An old man
and an old woman had a son. But the father died while his son was yet a child,
and the mother brought up her boy by begging from house to house. When he was
big enough he begged his mother to let him engage himself as a cowherd. But she
said "As long as I live, I must not let you undergo any trouble." But
the gallant boy would not listen, and went and took service as a cowherd. But
the other cowherd boys would not let him go out herding with them, and hated
him, and beat him, in spite of the help of a good old man who took him into his
house, so, being unable to stay any longer for grief and vexation, he went away
into foreign lands.
And as he
went his ways, he met Simli Bîr, the hero of the simul tree, and when he saw him
he said "Ah! here is a hero indeed, seeing that you bear a whole
silk-cotton tree on your shoulder." But the other replied "Whom do
you call a hero? I am no hero at all. If you want a real hero, look out for
Gilâ Charan." But the lad said "As for Gilâ Charan, why, I am Gilâ
Charan." On which Simli Bîr got leave to go with him. And as they went
they met Dhop Bîr, and to him they said "You are something like a hero.
Why, you are carrying a whole dhop tree all by yourself." But the other
said "My brothers, of what account am I? The man they call Gilâ Charan, he
is a hero if you like." Then Gilâ Charan said "But I am he." On
which Dhop Bîr said "Let me come with you too."
And, so
saying, he too joined the party. And in like manner they were joined by other
four champions, namely, Mustard, Monkey, Ocean, and Fire, six in all, besides
Gilâ Charan.
And when
they had gone some way, one of them went into the house of a Râkshashani to beg
fire for cooking. But when the old wretch saw that it was a man, she desired to
devour him, and to that end lay still, pretending to be ill, and said to him in
a weak voice "The fire is quite close to me. Come and blow it up!"
and when he came close, she gave him a kick and sent him flying into a pit; and,
seeing that he did not come, another champion went on the same quest and was
treated in like fashion. Then Gilâ Charan guessed that something out of the way
had happened, and went there himself; and, perceiving that the old woman was a
vampire, took her by the throat and shook her well. But she cried "Do not
kill me, and I will show you where your friends are." Then the old woman
got a ladder and released the two champions from the pit. Whereupon they killed
her, and went on their way rejoicing.
And
presently they came to a place where Rakshashas dwelt. But, not knowing this,
they left Simli Bîr to cook rice and the rest went hunting. And when the rice
was ready, two Rakshashas came and gobbled it up, so when the rest returned,
hungry, for food, Simlî Bîr said he was very sorry. He had quite forgotten to
cook, being very busy watching a beautiful white butterfly. But Gilâ Charan at
once saw that was only a pretext. So he bid the rest go, and, staying behind, he
cooked rice afresh. On which the two Rakshashas came up roaring, and said
"Here, my son, hand over that rice." "But," said Gilâ
Charan, undaunted, "we are hungry ourselves and have no rice to spare!"
"What!" cried they "shall a scarcely weaned child speak to us
like this?" and they ran at him to eat him. But he seized them by their
necks and threw them a field's length. And when they attacked him afresh, he
slew them with his sword. And in like manner each of the Bîrs slew each his
Rakshasha, and then each married a fair Rakshasha girl, and lived happily ever
afterwards. And that's all!
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