DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16243#0180
146
PEOPLE OF INDIA
mat and a tooth-brush ; the pole of his carriage is spliced with
string, and he stops at every grog-shop on
In Sind and , ™, . , 111
Gujarat. tne road. I he Mryan s mare could only carry
him to the end of the village. Look at the
Miyan's new fashion : his coat is tied up in three places ! The
Miyan swaggers abroad but is meek as a mouse at home;
when he comes back from tinning pots and pans, BlbT, his wife,
combs his beard; he is only a strand she is a ser and a quarter.
A cheerful couple, Miyan and Blbi! when he broke his stick on
her she smashed the water-jar. The Blbi cries for sweets and
the Miyan licks the lamps in the mosque. The Miyan cannot
get it and the Blbi does not like it (sour grapes). The Miyan
has no shoes to beat his wife with. The Miyan's beard on fire,
and Blbi thinks he is warming himself. Miyan a fop and Blbi
sweeping the house. The Miyan killed a crow and swore that
he had shot a tiger. A Miyan's talk, like a kick from a fly.
The Miyan is ripe for the grave and the Blbi is ripe for the
bridal bed. (January and May.) "Why weeping, Miyan?"
" My wife died to-day." " Why laughing, Miyan ? " "I marry
a new one to-day." God is straight, but the Miyan is crooked :
if he is going north he says he is going south. "Time to get
up, Miyan ! " "All right, give me a hand." When Miyan goes
to Mecca, Blbi goes to Malwa. A Miyan's cat; a Miyan's cow
buffalo. (Both half-starved.)
The Jat Musalman cultivator of Sind is a person of dirty
habits; two blankets and a half last him a lifetime. If you are
civil to him he will knock you down. He is a merciless and
importunate creditor—" the Jat's farthing will break the skin
while the Baniya's hundred rupees will not hurt you." If 3'ou
rely on the word of a Jat you will come to grief, yet sometimes
he meets his match : his wife soaked the yarn to make it heavy,
but the Banij'-a weighed it with false weights. Educate a Jat
and he becomes a nuisance to gods and men.
Throughout Northern India the Mulla (priest) and the Kazi
m the Punjab. (marriage registrar and judge) fare badly at
the hands of the popular oracle. The face of
a Mulla conceals the heart of a butcher. The Kazi will drink if
he gets the liquor for nothing. The Mulla was drowned
because he had never given anything to anybody, and could
not bear to give his hand even to save his life.
A Kazi's verandah is a place to sit in after meals, when you
do not mind waiting for a decision long delayed, and "a Kazi's
judgment" is a synonym for injustice. Yet during his life all
ill
PEOPLE OF INDIA
mat and a tooth-brush ; the pole of his carriage is spliced with
string, and he stops at every grog-shop on
In Sind and , ™, . , 111
Gujarat. tne road. I he Mryan s mare could only carry
him to the end of the village. Look at the
Miyan's new fashion : his coat is tied up in three places ! The
Miyan swaggers abroad but is meek as a mouse at home;
when he comes back from tinning pots and pans, BlbT, his wife,
combs his beard; he is only a strand she is a ser and a quarter.
A cheerful couple, Miyan and Blbi! when he broke his stick on
her she smashed the water-jar. The Blbi cries for sweets and
the Miyan licks the lamps in the mosque. The Miyan cannot
get it and the Blbi does not like it (sour grapes). The Miyan
has no shoes to beat his wife with. The Miyan's beard on fire,
and Blbi thinks he is warming himself. Miyan a fop and Blbi
sweeping the house. The Miyan killed a crow and swore that
he had shot a tiger. A Miyan's talk, like a kick from a fly.
The Miyan is ripe for the grave and the Blbi is ripe for the
bridal bed. (January and May.) "Why weeping, Miyan?"
" My wife died to-day." " Why laughing, Miyan ? " "I marry
a new one to-day." God is straight, but the Miyan is crooked :
if he is going north he says he is going south. "Time to get
up, Miyan ! " "All right, give me a hand." When Miyan goes
to Mecca, Blbi goes to Malwa. A Miyan's cat; a Miyan's cow
buffalo. (Both half-starved.)
The Jat Musalman cultivator of Sind is a person of dirty
habits; two blankets and a half last him a lifetime. If you are
civil to him he will knock you down. He is a merciless and
importunate creditor—" the Jat's farthing will break the skin
while the Baniya's hundred rupees will not hurt you." If 3'ou
rely on the word of a Jat you will come to grief, yet sometimes
he meets his match : his wife soaked the yarn to make it heavy,
but the Banij'-a weighed it with false weights. Educate a Jat
and he becomes a nuisance to gods and men.
Throughout Northern India the Mulla (priest) and the Kazi
m the Punjab. (marriage registrar and judge) fare badly at
the hands of the popular oracle. The face of
a Mulla conceals the heart of a butcher. The Kazi will drink if
he gets the liquor for nothing. The Mulla was drowned
because he had never given anything to anybody, and could
not bear to give his hand even to save his life.
A Kazi's verandah is a place to sit in after meals, when you
do not mind waiting for a decision long delayed, and "a Kazi's
judgment" is a synonym for injustice. Yet during his life all
ill