_Bahrâmgor_--This tale is a variant in a way of a popular story
published in the Panjâb in various forms in the vernacular, under the
title of the _Story of Bahrâmgor and the Fairy Hasan Bâno_. The
person meant is no doubt Bahrâmgor, the Sassanian King of Persia,
known to the Greeks as Varanes V., who reigned 420-438 A.D. The
modern stories, highly coloured with local folklore, represent the
well-known tale in India--through the Persian--of _Bahrâmgor and
Dilârâm_. Bahrâmgor was said to have been killed while hunting the
wild ass (_gor_), by jumping into a pool after it, when both
quarry and huntsman disappeared for ever. He is said to be the father
of Persian poetry.
_Demons: Demonsland_.--The words used are _deo_ or _dev_
and _deostân_; here the _deo_ is a malicious spirit by
nature.
_Jasdrûl_.--It is difficult to say who this can be, unless the
name be a corruption of Jasrat Râî, through Râwal (_rûl_) = Râo
= Râî; thus Jasrat Râî = Jasrat Râwal = Jasad Rawal = Jasadrûl. If
this be the case, it stands for Dasaratha, the father of Râma Chandra,
and so vicariously a great personage in Hindu story. It is obvious
that in giving names to demons or fairies the name of any legendary
or fabulous personage of fame will be brought under contribution.
_Shâhpasand_.--This is obviously a fancy name, like its prototype
Dilaram (Heart's Ease), and means King's Delight. The variant Hasan
Bano means the Lady of Beauty. In the Pushto version of probably the
original story the name is Gulandama = Rosa, a variant probably of the
Flower Princess. See Plowden's _Translation of the Kalid-i-Afghâní_,
p. 209 ff.
_Chief Constable_.--See note to Sir Buzz, _ante_.
_Emerald Mountain_.--Koh-i-Zamurrad in the original. The whole
story of Bahrâmgor is mixed up with the 'King of China,' and so it is
possible that the legendary fame of the celebrated Green Mount in the
Winter Palace at Pekin is referred to here (see Yule's _Marco Polo_,
vol. i. pp. 326-327 and 330). It is much more probable, however, that
the legends which are echoed here are local variants or memories of
the tale of the Old Man of the Mountain and the Assassins, so famous
in many a story in Europe and Asia in the Middle Ages, _e.g. The
Romans of Bauduin de Sebourg_, where the lovely Ivorine is the
heroine of the Red Mountain, and which has a general family likeness
to this tale worth observing (see on this point generally Yule's
_Marco Polo_, vol. i. pp. cxliv-cli and 132-140, and the notes to
_Ind. Ant._ vol. xi. p. 285 ff.; which last, though treated as
superseded here, may serve to throw light on the subject). It is
evident that we are here treading on very interesting ground, alive
with many memories of the East, which it would be well worth while to
investigate.
_Nûnak Chand_.--Judging by the analogy of the name Nânaksâ (_sic_)
in _Indian Fairy Tales_, pp. 114 ff. and 276, where Nânaksâ,
obviously Nânak Shâh or Bâbâ Nânak, the founder of the Sikh religion,
_ob_. 1538 A.D., is turned into a wonder-working _faqîr_ of the
ordinary sort, it is a fair guess to say that this name is meant for him
too.
_Safed_.--On the whole it is worth while hazarding that this name
is a corruption, or rather, an adaptation to a common word--_safed_,
white--of the name Saifur for the demon in the older legends of
Bahrâmgor. If so, it occurs there in connection with the universal
oriental name Faghfûr, for the Emperor of China. Yule, _Marco Polo_,
vol. ii. p. 110, points out that Faghfûr = Baghbûr = Bagh Pûr, a Persian
translation of the Chinese title Tien-tse, Son of Heaven, just as the
name or title Shâh Pûr = the Son of the King. Perhaps this Saifûr in the
same way = Shâh Pûr. But see note in _Ind. Ant._ vol. xi. p. 288.
_Antimony_.--Black sulphuret of antimony, used for pencilling the
eyes and beautifying them. There are two preparations for darkening the
eyes--_surma_ and _kâjal_. _Kâjal_ is fine lamp-black, but
the difference between its use and that of _surma_ is that the former
is used for making a blot to avoid the evil eye (_na*ar_) and the
latter merely as a beautifier.
_Yech-cap_.--For a detailed account of the _yech_ or _yâch_
of Kashmîr see _Ind. Ant._ vol. xi. pp. 260-261 and footnotes.
Shortly, it is a humorous though powerful sprite in the shape of an
animal smaller than a cat, of a dark colour, with a white cap on its
head. The feet are so small as to be almost invisible. When in this
shape it has a peculiar cry--_chot, chot, chû-û-ot, chot_. All this
probably refers to some night animal of the squirrel (? civet cat) tribe.
It can assume any shape, and, if its white cap can be got possession of,
it becomes the servant of the possessor. The cap renders the human wearer
invisible. Mythologically speaking, the _yech_ is the descendant of
the classical Hindu _yaksha_, usually described as an inoffensive,
harmless sprite, but also as a malignant imp.
_The farther you climb the higher it grows_.--This is evidently
borrowed from the common phenomenon of ridge beyond ridge, each in turn
deceiving the climber into the belief that he has reached the top.