The Crab and the Frog
Reading edition
At a certain time for a certain Frog food became deficient. Having gone near a certain Crab he brought paddy. He having brought the paddy, after not much time had gone the Crab asked the Frog for the [repayment of the] paddy debt. Then the Frog said, “I will afterwards give [you] the debt.”
Notwithstanding this, the Frog did not give them.
North-western Province.
Notes in this chapter
Note 1 · A dry measure said by Clough to be about three pints wine measure. See the Additional Notes at the end of this volume. ↑Note 2 · Karagama Devi pal, eka mage duwa pal, hatara pata naeliyen dek, deka, deka, deka. Lit., “the protection of Karagama Devi,” etc. The oaths ofNote 3 · Gattā nan̥ dī, gattā naṇ dī. All these are imitations of the voices of croaking frogs, the first being the rapid and shriller cries of the sNote 4 · For the Frog’s getting two from the naeliya1 that holds four patas, the Crab falsely asked for seven.Note 5 · So the Frog in this fashion swears:—“By Karagama Devi, by the one daughter of mine, out of the naeliya of four patas [it was], two, two, twoNote 6 · Then the Turtle, being there, says from a side, “If [you] got them, give; if [you] got them, give.”3