The Story of the Four Giants1

The Story of the Four Giants1

In a certain country there were seven giants. The youngest giant of the seven of them without any means of subsistence remained on the ash-heap itself, near the hearth. At that time the other six persons scolded him: “How wilt thou eat and dress?” Then when this youngest giant was preparing to take a digging hoe with a broken corner the other persons scolded him regarding it [also].

Thereupon, having put down the digging hoe and gone, not bringing any tool, into the midst of a forest which had Wīra, Palu, and such-like trees, and having looked for a place suitable for a rice-field, with his hand he loosened and uprooted and threw them all down. Having made the rice-field, and made the ridges in it, he came home and said, “I have made a little rice-field plot (liyadda); to sow it give me a little paddy,” he asked his brothers. When he said it they did not give it.

Thereupon his uncle said, “Having looked at the rice-field I will give you paddy.”

The two together went to the rice-field. While there his uncle ascertained the size of the rice-field and the quantity of paddy that was necessary for it, and having come home told him to take a round corn store (bissak) in which sixty amuṇas (about 350 bushels) of paddy were tied up. Thereupon the giant who was on the ash-heap, placing the corn store of sixty amuṇas on his shoulder, brought it home; and having made [the paddy] sprout, sowed the rice-field.

After the [paddy in the] rice-field ripened he cut it and trampled it [by means of buffaloes], and having collected and placed the paddy in a heap, came home. Having returned summoning his brothers, he told them to climb upon the heap of paddy, and look if the spires [of the dāgabas] at Anurādhapura are visible. Having looked in that way, and having seen them, though they were visible they said they were not. Thereupon anger having come to the giant of the ash-heap, he kicked the paddy heap, and having come home, taking his sword began to go away somewhere.

While going thus, he saw that yet [another] giant, having uprooted a Banyan-tree, is polishing his teeth [with it], and he went quite near. Thereupon, the giant asked the giant of the ash-heap, “Where are you going?”

“I am going to seek a means of subsistence,” he gave answer.

The giant says, “I am trying to catch and take a sand fish. Where are you two going?” he asked these two persons.

“We are going in order to seek a means of subsistence,” these two said.

Having said, “If so, I will come with you,” and having abandoned his work, and cast away the elephant, he also set off with them, and the three persons began to go away.

While they were going thus they met with a river. They saw that in the river yet [another] giant having placed his foot across the river, from this bank to the far bank, is causing the water to stop. The giant asked, “Where are you three persons going?”

The three persons said, “We are going to seek a means of subsistence.”

“It is good. I also will come with you,” the giant said.

Well then, while these three are going, having met with yet a river, when the giant who was on the ash-heap told the other giants to hang on his body, the other giants hung on it. After that, having descended into the river, the giant began to swim in the river. At that time a fish came to swallow them. Having chopped the fish with his sword, the giant who stayed on the ash-heap, taking the fish and taking these giants, swam to the far bank.

Thereafter, a giant having gone up a tree, they told him to look for a place where there is fire. He said that a fire smoke is rising. Then they told him to mark [the direction] and bring fire.

The giant having gone, when he looked about saw that a woman, [after] placing a large pot of paddy on the hearth, was pouring water over (that is, bathing) a child. At the time when he asked for a little fire, she said, “I am pouring water over the child. You come and take it.”

The giant having gone, at the time when he was bending to take the fire the woman arose and came, and having lifted up and cast the giant on the heap of fire-charcoal, and killed him, put him in the house.

Thereafter, to look for him yet [another] giant went. When that giant also in that way was bending down, the woman having arisen and come, and put him on the fire-heap, and killed him, put him into the house.

When [the ash-heap giant] told that [other] giant to look for the two giants, he went, and asked, “Didn’t our men come here?”

Thereupon the woman said, “Those men I saw not.” After that, like the giants who first got the fire, at the time when he was bending down to take the fire, the woman having arisen and killed him also in the way in which she killed the first giants, put him into the house.

Thereafter, the giant who at first did cultivation work having gone, taking his sword also, asked, “Didn’t my three men come here?”

At that time the woman said, “I did not see them.”

Taking the giants also who had brought the fire, and having come again near the last river, and roasted the fish, the four persons divided it, and ate. He put the [back] bone of the fish into the river. The four persons again began to go away.

After that, having gone to the city, when they asked for a rest-house [the people] said, “The rest-house indeed we can give. A bone having become fixed across in this river, water has become scarce [on account of it].” They told them to remove the bone: “We will give a Princess of our King’s for removing it. That also (ēt) anyone is unable to do.” This speech the men of that country said to these giants.

