XVI.

GOVERNOR AND KOLI.

A FISHERMAN'S LEGEND.


A friend has supplied me with the following quaint history of a well-known
Marathi ballad, which is widely chanted by the lower classes in and around
Bombay. Composed originally as a song of seed-time, it has now lost its
primary significance and is sung by men at their work or by mothers hushing
their children in the dark alleys of the city. The verse runs thus:--

"Nakhwa Koli jat bholi,
Ghara madhye dravya mahamar,
Topiwalyane hukum kela,
Batliwalyachya barabar."

which may be rudely interpreted as follows:--

"Seaman Koli of simple mould
Hath in his house great store of gold
Lo! at the order of Topiwala
Koli is peer of Batliwala"!

Now the word "Topiwala" means an Englishman; and "Batliwala" is a reference
to the first Parsi Baronet, Sir Jamsetji Jeejeebhoy: albeit the word is
often used as a synonym for "millionaire" in much the same way as
"Shankershet" has crept into Marathi parlance as the equivalent of "rich