The Ghost-brahman

Once on a time there lived a poor Brahman, who not being a Kulin,

found it the hardest thing in the world to get married. He went to

rich people and begged of them to give him money that he might marry a

wife. And a large sum of money was needed, not so much for the expenses

of the wedding, as for giving to the parents of the bride. He begged

from door to door, flattered many rich folk, and at last succeeded in

scraping together the sum needed. The wedding took place in due time;

and he brought home his wife to his mother. After a short time he said

to his mother--"Mother, I have no means to support you and my wife; I

must therefore go to distant countries to get money somehow or other. I

may be away for years, for I won't return till I get a good sum. In

the meantime I'll give you what I have; you make the best of it, and

take care of my wife." The Brahman receiving his mother's blessing set

out on his travels. In the evening of that very day, a ghost assuming

the exact appearance of the Brahman came into the house. The newly

married woman, thinking it was her husband, said to him--"How is it

that you have returned so soon? You said you might be away for years;

why have you changed your mind?" The ghost said--"To-day is not a

lucky day, I have therefore returned home; besides, I have already

got some money." The mother did not doubt but that it was her son. So

the ghost lived in the house as if he was its owner, and as if he was

the son of the old woman and the husband of the young woman. As the

ghost and the Brahman were exactly like each other in everything, like

two peas, the people in the neighbourhood all thought that the ghost

was the real Brahman. After some years the Brahman returned from his

travels; and what was his surprise when he found another like him in

the house. The ghost said to the Brahman--"Who are you? what business

have you to come to my house?" "Who am I?" replied the Brahman, "let

me ask who you are. This is my house; that is my mother, and this

is my wife." The ghost said--"Why herein is a strange thing. Every

one knows that this is my house, that is my wife, and yonder is

my mother; and I have lived here for years. And you pretend this

is your house, and that woman is your wife. Your head must have got

turned, Brahman." So saying the ghost drove away the Brahman from his

house. The Brahman became mute with wonder. He did not know what to

do. At last he bethought himself of going to the king and of laying

his case before him. The king saw the ghost-Brahman as well as the

Brahman, and the one was the picture of the other; so he was in a

fix, and did not know how to decide the quarrel. Day after day the

Brahman went to the king and besought him to give him back his house,

his wife, and his mother; and the king, not knowing what to say every

time, put him off to the following day. Every day the king tells him

to--"Come to-morrow"; and every day the Brahman goes away from the

palace weeping and striking his forehead with the palm of his hand,

and saying--"What a wicked world this is! I am driven from my own

house, and another fellow has taken possession of my house and of my

wife! And what a king this is! He does not do justice."

Now, it came to pass that as the Brahman went away every day from

the court outside the town, he passed a spot at which a great

many cowboys used to play. They let the cows graze on the meadow,

while they themselves met together under a large tree to play. And

they played at royalty. One cowboy was elected king; another, prime

minister or vizier; another, kotwal, or prefect of the police; and

others, constables. Every day for several days together they saw

the Brahman passing by weeping. One day the cowboy king asked his

vizier whether he knew why the Brahman wept every day. On the vizier

not being able to answer the question, the cowboy king ordered one of

his constables to bring the Brahman to him. One of them went and said

to the Brahman--"The king requires your immediate attendance." The

Brahman replied--"What for? I have just come from the king, and he

put me off till to-morrow. Why does he want me again?" "It is our king

that wants you--our neat-herd king," rejoined the constable. "Who is

neat-herd king?" asked the Brahman. "Come and see," was the reply. The

neat-herd king then asked the Brahman why he every day went away

weeping. The Brahman then told him his sad story. The neat-herd king,

after hearing the whole, said, "I understand your case; I will give

you again all your rights. Only go to the king and ask his permission

for me to decide your case." The Brahman went back to the king of the

country, and begged his Majesty to send his case to the neat-herd king,

who had offered to decide it. The king, whom the case had greatly

puzzled, granted the permission sought. The following morning was

fixed for the trial. The neat-herd king, who saw through the whole,

brought with him next day a phial with a narrow neck. The Brahman

and the ghost-Brahman both appeared at the bar. After a great deal

of examination of witnesses and of speech-making, the neat-herd king

said--"Well, I have heard enough. I'll decide the case at once. Here

is this phial. Whichever of you will enter into it shall be declared

by the court to be the rightful owner of the house the title of

which is in dispute. Now, let me see, which of you will enter." The

Brahman said--"You are a neat-herd, and your intellect is that of

a neat-herd. What man can enter into such a small phial?" "If you

cannot enter," said the neat-herd king, "then you are not the rightful

owner. What do you say, sir, to this?" turning to the ghost-Brahman

and addressing him. "If you can enter into the phial, then the

house and the wife and the mother become yours." "Of course I will

enter," said the ghost. And true to his word, to the wonder of all,

he made himself into a small creature like an insect, and entered

into the phial. The neat-herd king forthwith corked up the phial,

and the ghost could not get out. Then, addressing the Brahman, the

neat-herd king said, "Throw this phial into the bottom of the sea,

and take possession of your house, wife, and mother." The Brahman

did so, and lived happily for many years and begat sons and daughters.

Here my story endeth,

The Natiya-thorn withereth, etc.