James Drummond Anderson

“ Tāpāi would perform all tasks given to him from dawn till nightfall. But he must be kept occupied all the time. At first the condition seemed easy to fulfil. The bhūta was ordered to build a palace, raise a noble temple, dig a tank, procure a bridegroom for the Brāhmaṇ’s daughter, etc., etc. But there are limits to human desires and human inventiveness, and even the Brāhmaṇ was, in spite of all the luxury with which he was now surrounded, a harassed and perplexed mortal. ”

“ But the intrepid blind man, not in the least disturbed, said, “Much too cold, my friend, at this time of night! But we can have a trial of strength in another way. Judging by your voice, you must be a great hairy sort of beast. Pluck some of the fluff off your chest and put it through the chink in the door.” ”

“ This legend Miss Sītā has borrowed from The Adventures of the Gooroo Noodle, by Benjamin Barrington, I.C.S., itself copied from the eighteenth century version of the Rev. P. Vesci, in the Tamil language, published under the title of Guru Para mārttan. Now it happens that about 1886 I was told this same story in the Boḍo or Kachārī language in Assam by a Kachārī friend of mine called Samson, with some variations. No doubt the story is found all over India, but that it should be common to Hindu Trichinopoli and to the non-Hindu Kachārī dwārs is surprising. ”

“ For all lovers of pure literature the continuation of Sir Roger de Coverley will provide lasting delight, and the sympathetic account of the sad life of William Cowper is equally acceptable. Students of ethnography will specially value his account of the life and work of William Robertson Smith, and the discussion on Australian problems in his paper on Fison and Howitt reprinted from the Twentieth Volume of Folk-Lore. ”

“ These are as follows:— (1) aṅkuśa, “elephant goad”; palm presented upwards; forefinger curved.
(2) dhenu, “milch cow”; hands joined upwards, palm to palm; thumbs and fingers touching, but fore and middle finger of right hand and third and little finger of right hand crossed.
(3) nārāca, “iron arrow”; palm presented, forefinger straight; others bent.
(4) kūrma, “tortoise”; right hand superposed on left; palms downwards; right forefinger touches left thumb; tip of right little finger touches tip of left forefinger; other three fingers of left hand close round right hand. ”