Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 29, 1918.djvu/234

224 the Rāja paid no heed to his entreaties, and had his right hand amputated. Thus disabled, the man remained helpless for some time, but having recovered, it struck him that with his skill he could do some work with his left hand, and he, accordingly, built two temples, one at Jāthia Devi, and the other at Sada, both places now in Patiāla territory."

Speaking of people being buried as "guardians of the gate," because it was believed that the spirit would survive and do watch and ward over the city wall or the entrance through it, Mr. Rose observes: "This idea of the guardian spirit may explain many folk-tales in which the artificer is rewarded by being sacrificed by his patron, ostensibly to prevent his skill being employed by a rival This may be a variant of the superstition that the new structure must be guarded by a spirit as its custodian. Once granted that necessity, what spirit could be more suitable than that of the architect himself?" This theory, linking together two chapters in folk-belief, is decidedly attractive. But it may be remarked that, in the Indian form of the tale, the architect is generally mutilated or tortured, not killed; and it is not easy to connect the tales which I have quoted with the numerous examples collected by Dr. E. Sidney Hartland.

It is needless to speculate how far these stories are historically true. It is quite possible that a master-builder, mortified at his failure, may commit suicide, or that, in a fit of jealousy, he may kill his successful rival, particularly if he was his own pupil. It is equally possible that an Eastern despot, believing that his reputation depended on the completion of some unique building, may slay or mutilate the unfortunate architect, in order to prevent him from doing similar work elsewhere. It is also not