An Ahīr, a shepherd, and a Pâsee (low caste);
If these three get together, mischief is sure to come.
Ahīr is a general term for a pastoral race noticed by Ptolemy. They are
distinguished as three tribes, viz., the Nand bansa, Yadu bansa, and
Goala bansa. (_See Wilson and Elliott._)
“_Two Swords in one scabbard._”—Appeals to the sword are very common
with natives of Northern India, indeed many of the warlike tribes
worship their weapons.
When sharpened for service by a “Sikligur,” a man who makes it his
business to give a keen edge to swords, he applies two tests. One is
that the edge shall be sharp enough to cut through a ball of teazed
cotton, balanced on the blade, and the other that it shall, with a light
touch, lift a copper coin off a table.
A Punjabi Sipahi, referring to this, was overheard to say,
Wudday Uar thay
Nam Talwar dhâ
Birreh Sipahi thây
Nam Sirdar dhâ