. Any little ditch or such like place caused the pony to thus stop. Eventually the purchaser got off the animal, and adced a passer-by to mount it. The other man being a good horseman was not afraid to hit the pony ; and so for the rest of the journey, and ever after- words, the pony went splendidly.

Amas suet har gayih khumas 9uet garah karun. To Quarrel with the common people is like keeping house mth a stupid, untaught person (which is misery).

Ami phukah chhuh dazdn Uong tah ami phukak chhuh

gatjMn pati. With this blow of the breath the lamp is lit, and with this

blow it is extinguished.

" Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing."

Am{ y&rahalan ehhih kntiy^ih naii pkuiar^vamati 1 How many water-pots this ghat has broken ! A source of much evil.

Amin gogalan til tan phenin. Like mixing oil with raw turnips.

Treasured wrath.

The oil will not settle, but runs all over and about the turnips. In this way anger spreads over the breast of an unforgiving man.

Amin natun mdl.

A desire for raw flesh (is it ?)

Cited to a man who is impatient for his food, &0t

Amis dudas suet dabadab. To wrestle with uncooked milk. To strive with the weak.

Amis panas darah dar. To pull raw thread. To fight, or bully, a weak fellow.

12

An mana, karfana; rachhun chhui bod gunah.

Bring a maund, and spend it. It is a great sin to store.

Jogis sometimes quote these words,

An Wetky dis dam, adah budin garni gam.

Bring the Jhelum, drink it, and then let the whole Tillage be

drowned.

An unprincipled man who has no care for others, as long as he can accomplish his own selfish ends.

Anawune, zenawune,

Ranih hinde madano.

ThakamutCy losamute,

Mdjih hinde gubaro.

At the time of earning and bringing,

A wife's friend you are ;

But when you're tired and weary,

A mother's son you are.

Anchdr-nut aim khut tah beyis hut.

A pickle-pot, — one man's (pickle) turned out splendidly,

another man's (pickle) went bad.

The same concern, &c-, may turn out well for one, but adrerte for another man,

Andah kanih manzbdg.

Being outside or on the edge, to sit in the midst.

The monkey, who would fain use the cat's paw to pull th© chestnuts out of the fire.

Andarah daznn panah tah nebarah dazdn lok. Inside he himself bums, and outside the people burn.

The genteel poor man. Poverty and cold are burning him within, whilst outside, owing to his wearing nice clean clothes, the people burn with envy, supposing that he has money.

Andarah gom wirih hund dudur tah nebarah rodum tserik

hund rang. "Within me is the rottenness of the willow, but without

continues the colour of the apricot.

Andarah tshunihas thukah tah nebarah dupun " Gumah

dm." Inside somebody spat upon him. Outside he said, ** It is

perspiration."

Salvd dignitate.

13

Andarit andariy wot Tsandari gom. Secretly, secretly, he reached the village of Tsandar. " In truth, he is in great distress."

Andarim dddi no tnashinam marit N^barim shudi kyah barah wuini buk ? I shall never forget the pains of my heart, even after death. Shall I wish then for outside happiness ? Refusing to be comforted.

Andarim nah tutj iah nebaritn nahpafj. No strength within, and no respect without. Anetis at yiyih ladanah tah mantis wdtis. If the cover be filled then it holds one pound and a half. Think before yon leap.

Anhaharin arm&n tah haharimuti pashemdn.

The bachelor wishes (to get married) , the married man

regrets (that he got married).

Marry in haste, and repent at loisore.

Ani chhur lam tal tah h'lhsih dyuthus nah.

A blind man sat down behind a pile of stones, and thought

that nobody had seen him.

The osti-ioh hides his head in the sand, Ac.

Ani 9un2 kulai Khud&yas hawulah.

A blind man's wife is in God*8 keeping.

Anigatih guli alawuni. To show affection in the darkness. Kind to the unthankful.

Anim sui, toavum auU lajum sui, panasui,

I brought the nettle, I sowed the nettle, and then the nettle

stung me.

Ingratitude.

In olden times there was a famous fakir in Kashmir, who punished himself in the following way. He uprooted a nettle, and fixing soma mud upon the palm of his hand, planted the nettle therein. All the day and all the night for several years he held out his hand with the palm uppermost, and the nettle in it. The plant grew and was strong and by reason of this, thousands of Hindis used to visit the fakir, and give him alms.

The fakir had a disciple, who eventually became very jealous of the honour which his master received ; and one day in a fit of anger, he hit the n«ttle, earth and all, oat of his master's hand. The fakir

14

then spoke the above saying concerning both the nettle and hxa disciple, whom he had brought up and nourished from his infancy.

The sting-nettle is a plant sacred to Shiva, who is said to have first planted it. Hindiis pluck the leaves, and throw them over the god's favourite symbol, the lingam.

Anin manz kdni sundar.

An one-eyed woman is beautiful among blind women.

Anis hdwun sari wat he-aklas nah Itahh, All men show the blind man the way ; nobody can show the man without understanding.

Anis musht Mwuni, nah chheh gunahi nnh sawuh.

To show the thumb to a blind man is neither a sin nor a virtue.

Advice is lost on some people.

" To show the thumb" is a vulgar act amongst children and stupid people in Kashmir.

Anis rat tah doh hehui.

Night and day are the same to the blind man.

Anit natsandwuni ! (Enough) to make a cover dance ! A great trouble or surprise.

Anhdr tah mal, nakar tah Tcasam. Confess and property, refuse and oath.

One man charges another man with a debt. The other man denies. Then the matter is carried into court, where the judge and people sometimes cite the above proverb, which means " Confess and pay, or refuse and swear to it."

Ant an tah hdwanai.

Bring it to me and I'll show it to you.

An angry retort when a man expresses surprise that his friend has not seen, or heard of, a certain person or thing.

Aporih sanduk ; yapdrih sanduk ; duhuli khawas yad banduk. On that side a bo.^ ; on this side a box ; and a gun to the stomach of him, who breaks the fast (of Ramazan).

Apdrih thrum gudih han, yaparih hurmas ras, sal kurum

Mdkkah Madinas. From the other bank of the river I brought a small fish,

and here I made soup, and then invited all Mecca and

Medina.

15

Ap6rimav mun ddnih yaparimin gayih athan halk,

A man on that side pressed the grain, but to a man on thii

side a gall became.

One does the scath, another has the harm.

Apih hund gyav,

A foolish woman's ghi.

A foppish person.

A']g^h is a term applied only to a woman, whose one care is dress, he.

Kashmiri people, both wealthy and others, mb their hair with fresh ghi. Scented oil is never used.

Apuzis god kyah T

A lie has no beginning.

Art di auri tah ur gav nak kanh.

All people came (t>., were born) in good health, but not ont became (i.e., continued) healthy.

Arimi kadih nah miij tah phakiran dAra$ kisht. The gardener had not dug out the radish, when the fakir held the alms-bowls in front of him.

Aris p/mas drakah. A leech to a healthy body. Soifering for others.

Aian ai tah lasah kit ah pAlhi T If I laugh not how can 1 live ? R\d9 si sapia.

Asat gaUhih phulai dauniy adah gayih phulai teuchhuni. One's mouth must blossom before he goes to see the flower-'

blossoms.

The different pleasore^gardens around the Dal Lake are constantly and largely visited by the natives, and especially, when the plum* trees and roses and lilacs arc in full bloom. They take their diimer with them, and spend the greater part of the day on the excursion.

The expression ** ane's mouth must blossom" refers to eating and drinking.

The natives have also got a proverb in Persian with the same meaning. — Ah i Dal dtash numdyad chuh na hdshad tabbdkh.

Asas kuUh Uuiyo dh'i woddh drdiyo.

When food had entered your mouth, blessing came forth

therefrom.

The gueet flatters and blesaea his host.

m

Asas mazah tdh yad dazah-dazah. A taste in the mouth and a burning in the stomach. Just enough to wbet the appetite.

Asawai tah gindawai koryav^ khyun chyun chhuh yih.

Let us laugh and play girls. This (thumb) is eating and

drinking.

Some people are very mild in speech and witty in manner, but they are not very liberal in their dinner arrangements, or in the matter of largesse.

' This thumb" refers to the vulgar Kashmiri custom of holding up the thumb as an answer in the negative, when asked if there is anything in the house."

Ashnav gav 'pasTimv.

An acquaintance (or kinsman) is like a dung and refuse boat,

(z.e., a nuisance).

" Save me from my friends."

Ashraf gav sui yas ashrafih asan.

The man with the gold is the gentleman.

Another version of this proverb cited by those, who are of another way of thinking, is : —

Ashrdf gav sui yas ashrafi asih» He, who is gentle, is a gentleman.

Asmdnah pyav tah zaimnih logus dab.

He fell from heaven to earth and is wounded.

High towers fall to the ground with greater crash.

Asmdnah waUh balai tah khana i gharib kujdst ? Misfortune descends from heaven, and where is the poor man's

house.

From hand to mouth.

Atun chhuh hechhimiwan nah usun chhuh mandachhdwun. To be (wealthy) teaches, not to be (wealthy) makes ashamed.

Asun chhuh hharas khasun.

It is a shame to laugh (immoderately).

'' And the laugh that spoke the vacant mind." — Goldsmith. Kharaf khasun, lit, to mount an ass, which, according to the natives, is infra dig.

17

Atti Muhammad Khunin gndik beguri.

Impress for the work of Ata Muhammad Khan's (fort).

The present fort of Uari Parbat was built by ktk Muhammad Khan about sixty years ago. On Fridays, until the work was com- pleted, every citizen, whether rich or poor, young or old, was forced to take up one stone to the top of the hill.

Oppression.

Ath gai sheth gai,

Yiin pi'.htsh pet/i got.

Eight gone, sixty gone.

These five besides gone (what are they ?).

What is a little more trouble to a man already overwhelmed with itP Persian — Abe ki at aar guztuht ehi yak nexa o chi haxdr neua.

Alh shubih eu kut lubih ?

Will the ftoul desire this beautiful thing T No.

" It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer. " — Prov. xx. 14.

Ath'ichan puntshan ungajan andar kit lukut ; mnhr ckhik

meUn kisi. The little finger is the smallest of the five fingers of the hand ;

and yet the signet-ring is worn upon the little finger.

Vhe humble shall be exalted.

Athah chhuk balih tah katkah ehhuk halih nah. A wound in the hand is well, but to be wounded by (unkind) words is not well.

Athah ehhui tah mi^trut tjul.

As soon as the hands were washed friendship ran away.

After a native tlttmer an ewer of water is brought round, in which the gvests wash their hands.

Athah ditam brokthah yitam.

Give me your hand and come in front of me.

To lend a hand.

Athan waryan puck nad shtthan waryan puk sr^h.

For eight years the river ran, and for sixty years (after the

waters had disappeared) the ground remained damp.

Men die but their deeds live.

Panj&bi — Admi nahin rahindd, par ddmi d< alrdhjdndi hai.

At hi bimat khyun tah at hi bunas chharun. To eat out of a vessel and then defile it.

To receive a man's hospitality and then slander him. 3

18

Afyuv bulah-haf-

An iniBge made from flour.

A weak man.

Bulah-hat are the little images, horses, &c., which children play with. A sugar toy.

And Jvht'ki and phuki. Half dust, half blowing. A fool and his money are soon parted.

Audur talh mudur. Wet and sweet.

Spoken concerning bazar food.

Ant gaUhih nerun yd talimih Uakajih yd peihimih.

The flour must come out either by the lower or by the upper

stone.

By hook or by crook.

Av ai tall yeruv, gav ai tah gdsuv.

If it has come then it is like wool, but if it has gone then it

is as grass.

Indifference. Av tah jiv chhus haruhar. Coming and going are alike to him.

A happy-go-lucky individual.

*' Awah, " layih p/'hts'h tah ** Nah " layih lachh. '* Yes" is worth Rs. 50 and '* No" is worth a lakh.

No of some people is more esteemed than the Yes of others. — " Oraculo Manual," Balthasar Gracian.

Ayas wate tah gay as tih wate j

Shnanz suthe losiim doh ;

Wuchhum chandas tah hur nah athe.

Ndivah to? as kyah dimah huh ?

I came by a way (i.e., I was born) and I also went by a way

(i.e., I died). When I was in the middle of the way (ie., when my spirit

was between the two worlds) the day failed. I looked in my pocket, but not a cowrie came to hand. What shall I give for crossing the ferry ?

A saying of Lai D6d, who was a very holy Hindu woman.

The Kashmiri Hindu belief is that during the sixth month after death the spirit of the deceased has to cross the waters of the Vaitaraiii; but it is impossible to get to the other side of the river

19

except by special means, as the waters arc so deep and stormy and the op[)osiii^ powers, preta, yamadat, matsya, and kumia arc so strong. Acconlingly about this time the bereaved rehitions call the family Braliman, who repeats to them the portions appointed to bo road on this occasion. Among other things the departed spirit is reprosonted as standing on the brink of the river and crying " Where is my father ? Where is my mother ? Where are my relations and my frieuds ? Is there no one to help me over this river. ?" This is sometimes recited with much feeling, and great are the lamentations of the bereaved, who now with sobs and tears present a little boat and paddle, made of gold, or silver, or copper, according to their position, to tho Brail man ; and in the boat they place ghk milk, butter, and rice. Tho boat is for the conveyance of the spirit across Vaitarahi, and tho provisions are for the appeasement of the contrary powers preta, matsya, and others, who will try to turn back tho boat, but who on having these, ghi and rice, Ac, thrown to them, will at once depart tliuir own way.

The HindAs believe that if this ceremony is performed in a right manner, a boat will bo at once present upon tho waters, close to that portion of the bank of the river, wliere the spirit is waiting and praying for it, and that tho spirit getting into it will be s^ifi^ly convoyed to the opposite side. The gift-boat, however, is taken home by the BHkhroan, and generally tamed into money as soon as possible.

At the moment of death amongst other things a pais& is placed within the mouth of the corpse, wherewith to pay tho ferry.

The belief hero expressed ia common in one shape or another to all nations and peoples, bat e«pectally to all Indo-Kuroiiean nations. In Grecian mythology it was the rirer Styx, Acheron, or Cocytus ; and Charon rowed tho shades across in his little boat. A small piece of money, too, was placed in the mouth of the dt-ad, to pay the fare to the Stygian ferryman. In Scan<linavia biMlios were buried in ships and boats under the belief that tlic dea<l crossed the waters in them. Coleman, p. 319, mentions that among the Garrows of Bengal also, " tho dead are kept for four days ; burnt on a pile of wood in a dingy or small boat, placed on the top of a pile," Ac. In the old French romance of Lancelot du Lac the demoi- selle d' Escalot orders that after death, her body richly dressed should be placed in a ship, and that the ship should be let go to find its own way before the \vind and waves. In Grimm's Deutsche Mythologie, 3te Ausgabe, 701, a story is told concerning some monks crossing the Rhine at Spires. In former times the Rhine, the political boundary of Germany, was also regarded as the boundary between the upper and lower world ; and " to go to the Rhine" and "to die" were mutually efjuivalent expressions: — *' A drowsy boatman is ronsed np one stormy night by a monk, who put some money into his hand, and asked to bc> ferried over the river. At first six monks get into the boat, but no sooner is it started than u great company press in, to the great iucouvenieiice of the boatman.

20

With xnnch diflBcnlty the river is crossed ; and the passengers having disembarked, the boat is immediately carried back by a strong wind to the place whence it started. More passengers are waiting there, and they, too, embark directly the boat touches the bank ; and as they enter the foremost of the strange company puts the fare into the ferryman's hands with his icy-cold fingers. Some readers may not know that the Germans in olden times thoroughly believed that our own little island was the island of souls, and that to this day remnants of this belief are still to be found among them." For more particulars concerning traditions about the dead, their world, and the way to it, &c., cf . Kelly's most interesting book on " Curiosi- ties of Indo-European Traditions," Ch. IV.

Ayih wonis gayih h'ndris-

She came to the baniya's but arrived at the baker's.

To miss the mark.

This saying has its origin in a story well-known in Kashmir. Lai Ded, whose name has been mentioned before, used to peregrinate in an almost nude condition, and was constantly saying that " He only was a man, who feared God, and there were very few such men about."

One day Shdh Hamadan, after whom the famous mosque in Srinagar is called, met her, and she at once ran away. This was a strange thing for Lai DM, to do ; but it was soon explained. *' I have seen a man," she said, to the astonished baniyi, into whose shop she had fled for refuge. The baniyi. however, turned her out. Then Lai Dcd rushed to the baker's house and jumped into the oven, which at that time was fully heated for baking the bread. When the baker saw this he fell down in a swoon thinking that, for certain, the king would hear of this and punish him. However, there was no need of fear, as Lai Ded presently appeared from the mouth of the oven clad in clothes of gold, and hastened after Shah Hamadan. Cf . Note 743, Part XX of " Panjab Notes and Queries.'^

The Kashmiri Muhammedan will tell as many and long stories concerning this Shah Hamadan, or Saiyid 'Ali as the Kashmiri Pandit will tell about Lai Ded — how that when Timur Lung slew all the saiyids in his country, he accxised that monarch of impiety and said that he would not stay in his country, but by virtue of his holiness would transport himself through the air to Kashmir ; and how that he alighted in the very spot, where now the famous mosque stands in the midst of Srinagar, and within a few days after his arrival here converted so many Hindus to Islam that two-and-a-half JCharwars of Yonis or Brahmanical threads were delivered up to him.

Sh5h Hamad^n's mosque is one of the most beautiful as well as one of the most famous in the Valley. Over and beside the entrance and upon the wall of the first of the five divisions of the building axe these three Persian inscriptions ; —

21

At dil (igarat matlah i faiz e diZ jahan cut. Rav bar dar i shahansfiah i Shdh e Hamaddn att. Makrun i ijdhat ast ti dare aust du'd rd. *Arsh ast dar ash halki azii,* 'arsh nishdn ast.

• • • •

Har faiz ki dar sdfyikay e hnr-dH jahdn ast. l)ar pairaine hnzrat i Shdh e Hamaddn, ast. Shdh e Hamaddn ahki Shahanshuh e jahdn ast Ai Khdk bardh d{da ki dar raib o gumdn ast.

^ • • • •

In Hamaddn Hamaddni dihad. Ma'rifat e sirr i nihdni dihad. Ya*ne agar b^ishidat in tirru ; Az dar i Shiih e Hanuiddni hi jo,

Az gov beguh wuini tculah paguh.

To-day is not the time. Now (is not the time). Come

to-morrow.

Ad Gracas Kalendat,

Az nah tah, adah har. Not to day, — when then ? To-morrow is no day.

22

B

Bubah Adamas zui zdh gabar, aki rat uwareni beyih ratlcabr. Father Adam had two sous. One was burnt and the other

was buried (i.e., one became a Hindu and the other became

a Muhammedan).

Bobah, budatham iah hhidmatak hartam. O father, become old and serve me.

The old parents are very often the slaves of the family.

Bubah matyov tah ded tih mateyih.

