The Jackal Devatawa

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Washerman. North-western Province.



A variant related in another village is nearly the same. Some tom-tom
beaters passing the Elephant's carcase were accosted by the Jackal,
to whom they replied that they were going to "a poya tom-tom beating,"
that is, one given on the Buddhist sabbath, at the quarter of the
moon. When he inquired what profit they would get from it, they
stated that they would receive cakes and milk-rice. "You don't want
cakes and milk-rice," he said, "I will give you gold. Bring water
to this Elephant's carcase." They did so, breaking open the "eyes"
of their tom-toms for the purpose, and the Jackal escaped.

The story concludes: "For the tom-tom beaters there was neither gold,
nor cakes and milk-rice. Having broken their tom-toms, lamenting and
lamenting they went to their village."



In the Jataka story No. 148 (vol. i, p. 315), a Jackal became
imprisoned in the same way, but escaped when a tempest soaked the
skin. The tale is also given in No. 490 (vol. iv, p. 206).

In the Katha Sarit Sagara (Tawney), vol. i, p. 77, a man crept inside
the skin of an Elephant from which jackals had eaten the flesh. A
rain-storm caused it to contract (?) and closed the aperture. The flood
carried it into the Ganges and thence to the sea. There a Garuda [Rukh]
picked it up, and took it to Ceylon, where the man escaped when it tore
open the hide. I insert the following as an account of the supposed
state of things in Ceylon under the rule of Vibhisana, the Rakshasa
King of Ceylon, after the death of Ravana: "Two Rakshasas contemplated
him from a distance with feelings of fear." They reported his arrival
to Vibhisana, who sent for him and entertained him in a friendly and
hospitable manner. When asked how he came to Ceylon, the Brahmana
cunningly replied that he had been sent by Vishnu, who had informed
him that Vibhisana would present him with wealth. He stayed some time
in the island, and was allowed a young Garuda on which to ride about
the country, and at last he was carried back to Mathura by it.

In Old Deccan Days (Frere), p. 179, a Jackal got inside a dead bullock,
and informed the scavengers who came to bury it that he was the god
of their village. They poured water on the hide, and he escaped.

In Indian Folk Tales (Gordon), p. 61, a live Elephant swallowed a
Jackal. The Jackal fed on the heart and killed the Elephant, but was
imprisoned inside when the skin dried up. When the God Mahadeo (Siva),
who was passing, heard cries and inquired who was there, the Jackal,
after ascertaining who it was, said that he was Sahadeo, father of
Mahadeo, and induced the latter to prove his identity by causing a
heavy rainfall, owing to which the skin was softened and he escaped.



It is said in the Southern Province that all tom-tom beaters are
fools. [92] In the North-western Province the same opinion is held
regarding some of them. To what extent it is justified I am unable to
say, but an example which supported the general notion fell under my
own observation. Some jungle was being cut for an irrigation channel,
at the side of an uncultivated field belonging to a tom-tom beaters'
village, and one of the men came to watch the progress of the work. I
questioned him regarding eggs. He stated at first that only things
which could fly laid eggs, but he admitted that this rule did not apply
to crocodiles, lizards, and snakes. About bats he was not certain, but
thought they do not lay eggs. Rats certainly do not lay them, he said.

I had seen a Green Bee-eater flying near us, and I observed a small
hole such as this bird makes as its nest-hole, in the sandy ground. I
drew his attention to it, and he at once asserted that it was a
rat-hole; of that he had no doubt whatever. "Well then, let us see
if there are any eggs in it," I said, knowing that it was then the
breeding season of the Bee-eaters.

He looked on, smiling ironically, while I got one of my men to open
the tunnel carefully. When he came to the end, there on the sand,
in a little saucer-shaped cavity, were four shining, spherical white
eggs of the bird. The man was astonished, but was quite satisfied
that they were rat's eggs. "I saw them with my two eyes," he said to
my men, who all laughed at him.

The following stories were written for me as the foolish doings
traditionally attributed to the tom-tom beaters of a village in the
North-western Province. Apparently the village is at the side of a
rice field.