Page:Folk-lore of the Telugus.djvu/48

 XVII.

THE BRAHMAN AND HIS TWO WIVES. In the Dakhan lived a Brahman who had two wives. To the elder of these a son was born. When the son was about ten months old, the old Brahman set out with his family on a pilgrimage to Benares, but he unfortunately died on his way. The two women thereupon "went to an adjacent agraharam (the Brahmans' quarters in a city or village), and remained there, rearing the boy with great affection: so much so that the child knew not which of the two was his real mother. But one day the younger lady quarrelled with the elder, and, declaring that she would no longer remain with her, took the child and set out to go home. The elder thereupon seized the child and demanded of the other why she was taking him away. The younger replied that as she had borne the child she was going away with him. So the two still disputing went to the Judge and told their story. He reflected a