Witch Stories

Young girls are taught witchcraft against their wills and if they

refuse to "eat" their father or brother they die or go mad. There

was a girl in my own village and she went out gathering herbs with

another girl who was a witch. As usual they sang at their work and the

witch girl sang songs the tune of which the other thought so pretty

that she learnt them by heart. When she had learnt them the witch

girl told her that they were witch songs and explained to her their

meaning. The girl was very angry at having been taught them unawares

but the witch girl assured her that she would never be able to forget

the songs or their interpretation; then she assigned her to a _bonga_

bridegroom and then told her to _sid atang_ and all would be well

with her otherwise she would have trouble.

When the girl learnt that she must _sid atang_ by "eating" her father

or brother or mother she began to make excuses; she could not kill

her father for he was the support of the family; nor her only brother

for he was wanted too at the _Baha_ and _Sohrai_ nor her mother who

had reared her in childhood. The witch girl said that if she refused

she would die; and she said that she would rather die than do what

was required of her. Then the witch did something and the girl began

to rave and talk gibberish and from that time was quite out of her

senses. _Ojhas_ tried to cure her in vain until at last one suggested

that she should be taken to another village as the madness must be

the work of witches living in her own village. So they took her away

and the remedies then cured her. She stayed in her new home and was

married there. A long time afterwards she went back to pay a visit to

her father's house: but the day after she arrived her head began to

ache and she fell ill and though her husband came and took her away

she died the day after she reached her home.

There was another girl; her friends noticed that when she came home

with them in the evening after planting rice she was very careful

not to fall behind or be left alone and they used to laugh at her for

being a coward. But one day she was gathering Indian corn with a friend

and as they talked she said "You will all have lovely dancing at the

Sohrai." "You!" said her friend: "won't you be there? Are you going

away?" Then the girl began to cry and sobbed out that her mother had

taught her witchcraft and married her to a _bonga_; and it was for

fear of the _bonga_ that she did not like to be alone in the dark;

and because she had refused to "eat" anyone her mother intended to

"eat" her and so she had no hope of living to see the Sohrai. Three

days later the girl fell ill and died, and after her death her friend

told how she had foreseen it.