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Ci:i-_i>a.
The Fables
OP Aesop
asibliotb^que &e Carabas Series.
I. CUPID AND PSYCHE : The most Pleasant and Delect-
able Tale of the Marriage of Cupid and Psyche. Done into
English by William Addington, of University College in
Oxford. With a Discourse on the Fable by Andrew Lang,
late of Merton College in Oxford. Frontispiece by W. B.
Richmond, and Verses by the Editor, May Kendall, J.
W. Mackail, F. Locker-Lampson, and W. H. Pollock.
(Ixxxvi. 66 pp.) 1887. Out of print.
II. EUTERPE: The Second Book of the Famous History of
Herodotus. Englished by B. R., 1584. Edited by Andrew
Lang, with Introductory Essays on the Religion and the
Good Faith of Herodotus. Frontispiece by A. W. Tomson ;
and Verses by the Editor and Graham R. Tomson.
(xlviii. 174 pp.) 1888. 10^. Only a feiv copies left.
III. THE FABLES OF BIDPAI : or, The MoraU PhUo-
sophie of Doni : Drawne out of the auncient writers, a work
first compiled in the Indian tongue. Englished out of Italian
by Thomas North, Brother to the Right Honorable Sir
Roger North, Knight, Lord North of Kytheling, 1570.
Now again edited and induced together with a Chronologico-
Bibliographical Chart of the translations and adaptations of
the Sanskrit original, and an Analytical Concordance of the
Stories, by Joseph Jacobs, late of St. John's College in
Cambridge. With a full-page Illustration by Edward
BuRNE Jones, A.R.A., Frontispiece from a sixteenth cen-
tury MS. of the Anvari Suhaili, and facsimiles of Woodcuts
in the Italian Doni of 1532. (Ixxxii. 264pp.) i288. 12J.
Zbc jfal)lc0 of aesop.
From the Bayeux Tapestry.
Zbc fnUcQ of Hc6op
as first printed by William Caxton in 1484.
with those of Avian, Alfonso and Poggio,
now again edited and induced
by Joseph Jacobs.
I.
History of the ^sopic Fable.
«^
London. Published by David Nutt in
THE Strand, m.d.ccclxxxix.
5965
o.\
TO
MY BROTHERS
SYDNEY, EDWIN, LOUIS
TO WHOM I OWE
ALL
Bsop.
He sat among the woods, he heard
The sylvan merriment ; he saw
The pranks of butterfly and bird,
Tlie humours of the ape, the daw.
And in the lion or the frog —
In all the life of moor and fen,
In ass and peacock, stork and log,
He read similitudes of men.
" Of these, from those," he cried, " we come,
Our hearts, our brains descend from these."
And lo ! the Beasts no more were dumb,
But answered out of brakes and trees ;
" Not ours," they cried ; " Degenerate, '
If ours at all," they cried again,
" Ye fools, who war with God and Fate,
Who strive and toil : strange race of men,
" For we are neither bond nor free,
For we have neither slaves nor kings.
But near to Nature's heart are we,
And conscious of her secret things.
'■b"
" Content are we to fall asleep,
And well content to wake no more,
We do not laugh, we do not weep.
Nor look behind us and before ;
" But were there cause for moan or mirth,
'Tis we, not you, should sigh or scorn,
Oh, latest children of the Earth
Most childish children Earth has borne."
They spoke, but that misshapen Slave
Told never of the thing he heard,
And unto men their portraits gave,
In likenesses of beast and bird I
A. L.
PREFACE.
AESOP'S Fables are the first
book one reads, or at least
the first tales one hears. It
ij- ^^ seems, therefore, appropriate
'^ ^^^ to reproduce them in the first
form in which they appeared among English
books, translated and printed by William
Caxton 'at Westmynster in thabbey ' dur-
ing the spring of 1484, eight years before
the discovery of America. Richard Crook-
back had just doffed Buckingham's head,
and was passing through his first and only
Parliament the most intelligent set of laws
*o
that anv English King had added to the
Statute Book. Among these was one which
excepted foreign printers from the restric-
tions that were put upon aliens (i Ric. III.
xii PREFACE.
c. 9). At that moment Caxton was justify-
ing the exceptional favour by producing the
book which was to form his most popular
production, and indeed one of the most
popular books that have issued from the
English press.
The interest of this reprint is literary
rather than typographical : we are con-
cerned here with Caxton as an author, to
whom scant justice has been done, rather
than with Caxton as a printer, whose name
can never be uttered without the Oriental
wish, ' God cool his resting-place.' To
illustrate the history of printing nothing
other than a facsimile reprint would suf-
fice the student, and facsimile reprints of
Caxton's heavy and rude Gothic type are
unreadable. We have, however, repro-
duced his text with such fidelity as we
could command, even to the extent of retain-
ing his misprints. If we have occasionally
added some of our own, we shall be for-
given by those who know the exhausting
work of collating Gothic and ordinary type ;
PREFACE. xiii
we have blazoned Caxton's carelessness and
our own on p, 318 of vol. ii. On the few
occasions where a letter had slipped or had
been elevated above the line, we have re-
produced the peculiarity of the original in
our text, as on pp. yg, 224.
On the typographical peculiarities of the
original — how it is composed in the fourth
fount used by Caxton, and so on — we need
not dilate here. Are not these things writ-
ten, once for all, in the Chronicles of Blades
(W. Blades' Life and Work of Caxlon, ii.
157—60), one of the few final books written
by an Englishman ? Caxton's ' Esope ' is
distinguished in the history of English print-
ing:; by being the first book to possess initial
letters, A facsimile of the first of these,
appropriately enough the letter A, is given
at the beo-inninn; of this Preface. In the
original every fable is accompanied by a
woodcut: we give a few of these, reduced
in size : they claim no merit but that of
the grotesque.
Our text was copied from the Bodleian
xiv PREFACE.
exemplar. There are but two others — one,
the only perfect text, in the Queen's library,
and the other at the British Museum : the
rest of the copies have been thumbed out
of existence. I have corrected proofs from
the Museum copy, having had all facilities
given me for the purpose by the courtesy of
Mr. Bullen.
In the original the Fables are preceded
by the apocryphal Life of ^sop attributed
to Planudes. This belongs to quite another
genre of writing — the Noodle literature.
To have included this would have extended
the book, already stretching beyond the
prescribed limits of the series in which it
appears, by nearly lOO pages. I had there-
fore to choose whether to omit this or to
leave out the Fables of Avian, Alphonse and
Poggio, which have closer connection with
the Fables of -^sop. I have elected to
begin with folio xxvj of the original, passing
over the Life of ^sop, with the exception of
its first sentence, out of which has been
concocted a title-page to the text.
PREFACE. XV
In the Introduction I had first to give
the latest word of literary science, — there
is such a thing, — on the many intricate
questions connected with the provenance
and history of the ^Esopic Fable. I have
endeavoured to bring within moderate com-
pass the cardinal points of a whole literature
of critical investigation which has not been
brought within one survey since Edelestand
du Meril made a premature attempt to do
so in 1854. Since his time much has been
cleared up which to him was obscure — not-
ably by Benfey and Fausboll on the Oriental
sources, by Crusius on Babrius, by Oesterley
and Hervieux on the derivates of Phasdrus,
and by Mall on Marie de France. Owing
to their labours the time seemed to me ripe
to make a bold stroke for it, and to give for
the first time a history of the j^sopic Fable
in the liffht of modern research. I could
only do this by making an attempt to fill up
the many gaps left by my predecessors, and
to supply the missing links required to con-
nect their investijiations. On almost all the
xvi PREFACE.
knotty points left undecided by them — the
literary source of Phsedrus — who wrote -^sop
— and why his name is connected with the
Fables — the true nature of Libyan Fable, and
the identity of its putative parent^ Kybises —
the source of Talmudic Fable and its crucial
importance for the ancient history of the
Fable — the Indian origin of the Proverbs of
Agur (Prov. xxx.) — the conduit- pipe by
which the Indian Jatakas reached the
Hellenic world and the common source of the
Jatakas and the Bidpai — the origin of the
Morals of Fables — the determinatioii of the
Indian elements in Latin Fable — the exist-
ence of a larger Arabic ^sop^ and its re-
lations to the collections of Marie de France
and Berachyah ha-Nakdan, and to Ar-
menian Fable — the identification of Marie's
immediate source, Alfred — the date and
domicile of Berachyah ha-Nakdan — the dis-
tinction between Beast-Fable and Beast-
Satire — on all these points I have been
able to make suggestions more or less
plausible, which will at the worst afford ob-
PREFACE. xvli
jectives for further research^ and make the
^sopic problem more definite henceforth.
I have told the tale backwards, concisely
where certainty has been reached, in detail
on points still sub judice.
It was time at least that some contribu-
tion to the history of the ^sopic Fable
should issue from England, which has done
nothing in this direction since Bentley's
day. For England, as I have shown, was
the home of the Fable during the early
Middle Age, and the centre of dispersion
whence the Mediaeval ^Esop spread through
Europe. It owed this to its commanding
position among the Romance nations, as
head of the Angevin Empire, just at the
time when European literature was being
crossfertilized by new germs from the East.
I hope to show before long that much the
same history applies to the development of
Romance. It seemed appropriate, I may
add, to prefix this contribution to the his-
tory of the European ^Esop to Caxton's
edition, because this has the same con-
xviii PREFACE.
tents and arrangement as the first printed
TEsops in the chief languages of modern
Europe.
I have summed up the results in the
Pedigree of the Fables ; I trust that the
N.E. corner of this, which contains most
of my novelties^ will not turn out merely
to contain so many critical ninepins put up
only to be bowled over. The literary his-
tory of each fable is given in the Synopsis
of Parallelisms. They are here brought
X together for the first time : Oesterley's
references, which form the nucleus of mv
collections, have to be sought for from
among five different works. I have omitted
some of his references, but have added far
more than I have omitted, more indeed
than I have taken. For the literature of
the last twenty years, and for the English
and some of the Oriental sources, I have
had to make my own collections. The
Glossary at the end of the book is intended
more to record for philologists Caxton's
phraseology than to assist readers to under-
HISTORY
OF
THE ^SOPIC FABLE.
I.— THE MEDIEVAL ^SOP.
"CClic ftffntc man eiii fci'ncr bucb in wcltlicbcc f: ci^nfscbcr
wcisbcit macbcn, ^cnn &as gcmcinc, albcvc feinScvbucb
ist, so Esopus bcisst. — M. Luther, Auslegunc/ des loi
Psalms (iS24)-
Our ^sop is Phsedrus with trimmings. That,
to put it shortly, is the outcome of some half
a century's investigation into the origin of the
^sopic fable, conducted mainly by French
scholars.* Begun by M. Robert in his elabo-
rate edition of Lafontaine in 1825, it was
continued in very thoroughgoing fashion by M.
Edelestand du Meril in his Histoire cle la fable
esopique in 1854, and has culminated in the
colossal work of M, L. Hervieux, Les fahi-
listes latins (1884), which gives the raw mate-
* It is but fair, however, to add the name of Hermann
Oesterley tothe French triumvirate about to be mentioned.
His Romulus, die Paraphrasen des Ptuedrus and die
cesopische Fabcl im Mittelalter (1870) contains much valu-
able material in very accessible form.
VOL. I. A
2 THE MEDIMVAL MSOP.
rial, the very raw material, from which the
history of the Latin Mediaeval ^sop can now
be definitively settled.
M. Hervieux's work has itself a history which
deserves to be briefly recited. M. Hervieux,
a lawyer of some distinction, has daughters
whom he desired to initiate into the beauties
of Latin literature. The choice of books suit-
able for such young persons is, we know, some-
what limited, and M. Hervieux wisely fixed
upon Phsedrus, which he determined to trans-
late for their use. But in order to translate,
you must have a fixed text, and M. Hervieux
found that of Phsedrus by no means fixed ;
he found moreover that even the number of
Phsedrine fables was an independent variable.
His interest was aroused and he determined
to see the matter out. And he did see the
matter out, though everything seemed against
him at the start ; he had received no philolo-
gical training and had never had a Latin MS.
in his hands. In the course of his researches
he visited almost every library of importance
lying between the Isis and the Elbe, between
Cambridge and Rome. Meanwhile, let it be
parenthically observed, the Miles. Hervieux
M. HERVIEUX'S RESEARCHES. 3
had become Mesdames N. and M., and M.
Hervieux has probably long ere this learned
the art of being grandfather. The results
of his critical Odyssey ultimately appeared
some five years ago in the shape of two
bulky tomes, running to 1500 pages, Ger-
man in their thoroughness, German also in
their want of nettete and coup d'osil.* He
has given in the first of these volumes a full
and accurate account of all the MSS. of Phfe-
drus and his imitators, with slight biographi-
cal sketches of their authors, scribes, owners
and owners' grandfathers, and in his second
volume he has edited the whole Corpus of
Latin fabulists from Phsedrus to Neckam. f It
must be our first task to get a ground-plan to
this forest of investigations in which it is by no
means easy to find one's way owing to the num-
ber of the trees and the size of their branches. J
* I hope M. Her7ieux will pardon this. One of the few
touches which lighten his pages is the recital of his patriotic
scruples in applying to German librarians, who as a general
rule have responded with a courtesy that might have
softened a Hannibal.
f With an important exception ; he has reserved Avian
and his adapters for a future occasion.
X M. Gaston Paris has given an admirable compte-
,.(trr^;Uv'^'i^'*^ I'
i^^jL,
4 THE MEDIEVAL .^SOP.
We cannot, perhaps, begin better than by
taking to pieces the book we have in our
hands, Caxton's version of Jules Machault's
translation of Stainhowel's Asoj), in which
the mediseval collections were first brought
together in print. Caxton's book is composed
of ten sections : the first, the so-called " Life
of uS^sop," we have omitted; the last three
are connected with the names of Avian, " Al-
fonce," and " Poge," which will concern us
later. The remaining six are the " Fables of
^sop," as we meet with them in Mediseval
literature. And of these, again, the first four
are found in separate form connected with the
name of " Romulus," whom mediaeval scribes
have at times raised to the Imperial throne of
Rome. Let us for the present concentrate
our attention on the information which M.
Hervieux's pages convey as to this " Romulus,"
and the many books connected with it.
There are three families of MSS. and ver-
sions connected with the " Romulus " fables,
neelectinff various abstracts or combinations
rendu of M. Hervieux's work in the Journal des Savants,
1884-5, to -which I am much indebted in what immediately
follows.
THE ROMULUS LITERATURE. 5
of the three.* There is first the " Ptomulus "
itself, consisting of eighty-three fables divided
in the Vulgate edition rather irregularly in four
books ; the earliest MS. of this (the Burneian
in the British Museum) dates from the tenth
century. Then comes a recension represented
in a MS. formerly at Wisseburg, now at Wol-
fenbtittel, containing eighty-two fables and
known as the "^sopus ad Rufum." Finally
there is a collection of sixty-seven Romulean
fables first published by Nilant in 1709,
and known accordingly as the "Anonymus
Nilanti," but now ascertained to have been
compiled by the chronicler Ademar de Cha-
bannes (988-1030), before his departure for the
Holy Land in 1029. These three collections,
" Romulus," " ^sopus ad R,ufum," t and the
JE&o'p of Ademar, represent three stages back-
* Among these the only one of interest is the collection
contained in double form in the mediaeval encyclopsedia,
the Speculum majus of the Dominican Vincent of Beauvais
(1264). The "Romulus of Nilant" (not to be confounded
with the " Anonymus of Nilant") has its interest in
another connection. (See infra, p. i6ij)
f For clearness' sake, I leave out of account the " Rufus "
in what follows. Its exact relation to Ademar and Romulus
is the subject of dispute between Oesterley, L. Mueller,
Heydenreich, and MM. Paris and Hervieux, and I will not
attempt to decide where such doctors disagree.
6 THE MEDIEVAL JESOP.
wards to the origin of the Mediseval j9Esop.
The " Romulus " is near, the "Rufus " is nearer,
and the Ademar is nearest the source. This
turns out be Phsedrus and Phsedrus alone,
though in a more extended form than we
know him at school
It is well-known that the book we read at
school " 'twixt smiling and tears," contains
some of the fables associated with the name
of jEsop. The first five fables of the first
book, for example, deal with such familiar
topics as The Wolf and Lamh, The Frogs de-
siring a King, The Jaij in Peacock's Feathers,
The Dog and Shadow, and The Lioji's Share.
On the other hand Fables equally familiar like
The Lion and Mouse, The Toion and Country
Mouse, The Ass and Lap-dog, The Wolf and
Kid, and The Belly and Members fail to find
a place in the ordinary editions of Phsedrus.
Is this because they are taken from another
source, or did Phsedrus write more fables than
are contained in the vulgate edition 1 The
latter is the alternative towards which we are
led by a careful examination of the prose
versions, especially of the ..^Esop of Ademar.
Ademar's collection is, as we have said, com-
ROMULUS IS PHMDRUS. 7
posed of sixty-seven fables. Of these thirty-
seven occur in the ordinary Phsedrus, and on
inspection it becomes clear that they were
taken direct from it with only sufficient altera-
tion to turn them from verse to prose.* Let
us take as an example the Fable of The Wolf
and Crane, which will often meet us later on
in other connections. Here is Phaedrus' ren-
dering : —
Fab. VIII.— Lvpvs et Grvis.
Qui pretium meriti ab improbis desiderat,
Bis peccat : primum, quoniam indignos adiuvat ;
Impune abire deinde quia lam iion potest.
Os devoratum fauce quum baereret lupi,
5 Magno dolore victus coepit singulos
Inlicere pretio, ut illud extraherent malum.
Tandem persuasa est lure iurando gruis,
Gulaeque credens colli longitudinem,
Periculosam fecit medicinam lupo.
10 Pro quo cum pactum tiagitaret praemiura :
Ingrata es, inquit, ore quae nostro caput
lucolume abstuleris, et mercedem postules.
Now let us take Ademar's prose adaptation
and arrange it in lines like the original, for
* The earliest MS. of Phsedrus, the Codex Pithoeanus,
is written continuously, as if in prose.
8 THE MEDIEVAL ^SOP.
this purpose restoring the moral to the be-
ginning. The italicised words and inflections
will show how slight have been the chanses.
LXIV. [Lupus et Gkuis.]
Qui pretium meriti ab improbo desiderat
plus peccat : primum quod indignos juvat
importune, delude quia ingratus postulat quod im-
plcre non -possii *
Lup?<s, os.se devorato fauce mhaeso,
magno dolore victus coepit singulos
promissionibus et praemio deprecari ut illud extra-
here^Mr malum.
Tandem persuas?<m iureiurando gruewt
gulae credens colli longitudinem
optulit t se pericu^o, et fecit medicamert lupo.
A quo cum pactum flagitaret praemium :
Ingraiwrn es^, inquit, or* nostro quod caput
incolume cxtuleris ; pro hoc et mercedem a nobis in-
super postulate vidcris.
No one can doubt that the writer of the
prose version, execrable as it is, had before
him the verses of Phsedrus. Or if any still
doubt, let him compare the still more execrable
version in the " Romulus " which forms the
* Ademar has scarcely improved the moral.
+ What is the subject here ? In mangling his theft to
disguise its identity, Ademar has in effect made the wolf
look down his own thi'oat.
ADEMAR AND ROMULUS. 9
basis of Caxton's version of the Fable (vol. ii.
p. 13), through the French of Machault.
8. Qui cunque malo vult henefacere satis PECCAT
De quo siTnili audi fabulam
Ossa lupMs cum devoraret ununi ex illis h.Qsit ei in
iaucibus • transuersum grautter • Inuitauit lupus mag-
no pretio qui cum extraheret malum. Rogahatur
gruis collo longo • ut prcstarct lupo mediciuam. Id
egisset tit mitteret caput et extraheret malum de fau-
cibus. Satius cum cssct lupus rogabat gruis 2^ctitores
reddi sibi promissa premirt. ct lupus • dicitur dixisse
Ingrata es< ilia gruis que caput incolume cxivlit non
uexatum dente nostra et mercedem sibi postulrti.
in injuriam meis uirtutibus • Parabola hec illos monet •
qui uolunt bene faccrc 7nalis.*
Here we have had to italicise nearly the
whole fable as verbally different from the
Phsedrine original. Comparing the Ademar
and the Komnlus it is clear that the former
had, and the latter had not, the actual words
of Phsedrus as a model. But if Ademar so
slavishly follows Phsedrus in the thirty-seven
fables which he has in common with the Latin
fabulist in the ordinary edition, the presump-
* Rom, i. 8, Oest. Wherever I quote " Rom." it is to
" Romulus," as edited by Oesterley ; " Ro " refers to the
English version of Caxton.
10 THE MEDIEVAL mSOP.
tion is that he had metrical versions before
him in the thirty fables which do not exist in
the ordinary Phsedrus.
We can scarcely, however, hope to restore
the original from Ademar's versions. It is
clear from the above example of his method
that he rarely leaves a line intact ; thus, only
the fifth line is left untouched in the above,
though the tenth is but slightly altered and
preserves the metre even in the altered form.
Hence we can only expect to recover a line
here and there. And this is exactly what we
can do. Thus, in Ademar's version of Hie
Town and Country Mouse (Adem. 13, Ro,
I. xii.), the iambic trimeter of the line —
perduxit precibus post in urbem rusticum,
proves its Phsedrine origin. So too in The Ass
and Lapdog (Adem. 17, E,o. I. xvii.) —
clamore domini concitatur [omnis familia],
and in Tlie Lion and Mouse (Adem. 18, Ro.
I. xviii.), though again with a slight halt —
sic mus leonem captum liberum [silvis restituit].
IAMBICS IN ADEMAR. ii
Again the Phsedrine origin of the story of
Androclus (Adem. 35, E,o, III. i.) is proved by
the line —
sublatum et hominis posuit in gremio pedem,
or that of The Horse and Ass (Adem. 37, Ro.
III. iii.) by the lines —
reticuit ille et gemitu testatur deos.
equus currendo ruptus parvo iu tempore
ad villain est missus. Nunc onustum stercore
ut vidit asinus tali eum irrisit [verbo].*
It is rare, however, that Ademar forgets his
role of plagiator for so many consecutive lines,
and in no case can we restore a complete fable
from his version. Indeed, the only case where
this is possible occurs in the j^sopus ad Rufum
in a fable, Tlie Vixen turned Maiden, which
that collection alone possesses, though we know
it was one current in antiquity (see infra, pp. 28,
97). As it is of great interest historically, we
may apply the inverse method to it, and restore
at least this one fable to its legitimate owner,
Phsedrus. It runs thus in the prose form (as
given by Oesterley, Romulus, App. i) —
• I take these examples from Eiese's admirable four-
penny Tauchnitz Phcedrus, 1885.
12 THE MEDIEVAL JESOP.
VuLPis IN HoMiNE {sic) Versa.
Naturam turpem nulla f ortuna obtegit • Humanam
speciem cum iiertisset iupiter uulpem • legitimis ut
sedit in tlioris • scarabeum uidit prorepentem ex
angiilo notamque ad prajdam celeri prosiluit gradu •
Super! risere • niagnus erubuit pater • uiilpemque
repudiatam tlialaniis expulit • his proseqnutus : nine
quo digna es modo • quia digna nostris meritis non
potes esse.
By merely writing this in verse form we can,
with Burmann and Riese, restore every word
of the original but two.
VVLPES IN HOMINEM VERSA.
Naturam turpem nulla fortuna obtegit.
humanam in speciem cum vertisset luppiter
vulpem legitirais ut [con]sedit in toris
scarabaeum vidit prorepentem ex angulo,
5 notamque ad prtedam celeri prosiluit gradu.
superi risere, magnus erubuit pater,
vulpemque repudiatam tlialamis expulit
his prosecutus : ' vive quo digna es modo
quia digna nostris meritis esse non potes.'
The Phaedrine cachet of these lines is unmis-
takable, and the whole inquiry largely increases
the presumption that the remaining prose ver-
sions retain for us the subject-matter at least of
the lost fables of Phsedrus, of which metrical
PHMDRUS RESTORED. 13
versions must have been in the hands of the pro-
saists. The canine character of their Latinity
is sufficient to acquit them of any originality.
In some cases metrical versions actually exist
and, what is more, are found associated with
the name of Phsedrus. In one MS. of Phse-
drus, of which only a transcript is now extant,
made by Perotti and published by Jannelli
in 181 1, no less than thirty-two additional
fables are contained, among them The Ape
and Fox (Ro. III. xvii.), Juno Venus and
the Hen (Ro. III. viii., about which Caxton
was so sensitive, rather unnecessarily, it would
seem), The Ephesian Widow (perhaps the most
popular of all stories, see the Parallels, Ro. III.
ix.), and The Sheep and Grow (Ro. IV. xix.).
Nor is this all. Attached to the editions of
Phsedrus by Burmann and Dressier there are
other versified fables found in MSS. of the poet.
Altogether in one or other of these Ap2)endices
(of Jannelli, of Burmann, or of Dressier*), every
one of the fables in " Romulus " can be traced
to Phsedrine metrical versions, as can be seen
* A convenient edition including all three is just now
a great want and would form an admirable schoolbook.
Such a book might even be made a worthy pendant to
Rutherford's Babrius, and Ellis' Avian.
14 THE MEDIEVAL MSOP.
from our Synopsis of Parallels. Indeed, the
whole ninety-six fables which are " prosed " in
the three forms of "Romulus" can be so
traced.* "VVliether the additional fables found
in the Perotti MS. of Pheedrus are really by
that author or no, is another and more delicate
question. France and Germany here take
opposite sides. MM. Hervieux and Paris have
no doubts on the subject, Drs. L. Midler (in
his edition of Phsedrus, 1876) and E. Heyden-
reich (in Bursian's Jalireshericht for 1884, End.
xxxix.), are not by any means so sure. Phse-
drus was such a favourite schoolbook among
the Romans, and formed so frequent a subject
of rhetorical amplification and imitation that it
seems not unlikely that some of the fables
contained in the Appendix were products of
Silver Latinity, and do not come down to us
from Phsedrus himself. But, be this as it
may, there can be little doubt that all these
fables came down to the Middle Ages in the
* M. Gaston Paris allows for only fifty-seven prose ver-
sions to be found in Phsedi'us and the Appendix of Jannelli.
He rejects the additions of Burmann and Dressier. Mr.
Rutherford also leaves them and the prose versions oat of
account in his Bahrius, pp. c.-ciii., -where they would have
afforded him another dozen parallels.
PH^DRUS OR PHMDRINE. 15
name of Phsedrus, and were all equally regarded
as productions of that poet. We have accord-
ingly traced the first four books of Caxton's
collection to their immediate source. So far,
so ffood.*
&"•
II.— ^SOP IN ANTIQUITY.
2)Hs mans abcr ^cm lEsopo juscbrcibet, ist mcins acbtcns,
cin Octicbt, vn& vielcicbt nic beln flDcnscb auff J£r^c^,
lEsopus gcbcisscn. — M. Luther, Etliche Fabeln aus Esopo,
ed. Thiele, p. i.
But nowadays we are not content with imme-
diate sources; we seek for the Ur-zir-origins of
things. Beginnings are the chief things that
interest us,t and on the present occasion we
can scarcely avoid the question : Whence did
Phsedrus and the other fabulists of the Roman
world get their fables ? Generally speaking H
Latin literature is but one vast plagiarism
from the Greek, often bettered in the stealing
no doubt and so justified, but still a plagiar-
ism. In any department it may be assumed
* The dcrivates of Ademar and Komulus might have
been treated here, but I have reserved them for the sec-
tion "^sop in England."
t And endings or "survivals," the school of Tylor and
Maclennan will add.
1 6 ^SOP IN ANTIQUITY.
almost as a matter of course that the model
is to be sought for in Greece. That this is
the case with the Latin Fable is acknow-
ledged by its two great masters, Phsedrus and
Avian, in their Prefaces. For besides Phsedrus
there is another collection of Latin metrical
fables attributed to a certain Avianus. He
has been identified out of a number of obscuri-
ties of the same name with a young man
named Avienus mentioned in Macrobius' Satur-
nalia and the date of his 42 Fabulse fixed
between 370 and 379 a.d.* These were
equally popular with Phsedrus in the Middle
Ages and " prosed " like the older fabulist.
But they never lost their identity, and when
Stainhowel made his collection from the Latin
fabulists he kept the majority of Avian's
together and gave them their proper affiliation.
We accordingly find them under the title " The
Fables of Auian " in our Caxton. Here then
is another of the sections of our book which
we can trace to its immediate source. But
* This is Mr. Robinson Ellis' identification and dating in
the edition which he has made of Avian in his usual exhaus-
tive fashion. Against the date is the fact that Avienus is
called a young man in the Saturnalia at least thirty years
later.
THE GREEK PROSE MSOP. 17
the history is so straightforward that it ceases
to be interesting, and we may turn with the
greater zest to the more puzzling question :
whence did Phsedrus and Avian get their
Fables 1 What was their Greek source, for
both of them own their indebtedness to Greece,*
or, at least, to ^sop ?
Here at first sight there seems to be no
difficulty. There have been published no less
than seven collections of Greek fables, all
known by the name of ^sop, and each adding
more or less to the Corpus Fahularum j^sopi-
amim.j This in Halm's convenient edition
counts 426 fables, among which most of those
of Phsedrus and Avian find parallels, as can be
seen by our Synopsis. Here then we seem at
last to have arrived at the Father of the Fable
in propria persona, and these collections have
* Phsedrus was himself a Greek by birth. He ought to
have tasted deeply of the Pierian spring, for he was born
by its side. He became a slave early, and was freed by
Augustus.
+ Accursius (1476) had 147 ; to these Stephanus (1546)
added 20, Nevelet (1610) 148, Heusinger (1741) 6, Furia
(1810) 28, Coraes (1810) 77, and Schneider (1812) 2. (From
F. Fedde, JEsopische Faheln nach einer Wiener HS.,
1877), The latest collections by Fedde and Knoell (both
1877) vary in treatment, not in subject, from the earlier
ones.
VOL. I. B
i8 msOP IN ANTIQUITY.
been indeed generally taken for the real -^sop.
But the slightest critical inquiry brings with it
the most serious doubts as to the antiquity of
these collections. The keen glance of Bentley
was diverted for a moment to these Fables of
^sop, and they shrunk away before his magis-
terial gaze as convicted impostors.* Of the two
collections published before his time, that con-
nected with the name of Planudes (1476), and
the additional collection of Neveletus (1610),
he pointed out that the former used Hebraisms
and Middle Greek words, while the latter,
though bearing signs of being the earlier col-
lection of the two, quotes Job i. 21, "Naked
came we from our mother's womb," &c. Both
collections, too, bore traces of having made use
of a writer named Babrius or Gabrias. Until
his date was settled no conclusion could be
drawn about the Greek prose -^sop except that
they could not come from the time or hand of
^sop. Meanwhile Bentley's object had been
attained, and Sir William Temple had lost
another skirmish in the Battle of the Books
* Bentley's excursus on ^sop's Fables was contained in
a few pages appended to his great Dissertation on
Phalaris, to which Professor Jebb has scarcely done justice
in his otherwise admirable monograph.
BABRIUS. 19
through his bad tactics in referring to these
fables with respect and as ^sop's.
Henceforth the search was after this Babrius
on whom the whole question had been sho\vn
by Bentley to hinge. The great critic him-
self had recovered a few Babrian lines from
Suidas and the prose versions, and with the
scholar's prophetic instinct had declared for his
late date.* Tyrwhitt followed Bentley 's lead
in his Dissertatio de Babrio {1776), and rescued
a few more fragments, and there the matter
rested so far as the eighteenth century was
concerned. With the opening years of the
nineteenth fresh activity was shown in the
search after the Greek ^sop. Within four
years (1809-12) no less than four editions
appeared. t But none of the new collections
afforded additional light on the question of
origin : each and all, old and new, had hidden
* It is some encouragement for us smaller fry to find the
great scholar in the wrong in attributing the Life of ^sop
to Planudes, whereas it existed in MSS. before the date of
the Byzantine. He had also no suspicion that Babrius was
a Roman.
f That by Furia, the Leipsic reprint of Furia (with the
addition of Fabricius, Bentley, Tyrwhitt, and Huschke
which makes it still the most convenient collection), Coraes'
most complete collection, and Schneider's.
20 ^SOP IN ANTIQUITY.
their spoor from the critical hunter by the
simple but effectual plan of alphabetic arrange-
ment which baffled all tracking to their source.
Nor did any of the new lights cast their illumi-
nation upon the great unknown, Babrius, though
Furia's collections contained fifteen of his fables.
At last in 1840 Minoides Menas, a Greek
commissioned by the French Minister of Public
Instruction to search among the monasteries of
his native land, found a MS. containing 123
Babrian fables in the Convent of St. Laura on
Mount Athos, and brought a transcript to Paris
where it was published in 1844. Rarely has
such a discovery been so eagerly welcomed ; *
no less than eight complete editions appeared
within a year of the princeps.
But the emergence of the sun of the xEsopic
system from the clouds that had so long ob-
scured him, served rather to dazzle than to
illuminate. On the important question of his
date opinions oscillated between 250 B.C. to 250
A.D. He was declared an Athenian, a Syrian,
* The only parallel I can think of is the eagerness with
which edition after edition of the Teaching of the XII.
Apostles was edited soon after its first production. And
there the interest was theological as well as scholarly.
BABRIUS, A ROMAN. 21
an Alexandrine, even an Assyrian. It was not
till 1879 that the question of Babrius' age and
identity was settled by Otto Crusius in a most
thorough and convincing essay " De Babrii
setate." * He comes to the somewhat startling
conclusion that the Greek Fables of Babrius
were by a Roman, f By a remarkable exer-
cise of critical sagacity, the Babrian scazon
is shown to be influenced by Latin metre, and
to be an attempt, a very successful attempt,
to utilise accent in Greek verse. Some of
the fables are shown to be derived from Latin
models, the eleventh, e.g., being drawn from
Ovid (Fasti, iv. 700). Roman customs are im-
plied in others ; it was a Roman, but not a
Greek custom, to put figures of animals on
sepulchral monuments as is implied in the
Fable of T/ie Lion and the Man.X The name
Babrius is a not unfrequent gentile name
* Leipziger Studien, End. ii. pp. 128-244. ^^ what fol-
lows I have ventured to disregard the "fortasse" which
the modesty and caution of a great scholar have attached
to each of Crusius' discoveries.
f Boissonade, the first editor, also held this view, basing
it on the name.
:J: Not extant in our Babrius, but represented by the
first of the tetrastichs of Gabrias or Ignatius, which were
entirely derived from the complete Babrius (cf. Ko. IV. xv. ).
22 ^SOP IN ANTIQUITY.
among the Romans, and is etymologically
connected with barba. Finally, it is rendered
probable that Babrius was one Valerius Babrius,
and composed his fables in his quality of tutor
to Branchus, the young son of the Emperor
Alexander Severus (a.d. 235).! As Suidas
states that Babrius' fables were originally in
ten books, Crusius conjectures that they merely
put into verse — for the first time in Greek
letters, Babrius boasts — the AeKafivdla, of
Nicostratus, a rhetor of the "greedy Greek-
ling " type who was about Marcus Aurelius'
court.
Babrius' age and identity being established,
ifc still remained to determine the extent of
his collection. For the Athoan Codex dis
covered by Menas is only a fragment : the
fables are arranged alphabetically and break off
in the middle of 0, and it is by no means cer-
tain that it is complete from Alpha to Omikron.
With our fuller knowledge of the laws of the
Babrian scazon, it might seem possible to
recover from the prose versions the missing
fables. Two German scholars, Drs. Knoell
f He must have been very young, as Severus was killed
at the age of 27.
THE GREEK MSOP IS BADRIUS. 23
and Gitlbauer, have tried to complete the task
initiated by Bentley and carried on by Tyrwhit
last century under much more adverse circum-
stances. I have Mr. Rutherford's authority *
for stating that they have disastrously failed in
their application of the inverse method : Gitl-
bauer, who sums up their labours, has restored
to us, not Babrius, but only Gitlbauer's Babi-ius,
quite a different thing. But for our immediate
purpose the accuracy of the text he has estab-
lished is of little consequence compared with
the determination of the number and subjects
of the missing Babrian fables. The Babrian
scazon has such a unique appearance in Greek
prosody that there can be little difficulty in
tracing " survivals " of it, and we may fairly
assume, I think, that Gitlbauer's reconstruction
gives us the minimum number of fables in the
orif^inal Babrius. t This he extends to no less
* Babrius, pp. Ixviii. and Ixxvii. I take this opportunity
of saying that I have not been able to quote Mr. Ruther-
ford hitherto, because on the Babrian questions with which
we have been concerned he has only entered upon the
labours of Crusius, as he himself handsomely acknowledges.
I hope, however, that his second volume will give a definite
settlement to the questions I am here touching with amateur
hand.
f At the same time it is unlikely that Babrius made two
24 ^SOP IN ANTIQUITY.
than 293. Besides these, we may be able to
add a few more from a collection of fifty-three
fables in tetrastich s curtailed from Babrius by
Ignatius, Archbishop of Nicsea (780-850), and
passing current under the name of Gabrias.*
Altogether we are justified, I think, in assuming
that some three hundred fables of the Greek
prose ^sop owe their origin to Babrius.
We are now in a position to dispose of the
Greek prose fables which have for so long
usurped the title of -55sop and are referred
to even to this day as, primary evidence for
the existence of the special fables in ancient
Greece. Three hundred — three-quarters of
them, we have seen — can only trace back to
Babrius in the third centur}', a.d., or at most
to the rhetor Nicostratus in the second. Of
the remaining hundred,! some are variants
or even three bites at the ^sopic cherry, as Gitlbauer
assumes in giving us three versions of the same subject, e.g.,
his 115, 216, 273.
* A useful edition of them has recently been published
in Programm form by C. F. Miiller, Ignatii Diaconi tetra-
sticha iambica liii (Kilise, 1886). I quote this as "Gab."
in the Parallels, under II (Classical Antiquity), where no
Babrian parallel exists, under III (Middle Ages), where the
original is extant.
t The few over the hundred are due to Coraes, who
''REM I CI us." 25
of the Babrian ones which are not above the
capacity of mediseval monks to execute, some
are derived from the Oriental sources, Bidpai,
Syntipas, &c., of which we are shortly about
to speak, and some, it is even possible, are
versions of the Romulus. We may accord-
ingly sweep them from our path in our jour-
ney to the sources of our fables. But before
doing so, it should be pointed out that one
section of Gaston's ^sop can be directly
traced to them. Before any of them had
appeared in Greek, an Italian scholar, Ranutio
d' Arezzo, translated 100 of them into Latin
from a MS. and published them in 1476. His
name was Latinised as Renutius, but as there
is no distinction in mediseval script between
nut and mic, his collection is known by the
name of Eemicius,* and in that form was ex-
cerpted by Stainhowel when he made his selec-
tion from the Latin fables extant in his time,
and so got into our Gaxton. It is some con-
firmation of the conclusion at which we have
arrived with regard to the origin of the Greek
unwisely inserted the genuine remains of ancient Greek
Fable in the prose collections. For these see infra, p. 26.
* Lessing, one of the earliest and best of Asop-forscher,
was the first to point this out ( Werke, ed. 1874, ix. p. 39 scq. ).
26 ^SOP IN ANTIQUITY.
prose fables that I have been able to trace all
but one of these to Babrius, either in the
vvilgate or in Gitlbauer's edition.
Putting Babrius and the prose versions aside
once for all, we find ourselves but poorly pro-
vided with material when at last we step on
to Greek soil and look around us for -3^]sop's
fables in the fatherland of ^sop. Here is a
complete list of the Fables given in Greek
literature up to the fall of Greek independence
— the only time that counts for aught, as re-
f. gards literary originality. They amount to
EIGHT* — Hesiod's The Nightingale {Op. et Dies,
202 seq.) — the oldest fable in existence f — The
Fox and Ape and Eagle and Fox (cf. Ro. I. xiii.)
of Archilochus, 7'he Piper turned Fisherman
of Herodotus (i. 141, cf. Be. vii.) The Eagle hoist
ivith his own Petard (to use a telescopic title) of
^schylus in a fragment of his lost Myrmidons
(ap. Schol. on Aristoph. Aves 808), Sheep and
* I omit Plato's Grasshoppers [Phced. 259), as clearly not
a folk-fable, but concocted ad hoc. Similarly I omit the
reference to The Fox and Lion fable in the pseudepi-
grapbic Alcihiades, though it is probably early.
+ Jotham's fable [Jud. ix. 8-15) was jjrobably redacted
later. At the same time the verses come in very discon-
nectedly in Hesiod. See also infra, p. 82.
A REAL .ESOP'S FABLE. (27)
Dog by Xenoplion [Mem. II. vii. 13) and two
fables given by Aristotle in the chapter of his
Rhetoric, (II. xx.) which deals with the use of
Example in oratory. One is The Horse, Hunter,
and Stag (cf. Ro. TV. ix.) attributed to Stesi-
chorus, the other The Fox, Hedgehog, and
Dog-Ticks attributed to .5<]sop. As the latter ^
is the earliest extant fable attributed to the
Father of the Fable, and that on so respectable
an authority as Aristotle's, we may here give it
in Mr. Welldon's excellent version.
.^sop again at Samos, as counsel for a demagogue
who was being tried for a capital ofi'ence, said that a
fox, in crossing a river, was swept down into a cleft of
a rock, and being unable to get out, was for a long
time in a sorry plight, and a number of dog-ticks
fastened on her body. A hedgehog, strolling by,
happened to catch sight of her, and was moved by
compassionate feeling to inquire if he should remove
the dog-ticks from her. The fox, hoAvever, would
not allow him to do so, and being asked the reason,
replied, " Because these have already taken their fill
of me, and do not now suck much blood ; but if you
take these away, other will come, and in their hunger
will drain up all the blood that is left." " Yes, and
in your case, men of Samos," said J]]sop, "my client
wdl not do much further mischief ; he has already
made his fortune ; but, if you put him to death, then
will come others who are poor, and who wiU consume
28 ^SOP IN ANTIQUITY.
all the revenues of the State by their embezzle-
ments."
We may complete* the Corpus of ancient
Greek fables, the subjects of which can be
identified and the date approximately fixed by
adding a dozen other fables merely referred to —
The Heron arid Eel by Simonides Amorginus
(ap. Athen. vii. 299 C.) ; The Ass' Heart, by
Solon *(c/. Diog. Laert. i. 51, Babr. 95); The
Serpent and Eagle, by Stesichorus {ap. ^lian
xvii. 37); The Serpent and Ass by Ibycus
(Schneidewin, Poet. groBC, 176); The Fox (with
many wiles) and Hedgehog (with one) by Ion
{ap. Leutsch. Parceom. greed, I. 47 ; cf. Ex,
V. V. ) ; The Countryman and Snake by Theognis
(579 <^/- I^o- I- ^O j "^^^ Transformed Weasel by
the dramatist Strattis, c. 400 (Meineke Frag,
com. 441) ; The Serpent and Grab attributed to
Alcseus {ap. Furia, note on /. 231); The Dog
and Shadow by Democritus {ap. Stob. x. 69 ;
cf. Ro. I. V.) ; The North Wind and Sun by
Sophocles {ap. Athen. xiii. 604 D) ; The Hare
and Hound {Vesp. 375, Ban. 1191), and per-
* Strange to say, this is the first time such a list having
any claims to completeness has been di-awn up. I have
compiled it from Coraes, Wagener, and Mr. Rutherford.
GREEK FABLE = GREEK FOLK-LORE. 29
haps The Two Crabs hj Aristophanes (Pax. 1083
cf. Ay. in.) ; and perhaps The Ass in Lion's
Skin by Plato {Crahjl. 411 A.; cf. Av, iv.).*
When we come to the Greek authors of the
Roman Imperial period — e.g. Plutarch and
Lucian — we might add another dozen or so
references,! but even Plutarch is later than
Phsedrus, and the others are later than Babrius'
original, Nicostratus. There is only one way to
explain the paucity of reference in Greek litera-
ture to the Beast-Fable. This only makes
casual appearance in written literature, because
it formed part of the folk-literature with which
every Greek was familiar with from his youth.;}:
Similarly we might search English literature in
vain for even a reference to Jack and the Bean
Stalk, or The Little Old Woman who led a Pig
from Market. The Beast- Fable, as the Wes-i
tern world knows it, is directly traceable to
Greek folk-lore.
* Wagener adds Simonides' celebrated satire on woman,
scarcely a fable. Mr. Kutherford gives references from
Archilochus corresponding to certain of Babrius' Fables —
Fox and Crow (77 cf. Ro. I. xv.), Fox and Wolf [i^o), Cat
and Parrot (135) — but these are uncertain.
t See Parallels Ro. II. v. ; III. i., iii., xiii., svi. ; IV.
xiii., XV. ; V. xi. ; Av. xs., and cf. Furia, 384-405.
+ Archilochus refers to one of his as alvo% dvdputruv.
30 MSOP IN ANTIQUITY.
Here comes in the puzzle of the whole inves-
tigation. The allusive character of the majority
of the references in Greek literature to the
Beast-Fable shows that the individual fables
are not told at length by the Greek writers, for
the simple reason that they were already fami-
liar to the audience they were addressing. In
other words, the Greek Beast-Fable bears the
characteristic mark of folk-lore — anonymity.
And yet from a certain time it is found con-
nected with the name of a definite personality,
that of -^sop. I say "from a certain time,"
for of the thirty or so fables enumerated
above only the latest of the eight fables is con-
nected with the name of ^sop. Previous
to this, however, Socrates had tried to put
in verse some of the Fables of ^sop that
he remembered (Phcedo, 6i A). Besides, in
Aristophanes especially we find references to
AiauiTTov 'yeXoToc, which show that the Attic
comedians assumed that Athenian audiences
connected the Beast- Fable with the name of
-^sop. Such a conjunction is unique, so far
as I am aware. No other department of folk-
lore — folk-tales, spells, proverbs, weather-lore,
or riddles — is connected with a definite name
WHY MSO¥& FABLES? 31
of a putative author.* The only key to the )(
mystery that I can see is to be found in the
mirth -producing qualities which the Greeks
and Romans associated with the Beast-Fable
and with the name of ^sop. Aristophanes
refers to the fables as ysXoZz, almost the sole
mention of Phtedrus in Latin literature is
Martial's " improbi iocos Phaedri " (iii. xx. 5),!
and Avian speaks of ^sop's fables as ridicula
in his Preface. We may find a modern instance
of this tendency to see the risible in ^sop in
George Eliot's youthful experience. In her
Life (i. 20) it is recorded " how she laughed
till the tears ran down her face in recalling her
infantile enjoyment of the humour in the fable
of Mercury and the Statue Seller." To the
child's mind of George Eliot and to the child-
like minds of the Greeks it was the humorous
properties of the .^sopic fable that was the
chief attraction.
Now it is with special reference to the Jest
* There is perhaps a tendency to refer to a familiar folk-
tale as " one of Grimm's Goblins," but that is late, and con-
veys no real intimation of authorship.
f Phsedrus refers to his own fables as iocos (III. Prol. 37),
and gives as one of the claims of the fable ' quod risum
movet' (Prol. Lib. I.).
32 ^SOP IN ANTIQUITY.
that we find a popular tendency to connect the
name of a definite personal origin. From the
days of Hierocles to those of Mr. Punch it has
been usual to connect the floating Jest with
representative names. Among these may be
mentioned Pasquil, Poggio, whom we shall meet
later, and Joe Miller,* and in later days there
has been a tendency for jests to crystallise
round the names of Talleyrand and Sydney
Smith. In Mr. W. C. Hazlitt's three volumes
of Elizabethan Jest-books the majority of the
collections are connected with some definite
personality — real, as Skelton, Scoggin, Tarleton,
Peele, Taylor, Old Hobson (Milton's friend),
or imaginary, as Jack of Dover and the Widow
Edyth. The secret of all this is probably that
the simple mind likes to be informed before-
hand that it is expected to laugh at what is
coming — the notice is indeed often necessary —
and the readiest means of doing this is to con-
nect the anecdote with some well-known name,
in itself associated with past guffaws. It is
probable, I think, that the name of ^sop is to
* This name comes from Mottley's Joe Milhr^s Jests,
temv. Jac. II. There is no evidence that the actor Joseph
Miller was a wit.
A GREEK JOE MILLER. z:^
be added to the above list of professional jesters,
that to the later Greeks ^sop was in short a
kind of Joe Miller.*
How early ^sop's name was indissolubly
connected with the Greek Beast-Fable in a
collected form is shown by a fact to which in
my opinion not enough significance has hitherto
been attached. One of the most interesting
figures in the post -Alexandrine history of
Athens is Demetrius of Phaleron (one of the
Attic demes).t Born about 345 B.C., and
educated with Menander under Theophrastus,
he became the leading Attic orator of his day,
and became so influential that on the death of
Phocion, 317 B.C., he was placed by Cassander
at the head of affairs at Athens. Here he
" tyrannised " in an easy-going way for ten
years, when he was ousted from his office and
* Curiously enough, the passage from George Eliot's Life
just quoted is immediately followed by one in which Joe
Miller's Jest Book is mentioned as one of the earliest books
read by the creator of Mrs. Poyser.
f On him, see Grote, xii. 184, 195, 200 ; Dr. Schmitz in
Smith Diet. Class. Biog. ; and Jebb, Attic Orators, ii. 441.
Dohrn wrote a monograph on him, 1825 ; and another and
more complete account was given by MM. Legrand and
Tychon in the Memoires of the Brussels Academy, t. xxiv.
For our knowledge of his literary productions we are
indebted to Diogenes Laertius, V. v.
VuL. I. C
34 MSOP IN ANTIQUITY.
fled to Alexandria. There he turned from action
to thought, and for twenty years (307-283 B.C.)
produced book after book, and what was more,
collected book after book, and thus formed the
nucleus of what was afterwards the world-
famous library of Alexandria. But he chiefly
interests us here as a kind of Grecian Grimm.
It is to him that we owe the collection of
sayings of the Seven Wise Men of Greece.
He was the fii'st to collect Greek proverbs,
doubtless from the mouths of the people, and
it was probably from the same source that he
compiled the Xoyuv Klawmiuv avvayujal, which
Diogenes Laertius includes among his works
(v. So). This is the earliest collection of Greek
Beast- Fables of which we have any trace, and
they are thus from the first connected with the
name of ^Esop.
Now it is a remarkable coincidence, which
previous investigators have carelessly over-
looked,* that Phaedrus includes among his
* I have been struck throughout my investigations into
this part of the subject at the aj)athy of classical scholars
about points of literary history as compared with their
zeal for textual and verbal criticism. One feels inclined
to ask if textual criticism is the be-all and end-all of classical
scholai'ship.
DEMETRIUS PHALEREUS. 35
Fables (v. i) a somewhat pointless anecdote
about Menander and this very Demetrius
Phalereus. One cannot help asking what he
is doing dans cette galere. And the only answer
must be that Phsedrus had before him some
edition of Demetrius' awayuyai, to which some
later editor had added various anecdotes of the
compiler. The fact is significant in many ways ;
if an editor added anecdotes he may have added
further fables, and we shall see later on the
special opportunities afforded by Alexandria
for this purpose. But be this as it may, the
inclusion of the fable in Phsedrus' collection
renders it almost certain that Phaedrus' Fables
— and they form, as we have seen, the bulk
of our ^sop — are derived from an enlarged
edition of Tlie Assemblies of yEsopian Fables,
compiled by Demetrius Phalereus, c. 300 B.C.
This completes the close parallel which the
reader must already have observed between the
two great masters of ancient fable — Phsedrus
and Babrius. The one was a Greek writing in
Latin, the other a Roman writing in Greek,
verse. The works of neither have come down
to us complete in metrical form ; in the case of
both, prose versions have usurped the place of
36 JESOP IN ANTIQUITY.
the original. These prose versions preserve
here and there a line of the original in both
cases, but do not enable us to recover it in toto.
Each of these prose versions in collected form
has passed current under the name of ^sop,
and both have contributed to the body of folk-
tales familiar to us as ^sop's Fables.
And now we find that as Babrius probably
only put into Greek verse a collection of Greek
prose fables made by Nicostratus, so Phsedrus
merely translated into Latin verse the earlier
Greek prose collection of Demetrius Phalereus.
May we go a step further and connect these
two Greek prose collections of Beast- Fables ?
Nicostratus is scarcely likely to have remained
ignorant of Demetrius' collection, and must
have used a later and fuller edition than Phse-
drus did. If this be so, we can trace both
Phsedrus and Babrius to the one source, and as
they constitute our ^sop, we may round off
the literary history of our fables by stating
that the Fables of -^sop, as literary products,
are the fables of Demetrius Phalereus. To the
question, "Who wrote JEsop?" if there is to j
be only one reply; we must answer, "Deme- \
trius Phalereus."
WHO WROTE ^SOP? (37 <
This result considerably reduces ^sop's im-
portance as regards any light he can throw on
the ZJr-origin of the Fables with which his
name will always be connected. Yet it is
decidedly appropriate to include all that can
be ascertained concerning the putative Father
of the Fable, especially as this may account
for the original association of his name with
it. Unluckily this is very scanty, so scanty
indeed that Welcker has written an ingenious
essay to the effect that -^sop is himself a
Fable (Kl. Schr. II. 229, seq.) And as a matter
of fact the only trustworthy notice of him
in Greek literature is one contained in a pas-
sage in Herodotus (ii. 134). That good gossip
is discussing the tradition that one of the
Pyramids had been built out of the profes-
sional fees of Rhodopis, a renowned Hetaira.
How could this be, asks Herodotus, since
Pthodopis lived in the reign of Amasis ? (fl.
550 B.C.) ; and he continues : —
She was a Thracian by birth, and was tlie slave of
ladmon, sou of Hephasstopolis, a Samian. yEsop,
the fable writer,* was one of her fellow-slaves. That
* In the original, Xoyo-rrows, "story teller." It is by no
means certain that Herodotus used it in the more special
sense.
38 ^SOP IN ANTIQUITY.
iEsop belonged to ladmon is proved by many facts —
among others, by this : When the Delpliians, in
obedience to the commands of the oracle, made pro-
clamation that if anyone claimed compensation for
the murder of ^sop, he should receive it, the person
who at last came forward was ladmon, grandson of
the former ladmon, and he received the compensa-
tion. jEsop must certainly therefore have been the
earlier ladmon's slave.
This passage contains all the authentic in-
formation we have of the reputed Father of the
Fable. That he flourished about 550 B.C., was
a slave in Samos, and was killed, probably by a
decree of the Delphic oracle, and that compen-
sation (tvergild) was claimed for his death by the
grandson of his master — this is the scanty but
probably accurate, biography of iEsop. Pro-
bably accurate because Herodotus is reporting
on events that only happened a hundred years
before his time. Of these facts I am inclined
to lay most stress on the circumstance of
^sop's death. His was the epoch of the
Tyrants, and I would conjecture that his connec-
tion with the Beast-Fable originally consisted
in its application to political controversy under
despotic government, and that his fate was due
to the influence of one of the Tyrants with the
POLITICAL USE OF FABLES. 39
Delphic authorities, who were doubtless not
above being influenced by powerful clients."*^
We shall see later on that the Fable is most
effective as a literary or oratorical weapon
under despotic governments allowing no free
speech. A Tyrant cannot take notice of a
Fable without putting on the cap that fits.
IMuch of our ancient evidence points this way.
Jotham's fable (Jud. ix. 8-15) was directed
against Abimelech, the Israelite ru^anog. In
our list of genuinely ancient Greek Fables,
one is connected with the name of Theo-
gnis who was ruined by a Tyrant, Solon made
use of his for political purposes, and Archi-i
lochus was Satire personified. The only extant
Fable that can be attributed to ^sop with any
plausibility (supra, p. 2j} was used by him for
political purposes. Our evidence is of course
scanty, but it all points one way. JSsop
could not have been the inventor or introducer
of the Beast- Fable into Greece, as we find it
* Plutarch's story of ^sop having done them out of
their fees sent by him from Croesus is a weak (and late) in-
vention of the enemy. For it see Ravclinson's note ad loc.
