_Princess Pepperina_.--In the original _Shâhzâdî Mirchâ_ or
_Filfil Shâhzâdî: mirch_ is the _Capsicum annuum_ or common
chilli, green and red.
_Sheldrakes_.--The _chakwâ_, male, and _chakwî_, female,
is the ruddy goose or sheldrake, known to Europeans as the Brâhmanî
duck, _Anas casarca_ or _Casarca rutila_. It is found all over
India in the winter, and its plaintive night cry has given rise to a
very pretty legend. Two lovers are said to have been for some
indiscretion turned into Brâhmanî ducks, and condemned to pass the
night apart from each other, on the opposite sides of a river. All
night long each asks the other in turn if it shall join its mate,
and the answer is always 'no.' The words supposed to be said are--
_Chakwâ, main âwân? Nâ, Chakwî!_
_Chakwî, main âwân? Nâ, Chakwâ!_
Chakwâ, shall I come? No, Chakwî!
Chakwî, shall I come? No, Chakwâ!