106 REV. FR. J. HOFFMANN, S.J. 



and peculiar fragrance of its blossoms and its fruit. Can there be anything more 

 simple than the lines already quoted : — 



Buru-burure manido ! Behold on every mountain mustard fields ! 

 Bera-berare rai ! In every valley mustard fields ! 



I have purposely criticised the extreme simplicity of these and similar lines. To 

 the question : " Why does the song say nothing about the fine, light green colour of 

 the stalks and the bright golden colour of the flowers ? " the answer was given : 

 " Because everybody sees that." On asking : " But do you and other Mundas then 

 really like and enjoy the nice mixture of colours of a flowering mustard field ? " an 

 intelligent young man replied : " Who would not like it ! it is beautiful !" 



This must be borne in mind if we want to appreciate correctly the word pictures 

 used for their similes and metaphors, and it is obvious, moreover, that to realize their 

 beauty presupposes a close acquaintance with the flora and the fauna of their country. 

 If we would or could see and appreciate them as they do, we should easily realize that 

 these pieces of nature culled here and there, these landscapes so often appropriately 

 vivified by the introduction of birds, fishes and other animals into the picture, are 

 sometimes admirably calculated to raise the mind into the very mood or Stimmung 

 which best suits the emotion the picture is meant to stir up. 



These emotions again, though the common property of mankind, are often inti- 

 mately connected with peculiar racial customs. Hence a knowledge of these is indis- 

 pensable for a thorough understanding of their poetry. 



The feature here under consideration may have been guessed already by the reader 

 from some of the examples adduced in the preceding pages to illustrate other features. 

 A complete explanation of a few more pieces will help to illustrate it and bring it out 

 more prominently. 



In the following piece, the poet singles out two trees which strike the eye even 

 amid the rich and pleasing hues of a Chota Nagpur forest, viz., the gigantic cotton tree, 

 edel, and the wild plantain tree, kadal. 



Straight as a candle, the cotton tree always throws out branches, generally three 

 or five in number, around the same point or section of the trunk. When full grown 

 its lowest branches are always at a good height above the ground, sometimes as much 

 as thirty feet and more. The branches like the trunk are, as a rule, perfectly straight 

 and slant up slightly from the trunk. Above the first set of branches it throws out 

 other sets similarly disposed, but of gradually decreasing lengths so as frequently to 

 produce a cone-shaped crown. The twigs starting from the branches support each at 

 its end a trio of large, well-shaped leaves of a light green colour. The foliage is not thick, 

 and, as the different sets of branches are at a distance from each other, the gracefully 

 tapering trunk is shown to advantage along its whole length. When in full vigour, 

 this giant forms a pleasing contrast to the more leafy but less graceful trees and shrubs 

 of the forests and is found here and there on the cultivated hillsides and highlands. When 

 blossoming it is covered with a profusion of large chalice-like flowers of a bright red 

 hue and thus offers a sight which cannot but strongly attract the attention of these 



