150 
Bihar Legends and Ballads. 
[No. 2, 
tho confinement of an infamous woman. She gives birth to a 
male child, which, during her state of unconsciousness, is carried 
away by her mother-in-law and thrown into the oven of a potter, 
so that the infamy of the family might not be known. When 
she recovers her senses, she misses her child and runs dis¬ 
tracted from her room, in order to seek it outside ; but several 
thieves who were waiting, being struck by her beauty, carry her 
away. When they discover who she is, they are afraid of 
the vengeance of so powerful a family, and run away, leaving her 
in a jungle. There she accidentally encounters the husband of 
Laika’s sister, who not knowing who she is, brings her to his own 
village, but being afraid, for the sake of her reputation, to shelter 
so beautiful a woman under his own roof, builds a sarai where she 
dispenses charities to the poor. 
While these misfortunes happen at home, the Talinga bullock 
with Laika grows restive, and breaking its chain, runs homeward, 
followed by the other bullocks, and at last by the master who 
apprehends some misfortune. In due course, the animal arrives 
at the sarai, and meeting with its beloved mistress, sheds tears 
over her face. At night, she is, as an act of piety, desired by 
her protector to rub oil over the traveller’s legs. She does so, but 
cannot stop her fast falling tears when engaged in the operation. 
This attracts the traveller’s notice, when being pressed, she throws 
off her veil and chides him for not knowing his own wife. An 
explanation ensues. Fired with indignation, Laika marches home 
to wreak his vengeance over his wife’s persecutors, but takes care 
to keep her concealed in a patora. As soon as he arrives, his 
mother comes with a lota of water to wash his feet, but the Talin¬ 
ga bullock throws her down on the ground. While she demands 
the cause of this treatment, her son asks her why he misses in the 
house the image of his beautiful and virtuous wife. His mother 
assures him that she was unworthy of him, tells him what had 
happened, and boasts of having banished her from the house. 
Laika inveighs against her injustice and cruelty; his wife in the 
patora reiterates the charge ; and at last the mother dies broken¬ 
hearted. The child is recovered from the potter who has brought 
it up as his own. But in the midst of these rejoicings, a sudden 
