diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/7iftl10.txt.20030313 | 7866 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/7iftl10.zip.20030313 | bin | 0 -> 149174 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/8iftl10.txt.20030313 | 7866 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/8iftl10.zip.20030313 | bin | 0 -> 149246 bytes |
4 files changed, 15732 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/7iftl10.txt.20030313 b/old/7iftl10.txt.20030313 new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e437b63 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/7iftl10.txt.20030313 @@ -0,0 +1,7866 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Indian Fairy Tales, by Collected by Joseph Jacobs + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Indian Fairy Tales + +Author: Collected by Joseph Jacobs + +Release Date: December, 2004 [EBook #7128] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on March 13, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INDIAN FAIRY TALES *** + + + + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +INDIAN FAIRY TALES + + +_Selected and edited by_ +JOSEPH JACOBS + +_Illustrated by_ +JOHN D. BATTEN + +TO MY DEAR LITTLE PHIL + + + +PREFACE + +From the extreme West of the Indo-European world, we go this year to +the extreme East. From the soft rain and green turf of Gaeldom, we seek +the garish sun and arid soil of the Hindoo. In the Land of Ire, the +belief in fairies, gnomes, ogres and monsters is all but dead; in the +Land of Ind it still flourishes in all the vigour of animism. + +Soils and national characters differ; but fairy tales are the same in +plot and incidents, if not in treatment. The majority of the tales in +this volume have been known in the West in some form or other, and the +problem arises how to account for their simultaneous existence in +farthest West and East. Some--as Benfey in Germany, M. Cosquin in +France, and Mr. Clouston in England--have declared that India is the +Home of the Fairy Tale, and that all European fairy tales have been +brought from thence by Crusaders, by Mongol missionaries, by Gipsies, +by Jews, by traders, by travellers. The question is still before the +courts, and one can only deal with it as an advocate. So far as my +instructions go, I should be prepared, within certain limits, to hold a +brief for India. So far as the children of Europe have their fairy +stories in common, these--and they form more than a third of the whole +--are derived from India. In particular, the majority of the Drolls or +comic tales and jingles can be traced, without much difficulty, back to +the Indian peninsula. + +Certainly there is abundant evidence of the early transmission by +literary means of a considerable number of drolls and folk-tales from +India about the time of the Crusaders. The collections known in Europe +by the titles of _The Fables of Bidpai, The Seven Wise Masters, Gesia +Romanorum_, and _Barlaam and Josaphat_, were extremely popular +during the Middle Ages, and their contents passed on the one hand into +the _Exempla_ of the monkish preachers, and on the other into the +_Novelle_ of Italy, thence, after many days, to contribute their +quota to the Elizabethan Drama. Perhaps nearly one-tenth of the main +incidents of European folktales can be traced to this source. + +There are even indications of an earlier literary contact between +Europe and India, in the case of one branch of the folk-tale, the Fable +or Beast Droll. In a somewhat elaborate discussion [Footnote: "History +of the Aesopic Fable," the introductory volume to my edition of Caxton's +_Fables of Esope_ (London, Nutt, 1889).] I have come to the +conclusion that a goodly number of the fables that pass under the name +of the Samian slave, Aesop, were derived from India, probably from the +same source whence the same tales were utilised in the Jatakas, or +Birth-stories of Buddha. These Jatakas contain a large quantity of +genuine early Indian folk-tales, and form the earliest collection of +folk-tales in the world, a sort of Indian Grimm, collected more than +two thousand years before the good German brothers went on their quest +among the folk with such delightful results. For this reason I have +included a considerable number of them in this volume; and shall be +surprised if tales that have roused the laughter and wonder of pious +Buddhists for the last two thousand years, cannot produce the same +effect on English children. The Jatakas have been fortunate in their +English translators, who render with vigour and point; and I rejoice +in being able to publish the translation of two new Jatakas, kindly +done into English for this volume by Mr. W. H. D. Rouse, of Christ's +College, Cambridge. In one of these I think I have traced the source +of the Tar Baby incident in "Uncle Remus." + +Though Indian fairy tales are the earliest in existence, yet they are +also from another point of view the youngest. For it is only about +twenty-five years ago that Miss Frere began the modern collection of +Indian folk-tales with her charming "Old Deccan Days" (London, John +Murray, 1868; fourth edition, 1889). Her example has been followed by +Miss Stokes, by Mrs. Steel, and Captain (now Major) Temple, by the +Pandit Natesa Sastri, by Mr. Knowles and Mr. Campbell, as well as +others who have published folk-tales in such periodicals as the +_Indian Antiquary_ and _The Orientalist_. The story-store of +modern India has been well dipped into during the last quarter of a +century, though the immense range of the country leaves room for any +number of additional workers and collections. Even so far as the +materials already collected go, a large number of the commonest +incidents in European folk-tales have been found in India. Whether +brought there or born there, we have scarcely any criterion for +judging; but as some of those still current among the folk in India can +be traced back more than a millennium, the presumption is in favour of +an Indian origin. + +From all these sources--from the Jatakas, from the Bidpai, and from the +more recent collections--I have selected those stories which throw most +light on the origin of Fable and Folk-tales, and at the same time are +most likely to attract English children. I have not, however, included +too many stories of the Grimm types, lest I should repeat the contents +of the two preceding volumes of this series. This has to some degree +weakened the case for India as represented by this book. The need of +catering for the young ones has restricted my selection from the well- +named "Ocean of the Streams of Story," _Katha-Sarit Sagara_ of +Somadeva. The stories existing in Pali and Sanskrit I have taken from +translations, mostly from the German of Benfey or the vigorous English +of Professor Rhys-Davids, whom I have to thank for permission to use +his versions of the Jatakas. + +I have been enabled to make this book a representative collection of +the Fairy Tales of Ind by the kindness of the original collectors or +their publishers. I have especially to thank Miss Frere, who kindly +made an exception in my favour, and granted me the use of that fine +story, "Punchkin," and that quaint myth, "How Sun, Moon, and Wind went +out to Dinner." Miss Stokes has been equally gracious in granting me +the use of characteristic specimens from her "Indian Fairy Tales." To +Major Temple I owe the advantage of selecting from his admirable +_Wideawake Stories_, and Messrs. Kegan Paul, Trench & Co. have +allowed me to use Mr. Knowles' "Folk-tales of Kashmir," in their +Oriental Library; and Messrs. W. H. Allen have been equally obliging +with regard to Mrs. Kingscote's "Tales of the Sun." Mr. M. L. Dames has +enabled me add to the published story-store of India by granting me the +use of one from his inedited collection of Baluchi folk-tales. + +I have again to congratulate myself an the co-operation of my friend +Mr. J. D. Batten in giving beautiful or amusing form to the creations +of the folk fancy of the Hindoos. It is no slight thing to embody, as +he has done, the glamour and the humour both of the Celt and of the +Hindoo. It is only a further proof that Fairy Tales are something more +than Celtic or Hindoo. They are human. + +JOSEPH JACOBS. + + + +CONTENTS + +I. THE LION AND THE CRANE +II. HOW THE RAJA'S SON WON THE PRINCESS LABAM +III. THE LAMBIKIN +IV. PUNCHKIN +V. THE BROKEN POT +VI. THE MAGIC FIDDLE +VII. THE CRUEL CRANE OUTWITTED +VIII. LOVING LAILI +IX. THE TIGER, THE BRAHMAN AND THE JACKAL +X. THE SOOTHSAYER'S SON +XI. HARISARMAN +XII. THE CHARMED RING +XIII. THE TALKATIVE TORTOISE +XIV. A LAC OF RUPEES FOR A PIECE OF ADVICE +XV. THE GOLD-GIVING SERPENT +XVI. THE SON OF SEVEN QUEENS +XVII. A LESSON FOR KINGS +XVIII. PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALL +XIX. RAJA RASALU +XX. THE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN +XXI. THE FARMER AND THE MONEY-LENDER +XXII. THE BOY WHO HAD A MOON ON HIS FOREHEAD AND A STAR ON HIS CHIN +XXIII. THE PRINCE AND THE FAKIR +XXIV. WHY THE FISH LAUGHED +XXV. THE DEMON WITH THE MATTED HAIR +XXVI. THE IVORY CITY AND ITS FAIRY PRINCESS +XXVII. SUN, MOON, AND WIND GO OUT TO DINNER +XXVIII. HOW THE WICKED SONS WERE DUPED +XXIX. THE PIGEON AND THE CROW + +NOTES AND REFERENCES + + + +THE LION AND THE CRANE + +The Bodhisatta was at one time born in the region of Himavanta as a +white crane; now Brahmadatta was at that time reigning in Benares. Now +it chanced that as a lion was eating meat a bone stuck in his throat. +The throat became swollen, he could not take food, his suffering was +terrible. The crane seeing him, as he was perched an a tree looking for +food, asked, "What ails thee, friend?" He told him why. "I could free +thee from that bone, friend, but dare not enter thy mouth for fear thou +mightest eat me." "Don't be afraid, friend, I'll not eat thee; only +save my life." "Very well," says he, and caused him to lie down on his +left side. But thinking to himself, "Who knows what this fellow will +do," he placed a small stick upright between his two jaws that he could +not close his mouth, and inserting his head inside his mouth struck one +end of the bone with his beak. Whereupon the bone dropped and fell out. +As soon as he had caused the bone to fall, he got out of the lion's +mouth, striking the stick with his beak so that it fell out, and then +settled on a branch. The lion gets well, and one day was eating a +buffalo he had killed. The crane, thinking "I will sound him," settled +an a branch just over him, and in conversation spoke this first verse: + + "A service have we done thee + To the best of our ability, + King of the Beasts! Your Majesty! + What return shall we get from thee?" + +In reply the Lion spoke the second verse: + + "As I feed on blood, + And always hunt for prey, + 'Tis much that thou art still alive + Having once been between my teeth." + +Then in reply the crane said the two other verses: + + "Ungrateful, doing no good, + Not doing as he would be done by, + In him there is no gratitude, + To serve him is useless. + + "His friendship is not won + By the clearest good deed. + Better softly withdraw from him, + Neither envying nor abusing." + +And having thus spoken the crane flew away. + +_And when the great Teacher, Gautama the Buddha, told this tale, he +used to add: "Now at that time the lion was Devadatta the Traitor, but +the white crane was I myself_." + + + +HOW THE RAJA'S SON WON THE PRINCESS LABAM + +In a country there was a Raja who had an only son who every day went +out to hunt. One day the Rani, his mother, said to him, "You can hunt +wherever you like on these three sides; but you must never go to the +fourth side." This she said because she knew if he went on the fourth +side he would hear of the beautiful Princess Labam, and that then he +would leave his father and mother and seek for the princess. + +The young prince listened to his mother, and obeyed her for some time; +but one day, when he was hunting on the three sides where he was +allowed to go, he remembered what she had said to him about the fourth +side, and he determined to go and see why she had forbidden him to hunt +on that side. When he got there, he found himself in a jungle, and +nothing in the jungle but a quantity of parrots, who lived in it. The +young Raja shot at some of them, and at once they all flew away up to +the sky. All, that is, but one, and this was their Raja, who was called +Hiraman parrot. + +When Hiraman parrot found himself left alone, he called out to the +other parrots, "Don't fly away and leave me alone when the Raja's son +shoots. If you desert me like this, I will tell the Princess Labam." + +Then the parrots all flew back to their Raja, chattering. The prince +was greatly surprised, and said, "Why, these birds can talk!" Then he +said to the parrots, "Who is the Princess Labam? Where does she live?" +But the parrots would not tell him where she lived. "You can never get +to the Princess Labam's country." That is all they would say. + +The prince grew very sad when they would not tell him anything more; +and he threw his gun away, and went home. When he got home, he would +not speak or eat, but lay on his bed for four or five days, and seemed +very ill. + +At last he told his father and mother that he wanted to go and see the +Princess Labam. "I must go," he said; "I must see what she is like. +Tell me where her country is." + +"We do not know where it is," answered his father and mother. + +"Then I must go and look for it," said the prince. + +"No, no," they said, "you must not leave us. You are our only son. Stay +with us. You will never find the Princess Labam." + +"I must try and find her," said the prince. "Perhaps God will show me +the way. If I live and I find her, I will come back to you; but perhaps +I shall die, and then I shall never see you again. Still I must go." + +So they had to let him go, though they cried very much at parting with +him. His father gave him fine clothes to wear, and a fine horse. And he +took his gun, and his bow and arrows, and a great many other weapons, +"for," he said, "I may want them." His father, too, gave him plenty of +rupees. + +Then he himself got his horse all ready for the journey, and he said +good-bye to his father and mother; and his mother took her handkerchief +and wrapped some sweetmeats in it, and gave it to her son. "My child," +she said to him, "When you are hungry eat some of these sweetmeats." + +He then set out on his journey, and rode on and on till he came to a +jungle in which were a tank and shady trees. He bathed himself and his +horse in the tank, and then sat down under a tree. "Now," he said to +himself, "I will eat some of the sweetmeats my mother gave me, and I +will drink some water, and then I will continue my journey." He opened +his handkerchief, and took out a sweetmeat. He found an ant in it. He +took out another. There was an ant in that one too. So he laid the two +sweetmeats on the ground, and he took out another, and another, and +another, until he had taken them all out; but in each he found an ant. +"Never mind," he said, "I won't eat the sweetmeats; the ants shall eat +them." Then the Ant-Raja came and stood before him and said, "You have +been good to us. If ever you are in trouble, think of me and we will +come to you." + +The Raja's son thanked him, mounted his horse and continued his +journey. He rode on and on until he came to another jungle, and there +he saw a tiger who had a thorn in his foot, and was roaring loudly from +the pain. + +"Why do you roar like that?" said the young Raja. "What is the matter +with you?" + +"I have had a thorn in my foot for twelve years," answered the tiger, +"and it hurts me so; that is why I roar." + +"Well," said the Raja's son, "I will take it out for you. But perhaps, +as you are a tiger, when I have made you well, you will eat me?" + +"Oh, no," said the tiger, "I won't eat you. Do make me well." + +Then the prince took a little knife from his pocket, and cut the thorn +out of the tiger's foot; but when he cut, the tiger roared louder than +ever--so loud that his wife heard him in the next jungle, and came +bounding along to see what was the matter. The tiger saw her coming, +and hid the prince in the jungle, so that she should not see him. + + +"What man hurt you that you roared so loud?" said the wife. "No one +hurt me," answered the husband; "but a Raja's son came and took the +thorn out of my foot." + +"Where is he? Show him to me," said his wife. + +"If you promise not to kill him, I will call him," said the tiger. + +"I won't kill him; only let me see him," answered his wife. + +Then the tiger called the Raja's son, and when he came the tiger and +his wife made him a great many salaams. Then they gave him a good +dinner, and he stayed with them for three days. Every day he looked at +the tiger's foot, and the third day it was quite healed. Then he said +good-bye to the tigers, and the tiger said to him, "If ever you are in +trouble, think of me, and we will come to you." + +The Raja's son rode on and on till he came to a third jungle. Here he +found four fakirs whose teacher and master had died, and had left four +things,--a bed, which carried whoever sat on it whithersoever he wished +to go; a bag, that gave its owner whatever he wanted, jewels, food, or +clothes; a stone bowl that gave its owner as much water as he wanted, +no matter how far he might be from a tank; and a stick and rope, to +which its owner had only to say, if any one came to make war on him, +"Stick, beat as many men and soldiers as are here," and the stick would +beat them and the rope would tie them up. + +The four fakirs were quarrelling over these four things. One said, "I +want this;" another said, "You cannot have it, for I want it;" and so +on. + +The Raja's son said to them, "Do not quarrel for these things. I will +shoot four arrows in four different directions. Whichever of you gets +to my first arrow, shall have the first thing--the bed. Whosoever gets +to the second arrow, shall have the second thing--the bag. He who gets +to the third arrow, shall have the third thing--the bowl. And he who +gets to the fourth arrow, shall have the last things--the stick and +rope." To this they agreed, and the prince shot off his first arrow. +Away raced the fakirs to get it. When they brought it back to him he +shot off the second, and when they had found and brought it to him he +shot off his third, and when they had brought him the third he shot off +the fourth. + +While they were away looking for the fourth arrow the Raja's son let +his horse loose in the jungle, and sat on the bed, taking the bowl, the +stick and rope, and the bag with him. Then he said, "Bed, I wish to go +to the Princess Labam's country." The little bed instantly rose up into +the air and began to fly, and it flew and flew till it came to the +Princess Labam's country, where it settled on the ground. The Raja's +son asked some men he saw, "Whose country is this?" + +"The Princess Labam's country," they answered. Then the prince went on +till he came to a house where he saw an old woman. + +"Who are you?" she said. "Where do you come from?" + +"I come from a far country," he said; "do let me stay with you to- +night." + +"No," she answered, "I cannot let you stay with me; for our king has +ordered that men from other countries may not stay in his country. You +cannot stay in my house." + +"You are my aunty," said the prince; "let me remain with you for this +one night. You see it is evening, and if I go into the jungle, then the +wild beasts will eat me." + +"Well," said the old woman, "you may stay here to-night; but to-morrow +morning you must go away, for if the king hears you have passed the +night in my house, he will have me seized and put into prison." + +Then she took him into her house, and the Raja's son was very glad. The +old woman began preparing dinner, but he stopped her, "Aunty," he said, +"I will give you food." He put his hand into his bag, saying, "Bag, I +want some dinner," and the bag gave him instantly a delicious dinner, +served up on two gold plates. The old woman and the Raja's son then +dined together. + +When they had finished eating, the old woman said, "Now I will fetch +some water." + +"Don't go," said the prince. "You shall have plenty of water directly." +So he took his bowl and said to it, "Bowl, I want some water," and then +it filled with water. When it was full, the prince cried out, "Stop, +bowl," and the bowl stopped filling. "See, aunty," he said, "with this +bowl I can always get as much water as I want." + +By this time night had come. "Aunty," said the Raja's son, "why don't +you light a lamp?" + +"There is no need," she said. "Our king has forbidden the people in his +country to light any lamps; for, as soon as it is dark, his daughter, +the Princess Labam, comes and sits on her roof, and she shines so that +she lights up all the country and our houses, and we can see to do our +work as if it were day." + +When it was quite black night the princess got up. She dressed herself +in her rich clothes and jewels, and rolled up her hair, and across her +head she put a band of diamonds and pearls. Then she shone like the +moon, and her beauty made night day. She came out of her room, and sat +on the roof of her palace. In the daytime she never came out of her +house; she only came out at night. All the people in her father's +country then went about their work and finished it. + +The Raja's son watched the princess quietly, and was very happy. He +said to himself, "How lovely she is!" + +At midnight, when everybody had gone to bed, the princess came down +from her roof, and went to her room; and when she was in bed and +asleep, the Raja's son got up softly, and sat on his bed. "Bed," he +said to it, "I want to go to the Princess Labam's bed-room." So the +little bed carried him to the room where she lay fast asleep. + +The young Raja took his bag and said, "I want a great deal of betel- +leaf," and it at once gave him quantities of betel-leaf. This he laid +near the princess's bed, and then his little bed carried him back to +the old woman's house. + +Next morning all the princess's servants found the betel-leaf, and +began to eat it. "Where did you get all that betel-leaf?" asked the +princess. + +"We found it near your bed," answered the servants. Nobody knew the +prince had come in the night and put it all there. + +In the morning the old woman came to the Raja's son. "Now it is +morning," she said, "and you must go; for if the king finds out all I +have done for you, he will seize me." + +"I am ill to-day, dear aunty," said the prince; "do let me stay till +to-morrow morning." + +"Good," said the old woman. So he stayed, and they took their dinner +out of the bag, and the bowl gave them water. + +When night came the princess got up and sat on her roof, and at twelve +o'clock, when every one was in bed, she went to her bed-room, and was +soon fast asleep. Then the Raja's son sat on his bed, and it carried +him to the princess. He took his bag and said, "Bag, I want a most +lovely shawl." It gave him a splendid shawl, and he spread it over the +princess as she lay asleep. Then he went back to the old woman's house +and slept till morning. + +In the morning, when the princess saw the shawl she was delighted. +"See, mother," she said; "Khuda must have given me this shawl, it is so +beautiful." Her mother was very glad too. + +"Yes, my child," she said; "Khuda must have given you this splendid +shawl." + +When it was morning the old woman said to the Raja's son, "Now you must +really go." + +"Aunty," he answered, "I am not well enough yet. Let me stay a few days +longer. I will remain hidden in your house, so that no one may see me." +So the old woman let him stay. + +When it was black night, the princess put on her lovely clothes and +jewels, and sat on her roof. At midnight she went to her room and went +to sleep. Then the Raja's son sat on his bed and flew to her bed-room. +There he said to his bag, "Bag, I want a very, very beautiful ring." +The bag gave him a glorious ring. Then he took the Princess Labam's +hand gently to put on the ring, and she started up very much +frightened. + +"Who are you?" she said to the prince. "Where do you come from? Why do +you come to my room?" + +"Do not be afraid, princess," he said; "I am no thief. I am a great +Raja's son. Hiraman parrot, who lives in the jungle where I went to +hunt, told me your name, and then I left my father and mother, and came +to see you." + +"Well," said the princess, "as you are the son of such a great Raja, I +will not have you killed, and I will tell my father and mother that I +wish to marry you." + +The prince then returned to the old woman's house; and when morning +came the princess said to her mother, "The son of a great Raja has come +to this country, and I wish to marry him." Her mother told this to the +king. + +"Good," said the king; "but if this Raja's son wishes to marry my +daughter, he must first do whatever I bid him. If he fails I will kill +him. I will give him eighty pounds weight of mustard seed, and out of +this he must crush the oil in one day. If he cannot do this he shall +die." + +In the morning the Raja's son told the old woman that he intended to +marry the princess. "Oh," said the old woman, "go away from this +country, and do not think of marrying her. A great many Rajas and +Rajas' sons have come here to marry her, and her father has had them +all killed. He says whoever wishes to marry his daughter must first do +whatever he bids him. If he can, then he shall marry the princess; if +he cannot, the king will have him killed. But no one can do the things +the king tells him to do; so all the Rajas and Rajas' sons who have +tried have been put to death. You will be killed too, if you try. Do go +away." But the prince would not listen to anything she said. + +The king sent for the prince to the old woman's house, and his servants +brought the Raja's son to the king's court-house to the king. There the +king gave him eighty pounds of mustard seed, and told him to crush all +the oil out of it that day, and bring it next morning to him to the +court-house. "Whoever wishes to marry my daughter," he said to the +prince, "must first do all I tell him. If he cannot, then I have him +killed. So if you cannot crush all the oil out of this mustard seed, +you will die." + +The prince was very sorry when he heard this. "How can I crush the oil +out of all this mustard seed in one day?" he said to himself; "and if I +do not, the king will kill me." He took the mustard seed to the old +woman's house, and did not know what to do. At last he remembered the +Ant-Raja, and the moment he did so, the Ant-Raja and his ants came to +him. "Why do you look so sad?" said the Ant-Raja. + +The prince showed him the mustard seed, and said to him, "How can I +crush the oil out of all this mustard seed in one day? And if I do not +take the oil to the king to-morrow morning, he will kill me." + +"Be happy," said the Ant-Raja; "lie down and sleep; we will crush all +the oil out for you during the day, and to-morrow morning you shall +take it to the king." The Raja's son lay down and slept, and the ants +crushed out the oil for him. The prince was very glad when he saw the +oil. + +The next morning he took it to the court-house to the king. But the +king said, "You cannot yet marry my daughter. If you wish to do so, you +must first fight with my two demons and kill them." The king a long +time ago had caught two demons, and then, as he did not know what to do +with them, he had shut them up in a cage. He was afraid to let them +loose for fear they would eat up all the people in his country; and he +did not know how to kill them. So all the kings and kings' sons who +wanted to marry the Princess Labam had to fight with these demons; +"for," said the king to himself, "perhaps the demons may be killed, and +then I shall be rid of them." + +When he heard of the demons the Raja's son was very sad. "What can I +do?" he said to himself. "How can I fight with these two demons?" Then +he thought of his tiger: and the tiger and his wife came to him and +said, "Why are you so sad?" The Raja's son answered, "The king has +ordered me to fight with his two demons and kill them. How can I do +this?" "Do not be frightened," said the tiger. "Be happy. I and my wife +will fight with them for you." + +Then the Raja's son took out of his bag two splendid coats. They were +all gold and silver, and covered with pearls and diamonds. These he put +on the tigers to make them beautiful, and he took them to the king, and +said to him, "May these tigers fight your demons for me?" "Yes," said +the king, who did not care in the least who killed his demons, provided +they were killed. "Then call your demons," said the Raja's son, "and +these tigers will fight them." The king did so, and the tigers and the +demons fought and fought until the tigers had killed the demons. + +"That is good," said the king. "But you must do something else before I +give you my daughter. Up in the sky I have a kettle-drum. You must go +and beat it. If you cannot do this, I will kill you." + +The Raja's son thought of his little bed; so he went to the old woman's +house and sat on his bed. "Little bed," he said, "up in the sky is the +king's kettle-drum. I want to go to it." The bed flew up with him, and +the Raja's son beat the drum, and the king heard him. Still, when he +came down, the king would not give him his daughter. "You have," he +said to the prince, "done the three things I told you to do; but you +must do one thing more." "If I can, I will," said the Raja's son. + +Then the king showed him the trunk of a tree that was lying near his +court-house. It was a very, very thick trunk. He gave the prince a wax +hatchet, and said, "Tomorrow morning you must cut this trunk in two +with this wax hatchet." + +The Raja's son went back to the old woman's house. He was very sad, and +thought that now the Raja would certainly kill him. "I had his oil +crushed out by the ants," he said to himself. "I had his demons killed +by the tigers. My bed helped me to beat his kettle-drum. But now what +can I do? How can I cut that thick tree-trunk in two with a wax +hatchet?" + +At night he went on his bed to see the princess. "To-morrow," he said +to her, "your father will kill me." "Why?" asked the princess. + +"He has told me to cut a thick tree-trunk in two with a wax hatchet. +How can I ever do that?" said the Raja's son. "Do not be afraid," said +the princess; "do as I bid you, and you will cut it in two quite +easily." + +Then she pulled out a hair from her head, and gave it to the prince. +"To-morrow," she said, "when no one is near you, you must say to the +tree-trunk, 'The Princess Labam commands you to let yourself be cut in +two by this hair.' Then stretch the hair down the edge of the wax +hatchet's blade." + +The prince next day did exactly as the princess had told him; and the +minute the hair that was stretched down the edge of the hatchet-blade +touched the tree-trunk it split into two pieces. + +The king said, "Now you can marry my daughter." Then the wedding took +place. All the Rajas and kings of the countries round were asked to +come to it, and there were great rejoicings. After a few days the +prince's son said to his wife, "Let us go to my father's country." The +Princess Labam's father gave them a quantity of camels and horses and +rupees and servants; and they travelled in great state to the prince's +country, where they lived happily. + +The prince always kept his bag, bowl, bed, and stick; only, as no one +ever came to make war on him, he never needed to use the stick. + + + +THE LAMBIKIN + +Once upon a time there was a wee wee Lambikin, who frolicked about on +his little tottery legs, and enjoyed himself amazingly. + +Now one day he set off to visit his Granny, and was jumping with joy to +think of all the good things he should get from her, when who should he +meet but a Jackal, who looked at the tender young morsel and said: +"Lambikin! Lambikin! I'll EAT YOU!" + +But Lambikin only gave a little frisk and said: + + "To Granny's house I go, + Where I shall fatter grow, + Then you can eat me so." + +The Jackal thought this reasonable, and let Lambikin pass. + +By-and-by he met a Vulture, and the Vulture, looking hungrily at the +tender morsel before him, said: "Lambikin! Lambikin! I'll EAT YOU!" + +But Lambikin only gave a little frisk, and said: + + "To Granny's house I go, + Where I shall fatter grow, + Then you can eat me so." + +The Vulture thought this reasonable, and let Lambikin pass. + +And by-and-by he met a Tiger, and then a Wolf, and a Dog, and an Eagle, +and all these, when they saw the tender little morsel, said: "Lambikin! +Lambikin! I'll EAT YOU!" + +But to all of them Lambikin replied, with a little frisk: + + "To Granny's house I go, + Where I shall fatter grow, + Then you can eat me so." + +At last he reached his Granny's house, and said, all in a great hurry, +"Granny, dear, I've promised to get very fat; so, as people ought to +keep their promises, please put me into the corn-bin _at once_." + +So his Granny said he was a good boy, and put him into the corn-bin, +and there the greedy little Lambikin stayed for seven days, and ate, +and ate, and ate, until he could scarcely waddle, and his Granny said +he was fat enough for anything, and must go home. But cunning little +Lambikin said that would never do, for some animal would be sure to eat +him on the way back, he was so plump and tender. + +"I'll tell you what you must do," said Master Lambikin, "you must make +a little drumikin out of the skin of my little brother who died, and +then I can sit inside and trundle along nicely, for I'm as tight as a +drum myself." + +So his Granny made a nice little drumikin out of his brother's skin, +with the wool inside, and Lambikin curled himself up snug and warm in +the middle, and trundled away gaily. Soon he met with the Eagle, who +called out: + + "Drumikin! Drumikin! + Have you seen Lambikin?" + +And Mr. Lambikin, curled up in his soft warm nest, replied: + + "Fallen into the fire, and so will you + On little Drumikin. Tum-pa, tum-too!" + +"How very annoying!" sighed the Eagle, thinking regretfully of the +tender morsel he had let slip. + +Meanwhile Lambikin trundled along, laughing to himself, and singing: + + "Tum-pa, tum-too; + Tum-pa, tum-too!" + +Every animal and bird he met asked him the same question: + + "Drumikin! Drumikin! + Have you seen Lambikin?" + +And to each of them the little slyboots replied: + + "Fallen into the fire, and so will you + On little Drumikin. Tum-pa, tum too; + Tum-pa, tum-too; Tum-pa, tum-too!" + +Then they all sighed to think of the tender little morsel they had let +slip. + +At last the Jackal came limping along, for all his sorry looks as sharp +as a needle, and he too called out-- + + "Drumikin! Drumikin! + Have you seen Lambikin?" + +And Lambikin, curled up in his snug little nest, replied gaily: + + "Fallen into the fire, and so will you + On little Drumikin! Tum-pa--" + +But he never got any further, for the Jackal recognised his voice at +once, and cried: "Hullo! you've turned yourself inside out, have you? +Just you come out of that!" + +Whereupon he tore open Drumikin and gobbled up Lambikin. + + + +PUNCHKIN + +Once upon a time there was a Raja who had seven beautiful daughters. +They were all good girls; but the youngest, named Balna, was more +clever than the rest. The Raja's wife died when they were quite little +children, so these seven poor Princesses were left with no mother to +take care of them. + +The Raja's daughters took it by turns to cook their father's dinner +every day, whilst he was absent deliberating with his Ministers on the +affairs of the nation. + +About this time the Prudhan died, leaving a widow and one daughter; and +every day, every day, when the seven Princesses were preparing their +father's dinner, the Prudhan's widow and daughter would come and beg +for a little fire from the hearth. Then Balna used to say to her +sisters, "Send that woman away; send her away. Let her get the fire at +her own house. What does she want with ours? If we allow her to come +here, we shall suffer for it some day." + +But the other sisters would answer, "Be quiet, Balna; why must you +always be quarrelling with this poor woman? Let her take some fire if +she likes." Then the Prudhan's widow used to go to the hearth and take +a few sticks from it; and whilst no one was looking, she would quickly +throw some mud into the midst of the dishes which were being prepared +for the Raja's dinner. + +Now the Raja was very fond of his daughters. Ever since their mother's +death they had cooked his dinner with their own hands, in order to +avoid the danger of his being poisoned by his enemies. So, when he +found the mud mixed up with his dinner, he thought it must arise from +their carelessness, as it did not seem likely that any one should have +put mud there on purpose; but being very kind he did not like to +reprove them for it, although this spoiling of the curry was repeated +many successive days. + +At last, one day, he determined to hide, and watch his daughters +cooking, and see how it all happened; so he went into the next room, +and watched them through a hole in the wall. + +There he saw his seven daughters carefully washing the rice and +preparing the curry, and as each dish was completed, they put it by the +fire ready to be cooked. Next he noticed the Prudhan's widow come to +the door, and beg for a few sticks from the fire to cook her dinner +with. Balna turned to her, angrily, and said, "Why don't you keep fuel +in your own house, and not come here every day and take ours? Sisters, +don't give this woman any more wood; let her buy it for herself." + +Then the eldest sister answered, "Balna, let the poor woman take the +wood and the fire; she does us no harm." But Balna replied, "If you let +her come here so often, maybe she will do us some harm, and make us +sorry for it, some day." + +The Raja then saw the Prudhan's widow go to the place where all his +dinner was nicely prepared, and, as she took the wood, she threw a +little mud into each of the dishes. + +At this he was very angry, and sent to have the woman seized and +brought before him. But when the widow came, she told him that she had +played this trick because she wanted to gain an audience with him; and +she spoke so cleverly, and pleased him so well with her cunning words, +that instead of punishing her, the Raja married her, and made her his +Ranee, and she and her daughter came to live in the palace. + +Now the new Ranee hated the seven poor Princesses, and wanted to get +them, if possible, out of the way, in order that her daughter might +have all their riches, and live in the palace as Princess in their +place; and instead of being grateful to them for their kindness to her, +she did all she could to make them miserable. She gave them nothing but +bread to eat, and very little of that, and very little water to drink; +so these seven poor little Princesses, who had been accustomed to have +everything comfortable about them, and good food and good clothes all +their lives long, were very miserable and unhappy; and they used to go +out every day and sit by their dead mother's tomb and cry--and say: + +"Oh mother, mother, cannot you see your poor children, how unhappy we +are, and how we are starved by our cruel step-mother?" + +One day, whilst they were thus sobbing and crying, lo and behold! a +beautiful pomelo tree grew up out of the grave, covered with fresh ripe +pomeloes, and the children satisfied their hunger by eating some of the +fruit, and every day after this, instead of trying to eat the bad +dinner their step-mother provided for them, they used to go out to +their mother's grave and eat the pomeloes which grew there on the +beautiful tree. + +Then the Ranee said to her daughter, "I cannot tell how it is, every +day those seven girls say they don't want any dinner, and won't eat +any; and yet they never grow thin nor look ill; they look better than +you do. I cannot tell how it is." And she bade her watch the seven +Princesses, and see if any one gave them anything to eat. + +So next day, when the Princesses went to their mother's grave, and were +eating the beautiful pomeloes, the Prudhan's daughter followed them, +and saw them gathering the fruit. + +Then Balna said to her sisters, "Do you not see that girl watching us? +Let us drive her away, or hide the pomeloes, else she will go and tell +her mother all about it, and that will be very bad for us." + +But the other sisters said, "Oh no, do not be unkind, Balna. The girl +would never be so cruel as to tell her mother. Let us rather invite her +to come and have some of the fruit." And calling her to them, they gave +her one of the pomeloes. + +No sooner had she eaten it, however, than the Prudhan's daughter went +home and said to her mother, "I do not wonder the seven Princesses will +not eat the dinner you prepare for them, for by their mother's grave +there grows a beautiful pomelo tree, and they go there every day and +eat the pomeloes. I ate one, and it was the nicest I have ever tasted." + +The cruel Ranee was much vexed at hearing this, and all next day she +stayed in her room, and told the Raja that she had a very bad headache. +The Raja was deeply grieved, and said to his wife, "What can I do for +you?" She answered, "There is only one thing that will make my headache +well. By your dead wife's tomb there grows a fine pomelo tree; you must +bring that here, and boil it, root and branch, and put a little of the +water in which it has been boiled, on my forehead, and that will cure +my headache." So the Raja sent his servants, and had the beautiful +pomelo tree pulled up by the roots, and did as the Ranee desired; and +when some of the water, in which it had been boiled, was put on her +forehead, she said her headache was gone and she felt quite well. + +Next day, when the seven Princesses went as usual to the grave of their +mother, the pomelo tree had disappeared. Then they all began to cry +very bitterly. + +Now there was by the Ranee's tomb a small tank, and as they were crying +they saw that the tank was filled with a rich cream-like substance, +which quickly hardened into a thick white cake. At seeing this all the +Princesses were very glad, and they ate some of the cake, and liked it; +and next day the same thing happened, and so it went on for many days. +Every morning the Princesses went to their mother's grave, and found +the little tank filled with the nourishing cream-like cake. Then the +cruel step-mother said to her daughter: "I cannot tell how it is, I +have had the pomelo tree which used to grow by the Ranee's grave +destroyed, and yet the Princesses grow no thinner, nor look more sad, +though they never eat the dinner I give them. I cannot tell how it is!" + +And her daughter said, "I will watch." + +Next day, while the Princesses were eating the cream cake, who should +come by but their step-mother's daughter. Balna saw her first, and +said, "See, sisters, there comes that girl again. Let us sit round the +edge of the tank and not allow her to see it, for if we give her some +of our cake, she will go and tell her mother; and that will be very +unfortunate for us." + +The other sisters, however, thought Balna unnecessarily suspicious, and +instead of following her advice, they gave the Prudhan's daughter some +of the cake, and she went home and told her mother all about it. + +The Ranee, on hearing how well the Princesses fared, was exceedingly +angry, and sent her servants to pull down the dead Ranee's tomb, and +fill the little tank with the ruins. And not content with this, she +next day pretended to be very, very ill--in fact, at the point of +death--and when the Raja was much grieved, and asked her whether it was +in his power to procure her any remedy, she said to him: "Only one +thing can save my life, but I know you will not do it." He replied, +"Yes, whatever it is, I will do it." She then said, "To save my life, +you must kill the seven daughters of your first wife, and put some of +their blood on my forehead and on the palms of my hands, and their +death will be my life." At these words the Raja was very sorrowful; but +because he feared to break his word, he went out with a heavy heart to +find his daughters. + +He found them crying by the ruins of their mother's grave. + +Then, feeling he could not kill them, the Raja spoke kindly to them, +and told them to come out into the jungle with him; and there he made a +fire and cooked some rice, and gave it to them. But in the afternoon, +it being very hot, the seven Princesses all fell asleep, and when he +saw they were fast asleep, the Raja, their father, stole away and left +them (for he feared his wife), saying to himself: "It is better my poor +daughters should die here, than be killed by their step-mother." + +He then shot a deer, and returning home, put some of its blood on the +forehead and hands of the Ranee, and she thought then that he had +really killed the Princesses, and said she felt quite well. + +Meantime the seven Princesses awoke, and when they found themselves all +alone in the thick jungle they were much frightened, and began to call +out as loud as they could, in hopes of making their father hear; but he +was by that time far away, and would not have been able to hear them +even had their voices been as loud as thunder. + +It so happened that this very day the seven young sons of a +neighbouring Raja chanced to be hunting in that same jungle, and as +they were returning home, after the day's sport was over, the youngest +Prince said to his brothers "Stop, I think I hear some one crying and +calling out. Do you not hear voices? Let us go in the direction of the +sound, and find out what it is." + +So the seven Princes rode through the wood until they came to the place +where the seven Princesses sat crying and wringing their hands. At the +sight of them the young Princes were very much astonished, and still +more so on learning their story; and they settled that each should take +one of these poor forlorn ladies home with him, and marry her. + +So the first and eldest Prince took the eldest Princess home with him, +and married her. + +And the second took the second; + +And the third took the third; + +And the fourth took the fourth; + +And the fifth took the fifth; + +And the sixth took the sixth; + +And the seventh, and the handsomest of all, took the beautiful Balna. + +And when they got to their own land, there was great rejoicing +throughout the kingdom, at the marriage of the seven young Princes to +seven such beautiful Princesses. + +About a year after this Balna had a little son, and his uncles and +aunts were so fond of the boy that it was as if he had seven fathers +and seven mothers. None of the other Princes and Princesses had any +children, so the son of the seventh Prince and Balna was acknowledged +their heir by all the rest. + +They had thus lived very happily for some time, when one fine day the +seventh Prince (Balna's husband) said he would go out hunting, and away +he went; and they waited long for him, but he never came back. + +Then his six brothers said they would go and see what had become of +him; and they went away, but they also did not return. + +And the seven Princesses grieved very much, for they feared that their +kind husbands must have been killed. + +One day, not long after this had happened, as Balna was rocking her +baby's cradle, and whilst her sisters were working in the room below, +there came to the palace door a man in a long black dress, who said +that he was a Fakir, and came to beg. The servants said to him, "You +cannot go into the palace--the Raja's sons have all gone away; we think +they must be dead, and their widows cannot be interrupted by your +begging." But he said, "I am a holy man, you must let me in." Then the +stupid servants let him walk through the palace, but they did not know +that this was no Fakir, but a wicked Magician named Punchkin. + +Punchkin Fakir wandered through the palace, and saw many beautiful +things there, till at last he reached the room where Balna sat singing +beside her little boy's cradle. The Magician thought her more beautiful +than all the other beautiful things he had seen, insomuch that he asked +her to go home with him and to marry him. But she said, "My husband, I +fear, is dead, but my little boy is still quite young; I will stay here +and teach him to grow up a clever man, and when he is grown up he shall +go out into the world, and try and learn tidings of his father. Heaven +forbid that I should ever leave him, or marry you." At these words the +Magician was very angry, and turned her into a little black dog, and +led her away; saying, "Since you will not come with me of your own free +will, I will make you." So the poor Princess was dragged away, without +any power of effecting an escape, or of letting her sisters know what +had become of her. As Punchkin passed through the palace gate the +servants said to him, "Where did you get that pretty little dog?" And +he answered, "One of the Princesses gave it to me as a present." At +hearing which they let him go without further questioning. + +Soon after this, the six elder Princesses heard the little baby, their +nephew, begin to cry, and when they went upstairs they were much +surprised to find him all alone, and Balna nowhere to be seen. Then +they questioned the servants, and when they heard of the Fakir and the +little black dog, they guessed what had happened, and sent in every +direction seeking them, but neither the Fakir nor the dog were to be +found. What could six poor women do? They gave up all hopes of ever +seeing their kind husbands, and their sister, and her husband, again, +and devoted themselves thenceforward to teaching and taking care of +their little nephew. + +Thus time went on, till Balna's son was fourteen years old. Then, one +day, his aunts told him the history of the family; and no sooner did he +hear it, than he was seized with a great desire to go in search of his +father and mother and uncles, and if he could find them alive to bring +them home again. His aunts, on learning his determination, were much +alarmed and tried to dissuade him, saying, "We have lost our husbands, +and our sister and her husband, and you are now our sole hope; if you +go away, what shall we do?" But he replied, "I pray you not to be +discouraged; I will return soon, and if it is possible bring my father +and mother and uncles with me." So he set out on his travels; but for +some months he could learn nothing to help him in his search. + +At last, after he had journeyed many hundreds of weary miles, and +become almost hopeless of ever hearing anything further of his parents, +he one day came to a country that seemed full of stones, and rocks, and +trees, and there he saw a large palace with a high tower; hard by which +was a Malee's little house. + +As he was looking about, the Malee's wife saw him, and ran out of the +house and said, "My dear boy, who are you that dare venture to this +dangerous place?" He answered, "I am a Raja's son, and I come in search +of my father, and my uncles, and my mother whom a wicked enchanter +bewitched." + +Then the Malee's wife said, "This country and this palace belong to a +great enchanter; he is all powerful, and if any one displeases him, he +can turn them into stones and trees. All the rocks and trees you see +here were living people once, and the Magician turned them to what they +now are. Some time ago a Raja's son came here, and shortly afterwards +came his six brothers, and they were all turned into stones and trees; +and these are not the only unfortunate ones, for up in that tower lives +a beautiful Princess, whom the Magician has kept prisoner there for +twelve years, because she hates him and will not marry him." + +Then the little Prince thought, "These must be my parents and my +uncles. I have found what I seek at last." So he told his story to the +Malee's wife, and begged her to help him to remain in that place awhile +and inquire further concerning the unhappy people she mentioned; and +she promised to befriend him, and advised his disguising himself lest +the Magician should see him, and turn him likewise into stone. To this +the Prince agreed. So the Malee's wife dressed him up in a saree, and +pretended that he was her daughter. + +One day, not long after this, as the Magician was walking in his garden +he saw the little girl (as he thought) playing about, and asked her who +she was. She told him she was the Malee's daughter, and the Magician +said, "You are a pretty little girl, and to-morrow you shall take a +present of flowers from me to the beautiful lady who lives in the +tower." + +The young Prince was much delighted at hearing this, and went +immediately to inform the Malee's wife; after consultation with whom he +determined that it would be more safe for him to retain his disguise, +and trust to the chance of a favourable opportunity for establishing +some communication with his mother, if it were indeed she. + +Now it happened that at Balna's marriage her husband had given her a +small gold ring on which her name was engraved, and she had put it on +her little son's finger when he was a baby, and afterwards when he was +older his aunts had had it enlarged for him, so that he was still able +to wear it. The Malee's wife advised him to fasten the well-known +treasure to one of the bouquets he presented to his mother, and trust +to her recognising it. This was not to be done without difficulty, as +such a strict watch was kept over the poor Princess (for fear of her +ever establishing communication with her friends), that though the +supposed Malee's daughter was permitted to take her flowers every day, +the Magician or one of his slaves was always in the room at the time. +At last one day, however, opportunity favoured him, and when no one was +looking, the boy tied the ring to a nosegay, and threw it at Balna's +feet. It fell with a clang on the floor, and Balna, looking to see what +made the strange sound, found the little ring tied to the flowers. On +recognising it, she at once believed the story her son told her of his +long search, and begged him to advise her as to what she had better do; +at the same time entreating him on no account to endanger his life by +trying to rescue her. She told him that for twelve long years the +Magician had kept her shut up in the tower because she refused to marry +him, and she was so closely guarded that she saw no hope of release. + +Now Balna's son was a bright, clever boy, so he said, "Do not fear, +dear mother; the first thing to do is to discover how far the +Magician's power extends, in order that we may be able to liberate my +father and uncles, whom he has imprisoned in the form of rocks and +trees. You have spoken to him angrily for twelve long years; now rather +speak kindly. Tell him you have given up all hopes of again seeing the +husband you have so long mourned, and say you are willing to marry him. +Then endeavour to find out what his power consists in, and whether he +is immortal, or can be put to death." + +Balna determined to take her son's advice; and the next day sent for +Punchkin, and spoke to him as had been suggested. + +The Magician, greatly delighted, begged her to allow the wedding to +take place as soon as possible. + +But she told him that before she married him he must allow her a little +more time, in which she might make his acquaintance, and that, after +being enemies so long, their friendship could but strengthen by +degrees. "And do tell me," she said, "are you quite immortal? Can death +never touch you? And are you too great an enchanter ever to feel human +suffering?" + +"Why do you ask?" said he. + +"Because," she replied, "if I am to be your wife, I would fain know all +about you, in order, if any calamity threatens you, to overcome, or if +possible to avert it." + +"It is true," he added, "that I am not as others. Far, far away, +hundreds of thousands of miles from this, there lies a desolate country +covered with thick jungle. In the midst of the jungle grows a circle of +palm trees, and in the centre of the circle stand six chattees full of +water, piled one above another: below the sixth chattee is a small cage +which contains a little green parrot; on the life of the parrot depends +my life; and if the parrot is killed I must die. It is, however," he +added, "impossible that the parrot should sustain any injury, both on +account of the inaccessibility of the country, and because, by my +appointment, many thousand genii surround the palm trees, and kill all +who approach the place." + +Balna told her son what Punchkin had said; but at the same time +implored him to give up all idea of getting the parrot. + +The Prince, however, replied, "Mother, unless I can get hold of that +parrot, you, and my father, and uncles, cannot be liberated: be not +afraid, I will shortly return. Do you, meantime, keep the Magician in +good humour--still putting off your marriage with him on various +pretexts; and before he finds out the cause of delay, I will be here." +So saying, he went away. + +Many, many weary miles did he travel, till at last he came to a thick +jungle; and, being very tired, sat down under a tree and fell asleep. +He was awakened by a soft rustling sound, and looking about him, saw a +large serpent which was making its way to an eagle's nest built in the +tree under which he lay, and in the nest were two young eagles. The +Prince seeing the danger of the young birds, drew his sword, and killed +the serpent; at the same moment a rushing sound was heard in the air, +and the two old eagles, who had been out hunting for food for their +young ones, returned. They quickly saw the dead serpent and the young +Prince standing over it; and the old mother eagle said to him, "Dear +boy, for many years all our young ones have been devoured by that cruel +serpent; you have now saved the lives of our children; whenever you are +in need, therefore, send to us and we will help you; and as for these +little eagles, take them, and let them be your servants." + +At this the Prince was very glad, and the two eaglets crossed their +wings, on which he mounted; and they carried him far, far away over the +thick jungles, until he came to the place where grew the circle of palm +trees, in the midst of which stood the six chattees full of water. It +was the middle of the day, and the heat was very great. All round the +trees were the genii fast asleep; nevertheless, there were such +countless thousands of them, that it would have been quite impossible +for any one to walk through their ranks to the place; down swooped the +strong-winged eaglets--down jumped the Prince; in an instant he had +overthrown the six chattees full of water, and seized the little green +parrot, which he rolled up in his cloak; while, as he mounted again +into the air, all the genii below awoke, and finding their treasure +gone, set up a wild and melancholy howl. + +Away, away flew the little eagles, till they came to their home in the +great tree; then the Prince said to the old eagles, "Take back your +little ones; they have done me good service; if ever again I stand in +need of help, I will not fail to come to you." He then continued his +journey on foot till he arrived once more at the Magician's palace, +where he sat down at the door and began playing with the parrot. +Punchkin saw him, and came to him quickly, and said, "My boy, where did +you get that parrot? Give it to me, I pray you." + +But the Prince answered, "Oh no, I cannot give away my parrot, it is a +great pet of mine; I have had it many years." + +Then the Magician said, "If it is an old favourite, I can understand +your not caring to give it away; but come what will you sell it for?" + +"Sir," replied the Prince, "I will not sell my parrot." + +Then Punchkin got frightened, and said, "Anything, anything; name what +price you will, and it shall be yours." The Prince answered, "Let the +seven Raja's sons whom you turned into rocks and trees be instantly +liberated." + +"It is done as you desire," said the Magician, "only give me my +parrot." And with that, by a stroke of his wand, Balna's husband and +his brothers resumed their natural shapes. "Now, give me my parrot," +repeated Punchkin. + +"Not so fast, my master," rejoined the Prince; "I must first beg that +you will restore to life all whom you have thus imprisoned." + +The Magician immediately waved his wand again; and, whilst he cried, in +an imploring voice, "Give me my parrot!" the whole garden became +suddenly alive: where rocks, and stones, and trees had been before, +stood Rajas, and Punts, and Sirdars, and mighty men on prancing horses, +and jewelled pages, and troops of armed attendants. + +"Give me my parrot!" cried Punchkin. Then the boy took hold of the +parrot, and tore off one of its wings; and as he did so the Magician's +right arm fell off. + +Punchkin then stretched out his left arm, crying, "Give me my parrot!" +The Prince pulled off the parrot's second wing, and the Magician's left +arm tumbled off. + +"Give me my parrot!" cried he, and fell on his knees. The Prince pulled +off the parrot's right leg, the Magician's right leg fell off: the +Prince pulled off the parrot's left leg, down fell the Magician's left. + +Nothing remained of him save the limbless body and the head; but still +he rolled his eyes, and cried, "Give me my parrot!" "Take your parrot, +then," cried the boy, and with that he wrung the bird's neck, and threw +it at the Magician; and, as he did so, Punchkin's head twisted round, +and, with a fearful groan, he died! + +Then they let Balna out of the tower; and she, her son, and the seven +Princes went to their own country, and lived very happily ever +afterwards. And as to the rest of the world, every one went to his own +house. + + + +THE BROKEN POT + +There lived in a certain place a Brahman, whose name was +Svabhavak_ri_pa_n_a, which means "a born miser." He had collected +a quantity of rice by begging, and after having dined off it, he filled a +pot with what was left over. He hung the pot on a peg on the wall, +placed his couch beneath, and looking intently at it all the night, he +thought, "Ah, that pot is indeed brimful of rice. Now, if there should be +a famine, I should certainly make a hundred rupees by it. With this I +shall buy a couple of goats. They will have young ones every six months, +and thus I shall have a whole herd of goats. Then, with the goats, I +shall buy cows. As soon as they have calved, I shall sell the calves. +Then, with the calves, I shall buy buffaloes; with the buffaloes, mares. +When the mares have foaled, I shall have plenty of horses; and when +I sell them, plenty of gold. With that gold I shall get a house with four +wings. And then a Brahman will come to my house, and will give me his +beautiful daughter, with a large dowry. She will have a son, and I shall +call him Somasarman. When he is old enough to be danced on his +father's knee, I shall sit with a book at the back of the stable, and while +I am reading, the boy will see me, jump from his mother's lap, and run +towards me to be danced on my knee. He will come too near the +horse's hoof, and, full of anger, I shall call to my wife, 'Take the baby; +take him!' But she, distracted by some domestic work, does not hear me. +Then I get up, and give her such a kick with my foot." While he thought +this, he gave a kick with his foot, and broke the pot. All the rice fell +over him, and made him quite white. Therefore, I say, "He who makes +foolish plans for the future will be white all over, like the father of +Somasarman." + + + +THE MAGIC FIDDLE + +Once upon a time there lived seven brothers and a sister. The brothers +were married, but their wives did not do the cooking for the family. It +was done by their sister, who stopped at home to cook. The wives for +this reason bore their sister-in-law much ill-will, and at length they +combined together to oust her from the office of cook and general +provider, so that one of themselves might obtain it. They said, "She +does not go out to the fields to work, but remains quietly at home, and +yet she has not the meals ready at the proper time." They then called +upon their Bonga, and vowing vows unto him they secured his good-will +and assistance; then they said to the Bonga, "At midday, when our +sister-in-law goes to bring water, cause it thus to happen, that on +seeing her pitcher, the water shall vanish, and again slowly re-appear. +In this way she will be delayed. Let the water not flow into her +pitcher, and you may keep the maiden as your own." + +At noon when she went to bring water, it suddenly dried up before her, +and she began to weep. Then after a while the water began slowly to +rise. When it reached her ankles she tried to fill her pitcher, but it +would not go under the water. Being frightened she began to wail and +cry to her brother: + + "Oh! my brother, the water reaches to my ankles, + Still, Oh! my brother, the pitcher will not dip." + +The water continued to rise until it reached her knee, when she began +to wail again: + + "Oh! my brother, the water reaches to my knee, + Still, Oh! my brother, the pitcher will not dip." + +The water continued to rise, and when it reached her waist, she cried +again: + + "Oh! my brother, the water reaches to my waist, + Still, Oh! my brother, the pitcher will not dip." + +The water still rose, and when it reached her neck she kept on crying: + + "Oh! my brother, the water reaches to my neck, + Still, Oh! my brother, the pitcher will not dip." + +At length the water became so deep that she felt herself drowning, then +she cried aloud: + + "Oh! my brother, the water measures a man's height, + Oh! my brother, the pitcher begins to fill." + +The pitcher filled with water, and along with it she sank and was +drowned. The Bonga then transformed her into a Bonga like himself, and +carried her off. + +After a time she re-appeared as a bamboo growing on the embankment of +the tank in which she had been drowned. When the bamboo had grown to an +immense size, a Jogi, who was in the habit of passing that way, seeing +it, said to himself, "This will make a splendid fiddle." So one day he +brought an axe to cut it down; but when he was about to begin, the +bamboo called out, "Do not cut at the root, cut higher up." When he +lifted his axe to cut high up the stem, the bamboo cried out, "Do not +cut near the top, cut at the root." When the Jogi again prepared +himself to cut at the root as requested, the bamboo said, "Do not cut +at the root, cut higher up;" and when he was about to cut higher up, it +again called out to him, "Do not cut high up, cut at the root." The +Jogi by this time felt sure that a Bonga was trying to frighten him, so +becoming angry he cut down the bamboo at the root, and taking it away +made a fiddle out of it. The instrument had a superior tone and +delighted all who heard it. The Jogi carried it with him when he went +a-begging, and through the influence of its sweet music he returned +home every evening with a full wallet. + +He now and then visited, when on his rounds, the house of the Bonga +girl's brothers, and the strains of the fiddle affected them greatly. +Some of them were moved even to tears, for the fiddle seemed to wail as +one in bitter anguish. The elder brother wished to purchase it, and +offered to support the Jogi for a whole year if he would consent to +part with his wonderful instrument. The Jogi, however, knew its value, +and refused to sell it. + +It so happened that the Jogi some time after went to the house of a +village chief, and after playing a tune or two on his fiddle asked for +something to eat. They offered to buy his fiddle and promised a high +price for it, but he refused to sell it, as his fiddle brought to him +his means of livelihood. When they saw that he was not to be prevailed +upon, they gave him food and a plentiful supply of liquor. Of the +latter he drank so freely that he presently became intoxicated. While +he was in this condition, they took away his fiddle, and substituted +their own old one for it. When the Jogi recovered, he missed his +instrument, and suspecting that it had been stolen asked them to return +it to him. They denied having taken it, so he had to depart, leaving +his fiddle behind him. The chief's son, being a musician, used to play +on the Jogi's fiddle, and in his hands the music it gave forth +delighted the ears of all who heard it. + +When all the household were absent at their labours in the fields, the +Bonga girl used to come out of the bamboo fiddle, and prepared the +family meal. Having eaten her own share, she placed that of the chief's +son under his bed, and covering it up to keep off the dust, re-entered +the fiddle. This happening every day, the other members of the +household thought that some girl friend of theirs was in this manner +showing her interest in the young man, so they did not trouble +themselves to find out how it came about. The young chief, however, was +determined to watch, and see which of his girl friends was so attentive +to his comfort. He said in his own mind, "I will catch her to-day, and +give her a sound beating; she is causing me to be ashamed before the +others." So saying, he hid himself in a corner in a pile of firewood. +In a short time the girl came out of the bamboo fiddle, and began to +dress her hair. Having completed her toilet, she cooked the meal of +rice as usual, and having eaten some herself, she placed the young +man's portion under his bed, as before, and was about to enter the +fiddle again, when he, running out from his hiding-place, caught her in +his arms. The Bonga girl exclaimed, "Fie! Fie! you may be a Dom, or you +may be a Hadi of some other caste with whom I cannot marry." He said, +"No. But from to-day, you and I are one." So they began lovingly to +hold converse with each other. When the others returned home in the +evening, they saw that she was both a human being and a Bonga, and they +rejoiced exceedingly. + +Now in course of time the Bonga girl's family became very poor, and her +brothers on one occasion came to the chief's house on a visit. + +The Bonga girl recognised them at once, but they did not know who she +was. She brought them water on their arrival, and afterwards set cooked +rice before them. Then sitting down near them, she began in wailing +tones to upbraid them on account of the treatment she had been +subjected to by their wives. She related all that had befallen her, and +wound up by saying, "You must have known it all, and yet you did not +interfere to save me." And that was all the revenge she took. + + + +THE CRUEL CRANE OUTWITTED + +Long ago the Bodisat was born to a forest life as the Genius of a tree +standing near a certain lotus pond. + +Now at that time the water used to run short at the dry season in a +certain pond, not over large, in which there were a good many fish. And +a crane thought on seeing the fish. + +"I must outwit these fish somehow or other and make a prey of them." + +And he went and sat down at the edge of the water, thinking how he +should do it. + +When the fish saw him, they asked him, "What are you sitting there for, +lost in thought?" + +"I am sitting thinking about you," said he. + +"Oh, sir! what are you thinking about us?" said they. + +"Why," he replied; "there is very little water in this pond, and but +little for you to eat; and the heat is so great! So I was thinking, +'What in the world will these fish do now?'" + +"Yes, indeed, sir! what _are_ we to do?" said they. + +"If you will only do as I bid you, I will take you in my beak to a fine +large pond, covered with all the kinds of lotuses, and put you into +it," answered the crane. + +"That a crane should take thought for the fishes is a thing unheard of, +sir, since the world began. It's eating us, one after the other, that +you're aiming at." + +"Not I! So long as you trust me, I won't eat you. But if you don't +believe me that there is such a pond, send one of you with me to go and +see it." + +Then they trusted him, and handed over to him one of their number--a +big fellow, blind of one eye, whom they thought sharp enough in any +emergency, afloat or ashore. + +Him the crane took with him, let him go in the pond, showed him the +whole of it, brought him back, and let him go again close to the other +fish. And he told them all the glories of the pond. + +And when they heard what he said, they exclaimed, "All right, sir! You +may take us with you." + +Then the crane took the old purblind fish first to the bank of the +other pond, and alighted in a Varana-tree growing on the bank there. +But he threw it into a fork of the tree, struck it with his beak, and +killed it; and then ate its flesh, and threw its bones away at the foot +of the tree. Then he went back and called out: + +"I've thrown that fish in; let another one come." + +And in that manner he took all the fish, one by one, and ate them, till +he came back and found no more! + +But there was still a crab left behind there; and the crane thought he +would eat him too, and called out: + +"I say, good crab, I've taken all the fish away, and put them into a +fine large pond. Come along. I'll take you too!" + +"But how will you take hold of me to carry me along?" + +"I'll bite hold of you with my beak." + +"You'll let me fall if you carry me like that. I won't go with you!" + +"Don't be afraid! I'll hold you quite tight all the way." + +Then said the crab to himself, "If this fellow once got hold of fish, +he would never let them go in a pond! Now if he should really put me +into the pond, it would be capital; but if he doesn't--then I'll cut +his throat, and kill him!" So he said to him: + +"Look here, friend, you won't be able to hold me tight enough; but we +crabs have a famous grip. If you let me catch hold of you round the +neck with my claws, I shall be glad to go with you." + +And the other did not see that he was trying to outwit him, and agreed. +So the crab caught hold of his neck with his claws as securely as with +a pair of blacksmith's pincers, and called out, "Off with you, now!" + +And the crane took him and showed him the pond, and then turned off +towards the Varana-tree. + +"Uncle!" cried the crab, "the pond lies that way, but you are taking me +this way!" + +"Oh, that's it, is it?" answered the crane. "Your dear little uncle, +your very sweet nephew, you call me! You mean me to understand, I +suppose, that I am your slave, who has to lift you up and carry you +about with him! Now cast your eye upon the heap of fish-bones lying at +the root of yonder Varana-tree. Just as I have eaten those fish, every +one of them, just so I will devour you as well!" + +"Ah! those fishes got eaten through their own stupidity," answered the +crab; "but I'm not going to let you eat _me_. On the contrary, is +it _you_ that I am going to destroy. For you in your folly have +not seen that I was outwitting you. If we die, we die both together; +for I will cut off this head of yours, and cast it to the ground!" And +so saying, he gave the crane's neck a grip with his claws, as with a +vice. + +Then gasping, and with tears trickling from his eyes, and trembling +with the fear of death, the crane beseeched him, saying, "O my Lord! +Indeed I did not intend to eat you. Grant me my life!" + +"Well, well! step down into the pond, and put me in there." + +And he turned round and stepped down into the pond, and placed the crab +on the mud at its edge. But the crab cut through its neck as clean as +one would cut a lotus-stalk with a hunting-knife, and then only entered +the water! + +When the Genius who lived in the Varana-tree saw this strange affair, +he made the wood resound with his plaudits, uttering in a pleasant +voice the verse: + + "The villain, though exceeding clever, + Shall prosper not by his villainy. + He may win indeed, sharp-witted in deceit, + But only as the Crane here from the Crab!" + + + +LOVING LAILI + +Once there was a king called King Dantal, who had a great many rupees +and soldiers and horses. He had also an only son called Prince Majnun, +who was a handsome boy with white teeth, red lips, blue eyes, red +cheeks, red hair, and a white skin. This boy was very fond of playing +with the Wazir's son, Husain Mahamat, in King Dantal's garden, which +was very large and full of delicious fruits, and flowers, and trees. +They used to take their little knives there and cut the fruits and eat +them. King Dantal had a teacher for them to teach them to read and +write. + +One day, when they were grown two fine young men, Prince Majnun said to +his father, "Husain Mahamat and I should like to go and hunt." His +father said they might go, so they got ready their horses and all else +they wanted for their hunting, and went to the Phalana country, hunting +all the way, but they only founds jackals and birds. + +The Raja of the Phalana country was called Munsuk Raja, and he had a +daughter named Laili, who was very beautiful; she had brown eyes and +black hair. + +One night, some time before Prince Majnun came to her father's kingdom, +as she slept, Khuda sent to her an angel in the form of a man who told +her that she should marry Prince Majnun and no one else, and that this +was Khuda's command to her. When Laili woke she told her father of the +angel's visit to her as she slept; but her father paid no attention to +her story. From that time she began repeating, "Majnun, Majnun; I want +Majnun," and would say nothing else. Even as she sat and ate her food +she kept saying, "Majnun, Majnun; I want Majnun." Her father used to +get quite vexed with her. "Who is this Majnun? who ever heard of this +Majnun?" he would say. + +"He is the man I am to marry," said Laili. "Khuda has ordered me to +marry no one but Majnun." And she was half mad. + +Meanwhile, Majnun and Husain Mahamat came to hunt in the Phalana +country; and as they were riding about, Laili came out on her horse to +eat the air, and rode behind them. All the time she kept saying, +"Majnun, Majnun; I want Majnun." The prince heard her, and turned +round. "Who is calling me?" he asked. At this Laili looked at him, and +the moment she saw him she fell deeply in love with him, and she said +to herself, "I am sure that is the Prince Majnun that Khuda says I am +to marry." And she went home to her father and said, "Father, I wish to +marry the prince who has come to your kingdom; for I know he is the +Prince Majnun I am to marry." + +"Very well, you shall have him for your husband," said Munsuk Raja. "We +will ask him to-morrow." Laili consented to wait, although she was very +impatient. As it happened, the prince left the Phalana kingdom that +night, and when Laili heard he was gone, she went quite mad. She would +not listen to a word her father, or her mother, or her servants said to +her, but went off into the jungle, and wandered from jungle to jungle, +till she got farther and farther away from her own country. All the +time she kept saying, "Majnun, Majnun; I want Majnun;" and so she +wandered about for twelve years. + +At the end of the twelve years she met a fakir--he was really an angel, +but she did not know this--who asked her, "Why do you always say, +'Majnun, Majnun; I want Majnun'?" She answered, "I am the daughter of +the king of the Phalana country, and I want to find Prince Majnun; tell +me where his kingdom is." + +"I think you will never get there," said the fakir, "for it is very far +from hence, and you have to cross many rivers to reach it." But Laili +said she did not care; she must see Prince Majnun. "Well," said the +fakir, "when you come to the Bhagirathi river you will see a big fish, +a Rohu; and you must get him to carry you to Prince Majnun's country, +or you will never reach it." + +She went on and on, and at last she came to the Bhagirathi river. There +was a great big fish called the Rohu fish. It was yawning just as she +got up to it, and she instantly jumped down its throat into its +stomach. All the time she kept saying, "Majnun, Majnun." At this the +Rohu fish was greatly alarmed and swam down the river as fast as he +could. By degrees he got tired and went slower, and a crow came and +perched on his back, and said "Caw, caw." "Oh, Mr. Crow," said the poor +fish "do see what is in my stomach that makes such a noise." + +"Very well," said the crow, "open your mouth wide, and I'll fly down +and see." + +So the Rohu opened his jaws and the crow flew down, but he came up +again very quickly. "You have a Rakshas in your stomach," said the +crow, and he flew away. + +This news did not comfort the poor Rohu, and he swam on and on till he +came to Prince Majnun's country. There he stopped. And a jackal came +down to the river to drink. "Oh, jackal," said the Rohu "do tell me +what I have inside me." + +"How can I tell?" said the jackal. "I cannot see unless I go inside +you." So the Rohu opened his mouth wide, and the jackal jumped down his +throat; but he came up very quickly, looking much frightened and +saying, "You have a Rakshas in your stomach, and if I don't run away +quickly, I am afraid it will eat me." So off he ran. After the jackal +came an enormous snake. "Oh," says the fish, "do tell me what I have in +my stomach, for it rattles about so, and keeps saying, 'Majnun, Majnun; +I want Majnun.'" + +The snake said, "Open your mouth wide, and I'll go down and see what it +is." The snake went down: when he returned he said, "You have a Rakshas +in your stomach, but if you will let me cut you open, it will come out +of you." "If you do that, I shall die," said the Rohu. "Oh, no," said +the snake, "you will not, for I will give you a medicine that will make +you quite well again." So the fish agreed, and the snake got a knife +and cut him open, and out jumped Laili. + +She was now very old. Twelve years she had wandered about the jungle, +and for twelve years she had lived inside her Rohu; and she was no +longer beautiful, and had lost her teeth. The snake took her on his +back and carried her into the country, and there he put her down, and +she wandered on and on till she got to Majnun's court-house, where King +Majnun was sitting. There some men heard her crying, "Majnun, Majnun; I +want Majnun," and they asked her what she wanted. "I want King Majnun," +she said. + +So they went in and said to Prince Majnun, "An old woman outside says +she wants you." "I cannot leave this place," said he; "send her in +here." They brought her in and the prince asked her what she wanted. "I +want to marry you," she answered. "Twenty-four years ago you came to my +father the Phalana Raja's country, and I wanted to marry you then; but +you went away without marrying me. Then I went mad, and I have wandered +about all these years looking for you." Prince Majnun said, "Very +good." + +"Pray to Khuda," said Laili, "to make us both young again, and then we +shall be married." So the prince prayed to Khuda, and Khuda said to +him, "Touch Laili's clothes and they will catch fire, and when they are +on fire, she and you will become young again." When he touched Laili's +clothes they caught fire, and she and he became young again. And there +were great feasts, and they were married, and travelled to the Phalana +country to see her father and mother. + +Now Laili's father and mother had wept so much for their daughter that +they had become quite blind, and her father kept always repeating, +"Laili, Laili, Laili." When Laili saw their blindness, she prayed to +Khuda to restore their sight to them, which he did. As soon as the +father and mother saw Laili, they hugged her and kissed her, and then +they had the wedding all over again amid great rejoicings. Prince +Majnum and Laili stayed with Munsuk Raja and his wife for three years, +and then they returned to King Dantal, and lived happily for some time +with him. They used to go out hunting, and they often went from country +to country to eat the air and amuse themselves. + +One day Prince Majnun said to Laili, "Let us go through this jungle." +"No, no," said Laili; "if we go through this jungle, some harm will +happen to me." But Prince Majnun laughed, and went into the jungle. And +as they were going through it, Khuda thought, "I should like to know +how much Prince Majnun loves his wife. Would he be very sorry if she +died? And would he marry another wife? I will see." So he sent one of +his angels in the form of a fakir into the jungle; and the angel went +up to Laili, and threw some powder in her face, and instantly she fell +to the ground a heap of ashes. + +Prince Majnun was in great sorrow and grief when he saw his dear Laili +turned into a little heap of ashes; and he went straight home to his +father, and for a long, long time he would not be comforted. After a +great many years he grew more cheerful and happy, and began to go again +into his father's beautiful garden with Husain Mahamat. King Dantal +wished his son to marry again. "I will only have Laili for my wife; I +will not marry any other woman," said Prince Majnun. + +"How can you marry Laili? Laili is dead. She will never come back to +you," said the father. "Then I'll not have any wife at all," said +Prince Majnun. + +Meanwhile Laili was living in the jungle where her husband had left her +a little heap of ashes. As soon as Majnun had gone, the fakir had taken +her ashes and made them quite clean, and then he had mixed clay and +water with the ashes, and made the figure of a woman with them, and so +Laili regained her human form, and Khuda sent life into it. But Laili +had become once more a hideous old woman, with a long, long nose, and +teeth like tusks; just such an old woman, excepting her teeth, as she +had been when she came out of the Rohu fish; and she lived in the +jungle, and neither ate nor drank, and she kept on saying, "Majnun, +Majnun; I want Majnun." + +At last the angel who had come as a fakir and thrown the powder at her, +said to Khuda, "Of what use is it that this woman should sit in the +jungle crying, crying for ever, 'Majnun, Majnun; I want Majnun,' and +eating and drinking nothing? Let me take her to Prince Majnun." "Well," +said Khuda, "you may do so; but tell her that she must not speak to +Majnun if he is afraid of her when he sees her; and that if he is +afraid when he sees her, she will become a little white dog the next +day. Then she must go to the palace, and she will only regain her human +shape when Prince Majnun loves her, feeds her with his own food, and +lets her sleep in his bed." + +So the angel came to Laili again as a fakir and carried her to King +Dantal's garden. "Now," he said, "it is Khuda's command that you stay +here till Prince Majnun comes to walk in the garden, and then you may +show yourself to him. But you must not speak to him, if he is afraid of +you; and should he be afraid of you, you will the next day become a +little white dog." He then told her what she must do as a little dog to +regain her human form. + +Laili stayed in the garden, hidden in the tall grass, till Prince +Majnun and Husain Mahamat came to walk in the garden. King Dantal was +now a very old man, and Husain Mahamat, though he was really only as +old as Prince Majnun, looked a great deal older than the prince, who +had been made quite young again when he married Laili. + +As Prince Majnun and the Wazir's son walked in the garden, they +gathered the fruit as they had done as little children, only they bit +the fruit with their teeth; they did not cut it. While Majnun was busy +eating a fruit in this way, and was talking to Husain Mahamat, he +turned towards him and saw Laili walking behind the Wazir's son. + +"Oh, look, look!" he cried, "see what is following you; it is a Rakshas +or a demon, and I am sure it is going to eat us." Laili looked at him +beseechingly with all her eyes, and trembled with age and eagerness; +but this only frightened Majnun the more. "It is a Rakshas, a Rakshas!" +he cried, and he ran quickly to the palace with the Wazir's son; and as +they ran away, Laili disappeared into the jungle. They ran to King +Dantal, and Majnun told him there was a Rakshas or a demon in the +garden that had come to eat them. + +"What nonsense," said his father. "Fancy two grown men being so +frightened by an old ayah or a fakir! And if it had been a Rakshas, it +would not have eaten you." Indeed King Dantal did not believe Majnun +had seen anything at all, till Husain Mahamat said the prince was +speaking the exact truth. They had the garden searched for the terrible +old woman, but found nothing, and King Dantal told his son he was very +silly to be so much frightened. However, Prince Majnun would not walk +in the garden any more. + +The next day Laili turned into a pretty little dog; and in this shape +she came into the palace, where Prince Majnun soon became very fond of +her. She followed him everywhere, went with him when he was out +hunting, and helped him to catch his game, and Prince Majnun fed her +with milk, or bread, or anything else he was eating, and at night the +little dog slept in his bed. + +But one night the little dog disappeared, and in its stead there lay +the little old woman who had frightened him so much in the garden; and +now Prince Majnun was quite sure she was a Rakshas, or a demon, or some +such horrible thing come to eat him; and in his terror he cried out, +"What do you want? Oh, do not eat me; do not eat me!" Poor Laili +answered, "Don't you know me? I am your wife Laili, and I want to marry +you. Don't you remember how you would go through that jungle, though I +begged and begged you not to go, for I told you that harm would happen +to me, and then a fakir came and threw powder in my face, and I became +a heap of ashes. But Khuda gave me my life again, and brought me here, +after I had stayed a long, long while in the jungle crying for you, and +now I am obliged to be a little dog; but if you will marry me, I shall +not be a little dog any more." Majnun, however, said "How can I marry +an old woman like you? how can you be Laili? I am sure you are a +Rakshas or a demon come to eat me," and he was in great terror. + +In the morning the old woman had turned into the little dog, and the +prince went to his father and told him all that had happened. "An old +woman! an old woman! always an old woman!" said his father. "You do +nothing but think of old women. How can a strong man like you be so +easily frightened?" However, when he saw that his son was really in +great terror, and that he really believed the old woman would came back +at night, he advised him to say to her, "I will marry you if you can +make yourself a young girl again. How can I marry such an old woman as +you are?" + +That night as he lay trembling in bed the little old woman lay there in +place of the dog, crying "Majnun, Majnun, I want to marry you. I have +loved you all these long, long years. When I was in my father's kingdom +a young girl, I knew of you, though you knew nothing of me, and we +should have been married then if you had not gone away so suddenly, and +for long, long years I followed you." + +"Well," said Majnun, "if you can make yourself a young girl again, I +will marry you." + +Laili said, "Oh, that is quite easy. Khuda will make me a young girl +again. In two days' time you must go into the garden, and there you +will see a beautiful fruit. You must gather it and bring it into your +room and cut it open yourself very gently, and you must not open it +when your father or anybody else is with you, but when you are quite +alone; for I shall be in the fruit quite naked, without any clothes at +all on." In the morning Laili took her little dog's form, and +disappeared in the garden. + +Prince Majnun told all this to his father, who told him to do all the +old woman had bidden him. In two days' time he and the Wazir's son +walked in the garden, and there they saw a large, lovely red fruit. +"Oh!" said the Prince, "I wonder shall I find my wife in that fruit." +Husain Mahamat wanted him to gather it and see, but he would not till +he had told his father, who said, "That must be the fruit; go and +gather it." So Majnun went back and broke the fruit off its stalk; and +he said to his father, "Come with me to my room while I open it; I am +afraid to open it alone, for perhaps I shall find a Rakshas in it that +will eat me." + +"No," said King Dantal; "remember, Laili will be naked; you must go +alone and do not be afraid if, after all, a Rakshas is in the fruit, +for I will stay outside the door, and you have only to call me with a +loud voice, and I will come to you, so the Rakshas will not be able to +eat you." + +Then Majnun took the fruit and began to cut it open tremblingly, for he +shook with fear; and when he had cut it, out stepped Laili, young and +far more beautiful than she had ever been. At the sight of her extreme +beauty, Majnun fell backwards fainting on the floor. + +Laili took off his turban and wound it all round herself like a sari +(for she had no clothes at all on), and then she called King Dantal, +and said to him sadly, "Why has Majnun fallen down like this? Why will +he not speak to me? He never used to be afraid of me; and he has seen +me so many, many times." + +King Dantal answered, "It is because you are so beautiful. You are far, +far more beautiful than you ever were. But he will be very happy +directly." Then the King got some water, and they bathed Majnun's face +and gave him some to drink, and he sat up again. + +Then Laili said, "Why did you faint? Did you not see I am Laili?" + +"Oh!" said Prince Majnun, "I see you are Laili come back to me, but +your eyes have grown so wonderfully beautiful, that I fainted when I +saw them." Then they were all very happy, and King Dantal had all the +drums in the place beaten, and had all the musical instruments played +on, and they made a grand wedding-feast, and gave presents to the +servants, and rice and quantities of rupees to the fakirs. + +After some time had passed very happily, Prince Majnun and his wife +went out to eat the air. They rode on the same horse, and had only a +groom with them. They came to another kingdom, to a beautiful garden. +"We must go into that garden and see it," said Majnun. + +"No, no," said Laili; "it belongs to a bad Raja, Chumman Basa, a very +wicked man." But Majnun insisted on going in, and in spite of all Laili +could say, he got off the horse to look at the flowers. Now, as he was +looking at the flowers, Laili saw Chumman Basa coming towards them, and +she read in his eyes that he meant to kill her husband and seize her. +So she said to Majnun, "Come, come, let us go; do not go near that bad +man. I see in his eyes, and I feel in my heart, that he will kill you +to seize me." + +"What nonsense," said Majnun. "I believe he is a very good Raja. +Anyhow, I am so near to him that I could not get away." + +"Well," said Laili, "it is better that you should be killed than I, for +if I were to be killed a second time, Khuda would not give me my life +again; but I can bring you to life if you are killed." Now Chumman Basa +had come quite near, and seemed very pleasant, so thought Prince +Majnun; but when he was speaking to Majnun, he drew his scimitar and +cut off the prince's head at one blow. + +Laili sat quite still on her horse, and as the Raja came towards her +she said, "Why did you kill my husband?" + +"Because I want to take you," he answered. + +"You cannot," said Laili. + +"Yes, I can," said the Raja. + +"Take me, then," said Laili to Chumman Basa; so he came quite close and +put out his hand to take hers to lift her off her horse. But she put +her hand in her pocket and pulled out a tiny knife, only as long as her +hand was broad, and this knife unfolded itself in one instant till it +was such a length! and then Laili made a great sweep with her arm and +her long, long knife, and off came Chumman Basa's head at one touch. + +Then Laili slipped down off her horse, and she went to Majnun's dead +body, and she cut her little finger inside her hand straight down from +the top of her nail to her palm, and out of this gushed blood like +healing medicine. Then she put Majnun's head on his shoulders, and +smeared her healing blood all over the wound, and Majnun woke up and +said, "What a delightful sleep I have had! Why, I feel as if I had +slept for years!" Then he got up and saw the Raja's dead body by +Laili's horse. + +"What's that?" said Majnun. + +"That is the wicked Raja who killed you to seize me, just as I said he +would." + +"Who killed him?" asked Majnun. + +"I did," answered Laili, "and it was I who brought you to life." + +"Do bring the poor man to life if you know how to do so," said Majnun. + +"No," said Laili, "for he is a wicked man, and will try to do you +harm." But Majnun asked her for such a long time, and so earnestly to +bring the wicked Raja to life, that at least she said, "Jump up on the +horse, then, and go far away with the groom." + +"What will you do," said Majnun, "if I leave you? I cannot leave you." + +"I will take care of myself," said Laili; "but this man is so wicked, +he may kill you again if you are near him." So Majnun got up on the +horse, and he and the groom went a long way off and waited for Laili. +Then she set the wicked Raja's head straight on his shoulders, and she +squeezed the wound in her finger till a little blood-medicine came out +of it. Then she smeared this over the place where her knife had passed, +and just as she saw the Raja opening his eyes, she began to run, and +she ran, and ran so fast, that she outran the Raja, who tried to catch +her; and she sprang up on the horse behind her husband, and they rode +so fast, so fast, till they reached King Dantal's palace. + +There Prince Majnun told everything to his father, who was horrified +and angry. "How lucky for you that you have such a wife," he said. "Why +did you not do what she told you? But for her, you would be now dead." +Then he made a great feast out of gratitude for his son's safety, and +gave many, many rupees to the fakirs. And he made so much of Laili. He +loved her dearly; he could not do enough for her. Then he built a +splendid palace for her and his son, with a great deal of ground about +it, and lovely gardens, and gave them great wealth, and heaps of +servants to wait on them. But he would not allow any but their servants +to enter their gardens and palace, and he would not allow Majnun to go +out of them, nor Laili; "for," said King Dantal, "Laili is so +beautiful, that perhaps some one may kill my son to take her away." + + + +THE TIGER, THE BRAHMAN, AND THE JACKAL + +Once upon a time, a tiger was caught in a trap. He tried in vain to get +out through the bars, and rolled and bit with rage and grief when he +failed. + +By chance a poor Brahman came by. "Let me out of this cage, oh pious +one!" cried the tiger. + +"Nay, my friend," replied the Brahman mildly, "you would probably eat +me if I did." + +"Not at all!" swore the tiger with many oaths; "on the contrary, I +should be for ever grateful, and serve you as a slave!" + +Now when the tiger sobbed and sighed and wept and swore, the pious +Brahman's heart softened, and at last he consented to open the door of +the cage. Out popped the tiger, and, seizing the poor man, cried, "What +a fool you are! What is to prevent my eating you now, for after being +cooped up so long I am just terribly hungry!" + +In vain the Brahman pleaded for his life; the most he could gain was a +promise to abide by the decision of the first three things he chose to +question as to the justice of the tiger's action. + +So the Brahman first asked a _pipal_ tree what it thought of the +matter, but the _pipal_ tree replied coldly, "What have you to +complain about? Don't I give shade and shelter to every one who passes +by, and don't they in return tear down my branches to feed their +cattle? Don't whimper--be a man!" + +Then the Brahman, sad at heart, went further afield till he saw a +buffalo turning a well-wheel; but he fared no better from it, for it +answered, "You are a fool to expect gratitude! Look at me! Whilst I +gave milk they fed me on cotton-seed and oil-cake, but now I am dry +they yoke me here, and give me refuse as fodder!" + +The Brahman, still more sad, asked the road to give him its opinion. + +"My dear sir," said the road, "how foolish you are to expect anything +else! Here am I, useful to everybody, yet all, rich and poor, great and +small, trample on me as they go past, giving me nothing but the ashes +of their pipes and the husks of their grain!" + +On this the Brahman turned back sorrowfully, and on the way he met a +jackal, who called out, "Why, what's the matter, Mr. Brahman? You look +as miserable as a fish out of water!" + +The Brahman told him all that had occurred. "How very confusing!" said +the jackal, when the recital was ended; "would you mind telling me over +again, for everything has got so mixed up?" + +The Brahman told it all over again, but the jackal shook his head in a +distracted sort of way, and still could not understand. + +"It's very odd," said he, sadly, "but it all seems to go in at one ear +and out at the other! I will go to the place where it all happened, and +then perhaps I shall be able to give a judgment." + +So they returned to the cage, by which the tiger was waiting for the +Brahman, and sharpening his teeth and claws. + +"You've been away a long time!" growled the savage beast, "but now let +us begin our dinner." + +"_Our_ dinner!" thought the wretched Brahman, as his knees knocked +together with fright; "what a remarkably delicate way of putting it!" + +"Give me five minutes, my lord!" he pleaded, "in order that I may +explain matters to the jackal here, who is somewhat slow in his wits." + +The tiger consented, and the Brahman began the whole story over again, +not missing a single detail, and spinning as long a yarn as possible. + +"Oh, my poor brain! oh, my poor brain!" cried the jackal, wringing its +paws. "Let me see! how did it all begin? You were in the cage, and the +tiger came walking by--" + +"Pooh!" interrupted the tiger, "what a fool you are! _I_ was in +the cage." + +"Of course!" cried the jackal, pretending to tremble with fright; "yes! +I was in the cage--no I wasn't--dear! dear! where are my wits? Let me +see--the tiger was in the Brahman, and the cage came walking by--no, +that's not it, either! Well, don't mind me, but begin your dinner, for +I shall never understand!" + +"Yes, you shall!" returned the tiger, in a rage at the jackal's +stupidity; "I'll _make_ you understand! Look here--I am the +tiger--" + +"Yes, my lord!" + +"And that is the Brahman--" + +"Yes, my lord!" + +"And that is the cage--" + +"Yes, my lord!" + +"And I was in the cage--do you understand?" + +"Yes--no--Please, my lord--" + +"Well?" cried the tiger impatiently. + +"Please, my lord!