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ξρ"ς ξψλζ ριτεψι ςν ετεμχμεψ |
C. F. F |
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A
SURVEY OF THE INCIDENTS IN MODERN INDIAN FOLK-TALES
PRELIMINARY
EVERY tale must consist
of two parts, the theme and its working up, for no story can be generally acceptable
and so live until the bare bones of its plot are duly clothed with a padding of
incident. Again, neither plot nor padding has any chance of survival in the
struggle for existence alone, being essential to each other. Incidents, however
interesting in themselves, are a mere confused jumble unless held acceptably
together by a reasonable plot, and a plot unaccompanied by suitable incidents
is a skeleton without flesha dead thing with which no one cares to have any
concern. Therefore in examining a tale one meets with two distinct features
more or less inseparably mixed up according to the skill of the narrator, but
still distinct in history and origin, and capable of complete separation; for
it is obvious that the padding of plot A, or at any rate parts of it,
can be made to fit into plot B, and that this habitually occurs in actual
practice no one who has any acquaintance with story-tellers will be inclined to
deny. It is well known that wherever these congregate certain of them have a
greater reputation than others, and the real meaning of this is that these
individuals possess a greater natural aptitude than the rest for interchanging
plot and padding, for serving up the same old dishes with fresh relishes as it
were. To carry the argument further, it is clear that in any given tale, plot
and incidents may well have a perfectly separable history, or rather the plot
may have one history and the parts of the padding as many distinct histories as
there are incidents.
Writing under correction
and away from books, it would seem that the investigators of folk-tales have
hitherto mainly confined themselves to the comparison of the themes or general
machinery of the stories, and have only noticed the various incidents in a
casual kind of wayhave, in fact, assumed too much that the same theme is
always worked out in the same manner. Now let us think out how a bright-witted
village boy, famous for his tales, and rather tired of constantly repeating
them, but still anxious to please his audience and proud of his skill, will
proceed, remembering that in him is no spark of that scientific fervour that
would preserve the tale intact for the sake of its history and analogies. He
has stored away in his memory many a theme and many an incident, he has an
imagination sufficiently brilliant to see where certain stock incidents that he
wots of will come in effectively, and he haswhat really gives him his
superioritythe skill to attract the attention of his hearers to the various
portions of his plot, as he develops it by means of ever-varying incidents,
each suited to its place. The consequence is that as a matter of fact he does
not always tack on the same incidents to the same plot every time he narrates
it, and he is encouraged in varying the machinery of his narratives by the
reputation that his skill in doing this gives him of having an inexhaustible
repertory. The moral of this is that if one only compares tales as a whole one
is investigating but half the subject, and, as will be shown below, the least
important half.
It should be remembered
that the narrator of folk-tales never writesmemory is his only guide aided by
what imagination he possesses, and that the power of sustained mental effort is
not to be expected in the uncultured. Now in framing the plot of a tale
imagination comes prominently into play, and helped on by memory there is no
sustained mental effort, but unless the incidents which imagination allows to
crowd in on to the theme as it is developed are shaped almost entirely
according to memory, the mental efforts of the story-teller become both
sustained and severe. Consequently it will be found that the plots of
folk-tales as actually told by village crones and children are much more liable
to variation from the standard than are the incidents with which they are
enriched and rendered acceptable. Consequently, also, since the incidents are
more apt to retain their stock forms than the plots, they make up the most
important portion of a tale from the investigator's point of view. However, as
it would not do to ignore for this reason the comparison of themes, an analysis
of the tales on the Folklore Society's plan has been added to this work, as
well as a survey of the incidents occurring in it and in modern Indian folklore
generally. One more point is worthy of remark here: a mere incident in a long
tale is often the theme of a shorter one with incidents of its own, so that a
tale may have incidents and sub-incidents, but for the practical purposes of
investigation no distinction need be made between them.
Probably the best method
of investigating the incidents of Indian folk-tales would be the historical
plan of comparing those occurring in all the known collections of fixed eras: e.g.
suppose separate compared collections were made of those now current, of those
current in the middle ages, the Purânas, the Plays, and so on, of
those current in earlier times as in the Mahâbhârata, Râmâyana,
etc., and, lastly, of those in the earliest known Indian literature as the Jâtakas;
would not thus be established data on which a conclusive history of the various
notions could be based, and by which the first appearance of each would be
detected? Of course, very great care would have to be exercised in ascertaining
the true era to which any particular collection under investigation really
belonged, especially when the oriental habits of imitating MSS. and of
interpolation be considered. In all likelihood, as the life of a tale in any
given form is a long one, four or five such eras would be sufficient for all
practical purposes, and the object of the present survey is to make a
commencement at collecting together under their various heads the incidents of
the folk-tales told in our own times. It does not aim at being anything more
than a commencement, and makes no pretensions to completeness, as only such
books have been examined as profess to be collections of folk-tales, and no
attempt has been made to collate the many tales scattered up and down modern
books of travel and oriental research. However, it will be seen that what books
have been examined have afforded data enough to enable a tentative grouping of
the incidents under appropriate heads and subheads. Of course, before the
method of investigation above shadowed forth can be systematically taken up,
the question of what heads and sub-heads are the most appropriate for grouping
will have to be definitely settled. The books now under examination are Wide-awake
Stories, 1884 (W.A.S.), Indian Fairy Tales, 1880 (I.F.T.),
Old Deccan Days, 3rd ed., 1881 (O.D.D.), Folktales of Bengal,
1883 (F.T.B.), Legends of the Punjâb, vol. i. 1883-84 (L.P.),
and the tales from Bengal by the late Mr. Damant in the Indian Antiquary,
1872-78 (I.A.). It is to be regretted that Mr. Swynnerton's Râjâ
Rasâlu, though advertised, is not in time to be included in the
category. In this collection of books are found about 200 tales, all Aryan, and
covering an immense tract of country, as it consists of tales told in
Kashmîr and the Punjâb, in Oudh and the North-West Provinces, in
Bengal and in Bombay. Our European readers should bear in mind the immense
distances which separate these different parts of India, and their complete
isolation from each other until quite recent times. It is barely forty years
ago, and easily within the memory of living persons, since a Kashmîri
meditating a journey even into the neighbouring Panjâb had the funeral
ceremonies of his race performed over him, so small was his chance of returning
home again. We are apt to look upon India, with the help especially of native
'reformers,' who speechify to us sheer nonsense about 'united India' and the
'Indian nation,' as one country, but to the natives Bombay, Bengal Proper,
Oudh, the Punjâb, and even parts of these, are as different
'countries,' as France and England, and as Norway and Germany are to us
Europeans. So that in comparing the tales of these collections we are
investigating the common heritage of peoples who have now very little sympathy
one with the other, and are obtaining a fair notion of what modern Indian Aryan
folk-tales, as a whole, really are.
The incidents have been
divided into four classes:(I.) into those connected with the Actors;
(II.) with the Progress of the tale; (III.) with the Means
necessary to ensure the progress of the tale; and (IV.) Miscellaneous
incidents. Each class is divided into major and minor heads and sub-heads.
Thus, in Class I., Actors, the major heads are (1) the stepmother, (2) saints and holy personages,
(3) witches, (4) ogres, (5) calumniated persons, (6) substituted persons, (7)
the son of seven mothers, (8) the sleeping beauty, (9) the egg hero, (10) minor
actors, (11) the hero's companions, and (12) special points in the personal
appearance of the heroine. Class II., Progress, is thus divided (1) seeking
fortune, (2) dreams, (3) the life-index, (4) tricks, (5) living in animals'
bellies. In Class III. the major heads are (1) deus ex machinâ,
(2) devices for summoning the absent, (3) forbidden things, (4) story-telling
to explain the situation, (5) proofs of identity, (6) temporary death, (7)
enchantments, (8) metamorphosis, (9) disguises, (10) invisibility, (11) the
inexhaustible pot, (12) the snake-jewel (mani), (13) Solomon's judgment,
(14) miraculous vehicle. Class IV., Miscellaneous, has the following divisions
(1) Miscellaneous points, (2) points in marriages, (3) modes of vengeance, (4)
numbers. So that the four classes of incidents are divisible into 35 major
heads.
But it is not until these 35 major
heads are further divided into their minor and sub-heads, that the drift of the
argument becomes clearly visible. Thus
Class I., Actors: major head(1) The
stepmother, minor heads(a) ill-treats her step-children; sub-heads(i)
sons, (ii) daughters, (iii) children: (b) miscellaneous: (c)
falls in love with her stepson. (2) Saints and holy personages: (a) faqîrs;
(b) celebrated miracles; (i) of Sakhî Sarwar, (ii) of Guggâ,
(iii) of Nâmdev, (iv) of Dhannâ, the Bhagat (3) Witches: (a)
powers: (b) appearance: (c) doings. (4) Ogres: (a) their
attributes; (i) eating human flesh, (ii) power of metamorphosis, (iii)
miscellaneous: (b) their doings; (i) ogress marries hero, (ii) ogre has
possession of sleeping beauty, (iii) befriend human beings, (iv) do domestic
service, (v) bring malicious charges, (vi) other malicious actions: (c)
their death: (d) human beings suspected of being ogres; (i)
consequences: (e) ogre varied as jinn. (5) Calumniated persons (a)
persons who suffer: (b) special calumniators: (c) calumniated
wife; (i) ill-treated daughter, (ii) Potiphar's wife. (6) Substituted persons:
(a) persons who suffer: (b) persons or articles substituted: (c)
miscellaneous exchanges. (7) The son of seven mothers. (8) (a) Sleeping
beauty: (b) beauty: (c) sleeping hero. (9) (a) Egg hero: (b)
fruit hero. (10) Minor actors: (a) chief constable and his son: (b)
fairies: (c) fates: (d) demons: (e) ghosts; (i) malignant
female, (ii) friendly, (iii) malignant, (iv) attributes: (f) mannikin: (g)
magicians: (h) vampires: (i) serpents (11) Companions of the
hero: (a) human; (i) attributes: (b) non-human. (12) Special
points in the personal appearance of the heroine: (a) complexion; (i)
fair, (ii) white: (b) hair; (i) golden, (ii) black, (iii) very abundant:
(c) eyes; (i) blue, (ii) brown, (iii) black.
Class II., Progress: (1) Seeking fortune:
(a) (i) hero alone, (ii) metamorphosed: (b) hero and companions:
(c) by companies: (d) variants (2) Dreams: (a) warning: (b)
prophetic: (c) effects. (3) The life-index: (a) a bird: (b)
an insect: (c) a plant: (d) a necklace: (e) other objects:
(f) survival in a custom. (4) Tricks: (a) humorous; (i) bounce,
(ii) biter bit, (iii) success by mere accident: (b) malicious; (i) of
witch to kill hero, (ii) of heroine's enemies, (iii) pretended illness, (iv)
impossible task, (v) letter to murder bearer, (vi) cheating, (vii) lies, (viii)
miscellaneous: (c) to escape enemy: (d) to punish enemy. (5) (a)
Living in animals' bellies: (b) extraordinary voracity: (c)
extraordinary strength.
Class III., Means: (1) Deus ex
machinâ: (a) a god; (i) a spirit: (b) a talking animal;
(i) showing the way to fortune, (ii) warning of danger, (iii) other objects,
(iv) explaining the situation, (v) aiding in reward for services rendered, (vi)
the thorn in the tiger's foot, (vii) the thorn in the serpent's throat, (viii)
punishing for refusal to help, (ix) aiding out of mere friendship: (c) a
talking plant: (d) talking inanimate objects: (e) understanding
animals' speech: (f) hair; (i) its miraculous powers: (g) a ship.
(2) Devices for summoning the absent: (a) enchanted articles; (i)
supernatural objects: (b) street crying; (i) answering a proclamation: (c)
unintelligible request: (d) other devices. (3) Forbidden things: (a)
cupboard; (i) room: (b) direction: (c) looking behind: (d)
breach of silence. (4) Story-telling to explain the situation: (a)
animals as narrators: (b) rectification of mistakes. (5) (a)
Proofs of identity: (i) of hero, (ii) of heroine, (iii) of other persons: (b)
signs of the coming hero. (6) Temporary death: (a) persons most
affected: (b) long sleep: (c) methods of killing; (i) Lord of
Death: (d) methods of restoration to life; (i) by effigy, (ii) by
granting extension of life, (iii) by working through others, (iv) by
miscellaneous means, (v) miraculous cures generally: (e) revivifying and
healing powers of blood; (i) drops of blood becoming rubies: (f)
restoration of beauty; (i) of eyesight. (7) Enchantments: (a) things;
(i) palace: (b) creatures. (8) Metamorphosis: (a) of the dead;
(i) metempsychosis, (ii) into inanimate objects: (b) of the deity; (i) avatâras
or incarnations, (ii) into inanimate objects: (c) of superhuman
personages; (i) ogres, (ii) angels, (iii) jinns, (iv) vampires, (v) mannikin,
(vi) fairies, (vii) ghosts, (viii) Lord of Death, (ix) demons: (d) of
living things; (i) one into another, (ii) into inanimate things: (e) of
inanimate things, (i) one into another: (f) temporary metamorphosis; (i)
change of skin, (ii) beauty and the beast, (iii) variants. (9) Disguises: (a)
of hero: (b) of hero's companions: (c) of heroine: (d) of
heroine's enemies: (e) of superhuman beings; (i) ogress (10)
Invisibility: (a) invisible cap; (i) ring: (b) by other means: (c)
natural invisibility. (11) Inexhaustible pot: (a) box: (b) melon:
(c) basket: (d) shells: (e) leaf or platter: (f)
branch: (g) bag: (h)bowl: (i)cow: (j)rice: (k)
ring: (l)conch: (m)mat. (12) Snake-jewel: (a) in heroine:
(b) moon and star hero. (13) Solomon's judgment. (14) Miraculous
vehicle: (a) animals: (b) inanimate objects: (c) flying
through the air: (d) charms.
