Chapter XX: The Ass in the Lion's Skin

_Source._--The _Siha Camma Jataka_, Fausböll, No. 189, trans. Rhys-Davids, pp. v. vi.

_Parallels._--It also occurs in Somadeva, _Katha Sarit Sagara_, ed. Tawney, ii. 65, and _n_. For Æsopic parallels _cf._ my _Æsop_, Av. iv. It is in Babrius, ed. Gitlbaur, 218 (from Greek prose Æsop, ed. Halm, No. 323), and Avian, ed. Ellis, 5, whence it came into the modern Æsop.

_Remarks._--Avian wrote towards the end of the third century, and put into Latin mainly those portions of Babrius which are unparalleled by Phædrus. Consequently, as I have shown, he has a much larger proportion of Eastern elements than Phædrus. There can be little doubt that the Ass in the Lion's Skin is from India. As Prof. Rhys-Davids remarks, the Indian form gives a plausible motive for the masquerade which is wanting in the ordinary Æsopic version.