--how did you get in?" + +"How!--why in the usual way, of course!" + +"Oh, dear me!--my head is beginning to whirl again! Please don't be +angry, my lord, but what is the usual way?" + +At this the tiger lost patience, and, jumping into the cage, cried, +"This way! Now do you understand how it was?" + +"Perfectly!" grinned the jackal, as he dexterously shut the door, "and +if you will permit me to say so, I think matters will remain as they +were!" + + + +THE SOOTHSAYER'S SON + +A soothsayer when on his deathbed wrote out the horoscope of his second +son, whose name was Gangazara, and bequeathed it to him as his only +property, leaving the whole of his estate to his eldest son. The second +son thought over the horoscope, and said to himself: + +"Alas! am I born to this only in the world? The sayings of my father +never failed. I have seen them prove true to the last word while he was +living; and how has he fixed my horoscope! 'FROM MY BIRTH POVERTY!' Nor +is that my only fate. 'FOR TEN YEARS, IMPRISONMENT'--a fate harder than +poverty; and what comes next? 'DEATH ON THE SEA-SHORE'; which means +that I must die away from home, far from friends and relatives on a +sea-coast. Now comes the most curious part of the horoscope, that I am +to 'HAVE SOME HAPPINESS AFTERWARDS!' What this happiness is, is an +enigma to me." + +Thus thought he, and after all the funeral obsequies of his father were +over, took leave of his elder brother, and started for Benares. He went +by the middle of the Deccan, avoiding both the coasts, and went on +journeying and journeying for weeks and months, till at last he reached +the Vindhya mountains. While passing that desert he had to journey for +a couple of days through a sandy plain, with no signs of life or +vegetation. The little store of provision with which he was provided +for a couple of days, at last was exhausted. The chombu, which he +carried always full, filling it with the sweet water from the flowing +rivulet or plenteous tank, he had exhausted in the heat of the desert. +There was not a morsel in his hand to eat; nor a drop of water to +drink. Turn his eyes wherever he might he found a vast desert, out of +which he saw no means of escape. Still he thought within himself, +"Surely my father's prophecy never proved untrue. I must survive this +calamity to find my death on some sea-coast." So thought he, and this +thought gave him strength of mind to walk fast and try to find a drop +of water somewhere to slake his dry throat. + +At last he succeeded; heaven threw in his way a ruined well. He thought +he could collect some water if he let down his chombu with the string +that he always carried noosed to the neck of it. Accordingly he let it +down; it went some way and stopped, and the following words came from +the well: "Oh, relieve me! I am the king of tigers, dying here of +hunger. For the last three days I have had nothing. Fortune has sent +you here. If you assist me now you will find a sure help in me +throughout your life. Do not think that I am a beast of prey. When you +have become my deliverer I will never touch you. Pray, kindly lift me +up." Gangazara thought: "Shall I take him out or not? If I take him out +he may make me the first morsel of his hungry mouth. No; that he will +not do. For my father's prophecy never came untrue. I must die on a sea +coast, and not by a tiger." Thus thinking, he asked the tiger-king to +hold tight to the vessel, which he accordingly did, and he lifted him +up slowly. The tiger reached the top of the well and felt himself on +safe ground. True to his word, he did no harm to Gangazara. On the +other hand, he walked round his patron three times, and standing before +him, humbly spoke the following words: "My life-giver, my benefactor! +I shall never forget this day, when I regained my life through your +kind hands. In return for this kind assistance I pledge my oath to +stand by you in all calamities. Whenever you are in any difficulty +just think of me. I am there with you ready to oblige you by all the +means that I can. To tell you briefly how I came in here: Three days +ago I was roaming in yonder forest, when I saw a goldsmith passing +through it. I chased him. He, finding it impossible to escape my claws, +jumped into this well, and is living to this moment in the very bottom +of it. I also jumped in, but found myself on the first ledge of the +well; he is on the last and fourth ledge. In the second lives a serpent +half-famished with hunger. On the third lies a rat, also half-famished, +and when you again begin to draw water these may request you first to +release them. In the same way the goldsmith also may ask you. I beg +you, as your bosom friend, never assist that wretched man, though he is +your relation as a human being. Goldsmiths are never to be trusted. You +can place more faith in me, a tiger, though I feast sometimes upon men, +in a serpent, whose sting makes your blood cold the very next moment, +or in a rat, which does a thousand pieces of mischief in your house. +But never trust a goldsmith. Do not release him; and if you do, you +shall surely repent of it one day or other." Thus advising, the hungry +tiger went away without waiting for an answer. + +Gangazara thought several times of the eloquent way in which the tiger +spoke, and admired his fluency of speech. But still his thirst was not +quenched. So he let down his vessel again, which was now caught hold of +by the serpent, who addressed him thus: "Oh, my protector! Lift me up. +I am the king of serpents, and the son of Adisesha, who is now pining +away in agony for my disappearance. Release me now. I shall ever remain +your servant, remember your assistance, and help you throughout life in +all possible ways. Oblige me: I am dying." Gangazara, calling again to +mind the "DEATH ON THE SEA-SHORE" of the prophecy lifted him up. He, +like the tiger-king, walked round him thrice, and prostrating himself +before him spoke thus: "Oh, my life-giver, my father, for so I must +call you, as you have given me another birth. I was three days ago +basking myself in the morning sun, when I saw a rat running before me. +I chased him. He fell into this well. I followed him, but instead of +falling on the third storey where he is now lying, I fell into the +second. I am going away now to see my father. Whenever you are in any +difficulty just think of me. I will be there by your side to assist you +by all possible means." So saying, the Nagaraja glided away in zigzag +movements, and was out of sight in a moment. + +The poor son of the Soothsayer, who was now almost dying of thirst, let +down his vessel for a third time. The rat caught hold of it, and +without discussing he lifted up the poor animal at once. But it would +not go away without showing its gratitude: "Oh, life of my life! My +benefactor! I am the king of rats. Whenever you are in any calamity +just think of me. I will come to you, and assist you. My keen ears +overheard all that the tiger-king told you about the goldsmith, who is +in the fourth storey. It is nothing but a sad truth that goldsmiths +ought never to be trusted. Therefore, never assist him as you have done +to us all. And if you do, you will suffer for it. I am hungry; let me +go for the present." Thus taking leave of his benefactor, the rat, too, +ran away. + +Gangazara for a while thought upon the repeated advice given by the +three animals about releasing the goldsmith: "What wrong would there be +in my assisting him? Why should I not release him also?" So thinking to +himself, Gangazara let down the vessel again. The goldsmith caught hold +of it, and demanded help. The Soothsayer's son had no time to lose; he +was himself dying of thirst. + +Therefore he lifted the goldsmith up, who now began his story. "Stop +for a while," said Gangazara, and after quenching his thirst by letting +down his vessel for the fifth time, still fearing that some one might +remain in the well and demand his assistance, he listened to the +goldsmith, who began as follows: "My dear friend, my protector, what a +deal of nonsense these brutes have been talking to you about me; I am +glad you have not followed their advice. I am just now dying of hunger. +Permit me to go away. My name is Manikkasari. I live in the East main +street of Ujjaini, which is twenty kas to the south of this place, and +so lies on your way when you return from Benares. Do not forget to come +to me and receive my kind remembrances of your assistance, on your way +back to your country." So saying, the goldsmith took his leave, and +Gangazara also pursued his way north after the above adventures. + +He reached Benares, and lived there for more than ten years, and quite +forgot the tiger, serpent, rat, and goldsmith. After ten years of +religious life, thoughts of home and of his brother rushed into his +mind. "I have secured enough merit now by my religious observances. Let +me return home." Thus thought Gangazara within himself, and very soon +he was on his way back to his country. Remembering the prophecy of his +father he returned by the same way by which he went to Benares ten +years before. While thus retracing his steps he reached the ruined well +where he had released the three brute kings and the gold smith. At once +the old recollections rushed into his mind, and he thought of the tiger +to test his fidelity. Only a moment passed, and the tiger-king came +running before him carrying a large crown in his mouth, the glitter of +the diamonds of which for a time outshone even the bright rays of the +sun. He dropped the crown at his life-giver's feet, and, putting aside +all his pride, humbled himself like a pet cat to the strokes of his +protector, and began in the following words: "My life-giver! How is it +that you have forgotten me, your poor servant, for such a long time? I +am glad to find that I still occupy a corner in your mind. I can never +forget the day when I owed my life to your lotus hands. I have several +jewels with me of little value. This crown, being the best of all, I +have brought here as a single ornament of great value, which you can +carry with you and dispose of in your own country." Gangazara looked at +the crown, examined it over and over, counted and recounted the gems, +and thought within himself that he would become the richest of men by +separating the diamonds and gold, and selling them in his own country. +He took leave of the tiger-king, and after his disappearance thought of +the kings of serpents and rats, who came in their turn with their +presents, and after the usual greetings and exchange of words took +their leave. Gangazara was extremely delighted at the faithfulness with +which the brute beasts behaved, and went on his way to the south. While +going along he spoke to himself thus: "These beasts have been very +faithful in their assistance. Much more, therefore, must Manikkasari be +faithful. I do not want anything from him now. If I take this crown +with me as it is, it occupies much space in my bundle. It may also +excite the curiosity of some robbers on the way. I will go now to +Ujjaini on my way. Manikkasari requested me to see him without failure +on my return journey. I shall do so, and request him to have the crown +melted, the diamonds and gold separated. He must do that kindness at +least for me. I shall then roll up these diamonds and gold ball in my +rags, and wend my way homewards." Thus thinking and thinking, he +reached Ujjaini. At once he inquired for the house of his goldsmith +friend, and found him without difficulty. Manikkasari was extremely +delighted to find on his threshold him who ten years before, +notwithstanding the advice repeatedly given him by the sage-looking +tiger, serpent, and rat, had relieved him from the pit of death. +Gangazara at once showed him the crown that he received from the tiger- +king, told him how he got it, and requested his kind assistance to +separate the gold and diamonds. Manikkasari agreed to do so, and +meanwhile asked his friend to rest himself for a while to have his bath +and meals; and Gangazara, who was very observant of his religious +ceremonies, went direct to the river to bathe. + +How came the crown in the jaws of the tiger? The king of Ujjaini had a +week before gone with all his hunters on a hunting expedition. All of a +sudden the tiger-king started from the wood, seized the king, and +vanished. + +When the king's attendants informed the prince about the death of his +father he wept and wailed, and gave notice that he would give half of +his kingdom to any one who should bring him news about the murderer of +his father. The goldsmith knew full well that it was a tiger that +killed the king, and not any hunter's hands, since he had heard from +Gangazara how he obtained the crown. Still, he resolved to denounce +Gangazara as the king's murderer, so, hiding the crown under his +garments, he flew to the palace. He went before the prince and informed +him that the assassin was caught, and placed the crown before him. + +The prince took it into his hands, examined it, and at once gave half +the kingdom to Manikkasari, and then inquired about the murderer. "He +is bathing in the river, and is of such and such appearance," was the +reply. At once four armed soldiers flew to the river, and bound the +poor Brahman hand and foot, while he, sitting in meditation, was +without any knowledge of the fate that hung over him. They brought +Gangazara to the presence of the prince, who turned his face away from +the supposed murderer, and asked his soldiers to throw him into a +dungeon. In a minute, without knowing the cause, the poor Brahman found +himself in the dark dungeon. + +It was a dark cellar underground, built with strong stone walls, into +which any criminal guilty of a capital offence was ushered to breathe +his last there without food and drink. Such was the cellar into which +Gangazara was thrust. What were his thoughts when he reached that +place? "It is of no use to accuse either the goldsmith or the prince +now. We are all the children of fate. We must obey her commands. This +is but the first day of my father's prophecy. So far his statement is +true. But how am I going to pass ten years here? Perhaps without +anything to sustain life I may drag on my existence for a day or two. +But how pass ten years? That cannot be, and I must die. Before death +comes let me think of my faithful brute friends." + +So pondered Gangazara in the dark cell underground, and at that moment +thought of his three friends. The tiger-king, serpent-king, and rat- +king assembled at once with their armies at a garden near the dungeon, +and for a while did not know what to do. They held their council, and +decided to make an underground passage from the inside of a ruined well +to the dungeon. The rat raja issued an order at once to that effect to +his army. They, with their teeth, bored the ground a long way to the +walls of the prison. After reaching it they found that their teeth +could not work on the hard stones. The bandicoots were then specially +ordered for the business; they, with their hard teeth, made a small +slit in the wall for a rat to pass and re-pass without difficulty. Thus +a passage was effected. + +The rat raja entered first to condole with his protector on his +misfortune, and undertook to supply his protector with provisions. +"Whatever sweetmeats or bread are prepared in any house, one and all of +you must try to bring whatever you can to our benefactor. Whatever +clothes you find hanging in a house, cut down, dip the pieces in water, +and bring the wet bits to our benefactor. He will squeeze them and +gather water for drink! and the bread and sweetmeats shall form his +food." Having issued these orders, the king of the rats took leave of +Gangazara. They, in obedience to their king's order, continued to +supply him with provisions and water. + +The snake-king said: "I sincerely condole with you in your calamity; +the tiger-king also fully sympathises with you, and wants me to tell +you so, as he cannot drag his huge body here as we have done with our +small ones. The king of the rats has promised to do his best to provide +you with food. We would now do what we can for your release. From this +day we shall issue orders to our armies to oppress all the subjects of +this kingdom. The deaths by snake-bite and tigers shall increase a +hundredfold from this day, and day by day it shall continue to increase +till your release. Whenever you hear people near you, you had better +bawl out so as to be heard by them: 'The wretched prince imprisoned me +on the false charge of having killed his father, while it was a tiger +that killed him. From that day these calamities have broken out in his +dominions. If I were released I would save all by my powers of healing +poisonous wounds and by incantations.' Some one may report this to the +king, and if he knows it, you will obtain your liberty." Thus +comforting his protector in trouble, he advised him to pluck up +courage, and took leave of him. From that day tigers and serpents, +acting under the orders of their kings, united in killing as many +persons and cattle as possible. Every day people were carried away by +tigers or bitten by serpents. Thus passed months and years. Gangazara +sat in the dark cellar, without the sun's light falling upon him, and +feasted upon the breadcrumbs and sweetmeats that the rats so kindly +supplied him with. These delicacies had completely changed his body +into a red, stout, huge, unwieldy mass of flesh. Thus passed full ten +years, as prophesied in the horoscope. + +Ten complete years rolled away in close imprisonment. On the last +evening of the tenth year one of the serpents got into the bed-chamber +of the princess and sucked her life. She breathed her last. She was the +only daughter of the king. The king at once sent for all the snake-bite +curers. He promised half his kingdom and his daughter's hand to him who +would restore her to life. Now a servant of the king who had several +times overheard Gangazara's cries, reported the matter to him. The king +at once ordered the cell to be examined. There was the man sitting in +it. How had he managed to live so long in the cell? Some whispered that +he must be a divine being. Thus they discussed, while they brought +Gangazara to the king. + +The king no sooner saw Gangazara than he fell on the ground. He was +struck by the majesty and grandeur of his person. His ten years' +imprisonment in the deep cell underground had given a sort of lustre to +his body. His hair had first to be cut before his face could be seen. +The king begged forgiveness for his former fault, and requested him to +revive his daughter. + +"Bring me within an hour all the corpses of men and cattle, dying and +dead, that remain unburnt or unburied within the range of your +dominions; I shall revive them all," were the only words that Gangazara +spoke. + +Cartloads of corpses of men and cattle began to come in every minute. +Even graves, it is said, were broken open, and corpses buried a day or +two before were taken out and sent for their revival. As soon as all +were ready, Gangazara took a vessel full of water and sprinkled it over +them all, thinking only of his snake-king and tiger-king. All rose up +as if from deep slumber, and went to their respective homes. The +princess, too, was restored to life. The joy of the king knew no +bounds. He cursed the day on which he imprisoned him, blamed himself +for having believed the word of a goldsmith, and offered him the hand +of his daughter and the whole kingdom, instead of half, as he promised. +Gangazara would not accept anything, but asked the king to assemble all +his subjects in a wood near the town. "I shall there call in all the +tigers and serpents, and give them a general order." + +When the whole town was assembled, just at the dusk of evening, +Gangazara sat dumb for a moment, and thought upon the Tiger King and +the Serpent King, who came with all their armies. People began to take +to their heels at the sight of tigers. Gangazara assured them of +safety, and stopped them. + +The grey light of the evening, the pumpkin colour of Gangazara, the +holy ashes scattered lavishly over his body, the tigers and snakes +humbling themselves at his feet, gave him the true majesty of the god +Gangazara. For who else by a single word could thus command vast armies +of tigers and serpents, said some among the people. "Care not for it; +it may be by magic. That is not a great thing. That he revived +cartloads of corpses shows him to be surely Gangazara," said others. + +"Why should you, my children, thus trouble these poor subjects of +Ujjaini? Reply to me, and henceforth desist from your ravages." Thus +said the Soothsayer's son, and the following reply came from the king +of the tigers: "Why should this base king imprison your honour, +believing the mere word of a goldsmith that your honour killed his +father? All the hunters told him that his father was carried away by a +tiger. I was the messenger of death sent to deal the blow on his neck. +I did it, and gave the crown to your honour. The prince makes no +inquiry, and at once imprisons your honour. How can we expect justice +from such a stupid king as that? Unless he adopt a better standard of +justice we will go on with our destruction." + +The king heard, cursed the day on which he believed in the word of a +goldsmith, beat his head, tore his hair, wept and wailed for his crime, +asked a thousand pardons, and swore to rule in a just way from that +day. The serpent-king and tiger-king also promised to observe their +oath as long as justice prevailed, and took their leave. The gold-smith +fled for his life. He was caught by the soldiers of the king, and was +pardoned by the generous Gangazara, whose voice now reigned supreme. +All returned to their homes. The king again pressed Gangazara to accept +the hand of his daughter. He agreed to do so, not then, but some time +afterwards. He wished to go and see his elder brother first, and then +to return and marry the princess. The king agreed; and Gangazara left +the city that very day on his way home. + +It so happened that unwittingly he took a wrong road, and had to pass +near a sea-coast. His elder brother was also on his way up to Benares +by that very same route. They met and recognised each other, even at a +distance. They flew into each other's arms. Both remained still for a +time almost unconscious with joy. The pleasure of Gangazara was so +great that he died of joy. + +The elder brother was a devout worshipper of Ganesa. That was a Friday, +a day very sacred to that god. The elder brother took the corpse to the +nearest Ganesa temple and called upon him. The god came, and asked him +what he wanted. "My poor brother is dead and gone; and this is his +corpse. Kindly keep it in your charge till I finish worshipping you. If +I leave it anywhere else the devils may snatch it away when I am absent +worshipping you; after finishing the rites I shall burn him." Thus said +the elder brother, and, giving the corpse to the god Ganesa, he went to +prepare himself for that deity's ceremonials. Ganesa made over the +corpse to his Ganas, asking them to watch over it carefully. But +instead of that they devoured it. + +The elder brother, after finishing the puja, demanded his brother's +corpse of the god. The god called his Ganas, who came to the front +blinking, and fearing the anger of their master. The god was greatly +enraged. The elder brother was very angry. When the corpse was not +forthcoming he cuttingly remarked, "Is this, after all, the return for +my deep belief in you? You are unable even to return my brother's +corpse." Ganesa was much ashamed at the remark. So he, by his divine +power, gave him a living Gangazara instead of the dead corpse. Thus was +the second son of the Soothsayer restored to life. + +The brothers had a long talk about each other's adventures. They both +went to Ujjaini, where Gangazara married the princess, and succeeded to +the throne of that kingdom. He reigned for a long time, conferring +several benefits upon his brother. And so the horoscope was fully +fulfilled. + + + +HARISAMAN + +There was a certain Brahman in a certain village, named Harisarman. He +was poor and foolish and in evil case for want of employment, and he +had very many children, that he might reap the fruit of his misdeeds in +a former life. He wandered about begging with his family, and at last +he reached a certain city, and entered the service of a rich +householder called Sthuladatta. His sons became keepers of +Sthuladatta's cows and other property, and his wife a servant to him, +and he himself lived near his house, performing the duty of an +attendant. One day there was a feast on account of the marriage of the +daughter of Sthuladatta, largely attended by many friends of the bride- +groom, and merry-makers. Harisarman hoped that he would be able to fill +himself up to the throat with ghee and flesh and other dainties, and +get the same for his family, in the house of his patron. While he was +anxiously expecting to be fed, no one thought of him. + +Then he was distressed at getting nothing to eat, and he said to his +wife at night, "It is owing to my poverty and stupidity that I am +treated with such disrespect here; so I will pretend by means of an +artifice to possess a knowledge of magic, so that I may become an +object of respect to this Sthuladatta; so, when you get an opportunity, +tell him that I possess magical knowledge." He said this to her, and +after turning the matter over in his mind, while people were asleep he +took away from the house of Sthuladatta a horse on which his master's +son-in-law rode. He placed it in concealment at some distance, and in +the morning the friends of the bridegroom could not find the horse, +though they searched in every direction. Then, while Sthuladatta was +distressed at the evil omen, and searching for the thieves who had +carried off the horse, the wife of Harisarman came and said to him, +"My husband is a wise man, skilled in astrology and magical sciences; +he can get the horse back for you; why do you not ask him?" + +When Sthuladatta heard that, he called Harisarman, who said, "Yesterday +I was forgotten, but to-day, now the horse is stolen, I am called to +mind," and Sthuladatta then propitiated the Brahman with these words-- +"I forgot you, forgive me"--and asked him to tell him who had taken +away their horse. Then Harisarman drew all kinds of pretended diagrams, +and said: "The horse has been placed by thieves on the boundary line +south from this place. It is concealed there, and before it is carried +off to a distance, as it will be at close of day, go quickly and bring +it." When they heard that, many men ran and brought the horse quickly, +praising the discernment of Harisarman. Then Harisarman was honoured by +all men as a sage, and dwelt there in happiness, honoured by +Sthuladatta. + +Now, as days went on, much treasure, both of gold and jewels, had been +stolen by a thief from the palace of the king. As the thief was not +known, the king quickly summoned Harisarman on account of his +reputation for knowledge of magic. And he, when summoned, tried to gain +time, and said, "I will tell you to-morrow," and then he was placed in +a chamber by the king, and carefully guarded. And he was sad because he +had pretended to have knowledge. Now in that palace there was a maid +named Jihva (which means Tongue), who, with the assistance of her +brother, had stolen that treasure from the interior of the palace. She, +being alarmed at Harisarman's knowledge, went at night and applied her +ear to the door of that chamber in order to find out what he was about. +And Harisarman, who was alone inside, was at that very moment blaming +his own tongue, that had made a vain assumption of knowledge. He said: +"O Tongue, what is this that you have done through your greediness? +Wicked one, you will soon receive punishment in full." When Jihva heard +this, she thought, in her terror, that she had been discovered by this +wise man, and she managed to get in where he was, and falling at his +feet, she said to the supposed wizard: "Brahman, here I am, that Jihva +whom you have discovered to be the thief of the treasure, and after I +took it I buried it in the earth in a garden behind the palace, under a +pomegranate tree. So spare me, and receive the small quantity of gold +which is in my possession." + +When Harisarman heard that, he said to her proudly: "Depart, I know all +this; I know the past, present and future; but I will not denounce you, +being a miserable creature that has implored my protection. But +whatever gold is in your possession you must give back to me." When he +said this to the maid, she consented, and departed quickly. But +Harisarman reflected in his astonishment: "Fate brings about, as if in +sport, things impossible, for when calamity was so near, who would have +thought chance would have brought us success? While I was blaming my +jihva, the thief Jihva suddenly flung herself at my feet. Secret crimes +manifest themselves by means of fear." Thus thinking, he passed the +night happily in the chamber. And in the morning he brought the king, +by some skilful parade of pretended knowledge into the garden, and led +him up to the treasure, which was buried under the pomegranate tree, +and said that the thief had escaped with a part of it. Then the king +was pleased, and gave him the revenue of many villages. + +But the minister, named Devajnanin, whispered in the king's ear: "How +can a man possess such knowledge unattainable by men, without having +studied the books of magic; you may be certain that this is a specimen +of the way he makes a dishonest livelihood, by having a secret +intelligence with thieves. It will be much better to test him by some +new artifice." Then the king of his own accord brought a covered +pitcher into which he had thrown a frog, and said to Harisarman, +"Brahman, if you can guess what there is in this pitcher, I will do you +great honour to-day." When the Brahman Harisarman heard that, he +thought that his last hour had come, and he called to mind the pet name +of "Froggie" which his father had given him in his childhood in sport, +and, impelled by luck, he called to himself by his pet name, lamenting +his hard fate, and suddenly called out: "This is a fine pitcher for +you, Froggie; it will soon become the swift destroyer of your helpless +self." The people there, when they heard him say that, raised a shout +of applause, because his speech chimed in so well with the object +presented to him, and murmured, "Ah! a great sage, he knows even about +the frog!" Then the king, thinking that this was all due to knowledge +of divination, was highly delighted, and gave Harisarman the revenue of +more villages, with gold, an umbrella, and state carriages of all +kinds. So Harisarman prospered in the world. + + + +THE CHARMED RING + +A merchant started his son in life with three hundred rupees, and bade +him go to another country and try his luck in trade. The son took the +money and departed. He had not gone far before he came across some +herdsmen quarrelling over a dog, that some of them wished to kill. +"Please do not kill the dog," pleaded the young and tender-hearted +fellow; "I will give you one hundred rupees for it." Then and there, of +course, the bargain was concluded, and the foolish fellow took the dog, +and continued his journey. He next met with some people fighting about +a cat. Some of them wanted to kill it, but others not. "Oh! please do +not kill it," said he; "I will give you one hundred rupees for it." Of +course they at once gave him the cat and took the money. He went on +till he reached a village, where some folk were quarrelling over a +snake that had just been caught. Some of them wished to kill it, but +others did not. "Please do not kill the snake," said he; "I will give +you one hundred rupees." Of course the people agreed, and were highly +delighted. + +What a fool the fellow was! What would he do now that all his money was +gone? What could he do except return to his father? Accordingly he went +home. + +"You fool! You scamp!" exclaimed his father when he had heard how his +son had wasted all the money that had been given to him. "Go and live +in the stables and repent of your folly. You shall never again enter my +house." + +So the young man went and lived in the stables. His bed was the grass +spread for the cattle, and his companions were the dog, the cat, and +the snake, which he had purchased so dearly. These creatures got very +fond of him, and would follow him about during the day, and sleep by +him at night; the cat used to sleep at his feet, the dog at his head, +and the snake over his body, with its head hanging on one side and its +tail on the other. + +One day the snake in course of conversation said to its master, "I am +the son of Raja Indrasha. One day, when I had come out of the ground to +drink the air, some people seized me, and would have slain me had you +not most opportunely arrived to my rescue. I do not know how I shall +ever be able to repay you for your great kindness to me. Would that you +knew my father! How glad he would be to see his son's preserver!" + +"Where does he live? I should like to see him, if possible," said the +young man. + +"Well said!" continued the snake. "Do you see yonder mountain? At the +bottom of that mountain there is a sacred spring. If you will come with +me and dive into that spring, we shall both reach my father's country. +Oh! how glad he will be to see you! He will wish to reward you, too. +But how can he do that? However, you may be pleased to accept something +at his hand. If he asks you what you would like, you would, perhaps, do +well to reply, 'The ring on your right hand, and the famous pot and +spoon which you possess.' With these in your possession, you would +never need anything, for the ring is such that a man has only to speak +to it, and immediately a beautiful furnished mansion will be provided +for him, while the pot and the spoon will supply him with all manner of +the rarest and most delicious foods." + +Attended by his three companions the man walked to the well and +prepared to jump in, according to the snake's directions. "O master!" +exclaimed the cat and dog, when they saw what he was going to do. "What +shall we do? Where shall we go?" + +"Wait for me here," he replied. "I am not going far. I shall not be +long away." On saying this, he dived into the water and was lost to +sight. + +"Now what shall we do?" said the dog to the cat. "We must remain here," +replied the cat, "as our master ordered. Do not be anxious about food. +I will go to the people's houses and get plenty of food for both of +us." And so the cat did, and they both lived very comfortably till +their master came again and joined them. + +The young man and the snake reached their destination in safety; and +information of their arrival was sent to the Raja. His highness +commanded his son and the stranger to appear before him. But the snake +refused, saying that it could not go to its father till it was released +from this stranger, who had saved it from a most terrible death, and +whose slave it therefore was. Then the Raja went and embraced his son, +and saluting the stranger welcomed him to his dominions. The young man +stayed there a few days, during which he received the Raja's right-hand +ring, and the pot and spoon, in recognition of His Highness's gratitude +to him for having delivered his son. He then returned. On reaching the +top of the spring he found his friends, the dog and the cat, waiting +for him. They told one another all they had experienced since they had +last seen each other, and were all very glad. Afterwards they walked +together to the river side, where it was decided to try the powers of +the charmed ring and pot and spoon. + +The merchant's son spoke to the ring, and immediately a beautiful house +and a lovely princess with golden hair appeared. He spoke to the pot +and spoon, also, and the most delicious dishes of food were provided +for them. So he married the princess, and they lived very happily for +several years, until one morning the princess, while arranging her +toilet, put the loose hairs into a hollow bit of reed and threw them +into the river that flowed along under the window. The reed floated on +the water for many miles, and was at last picked up by the prince of +that country, who curiously opened it and saw the golden hair. On +finding it the prince rushed off to the palace, locked himself up in +his room, and would not leave it. He had fallen desperately in love +with the woman whose hair he had picked up, and refused to eat, or +drink, or sleep, or move, till she was brought to him. The king, his +father, was in great distress about the matter, and did not know what +to do. He feared lest his son should die and leave him without an heir. +At last he determined to seek the counsel of his aunt, who was an +ogress. The old woman consented to help him, and bade him not to be +anxious, as she felt certain that she would succeed in getting the +beautiful woman for his son's wife. + +She assumed the shape of a bee and went along buzzing, and buzzing, and +buzzing. Her keen sense of smell soon brought her to the beautiful +princess, to whom she appeared as an old hag, holding in one hand a +stick by way of support. She introduced herself to the beautiful +princess and said, "I am your aunt, whom you have never seen before, +because I left the country just after your birth." She also embraced +and kissed the princess by way of adding force to her words. The +beautiful princess was thoroughly deceived. She returned the ogress's +embrace, and invited her to come and stay in the house as long as she +could, and treated her with such honour and attention, that the ogress +thought to herself, "I shall soon accomplish my errand." When she had +been in the house three days, she began to talk of the charmed ring, +and advised her to keep it instead of her husband, because the latter +was constantly out shooting and on other such-like expeditions, and +might lose it. Accordingly the beautiful princess asked her husband for +the ring, and he readily gave it to her. + +The ogress waited another day before she asked to see the precious +thing. Doubting nothing, the beautiful princess complied, when the +ogress seized the ring, and reassuming the form of a bee flew away with +it to the palace, where the prince was lying nearly on the point of +death. "Rise up. Be glad. Mourn no more," she said to him. "The woman +for whom you yearn will appear at your summons. See, here is the charm, +whereby you may bring her before you." The prince was almost mad with +joy when he heard these words, and was so desirous of seeing the +beautiful princess, that he immediately spoke to the ring, and the +house with its fair occupant descended in the midst of the palace +garden. He at once entered the building, and telling the beautiful +princess of his intense love, entreated her to be his wife. Seeing no +escape from the difficulty, she consented on the condition that he +would wait one month for her. + +Meanwhile the merchant's son had returned from hunting and was terribly +distressed not to find his house and wife. There was the place only, +just as he knew it before he had tried the charmed ring which Raja +Indrasha had given him. He sat down and determined to put an end to +himself. Presently the cat and dog came up. They had gone away and +hidden themselves, when they saw the house and everything disappear. "O +master!" they said, "stay your hand. Your trial is great, but it can be +remedied. Give us one month, and we will go and try to recover your +wife and house." + +"Go," said he, "and may the great God aid your efforts. Bring back my +wife, and I shall live." + +So the cat and dog started off at a run, and did not stop till they +reached the place whither their mistress and the house had been taken. +"We may have some difficulty here," said the cat. "Look, the king has +taken our master's wife and house for himself. You stay here. I will go +to the house and try to see her." So the dog sat down, and the cat +climbed up to the window of the room, wherein the beautiful princess +was sitting, and entered. The princess recognised the cat, and informed +it of all that had happened to her since she had left them. + +"But is there no way of escape from the hands of these people?" she +asked. + +"Yes," replied the cat, "if you can tell me where the charmed ring is." + +"The ring is in the stomach of the ogress," she said. + +"All right," said the cat, "I will recover it. If we once get it, +everything is ours." Then the cat descended the wall of the house, and +went and laid down by a rat's hole and pretended she was dead. Now at +that time a great wedding chanced to be going on among the rat +community of that place, and all the rats of the neighbourhood were +assembled in that one particular mine by which the cat had lain down. +The eldest son of the king of the rats was about to be married. The cat +got to know of this, and at once conceived the idea of seizing the +bridegroom and making him render the necessary help. Consequently, when +the procession poured forth from the hole squealing and jumping in +honour of the occasion, it immediately spotted the bridegroom and +pounced down on him. "Oh! let me go, let me go," cried the terrified +rat. "Oh! let him go," squealed all the company. "It is his wedding +day." + +"No, no," replied the cat. "Not unless you do some thing for me. +Listen. The ogress, who lives in that house with the prince and his +wife, has swallowed a ring, which I very much want. If you will procure +it for me, I will allow the rat to depart unharmed. If you do not, then +your prince dies under my feet." + +"Very well, we agree," said they all. "Nay, if we do not get the ring +for you, devour us all." + +This was rather a bold offer. However, they accomplished the thing. At +midnight, when the ogress was sound asleep, one of the rats went to her +bedside, climbed up on her face, and inserted its tail into her throat; +whereupon the ogress coughed violently, and the ring came out and +rolled on to the floor. The rat immediately seized the precious thing +and ran off with it to its king, who was very glad, and went at once to +the cat and released its son. + +As soon as the cat received the ring, she started back with the dog to +go and tell their master the good tidings. All seemed safe now. They +had only to give the ring to him, and he would speak to it, and the +house and beautiful princess would again be with them, and everything +would go on as happily as before. "How glad master will be!" they +thought, and ran as fast as their legs could carry them. Now, on the +way they had to cross a stream. The dog swam, and the cat sat on its +back. Now the dog was jealous of the cat, so he asked for the ring, and +threatened to throw the cat into the water if it did not give it up; +whereupon the cat gave up the ring. Sorry moment, for the dog at once +dropped it, and a fish swallowed it. + +"Oh! what shall I do? what shall I do?" said the dog. + +"What is done is done," replied the cat. "We must try to recover it, +and if we do not succeed we had better drown ourselves in this stream. +I have a plan. You go and kill a small lamb, and bring it here to me." + +"All right," said the dog, and at once ran off. He soon came back with +a dead lamb, and gave it to the cat. The cat got inside the lamb and +lay down, telling the dog to go away a little distance and keep quiet. +Not long after this a nadhar, a bird whose look can break the bones of +a fish, came and hovered over the lamb, and eventually pounced down on +it to carry it away. On this the cat came out and jumped on to the +bird, and threatened to kill it if it did not recover the lost ring. +This was most readily promised by the nadhar, who immediately flew off +to the king of the fishes, and ordered it to make inquiries and to +restore the ring. The king of the fishes did so, and the ring was found +and carried back to the cat. + +"Come along now; I have got the ring," said the cat to the dog. + +"No, I will not," said the dog, "unless you let me have the ring. I can +carry it as well as you. Let me have it or I will kill you." So the cat +was obliged to give up the ring. The careless dog very soon dropped it +again. This time it was picked up and carried off by a kite. + +"See, see, there it goes--away to that big tree," the cat exclaimed. + +"Oh! oh! what have I done?" cried the dog. + +"You foolish thing, I knew it would be so," said the cat. "But stop +your barking, or you will frighten away the bird to some place where we +shall not be able to trace it." + +The cat waited till it was quite dark, and then climbed the tree, +killed the kite, and recovered the ring. "Come along," it said to the +dog when it reached the ground. "We must make haste now. We have been +delayed. Our master will die from grief and suspense. Come on." + +The dog, now thoroughly ashamed of itself, begged the cat's pardon for +all the trouble it had given. It was afraid to ask for the ring the +third time, so they both reached their sorrowing master in safety and +gave him the precious charm. In a moment his sorrow was turned into +joy. He spoke to the ring, and his beautiful wife and house reappeared, +and he and everybody were as happy as ever they could be. + + + +THE TALKATIVE TORTOISE + +The future Buddha was once born in a minister's family, when Brahma- +datta was reigning in Benares; and when he grew up, he became the +king's adviser in things temporal and spiritual. + +Now this king was very talkative; while he was speaking, others had no +opportunity for a word. And the future Buddha, wanting to cure this +talkativeness of his, was constantly seeking for some means of doing +so. + +At that time there was living, in a pond in the Himalaya mountains, a +tortoise. Two young hamsas, or wild ducks, who came to feed there, made +friends with him. And one day, when they had become very intimate with +him, they said to the tortoise: + +"Friend tortoise! the place where we live, at the Golden Cave on Mount +Beautiful in the Himalaya country, is a delightful spot. Will you come +there with us?" + +"But how can I get there?" + +"We can take you, if you can only hold your tongue, and will say +nothing to anybody." + +"Oh! that I can do. Take me with you." + +"That's right," said they. And making the tortoise bite hold of a +stick, they themselves took the two ends in their teeth, and flew up +into the air. + +Seeing him thus carried by the hamsas, some villagers called out, "Two +wild ducks are carrying a tortoise along on a stick!" Whereupon the +tortoise wanted to say, "If my friends choose to carry me, what is that +to you, you wretched slaves!" So just as the swift flight of the wild +ducks had brought him over the king's palace in the city of Benares, he +let go of the stick he was biting, and falling in the open courtyard, +split in two! And there arose a universal cry, "A tortoise has fallen +in the open courtyard, and has split in two!" + +The king, taking the future Buddha, went to the place, surrounded by +his courtiers; and looking at the tortoise, he asked the Bodisat, +"Teacher! how comes he to be fallen here?" + +The future Buddha thought to himself, "Long expecting, wishing to +admonish the king, have I sought for some means of doing so. This +tortoise must have made friends with the wild ducks; and they must have +made him bite hold of the stick, and have flown up into the air to take +him to the hills. But he, being unable to hold his tongue when he hears +any one else talk, must have wanted to say something, and let go the +stick; and so must have fallen down from the sky, and thus lost his +life." And saying, "Truly, O king! those who are called chatter-boxes-- +people whose words have no end--come to grief like this," he uttered +these Verses: + + "Verily the tortoise killed himself + Whilst uttering his voice; + Though he was holding tight the stick, + By a word himself he slew. + + "Behold him then, O excellent by strength! + And speak wise words, not out of season. + You see how, by his talking overmuch, + The tortoise fell into this wretched plight!" + +The king saw that he was himself referred to, and said, "O Teacher! are +you speaking of us?" + +And the Bodisat spake openly, and said, "O great king! be it thou, or +be it any other, whoever talks beyond measure meets with some mishap +like this." + +And the king henceforth refrained himself, and became a man of few +words. + + + +A LAC OF RUPEES FOR A BIT OF ADVICE + +A poor blind Brahman and his wife were dependent on their son for +their subsistence. Every day the young fellow used to go out and get +what he could by begging. This continued for some time, till at last he +became quite tired of such a wretched life, and determined to go and +try his luck in another country. He informed his wife of his intention, +and ordered her to manage somehow or other for the old people during +the few months that he would be absent. He begged her to be +industrious, lest his parents should be angry and curse him. + +One morning he started with some food in a bundle, and walked on day +after day, till he reached the chief city of the neighbouring country. +Here he went and sat down by a merchant's shop and asked alms. The +merchant inquired whence he had come, why he had come, and what was his +caste; to which he replied that he was a Brahman, and was wandering +hither and thither begging a livelihood for himself and wife and +parents. Moved with pity for the man, the merchant advised him to visit +the kind and generous king of that country, and offered to accompany +him to the court. Now at that time it happened that the king was +seeking for a Brahman to look after a golden temple which he had just +had built. His Majesty was very glad, therefore, when he saw the +Brahman and heard that he was good and honest. He at once deputed him +to the charge of this temple, and ordered fifty kharwars of rice and +one hundred rupees to be paid to him every year as wages. + +Two months after this, the Brahman's wife, not having heard any news of +her husband, left the house and went in quest of him. By a happy fate +she arrived at the very place that he had reached, where she heard that +every morning at the golden temple a golden rupee was given in the +king's name to any beggar who chose to go for it. Accordingly, on the +following morning she went to the place and met her husband. + +"Why have you come here?" he asked. "Why have you left my parents? Care +you not whether they curse me and I die? Go back immediately, and await +my return." + +"No, no," said the woman. "I cannot go back to starve and see your old +father and mother die. There is not a grain of rice left in the house." + +"O Bhagawant!" exclaimed the Brahman. "Here, take this," he continued, +scribbling a few lines on some paper, and then handing it to her, "and +give it to the king. You will see that he will give you a lac of rupees +for it." Thus saying he dismissed her, and the woman left. + +On this scrap of paper were written three pieces of advice--First, If a +person is travelling and reaches any strange place at night, let him be +careful where he puts up, and not close his eyes in sleep, lest he +close them in death. Secondly, If a man has a married sister, and +visits her in great pomp, she will receive him for the sake of what she +can obtain from him; but if he comes to her in poverty, she will frown +on him and disown him. Thirdly, If a man has to do any work, he must do +it himself, and do it with might and without fear. + +On reaching her home the Brahmani told her parents of her meeting with +her husband, and what a valuable piece of paper he had given her; but +not liking to go before the king herself, she sent one of her +relations. The king read the paper, and ordering the man to be flogged, +dismissed him. The next morning the Brahmani took the paper, and while +she was going along the road to the darbar reading it, the king's son +met her, and asked what she was reading, whereupon she replied that she +held in her hands a paper containing certain bits of advice, for which +she wanted a lac of rupees. The prince asked her to show it to him, and +when he had read it gave her a parwana for the amount, and rode on. The +poor Brahmani was very thankful. That day she laid in a great store of +provisions, sufficient to last them all for a long time. + +In the evening the prince related to his father the meeting with the +woman, and the purchase of the piece of paper. He thought his father +would applaud the act. But it was not so. The king was more angry than +before, and banished his son from the country. + +So the prince bade adieu to his mother and relations and friends, and +rode off on his horse, whither he did not know. At nightfall he arrived +at some place, where a man met him, and invited him to lodge at his +house. The prince accepted the invitation, and was treated like a +prince. Matting was spread for him to squat on, and the best provisions +set before him. + +"Ah!" thought he, as he lay down to rest, "here is a case for the first +piece of advice that the Brahmani gave me. I will not sleep to-night." + +It was well that he thus resolved, for in the middle of the night the +man rose up, and taking a sword in his hand, rushed to the prince with +the intention of killing him. But he rose up and spoke. + +"Do not slay me," he said. "What profit would you get from my death? If +you killed me you would be sorry afterwards, like that man who killed +his dog." + +"What man? What dog?" he asked. + +"I will tell you," said the prince, "if you will give me that sword." + +So he gave him the sword, and the prince began his story: + +"Once upon a time there lived a wealthy merchant who had a pet dog. He +was suddenly reduced to poverty, and had to part with his dog. He got a +loan of five thousand rupees from a brother merchant, leaving the dog +as a pledge, and with the money began business again. Not long after +this the other merchant's shop was broken into by thieves and +completely sacked. There was hardly ten rupees' worth left in the +place. The faithful dog, however, knew what was going on, and went and +followed the thieves, and saw where they deposited the things, and then +returned. + +"In the morning there was great weeping and lamentation in the +merchant's house when it was known what had happened. The merchant +himself nearly went mad. Meanwhile the dog kept on running to the door, +and pulling at his master's shirt and paijamas, as though wishing him +to go outside. At last a friend suggested that, perhaps, the dog knew +something of the whereabouts of the things, and advised the merchant to +follow its leadings. The merchant consented, and went after the dog +right up to the very place where the thieves had hidden the goods. Here +the animal scraped and barked, and showed in various ways that the +things were underneath. So the merchant and his friends dug about the +place, and soon came upon all the stolen property. Nothing was missing. +There was everything just as the thieves had taken them. + +"The merchant was very glad. On returning to his house, he at once sent +the dog back to its old master with a letter rolled under the collar, +wherein he had written about the sagacity of the beast, and begged his +friend to forget the loan and to accept another five thousand rupees as +a present. When this merchant saw his dog coming back again, he +thought, 'Alas! my friend is wanting the money. How can I pay him? I +have not had sufficient time to recover myself from my recent losses. I +will slay the dog ere he reaches the threshold, and say that another +must have slain it. Thus there will be an end of my debt.' + +"No dog, no loan. Accordingly he ran out and killed the poor dog, when +the letter fell out of its collar. The merchant picked it up and read +it. How great was his grief and disappointment when he knew the facts +of the case! + +"Beware," continued the prince, "lest you do that which afterwards you +would give your life not to have done." + +By the time the prince had concluded this story it was nearly morning, +and he went away, after rewarding the man. + +The prince then visited the country belonging to his brother-in-law. He +disguised himself as a jogi, and sitting down by a tree near the +palace, pretended to be absorbed in worship. News of the man and of his +wonderful piety reached the ears of the king. He felt interested in +him, as his wife was very ill; and he had sought for hakims to cure +her, but in vain. He thought that, perhaps, this holy man could do +something for her. So he sent to him. But the jogi refused to tread the +halls of a king, saying that his dwelling was the open air, and that if +his Majesty wished to see him he must come himself and bring his wife +to the place. Then the king took his wife and brought her to the jogi. +The holy man bade her prostrate herself before him, and when she had +remained in this position for about three hours, he told her to rise +and go, for she was cured. + +In the evening there was great consternation in the palace, because the +queen had lost her pearl rosary, and nobody knew anything about it. At +length some one went to the jogi, and found it on the ground by the +place where the queen had prostrated herself. When the king heard this +he was very angry, and ordered the jogi to be executed. This stern +order, however, was not carried out, as the prince bribed the men and +escaped from the country. But he knew that the second bit of advice was +true. + +Clad in his own clothes, the prince was walking along one day when he +saw a potter crying and laughing alternately with his wife and +children. "O fool," said he, "what is the matter? If you laugh, why do +you weep? If you weep, why do you laugh?" + +"Do not bother me," said the potter. "What does it matter to you?" + +"Pardon me," said the prince, "but I should like to know the reason." + +"The reason is this, then," said the potter. "The king of this country +has a daughter whom he is obliged to marry every day, because all her +husbands die the first night of their stay with her. Nearly all the +young men of the place have thus perished, and our son will be called +on soon. We laugh at the absurdity of the thing--a potter's son +marrying a princess, and we cry at the terrible consequence of the +marriage. What can we do?" + +"Truly a matter for laughing and weeping. But weep no more," said the +prince. "I will exchange places with your son, and will be married to +the princess instead of him. Only give me suitable garments, and +prepare me for the occasion." + +So the potter gave him beautiful raiment and ornaments, and the prince +went to the palace. At night he was conducted to the apartment of the +princess. "Dread hour!" thought he; "am I to die like the scores of +young men before me?" He clenched his sword with firm grip, and lay +down on his bed, intending to keep awake all the night and see what +would happen. In the middle of the night he saw two Shahmars come out +from the nostrils of the princess. They stole over towards him, +intending to kill him, like the others who had been before him: but he +was ready for them. He laid hold of his sword, and when the snakes +reached his bed he struck at them and killed them. In the morning the +king came as usual to inquire, and was surprised to hear his daughter +and the prince talking gaily together. "Surely," said he, "this man +must be her husband, as he only can live with her." + +"Where do you come from? Who are you?" asked the king, entering the +room. + +"O king!" replied the prince, "I am the son of a king who rules over +such-and-such a country." + +When he heard this the king was very glad, and bade the prince to abide +in his palace, and appointed him his successor to the throne. The +prince remained at the palace for more than a year, and then asked +permission to visit his own country, which was granted. The king gave +him elephants, horses, jewels, and abundance of money for the expenses +of the way and as presents for his father, and the prince started. + +On the way he had to pass through the country belonging to his brother- +in-law, whom we have already mentioned. Report of his arrival reached +the ears of the king, who came with rope-tied hands and haltered neck +to do him homage. He most humbly begged him to stay at his palace, and +to accept what little hospitality could be provided. While the prince +was staying at the palace he saw his sister, who greeted him with +smiles and kisses. On leaving he told her how she and her husband had +treated him at his first visit, and how he had escaped; and then gave +them two elephants, two beautiful horses, fifteen soldiers, and ten +lacs rupees' worth of jewels. + +Afterwards he went to his own home, and informed his mother and father +of his arrival. Alas! his parents had both become blind from weeping +about the loss of their son. "Let him come in," said the king, "and put +his hands upon our eyes, and we shall see again." So the prince +entered, and was most affectionately greeted by his old parents; and he +laid his hands on their eyes, and they saw again. + +Then the prince told his father all that had happened to him, and how +he had been saved several times by attending to the advice that he had +purchased from the Brahmani. Whereupon the king expressed his sorrow +for having sent him away, and all was joy and peace again. + + + +THE GOLD-GIVING SERPENT + +Now in a certain place there lived a Brahman named Haridatta. He was a +farmer, but poor was the return his labour brought him. One day, at the +end of the hot hours, the Brahman, overcome by the heat, lay down under +the shadow of a tree to have a doze. Suddenly he saw a great hooded +snake creeping out of an ant-hill near at hand. So he thought to +himself, "Sure this is the guardian deity of the field, and I have not +ever worshipped it. That's why my farming is in vain. I will at once go +and pay my respects to it." + +When he had made up his mind, he got some milk, poured it into a bowl, +and went to the ant-hill, and said aloud: "O Guardian of this Field! +all this while I did not know that you dwelt here. That is why I have +not yet paid my respects to you; pray forgive me." And he laid the milk +down and went to his house. Next morning he came and looked, and he saw +a gold denar in the bowl, and from that time onward every day the same +thing occurred he gave milk to the serpent and found a gold denar. + +One day the Brahman had to go to the village, and so he ordered his son +to take the milk to the ant-hill. The son brought the milk, put it +down, and went back home. Next day he went again and found a denar, so +he thought to himself: "This ant-hill is surely full of golden denars; +I'll kill the serpent, and take them all for myself." So next day, +while he was giving the milk to the serpent, the Brahman's son struck +it on the head with a cudgel. But the serpent escaped death by the will +of fate, and in a rage bit the Brahman's son with its sharp fangs, and +he fell down dead at once. His people raised him a funeral pyre not far +from the field and burnt him to ashes. + +Two days afterwards his father came back, and when he learnt his son's +fate he grieved and mourned. But after a time, he took the bowl of +milk, went to the ant-hill, and praised the serpent with a loud voice. +After a long, long time the serpent appeared, but only with its head +out of the opening of the ant-hill, and spoke to the Brahman: "'Tis +greed that brings you here, and makes you even forget the loss of your +son. From this time forward friendship between us is impossible. Your +son struck me in youthful ignorance, and I have bitten him to death. +How can I forget the blow with the cudgel? And how can you forget the +pain and grief at the loss of your son?" So speaking, it gave the +Brahman a costly pearl and disappeared. But before it went away it +said: "Come back no more." The Brahman took the pearl, and went back +home, cursing the folly of his son. + + + +THE SON OF SEVEN QUEENS + +Once upon a time there lived a King who had seven Queens, but no +children. This was a great grief to him, especially when he remembered +that on his death there would be no heir to inherit the kingdom. + +Now it happened one day that a poor old fakir came to the King, and +said, "Your prayers are heard, your desire shall be accomplished, and +one of your seven Queens shall bear a son." + +The King's delight at this promise knew no bounds, and he gave orders +for appropriate festivities to be prepared against the coming event +throughout the length and breadth of the land. + +Meanwhile the seven Queens lived luxuriously in a splendid palace, +attended by hundreds of female slaves, and fed to their hearts' content +on sweetmeats and confectionery. + +Now the King was very fond of hunting, and one day, before he started, +the seven Queens sent him a message saying, "May it please our dearest +lord not to hunt towards the north to-day, for we have dreamt bad +dreams, and fear lest evil should befall you." + +The king, to allay their anxiety, promised regard for their wishes, and +set out towards the south; but as luck would have it, although he +hunted diligently, he found no game. Nor had he more success to the +east or west, so that, being a keen sportsman, and determined not to go +home empty-handed, he forgot all about his promise, and turned to the +north. Here also he was at first unsuccessful, but just as he had made +up his mind to give up for that day, a white hind with golden horns and +silver hoofs flashed past him into a thicket. So quickly did it pass +that he scarcely saw it; nevertheless a burning desire to capture and +possess the beautiful strange creature filled his breast. He instantly +ordered his attendants to form a ring round the thicket, and so +encircle the hind; then, gradually narrowing the circle, he pressed +forward till he could distinctly see the white hind panting in the +midst. Nearer and nearer he advanced, till, just as he thought to lay +hold of the beautiful strange creature, it gave one mighty bound, leapt +clean over the King's head, and fled towards the mountains. Forgetful +of all else, the King, setting spurs to his horse, followed at full +speed. On, on he galloped, leaving his retinue far behind, keeping the +white hind in view, never drawing bridle, until, finding himself in a +narrow ravine with no outlet, he reined in his steed. Before him stood +a miserable hovel, into which, being tired after his long, unsuccessful +chase, he entered to ask for a drink of water. An old woman, seated in +the hut at a spinning-wheel, answered his request by calling to her +daughter, and immediately from an inner room came a maiden so lovely +and charming, so white-skinned and golden-haired, that the King was +transfixed by astonishment at seeing so beautiful a sight in the +wretched hovel. + +She held the vessel of water to the King's lips, and as he drank he +looked into her eyes, and then it became clear to him that the girl was +no other than the white hind with the golden horns and silver feet he +had chased so far. + +Her beauty bewitched him, so he fell on his knees, begging her to +return with him as his bride; but she only laughed, saying seven Queens +were quite enough even for a King to manage. However, when he would +take no refusal, but implored her to have pity on him, promising her +everything she could desire, she replied, "Give me the eyes of your +seven Queens, and then perhaps I may believe you mean what you say." + +The King was so carried away by the glamour of the white hind's magical +beauty, that he went home at once, had the eyes of his seven Queens +taken out, and, after throwing the poor blind creatures into a noisome +dungeon whence they could not escape, set off once more for the hovel +in the ravine, bearing with him his horrible offering. But the white +hind only laughed cruelly when she saw the fourteen eyes, and threading +them as a necklace, flung it round her mother's neck, saying, "Wear +that, little mother, as a keepsake, whilst I am away in the King's +palace." + +Then she went back with the bewitched monarch, as his bride, and he +gave her the seven Queens' rich clothes and jewels to wear, the seven +Queens' palace to live in, and the seven Queens' slaves to wait upon +her; so that she really had everything even a witch could desire. + +Now, very soon after the seven wretched hapless Queens had their eyes +torn out, and were cast into prison, a baby was born to the youngest of +the Queens. It was a handsome boy, but the other Queens were very +jealous that the youngest amongst them should be so fortunate. But +though at first they disliked the handsome little boy, he soon proved +so useful to them, that ere long they all looked on him as their son. +Almost as soon as he could walk about he began scraping at the mud wall +of their dungeon, and in an incredibly short space of time had made a +hole big enough for him to crawl through. Through this he disappeared, +returning in an hour or so laden with sweet-meats, which he divided +equally amongst the seven blind Queens. + +As he grew older he enlarged the hole, and slipped out two or three +times every day to play with the little nobles in the town. No one knew +who the tiny boy was, but everybody liked him, and he was so full of +funny tricks and antics, so merry and bright, that he was sure to be +rewarded by some girdle-cakes, a handful of parched grain, or some +sweetmeats. All these things he brought home to his seven mothers, as +he loved to call the seven blind Queens, who by his help lived on in +their dungeon when all the world thought they had starved to death ages +before. + +At last, when he was quite a big lad, he one day took his bow and +arrow, and went out to seek for game. Coming by chance past the palace +where the white hind lived in wicked splendour and magnificence, he saw +some pigeons fluttering round the white marble turrets, and, taking +good aim, shot one dead. It came tumbling past the very window where +the white Queen was sitting; she rose to see what was the matter, and +looked out. At the first glance of the handsome young lad standing +there bow in hand, she knew by witchcraft that it was the King's son. + +She nearly died of envy and spite, determining to destroy the lad +without delay; therefore, sending a servant to bring him to her +presence, she asked him if he would sell her the pigeon he had just +shot. + +"No," replied the sturdy lad, "the pigeon is for my seven blind +mothers, who live in the noisome dungeon, and who would die if I did +not bring them food." + +"Poor souls!" cried the cunning white witch; "would you not like to +bring them their eyes again? Give me the pigeon, my dear, and I +faithfully promise to show you where to find them." + +Hearing this, the lad was delighted beyond measure, and gave up the +pigeon at once. Whereupon the white Queen told him to seek her mother +without delay, and ask for the eyes which she wore as a necklace. + +"She will not fail to give them," said the cruel Queen, "if you show +her this token on which I have written what I want done." + +So saying, she gave the lad a piece of broken potsherd, with these +words inscribed on it--"Kill the bearer at once, and sprinkle his blood +like water!" + +Now, as the son of seven Queens could not read, he took the fatal +message cheerfully, and set off to find the white Queen's mother. + +Whilst he was journeying be passed through a town, where every one of +the inhabitants looked so sad, that he could not help asking what was +the matter. They told him it was because the King's only daughter +refused to marry; so when her father died there would be no heir to the +throne. They greatly feared she must be out of her mind, for though +every good-looking young man in the kingdom had been shown to her, she +declared she would only marry one who was the son of seven mothers, and +who ever heard of such a thing? The King, in despair, had ordered every +man who entered the city gates to be led before the Princess; so, much +to the lad's impatience, for he was in an immense hurry to find his +mothers' eyes, he was dragged into the presence-chamber. + +No sooner did the Princess catch sight of him than she blushed, and, +turning to the King, said, "Dear father, this is my choice!" + +Never were such rejoicings as these few words produced. + +The inhabitants nearly went wild with joy, but the son of seven Queens +said he would not marry the Princess unless they first let him recover +his mothers' eyes. When the beautiful bride heard his story, she asked +to see the potsherd, for she was very learned and clever. Seeing the +treacherous words, she said nothing, but taking another similar-shaped +bit of potsherd, she wrote on it these words--"Take care of this lad, +giving him all he desires," and returned it to the son of seven Queens, +who, none the wiser, set off on his quest. + +Ere long he arrived at the hovel in the ravine where the white witch's +mother, a hideous old creature, grumbled dreadfully on reading the +message, especially when the lad asked for the necklace of eyes. +Nevertheless she took it off, and gave it him, saying, "There are only +thirteen of 'em now, for I lost one last week." + +The lad, however, was only too glad to get any at all, so he hurried +home as fast as he could to his seven mothers, and gave two eyes apiece +to the six elder Queens; but to the youngest he gave one, saying, +"Dearest little mother!--I will be your other eye always!" + +After this he set off to marry the Princess, as he had promised, but +when passing by the white Queen's palace he saw some pigeons on the +roof. Drawing his bow, he shot one, and it came fluttering past the +window. The white hind looked out, and lo! there was the King's son +alive and well. + +She cried with hatred and disgust, but sending for the lad, asked him +how he had returned so soon, and when she heard how he had brought home +the thirteen eyes, and given them to the seven blind Queens, she could +hardly restrain her rage. Nevertheless she pretended to be charmed with +his success, and told him that if he would give her this pigeon also, +she would reward him with the Jogi's wonderful cow, whose milk flows +all day long, and makes a pond as big as a kingdom. The lad, nothing +loth, gave her the pigeon; whereupon, as before, she bade him go ask +her mother for the cow, and gave him a potsherd whereon was written-- +"Kill this lad without fail, and sprinkle his blood like water!" + +But on the way the son of seven Queens looked in on the Princess, just +to tell her how he came to be delayed, and she, after reading the +message on the potsherd, gave him another in its stead; so that when +the lad reached the old hag's hut and asked her for the Jogi's cow, she +could not refuse, but told the boy how to find it; and bidding him of +all things not to be afraid of the eighteen thousand demons who kept +watch and ward over the treasure, told him to be off before she became +too angry at her daughter's foolishness in thus giving away so many +good things. + +Then the lad did as he had been told bravely. He journeyed on and on +till he came to a milk-white pond, guarded by the eighteen thousand +demons. They were really frightful to behold, but, plucking up courage, +he whistled a tune as he walked through them, looking neither to the +right nor the left. By-and-by he came upon the Jogi's cow, tall, white, +and beautiful, while the Jogi himself, who was king of all the demons, +sat milking her day and night, and the milk streamed from her udder, +filling the milk-white tank. + +The Jogi, seeing the lad, called out fiercely, "What do you want here?" + +Then the lad answered, according to the old hag's bidding, "I want your +skin, for King Indra is making a new kettle-drum, and says your skin is +nice and tough." + +Upon this the Jogi began to shiver and shake (for no Jinn or Jogi dares +disobey King Indra's command), and, falling at the lad's feet, cried, +"If you will spare me I will give you anything I possess, even my +beautiful white cow!" + +To this the son of seven Queens, after a little pretended hesitation, +agreed, saying that after all it would not be difficult to find a nice +tough skin like the Jogi's elsewhere; so, driving the wonderful cow +before him, he set off homewards. The seven Queens were delighted to +possess so marvellous an animal, and though they toiled from morning +till night making curds and whey, besides selling milk to the +confectioners, they could not use half the cow gave, and became richer +and richer day by day. + +Seeing them so comfortably off, the son of seven Queens started with a +light heart to marry the Princess; but when passing the white hind's +palace he could not resist sending a bolt at some pigeons which were +cooing on the parapet. One fell dead just beneath the window where the +white Queen was sitting. Looking out, she saw the lad hale and hearty +standing before her, and grew whiter than ever with rage and spite. + +She sent for him to ask how he had returned so soon, and when she heard +how kindly her mother had received him, she very nearly had a fit; +however, she dissembled her feelings as well as she could, and, smiling +sweetly, said she was glad to have been able to fulfil her promise, and +that if he would give her this third pigeon, she would do yet more for +him than she had done before, by giving him the million-fold rice, +which ripens in one night. + +The lad was of course delighted at the very idea, and, giving up the +pigeon, set off on his quest, armed as before with a potsherd, on which +was written, "Do not fail this time. Kill the lad, and sprinkle his +blood like water!" + +But when he looked in on his Princess, just to prevent her becoming +anxious about him, she asked to see the potsherd as usual, and +substituted another, on which was written, "Yet again give this lad all +he requires, for his blood shall be as your blood!" + +Now when the old hag saw this, and heard how the lad wanted the +million-fold rice which ripens in a single night, she fell into the +most furious rage, but being terribly afraid of her daughter, she +controlled herself, and bade the boy go and find the field guarded by +eighteen millions of demons, warning him on no account to look back +after having plucked the tallest spike of rice, which grew in the +centre. + +So the son of seven Queens set off, and soon came to the field where, +guarded by eighteen millions of demons, the million-fold rice grew. He +walked on bravely, looking neither to the right or left, till he +reached the centre and plucked the tallest ear, but as he turned +homewards a thousand sweet voices rose behind him, crying in tenderest +accents, "Pluck me too! oh, please pluck me too!" He looked back, and +lo! there was nothing left of him but a little heap of ashes! + +Now as time passed by and the lad did not return, the old hag grew +uneasy, remembering the message "his blood shall be as your blood"; so +she set off to see what had happened. + +Soon she came to the heap of ashes, and knowing by her arts what it +was, she took a little water, and kneading the ashes into a paste, +formed it into the likeness of a man; then, putting a drop of blood +from her little finger into its mouth, she blew on it, and instantly +the son of seven Queens started up as well as ever. + +"Don't you disobey orders again!" grumbled the old hag, "or next time +I'll leave you alone. Now be off, before I repent of my kindness!" + +So the son of seven Queens returned joyfully to his seven mothers, who, +by the aid of the million-fold rice, soon became the richest people in +the kingdom. Then they celebrated their son's marriage to the clever +Princess with all imaginable pomp; but the bride was so clever, she +would not rest until she had made known her husband to his father, and +punished the wicked white witch. So she made her husband build a palace +exactly like the one in which the seven Queens had lived, and in which +the white witch now dwelt in splendour. Then, when all was prepared, +she bade her husband give a grand feast to the King. Now the King had +heard much of the mysterious son of seven Queens, and his marvellous +wealth, so he gladly accepted the invitation; but what was his +astonishment when on entering the palace he found it was a facsimile of +his own in every particular! And when his host, richly attired, led him +straight to the private hall, where on royal thrones sat the seven +Queens, dressed as he had last seen them, he was speechless with +surprise, until the Princess, coming forward, threw herself at his +feet, and told him the whole story. Then the King awoke from his +enchantment, and his anger rose against the wicked white hind who had +bewitched him so long, until he could not contain himself. So she was +put to death, and her grave ploughed over, and after that the seven +Queens returned to their own splendid palace, and everybody lived +happily. + + + +A LESSON FOR KINGS + +Once upon a time, when Brahma-datta was reigning in Benares, the future +Buddha returned to life as his son and heir. And when the day came for +choosing a name, they called him Prince Brahma-datta. He grew up in due +course; and when he was sixteen years old, went to Takkasila, and +became accomplished in all arts. And after his father died he ascended +the throne, and ruled the kingdom with righteousness and equity. He +gave judgments without partiality, hatred, ignorance, or fear. Since he +thus reigned with justice, with justice also his ministers administered +the law. Lawsuits being thus decided with justice, there were none who +brought false cases. And as these ceased, the noise and tumult of +litigation ceased in the king's court. Though the judges sat all day in +the court, they had to leave without any one coming for justice. It +came to this, that the Hall of Justice would have to be closed! + +Then the future Buddha thought, "It cannot be from my reigning with +righteousness that none come for judgment; the bustle has ceased, and +the Hall of Justice will have to be closed. I must, therefore, now +examine into my own faults; and if I find that anything is wrong in me, +put that away, and practise only virtue." + +Thenceforth he sought for some one to tell him his faults, but among +those around him he found no one who would tell him of any fault, but +heard only his own praise. + +Then he thought, "It is from fear of me that these men speak only good +things, and not evil things," and he sought among those people who +lived outside the palace. And finding no fault-finder there, he sought +among those who lived outside the city, in the suburbs, at the four +gates. And there too finding no one to find fault, and hearing only his +own praise, he determined to search the country places. + +So he made over the kingdom to his ministers, and mounted his chariot; +and taking only his charioteer, left the city in disguise. And +searching the country through, up to the very boundary, he found no +fault-finder, and heard only of his own virtue; and so he turned back +from the outer-most boundary, and returned by the high road towards the +city. + +Now at that time the king of Kosala, Mallika by name, was also ruling +his kingdom with righteousness; and when seeking for some fault in +himself, he also found no fault-finder in the palace, but only heard of +his own virtue! So seeking in country places, he too came to that very +spot. And these two came face to face in a low cart-track with +precipitous sides, where there was no space for a chariot to get out of +the way! + +Then the charioteer of Mallika the king said to the charioteer of the +king of Benares, "Take thy chariot out of the way!" + +But he said, "Take thy chariot out of the way, O charioteer! In this +chariot sitteth the lord over the kingdom of Benares, the great king +Brahma-datta." + +Yet the other replied, "In this chariot, O charioteer, sitteth the lord +over the kingdom of Kosala, the great king Mallika. Take thy carriage +out of the way, and make room for the chariot of our king!" + +Then the charioteer of the king of Benares thought, "They say then that +he too is a king! What _is_ now to be done?" After some consideration, +he said to himself, "I know a way. I'll find out how old he is, and then +I'll let the chariot of the younger be got out of the way, and so make +room for the elder." + +And when he had arrived at that conclusion, he asked that charioteer +what the age of the king of Kosala was. But on inquiry he found that +the ages of both were equal. Then he inquired about the extent of his +kingdom, and about his army, and his wealth, and his renown, and about +the country he lived in, and his caste and tribe and family. And he +found that both were lords of a kingdom three hundred leagues in +extent; and that in respect of army and wealth and renown, and the +countries in which they lived, and their caste and their tribe and +their family, they were just on a par! + +Then he thought, "I will make way for the most righteous." And he +asked, "What kind of righteousness has this king of yours?" + +Then the chorister of the king of Kosala, proclaiming his king's +wickedness as goodness, uttered the First Stanza: + + "The strong he overthrows by strength, + The mild by mildness, does Mallika; + The good he conquers by goodness, + And the wicked by wickedness too. + Such is the nature of _this_ king! + Move out of the way, O charioteer!" + +But the charioteer of the king of Benares asked him, "Well, have you +told all the virtues of your king?" + +"Yes," said the other. + +"If these are his _virtues_, where are then his faults?" replied +he. + +The other said, "Well, for the nonce, they shall be faults, if you +like! But pray, then, what is the kind of goodness your king has?" + +And then the charioteer of the king of Benares called unto him to +hearken, and uttered the Second Stanza + + "Anger he conquers by calmness, + And by goodness the wicked; + The stingy he conquers by gifts, + And by truth the speaker of lies. + Such is the nature of _this_ king! + Move out of the way, O charioteer!" + +And when he had thus spoken, both Mallika the king and his charioteer +alighted from their chariot. And they took out the horses, and removed +their chariot, and made way for the king of Benares! + + + +PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALL + +In a certain village there lived ten cloth merchants, who always went +about together. Once upon a time they had travelled far afield, and +were returning home with a great deal of money which they had obtained +by selling their wares. Now there happened to be a dense forest near +their village, and this they reached early one morning. In it there +lived three notorious robbers, of whose existence the traders had never +heard, and while they were still in the middle of it the robbers stood +before them, with swords and cudgels in their hands, and ordered them +to lay down all they had. The traders had no weapons with them, and so, +though they were many more in number, they had to submit themselves to +the robbers, who took away everything from them, even the very clothes +they wore, and gave to each only a small loin-cloth a span in breadth +and a cubit in length. + +The idea that they had conquered ten men and plundered all their +property, now took possession of the robbers' minds. They seated +themselves like three monarchs before the men they had plundered, and +ordered them to dance to them before returning home. The merchants now +mourned their fate. They had lost all they had, except their loin- +cloth, and still the robbers were not satisfied, but ordered them to +dance. + +There was, among the ten merchants, one who was very clever. He +pondered over the calamity that had come upon him and his friends, the +dance they would have to perform, and the magnificent manner in which +the three robbers had seated themselves on the grass. At the same time +he observed that these last had placed their weapons on the ground, in +the assurance of having thoroughly cowed the traders, who were now +commencing to dance. So he took the lead in the dance, and, as a song +is always sung by the leader on such occasions, to which the rest keep +time with hands and feet, he thus began to sing: + + "We are enty men, + They are erith men: + If each erith man, Surround eno men + Eno man remains. + _Ta, tai, tom, tadingana._" + +The robbers were all uneducated, and thought that the leader was merely +singing a song as usual. So it was in one sense; for the leader +commenced from a distance, and had sung the song over twice before he +and his companions commenced to approach the robbers. They had +understood his meaning, because they had been trained in trade. + +When two traders discuss the price of an article in the presence of a +purchaser, they use a riddling sort of language. + +"What is the price of this cloth?" one trader will ask another. + +"Enty rupees," another will reply, meaning "ten rupees." + +Thus, there is no possibility of the purchaser knowing what is meant +unless he be acquainted with trade language. By the rules of this +secret language erith means "three," enty means "ten," and eno means +"one." So the leader by his song meant to hint to his fellow-traders +that they were ten men, the robbers only three, that if three pounced +upon each of the robbers, nine of them could hold them down, while the +remaining one bound the robbers' hands and feet. + +The three thieves, glorying in their victory, and little understanding +the meaning of the song and the intentions of the dancers, were proudly +seated chewing betel and tobacco. Meanwhile the song was sung a third +time. _Ta tai tom_ had left the lips of the singer; and, before +_tadingana_ was out of them, the traders separated into parties of +three, and each party pounced upon a thief. The remaining one--the +leader himself--tore up into long narrow strips a large piece of cloth, +six cubits long, and tied the hands and feet of the robbers. These were +entirely humbled now, and rolled on the ground like three bags of rice! + +The ten traders now took back all their property, and armed themselves +with the swords and cudgels of their enemies; and when they reached +their village, they often amused their friends and relatives by +relating their adventure. + + + +RAJA RASALU + +Once there lived a great Raja, whose name was Salabhan, and he had a +Queen, by name Lona, who, though she wept and prayed at many a shrine, +had never a child to gladden her eyes. After a long time, however, a +son was promised to her. + +Queen Lona returned to the palace, and when the time for the birth of +the promised son drew nigh, she inquired of three Jogis who came +begging to her gate, what the child's fate would be, and the youngest +of them answered and said, "Oh, Queen! the child will be a boy, and he +will live to be a great man. But for twelve years you must not look +upon his face, for if either you or his father see it before the twelve +years are past, you will surely die! This is what you must do; as soon +as the child is born you must send him away to a cellar underneath the +ground, and never let him see the light of day for twelve years. After +they are over, he may come forth, bathe in the river, put on new +clothes, and visit you. His name shall be Raja Rasalu, and he shall be +known far and wide." + +So, when a fair young Prince was in due time born into the world, his +parents hid him away in an underground palace, with nurses, and +servants, and everything else a King's son might desire. And with him +they sent a young colt, born the same day, and sword, spear, and +shield, against the day when Raja Rasalu should go forth into the +world. + +So there the child lived, playing with his colt, and talking to his +parrot, while the nurses taught him all things needful for a King's son +to know. + +Young Rasalu lived on, far from the light of day, for eleven long +years, growing tall and strong, yet contented to remain playing with +his colt, and talking to his parrot; but when the twelfth year began, +the lad's heart leapt up with desire for change, and he loved to listen +to the sounds of life which came to him in his palace-prison from the +outside world. + +"I must go and see where the voices come from!" he said; and when his +nurses told him he must not go for one year more, he only laughed +aloud, saying, "Nay! I stay no longer here for any man!" + +Then he saddled his Arab horse Bhaunr, put on his shining armour, and +rode forth into the world; but mindful of what his nurses had oft told +him, when he came to the river, he dismounted, and, going into the +water, washed himself and his clothes. + +Then, clean of raiment, fair of face, and brave of heart, he rode on +his way