Class IV., Miscellaneous: (1)
Miscellaneous points: (a) the cat's nine lives: (b) alchemy: (c)
dropping jewels: (d) being one-eyed: (e) symbolism: (f)
the king chosen by the sacred elephant: (g) deserted city; (i) palace,
(ii) land, (iii) garden: (h) choice: (i) riverside waif: (j)
little slipper: (k) gambling extraordinary: (l) the evil eye: (m)
human sacrifice: (n) wolf children: (o) bargain with animals: (p)
delicate heroine; (i) five-flower princess, (ii) one-flower princess, (iii)
delicate hero: (q) nostrum for procuring sons; (i) children granted by
saints: (r) ordeal; (i) to prove chastity, (ii) to prove truth. (2)
Points in marriages: (a) without ceremony: (b) postponement: (c)
extraordinary: (d) condition of impossible task, (i) general impossibilities:
(e) public choice or swayamvara. (3) Modes of vengeance: (a)
on hero's enemies: (b) on heroine's enemies: (c) on murderers: (d)
miscellaneous punishments. (4) Numbers: (a) one; (i) only children: (b) two: (c) three; (i)
third, (ii) three days: (d) four: (e) five: (f) six; (i)
half twelve: (g) seven; (ii) seventh: (h) nine: (i)
twelve; (i) twelve years: (j) eighteen: (i) multiple of twelve: (k)
twenty-four; (i) multiple of twelve: (l) miscellaneous; (i) nineteen,
(ii) thirteen, (iii) eight, (iv) twenty-two, (v) twenty-one, (vi) fourteen,
twice seven, (vii) thirty-six, (viii) sixteen, (ix) thirty-two: (m)
large numbers; (i) one hundred and one, (ii) one thousand and one: (n)
miscellaneous large numbers; (i) one thousand, (ii) one hundred and sixty, (iii)
seventy, (iv) sixty, (v) three hundred and sixty, (vi) one hundred, (vii)
fifty-two, (viii) eighty-four: (o) fractionsaliquot parts of five; (i)
one and a quarter, (ii) two and a half, (iii) one and a half.
The above sub heads and
minor heads number 304, so that the incidents in the collections under review
may be divided in 4 classes with 35 major heads and 304 minor and sub-heads. It
is not improbable that the incidents in folk-tales generally will fall under
one or other of these, so that they very likely will not require much adding to
as research proceeds. In the following pages the details on which the above
grouping is based are given categorically, and every statement referred chapter
and verse to the place whence they came.
CLASS I.ACTORS
(a) Ill-treats
her stepchildren: (1) Sons: kills her stepson and gives his body as
a dish to his father; hates her stepson older than herself (2) Daughters:
gives up her stepdaughter to be married to the voracious fish, i.e.
apparently to death; substitutes her own daughter for stepdaughter. (3) Children:
pays a soldier to kill her stepchildren; demands their lives to cure her of
imaginary disease. (O.D.D. 3, 197, 219, 220, 223.I.F.T. 7-10.F.T.B.
97.W.A.S. 138.I.A. IV., 261.)
(b) Miscellaneous:
is younger than elder stepson's wife, and so hates her. (F.T.B. 96.)
(c) Falls in
love with her stepson: and then ill-treats him. (L.P. 2.)
(a) Faqîrs:
are fed before breaking fast; grant sons to the barren; are magicians; can
restore to life; can transform; grant sons and daughters; restore hands and
feet that have been cut off; restore sight; have second sight; can destroy
life; can turn a parched-up garden into a green one; can make fruit fresh at
the wrong season; turn blood into water; are proved by miracles, handling a
red-hot nail, turning sugar into ashes, ashes into sugar, clay bricks into
gold, bringing the dead to life; eat human flesh: if the body of one be eaten
by followers they will all obtain his powers. (I.F.T. 68, 227, 92 ff.W.A.S.
282 ff., 290, 248, 267, 281, 47, 98, 247.O.D.D. 8, 9, 15, 554.I.A.
I., 118, 171; IV., 57.F.T.B. 1, 117, 187.L.P. 3, 2, 74, 76, 77,
79, 97, 139, 142, 222, 233, 504.)
(b) Celebrated
miracles: (1) Of Sakhî Sarwar: restoring a dead child to life,
restoring a dead horse to life, curing a camel's broken leg, making a blind man
see, restoring a eunuch to full manhood, curing leprosy. (L.P. 81, 85,
213, 214, 215, 222, 223.) (2) Of Gurû Guggâ: speaking from
his mother's womb. (L.P. 153, 157.) (3) Of Nâmdev: restoring
a dead cow to life. (L.P. 80.) (4) Of Dhannâ the Bhagat: making
the god come out of the stone (idol). (L.P. 80, 87 ff.)
(a) Powers:
can find anything on earth; can open the sky; can patch up the sky; possess
second sight; can restore to life; can set fire to water; can turn stone into
wax; can separate lovers; turns hero into a sheep, monkey. (W.A.S. 61
ff., 109.L.P. 258, 259.I.A. I., 117, 118.)
(b) Appearance:
old woman in trouble (see also metamorphosis); white hind with golden horns, is
a queen. (W.A.S. 62, 100, 84.)
(c) Doings:
undertakes to find (and succeeds by tricks [variant, fails]) heroine for
her enemy, gets possession of hero's life-index and kills him; demands the eyes
of her lover's seven wives as the price of marriage, and when obtained gives
them to her mother as a garland; attempts to destroy hero by letter of
destruction. (W.A.S. 62 ff., 100 ff., 202 ff.L.P. 259 ff.)
(a) Their
attributes (1) Eating flesh: ogress gorges animals raw; eats up her
own husband and co-wife; eats up all the servants and animals, eats living
things wholesale; requires a hundred times more food than human beings, gorges
on live animals at night; to guard heroine swallows up her suitors; ogre eats
carrion; feeds on human flesh; is of a gigantic size. (F.T.B. 72, 79,
120, 272.O.D.D. 27, 198.I.F.T. 5, 51, 99, 175.W.A.S.
171.I.A. I., 171; IV., 55.) (2) Power of metamorphosis: ogre
changes to an old woman with a shining robe; to a vampire, etc.; jinn changes
to a dove, hawk, eagle to watch heroine; ogress becomes a lovely girl; a
wounded deer; a goat. (O.D.D. 27, 40.I.F.T. 175.W.A.S.
13 ff., 173.F.T.B. 190, 193, 270.I.A. I., 170.) (3) Miscellaneous:
ogre's breath is a great rushing wind; can lengthen their arms 80 miles;
possess great wealth; can fly through the air, know human beings by smell. (I.F.T.
185, 50.F.T.B. 274, 67, 270, 76, 83.O.D.D. 199, 58, 198.W.A.S.
59, 58, 172.I.A. IV., 50, 58.)
(b) Their
doings (1) Ogress marries hero: lives with him and her human
co-wife, has children, but destroys them in the end, marries hero's father,
temporarily marries hero and his friends. (F.T.B. 67 ff., 118, 270.I.F.T.
51, 175.I.A. I., 70; IV., 56.) (2) Ogre has possession of sleeping
beauty; jinn has possession of egg-heroine; ogress befriends sleeping
beauty. (W.A.S. 60, 170.F.T.B. 82.I.F.T. 54.I.A.
I., 116.) (3) Befriends human beings: because they are called aunt and
uncle. (I.F.T. 54 ff.F.T.B. 249, 250.O.D.D. 40.) (4) Do
domestic service: ogress is a maid. (F.T.B. 79.) (5) Bring
malicious charges: ogress charges human co-wives with being cannibals. (I.F.T.
175-176, 51.) (6) Other malignant actions: ogress is a witch and
deceives heroine by tricks; has her seven human co-wives blinded; tries to
destroy her stepson by tricks; tries to drag hero into the glittering well;
ogress gambles with hero and first wins his companions, his hawk, and himself,
but subsequently loses her dog, her hawk, and hero to hero's brother; [variant
told in Legends of the Panjâb]. (F.T.B. , 88, 118,
190-194.I.F.T. 53, 190.) Tale: ogre eats up one inhabitant of
the city daily with a cake and a goat (variant, a basket of bread and a
buffalo), hero offers himself in place of an old woman who has befriended him,
fights and kills ogre; variant tale, ogress eats up a victim daily
placed in a temple for her by night, taking one of each family in turn, heroes
stand proxy for family that shelter them and kill her, a woodcutter sets up a
false claim to the feat, but heroes triumphantly prove they did it; variant,
ogress swallows one of seven companions every night. (W.A.S. 143-144
ff., 306 ff., 258 ff.F.T.B. 74 ff.I.F.T. 178, 65, 269.L.P.
17 ff.I.A. I., 170.)
(c) Their
death: killed by hero; ogress killed by her own son; by her stepson; by
spilling charmed water over them. (O.D.D. 63.W.A.S. 70.F.T.B.
73, 277.I.F.T. 62.)
(d) Human
beings suspected of being ogres: heroine when in fish's stomach, heroine.
(1) Consequences: heroine killed; deserted by husband and friends;
driven from her home and whipped and murdered. (I.F.T. 75, 78, 5.F.T.B.
276.W.A.S. 175.)
(e) Ogre varied
as Jinn: with all the characteristics of an ogre. (W.A.S. 170 ff.)
(a) Persons who
suffer from calumny: hero, heroine, wife, nurse, sister-in-law, co-wives,
husband, stepson. (F.T.B. 79, 179.L.P. 1.O.D.D. 55 ff.,
86 ff., 220 ff.I.F.T. 51.W.A.S. 143, 247, 296.)
(b) Special
calumniators: ogress, a woodcutter, a scavenger, jealous sister-in-law,
co-wife, wife, stepmother, brothers. (I.F.T. 51.F.T.B. 79, 179.W.A.S.
143, 247, 296.L.P. 21, 149.I.A. IX., 5.)
(c) Calumniated
wife; tale: a gardener's daughter playing with seven (variant,
three) poor girls is seen and married by the king, has a son with a moon on his
forehead and stars on his hands (variant, also a daughter); king goes
away and tells her to beat a magic drum to call him, she does so too often out
of joke, and so when she is in real danger he won't come to help her, her
enemies then substitute a stone (variant, puppies) for her wonderful
child and she is degraded and made into a servant, but finally is restored to
her place by her child. Variant tale: has to ring a bell, does so too
often, has a hundred boys and one girl, they are thrown to rats by her enemies
and exchanged for stones, she is imprisoned and finally restored by her
daughter, who marries hero. Tale: heroine's child is killed and her
mouth sprinkled with its blood by her co-wives and she is then charged with
being an ogress, whipped and turned out of the palace, heroine is charged with
adultery with the saint that granted her a son, wife turned away with her son (hero),
because soothsayer has said father will die if he ever sees his son. (I.F.T.
119 ff.O.D.D. 53 ff.F.T.B. 236 ff.W.A.S. 175.L.P.
149.I.A. IV., 54.) (1) Variant: ill-treated daughter. Tale:
seventh daughter of king displeases him and is sent into the desert, where she
is miraculously supplied with food and marries hero eventually. Variant
tale: in the desert procures rice and strews it on the ground, peacocks
come to eat it and she makes her fortune out of fans made of their feathers,
and finally saves her father, the merchant, when he fails in business, and
marries hero. (2) Varied as the tale of Potiphar's wife. (I.F.T.
164 ff., 193 ff.F.T.B. 124 ff.W.A.S. 247, 299.L.P. 1.)
(a) Persons who
suffer by substitution: children, wives, hero's companions, hero's enemy. (O.D.D.
55, 223 ff.F.T.B. 35 ff., 196, 242.I.F.T. 3, 80, 121.)
(b) Persons or
articles substituted: stones, pups for children, wife's sister, a ghost, a
common woman, an old woman, the wife's servant for life, a fool for the
companion, hero for hero's enemy. (O.D.D. 55, 223 ff.F.T.B. 242,
35 ff., 296.I.F.T. 3, 80, 121, 143, 166.W.A.S. 287.)
(c) Miscellaneous
exchanges: the queen changes her own dead baby for the heroine's, chief
constable does. (O.D.D. 143.F.T.B. 105.)
(a) Tale:
the king's seven queens are blinded by the enmity of the enemy and rival, and
then imprisoned; they have one son each, and eat their children from
starvation, except the seventh, who refuses; this child supports the seven
blind queens in various ways and becomes thus 'the son of seven mothers';
he then recovers their eyes, finds them wealth, and kills their enemy. Variant:
is the son of the seventh queen, the rest being barren, and so is heir to all the
queens, and is thus 'the son of seven mothers'; all their husbands are
lost, and he seeks and after many adventures finds and restores them. Variant:
is the son of discarded queen only. (W.A.S. 98 ff.I.F.T. 52 ff.,
178 ff.O.D.D. 8 ff.F.T.B. 117 ff.I.A. I., 170 ff.)
