Latest / Sandman Stories Presents / EP 333: Bengal- The Ghost Brahman; The Ghost who was Afraid of Being Bagged (Day)

Transcript

EP 333: Bengal- The Ghost Brahman; The Ghost who was Afraid of Being Bagged (Day) · Sandman Stories Presents

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  Welcome back listeners to Sandman's Stories Presents, a
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  folklore podcast where I read you to sleep or until the next
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  story. I'm your host, Dustin.
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  And if you want to hear some stories that are too spicy for
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  the main feed, go ahead and check me out on Patreon.
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  It's just Sandman Stories After Dark and you can join up for as
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  little as free. Today we are back in the Book of
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  Bengal folklore written down by Lal Bihari Day.
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  The first story involves a ghost taking over a home, and the
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  second one is a great way to secure the bag.
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  OK, let's begin. The Ghost Brahman Once Upon a
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  time there was a poor Brahman who, because he wasn't a coolin,
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  found it hard to get married. He went to rich houses and
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  begged them to give him money so that he could get married.
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  He needed a large sum of money, not because of the wedding, but
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  for a proper dowry. He went from door to door
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  flattering rich folks and begging for money, and at last
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  he was able to scrape together enough money.
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  The wedding took place, and after some time, he brought his
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  wife home to his mom. After a while, he said to his
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  mom, Mom, I have no money to support you and my wife.
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  Therefore, I travel to distant lands to earn money.
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  In one way or another, I may be gone for many years because I
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  can't come back until I've earned enough money.
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  In the meantime, I'll give you what I have, make the best of
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  it, and take care of my wife. The Brahman received his
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  mother's blessing and set out on his travels.
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  On the 1st evening, a ghost doppelganger of the Brahman came
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  to his house. The new bride, thinking that was
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  her husband, said how have you returned so soon?
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  You said you were going to be gone for years.
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  Have you changed your mind? The ghost said today is not a
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  lucky day, therefore I have returned home.
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  Besides, I've already got some money.
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  The mother did not doubt that it was her son.
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  So the ghost lived at the house as if he was its owner and as if
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  he were the son of the old woman and the husband of the young
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  woman. Since the ghost and the Brahman
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  were exactly alike, like 2 peas in a pod, the people in the
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  neighborhood all thought that the ghost was the real Brahman.
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  After a few years, the Brahman returned home and to his
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  surprise he found his mirror image in his own house.
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  The ghost said to the Brahman, Who are you?
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  Why have you come to my house? The Brahman replied.
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  Who am I? Who are you?
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  This is my house. She is my mother and she is my
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  wife. The ghost said, This is strange,
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  everyone knows that this is my house, that she is my wife, and
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  over there is my mother, and I've lived here for years.
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  And you, you pretend this is your house and that woman is
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  your wife. You must be greatly confused,
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  Brahman. Then the ghost drove the Brahman
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  out of his house. The Brahman was speechless.
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  He didn't know what to do. At last he thought about going
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  to the king and laying out his case before him.
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  The king saw the ghost as well as the Brahman, and each was the
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  exact copy of each other. So he was in a fix because he
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  did not know how to solve the problem.
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  Day after day the Brahman went to the king and begged him to
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  give him back his house, his wife and his mother.
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  And the king, not knowing what to say, told him to come back
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  the next day. Every day the king told him,
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  come back tomorrow. And every day the Brahman left
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  the palace, weeping and slapping his head with his palm, saying,
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  What a wicked world I was thrown out of my own house, and another
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  man has taken possession of my house and my wife.
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  And what does the king do? He doesn't give me any justice.
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  Now every day the Brahman left the palace and went to the field
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  outside of town, where he passed a spot full of herders playing
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  games. They left the cows to graze in
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  the Meadow while they met together under a large tree.
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  To play they pretended to be royalty.
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  One herder was elected king, another Prime Minister or
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  vizier, another cotwall or the chief of police, and the others
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  constables. For several days they saw the
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  Brahman walking and crying. One day the cow herd king asked
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  his vizier why the Brahman cried all the time.
