ers, desired the Rakshasa to go immediately, and with all possible respect invite the man to his palace. When the Rakshasa returned to Lohajangha, and conveyed to him his monarch's message, apprising him at the same time into whose hands he had fallen, the courage of Lohajangha revived, and he determined to turn his visit to good account. Repairing, therefore, to Vibhishana, he told the Rakshasa chief, that he was a Brahman of Mathura; that being in extreme indigence, he had applied for succour to Vishnu; and that the deity had instructed him to go to Lanka, where Vibhishana, his faithful votary, would gladly relieve the distress of one who was equally attached to his worship. Lohajangha added, that he had enquired who Vibhishana was, and where he was to be found; on which he was told not to take any trouble upon the subject; and accordingly, having gone to sleep as usual, he found himself, when he awoke, on the sea coast of Lanka. Vibhishana, knowing that Lanka was accessible by no ordinary means, was induced, by the mere fact of Lohajangha's presence, to credit his story, and accordingly sent his emissaries to bring treasure from the mountain with the golden base. He gave him also a young bird of the Garura breed to convey him back to Mathura, instructing him how to manage the animal. Lohajangha, in the mean while, spent his time agreeably in conversation with Vibhishana, who related to him this legend, explaining how it chanced that Lanka was made of wood. Origin of Lanka. Desirous of liberating his mother from the state of servitude to the parent of the Nagas, and to pay the fixed price of her liberation, the ambrosia of the immortals, Garura prepared to carry off the celestial beverage, by fraud or force*. To collect sufficient strength for his enterprize, he applied to his father Kasyapa for invigorating food. The *Kadru, the mother of the serpents, and Vinata, the mother of Garura, both wives of Kasyapa, disputed about the colour of the horses of the sun. They agreed to decide by a bet-an ancient custom, it should seem; and the loser was to become the bondswoman of the winner. Vinata, the mother of Garura, lost the wager, and her liberty but Kadru agreed to give her her manumission, if her son would procure the amrit, the beverage of immortality, for the benefit of her own ophitic progeny. This is the legend alluded to in the text. : seer directed him to go to the ocean, where he would find a large elephant and tortoise, whom he might seize and devour. Garura did as he was instructed, and after his meal rested on a branch of the Kalpa tree, or tree of heaven. The branch gave way with his weight. In fear of its falling upon the holy Balakhilyas*, who prosecuted their devotions at the foot of the tree, he laid hold of it, and bore it away with his beak. Kasyapa, out of regard to the security of mankind, commanded Garura to carry it to some lonely spot, where he might let it fall without doing mischief. He accordingly deposited it on the ocean, and it served as a base, on which the wooden fabric of the island was subsequently reared.t Story of Lohajangha-concluded. After this, Lohajangha, being well laden with gold and gems, mounted his now docile bird, and returned with the speed of thought to Mathura, carrying also a golden club, shell, and discus, as presents from Vibhishana to the shrine of Vishnu. He alighted in a deserted temple without the city, and there concealed his treasures, and fastened his bird taking one of the jewels, he sold it in the market, and with the price bought food, clothes, and ornaments. He then returned to his hiding-place, and at night, mounting his winged steed, he repaired to the dwelling of his mistress. Having been received by her with joyful recognition, he taught her how to play her part to be revenged on the cause of their separation, and then returned to his concealment. : In the morning, Rupanika kept herself in her apartment, and assumed a mysterious silence. She would only speak with her mother, after causing a screen to be drawn between them; and then condescended to tell her, that she was the bride of Vishnu, and could not commune any more with mere mortals. To remove the old woman's doubts, she told her to * Pigmy saints, the size of the thumb, the probable original of "That small brood Warred on by cranes ;'" and not improbably connected, as supposed by the writer in the Quarterly Review No. xli. with the character of Daümling, Thaumlin, Tamlane, Tom-a-lyn, or Tom Thumb. †This legend, absurd as it is, is rather of a curious character, especially as it differs from the Pauranic story. According to a supplement to the Ramayana, Lanka was made of gold by Viswakerma, for the especial residence of Kuvera, from whòm it was taken by Ravana, keep watch at night, in consequence of which she beheld the pretended Vishnu arrive with the emblems, and mounted on the vehicle of the god. Entertaining no further doubt, she requested her daughter to impart to her some of the benefits of such exalted visitation. The reply to the request of Makaradanstra was to this effect. She was told she was too wicked to be admissible into Swerga in her own person; but that on the early morning of every eleventh day of the fortnight, the gates of Indra's heaven were set open to all comers. At this time the followers of Sambhu passed in and out in bands, and if she could get amongst the crowd, she might perhaps pass in unobserved. For this purpose it would be necessary for her to disguise herself like them, by tying her hair in