The father has became mad and the mother also has become mad.

A kingdom or city in a wretched plight.

During a certain king's reign the gods determined that the people should become mad from drinking the ordinary water. Now the king's wazir being versed in astrology discovered this matter and at once told the kiug of it privately. "0, king," said he, " after one month all your subjects will lose their reason from drinking the water of the country." " What shall we do ?" said the king, " that we two, at all events, may be saved." " Procure water at once," replied the wazir, "and store it up in skins." The king did so, and the result was that at the time appointed, when all the people were raving mad, he and the wazir were perfectly sane. It happened, however, that the whole country being quite beyond governing, the people were murdering one another and doing the most strange acts. At length some determined to slay the king and his wazir, and so in order to save themselves these two also drank of the diseased water and became mad. Then it was that the father and mother wei*e mad, and the above saying was fii'st spoken.

Persian — Ab-i-diwdnarji.

Babah nethar zih hamin s''>at. O father, let me be married thi moment. Impatience.

Bnbam Rishin kati.

Babam Rishi's child (i.e., disciple).

A stupid fellow.

This good saint's followera were most ignorant and stupid people. People gave alms to them only for the sake of their saint and leader,

Biiham Rishi died about the year 1474 a. d. His shrine, and a convent attached to it, lie on the road from Baramula to Gulmarg, and are amongst the richest, as well as the most frequented, places of pilgrimage in the vaUey.

23

The Bifihfs must not be confoanded with the Rishis, a sect of Muhammedan peasants, nor with the seven Rishis (also Rikhis), or ancient llindft sagos, Vashishta and others. They are Muhammodans, and did not many or cat meat, or show themselves to men as Rishis; but nsed to wander about the jungles, and by the highways, and livo on whatsoever they might tind. Now, however, customs have changed with the times, and the true Muhammedan tells you with sorrowful countenance, that there is not one real Rishi in the country, and has not been since Akbar's days, when largo land and hoQso property wore given to these people, and they became spoiled and got worse and worse, until now they are so degenerated as to some- times marry and oat flesh and amass money, and do other things equally, and even more, contrary to the spirit and pattern of their predecessors in olden days. Abii'l Fazl in his book remarks that in Akbar's time " the most respectable people of Kashmir were the Rishis, who though they did not suffer themselves to be fettered with trailitions, were doubtless worshippers of God. They did not revile any sect, or ask anything of any one. Xhey planted the roads with fniit trees to furnish the traveller with refreshment," Ac The Aliihammodans believe that it was in response to these holy Eishia' intt^rccssions :hat Akbar was thrice defeated by the Chak klogg, when he attempted to take the country. According to their account, also, a fakir called Khwaja Uwys was the founder of this sect ; and ho lived during Muhammed's life time at Kurun, a little village of Yemen in Arabia; and that the Prophet would never march to this place because a savour of holiness went up tbenoo on aoooont of this holy fakir's residing there with his mother.

There were about two thonsnnd Rishis in Kashmir during Akbar'* time. Now-a>days there are perhape five thousand, but they are not revered by the more educated and respectable Muhammedans in the valley. Cf. Col. Yule's "Travels ©f Marco Polo," VoL I., p. 179.

Bachhih f'aih animah h'.Uah machhih Urunaa !

If there should be a little rice-water on the edge of the fire- place how many flies will congregate to it ! Vbi mel, ihi apM.

Bnchih dod chhuh lachih dod.

A child's pain is a hundred thousand pains.

Badas sir buwun chhuh b^bih andar saruf raehhun. A wicked man may as well place a snake in his bosom as tell out his secrets ; (he dare not do it).

Badit chhai badui nazar.

High looks to a great man (but not to a maimikin).

24

Badis Jchor tal marun ji'm tah lukis nah shmdas pefh.

It is better to die under the foot of a great man, than upon

the shoulder of a man of small degree.

Better to be an earl's slave than to go partner with a small shop- keeper.

Bugih bog tah nonih tok.

(After receiving his) share in the distribution of the dinner (he asked for) a dish for his grandmother.

A greedy, unsatisfied, fellow.

BahloU jandahi tah kashkul,

Bahlol, a ragged habit, and an alms-bowl,

A very poor man.

Bahlol was a genuine fakir. According to my informant, he was a brother of Ali Mardan Khm. governor of Kashmir under Sh^h Jahan, about 1650 a.d., but he did not care for the pomp and show of palace life, and so laid aside the court dress for the jandah and kashkiil.

This voluntary fakir life of one so high in learning and position was not pleasing to the governor, or to his ministers and attendants ; and various devices were resorted to for getting Bahlol to accept some distinguished office in the service of the State. At last they succeeded, and Bahlol was appointed Deputy-Inspector. All things went happily for a while, until one day it happened that in the course of his office Bahlol had to ascertain whether the bankers', baniyas', and others' weights were correct or not ; and while fulfilling this duty he discovered so much distress and fraud and trickery, &c., that he determined to know no more of it, went back quickly to his house, and doffed the grand dress of a Deputy-Inspector for the jandah kashkul and the fakir life again.

" Bajih mashidih hindyav thamavt yut Mlhavpiith wUiwah?^*

** Pananih sezarah."

" How did the pillars of the great mosque get here V*

" By their own straightness."

The way to accomplish a difficult work.

The roof of the cloister surrounding the open square in the centre of the great mosque in Srinagar is supported by wooden pillars, each formed of a single deodar tree about thirty feet high, and resting upon a plain stone base. There are three rows upon the north, south and west sides, but only two on the east side.

Bajih mashidih tjali/a kunj nerit ?

" Will the corner of the great mosque tumble out ?"

The whole country or concern is not going to ruin, simply becanao " So and-So" has died. There are plenty as good and clever as he to prosecute the work.

25

BaliJitai bnd chhih khidmatg^r. Understanding is butler to success.

liolak korih wulanai. Dishonour to a beloved daughter A torriblo wrong.

Baldi dur tah khair kahui.

May misfortune be far from you and prosperity nigh. A Kaahmiri blessing.

Bali wuehkithai zuli w&kkah dt'tdi dithmak kundalui.

O woman, you have plaited your hair very nicely, but I see

you always a kundal.

Fine olothoa do not make the lady.

Kundal is the inner earthenware part of a k&ngar, the Kashmir portable fire-place. The outer part is generally of. very pretty basket-work, which conceals the knndal's faults.

Bi'inah hatas dizih fhttnah hat tah usah hatas kyah dizih ? A hundred covers for a hundred vessels, but what shall be given (to stop) a hundred mouths.

Banas andar nar tah danaa andar har.

Arm in the pot (for serving out food) and wood under the

oven (for cooking it).

Panjabi.— ifii» tan tuhddd gkio hich ramha hai.

Band bandas mmnffih, Agah hedur tah namkar shungih.

For one acquaintance, or relation, to ask from another, is like

a master awake, whilst his servant sleeps (i.r, the one is

as much a matter of shame as the other).

Band kus ? Zih chandah.

Who is (your) friend ? (Your) pocket.

Bdngis chheh hang dapun.

It is the work of the bangih to cry the bdng.

Another version is :—

Bangis ehhud bung dapuni matih kih nah neh anini ?

Is the bangih to call the bang, or to bring the people (to

prayer) ?

Every man to his own work.

Banq IB the Muhammedau call to prayers. 4

26

Bf'tparich kut chhai sudarah kdiiz pov hisky yut tsunakas tyut

kadahas. A tradesman's shop is like an earthenware vessel, as much

as is put into it, so much is got out of it.

Tradesmen are frequently bankers, also, in Kashmir.

Bar dit aohh tovranih.

To shut the door and put on a terrifying look. A coward.

Bar dit hhar natsan.

The ass shuts the door and dances.

A man very spirited and full of words in his own house, but out- side he does nothing.

This is also a Kashmiri riddle, of which the answer is, a mill-stone.

Bastah tshunit ndl Jckahardyih mandachkun. To wear sheep's skin and be ashamed of its rustling. Don't be ashamed of your real position.

Bastih s6n daher.

Three sers with the skin. (The swindler had weighed the

skin in as well).

A swindle.

Batah badyos chdnih tah garah zunai nah wath. I am the better because of your dinner, but I do not know the way to your house.

Hopes unfulfilled.

In hope of receiving something from you I have contracted a debt here and there, but now I perceive that I hoped in vain ; so hence- forth I shall not know the way to your house (i.e., will not see you).

** Batah, batah, " tah piyadah patah.

Having no food and a peon after you (because of some debt) .

Great distress.

Batah dag chhai K/irtikin surah dag.

Earning one's living is (as hard to bear) as the pain of hoar- frost in the month of October. Natives suffer terribly in their feet from walking out early on a

frosty October morning.

Batah gajih ruhun.

As garlic upon the hearth of a Pandit (so your presence is to me).

27

Hindus of the valley will not toach garlic (or onions). These are eaten only by the Mohaminodans- Hindus say that their ancestora would not eat them because of their aphrodisiac effects, which they did not wish to experience, as they had devoted themselves to religion.

Batak gardan.

To behead another with hospitality. To heap coals of fire on an enemy's head.

Baiah gav grattah. The Hindu is a mill. Muhammedans quote this jestingly of their Hind<i noighboors.

Balah lUis chhih piithah hanik wuchi'm.

Men look into the rice-pot from the top part (to judge

whether the food is cooked properly or not).

Men are judged by their speech.

Batah lukharik kir tah prt'mah htjih ihnik.

A head from the portion of rice, and a knife from the onion

plant.

There was a very holy man, who prayed unto God for justice. He had too high an opinion of himself to ask for grace also. " Only give me my deserts," he said, *' and I shall faro all right."

This good man once dined with a friend, and according to custom placed the remainder of his dinner within his t84dar, or wrap. On the way home it happened that the rice and vegetables were changed into a human h^id and a knife, both of which were saturat- ed with blood, that dropped upon the road as be walked along. A policeman noticed this, and at once enquired what was in the taiSdar. The holy man without any hesitation opened out his wrap, and, lo ! there was a human head and a knife.

Of course the poor man was immo<lintoly marched off to the prison-house. On the next day the court was assembled and the prisoner brought forth. The excitement was intense.

The case was tried, and the whole evidence was against the man . The judge considered much and long, but at last, finding no way by which he conld possibly acqnit the prisoner, ho was about to pro- nounce the sentence of death upon him, when there came from heaven the sound of a voice saying, " The man is not guilty, let him go free.'*

Ever afterwards this good man asked for grace also, when ha prayed.

Batah miski/iy nah dunya tah nah din.

The poor Hindu has neither the world nor religion.

The Muhammedans quote this saying.

28

Baiah mod shenkih.

The Pandit died from hesitation.

Once upon a time a Pandit and a Muhammedan were travelling together. In the middle of the way ran a swift stream which they had to wade. The Muhammedan crossed at once without the slight- est hesitation ; but the Pandit cried out : " Stop, stop, let me first look at my Nechi-puter to see whether it is an auspicious time for me to cross or not" He consulted the kalendar and discovered that it was not a good time. However, as he had to travel a long distance, and the day was already far spent, he dared to step into the waters ; and commenced to wade. But when he had reached the middle of the stream his heart failed him, and his legs began to tremble, so that he fell J was carried away, and dashed about by the fierce waters, and died.

JBatak nah tah hatus chhit nah tah atlas.

No food in the house, yet he wishes for sugar ; not even a

ragged cloth to his back, yet he wishes for satin.

A poor man with great desires.

Baiah pdmh tal chheh aihah hhar gaib.

Beneath half-a-pound of rice a khar (lbs. 192)^ of sin is

concealed.

Eiches cover a multitude of sins.

Baias baiah koweh baiah.

One Pandit with another Pandit is like a mountain-crow.

If one crow caws the whole flock caws. If one Pandit is in diffi- culty, all the Pandits take up the case, &c. ^

Baias bod doh tah 'phuJcah ;

Musalmmas bod doh tah shrukah ;

Bufizas bod doh tah bc'ikah.

On his big day the Hindii fasts ;

On his big day the Muhammedan feasts ;

On his big day the Shi'a weeps.

Baias tsed Musalmanas yad^ tah r^fizas hud. To the Hindu endurance, to the Musalmdn (i.e., the Suni) stomach, and to the Shi'a weeping.

An allusion to the Hindu's much fasting, to the S6ni's eating capacity, and to the profound lamentation of the Shi'a during the days of the Muharram, when he commemorates the death of 'Ali, Hasan and Husain.

29

Batav andarak toth liyahy zih tahar ? Jlowarih andarah toth hyah^ zih hahar ? Among dishes which is the favourite ? Tahar. In the wife's house who is the favourite ? Brother-in-law. Tahar— dk kind of boiled rice coloured with turmeric

BAUan izd tah putalen puzfi.

For the family distress, but for the idols aii offering. Charity begins at home.

** B'iyih myt'inih kalandarai ;

Yih nerih tih nerih khilah andarai."

** My brother monk, what will come, will come from the

harvest " (ie.j will be the result of houest toil).

The gods give everything for labour.

Bnzigaras chh^h hnzigaraa. A deceiver deceives himself.

Be-akl nah hank tah garah patah leak hah,

" Not one ignorant man ? " — Why there are eleven in every

house (t.^., the world is full of such people).

Oe monde est plein de font,

BHih andarph&nsi tah athat kH tathth.

The noose (of the executioner s rope) under the arm, and the

rosary in the hand.

Bi/ndiMtdni. — Hdth men tcuhiht aur ba^hoZ men phdnH,

Bechdn tah guris khasit ! Begging and riding upon a horse ! A proud beggar.

Beehanas banah h'lmuni.

The beggar's pot (in which he collected food) is broken.

The last straw gone.

Be-haydhas sharm dur.

To the shameless shame is distant.

Be-h'r chhuh bemur.

The unemployed, or idle man, is sick.

Be-kdr chhuh icaktli har darbdr.

An unemployed man visits every darbar.

30

Be-Tcaras chhih trah Mr,

To the idle man there are three works (viz., sleeping, quar- relling, and eating ).

Bemah haharav chhuh sah mormut.

Two brothers-in-law killed a lion (between them).

Union is strength.

The tale is, that a sister's husband and a wife's brother, who are naturally the greatest enemies to one another, were walking along together one day, when a lion chanced to cross their path. They did not run away, but each stood his ground firmly, and backed-up the other, and the result was that by their united efforts the lion was kiUed.

Be-mdlas ailah.

Cardamoms for the man, who is not hungry.

*' Bem&ro ds kyut chhui .'"' " Nah Uuk tali nah mudur** '* O, sick person, how is your mouth ?" ** Neither bitter nor

sweet. "

The answer is equivalent to our English reply, "0, thank you, I'm middling."

Be-murawat mdhnyuv chhui zan ; phaMri ha-iamah rahzan. An unmanly fellow is a woman, and a courteous fakir is a robber.

Be-suhmb chhuh dapfm " Meh suhmb nah kanh. '* The unequal man says "I have not an equal"; (but the really great man thinks himself less than the least).

Beyih sund amunat chhui Tchurawanuk nurah iungul hyuh. Another's belongings in your charge is like a live coal from the blacksmith's shop.

Beyih sund dod chhui be-mune ;

Yas dkhis banih tai sui zdne.

Another's pain is without meaning.

Only he, who suffers it, knows what it is like.

" It is impossible for any man to form a right judgment of his neighbour's suffering." — Addison.

Bichis parutsuk, " Wandas Jcunah chhuJc nebar nerm ? Vupanak, *' Betah hdlih ley ah kurum hdsil ? Haradu lanat hishir

31

Somebody said to the scorpion, *' Why do you not come out in the winter ?" He replied, " What did I get in the sprmg- time ? " Both times alike are a curse to me. Either miserable oneself or making others miserable The scorpion lives antler the ground during the winter and spends

a miserable time of it, according to the natives; and when he does

come forth from his temporary grave, it is only to give trouble to

others.

A translation from the Gulist&n : — Qaj-dum rd guftand ki " Ohird ba

aamistdn ?" " Biram na midyi guft ; ha tdpistdnam chi hunnat ast ?"

Bihl^h phhai riheh tr&wun.

Sitting down in one's chair at home and throwing out a flame. Every cook crows loudest on his own dunghill.

Bihehwani tjarih. A sitting sparrow.

On probation.

The sparrow must keep a good look-oat, or some boy with a caterpault, or perhaps a oat, will notioe it and kill it.

Bihit whi poni toly&T

Will the grocer sit and weigh water?

Nothing better to do ?

Bikh manff/in tah put rang/tn. Asking for aUns and dyeing his coat. A helpless man's wish.

Bir Balan purut* Akbarat, ** Jangah wizih Jcyah til&h ? " Dupanas ** Yih brohfhah peyih.'*

Bir Bat asked Akbar, " What weapons they should fight with, when the time for fighting arrived?" He replied, *• Whatever you find at hand."

Bir Balanih korih purutj Akbar ptidshdhan, " Kyah mahnyuv chhwi parasan?** Dupanas^ ** Dund chhud dud diwnn ?"

Akbar, the king, asked B(r BaUs daughter, ** Can a man give birth to a child ? " She replied, ** Can an ox give milk ? "

A Roland for an Oliver.

Bir Bal was Akbar's great minister. The Muhammedan ministers bated him and tried to get rid of him. Bir Bal was often punished on account of what they said. One day a Muhammedan minister said to Akbar : " Will your Majesty please get some bullock's milk from Bir Bal." Akbar promised that he would give the order, and

32

on the following morning there was the paper signed and sealed by the king, spread out before Bir Bal, ordering him to procure some bullock's milk within fifteen days, or else die. Bir Bal was over- whelmed with fear and astonishment. The minister's daughter seeing her father in this wretched state at once devised a scheme. She went ofE straight to the butcher's shop, and there soaked her tsadar, or wrap, in some blood lying about, and then went and washed it in the part of the river opposite the king's palace. Akbar noticing this, enquired the reason of the blood. She replied : *' No, I have not murdered any one ; but yesterday Bir Bal was delivered of a child in the house." Akbar said : " Can a man bear a child" ? The girl answered : " Can a bullock give milk ?"

Bir Bal was exalted to still greater honor and power on accoont of this shrewdness of his daughter.

Readers will probably be disgusted at the ridiculousness of this story, but at Basle so late as the fifteenth century great excitement was caused by the announcement that a cock had laid an egg. I may be pardoned, perhaps, for qaoting the following from " Cham- bers's Book of Days" : —

" At Basle, in 1474, a cock was tried for having laid an egg. For the prosecution it was proved that cocks' eggs were of inestimable value for mixing in certain magical preparations ; that a sorcerer would rather possess a cock's egg than be master of the philosopher's stone ; and that in Pagan lands Satan employed witches to hatch such eggs, from which proceeded animals most injurious to all of the Christian faith and race. The advocate for the defence admitted the facts of the case, but asked what evil animals had been proved against his client, what injury to man or beast had it effected ? Besides, the laying of the egg was an involuntary act, and as such, not punishable by law. If the crime of sorcery were imputed, the cock was innocent ; for there was no instance on record of Satan having made a compact with the brute creation. In reply, the Public Prosecutor alleged that, though the devil did not make com- pact with brutes, he sometimes entered into them ; and though the swine possessed by devils, as mentioned in Scripture, were involun- tary agents, yet they nevertheless were punished by being caused to run down a steep place into the sea, and so perished in the waters. The pleadings in this case, even as recorded by Hammer- lein, are voluminous ; we only give the meagre outlines of the prin- cipal pleas ; suffice it to say, the cock was condemned to death, not as a cock, but as a sorcerer or devil in the form of a cock, and was with its egg burned at the stake, with all the due form and solem- nity of a judicial punishment."