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  Since the vizier was not able to answer the question, the herd
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  king ordered one of his constables to bring the Brahman
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  to him. One of them went to the Brahman
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  and said, The king requires your immediate attendance.
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  The Brahman replied, What for? I just came from the king and he
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  put me off until tomorrow. Why does he want me again?
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  Not that king. Our king wants to see you.
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  Our herd king replied. The constable who was the herd
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  king asked the Brahman Come and see, was the reply.
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  The cattle king asked the Brahman why he was always
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  walking around and moping and crying.
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  The Brahman told him his sad sad story.
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  The king after hearing the whole thing said I understand your
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  case, I will return all of your rights to you.
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  Just go to the real king and ask him to let me decide your case.
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  The Brahman went back to the king of his country and begged
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  His Majesty to send his case to the coward king who offered to
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  decide it. The king, who was greatly
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  puzzled by the case, granted him permission.
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  The trial was set for the following morning.
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  The next day, the coward king who presided over the case
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  brought a bottle with a narrow neck.
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  The Brahman and the ghost both appeared in front of the judge
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  in the mock court. After a great deal of cross
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  examination and defenses and arguments, the cow herd king
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  said, well I have heard enough, I'll decide this case at once.
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  This is my bottle. Whoever can get into it shall be
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  declared the rightful owner of the house.
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  Now let me see which of you will enter it.
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  The brahmin said You are a herder and your intellect is
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  that of a simpleton. What man can get into such a
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  small bottle? The king herdsman turned to the
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  ghost Brahmin and said, If you can't enter, then you are not
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  the rightful owner, What do you say to this?
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  Sir, If you can get into the bottle, then the house and the
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  wife and the mother are yours, just watch me, said the ghost,
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  and true to his word and to the surprise of all, he shrunk down
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  to the size of a mosquito and jumped into the bottle.
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  The herd king immediately corked the bottle and the ghost could
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  not get out. Then addressing the Brahman, the
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  coward said, Throw this vial into the bottom of the sea and
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  take back your wife, your mother and house.
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  The Brahman did so and lived happily for many years and they
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  had many sons and daughters. Here my story endeth, the Nadia
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  thorn withereth, etcetera. The end OK, and the second
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  story, the ghost who is afraid of being bagged.
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  Once Upon a time there was a Barber and his wife.
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  They were not happy because the wife always complained that
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  there was not enough food to eat in the house.
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  The poor Barber had to hear daily that he did not bring
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  enough support for the two of them.
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  The wife often used to say to him, If you didn't have the
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  means to support a wife, why did you marry me?
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  People who do not have money should not indulge in the luxury
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  of a wife. When I was at my father's house,
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  I had plenty to eat. But it seems as though I've
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  moved into your house to fast. Only widows fast.
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  I must have become a widow in your lifetime.
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  She didn't stop at just words. One day she got very angry and
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  struck her husband with a broomstick.
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  Stinging with shame and hating himself on account of his wife's
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  words and beating, he left his house with his tools and vowed
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  not to return until he become rich.
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  He went from village to village, and toward nightfall he came to
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  the edge of the forest. He laid down at the foot of a
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  tree and spent a long time crying about his hard lot.
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  It so happened that the tree where the Barber was laying down
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  was inhabited by a ghost. The ghost, seeing a human at the
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  foot of the tree, naturally thought of destroying him.
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  With this intention the ghost flew down from the tree, and
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  with outspread arms and a gaping mouth stood like a tall Palmyra
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  tree before the Barber and said, Now, Barber, I am going to
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  destroy you. Who is going to protect you?
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  The Barber, shaking with fear and with his hair standing on
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  end, did not lose his presence of mind, but rather with that
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  shrewdness that is characteristic of his
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  fraternity, replied, Oh spirit, you will destroy me.
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  Wait a bit and I will show you how many ghosts I've captured
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  tonight and put into my bag, and I'm so glad to find you, as I
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  will have one more ghost in my bag.