five tresses, hanging a string of bones round her neck, throwing off all her attire, and smearing one side with lamp black, and the other with vermilion *. The old woman assented to these conditions, and at the appointed time Lohajangha carried her off on his bird. He had observed in the front of a temple a tall pillar, surmounted by a stone ring, or wheel; and here he lodged her, as the banner of his retaliation: here she remained throughout the night, suspecting she was tricked, dreading discovery, and with difficulty maintaining her station†, The morning had scarcely dawned, when she was recognised by the people, and young and old assembled in crowds, enjoying her mishap, and laughing heartly at her ridiculous appearance: at length Rupanika came to her aid, and had her carried home. The prince of Mathura offered a reward to the individual whose ingenuity had devised the frolic; and Lohajangha, coming forward, related his story, to the entertainment and astonishment of the people and their lord. With the approbation of the latter, Lohajangha was married to Rupanika, and they passed their days in affluence and pleasure ‡. * Thus she represented the Ardhanariswara, or Siva, half male, and half female, which compound figure is to be painted in this manner. + This presents some analogy to the story in the Decamerone. Nov. 7, Gior. 8, of the scholar and the widow, "la quale egli con suo consiglio di mezzo luglio ignuda, tutto un di fa stare in su una torre." " The bold assumption of a masquerade character of divinity, is probably borrowed from practices not unknown to the Hindus, although more rare than with the Babylonians, Lycians, and Egyptians, when the priest pretended Story of Vatsa-resumed. In the course of a short time, the affections of Vasavadatta were so firmly fixed on Vatsa, that country and parents were light in the comparison. Yogandharayana now reappeared, to announce that every thing was prepared for their flight, and the keeper of Vasavadatta's elephant, a beast of unequalled velocity, bribed to lend them aid. He therefore desired Vatsa to prevail on the princess to accompany him, and thus retaliate on Chandasena the trick he had practiced, not doubting that he would subsequently assent with joy to their espousal. The minister then departed to give notice to the forest monarch. Vatsa repaired to the princess. It needed little eloquence to persuade her to a measure to which she was so well inclined, and her concurrence was readily obtained. Accordingly, when night came, Vasavadatta, with a confidential attendant, and Vatsa, with his friend Vasantaka, mounted the elephant, and set forth on their flight. They took their way out of the city by a part of the wall that was broken down, Vatsa having been compelled to engage, and slay the two soldiers who were stationed at the post. They then got clear of Ougein, and plunged into the adjacent woods. [To be continued.] KLAPROTH ON THE PEOPLE OF BOKHARA. [From the Journal Asiatique, No. 9.] Geographers and scholars who have investigated the history of the Bokharians, have hitherto regarded them as of Turkish descent. Adelung has placed them amongst the Tatars or southern Turks, and observes, that the dialect of Bokhara is regarded as one of the purest, although mixed with "That sometimes did the mightiest not disdain To veil his glories in a mortal shape; And that he trod This earth so conscious, that the best of deity, Milman's Belshazzar. As a fable, the mortal personation of Vishnu is similarly related in the Pancha Tantra; only instead of a real bird, the lover rides an artificial one, the prototype of the "wondrous horse of brass," the flying steed of Rugiero, and other marvellous fabrications familiar to romance, more closely imitated, in object as well as structure, however, in the Labourer and Flying Car of the additional tales of the Arabian Nights, and in Malek and Shirin, in the Persian Tales. Persian words. Malte Brun leaves the origin of the people undecided; but to save his credit adds :-The idiom of the Bokbarians promises to be a subject of curious enquiry: it has not yet been analysed; but we have noticed several geographical terms, which bear a Persian or Gothic character." If the celebrated Pallas had been skilled in Oriental languages, he might easily have assigned to the people of Bokhara their due place in the families of nations, and would not have inserted them between the Teleuts and Uzbeks of Khiva, in the comparative vocabulary which he was commanded by Catherine II. to publish. In the descriptive account of all the nations of the Russian empire by Giorgi, he places the Bokharians amongst the Turk tribes, asserting that they are the unmixed descendants of the Uzbeks and Turcomans. In examining the Russian comparative vocabulary many years ago, Klaproth was surprised to find that the greatest number of Bokhari words were Persian. This identity was not confined to substantive nouns, but extended to the parts of speech. The infinitives ended in ten or den, and the imperative was formed by dropping the termination of the infinitive. In Nai bini, nostril, he noticed the Persian mode of forming compound terms; the genitive being put last, and the termination by which it is marked, i, preceding it: nai bini signifying literally the pipe of the nose. The pronouns were the same in both. Some specimens from Pallas's vocabulary, compared also with the Turk of Khiva, will show how much the dialect of Bokhara differs from the latter, and how far it is the same with Persian. |