Bir Balun kat,

Bir Bal's ram.

One day in reply to some ministers who were slandering Bir Bal, Akbar said : '* Never mind, if Bir Bal is a Hindu, he is a wise and

83

clftver man, and worthy of the confirlenoe. which I ha^o in him Shall I prove to you his wisdom jituI shrewdness ? Cull all the ministers. " Aklmr then fjnve to each minister a ram. and onlered them to feed each his ram for the space of two months, and to take care that at the ond of that period, they should not be henvier t)r lijfbter than thoy were then at that raomeut. Ue also caused the name of each mluister and the weight of bis ram to be written down.

Bfr Bal took his ram and fed it in the nsnal way, hut constantly kept a dog iwar it. Tke coaseiiuenco was that the poor ram from very fear did not become any fatter or thinner, but was altojfether in ittdtu uno at the erul of the allotted time. Some of the other ministers ti^nve their rams grass in the morning', and not at night ; and gome fed their rams one day nnd not the next day ; an<l in variona other way.-* thoy tried to keep them in Ihe same condition ; but at the end of the two month**, when all the ministers and their rams were again assembled before Akbar, only Bfr Bal's ram was found to bo the right weight. " Did I not tell yon," said the king, "that ho was wiser and better than you all ? "

*' liir Bal's ram." These words are quoted, when any person coun- teracts whatever good he may have done, by performing some evil work, e.g., a Kashmfrf would cite these words against n man who WTW especially liberal to a servant one day, and legged him severely in a fit of temper on the following day.

JRlfhis gi'isah diy'.r.

Money for cutting grass to an idle man.

Wages to a servant, who has very little work. Bod ai I'sik audui totih ckhuh bodui. If a great mnn becomes half (i.e., comes down in the world)

still he is great.

Jfort^Hit n^n miUat ginus. Bod badih jt't/ir kadih ; aup badih tah tup kidih. If a man of good family becomes great, he will give pensions

in land (to the people) ; but if an ignoble man becomes

great, he will take out the very hairs of their heads. Bod k'Wtat kurhak ? zik modyav, *' Who made you a great man V* " Death " {i.e., Relations

died and left you their position and money).

Persian. — Kas na Duinad darsard monk gardad kat-Khudd. Bod mynnd gaUhik kkyun tah bad kath gaUhih nah

karani. Tou must eat a big mouthful, but you mustu*t do much

work. (Oh, no!)

Spokeu sarcastically to a lazy dependant. 5

34

Boi ffav h^ni binih gayih ihani.

Brother is (hard like) a stone, and sister is (soft as) butter.

Bor chhuh jahannanmk jjor.

A burden is one of hell's storeys.

This saying is rather against the idea that the coolie thinks his load a trifle.

Bozit zur tnh dishit un.

Be as the deaf man hearing and the blind man seeing.

A little paternal advice to a child — " Be as if yon had heard and seen nothing."

Brogas dapyiiky " Tuhth chhii haj. *' Dupanak, " Nah tah

kyah chhum syud .'*" They said to the heron, " Your bill is crooked." He replied,

" Am I not all crooked ?"

Bhojpuri. — " HahsuA lie tun terh Tcdhe ?" " Ato apnd gauh se."

Bruri hindi gyav hhenah chhum nah lagan tyut, yut hruri

hindi lui gilahwanah. I am not so angry at the cat eating the ghi, as I am at her

shaking her tail.

" 'Twas not the loss that I minded so much as the man's rudeness and impenitence."

Persian. — Zi roghan khurdan e gurhana ndlam, zi dum jumbidanash dshufia hdlam.

Brr'ri hund hal hyuh, athih nah yiwun huiisih. Like the secundine of a cat, no one can get it.

A man here, there, and everywhere — no finding him.

Hindus think that whoever succeeds in obtaining the after-birth of a cat will become exceedingly rich and prosperous. Only three or four persons in the whole city have been known to get it, and they all are very wealthy. As soon as this precious treasure is obtained it is put into a jar we)l covered over and kept in the house. Blessed are the people in whose dwelling it is placed.

Bruri znn. The cat's moon.

'' Such excitement, as that I could not sleep or do anything." Natives say that cats are fond of the 'moon, and get more and more excited as she increases. They remain out all the night and disturb the whole neighbourhood with their shrieks and depredations.

1 he London Review says : — The Egyptians worshipped the cat as a symbol of the moon, not only because it is more active after sunset, but from the dilation and contraction of its orb, symbolical of the waxing and waning of the night -goddess.

35

Brnris nah ^* bishtah, *' tah hunts nak " durah ;'' tyut chhuh

nek ! He has not even a " bislitah" for the cat, nor a " durah" for

the dog — so good is he !

Ho wouM not hurt a worm.

Bishtah is a sound for driving away cata,

Durah is a sound for driving away dogs.

BrurUai pakah ychan saran rozakan nak pachhin.

U the cat grew wings, the water-fowl could not Uve in the

hikes.

A cunning tyrannical fellow chooked from doing much harm by siokness or |M)verty, Ac.

Persian. — Gurba e mis\in agar par ddshtef tukhm i gunjitfhk az jahdn bard:Ukte.

Brimjih ckhhittik Walur puzun !

Sweeping away the waters of the Walur Lake with the branches of the Briniij !

Vrendt'c la lnnc avec U» dents.

Bror mi'irun. To beat the cat.

Pour cncournjer les autres.

Tirimti. — Dhi nidrun putoh le tarag.

A fiittiur on the occasion of his son's marriage gave him a little BiHJciul mlvice. " You aro going to bo married, my son ; and you will wish that your wife should bo quiet and submissive to you in all matters. Follow the advice, which I now give you. Procure a cat, and one night after your marriage so arrange that the animal shall be in the sleeping room at the time, when you and your wife retire to rest. You will go to the room as usual, and on entering it you will ])rotend to bo very much surprisotl and annoyed that the cat, should be found there, and you will draw your sword at once and slay it. Your wife, of course, will be terribly frightened, and from the sight of the slain cat, and a hint from you that she will fare likewise if she is not very careful over hcniclf, you may de|)ond upon it that she will bo the proper, dutiful wife that she should be."

Bror wuchhit ffatshih " bishtah " khasun. "When he sees a cat, he must cry " bishtah."

"Why don't you sjiy this before the iniiu's face? What is tho good of threatening him, when he is absent ?"

Buchih phuharih tah nindurih pathur.

Burnt bread for the hungry and the bare ground for sleep.

Appetite is the beat sauce and tiredness the best bed.

36

Buchis huni moz haltil.

It is lawful for a hungry man to eat the flesh of a dog.

Neccssitas nun habet li'jem.

Budah ashah mohari mushah. An old man's love is worth a guinea a pinch. JHushak, a pinch (of snuS or tobacco, &c.)

Budah h'wah jiigah jityah. Dancing an old crow (on the hand).

Fussing about anything unworthy.

Budnn tah lohulm hunz khidmal ff'ffhih nah Jiaruni.

Do not enter the service of the old or the young (because

the old will soon die, and the young do not remember). Budun tah toadun ; budun tah mashun ; budun tah nashun. To become old and to cry ; to become old and forget ; to

become old and decay.

" Yet is their strength labour and sorrow." — Ps. xc. 10.

Buhogunns chhih bah fjuan.

The Buhogun has twelve attributes.

Buhogun or Bhog"n is a small brazen vessel, vrith a wide moath. In it the tea is made, rice is cooked, ghi is prepared, &c.

Bvjih buthis kanahwt'jih. Earrings upon the face of an old woman. •* An old lady with a hat on !"

Bujih (jabih chheh lifsan hanzan bastayi nun surun. The old ewe takes salt out of the skin of a weak sheep.

It is the custom to carry salt, ftour, &c., about in skins. Salt is constantly given to animals.

Bujih gniyih isii tas ov hit.

An old woman tumbled down, and she got excused.

A person full of excuses.

Bujih labyax' Icujih tal fjimt ; ad ah gayih phut hit. An old woman found an apple under the tree, and after- wards she (always) went (to that tree) with a basket (live once, and they always expect ; and vei-y often expect more.

Bujih vijuk bar tami nyuv mashidih hand.

An old w^oman's door was taken away ; so she went and

took the door of the mosque.

It is a habit of the Kashmiii tradesman to make up for his losses by plundering other customei'S.

37

Bitjih tah brdrik tjiuweyih har tah wanakin hdpatan

tj'yih Idr. An old woman and a cat fought with one another, and fear

came upon the bears of the wood,

Punisbment visiteU u\khi the wrong persons.

Tliere was a poor oM helpless woman, who used to beg for her food by day and cook it at night, linlf of this food sho would eat in the morning and the other half in the evening. After a while a cat got to know of this arrangement ond came and nte the meal for her. This old woman whs very gtxxl and patient, and so sho continued for many days without saying err doing anything to the thief. But one night sho could not endure the cat's impudence, and BO laid hold of it. Sho argued with herself as to whether sho should kill it or not. " If I slay it." she said, " it will be a sin ; but if I retain it alive, it will be to my heavy lose." Accordingly she deter- mined to only punish it. She procured some cotton -wool and some oil, and soaking the one in the other tied it on to the cat's tail, and then set it on fire. Away rushed the cat across the yard — up the side of the window — and uixm the n>of, where its flaming tail ignited the thatch, and sot the whole houMe on fire. The Hames 8pr«ad to the other houses, until after a short time the whole village was in one mighty blaze. The news R)>ri>ad far and wide, and the governor of the city sent the soldiers ; but they only increased the damage by shouting and in other ways exciting the |>oople, so that they ran about* wihlly. n«)t knowing what they were doing; and many received very seriinis burns.

The governor, who now had reached the village, seeing these poor snfferers, at the advice of the doi'tor, oniororl the soldiers to march at once for the jungle and kill as many bears as they could, and bring their fat to him ; for the doctor had said, that if for tho space of two days bear's grease were applied to tho bums, they would perfectly heal. Tho soldiers were rather afraid to veniuru their lives in this work, and not a few of thom ran away, when thoy saw the boiirs. The score or vo who kept their ground were slain ; and ono poor fellow, whilst dnng, spoke tho above words, which liave long since pa^^sed into a proverb.

Eventually many beai-s were slain. Hence tho boars an well as tho |>oor soldiers were killed, and all because of the quarrel between the old woman and the cat.

Bulchik kaldl tah hi'r han'm. Buiuilc lawful, but cowrie prohibited. Straining at a gnat, but swallowing a camel.

Bnlih'ri gayih w'sur-i-lchi'.na.

The fire-place is the ulcer of the house {i.e., cats up the expenses, and souietimcs burns the whole place down).

38

BuTchdri, a fire-place in shape like our English stove, built of dried mud, and used only by the few wealthier classes for warming the house, but never for cooking purposes. Wood only is burnt in the bukhari.

Bumasinui zdnih satuti sunz dig.

The worm will know the pecking of the lapwing.

Bun lam wuchhit Uun him nazar.

(Apparently) looking below, but (really) seeing in every direction. A slirewd, careful master.

Buth wuchhit bog tah Ualdj wuchhit ts/hgij.

The face sees the dinner and the backside sees the tsangij.

Suu>}i' cuique tribuito.

Tsdhgij is a round piece of matting for squatting upon.

Buzi busi gudah ItUewun osm('inas suet. He cooks his fish by the sun and eats.

A man so full of himself, that he listens to nobody.

Buzun bror kdmuni, kahan garan kuni thov, buzun bror

h'.muni. A cat for roasting is obtained with difficulty; only one frying- pan for eleven houses; a cat for roasting is obtained with difficulty. Hard times.

These words are said to have been first spoken in the time of 'Azim Khan, one of the old Path.'in conquerors, whose reign of terror and oppression will long be remembered in the valley. The Hindus are especially bitter against his raeinorv, as he used to fine them so much a head, and so much extra for the tiki, the I'eligious mark, which they wear on their foreheads.

39

C

Chiu ham yn y'ii± lekin tatj.

It does not mutter whether the tea is less or more, but it

nriust he hot.

Two kinds of tea, aiul two ways of preparing it, aro mot with in the valley. Thcro is the Surati chiU, something liko our Engliuh tea, which is imported from the Panji'ib and Latl^k ; and the Sabz chiU, the cek>brated bnck toa, which n>aches Kashmir vid Iiad6k. The first way of pre(>anition is called tho Mughal method, Mugul eluU, Hero is the receipt : — For every tola or rupee's weight of tea in the pot put five cups of cold water, boil for half-an-hour, then add more cold water together with sugar and condiments, and allow to boil fbr another half-an-hour. Then add milk, stir well, and serve roun<l hot to tho guests ad libHum. Tho second moduit pn-parandi is called Shiri chdi, of which this is the rccifie: — Place the required quantity in tho tea-{M>t together with a little soda and cold water and boil for half-an-hour. Then add milk, salt, and butter, nnd allow to boil for another half-an-hour, when it is ready for drink- ing. The salt used in the infusion of tea is called phul. It is found in the Nubra valley in Ladak, and contains the oarbonato aud sulphate of so<la, and a little of the chloride of sodium.

Chakih-khor ehhuk min's-dtW,

An old servant is au heir (t.f ., you must make some provision for his old age).

Chi'.ni bari'mdah ham ehhai nah th. Your doorstep is not straight.

Something wrong with the wife.

There were two friends, one of whom was wise and the other foolish. Upon a certain day, as they were strolling along the same path together, the wise man remarked to his less acute companion that his '* doorstep was not straight." The stupid friend replied in a soMiowhat aggrieved tone, *' Why, my doorstep is as straight as youis. I paid five rupees for it. Yours is a common stone. Why do yon boast over me that ' your doorstep is not straight ?' " The wise man noticing that his friend was a little disconcerted offered to waive the argument, until they both should ascertain for themselves tho truth of his statement. After some few days tho wise friend took the other friend to his dwelling ; and no sooner ha<l he arrived there then with a voice of authority he ordered his wife to. bring down a melon from the upper storey of the house, and to get some milk as well. Thia done he further commanded her to throw some ashes into the milk. The good wife without any questioning either by speech or look at

40

once obeyed. The sage then said to his friend, " I wonder if your wife will do what my wife has done, as readily and uuquestioningly ?" The foolish friend answered, " Come and see."

The two friends then went together to the house of the foolish man, who on arrival, like the other man, ordered his wife to go to the top of the dwelling and bring do^v^l a melon and to bring some milk also ; and to sprinkle some ashes over the milk. But he issued his order in a doubting, trembling manner, as was also manifest in his countenance. He evidently had not been arcuPtomed to rule in his home ; his wife had rather waved the sceptre of authority. Consequently at this time, as on many other occasions, which were well-known to the dwellers, in the neighbourhood, sbe most decidedly refused. " Why, I can not ; I will not, " she said. " Go and bring it down," roared the husband. At last the woman was frightened into obedience But there were further remonstrations before the milk appeared. " I do not know why you are giving me all this trouble," she cried, " why don't yoti go yourself ?" The foolish man now tried entreaties, and at length all the things were brought. Some more time was wasted before the woman, weeping very bitterly, threw the ashes into the milk, her only consolation being the thought that her husband had become mad.

The trial being now concluded the two friends put on their shoes and walked out of the house. When they got outside, the wise f liend said to the other, " Was I not correct when I told you that your doorstep was not straight ?"

Chanis daMnas guUb,

May roses be to your mouth.

A nice reply to any nice remark made by another.

Ch'.nis k('has chhuh neh pi'>h dimih h'-jat. There is no need to cook your cabbage.

" Now, don't talk nonsense. 1 am certain you can not, and will not, do what you say ?"

Chdyih tah Uyih gatshih augun usun.

A flame is necessary for cooking (both) tea and Indian corn.

Tea here stands for the great man and Indian corn for the man of small degree. Flame here mesms money, which all classes need according to their rank.

The Kashmiris say " Turuni chdi tah Idi chheh nah khenas Idik, '* i.e.y Tea and roasted Indian com are not worth eating cold.

Chhalanah mat chhud atsdn hih nah nerdn ? Does dirt come or go by washing 1

Does knowledge come from studying or not, &c. ?

41

Chhi'-nah leij.

The carpenter's wooden nail.

A carj)enter was once in very straitened circumstances and obliged to sell his little hoase. After he had disposed of it. and althoujjrh the buyer was living in it, the carpenter went every evening when his work was over, and hanged his wrap npon a wooden peg, which was fixed over the front door. He did this for ten days, when the owner of the house remonstrated, saying that the house was his.

The carpenter replied : '* Yes, the house is yours, but not this wooden uail." Accordingly the owner had to settle the matter by giving a few more rupees to the man.

Carpenters are constantly omitting a nail here or some other work there, in order that they may be recalled, and be able to make a two or three days more job of it. When the master detects some fault in the work and sends again for the carpenter, he invariably says to the man, *' Look hero ; what is this? ' Chh&nali k{j,' you rascal. '*

C/ihdnfih thiik chhnk nah hattih rozdn. The sound of the carpenter does not remain secret. Truth will out.

Chhdnah thukas chhul rat tailor.

Soup is ready at the sound of the carpenter.

Honoured men get well treated whereror tbej go.

A good carpenter is much flattered and pamperad by the people in whose employ he is working— of ooarae with a special

Chh'inaa tah huzitfaraa tah thahsawtiras chhai audui nmr. A carpenter, tumbler, and horse-breaker (these three) only live out half their days.

Ckhunat yUih piioun pt',neu pM ylkiHk kanik i'gun woafak-

fy'ikah nal. When the carpenter has to do anything for himself, he uses

a cabbage-stalk instead of a large beam (i e., he docs work

at the smallest expense possible).

Chhuc ifit batik tak di'v yit katkak.

When it boils dinner is ready, and when opportunity offeri

speak and act.

A word or work in season.

Chkeli ckkeli zun zi'lun.

He washes the wood before he bums it (because it may be

unclean).

A particularly scrupulous conscience.

a

42 .

Chheni mut chheh waz&n. Empty vessels sound.

Hindustani. — Adhjal g<igari chhalkat jde.

Chhetin pdtsin mdran gatai Gwush Shodah patai Idrun chhus. Gwash Shodah runs after the man who walks (in a pompous

fashion) throwing his clothes from side to side.

Tt is related that a certain man borrowed five rupees from Gwash and went and bought clothes with the money. No sooner were the clothes made, and the man was walking with great display in the bazai', then Gwash came running after him asking him to pay his debts.