until he reached his father's city. There he sat down to rest +awhile by a well, where the women were drawing water in earthen +pitchers. Now, as they passed him, their full pitchers poised upon +their heads, the gay young Prince flung stones at the earthen vessels, +and broke them all. Then the women, drenched with water, went weeping +and wailing to the palace, complaining to the King that a mighty young +Prince in shining armour, with a parrot on his wrist and a gallant +steed beside him, sat by the well, and broke their pitchers. + +Now, as soon as Rajah Salabhan heard this, he guessed at once that it +was Prince Rasalu come forth before the time, and, mindful of the +Jogis' words that he would die if he looked on his son's face before +twelve years were past, he did not dare to send his guards to seize the +offender and bring him to be judged. So he bade the women be comforted, +and take pitchers of iron and brass, giving new ones from his treasury +to those who did not possess any of their own. + +But when Prince Rasalu saw the women returning to the well with +pitchers of iron and brass, he laughed to himself, and drew his mighty +bow till the sharp-pointed arrows pierced the metal vessels as though +they had been clay. + +Yet still the King did not send for him, so he mounted his steed and +set off in the pride of his youth and strength to the palace. He strode +into the audience hall, where his father sat trembling, and saluted him +will all reverence; but Raja Salabhan, in fear of his life, turned his +back hastily and said never a word in reply. + +Then Prince Rasalu called scornfully to him across the hall: + + "I came to greet thee, King, and not to harm thee! + What have I done that thou shouldst turn away? + Sceptre and empire have no power to charm me-- + I go to seek a worthier prize than they!" + +Then he strode away, full of bitterness and anger; but, as he passed +under the palace windows, he heard his mother weeping, and the sound +softened his heart, so that his wrath died down, and a great loneliness +fell upon him, because he was spurned by both father and mother. So he +cried sorrowfully, + + "Oh heart crown'd with grief, hast thou nought + But tears for thy son? + Art mother of mine? Give one thought + To my life just begun!" + +And Queen Lona answered through her tears: + + "Yea! mother am I, though I weep, + So hold this word sure,-- + Go, reign king of all men, but keep + Thy heart good and pure!" + +So Raja Rasalu was comforted, and began to make ready for fortune. He +took with him his horse Bhaunr and his parrot, both of whom had lived +with him since he was born. + +So they made a goodly company, and Queen Lona, when she saw them going, +watched them from her window till she saw nothing but a cloud of dust +on the horizon; then she bowed her head on her hands and wept, saying: + + "Oh! son who ne'er gladdened mine eyes, + Let the cloud of thy going arise, + Dim the sunlight and darken the day; + For the mother whose son is away + Is as dust!" + +Rasalu had started off to play chaupur with King Sarkap. And as he +journeyed there came a fierce storm of thunder and lightning, so that +he sought shelter, and found none save an old graveyard, where a +headless corpse lay upon the ground. So lonesome was it that even the +corpse seemed company, and Rasalu, sitting down beside it, said: + + "There is no one here, nor far nor near, + Save this breathless corpse so cold and grim; + Would God he might come to life again, + 'Twould be less lonely to talk to him." + +And immediately the headless corpse arose and sat beside Raja Rasalu. +And he, nothing astonished, said to it: + + "The storm beats fierce and loud, + The clouds rise thick in the west; + What ails thy grave and shroud, + Oh corpse! that thou canst not rest?" + +Then the headless corpse replied: + + "On earth I was even as thou, + My turban awry like a king, + My head with the highest, I trow, + Having my fun and my fling, + Fighting my foes like a brave, + Living my life with a swing. + And, now I am dead, + Sins, heavy as lead, + Will give me no rest in my grave!" + +So the night passed on, dark and dreary, while Rasalu sat in the +graveyard and talked to the headless corpse. Now when morning broke and +Rasalu said he must continue his journey, the headless corpse asked him +whither he was going, and when he said "to play chaupur with King +Sarkap," the corpse begged him to give up the idea saying, "I am King +Sarkap's brother, and I know his ways. Every day, before breakfast, he +cuts off the heads of two or three men, just to amuse himself. One day +no one else was at hand, so he cut off mine, and he will surely cut off +yours on some pretence or another. However, if you are determined to go +and play chaupur with him, take some of the bones from this graveyard, +and make your dice out of them, and then the enchanted dice with which +my brother plays will lose their virtue. Otherwise he will always win." + +So Rasalu took some of the bones lying about, and fashioned them into +dice, and these he put into his pocket. Then, bidding adieu to the +headless corpse, he went on his way to play chaupur with the King. + +Now, as Raja Rasalu, tender-hearted and strong, journeyed along to play +chaupur with the King, he came to a burning forest, and a voice rose +from the fire saying, "Oh, traveller! for God's sake save me from the +fire!" + +Then the Prince turned towards the burning forest, and, lo! the voice +was the voice of a tiny cricket. Nevertheless, Rasalu, tender-hearted +and strong, snatched it from the fire and set it at liberty. Then the +little creature, full of gratitude, pulled out one of its feelers, and +giving it to its preserver, said, "Keep this, and should you ever be in +trouble, put it into the fire, and instantly I will come to your aid." + +The Prince smiled, saying, "What help could _you_ give _me_?" +Nevertheless, he kept the hair and went on his way. + +Now, when he reached the city of King Sarkap, seventy maidens, +daughters of the King, came out to meet him,--seventy fair maidens, +merry and careless, full of smiles and laughter; but one, the youngest +of them all, when she saw the gallant young Prince riding on Bhaunr +Iraqi, going gaily to his doom, was filled with pity, and called to him +saying: + + "Fair Prince, on the charger so gray, + Turn thee back! turn thee back! + Or lower thy lance for the fray; + Thy head will be forfeit to-day! + Dost love life? then, stranger, I pray, + Turn thee back! turn thee back!" + +But he, smiling at the maiden, answered lightly: + + "Fair maiden, I come from afar, + Sworn conqueror in love and in war! + King Sarkap my coming will rue, + His head in four pieces I'll hew; + Then forth as a bridegroom I'll ride, + With you, little maid, as my bride!" + +Now when Rasalu replied so gallantly, the maiden looked in his face, +and seeing how fair he was, and how brave and strong, she straightway +fell in love with him, and would gladly have followed him through the +world. + +But the other sixty-nine maidens, being jealous, laughed scornfully at +her, saying, "Not so fast, oh gallant warrior! If you would marry our +sister you must first do our bidding, for you will be our younger +brother." + +"Fair sisters!" quoth Rasalu gaily, "give me my task and I will perform +it." + +So the sixty-nine maidens mixed a hundred-weight of millet seed with a +hundredweight of sand, and giving it to Rasalu, bade him separate the +seed from the sand. + +Then he bethought him of the cricket, and drawing the feeler from his +pocket, thrust it into the fire. And immediately there was a whirring +noise in the air, and a great flight of crickets alighted beside him, +and amongst them the cricket whose life he had saved. + +Then Rasalu said, "Separate the millet seed from the sand." + +"Is that all?" quoth the cricket; "had I known how small a job you +wanted me to do, I would not have assembled so many of my brethren." + +With that the flight of crickets set to work, and in one night they +separated the seed from the sand. + +Now when the sixty-nine fair maidens, daughters of the king saw that +Rasalu had performed his task, they set him another, bidding him swing +them all, one by one, in their swings, until they were tired. + +Whereupon he laughed, saying, "There are seventy of you, counting my +little bride yonder, and I am not going to spend my life swinging +girls! Why, by the time I have given each of you a swing, the first +will be wanting another! No! if you want a swing, get in, all seventy +of you, into one swing, and then I'll see what can be done." + +So the seventy maidens climbed into one swing, and Raja Rasalu, +standing in his shining armour, fastened the ropes to his mighty bow, +and drew it up to its fullest bent. Then he let go, and like an arrow +the swing shot into the air, with its burden of seventy fair maidens, +merry and careless, full of smiles and laughter. + +But as it swung back again, Kasalu, standing there in his shining +armour, drew his sharp sword and severed the ropes. Then the seventy +fair maidens fell to the ground headlong; and some were bruised and +some broken, but the only one who escaped unhurt was the maiden who +loved Rasalu, for she fell out last, on the top of the others, and so +came to no harm. + +After this, Rasalu strode on fifteen paces, till he came to the seventy +drums, that every one who came to play chaupur with the King had to +beat in turn; and he beat them so loudly that he broke them all. Then +he came to the seventy gongs, all in a row, and he hammered them so +hard that they cracked to pieces. + +Seeing this, the youngest Princess, who was the only one who could run, +fled to her father the King in a great fright, saying: + + "A mighty Prince, Sarkap! making havoc, rides along, + He swung us, seventy maidens fair, and threw us out + headlong; + He broke the drums you placed there and the gongs too + in his pride, + Sure, he will kill thee, father mine, and take me for his + bride!" + +But King Sarkap replied scornfully: + + "Silly maiden, thy words make a lot + Of a very small matter; + For fear of my valour, I wot, + His armour will clatter. + As soon as I've eaten my bread + I'll go forth and cut off his head!" + +Notwithstanding these brave and boastful words, he was in reality very +much afraid, having heard of Rasalu's renown. And learning that he was +stopping at the house of an old woman in the city, till the hour for +playing chaupur arrived, Sarkap sent slaves to him with trays of +sweetmeats and fruit, as to an honoured guest. But the food was +poisoned. + +Now when the slaves brought the trays to Raja Rasalu, he rose up +haughtily, saying, "Go, tell your master I have nought to do with him +in friendship. I am his sworn enemy, and I eat not of his salt!" + +So saying, he threw the sweetmeats to Raja Sarkap's dog, which had +followed the slave, and lo! the dog died. + +Then Rasalu was very wroth, and said bitterly, "Go back to Sarkap, +slaves! and tell him that Rasalu deems it no act of bravery to kill +even an enemy by treachery." + +Now, when evening came, Raja Rasalu went forth to play chaupur with +King Sarkap, and as he passed some potters' kilns he saw a cat +wandering about restlessly; so he asked what ailed her, that she never +stood still, and she replied, "My kittens are in an unbaked pot in the +kiln yonder. It has just been set alight, and my children will be baked +alive; therefore I cannot rest!" + +Her words moved the heart of Raja Rasalu, and, going to the potter, he +asked him to sell the kiln as it was; but the potter replied that he +could not settle a fair price till the pots were burnt, as he could not +tell how many would come out whole. Nevertheless, after some +bargaining, he consented at last to sell the kiln, and Rasalu, having +searched all the pots, restored the kittens to their mother, and she, +in gratitude for his mercy, gave him one of them, saying, "Put it in +your pocket, for it will help you when you are in difficulties." So +Raja Rasalu put the kitten in his pocket, and went to play chaupur with +the King. + +Now, before they sat down to play, Raja Sarkap fixed his stakes,--on +the first game, his kingdom; on the second, the wealth of the whole +world; and, on the third, his own head. So, likewise, Raja Rasalu fixed +his stakes,--on the first game, his arms; on the second, his horse; +and, on the third, his own head. + +Then they began to play, and it fell to Rasalu's lot to make the first +move. Now he, forgetful of the dead man's warning, played with the dice +given him by Raja Sarkap, besides which, Sarkap let loose his famous +rat, Dhol Raja, and it ran about the board, upsetting the chaupur +pieces on the sly, so that Rasalu lost the first game, and gave up his +shining armour. + +Then the second game began, and once more Dhol Raja, the rat, upset the +pieces; and Rasalu, losing the game, gave up his faithful steed. Then +Bhaunr, the Arab steed, who stood by, found voice, and cried to his +master, + + "Sea-born am I, bought with much gold; + Dear Prince! trust me now as of old. + I'll carry you far from these wiles-- + My flight, all unspurr'd, will be swift as a bird, + For thousands and thousands of miles! + Or if needs you must stay; ere the next game you play, + Place hand in your pocket, I pray!" + +Hearing this, Raja Sarkap frowned, and bade his slaves remove Bhaunr, +the Arab steed, since he gave his master advice in the game. Now, when +the slaves came to lead the faithful steed away, Rasalu could not +refrain from tears, thinking over the long years during which Bhaunr, +the Arab steed, had been his companion. But the horse cried out again, + + "Weep not, dear Prince! I shall not eat my bread + Of stranger hands, nor to strange stall be led. + Take thy right hand, and place it as I said." + +These words roused some recollection in Rasalu's mind, and when, just +at this moment, the kitten in his pocket began to struggle, he +remembered all about the warning, and the dice made from dead men's +bones. Then his heart rose up once more, and he called boldly to Raja +Sarkap, "Leave my horse and arms here for the present. Time enough to +take them away when you have won my head!" + +Now, Raja Sarkap, seeing Rasalu's confident bearing, began to be +afraid, and ordered all the women of his palace to come forth in their +gayest attire and stand before Rasalu, so as to distract his attention +from the game. But he never even looked at them, and drawing the dice +from his pocket, said to Sarkap, "We have played with your dice all +this time; now we will play with mine." + +Then the kitten went and sat at the window through which the rat Dhol +Raja used to come, and the game began. + +After a while, Sarkap, seeing Raja Rasalu was winning, called to his +rat, but when Dhol Raja saw the kitten he was afraid, and would not go +further. So Rasalu won, and took back his arms. Next he played for his +horse, and once more Raja Sarkap called for his rat; but Dhol Raja, +seeing the kitten keeping watch, was afraid. So Rasalu won the second +stake, and took back Bhaunr, the Arab steed. + +Then Sarkap brought all his skill to bear on the third and last game, +saying, + + "Oh moulded pieces! favour me to-day! + For sooth this is a man with whom I play. + No paltry risk--but life and death at stake; + As Sarkap does, so do, for Sarkap's sake!" + +But Rasalu answered back, + + "Oh moulded pieces! favour me to-day! + For sooth it is a man with whom I play. + No paltry risk--but life and death at stake; + As Heaven does, so do, for Heaven's sake!" + +So they began to play, whilst the women stood round in a circle, and +the kitten watched Dhol Raja from the window. Then Sarkap lost, first +his kingdom, then the wealth of the whole world, and lastly his head. + +Just then, a servant came in to announce the birth of a daughter to +Raja Sarkap, and he, overcome by misfortunes, said, "Kill her at once! +for she has been born in an evil moment, and has brought her father ill +luck!" + +But Rasalu rose up in his shining armour, tender-hearted and strong, +saying, "Not so, oh king! She has done no evil. Give me this child to +wife; and if you will vow, by all you hold sacred, never again to play +chaupur for another's head, I will spare yours now!" + +Then Sarkap vowed a solemn vow never to play for another's head; and +after that he took a fresh mango branch, and the new-born babe, and +placing them on a golden dish gave them to Rasalu. + +Now, as he left the palace, carrying with him the new-born babe and the +mango branch, he met a band of prisoners, and they called out to him, + + "A royal hawk art thou, oh King! the rest + But timid wild-fowl. Grant us our request,-- + Unloose these chains, and live for ever blest!" + +And Raja Rasalu hearkened to them, and bade King Sarkap set them at +liberty. + +Then he went to the Murti Hills, and placed the new-born babe, Kokilan, +in an underground palace, and planted the mango branch at the door, +saying, "In twelve years the mango tree will blossom; then will I +return and marry Kokilan." + +And after twelve years, the mango tree began to flower, and Raja Rasalu +married the Princess Kokilan, whom he won from Sarkap when he played +chaupur with the King. + + + +THE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN + +At the same time, when Brahma-datta was reigning in Benares, the future +Buddha was born one of a peasant family; and when he grew up, he gained +his living by tilling the ground. + +At that time a hawker used to go from place to place, trafficking in +goods carried by an ass. Now at each place he came to, when he took the +pack down from the ass's back, he used to clothe him in a lion's skin, +and turn him loose in the rice and barley fields. And when the watchmen +in the fields saw the ass, they dared not go near him, taking him for a +lion. + +So one day the hawker stopped in a village; and whilst he was getting +his own breakfast cooked, he dressed the ass in a lion's skin, and +turned him loose in a barley-field. The watchmen in the field dared not +go up to him; but going home, they published the news. Then all the +villagers came out with weapons in their hands; and blowing chanks, and +beating drums, they went near the field and shouted. Terrified with the +fear of death, the ass uttered a cry--the bray of an ass! + +And when he knew him then to be an ass, the future Buddha pronounced +the First Verse: + + "This is not a lion's roaring, + Nor a tiger's, nor a panther's; + Dressed in a lion's skin, + 'Tis a wretched ass that roars!" + +But when the villagers knew the creature to be an ass, they beat him +till his bones broke; and, carrying off the lion's skin, went away. +Then the hawker came; and seeing the ass fallen into so bad a plight, +pronounced the Second Verse: + + "Long might the ass, + Clad in a lion's skin, + Have fed on the barley green. + But he brayed! + And that moment he came to ruin." + +And even whilst he was yet speaking the ass died on the spot! + + + +THE FARMER AND THE MONEY-LENDER + +There was once a farmer who suffered much at the hands of a money- +lender. Good harvests, or bad, the farmer was always poor, the money- +lender rich. At the last, when he hadn't a farthing left, farmer went +to the money-lender's house, and said, "You can't squeeze water from a +stone, and as you have nothing to get by me now, you might tell me the +secret of becoming rich." + +"My friend," returned the money-lender, piously, "riches come from Ram +--ask _him_." + +"Thank you, I will!" replied the simple farmer; so he prepared three +girdle-cakes to last him on the journey, and set out to find Ram. + +First he met a Brahman, and to him he gave a cake, asking him to point +out the road to Ram; but the Brahman only took the cake and went on his +way without a word, Next the farmer met a Jogi or devotee, and to him +he gave a cake, without receiving any help in return. At last, he came +upon a poor man sitting under a tree, and finding out he was hungry, +the kindly farmer gave him his last cake, and sitting down to rest +beside him, entered into conversation. + +"And where are you going?" asked the poor man, at length. + +"Oh, I have a long journey before me, for I am going to find Ram!" +replied the farmer. "I don't suppose you could tell me which way to +go?" + +"Perhaps I can," said the poor man, smiling, "for _I_ am Ram! What +do you want of me?" + +Then the farmer told the whole story, and Ram, taking pity on him, gave +him a conch shell, and showed him how to blow it in a particular way, +saying, "Remember! whatever you wish for, you have only to blow the +conch that way, and your wish will be fulfilled. Only have a care of +that money-lender, for even magic is not proof against their wiles!" + +The farmer went back to his village rejoicing. In fact the money-lender +noticed his high spirits at once, and said to himself, "Some good +fortune must have befallen the stupid fellow, to make him hold his head +so jauntily." Therefore he went over to the simple farmer's house, and +congratulated him on his good fortune, in such cunning words, +pretending to have heard all about it, that before long the farmer +found himself telling the whole story--all except the secret of blowing +the conch, for, with all his simplicity, the farmer was not quite such +a fool as to tell that. + +Nevertheless, the money-lender determined to have the conch by hook or +by crook, and as he was villain enough not to stick at trifles, he +waited for a favourable opportunity and stole the conch. + +But, after nearly bursting himself with blowing the conch in every +conceivable way, he was obliged to give up the secret as a bad job. +However, being determined to succeed he went back to the farmer, and +said, coolly, "Look here; I've got your conch, but I can't use it; you +haven't got it, so it's clear you can't use it either. Business is at a +stand-still unless we make a bargain. Now, I promise to give you back +your conch, and never to interfere with your using it, on one +condition, which is this,--whatever you get from it, I am to get +double." + +"Never!" cried the farmer; "that would be the old business all over +again!" + +"Not at all!" replied the wily money-lender; "you will have your share! +Now, don't be a dog in the manger, for if _you_ get all you want, +what can it matter to you if _I_ am rich or poor?" + +At last, though it went sorely against the grain to be of any benefit +to a money-lender, the farmer was forced to yield, and from that time, +no matter what he gained by the power of the conch, the money-lender +gained double. And the knowledge that this was so preyed upon the +farmer's mind day and night, so that he had no satisfaction out of +anything. + +At last, there came a very dry season,--so dry that the farmer's crops +withered for want of rain. Then he blew his conch, and wished for a +well to water them, and lo! there was the well, _but the money-lender +had two!_--two beautiful new wells! This was too much for any farmer +to stand; and our friend brooded over it, and brooded over it, till at +last a bright idea came into his head. He seized the conch, blew it +loudly, and cried out, "Oh, Ram! I wish to be blind of one eye!" And so +he, was, in a twinkling, but the money-lender of course was blind of +both, and in trying to steer his way between the two new wells, he fell +into one, and was drowned. + +Now this true story shows that a farmer once got the better of a money- +lender--but only by losing one of his eyes. + + + +THE BOY WHO HAD A MOON ON HIS FOREHEAD AND A STAR ON HIS CHIN + +In a country were seven daughters of poor parents, who used to come +daily to play under the shady trees in the King's garden with the +gardener's daughter; and daily she used to say to them, "When I am +married I shall have a son. Such a beautiful boy as he will be has +never been seen. He will have a moon on his forehead and a star on his +chin." Then her playfellows used to laugh at her and mock her. + +But one day the King heard her telling them about the beautiful boy she +would have when she was married, and he said to himself he should like +very much to have such a son; the more so that though he had already +four Queens he had no child. He went, therefore, to the gardener and +told him he wished to marry his daughter. This delighted the gardener +and his wife, who thought it would indeed be grand for their daughter +to become a princess. So they said "Yes" to the King, and invited all +their friends to the wedding. The King invited all his, and he gave the +gardener as much money as he wanted. Then the wedding was held with +great feasting and rejoicing. + +A year later the day drew near on which the gardener's daughter was to +have her son; and the King's four other Queens came constantly to see +her. One day they said to her, "The King hunts every day; and the time +is soon coming when you will have your child. Suppose you fell ill +whilst he was out hunting and could therefore know nothing of your +illness, what would you do then?" + +When the King came home that evening, the gardener's daughter said to +him, "Every day you go out hunting. Should I ever be in trouble or sick +while you are away, how could I send for you?" The King gave her a +kettle-drum which he placed near the door for her, and he said to her, +"Whenever you want me, beat this kettle-drum. No matter how far away I +may be, I shall hear it, and will come at once to you." + +Next morning when the King had gone out to hunt, his four other Queens +came to see the gardener's daughter. She told them all about her +kettle-drum. "Oh," they said, "do drum on it just to see if the King +really will come to you." + +"No, I will not," she said; "for why should I call him from his hunting +when I do not want him?" + +"Don't mind interrupting his hunting," they answered. "Do try if he +really will come to you when you beat your kettle-drum." So at last, +just to please them, she beat it, and the King stood before her. + +"Why have you called me?" he said. "See, I have left my hunting to come +to you." + +"I want nothing," she answered; "I only wished to know if you really +would come to me when I beat my drum." + +"Very well," answered the King; "but do not call me again unless you +really need me." Then he returned to his hunting. + +The next day, when the King had gone out hunting as usual, the four +Queens again came to see the gardener's daughter. They begged and +begged her to beat her drum once more, "just to see if the King will +really come to see you this time." At first she refused, but at last +she consented. So she beat her drum, and the King came to her. But when +he found she was neither ill nor in trouble, he was angry, and said to +her, "Twice I have left my hunting and lost my game to come to you when +you did not need me. Now you may call me as much as you like, but I +will not come to you," and then he went away in a rage. + +The third day the gardener's daughter fell ill, and she beat and beat +her kettle-drum; but the King never came. He heard her kettle-drum, but +he thought, "She does not really want me; she is only trying to see if +I will go to her." + +Meanwhile the four other Queens came to her, and they said, "Here it is +the custom before a child is born to bind its mother's eyes with a +handkerchief that she may not see it just at first. So let us bind your +eyes." She answered, "Very well, bind my eyes." The four wives then +tied a handkerchief over them. + +Soon after, the gardener's daughter had a beautiful little son, with a +moon on his forehead and a star on his chin, and before the poor mother +had seen him, the four wicked Queens took the boy to the nurse and said +to her, "Now you must not let this child make the least sound for fear +his mother should hear him; and in the night you must either kill him, +or else take him away, so that his mother may never see him. If you +obey our orders, we will give you a great many rupees." All this they +did out of spite. The nurse took the little child and put him into a +box, and the four Queens went back to the gardener's daughter. + +First they put a stone into her boy's little bed, and then they took +the handkerchief off her eyes and showed it her, saying, "Look! this is +your son!" The poor girl cried bitterly, and thought, "What will the +King say when he finds no child?" But she could do nothing. + +When the King came home; he was furious at hearing his youngest wife, +the gardener's daughter, had given him a stone instead of the beautiful +little son she had promised him. He made her one of the palace +servants, and never spoke to her. + +In the middle of the night the nurse took the box in which was the +beautiful little prince, and went out to a broad plain in the jungle. +There she dug a hole, made the fastenings of the box sure, and put the +box into the hole, although the child in it was still alive. The King's +dog, whose name was Shankar, had followed her to see what she did with +the box. As soon as she had gone back to the four Queens (who gave her +a great many rupees), the dog went to the hole in which she had put the +box, took the box out, and opened it. When he saw the beautiful little +boy, he was very much delighted and said, "If it pleases Khuda that +this child should live, I will not hurt him; I will not eat him, but I +will swallow him whole and hide him in my stomach." This he did. + +After six months had passed, the dog went by night to the jungle, and +thought, "I wonder whether the boy is alive or dead." Then he brought +the child out of his stomach and rejoiced over his beauty. The boy was +now six months old. When Shankar had caressed and loved him, he +swallowed him again for another six months. At the end of that time he +went once more by night to the broad jungle-plain. There he brought up +the child out of his stomach (the child was now a year old), and +caressed and petted him a great deal, and was made very happy by his +great beauty. + +But this time the dog's keeper had followed and watched the dog; and he +saw all that Shankar did, and the beautiful little child, so he ran to +the four Queens and said to them, "Inside the King's dog there is a +child! the loveliest child! He has a moon on his forehead and a star on +his chin. Such a child has never been seen!" At this the four wives +were very much frightened, and as soon as the King came home from +hunting they said to him, "While you were away your dog came to our +rooms, and tore our clothes and knocked about all our things. We are +afraid he will kill us." "Do not be afraid," said the King. "Eat your +dinner and be happy. I will have the dog shot to-morrow morning." + +Then he ordered his servants to shoot the dog at dawn, but the dog +heard him, and said to himself, "What shall I do? The King intends to +kill me. I don't care about that, but what will become of the child if +I am killed? He will die. But I will see if I cannot save him." + +So when it was night, the dog ran to the King's cow, who was called +Suri, and said to her, "Suri, I want to give you something, for the +King has ordered me to be shot to-morrow. Will you take great care of +whatever I give you?" + +"Let me see what it is," said Suri, "I will take care of it if I can." +Then they both went together to the wide plain, and there the dog +brought up the boy. Suri was enchanted with him. "I never saw such a +beautiful child in this country," she said. "See, he has a moon on his +forehead and a star on his chin. I will take the greatest care of him." +So saying she swallowed the little prince. The dog made her a great +many salaams, and said, "To-morrow I shall die;" and the cow then went +back to her stable. + +Next morning at dawn the dog was taken to the jungle and shot. + +The child now lived in Suri's stomach; and when one whole year had +passed, and he was two years old, the cow went out to the plain, and +said to herself, "I do not know whether the child is alive or dead. But +I have never hurt it, so I will see." Then she brought up the boy; and +he played about, and Suri was delighted; she loved him and caressed +him, and talked to him. Then she swallowed him, and returned to her +stable. + +At the end of another year she went again to the plain and brought up +the child. He played and ran about for an hour to her great delight, +and she talked to him and caressed him. His great beauty made her very +happy. Then she swallowed him once more and returned to her stable. The +child was now three years old. + +But this time the cowherd had followed Suri, and had seen the wonderful +child and all she did to it. So he ran and told the four Queens, "The +King's cow has a beautiful boy inside her. He has a moon on his +forehead and a star on his chin. Such a child has never been seen +before!" + +At this the Queens were terrified. They tore their clothes and their +hair and cried. When the King came home at evening, he asked them why +they were so agitated. "Oh," they said, "your cow came and tried to +kill us; but we ran away. She tore our hair and our clothes." "Never +mind," said the King. "Eat your dinner and be happy. The cow shall be +killed to-morrow morning." + +Now Suri heard the King give this order to the servants, so she said to +herself, "What shall I do to save the child?" When it was midnight, she +went to the King's horse called Katar, who was very wicked, and quite +untameable. No one had ever been able to ride him; indeed no one could +go near him with safety, he was so savage. Suri said to this horse, +"Katar, will you take care of something that I want to give you, +because the King has ordered me to be killed to-morrow?" + +"Good," said Katar; "show me what it is." Then Suri brought up the +child, and the horse was delighted with him. "Yes," he said, "I will +take the greatest care of him. Till now no one has been able to ride +me, but this child shall ride me." Then he swallowed the boy, and when +he had done so, the cow made him many salaams, saying, "It is for this +boy's sake that I am to die." The next morning she was taken to the +jungle and there killed. + +The beautiful boy now lived in the horse's stomach, and he stayed in it +for one whole year. At the end of that time the horse thought, "I will +see if this child is alive or dead." So he brought him up; and then he +loved him, and petted him, and the little prince played all about the +stable, out of which the horse was never allowed to go. Katar was very +glad to see the child, who was now four years old. After he had played +for some time, the horse swallowed him again. At the end of another +year, when the boy was five years old, Katar brought him up again, +caressed him, loved him, and let him play about the stable as he had +done a year before. Then the horse swallowed him again. + +But this time the groom had seen all that happened, and when it was +morning, and the King had gone away to his hunting, he went to the four +wicked Queens, and told them all he had seen, and all about the +wonderful, beautiful child that lived inside the King's horse Katar. On +hearing the groom's story the four Queens cried, and tore their hair +and clothes, and refused to eat. When the King returned at evening and +asked them why they were so miserable, they said, "Your horse Katar +came and tore our clothes, and upset all our things, and we ran away +for fear he should kill us." + +"Never mind," said the King. "Only eat your dinner and be happy. I will +have Katar shot to-morrow." Then he thought that two men unaided could +not kill such a wicked horse, so he ordered his servants to bid his +troop of sepoys shoot him. + +So the next day the King placed his sepoys all round the stable, and he +took up his stand with them; and he said he would himself shoot any one +who let his horse escape. + +Meanwhile the horse had overheard all these orders. So he brought up +the child and said to him, "Go into that little room that leads out of +the stable, and you will find in it a saddle and bridle which you must +put on me. Then you will find in the room some beautiful clothes such +as princes wear; these you must put on yourself; and you must take the +sword and gun you will find there too. Then you must mount on my back." +Now Katar was a fairy-horse, and came from the fairies' country, so he +could get anything he wanted; but neither the King nor any of his +people knew this. + +When all was ready, Katar burst out of his stable, with the prince on +his back, rushed past the King himself before the King had time to +shoot him, galloped away to the great jungle-plain, and galloped about +all over it. The King saw his horse had a boy on his back, though he +could not see the boy distinctly. The sepoys tried in vain to shoot the +horse; he galloped much too fast; and at last they were all scattered +over the plain. Then the King had to give it up and go home; and the +sepoys went to their homes. The King could not shoot any of his sepoys +for letting his horse escape, for he himself had let him do so. + +Then Katar galloped away, on, and on, and on; and when night came they +stayed under a tree, he and the King's son. The horse ate grass, and +the boy wild fruits which he found in the jungle. Next morning they +started afresh, and went far, and far, till they came to a jungle in +another country, which did not belong to the little prince's father, +but to another king. Here Katar said to the boy, "Now get off my back." +Off jumped the prince. "Unsaddle me and take off my bridle; take off +your beautiful clothes and tie them all up in a bundle with your sword +and gun." This the boy did. Then the horse gave him some poor, common +clothes, which he told him to put on. As soon as he was dressed in them +the horse said, "Hide your bundle in this grass, and I will take care +of it for you. I will always stay in this jungle-plain, so that when +you want me you will always find me. You must now go away and find +service with some one in this country." + +This made the boy very sad. "I know nothing about anything," he said. +"What shall I do all alone in this country?" + +"Do not be afraid," answered Katar. "You will find service, and I will +always stay here to help you when you want me. So go, only before you +go, twist my right ear." The boy did so, and his horse instantly became +a donkey. "Now twist your right ear," said Katar. And when the boy had +twisted it, he was no longer a handsome prince, but a poor, common- +looking, ugly man; and his moon and star were hidden. + +Then he went away further into the country, until he came to a grain +merchant of the country, who asked him who he was. "I am a poor man," +answered the boy, "and I want service." "Good," said the grain +merchant, "you shall be my servant." + +Now the grain merchant lived near the King's palace, and one night at +twelve o'clock the boy was very hot; so he went out into the King's +cool garden, and began to sing a lovely song. The seventh and youngest +daughter of the King heard him, and she wondered who it was who could +sing so deliciously. Then she put on her clothes, rolled up her hair, +and came down to where the seemingly poor common man was lying singing. +"Who are you? where do you come from?" she asked. + +But he answered nothing. + +"Who is this man who does not answer when I speak to him?" thought the +little princess, and she went away. On the second night the same thing +happened, and on the third night too. But on the third night, when she +found she could not make him answer her, she said to him, "What a +strange man you are not to answer me when I speak to you." But still he +remained silent, so she went away. + +The next day, when he had finished his work, the young prince went to +the jungle to see his horse, who asked him, "Are you quite well and +happy?" "Yes, I am," answered the boy. "I am servant to a grain +merchant. The last three nights I have gone into the King's garden and +sung a song, and each night the youngest princess has come to me and +asked me who I am, and whence I came, and I have answered nothing. What +shall I do now?" The horse said, "Next time she asks you who you are, +tell her you are a very poor man, and came from your own country to +find service here." + +The boy then went home to the grain merchant, and at night, when every +one had gone to bed, he went to the King's garden and sang his sweet +song again. The youngest princess heard him, got up, dressed, and came +to him. "Who are you? Whence do you come?" she asked. + +"I am a very poor man," he answered. "I came from my own country to +seek service here, and I am now one of the grain merchant's servants." +Then she went away. For three more nights the boy sang in the King's +garden, and each night the princess came and asked him the same +questions as before, and the boy gave her the same answers. + +Then she went to her father, and said to him, "Father, I wish to be +married; but I must choose my husband myself." Her father consented to +this, and he wrote and invited all the Kings and Rajas in the land, +saying, "My youngest daughter wishes to be married, but she insists on +choosing her husband herself. As I do not know who it is she wishes to +marry, I beg you will all come on a certain day, for her to see you and +make her choice." + +A great many Kings, Rajas, and their sons accepted this invitation and +came. When they had all arrived, the little princess's father said to +them, "To-morrow morning you must all sit together in my garden" (the +King's garden was very large), "for then my youngest daughter will come +and see you all, and choose her husband. I do not know whom she will +choose." + +The youngest princess ordered a grand elephant to be ready for her the +next morning, and when the morning came, and all was ready, she dressed +herself in the most lovely clothes, and put on her beautiful jewels; +then she mounted her elephant, which was painted blue. In her hand she +took a gold necklace. + +Then she went into the garden where the Kings, Rajas, and their sons +were seated. The boy, the grain merchant's servant, was also in the +garden: not as a suitor, but looking on with the other servants. + +The princess rode all round the garden, and looked at all the Kings and +Rajas and princes, and then she hung the gold necklace round the neck +of the boy, the grain merchant's servant. At this everybody laughed, +and the Kings were greatly astonished. But then they and the Rajas +said, "What fooling is this?" and they pushed the pretended poor man +away, and took the necklace off his neck, and said to him, "Get out of +the way, you poor, dirty man. Your clothes are far too dirty for you to +come near us!" The boy went far away from them, and stood a long way +off to see what would happen. + +Then the King's youngest daughter went all round the garagain, holding +her gold necklace in her hand, and once more she hung it round the +boy's neck. Every one laughed at her and said, "How can the King's +daughter think of marrying this poor, common man!" and the Kings and +the Rajas, who had come as suitors, all wanted to turn him out of the +garden. But the princess said, "Take care! take care! You must not turn +him out. Leave him alone." Then she put him on her elephant, and took +him to the palace. + +The Kings and Rajas and their sons were very much astonished, and said, +"What does this mean? The princess does not care to marry one of us, +but chooses that very poor man!" Her father then stood up, and said to +them all, "I promised my daughter she should marry any one she pleased, +and as she has twice chosen that poor, common man, she shall marry +him." And so the princess and the boy were married with great pomp and +splendour: her father and mother were quite content with her choice; +and the Kings, the Rajas and their sons, all returned to their homes. + +Now the princess's six sisters had all married rich princes, and they +laughed at her for choosing such a poor ugly husband as hers seemed to +be, and said to each other, mockingly, "See! our sister has married +this poor, common man!" Their six husbands used to go out hunting every +day, and every evening they brought home quantities of all kinds of +game to their wives, and the game was cooked for their dinner and for +the King's; but the husband of the youngest princess always stayed at +home in the palace, and never went out hunting at all. This made her +very sad, and she said to herself, "My sisters' husbands hunt every +day, but my husband never hunts at all." + +At last she said to him, "Why do you never go out hunting as my +sisters' husbands do every day, and every day they bring home +quantities of all kinds of game? Why do you always stay at home, +instead of doing as they do?" + +One day he said to her, "I am going out to-day to eat the air." + +"Very good," she answered; "go, and take one of the horses." + +"No," said the young prince, "I will not ride, I will walk." Then he +went to the jungle-plain where he had left Katar, who all this time had +seemed to be a donkey, and he told Katar everything. "Listen," he said; +"I have married the youngest princess; and when we were married +everybody laughed at her for choosing me, and said, 'What a very poor, +common man our princess has chosen for her husband!' Besides, my wife +is very sad, for her six sisters' husbands all hunt every day, and +bring home quantities of game, and their wives therefore are very proud +of them. But I stay at home all day, and never hunt. To-day I should +like to hunt very much." + +"Well," said Katar, "then twist my left ear;" and as soon as the boy +had twisted it, Katar was a horse again, and not a donkey any longer. +"Now," said Katar, "twist your left ear, and you will see what a +beautiful young prince you will become." So the boy twisted his own +left ear, and there he stood no longer a poor, common, ugly man, but a +grand young prince with a moon on his forehead and a star on his chin. +Then he put on his splendid clothes, saddled and bridled Katar, got on +his back with his sword and gun, and rode off to hunt. + +He rode very far, and shot a great many birds and a quantity of deer. +That day his six brothers-in-law could find no game, for the beautiful +young prince had shot it all. Nearly all the day long these six princes +wandered about looking in vain for game; till at last they grew hungry +and thirsty, and could find no water, and they had no food with them. +Meanwhile the beautiful young prince had sat down under a tree, to dine +and rest, and there his six brothers-in-law found him. By his side was +some delicious water, and also some roast meat. + +When they saw him the six princes said to each other, "Look at that +handsome prince. He has a moon on his forehead and a star on his chin. +We have never seen such a prince in this jungle before; he must come +from another country." Then they came up to him, and made him many +salaams, and begged him to give them some food and water. "Who are +you?" said the young prince. "We are the husbands of the six elder +daughters of the King of this country," they answered; "and we have +hunted all day, and are very hungry and thirsty." They did not +recognise their brother-in-law in the least. + +"Well," said the young prince, "I will give you something to eat and +drink if you will do as I bid you." "We will do all you tell us to do," +they answered, "for if we do not get water to drink, we shall die." +"Very good," said the young prince. "Now you must let me put a red-hot +pice on the back of each of you, and then I will give you food and +water. Do you agree to this?" The six princes consented, for they +thought, "No one will ever see the mark of the pice, as it will be +covered by our clothes; and we shall die if we have no water to drink." +Then the young prince took six pice, and made them red-hot in the fire; +he laid one on the back of each of the six princes, and gave them good +food and water. They ate and drank; and when they had finished they +made him many salaams and went home. + +The young prince stayed under the tree till it was evening; then he +mounted his horse and rode off to the King's palace. All the people +looked at him as he came riding along, saying, "What a splendid young +prince that is! He has a moon on his forehead and a star on his chin." +But no one recognised him. When he came near the King's palace, all the +King's servants asked him who he was; and as none of them knew him, the +gate-keepers would not let him pass in. They all wondered who he could +be, and all thought him the most beautiful prince that had ever been +seen. + +At last they asked him who he was. "I am the husband of your youngest +princess," he answered. + +"No, no, indeed you are not," they said; "for he is a poor, common- +looking, and ugly man." + +"But I am he," answered the prince; only no one would believe him. + +"Tell us the truth," said the servants; "who are you?" + +"Perhaps you cannot recognise me," said the young prince, "but call the +youngest princess here. I wish to speak to her." The servants called +her, and she came. "That man is not my husband," she said at once. "My +husband is not nearly as handsome as that man. This must be a prince +from another country." + +Then she said to him, "Who are you? Why do you say you are my husband?" + +"Because I am your husband. I am telling you the truth," answered the +young prince. + +"No you are not, you are not telling me the truth," said the little +princess. "My husband is not a handsome man like you. I married a very +poor, common-looking man." + +"That is true," he answered, "but nevertheless I am your husband. I was +the grain merchant's servant; and one hot night I went into your +father's garden and sang, and you heard me, and came and asked me who I +was and where I came from, and I would not answer you. And the same +thing happened the next night, and the next, and on the fourth I told +you I was a very poor man, and had come from my country to seek service +in yours, and that I was the grain merchant's servant. Then you told +your father you wished to marry, but must choose your own husband; and +when all the Kings and Rajas were seated in your father's garden, you +sat on an elephant and went round and looked at them all; and then +twice hung your gold necklace round my neck, and chose me. See, here is +your necklace, and here are the ring and the handkerchief you gave me +on our wedding day." + +Then she believed him, and was very glad that her husband was such a +beautiful young prince. "What a strange man you are!" she said to him. +"Till now you have been poor, and ugly, and common-looking. Now you are +beautiful and look like a prince; I never saw such a handsome man as +you are before; and yet I know you must be my husband." Then she +worshipped God and thanked him for letting her have such a husband. "I +have," she said, "a beautiful husband. There is no one like him in this +country. He has a moon on his forehead and a star on his chin." Then +she took him into the palace, and showed him to her father and mother +and to every one. They all said they had never seen any one like him, +and were all very happy. And the young prince lived as before in the +King's palace with his wife, and Katar lived in the King's stables. + +One day, when the King and his seven sons-in-law were in his court- +house, and it was full of people, the young prince said to him, "There +are six thieves here in your court-house." "Six thieves!" said the +King. "Where are they? Show them to me." "There they are," said the +young prince, pointing to his six brothers-in-law. The King and every +one else in the court-house were very much astonished, and would not +believe the young prince. "Take off their coats," he said, "and then +you will see for yourselves that each of them has the mark of a thief +on his back." So their coats were taken off the six princes, and the +King and everybody in the court-house saw the mark of the red-hot pice. +The six princes were very much ashamed, but the young prince was very +glad. He had not forgotten how his brothers-in-law had laughed at him +and mocked him when he seemed a poor, common man. + +Now, when Katar was still in the jungle, before the prince was married, +he had told the boy the whole story of his birth, and all that had +happened to him and his mother. "When you are married," he said to him, +"I will take you back to your father's country." So two months after +the young prince had revenged himself on his brothers-in-law, Katar +said to him, "It is time for you to return to your father. Get the King +to let you go to your own country, and I will tell you what to do when +we get there." + +The prince always did what his horse told him to do; so he went to his +wife and said to her, "I wish very much to go to my own country to see +my father and mother." "Very well," said his wife; "I will tell my +father and mother, and ask them to let us go." Then she went to them, +and told them, and they consented to let her and her husband leave +them. The King gave his daughter and the young prince a great many +horses, and elephants, and all sorts of presents, and also a great many +sepoys to guard them. In this grand state they travelled to the +prince's country, which was not a great many miles off. When they +reached it they pitched their tents on the same plain in which the +prince had been left in his box by the nurse, where Shankar and Suri +had swallowed him so often. + +When the King, his father, the gardener's daughter's husband, saw the +prince's camp, he was very much alarmed, and thought a great King had +come to make war on him. He sent one of his servants, therefore, to ask +whose camp it was. The young prince then wrote him a letter, in which +he said, "You are a great King. Do not fear me. I am not come to make +war on you. I am as if I were your son. I am a prince who has come to +see your country and to speak with you. I wish to give you a grand +feast, to which every one in your country must come--men and women, old +and young, rich and poor, of all castes; all the children, fakirs, and +sepoys. You must bring them all here to me for a week, and I will feast +them all." + +The King was delighted with this letter, and ordered all the men, +women, and children of all castes, fakirs, and sepoys, in his country +to go to the prince's camp to a grand feast the prince would give them. +So they all came, and the King brought his four wives too. All came, at +least all but the gardener's daughter. No one had told her to go to the +feast, for no one had thought of her. + +When all the people were assembled, the prince saw his mother was not +there, and he asked the King, "Has every one in your country come to my +feast?" + +"Yes, every one," said the King. + +"Are you sure of that?" asked the prince. + +"Quite sure," answered the King. + +"I am sure one woman has not come," said the prince. "She is your +gardener's daughter, who was once your wife and is now a servant in +your palace." + +"True," said the King, "I had forgotten her." Then the prince told his +servants to take his finest palanquin and to fetch the gardener's +daughter. They were to bathe her, dress her in beautiful clothes and +handsome jewels, and then bring her to him in the palanquin. + +While the servants were bringing the gardener's daughter, the King +thought how handsome the young prince was; and he noticed particularly +the moon on his forehead and the star on his chin, and he wondered in +what country the young prince was born. + +And now the palanquin arrived bringing the gardener's daughter, and the +young prince went himself and took her out of it, and brought her into +the tent. He made her a great many salaams. The four wicked wives +looked on and were very much surprised and very angry. They remembered +that, when they arrived, the prince had made them no salaams, and since +then had not taken the least notice of them; whereas he could not do +enough for the gardener's daughter, and seemed very glad to see her. + +When they were all at dinner, the prince again made the gardener's +daughter a great many salaams, and gave her food from all the nicest +dishes. She wondered at his kindness to her, and thought, "Who is this +handsome prince, with a moon on his forehead and a star on his chin? I +never saw any one so beautiful. What country does he come from?" + +Two or three days were thus passed in feasting, and all that time the +King and his people were talking about the prince's beauty, and +wondering who he was. + +One day the prince asked the King if he had any children. "None," he +answered. + +"Do you know who I am?" asked the prince. + +"No," said the King. "Tell me who you are." + +"I am your son," answered the prince, "and the gardener's daughter is +my mother." + +The King shook his head sadly. "How can you be my son," he said, "when +I have never had any children?" + +"But I am your son," answered the prince. "Your four wicked Queens told +you the gardener's daughter had given you a stone and not a son; but it +was they who put the stone in my little bed, and then they tried to +kill me." + +The King did not believe him. "I wish you were my son," he said; "but as +I never had a child, you cannot be my son." "Do you remember your dog +Shankar, and how you had him killed? And do you remember your cow Suri, +and how you had her killed too? Your wives made you kill them because +of me. And," he said, taking the King to Katar, "do you know whose +horse that is?" + +The King looked at Katar, and then said, "That is my horse, Katar." +"Yes," said the prince. "Do you not remember how he rushed past you out +of his stable with me on his back?" Then Katar told the King the prince +was really his son, and told him all the story of his birth, and of his +life up to that moment; and when the King found the beautiful prince +was indeed his son, he was so glad, so glad. He put his arms round him +and kissed him and cried for joy. + +"Now," said the King, "you must come with me to my palace, and live +with me always." + +"No," said the prince, "that I cannot do. I cannot go to your palace. I +only came here to fetch my mother; and now that I have found her, I +will take her with me to my father-in-law's palace. I have married a +King's daughter, and we live with her father." + +"But now that I have found you, I cannot let you go," said his father. +You and your wife must come and live with your mother and me in my +palace." + +"That we will never do," said the prince, "unless you will kill your +four wicked Queens with your own hand. If you will do that, we will +come and live with you." + +So the King killed his Queens, and then he and his wife, the gardener's +daughter, and the prince and his wife, all went to live in the King's +palace, and lived there happily together for ever after; and the King +thanked God for giving him such a beautiful son, and for ridding him of +his four wicked wives. + +Katar did not return to the fairies' country, but stayed always with +the young prince, and never left him. + + + +THE PRINCE AND THE FAKIR + +There was once upon a time a King who had no children. Now this King +went and laid him down to rest at a place where four roads met, so that +every one who passed had to step over him. + +At last a Fakir came along, and he said to the King, "Man, why are you +lying here?" + +He replied, "Fakir, a thousand men have come and passed by; you pass on +too." + +But the Fakir said, "Who are you, man?" + +The King replied, "I am a King, Fakir. Of goods and gold I have no +lack, but I have lived long and have no children. So I have come here, +and have laid me down at the cross-roads. My sins and offences have +been very many, so I have come and am lying here that men may pass over +me, and perchance my sins may be forgiven me, and God may be merciful, +and I may have a son." + +The Fakir answered him, "Oh King! If you have children, what will you +give me?" + +"Whatever you ask, Fakir," answered the King. The Fakir said, "Of goods +and gold I have no lack, but I will say a prayer for you, and you will +have two sons; one of those sons will be mine." + +Then he took out two sweetmeats and handed them to the King, and said, +"King! take these two sweetmeats and give them to your wives; give them +to the wives you love best." + +The King took the sweetmeats and put them in his bosom. + +Then the Fakir said, "King! in a year I will return, and of the two +sons who will be born to you one is mine and one yours." + +The King said, "Well, I agree." + +Then the Fakir went on his way, and the King came home and gave one +sweetmeat to each of his two wives. After some time two sons were born +to the King. Then what did the King do but place those two sons in an +underground room, which he had built in the earth. + +Some time passed, and one day the Fakir appeared, and said, "King! +bring me that son of yours!" + +What did the King do but bring two slave-girls' sons and present them +to the Fakir. While the Fakir was sitting there the King's sons were +sitting down below in their cellar eating their food. Just then a +hungry ant had carried away a grain of rice from their food, and was +going along with it to her children. Another stronger ant came up and +attacked her in order to get this grain of rice. The first ant said, "O +ant, why do you drag this away from me? I have long been lame in my +feet, and I have got just one grain, and am carrying it to my children. +The King's sons are sitting in the cellar eating their food; you go and +fetch a grain from there; why should you take mine from me?" On this +the second ant let go and did not rob the first, but went off to where +the King's sons were eating their food. + +On hearing this the Fakir said, "King! these are not your sons; go and +bring those children who are eating their food in the cellar." + +Then the King went and brought his own sons. The Fakir chose the eldest +son and took him away, and set off with him on his journey, When he got +home he told the King's son to go out to gather fuel. + +So the King's son went out to gather cow-dung, and when he had +collected some he brought it in. + +Then the Fakir looked at the King's son and put on a great pot, and +said, "Come round here, my pupil." + +But the King's son said, "Master first, and pupil after." + +The Fakir told him to come once, he told him twice, he told him three +times, and each time the King's son answered, "Master first, and pupil +after." + +Then the Fakir made a dash at the King's son, thinking to catch him and +throw him into the caldron. There were about a hundred gallons of oil +in this caldron, and the fire was burning beneath it. Then the King's +son, lifting the Fakir, gave him a jerk and threw him into the caldron, +and he was burnt, and became roast meat. He then saw a key of the +Fakir's lying there; he took this key and opened the door of the +Fakir's house. Now many men were locked up in this house; two horses +were standing there in a hut of the Fakir's; two greyhounds were tied +up there; two simurgs were imprisoned, and two tigers also stood there. +So the King's son let all the creatures go, and took them out of the +house, and they all returned thanks to God. Next he let out all the men +who were in prison. He took away with him the two horses, and he took +away the two tigers, and he took away the two hounds, and he took away +the two simurgs, and with them he set out for another country. + +As he went along the road he saw above him a bald man, grazing a herd +of calves, and this bald man called out to him, "Fellow! can you fight +at all?" + +The King's son replied, "When I was little I could fight a bit, and +now, if any one wants to fight, I am not so unmanly as to turn my back. +Come, I will fight you." + +The bald man said, "If I throw you, you shall be my slave; and if you +throw me, I will be your slave." So they got ready and began to fight, +and the King's son threw him. + +On this the King's son said, "I will leave my beasts here, my simurgs, +tigers, and dogs, and horses; they will all stay here while I go to the +city to see the sights. I appoint the tiger as guard over my property. +And you are my slave, you, too, must stay here with my belongings." So +the King's son started off to the city to see the sights, and arrived +at a pool. + +He saw that it was a pleasant pool, and thought he would stop and bathe +there, and therewith he began to strip off his clothes. + +Now the King's daughter, who was sitting on the roof of the palace, saw +his royal marks, and she said, "This man is a king; when I marry, I +will marry him and no other." So she said to her father, "My father; I +wish to marry." + +"Good," said her father. + +Then the King made a proclamation: "Let all men, great and small, +attend to-day in the hall of audience, for the King's daughter will to- +day take a husband." + +All the men of the land assembled, and the traveller Prince also came, +dressed in the Fakir's clothes, saying to himself, "I must see this +ceremony to-day." He went in and sat down. + +The King's daughter came out and sat in the balcony, and cast her +glance round all the assembly. She noticed that the traveller Prince +was sitting in the assembly in Fakir's attire. + +The Princess said to her handmaiden, "Take this dish of henna, go to +that traveller dressed like a Fakir, and sprinkle scent on him from the +dish." + +The handmaiden obeyed the Princess's order, went to him, and sprinkled +the scent over him. + +Then the people said, "The slave-girl has made a mistake." + +But she replied, "The slave-girl has made no mistake, 'tis her mistress +has made the mistake." + +On this the King married his daughter to the Fakir, who was really no +Fakir, but a Prince. + +What fate had decreed came to pass in that country, and they were +married. But the King of that city became very sad in his heart, +because when so many chiefs and nobles were sitting there his daughter +had chosen none of them, but had chosen that Fakir; but he kept these +thoughts concealed in his heart. + +One day the traveller Prince said, "Let all the King's sons-in-law come +out with me to-day to hunt." + +People said, "What is this Fakir that he should go a-hunting?" + +However, they all set out for the hunt, and fixed their meeting-place +at a certain pool. + +The newly married Prince went to his tigers, and told his tigers and +hounds to kill and bring in a great number of gazelles and hog-deer and +markhor. Instantly they killed and brought in a great number. Then +taking with him these spoils of the chase, the Prince came to the pool +settled on as a meeting-place. The other Princes, sons-in-law of the +King of that city, also assembled there; but they had brought in no +game, and the new Prince had brought a great deal. Thence they returned +home to the town, and went to the King their father-in-law, to present +their game. + +Now that King had no son. Then the new Prince told him that in fact he, +too, was a Prince. At this the King, his father-in-law, was greatly +delighted and took him by the hand and embraced him. He seated him by +himself, saying, "O Prince, I return thanks that you have come here and +become my son-in-law; I am very happy at this, and I make over my +kingdom to you." + + + +WHY THE FISH LAUGHED + +As a certain fisherwoman passed by a palace crying her fish, the queen +appeared at one of the windows and beckoned her to come near and show +what she had. At that moment a very big fish jumped about in the bottom +of the basket. + +"Is it a he or a she?" inquired the queen. "I wish to purchase a she +fish." + +On hearing this the fish laughed aloud. + +"It's a he," replied the fisherwoman, and proceeded on her rounds. + +The queen returned to her room in a great rage; and on coming to see +her in the evening, the king noticed that something had disturbed her. + +"Are you indisposed?" he said. + +"No; but I am very much annoyed at the strange behaviour of a fish. A +woman brought me one to-day, and on my inquiring whether it was a male +or female, the fish laughed most rudely." + +"A fish laugh! Impossible! You must be dreaming." + +"I am not a fool. I speak of what I have seen with my own eyes and have +heard with my own ears." + +"Passing strange! Be it so. I will inquire concerning it." + +On the morrow the king repeated to his vizier what his wife had told +him, and bade him investigate the matter, and be ready with a +satisfactory answer within six months, on pain of death. The vizier +promised to do his best, though he felt almost certain of failure. For +five months he laboured indefatigably to find a reason for the laughter +of the fish. He sought everywhere and from every one. The wise and +learned, and they who were skilled in magic and in all manner of +trickery, were consulted. Nobody, however, could explain the matter; +and so he returned broken-hearted to his house, and began to arrange +his affairs in prospect of certain death, for he had had sufficient +experience of the king to know that His Majesty would not go back from +his threat. Amongst other things, he advised his son to travel for a +time, until the king's anger should have somewhat cooled. + +The young fellow, who was both clever and handsome, started off +whithersoever Kismat might lead him. He had been gone some days, when +he fell in with an old farmer, who also was on a journey to a certain +village. Finding the old man very pleasant, he asked him if he might +accompany him, professing to be on a visit to the same place. The old +farmer agreed, and they walked along together. The day was hot, and the +way was long and weary. + +"Don't you think it would be pleasanter if you and I sometimes gave one +another a lift?" said the youth. + +"What a fool the man is!" thought the old farmer. + +Presently they passed through a field of corn ready for the sickle, and +looking like a sea of gold as it waved to and fro in the breeze. + +"Is this eaten or not?" said the young man. + +Not understanding his meaning, the old man replied, "I don't know." + +After a little while the two travellers arrived at a big village, where +the young man gave his companion a clasp-knife, and said, "Take this, +friend, and get two horses with it; but mind and bring it back, for it +is very precious." + +The old man, looking half amused and half angry, pushed back the knife, +muttering something to the effect that his friend was either a fool +himself or else trying to play the fool with him. The young man +pretended not to notice his reply, and remained almost silent till they +reached the city, a short distance outside which was the old farmer's +house. They walked about the bazar and went to the mosque, but nobody +saluted them or invited them to come in and rest. + +"What a large cemetery!" exclaimed the young man. + +"What does the man mean," thought the old farmer, "calling this largely +populated city a cemetery?" + +On leaving the city their way led through a cemetery where a few people +were praying beside a grave and distributing chapatis and kulchas to +passers-by, in the name of their beloved dead. They beckoned to the two +travellers and gave them as much as they would. + +"What a splendid city this is!" said the young man. + +"Now, the man must surely be demented!" thought the old farmer. "I +wonder what he will do next? He will be calling the land water, and the +water land; and be speaking of light where there is darkness, and of +darkness when it is light." However, he kept his thoughts to himself. + +Presently they had to wade through a stream that ran along the edge of +the cemetery. The water was rather deep, so the old farmer took of his +shoes and paijamas and crossed over; but the young man waded through it +with his shoes and paijamas on. + +"Well! I never did see such a perfect fool, both in word and in deed," +said the old man to himself. + +However, he liked the fellow; and thinking that he would amuse his wife +and daughter, he invited him to come and stay at his house as long as +he had occasion to remain in the village. + +"Thank you very much," the young man replied; "but let me first +inquire, if you please, whether the beam of your house is strong." + +The old farmer left him in despair, and entered his house laughing. + +"There is a man in yonder field," he said, after returning their +greetings. "He has come the greater part of the way with me, and I +wanted him to put up here as long as he had to stay in this village. +But the fellow is such a fool that I cannot make anything out of him. +He wants to know if the beam of this house is all right. The man must +be mad!" and saying this, he burst into a fit of laughter. + +"Father," said the farmer's daughter, who was a very sharp and wise +girl, "this man, whosoever he is, is no fool, as you deem him. He only +wishes to know if you can afford to entertain him." + +"Oh! of course," replied the farmer. "I see. Well perhaps you can help +me to solve some of his other mysteries. While we were walking together +he asked whether he should carry me or I should carry him, as he +thought that would be a pleasanter mode of proceeding." + +"Most assuredly," said the girl. "He meant that one of you should tell +a story to beguile the time." + +"Oh yes. Well, we were passing through a corn-field, when he asked me +whether it was eaten or not." + +"And didn't you know the meaning of this, father? He simply wished to +know if the man was in debt or not; because, if the owner of the field +was in debt, then the produce of the field was as good as eaten to him; +that is, it would have to go to his creditors." + +"Yes, yes, yes; of course! Then, on entering a certain village, he bade +me take his clasp knife and get two horses with it, and bring back the +knife again to him." + +"Are not two stout sticks as good as two horses for helping one along +on the road? He only asked you to cut a couple of sticks and be careful +not to lose his knife." + +"I see," said the farmer. "While we were walking over the city we did +not see anybody that we knew, and not a soul gave us a scrap of +anything to eat, till we were passing the cemetery; but there some +people called to us and put into our hands some chapatis and kulchas; +so my companion called the city a cemetery, and the cemetery a city." + +"This also is to be understood, father, if one thinks of the city as +the place where everything is to be obtained, and of inhospitable +people as worse than the dead. The city, though crowded with people, +was as if dead, as far as you were concerned; while, in the cemetery, +which is crowded with the dead, you were saluted by kind friends and +provided with bread." + +"True, true!" said the astonished farmer. "Then, just now, when we were +crossing the stream, he waded through it without taking off his shoes +and paijamas." + +"I admire his wisdom," replied the girl. "I have often thought how +stupid people were to venture into that swiftly flowing stream and over +those sharp stones with bare feet. The slightest stumble and they would +fall, and be wetted from head to foot. This friend of yours is a most +wise man. I should like to see him and speak to him." + +"Very well," said the farmer; "I will go and find him, and bring him +in." + +"Tell him, father, that our beams are strong enough, and then he will +come in. I'll send on ahead a present to the man, to show him that we +can afford to have him for our guest." + +Accordingly she called a servant and sent him to the young man with a +present of a basin of ghee, twelve chapatis, and a jar of milk, and the +following message:--"O friend, the moon is full; twelve months make a +year, and the sea is overflowing with water." + +Half-way the bearer of this present and message met his little son, +who, seeing what was in the basket, begged his father to give him some +of the food. His father foolishly complied. Presently he saw the young +man, and gave him the rest of the present and the message. + +"Give your mistress my salam," he replied, "and tell her that the moon +is new, and that I can only find eleven months in the year, and the sea +is by no means full." + +Not understanding the meaning of these words, the servant repeated them +word for word, as he had heard them, to his mistress; and thus his +theft was discovered, and he was severely punished. After a little +while the young man appeared with the old farmer. Great attention was +shown to him, and he was treated in every way as if he were the son of +a great man, although his humble host knew nothing of his origin. At +length he told them everything--about the laughing of the fish, his +father's threatened execution, and his own banishment--and asked their +advice as to what he should do. + +"The laughing of the fish," said the girl, "which seems to have been +the cause of all this trouble, indicates that there is a man in the +palace who is plotting against the king's life." + +"Joy, joy!" exclaimed the vizier's son. "There is yet time for me to +return and save my father from an ignominious and unjust death, and the +king from danger." + +The following day he hastened back to his own country, taking with him +the farmer's daughter. Immediately on arrival he ran to the palace and +informed his father of what he had heard. The poor vizier, now almost +dead from the expectation of death, was at once carried to the king, to +whom he repeated the news that his son had just brought. + +"Never!" said the king. + +"But it must be so, Your Majesty," replied the vizier; "and in order to +prove the truth of what I have heard, I pray you to call together all +the maids in your palace, and order them to jump over a pit, which must +be dug. We'll soon find out whether there is any man there." + +The king had the pit dug, and commanded all the maids belonging to the +palace to try to jump it. All of them tried, but only one succeeded. +That one was found to be a man!! + +Thus was the queen satisfied, and the faithful old vizier saved. + +Afterwards, as soon as could be, the vizier's son married the old +farmer's daughter; and a most happy marriage it was. + + + +THE DEMON WITH THE MATTED HAIR + +_This story the Teacher told in Jetavana about a Brother who had +ceased striving after righteousness. Said the Teacher to him: "Is it +really true that you have ceased all striving?"--"Yes, Blessed One," he +replied. Then the Teacher said: "O Brother, in former days wise men +made effort in the place where effort should be made, and so attained +unto royal power." And he told a story of long ago._ + +Once upon a time, when Brahmadatta was King of Benares, the Bodhisatta +was born as son of his chief queen. On his name-day they asked 800 +Brahmans, having satisfied them with all their desires, about his lucky +marks. The Brahmans who had skill in divining from such marks beheld +the excellence of his, and made answer: + +"Full of goodness, great King, is your son, and when you die he will +become king; he shall be famous and renowned for his skill with the +five weapons, and shall be the chief man in all India." On hearing what +the Brahmans had to say, they gave him the name of the Prince of the +Five Weapons, sword, spear, bow, battle-axe, and shield. + +When he came to years of discretion, and had attained the measure of +sixteen years, the King said to him: + +"My son, go and complete your education." + +"Who shall be my teacher?" the lad asked. + +"Go, my son; in the kingdom of Candahar, in the city of Takkasila, is a +far-famed teacher from whom I wish you to learn. Take this, and give it +him for a fee." With that he gave him a thousand pieces of money, and +dismissed him. + +The lad departed, and was educated by this teacher; he received the +Five Weapons from him as a gift, bade him farewell, and leaving +Takkasila, he began his journey to Benares, armed with the Five +Weapons. + +On his way he came to a forest inhabited by the Demon with the Matted +Hair. At the entering in of the forest some men saw him, and cried out: + +"Hullo, young sir, keep clear of that wood! There's a Demon in it +called he of the Matted Hair: he kills every man he sees!" And they +tried to stop him. But the Bodhisatta, having confidence in himself, +went straight on, fearless as a maned lion. + +When he reached mid-forest the Demon showed himself. He made himself as +tall as a palm tree; his head was the size of a pagoda, his eyes as big +as saucers, and he had two tusks all over knobs and bulbs; he had the +face of a hawk, a variegated belly, and blue hands and feet. + +"Where are you going?" he shouted. "Stop! You'll make a meal for me!" + +Said the Bodhisatta: "Demon, I came here trusting in myself. I advise +you to be careful how you come near me. Here's a poisoned arrow, which +I'll shoot at you and knock you down!" With this menace, he fitted to +his bow an arrow dipped in deadly poison, and let fly. The arrow stuck +fast in the Demon's hair. Then he shot and shot, till he had shot away +fifty arrows; and they all stuck in the Demon's hair. The Demon snapped +them all off short, and threw them down at his feet; then came up to +the Bodhisatta, who drew his sword and struck the Demon, threatening +him the while. His sword--it was three-and-thirty inches long--stuck in +the Demon's hair! The Bodhisatta struck him with his spear--that stuck +too! He struck him with his club--and that stuck too! + +When the Bodhisatta saw that this had stuck fast, he addressed the +Demon. "You, Demon!" said he, "did you never hear of me before--the +Prince of the Five Weapons? When I came into the forest which you live +in I did not trust to my bow and other weapons. This day will I pound +you and grind you to powder!" Thus did he declare his resolve, and with +a shout he hit at the Demon with his right hand. It stuck fast in his +hair! He hit him with his left hand--that stuck too! With his right +foot he kicked him--that stuck too; then with his left--and that stuck +too! Then he butted at him with his head, crying, "I'll pound you to +powder!" and his head stuck fast like the rest. + +Thus the Bodhisatta was five times snared, caught fast in five places, +hanging suspended: yet he felt no fear--was not even nervous. + +Thought the Demon to himself: "Here's a lion of a man! A noble man! +More than man is he! Here he is, caught by a Demon like me; yet he will +not fear a bit. Since I have ravaged this road, I never saw such a man. +Now, why is it that he does not fear?" He was powerless to eat the man, +but asked him: "Why is it, young sir, that you are not frightened to +death?" + +"Why should I fear, Demon?" replied he. "In one life a man can die but +once. Besides, in my belly is a thunderbolt; if you eat me, you will +never be able to digest it; this will tear your inwards into little +bits, and kill you: so we shall both perish. That is why I fear +nothing." (By this, the Bodhisatta meant the weapon of knowledge which +he had within him.) + +When he heard this, the Demon thought: "This young man speaks the +truth. A piece of the flesh of such a lion-man as he would be too much +for me to digest, if it were no bigger than a kidney-bean. I'll let him +go!" So, being frightened to death, he let go the Bodhisatta, saying +"Young sir, you are a lion of a man! I will not eat you up. I set you +free from my hands, as the moon is disgorged from the jaws of Rahu +after the eclipse. Go back to the company of your friends and +relations!" + +And the Bodhisatta said: "Demon, I will go, as you say. You were born a +Demon, cruel, blood-bibbing, devourer of the flesh and gore of others, +because you did wickedly in former lives. If you still go on doing +wickedly, you will go from darkness to darkness. But now that you have +seen me you will find it impossible to do wickedly. Taking the life of +living creatures causes birth, as an animal, in the world of Petas, or +in the body of an Asura, or, if one is reborn as a man, it makes his +life short." With this and the like monition he told him the +disadvantage of the five kinds of wickedness, and the profit of the +five kinds of virtue, and frightened the Demon in various ways, +discoursing to him until he subdued him and made him self-denying, and +established him in the five kinds of virtue; he made him worship the +deity to whom offerings were made in that wood; and having carefully +admonished him, departed out of it. + +At the entrance of the forest he told all to the people thereabout; and +went on to Benares, armed with his five weapons. Afterwards he became +king, and ruled righteously; and after giving alms and doing good he +passed away according to his deeds. + +_And the Teacher, when this tale was ended, became perfectly +enlightened, and repeated this verse: + + Whose mind and heart from all desire is free, + Who seeks for peace by living virtuously, + He in due time will sever all the bonds + That bind him fast to life, and cease to be. + +Thus the Teacher reached the summit, through sainthood and the teaching +of the law, and thereupon he declared the Four Truths. At the end of +the declaring of the Truths, this Brother also attained to sainthood. +Then the Teacher made the connexion, and gave the key to the birth- +tale, saying: "At that time Angulimala was the Demon, but the Prance of +the Five Weapons was I myself."