Chapter XXIV: Why the Fish Laughed

_Source._--Knowles, _Folk-Tales of Kashmir_, pp. 484-90.

_Parallels._--The latter part is the formula of the Clever Lass who guesses riddles. She has been bibliographised by Prof. Child, _Eng. and Scotch Ballads_, i. 485; see also Benfey, _Kl. Schr._ ii. 156 _seq._ The sex test at the end is different from any of those enumerated by Prof. Köhler on Gonzenbach, _Sezil. Mähr._ ii. 216.

_Remarks._--Here we have a further example of a whole formula, or series of incidents, common to most European collections, found in India, and in a quarter, too, where European influence is little likely to penetrate. Prof. Benfey, in an elaborate dissertation ("Die Kluge Dirne," in _Ausland_, 1859, Nos. 20-25, now reprinted in _Kl. Schr._ ii. 156 _seq._), has shown the wide spread of the theme both in early Indian literature (though probably there derived from the folk) and in modern European folk literature.