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Simla Village Tales; Or, Folk Tales from the Himalayas cover

Simla Village Tales; Or, Folk Tales from the Himalayas

Chapter 20: SHEIK CHILLI
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About This Book

A collected set of Himalayan folk tales recorded from Simla district storytellers, offering short narratives that range from animal fables and origin myths to domestic legends, supernatural episodes, and comic anecdotes. Each tale conveys local worldview through clever animals, magical transformations, moral dilemmas, and temple or ritual lore, frequently resolving with ironic justice or unexpected reward. Arranged as concise, orally inflected stories, the collection preserves regional phrasing and communal concerns while mixing ghostly encounters, trickster adventures, romances, and practical wisdom. Select illustrations and brief editorial notes about the collecting process and translations provide framing for the assembled material.

SHEIK CHILLI

The hero of this story was one day walking along with a vessel of oil upon his head. As he walked he kept thinking of the future.

“I will sell the oil, and with the money I shall buy a goat, and then I shall sell the kids, and then I shall buy a cow, and sell the milk, till I get a large sum of money; then I shall buy a pair of buffaloes, and a field, and plough the field, and gain more money, and build myself a house, and marry a wife, and have many sons and daughters. And when my wife comes to call me to dinner, I’ll say: ‘Dhur, away! I’ll come when 1 think fit!’ ” and with that he held up his head suddenly, and away fell the chattie with the oil, and it was all spilt.

This upset Sheik Chilli so much that he began to yell: “I have lost my goats, I have lost my cows, I have lost my buffaloes, and my house, and my wife and children.”

 [To face page 68.

Sheik Chilli

“I’ve lost my goats, I’ve lost my cows!”

That such dire calamity should befall a man caused great pity, so the bystanders took Sheik Chilli to the Rajah, who asked him how it had all happened.

When he heard the story he laughed, and said: “This boy has a good heart, let him be given a reward to compensate him for the loss of his oil.”