_ + + + +THE IVORY CITY AND ITS FAIRY PRINCESS + +One day a young prince was out practising archery with the son of his +father's chief vizier, when one of the arrows accidentally struck the +wife of a merchant, who was walking about in an upper room of a house +close by. The prince aimed at a bird that was perched on the window- +sill of that room, and had not the slightest idea that anybody was at +hand, or he would not have shot in that direction. Consequently, not +knowing what had happened, he and the vizier's son walked away, the +vizier's son chaffing him because he had missed the bird. + +Presently the merchant went to ask his wife about something, and found +her lying, to all appearance, dead in the middle of the room, and an +arrow fixed in the ground within half a yard of her head. Supposing +that she was dead, he rushed to the window and shrieked, "Thieves +thieves! They have killed my wife." The neighbours quickly gathered, +and the servants came running upstairs to see what was the matter. It +happened that the woman had fainted, and that there was only a very +slight wound in her breast where the arrow had grazed. + +As soon as the woman recovered her senses she told them that two young +men had passed by the place with their bows and arrows, and that one of +them had most deliberately aimed at her as she stood by the window. + +On hearing this the merchant went to the king, and told him what had +taken place. His Majesty was much enraged at such audacious wickedness, +and swore that most terrible punishment should be visited on the +offender if he could be discovered. He ordered the merchant to go back +and ascertain whether his wife could recognise the young men if she saw +them again. + +"Oh yes," replied the woman, "I should know them again among all the +people in the city." + +"Then," said the king, when the merchant brought back this reply, "to- +morrow I will cause all the male inhabitants of this city to pass +before your house, and your wife will stand at the window and watch for +the man who did this wanton deed." + +A royal proclamation was issued to this effect. So the next day all the +men and boys of the city, from the age of ten years upwards, assembled +and marched by the house of the merchant. By chance (for they both had +been excused from obeying this order) the king's son and the vizier's +son were also in the company, and passed by in the crowd. They came to +see the tamasha. + +As soon as these two appeared in front of the merchant's window they +were recognised by the merchant's wife, and at once reported to the +king. + +"My own son and the son of my chief vizier!" exclaimed the king, who +had been present from the commencement. "What examples for the people! +Let them both be executed." + +"Not so, your Majesty," said the vizier, "I beseech you Let the facts +of the case be thoroughly investigated. How is it?" he continued, +turning to the two young men. "Why have you done this cruel thing?" + +"I shot an arrow at a bird that was sitting on the sill of an open +window in yonder house, and missed," answered the prince. "I suppose +the arrow struck the merchant's wife. Had I known that she or anybody +had been near I should not have shot in that direction." + +"We will speak of this later on," said the king, on hearing this +answer. "Dismiss the people. Their presence is no longer needed." + +In the evening his Majesty and the vizier had a long and earnest talk +about their two sons. The king wished both of them to be executed; but +the vizier suggested that the prince should be banished from the +country. This was finally agreed to. + +Accordingly, on the following morning, a little company of soldiers +escorted the prince out of the city. When they reached the last custom- +house the vizier's son overtook them. He had come with all haste, +bringing with him four bags of muhrs on four horses. "I am come," he +said, throwing his arms round the prince's neck, "because I cannot let +you go alone. We have lived together, we will be exiled together, and +we will die together. Turn me not back, if you love me." + +"Consider," the prince answered, "what you are doing. All kinds of +trial may be before me. Why should you leave your home and country to +be with me?" + +"Because I love you," he said, "and shall never be happy without you." + +So the two friends walked along hand in hand as fast as they could to +get out of the country, and behind them marched the soldiers and the +horses with their valuable burdens. On reaching a place on the borders +of the king's dominions the prince gave the soldiers some gold, and +ordered them to return. The soldiers took the money and left; they did +not, however, go very far, but hid themselves behind rocks and stones, +and waited till they were quite sure that the prince did not intend to +come back. + +On and on the exiles walked, till they arrived at a certain village, +where they determined to spend the night under one of the big trees of +the place. The prince made preparations for a fire, and arranged the +few articles of bedding that they had with them, while the vizier's son +went to the baniya and the baker and the butcher to get something for +their dinner. For some reason he was delayed; perhaps the tsut was not +quite ready, or the baniya had not got all the spices prepared. After +waiting half an hour the prince became impatient, and rose up and +walked about. + +He saw a pretty, clear little brook running along not far from their +resting-place, and hearing that its source was not far distant, he +started off to find it. The source was a beautiful lake, which at that +time was covered with the magnificent lotus flower and other water +plants. The prince sat down on the bank, and being thirsty took up some +of the water in his hand. Fortunately he looked into his hand before +drinking, and there, to his great astonishment, he saw reflected whole +and clear the image of a beautiful fairy. He looked round, hoping to +see the reality; but seeing no person, he drank the water, and put out +his hand to take some more. Again he saw the reflection in the water +which was in his palm. He looked around as before, and this time +discovered a fairy sitting by the bank on the opposite side of the +lake. On seeing her he fell so madly in love with her that he dropped +down in a swoon. + +When the vizier's son returned, and found the fire lighted, the horses +securely fastened, and the bags of muhrs lying altogether in a heap, +but no prince, he did not know what to think. He waited a little while, +and then shouted; but not getting any reply, he got up and went to the +brook. There he came across the footmarks of his friend. Seeing these, +he went back at once for the money and the horses, and bringing them +with him, he tracked the prince to the lake, where he found him lying +to all appearance dead. + +"Alas! alas!" he cried, and lifting up the prince, he poured some water +over his head and face. "Alas! my brother, what is this? Oh! do not die +and leave me thus. Speak, speak! I cannot bear this!" + +In a few minutes the prince, revived by the water, opened his eyes, and +looked about wildly. + +"Thank God!" exclaimed the vizier's son. "But what is the matter, +brother?" + +"Go away," replied the prince. "I don't want to say anything to you, or +to see you. Go away." + +"Come, come; let us leave this place. Look, I have brought some food +for you, and horses, and everything. Let us eat and depart." + +"Go alone," replied the prince. + +"Never," said the vizier's son. "What has happened to suddenly estrange +you from me? A little while ago we were brethren, but now you detest +the sight of me." + +"I have looked upon a fairy," the prince said. "But a moment I saw her +face; for when she noticed that I was looking at her she covered her +face with lotus petals. Oh, how beautiful she was! And while I gazed +she took out of her bosom an ivory box, and held it up to me. Then I +fainted. Oh! if you can get me that fairy for my wife, I will go +anywhere with you." + +"Oh, brother," said the vizier's son, "you have indeed seen a fairy. +She is a fairy of the fairies. This is none other than Gulizar of the +Ivory City. I know this from the signs that she gave you. From her +covering her face with lotus petals I learn her name, and from her +showing you the ivory box I learn where she lives. Be patient, and rest +assured that I will arrange your marriage with her." + +When the prince heard these encouraging words he felt much comforted, +rose up, and ate, and then went away gladly with his friend. + +On the way they met two men. These two men belonged to a family of +robbers. There were eleven of them altogether. One, an elder sister, +stayed at home and cooked the food, and the other ten--all brothers-- +went out, two and two, and walked about the four different ways that +ran through that part of the country, robbing those travellers who +could not resist them, and inviting others, who were too powerful for +two of them to manage, to come and rest at their house, where the whole +family attacked them and stole their goods. These thieves lived in a +kind of tower, which had several strong-rooms in it, and under it was a +great pit, wherein they threw the corpses of the poor unfortunates who +chanced to fall into their power. + +The two men came forward, and, politely accosting them, begged them to +come and stay at their house for the night. "It is late," they said, +"and there is not another village within several miles." + +"Shall we accept this good man's invitation, brother?" asked the +prince. + +The vizier's son frowned slightly in token of disapproval; but the +prince was tired, and thinking that it was only a whim of his friend's, +he said to the men, "Very well. It is very kind of you to ask us." + +So they all four went to the robbers' tower. + +Seated in a room, with the door fastened on the outside, the two +travellers bemoaned their fate. + +"It is no good groaning," said the vizier's son. "I will climb to the +window, and see whether there are any means of escape. Yes! yes!" he +whispered, when he had reached the window-hole. "Below there is a ditch +surrounded by a high wall. I will jump down and reconnoitre. You stay +here, and wait till I return." + +Presently he came back and told the prince that he had seen a most ugly +woman, whom he supposed was the robbers' housekeeper. She had agreed to +release them on the promise of her marriage with the prince. + +So the woman led the way out of the enclosure by a secret door. + +"But where are the horses and the goods?" the vizier's son inquired. + +"You cannot bring them," the woman said. "To go out by any other way +would be to thrust oneself into the grave." + +"All right, then; they also shall go out by this door. I have a charm, +whereby I can make them thin or fat." So the vizier's son fetched the +horses without any person knowing it, and repeating the charm, he made +them pass through the narrow doorway like pieces of cloth, and when +they were all outside restored them to their former condition. He at +once mounted his horse and laid hold of the halter of one of the other +horses, and then beckoning to the prince to do likewise, he rode off. +The prince saw his opportunity, and in a moment was riding after him, +having the woman behind him. + +Now the robbers heard the galloping of the horses, and ran out and shot +their arrows at the prince and his companions. And one of the arrows +killed the woman, so they had to leave her behind. + +On, on they rode, until they reached a village where they stayed the +night. The following morning they were off again, and asked for Ivory +City from every passer-by. At length they came to this famous city, and +put up at a little hut that belonged to an old woman, from whom they +feared no harm, and with whom, therefore, they could abide in peace and +comfort. At first the old woman did not like the idea of these +travellers staying in her house, but the sight of a muhr, which the +prince dropped in the bottom of a cup in which she had given him water, +and a present of another muhr from the vizier's son, quickly made her +change her mind. She agreed to let them stay there for a few days. + +As soon as her work was over the old woman came and sat down with her +lodgers. The vizier's son pretended to be utterly ignorant of the place +and people. "Has this city a name?" he asked the old woman. + +"Of course it has, you stupid. Every little village, much more a city, +and such a city as this, has a name." + +"What is the name of this city?" + +"Ivory City. Don't you know that? I thought the name was known all over +the world." + +On the mention of the name Ivory City the prince gave a deep sigh. The +vizier's son looked as much as to say "Keep quiet, or you'll discover +the secret." + +"Is there a king of this country?" continued the vizier's son. + +"Of course there is, and a queen, and a princess." + +"What are their names?" + +"The name of the princess is Gulizar, and the name of the queen----" + +The vizier's son interrupted the old woman by turning to look at the +prince, who was staring like a madman. "Yes," he said to him +afterwards, "we are in the right country. We shall see the beautiful +princess." + +One morning the two travellers noticed the old woman's most careful +toilette: how careful she was in the arrangement of her hair and the +set of her kasabah and puts. + +"Who is coming?" said the vizier's son. + +"Nobody," the old woman replied. + +"Then where are you going?" + +"I am going to see my daughter, who is a servant of the Princess +Gulizar. I see her and the princess every day. I should have gone +yesterday, if you had not been here and taken up all my time." + +"Ah-h-h! Be careful not to say anything about us in the hearing of the +princess." The vizier's son asked her not to speak about them at the +palace, hoping that, because she had been told not to do so, she would +mention their arrival, and thus the princess would be informed of their +coming. + +On seeing her mother the girl pretended to be very angry. "Why have you +not been for two days?" she asked. + +"Because, my dear," the old woman answered, "two young travellers, a +prince and the son of some great vizier, have taken up their abode in +my hut, and demand so much of my attention. It is nothing but cooking +and cleaning, and cleaning and cooking, all day long. I can't +understand the men," she added; "one of them especially appears very +stupid. He asked me the name of this country and the name of the +king. Now where can these men have come from, that they do not know +these things? However, they are very great and very rich. They each +give me a muhr every morning and every evening." + +After this the old woman went and repeated almost the same words to the +princess, on the hearing of which the princess beat her severely; and +threatened her with a severer punishment if she ever again spoke of the +strangers before her. + +In the evening, when the old woman had returned to her hut, she told +the vizier's son how sorry she was that she could not help breaking her +promise, and how the princess had struck her because she mentioned +their coming and all about them. + +"Alas! alas!" said the prince, who had eagerly listened to every word. +"What, then, will be her anger at the sight of a man?" + +"Anger?" said the vizier's son, with an astonished air. "She would be +exceedingly glad to see one man. I know this. In this treatment of the +old woman I see her request that you will go and see her during the +coming dark fortnight." + +"Heaven be praised!" the prince exclaimed. + +The next time the old woman went to the palace Gulizar called one of +her servants and ordered her to rush into the room while she was +conversing with the old woman; and if the old woman asked what was the +matter, she was to say that the king's elephants had gone mad, and were +rushing about the city and bazaar in every direction, and destroying +everything in their way. + +The servant obeyed, and the old woman, fearing lest the elephants +should go and push down her hut and kill the prince and his friend, +begged the princess to let her depart. Now Gulizar had obtained a +charmed swing, that landed whoever sat on it at the place wherever they +wished to be. "Get the swing," she said to one of the servants standing +by. When it was brought she bade the old woman step into it and desire +to be at home. + +The old woman did so, and was at once carried through the air quickly +and safely to her hut, where she found her two lodgers safe and sound. +"Oh!" she cried, "I thought that both of you would be killed by this +time. The royal elephants have got loose and are running about wildly. +When I heard this I was anxious about you. So the princess gave me this +charmed swing to return in. But come, let us get outside before the +elephants arrive and batter down the place." + +"Don't believe this," said the vizier's son. "It is a mere hoax. They +have been playing tricks with you." + +"You will soon have your heart's desire," he whispered aside to the +prince. "These things are signs." + +Two days of the dark fortnight had elapsed, when the prince and the +vizier's son seated themselves in the swing, and wished themselves +within the grounds of the palace. In a moment they were there, and +there too was the object of their search standing by one of the palace +gates, and longing to see the prince quite as much as he was longing to +see her. + +Oh, what a happy meeting it was! + +"At last," said Gulizar, "I have seen my beloved, my husband." + +"A thousand thanks to Heaven for bringing me to you," said the prince. + +Then the prince and Gulizar betrothed themselves to one another and +parted, the one for the hut and the other for the palace, both of them +feeling happier than they had ever been before. + +Henceforth the prince visited Gulizar every day and returned to the hut +every night. One morning Gulizar begged him to stay with her always. +She was constantly afraid of some evil happening to him--perhaps +robbers would slay him, or sickness attack him, and then she would be +deprived of him. She could not live without seeing him. The prince +showed her that there was no real cause for fear, and said that he felt +he ought to return to his friend at night, because he had left his home +and country and risked his life for him; and, moreover, if it had not +been for his friend's help he would never have met with her. + +Gulizar for the time assented, but she determined in her heart to get +rid of the vizier's son as soon as possible. A few days after this +conversation she ordered one of her maids to make a pilaw. She gave +special directions that a certain poison was to be mixed into it while +cooking, and as soon as it was ready the cover was to be placed on the +saucepan, so that the poisonous steam might not escape. When the pilaw +was ready she sent it at once by the hand of a servant to the vizier's +son with this message "Gulizar, the princess, sends you an offering in +the name of her dead uncle." + +On receiving the present the vizier's son thought that the prince had +spoken gratefully of him to the princess, and therefore she had thus +remembered him. Accordingly he sent back his salam and expressions of +thankfulness. + +When it was dinner-time he took the saucepan of pilaw and went out to +eat it by the stream. Taking off the lid, he threw it aside on the +grass and then washed his hands. During the minute or so that he was +performing these ablutions, the green grass under the cover of the +saucepan turned quite yellow. He was astonished, and suspecting that +there was poison in the pilaw, he took a little and threw it to some +crows that were hopping about. The moment the crows ate what was thrown +to them they fell down dead. + +"Heaven be praised," exclaimed the vizier's son, "who has preserved me +from death at this time!" + +On the return of the prince that evening the vizier's son was very +reticent and depressed. The prince noticed this change in him, and +asked what was the reason. "Is it because I am away so much at the +palace?" The vizier's son saw that the prince had nothing to do with +the sending of the pilaw, and therefore told him everything. + +"Look here," he said, "in this handkerchief is some pilaw that the +princess sent me this morning in the name of her deceased uncle. It is +saturated with poison. Thank Heaven, I discovered it in time!" + +"Oh, brother! who could have done this thing? Who is there that +entertains enmity against you?" + +"The Princess Gulizar. Listen. The next time you go to see her, I +entreat you to take some snow with you; and just before seeing the +princess put a little of it into both your eyes. It will provoke tears, +and Gulizar will ask you why you are crying. Tell her that you weep for +the loss of your friend, who died suddenly this morning. Look! take, +too, this wine and this shovel, and when you have feigned intense grief +at the death of your friend, bid the princess to drink a little of the +wine. It is strong, and will immediately send her into a deep sleep. +Then, while she is asleep, heat the shovel and mark her back with it. +Remember to bring back the shovel again, and also to take her pearl +necklace. This done, return. Now fear not to execute these +instructions, because on the fulfilment of them depends your fortune +and happiness. I will arrange that your marriage with the princess +shall be accepted by the king, her father, and all the court." + +The prince promised that he would do everything as the vizier's son had +advised him; and he kept his promise. + +The following night, on the return of the prince from his visit to +Gulizar, he and the vizier's son, taking the horses and bags of muhrs, +went to a graveyard about a mile or so distant. It was arranged that +the vizier's son should act the part of a fakir and the prince the part +of the fakir's disciple and servant. + +In the morning, when Gulizar had returned to her senses, she felt a +smarting pain in her back, and noticed that her pearl necklace was +gone. She went at once and informed the king of the loss of her +necklace, but said nothing to him about the pain in her back. + +The king was very angry when he heard of the theft, and caused +proclamation concerning it to be made throughout all the city and +surrounding country. + +"It is well," said the vizier's son, when he heard of this +proclamation. "Fear not, my brother, but go and take this necklace, and +try to sell it in the bazaar." + +The prince took it to a goldsmith and asked him to buy it. + +"How much do you want for it?" asked the man. + +"Fifty thousand rupees," the prince replied. + +"All right," said the man; "wait here while I go and fetch the money." + +The prince waited and waited, till at last the goldsmith returned, and +with him the kotwal, who at once took the prince into custody on the +charge of stealing the princess's necklace. + +"How did you get the necklace?" the kotwal asked. + +"A fakir, whose servant I am, gave it to me to sell in the bazaar," the +prince replied. "Permit me, and I will show you where he is." + +The prince directed the kotwal and the policeman to the place where he +had left the vizier's son, and there they found the fakir with his eyes +shut and engaged in prayer. Presently, when he had finished his +devotions, the kotwal asked him to explain how he had obtained +possession of the princess's necklace. + +"Call the king hither," he replied, "and then I will tell his Majesty +face to face." + +On this some men went to the king and told him what the fakir had said. +His Majesty came, and seeing the fakir so solemn and earnest in his +devotions, he was afraid to rouse his anger, lest peradventure the +displeasure of Heaven should descend on him, and so he placed his hands +together in the attitude of a supplicant, and asked, "How did you get +my daughter's necklace?" + +"Last night," replied the fakir, "we were sitting here by this tomb +worshipping Khuda, when a ghoul, dressed as a princess, came and +exhumed a body that had been buried a few days ago, and began to eat +it. On seeing this I was filled with anger, and beat her back with a +shovel, which lay on the fire at the time. While running away from me +her necklace got loose and dropped. You wonder at these words, but they +are not difficult to prove. Examine your daughter, and you will find +the marks of the burn on her back. Go, and if it is as I say, send the +princess to me, and I will punish her." + +The king went back to the palace, and at once ordered the princess's +back to be examined. + +"It is so," said the maid-servant; "the burn is there." + +"Then let the girl be slain immediately," the king shouted. + +"No, no, your Majesty," they replied. "Let us send her to the fakir who +discovered this thing, that he may do whatever he wishes with her." + +The king agreed, and so the princess was taken to the graveyard. + +"Let her be shut up in a cage, and be kept near the grave whence she +took out the corpse," said the fakir. + +This was done, and in a little while the fakir and his disciple and the +princess were left alone in the graveyard. Night had not long cast its +dark mantle over the scene when the fakir and his disciple threw off +their disguise, and taking their horses and luggage, appeared before +the cage. They released the princess, rubbed some ointment over the +scars on her back, and then sat her upon one of their horses behind the +prince. Away they rode fast and far, and by the morning were able to +rest and talk over their plans in safety. The vizier's son showed the +princess some of the poisoned pilaw that she had sent him, and asked +whether she had repented of her ingratitude. The princess wept, and +acknowledged that he was her greatest helper and friend. + +A letter was sent to the chief vizier telling him of all that had +happened to the prince and the vizier's son since they had left their +country. When the vizier read the letter he went and informed the king. +The king caused a reply to be sent to the two exiles, in which he +ordered them not to return, but to send a letter to Gulizar's father, +and inform him of everything. Accordingly they did this; the prince +wrote the letter at the vizier's son's dictation. + +On reading the letter Gulizar's father was much enraged with his +viziers and other officials for not discovering the presence in his +country of these illustrious visitors, as he was especially anxious to +ingratiate himself in the favour of the prince and the vizier's son. He +ordered the execution of some of the viziers on a certain date. + +"Come," he wrote back to the vizier's son, "and stay at the palace. And +if the prince desires it, I will arrange for his marriage with Gulizar +as soon as possible." + +The prince and the vizier's son most gladly accepted the invitation, +and received a right noble welcome from the king. The marriage soon +took place, and then after a few weeks the king gave them presents of +horses and elephants, and jewels and rich cloths, and bade them start +for their own land; for he was sure that the king would now receive +them. The night before they left the viziers and others, whom the king +intended to have executed as soon as his visitors had left, came and +besought the vizier's son to plead for them, and promised that they +each would give him a daughter in marriage. He agreed to do so, and +succeeded in obtaining their pardon. + +Then the prince, with his beautiful bride Gulizar, and the vizier's +son, attended by a troop of soldiers, and a large number of camels and +horses bearing very much treasure, left for their own land. In the +midst of the way they passed the tower of the robbers, and with the +help of the soldiers they razed it to the ground, slew all its inmates, +and seized the treasure which they had been amassing there for several +years. + +At length they reached their own country, and when the king saw his +son's beautiful wife and his magnificent retinue he was at once +reconciled, and ordered him to enter the city and take up his abode +there. + +Henceforth all was sunshine on the path of the prince. He became a +great favourite, and in due time succeeded to the throne, and ruled the +country for many, many years in peace and happiness. + + + +HOW SUN, MOON, AND WIND WENT OUT TO DINNER + +One day Sun, Moon, and Wind went out to dine with their uncle and aunts +Thunder and Lightning. Their mother (one of the most distant Stars you +see far up in the sky) waited alone for her children's return. + +Now both Sun and Wind were greedy and selfish. They enjoyed the great +feast that had been prepared for them, without a thought of saving any +of it to take home to their mother--but the gentle Moon did not forget +her. Of every dainty dish that was brought round, she placed a small +portion under one of her beautiful long finger-nails, that Star might +also have a share in the treat. + +On their return, their mother, who had kept watch for them all night +long with her little bright eye, said, "Well, children, what have you +brought home for me?" Then Sun (who was eldest) said, "I have brought +nothing home for you. I went out to enjoy myself with my friends--not +to fetch a dinner for my mother!" And Wind said, "Neither have I +brought anything home for you, mother. You could hardly expect me to +bring a collection of good things for you, when I merely went out for +my own pleasure." But Moon said, "Mother, fetch a plate, see what I +have brought you." And shaking her hands she showered down such a +choice dinner as never was seen before. + +Then Star turned to Sun and spoke thus, "Because you went out to amuse +yourself with your friends, and feasted and enjoyed yourself, without +any thought of your mother at home--you shall be cursed. Henceforth, +your rays shall ever be hot and scorching, and shall burn all that they +touch. And men shall hate you, and cover their heads when you appear." + +(And that is why the Sun is so hot to this day.) + +Then she turned to Wind and said, "You also who forgot your mother in +the midst of your selfish pleasures--hear your doom. You shall always +blow in the hot dry weather, and shall parch and shrivel all living +things. And men shall detest and avoid you from this very time." + +(And that is why the Wind in the hot weather is still so disagreeable.) + +But to Moon she said, "Daughter, because you remembered your mother, +and kept for her a share in your own enjoyment, from henceforth you +shall be ever cool, and calm, and bright. No noxious glare shall +accompany your pure rays, and men shall always call you 'blessed."' + +(And that is why the moon's light is so soft, and cool, and beautiful +even to this day.) + + + +HOW THE WICKED SONS WERE DUPED + +A very wealthy old man, imagining that he was on the point of death, +sent for his sons and divided his property among them. However, he did +not die for several years afterwards; and miserable years many of them +were. Besides the weariness of old age, the old fellow had to bear with +much abuse and cruelty from his sons. Wretched, selfish ingrates! +Previously they vied with one another in trying to please their father, +hoping thus to receive more money, but now they had received their +patrimony, they cared not how soon he left them--nay, the sooner the +better, because he was only a needless trouble and expense. And they +let the poor old man know what they felt. + +One day he met a friend and related to him all his troubles. The friend +sympathised very much with him, and promised to think over the matter, +and call in a little while and tell him what to do. He did so; in a +few days he visited the old man and put down four bags full of stones +and gravel before him. + +"Look here, friend," said he. "Your sons will get to know of my coming +here to-day, and will inquire about it. You must pretend that I came to +discharge a long-standing debt with you, and that you are several +thousands of rupees richer than you thought you were. Keep these bags +in your own hands, and on no account let your sons get to them as long +as you are alive. You will soon find them change their conduct towards +you. Salaam. I will come again soon to see how you are getting on." + +When the young men got to hear of this further increase of wealth they +began to be more attentive and pleasing to their father than ever +before. And thus they continued to the day of the old man's demise, +when the bags were greedily opened, and found to contain only stones +and gravel! + + + +THE PIGEON AND THE CROW + +Once upon a time the Bodhisatta was a Pigeon, and lived in a nest- +basket which a rich man's cook had hung up in the kitchen, in order to +earn merit by it. A greedy Crow, flying near, saw all sorts of delicate +food lying about in the kitchen, and fell a-hungering after it. "How in +the world can I get some?" thought he? At last he hit upon a plan. + +When the Pigeon went to search for food, behind him, following, +following, came the Crow. + +"What do you want, Mr. Crow? You and I don't feed alike." + +"Ah, but I like you and your ways! Let me be your chum, and let us feed +together." + +The Pigeon agreed, and they went on in company. The Crow pretended to +feed along with the Pigeon, but ever and anon he would turn back, peck +to bits some heap of cow-dung, and eat a fat worm. When he had got a +bellyful of them, up he flies, as pert as you like: + +"Hullo, Mr. Pigeon, what a time you take over your meal! One ought to +draw the line somewhere. Let's be going home before it is too late." +And so they did. + +The cook saw that his Pigeon had brought a friend, and hung up another +basket for him. + +A few days afterwards there was a great purchase of fish which came to +the rich man's kitchen. How the Crow longed for some! So there he lay, +from early morn, groaning and making a great noise. Says the Pigeon to +the Crow: + +"Come, Sir Crow, and get your breakfast!"' + +"Oh dear! oh dear! I have such a fit of indigestion!" says he. + +"Nonsense! Crows never have indigestion," said the Pigeon. "If you eat +a lamp-wick, that stays in your stomach a little while; but anything +else is digested in a trice, as soon as you eat it. Now do what I tell +you; don't behave in this way just for seeing a little fish." + +"Why do you say that, master? I have indigestion." + +"Well, be careful," said the Pigeon, and flew away. + +The cook prepared all the dishes, and then stood at the kitchen door, +wiping the sweat off his body. "Now's my time!" thought Mr. Crow, and +alighted on a dish containing some dainty food. Click! The cook heard +it, and looked round. Ah! he caught the Crow, and plucked all the +feathers out of his head, all but one tuft; he powdered ginger and +cummin, mixed it up with butter-milk, and rubbed it well all over the +bird's body. + +"That's for spoiling my master's dinner and making me throw it away!" +said he, and threw him into his basket. Oh, how it hurt! + +By-and-by the Pigeon came in, and saw the Crow lying there, making a +great noise. He made great game of him, and repeated a verse of poetry: + + "Who is this tufted crane I see + Lying where he's no right to be? + Come out! my friend, the crow is near, + And he may do you harm, I fear!" + +To this the Crow answered with another: + + "No tufted crane am I--no, no! + I'm nothing but a greedy crow. + I would not do as I was told, + So now I'm plucked, as you behold." + +And the Pigeon rejoined with a third verse: + + "You'll come to grief again, I know-- + It is your nature to do so; + If people make a dish of meat, + 'Tis not for little birds to eat." + +Then the Pigeon flew away, saying: "I can't live with this creature any +longer." And the Crow lay there groaning till he died. + + + +NOTES AND REFERENCES + +The story literature of India is in a large measure the outcome of the +moral revolution of the peninsula connected with the name of Gautama +Buddha. As the influence of his life and doctrines grew, a tendency +arose to connect all the popular stories of India round the great +teacher. This could be easily effected owing to the wide spread of the +belief in metempsychosis. All that was told of the sages of the past +could be interpreted of the Buddha by representing them as pre- +incarnations of him. Even with Fables, or beast-tales, this could be +done, for the Hindoos were Darwinists long before Darwin, and regarded +beasts as cousins of men and stages of development in the progress of +the soul through the ages. Thus, by identifying the Buddha with the +heroes of all folk-tales and the chief characters in the beast-drolls, +the Buddhists were enabled to incorporate the whole of the story-store +of Hindostan in their sacred books, and enlist on their side the tale- +telling instincts of men. + +In making Buddha the centre figure of the popular literature of India, +his followers also invented the Frame as a method of literary art. The +idea of connecting a number of disconnected stories familiar to us from +_The Arabian Nights_, Boccaccio's _Decamerone_, Chaucer's _Canterbury +Tales_, or even _Pickwick_, is directly traceable to the plan of +making Buddha the central figure of India folk-literature. Curiously +enough, the earliest instance of this in Buddhist literature was intended +to be a Decameron, ten tales of Buddha's previous births, told of each +of the ten Perfections. Asvagosha, the earlier Boccaccio, died when he +had completed thirty-four of the Birth-Tales. But other collections were +made, and at last a corpus of the JATAKAS, or Birth-Tales of the Buddha, +was carried over to Ceylon, possibly as early as the first introduction of +Buddhism, 241 B.C. There they have remained till the present day, and +have at last been made accessible in a complete edition in the original +Pali by Prof. Fausboll. + +These JATAKAS, as we now have them, are enshrined in a commentary on +the _gathas_, or moral verses, written in Ceylon by one of +Buddhaghosa's school in the fifth century A.D. They invariably begin +with a "Story of the Present," an incident in Buddha's life which +calls up to him a "Story of the Past," a folk-tale in which he had +played a part during one of his former incarnations. Thus the fable of +the Lion and the Crane, which opens the present collection, is +introduced by a "Story of the Present" in the following words:-- + +"A service have we done thee" [the opening words of the _gatha_ or +moral verse]. "This the Master told while living at Jetavana concerning +Devadatta's treachery. Not only now, O Bhickkus, but in a former +existence was Devadatta ungrateful. And having said this he told a +tale" Then follows the tale as given above, and the commentary +concludes: "The Master, having given the lesson, summed up the Jataka +thus: 'At that time, the Lion was Devadatta, and the Crane was I +myself.'" Similarly, with each story of the past the Buddha identifies +himself, or is mentioned as identical with, the virtuous hero of the +folk-tale. These Jatakas are 550 in number, and have been reckoned to +include some 2000 tales. Some of these had been translated by Mr. +Rhys-Davids (_Buddhist Birth Stories, I._, Trubner's Oriental +Library, 1880), Prof. Fausboll (_Five Jatakas_, Copenhagen), and Dr. +R. Morris (_Folk-Lore Journal_, vols. ii.-v.). A few exist sculptured +on the earliest Buddhist Stupas. Thus several of the circular figure +designs on the reliefs from Amaravati, now on the grand staircase of the +British Museum, represent Jatakas, or previous births of the Buddha. + +Some of the Jatakas bear a remarkable resemblance to some of the most +familiar FABLES OF AESOP. So close is the resemblance, indeed, that it +is impossible not to surmise an historical relation between the two. +What this relation is I have discussed at considerable length in the +"History of the Aesopic Fable," which forms the introductory volume to +my edition of Caxton's _Esope_ (London, D. Nutt, "Bibliotheque de +Carabas," 1889). In this place I can only roughly summarise my results. +I conjecture that a collection of fables existed in India before Buddha +and independently of the Jatakas, and connected with the name of +Kasyapa, who was afterwards made by the Buddhists into the latest of +the twenty-seven pre-incarnations of the Buddha. This collection of the +Fables of Kasyapa was brought to Europe with a deputation from the +Cingalese King Chandra Muka Siwa (obiit 52 A.D.) to the Emperor +Claudius about 50 A.D., and was done into Greek as the [Greek: Logoi +Lubikoi] of "Kybises." These were utilised by Babrius (from whom the +Greek Aesop is derived) and Avian, and so came into the European Aesop. +I have discussed all those that are to be found in the Jatakas in the +"History" before mentioned, i. pp. 54-72 (see Notes i. xv. xx.). In +these Notes henceforth I refer to this "History" as my _Aesop_. + +There were probably other Buddhist collections of a similar nature to +the Jatakas with a framework. When the Hindu reaction against Buddhism +came, the Brahmins adapted these, with the omission of Buddha as the +central figure. There is scarcely any doubt that the so-called FABLES +OF BIDPAI were thus derived from Buddhistic sources. In its Indian form +this is now extant as a _Panchatantra_ or Pentateuch, five books +of tales connected by a Frame. This collection is of special interest +to us in the present connection, as it has come to Europe in various +forms and shapes. I have edited Sir Thomas North's English version of +an Italian adaptation of a Spanish translation of a Latin version of a +Hebrew translation of an Arabic adaptation of the Pehlevi version of +the Indian original (_Fables of Bidpai_, London, D. Nutt, +"Bibliotheque de Carabas," 1888). In this I give a genealogical table +of the various versions, from which I calculate that the tales have +been translated into thirty-eight languages in 112 different versions, +twenty different ones in English alone. Their influence on European +folk-tales has been very great: it is probable that nearly one-tenth of +these can be traced to the Bidpai literature. (See Notes v. ix. x. +xiii. xv.) + +Other collections of a similar character, arranged in a frame, and +derived ultimately from Buddhistic sources, also reached Europe and +formed popular reading in the Middle Ages. Among these may be mentioned +THE TALES OF SINDIBAD, known to Europe as _The Seven Sages of +Rome:_ from this we get the Gellert story (_cf. Celtic Fairy +Tales_), though it also occurs in the Bidpai. Another popular +collection was that associated with the life of St. Buddha, who has +been canonised as St. Josaphat: BARLAAM AND JOSAPHAT tells of his +conversion and much else besides, including the tale of the Three +Caskets, used by Shakespeare in the _Merchant of Venice_. + +Some of the Indian tales reached Europe at the time of the Crusades, +either orally or in collections no longer extant. The earliest +selection of these was the _Disciplina Clericalis_ of Petrus +Alphonsi, a Spanish Jew converted about 1106: his tales were to be used +as seasoning for sermons, and strong seasoning they must have proved. +Another Spanish collection of considerably later date was entitled +_El Conde Lucanor_ (Eng. trans. by W. York): this contains the +fable of _The Man, his Son, and their Ass_, which they ride or +carry as the popular voice decides. But the most famous collection of +this kind was that known as GESTA ROMANORUM, much of which was +certainly derived from Oriental and ultimately Indian sources, and so +might more appropriately be termed _Gesta Indorum_. + +All these collections, which reached Europe in the twelfth and +thirteenth centuries, became very popular, and were used by monks and +friars to enliven their sermons as EXEMPLA. Prof. Crane has given a +full account of this very curious phenomenon in his erudite edition of +the _Exempla of Jacques de Vitry_ (Folk Lore Society, 1890). The +Indian stories were also used by the Italian _Novellieri_, much of +Boccaccio and his school being derived from this source. As these again +gave material for the Elizabethan Drama, chiefly in W. Painter's +_Palace of Pleasure_, a collection of translated _Novelle_ which +I have edited (Lond., 3 vols. 1890), it is not surprising that we can at +times trace portions of Shakespeare back to India. It should also be +mentioned that one-half of La Fontaine's Fables (Bks. vii.-xii.) are +derived from Indian sources. (_See_ Note on No. v.) + +In India itself the collection of stories in frames went on and still +goes on. Besides those already mentioned there are the stories of +_Vikram and the Vampire_ (Vetala), translated among others by the +late Sir Richard Burton, and the seventy stories of a parrot (_Suka +Saptati_.) The whole of this literature was summed up by Somnadeva, +c. 1200 A.D. in a huge compilation entitled _Katha Sarit Sagara_ +("Ocean of the Stream of Stories"). Of this work, written in very +florid style, Mr. Tawney has produced a translation in two volumes in +the _Bibliotheca Indica_. Unfortunately, there is a Divorce Court +atmosphere about the whole book, and my selections from it have been +accordingly restricted. (Notes, No. xi.) + +So much for a short sketch of Indian folk-tales so far as they have +been reduced to writing in the native literature. [Footnote: An +admirable and full account of this literature was given by M. A. Barth +in _Melusine_, t. iv. No. 12, and t. v. No. 1. See also Table i. +of Prof. Rhys-Davids' _Birth Stories_.] The Jatakas are probably +the oldest collection of such tales in literature, and the greater part +of the rest are demonstrably more than a thousand years old. It is +certain that much (perhaps one-fifth) of the popular literature of +modern Europe is derived from those portions of this large bulk which +came west with the Crusades through the medium of Arabs and Jews. In +his elaborate _Einleitung_ to the _Pantschatantra_, the Indian +version of the Fables of Bidpai, Prof. Benfey contended with enormous +erudition that the majority of folk-tale incidents were to be found in the +Bidpai literature. His introduction consisted of over 200 monographs on +the spread of Indian tales to Europe. He wrote in 1859, before the great +outburst of folk-tale collection in Europe, and he had not thus adequate +materials to go about in determining the extent of Indian influence on +the popular mind of Europe. But he made it clear that for beast-tales and +for drolls, the majority of those current in the mouths of occidental +people were derived from Eastern and mainly Indian sources. He was +not successful, in my opinion, in tracing the serious fairy tale to India. +Few of the tales in the Indian literary collections could be dignified by +the name of fairy tales, and it was clear that if these were to be traced +to India, an examination of the contemporary folk-tales of the peninsula +would have to be attempted. + +The collection of current Indian folk-tales has been the work of the +last quarter of a century, a work, even after what has been achieved, +still in its initial stages. The credit of having begun the process is +due to Miss Frere, who, while her father was Governor of the Bombay +Presidency, took down from the lips of her _ayah_, Anna de Souza, +one of a Lingaet family from Goa who had been Christian for three +generations, the tales she afterwards published with Mr. Murray in +1868, under the title, "_Old Deccan Days, or, Indian Fairy Legends +current in Southern India, collected from oral tradition by M. Frere, +with an introduction and notes by Sir Bartle Frere_." Her example +was followed by Miss Stokes in her _Indian Fairy Tales_ (London, +Ellis & White, 1880), who took down her tales from two _ayahs_ and +a _Khitmatgar_, all of them Bengalese--the _ayahs_ Hindus, and +the man a Mohammedan. Mr. Ralston introduced the volume with some +remarks which dealt too much with sun-myths for present-day taste. +Another collection from Bengal was that of Lal Behari Day, a Hindu +gentleman, in his _Folk-Tales of Bengal_ (London, Macmillan, +1883). The Panjab and the Kashmir then had their turn: Mrs. Steel +collected, and Captain (now Major) Temple edited and annotated, their +_Wideawake Stories_ (London, Trubner, 1884), stories capitally +told and admirably annotated. Captain Temple increased the value of +this collection by a remarkable analysis of all the incidents contained +in the two hundred Indian folk-tales collected up to this date. It is +not too much to say that this analysis marks an onward step in the +scientific study of the folk-tale: there is such a thing, derided as it +may be. I have throughout the Notes been able to draw attention to +Indian parallels by a simple reference to Major Temple's Analysis. + +Major Temple has not alone himself collected: he has been the cause +that many others have collected. In the pages of the _Indian +Antiquary_, edited by him, there have appeared from time to time +folk-tales collected from all parts of India. Some of these have been +issued separately. Sets of tales from Southern India, collected by the +Pandit Natesa Sastri, have been issued under the title _Folk-Lore of +Southern India_, three fascicules of which have been recently re- +issued by Mrs. Kingscote under the title, _Tales of the Sun_ (W. +H. Allen, 1891): it would have been well if the identity of the two +works had been clearly explained. The largest addition to our knowledge +of the Indian folk-tale that has been made since _Wideawake +Stories_ is that contained in Mr. Knowles' _Folk-Tales of +Kashmir_ (Trubner's Oriental Library, 1887), sixty-three stories, +some of great length. These, with Mr. Campbell's _Santal Tales_ +(1892); Ramaswami Raju's _Indian Fables_ (London, Sonnenschein, +n. d.); M. Thornhill, _Indian Fairy Tales_ (London, 1889); and E. +J. Robinson, _Tales of S. India_ (1885), together with those +contained in books of travel like Thornton's _Bannu_ or Smeaton's +_Karens of Burmah_ bring up the list of printed Indian folk-tales +to over 350--a respectable total indeed, but a mere drop in the +ocean of the stream of stories that must exist in such a huge +population as that of India: the Central Provinces in particular are +practically unexplored. There are doubtless many collections still +unpublished. Col. Lewin has large numbers, besides the few published in +his _Lushai Grammar_; and Mr. M. L. Dames has a number of Baluchi +tales which I have been privileged to use. Altogether, India now ranks +among the best represented countries for printed folk-tales, coming +only after Russia (1500), Germany (1200), Italy and France (1000 each.) +[Footnote: Finland boasts of 12,000 but most of these lie unprinted +among the archives of the Helsingfors Literary Society.] Counting the +ancient with the modern, India has probably some 600 to 700 folk-tales +printed and translated in accessible form. There should be enough +material to determine the vexed question of the relations between the +European and the Indian collections. + +This question has taken a new departure with the researches of M. +Emanuel Cosquin in his _Contes populaires de Lorraine_ (Paris, +1886, 2 tirage, 1890), undoubtedly the most important contribution +to the scientific study of the folk-tale since the Grimms. M. Cosquin +gives in the annotations to the eighty-four tales which he has +collected in Lorraine a mass of information as to the various forms +which the tales take in other countries of Europe and in the East. In +my opinion, the work he has done for the European folk-tale is even +more valuable than the conclusions he draws from it as to the relations +with India. He has taken up the work which Wilhelm Grimm dropped in +1859, and shown from the huge accumulations of folk-tales that have +appeared during the last thirty years that there is a common fund of +folk-tales which every country of Europe without exception possesses, +though this does not of course preclude them from possessing others +that are not shared by the rest. M. Cosquin further contends that the +whole of these have come from the East, ultimately from India, not by +literary transmission, as Benfey contended, but by oral transmission. +He has certainly shown that very many of the most striking incidents +common to European folk-tales are also to be found in Eastern +_mahrchen_. What, however, he has failed to show is that some of +these may not have been carried out to the Eastern world by Europeans. +Borrowing tales is a mutual process, and when Indian meets European, +European meets Indian; which borrowed from which, is a question which +we have very few criteria to decide. It should be added that Mr W. A. +Clouston has in England collected with exemplary industry a large +number of parallels between Indian and European folk-tale incidents in +his _Popular Tales and Fictions_ (Edinburgh, 2 vols., 1887) and +_Book of Noodles_ (London, 1888). Mr Clouston has not openly +expressed his conviction that all folk-tales are Indian in origin: he +prefers to convince us _non vi sed saepe cadendo_. He has certainly +made out a good case for tracing all European drolls, or comic folk- +tales, from the East. + +With the fairy tale strictly so called--_i.e._, the serious folk- +tale of romantic adventure--I am more doubtful. It is mainly a modern +product in India as in Europe, so far as literary evidence goes. The +vast bulk of the Jatakas does not contain a single example worthy the +name, nor does the Bidpai literature. Some of Somadeva's tales, +however, approach the nature of fairy tales, but there are several +Celtic tales which can be traced to an earlier date than his (1200 +A.D.) and are equally near to fairy tales. Yet it is dangerous to trust +to mere non-appearance in literature as proof of non-existence among +the folk. To take our own tales here in England, there is not a single +instance of a reference to _Jack and the Beanstalk_ for the last +three hundred years, yet it is undoubtedly a true folk-tale. And it is +indeed remarkable how many of the _formulae_ of fairy tales have +been found of recent years in India. Thus, the _Magic Fiddle_, +found among the Santals by Mr. Campbell in two variants (see Notes on +vi.), contains the germ idea of the wide-spread story represented in +Great Britain by the ballad of _Binnorie_ (see _English Fairy +Tales_, No. ix.). Similarly, Mr. Knowles' collection has added +considerably to the number of Indian variants of European "formulae" +beyond those noted by M. Cosquin. + +It is still more striking as regards _incidents_. In a paper read +before the Folk-Lore Congress of 1891, and reprinted in the +_Transactions_, pp. 76 _seq._, I have drawn up a list of some +630 incidents found in common among European folk-tales (including +drolls). Of these, I reckon that about 250 have been already found +among Indian folk-tales, and the number is increased by each new +collection that is made or printed. The moral of this is, that India +belongs to a group of peoples who have a common store of stories; India +belongs to Europe for purposes of comparative folk-tales. + +Can we go further and say that India is the source of all the incidents +that are held in common by European children? I think we may answer +"Yes" as regards droll incidents, the travels of many of which we can +trace, and we have the curious result that European children owe their +earliest laughter to Hindu wags. As regards the serious incidents +further inquiry is needed. Thus, we find the incident of an "external +soul" (Life Index, Captain Temple very appropriately named it) in +Asbjornsen's _Norse Tales_ and in Miss Frere's _Old Deccan +Days_ (see Notes on _Punchkin_). Yet the latter is a very +suspicious source, since Miss Frere derived her tales from a Christian +_ayah_ whose family had been in Portuguese Goa for a hundred +years. May they not have got the story of the giant with his soul +outside his body from some European sailor touching at Goa? This is to +a certain extent negatived by the fact of the frequent occurrence of +the incident in Indian folk-tales (Captain Temple gave a large number +of instances in _Wideawake Stories_, pp. 404-5). On the other +hand, Mr. Frazer in his _Golden Bough_ has shown the wide spread +of the idea among all savage or semi-savage tribes. (See Note on No. +iv.) + +In this particular case we may be doubtful; but in others, again--as +the incident of the rat's tail up nose (see Notes on _The Charmed +Ring_)--there can be little doubt of the Indian origin. And +generally, so far as the incidents are marvellous and of true fairy- +tale character, the presumption is in favour of India, because of the +vitality of animism or metempsychosis in India throughout all historic +time. No Hindu would doubt the fact of animals speaking or of men +transformed into plants and animals. The European may once have had +these beliefs, and may still hold them implicitly as "survivals"; but +in the "survival" stage they cannot afford material for artistic +creation, and the fact that the higher minds of Europe for the last +thousand years have discountenanced these beliefs has not been entirely +without influence. Of one thing there is practical certainty: the fairy +tales that are common to the Indo-European world were invented once for +all in a certain locality; and thence spread to all the countries in +culture contact with the original source. The mere fact that contiguous +countries have more similarities in their story store than distant ones +is sufficient to prove this: indeed, the fact that any single country +has spread throughout it a definite set of folk-tales as distinctive as +its flora and fauna, is sufficient to prove it. It is equally certain +that not all folk-tales have come from one source, for each country has +tales peculiar to itself. The question is as to the source of the tales +that are common to all European children, and increasing evidence seems +to show that this common nucleus is derived from India and India alone. +The Hindus have been more successful than others, because of two facts: +they have had the appropriate "atmosphere" of metempsychosis, and they +have also had spread among the people sufficient literary training and +mental grip to invent plots. The Hindu tales have ousted the native +European, which undoubtedly existed independently; indeed, many still +survive, especially in Celtic lands. Exactly in the same way, +Perrault's tales have ousted the older English folk-tales, and it is +with the utmost difficulty that one can get true English fairy tales +because _Red Riding Hood_, _Cinderella_, _Blue Beard_, _Puss in +Boots_ and the rest, have survived in the struggle for existence +among English folk-tales. So far as Europe has a common store of fairy +tales, it owes this to India. + +I do not wish to be misunderstood. I do not hold with Benfey that all +European folk-tales are derived from the Bidpai literature and similar +literary products, nor with M. Cosquin that they are all derived from +India. The latter scholar has proved that there is a nucleus of stories +in every European land which is common to all. I calculate that this +includes from 30 to 50 per cent. of the whole, and it is this common +stock of Europe that I regard as coming from India mainly at the time +of the Crusades, and chiefly by oral transmission. It includes all the +beast tales and most of the drolls, but evidence is still lacking about +the more serious fairy tales, though it is increasing with every fresh +collection of folk-tales in India, the great importance of which is +obvious from the above considerations. + +In the following Notes I give, as on the two previous occasions, the +_source_ whence I derived the tale, then _parallels_, and finally +_remarks_. For Indian _parallels_ I have been able to refer to +Major Temple's remarkable Analysis of Indian Folk-tale incidents at the +end of _Wide-awake Stories_ (pp. 386-436), for European ones to +my alphabetical List of Incidents, with bibliographical references, in +_Transactions of Folk-Lore Congress_, 1892, pp. 87-98. My _remarks_ +have been mainly devoted to tracing the relation between the Indian +and the European tales, with the object of showing that the latter +have been derived from the former. I have, however, to some extent +handicapped myself, as I have avoided giving again the Indian versions +of stories already given in _English Fairy Tales_ or _Celtic Fairy Tales_. + + + +I. THE LION AND THE CRANE. + +_Source_.--V. Fausboll, _Five Jatakas_; Copenhagen, 1861, pp. +35-8, text and translation of the _Javasakuna Jataka_. I have +ventured to English Prof. Fausboll's version, which was only intended as +a "crib" to the Pali. For the omitted Introduction, see _supra_. + +_Parallels_.--I have given a rather full collection of parallels, +running to about a hundred numbers, in my _Aesop_, pp. 232-4. The +chief of these are: (i) for the East, the Midrashic version ("Lion and +Egyptian Partridge"), in the great Rabbinic commentary on Genesis +(_Bereshith-rabba_, c. 64); (2) in classical antiquity, Phaedrus, +i. 8 ("Wolf and Crane"), and Babrius, 94 ("Wolf and Heron"), and the +Greek proverb Suidas, ii. 248 ("Out of the Wolf's Mouth"); (3) in the +Middle Ages, the so-called Greek Aesop, ed. Halm, 276 _b_, really +prose versions of Babrius and "Romulus," or prose of Phaedrus, i. 8, +also the Romulus of Ademar (fl. 1030), 64; it occurs also on the Bayeux +Tapestry, in Marie de France, 7, and in Benedict of Oxford's _Mishle +Shualim_ (Heb.), 8; (4) Stainhowel took it from the "Romulus" into +his German Aesop (1480), whence all the modern European Aesops are +derived. + +_Remarks_.--I have selected _The Wolf and the Crane_ as my +typical example in my "History of the Aesopic Fable," and can only give +here a rough summary of the results I there arrived at concerning the +fable, merely premising that these results are at present no more than +hypotheses. The similarity of the Jataka form with that familiar to us, +and derived by us in the last resort from Phaedrus, is so striking that +few will deny some historical relation between them. I conjecture that +the Fable originated in India, and came West by two different routes. +First, it came by oral tradition to Egypt, as one of the Libyan Fables +which the ancients themselves distinguished from the Aesopic Fables. It +was, however, included by Demetrius Phalereus, tyrant of Athens, and +founder of the Alexandrian library c. 300 B.C., in his _Assemblies of +Aesopic Fables_, which I have shown to be the source of Phaedrus' +Fables c. 30 A.D. Besides this, it came from Ceylon in the Fables of +Kybises--i.e., Kasyapa the Buddha--c. 50 A.D., was adapted into Hebrew, +and used for political purposes, by Rabbi Joshua ben Chananyah in a +harangue to the Jews c. 120 A.D., begging them to be patient while +within the jaws of Rome. The Hebrew form uses the lion, not the wolf, +as the ingrate, which enables us to decide on the Indian _provenance_ +of the Midrashic version. It may be remarked that the use of the lion +in this and other Jatakas is indirectly a testimony to their great age, +as the lion has become rarer and rarer in India during historic times, +and is now confined to the Gir forest of Kathiawar, where only a dozen +specimens exist, and are strictly preserved. + +The verses at the end are the earliest parts of the Jataka, being in +more archaic Pali than the rest: the story is told by the commentator +(c. 400 A.D.) to illustrate them. It is probable that they were brought +over on the first introduction of Buddhism into Ceylon, c. 241 B.C. +This would give them an age of over two thousand years, nearly three +hundred years earlier than Phaedrus, from whom comes our _Wolf and +Crane_. + + + +II. PRINCESS LABAM. + +_Source_.--Miss Stokes, _Indian Fairy Tales_, No. xxii. pp. +153-63, told by Muniya, one of the ayahs. I have left it unaltered, +except that I have replaced "God" by "Khuda," the word originally used +(see Notes _l. c._, p 237). + +_Parallels_.--The tabu, as to a particular direction, occurs in +other Indian stories as well as in European folk-tales (see notes on +Stokes, p. 286). The _grateful animals_ theme occurs in "The +Soothsayer's Son" (_infra_, No. x.), and frequently in Indian +folk-tales (see Temple's Analysis, III. i. 5-7; _Wideawake +Stories_, pp. 412-3). The thorn in the tiger's foot is especially +common (Temple, _l. c._, 6, 9), and recalls the story of Androclus, +which occurs in the derivates of Phaedrus, and may thus be +Indian in origin (see Benfey, _Panschatantra_, i. 211, and the +parallels given in my _Aesop_, Ro. iii. 1. p. 243). The theme is, +however, equally frequent in European folk-tales: see my List of +Incidents, _Proc. Folk-Lore Congress_, p. 91, s.v. "Grateful +Animals" and "Gifts by Grateful Animals." Similarly, the "Bride Wager" +incident at the end is common to a large number of Indian and European +folk-tales (Temple, Analysis, p. 430; my List, _l. c. sub voce_). +The tasks are also equally common (_cf._ "Battle of the Birds" in +_Celtic Fairy Tales_), though the exact forms as given in +"Princess Labam" are not known in Europe. + +_Remarks_.--We have here a concrete instance of the relation of +Indian and European fairy-tales. The human mind may be the same +everywhere, but it is not likely to hit upon the sequence of incidents, +_Direction tabu_--_Grateful Animals_--_Bride-wager_--_Tasks_, by +accident, or independently: Europe must have borrowed from India, or +India from Europe. As this must have occurred within historic times, +indeed within the last thousand years, when even European peasants +are not likely to have _invented_, even if they believed, in the incident +of the grateful animals, the probability is in favour of borrowing from +India, possibly through the intermediation of Arabs at the time of the +Crusades. It is only a probability, but we cannot in any case reach more +than probability in this matter, just at present. + + + +III. LAMBIKIN. + +_Source_.--Steel-Temple, _Wideawake Stories_, pp. 69-72, +originally published in _Indian Antiquary_, xii. 175. The droll is +common throughout the Panjab. + +_Parallels_.--The similarity of the concluding episode with the +finish of the "Three Little Pigs" (Eng. Fairy Tales, No. xiv.) In my +notes on that droll I have pointed out that the pigs were once goats or +kids with "hair on their chinny chin chin." This brings the tale a +stage nearer to the Lambikin. + +_Remarks_.--The similarity of Pig No. 3 rolling down hill in the +churn and the Lambikin in the Drumikin can scarcely be accidental, +though, it must be confessed, the tale has undergone considerable +modification before it reached England. + + + +IV. PUNCHKIN. + +_Source_.--Miss Frere, _Old Deccan Days_, pp. 1-16, from her +ayah, Anna de Souza, of a Lingaet family settled and Christianised at +Goa for three generations. I should perhaps add that a Prudhan is a +Prime Minister, or Vizier; Punts are the same, and Sirdars, nobles. + +_Parallels_.--The son of seven mothers is a characteristic Indian +conception, for which see Notes on "The Son of Seven Queens" in this +collection, No. xvi. The mother transformed, envious stepmother, ring +recognition, are all incidents common to East and West; bibliographical +references for parallels may be found under these titles in my List of +Incidents. The external soul of the ogre has been studied by Mr. E. +Clodd in _Folk-Lore Journal_, vol. ii., "The Philosophy of +Punchkin," and still more elaborately in the section, "The External +Soul in Folk-tales," in Mr. Frazer's _Golden Bough_, ii. pp. 296- +326. See also Major Temple's Analysis, II. iii., _Wideawake +Stories_, pp. 404-5, who there gives the Indian parallels. + +_Remarks_.--Both Mr. Clodd and Mr. Frazer regard the essence of +the tale to consist in the conception of an external soul or "life- +index," and they both trace in this a "survival" of savage philosophy, +which they consider occurs among all men at a certain stage of culture. +But the most cursory examination of the sets of tales containing these +incidents in Mr. Frazer's analyses shows that many, indeed the +majority, of these tales cannot be independent of one another; for they +contain not alone the incident of an external materialised soul, but +the further point that this is contained in something else, which is +enclosed in another thing, which is again surrounded by a wrapper. This +Chinese ball arrangement is found in the Deccan ("Punchkin"); in Bengal +(Day, _Folk-Tales of Bengal_); in Russia (Ralston, p. 103 +_seq._, "Koschkei the Deathless," also in Mr. Lang's _Red Fairy +Book_); in Servia (Mijatovics, _Servian Folk-Lore,_ p. 172); in +South Slavonia (Wratislaw, p. 225); in Rome (Miss Busk, p. 164); in +Albania (Dozon, p. 132 _seq._); in Transylvania (Haltrich, No. +34); in Schleswig-Holstein (Mullenhoff, p. 404); in Norway +(Asbjornsen, No. 36, _ap._ Dasent, _Pop. Tales_, p. 55, "The +Giant who had no Heart in his Body"); and finally, in the Hebrides +(Campbell, _Pop. Tales_, p. 10, _cf. Celtic Fairy Tales_, No. +xvii., "Sea Maiden"). Here we have the track of this remarkable idea of +an external soul enclosed in a succession of wrappings, which we can +trace from Hindostan to the Hebrides. + +It is difficult to imagine that we have not here the actual migration +of the tale from East to West. In Bengal we have the soul "in a +necklace, in a box, in the heart of a _boal_ fish, in a tank"; in +Albania "it is in a pigeon, in a hare, in the silver tusk of a wild +boar"; in Rome it is "in a stone, in the head of a bird, in the head of +a leveret, in the middle head of a seven-headed hydra"; in Russia "it +is in an egg, in a duck, in a hare, in a casket, in an oak"; in Servia +it is "in a board, in the heart of a fox, in a mountain"; in +Transylvania "it is in a light, in an egg, in a duck, in a pond, in a +mountain;" in Norway it is "in an egg, in a duck, in a well, in a +church, on an island, in a lake"; in the Hebrides it is "in an egg, in +the belly of a duck, in the belly of a wether, under a flagstone on the +threshold." It is impossible to imagine the human mind independently +imagining such bizarre convolutions. They were borrowed from one nation +to the other, and till we have reason shown to the contrary, the +original lender was a Hindu. I should add that the mere conception of +an external soul occurs in the oldest Egyptian tale of "The Two +Brothers," but the wrappings are absent. + + + +V. THE BROKEN POT. + +_Source.--Pantschatantra_, V. ix., tr. Benfey, ii. 345-6. + +_Parallels._--Benfey, in S 209 of his _Einleitung_, gives +bibliographical references to most of those which are given at length in +Prof. M. Muller's brilliant essay on "The Migration of Fables" +(_Selected Essays_, i. 500-76), which is entirely devoted to the +travels of the fable from India to La Fontaine. See also Mr. Clouston, +_Pop. Tales_, ii. 432 _seq._ I have translated the Hebrew version +in my essay, "Jewish Influence on the Diffusion of Folk-Tales," pp. 6-7. +Our proverb, "Do not count your chickens before they are hatched," is +ultimately to be derived from India. + +_Remarks--The stories of Alnaschar, the Barber's fifth brother in the +_Arabian Nights_, and of La Perette, who counted her chickens +before they were hatched, in La Fontaine, are demonstrably derived from +the same Indian original from which our story was obtained. The travels +of the "Fables of Bidpai" from India to Europe are well known and +distinctly traceable. I have given a rough summary of the chief +critical results in the introduction to my edition of the earliest +English version of the _Fables of Bidpai_, by Sir Thomas North, of +Plutarch fame (London, D. Nutt, "Bibliotheque de Carabas," 1888), where +I have given an elaborate genealogical table of the multitudinous +versions. La Fontaine's version, which has rendered the fable so +familiar to us all, comes from Bonaventure des Periers, _Contes et +Nouvelles_, who got it from the _Dialogus Creaturarum_ of Nicholaus +Pergamenus, who derived it from the _Sermones_ of Jacques de Vitry +(see Prof. Crane's edition, No. li.), who probably derived it from the +_Directorium Humanae Vitae_ of John of Capua, a converted Jew, +who translated it from the Hebrew version of the Arabic _Kalilah wa +Dimnah,_ which was itself derived from the old Syriac version of a +Pehlevi translation of the original Indian work, probably called after +Karataka and Damanaka, the names of two jackals who figure in the +earlier stories of the book. Prof. Rhys-Davids informs me that these names +are more akin to Pali than to Sanskrit, which makes it still more probable +that the whole literature is ultimately to be derived from a Buddhist +source. + +The theme of La Perette is of interest as showing the _literary_ +transmission of tales from Orient to Occident. It also shows the +possibility of an influence of literary on oral tradition, as is shown +by our proverb, and by the fact, which Benfey mentions, that La +Fontaine's story has had influence on two of Grimm's tales, Nos. 164, +168. + + + +VI. THE MAGIC FIDDLE. + +_Source_.--A. Campbell, _Santal Folk-Tales_, 1892, pp. 52-6, +with some verbal alterations. A Bonga is the presiding spirit of a +certain kind of rice land; Doms and Hadis are low-caste aborigines, +whose touch is considered polluting. The Santals are a forest tribe, +who live in the Santal Parganas, 140 miles N. W. of Calcutta (Sir W. W. +Hunter, _The Indian Empire_, 57-60). + +_Parallels_.--Another version occurs in Campbell, p. 106 +_seq._, which shows that the story is popular among the Santals. +It is obvious, however, that neither version contains the real finish +of the story, which must have contained the denunciation of the magic +fiddle of the murderous sisters. This would bring it under the formula +of _The Singing Bone_, which M. Monseur has recently been studying +with a remarkable collection of European variants in the Bulletin of +the Wallon Folk-Lore Society of Liege (_cf. Eng. Fairy Tales_, No. +ix.). There is a singing bone in Steel-Temple's _Wideawake +Stories_, pp. 127 _seq._ ("Little Anklebone"). + +_Remarks_.--Here we have another theme of the common store of +European folk-tales found in India. Unfortunately, the form in which it +occurs is mutilated, and we cannot draw any definite conclusion from +it. + + + +VII. THE CRUEL CRANE OUTWITTED. + +_Source_.--The Baka-Jataka, Fausboll, No. 38, tr. Rhys-Davids, pp. +315-21. The Buddha this time is the Genius of the Tree. + +_Parallels_.--This Jataka got into the Bidpai literature, and +occurs in all its multitudinous offshoots (_see_ Benfey, _Einleitung_, +S 60) among others in the earliest English translation by North (my +edition, pp. 118-22), where the crane becomes "a great Paragone of +India (of those that live a hundredth yeares and never mue their +feathers)." The crab, on hearing the ill news "called to Parliament all the +Fishes of the Lake," and before all are devoured destroys the Paragon, +as in the Jataka, and returned to the remaining fishes, who "all with one +consent gave hir many a thanke." + +_Remarks_.--An interesting point, to which I have drawn attention +in my Introduction to North's Bidpai, is the probability that the +illustrations of the tales as well as the tales themselves, were +translated, so to speak, from one country to another. We can trace them +in Latin, Hebrew, and Arabic MSS., and a few are extant on Buddhist +Stupas. Under these circumstances, it may be of interest to compare +with Mr. Batten's conception of the Crane and the Crab (_supra_, +p. 50) that of the German artist who illustrated the first edition of +the Latin Bidpai, probably following the traditional representations of +the MS., which itself could probably trace back to India. + + + +VIII. LOVING LAILI + +_Source_.--Miss Stokes, _Indian Fairy Tales_, pp. 73-84. +Majnun and Laili are conventional names for lovers, the Romeo and +Juliet of Hindostan. + +_Parallels_.--Living in animals' bellies occurs elsewhere in Miss +Stokes' book, pp. 66, 124; also in Miss Frere's, 188. The restoration +of beauty by fire occurs as a frequent theme (Temple, Analysis, III. +vi. f. p. 418). Readers will be reminded of the _denouement_ of +Mr. Rider Haggard's _She_. Resuscitation from ashes has been used +very effectively by Mr. Lang in his delightful _Prince Prigio_. + +_Remarks_.--The white skin and blue eyes of Prince Majnun deserve +attention. They are possibly a relic of the days of Aryan conquest, +when the fair-skinned, fair-haired Aryan conquered the swarthier +aboriginals. The name for caste in Sanskrit is _varna_, "colour"; +and one Hindu cannot insult another more effectually than by calling +him a black man. _Cf._ Stokes, pp. 238-9, who suggests that the +red hair is something solar, and derived from myths of the solar hero. + + + +IX. THE TIGER, THE BRAHMAN, AND THE JACKAL. + +_Source_.--Steel-Temple, _Wideawake Stories_, pp. 116-20; +first published in _Indian Antiquary_, xii. p. 170 _seq._ + +_Parallels_.--No less than 94 parallels are given by Prof. K. +Krohn in his elaborate discussion of this fable in his dissertation, +_Mann und Fuchs_, (Helsingfors, 1891), pp. 38-60; to which may be +added three Indian variants, omitted by him, but mentioned by Capt. +Temple, _l. c._, p. 324, in the _Bhagavata Purana_, the _Gul +Bakaoli_ and _Ind. Ant._ xii. 177; and a couple more in my _Aesop_, +p. 253: add Smeaton, _Karens_, p. 126. + +_Remarks_.--Prof. Krohn comes to the conclusion that the majority +of the oral forms of the tale come from literary versions (p. 47), +whereas the _Reynard_ form has only had influence on a single +variant. He reduces the century of variants to three type forms. The +first occurs in two Egyptian versions collected in the present day, as +well as in Petrus Alphonsi in the twelfth century, and the _Fabulae +Extravagantes_ of the thirteenth or fourteenth: here the ingrate +animal is a crocodile, which asks to be carried away from a river about +to dry up, and there is only one judge. The second is that current in +India and represented by the story in the present collection: here the +judges are three. The third is that current among Western Europeans, +which has spread to S. Africa and N. and S. America: also three judges. +Prof. K. Krohn counts the first the original form, owing to the single +judge and the naturalness of the opening, by which the critical +situation is brought about. The further question arises, whether this +form, though found in Egypt now, is indigenous there, and if so, how it +got to the East. Prof. Krohn grants the possibility of the Egyptian +form having been invented in India and carried to Egypt, and he allows +that the European forms have been influenced by the Indian. The +"Egyptian" form is found in Burmah (Smeaton, _l. c._, p. 128), as +well as the Indian, a fact of which Prof. K. Krohn was unaware though +it turns his whole argument. The evidence we have of other folk-tales +of the beast-epic emanating from India improves the chances of this +also coming from that source. One thing at least is certain: all these +hundred variants come ultimately from one source. The incident "Inside +again" of the _Arabian Nights_ (the Djinn and the bottle) and +European tales is also a secondary derivate. + + + +X. THE SOOTHSAYER'S SON. + +_Source_.--Mrs. Kingscote, _Tales of the Sun_ (p. 11 +_seq._), from Pandit Natesa Sastri's _Folk-Lore of Southern +India_, pt. ii., originally from _Ind. Antiquary_. I have considerably +condensed and modified the somewhat Babu English of the original. + +_Parallels_.--See Benfey, _Pantschatantra_, S 71, i. pp. 193- +222, who quotes the _Karma Jataka_ as the ultimate source: it +also occurs in the _Saccankira Jataka_ (Fausboll, No. 73), trans. +Rev. R. Morris, _Folk-Lore Jour._ iii. 348 _seq._ The story +of the ingratitude of man compared with the gratitude of beasts came +early to the West, where it occurs in the _Gesta Romanorum_, c. +119. It was possibly from an early form of this collection that Richard +Coeur de Lion got the story, and used it to rebuke the ingratitude of +the English nobles on his return in 1195. Matthew Paris tells the +story, _sub anno_ (it is an addition of his to Ralph Disset), +_Hist. Major_, ed. Luard, ii. 413-6, how a lion and a serpent and +a Venetian named Vitalis were saved from a pit by a woodman, Vitalis +promising him half his fortune, fifty talents. The lion brings his +benefactor a leveret, the serpent "gemmam pretiosam," probably "the +precious jewel in his head" to which Shakespeare alludes (_As You +Like It_, ii. 1., cf. Benfey, _l.c._, p. 214, _n._), but Vitalis +refuses to have anything to do with him, and altogether repudiates the +fifty talents. "Haec referebat Rex Richardus munificus, ingratos +redarguendo." + +_Remarks_.--Apart from the interest of its wide travels, and its +appearance in the standard mediaeval History of England by Matthew +Paris, the modern story shows the remarkable persistence of folk-tales +in the popular mind. Here we have collected from the Hindu peasant of +to-day a tale which was probably told before Buddha, over two thousand +years ago, and certainly included among the Jatakas before the +Christian era. The same thing has occurred with _The Tiger, Brahman, +and Jackal_ (No. ix. _supra_). + + + +XI. HARISARMAN. + +_Source_.--Somadeva, _Katha-Sarit-Sagara_, trans. Tawney +(Calcutta, 1880), i. pp. 272-4. I have slightly toned down the inflated +style of the original. + +_Parallels_.--Benfey has collected and discussed a number in +_Orient and Occident_, i. 371 _seq._; see also Tawney, _ad loc._ +The most remarkable of the parallels is that afforded by the Grimms' +"Doctor Allwissend" (No. 98), which extends even to such a minute point +as his exclamation, "Ach, ich armer Krebs," whereupon a crab is +discovered under a dish. The usual form of discovery of the thieves is for +the Dr. Knowall to have so many days given him to discover the thieves, +and at the end of the first day he calls out, "There's one of them," +meaning the days, just as one of the thieves peeps through at him. +Hence the title and the plot of C. Lever's _One of Them_. + + + +XII. THE CHARMED RING. + +_Source_.--Knowles, _Folk-Tales of Kashmir_, pp. 20-8. + +_Parallels_.--The incident of the Aiding Animals is frequent in +folk-tales: see bibliographical references, _sub voce_, in my List +of Incidents, _Trans. Folk-Lore Congress_, p. 88; also Knowles, +21, _n._; and Temple, _Wideawake Stories_, pp. 401, 412. The +Magic Ring is also "common form" in folk-tales; _cf._ Kohler +_ap._ Marie de France, _Lais_, ed. Warncke, p. lxxxiv. And the +whole story is to be found very widely spread from India (_Wideawake +Stories_, pp. 196-206) to England (_Eng. Fairy Tales_, No. xvii, "Jack +and his Golden Snuff-box," _cf._ Notes, _ibid._), the most familiar +form of it being "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp." + +_Remarks_.--M. Cosquin has pointed out (_Contes de Lorraine_, +p. xi. _seq._) that the incident of the rat's-tail-up-nose to recover +the ring from the stomach of an ogress, is found among Arabs, +Albanians, Bretons, and Russians. It is impossible to imagine that +incident--occurring in the same series of incidents--to have been +invented more than once, and if that part of the story has been +borrowed from India, there is no reason why the whole of it should not +have arisen in India, and have been spread to the West. The English +variant was derived from an English Gipsy, and suggests the possibility +that for this particular story the medium of transmission has been the +Gipsies. This contains the incident of the loss of the ring by the +faithful animal, which again could not have been independently +invented. + + + +XIII. THE TALKATIVE TORTOISE. + +_Source_.---The _Kacchapa Jataka_, Fausboll, No. 215; also in +his _Five Jatakas_, pp. 16, 41, tr. Rhys-Davids, pp. viii-x. + +_Parallels_.--It occurs also in the Bidpai literature, in nearly +all its multitudinous offshoots. See Benfey, _Einleitung_, S 84; +also my _Bidpai_, E, 4 _a_; and North's text, pp. 170-5, where it +is the taunts of the other birds that cause the catastrophe: "O here is a +brave sight, looke, here is a goodly ieast, what bugge haue we here," +said some. "See, see, she hangeth by the throte, and therefor she +speaketh not," saide others; "and the beast flieth not like a beast;" so +she opened her mouth and "pashte hir all to pieces." + +_Remarks_.-I have reproduced in my edition the original +illustration of the first English Bidpai, itself derived from the +Italian block. A replica of it here may serve to show that it could be +used equally well to illustrate the Pali original as its English great- +great-great-great-great-great grand-child. + + + +XIV. LAC OF RUPEES. + +_Source_.--Knowles, _Folk-Tales of Kashmir_, pp. 32-41. I +have reduced the pieces of advice to three, and curtailed somewhat. + +_Parallels_.--See _Celtic Fairy Tales_, No. xxii., _"Tale +of Ivan,"_ from the old Cornish, now extinct, and notes _ibid._ +Mr. Clouston points out (_Pop. Tales_, ii. 319) that it occurs in +Buddhist literature, in "Buddaghoshas Parables," as "The Story of Kulla +Pauthaka." + +_Remarks_.--It is indeed curious to find the story better told in +Cornwall than in the land of its birth, but there can be little doubt +that the Buddhist version is the earliest and original form of the +story. The piece of advice was originally a charm, in which a youth was +to say to himself, "Why are you busy? Why are you busy?" He does so +when thieves are about, and so saves the king's treasures, of which he +gets an appropriate share. It would perhaps be as well if many of us +should say to ourselves "_Ghatesa, ghatesa, kim karana?_" + + + +XV. THE GOLD-GIVING SERPENT. + +_Source_.--_Pantschatantra_, III. v., tr. Benfey, ii. 244-7. + +_Parallels_ given in my Aesop, Ro. ii. 10, p. 40. The chief points +about them are--(1) though the tale does not exist in either Phaedrus or +Babrius, it occurs in prose derivates from the Latin by Ademar, 65, and +"Romulus," ii. 10, and from Greek, in Gabrias, 45, and the prose _Aesop_, +ed. Halm, 96; Gitlbauer has restored the Babrian form in his edition of +Babrius, No. 160. (2) The fable occurs among folk-tales, Grimm, 105; +Woycicki, _Poln. Mahr._ 105; Gering, _Islensk. Aevent_ 59, possibly +derived from La Fontaine, x. 12. + +_Remarks_.--Benfey has proved most ingeniously and conclusively +(_Einl._) that the Indian fable is the source of both Latin and +Greek fables. I may borrow from my _Aesop_, p. 93, parallel abstracts +of the three versions, putting Benfey's results in a graphic form, +series of bars indicating the passages where the classical fables have +failed to preserve the original. + + +BIDPAI. + +A Brahmin once observed a snake in his field, and thinking it the +tutelary spirit of the field, he offered it a libation of milk in a +bowl. Next day he finds a piece of gold in the bowl, and he receives +this each day after offering the libation. One day he had to go +elsewhere, and he sent his son with the libation. The son sees the +gold, and thinking the serpent's hole full of treasure determines to +slay the snake. He strikes at its head with a cudgel, and the enraged +serpent stings him to death. The Brahmin mourns his son's death, but +next morning as usual brings the libation of milk (in the hope of +getting the gold as before). The serpent appears after a long delay at +the mouth of its lair, and declares their friendship at an end, as it +could not forget the blow of the Brahmin's son, nor the Brahmin his +son's death from the bite of the snake. + +_Pants_. III. v. (Benf. 244-7). + + +PHAEDRINE. + +----A good man had become friendly with the snake, who came into his +house and brought luck with it, so that the man became rich through +it.----One day he struck the serpent, which disappeared, and with it +the man's riches. The good man tries to make it up, but the serpent +declares their friendship at an end, as it could not forget the blow.---- + +Phaed. Dressl. VII. 28 (Rom. II. xi.) + + +BABRIAN. + +----------------A serpent stung a farmer's son to death. The father +pursued the serpent with an axe, and struck off part of its tail. +Afterwards fearing its vengeance he brought food and honey to its lair, +and begged reconciliation. The serpent, however, declares friendship +impossible, as it could not forget the blow--nor the farmer his son's +death from the bite of the snake. + +Aesop; Halm 96b (Babrius-Gitlb. 160). + +In the Indian fable every step of the action is thoroughly justified, +whereas the Latin form does not explain why the snake was friendly in +the first instance, or why the good man was enraged afterwards; and the +Greek form starts abruptly, without explaining why the serpent had +killed the farmer's son. Make a composite of the Phaedrine and Babrian +forms, and you get the Indian one, which is thus shown to be the +original of both. + + + +XVI. THE SON OF SEVEN QUEENS. + +_Source_.--Steel Temple, _Wideawake Stories_, pp. 98-110, +originally published in _Ind. Antiq._ x. 147 _seq._ + +_Parallels_.--A long variant follows in _Ind. Antiq._, _l. +c._ M. Cosquin refers to several Oriental variants, _l. c._ p. +xxx. _n._ For the direction tabu, see Note on Princess Labam, +_supra_, No. ii. The "letter to kill bearer" and "letter substituted" +are frequent in both European (see my List _s. v._) and Indian +Folk-Tales (Temple, Analysis, II. iv. _b_, 6, p. 410). The idea of a +son of seven mothers could only arise in a polygamous country. It occurs +in "Punchkin," _supra_, No. iv.; Day, _Folk-Tales of Bengal_, 117 +_seq.; Ind. Antiq._ i. 170 (Temple, _l. c._, 398). + +_Remarks._--M. Cosquin (_Contes de Lorraine_, p. xxx.) +points out how, in a Sicilian story, Gonzenbach (_Sizil. Mahr._ +No. 80), the seven co-queens are transformed into seven step-daughters +of the envious witch who causes their eyes to be taken out. It is thus +probable, though M. Cosquin does not point this out, that the "envious +step-mother" of folk-tales (see my List, _s. v._) was originally +an envious co-wife. But there can be little doubt of what M. Cosquin +_does_ point out--viz., that the Sicilian story is derived from +the Indian one. + + + +XVII. A LESSON FOR KINGS. + +_Source.--Rajovada Jataka_, Fausboll, No. 151, tr. Rhys-Davids, +pp. xxii.-vi. + +_Remarks_.--This is one of the earliest of moral allegories in +existence. The moralising tone of the Jatakas must be conspicuous to +all reading them. Why, they can moralise even the Tar Baby (see +_infra_, Note on "Demon with the Matted Hair," No. xxv.). + + + +XVIII. PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALL. + +_Source_.--Kingscote, _Tales of the Sun_. I have changed the +Indian mercantile numerals into those of English "back-slang," which +make a very good parallel. + + + +XIX. RAJA RASALU. + +_Source_.--Steel-Temple, _Wideawake Stories_, pp. 247-80, +omitting "How Raja Rasalu was Born," "How Raja Rasalu's Friends Forsook +Him," "How Raja Rasalu Killed the Giants," and "How Raja Rasalu became +a Jogi." A further version in Temple, _Legends of _Panjab_, vol. +i. _Chaupur_, I should explain, is a game played by two players +with eight men, each on a board in the shape of a cross, four men to +each cross covered with squares. The moves of the men are decided by +the throws of a long form of dice. The object of the game is to see +which of the players can first move all his men into the black centre +square of the cross (Temple, _l. c._, p. 344, and _Legends of +Panjab_, i. 243-5) It is sometimes said to be the origin of chess. + +_Parallels_.--Rev. C. Swynnerton, "Four Legends about Raja Rasalu," +in _Folk-Lore Journal_, p. 158 _seq._, also in separate book +much enlarged, _The Adventures of Raja Rasalu_, Calcutta, 1884. +Curiously enough, the real interest of the story comes after the end of +our part of it, for Kokilan, when she grows up, is married to Raja +Rasalu, and behaves as sometimes youthful wives behave to elderly +husbands. He gives her her lover's heart to eat, _a la_ Decameron, +and she dashes herself over the rocks. For the parallels of this part +of the legend see my edition of Painter's _Palace of Pleasure_, +tom. i. Tale 39, or, better, the _Programm_ of H. Patzig, _Zur +Geschichte der Herzmare_ (Berlin, 1891). Gambling for life occurs in +Celtic and other folk-tales; _cf._ my List of Incidents, _s. +v._ "Gambling for Magic Objects." + +_Remarks_.--Raja Rasalu is possibly a historic personage, +according to Capt. Temple, _Calcutta Review_, 1884, p. 397, +flourishing in the eighth or ninth century. There is a place called +Sirikap ka-kila in the neighbourhood of Sialkot, the traditional seat +of Rasalu on the Indus, not far from Atlock. + +Herr Patzig is strongly for the Eastern origin of the romance, and +finds its earliest appearance in the West in the Anglo-Norman +troubadour, Thomas' _Lai Guirun_, where it becomes part of the +Tristan cycle. There is, so far as I know, no proof of the earliest +part of the Rasalu legend (_our_ part) coming to Europe, except +the existence of the gambling incidents of the same kind in Celtic and +other folk-tales. + + + +XX. THE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN. + +_Source_.--The _Siha Camma Jataka_, Fausboll, No. 189, +trans. Rhys-Davids, pp. v. vi. + +_Parallels_.--It also occurs in Somadeva, _Katha Sarit +Sagara_, ed. Tawney, ii. 65, and _n._ For Aesopic parallels _cf._ +my _Aesop_, Av. iv. It is in Babrius, ed. Gitlbaur, 218 (from Greek prose +Aesop, ed. Halm, No. 323), and Avian, ed. Ellis, 5, whence it came into +the modern Aesop. + +_Remarks_.--Avian wrote towards the end of the third century, and +put into Latin mainly those portions of Babrius which are unparalleled +by Phaedrus. Consequently, as I have shown, he has a much larger +proportion of Eastern elements than Phaedrus. There can be little doubt +that the Ass in the Lion's Skin is from India. As Prof. Rhys-Davids +remarks, the Indian form gives a plausible motive for the masquerade +which is wanting in the ordinary Aesopic version. + + + +XXI. THE FARMER AND THE MONEY-LENDER. + +_Source_.--Steel-Temple, _Wideawake Stories_, pp. 215-8. + +_Parallels_ enumerated in my _Aesop_, Av. xvii. See also +Jacques de Vitry, _Exempla_, ed. Crane, No. 196 (see notes, p. +212), and Bozon, _Contes moralises_, No. 112. It occurs in Avian, +ed. Ellis, No. 22. Mr. Kipling has a very similar tale in his _Life's +Handicap_. + +_Remarks_.--Here we have collected in modern India what one cannot +help thinking is the Indian original of a fable of Avian. The preceding +number showed one of his fables existing among the Jatakas, probably +before the Christian era. This makes it likely that we shall find an +earlier Indian original of the fable of the Avaricious and Envious, +perhaps among the Jatakas still untranslated. + + + +XXII. THE BOY WITH MOON ON FOREHEAD. + +_Source_.--Miss Stokes' _Indian Fairy Tales_, No. 20, pp. +119-137. + +_Parallels_ to heroes and heroines in European fairy tales, with +stars on their foreheads, are given with some copiousness in Stokes, +_l. c._, pp. 242-3. This is an essentially Indian trait; almost +all Hindus have some tribal or caste mark on their bodies or faces. The +choice of the hero disguised as a menial is also common property of +Indian and European fairy tales: see Stokes, _l. c._, p. 231, and +my List of Incidents (_s. v._ "Menial Disguise.") + + + +XXIII. THE PRINCE AND THE FAKIR. + +_Source_.--Kindly communicated by Mr. M. L. Dames from his +unpublished collection of Baluchi tales. + +_Remarks_.--Unholy fakirs are rather rare. See Temple, Analysis, +I. ii. _a_, p. 394. + + + +XXIV. WHY THE FISH LAUGHED. + +_Source_.--Knowles, _Folk-Tales of Kashmir_, pp. 484-90. + +_Parallels_.--The latter part is the formula of the Clever Lass +who guesses riddles. She has been bibliographised by Prof. Child, +_Eng. and Scotch Ballads_, i. 485; see also Benfey, _Kl. Schr._ +ii. 156 _seq._ The sex test at the end is different from any of those +enumerated by Prof. Kohler on Gonzenbach, _Sezil. Mahr._ ii. 216. + +_Remarks_.--Here we have a further example of a whole formula, or +series of incidents, common to most European collections, found in +India, and in a quarter, too, where European influence is little likely +to penetrate. Prof. Benfey, in an elaborate dissertation ("Die Kluge +Dirne," in _Ausland_, 1859, Nos. 20-25, now reprinted in _Kl. +Schr._ ii. 156 _seq._), has shown the wide spread of the theme +both in early Indian literature (though probably there derived from the +folk) and in modern European folk literature. + + + +XXV. THE DEMON WITH THE MATTED HAIR. + +_Source_.--_The Pancavudha Jataka_, Fausboll, No. 55, +kindly translated for this book by Mr. W. H. D. Rouse, of Christ's +College, Cambridge. There is a brief abstract of the Jataka in Prof. +Estlin Carpenter's sermon, _Three Ways of Salvation_, 1884, p. 27, +where my attention was first called to this Jataka. + +_Parallels_.--Most readers of these Notes will remember the +central episode of Mr. J. C. Harris' _Uncle Remus_, in which Brer +Fox, annoyed at Brer Rabbit's depredations, fits up "a contrapshun, +what he calls a Tar Baby." Brer Rabbit, coming along that way, passes +the time of day with Tar Baby, and, annoyed at its obstinate silence, +hits it with right fist and with left, with left fist and with right, +which successively stick to the "contrapshun," till at last he butts +with his head, and that sticks too, whereupon Brer Fox, who all this +time had "lain low," saunters out, and complains of Brer Rabbit that he +is too stuck up. In the sequel Brer Rabbits begs Brer Fox that he may +"drown me as deep ez you please, skin me, scratch out my eyeballs, t'ar +out my years by the roots, en cut off my legs, but do don't fling me in +dat brier patch;" which, of course, Brer Fox does, only to be informed +by the cunning Brer Rabbit that he had been "bred en bawn in a brier +patch." The story is a favourite one with the negroes: it occurs in +Col. Jones' _Negro Myths of the Georgia Coast_ (Uncle Remus is +from S. Carolina), also among those of Brazil (Romero, _Contos do +Brazil_), and in the West Indian Islands (Mr. Lang, "At the Sign of +the Ship," _Longman's Magazine_, Feb. 1889). We can trace it to +Africa, where it occurs in Cape Colony (_South African Folk-Lore +Journal_, vol. i.). + +_Remarks_.--The five-fold attack on the Demon and the Tar Baby is +so preposterously ludicrous that it cannot have been independently +invented, and we must therefore assume that they are causally +connected, and the existence of the variant in South Africa clinches +the matter, and gives us a landing-stage between India and America. +There can be little doubt that the Jataka of Prince Five-Weapons came +to Africa, possibly by Buddhist missionaries, spread among the negroes, +and then took ship in the holds of slavers for the New World, where it +is to be found in fuller form than any yet discovered in the home of +its birth. I say Buddhist missionaries, because there is a certain +amount of evidence that the negroes have Buddhistic symbols among them, +and we can only explain the identification of Brer Rabbit with Prince +Five Weapons, and so with Buddha himself, by supposing the change to +have originated among Buddhists, where it would be quite natural. For +one of the most celebrated metempsychoses of Buddha is that detailed in +the _Sasa Jataka_ (Fausboll, No. 316, tr. R. Morris, _Folk-Lore +Journal_, ii. 336), in which the Buddha, as a hare, performs a +sublime piece of self-sacrifice, and as a reward is translated to the +moon, where he can be seen to this day as "the hare in the moon." Every +Buddhist is reminded of the virtue of self-sacrifice whenever the moon +is full, and it is easy to understand how the Buddha became identified +as the Hare or Rabbit. A striking confirmation of this, in connection +with our immediate subject, is offered by Mr. Harris' sequel volume, +_Nights with Uncle Remus_. Here there is a whole chapter (xxx.) on +"Brer Rabbit and his famous Foot," and it is well known how the worship +of Buddha's foot developed in later Buddhism. No wonder Brer Rabbit is +so 'cute: he is nothing less than an incarnation of Buddha. Among the +Karens of Burmah, where Buddhist influence is still active, the Hare +holds exactly the same place in their folk-lore as Brer Rabbit among +the negroes. The sixth chapter of Mr. Smeaton's book on them is devoted +to "Fireside Stories," and is entirely taken up with adventures of the +Hare, all of which can be paralleled from _Uncle Remus_. + +Curiously enough, the negro form of the five-fold attack--"fighting +with _five_ fists," Mr. Barr would call it--is probably nearer to +the original legend than that preserved in the Jataka, though 2000 +years older. For we may be sure that the thunderbolt of Knowledge did +not exist in the original, but was introduced by some Buddhist Mr. +Barlow, who, like Alice's Duchess, ended all his tales with: "And the +moral of that is----" For no well-bred demon would have been taken in +by so simple a "sell" as that indulged in by Prince Five-Weapons in our +Jataka, and it is probable, therefore, that _Uncle Remus_ preserves a +reminiscence of the original Indian reading of the tale. On the other +hand, it is probable that Carlyle's Indian god with the fire in his +belly was derived from Prince Five-Weapons. + +The negro variant has also suggested to Mr. Batten an explanation of +the whole story which is extremely plausible, though it introduces a +method of folk-lore exegesis which has been overdriven to death. The +_Sasa Jataka_ identifies the Brer Rabbit Buddha with the hare in +the moon. It is well known that Easterns explain an eclipse of the moon +as due to its being swallowed up by a Dragon or Demon. May not, asks +Mr. Batten, the _Pancavudha Jataka_ be an idealised account of an +eclipse of the moon? This suggestion receives strong confirmation from +the Demon's reference to Rahu, who does, in Indian myth swallow the +moon at times of eclipse. The Jataka accordingly contains the Buddhist +explanation why the moon--_i.e._ the hare in the moon, _i.e._ +Buddha--is not altogether swallowed up by the Demon of Eclipse, the +Demon with the Matted Hair. Mr. Batten adds that in imagining what kind +of Demon the Eclipse Demon was, the Jataka writer was probably aided by +recollections of some giant octopus, who has saucer eyes and a kind of +hawk's beak, knobs on its "tusks," and a very variegated belly +(gastropod). It is obviously unfair of Mr. Batten both to illustrate +and also to explain so well the Tar Baby Jataka--taking the scientific +bread, so to speak, out of a poor folklorist's mouth--but his +explanations seem to me so convincing that I cannot avoid including +them in these Notes. + +I am, however, not so much concerned with the original explanation of +the Jataka as to trace its travels across the continents of Asia, +Africa, and America. I think I have done this satisfactorily, and will +have thereby largely strengthened the case for less extensive travels +of other tales. I have sufficient confidence of the method employed to +venture on that most hazardous of employments, scientific prophecy. I +venture to predict that the Tar Baby story will be found in Madagascar +in a form nearer the Indian than Uncle Remus, and I will go further, +and say that it will _not_ be found in the grand Helsingfors +collection of folk-tales, though this includes 12,000, of which 1000 +are beast-tales. + + + +XXVI. THE IVORY PALACE. + +_Source_.--Knowles, _Folk-Tales of Kashmir_, pp. 211--25, +with some slight omissions. Gulizar is Persian for rosy-cheeked. + +_Parallels_.--Stokes, _Indian Fairy Tales_, No. 27. +"Panwpatti Rani," pp. 208-15, is the same story. Another version in the +collection _Baital Pachisi_, No. 1. + +_Remarks_.--The themes of love by mirror, and the faithful friend, +are common European, though the calm attempt at poisoning is perhaps +characteristically Indian, and reads like a page from Mr. Kipling. + + + +XXVII. SUN, MOON, AND WIND. + +_Source_.--Miss Frere, _Old Deccan Days_, No. 10 pp. 153-5. + +_Remarks_.--Miss Frere observes that she has not altered the +traditional mode of the Moon's conveyance of dinner to her mother the +Star, though it must, she fears, impair the value of the story as a +moral lesson in the eyes of all instructors of youth. + + + +XXVIII. HOW WICKED SONS WERE DUPED. + +_Source_.--Knowles, _Folk-Tales of Kashmir_, pp. 241-2. + +_Parallels_.--A Gaelic parallel was given by Campbell in _Trans. +Ethnol. Soc._, ii. p. 336; an Anglo-Latin one from the Middle Ages +by T. Wright in _Latin Stories_ (Percy Soc.), No. 26; and for +these and points of anthropological interest in the Celtic variant see +Mr. Gomme's article in _Folk-Lore_, i. pp. 197-206, "A Highland +Folk-Tale and its Origin in Custom." + +_Remarks_.--Mr. Gomme is of opinion that the tale arose from +certain rhyming formulae occurring in the Gaelic and Latin tales as +written on a mallet left by the old man in the box opened after his +death. The rhymes are to the effect that a father who gives up his +wealth to his children in his own lifetime deserves to be put to death +with the mallet. Mr. Gomme gives evidence that it was an archaic custom +to put oldsters to death after they had become helpless. He also points +out that it was customary for estates to be divided and surrendered +during the owners' lifetime, and generally he connects a good deal of +primitive custom with our story. I have already pointed out in _Folk- +Lore_, p. 403, that the existence of the tale in Kashmir without any +reference to the mallet makes it impossible for the rhymes on the +mallet to be the source of the story. As a matter of fact, it is a very +embarrassing addition to it, since the rhyme tells against the parent, +and the story is intended to tell against the ungrateful children. The +existence of the tale in India renders it likely enough that it is not +indigenous to the British Isles, but an Oriental importation. It is +obvious, therefore, that it cannot be used as anthropological evidence +of the existence of the primitive customs to be found in it. The whole +incident, indeed, is a striking example of the dangers of the +anthropological method of dealing with folk-tales before some attempt +is made to settle the questions of origin and diffusion. + + + +XXIX. THE PIGEON AND THE CROW. + +_Source_.--The _Lola Jataka_, Fausboll, No. 274, kindly +translated and slightly abridged for this book by Mr. W. H. D. Rouse. + +_Remarks_.--We began with an animal Jataka, and may appropriately +finish with one which shows how effectively the writers of the Jatakas +could represent animal folk, and how terribly moral they invariably +were in their tales. I should perhaps add that the Bodhisat is not +precisely the Buddha himself but a character which is on its way to +becoming perfectly enlightened, and so may be called a future Buddha. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Indian Fairy Tales, by Collected by Joseph Jacobs + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INDIAN FAIRY TALES *** + +This file should be named 7iftl10.txt or 7iftl10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7iftl11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7iftl10a.txt + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our Web sites at: +http://gutenberg.net or +http://promo.net/pg + +These Web sites include award-winning information about Project +Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new +eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!). + + +Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement +can get to them as follows, and just download by date. This is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03 + +Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. Our +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If the value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text +files per month: 1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+ +We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002 +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks! +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated): + +eBooks Year Month + + 1 1971 July + 10 1991 January + 100 1994 January + 1000 1997 August + 1500 1998 October + 2000 1999 December + 2500 2000 December + 3000 2001 November + 4000 2001 October/November + 6000 2002 December* + 9000 2003 November* +10000 2004 January* + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people +and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, +Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, +Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, +Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New +Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, +Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South +Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West +Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. + +We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list +will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states. +Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally +request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and +you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have, +just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are +not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting +donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to +donate. + +International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about +how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made +deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are +ways. + +Donations by check or money order may be sent to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + +Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment +method other than by check or money order. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by +the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN +[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154. Donations are +tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law. As fund-raising +requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be +made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information online at: + +http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this eBook, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + eBook or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the eBook (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only +when distributed free of all fees. Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by +Michael S. Hart. Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be +used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be +they hardware or software or any other related product without +express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/old/7iftl10.zip.20030313 b/old/7iftl10.zip.20030313 Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5f27bd5 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/7iftl10.zip.20030313 diff --git a/old/8iftl10.txt.20030313 b/old/8iftl10.txt.20030313 new file mode 100644 index 0000000..445ff41 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/8iftl10.txt.20030313 @@ -0,0 +1,7866 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Indian Fairy Tales, by Collected by Joseph Jacobs + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Indian Fairy Tales + +Author: Collected by Joseph Jacobs + +Release Date: December, 2004 [EBook #7128] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on March 13, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-Latin-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INDIAN FAIRY TALES *** + + + + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +INDIAN FAIRY TALES + + +_Selected and edited by_ +JOSEPH JACOBS + +_Illustrated by_ +JOHN D. BATTEN + +TO MY DEAR LITTLE PHIL + + + +PREFACE + +From the extreme West of the Indo-European world, we go this year to +the extreme East. From the soft rain and green turf of Gaeldom, we seek +the garish sun and arid soil of the Hindoo. In the Land of Ire, the +belief in fairies, gnomes, ogres and monsters is all but dead; in the +Land of Ind it still flourishes in all the vigour of animism. + +Soils and national characters differ; but fairy tales are the same in +plot and incidents, if not in treatment. The majority of the tales in +this volume have been known in the West in some form or other, and the +problem arises how to account for their simultaneous existence in +farthest West and East. Some--as Benfey in Germany, M. Cosquin in +France, and Mr. Clouston in England--have declared that India is the +Home of the Fairy Tale, and that all European fairy tales have been +brought from thence by Crusaders, by Mongol missionaries, by Gipsies, +by Jews, by traders, by travellers. The question is still before the +courts, and one can only deal with it as an advocate. So far as my +instructions go, I should be prepared, within certain limits, to hold a +brief for India. So far as the children of Europe have their fairy +stories in common, these--and they form more than a third of the whole +--are derived from India. In particular, the majority of the Drolls or +comic tales and jingles can be traced, without much difficulty, back to +the Indian peninsula. + +Certainly there is abundant evidence of the early transmission by +literary means of a considerable number of drolls and folk-tales from +India about the time of the Crusaders. The collections known in Europe +by the titles of _The Fables of Bidpai, The Seven Wise Masters, Gesia +Romanorum_, and _Barlaam and Josaphat_, were extremely popular +during the Middle Ages, and their contents passed on the one hand into +the _Exempla_ of the monkish preachers, and on the other into the +_Novelle_ of Italy, thence, after many days, to contribute their +quota to the Elizabethan Drama. Perhaps nearly one-tenth of the main +incidents of European folktales can be traced to this source. + +There are even indications of an earlier literary contact between +Europe and India, in the case of one branch of the folk-tale, the Fable +or Beast Droll. In a somewhat elaborate discussion [Footnote: "History +of the Aesopic Fable," the introductory volume to my edition of Caxton's +_Fables of Esope_ (London, Nutt, 1889).] I have come to the +conclusion that a goodly number of the fables that pass under the name +of the Samian slave, Aesop, were derived from India, probably from the +same source whence the same tales were utilised in the Jatakas, or +Birth-stories of Buddha. These Jatakas contain a large quantity of +genuine early Indian folk-tales, and form the earliest collection of +folk-tales in the world, a sort of Indian Grimm, collected more than +two thousand years before the good German brothers went on their quest +among the folk with such delightful results. For this reason I have +included a considerable number of them in this volume; and shall be +surprised if tales that have roused the laughter and wonder of pious +Buddhists for the last two thousand years, cannot produce the same +effect on English children. The Jatakas have been fortunate in their +English translators, who render with vigour and point; and I rejoice +in being able to publish the translation of two new Jatakas, kindly +done into English for this volume by Mr. W. H. D. Rouse, of Christ's +College, Cambridge. In one of these I think I have traced the source +of the Tar Baby incident in "Uncle Remus." + +Though Indian fairy tales are the earliest in existence, yet they are +also from another point of view the youngest. For it is only about +twenty-five years ago that Miss Frere began the modern collection of +Indian folk-tales with her charming "Old Deccan Days" (London, John +Murray, 1868; fourth edition, 1889). Her example has been followed by +Miss Stokes, by Mrs. Steel, and Captain (now Major) Temple, by the +Pandit Natesa Sastri, by Mr. Knowles and Mr. Campbell, as well as +others who have published folk-tales in such periodicals as the +_Indian Antiquary_ and _The Orientalist_. The story-store of +modern India has been well dipped into during the last quarter of a +century, though the immense range of the country leaves room for any +number of additional workers and collections. Even so far as the +materials already collected go, a large number of the commonest +incidents in European folk-tales have been found in India. Whether +brought there or born there, we have scarcely any criterion for +judging; but as some of those still current among the folk in India can +be traced back more than a millennium, the presumption is in favour of +an Indian origin. + +From all these sources--from the Jatakas, from the Bidpai, and from the +more recent collections--I have selected those stories which throw most +light on the origin of Fable and Folk-tales, and at the same time are +most likely to attract English children. I have not, however, included +too many stories of the Grimm types, lest I should repeat the contents +of the two preceding volumes of this series. This has to some degree +weakened the case for India as represented by this book. The need of +catering for the young ones has restricted my selection from the well- +named "Ocean of the Streams of Story," _Katha-Sarit Sagara_ of +Somadeva. The stories existing in Pali and Sanskrit I have taken from +translations, mostly from the German of Benfey or the vigorous English +of Professor Rhys-Davids, whom I have to thank for permission to use +his versions of the Jatakas. + +I have been enabled to make this book a representative collection of +the Fairy Tales of Ind by the kindness of the original collectors or +their publishers. I have especially to thank Miss Frere, who kindly +made an exception in my favour, and granted me the use of that fine +story, "Punchkin," and that quaint myth, "How Sun, Moon, and Wind went +out to Dinner." Miss Stokes has been equally gracious in granting me +the use of characteristic specimens from her "Indian Fairy Tales." To +Major Temple I owe the advantage of selecting from his admirable +_Wideawake Stories_, and Messrs. Kegan Paul, Trench & Co. have +allowed me to use Mr. Knowles' "Folk-tales of Kashmir," in their +Oriental Library; and Messrs. W. H. Allen have been equally obliging +with regard to Mrs. Kingscote's "Tales of the Sun." Mr. M. L. Dames has +enabled me add to the published story-store of India by granting me the +use of one from his inedited collection of Baluchi folk-tales. + +I have again to congratulate myself an the co-operation of my friend +Mr. J. D. Batten in giving beautiful or amusing form to the creations +of the folk fancy of the Hindoos. It is no slight thing to embody, as +he has done, the glamour and the humour both of the Celt and of the +Hindoo. It is only a further proof that Fairy Tales are something more +than Celtic or Hindoo. They are human. + +JOSEPH JACOBS. + + + +CONTENTS + +I. THE LION AND THE CRANE +II. HOW THE RAJA'S SON WON THE PRINCESS LABAM +III. THE LAMBIKIN +IV. PUNCHKIN +V. THE BROKEN POT +VI. THE MAGIC FIDDLE +VII. THE CRUEL CRANE OUTWITTED +VIII. LOVING LAILI +IX. THE TIGER, THE BRAHMAN AND THE JACKAL +X. THE SOOTHSAYER'S SON +XI. HARISARMAN +XII. THE CHARMED RING +XIII. THE TALKATIVE TORTOISE +XIV. A LAC OF RUPEES FOR A PIECE OF ADVICE +XV. THE GOLD-GIVING SERPENT +XVI. THE SON OF SEVEN QUEENS +XVII. A LESSON FOR KINGS +XVIII. PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALL +XIX. RAJA RASALU +XX. THE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN +XXI. THE FARMER AND THE MONEY-LENDER +XXII. THE BOY WHO HAD A MOON ON HIS FOREHEAD AND A STAR ON HIS CHIN +XXIII. THE PRINCE AND THE FAKIR +XXIV. WHY THE FISH LAUGHED +XXV. THE DEMON WITH THE MATTED HAIR +XXVI. THE IVORY CITY AND ITS FAIRY PRINCESS +XXVII. SUN, MOON, AND WIND GO OUT TO DINNER +XXVIII. HOW THE WICKED SONS WERE DUPED +XXIX. THE PIGEON AND THE CROW + +NOTES AND REFERENCES + + + +THE LION AND THE CRANE + +The Bodhisatta was at one time born in the region of Himavanta as a +white crane; now Brahmadatta was at that time reigning in Benares. Now +it chanced that as a lion was eating meat a bone stuck in his throat. +The throat became swollen, he could not take food, his suffering was +terrible. The crane seeing him, as he was perched an a tree looking for +food, asked, "What ails thee, friend?" He told him why. "I could free +thee from that bone, friend, but dare not enter thy mouth for fear thou +mightest eat me." "Don't be afraid, friend, I'll not eat thee; only +save my life." "Very well," says he, and caused him to lie down on his +left side. But thinking to himself, "Who knows what this fellow will +do," he placed a small stick upright between his two jaws that he could +not close his mouth, and inserting his head inside his mouth struck one +end of the bone with his beak. Whereupon the bone dropped and fell out. +As soon as he had caused the bone to fall, he got out of the lion's +mouth, striking the stick with his beak so that it fell out, and then +settled on a branch. The lion gets well, and one day was eating a +buffalo he had killed. The crane, thinking "I will sound him," settled +an a branch just over him, and in conversation spoke this first verse: + + "A service have we done thee + To the best of our ability, + King of the Beasts! Your Majesty! + What return shall we get from thee?" + +In reply the Lion spoke the second verse: + + "As I feed on blood, + And always hunt for prey, + 'Tis much that thou art still alive + Having once been between my teeth." + +Then in reply the crane said the two other verses: + + "Ungrateful, doing no good, + Not doing as he would be done by, + In him there is no gratitude, + To serve him is useless. + + "His friendship is not won + By the clearest good deed. + Better softly withdraw from him, + Neither envying nor abusing." + +And having thus spoken the crane flew away. + +_And when the great Teacher, Gautama the Buddha, told this tale, he +used to add: "Now at that time the lion was Devadatta the Traitor, but +the white crane was I myself_." + + + +HOW THE RAJA'S SON WON THE PRINCESS LABAM + +In a country there was a Raja who had an only son who every day went +out to hunt. One day the Rani, his mother, said to him, "You can hunt +wherever you like on these three sides; but you must never go to the +fourth side." This she said because she knew if he went on the fourth +side he would hear of the beautiful Princess Labam, and that then he +would leave his father and mother and seek for the princess. + +The young prince listened to his mother, and obeyed her for some time; +but one day, when he was hunting on the three sides where he was +allowed to go, he remembered what she had said to him about the fourth +side, and he determined to go and see why she had forbidden him to hunt +on that side. When he got there, he found himself in a jungle, and +nothing in the jungle but a quantity of parrots, who lived in it. The +young Raja shot at some of them, and at once they all flew away up to +the sky. All, that is, but one, and this was their Raja, who was called +Hiraman parrot. + +When Hiraman parrot found himself left alone, he called out to the +other parrots, "Don't fly away and leave me alone when the Raja's son +shoots. If you desert me like this, I will tell the Princess Labam." + +Then the parrots all flew back to their Raja, chattering. The prince +was greatly surprised, and said, "Why, these birds can talk!" Then he +said to the parrots, "Who is the Princess Labam? Where does she live?" +But the parrots would not tell him where she lived. "You can never get +to the Princess Labam's country." That is all they would say. + +The prince grew very sad when they would not tell him anything more; +and he threw his gun away, and went home. When he got home, he would +not speak or eat, but lay on his bed for four or five days, and seemed +very ill. + +At last he told his father and mother that he wanted to go and see the +Princess Labam. "I must go," he said; "I must see what she is like. +Tell me where her country is." + +"We do not know where it is," answered his father and mother. + +"Then I must go and look for it," said the prince. + +"No, no," they said, "you must not leave us. You are our only son. Stay +with us. You will never find the Princess Labam." + +"I must try and find her," said the prince. "Perhaps God will show me +the way. If I live and I find her, I will come back to you; but perhaps +I shall die, and then I shall never see you again. Still I must go." + +So they had to let him go, though they cried very much at parting with +him. His father gave him fine clothes to wear, and a fine horse. And he +took his gun, and his bow and arrows, and a great many other weapons, +"for," he said, "I may want them." His father, too, gave him plenty of +rupees. + +Then he himself got his horse all ready for the journey, and he said +good-bye to his father and mother; and his mother took her handkerchief +and wrapped some sweetmeats in it, and gave it to her son. "My child," +she said to him, "When you are hungry eat some of these sweetmeats." + +He then set out on his journey, and rode on and on till he came to a +jungle in which were a tank and shady trees. He bathed himself and his +horse in the tank, and then sat down under a tree. "Now," he said to +himself, "I will eat some of the sweetmeats my mother gave me, and I +will drink some water, and then I will continue my journey." He opened +his handkerchief, and took out a sweetmeat. He found an ant in it. He +took out another. There was an ant in that one too. So he laid the two +sweetmeats on the ground, and he took out another, and another, and +another, until he had taken them all out; but in each he found an ant. +"Never mind," he said, "I won't eat the sweetmeats; the ants shall eat +them." Then the Ant-Raja came and stood before him and said, "You have +been good to us. If ever you are in trouble, think of me and we will +come to you." + +The Raja's son thanked him, mounted his horse and continued his +journey. He rode on and on until he came to another jungle, and there +he saw a tiger who had a thorn in his foot, and was roaring loudly from +the pain. + +"Why do you roar like that?" said the young Raja. "What is the matter +with you?" + +"I have had a thorn in my foot for twelve years," answered the tiger, +"and it hurts me so; that is why I roar." + +"Well," said the Raja's son, "I will take it out for you. But perhaps, +as you are a tiger, when I have made you well, you will eat me?" + +"Oh, no," said the tiger, "I won't eat you. Do make me well." + +Then the prince took a little knife from his pocket, and cut the thorn +out of the tiger's foot; but when he cut, the tiger roared louder than +ever--so loud that his wife heard him in the next jungle, and came +bounding along to see what was the matter. The tiger saw her coming, +and hid the prince in the jungle, so that she should not see him. + + +"What man hurt you that you roared so loud?" said the wife. "No one +hurt me," answered the husband; "but a Raja's son came and took the +thorn out of my foot." + +"Where is he? Show him to me," said his wife. + +"If you promise not to kill him, I will call him," said the tiger. + +"I won't kill him; only let me see him," answered his wife. + +Then the tiger called the Raja's son, and when he came the tiger and +his wife made him a great many salaams. Then they gave him a good +dinner, and he stayed with them for three days. Every day he looked at +the tiger's foot, and the third day it was quite healed. Then he said +good-bye to the tigers, and the tiger said to him, "If ever you are in +trouble, think of me, and we will come to you." + +The Raja's son rode on and on till he came to a third jungle. Here he +found four fakirs whose teacher and master had died, and had left four +things,--a bed, which carried whoever sat on it whithersoever he wished +to go; a bag, that gave its owner whatever he wanted, jewels, food, or +clothes; a stone bowl that gave its owner as much water as he wanted, +no matter how far he might be from a tank; and a stick and rope, to +which its owner had only to say, if any one came to make war on him, +"Stick, beat as many men and soldiers as are here," and the stick would +beat them and the rope would tie them up. + +The four fakirs were quarrelling over these four things. One said, "I +want this;" another said, "You cannot have it, for I want it;" and so +on. + +The Raja's son said to them, "Do not quarrel for these things. I will +shoot four arrows in four different directions. Whichever of you gets +to my first arrow, shall have the first thing--the bed. Whosoever gets +to the second arrow, shall have the second thing--the bag. He who gets +to the third arrow, shall have the third thing--the bowl. And he who +gets to the fourth arrow, shall have the last things--the stick and +rope." To this they agreed, and the prince shot off his first arrow. +Away raced the fakirs to get it. When they brought it back to him he +shot off the second, and when they had found and brought it to him he +shot off his third, and when they had brought him the third he shot off +the fourth. + +While they were away looking for the fourth arrow the Raja's son let +his horse loose in the jungle, and sat on the bed, taking the bowl, the +stick and rope, and the bag with him. Then he said, "Bed, I wish to go +to the Princess Labam's country." The little bed instantly rose up into +the air and began to fly, and it flew and flew till it came to the +Princess Labam's country, where it settled on the ground. The Raja's +son asked some men he saw, "Whose country is this?" + +"The Princess Labam's country," they answered. Then the prince went on +till he came to a house where he saw an old woman. + +"Who are you?" she said. "Where do you come from?" + +"I come from a far country," he said; "do let me stay with you to- +night." + +"No," she answered, "I cannot let you stay with me; for our king has +ordered that men from other countries may not stay in his country. You +cannot stay in my house." + +"You are my aunty," said the prince; "let me remain with you for this +one night. You see it is evening, and if I go into the jungle, then the +wild beasts will eat me." + +"Well," said the old woman, "you may stay here to-night; but to-morrow +morning you must go away, for if the king hears you have passed the +night in my house, he will have me seized and put into prison." + +Then she took him into her house, and the Raja's son was very glad. The +old woman began preparing dinner, but he stopped her, "Aunty," he said, +"I will give you food." He put his hand into his bag, saying, "Bag, I +want some dinner," and the bag gave him instantly a delicious dinner, +served up on two gold plates. The old woman and the Raja's son then +dined together. + +When they had finished eating, the old woman said, "Now I will fetch +some water." + +"Don't go," said the prince. "You shall have plenty of water directly." +So he took his bowl and said to it, "Bowl, I want some water," and then +it filled with water. When it was full, the prince cried out, "Stop, +bowl," and the bowl stopped filling. "See, aunty," he said, "with this +bowl I can always get as much water as I want." + +By this time night had come. "Aunty," said the Raja's son, "why don't +you light a lamp?" + +"There is no need," she said. "Our king has forbidden the people in his +country to light any lamps; for, as soon as it is dark, his daughter, +the Princess Labam, comes and sits on her roof, and she shines so that +she lights up all the country and our houses, and we can see to do our +work as if it were day." + +When it was quite black night the princess got up. She dressed herself +in her rich clothes and jewels, and rolled up her hair, and across her +head she put a band of diamonds and pearls. Then she shone like the +moon, and her beauty made night day. She came out of her room, and sat +on the roof of her palace. In the daytime she never came out of her +house; she only came out at night. All the people in her father's +country then went about their work and finished it. + +The Raja's son watched the princess quietly, and was very happy. He +said to himself, "How lovely she is!" + +At midnight, when everybody had gone to bed, the princess came down +from her roof, and went to her room; and when she was in bed and +asleep, the Raja's son got up softly, and sat on his bed. "Bed," he +said to it, "I want to go to the Princess Labam's bed-room." So the +little bed carried him to the room where she lay fast asleep. + +The young Raja took his bag and said, "I want a great deal of betel- +leaf," and it at once gave him quantities of betel-leaf. This he laid +near the princess's bed, and then his little bed carried him back to +the old woman's house. + +Next morning all the princess's servants found the betel-leaf, and +began to eat it. "Where did you get all that betel-leaf?" asked the +princess. + +"We found it near your bed," answered the servants. Nobody knew the +prince had come in the night and put it all there. + +In the morning the old woman came to the Raja's son. "Now it is +morning," she said, "and you must go; for if the king finds out all I +have done for you, he will seize me." + +"I am ill to-day, dear aunty," said the prince; "do let me stay till +to-morrow morning." + +"Good," said the old woman. So he stayed, and they took their dinner +out of the bag, and the bowl gave them water. + +When night came the princess got up and sat on her roof, and at twelve +o'clock, when every one was in bed, she went to her bed-room, and was +soon fast asleep. Then the Raja's son sat on his bed, and it carried +him to the princess. He took his bag and said, "Bag, I want a most +lovely shawl." It gave him a splendid shawl, and he spread it over the +princess as she lay asleep. Then he went back to the old woman's house +and slept till morning. + +In the morning, when the princess saw the shawl she was delighted. +"See, mother," she said; "Khuda must have given me this shawl, it is so +beautiful." Her mother was very glad too. + +"Yes, my child," she said; "Khuda must have given you this splendid +shawl." + +When it was morning the old woman said to the Raja's son, "Now you must +really go." + +"Aunty," he answered, "I am not well enough yet. Let me stay a few days +longer. I will remain hidden in your house, so that no one may see me." +So the old woman let him stay. + +When it was black night, the princess put on her lovely clothes and +jewels, and sat on her roof. At midnight she went to her room and went +to sleep. Then the Raja's son sat on his bed and flew to her bed-room. +There he said to his bag, "Bag, I want a very, very beautiful ring." +The bag gave him a glorious ring. Then he took the Princess Labam's +hand gently to put on the ring, and she started up very much +frightened. + +"Who are you?" she said to the prince. "Where do you come from? Why do +you come to my room?" + +"Do not be afraid, princess," he said; "I am no thief. I am a great +Raja's son. Hiraman parrot, who lives in the jungle where I went to +hunt, told me your name, and then I left my father and mother, and came +to see you." + +"Well," said the princess, "as you are the son of such a great Raja, I +will not have you killed, and I will tell my father and mother that I +wish to marry you." + +The prince then returned to the old woman's house; and when morning +came the princess said to her mother, "The son of a great Raja has come +to this country, and I wish to marry him." Her mother told this to the +king. + +"Good," said the king; "but if this Raja's son wishes to marry my +daughter, he must first do whatever I bid him. If he fails I will kill +him. I will give him eighty pounds weight of mustard seed, and out of +this he must crush the oil in one day. If he cannot do this he shall +die." + +In the morning the Raja's son told the old woman that he intended to +marry the princess. "Oh," said the old woman, "go away from this +country, and do not think of marrying her. A great many Rajas and +Rajas' sons have come here to marry her, and her father has had them +all killed. He says whoever wishes to marry his daughter must first do +whatever he bids him. If he can, then he shall marry the princess; if +he cannot, the king will have him killed. But no one can do the things +the king tells him to do; so all the Rajas and Rajas' sons who have +tried have been put to death. You will be killed too, if you try. Do go +away." But the prince would not listen to anything she said. + +The king sent for the prince to the old woman's house, and his servants +brought the Raja's son to the king's court-house to the king. There the +king gave him eighty pounds of mustard seed, and told him to crush all +the oil out of it that day, and bring it next morning to him to the +court-house. "Whoever wishes to marry my daughter," he said to the +prince, "must first do all I tell him. If he cannot, then I have him +killed. So if you cannot crush all the oil out of this mustard seed, +you will die." + +The prince was very sorry when he heard this. "How can I crush the oil +out of all this mustard seed in one day?" he said to himself; "and if I +do not, the king will kill me." He took the mustard seed to the old +woman's house, and did not know what to do. At last he remembered the +Ant-Raja, and the moment he did so, the Ant-Raja and his ants came to +him. "Why do you look so sad?" said the Ant-Raja. + +The prince showed him the mustard seed, and said to him, "How can I +crush the oil out of all this mustard seed in one day? And if I do not +take the oil to the king to-morrow morning, he will kill me." + +"Be happy," said the Ant-Raja; "lie down and sleep; we will crush all +the oil out for you during the day, and to-morrow morning you shall +take it to the king." The Raja's son lay down and slept, and the ants +crushed out the oil for him. The prince was very glad when he saw the +oil. + +The next morning he took it to the court-house to the king. But the +king said, "You cannot yet marry my daughter. If you wish to do so, you +must first fight with my two demons and kill them." The king a long +time ago had caught two demons, and then, as he did not know what to do +with them, he had shut them up in a cage. He was afraid to let them +loose for fear they would eat up all the people in his country; and he +did not know how to kill them. So all the kings and kings' sons who +wanted to marry the Princess Labam had to fight with these demons; +"for," said the king to himself, "perhaps the demons may be killed, and +then I shall be rid of them." + +When he heard of the demons the Raja's son was very sad. "What can I +do?" he said to himself. "How can I fight with these two demons?" Then +he thought of his tiger: and the tiger and his wife came to him and +said, "Why are you so sad?" The Raja's son answered, "The king has +ordered me to fight with his two demons and kill them. How can I do +this?" "Do not be frightened," said the tiger. "Be happy. I and my wife +will fight with them for you." + +Then the Raja's son took out of his bag two splendid coats. They were +all gold and silver, and covered with pearls and diamonds. These he put +on the tigers to make them beautiful, and he took them to the king, and +said to him, "May these tigers fight your demons for me?" "Yes," said +the king, who did not care in the least who killed his demons, provided +they were killed. "Then call your demons," said the Raja's son, "and +these tigers will fight them." The king did so, and the tigers and the +demons fought and fought until the tigers had killed the demons. + +"That is good," said the king. "But you must do something else before I +give you my daughter. Up in the sky I have a kettle-drum. You must go +and beat it. If you cannot do this, I will kill you." + +The Raja's son thought of his little bed; so he went to the old woman's +house and sat on his bed. "Little bed," he said, "up in the sky is the +king's kettle-drum. I want to go to it." The bed flew up with him, and +the Raja's son beat the drum, and the king heard him. Still, when he +came down, the king would not give him his daughter. "You have," he +said to the prince, "done the three things I told you to do; but you +must do one thing more." "If I can, I will," said the Raja's son. + +Then the king showed him the trunk of a tree that was lying near his +court-house. It was a very, very thick trunk. He gave the prince a wax +hatchet, and said, "Tomorrow morning you must cut this trunk in two +with this wax hatchet." + +The Raja's son went back to the old woman's house. He was very sad, and +thought that now the Raja would certainly kill him. "I had his oil +crushed out by the ants," he said to himself. "I had his demons killed +by the tigers. My bed helped me to beat his kettle-drum. But now what +can I do? How can I cut that thick tree-trunk in two with a wax +hatchet?" + +At night he went on his bed to see the princess. "To-morrow," he said +to her, "your father will kill me." "Why?" asked the princess. + +"He has told me to cut a thick tree-trunk in two with a wax hatchet. +How can I ever do that?" said the Raja's son. "Do not be afraid," said +the princess; "do as I bid you, and you will cut it in two quite +easily." + +Then she pulled out a hair from her head, and gave it to the prince. +"To-morrow," she said, "when no one is near you, you must say to the +tree-trunk, 'The Princess Labam commands you to let yourself be cut in +two by this hair.' Then stretch the hair down the edge of the wax +hatchet's blade." + +The prince next day did exactly as the princess had told him; and the +minute the hair that was stretched down the edge of the hatchet-blade +touched the tree-trunk it split into two pieces. + +The king said, "Now you can marry my daughter." Then the wedding took +place. All the Rajas and kings of the countries round were asked to +come to it, and there were great rejoicings. After a few days the +prince's son said to his wife, "Let us go to my father's country." The +Princess Labam's father gave them a quantity of camels and horses and +rupees and servants; and they travelled in great state to the prince's +country, where they lived happily. + +The prince always kept his bag, bowl, bed, and stick; only, as no one +ever came to make war on him, he never needed to use the stick. + + + +THE LAMBIKIN + +Once upon a time there was a wee wee Lambikin, who frolicked about on +his little tottery legs, and enjoyed himself amazingly. + +Now one day he set off to visit his Granny, and was jumping with joy to +think of all the good things he should get from her, when who should he +meet but a Jackal, who looked at the tender young morsel and said: +"Lambikin! Lambikin! I'll EAT YOU!" + +But Lambikin only gave a little frisk and said: + + "To Granny's house I go, + Where I shall fatter grow, + Then you can eat me so." + +The Jackal thought this reasonable, and let Lambikin pass. + +By-and-by he met a Vulture, and the Vulture, looking hungrily at the +tender morsel before him, said: "Lambikin! Lambikin! I'll EAT YOU!" + +But Lambikin only gave a little frisk, and said: + + "To Granny's house I go, + Where I shall fatter grow, + Then you can eat me so." + +The Vulture thought this reasonable, and let Lambikin pass. + +And by-and-by he met a Tiger, and then a Wolf, and a Dog, and an Eagle, +and all these, when they saw the tender little morsel, said: "Lambikin! +Lambikin! I'll EAT YOU!" + +But to all of them Lambikin replied, with a little frisk: + + "To Granny's house I go, + Where I shall fatter grow, + Then you can eat me so." + +At last he reached his Granny's house, and said, all in a great hurry, +"Granny, dear, I've promised to get very fat; so, as people ought to +keep their promises, please put me into the corn-bin _at once_." + +So his Granny said he was a good boy, and put him into the corn-bin, +and there the greedy little Lambikin stayed for seven days, and ate, +and ate, and ate, until he could scarcely waddle, and his Granny said +he was fat enough for anything, and must go home. But cunning little +Lambikin said that would never do, for some animal would be sure to eat +him on the way back, he was so plump and tender. + +"I'll tell you what you must do," said Master Lambikin, "you must make +a little drumikin out of the skin of my little brother who died, and +then I can sit inside and trundle along nicely, for I'm as tight as a +drum myself." + +So his Granny made a nice little drumikin out of his brother's skin, +with the wool inside, and Lambikin curled himself up snug and warm in +the middle, and trundled away gaily. Soon he met with the Eagle, who +called out: + + "Drumikin! Drumikin! + Have you seen Lambikin?" + +And Mr. Lambikin, curled up in his soft warm nest, replied: + + "Fallen into the fire, and so will you + On little Drumikin. Tum-pa, tum-too!" + +"How very annoying!" sighed the Eagle, thinking regretfully of the +tender morsel he had let slip. + +Meanwhile Lambikin trundled along, laughing to himself, and singing: + + "Tum-pa, tum-too; + Tum-pa, tum-too!" + +Every animal and bird he met asked him the same question: + + "Drumikin! Drumikin! + Have you seen Lambikin?" + +And to each of them the little slyboots replied: + + "Fallen into the fire, and so will you + On little Drumikin. Tum-pa, tum too; + Tum-pa, tum-too; Tum-pa, tum-too!" + +Then they all sighed to think of the tender little morsel they had let +slip. + +At last the Jackal came limping along, for all his sorry looks as sharp +as a needle, and he too called out-- + + "Drumikin! Drumikin! + Have you seen Lambikin?" + +And Lambikin, curled up in his snug little nest, replied gaily: + + "Fallen into the fire, and so will you + On little Drumikin! Tum-pa--" + +But he never got any further, for the Jackal recognised his voice at +once, and cried: "Hullo! you've turned yourself inside out, have you? +Just you come out of that!" + +Whereupon he tore open Drumikin and gobbled up Lambikin. + + + +PUNCHKIN + +Once upon a time there was a Raja who had seven beautiful daughters. +They were all good girls; but the youngest, named Balna, was more +clever than the rest. The Raja's wife died when they were quite little +children, so these seven poor Princesses were left with no mother to +take care of them. + +The Raja's daughters took it by turns to cook their father's dinner +every day, whilst he was absent deliberating with his Ministers on the +affairs of the nation. + +About this time the Prudhan died, leaving a widow and one daughter; and +every day, every day, when the seven Princesses were preparing their +father's dinner, the Prudhan's widow and daughter would come and beg +for a little fire from the hearth. Then Balna used to say to her +sisters, "Send that woman away; send her away. Let her get the fire at +her own house. What does she want with ours? If we allow her to come +here, we shall suffer for it some day." + +But the other sisters would answer, "Be quiet, Balna; why must you +always be quarrelling with this poor woman? Let her take some fire if +she likes." Then the Prudhan's widow used to go to the hearth and take +a few sticks from it; and whilst no one was looking, she would quickly +throw some mud into the midst of the dishes which were being prepared +for the Raja's dinner. + +Now the Raja was very fond of his daughters. Ever since their mother's +death they had cooked his dinner with their own hands, in order to +avoid the danger of his being poisoned by his enemies. So, when he +found the mud mixed up with his dinner, he thought it must arise from +their carelessness, as it did not seem likely that any one should have +put mud there on purpose; but being very kind he did not like to +reprove them for it, although this spoiling of the curry was repeated +many successive days. + +At last, one day, he determined to hide, and watch his daughters +cooking, and see how it all happened; so he went into the next room, +and watched them through a hole in the wall. + +There he saw his seven daughters carefully washing the rice and +preparing the curry, and as each dish was completed, they put it by the +fire ready to be cooked. Next he noticed the Prudhan's widow come to +the door, and beg for a few sticks from the fire to cook her dinner +with. Balna turned to her, angrily, and said, "Why don't you keep fuel +in your own house, and not come here every day and take ours? Sisters, +don't give this woman any more wood; let her buy it for herself." + +Then the eldest sister answered, "Balna, let the poor woman take the +wood and the fire; she does us no harm." But Balna replied, "If you let +her come here so often, maybe she will do us some harm, and make us +sorry for it, some day." + +The Raja then saw the Prudhan's widow go to the place where all his +dinner was nicely prepared, and, as she took the wood, she threw a +little mud into each of the dishes. + +At this he was very angry, and sent to have the woman seized and +brought before him. But when the widow came, she told him that she had +played this trick because she wanted to gain an audience with him; and +she spoke so cleverly, and pleased him so well with her cunning words, +that instead of punishing her, the Raja married her, and made her his +Ranee, and she and her daughter came to live in the palace. + +Now the new Ranee hated the seven poor Princesses, and wanted to get +them, if possible, out of the way, in order that her daughter might +have all their riches, and live in the palace as Princess in their +place; and instead of being grateful to them for their kindness to her, +she did all she could to make them miserable. She gave them nothing but +bread to eat, and very little of that, and very little water to drink; +so these seven poor little Princesses, who had been accustomed to have +everything comfortable about them, and good food and good clothes all +their lives long, were very miserable and unhappy; and they used to go +out every day and sit by their dead mother's tomb and cry--and say: + +"Oh mother, mother, cannot you see your poor children, how unhappy we +are, and how we are starved by our cruel step-mother?" + +One day, whilst they were thus sobbing and crying, lo and behold! a +beautiful pomelo tree grew up out of the grave, covered with fresh ripe +pomeloes, and the children satisfied their hunger by eating some of the +fruit, and every day after this, instead of trying to eat the bad +dinner their step-mother provided for them, they used to go out to +their mother's grave and eat the pomeloes which grew there on the +beautiful tree. + +Then the Ranee said to her daughter, "I cannot tell how it is, every +day those seven girls say they don't want any dinner, and won't eat +any; and yet they never grow thin nor look ill; they look better than +you do. I cannot tell how it is." And she bade her watch the seven +Princesses, and see if any one gave them anything to eat. + +So next day, when the Princesses went to their mother's grave, and were +eating the beautiful pomeloes, the Prudhan's daughter followed them, +and saw them gathering the fruit. + +Then Balna said to her sisters, "Do you not see that girl watching us? +Let us drive her away, or hide the pomeloes, else she will go and tell +her mother all about it, and that will be very bad for us." + +But the other sisters said, "Oh no, do not be unkind, Balna. The girl +would never be so cruel as to tell her mother. Let us rather invite her +to come and have some of the fruit." And calling her to them, they gave +her one of the pomeloes. + +No sooner had she eaten it, however, than the Prudhan's daughter went +home and said to her mother, "I do not wonder the seven Princesses will +not eat the dinner you prepare for them, for by their mother's grave +there grows a beautiful pomelo tree, and they go there every day and +eat the pomeloes. I ate one, and it was the nicest I have ever tasted." + +The cruel Ranee was much vexed at hearing this, and all next day she +stayed in her room, and told the Raja that she had a very bad headache. +The Raja was deeply grieved, and said to his wife, "What can I do for +you?" She answered, "There is only one thing that will make my headache +well. By your dead wife's tomb there grows a fine pomelo tree; you must +bring that here, and boil it, root and branch, and put a little of the +water in which it has been boiled, on my forehead, and that will cure +my headache." So the Raja sent his servants, and had the beautiful +pomelo tree pulled up by the roots, and did as the Ranee desired; and +when some of the water, in which it had been boiled, was put on her +forehead, she said her headache was gone and she felt quite well. + +Next day, when the seven Princesses went as usual to the grave of their +mother, the pomelo tree had disappeared. Then they all began to cry +very bitterly. + +Now there was by the Ranee's tomb a small tank, and as they were crying +they saw that the tank was filled with a rich cream-like substance, +which quickly hardened into a thick white cake. At seeing this all the +Princesses were very glad, and they ate some of the cake, and liked it; +and next day the same thing happened, and so it went on for many days. +Every morning the Princesses went to their mother's grave, and found +the little tank filled with the nourishing cream-like cake. Then the +cruel step-mother said to her daughter: "I cannot tell how it is, I +have had the pomelo tree which used to grow by the Ranee's grave +destroyed, and yet the Princesses grow no thinner, nor look more sad, +though they never eat the dinner I give them. I cannot tell how it is!" + +And her daughter said, "I will watch." + +Next day, while the Princesses were eating the cream cake, who should +come by but their step-mother's daughter. Balna saw her first, and +said, "See, sisters, there comes that girl again. Let us sit round the +edge of the tank and not allow her to see it, for if we give her some +of our cake, she will go and tell her mother; and that will be very +unfortunate for us." + +The other sisters, however, thought Balna unnecessarily suspicious, and +instead of following her advice, they gave the Prudhan's daughter some +of the cake, and she went home and told her mother all about it. + +The Ranee, on hearing how well the Princesses fared, was exceedingly +angry, and sent her servants to pull down the dead Ranee's tomb, and +fill the little tank with the ruins. And not content with this, she +next day pretended to be very, very ill--in fact, at the point of +death--and when the Raja was much grieved, and asked her whether it was +in his power to procure her any remedy, she said to him: "Only one +thing can save my life, but I know you will not do it." He replied, +"Yes, whatever it is, I will do it." She then said, "To save my life, +you must kill the seven daughters of your first wife, and put some of +their blood on my forehead and on the palms of my hands, and their +death will be my life." At these words the Raja was very sorrowful; but +because he feared to break his word, he went out with a heavy heart to +find his daughters. + +He found them crying by the ruins of their mother's grave. + +Then, feeling he could not kill them, the Raja spoke kindly to them, +and told them to come out into the jungle with him; and there he made a +fire and cooked some rice, and gave it to them. But in the afternoon, +it being very hot, the seven Princesses all fell asleep, and when he +saw they were fast asleep, the Raja, their father, stole away and left +them (for he feared his wife), saying to himself: "It is better my poor +daughters should die here, than be killed by their step-mother." + +He then shot a deer, and returning home, put some of its blood on the +forehead and hands of the Ranee, and she thought then that he had +really killed the Princesses, and said she felt quite well. + +Meantime the seven Princesses awoke, and when they found themselves all +alone in the thick jungle they were much frightened, and began to call +out as loud as they could, in hopes of making their father hear; but he +was by that time far away, and would not have been able to hear them +even had their voices been as loud as thunder. + +It so happened that this very day the seven young sons of a +neighbouring Raja chanced to be hunting in that same jungle, and as +they were returning home, after the day's sport was over, the youngest +Prince said to his brothers "Stop, I think I hear some one crying and +calling out. Do you not hear voices? Let us go in the direction of the +sound, and find out what it is." + +So the seven Princes rode through the wood until they came to the place +where the seven Princesses sat crying and wringing their hands. At the +sight of them the young Princes were very much astonished, and still +more so on learning their story; and they settled that each should take +one of these poor forlorn ladies home with him, and marry her. + +So the first and eldest Prince took the eldest Princess home with him, +and married her. + +And the second took the second; + +And the third took the third; + +And the fourth took the fourth; + +And the fifth took the fifth; + +And the sixth took the sixth; + +And the seventh, and the handsomest of all, took the beautiful Balna. + +And when they got to their own land, there was great rejoicing +throughout the kingdom, at the marriage of the seven young Princes to +seven such beautiful Princesses. + +About a year after this Balna had a little son, and his uncles and +aunts were so fond of the boy that it was as if he had seven fathers +and seven mothers. None of the other Princes and Princesses had any +children, so the son of the seventh Prince and Balna was acknowledged +their heir by all the rest. + +They had thus lived very happily for some time, when one fine day the +seventh Prince (Balna's husband) said he would go out hunting, and away +he went; and they waited long for him, but he never came back. + +Then his six brothers said they would go and see what had become of +him; and they went away, but they also did not return. + +And the seven Princesses grieved very much, for they feared that their +kind husbands must have been killed. + +One day, not long after this had happened, as Balna was rocking her +baby's cradle, and whilst her sisters were working in the room below, +there came to the palace door a man in a long black dress, who said +that he was a Fakir, and came to beg. The servants said to him, "You +cannot go into the palace--the Raja's sons have all gone away; we think +they must be dead, and their widows cannot be interrupted by your +begging." But he said, "I am a holy man, you must let me in." Then the +stupid servants let him walk through the palace, but they did not know +that this was no Fakir, but a wicked Magician named Punchkin. + +Punchkin Fakir wandered through the palace, and saw many beautiful +things there, till at last he reached the room where Balna sat singing +beside her little boy's cradle. The Magician thought her more beautiful +than all the other beautiful things he had seen, insomuch that he asked +her to go home with him and to marry him. But she said, "My husband, I +fear, is dead, but my little boy is still quite young; I will stay here +and teach him to grow up a clever man, and when he is grown up he shall +go out into the world, and try and learn tidings of his father. Heaven +forbid that I should ever leave him, or marry you." At these words the +Magician was very angry, and turned her into a little black dog, and +led her away; saying, "Since you will not come with me of your own free +will, I will make you." So the poor Princess was dragged away, without +any power of effecting an escape, or of letting her sisters know what +had become of her. As Punchkin passed through the palace gate the +servants said to him, "Where did you get that pretty little dog?" And +he answered, "One of the Princesses gave it to me as a present." At +hearing which they let him go without further questioning. + +Soon after this, the six elder Princesses heard the little baby, their +nephew, begin to cry, and when they went upstairs they were much +surprised to find him all alone, and Balna nowhere to be seen. Then +they questioned the servants, and when they heard of the Fakir and the +little black dog, they guessed what had happened, and sent in every +direction seeking them, but neither the Fakir nor the dog were to be +found. What could six poor women do? They gave up all hopes of ever +seeing their kind husbands, and their sister, and her husband, again, +and devoted themselves thenceforward to teaching and taking care of +their little nephew. + +Thus time went on, till Balna's son was fourteen years old. Then, one +day, his aunts told him the history of the family; and no sooner did he +hear it, than he was seized with a great desire to go in search of his +father and mother and uncles, and if he could find them alive to bring +them home again. His aunts, on learning his determination, were much +alarmed and tried to dissuade him, saying, "We have lost our husbands, +and our sister and her husband, and you are now our sole hope; if you +go away, what shall we do?" But he replied, "I pray you not to be +discouraged; I will return soon, and if it is possible bring my father +and mother and uncles with me." So he set out on his travels; but for +some months he could learn nothing to help him in his search. + +At last, after he had journeyed many hundreds of weary miles, and +become almost hopeless of ever hearing anything further of his parents, +he one day came to a country that seemed full of stones, and rocks, and +trees, and there he saw a large palace with a high tower; hard by which +was a Malee's little house. + +As he was looking about, the Malee's wife saw him, and ran out of the +house and said, "My dear boy, who are you that dare venture to this +dangerous place?" He answered, "I am a Raja's son, and I come in search +of my father, and my uncles, and my mother whom a wicked enchanter +bewitched." + +Then the Malee's wife said, "This country and this palace belong to a +great enchanter; he is all powerful, and if any one displeases him, he +can turn them into stones and trees. All the rocks and trees you see +here were living people once, and the Magician turned them to what they +now are. Some time ago a Raja's son came here, and shortly afterwards +came his six brothers, and they were all turned into stones and trees; +and these are not the only unfortunate ones, for up in that tower lives +a beautiful Princess, whom the Magician has kept prisoner there for +twelve years, because she hates him and will not marry him." + +Then the little Prince thought, "These must be my parents and my +uncles. I have found what I seek at last." So he told his story to the +Malee's wife, and begged her to help him to remain in that place awhile +and inquire further concerning the unhappy people she mentioned; and +she promised to befriend him, and advised his disguising himself lest +the Magician should see him, and turn him likewise into stone. To this +the Prince agreed. So the Malee's wife dressed him up in a saree, and +pretended that he was her daughter. + +One day, not long after this, as the Magician was walking in his garden +he saw the little girl (as he thought) playing about, and asked her who +she was. She told him she was the Malee's daughter, and the Magician +said, "You are a pretty little girl, and to-morrow you shall take a +present of flowers from me to the beautiful lady who lives in the +tower." + +The young Prince was much delighted at hearing this, and went +immediately to inform the Malee's wife; after consultation with whom he +determined that it would be more safe for him to retain his disguise, +and trust to the chance of a favourable opportunity for establishing +some communication with his mother, if it were indeed she. + +Now it happened that at Balna's marriage her husband had given her a +small gold ring on which her name was engraved, and she had put it on +her little son's finger when he was a baby, and afterwards when he was +older his aunts had had it enlarged for him, so that he was still able +to wear it. The Malee's wife advised him to fasten the well-known +treasure to one of the bouquets he presented to his mother, and trust +to her recognising it. This was not to be done without difficulty, as +such a strict watch was kept over the poor Princess (for fear of her +ever establishing communication with her friends), that though the +supposed Malee's daughter was permitted to take her flowers every day, +the Magician or one of his slaves was always in the room at the time. +At last one day, however, opportunity favoured him, and when no one was +looking, the boy tied the ring to a nosegay, and threw it at Balna's +feet. It fell with a clang on the floor, and Balna, looking to see what +made the strange sound, found the little ring tied to the flowers. On +recognising it, she at once believed the story her son told her of his +long search, and begged him to advise her as to what she had better do; +at the same time entreating him on no account to endanger his life by +trying to rescue her. She told him that for twelve long years the +Magician had kept her shut up in the tower because she refused to marry +him, and she was so closely guarded that she saw no hope of release. + +Now Balna's son was a bright, clever boy, so he said, "Do not fear, +dear mother; the first thing to do is to discover how far the +Magician's power extends, in order that we may be able to liberate my +father and uncles, whom he has imprisoned in the form of rocks and +trees. You have spoken to him angrily for twelve long years; now rather +speak kindly. Tell him you have given up all hopes of again seeing the +husband you have so long mourned, and say you are willing to marry him. +Then endeavour to find out what his power consists in, and whether he +is immortal, or can be put to death." + +Balna determined to take her son's advice; and the next day sent for +Punchkin, and spoke to him as had been suggested. + +The Magician, greatly delighted, begged her to allow the wedding to +take place as soon as possible. + +But she told him that before she married him he must allow her a little +more time, in which she might make his acquaintance, and that, after +being enemies so long, their friendship could but strengthen by +degrees. "And do tell me," she said, "are you quite immortal? Can death +never touch you? And are you too great an enchanter ever to feel human +suffering?" + +"Why do you ask?" said he. + +"Because," she replied, "if I am to be your wife, I would fain know all +about you, in order, if any calamity threatens you, to overcome, or if +possible to avert it." + +"It is true," he added, "that I am not as others. Far, far away, +hundreds of thousands of miles from this, there lies a desolate country +covered with thick jungle. In the midst of the jungle grows a circle of +palm trees, and in the centre of the circle stand six chattees full of +water, piled one above another: below the sixth chattee is a small cage +which contains a little green parrot; on the life of the parrot depends +my life; and if the parrot is killed I must die. It is, however," he +added, "impossible that the parrot should sustain any injury, both on +account of the inaccessibility of the country, and because, by my +appointment, many thousand genii surround the palm trees, and kill all +who approach the place." + +Balna told her son what Punchkin had said; but at the same time +implored him to give up all idea of getting the parrot. + +The Prince, however, replied, "Mother, unless I can get hold of that +parrot, you, and my father, and uncles, cannot be liberated: be not +afraid, I will shortly return. Do you, meantime, keep the Magician in +good humour--still putting off your marriage with him on various +pretexts; and before he finds out the cause of delay, I will be here." +So saying, he went away. + +Many, many weary miles did he travel, till at last he came to a thick +jungle; and, being very tired, sat down under a tree and fell asleep. +He was awakened by a soft rustling sound, and looking about him, saw a +large serpent which was making its way to an eagle's nest built in the +tree under which he lay, and in the nest were two young eagles. The +Prince seeing the danger of the young birds, drew his sword, and killed +the serpent; at the same moment a rushing sound was heard in the air, +and the two old eagles, who had been out hunting for food for their +young ones, returned. They quickly saw the dead serpent and the young +Prince standing over it; and the old mother eagle said to him, "Dear +boy, for many years all our young ones have been devoured by that cruel +serpent; you have now saved the lives of our children; whenever you are +in need, therefore, send to us and we will help you; and as for these +little eagles, take them, and let them be your servants." + +At this the Prince was very glad, and the two eaglets crossed their +wings, on which he mounted; and they carried him far, far away over the +thick jungles, until he came to the place where grew the circle of palm +trees, in the midst of which stood the six chattees full of water. It +was the middle of the day, and the heat was very great. All round the +trees were the genii fast asleep; nevertheless, there were such +countless thousands of them, that it would have been quite impossible +for any one to walk through their ranks to the place; down swooped the +strong-winged eaglets--down jumped the Prince; in an instant he had +overthrown the six chattees full of water, and seized the little green +parrot, which he rolled up in his cloak; while, as he mounted again +into the air, all the genii below awoke, and finding their treasure +gone, set up a wild and melancholy howl. + +Away, away flew the little eagles, till they came to their home in the +great tree; then the Prince said to the old eagles, "Take back your +little ones; they have done me good service; if ever again I stand in +need of help, I will not fail to come to you." He then continued his +journey on foot till he arrived once more at the Magician's palace, +where he sat down at the door and began playing with the parrot. +Punchkin saw him, and came to him quickly, and said, "My boy, where did +you get that parrot? Give it to me, I pray you." + +But the Prince answered, "Oh no, I cannot give away my parrot, it is a +great pet of mine; I have had it many years." + +Then the Magician said, "If it is an old favourite, I can understand +your not caring to give it away; but come what will you sell it for?" + +"Sir," replied the Prince, "I will not sell my parrot." + +Then Punchkin got frightened, and said, "Anything, anything; name what +price you will, and it shall be yours." The Prince answered, "Let the +seven Raja's sons whom you turned into rocks and trees be instantly +liberated." + +"It is done as you desire," said the Magician, "only give me my +parrot." And with that, by a stroke of his wand, Balna's husband and +his brothers resumed their natural shapes. "Now, give me my parrot," +repeated Punchkin. + +"Not so fast, my master," rejoined the Prince; "I must first beg that +you will restore to life all whom you have thus imprisoned." + +The Magician immediately waved his wand again; and, whilst he cried, in +an imploring voice, "Give me my parrot!" the whole garden became +suddenly alive: where rocks, and stones, and trees had been before, +stood Rajas, and Punts, and Sirdars, and mighty men on prancing horses, +and jewelled pages, and troops of armed attendants. + +"Give me my parrot!" cried Punchkin. Then the boy took hold of the +parrot, and tore off one of its wings; and as he did so the Magician's +right arm fell off. + +Punchkin then stretched out his left arm, crying, "Give me my parrot!" +The Prince pulled off the parrot's second wing, and the Magician's left +arm tumbled off. + +"Give me my parrot!" cried he, and fell on his knees. The Prince pulled +off the parrot's right leg, the Magician's right leg fell off: the +Prince pulled off the parrot's left leg, down fell the Magician's left. + +Nothing remained of him save the limbless body and the head; but still +he rolled his eyes, and cried, "Give me my parrot!" "Take your parrot, +then," cried the boy, and with that he wrung the bird's neck, and threw +it at the Magician; and, as he did so, Punchkin's head twisted round, +and, with a fearful groan, he died! + +Then they let Balna out of the tower; and she, her son, and the seven +Princes went to their own country, and lived very happily ever +afterwards. And as to the rest of the world, every one went to his own +house. + + + +THE BROKEN POT + +There lived in a certain place a Brahman, whose name was +Svabhavak_ri_pa_n_a, which means "a born miser." He had collected +a quantity of rice by begging, and after having dined off it, he filled a +pot with what was left over. He hung the pot on a peg on the wall, +placed his couch beneath, and looking intently at it all the night, he +thought, "Ah, that pot is indeed brimful of rice. Now, if there should be +a famine, I should certainly make a hundred rupees by it. With this I +shall buy a couple of goats. They will have young ones every six months, +and thus I shall have a whole herd of goats. Then, with the goats, I +shall buy cows. As soon as they have calved, I shall sell the calves. +Then, with the calves, I shall buy buffaloes; with the buffaloes, mares. +When the mares have foaled, I shall have plenty of horses; and when +I sell them, plenty of gold. With that gold I shall get a house with four +wings. And then a Brahman will come to my house, and will give me his +beautiful daughter, with a large dowry. She will have a son, and I shall +call him Somasarman. When he is old enough to be danced on his +father's knee, I shall sit with a book at the back of the stable, and while +I am reading, the boy will see me, jump from his mother's lap, and run +towards me to be danced on my knee. He will come too near the +horse's hoof, and, full of anger, I shall call to my wife, 'Take the baby; +take him!' But she, distracted by some domestic work, does not hear me. +Then I get up, and give her such a kick with my foot." While he thought +this, he gave a kick with his foot, and broke the pot. All the rice fell +over him, and made him quite white. Therefore, I say, "He who makes +foolish plans for the future will be white all over, like the father of +Somasarman." + + + +THE MAGIC FIDDLE + +Once upon a time there lived seven brothers and a sister. The brothers +were married, but their wives did not do the cooking for the family. It +was done by their sister, who stopped at home to cook. The wives for +this reason bore their sister-in-law much ill-will, and at length they +combined together to oust her from the office of cook and general +provider, so that one of themselves might obtain it. They said, "She +does not go out to the fields to work, but remains quietly at home, and +yet she has not the meals ready at the proper time." They then called +upon their Bonga, and vowing vows unto him they secured his good-will +and assistance; then they said to the Bonga, "At midday, when our +sister-in-law goes to bring water, cause it thus to happen, that on +seeing her pitcher, the water shall vanish, and again slowly re-appear. +In this way she will be delayed. Let the water not flow into her +pitcher, and you may keep the maiden as your own." + +At noon when she went to bring water, it suddenly dried up before her, +and she began to weep. Then after a while the water began slowly to +rise. When it reached her ankles she tried to fill her pitcher, but it +would not go under the water. Being frightened she began to wail and +cry to her brother: + + "Oh! my brother, the water reaches to my ankles, + Still, Oh! my brother, the pitcher will not dip." + +The water continued to rise until it reached her knee, when she began +to wail again: + + "Oh! my brother, the water reaches to my knee, + Still, Oh! my brother, the pitcher will not dip." + +The water continued to rise, and when it reached her waist, she cried +again: + + "Oh! my brother, the water reaches to my waist, + Still, Oh! my brother, the pitcher will not dip." + +The water still rose, and when it reached her neck she kept on crying: + + "Oh! my brother, the water reaches to my neck, + Still, Oh! my brother, the pitcher will not dip." + +At length the water became so deep that she felt herself drowning, then +she cried aloud: + + "Oh! my brother, the water measures a man's height, + Oh! my brother, the pitcher begins to fill." + +The pitcher filled with water, and along with it she sank and was +drowned. The Bonga then transformed her into a Bonga like himself, and +carried her off. + +After a time she re-appeared as a bamboo growing on the embankment of +the tank in which she had been drowned. When the bamboo had grown to an +immense size, a Jogi, who was in the habit of passing that way, seeing +it, said to himself, "This will make a splendid fiddle." So one day he +brought an axe to cut it down; but when he was about to begin, the +bamboo called out, "Do not cut at the root, cut higher up." When he +lifted his axe to cut high up the stem, the bamboo cried out, "Do not +cut near the top, cut at the root." When the Jogi again prepared +himself to cut at the root as requested, the bamboo said, "Do not cut +at the root, cut higher up;" and when he was about to cut higher up, it +again called out to him, "Do not cut high up, cut at the root." The +Jogi by this time felt sure that a Bonga was trying to frighten him, so +becoming angry he cut down the bamboo at the root, and taking it away +made a fiddle out of it. The instrument had a superior tone and +delighted all who heard it. The Jogi carried it with him when he went +a-begging, and through the influence of its sweet music he returned +home every evening with a full wallet. + +He now and then visited, when on his rounds, the house of the Bonga +girl's brothers, and the strains of the fiddle affected them greatly. +Some of them were moved even to tears, for the fiddle seemed to wail as +one in bitter anguish. The elder brother wished to purchase it, and +offered to support the Jogi for a whole year if he would consent to +part with his wonderful instrument. The Jogi, however, knew its value, +and refused to sell it. + +It so happened that the Jogi some time after went to the house of a +village chief, and after playing a tune or two on his fiddle asked for +something to eat. They offered to buy his fiddle and promised a high +price for it, but he refused to sell it, as his fiddle brought to him +his means of livelihood. When they saw that he was not to be prevailed +upon, they gave him food and a plentiful supply of liquor. Of the +latter he drank so freely that he presently became intoxicated. While +he was in this condition, they took away his fiddle, and substituted +their own old one for it. When the Jogi recovered, he missed his +instrument, and suspecting that it had been stolen asked them to return +it to him. They denied having taken it, so he had to depart, leaving +his fiddle behind him. The chief's son, being a musician, used to play +on the Jogi's fiddle, and in his hands the music it gave forth +delighted the ears of all who heard it. + +When all the household were absent at their labours in the fields, the +Bonga girl used to come out of the bamboo fiddle, and prepared the +family meal. Having eaten her own share, she placed that of the chief's +son under his bed, and covering it up to keep off the dust, re-entered +the fiddle. This happening every day, the other members of the +household thought that some girl friend of theirs was in this manner +showing her interest in the young man, so they did not trouble +themselves to find out how it came about. The young chief, however, was +determined to watch, and see which of his girl friends was so attentive +to his comfort. He said in his own mind, "I will catch her to-day, and +give her a sound beating; she is causing me to be ashamed before the +others." So saying, he hid himself in a corner in a pile of firewood. +In a short time the girl came out of the bamboo fiddle, and began to +dress her hair. Having completed her toilet, she cooked the meal of +rice as usual, and having eaten some herself, she placed the young +man's portion under his bed, as before, and was about to enter the +fiddle again, when he, running out from his hiding-place, caught her in +his arms. The Bonga girl exclaimed, "Fie! Fie! you may be a Dom, or you +may be a Hadi of some other caste with whom I cannot marry." He said, +"No. But from to-day, you and I are one." So they began lovingly to +hold converse with each other. When the others returned home in the +evening, they saw that she was both a human being and a Bonga, and they +rejoiced exceedingly. + +Now in course of time the Bonga girl's family became very poor, and her +brothers on one occasion came to the chief's house on a visit. + +The Bonga girl recognised them at once, but they did not know who she +was. She brought them water on their arrival, and afterwards set cooked +rice before them. Then sitting down near them, she began in wailing +tones to upbraid them on account of the treatment she had been +subjected to by their wives. She related all that had befallen her, and +wound up by saying, "You must have known it all, and yet you did not +interfere to save me." And that was all the revenge she took. + + + +THE CRUEL CRANE OUTWITTED + +Long ago the Bodisat was born to a forest life as the Genius of a tree +standing near a certain lotus pond. + +Now at that time the water used to run short at the dry season in a +certain pond, not over large, in which there were a good many fish. And +a crane thought on seeing the fish. + +"I must outwit these fish somehow or other and make a prey of them." + +And he went and sat down at the edge of the water, thinking how he +should do it. + +When the fish saw him, they asked him, "What are you sitting there for, +lost in thought?" + +"I am sitting thinking about you," said he. + +"Oh, sir! what are you thinking about us?" said they. + +"Why," he replied; "there is very little water in this pond, and but +little for you to eat; and the heat is so great! So I was thinking, +'What in the world will these fish do now?'" + +"Yes, indeed, sir! what _are_ we to do?" said they. + +"If you will only do as I bid you, I will take you in my beak to a fine +large pond, covered with all the kinds of lotuses, and put you into +it," answered the crane. + +"That a crane should take thought for the fishes is a thing unheard of, +sir, since the world began. It's eating us, one after the other, that +you're aiming at." + +"Not I! So long as you trust me, I won't eat you. But if you don't +believe me that there is such a pond, send one of you with me to go and +see it." + +Then they trusted him, and handed over to him one of their number--a +big fellow, blind of one eye, whom they thought sharp enough in any +emergency, afloat or ashore. + +Him the crane took with him, let him go in the pond, showed him the +whole of it, brought him back, and let him go again close to the other +fish. And he told them all the glories of the pond. + +And when they heard what he said, they exclaimed, "All right, sir! You +may take us with you." + +Then the crane took the old purblind fish first to the bank of the +other pond, and alighted in a Varana-tree growing on the bank there. +But he threw it into a fork of the tree, struck it with his beak, and +killed it; and then ate its flesh, and threw its bones away at the foot +of the tree. Then he went back and called out: + +"I've thrown that fish in; let another one come." + +And in that manner he took all the fish, one by one, and ate them, till +he came back and found no more! + +But there was still a crab left behind there; and the crane thought he +would eat him too, and called out: + +"I say, good crab, I've taken all the fish away, and put them into a +fine large pond. Come along. I'll take you too!" + +"But how will you take hold of me to carry me along?" + +"I'll bite hold of you with my beak." + +"You'll let me fall if you carry me like that. I won't go with you!" + +"Don't be afraid! I'll hold you quite tight all the way." + +Then said the crab to himself, "If this fellow once got hold of fish, +he would never let them go in a pond! Now if he should really put me +into the pond, it would be capital; but if he doesn't--then I'll cut +his throat, and kill him!" So he said to him: + +"Look here, friend, you won't be able to hold me tight enough; but we +crabs have a famous grip. If you let me catch hold of you round the +neck with my claws, I shall be glad to go with you." + +And the other did not see that he was trying to outwit him, and agreed. +So the crab caught hold of his neck with his claws as securely as with +a pair of blacksmith's pincers, and called out, "Off with you, now!" + +And the crane took him and showed him the pond, and then turned off +towards the Varana-tree. + +"Uncle!" cried the crab, "the pond lies that way, but you are taking me +this way!" + +"Oh, that's it, is it?" answered the crane. "Your dear little uncle, +your very sweet nephew, you call me! You mean me to understand, I +suppose, that I am your slave, who has to lift you up and carry you +about with him! Now cast your eye upon the heap of fish-bones lying at +the root of yonder Varana-tree. Just as I have eaten those fish, every +one of them, just so I will devour you as well!" + +"Ah! those fishes got eaten through their own stupidity," answered the +crab; "but I'm not going to let you eat _me_. On the contrary, is +it _you_ that I am going to destroy. For you in your folly have +not seen that I was outwitting you. If we die, we die both together; +for I will cut off this head of yours, and cast it to the ground!" And +so saying, he gave the crane's neck a grip with his claws, as with a +vice. + +Then gasping, and with tears trickling from his eyes, and trembling +with the fear of death, the crane beseeched him, saying, "O my Lord! +Indeed I did not intend to eat you. Grant me my life!" + +"Well, well! step down into the pond, and put me in there." + +And he turned round and stepped down into the pond, and placed the crab +on the mud at its edge. But the crab cut through its neck as clean as +one would cut a lotus-stalk with a hunting-knife, and then only entered +the water! + +When the Genius who lived in the Varana-tree saw this strange affair, +he made the wood resound with his plaudits, uttering in a pleasant +voice the verse: + + "The villain, though exceeding clever, + Shall prosper not by his villainy. + He may win indeed, sharp-witted in deceit, + But only as the Crane here from the Crab!" + + + +LOVING LAILI + +Once there was a king called King Dantal, who had a great many rupees +and soldiers and horses. He had also an only son called Prince Majnun, +who was a handsome boy with white teeth, red lips, blue eyes, red +cheeks, red hair, and a white skin. This boy was very fond of playing +with the Wazir's son, Husain Mahamat, in King Dantal's garden, which +was very large and full of delicious fruits, and flowers, and trees. +They used to take their little knives there and cut the fruits and eat +them. King Dantal had a teacher for them to teach them to read and +write. + +One day, when they were grown two fine young men, Prince Majnun said to +his father, "Husain Mahamat and I should like to go and hunt." His +father said they might go, so they got ready their horses and all else +they wanted for their hunting, and went to the Phalana country, hunting +all the way, but they only founds jackals and birds. + +The Raja of the Phalana country was called Munsuk Raja, and he had a +daughter named Laili, who was very beautiful; she had brown eyes and +black hair. + +One night, some time before Prince Majnun came to her father's kingdom, +as she slept, Khuda sent to her an angel in the form of a man who told +her that she should marry Prince Majnun and no one else, and that this +was Khuda's command to her. When Laili woke she told her father of the +angel's visit to her as she slept; but her father paid no attention to +her story. From that time she began repeating, "Majnun, Majnun; I want +Majnun," and would say nothing else. Even as she sat and ate her food +she kept saying, "Majnun, Majnun; I want Majnun." Her father used to +get quite vexed with her. "Who is this Majnun? who ever heard of this +Majnun?" he would say. + +"He is the man I am to marry," said Laili. "Khuda has ordered me to +marry no one but Majnun." And she was half mad. + +Meanwhile, Majnun and Husain Mahamat came to hunt in the Phalana +country; and as they were riding about, Laili came out on her horse to +eat the air, and rode behind them. All the time she kept saying, +"Majnun, Majnun; I want Majnun." The prince heard her, and turned +round. "Who is calling me?" he asked. At this Laili looked at him, and +the moment she saw him she fell deeply in love with him, and she said +to herself, "I am sure that is the Prince Majnun that Khuda says I am +to marry." And she went home to her father and said, "Father, I wish to +marry the prince who has come to your kingdom; for I know he is the +Prince Majnun I am to marry." + +"Very well, you shall have him for your husband," said Munsuk Raja. "We +will ask him to-morrow." Laili consented to wait, although she was very +impatient. As it happened, the prince left the Phalana kingdom that +night, and when Laili heard he was gone, she went quite mad. She would +not listen to a word her father, or her mother, or her servants said to +her, but went off into the jungle, and wandered from jungle to jungle, +till she got farther and farther away from her own country. All the +time she kept saying, "Majnun, Majnun; I want Majnun;" and so she +wandered about for twelve years. + +At the end of the twelve years she met a fakir--he was really an angel, +but she did not know this--who asked her, "Why do you always say, +'Majnun, Majnun; I want Majnun'?" She answered, "I am the daughter of +the king of the Phalana country, and I want to find Prince Majnun; tell +me where his kingdom is." + +"I think you will never get there," said the fakir, "for it is very far +from hence, and you have to cross many rivers to reach it." But Laili +said she did not care; she must see Prince Majnun. "Well," said the +fakir, "when you come to the Bhagirathi river you will see a big fish, +a Rohu; and you must get him to carry you to Prince Majnun's country, +or you will never reach it." + +She went on and on, and at last she came to the Bhagirathi river. There +was a great big fish called the Rohu fish. It was yawning just as she +got up to it, and she instantly jumped down its throat into its +stomach. All the time she kept saying, "Majnun, Majnun." At this the +Rohu fish was greatly alarmed and swam down the river as fast as he +could. By degrees he got tired and went slower, and a crow came and +perched on his back, and said "Caw, caw." "Oh, Mr. Crow," said the poor +fish "do see what is in my stomach that makes such a noise." + +"Very well," said the crow, "open your mouth wide, and I'll fly down +and see." + +So the Rohu opened his jaws and the crow flew down, but he came up +again very quickly. "You have a Rakshas in your stomach," said the +crow, and he flew away. + +This news did not comfort the poor Rohu, and he swam on and on till he +came to Prince Majnun's country. There he stopped. And a jackal came +down to the river to drink. "Oh, jackal," said the Rohu "do tell me +what I have inside me." + +"How can I tell?" said the jackal. "I cannot see unless I go inside +you." So the Rohu opened his mouth wide, and the jackal jumped down his +throat; but he came up very quickly, looking much frightened and +saying, "You have a Rakshas in your stomach, and if I don't run away +quickly, I am afraid it will eat me." So off he ran. After the jackal +came an enormous snake. "Oh," says the fish, "do tell me what I have in +my stomach, for it rattles about so, and keeps saying, 'Majnun, Majnun; +I want Majnun.'" + +The snake said, "Open your mouth wide, and I'll go down and see what it +is." The snake went down: when he returned he said, "You have a Rakshas +in your stomach, but if you will let me cut you open, it will come out +of you." "If you do that, I shall die," said the Rohu. "Oh, no," said +the snake, "you will not, for I will give you a medicine that will make +you quite well again." So the fish agreed, and the snake got a knife +and cut him open, and out jumped Laili. + +She was now very old. Twelve years she had wandered about the jungle, +and for twelve years she had lived inside her Rohu; and she was no +longer beautiful, and had lost her teeth. The snake took her on his +back and carried her into the country, and there he put her down, and +she wandered on and on till she got to Majnun's court-house, where King +Majnun was sitting. There some men heard her crying, "Majnun, Majnun; I +want Majnun," and they asked her what she wanted. "I want King Majnun," +she said. + +So they went in and said to Prince Majnun, "An old woman outside says +she wants you." "I cannot leave this place," said he; "send her in +here." They brought her in and the prince asked her what she wanted. "I +want to marry you," she answered. "Twenty-four years ago you came to my +father the Phalana Raja's country, and I wanted to marry you then; but +you went away without marrying me. Then I went mad, and I have wandered +about all these years looking for you." Prince Majnun said, "Very +good." + +"Pray to Khuda," said Laili, "to make us both young again, and then we +shall be married." So the prince prayed to Khuda, and Khuda said to +him, "Touch Laili's clothes and they will catch fire, and when they are +on fire, she and you will become young again." When he touched Laili's +clothes they caught fire, and she and he became young again. And there +were great feasts, and they were married, and travelled to the Phalana +country to see her father and mother. + +Now Laili's father and mother had wept so much for their daughter that +they had become quite blind, and her father kept always repeating, +"Laili, Laili, Laili." When Laili saw their blindness, she prayed to +Khuda to restore their sight to them, which he did. As soon as the +father and mother saw Laili, they hugged her and kissed her, and then +they had the wedding all over again amid great rejoicings. Prince +Majnum and Laili stayed with Munsuk Raja and his wife for three years, +and then they returned to King Dantal, and lived happily for some time +with him. They used to go out hunting, and they often went from country +to country to eat the air and amuse themselves. + +One day Prince Majnun said to Laili, "Let us go through this jungle." +"No, no," said Laili; "if we go through this jungle, some harm will +happen to me." But Prince Majnun laughed, and went into the jungle. And +as they were going through it, Khuda thought, "I should like to know +how much Prince Majnun loves his wife. Would he be very sorry if she +died? And would he marry another wife? I will see." So he sent one of +his angels in the form of a fakir into the jungle; and the angel went +up to Laili, and threw some powder in her face, and instantly she fell +to the ground a heap of ashes. + +Prince Majnun was in great sorrow and grief when he saw his dear Laili +turned into a little heap of ashes; and he went straight home to his +father, and for a long, long time he would not be comforted. After a +great many years he grew more cheerful and happy, and began to go again +into his father's beautiful garden with Husain Mahamat. King Dantal +wished his son to marry again. "I will only have Laili for my wife; I +will not marry any other woman," said Prince Majnun. + +"How can you marry Laili? Laili is dead. She will never come back to +you," said the father. "Then I'll not have any wife at all," said +Prince Majnun. + +Meanwhile Laili was living in the jungle where her husband had left her +a little heap of ashes. As soon as Majnun had gone, the fakir had taken +her ashes and made them quite clean, and then he had mixed clay and +water with the ashes, and made the figure of a woman with them, and so +Laili regained her human form, and Khuda sent life into it. But Laili +had become once more a hideous old woman, with a long, long nose, and +teeth like tusks; just such an old woman, excepting her teeth, as she +had been when she came out of the Rohu fish; and she lived in the +jungle, and neither ate nor drank, and she kept on saying, "Majnun, +Majnun; I want Majnun." + +At last the angel who had come as a fakir and thrown the powder at her, +said to Khuda, "Of what use is it that this woman should sit in the +jungle crying, crying for ever, 'Majnun, Majnun; I want Majnun,' and +eating and drinking nothing? Let me take her to Prince Majnun." "Well," +said Khuda, "you may do so; but tell her that she must not speak to +Majnun if he is afraid of her when he sees her; and that if he is +afraid when he sees her, she will become a little white dog the next +day. Then she must go to the palace, and she will only regain her human +shape when Prince Majnun loves her, feeds her with his own food, and +lets her sleep in his bed." + +So the angel came to Laili again as a fakir and carried her to King +Dantal's garden. "Now," he said, "it is Khuda's command that you stay +here till Prince Majnun comes to walk in the garden, and then you may +show yourself to him. But you must not speak to him, if he is afraid of +you; and should he be afraid of you, you will the next day become a +little white dog." He then told her what she must do as a little dog to +regain her human form. + +Laili stayed in the garden, hidden in the tall grass, till Prince +Majnun and Husain Mahamat came to walk in the garden. King Dantal was +now a very old man, and Husain Mahamat, though he was really only as +old as Prince Majnun, looked a great deal older than the prince, who +had been made quite young again when he married Laili. + +As Prince Majnun and the Wazir's son walked in the garden, they +gathered the fruit as they had done as little children, only they bit +the fruit with their teeth; they did not cut it. While Majnun was busy +eating a fruit in this way, and was talking to Husain Mahamat, he +turned towards him and saw Laili walking behind the Wazir's son. + +"Oh, look, look!" he cried, "see what is following you; it is a Rakshas +or a demon, and I am sure it is going to eat us." Laili looked at him +beseechingly with all her eyes, and trembled with age and eagerness; +but this only frightened Majnun the more. "It is a Rakshas, a Rakshas!" +he cried, and he ran quickly to the palace with the Wazir's son; and as +they ran away, Laili disappeared into the jungle. They ran to King +Dantal, and Majnun told him there was a Rakshas or a demon in the +garden that had come to eat them. + +"What nonsense," said his father. "Fancy two grown men being so +frightened by an old ayah or a fakir! And if it had been a Rakshas, it +would not have eaten you." Indeed King Dantal did not believe Majnun +had seen anything at all, till Husain Mahamat said the prince was +speaking the exact truth. They had the garden searched for the terrible +old woman, but found nothing, and King Dantal told his son he was very +silly to be so much frightened. However, Prince Majnun would not walk +in the garden any more. + +The next day Laili turned into a pretty little dog; and in this shape +she came into the palace, where Prince Majnun soon became very fond of +her. She followed him everywhere, went with him when he was out +hunting, and helped him to catch his game, and Prince Majnun fed her +with milk, or bread, or anything else he was eating, and at night the +little dog slept in his bed. + +But one night the little dog disappeared, and in its stead there lay +the little old woman who had frightened him so much in the garden; and +now Prince Majnun was quite sure she was a Rakshas, or a demon, or some +such horrible thing come to eat him; and in his terror he cried out, +"What do you want? Oh, do not eat me; do not eat me!" Poor Laili +answered, "Don't you know me? I am your wife Laili, and I want to marry +you. Don't you remember how you would go through that jungle, though I +begged and begged you not to go, for I told you that harm would happen +to me, and then a fakir came and threw powder in my face, and I became +a heap of ashes. But Khuda gave me my life again, and brought me here, +after I had stayed a long, long while in the jungle crying for you, and +now I am obliged to be a little dog; but if you will marry me, I shall +not be a little dog any more." Majnun, however, said "How can I marry +an old woman like you? how can you be Laili? I am sure you are a +Rakshas or a demon come to eat me," and he was in great terror. + +In the morning the old woman had turned into the little dog, and the +prince went to his father and told him all that had happened. "An old +woman! an old woman! always an old woman!" said his father. "You do +nothing but think of old women. How can a strong man like you be so +easily frightened?" However, when he saw that his son was really in +great terror, and that he really believed the old woman would came back +at night, he advised him to say to her, "I will marry you if you can +make yourself a young girl again. How can I marry such an old woman as +you are?" + +That night as he lay trembling in bed the little old woman lay there in +place of the dog, crying "Majnun, Majnun, I want to marry you. I have +loved you all these long, long years. When I was in my father's kingdom +a young girl, I knew of you, though you knew nothing of me, and we +should have been married then if you had not gone away so suddenly, and +for long, long years I followed you." + +"Well," said Majnun, "if you can make yourself a young girl again, I +will marry you." + +Laili said, "Oh, that is quite easy. Khuda will make me a young girl +again. In two days' time you must go into the garden, and there you +will see a beautiful fruit. You must gather it and bring it into your +room and cut it open yourself very gently, and you must not open it +when your father or anybody else is with you, but when you are quite +alone; for I shall be in the fruit quite naked, without any clothes at +all on." In the morning Laili took her little dog's form, and +disappeared in the garden. + +Prince Majnun told all this to his father, who told him to do all the +old woman had bidden him. In two days' time he and the Wazir's son +walked in the garden, and there they saw a large, lovely red fruit. +"Oh!" said the Prince, "I wonder shall I find my wife in that fruit." +Husain Mahamat wanted him to gather it and see, but he would not till +he had told his father, who said, "That must be the fruit; go and +gather it." So Majnun went back and broke the fruit off its stalk; and +he said to his father, "Come with me to my room while I open it; I am +afraid to open it alone, for perhaps I shall find a Rakshas in it that +will eat me." + +"No," said King Dantal; "remember, Laili will be naked; you must go +alone and do not be afraid if, after all, a Rakshas is in the fruit, +for I will stay outside the door, and you have only to call me with a +loud voice, and I will come to you, so the Rakshas will not be able to +eat you." + +Then Majnun took the fruit and began to cut it open tremblingly, for he +shook with fear; and when he had cut it, out stepped Laili, young and +far more beautiful than she had ever been. At the sight of her extreme +beauty, Majnun fell backwards fainting on the floor. + +Laili took off his turban and wound it all round herself like a sari +(for she had no clothes at all on), and then she called King Dantal, +and said to him sadly, "Why has Majnun fallen down like this? Why will +he not speak to me? He never used to be afraid of me; and he has seen +me so many, many times." + +King Dantal answered, "It is because you are so beautiful. You are far, +far more beautiful than you ever were. But he will be very happy +directly." Then the King got some water, and they bathed Majnun's face +and gave him some to drink, and he sat up again. + +Then Laili said, "Why did you faint? Did you not see I am Laili?" + +"Oh!" said Prince Majnun, "I see you are Laili come back to me, but +your eyes have grown so wonderfully beautiful, that I fainted when I +saw them." Then they were all very happy, and King Dantal had all the +drums in the place beaten, and had all the musical instruments played +on, and they made a grand wedding-feast, and gave presents to the +servants, and rice and quantities of rupees to the fakirs. + +After some time had passed very happily, Prince Majnun and his wife +went out to eat the air. They rode on the same horse, and had only a +groom with them. They came to another kingdom, to a beautiful garden. +"We must go into that garden and see it," said Majnun. + +"No, no," said Laili; "it belongs to a bad Raja, Chumman Basa, a very +wicked man." But Majnun insisted on going in, and in spite of all Laili +could say, he got off the horse to look at the flowers. Now, as he was +looking at the flowers, Laili saw Chumman Basa coming towards them, and +she read in his eyes that he meant to kill her husband and seize her. +So she said to Majnun, "Come, come, let us go; do not go near that bad +man. I see in his eyes, and I feel in my heart, that he will kill you +to seize me." + +"What nonsense," said Majnun. "I believe he is a very good Raja. +Anyhow, I am so near to him that I could not get away." + +"Well," said Laili, "it is better that you should be killed than I, for +if I were to be killed a second time, Khuda would not give me my life +again; but I can bring you to life if you are killed." Now Chumman Basa +had come quite near, and seemed very pleasant, so thought Prince +Majnun; but when he was speaking to Majnun, he drew his scimitar and +cut off the prince's head at one blow. + +Laili sat quite still on her horse, and as the Raja came towards her +she said, "Why did you kill my husband?" + +"Because I want to take you," he answered. + +"You cannot," said Laili. + +"Yes, I can," said the Raja. + +"Take me, then," said Laili to Chumman Basa; so he came quite close and +put out his hand to take hers to lift her off her horse. But she put +her hand in her pocket and pulled out a tiny knife, only as long as her +hand was broad, and this knife unfolded itself in one instant till it +was such a length! and then Laili made a great sweep with her arm and +her long, long knife, and off came Chumman Basa's head at one touch. + +Then Laili slipped down off her horse, and she went to Majnun's dead +body, and she cut her little finger inside her hand straight down from +the top of her nail to her palm, and out of this gushed blood like +healing medicine. Then she put Majnun's head on his shoulders, and +smeared her healing blood all over the wound, and Majnun woke up and +said, "What a delightful sleep I have had! Why, I feel as if I had +slept for years!" Then he got up and saw the Raja's dead body by +Laili's horse. + +"What's that?" said Majnun. + +"That is the wicked Raja who killed you to seize me, just as I said he +would." + +"Who killed him?" asked Majnun. + +"I did," answered Laili, "and it was I who brought you to life." + +"Do bring the poor man to life if you know how to do so," said Majnun. + +"No," said Laili, "for he is a wicked man, and will try to do you +harm." But Majnun asked her for such a long time, and so earnestly to +bring the wicked Raja to life, that at least she said, "Jump up on the +horse, then, and go far away with the groom." + +"What will you do," said Majnun, "if I leave you? I cannot leave you." + +"I will take care of myself," said Laili; "but this man is so wicked, +he may kill you again if you are near him." So Majnun got up on the +horse, and he and the groom went a long way off and waited for Laili. +Then she set the wicked Raja's head straight on his shoulders, and she +squeezed the wound in her finger till a little blood-medicine came out +of it. Then she smeared this over the place where her knife had passed, +and just as she saw the Raja opening his eyes, she began to run, and +she ran, and ran so fast, that she outran the Raja, who tried to catch +her; and she sprang up on the horse behind her husband, and they rode +so fast, so fast, till they reached King Dantal's palace. + +There Prince Majnun told everything to his father, who was horrified +and angry. "How lucky for you that you have such a wife," he said. "Why +did you not do what she told you? But for her, you would be now dead." +Then he made a great feast out of gratitude for his son's safety, and +gave many, many rupees to the fakirs. And he made so much of Laili. He +loved her dearly; he could not do enough for her. Then he built a +splendid palace for her and his son, with a great deal of ground about +it, and lovely gardens, and gave them great wealth, and heaps of +servants to wait on them. But he would not allow any but their servants +to enter their gardens and palace, and he would not allow Majnun to go +out of them, nor Laili; "for," said King Dantal, "Laili is so +beautiful, that perhaps some one may kill my son to take her away." + + + +THE TIGER, THE BRAHMAN, AND THE JACKAL + +Once upon a time, a tiger was caught in a trap. He tried in vain to get +out through the bars, and rolled and bit with rage and grief when he +failed. + +By chance a poor Brahman came by. "Let me out of this cage, oh pious +one!" cried the tiger. + +"Nay, my friend," replied the Brahman mildly, "you would probably eat +me if I did." + +"Not at all!" swore the tiger with many oaths; "on the contrary, I +should be for ever grateful, and serve you as a slave!" + +Now when the tiger sobbed and sighed and wept and swore, the pious +Brahman's heart softened, and at last he consented to open the door of +the cage. Out popped the tiger, and, seizing the poor man, cried, "What +a fool you are! What is to prevent my eating you now, for after being +cooped up so long I am just terribly hungry!" + +In vain the Brahman pleaded for his life; the most he could gain was a +promise to abide by the decision of the first three things he chose to +question as to the justice of the tiger's action. + +So the Brahman first asked a _pipal_ tree what it thought of the +matter, but the _pipal_ tree replied coldly, "What have you to +complain about? Don't I give shade and shelter to every one who passes +by, and don't they in return tear down my branches to feed their +cattle? Don't whimper--be a man!" + +Then the Brahman, sad at heart, went further afield till he saw a +buffalo turning a well-wheel; but he fared no better from it, for it +answered, "You are a fool to expect gratitude! Look at me! Whilst I +gave milk they fed me on cotton-seed and oil-cake, but now I am dry +they yoke me here, and give me refuse as fodder!" + +The Brahman, still more sad, asked the road to give him its opinion. + +"My dear sir," said the road, "how foolish you are to expect anything +else! Here am I, useful to everybody, yet all, rich and poor, great and +small, trample on me as they go past, giving me nothing but the ashes +of their pipes and the husks of their grain!" + +On this the Brahman turned back sorrowfully, and on the way he met a +jackal, who called out, "Why, what's the matter, Mr. Brahman? You look +as miserable as a fish out of water!" + +The Brahman told him all that had occurred. "How very confusing!" said +the jackal, when the recital was ended; "would you mind telling me over +again, for everything has got so mixed up?" + +The Brahman told it all over again, but the jackal shook his head in a +distracted sort of way, and still could not understand. + +"It's very odd," said he, sadly, "but it all seems to go in at one ear +and out at the other! I will go to the place where it all happened, and +then perhaps I shall be able to give a judgment." + +So they returned to the cage, by which the tiger was waiting for the +Brahman, and sharpening his teeth and claws. + +"You've been away a long time!" growled the savage beast, "but now let +us begin our dinner." + +"_Our_ dinner!" thought the wretched Brahman, as his knees knocked +together with fright; "what a remarkably delicate way of putting it!" + +"Give me five minutes, my lord!" he pleaded, "in order that I may +explain matters to the jackal here, who is somewhat slow in his wits." + +The tiger consented, and the Brahman began the whole story over again, +not missing a single detail, and spinning as long a yarn as possible. + +"Oh, my poor brain! oh, my poor brain!" cried the jackal, wringing its +paws. "Let me see! how did it all begin? You were in the cage, and the +tiger came walking by--" + +"Pooh!" interrupted the tiger, "what a fool you are! _I_ was in +the cage." + +"Of course!" cried the jackal, pretending to tremble with fright; "yes! +I was in the cage--no I wasn't--dear! dear! where are my wits? Let me +see--the tiger was in the Brahman, and the cage came walking by--no, +that's not it, either! Well, don't mind me, but begin your dinner, for +I shall never understand!" + +"Yes, you shall!" returned the tiger, in a rage at the jackal's +stupidity; "I'll _make_ you understand! Look here--I am the +tiger--" + +"Yes, my lord!" + +"And that is the Brahman--" + +"Yes, my lord!" + +"And that is the cage--" + +"Yes, my lord!" + +"And I was in the cage--do you understand?" + +"Yes--no--Please, my lord--" + +"Well?" cried the tiger impatiently. + +"Please, my lord!