(a) Tales:
is in an enchanted palace in an ogre's power, is awakened by a golden stick and
put to sleep by a silver one, is befriended by an ogress and found eventually
and carried off by hero. Variants of details: is in an enchanted palace
under the waters and uses the snake-jewel to view the world; is awakened and
put to sleep by sticks at her head and feet; palace is at the bottom of a well.
(F.T.B. 251 ff., 21 ff., 81 ff.I.F.T. , 186 ff., 54 ff.W.A.S.
85 ff.I.A. I., 116.) Variants of tale: found beheaded in an
enchanted palace in the power of an ogre, her head is in a golden basket in a
tree overhanging a stream, dripping drops of blood transformed into rubies,
which float down stream, she is brought to life merely by joining the head to
the body, the ogre beheads her daily when he goes out from jealousy, she is
found and carried off by hero: found beheaded in an enchanted palace in a
whirlpool, the drops of blood floating away as rubies, she is brought to life
by a golden rod (W.A.S. 56 ff.F.T.B. 224 ff.)
(b) Variants of
idea: beauty is found in a palace under the waters swinging under a silver
jewelled tree, is under the power of a serpent, gives heroine a golden flute to
play when she is in trouble and ring to find ogres' land: is found by hero
reading a holy book in a palace made out of her own body: farmer's daughter
marries a crocodile and is found in her palace under the waters by her father,
the way thither being by means of an enchanted brick which parted the waters. (O.D.D.
35 ff.W.A.S. 120 ff.)
(c) Sleeping
hero: is found in a palace made of his own body: is found killed in effigy
by heroine in a palace in a deserted jungle: is found by heroine in the
hundredth enchanted palace and awakened by a kissmere variant of sleeping
beauty. (I.F.T. 165 ff., 166.W.A.S. 30.I.A. I.,
219.)
(a) Heroine:
comes out of an egg deposited in a cupboard, marries hero, has two boys
and dies; heroine is found in an egg: a bulbul lays an egg beside
a pepper plant with single pepper on it, jinn keeps the egg and from it comes
the heroine with the pepper for a charmed amulet round her neck. (F.T.B.
73-76.I.F.T. 81.W.A.S. 169 ff.)
(b) Variants;
fruit: hero's dead children found in the magic fruit which grew out of
their bodies; heroine found in a belfruit; heroine born in
an egg-plant, becomes the child of a poor Brâhman, gets into her
enemy's power and is killed by her, and finally becomes a sleeping beauty;
heroine and her maids sleep in a pomegranate each, the fruit is
plucked by hero metamorphosed into a parrot and heroine is restored to ordinary
life for him. Tale: snake-stone ruby is put into a box for twelve years
and turns into hero. (I.F.T. 11, 143-146, 81.W.A.S. 79-85, 303.O.D.D.
95-101.)
(a) Chief
constable and his son: the son is hero's friend and guardian from danger,
opposes hero's taking away heroine: falls in love with heroine and wants to
take her from the hero: replaces heroine's sleeping infant by his own dead one,
claims heroine. (I.F.T. 212 ff.W.A.S. 12, 33.F.T.B. 104,
105.)
(b) Fairies:
the king of the fairies (Indra); the fairy's skin is white, but her clothes,
etc., are all red; fairy dolls are found in the sun-jewel box. (I.F.T.
1, 168, 169.)
(c) Fates:
the home of the fates is a land of stones, each of which is a fate; fate
marries hero's sister's daughter. (I.F.T. 64.F.T.B. 9 ff.)
(d) Demons:
devastate deserted city (see ghost, ogre, and mannikin.) (W.A.S. 48.)
(e) Ghosts:
(1) Malignant female ghost, devastates deserted city, has an enormous
appetite, in appearance an old woman awful and forbidding with black wrinkled
skin and feet turned backward. (2) Friendly ghosts: befriend a poor
Brâhman by threshing his corn and procuring him a feast, befriend a
barber by bringing him money and filling his granary. (3) Malignant ghosts:
destroy human beings. (4) Attributes of ghosts: activity, power to
lengthen limbs (see ogres), insensibility to pain,
speaking through the nose, can enter a bag, accompanied by a blast of cold air,
wander at midnight. (W.A.S. 52, 53 ff.F.T.B. 182 ff., 198 ff.,
203 ff., 258 ff., 260, 263.)
(f) Mannikin:
is one span high and has a beard a span and a quarter long, is of prodigious
strength and can fly through the air, has an enormous appetite, helps hero and
heroine, devastates the deserted city, is killed by hero. (W.A.S. 7 ff.,
49 ff., 52.)
(g) Magicians:
restore hero's companion to life. (W.A.S. 141.L.P. 504.)
(h) Vampire:
is hero and heroine's enemy, befriends hero and heroine for future evil
purpose. (W.A.S. 12 ff.)
(i) Serpents:
first kill and then restore to life hero's companion, show hero how to get
serpent out of his throat, destroy a family leaving only sleeping beauty, kill and
restore to life hero, also heroine's bullocks, also heroine, aids hero, must
resume their shape at night if they travel, possess power of metamorphosis, can
fly through the air, is guardian of a tree, can scorch and burn by their
breath, can put on wings; a palace of glass surrounded by a ditch, and a wall
of needles sprinkled with salt and water will keep them out. Tale:
serpent issuing from queen's nostril as thin as a thread, kills the king
(elected daily) every night, is killed by hero. (W.A.S. 139 ff., 193
ff.O.D.D. 121.F.T.B. 21, 18 ff., 100.L.P. 47 ff.,
154-155, 177, 179 ff., 180, 181, 183, 189, 416, 481, 487 ff., 488, 495, 498,
502, 520 ff.)
(XI.)
THE COMPANIONS OF THE HERO
(a) Human: his
two wives, his three friends, viz. sons of the prime minister, chief constable,
and richest merchant (varied as barber); his three friendsknifegrinder,
blacksmith, carpenter; his half-brother by ogress stepmother; his three
friendsa goldsmith, a carpenter and his parrot; one friend: of heroine,
two girls. (O.D.D. 24, 95.F.T.B. 261, 69.W.A.S. 48,
254.L.P. 7.I.A. I., 285; III., 9.)
(b) Their
attributes: born on the same day at the same hour as hero, is his faithful
friend through all his difficulties. Tale: hero being enraged with him
desires him to be killed and demands his eyes as proof of his death, but the
companion is saved by a stratagem, and eventually interprets a dream for the
hero. Tale: saves hero successively from a falling tree, a falling
doorway, and a serpent, but is turned into a stone for eight years for licking
the blood of the serpent from heroine's breast, and is eventually restored to
life by hero's child. Variant: hero's friend saves him from riding on a
dangerous elephant, from passing under a ruinous gateway, eating the head of a
poisonous fish, a serpent bite while asleep, and is himself turned into a
marble statue by hero by mistake and brought to life by the blood of hero's
infant. Varied as hero's servant who is turned out for licking the blood
from his master's wife's breast whom he has saved from a serpent. Tale:
the three companions save him from temporary death and restore him to his wife,
ogre half-brother kills his own mother (ogress) in order to save hero: hero's
younger brother saves him from ogress: heroine's two girl-companions never
leave her, sleeping with her in pomegranates. (O.D.D. 66, 68-70, 75 ff.,
95.W.A.S. 65 ff.F.T.B. 69-73, 192 ff., 93 ff.L.P. 9
ff., 63.I.A. I., 285.)
(c) Non-human:
eaglets, old war-horse, cat and dog, dog, hawk, parrot, mainâ, a
cat, a dog, a parrot, and a snake. Tale: hero leaves mainâ
and parrot as guard over his wife in his absence, when his enemy seduces her
the mainâ remonstrates and is killed, but the parrot manages to
escape and lets hero know what she has been doing. (O.D.D. 14, 70, 80.F.T.B.
189, 192.L.P. 9 ff., 63.W.A.S. 197.)
(XII.)
SPECIAL POINTS IN THE PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF HEROINE
(a) Complexion
of heroine: (1) Fair: fair as a rosy pomegranate, fair as a lotus. (O.D.D.
23, 201, 205, 95, 102.W.A.S. 3.F.T.B. 21, 44, 282.I.F.T.
62) (2) White: white as a marble. Variant: complexion of red
fairy is white, but her clothes, etc., are all red. (W.A.S. 100.O.D.D.
102.F.T.B. 168.)
(b) Hair of
Heroine: (1) Golden: of pure gold, of gold with teeth of gold, of
red gold but eyelashes black; varied as hero's golden, as sleeping
beauty's golden. (W.A.S. 33, 60, 100, 201 ff.I.F.T. 43, 62, 98,
1, 54, 93, 50.O.D.D. 35.) (2) Black: jet black; varied as
ogress princess's black. (O.D.D. 95, 206, 40.F.T.B. 282.I.F.T.
73.) (3) Very abundant: falls to her ankles. (F.T.B. 82.W.A.S.
76.)
(c) Eyes of
Heroine: (1) Blue. (I.F.T. 62, 98.) (2) Brown. (I.F.T.
73.) (3) Black. (I.F.T. 96.)
CLASS II.PROGRESS
(a) A very common motif
in the tales; (1) By hero alone. (W.A.S. 196, 251.O.D.D.
10, 62, 126, 132.I.F.T. 63.F.T.B. 65, 182) (2) By hero
metamorphosed into a parrot. (O.D.D. 102.)
(b) By hero and
companions: with heroine, with three companions, with two wives, with one
companion and old war-horse, with one companion. (W.A.S. 13, 47.O.D.D.
24, 70.I.A. I., 171, 344.)
(c) By
companies: seven men start together, two heroes together. (I.F.T.
173.W.A.S. 138.F.T.B. 17, 261.I.A. I., 218.)
(d) Variants of
idea: hero starts to seek heroine, heroines run away owing to ill-treatment
at home, hero starts to find 'touchstone' (variant of the impossible
task trick). (I.F.T. 154.O.D.D. 197.I.A. II., 357) Variant
as tale: heroine goes to seek Mahâdev (God) with two companions,
crosses river of fire alone and finds Mahâdev as a faqîr who
grants her desires, viz. a son; hero goes to seek Râm. (O.D.D.
229, 253.W.A.S. 215 ff.)
(a) Warning
dreams: the king's seven queens are warned of his danger if he hunt in the
north by each having a dream to the same effect, heroine's dream warns her of
her danger, shows heroine the real character of her husband, doe has a dream
that her husband the buck will be killed by a hunter. (W.A.S. 98.O.D.D.
266.I.A. IX, 7.L.P. 462.)
(b) Prophetic
dreams: heroine's husband dreams he has become a faqîr, does
so afterwards; king dreams of a miraculous tree and hero finds it; hero dreams
of a glass palace containing a princess white as marble, finds it; hero dreams
that he is directed by a god to cross over a hedge of seven bayonets to the
inside of his temple, does so miraculously; heroine dreams of her future
husband the hero, will marry no one else, finally marries him; direct hero to
wealth; hero dreams of his future bride; king sees a tree with silver stem,
golden branches, diamond leaves, pearly fruits, and peacocks playing in it,
this sends him blind, and he dreams that until he can see them in reality, he
will not recover sight, his dame goes for them; king dreams of sleeping beauty,
from whose mouth a flower of flame issues and recedes as she breathes, hero
goes to find her. (O.D.D. 25, 33, 68, 97-98, 119.I.A. IX, 5; I.,
115; IV., 55.L.P. 233.)
(c) Effect of
dreams: hero by guidance of dreams learns infinite wisdom; a poor
woodcutter's dreams that he is a rich man get him into great trouble; hero's
dreams of success in hunting lead him to go where he comes to great grief;
dreamer goes blind. (O.D.D. 99.L.P. 419 ff. I.A. I., 115.)
Outside a person's life
is an object which faithfully reflects the conditions of his life: this
life-index is always very difficult of access.
(a) Life-index
is a bird; kept in a cage on the head of a snake on the top of a tree, guarded
by wild beasts and ogres; when the bird is killed the ogre it indicated dies;
when the bird dies ogre whose life it indicated dies; of hero's ogress
stepmother is a green parrot in a cage under six pitchers of water in the
centre of a circle of palm-trees in a thick forest in a far country guarded by
1000 ogres; when the parrot dies the magician whose life it indicated dies; is
a cockatoo, when it dies the ogress it indicated dies; is a mainâ
in its nest in a tree across the seas, when killed so as not a drop of its
blood is spilt the ogre it indicated dies. (I.F.T. 58 ff., 62, 187-188.F.T.B.
121 ff.O.D.D. 13 ff.I.A. I., 171.)
(b) Is an
insect: a bumble bee in the crop of a mainâ on the topmost twig
of a solitary tree guarded by a savage horse and dog, when the bee is killed
the indicated ogre dies; two bees on the top of crystal pillar in deep water,
to be dived for and killed without losing a drop of blood, when these are
killed over ashes indicated ogre dies; male and female bee in a wooden box in a
deep water to be crushed to death by hero without losing a drop of blood, when
hero kills them indicated ogres die. (F.T.B. 85 ff., 253.W.A.S.
59-60.I.A. I., 117.)
