1883.] C. Swynnerton —Folktales from the Upper Panjdb. 87 
me ci*y.” On hearing this, the headman and his followers began to laugh, 
and the crowd dispersed. 
V. The two Weavers and the Grasshoppers. 
Two weavers took guns and went out for a day’s sport. As they pass¬ 
ed through the fields, one of them espied an immense grasshopper sitting 
on a madar plant, which as they approached flew on to the shoulder of 
his companion. “ See, see, there he is !” cried he, and levelling his piece, 
he shot his friend through the heart. 
VI. The old Weaver and the Camel’s footprints. 
One night a camel trespassing in a weaver’s field, left there the marks 
of his feet. In the morning the owner brought to the spot the oldest 
weaver in the village, expecting that he would be able to explain what 
manner of animal had trodden down his corn. The old man on seeing the 
footprints both laughed and cried. Said the people “ 0 father, you both 
laugh and cry. What does this mean?” “I cry,” said he, “ because I 
think to myself, ‘ What will these poor children do for some one to explain 
these things to them when I am dead,’ and I laugh, because, as for these 
foot-prints, I know not what they are!” 
VII. Greeba the Weaver. 
At the village of Bhurran lived an old weaver named Greeba who for 
a wonder was shrewd enough. It happened that Habbib Khan the 
lambardar laid a tax on the weavers’ houses at the rate of two rupees for 
every doorway. When Greeba heard of this, he tore down his door and 
laying it on his shoulders carried it off to the Khan’s. “ Here, Khan,” said 
he with a profound salaam, “ I have heard you want doorways, so I have 
brought you mine. I also hear you want the sidewalls, and I am now 
going to fetch them too.” Hearing this, the Khan laughed and said, “ O 
Greeba the weaver, take hack your door, your tax is paid.” 
VIII. The Black Bee and the Black Beetle. 
A villager once reared a black bee and a black beetle together, imagin¬ 
ing them to be brothers. In looks they were not unlike, and the “ boom” 
which they uttered seemed precisely the same. One day he set them fly¬ 
ing. The bee lighted on a rose, while the beetle settled on a dunghill. 
“ Ah,” said the village seer, “ these creatures are like ourselves, and it is only 
by observation that we can say who is worthy of friendship and who is 
not.” 
IX. The Gardiner’s Wife, the Potter’s Wife, and the Camel. 
A gardener’s wife and a potter’s wife once hired a camel to carry their 
goods to market. One side of the beast was well laden with vegetables, 