--how did you get in?" + +"How!--why in the usual way, of course!" + +"Oh, dear me!--my head is beginning to whirl again! Please don't be +angry, my lord, but what is the usual way?" + +At this the tiger lost patience, and, jumping into the cage, cried, +"This way! Now do you understand how it was?" + +"Perfectly!" grinned the jackal, as he dexterously shut the door, "and +if you will permit me to say so, I think matters will remain as they +were!" + + + +THE SOOTHSAYER'S SON + +A soothsayer when on his deathbed wrote out the horoscope of his second +son, whose name was Gangazara, and bequeathed it to him as his only +property, leaving the whole of his estate to his eldest son. The second +son thought over the horoscope, and said to himself: + +"Alas! am I born to this only in the world? The sayings of my father +never failed. I have seen them prove true to the last word while he was +living; and how has he fixed my horoscope! 'FROM MY BIRTH POVERTY!' Nor +is that my only fate. 'FOR TEN YEARS, IMPRISONMENT'--a fate harder than +poverty; and what comes next? 'DEATH ON THE SEA-SHORE'; which means +that I must die away from home, far from friends and relatives on a +sea-coast. Now comes the most curious part of the horoscope, that I am +to 'HAVE SOME HAPPINESS AFTERWARDS!' What this happiness is, is an +enigma to me." + +Thus thought he, and after all the funeral obsequies of his father were +over, took leave of his elder brother, and started for Benares. He went +by the middle of the Deccan, avoiding both the coasts, and went on +journeying and journeying for weeks and months, till at last he reached +the Vindhya mountains. While passing that desert he had to journey for +a couple of days through a sandy plain, with no signs of life or +vegetation. The little store of provision with which he was provided +for a couple of days, at last was exhausted. The chombu, which he +carried always full, filling it with the sweet water from the flowing +rivulet or plenteous tank, he had exhausted in the heat of the desert. +There was not a morsel in his hand to eat; nor a drop of water to +drink. Turn his eyes wherever he might he found a vast desert, out of +which he saw no means of escape. Still he thought within himself, +"Surely my father's prophecy never proved untrue. I must survive this +calamity to find my death on some sea-coast." So thought he, and this +thought gave him strength of mind to walk fast and try to find a drop +of water somewhere to slake his dry throat. + +At last he succeeded; heaven threw in his way a ruined well. He thought +he could collect some water if he let down his chombu with the string +that he always carried noosed to the neck of it. Accordingly he let it +down; it went some way and stopped, and the following words came from +the well: "Oh, relieve me! I am the king of tigers, dying here of +hunger. For the last three days I have had nothing. Fortune has sent +you here. If you assist me now you will find a sure help in me +throughout your life. Do not think that I am a beast of prey. When you +have become my deliverer I will never touch you. Pray, kindly lift me +up." Gangazara thought: "Shall I take him out or not? If I take him out +he may make me the first morsel of his hungry mouth. No; that he will +not do. For my father's prophecy never came untrue. I must die on a sea +coast, and not by a tiger." Thus thinking, he asked the tiger-king to +hold tight to the vessel, which he accordingly did, and he lifted him +up slowly. The tiger reached the top of the well and felt himself on +safe ground. True to his word, he did no harm to Gangazara. On the +other hand, he walked round his patron three times, and standing before +him, humbly spoke the following words: "My life-giver, my benefactor! +I shall never forget this day, when I regained my life through your +kind hands. In return for this kind assistance I pledge my oath to +stand by you in all calamities. Whenever you are in any difficulty +just think of me. I am there with you ready to oblige you by all the +means that I can. To tell you briefly how I came in here: Three days +ago I was roaming in yonder forest, when I saw a goldsmith passing +through it. I chased him. He, finding it impossible to escape my claws, +jumped into this well, and is living to this moment in the very bottom +of it. I also jumped in, but found myself on the first ledge of the +well; he is on the last and fourth ledge. In the second lives a serpent +half-famished with hunger. On the third lies a rat, also half-famished, +and when you again begin to draw water these may request you first to +release them. In the same way the goldsmith also may ask you. I beg +you, as your bosom friend, never assist that wretched man, though he is +your relation as a human being. Goldsmiths are never to be trusted. You +can place more faith in me, a tiger, though I feast sometimes upon men, +in a serpent, whose sting makes your blood cold the very next moment, +or in a rat, which does a thousand pieces of mischief in your house. +But never trust a goldsmith. Do not release him; and if you do, you +shall surely repent of it one day or other." Thus advising, the hungry +tiger went away without waiting for an answer. + +Gangazara thought several times of the eloquent way in which the tiger +spoke, and admired his fluency of speech. But still his thirst was not +quenched. So he let down his vessel again, which was now caught hold of +by the serpent, who addressed him thus: "Oh, my protector! Lift me up. +I am the king of serpents, and the son of Adisesha, who is now pining +away in agony for my disappearance. Release me now. I shall ever remain +your servant, remember your assistance, and help you throughout life in +all possible ways. Oblige me: I am dying." Gangazara, calling again to +mind the "DEATH ON THE SEA-SHORE" of the prophecy lifted him up. He, +like the tiger-king, walked round him thrice, and prostrating himself +before him spoke thus: "Oh, my life-giver, my father, for so I must +call you, as you have given me another birth. I was three days ago +basking myself in the morning sun, when I saw a rat running before me. +I chased him. He fell into this well. I followed him, but instead of +falling on the third storey where he is now lying, I fell into the +second. I am going away now to see my father. Whenever you are in any +difficulty just think of me. I will be there by your side to assist you +by all possible means." So saying, the Nagaraja glided away in zigzag +movements, and was out of sight in a moment. + +The poor son of the Soothsayer, who was now almost dying of thirst, let +down his vessel for a third time. The rat caught hold of it, and +without discussing he lifted up the poor animal at once. But it would +not go away without showing its gratitude: "Oh, life of my life! My +benefactor! I am the king of rats. Whenever you are in any calamity +just think of me. I will come to you, and assist you. My keen ears +overheard all that the tiger-king told you about the goldsmith, who is +in the fourth storey. It is nothing but a sad truth that goldsmiths +ought never to be trusted. Therefore, never assist him as you have done +to us all. And if you do, you will suffer for it. I am hungry; let me +go for the present." Thus taking leave of his benefactor, the rat, too, +ran away. + +Gangazara for a while thought upon the repeated advice given by the +three animals about releasing the goldsmith: "What wrong would there be +in my assisting him? Why should I not release him also?" So thinking to +himself, Gangazara let down the vessel again. The goldsmith caught hold +of it, and demanded help. The Soothsayer's son had no time to lose; he +was himself dying of thirst. + +Therefore he lifted the goldsmith up, who now began his story. "Stop +for a while," said Gangazara, and after quenching his thirst by letting +down his vessel for the fifth time, still fearing that some one might +remain in the well and demand his assistance, he listened to the +goldsmith, who began as follows: "My dear friend, my protector, what a +deal of nonsense these brutes have been talking to you about me; I am +glad you have not followed their advice. I am just now dying of hunger. +Permit me to go away. My name is Manikkasari. I live in the East main +street of Ujjaini, which is twenty kas to the south of this place, and +so lies on your way when you return from Benares. Do not forget to come +to me and receive my kind remembrances of your assistance, on your way +back to your country." So saying, the goldsmith took his leave, and +Gangazara also pursued his way north after the above adventures. + +He reached Benares, and lived there for more than ten years, and quite +forgot the tiger, serpent, rat, and goldsmith. After ten years of +religious life, thoughts of home and of his brother rushed into his +mind. "I have secured enough merit now by my religious observances. Let +me return home." Thus thought Gangazara within himself, and very soon +he was on his way back to his country. Remembering the prophecy of his +father he returned by the same way by which he went to Benares ten +years before. While thus retracing his steps he reached the ruined well +where he had released the three brute kings and the gold smith. At once +the old recollections rushed into his mind, and he thought of the tiger +to test his fidelity. Only a moment passed, and the tiger-king came +running before him carrying a large crown in his mouth, the glitter of +the diamonds of which for a time outshone even the bright rays of the +sun. He dropped the crown at his life-giver's feet, and, putting aside +all his pride, humbled himself like a pet cat to the strokes of his +protector, and began in the following words: "My life-giver! How is it +that you have forgotten me, your poor servant, for such a long time? I +am glad to find that I still occupy a corner in your mind. I can never +forget the day when I owed my life to your lotus hands. I have several +jewels with me of little value. This crown, being the best of all, I +have brought here as a single ornament of great value, which you can +carry with you and dispose of in your own country." Gangazara looked at +the crown, examined it over and over, counted and recounted the gems, +and thought within himself that he would become the richest of men by +separating the diamonds and gold, and selling them in his own country. +He took leave of the tiger-king, and after his disappearance thought of +the kings of serpents and rats, who came in their turn with their +presents, and after the usual greetings and exchange of words took +their leave. Gangazara was extremely delighted at the faithfulness with +which the brute beasts behaved, and went on his way to the south. While +going along he spoke to himself thus: "These beasts have been very +faithful in their assistance. Much more, therefore, must Manikkasari be +faithful. I do not want anything from him now. If I take this crown +with me as it is, it occupies much space in my bundle. It may also +excite the curiosity of some robbers on the way. I will go now to +Ujjaini on my way. Manikkasari requested me to see him without failure +on my return journey. I shall do so, and request him to have the crown +melted, the diamonds and gold separated. He must do that kindness at +least for me. I shall then roll up these diamonds and gold ball in my +rags, and wend my way homewards." Thus thinking and thinking, he +reached Ujjaini. At once he inquired for the house of his goldsmith +friend, and found him without difficulty. Manikkasari was extremely +delighted to find on his threshold him who ten years before, +notwithstanding the advice repeatedly given him by the sage-looking +tiger, serpent, and rat, had relieved him from the pit of death. +Gangazara at once showed him the crown that he received from the tiger- +king, told him how he got it, and requested his kind assistance to +separate the gold and diamonds. Manikkasari agreed to do so, and +meanwhile asked his friend to rest himself for a while to have his bath +and meals; and Gangazara, who was very observant of his religious +ceremonies, went direct to the river to bathe. + +How came the crown in the jaws of the tiger? The king of Ujjaini had a +week before gone with all his hunters on a hunting expedition. All of a +sudden the tiger-king started from the wood, seized the king, and +vanished. + +When the king's attendants informed the prince about the death of his +father he wept and wailed, and gave notice that he would give half of +his kingdom to any one who should bring him news about the murderer of +his father. The goldsmith knew full well that it was a tiger that +killed the king, and not any hunter's hands, since he had heard from +Gangazara how he obtained the crown. Still, he resolved to denounce +Gangazara as the king's murderer, so, hiding the crown under his +garments, he flew to the palace. He went before the prince and informed +him that the assassin was caught, and placed the crown before him. + +The prince took it into his hands, examined it, and at once gave half +the kingdom to Manikkasari, and then inquired about the murderer. "He +is bathing in the river, and is of such and such appearance," was the +reply. At once four armed soldiers flew to the river, and bound the +poor Brahman hand and foot, while he, sitting in meditation, was +without any knowledge of the fate that hung over him. They brought +Gangazara to the presence of the prince, who turned his face away from +the supposed murderer, and asked his soldiers to throw him into a +dungeon. In a minute, without knowing the cause, the poor Brahman found +himself in the dark dungeon. + +It was a dark cellar underground, built with strong stone walls, into +which any criminal guilty of a capital offence was ushered to breathe +his last there without food and drink. Such was the cellar into which +Gangazara was thrust. What were his thoughts when he reached that +place? "It is of no use to accuse either the goldsmith or the prince +now. We are all the children of fate. We must obey her commands. This +is but the first day of my father's prophecy. So far his statement is +true. But how am I going to pass ten years here? Perhaps without +anything to sustain life I may drag on my existence for a day or two. +But how pass ten years? That cannot be, and I must die. Before death +comes let me think of my faithful brute friends." + +So pondered Gangazara in the dark cell underground, and at that moment +thought of his three friends. The tiger-king, serpent-king, and rat- +king assembled at once with their armies at a garden near the dungeon, +and for a while did not know what to do. They held their council, and +decided to make an underground passage from the inside of a ruined well +to the dungeon. The rat raja issued an order at once to that effect to +his army. They, with their teeth, bored the ground a long way to the +walls of the prison. After reaching it they found that their teeth +could not work on the hard stones. The bandicoots were then specially +ordered for the business; they, with their hard teeth, made a small +slit in the wall for a rat to pass and re-pass without difficulty. Thus +a passage was effected. + +The rat raja entered first to condole with his protector on his +misfortune, and undertook to supply his protector with provisions. +"Whatever sweetmeats or bread are prepared in any house, one and all of +you must try to bring whatever you can to our benefactor. Whatever +clothes you find hanging in a house, cut down, dip the pieces in water, +and bring the wet bits to our benefactor. He will squeeze them and +gather water for drink! and the bread and sweetmeats shall form his +food." Having issued these orders, the king of the rats took leave of +Gangazara. They, in obedience to their king's order, continued to +supply him with provisions and water. + +The snake-king said: "I sincerely condole with you in your calamity; +the tiger-king also fully sympathises with you, and wants me to tell +you so, as he cannot drag his huge body here as we have done with our +small ones. The king of the rats has promised to do his best to provide +you with food. We would now do what we can for your release. From this +day we shall issue orders to our armies to oppress all the subjects of +this kingdom. The deaths by snake-bite and tigers shall increase a +hundredfold from this day, and day by day it shall continue to increase +till your release. Whenever you hear people near you, you had better +bawl out so as to be heard by them: 'The wretched prince imprisoned me +on the false charge of having killed his father, while it was a tiger +that killed him. From that day these calamities have broken out in his +dominions. If I were released I would save all by my powers of healing +poisonous wounds and by incantations.' Some one may report this to the +king, and if he knows it, you will obtain your liberty." Thus +comforting his protector in trouble, he advised him to pluck up +courage, and took leave of him. From that day tigers and serpents, +acting under the orders of their kings, united in killing as many +persons and cattle as possible. Every day people were carried away by +tigers or bitten by serpents. Thus passed months and years. Gangazara +sat in the dark cellar, without the sun's light falling upon him, and +feasted upon the breadcrumbs and sweetmeats that the rats so kindly +supplied him with. These delicacies had completely changed his body +into a red, stout, huge, unwieldy mass of flesh. Thus passed full ten +years, as prophesied in the horoscope. + +Ten complete years rolled away in close imprisonment. On the last +evening of the tenth year one of the serpents got into the bed-chamber +of the princess and sucked her life. She breathed her last. She was the +only daughter of the king. The king at once sent for all the snake-bite +curers. He promised half his kingdom and his daughter's hand to him who +would restore her to life. Now a servant of the king who had several +times overheard Gangazara's cries, reported the matter to him. The king +at once ordered the cell to be examined. There was the man sitting in +it. How had he managed to live so long in the cell? Some whispered that +he must be a divine being. Thus they discussed, while they brought +Gangazara to the king. + +The king no sooner saw Gangazara than he fell on the ground. He was +struck by the majesty and grandeur of his person. His ten years' +imprisonment in the deep cell underground had given a sort of lustre to +his body. His hair had first to be cut before his face could be seen. +The king begged forgiveness for his former fault, and requested him to +revive his daughter. + +"Bring me within an hour all the corpses of men and cattle, dying and +dead, that remain unburnt or unburied within the range of your +dominions; I shall revive them all," were the only words that Gangazara +spoke. + +Cartloads of corpses of men and cattle began to come in every minute. +Even graves, it is said, were broken open, and corpses buried a day or +two before were taken out and sent for their revival. As soon as all +were ready, Gangazara took a vessel full of water and sprinkled it over +them all, thinking only of his snake-king and tiger-king. All rose up +as if from deep slumber, and went to their respective homes. The +princess, too, was restored to life. The joy of the king knew no +bounds. He cursed the day on which he imprisoned him, blamed himself +for having believed the word of a goldsmith, and offered him the hand +of his daughter and the whole kingdom, instead of half, as he promised. +Gangazara would not accept anything, but asked the king to assemble all +his subjects in a wood near the town. "I shall there call in all the +tigers and serpents, and give them a general order." + +When the whole town was assembled, just at the dusk of evening, +Gangazara sat dumb for a moment, and thought upon the Tiger King and +the Serpent King, who came with all their armies. People began to take +to their heels at the sight of tigers. Gangazara assured them of +safety, and stopped them. + +The grey light of the evening, the pumpkin colour of Gangazara, the +holy ashes scattered lavishly over his body, the tigers and snakes +humbling themselves at his feet, gave him the true majesty of the god +Gangazara. For who else by a single word could thus command vast armies +of tigers and serpents, said some among the people. "Care not for it; +it may be by magic. That is not a great thing. That he revived +cartloads of corpses shows him to be surely Gangazara," said others. + +"Why should you, my children, thus trouble these poor subjects of +Ujjaini? Reply to me, and henceforth desist from your ravages." Thus +said the Soothsayer's son, and the following reply came from the king +of the tigers: "Why should this base king imprison your honour, +believing the mere word of a goldsmith that your honour killed his +father? All the hunters told him that his father was carried away by a +tiger. I was the messenger of death sent to deal the blow on his neck. +I did it, and gave the crown to your honour. The prince makes no +inquiry, and at once imprisons your honour. How can we expect justice +from such a stupid king as that? Unless he adopt a better standard of +justice we will go on with our destruction." + +The king heard, cursed the day on which he believed in the word of a +goldsmith, beat his head, tore his hair, wept and wailed for his crime, +asked a thousand pardons, and swore to rule in a just way from that +day. The serpent-king and tiger-king also promised to observe their +oath as long as justice prevailed, and took their leave. The gold-smith +fled for his life. He was caught by the soldiers of the king, and was +pardoned by the generous Gangazara, whose voice now reigned supreme. +All returned to their homes. The king again pressed Gangazara to accept +the hand of his daughter. He agreed to do so, not then, but some time +afterwards. He wished to go and see his elder brother first, and then +to return and marry the princess. The king agreed; and Gangazara left +the city that very day on his way home. + +It so happened that unwittingly he took a wrong road, and had to pass +near a sea-coast. His elder brother was also on his way up to Benares +by that very same route. They met and recognised each other, even at a +distance. They flew into each other's arms. Both remained still for a +time almost unconscious with joy. The pleasure of Gangazara was so +great that he died of joy. + +The elder brother was a devout worshipper of Ganesa. That was a Friday, +a day very sacred to that god. The elder brother took the corpse to the +nearest Ganesa temple and called upon him. The god came, and asked him +what he wanted. "My poor brother is dead and gone; and this is his +corpse. Kindly keep it in your charge till I finish worshipping you. If +I leave it anywhere else the devils may snatch it away when I am absent +worshipping you; after finishing the rites I shall burn him." Thus said +the elder brother, and, giving the corpse to the god Ganesa, he went to +prepare himself for that deity's ceremonials. Ganesa made over the +corpse to his Ganas, asking them to watch over it carefully. But +instead of that they devoured it. + +The elder brother, after finishing the puja, demanded his brother's +corpse of the god. The god called his Ganas, who came to the front +blinking, and fearing the anger of their master. The god was greatly +enraged. The elder brother was very angry. When the corpse was not +forthcoming he cuttingly remarked, "Is this, after all, the return for +my deep belief in you? You are unable even to return my brother's +corpse." Ganesa was much ashamed at the remark. So he, by his divine +power, gave him a living Gangazara instead of the dead corpse. Thus was +the second son of the Soothsayer restored to life. + +The brothers had a long talk about each other's adventures. They both +went to Ujjaini, where Gangazara married the princess, and succeeded to +the throne of that kingdom. He reigned for a long time, conferring +several benefits upon his brother. And so the horoscope was fully +fulfilled. + + + +HARISAMAN + +There was a certain Brahman in a certain village, named Harisarman. He +was poor and foolish and in evil case for want of employment, and he +had very many children, that he might reap the fruit of his misdeeds in +a former life. He wandered about begging with his family, and at last +he reached a certain city, and entered the service of a rich +householder called Sthuladatta. His sons became keepers of +Sthuladatta's cows and other property, and his wife a servant to him, +and he himself lived near his house, performing the duty of an +attendant. One day there was a feast on account of the marriage of the +daughter of Sthuladatta, largely attended by many friends of the bride- +groom, and merry-makers. Harisarman hoped that he would be able to fill +himself up to the throat with ghee and flesh and other dainties, and +get the same for his family, in the house of his patron. While he was +anxiously expecting to be fed, no one thought of him. + +Then he was distressed at getting nothing to eat, and he said to his +wife at night, "It is owing to my poverty and stupidity that I am +treated with such disrespect here; so I will pretend by means of an +artifice to possess a knowledge of magic, so that I may become an +object of respect to this Sthuladatta; so, when you get an opportunity, +tell him that I possess magical knowledge." He said this to her, and +after turning the matter over in his mind, while people were asleep he +took away from the house of Sthuladatta a horse on which his master's +son-in-law rode. He placed it in concealment at some distance, and in +the morning the friends of the bridegroom could not find the horse, +though they searched in every direction. Then, while Sthuladatta was +distressed at the evil omen, and searching for the thieves who had +carried off the horse, the wife of Harisarman came and said to him, +"My husband is a wise man, skilled in astrology and magical sciences; +he can get the horse back for you; why do you not ask him?" + +When Sthuladatta heard that, he called Harisarman, who said, "Yesterday +I was forgotten, but to-day, now the horse is stolen, I am called to +mind," and Sthuladatta then propitiated the Brahman with these words-- +"I forgot you, forgive me"--and asked him to tell him who had taken +away their horse. Then Harisarman drew all kinds of pretended diagrams, +and said: "The horse has been placed by thieves on the boundary line +south from this place. It is concealed there, and before it is carried +off to a distance, as it will be at close of day, go quickly and bring +it." When they heard that, many men ran and brought the horse quickly, +praising the discernment of Harisarman. Then Harisarman was honoured by +all men as a sage, and dwelt there in happiness, honoured by +Sthuladatta. + +Now, as days went on, much treasure, both of gold and jewels, had been +stolen by a thief from the palace of the king. As the thief was not +known, the king quickly summoned Harisarman on account of his +reputation for knowledge of magic. And he, when summoned, tried to gain +time, and said, "I will tell you to-morrow," and then he was placed in +a chamber by the king, and carefully guarded. And he was sad because he +had pretended to have knowledge. Now in that palace there was a maid +named Jihva (which means Tongue), who, with the assistance of her +brother, had stolen that treasure from the interior of the palace. She, +being alarmed at Harisarman's knowledge, went at night and applied her +ear to the door of that chamber in order to find out what he was about. +And Harisarman, who was alone inside, was at that very moment blaming +his own tongue, that had made a vain assumption of knowledge. He said: +"O Tongue, what is this that you have done through your greediness? +Wicked one, you will soon receive punishment in full." When Jihva heard +this, she thought, in her terror, that she had been discovered by this +wise man, and she managed to get in where he was, and falling at his +feet, she said to the supposed wizard: "Brahman, here I am, that Jihva +whom you have discovered to be the thief of the treasure, and after I +took it I buried it in the earth in a garden behind the palace, under a +pomegranate tree. So spare me, and receive the small quantity of gold +which is in my possession." + +When Harisarman heard that, he said to her proudly: "Depart, I know all +this; I know the past, present and future; but I will not denounce you, +being a miserable creature that has implored my protection. But +whatever gold is in your possession you must give back to me." When he +said this to the maid, she consented, and departed quickly. But +Harisarman reflected in his astonishment: "Fate brings about, as if in +sport, things impossible, for when calamity was so near, who would have +thought chance would have brought us success? While I was blaming my +jihva, the thief Jihva suddenly flung herself at my feet. Secret crimes +manifest themselves by means of fear." Thus thinking, he passed the +night happily in the chamber. And in the morning he brought the king, +by some skilful parade of pretended knowledge into the garden, and led +him up to the treasure, which was buried under the pomegranate tree, +and said that the thief had escaped with a part of it. Then the king +was pleased, and gave him the revenue of many villages. + +But the minister, named Devajnanin, whispered in the king's ear: "How +can a man possess such knowledge unattainable by men, without having +studied the books of magic; you may be certain that this is a specimen +of the way he makes a dishonest livelihood, by having a secret +intelligence with thieves. It will be much better to test him by some +new artifice." Then the king of his own accord brought a covered +pitcher into which he had thrown a frog, and said to Harisarman, +"Brahman, if you can guess what there is in this pitcher, I will do you +great honour to-day." When the Brahman Harisarman heard that, he +thought that his last hour had come, and he called to mind the pet name +of "Froggie" which his father had given him in his childhood in sport, +and, impelled by luck, he called to himself by his pet name, lamenting +his hard fate, and suddenly called out: "This is a fine pitcher for +you, Froggie; it will soon become the swift destroyer of your helpless +self." The people there, when they heard him say that, raised a shout +of applause, because his speech chimed in so well with the object +presented to him, and murmured, "Ah! a great sage, he knows even about +the frog!" Then the king, thinking that this was all due to knowledge +of divination, was highly delighted, and gave Harisarman the revenue of +more villages, with gold, an umbrella, and state carriages of all +kinds. So Harisarman prospered in the world. + + + +THE CHARMED RING + +A merchant started his son in life with three hundred rupees, and bade +him go to another country and try his luck in trade. The son took the +money and departed. He had not gone far before he came across some +herdsmen quarrelling over a dog, that some of them wished to kill. +"Please do not kill the dog," pleaded the young and tender-hearted +fellow; "I will give you one hundred rupees for it." Then and there, of +course, the bargain was concluded, and the foolish fellow took the dog, +and continued his journey. He next met with some people fighting about +a cat. Some of them wanted to kill it, but others not. "Oh! please do +not kill it," said he; "I will give you one hundred rupees for it." Of +course they at once gave him the cat and took the money. He went on +till he reached a village, where some folk were quarrelling over a +snake that had just been caught. Some of them wished to kill it, but +others did not. "Please do not kill the snake," said he; "I will give +you one hundred rupees." Of course the people agreed, and were highly +delighted. + +What a fool the fellow was! What would he do now that all his money was +gone? What could he do except return to his father? Accordingly he went +home. + +"You fool! You scamp!" exclaimed his father when he had heard how his +son had wasted all the money that had been given to him. "Go and live +in the stables and repent of your folly. You shall never again enter my +house." + +So the young man went and lived in the stables. His bed was the grass +spread for the cattle, and his companions were the dog, the cat, and +the snake, which he had purchased so dearly. These creatures got very +fond of him, and would follow him about during the day, and sleep by +him at night; the cat used to sleep at his feet, the dog at his head, +and the snake over his body, with its head hanging on one side and its +tail on the other. + +One day the snake in course of conversation said to its master, "I am +the son of Raja Indrasha. One day, when I had come out of the ground to +drink the air, some people seized me, and would have slain me had you +not most opportunely arrived to my rescue. I do not know how I shall +ever be able to repay you for your great kindness to me. Would that you +knew my father! How glad he would be to see his son's preserver!" + +"Where does he live? I should like to see him, if possible," said the +young man. + +"Well said!" continued the snake. "Do you see yonder mountain? At the +bottom of that mountain there is a sacred spring. If you will come with +me and dive into that spring, we shall both reach my father's country. +Oh! how glad he will be to see you! He will wish to reward you, too. +But how can he do that? However, you may be pleased to accept something +at his hand. If he asks you what you would like, you would, perhaps, do +well to reply, 'The ring on your right hand, and the famous pot and +spoon which you possess.' With these in your possession, you would +never need anything, for the ring is such that a man has only to speak +to it, and immediately a beautiful furnished mansion will be provided +for him, while the pot and the spoon will supply him with all manner of +the rarest and most delicious foods." + +Attended by his three companions the man walked to the well and +prepared to jump in, according to the snake's directions. "O master!" +exclaimed the cat and dog, when they saw what he was going to do. "What +shall we do? Where shall we go?" + +"Wait for me here," he replied. "I am not going far. I shall not be +long away." On saying this, he dived into the water and was lost to +sight. + +"Now what shall we do?" said the dog to the cat. "We must remain here," +replied the cat, "as our master ordered. Do not be anxious about food. +I will go to the people's houses and get plenty of food for both of +us." And so the cat did, and they both lived very comfortably till +their master came again and joined them. + +The young man and the snake reached their destination in safety; and +information of their arrival was sent to the Raja. His highness +commanded his son and the stranger to appear before him. But the snake +refused, saying that it could not go to its father till it was released +from this stranger, who had saved it from a most terrible death, and +whose slave it therefore was. Then the Raja went and embraced his son, +and saluting the stranger welcomed him to his dominions. The young man +stayed there a few days, during which he received the Raja's right-hand +ring, and the pot and spoon, in recognition of His Highness's gratitude +to him for having delivered his son. He then returned. On reaching the +top of the spring he found his friends, the dog and the cat, waiting +for him. They told one another all they had experienced since they had +last seen each other, and were all very glad. Afterwards they walked +together to the river side, where it was decided to try the powers of +the charmed ring and pot and spoon. + +The merchant's son spoke to the ring, and immediately a beautiful house +and a lovely princess with golden hair appeared. He spoke to the pot +and spoon, also, and the most delicious dishes of food were provided +for them. So he married the princess, and they lived very happily for +several years, until one morning the princess, while arranging her +toilet, put the loose hairs into a hollow bit of reed and threw them +into the river that flowed along under the window. The reed floated on +the water for many miles, and was at last picked up by the prince of +that country, who curiously opened it and saw the golden hair. On +finding it the prince rushed off to the palace, locked himself up in +his room, and would not leave it. He had fallen desperately in love +with the woman whose hair he had picked up, and refused to eat, or +drink, or sleep, or move, till she was brought to him. The king, his +father, was in great distress about the matter, and did not know what +to do. He feared lest his son should die and leave him without an heir. +At last he determined to seek the counsel of his aunt, who was an +ogress. The old woman consented to help him, and bade him not to be +anxious, as she felt certain that she would succeed in getting the +beautiful woman for his son's wife. + +She assumed the shape of a bee and went along buzzing, and buzzing, and +buzzing. Her keen sense of smell soon brought her to the beautiful +princess, to whom she appeared as an old hag, holding in one hand a +stick by way of support. She introduced herself to the beautiful +princess and said, "I am your aunt, whom you have never seen before, +because I left the country just after your birth." She also embraced +and kissed the princess by way of adding force to her words. The +beautiful princess was thoroughly deceived. She returned the ogress's +embrace, and invited her to come and stay in the house as long as she +could, and treated her with such honour and attention, that the ogress +thought to herself, "I shall soon accomplish my errand." When she had +been in the house three days, she began to talk of the charmed ring, +and advised her to keep it instead of her husband, because the latter +was constantly out shooting and on other such-like expeditions, and +might lose it. Accordingly the beautiful princess asked her husband for +the ring, and he readily gave it to her. + +The ogress waited another day before she asked to see the precious +thing. Doubting nothing, the beautiful princess complied, when the +ogress seized the ring, and reassuming the form of a bee flew away with +it to the palace, where the prince was lying nearly on the point of +death. "Rise up. Be glad. Mourn no more," she said to him. "The woman +for whom you yearn will appear at your summons. See, here is the charm, +whereby you may bring her before you." The prince was almost mad with +joy when he heard these words, and was so desirous of seeing the +beautiful princess, that he immediately spoke to the ring, and the +house with its fair occupant descended in the midst of the palace +garden. He at once entered the building, and telling the beautiful +princess of his intense love, entreated her to be his wife. Seeing no +escape from the difficulty, she consented on the condition that he +would wait one month for her. + +Meanwhile the merchant's son had returned from hunting and was terribly +distressed not to find his house and wife. There was the place only, +just as he knew it before he had tried the charmed ring which Raja +Indrasha had given him. He sat down and determined to put an end to +himself. Presently the cat and dog came up. They had gone away and +hidden themselves, when they saw the house and everything disappear. "O +master!" they said, "stay your hand. Your trial is great, but it can be +remedied. Give us one month, and we will go and try to recover your +wife and house." + +"Go," said he, "and may the great God aid your efforts. Bring back my +wife, and I shall live." + +So the cat and dog started off at a run, and did not stop till they +reached the place whither their mistress and the house had been taken. +"We may have some difficulty here," said the cat. "Look, the king has +taken our master's wife and house for himself. You stay here. I will go +to the house and try to see her." So the dog sat down, and the cat +climbed up to the window of the room, wherein the beautiful princess +was sitting, and entered. The princess recognised the cat, and informed +it of all that had happened to her since she had left them. + +"But is there no way of escape from the hands of these people?" she +asked. + +"Yes," replied the cat, "if you can tell me where the charmed ring is." + +"The ring is in the stomach of the ogress," she said. + +"All right," said the cat, "I will recover it. If we once get it, +everything is ours." Then the cat descended the wall of the house, and +went and laid down by a rat's hole and pretended she was dead. Now at +that time a great wedding chanced to be going on among the rat +community of that place, and all the rats of the neighbourhood were +assembled in that one particular mine by which the cat had lain down. +The eldest son of the king of the rats was about to be married. The cat +got to know of this, and at once conceived the idea of seizing the +bridegroom and making him render the necessary help. Consequently, when +the procession poured forth from the hole squealing and jumping in +honour of the occasion, it immediately spotted the bridegroom and +pounced down on him. "Oh! let me go, let me go," cried the terrified +rat. "Oh! let him go," squealed all the company. "It is his wedding +day." + +"No, no," replied the cat. "Not unless you do some thing for me. +Listen. The ogress, who lives in that house with the prince and his +wife, has swallowed a ring, which I very much want. If you will procure +it for me, I will allow the rat to depart unharmed. If you do not, then +your prince dies under my feet." + +"Very well, we agree," said they all. "Nay, if we do not get the ring +for you, devour us all." + +This was rather a bold offer. However, they accomplished the thing. At +midnight, when the ogress was sound asleep, one of the rats went to her +bedside, climbed up on her face, and inserted its tail into her throat; +whereupon the ogress coughed violently, and the ring came out and +rolled on to the floor. The rat immediately seized the precious thing +and ran off with it to its king, who was very glad, and went at once to +the cat and released its son. + +As soon as the cat received the ring, she started back with the dog to +go and tell their master the good tidings. All seemed safe now. They +had only to give the ring to him, and he would speak to it, and the +house and beautiful princess would again be with them, and everything +would go on as happily as before. "How glad master will be!" they +thought, and ran as fast as their legs could carry them. Now, on the +way they had to cross a stream. The dog swam, and the cat sat on its +back. Now the dog was jealous of the cat, so he asked for the ring, and +threatened to throw the cat into the water if it did not give it up; +whereupon the cat gave up the ring. Sorry moment, for the dog at once +dropped it, and a fish swallowed it. + +"Oh! what shall I do? what shall I do?" said the dog. + +"What is done is done," replied the cat. "We must try to recover it, +and if we do not succeed we had better drown ourselves in this stream. +I have a plan. You go and kill a small lamb, and bring it here to me." + +"All right," said the dog, and at once ran off. He soon came back with +a dead lamb, and gave it to the cat. The cat got inside the lamb and +lay down, telling the dog to go away a little distance and keep quiet. +Not long after this a nadhar, a bird whose look can break the bones of +a fish, came and hovered over the lamb, and eventually pounced down on +it to carry it away. On this the cat came out and jumped on to the +bird, and threatened to kill it if it did not recover the lost ring. +This was most readily promised by the nadhar, who immediately flew off +to the king of the fishes, and ordered it to make inquiries and to +restore the ring. The king of the fishes did so, and the ring was found +and carried back to the cat. + +"Come along now; I have got the ring," said the cat to the dog. + +"No, I will not," said the dog, "unless you let me have the ring. I can +carry it as well as you. Let me have it or I will kill you." So the cat +was obliged to give up the ring. The careless dog very soon dropped it +again. This time it was picked up and carried off by a kite. + +"See, see, there it goes--away to that big tree," the cat exclaimed. + +"Oh! oh! what have I done?" cried the dog. + +"You foolish thing, I knew it would be so," said the cat. "But stop +your barking, or you will frighten away the bird to some place where we +shall not be able to trace it." + +The cat waited till it was quite dark, and then climbed the tree, +killed the kite, and recovered the ring. "Come along," it said to the +dog when it reached the ground. "We must make haste now. We have been +delayed. Our master will die from grief and suspense. Come on." + +The dog, now thoroughly ashamed of itself, begged the cat's pardon for +all the trouble it had given. It was afraid to ask for the ring the +third time, so they both reached their sorrowing master in safety and +gave him the precious charm. In a moment his sorrow was turned into +joy. He spoke to the ring, and his beautiful wife and house reappeared, +and he and everybody were as happy as ever they could be. + + + +THE TALKATIVE TORTOISE + +The future Buddha was once born in a minister's family, when Brahma- +datta was reigning in Benares; and when he grew up, he became the +king's adviser in things temporal and spiritual. + +Now this king was very talkative; while he was speaking, others had no +opportunity for a word. And the future Buddha, wanting to cure this +talkativeness of his, was constantly seeking for some means of doing +so. + +At that time there was living, in a pond in the Himalaya mountains, a +tortoise. Two young hamsas, or wild ducks, who came to feed there, made +friends with him. And one day, when they had become very intimate with +him, they said to the tortoise: + +"Friend tortoise! the place where we live, at the Golden Cave on Mount +Beautiful in the Himalaya country, is a delightful spot. Will you come +there with us?" + +"But how can I get there?" + +"We can take you, if you can only hold your tongue, and will say +nothing to anybody." + +"Oh! that I can do. Take me with you." + +"That's right," said they. And making the tortoise bite hold of a +stick, they themselves took the two ends in their teeth, and flew up +into the air. + +Seeing him thus carried by the hamsas, some villagers called out, "Two +wild ducks are carrying a tortoise along on a stick!" Whereupon the +tortoise wanted to say, "If my friends choose to carry me, what is that +to you, you wretched slaves!" So just as the swift flight of the wild +ducks had brought him over the king's palace in the city of Benares, he +let go of the stick he was biting, and falling in the open courtyard, +split in two! And there arose a universal cry, "A tortoise has fallen +in the open courtyard, and has split in two!" + +The king, taking the future Buddha, went to the place, surrounded by +his courtiers; and looking at the tortoise, he asked the Bodisat, +"Teacher! how comes he to be fallen here?" + +The future Buddha thought to himself, "Long expecting, wishing to +admonish the king, have I sought for some means of doing so. This +tortoise must have made friends with the wild ducks; and they must have +made him bite hold of the stick, and have flown up into the air to take +him to the hills. But he, being unable to hold his tongue when he hears +any one else talk, must have wanted to say something, and let go the +stick; and so must have fallen down from the sky, and thus lost his +life." And saying, "Truly, O king! those who are called chatter-boxes-- +people whose words have no end--come to grief like this," he uttered +these Verses: + + "Verily the tortoise killed himself + Whilst uttering his voice; + Though he was holding tight the stick, + By a word himself he slew. + + "Behold him then, O excellent by strength! + And speak wise words, not out of season. + You see how, by his talking overmuch, + The tortoise fell into this wretched plight!" + +The king saw that he was himself referred to, and said, "O Teacher! are +you speaking of us?" + +And the Bodisat spake openly, and said, "O great king! be it thou, or +be it any other, whoever talks beyond measure meets with some mishap +like this." + +And the king henceforth refrained himself, and became a man of few +words. + + + +A LAC OF RUPEES FOR A BIT OF ADVICE + +A poor blind Brahman and his wife were dependent on their son for +their subsistence. Every day the young fellow used to go out and get +what he could by begging. This continued for some time, till at last he +became quite tired of such a wretched life, and determined to go and +try his luck in another country. He informed his wife of his intention, +and ordered her to manage somehow or other for the old people during +the few months that he would be absent. He begged her to be +industrious, lest his parents should be angry and curse him. + +One morning he started with some food in a bundle, and walked on day +after day, till he reached the chief city of the neighbouring country. +Here he went and sat down by a merchant's shop and asked alms. The +merchant inquired whence he had come, why he had come, and what was his +caste; to which he replied that he was a Brahman, and was wandering +hither and thither begging a livelihood for himself and wife and +parents. Moved with pity for the man, the merchant advised him to visit +the kind and generous king of that country, and offered to accompany +him to the court. Now at that time it happened that the king was +seeking for a Brahman to look after a golden temple which he had just +had built. His Majesty was very glad, therefore, when he saw the +Brahman and heard that he was good and honest. He at once deputed him +to the charge of this temple, and ordered fifty kharwars of rice and +one hundred rupees to be paid to him every year as wages. + +Two months after this, the Brahman's wife, not having heard any news of +her husband, left the house and went in quest of him. By a happy fate +she arrived at the very place that he had reached, where she heard that +every morning at the golden temple a golden rupee was given in the +king's name to any beggar who chose to go for it. Accordingly, on the +following morning she went to the place and met her husband. + +"Why have you come here?" he asked. "Why have you left my parents? Care +you not whether they curse me and I die? Go back immediately, and await +my return." + +"No, no," said the woman. "I cannot go back to starve and see your old +father and mother die. There is not a grain of rice left in the house." + +"O Bhagawant!" exclaimed the Brahman. "Here, take this," he continued, +scribbling a few lines on some paper, and then handing it to her, "and +give it to the king. You will see that he will give you a lac of rupees +for it." Thus saying he dismissed her, and the woman left. + +On this scrap of paper were written three pieces of advice--First, If a +person is travelling and reaches any strange place at night, let him be +careful where he puts up, and not close his eyes in sleep, lest he +close them in death. Secondly, If a man has a married sister, and +visits her in great pomp, she will receive him for the sake of what she +can obtain from him; but if he comes to her in poverty, she will frown +on him and disown him. Thirdly, If a man has to do any work, he must do +it himself, and do it with might and without fear. + +On reaching her home the Brahmani told her parents of her meeting with +her husband, and what a valuable piece of paper he had given her; but +not liking to go before the king herself, she sent one of her +relations. The king read the paper, and ordering the man to be flogged, +dismissed him. The next morning the Brahmani took the paper, and while +she was going along the road to the darbar reading it, the king's son +met her, and asked what she was reading, whereupon she replied that she +held in her hands a paper containing certain bits of advice, for which +she wanted a lac of rupees. The prince asked her to show it to him, and +when he had read it gave her a parwana for the amount, and rode on. The +poor Brahmani was very thankful. That day she laid in a great store of +provisions, sufficient to last them all for a long time. + +In the evening the prince related to his father the meeting with the +woman, and the purchase of the piece of paper. He thought his father +would applaud the act. But it was not so. The king was more angry than +before, and banished his son from the country. + +So the prince bade adieu to his mother and relations and friends, and +rode off on his horse, whither he did not know. At nightfall he arrived +at some place, where a man met him, and invited him to lodge at his +house. The prince accepted the invitation, and was treated like a +prince. Matting was spread for him to squat on, and the best provisions +set before him. + +"Ah!" thought he, as he lay down to rest, "here is a case for the first +piece of advice that the Brahmani gave me. I will not sleep to-night." + +It was well that he thus resolved, for in the middle of the night the +man rose up, and taking a sword in his hand, rushed to the prince with +the intention of killing him. But he rose up and spoke. + +"Do not slay me," he said. "What profit would you get from my death? If +you killed me you would be sorry afterwards, like that man who killed +his dog." + +"What man? What dog?" he asked. + +"I will tell you," said the prince, "if you will give me that sword." + +So he gave him the sword, and the prince began his story: + +"Once upon a time there lived a wealthy merchant who had a pet dog. He +was suddenly reduced to poverty, and had to part with his dog. He got a +loan of five thousand rupees from a brother merchant, leaving the dog +as a pledge, and with the money began business again. Not long after +this the other merchant's shop was broken into by thieves and +completely sacked. There was hardly ten rupees' worth left in the +place. The faithful dog, however, knew what was going on, and went and +followed the thieves, and saw where they deposited the things, and then +returned. + +"In the morning there was great weeping and lamentation in the +merchant's house when it was known what had happened. The merchant +himself nearly went mad. Meanwhile the dog kept on running to the door, +and pulling at his master's shirt and paijamas, as though wishing him +to go outside. At last a friend suggested that, perhaps, the dog knew +something of the whereabouts of the things, and advised the merchant to +follow its leadings. The merchant consented, and went after the dog +right up to the very place where the thieves had hidden the goods. Here +the animal scraped and barked, and showed in various ways that the +things were underneath. So the merchant and his friends dug about the +place, and soon came upon all the stolen property. Nothing was missing. +There was everything just as the thieves had taken them. + +"The merchant was very glad. On returning to his house, he at once sent +the dog back to its old master with a letter rolled under the collar, +wherein he had written about the sagacity of the beast, and begged his +friend to forget the loan and to accept another five thousand rupees as +a present. When this merchant saw his dog coming back again, he +thought, 'Alas! my friend is wanting the money. How can I pay him? I +have not had sufficient time to recover myself from my recent losses. I +will slay the dog ere he reaches the threshold, and say that another +must have slain it. Thus there will be an end of my debt.' + +"No dog, no loan. Accordingly he ran out and killed the poor dog, when +the letter fell out of its collar. The merchant picked it up and read +it. How great was his grief and disappointment when he knew the facts +of the case! + +"Beware," continued the prince, "lest you do that which afterwards you +would give your life not to have done." + +By the time the prince had concluded this story it was nearly morning, +and he went away, after rewarding the man. + +The prince then visited the country belonging to his brother-in-law. He +disguised himself as a jogi, and sitting down by a tree near the +palace, pretended to be absorbed in worship. News of the man and of his +wonderful piety reached the ears of the king. He felt interested in +him, as his wife was very ill; and he had sought for hakims to cure +her, but in vain. He thought that, perhaps, this holy man could do +something for her. So he sent to him. But the jogi refused to tread the +halls of a king, saying that his dwelling was the open air, and that if +his Majesty wished to see him he must come himself and bring his wife +to the place. Then the king took his wife and brought her to the jogi. +The holy man bade her prostrate herself before him, and when she had +remained in this position for about three hours, he told her to rise +and go, for she was cured. + +In the evening there was great consternation in the palace, because the +queen had lost her pearl rosary, and nobody knew anything about it. At +length some one went to the jogi, and found it on the ground by the +place where the queen had prostrated herself. When the king heard this +he was very angry, and ordered the jogi to be executed. This stern +order, however, was not carried out, as the prince bribed the men and +escaped from the country. But he knew that the second bit of advice was +true. + +Clad in his own clothes, the prince was walking along one day when he +saw a potter crying and laughing alternately with his wife and +children. "O fool," said he, "what is the matter? If you laugh, why do +you weep? If you weep, why do you laugh?" + +"Do not bother me," said the potter. "What does it matter to you?" + +"Pardon me," said the prince, "but I should like to know the reason." + +"The reason is this, then," said the potter. "The king of this country +has a daughter whom he is obliged to marry every day, because all her +husbands die the first night of their stay with her. Nearly all the +young men of the place have thus perished, and our son will be called +on soon. We laugh at the absurdity of the thing--a potter's son +marrying a princess, and we cry at the terrible consequence of the +marriage. What can we do?" + +"Truly a matter for laughing and weeping. But weep no more," said the +prince. "I will exchange places with your son, and will be married to +the princess instead of him. Only give me suitable garments, and +prepare me for the occasion." + +So the potter gave him beautiful raiment and ornaments, and the prince +went to the palace. At night he was conducted to the apartment of the +princess. "Dread hour!" thought he; "am I to die like the scores of +young men before me?" He clenched his sword with firm grip, and lay +down on his bed, intending to keep awake all the night and see what +would happen. In the middle of the night he saw two Shahmars come out +from the nostrils of the princess. They stole over towards him, +intending to kill him, like the others who had been before him: but he +was ready for them. He laid hold of his sword, and when the snakes +reached his bed he struck at them and killed them. In the morning the +king came as usual to inquire, and was surprised to hear his daughter +and the prince talking gaily together. "Surely," said he, "this man +must be her husband, as he only can live with her." + +"Where do you come from? Who are you?" asked the king, entering the +room. + +"O king!" replied the prince, "I am the son of a king who rules over +such-and-such a country." + +When he heard this the king was very glad, and bade the prince to abide +in his palace, and appointed him his successor to the throne. The +prince remained at the palace for more than a year, and then asked +permission to visit his own country, which was granted. The king gave +him elephants, horses, jewels, and abundance of money for the expenses +of the way and as presents for his father, and the prince started. + +On the way he had to pass through the country belonging to his brother- +in-law, whom we have already mentioned. Report of his arrival reached +the ears of the king, who came with rope-tied hands and haltered neck +to do him homage. He most humbly begged him to stay at his palace, and +to accept what little hospitality could be provided. While the prince +was staying at the palace he saw his sister, who greeted him with +smiles and kisses. On leaving he told her how she and her husband had +treated him at his first visit, and how he had escaped; and then gave +them two elephants, two beautiful horses, fifteen soldiers, and ten +lacs rupees' worth of jewels. + +Afterwards he went to his own home, and informed his mother and father +of his arrival. Alas! his parents had both become blind from weeping +about the loss of their son. "Let him come in," said the king, "and put +his hands upon our eyes, and we shall see again." So the prince +entered, and was most affectionately greeted by his old parents; and he +laid his hands on their eyes, and they saw again. + +Then the prince told his father all that had happened to him, and how +he had been saved several times by attending to the advice that he had +purchased from the Brahmani. Whereupon the king expressed his sorrow +for having sent him away, and all was joy and peace again. + + + +THE GOLD-GIVING SERPENT + +Now in a certain place there lived a Brahman named Haridatta. He was a +farmer, but poor was the return his labour brought him. One day, at the +end of the hot hours, the Brahman, overcome by the heat, lay down under +the shadow of a tree to have a doze. Suddenly he saw a great hooded +snake creeping out of an ant-hill near at hand. So he thought to +himself, "Sure this is the guardian deity of the field, and I have not +ever worshipped it. That's why my farming is in vain. I will at once go +and pay my respects to it." + +When he had made up his mind, he got some milk, poured it into a bowl, +and went to the ant-hill, and said aloud: "O Guardian of this Field! +all this while I did not know that you dwelt here. That is why I have +not yet paid my respects to you; pray forgive me." And he laid the milk +down and went to his house. Next morning he came and looked, and he saw +a gold denar in the bowl, and from that time onward every day the same +thing occurred he gave milk to the serpent and found a gold denar. + +One day the Brahman had to go to the village, and so he ordered his son +to take the milk to the ant-hill. The son brought the milk, put it +down, and went back home. Next day he went again and found a denar, so +he thought to himself: "This ant-hill is surely full of golden denars; +I'll kill the serpent, and take them all for myself." So next day, +while he was giving the milk to the serpent, the Brahman's son struck +it on the head with a cudgel. But the serpent escaped death by the will +of fate, and in a rage bit the Brahman's son with its sharp fangs, and +he fell down dead at once. His people raised him a funeral pyre not far +from the field and burnt him to ashes. + +Two days afterwards his father came back, and when he learnt his son's +fate he grieved and mourned. But after a time, he took the bowl of +milk, went to the ant-hill, and praised the serpent with a loud voice. +After a long, long time the serpent appeared, but only with its head +out of the opening of the ant-hill, and spoke to the Brahman: "'Tis +greed that brings you here, and makes you even forget the loss of your +son. From this time forward friendship between us is impossible. Your +son struck me in youthful ignorance, and I have bitten him to death. +How can I forget the blow with the cudgel? And how can you forget the +pain and grief at the loss of your son?" So speaking, it gave the +Brahman a costly pearl and disappeared. But before it went away it +said: "Come back no more." The Brahman took the pearl, and went back +home, cursing the folly of his son. + + + +THE SON OF SEVEN QUEENS + +Once upon a time there lived a King who had seven Queens, but no +children. This was a great grief to him, especially when he remembered +that on his death there would be no heir to inherit the kingdom. + +Now it happened one day that a poor old fakir came to the King, and +said, "Your prayers are heard, your desire shall be accomplished, and +one of your seven Queens shall bear a son." + +The King's delight at this promise knew no bounds, and he gave orders +for appropriate festivities to be prepared against the coming event +throughout the length and breadth of the land. + +Meanwhile the seven Queens lived luxuriously in a splendid palace, +attended by hundreds of female slaves, and fed to their hearts' content +on sweetmeats and confectionery. + +Now the King was very fond of hunting, and one day, before he started, +the seven Queens sent him a message saying, "May it please our dearest +lord not to hunt towards the north to-day, for we have dreamt bad +dreams, and fear lest evil should befall you." + +The king, to allay their anxiety, promised regard for their wishes, and +set out towards the south; but as luck would have it, although he +hunted diligently, he found no game. Nor had he more success to the +east or west, so that, being a keen sportsman, and determined not to go +home empty-handed, he forgot all about his promise, and turned to the +north. Here also he was at first unsuccessful, but just as he had made +up his mind to give up for that day, a white hind with golden horns and +silver hoofs flashed past him into a thicket. So quickly did it pass +that he scarcely saw it; nevertheless a burning desire to capture and +possess the beautiful strange creature filled his breast. He instantly +ordered his attendants to form a ring round the thicket, and so +encircle the hind; then, gradually narrowing the circle, he pressed +forward till he could distinctly see the white hind panting in the +midst. Nearer and nearer he advanced, till, just as he thought to lay +hold of the beautiful strange creature, it gave one mighty bound, leapt +clean over the King's head, and fled towards the mountains. Forgetful +of all else, the King, setting spurs to his horse, followed at full +speed. On, on he galloped, leaving his retinue far behind, keeping the +white hind in view, never drawing bridle, until, finding himself in a +narrow ravine with no outlet, he reined in his steed. Before him stood +a miserable hovel, into which, being tired after his long, unsuccessful +chase, he entered to ask for a drink of water. An old woman, seated in +the hut at a spinning-wheel, answered his request by calling to her +daughter, and immediately from an inner room came a maiden so lovely +and charming, so white-skinned and golden-haired, that the King was +transfixed by astonishment at seeing so beautiful a sight in the +wretched hovel. + +She held the vessel of water to the King's lips, and as he drank he +looked into her eyes, and then it became clear to him that the girl was +no other than the white hind with the golden horns and silver feet he +had chased so far. + +Her beauty bewitched him, so he fell on his knees, begging her to +return with him as his bride; but she only laughed, saying seven Queens +were quite enough even for a King to manage. However, when he would +take no refusal, but implored her to have pity on him, promising her +everything she could desire, she replied, "Give me the eyes of your +seven Queens, and then perhaps I may believe you mean what you say." + +The King was so carried away by the glamour of the white hind's magical +beauty, that he went home at once, had the eyes of his seven Queens +taken out, and, after throwing the poor blind creatures into a noisome +dungeon whence they could not escape, set off once more for the hovel +in the ravine, bearing with him his horrible offering. But the white +hind only laughed cruelly when she saw the fourteen eyes, and threading +them as a necklace, flung it round her mother's neck, saying, "Wear +that, little mother, as a keepsake, whilst I am away in the King's +palace." + +Then she went back with the bewitched monarch, as his bride, and he +gave her the seven Queens' rich clothes and jewels to wear, the seven +Queens' palace to live in, and the seven Queens' slaves to wait upon +her; so that she really had everything even a witch could desire. + +Now, very soon after the seven wretched hapless Queens had their eyes +torn out, and were cast into prison, a baby was born to the youngest of +the Queens. It was a handsome boy, but the other Queens were very +jealous that the youngest amongst them should be so fortunate. But +though at first they disliked the handsome little boy, he soon proved +so useful to them, that ere long they all looked on him as their son. +Almost as soon as he could walk about he began scraping at the mud wall +of their dungeon, and in an incredibly short space of time had made a +hole big enough for him to crawl through. Through this he disappeared, +returning in an hour or so laden with sweet-meats, which he divided +equally amongst the seven blind Queens. + +As he grew older he enlarged the hole, and slipped out two or three +times every day to play with the little nobles in the town. No one knew +who the tiny boy was, but everybody liked him, and he was so full of +funny tricks and antics, so merry and bright, that he was sure to be +rewarded by some girdle-cakes, a handful of parched grain, or some +sweetmeats. All these things he brought home to his seven mothers, as +he loved to call the seven blind Queens, who by his help lived on in +their dungeon when all the world thought they had starved to death ages +before. + +At last, when he was quite a big lad, he one day took his bow and +arrow, and went out to seek for game. Coming by chance past the palace +where the white hind lived in wicked splendour and magnificence, he saw +some pigeons fluttering round the white marble turrets, and, taking +good aim, shot one dead. It came tumbling past the very window where +the white Queen was sitting; she rose to see what was the matter, and +looked out. At the first glance of the handsome young lad standing +there bow in hand, she knew by witchcraft that it was the King's son. + +She nearly died of envy and spite, determining to destroy the lad +without delay; therefore, sending a servant to bring him to her +presence, she asked him if he would sell her the pigeon he had just +shot. + +"No," replied the sturdy lad, "the pigeon is for my seven blind +mothers, who live in the noisome dungeon, and who would die if I did +not bring them food." + +"Poor souls!" cried the cunning white witch; "would you not like to +bring them their eyes again? Give me the pigeon, my dear, and I +faithfully promise to show you where to find them." + +Hearing this, the lad was delighted beyond measure, and gave up the +pigeon at once. Whereupon the white Queen told him to seek her mother +without delay, and ask for the eyes which she wore as a necklace. + +"She will not fail to give them," said the cruel Queen, "if you show +her this token on which I have written what I want done." + +So saying, she gave the lad a piece of broken potsherd, with these +words inscribed on it--"Kill the bearer at once, and sprinkle his blood +like water!" + +Now, as the son of seven Queens could not read, he took the fatal +message cheerfully, and set off to find the white Queen's mother. + +Whilst he was journeying be passed through a town, where every one of +the inhabitants looked so sad, that he could not help asking what was +the matter. They told him it was because the King's only daughter +refused to marry; so when her father died there would be no heir to the +throne. They greatly feared she must be out of her mind, for though +every good-looking young man in the kingdom had been shown to her, she +declared she would only marry one who was the son of seven mothers, and +who ever heard of such a thing? The King, in despair, had ordered every +man who entered the city gates to be led before the Princess; so, much +to the lad's impatience, for he was in an immense hurry to find his +mothers' eyes, he was dragged into the presence-chamber. + +No sooner did the Princess catch sight of him than she blushed, and, +turning to the King, said, "Dear father, this is my choice!" + +Never were such rejoicings as these few words produced. + +The inhabitants nearly went wild with joy, but the son of seven Queens +said he would not marry the Princess unless they first let him recover +his mothers' eyes. When the beautiful bride heard his story, she asked +to see the potsherd, for she was very learned and clever. Seeing the +treacherous words, she said nothing, but taking another similar-shaped +bit of potsherd, she wrote on it these words--"Take care of this lad, +giving him all he desires," and returned it to the son of seven Queens, +who, none the wiser, set off on his quest. + +Ere long he arrived at the hovel in the ravine where the white witch's +mother, a hideous old creature, grumbled dreadfully on reading the +message, especially when the lad asked for the necklace of eyes. +Nevertheless she took it off, and gave it him, saying, "There are only +thirteen of 'em now, for I lost one last week." + +The lad, however, was only too glad to get any at all, so he hurried +home as fast as he could to his seven mothers, and gave two eyes apiece +to the six elder Queens; but to the youngest he gave one, saying, +"Dearest little mother!--I will be your other eye always!" + +After this he set off to marry the Princess, as he had promised, but +when passing by the white Queen's palace he saw some pigeons on the +roof. Drawing his bow, he shot one, and it came fluttering past the +window. The white hind looked out, and lo! there was the King's son +alive and well. + +She cried with hatred and disgust, but sending for the lad, asked him +how he had returned so soon, and when she heard how he had brought home +the thirteen eyes, and given them to the seven blind Queens, she could +hardly restrain her rage. Nevertheless she pretended to be charmed with +his success, and told him that if he would give her this pigeon also, +she would reward him with the Jogi's wonderful cow, whose milk flows +all day long, and makes a pond as big as a kingdom. The lad, nothing +loth, gave her the pigeon; whereupon, as before, she bade him go ask +her mother for the cow, and gave him a potsherd whereon was written-- +"Kill this lad without fail, and sprinkle his blood like water!" + +But on the way the son of seven Queens looked in on the Princess, just +to tell her how he came to be delayed, and she, after reading the +message on the potsherd, gave him another in its stead; so that when +the lad reached the old hag's hut and asked her for the Jogi's cow, she +could not refuse, but told the boy how to find it; and bidding him of +all things not to be afraid of the eighteen thousand demons who kept +watch and ward over the treasure, told him to be off before she became +too angry at her daughter's foolishness in thus giving away so many +good things. + +Then the lad did as he had been told bravely. He journeyed on and on +till he came to a milk-white pond, guarded by the eighteen thousand +demons. They were really frightful to behold, but, plucking up courage, +he whistled a tune as he walked through them, looking neither to the +right nor the left. By-and-by he came upon the Jogi's cow, tall, white, +and beautiful, while the Jogi himself, who was king of all the demons, +sat milking her day and night, and the milk streamed from her udder, +filling the milk-white tank. + +The Jogi, seeing the lad, called out fiercely, "What do you want here?" + +Then the lad answered, according to the old hag's bidding, "I want your +skin, for King Indra is making a new kettle-drum, and says your skin is +nice and tough." + +Upon this the Jogi began to shiver and shake (for no Jinn or Jogi dares +disobey King Indra's command), and, falling at the lad's feet, cried, +"If you will spare me I will give you anything I possess, even my +beautiful white cow!" + +To this the son of seven Queens, after a little pretended hesitation, +agreed, saying that after all it would not be difficult to find a nice +tough skin like the Jogi's elsewhere; so, driving the wonderful cow +before him, he set off homewards. The seven Queens were delighted to +possess so marvellous an animal, and though they toiled from morning +till night making curds and whey, besides selling milk to the +confectioners, they could not use half the cow gave, and became richer +and richer day by day. + +Seeing them so comfortably off, the son of seven Queens started with a +light heart to marry the Princess; but when passing the white hind's +palace he could not resist sending a bolt at some pigeons which were +cooing on the parapet. One fell dead just beneath the window where the +white Queen was sitting. Looking out, she saw the lad hale and hearty +standing before her, and grew whiter than ever with rage and spite. + +She sent for him to ask how he had returned so soon, and when she heard +how kindly her mother had received him, she very nearly had a fit; +however, she dissembled her feelings as well as she could, and, smiling +sweetly, said she was glad to have been able to fulfil her promise, and +that if he would give her this third pigeon, she would do yet more for +him than she had done before, by giving him the million-fold rice, +which ripens in one night. + +The lad was of course delighted at the very idea, and, giving up the +pigeon, set off on his quest, armed as before with a potsherd, on which +was written, "Do not fail this time. Kill the lad, and sprinkle his +blood like water!" + +But when he looked in on his Princess, just to prevent her becoming +anxious about him, she asked to see the potsherd as usual, and +substituted another, on which was written, "Yet again give this lad all +he requires, for his blood shall be as your blood!" + +Now when the old hag saw this, and heard how the lad wanted the +million-fold rice which ripens in a single night, she fell into the +most furious rage, but being terribly afraid of her daughter, she +controlled herself, and bade the boy go and find the field guarded by +eighteen millions of demons, warning him on no account to look back +after having plucked the tallest spike of rice, which grew in the +centre. + +So the son of seven Queens set off, and soon came to the field where, +guarded by eighteen millions of demons, the million-fold rice grew. He +walked on bravely, looking neither to the right or left, till he +reached the centre and plucked the tallest ear, but as he turned +homewards a thousand sweet voices rose behind him, crying in tenderest +accents, "Pluck me too! oh, please pluck me too!" He looked back, and +lo! there was nothing left of him but a little heap of ashes! + +Now as time passed by and the lad did not return, the old hag grew +uneasy, remembering the message "his blood shall be as your blood"; so +she set off to see what had happened. + +Soon she came to the heap of ashes, and knowing by her arts what it +was, she took a little water, and kneading the ashes into a paste, +formed it into the likeness of a man; then, putting a drop of blood +from her little finger into its mouth, she blew on it, and instantly +the son of seven Queens started up as well as ever. + +"Don't you disobey orders again!" grumbled the old hag, "or next time +I'll leave you alone. Now be off, before I repent of my kindness!" + +So the son of seven Queens returned joyfully to his seven mothers, who, +by the aid of the million-fold rice, soon became the richest people in +the kingdom. Then they celebrated their son's marriage to the clever +Princess with all imaginable pomp; but the bride was so clever, she +would not rest until she had made known her husband to his father, and +punished the wicked white witch. So she made her husband build a palace +exactly like the one in which the seven Queens had lived, and in which +the white witch now dwelt in splendour. Then, when all was prepared, +she bade her husband give a grand feast to the King. Now the King had +heard much of the mysterious son of seven Queens, and his marvellous +wealth, so he gladly accepted the invitation; but what was his +astonishment when on entering the palace he found it was a facsimile of +his own in every particular! And when his host, richly attired, led him +straight to the private hall, where on royal thrones sat the seven +Queens, dressed as he had last seen them, he was speechless with +surprise, until the Princess, coming forward, threw herself at his +feet, and told him the whole story. Then the King awoke from his +enchantment, and his anger rose against the wicked white hind who had +bewitched him so long, until he could not contain himself. So she was +put to death, and her grave ploughed over, and after that the seven +Queens returned to their own splendid palace, and everybody lived +happily. + + + +A LESSON FOR KINGS + +Once upon a time, when Brahma-datta was reigning in Benares, the future +Buddha returned to life as his son and heir. And when the day came for +choosing a name, they called him Prince Brahma-datta. He grew up in due +course; and when he was sixteen years old, went to Takkasila, and +became accomplished in all arts. And after his father died he ascended +the throne, and ruled the kingdom with righteousness and equity. He +gave judgments without partiality, hatred, ignorance, or fear. Since he +thus reigned with justice, with justice also his ministers administered +the law. Lawsuits being thus decided with justice, there were none who +brought false cases. And as these ceased, the noise and tumult of +litigation ceased in the king's court. Though the judges sat all day in +the court, they had to leave without any one coming for justice. It +came to this, that the Hall of Justice would have to be closed! + +Then the future Buddha thought, "It cannot be from my reigning with +righteousness that none come for judgment; the bustle has ceased, and +the Hall of Justice will have to be closed. I must, therefore, now +examine into my own faults; and if I find that anything is wrong in me, +put that away, and practise only virtue." + +Thenceforth he sought for some one to tell him his faults, but among +those around him he found no one who would tell him of any fault, but +heard only his own praise. + +Then he thought, "It is from fear of me that these men speak only good +things, and not evil things," and he sought among those people who +lived outside the palace. And finding no fault-finder there, he sought +among those who lived outside the city, in the suburbs, at the four +gates. And there too finding no one to find fault, and hearing only his +own praise, he determined to search the country places. + +So he made over the kingdom to his ministers, and mounted his chariot; +and taking only his charioteer, left the city in disguise. And +searching the country through, up to the very boundary, he found no +fault-finder, and heard only of his own virtue; and so he turned back +from the outer-most boundary, and returned by the high road towards the +city. + +Now at that time the king of Kosala, Mallika by name, was also ruling +his kingdom with righteousness; and when seeking for some fault in +himself, he also found no fault-finder in the palace, but only heard of +his own virtue! So seeking in country places, he too came to that very +spot. And these two came face to face in a low cart-track with +precipitous sides, where there was no space for a chariot to get out of +the way! + +Then the charioteer of Mallika the king said to the charioteer of the +king of Benares, "Take thy chariot out of the way!" + +But he said, "Take thy chariot out of the way, O charioteer! In this +chariot sitteth the lord over the kingdom of Benares, the great king +Brahma-datta." + +Yet the other replied, "In this chariot, O charioteer, sitteth the lord +over the kingdom of Kosala, the great king Mallika. Take thy carriage +out of the way, and make room for the chariot of our king!" + +Then the charioteer of the king of Benares thought, "They say then that +he too is a king! What _is_ now to be done?" After some consideration, +he said to himself, "I know a way. I'll find out how old he is, and then +I'll let the chariot of the younger be got out of the way, and so make +room for the elder." + +And when he had arrived at that conclusion, he asked that charioteer +what the age of the king of Kosala was. But on inquiry he found that +the ages of both were equal. Then he inquired about the extent of his +kingdom, and about his army, and his wealth, and his renown, and about +the country he lived in, and his caste and tribe and family. And he +found that both were lords of a kingdom three hundred leagues in +extent; and that in respect of army and wealth and renown, and the +countries in which they lived, and their caste and their tribe and +their family, they were just on a par! + +Then he thought, "I will make way for the most righteous." And he +asked, "What kind of righteousness has this king of yours?" + +Then the chorister of the king of Kosala, proclaiming his king's +wickedness as goodness, uttered the First Stanza: + + "The strong he overthrows by strength, + The mild by mildness, does Mallika; + The good he conquers by goodness, + And the wicked by wickedness too. + Such is the nature of _this_ king! + Move out of the way, O charioteer!" + +But the charioteer of the king of Benares asked him, "Well, have you +told all the virtues of your king?" + +"Yes," said the other. + +"If these are his _virtues_, where are then his faults?" replied +he. + +The other said, "Well, for the nonce, they shall be faults, if you +like! But pray, then, what is the kind of goodness your king has?" + +And then the charioteer of the king of Benares called unto him to +hearken, and uttered the Second Stanza + + "Anger he conquers by calmness, + And by goodness the wicked; + The stingy he conquers by gifts, + And by truth the speaker of lies. + Such is the nature of _this_ king! + Move out of the way, O charioteer!" + +And when he had thus spoken, both Mallika the king and his charioteer +alighted from their chariot. And they took out the horses, and removed +their chariot, and made way for the king of Benares! + + + +PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALL + +In a certain village there lived ten cloth merchants, who always went +about together. Once upon a time they had travelled far afield, and +were returning home with a great deal of money which they had obtained +by selling their wares. Now there happened to be a dense forest near +their village, and this they reached early one morning. In it there +lived three notorious robbers, of whose existence the traders had never +heard, and while they were still in the middle of it the robbers stood +before them, with swords and cudgels in their hands, and ordered them +to lay down all they had. The traders had no weapons with them, and so, +though they were many more in number, they had to submit themselves to +the robbers, who took away everything from them, even the very clothes +they wore, and gave to each only a small loin-cloth a span in breadth +and a cubit in length. + +The idea that they had conquered ten men and plundered all their +property, now took possession of the robbers' minds. They seated +themselves like three monarchs before the men they had plundered, and +ordered them to dance to them before returning home. The merchants now +mourned their fate. They had lost all they had, except their loin- +cloth, and still the robbers were not satisfied, but ordered them to +dance. + +There was, among the ten merchants, one who was very clever. He +pondered over the calamity that had come upon him and his friends, the +dance they would have to perform, and the magnificent manner in which +the three robbers had seated themselves on the grass. At the same time +he observed that these last had placed their weapons on the ground, in +the assurance of having thoroughly cowed the traders, who were now +commencing to dance. So he took the lead in the dance, and, as a song +is always sung by the leader on such occasions, to which the rest keep +time with hands and feet, he thus began to sing: + + "We are enty men, + They are erith men: + If each erith man, Surround eno men + Eno man remains. + _Tâ, tai, tôm, tadingana._" + +The robbers were all uneducated, and thought that the leader was merely +singing a song as usual. So it was in one sense; for the leader +commenced from a distance, and had sung the song over twice before he +and his companions commenced to approach the robbers. They had +understood his meaning, because they had been trained in trade. + +When two traders discuss the price of an article in the presence of a +purchaser, they use a riddling sort of language. + +"What is the price of this cloth?" one trader will ask another. + +"Enty rupees," another will reply, meaning "ten rupees." + +Thus, there is no possibility of the purchaser knowing what is meant +unless he be acquainted with trade language. By the rules of this +secret language erith means "three," enty means "ten," and eno means +"one." So the leader by his song meant to hint to his fellow-traders +that they were ten men, the robbers only three, that if three pounced +upon each of the robbers, nine of them could hold them down, while the +remaining one bound the robbers' hands and feet. + +The three thieves, glorying in their victory, and little understanding +the meaning of the song and the intentions of the dancers, were proudly +seated chewing betel and tobacco. Meanwhile the song was sung a third +time. _Tâ tai tôm_ had left the lips of the singer; and, before +_tadingana_ was out of them, the traders separated into parties of +three, and each party pounced upon a thief. The remaining one--the +leader himself--tore up into long narrow strips a large piece of cloth, +six cubits long, and tied the hands and feet of the robbers. These were +entirely humbled now, and rolled on the ground like three bags of rice! + +The ten traders now took back all their property, and armed themselves +with the swords and cudgels of their enemies; and when they reached +their village, they often amused their friends and relatives by +relating their adventure. + + + +RAJA RASALU + +Once there lived a great Raja, whose name was Salabhan, and he had a +Queen, by name Lona, who, though she wept and prayed at many a shrine, +had never a child to gladden her eyes. After a long time, however, a +son was promised to her. + +Queen Lona returned to the palace, and when the time for the birth of +the promised son drew nigh, she inquired of three Jogis who came +begging to her gate, what the child's fate would be, and the youngest +of them answered and said, "Oh, Queen! the child will be a boy, and he +will live to be a great man. But for twelve years you must not look +upon his face, for if either you or his father see it before the twelve +years are past, you will surely die! This is what you must do; as soon +as the child is born you must send him away to a cellar underneath the +ground, and never let him see the light of day for twelve years. After +they are over, he may come forth, bathe in the river, put on new +clothes, and visit you. His name shall be Raja Rasalu, and he shall be +known far and wide." + +So, when a fair young Prince was in due time born into the world, his +parents hid him away in an underground palace, with nurses, and +servants, and everything else a King's son might desire. And with him +they sent a young colt, born the same day, and sword, spear, and +shield, against the day when Raja Rasalu should go forth into the +world. + +So there the child lived, playing with his colt, and talking to his +parrot, while the nurses taught him all things needful for a King's son +to know. + +Young Rasalu lived on, far from the light of day, for eleven long +years, growing tall and strong, yet contented to remain playing with +his colt, and talking to his parrot; but when the twelfth year began, +the lad's heart leapt up with desire for change, and he loved to listen +to the sounds of life which came to him in his palace-prison from the +outside world. + +"I must go and see where the voices come from!" he said; and when his +nurses told him he must not go for one year more, he only laughed +aloud, saying, "Nay! I stay no longer here for any man!" + +Then he saddled his Arab horse Bhaunr, put on his shining armour, and +rode forth into the world; but mindful of what his nurses had oft told +him, when he came to the river, he dismounted, and, going into the +water, washed himself and his clothes. + +Then, clean of raiment, fair of face, and brave of heart, he rode on +his way until he reached his father's city. There he sat down to rest +awhile by a well, where the women were drawing water in earthen +pitchers. Now, as they passed him, their full pitchers poised upon +their heads, the gay young Prince flung stones at the earthen vessels, +and broke them all. Then the women, drenched with water, went weeping +and wailing to the palace, complaining to the King that a mighty young +Prince in shining armour, with a parrot on his wrist and a gallant +steed beside him, sat by the well, and broke their pitchers. + +Now, as soon as Rajah Salabhan heard this, he guessed at once that it +was Prince Rasalu come forth before the time, and, mindful of the +Jogis' words that he would die if he looked on his son's face before +twelve years were past, he did not dare to send his guards to seize the +offender and bring him to be judged. So he bade the women be comforted, +and take pitchers of iron and brass, giving new ones from his treasury +to those who did not possess any of their own. + +But when Prince Rasalu saw the women returning to the well with +pitchers of iron and brass, he laughed to himself, and drew his mighty +bow till the sharp-pointed arrows pierced the metal vessels as though +they had been clay. + +Yet still the King did not send for him, so he mounted his steed and +set off in the pride of his youth and strength to the palace. He strode +into the audience hall, where his father sat trembling, and saluted him +will all reverence; but Raja Salabhan, in fear of his life, turned his +back hastily and said never a word in reply. + +Then Prince Rasalu called scornfully to him across the hall: + + "I came to greet thee, King, and not to harm thee! + What have I done that thou shouldst turn away? + Sceptre and empire have no power to charm me-- + I go to seek a worthier prize than they!" + +Then he strode away, full of bitterness and anger; but, as he passed +under the palace windows, he heard his mother weeping, and the sound +softened his heart, so that his wrath died down, and a great loneliness +fell upon him, because he was spurned by both father and mother. So he +cried sorrowfully, + + "Oh heart crown'd with grief, hast thou nought + But tears for thy son? + Art mother of mine? Give one thought + To my life just begun!" + +And Queen Lona answered through her tears: + + "Yea! mother am I, though I weep, + So hold this word sure,-- + Go, reign king of all men, but keep + Thy heart good and pure!" + +So Raja Rasalu was comforted, and began to make ready for fortune. He +took with him his horse Bhaunr and his parrot, both of whom had lived +with him since he was born. + +So they made a goodly company, and Queen Lona, when she saw them going, +watched them from her window till she saw nothing but a cloud of dust +on the horizon; then she bowed her head on her hands and wept, saying: + + "Oh! son who ne'er gladdened mine eyes, + Let the cloud of thy going arise, + Dim the sunlight and darken the day; + For the mother whose son is away + Is as dust!" + +Rasalu had started off to play chaupur with King Sarkap. And as he +journeyed there came a fierce storm of thunder and lightning, so that +he sought shelter, and found none save an old graveyard, where a +headless corpse lay upon the ground. So lonesome was it that even the +corpse seemed company, and Rasalu, sitting down beside it, said: + + "There is no one here, nor far nor near, + Save this breathless corpse so cold and grim; + Would God he might come to life again, + 'Twould be less lonely to talk to him." + +And immediately the headless corpse arose and sat beside Raja Rasalu. +And he, nothing astonished, said to it: + + "The storm beats fierce and loud, + The clouds rise thick in the west; + What ails thy grave and shroud, + Oh corpse! that thou canst not rest?" + +Then the headless corpse replied: + + "On earth I was even as thou, + My turban awry like a king, + My head with the highest, I trow, + Having my fun and my fling, + Fighting my foes like a brave, + Living my life with a swing. + And, now I am dead, + Sins, heavy as lead, + Will give me no rest in my grave!" + +So the night passed on, dark and dreary, while Rasalu sat in the +graveyard and talked to the headless corpse. Now when morning broke and +Rasalu said he must continue his journey, the headless corpse asked him +whither he was going, and when he said "to play chaupur with King +Sarkap," the corpse begged him to give up the idea saying, "I am King +Sarkap's brother, and I know his ways. Every day, before breakfast, he +cuts off the heads of two or three men, just to amuse himself. One day +no one else was at hand, so he cut off mine, and he will surely cut off +yours on some pretence or another. However, if you are determined to go +and play chaupur with him, take some of the bones from this graveyard, +and make your dice out of them, and then the enchanted dice with which +my brother plays will lose their virtue. Otherwise he will always win." + +So Rasalu took some of the bones lying about, and fashioned them into +dice, and these he put into his pocket. Then, bidding adieu to the +headless corpse, he went on his way to play chaupur with the King. + +Now, as Raja Rasalu, tender-hearted and strong, journeyed along to play +chaupur with the King, he came to a burning forest, and a voice rose +from the fire saying, "Oh, traveller! for God's sake save me from the +fire!" + +Then the Prince turned towards the burning forest, and, lo! the voice +was the voice of a tiny cricket. Nevertheless, Rasalu, tender-hearted +and strong, snatched it from the fire and set it at liberty. Then the +little creature, full of gratitude, pulled out one of its feelers, and +giving it to its preserver, said, "Keep this, and should you ever be in +trouble, put it into the fire, and instantly I will come to your aid." + +The Prince smiled, saying, "What help could _you_ give _me_?" +Nevertheless, he kept the hair and went on his way. + +Now, when he reached the city of King Sarkap, seventy maidens, +daughters of the King, came out to meet him,--seventy fair maidens, +merry and careless, full of smiles and laughter; but one, the youngest +of them all, when she saw the gallant young Prince riding on Bhaunr +Iraqi, going gaily to his doom, was filled with pity, and called to him +saying: + + "Fair Prince, on the charger so gray, + Turn thee back! turn thee back! + Or lower thy lance for the fray; + Thy head will be forfeit to-day! + Dost love life? then, stranger, I pray, + Turn thee back! turn thee back!" + +But he, smiling at the maiden, answered lightly: + + "Fair maiden, I come from afar, + Sworn conqueror in love and in war! + King Sarkap my coming will rue, + His head in four pieces I'll hew; + Then forth as a bridegroom I'll ride, + With you, little maid, as my bride!" + +Now when Rasalu replied so gallantly, the maiden looked in his face, +and seeing how fair he was, and how brave and strong, she straightway +fell in love with him, and would gladly have followed him through the +world. + +But the other sixty-nine maidens, being jealous, laughed scornfully at +her, saying, "Not so fast, oh gallant warrior! If you would marry our +sister you must first do our bidding, for you will be our younger +brother." + +"Fair sisters!" quoth Rasalu gaily, "give me my task and I will perform +it." + +So the sixty-nine maidens mixed a hundred-weight of millet seed with a +hundredweight of sand, and giving it to Rasalu, bade him separate the +seed from the sand. + +Then he bethought him of the cricket, and drawing the feeler from his +pocket, thrust it into the fire. And immediately there was a whirring +noise in the air, and a great flight of crickets alighted beside him, +and amongst them the cricket whose life he had saved. + +Then Rasalu said, "Separate the millet seed from the sand." + +"Is that all?" quoth the cricket; "had I known how small a job you +wanted me to do, I would not have assembled so many of my brethren." + +With that the flight of crickets set to work, and in one night they +separated the seed from the sand. + +Now when the sixty-nine fair maidens, daughters of the king saw that +Rasalu had performed his task, they set him another, bidding him swing +them all, one by one, in their swings, until they were tired. + +Whereupon he laughed, saying, "There are seventy of you, counting my +little bride yonder, and I am not going to spend my life swinging +girls! Why, by the time I have given each of you a swing, the first +will be wanting another! No! if you want a swing, get in, all seventy +of you, into one swing, and then I'll see what can be done." + +So the seventy maidens climbed into one swing, and Raja Rasalu, +standing in his shining armour, fastened the ropes to his mighty bow, +and drew it up to its fullest bent. Then he let go, and like an arrow +the swing shot into the air, with its burden of seventy fair maidens, +merry and careless, full of smiles and laughter. + +But as it swung back again, Kasalu, standing there in his shining +armour, drew his sharp sword and severed the ropes. Then the seventy +fair maidens fell to the ground headlong; and some were bruised and +some broken, but the only one who escaped unhurt was the maiden who +loved Rasalu, for she fell out last, on the top of the others, and so +came to no harm. + +After this, Rasalu strode on fifteen paces, till he came to the seventy +drums, that every one who came to play chaupur with the King had to +beat in turn; and he beat them so loudly that he broke them all. Then +he came to the seventy gongs, all in a row, and he hammered them so +hard that they cracked to pieces. + +Seeing this, the youngest Princess, who was the only one who could run, +fled to her father the King in a great fright, saying: + + "A mighty Prince, Sarkap! making havoc, rides along, + He swung us, seventy maidens fair, and threw us out + headlong; + He broke the drums you placed there and the gongs too + in his pride, + Sure, he will kill thee, father mine, and take me for his + bride!" + +But King Sarkap replied scornfully: + + "Silly maiden, thy words make a lot + Of a very small matter; + For fear of my valour, I wot, + His armour will clatter. + As soon as I've eaten my bread + I'll go forth and cut off his head!" + +Notwithstanding these brave and boastful words, he was in reality very +much afraid, having heard of Rasalu's renown. And learning that he was +stopping at the house of an old woman in the city, till the hour for +playing chaupur arrived, Sarkap sent slaves to him with trays of +sweetmeats and fruit, as to an honoured guest. But the food was +poisoned. + +Now when the slaves brought the trays to Raja Rasalu, he rose up +haughtily, saying, "Go, tell your master I have nought to do with him +in friendship. I am his sworn enemy, and I eat not of his salt!" + +So saying, he threw the sweetmeats to Raja Sarkap's dog, which had +followed the slave, and lo! the dog died. + +Then Rasalu was very wroth, and said bitterly, "Go back to Sarkap, +slaves! and tell him that Rasalu deems it no act of bravery to kill +even an enemy by treachery." + +Now, when evening came, Raja Rasalu went forth to play chaupur with +King Sarkap, and as he passed some potters' kilns he saw a cat +wandering about restlessly; so he asked what ailed her, that she never +stood still, and she replied, "My kittens are in an unbaked pot in the +kiln yonder. It has just been set alight, and my children will be baked +alive; therefore I cannot rest!" + +Her words moved the heart of Raja Rasalu, and, going to the potter, he +asked him to sell the kiln as it was; but the potter replied that he +could not settle a fair price till the pots were burnt, as he could not +tell how many would come out whole. Nevertheless, after some +bargaining, he consented at last to sell the kiln, and Rasalu, having +searched all the pots, restored the kittens to their mother, and she, +in gratitude for his mercy, gave him one of them, saying, "Put it in +your pocket, for it will help you when you are in difficulties." So +Raja Rasalu put the kitten in his pocket, and went to play chaupur with +the King. + +Now, before they sat down to play, Raja Sarkap fixed his stakes,--on +the first game, his kingdom; on the second, the wealth of the whole +world; and, on the third, his own head. So, likewise, Raja Rasalu fixed +his stakes,--on the first game, his arms; on the second, his horse; +and, on the third, his own head. + +Then they began to play, and it fell to Rasalu's lot to make the first +move. Now he, forgetful of the dead man's warning, played with the dice +given him by Raja Sarkap, besides which, Sarkap let loose his famous +rat, Dhol Raja, and it ran about the board, upsetting the chaupur +pieces on the sly, so that Rasalu lost the first game, and gave up his +shining armour. + +Then the second game began, and once more Dhol Raja, the rat, upset the +pieces; and Rasalu, losing the game, gave up his faithful steed. Then +Bhaunr, the Arab steed, who stood by, found voice, and cried to his +master, + + "Sea-born am I, bought with much gold; + Dear Prince! trust me now as of old. + I'll carry you far from these wiles-- + My flight, all unspurr'd, will be swift as a bird, + For thousands and thousands of miles! + Or if needs you must stay; ere the next game you play, + Place hand in your pocket, I pray!" + +Hearing this, Raja Sarkap frowned, and bade his slaves remove Bhaunr, +the Arab steed, since he gave his master advice in the game. Now, when +the slaves came to lead the faithful steed away, Rasalu could not +refrain from tears, thinking over the long years during which Bhaunr, +the Arab steed, had been his companion. But the horse cried out again, + + "Weep not, dear Prince! I shall not eat my bread + Of stranger hands, nor to strange stall be led. + Take thy right hand, and place it as I said." + +These words roused some recollection in Rasalu's mind, and when, just +at this moment, the kitten in his pocket began to struggle, he +remembered all about the warning, and the dice made from dead men's +bones. Then his heart rose up once more, and he called boldly to Raja +Sarkap, "Leave my horse and arms here for the present. Time enough to +take them away when you have won my head!" + +Now, Raja Sarkap, seeing Rasalu's confident bearing, began to be +afraid, and ordered all the women of his palace to come forth in their +gayest attire and stand before Rasalu, so as to distract his attention +from the game. But he never even looked at them, and drawing the dice +from his pocket, said to Sarkap, "We have played with your dice all +this time; now we will play with mine." + +Then the kitten went and sat at the window through which the rat Dhol +Raja used to come, and the game began. + +After a while, Sarkap, seeing Raja Rasalu was winning, called to his +rat, but when Dhol Raja saw the kitten he was afraid, and would not go +further. So Rasalu won, and took back his arms. Next he played for his +horse, and once more Raja Sarkap called for his rat; but Dhol Raja, +seeing the kitten keeping watch, was afraid. So Rasalu won the second +stake, and took back Bhaunr, the Arab steed. + +Then Sarkap brought all his skill to bear on the third and last game, +saying, + + "Oh moulded pieces! favour me to-day! + For sooth this is a man with whom I play. + No paltry risk--but life and death at stake; + As Sarkap does, so do, for Sarkap's sake!" + +But Rasalu answered back, + + "Oh moulded pieces! favour me to-day! + For sooth it is a man with whom I play. + No paltry risk--but life and death at stake; + As Heaven does, so do, for Heaven's sake!" + +So they began to play, whilst the women stood round in a circle, and +the kitten watched Dhol Raja from the window. Then Sarkap lost, first +his kingdom, then the wealth of the whole world, and lastly his head. + +Just then, a servant came in to announce the birth of a daughter to +Raja Sarkap, and he, overcome by misfortunes, said, "Kill her at once! +for she has been born in an evil moment, and has brought her father ill +luck!" + +But Rasalu rose up in his shining armour, tender-hearted and strong, +saying, "Not so, oh king! She has done no evil. Give me this child to +wife; and if you will vow, by all you hold sacred, never again to play +chaupur for another's head, I will spare yours now!" + +Then Sarkap vowed a solemn vow never to play for another's head; and +after that he took a fresh mango branch, and the new-born babe, and +placing them on a golden dish gave them to Rasalu. + +Now, as he left the palace, carrying with him the new-born babe and the +mango branch, he met a band of prisoners, and they called out to him, + + "A royal hawk art thou, oh King! the rest + But timid wild-fowl. Grant us our request,-- + Unloose these chains, and live for ever blest!" + +And Raja Rasalu hearkened to them, and bade King Sarkap set them at +liberty. + +Then he went to the Murti Hills, and placed the new-born babe, Kokilan, +in an underground palace, and planted the mango branch at the door, +saying, "In twelve years the mango tree will blossom; then will I +return and marry Kokilan." + +And after twelve years, the mango tree began to flower, and Raja Rasalu +married the Princess Kokilan, whom he won from Sarkap when he played +chaupur with the King. + + + +THE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN + +At the same time, when Brahma-datta was reigning in Benares, the future +Buddha was born one of a peasant family; and when he grew up, he gained +his living by tilling the ground. + +At that time a hawker used to go from place to place, trafficking in +goods carried by an ass. Now at each place he came to, when he took the +pack down from the ass's back, he used to clothe him in a lion's skin, +and turn him loose in the rice and barley fields. And when the watchmen +in the fields saw the ass, they dared not go near him, taking him for a +lion. + +So one day the hawker stopped in a village; and whilst he was getting +his own breakfast cooked, he dressed the ass in a lion's skin, and +turned him loose in a barley-field. The watchmen in the field dared not +go up to him; but going home, they published the news. Then all the +villagers came out with weapons in their hands; and blowing chanks, and +beating drums, they went near the field and shouted. Terrified with the +fear of death, the ass uttered a cry--the bray of an ass! + +And when he knew him then to be an ass, the future Buddha pronounced +the First Verse: + + "This is not a lion's roaring, + Nor a tiger's, nor a panther's; + Dressed in a lion's skin, + 'Tis a wretched ass that roars!" + +But when the villagers knew the creature to be an ass, they beat him +till his bones broke; and, carrying off the lion's skin, went away. +Then the hawker came; and seeing the ass fallen into so bad a plight, +pronounced the Second Verse: + + "Long might the ass, + Clad in a lion's skin, + Have fed on the barley green. + But he brayed! + And that moment he came to ruin." + +And even whilst he was yet speaking the ass died on the spot! + + + +THE FARMER AND THE MONEY-LENDER + +There was once a farmer who suffered much at the hands of a money- +lender. Good harvests, or bad, the farmer was always poor, the money- +lender rich. At the last, when he hadn't a farthing left, farmer went +to the money-lender's house, and said, "You can't squeeze water from a +stone, and as you have nothing to get by me now, you might tell me the +secret of becoming rich." + +"My friend," returned the money-lender, piously, "riches come from Ram +--ask _him_." + +"Thank you, I will!" replied the simple farmer; so he prepared three +girdle-cakes to last him on the journey, and set out to find Ram. + +First he met a Brahman, and to him he gave a cake, asking him to point +out the road to Ram; but the Brahman only took the cake and went on his +way without a word, Next the farmer met a Jogi or devotee, and to him +he gave a cake, without receiving any help in return. At last, he came +upon a poor man sitting under a tree, and finding out he was hungry, +the kindly farmer gave him his last cake, and sitting down to rest +beside him, entered into conversation. + +"And where are you going?" asked the poor man, at length. + +"Oh, I have a long journey before me, for I am going to find Ram!" +replied the farmer. "I don't suppose you could tell me which way to +go?" + +"Perhaps I can," said the poor man, smiling, "for _I_ am Ram! What +do you want of me?" + +Then the farmer told the whole story, and Ram, taking pity on him, gave +him a conch shell, and showed him how to blow it in a particular way, +saying, "Remember! whatever you wish for, you have only to blow the +conch that way, and your wish will be fulfilled. Only have a care of +that money-lender, for even magic is not proof against their wiles!" + +The farmer went back to his village rejoicing. In fact the money-lender +noticed his high spirits at once, and said to himself, "Some good +fortune must have befallen the stupid fellow, to make him hold his head +so jauntily." Therefore he went over to the simple farmer's house, and +congratulated him on his good fortune, in such cunning words, +pretending to have heard all about it, that before long the farmer +found himself telling the whole story--all except the secret of blowing +the conch, for, with all his simplicity, the farmer was not quite such +a fool as to tell that. + +Nevertheless, the money-lender determined to have the conch by hook or +by crook, and as he was villain enough not to stick at trifles, he +waited for a favourable opportunity and stole the conch. + +But, after nearly bursting himself with blowing the conch in every +conceivable way, he was obliged to give up the secret as a bad job. +However, being determined to succeed he went back to the farmer, and +said, coolly, "Look here; I've got your conch, but I can't use it; you +haven't got it, so it's clear you can't use it either. Business is at a +stand-still unless we make a bargain. Now, I promise to give you back +your conch, and never to interfere with your using it, on one +condition, which is this,--whatever you get from it, I am to get +double." + +"Never!" cried the farmer; "that would be the old business all over +again!" + +"Not at all!" replied the wily money-lender; "you will have your share! +Now, don't be a dog in the manger, for if _you_ get all you want, +what can it matter to you if _I_ am rich or poor?" + +At last, though it went sorely against the grain to be of any benefit +to a money-lender, the farmer was forced to yield, and from that time, +no matter what he gained by the power of the conch, the money-lender +gained double. And the knowledge that this was so preyed upon the +farmer's mind day and night, so that he had no satisfaction out of +anything. + +At last, there came a very dry season,--so dry that the farmer's crops +withered for want of rain. Then he blew his conch, and wished for a +well to water them, and lo! there was the well, _but the money-lender +had two!_--two beautiful new wells! This was too much for any farmer +to stand; and our friend brooded over it, and brooded over it, till at +last a bright idea came into his head. He seized the conch, blew it +loudly, and cried out, "Oh, Ram! I wish to be blind of one eye!" And so +he, was, in a twinkling, but the money-lender of course was blind of +both, and in trying to steer his way between the two new wells, he fell +into one, and was drowned. + +Now this true story shows that a farmer once got the better of a money- +lender--but only by losing one of his eyes. + + + +THE BOY WHO HAD A MOON ON HIS FOREHEAD AND A STAR ON HIS CHIN + +In a country were seven daughters of poor parents, who used to come +daily to play under the shady trees in the King's garden with the +gardener's daughter; and daily she used to say to them, "When I am +married I shall have a son. Such a beautiful boy as he will be has +never been seen. He will have a moon on his forehead and a star on his +chin." Then her playfellows used to laugh at her and mock her. + +But one day the King heard her telling them about the beautiful boy she +would have when she was married, and he said to himself he should like +very much to have such a son; the more so that though he had already +four Queens he had no child. He went, therefore, to the gardener and +told him he wished to marry his daughter. This delighted the gardener +and his wife, who thought it would indeed be grand for their daughter +to become a princess. So they said "Yes" to the King, and invited all +their friends to the wedding. The King invited all his, and he gave the +gardener as much money as he wanted. Then the wedding was held with +great feasting and rejoicing. + +A year later the day drew near on which the gardener's daughter was to +have her son; and the King's four other Queens came constantly to see +her. One day they said to her, "The King hunts every day; and the time +is soon coming when you will have your child. Suppose you fell ill +whilst he was out hunting and could therefore know nothing of your +illness, what would you do then?" + +When the King came home that evening, the gardener's daughter said to +him, "Every day you go out hunting. Should I ever be in trouble or sick +while you are away, how could I send for you?" The King gave her a +kettle-drum which he placed near the door for her, and he said to her, +"Whenever you want me, beat this kettle-drum. No matter how far away I +may be, I shall hear it, and will come at once to you." + +Next morning when the King had gone out to hunt, his four other Queens +came to see the gardener's daughter. She told them all about her +kettle-drum. "Oh," they said, "do drum on it just to see if the King +really will come to you." + +"No, I will not," she said; "for why should I call him from his hunting +when I do not want him?" + +"Don't mind interrupting his hunting," they answered. "Do try if he +really will come to you when you beat your kettle-drum." So at last, +just to please them, she beat it, and the King stood before her. + +"Why have you called me?" he said. "See, I have left my hunting to come +to you." + +"I want nothing," she answered; "I only wished to know if you really +would come to me when I beat my drum." + +"Very well," answered the King; "but do not call me again unless you +really need me." Then he returned to his hunting. + +The next day, when the King had gone out hunting as usual, the four +Queens again came to see the gardener's daughter. They begged and +begged her to beat her drum once more, "just to see if the King will +really come to see you this time." At first she refused, but at last +she consented. So she beat her drum, and the King came to her. But when +he found she was neither ill nor in trouble, he was angry, and said to +her, "Twice I have left my hunting and lost my game to come to you when +you did not need me. Now you may call me as much as you like, but I +will not come to you," and then he went away in a rage. + +The third day the gardener's daughter fell ill, and she beat and beat +her kettle-drum; but the King never came. He heard her kettle-drum, but +he thought, "She does not really want me; she is only trying to see if +I will go to her." + +Meanwhile the four other Queens came to her, and they said, "Here it is +the custom before a child is born to bind its mother's eyes with a +handkerchief that she may not see it just at first. So let us bind your +eyes." She answered, "Very well, bind my eyes." The four wives then +tied a handkerchief over them. + +Soon after, the gardener's daughter had a beautiful little son, with a +moon on his forehead and a star on his chin, and before the poor mother +had seen him, the four wicked Queens took the boy to the nurse and said +to her, "Now you must not let this child make the least sound for fear +his mother should hear him; and in the night you must either kill him, +or else take him away, so that his mother may never see him. If you +obey our orders, we will give you a great many rupees." All this they +did out of spite. The nurse took the little child and put him into a +box, and the four Queens went back to the gardener's daughter. + +First they put a stone into her boy's little bed, and then they took +the handkerchief off her eyes and showed it her, saying, "Look! this is +your son!" The poor girl cried bitterly, and thought, "What will the +King say when he finds no child?" But she could do nothing. + +When the King came home; he was furious at hearing his youngest wife, +the gardener's daughter, had given him a stone instead of the beautiful +little son she had promised him. He made her one of the palace +servants, and never spoke to her. + +In the middle of the night the nurse took the box in which was the +beautiful little prince, and went out to a broad plain in the jungle. +There she dug a hole, made the fastenings of the box sure, and put the +box into the hole, although the child in it was still alive. The King's +dog, whose name was Shankar, had followed her to see what she did with +the box. As soon as she had gone back to the four Queens (who gave her +a great many rupees), the dog went to the hole in which she had put the +box, took the box out, and opened it. When he saw the beautiful little +boy, he was very much delighted and said, "If it pleases Khuda that +this child should live, I will not hurt him; I will not eat him, but I +will swallow him whole and hide him in my stomach." This he did. + +After six months had passed, the dog went by night to the jungle, and +thought, "I wonder whether the boy is alive or dead." Then he brought +the child out of his stomach and rejoiced over his beauty. The boy was +now six months old. When Shankar had caressed and loved him, he +swallowed him again for another six months. At the end of that time he +went once more by night to the broad jungle-plain. There he brought up +the child out of his stomach (the child was now a year old), and +caressed and petted him a great deal, and was made very happy by his +great beauty. + +But this time the dog's keeper had followed and watched the dog; and he +saw all that Shankar did, and the beautiful little child, so he ran to +the four Queens and said to them, "Inside the King's dog there is a +child! the loveliest child! He has a moon on his forehead and a star on +his chin. Such a child has never been seen!" At this the four wives +were very much frightened, and as soon as the King came home from +hunting they said to him, "While you were away your dog came to our +rooms, and tore our clothes and knocked about all our things. We are +afraid he will kill us." "Do not be afraid," said the King. "Eat your +dinner and be happy. I will have the dog shot to-morrow morning." + +Then he ordered his servants to shoot the dog at dawn, but the dog +heard him, and said to himself, "What shall I do? The King intends to +kill me. I don't care about that, but what will become of the child if +I am killed? He will die. But I will see if I cannot save him." + +So when it was night, the dog ran to the King's cow, who was called +Suri, and said to her, "Suri, I want to give you something, for the +King has ordered me to be shot to-morrow. Will you take great care of +whatever I give you?" + +"Let me see what it is," said Suri, "I will take care of it if I can." +Then they both went together to the wide plain, and there the dog +brought up the boy. Suri was enchanted with him. "I never saw such a +beautiful child in this country," she said. "See, he has a moon on his +forehead and a star on his chin. I will take the greatest care of him." +So saying she swallowed the little prince. The dog made her a great +many salaams, and said, "To-morrow I shall die;" and the cow then went +back to her stable. + +Next morning at dawn the dog was taken to the jungle and shot. + +The child now lived in Suri's stomach; and when one whole year had +passed, and he was two years old, the cow went out to the plain, and +said to herself, "I do not know whether the child is alive or dead. But +I have never hurt it, so I will see." Then she brought up the boy; and +he played about, and Suri was delighted; she loved him and caressed +him, and talked to him. Then she swallowed him, and returned to her +stable. + +At the end of another year she went again to the plain and brought up +the child. He played and ran about for an hour to her great delight, +and she talked to him and caressed him. His great beauty made her very +happy. Then she swallowed him once more and returned to her stable. The +child was now three years old. + +But this time the cowherd had followed Suri, and had seen the wonderful +child and all she did to it. So he ran and told the four Queens, "The +King's cow has a beautiful boy inside her. He has a moon on his +forehead and a star on his chin. Such a child has never been seen +before!" + +At this the Queens were terrified. They tore their clothes and their +hair and cried. When the King came home at evening, he asked them why +they were so agitated. "Oh," they said, "your cow came and tried to +kill us; but we ran away. She tore our hair and our clothes." "Never +mind," said the King. "Eat your dinner and be happy. The cow shall be +killed to-morrow morning." + +Now Suri heard the King give this order to the servants, so she said to +herself, "What shall I do to save the child?" When it was midnight, she +went to the King's horse called Katar, who was very wicked, and quite +untameable. No one had ever been able to ride him; indeed no one could +go near him with safety, he was so savage. Suri said to this horse, +"Katar, will you take care of something that I want to give you, +because the King has ordered me to be killed to-morrow?" + +"Good," said Katar; "show me what it is." Then Suri brought up the +child, and the horse was delighted with him. "Yes," he said, "I will +take the greatest care of him. Till now no one has been able to ride +me, but this child shall ride me." Then he swallowed the boy, and when +he had done so, the cow made him many salaams, saying, "It is for this +boy's sake that I am to die." The next morning she was taken to the +jungle and there killed. + +The beautiful boy now lived in the horse's stomach, and he stayed in it +for one whole year. At the end of that time the horse thought, "I will +see if this child is alive or dead." So he brought him up; and then he +loved him, and petted him, and the little prince played all about the +stable, out of which the horse was never allowed to go. Katar was very +glad to see the child, who was now four years old. After he had played +for some time, the horse swallowed him again. At the end of another +year, when the boy was five years old, Katar brought him up again, +caressed him, loved him, and let him play about the stable as he had +done a year before. Then the horse swallowed him again. + +But this time the groom had seen all that happened, and when it was +morning, and the King had gone away to his hunting, he went to the four +wicked Queens, and told them all he had seen, and all about the +wonderful, beautiful child that lived inside the King's horse Katar. On +hearing the groom's story the four Queens cried, and tore their hair +and clothes, and refused to eat. When the King returned at evening and +asked them why they were so miserable, they said, "Your horse Katar +came and tore our clothes, and upset all our things, and we ran away +for fear he should kill us." + +"Never mind," said the King. "Only eat your dinner and be happy. I will +have Katar shot to-morrow." Then he thought that two men unaided could +not kill such a wicked horse, so he ordered his servants to bid his +troop of sepoys shoot him. + +So the next day the King placed his sepoys all round the stable, and he +took up his stand with them; and he said he would himself shoot any one +who let his horse escape. + +Meanwhile the horse had overheard all these orders. So he brought up +the child and said to him, "Go into that little room that leads out of +the stable, and you will find in it a saddle and bridle which you must +put on me. Then you will find in the room some beautiful clothes such +as princes wear; these you must put on yourself; and you must take the +sword and gun you will find there too. Then you must mount on my back." +Now Katar was a fairy-horse, and came from the fairies' country, so he +could get anything he wanted; but neither the King nor any of his +people knew this. + +When all was ready, Katar burst out of his stable, with the prince on +his back, rushed past the King himself before the King had time to +shoot him, galloped away to the great jungle-plain, and galloped about +all over it. The King saw his horse had a boy on his back, though he +could not see the boy distinctly. The sepoys tried in vain to shoot the +horse; he galloped much too fast; and at last they were all scattered +over the plain. Then the King had to give it up and go home; and the +sepoys went to their homes. The King could not shoot any of his sepoys +for letting his horse escape, for he himself had let him do so. + +Then Katar galloped away, on, and on, and on; and when night came they +stayed under a tree, he and the King's son. The horse ate grass, and +the boy wild fruits which he found in the jungle. Next morning they +started afresh, and went far, and far, till they came to a jungle in +another country, which did not belong to the little prince's father, +but to another king. Here Katar said to the boy, "Now get off my back." +Off jumped the prince. "Unsaddle me and take off my bridle; take off +your beautiful clothes and tie them all up in a bundle with your sword +and gun." This the boy did. Then the horse gave him some poor, common +clothes, which he told him to put on. As soon as he was dressed in them +the horse said, "Hide your bundle in this grass, and I will take care +of it for you. I will always stay in this jungle-plain, so that when +you want me you will always find me. You must now go away and find +service with some one in this country." + +This made the boy very sad. "I know nothing about anything," he said. +"What shall I do all alone in this country?" + +"Do not be afraid," answered Katar. "You will find service, and I will +always stay here to help you when you want me. So go, only before you +go, twist my right ear." The boy did so, and his horse instantly became +a donkey. "Now twist your right ear," said Katar. And when the boy had +twisted it, he was no longer a handsome prince, but a poor, common- +looking, ugly man; and his moon and star were hidden. + +Then he went away further into the country, until he came to a grain +merchant of the country, who asked him who he was. "I am a poor man," +answered the boy, "and I want service." "Good," said the grain +merchant, "you shall be my servant." + +Now the grain merchant lived near the King's palace, and one night at +twelve o'clock the boy was very hot; so he went out into the King's +cool garden, and began to sing a lovely song. The seventh and youngest +daughter of the King heard him, and she wondered who it was who could +sing so deliciously. Then she put on her clothes, rolled up her hair, +and came down to where the seemingly poor common man was lying singing. +"Who are you? where do you come from?" she asked. + +But he answered nothing. + +"Who is this man who does not answer when I speak to him?" thought the +little princess, and she went away. On the second night the same thing +happened, and on the third night too. But on the third night, when she +found she could not make him answer her, she said to him, "What a +strange man you are not to answer me when I speak to you." But still he +remained silent, so she went away. + +The next day, when he had finished his work, the young prince went to +the jungle to see his horse, who asked him, "Are you quite well and +happy?" "Yes, I am," answered the boy. "I am servant to a grain +merchant. The last three nights I have gone into the King's garden and +sung a song, and each night the youngest princess has come to me and +asked me who I am, and whence I came, and I have answered nothing. What +shall I do now?" The horse said, "Next time she asks you who you are, +tell her you are a very poor man, and came from your own country to +find service here." + +The boy then went home to the grain merchant, and at night, when every +one had gone to bed, he went to the King's garden and sang his sweet +song again. The youngest princess heard him, got up, dressed, and came +to him. "Who are you? Whence do you come?" she asked. + +"I am a very poor man," he answered. "I came from my own country to +seek service here, and I am now one of the grain merchant's servants." +Then she went away. For three more nights the boy sang in the King's +garden, and each night the princess came and asked him the same +questions as before, and the boy gave her the same answers. + +Then she went to her father, and said to him, "Father, I wish to be +married; but I must choose my husband myself." Her father consented to +this, and he wrote and invited all the Kings and Rajas in the land, +saying, "My youngest daughter wishes to be married, but she insists on +choosing her husband herself. As I do not know who it is she wishes to +marry, I beg you will all come on a certain day, for her to see you and +make her choice." + +A great many Kings, Rajas, and their sons accepted this invitation and +came. When they had all arrived, the little princess's father said to +them, "To-morrow morning you must all sit together in my garden" (the +King's garden was very large), "for then my youngest daughter will come +and see you all, and choose her husband. I do not know whom she will +choose." + +The youngest princess ordered a grand elephant to be ready for her the +next morning, and when the morning came, and all was ready, she dressed +herself in the most lovely clothes, and put on her beautiful jewels; +then she mounted her elephant, which was painted blue. In her hand she +took a gold necklace. + +Then she went into the garden where the Kings, Rajas, and their sons +were seated. The boy, the grain merchant's servant, was also in the +garden: not as a suitor, but looking on with the other servants. + +The princess rode all round the garden, and looked at all the Kings and +Rajas and princes, and then she hung the gold necklace round the neck +of the boy, the grain merchant's servant. At this everybody laughed, +and the Kings were greatly astonished. But then they and the Rajas +said, "What fooling is this?" and they pushed the pretended poor man +away, and took the necklace off his neck, and said to him, "Get out of +the way, you poor, dirty man. Your clothes are far too dirty for you to +come near us!" The boy went far away from them, and stood a long way +off to see what would happen. + +Then the King's youngest daughter went all round the garagain, holding +her gold necklace in her hand, and once more she hung it round the +boy's neck. Every one laughed at her and said, "How can the King's +daughter think of marrying this poor, common man!" and the Kings and +the Rajas, who had come as suitors, all wanted to turn him out of the +garden. But the princess said, "Take care! take care! You must not turn +him out. Leave him alone." Then she put him on her elephant, and took +him to the palace. + +The Kings and Rajas and their sons were very much astonished, and said, +"What does this mean? The princess does not care to marry one of us, +but chooses that very poor man!" Her father then stood up, and said to +them all, "I promised my daughter she should marry any one she pleased, +and as she has twice chosen that poor, common man, she shall marry +him." And so the princess and the boy were married with great pomp and +splendour: her father and mother were quite content with her choice; +and the Kings, the Rajas and their sons, all returned to their homes. + +Now the princess's six sisters had all married rich princes, and they +laughed at her for choosing such a poor ugly husband as hers seemed to +be, and said to each other, mockingly, "See! our sister has married +this poor, common man!" Their six husbands used to go out hunting every +day, and every evening they brought home quantities of all kinds of +game to their wives, and the game was cooked for their dinner and for +the King's; but the husband of the youngest princess always stayed at +home in the palace, and never went out hunting at all. This made her +very sad, and she said to herself, "My sisters' husbands hunt every +day, but my husband never hunts at all." + +At last she said to him, "Why do you never go out hunting as my +sisters' husbands do every day, and every day they bring home +quantities of all kinds of game? Why do you always stay at home, +instead of doing as they do?" + +One day he said to her, "I am going out to-day to eat the air." + +"Very good," she answered; "go, and take one of the horses." + +"No," said the young prince, "I will not ride, I will walk." Then he +went to the jungle-plain where he had left Katar, who all this time had +seemed to be a donkey, and he told Katar everything. "Listen," he said; +"I have married the youngest princess; and when we were married +everybody laughed at her for choosing me, and said, 'What a very poor, +common man our princess has chosen for her husband!' Besides, my wife +is very sad, for her six sisters' husbands all hunt every day, and +bring home quantities of game, and their wives therefore are very proud +of them. But I stay at home all day, and never hunt. To-day I should +like to hunt very much." + +"Well," said Katar, "then twist my left ear;" and as soon as the boy +had twisted it, Katar was a horse again, and not a donkey any longer. +"Now," said Katar, "twist your left ear, and you will see what a +beautiful young prince you will become." So the boy twisted his own +left ear, and there he stood no longer a poor, common, ugly man, but a +grand young prince with a moon on his forehead and a star on his chin. +Then he put on his splendid clothes, saddled and bridled Katar, got on +his back with his sword and gun, and rode off to hunt. + +He rode very far, and shot a great many birds and a quantity of deer. +That day his six brothers-in-law could find no game, for the beautiful +young prince had shot it all. Nearly all the day long these six princes +wandered about looking in vain for game; till at last they grew hungry +and thirsty, and could find no water, and they had no food with them. +Meanwhile the beautiful young prince had sat down under a tree, to dine +and rest, and there his six brothers-in-law found him. By his side was +some delicious water, and also some roast meat. + +When they saw him the six princes said to each other, "Look at that +handsome prince. He has a moon on his forehead and a star on his chin. +We have never seen such a prince in this jungle before; he must come +from another country." Then they came up to him, and made him many +salaams, and begged him to give them some food and water. "Who are +you?" said the young prince. "We are the husbands of the six elder +daughters of the King of this country," they answered; "and we have +hunted all day, and are very hungry and thirsty." They did not +recognise their brother-in-law in the least. + +"Well," said the young prince, "I will give you something to eat and +drink if you will do as I bid you." "We will do all you tell us to do," +they answered, "for if we do not get water to drink, we shall die." +"Very good," said the young prince. "Now you must let me put a red-hot +pice on the back of each of you, and then I will give you food and +water. Do you agree to this?" The six princes consented, for they +thought, "No one will ever see the mark of the pice, as it will be +covered by our clothes; and we shall die if we have no water to drink." +Then the young prince took six pice, and made them red-hot in the fire; +he laid one on the back of each of the six princes, and gave them good +food and water. They ate and drank; and when they had finished they +made him many salaams and went home. + +The young prince stayed under the tree till it was evening; then he +mounted his horse and rode off to the King's palace. All the people +looked at him as he came riding along, saying, "What a splendid young +prince that is! He has a moon on his forehead and a star on his chin." +But no one recognised him. When he came near the King's palace, all the +King's servants asked him who he was; and as none of them knew him, the +gate-keepers would not let him pass in. They all wondered who he could +be, and all thought him the most beautiful prince that had ever been +seen. + +At last they asked him who he was. "I am the husband of your youngest +princess," he answered. + +"No, no, indeed you are not," they said; "for he is a poor, common- +looking, and ugly man." + +"But I am he," answered the prince; only no one would believe him. + +"Tell us the truth," said the servants; "who are you?" + +"Perhaps you cannot recognise me," said the young prince, "but call the +youngest princess here. I wish to speak to her." The servants called +her, and she came. "That man is not my husband," she said at once. "My +husband is not nearly as handsome as that man. This must be a prince +from another country." + +Then she said to him, "Who are you? Why do you say you are my husband?" + +"Because I am your husband. I am telling you the truth," answered the +young prince. + +"No you are not, you are not telling me the truth," said the little +princess. "My husband is not a handsome man like you. I married a very +poor, common-looking man." + +"That is true," he answered, "but nevertheless I am your husband. I was +the grain merchant's servant; and one hot night I went into your +father's garden and sang, and you heard me, and came and asked me who I +was and where I came from, and I would not answer you. And the same +thing happened the next night, and the next, and on the fourth I told +you I was a very poor man, and had come from my country to seek service +in yours, and that I was the grain merchant's servant. Then you told +your father you wished to marry, but must choose your own husband; and +when all the Kings and Rajas were seated in your father's garden, you +sat on an elephant and went round and looked at them all; and then +twice hung your gold necklace round my neck, and chose me. See, here is +your necklace, and here are the ring and the handkerchief you gave me +on our wedding day." + +Then she believed him, and was very glad that her husband was such a +beautiful young prince. "What a strange man you are!" she said to him. +"Till now you have been poor, and ugly, and common-looking. Now you are +beautiful and look like a prince; I never saw such a handsome man as +you are before; and yet I know you must be my husband." Then she +worshipped God and thanked him for letting her have such a husband. "I +have," she said, "a beautiful husband. There is no one like him in this +country. He has a moon on his forehead and a star on his chin." Then +she took him into the palace, and showed him to her father and mother +and to every one. They all said they had never seen any one like him, +and were all very happy. And the young prince lived as before in the +King's palace with his wife, and Katar lived in the King's stables. + +One day, when the King and his seven sons-in-law were in his court- +house, and it was full of people, the young prince said to him, "There +are six thieves here in your court-house." "Six thieves!" said the +King. "Where are they? Show them to me." "There they are," said the +young prince, pointing to his six brothers-in-law. The King and every +one else in the court-house were very much astonished, and would not +believe the young prince. "Take off their coats," he said, "and then +you will see for yourselves that each of them has the mark of a thief +on his back." So their coats were taken off the six princes, and the +King and everybody in the court-house saw the mark of the red-hot pice. +The six princes were very much ashamed, but the young prince was very +glad. He had not forgotten how his brothers-in-law had laughed at him +and mocked him when he seemed a poor, common man. + +Now, when Katar was still in the jungle, before the prince was married, +he had told the boy the whole story of his birth, and all that had +happened to him and his mother. "When you are married," he said to him, +"I will take you back to your father's country." So two months after +the young prince had revenged himself on his brothers-in-law, Katar +said to him, "It is time for you to return to your father. Get the King +to let you go to your own country, and I will tell you what to do when +we get there." + +The prince always did what his horse told him to do; so he went to his +wife and said to her, "I wish very much to go to my own country to see +my father and mother." "Very well," said his wife; "I will tell my +father and mother, and ask them to let us go." Then she went to them, +and told them, and they consented to let her and her husband leave +them. The King gave his daughter and the young prince a great many +horses, and elephants, and all sorts of presents, and also a great many +sepoys to guard them. In this grand state they travelled to the +prince's country, which was not a great many miles off. When they +reached it they pitched their tents on the same plain in which the +prince had been left in his box by the nurse, where Shankar and Suri +had swallowed him so often. + +When the King, his father, the gardener's daughter's husband, saw the +prince's camp, he was very much alarmed, and thought a great King had +come to make war on him. He sent one of his servants, therefore, to ask +whose camp it was. The young prince then wrote him a letter, in which +he said, "You are a great King. Do not fear me. I am not come to make +war on you. I am as if I were your son. I am a prince who has come to +see your country and to speak with you. I wish to give you a grand +feast, to which every one in your country must come--men and women, old +and young, rich and poor, of all castes; all the children, fakirs, and +sepoys. You must bring them all here to me for a week, and I will feast +them all." + +The King was delighted with this letter, and ordered all the men, +women, and children of all castes, fakirs, and sepoys, in his country +to go to the prince's camp to a grand feast the prince would give them. +So they all came, and the King brought his four wives too. All came, at +least all but the gardener's daughter. No one had told her to go to the +feast, for no one had thought of her. + +When all the people were assembled, the prince saw his mother was not +there, and he asked the King, "Has every one in your country come to my +feast?" + +"Yes, every one," said the King. + +"Are you sure of that?" asked the prince. + +"Quite sure," answered the King. + +"I am sure one woman has not come," said the prince. "She is your +gardener's daughter, who was once your wife and is now a servant in +your palace." + +"True," said the King, "I had forgotten her." Then the prince told his +servants to take his finest palanquin and to fetch the gardener's +daughter. They were to bathe her, dress her in beautiful clothes and +handsome jewels, and then bring her to him in the palanquin. + +While the servants were bringing the gardener's daughter, the King +thought how handsome the young prince was; and he noticed particularly +the moon on his forehead and the star on his chin, and he wondered in +what country the young prince was born. + +And now the palanquin arrived bringing the gardener's daughter, and the +young prince went himself and took her out of it, and brought her into +the tent. He made her a great many salaams. The four wicked wives +looked on and were very much surprised and very angry. They remembered +that, when they arrived, the prince had made them no salaams, and since +then had not taken the least notice of them; whereas he could not do +enough for the gardener's daughter, and seemed very glad to see her. + +When they were all at dinner, the prince again made the gardener's +daughter a great many salaams, and gave her food from all the nicest +dishes. She wondered at his kindness to her, and thought, "Who is this +handsome prince, with a moon on his forehead and a star on his chin? I +never saw any one so beautiful. What country does he come from?" + +Two or three days were thus passed in feasting, and all that time the +King and his people were talking about the prince's beauty, and +wondering who he was. + +One day the prince asked the King if he had any children. "None," he +answered. + +"Do you know who I am?" asked the prince. + +"No," said the King. "Tell me who you are." + +"I am your son," answered the prince, "and the gardener's daughter is +my mother." + +The King shook his head sadly. "How can you be my son," he said, "when +I have never had any children?" + +"But I am your son," answered the prince. "Your four wicked Queens told +you the gardener's daughter had given you a stone and not a son; but it +was they who put the stone in my little bed, and then they tried to +kill me." + +The King did not believe him. "I wish you were my son," he said; "but as +I never had a child, you cannot be my son." "Do you remember your dog +Shankar, and how you had him killed? And do you remember your cow Suri, +and how you had her killed too? Your wives made you kill them because +of me. And," he said, taking the King to Katar, "do you know whose +horse that is?" + +The King looked at Katar, and then said, "That is my horse, Katar." +"Yes," said the prince. "Do you not remember how he rushed past you out +of his stable with me on his back?" Then Katar told the King the prince +was really his son, and told him all the story of his birth, and of his +life up to that moment; and when the King found the beautiful prince +was indeed his son, he was so glad, so glad. He put his arms round him +and kissed him and cried for joy. + +"Now," said the King, "you must come with me to my palace, and live +with me always." + +"No," said the prince, "that I cannot do. I cannot go to your palace. I +only came here to fetch my mother; and now that I have found her, I +will take her with me to my father-in-law's palace. I have married a +King's daughter, and we live with her father." + +"But now that I have found you, I cannot let you go," said his father. +You and your wife must come and live with your mother and me in my +palace." + +"That we will never do," said the prince, "unless you will kill your +four wicked Queens with your own hand. If you will do that, we will +come and live with you." + +So the King killed his Queens, and then he and his wife, the gardener's +daughter, and the prince and his wife, all went to live in the King's +palace, and lived there happily together for ever after; and the King +thanked God for giving him such a beautiful son, and for ridding him of +his four wicked wives. + +Katar did not return to the fairies' country, but stayed always with +the young prince, and never left him. + + + +THE PRINCE AND THE FAKIR + +There was once upon a time a King who had no children. Now this King +went and laid him down to rest at a place where four roads met, so that +every one who passed had to step over him. + +At last a Fakir came along, and he said to the King, "Man, why are you +lying here?" + +He replied, "Fakir, a thousand men have come and passed by; you pass on +too." + +But the Fakir said, "Who are you, man?" + +The King replied, "I am a King, Fakir. Of goods and gold I have no +lack, but I have lived long and have no children. So I have come here, +and have laid me down at the cross-roads. My sins and offences have +been very many, so I have come and am lying here that men may pass over +me, and perchance my sins may be forgiven me, and God may be merciful, +and I may have a son." + +The Fakir answered him, "Oh King! If you have children, what will you +give me?" + +"Whatever you ask, Fakir," answered the King. The Fakir said, "Of goods +and gold I have no lack, but I will say a prayer for you, and you will +have two sons; one of those sons will be mine." + +Then he took out two sweetmeats and handed them to the King, and said, +"King! take these two sweetmeats and give them to your wives; give them +to the wives you love best." + +The King took the sweetmeats and put them in his bosom. + +Then the Fakir said, "King! in a year I will return, and of the two +sons who will be born to you one is mine and one yours." + +The King said, "Well, I agree." + +Then the Fakir went on his way, and the King came home and gave one +sweetmeat to each of his two wives. After some time two sons were born +to the King. Then what did the King do but place those two sons in an +underground room, which he had built in the earth. + +Some time passed, and one day the Fakir appeared, and said, "King! +bring me that son of yours!" + +What did the King do but bring two slave-girls' sons and present them +to the Fakir. While the Fakir was sitting there the King's sons were +sitting down below in their cellar eating their food. Just then a +hungry ant had carried away a grain of rice from their food, and was +going along with it to her children. Another stronger ant came up and +attacked her in order to get this grain of rice. The first ant said, "O +ant, why do you drag this away from me? I have long been lame in my +feet, and I have got just one grain, and am carrying it to my children. +The King's sons are sitting in the cellar eating their food; you go and +fetch a grain from there; why should you take mine from me?" On this +the second ant let go and did not rob the first, but went off to where +the King's sons were eating their food. + +On hearing this the Fakir said, "King! these are not your sons; go and +bring those children who are eating their food in the cellar." + +Then the King went and brought his own sons. The Fakir chose the eldest +son and took him away, and set off with him on his journey, When he got +home he told the King's son to go out to gather fuel. + +So the King's son went out to gather cow-dung, and when he had +collected some he brought it in. + +Then the Fakir looked at the King's son and put on a great pot, and +said, "Come round here, my pupil." + +But the King's son said, "Master first, and pupil after." + +The Fakir told him to come once, he told him twice, he told him three +times, and each time the King's son answered, "Master first, and pupil +after." + +Then the Fakir made a dash at the King's son, thinking to catch him and +throw him into the caldron. There were about a hundred gallons of oil +in this caldron, and the fire was burning beneath it. Then the King's +son, lifting the Fakir, gave him a jerk and threw him into the caldron, +and he was burnt, and became roast meat. He then saw a key of the +Fakir's lying there; he took this key and opened the door of the +Fakir's house. Now many men were locked up in this house; two horses +were standing there in a hut of the Fakir's; two greyhounds were tied +up there; two simurgs were imprisoned, and two tigers also stood there. +So the King's son let all the creatures go, and took them out of the +house, and they all returned thanks to God. Next he let out all the men +who were in prison. He took away with him the two horses, and he took +away the two tigers, and he took away the two hounds, and he took away +the two simurgs, and with them he set out for another country. + +As he went along the road he saw above him a bald man, grazing a herd +of calves, and this bald man called out to him, "Fellow! can you fight +at all?" + +The King's son replied, "When I was little I could fight a bit, and +now, if any one wants to fight, I am not so unmanly as to turn my back. +Come, I will fight you." + +The bald man said, "If I throw you, you shall be my slave; and if you +throw me, I will be your slave." So they got ready and began to fight, +and the King's son threw him. + +On this the King's son said, "I will leave my beasts here, my simurgs, +tigers, and dogs, and horses; they will all stay here while I go to the +city to see the sights. I appoint the tiger as guard over my property. +And you are my slave, you, too, must stay here with my belongings." So +the King's son started off to the city to see the sights, and arrived +at a pool. + +He saw that it was a pleasant pool, and thought he would stop and bathe +there, and therewith he began to strip off his clothes. + +Now the King's daughter, who was sitting on the roof of the palace, saw +his royal marks, and she said, "This man is a king; when I marry, I +will marry him and no other." So she said to her father, "My father; I +wish to marry." + +"Good," said her father. + +Then the King made a proclamation: "Let all men, great and small, +attend to-day in the hall of audience, for the King's daughter will to- +day take a husband." + +All the men of the land assembled, and the traveller Prince also came, +dressed in the Fakir's clothes, saying to himself, "I must see this +ceremony to-day." He went in and sat down. + +The King's daughter came out and sat in the balcony, and cast her +glance round all the assembly. She noticed that the traveller Prince +was sitting in the assembly in Fakir's attire. + +The Princess said to her handmaiden, "Take this dish of henna, go to +that traveller dressed like a Fakir, and sprinkle scent on him from the +dish." + +The handmaiden obeyed the Princess's order, went to him, and sprinkled +the scent over him. + +Then the people said, "The slave-girl has made a mistake." + +But she replied, "The slave-girl has made no mistake, 'tis her mistress +has made the mistake." + +On this the King married his daughter to the Fakir, who was really no +Fakir, but a Prince. + +What fate had decreed came to pass in that country, and they were +married. But the King of that city became very sad in his heart, +because when so many chiefs and nobles were sitting there his daughter +had chosen none of them, but had chosen that Fakir; but he kept these +thoughts concealed in his heart. + +One day the traveller Prince said, "Let all the King's sons-in-law come +out with me to-day to hunt." + +People said, "What is this Fakir that he should go a-hunting?" + +However, they all set out for the hunt, and fixed their meeting-place +at a certain pool. + +The newly married Prince went to his tigers, and told his tigers and +hounds to kill and bring in a great number of gazelles and hog-deer and +markhor. Instantly they killed and brought in a great number. Then +taking with him these spoils of the chase, the Prince came to the pool +settled on as a meeting-place. The other Princes, sons-in-law of the +King of that city, also assembled there; but they had brought in no +game, and the new Prince had brought a great deal. Thence they returned +home to the town, and went to the King their father-in-law, to present +their game. + +Now that King had no son. Then the new Prince told him that in fact he, +too, was a Prince. At this the King, his father-in-law, was greatly +delighted and took him by the hand and embraced him. He seated him by +himself, saying, "O Prince, I return thanks that you have come here and +become my son-in-law; I am very happy at this, and I make over my +kingdom to you." + + + +WHY THE FISH LAUGHED + +As a certain fisherwoman passed by a palace crying her fish, the queen +appeared at one of the windows and beckoned her to come near and show +what she had. At that moment a very big fish jumped about in the bottom +of the basket. + +"Is it a he or a she?" inquired the queen. "I wish to purchase a she +fish." + +On hearing this the fish laughed aloud. + +"It's a he," replied the fisherwoman, and proceeded on her rounds. + +The queen returned to her room in a great rage; and on coming to see +her in the evening, the king noticed that something had disturbed her. + +"Are you indisposed?" he said. + +"No; but I am very much annoyed at the strange behaviour of a fish. A +woman brought me one to-day, and on my inquiring whether it was a male +or female, the fish laughed most rudely." + +"A fish laugh! Impossible! You must be dreaming." + +"I am not a fool. I speak of what I have seen with my own eyes and have +heard with my own ears." + +"Passing strange! Be it so. I will inquire concerning it." + +On the morrow the king repeated to his vizier what his wife had told +him, and bade him investigate the matter, and be ready with a +satisfactory answer within six months, on pain of death. The vizier +promised to do his best, though he felt almost certain of failure. For +five months he laboured indefatigably to find a reason for the laughter +of the fish. He sought everywhere and from every one. The wise and +learned, and they who were skilled in magic and in all manner of +trickery, were consulted. Nobody, however, could explain the matter; +and so he returned broken-hearted to his house, and began to arrange +his affairs in prospect of certain death, for he had had sufficient +experience of the king to know that His Majesty would not go back from +his threat. Amongst other things, he advised his son to travel for a +time, until the king's anger should have somewhat cooled. + +The young fellow, who was both clever and handsome, started off +whithersoever Kismat might lead him. He had been gone some days, when +he fell in with an old farmer, who also was on a journey to a certain +village. Finding the old man very pleasant, he asked him if he might +accompany him, professing to be on a visit to the same place. The old +farmer agreed, and they walked along together. The day was hot, and the +way was long and weary. + +"Don't you think it would be pleasanter if you and I sometimes gave one +another a lift?" said the youth. + +"What a fool the man is!" thought the old farmer. + +Presently they passed through a field of corn ready for the sickle, and +looking like a sea of gold as it waved to and fro in the breeze. + +"Is this eaten or not?" said the young man. + +Not understanding his meaning, the old man replied, "I don't know." + +After a little while the two travellers arrived at a big village, where +the young man gave his companion a clasp-knife, and said, "Take this, +friend, and get two horses with it; but mind and bring it back, for it +is very precious." + +The old man, looking half amused and half angry, pushed back the knife, +muttering something to the effect that his friend was either a fool +himself or else trying to play the fool with him. The young man +pretended not to notice his reply, and remained almost silent till they +reached the city, a short distance outside which was the old farmer's +house. They walked about the bazar and went to the mosque, but nobody +saluted them or invited them to come in and rest. + +"What a large cemetery!" exclaimed the young man. + +"What does the man mean," thought the old farmer, "calling this largely +populated city a cemetery?" + +On leaving the city their way led through a cemetery where a few people +were praying beside a grave and distributing chapatis and kulchas to +passers-by, in the name of their beloved dead. They beckoned to the two +travellers and gave them as much as they would. + +"What a splendid city this is!" said the young man. + +"Now, the man must surely be demented!" thought the old farmer. "I +wonder what he will do next? He will be calling the land water, and the +water land; and be speaking of light where there is darkness, and of +darkness when it is light." However, he kept his thoughts to himself. + +Presently they had to wade through a stream that ran along the edge of +the cemetery. The water was rather deep, so the old farmer took of his +shoes and paijamas and crossed over; but the young man waded through it +with his shoes and paijamas on. + +"Well! I never did see such a perfect fool, both in word and in deed," +said the old man to himself. + +However, he liked the fellow; and thinking that he would amuse his wife +and daughter, he invited him to come and stay at his house as long as +he had occasion to remain in the village. + +"Thank you very much," the young man replied; "but let me first +inquire, if you please, whether the beam of your house is strong." + +The old farmer left him in despair, and entered his house laughing. + +"There is a man in yonder field," he said, after returning their +greetings. "He has come the greater part of the way with me, and I +wanted him to put up here as long as he had to stay in this village. +But the fellow is such a fool that I cannot make anything out of him. +He wants to know if the beam of this house is all right. The man must +be mad!" and saying this, he burst into a fit of laughter. + +"Father," said the farmer's daughter, who was a very sharp and wise +girl, "this man, whosoever he is, is no fool, as you deem him. He only +wishes to know if you can afford to entertain him." + +"Oh! of course," replied the farmer. "I see. Well perhaps you can help +me to solve some of his other mysteries. While we were walking together +he asked whether he should carry me or I should carry him, as he +thought that would be a pleasanter mode of proceeding." + +"Most assuredly," said the girl. "He meant that one of you should tell +a story to beguile the time." + +"Oh yes. Well, we were passing through a corn-field, when he asked me +whether it was eaten or not." + +"And didn't you know the meaning of this, father? He simply wished to +know if the man was in debt or not; because, if the owner of the field +was in debt, then the produce of the field was as good as eaten to him; +that is, it would have to go to his creditors." + +"Yes, yes, yes; of course! Then, on entering a certain village, he bade +me take his clasp knife and get two horses with it, and bring back the +knife again to him." + +"Are not two stout sticks as good as two horses for helping one along +on the road? He only asked you to cut a couple of sticks and be careful +not to lose his knife." + +"I see," said the farmer. "While we were walking over the city we did +not see anybody that we knew, and not a soul gave us a scrap of +anything to eat, till we were passing the cemetery; but there some +people called to us and put into our hands some chapatis and kulchas; +so my companion called the city a cemetery, and the cemetery a city." + +"This also is to be understood, father, if one thinks of the city as +the place where everything is to be obtained, and of inhospitable +people as worse than the dead. The city, though crowded with people, +was as if dead, as far as you were concerned; while, in the cemetery, +which is crowded with the dead, you were saluted by kind friends and +provided with bread." + +"True, true!" said the astonished farmer. "Then, just now, when we were +crossing the stream, he waded through it without taking off his shoes +and paijamas." + +"I admire his wisdom," replied the girl. "I have often thought how +stupid people were to venture into that swiftly flowing stream and over +those sharp stones with bare feet. The slightest stumble and they would +fall, and be wetted from head to foot. This friend of yours is a most +wise man. I should like to see him and speak to him." + +"Very well," said the farmer; "I will go and find him, and bring him +in." + +"Tell him, father, that our beams are strong enough, and then he will +come in. I'll send on ahead a present to the man, to show him that we +can afford to have him for our guest." + +Accordingly she called a servant and sent him to the young man with a +present of a basin of ghee, twelve chapatis, and a jar of milk, and the +following message:--"O friend, the moon is full; twelve months make a +year, and the sea is overflowing with water." + +Half-way the bearer of this present and message met his little son, +who, seeing what was in the basket, begged his father to give him some +of the food. His father foolishly complied. Presently he saw the young +man, and gave him the rest of the present and the message. + +"Give your mistress my salam," he replied, "and tell her that the moon +is new, and that I can only find eleven months in the year, and the sea +is by no means full." + +Not understanding the meaning of these words, the servant repeated them +word for word, as he had heard them, to his mistress; and thus his +theft was discovered, and he was severely punished. After a little +while the young man appeared with the old farmer. Great attention was +shown to him, and he was treated in every way as if he were the son of +a great man, although his humble host knew nothing of his origin. At +length he told them everything--about the laughing of the fish, his +father's threatened execution, and his own banishment--and asked their +advice as to what he should do. + +"The laughing of the fish," said the girl, "which seems to have been +the cause of all this trouble, indicates that there is a man in the +palace who is plotting against the king's life." + +"Joy, joy!" exclaimed the vizier's son. "There is yet time for me to +return and save my father from an ignominious and unjust death, and the +king from danger." + +The following day he hastened back to his own country, taking with him +the farmer's daughter. Immediately on arrival he ran to the palace and +informed his father of what he had heard. The poor vizier, now almost +dead from the expectation of death, was at once carried to the king, to +whom he repeated the news that his son had just brought. + +"Never!" said the king. + +"But it must be so, Your Majesty," replied the vizier; "and in order to +prove the truth of what I have heard, I pray you to call together all +the maids in your palace, and order them to jump over a pit, which must +be dug. We'll soon find out whether there is any man there." + +The king had the pit dug, and commanded all the maids belonging to the +palace to try to jump it. All of them tried, but only one succeeded. +That one was found to be a man!! + +Thus was the queen satisfied, and the faithful old vizier saved. + +Afterwards, as soon as could be, the vizier's son married the old +farmer's daughter; and a most happy marriage it was. + + + +THE DEMON WITH THE MATTED HAIR + +_This story the Teacher told in Jetavana about a Brother who had +ceased striving after righteousness. Said the Teacher to him: "Is it +really true that you have ceased all striving?"--"Yes, Blessed One," he +replied. Then the Teacher said: "O Brother, in former days wise men +made effort in the place where effort should be made, and so attained +unto royal power." And he told a story of long ago._ + +Once upon a time, when Brahmadatta was King of Benares, the Bodhisatta +was born as son of his chief queen. On his name-day they asked 800 +Brahmans, having satisfied them with all their desires, about his lucky +marks. The Brahmans who had skill in divining from such marks beheld +the excellence of his, and made answer: + +"Full of goodness, great King, is your son, and when you die he will +become king; he shall be famous and renowned for his skill with the +five weapons, and shall be the chief man in all India." On hearing what +the Brahmans had to say, they gave him the name of the Prince of the +Five Weapons, sword, spear, bow, battle-axe, and shield. + +When he came to years of discretion, and had attained the measure of +sixteen years, the King said to him: + +"My son, go and complete your education." + +"Who shall be my teacher?" the lad asked. + +"Go, my son; in the kingdom of Candahar, in the city of Takkasila, is a +far-famed teacher from whom I wish you to learn. Take this, and give it +him for a fee." With that he gave him a thousand pieces of money, and +dismissed him. + +The lad departed, and was educated by this teacher; he received the +Five Weapons from him as a gift, bade him farewell, and leaving +Takkasila, he began his journey to Benares, armed with the Five +Weapons. + +On his way he came to a forest inhabited by the Demon with the Matted +Hair. At the entering in of the forest some men saw him, and cried out: + +"Hullo, young sir, keep clear of that wood! There's a Demon in it +called he of the Matted Hair: he kills every man he sees!" And they +tried to stop him. But the Bodhisatta, having confidence in himself, +went straight on, fearless as a maned lion. + +When he reached mid-forest the Demon showed himself. He made himself as +tall as a palm tree; his head was the size of a pagoda, his eyes as big +as saucers, and he had two tusks all over knobs and bulbs; he had the +face of a hawk, a variegated belly, and blue hands and feet. + +"Where are you going?" he shouted. "Stop! You'll make a meal for me!" + +Said the Bodhisatta: "Demon, I came here trusting in myself. I advise +you to be careful how you come near me. Here's a poisoned arrow, which +I'll shoot at you and knock you down!" With this menace, he fitted to +his bow an arrow dipped in deadly poison, and let fly. The arrow stuck +fast in the Demon's hair. Then he shot and shot, till he had shot away +fifty arrows; and they all stuck in the Demon's hair. The Demon snapped +them all off short, and threw them down at his feet; then came up to +the Bodhisatta, who drew his sword and struck the Demon, threatening +him the while. His sword--it was three-and-thirty inches long--stuck in +the Demon's hair! The Bodhisatta struck him with his spear--that stuck +too! He struck him with his club--and that stuck too! + +When the Bodhisatta saw that this had stuck fast, he addressed the +Demon. "You, Demon!" said he, "did you never hear of me before--the +Prince of the Five Weapons? When I came into the forest which you live +in I did not trust to my bow and other weapons. This day will I pound +you and grind you to powder!" Thus did he declare his resolve, and with +a shout he hit at the Demon with his right hand. It stuck fast in his +hair! He hit him with his left hand--that stuck too! With his right +foot he kicked him--that stuck too; then with his left--and that stuck +too! Then he butted at him with his head, crying, "I'll pound you to +powder!" and his head stuck fast like the rest. + +Thus the Bodhisatta was five times snared, caught fast in five places, +hanging suspended: yet he felt no fear--was not even nervous. + +Thought the Demon to himself: "Here's a lion of a man! A noble man! +More than man is he! Here he is, caught by a Demon like me; yet he will +not fear a bit. Since I have ravaged this road, I never saw such a man. +Now, why is it that he does not fear?" He was powerless to eat the man, +but asked him: "Why is it, young sir, that you are not frightened to +death?" + +"Why should I fear, Demon?" replied he. "In one life a man can die but +once. Besides, in my belly is a thunderbolt; if you eat me, you will +never be able to digest it; this will tear your inwards into little +bits, and kill you: so we shall both perish. That is why I fear +nothing." (By this, the Bodhisatta meant the weapon of knowledge which +he had within him.) + +When he heard this, the Demon thought: "This young man speaks the +truth. A piece of the flesh of such a lion-man as he would be too much +for me to digest, if it were no bigger than a kidney-bean. I'll let him +go!" So, being frightened to death, he let go the Bodhisatta, saying +"Young sir, you are a lion of a man! I will not eat you up. I set you +free from my hands, as the moon is disgorged from the jaws of Rahu +after the eclipse. Go back to the company of your friends and +relations!" + +And the Bodhisatta said: "Demon, I will go, as you say. You were born a +Demon, cruel, blood-bibbing, devourer of the flesh and gore of others, +because you did wickedly in former lives. If you still go on doing +wickedly, you will go from darkness to darkness. But now that you have +seen me you will find it impossible to do wickedly. Taking the life of +living creatures causes birth, as an animal, in the world of Petas, or +in the body of an Asura, or, if one is reborn as a man, it makes his +life short." With this and the like monition he told him the +disadvantage of the five kinds of wickedness, and the profit of the +five kinds of virtue, and frightened the Demon in various ways, +discoursing to him until he subdued him and made him self-denying, and +established him in the five kinds of virtue; he made him worship the +deity to whom offerings were made in that wood; and having carefully +admonished him, departed out of it. + +At the entrance of the forest he told all to the people thereabout; and +went on to Benares, armed with his five weapons. Afterwards he became +king, and ruled righteously; and after giving alms and doing good he +passed away according to his deeds. + +_And the Teacher, when this tale was ended, became perfectly +enlightened, and repeated this verse: + + Whose mind and heart from all desire is free, + Who seeks for peace by living virtuously, + He in due time will sever all the bonds + That bind him fast to life, and cease to be. + +Thus the Teacher reached the summit, through sainthood and the teaching +of the law, and thereupon he declared the Four Truths. At the end of +the declaring of the Truths, this Brother also attained to sainthood. +Then the Teacher made the connexion, and gave the key to the birth- +tale, saying: "At that time Angulimala was the Demon, but the Prance of +the Five Weapons was I myself."