It contains, however, an interesting variant of Joseph's plan
for detaining Benjamin (Gen. xliv. 2). Other classical
parallels are given by Wagener (p. 16),
40 jEsop in antiquity.
there before him. The only way therefore
we can explain the later identification of his
name with it is to suppose some special and
striking iise of the fabellce aniles familiar to all
Greek children. Considering the age he lived
in and the death he died the conjecture I have
put forth that ^sop's name was associated
with the Fable, because he made use of it as a
political weapon, is the only hypothesis that
will fit in with all the facts of the case.*
^Esop was not the Father of the Fable, but
only the inventor (or most conspicuous applier)
of a new use for it, and when the need for that
use no longer existed under outspoken demo-
cracies, his connection with the Fable was still
kept up as a convenient and conventional
figurehead round which to gather a specialised
form of the Greek Jest.
This result considerably reduces the impor-
tance of the other fact we know of him from
Herodotus on which previous inquirers have
laid exclusive stress, ^sop was a slave, and
* There are two points to meet : (i) why was the Fable,
a part of Folk-lore, associated with a name at all ? I
answer, because it was regarded as a jest, and there is a
general tendency for Jests to cluster round a name ; (2),
why with .^jlsop's name ? my reply is, that he first applied
it to convince men, instead of merely amusing children as
heretofore.
WAS MSOP A BARBARIAN? 41
therefore a barbarian. As a stranger, may he
not have introduced from some foreign country
the fables with which his name is associated ?
Accordingly all those who have hitherto argued
for a foreign origin of the Greek Fable have
made ^sop a native of the particular land
whence they wish to trace it, and they are to
some extent supported in their conjecture by
the fact that A/VwTog is an un-Greek form.
Dr. Landsberger [Die Faheln des Sophos, 1859),
who on the strength of Jotham's fable and
Talmudic reference would make Judgea the ori-
ginal home of the Fable, makes ^sop a Syi-ian,
and connects his name with the same root as that
of Joseph.* Herr Ziindel {Rhein Mus., 1847),
who advocates the claims of Egypt, brings our
hero from the banks of the Nile. D'Herbelot,
who is for identifying him with the Arabic
Loqman, is for Arabia as ^sop's fatherland
{Dihl. Orient., s. v. iJsope). Finally, it is fair
to add that Mr. Rutherford (Babrius, 1882, p.
xxxvi.), who is staunch for the autochthonous
* This is not so wild as Hitzig's suggestion that Solomon
was acquainted with our Fables, because it is said — "And
he spake of trees, from the cedar tree in Lebanon even
unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall " (i Kings
iv- 33)-
42 ^SOP IN ANTIQUITY.
character of the ^sopean fable, does not see
why he may not have been " one of that large
class of Greeks whom the fortune of war ex-
patriated and forced to serve men of the same
race and language with themselves." All these
conjectures are nugatory if, as we have seen,
the Fable can be traced before ^sop as a part
of Greek folk-lore, and a plausible reason can
be given for the connection of his name with it.
But though the possibility of -i32sop having
formed a link between Greece and some foreign
country has lost its interest, if the above view of
the Greek fable is correct, it does not follow that
the question of its foreign origin is entirely a
nugatory one. Folk-lores of various countries
may influence one another, and it is still worth
while inquiring whether this is the case with
that particular branch of Greek folk-lore which
we know as ^sop's Fables. Of all the sugges-'
tions that have been made to this effect, only one
deserves serious consideration. The Talmudic
fables adduced by Dr. Landsberger are too late,
Egyptian fables are practically non-existent
(see infra, pp. 82, 91), and the four Assyrian
ones extant (Smith, Chald. Gen. c. is.) have no
similarity with the Greek ones that suggest bor-
ARE THE FABLES BORROWED? 43
rowing on either side. But a number of such
resemblances have been shown to exist between
Indian and Greek fables, rendering it advisable
to consider their connection. This course will
be found in the end to give some explanation of
the sole remaining section of our Caston, which
has not yet been traced by us to its immediate
source. For during the course of our inquiry
into the Greek Fable in the present section
we have traced the seventh division of our book
to Avian, and the sixth practically to Bab-
rius. For the remaining section — Liher Quin-
tus Caxton calls it, FabulcB extravagantes is
Stainhowel's name — our best course, though a
somewhat roundabout one, is to turn to the
East and discuss —
III.— THE ORIENTAL vESOP.
"Bvib tbe faster totb a tale.
— Jatakas pasiim.
Before launching out on the Indian Ocean of
Fable, it is as well that we should know the
port from which we start and the quarter to
which we are steering. If the reader will
glance at the Synopsis of Parallelisms at the
end of these remarks, he will find variants given
44 THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
under Section I. {the Orient) for some seventy
of the Fables, a sort of Oriental Septuagint, as
we may call them. That is the datum of our
inquiry, and the obvious question to ask is, How
» did this resemblance come about ? Here we
meet with one of those general questions which
the folk-lorist meets at every turn, and it is
with this problem that he is at present chiefly
engaged. To this question, stated in its
broadest generality, there are four answers be-
fore the world. Such resemblances between
the folk-lores of the Aryan peoples are due to
memories of the time when all were one people
with a common fund of popular tradition, said
^* the brothers Grimm. They are due to the
tendency of the human mind to take metaphor
for reality, and thus change figures of speech
into explanatory tales, was the reply formulated
by Kuhn and made popular by the persuasive
skill of Max Miiller. Then came Benfey with
a solution simple and natural in itself but re-
quiring all his vast erudition to demonstrate
it ; folk-tales of different nations resemble one
another, said he, for the simple reason that
they borrowed from one another. Lastly, in
recent years, Messrs. Tylor and Lang have
FOLK-LORE RESEMBLANCES. 45
rendered it probable that many of the resem-
blances noted are due to the identity of the
human mind at similar stages of culture : the
tales are similar because the minds producing
them were alike.
Restricting ourselves to the Beast-Fable, it
will be found that these four solutions practi-
cally reduce themselves to one. Grimm's con-
tention for a common Aryan Beast-Epic ex-
plaining Reynard the Fox has been ruled out
of court with costs against it. The view that
could reduce all mythology and folk lore to a
department of folk-etymology is generally dis-
credited nowadays and was never seriously ap-
plied to the Beast-Fable.* And there is a special
reason why the views of Messrs. Tylor and
Lang, ingenious and convincing in other de-
partments of folk-lore, fail in regard to the
special inquiry before us. We can understand
how two peoples may hit upon the same ruse
by which a wife deceives her husband or a
slave his master. But we cannot well conceive
two nations hitting upon the same form of the
Apologue in the guise of the Beast-Tale, though
* De Gubernatis' bizarre attempt in his Zoological
Mythology (1872) was its rcUuclio ad absurdiissimum.
46 THE ORIENTAL ^SOP.
the tendency to use the Beast-Tale for that
purpose and the origin of the Beast- Tale itself
as a "survival" of Animism* may be ex-
plained on their hypothesis. To put a concrete
example : if we find two peoples, who have been
previously in contact, each making use of so
artificial a fable as Tlie Fox and Stork, we can-
not assume that the human mind has been
normally at work in the two cases producing
independently such an abnormal picture as a
stork and a fox on visiting terms, provided
with an elaborate dinner service, and hitting
upon such unnatural forms of tantalisation. If
therefore the parallelism in such cases is com-
plete — all depends on this — we have no alter-
native but to resort to Benfey's hypothesis,
and, in the special case before us, for the most
part to Benfey's own collection of such parallels
in his magnificent Einleitung to the German
translation of the Pantschatantra.f
* On this see Mr. Lang's admirable introduction to Mrs.
Hunt's Orimm. I have discussed the general question
of the origin of the Beast-Fable in my Bidpai, pp. xxxix,
-xlix.
t An English adaptation of this, putting results in a more
collected form, and with the addenda and corrigenda of
the last thirty years, is a great want just now. I may
attempt the task myself one of these days.
THE BORROWING THEORY. 47
For when it comes to a question of borrow-
ing, the question of relative age comes in also.
Borrowing is after all a mutual relation, and in
matters like the present we can only determine
to whom the debt is due by ascertaining who
was first in possession of the property. When
Greek meets Indian, Indian meets Greek, and
the question arises which had the goods to
dispose of. Hence the all-importance of dates
in an inquiry of this kind, as in most litei-ary
and historical investigations. On the Greek
side we are at length in a position to fix at
any rate the first appearance in extant litera-
ture of nearly the whole body of Fables current
in the Greco- Roman world. Confining our-
selves to the Caxton-Stainhowel — and with a
few exceptions * this gives us all we need to
arrive at a decision — we have seen that the
first four books date from Phsedrus te7np.
Tiberii in the first third of the first century
A.D., the sixth traces to Babrius in the third,
or at most to Nicostratus in the second cen-
tury, and the seventh to Avian in the latter
part of fourth century, while the fifth, we
* I have only considered parallels not in our Caxton
when the evidence is very strong indeed.
48 THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
shall see, is late, and does not come in the
reckoning on the present occasion. "We have
indeed given strong grounds for suspecting
that the bulk of these are ultimately derived
from the collection made by Demetrius Phale-
reus about 300 e.g. But the very evidence on
which we relied showed that his collection was
interpolated later, and we cannot therefore be
sure about any particular fable that it is much
earlier than the collection in which we first
find it. As regards the earliest Greek fables
we have enumerated the score or so that can
be traced in Greek antiquity on pp. 26-8,
and on these must rest the mainstay of our
argument.
How does it stand with the Indian evidence
that we are to compare with the Greek ? With-
out troubling the reader with the scaffolding I
have had to erect and remove before arriving
at the following results,* I may divide the
seventy Oriental parallels in our Synopsis into
five categories. We may first dismiss those
occurring in the Arabic Loqman or the Syriac
• I have found Benfey's Einleitung very awkward to
manage. It has no index, no comparative tables, no
detailed summary of results, and simply to understand
many of his points one has often to look up his references.
INDIAN PARALLELS. 49
Sophos,* which, as we shall see later, are them-
selves derived from, or influenced by the Gi'eek.
Then comes a miscellaneous collection f of
parallels from the Persian Mesnevi, the Turkish
Tutinameh, the African parallels occurring in
African Native Literature, by Kolle, and the
modern Indian ones given by Mr. Ramaswami
Raju [Indian Fables, Sonnenschein, n. d.) and
Captain Temple {Wideawake Stories, 1884)4
Now of these the Persian and Turkish date
late on in the Middle Ages, and the African
Tales may be due to European as well as Indo-
Arabic influences. With the modern Indian
parallels the case is somewhat different. If
we find Mr. Ramaswami Raju § giving us a
* See Eo. II. viii. ix. xvi. ; III. iii. vii. xii. xv. ; IV. ii.
XV. xvii. ; Av. x. xiv. xs. These are, of course, not all
the parallels from these two sources, but only those in
which I could find no other Oriental variants.
•|- See Ro. I. vi. ; III. iv. vi. xiv. ; IV. i. ; V. iv. ix. xvi. ;
Av. X. xiii. xvii.
X I have selected this, as Capt. Temple's Survey at the
end gives an analysis of all the other modern Indian col-
lections. It is, besides, one of the most readable and
most scientific collections that have been made outside
Grimm.
§ Mr. Eaju's collection is perfectly uncritical, which is
all the better for our purposes, but does not indicate his
sources, which is so much the worse. I may mention as a
curiosity that his tale of The Fox and Crabs, p. 28, affords
VOL. I. D
50 THE ORIENTAL ^SOP.
modern Indian version of The Ass and Watch-
dog (p. 63,) which we can trace back into
remote Indian antiquity ; there is some pre-
sumption that the fable of The Woodman and
Trees (p. 47, cf. Ro. III. xiv.) can also trace
back so far, and we shall produce later on
evidence which confirms this inference. And
so too when we find in Captain Temple's
collection so thorough an Indian folk-tale as
The Brahman, Tiger, and Jackal (p. 116, cf.
Ex. V. iv.) which we can trace back to the
earliest times in India, the probabilities are
great that the twenty-second fable of Avian
.(here Av. xvii.) may also be traceable to the
original Indian form of the current folk-tale,
The Farmer and the Moneylender (p. 215) in
which the farmer, being granted a wish by
Ram on condition that the money-lender gets
double, demands to have one of his eyes put
out ! But we need not linger over these prob-
abilities when we have so many actualities of
the Indian antiquity of " ^Esop's " Fables in
the Bidpai literature.*
a striking parallel to Alice's ballad of The Walrus and the
Carpenter. The Tiger, Stag, and Crooodile (p. 67) is a bit
of Munchausen.
* I may here refer my readers to the Introduction of my
BIDPAI PARALLELS. 51
Here again we must distinguish. The Bid-
pai literature as analysed in all its offshoots by
Benfey, covers a period ranging between 300 B.C.
and 1000 A.D. We must accordingly divide the
parallels to the Caxton occurring in it into three
different strata. There are first what may be
termed the Cainozoic parallels occurring only in
the Persian and other versions made from the
original after it had left India or in those
parts of the Indian original that bear signs of
late insertion. t Then we come on the parallels
occurring in the main body of the work in its
original and most ancient form. These de-
serve to be mentioned at length : they are, The
Dog and Sliadoio (Ro. I. v.; Benf. § 17), The
Man and Serpent (I. x. cf. II. x. ; B. § 150),
The Two Bitches* (I. ix. ; B. § 144), The Eagle
and Raven (I. xiv. cf. Av. ii.; B. § 84), The Croxo
edition of the earliest English version of Bidpai in this
series.
f See Ro. I. i. iii. xiii. xvi. xvii. xx. ; II. iii. xiii. xiv.
XV. XX. ; III. xiv. xvi. xx. ; IV. iv. xii. Ex. V. iii. ; Re. i.
xvi. ; Av.vii. xvii. xxiv. These and other Greek and Indian
parallels of this description are discussed by Benfey §§19,
58, "JT, 112, 118, 160, 220, 222, 227, 229, 230.
* In the sequel I have not discussed Benfey's parallels
for the Fables marked with an asterisk, as they do not
appear to me to be close enough to necessitate the hypo-
thesis of borrowing.
52 THE ORIENTAL ,ESOP.
with Cheese and Fox (I. xv. ; B. § 143), The Lion
and Mouse (I. xviii. ; B. § 130), Frogs desiring a
King* (II. i. ; B. § 164), Parturient Mountain
(Ro. 11. v.; B. § 158), The Good Man and
Serpent (II. x cf. I. x. ; B. § 150), The Bald
man and Fly (II. xii. ; B. § 105), Jay and
Peacock (II. xv. ; B. § 29), Androclus* (III.
i. ; B. § 71), The Ephesian Widow* (III. ix. ;
B. § 186), The Sick Lion (III. xx. ; B. § 22),
Fox and Grapes * (IV. i. ; B. § 45), Cat and Pats
(IV. ii. ; B. § 73), Dragon and Hart (Ex. V.f
iv. ; B. § I e^o), Fox and Cat (Ex. V. v.; B. § 121),
Serpent and Labourer (Ex V. viii. ; B. § 150),
The Butting Goats (part of Ex. V. x. ; B. § 50),
Eagle and Weasel (Re. ii. ; B. § 84), Fox and Goat *
(Re. iii. ; B. § 143), Man arid Wooden God*
(Re. vi. ; B. § 200), Torioise and Birds (Av. ii. cf.
I. xiv. ; B. § 84), Ass in Lion's Skin (A v. iv. ; B. §
188), TJie Two Pots (Av. ix. ; B. § 139), Goose with
Golden Eggs (Av. xxiv.; B. § 159). Here then
at last we seem to have our oldest Indian fables
that can be compared with the oldest Greek
fables. But if that were all our seaich
* See note *, preceding page.
+ Parallels from Book V. do not count in the present
connection, as there can be no doubt of their derivation
for the most part from India. See infra, pp. 159 scq.
BIDPAI PARALLELS. 53
after an earlier source than the Greek for
" ^sop's " fables would be in vain. For
the earliest form of the Bidpai cannot trace
back earlier than the third or at most the
second century a.d., and the whole body of
Greek Fable can trace back as early as that if
not earlier. But though the Bidpai must
have been put together in something like its
present shape at the time when Brahmanism
was winning back the ground from Buddhism,
it still retains survivals of a Buddhistic tone
in many of its sections ; and some of these we
can fortunately trace back to the portion of
sacred Buddhistic literature known as the
Jdtakas or Birth-Stories of the Buddha. These
tell of the Buddha's adventures during his
former incarnations, sometimes in the shape of
a bird, beast, fish, or tree. As some of them
have been found sculptured on Buddhist topes
dated in the third century B.C., they must be at
least older than that period, and it is probable
that many of them may really be derived from
Sakyamuni, who flourished 453 b.c.* If, then,
* Many may be even older. Buddha probably adopted
the Jataka form of inculcating a moral lesson just as Christ
made use of the Parable so popular with the llabbis.
54 THE ORIENTAL JESOP.
we can trace any of the above Fables back to tlie
Jatakas, we have come upon a really Pala3-
ozoic * stratum of the Bidpai Fables, and are at
last in a condition to compare the earliest
Indian with the earliest Greek Fables. The
Jatakas had not been published when Benfey
wrote in 1859, but from traditional accounts
of them in English descriptions of Ceylon,!
he managed to trace nearly all the yEsopic
sections of the Bidpai, which were so traceable,
to the Jatakas. These we may now proceed
to consider in some detail.
I. We may begin with one which he did not
so trace, because it does not happen to present
any parallelism with any part of the Bidpai
literature, and does not accordingly occur in
the above list. It is of especial interest to us
because it gives the earliest extant form of the
fable of The Wolf and the Crane, which we have
already traced through the Middle Ages up to
Phsedrus. It happens also to be a good, and
not too long, specimen of the general plan on
which the Jatakas are formed.
* The remaining parables occurring in the original Bidpai
but not in the Jatakas would form a Mesozoic stratum of
the Bidpai Parallels. See infra, p. 89.
f Chiefly Upham, Sacred Books, and Hardy, Manual of
Buddhism.
JATAKAS. 55
J AVASAKUNA- JaTAKA. *
[V. Fausboll, Five Jdtahas, pp. 35-8. t]
% srrbtcc T)afac fcoc Bone tf)fc. — This the Master told,
while living at Jetavana, conccminrj Devadatta's
treachery. "Not only now, bhikkhus, but in a
former existence was Devadatta itngrateful." And
having said this, he told a tale : —
In former clays -when Brahmadatta reigned in
Benares, the Bodliisat was born in the region of
Himavanta as a white crane. Now it clianced tliat
as a lion Avas eating meat a bone stuck in his throat.
The throat became swollen, he could not take food,
his suffering was terrible. Tlie crane seeing him as he
Avas perched on a tree looking for food asked, " What
ails thee, friend?" He told him why. "I could
free thee from that bone, friend, but dare not enter
thy mouth for fear thou mightest eat me." "Don't
be afraid, friend, I'll not eat thee, only save mj' life."
" Very well," says he, and caused him to lie down on
his left side. But thinking to himself "Who knows
what this fellow will do," he placed a small stick
upright between his two jaws that he could not close
his mouth, and inserting his head inside his mouth
struck one end of the bone with his beak. Where-
upon the bone dropped and fell out. As soon as lie
had caused the bone to fall, he got out of the lion's
* This first appeared in European literature in De la
Loubfere Royaume de Siam (1691), ii. 25.
t I have ventured to English Prof. Fausboll's version,
which was intended merely as a "crib " to the Pali text.
56 THE ORIENTAL JESOP.
mouth striking the stick with his beak so that it fell
out and then settled on a branch. The lion gets well
and one day was eating a buffalo he had killed. The
crane thinking "I Avill sound him" settled on a
branch just over him, and in conversation spoke this
first verse {gdtha) —
" ^ scrbtcE l)aiic be ione tijtt
2lo tf)E best of our abilttg
Ittng at the Beasts ! gouv fHajestg !
ffiSCljat return sljall fajc get from tijce ? "
In reply the Lion spoke the second verse —
" as E fecti on blooti
'B.nh alttags Ijunt for prey
'S:ts! muef} tfiat tijou art still altbc
lilaijtng once been bctSueen mg tretf)."
Then in reply the crane said the two other verses —
" Sangrateful, toing no gooti,
flot tioing as l)e inoulti be tione bg
En l)im tfjere is no gratitutjc
Za serfac fjim is useless.
" pjts frtentishtp is not fajon
38g tlje eleavist gooti BeeB.
iSetter iSoftlg SnitljIiraiM from l)tm
i^eitfjer cnfaging nor abusing."
And having thus spoken the crane flew away.
The Master having given this lesson, summed up
^ the Jataka thus : ''At that time, the Lion was Deva-
datta and the crane was I myself."
INDIAN WOLF AND CRANE. 57
The part in italics is termed the " Story of
the Present," that in ordinary type the " Story
of the Past." These are extant in Pali rever-
sions of Cingalese translations of the original
Pali. Of this last the verses (gdtha) are "sur-
vivals," and probably date from 400 b.c. The
stories were probably written down as commen-
tary on the gdthas, with the first lines of which
they invariably begin. The significance of
these gdthas will concern us later on.
So much for the form of the Jataka. The
subject-matter is so clearly parallel to the fable
of The Wolf and Crane, which we have seen
current in the Greco- Roman world, that it is
impossible not to surmise some historical con-
nection between the two. What that precisely
is we may leave for discussion till we have fur-
ther evidence before us.
II. We may next take the Jataka version of
The Ass in the Lion's Skin (No. 189 in Faus-
bbll's edition, Slha-Cama Jataka, tr. Rhys-
Davids, pp. v. vi.). A hawker used to dress
his ass in a lion's skin, and thus obtained gratis
forage for him, as the watchmen of the fields
dared not go near him to drive him away.
One day, howevei-, they plucked up courage,
58 THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
and summoned a posse of the villagers, and
surrounded tlie pseudo-lion, who, in the fear of
death, hee-hawed. Then the Buddha, who had
been re-born as one of the villagers, said the
first gdtlia —
" 2r})tg i)8 not a lion's roarinif,
itor a ttgrr's, nor a pantfjtr's ;
IBrrssrU in a lion's sfein,
'Ziz a 5»rctci)eti ass tljat roars."
and the hawker I'eturning just as the ass died
from the blows, recited the second —
" ILontj migfjt tijc ass
daH in a lion's sldn
p?aiic fcB on i\)t barlcg green,
33iit f)c tranrli !
Slnti tijat moment fje rame to ntiii."
Here again the similarity of the Greek and
Indian fables is too pronounced to leave much
doubt about a historic connection. As Mr.
Ehys- Davids remarks, the Indian fable gives
a motive for the masquerade which does not
exist in the Greek version.
III. Among the Jatakas translated by Dr.
R Morris in the Folk-Lore Journal (II. -IV.),
I have found one which gives a parallel to The
Dog and Shadow fable, which Benfey could
INDIAN ASS IN LION'S SKIN. 59
not trace farther than the Ur-Pantschatantra
(§191). It is No. 374 of Fausboll's edition,
bears the euphonious title of CulladhanuggaUa
Jdtaka, and in abstract runs as follows (cf.
FLJ. ii. 371 seq.). An unfaithful wife elop-
ing with her lover arrives at the bank of a
stream. There the lover persuades her to strip
herself, so that he may carry her clothes across
the stream, which he proceeds to do, but never
returns. Indra seeing her plight changes him-
self into a jackal bearing a piece of flesh,
and goes down to the bank of the stream.
In its waters fish are disporting, and the
Indra-jackal, laying aside his meat, plunges
in after one of them. A vulture hovering
near seizes hold of the meat and bears it
aloft, and the jackal returning unsucessful
from his fishing is taunted by the woman, who
had observed all this, in the first gdtha.
" © Jarhal so faroinn, most stupiU arr van,
|lo shill Ijabc pou pt, nor knoSnlctigc, nor int't ;
gour fisfj 50U ijabr lost, gour meat is nil gonr,
Snl3 noiu sou sit ijricbing all poor ann forlorn."
To which the Indra-jackal retorts the second
gdtha —
6o THE ORIENTAL ^SOP.
" CTTje faults of otijcrs! casp arc to &ct,
T3ut ijarti inUccti our oton are to licTjolD i
^lip T)u0l)anij tijou Ijajst losit, auB lober cfee,
^iiU noli), 31 iuecn, tijou grteuest o'er t1)p loss."*
Here we miss the (somewhat unnatural)
episode of the dog (or jackal) mistaking the
image for the meat, but otherwise the parallel
is sufficiently close to render borrowing prob-
able, f It is scarcely likely that two nations
would independently hit upon the loss of a
piece of meat as a symbol of the punishment of
over-greed.
IV, Our next example of the Palaeozoic
stratum of the Bidpai, which is found also in
* These gdthas are imitated in the Pantsehatantra thus
(Pants. Y. viii. , p. 311, Benfey's trans.) : —
Bk. V. Str. 64. The fish swims in the waters still, the
vulture is off with the meat :
Deprived of both fish and meat, Mistress
Jackal, whither away ?
Str. 65. Great as is my wisdom, thine is twice as
great ;
No husband, no lover, no clothes, Lady,
whither away ?
f In the Arabic JEsop, Loqman (No. 51), the animal is a
dog, as in the Greek, and the meat is captured by a vulture,
as in the Indian form. Benfey thinks the image in the
water is derived from The Hare and Elephant, which may
be the origin of our Fox and Qoat (Re. iii. ; Benf. § 143).
INDIAN DOG AND SHADOW. 6i
Buddhist Birth- Stories, shall be that entitled
by Caxton, Of the tortoise and of the other
hyrdes (Avian il). Caxton, and Avian his
original,* are hard put to it to find an appro-
priate moral to a rather senseless apologue.
But in what we cannot help regarding as the
true original, the Kacchapa Jakata (Fausboll,
JS'o. 215, Rhys-Davids, pp. viii.-x., reprinted
in ray Bidpai, pp. Ixv.-lxvii.), the fable is
directed against chatterboxes. Two young
hamsas, friendly with a tortoise, offer to carry
him to their favourite pasture ground, if he
will bite a stick which they will carry ; they
warn him, however, to keep his mouth closed
during the flight. While on the wing all the
birds of the air collect about the curious
spectacle, and make remarks by no means
complimentary about the tortoise. His natu-
ral disposition to loquacity overcomes him, and
opening his mouth to expostulate with them,
he loses hold of the stick and falls to the
ground. Buddha utilises the incident to
* It occurs also in Babrius 115, where the tortoise offers
all the treasures of the Erythraean sea for its aerial journey,
a trait which, as Mr. R. Ellis remarks, points to an Indian
original.
s
62 THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
reprove a loquacious king by summing it up in
the gdtlia —
" TStxilq, tf)c tortoise feillcti fjimscif
SSafjtlst uttering Ijis ijoicc,
^fjoucjf) \)t fajas Ijoltiing tigfjt t^e stick
38g a fajorti Ijimself \)t sicio.
" 33clioIti \}m tfjrn, © ticcllcnt bn strcngtfj
Snti spfafe bisE iuortis not out of season.
Hau see ijoixi bg fjis talking ofaermucfj
Efje tortoise fell into tijis fajretcljeti pligfjt."
This fable has probably had influence on that
of Tlie Eagle and Raven (Ro. I. xiv.), and is
probably not disconnected with the story of
the death of ^schylus by an eagle dropping a
tortoise on his bald cranium ; this occurs for
the first time as late as ^Elian (vii. 17).
V. I will now put in the Jataka variant for
the well-known fable of The Wolf and Lamb, a
parallel which has not hitherto been pointed
out. It is the Dipi Jdtalm (Fausboll, No. 426,
translated by Dr. Morris, Folk-Lore Journal^
iv. 45). A panther meets a kid ; what follows
is sufficiently indicated by the gdthas they
utter : —
" Fan. ©n tng tail Ijaijc gou sttpt, gou false^speakinj
miU,
gou fjabe ione me muclj fjarm, gou careless
goung tljing. . . .
INDIAN WOLF AND LAMB. 63
A'id. gout face bias toixiartis me, gour tail bias an*
seen, . . .
PJofaj tfjcn coulU 5 treati ontlje cnti of gour tail?
/"tfw. IHg tail is full long anU rcacljrs so far
as to cofacr tfje cartfj anlj its quarters all foxtr, . . .
pjoiu tljcn couto gou miss to step on mg tail?
/Ctd. Za aboili gour long tail, © ^antljer tirprabcB,
Cljrouglj tlje air niB E come, anU toucfjeiJ not t{)e
grounlJ. . . .
P(!>i. © ivin, E 'ai'a see gou come tfjrougfj tfjc air ;
STfje 33easts gou alarmcU anu frigfjtcuetf full
sore, . . .
'Sinn tljus gou quite spoilt tlje foot) tfjat K eat."
" Ki)U8 c'eit tlje little Uia in piteous terms
IDilj beg tlje IDantlicr sfpare ijer tenticr tfjroat.
33ut Ije atljirst for blootJ tiifl tear Ijer tljroat,
9uti tljcn })cr manglrt botig grecliilg ate.
SUnhinti of speecfj, unjust tlje bjickcfl is,
iJlor listens ^e at all to reason's boice."
If this occurred alone, the parallelism would
not be sufficient to make any borrowing hypo-
thesis necessary. But taken in conjunction
with the other examples, it becomes probable
that the form with which we are familiar is
merely a softening down of the Indian exagge-
rations due to the Greek sense of xaipog. We
have another variant of a similar kind in The
Cat and Chicken (Re. iv.). And I have found
a Tibetan version of this very Jdtaka contained
64 THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
in Schiefner's collection of Thibetan Tales (Ral-
ston's Trans., No. xxix.); the personages have
actually become The Wolf and the Sheep, from
which it ia but a slight step to our familiar
Wolf and Lamb.
VI. The Bald Man and Fly (Ro. II. xii.) finds
a parallel in an exaggerated form in two Jdtakas,
which are obviously variants of one another, to
speak Hibernically. These are JSTos. 44 and 45
of Fausbcill's edition, and have been translated
by the Bishop of Colombo in Journ. Asiat. Soc.
(Ceylon Branch), vol. viii. 167-70.* In the first,
the Mahasa Jdtaha, a mosquito settles on the
"copper-basin-like head" of a carpenter, who
requests his son to relieve him of the annoy-
ance. The son seizes an axe, and nearly hits
the mosquito. The result is summed up in the
gdtha —
"iSfttcr abjigcfoc
STfjnn a frtcnti of scnst brrcft ;
CTfjc stiiptti son to \vX\ tijt gnat
l^is fatfjtr's Ijcatpirre tltli."
The other, or Rohini JdtaJca, merely changes
the sex and the weapon. Its gdtha runs —
* No. 44, also by Weber, Ivd. Stud., iv. 387, from the
text of the Jataka supplied him by Fauaboll.
THE INDIAN BALD MAN AND FLY. 65
" Better a sensible cncmg
Ctjan a fool, fjofccfacr feintr fje ie ;
ILook at sillg 3clal)int :
Sfje's feilleO ijer motfjer, anU sore Jaecps sljc."
It is to be observed that the moral is quite
different in the fable current among the Greeks,
as represented by Phaedrus (V. ii. ed. Riese).
Indeed missing a fly is not such an extraordi-
nary circumstance that we need go all the way
to India in order to explain it.
VII. There are also two Jatakas which re-
semble the Fable of the The Fox and Croiv, in
so far that we find a fox (jackal) and crow
flattering one another. In one (the Jainhu-
khadaka Jdtaka, Fausboll, No. 294, tr. Rhys-
Davids, p. xii.) a crow is eating Jambus when
he is thus addressed by a passing jackal —
" SSaijo mag tijis be, fe^osc rtrlj auH pleasant notes
proclaim f)im best of all tf)t singing birlis,
MEarbling so sbcctlo on tf}e Sambu-branelj,
MSijcrc like a pcacoek Ijc sits firm ani granjj."
To which the crow replies
" ' STis a bflUbreU goung gentleman tufjo fenofos
Ko speak of gentlemen in terms polite !
ffiooB sir— tofjose sf)apc anti glossg eoat rebeal
E\)c tiger's offspring— eat of tfjese, 2 prag ! "
VOL. I. E
66 THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
Buddha in the form of the genius of the
Jambu tree, comments in the third gdtha —
" JToo long, forsactf), K'fae bornt tfjc sig{)t
©f tijcsc poor tljatttrcrs of lirs—
STfjE Tcfusr^eatcr anti t\)e offaUrattr
33clautitng tacf) otljrr."
The positions are reversed in the Anta
Jataica (Fausboll, No, 276 tr. K. Morris, F.-L.
J. iii. 363) the gdthas of which will explain the
situation —
Crow.
'"M Tjail to t\}tt, © fetng of beasts,
■E lion's strcngifj Host tfjou possess,
anti sfjotilters broati just Ititc a bull ;
^cvljaps gou'U Irate a bit for me."
Jackal.
"lull iurll tiDtfj fje SuTio is of gentle btrtfj
ILvnoiu fjoiu to praise a iaell-breti gentleman.
GTome tioixtn, tear rroiu, hjttf) necft lihe peacoefe's |]ue,
amait Tjere afajfjile anU eat tf}s fill of fltsfj."
Buddha, (in form of an Erawa tree).
" ©f beasts tfje jaefeal failest is ani toorst,
©f birJs tijr croia is least esteemei ani praiseti,
CErabias are t\)t trees in ortier last,
anJi noiu togetljer come tlje lofeest ttjrec."
VIII. The goose that lays the golden eggs
INDIAN GOOSE WITH GOLDEN EGGS. 67
may next engage our attention. She finds her
Indian analogue in the flamingo that moults
golden feathers and is plucked bare by her
greedy owner {Suvannahamsa Jdtaka, Fausbtill,
136, tr. R. Morris, F.-L. J iv. 171). The moral
is the same —
" 53c content initlj iufiat's gibcn, seek not to gti more,
©'crgrccJg tfjc iuicluti, unsatcH tijcg arc.
212Sf)cn i\]t golU flamingo iuas strippcti of fjis plume
Itjts fcatfjcrs of goli3 all their colour JiH lose."
IX- There is a Jataka which has peculiar
interest for us in the present connection, though
the Fable which it parallels is not among those
of Stainhowel or Caxton, It rejoices in the
name of Suvannakakkata Jataka, is No. 389 in
Fausboll's edition, and has been translated by
Dr. Morris in Folk-Lore Journal, iii. 56. A
Brahmin has a crab for a friend and a crow
for an enemy. The latter induces a serpent to
poison the Brahmin, whereupon the friendly
crab seizes the crow. What follows is told in
the gathas —
" STfjc fjissing snafee foitfj fjoott oatsprcaU,
STfje crab full near Bin come,
Sis fricnH in nceti to fjclp a frtcnti,
33ut Ijtm tlje crab lit) stcje,"
68 THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
Serpent.
" li far tijc man fee tfea so fast arc fjclU
Hct ijtm arise anti E'll tijc facnom tirato,
iadeasE at once tfje croto anB itie, tng frtcnft,
Before tf)E poison strong o'crcomcs tijc man."
Crab.
" Z\]t serpent E'll release, tlje crob not get,
?5e shall remain a iaijile ioitljin mn clafajs ;
But iialjen to fjealtlj 31 see mn frienD restores,
lE'en as tfje snake tije crofe 31 ixiill set free."
He fulfils the promise by nipping off both their
heads "as clean as a lotus-plant." Crabs are
not so frequently in the habit of seizing ser-
pents and conversing with them that we can
consider the following fragment of a Greek
scholion or table-song quite unconnected with
the above Jataka —
6 KapKlvos wo' i(f>a
X'^Xa Toy ()<l>i.v Xa/3c6v.
tvdvv XPV ''■0'' eratpov ?fifj.ev
Kal fJih cr/coXtd (ppovetv*
* Fiiria, Coraes, and Benfey attribute this to Alcasus ;
Wagener and Mr. Rutherford deny the attribution. The
latter, however, grants the archaic flavour of the style. At
the same time the full fable in the Greek JSsop (Halm,
346) has only a slight resemblance to the Indian.
ENVY NOT 'sausages: 69
X. CFnbp not " SausagcEi."— One, says the '• Story of
the Present " of the Munika Jataka (Fausboll, No.
30, tr. Rliys-Davids, pp. 275-7), it happened at the
Jelavana Monastery that one of the monks fell in
love. On that occasion the Teacher asked the monk,
''Is it true what they say, that you are love-sick ? "
"It is true, Lord!" said he. ''What ahont?"
"My Lord! 'tis the allurement of that fat girl."
Then the Master said, " monk! she will bring evil
upon yon. Already in a former birth you lost your
life on the day of her marriage, and were turned into
food for the multitude." And he told a tale : —
[Once Avlien Brahmadatta was reigiiinj^ in Benares
the Bodisat vas a large red ox, and ■\vas called ' Big-
red ; ' he had a brother named ' Redlet. ' The daughter
of the house was an heiress engaged to be married,
and they were fattening up a pig named Munika
( = 'Curry-bit-ling,' vulgo Sausages) for the M^ed-
ding feast. Eedlet complains to Big-red that they
have to do all the carting on grass and straw, while
Munika is fed on boiled rice for doing nothing. In
answer Big-red says the gatha —
" (JEnDp not ' '%)ausiaQ;cjci,'
'STis ocaDlp foon l^e catsf,
Q£at pour cfjaff, anu lie content,
'SijS t\)t Sign of lengtl) of life,"
Soon after Munika became Munika indeed, and lied-
let was comforted.]
Then the Master ynade the connection and summed
up the Jataka by saying : 'He who at that time tvas
iiausages the Pig was the love-sick monk, the fat girl
70 THE ORIENTAL ^SOP.
was as she is notu, Bedlet was Ananda, but Big-red
loas I myself. ' *
We can be sure that the " Tale of the Past "
reached the West, since it is found almost
exactly in the same form (with the substitu-
tion of asses for oxen) in the Jewish Midrash
"Rabba* (Great Commentary on the Penta-
teuch and the Five Rolls) on Esther iii. i,
where its foreign origin is shown by the refer-
ence to pig as suitable festival diet, and the
use of the word Kalends for festival. And if it
got as far as Syria (probably via Alexandria)
there is little doubt it was current elsewhere in
the Hellenic world, and we accordingly find an
obvious variant of it in the Greek fable of The
Calf and the Ox (Halm, 113; Avian, ed. Ellis,
36), while Phsedrus' Asinus et Porcellus (V. iv.)
seems to be a corollary on it.
XI. The peacock is an Indian native, and was
too rare in Greece to give rise to a folk-fable.
* I have thought the "Story of the Present" interesting
enough in this case to be given in full.
f It was by mistake that Benfey (p. 229) attributes this
to Berachyah Hanakdan. There is therefore no need, with
Mr. Rhys-Davids [I.e.], to assume a direct passage of the
Jataka to the West in the thirteenth century. Dr. Lands-
berger, I may observe, pointed out the Indian parallel
(Fabeln des Sophos, p. xxxvii).
INDIAN CRANE AND PEACOCK. 71
Under these circumstances we may connect the
two fables in our collection dealing with the
brilliant bird (Juno, the peacock, and the night-
ingale, Ro. IV. iv., and TJie crane and pea-
cock, Av. xii.) with a Jataka which has at
least this much in common with those that it
lays stress on the vanity of the bird. It is the
Nacca- Jataka (No. 32 of FausboU's edition tr.
Rhys-Davids, 291-4) in which the King of the
Golden Geese seeks a mate for his heiress, and
selects the peacock. He in the exuberance of
his joy exclaims, " Up to to-day you have not
seen my greatness," and proceeds to show his
dancing powers. In so doing he exposes him-
self and the haughty monarch says the gdtha —
" pleasant is gour cry, brilliant is gctir bnirlj,
Almost like tlje opal xxi its colour is gour neck;
©fje fcatfjcrs in gour tail rcacfj about a fatljom's length,
38ut to sucf} a Hanccr 2 can gibe no naugljter, sir, of
mine ! " *
XII. Among Phaedrus' fables, though not
among Caxton's, there is one (I. xx). in which
some dogs, to get at a hide at the bottom of a
river, set to work to drink the river up, so as
* The Nacca-Jataka is figured on the sculptures of Bhar-
hut, though in a fragmentary condition (Cunningham, Stupa
of Bharhut, pi. xxvii. 11)
72 THE ORIENTAL jESOP.
to reach it; they burst in the process.* This
is paralleled by the Kaka-Jataka in which crows
try to drink up the sea with a similar object.
(Fausb. 146 ; tr. K Morris, F.-L.J. iv. 59.) The
gdtha runs :
" CE'cn ttoir our iBcarp jatoiS Bo acT)e,
©ur moittljsi titnecti arc parc1;cl3 anti Brp,
WLt ixiorb aim toil, no rrgt, no truce.
Jinn sttn again tije sea Bod) fill."
The analogy is not so noteworthy but for the
fact that two of the best-known Jatakas (given
in Benfey, §82, from Hardy Manual 106 and
Hiouen Tsang, I. 325) relate how the Buddha
overcame the opposition of Indra by his perti-
nacity in attempting to bale out the sea (or a
river in the second case).t We can be certain
that the former of these reached the West, since
the Jewish Midrash Rabba on Esther iii. 6, I
find, compares Haman to a bird that had built
its nest by the sea-shore, and attempted to
carry away the advancing sea inland.
* Cf. too Eom. App. 43, where a fox does the same in
trying to get at the moon in the river, which he mistakes
for (green ?) cheese. This is an Indian trait (cf. Benf. 1.
p. 349). And cf. Nights with Uncle Remus, xix.
t Cf. Sydney Smith's celebrated image of Mrs. Partington
repelling the Atlantic with a mop. The Buddhist feeling
in the matter would be to applaud the courage and faith of
the good lady.
INDIAN MRS. PARTINGTON. 75
XIII. Another Jataka which parallels an
^sopic Fable not in our collection is the Viro-
cana Jataka (Fausb. 143, tr. R. Morris, F.-L.J.
iii. 353). Here a lion adopts a jackal, who at
last comes to think himself a veritable lion, and
once x'equests his foster-father to stand aside
while he shows the king of beasts the proper
way to bring down an elephant. The result is
disastrous, as is shown in the gdtlia : —
^f)p ^ean is! split, tT;p brains! arc oojintf out,
an broken arc t^w riliS lip tbtsi \)\\z^ licajst^
31n sorrp pHglit tljou finBcsit tijpscif to=tiar,
jFuII \at\i, 31 iucen, tljon art conspicuous! notu.
There is another Jataka of a similar character
given by Hardy (AIa7iual of Buddhism, 233, ap.
Benf. i. 104), in which a Jackal is taken as a
servant by a lion, who gives him a share in his
booty. He waxes fat, and seeing one day that
he has four legs, two canine teeth, two ears, and
a tail, just like the lion, determines to start
business on his own account. He emits his
little roar, but no beast fears him, and he cannot
bringdown any prey. Benfey, § 29, points out
the close analogy of one of Aphthonius' fables
(c. 350 A.D.) in which a fox serves a lion, be-
comes proud, tries his own hand, and perishes
74 THE ORIENTAL ^SOP.
(Halm, 41). He omits to notice the great simi-
lainty of Phsed. I. xL {Asinus et Leo Veuantes,
cf. R. IV. X.), where the ass and lion go a-h ant-
ing together and the ass emits his terrible bray,
this time, however, with more effect. I am the
more inclined to suspect a foreign origin for
this owing to the unnatural conjunction of an
ass and a lion as fellow-hunters, and am inclined
to think the ass has got into the story through
some mistranslation, which occurs most fre-
quently in the names of birds, beasts, and fishes,
as every one knows who has had much to do
with translation.* I would add that it seems
to be a story like one of those contained in the
above Jatakas to which a certain Rabbi referred
when he taunted another with the proverb,
"The lion has turned out a fox " (Talm., Baba
Kama, ii7a).f
XIV. We may close our comparison of the
* They are almost like proper names ; provided some
animal is mentioned the version construes ; e.g. JEsop's
fable [supra, p. 27) is generally spoken of as the Fox and
Horse-Leeches. I suspect also that something of the same
kind has occurred, Phced., I. v. (Ro. I. iv. ), to make Vacca,
Capclla, Oris, fellow-hunters with Leo. Sea infra, p. 166.
f Landsberger, p. xlvii., refers the saying to a fable
analogous to Babr. loi, Halm, 272, which may again be
referred back to the above Jatakas. Cf. too Av. 40.
INDIAN FOX AND COCK. 75
Jatakas with one that bears some relation to
the closing fable of Stainhowel's collection,
really from the Romulus but included in the
" Fables of Poge" (Fox, Cod; ^ Dogs, p. 307). In
the Kukhuta Jataka (tr. Morris, F.-L.J., ii. 2)ZZi
cf. Cunningham, Stupa of Bharliut, 77) a cat
approaches a cock perched on a tree and tries
in vain to inveigle him down, as is told in the
gdthas : —
" CaL ® lobfln btrti, Ixittf) fcatfjrrs faritjfjt of f)ur, ....
K'll bt tfjg fajifr, tijou sljalt fjafac nougijt to pag.
Cock. SHc hirtis pair not faitfj quairupctis.
ffio, seek anotfjrr mate flsciuljcrc. . . .
fHann inilcs fjafae iDomcn clcfacr, gooU men tijrg iutU
ticcciijE
SSEttfj soft anU oilg hattss, as l^uss iuoulti cl)£at tfje
cocft. . . ."
At first sight the analogy with the mediaeval
form does not seem very close. But I think I
can show by a curious piece of evidence that
the present form of the Jataka has been trun-
cated, and that in its original version there was
some reference to a third dramatis persona.
For the Kukkuta Jataka happens to be one of
those sculptured on the coping of the Stupa of
Bharhut, and is accordingly figured in Sir A.
Cunningham's monograph (PI. xlvii. 5), We
76
THE ORIENTAL mSOP.
can be certain of its identity, since the name of
the Jataka is inscribed above the figures. * From
the facsimile which we give it will be observed
that there is an object at the foot of the tree
which is evidently of importance in the story,
* This may possibly be a case of the traditional migra-
tion of illustration to which I called attention in my Bidpai,
pp. xx.-xxiii.
WHA T IS BEHIND THE TREE ? 77
but does not occur in the present version of the
Jataka. General Cunningham suggests that
it represents the bunch of bells worn by Nautch
girls, and is placed in the sculpture as a symbol
of the wakefulness of the cock. I think it
however more likely that it represents the
presence of a watcher behind the tree, as
occurs in the Greek form of the Fable (Furia,
88; Halm, 231), and in the Romulus here.*
The original form of the Fable would thus be
merely a variant of the Biter hit formula. In
the form in which it occurs in the present ver-
sion of the Jatakas, the story is not rounded
off, and it only serves to illustrate the peculi-
arly Buddhistic conception of the innate cor-
ruption and deceit of the feminine nature.
Thus far the evidence of the Jakatas, and —
important point — no further, f I have been
* By a most remarkable coincidence, James, in his Ter-
sion of the Fable (No. xxxii. p. 22), has a reference to the
bell ; " The Cock replied, ' Go, my good friend, to the foot
of the tree, and call the sacristan to toll the liell. ' " But
there is nothing to warrant this in the Greek original.
t I have rejected The Conceited Jackal (Siqora XIII.),
regarded as a proposed variant of the Daw in peacock's
feathers ; the Baviru J. (F.-L. J., iii. 124) is closer. The
Hammodamdna J. (No. 33) is not close enough to the Lion
and Four Oxen (Av, xiv.), nor the Sakuna J. (No. 36)
to The Swallow and Birds (Ro. I. xx. ; Avian, 21), though
they have the same moral.
78 THE ORIENTAL mSOP.
taken to task for declaring my conviction that
the Pali scholars have played out their best
trumps in dealing with this question. {Bidpai,
Introd., li., note). After having gone more
fully into the matter I still retain that opinion.
The whole of the Jatakas have now been pub-
lished, and if any very striking analogy with
^sop's Fables had been found among them, we
should doubtless have heard of it. Dr. Morris'
selections in the Folk-Lore Journal ranged over
the first four hundred and fifty of the Jatakas,
and the remaining hundred are not likely
to have a richer yield, as they are those with
the longest gdthas. At any rate, we cannot
permit the Pali scholars to win tricks with
cards which they keep up their sleeve ; and
the above dozen or so instances must stand for
the present as representing the contribution of
the Jatakas to the question of the origin of
" ^sop's Fables." *
But this contribution, though scanty, is im-
portant. The Jatakas, or at least the gdthas,
in archaic Pali, which form the nucleus of
* What is wanted for folk-lore purposes is an abstract of
all "the stories of the past," with a translation of their
gdthas. This could be got within a volume of a size similar
to Mr. Rhys-Davids'.
EVIDENCE OF J ATA K AS. 79
them, were carried over to Ceylon in a complete
form 241 B.C. ; they had been sculptured in the
Stupa of Bharhut about that date ; they formed
a topic of dispute at the Buddhist Council of
Yesali, c. 350 B.C., and we can scarcely fix their
collection, very nearly in their present form,
at least as regards the gdihas, at much later
than 400 B.C. This is before any contact be-
tween Greek and Hindoo thought can be taken
into account.* Besides this, the stories have,
in the majority of cases, nothing Buddhistic
about them, and were evidently folk-tales
current in India long before they were adapted
by the Buddhists to point a moral ; and some
of them were probably used by Buddha himself
for that purpose in the fifth century B.C.
Altogether, the probabilities are strong that
we have in them genuine and native products
of Indian thought, and that where we find
them later among the Greeks they are borrowed
products. At any rate, we may accept this
as a provisional result which renders it worth
while putting in and considering the other In-
* The fii'st notice of India in Greek literature is in one
of the fragments of Hecataeus (fl. 500 B.C.). Cf. Bunbury's
Ancient Geography, i. 142. But see infra, p. icx).
8o THE ORIENTAL ^SOP.
dian evidence of a later date before summing
up.
We may first take some references found by
Weber and Liebrecht in the Mahabharata,
which may serve as an appendix to the Palaeo-
zoic stratum of the Bidpai. The Mahabharata
is the Indian Iliad and Odyssey and iEneid and
Gerusalemme Liherata and Orlando Furioso and
Faerie Queene ; at least it is equal to all these,
and more also, in point of bulk. Such a huge
mass affords grand accommodation for inter-
polation, and parts of the Indian epics have
been dated as early as the Upanishad stage of
the Vedic literature, and others as late as the
Christian era. It is, accordingly, impossible to
use references occurring in it with much con-
fidence, as to their date, except that we may be
sure it is B.C., and so anterior to Phsedrus,
Such analogies to Greek fables as have been
observed in it * occur by way of casual reference,
somewhat in the same way as the earliest Greek
* There has been no systematic search made through the
Mahabharata ; Weber owns that he had only made a per-
functory one. It is from this quarter accordingly that we
may anticipate the largest addition to our knowledge of
the existence of ^sop's Fables in India that yet remain
to be made. C/. Benf. i. 554 sf^., on the probabilities of
Abstemius' Fable, No. 70, being derived from Mb. sii. 4930.
MAHABHARATA PARALLELS. 8i
Fables enumerated on p. xliv. This has its
importance, as showing that in India, as in
Greece, the fable was current among the people,
and formed part of their folk-lore. It confirms,
too, the impression that the Buddha, in using
the fable, was only applying a general practice
of his day,
XV.-XYII. Three of these references we
may dismiss very shortly. Liebrecht has found
a very explicit reference to The Man and Serpent
(Ro. I. X.) in Holtzmann's translation of parts
of the Mahabharata.* There seems also to be
a reference to The Oak and Reed (Ro. IV. xx.)
in the complaint of the sea, that rivers bring to
it oaks but not reeds (Mh. xii. 4198).! Again,
the request of the camel for a long neck in The
Camel and Jupiter (Av. vii.) finds its analogue in
the Indian epic (Mh. xii. 41 75). J That the last
two of these reached the pale of Hellenism is
proved by their appearance in Jewish writings, f
* Indische Sagen, 2nd edition, II. 210 [ap. Jahrb. eng. u.
rom. Phil. iii. 146). I cannot find it in the fii-st edition,
the only one accessible to mo.
+ It is, perhaps, worth while remarking that it is from
the twelfth book of the Mahabharata that three books of
the C/r-Bidpai were taken (Benfey, 219-22).
J They occur in form of proverbs: "Be flexible as the
reed, not stiff as the cedar " (Talm. Taanith 20a) ; " The
VOL. I. F
82 THE ORIENTAL JESOP.
XVIII. Finally, there is a reference in the
Mahabharata (xiv. 688) to a fable similar to The
Belly and Members (Ro. III. xvi.), which de-
serves closer attention, as it is, in many ways,
the most remarkable fable in existence. A
variant of it, or something vexy like it, was
discovered six years ago by M. Maspero in a
fragmentary papyrus, which he dates about the
twentieth dynasty (c. 1250 B.C.). It is, conse-
quently, the oldest fable in existence, and as
such we may give it : —
Trial of Belly v. Head — wherein are published the
pleadings made before the supreme judges — while
their President watched to unniaslc the liar— his eye
never ceased to watch.* Tlie due rites having been
done — in honour of the god who detests iniquity —
after tlie Belly had spoken his jilea — the Head began
a long harangue : —
' 'Tis I, 'tis I, the rafter of the whole house— whence
' the beams issue and where they join together — all
' the members ... on rne and rejoice. My forehead
'is joyous — my members are vigorous — the neck
' stands firm beneath the head— my eye sees afar off
camel asked for horns and had bis ears cut off" (Talm.
8anh. 1066).
• I have ventured to substitute this for the "pleurer"
of M. Maspero which gives no sense, though he makes out
of it a very pathetic (and very French) picture of the judge
weeping at the eloquence of the advocate — before the
speeches are delivered.
EARLIEST EXTANT FABLE. 83
' — the nostril expands and breathes the air — the
' ear opens and hears — the mouth sends forth sound
* and talks — the two arms are vigorous — and cause a
' man to be respected— he marches with head erect —
• looks the great in the face as Avell as the lowly . . .
' 'Tis I that am their queen — 'tis I the head of my
' companions . . . ^yho would play a trick — or is
' there any would say — " Is it not false ? " Let them
' call me the head — 'tis I that cause to live . . . ' *
Here the fragment breaks off, and we cannot
tell if judgment went with the plaintiff as in
the Roman fable. For it will be observed that
the fable, if fable it can be called, takes the
form of a mock-trial, corresponding, as M.
Gaston Paris has pointed out, to the debat
which is so familiar in media3val French litera-
ture, t From this point of view the debat of
Belly and Head affords us the earliest example
of legal procedure extant.
We again meet with the fable in the Upani-
shads, whence it doubtless got into the Maha-
bharata, and perhaps too into the Zend
Yaqna : —
* Academie des Inscriptions, Siance of 5th Jan. 18S3,
P- 5-
t As a matter of fact a kind of debat on this very subject
was published in 1545, Cinq Sens de I'honime. There was
also a Myst^re on the same subject (Migne, Diet- d. My St.,
s. V. Membres).
84 THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
Dispute of the Senses and the Soul.*
The senses disputed among themselves saying, "I
am tlie first, I am the first." They said : " Let us go
out of the body, whichever shall cause the body to
fall by its departure shall be the first." 'I'he word
departed, the man spoke no more, but he still ate,
drank, and lived ; the sight departed, the man saw
not, but still ate, drank, and lived ; [and so with the
hearing, &c.] ; the mind went forth, intelligence left
the man, but he still ate, drank, and lived. The soul
departed, no sooner was it without than the body fell.
[They again disputed and tried who could raise the
body with the same result.]
A similar apologue existed among the Buddh-
ists as we know from the fact that it exists
in the Chinese Buddhistic work Avadanas (No.
