Bhil

(map)

A dhobi (pious man) used to wash his clothes in a river and would feed a fish there, too. The fish, in gratitude, informed the man of the approach of a great flood and urged him to prepare a large box to escape in. The man heeded the warning, prepared the box, and embarked in it, along with his sister and a cock.

After the deluge, Rama sent out a messenger to see the state of affairs. The messenger heard the cock's crowing and so discovered the box. Rama had the box brought to him and asked the man who he was and how he had survived. On learning that the fish had given warning, Rama caused the fish's tongue to be removed, so that sort of fish remains tongueless today. When the man had finished his tale, Rama made the man face north, east, west, and south and swear that the woman was his sister. Three times the man swore she was his sister, but when facing south, he changed his statement and said she was his wife.

Rama ordered the man to repeople the world, so he married his sister, and they had seven sons and seven daughters. The firstborn received from Rama the gift of a horse, but being unable to ride, he left the horse on the plain and went into the forest to cut wood. He became a woodman, and his descendants, the Bhils, have been woodmen ever since.

Frazer, 1919, 193-194.