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Our Little Hindu Cousin




THE

Little Cousin Series

(TRADE MARK)

Each volume illustrated with six or more full-page plates in tint.
Cloth, 12mo, with decorative cover, per volume, 60 cents


LIST OF TITLES

BY MARY HAZELTON WADE

(unless otherwise indicated)

    =Our Little African Cousin=

    =Our Little Alaskan Cousin=
          By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet

    =Our Little Arabian Cousin=
               By Blanche McManus

    =Our Little Armenian Cousin=
          By Constance F. Curlewis

    =Our Little Australian Cousin=

    =Our Little Brazilian Cousin=
            By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet

    =Our Little Brown Cousin=

    =Our Little Canadian Cousin=
         By Elizabeth R. MacDonald

    =Our Little Chinese Cousin=
         By Isaac Taylor Headland

    =Our Little Cuban Cousin=

    =Our Little Dutch Cousin=
             By Blanche McManus

    =Our Little Egyptian Cousin=
                By Blanche McManus

    =Our Little English Cousin=
              By Blanche McManus

    =Our Little Eskimo Cousin=

    =Our Little French Cousin=
              By Blanche McManus

    =Our Little German Cousin=

    =Our Little Greek Cousin=
         By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet

    =Our Little Hawaiian Cousin=

    =Our Little Hindu Cousin=
             By Blanche McManus

    =Our Little Indian Cousin=

    =Our Little Irish Cousin=

    =Our Little Italian Cousin=

    =Our Little Japanese Cousin=

    =Our Little Jewish Cousin=

    =Our Little Korean Cousin=
               By H. Lee M. Pike

    =Our Little Mexican Cousin=
              By Edward C. Butler

    =Our Little Norwegian Cousin=

    =Our Little Panama Cousin=
               By H. Lee M. Pike

    =Our Little Philippine Cousin=

    =Our Little Porto Rican Cousin=

    =Our Little Russian Cousin=

    =Our Little Scotch Cousin=
              By Blanche McManus

    =Our Little Siamese Cousin=

    =Our Little Spanish Cousin=
    By Mary F. Nixon-Roulet

    =Our Little Swedish Cousin=
              By Claire M. Coburn

    =Our Little Swiss Cousin=

    =Our Little Turkish Cousin=

    L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
    New England Building,      Boston, Mass.

[Illustration: CHOLA IN HIS FATHER'S SHOP.

(_See page 19_)]




Our Little Hindu Cousin

By Blanche McManus

    _Author of "Our Little English Cousin," "Our
    Little French Cousin," "Our Little Dutch
    Cousin," "Our Little Scotch
    Cousin," etc._

_Illustrated by_

The Author

[Illustration]

    Boston
    L. C. Page & Company
    _MDCCCCVII_




    _Copyright, 1907_
    BY L. C. PAGE & COMPANY
    (INCORPORATED)

    _All rights reserved_


    Second Impression, August, 1908




Preface


OUR little cousins of Hindustan are charming little people, even though
their manners and customs and their religion are so very different from
our own.

India is a big country, and there are many different races of people
living within its borders, the two principal ones being the Mohammedans
and the Hindus. The Mohammedans number about sixty millions and there
are about a hundred and eighty millions of Hindus, who are by far the
superior race.

The intelligence of the Hindus is of a very high order, but, like all
Eastern races, they have many superstitions. Their attention to their
food and drink and personal cleanliness is remarkable, and, though
their customs in this respect are peculiar, they follow a healthful and
sanitary manner of living which might well be practised by Western folk.

The arts and crafts of the Hindus and their trades and professions are
very strange and interesting, and the young people themselves invariably
grow up in the same occupations as their elders. There is no mixing of
the races or _castes_, and members of one caste always associate with
those of the same class.

But the English influence is making itself so strongly felt, that
frequently the children learn English as early in life as they do their
own language; so our little American cousins would almost always be able
to make of them good playfellows and would perhaps be able to learn many
valuable lessons from Our Little Hindu Cousins.

                                                            B. McM.

SUEZ, _January, 1907_.




Contents


  CHAPTER                                                 PAGE
    I. CHOLA AT HOME                                         1
   II. A DAY IN THE BAZAAR                                  16
  III. THE CHILDREN'S HOLIDAY                               35
   IV. THE CHILDREN TRAVEL IN THE BIG OX-WAGON              50
    V. THE CHILDREN SEE BENARES AND GO HOME FOR A WEDDING   66
   VI. THE LITTLE SAHIB SEES THE BIG ELEPHANTS              80
  VII. CHOLA GOES ON A TIGER HUNT                           94




List of Illustrations


                                                          PAGE
  CHOLA IN HIS FATHER'S SHOP (_See page 19_)     _Frontispiece_
  BUYING SWEETS IN THE BAZAAR                               30
  "FIRST THERE CAME A BIG ELEPHANT"                         57
  "THESE THE CHILDREN TWISTED INTO WREATHS
        AND THREW INTO THE RIVER"                           69
  THE MARRIAGE OF SHRIYA                                    76
  "SUDDENLY, UP OUT OF THE JUNGLE, THERE
        SPRANG A GREAT YELLOW TIGER"                       102

[Illustration: _Map of_ INDIA _showing places mentioned in_ OUR LITTLE
HINDU COUSIN]




Our Little Hindu Cousin




CHAPTER I

CHOLA AT HOME


IT was barely light when little Chola rolled out of his blanket and gave
his cousin Mahala a shake as he lay stretched out beside him.

"Lazy one, listen! I hear little kids bleating below in the courtyard;
the new goats with the long hair must have come. Hasten! We will be the
first to see them!"

"Oh!" said Mahala, sitting up and rubbing his eyes, "thou art the plague
of my life. I was in the midst of a beautiful dream. I dreamed that I
was sitting beside a clear stream, with many dishes of sweetmeats
beside me, and I was just beginning to eat them when thou didst wake
me."

"Oh, thou greedy one! 'Tis always of sweets that thou art thinking,"
laughed Chola, as he and Mahala ran down the little winding stairway
which led from their room into the courtyard.

"Here they are, aren't they dear little creatures?" cried Chola, as two
little kids came frisking toward them, while the big white mother goat
followed them bleating piteously.

"What fine long white hair they have," exclaimed Mahala, trying to catch
one of the kids as it bounded past him.

"A lot of fuss over some goats," grumbled the old porter. "This fellow
with his goats came hammering before cock-crow at the gate," continued
the old man, who did not like having to come down from his little room
over the big gateway of the court at such an early hour to open the
gate.

"We are early risers in the hills," said the man who had brought the
goats. "It is you town folks who are lazy; but I promised your master
when he bought the goats in the market yesterday that he should have
them this morning."

"Oh, thou art from the hills," exclaimed the boys, looking curiously at
the little man in his strange dress.

"Yes, from the far northwest; and both I and my goats are homesick for
the tall mountains with the snow on their tops and the great pine-trees.
We like not these hot plains; but I must be off to the market," and,
twirling his stick, the little man left, clanging the heavy gate behind
him.

"Come, we will bathe before our fathers come down," said Mahala, after
they had played about with the kids awhile; "they always say we are in
their way." So saying the two little boys ran into the big garden
where, under a group of mango-trees, there was a big stone tank, or
pond, of water, with steps going down into it. Here Chola and Mahala
bathed every morning, for it was part of their religion and must be done
in a certain way. Indeed, some of our little Hindu cousins bathe before
each meal; and this is why, all over India, you will see the people
bathing in the rivers, in the public bathing-places, and in their own
gardens at all times of the day. Moreover, it is a very pleasant custom
for a hot country like India. As the boys were splashing merrily about
in the big tank, down dropped a big mango right on top of Chola's head.

"Where did that come from?" he cried, looking around; but there was no
one to be seen, so he went on splashing, when down came another mango,
and a sound was heard as if some one was chuckling to himself.

"Oh, it's thou, son of mischief!" cried Chola, as a little monkey
leaped down and capered around on the edge of the tank.

It was Jam, Chola's pet monkey. A cousin of the gardener had caught it
in his field one night when he was guarding his crops from the monkeys.
These mischievous animals would often dash out in droves from the
near-by forest at night and eat up the farmers' crop. He did not wish to
kill the little monkey; for, like many Hindus, he thought it a sacred
animal. So he had brought it to Chola for a pet.

The boys had great fun with Jam, though often he would play mischievous
pranks on them. To-day Jam thought this was just his chance to have fun.
Spying Chola's turban lying beside his clothes on the steps of the tank,
he pounced upon it and carried it up into the mango-tree.

"Oh, son of mischief, just wait until I catch thee! Bring back my
turban!" cried Chola, as he scrambled out of the water and climbed up
after Jam in a jiffy. It would never do for him to lose his turban, for
it would be very bad manners for him to be seen without this curious
head-covering. But as Chola went up the tree, Jam climbed down by an
out-stretching limb and swung himself to the ground, then away he went
tearing around the garden with Chola after him. Suddenly Jam tossed the
turban over the garden wall and flew to the top of the house, wild with
joy at having given Chola such a chase.

"Oh, Mahala, find it for me," said Chola, as he dropped breathless on
the grass.

Mahala ran out into the road and was back directly.

"Here is thy turban all unrolled," he laughed, throwing what seemed to
be many yards of white cloth at Chola.

"Just wait until I take a good bamboo stick to thee, wicked one," said
Chola, shaking his fist at Jam, now safe out of reach, and beginning to
wind the cloth around his head.

After their bath it did not take the boys long to dress, for they just
wound a long white garment around and around them, and slipped over this
a little jacket.

"Let us go to the cook-room now and see what the women are cooking; to
dream of sweets does not take away one's hunger," said Mahala, after the
boys had given their teeth a vigorous washing and rubbing with little
sticks, which was another one of their religious duties.

As the boys ran across the courtyard, scattering the goats, doves, and
fowls which were picking up seeds and grain, a voice called out: "Give
me food, oh, little princelings!"

"That must be a beggar, but I do not see him," said Mahala, looking
around.

"It is old green-coat," said Chola, laughing, and pointing to the other
side of the court where hung a hoop in which sat a beautiful parrot,
all brilliant green and blue and red. He could talk so well that a
stranger who came to the house would look everywhere to find the human
being who he thought had spoken to him. Once there came a thief who
thought he could steal the fine cock that stood under the veranda with
his head under his wing. Just as the thief caught the cock by the neck,
such a torrent of abuse came from above that he dropped the cock and
rolled in the dust, crying out: "Mercy! mercy! Oh, great one, thy slave
will never do this thing again!" Then as he heard a laugh, and no one
seized him, he fearfully lifted his head, and there sat the parrot
swinging on his hoop-perch. The thief slunk away very much ashamed that
he had been fooled by a bird.

"Ah, it smells good!" said Mahala, as they looked in at the door of the
cook-house which was near the great gateway.

There were no stoves or even fireplaces in the cook-room, but a series
of little holes or cupboards in the wall, in each of which was a pot or
pan resting on a few