(c) Is a plant:
a barley plant given by hero to his three friends, when it droops he is ill,
when it snaps in half he is dead; a tree planted by hero on his departure
indicates his fortunes: a flower while gathered heroine lives, while torn up by
the roots she is dead, a lemon containing the hero's mother's eyes. (F.T.B.
189 ff., 192.I.F.T. 41, 145.W.A.S. 52 ff., 64.I.A. I.,
116, 171.)
(d) Is a
necklace: in a box in a bee in a red and green fish, while worn by another
heroine is dead, when recovered she lives; golden necklace in a wooden box in a
fish's heart, when worn by another heroine dies, when recovered she lives; a
golden necklace, as above, indicating heroine's life; a sandalwood necklace, as
above, indicating hero's life. (W.A.S. 83-87.F.T.B. 2 ff.O.D.D.
240 ff., 233 ff.)
(e) Other
objects: falsely said to be in the seven sons of heroine's enemy, in the
milk of hero's wife put into a pot and given him, when it turns red his father
is dead, when blood-red his mother is killed and his own life in danger, in the
hero's sword, when heated he has fever, when the rivet of the handle comes out
his head falls off, when rivet fastened in his head joins his body, and when it
is reburnished he lives again; is a bull which feeds on ikop, and if
sacrificed will prolong king's life; is a lamp under a tree in the mountains
and will restore magician's life. (W.A.S. 82, 62 ff.F.T.B. 71
ff.I.A. VI., 222.L.P. 503.)
(f) Survival in
a custom: hero is handed over his bride on the day she is born, and with
her is given him a young mango tree, which flowers in twelve years; when it
flowers she is to be his wife. (L.P. 50.W.A.S. 280.)
(a) Humorous:
heroine's mother puts her daughter's rat-husband on to a red-hot stool and so
gets rid of him. Tale: lambikin tricks jackal, vulture, tiger, wolf,
dog, and eagle by pretending that he is not fat enough to be eaten yet, gets
fattened but gets into drumikin, and so escapes all except jackal, who finds
him out and eats him up; sparrow circumvents the crow by sending it to clean
itself before it can share the sparrow's dinner; jackal serves the generous
Brâhman by inducing the tiger to get into the cage from which the
Brâhman had released him, and then locking him into it; jackal tells a
tiger the best way to eat a man is to get into a bag and have the man thrown in
to him, tiger does so and is shut up and killed; jackal to save himself tells
tiger that another also wants to eat him, and then shows him his reflection in
a well, tiger jumps down to get at his rival and is killed; jackal finds a pair
of shoes, puts them on his ears, and proclaims himself a great personage, all
animals do homage except the iguana, who jeers at him, jackal pursues and
catches him by the tail near his hole, but is induced by a trick to let him go,
and so iguana escapes; hero keeps the dresses of girls bathing and so secures a
wife; hero shoots an arrow in a certain direction for three mendicants to race
for, while they are running he carries off their miraculous property; a
conceited husband with awkward habits is set to find a 'cleverer man than
himself, ' and so got rid of; hero washes off heroine's disguise by throwing
water over her; heroine's sister drops pearls along the road, and so lets
heroine find her; jackal tricks a princess into marrying his friend the poor weaver;
old hen-sparrow induces her jealous co-wife to go into a scalding dyer's vat to
dye herself into gay colours, then when the cock picks her up in his beak to
carry her home jeers at him, so that he opens his beak to abuse her and so
drops and kills the co-wife; partridge has to induce jackal to laugh and cry,
get him his dinner, and save his life, so she sets two men fighting, sets a
hunter and dogs on him, sets women chasing her, while jackal eats their food,
and finally prevents a crocodile from drowning him. Tale: the minister
has been boasting of his wife's chastity, so king sends him away on duty and
goes to his wife's house, gets admittance by a stratagem, apologises, but
leaves his signet ring, the minister finds and thinks his wife unchaste until
the king explains; cat to get hero's enchanted ring from witch's mouth gets
heroine to scatter rice about, which brings rats, so the cat catches one and
puts its tail up the witch's nose while she sleeps, she sneezes out the ring;
crow, after trying many ways to induce a man to cut a grain of corn out of a
tree, sets a cat to catch a rat which sets the whole train of events in motion
till he gets his grain; to recover touchstone from robber, bag of sham
touchstone is deposited with him, and he gives back the real one; hero, who has
been cheated by the market people, exacts heavy tolls as the queen's wife's
brother. Tale: the faithful wife deceives her lovers by inducing them to
visit her all together, she then locks them up to escape from each other and
goes away, and lets them discover themselves [found in Alif Laila]. Tale:
idiot son is saved by his mother thus: having committed murder and thrown the
body down the well, she throws in a sheep, and so when he confesses the murder
he is acquitted, because he pulls out the sheep in place of the body. Variant:
he steals royal camel carrying gold, his mother hides the gold but scatters
comfits about the house, so the idiot confesses the theft 'on the day that it
rained comfits, ' and is not believed. Tale: jackal saves his foot from
alligator by saying he has caught something else, escapes him by inducing him
to show his bubbles above the stream, by inducing him to roll about under a
heap of figs, by inducing him to call out from his house. Tale: barber's
clever wife induces thieves to plough up her field by wandering about it in
search for treasure she says her grandfather buried there, the harvest money
she puts away, induces thieves to think it is in a pot containing droppings
from goats which they eat as sweets, cuts off their noses as they appear at her
window, induces them to climb into a bees' nest at night as the bag containing
her gold, finally frightens them when they carry her off into thinking she is a
ghost, and bites off the leader's tongue by telling him that is the way to kiss
a fairy, which she makes him believe she is. Tale: four friends unjustly
treated by the king turn thieves, king's son tries to catch them, and they
trick him into being shaved and turned naked into the streets, magician tries
and they cut his hand, king tries and they tie him to a bull's tail and turn
him adrift into the jungle. Tale: successful roguery to the end of life,
barber's son who begins by selling his friend and ends by becoming a rich man.
(1) Bounce: farmer's wife frightens a tiger by mere bounce, idiot
hero accidentally frightens fairies into helping him by saying he will eat 'five'
(i.e. cakes), but which they take to mean fairies, hero saves himself
from tigers by saying aloud that the king had sent him to catch tigers
wholesale, hero bounces ghost by showing him his own face in the glass and
telling him he has bagged many like him, their companions frighten and subdue
demons by mere bounce, a blind and a deaf man first frighten an ogre and then
try and cheat each other by mere bounce. (I.A. IX., 2 ff; I., 286, 345;
II., 358-359; III., 10, 342; IV., 57.I.F.T. 617, 27 ff., 34-35 ff.,
201, 202, 208 ff.F.T.B. 258, 226 ff.O.D.D. 156 ff., 216 ff.,
272, 273, 282 ff., 158-159, 184-185.W.A.S. 69 ff., 111 ff., 134 ff.,
118 ff., 25-26, 153 ff., 184 ff., 206, 209 ff., 234 ff., 243 ff.L.P. 38
ff., 247 ff.) (2) Biter bit: tale: jackal persuades a barber that
his fruit is ripening and eats it up, but the barber puts a sharp knife near
the fruit and meanwhile the jackal is badly cut; jackal tricks an old woman
into bringing a pot of water as butter by covering it up as butter is usually
covered, then begins to eat a bullock's carcass but the skin shrivels and
imprisons him; while inside he persuades the neighbouring yokels that he is a
saint, so they feed him, and eventually wet the hide which enables him to
escape, but is next bounced by a small kid, he then gets caught in a net but
escapes by persuading an old woman to let him to drink. Tale: jackal
induces a camel to swim him across a river on his back, but cheats the camel of
his food when across, so on the way back the camel drops him in the river. Tale:
pea-hen induces her friend the jackal to bury bones in order to breed young
kids and then laughs at him, whereon he gets so angry that he eats her up. Tale:
shopkeeper sets a farmer to find Râm to get rich, the farmer finds
Râm and is told to blow a conch in a peculiar way, the shopkeeper worms
part of the secret out of him, makes him promise to give him double of what he
wishes for, at last the farmer wishes he had lost one eye, so shopkeeper goes
blind, tumbles into a well, and is drowned. Tale: long series of tricks
played by a farmer's wife on six thieves. (I.A. III., II.O.D.D.
163 ff., 178 ff.W.A.S. 207 ff., 215 ff., 293 ff.) (3) Success by
mere accident: potter defeats a tiger and then an army; tailor defeats a
mosquito, then an elephant, then a tiger, and then an army, and so becomes a
great man; old hen-sparrow sitting under a crow's nest on a wet day is gaily
dyed with the drippings from a coloured cloth in the crow's nest. (O.D.D.
190 ff.W.A.S. 89 ff., 157).
(b) Malicious:
(1) Of witch to catch heroine: pretends to cry on account of hero's
danger and so gets into her good graces, and pretends then to want to wash
heroine's hair in a boat on the river near the palace, and so floats her down
stream into her enemy's power; ogress sets heroine various tasks to detain her
until ogre's return; induces her to set a line of rice by which she may be
found after her departure. (2) Of witch to kill hero: gets heroine to
worm his life-index out of him. (3) Of heroine's enemies: her enemy
tells her he is her long-lost uncle and his son is to marry her, and so carries
her off; pushes her into a river; ogress pretends to be her aunt; so does
witch. (4) Pretended illness trick: heroine's enemy's illness can only
be cured by the application of heroine's life-index (an egg-plant);
stepmother's illness curable only by application of hero and heroine's livers;
by death of heroine; by hero's performing impossible tasks; stepmother can only
be cured by her stepchildren's life-index (a shaddock) and then by their blood.
(5) Impossible task trick: witch sends hero to get the wonderful cow,
then his mother's eyes, then the million-fold rice: hero is sent to procure
tigress's milk, eagle's feathers, ogre's night-growing rice, water from
dangerous glittering well: hero sent to fetch foam of the sea, rice from
Ceylon, milk from Ceylon: (W.A.S. 63 ff., 64, 74 ff., 79, 103 ff., 202
ff., 295.L.P. 262-263.I.F.T. 10, 55 ff., 147, 181 ff.F.T.B.
120 ff., 248 ff., 88.O.D.D. 223, 6, 81-82.I.A. I., 171; IV.,
261). (6) Letter containing instructions to kill bearer: borne by hero
and written on a potsherd, it is read and altered by his wife, who thus
circumvents her husband's enemy; borne by hero and sent by ogress's mother:
borne by hero and sent by various enemies; borne by fool and delivered by wrong
person, who is killed instead. (W.A.S. 103 ff.F.T.B. 120.I.F.T.
53 ff., 184 ff.I.A. XI., 85; III. 321.) (7) Cheating: jeweller
sees that hero has a bangle like the one he has lost, and so raises hue and cry
that he is the thief, the bangle not being the same one. (O.D.D. 264.)
(8) Lies: wicked queen parts hero and his companion by ingenious lying;
heroine tries to save herself by direct lies. (O.D.D. 68.L.P.
285 ff.) (9) Miscellaneous: sham hero is detected by eating coarse food
which hero would not have eaten; pretended death by parrot to avoid being killed;
(metamorphosed) parrot saves his own life by saying his value alive is very
great and so induces a merchant to buy him; hero's enemies induce him to go
hunting in the wilds to kill him; hero attempts to seduce heroine by pretending
to be her husband; snake-woman detected by giving her salt food which forces
her out at night and thus to resume her real shape; hero induces snake-woman to
bake bread at an oven and tips her in; robber prays publicly and worships
vehemently, so hero thinks him a safe man and gives him 'touchstone' to keep;
serpent lights a thousand lamps like magician's life-index to prevent
magician's followers from finding it and restoring him to life; deceptive
invitation to a feast in order to kill guests. (O.D.D. 103, 106, 113,
107.L.P. 200 ff., 269 ff., 504, 512.W.A.S. 193, 194.I.A.
II., 358.)
(c) To escape
enemy: heroine kills his old mother by inducing her to let her pound her
head in a mortar to make the hair grow; by living away from home; by allowing
her enemy to carry her off, apparently asleep on a bed, while she has a
bill-hook under the clothes with which she kills him and his companions;
heroine sends her son to recover her life-index, a necklace, from her enemy,
the child cries for it and then runs off to his mother with it. (W.A.S.
76, 77, 78, 87.)
(d) To punish
enemy: heroine builds a palace exactly like hero's father's, invites him
there, and then tells him all that hero's enemy has done; heroine tips ogre
into a well. (W.A.S. 110.O.D.D. 199.)
(V.)
LIVING IN ANIMALS' BELLIES
(a) Hero lives
four days and four nights in the alligator's belly; heroine stays twelve years
in monster fish's belly while crow, jackal, and snake go down into it to see
what is there; hero lives successively, for a year, in a dog's, a cow's and a
horse's belly and is vomited up at will. (I.F.T. 66, 75 ff., 124 ff.) Variant:
serpent lives in hero's throat. (O.D.D. 118 ff.)
(b) Variant of
idea; extraordinary voracity, tale: a frog eats a rat's dinner, then the
rat, then the baker and his bread, then a man with lemons and oranges, then a
horse with its groom, finally a barber cuts him open and they all escape alive.
Tale: a monster fish is carrying heroine alive, and at his own request
snake cuts him open in order to be relieved of her. Tale: heroine's
suitors have all been swallowed alive by an ogre, so saints cut them out alive.
