if নিচোল be separated from the third foot, the three feet will be found to be of equal length in quantity. We can therefore see, that the final নিচোলং comes in as a tag to break the monotony. Consquently, to trace the origin of the chhanda, we may safely take into consideration, the three feet of the verse leaving the tag portion out. Corresponding exactly to these three feet in form and tune, we get the lines of a country song, which is sung in a game, that may be fitly described as choral dance. In this game a boy usually stands in the centre of a ring, formed by a number of little boys and girls standing hand in hand: the boy in the centre, seeking slyly the opportunity to break through the circle to run away, goes on singing an action song—এত্ত টুকু পানি, and the boys and girls who encircle him, sing half dancing the chorus—ঘো ঘো রাণি, ঘো ঘো রাণি. It is significant to note, that this very game of Bengal, prevails in the far off Sambalpur tract, aud it is this very ঘো ঘো রাণি, conveying no meaning to us, is sung as chorus in the country places of that tract; that the game and the song originated in remote past, is forcibly indicated by this very circumstance. Again, when ঘো ঘো রাণি is sung twice as chorus, the whole portion becomes a লঘুত্রিপদী minus the tag, which may be an improvement upon the song, in the line set forth above.
The Paṇḍits who look for our পয়ার, a respectable origin, make the Sanskrit অনুষ্টুভ, the forbear of our humble পয়ার, though the tune and the form of the one do not agree with those of the other. That our nursery rhyme বিষ্টি পড়ে টাপুর টুপুর, etc., is wholly in accord with our পয়ার, cannot even for a moment be doubted. Though the lines move on keeping time with the note of a tune imbedded in syllabic accent, they contain fourteen letters, and at the end of the first foot of a line consisting of eight letters, we get the requisite cæsura. It will be
