1 92 SECRET HISTORY OF THE LAHORE DURBAR.
2 Dulleep Sing, the last of the reputed children of the old
3 monarch, had, as is well known, as little claim to such dignified
4 paternity as any of them. A somewhat larger space must,
5 however, be accorded to the history of his birth and parentage,
6 which must also include that of his mother, the far-famed
7 Ranee Chunda.
8 Munnoo Sing, a poor jat of the Oolak caste, and a native of
9 Gujerawalla, or a small village in its vicinity, at an early age
10 entered the service of Runjeet Sing as a dog-keeper ; but, after
11 about fifteen years' faithful service in this humble office, he
12 was raised to the station of a door-keeper. He was, how-
13 ever, always regarded as a sort of buffoon, and in that cha-
14 racter was privileged to exercise such wit as he possessed at
15 the expense of the Maharajh and his chiefs even in public
16 durbar. This man was constantly telling Runjeet that he
17 had a daughter, the most beautiful creature in the world,
18 whom he would give to the Maharajh as his wife, and
19 that she would make the old monarch young again. After
20 some time he produced the little girl, and for months carried
21 her on his shoulders to the durbar, or wherever Runjeet
22 went. The old chief is said to have been pestered day and
23 night by Munnoo Sing and his importunities ; but for some
24 time he treated the matter as a joke and nothing more.
25 Yet he was vain enough to be pleased with the idea that
26 Munnoo and others should believe and call him a fine able
27 jewan or young man ; and he felt some pride in being the
28 object of the facetious remarks of the court and town,
29 on the occasion of his anticipated nuptials with a girl who
30 might pass for his great-grand-child. At length, whether
31 out of one of those whims, which were so characteristic of
32 the old Lion, or out of consideration to poor Munnoo, who
33 had taken so much trouble on his account, or to put an end
34 to the buffoonery of which he was the object, he one
35 day eased the shoulders of his would-be father-in-law by