At a village there are an elder sister and a younger sister, two persons. The two are going away, it is said.

While going, they saw two bulls going along. Then the cattle asked, “Where are you going?”

“We are going to a country where they give to eat and to wear” (meaning that they were in search of husbands).

“Are we good enough for you?”1 the cattle asked.

“What do you eat?” they asked.

“Having been put in those chenas we eat paddy and jungle vegetables.”

Saying, “We don’t want you,” the two women go on.

As they were going, they met with two jackal-dogs. “Where are you going?” they asked the two women.

“We are going to a country where they give to eat and to wear,” they said.

“Are we good enough for you?” they asked.

“What do you eat?” they asked.

“We eat a few fruits and crabs,” the two jackals said. “What do you eat?”

“We eat dried-fish fry,” they said. Saying, “We do not want two jackals,” the two women still go on.

While they were going, an elder brother and a younger brother were ploughing. They asked the two women, “Where are you going?”

“We are going to a country where they give to eat and to wear,” they said.

“Are we good enough for you?” they asked.

The two women asked, “What do you eat?”

“We eat dry-fish fry,” they said.

“Then both parties eat it,” they said. “It is good.”

“If so, it is good. Go to our house,” the men said.2

Afterwards those two men, having given the two keys of their houses into the hands of the elder sister and the younger sister, said, “The cooking things are in such a place; go there, and having opened the doors cook until we come.”

Then the two women went to the houses, and the elder sister opened the door of the elder brother’s house and cooked; and the younger sister opened the door of the younger brother’s house and cooked. Afterwards the two men came home, and having eaten, stopped there [with the sisters, as their husbands].

After many days had passed, the two sisters bore two girls. The younger sister had many things at her house; the elder sister had none. On account of that, the elder sister through ill-feeling thought, “I must kill younger sister.”

One day, the two sisters having cooked rice, while they were taking it to the rice field the younger sister went in front, and the elder sister went behind. On the way, they came near the river. Then the elder sister said, “Younger sister, didst thou never bathe? The skin on thy back is dirty. Take off that necklace and the clothes on thy body, and lay them down, and let us bathe and then go.”

They put down the two mat boxes of cooked rice, and having descended into the river, she called, while bathing, to her sister, “Younger sister, come here for me to rub thy back.” While rubbing she threw her into the middle of the river. Then she took the two boxes of cooked rice and went to the rice field. The younger sister died in the river.

After the elder sister went to the rice field, the younger brother asked at the hand of the elder sister, “Why has no one come from our house?”

Then the elder sister said, “Ando! Catch her coming!3 Isn’t she playing [illicit] games at home?” Having given the two boxes of rice to the elder brother and the younger brother, that woman returned home.

Afterwards that younger sister’s girl asked, “Loku-Amma,4 where is our mother?”

Then the woman said, “Ando! Catch her coming! When I came she was still stopping in the rice field.”

After it became night, the elder brother and the younger brother having come home, the younger brother asked, “Girl, where is thy mother?”

Then the girl said, “At noon she took cooked rice to the rice field with Loku-Amma; she has not come yet.”

The younger brother said, “Where? She did not go to the rice field.”

Then the girl said, “At the time when I asked at the hand of Loku-Amma, ‘Where is our mother?’ she said, ‘She is at the rice field.’ ”

Afterwards the elder sister, calling the elder brother and the younger brother, both of them [to be her husbands], took her sister’s goods, and remained there with them. From the next day, having cooked she gave the rice into the hands of the two girls to take to the rice field.

After the girls had gone near the river for two or three days, they saw one day a White Turtle in it, and approached and tried to catch it. When the elder sister’s girl went to catch it, it went to the middle of the river; when the younger sister’s girl went, it came to the bank, and rubbed itself over the whole of her body.

After the elder sister’s girl had gone home, she told the elder sister of it: “Mother, there is a White Turtle in the river. When that girl goes it comes to her; when I go it swims far away,” she said.

That elder sister said, “Ha. It is good. I shall eat it,” and lay down.

The younger sister’s girl hearing it, went near the river, and said, “Mother, she must eat you, says Loku-Amma.”

Then the White Turtle said, “Ha. It is good, daughter. Let her eat. After she has cooked she will give you, also, a little gravy, and a bone. Drink the gravy, and take the bone to the cattle-fold, and having said, ‘If it be true that you are our mother, may you be created a Mango tree,’ throw it down.”

Afterwards, when those two men came home, having seen that the woman was lying down, “What are you lying down for?” they asked.

Then the woman said, “It is in my mind to eat the White Turtle that is in the river.” So the men went to the river, and having caught the White Turtle, and brought it home, and cooked it, gave it to the woman. Then the woman got up and ate it.

She gave the girl a little gravy, and a bone. The girl having drunk the gravy, took the bone to the cattle-fold, and saying, “If it be true that you are our mother, may you be created a Mango tree,” threw down the bone.

