Page:Castes and Tribes of Southern India, Volume 7.djvu/125

and Malayālam up to Changala Vazhi beyond the Anaimalai hills. Chēraman Perūmāl was the ruler of this land, in which were the four castes. His capital was at Tiruvanja Kolam. One day, Veluthēdan *^[1] Chiraman was washing the Perumāl's cloths in a tank. He beat the cloths on a stone which was flat on the ground, and held one of the cloths in his hand. A girl of the carpenter caste, Ayyesvari by name, was just then going to the tank to bathe after her monthly period. She called out " Ho! Kammal.†^[2] That is not the way to wash cloths. Put a small stone under one end of your washing stone, so as to make it slope a little. Then hold both ends of the cloth in your hand, and beat the middle of the cloth on the stone." The Veluthēdan did so, and found that he washed better, and the cloths were whiter. The Perumāl asked him " Were you not washing the cloths before? Who washed them to-day? " "To which the Veluthēdan replied "Oh! Tamburān (chief or lord), a carpenter girl instructed your slave to-day how to wash cloths properly. May Perumāl be pleased to order the girl to be given to your slave as his wife." Perumāl then said " To whatever caste she may belong, you may take her by force, and will not lose your caste." Having received the king's permission, Veluthēdan Chiraman concealed himself near the carpenter's house, and, when the girl opened the door to sweep the yard at dawn, he seized her, and carried her off to his house. Carpenter Sankaran of Tiruvanja Kalam went to the Perumāl, and complained that Veluthēdan Kammal had carried away his daughter, and disgraced him. He asked the Perumāl whether he would give him an armed guard to rescue her. To which the Perumāl replied "I

1. * The washerman of the Nambūtiris and Nāyars is called Veluthēdan.
2. † Nāyars are addressed as Kammal by Tiyans and artisans.