Tale: a man eats four cwts. of bhang, meets a man who eats six,
they fight, but are eventually brushed away by the queen as straws. (I.F.T.
24-26, 76, 100.W.A.S. 226-227.I.A. II., 271.)
(c) Voracity
varied as extraordinary strength, tale: heroine packs 160 camels, their
food, a farmer and his fields, crops, oxen, and house, a whole town, and
everything she met, puts them in a melon rind, floats them down a river on to a
sandbank, where they upset and populate the place. (I.F.T. 108 ff.W.A.S.
223 ff.I.A. , II., 271.)
CLASS III.MEANS
(a) (1) Very
rarely a god. (L.P. 359 ff.I.A. IX., 1, 2.F.T.B.
51.O.D.D. 97.) (2) Sometimes a spirit: ghosts in a well show
hero to fortune. (I.A. III., 9.)
(b) Ordinary
form: a talking animal: (1) Showing the way to fortune: tigress
shows hero, parrot and mainâ show hero, camel, alligator, and
tigress show hero from gratitude for services rendered, a parrot. Tale:
two birds whose eggs will only hatch by application of a touchstone fish for
one, catch fish and take out stone, as hero is seeking for one for his father
they give it him. (W.A.S. 6, 139.I.F.T. , 63 ff. F.T.B.
, 209 ff.L.P. 233 ff.I.A. II., 358; IV., 261.) (2) Warning
of danger: crow, peacock, and jackal warn heroine; owls warn hero and
heroine through his companion; (metamorphosed) parrot warns his parrot friends
and shows them how to escape; birds warn hero's friend of hero's danger: calves
warn hero's son that he is going to marry his own mother by mistake. (W.A.S.
74-75.O.D.D. 74-75, 105.F.T.B. 41 ff., 106.) (3) Other
objects: doves show hero how to recover dead heroine in the magic palace
made of her own body; bird (metamorphosed mother) asks after her children and
husband and brings herself to their notice; alligator promises to take charge
of hero's dead son; parrot leads hero to seek heroine; jackal shows heroine how
to revive temporarily dead hero; parrot interprets hero's dream and shows him
how to meet heroine; birds show heroine how to cure hero of his pain; parrot
does so. (I.F.T. 6, 13, 14, 71, 153.O.D.D. 131, 139.F.T.B.
135, 218, 19.W.A.S. 176.) (4) Explaining the situation: parrot
and mainâ explain to hero the heroine's misfortunes; two birds do.
(I.F.T. 149 ff.W.A.S. 176.) (5) Aiding in reward for services
rendered: ants help hero; tigers help hero; tiger by giving him a cub to
guard him; cat by giving him a kitten; eagles by giving an eaglet; eagles show
hero how to find the ogre's life-index; serpent saves heroine's life by
improvising what she said she promised and was unable to procure; rat helps
heroine and her children; seven-headed serpent befriends heroine and shows her
how to restore her fish husband to his human form; serpents show heroine how to
get the serpent out of hero's throat, and discover to him treasures hidden by
one of themselves; parrot befriends poor fowler; bull aids heroine; miraculous
birds aid hero, show heroine how to cure hero; serpent aids hero; parrot shows
him the serpent in his shoe; shows heroine how to find her lover and vice
versâ; hedgehog helps hero for being saved from drowning, also
cricket; birds show hero how to get the tree that will restore his father's
sight. (I.F.T. 153, 161, 156, 162, 180, 182.O.D.D. 14, 21,
55-56, 220, 121.F.T.B. 210, 281, 135, 219.W.A.S. 198, 205, 271,
276.L.P. 11, 12, 29, 41 ff., 42, 48 ff.I.A. I., 116, 118; IV.,
261.) (6) Common variant of the idea: the thorn in the tiger's foot. (7)
Varied farther as a thorn in a serpent's throat. (I.F.T. 17, 64,
165.O.D.D. 21.F.T.B. 218, 219.) (8) The converse: punishment
for refusal to render help. (W.A.S. 181 ff.) (9) Aiding out of
mere friendship: parrot helps hero. (L.P. 272 ff., 354 ff.W.A.S.
205.)
(c) Common
form: a talking plant: mango tree shows hero how the magic bird can be cut
out of it; heroine is blessed and aided by a plantain, cotton tree, and sweet
basil; heroine is rewarded by a plum tree, a pîpal tree for
services rendered; heroine's sister is punished for refusing help. (I.F.T.
202.F.T.B. 281.W.A.S. 179-180, 181-183.)
(d) Other
talking inanimate objects: the bed's legs warn the king of danger; heroine is
rewarded by a fire and a stream for services rendered; heroine's sister is
punished for refusing help. (I.F.T. 204 ff.W.A.S. 79-180,
181-183.)
(e) Understanding
non-human language: goldsmith's wife hears jackal say that there is a
diamond ring on the dead man's hand; hears snake say where the gold and
precious stones are; fool understands what the cocks and hens say and shows
king how to judge between in their disputes. (F.T.B. 150, 152.I.A.
III., 520.)
(f) Hair, a
common form: a hair of the mannikin's beard when burnt protects hero and
heroine from the ogre; cricket's hair burnt protects hero. (W.A.S. 32,
34, 271.L.P. 42-43.) Variant: the golden hairs of the heroine
floating down stream are a source of wealth to the poor; puts her into the
power of her enemy: a single hair tied to a shell floats down the river and is
found by her husband's brother, by her enemy. (I.F.T. 62.W.A.S.
60 ff., 201 ff.F.T.B. 87.) (1) Miraculous powers of the hair: always
used to help hero or heroine: hero being obliged to cut down a tree with a
wax hatchet as a condition of marriage to heroine, borrows a hair and stretches
it along the edge and so succeeds; the ogress's hair sets the forest on fire;
heroine's when torn burns up her enemies; burning a hair for protection.
(I.F.T. 163.W.A.S. 13, 14, 271.O.D.D. 63, 269.L.P.
42-43.)
(g) Sometimes a
ship: a ship takes hero and heroine home; his wicked brothers throw him
overboard, but heroine saves him by her forethought in providing mattresses
(and a gourd) (and a pillow) to float him; hero is taken off in a boat. (I.F.T.
47.F.T.B. 269, 275.I.A. II., 358; IV. 262-263.)
(II.)
DEVICES FOR SUMMONING THE ABSENT
(a) By
enchanted articles: a fan, a bell, a flower, a pin in a bird's beak, a
drum, a horse, flowers floating on the water, a flute, a ring. (1) Varied as
supernatural objects: tale: swans that only eat pearls fly about crying out
the praises of their feeder (hero), jealous king hears and imprisons them, but
releases female who flies off to hero, who comes and releases the pair. (F.T.B.
132, 238 ff., 136.I.F.T. 4, 14, 120 ff., 125, 196, 145 ff., 169.W.A.S.
206, 283 ff.)
(b) By street
crying: heroine gets to hero (variant, hero gets to his enemy) by
announcing that she will play any one at dice; by crying milk in the streets;
heroine finds her mother by crying plums in the streets; hero's companion finds
heroine by crying wood in the streets at a fabulous price; hero's friend gets
to heroine by proclaiming himself able to cure diseases. (1) Varied as
answering a proclamation: of impossible task. (F.T.B. 277.O.D.D.
267.W.A.S. 25, 66, 199, 296.L.P. 49 ff., 188.I.A. IX.,
3; III., 9.)
(c) By an
unintelligible request: hero sent by heroine to find the sun-jewel box;
heroine sends for Sabr (patience, that being the hero's name). (I.F.T.
167, 195.F.T.B. 131 ff.)
(d) Other
devices: hero sings to attract heroine; hero's enemy (stepmother) mixes mud
with his father's food under pretence of asking for fire and so gets to know
him, eventually marries him; the pigeons of hero fly into his enemy's window,
and so introduce him; a feast to the poor instituted to attract hero who is
wandering about as a faqîr [common device in the Alif Laila];
hero's parrot with others eats up heroine's garden, which brings her out to
see, whereon they all fly away except him, he pecks her cheek, and is so
caught, when caught he explains about hero; hero models his father's palace in
mud and so attracts heroine; by making a bouquet in the home fashion attracts
the king his brother; a deer chased by hero's enemy leads him to hero's wife;
hero does a lot of mischief to his father's people to get audience. (I.F.T.
127 ff.O.D.D. 44, 2, 3.F.T.B. W.A.S. 148, 150, 252.L.P.
52, 235.)
(a) Forbidden
cupboard, contains skulls of vampire's victims. (1) Varied as forbidden
room, containing sleeping beauty. (I.F.T. 186.W.A.S. 14.)
(b) Idea varied
as forbidden direction in hunting: the north, the fourth side, the west; under
any circumstances, the north; the south corner, the eastern corner, the
western corner. (F.T.B. 190.W.A.S. 85, 98, 27.I.F.T.
153.I.A. I., 117, 118.)
(c) Looking
behind forbidden: punished by being turned into stone; death; by
destruction of the object looked at. (l) Varied as destruction to
ashes for not fulfilling all the points of a charm. (I.F.T. 140 ff.W.A.S.
109, 302.I.A. IV, 57.)
(d) Breach of
silence: as to miraculous events punished by death, by flood, by
disappearance of the subject. (I.F.T. 67, 90.W.A.S. 309.)
(IV.)
STORY-TELLING TO EXPLAIN THE SITUATION
Commonly brought in to
explain and elucidate the difficulties of the tale when the deus ex
machinâ is not employed, thus the murder by mistake of goldsmith's
wife in place of ogress is explained in F.T.B. 150 ff., and hero is
recognised by his relating his story (I.F.T. 191 ff.) The idea
frequently occurs. (O.D.D. 90, 139, 145 ff., 231 ff.I.A. IX., 8,
IV., 59, 263.)
(a) Animals are
employed as narrators: doves, birds, pigeons, serpents. (I.F.T. 5,
149.W.A.S. 295.)
(b) Mistakes
rectified by story-telling: case of horse that prevented king from drinking
what was poison, but the king thought to be water, and was killed by him
[occurs in the Legends of the Panjâb]; of parrot that was killed
by mistake for presenting king with poisoned fruit. (F.T.B. 154, 157.)
(a) (1) Identity
of hero proved by a gold ring, by his reciting correctly the story of
heroine, the story of his early life, by wound in his leg inflicted by heroine,
by necklace, ring, and kerchief given on wedding day, by his signet ring. (2) Of
heroine by a bangle, by possession of hero's ring, by her handiwork, by a
wound in her leg (and stomach), by possession of hero's old cap, by her golden
hair. (3) Of other persons: of hero's brothers by the scar of red-hot
money, of hero's mother by her wearing his bride's jewel. (O.D.D. 11,
265, 269.F.T.B. 92, 136.I.F.T. 45, 131, 134, 199, 214, 223,
230.W.A.S. 151, 205.I.A. IX., 3; III., 10; IV., 59.L.P.
290.)
(b) Signs of the
coming hero: his heel-ropes will bind and sword kill his enemies of their
own accord, his arrow will pierce seven frying-pans placed one behind the
other, shooting two golden cups from off a tall standard, the falling of
miraculous mangoes into his skirt. (L.P. 19, 23, 24.W.A.S. 261
ff.)
Temporary death: body does not decay and
comes to life at night, is restored to life in various ways, mostly miraculous.
Tale: sages will not allow hero to be killed by lightning as fate had
decreed, so fate bargains with them to strike his little finger, so that he
might only be insensible for a while. (O.D.D. 231, 246, 270.F.T.B.
9, 85.I.A. I., 219.)
(a) Persons
most affected: hero, heroine, sleeping beauty. (O.D.D. 265 ff., 83
ff., 136 ff.F.T.B. 82, 253.W.A.S. 57, 86, 140.L.P. 362,
47.)
(b) Variants of
idea: long sleep or loss of power; faqîr sleeps for six months
and wakes for six months; jinn for twelve years; heroine is thrown into
a comatose state for an indefinite period from a scratch of ogre's nail,
revives on removal of nail; it takes the winged horse six months to recover
virtue when it is lost. (I.F.T. 139.O.D.D. 83 ff.F.T.B.
214 ff.W.A.S. 170.)
(c) Methods of
killing: mendicant kills heroine by throwing a powder in her face: lord of
death metamorphosed as bullock offers to swim travellers over a river, drops
them in the middle; as a young girl sets two brothers at variance by making
love to both till they kill each other: a flash from heroine's eyes kills a
deer; hero is destroyed in effigy by having pins stuck through it, when pins
are taken out he revives. (I.F.T. 77, 165 ff.W.A.S. 220, 222.L.P.
446.) (1) Idea varied as the 'Lord of Death.' (W.A.S. 219 ff.)
(d) Methods of
restoration to life: (1) By effigy: ashes of the heroine are
collected, cleaned, and mixed with clay and water, then made into her effigy
and revivified; bones of a deer (and a man) collected are vivified by faqîr,
of a tiger by hero and his companions, of the entire population, human and
animal, of a deserted city by hero and companions; ashes of hero restored to
life by application of life-giving herb. (I.F.T. 78.W.A.S. 109,
283.F.T.B. 266, 267, 277.L.P. 492.) (2) By granting
extension of life: hero granted twenty years' extension on condition of
wearing a talisman. (I.F.T. 117-118.) (3) By causing others to do it:
magician obliges serpents to restore hero's companion to life, hedgehog who
befriends hero does. (W.A.S. 141-142.L.P. 47.) (4) Miscellaneous
methods: killing two birds at one blow restores heroine to life, by simple
prayer, if knife that killed is dropped the victim is restored, by charms. (W.A.S.
