Scolding and scolding these two persons for their act, the men
went away.
The first part of this story belongs to the North-western Province;
the middle part is found in the Western Province also, to which,
also, the latter part belongs.
In The Orientalist, vol. i, p. 237, Mr. H. White mentioned that a
story about the frying of the family honour is contained in a work
called Atita-vakya-dipaniya. In that instance apparently the pan
which was placed on the fire was empty.
In the same Journal, vol. i, p. 136, a variant of the latter part of
the tale is given by Miss S. J. Goonetilleke. Twenty-five idiots were
employed by a Gamarala, and it was their duty to provide plantain leaf
plates for the other servants and themselves. One day they decided
that they gave themselves unnecessary trouble in doing work which a
single person could perform, so it was settled that all should sleep,
and that the man who first opened his eyes or uttered a sound should
cut all the leaves. When the leaves were not forthcoming at the
meal-time the Gamarala and his men went in search of the idiots, and
being unable to arouse them, thought they were dead and dug a grave
for them. One after another they were thrown into it in silence, but
as they were being covered with earth a digging tool struck one on the
leg, causing him to utter an involuntary groan. The others instantly
arose and told him that henceforth he must provide all the leaf plates.
In the stories appended to the Pantcha-Tantra of the Abbé Dubois,
a man at night disputed with his wife as to whether men or women
are the greater chatterboxes, and each wagered a betel leaf that the
other would speak first. As they did not appear next day, the door of
their apartment was broken open, and the two were found sitting up but
deprived of speech. It was concluded that they were suffering from some
inimical magic, for which a Brahmana recommended the application of
heated gold to their bodies. The man was burnt on his sole, above the
knees, at both elbows, on the stomach, and on the crown of the head,
and bore it in silence; but when the woman was burnt on the sole she
cried, "Appa! That is enough," and handed her husband the betel leaf.
In Folklore in Southern India (Pandit Natesa Sastri), p. 277, (Tales
of the Sun, p. 280), a beggar and his wife who had been at a feast
at which they ate muffins (tosei), cooked five muffins, and agreed
that whoever opened an eye or spoke first should have only two of
them. They then bolted the door and lay down. After three days the
villagers entered by the roof and saw that the couple were apparently
dead. They were carried to the cremation ground, placed on two pyres
which were raised, and lights were applied. When the fire reached
the man's leg a voice came from his pyre, "I shall be satisfied with
two muffins." From the other pyre a voice replied, "I have gained
the day; let me have the three." When the villagers heard the story,
it was decided that, having apparently died and been on the funeral
pyre, they could not return to the village or it would perish, so a
separate hut was built for them.
In Indian Nights' Entertainment (Swynnerton), p. 14, a farmer and
his wife who disputed regarding the shutting of the door, agreed that
it should be closed by the one who spoke first. After a wild dog had
eaten their food, the barber called, shaved the man's head and half
his beard and moustache, and blackened him with lamp-black. When the
wife, who had gone out, returned and asked what he had been doing,
she was told that it was she who must close the door.
In Cinq Cents Contes et Apologues (Chavannes), vol. ii, p. 209,
a man and his wife made three cakes; each ate one, and they agreed
that the first who spoke should allow the other to eat the third
cake. Robbers broke in, began to collect all the goods in the house,
and at last seized the wife. The man still did not utter a word; when
the woman cried out and scolded him, he said, "Wife, it is certainly
I who have gained the cake."