MUNDARI POETRY, MUSIC AND DANCES. 107 



children of nature who delight so much in bright colours. Now the poet does not 

 waste words on the description of the tree. The purpose for which he uses the picture 

 supposes that it is at its best, and every Munda knows what that means. Nor does he 

 take the trouble to clothe his idea in the conventional form of a grammatical sentence. 

 With more effect he simply juxtaposes with the name of the tree the jingle jenged' 

 jenged' which is used of bright red flowers, Edel jenged' -jenged', and this to the Munda 

 means : the majestic cotton tree is bright with red flowers. 



The wild plantain tree is larger than its cultivated namesake. It grows chiefly 

 in valleys or dells close by mountain streams and near the clear ponds so frequently 

 excavated by the streams, when, in the rainy season, they rush as wild torrents down the 

 mountain side over the steep rocks. Before the leaves are torn by storm or age, 

 these trees with their smooth, straight stems, and their crown of erect, gigantic leaves, 

 offer a pleasing picture of rich and graceful proportions standing out prominently 

 among the high grasses and shrubs generally covering the sides of streams. Here again 

 the poet draws his picture by simply putting over against the name of the tree a jingle 

 applied chiefly to men and women of perfect proportions and somewhat above the or- 

 dinary height. 



Kadal kore-bore : The (shining) plantain tree, strong and gracefully tall. 



To introduce the much appreciated contrast into his picture he places the cotton 

 tree on the top of the hill or on the hill side, by means of the locative case of burn, hill 

 or mountain, bur lira' ; since this may mean on the top of the hill or on the side or slope 

 of the hill, the hearer is at liberty to see the tree in either of the two positions that 

 suits him best. So far then we have the lines : 



Burura' edel jenged' -jenged' 

 Berara' kadal kere-bore. 



This may be a very good word-picture with a charming contrast included, but it 

 would hardly be correct Mundari poetry. The lines so far contain no real synonyms, 

 and one at least of these is necessary. Since the song is a dialogue, the poet brings in 

 the person addressed by the speaker, and this offers a chance for the required synonym. 

 Parrots, on account of their bright plumage, furnish terms of endearment used by 

 parents for their children as well as by relatives for any members of the family younger 

 than themselves. Miru and Kare both denote a parrot more variegated in colour than 

 the common green parrot, kead' . These two are introduced as variants : 



Burura' edel miru ! jenged' -jenged' 

 Berara' kadal kare ! kere-bore. 



Adaptation to a given melody by means of a fixed number of syllables is now all 

 that remains to be done for the first stanza. This is effected by adding a euphonic or 

 rather melic o to edel and Kadal and jenged' and by repeating the terms of endear- 

 ment miru and kare at the end of the lines : 



Burura edelo, miru' jenged '-jengedo 'miru . 

 Bera'ra' kadalo, kare ! kere-bore kare. 



