In ancient times, they say, one guy got married. So he and his wife began to visit her parents. Once they were walking home from guests. They gave the girl some toasted rice grains with her, and she tied them in the floor. This is how it’s supposed to be - like a gift. And in those days oil was not carried in bottles; women took a clay jug for oil, and men took a piece of bamboo. Nowadays this oil is carried in bottles - it came from the sahibs. And in those times we are talking about, there were clay jugs.
So the wife was carrying a bundle of rice on her head, and the jug was hanging on a cord on her wrist. And they walked from her parents to their home. The husband walked in front, and the wife walked behind. And just when she descended into the hollow, who knows where the bhoot came from, took on human form and followed her. The woman thinks: “That’s right, this is some kind of Santal. It’s also going somewhere.” She didn't tell him anything, and he didn't tell her anything. And the sun was only two times shy of sunset—it was already nightfall.
It happened here, one way or another, that the husband turned around and saw: someone else was following his wife. He stopped. As soon as he stopped, the bhoot immediately grabbed the woman and did not let her go further. The husband runs towards them and waves a stick. Shouts:
“Why are you grabbing someone else’s wife?” I'll hit you right away.
Bhoot says:
- What are you doing? My wife. And you are a stranger to her. That’s why you walk in front, and she walks behind. If she were your wife, wouldn't you walk behind her and watch her? Since she is my wife, I walk behind her and keep an eye on her. Well, I can’t even touch her? Go your own way. I'm taking her home.
While he was saying this, the husband grabbed his wife’s hand. But the bhut still holds her for another. Her husband pulls her forward, and her bhoot pulls her back. Then the wife screams:
- Hey, travelers! Hey, forest animals! Come here everyone who is nearby. Come and save me, otherwise they will tear me apart.
They say that at that time a jackal was prowling nearby, looking for something to profit from. He heard her scream, immediately ran up and asked:
- What is it? What's happened? What is the dispute about?
“This is my wife,” says the guy. - I'm going home with her. We are coming from our father-in-law and mother-in-law. And this scoundrel came out of nowhere and grabbed you by the hand.
“No,” says the bhoot. - This is my wife. I walk with her: she is in front, and I am behind. I don't leave her behind. And this scoundrel was walking, who knows where, ahead of us. When he saw us, he ran towards us, waving a stick, threatening to finish me off. He grabbed my wife by the hand and dragged her. Why should I give it up to him? This is what we are arguing about.
- Wait. Don't argue. We need to figure it out,” says the jackal.
He guessed that one of them was a bhoot. So he asks the woman:
-What is that hanging on your arm? Let me see. She gave him a jug. The jackal poured oil from it onto the ground, returned the jug to the woman and said:
“Whoever manages to fit into this jug will get a wife; and whoever fails will not receive it.
“Okay,” the bhoot says to the guy. - Let's climb.
“I can’t fit in,” says the guy.
Then the bhut himself reached into the jug - only the whistle started. As soon as the whole thing got in there, the husband and wife took it and shut the neck. They locked him there.
“Don’t take the jug with you, throw it here,” the jackal told them.
So they did. They left the jug and went their own way. And the jackal was given rice to eat.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru