you want it for? Are you going to sow it?" (eram = will you sow)
and every time he called, she answered "Eram?" At this he lost his
temper and ran up to the house and asked what she meant by speaking
his name, when he told her to bring out the seed for sowing; and
thereupon he proceeded to give her a good thrashing. His wife said to
him "Your name is the same as the word for 'sow,' it is a very fine
name you have got." At this Ram laughed and asked how he could help
having the name which his father and mother had given him. At this
she giggled. "Then why are you hurt by it? You had better in future
take out the seed corn with you and then you won't have to call to me;
if you do I shall answer you as I did to-day."

To the present day people do not use the forbidden words; or if
compelled to they spit on the ground first; even Christian converts do
not like to infringe the rule if many people are present and usually
speak of a person with a forbidden name as the father, or mother of
such and such a child.

CXXXV. Palo.

There was once a man named Dhuju, and he had sons named Ret Mongla,
Saru Sama and Chapat champa; and their wives were named Chibo, Porbet
and Palo.

One rainy season the family was busy with the ploughing: Ret Mongla
used to take the plough cattle out to get some grazing before the sun
rose; and his two brothers took the ploughs to the fields a little
later and the old father used to look on and tell them what to do. It
was their practice when they wanted to attract each other's attention
to call out: "Ho!" and not "Ya!" or "Brother." One day it had been
arranged that they should sow _gundli_ in a field; but when the
eldest brother arrived at the place with the bullocks ready to plough
he found that his two brothers had not turned up with the ploughs;
so he began to call "Pal, ho!" (Pal = plough share).

Now just then the wife of the youngest brother, Palo, had gone towards
that field to throw away the sweepings of the cowshed and she thought
Ret Mongla was calling her name; this surprised her and made her
very angry; and she made up her mind to pay him back and then if she
were scolded for not paying proper respect to her husband's eldest
brother to explain that he had insulted her first. So that morning
when she took out their breakfast to the men working in the field,
she pretended to be in great hurry, and putting down her basket near
the place where the three brothers were ploughing, call