In a certain country there are a Gamarala and a Gama-Mahage (his
wife), it is said. When they were there not much time (nombo kalayak),
for the Mahage [there was] pregnancy longing; well then, she is not
eating food.
The Gamarala asked, "What is it, Bolan? You are not eating food,"
he asked.
The woman said, "I have pregnancy longing." The man asked, "What can
you eat?" The woman said, "Seven days (haddawasak) having warmed water
(paen) give it to me." The Gamarala having warmed water gave it [on]
seven days; the Gama-Mahage bathed seven days [with] the water. The
Gamarala asked, "Now then, is it well, the pregnancy longing?" The
woman said, "It is well."
Well, ten months having been fulfilled she bore a boy. Until the time
the boy becomes able to talk they reared him.
[Then] the Gamarala said, "To look what this boy says, having taken
him let us bury him." [74] The Gama-Mahage also having said "Ha,"
they took him to bury. Having cut the grave (lit., hole) and placed
him in the grave, they covered [him with] earth (pas waehaewwa).
Then the boy said, "Ane! What did mother and father [75] bury me
for? If I remained with [them]--the smith does not beat the piece of
iron [after] having placed it on the anvil--many will I beat (hammer)
for them both." [76]
The Gamarala and the Mahage having said, "That one to us [is] a smith's
boy," and having well trampled still [more] earth [on him] came home.
When they were thus for no long time, for the Mahage again [there was]
pregnancy longing; well then, she is not eating food. The Gamarala
asked, "What is it, Bolan? You are not eating food." The woman said,
"I have pregnancy longing." The Gamarala said, "What can you eat for
the pregnancy longing?" The woman said, "[On] seven days from the
Blue-lotus-flower pool having brought water, seven days having warmed
it give me it (dilan) to drink." The Gamarala having brought the water,
[on] seven days having warmed it gave it; the woman on the very seven
days drank. The Gamarala asked, "Now then, is it well, the pregnancy
longing?" The woman said, "It is well."
Well then, ten months having been fulfilled (lit., filled) she bore
a son. Until the time he became able to talk they reared him.
[Then] the Gamarala said, "To look what this one says, let us bury
him." The woman having said "Ha," they took him, and having cut the
grave and placed him in the grave, they covered [him with] earth.
The boy said and said, "Ane! What did they bury me for? If I remained
[with them]--the potter does not beat [the clay for] the pots--[for]
many will I beat it."
The two persons having said, "That one is not ours [77]--a potter's
boy," and having put still [more] earth [on him] and trampled it,
came home.
Having come there, when they were [there] no long time, for the woman
[there was] pregnancy longing; she is without food. The Gamarala asked,
"What is it, Bolan? You are not eating food." The woman said, "I have
pregnancy longing." The Gamarala asked, "What can you eat?" The woman
said, "Having cut a hollow well (puhu lindak) and brought the water
(diya), seven days having warmed it give me it for me to bathe." The
Gamarala having cut a hollow well, [on] seven days having warmed
the water gave it. The woman seven days bathed [with] the water. The
Gamarala said, "Now then even, is the pregnancy longing well?" The
woman said, "It is well."
When she was [there] not much time she bore a boy. Having reared him
until the time when the boy became able to talk, the Gamarala said,
"Having taken this one let us bury him, to look what he says." The
Gama-Mahage having said "Ha," they took him, and having cut the grave
and placed him in the grave, covered [him with] earth.
The boy said, "Ane! If I remained [with them]--the washerman does
not wash cloth for them--many will I wash."
The two persons having said, "That one [is] not ours--a washerman's
boy," put still [more] earth [on him] and having trampled it came home.
(On the next occasion the woman stated, in reply to her husband's
inquiry as to what food she wanted, that she required nothing. When
the son was buried he said, "What [did they bury] me for? For them [78]
I--the tom-tom beater does not beat the tom-tom--will beat many." [79]
They said, "That one [is] not ours--a tom-tom beater's boy," and they
finished the burial and returned home.
On the fifth occasion, when asked what she could eat, the woman said,
"There is the mind to eat (sic) buffalo milk." When the boy was placed
in the grave he said, "Ane! What did our mother and father bury me
for? If I remained [with them], having arrived near a King, [after I
am] exercising the sovereignty won't our mother and father, both of
them, get subsistence for themselves?" [80] The story continues:--)
Well then, the two persons having said, "This one himself [is] our
child," getting him to the surface [81] they brought him home.
(On the sixth occasion the woman required cow's milk. After she had
"eaten" it (lit., them, the word for milk being a plural noun) the
longing was allayed. Like the others, the boy who was born was buried
when he could talk. He said, "Ane! What did our mother and father
bury me for? If I remained [with them] won't the two persons get a
subsistence, I having even done cultivation and trading?")
The rest of the story is as follows:--The two persons having said,
"This one himself [is] our child," getting him to the surface
they brought him home. When they were rearing him not much time,
the Gamarala's two eyes became blind. This boy having become big is
continuing to give assistance to the two persons. Then the Gamarala
died.
The elder (lit., big) boy has taken the sovereignty. The elder brother
and younger brother, both, [assisting her]--one having done cultivation
(goyitan) and trading, one having exercised the sovereignty--that
woman is obtaining a subsistence.
The woman having become old, one day (dawasakda) that younger brother
went to see that elder brother and return to the city. Having gone,
as he was coming back Sakra having come, taking an old appearance,
took away the Gama-Mahage.
The boy having come and looked [for her], at his mother's absence is
weeping and weeping. Sakra, creating an old appearance, having come
asked at the boy's hand, "What are you weeping for?"