105) ; it occurs also in the Pantschatantra : —
The Bird with Two Heads.
Once on a time on Mount Himavat there was a bird
named Jivanjiva. Tliis had one body and two heads,
one of which used to eat fine fruit to give strength and
vigour to the body. The other became jealous and
thought, "Why should that head always eat fine
* I take this from the Italian abridg-ment of Signer
Prate, who has vrritten an interesting paper on L'Apologo
di 3Ienenio Agrippa in Archivio por trad, popolari, iv.
25-40. The full text of the Zend version is given by
Burnouf, Sui' le Yapm, notes pp. clxsii. seq.
DISPUTE OF SENSES. 85
fruit, of which I never taste one ? " Accordingly it
ate a poisonous fruit and the two heads perished at
the same time.*
I have also found a Jewish variant, though
with a somewhat different moral : —
The Tongue and the Members.
{SchocJier Tob on Ps. xxxix. i).
A Persian King sick unto death was ordered the
milk of a lioness (Heb. Lcbia). [A man obtains it
after many adventures.] On his return the mem-
bers disputed in the night. The feet said, ' Had
we not gone the milk had not been got ' : the
hands, ' We milked ; that was the chief thing ' :
the eyes, ' But for us the lioness could not have
been found out.' The heart reminds them of her
wise counsels. At last spoke the tongue, ' But for
me where would you have been ? ' To the retorts of
the other members, the only reply is, " You'll soon
see ! " Next morning the man came before the King
and handing him the milk, said, ' There is the milk
of the bitch' (Heb. Kalha). [The man is ordered off
to execution.] On the scaffold the members wept
but the tongue laughed. ' What did I tell you ?
Are you not all in my jDOwer? However, I'll take
pity on you ? ' The tongue called out, ' Lead me once
* Cf. the Midrashic apologue of the quarrel between the
head and tail of the serpent which should go first. The
tail leads the head a merry dance ; " so it is when the lowly
lead the great" {Midr. Rabha, Deut. § 5).
86 THE ORIENTAL ^SOP.
more to the King.' In his presence it said, ' I have
truly brought you the milk of a lioness, Sire. Kalba
is Arabic for lioness.' They tasted, and tried, and
found it right, and sent the man away with great
gifts. Then said the tongue, ' See now, life and
death are in my hand ' (Pro v. xviii. 21).
But there is a still more striking use of
the fable by a Jew. There can be little doubt
that St. Paul had a similar fable* in his mind in
the characteristic passage (i Cor. xii. i2-2 6).t
The body is one, and hath many members, and all
the members of the body, being many, are one body.
. . . For the body is not one member but many. If
the foot shall say. Because I am not the hand, I am
not of the body ; it is not therefore not of the body.
And if the ear shall say. Because I am not the eye,
I am not of the body ; it is not therefore not of the
body. If the whole body were an eye, where Avere the
hearing ? If the whole body were hearing, where Avere
the smelling ? . . . And if they were all one member,
where were the body ? But now they are many
members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to
the hand, I have no need of thee ; or again the head
to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much rather,
those members of the body which seem to be more
feeble are necessary : and those parts of the body
* The passage combines the Indian idea of the contest
of the members with the Roman notion of the organic
nature of the body politic.
t E. V. , omitting the theological inferences.
ST. PAUL'S FABLE. 87
■which -we think to be less honourable, upon these we
bestow more abundant honour ; and our uncomely
parts have more abundant comeliness ; whereas our
comely parts have no need . . . And whether one
member suffereth, all the members suffer with it, or
one member is honoured, all the members rejoice
with it.
As this passage is the foundation of the
doctrine of the Visible Church, and indirectly
of the conception of the Body Politic (of which
Hobbes made such quaint use), we cannot well
overrate the importance of the fable on which
it is founded.
We have thus seen this fable of the Body
and its Members with its Belgian motto,
L'union fait la force, forming part of the sacred
literature of Egyptians and Chinese, of Brah-
mins, Buddhists, and Magians, of Jews and
Christians.* The reader must not, however,
assume that these are all necessarily derived
from one source. On the contrary, I have
given the various versions at length as an
instructive example how different nations may
hit upon very much the same apologue to illus-
* A3 it occurs also in the legendary history of Konie,
and in the quasi-sacred pages of Shakespeare, where it fills
the whole of the second scene of the first act of CnrioJanus,
we might add Ilomaus and Englishmen to the above list.
88 THE ORIENTAL mSOP.
trate the same idea. Carefully examined, the
various versions may be reduced to four inde-
pendent ones. The Egyptian dehat stands by
itself, the Brahmin Contest of Senses and Soid,
occurring in the Upanishads, recurs in the
Indian epic, in the Persian scripture, and,
possibly through the latter, in Jewish com-
mentaries, and may thence have influenced St.
Paul. The lost Buddhist apologue of The Bird
with Tioo Heads found its way to China, and
was received into the Bidpai literature. The
Roman fable is remarkable as being the only
fable of its kind in Latin literature which can
claim to be current among the Romans.* It
occui-s late, and may have been interpolated by
Livy, like so much of his work. But on the
whole I am inclined to regard it as a genuine
Roman folk-fable, and another instance of the
sporadic use of the fable — as in the Egyptian
example above, or in Cyrus' fable of The Piper
turned Fisherman (Herod, i. 141), or in Jotham's
and Joaz' fables in the Old Testament (Jud. ix.
8-15; 2 Kings xiv. 9) — by nations who have
* Ennius has a reference to The Piper turned Fisherman
(Re. vii.), and to The Swallows and other Birds (Ro. I. xx. ).
But he was acquainted with Greek, aud might have got
the first from Herodotus.
BELLY AND MEMBERS. 89
not otherwise shown a turn towards that par-
ticular form of the apologue. The whole in-
quiry ought to make us careful in the future
how we admit borrowing without sure evidence
either of identity of the fables or of contact
between the nations using them.
For there still remain a number of Indian
parallels to our fables, in what I call the
Mesozoic stratum of the Bidpai literature — pas-
sages, that is, which formed part of the origi-
nal form of the book, but cannot be traced back
among the Jatakas. Taken by themselves, they
could scarcely be adduced as valid evidence, as
they cannot be traced back even as early as
300 A.D., when the Greco -Roman collections
were already in existence. But the Jatakas
have shown us evidence of similar stories being
current in India from five to seven centuries
before that, and the analogues from the Indian
epic can trace back nearly as far. Besides Indian
writers were veritable Jeremy Diddlers in the
way of literary borrowing, and the whole of the
Bidpai, even in its earliest form, strikes one as
a vast plagiarism. It becomes, therefore, pro-
bable that the Bidpai stories of the Mesozoic
stratum have the same antiquity as the Jatakas
90 THE ORIENTAL ^SOP.
or the Mahabharata. We may therefore pro-
ceed to add to our previous parallels such of
these as have close analogy with Greek fables,
being somewhat more particular as to the
closeness of the parallelism than we were in
the case of the Jatakas or the epic refer-
ences.
XIX. We may begin with the fable of TJie
Lion and Mouse, which occurs in the Pantsclia-
tantra in the form of The Elephant and the
Mice (II. App. I, Benf. ii. 208-10). The mice
had made a settlement by the banks of a river
whither elephants came to drink, and on their
way disturbed and crushed many of the mice. A
deputation is sent to the king of the elephants,
who graciously commands his troop to select
another passage to the watering-place. Soon
after the troop are captured in pits and then
bound to trees.* The king sends for aid to the
mice, who come and gnaw away the thongs and
free the whole troop. There is one decisive
criterion which proves the priority of the In-
dian form and the dependence of the Greek
* In the Southern redaction there is but one elephant,
and he is not bound to the tree. The mice rescue him by
tilling up the pit. Cf. Benf. i. 324.
INDIAN LION AND MOUSE. 91
upon it. Elephants are frequently bound by
cords to trees, lions never are.
The Indian origin of this fable would be
rudely shaken, however, if we could trust the
inferences Herr Lauth drew from a Leyden
papyrus which he discovered, and the pertinent
part of which he translated as follows : * —
[Lion catches mouse who speaks as foUoAvs] : ' O
'Pharaoh, my superior, O Lion, if thou eatest me,
'thou wilt not fill thyself; thy hunger will remain.
' Preserve for nie the breath of life as I preserved it
'for thee in thy trouble ... on thy unlucky day.'
Then the Lion reflected and the Mouse said to him :
' Remember the hunters ; one had a line to bind thee,
' another a leash. There was also a cistern dug before
' the lion ; he fell in and the lion was prisoner in the
'pit ; he was pledged by his feet. Lo, there came a
' httle mouse before the lion and freed thee.t There-
'fore, reward me. I was that little mouse.'
There, sure enough, we have the fable of
The Lion and the Mouse in Egyptian literature,
and the question arises how and when did it
get there. Now the Leyden papyrus (I. 384)
is wi'itten in demotic, i.e., sometime between
* Munich Sitzungsherichtc, 1S6S, ii. 50. Die Thierfahel
in Egypten.
t The mixture of persons is due to Herr Lauth, who, it
is perhaps worth while adding, was the author of some wild
theories about Mose der Egypter.
92 THE ORIENTAL JESOP.
500 B.C. and 200 A.D., and the latter terminus
is the more likely since other parts of the
papyrus contain Coptic versions of the Ritual
of the Dead, But Herr Lauth was not satis-
fied with this : he finds a comic picture of a
mouse driving a chariot in the celebrated
satiric papyrus of Turin which dates about 1 150
B.C. He therefore calmly assumed that the
above fable was of the same date, and this bold
bad assumption has passed vid Sir R. F. Burton
and the versatile Prof. Mahaffy {Proleg. Anc.
Hist. 390) into the article ' Beast Fable ' of
Chambers's Cydopcedia, and a whole pyramid
of theory about the African origin of the fable
has been based upon it, the apex of which is
downward in the sand. There can be little
doubt that the Egyptian fable is a late con-
veyance from the Greek.
XX. Our next example will illustrate not
alone the derivation of a Greco-Roman fable
from the Indian, but also Benfey's analytical
powers. In the fable of The Good Man and
Serpent (Ro. II. x.), he has traced, without any
reasonable doubt, the survival of an Indian
fable, which we find complete and consistent in
its Indian form, but which is only preserved in
INDIAN COUNTRYMAN AND SNAKE. 93
unmeaning fragments in Greek and Latin fable.
We can best indicate the relationship of the
three different versions, by displaying them
side by side, and indicating by a series of bars
the passage where the classic fables have failed
to preserve the original.
BiDPAI.
A BrahBiin once observed a
snake in his field, and tliinlc-
ing it the tutelary spirit of the
field, he offered it a libation
of milk in a bowl. Next day
he finds a piece of gold in the
bowl, and he receives this each
day after offering the libation.
One day he had to go else-
where and he sent his son with
the libation. The son sees the
gold, and thinking the serpent's
hole full of treasure, deter-
mines to slay the snake. He
strikes at its head with a
cudgel, and the enraged ser-
pent stings him to death. The
Brahmin mourns his son's
death, but next morning as
usual brings the libation of
milk (in the hope of getting
the gold as before). The ser-
pent appears after a long delay
at the mouth of its lair, and
declares their friendship at an
end, as it coidd not forget the
blow of the Brahmin's son, nor
the Brahmin his son's death
from the bite of the snake.
—Pants. III. V. (Benf. 244-7).
Ph^drine.
- - - A good man had be-
come friendly with the snake,
who came into his house and
brought luck with it, so that
the man became rich through
it. One day he struck the
serpent, which disappeared, and
with it the man's riches. The
good man tries to make it up,
but the serpent declares their
friendship at an end, as it could
not forget the blow.
— Pha;d. Dressl. VII. 2S (P^om.
II. xi. ; K,o. II. X).
Babrian.
A serpent stung a farmer's
son to death. The farmer pur-
sued the serpent with an axe,
and struck off part of its tail.
Afterwards fearing its venge-
ance he brought food and honey
to its lair, and begged reconcili-
ation. The serpent, however,
declares friendship impossible,
as it could not forget the blow
nor the farmer his son's
death from the bite of the
snake.
— iEsop Halm 06"' (Babrius-
Gitlb. 160).
94 THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
While in the Indian fable every action is
properly motivated, the Latin form does not
explain why the snake was friendly in the first
instance, or why the good man was enraged
afterwards, while the Greek form starts
abruptly without explaining why the serpent
had killed the farmer's son. Combine the
Latin and Greek form together, and we practi-
cally get the Indian, which is thus shown by
Benfey's ingenious analysis to be the source
of both.
XXL In Babrius (95), though not in Caxton,
there is a fable of a fox enticing a deer to the
cave of a lion no less than twice by an appeal
to his ambition. On the second occasion the
lion seizes the beast and kills it. Going away,
he finds on his return the heart of the deer
missing. Making inquiry from the fox (who,
of course, has eaten it), he is answered that an
animal that could have been induced to put
itself twice in the power of a lion could have
no heart {i.e., sense). Exactly the same story,
finishing with the same witticism, occurs in
the Pantschatantra {TV. ii.), except that an ass
occurs instead of a deer, and his amorous pro-
pensities are played upon to induce him to
INDIAN ASS' HEART. 95
return a second time. Which of these is the
original, which the derivate ? Both Weber
(Ind. Stud. iiL 388) and Benfey (§ 181) are
strongly in favour of the Greek, more on
general grounds than for any specific reason.
I think I can reverse their result. There
exists a Jewish variant {Jalkut on Exod., § 182)
in which the ass asks toll of King Lion and
is killed ; the heart disappears, and the fox
declares the ass had no heart or he would not
have asked toll of a lion. Now here the dupe
is an ass, as in the Indian fable, not a deer, as
in the Koman. No one will nowadays suggest
that the Jewish writer obtained the story from
a Roman source, changed the deer to an ass,
and then transmitted it to India. It must have
been vice versa. The story got to Alexandria
with the ass as the dupe, passed thence to
Judaea and Rome, and in the latter place was
transformed by Babrius into a deer. We shall
see later on that this is not an isolated instance
where the Jewish evidence turns the scale in
favour of Indian origin.*
*■ In the particular case before us, we might add that
the reference to the heart as the seat of iutelHgence
exactly corresponds to the Sanskrit hrdaye, whereas
Achilles' taunt to Agamemnon of KpaSir} e'Xa^o/o would
96 THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
XXII. A couple of strophes of the Pantscha-
tantra, III. 13, 14, Benfey, ii. 215) bear remark-
able resemblance to the fable of The Two Pots
(Av. ix.). They run as follows : —
13 Who cannot put up with things from pride
oft falls through his equals ;
When two unbaked pots strike together,
they both break in two.
14 To vie with the mighty
brings oft death to the lowly ;
Like a stone that breaks a pot,
the mighty remain unhurt.
Here again, as in many previous instances, I
can produce a Jewish parallel in the Talmudic
proverb, "If a jug fall on a stone, woe to the
jug, if a stone fall on a jug, woe to the
jug" (Mich: Est. ap. Dukes' Blu7nenlese,'No. 530).
The Jewish form is nearer the Indian (str. 14)
than that we are accustomed to from Avian, a
fact not without its significance, as we shall see.
Taken by themselves, the three cases might be
regarded as fortuitous coincidences. But it
should be emphasised that we cannot take such
cases by themselves. The strength of the chain
seem to imply that it was regarded by the Greeks rather
as the seat of courage.
INDIAN TWO POTS. 97
of tradition, against all catenary laws, depends
on its strongest not upon its weakest link. Wlien
we have so strong a case as The Wolf and Crane
or The Countryman, Son, and Snake, these commu-
nicate their strength to their weaker brethren,
because if we prove borrowing in one or two
cases, the probabilities of borrowing in the latter
cases become stronger in proportion, and what
look like fortuitous coincidences turn into cases
of borrowing. And examined moi'e closely, the
particular case we are considering is not so for-
tuitous as it looks. There are many ways in
which the dangers of ambition can be expressed
symbolically.* It would be indeed strange if
three nations independently should hit upon
the fragility of an earthen pot to express the
idea. It is for this reason that the Fable affords
such a stronghold for the Borrowing theory ;
its symbolical character renders it doubly im-
probable that two nations should independently
hit upon the same symbol, unless an extremely
obvious one, for the same moral lesson.
XXIII. We may conclude this part of our
* "Set a beggar on horseback," "Vaulting ambition
o'erleaps itself," The Ass as Lapdog formula, are among
those that occur to me at this moment of writing.
VOL. I. G
98 THE ORIENTAL JESOP.
inquiry with an Indian parallel to The Maiden
transformed into a Cat, which we have previously
traced back to Phsedrus. I must confess the
analogy does not appear to me so striking, but I
include it in deference to Benfey's opinion, which
is the more noteworthy, as he is generally
inclined to trace Indian to Greek fables rather
than vice versd, as here. The Indian story runs
as follows {Pants. III. xii. ; Benf. ii. 262-6) : —
A Brahmin saves a mouse and turns it into a
maiden, whom he carefully educates. When
nubile, he determines to marry her to the most
powerful being in the world. He goes to the
sun, but the sun declares that clouds can
obscure him, while the mouse-maiden declares
he is too hot for her. The clouds in their turn
confess inferiority to the winds before which
they scud, while they are too cold for the mouse-
maiden. The winds again yield to the moun-
tain, against which they storm in vain, while
the mouse- maiden objects to their unsteady
conduct. The mountain is too hard for
the mouse - maiden, while it confesses that
the mice are stronger than it, since they
bore through its interior. Finally the Brah-
min goes with his adopted daughter to the
INDIAN MOUSE-MAIDEN. 99
Mouse King, and asks her her pleasure. ' But
' she, when she saw him, thought, " he is of my
* own species ; " her body became beautified by
' her hair standing on end from joy, and she
' said, " Papa, make me into a mouse and give
' me to him as a wife, so that I may fulfil the
' household duties suitable to my species." And
* he made her into a mouse by the might of his
' sanctity, and gave her to him as a wife.'
The story, it will be seen, has, in common
with the classic fable, the transformation of a
lower animal into a maiden, her being given in
marriage, and the moral,
Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret.
On the other hand, the marriage in the Phse-
drine form occurs before the revelation of the
true nature, and the maiden is an enemy of the
mouse in disguise. I should therefore hesitate
before granting any influence of the Indian on
the Greek fable, but for two points which tell
in favour of it. The first is that it postulates so
strongly the animistic theory of metempsycho-
sis, which has remained active in India during all
historic time, while in Greece we meet with it at
best as a " survival ; " in the Roman fable itself
loo THE ORIENTAL ^SOP.
it is regarded as so strange that it requires the
power of Jupiter to effect the change, and even
he only does it as an experiment, which fails, to the
merriment of the other gods. The other point
is that there is a certain amount of evidence that
the episode of strong, more strong, stronger,
stronger still, and strongest, reached the west,
at least as far west as Syria. For in Jewish
legends about Abraham we find him arguing
withNimrod that fire should not be worshipped
because water can put it out ; nor this, because
the clouds carry it ; nor those, because the
winds bear them ; nor these, because man can
withstand them.*
If we allow, with Benfey, the Indian origin
of The Cat-Maiden, then certain important
points follow. For we find the fable referred
to by Strattis (c. 400 B.C.), and by Alexis (c.
375 B.C.), before Alexander's expedition to
India. We must accordingly allow for some
percolation of Indian stories, possibly through
Persia, to Greece, as early as the fifth century
B.c.t This would render it more likely that The
* Ber. rah. § sxxviii. cf. Beer. Lchcn Abrahams, 11 and
71. 92. Similarly in the Talmud, Baha hatra loa.
t Liebrecht traces a story that the Cardians lost a battle
because their steeds had been trained to dance to music,
STRONG, STRONGER, STRONGEST. loi
Dog and Shadoio and others (see infra., p. 129)
had also penetrated thence at an early date into
Greece. I would add that the peculiar assump-
tion that the mice are stronger than the moun-
tains among which they burrow may have
provoked the Greeks that heard the tale to the
burlesque of a fable immortalised in Horace's
line.
Parturiunt monies, nascitur ridiculus mus.
We have now before us all * the evidence on
which we are to decide whether the Greeks
derived their fables, all or some, from India.
The most strangely diverse answers have been
given to this question by those who have con-
sidered it at length. Two classical scholars,
A. Wagener (in his Memoire sur les rapports des
apologues de TInde et de la Grece, Brussels, 1854)!
told by Charon of Lampsacus (fl. 470 B.C.) to a Buddhistic
legend, now only extant in the Chinese Avadanas (No. 10).
Zur Volksk. p. 27.
* Or nearly all, see infra p. 110 seq. I may remark that
I have been exceptionally rigid in cases occurring only in
the Bidpai and have entirely rejected those in which the
probabilities are of Greek origin for the Indian variants.
For our present purpose these have only a secondary import
for us.
t Wagener has the merit of having been practically the
first to give detailed instances of the resemblance of
Indian and Greek fables. He selected twenty examples
I02 THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
and 0. Keller ( Untersuclmngen uber die Gescliiclite
d. griech. Fahel, Leipzig, 1862), declare most
strongly for the Indian origin. Two Indian
authorities, A. Weber (who discusses each of
Wagener's points seriatim in his, Indische Studien,
Bnd. III. 3 2 7-7 2) and T. Benfey, are inclined to
trace all resemblance between the two to Greek
influence percolating through the Greco-Bactrian
kingdoms, left in the backwater of Alexander's
invasion. Weber bases his conclusion chiefly
on aesthetic grounds ; the Greek fables are too
clear-cut and artistic to have been derived from
the longueurs of Indian fable. To this might
be replied from the standpoint of evolution
that it is not the most definite which comes
first, and from the standpoint of classical
scholarship that the fables in which Weber
sees such classical finish are the Greek verses
of a Roman or mediaeval prose derivates from
these. Benfey is less decided in favour of India ;
in six cases (§§ 29, 130, 143, 150, 158, and 200 ;
cf. supra XIII., XVIIL, XIX., XX., XXIII.)
he allows Indian influence. But in some fifty
■with excellent judgment, one quarter of them turning out
afterwards to be Jatakas, and eight occurring in the above
list.
BENFEY'S VIEWS. 103
other cases he declares for a Greek origin, and
traces the Indian parallels, often very slight
ones, I may observe, to Hellas. He draws a
distinction, which seems to me quite illusory,
between fables in which the animals act like
human beings and those in which they behave
naturally, and restricts the former to India.*
This of course gives the majority to Greece,
since many fables are merely applications of
the Beast- Anecdote. But what was, or ought
to have been, the determining factor in Benfey's
mind in determining the relative priority of
the two sets of fables he is considering, those
occurring in the Bidpai literature and their
Greek parallels, is the comparatively late date at
which the Bidpai fables are first found. Strictly
speaking, we first know of them by the Pehlevi
translation, executed under Khosru Nushirvan
about 550 A.D. They are probably a couple
of centuries earlier, and some of them can
be traced to the Jatakas which, we now know,
are nearly a thousand years older than Nushir-
van. But Benfey had no reason for suspect-
* If the distinction were valid, every fable in which an
animal is represented as speaking should be traceable to
India.
I04 THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
ing so early a date for the Jatakas; and at
the same time classical authorities placed
Babrius much earlier than what we now know
to be his date. Under the circumstances Ben-
fey was justified* in giving priority to the set
of fables which make the earlier appearance in
literature so far as the materials at his disposal
enabled him to judge. We now know the
chronological order of the various sets of fables
which come into dispute to be as follows : —
Greek.
Indian.
Parallels. Strata of Bidpai.
Jatakas.
I.-XIV. Palwozoic.
Ancient
{supra, pp. 26-
-8).
Mahabharata.
XV. -XVIII.
Phaedrus.
Babrius.
Avian.
Bidpai.
XIX. -XXIII. Mesozoic.
Additions to
Bidpai.
(C/. note;p. 51.) Cainozoic \
While Benfey's chief Indian source came last
in chronological order, he was perfectly justified
iu treating it as the recipient. I cannot help
thinking that the determination of the early
date of the Jatakas would have, in his opinion,
transposed the relation of borrower and lender.
* In my Bidpai. p. xlvii., I spoke somewhat disparag-
ingly of Benfey's judgment for this, not taking the above
considerations into account. It was my judgment that
was at fault.
RECENT OPINION. 105
Of recent years the relative position of clas-
sical and Indian scholars has changed. Mr.
Rutherford, in the Introduction to his edition
of Babrius, dismisses the possibility of Indian
influence in a few contemptuous phrases. How
is it possible, he asks, that a nation so original
as the Greeks should be indebted for their
fables to the childish Orientals, with their page
after page of weak moralising, capped by a
so-called fable ? And so, with a lofty wave of
the hand, he bids the Indians go to their appro-
priate diet (kuvs: wpo; 'i/xirov is his phrase), and
passes on. Now, such aesthetic tests of origin
have been proved to be illusory over and over
again ; and, as a matter of fact, we know that
the Greeks were much indebted to Orientals
both in art and religion ; why not in literature ?
We might very well ask Mr. Rutherford how
he judges of the superior beauty of the Greek
fable ; which of the eight fables which, as we
have seen, form the Corpus of genuine Greek
fable, does he regard as a model ? I must con-
fess that, notwithstanding their length, I find
much animation and dramatic point in the
" Stories of the Past " contained in the Jatakas,
as is but natural, considering that the animistic
io6 THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
spirit vitalises them. The gathas, too, put the
chief points of each Jdtaka in very concise and
striking form. But apart from all this, ques-
tions of origin cannot be dismissed in this
lofty way. When we find cases of similarity
so close as those of The Wolf and Crane, The
Ass in Lion's Skin, The Lion and Mouse, and
Tlie Countryman and his Son and the Snake,
there can be no doubt there has been borrow-
ing on one side or the other. It is, as the
Germans say, a case of either-or. And con-
sidering that the Jatakas belong to the Canon
of Buddhist Scriptures, into which foreign in-
gredients would enter with the greatest diffi-
culty,* and, as a whole, are much earlier than
the main body of Greek fable as it has come
down to us, the alternative must rest with them.
There can be little doubt that most of the
Greek fables enumerated above — with perhaps
a few others — ai-e derived from Indian ones
* It is but fair, however, to state that the Bishop of
Colombo (Journ. Ceyl. Asiat. Soc, viii. 114) considers
that the shaping of the Losakd J. (No. 41) has been in-
fluenced by some form of the Odyssey. It is possible, too,
that the Mahosadha J. (Rhys-Davids, p. xiv.) preserved
some form of Solomon's judgment brought to Ophir (Abhira
at the mouth of the Indus) by Phoenician sailors. But
see infra, p. 131.
MR. RUTHERFORD'S VIEWS. 107
similar to, or identical with, those contained
in the Jatakas.
But not all, or nearly all, Greek fables are
so derived, as Mr. Rhys-Davids contends in
the interesting Introduction to his transla-
tion of the first forty Jatakas (Buddhist Birth
Stories, I., Triibner, 1880). For to reach this
conclusion Mr. Rhys- Davids has to make two
assumptions, one of them wrong in point of
fact, the other wrong in point of method,* He
assumes that our " ^sop " is derived from the
Greek prose versions attributed to Planudes,
which he takes to have been brought together
for the first time late in the Middle Ages, after
the Bidpai literature had had time to reach
Greece. We have seen that, on the contrary,
our ^sop is mainly Phsedrus in prose, and
that the Greek prose -5l]sop is for the major
part Babrius in prose. It follows that our
" ^sop " could not have been influenced by
the Bidpai literature, which does not reach
Europe till the eleventh century. The other
assumption is "that a large number of them
* To say nothing of a third equally erroneous assumption
that the Bidpai (in all its branches too) is entirely derive
from the Jatakas.
io8 THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
[^sop's Fables] have been already traced back,
in various ways, to our Buddhist Jataka book,
and that almost the whole of them are pro-
bably derived, in one way or another, from
Indian sources " (I. c. p. xxxv.). The large
number referred to turns out, we have seen,
to be no more than a dozen. Now the Corpus
of Greco- Roman fable amounts to 500 (Phae-
drus 200, Babrius 300), or say 300 themes,
allowing for doublets and pseudo-fables (expan-
sions of proverbs, &c.*). It is probable that
the Jatakas contain as many; of the first 50,
28 are either beast-tales or beast-fables. It
is idle to talk of a body of literature amounting
to 300 numbers being derived from another
running also to 300, when they have only a
dozen items in common. And Mr. Rhys-
Davids' further argument that because some of
the Greek fables can be shown to be derived
from the Jatakas, therefore it is probable that
most of them were so derived, savours somewhat
* On this see some interesting remarks by Mr. Ruther-
ford, h c. xliiL-vii. Of the 148 Piabrius fables contained
in Mr. Rutherford's edition, only 16 occur in Phaedrus, to
which may be added another dozen in the prose derivates
of Phsedrus.
MR. RHYS-DAVIDS' VIEWS. 109
of the Fallacy of the Priest of Neptune.*
' Revere the Deity, my son, and pay his fees,'
said he, ' see the number of votive tablets pre-
' sented by those who vowed them to the god
' and were thereby saved from drowning.' ' But
' where, holy father,' asked the irreverent tar,
' are the votive tablets of those who vowed and
' were not saved ? ' We may grant the Pali
scholars every credit for the dozen votive tablets
erected to the honour of Buddha in the temple
of ^sop, but we must at the same time point
to the 300 places where votive tablets are not.
Of course, if only a few Jatakas were extant,
and among these a considerable proportion
found parallels in Greek fable, Mr. Rhys-
Davids might be justified in assuming that a
similar proportion of parallels would have
occurred in the missing Jatakas. But all the
Jatakas are extant, and we can only allow the
Pali scholars to count the parallels which they
can prove to exist among the Jatakas in
* This fallacy so rife in investigations of this kind has
never received a name. Formally, it is a sub-species of the
Fallacy of Accident {a dicto secundum quid ad dictum sim-
pliciter). It is the method by which statistics may be
made 'to prove anything,' and in that science might be
called the Fallacy of Selection.
no THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
existence. And these, as we have seen, amount
at present to no more than a dozen or so.
As a contrast to the case of the Jatakas, vpe
may consider the Talmudic fables, which are of
interest also in many other connections, as we
shall see. The industry of Jewish scholars*
has only been able to unearth about thirty
fables from the vast expanse of Talmudic and
Midrashic literature. Yet, few in number as
they are, they are of crucial importance critic-
ally. I have little hesitation in saying that
they have given me the clue to the whole
international history of the ancient fable, t
In order to substantiate this somewhat
* Dr. Landsberger in the introduction to his edition of
Die Fdbeln des Sophoi, Dr. Back in a set of papers in
Graetz' 3Ionatsschrift, between 1876 and 1886, and Ham-
burger in his Realencyclopddie des Talmud, s.v. Fahel. I
have myself been able to add seven to the scanty list,
chiefly by a careful scrutiny of Talmudic proverbs, as
given in Dukes' Blumenlese.
t Dr. Landsberger missed the crucial importance of the
Talmudic beast-fables, because (i) he was ignorant of their
Indian analogues except in the five cases where his name
is mentioned, (2) he was occupied in maintaining the
wild thesis of the Jewish origin of Greek fable, i.e. of
the derivation of a body of 300 fables, some of which can
be traced back to the fourth and fifth centuries B.C. from
some 25 to 30 fables, the earliest of which is of the begin-
ning of the second century a.d.
THE TALMUD GIVES THE CLUE, iir
startling assertion, I must analyse somewhat
minutely the whole body of Talmudic fables,
dividing them into five classes as follows :
(i.) Talmudic fables common to the classical
and the earlier strata of Indian fables. We
have already seen this in the cases of The Oxen
(Asses) and Pig (X. Landsb. p. xxxvii.), The
Proitd Jaclml (XIII. Landsb. xlix.), Oak and
Reed (XVI. Landsb. lii.), Camel and Horns
(XVIL), The Ass' Heart (XXL), and The Two
Pets (XXII.), and we shall shortly see that it
applies to Tlie Lion {Wolf) and Crane (I.).
(2.) Talmudic fables found among the classi-
cal ones and likewise in later strata of the
Indian ones. These include The Lean Fox
{Midr. Koh v. 14 Babr. 86 c . Benf. § 19) The
Mouse and Frog (I. iii. Bacher Agada d. Amorder
42), Man and Wood (Ro. III. xiv.), Man and
Two Wives (Re. xvi. Ph. II. ii),* and what is gene-
rally known as the only extant example of the
300 Fox-Fables of R. Meir, The Fox and Lion
* The Jewish references for these two classes will be
found in the Synopsis of Parallels. They are mostly from
the Midrash Rabba or Great Commentary on the Penta-
teuch and Five Rolls. There is a German translation of
this by Dr. A. Wuensche [Bihliotheca Rahhinica, Leipzig,
1880-6).
112 THE ORIENTAL msOP.
(Av. (Ellis) 24 cf. Benf. § 62).* I have, however,
come across another, which affords an extremely
curious variant of the Gellert formula, which
has hitherto escaped notice, though it happens
to be the earliest in existence. It runs as fol-
lows (Pesikta, ed. Buber, p. 79 6) : —
" 2i2Jljcn a man'iS toapsi please t!;e JLorD,
!^e mafecd) ci3fn ftis enemies to be at peace Ijiitl)
!)tm" (Prov. xvi. 7).
R. Meir said : That refers to that do.i,'. Once the
shepherds had milked their flock. While they were
away, a serpent came and licked some. The dog
observed this, and when the shepherds returned to
drink the milk, the hound began to bark at them, as
who should say, ' Diink it not ! ' But they did not
understand him. Then he himself licked some of the
milk and died straightway. They buried him and
erected to him a cairn, and it is called to this day
" The Dog's Grave."
■'o '
This form occurs late in the Bidpai (cf.
Benf., § 202), but is found in Babrius-Gitl. 255
(Halm. 120). I would add that the idea of an
animal (or Buddha in the guise of an animal)
sacrificing his life for others is an essentially
* This is only extant in two late and discordant versions
of the tenth (Hai Gaon) and eleventh (Rashi) centuries
(Hamburger, I. c.)
GELLERT IN THE MIDRASH. 113
Buddhistic one, and occurs frequently in the
Jatakas, notably in the beautiful Jataka of the
Banyan Deer (Fausboll, No. 1 2, tr. Rhys-Davids,
205-10), and still more in the celebrated Susa
Jataka (Fausboll 3i6,tr. Morris, F.-L. J., ii. 336),
in which Indra, in reward of the hare's self-
devotion, places its image on the moon, where
it is to be seen to this day. Every Buddhist
thinks of that type of self-sacrifice whenever
the moon is full.*
(3.) Talmudic fables found in India, but not
amonff the classical ones. These include Bir-d
and Waves (XII.), Head and Tail of Serpent
(XVIII.), Tongue and Members (XVIII. ), Strong,
Stronger, Strongest (XXIII. Landsb. liii.), The
Fox and Fishes (Talm. Beracoth, 6ib, cf. the Baka
Jataka, reprinted in my Bidpai, pp. Iviii.-lxiv.,
and Dr. Back, ap., Graetz' Monatsft., 1880, p.
24), and The Reanimated Lion ( Vajikra rahba, §
* I was asked by a friendly critic in the Daily News
why Buddha should be identified with the Eabbit in the
Uncle Remus stories, the chief of which, The Tar Baby, I
had traced to the Jataka of the Demon with the Matted
Hair (Bidpai, Introd. , pp. xliv. -vi. ). I would account for it
by a reference to the Susa Jataka. I may add that Mr.
Andrew Lang has since found the Tar Baby a step nearer
India in the West Indian Islands (Longman's Mag., Feb.
1889). See also infra, pp. 136-7.
VOL. I. H
114 THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
2 2, cf. Fants. V. 4, Benf. § 204, Landsb. Ixiv.
= SanjivaJca Jdtaka).
(4.) Then come the Talmudic fables to be found
among the Greeks, but not in India. These
are : ' Man's years are those of Horse, Ox, and
Hound' {Midr. Koh. i. 2, Babr. 74,* Landsb.
Iviii.), The Shepherd and Young Wolf {Jalkut,
§ 923, cf. Halm 374 ( = Babrius-Gitl., Lands-
berger, p. Ixii.). To these I would add The
Croio (Serpent) and Pitcher ("A serpent was
seen pouring water in a flask full of wine, so
as to get at the wine," Talm, Ahoda sara, 30a,
cf. Av. XX.); TJie Fir and Bramble (Av. xv,
"Firs are only good to cut down," Shemoth
Rahha, gjh) ; perhaps The Daio in PeacocKs
Feathers (" Crows adorn themselves with their
own as well as others' property," Midr. Est. 2>T,h,
cf. Ro. II. XV.); and The Scorpion and Camel ("A
scorpion was trodden under foot by a camel ; 'I'll
soon reach your head,' said he," Jalk. § 764 ap.,
Dukes' Blum. No. 565, cf. Av. xxiii.).t
* If I had space it -would be interesting to trace the
influence of this on Shakespeare's Seven Ages of Man (As
you like it, II. vii.). Cf. Taylor, Firqe Ahoth., iii, and
Liiw, Lebensalter, 22 and notes.
f The idea of a mouse biting an ox in the apologue of
Avian does not seem very consistent, and looks more like a
misunderstanding.
TALMUDIC FABLES. 115
(5.) Finally, we have the Talmudic fables for
which I have not been able to find either Indian
or classical analogues : Chaff, Straw, and Wheat
(Ber. Bah., § S^)) ^^^ dispute for which of them
the seed has been sown : the winnowing fan
soon decides (cf. Matt. iii. 12) ; The Caged Bird
(Mid): Koh., § 11), who is envied by his free
fellow, possibly a variant of the Munika Jataka ;
The Wolf and Two Hounds who had quarrelled ;
the wolf seizes one, the other goes to his rival's
aid fearing the same fate on the morrow (Si/re,
i. 157): this looks like a variant of The Lion and
Oxen (Av. xiv.) ; The Wolf at the Well (Midr.
rah Esther, § 3), which is covered with a net :
"If I go down," says he, "I am caught; if I
do not, I perish of thirst : " The Cock and Bat
(Talm. Sanh. 986), who sit by one another
awaiting the dawn : says the cock, " I wait
for the daylight for that is my signal ; but
thou ? — the light is thy ruin : " and the grim
Beast-tale of Tlie Fox as Singer {Midr. rah.
Esther iii. i) which, as it is short, we may
give :—
The Lion once gave a feast to the beasts of forest
and field, and spread over them the skins of lions,
wolves, and other wild beasts. After they had eaten
ii6 THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
and drunk they asked : ' Who'll sing us songs ? ' and
looked at the Fox. "Will you join,' said he, 'in
the chorus with me ? " " Yes," they all cried. He
said : —
What he has shown us above
Soon he'll show ua below.
^ We have now before us the whole extent of
the Talmudic Beast-fables,* and it is not diffi-
cult to see how strongly they contrast with
the Greek or Indian collections. Both these
consist of about 300 fables, of which not more
than a score or so can be traced elsewhere,
whereas the Jewish list runs to about thirty,
of which all but six, or perhaps only four, can
be traced either to India or Greece, or both.
It is the obvious inference that the Beast-
fable in Judsea is a borrowed product, and the
only question is from which of the two sources
* I have confined myself strictly to these, and have
therefore omitted The Euphrates and Tigris, The Lie and
Destruction (but of. Babr. 70), and The Sun, Moon, and
Stars before God (and similar "holy" fables, to use Dr.
Back's distinction). Hamburger gives the names of two
fables, The Lion and Fox, and The Cat and Weasel, with
a wrong reference (Ber. rah., § 88), which I cannot check.
I fancy the former is but a doublet, of which there are
many in his list, of The Fox as Singer, and the latter is
a reference to the proverbial saying when enemies join,
" Cat and Weasel are married " (Talm. Sank. losa).
TALMUDIC FABLES FROM INDIA. 117
it has been derived.* All our evidence turns
in favour of India. For where the Gi'eek and
Indian forms of the fables common to the three
differ, the Jewish form agrees with the Indian,
not the Grecian. We have already seen a triad
of instances of this (TJie Belly and Members,
Tlie Two Pots, and The Ass' Heart) ; we may
now find a fourth in the earliest Talmudic fable
that can be dated. This turns out to be our
old friend The Wolf {Lion) and Crane, which
runs thus in the Great Commentary on the
Pentateuch {Ber. Rahha, ad. loc.) : —
[Gen. xxvi. 28. anil toe sain : let rtere lie ctien
noto an oatT) ictijotrt uis.]
In the daj's of R. Joshua ben Chananyahf the
wicked ruler gave permission to rebuild the Temple.
[But the Samaritans plotted against this and arranged
that the condition should be that it should be rebuilt
on a different site, which would destroy its sacro-
sanctity. The Jews on receiving the message met in
* The smalhaess of the total number precludes the
])ossibility of the Jews having had access to more than
one collection.
t " I care not if my lot be as that of Joshua ben
Chananyah ; after, the last destruction he earned his bread
by making needles, but in his youth he had been a singer
on the steps of the Temple, and had a memory of what
was, before the glory departed," says Mordecai in Daniel
Deronda, chap. xl.
ii8 THE ORIENTAL mSOP.
the Vale of Beth Rinion and midst tears and cries
determined to disobey the Emperor's command. R.
Joshua ben Chananyah * was sent to quiet them.] He
Avent to them and told them this fable : A lion had
devoured a beast and a bone thereof stuck in his
throat. He issued the proclamation " Whoever will
come and take out this bone for me, shall receive his
reward." An Egyptian partridge came by, which has
a long beak : it put this into the lion's ja\A's and
pulled out the bone. "Give me my reAvard," it
thereupon said to the lion. "Go," ansAvei'ed he,
"thou canst laugh and say that thou hast gone in
and out of a lion's jaAvs in safety." So too Ave
may rejoice, added the speaker, that Ave have been
received into this nation and shall get out of it in
safety.
Professor Graetz, in an elaborate excursus,
(Geschichte der Juden Bnd. iv., note 14), has
shovrn that the event here referred to took
place in the year 118 A.D., Avhich is accordingly
the date of the earliest Talmudic fable vrhich
can be chronologically fixed, f As a matter of
fact it is probably twenty or thirty years earlier,
* He was called " The man of the golden mean "(Graetz,
Oesch. iv. p. 15). He gave utterance to the noble saying,
" There are saints among the Gentiles, and they too have
a place in Heaven" {Tos. Sank., c. 13, ap. Graetz, Lc.
427). On some piquant passages between him and early
Christians see Giidemann Religions geschl. Studien.
t Dr. Joel fixes the occurrence under Trajan two years
earlier. — Blicke, i. p. 17 seq.
JEWISH WOLF AND CRANE. 119
as we shall see, but the public use of the fable
probably dates from 1 18 A.D., and here again we
see the fable beginning its career in a new home
as a political weapon. But just at present we
may notice how this new example confirms the
three former ones in agreeing with the Indian
form of the fable on the point in which it differs
from the Hellenic, viz., in making the chief
actor a lion instead of a wolf. If R. Joshua
had known of the Grecian form he could
scarcely have avoided using it in a case where
it would have been natural to identify Rome
with a wolf in the significant hint with which
he concluded his harangue. This clinches the
Indian origin of the Talmudic Beast fables,
and it only remains to ask how and by whose
means they came from India to Judaea. I fancy
I have been able to discover even this point by a
careful study of the short and simple annals of
the fable in the Talmud, which run as follows.*
* Hamburger luckily gives liis fables ia chronological
order, though with many doublets and wrong refer-
ences. I may mention that though the bulk of Talmudical
and Midrashic works are anonymous, moat of their con-
tents can be dated, since the authors of the statements
are given in the majority of instances, and modern Jewish
science has established the dates and sequence of these
with tolerable accuracy.
I20 THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
We first hear of Beast-fables in the Tabnud
in connection with R. Jochanan ben Saccai,
who established the schools of Jabne (near
Jaffa) after the destruction of Jerusalem (70
A.D.), and there founded Rabbinical Judaism.
Of him it is said (Talm. Succa, 28a, and
parallel passages), " He did not leave out of
the circle of his studies even the Mishle
Shu'alim (Fox-fables) and the Mishle Kobsim."
The last phrase has puzzled the commentators
and lexicographers greatly ; the nearest they
can get to it is "the fables of the washermen."
For the moment we will reserve the solution
of this mystery. "We next hear of R. Meir *
living in the middle of the second century,
knowing 300 Fox-fables.f Then the history
finishes with the statement of the Mishna
(Sota, ix. 15), "With the death of R. Meir
(c. 190 A.D.) Fabulists ceased to be." Now let
* Two monographs have recently been written on this
teacher : K. Levy, Un Tanah (Paris, 1883), and A. Blumen-
thal, Rahhi Meir (Frankfort, 1888). The latter contains a
chapter on his fables (pp. 97-107). It was he, it will be
observed, who told the Gellert story (supra, p. 112).
t The exact words [Synh., 386) are " R. Meir had (pesh
lo) 300 Fox-Fables." As we have seen, only one is extant,
as indeed was the case in Talmudia times (See W. Bacher,
Agada d. Tanaiten, ii. 7).
MISHLB KOBSIM. 121
us try and interpret these seemingly discon-
nected jottings.
We must first settle what Mishle Kobsim
means. Now there is an uniform Greek tra-
dition that a special class of fables called the
Libyan were collected by a Libyan named
Kybisas, Kybisios, or Kibysses, Diogenian
(p. 180) says, 01 ds KvjSiffav ivoBrriv ysi'scSai rou i'ldovi
rovrov; Theon (ed. Walz., i. p. 17), xai KvfSiaiog
i-/. AtfSuri; fiVTiiMoniiiTCLi utto rnm u; fj.v&oiroi6g* and
Hesychius says of AvjSikoI "Koyoi. Xa,u,aiXsuj <f>r}ai
KifBvvrhv (I. KifSvsihv) i\j^-l\i Toiig Xo'yous TouTOvg (op.
Hartung, Bahrios, p, 1 7 6). Babrius himself in
his second prologue couples him with ^sop : —
irpwTOS de, (pacriv, dire iraLalv 'EWrjvwv
AtauiTTos 6 ao<p6$, elire Kal Ai^varivoLS
A6yovs Ki/3i;<7(T77J.
The first, they say, {who) spoke [fables) to the sons
of the Hellenes was ^sop the wise, and {the first who)
spoke fables to the Libyans (was) Kibysses.
Now the slightest rounding of a corner of a
letter, transforming mem (D) into samech (D),
would change the inexplicable Mishle Kobsim,
* I owe these references to Mr. Rutherford, who, how-
ever, thinks them all due to an eai-ly misreading of
Al^vk6s. This is out-Cobeting Cobet.
122 THE ORIENTAL ^SOP.
" fables of washermen," into Mishle Kuhsis,
"fables of Kybises," * and with the Greek
tradition before us there can be little doubt that
the change is justified, and that the Talmudic
statement gives us evidence of the collection of
Libyan fables by Kybises as late as 80 or
90 A.D., the period of R. Jochanan ben Saccai's
chief activity.
After his time we hear no more of the Mishle
Kybises, as we may now call them, and I think
I can also suggest a reason for this. When
E.. Meir revived the study of fables a century
later, he only knew of a collection of 300 Mishle
Shu'alim (Fox-fables). t Now Crusius has ren-
dered it probable that Babrius in the third cen-
tury merely put into verse a collection of Greek
fables made by Nicostratus in the first half of
the second, and Gitlbauer's edition of Babrius
has rendered it tolerably certain that the total
* Something like this suggestion was made by Roth in
Heidelhcrger Jahrbiicher, i860, p. 55, but in an opposite
direction, explaining Kybisses from Kohsim! It attracted
however no notice from either Talmudic or classical scholars.
Indeed its significance could not be seen till the dependence
of the Talmudic fables on India had been established.
f They are only once more mentioned as being known to
R. Simon bar Kappara [Koh. rah. i. 3), a pupil of R.
Meir's.
MISHLE K UBS IS. 123
number of Babrian versions, and therefore of
Nicostratus' collection, was almost exactly 300.
We can guess, too, from Babrius' statement
given above that Nicostratus merely put to-
gether the collections of Demetrius and of
Kybises, so that all Jewish students of Greek
letters * would find would be Nicostratus' com-
plete collection of 300 fables. And looking
back at the statement which begins the Tal-
mudic history of the fable, we can interpret
more exactly the Mislde Shu'alim which R.
Jochanan ben Saccai studied as well as the
MishJe Kybises. This was in all probability
Demetrius' collection, so that "Fox Fables" is
the Hebrew equivalent for our ^sop's Fables, t
But though R. Jochanan may have known of
the "^sopic " collection, all our evidence goes to
show that he used the other of Kybises exclu-
sively, either because its Oriental tone attracted
* There were many such, though the practice was con-
demned {cf. M. Joel, Blicke I). Of Elisha ben Abujah, the
Faust of the Talmud, and R. Meir's teacher, it is even said
that the words of Homer were never absent from his lips.
t The title recalls Aristophanes' coinage, dXwTreKl^eiv
("to foxify," Vesp. 1240), which, as Mr. Rutherford re-
marks (p. XXXV.), calls up a whole series of adventures in
apologue. Cf. the French proverb, Avec un renard, on
renarde. Mishle Shu'alim was the title given by Ber-
achyah Hanakdan to his collection of fables {infra, p. 168).
124 THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
him, or, as is more likely, because it was the
shorter and better suited for translation. For
Phsedrus' collection, and that of Demetrius, on
which he founds, runs to over two hundred, and
Nicostratus', which includes these and that of
Kybises, only makes three hundred, leaving
under a hundred for the "Libyan" collection.
Now it is a remarkable coincidence that of the
six classic fables found in the Talmvid without
Indian parallels (class 4 above) five are Babriau
and not Phsedrine, or, in other words, from the
Addenda of Nicostratus, i.e., from Kybises.
And the sixth, if it be a reference to the Jay in
Peacocks feathers, is in a form which, as we shall
see (p. 165), indicates a different origin than
Phsedrus. This clinches the matter and enables
us to identify nearly thirty fables (classes i to
4 above) as the " Libyan fables " of Kybises.
A careful comparison between Phaedrus as
we can restore him from his derivates and
Babrius in Gitlbauer's edition would enable us
to restore with some probability the contents
of the lost Fables of Kybises.* I cannot afford
space for such a comparison, but I would
remark that Stainhowel has already done part
* But see the reservation on p. 151.
LIBYAN FABLES. 125
of the work in his ^sop, and therefore in
Caxton's, which we have before us. For after
he had given the Romulus, which contains the
nucleus of Phsedrus-Demetrius, he selected from
Remicius and Avian, which we have seen to be
derived from Babrius, the fables which did not
exist in the Pha;drus. In other words, these
two books of the Caxton represent the Libyan
fables of Kybises just as the first four represent
the ^sopian jests of the ancients.
I suspect that Avian has effected the same
distinctions for us in his collection. In his pre-
face he speaks of having before him both
Phaedrus and Babrius ; yet as a matter of fact
he seems to have conscientiously avoided repeat-
inar in Latin verse the fables that Phaedrus had
already given in Latin verse.* It is probable
therefore that unconsciously to himself he was
really giving for the most part a selection from
the Libyan Fables of Kybises. It is at any
rate remarkable what a large proportion of his
* The only exceptions are Av. 34= Ph. iv. 24, and Av.
37= Ph. iii. 7, in both cases with variations in the dramatis
personcB. In this paragraj^h I refer to the complete Avian
as edited by Mr. Ellis, by Arabic numerals, adding P^oman
numerals in brackets when they also occur in Stainhiiwel's
selection,' and therefore in our Caxton,
126 THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
fables have an Oriental tone. We have already
seen this in the case of Av. 2 (ii.), 5 (iv.), 8
(vii.), 16 (Ro. IV. sx. but not from Phsedrus),
33 (xxiv.), 36, 40 ( = IV., II., XVI., XXII.,
XVIL, VIII., X, XIII.), while 18 (xiv.), 19
(xv.), 24, 27 (sx.), 31 (xxiii.) occur as Talmudic
parallels in classes 2, 4, and 5. Besides this,
The Swallow and Birds (21, cf. Ro. I. xx.) and
The Avaricious and the Envious (22, xvii.) occur
in Cainozoic strata of the Bidpai (Benf. §§ 21,
112), the latter indeed, as we have seen, occur-
ring in Capt. Temple's Wideaivake Stories as a
current Indian folk-tale ; it does not occur in
Babrius or Halm. I may add that The Boy
and Thief (25, xviii. ), is exactly of the type of
Noodle stories found ad nauseam in Indian
story-books (cf. Benf. § 146 and Mr. Olouston's
Book of Noodles), while The Sow and Lord (30)
has again the joke about want of heart (sense)
which we have met with before in The Ass'
Heart (XX.).* Besides these we have two fables
about apes (14, xi. ; 35, xxv.) and one of a
tiger (17, xiii.), which are Indian, not Greek
animals. There are also slight indications in
* But see Mr. Ellis' note on 1. 14, showing that the
Romans used cor in the same way.
LIBYAN FABLES IN AVIAN. 127
the texts of Avian's originals which point to a
"Libyan" or Indian original. In 2 (ii.) the
Tortoise in the Babrius offers treasures of the
Erythrcean Sea for his aerial voyage. The
Babrian original of The Croio and Peacock (15,
xii.) begins Ai/Svaaa ys^avog, and ^lian, in speak-
ing of The Crow and Pitcher (27, xx.), which
does not occur in Babrius or Halm, relates the
anecdote of a Libyan crow. All this seems to
indicate the Libyan (^e., Indian) origin of Avian,
and enables us to identify at least those mentioned
above as Libyan, and not ^sopic, Fables.*
In making such a marked distinction between
JEsopic and Libyan fable, I am but reverting
to one which the ancients themselves em-
phasised throughout their ti-eatment of the
fable, t -5l]schylus prefaces his fable of The
Eagle J with the words —
(LS' effri, /jLvdwv tQv Ai^variKuv /cXeos.
* See the complete list drawn out on p. 153.
t There is a third class termed Sybaritic, Milesian, and
Cyprian, but these refer not to Beast-fables but to broad
jests of the kind that have been always associated with
the fable. See infra, p. 203.
J Represented in English literature by Byron's lines : —
" So the struck eagle, stretch'd upon the plain.
No more through rolling clouds to soar again,
View'd his own feather on the fatal dart,
And wing'd the shaft that quiver'd in his heart."
128 THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
When Aristotle is discussing the use of the
Fable in oratory {Rhetoric, ii. 20) he speaks
of fables "whether of the /Esopic or Libyan
kind." Babrius, as we have seen, speaks in
one breath of yEsop for the Greeks, and
Kibysses for the Libyans. The rhetoricians
kept up this tradition to a very late date. And
even Julian the Apostate, in his interesting
Seventh Oration, devoted to the fable, retains
the distinction. There was thus throughout
Greek literature a conscious recognition that a
certain number of fables were foreign importa-
tions, and these were labelled vaguely as " Lib-
yan," a word that covered all dusky-skinned
races. We are now in a position to interpret
it as " Indian via Egypt." *
We can go even a step further, I think, and
distinguish between two different streams of
*' Libyan " (Indian) influence reaching Hellas.
If we examine the list of ancient Greek fables
given pp. 26-28, we are now able to identify
as "Libyan" The Ass' Heart, by Solon, The
Countryman and Snalce of Theognis, The Eagle
* There is an exact analogy for this kind of nomenclature
in our own name for tlie figures we use. "We call them
" Arabic numerals ; " the Arabs themselves spoke of them
as " Indian signs."
LYBIAN FABLE. 129
lioist with his own Petard of -^schylus, The Trans-
formed Weasel of Strattis, and The Dog and
Shadoiv of Theognis. Now of these only the last
is traceable to a Buddhistic Jataka, and the dif-
ference here is great enough to suggest that it is
from an Indian Beast-fable existing prior to
Buddha, and adopted by him or his followers.
