THE TWO BROTHERS : A MANIPURI STORY.
BY G. H. DAMANT, B.A., B.C.S.
In a certain country there lived a king named Hemanga Sen; his queen was called Ananga Manjuri. He had a very large and beautiful palace. One day the queen took a stool into the courtyard and sat down. Now it happened that the mate of a sparrow was just dead, leav- ing two young ones only hatched nine days, and he, thin k ing he could not bring them up alone, determined to take another mate : so he searched and brought one, and built her a nest in the courtyard, and put her into it with the young ones of his first mate, and then went away to look for food. In the meantime the new mate, remembering that the young one3 were not hers, pushed them out of the nest with her feet, aud they fell in front of the queen, and their bodies split open and they died.
Ananga Manjurt was very sorry to see this, and thought to herself, " When their wives die, men have very little consideration for their children and grandchildren. If I die, my hus- band will take another wife, who will treat my little sons Turi and Basanta jnst in this way, and will kill them." So she wept very much, and took the two young sparrows and showed them to the king, and told him how they had perished, and asked him not to treat her sons in the same way if she died. The king told her she was not likely to die, and promised he wonld never ill-treat her sons ; and the young sparrows he threw away.
Five years after this the queen's time came, and she fell ill and died, and the king was much grieved, more especially as his sons wen so young. His distress was so great that for mauy days he wonld not hear of marrying again, but his men and women slaves continu- ally urged him to take another wife, saying there was no prosperity in a kingdom in which there was no queen, and all his subjects said the same thing. At last the king could no longer withstand their entreaties, and consent- ed, and told them to look out for a suitable match for him. Daring this time his two sons III become old enough to play at hockey* and were continually amusing themselves at the game. The subjeots found a suitable wife for the king, and they were married, and he brought her to the palace. After she had there some days she began to think that there was no use in her remaining with the king, because Turi and Basanta, the children of his first wife were still alive, and if she had any children they would not ascend the throne, and that she must hit upon some plan to kill them. So she thought over it all day, whether she wa3 eating, drinking, Bleeping, or walking, till at last she devised a scheme, — to pretend that she was ill and could only he cured by bathing in the blood of Turi and Basanta. So she called a wise man and said to him aside in a solitary place, " I have called yon in because I am ill, and you must tell the king that I shall soon be well if I bathe in the blood of Turi and Basanta." Saying this she took gold and silver from the treasury and gave it him, and from that day she gave up eating and drinking, and pretend- ed to be ill ; and when she had not eaten for a month her body was very thin and emaciated, aud she seemed to be really ill. The king ordered the wise man to be called, and sent a slave to fetch him, and when ho came the king told him to examine the queen and see what was the matter with her, and to give her medi- cine to cure her. So the wise man examined the queen, and came back and told the king that she was very ill, and would certainly dio unless she was properly treated. The king told him to apply proper medicines, bnt he said the remedy conld not be obtained, so it was of no use thinking about it. The king pressed him very much to tell it, and promised that he would really have it done, whatever it was. So he said, " You must kill your two sons Tnri and Ba- santa, and make the queen bathe in their blood, and she will be cured." When the queen heard the wise man say this, she pretended to be very ill, and rolled from Bid© to side in her bed call- ing out "I am dying, I am dying/' The king could not help believing her, and ordered hia sons to be killed. Now the two boys, with their slaves, were gone out to play at hockey, and other slaves were sent to look for them; but they, being tired with play, had gone
- The national game of tLeMuapuri.: it i, wm etim« playod on Uoraeback, an* mmMmm on foot.