177, 269.I.A. I., 119.L.P. 472, 474.) (5) Miraculous cures
generally: hero by using dung of enchanted birds, serpent bite by the use
of fresh nîm leaves, bathing in a sacred stream cures blindness
and leprosy, a drop of sacred water brings to life, a sacrifice of a man
of ghi and cat's milk cures of possession. (F.T.B. 135, 219.L.P.
484, 155, 214, 215, 358, 415, 456.W.A.S. 247, 248, 295.I.A.
III., 9.)
(e) Variants of
idea: revivifying and healing powers of blood: the blood of heroine's
little finger restores hero's head to his decapitated body, from mendicant's
little finger restores hero to life from his stone state, the blood of hero's
infant restores the marble statue to life, the blood of (life-index) mainâ
if spilt will create 100 ogres, of bees will create 1000 ogres. (1) Varied:
blood from hero's little finger (also mere touch) brings a fair wind. Extension
of this idea: the drops of blood become rubies: from head of sleeping
beauty. (I.F.T. 84, 187, 141.W.A.S. 109, 55-56, 147.F.T.B.
85, 93 ff., 224-225.I.A. IV., 262.L.P. 362, 447, 472.)
(f) Restoration
of beauty: religious mendicant restores heroine's beauty by setting her on
fire; by bathing in enchanted tank once. (1) Varied as restoration to
eyesight: restoration after metamorphosis by water. (I.F.T. 76, 77.O.D.D.
62.F.T.B. 283, 182, 123.)
(a) Enchanted things:
shaddock grows out of the mother's grave to feed her daughters starved
by their stepmother, a pool is covered with cream for their food, box
contains a supernatural mannikin, wand protects hero from danger as long
as it is held, eye-salve brings what is far near, horn when blown
stops a famine, rice grows only at night, necklace retreats into
the wall when hung up, plates breed maggots in the food placed on them, echoing
chamber tells all that is going on about it, the emerald city and
mountain both find heroine and abduct her, emerald necklace always
tells the truth when any one near speaks a lie, jôgi's
ointment-box annihilates distance, dice made from dead men's bones that
never lose, conch that brings wealth, wand calls up the absent, box
contains the fan which will call up absent hero, fruit goes out
of reach when hero wants to pluck. (O.D.D. 4, 5, 62.F.T.B. 88,
89.L.P. 41.I.F.T. 184, 229, 197, 226, 232.W.A.S. 6, 31
ff., 36 ff., 174, 190, 216, 270.) (1) Enchanted palace: usually belongs
to ogre (see Sleeping
Beauty);
is improvised for heroine by grateful serpent; contains a silver jewelled tree,
under which dwells (sleeping) beauty; leads hero to heroine; under the waters
occupied by the king of the crocodiles; is under the waters of a tank. (O.D.D.
21 ff., 38.W.A.S. 123 ff., 6.F.T.B. 20, 81.)
(b) Enchanted
creatures: fish jumps back into the water after being cooked; pigeons
fly away after being cooked; hero enchants animals in the wilds by
music; hero by enchantment is made to forget and desert his wife and
child; cow gives milk all day without bearing young, and her dung is
golden. (I.F.T. 71, 227, 228.W.A.S. 129.O.D.D. 143 ff.F.T.B.
112.L.P. 176.)
(a) Metamorphosis
of the dead: (1) Metempsychosis of the dead into the living: dead
heroine princess becomes gardener's daughter, and as gardener's daughter
marries her own husband the hero; dead hero's anklebone becomes himself, but
reverts to the form of an anklebone when chased. In the future life heroine and
mother become rich people, hero's father and mother poor wretches, heroine's
unborn children fish, and hero is roasted eternally in a large pot by an ogre.
(I.F.T. 4, 114 ff.W.A.S. 124, 130.) Hero's dead wife becomes a
bird; dead saint becomes a Brâhman. (I.F.T. 13.L.P. 68.)
(2) Into inanimate objects: dead dog-mother of human children becomes
golden bejewelled image of dog; hero's dead children become a tree with two
large flowers and fruits which cannot be plucked by hero's enemy but are easily
plucked by hero; the various parts of heroine's dead body lying in the desert
are formed into four palaces, a tank with a palace in the midst and doves
flying about; dead heroine's eyes become a parrot and a starling, her heart a
tank, her body a palace and garden, her arms and legs its pillars, her head its
domes, herself into sleeping beauty whom hero finds; dead heroine becomes a
lotus flower which cannot be caught except by hero, a tree bearing a fruit
which contains herself and which cannot be plucked except by hero; drowned
heroine becomes a sunflower which is burnt by her enemy, the ashes then become
a mango tree with one fruit only, this falls into a poor milkwoman's can and
turns into heroine; hero's friend becomes on being killed a tree with silver
trunk, golden branches, diamond leaves, pearly fruit with peacocks playing in
the branches. (O.D.D. 86-88.I.F.T. 5, 10-11, 148 ff., 145, 146.W.A.S.
175.I.A. I., 19.)
(b) Metamorphosis
of deities: (1) Avatâras, incarnations: deity into a boar
which destroys hero's garden; Ganesa becomes an old woman and catches hero on
the point of falling on the hedge of bayonets; goddesses become fortune-tellers
to save hero; Râma becomes a wayfarer to help hero. (2) Into inanimate
objects: goddess becomes a ball by being rubbed in the hands. (I.F.T.
68, 89.O.D.D. 98, 261.W.A.S. 216.)
(c) Metamorphosis
of superhuman personages: (1) Ogres: ogress becomes a goat at night
only; a beautiful girl; an old woman. (I.F.T. 173, 175, 51.O.D.D.
27.I.A. 170.) (2) Angels: angel becomes a religious mendicant.
(3) Jinns: becomes a hawk, dove, and eagle to watch heroine. (I.F.T.
74, 77.W.A.S. 173.) (4) Vampires: vampire becomes a
Brâhman, and afterwards rain, a dove, a rose falling from heaven, a mouse
to escape mannikin. (W.A.S. 13-15.) (5) Mannikins: mannikin
becomes storm-wind, a hawk, a musician, and a cat to catch vampire; a huge
demon. (W.A.S. 15, 49 ff.) (6) Fairies: fairy princess is a
pigeon while in the air, and becomes one to escape her enemy. (W.A.S.
30, 33.) (7) Ghosts: hideous female malignant ghost becomes a beautiful
girl but with feet turned backwards; ghost becomes a Brâhman; a
Brâhman's wife; an insect which enters a phial and bottled up in it for
ever. (W.A.S. 54.F.T.B. 183 ff., 197, 185-186.) (8) Lord of
death: tale: changes into a scorpion, snake, bullock, ox, beautiful
girl, old man. (W.A.S. 219 ff.) (9) Demons: into a merchant. (I.A.
I., 345.)
(d) Metamorphosis
of living things: (l) one into another: golden deer becomes
mannikin demon, white hind becomes white witch who marries hero's father,
crocodile becomes hero prince; hero's mother becomes a black dog, hero becomes
a parrot, hero's enemy becomes hero, but only knowing half the spell, is unable
to retransform himself into any other human shape, finally becomes a ram and is
killed; with the object of gaining better fortune mouse becomes cat, dog, ape,
wild bore, elephant, girl who becomes a queen the happiest of mortals, but she
falls into a well and is killed; heroine's hundred sons changed by ogre into
crows; hero becomes a fly to escape enemies; princess becomes a kite to attract
hero's attention; hero becomes a sheep, monkey, horse, for going in forbidden
direction; hero, a kingfisher and a parrot to do impossible task; serpent
becomes a Brâhman to attract heroine, goes back again to serpent to kill
hero, to Brâhman to cure her and to serpent to bring hero to her; female
Nâg becomes a serpent to save herself from her too importunate lover and
returns to her ordinary form to marry him, serpent becomes a fish to kill hero,
also a Brâhman. (W.A.S. 29, 100, 125.O.D.D. 9, 101, 102,
117, 58.F.T.B. 139 ff.I.F.T. 56, 141.L.P. 5, 180, 181,
183 ff., 416, 498, 499.I.A. I., 117, 118, 171.) (2) Into inanimate
things: magician's victims become stones and trees; heroine's hundred boys
become a hundred mangoes and her girl a rose bush, saved from the malice of
their enemies by a flood and restored to their own shapes in a strange land;
hero's companion changed into stone, and restored by hero's child; a thousand
wooden parrots made by hero become alive; serpent becomes a plum in order to
kill hero, a golden staff to kill magician; heroine's mother becomes a golden
stool. (O.D.D. 10, 57 ff., 75-78, 117.L.P. 488, 502.W.A.S.
301.)
(e) Metamorphosis
of inanimate things: all hero's property becomes stone and charcoal as a
punishment, heroine's hut becomes a gorgeous palace. (I.F.T. 226.W.A.S.
302.)
(f) Temporary
metamorphosis: (1) change of skin [compare such instances as occur
above and 'beauty and the beast' idea in Europe]. Tale: heroine becomes
an old woman by putting on skin of a dead old beggar woman, she is given
shelter as an old woman, but in the early morning she bathes in tank and takes
off the skin, while she has it off she is a young girl; king's son detects her
by her habit of plucking the royal lotuses in the tank, marries her as an old
woman, burns the skin and thus prevents her from becoming old any more. (O.D.D.
167 ff.) (2) Variant: hero as a jackal marries Brâhman's daughter,
is a jackal as long as he has the skin on, is human when it is off; monkey-son
of the seventh queen can change his monkey's skin and become human and vice
versâ at will. (O.D.D. 203 ff.) Variant of idea: tale:
hero is a fish, becomes a favourite of the queen, who determines to give him a
wife, marries heroine, who restores him to his human shape by spells; heroine
becomes a white dog and can regain her human form only when she can manage to
frighten hero; hero's horse can be turned into a donkey by twisting his right
ear and vice versâ by twisting the left ear; snake-woman must
resume her serpent form if she travel at night. (O.D.D. 203 ff., 167
ff., 218 ff.I.F.T. 42 ff., 30 ff., 131.W.A.S. 93.)
(a) Of hero:
as a beggar to meet heroine, a religious mendicant to seek fortune, with
companion as two old beggars to escape imprisonment, as a mendicant, with
heroine as a pair of mendicants, as a madman to test virtue of his intended
wife, as a religious mendicant in seeking broken-hearted his injured wife, as a
prince to meet heroine, as a gardener's daughter to outwit magician, a female
servant to be with heroine. (O.D.D. 119, 24, 72, II.L.P. 332
ff.I.F.T. 226, 235, 2, 125.W.A.S. 149.I.A. IX., 6.)
(b) Of hero's
companions: hero's brother as a lunatic to save hero. (F.T.B. 35
ff.)
(c) Of heroine:
as old village woman to escape robbers, an old woman selling milk to find hero,
old beggar woman to escape detection, as a female barber to procure hero's
life-index (a necklace) from hero's enemy, as a cowherdess to marry hero (her
own husband) now a merchant and stranger, as a male religious mendicant to save
her husband and to find hero, as lost hero. Tale: becomes a chief
minister, marries seven wives, recovers lost hero, remarries him with all the
seven wives. (W.A.S. 76.O.D.D. 267, 199, 25 ff.F.T.B. 14
ff., 134.I.F.T. 222, 198 ff.)
(d) Of
heroine's enemies: chief constable's son as a mendicant to catch heroine,
robber as a pedlar to entrap heroine. (I.F.T. 214.W.A.S. 73.)
(e) Of
superhuman beings: ogress as an old woman; of saint's emissary (a god) as a
Brâhman; of dead saint as a Sayyid. (O.D.D. 58.L.P. 76,
77.)
(a) Invisible
cap, called the yech cap, renders wearer invisible. (W.A.S.
37 ff.) (1) Varied as invisible ring, which renders wearer invisible. (O.D.D.
39 ff.)
(b) Invisibility
by other means: holding a feather straight, blowing away enchanted sand. (I.F.T.
59, 139.)
(c) Natural
invisibility: fairies invisible to adults but not to children. (O.D.D.
237.)
(a) Inexhaustible
pot: tale: given to Brâhman in reward for prayer filled with comfits,
is stolen by innkeeper, but he procures another filled with demons and
chastises innkeeper. Procures a third filled with sweets with which he makes
money and chastises his enemies. (F.T.B. 55-62.) Variant: tale:
given by fairies to idiot hero to give him any dish he wants, is stolen by
cooks. Idiot takes substituted pot to his mother who punishes him as a liar. He
then gets an inexhaustible box filled with clothes which is also stolen as
before. Eventually he gets a rope and stick which beat the cooks when wanted
and so he recovers pot and box. (I.F.T. 32-34.)
(b) Variant:
tale: inexhaustible melons given to Brâhman filled with jewels, who,
not knowing their value, sells them. Then procures inexhaustible pot of food,
which the king seizes. Eventually he recovers value of melons and pot by means
of stick and rope which bind and beat the enemies. (O.D.D. 169-174 ff.)