There only remains The Ass in Lion^s Skin, sup-
posed to be referred to by Socrates when he says
{Cratyl. 41 ia), "I must not quake now I have
donned the lion's skin," which may, as Wagener
suggests, only refer to the stage representations
of Bacchus or Hercules, Socrates would scarcely
write himself down an ass, and if the fable were
referred to, the whole point of it, the betrayal
by the bray, is omitted. With this exception «■
then, if it be an exception, the earliest " Lib-
yan " fables are non-Buddhistic. But later on
there is much evidence showing that an infu-
sion of Jatakas came to the Western world.
In Avian (and therefore, if I am right, in the
" Libyan " portion of Babrius) we have The
Ass in Liangs Skin, Tiie Tortoise and Birds,
TJie Goose loith Golden Eggs, and The Proud
Jackal (40) ; in Babrius The Asses and Pig (cf.
Av. 36); and in the Talmud The Lion and
VOL. I. I
I30 THE ORIENTAL JESOP.
Crane, The Bird and Waves, Fox and Fishes,
and Gellert, the Buddhistic character of which
I have shown. All these, on our hypothesis,
come from the Libyan fables of Kybises, and
it becomes therefore probable that that col-
lection was mainly or largely identical with the
Jatakas.
There is another curious piece of evidence
which seems to show that the Jataka stories
reached the Hellenic world. Among the Bud-
dhist Birth-Tales is one (tr. Rhys-Davids, pp.
xiv.-vi.) in which a Yakshini, or female demon,
seizes a child left by its mother for a moment
and claims it as her own. The two claimants
are brought before the future Buddha, who
draws a line on the gi'ound, orders the women
to stand on each side of it and hold the child
between them, one by the legs the other by
the arms. Whichever of the two, he decides,
shall drag the child over the line shall possess
it. They begin hauling, but the infant cries,
and the mother lets her child go rather than
hurt it. Then the future Buddha knows who
is the true mother, gives her the child, and
makes the Yakshini confess her true nature,
and that she had wanted the child to eat it
INDIAN SOLOMON'S JUDGMENT. 131
up. In short, we have the Judgment of Solo-
mon attributed to Buddha. It is not impos-
sible that the two may be connected. If the
incident really occurred in Israel, as is possible,
for it bears the stamp of Oriental * justice,
it would be just the kind of story to be carried
out to Ophir, which we now know to be Abhira
at the mouth of the Indus, whence came the
peacocks, monkeys, and almug trees — all with
Indian names — to bedeck the court of Solo-
mon (i Kings X. 22),
M. Gaidoz, however, in an interesting set of
papers in the variants of Solomon's Judgment '*
(Melusine, 1889), traces the Hebraic from the
Indian form, basing his conclusion on the late
date at which the Book of Kings was redacted,
and I am inclined to agree with him, for the
additional reason that I think it highly probable
that another section of the Bible connected with
Solomon's name is derived from an Indian
* A recent instance occurred in Persia during the absence "^
of the Shah. A farmer complained that a soldier had eaten
his melons without payment. "Which soldier?" asked
the Shah's son, who was dispensing justice. The man was
pointed out and denied it. " Rip him up," said the Per-
sian prince, "and if it is found that he has been eating
melons, you shall be paid, if not, woe betide you." Sure
enough the soldier had been eating melons.
i';2
THE ORIENTAL ^SOP.
source. The following parallels will at least
serve to render this probable : —
Proverbs XXX.
4. Wlio has gone up to heaven
and come down ?
Who has gathered the wind
in his fists ?
Who has bound up the
waters in a garment ?
Who has established all the
ends of the earth ?
What is his name, and
what his son's, if thou
knowest ?
15. The horseleech has three
daughters, t they say
alway, " Give, give."
There are three things
never sated.
Yea, four that never say
" Enough : "
She61 is never sated with
dead.
Nor the womb's gate with
men.
Earth never sated with
water,
And fire says never
"Enough."
Bia Veda and Bidpai.
Who knows or who here can
declare
Whence has sprung— whence
this creation—
From what this creation arose,
Wliether any made it or not?
He who in the highest heaven
is its ruler.
He verily knows, or even he
knows not.
{Rig Veda,x. izg^Muir, Sanslc.
Texts, V. 356.)*
Fire is never sated with fuel,
Nor the streams with the ocean,
Nor the god of death with all
creatures.
Nor the bright-eyed one witii
men.
Pants.,1. str. i53(also3/a/ta6/).
iv. 2227).!
* I owe the reference to Prof. Cheyne, Job, 152.
t From Bickell's reconstruction of the text.
J Prof. Graetz (Gesch. i. 348) notices the closeness of the
parallel which, he agrees, argues borrowing from one side
or the other. He decides for Jewish priority owing to the
late date of the Hitopadesa, being unaware of the other paral-
lels, and that it occurs in the Bidpai and the Mahabbarata.
INDIAN PROVERBS OF AGUR. 133
iS. There be three things too
wonderful fiir me,
Yea, four which I know
not:
19. The way of an eagle in the
air. . . .
The way of a ship through
the sea.
The path of ships across the
sea,
The soaring eagle's flight
Varuua knows.
Ri</ Veda, cf. Muir's Metr
Trans. 160.*
21. Under three things earth
trembles,
And four it cannot bear :
22. Under a servant when
master,
And a fool filled with meat,
23. Under an odious woman
wedded.
And a handmaid heir to
her mistress.
A bad woman wedded,
A friend that's false,
A servant become pert,
A house full of serpents.
Make life nnsupportable.
Hitopadesa, ii. 7 (cf. Pants., I.
str. 472).
It is, to say the least, remarkable that all the
Indian parallels that have been found to the
Old Testament, so far as I am aware, should
occur in this one chapter. The second parallel
again is so close that, as Prof. Graetz admits,
there must have been borrowing on one side or
the other. The arrangement in fours, which is
distinctive of this chapter, is, I may add, a
common Indian literary artifice ; I have counted
no less than thirty instances among the strophes
of the First Book of the Pantschatantra.f
• Quoted as a'coincidence by Prof. Cheyno, 1. c.
t Str, 3, 46, 72, 114, IIS, 140, 141, 144, 153, 171, 172,
180, 18S, 192, 253, 269, 301, 310, 312, 322, 335, 337, 385,
134 THE ORIENTAL ^SOP.
Considering that the chapter is, according to
all critics, of very late origin, and the text
itself attributes a foreign origin to it,* and
that there is plenty of other evidence for
foreign elements in the Old Testament,!
it becomes highly probable that the Proverbs
of Agur were derived from India via Arabia,
and that we must allow for an earlier J as well
as later " Libyan " influence on Hebrews, as
we have seen reason to allow it for Greeks. And
all this confirms the possibility that Solomon's
Judgment is an adaptation of an Indian folk-
tale to the Jewish monarch.
But be all this as it may, we have icouo-
386, 420, 425, 442, 467. Besides there are many triads
(str. 51, 84, 113, 174, 234, 257, 263, 280, 292, 364, 449), in
some cases beginning like " There are three that win earth's
golden crown : the hero, the sage, and the courtier " (str.
51) ; "There are three things for which men wage war:
land, friends, gold " (str. 257).
* " The words of Agur, the son of Jakeh of Massa," i.e.,
an Arabian {cf. R.V. margin).
f There are Sanskrit words in Kings, Greek words in
Daniel, Arabisms in Job, the scapegoat (Azazel) is a Persian
importation, and Mr. Tyler has sought to prove with
some plausibility traces of Epicureanism and Stoicism in
Ecclesiastes.
+ The Tico Pots occur in Ecdus. xiii. 20 ; the reference
to the Persian King in The Tovgue and Members (supra,
p. 85) seems to imijly that it did not come from the Mishle
Kybsis.
SOLOMON'S JUDGMENT AT POMPEII. 135
graphic evidence of an interesting kind, that
the Judsrment became known to the Greeks and
Romans. By a remarkable coincidence, two
ancient representations of the Judgment were
found within two years. One brought to light
by M. Longperier in 1880 was engraved on an
agate that could be traced back to Bagdad via
Bucharest ; its age cannot, however, be decided
with any great accuracy. But the other was
found at Pompeii, and cannot, therefoi'e, be
later than 79 a.d. M. H. Gaidoz, who has
figured the two in Melusine for 1889, comes to
the conclusion that the Roman version is not
derived from a Jewish or Christian source.*
If so, it must have come from the Jatakas, and
as we have seen other Jatakas which came to
the Hellenic world in all probability in the
collection of Kybises, this, too, may have been
among them. I have found a slight piece of
evidence from Rabbinic sources, which confirms
this conclusion. The great difference between
the Jewish and the Indian form of the story
* He leaves out of account, however, the fact that both
representations have the bisection test as in the Jewish, and
not the hauling, as in the Indian form. It is possible, how-
ever, that the latter is a tender Buddhistic softening of the
original Indian folk-tale preserved in the Jewish legend.
136 THE ORIENTAL .ESOP.
is that in the latter the non-mother is a Eishi
or demon. In commenting on the storj, E.ab,
a teacher of the third century, declares that the
mother's opponent was a demon (cf. Jellinek,
Beth Hamidrash vi. p. xxxi.). Have we here
another trace of the Mishle Kuhsis? If so,
it would be a further point towards the Bud-
dhistic tone of Kybises' " Lybian Fables."
After all, it should not surprise us to find
evidence of Buddhistic influence percolating
into the Greco-Roman world. A movement
which disturbs to its depths a whole ocean of
human feeling will naturally radiate its influ-
ence, if only in ripples, to all parts in con-
tinuity with it. Perhaps the most remarkable
instance of the insidious spread of Buddhistic
tales is that I have already called attention to
among the Negroes of the Southern States.* In
Uncle Remus I pointed out the identification of
the central story of the collection, The Tar-
Bahy with the Jataka of the Dernon ivith the
Matted Hair, and the situation is so remark-
able and the resemblance so striking that the
identification seems to have been generally
accepted. Yet this would seem to identify
* Introd. to Bidpai, pp. xliv.-vi., cf. supra, p. 113 n.
BRER RABBIT'S FOOT. 137
Brer Rabbit, the hero of the collection, with
Buddha himself. I have found a remarkable
corroboration of this incarnation in Mr. Harris'
sequel. Nights icith Uncle Remus, which appeared
this year. Not to speak of several close paral-
lelisms with Indian * Tales, there is one whole
chapter (xxx.) devoted to Brer Babbit and his
famous Foot, its mystical and magical virtues
as a fetish. I need scarcely remind the reader
of the enormous development of the worship
of Buddha's Foot in later Buddhism, and
there can be little doubt that the South
Carolina negroes still retain a " survival " of
this, t And if Buddhistic influences have thus
spread from India through Africa to America,
we can more easily understand the shorter and
quicker transit from India to Egypt or Rome.
There are certain indications apart from our
Lybian Fables which speak for a spread of
Buddhistic thought in the Greek-speaking
* Some of these are allied to our FabuIcE Extravagantes.
See Parallels Ex. V. iii. iv. xvi. "We can trace the first of
these in Africa (Bleak, Eeineke Fuchs in Africa, p. 23).
t But compare Black, Folk-Medicine, 154, for something
similar in Northamptonshire. Mr. Clodd has a biblio-
graphical note on "The Hare in African Folk-Lore" in
F.-L.J. vii. 23.
138 THE ORIENTAL ^SOP.
world. There is much in Pythagoreanism in
the later stages leading on to ISTeo-Pythagorean-
ism which has affinity with the Buddhistic
system (of. Zeller, Pldl d. Griech. iii. h. 67).
There is much too in the mysterious sect of the
Essenes, their monastic organisation, celibacy,
vegetarianism, and abstinence from wine,
which smacks of Buddhistic influence.* Again,
the degradation in the status of women due to
early Christianity, to which Dr. Donaldson has
recently called attention [Contemp. Rev. Sept.
1889), is neither Jewish nor properly Christian,
i.e., personal to Christ, but is distinctively and
characteristically Buddhistic. All these chime
in with our Fables in making for some incur-
sion of Buddhistic ideas in the Greek-speaking
world about the beginning of the Christian
era.
This makes it of some theological importance
to determine the date of the introduction of
the Fables of Kybises. For this purpose it
will be necessary to examine somewhat closely
* This is, however, denied by Bishop Lightfoot (Colos-
sians, 395) as part of a general apologetic argument against
writers like Hilgenfeld, who go too far in attempting to
prove derivation from Buddhism instead of mere influence
by it.
BUDDHISM IN HELLENISM. 139
the Oriental portions of Phsedrus on similar
lines to those we adopted in dealing with Avian.
We may as well deal with all Phsedrus that is
extant (82 of the Vulgate, 30 of the Api^endix,
and 54 additional in the Romulus, Rufus, and
Ademar, 166 in all), so as to complete a pro-
visional determination of the Indian elements
in Latin Fable.* We have seen above reason
to include in these Ph. I. i. (V.), iii. (XI.), iv.
(III.), viii. (I.), xiii. (YII.), xx. (XII). III. xviii.
(XI. ), xix. (XV)., lY. xxiii. (XXIII.), V. iii. (VI.),
iv. (X.), and in the mediaeval prose versions
Ro. I. xiv. (IV.), xxiii. (XIX.), II. X. (XXI.),
and The Fox, Gat and Z)o,7,t (XIV), Ruf.
V. ix. (XXIII.). Besides this their presence
in the Talmud vouches for the Oriental origin
of Ph. 11. ii., Ro. I. iii.. III. xiv.+ Then there
are a number in which occur Indian animals —
* The reader will do well here also to compare the
Table on p. 153.
t In the Romulus used by Stainhowel this was IV. 18,
as we know from his table of contents. He transferred it
to the end of the book after his selection from Poggio ;
hence with us it is Tog. vii.
X It is just possible that these may be a survival of the
Mishle Shu'alim, which we saw reason to identify with
.^sop's Fables pure and simple, that is, Demetrius' collec-
tion, the original of Phiedrus. Cf. supra, p. 123.
I40 THE ORIENTAL mSOP.
ape (Ph. I. X., III. iv., App. i., Ro, IV. viii.,
Adem. 8),* peacock (Ph. I. iii , III. sviii. ),
crocodile (Ph. I. xxv.), and panther (Ph. III.
ii). We may add to these four others which
occur in later Oriental sources, and at the same
time do not occur in the mediaeval collection of
Marie de France, f These are Tlie Fox and
Stork (Ph. I. xxvi., Ro. II. xiii.), Fox and
Grapes (Ph. lY. iii., Ro. lY. i.). Bat, Birds,
and Beasts (Ro. III. iv.), and Fox and Wolf
Ro. III. vi.). Finally we may add a group of
tales which are not Beast-Fables at all, but
which are found in the East ; their presence
among the Phaedrine Fables can scarcely indeed
be explained, except on the theory that they
were in the Oriental book whence his Indian
Fables were taken. These are TJte Man and
Two Wives (Ph. II. ii., Re. xvi.), Androclus (Ro.
III. i.), The Ephesian Widow (Eo. III. ix.), and
Mercurij and the Two Women (App. 3). The
last is a variant of The Three Wishes, on which
* At tlie siime time it is •worth remembering that one of
the earliest Greek fables, that of Archilochua, has au Ape
for a hero {supra, p. 26).
t The reader will learn the reason for this restriction
later. It did not apply to Avian, owing to the general
probability of the majority of his collection being Oriental.
INDIAN ELEMENTS IN PHJEDRUS. 141
Mr. Andrew Lang has a learned and chatty
but somewhat inconclusive monograph in his
Perrault, xlii.-li. The Phsedrine form, though
the earliest, is not mentioned by Mr. Lang,
and we may therefore give it in outline. Two
women entertain Mercury unawares and rather
shabbily, one a young mother with a baby in
the cradle, the other a lady of the same profession
as ^sop's fellow-slave, Rhodopis, On leaving
the deity manifests himself, and grants them
each a wish. TTie mother wishes that she may
see her first-born when he has a beard, the
other that whatever she touches may follow
her. Soon the mother finds her cradled babe
embellished with a beard, while her friend in
raising her hand to wipe away the tears her
laughter had produced, finds her nose following
her hand, and on this effective situation the
scene closes. We shall see later on a further
stage of this story.
Let us now compare this analysis of the
Oriental elements of Phagdrus with our former
one of Avian. In the first place the number
of these elements, though seemingly greater, is
proportionably less. "We found reason for
tracing to the East some 20 of Avian's 42
142 THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
fables, whereas the i66 extant fables of
Phfedrus, almost exactly four times as many,
yield us only 36 parallels, some fifth against
Avian's half. Then again, the proportion of
the parallels which we have included on general
and therefore very precarious grounds, is very
large, 12 out of the 36. The paralleKsms too are
not so close as in the case of Avian {e.g., Tlie
Ass in LiorCs Slcin, OaJc and Reed, Camel
asking for Horns). Even where the action is
similar, the dramatis persons vary; the ele-
phant becomes a lion (XIX.), the Hon a wolf
(I.), dogs take the place of crows (XII.), the
mouse-maiden becomes a vixen (XXIII.). The
analogies with the Talmud which, we saw reason
to think, preserves the Kybissean Fables with
greatest accuracy, are few and far between.
Altogether the Phasdrine analogies strike one
as fainter echoes of the Lybian fables than the
Talmudic or Avianian forms, for which we
have a certain amount of warrant that they
came from the collection associated with the
name of Kybises. To sum up, so far as we
can draw conclusions from such uncertain mate-
rials, it seems tolerably certain that Phsedrus
was xinacquainted with the Kybissean fables.
NOT FROM KYBISES. 143
and that his Oriental elements represent the
earlier stratum of Lybian fables current among
the Greeks. Indeed, we know this to be the
case with Tlie Countryman and Snake, The Dog
and Shadow, and The Vixen-Maiden (see p. 28).
Altogether, our former conclusion that Phasdrus
merely translated Demetrius, receives further
confirmation from our examination of his Ori-
ental elements.* If we are to seek for a definite
source for Phsedrus' Oriental elements, the only
hint I can find is in his lines (III. ProL 52) —
si Phryx jEsopus potuit, si Anacharsis Scytha
reternam famam condere ingenio suo
where Anacharsis " the Scythian," almost as
vague a term as Lybian, is coupled with ^sop,
just as Babrius, 200 years later, couples Kybises
with him. Bvit I can find no other record of a
tradition connecting Anacharsis with the his-
* The reader will have observed that throughout this in-
vestigation I am assuming that neither Phsedrus, Babrius,
nor Avian made any original contribution to the Fable. I
think this is justified, (i) because they were chiefly occu-
pied with translating and versifying, (2) we can trace every
one of the 241 fables of Lafontaine, who had more original
genius than all three together, (3) what they did add was
by way of anecdote, not of fable {e.g., Ph. I. xiv., II. v.,
III. xi. ; A2ip. viii. ; Avian, 10). Cf. Riese, p. iv.''.
144 THE ORIENTAL mSOP.
tory of the fable, and for the present we may
content ourselves with the negative statement
that Phsedrus' Oriental fables were not derived
from the collection associated with the name of
Kybises.
What follows ? This at least that we are able
to fix the introduction of the Fables of Kybises
within a very few years. Phsedrus was writ-
ing after the fall of Sejanus (a.d. 31), and
R. Jochanan b. Saccai was studying the Fables
of Kybises about 80 a.d. They must therefore
have been introduced in the intervening half
century. If so, we can give a pretty shrewd
guess as to the conduit-pipe by which they
reached the western world.* About the year
50 A.D. a freedman of Annius Plocanus, sailing
in the Er}i;hraean Sea, was caught by the
monsoon, and carried out to Hipporus, a port
of Ceylon, one of the many claimants for
identification with Solomon's Ophir. Here he
was taken captive, but was kindly treated, and
learnt the language. His accounts of the great-
* Mr. O. Priaulx collected all that is known, or can
be conjectured, about the direct communications between
India and Rome, from Augustus to Justinian, in bis
Indian Travels of Apollonius, &c. (Lond. 1873). I take my
facts from him, pp. 91-8.
KYBISES FROM CEYLON. 145
ness of Rome impressed the King, Chandra Muka
Siwa (152 A.D.), so much, that he determined to
send an embassy thither. Accordingly he sent
one Rachias, probably a Prince Royal (Ragan),
and thi'ee other nobles, who, accompanied by
Plocanus' fi-eedman, reached Rome in safety,
and interviewed the Emperor Claudius (t 54
A.D.) It was from them that Pliny obtained his
account of Taprobane (Ceylon), and there can
be little doubt that it was from one of them,
or their retinue, that the Fables of Kybises
were procured. We could not desire a more
appropriate origin than Ceylon for a collection
of tales i-elated to the Jatakas, which have
themselves come from Ceylon in these later days.
I say, "related to the Jatakas," for it now
seems time to point out that the Fables of
Kybises, or the forty or so of them that we can
identify in the Talmud and Avian, could not
have been any edition of the Jatakas. For
only about a dozen of those forty can be iden-
tified with Jatakas (or, at least, with those
accessible in translations). Besides this, it is
difficult to see how any form of the Jatakas
could become connected with a name like that
of Kybises. What we want is a collection of
VOL. I. K
146 THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
fables connected with some such name, and
containing others besides those contained in
the Jatakas. I may add that a similai- collec-
tion is also required to explain the existence
of Jataka elements in the Bidpai. A careful
scrutiny of the Jatakas has, I think, put me
on the track of what we want. " Quand on
cite," says M. Leon Feer, one of the greatest
authorities on the Jatakas, "quand le Jataka
pali cite un Buddha, c'est ordinairement Kag-
yapa, le pred^cesseur de Qakyamuni " {Journ.
Asiat., 8® s^rie, t. iv. p. 308). Kasyapa was the
twenty-seventh of the twenty- seven Buddhas
that had preceded Sakyamuni, was therefore the
latest and the one most likely to have some his-
torical reahty. Of him it is said {Nidandliathd,
str. 246, tr, Rhys-Davids, p. 5 1), " The birthplace
of the Blessed One was called Benares, Brah-
madatta the Brahman was his father, . . . and
the Nigrodha-tree his Bo-tree. His body was
twenty cubits high, and his age was twenty
thousand years." Now it is a remarkable cir-
cumstance that all the Jatakas I have seen,
which have analogy with classical or Talmudic
fables, are ushered in as regards the " Story of
the Past " by the words, " Once on a time
ITIAHASA KASYAPA. 147
when Brahmadatta was reigning in Benares."
Of the fifty- six Jatakas contained in Mr. Rhys-
Davids' book, and in the Jour. Ceyl. Asiat. Soc,
viii., no less than thirty-seven thus begin, twenty-
four of which are beast-fables.* It looks very
much like as if these (with possibly others)
existed in a separate collection under some such
title as Itiahdsa Kdsyapa, " thus spake Kas-
yapa," and that the Buddhist compiler had
calmly appropriated them on the plea that the
said sage was merely one of the previous incar-
nations of the Buddha, t Now, from the way
in which Babrius speaks of Kybises, it is clear
that he was regarded as the father of the
Lybian fable, just as -^sop was of the purely
Greek fable. It does not seem too hazardous
to identify the Lybian sage Kybises of the
Greeks with the Indian sage Kasyapa, from
whom the Buddhists took the majority of their
fables, on the plea that he was a pre-incarna-
* There are a couple of examples, supra I. aud X. The
painstaking M. Peer, I observe, has counted 372 instances
out of the 547 .Jatakas where Benares is the locality of the
Story of the Past (J A. 1873, p. 547).
t It is as if the later Pythagoreans had assumed that
the soul of yEsop had transmigrated into that of Pytha-
goras, and incorporated our fables in the Pythagorean
scriptures, if there had been any.
148 THE ORIENTAL mSOP.
tion of Buddha. If I were a German privat
docent I might perhaps go a step further and,
i-emarking that K is sometimes dropped in
Aryan roots * especially when they are loan-
words,+ I might suggest that Kasyapa and
the un-Greek Ahuroi are not unrelated. But
just at present we have perhaps balanced enough
of theory on the comer of a letter in the Talmud,
and I will therefore make the suggestion a pre-
sent to any young German scholar who desires
to be " extraordinary."
All this evidence renders it worth while
considering a suggestion which I already made
O in the Introduction to Bidpai (p. xlviii.) on d,
priori grounds. The fable is a species of the
4^ Allegory | and it seems absurd to give your
Allegory, and then give in addition the truth
which you wish to convey. Either your fable
makes its point or it does not 1 If it does, you
need not repeat your point : if it does not,
you need not give your fable. To add your
point is practically to confess the fear that your
* The Latin amor is from V KAM, our it from V KI.
t Our ape (Germ. Affe) is from the Sanskt. Kapi, the
word from which the Heb. Koph is also derived ( i Kings
X. 22).
X The morals of fables are called 'A\\r]y6piaL in Eomaic.
MORALS OF FABLES. 149
fable has not put it with sufficient force.*
Yet this is practically what the Moral does,
which has now become part and parcel of a Fable.
It was not always so, it does not occur in the
ancient classical fables. That it is not an organic
part of the fable is shown by the curious fact that
go many morals miss the point of the fables, f
How then did this artificial product come to be
regarded as an essential part of the fable ?
Now, we have seen in the Jatakas, what an
important rule is played by the gdthas or moral
verses which sum up the whole teaching of the
Jatakas. In most cases I have been able to
give the pith of the Birth-stories by merely
giving the gathas, which are besides the only
relics which are now left to us of the original
form of the Jcitakas. Is it too bold to susfcest
that any set of fables taken from the Jatakas or
their source would adopt the gdtha feature, and
* This is the weakness of George Eliot's art, especially in
her later manner.
t I am afraid I must report that Mr. Walter Crane has
very bad morals, at least in his Baby's Own jEsop. " Small
causes may produce great results " is his comment on Tlie
Lionandthe Mouse; "Our friend, our enemy," his enig-
matic explanation of The Two Pots ; " Watch on all sides,"
his summary of The Blind Doe, rather cruel advice to a
one-eyed animal.
ISO THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
that the Moral would naturally arise in this way ?
We find the Moral fully developed in Babrius *
and Avian, whom we have seen strong reason
g for connecting with Kybises' Lib3'an fables.
We may conclude the series of conjectures on
which we have been engaged for the past few
pages, by suggesting that the Morals of fables
_. are an imitation of the gdthas of Jatakas as they
passed into the Libyan collection of Kybises.
Meanwhile let us estimate how far our discove-
ries, if discoveries they are, will aid us in the
specific task on which we are engaged in this sec-
tion, to determine which of the Oriental LXX.
of our collection {supra, p. 44) can be traced
back to India. Theoretically, on the lines laid
down above, every additional fable in Babrius
or his derivates that cannot be traced to Phse-
drus should come from the " Libyan " collec-
tion of Kybises. But we do not know the full
contents of Phsedrus, though we can calculate
its extent tolerably accurately at 200 mem-
* I am aware that Mr. Rutherford rejects all the morals
of Babrius on account of their ineptitude. It is the chief
weakness of the school of Cobet to obelise passages ou
subjective grounds. It is obviously more difficult to point
a moral than adorn a tale, and we ought to expect a falling
otf in the moral.
INDIAN ELEMENTS. 151
bers.* Of these we are ignorant of the sub-
jects of some fifty numbers, and we cannot
tell of any Babrian fable that it was not among
these. Besides which we cannot be certain
that the collection of Kybises was not inter-
polated at Alexandria as we know that of
Demetrius to have been. Altogether we can
only be absolutely certain of the Indian origin of
any of the exclusively Babrian fables when we
can give chapter and verse for its actual exist-
ence in India, and as a rule I should require
chapter and verse of a date anterior to the
Christian era. I think, however, we may
waive this requirement in the case of fables
which can only be found late in India, but
are found in the Talmud (our second class
supra, p. Ill), or even those that are found
only in the Talmud (class 4). Besides these,
however, there are a certain number of fables
that through glaring inconsistencies, or their
famiHar reference to Indian animals, argue an
* This calculation is M. Gaston Paris' {Journ. des Satmnts).
We can trace 57 of the prose versions among 127 of the
extant metrical ones ; therefore the remaining 39 which
cannot be so traced will allow for some 87 additional
metrical fables no longer extant, the subjects of 48 of which
are therefore no longer to be ascertained.
152 THE ORIENTAL MSOP.
Indian origin when taken in conjunction with
the rest. Altogether we have been able to make
a provisional determination of the Oriental ele-
ments in Latin fable, and have summed up our
results on the next page in such a way as to
indicate the amount of evidence for each.* Out
of the 208 fables composing it (166 Phsedrus,
42 Avian) 56 are there traced with more or
less plausibility to India, and of these 45 occur
in our Caxton, but only 25 out of the Oriental
LXX. which formed the starting point of our
inquiry {supra, p. 44).
Of the remaining forty-five for which we
have Oriental parallels, which are either slight
or late, we cannot in any specific case be cer-
tain of an Indian origin, as they may have got
to India by the mediation of Islam, which had
contact with both the Hellenic and the Indian
world. t As soon as the Prophet's creed had
* I must reserve the more intricate and delicate task of
determining the Indian elements in Greek fable for another
occasion. The Caxton and the European iEsop generally
is more directly derived from Latin than from Greek fable.
t I must confess I do not see much evidence for an earlier
and direct influence of Hellenic on Indian fable, on which
Weber and Benfey lay so much stress. See, however, Sir
W. Hunter's Indian Empire, c. vi. for Greek influence on
North-West Indian art.
INDIAN ELEMENTS IN LATIN FABLE.
PHiEDRUS (c/. pp. 139-40).
I. i. Woll and Lamb (Ro. i.
2, V.) *
iii. Jay in Peacock's Feathers
(ii. 15, XL)
iv. Dog and Shadow (i. 5, III.)
V. Lion's Share (i. 6)
viii. Wolf and Crane (i. 8,
I., T.)
v. Wolf, Fox and Ape (ii. iS)
xi. Ass and Lion hnnting(iv. 10)
xiii. Fox and Crow(i. 16, VII.)
.\x. Dogs and Hide (XII.)
XXV. Dogs and Crocodile.
xxvi. Fox and Stork (ii. 13, Be.)
II. ii. Man and Two Wives
(Be. xvi. T.)
III. Ii. Panther and Shepherds
(iv. 5)
iv. Butcher and Ape.
xviii. Juno and Peacock (iv. 4,
XL)
xix. Countryman and Snake
(i. 10, XV.)
IV. iii. Fox and Grapes (iv.
I, Be.)
xxiii. Mountain in labour (ii.
5, XXIII.)
V. iii. Bald man and Fly (ii. 11,
VL)
iv. Ass and suckling Pig (X.)
Appendix.
App. I. Ape and Fox (iii. 17)
3. Mercury and Two
Women (Be.)
13. Ephesian Widow (iii.
9, T. ?)
Romulug.
Ro. i. 3. Rat and Frog (Be, T.)
14. Eagle and Raven (IV.)
23. Lion and Mouse
(XIX.)
Ro. ii. 10. Countryman and
Snake (XX.)
iii. I. Androclus (Be.)
4. Bat,Birds,Beasts(Bc.)
6. Fox and Wolf (Be.)
14. Man, Axe, and Wood
(Be, T.)
iv. 8. King of Apes.
(18.) Cat, Fox, and Dog
(Pog. vii. XIV.)
Ru/us.
v.g.Vixen-Maiden(XXIII).
Ademar.
8. Snail and She-Ape.
AVIAN (c/. p. 126).
2. Tortoise and Eagle (ii. IV.)
5. Ass in Lion's Skin (iv. II.)
8. Camel asking for Horns
(vii. XVIL, T.)
II. Two Pots (ix. XXII. T.)
14. Ape-mother (xi.)
15. Crane and Peacock(xii. XI.)
1 5. Oak and Reed (Ro. iv. 20,
XVI., T.)
17. Hunter and Tiger (xiii.)
iS. Four Oxen and Lion (xiv.
T. ?)
19. Fir and Bramble (xv. T.)
21. Swallow and Birds (Ro. i.
lo. Be. T.)
22. Avaricious and Envious
(xvii. Be.)
24. Hunter and Lion (Be. T.)
25. Boy and Thief (xviii.)
27. Crow and Pitcher (xx. T.)
30. Sow and Lord (XXI. T.)
31. Mouse and Ox (xxiii. T.)
33. Goose with Golden Eggs
(xxiv., VIIL)
35. Ape and Twins (xxv.)
30. Ox and Heifer (X. T.)
40. Leopard and Fox (XIII. T.)
* References in brackets are to the corresponding f:ihlps in Caxton ; tlie
large Roman numerals .and letters to the Indian and T;diiindic, eviilence
fvpra, pp. 51-116. I. -XIV. Jakatas ; XV.-XVIII. MaliMljliarata ; XIX.-XXIII.
bidpai i Be. additions to Bidpiii ; T. Talmud aud Midrasli.
t
154 THE ORIENTAL AiSOP.
been spread from India to Spain, the con-
querors laid down the sword and took up the
pen. In search of models they turned to
Greece, and chiefly by means of Syrians had
the literary treasures of Hellas made accessible
to them in Arabic versions of Syriac transla-
tions of the chief Greek authors in science and
philosophy. Was ^sop also included among
these ? That is the question we must set our-
selves to answer as we turn our backs on India
and cry. Westward Ho !
Earlier investigators into the history of the
^sopic Fable were led off the trail for a while
by a collection of Arabic fables, mostly identi-
cal with the ^sopic, and attributed to the sage
Loqman, who gives a title to a Sura of the
Koran (S. 31 of the vulgate, 82 of Noldeke-
Rodwell).* We now know that the fables are
late, and derived from the Greek. Dr. Lands-
* Sir R. F. Burton has collected the Arabic learninor on
Loqman in his Nights (Lady Burton's edition, vi. p. 260).
M. Derenbonrg in the Preface to his edition (Berlin, 1858)
gives reasons for considering him a doublet of Balaam, and
the book attributed to him as the work of a Christian of
the thirteenth century. The identification, I may add, is
rendered certain by Petrus Alphonsus (ii. 7), " Balaam
qui lingua Arabica vocatur Lucaniam," which Schmidt
did not understand, but is clearly a misreading for
" Lucman. "
LOQMAN—SOPHOS—SYNTIPAS. 155
berger, some thirty years ago, unearthed a
series of sixty-seven fables in Syriac,* which
had clearly intimate relation with our Loqman,
since thirty-nine out of the forty-one Arabic
fables are identical with the Syriac. Dr. Lands-
berger attempted to found upon them an utterly
untenable theory of the Judaic origin of the
Beast-Fable (Die Faheln des Soplios, 1859), but
critical investigation showed that they were
a late translation from the Greek, f Indeed
fifty-one of the fables are identical with that
number out of a collection of sixty-two Greek
fables attributed to a Persian sage, Syntipas,
and published by Matthai a Moscow pro-
fessor at the end of last century (1781). This
collection has never yet been adequately ex-
amined so as to definitely settle its provenance.X
It is probable enough that some of the fables
of Syntipas are Oriental ones that had perco-
* Or rather Judfeo-Syriac, since they were found written
in Hebrew characters and were printed first as Chaldaic
(Chofes Matmonim, 1844).
t The late Prof. Wright dates them as the eleventh
century (art. " Syriac" in Ency. Brit.), and mentions that
the name Sophos is found as Isophos and Josephus in other
MSS. , showing its identity with JSsop.
J Eberhard gives an edition of the text in his Fabulce
iircEccB romanenses I. (Teubner, 1876).
156 THE ORIENTAL AiSOP.
lated into the Lower Greek Empire. But the
majority are a redressing of the ordinary ^sop
(i.e. of Babrius), and the eighty fables con-
tained in the Syntipas-Sophos-Loqman* can-
not be used as independent witnesses for the
Oriental origin of any of our fables, while the
Loqman collection may account for the presence
in India of certain of ^sop's fables at a late
date.
I have, however, come across traces of
another Arabic vEsop, which would probably
account for even more, as it is four times as
large as the Loqman. In the India Office
Library there is, or was, a Karshunic MS.
(Loth. Cat. Arab. MSS. India Off., 1049), ^•^•>
Arabic written in Syriac characters, con-
taining no less than 164 fables. The char-
acter in which it is written implies that the
Arabic fables were translated from the Syriac,
the ordinary course from the Greek, and the
large number of fables proves that it is diffe-
rent from the collection associated with the
* I have not gone minutely into the matter, but I fancy
that the Armenian fabulist Vartan derives from the same
source. It is possible too, I think, that the tetrastichs of
Ignatius (supra, p. 24) were derived from a selection from
Babrius, which was the parent of the whole school.
LARGER ARABIC MSOP. 157
name of Loqman. Unfortunately the MS. has
been mislaid, and I cannot therefore use it for
the purposes of the present inquiry.* There
is, howevei-, other evidence of an Arabic iEsop
larger than the Loqman. In the Bibliothfeque
Rationale at Paris there is a collection of 144
'• Fables of ^sop " in Arabic (MS. Arabe Suppt.
1644).! Altogether there is strong evidence
of a large body of ^sopic fables derived from
the Greek passing current in the Arabic-speak-
ing world, and so reaching India and affoi'd-
ing the late parallels occurring in the Cainozoic
stratum of the Bidpai and in the later sources
(supra, pp. 49, 51). Till we arrive at earlier
evidence, these cannot be used as proving the
* Of course I may be mistaking an {(jiiotum pro viagnifico
in attributing so much importance to this MS. But the
mere chance of its crucial importance for the mediasval
history of the Fable should cause it to be diligently searched
for. Survivals of the Syriac original may exist in Eodiger's
direst. Syriaca, 1870.
t See Appendix, which I owe to my friend Dr. R. Gottheil,
who kindly undertook to search for an Arabic ^sop among
the Oriental collections he was visiting in Europe. There are
also fables, he informs us, in MSS. suppt. 1647, 1739, and
2197. He refers me likewise to Pertsch, Catalogue of the
Gotha Oriental MSS. IV. 447, which is not accessible to me.
We clearly need an article on the Arabic .^Esop similar to
that of Dr. Klamroth's " Ueber den arabischen Euclid,"
ZDMG., 1881, 270-326.
Q
158 MSOP IN ENGLAND.
Oriental origin of any of the Greco-Roman
fables, which are probably their parents or
cousins rather than their children.
But though the larger Arabic ^sop of which
I have found traces cannot throw light on the
iEsop of antiquity it may serve to elucidate, as
we shall soon see, cei'tain obscure points in the
5 mediseval ^sop. For besides the fables current
in antiquity we find in the mediseval collections
a set which cannot be traced back to the Greco-
Roman world. For their peculiarities we have
to take a sudden leap from Arabia to England,
and henceforth study
lY. ^SOP IN ENGLAND.
l^sopct apcUms cc Kvrc
®uil travcilla c fist cscrire
E>c C5riu en %atin Ic tuvna.
%i rcia ■Hlvrc5 qui mult I'ama
%c tianslata puis en engleis
E jo I'ai rim^ en fcanceis.
— Marie de France, Fables, Epil. vv. 13-18.
^> The formula with which we started these
investigations was, " Our ^sop is Phaidrus
with trimmings." We have now seen the
nature and source of some of these accessories.
The sixth and seventh sections of the Gaston
connected with the names of Remicius and
COMET FABLES. 159
Avian have turned out to be ultimately derived
from Babrius, and we have seen reason to
trace them further back to the " Lybian " fables
of Kybises. There still remains the fifth book
of our collection to be accounted for — the Comet
Fables, Fabtdce extravag mites, as Stainhowel
called them. These differ much in character
and style from those we have previously been
considering. They are much longer, to begin
with ; they are filled with elaborate conversa-
tions between the beasts. Again, though cus-
tom has attached a moral to them, they do not
seem primarily intended to point one. They
belong rather to the Beast-Tale or Beast-Satire '-^
than to the Beast- Fable proper. Their nearest
analogue in literature is the so-called Beast- C
Epic of Reynard the Fox. This diversity in
style by itself argues a difference of origin for
this part of our collection. They represent, we
may say at once, the mediaeval additions to
/Flsop which are associated with the name of
Marie de France.
This lady is one of the most striking figures
in Middle English literature. Her linguistic
ability would by itself stamp her as no ordi-
nary figure. All three works of her are trans-
r
1 60 yESOP IN ENGLAND.
O lations into French of the Anglo-Norman dia-
lect. One is fi'om a Latin account of The
Purgatory of St. Patriclc. Another is a version
of some Breton Lais, some of the weirdest
things in mediaeval literature.* Her third and
« most extensive work is a collection of 103 (106)
Fables, which she declares she translated from
the English of King Alfred, in the lines I have
quoted at the head of this section.! Let us first
examine into the truth of this statement.
We cannot do better than put ourselves in
the hands of Herr Mall, who has concentrated
his energies on Marie de France for the last
quarter of a century, and has recently summed
up the results of his labours. | He has first to
* These have recently been edited admirably by Wamcke,
with variants by R. Kohler. Ellis gives an abstract of them
in his Metrical Romances, and Mr. O'Shaughnessy Englished
a few in his Lays of France.
t They are given in the text of Herr Mall. The first,
and as yet only edition of Marie's Fables was by Roquefort,
in 1820. The above lines, however, had been early quoted
from MS. sources, and are given in Howell's Letters. (See
my edition, p. 592 and note. ) There is no doubt about the
reading " Alvrez," though earlier corruptions changed it at
times to " Henris," whence our Fables have been attributed
to Henry I. and Henry 11.
X "Zur Geschichte der mittelalterlichen Fabelliteratur,"
in Ztsft f. rom. Phil. ix. 161-203. This supersedes his
earlier dissertation De Marice estate, &c. (Halle, 1867).
MARIE DE FRANCE. i6i
discuss the claims of a set of Latin Fables found
in three MSS. at London, Brussels, and Got-
tingen (hence termed by him the LBG fables),
which certainly contain the additional fables
found in Marie de France, and have accordingly
been termed the " Romulus of Marie " by M.
Hervieux, while Oesterley printed them as an
Appendix to his edition of Romulus. Herr Mall
points out first, by one of these pieces of minute
analysis in which Gorman scholars delight,*
that the order of the fables has been disturbed
by the transposition of certain leaves in the
fable of The Belly and Memhers, which begins
in 'No. 33 and finishes in No. 73. He is thus
enabled to ascertain that the LBG consists of
three parts — (i) 45 fables selected from the
Romulus of Nilant; (2) a selection of 15 fables
from the ordinary Eomulus, at the end of which
comes the announcement quod sequitur addidit
rex Affrus, which refers to (3) 74 additional
fables, most of which are to be found in Marie.
Are these from the Latin original of Marie ? is
* The most striking instance I can recall is the manner
in which Lachmann determined the extent, the missing,
mutilated and blank leaves, and the average number of
lines on a page of the lost archetype of Lucretius. Cf.
Munro's Lucretius, i. 26-8. 1
VOL. I. L
i62 ^SOP IN ENGLAND.
the further question to be settled by Herr Mall.
He decides in the negative, by pointing out
that in the LBG version of the Mouse Maiden
(evidently derived from the Bidpai, I may
parenthetically observe, of. supra, p. 98), the
mouse after all her travels in search for a hus-
band, comes at last to marry a mule ! an evident
mistranslation of Marie's mulet, archaic French
for mouse. In other words, the set of Fables
whose trade-mark is LBG is a translation from
Marie, and not vice versd.
We have accordingly to turn to Marie herself
for a solution of the true origin of her fables,
whether from a Latin or an English source,
and in the latter case whether this was really
one of King Alfred's literary gifts to England.
Previous inquirers had pointed to the existence
of English forms in Marie's French — wibet
(56 1. 27, "gnat"), which Wace expressly men-
tions as an English word (Rom. du Ron, 8 164),
widecoc (Jndtecox, 24 1. 20, of. A. Lang, Perraidt,
p. slix., "woodcock") and welke (13 1.), which
is no less than our humble "whelk."* But,
as Herr Mall points out, these words may have
* To these I would add the still more striking example
of hus, our "house," used by Marie for "door" (63 1. 87).
"SEPANDE." 163
formed part of the ordinary Anglo-Norman voca-
bulary, and may therefore have been still used
by Marie, though translating from the Latin.
He has sought, therefore, for a mistranslation
or misapplication of an English word similar
to that which enabled him to determine the
origin of " LBG." He finds it in Marie's word
sepande, which does him yeoman's service. She
uses it three times (31 1. 34, 65 1. 10, 97 1. 7),
and in each case later copyists have not been
able to make anything of the word for which
they have substituted Nature, or Destinee, or
Deuesse. This clearly un-French word, which
even Marie could not make out, is no other
than the Old English participial form sceppend,
*' shaper " or " creator," corresponding to the
familiar German word Schijpfer. Herr Mall
deduces from it not only that Marie did use an
English original, as she states, but also that it
could not have been in Anglo-Saxon or from
the hand of King Alfred (though the Latin
author, he adds, was probably named Alfred,
which would account for the mistake). The
omission of the c in sepande proves that it
was a Middle English, not an Anglo-Saxon
i64 jESOP in ENGLAND.
form in the original.* Finally, Herr Mall
fancies he has come across a trace of the
Middle English original in a couple of lines
quoted in Wright's Latin Stories, 52 —
" Of aye icli the brouste
Of athcle ich ne mi5te,"
which are sufficiently close to serve for the
original of Marie's
" De I'oef les poi jo bien geter . . .
Mais nient fors de lur nature,'' t
On Marie's epoch Herr Mall has at present
nothing definite to say, except that the Pur-
gatory of St. Patrick which she translated is
later than 1198. As her Lais reached Iceland
about 1245, this fixes her floruit in the earlier
half of the thirteenth century.
So far Herr Mall, who, instructive as he is,
leaves us still in the dark as to the proven-
ance of the sixty-six or so new fables with
* I would add that both widecoc and iveJke are nearer the
Middle English than the West-Saxon forms, widucoc and
weoluc.
t There is probably, I would suggest, a still longer sur-
vival in the Middle English version of the Wolf Learnimj
to Read given by Douce, Illustrations to Shakespeare, 525,
according to Du Meril, 156 ; I cannot find it.
FROM THE GREEK? 165
which Marie's name is connected. Taking:
up the inquiry at this point, I would first
inquire whether, as we have seen Marie at
least half-right in attributing her fables to an
English version of (King) Alfred, she may not
be as much in the right in tracing them to a
Greek source. It is indeed unusual for a
mediaeval writer to connect the name of zEsop
with Greek at all, as he was regarded as a
Latin poet even as late as 1485 (Du Meril, 91,
163). Again, at times where she has the same
fable as the Romulus and the Greek versions
she is nearer the Greek form. Herr Fuchs, who
has written an elaborate monograph on The Daw
in Peacock's Feathers,^ has observed that Marie
(58) has a raven for her hero, who competes for
the crown of beauty of the birds, as in the Greek,
instead of a Jay as in the Latin ^sop (cf. supra,
p. 124). DuMiril {Poesies inedites, 1854, p. 158)
points out that in Marie's version of IVie Dog
and Shadoiv, her dog passes across a bridge t
and carries cheese, instead of swimming in the
stream and holding meat as in Phcedrus, while
* Die Krdhe die mit fremden Federn sich schmiickt.
Berlin (Dissert.) 1886.
t This trait has passed from her into the modern tradi-
tional versions.
lee ^SOP IN ENGLAND.
she has a curious variant (ii) of The Lion's
Share, in which the lion's partners are carnivo-
rous, as is natural, instead of Phsedrus' cow,
goat and sheep, as is absurd.* In this the
-^sop of Alfred, as we now may call her original,
comes nearer to the Greek (Halm, 260) than to
Phfedrus. And when we speak about an early
mediaeval writer coming nearer to the Greek,
we can of course only mean one thing, that he
^ has approached it via Arabia. If we find a
% writer of the twelfth or thirteenth century
quoting Aristotle, Euclid, or Galen with some
approach of accuracy to the original, we may
be certain that he has had access by means of
O Latin versions to the Arabic translations of
these authors. And indeed, to revert to our
present instance, how could the Arabic elements
of Alfred's ^sop have crept into it unless as
interpolations in an Arabic ^sop 1 For we
find in Marie, and therefore there were in
^ Alfred's ^sop, such distinctively Eastern tales
as The Ass' Heart (Marie, 61, siij^ra XXL), The
Good Man and Serpent, nearly in a complete
form (Marie, 63, sujira XX.), The Mouse-Maiden
* Curiously enough this is immediately followed by the
ordinary version (12).
ALFRED THE ENGLISHMAN. 167
(Marie, 64, sup7-a XXIII.) and The Three Wishes
(Marie, 24, Benf. § 208), which we found reason
to reckon amonar the Oi'iental elements of
Phsedrus {supra, p. 140). Considering the
evidence I have produced of a larger Arabic
^sop into which these stories could easily creep
in from Al Mokaffa's Kalilah wa Dimnah, we
are justified in looking out for an Alfi^ed who
knew Arabic in searching for the original of
Marie's Fables.
I think I have hit upon the very man
in the following passage of Roger Bacon's
Compendium Studii (ed. Brewer, p. 471). He
is speaking of the need of a knowledge of the
ori,o:inal tonsrues.
' ' But far greater errors happen in translating philo-
sophy. Wlierefore, when a many translations on all
kinds of knowledge have been given ns by Gerard of
Cremona, Michael the Scot, Alfred the Englishman,
Hei-niann the German, and William the Fleming,
you cannot imagine how many blunders occur in
their works. [Besides, they did not even know
Arabic] In the same way Michael Scot claimed
the merit of numerous translations. But it is cer-
tain that Andrew a Jew laboured at them more than
he did. . . . And so M'itli the rest."
This Alfred, so Mr. Thomas Wright informs
1 68 mSOP IN ENGLAND.
us (Biographia Liter aria, Anglo-Norman period,
s. v.), flourished about 1170 a.d.,* and this, or
a slightly later date, would just give time for
an English translation of his version of the
Arabic ^sop, from which Marie de France
could execute her own version, say about
1220 A.D.f
Not only have I identified this Alfred, but
I fancy I can show that he too, like Michael
Scot "and the rest," had a Jewish dragoman
at his side helping him with his version. For
there is another collection of Fables evidently
connected with the same origin as that of
Marie's. It is in Hebrew rhymed prose, has
the Talmudic name for ^sop's Fables, Mislile
Shu'alim, and has for author R. Berachyah
ben Natronai ha-Nakdan or the Punctuator,
a name used by Jewish writers of the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries for Massorite or
Grammarian. His collection runs to 107
* Herr Wiistenfeld, in the Gottingen Ahhandlungen,
xxii, 85-9, gives him a somewhat later date, basing on the
first English bibliography, J. Bale Scriptores Britannia,
cent. iv. § xxxv.
+ William Long-Sword, Henry II.'s natural son, Marie's
"le cumte Willaume, le plus vaillant de cest royaume,"
for whom the Fables were written, died iu 1226.
BE R ACHY AH NAKDAN. 169
fables, against the 103 or 106 of Marie.*
Of these he has 38 in common with her and
with the Romulus and with the variations
from the Romulus. f His jay, like hers, is
a crow, his dog crosses a bridge with cheese
in its mouth, as hers does, and above all he
has both the carnivorous (52) and the grami-
nivorous version (ii) of The Lion's Share.
This by itself would be sufficient to prove his
connection with the iEsop of Alfred. But
besides these he has fifteen others J of the
additional fables of Marie, including The Mouse
Maiden (Berach., 28), and The Ass' Heart
(Berach., 105). There are three others. The Man
and Pit (B. 68), The Man and Idol (95), and
The Treasure (104), taken from the Arabic
Bidpai, § a couple more also from Oriental
* 103 in Roquefort's edition, but a couple or so exist
elsewhere. Cf. Ex. V. iv.
t See Index, s.v. These are mainly due to Dr. Stein-
schneider's jiainstaking collation in the Israel. Lettcrhode,
viii. 28-9. There are besides ten in Avian which Dr. Stein-
schneider missed.
t Bar. 19 (M. 21), Eom. App. 60; B. 26, cf. 59 (M. 56)
App, 31 ; 28 (64) 6r ; 36 (73 : 88) 28 ; 39 (contra 22) 24 ; 45
(81) 27 ; so (74) 36) ; 77 (75) 37 ; 81 (38) 22 ; 83 (72) 35 ; 84
(71) 25 ; 85 (59) 32 ; 86 (103) 71 ; 94 (98) 20 ; 105 (61).
§ For the first and last see my Bidpai Contents, C 4 and
A I ; for the other Benf. § 200. The former occur in the
I70 ^SOP IN ENGLAND.
sources, The Chidcen a?id Fox (B. 32, cf. L>e
Gubernatis Zool. Myth. ii. 131), and a dispute of
Wolf, Fox, and Dove (B. 69) as to their relative
age, which parallels curiously the same dispute
between The Partridge, Monkey and Flejyhanf,
in the Tettira Jdtaka (Fausb. 37, tr. Rhys-
Davids, 310 seq.). Besides these there are four
which could only come from the Greek : The
Mule's Pedigree (B. 66, Halm 157), Tlie Lion's
Traces (B. 93, H. 63), a curious variant of ^sop's
Fable The Fox and Dog-Ticks (B. 102, sapra
p, 27), and a still more curious illustration of
the fable referred to by Bacon {Essays, 54), " It
was prettily devised of ^sojje ; The Fly sate
upon the Axle-tree of the Chariot wheele and
said, What a Dust doe I raise ? " (cf. B. 90).*
One seems taken from the Talmud (B. 6, Fox
and Fishes, cf . supra, p. 1 1 3), and for eighteen
neither Dr. Steinschneider nor I can find
parallelSjt though many resemble incidents in
^j Arabic and not in the Indian Bidpai, the first being the most
renowned apologue in the Barlaam and Josaphat set. See
my forthcoming Early English Lives of Buddha, pp. 15-16.
-4 * This has puzzled Mr. W. A. Wriglit and the other
Baconian commentors, who leave it severely alone ; it is
Abstemius', No. 17, cf. Ro. ii. 16.
t Lamh, Ram, and Lion (25), Ox, Lion, and Kid (30).
Frogs and Oxen (34, cf. Ro. ii. 20), Cat and Mouse (46),
ANALYSIS OF BERACHYAH. 171
the Reynard cycle,* as do some of those
common to Berachyah and Marie.
This analysis shows that Berachyah 's Fables
are of the same family as Marie's, that they
include a large infusion of Indian ingredients
traceable through the Arabic, and much also
which must have come indii-ectly from a purely
Greek collection. In other words, they confirm
strongly the conclusion we drew from an ex-
amination of Marie's collection that it must be
traceable to an Arabic source.
The reader would probably cai-e to see a
specimen of his work. I have selected one
which he has in common with Marie, and is a
type of the additions made by Alfred to the
IKso^ of Antiquity : it savours more of the
Beast-Satire. I have endeavoured to imitate
Wild Boar and Goat (48), Lion and Lizard (58), Lion and
Animals (70), Parrot and Princess (71), Earn and Ten
Sheep (j2), Sheep, Goat, and Shepherd {S2), Camel and herd
of Camels (87), Terrible Knight (89), Wulf and Fox (gi).
Bull and Oivner (92), Leveret and Leverets (97), Lion, Goat
and Fox (98), Crow and Carrion {gg), Pirate and Hhip (101).
* Berach, 100, contains the incident of the Fox fishing
with tail in ice. I cannot here discuss the possible light
these, and other indications I have observed, may throv^r
on the Oriental origin of Reincke Fuchs. The latest and
best word on this is that of E. Voigt in the Introduction to
his edition of Ysemgrimus (Stuttgart, 1884).
172 ^SOP IN ENGLAND.
the rhymed prose or doggrel, which is again an
Arabic trait, that will be familiar to English
readers from recent translations of The Arabian
Nights.
The Fable of the "Wolf and the Animals,
[Mishle Shualim (" Fox Fables ") of Berachyah
Hanakdan, No. 36].