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  So saying, the Barber grabbed out of his bag a small mirror
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  which he always carried about with him, along with his razors,
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  whetstone, his Strop and his other utensils.
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  He kept it with him to have his customers check out their
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  beards. After he'd done his job, he
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  stood up, placed the mirror against the face of the ghost,
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  and said, Here you can see that ghost that I have seized and
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  bagged. I'm going to put you in the bag
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  and keep this ghost company. The ghost, seeing his own face
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  in the mirror, was convinced that what the Barber had said
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  was true, and he was filled with fear.
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  He said to the Barber, Oh Barber Sir, I'll do whatever you ask,
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  just don't put me in your bag. I'll give you whatever you want.
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  The Barber said. You ghosts are a faithless lot.
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  There's no trusting you. You will promise, and then you
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  will not live up to your promise.
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  Oh Sir, replied the ghost, be merciful to me, I'll bring you
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  whatever you want, and if I don't, then put me into your
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  bag. Very well, said the Barber.
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  Bring me just 1000 gold coins, and tomorrow you must build me a
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  silo and fill it with rice. Go and get the gold coins
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  immediately, and if you fail, you're going into my bag.
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  The ghost gladly agreed to the conditions.
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  He went away and in a short time he returned with 1000 gold coins
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  and a bag. The Barber was delighted beyond
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  measure with the side of the gold.
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  Then he told the ghost to make sure that by the next night a
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  greenery was built in the house and filled with rice.
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  It was in the small hours of the morning that the Barber, loaded
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  with treasure, knocked at the door of his house.
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  His wife, who felt bad for striking her husband with a
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  broomstick, got out of bed and unbolted the door.
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  She was greatly surprised when she saw her husband pour out a
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  glittering heap of gold coins from a bag.
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  The next night, the poor devil, through fear of being trapped in
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  the bag, raised a large granary in the barber's house and spent
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  the night carrying large bags of rice on his back until the
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  granary was filled to the brim. The ghost uncle, seeing his
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  nephew carrying bags of rice on his back, asked him what the
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  matter was. The ghost related what had
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  happened. The uncle ghost then said, You
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  fool, you think the Barber can bag you?
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  The Barber is a cunning fellow. He has cheated you like the
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  simpleton you are. You can doubt em all you want,
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  said the nephew ghost, but come with me and see the barber's
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  powers. The uncle ghost then went to the
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  barber's house and peeped in through the window.
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  The Barber, feeling a blast of wind from the ghost's arrival,
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  knew that a ghost was at the window.
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  He placed the same mirror before it, saying, Come now, I'll put
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  you in the bag too. The uncle ghost, seeing his own
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  face in the mirror, got quite frightened and promised that
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  very night to raise another granary and fill it, not with
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  Patty this time, but with Jasmine rice.
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  So in two nights the Barber became a rich man and lived
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  happily with his wife, having many sons and daughters.
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  Here my story endeth the Nadia, Thorne, Withereth, etcetera.
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  The end I liked in the first one that
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  the king can't be bothered so the little pretend court steps
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  in. And can ghosts really be fooled
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  so easily? And in that second one, I liked
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  how the bluffing led to riches. And the podcast Shout Out is to
• 13:11
  the Political Junkie hosted by Ken Rudin.
• 13:13
  It is a great insight into politics and norms and politics
• 13:16
  as Ken talks to Democrats, Republicans and independents.
• 13:20
  He has a ton of knowledge and it makes for a great show.
• 13:22
  Go and give him a listen. And the listener shout out is to
• 13:25
  Zaga Zig Egypt. Not to be confused with zigzags
• 13:29
  or what the Spice Girls really wanted.
• 13:31
  The city is the regional capital of Sharkia, Egypt, which is just
• 13:35
  northeast of Cairo. It is named after the Zakzuk
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  family, which in turn meant a small creature.
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  And if I'm lucky enough to go there, I would love to see the
• 13:45
  feast celebrating the Cat God. Best hat.
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  And so to my listener in Zagazzig, I say, Alif Shukran.
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  What this battle here? Thank you and goodnight.