Shodah is a lazy, smoking, drunken fellow.

Cho7i muhgah trak son sun ah.

Your twelve pounds of mung is only one of my meals. (My

expenses — my family, are so great).

Your gift was but as a drop in the ocean.

Muhg is a vetch or kind of kidney bean.

ChuiJcaras chmTcar tah pintshunik nauhar. Servant to a man of humble situation and servant to a small- eyed man.

Amongst other cases quoted, when one servant passes on to another and lower servant the master's order to him. The lower servants in an establishment are " fagged out of heir lives" some- times.

43

D

Dab chkwi hah ?

Is falUng-down a father ?

Why should I trouble about that fellow ?

Dah lug tah rabih pelh, dil lug tah hilih pl^th ! Tumbled into the mud, the lieart set upon water-weeds I A man *' smitten" by an ugly, ill-shaped woman.

Dachk ax hhezih tah dpaimi'm^ haehh ax Tehl^sih tah zgur.

It' a man will eat grapes, then let him eat dpaiman kind ; and if

he will eat grass then let hhn eat zyur.

Apaiman. — There arc at least six varieties of grape growing iu Kashmir, among which ilpaimdn ia said to be the best.

Zyur is a kind of caraway-soed.

Dachh leamawu Ichhfi zih paradhf, mih h/t dup panani^v, AVho ate your grapes? Strangers. O! I thought your

relations (would nave had some of them^.

He that neglects his own is worse than an infldel.

Bachkun atkah ekhuh ehhaltin khawarist tah khowur athah

chhuh ehhaltin tlachhinis. The right band washes the lefl, and the left band washes the

right.

"If the plowman did not plow, The poet ooald not write.**

Dah buU kahi zt'U.

Ten wives but eleven dispositions.

" As many tastes as heads and as different." — '* Ontoulo Manual.'* Balthasar Graoian.

Dah chandas ; dah wandas ; dah ihundaa. Ten in the pocket ; ten in the heart ; ten in the pillow. No finding out what the man's opinions really are.

Dah gaz hyur lyah tah dah gaz bun kyah ?

What is the difference whether it is ten yards up or ten yar(Ts

down ?

A regular ninny-noddy.

Once upon a time a man fell into a well. As luck would have it ther« was another man passing by that very moment with some rope

44

in his hand. Of course he threw one end of the rope to the man, who had fallen into the well, and told him to fasten it round his loins, which the man did ; and so was pulled up and saved.

On another occasion this man, who had saved the other from drowning, was passing by a high tree, when somebody shouied to him from the topmost branches, that he was fixed up there and could not possibly descend ; whereupon, having the same coil of rope hang- ing upon his arm, he said, " Don't fear, wait a moment. Here — catch hold of the rope," and he threw one end of the rope up to the man. The man caught it, and no sooner had he done so, than he was jerked most violently from the branch and pulled to the ground, dozens of yards below. Of coiu'se he died instantaneously ; and when the passers-by gathered round the corpse and enquired whether the man, who had done this deed, was mad or a murderer, he replied : " I have pulled a man up out of a well and now I have pulled a man down from a tree. What is the difference whether it is ten yards up or ten yards down as long as you save the man."

Dah thurungi dit tah pathlcunui. Ten dancings-round and yet behind.

Vain struggling against misfortune.

There is a children's game in Kashmir called Tsihul. One boy holds a piece of rope in his hand, and the other end of the rope is fastened by a stake into the ground. The other boys go around him and beat him, when they can, with sticks. Should this boy touch one of the other boys without letting go the rope, that other boy has to catch hold of the rope and take his chance. And so the play continues.

Dahan dah manuH gaUhnn nah tah hiinis manui poshih nah. Ten manuts are not required for ten men, but one manut is

not sufficient for a single man.

One or two more in a big family does not make any difference in the expenses.

Manut is a weight equal to three pounds.

Dahan thawon sai tah alcu nah t_sunan wai.

He g;ives promise to ten, but does not give food to one.

Dahi wahori Dashahhr. Dashahar after ten years.

Long enough about it.

Dnshahdr or Dasahrd or Das.hord, is the tenth of Jaith shukl pakeh, which is the anniversary of Ganga's birthday. On this day, also, Rama marched against Ravana, for which reason it is, also, called Vijai Dasami.

H. H. the Maharajah of • Kashmir, like other Hindu rajahs, cele- brates this day with gi-eat pomp and rejoicing- Three immense cardboard figures stuffed with gunpowder are made to represent

45

Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Migunad, and these arc placed at the proper time in the centre of a large open space without the city. To represent Rima, Sita and Lakshman, three little boys are splen- didly dressed and carried in a beautiful palanquin to the same place. Crowds of people gather there, and Uis Highness sends all the troops with the guns, Ac. It is a most exciting occasion. Excite- ment is at the fullest pitch, when at a given signal one of the little boys, who ia supposed to be R&ma, steps forth from the pa- lanquin, attended by the two other little boys, and fires a small arrow at the big figure representing Ravana, while the other boys discharge their arrows against the other two figures. Of course at this moment the three monsters, Ravana, Knmbhakama, and Mfgunid explode with a tremendous noise ; and then the guns rattle and the cannon roar, and the people shout until they are hoarse, and eventually retire. Cf. the Bamayana for an account of B4ma and his adventures.

Dai ai diyik tah barah nyusai ; Dai nai diyih tah hruhah

s'-snh Uatit hj/ah ? If God intends to give, He will give at the door ; but if God will not give, then what is the good of going a thousand kos (i.e , about 2,000 English miles) for it. Four men. ambitious to become rich, determined to leave Kashmir for some other country, where they could obtain greater wealth than it was possible for them to amass in " the Happy Valley." They arranged a certain day and started altogether, taking with them four thousand rupees for the purpose of trading. Each of the little company had an equal share in this sum of money, and thoy all set forth full of hope that they would prosper and bccomo exceedingly rich.

On the way it came to pass that God, according to His mighty power and wisdom, cau»od a full-grown golden tree to spring up suddenly, and to bring forth at once rich clusters of gold. Seeing this magnitteent tree, the four travellers were so surprised that they hardly knew what to say or to do. However, they soon changed their minds about travelling into a foreign country, and ro80lve<l to return back to their homes, carrving with them the tree of gold. They were reminded of their own Kashmiri proverb, " Dai ai diyih tahbarah nydsai; Dai nai diuih tah krukah sdsah tjatit kyah ?" which being interpreted is, " If God intends to give. He will give at tho door ; but if God will not give, then what is the good of going two thousand miles for it ?" and therefore they said to one another "we have happed upon this golden tree and must take it home with us and be glad for ever."

In this proposition they all agreed ; but how could they so arrange it ? The tree was high and large ; it must be felled and cut up into bundles, which they oould carry. Acconlingly it was determined that two of the party should go to tbe nearest village and procure

46

axes and saws, while the other two would remain to ^ard ther precious treasure.

Presently the two selected started for the tools. The other two, who were left to watch the tree, then began to take counsel together as to how they might kill their partners. " We will mix poison with their bread," said one, " and then when they eat thereof they will die, and we each shall have a double share of the treasure." And they did so.

However, the other two, who were going for the tools, had also plotted together by the way as to how they might get rid of the two partners left behind by the tree. " We will slay them with one stroke of the axe," said one, "and thus shall we each have a double share in the treasure."

In the course of a few hours they returned from the village with the saws and axes ; and immediately, on arriving at the tree, they slew both of their partners ; each slew one with a single blow from the axe. They then commenced to hew down the tree, and this done they soon cut up the branches and fastened them into bundles for carrying away ; and then thoroughly wearied with excitement and their great exertions they laid down to eat and to sleep. Alas ! they ate of the poisoned bread, and slept a sleep, the fatal sleep, from which they never woke again.

A short time afterwards some other travellers passing by that way found the four corpses, lying stretched out stiff and cold beneath the golden tree. Cf. " The Orientalist," Vol. I., Pts. II. and VII., pp. 47, 165, where incidents in the Arabic account of the Virgin M&ry and Jesus, and in the Vedabbba Jataka of the Buddhist Tripitakas, are described, which bear a striking resem- blance to this story.

Daman ba.^tih dito dil, daman as yitah damn Jchdr.

Shistaras sun gatshi husil ; wuni chhai sul tah tsundun ydr.

Sudaras no lahi suhil, nah iat sum tah nah tat tur.

Par kar paidah parwoz tul ; ivuni chhai sul tah fsdndun ydr.

Gdfilo heh tah Jcadam tul hushydr roz truv piyddil.

Trdwdk nai tah cJihuh jnhil \ wuni chhai sul tah fsondun yur.

Give the heart to the bellows, like as the blacksmith gives

breath to the bellows, And your iron will become gold. Now it is early morning,

seek out your friend (z.e., God). The sea has not a shore, neither is there a bridge over it, nor

any other means of crossing. Make to yourself wings and fly. Now it is early morning,

seek oat your friend.- O negligent man, pnt on power, be on the alert, take carf,

and leave oflF wickedness.

47

If you will not then you are a fool. Now while it is early

morning seek out your friend.

A few lines from Lai Dt-d constantly quoted by the Kashmiri.

Piyddil—the work of a chaprdssi, a bad lot, as he generaly makes his money by oppression, lying, and cheating.

Vamas suet chhui namaskvr, J}'^^^^ "^t^^ '*'^* '^^

** Good day '* to the rich or honourable man. ^ ^' - •.-.<^ ^ ixi

Dambih ai zen kore tah daurih at bowan hachai.

If from the womb a daughter should be born, and if from the

fields but an indifferent harvest should be gathered (still he

is happy. For a little is better than nothing).

Daml dithum nad pakawunit dami dithum sum nak tah tdr,

J)ami dithum that yhollawun{^ dami dyuthum gul nah tah

khdr. ' Dami dithum p^ntjhan Paudawan kant m&j dami ^ithum

kraji vioa. One moment I saw a little stream flowing, another moment

I saw neither a bridge, nor any other means of crossing. At one time I saw a bush blooming, at another time Isaw

neither a flower nor a thorn. At one moment I saw the mother of the five Panda vas, at

another moment I saw a potter's wife's aunt.

" Nothing in this world can last."

Quotations from Lai DM's sayings, the whole of which will probably soon be in print.

The history of the Pdi'idavas, and how their mether was reduced by misfortune to profess herself a potter's wife's aunt, are fully explained in the Mahiibhirata.

Dtin diwon tah prut harun.

The generous person gives and the miser is sorrowful.

Ditm dushman chhui nnddn metharah sandih khutah jdn, A wise enemy is better than an unwise friend.

Persian. — Dushman i ddnd ki pay e jdn hmcad bihtar az an dost hi 11 ft Jdn buicad.

The story is, that there was a prince, who had two ministers, one ^ a friend and the other an enemy. The friend happened to bo most. * weak and stupid, while the enemy was a very cute and wise fellow. One day his friend thought within himself " I will kill the prince and become a great king." Accordingly he ordered some men to dig a ditch and to cover over the top of it with grass. They did so. Then the stupid nuni»<ter one day asked the king to go for a walk

48

wifch Wm ; and passing by the way of the ditch he pnshed him into it, and ordered the attendants to cover him over with earth. But the other minister was at hand, and the king saw him. and cried unto him, " O minister, let me not die. The country will be ruined." The wise minister knowing that such would be the case, revoked the order of the other minister, and had the king pulled out. On the following day the stupid friend was executed, and the wise enemy was promoted to very great honour. (This story is evidently taken from the Makbzan i Asrar, a Persian work).

Dunah-miran harij'inah-onir barbud.

The big fire-place destroyed the great man.

There was a Pandit of the name of Nand RArn. and belonging to the Tikli sect. He was indebted to the Pathcin, Az4d Khdn's goverment to the extent of five lakhs of rupees. The goverment wanted this money, but Nand Edm could not pay it, and so soldiers were stationed around his house, and the order was given for his eyes to be taken out. When the man arrived to execute this cruel order, Nand Rdm begged that he would wait, and said, " There is money under the big fire-place. Now Nand Rdm's custom had been to feed two hundred people every day — the poor, the sick jind the distressed, who thronged his house.

The soldiers according to directions well searched beneath the fire-plaee, but found nothing. They told the matter to Azad Khan, who sent for Nand Ram and enquired what he meant. He answered " My big fire-place has ruined me. In it has been absorbed all my wealth." Azad Khan then repeated the order for his eyes to be taken out. (Azad Khan, 1783, a.d., is the tyrant of whom it was said that he killed men as though they were birds.)

Banah sumbrun chhui hani der surun ; danah sumbrun chhui

ruzah sund mul ; Danah du darmas ti chhui larun Sahib gurun din Mho rut. Gathering money is like gathering a heap of stones, gathering

money is as the king's property ; {i.e., is appropriated by

the state after death). Giving money in alms, you keep it. Remember God day

and night. - " There is that scattereth and yet increaseth ; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty." — Prov. xi. 24.

Dandah hhokhur haminum gaje ; dand truvit lubar paje.

O toothless man (your mouth is like) a hammam's fire-place ;

go and put your teeth at the bottom of a cow-dung basket.

Hindu adults sometimes, but nearly always the children, when a tooth has been extracted, place it at the bottom of a basket of

49

cow-rlung, or else throw it into a rat-holo, sayinp, " Qajan Id ga<jaro chim dand meh tah myon dand tfeh, which lueaus : —

" Rat, O brother Kat, yon take my tooth and give me yours." Muhammedans keep their teeth in a little box, which is buried with thom when they die.

*' Dnndn phunkiin kiho, zih ckhuk zih mailha chhum,^ *• Chhor kiho zih chhuU zih darhn chhxuny **0 bull, why are you bellowiug?" " I am proud" "0 bull, why have you diarrhwa ?*' *' 1 am afraid." A coward.

Dondas chhii'i hing gobAn?

Are the horns too heavy for the bullock ? (No).

No matter how largo the family tho father would not willingly part with one of his children.

Dundas hiv tah watjhis getL

A good haudful of grass for the bullock, but six liandfuls for the calf.

Injustice.

Di'mdan hhejik patuj^ panuni kh^gan mandttj.

The ox who ate the matting ate hia rump (t>., he got

whacked for it).

Conseqaonoe of ovil deeds.

Dandun mugov tah dupuk ** Amn chhuh" A man with projecting incisors was about to die, aud the people said *' lie is laughing."

Ddndih suat wagan dohalih. Ddndih rust Wigiin rtUalih. The owner of an ox ploughs in the day. The man who hasn't an ox ploughs at night (i.e., he plans things in his bed, but forgets them with the morning light).

Dangi suh. A tiger in the stable. A tyrant in his house.

Dapaha8 ai />ba8 gaUhun gatjthih Jchushhas. Dapahas ai khushkas gatjhun gatjhih abas. If I tell him to go to the water he will go to the land. If I tell him to go to the land he will go to the water.

A good-naturod follow, but who invariably misuudeiDtaudB any- thing and ciucutea it accordingly. 7

50

Dapayai hur, hih nahpari rdhat-i-jon ckhahamai Mngri. O kangri, what shall 1 call thee, a celestial virgin or a fairy ! You are the balm of my life.

Persian. — Ai Mngri, ai hdngri, qurhdni tu h'&r o pari, harchand wasfat mikunam Icaz wasaf azdn hdld tari. Tu az pari ndzuli tari o az harg i gul ra^nd tari. Haqqd ajd'ih dil tari.

Dur yelih dudareh yur gaUhih panas, miUiwis hanas mitsik

ialjdi. When the body (lit. wood) becomes old (lit. dry and rotten)

the spirit (lit. friend) goes his own way. The place of this

earthen pot is under the earth.

Daram Ddsini hotri, Daram Das's chamber.

A small room.

Daram Dds was a very celebrated character among Kashmiri Jogis. He lived in Srinagar near to the entrance of the Lake, and died in 1877 A. d. He built several small houses, the biggest of which was sufficient for only two persons,

Darbdr garih ai til melih tah halam gaUMh durun. If from the master's house some oil be given, then one must hold up the skirt, wherein to take it.

Although the present may be a mean present, and of as much benefit to the recipient as oil in a cloth, which all runs out and is spoilt, yet it is' the duty of the servant to take it humbly- and readily. Kashmiri beggars receive alms in this way.

Dard chheh gard.

Love is as dust {i.e.y must show itself),

Daryawik malkh ganzrani.

To count the waves of the river.

An impossible task.

Persian. — Mauj i daryd shv/inardmu

'All Mard^n Khdn (cir. 1650 a. d) was a governor under the Emperor of Kashmir Shcih Jahan. He had two especial servants, one a Muhammedan and the other a Hindu. The Muhammedan worked all the day, but the Pandit, who worked only for one hour, received more salary than the Muhammedan. The latter petitioned the king, that he would at least give him an equal salary. The king promised that he would do so if the Muhammedan would go and count the waves of the river and tell him how many they were. The Muhammedan went away at once, but soon found that he could not oblige the king. On his return, when the king asked him how many waves there were, he replied, " I have forgotten." Then the king ordered the Pandit to go and count the waves. The Pandit con-

51

sentml on tho condition that the king would allow him two thousand rniwes and one hundred soldiers for this purpose. Tho king gave him what he asked for, and a%vay went tho Pandit to his task. At every turn or passage of tho river he placed four soldiers and a toll house, and ordered them to take four rupees from each boat which went up or down. The excuse to tho boatmen, when they demurred, was that they had hindered the Pandit in counting the waves of the river, and therefore they were thus fined. In this way he obtained a Idkh of rupees, and then went to the king. In reply to the king's question how many waves there were, the Pandit threw down the bags of rupees at tho ruler's feet, saying " One 14kb, your Majesty."

This Pandit was promoted to a very high post, whilst tho Moham- medan was debased.

The natives say that *Ali Mard^ Kh&n introdnoed ciistom*hoiiBe0 into Kashmir at this Pandit's advice.

Dashtam, dushtam chhuh nah hakar ; durctm^ diram chhuh

bahtr. liVhat I had, what I had, is not wanted; but what I have,

what I have, is necessary.

Quoted to the man who is constantly speaking of his groat rela- tions, or previous wealthier state.

Ddsfur chhih gandtm izzatah kMtirah wushnerah hhUirah

nah. Men bind on their turbans for honoor's sake, not for

warmth.

VasUrak badalah chhas kalas p^th ras. In place of a turban rope is on his head. A disreputable person.

Dasturan chhuh nah mul, darb>'ran chhuh. No worth is attached to turbans, but to professions. Not what a man seomsi bat what he is.

Dastaras dab tah nulaa trit chhtth mulis tah m^jih pifth

maranih wizih p'n. To dash one's turban upon the ground, and to tear one's cloak

into two pieces at the time of a father's or mother's death is

good.

This is principally a Hindu custom. They remain thns with uncovered head and torn cloak for ton day 6 after their parent's death ; and if they are rich they then give the turbau and cloak away, but if they are poor they keep them.