The Wolf, the Lion's prince and peer, as the foe of
all flesh did appear ; greedy and grinding, he con-
sumed all he was finding. Birds and beasts, wild
and tame, by their families urged to the same, brought
against him before the Lion an accusation, as a mon-
ster worthy of detestation. Said His Majesty, " If he
uses his teeth as you say, and causes scandal in this
terrible Avay, I'll punish him in such a way as to
save his neck, if I may, and yet prevent you becom-
ing his prey." Said Lion to Wolf, "Attend me to-
morrow, see that you come, or you'll come to much
sorrow." He came, sure enougli, and the Lion spoke
to him harsh and rough. "What by doing this do
you mean ? Never more raven the living or live by
ravening. What you shall eat shall be only dead
meat. The living you shall neither trap nor hunt.
And that j'ou may my words obey swear me that
you'll eat no flesh for two years from to-day, to atone
for your sins, testified and seen : 'tis my judgment,
you had better fulfil it, I ween." Thereat the Wolf
swore right away no flesh to eat for two years from
that day. Off went Sir Wolf on his way. King Lion
TWO YEARS IN FOUR MINUTES. 173
stopped at court on his throne so gay. Nothing that's
fleshly for some time did our Wolf eat, for like a
gentleman he knew how his word to keep. But then
came a day when he Avas a huugred and he looked
hither and thither for meat, and lo, a fat sheep fair to
look on and goodly to eat (Gen. iii. 6). Then to
himself he said, " Who can keep every law ? " and his
thoughts were bewildered with what he saw. He said
to himself, "It overcomes me the longing to eat, for
two years day by day must I fast from meat. This
is my oath to the king that I swore but I've thought
how to fulfil it as never before. Three sixty-five are
the days in a year. Night is when you close your
eyes, open them, then the day is near." His eyes he
closed and opens straightway. It was evening and
it was morning, one day (Gen. i. 5). Thus he winked
till he had numbered two years and his greed returned
and his sin disappears. His eyes fix the goat {sic)
they had seen and he said, " See beforehand I have
atoned for my sin," and he seized the neck of the
goat, broke it to pieces, and filled up his throat as he
was wont to do before, and as of yore his hand was
stretched out to the beasts, his peers, as it had been
in former days and years.
The story is told with considerable humour,
and the Biblical verses are wittily applied. In
Marie (73) and the usual versions the wolf
meets the sheep dui-ing Lent, with the greeting, r
" Good morrow, Salmon ! " and, refusing to
be convinced of his mistake, makes a fish
meal off mutton. I cannot help thinking that
174 MSOP IN ENGLAND.
the story is ultimately to be traced back to
sorae modification of the VaJca Jdtaka (Fausb.
300, tr. K Morris, F.-L.J. iii. 359), the sub-
stance of which is sufficiently indicated by its
gdtha.
" a loolf iul)o linen Ip otljers' neac^
anO ate tlicir flcsl) ann I1I00B,
Din make a Uoto to feccp tlje fast
Ann Ijolp nap oigerie.
■But 3lnnra soon nin note Ijis boijj,
a goat's * form l;e assiimcn ,
■Sfjc murncrotts luolf i)ts Uoirr forsook
ann trien tTje goat to seije."
Who was this Berachyah Nakdan, whose
collection is of such critical importance for
the mediseval history of the Fable, f and when
and where did he live 1 This has been a lonsr-
standing subject of dispute between Drs. Stein-
schneider and Neubauer, the two greatest living
authorities on mediaeval Jewish literature, and
I hesitate to interfere, especially as I happen
* iV. 5.— There is a curious vacillation between sheep
and goat in Berachyah's version.
t It is for this reason that I have gone into such detail
about the Mishle Shu'alim. I have ventured to repeat Dr.
Steinschneider's collation, because it has been overlooked,
owing to the obscure quarter in which it appeared, and
because I have been able largely to supplement his parallels.
BERACHYAH IN ENGLAND. 175
to differ from both in holding that he lived and
wrote in England towards the end of the twelfth
century.* It is due to them that I should give
my reasons at some length. They are as fol-
lows : — (i) The earliest mention of him occurs
in the work of an English Jew, The Onyx Book
{Sepher Hassohaw), of R. Moses ben Isaac, who
must have died before 1215.! (2) His other
translation is of the work of an Englishman of
the twelfth century, the Questiones Naturales of
Adelard of Bath. (3) The authorities he chiefly
quotes, Abraham ibn Ezra (Browning's " Rabbi
ben Ezra ") and Solomon Parchon, are those
generally quoted by English Jews ; the former
visited England in 1158. (4) England was the
seat of a school of Xakdanim or Punctuators
in the twelfth century, all those known of that
date (Moses ben Yomtob, Moses ben Isaac and
Samuel) being located in this country. (5) Ber-
achyah somtimes uses French, the ordinary lan-
* It is perhaps worth while stating that I arrived at this
result during my researches on the early history of the
Jews in this country, long before I was aware of its import-
ance for the history of the Fable. See my note in Jew.
Quart. Rev. i., p. 183.
•\ His tombstone was then removed by the Barons to
fortify Ludgate (Stow Survey, ed. Thorns, p. 15). See my
letters in The Academy, Jan. 12, Feb. 2, 1889.
176 ^SOP IN ENGLAND.
guage of the English Jews at this period and
later,* and London was the chief centre of the
French-speaking world under the Angevin kings.
(6) Seemingly the oldest MS. of the Fables is one
which once belonged to Cotton, and is probably
therefore one of the few Hebrew MSS. belonging
to the early Jews of England which have never
left England (see JSTeubauer's Catalogue, No.
1466, 7, and cf. Letters of Eminent Me7i (Cam.
Soc), p. 103). (7) Finally, during the course of
some researches at the Record Office I have found
an Oxford Jew named " Benedictus le punc-
teur," paying a contribution to Richard I. on
his retui-n to captivity, f We could not have
a closer translation of Berachyah (the blessed),
ha Nakdan (the Punctuator), and there has
always been a tradition that Oxford Jews helped
towards the foundation of the University. Few
identifications of mediseval personages rest on
stronger grounds than these, and we may fairly
assume, I think, that Berachyah Nakdan lived
in England about 1190 a.d., and was known
* I have published an interesting letter in French from
an English Jew as late as 1280 in the Bevue des etudes juives,
1889, p. 258.
f "OxONiA... De Bndicto le punct'- xxvj s. & viij p
eod." (Miscell. Queen''s Bcmembr. 556/2 mem. 1. ad imum.)
BENEDICT LE PUNCTEUR. 177
among Englishmen as " Benedict le puncteur."
If so, we can scarcely imagine the two men,
Alfred and Benedict, translating from the
Arabic independently, and it is but the slightest
step further to assume that Benedict (Bera-
chyah) the Jew was to Alfred the Englishman
what Andrew the Jew was to Michael the Scot,
as indeed Roger Bacon implies in asserting the
same of " all the rest." * While aiding Alfred,
Berachyah worked at the Fables on his own
account, and thus produced the Fox Fables
{Meslile Shualim) which have so long puzzled
critics to account for their provenance.^ I may
add that about the same time over in distant
Armenia the vartabied Eremia (Dr. Jeremiah)
was translating from the Arabic a collection of
164 fables under the title Agho-Vesakirk {The
Fox Book),X that the two collections of Marie
* The only other alternative is that Berachyah translated
Alfred's Latin. But I know of no such translation into
rhymed prose, which was an Arabic invention, and was used
by the Jews chiefly to translate Arabic. Prof. Chenery
published a Hebrew version in rhymed prose of Hariri's
Makamen a few years ago.
f See Du Meril, pp. 26-8, and Lessing, Werke, vi.
P- 52, seq.
X Du Meril, p. 30, who mentions casually the similarity
of the title to that of Berachyah's. It must be remembered,
however, that the latter is Talmudical. A French trans-
VOL. I. M
•V
lyS ^SOP IN ENGLAND.
and Berachyah, which are certainly from the
same source, amount between them to 163
separate fables, and that the India Office Arabic
MS. contains, or did contain, 164 fables. Such
numerical coincidences rarely happen by acci-
dent.
On general grounds indeed we might assume
that any new incursion of Beast-Fables during
the twelfth century would occur in this country,
for during that period England was the home
of the Fable. A glance at the Pedigree which
heads this Introduction will confirm this. Herr
Mall locates the Romulus of Nilant and the
LBG fables in England, the earliest MSS. of
Fabulce rhythmicce are still here. The most
popular collection of Fables in the late Middle
Ages was one of the first three books of the
Romulus, in tolerable Latin verse, passing under
an infinity of names.* To one of the many
MSS. M. Hervieux found the colophon —
lation of Eremia's Fables seems to have appeared in 1676,
at the end of an abridged translation of Moses of Khorene.
I have not been able to find this in any of the great English
libraries.
* Garicius, Garritus, Galfredus, Hildebertus, Ugobardus
de Salmone, Waltherus, Salo, Salone, Serlo, Bernard de
Chartres, Accius and Alanus (Oesterley, Bom. p. xxiv.).
WALTER OF ENGLAND. 179
" Gualterus Anglicus fecit hunc librum sub nomine
Esopi,"
which fixes Walter of England as the author of
the collection hitherto known as the Anonymus
Neveleti. From this were derived no less than
two French metrical versions, besides an Italian
one in verse. Then again there was another
collection in Latin verse done by Alexander
Neckam *(ii57-i2i7, foster-brother of Richard
I., and author of De naturis rerum in the Rolls
Series), which gave rise to two French ver-
sions. We have just seen the important col-
lection associated with the name of Alfred,
the only original contribution to the Fable
in the Middle Ages, being composed in Eng-
land about the same time, and giving rise
to a Middle English and a French version —
that of ]\Iarie de France — which in its turn
gave rise to an Italian and to two Latin ver-
sions, from one of which a Dutch version, by
one Gerard, introduced Alfred's -5]]sop to Teu-
tonic Europe. It would indeed be difficult to
* His real name was Alexander Nequam (= "Nauglity
Alick "), but this caused so much unmerciful ridicule
that he changed the spelling of his name.
Q
I So ^SOP IN ENGLAND.
suggest where else but in England Berachyali's
fables could have been produced.
Nor should I be surprised if some at least
of the many adaptations in French verse, known
by the name of Ysopet, were also made in this
country. We are too apt to forget that litera-
ture, like commerce, follows the flag, and that
London in the latter half of the twelfth century
(i 154-1206) was the capital and centre of the
French-speaking world. The Angevin Empire
during those years included Normandy, Brit-
tany, Maine, Anjou, Toulouse, Aquitaine, and
Gascony, and the poets and literary men of
that vast tract of country looked to London for
recognition and reward. Nearly two-thirds of
the French writers of that period are con-
nected with the court of England ; nor do they
all write in Anglo-Norman.* If these writers
had written in Latin we should include them in
BiograpMa literaria anglo-normajmica,f but
because they happened to write in the court-
* I calculate this from elaborate lists I have made
from M. Gaston Paris' admirable Literature fr'anfaisc du
meycn age.
f Bishop Stubbs' admirable lectures on "Learning and
Literature at the Court of Henry IL" {Lectures vi., vii.)
only deal with Latin writers.
ENGLAND THE HOME OF FABLE. i8i
laneuag'e — French — we allow them to be en-
gulfed in the Uistoire litter aire de la France.*
I hope to develope elsewhere the thesis that
England in the latter half of the twelfth cen-
tury was the nidus, to use a biological term,
of the whole Romantic movement which char-
acterises mediaeval literature. At present I
would point out that this country was cer-
tainly the home of the Fable during that
period, and that it is therefore probable that
some at least of the French Ysopets were com-
posed here.
We can observe the English love of the
Fable outside the special collections devoted
to it. It is possible that the predilection can
be traced to the Norman element, for one of
the few material relics of William the Con-
queror, the famous piece of tapestry now at
Bayeux, attributed to the fair hands of his
Queen Matilda, contains representations of a
dozen ^sopic fables on the lower border of the
tapestry.
As they represent the first contact of Eng-
* As it is, we have permitted M. Hervieux to compile
his Corpus Fahularum medii cevi from MSS. the majority
of which were in English Libraries.
i82 ^SOP IN ENGLAND.
land with the Fables, we have selected four of
them — our old friend The Wolf and Crane, The
Fox a7id Crow, The Eagle and Tortoise, which
has been broken literally in two, and T]te Wolf
and Lamb — as a suitable frontispiece to this
introduction to the first English printed version
of them.* They are represented with some
spirit and sense of humour, considering the
impracticable nature of their medium. t It is
probable that they are to be affiliated with the
collection of Ademar, since Matilda was from
Flanders. Indeed M. Comte observes that the
figures are closely allied to those given in the
Ley den MS. of Ademar. There is a certain
amount of likeness between the Bayeux Wolf
and Lamb and that figured in our Caxton,
which derives through a French imitation of
Stainhowel's woodcut, which probably repro-
* They have been taken from J. Comte's photographic
reproductions of the Tapestry (La tajnsserie de Bayeux,
Rouen, 1879), pi. iv.-vi. Others occur on pi. i (Tioo
Bitches ?), iv-vi. {Ifulla vestigia), vii. (Fox and Goat),
viii. (Lion's Share), x.-xii. (Sicallow and Birds), xl. (Ass
in Lion's Shin ?), xiv. (? Ephesian Widow). Du Meril
(p. 176) adds Fox and Grapes, but I could not identify
this.
t We have endeavoured to reproduce the stitching of
the tapestry.
MSOP IN THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY. 183
duced the traditional representation in MSS.
The Bayeux version deals, however, with the
first act of the tragedy ; the wolf, it will be
observed, is lapping the stream which the
needlewoman has carefully x'epresented run-
ning doicn to the lamb. The presence of The
Eagle and Tortoise from Avian among the
Romuleau Fables requires some comment. It
illustrates the early date at which the more
popular portions of Avian were interpolated in
the Romulus.* The fact that the Fables were
chosen to adorn a great national monument is
sufficient to indicate their popularity among
the Normans, among whom we find the same
throughout their predominance in England. t
When John of Salisbury in the next century
bears from the mouth of a Pope the venerable
apologue of The Belly and Members (ii. 6. 24)
Poly., it is an Englishman, Nicholas Brakespeare
* Our Eo. IV. XX. [Oak and Reed) is not iu the Burneian
Romulus. I suspect, too, that Ro. I. xx. (Swallow and
Birds, Rom. I. xix.) is an earlier interpolation from
Avian.
t The presence of Jilsopic fables on the Tapestry used
to be one of the arguments against its authenticity (Free-
man, Norm. Conq., in. 571-2). The argument was invalid,
since we know of MSS. of the Fables of the tenth (Rufus,
Burneian) and eleventh (Ademar) ceuturies.
1 84 MSOP IN ENGLAND.
(Adrian IV.), speaking to an Englishman.
C When Richard Creur de Lion, after his return
from captivity in 1194, wished to rebuke the
Barons for their ungrateful conduct, he told
., them the Eastern apologue of The Man, Lion,
and Ser2Jent, who were all three rescued from
a pit by a peasant. The lion shortly after-
wards brings his benefactor a leveret, the ser-
pent a precious jewel, but the man, on being
applied to for the promised reward, drives
away his deliverer. This is no other than the
Karma Jataka (given by Benfey from a Tibetan
version, pp. 195-8), though Richard doubtless
had heard it orally, as the ungrateful one is
said to be Vitalis, a Venetian.*
But it is in the popular literature of anecdote
and sermon that we find the popularity of the
Fable in England best verified. When Odo de
* Matthew Paris' addition to Disset {sub. anno 1195, ed.
Luard, ii. 413-6). See Benfey's interesting and long § 71.
Cf,, too, Gower, Conf. Ainan. v. 6, ed. Morley, 276-8. We
may have here the clue to the relationship between Bera-
chyah's collection and that of the Armenian Eremia, since
Cyprus, the home of Richard's Queen, Berengaria, was at
that time in intimate relations with Armenia (cf. Stubbs'
Lectures, p. 161). Isaac Comnenus, the Basileus of Cyprus,
whom Richard deposed, had been for some time ruler of
Armenia. It is not, however, in Marie or Berachyah.
ENGLISH LOVE OF FABLES. 1S5
Cerintonia (? Sherington in Warwick) in the
thirteenth century collected his Narrationes,
more than half were fables, and the same applies
to John of Sheppey in the next century. John
of Salisbury's Folycraticus has several fables ; so
has Mapes' Poems, and even JSTeckam's De Na-
iaris Rerum. The collections of examples for
the use of the clergy in their sermons by Holkot,
by Bromyard (^Siirama Predicant ium), or by
Nicole Bozon, an English Franciscan monk,
who wrote in French (^Romania xv. 343, G.
Paris, Lit. f rang, au moyen age, %Zi, 152), are
filled with fables. The poets also made use
of them. Gower and Lydgate occur in our
Parallels, and Chaucer seems to have been
acquainted with Alfred's -^Esop.*
As the Middle Ages died away, England lost
her hegemony in the realm of Fable, and at the
invention of printing it was Germany that took
the lead in spreading a knowledge of yEsop
through Europe, by means of printed books.
The first German book printed was Boner's
Edelstein of 100 fables, Heinrich Stainhowel
brought together in his Asop the four books of
* The quotation from Ysope in The Tale of Melibceus
seems to refer to Extrav. vii.
1 86 .^SOP IN ENGLAND.
c. the Romulus, really as we have seen prose ver-
sions of Phsedrus, and selections from the other
collections, 1 7 from the century of Greek fables
ti'anslated by Ranuzio, 27 from the prose ver-
sions of Avian, and 1 7 from a source which has
never yet been identified, and called by him
V Fabulce Extravag antes. For the majority of
these I have found parallels in Marie or
Berachyah, or both, and it is possible that we
have in the Fabulce Extravagantes a German
revision of Alfred's ^sop.* At any rate they
are of the same branch, and represent Alfred's
collection in the modern European -^sop. For
Stainhowel's Asop f is the parent of all the
printed ^sops of Europe. He himself gave a
German translation of his Latin text. Jules
Machault, a monk at Lyons, next translated
the fables into French, and Caxton, without
much loss of time, turned this into English in
* It is from them that we get The Dog and Manger and
The Fox (with many wiles) and Cat (with one), which occur
in the Greek, but not in the Latin Jilsop. This is, as we
have seen, a characteristic mark of Alfred's ^sop. The
only MS. containing the Extravagantes is the Breslau MS.
of Petrus Alphonsus.
t Oesterley edited this for the Stuttgart Literarischer
Verein, End. 117, but very perfunctorily, and missing a
grand opportunity.
,y
THE EUROPEAN ^SOP. 187
the winter and spring of 1483-4. Next year
an Italian version of Stainhbwel by one Tuppo
appeared at Venice, then a Dutch version was
made from the French of Machault in 1490,
and Spain, late as usual, added iEsop to her
printed books by the hands of the Infante
Henrique in 1496.* All these editions — Latin,
German, French, English, Italian, Dutch, and
Spanish, have the Fables arranged in the same
order, and are illustrated by .woodcuts plainly
copied from one another. Thus in explaining
the provenance of our Caxton, we have practi-
cally performed the same task for the European
^sop : our bibliography would serve equally
well mutatis mutandis, for the first edition
of -5ilsop in German, Latin, French, Italian,
Dutch and Spanish.t
Our Caxton is an average specimen of the
* Conservative Spain has remained true to the Stainhowel
ever since. I have a duodecimo of the early part of this cen-
tury, still following his order, and with plates which are
merely reductions of the earliest woodcuts. There was a
Catalan version made from this in 1682 (Du Meril, p. 161).
t I have, however, given a predominance to the English
references, as is but natural. The French references are
to be found in Robert's or Regnier's Lafontaine, the German
in Oesterley's scattered references (chiefly in his edition of
Kirchhof ), and in Kurz' excellent edition of Waldis, and the
Italian, partly, in Ghivizzani.
i8S ^SOP IN ENGLAND.
worthy printer's style and literary attainments.
These do not reach a very high standard, nor
was there much opportunity for the display of
any great literary gifts in the translation of
such mediocre productions as the mediaeval
Latin prose versions of Phasdrus, Avian, and
the rest. At times he stumbles in his render-
ing, at times he calmly reproduces a French
word for which he had no translation handy ;
most of the words in our glossary are Gallicisms
of this sort. The important thing to notice
about Caxton's relation to our literature is the
admirable taste he displayed in the selection of
Enghsh works which he considered worthy of
being printed. A History of the World (Higden's
Polyclironicon), a History of England {Chronicle),
a Geography (Descri2)tion of Britain), an
encyclopaedia of science, such as it was [Mirrour
of the World), and proverbial philosophy (Dicies,
Moral Proverbs), were among his contributions
to knowledge. For practical life he- had to
offer manuals of behaviour {Courtesy, Good
Manners), a family medicine {Gotivernal of
Health), the legal enactments of his time
{Statutes of Hen. VII.), the noble game {Chesse),
a courtier's guide {Curial), and a knight's
CAXTON'S CHOICE. 189
(Order of Chwalri/). As " stuff o' the imagina-
tion " he provided his countrymen with charac-
teristic specimens of the three great English
poetic names — Chaucer, G-ower, Lydgate {Can-
terbury Tales, Confessio Amantis, Chorle and
Bird), and equally characteristic examples of
mediaeval romance, classical {Recueil, Eneydos,
Jason), national {diaries, Arthur), allegorical
{Fame, Love), and satirical {Reynard). In
ghostly instruction his books taught the Chris-
tian how to pray {Fifteen Oes), how and when
to be edified {Festial, Four Sermons), what ex-
amples to follow in life {Golden Legend), how
to die {Art and Graft of Dying, Deatlibed
Prayers), and what to expect after death {Pil-
grimage of the Sold). Altogether considering
Caxton was publisher as well as author and
printer, he showed himself fully ahead of the
taste of his day and went far towards producing
the hundred best books in English for his day
and hour.
Not least did he show his taste and insight in
selecting our j^sop for one of his most am-
bitious productions. After all, the books that
are really European may even at the present
day be counted on the fingers of one hand, and
I90 ^SOP IN ENGLAND.
-^sop is one of the five if they reach to so
many.* Merely regarded from the number of
editions it went through,! Caxton's ^sop was
his most popular production. But the popu-
larity of such a book as ^sop is not to be
judged by the number of reprints any particular
version of it goes through. To take a modern
instance, booksellers tell us that the only book
of fairy tales that will take with the general
public is " Grimm's Goblins." Yet there is no
particular version of this that rules the book-
market, and it is rather the number of versions
that affords the strongest testimony to their
popularity. So with ^sop ; it is the number
of competing adaptations that speaks most
clearly for its hold on the popular mind. It is
of course impossible for me here to go through
all these, and I must content myself with point-
* The Bible (i.e., Genesis, some Psalms and the Gospels),
^sop (selections in reading-books) and Robinson Crusoe
are, so far as I can think, the only really popular books
throughout Europe, i.e., which every European who can
read has read. I would add The Pilgrims Progress, but
fear that English prepossessions cause me to exaggerate
its wide-spread popularity. (I doubt, e.g., whether it is
much read in Russia.)
t Six, the princeps (1484), Tynson's (1500), Waley's (1570),
Hebb's two (1634, 1647), and Roper's (1658).
POPULARITY OF MSOP. igi-
ins: out the versions that found most favour
with English folk in the generations that suc-
ceeded Caxton.*
The popularity of ^sop in the sixteenth
century was shown by a curious use of them
made by W. Bullokar, the earliest English
spelling reformer. In order to convince his
countrymen of the unwisdom of their ways, he
selected the most popular book he could think
of to exemplify his own more perfect way of
spelling, and published "^sop3 Fabl}' in tru
Ortugraphy" (1585). But Caxton had too
strong a hold on English affection to be re-
placed, and he held sway far into the seven-
teenth century. Towards the end of this, how-
ever, his diction began to fail to be under-
standed of the vulgar. John Ogilby offered the
English public the additional attraction of verse
and of " sculptures " by Hollar and Barlow
(1651, 166S). Sir Roger L'Estrange gave the
further advantage of adding most of the new
sets of fables that had been edited abroad, so
• The British Museum publishes at a nominal price the
article "iEsop" of the printed catalogue. This contains
some 500 numbers, of which about 120 refer to English
editions. This, of course, has to be supplemented by the
articles " Bidpai," " Babrius," "Fable," and "Phajdrus."
192 ^SOP IN ENGLAND.
that his collection (500 numbers against the
160 or so of Caxton's), is still the most ex-
tensive in existence.* It has besides some
place in the European history of the fable, as
188 fables of it passed by way of German into
Russian, and there gave rise, so far as I can
(; learn, to Krilof and his school.! A factitious
interest was given to ^sop in the learned
world towards the end of the seventeenth
century, by its forming a side issue of the
Phalaris controversy ;{: which probably helped
to keep L'Estrange's bulky tome in demand to
the tune of seven editions. He inflicted on
.^sop the additional indignity of " applications "
* A fine reprint of it was published a few years ago by
"John Gray & Co." 1879.
t On him see the late Mr. Kalston's Krilof and Ms Fables.
Krilof, I may add, was only the chief of a whole school of
of Russial fabulists (Chemnitzer, Dimitrief, Glinka, Gon-
charof), who afford another instance of the political use of
fables.
X Prof. Jebb {Bentley, pp. 52, 72), notices a curious
instance of tliis. All the fat had originally been spilt on
the fire by the young editors of Phalaris speaking of ' ' the
singular humanity " of the King's Librarian (Bentley) in
refusing them the use of a MS. of Phalaris. In Alsop's
collection of Greek fables with Latin translations (1698)
there is mention of "the singular humanity "of Tlie Dog
in the Manger. As this is the last fable of the set it was
probably added for the sake of the sting in its tai].
ENGLISH EDITIONS. 193
in addition to " morals " ; these were intended
to promote the Jacobite cause.
L'Estrange was succeeded on the ^sopic
throne of England by the Rev. S. Croxall,
whose reign lasted throughout the eighteenth
century, and whose dynasty still flourishes
among us in the Cliandos Classics. It says
much for the vitality of -i^sop that he has sur-
vived so long under the ponderous morals and
" applications " — Whig against L'Estrange's
Jacobitism — with which the reverend gentle-
man loaded his author. It is probable, how-
ever, that ^sop came to the public with slighter
impedimenta than these. Last century was
the era of the chap-book and the caterers of
Aldermary Churchyard did not omit specimens
of iEsop among their wares. I can scarcely
commend the selection they made. The only
chap-book .^sop in the British Museum (that
reprinted by Mr. Ashton in his Chap-hools),
seems to have gone out of its way to select the
dozen most obscure fables ; three of them in-
deed I cannot even trace elsewhere. Perhaps
the compilers were looking for novelty rather
than familiarity and assumed that the fables
better known to us would be also known to
VOL. I. N
194 ^SOP IN ENGLAND.
their customers through reading-books. For
it is by means of selections in reading-books
that ^sop has been most widely spread; I
myself must confess my indebtedness to the
venerable Mavor for my first introduction to
^^sop, and many of my readers will have had
the same experience.* The spread of ^sop's
Fables among the people is proved by the
existence of many popular proverbs derived
from them.t But how they got to the people
and how they are transmitted there is singularly-
little evidence to show. The collectors of popu-
lar tales and traditions, who have now exhausted
Europe, have left ^sop's Fables aside, seem-
ingly of malice prepense. They seemed to have
thought that they would be offering nothing
new in such well-known apologues, whereas it
would be of extreme interest to study the
variations they underwent as they passed from
mouth to mouth. J
* For this reason I have included Mavor in my biblio-
graphy. I have used the 322nd edition, the earliest I could
get access to.
+ I have given for England a score or so examples from
Mr. Hazlitt's collection. He omits, however, owing to his
plan, proverbial expressions like dog in the manger, &c.
X Partial exception is afforded by Hahn's Griech.
Mdhrchen, which contains three (87, 91, 93). Curiously
PICTORIAL MSOPS. 195
There is still another means by which -^sop
reaches the folk, and especially the little folk,
and that is by pictorial illustration. Most of
the ^sops that have been popular among us
for the last half-century, have appealed to the
eye as well as the understanding. The Rev.
T. James, had the luck to have his new version
of the fables (1848), adorned by the pure and
classic outline of John Tenniel. This has
caused his version to be a favourite one, and
early impressions command a high price. The
Rev. Gr. F. Townsend, who edited no less than
two entirely different ^sopic collections in
two years, one an adaptation of Croxall (1866,
now in the Ghandos Classics) toning down his
ponderosities, the other a selection of 300 trans-
lated from the Greek Prose ^sop (1867), em-
bellished the latter with some very passable
designs of H. Weir. Recently two of the best
known illustrators of books have applied their
skill to the ever young ^sop. If ever there
was a man who seemed specially designed by
enough they are all from the FabulcE extravarjantes (iv.
V. X.). Is it possible that they retain traces of a Middle
Greek derivate of the original of Alfred's iEsop? There
are also a couple among the Nivernais folk-tales, collected
by M. A. Millin in Arckivio jior trad. pop. iv.
196 MSOP IN ENGLAND.
every natural gift to make ^sop live again in
line, tone, and colour, it was Randolph Calde-
cott ; who that remembers his dog in Tlie House
that Jack Built, will deny the assertion 1 Yet
he denied it himself practically in his own
attempt, which can scarcely be pi-onounced a
success; perhaps he was too much taken up
with his maladroit plan of accompanying each
fable with a modern instance.* Mr. Walter
Crane has succeeded better in his Bahi/s Own
jEsojj, and has given us 65 admirable decorative
designs taken from ^sop. But he suffers from
the malady of us all — over- seriousness, and has
left out of his ingredients that pinch of humour
that has savoured the fabulist and kept the
^sopic jests of the ancients sweet throughout
the ages.t
Their vitality and power in England have
been shown in various ways. They have re-
ceived the flattery of imitation from many
* The plan may have been suggested by a similar col-
lection done by Mr. Charles Bennet somewhere in the
"sixties." Prof. Rankine performed a curious tour de
force by inventing fables to correspond to well-known iun-
signs, e.g., Pig and Whistle, Goat and Compasses, &c.
f I have collated all the English editions here mentioned
for the parallels : they will serve at least to show the
relative popularity of each fable.
^SOP STILL LIVING. 197
hands; only two of these many attempts at
"original" fables deserve notice. John Gay
tried to be the English Lafontaine, but de-
parted from his model in attempting to add
new fables instead of contenting himself with
adorning the old ; he only succeeded in one
case, The Hare with many Friends. In our own
days Lord Lytton has tried to allegorise the
complexities and subtleties of modern life in
" Fables in Song," but the task was a hopeless
one from the start, ^sop's Fables have suf-
fered too from the parodist* and the caricatu-
rist, and in all the curious ways in which the
modern world shows an inverted respect for
things of old ^sop has shown that he has
obtained a lasting hold on the minds of men,
Vivu' volat per ora vir^im.t
* The best of these I have seen is a little volume of
Fables out of the [New York] World, by "G. Washington
^sop " but they are poor fooling at the best.
t The fables live yet. I have noticed a couple of in-
stances of effective use of them in Mr. Stevenson's latest
masterpiece, The Master of BaUantrae [The Viper and
File, p. 206, and The Goose with Golden Egys, p. 300).
C
198 FABLIAU.
Y.— FABLIAU, FACETI^, FABLE.
AicrwinKov yiXoiov ^ crv^apLriKov.
— Aristoph. Vesp. 1259.
®mne genus fabularum probatur contra bomines. ©uis cnim
malus nisi bomo. ct quis bonus nisi bomo ?
Romulus II. Prnl.
We have now commented upon all the sections
of our Caxton which contain Beast-Fables pure
and simple. There still remain two others
which, interesting as they are in their way,
have but slight connection with our subject,
and must therefore be dismissed somewhat
cavalierly. They owe their place in the Euro-
pean ^sop to Stainhowel, who gives an elabo-
rate but lame excuse for inserting them. At
the same time they are both interesting in
themselves, and illustrate a characteristic ten-
dency of the fable which has clung to it
throughout its history. For this reason I
have retained them in the present repi-int,
especially as one of the Romulus fables has
got mixed among them.
The first set of Fabnlce coUedce, as Stainhowel
called them, are a selection from the Disciplina
clericalis of Petrus Alphonsus, a Spanish Jew,
''DISCIPLINA CLERIC A LIS." 199
of the beginning of the twelfth century. All
that is known of him is that his Jewish name
was Moses Sephardi (the Spaniard), and that
he was baptized by the name of Petrns Alphon-
sus under the auspices of Alfonso II. (Petrus
Eaimundus) in 1 1 06. He wrote an interesting
set of dialogues between the old Adam of Moses
Sephardi and the new man of Petrus Alphonsus,
in order to convert the Jews. But he chiefly
interests here as the compiler of a collection of
tales from Jewish and Arabic sources, intended
for seasoning to sermons, and so termed Dis-
ciplina dericah's. There can have been few
ladies attending service in those days, for
few of the tales admit of being told " in the
presence of Mrs. Boffin." They were extra-
ordinarily popular, however, and spread through-
out Europe from Spain to Iceland.* They are
interesting for their early date, being the first
set of Oriental tales to reach Europe. They
introduced a new genre into European literature,
* The only edition accessible of tliem is that appended to
Gering's Islensk uEventiiri. V. Schmidt's edition is rare,
and that of the Sociefd des bibliophiles was almost "printed
as MS.," as the Germans say. Schmidt's text was re-
printed in vol. clvii. of that omnium gatherum, Migno's
PalrologicE Cursus.
200 FABLIAU.
for Alfonso (Pere Aunfors) is the father of the
Fabliau, and thus the grandfather of the Italian
novel, and so an ancestor of the Elizabethan
Drama. It is curious that the esprit gaulois
of the Fabliaux is largely traceable to a book
of translations from the Arabic originally in-
tended for ghostly instruction, and so entitled.*
The other set of the Fabulx Collectas. are a
selection of the milder specimens of the Facetiae, of
Poggio Bracciolini (1381-1459), apostolic secre-
tary to eight successive Popes. He is still better
known as one of the most indefatigable col-
lectors of classical MSS. : almost all the editiones
principes of the classic authors were made from
MSS. collected by Poggio. The only MS.
which he left of his own was a collection of
cmecdotes grivoises, which got into print some
ten years after his death. They represent the
Humanist reaction against the over-strained
and somewhat sensual chastity of mediaeval
Christianity. They are mostly tales of a kind
* It is probable that Alfonso's collection was originally
much larger, and that many more of the fabliaux might
be traced to it. De Castro speaks of the Escurial copy
being in three books, a division of which there is no trace
and for which there is opportunity in the thirty-nine tales
of the extant collection. I regret I did not examine the
MS. on my visit to the Escurial aliad agens, last year.
POGGIO'S FACETIvE. 201
which we do not tell or print now-a-days ; or
which, to speak more frankly, we only tell when
we are young and only print privately in limited
editions of 1000 copies.* The few that have
got into the Caxton have passed through the
censorship of two Teutons, of colder and manlier
mould than the apostolic secretary of eight
popes, and I have merely had to omit one as
being only suitable for the newspaper reports
of the Court of Probate and Divorce.
The Fahulse, Collectx represent a tendency
by which the fable has been marked throughout
its history. Throughout ancient times it was
regarded as a species of the Jest, a kind of
Beast-Jest, as it were. This aspect is its point
of contact with the Obscene Tale which has
always been connected with it ; the Beast- Jest
and the Beastly Jest go together. And both
forms are just the kind of tale which passes
easiest . by word of mouth from men of one
nationality to those of another. Sir Robert
Walpole gave the brutal excuse for the freedom
of his talk that obscenities were the one topic
* There is of course a whole literature of this kind, the
mere description of which fills seven volumes of a Biblio-
graphie de iainour, a veritable Cloaca Maxima of biblio-
graphy.
202 FACETIM.
in which men of all shades of political opinion
were interested after dinner. The folk-lorist
has to recognise much the same with regard to
the social intercourse of men of different
nations. Hahn, in the admirable introduction
to his collection of GriecMsche und albanesische
Mdhrchen (1864), makes it a great point against
the borrowing theory of the diffusion of folk-
tales, that the only kind which he had observed
to pass between men of various nationalities
during his travels in the Levant, was the
Schwank, Droll or Jest. It is accordingly im-
portant from this point of view to emphasise
the Jest-like nature of the Fable which thus
becomes exempt from Hahn's objection to the
borrowing theory. Perhaps, the secret of the
matter is, that neither the Beast Tale nor the
Obscene Jest touch upon any of the prejudices,
local, national and religious, which separate the
the various sections of mankind. They are
both " universally human " to use the technical
term of folk-lore ; they both, let us rather say,
appeal to the common animality of man.
Meanwhile it is possible that the collections
on which we are commenting have a connec-
tion, somewhat closer than mere resemblance.
SYBARITIC JESTS. 203
with the " Sybaritic Jests," which are so closely
connected with ^sop's Fables in antiquity.
Alfonso's Discipline for the Clergy probably
represents the offscourings of Levant talk
into which some of the Milesian Tales of the
ancients may have penetrated.* Poggio again
was likely to be on the scent for the more
malodorous portions of Latin literature, and
his Facetiae may preserve some that could trace
back to the luxury and vice of Sybaris. This
result would at any rate complete the repre-
sentative character of our collection. The first
four books of it can be traced back to Demet-
rius' AssemUies of jEsopian Tales. The selec-
tions from Kemicius and Avian preserve for
us, it is probable, parts of the Lybian Tales of
Kybises, the Fahulae Extravagantes represent
the mediaeval ^sop of Alfred. Is it possible
that the Fabliaux of Alfonso and the Facetiae of
Poggio are in any way survivals of the Milesian
and Sybaritic Jests that always went hand-in-
hand with the Ancient Fable ? t
* The latest account of these is by E. Rhode. Verhandl.
d. 25, Phil.-sammlumi, p. 66.
f It was this contamination with broader elements that
caused Luther to set about making a cleaner collection of
the albern Kinderbuck so Esopus heisst.
204 FABLE.
Having said so much of Fables, it only
remains to say something about the Fable.
For the dictionary-maker we may define it
as a short humorous allegorical tale, in which
animals act in such a way as to illustrate a
simple moral truth or inculcate a wise maxim.*
This definition, somewhat unwieldy, we fear, will
distinguish the Beast- Fable from the Allegory
proper by its shortness and its use of animal
actors, and from the Parable by the latter char-
acteristic and its humorous tinge. f Its anec-
dotic character differentiates the Fable from the
proverb, from which it is often otherwise diflB-
cult to distinguish it. The Arabic proverb about
the ostrich, They said to the camel-bird, "Fly;"
it said " / am a beast : " they said " Carry ; " it
* Some fables, i.e., teach us an elemantarj' lesson in
moral psychology, others give us some advice in some of
the simpler relations of life. It might be added that a
literary comment in general adds the truth or maxim in the
form of a Moral.
t There are some good remarks on the distinction between
the Fable and the Parable in Trench's Lessons on the Par-
ables. He points out that the use of animals in the Fable
prevents its application to the higher ethical relations of
men with which the Parable mainly deals. It is probable
that this may account for the Jewish neglect of the Fable,
for which the Hebrews showed some aptitude in the earlier
periods when the best minds of the nation were less strenu.
ously occupied with the higher problems of life.
DEFINITION OF FABLE. 205
said "lam a bird,'" is on the border-line between
the two.* It is of more importance to distinguish
the Beast- Fable from the Beast-Tale in general,
and even from the Beast-Satire. It is a highly
specialised form of the Beast-Tale, distinguished
by its moral tendency. The Germans speak of
a certain kind of novels as forming the class of
Tendeiiz- Roman. The Fable, as we use the
wordjt is in a similar way what a German
might call a Tendenz-Tier-Schwanlc, and may be
further distinguished from the Beast-Satire by
the characteristic that its " tendency " is moral
and not satirical. I may perhaps render clearer
the distinctions I wish to make by giving them,
more meo, in a genealogical table, in which, how-
ever, the poverty of our folk-lore terminology
will cause me, I fear, to use many a term of
forbidding and Teutonic description.
* Our proverb, A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,
is a Fable in 2^et^o- The ready passage of fable into proverb
and vice versd shows the indistinctness of the border line
between the two. Cf. supra p. 108.
t Modern Enc^lish has specialised it to apply only to the
Beast-Fable. In earlier times it was applied to any tale.
Dryden's Fables are stories of men and women, not of
beasts.
206
FABLE.
The Tale *
1
Anecdote
The DroU
1
1 1
Fairy-Tale Myt]
1
Jest
1
Obscene Jest
Beast-Tale
1
1
Be;
Anec
ist-
;dote
1
Animistic
Beast-Tale
(e.g.
Unci
Tendency-Beast-
Droll
1
1 1
JMtiric Moral
Reynard, The Fable
■e Jiemus) |
1 i
Greek Indian
"iEsopic" "Lybian
The Fable, according to this classification, is
a Moral Tendency-Beast-Droll. It is impor-
tant to make these somewhat fine distinctions,
as much confusion has been caused in the
discussion of the origin of the Fable by a
neglect of them.f Writers who desii-e to
make the Fable "universally human" point
to animistic beast-tales or satiric beast-drolls
in Polynesia, Caffraria, Assyria, and so on.
But in so doing they leave out the differentia
of the Fable, and forget that they have failed
to find any moral tendency in their so-called
* The classification is rough, and does not profess to be
phylogenetic.
f I must confess myself a sinner in this regard in my dis-
cussion on this point in my Bidpai, pp. xxsix.-xlix.
DIFFERENTIA OF FABLE. 207
Polynesian, Assyrian, or Hottentot Fables.
Of course it is difficult to draw the distinction,
and many animistic Beast-Tales and Beast-
Satires occur in the collection of Fables we
have been considering. The simplest criterion
is perhaps to be found in Horace's line,
Mutate nomine de te Fabula narratur.
The best Greek and Indian Fables come home
to one at once on the mere statement of the
case, and this " coming home " quality is their
characteristic.
The artistic qualities needed to produce this
effect are seemingly simple, but they have rarely
been found cunningly mixed in the due propor-
tions. The situation depicted in the action should
be grotesque ; its very incongruity is part of
the convention of the Fable. A crane with its
neck voluntarily inserted halfway down a lion's
throat, a jay bedecked with peacock's plumes,
a mouse nibbling at a hon's toils ; these things
never were on sea or land. It is therefore this
un-nature that causes us to recognise that more
is meant than meets the ear, that we are not
merely going to hear a Beast-Anecdote (of
which The Crow and Pitcher may be taken as
2o8 FABLE.
a type). It depends upon the tone in which
the extra-implication is suggested whether the
Beast-Tale has become a Beast-Satire or a
O Beast-Fable. If the narrator slily points the
finger of scorn at the world as it too often is —
the world of self-interest, greed and cunning —
the result is a Beast-Satire. If what is impUed
refers to the world of moral ends, the realm of
self-abnegation, of gratitude, and of affection,
we have a Beast- Fable. The choice of beasts
as the medium of satire or morality naturally
restricts the motives which can be depicted.
The hfe of animals as observed by man, or at
least by early man, is seemingly one monotonous
round of greed, cruelty, revenge, and self-seek-
ing, brightened only by parental joys. It is
accordingly with those vices and this virtue
that the Fable chiefly deals. All that is meant
by culture — knowledge, beauty, love, considera-
tion for others — is beyond its range. Hence
the adaptation of the fable to the childish
and childlike minds.* I may add that as part
of the convention of the Fable we have types
of virtues and vices represented by special
* Its lessons, however, are not very elevating ; it is
rather its humour that appeals most strongly.
LIMITATIONS OF FABLE. 209
animals : courage by the lion, greed by tlie wolf,
cunning by the fox, brute strength by the bear,
innocence of the lamb, and so on. It is pos-
sible that it was by this specialising of types
that early man began his lessons in moral
abstraction ; to him cunning was foxiness, mag-
naminity leonineity, cruelty wolfhood. Even
to the present day we have no other way of re-
ferring to one of the ruling motives in a capi-
talistic society than by speaking of The Dog
in the Manger.
It follows from all this that the Fable is
a highly specialised form of the universally
human tendency to tell a Tale. We should
not therefore be surprised if it only occurs in
full vigour in one or two of the great civilisa-
tions. We have seen sporadic examples of the
Beast-Fable, or perhaps rather Beast-Satire,
in Egypt, Judaea, Rome, and Arabia, but the
Fable proper, in full and free development, is
only found in Greece and India. This result
at first sight seems to tell strongly in favour
of Benfey's borrowing theory of the diffusion
of folk-tales and of Herr Gruppe's " revela-
tionist " views as to the origin of myths. But
the highly specialised character of the Fable
VOL, I. O
o
K
C
2IO FABLE.
prevents us from applying results obtained
from consideration of its history to the more
general question of origin, while its Droll
character will explain its more easy trans-
mission. These considerations minimise the
general bearing of our results, which would
otherwise be conclusively decisive in favour
of Benfey, M. Cosquin, and Herr Gruppe. *
The specialised character of the Fable again
renders it diiEcult to speak of it in any abstract
or general way. We cannot speak of Fable in
general when we only know of Greek and of
Indian Fables in particular. This suggests
that we may get more easily at their Wesen
by studying their Werdcn. This is the more
necessary, as hitherto we have told the tale of
the Fable backwards more in the order of dis-
covery t than of development, more in logical
than chronological progression. The reader
* Another point of difference is that the transmission of
the Fable, so far as we can trace it, has been almost en-
tirely literary. It is only in the early "Libyan" Fables
tliat we seem to see any evidence of oral tradition of
Fables from one nation to another.
f It may interest the reader to know that most of my
new points occurred to me as I came to examine and write
upon the various divisions of my subject. This will at
anj'rate be proof that I did not arrive at them A priori
ia the interest of any particular theory.
V SHORT HISTORY OF FABLE. 211
will probably be glad to have the somewhat
abstruse and complicated inquiries on which we
have been engaged summed up for him in the
shape of a Short History of the Fable.*
Most nations develope the Beast-Tale as part
of their folk-lore, some go further and apply it
to satiric purposes, and a few nations afford
isolated examples of the shaping of the Beast
Tale to teach some moral truth by means of the
Fable properly so-called. But only two peoples
— independently — made this a general practice.
Both in Greece and in India we find in the
earliest literature such casual and frequent
mention of Fables as seems to imply a body of
Folk-Fables current among the people. And
in both countries special circumstances raised the
Fable from folk-lore into literature. In Greece
during the epoch of the Tyrants, when free
speech was dangerous, the Fable was largely
used for political purposes. The inventor of
this application or the most prominent user
of it was one .iEsop, a slave at Samos whose
* It is well perhaps to warn the reader that two-thirds
of the Short History of the Fable he is about to hear
consists of discoveries or hypotheses of my own which have
not yet gone through the ordeal of specialist criticism.
212 FABLE.
name has ever since been connected with the
Fable. When free speech was established in
the Greek democracies, the custom of using
Fables in harangues was continued and en-
couraged by the rhetoi-icians (Arist. Mhet. ii.
20), while the mirth-producing qualities of the
Fable caused it to be regarded as fit subject
of after-dinner conversation along with other
jests of a broader kind ("Milesian," "Sy-
baritic") This habit of regai-ding the Fable as
a form of the Jest intensified the tendency to
connect it with a well-known name as in the
case of our Joe Miller. About 300 B.C. Deme-
trius Phalereus, whilom tyrant of Athens and
founder of the Alexandria Library, collected
together all the Fables he could find under the
title of Assemhlies of jEsopic Tales. This col-
lection, running probably to some 200 Fables,
after being interpolated and edited by the
Alexandrine grammarians, was turned into
neat Latin iambics by Phagdrus, a Greek freed-
man of Augustus in the early years of the
Christian era.
In India the great ethical reformer, Saky-
amuni, initiated (or adopted from the Brahmins)
the habit of using the Beast-Tale for moral
IN GREECE AND INDIA. 213
purposes, or in other words, transformed it into
the Fable proper. A collection of these seems
to have existed independently in which the
Fables were associated with the name of a
mjiihical sage, Kasyapa.* Tliese were appro-
priated by the eai-ly Buddhists by the simple
expedient of making Kasyapa the preceding
incarnation of the Buddha. A number of his
itialidsas or Tales were included in the sacred
Buddhistic work containing the Jdtalias or
previous-births of the Buddha, in some of
which the Bodisat (or future Buddha) appears
as one of the Dramatis Personse of the Fables
(the Crane, e.g., in our Wolf and Crane being
one of the incarnations of the Buddha). The
Fables of Kasyapa or rather the moral verses
{gdtlias) which served as a memoria teclmica to
them were probably carried over to Ceylon in
241 B.C. along with the Jatakas. About 300
years later (say 50 a.d.) some loc of these were
brought by a Cingalese embassy to Alexandria,
where they were translated under the title of
" Libyan Fables," which had been earlier
* Not to be confonnded with Buddha's chief disciple of
the same name, for whom see Mr. B\\ys-Y)&\ids' Buddhism,
pp. 59, 6r, 189. The identity of name may have helped
the more easy appropriation of Kllsynpa's Itiahdsas.
214 FABLE.
applied to similar stories that had percolated to
Hellas from India; they were attributed to
" Kybises." This collection seems to have in-
troduced the habit of summing up the teaching
of a Fable in the Moral, corresponding to the
gdtha of the Jatakas. About the end of the first
century A. D. the Libyan Fables of "Kybises"
became known to the Eabbinic school at
Jabne founded by R. Jochanan ben Saccai
and a number of the Fables translated into
Aramaic and are still extant in the Talmud
and Midrash.
In the Roman world the two collections of
Demetrius and " Kybises" were brought together
by Nicostratus, a rhetor attached to the court
of Marcus Aurelius. In the earlier part of the
next century (c. 230 a.d.) this Corpus of the
ancient fable, ^sopic and Lybian, amounting
in all to some 300 members, was done into
Greek verse with Latin accentuation (choli-
ambics) by Valerius Babrius, tutor to the young
son of Alexander Severus. Still later, towards
the end of the fourth century, forty-two of
these, mainly of the Libyan section, were trans-
lated into Latin by one Avian, with whom the
ancient history of the Fable ends.
IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 215
In the Middle Ages it was naturally the
Latin Phsedrus that represented the ^•Esopic
Fable to the learned world. A selection of
some eighty fables was turned into indifferent
prose in the ninth century, probably at the
Schools of Charles the Great.* This was attri-
buted to a fictitious Romulus. Another collec-
tion by Ademar of Chabannes was made before
1030, and still preserves some of the lines of
the lost Fables of Phaedrus. The Fables became
especially popular among the Normans. A
number of them occur on the Bayeux Tapestry,
and in the twelfth century England, the head
of the Angevin empire, became the home of the
Fable, all the important adaptations and ver-
sions of ^sop being made in this country. One
of these done into Latin verse by Walter the
Englishman became the standard -(Esop of
mediaeval Christendom. The same history ap-
plies in large measure to the Fables of Avian,
which were done into prose, transferred back
into Latin verse, and sent forth through Europe
from England.!
* Cf. Ebert, AUg. Lilt. d. Mittelalters, ii. 32, 54.
t I should perhaps have made some reference to a col-
lection {Speculum Sapientiae) associated with the name of
St. Cyril, which is the most original of the mediseval sets
2i6 FABLE.
Meanwhile Babrius had been suffering the
same fate as Phsedrus. His scazons were
turned into poor Greek prose, and selections of
them passed as the original Fables of ^sop.
Some fifty of these were selected, and with the
addition of a dozen Oriental fables, were attri-
buted to an imaginary Persian sage, Syntipas ;
this collection was translated into Syriac, and
thence into Arabic, where they passed under
the name of the legendary Loqman (probably a
doublet of Balaam). A still larger collection of
the Greek prose versions got into Arabic,
where it was enriched by some 60 fables from
the Arabic Bidpai and other sources, but still
passed under the name of ^sop. This collec-
tion, containing 164 fables, was brought to
England after the Third Crusade of Richard I.,
and translated into Latin by an Englishman
named Alfred, with the aid of an Oxford Jew
named Berachyah ha Nakdan, who, on his own
account, translated a number of the fables into
Hebrew rhymed prose, under the Talmudic title
of fables. Graesse has shown that it is of the thirteenth
century. Why then does he still style it, with Nicholas of
Pergamiis' Dialogns CreaUirarum, (of the fourteenth) Die
beiden iiltcsten lutein. Fahelbilcher d. Mittelalters (Stutt-
gart, 1880) ?
THE MODERN MSOP. 217
Mishle Shualim (Fox Fables). Part of Alfred's ^
^sop was translated into English alliterative
verse, and this again was translated about 1220 t
into French by Marie de France, who attributed
the new fables to King Alfred. After her no
important addition was made to the mediaeval
^sop.*
"With the invention of printing the European
book of ^sop was compiled by Heinrich Stain-
hciwel, who put together the Romulus with
selections from Avian, some of the Greek prose
versions from Ranuzio's translation, and a few
from Alfred's ^sop. To these he added the ^
legendary life of ^sop and a selection of some-
what loose tales from Petrus Alphonsus and
Poggio Bracciolini, corresponding to the Milesian
and Sybaritic tales which were associated with
the Fable in antiquity. Stainhowel translated
all this into German, and within twenty years
his collection had been turned into French,
English (by Caxton, the book before us), Italian,
Dutch, and Spanish. Additions were made to
• The popularity of .^op in the Middle Ages was due to
the general predilection for allegorical teaching. This can
be traced to the need of symbolical exegesis of the Old
Testament. Cf. Diestel, Gcsch. d. alt. Test, in christl.
Kirche, 1869.
tf
2i8 FABLE.
it by Brandt and Waldis in Germany, by
L' Estrange in England, and by Lafontaine in
France; these were chiefly from the larger Greek
collections published after Stainhowel's day,
and, in the case of Lafontaine, from Bidpai
and other Oriental sources. But these additions
have rarely taken hold, and the ^sop of modern
Europe is in large measure Stainhowel's, even
to the present day. Selections from it passed
into spelling and reading books, and made the
Fables part of modern European folk-lore.*
We may conclude this history of ^sop with
a similar account of the progress of ^sopic in-
vestigation. First came collection ; the Greek
^sop was brought together by Neveletus in
1610, the Latin by Nilant in 1709. The main
truth about the former was laid down by the
master-hand of Bentley; the equally great critic
Lessing began to unravel the many knotty points
connected with the mediseval Latin -5^]sop. His
• An episode in the history of the modern ^sop deserves
record, if only to illustrate the law that ^sop always begins
his career as a political weapon in a new home. When a
selection of the Fables were translated into Chinese in 1840
they became favourite reading with the officials, till a high
dignitary said, "This is clearly directed against ms," and
ordered ^sop to be included in the Chinese Index Expur-
gatorius (R. Morris, Cont. Rev. xxxix. p. 731).
^SOPIC INVESTIGATION. 219
investigations have been carried on and com-
pleted by three Frenchmen in the present cen-
tury, Robert, Du Meril, and Hervieux ; while
three Germans, Crusius, Benfey, and Mall, have
thrown much needed light on Babrius, on the
Oriental ^sop, and on Marie de France.*
Lastly, an Englishman has in the present pages
brought together these various lines of inquiry,
and by adding a few threads of his own,t has
been able to weave them all for the first time
into a consistent pattern, which, he is painfully
aware, is sadly wanting in grace and finish, but
which, he trusts, will not need henceforth to be
entirely unravelled.
So much for the past of the Fable. Has it
a future as a mode of literary expression 1
Scarcely ; its method is at once too simple and
too roundabout. Too roundabout; for the truths
we have to tell we prefer to speak out directly
* These are the chief names ; others, Hke Landsberger,
Wagener, and Oesterley, approach them near. The Index
contains, I believe, every name that has contributed any
suggestion of importance to ^sopic research.
f For these see Preface, p. xvi. I might have added
some hundreds of new parallels recorded during the course
of this essay and in the Appendix and Synopsis. But these
crop up as part of the day's work with every serious
student, and, apart from their bearing on some general
line of argument, are merely Curiosities of Literature.
