104 REV. FR. J. HOFFMANN. S.J. 



But, as explained above, they belong to each other as two factors or means for 

 the expression of a single idea, and if so taken together they mean : 



The huntsmen bright with armour. 



This example may serve at the same time to illustrate another very striking feature 

 of a certain number of jingles : 



To denote nuances or varying degrees in the appearance of phenomena described 

 by jingles, the vowels are changed, as is done in jilib'-jilib' jolob'-jolob' . Fallen leaves 

 are driven about quickly by a strong wind, but slowly by a slighter breeze. Hence 

 the variation in the following song which inculcates the national custom : ' ' no mar- 

 riage price paid, no wife to be had." Marriageable girls are symbolized by fallen 

 tamarind and mangoe-leaves, i.e., they are no longer held fast by the needs and 

 affections of young children, and they are as plentiful as the fallen leaves at a certain 

 season ; they move about everywhere even as those leaves are wafted about by the 

 winds. The song says: "If thou payest the customary marriage price thou canst 

 stop a leaf, if not the leaf continues travelling with the wind." But it says so in a 

 graphic way : — 



Jojo-sakam uli-sakam pire-piretan otangtanaga 



Pire-piretan otangtan. 

 Jojo-sakam ulisakam pare-paretan dopalitanaga 

 Pare-paretan dopalitan. 



The tamarind leaf, the mangoe leaf is fluttering fast in the wind, my dear, 



Fluttering, twirling fast with the wind. 



The tamarind leaf, the mangoe leaf is wafted down from the tree by the breeze, 



my dear, 

 Wafted down from the tree by the breeze. 



There exists another set of words of sufficiently frequent occurrence in the songs 

 to claim consideration as a distinct verbal factor in Mundari poetry. These are the 

 terms of endearment. 



The frequency of these terms arises from three causes, two of which are common to 

 human nature, viz., the tendency of parents to apply such terms to their children, and of 

 lovers to apply them to each other Among the Mundas this tendency is very strong. 

 The third cause is connected with the racial conception of friendship between individuals 

 of the same sex. These friendships are considered very sacred and as binding 

 throughout life. Though their marriage rites distinctly state that the marriage tie is 

 not a thing of a few days, but for the whole of life, they say : " Marriage may break, 

 but friendship never." When a boy or a young man wants to enter into friendship 

 with another, he informs his parents of the fact, and the tie is then consecrated as it 

 were by certain formalities and to a certain extent shared in by the families of the two 

 boys or young men. One of the formalities consists in the adoption of a new name for 

 each other. This is always the name of some bright or some fragrant flower. Thence- 

 forward they address each other and speak of each other only by and under that name. 



