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The Tale of Seven Brothers and A Sister This is a story from the oral tradition of the Panchmahali Bhili language of the Bhils of East Gujarat. It is translated into English by Aruna Joshi, editor of Dhol, a journal published in eight tribal languages by the Bhasha Research and Publication Centre as part of the Sahitya Akademi Project on Literature in Tribal Languages and Oral Traditions, 62, Srinathdham Society;, Near Diensh Mill, Baroda 390 007, India. The original story is published in the Panchmahali Bhili version of Dhol, August 1998, p. 35. It is posted here with permission of the translator and editor, Aruna Joshi. The story has close tribal variants; see, for example, "How the Sabai Grass Came into Existence" and "Seven Brothers and One Sister" in P.O. Bodding's Santal Folktales (New Dehli: Gian Publishing, rpt. 1990) II: 297-307. It has analogues among Corn Maiden stories of American Indians and among African stories as well. There was a sister of seven brothers. One day, the seven brothers and the sister went to the prairies for hunting. The sister became thirsty. She said: "Brother, I am thirsty." So the eldest brother said, "Where the bird is hovering, there is a lake. There you go." She went there to find no water. Now she was too thirsty. But, from where to bring water? Then the eldest brother made her climb a banyan tree saying that there was some water in the hollow above. Making her climb so, the brother threw his spear at her. One after the other, five brothers threw their spears at her, but she escaped them all. Then it was the turn of the seventh brother. The seventh brother refused to throw the spear saying, "I will not aim at my own sister; no matter if I don't find game today, I won't shoot her." Thus he did not throw the spear. But after that the sixth brother threw his spear which hit the sister and she died. Then they cut her into pieces and divided her into seven shares for the seven brothers. The seven brothers took hold of their own shares. Six brothers took their shares home. The seventh brother said, "You get going; I will come after a while." And thus he stayed back. And he then dug a pit in the soil and buried in it his own share of the sister. And then, weeping, he went home. After that, where his share was buried a bamboo shoot sprouted. One day, a monk happened to reach there. Looking at the large bamboo thicket the monk thought, "What a large bamboo it is, I can make a flute from it." Thus the monk cut the bamboo and made a flute from it. Then, playing the flute, the monk reached the seven brothers' lane. Young children from nearby houses ran out to see the flute-playing monk. The monk, playing the flute, came at the eldest brother's door and started playing this song through the flute: "Sing, sing, o flute, it's your elder brother's home." "What to sing, o monk; it's my adversary's home." And then the flute didn't sing. The monk went, one after the other, to six brothers' houses. Then, at last, he reached the seventh brother's house, playing at the flute, and here he could play this song through his flute: "Sing, sing, o flute, it's your last brother's home." "I shall sing, I must; it's my little brother's home." Thus the monk went through all the seven brother's courtyards, and with him went all the children in the neighbourhood. The people in the neighborhood started whispering, "Listen, listen what the monk is saying through the flute." Thus the monk played the flute at the youngest brother's house. The youngest brother gave the monk some food to eat and a bed to sleep. The monk kept the flute at the bedstead and slept. The youngest brother stealthily took away the flute and in its place put another flute from his home. In the morning the monk took the flute and went away. The brother took the monk's flute and put it in a pit in the backyard. Every day the youngest brother and his wife went to their field to work. [That day] in the evening, when they returned after finishing the day's work, they found the pots of water already filled, in the kitchen the food already cooked. Again the next morning, the two went to work in the field and came home at noon. Back home, they found the house cleaned up, water filled, food cooked and ready. The two started wondering as to who was doing all the household chores. So, one day, the brother stayed back to watch, and just as the sister, after getting out of the pit, and having finished her cooking and eating, was about to get back into the pit, the brother caught hold of the braid of her hair and asked her who she was. So she replied that it was she, his sister, and started again to get back under the soil. The brother pulled at the braid of her hair. The braid slipped but he caught the tassel at the end of her braid of hair. Catching hold of the tassel the youngest brother again tried to pull her. But, instead, he got pulled himself. He let the braid of hair go and she slipped under the soil forever. ...... |