(c) Varied
further into inexhaustible basket: given by a saint filled with pearls and
gold, renewable whenever finished.
(d) Inexhaustible
shell from a Brâhmanî bull's neck filled with ornaments.
(e) Inexhaustible
leaf (platted) filled with food of all sorts.
(f) Inexhaustible
cotton-branch filled with clothes.
(g) Inexhaustible
bag and stone bowl.
(h) Inexhaustible
cow.
(i) Inexhaustible
rice.
(j) Inexhaustible
ring which produces what is asked for at once.
(k) Inexhaustible
conch which brings wealth whenever blown.
(l) Inexhaustible
coat that produces gold coins. (F.T.B. 282-283. I.F.T. 156
ff.W.A.S. 106, 108, 199 ff., 216 ff., 286 ff.)
Typical tale: jewel in serpent's crest
is equal in value to the treasure of seven kings, can be hidden only by
cow-dung being thrown on it (or horse-dung), possession of jewel slays the
serpent. Typical tale: jewel in serpent's crest lights the way into and
out of enchanted palace beneath the waters, is possessed by sleeping beauty who
on loss of it cannot return to the palace beneath the waters and loses hero
till it is recovered for her. (F.T.B. 19 ff.W.A.S. 140 ff.) Variants:
diamond in serpent's mouth leads the way to the enchanted palace beneath the
lake containing silver jewelled tree. (O.D.D. 33 ff.)
(a) Variants of
idea: jewel on the head of heroine: has similar properties, hero's body
shines dazzlingly, heroine shines as a star, the shining anklets on heroine
perform wonders, heroine's face lights up the night, the snake-stone is a ruby
found in the ground. (O.D.D. 88 ff., 136, 140, 255.I.F.T. 158
ff.W.A.S. 304.)
(b) Variant:
moon and star hero: hero has a moon on his forehead, Indra the king of
heaven has a sun on his head and moons on his hands and stars on his face, hero
born of a snake-stone (ruby) has a red star on his forehead, seventh queen
gives birth to a boy with a moon on his forehead and stars on his hands,
heroine has a moon on her forehead and a star on her chin, hero and heroine
have the sun on their heads, moons on their hands, and stars on their faces. (F.T.B.
236 ff., 242.I.F.T. 1 ff., 119, 2.W.A.S. 310.)
Variant of the idea: tiger judges between cat
and dog as to their prowess, matter settled by cat running away; hero as
(metamorphosed) parrot proves that the woman claiming the woodcutter's supposed
wealth was never at the place where she said it had been given her by asking
her to open a sealed bottle. (I.F.T. 13, 17.O.D.D. 111, 112.) Variant
tale: boys judge between ghost (in the form of a Brâhman) and a
Brâhman as to the ownership of a house, the ghost being the false
claimant. The judge decides that whichever of them shall enter a phial shall be
adjudged the owner, the ghost immediately becomes an insect and enters phial
and is thus proved to be a ghost and no Brâhman. (F.T.B. 185-186.)
[A variant of this tale is told of one of the Hindû kings of
Kashmîr in the Râjâtaranginî] Shepherds judge between
sham merchant (demon) and the real merchant by inducing demon to go into a
hollow reed. (I.A. I., 345.)
(a) Animals:
horses, golden deer, birds, eaglets, parrots, snakes, seven-headed serpent,
monster fish, alligator, winged horses, wind-winged camel; varied as
pony that jumps a river three miles broad, horse that jumps a sea surrounded by
high spiked walls. (O.D.D. 14, 132, 142, 151, 30, 32.F.T.B. 17,
73, 135, 214, 249.I.F.T. 45, 53, 63, 75, 76.W.A.S. 28.L.P.
192, 238-291.)
(b) Inanimate
objects: boat, paper boat, bed, palanquin (but in this case a balloon),
enchanted club and rope, sword. (F.T.B. 88, 121.I.F.T. 156 ff.,
162, 187.W.A.S. 66.I.A. IV., 55.)
(c) Idea varied
as mere power to fly through the air: hero's horse when his work in the
tale is done, mannikin to help hero, to bring about meeting of hero and heroine
and to protect both against their enemies, ogre to save his own life, saint to
save hero. (F.T.B. 121, 217.I.F.T. 45.W.A.S. 8-12, 59.L.P.
358, 495, 520 ff.I.A. IV., 58.)
(d) As
possession of a charm: the jôgi's ointment-box makes possessor
traverse the earth at lightning speed. (W.A.S. 190.)
CLASS IV.MISCELLANEOUS
(a) Cat's nine
lives: story illustrating. (I.F.T. 18 ff.)
(b) Alchemy: making
gold out of a stone, wealth by magic, heroine rubs balls of flour on her body
which roll off in balls of gold, the stone from the ashes of the snake-woman
will make gold. Varied as enchanted ring. (I.F.T. 59, 13.F.T.B.
55 ff., 235.W.A.S. 195, 200.)
(c) Dropping
jewels: hero drops rubies when he laughs and pearls when he weeps, pearls
and precious stones drop from heroine as she walks or speaks, whoever eats
enchanted fish will drop jewels when he laughs and pearls when he weeps, when heroine
laughs she fills a basket with flowers, when she weeps she fills a platter with
pearls. (I.F.T. 13.O.D.D. 239.F.T.B. 97.L.P.
233.)
(d) Being
one-eyed: sign of a wicked disposition: hero's enemy is one-eyed, king of the
tigers is, chief constable is, demon is. (I.F.T. 3, 36.W.A.S.
12, 295.)
(e) Symbolism:
heroine puts a rose to her teeth to let hero know that her father's name is Dant
(tooth), then behind her ear that her country is Karnâtak (ear,
Carnatic), then at her feet that her own name is Pânvpati (foot). (I.F.T.
7.)
(f) King chosen
by sacred elephant: hero is chosen. (W.A.S. 141.F.T.B. 100.I.A.
III., 11; IV., 261.)
(g) Deserted
city: devastated by ogres, by ghosts, by demons, by a mannikin. Variants:
(1) deserted palace of the ogre, of jinn; (2) deserted land; (3) blighted
garden flourishing at the touch of the hero. (W.A.S. 49, 48, 52,
143, 169.F.T.B. 65, 115, 74 ff., 169.I.F.T. 178.O.D.D.
197.)
(h) Choice:
hero has the choice of riches, power, beauty, long life, health, happiness, and
anything else he fancies, he chooses power of metamorphosis. (O.D.D.
100.)
(i) Riverside
waif: heroine is put into a golden box as a baby and floated down stream,
is found by a fisherman and adopted by a childless banker, hero is tossed
ashore and befriended by washermen. (O.D.D. 256 ff.I.A. IV.,
263.)
(j) Little
slipper: heroine's golden slipper will fit no one else, is found by hero. (O.D.D.
240.)
(k) Gambling
extraordinary: hero loses first his companions (hawk and dog) and then
himself to an ogress on a throw of dice, subsequently hero's brother wins them
back; hero and his friends lose themselves to heroine; hero loses first his
arms, then his horse, the third stake being his head, he then wins them back
and finally wins last game, being his enemy's head. (F.T.B. 193-194,
277.L.P. 48 ff.W.A.S. 277 ff.)
(l) Evil-eye:
tale: is the cause of general misfortune to hero and heroine, hero turned
woodcutter works so well that the others drive him away, heroine cooks and weaves
so well that she is turned out by the village women and carried off by boatmen,
hero beats them at gambling and is thrown overboard. (F.T.B. 110 ff.)
(m) Human
sacrifice: for a fair wind. (W.A.S. 147.)
(n) Wolf-children:
variant tale: a dog-mother has two girls instead of pups, but the queen has
two pups in place of children. To avoid her girls being changed the dog hides
them. They are subsequently found by two princes and married to them. The
dog-mother seeks them. The elder daughter recognises and treats her kindly, but
the younger ill-treats her till she dies. The elder then hides the corpse which
turns into a golden bejewelled image of a dog. The elder girl is, as a reward,
saved from death subsequently by a serpent, but the younger is killed. (O.D.D.
17, 22.) Variant tale: eagles carry off heroine and rear her. She
subsequently meets hero and marries him, but is drowned by an enemy. She is
however restored to life and to her human mother. (O.D.D. 84-90.)
(o) Bargains
with animals: based on the supposition that they can talk, and so a variant
consequent on the notion of the deus ex machinâ. Moral tale:
ungrateful mouse seizes barber's razor for cutting his tail in taking
out thorns; lends the razor to a grasscutter who breaks it, and the mouse takes
his blanket instead, lends his blanket to a thresher to bind his sugar-canes,
the blanket becomes torn and the mouse takes the canes; lends the canes to a
confectioner to sweeten his wares, all of them being used he takes the
confections; lends them to feed the king's cows and takes the cows; lends the
cows for the king's feast on his daughter's wedding, takes the bride, lends his
wife to rope-dancers as a performer, she is killed and so he takes all their
wives, and finally is killed himself by a trick. Moral: overreaching
ambition. (I.F.T. 101, 107.) Humorous tale: a rat gives a
dry root to a man who wants to light his fire for cooking on a wet day, gets
some dough in return; gives the dough to a potter for food, who gives him a
pigskin in return; gives the pigskin to a neatherd to milk his buffalo into,
gets the buffalo given him as a joke; meets a bridal party, offers them the
buffalo for food, they take and eat it and run away to avoid the consequences
and the rat takes possession of the bride, but finally loses her by a trick. (W.A.S.
18-23.) Humorous tale: a bear bargains to cut a quantity of wood
for the hero in return for a savoury dish, cuts the wood, but finds that hero
has eaten the food, so he takes the dish in revenge, and gets at hero's plums
which he puts into the dish, at this point heroine sneezes which frightens the
bear who drops the dish which hero and heroine pick up plums and all. (W.A.S.
40 ff.)
(p) Delicate
heroine: (1) ordinary form: five flower princess: heroine weighs
five flowers only. (W.A.S. 10 ff.O.D.D. 129 ff.) (2) Varied
as one flower (I.F.T. 1.) (3) Variant: delicate heroine weighs
only one flower; Indra, the king of heaven, weighs but one flower. (I.F.T.
2.)
(q) Nostrums
for procuring sons: pomegranate flower (and fruit) given to eat, mango
fruit to eat, a drug to take, throwing a stick at mangoes and eating what
falls, eating fruit (lîchîs). Varied as used to
procure egg-heroine (q.v.), barley-corn to eat, grain of rice to eat,
two flowers, bathing in a sacred well. Variant: half a mango produces
half a son. (F.T.B. 1, 117, 187, 9.I.F.T. 41, 91, 139.W.A.S.
47, 249.L.P. 2, 3, 139, 290, 291.I.A. I., 219.) (1) Children
granted by saints and holy persons: twin sons granted on condition that one
is given up when adult to mendicant granting him. Varied as a son
restored to life so claimed, twin sons granted to the wrong queen by error, but
the queen is to die at their birth for tricking the saint, and they are only to
live twelve years; the right queen is granted one son of extraordinary power. (F.T.B.
168.I.F.T. 41, 91, 93, 98.W.A.S. 47, 98, 249.L.P. 3, 2,
77, 139, 142.)
(r) Ordeal:
(1) To prove chastity hero and heroine have to spin a single thread of yarn
(which has no cohesion) and to draw up with it water from a well in an unbaked
pitcher; heroine has to throw with dice a special number, bathe in boiling oil;
softening of a stone. (L.P. 39, 312, 315.I.A. VI., 224.) (2) To
prove truth: making a bamboo sprout. (I.A. VI., 224.)
(a) Marriage
without ceremony: hero to sleeping beauty, hero to egg-heroine, hero to
robber's daughter, by mere exchange of garlands between hero and heroine. (W.A.S.
70, 173.F.T.B. 11, 22, 86.I.F.T. 61.I.A. II., 358.)
(b) Enforced
marriage postponed for a season: by sleeping beauty to give her husband
time to recover her, for one year, for six months, for six months to give
winged horse time to rescue her, for twelve years to enable hero to find his mother,
princess's marriage postponed for a year to give hero time to explain himself,
for three years to enable heroine to avoid hero's enemy. (W.A.S. 64,
146, 204.F.T.B. 29, 90, 217.O.D.D. 44, 10.I.A. I., 119;
IV., 263.)
(c) Marriage
extraordinary: hero to ogress, hero to his own mother in ignorance. (F.T.B.
67, 106.I.A. IV., 56, 58.)
(d) On
condition of impossible task: to crush the oil in 80 lbs. of mustard seed,
to kill demon, to beat a drum in heaven, to cut down a tree with wax hatchet,
to tame a vicious pony, jump over lofty spiked walls, to find silver tree with
leaves of gold and flowers of pearl, to jump river round heroine's palace three
times on old war-horse, to separate millet seed from sand, to solve
inexplicable riddles. (1) Expansion of idea: general impossibilities:
heroine is to marry a dead man, heroine is to get possession of unmatched robe.
(I.F.T. 160 ff.O.D.D. 30, 32, 33, 73, 29, 229 ff.L.P.
42, 43, 240.)
(e) Public
choice of a husband: Swayamvara. (O.D.D. 29, 31, 33, 70, 95, 119,
240.W.A.S. 104, 148, 172.I.F.T. 163, 42 ff.L.P. 240.I.A.
II., 263.)
