Simla Village Tales; Or, Folk Tales from the Himalayas

								


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                          SIMLA VILLAGE TALES

                        OR, FOLK TALES FROM THE

                               HIMALAYAS

                       BY ALICE ELIZABETH DRACOTT

                                 LONDON

                   JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.

                                  1906

                        TO THE ONE I LOVE BEST.

PREFACE

In introducing "Simla Village Tales" to my readers, I wish to
acknowledge gratefully the valuable assistance given me by my sister
Mabel Baldwin, who, when I was obliged to leave India suddenly owing
to nervous breakdown after the terrible earthquake which visited the
Punjaub in April 1905, kindly undertook to complete, from the same
sources where I had got them, my collection of folk-tales. Twenty
excellent stories contributed by her include "Tabaristan," "The Priest
and the Barber," "The Fourth Wife is Wisest," and "Abul Hussain."
Of the down-country tales my husband kindly contributed "Anar Pari,"
"The Dog Temple," "The Beautiful Milkmaid," and "The Enchanted Bird,
Music, and Stream." Both my sister and my husband can speak the
language fluently, and as the former has resided many years in the
Punjaub, I am confident that her translations are as literal as my
own. All the tales were taken down in pencil, just as they were told,
and as nearly as possible in the words of the narrators, who were
village women belonging to the agricultural class of Hindus in the
Simla district.
I must add a word of thanks to Mr Hallam Murray for his invaluable
assistance with the illustrations.
In one or two instances I was asked if I would allow a Paharee man,
well versed in local folk-lore, to relate a few stories to me; but,
for obvious reasons, I was obliged to decline the offer, for many Simla
Village tales related to me by women, and not included in this book,
were grotesquely unfit for publication.
The typical Paharee woman is, as a rule, extremely good-looking,
and a born flirt; she has a pleasant, gay manner, and can always see
a joke; people who wish to chaff her discover an adept at repartee.
The "Simla Village Woman," whose photograph is reproduced, is a very
good type. I found her most gentle and lovable. Her little boy, and
last surviving child, has died since the photograph was taken last
year, yet the young mother bears all her griefs with a fortitude
which is really remarkable.
Himalayan folk-lore, with its beauty, wit, and mysticism, is a most
fascinating study, and makes one grieve to think that the day is fast
approaching when the honest rugged hill-folk of Northern India will
lose their fireside tales under the influence of modern civilisation.