28 
[No. 1, 
f, C. Mitra — Indian Bobber Foil-Lore. 
boon of protection from all danger cor'der tipar Kalir bar ache. Thieves 
almost always commit thefts daring the dark half of the moon 
—the worship of the goddess Kali taking place on the 15th day 
of the waning period of the moon. There is a popular superstition 
amongst the Bengalis that if a male child be born on the amdvasyd , or 
the 15th day of the dark half of the moon, the child will become a thief* 
as that day is consecrated to Kali—the goddess of thieves and robbers. 
Bengali and Bihari burglars ( sindhel cor ) are said to get their 
iron hooks ( sindh-Jcatl )—instruments with which they make holes in the 
walls of buildings for the purpose of effecting their entrance therein, 
and which are the prototypes of the ‘ jemmy ’ of European burglars— 
manufactured in the following way. A burglar secretly goes to an iron- 
smith’s ( lohar of Bihar and kamdr of Bengal) shop during the night r> 
and there deposits a piece of iron, and some pice by way of wages. In 
the morning, the iron-smith, finding the iron and the pice, under¬ 
stands that they had been left there by some thief with a view to have 
the same turned into a ‘jemmy.’ The ironsmifch manufactures it accor¬ 
dingly and, during the night, deposits it at the exact spot where the iron 
had been left by the thief. The thief comes thither secretly during the 
night and takes it away. Hence is the origin of the Bengali saying 
core kdmare dydkhd nai or core kamdre sdksdt ndi (there is no interview be¬ 
tween a thief and a blacksmith). This saying is often cited when 
speaking of a person who gains his object or performs a certain act 
without having a personal interview with the person who has the power 
to grant that object, or to whom he is in duty bound to perform that act. 
Hence it is popularly believed that thieves and burglars never commit 
thefts in ironsmiths’ houses, out of gratitude to the latter. It is another 
instance of ‘ honour among thieves.’ 
Thieves play an important part in the proverbial philosophy of 
the Bengali people. When one person of bad character is likened to 
another of the same description, we say core core mas'tata bhdi or thieves 
are cousins (mother’s sister’s sons) to one another. When one person 
defrauds another of his ill-gotten gains, the former is said to 
practise corer upar bafpdrl or fraud on a thief. Gar paldle buddhi bdrhe 
or ‘ shutting the stable door after the steed is stolen,’ is applied to 
persons who become wise after the event. Thieves, when caught red- 
handed, are often thrashed within an inch of their very lives. Hence 
corer mar or ‘ a beating administered to thieves,’ is proverbially 
synonymous with a severe thrashing. If a person is severely thrashed, 
it is said of him td ke corer mar mereche or that he has been thrashed like 
a thief. A child possessed of mischievous habits is often dubbed with 
the pet sobriquet of ddkdt or dacoit. If a person seeks for an opportunity 