52-

Daulat jama haruni chkai eallat. Hdr hun s6r nah hunsik

hanz. Amassing riches is destruction. A piebald dog is not faithful

to any one-

The Kashmiri calls many things hdr h-An, but especially these three, viz., the world, health, and money.

A certain wealthy merchant, famed for his goodness and alms- giving, died, and his immense wealth was distributed among all his sons, except the eldest, who did not get a cowrie of it. There was great lamentation in the city, and especially among the poor and sick people when they heard of this good man's death. What were they to do ? To whom should they go now ? " Perhaps," said some, '* the sons will continue their deceased father's liberality, that their name may live and be great in the land." So crowds of the poor and distressed wended their way to the sons' houses. The sons, however, who had come into their father's property were not good men, but selfish and hard-hearted ; and so when they saw the crowds of beggars entering their compound, they at once gave orders that they should be turned out and told not to come again, but to go to the eldest son's quarters, as he was more interested in their cases than they were. Therefore they went to the house of the eldest son, who, following the example of his father, did what he could for the relief of their necessities.

Now it happened that one day some holy men visited this eldest son and asked for alms. They came at a bad time, when he had only two loaves within the vessel. However, he told them to wait, while ho took these two loaves and sold them in the b^ar. The few paisas, which he received for them, he gave to the holy men. When he gave the money to them, they knowing that it was the price of the two loaves, enquired why he, the son of such a wealthy and good man, was in such reduced circumstances. He told them that his brothers had appropriated all the money, and that he did not care sufficiently for it to go to law concerning his portion. The holy men were very pleased, and much desired to compensate this un- earthly-minded son. Accordingly they told him to prepare one of the rooms in his house and sleep in it ; and it would come to pass that one night a woman, Daulat by name, would enter his house ; and when he heard the sound of her footsteps ascending the stairs he was to open the door of his room, let her come m, and then chain the door ; and on her asking to be let out again, he was to say to her : " Daulat jama haruni chhai zallat. Hdr hun sdr nah Tcdhsih hanz" which means, '' I have not got any money. I think it a sin to amass wealth ; and so you will not be faithful to me." " But," continued the holy men, "she will promise never to go away; and then you can open the door." Saying this, they blessed him and left.

According to the instructions of his saintly visitors, the eldest son thoroughly cleaned one of his rooms and arranged it as if for a

53

wedtlinji^-cliaTnbor, atnl at nii^'lit laid down in it to rest. Tic had not Ix^eii asleep for more than two honre, when ho was awakened by a creaking on the stairs. It was the woman coming up. So he opened the door to let her enter. No sooner had he opened the door then a little flame came floating along in the air until it settled upon his forehead, but ho did not feol the heat of the flame, nor did it leave any mark behind. In a minute or two ho returned to the room, but not seeing the woman who talked with him (for she had been turned into the little flame) ho laid down again upon his bed and slept.

On rising in the morning ho heard that the king hail ordered his troops to march to a distant country against another king who had unlawfully seized some certain lands and villages ; and the king paid the soldiers their wages beforehand in gold mohurs. The soldiers, however, did not like this arrangement, they were afraid that they would lose them either through thieves, or in some other manner ; and so they returned them to the king with the request that ho would send them to the late rich merchant's sons and got them exchanged for paper money, which they might cash at the merchants in the country whither they were going. The king complioil with their request and sent the gold mohnrs to the lato merchant's sons, but they replied that they were not able to fulfll the king's wishes, as they had no transactions with the merchants of that country ; and, moreover, they were not known by thorn, and ■o their letters would not bo respected.

In the midst of this difficulty the oldest son of the late merchant came to the king, and said that he would arrange for the payment of the troops if his Majesty would trust him. The king said, *' Yes, you are a gootl man ; I will send you the money."

Whon the eldest son got tho money ho put it into a big earthen vessel, and in the midst of the gold ho put a letter for one of tho merchants of that country whither the soldiers were going, asking him please to distribute the money amongst them according to tho orders of the king. He then closed up the mouth of tho vessel with a piece of ordinary oil-skin, and gave it to one of the soldiers, tolling him to give it to a certain merchant on arrival at the journey's end ; ■ •' I should bo so thankful," he said, "if you would please take this jar of pickles. My friend will bo so glad to get them." The soldier readily promised to take the greatest care of the jar, indeed many offered to take it, so grateful were tliey one and all for this man's convenient arrangement concerning the money. On arriving in that country tho pot was handed over to the merchant named, who at once opene<l it and read the letter. The next day the gold mohnrs wore paid to tho troops, who were astonished at tho shrewdness of the late merchant's eldest son. Bcadily they each one set a]>art some of tho money as a present for their benefactor, while tho king made him his private secretary and banker. Eventually he became as wealthy aiul as great as his lato father ; and in the time of Lis greatness he did not forget the sick and the poor.

54

Dayih sund pmvur, yemi yetih tiwur.

Wheresoever, whosoever has taken possession, that is the

place of the Deity.

A man's house and lands are sacred j no person can take them from him.

I)a,i the Deity, destiny (Sanskrit) .

Dawudnras Jcorak zoyih; muddaud'Was huguni ayih.

An only daughter was born to the plaintiff ; she came in

marriage to the defendant.

Quoted when an unlikely event happens.

Dazah-wunih narah gajih ai dizen durit tatih tih yijih nah

put phirit. If he is cast into the burning fire-place, he will not return

thence (before fulfilling his work).

A goodi sharp servant.

Dazanas dod.

There is pain from a burn. To lose anything is not pleasant.

Dazihniatskik wulinjih zulahbuk. Clawing the burnt liver. Unguis in ulcere.

Dedi hawah difsthas nodf'nas ?

Tawah khutah diziham wozah-ganas.

Aniham dagah dagah hhhnahah pnnas ;

jDidagani dimahah manz maidonas.

O mother, why did you marry me to a foolish man ?

Better that you had given me to a prostitute's cook.

He would have brought me scraps of dinner in his wrap and

I would have eaten them ; And I would have lolled the whole day upon the grass.

T)edi talai char as dazun.

At the king's porch charas burns.

Cheeky without shame, and before his master !

Charas is the exudation of the flowers of hemp collected with the dew and prepared for use as an intoxicating drug.

Deg chheh teg. »

The pot is a sword (i.e., makes ravage with one's income).

55

Dehh ku bi'nkti rmmh chahkm pet khtUi. The Delhi swell has got a jolly face, but his stomach is empty.

A Delhi Pandit determined to pay Kashmfr a visit. When ho rca<-he(l Vcm6g he engaged a man as cook, with whom ho hod tho following conversation : — Pandit.—" Cook." Cook.^" Yes."

Pandit.—" Bring aboat threo-qnarten of a pound of floor from the market, and make tliirty-throo loaves. Ton gnests will bo present at dinner this evening. So that there will then bo two loaves for each guest, and something for each to take home with him, if he shoald wish to do so." Cook.—" I do not understand you." Pandit. — " Never mind. Do as I tell you. Tho first day, when

wo entertain strangers, we do so." Tlie cook brought a vessel full of a water and placed it in front of tho Pandit.

Pandit.—" Wliero is tho food P"

Cook. — '* It is the custom in this country not to give any food to

the stranger on the first day — only a vessel-full of water." Pandit. — " No ! I am sure you must bo miMtaken. Cook. — " I also think that it cannot be the custom in your country to feed ten men with tliree-qnarters of a pound of llour." (Tho Pand.it in a rage. Etit, Cook.)

• V^minen Icong. Saffron with sheep*B paunch. Not worth the candlo.

8a£frou is used as a condiment, and is eaton only with the bost meat.

Dewas tah drathdyihas dizih til tak tahar, ddmi sanziA bad-

nazarih nah hehh. Oil and rice can be given to (appease the anger oQ tho ghosts

and demons, but nothing can save us from the evil-eye of

man.

Cf. '' MSh chham," ^c

J)%giimih diwai Nadifftttnih penjih iewai.

The great mela is at Digam, but the washing of the mound is

at Nadigam.

Dig^m is a village near to Shupiyon. There is a great mold there in tho month of July ; and people, whose little children have died , during the year, go to tho place and offer clothes and food in tho names of their deceased children.

56

On the same clay there are festivals also at Mangdm and Trigam, which are a great distance from one another, and both of them very far from Digam. It is written that **He who visits each of these places in one day, shall ascend to eternal bliss." One man did so, riding upon a swift horse, and afterwards man, horse, and every- thing went up into the clouds out of sight. Another man by the name of Krishna Saraf also succeeded in visiting these three villages in one day; but for some reason or other ho was not taken up.

Digih puhtshuv tah dugih Mr.

A small paisci for a peck and a cowrie for a blow.

The over-liberal person.

T)ih thap tah nih dastur. Seize him and take his pagri. A respectable vagrant, who lives by " sponging" on others.

J)ik n& tah manati dab Tchet ?

You will not give ? (of course you will) ; but it will be after much wrangling and quarrelling.

Threatening " distress for rent."

Manaii dah, lit., a strike of a stone, but here it means going to law, or giving a man a good thrashing.

Dik nd tah paizar khet ?

You will give I know, but you will eat your shoes (first).

"Putting on the screw " to get a debt.

" Eating shoes " is an expression for being beaten with a shoe.

Dil ba dil gav uhiah ; yut wuehham, tyut louchhai.

Your heart and mine are like a looking-glass ; as you see me,

so I shall appear to you.

Be friendly and I will be friendly, and vice versa.

Vilah nah tah hilah di di.

Not willingly but with a little shoving and pushing.

"Dilas phulai gatshih asuni, gulich phulai ley ah yiyih bahdr ? There must be blossoming of the heart, and then the flower- blossom will not be needed. Cf. " Asas gatsiy' $-c.

Bilikis bugas dur har gdsil. Adah dewah phuli yemhurzal bag Marit manganai uinrih hanz hosil. Maut chhui patah patah tahsil-dur.

57

Keep away dirt from the garden of your heart* Theu perhaps the Narcissus garden will blossom. After death you will be asked for the results of your life. Death is after you hke a tahsildar, A saying of Lai Dtd's.

Diluk khur-khurah mehy Malih, Mstam, manaike kotar mare,

Narih iosam iukah hnnzai larih ladtm.

Yelih pdnah inyunuv kadit ninanai panane gate.

Pat ah pat ah neri Iukah susa narih u/awan.

Trt'ivit yininai manz maidunas s^wit dachhane tare.

Make far from me proudaess of heart, O Father, — from the

pigeon-hole of my heart. My arm is wearied from making people's houses {i.e., from

helping others, giving alms, &c). When, O my body, you are turned out from your house. Afterwards, afterwards, a thousand people will come waving

their hands. They will come and set you in a field, laying yon to sleep on

your right side.

A verso of Lai DM's constantly quoted in part, or in toto^ in time of troublo.

Hindtis bam the bodies laying them upon the right tide, with their head towards the south, because the gods and goo<l spirits live in that diiection, and Yama, the angel of doutb. also roaides there.

Dinawulid diyih ; dinal kyah diyih ?

The generous person will give (whether he can spare or not) ; the prostitute (although '* flush with coin*') will not give.

DiM ^noM tah Sh^di Ganai nah.

All the people except Shadi Ganai (her husband) will live

with her.

A faithless wife, or a frait tree, of which others pluck the fruit, while the real owuer gets nothiDg.

tihddi Qanai was a butcher's wife, and a very wicked woman.

Ditut no, zih zangah phufrit ?

Has it not been given to me ? Yes, but after breaking my legs. Once upon a time there was a man who was carried away by the thought that God was " The Giver," and that somehow or other Ho would give food to those who sat all day in the house meditating upon Him. This man silt in his house for three days without food. Ho became so thin that ho could scarcely walk. He then went up to the roof of his house and sat there, thinking that, probably, God 8

58

meant him to live upon air. In a short time he became faint and senseless, and rolled off the roof on to the ground, and broke his legs.

The people heard of this and brought him sherbet and cooked meat. The man soon revived, and said the above words, which have passed into a proverb.

Cited when a man has obtained his living or any position with great difficulty.

Dizih berih yetih pherih.

Dizd ytirih yetih gaUhih tdrih ?

One should plant the tree at the edge of the field, where it

will spring up. Shall it be planted in the place where the fir-tree grows,

where it would be checked and die ?

To lend money without interest.

Dohi sund garah nanih iz doh>

The washerman's house will be known on the great feast-day.

The washerman's family wear the clothes which are sent to them to be washed ; but on the day of the feast everybody takes all their clothes, and so the poor washerman and his family are left almost naked. (This is not true of every washerman).

Persian. — Khdna i gdzur ba, roz i 'id ma'lum shawad.

Dobi sund hun, nah garuJc tahnah gdthuk.

The washerman's dog is not of the house or of the ghat.

Expectations unfulfilled.

The washerman's dog fares very badly as a rule. He is always following his master to and fro from the house to the ghdt in hope of getting, some scraps, but it is very seldom that anything is thrown to the poor animal.

Hindustani. — Dhobi M kuttd na ghar fed Tia ghdt kd.

JDod gdtid.

A philosopher and a half. A wiseacre.

JDod nah tah dag nai kawah yiyam ushye ?

I have neither pain nor smart, why should I cry ?

Let every man bear his own burden.

Dog dit tih burav ; dog hat tih barav.

Strike a man and he complains (before the magistrate), and

strike him a hundred times and he complains (and no

greater punishment ensues to the striker).

A variant of this both in words and meaning is :—

59

Dog dit tih Urav ; dog het iih hdrav.

Whether he strikes another, or whether he himself is struck, it's all the same— he grumbles.

Doh chhuh diw&n Uhoh ; doh chhuh hhySwun goh. (One) day gives rest, (another) day causes to eat manure. It is not always sunshine.

Voholih hhotit'n tak rAtalih mandachMn. Fearing by day and being ashamed at night. An altogether wretched and bad character.

Don botjan hum har gayih toahr&tn hund rdd.

Strife between husband and wife is like the monsoon rains.

Although Kashmir is out of the tropics it is visited by periodical rains, which finish about the last week in July.

Don kulai batch w/iwah. The wife of two persons, because of food. •' The bitter cry." Anything for bread.

Don salnh tran wAhwelA,

Agreement with two people, lamentation with three.

Two are company, three are not.

A Pir once sent hit horse to a oertain village, that it might graze upon the beautiful grass there. He po^icnlarly told the servant to lead the animal and not to ride it. When the servant had gone some distance the Pir sent another servant to look after the first servant, and, especially, to see that he was not rilling it. He went and found the man leading the horse, but being both of them tired, and the horse also tired, they rested awhile, and then set forth again, both of them riding the horse.

The Fir was still suspicious about the horse, thinking that the two servants would perhaps agree together, and both of them mount him at the same time. So he sent a third servant to look after them. The third servant came and found them both astride the horse. " I will tell the Fir," he said, *' I will explain the whole matter to him." " Don't, don't," they replied, '* but yon come also and ride, and we shall have a jolly time." The man consented. They all rode the horse at one time, and arrived at their destination. But the next morning the animal died, and gfeat was the distress of the three servants ! !

Don ungajan chhuh nerun tia. One snaps with two fingers (not with one). It takes two to make a quarrel.

60

poni kulis hojih-waf.

A pestle to the walnut-tree.

A sharp fellow in their midst, of whom they are afraid.

Vosti khutah chheh rusti jcm. Truth is better than friendship.

Dostas seztnani tah dushmanas wukarmani,

A straight open countenance to your friend ; a downcast look

to your enemy.

Most frequently cited by the mother, when her son wishes her " good-bye " before going to his day's work.

Doyih athah cheh tsar wazun. Clapping is with both hands.

It takes two to make a quarrel. Hindustani. — Elc hath se tali nahih lajti.

Drag Ualih tah dag tjalih nah.

The famine will disappear, but the stains will not disappear.

During one of the terrible famines that have now and again visited Kashmir, a brother was nearly dead from want of food, when he sud- denly remembered a long-forgotten sister, and determined to go to her and see whether she could help him. On his arrival his sister happened to be making bread ; but she was too sharp for him. She had seen his coming, and guessing the reason of his long-deferred visit, took up the burning hot bread and hid it under her arm. Her bosom was very much scorched by this, and she retained the marks of the bum up to the time of her death.

Kashmir has suffered very much in morals from famines. Driven to extremities the people seem to have lost all sense of self-respect. A little knowledge of the people and their language quickly con- vinces one too forcibly of the truth of the above words.

Drag as zi chhai goya hik Mogas narak j)hah. Employment in time of famine is like the warmth of a fire in the month of January.

Dralah hunar chhai hyakhui.

An agent's profession is another matter.

There's nothing that he is not up to.

Merchants keep such men by them. At the time of bargaining they come in as if unawares and try to make a bargain for the sahib, or intending buyer, out of pure good-heartedness. The Dr4l gets a commission on the sale. He is a good-for-nothing, unprincipled fellow. There are two or three kind of Drdl 16k. Those who lend out money at interest, those who hire out their daughters for evil, and the merchants' agents.

61

Droti not ah.

Like a sickle to cut meat with. A stupid workman.

Du-zang khas^m tju-zangis.

A two-legged mounting a four-legged.

A man of inferior rank promoted, and " lording it " over otbera.

Dud a 8 kandi tjurani. Picking thorns or bones out of the milk. An ovorscrupnlons firihman.

J)m/ chhui daz&n.

The end of (your) garment is burning (with enry).

Extreme envy and jealousy.

• Vum-duviah tah Jumah Bat. Jumah Bat and his drum.

A very poor man.

Juinah Bat was a town.crier for some time. He was a roan of good family, and had seen better days. — Vid« " (TocbH driv" ^c

pumaias runz.

(Like) a marble against a dumaU

A dvice to a fool.

These dumcUa are very big conical stones (li^gims). and according to the Pandits as old as the Pindavas. They are supposed to be the petrified bodies of wicked man, whom some good people in olden times cursed, becaose they were troabled by them, and so they became stones.

Golist&n of Sa'df. — Tarhiyat nd ahl rd chun girdgdn bar gutnhad ast.

Dumb tah Uap hunsih mah dap,

*' Stomach and bowels. Don't tell anyone."

When a father forbears to beat his child, and another person blames him for his leniency, he thus replies.

*' Dumbo, Jajir '* '* Taiydr, 5«6o.'* " O dumb, Hukka." " Ready, Sahib " A sharp, willing servant.

Dumbah shurinax TehuTcarbdti hdw^n.

Showing a thing (mask, &c.,) to frighten the Dumb*s children.

*• Don't suppose that you're frightening me."

The Dumhs are a plucky lot of fellows. They carry the letters at night through the jungle and over desolate hill and plain.

62

i)unyii chhuh nah dki danjih rozan, puhUh doh sdkh tahpahUh

doh dokh. The world does not continue in the same state ; but there are

five days of happiness and five days of sorrow.

Dunyu tah dyur.

The world and wealth (go together).

Duragi hanz Duragi lur ; yits m',j tits hiir. Durag's stick (according to her height) ; and as mother, so daughter.

