1884.] 
143 
G. A. Grierson —The Song of Bijai Mai. 
rose Princess Tilki, and said, ‘ Hear, O friends and companions. Yon 
are bantering me. A falcon lias carried oif my husband. (670) He 
has probably married somebody else. If he were here now, he would 
have come to take me olf to his own house.’* * * § She stepped over the 
fifth doorway, and passed through the sixth (675) and the seventh. 
Behold, a flag is visiblef at the tank. Up rose Chalhki the barber’s 
wife and spoke to the Princess. (Now Chalhki was a great favourite with 
her.) And the friends and relations went on. 
(680) In the meantime the crow flew to where the Prince was, and 
cawed over his head. Up rose Prince Bijai and said, ‘ Hear you base- 
born crow. Why, base-born one, did you caw ? (685) Up rose the goddess 
Durga and said, ‘ Prince, the love of your life has joined you. And on 
that account the crow cawed.’ Up came the friends and relations and 
ascended the high bank of the tank. (690) Up rose the goddess Durga 
and said, ‘ Hear, Prince Bijai, the love of your life has come. Now 
go and block up the zandni glidt.^% Up rose the Prince, and sat down 
and blocked the ghat. (695) Then said the friends and companions, and 
Tilki, ‘ O Chalhki ask him who he is ; and say that these young ladies 
want to bathe.’ Said Chalhki the barber’s wife. (700) ‘ 0 Princess, ask 
him yourself.’ Then up rose Tilki and said, ‘ Hear, 0 merchant by the 
tank, where is your house and home ? For what place have you 
started ?§ (705) ^ My house is in Ghunghun, and I am come to the 
fortress in the mountains.’ Said the friends and companions, ‘ Sir, be 
good enough to leave the zandni ghdt, for the young ladies want to 
bathe.’ (710) Up rose prince Bijai and said, ‘ Young ladies, one watch 
will I consume in washing my teeth, the second watch in bathing, the 
third in worshipping the goddess Durga, the fourth in eating, (715) the 
fifth in making myself ready, and at the sixth watch will I leave the 
ghat.’ Up rose the Princess Tilki and said, ‘ if Bawan Siiba hears this, 
he will fill your skin with chaff.’ (720) When the prince heard this he 
said, ‘ How is the proud Bawan Siiba ? I would like to see the bravery 
of the father-in-law.’II Then said Tilki, ‘ Hear, 0 merchant by the tank, 
what is the mother, (725) of one who hath such beauty as you, like ? 
What is your wife like, who could for the sake of gain send thee forth 
* The ceremony of gaund, see note to verse 179. 
f v 0 1 ^ 1^5 ‘be visible’. 
it The zandni ghdt is the flight of steps at a tank reserved for Pardd-nishin 
women. Loose or impudent fellows can easily and most effectually block it by 
simply sitting near it, as no respectable woman will then approach it. 
§ A is a dress or cloak worn by a man, which, when he is going on a 
journoy, ho sends out on the way before him at an auspicious time. 
II is here used, like ‘ brother-in-law,’ as an abusive term. 
