KARBAL KHAN THE STRONG MAN
(Stories collected by F. W. Skemp I.C.S. in 1917 AD)
Karbal khan was poor and hungry, and a very strong man. When the news
of any one’s marriage feast reached him, he would go and forcibly eat up all
the food prepared for the feast. Nobody dared go near him; although a hundred
in their prime were there, they were no match for Karbal Khan. They would go
and complain to Muzaffar Khan; and Muzaffar Khan would tell them to seize him
and bring him up. When he was awake, he was stronger than the people, and
could not be taken; but when he was asleep on his charpoy, they would bind
him with ropes, and carry him to the Khan. On the road, Karbal Khan would wake up
from the noise mad by little boys who saw him. Raising himself and exerting
his strength, he would break the ropes and escape. People never succeeded
in bringing him before the Khan.