The legends of the Panjâb

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46 LEGENDS OF THE PANJAB.
When Kalir, the scorpion, saw Raja Rasalu asleep he went to
Talir, the serpent, and said,
" Here is a man asleep. You go and bite him and suck
out his blood, and I will eat out his eyes."
But said Talir, the serpent
Tera merd jhagrd ah sahib di dargdh !
Landi ham dd tm betrd, KaMr terd nd.
Our quarrel shall go to the court of our master !
Thou art the son of a crop-tailed crow : Kalir is thy
name !
Answered Kalir, the scorpion
Gohan ten md si,
Jcohrd Tcarkald terd piu.
Terd merd jhagrd Bdjd Sarhap hoi.
Thy mother was an iguana, and thy father a leprous lizard
Our quarrel is before Raja Sarkap.
Then Talir, the serpent, through fear of Rajl Sarkap, came
down from his shtsham tree, and, having bitten Raja RasalA,
climbed up again quickly. And then Kalir, the scorpion,
called out to
his brother scorpions and went with them to eat
out the Raja's eyes. Meanwhile the hedgehog, which Raj^
Rasalii had saved from the river and brought with him, was
out eating fruit in the garden. Suddenly he heard the crows
making a noise over-head and thought that most likely the
serpent had come down and bitten Raja Rasalu.
So he went back and found out what had happened, and
seeing no better plan, he sat on the Raja's neck where the
wound of the serpent's bite was, and when Kalir, the scorpion,
came up on to the Rajahs breast, near where the wound was,
the hedgehog caught him by the leg.
" Jcrdn Icran* I" and the serpent said to him,
" What is the matter with you "
The scorpion called out,
" Something has caught my feet," cried out the scorpion.
" I see you are black" said the serpent, "and there is some
thing black at your feet.
I see nothing wrong there."
* The scorpion's cry or noise.