1880.] 



BALOCTTl LANflTJAGE. 



143 



iiig marriage of Sliiren, and said bhat he was on liif? way to sing at tha 

 wedding. Dosten then told liis story and prevailed on the minstrel to 

 change clothes with him. Thus disguised, he made his way into the as.sem- 

 bly witli the other minstrels, and sang the poem which follows, bringing 

 in the substance of a message he had received in captivity from Shiren. 

 He was immediately recognized by Shiren, who declared that she would 

 marry him and no other, and they were happily married then and there. 



In the poem Dosteh first begins by saying how his min e could not 

 live in the heat of the plains, and then passes on to say how a Khovknkn 

 merchant brought him down Shiren's message, which constitutes the 

 remainder of the poem. It begins with an animated description of a 

 Nomadic Baloch tribe in the hills moving to fresh pastures after rain, and 

 then turns to Shiren weeping in her little hut for her lost lover. Her 

 companions try to console her, but she will not be consoled, since he is in 

 captivity. She then describes how when she wanders over the hills with 

 the other Balocli women, according to their custom, she always picks a 

 flower for her lover's sake, and ends with a prayer for liis safe return home 

 again. 



Lines 40-44 seem to be an interpolation. They have no connexion 

 with the subject matter of the poem. 



Zangi mani badero 



Gwaharam mani jam o bel 



Whantkar SIdliane Sliahiye 



Sau/z^an pha thai rishana 

 5 No/f/a-a/cZ/thayAe?* masatia 



Sifflieti gor-khushen syahara 



.^fa na warth Bah neijh-k 



Kikh Karjalaw ^'mAeghdn 



Loti bahirara Dashte^'/tan 

 10 Loti waf//;-mahare« \idhkn 



PhitoyI,-A dafa nia(///-gora7j 



Dori phui' kum.4re?2 afa 



Suti ))huri kliaiavaw 



"VVhiiva kalra nelax 

 15 Marwari jawfiJi zi\ irena« 



Marde azh Huriisan a/i7;tha 



Le^//ar chadar o humboe« 



Bar ro^Wanani gonai'/t 



Hurjin mai(Me;) bhangani 

 20 Sarbar Kandahari miskant 



PhaiyZ/am gon-a^/a lliiulani 



