The herald., 1893-10-19

With this he breaks off some frag-
ments of the aromatic nut, mingles them
with little of the lime, lays both in the
hollow IF pepper leaf, which he folds
over and pins with a Glove, putting the
whole medley into his mouth and joy
ously chewing it. That is the pan 500
pari, or excellent leaf'-the betel--
| which soothes half Asia with its hot
astringent taste, and is no doubt an ad-
mirable stomachic and febrifuge, though
it blaczcns the teeth and turns the sa-
Iva blood red. Unrolling his betel case
and making himself quid. the village
fisherman explained the gray stone and
its inscription:
Standardization of the Poor!-was
a girl of this gaum; oh, only common
low caste girl, but beautiful to see as the
blue lotus is when the blossom first
opens. 1t is now very long ago since
the thing happened about which the
Presences ask, but anybody will tell
them still, among the white haired men
of those who saw her face, that it was as
fair as Radha's or as any of the milkS
maids of Krishna. Her father was a
herdsman, owning many sheep and goats,
which he grazed along this bank, and
Sohni's business, after she became big
enough, was to drive them out to pasture
in this jungle, which business she did
for many dry and rainy seasons until she
was well grown.
Sometimes it would be by day and
sometimes by night that she wandered
along the river, and once, alone with her
flock, she heard the bansuh very sweetly
played upon and saw young shepherd
named Luximan, who was playing it.
He was very good looking lad, they all
tell, and skilled beyond measure upon his
pipe, so the thing fell out easily that
they became violently enamored of each
other, but kept the matter hidden from
all for other reasons and because Luxi-
mans people who lived on the farther
side of the river, were no friends of the
herdsman, Sohni's father, but the con-
trary.
Moreover, 'Sohni had been secretly
promised by her father to Govinda, the
soucar of the district. who was man
growing old, and a wicked and cruel
man, always taking advantage of the
poverty of our people to lend them
money at hard interest, and then, when
they could not pay and the time came
round, to get their fields and cattle and
implements and silver ornaments away
from them-so that they became his
slaves. The Sahebs, of their wisdom,
will know very well what sort of folk
these bloodsucBers of marwarries be. 1t
is better to put your hand into the hole
where cobra is sleeping than to dip it
into the money bag of the soucar The
seasons had been bad, and Sohnis father,
notwithstanding his ewes and she goats,
had fallen into debt with Govinda years
back and could not clear it off. So had
he been led unwillingly to promise His
child to the money lender. But this
was not known to Sohni nor to Luximan?
''If you had seen them together, Char
ibpurwar, you would have cried, 1T is
surely Krishna with one of the Gopis'-
she was so comely and erect and slender,
and he so handsome, playing his bansuli,
and so loving. The jungle deer does not
tread lighter than Sohni pacing before
her goats, nor the palm tree stand
straighter than she with her milkpot
upon her pretty head. But it was as
much as the life of Luximan was worth
for him to be seen upon this side of the
river, where so many enemies were.
Therefore, in order they might meet,
Sohni, who was strong and skillful as a
Brahmany duck in the water, would
many and many time at night swim
over to her chosen lover
''The river as the Presences perceive,
is very broad hereabouts, and when the
floods descend-nay, indeed, for weeks
and weeks at time-no swimmer could
of his own strength breast that current
and safely pass over. But Sohni was
won't to keep in this thicket of thorns
and reeds here a large black chatty of
baked clay, and when the gods favored
she would stop the mouth of it with
grasses, and placing it beneath her
breasts she would boldly swim over the
water, carrying her sari and choli dry up
ON her head, and Luximan would sing and
play to her, and she make him good love
cheer until such time as the 'wolf's tail
came into the sky and the first crow sail
ed across the dark fields. Then the goat
girl happy in her heart and well con-
tented, took the chatty in her arms again
and silently swan back to her charge,
none knowing of their mutual comfort
and joy.
"Now, this thing went on for many
moons, and their happiness made Luxi-
man and Sohni somewhat too bold
deem. We villagers are accustomed tC
say that the stars keep secrets, but the
sun tells all it Sees and the goat girl. it
seems, was ofttimes urged by her Indian
boy to linger longer than was prudent,
while the sky whitenod Also it has been
noted that no good fortune very long
endures either in love or in fishing, or
in any earthly matter-nay, perhaps il
might have been that they neglected in
their pleasure to make due offerings to
the gods. 1t was afterward told, indeed,
by Luximan that his beautiful compan-
ion informed him the tilaka-her fore
head spangle-had fallen off one morn
ing, which should surely have warned
her of approaching misfortune, and he
himself, it is related, dreamed he saw
two elephants fighting without their
mahouts, which, as everybody is aware,
always signifies death.
"Be all this as it may one happy
night Sohni had tarried with her young
i 1.a-l14 xE Il