Chapter VIII: Loving Laili

_Source._--Miss Stokes, _Indian Fairy Tales_, pp. 73-84. Majnun and Laili are conventional names for lovers, the Romeo and Juliet of Hindostan.

_Parallels._--Living in animals' bellies occurs elsewhere in Miss Stokes' book, pp. 66, 124; also in Miss Frere's, 188. The restoration of beauty by fire occurs as a frequent theme (Temple, Analysis, III. vi. f. p. 418). Readers will be reminded of the _dénouement_ of Mr. Rider Haggard's _She_. Resuscitation from ashes has been used very effectively by Mr. Lang in his delightful _Prince Prigio_.

_Remarks._--The white skin and blue eyes of Prince Majnun deserve attention. They are possibly a relic of the days of Aryan conquest, when the fair-skinned, fair-haired Aryan conquered the swarthier aboriginals. The name for caste in Sanskrit is _varna_, "colour"; and one Hindu cannot insult another more effectually than by calling him a black man. _Cf._ Stokes, pp. 238-9, who suggests that the red hair is something solar, and derived from myths of the solar hero.