_ + + + +THE IVORY CITY AND ITS FAIRY PRINCESS + +One day a young prince was out practising archery with the son of his +father's chief vizier, when one of the arrows accidentally struck the +wife of a merchant, who was walking about in an upper room of a house +close by. The prince aimed at a bird that was perched on the window- +sill of that room, and had not the slightest idea that anybody was at +hand, or he would not have shot in that direction. Consequently, not +knowing what had happened, he and the vizier's son walked away, the +vizier's son chaffing him because he had missed the bird. + +Presently the merchant went to ask his wife about something, and found +her lying, to all appearance, dead in the middle of the room, and an +arrow fixed in the ground within half a yard of her head. Supposing +that she was dead, he rushed to the window and shrieked, "Thieves +thieves! They have killed my wife." The neighbours quickly gathered, +and the servants came running upstairs to see what was the matter. It +happened that the woman had fainted, and that there was only a very +slight wound in her breast where the arrow had grazed. + +As soon as the woman recovered her senses she told them that two young +men had passed by the place with their bows and arrows, and that one of +them had most deliberately aimed at her as she stood by the window. + +On hearing this the merchant went to the king, and told him what had +taken place. His Majesty was much enraged at such audacious wickedness, +and swore that most terrible punishment should be visited on the +offender if he could be discovered. He ordered the merchant to go back +and ascertain whether his wife could recognise the young men if she saw +them again. + +"Oh yes," replied the woman, "I should know them again among all the +people in the city." + +"Then," said the king, when the merchant brought back this reply, "to- +morrow I will cause all the male inhabitants of this city to pass +before your house, and your wife will stand at the window and watch for +the man who did this wanton deed." + +A royal proclamation was issued to this effect. So the next day all the +men and boys of the city, from the age of ten years upwards, assembled +and marched by the house of the merchant. By chance (for they both had +been excused from obeying this order) the king's son and the vizier's +son were also in the company, and passed by in the crowd. They came to +see the tamasha. + +As soon as these two appeared in front of the merchant's window they +were recognised by the merchant's wife, and at once reported to the +king. + +"My own son and the son of my chief vizier!" exclaimed the king, who +had been present from the commencement. "What examples for the people! +Let them both be executed." + +"Not so, your Majesty," said the vizier, "I beseech you Let the facts +of the case be thoroughly investigated. How is it?" he continued, +turning to the two young men. "Why have you done this cruel thing?" + +"I shot an arrow at a bird that was sitting on the sill of an open +window in yonder house, and missed," answered the prince. "I suppose +the arrow struck the merchant's wife. Had I known that she or anybody +had been near I should not have shot in that direction." + +"We will speak of this later on," said the king, on hearing this +answer. "Dismiss the people. Their presence is no longer needed." + +In the evening his Majesty and the vizier had a long and earnest talk +about their two sons. The king wished both of them to be executed; but +the vizier suggested that the prince should be banished from the +country. This was finally agreed to. + +Accordingly, on the following morning, a little company of soldiers +escorted the prince out of the city. When they reached the last custom- +house the vizier's son overtook them. He had come with all haste, +bringing with him four bags of muhrs on four horses. "I am come," he +said, throwing his arms round the prince's neck, "because I cannot let +you go alone. We have lived together, we will be exiled together, and +we will die together. Turn me not back, if you love me." + +"Consider," the prince answered, "what you are doing. All kinds of +trial may be before me. Why should you leave your home and country to +be with me?" + +"Because I love you," he said, "and shall never be happy without you." + +So the two friends walked along hand in hand as fast as they could to +get out of the country, and behind them marched the soldiers and the +horses with their valuable burdens. On reaching a place on the borders +of the king's dominions the prince gave the soldiers some gold, and +ordered them to return. The soldiers took the money and left; they did +not, however, go very far, but hid themselves behind rocks and stones, +and waited till they were quite sure that the prince did not intend to +come back. + +On and on the exiles walked, till they arrived at a certain village, +where they determined to spend the night under one of the big trees of +the place. The prince made preparations for a fire, and arranged the +few articles of bedding that they had with them, while the vizier's son +went to the baniya and the baker and the butcher to get something for +their dinner. For some reason he was delayed; perhaps the tsut was not +quite ready, or the baniya had not got all the spices prepared. After +waiting half an hour the prince became impatient, and rose up and +walked about. + +He saw a pretty, clear little brook running along not far from their +resting-place, and hearing that its source was not far distant, he +started off to find it. The source was a beautiful lake, which at that +time was covered with the magnificent lotus flower and other water +plants. The prince sat down on the bank, and being thirsty took up some +of the water in his hand. Fortunately he looked into his hand before +drinking, and there, to his great astonishment, he saw reflected whole +and clear the image of a beautiful fairy. He looked round, hoping to +see the reality; but seeing no person, he drank the water, and put out +his hand to take some more. Again he saw the reflection in the water +which was in his palm. He looked around as before, and this time +discovered a fairy sitting by the bank on the opposite side of the +lake. On seeing her he fell so madly in love with her that he dropped +down in a swoon. + +When the vizier's son returned, and found the fire lighted, the horses +securely fastened, and the bags of muhrs lying altogether in a heap, +but no prince, he did not know what to think. He waited a little while, +and then shouted; but not getting any reply, he got up and went to the +brook. There he came across the footmarks of his friend. Seeing these, +he went back at once for the money and the horses, and bringing them +with him, he tracked the prince to the lake, where he found him lying +to all appearance dead. + +"Alas! alas!" he cried, and lifting up the prince, he poured some water +over his head and face. "Alas! my brother, what is this? Oh! do not die +and leave me thus. Speak, speak! I cannot bear this!" + +In a few minutes the prince, revived by the water, opened his eyes, and +looked about wildly. + +"Thank God!" exclaimed the vizier's son. "But what is the matter, +brother?" + +"Go away," replied the prince. "I don't want to say anything to you, or +to see you. Go away." + +"Come, come; let us leave this place. Look, I have brought some food +for you, and horses, and everything. Let us eat and depart." + +"Go alone," replied the prince. + +"Never," said the vizier's son. "What has happened to suddenly estrange +you from me? A little while ago we were brethren, but now you detest +the sight of me." + +"I have looked upon a fairy," the prince said. "But a moment I saw her +face; for when she noticed that I was looking at her she covered her +face with lotus petals. Oh, how beautiful she was! And while I gazed +she took out of her bosom an ivory box, and held it up to me. Then I +fainted. Oh! if you can get me that fairy for my wife, I will go +anywhere with you." + +"Oh, brother," said the vizier's son, "you have indeed seen a fairy. +She is a fairy of the fairies. This is none other than Gulizar of the +Ivory City. I know this from the signs that she gave you. From her +covering her face with lotus petals I learn her name, and from her +showing you the ivory box I learn where she lives. Be patient, and rest +assured that I will arrange your marriage with her." + +When the prince heard these encouraging words he felt much comforted, +rose up, and ate, and then went away gladly with his friend. + +On the way they met two men. These two men belonged to a family of +robbers. There were eleven of them altogether. One, an elder sister, +stayed at home and cooked the food, and the other ten--all brothers-- +went out, two and two, and walked about the four different ways that +ran through that part of the country, robbing those travellers who +could not resist them, and inviting others, who were too powerful for +two of them to manage, to come and rest at their house, where the whole +family attacked them and stole their goods. These thieves lived in a +kind of tower, which had several strong-rooms in it, and under it was a +great pit, wherein they threw the corpses of the poor unfortunates who +chanced to fall into their power. + +The two men came forward, and, politely accosting them, begged them to +come and stay at their house for the night. "It is late," they said, +"and there is not another village within several miles." + +"Shall we accept this good man's invitation, brother?" asked the +prince. + +The vizier's son frowned slightly in token of disapproval; but the +prince was tired, and thinking that it was only a whim of his friend's, +he said to the men, "Very well. It is very kind of you to ask us." + +So they all four went to the robbers' tower. + +Seated in a room, with the door fastened on the outside, the two +travellers bemoaned their fate. + +"It is no good groaning," said the vizier's son. "I will climb to the +window, and see whether there are any means of escape. Yes! yes!" he +whispered, when he had reached the window-hole. "Below there is a ditch +surrounded by a high wall. I will jump down and reconnoitre. You stay +here, and wait till I return." + +Presently he came back and told the prince that he had seen a most ugly +woman, whom he supposed was the robbers' housekeeper. She had agreed to +release them on the promise of her marriage with the prince. + +So the woman led the way out of the enclosure by a secret door. + +"But where are the horses and the goods?" the vizier's son inquired. + +"You cannot bring them," the woman said. "To go out by any other way +would be to thrust oneself into the grave." + +"All right, then; they also shall go out by this door. I have a charm, +whereby I can make them thin or fat." So the vizier's son fetched the +horses without any person knowing it, and repeating the charm, he made +them pass through the narrow doorway like pieces of cloth, and when +they were all outside restored them to their former condition. He at +once mounted his horse and laid hold of the halter of one of the other +horses, and then beckoning to the prince to do likewise, he rode off. +The prince saw his opportunity, and in a moment was riding after him, +having the woman behind him. + +Now the robbers heard the galloping of the horses, and ran out and shot +their arrows at the prince and his companions. And one of the arrows +killed the woman, so they had to leave her behind. + +On, on they rode, until they reached a village where they stayed the +night. The following morning they were off again, and asked for Ivory +City from every passer-by. At length they came to this famous city, and +put up at a little hut that belonged to an old woman, from whom they +feared no harm, and with whom, therefore, they could abide in peace and +comfort. At first the old woman did not like the idea of these +travellers staying in her house, but the sight of a muhr, which the +prince dropped in the bottom of a cup in which she had given him water, +and a present of another muhr from the vizier's son, quickly made her +change her mind. She agreed to let them stay there for a few days. + +As soon as her work was over the old woman came and sat down with her +lodgers. The vizier's son pretended to be utterly ignorant of the place +and people. "Has this city a name?" he asked the old woman. + +"Of course it has, you stupid. Every little village, much more a city, +and such a city as this, has a name." + +"What is the name of this city?" + +"Ivory City. Don't you know that? I thought the name was known all over +the world." + +On the mention of the name Ivory City the prince gave a deep sigh. The +vizier's son looked as much as to say "Keep quiet, or you'll discover +the secret." + +"Is there a king of this country?" continued the vizier's son. + +"Of course there is, and a queen, and a princess." + +"What are their names?" + +"The name of the princess is Gulizar, and the name of the queen----" + +The vizier's son interrupted the old woman by turning to look at the +prince, who was staring like a madman. "Yes," he said to him +afterwards, "we are in the right country. We shall see the beautiful +princess." + +One morning the two travellers noticed the old woman's most careful +toilette: how careful she was in the arrangement of her hair and the +set of her kasabah and puts. + +"Who is coming?" said the vizier's son. + +"Nobody," the old woman replied. + +"Then where are you going?" + +"I am going to see my daughter, who is a servant of the Princess +Gulizar. I see her and the princess every day. I should have gone +yesterday, if you had not been here and taken up all my time." + +"Ah-h-h! Be careful not to say anything about us in the hearing of the +princess." The vizier's son asked her not to speak about them at the +palace, hoping that, because she had been told not to do so, she would +mention their arrival, and thus the princess would be informed of their +coming. + +On seeing her mother the girl pretended to be very angry. "Why have you +not been for two days?" she asked. + +"Because, my dear," the old woman answered, "two young travellers, a +prince and the son of some great vizier, have taken up their abode in +my hut, and demand so much of my attention. It is nothing but cooking +and cleaning, and cleaning and cooking, all day long. I can't +understand the men," she added; "one of them especially appears very +stupid. He asked me the name of this country and the name of the +king. Now where can these men have come from, that they do not know +these things? However, they are very great and very rich. They each +give me a muhr every morning and every evening." + +After this the old woman went and repeated almost the same words to the +princess, on the hearing of which the princess beat her severely; and +threatened her with a severer punishment if she ever again spoke of the +strangers before her. + +In the evening, when the old woman had returned to her hut, she told +the vizier's son how sorry she was that she could not help breaking her +promise, and how the princess had struck her because she mentioned +their coming and all about them. + +"Alas! alas!" said the prince, who had eagerly listened to every word. +"What, then, will be her anger at the sight of a man?" + +"Anger?" said the vizier's son, with an astonished air. "She would be +exceedingly glad to see one man. I know this. In this treatment of the +old woman I see her request that you will go and see her during the +coming dark fortnight." + +"Heaven be praised!" the prince exclaimed. + +The next time the old woman went to the palace Gulizar called one of +her servants and ordered her to rush into the room while she was +conversing with the old woman; and if the old woman asked what was the +matter, she was to say that the king's elephants had gone mad, and were +rushing about the city and bazaar in every direction, and destroying +everything in their way. + +The servant obeyed, and the old woman, fearing lest the elephants +should go and push down her hut and kill the prince and his friend, +begged the princess to let her depart. Now Gulizar had obtained a +charmed swing, that landed whoever sat on it at the place wherever they +wished to be. "Get the swing," she said to one of the servants standing +by. When it was brought she bade the old woman step into it and desire +to be at home. + +The old woman did so, and was at once carried through the air quickly +and safely to her hut, where she found her two lodgers safe and sound. +"Oh!" she cried, "I thought that both of you would be killed by this +time. The royal elephants have got loose and are running about wildly. +When I heard this I was anxious about you. So the princess gave me this +charmed swing to return in. But come, let us get outside before the +elephants arrive and batter down the place." + +"Don't believe this," said the vizier's son. "It is a mere hoax. They +have been playing tricks with you." + +"You will soon have your heart's desire," he whispered aside to the +prince. "These things are signs." + +Two days of the dark fortnight had elapsed, when the prince and the +vizier's son seated themselves in the swing, and wished themselves +within the grounds of the palace. In a moment they were there, and +there too was the object of their search standing by one of the palace +gates, and longing to see the prince quite as much as he was longing to +see her. + +Oh, what a happy meeting it was! + +"At last," said Gulizar, "I have seen my beloved, my husband." + +"A thousand thanks to Heaven for bringing me to you," said the prince. + +Then the prince and Gulizar betrothed themselves to one another and +parted, the one for the hut and the other for the palace, both of them +feeling happier than they had ever been before. + +Henceforth the prince visited Gulizar every day and returned to the hut +every night. One morning Gulizar begged him to stay with her always. +She was constantly afraid of some evil happening to him--perhaps +robbers would slay him, or sickness attack him, and then she would be +deprived of him. She could not live without seeing him. The prince +showed her that there was no real cause for fear, and said that he felt +he ought to return to his friend at night, because he had left his home +and country and risked his life for him; and, moreover, if it had not +been for his friend's help he would never have met with her. + +Gulizar for the time assented, but she determined in her heart to get +rid of the vizier's son as soon as possible. A few days after this +conversation she ordered one of her maids to make a pilaw. She gave +special directions that a certain poison was to be mixed into it while +cooking, and as soon as it was ready the cover was to be placed on the +saucepan, so that the poisonous steam might not escape. When the pilaw +was ready she sent it at once by the hand of a servant to the vizier's +son with this message "Gulizar, the princess, sends you an offering in +the name of her dead uncle." + +On receiving the present the vizier's son thought that the prince had +spoken gratefully of him to the princess, and therefore she had thus +remembered him. Accordingly he sent back his salam and expressions of +thankfulness. + +When it was dinner-time he took the saucepan of pilaw and went out to +eat it by the stream. Taking off the lid, he threw it aside on the +grass and then washed his hands. During the minute or so that he was +performing these ablutions, the green grass under the cover of the +saucepan turned quite yellow. He was astonished, and suspecting that +there was poison in the pilaw, he took a little and threw it to some +crows that were hopping about. The moment the crows ate what was thrown +to them they fell down dead. + +"Heaven be praised," exclaimed the vizier's son, "who has preserved me +from death at this time!" + +On the return of the prince that evening the vizier's son was very +reticent and depressed. The prince noticed this change in him, and +asked what was the reason. "Is it because I am away so much at the +palace?" The vizier's son saw that the prince had nothing to do with +the sending of the pilaw, and therefore told him everything. + +"Look here," he said, "in this handkerchief is some pilaw that the +princess sent me this morning in the name of her deceased uncle. It is +saturated with poison. Thank Heaven, I discovered it in time!" + +"Oh, brother! who could have done this thing? Who is there that +entertains enmity against you?" + +"The Princess Gulizar. Listen. The next time you go to see her, I +entreat you to take some snow with you; and just before seeing the +princess put a little of it into both your eyes. It will provoke tears, +and Gulizar will ask you why you are crying. Tell her that you weep for +the loss of your friend, who died suddenly this morning. Look! take, +too, this wine and this shovel, and when you have feigned intense grief +at the death of your friend, bid the princess to drink a little of the +wine. It is strong, and will immediately send her into a deep sleep. +Then, while she is asleep, heat the shovel and mark her back with it. +Remember to bring back the shovel again, and also to take her pearl +necklace. This done, return. Now fear not to execute these +instructions, because on the fulfilment of them depends your fortune +and happiness. I will arrange that your marriage with the princess +shall be accepted by the king, her father, and all the court." + +The prince promised that he would do everything as the vizier's son had +advised him; and he kept his promise. + +The following night, on the return of the prince from his visit to +Gulizar, he and the vizier's son, taking the horses and bags of muhrs, +went to a graveyard about a mile or so distant. It was arranged that +the vizier's son should act the part of a fakir and the prince the part +of the fakir's disciple and servant. + +In the morning, when Gulizar had returned to her senses, she felt a +smarting pain in her back, and noticed that her pearl necklace was +gone. She went at once and informed the king of the loss of her +necklace, but said nothing to him about the pain in her back. + +The king was very angry when he heard of the theft, and caused +proclamation concerning it to be made throughout all the city and +surrounding country. + +"It is well," said the vizier's son, when he heard of this +proclamation. "Fear not, my brother, but go and take this necklace, and +try to sell it in the bazaar." + +The prince took it to a goldsmith and asked him to buy it. + +"How much do you want for it?" asked the man. + +"Fifty thousand rupees," the prince replied. + +"All right," said the man; "wait here while I go and fetch the money." + +The prince waited and waited, till at last the goldsmith returned, and +with him the kotwal, who at once took the prince into custody on the +charge of stealing the princess's necklace. + +"How did you get the necklace?" the kotwal asked. + +"A fakir, whose servant I am, gave it to me to sell in the bazaar," the +prince replied. "Permit me, and I will show you where he is." + +The prince directed the kotwal and the policeman to the place where he +had left the vizier's son, and there they found the fakir with his eyes +shut and engaged in prayer. Presently, when he had finished his +devotions, the kotwal asked him to explain how he had obtained +possession of the princess's necklace. + +"Call the king hither," he replied, "and then I will tell his Majesty +face to face." + +On this some men went to the king and told him what the fakir had said. +His Majesty came, and seeing the fakir so solemn and earnest in his +devotions, he was afraid to rouse his anger, lest peradventure the +displeasure of Heaven should descend on him, and so he placed his hands +together in the attitude of a supplicant, and asked, "How did you get +my daughter's necklace?" + +"Last night," replied the fakir, "we were sitting here by this tomb +worshipping Khuda, when a ghoul, dressed as a princess, came and +exhumed a body that had been buried a few days ago, and began to eat +it. On seeing this I was filled with anger, and beat her back with a +shovel, which lay on the fire at the time. While running away from me +her necklace got loose and dropped. You wonder at these words, but they +are not difficult to prove. Examine your daughter, and you will find +the marks of the burn on her back. Go, and if it is as I say, send the +princess to me, and I will punish her." + +The king went back to the palace, and at once ordered the princess's +back to be examined. + +"It is so," said the maid-servant; "the burn is there." + +"Then let the girl be slain immediately," the king shouted. + +"No, no, your Majesty," they replied. "Let us send her to the fakir who +discovered this thing, that he may do whatever he wishes with her." + +The king agreed, and so the princess was taken to the graveyard. + +"Let her be shut up in a cage, and be kept near the grave whence she +took out the corpse," said the fakir. + +This was done, and in a little while the fakir and his disciple and the +princess were left alone in the graveyard. Night had not long cast its +dark mantle over the scene when the fakir and his disciple threw off +their disguise, and taking their horses and luggage, appeared before +the cage. They released the princess, rubbed some ointment over the +scars on her back, and then sat her upon one of their horses behind the +prince. Away they rode fast and far, and by the morning were able to +rest and talk over their plans in safety. The vizier's son showed the +princess some of the poisoned pilaw that she had sent him, and asked +whether she had repented of her ingratitude. The princess wept, and +acknowledged that he was her greatest helper and friend. + +A letter was sent to the chief vizier telling him of all that had +happened to the prince and the vizier's son since they had left their +country. When the vizier read the letter he went and informed the king. +The king caused a reply to be sent to the two exiles, in which he +ordered them not to return, but to send a letter to Gulizar's father, +and inform him of everything. Accordingly they did this; the prince +wrote the letter at the vizier's son's dictation. + +On reading the letter Gulizar's father was much enraged with his +viziers and other officials for not discovering the presence in his +country of these illustrious visitors, as he was especially anxious to +ingratiate himself in the favour of the prince and the vizier's son. He +ordered the execution of some of the viziers on a certain date. + +"Come," he wrote back to the vizier's son, "and stay at the palace. And +if the prince desires it, I will arrange for his marriage with Gulizar +as soon as possible." + +The prince and the vizier's son most gladly accepted the invitation, +and received a right noble welcome from the king. The marriage soon +took place, and then after a few weeks the king gave them presents of +horses and elephants, and jewels and rich cloths, and bade them start +for their own land; for he was sure that the king would now receive +them. The night before they left the viziers and others, whom the king +intended to have executed as soon as his visitors had left, came and +besought the vizier's son to plead for them, and promised that they +each would give him a daughter in marriage. He agreed to do so, and +succeeded in obtaining their pardon. + +Then the prince, with his beautiful bride Gulizar, and the vizier's +son, attended by a troop of soldiers, and a large number of camels and +horses bearing very much treasure, left for their own land. In the +midst of the way they passed the tower of the robbers, and with the +help of the soldiers they razed it to the ground, slew all its inmates, +and seized the treasure which they had been amassing there for several +years. + +At length they reached their own country, and when the king saw his +son's beautiful wife and his magnificent retinue he was at once +reconciled, and ordered him to enter the city and take up his abode +there. + +Henceforth all was sunshine on the path of the prince. He became a +great favourite, and in due time succeeded to the throne, and ruled the +country for many, many years in peace and happiness. + + + +HOW SUN, MOON, AND WIND WENT OUT TO DINNER + +One day Sun, Moon, and Wind went out to dine with their uncle and aunts +Thunder and Lightning. Their mother (one of the most distant Stars you +see far up in the sky) waited alone for her children's return. + +Now both Sun and Wind were greedy and selfish. They enjoyed the great +feast that had been prepared for them, without a thought of saving any +of it to take home to their mother--but the gentle Moon did not forget +her. Of every dainty dish that was brought round, she placed a small +portion under one of her beautiful long finger-nails, that Star might +also have a share in the treat. + +On their return, their mother, who had kept watch for them all night +long with her little bright eye, said, "Well, children, what have you +brought home for me?" Then Sun (who was eldest) said, "I have brought +nothing home for you. I went out to enjoy myself with my friends--not +to fetch a dinner for my mother!" And Wind said, "Neither have I +brought anything home for you, mother. You could hardly expect me to +bring a collection of good things for you, when I merely went out for +my own pleasure." But Moon said, "Mother, fetch a plate, see what I +have brought you." And shaking her hands she showered down such a +choice dinner as never was seen before. + +Then Star turned to Sun and spoke thus, "Because you went out to amuse +yourself with your friends, and feasted and enjoyed yourself, without +any thought of your mother at home--you shall be cursed. Henceforth, +your rays shall ever be hot and scorching, and shall burn all that they +touch. And men shall hate you, and cover their heads when you appear." + +(And that is why the Sun is so hot to this day.) + +Then she turned to Wind and said, "You also who forgot your mother in +the midst of your selfish pleasures--hear your doom. You shall always +blow in the hot dry weather, and shall parch and shrivel all living +things. And men shall detest and avoid you from this very time." + +(And that is why the Wind in the hot weather is still so disagreeable.) + +But to Moon she said, "Daughter, because you remembered your mother, +and kept for her a share in your own enjoyment, from henceforth you +shall be ever cool, and calm, and bright. No noxious glare shall +accompany your pure rays, and men shall always call you 'blessed."' + +(And that is why the moon's light is so soft, and cool, and beautiful +even to this day.) + + + +HOW THE WICKED SONS WERE DUPED + +A very wealthy old man, imagining that he was on the point of death, +sent for his sons and divided his property among them. However, he did +not die for several years afterwards; and miserable years many of them +were. Besides the weariness of old age, the old fellow had to bear with +much abuse and cruelty from his sons. Wretched, selfish ingrates! +Previously they vied with one another in trying to please their father, +hoping thus to receive more money, but now they had received their +patrimony, they cared not how soon he left them--nay, the sooner the +better, because he was only a needless trouble and expense. And they +let the poor old man know what they felt. + +One day he met a friend and related to him all his troubles. The friend +sympathised very much with him, and promised to think over the matter, +and call in a little while and tell him what to do. He did so; in a +few days he visited the old man and put down four bags full of stones +and gravel before him. + +"Look here, friend," said he. "Your sons will get to know of my coming +here to-day, and will inquire about it. You must pretend that I came to +discharge a long-standing debt with you, and that you are several +thousands of rupees richer than you thought you were. Keep these bags +in your own hands, and on no account let your sons get to them as long +as you are alive. You will soon find them change their conduct towards +you. Salaam. I will come again soon to see how you are getting on." + +When the young men got to hear of this further increase of wealth they +began to be more attentive and pleasing to their father than ever +before. And thus they continued to the day of the old man's demise, +when the bags were greedily opened, and found to contain only stones +and gravel! + + + +THE PIGEON AND THE CROW + +Once upon a time the Bodhisatta was a Pigeon, and lived in a nest- +basket which a rich man's cook had hung up in the kitchen, in order to +earn merit by it. A greedy Crow, flying near, saw all sorts of delicate +food lying about in the kitchen, and fell a-hungering after it. "How in +the world can I get some?" thought he? At last he hit upon a plan. + +When the Pigeon went to search for food, behind him, following, +following, came the Crow. + +"What do you want, Mr. Crow? You and I don't feed alike." + +"Ah, but I like you and your ways! Let me be your chum, and let us feed +together." + +The Pigeon agreed, and they went on in company. The Crow pretended to +feed along with the Pigeon, but ever and anon he would turn back, peck +to bits some heap of cow-dung, and eat a fat worm. When he had got a +bellyful of them, up he flies, as pert as you like: + +"Hullo, Mr. Pigeon, what a time you take over your meal! One ought to +draw the line somewhere. Let's be going home before it is too late." +And so they did. + +The cook saw that his Pigeon had brought a friend, and hung up another +basket for him. + +A few days afterwards there was a great purchase of fish which came to +the rich man's kitchen. How the Crow longed for some! So there he lay, +from early morn, groaning and making a great noise. Says the Pigeon to +the Crow: + +"Come, Sir Crow, and get your breakfast!"' + +"Oh dear! oh dear! I have such a fit of indigestion!" says he. + +"Nonsense! Crows never have indigestion," said the Pigeon. "If you eat +a lamp-wick, that stays in your stomach a little while; but anything +else is digested in a trice, as soon as you eat it. Now do what I tell +you; don't behave in this way just for seeing a little fish." + +"Why do you say that, master? I have indigestion." + +"Well, be careful," said the Pigeon, and flew away. + +The cook prepared all the dishes, and then stood at the kitchen door, +wiping the sweat off his body. "Now's my time!" thought Mr. Crow, and +alighted on a dish containing some dainty food. Click! The cook heard +it, and looked round. Ah! he caught the Crow, and plucked all the +feathers out of his head, all but one tuft; he powdered ginger and +cummin, mixed it up with butter-milk, and rubbed it well all over the +bird's body. + +"That's for spoiling my master's dinner and making me throw it away!" +said he, and threw him into his basket. Oh, how it hurt! + +By-and-by the Pigeon came in, and saw the Crow lying there, making a +great noise. He made great game of him, and repeated a verse of poetry: + + "Who is this tufted crane I see + Lying where he's no right to be? + Come out! my friend, the crow is near, + And he may do you harm, I fear!" + +To this the Crow answered with another: + + "No tufted crane am I--no, no! + I'm nothing but a greedy crow. + I would not do as I was told, + So now I'm plucked, as you behold." + +And the Pigeon rejoined with a third verse: + + "You'll come to grief again, I know-- + It is your nature to do so; + If people make a dish of meat, + 'Tis not for little birds to eat." + +Then the Pigeon flew away, saying: "I can't live with this creature any +longer." And the Crow lay there groaning till he died. + + + +NOTES AND REFERENCES + +The story literature of India is in a large measure the outcome of the +moral revolution of the peninsula connected with the name of Gautama +Buddha. As the influence of his life and doctrines grew, a tendency +arose to connect all the popular stories of India round the great +teacher. This could be easily effected owing to the wide spread of the +belief in metempsychosis. All that was told of the sages of the past +could be interpreted of the Buddha by representing them as pre- +incarnations of him. Even with Fables, or beast-tales, this could be +done, for the Hindoos were Darwinists long before Darwin, and regarded +beasts as cousins of men and stages of development in the progress of +the soul through the ages. Thus, by identifying the Buddha with the +heroes of all folk-tales and the chief characters in the beast-drolls, +the Buddhists were enabled to incorporate the whole of the story-store +of Hindostan in their sacred books, and enlist on their side the tale- +telling instincts of men. + +In making Buddha the centre figure of the popular literature of India, +his followers also invented the Frame as a method of literary art. The +idea of connecting a number of disconnected stories familiar to us from +_The Arabian Nights_, Boccaccio's _Decamerone_, Chaucer's _Canterbury +Tales_, or even _Pickwick_, is directly traceable to the plan of +making Buddha the central figure of India folk-literature. Curiously +enough, the earliest instance of this in Buddhist literature was intended +to be a Decameron, ten tales of Buddha's previous births, told of each +of the ten Perfections. Asvagosha, the earlier Boccaccio, died when he +had completed thirty-four of the Birth-Tales. But other collections were +made, and at last a corpus of the JATAKAS, or Birth-Tales of the Buddha, +was carried over to Ceylon, possibly as early as the first introduction of +Buddhism, 241 B.C. There they have remained till the present day, and +have at last been made accessible in a complete edition in the original +Pali by Prof. Fausböll. + +These JATAKAS, as we now have them, are enshrined in a commentary on +the _gathas_, or moral verses, written in Ceylon by one of +Buddhaghosa's school in the fifth century A.D. They invariably begin +with a "Story of the Present," an incident in Buddha's life which +calls up to him a "Story of the Past," a folk-tale in which he had +played a part during one of his former incarnations. Thus the fable of +the Lion and the Crane, which opens the present collection, is +introduced by a "Story of the Present" in the following words:-- + +"A service have we done thee" [the opening words of the _gatha_ or +moral verse]. "This the Master told while living at Jetavana concerning +Devadatta's treachery. Not only now, O Bhickkus, but in a former +existence was Devadatta ungrateful. And having said this he told a +tale" Then follows the tale as given above, and the commentary +concludes: "The Master, having given the lesson, summed up the Jataka +thus: 'At that time, the Lion was Devadatta, and the Crane was I +myself.'" Similarly, with each story of the past the Buddha identifies +himself, or is mentioned as identical with, the virtuous hero of the +folk-tale. These Jatakas are 550 in number, and have been reckoned to +include some 2000 tales. Some of these had been translated by Mr. +Rhys-Davids (_Buddhist Birth Stories, I._, Trübner's Oriental +Library, 1880), Prof. Fausböll (_Five Jatakas_, Copenhagen), and Dr. +R. Morris (_Folk-Lore Journal_, vols. ii.-v.). A few exist sculptured +on the earliest Buddhist Stupas. Thus several of the circular figure +designs on the reliefs from Amaravati, now on the grand staircase of the +British Museum, represent Jatakas, or previous births of the Buddha. + +Some of the Jatakas bear a remarkable resemblance to some of the most +familiar FABLES OF AESOP. So close is the resemblance, indeed, that it +is impossible not to surmise an historical relation between the two. +What this relation is I have discussed at considerable length in the +"History of the Aesopic Fable," which forms the introductory volume to +my edition of Caxton's _Esope_ (London, D. Nutt, "Bibliothèque de +Carabas," 1889). In this place I can only roughly summarise my results. +I conjecture that a collection of fables existed in India before Buddha +and independently of the Jatakas, and connected with the name of +Kasyapa, who was afterwards made by the Buddhists into the latest of +the twenty-seven pre-incarnations of the Buddha. This collection of the +Fables of Kasyapa was brought to Europe with a deputation from the +Cingalese King Chandra Muka Siwa (obiit 52 A.D.) to the Emperor +Claudius about 50 A.D., and was done into Greek as the [Greek: Logoi +Lubikoi] of "Kybises." These were utilised by Babrius (from whom the +Greek Aesop is derived) and Avian, and so came into the European Aesop. +I have discussed all those that are to be found in the Jatakas in the +"History" before mentioned, i. pp. 54-72 (see Notes i. xv. xx.). In +these Notes henceforth I refer to this "History" as my _Aesop_. + +There were probably other Buddhist collections of a similar nature to +the Jatakas with a framework. When the Hindu reaction against Buddhism +came, the Brahmins adapted these, with the omission of Buddha as the +central figure. There is scarcely any doubt that the so-called FABLES +OF BIDPAI were thus derived from Buddhistic sources. In its Indian form +this is now extant as a _Panchatantra_ or Pentateuch, five books +of tales connected by a Frame. This collection is of special interest +to us in the present connection, as it has come to Europe in various +forms and shapes. I have edited Sir Thomas North's English version of +an Italian adaptation of a Spanish translation of a Latin version of a +Hebrew translation of an Arabic adaptation of the Pehlevi version of +the Indian original (_Fables of Bidpai_, London, D. Nutt, +"Bibliothèque de Carabas," 1888). In this I give a genealogical table +of the various versions, from which I calculate that the tales have +been translated into thirty-eight languages in 112 different versions, +twenty different ones in English alone. Their influence on European +folk-tales has been very great: it is probable that nearly one-tenth of +these can be traced to the Bidpai literature. (See Notes v. ix. x. +xiii. xv.) + +Other collections of a similar character, arranged in a frame, and +derived ultimately from Buddhistic sources, also reached Europe and +formed popular reading in the Middle Ages. Among these may be mentioned +THE TALES OF SINDIBAD, known to Europe as _The Seven Sages of +Rome:_ from this we get the Gellert story (_cf. Celtic Fairy +Tales_), though it also occurs in the Bidpai. Another popular +collection was that associated with the life of St. Buddha, who has +been canonised as St. Josaphat: BARLAAM AND JOSAPHAT tells of his +conversion and much else besides, including the tale of the Three +Caskets, used by Shakespeare in the _Merchant of Venice_. + +Some of the Indian tales reached Europe at the time of the Crusades, +either orally or in collections no longer extant. The earliest +selection of these was the _Disciplina Clericalis_ of Petrus +Alphonsi, a Spanish Jew converted about 1106: his tales were to be used +as seasoning for sermons, and strong seasoning they must have proved. +Another Spanish collection of considerably later date was entitled +_El Conde Lucanor_ (Eng. trans. by W. York): this contains the +fable of _The Man, his Son, and their Ass_, which they ride or +carry as the popular voice decides. But the most famous collection of +this kind was that known as GESTA ROMANORUM, much of which was +certainly derived from Oriental and ultimately Indian sources, and so +might more appropriately be termed _Gesta Indorum_. + +All these collections, which reached Europe in the twelfth and +thirteenth centuries, became very popular, and were used by monks and +friars to enliven their sermons as EXEMPLA. Prof. Crane has given a +full account of this very curious phenomenon in his erudite edition of +the _Exempla of Jacques de Vitry_ (Folk Lore Society, 1890). The +Indian stories were also used by the Italian _Novellieri_, much of +Boccaccio and his school being derived from this source. As these again +gave material for the Elizabethan Drama, chiefly in W. Painter's +_Palace of Pleasure_, a collection of translated _Novelle_ which +I have edited (Lond., 3 vols. 1890), it is not surprising that we can at +times trace portions of Shakespeare back to India. It should also be +mentioned that one-half of La Fontaine's Fables (Bks. vii.-xii.) are +derived from Indian sources. (_See_ Note on No. v.) + +In India itself the collection of stories in frames went on and still +goes on. Besides those already mentioned there are the stories of +_Vikram and the Vampire_ (Vetala), translated among others by the +late Sir Richard Burton, and the seventy stories of a parrot (_Suka +Saptati_.) The whole of this literature was summed up by Somnadeva, +c. 1200 A.D. in a huge compilation entitled _Katha Sarit Sagara_ +("Ocean of the Stream of Stories"). Of this work, written in very +florid style, Mr. Tawney has produced a translation in two volumes in +the _Bibliotheca Indica_. Unfortunately, there is a Divorce Court +atmosphere about the whole book, and my selections from it have been +accordingly restricted. (Notes, No. xi.) + +So much for a short sketch of Indian folk-tales so far as they have +been reduced to writing in the native literature. [Footnote: An +admirable and full account of this literature was given by M. A. Barth +in _Mélusine_, t. iv. No. 12, and t. v. No. 1. See also Table i. +of Prof. Rhys-Davids' _Birth Stories_.] The Jatakas are probably +the oldest collection of such tales in literature, and the greater part +of the rest are demonstrably more than a thousand years old. It is +certain that much (perhaps one-fifth) of the popular literature of +modern Europe is derived from those portions of this large bulk which +came west with the Crusades through the medium of Arabs and Jews. In +his elaborate _Einleitung_ to the _Pantschatantra_, the Indian +version of the Fables of Bidpai, Prof. Benfey contended with enormous +erudition that the majority of folk-tale incidents were to be found in the +Bidpai literature. His introduction consisted of over 200 monographs on +the spread of Indian tales to Europe. He wrote in 1859, before the great +outburst of folk-tale collection in Europe, and he had not thus adequate +materials to go about in determining the extent of Indian influence on +the popular mind of Europe. But he made it clear that for beast-tales and +for drolls, the majority of those current in the mouths of occidental +people were derived from Eastern and mainly Indian sources. He was +not successful, in my opinion, in tracing the serious fairy tale to India. +Few of the tales in the Indian literary collections could be dignified by +the name of fairy tales, and it was clear that if these were to be traced +to India, an examination of the contemporary folk-tales of the peninsula +would have to be attempted. + +The collection of current Indian folk-tales has been the work of the +last quarter of a century, a work, even after what has been achieved, +still in its initial stages. The credit of having begun the process is +due to Miss Frere, who, while her father was Governor of the Bombay +Presidency, took down from the lips of her _ayah_, Anna de Souza, +one of a Lingaet family from Goa who had been Christian for three +generations, the tales she afterwards published with Mr. Murray in +1868, under the title, "_Old Deccan Days, or, Indian Fairy Legends +current in Southern India, collected from oral tradition by M. Frere, +with an introduction and notes by Sir Bartle Frere_." Her example +was followed by Miss Stokes in her _Indian Fairy Tales_ (London, +Ellis & White, 1880), who took down her tales from two _ayahs_ and +a _Khitmatgar_, all of them Bengalese--the _ayahs_ Hindus, and +the man a Mohammedan. Mr. Ralston introduced the volume with some +remarks which dealt too much with sun-myths for present-day taste. +Another collection from Bengal was that of Lal Behari Day, a Hindu +gentleman, in his _Folk-Tales of Bengal_ (London, Macmillan, +1883). The Panjab and the Kashmir then had their turn: Mrs. Steel +collected, and Captain (now Major) Temple edited and annotated, their +_Wideawake Stories_ (London, Trübner, 1884), stories capitally +told and admirably annotated. Captain Temple increased the value of +this collection by a remarkable analysis of all the incidents contained +in the two hundred Indian folk-tales collected up to this date. It is +not too much to say that this analysis marks an onward step in the +scientific study of the folk-tale: there is such a thing, derided as it +may be. I have throughout the Notes been able to draw attention to +Indian parallels by a simple reference to Major Temple's Analysis. + +Major Temple has not alone himself collected: he has been the cause +that many others have collected. In the pages of the _Indian +Antiquary_, edited by him, there have appeared from time to time +folk-tales collected from all parts of India. Some of these have been +issued separately. Sets of tales from Southern India, collected by the +Pandit Natesa Sastri, have been issued under the title _Folk-Lore of +Southern India_, three fascicules of which have been recently re- +issued by Mrs. Kingscote under the title, _Tales of the Sun_ (W. +H. Allen, 1891): it would have been well if the identity of the two +works had been clearly explained. The largest addition to our knowledge +of the Indian folk-tale that has been made since _Wideawake +Stories_ is that contained in Mr. Knowles' _Folk-Tales of +Kashmir_ (Trübner's Oriental Library, 1887), sixty-three stories, +some of great length. These, with Mr. Campbell's _Santal Tales_ +(1892); Ramaswami Raju's _Indian Fables_ (London, Sonnenschein, +n. d.); M. Thornhill, _Indian Fairy Tales_ (London, 1889); and E. +J. Robinson, _Tales of S. India_ (1885), together with those +contained in books of travel like Thornton's _Bannu_ or Smeaton's +_Karens of Burmah_ bring up the list of printed Indian folk-tales +to over 350--a respectable total indeed, but a mere drop in the +ocean of the stream of stories that must exist in such a huge +population as that of India: the Central Provinces in particular are +practically unexplored. There are doubtless many collections still +unpublished. Col. Lewin has large numbers, besides the few published in +his _Lushai Grammar_; and Mr. M. L. Dames has a number of Baluchi +tales which I have been privileged to use. Altogether, India now ranks +among the best represented countries for printed folk-tales, coming +only after Russia (1500), Germany (1200), Italy and France (1000 each.) +[Footnote: Finland boasts of 12,000 but most of these lie unprinted +among the archives of the Helsingfors Literary Society.] Counting the +ancient with the modern, India has probably some 600 to 700 folk-tales +printed and translated in accessible form. There should be enough +material to determine the vexed question of the relations between the +European and the Indian collections. + +This question has taken a new departure with the researches of M. +Emanuel Cosquin in his _Contes populaires de Lorraine_ (Paris, +1886, 2° tirage, 1890), undoubtedly the most important contribution +to the scientific study of the folk-tale since the Grimms. M. Cosquin +gives in the annotations to the eighty-four tales which he has +collected in Lorraine a mass of information as to the various forms +which the tales take in other countries of Europe and in the East. In +my opinion, the work he has done for the European folk-tale is even +more valuable than the conclusions he draws from it as to the relations +with India. He has taken up the work which Wilhelm Grimm dropped in +1859, and shown from the huge accumulations of folk-tales that have +appeared during the last thirty years that there is a common fund of +folk-tales which every country of Europe without exception possesses, +though this does not of course preclude them from possessing others +that are not shared by the rest. M. Cosquin further contends that the +whole of these have come from the East, ultimately from India, not by +literary transmission, as Benfey contended, but by oral transmission. +He has certainly shown that very many of the most striking incidents +common to European folk-tales are also to be found in Eastern +_mährchen_. What, however, he has failed to show is that some of +these may not have been carried out to the Eastern world by Europeans. +Borrowing tales is a mutual process, and when Indian meets European, +European meets Indian; which borrowed from which, is a question which +we have very few criteria to decide. It should be added that Mr W. A. +Clouston has in England collected with exemplary industry a large +number of parallels between Indian and European folk-tale incidents in +his _Popular Tales and Fictions_ (Edinburgh, 2 vols., 1887) and +_Book of Noodles_ (London, 1888). Mr Clouston has not openly +expressed his conviction that all folk-tales are Indian in origin: he +prefers to convince us _non vi sed saepe cadendo_. He has certainly +made out a good case for tracing all European drolls, or comic folk- +tales, from the East. + +With the fairy tale strictly so called--_i.e._, the serious folk- +tale of romantic adventure--I am more doubtful. It is mainly a modern +product in India as in Europe, so far as literary evidence goes. The +vast bulk of the Jatakas does not contain a single example worthy the +name, nor does the Bidpai literature. Some of Somadeva's tales, +however, approach the nature of fairy tales, but there are several +Celtic tales which can be traced to an earlier date than his (1200 +A.D.) and are equally near to fairy tales. Yet it is dangerous to trust +to mere non-appearance in literature as proof of non-existence among +the folk. To take our own tales here in England, there is not a single +instance of a reference to _Jack and the Beanstalk_ for the last +three hundred years, yet it is undoubtedly a true folk-tale. And it is +indeed remarkable how many of the _formulae_ of fairy tales have +been found of recent years in India. Thus, the _Magic Fiddle_, +found among the Santals by Mr. Campbell in two variants (see Notes on +vi.), contains the germ idea of the wide-spread story represented in +Great Britain by the ballad of _Binnorie_ (see _English Fairy +Tales_, No. ix.). Similarly, Mr. Knowles' collection has added +considerably to the number of Indian variants of European "formulae" +beyond those noted by M. Cosquin. + +It is still more striking as regards _incidents_. In a paper read +before the Folk-Lore Congress of 1891, and reprinted in the +_Transactions_, pp. 76 _seq._, I have drawn up a list of some +630 incidents found in common among European folk-tales (including +drolls). Of these, I reckon that about 250 have been already found +among Indian folk-tales, and the number is increased by each new +collection that is made or printed. The moral of this is, that India +belongs to a group of peoples who have a common store of stories; India +belongs to Europe for purposes of comparative folk-tales. + +Can we go further and say that India is the source of all the incidents +that are held in common by European children? I think we may answer +"Yes" as regards droll incidents, the travels of many of which we can +trace, and we have the curious result that European children owe their +earliest laughter to Hindu wags. As regards the serious incidents +further inquiry is needed. Thus, we find the incident of an "external +soul" (Life Index, Captain Temple very appropriately named it) in +Asbjörnsen's _Norse Tales_ and in Miss Frere's _Old Deccan +Days_ (see Notes on _Punchkin_). Yet the latter is a very +suspicious source, since Miss Frere derived her tales from a Christian +_ayah_ whose family had been in Portuguese Goa for a hundred +years. May they not have got the story of the giant with his soul +outside his body from some European sailor touching at Goa? This is to +a certain extent negatived by the fact of the frequent occurrence of +the incident in Indian folk-tales (Captain Temple gave a large number +of instances in _Wideawake Stories_, pp. 404-5). On the other +hand, Mr. Frazer in his _Golden Bough_ has shown the wide spread +of the idea among all savage or semi-savage tribes. (See Note on No. +iv.) + +In this particular case we may be doubtful; but in others, again--as +the incident of the rat's tail up nose (see Notes on _The Charmed +Ring_)--there can be little doubt of the Indian origin. And +generally, so far as the incidents are marvellous and of true fairy- +tale character, the presumption is in favour of India, because of the +vitality of animism or metempsychosis in India throughout all historic +time. No Hindu would doubt the fact of animals speaking or of men +transformed into plants and animals. The European may once have had +these beliefs, and may still hold them implicitly as "survivals"; but +in the "survival" stage they cannot afford material for artistic +creation, and the fact that the higher minds of Europe for the last +thousand years have discountenanced these beliefs has not been entirely +without influence. Of one thing there is practical certainty: the fairy +tales that are common to the Indo-European world were invented once for +all in a certain locality; and thence spread to all the countries in +culture contact with the original source. The mere fact that contiguous +countries have more similarities in their story store than distant ones +is sufficient to prove this: indeed, the fact that any single country +has spread throughout it a definite set of folk-tales as distinctive as +its flora and fauna, is sufficient to prove it. It is equally certain +that not all folk-tales have come from one source, for each country has +tales peculiar to itself. The question is as to the source of the tales +that are common to all European children, and increasing evidence seems +to show that this common nucleus is derived from India and India alone. +The Hindus have been more successful than others, because of two facts: +they have had the appropriate "atmosphere" of metempsychosis, and they +have also had spread among the people sufficient literary training and +mental grip to invent plots. The Hindu tales have ousted the native +European, which undoubtedly existed independently; indeed, many still +survive, especially in Celtic lands. Exactly in the same way, +Perrault's tales have ousted the older English folk-tales, and it is +with the utmost difficulty that one can get true English fairy tales +because _Red Riding Hood_, _Cinderella_, _Blue Beard_, _Puss in +Boots_ and the rest, have survived in the struggle for existence +among English folk-tales. So far as Europe has a common store of fairy +tales, it owes this to India. + +I do not wish to be misunderstood. I do not hold with Benfey that all +European folk-tales are derived from the Bidpai literature and similar +literary products, nor with M. Cosquin that they are all derived from +India. The latter scholar has proved that there is a nucleus of stories +in every European land which is common to all. I calculate that this +includes from 30 to 50 per cent. of the whole, and it is this common +stock of Europe that I regard as coming from India mainly at the time +of the Crusades, and chiefly by oral transmission. It includes all the +beast tales and most of the drolls, but evidence is still lacking about +the more serious fairy tales, though it is increasing with every fresh +collection of folk-tales in India, the great importance of which is +obvious from the above considerations. + +In the following Notes I give, as on the two previous occasions, the +_source_ whence I derived the tale, then _parallels_, and finally +_remarks_. For Indian _parallels_ I have been able to refer to +Major Temple's remarkable Analysis of Indian Folk-tale incidents at the +end of _Wide-awake Stories_ (pp. 386-436), for European ones to +my alphabetical List of Incidents, with bibliographical references, in +_Transactions of Folk-Lore Congress_, 1892, pp. 87-98. My _remarks_ +have been mainly devoted to tracing the relation between the Indian +and the European tales, with the object of showing that the latter +have been derived from the former. I have, however, to some extent +handicapped myself, as I have avoided giving again the Indian versions +of stories already given in _English Fairy Tales_ or _Celtic Fairy Tales_. + + + +I. THE LION AND THE CRANE. + +_Source_.--V. Fausböll, _Five Jatakas_; Copenhagen, 1861, pp. +35-8, text and translation of the _Javasakuna Jataka_. I have +ventured to English Prof. Fausböll's version, which was only intended as +a "crib" to the Pali. For the omitted Introduction, see _supra_. + +_Parallels_.--I have given a rather full collection of parallels, +running to about a hundred numbers, in my _Aesop_, pp. 232-4. The +chief of these are: (i) for the East, the Midrashic version ("Lion and +Egyptian Partridge"), in the great Rabbinic commentary on Genesis +(_Bereshith-rabba_, c. 64); (2) in classical antiquity, Phaedrus, +i. 8 ("Wolf and Crane"), and Babrius, 94 ("Wolf and Heron"), and the +Greek proverb Suidas, ii. 248 ("Out of the Wolf's Mouth"); (3) in the +Middle Ages, the so-called Greek Aesop, ed. Halm, 276 _b_, really +prose versions of Babrius and "Romulus," or prose of Phaedrus, i. 8, +also the Romulus of Ademar (fl. 1030), 64; it occurs also on the Bayeux +Tapestry, in Marie de France, 7, and in Benedict of Oxford's _Mishle +Shualim_ (Heb.), 8; (4) Stainhöwel took it from the "Romulus" into +his German Aesop (1480), whence all the modern European Aesops are +derived. + +_Remarks_.--I have selected _The Wolf and the Crane_ as my +typical example in my "History of the Aesopic Fable," and can only give +here a rough summary of the results I there arrived at concerning the +fable, merely premising that these results are at present no more than +hypotheses. The similarity of the Jataka form with that familiar to us, +and derived by us in the last resort from Phaedrus, is so striking that +few will deny some historical relation between them. I conjecture that +the Fable originated in India, and came West by two different routes. +First, it came by oral tradition to Egypt, as one of the Libyan Fables +which the ancients themselves distinguished from the Aesopic Fables. It +was, however, included by Demetrius Phalereus, tyrant of Athens, and +founder of the Alexandrian library c. 300 B.C., in his _Assemblies of +Aesopic Fables_, which I have shown to be the source of Phaedrus' +Fables c. 30 A.D. Besides this, it came from Ceylon in the Fables of +Kybises--i.e., Kasyapa the Buddha--c. 50 A.D., was adapted into Hebrew, +and used for political purposes, by Rabbi Joshua ben Chananyah in a +harangue to the Jews c. 120 A.D., begging them to be patient while +within the jaws of Rome. The Hebrew form uses the lion, not the wolf, +as the ingrate, which enables us to decide on the Indian _provenance_ +of the Midrashic version. It may be remarked that the use of the lion +in this and other Jatakas is indirectly a testimony to their great age, +as the lion has become rarer and rarer in India during historic times, +and is now confined to the Gir forest of Kathiáwar, where only a dozen +specimens exist, and are strictly preserved. + +The verses at the end are the earliest parts of the Jataka, being in +more archaic Pali than the rest: the story is told by the commentator +(c. 400 A.D.) to illustrate them. It is probable that they were brought +over on the first introduction of Buddhism into Ceylon, c. 241 B.C. +This would give them an age of over two thousand years, nearly three +hundred years earlier than Phaedrus, from whom comes our _Wolf and +Crane_. + + + +II. PRINCESS LABAM. + +_Source_.--Miss Stokes, _Indian Fairy Tales_, No. xxii. pp. +153-63, told by Múniyá, one of the ayahs. I have left it unaltered, +except that I have replaced "God" by "Khuda," the word originally used +(see Notes _l. c._, p 237). + +_Parallels_.--The tabu, as to a particular direction, occurs in +other Indian stories as well as in European folk-tales (see notes on +Stokes, p. 286). The _grateful animals_ theme occurs in "The +Soothsayer's Son" (_infra_, No. x.), and frequently in Indian +folk-tales (see Temple's Analysis, III. i. 5-7; _Wideawake +Stories_, pp. 412-3). The thorn in the tiger's foot is especially +common (Temple, _l. c._, 6, 9), and recalls the story of Androclus, +which occurs in the derivates of Phaedrus, and may thus be +Indian in origin (see Benfey, _Panschatantra_, i. 211, and the +parallels given in my _Aesop_, Ro. iii. 1. p. 243). The theme is, +however, equally frequent in European folk-tales: see my List of +Incidents, _Proc. Folk-Lore Congress_, p. 91, s.v. "Grateful +Animals" and "Gifts by Grateful Animals." Similarly, the "Bride Wager" +incident at the end is common to a large number of Indian and European +folk-tales (Temple, Analysis, p. 430; my List, _l. c. sub voce_). +The tasks are also equally common (_cf._ "Battle of the Birds" in +_Celtic Fairy Tales_), though the exact forms as given in +"Princess Labam" are not known in Europe. + +_Remarks_.--We have here a concrete instance of the relation of +Indian and European fairy-tales. The human mind may be the same +everywhere, but it is not likely to hit upon the sequence of incidents, +_Direction tabu_--_Grateful Animals_--_Bride-wager_--_Tasks_, by +accident, or independently: Europe must have borrowed from India, or +India from Europe. As this must have occurred within historic times, +indeed within the last thousand years, when even European peasants +are not likely to have _invented_, even if they believed, in the incident +of the grateful animals, the probability is in favour of borrowing from +India, possibly through the intermediation of Arabs at the time of the +Crusades. It is only a probability, but we cannot in any case reach more +than probability in this matter, just at present. + + + +III. LAMBIKIN. + +_Source_.--Steel-Temple, _Wideawake Stories_, pp. 69-72, +originally published in _Indian Antiquary_, xii. 175. The droll is +common throughout the Panjab. + +_Parallels_.--The similarity of the concluding episode with the +finish of the "Three Little Pigs" (Eng. Fairy Tales, No. xiv.) In my +notes on that droll I have pointed out that the pigs were once goats or +kids with "hair on their chinny chin chin." This brings the tale a +stage nearer to the Lambikin. + +_Remarks_.--The similarity of Pig No. 3 rolling down hill in the +churn and the Lambikin in the Drumikin can scarcely be accidental, +though, it must be confessed, the tale has undergone considerable +modification before it reached England. + + + +IV. PUNCHKIN. + +_Source_.--Miss Frere, _Old Deccan Days_, pp. 1-16, from her +ayah, Anna de Souza, of a Lingaet family settled and Christianised at +Goa for three generations. I should perhaps add that a Prudhan is a +Prime Minister, or Vizier; Punts are the same, and Sirdars, nobles. + +_Parallels_.--The son of seven mothers is a characteristic Indian +conception, for which see Notes on "The Son of Seven Queens" in this +collection, No. xvi. The mother transformed, envious stepmother, ring +recognition, are all incidents common to East and West; bibliographical +references for parallels may be found under these titles in my List of +Incidents. The external soul of the ogre has been studied by Mr. E. +Clodd in _Folk-Lore Journal_, vol. ii., "The Philosophy of +Punchkin," and still more elaborately in the section, "The External +Soul in Folk-tales," in Mr. Frazer's _Golden Bough_, ii. pp. 296- +326. See also Major Temple's Analysis, II. iii., _Wideawake +Stories_, pp. 404-5, who there gives the Indian parallels. + +_Remarks_.--Both Mr. Clodd and Mr. Frazer regard the essence of +the tale to consist in the conception of an external soul or "life- +index," and they both trace in this a "survival" of savage philosophy, +which they consider occurs among all men at a certain stage of culture. +But the most cursory examination of the sets of tales containing these +incidents in Mr. Frazer's analyses shows that many, indeed the +majority, of these tales cannot be independent of one another; for they +contain not alone the incident of an external materialised soul, but +the further point that this is contained in something else, which is +enclosed in another thing, which is again surrounded by a wrapper. This +Chinese ball arrangement is found in the Deccan ("Punchkin"); in Bengal +(Day, _Folk-Tales of Bengal_); in Russia (Ralston, p. 103 +_seq._, "Koschkei the Deathless," also in Mr. Lang's _Red Fairy +Book_); in Servia (Mijatovics, _Servian Folk-Lore,_ p. 172); in +South Slavonia (Wratislaw, p. 225); in Rome (Miss Busk, p. 164); in +Albania (Dozon, p. 132 _seq._); in Transylvania (Haltrich, No. +34); in Schleswig-Holstein (Müllenhoff, p. 404); in Norway +(Asbjörnsen, No. 36, _ap._ Dasent, _Pop. Tales_, p. 55, "The +Giant who had no Heart in his Body"); and finally, in the Hebrides +(Campbell, _Pop. Tales_, p. 10, _cf. Celtic Fairy Tales_, No. +xvii., "Sea Maiden"). Here we have the track of this remarkable idea of +an external soul enclosed in a succession of wrappings, which we can +trace from Hindostan to the Hebrides. + +It is difficult to imagine that we have not here the actual migration +of the tale from East to West. In Bengal we have the soul "in a +necklace, in a box, in the heart of a _boal_ fish, in a tank"; in +Albania "it is in a pigeon, in a hare, in the silver tusk of a wild +boar"; in Rome it is "in a stone, in the head of a bird, in the head of +a leveret, in the middle head of a seven-headed hydra"; in Russia "it +is in an egg, in a duck, in a hare, in a casket, in an oak"; in Servia +it is "in a board, in the heart of a fox, in a mountain"; in +Transylvania "it is in a light, in an egg, in a duck, in a pond, in a +mountain;" in Norway it is "in an egg, in a duck, in a well, in a +church, on an island, in a lake"; in the Hebrides it is "in an egg, in +the belly of a duck, in the belly of a wether, under a flagstone on the +threshold." It is impossible to imagine the human mind independently +imagining such bizarre convolutions. They were borrowed from one nation +to the other, and till we have reason shown to the contrary, the +original lender was a Hindu. I should add that the mere conception of +an external soul occurs in the oldest Egyptian tale of "The Two +Brothers," but the wrappings are absent. + + + +V. THE BROKEN POT. + +_Source.--Pantschatantra_, V. ix., tr. Benfey, ii. 345-6. + +_Parallels._--Benfey, in § 209 of his _Einleitung_, gives +bibliographical references to most of those which are given at length in +Prof. M. Müller's brilliant essay on "The Migration of Fables" +(_Selected Essays_, i. 500-76), which is entirely devoted to the +travels of the fable from India to La Fontaine. See also Mr. Clouston, +_Pop. Tales_, ii. 432 _seq._ I have translated the Hebrew version +in my essay, "Jewish Influence on the Diffusion of Folk-Tales," pp. 6-7. +Our proverb, "Do not count your chickens before they are hatched," is +ultimately to be derived from India. + +_Remarks--The stories of Alnaschar, the Barber's fifth brother in the +_Arabian Nights_, and of La Perette, who counted her chickens +before they were hatched, in La Fontaine, are demonstrably derived from +the same Indian original from which our story was obtained. The travels +of the "Fables of Bidpai" from India to Europe are well known and +distinctly traceable. I have given a rough summary of the chief +critical results in the introduction to my edition of the earliest +English version of the _Fables of Bidpai_, by Sir Thomas North, of +Plutarch fame (London, D. Nutt, "Bibliothèque de Carabas," 1888), where +I have given an elaborate genealogical table of the multitudinous +versions. La Fontaine's version, which has rendered the fable so +familiar to us all, comes from Bonaventure des Periers, _Contes et +Nouvelles_, who got it from the _Dialogus Creaturarum_ of Nicholaus +Pergamenus, who derived it from the _Sermones_ of Jacques de Vitry +(see Prof. Crane's edition, No. li.), who probably derived it from the +_Directorium Humanae Vitae_ of John of Capua, a converted Jew, +who translated it from the Hebrew version of the Arabic _Kalilah wa +Dimnah,_ which was itself derived from the old Syriac version of a +Pehlevi translation of the original Indian work, probably called after +Karataka and Damanaka, the names of two jackals who figure in the +earlier stories of the book. Prof. Rhys-Davids informs me that these names +are more akin to Pali than to Sanskrit, which makes it still more probable +that the whole literature is ultimately to be derived from a Buddhist +source. + +The theme of La Perette is of interest as showing the _literary_ +transmission of tales from Orient to Occident. It also shows the +possibility of an influence of literary on oral tradition, as is shown +by our proverb, and by the fact, which Benfey mentions, that La +Fontaine's story has had influence on two of Grimm's tales, Nos. 164, +168. + + + +VI. THE MAGIC FIDDLE. + +_Source_.--A. Campbell, _Santal Folk-Tales_, 1892, pp. 52-6, +with some verbal alterations. A Bonga is the presiding spirit of a +certain kind of rice land; Doms and Hadis are low-caste aborigines, +whose touch is considered polluting. The Santals are a forest tribe, +who live in the Santal Parganas, 140 miles N. W. of Calcutta (Sir W. W. +Hunter, _The Indian Empire_, 57-60). + +_Parallels_.--Another version occurs in Campbell, p. 106 +_seq._, which shows that the story is popular among the Santals. +It is obvious, however, that neither version contains the real finish +of the story, which must have contained the denunciation of the magic +fiddle of the murderous sisters. This would bring it under the formula +of _The Singing Bone_, which M. Monseur has recently been studying +with a remarkable collection of European variants in the Bulletin of +the Wallon Folk-Lore Society of Liège (_cf. Eng. Fairy Tales_, No. +ix.). There is a singing bone in Steel-Temple's _Wideawake +Stories_, pp. 127 _seq._ ("Little Anklebone"). + +_Remarks_.--Here we have another theme of the common store of +European folk-tales found in India. Unfortunately, the form in which it +occurs is mutilated, and we cannot draw any definite conclusion from +it. + + + +VII. THE CRUEL CRANE OUTWITTED. + +_Source_.--The Baka-Jataka, Fausböll, No. 38, tr. Rhys-Davids, pp. +315-21. The Buddha this time is the Genius of the Tree. + +_Parallels_.--This Jataka got into the Bidpai literature, and +occurs in all its multitudinous offshoots (_see_ Benfey, _Einleitung_, +§ 60) among others in the earliest English translation by North (my +edition, pp. 118-22), where the crane becomes "a great Paragone of +India (of those that live a hundredth yeares and never mue their +feathers)." The crab, on hearing the ill news "called to Parliament all the +Fishes of the Lake," and before all are devoured destroys the Paragon, +as in the Jataka, and returned to the remaining fishes, who "all with one +consent gave hir many a thanke." + +_Remarks_.--An interesting point, to which I have drawn attention +in my Introduction to North's Bidpai, is the probability that the +illustrations of the tales as well as the tales themselves, were +translated, so to speak, from one country to another. We can trace them +in Latin, Hebrew, and Arabic MSS., and a few are extant on Buddhist +Stupas. Under these circumstances, it may be of interest to compare +with Mr. Batten's conception of the Crane and the Crab (_supra_, +p. 50) that of the German artist who illustrated the first edition of +the Latin Bidpai, probably following the traditional representations of +the MS., which itself could probably trace back to India. + + + +VIII. LOVING LAILI + +_Source_.--Miss Stokes, _Indian Fairy Tales_, pp. 73-84. +Majnun and Laili are conventional names for lovers, the Romeo and +Juliet of Hindostan. + +_Parallels_.--Living in animals' bellies occurs elsewhere in Miss +Stokes' book, pp. 66, 124; also in Miss Frere's, 188. The restoration +of beauty by fire occurs as a frequent theme (Temple, Analysis, III. +vi. f. p. 418). Readers will be reminded of the _dénouement_ of +Mr. Rider Haggard's _She_. Resuscitation from ashes has been used +very effectively by Mr. Lang in his delightful _Prince Prigio_. + +_Remarks_.--The white skin and blue eyes of Prince Majnun deserve +attention. They are possibly a relic of the days of Aryan conquest, +when the fair-skinned, fair-haired Aryan conquered the swarthier +aboriginals. The name for caste in Sanskrit is _varna_, "colour"; +and one Hindu cannot insult another more effectually than by calling +him a black man. _Cf._ Stokes, pp. 238-9, who suggests that the +red hair is something solar, and derived from myths of the solar hero. + + + +IX. THE TIGER, THE BRAHMAN, AND THE JACKAL. + +_Source_.--Steel-Temple, _Wideawake Stories_, pp. 116-20; +first published in _Indian Antiquary_, xii. p. 170 _seq._ + +_Parallels_.--No less than 94 parallels are given by Prof. K. +Krohn in his elaborate discussion of this fable in his dissertation, +_Mann und Fuchs_, (Helsingfors, 1891), pp. 38-60; to which may be +added three Indian variants, omitted by him, but mentioned by Capt. +Temple, _l. c._, p. 324, in the _Bhâgavata Purâna_, the _Gul +Bakâoli_ and _Ind. Ant._ xii. 177; and a couple more in my _Aesop_, +p. 253: add Smeaton, _Karens_, p. 126. + +_Remarks_.--Prof. Krohn comes to the conclusion that the majority +of the oral forms of the tale come from literary versions (p. 47), +whereas the _Reynard_ form has only had influence on a single +variant. He reduces the century of variants to three type forms. The +first occurs in two Egyptian versions collected in the present day, as +well as in Petrus Alphonsi in the twelfth century, and the _Fabulae +Extravagantes_ of the thirteenth or fourteenth: here the ingrate +animal is a crocodile, which asks to be carried away from a river about +to dry up, and there is only one judge. The second is that current in +India and represented by the story in the present collection: here the +judges are three. The third is that current among Western Europeans, +which has spread to S. Africa and N. and S. America: also three judges. +Prof. K. Krohn counts the first the original form, owing to the single +judge and the naturalness of the opening, by which the critical +situation is brought about. The further question arises, whether this +form, though found in Egypt now, is indigenous there, and if so, how it +got to the East. Prof. Krohn grants the possibility of the Egyptian +form having been invented in India and carried to Egypt, and he allows +that the European forms have been influenced by the Indian. The +"Egyptian" form is found in Burmah (Smeaton, _l. c._, p. 128), as +well as the Indian, a fact of which Prof. K. Krohn was unaware though +it turns his whole argument. The evidence we have of other folk-tales +of the beast-epic emanating from India improves the chances of this +also coming from that source. One thing at least is certain: all these +hundred variants come ultimately from one source. The incident "Inside +again" of the _Arabian Nights_ (the Djinn and the bottle) and +European tales is also a secondary derivate. + + + +X. THE SOOTHSAYER'S SON. + +_Source_.--Mrs. Kingscote, _Tales of the Sun_ (p. 11 +_seq._), from Pandit Natesa Sastri's _Folk-Lore of Southern +India_, pt. ii., originally from _Ind. Antiquary_. I have considerably +condensed and modified the somewhat Babu English of the original. + +_Parallels_.--See Benfey, _Pantschatantra_, § 71, i. pp. 193- +222, who quotes the _Karma Jataka_ as the ultimate source: it +also occurs in the _Saccankira Jataka_ (Fausböll, No. 73), trans. +Rev. R. Morris, _Folk-Lore Jour._ iii. 348 _seq._ The story +of the ingratitude of man compared with the gratitude of beasts came +early to the West, where it occurs in the _Gesta Romanorum_, c. +119. It was possibly from an early form of this collection that Richard +Coeur de Lion got the story, and used it to rebuke the ingratitude of +the English nobles on his return in 1195. Matthew Paris tells the +story, _sub anno_ (it is an addition of his to Ralph Disset), +_Hist. Major_, ed. Luard, ii. 413-6, how a lion and a serpent and +a Venetian named Vitalis were saved from a pit by a woodman, Vitalis +promising him half his fortune, fifty talents. The lion brings his +benefactor a leveret, the serpent "gemmam pretiosam," probably "the +precious jewel in his head" to which Shakespeare alludes (_As You +Like It_, ii. 1., cf. Benfey, _l.c._, p. 214, _n._), but Vitalis +refuses to have anything to do with him, and altogether repudiates the +fifty talents. "Haec referebat Rex Richardus munificus, ingratos +redarguendo." + +_Remarks_.--Apart from the interest of its wide travels, and its +appearance in the standard mediaeval History of England by Matthew +Paris, the modern story shows the remarkable persistence of folk-tales +in the popular mind. Here we have collected from the Hindu peasant of +to-day a tale which was probably told before Buddha, over two thousand +years ago, and certainly included among the Jatakas before the +Christian era. The same thing has occurred with _The Tiger, Brahman, +and Jackal_ (No. ix. _supra_). + + + +XI. HARISARMAN. + +_Source_.--Somadeva, _Katha-Sarit-Sagara_, trans. Tawney +(Calcutta, 1880), i. pp. 272-4. I have slightly toned down the inflated +style of the original. + +_Parallels_.--Benfey has collected and discussed a number in +_Orient and Occident_, i. 371 _seq._; see also Tawney, _ad loc._ +The most remarkable of the parallels is that afforded by the Grimms' +"Doctor Allwissend" (No. 98), which extends even to such a minute point +as his exclamation, "Ach, ich armer Krebs," whereupon a crab is +discovered under a dish. The usual form of discovery of the thieves is for +the Dr. Knowall to have so many days given him to discover the thieves, +and at the end of the first day he calls out, "There's one of them," +meaning the days, just as one of the thieves peeps through at him. +Hence the title and the plot of C. Lever's _One of Them_. + + + +XII. THE CHARMED RING. + +_Source_.--Knowles, _Folk-Tales of Kashmir_, pp. 20-8. + +_Parallels_.--The incident of the Aiding Animals is frequent in +folk-tales: see bibliographical references, _sub voce_, in my List +of Incidents, _Trans. Folk-Lore Congress_, p. 88; also Knowles, +21, _n._; and Temple, _Wideawake Stories_, pp. 401, 412. The +Magic Ring is also "common form" in folk-tales; _cf._ Köhler +_ap._ Marie de France, _Lais_, ed. Warncke, p. lxxxiv. And the +whole story is to be found very widely spread from India (_Wideawake +Stories_, pp. 196-206) to England (_Eng. Fairy Tales_, No. xvii, "Jack +and his Golden Snuff-box," _cf._ Notes, _ibid._), the most familiar +form of it being "Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp." + +_Remarks_.--M. Cosquin has pointed out (_Contes de Lorraine_, +p. xi. _seq._) that the incident of the rat's-tail-up-nose to recover +the ring from the stomach of an ogress, is found among Arabs, +Albanians, Bretons, and Russians. It is impossible to imagine that +incident--occurring in the same series of incidents--to have been +invented more than once, and if that part of the story has been +borrowed from India, there is no reason why the whole of it should not +have arisen in India, and have been spread to the West. The English +variant was derived from an English Gipsy, and suggests the possibility +that for this particular story the medium of transmission has been the +Gipsies. This contains the incident of the loss of the ring by the +faithful animal, which again could not have been independently +invented. + + + +XIII. THE TALKATIVE TORTOISE. + +_Source_.---The _Kacchapa Jataka_, Fausböll, No. 215; also in +his _Five Jatakas_, pp. 16, 41, tr. Rhys-Davids, pp. viii-x. + +_Parallels_.--It occurs also in the Bidpai literature, in nearly +all its multitudinous offshoots. See Benfey, _Einleitung_, § 84; +also my _Bidpai_, E, 4 _a_; and North's text, pp. 170-5, where it +is the taunts of the other birds that cause the catastrophe: "O here is a +brave sight, looke, here is a goodly ieast, what bugge haue we here," +said some. "See, see, she hangeth by the throte, and therefor she +speaketh not," saide others; "and the beast flieth not like a beast;" so +she opened her mouth and "pashte hir all to pieces." + +_Remarks_.-I have reproduced in my edition the original +illustration of the first English Bidpai, itself derived from the +Italian block. A replica of it here may serve to show that it could be +used equally well to illustrate the Pali original as its English great- +great-great-great-great-great grand-child. + + + +XIV. LAC OF RUPEES. + +_Source_.--Knowles, _Folk-Tales of Kashmir_, pp. 32-41. I +have reduced the pieces of advice to three, and curtailed somewhat. + +_Parallels_.--See _Celtic Fairy Tales_, No. xxii., _"Tale +of Ivan,"_ from the old Cornish, now extinct, and notes _ibid._ +Mr. Clouston points out (_Pop. Tales_, ii. 319) that it occurs in +Buddhist literature, in "Buddaghoshas Parables," as "The Story of Kulla +Pauthaka." + +_Remarks_.--It is indeed curious to find the story better told in +Cornwall than in the land of its birth, but there can be little doubt +that the Buddhist version is the earliest and original form of the +story. The piece of advice was originally a charm, in which a youth was +to say to himself, "Why are you busy? Why are you busy?" He does so +when thieves are about, and so saves the king's treasures, of which he +gets an appropriate share. It would perhaps be as well if many of us +should say to ourselves "_Ghatesa, ghatesa, kim kárana?_" + + + +XV. THE GOLD-GIVING SERPENT. + +_Source_.--_Pantschatantra_, III. v., tr. Benfey, ii. 244-7. + +_Parallels_ given in my Aesop, Ro. ii. 10, p. 40. The chief points +about them are--(1) though the tale does not exist in either Phaedrus or +Babrius, it occurs in prose derivates from the Latin by Ademar, 65, and +"Romulus," ii. 10, and from Greek, in Gabrias, 45, and the prose _Aesop_, +ed. Halm, 96; Gitlbauer has restored the Babrian form in his edition of +Babrius, No. 160. (2) The fable occurs among folk-tales, Grimm, 105; +Woycicki, _Poln. Mähr._ 105; Gering, _Islensk. Aevent_ 59, possibly +derived from La Fontaine, x. 12. + +_Remarks_.--Benfey has proved most ingeniously and conclusively +(_Einl._) that the Indian fable is the source of both Latin and +Greek fables. I may borrow from my _Aesop_, p. 93, parallel abstracts +of the three versions, putting Benfey's results in a graphic form, +series of bars indicating the passages where the classical fables have +failed to preserve the original. + + +BIDPAI. + +A Brahmin once observed a snake in his field, and thinking it the +tutelary spirit of the field, he offered it a libation of milk in a +bowl. Next day he finds a piece of gold in the bowl, and he receives +this each day after offering the libation. One day he had to go +elsewhere, and he sent his son with the libation. The son sees the +gold, and thinking the serpent's hole full of treasure determines to +slay the snake. He strikes at its head with a cudgel, and the enraged +serpent stings him to death. The Brahmin mourns his son's death, but +next morning as usual brings the libation of milk (in the hope of +getting the gold as before). The serpent appears after a long delay at +the mouth of its lair, and declares their friendship at an end, as it +could not forget the blow of the Brahmin's son, nor the Brahmin his +son's death from the bite of the snake. + +_Pants_. III. v. (Benf. 244-7). + + +PHAEDRINE. + +----A good man had become friendly with the snake, who came into his +house and brought luck with it, so that the man became rich through +it.----One day he struck the serpent, which disappeared, and with it +the man's riches. The good man tries to make it up, but the serpent +declares their friendship at an end, as it could not forget the blow.---- + +Phaed. Dressl. VII. 28 (Rom. II. xi.) + + +BABRIAN. + +----------------A serpent stung a farmer's son to death. The father +pursued the serpent with an axe, and struck off part of its tail. +Afterwards fearing its vengeance he brought food and honey to its lair, +and begged reconciliation. The serpent, however, declares friendship +impossible, as it could not forget the blow--nor the farmer his son's +death from the bite of the snake. + +Aesop; Halm 96b (Babrius-Gitlb. 160). + +In the Indian fable every step of the action is thoroughly justified, +whereas the Latin form does not explain why the snake was friendly in +the first instance, or why the good man was enraged afterwards; and the +Greek form starts abruptly, without explaining why the serpent had +killed the farmer's son. Make a composite of the Phaedrine and Babrian +forms, and you get the Indian one, which is thus shown to be the +original of both. + + + +XVI. THE SON OF SEVEN QUEENS. + +_Source_.--Steel Temple, _Wideawake Stories_, pp. 98-110, +originally published in _Ind. Antiq._ x. 147 _seq._ + +_Parallels_.--A long variant follows in _Ind. Antiq._, _l. +c._ M. Cosquin refers to several Oriental variants, _l. c._ p. +xxx. _n._ For the direction tabu, see Note on Princess Labam, +_supra_, No. ii. The "letter to kill bearer" and "letter substituted" +are frequent in both European (see my List _s. v._) and Indian +Folk-Tales (Temple, Analysis, II. iv. _b_, 6, p. 410). The idea of a +son of seven mothers could only arise in a polygamous country. It occurs +in "Punchkin," _supra_, No. iv.; Day, _Folk-Tales of Bengal_, 117 +_seq.; Ind. Antiq._ i. 170 (Temple, _l. c._, 398). + +_Remarks._--M. Cosquin (_Contes de Lorraine_, p. xxx.) +points out how, in a Sicilian story, Gonzenbach (_Sizil. Mähr._ +No. 80), the seven co-queens are transformed into seven step-daughters +of the envious witch who causes their eyes to be taken out. It is thus +probable, though M. Cosquin does not point this out, that the "envious +step-mother" of folk-tales (see my List, _s. v._) was originally +an envious co-wife. But there can be little doubt of what M. Cosquin +_does_ point out--viz., that the Sicilian story is derived from +the Indian one. + + + +XVII. A LESSON FOR KINGS. + +_Source.--Rajovada Jataka_, Fausböll, No. 151, tr. Rhys-Davids, +pp. xxii.-vi. + +_Remarks_.--This is one of the earliest of moral allegories in +existence. The moralising tone of the Jatakas must be conspicuous to +all reading them. Why, they can moralise even the Tar Baby (see +_infra_, Note on "Demon with the Matted Hair," No. xxv.). + + + +XVIII. PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALL. + +_Source_.--Kingscote, _Tales of the Sun_. I have changed the +Indian mercantile numerals into those of English "back-slang," which +make a very good parallel. + + + +XIX. RAJA RASALU. + +_Source_.--Steel-Temple, _Wideawake Stories_, pp. 247-80, +omitting "How Raja Rasalu was Born," "How Raja Rasalu's Friends Forsook +Him," "How Raja Rasalu Killed the Giants," and "How Raja Rasalu became +a Jogi." A further version in Temple, _Legends of _Panjab_, vol. +i. _Chaupur_, I should explain, is a game played by two players +with eight men, each on a board in the shape of a cross, four men to +each cross covered with squares. The moves of the men are decided by +the throws of a long form of dice. The object of the game is to see +which of the players can first move all his men into the black centre +square of the cross (Temple, _l. c._, p. 344, and _Legends of +Panjab_, i. 243-5) It is sometimes said to be the origin of chess. + +_Parallels_.--Rev. C. Swynnerton, "Four Legends about Raja Rasalu," +in _Folk-Lore Journal_, p. 158 _seq._, also in separate book +much enlarged, _The Adventures of Raja Rasalu_, Calcutta, 1884. +Curiously enough, the real interest of the story comes after the end of +our part of it, for Kokilan, when she grows up, is married to Raja +Rasalu, and behaves as sometimes youthful wives behave to elderly +husbands. He gives her her lover's heart to eat, _à la_ Decameron, +and she dashes herself over the rocks. For the parallels of this part +of the legend see my edition of Painter's _Palace of Pleasure_, +tom. i. Tale 39, or, better, the _Programm_ of H. Patzig, _Zur +Geschichte der Herzmäre_ (Berlin, 1891). Gambling for life occurs in +Celtic and other folk-tales; _cf._ my List of Incidents, _s. +v._ "Gambling for Magic Objects." + +_Remarks_.--Raja Rasalu is possibly a historic personage, +according to Capt. Temple, _Calcutta Review_, 1884, p. 397, +flourishing in the eighth or ninth century. There is a place called +Sirikap ka-kila in the neighbourhood of Sialkot, the traditional seat +of Rasalu on the Indus, not far from Atlock. + +Herr Patzig is strongly for the Eastern origin of the romance, and +finds its earliest appearance in the West in the Anglo-Norman +troubadour, Thomas' _Lai Guirun_, where it becomes part of the +Tristan cycle. There is, so far as I know, no proof of the earliest +part of the Rasalu legend (_our_ part) coming to Europe, except +the existence of the gambling incidents of the same kind in Celtic and +other folk-tales. + + + +XX. THE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN. + +_Source_.--The _Siha Camma Jataka_, Fausböll, No. 189, +trans. Rhys-Davids, pp. v. vi. + +_Parallels_.--It also occurs in Somadeva, _Katha Sarit +Sagara_, ed. Tawney, ii. 65, and _n._ For Aesopic parallels _cf._ +my _Aesop_, Av. iv. It is in Babrius, ed. Gitlbaur, 218 (from Greek prose +Aesop, ed. Halm, No. 323), and Avian, ed. Ellis, 5, whence it came into +the modern Aesop. + +_Remarks_.--Avian wrote towards the end of the third century, and +put into Latin mainly those portions of Babrius which are unparalleled +by Phaedrus. Consequently, as I have shown, he has a much larger +proportion of Eastern elements than Phaedrus. There can be little doubt +that the Ass in the Lion's Skin is from India. As Prof. Rhys-Davids +remarks, the Indian form gives a plausible motive for the masquerade +which is wanting in the ordinary Aesopic version. + + + +XXI. THE FARMER AND THE MONEY-LENDER. + +_Source_.--Steel-Temple, _Wideawake Stories_, pp. 215-8. + +_Parallels_ enumerated in my _Aesop_, Av. xvii. See also +Jacques de Vitry, _Exempla_, ed. Crane, No. 196 (see notes, p. +212), and Bozon, _Contes moralisés_, No. 112. It occurs in Avian, +ed. Ellis, No. 22. Mr. Kipling has a very similar tale in his _Life's +Handicap_. + +_Remarks_.--Here we have collected in modern India what one cannot +help thinking is the Indian original of a fable of Avian. The preceding +number showed one of his fables existing among the Jatakas, probably +before the Christian era. This makes it likely that we shall find an +earlier Indian original of the fable of the Avaricious and Envious, +perhaps among the Jatakas still untranslated. + + + +XXII. THE BOY WITH MOON ON FOREHEAD. + +_Source_.--Miss Stokes' _Indian Fairy Tales_, No. 20, pp. +119-137. + +_Parallels_ to heroes and heroines in European fairy tales, with +stars on their foreheads, are given with some copiousness in Stokes, +_l. c._, pp. 242-3. This is an essentially Indian trait; almost +all Hindus have some tribal or caste mark on their bodies or faces. The +choice of the hero disguised as a menial is also common property of +Indian and European fairy tales: see Stokes, _l. c._, p. 231, and +my List of Incidents (_s. v._ "Menial Disguise.") + + + +XXIII. THE PRINCE AND THE FAKIR. + +_Source_.--Kindly communicated by Mr. M. L. Dames from his +unpublished collection of Baluchi tales. + +_Remarks_.--Unholy fakirs are rather rare. See Temple, Analysis, +I. ii. _a_, p. 394. + + + +XXIV. WHY THE FISH LAUGHED. + +_Source_.--Knowles, _Folk-Tales of Kashmir_, pp. 484-90. + +_Parallels_.--The latter part is the formula of the Clever Lass +who guesses riddles. She has been bibliographised by Prof. Child, +_Eng. and Scotch Ballads_, i. 485; see also Benfey, _Kl. Schr._ +ii. 156 _seq._ The sex test at the end is different from any of those +enumerated by Prof. Köhler on Gonzenbach, _Sezil. Mähr._ ii. 216. + +_Remarks_.--Here we have a further example of a whole formula, or +series of incidents, common to most European collections, found in +India, and in a quarter, too, where European influence is little likely +to penetrate. Prof. Benfey, in an elaborate dissertation ("Die Kluge +Dirne," in _Ausland_, 1859, Nos. 20-25, now reprinted in _Kl. +Schr._ ii. 156 _seq._), has shown the wide spread of the theme +both in early Indian literature (though probably there derived from the +folk) and in modern European folk literature. + + + +XXV. THE DEMON WITH THE MATTED HAIR. + +_Source_.--_The Pancavudha Jataka_, Fausböll, No. 55, +kindly translated for this book by Mr. W. H. D. Rouse, of Christ's +College, Cambridge. There is a brief abstract of the Jataka in Prof. +Estlin Carpenter's sermon, _Three Ways of Salvation_, 1884, p. 27, +where my attention was first called to this Jataka. + +_Parallels_.--Most readers of these Notes will remember the +central episode of Mr. J. C. Harris' _Uncle Remus_, in which Brer +Fox, annoyed at Brer Rabbit's depredations, fits up "a contrapshun, +what he calls a Tar Baby." Brer Rabbit, coming along that way, passes +the time of day with Tar Baby, and, annoyed at its obstinate silence, +hits it with right fist and with left, with left fist and with right, +which successively stick to the "contrapshun," till at last he butts +with his head, and that sticks too, whereupon Brer Fox, who all this +time had "lain low," saunters out, and complains of Brer Rabbit that he +is too stuck up. In the sequel Brer Rabbits begs Brer Fox that he may +"drown me as deep ez you please, skin me, scratch out my eyeballs, t'ar +out my years by the roots, en cut off my legs, but do don't fling me in +dat brier patch;" which, of course, Brer Fox does, only to be informed +by the cunning Brer Rabbit that he had been "bred en bawn in a brier +patch." The story is a favourite one with the negroes: it occurs in +Col. Jones' _Negro Myths of the Georgia Coast_ (Uncle Remus is +from S. Carolina), also among those of Brazil (Romero, _Contos do +Brazil_), and in the West Indian Islands (Mr. Lang, "At the Sign of +the Ship," _Longman's Magazine_, Feb. 1889). We can trace it to +Africa, where it occurs in Cape Colony (_South African Folk-Lore +Journal_, vol. i.). + +_Remarks_.--The five-fold attack on the Demon and the Tar Baby is +so preposterously ludicrous that it cannot have been independently +invented, and we must therefore assume that they are causally +connected, and the existence of the variant in South Africa clinches +the matter, and gives us a landing-stage between India and America. +There can be little doubt that the Jataka of Prince Five-Weapons came +to Africa, possibly by Buddhist missionaries, spread among the negroes, +and then took ship in the holds of slavers for the New World, where it +is to be found in fuller form than any yet discovered in the home of +its birth. I say Buddhist missionaries, because there is a certain +amount of evidence that the negroes have Buddhistic symbols among them, +and we can only explain the identification of Brer Rabbit with Prince +Five Weapons, and so with Buddha himself, by supposing the change to +have originated among Buddhists, where it would be quite natural. For +one of the most celebrated metempsychoses of Buddha is that detailed in +the _Sasa Jataka_ (Fausböll, No. 316, tr. R. Morris, _Folk-Lore +Journal_, ii. 336), in which the Buddha, as a hare, performs a +sublime piece of self-sacrifice, and as a reward is translated to the +moon, where he can be seen to this day as "the hare in the moon." Every +Buddhist is reminded of the virtue of self-sacrifice whenever the moon +is full, and it is easy to understand how the Buddha became identified +as the Hare or Rabbit. A striking confirmation of this, in connection +with our immediate subject, is offered by Mr. Harris' sequel volume, +_Nights with Uncle Remus_. Here there is a whole chapter (xxx.) on +"Brer Rabbit and his famous Foot," and it is well known how the worship +of Buddha's foot developed in later Buddhism. No wonder Brer Rabbit is +so 'cute: he is nothing less than an incarnation of Buddha. Among the +Karens of Burmah, where Buddhist influence is still active, the Hare +holds exactly the same place in their folk-lore as Brer Rabbit among +the negroes. The sixth chapter of Mr. Smeaton's book on them is devoted +to "Fireside Stories," and is entirely taken up with adventures of the +Hare, all of which can be paralleled from _Uncle Remus_. + +Curiously enough, the negro form of the five-fold attack--"fighting +with _five_ fists," Mr. Barr would call it--is probably nearer to +the original legend than that preserved in the Jataka, though 2000 +years older. For we may be sure that the thunderbolt of Knowledge did +not exist in the original, but was introduced by some Buddhist Mr. +Barlow, who, like Alice's Duchess, ended all his tales with: "And the +moral of that is----" For no well-bred demon would have been taken in +by so simple a "sell" as that indulged in by Prince Five-Weapons in our +Jataka, and it is probable, therefore, that _Uncle Remus_ preserves a +reminiscence of the original Indian reading of the tale. On the other +hand, it is probable that Carlyle's Indian god with the fire in his +belly was derived from Prince Five-Weapons. + +The negro variant has also suggested to Mr. Batten an explanation of +the whole story which is extremely plausible, though it introduces a +method of folk-lore exegesis which has been overdriven to death. The +_Sasa Jataka_ identifies the Brer Rabbit Buddha with the hare in +the moon. It is well known that Easterns explain an eclipse of the moon +as due to its being swallowed up by a Dragon or Demon. May not, asks +Mr. Batten, the _Pancavudha Jataka_ be an idealised account of an +eclipse of the moon? This suggestion receives strong confirmation from +the Demon's reference to Rahu, who does, in Indian myth swallow the +moon at times of eclipse. The Jataka accordingly contains the Buddhist +explanation why the moon--_i.e._ the hare in the moon, _i.e._ +Buddha--is not altogether swallowed up by the Demon of Eclipse, the +Demon with the Matted Hair. Mr. Batten adds that in imagining what kind +of Demon the Eclipse Demon was, the Jataka writer was probably aided by +recollections of some giant octopus, who has saucer eyes and a kind of +hawk's beak, knobs on its "tusks," and a very variegated belly +(gastropod). It is obviously unfair of Mr. Batten both to illustrate +and also to explain so well the Tar Baby Jataka--taking the scientific +bread, so to speak, out of a poor folklorist's mouth--but his +explanations seem to me so convincing that I cannot avoid including +them in these Notes. + +I am, however, not so much concerned with the original explanation of +the Jataka as to trace its travels across the continents of Asia, +Africa, and America. I think I have done this satisfactorily, and will +have thereby largely strengthened the case for less extensive travels +of other tales. I have sufficient confidence of the method employed to +venture on that most hazardous of employments, scientific prophecy. I +venture to predict that the Tar Baby story will be found in Madagascar +in a form nearer the Indian than Uncle Remus, and I will go further, +and say that it will _not_ be found in the grand Helsingfors +collection of folk-tales, though this includes 12,000, of which 1000 +are beast-tales. + + + +XXVI. THE IVORY PALACE. + +_Source_.--Knowles, _Folk-Tales of Kashmir_, pp. 211--25, +with some slight omissions. Gulizar is Persian for rosy-cheeked. + +_Parallels_.--Stokes, _Indian Fairy Tales_, No. 27. +"Panwpatti Rani," pp. 208-15, is the same story. Another version in the +collection _Baital Pachisi_, No. 1. + +_Remarks_.--The themes of love by mirror, and the faithful friend, +are common European, though the calm attempt at poisoning is perhaps +characteristically Indian, and reads like a page from Mr. Kipling. + + + +XXVII. SUN, MOON, AND WIND. + +_Source_.--Miss Frere, _Old Deccan Days_, No. 10 pp. 153-5. + +_Remarks_.--Miss Frere observes that she has not altered the +traditional mode of the Moon's conveyance of dinner to her mother the +Star, though it must, she fears, impair the value of the story as a +moral lesson in the eyes of all instructors of youth. + + + +XXVIII. HOW WICKED SONS WERE DUPED. + +_Source_.--Knowles, _Folk-Tales of Kashmir_, pp. 241-2. + +_Parallels_.--A Gaelic parallel was given by Campbell in _Trans. +Ethnol. Soc._, ii. p. 336; an Anglo-Latin one from the Middle Ages +by T. Wright in _Latin Stories_ (Percy Soc.), No. 26; and for +these and points of anthropological interest in the Celtic variant see +Mr. Gomme's article in _Folk-Lore_, i. pp. 197-206, "A Highland +Folk-Tale and its Origin in Custom." + +_Remarks_.--Mr. Gomme is of opinion that the tale arose from +certain rhyming formulae occurring in the Gaelic and Latin tales as +written on a mallet left by the old man in the box opened after his +death. The rhymes are to the effect that a father who gives up his +wealth to his children in his own lifetime deserves to be put to death +with the mallet. Mr. Gomme gives evidence that it was an archaic custom +to put oldsters to death after they had become helpless. He also points +out that it was customary for estates to be divided and surrendered +during the owners' lifetime, and generally he connects a good deal of +primitive custom with our story. I have already pointed out in _Folk- +Lore_, p. 403, that the existence of the tale in Kashmir without any +reference to the mallet makes it impossible for the rhymes on the +mallet to be the source of the story. As a matter of fact, it is a very +embarrassing addition to it, since the rhyme tells against the parent, +and the story is intended to tell against the ungrateful children. The +existence of the tale in India renders it likely enough that it is not +indigenous to the British Isles, but an Oriental importation. It is +obvious, therefore, that it cannot be used as anthropological evidence +of the existence of the primitive customs to be found in it. The whole +incident, indeed, is a striking example of the dangers of the +anthropological method of dealing with folk-tales before some attempt +is made to settle the questions of origin and diffusion. + + + +XXIX. THE PIGEON AND THE CROW. + +_Source_.--The _Lola Jataka_, Fausböll, No. 274, kindly +translated and slightly abridged for this book by Mr. W. H. D. Rouse. + +_Remarks_.--We began with an animal Jataka, and may appropriately +finish with one which shows how effectively the writers of the Jatakas +could represent animal folk, and how terribly moral they invariably +were in their tales. I should perhaps add that the Bodhisat is not +precisely the Buddha himself but a character which is on its way to +becoming perfectly enlightened, and so may be called a future Buddha. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Indian Fairy Tales, by Collected by Joseph Jacobs + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INDIAN FAIRY TALES *** + +This file should be named 8iftl10.txt or 8iftl10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8iftl11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8iftl10a.txt + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our Web sites at: +http://gutenberg.net or +http://promo.net/pg + +These Web sites include award-winning information about Project +Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new +eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!). + + +Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement +can get to them as follows, and just download by date. This is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03 + +Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. Our +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If the value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text +files per month: 1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+ +We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002 +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks! +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated): + +eBooks Year Month + + 1 1971 July + 10 1991 January + 100 1994 January + 1000 1997 August + 1500 1998 October + 2000 1999 December + 2500 2000 December + 3000 2001 November + 4000 2001 October/November + 6000 2002 December* + 9000 2003 November* +10000 2004 January* + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people +and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, +Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, +Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, +Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New +Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, +Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South +Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West +Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. + +We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list +will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states. +Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally +request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and +you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have, +just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are +not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting +donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to +donate. + +International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about +how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made +deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are +ways. + +Donations by check or money order may be sent to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + +Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment +method other than by check or money order. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by +the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN +[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154. Donations are +tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law. As fund-raising +requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be +made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information online at: + +http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this eBook, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + eBook or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the eBook (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only +when distributed free of all fees. Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by +Michael S. Hart. Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be +used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be +they hardware or software or any other related product without +express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/old/8iftl10.zip.20030313 b/old/8iftl10.zip.20030313 Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f32bd25 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/8iftl10.zip.20030313 |