After that, a Mango tree being created, in a day or two grew large and bore fruit. As the two girls were going near the Mango tree they saw that there were Mangoes on it, and went close to it. When the elder sister’s girl went to pluck the Mango fruits, the branches rose up; when the younger sister’s girl went to pluck them, the branches bent down, and spread over her body and head. Well then, after that girl had plucked and eaten as many as she wanted, the branches rose again.

That also the elder sister’s girl, having come home, told her: “Mother, there are fruits on the Mango tree at the cattle-fold. When I try to pluck them the branches rise; when that girl tries to pluck them the branches rub the ground.”

The woman said, “Ha. It is good. I will split that and warm it in the fire.”

After hearing that also, that girl, having gone to the Mango tree said, “Mother, having split you she must warm you in the fire, Loku-Amma says.”

Then the Mango tree said, “Ha. It is good, daughter. Let her split. A splinter having fallen will remain here. Take it, and having said, ‘If it be true that you are our mother, may you be created a Kaekiri creeper,’ put it down at the back of the house.”

Afterwards, when the elder sister’s two men came, having seen that she was lying down, “What are you lying down for to-day also?” they asked.

Then the woman said, “Having split the Mango tree at the cattle-fold, it is in my mind to have a few splinters warmed for me in the fire.” So the two men having gone to the cattle-fold, and having cut and split up the Mango tree, and brought a few splinters home, put them in the fire and fanned it. After that, the woman got up, and warmed herself at the fire.

Then that girl went to the place where the Mango tree was, and when she looked a splinter was there. Taking it, she came to the back of the house, and having said, “If it be true that you are our mother, may you be created a Kaekiri creeper,” she put it down. In a day or two a Kaekiri creeper was created there, and bore fruits.

On going there, the younger sister’s girl said, “There is fruit,” and having plucked and eaten as many as she wanted, she came home. When the elder sister’s girl went to pluck them there was not a single fruit.

Having returned home, the girl said regarding that also, “Mother, on the Kaekiri creeper which is at the back of the house there are many fruits when that girl goes to it; when I go, not a single one.”

The woman said, “Ha. It is good. Having uprooted it I will eat it in a dry curry.”

That girl after hearing that also, went near the Kaekiri creeper and said, “Mother, having uprooted you and cooked you in a dry curry, she must eat you, says Loku-Amma.”

The Kaekiri creeper said, “Ha. It is good, daughter. Let her eat. At the place where I am uprooted there will be a Kaekiri root. Take it to the river, and having said, ‘If it be true that you are our mother, be created a Blue-Lotus flower,’ throw it into the river.”

The elder sister having uprooted the Kaekiri creeper, took it home, and having cooked the curry, ate. After that, the girl went to the place where the Kaekiri creeper had been, and when she looked a Kaekiri root was there. Having taken it to the river, and said, “If it be true that you are our mother, be created a Blue-Lotus flower,” she threw it into the river. Then a Blue-Lotus flower was created.

When the two girls were going together to the river to bathe, having seen that there was a Blue-Lotus flower, that younger sister’s girl went and held out her hands in a cup shape. Then the flower which was in the middle of the river came into the girl’s hands, and opened out while in her hands. When the elder sister’s girl was holding her hands for it, it goes to the middle of the river.

That girl having come home, said of it also, “Mother, there is a Blue-Lotus flower in the river. When that girl goes it comes to her hands; when I go it moves far away.”

The woman said, “Ha! It is good. That also I shall seize, and take.”

The girl after having heard that also, went and said, “Mother, she must pluck you also, says Loku-Amma.”

Then the Blue-Lotus flower said, “Let that woman say so, daughter. She is unable to pluck me.”

Afterwards the woman having told at the hands of the two men, “Pluck the flower and come back,” the two men having gone to the river tried to pluck it; they could not. When they are trying to pluck it, it goes to the middle of the river.

Afterwards, the men having told it at the hand of the King of the country, and having told the King to cause the flower to be plucked and to give them it, the King also came near the river on the back of an elephant, together with the King’s servants. The elder sister, and the two girls, and the two men stayed on this side.

Then the people on this side and the people on that side try and try to take that flower; they cannot take it. That younger sister’s girl having gone to one side, after looking on said, “Indeed I am able to take it, that flower.” The King on the other side of the river having heard that, while he was on the back of the elephant, said, “What is it, girl, that you are saying?”

Then that girl said, “O Lord, I am greatly afraid to speak; I indeed am able to take it, the flower.”

“Ha. Take it,” the King said. Afterwards, when the girl was holding her hands in a cup shape, the flower that was in the middle of the river came into her hands.

Afterwards the King, taking that flower, and placing the girl on the elephant, went to the King’s city.

North-western Province.