1884.] 
135 
G. A. Grierson —The Song of Bijai Mai. 
and tliere he imprisoned them.* (195) Then was the Inchy time 
(for the marriage). They tied the prince’s (i. e., the boy bridegroom’s) 
horse under a ISTim tree, sent for some of the brotherhood (of the bride), 
and in excellent manner the marriage takes place. (200) But all the 
rest of the marriage procession they imprisoned. Then up rose king 
Bawan Suba and said, ‘ Hear, 0 my son Manik Chand, put fetters on 
their legs, load their loins with chains, (205) and hammer spikesf under 
their nails.’ Lo, to this condition did Manik Chand bring them. 
In the meantime the prince-bridegroom had entered the marriage 
shrine J where there was an image of the goddess Durga. How at this 
time the horse (of the prince which had been tied up under the Him. 
tree) thought within himself, (210) ‘ 0 goddess Durga, hear me. Art 
thou the guardian deity of the Prince’s childhood ? All the rest of his 
marriage procession has Bawan cast into jail.’ Behold, the horse cuts his 
heel ropes with his teeth, (215) he cut§ all his heel ropes. Then he 
went to the marriage canopy, while the prince was inside in the 
shrine. 
How the horse winks to him, and says, ‘ Hear Prince Bijai. (220) 
All the rest of the procession hath Bawan Siiba enticed into the fortress 
of Jirhul. Only (yourself) one little grasshopper has escaped. You are 
a fool to stay here. Leap upon my back, and ride away.’ (225) The 
Prince leaped upon his back, and the horse Hichchhal flew into the air, || 
between the earth and sky. In the midst he described a circle. The 
horse traversed the ten countries, (230) and arrived at the city of Ghiin- 
ghun. In this way did the marriage of the Prince take place. 
^ I. e., lie imprisoned the procession, but not the bridegroom. The cause of 
this seemingly inexplicable act of treachery is the feeling of revenge which the 
Rajput felt towards the man who had given his son in marriage. The giving a son 
in marriage is looked upon as a great compliment, and as laying the father of the 
bride under a heavy obligation. To this feeling Gorakh Singh added by demanding 
an exorbitant price for his son, knowing well that Bawan Suba must give it, as there 
was no other marriageable boy fit for the bride. By imprisoning the bridegroom’s 
father Bawan Suba in the first place gratified his feeling of revenge, and in the 
second place got a husband for his daughter for nothing. 
t is long form of ‘a nail ’ or ‘ spike.’ 
J The is the shrine in which the married couple kneel before the 
tutelary deities of their houses, on the conclusion of the marriage ceremony. Tlie 
reader may be reminded that both bride and bridegroom were absolute children, 
incapable of understanding what was going on. The prince, in fact, was too young 
to remember in after years what had happened. 
§ -v/ W = the Hindi v/ v/ is frequently used as the 
latter half of an intensive compound in Bliojpuri. 
II Lit. left the solid earth, is a repetition of without much meaning. 