220 FABLE.
and not by way of allegory. And the truths
the Fable has to teach are too simple to corre-
spond to the facts of our complex civilisation ;
its rude graffiti of human nature cannot repro-
duce the subtle gradations of modern life. But
as we all pass through in our lives the various
stages of ancestral culture, there comes a time
when these rough sketches of life have their
appeal to vis as they had for our 'forefathers.
The allegory gives us a pleasing and not too
strenuous stimulation of the intellectual powers;
the lesson is not too complicated for childlike
minds. Indeed, in their grotesque grace, in
their quaint humour, in their trust in the
simpler virtues, in their insight into the cruder
vices, in their innocence of the fact of sex,
iEsop's Fables are as little children. They are
as little children, and for that reason they will
for ever find a home in the heaven of little
children's souls.
APPENDIX.*
THE ARABIC iESOP (Paris MS.).
MS. Supplemente Arabe, No, 1644. On Title page in
pencil "Fables d'Esope." Rather modern manuscript.
Headings in red. Each fable is repeated twice. The
story is generally the same ; but the moral different.
The second redaction seems generally to be shorter
than the first.
LIST OF FABLES.
I. Eagle and Fox (Ro. i. 13, Synt. 24, Soph. 25). 2.
Fox and Goat (Re. 3, cf. 79). 3. Eagle and Scarabaeus
(? Ro. i. 14). 4. Fox and Lion (? Ro. i. 4, Soph, 26, cf.
109). 5. Nightingale and Sparrow-Hawk (Ro. iii. 5). 6.
Weasel and Hen (? Re. 4). 7. Fox [commences "A fox
was made prisoner in a net. Its tail was cut off and it
fled ; and on account of its great shame it made use of a
stratagem, &c."] (Halm, 46). 8. Fox and Hanging-Lamp.
9. Hens and Partridge (Halm, 22). 10. Hunter of Birds
and the Viper (Halm, 275). 11. Fox and Crocodile (Halm,
* Kindly communicated by Dr. R. Gotthoi!, who desires it to
be understood that the translation of tlie titles is merely tentative,
as he bad no time to study the contents of the MS. or revise the
translatian. I have added identifications of about two-thirds of
tlie Fables, so far as the mere titles rendered this possible.
222 APPENDIX.
37). 12. The Writing Beast (? ?). 13. Fox [commences
"A fox went into the shop of a certain man, &c."] (? Ro.
ii. 14). 14. Conceited man (Halm, 203). 15. Charcoal-
burner and Fuller (Halm, 59). 16. He who promised
that which was impossible. 17. Frogs (? Ro. ii. i).
i8. Two Hunters (? Av. 8). 19. Old Man and Death
(Halm, 90, Synt. 2, Soph, 3). 20. Decrepit Old Man
and Physician (cf. 30). 21. Husbandman and his
Children (? Ex. v. 13). 22. Man and Dogs (? Halm,
95). 23. Widow and Hen (? Av. 24, Loq. 12, Soph.
61). 24. Wicked Man (Halm, 55). 25. The Accidents
of Fortune (? Halm, 316). 26. Enemies (Halm, 144). 27.
Mouse and Cat (? Re. 8, Soph. 39). 28. Fox and Louse (?
^sop's Fable, supra, p. 28). 29. Dolphin and Fish (Halm,
116). 30. Physician and Sick-man (Halm, 169, cf. 20, 39).
31. Dog and Wolf (Ro. iii. 15). 32. Dog and Hen (Halm,
225). 33. Lion and Gift (or fetter). 34. Cook and Dog
(Halm, 232). 35. Lion, Ass, and Fox (Ass' Heart, xxi.).
36, Lion and Bear (? Halm, 247). 37. Butcher. 38. Dove
and Ant (Re. 11). 39. Sick-man and Physician [cf. 30). 40.
Ass and Husbandman (Ro. iii. 18). 41. Hunter and Sparrow.
42. Executor (?). 43. Young Man and his Mother (Re. 14,
cf. 130). 44. Tiller and the Sea (Halm, 94). 45. Pome-
granate and Apple. 46. Peacock and the Raven (Ro. ii.
IS, Soph. 56). 47. Sow and the Fox (? Ro. ii, 4). 48.
Mole (? Furia, 177). 49. Bad Grapes and the Chamois.
50. Swallow and the Bat. 51. Bird and the Child (? ^aZi?a,
0. ix.). 52. Hornets and ?. 53. Hares and Frogs (Ro. ii.
8). 54. Ass and Horse (Ro. iii. 3). 55. Tortoise and
Eagle (Av. 2). 56. Lover of Gold (Halm, 412). 57. Goose
and the Sparrow-hawk (? Halm, 170). 58. Man and the
Flea (Re. 15). 59. Men and Stag. 60. Stag and Mortar
(? Halm, 227). 61. Stag and Lion (Halm, 12B, 129). 62.
APPENDIX. 223
The Lion, Ass, and the Hen (Halm, 323). 63. Dog and
the Husbandman (? Soph. 67). 64. Sow and the Bitch
(Halm, 409). 65. Lion and the Wolf (? Halm, 255). 66.
Serpent and the Lobster (<•/. 144). 67. Tiller and the Wolf
(? Halm, 2S3). 68. Eagle and the Geese. 69. Lobster and
the Fox (? Halm, 36). 70. Man and his Wife [commenc-
ing : "A woman had a drunken husband, &c."] (Halm,
108). 71. The Abyssinian (Loq. 17, 23, Soph. i. 59). 72.
Divining Woman (? Halm, 112). j^. Woman and her
Slaves (? Halm, no). 74. Cricket (? Halm, 400). 75.
Snail (? Halm, 214). 76. Cat and the ?. 77. Tiller. 78.
Wolves and the Honey. 79. Goat and the Wolf (cf. 2).
80. Two Men [commences : "Two men were walking on a
road when one of them found a bird. Then the other one
turned to him, ko."]. 81. Man and the Dogs. 82. Singer.
83. Kaven and Serpent (Halm, 207). 84. Eaven [com-
mences : "A man seized a raven and bound its foot, &c."].
85. Man and Savage (Av. 22). 86. Hermes (?) and Zeus (?)
(Furia, 365). 87. Wolf and Darkness. 88. Robber and Hen
(Halm, 195). 89. Hares. 90. Ant [commences " In olden
times they imagined that the ant was formerly a dissatisfied
husbandman, &c."] 91. Raven and Turtle-dove. 92. Ass
and Fox (?Ro. iv. 13). 93. Ass and Raven (?Halm, 330).
94. Wild Ass (Halm, 321). 95. Hen and Swallow. 96. Ser-
pent. 97. Dove. 98. Eaven and its Mother (Ko. i. 19). 90.
Ass and ? 100. Ass and Frogs (Halm, 327). loi. Collec-
tors(?). 102. Ass and Fox (? Ko. iv. 13, cf. 92). 103. Camel
and Men (?Halm, 180). 104. Dove and Eaven. 105. Rich
Man and his two Sons. 106. Tiller. 107. Eagle (? Halm,
4). 108. Hunter and Fish (? Av. 16). 109. Lion and
Fox (cf. 4, Soph. 4s). no. Man and Image (Re. 6, Soph.
52). III. Olive and Standard (or "boundary-post"?)
(? Halm, 124). 112. Eye-tooth (?) and Sparrow-Hawk.
2 24 APPENDIX.
113. Man, Dog, and their Fellows. 114. Foolish Hunter.
115. Bulls and Lion (Av. 14, Synt. 13, Soph. 17). 116.
Circle (?) aud Fox (?Eo. ii. 14). 117. Man and Hen (Synt.
27, Soph. 30). 118. Cricliet and Ant (Ro. iv. 17, Synt. i,
Soph. 2). 119. Goat and Eye-Tooth (?). 120. Plougher
and Serpent (Ro. i. 10). 121. Bear and Old Woman.
122. Trumpet-blower (Av.-EUis, 39). 123. Mule (Halm,
157). 124. Ass. 125. Man and Woman. 126. Man and
his Daughter. 127. Camel and Lion. 128. Lion and Pig.
129. Lion and Mouse (Ro. i. 18, Soph. 27). 130. Young
Man and his Mother (cf. 43). 131. Fox and Thorn-bush
(Re. 5). 132. Raven and Fox (Ro. i. 15). 133. Two
Fishes. 134. Bustard. 135. Gazelle. 136. Two Imbeciles.
137. Man and Scorpion (? Soph. 34). 138. Camel (Halm,
180-2). 139. Astronomer (Halm, 72). 140. Ox. 141. Ass.
142. Dog. 143. Serpent and Plougher (? Ro. ii. 10, Loq.
24, Soph. 12). 144. Boa and Lobster (cf. 66).
INDEX OF FABLES.
Ro.= four books of " Romulus ; " Ex.V. = Extravagantes, here
Rook V. ; Re. = Remicius ; Av.= Avian; Al. =Alphonse ;
Po. = Poggio ; asterisks mark illustrations ; Arabic figures
indicate pages of vol. ii.
Androclus, see Lion and
shepherd
Ant and fly, Ro. II., xvii. 55
Ant and dove, Re., xi. 206
Ant and grasshopper, Ro. IV.,
xvii. 123
Ape and fox, Ro. III., xvii. 94
Ape and son, Av., xi. 229
Ape and two children, Av.,
XXV. 246
Ass and boar, j-^^Lion and ass
Ass and horse, Ro. III., iii. 67
Ass and lion, Ro. IV., x. 115
Ass and sick lion, see Lion,
wild boar, &c.
Ass and wolf, Ro. IV., xiii. 119
*Ass and lap-dog, Ro. I.,
xvii. 24
*Ass in lion's skin, Av. , iv. 219
Bald man and fly, Ro. II.,
xii. 48
Bat, birds, and beasts, Ro.
III., iv. 70
Bawd and kitten, Al., xi. 281
Bee and Jupiter, Re., xii. 207
VOL. I.
Belly and members, Ro. III.,
xvi. 92
Bitches, two, Ro. I., ix. 14
Blind man and wife, Al., xii.
285
Boar and wolf, Ex.V., ii. 130
Bush and aubier tree, Av. , xv.
234 [Fir and bramble]
Butcher and wethers, Ro. IV.,
vi. 109
Camel and flea, Ro. IV., xvi.
122
Camel and Jupiter, Av., vii.
224 [asking for horns]
Carpenter, Re., xiii. 208
Cat and chicken. Re., iv. 197
Cat and rat. Re., viii., 202
Cock and precious stone, Ro.
I..i.4
Crabs, old and young, Av.,
iii. 218
Crane and peacock, Av., xii.
230
*Crowand pitcher, Av. , xx. 240
226
INDEX OF FABLES.
Debtor, Po. , [ix.] 310
Disciple and sheep, AL, viii.
274
Dog and shadow, Ro. I., v. 10
Dog and sheep, Ro. I., iv. 8
Dog in manger, Ex.V. , xi. 165
Dog, old, and master, Ro. II.,
vii. 40
Dog, wolf, and wether, Ex.V.,
XV. 180
Dogs, two, Av. , vi. 222
Doves, kite, and sparrow-
hawk, Ro. II., ii. 34
Dragon and hart, Ex.V., iv.
134
Dream-bread, AL, v. 266
Eagle and fox, Ro. I. , xiii. 19
Eagle and raven. Re., i. 191
Eagle and weasel, Re., ii. 193
Eagle with nut and raven, Ro.
I., xiv. 20
Ephesian widow, Ro. III., ix.
79
Falconer and birds, Ro. IV.,
vii. no
Father and bad son, Ro. III.,
xi. 84
Father and three sons, Ex.V.,
xiii. 172
Fellows, two, Av., viii. 225
Fir and bramble, see Bush and
aubier
Fisher, Re., vii. 201
Fisher and little fish, Av. , xvi.
235
Flea and man. Re., xv. 212
Fox and bush, Re., v. 199
Fox and cat, Ex.V., v. 137
Fox and cock, Ex.V., iii. 132
Fox, cock, and dogs, Po., vii.
307
Fox and crow, see Raven and
fox
Fox and goat. Re., iii. 195
*Fox and grapes, Ro. IV., i.
100
Fox and lion, Ro. IV., xii.
117
Fox and mask, see Wolf and
skull
*Fox and stork, Ro. II. , xiii. 49
Fox and wolf, Ro. III., vi. 74
Fox, wolf, and lion, Ex.V., ix.
149
Friendship, rare, Al., i. 247
Frog and fox, Av. , v. 221
*Frogs and Jupiter, Ro. II.,
i. 32
Genoese, Po. [x.] 312
*Goat and wolf, Ex.V., vi. 139
Goose with golden eggs, Av.,
xxiv. 24s
Hares and frogs, Ro. II.,
viii. 42
Hart and hunter, Ro. III., vii.
76
Hart and ox, Ro. III., xix. 96
Hart, sheep, and wolf, Ro. II.,
xi. 47
Hawk and birds, Ro. IV., xi.
116
Hedgehog and kids, Ro. IV.,
xiv. 120
Horse, hunter, and hart, Ro.
IV., ix. 113
Hunter and tiger, Av., xiii.
231
Hunting and hawking, Po.,
iv. 297
*Husband and two wives, Re.,
xvi. 213
Husband, wife, and mother-
in-law, Al., X. 279
Jay and peacock, Ro. II., xv.
Juno, peacock, and nightin-
gale, Ro. IV., iv. 105
INDEX OF FABLES.
227
Juno, Venus, and goddesses,
Ro. III., viii. 78
King of apes, Ro. IV., viii.
Ill
King log and king stork, see
Frogs desiring king
Knight and servant, Ex.V.,
xvii. 183
Kniglit and [Ephesian]wido\v,
Ro. III., ix. 79
Labourer and children. Re.,
xvii. 215
Labourer and nightingale,
AL, vi. 269
Labourer and pielarg, Re., ix.
204
Lion and ape, Ro. III., xx.
98
Lion and ass, Ro. I., xi. 16
Lion and bull, Av. , x. 228
Lion, cow, goat, and sheep,
Ro. I., vi. II [Lion's share]
Lion and goat, Av. , xix. 239
Lion and horse, Ro. III., ii.
r ^5
Lion and rat (mouse), Ro.
I., xviii. 26
Lion and shepherd, Ro. III.,
i. 62 [Androclus]
Lion and statue, see Man and
lion
Lion, wild boar, bull, and
ass, Ro. I., xvi. 22
Lye of oil, Al., iii. 259
Man, good, and serpent, Ro.
II., X. 45
Man and lion, Ro. IV., xv.
121 [statue]
Man, lion, and son, Ex.V.,
xvi. 183
Man and serpent, Ro. I., x. 15
Man and weasel, Ro. II., xix.
59
Man and wood, Ro. III., xiv.
89
Man and wood-god, Re., vi.
200
Marriage of sun, see Thief and
sun
Merchant and ass, Ro. III.,
xviii. 95
Milvan and mother, Ro. I.,
xix. 28
Money found, AL, iv. 263
Money recovered, Al., ii. 256
Monsters, Po. , v. 301
Mountain in labour, Ro. II.,
V. 38
Mouse, town and country,
Ro. I., xii. 17
Mule, fox, and wolf, Ex.V., i.
128
Mule and fly, Ro. II., xvi. 54
Nightingale and sparrow-
hawk, Ro. III., V. 72
Nulla vestigia, see Fox and
lion
Oak and reeds, see Tree and
reeds
Ox and frog, Ro. II., xx. 61
Ox and rat, Av. , xxiii. 244
O.xen, four (and lion), Av.,
xiv. 233
Palmer and satyr (blow hot
and cold), Av. , xxii. 242
Panther and villains, Ro. IV.
V. 107
Parson, dog, and bishop, Po.,
vi. 305
Phoebus, avaricious and envi-
ous man, Av., xvii. 236
Pilgrim and sword, Ro. IV.,
xviii. 128
Pillmaker, Po., [xi.] 313
Piper turned fisherman, see
Fisher
228
INDEX OF FABLES.
Pot, copper and earthen, Av.,
ix. 227
Priests, worldly and unworldly,
Caxton, 315
Rat and frog, Ro. I., iii. 7
Raven and fox, Ro. I. , xv. 21
Rhetorician and crookback,
Al., vii. 272
Satyr and man, see Palmer
and satyr
Serpent and file, Ro. III.,
xii. 86
Serpent and labourer, Ev.V.,
viii. 144
Sheep and crow, Ro IV., -xix.
125
Shepherd boy (wolf!). Re., x.
205
Sow and wolf, Ro. II., iv. 37
Stag in oxstall, see Hart and
ox
Swallow and birds, Ro. I., xx.
29
Tailor and king, Al, xiii.
288
Thief and dog, Ro. II., iii. 35
Thief and mother, Re., xiv.
210
Thief and sun, Ro. I., vii. 12
Thief and weeping child, Av.,
xviii. 238
Tortoise and birds, Av., ii. 217
Town and country mouse, see
Mouse
Tree and reed, Ro. IV., xx.
126
Villain and young bull, Av. ,
xxi. 241
Viper and file, see Serpent and
file
Weasel and rat, Ro. IV., ii,
102
Widow, Po. , [xii.] 314
Wind and earthen pot, Av.,
xxvi., 247
Wolf and ass, Ex.V., vii. 141
Wolf and crane, Ro. I. , viii.
13
Wolf and dog, Ro. III., xv. 90
Wolf and fox, Ex.V., xiv. 176
Wolf, fox, and ape, Ro. II.,
xviii. 57
Wolf and hungry dog, E.x.V.,
xii. 166
Wolf and kid, Ro. II., ix. 44
Wolf, labourer, fox, and
cheese, Al, ix. 276
♦Wolf and lamb, Ro. I., ii. S
Wolf and lamb, Ro. II., vi.
39 [and goat]
Wolf and lamb, Av., xxvii.,
248 [kid]
Wolf and nurse, see Woman,
old
Wolf, repentant, E.X.V., x. 156
Wolf, shepherd, and hunter,
Ro. IV. iii., 103
Wolf and skull, Ro. II., xiv.,
51
Wolves and sheep, Ro. III.,
xiii. 87
Woman and Holy Ghost, Po.,
i. 292
Woman and hypocrite, Po.,
ii. 294
Woman, old, and wolf, Av.,
i. 216
Women, two, Po., [viiL] 309
Young man and whore, Ro.
III.,x. 82
Young woman and husband,
Po., iii. 296
SYNOPSIS OF PARALLELS.
"So the tales were told ages before /Esop; and asses under
lions vtanes roared in Hebrew : and sly foxes flattered in Etrus-
can ; and wolves in sheep's clothing gnashed their teeth in Sanskrit,
no doubt." — Thackeray, Newcotjies, ch. i.
[Unless otherwise mentioned, the whole of the Fables are
found in the same order and with the same enumeration in
the German of Stainhowel, the Latin by Sorg, the Dutch
Esopus, Spanish Ysopo, the Italian of Tuppo, and the French
of Machault. The same applies to ' Romulus ' for the first
four books. The arrangement of Parallels is— I. The Gi-ient;
II. Classical Antiquity, including the Greek prose versions
(".(Esop," ed. Halm) which belong to, III. Mediceval, to
the invention of printing ; IV. Modern Foreign, including
a few writers like Boccaccio, who would belong formally
to preceding period : my secondary sources are given at the
end of this section ; V. Modern English. The ancient and
mediaeval parallels are given nearly zVz extenso : for later
appearances in Continental collections reference is made to
Oesterley and Robert, who give the Teutonic and Romance
literatures respectively : a few items of literary interest are
sometimes selected from these sources. The English parallels
are mainly from the collections of Ogilby (Og.), L' Estrange
(L.), Croxall (C), James (J.), Townsend (T.), Caldecott
(Cald.), and Crane (Cr. ) ; the last only by page, the rest by
number. Mav. indicates that the Fables to which it, is
appended occur in Mavor's Spelling Book. As a specimen
of what I might have inflicted on the reader I have treated
The Wolf and Crane (Ro. I. viii. ) with some fulness, giving
230 SYNOPSIS OF PARALLELS.
the editions I have used. This and the Index and Pedigree
may supply the place of a bibliographical list. Many of the
fables are discussed or referred to in the Introduction : for
these see Index.
LIBER PRIMUS.
Ro. I. Prologue.
[' Romulus, son of Thybere,' was possibly a common noun
at the beginning, representing the tradition that some Roman
had translated the Fables from the Greek. As a matter of
fact, the four books associated with the name of ' Romulus '
are simply paraphrases of Phaedrus.]
Ro. I., !.— Cock and Precious Stone.
I. Bidpai, ed. Galland, iii. 157 ; Sadi, ed. Graf, 101,
II. Phie'd., iii. 12. III. Rufus, v. 6, 7 ; Ademar, i ; Marie de
France, i ; Berachyah Hanakdan, Mishle Shu'alim (Heb.),
4; Ysopet, I. I (Robert, i. 82); Hidoth Izopiti (Heb.) i;
Galfred, i ; Wright, i. i ; Vincentius Bellovacensis, Specu-
lum morale, 30; Boner, Edehtein* i; Bromyard, Summa
Predicant, A. 26, 32. IV. Rabelais, i. prol. ; Luther,
Fabeln, I ; Waldis, Esopus, i. i ; Kirchhof, Wendenmuth, vii.
3 ; Lafontaine, i. 20 ; Lessing, Fabeln, ii. 9 ; Krilof , ii. 18 ;
Robert, i. 8r ; Oesterleyon Kirchhof; Steinschneider, Ysopet,
361 ; De Gubernatis, Zool. Myth., ii. 291. V. Bacon, Essays
xiii. ; L. I, C. I, J. 13. T. 44; Cald. 13 ; Cr. 10. Cf. W.
C. Hazlitt. Eng. Proverbs, A barleycorn, &c.
Ro. I., ii. — The Wolf and the Lamb.
I. Dipi Jdtaka, supra V., p. 62-4; Kahghur, iv. 87;
Schiefner (tr. Ralston) J'ibet. Tales, xxix. ; Bleek, Reineke
Fuchs in Afrika, xxv. (in Madagascar). Cf. Tutinameh,
ed. Rosen, i. 229. II. .^Esop. Halm, 274 ; Babrius, 89 ;
Phffid., i. I. III. Bayeux Tapestry (e Comte), pi. iv. ; Ruf. ,
i. I ; Adem., 3 ; Vine. Bell., spec, hist., 2, 3 ; doct., 4, 114 ;
* Boner's collection received its title from this fable. Cf. Carlyle
Miscell. ii. 280.
Ro. I., i. — RO. I., V. 231
Galf., 2 ; Bromyard, A., 12, 45 ; Neckam, 10 ; Dial Great. ,
51 ; Odo de Cerington, 67 ; Marie, 2 ; Berachyah, 3 ; Ysop. ,
I. 2, II. 10 (Rob., I. 58, 60) ; Izopiti (Heb.), 2; Gabrias,
35 ; Wright, Latin Stories {Percy Soc), App. I., i. 2 ; Boner,
5. IV. H. Sachs, i. 5, p. 485 ; Cellar, Narrenschiff, 78 ;
Luther, 2 ; Waldis, i. 2 ; Krilof, i. 13 ; Lafontaine, i. 10 ;
Robert, ad. loc. ; Kirchhof, i. 57 (vii. 37) ; Oesterley, ad.
loc. ; Kurz, ad. loc. V. Shakespeare, Henry IV., i. 8, L.
3, C. 2, Mavor 6. J. 27, T. i. Cald., 2 ; Cr. 10.
Ro. I., iii. — Rat and Frog.
I. Anvari Suhaili tr. Eastwick, 133 (Benf. , i. 223 ); Talmud,
Nedar, 41a (Bacher, Agada d. Amor., 42, Gaster, Beitr.,
ix. ) ; Wagener- Weber, No. 9 [Frog and Scorpion] ; Bidpai,
3, p. 87. II. .(Esop. Halm, 298; Babrius-Gitlb. , 182;
Phffid., Burm. App., 6; Dositheus, 6. III. Rufus, i. 3;
Adem., 4; Vine. Bell., s. hist., iii. 2; doct., iv. 114; Galf.,
3; Wright, i. 3; Neckam, 6; Bromyard, P. 13, 37; Odo,
19 ; Dial. Great. , 107 ; Scala cell, 73 ; Enxemplos, 301 ;
Marie, 3 ; Berachyah, 2 ; Ysop., I. 3, II. 6 (R. i. 259, 261) ;
Izopiti, 3 ; Boner, 6 ; Hita, 397 ; Deschamps, podsies, 196.
IV. Waldis, i. 3 ; Kurz, ad. loc. ; Kirchhof, Wendenmuth,
vii. 71 ; Oesterley, ad. loc. ; Luther, 3 ; Lafontaine, iv. ir ;
Rob., ad. loc; Steinschneider, Ysopet, 360; M6ril, 180.
V. L. 4, T. 53-
Ro. I., iv. — Dog and Sheep.
II. Phaed., i. 17. III. Ruf., i. 2; Adem., 5; Wright, i.
4; Marie, 4; Berachyah, 7; Izopiti, 4; Bromyard, P. 2,
3 ; Neckam, 15 ; Galf., 4 ; Boner, 7. IV. Luther, 4 ; Wald.,
i. 48 ; Oesterley on Rom., i. 4 ; Steinschneider, Ysopet, 360 ;
M6ril, 158. V. C. 130, T. 68.
Ro. I., V. — Dog and Shadow.
I. Culladhanuggaha Jdtaka, supra III. pp. 58-60; Wag-
ener-Weber, No. 4 ; Avadanas Julien, ii. 6, 11 ; Pantscha-
tantra, iv. SandpUs. ; Loqman, 41 ; Sophos, 31 ; Tutinameh,
232 SYNOPSIS OF PARALLELS.
ii. 4, 117, 265. II. yEsop. H., 233; Babr., 79; Democritus,
fr. ed. Mull., 169; Syntipas, 26; Dositheus, 11 ; Phasd., i.
4; Aphthon., 35. III. Gab., 28; Vine. Bell, /lisi., iii. 2;
doci., iv. 115; Dial. Great., 100; Bromyard, A. 27, 14;
Wiight, i. s: Neck., 13; Marie, 5; Ysopet, i. 5, ii. 11;
Galf., 5 ; Berach., 5 ; Izopiti, 5 ; Hita, 216. IV. Fischart,
Garganhia, 36; Luther, 5; Lafontaine, vi. 17; cf. vii. 4;
Robert, ad. loc. ; V^ald., i. 4; Kirchhof, ii. 35 (vii. 129);
Pauli, Sckimpfnnd Ernst, 426 ; Oesterley, ad. loc. ; Steins.,
Ysopet, 362 ; Kurz, ad loc. ; Ogilby, 2 ; V. L. 6, C. 5, J. 24,
T. 118; Mav. 4; Cr. 37.
Ro. I., vi.— Lion's Share.
I. Ausland, 1859, p. 927 (among Tuaregs in North Africa,
Benf. i. 354). II. MsoTp, H. 258 ; Phasd., i. 5; Babr., 67 ;
Abstem.,186. IIL Ruf.,i. 7; Adem,,9; Vine. Bell. , Az.t/. ,
3, 2 ; doct.,a„ 116 ; Dial. Great., Marie, 11, 12 ; Berachyah,
12, 52 ; Ysopet, I. 6, II. 9 (Rob. i. 34, 36) ; Izop. (Heb.), 6 ;
Bromy., M. 9,2; Neck., 9; Wright, i. 6, 7 ; Galf., 6;
Boner, 8. IV, Luther, 6 ; Reineke, 5412-86 ; Waldis, i. 5 ;
Kirch., vii. 23 (24) ; Oesterley, ad. loc; "Lessmg, Fabeln, ii.
26; Goethe, xl. 182; Goedeke, Mittelalier, 641; Steins.,
Ysop., 360; M^ril, 183. V. L. 7, C. 6, J. 97; Cald., 10.
Cf. expr. " lion's share."
Ro. L, vii.— Thief and Sun.
II. iEsop, H. 77 ; Phaed., i. 6 ; Babr., 24. III. Ruf., i.
8 ; Adem., 10 ; Bromy., D. 12, 21 ; Scala, 115 ; Marie, 6 ;
Berach., 76; Ysop., i. 7; ii. 16; hop. 7; Gabr., 20; Galf.,
7 ; Neck., 17 ; Boner, 11. IV. Luther, 5 ; Waldis, iii. 61 ;
Pauli, 498; Lafont., vi. 12; Oest. Steins, and Robert, ad
loc. ; Ghivizzani, i. p. 4 ; ii. P- 20 ; M6ril, 1S9. V. J., 103
(marriage of sun).
Ro. I. viii. — Wolf and Crane.
I. The Orient: Jdvasakuna Jdtaka [lAon and Crane),
supra I. pp. 55, 56 (V. FausboU. Five Jdtakas, pp. 35-38) ;
Ro. I., vi. — Ro. I., viii. 233
Schiefner, Thibetan Tales (tr. Ralston), No. xxiii. The Un-
grateful Lion (and Woodpecker) ; De la Loub^re, Royaume
de Siam, Amsterd. , 1691, ii. 20* {ap. Grimm, Reineke Fuchs,
cclxxxi.) ; Wagener, Alhn. Bruss. Acad., 1854, No. xiv. ;
Weber, Ind. Stud., iii. 350; Bereshith Rabba, c. 64, ad fin-
supra, pp. 117-118 (Lion for Wolf) (Wuensche, Bibl. rabb.,
i. 308); Bochart, Hieroz. I. xii. ; Dukes Isr. Ann., 1839,
p. 244; Dr. Back, a/. Graetz, Monatsft., 1876, 197-204;
L-ewysolm, Zool. d. Talm., 375; Hamburger, Realencycl.
d. Tahn., s.v. Fabel ; Landsberger, Fabehi des Sophos, p.
XXX. ; Graetz, Gesch. d. Jicden. , iv.2 142 ; Steinschneider,
Jahrb. rom. eng. Phil, neue Folge, i. 363.
II. Classical Antiquity : Phred. , i. 8, ed. Riese(Wolf)
supra, p. 7 ; Babrius, ed. Rutherford, 94, ed. Gitlbauer, ib.
(Heron) ; Gk. prose ^sop, ed. Coraes, 144, {ter, cf. p. 342),
ed. Furia, 94, 102, ed. Halm, 276b, Schneider, 153 (H. 276,
Heron for Crane), Knoell, 84 ; Aphthonius, 25 [cf tradi-
tion of crocodile and ichneumon, Herod., ii. 68 (Lang,
Euterpe, 68); Aristot. , Hist. Anim., ix. 6; ^lian, iii. 7,
viii. 25] ; Gr. Proverb, e'/c \{ikov (TrbixaTos \ Suidas, ii. 248.
III. Middle Ages: Bayeux Tapestry, Soc. Ant., pi. i. ;
Bruce, pi. i. ; J. Comte, pi. vi. ; supra, Frontisp. (cf. Du
M^ril, 142) : Figured on portico St. Ursin's Cathedral,
Bourges (Du M^ril, 156) ; Gabrias (Ignatius, ed. Mueller)
36; Rufus, i. 9 (Hervieux, p. 236); Romulus, i. 8, ed.
Oesterley ; Ademar, 64 (Herv. , 144 Anon. Nilant, supra, p.
8); Vienna Lat. MS., 305, 8 (Herv., 250) ; L. MS., 901, 7
(H. 287) ; Berlin MS. Lat. 8vo 87. 8 (H. 306) ; Berne MS.,
4 (H. 382); Corp. Chr. Coll. Oxon. , 7 (H. 367) ; Romulus
of Nilant, 9 (Herv. 334) ; Romulus of Marie, 9 (Herv. 504,
"LBG" of Mall); Fabulae rhythmics, 9 (a/. Wright,
Latin Stories, Percy Soc, App. i. 9, Herv. 441), Galfred,
ed. W. Forster, 8 ( = Walter of England : "Anon. Neveleti,"
ap. Nevelet, Myth, .^sop., p. 471, Herv. 388) ; Walterian, 8
(Herv. 429) ; Neckam, ed, Du M6ril, i (Herv. 787, Rob. i.
Told of Sommonacodom and Tevitat = Sakyamuni and
Devadatta.
234 SYNOPSIS OF PARALLELS.
194) ; Odo de Cerington, 10 (ed. Herv. 602) ; John of Shep-
pey, 6 (H. 757) ; Marie de France, ed. Roquefort, 7 ; Berach-
yah ha-Nakdan Mishle Shiialim (Heb.), 8, p. 32, ed. Hanel ;
Ysopet, I. 8 (fr. Galfred ; Robert, Fables inidites, i. 195, with
plate) ; Ysopet, II. (fr. Neckam ; Rob. ib. 196) ; Ysopet of
Lyons, ed. Foerster, 8 (fr. Galfred) ; Ysopet of Clarges, ed.
Duplessis, I (fr. Neckam); Hidoth Izopiti, 8 {ap. Steins.,
I.e.) ; Libra de los Gatos, ed. Guayangos, 2 (fr. Odo : Bibl.
autores Espatl. escritor. anter al Siglo, xv. p. 543) ; Vincent
of Beauvais, Speculum historiale, iii. 2 ; doctrinale, iv. 116 ;
Boner, Edehtein, 11 (Minne Zinger, 11) ; Reineke Fuchs,
ed. Grimm, p. 346; Hugo v. Trimberg, Renner, f. 14
(M^ril) V. 1976, seq. (Kurz) ; Nicol. Pergam. Dialogus
Great, no.
IV. Modern Foreign— G«r»? .■ Stainhowel, f. 29b;
Luther, Fabeln, 9, p. 12, ed. Thiele, 1888 ; H. Schoppfer,
Vulpecula, iii. 11, ap. Del. poet, germ; Posthius, 126, ibid.;
Kirchhof, Wendenmuth, vii. 42, ed. Oesterley (Stuttg. Litt.
Ver. End., 99); H. Sachs, IV. iii. 222; Er. Alberus, 29 ;
Freitag, 15, Philathic ; Waldis, Esopus, ed. Kurz, i. 6;
Goethe, Reineke Fuchs, ap. IVerie.xL 176. Fr. : Machault,
.^sope, i. 8 ; Mer d. Histoires, 1488, 5 ; Haudent, 1547, 117;
Cognatus, 1567, Narrat. sylva, p. 67 ; Corrozet, 1587, 6 ;
Desprez, Theat. d. anim,, 1620, 51; Lafontaine (Loup et
Cicogne),\\\. 9, ed. Robert, No. 51, i. 193, ed. Regnier, t. i.,
p. 228 ; Benserade, 1676, 7 ; Faernus, 1697, 17 : Le Noble,
1697, 8. Hal. : Tuppo Isopo, 8 ; Accio Zuccho, 1483, 8 ;
Pavesio, Targa, 1576, 52 ; Guicciardini, Detti, 1566, p. 47 ;
Verdizotti, Favole, 1577, 54. Span. ; Infante Henrique,
Ysopo, i. 8. Dutch: Esopus, i. 8. Catalan: Faules de
Ysop, 1682, i. 8. Russ. : Krilof, vi. 12. Authorities :
Grimm, Steinschneider, Robert, Kurz, Oesterley, Du M6ril,
Regnier, Ll.cc.
V. Modern English : Caxton, Esope f. 29'' (here vol. ii.
p. 13), Reynart the Foxe, ed. Arber, 88 ; L'Estrange, 8 ;
Croxall, 7; James, 3; To wnsend- Valentine (0<z«</. C/aw.),
121 ; W. Crane, Baby's yEsop, p. 52.
Ro. I., ix. — Ro. I., xii. 235
Ro. I., ix.— Two Bitches.
I. Cf. Benf., i. 353. II. ^sop Camer., 191, 333; Just,,
xliii, 4 ; Ph., i. 19. III. Ruf., i. 10 ; Marie, 8 ; Berach., 9 ;
Ysop., I. 9; II. 27; Galf., 9; Neck., 28; Wright, i. 10;
Izop, 9 (Sanbader in Alsop 2). IV. Luther, 10; Kirch.,
vii, 42 (wrong ref.); Lafontaine, ii. 7; Robert, Steins., flt^
loc. V. L. 323, C, 10.
Ro. I., X.— Man and Serpent.
I. Mahahharata, ap. Holtzmann, hid. Sagen^, ii. 210
(Liebr.) ; Pantschatantra, Dubois, 49, cf. Benf., i. 113-20 ;
Tutinameh, No. 29. II. .^Esop, 79 ; Phsed., iv. 19 ; Babr. —
Gitb.,215; Syntipas,25. III. Ruf., iv. i ; Adem., 11 (woman);
Petr. Alf. ,7, 4; Castoiement, 3 ; Gering Isl. ^venf. ; Vine.
Bell., spec, mor., p. 885 ; Scala, 86 ; Bromyard, G., 4, 17 ;
Ode, 33; Gabr., 42; Dial. Great., 24; Gesta Rom., 174;
Ysop., I. 10; Izop., 10 ; Marie ap. Legrand Fabl,, iv. 193
(not in Roquefort); Galf., 10; Enx., 246; Hita, 1322;
Reinaert, ed. Grimm, 14 ; Boner, 13 ; Barelata Sermones,
43. IV. Luther, Tischreden , 78 ; Charron, De la sagesce,
i. i; Wald., i. 7; Wendenmuth, v. 121; Reismer, ^'wiJ/ezw,
2, 22, 81; Lafont. , vi. 13; Hagedorn, Fabehi, 44; Robert,
Oesterley, ad loc. ; Liebrecht, JERP,\\\. 147. V, L. 9, J. 18,
Og. 16, Cr. 27.
Ro. L, xi. — Lion and Ass (Ass and Boar).
II. Phasd., i. 29. III. Ruf., i. 13; Adem., 12; Marie,
76; Ysop., I. 11; Izop., 11; Galf., II. IV. Luther, 12;
Lafont., viii. 15 {Le rat et l'elepha7it); Wald., i. 8 (cf. 69);
Wendenmulh , vii. 147 (wrong ref.) j Robert, Steins., ad loc.
V. Og. II, J. 132, T. 22.
Ro. I., xii. — Town and Country Mouse,
I. Bidpai-Wolff, i. 124. II. .^Esop, 297; Horace, Sat.,
ii. 6, 77 ; Phaed., App. Burm., iv. 9 ; Babr., 108 ; Aphthon.,
236 SYNOPSIS OF PARALLELS.
26. III. Ruf., ii. i; Adem., 13; Marie, 9; Berach., 10;
Ysop., I. 12; /20/>., 12; Galf., 12; Dial. Great., 113;
Renard le Contrefait (Rob. i. 48) ; Odo, 15; Wright, i, ir ;
Gatos, II. IV. Luther, 13; Fischart, Flohatz, 1920, 4668;
H. Sachs, 2, 4, 27 ; Wald., i. 9; Kirch., i. 62; Lafont., i.
9 ; Robert and Oesteriey, ad. loc. ; Goedeke, Mit., 635. V.
L. II, C. 35, J. 29, T. 26, Pope.
Ro. I., xiii. — Eagle and Fox (Rom. ii. 8).
I. Benf., i. 170; Jacobs, Bidpai, Dg ; Liebrecht JEEP,
iii. 15s (in W. Afr.); Varian, 3; Sophos, ed. Landsberger,
24. II. Archilochus, ap. Furia, p. ccxiv., seq. i. ; Aristoph.,
Aves, 652 ; ^sop, 5 ; Babr.-Gitl., 177 ; Phaed., i. 28 ; Synti-
pas, 24. III. Rom. ii. 8;* Ruf., ii. 2; Adem., 14; Marie,
10 ; Berach., 11 ; Ysop., I. 13, II. 22 ; Itop., 15 ; Galf., 13 ;
Bromyard, N., 4,4; Wright, i. 12; Neck., 23. IV. H.
Sachs, ii. 4, 95 ; Waldis, i. 59 ; Oest. on Horn. Kurz. V.
L. 72, C. 13, T. 13; Cald., 16.
Ro. I., xiv.— Eagle and Raven.
I. Benf., Pants., i. 241. II. ^sop., 415 ; Pliasd,, ii. 16,
cf. Av., ii. III. Ruf., ii. 5 ; Marie, 13 : Berach., 20 ; Galf,,
14; Ysop., I. 14; Izop., 16; Odo, 44; Wright, i. 13. IV.
Waldis, i. 10 ; Kirchhof, Wendenmuth , vii. 173 ; Robert,
Oest., and Steins., ad. loc; De Gubernatis, ii. 197, 369.
V. C. 134.
Ro. I., XV. — Raven and Fox (and Cheese).
I. Jambu Jdkata, supra, VII. pp. 65-6 ; 'Jami Beharistan
(Vienna, 1778), p. 20 ; Vartan, 17 ; Joh. de Capua, i. 4.
II. .(Esop., 204; Horace, Sat., ii. 5, 56; F.pp., i. 17, 20;
Phaed., i. 13 ; Apuleius Flor., 23 ; Babr., 77 ; Aphthon., 29 ;
Tzetz., Chil., 10, 352. III. Gab., 25; Ruf., ii. 7; Adem.,
* Inserted here in Stainhowel to make up twenty fables in first
book ; this puts the numeration out by one henceforth in Bk. i.
Ro. I., xiii. — Ro. I., xviii. 237
15 ; Bayeux, pi. iv., xvii. ; cf. Alf. , ix. ; Vine. Bell., hist., 3,
3; doct., 4, 117; Marie, 14 (51); Berach., 13; Galf., 15;
Neck., 27 ; Dial. Great., 5i ; Scala, 6 ; Ysopet, I. 15, II.
26; Izop., 17; Rein. Fucks, Grimm, 358; Lucanor (W.
York), 25 ; Cyril, Spec, sap., i. 13 ; Hita, Cantares, 1411.
IV. Luther, 14; Farce de Pathelin, 31; Waldis, i. 11;
Kirch., vii. 30 ; Lafont., i, 2 ; Lessing, ii. 15 ; Krilof, i. i ;
Rob., Oest., Steins., ad. loc. ; De Gubernatis, ii. 251.* V. L.
13, C. 9; Cald., I ; Cr,, 17; Hazlitt, Prov., 383, 'The fox
praiseth the meat out of the crow's mouth ; ' Thackeray,
Newcomes, i.
Ro. I., xvl. — Lion Sick (and Ass).
II. Phaed., i. 21. III. Rufus, ii. 8 ; Ademar, 16; Vine.
Bell., hist. 3, 3, doct. 4, 117; Marie, 15 ; Berach., i ; Ysop. ,
I. 16; Izop., I?) \ Galf., 16; Dial. Great., no; Bromy. , H.
4, 8 ; s. 5, 3 ; Wright, i, 15. IV. Alciati, emblemata , 153;
Wald. , i. 12; Kirch. , vii. 27; Lafont., iii. 14; Rob., Oest.,
Steins. V. C. 6, T. 31.
Ro. I., xvii. — Ass AND Lap-dog.
I. Benf. , Pants., i. no; Avadanas, ii. 73; Weber, Ind.
Stud., iii. 352. II. ^sop. , 331; Phasd. App. Burm. , 10;
Babr. ; 129. III. Rufus, ii. 10; Ademar, 17; Vine. Bell.,
hist. 3, 3; doct. 4, 117; Marie, 16; Berach., 14; Ysop., I.
16, II. 4 ; Izop., 14; Galf., 17; Neck., 5; Gesta Rom., 79;
Wright, i. 13 ; Holkot, 167 ; Boner, 10. IV. Lafont. , iv.
5 ; Rob., Oest., Steins., Goedeke, AfzV^., 648 ; Liebr., JERP,
iii. 146. V. L. 15, C. 124, J. 56, T. 119 ; Hazlitt, 'An ass
was never cut out for a lapdog. '
Ro. L, xviii. — LiON and Mouse.
I. Cf. Benf. Pants. , i. 324 seq. ; Sophos, 25 ; Raju, Ind.
Fab., p. 119. II. .^sop., 256 J Phasdrus App. Burm., 4;
* ' The fox (the spring aurora) takes the cheese (the moon) from
the crow (the winter night) by making it sing ' !
23S SYNOPSIS OF PARALLELS.
Babr., 107 ; Julian, Epist., 8. III. Ruf., ii. 11 ; Adem., 18 ;
Vine. Bell., hist. 3, 3 ; diet. 4, 120 ; Marie, 17 ; Berach., 15 ;
Ysop., I. 18, II. 38; Galf. , 18; Dial. Great., 24; Bromy.,
i. 5, 4; Wright, I, 17; Neck., 41. IV. Clement Marot ;
Wald., i. 14; Kirch. ,vii. 20; Lafont., ii. 11; Rob., Oest.,
Steins.; Du Mdril, 210 ; De Gub., ii. 63, 78. V. L. 303, C.
31, J. 31, T. 32; Cr., 14; Hazlitt, Prov., 'A lion may be
beholden to a mouse."
Ro. I., xix. — The sick Mylan and Mother.
II. .(Esop, 208; Phasd. App. Burm. i ; Babr., 78. III.
Marie, 87; Ysop., I. 24; Izop.,20; Galf., 19. IV. Pauli,
288; Wald., 1. 15; Oest., Steins. V. Cf. prov., The Devil
was sick, &c.
Ro. I., XX.— Swallow and other Birds.
I. Pants., i. app. 5 (Benf. ii. 139, i. 249). II. j^sop.,
416; A. Gellius, ii. 29; Phsed., App. Burm. 7; Babr., 88;
Avian, 21 ; Dio Chrysost. Orat., 12, 72. III. Adem., 20;
Galf., 20; Marie, 18; Berach., 16; Ysop., I. 25, II. 27;
Bayeux, pi. x.-.xii. ; Dial. Great, 119; Broray., C, 11,
20 ; Neck. , 18 ; Lucanor (W. York), 26 ; Wright, i. 18. IV.
Wald., i. i5; Kirch., vii. 114; Lafont., i. 8 ; Rob., Oest.,
Renf. V. Painter, Palace of Pleasure, ed. Jacobs, i. 86-7 ;
I.. 18, C. 157, T. 27.
LIBER SECUNDUS.
Ro. II. Proem.
[Merely an introduction to first Fable, tracing it back to
Solon.]
Ro. II., i.— Frogs desiring King.
I. Gf. Benf., i. 384. II. ^sop, 76; Phasd., i, 2; Ser-
vius on Virg. Georg., i. 378; Val. Max., ii. 2; Babr.-Gitl.,
167, 232. III. Ruf., iii. 7 ; Adem. , 21 ; Marie, 26 ; Berach. ,
RO. I., xix. — Ro. II., V. 239
24; Ysop., I. 19; Reinaert, ed. Grimm, 2305-29; Galf., 21;
Odo, 2; Wright, ii. i; Dial. Great., 118; Neckam, De
Naturis, 348, 387. IV. Luther, ed. Altenb. , iii. 669 ; Frei-
dank, 141, 23 seq. ; H. Sachs, 2, 4, 104 ; Wald., i. 17 ; Kirch.,
vii. 157; Lafontaine, iii. 4; Lessing, ii. 13; Rob., Oest.
V. L. 19, C. 3, J. 116, T. 56 ; Cald., 6 ; Cr. 12.
Ro. II., ii.— Doves, Kite, and Hawk.
il. Phsed., i. 31. III. Ruf., iii. 8; Adem., 22; Marie,
27; Berach., 44; Vine. Bell., mor., 1236; Wright, ii. 2;
stories, 52; Bromy. , A., 14, 6 ; Odo, 2 ; Galf., 22 ; Boner,
26. IV. Wald., i. 18; Kirch., vii. 146; Oest. V. L. 20,
C. 16.
Ro. II., iii. — Thief and Dog,
I. Cf. Benf., i. 608. II. ^sop., 62 ; Phsed., i. 23 ; Babr.,
42. III. Ruf., iii. 9 ; Adem., 23 ; Galf., 23 ; Vine. Bell., hist.
2, 4, doct. 4, 115; Marie, 28; Berach., 43; Ysop., I. 22;
Wright, ii. 3; Bromyard, J., 13, 35; Boner, 27. IV. H.
Sachs, 4, 3, 235 ; Waldis, i. 19 ; Kirchhof, vii. no ; Oest.
V. L. 21, C. 107, J. 120, T. 139.
Ro. II., iv. — Sow AND Wolf.
II. Phasd., App. Jan. i. 18; JEso^p. Cor., 266. III. Ruf.,
iv. 4 ; Adem., 54 ; Marie, 29 ; Berach., 40; Wright, ii. 41 ;
Ysop., I. 20; Galf., 24. IV. Wald., i. 20; Kirch,, vii. 174;
Oest. V. L. 22.
Ro. II., V. — Mountain in Labour.
II. Lucian, Vera Hist.; Athen. , xiv. i; Horace, Ars
poet., 139; Phaed. , iv. 23 (v. 10). III. Ruf., iv. 14; Galf.,
25; Vine. Bell., hist. 3, 4, doct. 4, 118; cf. Marie, 29;
Ysop. , I. 23, II. 34; Neck., 35. IV. Erasmus, Adag., i. 9,
14; Rabelais, iii. 24; Lafont. , v. 10; Boileau, art pa it., iii.
274 ; De Gubern, , ii. 60. V, Og, 8 ; L. 23, C. 26, J. 9,
T. Ill,
240 SYNOPSIS OF PARALLELS.
Ro. II., vi. — Wolf and Lamb (and Goat).
II. Phasd., iii. 15. III. Marie, 44 ; Wright, ii. 6 ; Boner,
30 ; Galf. , 26 ; Oest. on Rom. , ii. 6.
Ro. II., vii. — Dog and Master.
II. Phasd., iv. 39. III. Ruf., v. i; Adem., 62; Ysop.,
I. 27 ; Galf. , 27 ; Bromy. , S. , 5, 3. IV. H. Sachs, 2, 4,
106 ; Kirch. , i. 60 (vii. 75) ; Oest. V. L. 25.
Ro. II., viii. — Hares and Frogs (Rom., ii. 9).
I. Rodiger, Chrest. syr., xxiv. § 7. II. .^sop. , 237;
Phcedrus, App. Burm. ,'2; Babrius, 25 ; Aphthon., 23. III.
Ruf., i. 4 ; Vine. Bell., Aist, 3, 4 ; doci., 4, 118 ; Marie, 30 ;
Berach., 38; Ysop., I. 38,11. 33; Galf., 28; Neck., 34;
Gabr. , 10. IV. H. Sachs, i. 490 ; Wald., i. 23 ; Kirch., vii.
158 ; Lafont. , ii. 16 ; Rob. , Oest. V. L. 27, C. 30, J. 70,
T. 66.
Ro. II., ix. — Wolf and Kid.
I. Sophos, 26. II. .(Esop. , Cam., 206; Phsed. , App.
Burm., 27, 32. III. Rufus, i. 5; Ademar, 61 ; Marie, 90 ;
Berach., 21; Galf., 29; Ysop., I. 29, II. 40; Sezn. Fuchs,
346; Neck. ,42; Boner, 33. IV. Wald. ,i. 24; Kirch., vii.
40 ; Lafont., iv. 5 ; Grimm, K.M. , 5 ; Rob., Oest., Grimm.
V. Og. 72, L. 74, C 119, J. 8 ; Mav., 5.
Ro. II., X.— Good Man and Serpent.
I. Pants., iii. £ (Benf. , ii. 244, i. 359); cf. XX. supra,
pp. 92-4; Bleek, RF in Afr., 5-6. II. ^sop. , 96; Phagd. ,
App. Burm., 33 ; Gabr. 45 (not extant in Babrius) ; Babr.-
Gitl. , 160. III. Rufus, i. 12; Ademar, 65; Marie, 63;
Berach., 22; Ysop., I. 39; Dial. Great., 108; Galf., 30;
Gesta Rom., 141; Enx., 134; Bromy., B., 4, 15; Mapes,
De Nugis, ii. 6. IV. H. Sachs, 2, 4, 42 b. ; Wald., i. 16 ;
RO. II., vi. — Ro. II., XV. 241
Lafont., X. 12; Kirch., vii. 91 ; Morlini, Nov., 50; Grimm..
K.M. , 105 ; deutsche Sagen, i. 220; Woyciki, Poln. Afdhr.,
105; Gering Islensk ^vent., 59; Rob., Oest. ; Loeseleur
essai, 47; Du M6ril, 160 n. ; Liebr. ZV, 29. V. Og. 25,
L. 30, J. 18.
Ro. II., xi. — Hart, Sheep, and Wolf.
II. Ph.. i. 16. IV. Rufus, i. 13; Ysop., I. 31, II. 14;
cf. Marie, 4; Galf., 31. IV. Luther, iv. p. 271; Wald., i.
25; Kirch., vii. 38; Oest.
Ro. XL xii.— Bald Man and Fly.
I. Makasa Jdtaka, supra VI. p. 64; cf. Benf., i. 293.
II. Ph., iv. 31. III. Rufus, i. 14 ; Ademar, 66; Galf., 32;
Neck., 19 ; Boner, 36. IV. Morlini, 21 ; Straparola, xiii. 4 ;
Waldis, ii. 99 — Kurz, M^ril, De Gub., ii. 222. V. Clouston,
Pop. Tales, i. 55-7.
Ro. II., xiii. — Fox AND Stork.
I. Cf. Bidpai-Wolff, ii. 21. II. Plut. , symp. qiimst., I. v. ;
.(Esop., 34; Phsed., i. 26. Ill, Rufus, ii. 3; Ademar, 63;
Ysop. I. 33; Galf., 33. IV. Kirch., vii. 29; Waldis, i. 27;
Lafont.. i. 18; Rob., Oest. V. L. 31, C. 12, /. 146,
T. 126 ; Cald., 11 ; Cr., 19 (F. and Crane).
Ro. II., xiv. — Wolf and Skull (Fox and Mask).
I. Cf Bidpai-Wolff, i. 22. II. .(Esop., 47; Phaed., i. 7 ;
Babr.-Gitl., 291. III. Rufus, iii. 6 ; Ysop., I. 60; Galf.,
34. IV. Erasmus, Adag.,8, 95; Waldis, i. 28; Kirchhof,
vii. 51; Lafontaine, iv. 14; Lessing, ii. 14; Rob., Oest. ;
Kurz. V. L. 32, C. 77. J. 137; Cr., 28. [Fox and Mask.]
Ro. II., XV. — Jay and Peacock.
I. Nacca Jdtaka, supra XI. pp. 70-1 ; Bidpai, Card., iii.
323; Tutin., ii. 146. II. .^sop. , 200; Plaut., Aid., 2, i;
VOL. L Q
242 SYNOPSIS OF PARALLELS.
Hor., Ej>/>., i. 3, 18 ; Ph., i. 3 ; Babr., 72 ; Niceph., Basil., 5 ;
Theon Soph., Prag., 3; cf. Av., 15. III. Rufus, ii. 4;
Ademar, 26; Vine. Bell., h. 3, 4, d. 4, 119; Marie, 58;
Berach., 27 (Raven); Dial. Great., 54; Odo. ,37; Neck.,
12; Renard le contref. , 129; Bromy. , A., 12, 35; Scala,
Sob; Hita, p. 275; Trimberg, 1768 seq. IV. Kirch., vii.
52; Lafontaine, iv. 9; Waldis, i. 29; Lessing, ii. 6; Rob.,
Oest. ; M6ril, 186; De Gub., ii. 246; Crane, Ital. F.T.
353 ; M. Fuchs, Die Krdhe die sich m. frenid. Fed. sich
schmiickt, 1886. V. L. 33, C. 4, J. 7, T. 72 [Daw]. Cald. ,
4; Cr., 32, Chapbook 7 (Pigeons) ; Thackeray, Newcomes,
j. ; cf. expr, ' borrowed plumes,' and Prov. , 'If every bird
takes back its own feathers you'd be naked.'
Ro. II., xvi. — Mule and Fj.y.
I. Loqman, 13. II. Ph., iii. 6; .^Esop, 235; Babr., 84.
III. Gab., 29; Galf. , 36; Marie ap Legrand, iv. 317;
Boner, 40. IV. Wald. , iii. 84 ; Lafont., vii. 9; Kurz.