(a) On hero's
enemies: cutting to pieces and burying in the desert, burning in a wooden
house and sending (female's) ashes to her mother as a present, burnt to ashes
in a tower, killed and thrown into the desert, buried (female) to her head in a
pit and shot to death with arrows, burying alive standing with thorns heaped
around the body, burial alive and ploughing up the grave, simply put to death,
boiling alive in caldrons. (I.F.T. 6, 11, 61, 192.F.T.B. 16, 92,
107.W.A.S. 110, 152.L.P. 517.)
(b) On
heroine's enemies: burning to death, imprisonment such as their calumnies
had caused, hanging, imprisonment for life, tearing out the heart, killed by her
husband's own hands, dashed to pieces, burial in a pit with scorpions and
snakes, walking over the grave. (O.D.D. 65, 93, 238, 249, 269.I.F.T.
137, 152.W.A.S. 67, 88, 89.)
(c) On
murderers: burnt alive. (I.F.T. 207.)
(d) Miscellaneous
punishments: hero has to sell himself to a sexton and his wife to a
merchant as slaves to pay a debt, hero induces his unchaste wife by a trick to
eat her lover's heart, the queen who has tricked the saint into granting her
twins in place of sister dies in childbirth, heroine is set to scare crows. (I.F.T.
69 ff.L.P. 65, 142, 292.)
(a) One:
priest says he eats one demon a day; one whip to winged horse is
enough, more destroys his virtue; one dip in enchanted tank restores
beauty. (1) Hero is only son of a widow, of a king, a merchant, only
son, heroine is only daughter. (O.D.D. 277.W.A.S. 5, 47.F.T.B.
283-284, 214, 93.O.D.D. 23, 239.)
(b) Two:
hero has two wives, heroine has two companions, hero wanders two
years as a parrot, jeweller has to make up two thousand rupees, worth of
ornaments for the princess, king has two sons, two companions
seek fortune, king gives every one what they want for two hours. (O.D.D.
24, 95, 116.L.P. 25.W.A.S. 196.I.A. I., 345, II., 357.)
(c) Three:
mendicant's disciple has three tasks set him, hero does three
penances, mendicant laughs sardonically three times, Krishna has three
wives, three women start to find Mahâdev, three companions
outwit the demon, priest has a wife and three children, miraculous pony
jumps a river three miles broad three times, horse jumps the high
spiked wall of princess's sea-like bath three times, heroine and her
companions sleep in three pomegranates, three pebbles restore
metamorphosed fish to his human form. (1) Third son of king is hero,
hero's three friends are chief actors in the tale, hero seeks fortune
with three rupees, with three companions, tiger gives
Brâhman leave to examine three things as to his rights, heroine
has three sons, three vows are binding, hero trebles his
capital miraculously, hero is given three lâkhs of rupees.
(2) Hero sits as a stranger beside the king three days, heroine starves
for three days, discarded body on metamorphosis lasts only three
days, human co-wife discloses discovery of ogress co-wife on the third
day, serpents go without water three days. (F.T.B. 71, 147, 261.W.A.S.
5, 48, 116.L.P. 65, 75, 126, 204, 223, 253, 423 ff.I.F.T. 87,
115, 191.O.D.D. 260, 252, 273 ff., 277, 30, 32, 80, 95, 104, 220.I.A.
IV., 263.)
(d) Four:
hero's companions search four years for him, Brâhman has four
children. Varied as hero's father, life on earth is described as of four
days only, hero seeks fortune with four gold pieces and four
companions, four companions start to seek fortune, hero has four
wives. (O.D.D. 147.F.T.B. 53, 221.L.P. 303.W.A.S.
196-197.I.A. I., 285; IV., 59.)
(e) Five:
idiot meets five fairies, snake which kills eaglets is cut into five
pieces, heroine weighs five flowers, the five arms, heroine's
robe is of five colours, five girls live on the milk of five
sacred cows, hero's enemy has five sons, ghost has five mans
of gold, queen dies after five years. (I.F.T. 32 ff., 182.O.D.D.
130.L.P. 222, 342, 430.I.A. II., 358; III., 10; IV., 260.)
(f) Six:
hero plays in the desert six times, and six times six
variations, hero eats six mans of ganjâ daily,
farmer tricks six thieves. (1) As half-twelve: mendicant sleeps
and wakes alternately for six months, heroine seeks her sister six
months, marriage is postponed six months, hero has six months in
which to find the 'touchstone.' (I.F.T. 139.O.D.D. 203.L.P.
176.I.A. II., 271, 357; III., 11.W.A.S. 204.)
(g) Seven:
a kite has seven chicks, makes a feast of seven dishes, hero has seven
wives and seven children, seven country girls play together,
enchanted box contains seven fairies, seven companions seek
fortune, king has seven queens, seven thieves come to steal the
king's daughter seven fairies visit hero, hero's father has seven
daughters, seven princes marry seven forlorn princesses, eagle's
house has seven doors, heroine's abode is guarded by seven hedges
of bayonets, and again by seven ditches and seven hedges of
spears. Varied as tower of Ganesa's temple is so guarded, heroine's
abode is across seven seas, Brâhman has seven daughters, seven-headed
serpent helps heroine, hair of heroine is seven cubits long, prince is
bathed seven times with seven jars of water and seven jars
of milk, seven victims required to complete a human sacrifice, palace
garden is seven miles square, heroine is locked up in seven prisons,
lambikin is seven days fattening, heroine's enemy has seven sons,
seven hundred ogres guard the miraculous flower, the wounded deer is
hurled seven paces by the force of an arrow, seven thieves die of
grief for each other, ogre kills off the old woman's seven sons, hero's
arrow pierces seven frying-pans and seven ogres placed one behind
the other, heroine's home is across seven rivers, hero has to cross seven
rivers to reach heroine, when hero shoots a deer it falls seven paces
towards him, heroine has seven companions, the seven lives in
Hell, the seven climes of the world, heroine has to throw the seven
to prove her virtue (the five and two), seven mangoes (five and two)
produce seven sons, hero's wealth reaches seven karors, seven
thieves attack the barber's clever wife, heroine is seventh daughter, seventh
hedge cannot be crossed (varied as killing hero), seventh queen
goes across seven oceans, seventh court of deserted palace
contains the ogresses, seventh daughter is heroine, seventh queen
is mother of hero, seventh son is hero, seventh daughter is the
cleverest of all, seventh wife protects her sister-in-law, seventh
queen has a monkey son, seventh son sets out to find heroine, has
miraculous powers. (2) Being seventh: Hero's life-index is in a parrot
under six pitchers. (3) Hero is seven days and seven
nights on the back of the golden deer flying through the air, tiger watches
hero seven days, hero is given seven days to arrange his marriage
in. (I.F.T. 42 ff., 138, 21, 51, 119, 127, 169, 173, 175, 206.I.A.
I., 170, III., 342.O.D.D. 237, 1, 7, 13, 79, 95, 96, 130, 131, 170,
136, 166, 220.F.T.B. 87, 135, 194, 214, 270, 248, 124 ff., 7 ff., 236
ff.W.A.S. 28, 29, 37, 70, 80-83, 95, 241, 290, 294 ff., 295.L.P.
14, 17, 19, 51, 142, 171, 179, 181, 190, 204, 209, 237, 313, 336.)
(h) Nine:
hero is to carry enchanted box nine miles, life-index is in the nine-lâkh
necklace, garden, kerchief, the nine quarters of the world, hero is
given nine lâkhs of rupees, the nine Nâgs, hero
eats nine mans of ganjâ daily and fasts nine
days. (W.A.S. 6, 83.L.P. 209, 235, 287, 426, 438, 488.I.A.
I., 271.)
(i) Twelve:
(1) idiot thinks he has been dead twelve years, camel has wandered twelve
years, alligator has been ill twelve years, tiger has had a thorn twelve
years in his foot, hero is impoverished for twelve years, heroine
wanders for twelve years, hero serves a mendicant for twelve
years, hero does penance for twelve years, saint grants twelve
years further life, mendicant sleeps and wakes alternately for twelve
years (varied as demon, jinn), famine lasts twelve years, heroine
searches twelve years for Mahâdeo, marriage is postponed twelve
years, dog-mother seeks her human children twelve years, heroine lives
in disguise for twelve years, heroine is reared by eagles for twelve
years, hero must not see his father and mother for twelve years after
birth, is shut up in a cellar for twelve years, heroine's life-index (a
mango tree) flowers after twelve years, barren heroine has a son after twelve
years, the twins of the queen who has tricked the saint into granting them live
only twelve years, the ace and twelve if thrown are to decide
against heroine in the ordeal by dice of her virtue, maiden of twelve
years must fetch water from golden well to cure leprosy. (2) Singer's voice can
be heard a distance of twelve days off, hero has twelve children,
priest's family eat twelve demons a day, hero has a box made which
requires twelve men to open, wedding of hero (disguised heroine with
ogress princess) lasts twelve days, marriage tents of heroine are twelve
miles in circumference, hero has twelve children (five boys and seven
girls), king has twelve wives, eagles leave twelve months'
provisions when they go to find heroine's ring, melon to cure ogress must be twelve
cubits long, serpent has destroyed everything within twelve miles of his
lair, hero travels twelve miles per stage, hero is twelve months
in his mother's womb. (I.F.T. 32, 35, 63, 64, 68, 74, 86, 87 ff., 98,
155, 167, 226.O.D.D. 252, 258, 277, 10, 18, 26, 34, 41, 44-45, 47, 50,
80, 122.F.T.B. 120.W.A.S. 35, 64, 170, 305.L.P. 3, 8,
12, 50, 74, 157, 313, 428, 438.I.A. I., 119.)
(j) Eighteen:
as multiple of twelve: eighteen thousand demons watch the wonderful cow, eighteen
million demons guard the million-fold rice. (W.A.S. 106, 108.)
(k) Twenty-four:
as multiple of twelve: enchanted palace is twenty-four miles square,
heroine must travel twenty-four miles without looking back, salary of
heroine in disguise is twenty-four lâkhs of rupees, heroine
remains unmarried twenty-four years, serpent has destroyed everything
within twenty-four miles of his lair. (O.D.D. 21, 22, 26, 70.L.P.
9.)
(l) Miscellaneous:
nineteen lines of houses are burnt down by heroine, thirteenth queen
is heroine, melon to cure ogress has a stone thirteen cubits long,
heroine lives across thirteen rivers, the jôgi has waited twenty-two
years to see the heroine, eight charms cure of serpent-bite, hero's
companion is turned into stone for eight years, heroine starts off with twenty-one
gold pieces, hero is born on the eighth day of Bhâdon, marriage is
to be postponed only eight days, the eight families of
Nâgs, heroine lives fourteen years in gardener's hut, heroine's
home is fourteen (twice seven) hundred miles away, hero takes
with him twenty-two hundred nobles, ogres eat twenty-two mans
of rice and twenty-two buffaloes, hero plays thirty-six times in
the desert to enchant the animals, music plays in thirty-six places at a
marriage, heroine wears sixteen ornaments and thirty-two jewels, thirty-six
bands accompany king in procession, serpent can change into fifty-two
forms. (O.D.D. 269, 53, 77, 145.F.T.B. 120, 214.L.P. 31,
76, 155, 161, 176, 237, 300, 324, 342, 350, 426, 438, 515.I.A. 1.,
117.)
(m) Large
numbers: (1)one hundred and one: miraculous egg-plant has one
hundred and one fruits on it, meaning that whoever marries the gardener's
daughter will have one hundred and one children. (2) One thousand and
one: hero's metamorphosed companions and himself number one thousand and
one. (3) Miscellaneous large numbers: oven to kill serpent in
consists of one hundred kinds of metal, wrestler eats one hundred and
sixty mans of flour at a sitting, drags along one hundred and
sixty carts, wrestler's daughter's wallet contains one hundred and sixty
camels, buck has three hundred and sixty wives (does), one thousand
crows circumvent hero and his companions, hero makes one thousand wooden
parrots which come to life miraculously, hero has one hundred and sixty wives,
hero wanders seventy years as a mendicant, heroine found in the hundredth
enchanted palace, heroine has sixty maids, hero sports with seventy
maidens, he announces himself by beating seventy gongs, sixty steps
lead to hero's palace, the prayers of three hundred and sixty saints
restore a flock of dead goats to life, hero seduces three hundred and sixty
princesses, parrot has three hundred and sixty feathers. (O.D.D.
50, 51, 104, 105, 129.I.F.T. 85, 91.W.A.S. 29, 193, 223, 224,
226.L.P. 20, 44, 63, 79, 241, 233, 466, 495.)
(n) Fractions;
aliquot parts of five: (1) one and a quarter: one and a quarter
lâkhs of rupees are voted to a shrine, the gates of heroine's
palace opened one and a quarter watches after sunrise, hero's accounts
reach one and a quarter lâkhs, hero's ring is worth one
and a quarter lâkhs, the stone over heroine's cellar (and over
golden well) is one and a quarter hundred mans, king gives away one
and a quarter mans of gold daily to the faqîrs, heroine prays one
and a quarter watches before she begins her charming. (2) Two and half:
hero gives two and half karors of rupees to his minister to buy the
enchanted horses with, two and a half families only remain alive after
vengeance on the Nâgs. (L.P. 212, 250, 253, 255, 282, 428, 447, 472,
518.W.A.S. 281.)
THE END