After that, these giants having said, “It is becoming night for us; we cannot go,” stayed in the resting-place at that very spot. [Afterwards], that giant of the ash-heap having gone and thrown aside the bone, brought a pot of water.

Yet [another] man, breaking the bone, took a piece near the King. And the King was ready to give the Princess to the man. Then the giant who was on the ash-heap having gone near the King (raju), taking the bone, said, “It was not that man; it was I who took and cast away the bone.” Thereafter the King beheaded the man who said it falsely.

Having gone to yet [another] city he asked for a resting-place. Thereupon they said, “Anē! We can give a resting-place indeed. A lion having come eats the city people. There is not a means of getting firewood [for cooking]. Also it is said that the King will give our King’s Princess to a person who has killed the lion.”

After that, the giant of the ash-heap, getting a resting-place there, took an axe, and having gone into the jungle, at the time when he was walking about the lion was sleeping in the jungle. This giant having chopped with the axe at the head of the lion and killed it, came back [after] cutting off his ear.

Yet [another] man having come [after] cutting off the lion’s head, gave it to the King. Well then, the King became ready to give the Princess to the man. At that time this giant having gone near the King, said, “It is not that one who cut off the head; it is I [who killed it],” and he gave him the lion’s ear.

Thereafter, the King having beheaded the man who told him falsely, was ready to give [the Princess] to the giant of the ash-heap. The giant of the ash-heap gave the Princess to the giant who was stringing the elephant on the fish-hook; and in the very manner as at first having planted a Lime-tree and put a Blue-lotus flower in a small copper pot of water and given him it, he said, “Should any harm occur to me the Lime-tree will die, the Blue-lotus flower will fade. At that time you must come seeking me;” and those two giants began to go away.

Having gone to a city they asked for a resting-place. Thereupon the men said, “In our country we cannot give resting-places. A leopard having come eats the men. There is a Princess of our King’s. To a person who has killed the leopard he will give the Princess, he said. That also anyone is unable to do.”

Notwithstanding, these two giants got the resting-place there. The giant of the ash-heap taking also the axe, went into the jungle, and when he looked the leopard was sleeping. The giant having chopped at the leopard with the axe and killed it, came back [after] cutting off the ear.

Another man having seen it, came [after] cutting off the head of the leopard, and gave it to the King. When the King was becoming ready to give the Princess to the man, the giant of the ash-heap went near the King, and said, “It is not that man who killed the leopard; it is I,” and he gave him the leopard’s ear.

Thereafter, the King having beheaded the man who said it falsely, made ready to give the Princess to the giant of the ash-heap. The giant having given the Princess to the giant who stopped the water with his foot, and in the first manner having planted a Lime-tree and put a Blue-lotus flower into a small copper pot of water, and said, “If there be any harm to me the Lime-tree will die, the Blue-lotus flower will fade. At that time come seeking me,” the giant of the ash-heap began to go away alone.

Having gone to a city that had become abandoned, at the time when he is looking at the houses in a street, a Princess having been in an upper story says, “Our father having become insane, and having eaten all the city people, now this city is desolate. Why have you come?”

The fisherman gave it to the King. Thereupon the King said, “To a person who should find and give me the woman who owns this hair, I will give a fourth share from my city.”

A widow woman said, “I can, if you will give me a ship.” Thereupon the King gave her a ship.

The widow woman having taken the ship, found the Princess. Having been there a few days, she asked at the hand of the Princess, “Has your husband confidence in you?”

The Princess said, “Yes, he has confidence in me.”

Thereupon the old woman said, “It is good. If he has confidence in you ask where his life is.”

The Princess asked at the hand of the Prince (giant), “Where is your life?”

At that time the Prince (giant) said, “My life is in the sword.”

One day, the giant of the ash-heap, having placed the sword in the house, went on a journey. This Princess had previously (kalin, betimes) told at the hand of the widow woman that the giant’s life is in the sword. That day the Princess said to the widow woman, “Look at my head” (to search for insects). After that, when the widow woman was looking and looking the Princess went to sleep.

The giant of the ash-heap having become unconscious, fell down. In the very way he told the three giants whom he caused to stay at first, the Lime-trees died, the Blue-lotus flowers faded.

The three giants came seeking him. When they came he was dead. The three persons having dug the ash-heap, when they looked the sword was even yet there. Taking it, at the time when they were polishing it the giant of the ash-heap became conscious. His three friendly giants asked, “What is this that happened?”

Thereupon the giant of the ash-heap said, “A widow woman stayed near us. It is that woman, indeed, who did this work.”

