162 On the Ballads and Legends of the Punjab. [No. 2. 



Oochcheh mundul mata mariah, do russ killah bazaar, 

 Kye ra sub dur disn sukna, k'a vur lisseh sunsar 

 Natoo rooh my Booddiah, hunjoo na dul kar, 

 Jie rub ruksi tera betera my sir deh-sa char. 



She replies — 



Sut bete Eajah jee, my jahch, kye n'h keeta kahj 

 Aikulla beta hoou rehguya ossdi bari ahj, 

 Neela ghorawala, shuksa, too moohndari sir pug 

 Jereh zalum sooj deh aah ! pheeraini uj. 



I cannot answer for more than the general accuracy of the follow- 

 ing translation, for the tradition not being written, it is difficult to 

 catch the precise sound of the words as uttered in recital, and the 

 bards become puzzled and bewildered if asked to explain their mean- 

 ing. Several of the words, none of those whom I consulted, could 

 translate : it is probable therefore that they were mispronounced in 

 recital. 



First were the Pandoos ; after them the Jusrut. 

 (Each said " the world) is made mine own." Yet none remains to 



either of you. 

 What harm is there in arsenic, or the well* whose odour is rotten ? 

 Spare to beat the jackal, that hath nor hide, nor flesh. 

 What careth the rock for frost ? The eunuch for matrimony ? 

 To the blind what profiteth the lamp, tho' you should light fifty ? 

 Man is an ignorant compound of hair and flesh. 

 The mother-in-lawf without her son-in-law, meat without huldi, 

 Clothes without soap. — These three things are amiss. 

 Bring not the swallow-wort to your teeth. Eat not the flesh of snakes. 

 Weep not despondently, nor laugh overmuch, 

 Born an infant of seven ells, would you grow into a man of four ? 

 The father hath entered his son's boots, one measure serves for both, 

 The dog hath run off with the sugar press, the khan hath seized the 



milstone 

 The worm hath eaten the saddle of the village of 84 figures J (in 

 letters). 



* Some translate Kooah. Stomach. 



f Alluding to the custom of treating the mother-in-law with marked tenderness 

 and reverence. 



% Meaning perhaps, grandiloquent name. 