Ro. II., xvii. — Ant and Fly.
II. Ph., iv. 24. III. Adem., 27 ; Vine. Bell., d. 4, 119;
Marie, 86; Ysop., I. 36; Galf., 37; Brom., M., 8, 30.
IV, H, Sachs, ii. 4, 74 ; Kirch. , vi. 275 ; Wald. i. 30 ;
Lafont. , iv. 3 ; Rob. , Oest. V. L. 34, C. 27, T. 72.
Ro. II., xviii. —Wolf, Fox, and Ape.
II. Ph., i. 10. III. Adem., 28 ; Galf., 38 ; Marie, 89.
Ro. II. xix. — Man and Weasel.
II. Ph., i. 22; cf, Msop., 100; Babr., 33. III. Ruf.,
ii. 9 ; Adem., 29 ; Galf., 39 ; Boner, 45 ; Brom., A., 12, 15.
IV. Kirch., vii. 92, cf. 93; Oest. V. C. 169.
Ro. II., XX.— Ox and Frog,
I. Bidpai Card., iii. 323 ; II. .^^Isop. , 84 ; Ph. , i. 24 ; Babr. ,
28 ; Hor. , Sat. , ii. 3, 314 ; Mart. , x. 79 ; Theon. Soph. , 3 ;
Ro. II., xvi. — Ro. III., iii. 243
Aphthon., 31. III. Adem. , 33; Marie, 65; Ysop., I. 39;
Dial. Great., 42; Galf. ,40; Renard le contr. , 129; Vine.
Bell., h. 3, 5, d. 4, 119; Hita, 275. IV. Luther, vi. 208 ;
Sat. tninip., 109; Wald., i. 31 ; Kirch., vii. 53 [cf. ii. 137) ;
Lafont., i. 3 ; Rob., Kurz. V. C. 11, J. 34, T. 38 ; Cald.,
19 ; Cr., 18 ; Carlyle, Mise, ii. 283 {fr. Boner). Thackeray,
Newcomes, i,
LIBER TERTIUS.
Ro. III., i. — Lion and Shepherd (Androclus).
\. Cf. Benf. , i. 211; Hiouen Tsiang ed. Julien, i. 181.
II. Appian, Aigypt, 5; A. Gellius, v. 14, 10; Phsed., App.
Burm., 15; Seneca, De Bcnef., ii. 19. III. Ruf., iii. i;
Adem., 35 ; Galf., 41 ; Vine. Bell., mor., 1554 ; Ysop., I. 40 ;
Dial. Great., iii; Neck., 20; John Sarisb. , v. 17; En.v.,
lis; Gesta Rom., 104; Brom., P., 2, 32. IV. Kirch., i.
203 ; Oest. V. Painter, Pal. Pleas, ed. Jacobs, i. 89-90
(Andro(/us) ; W. Day, Sandford and Merton (Androcks) ;
Warton, i. , clxvij.
Ro. in., ii. — Lion and Horse.
II. .iEsop., 334; Phaed. , App. Dressier, viii. 3; Babr. ,
122. III. P. Alf., V. ; Ruf., iii. 2; Ysop., I. 41, II. 23;
Rom. du Renard, ap. Rob. ; Galf, 42; Neck., 24; Rein.
Fuchs, 423, 429 ; Baldo, 27 ; Hita, 288 ; Boner, 50 [cf. Ex.
V. i). IV. H. Sachs, 4, 3, 224; C. Nov. ant., 91 ; Wald.,
i. 32; Kirch., vii., 43 [cf. iv. 138); Lafont., v. 8; Goethe,
xl. 128; Rob., Oest. ; Kurz, Schmidt Beitr., 181; M6ril,
195, 257. V. Og. 64, T. 81. Campbell Tales, IV. Highl,
iii. 99.
Ro. in., iii. — Ass AND Horse.
I. Synt., 29; Soph., 32. II. .iEsop., 328; Plut., De
Sanit., 25; Phaed. , App. Burm., 17; Babr. Gitl., 220;
Gabr., 37; Absteni., 45. III. Ruf., iii. 8; Adem., 37;
Galf., 43 ; Vine. Bell., h. 3, e^,d. 4, 120; Scala, 186; Brom.,
J., 4, 4. IV. H. Sachs, 4, 3,203; Wald., i. 33: Kirch.,
vii. 54 [cf 56) ; Oest. V. L. 63, T. 146, Cr. 55.
244 SYNOPSIS OF PARALLELS.
Ro, III., iv. — Bat, Birds, and Beasts.
I. Avaddnas, Julien, i. 154. II. Ph., App. Burm., 18 ;
Varro Agatho ; Non. Marcell, i. 32 ; Pandects, x.\i., title
De evict. III. Adera., 38 ; Galf., 44 ; Vine. Bell., d. 4, 121,
h. 35; Scala, 73; Marie, 31; Broin.,A., 15. 31; Wright,
ii. 10. IV. Wald., i. 34; Kurz, M^ril, 177. V. L. 40, J.
124, T. 48, Cr, 43.
Ro. III., V. — Nightingale and Hawk.
II. Ph., App. Burm., ig. III. Ruf., iii. 4; Adem., 39;
Galf,, 45 ; Vine. Bell., h. 3, 5, d. 4, 114 ; Marie, 57 ; Scala,
73; Odo, Wright, ii. 11; Bromy., N., 4, i. IV. Wald.,
iii. 18. V. L. 343.
Ro. III., vi. — Fox AND Wolf.
I. Tutinameh, ii. 125. II. Ph., App. Burm., 20. III.
Ruf,, iii. s; Adem., 40; Galf,, 46; Grimm, R. F., 354;
Boner, 55 ; Brom. , J. , 6, 29. IV. W^ald. , i, 35. V. L.
410.
Ro. III., vii. — Hart and Hunter.
I. Syntip. , 15; Soph., 17; Loqman, 2. II. ^sop, 128;
Ph., i. 12; Babr. ,43. III. Ruf., iii. 10; Adem., 41 ; Vine.
Bell., h. 3, 4, d. 4, 116; Scala, 76; Marie, 32; Berach.,
74; Ysopet, I, 44, II, 32. ; Neck., 33 ; Wright, ii. 12 ; Galf.,
47; Bromy., D. , 9, 20. IV. Wald., i. 36; Lafont., vi. 9;
Rob., Kurz. V. Og., 28 ; Cald.. 8,
Ro. III., viii. — JUNO, Venus, and other Women,
II. Ph., App. Jan. i. 10. III. Rufus, iii. ir ; Marie,
103 ; Berachyah, 86. IV, Waldis, iv, 92 ; Kurz. [The
"glose of the sayd Esope" continues as follows: — "Cum
interrogaret [Venus] patientem et taciturnam domesti-
cam suam gallinam quanto posset satiari cibo? ilia di.xit.
Quodcunque accipero habundat mihi . et e contra scaipo.
Ko. III., iv. — Ro. III., ix. 245
Venus contra huic galline dicitur coram ipsis dixisse? Ne
scalpas . do modium tritici . et gallina sic ait ueneri. Si hor-
reum mihi patefacias . tamen scalpam. Vbi risisse dicitur
iuno dictum veneris a gallina . per quce agnouerunt dii femi-
nis fieri similia. Sic deinde iuppiter coepit multa addere et
dicere. Femina nulla . se importuno negabit. Deinde et
uenus cum marte . inde et cum uulcano . et ut potuerunt
cetere multe. Sic et hodie plures famine dedicerunt marilis
imponere."]
Ro. III., ix. — Knight and [Ephesian] Widow.
I. Kin-ku-k' e-kwan (Chinese looi Nights), cf. Asiat.
Joum., 1843; Forty Viziers, ed Gibb, 11; Pants., Benf.,
ii. 303 (i. 436) ; Talmud, Aboda sara, i (?) II. Petr. Arb.
Satyr, cc. iii, 112 (figured inBardon, Coutumes des anciens,
1772, pi. xii.) ; Phasd., App., 15. III. Keller, VII. , i'^^^-j,
clvii-clxiii. ; Dolopathos prose, p. 22 ; Barbazan-M^on ;
Sevyn Sages, ed. Weber, 12 ; Diocletianus, 49 ; Boner, 57 ;
(Heb.) Tosafoth on Kidd, 80 ; Joseph Sebara {ap. Sulzbach,
Dichter Kldnge, 78); Berachyah, 80.
IV. Fr. : Brantome, Dames gal. 2d pt., disc. iv. ; P. Brisson,
L' Epkdsienne ; Lafont. , ad Jin (Rob. ii. 424 5^^.); St. Evre-
mond, QLuvres -nihUes, 1678 ; Fatouville, Arlequin Gra-
prignan, 1682 (com^die) ; Houdar de la Motte, Matrone
d' Ephhe, 1702 (com.); Freselier, 1714 (op. com.); Voltaire,
Zadig, T7t\7 \ Retif de la Bretonne, Contemporaines ; K. de
Musset, La coupe et les Itvres, 1832 || Ital. : Cento nov. ant.,
56; Sercambi, 16; Campeggi ; E. Manfredi, Rime, 1760;
Carleromaco, // ricciardetto, 1738 || Span. : Erasto, 1538 ||
Germ. : Syben meystcrn, 1473 ; Kirch. ; Gellert, holzerne
Johannes; Lessing, Matrone von Ephesus (frag. 8 scenes);
Wieland, Hann u. Gulpenleh (Werke, x.xii. 270-84) ; Mu-
soeus in Volksmarck, 1782 ; W. Heinse, Enkopp, 1772 '<
Chamisso, Ged., 1832, pp. 208-14; '[/'.Grimm, K.M., 38 —
E. Grisebach, Die treulose Wittwe, 4te Ausg., 1883;
Steinschneider, Heb. Bibl., xiii. 78.
V. J. Rolland (Scotch'), i'ffiwz 6'(7crj-, 1576; G. Chapman,
Widow's Teares ; B, Harris, Matrona Ephesia, 1665 (fr.
246 SYNOPSIS OF PARALLELS.
Eng., of W. Charleton) ; Jeremy Taylor, Holy Dying, c. v. ;
Og. ; C. Johnson, The Ephesian Widow, 1730 (farce) ; O.
Goldsmith, Citizen of World, xviii. ; Bickerstaff, The
Ephesian Matron, 1769 ; Gallon, South Africa, p. 53 ; *
Clouston, Pop, Tales, i. 29-35.
Ro. III., X. — Young Man and Whore.
II. Ph., App. Jan., i. 28. III. Ruf., iv. i ; Galf., 49.
Ro. III., xi.— Father and Bad Son.
II. Ph., App. Jan., i. 11. III. Ruf., iv. 15; Galf., 50;
Ysop,, I. 4, s. IV, Wald., iv. 85.
Ro. III., xii. — Serpent and File.
I. Synt., 6; Soph., 5; Loqman, 28 (cat). II. ^sop.
146; Phaed., iv. 8. III. Ruf., iv. 8; Adem., 42; Galf.,
51 ; Marie, 83; Ysop., I. 48, II. 15; Neck., 16; Galf., 52.
IV. Wald., i. 37 ; Lafont., v. 16, Rob., Mdr. V, Og., 27;
C. 43, J. 91, T. 70, Cr. 17.
Ro. III., xiii. — Wolves and Sheep.
II. ^sop. 268; Plut., Demosth., 33; Ph., App. Dressier,
vii. 21 ; Babr. , 93 ; Aphthon., 21 ; Theon, 2; Isidor, orig. .
I. 39i 7- III- Ruf., iv. 9; Adem., 43; Galf., 52; Ysop.,
I. 49, II. 5; Galf., 53; Neck., 4; Dial. Great., 8; Holkot,
55; Brom., F. , i. 18; Enx., 354; Boner, 93; Book of
Leinster, f. 382. IV. Wald., i. 38 [cf. i. 26) ; Kirch., vii. 39 ;
Pauli, 447; Lafont., iii. 13 — Rob., Oest. V, L, 186, C.
33. J- 62.
Ro. III., xiv. — Man and Wood (Trees).
I. Talm. Sanh., 39^; Der. Rab., § 5; Jellinek, Beth,
Ham., ii. 25 ; Joh. de Capua, c. 16; Raju, Indian Fables,
* "After one of the flashes the fourth savage was struck dead.
. . . His widow howled all niglit ; and was engaged to be married
again the succeeding day."
Ro. III., ix. — Ro. III., xvi. 247
p. 47. II. .(Esop., 123; Ph., App. Biirm., 5; Babr., 2.
III. Ruf., iv. 10; Adem., 44; Vine. Bell., h. 3, 20, d. 4,
116; Marie, 23; Berach. , 42; Ysop., I. 50; Galf. , 53;
Wright, ii. 16. IV. Wald., i. 39 {cf. iii. tj) ; Kirch., i. 23,
vii. 103 ; Lafont., xii. i6 ; Rob., Oest. ; Blumenthal, R. Meir,
p. 106. V. Og.. 36; C. 33, J. 58, T. 143, Cr. 25.
Ro. III., XV.— Wolf and Dog.
I. Soph., 46. II.".(Esop., 321; Ph., iii. 7; Babr., 100;
Avian, 37 (Lion). III. Ruf., iv. 7 ; Adem., 45 ; Galf., 54 ;
Vine. Bell., h. 3, 6, d. 3, 313; Marie, 34; Berach., 61
(Lion); Ysop., I. 51, II. 37; Enxemplos, 176; Brom., M.,
8, 32; Neck., 39. IV. Wald., i. 56 (cf. ii. 18) ; Pauli,433;
Morlini, Nov. 13; Lafont., i. 5— Rob., Oest, V. L. 68,
C. 19.
Ro. III., xvi. — Belly and Members.
I. Egyptian a/. Acad. Inscr., 1883, p. 5 {supra, p, 82);
Mahabharata, xiv. 688 (Weber, Ind. Stud., iii. 369); Up-
anishads : Burnouf, Sur le Yaffia, notes, p. clxxii. seg. ;
Schocher Tob (Heb. ) on Ps., 39 ; i Cor. xii. 11-27 ; Pant-
schatantra, ii. 360 (Benf., i. § 116) ; Avadanas, i. 152, ii. 100 ;
Loqman, 32; Syntipas, 35. II. Plut., Coriol. 6; Agis ;
^sop., 197; Max Tyr., 5; Ph., App. Dressier, viii. 4;
Livy, i. 30, 3, ii. 32 ; Quintil. , v. 11 ; Seneca, ad Helviam,
12; Dio Chrys, 2,7; Dio. Halic. , vi. 76. III. Ruf.,
iv. II ; Adem., 46 ; Galf., 55 ; Vine. Bell., mor. 1504, k. 3,
7, d. \, 122; Marie, 35; Ysop., I. 52, II. 36; Neck., 37;
Wright, ii. 17 ; Joh. Sarisb., ii. 6, 24 ; Abr. ibn Ezra, Ker,
Chem., iv. 143 (Geiger, /. D., 33-5) ; Keller, Erzahl., 589 ;
Migne, Mystires, s. v. Membres. IV. Rabelais, iii. 3 ; Pauli,
399; Wald., i. 40; Kirch., v. 122; Lafont,, iii. 2; Cinq
Sens, 1545 ; Allione, Commedie, 15-54 ; Miranda, Contos, 69 ;
Rob., Oest. ; Prato ap. Archiv. por. trad, pop., iv, 25-40.
V. North, Bidpai, ed. Jacobs, 64 ; North, Plut,, ed. Skeat,
6; Shakspeare, Coriol., i. 2; L. 50, C. 37, J, 64, T. 80;
Pope, Essay, ix.
248 SYNOPSIS OF PARALLELS.
Ro. III., xvii. — Ape and Fox.
II. Phsed., App. Burm., 12. III. Ruf., iv. 12; Adem.,
46 ; Galf., 56 ; Vine. Bell., h. 3, 7, d. 4, 115 ; Marie, 36 ;
Berach., 79 ; Scala, 19 ; Wright, ii. 19. IV. Wald., i. 81.
V. L. 116, C, 123.
Ro. III., xviii. — Merchant and Ass.
II, Ph., iv. I. III. Ruf., iv. s, 13 ; Adem., 47; Galf.,
57 ; Vine. Bell., h, 3, 7, d. 4, 118 ; Scala, 53.
Ro. III., xix. — Hart in Ox Stall.
II. JE.so'p, Gall. can. aug. (Rob.), 42; Ph., ii. 8. III.
Ruf., iv. 6, 16 ; Adem., 48 ; Ysop. , I. 55 ; Galf., 58 ; Brom.,
I. 3, 5 ; W. Mapes, De Nvgis. IV. Wald., i. 62 ; Kirch.,
vii. 106; Lafont., iv. 21; Rob., Oest. ; Liebr., V. K., 53.
V. Og., 37. L. 53, C. 18, Cr. 44.
Ro. III., XX. — Lion Sick.
I. Rig Veda, x. 28, 4 (De Gub. ) ; Benf., i. 382 ; L6qman.
6. II. Phasd., vi. 13. III. Ruf., v. 2; Adem, 49; cf.
Gesta, 283 (Fridolin) ; Marie, 37; Jzof. (Heb.), 13. IV.
Wald. , i. 43 ; Steiuschneider, Ysopet, 364 ; Ghivizzani, ii.
186; De Gubern., ii. 78.
LIBER QUARTUS.
Ro. IV., i. — Fox AND Grapes.
I. Leitner, Darbistan, iii. No. 23 {F. and pomegranates) ;
cf. Benf., i. 323. II. ^sop., 33; Phaed., iv. 3; Babr., 19;
Abstem., 141. III. Ps. Abelard, Epist. iv. ; Rufus, v. 3;
Vine. Bell., h. 3, 7, d. 4, 123; Amis et Amiles, 571. IV.
Bebel, /flc. 10; Waldis, iii. 73; Lafontaine, iii. 11; Sat.
m^nip., 105 ; Krilof, vi. 17 ; Rob. ; M^ril, 141-2 ; Lieb. ZV,
103. V. L. 129, C. 12, J. i. T. 136 ; Cr. , 9 ; Mavor, i ;
Hazlitt, Prov. 146.
Ro. III., xvii. — Ro. IV., viii. 249
Ro. IV., ii. — Weasel (Cat), and Rats.
I. Cf. Benf., i. 225; Sophos, 39; Vartan, 15. II. Ph.,
iv. 2. IV. Waldis, i. 6-] ; Lafont., iii. 18; Rob., Kurz.
V. [variants have cat]. L. 115, C. 88.
Ro. IV., iii. — Wolf, Shepherd, and Hunter.
I. Cf. Benf. i. § 71. II. Ph., App. Burm., 23; iEsop,
35; Babr. , 50; Max Tyr., 33. III. Ademar, 50; Marie,
42; Berach. , 75; Neck., 22; Wright, ii. 21; Brom., C. , 6,
13. IV. M(5ril, 193. V. L. 104 (Fox), C. 89 (F.), Chap-
book, II (Fox).
Ro. IV., iv. — Peacock and Juno.
II. Phaed., iii. 18; cf. .^sop., 18 (Camel); Babr.-Gitl.,
145; Avian, 8 (vii.). III. Rufus, v. 4; Marie, 43; Ysop. ,
II. 39. IV. Kirch., iv. 274; Lafont., ii. 17; Rob. V. L.
80, C. 21, T. 97 ; Cr. , 33.
Ro. IV., V. — Panther and Villains.
II. Ph. iii. 2. III. Rufus, v. 5.
Ro. IV., vi. — Butchers and Wethers.
I. Synt., 13; Loqm., i. II. Ph., App. Dressier, viii. 5;
Babrius, 44; Aphtli., 16; Av., 18. III. Gab., 30; Marie,
45 ; Neck. , 30 ; Boner, 84 ; Wright, ii. 23. IV. M^r. , 200,
Ro. IV., vii. — Falconer and Birds.
II. Ph., App. Dressier, viii. 6. III. Odo ; Wright, ii.
24 ; Gatos, 4 ; Lucanor, 13.
Ro. IV., viii. [King of Apes].
II. Ph., App. Burm., 24. III. Ademar, 51; Marie, 66;
Berach,, 78 ; Ysop., II. 30; Vine. Bell., h. 3, 7, d. 4, 121,
250 SYNOPSIS OF PARALLELS.
m. 1044 ; Wright, ii. 25; stories, 60; Odo ; Bromyard, A.,
15, 21 ; Gatos, 28. IV. H. Sachs, 2, 4, 85 ; Pauli, 381 ;
Waldis, iv. 75 ; Oest. ; Mdril, 201.
Ro. IV., ix. — Horse, Hunter, and St.\g.
II. Arist., Rhet., ii. 20; Vlut., Aral., 38; .(Esop., 175;
Phaed., iv. 4; Hon, Epp., i. 10, 34; Gabr., 3 (not in
Babr.); Niceph. Basil, Myth., 2; Konon, Diegmata, 42.
III. Ysop., I. 43, II. 25; Galf., 46 ; Neck., 26; Reineke, 3, 8;
Baldo, 26 ; Boner, 56. IV. Waldis, i. 45 ; Kirchhof, vii.
128; Sat. minip., ii^; Leo Allat. , 107; Doni, 2, i;
Lafont. , iv. 13; Goethe, xl. 172; Rob., Oest. ; Kurz, M6r. ,
197. V. North Bidpai, ed. Jacobs, p. 65 ; C. 34, J. 86, T.
137 ; Cald., 12 ; Cr., 20.
Ro. IV., X.— Ass AND Lion.
II. .(Esop.,259; </• Ph.,i. II. III. Marie, 67; Berach.,
65; Ysop., II. 8; Vine. Bell, h. 3, 8, d. 4, 123; Wright,
il 26; Neck., 8. IV. Morhni, Nov., 4; Lafont., il 19;
Rob. ; M^ril, 182. V. L. 7, C. 72.
Ro. IV., xi. — Hawk and other Birds.
II. Ph., App. Dress., viil 7. IV. Waldis, i. 79 ; Kirch.,
vii. 117.
Ro. IV., xii. — Fox and Lion [Nulla Vestigia\
L Pants., iii. 14 (Benf. , ii. 264, i. 382); Syntipas, 38;
Loqman, 38; Sadi, 16; Vartan, 3; Tutinameh (Rosen), il
125 ; Bleek, RF. Afr. , xxv. II. Plato, Alcib. , i. 503 ; Plut. ,
De Virt., 329; .iCsop. , 246; Ph., App. Burm., 30; Babr.,
103; Hor. , Ep. I., i. 73; Aphthon., 8. III. Ademar, 59;
Marie, 58; Berachyah, 29; Vine. Bell, Doct., 4, 123;
Dial. Great., 44, no. IV. Fischart, Garg.,-^(); Waldis, i.
43 ; Kirch., vii. 25 ; Lafontaine, vi. 14 ; Rob, {cf. ii. 548) ;
Oest. V. Og. 38, T. 40 ; Chapbook, i.
Ro. IV., ix. — Ro. IV., xviii. 251
Ro. IV., xiii. — Ass and Wolf [Rom. iv. 15].
11. Plut., de fratr. amic, 19; ^sop., 16; Babr.-Gitl.,
226; Ph., App. Dressier, viii. 9 ; Dositheus, 13; Gab. , 42.
III. Neckam, 21. IV. Du Meril, 192.
Ro. IV., xiv. — Hedgehog and Kids.
II. Ph., App. Dressier, viii. 10.
Ro. IV., XV.— Man and Lion (Statue).
I. Loqman, 7 ; Sophos, 58. II. Vhx\.., Apopth. Laced.,
69; Scol. Eurip. Kor., 103; Aphth.,38; Ph., App. Burm.,
p. 20; Gabr., i. (not in Babr.); Avian, 24. III. Ademar,
52; Marie, 69; Berach., 56; Wright, ii. 28. IV. Kirch.,
i. 80; Lafont., iii. 10; Rob., Oest. V. Spectator, No. 11;
L. 100, J. 84 ; Cr., 30 (Lion and Statue).
Ro. IV., xvi.— Camel and Flea.
I. Synt., 47. II. ^sop., 235; Phaed. App. Burm., 31 ;
Babr., 84. III. Ademar, 60; Marie, 70; Berachyah, 73;
Wright, ii. 29. IV. Meril, 205.
Ro. IV., xvii. — Ant and Grasshopper.
I. Cf. Prov. vi. 6 ; Sophos, 35. II. .(Esop. 401 ; Dosith.,
17 ; Ph. App. Burm., 28 ; Aphthon., 31 ; Babr., 136; Avian,
34; Salvianus Z^e _f «iJ. Dei, iv. 43. III. Adem., 56; Vine.
Bell, h., 3, 8, d., 4, 122 ; Marie, 29 {cf. 86) ; Berach., 40;
Ysopet, II. 28; Dial. Crcat., 13; Neckam, 29; Gab. ,41;
Boner, 42 ; Cyril, i. 4. IV. H. Sachs, i. 4, 977 ; Krilof,
ii. 12; Pitr^ Fiabe, 280; Lafont., i. i; Rob., M6ril, 199;
De Gub., ii. 222. V. L. 217, C. 121, J. 12, T. 14.
Ro. IV., xviii. — Pilgrim and Sword.
II. Ph. App. Dress., v. ii.
252 SYNOPSIS OF PARALLELS.
Ro. IV., xix. — Sheep and Crow.
II. Ph. App. Burm. , 29. III. Ademar, 55; Marie, 20;
Berach., 18; Wright, ii. 31. IV. Wald., i. 63. V. L. 77.
Ro. IV., XX. — Tree and Reed [Not in Rom.].
I. Mahabharata, xii. 4198 — Weber, Ind. Studien, iii. ;
Talm. Taanith, Q.&. II. ^Esop., 125 [cf. F. , 59); Babriiis,
64 {cf. 36); Avian, 19 [cf. 16). III. Boner, 83; Berach.,
27, 54. IV. Florian, i. 15; Wald., i. 100 {cf. 82) ; Kirch.,
■vii- 58, 59; Pauli, 174; Krilof, \.2.;cf. Lafontaine, i. 22 —
Rob. ; Kurz. V. C. 50. J. 92, T. 51 (Oak) ; Cr., 34.
LIBER QUINTUS.
[In Stainhowel these are known as " Fabulre Extrava-
gantes" : the majority of them find parallels in Marie or
Berachyah or the LBG Fables contained in Oesterley's
Appendix to Romulus. All these we have seen reason to
connect with the ^sop of Alfred, which may therefore be
regarded as the source of the collection. The only MS.
known to contain them is the Breslau one of the Disciplina
Clericalis, the only discussion of them that by Robert, I.
xcv.-viii.]
Ex. v., i. — Mule, Fox and Wolf.
I. Petr. Alfonsus, 5, 4 ; cf. Benf., § i3i. II. ^Esop., 334 ;
Babr.,122; Aphthon., 9. III. Gabr., 37; Bromy., F., 7,
2; Renard, 7521; Reineke (Grimm), Ixxv., cclxxii., 423
(Caxton, ed. Arber, 61); Castoietnent, 71 ; Gab., 38; Enx.,
128; Baldo, 27. IV. H. Sachs, 2, 4, 34; Kirch., iv. 138
[cf vii. 43) ; Lafontaine, xii. 17 (cf. vi. 7) ; Kuhn Mark.
Sagen ' Der dumme Wulf — Schmidt Beitr., 181; Rob.,
Oest. V. Dunlop. Lieb., 214.
RO. IV., xix. — Ex. v., V. 253
Ex. v., ii. — Boar ano Wolf.
III. Berach., 105: Marie, 78; Rom. App., 63; Came-
rarius, 200.
Ex. v., iii.— Fox and Cock.
I. Benf., i. 610 ; Katha-Sarit-Sagara, ed. Tawney, ii. 685 ;
Vartan, 12, 13 ; Bleek, Rein. Fuchs in Africa, 2.2, ; Harris,
Nights with Remus, xxvii. (Brer Wolf says grace). II.
Piiasdr. Burm. App. , 13. III. Adem.,30; Marie, 51 ; Rom.
^i//. ,45; Brom., A. , ii,g ; J., 13, 28; Baldo, 23 ; Lucanor
(York), 31; Sermond, Op., ii. 1075; Alcuin, Op., ii. 238;
Barbazan, iii. 55. IV. Coilho, Cont. port. , p. 15 ; Du M^ril,
138, 253 ; De Gub. , ii. 137, Tawney. V. Chaucer, Nonne
Prestes Tale, Campbell, W. Highl, Tales, 63 (iii. 93).
Ex, v., iv. — Dragon and Hart.
I. Benf., i. 113-120; Tutinameh, 129; Temple, Wide-
awake Stories, 1 16; Harris Nights, xlvi. ; Weber, Vier
Jahre in Afrika (among Basutos). II. iEsop., 97; Ph.,
iv. 18; Babrius, 4; Syntip., 25; Abstem., 136. III. Gab.,
44; Marie ap. Legrand, iv. 193 (not in Roquefort); Ysop. ,
I. 10 ; Gesta Rom. , 178 ; Dial. Great. , 24 ; Reineke, Grimm. ,
cliii. 14; Scala celi, 86; Bromy.,G. , 4,17; Enx. 246. IV.
Waldis, iv. 99; Luther, Tisch., 78 b. ; Kirchhof, v. 121;
Charron de la sagesse, i. i ; Lafontaine, iv. 13 ; Hahn, gr.
Mdhr, 87 ; Grundvig, ii. 124 ; Maassebuch (Jew-Germ.), 144 ;
Gonzenbach, sic. , Mdhr. — Rob. ,Oest. .Schmidt, 118; Temple,
324, 408 ; Rev. trad, pop., i. 30 ; Arch. slav. phil., 1876, p.
279 ; R. Kohler in Gonzenbach, p. 247 ; Carnoy, Gontes
d'Animaux, pp. viii.-ix. V. Og., 16; Clouston, Pop.
Tales, i. 262-5.
Ex. v., V. — Fox AND Cat,
I. Cf. Benf., i. 312. II. Gr. prov. (Leutsch. i. 147, Ion) ;
Ps. Homer ap. Zenob. , v. 68. III. Rom., App. 20 ; Camerar,
254 SYNOPSIS OF PARALLELS.
202; Marie, 98; Berachyah, 94; J?om. du Rcnard, f. 99;
Gatos, 40; Brom. , S. 3, 15; Job. Gers. Par. sup. maptif.,
iv. 4. IV. H. Sachs, ii. 4, 77; Waldis, ii. 21 ; Lafont., ix.
14; Grimm, KM, 75; Hahn GAM, 91. V. Og., 57; L.
394, C. 60, T. 29; Cr.,47.
Ex. v., vi.— Hegoat and Wolf.
II. ^sop., 135; Babr., 96; Avian, 26. III. Marie, 49 ;
Rom. , /i//. , 43 ; Baldo, 22. IV. Kirch., vii. 118.— Oest.
Ex. v., vii. — Wolf and Ass.
III. Marie, 62 ; Rom. App., 50 ; Reineke Fuchs., Grimm,
424; Camerar, 203. IV. Grimm, KM, 132.
Ex., V. viii. — Serpent and Labourer.
I. Benf. , i. 359. II. Berach. , 22 ; Marie, 63. IV. Gritsch.
Quadragesimale, 1484, 37, 76; Roman du Renard (Rob.).
V. Chaucer, Tale of Melibcsus.
Ex. v., ix, — Fox, Wolf and Lion.
I. Mesne vi, i. loo, p. 263. II. .<Esop.,255. III. Marie,
59; Berach., 85; Vine. Bell., m., 3, 3, 11; Reineke,
Grimm., 425; Reinardus, 2, 311; Grimm, Lat. Ged. d.
Mittelalters, 200; Wright, 58; Odo ; Brom., A., 11, 8;
cf. D. 12, 26, E. 8, 25. IV. Wald., iii. 91; Pauli, 494;
Lafont., viii. 3; Goethe, 40, 175.— Oest.
Ex. v., X. — Penitent Wolf.
I. Butting goats from Bidpai {cf. Jacobs, D. 7*.). III.
Reineke, Grimm, 429. IV. Camerar, 371; cf. Wald., ji.
73 ; Wolf, Deutsch. Hausm., 419 ; Hahn, GAM, 93 ; Leger,
Conies slaves, 18 (Litde Russ. fr. Rutchenko). V. Hazlitt,
Prov. Hear news, &c.
Ex. v., vi. — Ex. v., xvii. 255
Ex. v., xi. — Dog in Manger.
II. Lucian Tim., i. 14 ; aTald., 30 ; iEsop., 228 ; Abstem.
ap. Nevelet., 604. IV. Kirch., vii. 130; Wald., i. 64;
Bartol. a Saxo-ferrato Tract, quest, inter virg. Manam
et Diabolum Hanov. , 1611, 3. — Oest. V. C. 127, J. 79, T.
46, Cr. 18, Mav. 4, R. C. Jebb, Bentley, 52, 62.
Ex. v., xii. — Wolf and Hungry Dog.
IV. Cf. Grimm., KM., iii. 80.
Ex. v., xiii. — Father and Three Sons.
II. Seneca, Controv. exc, 6, 3. III. Gesta Rom., 90;
Renard le Contrefait ; Judgment de Salomon. — Rob.
Ex. v., xiv. — Wolf and Fox.
III. Rom. App., 52; Reineke, Grimm., 427.
Ex. v., XV. — Dog, Wolf and Wether.
III. Baldo, 21 {cf. contra. Wolf in sheep's clothing).
Ex. v., xvi. — Man, Lion and Son.
I. YJoVit., African nat. lit., No. 9; Bleek, RF. in Afr.,
23 ; Harris, Nights with Remus, vii. (Lion hunts for man).
III. Berach., 106; Dial. Great., 86. IV. Pauli, 20 {cf.
18) ; Scherz mit d. Warheyt, zpb. ; Geiler Narrenschiff, 70 ;
Grimm, KM., 72; cf. 48. — Oest.
Ex. v., xvii. — Knight and Servant.
III. Rom. App., 59. IV. Waldis, iii. 29.
256 SYNOPSIS OF PARALLELS.
REMICIUS.
[Selected by Stainhowel from the hundred Latin prose ver-
sions of Greek fables, translated by Ranutio d'Arezzo,
and published in 1476. All are in the Greek prose
^sop, most in Babrius, either in the vulgate or in
Gitlbauer's edition.]
Re. i. — Eagle and Raven.
I, Benf. , i. 602 ; Somadeva, 70, ed. Tawney, ii. 41. 11.
.^sop, 8; Babr.-Gitl., 186; Aphthon.,19; Afistoph., Aves,
652. III. Gab., I. IV. Rim., 2; Dorp., 374; Wald., i.
63; Lafont., ii. 16. — Kurz, Tawney.
Re. ii, — Eagle and Weasel.
I. Cf. Pants., n. 170. II. .^Esop, 7 ; Cf. Aristoph., /'a:*-,
126, and Scholiast, ad loc. IV. Rim., 3; Dorp., 375;
Lafont., ii. 8 ; Wald., ii. 26. — Kurz, Rutherford.
Re. iii. — Fox and Goat.
I. Cf. Benf., i. 320. II. Ph., iv. 9; .^sop, 45; Babr.-
Gitl., 174. III. Alf., 24; Renart, 7383, seq. ; Barbazon-
Meon, iv. 175. IV. Rim., 5; Dorp., 377; Wald., iii. 27;
Lafont., iii. 5 ; Goethe, xl. 195.
Re. iv.— Cat and Chicken.
II. .(Esop, 14; Babr., 17. IV. Rim., 7; Dorp., 379;
Wald., i. 61.— Kurz.
Re. v.— Fox and Bush.
II. ^sop, 32; Babr.-Gitl,, 187. III. Gabr., 4, 6. IV.
Rim., 10; Dorp. 382; Wald., iii. 42.— Kurz.
Re. vi. — Man and Wooden God.
I. Benf. , /'aw^'j., i. 478; Sophos, 52; Vartan,4i; cf. Is.,
xl. ; looi Tag (Xailun), 5. II. .<Esop., 66; Babr., 119.
Re. i. — Re. xiii. 257
IV. Rim., 15; Dorp. ,387; Kirch., i. 104 ; Basile, Penfam.,
4 (Liebr., i. 63) ; Gesammt, 2, 525 ; Wald., iii. 45 ; Lafont.,
iv. 8.— Oest.
Re. vii. — Fisher.
II. Herod., i. 141 ; ^Esop, 39 ; Babr., 9 ; Ennius (Vahlen),
p. 151 ; Aristaen., ep. i. 27. III. Gab., 16. IV. Rim., 18 ;
Dorp. 390; Wald., iii. 49 ; Lafont., x. 11. — Kurz, Ruther-
ford. V. Hazlitt, Prov., 142.
Re. viii. — Cat and Rat.
II. ^sop., 16; Ph., iii. 2; Babr.-Gitl., 226. III. Gabr.,
42. IV. Rim., 21; Dorp., 393; Wald., iii. 57 [cf. i, 67);
Lafont., iii. 18. — Kurz.
Re. ix. — Labourer and Pyelarge.
II. .(Esop., 100; Babr., 13. III. Gab., 13. IV. Rim.,
43; Dorp, 415; Kirch., vii., 92; cf. 93— Oest.
Re. X. — Shepherd Boy (Wolf !)
II. .iEsop.,166; Babr.-Gitl., 199. IV. Rim., 53; Dorp.,
425; Kirch., vii. 136; Goedeke, Deutsche Dicht., i. 286^. —
Oest. V. L. 74, C. 15s, J. 40, T. 90, Cald., 7, Mav., 3.
Cf. expr. " to cry wolf."
Re. xi. — Ant and Dove.
II. yEsop. , 296. IV. Rim., 68; Dorp., 440; Lafont., ii.
12; Wald., i. 70. — Rob., Oest. V. L. 203, C. 133, J. 156,
T. 156.
Re. xii. — Bee and Jupiter.
II. ^sop., 287; Babr.-Gitl., 175. IV. Rim., 70; Dorp.,
442 ; Wald., iii. 69. — Kurz.
Re. xiii. — Carpenter.
L Cf II. Kings, vi. 4-8. II. ^sop., 308; Babr.-Gitl.,
276; Gr. Prov. (Leutsch., ii. 197). IV. Rim., 74; Dorp.,
446; Kirch., vii. 15, 16; Rabel., iv. prol. ; Lafont., v. i —
Rob., Oest.
YOL. I. B
25 8 SYNOPSIS OF PARALLELS.
Re. xiv. — Young Thief and Mother.
II. ^sop. , 351; Babr.-Gitl,, 247; Boethius De discij>.
schol. III. Vine. Bell. , /?z. , 3, 2, 7 ; Gesta Rom. , ed. Graesse,
ii. p. 186; Eiixenip.,2']2,; Brom., A., 3, 19. IV. Rim., 90;
Dorp., 462; Pauli, 19; Wald., iii. 19; Kirch., vii. 183. —
Oest. V. Conceyts a?id Jests, 26; C. 119, J. loi, T. 10.
Re. XV. — Flea and Man.
II. ^sop., 425 ; Babr.-Gitl., 283. IV. Rim., 97; Dorp.,
469 ; Wald. , iii. 82. V. L. 139, C. 190.
Re. xvi. — Man with two Wives.
I. Benf. Pants. , i. 602, ii. 552 ; Avadd?ias, ii. 138 ; Diod.
Sic, xxxiii. , 10 ; Talm., Bada Kama, 60I'. II. /Esop. , 56;
Phaed. , ii. 2 ; Babr. , 22. IV. Rim. , 100 ; Dorp. , 472 ; Kirch. ,
vii. 67; H. Sachs, 2, 4, 214; Wald., iii. 83 ; Lafont, i. 17.
— Rob., Oest., Roth., Held. Ja/wb., i860, p. 52; Liebr.,
ZV., 120. V. L. 141, C. 17,1 J. 179, Cald., 16, Clouston,
Pop. Tales, i. 16.
Re. xvii. — Labourer and Children.
II. ^sop.,98; Babr.-Gitl., 230. III. Dial. Great., 13.
IV. Kirch., i. 172; Lafont., v. 9.
AVIAN.
[The original consists of forty-two fables : of these some
are parallels to Pheedrine fables, and are accordingly in-
cluded in the preceding books. Cf. Ro., i. 20, iii. 15, iv. 4,
6, IS, 17, 20; Ex., V. 6.]
At. i.— Nurse and Wolf.
I. Alf. Disc. Cler., 24. II. Av., i; .(Esop., 275; Babr.,
16; Apththon., 39. III. Marie, 49; Wright, 'j'j; Reineke,
Re. xiv. — Av. iv. 259
Grimm., 330; Novus Avianus, Du M6ril, 262, 268; Scala,
■JT, Brom., A., 21, 26; S., 10, 3. IV. H. Sachs, 2, 4, 33;
PauH, 90 [cf. 81); Eidenspiegel, 96; Gesatnmt., 69; Wald.,
i. 86; Lafont, iv. 16; Rob., Oest. ; Goed. Mittel., 626.
V. Cf. Chaucer, Frercs Tale, 6957.
Av. ii. — Tortoise and Birds.
I. Kacchapa Jdfaka, supra, IV., p. 81-2; Wagener-
Weber, No. 5 [Ind. Stud., iii. 339) ; Somadeva, ed. Tawney,
ii. 685. II. Av. 2; /Esop., 419; Babr., 115. Cf. ^lian,
vii. 17 (^schylus' death). III. Gab., 53; Bayeux Tap.,
pi. vi. (see frontispiece) ; Job. Sarisb., Polycrat., p. 4 ; Boner,
64. IV. Wald., i. 87; Mer., 139. V. North, Btdpai, p.
259 ; Gosson, School of Abuse, ed. Arber, p. 43.
Av. iii. — Two Crabs.
II. Aristopb. Pax., 1083 ; Schol on Athen., 695 ; Apolod.,
ix. 50; Av. , 3; Babr., 109; .^sop. , 187; Petronius Sat.,
,42.— Ellis. III. Boner, 65. IV. Wald., i. 88; Lafont.,
xii. 10.
Av. iv. — Ass IN Lion's Skin.
I. Siha-Cama-Jdtaka, supra, II., pp. 57-8; Pants., iv.
7, V. 7 (Benf. , ii. 309, 339, i. 462, 494); Somadeva, ii. 65 ;
Tutinameh, Rosen, ii. 149, 218; Hitopadesa, iii. 4; Weber,
Ind. Stud., iii. 338; Bleek, RF in Afr., 79 (Hare). II.
.iEsop., 333; Plato, Cratyl., 411a.; Lucian, Piscat., 32;
Pseudol., 3; Drapet., 13; Babr.-Gitl. , 218; Avian, 5;
Tzetzes, 9, 321; M. Tatius, Progym., f. 8. III. Berach.,
47 ; Reineke, Grimm. , 354 ; Dial. Creat. , 108 ; Holkot, 7nor. ,
35; Mapes, Poems, p. 36; Odo. ,35; Gatos, 22; Brom., P.,
12, 16, R. 5, 5 ; Boner, 65. IV. H. Sachs, i. 5, 587 ; Eras-
mus, Adag, ' Asinus ap. Cumam ' ; Geiler, Narrenschiff, ^gb ;
Wald., i. 90; Kirch., i. 165; Lafont., v. 21 — Rob., Oest. ;
M6ril, 140; Liebr., FA'., 119; De Gub., i, 378. — Tawney.
V. Og. 70, L. 224, C. 42, J. 157, T. 109, Cald. 2, Cr. 49 ;
R. C. Jebb, Bentley, p. 73. Tliackeray, Newcomes, i.
26o SYNOPSIS OF PARALLELS.
Av. V. — Frog and Fox.
II. Av., 6; ^sop., 78; Babr., 120. III. Boner, 68;
Albertus, 49. IV. H. Sachs, i. 4, 981 ; Fischart, Frosch-
gosch ; Wald., i. 91. V. C. 43, T. 4.
Av. vi. — Two Dogs."!
II. Av., 7; ^sop., 224 (Nevel, 214); Babr., 104. III.
Boner, 69; Berach., 31. IV. Wald., i. 92, ii. 98.
Av. vii. — Camel and Jupiter.
I. Mahabharata, xii. 4175 (Weber, IS., iii. 355) ; Talm.
Sanhed., xo6b \ Rodiger, Chrest. syr., xxiv. § 5; Benf.,
Pants. , \. 2,0'^. II. Av.,8; ^sop., 184; Babr.-Gitl., 282;
Gab., 34; Syntip. , 59; Aphthon. , 15. IV. Basile, Pentam.,
ed. Lieb., ii. 166; Erasmus, Chil., iii. 5, 8; Wald., i. 93.
V. L. 78. C. 45, J. 49. T. 96.
Av. viii. — Two Fellows and Bear.
II. Av., 9; Babr., 140 ; .i^sop., 311 ; ^ Ph., v. 2. III.
Dial. Great., 108; Abstem., 209; Mov. Av., M^ril, 271;
Brom. , A. , 21, 20. IV. H. Sachs, 2, 4, 86 ; Luther, Tischr. ;
Fischart, Garg., 36; Lafont., v. 20; Pauli, 422; Kirch., i.
87; Rob., Oest. V. L. 227, C. 46, J. 52, T. 120.
Av. ix. — Two Pots.
I. Ecclesiasticns,y:\\\.'2; Benf., i. 346; Pants., ii., str. 13,
14, Dukes Blum. § 530. II. Av., 11 ; iEsop., 422 ; Babr.-
Gitl., 184. III. Berach., 33 ; Brom., A., 14,38. IV. Kirch.,
vii. 117a; Alciati, emblem, 166; Wald., i. 96; Lafont., v.
2— Rob., Oest. V. L. 229, C. 48, J. 125, T. 124.
Av. X. — Lion and Bull.
L Rodiger, Chryst. syr., % 8. II. Av., 13 [Goat] ; iEsop.,
396; Babr., 91. III. Boner, 78. IV. Wald., i, 85; De
Gub.,i, 378.
Av. V. — Av. xvi. 261
Av. xi. — Ape and Son.
II. Av,i4; Babr., 56; .(Esop., 364. III. Rom., App.,
36 ; Marie, 74 ; Berach. , 50 ; Boner, 79.
Av. xii. — Ckane and Peacock.
II. ^sop., 397(Nevel) ; Av.,15; Babr., 65. III. Boner,
81 ; Berach., 41. V. C. 49, T. 69.
Av. xiii. — Hunter and Tiger.
I. Kolle, Afrk. nat. lit., 9; Baldo, 28. II. Av. , 17;
.(Esop. , 403; Babr., i. III. Gabr. , 34; Boner, 3. IV.
Wald. , ii. 2 ; Kirch., vii. 97; Grimm, KM., 72. — Oest.
Av. xiv. — Four Oxen and Lion.
I. L6qman, i. II. Av. , 18; yEsop. , 394; Babr., 44;
figured Helbig, Untersuch. , 93 (Crusius, Leipz. Stud. ,ii. 248).
III. Boner, 84 ; Berach., 51. IV. Morlini, 12 ; H. Sachs, i v.
3, 229; Wald., ii. I. — Kurz. V. C. 52, J. 187, T. 3.
Av. XV.— Bush and Bramble.
I. Shemoth Rabba ap. Dukes' Blumenlese, § 505. II.
Av., 19; .^sop., 125; Babr., 64. III. Berach., 54; Nov.
.^z/.,ed. M^ril, 275 ; Boner, 86. IV. Waldis, ii. 3 ; Kirch.,
vii. 59 ; Florian, i. 15 — Oest. V. L. 237, C. 83.
Av. xvi. — Fisher and Little Fish.
I. Cf. Benf., i. 427. II. Av. , 20; .(Esop. , 2.S, cf. 231;
Babr., 6. III. Berachyah, 55; Dial. Great., 48; Ysopet-
Avionnet, 12. IV. Waldis, i. 83; Kirchhof, vii. 119;
Lafont., v. 3 — Rob., Oest. V. L. 216, C. 71, J. 72; Cr.,
54 ; cf. prov. , A bird in hand, &c.
262 SYNOPSIS OF PARALLELS.
Av. xvii. — Phoebus, Avaricious and Envious.
I. Benf., Pants., i. 498, 304; looi, Tag., 9, 84; Wide-
awake stories, 215, cf. 409. 11. Av. , 22. III. Berachyah,
107; Joh. Sarisb. , Polycrat., 7, 24; Holkot. , 29; Ysopet-
Avionnet, 13 ; M6on, Fabliaux, i. 91 ; Boner, 88 ; Scala,
106 b. ; Enxemp., 146; Bromy. , J., 6, 19. IV. H. Sachs,
1, 489 ; Pauli, 647 ; Waldis, ii. 5 ; Chamisso, Abdullah —
Oest. , Rob., Temple, G. Paris, Lit. franf., § 76; Liebr,
Germ., ii. 245, ZV. 117. V. Gower, Conf. Amant, II. ii. ;
L. 238, C. 135, T. 122.
Av. xviii.— Thief and Weeping Child.
I. Cf. Pants., iii. 3 and plls. (Benf., i. 357). II. Avian,
25 ; cf. Philogelos, 33. III. Ysopet-Avionnet, 14. IV.
Waldis, ii. 9 ; Kirch., vii. 132. V. C. Merry Tales, gi.
Av. xix. — Lion and Goat.
II. Av.,26; ^sop., 270. III. Boner, 90. IV. Waldis,
i. 78 ; Kirch., vii. 118. V. L. 210, J. 126.
Av. XX. — Crow and Pitcher.
I. Talm. Ab. sara, 30'; Synt., S; Sophos, 8. II. Av. ,
27; Dositheus, 8; .^sop. , 357; uElian, hist, nat., ii. 48;
Plut. , Terrestriana ; Syntip. , 8. III. Cf. Rom., Oest., iv.
13; Ysop. -Avion., 15 ; Berach., 88. IV. Simplicissi'inus, 7.,
12; Waldis, ii. 7; Kirch., vii. 121 {cf 29) — Oest. V. L.
239. C. S3, J. 47, T. 62 ; Cr. 38.
Av. xxi. — Villein and Young Bull.
II. Av., 28. IV. Waldis, ii. 10.
Av. xxii. — Man and Satyr.
II. Av., 29; .(Esop., 64; Babr.-Gitl, 183. III. Boner,
91 ; Berach., 58. IV. H. Sachs, ii. 4, 48 ; Waldis, ii. 11 ;
Lafont., V. 7. V. L. 243, C. 55, T. 113 ; Cr. 42.
Av. xvii. — Al. i. 263
Av. xxiii. — Ox AND Rat. '
II. Av., 31 ; Babr., 112 ; ^sop., 299. IV. Wald., ii. 13.
Av. xxiv. — Goose with Golden Eggs.
I. Suvannahamsa Jdtaka, supra VIII. p. 67 ; Pants., 3, 5
(Benf. , i. 361) ; Wagener-Weber, No. 4 ; Sophos, 61 ; Loq-
man, 12. II. Avian, 33; Babrius, 123; .(Esop. , 343. IV.
Waldis, ii. 15 (cf. iii. 32) ; Pauli, 53 ; Lafont. , v. 13 — Oest.
V. L. 247 (Hen), C. 57, J. no; Cr., 22; Clouston, Pop.
Tales, i. 123, seq.
Av, XXV. — Ape and Two Children.
II. Av. , 35; yEsop. , 366 (Nevel) ; Babr., 35; Oppian,
Cyneg,\\. bo^. III. Ysop.-Av. (Rob. ii. 514); Berachyah,
67, 104. IV. Waldis, ii. 16— Kurz. V. L. 248, C. 186.
Av. xxvi. — Wind and Pot.
II. Av., 41; .(Esop. , 381 ; Babr.-Gitl, 165.
Av. xxvii. — Wolf and Lamb.
II. Av., 42 [Kid]; ^sop., 273; Babr-Gitl., 132. III.
Boner, 30. IV. Waldis, i. 49.
ALFONCE.*
[From the Disciplbia Clericalis of Moses Sephardi, a
Spanishi Jew, christened Petrus Alphonsus, 1106.]
Alf. i. — A. Trial of Friendship. B. Egypt and
Baldach.
A. — I. Cardonne Mil. asiat., i. 78 ; Jellinek, Beth Ham.,
VI. xiv. 10. II. Polyan. Stratig., i. 40, I. III. Alf. ii. 8;
Mart. Polon. Serm. ; Ex., 9, C. ; Scala celt, 11 b. ; Dial.
* As the remaining Tales are of a different ge7ire to the Fable
proper, I have not attempted any thoroughness in the parallels,
though the Disciplina Clericalis would well repay complete inves-
tigation.
264 SYNOPSIS OF PARALLELS.
Great, 56; Lucanor, 48 (York, 36); Castoiemmt (M6on,
ii. 39; Legr., ii. 379); Gesta, 129; Boner, app., 6. IV.
H. Sachs, 107 ; 2, 2, 39 ; Goedeke, Every Man, 1-7 ; Radloff,
i. 191 ; Gering, Islensk yEventyri, 50.
B. — I. looi Nights (Hagen, 9, i ; Caussin de Percival, 9,
I, 55) ; Scott, Tales, 253 ; Hammer, Rosenol, 2, 262 ; Kolle,
Afric. nat. lit., p. 122. III. Alf., iii. 2-14; Scala, 11;
Dial. Great., 56; Brom. , A., 21, 11; Gesta, 171; Liber
opium, 2, 20, 2; Enxempl. , 92; Gastoiem. (M^on), 2. 52
(Legr., 2, 385); Altris u. Prqfilias (ed. Grimm, 1846).
IV. Bocc. , X. 8; Hardi, Gesippe ; Cecal, nouv. nouv.,w.
28 ; Chevreau, Gesippe et Tite, 1658 ; H. Sachs, i. 2, 181,
iii. 2, 4; Dermann der seine frau nicht kennt , 1781 ; Gen,
Islensk ^ventyri, 51 — Schmidt, Beitr. in, on Alf., p.
98. V. Lydgate, Tale of Two Merchaunts ; R. Edwards
Tragedy, 1582 ; G. Griffin, Gesippus, a Tragedy, 1841 —
Warton, I., clxxxvii.
Alf. ii. — Money Trusted.
I. Sindibad, 25; Syntipas, 22; Cardonne, viil., i. 61;
looi Nacht, BresL, 386 (Loiseleur, 652) ; Scott, Tales, zryj
— Loiseleur ejjai, 119. III. Alf., 16, i-io; Gastoiem. (M^on,
ii. 107; Legr., ii. 403); Gesta, 118; Brom., R., 6, i;
Enxempl., 92. IV. Bocc, viii. 10; G. nov. ant., 74;
Gering, 69 — Schmidt, Beitr., 91-95 — Oest. V. Jack of
Dover, 14.
Alf. iii. — Lye of Oil.
III. Alf., 17, 1-12; Vine. Bell., ?«., i. i, 26; Enx., 334;
Gastoiem. (M. Legr., iii. 62), ii. 113; Gesta, 246 (Grasse, ii.
151). IV. Pauli ; Gering, Isl. /^v., 70— Oest.
Alf. iv. — Money Recovered.
I. D'Herbelot (suppl. Galland), 225 b. III. Alf., 18;
Vine. Bell., m., i, i, 27; Scala, 21 b. ; Enxetnp., 311. IV.
Timoneda, Patranas, 6 ; Cinthio, i. 9 ; Doni, Marini, c. 80 ;
Pauli, 115; Kirch., vii. 13; Ger.,71. V. Merry Tales and
Answers, 16; Pasquil's Jests, p. 17; Old Hobson, zo.
Al. ii. — Al. viii. 265
Alf. v. — Dream-bread.
I. Sindibad-nameh, 35, p. 175 ; Hammer, JRosenol, No.
180, ii. 303 ; Mesnevi, 2, 288 ; Toldoth Jcsu, ed. 1705, p.
51 ; Benf., Pants., i. 493. III. Alf., 20, i-B ; Cast, p. 127 ;
Vine. Bell., /«. , i, i, 26; Brom., E., 8, 14; Gesta, 106;
Scala, 73 b. ; Enxcmpl. , 27 ; Boner, 74. IV. Cinthio, i.
