burdened with the troublesome thing called a heart—when had he managed to acquire it, he wondered. Could it have been from the day they had gone together to see the maiden Asha? Poor fellow! Mahendra thought of him in terms of commiseration, but felt more amused than pained. He knew only too well where Asha's heart was unalterably fixed. And the thought that the prizes for which others were vainly longing had of their own accord surrendered themselves to him, made his breast swell with pride.
"All right." said he to Vihari. "Let's go. Fetch a carriage, will you?"
(To be continued)
Translated by
Surendranath Tagore.
ORAON LIFE
I.
The Story of an Oraon Convert's Life.
I GIVE below the story of the incidents in the life of an Oraon convert to Christianity, as it was told to me by himself. Mangra, alias Gabriel,—the hero and narrator of the following story,—is a sturdy young man of about twenty-five years; and, if you set your eyes on him, you should think here was a man who would not easily flinch under pain, be it physical or mental. But when, the other day, at my persistent request, he narrated the following story of his own life, one could detect an occasional drop of tear trickling down his swarthy cheeks, and all who were at the time present at my office were visibly affected. Here is the tale that Mangra Oraon told me with many a sigh and many a tear:—
The mela or fair, and the Sika-bahinga.
"The earliest recollection of my childhood is that of the day when I was being taken to a mela or fair several miles away from my village. It was a novel experience to me—that glorious ride in a bahinga-basket slung on the shoulders of my father. Up till then I had only been accustomed to being carried about on the back of my mother and sisters slung in a strip of cloth folded up somewhat in the form of a bag open at the mouth and at the sides. This is, as you know, the orthodox method followed by our women-folk in carrying their children.
[Mark the difference between the dress of a school-returned Oraon and an illiterate rustic Oraon.]
But, as for our men, you will, I reckon, rarely find one carrying a child in that fashion. Our ancestors in their wisdom laid down different rules for the two sexes as to their methods of carrying burdens. And so it would be considered extremely indecorous—nay, disgraceful—if a man of our tribe were to carry a burden on his head as our womenfolk are