Durikt dunk chhuh manats methun ; nakhah, nakhah chhuh

hand iethan. From a distance black pepper is sweet ; near at hand sugar is

bitter.

Distance lends enchantment to the view. Familiarity breeds contempt.

Dushmanahsandih lagih nah hanih Uanjih ; dostah sandih lagih

jposhih Uanjih. The slap of the hand from an enemy will not hurt, but the

angry touch, even with a flower, from a friend, will wound-

A king sentenced a man to death by stoning. The order was that every man in the city should throw a stone at the prisoner. A friend of the man heard of the stern order, and said within himself, " What shall I do ? How can I throw a stone upon my friend ? I must not, and can not, hurt my dear and kind friend." Accordingly he plucked a flower, and determined to throw that when the time came, and to throw it so skilfully that the people would think that he had thrown a stone. He went to the place of execution and flung the flower at his friend, who then spoke the above proverb.

Dyarahwol cJihuh nah hod ; batahwol chhuh hod

Not the rich man, but the man who gives dinners, is great.

Dyutmut 'khairut hyutnam phirit, shukrani majih tsul iup

nirit ! What was given to me was taken away again, Shukr's mother

lost a hair or two (that is all) !

63

G

Gabar chhiu lubar sih gai guris nishih tah ani ?

Are children like manure, which people go and buy from the

milkman ?

Children are not so easily obtained, that they can be so easily spared.

Gabik hutkih rumak-hun. A sheep in appearance, but a wolf at heart. A wolf in sheep's clothing.

Gabih tih touUh laf. A sheep also can lift his tail. The smallest worm will turn being trodden npon.

G/id chh^h daryuvas andar trethih bupal marin. The fish dies from thirst in the river. Every opportunity, yet ho did not succeed.

Gud yUih chhek kh^iotin handrert tah adah chheh lagdn buth* When the fish feels the icy-cold it leaps upon the bank. Affliction is a hard, but a good, teacher.

Gddak tasbih tah thukah tah&rat.

(To carry) rosary (in one's hand) for loaves (and fishes) is as

if to (perform) tah&rat (with one's) spittle.

Tahdrat is the Muhammedan's ablations before prayers.

Gddah tolil piWaang.

Seeing whether the scales were correct, after the fish had

been weighed.

Without premeditation.

Gadav hechhih wufah tah hunzuv h^chhih zul.

The fishes learnt to jump and the boatmen learnt to use the

net.

An asylum for the maniac — a prison for the blackguard — a net for the fish.

Gagar-mirani gang. The hole of Sir Rat.

" He has well feathered his nest for somn time."

The rat is always laying up stores. A Pandit dug out the hole of a rat the other day and found pieces of cloth, iron, little piles of rice, apples, &c., enough for several months' provisions.

64

Gagarik hanz hhetsarih lej. The mouse's khetsarih lej.

Khefsarih lej is a saacepan in which spiced rice is cooked. Thd mouse is very fond of this rice, and as it does not remain very long when the mice are by, so money does not continue long in the hands of a man in debt.

Gagur chhuh hardn hraris mat. The rat nonplasses the cat.

Cited when anyone or anything small has escaped the oppression of a greater, and also caused him a little trouble.

Gagur tsdv haMrih banih. Het hyah tsuv zih Ichet druv ? A rat entered a stock of wood. What did he take with him

going in, and what did he eat coming out ? Nothing.

In stdtu quo.

Gagur wetsih nah pananih wi'j, patah het mdj !

The rat himself cannot get into his nest properly, and yet

he takes his mother after him !

Hardly enough for one, and yet two or three people are to share in it !

Gajih 8ur kudum, pajih sur lodum tah trowuM gayim trek

humih. Ltilah wuzanowum, dudahan cho wum tah sowum^ gayim sheh

hdmih. I took out the ashes from the fire-place, I put them into a

basket ,and;then threw them away. I have done three works. I woke up the baby and gave him a little milk, and then I

put him to sleep again. I have done six works.

As busy as a hen with one chicken.

Gam chhuh Jchdm ; shahr chhuh mnnindi hahar. The village is kachcha {i.e.y not the place to get anything) ; the city is like a river (there everything goes on swimmingly).

Gamas garah Tcaryd wad ?

Shall one house give answer to the whole village ? " What can I say ? You are all against me."

Gumuk suh tah shahruk him chhuh bardbar. A village tiger and a city dog are equal.

A stupid man from the city is eqaal to the great man of the village.

65

Gani Indim tah yindar Jcatan.

When the prostitute becomes old she spins the wheel.

G&hih kawah zanih ptiz sund shihur f

How can the kite know the prey of the hawk ?

Guhth kyah zanih bachah dod tah hdhth hyah z&nih putrah

dod? Does the kite know anything of the pain of his prey ? Does

the barren woman consider the child's pain ?

Cited by tho beggar as he tarns away onhclped from the rich man's door.

Gunth nah kunih tah gahtah aul ? No kite anywhere, but the kite's nest ready. Building a stable before the horse is parchased.

Gahz Uul gdmah tah gaiia phakah nishih mukale.

The tanner has run away trom the village and the people are

relieved of the tanner s smell.

Bid of tho offending party.

Gar gundah.

The fat man of the house. A lazy master of a hoose.

Gar manz Gangd. Ganges in the house. Hiudustduf.— .4hZ i hismat itpns ghar haithe hi daulat pdenge Ydr ghar djdegd to dhnndhne kyun jdenge.

Gxah Ninak to Angad.

Gar na h'thad hehih andar wirah phuhj jdn i tUrin mibar6yad

khwf'ih ma khwuh. If there is not the warmth of fire in one's bosom, the precious

life will certainly come out.

" Warmth of fire in one's bosom" refers to the k&ngar.

Gar peth ztimuthur bar pith hun.

A son-in-law who lives always in his father-in-law's house, ifl

like a dog at the door.

Hindus are so very fond of their children, male or female, that they cannot bear the idea of a separation, and so the sons-in-law are invited to come and dwell under the same roof. Nearly every wealthy family has its quantum of sons-in-law, who generally spend their time in eating, drinking, smoking and sleeping at tho expense of their fathers-in-law. In this way they contract the most demo- 9

66

ralizing habits, and are a scorn and reproach to all right-minded people. Such are called Gar Zamuthur. In Bengal they are called Ghar Jam6'i. — Vide " Hindus as they are," p. 73, f. n.

Garah gav Uakah-ndv, dakah dalmh pakanav.

The house is like a manure-boat, (only) by constant shoving

and pushing (does) it makes progress.

Tsakah-ndv is a large barge generally stuffed full of vegetable manure gathered from the Dal lake. These boats are so loaded that only an inch or so appears above water ; consequently a little stop- page might cause it to sink. They are towed and pushed along to their destination, and are at once unloaded on their arrival.

Garah hur anih tah hanih, gardh rov mimmunih. A bUnd woman and a one-eyed woman tried to keep house together, but they disagreed and brought the place to ruin.

Disagreement means ruination.

Garah wandai garah sosu garah nerahah nah zah, O home, I offer you a thousand houses, and I will never go out from you.

No place like home.

Garazmand chhuh dewdnah.

A selfish man is mad (so grasping is he, and so incessant in his solicitations).

Gari nun til.

Salt and oil in the house.

Cited against a man, who makes money on purchases for his father, but does not take up any special work for himself.

Gari gojih.

(Like) the kernel of a water-chestnut (singh^rah).

A Kashmiri curse, meaning " May your eyes start out of your head through trouble and sorrow." Also when a person is not sharp at finding any thing, another person will sometimes say, " You, gari gojih, can't you see it?"

Gari warih dagan. Pounding spices in the house.

A coward.

^' Pounding spices in the house" here means living indoors and afraid to stir out.

Garibas tjuge tsur tah mandinen turn kurhas jashnah. A thief entered the house of a poor man, and they feasted themselves until mid-day.

67

It 18 of no use for a poor man to complain. The police only vet him more, until ho is obliged to bribe thom to keep quiet.

Again these words are often quoted when more than the invited people are present at the wedding-feast. Hearing the sound of music passers-by go in, are lost in the company, and eat, drink, and steal to their hearts' content till mid>day.

Garth chhukahy hik nah yazmanah handih ?

Are you in your own house, or in your disciple's house?

Brdhmans and other holy men do not eat much in their own houses, but save the money. When they visit their disciples' houses, they eat their fill.

Oited to a child who is going beyond boonds at the dinner.

Garih diyin tah znmin mah aUin,

Better to give something from the house than to become

surety for anyone.

" He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it.*' — Prov. zi. 15.

Garih gafah tah maahidih tjohg.

Darkness in the home, but a light in tho mosque.

Miserable and miserly at home, bnt pleasant enough and liberal abroad. A frequent answer to the Mullahs, when they become im- portunate in their demands for contributions towards the support of the mosqaes.

Garih manz ehhuh garyul ; dam ganiniat asl. The bell-striker at the hour ; breath is as spoil.

A man, Azftn KhAn by name, becuTno mad fn)m nmch reading, and went about the city shouting these wor<ls. He was of very gr)od family, but turned a fakir. All his money, excepting a small porti<m which was given to his wife and children, was distributed amongst the poor. The wife marrieil again, and the cliildron were taught a trade, and are now earning a respectable livelihood.

Garih nah bazin tah naubal wazin ! No oil in the house and the band plays f

A man who is obliged to stint his stomach in order to cover hia back or feeil his horse, or pay his extra servants. A hard struggle to keep up appearances.

Garih tih hoJe parih iih h/ik mt-haklcah zuah gari dn'Tc. Vegetables in my own house and vegetables in another's house. O life, you should not have come forth from your house.

Vegetables here means trouble. Cited when one has trouble in the house and goes to another i)er8on'8 house and there gets more trouble.

68

Garth yelih Ualih, fai Shah sapanih rdzi ; adah hd mdlih

chhui Tazi Bat Jcun. "When a man escapes from the house, and the king is happy,

then, O Father, is Tazi Bat's arrow.

After adversity comes prosperity.

A man overtaken by misfortune ran away from his house. To support himself he hunted with his bow and arrow. The king of the country had promised that the man who could shoot an arrow through his ring at a given distance should receive a robe of honour and other rewards. The ring was hanged up in a certain place and a man always stationed by it to see fair play and report to the king. The poor man was shooting birds one day near to the place where this ring was suspended, when by the will of God the arrow was whirled by the wind straight through the ring. The man in charge immediately sent word to the Court, and the poor hunter was rewarded, and able henceforth to lay down his bow and arrow and live in ease.

Gutah hun tah shutah him tah puji hurt, yim treh hunt chhih

Jiihi. The landing-place dog, the river-bed dog, and the butcher's

dog, these three dogs are alike (a wretched lot).

GaUh Prunts tatih chhai zulah. Go to Punch and there get ague.

I wish you were at Jericho.

Punch is about five marches from Srinagar in a north-west direc- tion. It is a compact town and has a good bazar. E^ja Moti Singh resides there, and holds a considerable tract of country in fief under his cousin, the present Mahdrajah of Kashmir and Jammim.

Gdv diyih nah tah wutsh cheyih nali.

The cow will not give (milk) and the calf will not drink it.

Step-mother and step-children, who generally hate one another.

Also cited concerning an old servant and his master. Both have got to dislike one another, but each does not like to give the other *' notice to leave."

Gdwih chhuh wonamut haiih Tdni ditam tah latih hini dimai. The cow said, *' Give to niie by the throat {i.e., feed me) and

1 will give to you by the tail" {i.e., I will supply you with

milk, ghi, and butter).

Feed a servant or an animal well and they will servo you well.

Ger chhui dmut.

You have got very earnest (about this work).

69

There was a lazy woman, who never cared to spin or to do any work. Her hnsband spoke to her about her laziness. She replied, •* Ah ! let me alone now. The time is coming, when I shall be so fond of work, that I shall get through any quantity in no time."

One day they were going to Tnlamula, and as they were starting, the wife said to her husband, " I should like to do some work. Got mo a spinning wheel." The husband said the aboYo words, but he could not at that time obtain a wheel.

Qhoahah tah gyav Ichyom hrurih, I would sing but the cat has eaten my gh(. Circumstances are so that a person ia afraid to epeak or to act for

himself. UindustAnf. — Kahun, md mar jde ;

Na kahun, hip HIU khSt,

Gil tih cM^h dunye Mhchhun, Gil also wauts some rice.

Envy.

Oil is a Muhammedan woman's name.

G(yv mar bozan sAri tah dundah m^r nah boz/tn Icanh,

Strike a cow and everyone will exclaim, (** what a shame io

strike the cow which supplies you with milk!"); but

strike an ox and nobody will say a word.

The cow hero represents the groat man and the ox the poor man.

Gov ztiv wuUh aui mSh ffutjh.

The cow bore a calf, which I should have (and will have). Where there's a will there's a way.

Grist sund hakhur hyuh. Like a farmer's young untrained ox. A useless fellow.

Grtistu agar auliy/t hushad Uilc-i-huriy/i nest.

If the ploughman becomes a ** lord," yet he ia not then even

fit to lit upon the matting.

A Persian proverb with only the first word altered. Persians say Dihkdn agar, Sfc,

Grustu zih hustu.

The husbandman is like an elephant (i.e,, a strong, big clumsy fellow),

70

Gudah druv Jum Bat dum dumah het ; patah druyas Roskan

benih poshih mulah het. First came out Jum Bat, bringing a drum ; afterwards came

out Roshan, his sister, bearing a garland of flowers.

From horses to asses.

Jum Bat was formerly a well-to-do oflSicer in H. H. the Maharajah's Court. He became very poor and was obliged to do the mean work of a town-crier. His sister, too, equally humbled herself by going about the city selling garlands of flowers.

Gudah lorih-han tah patah horih-han.

First (he asks for) your walking-stick and then (he wants) your pet daughter.

Hindustani. — JJngli pakarte pahunchd paharnd. Boti deke bakrd lend.

Gudanich Jculai chhai Mi tai zii ;

Ihiyim hulai chhai ff art h garih drii ;

Treyim Icidai UaUn sumah tah kadal ;

Tsurimih badal lagih nah hanh,

A first wife is as jasmine and income ;

The second wife swears hourly by your name ;

The third wife cuts bridges, great and small ;

The fourth wife — there is no one like her for all manner of

wickedness ; she is a hopeless character.

** Swears hourly by your name" means she makes great profes- sion of love for you. Kashmiris frequently swear by the person or thing they most love.

" Cuts bridges" is said of mischievous and extravagant wives, who altogether hinder their husbands from crossing over to the other Bide, where prosperity and peace are to be had. The reader will please remember that Kashmir is a valley full of rivers and streams.

Gudanich Jculai chhai rani matsui ;

Duyim Jculai chhai totih Jcehtshah ;

Treyim Jcidai chhai iolih maJcaUui ;

The first wife goes mad over her husband ;

The second wife — there's something good in her ;

The third wife is as an axe to the head. «

GudanuJc soda gaUhih nah rowarun.

One must not lose the first offer (lit., trade).

Kashmiri traders, like those of some European countries, are very superstitious about refusing the offer of the day's first customer. They will frequently rather lose than allow him to • depart without purchasing something.

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Guh grailah-hal. Manure by the mill-house. Cited against a man who after promotion is reduced to his former

rank.

Guh zfinik tah bilchik.

The dung will know and the spade (but I am Dot the person

to have to do with, or to know anything about, such a

mean affair as that).

GuhaH ffupan nun kh^wmy garih gupan mm l^w^m. Jungle cattle eat salt while the home cattle lick the wall. Charity should begin at home.

Gur bailih son^ di'mah kh^yih ckon.

Our horse will grow big and will eat your grain.

Cited when a wife's relations keep her ratiier a long time; also when a friend borrowM a horse or anything, and is not particular as to when he returns it.

Gur rhhuh nah hhl^wun p^tj ; yltlih ohhas buchih lagAn., tilth

chhuh kh^iffhu mitj. The horse does not eat the bulrush, but at the time of hunger

he will eat earth.

Gur dapiyi'i^ kih my on dud chhuh ijtok f Will the milkman say that his milk is sour ? Uiudustdnl. — A-pni cfuichh ko khattd koi nahin hahtd.

Gur garth tah nakh'.sas mul pariijun.

Leaving the horse in the house and goiug to ask the nakhfa

its price.

Wishing to sell the goods without first showing them.

ValthAs is the officer appointed over the sale of all horses in the valley. No person can soli a horse without first arranging the price with this officer and paying him one ^iii in the rupee.

Gur jun Sum jon, yi'd jun, ch''t jnnt hndam nai.

The horse is a good one ; the hoofs are strong, the mane is

nice, the whole appearance is beautiful ; but the step is

bad.

A man with one glaring fault.

Gur kawah zunih kur haharit ?

How will the milkman know how to marry his daughter?

{i.e., outside his own class of people).

" Like blood, like gootls, and like agesi Make the happiest mamages."

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Gur Icyahpahiheh sird chhuh palcan.

The horse does not walk, but the secret walks.

People generaly take a man for what he seems to be, and not for what he is. It is not the real man they see walking but his dis- guise, his secret.

" For man is practised in disguise, He cheats the most discerning eyes."

Gay's Fables. Gur zanunaJi., tah shamsher,, yim irenawai chliih he-wafd, A horse, a wife, and a sword, these three are unfaithful. Persian. — Asp o zam o shamsher wafddar na hdshad,

Guras guv ball toshun bat as guv "khet roshdn.

The cow-herd's cow, whether she gets a good meal or not, is

a comfort to him ; but the Pandit's cow eats and is angry.

What is the good of keeping a beast for mere show ?

Guri chhuh dupamut ^^ Khasawunis hharaty wasawunis

wdltam." The horse said " I will help you to mount the ascent, but

you lead me down the hill."

Guri garih chhud wuUh rdwnn ?

Does any harm happen to the calf in the milkman's house ? A servant of a good master ; a son of a good and clever father.

Guri garih wafshi hur buhih wahari dun.

The calf lowed after twelve years in the milkman's house.

A little child sometimes speaks after a long silence. After many years of barrenness sometimes a woman gives birth to a child.

Guri wokawah chhud widjh mardn? Does the calf die by reason of the milkman's curse ? A child's reply to a parent's hard threats and words.

Gurih hhasit tih bethchod tah gurih wasit tih bethchod. Whether on horseback or on foot he is a scamp.

Do what you will somebody will speak evil of you. You cannot please everyone.

The Kashmiris have a story similar to our school-book story of the '*01d man and his donkey."

A very wicked Kashmiri owned a pony. One day he was riding upon the animal, while his daughter was walking on in front. The passers-by on seeing this cried out, " What a shame ! What a lazy, cruel man !" The man felt a little asTiamed of his thoughtlessness, and calling his daughter took her up with him on the pony. Thus

73

they proceeded for some distance, when other people met them and exclaimed, " Rather a big load for a small pony"; whereupon the man and his daughter both got off and led the pony along by a string for the rest of the journey.

