THE RELIGION AND CUSTOMS OF THE URAONS. 127 



diluted cow-dung, and in one of the angles formed by these lines he puts five small 

 pieces of wood representing the panch or panchayat of the village. He then puts on the 

 eo-o- the ano-le formed with the two twigs of Keont and begins to sing two chapters of 

 what seems to be their Genesis. Here is a literal translation of it : — 



" The world, having been devastated by fire, began to look like copper. The smoke 

 was ascending- to heaven. Hanuman was the nephew of God. God told him : ' Be on the 

 watch, and when half of the world is burnt, sound the drum to give the alarm.' The 

 baboon went on a keont tree and was so absorbed in eating the fruits that he forgot the 

 order. Suddenly the flame reached his hind quarters, he got burnt and clapped his 

 hands loco dolenti and then rubbed his face with them. From that time, the wound never 

 got cured and his hands and face are black. Dharmes (God) was very fond of him, and 

 when he came to apologise, he did not upbraid him but simply said : ' O nephew, what 

 can be done now? The world is burnt, go eat whatever fruit you can find ! ' But Sita, the 

 wife of Dharmes, said to her husband ' Now that the world is burnt, go and every day 

 run over one of the seven parts into which you have divided it and see if you can find 

 any bird or crow.' For six days Dharmes, day after day, went over a new part of the 

 world, and for six days his wife for his meals prepared only lac mixed with water. After 

 the sixth day Dharmes having found nothing, declared himself helpless, caught his head 

 between his hands, and began to sob. Then Sita told him : ' I knew what was going to 

 happen. That is why I entreated you not to set the world on fire, but you would not listen 

 to me and listened to your nephew the baboon.' Whilst the world was on fire, Sita had 

 hidden the first man and woman {bhaiya and bhayin) in a fold of her garment. After 

 that she took them out and hid them in a crab's hole in the rushes that were growing in 

 the Sira Sita paddy-fields of Okasi Putrungi. There, as it was the only part that had 

 been spared by the fire, they were eating whatever they could find. On the seventh day 

 of Dharmes'' wanderings Sita told him : ' Now you have wandered over six parts of the 

 world ; you say that there are seven parts, go then to-day and see the seventh part ! 



Then Dharmes, having put on a flowing long dhoti, went to hunt with a common hawk 



not a Kohi — perched on a wand of silver and gold. He took with him also his bitch 

 called Lille bliuli khairi. On that day he found unmistakable signs of man. On that 

 day Sita had prepared for his dinner arwa rice and urid dal. When he came back, he 

 told her : " To-day I have found unmistakable signs of man." The next day Sita said to him, 

 " Now, go there again to-day." He started again, having put on his long dhoti, with his 

 wand of gold and silver, on which sat a common hawk, not a kohi, and accompanied by 

 his bitch Lille bhuli khairi. When he arrived near the rushes, Lille bhuli khairi began to 

 wag her tail and Dharmes was ready to let fly his hawk. Suddenly the first man and 

 woman started from a bush and in a fright began to shout : " O grandfather, O grand- 

 father, look ! Your dog is going to bite us. " Dharmes immediately called back his dog and 

 said : " My grandchildren, don't be afraid, don't run away ! I was just looking for you." 

 Then he wrapped both of them in his long flowing dhoti and went home. Sita was 

 waiting for him on the threshold, one foot inside the house and one foot outside, with a 

 lota of water in her hands. She hastened to wash his hands and feet and at once asked 

 him : " Did you find the grandchildren ? Come, come show them ! Where are they ?" Then 



