Page:The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 4-1875.djvu/271

 258 THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY. [September, 1875. they gave it up in despair, threw him down, and left him. Being at some distance from home, they went to a waterfall to qaench their thirst,. and afterwards climbed up a t dl tree which grew on the banks of the water, and there they remained for safety during the night. The tiger, being left alone, released himself and set off to call together his tiger acquaint- ances, in order to be revenged on the brothers who had thus so grievously ill-treated him. They assembled in large numbers and searched for a long' time for Kanran and Guja, but in vain. At length, becoming tired, they gave up the search and began to abuse the poor tailless tiger in no measured terms. The tigers, impelled by thirst, went to the waterfall to drink. It so happened that the tailless tiger went close to the very i&l tree in which the brothers were seated. Seeing their shadows reflected in the water, he exclaimed, " Come here, they are drowned in this deep water." The other tigers inquired, " Are yon serious, or are you making fun of us ? If you are joking yon shall suffer for it." Finding it was true, they ordered the tailless tiger to dive into the water and fetch out ' the brothers. The tiger dived till he was tired. At last, being thoroughly exhausted, he got out of the water and saw the reflection of the men as plainly as before; again he dived, but with no better success. Being completely worn out with his exertions and very cold, he began to sneeze. While in the act of doing so, he happened to look np, anil there he discovered the brothers quietly seated in the tdl-tieo. Having announced this fact to the rest of the tigers, they held a general consultation as to how they might reach the brothers. The tail- less tiger at length suggested the following plan : — " Let us stand one on the other," said he, "till wo get high enough to reach them." This plan being approved by all, they directed the tailless tiger to take his stand at the bottom ; then they climbed one upon the other, till they could almost touch the brothers. At this crisis, Kanran called out to his brother, " Give me your axe, I will kill the tailless tiger." The latter, hearing this, struggled to make his escape, and in so doing upset the whole party, who were resting upon him, while they in their fall crushed the poor tailless tiger to death and overcome by terror they fled. After this, the two brothers descended from the tree and began to cut up the dead tiger. Kanran select- ed some of the most delicate parts for his own share, but Guja seized the entrails. Kanran, seeing this, asked his brother why he was so foolish as to choose the entrails and to leave the rest. Guja quietly replied, " Brother, I am quite satisfied with what I have." Then they took their departure, and after travelling some dis- tance found a suitable tree on which to rest. It so happened that a king's son was just passing on the way to his father-in-law's house, in order to fetch home his wife, and he lay down to rest under this same tree. All this time Guja bad been holding tho entrails of the tiger in his hands. At last he said to his brother, " I can't keep this any longer." Kanran answered, *' What shall we do then ? If you Jet it fall, we shall be discovered and shall certainly be killed." At length, Guja, unable to hold it any longer, let it fall on the king's son who was lying fast asleep at the foot of the tree. Awakened by the blow, he arose, greatly dismayed at seeing blood, &c. upon his body, and imagined that some accident must have happened to himself; he therefore hastened from the spot. His servants, seeing him run at a mad pace, immediately followed. Tho two brothers quickly came down from the tree and began to plunder the baggage, which had been left behind in the fright. Kanran seized upon the finest garments, while Gnja se- lected a large drum. Being upbraided by his brother for thus losing such a splendid oppor- tunity of enriching himself.ho replied, " Brother, this will suit my purpose." They now proceeded on their journey. Guja was so much pleased with his drum that he kept on beating it all day long. Unfortunately the drum-head split and thus was rendered useless. But Guja, instead of throwing it away, continued to carry it about with him. Afterwards they found a bees'-nest. Quia re- freshed himself with the honey and idled fan drum with bees. Having done this, they con- tinued their journey, till they arrived ata river* ghat. When the villagers came out at eventide to draw wati -r, Hiija let fly Bome of his bees amongst them. The people, being mm -h Sturm', ran home and told how that two strangers hod arrived and had greatly annoyed them by allow- ing bees to sting them. The villagers, headed