Gurih sawuri tah khurackih atah-gat. To the mare riding, to the foal trouble.

Going to work a man calls after his mate to come along as well. The latter replies as above, " What is the good ? I should only be like the foal running after its mother."

AtaK-gat oorreiponds to the HindustiLnl &ni*j&nd. Here it means trouble, becaoae people run about hither and thither in time of distress.

Atah-gat is also the name of that money which the Hindu father places in the hand of his married daughter when she goes on a visit to her husband's family. The " going and coming'* pay.

Gurin Ugilc me tah khar gai padar ddrit.

The horses got shod, and the donkeys put out their hoofs

(for shoeing).

Seek not what is beyond your position.

Gurin nah posMn, Ih phalin chob.

He can't manage the horses, and so he beats their manure.

Too weak to trouble the " big guns," and therefore he oppreases the poor.

Gurmut pitnsah tah runmut myund.

Money made up (into gold, silver, and copper ornaments) is like a cooked mouthful (i.e., they are ready for sale in case of need, and until then they are useful ornaments).

Gurtas m^l tah Uud h^t pat ah kani.

Wishing to drink the butter-milk, but hiding the vessel

behind him.

To eat little when dining out, and to refuse more, yet all the while longing to eat a big dinner.

Gyav Ich^wun tah gardanih kun athah Vigun. Eating ghi and then feeling his neck (to see if he was getting fat, the fool, — as if results would happen so quickly as that) !

JO

74 H

Hd niulih. Ha miiji ! O father, O mother !

Among other occasions used on the following : — A man wants a loan, and the person whom he asks for this loan, replies : " I wonld lend it you willingly, but ' Ha, inalih, Hd mdji,' when shall I get it again !

Sabbah shah foni telih nah tah wuni.

O Habbah Shah, tumour wuU, then, not now, was the time (for removmg it) !

Opportunity passed.

Hahhah Shdh had a big ugly tumour on his forehead which might easily have been removed at one time, but he allowed the opportunity to go by.

Hachivis guris zachuv zin.

Tas ku8 Tchasih ? Mahi-Din.

A saddle of rags for a wooden horse. Who will mount him ?

Mahidin.

Let a fool have to d.o with foolish things.

Mahidin was a great student. Eeport says that he was well-up in all languages and religions ; at all events, he became mad and his name a proverb. His son now wanders about the city in a mad condition, and everybody does him honour.

Hf'ijih Bdbah maGhumah, Idienah Uariyii ?

O Haji Baba, give me some dinner ? Is it any trouble for

you to eat 1

This is replied sometimes, when any person wants a special favour from another person ; or when a servant applies for increased wages, &c.

Machdmah is a company dish consisting of rice, vegetables, raisins, colouring matter, and sugar.

JSuhah tsuras galih chapdt.

A cabbage to a thief is as a slap on the cheek.

Little punishment for a small theft.

Sahmas tah hdJcimas nishih rachhtain Khuduyo. O God, deliver me from the doctor and the ruler.

Both Muhammedans and Hindus are frequently heard praying this prayer as they squat by the ghdt in the morning, washing them- selves.

Hal^k nah pathih lah inum !

I've not got my rights, and yet he gives me a reward !

When Kashmiri people give a little more than they intended, or think right, for any article, they are apt to tell the shopkeeper that the overplus is largesse. The seller would then reply as above.

Hal gatsAuni ehheh pU gaUhuni.

To form habits is to make pain (e.g.y a habit of drinking, smoking, gambling, and extravagant dining, &c.)

Halulas hudb tah harumas az/ib'

A reward for things legal and punishment for things illegal.

Bdlav galan nd tah dunes ddh karit ?

The locusts will certainly decrease, but (meanwhile) they arc

destroying the rice.

Man dies but his influence remains.

Small numbers of loousts visit Kashmir almost every year. Some- times a great army of them invades the valley and does terrible injury to the crops.

Muhammedans eat the locust. They dry them in the sun, then grind them into powder, and afterwards make cakes of them. They are regarded as a groat delicacy.

Bustdn of Si'dL— iS^a dar Icoh »ahti na dar bd^ thakh ;

Malakh hUttdn khurd o mardum inalakh.

Hal^n bunan wukari ih^n ; hihht hiki tamahhim. Dented covers for dented saucepans ; and like men for Uke men.

Ham^fuim Tcarih ruzah tah tawis garib ;

Bukhtiri karih garib tah tuwis ruzah,

A wealthy man can build a bath-room and a poor man can

make it hot ; A poor man can build a fire-place and a rich man can burn it. The whole world is one great family, each member of which, be he ever so lowly, is indispensable for the help and comfort of the other.

Hamsuyah wandit/av, garo.

O house, I will make an offering to you of my neighbour.

To try and pass one's misfortune on to the head of another.

In time of sickness and trouble people are accustomed to make offerings uiito the house. Sometimes a ram is slain, and the priests are assembled and fed, and special worship is paid to the gods. Instead of offering anj-thing at his own expense the man in the proverb wished to offer something belonging to his neighbour.

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Hand truk manA ranihy Jcackal truh karih nah hehh. A person with a little tact will cook a maund (i.e., will do something), but a dull, ignorant person will do nothing.

Sangah nah t ah rang ah nah zangah zichh hashye, Dod nah tah dag nah. Kawah yiyem aushye 1 I am independent of you, O long-legged mother-in-law. There is no pain or agony to me. Why should I weep ? No love is lost between mothers-in-law and their children-in-law.

Sdhth gayih haras gahi dit.

The barren woman fastened her door and went.

No heir to look after the property.

Huntih zuydv gubar shituli pajih darydv us. A barren woman bore a son, and the small-pox swallowed him up.

A man who suiBfers mnch pain rather than give up a work, but after all dies in the midst of carrying it out.

Ednzas gubeyih lulih, ditshan ddrit Tculih,

It became a weight upon the boatman's bosom, and so he threw

it into the river.

Cited when a man of some family maan*ies his son to a daughter of lower birth, or does anything else equally ignoble, because he cannot aflford to do the right thing.

'H.dnzas yelih chhuh darydvas andar wdv yiwdn, puth namah

chhuh brohth namah hardn tah brohth namah chhuh puth

namah kardn. When a storm arises on the river the boatman rushes from

the fore-part to the hinder-part of the boat, and from the

hinder-part to the fore-part.

A man in trouble knows not what to do.

Hapi-hdyun.

Scarcity (lit., an outcry is raised).

While these words are being written there is Hapi hdyun in tho city of Srinagar concerning rice. For some reason or other rice ia scarce and dear.

Mdpat ashud hyuh gamut suh chiz ndydb.

Like the bear's ashud that thing has become scarce.

It is said that when the bear gets this grass, he devours it most greedily, and becomes uucouscioas for six moaths afterwards.

77

Hupat y&raz.

A bear*s friendship.

A stupid friend.

A bear formed friendship with a man who was passing throngh his jangle. For some time he brought his friend large quantities of honey. One day the man fell asleep after eating the honey. While asleep a bee attracted by the sweetness alighted upon his mouth. The friendly bear seeing this thought that he woald save the man from the pain of a sting, and so he went and fetched a great piece of rock and aimed it with all his might at the place where the bee was* The stone frightened away the bee, but killed the man! Cf. "Folk- tales from the Upper Punj&b," by the Rev. C. Swynnerton, Jovvmai Afiatic Society, Bengal, Vol. LII., Fart 1 , 1888 ; also the story of the calf who got its head into the pot in " Notes on some Sinhalese Proverbs and stories in the Atita-V4kya-Dipaniya," by A. M. Senibiiyaka ; also the story given in " Dasent's Norwegian Folklore," where a goody is discovered by a friend beating her husband's head with a mallet in order to make a hole for the head in a shirt, which had been previously thrown over it ; also the Makasa Jataka, where a son broke his father's bald head to kill a mosquito, which had settled upon it.

Hdpatas at aut /tsiheh tah suh "kariheh mi tjuehih ? If the bear bad flour would he not make bread ?

Cited against a poor man with extravagant ideas.

The bear may be sometimes seen smacking his paws together M natives do when they are making ohapitis.

"Ear hart har kar, har wizih sur kar.

Fight by all means, but at the time of fighting bo careful.

flir/r hhiw&n gua tah h'lr muri m^iri.

The starling eats dung and then shakes his head in a pleased

sort of way.

A shameless man.

E.ar rangah musibat chhui ak diwunagi. Every kind of misfortune is a madness.

IltWah Uur. A cowrie thief.

A mean fellow, a stint.

Hartitnuk mtil har&machih watih ; nah hheyih pdnas tah nah

neyih athih. Ill-gotten wealth goes in the way of wickedness ; the getter

neither eats it himself, nor takes it with him.

Persian. — Mdl i hardm bud bajd e hardm rafU

78

Sardah gurus metrat, sontah gurus shetras.

Autumn butter-milk for the friend, and spring butter-milk for

the enemy.

The autumn grass is much better than the spring grass ; conse- qnently the milk is better in the autumn.

Earafm gawoh tah mendis shariJ:.

A witness against (my) words but a sharer in (myj mouthful. The man who is always " loafing" about like the mahalladdr or spies, appointed over every village and district in Kashmir.

Hitrih ai wuhih Icunun usih tah Mr m'd asih tah herizis Jcyah ? If an elephant is to be sold for a cowrie, and there is not a

cowrie, what can be done ? Kothing can be done without money.

Harih am hozarah kanit tjeh chhui syud hozanah yiwdn. You think him a righteous man, but he would sell you for a

cowrie in the market.

Barih gov nav hyah ?

What is the name to a Har ? Har, of course.

*' What's a table ? A table, you stupid !"

Max is a black and white cow. People give a special name to every cow except this one.

Harih, harih samih hoh.

Gradually from chippings a mountain is made. Many a little makes a muckle.

Harih nahjai ; mbad phdlis shed !

No place for a cowrie, but place for sweetmeats !

" The doctor orders this and that, but how can I afford it ?'*

Harih soda tah hozaras hhalbali.

He has only a cowrie to spend, but he rushes about and makes a stir all oyer the bazar.

Harih tah totas wanun,

(May as well) speak to a starling (or a parrot). An inattentive person.

Han fang tah zulahnai ; muhuri tsoht tah zulit.

If the pear cost only a cowrie it should not be peeled ; but if

the apple cost a muhur it should be peeled.

Natives of Kashmir, from H. H. the Maharajah down to the hum- blest subject, seldom ever skin a pear, but always skin an apple. Apple-skin, they say, is not easily digested.

79

Harkat har tah barkat hart. Be up and doing and God will bless you. Persian. — Himmat i marddn madad i Khudd.

Haramuhhuk Gostini, The jogi of Haramukh.

Haramukh is a mountain 16,905 foet high, to the north of Kaahmfr.

A person with a bad memory.

There was a Jogi who tried to meant Haramukh. Every day for twelve years he climbed to a certain height, and every night for tho same space of time he descended as far as he had ascended. How it came to pass he conld not tell. Perhaps he was a sonnambnlist. At any rate every morning he found himself reposing quietly in the very spot, whence he had started on the previous morning.

One day, the last day of these twelve years, a shepherd was seen by this Jogi coming down from the mountain. The Jogf asked him whether he had reached the snmmit and what he had seen there. The shepherd replied that he bad reached the top of the mountain, and had seen a sweeper with his wife, and they were milking a bitch with a human head, and they had asked him to drink that milk, which he had refused to do, because he thought that it- was unholy ; and then they threw some tfkd upon his face, which, perhaps, was there now The Jogi knew that that the supposed sweeper and his wife were none other than the god and goddess Shiva and Parvati, and so he went close up to the shephei^'s face and licked off the tiki. He was then caught up into the clouds much to the astonishment of the poor shepheid.

The reason the shepherd was able to climb the mountain and the Jogi unable, was, that the shepherd went up heedlessly and totally ignorant of the great deities who resided on the summit. ("An ignorant man fears nothing.")

A boy with a dull memory works hard all the evening, and the next morning, when he comes to appear before the schoolmaster, he finds that he knows nothing, and is like the Jogi, as he was, and where he was, before.

HuTueh gugaj tah Ldrueh gunas chhih barubar. A June turnip and a Lir serpent are equal.

A native would not eat a turnip in the month of June on any account.

Ounas (or o/*o) is a short, thick, round-headed serpent, whose bite is generally fatal. Some say it has a black back and yellow belly ; others that it is ash colour. It is met with principally in the district of Ldr. The native method of treating snake bites is amas> ing. " When a person is stung on the arm or leg, a ligature is applied between the heart and the wound, which is besmeared with foam. The patient has 'arak and conserve of roses given him to eat, while music is played to cheer him up."

Ldr is a parganah of the Kamria district.

80

Haiah Matin wasamat. Hasah the madman s wealth, A spendthrift's money.

Hash tih had tah nosh tih bad lej duz tah walih Jcus ? The mother-in-law is great, the daughter-in-law is also great ; the pot is burnt, who will take it off the fire ?

Somebody must do the work.

Ma^h gayih tah noshih kur drum.

Grandmother (on husband's side) died and the daughter-in- law got peace. These old dames have great authority over the entire household.—

Vide " Hindus as they are," Chap I., pp. 3, 4.

nasti dareyi nah wavah tah hujih had Jcapas,

The elephants couldn't stand because of the wind, but the

old woman went out and gathered the cotton from the plant.

A poor, insignificant man can often accomplish what kings and others in authority have utterly failed to do.

Hasti yad gasah gyad, A handful of grass for an elephant's stomach. A mere drop in a bucket.

Hastis yad phat tah hangih delih wuth !

The elephant's stomach burst open and they mended it with

hemp-skin !

Imperfect repairs.

Hatah dedi ruhana man dui, tah hheni sum nah ok Tcuj ! •* O, mother, two and half maunds of onions will be given to

you ; " and she has not got a plant to eat !

Promise of help, but no means of fulfilling it.

Hatah JMwah puhtshu meh tih hetah manz.

Hie, sir, here's a puntshii. Take me into your company.

A man who forces himself upon people who do not particularly care for him.

PuntshU is the twentieth part of an dn5, a small coin, not in use now, but to be obtained in the bdzdr.

Hatah mur haldm. The doctor killed a hundred men. A doctor of some experience.

81

Hatih gav zih mafih gov,

A promise is a charge to keep.

Workmen who have promised to do some work, and on that promise have received some rupees in advance, often repeat those words as they walk away from the person's house.

Ilatis khash tah hangani mithi. Kisses for the chin and an axe for the throat. A traitor.

Huziras bog naztras chob,

A share of the dmner to each of those present, but a beating for the cook.

Sic V08 non I'obis,

Heh yahUk, dih panUh haMar.

To take five or give five — all the same to him.

Poco curanie.

Ilrllah karo, ILtjOy pallaht chhui dur.

Be encouraged, O pilgrim, though your destination is far oif. Encouraging a man in a difficult work.

Uemdyat dtin tah hi'unmi mahp^yin hdhtih.

Patronize and be patronized, but do not tell any one, lest

there should be harm (to the person patronized).

Keep your own counsel.

W^xi hemi.

Like an insect to the pod (so is sin to a man). Sin brings its own punishment with it.

Henah as tah meh nah ruh.

Involved in difficulty, or taken prisoner, but for no fault of

mine.

The guiltless punished for the guilty.

neng us nah tah wafjhanti chhch !

She has not got horns yet, she is only a calf!

Cited concerning a woman who bears her first child late in life. A beardless man. An elderly person without a grey hair.

Herat uyih toanduni hah nah tah nah kniih.

"When Herat came eleven days of winter, or nothing, re- mained. Heral (Shiva-rdtri) is a IIind6 festival held on the fourteenth

of tho dark fortnight iu the month Phaguu (Feb. — March). 11

82

Berih wuUhas anigatihy but chhulum haritih natih yet garaa

yii waiih. I came down stairs in the dark and washed my face in a

waterpot filled with water. This must be done in this

house.

If you go to Rome you must do as Uome does.

Hisub horih tah baMiskish hharwurih.

To take account of every cowrie, but to give away money by

the maund (80 lbs).

Careful but generous. Honav raUhui id. A festival vrithout dogs.

Pleasui-e without difficulty. Hond maran kih nah hat, Lalih nalawat Ualih n<ih zah. Whether they killed a big sheep or a small one, it was all

the same, Lai always had the nalawat in her plate.

Hardly treated.

Lai Dcd was very badly treated by her mother-in-law. One of the ways in which this woman delighted to tease her was by sending a stone called nalawat in her dinner. Cf. " Panjab Notes and Queries,'* No 20. Note 743.

Honih chon butk nah.iah cMnis hhuwandah sund iih nu ? You have not a face like a bitch ? Then your husband has

(i.e.., all the lot of you are bad). Honi/i kkoyihjets sm, buni Jcheyih panah sun. He will eat a bitch, fur and all ; and he will eat a chinar

tree with the leaves.

Qucerenda pecunia primum, virtus post nummos, Honin netun tah monin tach/in. Fleecing dogs and scratching walls.

Ploughing the seashore. Hor h'v- A black and white crow.

A marked man.

Hud gav hunui myund.

Just a morsel without vegetables left.

Natives are accustomed to eat their dinner in the following manner. First they tako a mouthful of rice, and then a little vege- table, and so on regularly, until the meal is over. Should there happen to be a little rice left, but no vegetable, &g., left to eat with it, that little rice is not eaten.

f

83

ITud is dry and poor food ; without vogotablcs, Ac. Cited conceminj? one who is oxporioncing a littlo trouble in his old age. All the previous time ho has been very proajKiroua.

Jlfthm-i-hf'Jcim o hakim chhuh tnarg-i-mafijut. The ruler's and the doctor's orders are (like) sudden death (i.e.^ they both must be obeyed quickly).

JInl gandit batich naUun,

Tightening her girdle the duck dances.

Cited against a woman, who wishing to quarrel, goes and unites in a *• row" going on close by. Kashinfri women have terrible tongues and most shrill voices. At the time of quarrolliug they aoroocb, shout, and dance to any extent.

TJul gandit har karnn. To tighten one's girdle and fight. He moans business.

ITh/ hyah karih sT'dis ?

What shall a crooked man do to a straight man ? The strength of a good character.

Tlnn asin tah kiths mah unn.

May you be a dog, but not a younger son.

Younger sons are generally the father's butt, the mother's scorn, and the brother's fag.

Persian.— Sa<; hdah khCkrd ma hcish.

Hun hus netih tah feur Jeus mangit neyih ? "Who will fleece a dog and who will take and marry a girl ? A good marriage is nut such au easy matter.

Hun nak tah kutjurui, Npt a dog but a pup only.

A childish-looking or childish-mannered person.

IJnni huni har har an tah shnlah sinzih iungih wizih kuni. Dogs fight among themselves, but at the time of the jackal's

cry they are united.

Enemies are united against one common foe.

Hitni lui ai thawizen kandilas andar, tatih tih nerih hdni

lutui If a dog's tail be set in a kaudil, there even it will remain a

dog's tail.

Place do«s uut alter race.

