Then the Tom-tom Beater called the Devatawa, [said],
"They say that thou wilt not give thy daughter to the boy of the
Tom-tom Beater of such and such a village. Why?"
The Gamarala said, "Because our pollution rules (indul) are different
I said I cannot give her," he said.
Then the Tom-tom Beater Devatawa who was in the tree [said],
"Give thou thy daughter to him. On the seventh day from now he will
obtain the sovereignty. If thou shouldst not give [her] I will kill
thee." Tying the bundle of lights to the leg of the egret, he said,
"I am going," and let the egret go.
Thereupon, having seen that the lights were burning on the leg of
the egret [as it flew away], the Gamarala thought that the Devatawa
said it.
Then the Tom-tom Beater, being invisible to everybody, descended from
the tree, and went to his village.
Two or three days afterwards, he came with the wedding party
to the Gamarala's house, for the purpose of taking away the
daughter. Thereupon, having eaten the [wedding] feast, on the morning
of the following day, because the giving of the Gamarala's daughter
was demeaning he put her in a sack, and having tied it as a bundle
for carrying under a pole, [the Gamarala] gave her, placing [the pole]
on the shoulders of two persons, and telling them to go. Then, lifting
up the load, the party went away. Having gone thus, it having become
night they stayed near a tree.
At yet [another] city, the King of the city, having seized a bear
that ate human flesh, and put it in a sack, and tied it as a bundle
for carrying under a pole, gave it to two persons, and told them to
take it and throw it into the river.
At that time that party also came to the place where that [other]
party were staying. Thereupon, without speaking they placed the two
bundles in one spot. In the very same way again, without speaking
they were sleeping in one place.
On the morning of the following day, at dawn, the wedding party
having arisen went to the village, taking the bundle in which the
bear was tied.
The people who remained here unfastened the bag in order to put the
bear into the river. At that time [they saw that] a Princess was
there. So the party having gone taking the Princess gave her to the
King. Then the King married that Queen.
The wedding party who went taking the bear bundle having gone to the
house, that very day, in order that the faults (dosa) of the bride
and bridegroom might go, drove away any evil influence of the planets
(baliyak).
At that time, having put the sack and the bridegroom into a house
they shut and tied the door. Having tied it they conducted the service
[against the evil influence of the planets] in the open.
Thereupon the bridegroom who was inside the house unfastened the
sack in order to take out the bride. Then the bear having come out
began to bite the man. The bridegroom said, "Don't bite me! Don't
bite me!" When he was saying it, the men who were sending away the
evil planetary influences said, "Ayibo! Ayibo!" [244] The two who
were in the house remained without speaking any words [after that].
Thereupon it became light. These people having gone [there] opened
the door. Then the bear that ate men having sprung outside and bitten
the [would-be] mother-in-law, went into the midst of the forest. The
bridegroom, the bear having bitten him, died.
North-central Province.
In a variant of No. 59 in vol. i., the Gamarala inquired regarding the
naekata at his daughter's reaching marriageable age. The man replied,
"Through this little lass (paenci) seven men will die. Ane! O
Gamarahami, because of this little lass don't make this country
desolate," and advised killing her. When this man was carrying her
away tied in a sack, intending in reality to marry her to his son,
some people who had a savage bear in a similar sack found the bundle
left on the roadside temporarily, and made an exchange. The son was
killed by the bear while the father danced outside, beating a tom-tom
(udaekkiya).