Thereupon the giants asked, “Whence came the woman?”

“She came from the sea,” he said.

Well then, these very four giants having gone on the sea, and having gone to the city at which is the Princess, at the time when they looked saw that the Princess is bound [in marriage] to the King.

North-western Province.

In The Indian Antiquary, vol. xvii, p. 50, in a Salsette story by Mr. G. Fr. D’Penha, a Prince to avoid marrying his sister went away with a hunter and a carpenter. At a deserted city at which they stayed a Rākshasa came daily when one was left to cook, and ate the rice. On the third day the Prince was the cook, and he killed the Rākshasa. The Prince’s life was in his sword; if it rusted he fell sick, if it broke he would die. He made the carpenter King of the city and the hunter King of another, giving them life-index plants. The Prince then went away, killed another Rākshasa, and got from his waist a diamond which showed a passage through the water of a tank to a palace where he married a Princess and became King. He then forgot his sword, and it rusted. His friends learnt by the fading plants that he was ill, and found him just alive. He recovered when they cleaned and repolished the sword, after which they became his Chief Officers of State.

In Folk-Tales of Hindustan (Shaik Chilli), p. 45, a Prince, accompanied by the sons of a goldsmith, a paṇḍit, and a carpenter, went to kill a giant. While they halted, a giant took the food that each in turn cooked. When the Prince cooked he vanquished the giant, who offered him his daughter in marriage, and joined his party. The Prince married her to the goldsmith’s son, and went to another city where the Prince’s giant killed a giant who ate the people. The King’s daughter was married to the paṇḍit’s son. At a third city the giant killed a lion, and a Princess was married to the carpenter’s son. When they arrived at the city of the giant they had come to kill, the Prince and giant found he was the one already killed at the second city. These giants could take any shape, and thus evidently were Rākshasas. The Prince married a Princess at the fourth city and lived there with his giant. One day his wife lost her shoe while bathing in a stream, and a Rāja’s son found it floating down. A witch undertook to find the owner, dived into the water, came to the fort, became the Princess’s servant, and learnt that the Prince’s life lay in the brightness of his sword; if it became rusty he would die. One night the witch burnt the sword in a furnace, the Prince died, and she took his wife through the water to her admirer’s palace, where she demanded a year’s delay before marrying him. The Prince’s giant found and repolished the sword, and the Prince revived. They summoned the other friends, went in search of the Princess, killed the Rāja, his son, and the witch, and returned home.

In Tales of the Punjab (Mrs. Steele), p. 42, when a Prince was travelling accompanied by a knife-grinder, a blacksmith, and a carpenter, a demon in the form of a mannikin ate the food which the last three cooked in turn, but was killed by the Prince when he cooked. The Prince married the knife-grinder to the King’s daughter, the blacksmith to the daughter of a King at another city at which the Prince killed a ghost (Chuṛel), and the carpenter to a Princess at a third city. To each of the friends the Prince gave a barley plant as his life index; if it drooped he would be in trouble and needing their help. He went on, killed a Jinn who had carried off a Princess with golden hair, married her, and lived at the Jinn’s palace. When bathing she set one or two hairs afloat in a Bō-leaf cup, which was secured by a King lower down the river. A wise woman sent to find their owner, discovered her, ascertained that the Prince’s life was in his sword, at night put it in a fire, and when the hilt rolled off the Prince died. She then carried off the Princess to the King. As the barley plants snapped in two, the three friends came with armies, found the body of the Prince and his sword, repaired and repolished the latter, and thus restored the Prince’s life. The carpenter discovered the Princess, made a flying palankin, into which she, together with the King’s sister and the wise woman, mounted with him, and he sailed back to the Prince, throwing down the other two women on the way.

In Sagas from the Far East, p. 39, four companions took possession of a house on a hill. They cooked in turn, the other three going to hunt. On each day a demoness in the form of a woman a span high begged a taste of the food, and she and the food and cooking-pot then disappeared. The fourth man killed her.

In the Kathā Sarit Sāgara (Tawney), vol. i, p. 386, the sword incident varies. A Prince’s wife, wishing to deprive him of the magic power conferred by the sword, put the weapon in a fire while he slept. He became unconscious when the sword was dimmed, but recovered when the Goddess Durgā restored its brightness.

In the same work, vol. ii, p. 487, an Asura’s vital point was his left hand; he died when a King shot him through it.

In the Mahā Bhārata (Vaṇa Parva, cccxi) four of the Pāṇḍava Princes were killed in turn by a Yaksha as soon as they drank at a pool. When the eldest brother answered his questions satisfactorily he revived them.

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