84

Kandil (Kandil, Arabic,) is the painted wooden or silver box about 1| ft. long and | ft. in circumference in which the heron's feathers are fixed, and from which they depend. As many as three hundred feathers are sometimes worn, and as much as one rupee has been ^ven for a feather. Rich people keep them hanging from the ceil- ings of their rooms from fear of the cat. Poor people can only afford to hire them for weddings, &c. ? There are three or four heronries in Kashmir.

Huni mhas wutal wazah.

The sweeper is the cook for dog*s flesh.

A wicked, dirty man for bad, dirty deeds.

The Wdtul has been called the gipsy of Kashmir, and indeed these people have all the manner and appearance of gipsies. They live separate from others, and by reason of their indiscriminate use of food are despised by all others, both Muhammedans and Hindus. It is a moot point whether the gipsies are not the descendants of Kash- miris, who were obhged to leave the valley at one time and another on account of persecutions and famines.

Huni neyih bastah hhalari.

The dog took away the piece of leather (while the men were

quarrelling over it).

The dog represents the lawyer.

Euni sund hyuh sahur, achh piir, haUi dur^ huthis nur. May you have patience like a dog, and may your eye keep

undimmed. Let misfortune remain at a distance from you,

and let cheerfulness be always upon your face.

A Kashmiri's blessing.

One may often see both Hindfi and Muhammedan women spread- ing forth their hands in a supplicating manner and offering this prayer as they squat by the river-side in the early morning.

Muni wordn tah Juurawunah paMn. The dogs bark but the caravan goes on. A dog may as well bark at the moon.

Suni'Wuslikah yur nah wawan tur bow/in. Tares spring up where we do not sow them.

H'dni-wushliah literally is dog-barley.

Hunik mashidih hund jinn. The ogre of the deserted mosque. A wretched, selfish fellow.

85

Hnnis athih aut mdndanhcun. To knead flour by a dog's paw.

Ne 8utor ultra crepidam.

Shfrin o Khusrau. — Ki az bUtina najjdH na dyad.

Hunis chob dinah nerih gas^n yot.

You only get manure from hitting a dog.

What is tho good of a policoman boating a poor man P He will not got a bribe.

II mis mukhtaht'tr, A string of pearls to a dog. Casting pearls before swine.

Buniipyav '' Subirah " nAv, suif M m&lihj t&nih yas wuthit

The name "Patient" has been given to the dog, but he knows, O father, whom he has come to bite. A generally good man, who now and again breaks oat into a fit of

passion, &o.

Hurih hen wurik ley ah tah dunasl

What ! will he throw a handful of grass into the fire-place ?

Like a handful of grass in a iiruplaco is a little money in a big conoom — soon swallowed up.

Hurdus tah burdus! A beating and smiting I Such a hullabaloo !

Ilusih wun tah musih I'yih pahh.

A woman said something and she believed it.

Credulity.

Jlyut Icami tah dyut Icami, Who took and who gave ? (God).

" Tho Lord gave and tho Lord hath taken away."— Job i. 21.

86 I. J.

JaMmuh tamok.

Tobacco from Jaham (i.e., splendid tobacco). Jahdm tobacco is said to be the finest in the valley.

Jahim chhuh ashkun mazhar. The world is a theatre of love.

Jammt gayih harumat.

A company of men is as good as a miracle (i.e., difficult

matters are easily accomplished by their mutual and united

help).

Jm hus chhuh ? Tanun pan, "Who is good 1 I myself. Suunh cuique pulcrum.

Jonah, ditah dastur punah roz tah wudah nun.

Beloved, give me your turban and you remain bareheaded.

Cited when a man asks for something which is indispensable to you.

Jandanui chheh zuwak asm.

Lice is in the beggar's ragged cloak.

A quick reply given to the importunate mendicant.

Lice here stands for money. Hence " You've got as much money as there are lice and dirt sticking to your garment."

Jandas puri, yath Jcarizih wandas rohat. Blessed be the ragged garment, which keeps me warm during the winter.

The poor man's retort when twitted concerning the antiquity of his garment.

Jangas manz chhai thil tih tah guli tih. You get purse and bullet, too, from fighting ; (therefore think over the matter before you enter the lists against an adver- sary)

A man had an ass which he used for carrying loads by day, and was leaving out in the field at night to pick up what grass the poor animal could find there. The ass rebelled against such treatment, and one night ran away to the king's stable, and was there fed most liberally along with the royal horses. He became very fat and strong and was very happy ; but, alas ! a war commenced, and when the enemy had arrived near to the king's capital, all the royal

87

horaos, and tho solitary ass, wore ttimod out and sent forward to the fight. There tlio ass saw ono horso after another shot down, and be- cominf? afraid ho escaped back apiin to his former master. '' Hero is t)ic guli as well as the tliil," said ho, as he galloped back. " Bettor to have little and sure."

•' Jat pat " tih Khuda rat.

** Quickly" you must lay hold upon God.

There is but a stop between you an<l death, or somo torriblo mi&- fortnno, or somo groat event. Yon must act at onoo. Then throw yourself upon God to prosper you.

Nee Detts interttitf nisi dignus vindice nodtu.

Jnyih chhuko zih shuyih chhuko. You are safe in your own place.

Landed and house pro{)erty are sure invostmonts.

Jawunia nah rozgur ; lukutit mdj marani ; tah budis Mani marani. Yim tr^inawai k dhah chhtih sakht musibat,

A young mau without work ; a mother dying and leaving a baby ; the wife of on old man dying. These three are terrible misfortunes.

'Id guh wasit sun hyak ranav ? Watih harav maslahat Icatih

karav dun ? Vifidaras bihit giUahpanun htiwai, thutih j>an khurai ajih

dusih tun. Vaharih piU'djh gaz j)at pdwah n^iwai; hdwai garah karun

k''ho gav, Sutih width gov pdktjh aah tih nov chuwai ; umrih thtiwai

gursah tamann/i Kaiih peih watihpeth bunah phutarutoi ; huwai garah karun

keho gav. Stint t khct chU pingah thoh Mwai ; huwai garah karun keho

gov. Lej pashpf'wai mt'j mashrdwai ; hnwai garah karun keho gav. Going to 'Id gah what shall we cook? Let us take counsel on

the road, where we shall make the fire-place. Sitting at my wheel I will show you my wisdom. I . will

stretch the bad cotton to half the height of the wall. I will get a five-yard than for you out of six pounds of wool ;

I'll show you the manner of my house. I will never get the milk at early morning from five cows j

but I will keep you all your life waiting for milk.

88

At a word upon the road I will break the pot ; I'll show

you the manner of my house. I will eat and drink with my friends, but keep the millet-seed

and straw for you. I'll show you the manner of my house. I will give you the strainings of the pot ; and you will forget

your mother. I'll show you the manner of my house.

A lazy, ill-tempered woman.

The author of these words is unknown, but everybody knows them and quotes them, in whole or in pait, and sometimes in song, against that woman, through whose bad temper, indiscretion, or extrava,- gance, the husband has been brought to ruin.

'Id gdh, 'Id., Arab., (the place of sacrifice), is a beautiful park-like plain lying just outside the right of Srinagar. At its northern end there is a fine old wooden mosque overshadowed by some lofty ohinar trees. The mosque is called the 'Ali Masjid, and was built in the time of Sultdn Husain Badshah by Khwdja Hasti, Sonar, about 1471 A. D, No Muhammedan observes the fast of the Eamazan with greater strictness than the Kashmiri.

TMn is a piece of cloth. A five-yard thdn would be an extremely small one ; and six pounds of wool, if properly spun, &c., should make a full thdn of ten yards or more.

Illat galih tah udai galih nah.

The ill may go, but the habit will stick.

Ilm he-amal goya hik an sindis atlias mashal. Knowledge unused is like a torch in the hand of a blind man. Persian — ^Ilm % he 'amal zamhur i he-'asal.

Ilmas gatshih amal usuni.

Knowledge should be brought into use.

Insun cJihuh poshik Ichulah uwel tah hanik Ichutah dur, Man is more fragile than a flower, and yet harder than a

stone.

A man's own pain or trouble affects him, but not he tears and pain of another.

Insanak sund kimat clihui satowuh-shat rupayih. The price of a man is Rs. 2,700.

Two men get angry with one another and fight. The above saying is generally quoted by the man who is getting the worst of the scrimmage, and wishes to end it.

Two reasons have been told me why this sum especially has been set as the price of a man. One reason is, that in the days of the Mughals Kupees 2,700 was the fine imposed upon every murderer in lieu of Lis life. Another reaaon is, that Akbar, like other equally

89

great and envied monarch^, was accustomed to sleep in secret places. Sometimes he would disguise himself as a faqfr, or as a shopkeoiier and sleep by the roadside or in a shop. One night ho wandered a little farther than nsoal and found himself in a foreign and uncul* tivated country. Strange to say, his favorite minister, Blr Bal, had also strayed to the same place. They met, and while they were engaged in conversation, an one-eyed man came up to them, and said to the king, " You have taken out my eye, which I think to bo worth the sum of Rupees 1,200. Give mo this money, or restore to me my other eye." Akbar was nonplussed by the man's sudden appearance and audacious request ; but B{r Bal was equal to the occasion, and replied, '* Yes, it is quite true. Wo have your eye ; and if you will come to-morrow morning, we will return it to you." The man agreed and left. Bfr Bal immediately sent off to the butchers for some sheep's eyes. After some time they arrived, and he had them put each one separately into a little wooden box by itself. In the morning the man came again ; and when ho arrived he was informed that the king had several eyes by him, and that it was impossible to tell which particular one belonged to this man. Would ho kindly allow his other eye to be taken out, so that it might bo weighed and measured ; in that way they would bo able to tell which of the number of eyes lielongi'd to him.

The man was bliii(le<l for life, and henceforth pave no more trouble to the king. (So much did the p<tor man value his sight, that he estimated each eye at Kupees 1,200, and the whole rest of the body at Rapoea 800 only.)

InsdtKU gaUhih uauni khoe. Poahaa gaUhih usuni hot. Politeness is required in man. Scent is requireu in a flower.

" As charity covers a multitude of sins before God, so doet politeness before men."— Greville.

Insunas tah instmas chht'h titj tafiwai,

YiU khudoyas tah bandas chheh.

Between man and man tliere is as great diffei-ence as there is

between God and a slave.

There are no two persons alike.

Jumah Mashidih handin nimuz athah.

The Juma Masjid people have given up praying.

While people from the country come in crowds to the great mosque of the city, the people living close to the mosque sit in their shops all through the Friday hoping for trade ; and they are not disappointed.

Nimdt alhahf lit., prayers from the hand — oat of hand — gone-

12

00

Izzat chkuh pananis dsas andar. Honour is inside your mouth. Take heed to your words.

Izzatich hur tah be-izzatich kJuir chheh bardbar. A cowrie obtained honourably and a kharwar obtained dis- honourably are equal in value.

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K

Kahuh ret sanz bnih.

Like an eleven month's man.

A man who Htiiits himself now, that he may be rich hereafter.

A man hearing t'»at^ »"'<'« was cheap and K^, bonght as mnch as he thought won Id be sufliciont for the next year, ami stored it away in his house. Kashmi'ris are constantly storing something or other, so that their houses generally resemble a small gtnlown. Well, it hap|)oned, that this man had not coiToctly reckoned, and that there was only enough for eleven months in store. What was he to do ? II o had sjient all his money, and to borrow ho was ashamed. Accordingly ho determined to fast for one month, and stupid man like ho was, ho thought that it would be much bettor to have the fast now instead of having to look forward to it all through the (>lovon months, lie had not faith in God to supply his wants here- after. The consequence was that the man and wife and all the family died just before the fast was over, and left eleven months' rice iu the house !

Kahan garan hunt tdv ; himmat rdv tah wanav has ?

Only one frying-pan for eleven houses ; courage gone ; and to

whom shall we spe<ik \

Time of great distress.

Kahan gdv ruvmutj.

Eleven men have lost h cow between them.

A great loss, but many to share it.

Kahan gayih kuni waniy tini guyih rani amni.

Eleven men came to the same unfortunate state ; they each

went and fetched a wife for themselves.

Cited when several male members in a household are nnfortonate.

Kahan kah watah.

Eleven roads to eleven men.

Tot homines, tot sententUh.

Kahan hunui fthaitnn. One wicked fellow for eleven men. Uindustuni.— £i; machhli sdre UiUih ko fjanda karti hai.

Kahan imli puturan hunui srunah-jyat. One loin cloth to eleven fathers and sous. Climax of distress.

92

Kahan ihawim sui dkis nah Uhan^m wui.

He promises eleven people but does not throw food to one.

Great promises but little deeds.

Kajih hanzah Tcorih sat,

Kaj and her seven daughters.

There was a poor deaf woman who had seven daughters, whom shesupported with the greatest difficulty. At last God seeing her struggle gave her seven handfuls of food secretly every day. After a time the mother thought that if she left one daughter to go her own way, she might save one handful of food, or, at all evens, have a little more to give to the others. But God only gave her six handfuls then. After a while she sent another daughter away and then another, but still God continued giving one handful less for each girl dismissed, until at last not one daughter and not a scrap of food were left to the woman.

Kukun huput. Father's bear.

Nothing really to be afraid of.

Kashmiri parents are accustomed to frighten their children into good behaviour by saying " There is a bear coming. Quiet, quiet," &c.

Kal ai harak tah Jcaji maraJv ; Jsal nai Jcarak tah marah

nah zah. If you worry, it will bring you to the grave ,- but if you do

not worry, you will never die.

' Tis not from work, but from worry, that half the people die.

Kalam-zan, shamsher-zan, Jcuste-zan chhih be-ahlas nish

baruhar. A quill-driver, swordsman, and brothel-keeper, are (each one)

no more than an ignorant man.

Kalas peth gdri phutarit Icheni.

Breaking a water-nut upon one's head and eating it.

Earning with difficulty.

There was a very godly Hindu, a Eishi, liv^ing in Kashmir. Upon a certain day one of his disciples came crying unto him and saying, that his mother had died. The Eishi enquired the age of the woman, and finding that she was very old, he told the man not to weep ; because it was time that his mother should die- The disciple, however, did not agree with this, and begged the Eishi to allow her to live a few years more. The Rishi told him to crush some water-

93

nuts {Traha hUpinosa) npon his mother's head ; nnd it shonld come to pasR that she won Id revive, and live as many years aa there were broken water-nuts.

Now the bereaved son did not like the idea of breaking hard nnts n\H)n his deceased mother'8 head ; still it was the ortier of the Rishi, and so he did so. Eleven nnts were broken and for eleven yeara longer the mother lived.

Kali 8(tnz bol'bdsh zdnih kali sund mol mdj.

Only a dumb man's parents understand a dumb person's

speech.

A little child's prattle is comprehensible only to the parents ; and a man's speech is understood by his coontrymou only.

Knlas tih raz^ nalas tih raz- A rope for the head and a rope for the legs. A strict watch over any body or anything.

Kaldyih binni t hulas kardn trek aini.

A tin fingor-ring turns an egg into three dishes of meat and

vegetables.

A groat show, bat little under it.

Kalis viundis Khuddi rdzi,

God is pleased with the dumb, simple man.

*' Kali nun zih nunui ?'* '* Kali^ syun zih syunui V*

••O dumb man. salted?" "Yes, salted." *'0 dumb man,

unsalted?" "Yes, unsalted."

A story of a nervoas young Engliahman comes just now to mind, which exactly illustrates this saying. He was breakfasting out; and at the breakfast-table the hostess remarked, ** I'm afraid your

roll is not nice, Mr ." " Oh, yes, thank you," he replietl, " it is

splendid." In a little while eggs were place<l upon the table, and

Mr. took one, which tumeti out to be bad. The host, who was

sitting close by Mr. , noticed this, and begged him to let the

servant take it away and give him another; whereupon Mr. said

" Oh ! please don't, I like bad eggs."

Kam gaUhih hhijun tah gam gaijhih nak hhyun. Better to eat a little than to eat grief.

" Any price rather than you shonld be angry," says the shop* keeper to the customer.

Knmadewan chhus athak dolamut.

Kamadev has smoothed that man's face with his hands.

Cited on seeing any beautiful man or woman.

Kamadev is the HindCi Cupid or Eros, the god of Love, thought to be one of the most pleasing creations of Hindu fiction.

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Kamas chhuh hamul iah Uaris chhuh zaioul. Perfection is to the less and destruction to the more.

A man somewhat spare in speech, expenses, &c., will become great ; but a man extravagant in words and expenses, &c., will come to ruin.

Kaminas hhidmat chheh zaimnas chob.

To serve a mean man is like beating the earth (i.e., it is a profitless work).

Kanah-dol chhui Botani soddhas bardbav'

A man who turns away his ear (from scandal, &c.) , is like

the Botan or Ladak trade (i.e.^ receives great profit).

A brisk trade is carried on between Kashmir and Laddk. I have heard that about lbs. 128,000 of kil-phamb (pashm) or shawl-wool are imported annually into the valley by the butahwani or Ladak merchants. For the preparation, &c., of this wool, of. Drew's Book on Kashmir and Jammu.

Kanah Icapas kaduni.

To bring cotton from the ear.

Impossible. Some people attempt to do things in an impossible way.

Cited also against that servant who hears everything pro or con about his master, and then goes and retails his information to his master.

Kanas chhas nah hatah laddn.

I do not load my ear with food (i.e.^ I am not such a fool

as to try to put the food into my ear instead of into my

mouth. I know what I'm about).

Kashmiris say that a drunkard, who was very much under the influence of drink at the time, tried to feed himself by stufl&ng rice into his ears ; hence the saying.

Kandas tah mujih hunid sad. The same taste to sugar-candy and a radish. Good or evil, noble or mean, all the same to him.

Kahh nah Icom Kidahgom. (Going to) Kulagom without work.

A man going an errand calls a friend, whom he meets on the way, to come along with him. If that friend does not wish to accompany him, he will probably reply as above.

The workmen of Kulagom are said to be the cleverest in the valley.

95

Kani Ingiyd m'lr zih zanls yiyih dr ?

Will the stone burn, that the acquaintance should have

mercy ?

" Save mo from my friends."

Kani tah nunah phul gav darydvas, Kanih dup " Buhgitjisy

Nunun duptts ** Vusui gul sui gid.** A stone and a piece of salt fell into the river. The stone

said " I melted. " The salt said ** That which melted,

melted."

Wo should never complain as long as there are others worse off t hun ourselves.

h'dnih aehh surmak tah lanjih zangih paiy.mah. Antimony for the blind eye and trousers for the lame leg. • Mmlanic Rachol will rectify it."

Kdnih achh wuzih kyah nindarih / What will rouse the blind eye from sleep I What cannot be ciuxhI niust l>c endure<l.

h'dniht JialtK tah athas hi-t. '• O, one-eyed man, work." '* It is at hand." A ono-oycd man is always ready for misc-liief. Panjdbi. — A'tiTici, terha^ UuljioUi.

(Also)