Chapter VI: Part 6

Crows build nests in a cotton-tree (_semal_)--In the rains a Monkey arrives soaking--Said the Crows, "We build nests with only a beak: can you not make a better with two hands and two feet?" "Wait till morning"--Then he tears down their nests--"Good advice given to a fool only kindles his malice."

40.--The Swan and the Paddy-bird

Told by DEVI DÍN, student, and recorded by BADARI PRASÁD,
of the school at Musanagar, Cawnpur district.

No change. The lake in the original is the famous Mana Sarovar lake in Tibet. The Swan at the end repeats this couplet:--

Bit chhoto, chit saugun, bit men chit na samáe:
So murak binsat sadan, jirni bakuli nariyar kháe.

("Desire is one thing, capacity is another. The desire exceeds the power. Thus die the foolish, as did the Paddy-bird when she tried to eat the cocoa-nut.")

The Paddy-bird is the Bagla, or Bagula, a sort of small heron (_Ardea torra_), which frequents the banks of ponds and catches little fish and frogs. In folk-lore, from its quaint appearance, it is the type of demure cunning, and a sanctimonious rogue ascetic is often compared to it.

Compare a similar tale of a crane: _J[=a]taka_, No. 236 (Cambridge translation, ii. 161).

41.--What is a Man?

Told by _Shibbá Sinh Gaur_, Brahman, resident in
Saharanpur, N.W.P.

No change, except that the order of the animals is Elephant, Camel, Ox.

Another version makes the man a carpenter--He goes away and makes a cage--Induces the Lion to enter--Leaves him to starve.

The complaints of the animals against men form the subject of a very amusing Hindustani book derived from the Persian, the Akhwán-us-safa.

42.--The Wound and the Scar

Told by SHAIKH FARÍD AHMAD, and recorded by the teacher of
the village school, Barhauli, district Bahraich, Oudh.

No change, except the Wound is dealt by the Woodman's axe, at the command of the Lion, when first he visits him after the sickness. The verses are--

Samman dhaga prem ka jin toryo chatkay
Jore se na jurat hai, aut ganth par jay.

43.--The Cat and the Parrot

Told by BISESHAR DAYÁL, Banya (or corn-chandler),
of Bindki, district Fatehpur, N.W.P., and recorded
by PANDIT BALDEO PRASÁD, teacher of the Tahsili
school, Bindki.

No change, except the Parrot says, "I am sitting on the branch of a mango-tree and getting a bill made." Number of cakes not given. And after meeting the Raja, the Cat meets (1) four young of the wild cow (Surahgáya), which she eats, and (2) a pair of Surahgáya, which fall upon her, and tear her stomach open, when all those she has eaten troop out.

Here, as in other tales of this collection, the Parson is the Guru or spiritual adviser of pious Hindus.

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Transcriber's Notes:

Obvious punctuation errors repaired.

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