3; Gering, 72; Pitre Fiabi, 173. V. Dunlop-Liebr., 280;
Clouston, Pop. Tales, ii. 86-95!; Crane, Ital. Folk Tales,
154. 356.
Alf. vi. — Labourer and Nightingale.
I. Benf., Pants., i. 381; Vartan, 13; Sivichot hanefesh
(Heb.),42b. ; Barlaam, iv. 29 ; Loiseleur, p. 171. III. Alf. ,
23, 1-6; Cast.; cf. Schm. , p. 150; Dial. Creat., 100;
Scala, 7 b. ; Wright, p. 170; Legenda aurea, c. 175; E7ix-
emp., 53; Legrand, iii. 113; Gesta, 167; Mystire du roi
Advents, ap. Parf. , hist, du theat. franf., 2, 475; Marie,
i. 314, ii. 324 ; Du M^ril, 144 ; Hist. Litt. de la France,
x.xiii. 76. IV. Kirch. , iv. 34 ; H. Sachs, i. 4, 428 ; L.uther,
Tischr., 612. ; Wieland, Vogelgesang {y^erke, 18, 315) ; Ger.,
Isl. yEv., 75; Uhland ap. Germ., iii. 140. V. Lydgate,
Chorle and Bird ; Way, Lay of Little Bird, ap. Swan
Gesta, 2, 507-13 ; Caxton, Golden Legend, 392 b. ; Dunlop-
Lieb. , p. 484, n. 84.
Alf. vii. — Crookback.
I. Vikram, tr. Burton, p. 108* (proverb). III. Alf., viii. 2 ;
Cast., 75; Enxem., 13; Legr. , ii. 376; Gesta, 157; Boner,
76. IV. C. nov. ant. , 50 ; Pauli, 285 ; Gering, 60.
Alf. viii. — Disciple and Sheep.
III. Alf., iii. 3; Gering, 66; C. nov. ant., 31; Enx., 85.
IV. Don Quix., i. 20; Pitre, Fiabi, 138 ; Grimm, KM., 86.
V. Crane, Ital. F.T., 156, 356.
* " Expect thirty-two villanies from the limping,
And eighty from the one-eyed man.
But when the hunchback comes,
Say, ' Lord defend us.' "
266 SYNOPSIS OF PARALLELS.
Alf. ix. — Wolf, Labourer, Fox and Cheese.
I. C/. Benf., i. 349; Blumenthal, J?. Meir, 165 ; Vartan,
17. III. Alf., 24. IV. Gering, hi. .^v., 76.
Alf. X. — Husband, Wife, and Mother-in-Law.
III. Alf., 12; Gesta. IV. Gering, 64.
Alf. xi. — The Bawd.
I. Sindibad-nameh, 11; Syntipas, 11; Mishle Sandebar"
(Heb. ) ed. Cassel, 98-104; Scott, Tales, p. 100; Habicht,
15, 117; Tutinameh, p. 24; Vrihat Katha, ap. Quart.
Orient. Mag. , 1824, ii. 102 ; Somadeva, ed. 1829, p. 56 ;
Loiseleur, 106-7. HI- Alf., 141-8 ; Vine. Bell., m. 3, 9, 5;
Scala, 87; Gesta, 28; Wright, 13 (p. 16, cf. p. 218);
Enxem., 234; Castoiem., 292; Adolphus, ap. Wright, 178.
IV. Bocc. , V. 8 ; H. Sachs, 4, 3, 28 ; Schmidt, Beitr., 106-8 ;
Keller, VII. Sages, cxlv. ; Gering, 67; Oest. V. English
Fabliau, Dame Siriz ap. Wright, Anecd. Lit., 1-13.
Alf. xii. — Blind Man and Wife.
III. Cf. Schm., 43 ; Keller, VII. Sages, ccii. ; Gering, 63.
Alf. xiii. — Tailor, King, and Servant.
III. Alf., 21. [In Stainhowel, this is preceded by two
others, Alf, 10, 6; 11, x = Gesta, 122, 123.] IV. Pitr^
Fiabi, 186; Kirch., i. 243; Gering, 73. V. Crane, 357.
POGGIO.
[From the Facetim of Poggio Bracciolini, first printed
about 1470.]
Po. i. — A TOO Holy Gift.
IV. Pog., I ; Lessing VVerke, \'&2.'j, xviii. 9 ; Bebelius,
fac, ed. 1660, p. 279 ; Diet, d anecd. , i. 192. [Preceded in
Stainhowel by Pog. 10.]
Al. ix. — Po. viii. 267
Po. ii. — Hypocrite.
IV. Pog. , 6 ; Bebelius, 282 ; Montaigne, ii. 3 ; Moyen de
Parvenir, ii. 121 ; B. Rousseau, Epigr.
Po. ill. — Disappointed (Omitted).
IV. Pog., 45 ; Kirch., i. 339 ; Cent. nouv. nouv., 80.
Po. iv. — Hunting does not pay.
IV. Pog., 2: Rim., 18; Morlini, 77; Nugcs DoctcB, 56;
Straparola, xiii. i ; GeW&r , Narrenschiff, 148^ ; Kirch., i. 425.
— Oest. in Hannover, Tagespost, Feb. 7, 14, 1867. V. Merry
Tales and Answers, 52 ; Pasquils, 62.
Po. V. — Monstrosities.
IV. Pog. , 31-4 ; Licetus, De Monstris.
Po. vi. — Buried Dog.
III. Brom., D., 7, 13; Meon, iii. 70. IV. Pog., 36;
Pauli, 72 ; Malespini, 59 ; C. nouv. nouv., 96 ; Guccelette,
iv. 22 ; Brenta, Arcadia, 525; Co7iv. Serm,, i. 154; Diet,
d'anecd., ii. 451 ; Gil Bias, v. i. V. Dunlop-Liebr. , 297.
Po. vii. — Fox, Cock, and Dog (Rom. iv. 18).
I. Kukkuta Jdtaka, supra.yiYV., pp. 75-7. II. yEsop.,
225. III. Marie, 52; Brom., 7, 8; Grimm, RF., cxxii. ;
Reinhartus, ii. 1175. IV. Pog., 79; H. Sachs, ii, 4, 75;
Luther, Tischr. ; Kirch., iii. 128 ; Lafont. , xii. 15 ; Goethe,
xl. 14. — Oest. [Inserted here by Stainhowel from his Rom.
iv. 18 to end the book. What follows is from Machault's
and Caxton's additions].
Po. viii. — Women Disputing.
IV. Pog.. 78.
268 SYNOPSIS OF PARALLELS.
To. ix. — Debtor.
IV. Pog., 164.
Po. X. — Genoese.
IV. Pog. , 202 ; Guicciard, 175 ; Democr. ridens, p. 66 ;
Roger Bontemps, p. 40 ; Past, agriables, 209,
Po. xi. — PiLLMAKER. Po. xii. — WiDOW,
[Neither in Poggio.]
Caxton. — Worldly and Unworldly Priest.
[Added by Caxton to clear out, as it were, the bad taste
of the Poggiana from our mouth ; probably a true anecdote
of his time.]
INDEX.
[Including a reversed Index to the chief collections collated in
the Synopsis of Parallels. Such items are preceded by cf., and
the books of the Romulus and the Extravagantes are indicated
by the Roman numerals i.-v. Titles in italics refer to fables
mentioned. A few addenda and corrigenda are also given.
See Democritus, Fox, Cat, and Dog, Misprints, Romulus of
Nilant, Theognis.]
Abraham ibn Ezra, 174, cf.
iii. 16.
Abstemius, 8072, i-jon.
Accursius, ijn.
Adelard, 175.
Ademar, xx. 5, 7, 8, 9, 10,
139, 182, 1837;, 215, cf. i. 1,
3, 4, 6-8, 10-13, 15-18, 20,
ii. 1-4, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15,
17-20, iii. I, 2-7, 12-20, iv.
3, 8, 12, 15-17. 19. V. 3, see
' Anonymus Nilanti.'
Adrian IV., 184.
/Elian, 62, cf. i. 8, Av. 2, 20.
yEschylus, 26, 127.
yEsop, legendary life of, xiv.
XX. 4, 217 ; who wrote, xvi.
36 ; an authentic fable of,
27 ; why his name connected
with Fable, 30, 211 ; himself
a Fable ? 37 ; Herodotus'
account of, 37; life, epoch,
master, birthplace of, 38 ;
a barbarian slave, 41, 211 ;
name im-Greek, 41, 148;
similar in sound to Kasyapa,
148.
.(Esop, Greek. See Greek
prose .^sop (and so for
other languages),
"^sopus ad Rufum." See
Rufus.
African origin of fable, theory
of, 92.
African Fables (Bleek, Kolle,
&c.), cf. i. 2, 6, ii. 10, iv. 12,
V. 3, 4, 16, Av. 4, 13, Al. lb.
Agar, proverbs of, Indian
origin of, 132-4.
Alcseus, 28.
Alexis, 100.
Alexandria Library, 34, 212.
Alfonso, Fables of, xiv. i54«,
198-200, 217, cf. i. 9, iii. 2,
v. 1, Re. 3, Av. I, Al.
1-13.
270
INDEX.
Alfred, Kin^, Fables attri-
buted to, i6o, 162, 165.
Alfred of England, xvi., xx. :
source of Marie de France,
163, 167 ; identified, 167 ;
helped by Berachyah Nak-
dan, 177, 216 ; date of, 168 ;
mentioned, 171, 177, 179,
186, i9S'2, 216, 217. See
Appendix, LBG, Marie,
Romulus of Marie.
Allegory, 148, 204, 217^, 220.
Alsop, i92«.
Ambition, symbols of, 97
and ».
Anacharsis the Scythian, 143,
144.
And)-odus (iii. 1), 11, 52, 140,
153.
Angevin Empire, xvii. 180,
215.
Animism, 46 and n, 206, 207.
Anonymity of Folk-lore, 30 ;
/Esop'sFables exception, 30.
' Anonymous Neveleti." See
Galfred, Walter.
'Anonymous Nilanti,' xx. 5.
See Ademar.
A?iia Jdtaka, 66.
Ape and Fox, 13, 26, x&pn.
Apes, Fables about, 126, 140 ;
etymology, 148;?.
Aph'thonius, 73, cf. i. 5, 12, ii.
8, 20, iii. 13, iv. 6, 12, 15,
17, V. I, Re. I, Av. I, 7, 17.
Appendices to Phasdrus, xx.
'13, i4«, 139, cf. i. 3, 12,
17-20, ii. 4, 8-10, iii. 1-6,
8-11, 13, 14, 16, 17, iv. 3,
6-8, II- 19.
Appendix to Romulus, cf. v. 2,
3. 5. 6, 7, 14. 17- ^ee LBG,
Romulus of Marie.
Arabian Nights, cf. Re. 6, Av.
17, Al. I, 2.
Arabic .^sop, larger recension
of, xvi. 156-8; Paris MS.,
contents of, 221-4.
Arabic numerals, i28«.
Arabic translations, 166-7.
Archilochus, 26, 29%, 140^, cf.
i. 13.
Aristophanes, 28, 30 and n,
T.'zyi, 198, cf.\. 13, Re. i, 2,
Av. 3.
Aristotle, 27, 128, 212, cf i. 8,
iv. 9.
Armenian Fable, xvi. \^(^ti,
177 and 77, 184?/. See Ere-
mia, Vartan.
Ashton, J, 193.
Ass Heart, 94, 95, 88, \o\n,
166, 169.
Ass and Lafdog, (i. 17) 6, it,
97«.
Ass and Suckling Pig, 70,
139. 153-
Ass and Watchdog, 50.
Ass in Lion's Skin (Av, 4), 28,
52; Indian, 58-60, 106, 126,
129, 142, 153, 182;^.
Assyrian Fable, 41, 206, 207,
209.
Athoan Codex of Babrius, 20.
"Avadanas," 84, 88, ioi«, cf.
i. 5, 19, iii. 4, 16, Re. 16.
Avaricious and Envious (Av.
17), 50, 126, 153.
Avian, xiv. , xx. ; date, 16 and
n, 214; mentioned, 49^, 50,
52, 61, 159, i6gn, 1S6, 215;
Indian elements of, 125-8,
153, 214 ; interpolated in
Romulus, 185^ ; in Bayeux
Tapestry, 185 ; cf. i. 20, iii.
IS, iv, 4, 6, IS, 17, 20, v. 6,
Av. 1-27.
Babrius, xx. 18-24 ; ^ Ro-
man, ign, 21, 214; date,
22 ; source of Gk. prose
.^sop, 23, 24; Gitlbauer's
INDEX.
271
edition of, 23 ; his source,
22, 214 ; compared with
Phasdrus, 34, 36 ; morals in,
156 and n ; source of Synti-
pas, Syriac, Armenian, and
Loqman, is6« ; mentioned,
5i«, 94, 104, 114, 122, 128,
147, 214, 216, 219, f/i i. 2, 3
(Gitlbauer), 5-8, 10 (G.), 12,
13 (G.), 15, 17-20, ii. I (G.),
3,8, 10 (G.), 14 (G.). 15. 16,
19, 20, ui. 2, 3 (G.), 7, 13-
15. iv. I, 3, 4 (G.), 6, 9
(Gabrias), i3(G.)>iS(Gabr.)
16, 17, 20, V. I, 4, 6, Re, I
(G.), 3 (G.), 4-7, 8 (G.), 9,
10 (G.), 12-15 (all G.), 16,
i7(G.), Av. 1-3, 4 (G.), 5.
6, 7 (G.), 8, 9 (G.), 10-16,
22 (G.), 23-25, 26 (G.), 27
(G.). ^ef Gabrias, Ignatius.
Bacher, W. , in, i2on.
Back, Dr., iion, 113.
Bacon, F., 170 and n, cf. i, i.
Bacon, R. , 167, 168, 177.
Balaam, 15472.
Bald Man and Fly (ii. 12), 52 ;
Indian, 64, 65, 139, 153.
Baldo (Latin verse trans, of
Bidpai), cf. iii. 2, iv. 9, v. i,
3, 6, 15.
Banyan- Deer J dtaka, 113.
" Barlaam and Josaphat,"
1707?.
Bat, Birds, and Beasts (iii, 4),
140. IS3-
Bavii-u J dtaka, 'jjn.
Bayeux Tapestry, 181-3, 215,
cf. i. 2, 8, 15, 20, Av. 2
[Frontispiece].
Beast-Anecdote, 103, 207.
Beast-Satire, 159,205,206,208,
Beast-Tale, 159, 205, 206, 208.
Belly and Members (iii. 16), 6 ;
Egyptian, Indian, Chinese,
Persian, Roman, Jewish, in
New Test., 82-8, 117, 161,
183.
Benares, 146 and 7t.
Benedictus le Puncteur, 176
and n, 177. See Berachyah.
Benfey, T., xv. 46, 51, 52, 60
and n, jon, J2.J1, 73, 95, 98,
126, 152;^, i84«, 209, 219;
views on Indian origin, 102-
4; cf. pUs. fass., and see
Bidpai.
Bennet, C., I96«,
Bentley, xvii., 18 and n, 218 ;
Jebb's Life of, 28, i92«.
Berachyah ha-Nakdan, xvi.,
XX., 123;?, 168-78, 180, 216 ;
an English Jew, 175-6 ;
assists Alfred, 177 ; cf. i.
1-9, 12-18, 20, ii. 1-4, 8-10,
15, iii. 7-9, 14, 15, 17. iv. 3.
8, 10, 12, 15-17, 19, 20, V.
2, 5, 8, g, 16, Av. 4, 6, 9,
II, 12, 14-17, 20, 22, 25.
See Benedictus.
Bharhut, stupa of, Jatakas
figured on, 75, 79.
Bibliography, 187 and n, 2oin.
Bickell, 132^.
Bidpai, xx. 25, ^in, 50-54,
104, 153, 216, 218 ; parallels
from, 90-101 ; date of, 103 ;
late, 107 ; Jataka elements
in origin of, 146 ; cf. I. 1, 3
5, 9, 10, 12-14, IS (Capua),
17, 18, 20, ii. I, 3, 10, 12,
13-15, 29, iii. I, 2 (Baldo), 9,
14 (Capua), 16, 20, iv. 1-3,
9 (IBaldo), 12, V. I, 3-5, 6
(Baldo), 8, 10, 15 (Baldo),
Re. 1-3, 6, 16, Av. 4, 7, 9,
16-18, 24, Al, 5, 6, 9. See
Baldo, Benfey, Pantscha-
tantra.
Bird Caged, 115.
Bird and Waves, 113, 130.
Bird with Two Heads, 84, 88.
272
INDEX.
Blades, W., xi.
Bleek, 137W. iV^ African Fable.
Blind Doe, i^gn.
Boccaccio, 229, cf. Al. i. 2, 11.
Blumenthal, A., i20«, cf, iii,
14, Al. 9.
Boethius, cf. Re. 14.
Boner, 185, 230^, cf. i. 1-4, 6-8,
10, ii. 2, 3, 6, g, 12, 16, 19,
20, iii. 2, 6, 13, iv. 6, 9, 17,
20, Av. 2-4, 6, 10-15, I7>
19, 22, 27. See Carlyle.
Borrowing Theory, 44-6, 97,
202, 209.
Boy and Thief (Av. 18), 126,
153-
Bozon, N., 185.
Brahmadatta in Benares, 55,
69 ; significance of, 147.
Brahman, Tiger and Jackal,
50, cf V. 4.
Brer Rabbit identified with
Buddha, 113^, 136 ; his foot,
137-
Brandt, S., 218.
British Museum, xiv. igiw ;
Burneian MS. at, 5.
Bromyard, 185, cf. i. i, 3-7,
10, 13, 16, 18, 20, ii. 2, 3, 7,
10, 15, 17, 19, iii. I, 4-7, 13,
15, 19, iv. 3, 8, V. 3-5, 9,
Re. 14, Av. I, 4, 8, 9, 17,
Al. i^, s.
Buddha, 53 and n, 58, 61, 69,
79, 113, 129, 147, 212, 213,
233« ; identified with Brer
Rabbit, ii3«, 137; his foot,
137-
Buddhism, influence of, on
negroes, 136 ; on Neopytha-
goreanism, Essenes, Chris-
tianity, 138.
Bullokar, W. , 191.
Burmann, 12, 13, is^n.
Burneian MS. of " Romulus,"
5. i83«.
Burton, Sir R. F., 92, iS4«.,
267 and n.
Butting Goats, 52, cf. v. 10.
Cainozoic stratum of Bidpai,
51, 104, 157.
Caldecott, R., 196, 229.
Camel and Jupiter (Av. 7) ;
Indian, 81 and n, iii, 126,
142, 153-
Camel-bird (ostrich), 204.
Campbell, "Tales, W. High-
lands," cf iii. 2, V. 3.
Carlyle, z^on, cf ii. 20.
Calf and Ox, 70.
Cat and Chicken (Re. 4), 63.
Cat and Parrot, tzSn.
Cat and Weasel, ii6n.
Catalan ^Esop, 187^, cf. i. 8.
Caxton, W., xi.-xiii., xx, 4, 9
and n, 13, 15, 16, 25, 38, 47
and «, 51, 67, 71, 152^, 158,
186, 187-92, 1S9, 190, 217,
cf i. 8, V. I, Al. 6, p. 268.
Ceylon, 54 ; home of Indian
Fable, 144, 145, 213.
ChaJJ, straw, and wheat, 115.
Chain of tradition, strength
of, 97.
Chapbook, 193, cf. ii. 15, iv.
3, 12.
Charlemagne, 215.
Chaucer, 185 and n. cf, v. 3,
8, Av. I.
Chenmitzer, 192;?.
Cheyne, Prof., i32«, I33«.
Chicken and Fox, 170.
Chinese ./Esop, 219??.
Chinese Fable. SeeAvadanas,
Hiouen.
Choliambics, 21, 22, 23, 214.
Christianity, influence of Bud-
dhism on, 138 ; sensual chas-
tity of medieval, 200.
Church, visible, doctrine of,
founded on fable, 87.
INDEX.
273
Classical scholars neglect lite-
rary history, 34«.
Clodd, E. , 1377?.
Clouston, W. C, 126, cf. ii.
12, iii. 9, V. 4, Av. 24, Al. 5.
Cobet, I2in, ison.
Cock and Bat, 115.
Colombo, Bishop of, 64, io6w.
Comet Fables, 159. See Fa-
bulce exiravagantes.
Comte, J., i827z, cf. i. 2, 8.
See Bayeux Tapestry.
Conceited Jackal, 73, yjn, iii,
129.
Conventions of fable, 208, 209.
Coraes, ijn, ign, 24^.
Cosquin, 210.
Countryman and Snake (i. 10).
28 ; Indian, 81, 128, 139, 143,
153-
Countryman, Son and Snake
(ii. 20) ; Indian, 92-4, 139,
153, 166.
Crabs, Two (Av. 3), 28.
Crane and Peacock (Av. 12),
71, 127, [Crow by mistake)
153-
Crane, T. ¥., cf. ii. 15, Al. 5,
8, 13.
Crane, W. , bad " morals" of,
i49« ; designs of, 196, 229.
Crocodile, fable about, pro-
bably Indian, 140, 153.
Crew and Fox (i. 15), 29^, 52 ;
Indian, 65, 139, 153, 182.
Crow and Pitcher (Av. 20),
114, 127, 153, 209.
Croxall, S. , 193, 195, 229.
Crusins, O. , xv. 21, 122, 219,
cf. Av. 14.
Culladhanuggaha Jataka, 59-
60.
Culture beyond Fable, 208.
Cunningham, Sir A., 7i«,
73«, -JT.
Cyprian Fable, I27«.
VOL. I.
Cyril, 215^, cf. i. 15, iv. 17.
Cyrus, Fable of, 26, 88. See
Piper turned Fisherman.
"Daniel Deronda," quoted
iijn.
Dates, importance of, 47 ; of
Gk. Fable, 47. See iEsop,
Babrius, Berachyah, Marie.
De Gubernatis, 457Z ; specimen
of his theory, 237;^, cf pUs.
pass.
Delphian Oracle, 38, 39.
Demetrius Phalereus, xx. 33-
6, 123, 124, i39«, 143, 203,
212, 214.
Democritus, 28, 129 (Theognis
by mistake).
Derenbourg, J., 154^.
Derivates of Phaedrus, xv. , xx. ;
of Ademar and Romulus,
i5», 178-9.
Devadatta, 56, 233^.
D'Herbelot, 41, cf Al. 4.
Dimitrief, 192^.
Diogenes Laertius, 28.
Dipi Jataka, 62.
Dispute of Senses, 84, 86«.
Dog and Shadow (i. 5), 6, 28,
51 ; Indian, 58-60, loi, 129,
153. 165.
Dog m Manger [v. 11), i86«,
192;?, I94«, 209.
Dogs and Hide, Indian, 72,
139, 142, 153.
" Don Qui.xote," cf Al. 8.
Dragon and Hatt (v. 4), 52,
i37«.
Dramatis personas of Fables
changed, 142.
Dressier, xx. , 13, i4«.
Droll, 202, 206.
Dukes, L. , 96, lion, 114, cf.
i. 8, Av. 9, 15.
Du M6ril, XV., XX., i, 164^,
165, I77«, 219, cf. YA\s,.pass.
a
274
INDEX.
Duplessis, XX.
Dutch j^sop, XX. 179, 187,
217, 229.
Eagle and Fox (i. 13), 28, 30^.
Eagle and Raven (i. 14), 51,
61, 139, 153.
Eagle and Tortoise (Av. 2),
Indian, 61, 126, 127, 153,
182, 183.
Eagle and Weasel, 62.
Eagle hoist with own Petard,
26, 127, and n.
Eberhard, 155^.
Ebert, 21 5«.
Egyptian Fable, 42, 82, 88,
209.
" Ecclesiasticus," I34«, cf.
Av. 9.
" Eliot, George," 31, 33^,
117;^, 149/?.
Ellis, R., \yi, 16, 64^, i25».
England, home of Fable, xvii.,
178-85 ; nidus of Romance,
xvii. 181.
English words in Marie, 162-4.
Ennius, 88;z, cf. Re. 7.
Ephesian Widow (iii. 9), 13,
52, 140, 153, i83«.
Erasmus, cf. ii. 15, Av. 4.
Eremia, xx. ; Fables of, 177
and n.
Erythrsean Sea, din, xzj, 144.
Escurial, 200«.
Essenes, 138.
European .^Esop, 186, 187.
Fable, of .lEsop, 27 ; oldest,
82 ; definition of, 204 ; dif-
ferentia of, 206 ; future of,
220 ; morality of, 2o8;z.
Fabliau, 200; an English, cf.
Al. II.
Fabliaux (Barbazon, Le grand,
Meon), cf. iii. 9, v. 3, Av.
17, Al. 6.
Fabricius, ign.
Fabulce extravagantes, xx. 43,
159, 186 and n, 195, 252.
Fabulce rhythmicae, xx. 178.
Facetiae, 200-2, cf. Po. 1-12.
Fairy Tale, 190, 206. See
Folk Tale.
Fallacy of Priest of Neptune,
109.
Farmer and Moneylender, 50.
Fausboll, XV. 55 and n, 59, 61,
62, 65, 66, 67, 69, 71, 72,
73. 75-
Fedde, I'jn.
Feer, L., 146, 147W.
Fir and Bramble (Av. 15),
114, 126, 153.
Fly un Chariot-wheel, 170
and n.
Folk-etymology, mythology re-
garded as, 25.
Folk-lore, Gk. Fable part of,
40; theories of resemblances
in, 44 ; terminology of, 206.
See Borrowing Theory.
Folk-tales, 194 and n, cf. ii. 9,
10, 15, iii. 2, 9, V. I, 4, 5, 7,
10, 12, 16, Av. 13, ij, Al.
1-13. See Campbell, Crane,
Gering, Grimm, Temple.
Fox and Cat (v. 5), 52, iZ6n.
Fox, Cat and Dog, 139, mis-
take for Fox, Cock and Dog.
Fox and Ape, 13, 42.
Fox and Crabs, 49;/.
Fox, Cock and Dog (Po. 7),
75. 139- 153-
Fox and Crow (i. 15), 28^, 52 ;
Indian, 65, 139, 153, 182.
Fox and Fishes, 113, 130, 170.
Fox and Goat (Re. 3), 52, 60/^,
l82«.
Fox and Grapes (iv. i), 52,
140, 153, l82«.
Fox and Hedgehog, 28.
Fox, Hedgehog, and Ticks,
INDEX.
275
^sop's Fable, 27, 30, 74^,
170.
J^ox and Lion, 26, iii.
Fox and Stork (ii. 13), 46, 140,
153-
Fox and Wolf (iii. 6), 2&n,
140, 153-
Fox as Singer, 115-6.
Freeman, Prof., i83«.
French, j^sop, xx. 187, see
Machault ; language used
by mediaeval English Jews,
176 ; scholarship, i, 14.
Frohner, xx.
Frogs desiring King (ii. i), 6,
52-
Fuchs, 165 and n, cf. ii. 15.
Furia, 1772, 19;/, zqn, 79.
GABRIAS, XX. 18, 2I«, 24«, cf.
i. 2, 5, 7, 8, 10, 15, ii. 10,
16, iii. 3, iv. 6, 9, 13, 15, 17,
V. 1, 4, Re. 1, 5, 7-9, Av. 2, 13.
Gaidoz, H., 131, 135 and 71.
Galfred, 178 and n. See
Walter of England ; cf. i.
1-20, ii. 1-20, iii. 1-17.
Gatha, 57, 58, 59, 60, 62, 63,
64, 66, 67, 69, 71, 72, 73, 75,
78, 149, 213, 214.
Gay, J., 197.
Gellert in Midrash, 113 ; Bud-
dhistic, 113, 130.
Gerard, xx. 179.
Gering, 199^, cf. i. 10, ii. 10,
Al. 1-13.
German ^Esop, xx. 174, 186,
187 ; scholarship, 3, 14, 161
and n. See Stainhowel.
"Gesta Romanoruni," cf. i.
17, ii. 10, iii. I, 20, V. 4, 13,
Re. 14.
Ghivizzani, xx. i87«.
"Gil Blas,"f/. Po. 6.
Gitlbauer, 23, 25, 132. See
Babrius.
Glinka, 192^.
Glossary, xix.
Goat and Compasses, \'jbn.
Goethe, cf. i. 6, 8, iv. 9. See
" Reynard the Fox."
Goncharof, 192;;.
Goodman and Serpent (i. 10),
52; Indian, 81 and n, 139,
153. See Countryman.
Good?nan, Son and Serpent
(ii. xo), 52 ; Indian, 92, 106,
^39> ^S2- See Countryman.
Goose with Golden Eggs (Av.
24), 52; Indian, 67, 126, 129,
153. 197''. i99«-
Gottheil, R. , xix. \yjn, zzm,
Gow, J., xix.
Gower, 1847;, 185, cf. Av. 17.
Graesse, 2i6«.
Graetz, H., 118, 132^, 133.
Gi-asshoppers, ibn.
Greek Fables, source of Latin,
17 ; ancient enumerated,
26-28 ; part of folk-lore,
29, 30 ; Indian elements of,
1527?. .S^f Demetrius, Nico-
stratus.
Greek prose yEsop, xx. 17 ;
editionsof, 'L'jn ; derived from
Babrius, 24 : differences
from Phaedrus, 166, 169 ;
translated by L'Estrange,
191 ; by Tovvnsend, 195 ; cf.
i- 2, 3, 5-10, 12, 13, 15, 17-
20, ii. I, 3, 4, 8-10, 13, 15,
16, 19, iii. 2, 3, 7, 12-15, 19,
iv. 3, 4, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16, 17,
V. I, 4, 6, 9, II, Re. 1-17,
Av. 1-20, 22-26.
Grimm, 31^, 44, 45, 190,
" Kindermarchen," cf. ii.
9, ID, iii. 9, V. 5, 12, 16, Av.
13, Al. 8.
Grisebach, cf. iii. 9.
Grote, 33«.
Gruppe, 209, 210.
2/6
INDEX.
Hahn, 194;^, 202, cf. V. 4, 5,
10.
Halm, 17, jj, 126-7, 170. See
Gk. prose ^sop.
Hamburger, now, iigw, ii2«,
ii6«, t/. i. 8.
Hardy, 54^, 72.
Hare and Elephant, 6on.
Hare and Hound, 28.
Harris, 137, cf. v. 3, 4, 16.
Hare in African Folk-lore,
i37;z.
Hare with many Friends, 197.
Hartung, 121.
Hazlitt, W. C. , 32, 194. See
Proverbs, English.
Head and Tail of Serpent,
113;?.
Heart, seat of sense, 94, 95^,
126 and n.
Hebraisms in Greek JEsoy>, 18.
HecatKus, 'jgn.
Henrique, Infante, xx. 187.
Herodotus, 26, 37, 38, 88«, cf.
Re. 7.
Heron and Eel, 28.
Hervieux, L. , xv. , xx. ; re-
searches on Phaedrus, 1-3,
5«, i8i;z, 219, cf. i. 8, pass.
(HI.).
Hesiod, 26.
Hesychius, 121.
Heusinger, 17;?.
Heydenreich, E. , i^n, 14.
Hiouen Tsiang, 72, cf. iii. i.
Hipporus in Ceylon, 144.
" Hitopadesa," i32«, 133.
Holkot, 185, cf. i. 17,
Horace, 99, loi, 207, cf. i. 12,
15, ii. s, IS, iv. 12.
Horse and Ass, iii. 3, 11.
Horse, Hutiter and Stag
(iv. 9).
Howell, J., i6o«.
Hunter and Lion, 126, 153.
Hunter, Sir W. , i52«.
"hus" in Marie, i62«.
Huschke, \<jn.
Iadmon, .(Esop's master, 38.
Iambics in Ademar, 10, 11.
Ibycus, 28.
Iceland, 164, 199.
Ignatius, tetrastichs of, from
Babrius, 24, i36«. See
Gabrius.
Illustrations, xiii., xix. , 182,
195, cf i. 8 (III.), iii. 9,
Av. 14.
Indra, 59, 113.
India Office MS., xx. 156,
157 and n, 178.
Indian Fable, 45, 48, 209 ; ex-
aggerations of, 66, 67 ; in
Latin Fable, 139 ; Table of,
153-
Initial letters first used in
Caxton's " Esope," xiii.
Interpolations, 35, 48, 80, 151,
183 and n.
Ion, 28.
Islam intermediary between
Greece and India, 152.
Italian yEsop, xx. 187, 217,
229.
" Itiahasa Kisyapa," xx. 147,
215-
" Izopiti," XX., cf. i. 1-17, 19,
iii. 20.
Jack and Beanstalk, 29.
Jacobs, J., XV., xvi., 46«, 5i«,
61, 104, ii3«, 152^, i6o«,
1 69^2, i70«, 2.o6n, i75«,
200;/, 219 and n, cf. i. 13,
20, iii. I, r6, v. 10, Av. 2.
" Jalkut," 95, 114.
Jambukkadaka Jdtaka, 68, cf.
Jannelli, x.x. 23.
Jatakas, xvi., xx. 53-79, 89,
103, 104, 129, 174, 184;
INDEX.
277
source of, xvi. 145-7, 215 ;
cf. i. 2, 5, 8, 15, ii. 12, 15,
Av. 2, 4, 24.
Jdvasakuna Jdtaka, 55-6.
Jay in Peacock's Feathers (ii.
15), 6, 52, 114, 124, 153, 165.
Jebb, R. C, 28«, 33^, 192/?,
cf. V. II, Av. 4.
Jest-books, Elizabethan, 32.
Jests associated with a name,
3T-2, 214 ; ob.scene, 200-3.
Jewish evidence, 95 ; fable,
earliest, 117-9; from India,
116, 117, 119, 204«. See
Midrash, Talmud.
Joaz, Fable of, 88.
Jochanan ben Saccai, 120,
122, 123, 144, 214.
Joseph's plan, 39?/.
Joshua ben Chananyah, 117
and n, 118, 119.
Jotham's fable, 26«, 39, 41,
88.
Juno, Venus and Hen (iii. 8),
13-
Julian the Apostate, 128, cf. i.
18.
Kdka Jdtaka, 72.
Karina Jdtaka, 184.
Kisyapa, 146-8, 213 and n.
See Kybises.
Keller, O., 102.
Kirchhof, cf. i. 1-3, 5, 6, 8, 9,
12, 14-16, 18, 20, ii. 1-4, 7-
II, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, iii. I-
3, 9, 13, 14, 16, 19, iv. 4, 9,
II, 12, 15, 20, V. I, 4, 6, II,
Re. 6, 9, 10, 13, 14, 17, Av.
4, 8, 9, 13, 15, 16, 18-20,
Al. 4, 6, 13, Po. 3, 4, 7.
Knoell, i7«, 18.
Kohler, R., x6on, cf, v. 4.
Kolle, 49, cf. v. 16, Av. 13.
Krilof, 192 and n, cf. i. i, 2,
8, 15, iv. 17. 20.
" Kubsis." 5ff Kybises.
Kuhn, 44.
Kurz, ikjn. See Waldis.
Kybises, .xvi., xx. ; .^sop of
Libyan Fable, 121 ; in Tal-
mud, 122, 123, 124, 125,
128, 136, 138, 142, 144, 149,
150, 203, 214. See Kasyapa.
Lafontaine, I, 218, cf. i. I-
3, s, 7-12, 15-18, 20, ii. X,
5, 8-10, 13-17, 20, iii. 7, 9,
12-16, 19, iv. I, 2, 4, 9, 10,
12, 15, 17, 20, V. I, 4, 5, 9,
Re. 1-3, 6-8, II, 13, 16, 17,
Av. I, 3, 4, 8, 9, 16, 22, 24,
Po. 7.
" Lais" of Marie, 160 and «,
164.
Landsberger, J., .\.x. '41, 70^,
74«, iio«. III, 113, 114,
i49«. 155-
Lang, A., poem by, i.\'. , x. ;
referred to, xix. 44, 45, 46^,
113??, 141, cf. i. 8 (II.).
Latin, canine, 8, 13 ; accent
in choliambics, 21 ; Fable,
Indian elements in, 153.
Lauth, 91 and ?t.
"LBG" Fables, xx. 161, 163,
178.
Lean Fox, iii.
Leopard and Fox , 126, 153.
Lessing, an /Esop scholar,
25«, i77«, 2x8, cf. i. I, 6,
15, ii. I, 14, 15, iii. 9, Po. I.
L' Estrange, 191 ; source of
Russian Fable (?) 192, 193 ;
mentioned, 218, 229,
Libyan Fable, xvi. 121, 124,
125, 127, 209^/ ; true mean-
ing of, 128 and n.
Liebrecht, 80, 81, ioo«, cf. i.
10, 17, iv. I, Av. 4, 17, Al.
5, 6, Po. 6.
Lightfoot, Bp., 138;?.
278
INDEX.
Lion and Ass (iv. 10), 74.
Lion and Crane. See Wolf
and Crane.
Lion and Man (iv. 15), 21 and
n, i^gn.
Lio??, and Mouse, 6, 11, 52; in
India and Egypt, 90-2, 139,
142, 153.
Lion and Oxen (Av. 17), 77^,
IIS, 126, 153.
Lion reanimated, 113.
Lion s share (i. 6), 6, 74^, 166 ;
two versions, 166, 169, i82«.
Lion's Traces, 170.
Livy, 88, cf. iii. 16.
Longperier, 135.
Loqman, xx. 41, 48, 50, 154,
155 ; doublet of Balaam,
i54«, 216 ; cf. iii. 16, iv. 6,
12, 15, Av. 14, 24. See
Appendix.
Losaka Jdtaka, io6«.
Loth, 156.
Lucanor, cf. i. 15, 20.
Lucian, 29, cf. ii. 5.
Luther, i, 15, 203??, cf. i. 1-12,
15, ii. I, 2, 20, v. 4, Av. 8,
Al. 6, Po. 7.
Lydgate, 185, cf. Al. i, 6.
Lytton, Lord, 199.
MACHAULT, J., XX. 4. 9, 186,
229, 267.
Macrobius, 16.
Mahabharata, 80 ; parallels
from, 81, 82, 104, 153, cf. i.
ID, iii. 16, iv. 20, Av. 7.
Mahaffy, Prof., 92.
Mahosadha Jdtaka, io6n, 130,
131-
Makasa Jdtaka, 64 and n.
Mall, E. , XV. 160 and n, 161-
164, 219.
Man and Idol, 52, 169 and n.
Man and Pit, 169 and n.
Man and Serpent, ^zz Country-
man.
Man and Tiger, 50, iii, 120
and n.
Man, Lion, and Serpent, 184.
Man with Two Wives [Rq. 16),
III, 139, 140, 153.
Mapes,W. ,185, cf. iii. 19, Av. 4.
Marcus Aurelius, 22.
Marie de France, xv. xx. 158,
159-167, 179, 217, 219, cf.
i. 1-20, ii. I- II, 15-18, 20,
iii. 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 14, 15, 16,
17, 20, iv. 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12,
15, 16, 17, 19, v. 23-9, Av.
I, II, Al. 6.
Martial, 31, cf. ii. 20.
Maspero, 82 and n.
Mavor, 194 and n, 229.
Meir, RaJabi, xx. iii, 112, 120
and n, 122, 123;?.
Menander, 33, 35.
Menas, M., discovers Babrius,
20, 22.
Mercury and Statue Seller,
Mercury and Two Women,
140-1, 153. See Three
Wishes.
M6ril. See Du M^ril.
Mesnevi, 49, cf. v. 9, Al. 5.
Mesozoic stratum of Bidpai,
54;?, 89, 104.
Metempsychosis, 89.
" Midrash Rabba," 70, 72,
85^, 96, iii«, 115.
Middle English derivate of
Marie, 163 ; translations of,
164.
Migne, 88«, \<y)7i.
Migration of illustrations, 76^.
Milesian Fable, 127^, 203, 212,
217.
Miller, Joe, 32 and n, 33 and
n, 214.
" Mishle Kobsim," 120, 121.
INDEX.
279
" Mishle Kubsis," 122, 136.
" Mishle Shu'alim," 120, 122,
123, 139^, 168, 217.
Misprints in Caxton, x. , xi. ; in
Talmud, 121 ; in Introduc-
tion, p. 127, Crmu {Crane) ;
131, in (on); 143, Phoedrus
(Phagdrus) ; 148, Aictwtoj
{AiawTTos) ; 164, athcle
jathele) ; 192^;, Russial
(Russian); 196^2, iun (inn).
Mistranslation, 74, 162, 163.
Morality of Fable, 208,^.
Morals of Fable, their origin,
xvi. 148-50,, 204;?, 214.
Morris, R., 58, 62, 66, 67, 72,
73. 75. 78, 113. 174. 2i8«.
Mountain in Labour (ii. 5),
lOI.
Mouse-Maiden, 11, 28 ; Indian,
98-101, 139, 142, 153, 162,
166, 169. See Vixe7i- Maiden.
Moi/se and Frog (i. 3), in,
139. 153-
Mouse and Ox (Av. 23), 114,
126, 153.
Miiller, C. F., 24.
Miiller, L. 5. 14.
Miiller, M., 14, 44.
Mule's Pedigree, 170.
Munchausen, zpn.
Munika Jdtaka, 69, 115.
Musset, A. de, cf. iii. 9.
Nacca Jdtaka, 71 and n.
" Nakdan," 168, 175.
Neckam, 179 and n, 185, rf. i.
2-9, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, ii. I,
5, 8, 9, 12, iii. I, 7, 12, 13,
15, 16, iv. 3, 6, 9, 10, 13,
17-
Neubauer, A., 174, 176.
Nevelet, 2672, 27, 218.
Nicholas of Pergamus, 2i6n,
cf. {Dial. Great.) i. 2, 3, 5,
6, 10, 12, 15, 16, 18, 20, ii.
I, 10, 15, 20, ni. I, 13, iv.
12, 17, V. 4, Av. 4, 8, Al.
I a.
Nicostratus, source of Babrius,
XX. 22, 24, 36, 122, 123, 124,
214.
Nightingale and Hawk, earliest
iable, 26 and n.
" Nights with Uncle Remus,"
72n, 137.
Nilant, xx. 5, 218. See Ro-
mulus of Nilant.
Norman love of Fable, 181.
North Wind and Sun, ^.Z.
Nutt, A,, xi.x.
Oak and Reeds (iw. 20), Indian,
81, III, 126, 142, 153; from
Avian not Phasdrus, i83«.
Obscene Jest, 200-3.
Odo of Sherington, 185, cf. i.
3, 8, 12, ii. I, 2, 15, iii. 5, iv,
7, 8, v. 9, Av. 4.
Oesterley, xv. , xviii., xx. , xn,
5, gn, II, ijin, i86n, i8jn,
zign, 229. See plls. pass.
Ogilby, 191, 229.
Old Testament, Indian ele-
ments in, 134 ; foreign
elements, 134;^ ; cf. iv. 17,
Re. 6, 13.
Ophir, 1067?, 131, 160.
"Oriental LXX.,"44, 150, 152.
Original Fables, 143 and n.
Origins, interest of, 15.
Ovid, 21.
Ox and Heifer, in, 126, 153.
Oxen and Pig, in, 129.
Pal^.ozoic stratum of Bidpai,
54, 60, 104.
Papyrus, age of, 92.
' ' Pantschatantra," Benfey's in-
troduction to, 46, 6o«. See
Bidpai.
Pandects, cf. iii. 4,
28o
INDEX.
Panther, fable about, Indian,
140.
Parable, 204 and n.
Parallels, xviii. 27 ; of Indian
and Greek fable, 46, 48 ;
Synopsis of, 229-68.
Pans, G., 2n, S^, 14, 83. 151.
i8o«, cf. Av. 17.
Paris, Matthew, i84;z.
Paris MS. of Arabic ^sop, xx.
157, 221-4.
Parodies, 197.
Partington, Mrs., Indian, 72.
Partridge, Alonkey, and Ele-
phant, 170.
Paul, St., Fable of, 86, 88, cf.
iii. 16.
Pauli, cf. i. 4, 7, 19, iii. 15, v.
16, Av. 8, 17, 24, Al. 3, 4, 7,
Po. 6.
Peacock and Nightingale, 71.
Peacock, fables about, Indian,
71, 139, 140, 153.
Pedigree of Caxton's .(Esop,
xviii. XX., 230.
' ' Pen tamerone, ' 'cf. Re. 6, Av. 7.
Perotti, XX. 13.
Phaedrus, literary source of,
xvi. 16, 35, 212 ; is our
.iEsop, I, 158; derivates of,
XX. 6 ; M. Hervieux on, 2,
3 ; missing fables of, 6 ; one
restored, 13; date and birth-
place, 1772; "jests of," 31
and w ; parallel with Babrius,
35, 36 ; Indian elements of,
139-141, 153; mentioned,
71, 74, 80, ioSt?, 124, 139^ ;
cf. i. 1-20, ii. 1-20, iii. 1-20,
iv. 1-19, v. 4, Av. 8. See
Appendices to Phaedrus.
Phalaris, i8/z, 1927?.
Pictorial .^sops, 195-6.
Pig and Whistle, ig6n.
Piper turjicd Fisher (Re. 7),
26, 88, See Cyrus.
Pithoean Codex of Phsedrus,
•jn.
Planudes, xiv. 18, i9«.
Plato, 26«, 28, cf. iv. 12, Av.
4(?)-
Plautus, cf. ii. 15.
Pliny, 145.
Plocanus, 144-5.
Plutarch, 29, 39, cf. ii. 13, iii.
3, 16, iv. 9, 13, 15, Av. 20.
Poggio Bracciolini, xiv. 4, 32,
139??, 200-1, 217, f/". Po. i-io.
Political use of Fable, 39, 40,
184, 192^, 2i8;2.
Polynesian Fable, 206, 207.
Pope, cf. i. 12, iii. 16.
Pots, Two (Av. 9), 52 ; Indian,
96-7, III, I34«, 149;^, 153.
Prato on Belly atid Members,
847?,, cf. iii. 16.
Priaulx, O. , i44«.
Proverbs of Agur, Indian,
132-4-
Proverbs related to Fable, 108
and n, 205 and n ; Arabic,
205 ; Greek, cf. i. 8, Re. 13 ;
Indian, cf Al. 7 ; English,
cf i. I, 6, 15, 17-19, ii. 15,
V. 10, Re. 7, 10, Av. 16.
Pythagoreanism, 138, 147^.
Quatrains of thought, an In-
dian literary artifice, 133
and n.
Queen's Library, copy of Cax-
ton at, xiv,
Rabelais, cf. i. i, ii. 5, iii.
16.
Raju, R., 49 and n, cf i. 18,
iii. 14.
Ralston, 64, 192^.
Rankine, Prof., i96«.
Ranutio d' Arezzo, xx. 25, i86i
See Remicius.
Rawlinson, 41.
INDEX.
281
Regnier, 189;^, c/. i. 8 (IV.).
Remicius.xx. 25, 125, 159,203.
See Ranutio, cf. Re. 1-17.
" Reineke Fuchs," 171 and n.
Reynard the Fo.x, 159, 171 and
n, cf. i. 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, ii. i,
15, 20, iii. 6, V. 1, 4, 5, 7-10,
13, 14, Re. 6, Po. 7.
Rhode, E. , 203«.
Rhodopis, 37, 141.
Rhys-Davids, T. , 56, 57, 65, 69,
■jon, 71, 113, 130, 146, 147,
215 ; views on Indian fable,
107-9.
Richard I., 176, 179, 184 and
n, 216.
Richard III., .xi.
Riese, A., \\n, 12, I43«.
Rig Veda, 132-3, cf. iii. 20.
Robert, xx. i, 187, 219, 229,
252. See plls. pass.
Rodiger, 157^, cf. ii. 8, Av. 7,
10.
Rohini Jdtaka, '^4.
Roman Fable, 88.
Romance, England, the nidus
of, xvii. 181.
Romulus, XX. 4, 5, 125, 139,
169, 186, 198, cf. i. 1-20, ii.
1-20, iii. 1-20, iv. 1-19, Po. 7.
Romulus of Marie, 161. See
Appendix to Romulus.
Romulus of Nilant, ^n, 161,
178 ; Collation (accidentally
omitted from Synopsis),
Rom. Nil. i-i7=i. 1-9, 12-
18, 20: i8-24 = ii. 1-6, 8:
25-37 = iii. I, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9,
10, 13-17, 20: 38-45 = iv. 3,
4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 17, 19.
Roth, i22;z.
" Rufus," 5, 183;^, cf. i. 1-4,
6-18, ii. 1-5, 7-15, 19,, iii.
1-3. 5-8. 10-20, iv. I, 4, 5.
Russian Fable, source of, 192.
See Krilof.
Rutherford, W. G., 13,^, 23
and n, 29«, 41, 105-6, io8«,
i2i«, 123;?, 150^.
Ryland, H. , xix.
Sachs, Hans, cf. i. 2, 8, 12,
13, ii. I, 3, 7, 8, 10, 17, iii.
2, 3, iv. 8, 17, V. 1-5, Re.
16, Av. I. 4, 5, 8, 14, 17, 22,
Al. I, 6, II, Po. 7.
Sakuna Jdtaka, jyn.
Sakyamuni, 53, 212, See Bud-
dha.
Salisbury, John of, 184, 185,
cf. iii. I, 16, Av. 2.
Salmon, Lamb mistaken for,
193-
Samos, home of ^Esop, 38.
Sanjivata Jdtaka, 114.
Sausages the Pig, 69.
Schakama Jdtaka, 57-8.
Schechter, S. , xi.x.
Schiefner, 64, cf. i. 8 (I.).
Schmidt, V., 154^, i99«, cf.
Al. i.-i3.
Schneider, 17^, 19^.
Scorpion and Camel, 114.
Seneca, cf v. 13.
' ' Sepande " clue in Marie, 163.
Serpent and Ass, 28.
Serpent and Crab, 28.
Serpent and Eagle, 28.
Shah's justice, 131^.
Shakespeare, 87/2, ii4«, cf. i.
2, iii. 16.
Sheep and Cow (iv. 19), 13.
Sheep and t>og, 27.
Shepherd and Wolf, 114.
Sheppey, John of, xx. 185, cf.
i. 8 (III.).
Simon bar Kappara, i22«.
Simonides, 28 and n.
Smdibad, cf. Al. 2, 5, 11.
Smith, Sydney, 32, "jtm.
Socrates, 30, 129.
Solomon's judgment, probably
282
INDEX.
Indian, 130-4 ; at Pompeii,
135-
Solon, 28, 39, cf. ii. proem.
Somadeva, c/. v, 3, Re. i,
Av. 2.
Sophocles, 28.
Sophos, 49, 155, 156, cf. i. 5,
13, 18, iii. 3, 12, 15, iv. 2,
15, 17, Re. 6, Av. 20, 24.
Sorg, 229.
Sow and Lord, 126, 153.
Spanish ^sop, 1B7 and n,
217, 229.
Spelling book ^sop, 194 and
n, 218. See Mavor.
Stainhowel, Asop of, xx. 4,
25, 67, i39«, 182, 185, 186,
187-^, 198, 217, 229, 236«,
. 252, 256, cf. Al. 13, Po. I, 7.
Steinschneider, Dr., 169^, 170,
174 and n. See " Izopiti."
Stephanus, jyn.
Stesichorus, 27, 28,
Stevenson, R. L. , i97«.
Story of the Past, 67, 146.
Story of the Present, 57, yon.
Strattis, 28, 100, 129.
Strong, Stronger, Strongest,
113-
Survivals, i5«, 23, 46.
Susa Jdtaka, 112 and n.
Suvannahamsa Jdtaka, 67.
Suvaxmakakkata Jdtaka, 67.
Swallow and Birds (i. 20),
77«, 126, 153, i82«, 183;?.
Sybaritic Fables, 127, 203,
212, 217.
Syntipas, xx, 155, 216, cf. i.
5, 10, iii. 3, 12, 16, iv. 12,
16, V. 4, Av. 20, Al. 2, II.
Syriac ^sop, 154, i5S- ^^^
Sophos.
Talmud, xx. 74, 8i« ; gives
clue, no, 120; fables from,
111-5, 141, 142. 151. 214-
Tar-Baby, ii3«, 136.
Temple, Capt., 48 and «,,
126, cf. V. 4, Av. 17.
Temple, Sir W., 18.
"Tendency," 205, 207.
Tenniel, J. 195.
Tettira Jdtaka, 170.
Thackeray, 229, cf. ii. 15, 20,
Av. 4.
Theognis, 28, 129 (mistake for
Democritus).
Theon, 121, cf. ii. 15.
Three Wishes, 141, 167.
Tibet, 64. Sec Schiefner.
Tiger, fable about, 126.
Tiger, Stag, and Crocodile, zpn .
Tongue and Members, 85, 88,
134-
Topes, Buddhist, 53. See
Bharhut.
Tortoise and Birds (Av. 2),
52, 61, 153.
Town and Country Mouse (i.
12), 6, 7.
Townsend, G. F., 195, 229.
Trench, 204^.
Tuppo, XX. 187, 229.
Tutinameh, 49, cf. i. 2, 5, 10,
ii, 15, iii. 6, iv. 2, Al. 11.
Tychon, 33^.
Tylor, E. B., 15;?, 44, 45.
Tyrant, 39, 211.
Tyrwhitt, 19 and n.
" Uncle Remus," wyi, 136.
" Universally human," 202,
206, 209.
Upanishads, 83, cf. iii. 16.
Upham, 54«.
Vaca Jdtaka, 174.
Vartan, 156, cf. i. 13, 15, iv. 2,
12, Al. 6.
Vesali, Council of, 79.
Vincent of Beauvais, 5«, cf. \.
I, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 17, 18,
INDEX.
283
ii. 2, 5, 8, 15, 20, iii.'i, 3,
14-18, iv, I, 8, 12, 17, Re.
14-
Viper and File (iii. 12), i97«.
Virocana Jdtaka, 73.
Vixen-Maiden, 11, 139, 142,
143, 153. StsAIojise-AIaiden.
Voltaire, cf. iii. 9.
Wagener, 28«, loi and ?t,
129, 219^/.
Waldis, i87«, 218, (t/". i. 1-3,
5-10, 12-16, 18-20, ii. 1-4,
8-17, 20, iii. 2-8, 11-17, 19,
20, iv. I, 2, 8, 9, II, 12, 19,
20, V. 4, 5, 10, II, 17, Re.
1-8, II, 12, 14-16, Av. 1-7,
9, 10, 13-25, 27.
Walrus and Carpenter, ^on.
Walter of England, xx. 178 and
n, 179, 215. See Galfred.
Weasel, Transfor^ned, 28. See
Mouse-Ma iden .
Webt-r, 64«, 80, 95, 102, 152^.
Welcker, 37.
Welldon, J. E. C, 27.
William Longsword, T6Sn.
Wisseburg MS. of" Rufus," 5.
Wolf and Animals, 172-3.
Wolf and Crane (i. 8), Latin,
7-9 ; Indian, 54-7 ; Hebrew,
1 17-8 ; on Bayeux Tapestry,
182; mentioned, 106, iii,
117, 129, 139, 142, 207, 213,
229.
Wolf, Fox and Dove, 170.
Wolf and Hounds, 115.
Wolf and Kid, 6.
Wolf and Lavtb(\. 2), 6, Indian,
62-3, 139, 153; Thibetan,
64 ; on Bayeux Tapestry,
182 ; in Caxton, 183.
Wolf at Well, 115.
Wolfenbuttel MS. of " Rufus,"
5-
Woodcuts, xiii. 183. See
Illustrations,
Wright, XX. 164.
Wiinsche, A., iiiw.
Wiistenfeld, i68;z.
Xenophon, 27.
YsoPET, x.x. 158, 180, 181.
ZOndel, 41.
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