Note to Chapter 60. The fables of Pilpay.
Wilson in his collected works, (Vol. IV, p. 139) remarks that we have in the Kathá Sarit Ságara an earlier representative of the original collection of Indian fables, than even the Panchatantra, as it agrees better with the Kalilah and Dimnah than the Panchatantra does. The earliest Indian form of the Panchatantra appears to have been translated into Pehlevi in the time of the king of Persia, Khushru Naushírváns (between 531 and 572 A. D.); upon this the Arabic translation was based. It was edited by Silvestre de Sacy under the title, “Calila et Dimna ou Fables de Bidpai,” and has been translated into German by Wolff, and into English by Knatchbull. There are many recensions of the Arabic translation as of the Panchatantra. (Benfey is of opinion that originally the latter work consisted of more than five sections.) The oldest translation of the Arabic version is the Greek one by Symeon Seth, which was made about 1080, A. D. (Benfey, Einleitung, p. 8, with note). The Latin translation of Possinus was made from this. Perhaps the most important translation of all is the Hebrew translation of Rabbi Joel. It must have been made about 1250. It has never been edited, with the exception of a small fragment, and is practically represented by the Latin translation of John of Capua, made between 1263 and 1278. Benfey considers that the first German translation was made from a MS. of this. The oldest German translation has no date. The second appeared at Ulm in 1483. Another version, probably not based upon any of these, is a poetical paraphrase, the Alter Aesopus of Baldo, edited by Edéléstand du Méril in his Poésies inédites du Moyen Age. There is a Spanish translation from the Arabic, perhaps through an unknown Latin version, which appeared about 1251. A portion has been published by Rodriguez De Castro. Possibly Raimond’s Latin translation was based partly on this, and partly on the Latin translation of the Hebrew by John of Capua.
The Arabic version was translated into Persian by Nasr Allah in the 12th century. Upon it is based the Anvár-i-Suhaili of Husain Vaiz, which was written three centuries later. It has been translated into English by Eastwick. (Hertford 1854). (The above note is summarized from Benfey’s Einleitung). See also Rhys Davids’ Buddhist Birth Stories, Introduction, pp. xciii and xciv. He says that the Arabic version was made from the Syriac.
[1] This is also found in the Panchatantra and the Hitopadeśa. See Benfey’s Panchatantra, Vol. I, (Einleitung), p. 100. In fact the present chapter corresponds to the 2nd book of the Hitopadeśa, “The separation of friends,” Johnson’s Translation, p. 40, and to the 1st book of the Panchatantra. In śl. 15, I read, with Dr. Kern, śashpán.
[2] Weber supposes that the Indians borrowed all the fables representing the jackal as a wise animal, as he is not particularly cunning. He thinks that they took the Western stories about the fox, and substituted for that animal the jackal. Benfey argues that this does not prove that these fables are not of Indian origin. German stories represent the lion as king of beasts, though it is not a German animal. (Benfey’s Panchatantra, Vol. I, pp. 102, 103). See also De Gubernatis, Zoological Mythology, p. 122.
[3] This story is found in the Hitopadeśa, the Panchatantra, the Kalilah and Dimnah, Anvár-i-Suhaili, Livre des Lumières, p. 61, Cabinet des Fées, XVII. 152, and other collections (Benfey’s Panchatantra, Vol. I, p. 105.) For the version of the Panchatantra, see Benfey, Vol. II, p. 9, for that of the Hitopadeśa, Johnson’s Translation, p. 44. For that of the Kalíla and Dimna Benfey refers us to Knatchbull’s translation, p. 88, for that of the Anvár-i-Suhaili to Eastwick’s translation, p. 86. Benfey considers a fable of Æsop, in which an ape tries to fish and is nearly drowned, an imitation of this. It reminds one of the trick which the fox played the bear in Reineke Fuchs, (Simrock’s Deutsche Volksbücher, Vol. I, p. 148.)
[4] Cp. Panchatantra, Vol. II, p. 21. In the 1st volume Benfey tells us that in the old Greek version of the fables of Bidpai, the fox, who represents the jackal, loses through fear his appetite for other food, and for a hen in the Anvár-i-Suhaili, 99. The fable is also found in Livre des Lumières, p. 72, Cabinet des Fées, p. XVII, 183, and other collections. The Arabic version and those derived from it leave out the point of the drum being found on a battle-field (Benfey’s Panchatantra, Vol. I, p. 132).
Cp. also Campbell’s West Highland Tales, p. 268, “A fox being hungry one day found a bagpipe, and proceeded to eat the bag, which is generally made of hide. There was still a remnant of breath in the bag, and when the fox bit it, the drone gave a groan, when the fox, surprised but not frightened, said—‘Here is meat and music.’”
[5] I follow the reading of the Sanskrit College MS. múḍhabuddiḥ prabhur nyáyam ukshnánenádya śikshyate. This satisfies the metre, which Brockhaus’s reading does not.
[6] This word generally means crocodile. But in the Hitopadeśa the creature that kills the crane is a crab.
[7] This fable is the 7th in Benfey’s translation of the Panchatantra, Vol. II, p. 58. It is found in the 4th book of the Hitopadeśa, Johnson’s translation, p. 103. It is also found in the Arabic version (Wolff, I, 41, Knatchbull, 114), Symeon Seth (Athenian edition, p. 16,) John of Capua, c. 4, b., German translation (Ulm., p. 1483. D., V, b.,) Spanish translation, XIII, 6, Firenzuola, 39, Doni, 59, Anvár-i-Suhaili, 117, Livre des Lumières, 92, Cabinet des Fées, XVII, 221, Thousand and one Nights (Weil, III, 915.) Cp. Lafontaine, X, 4. (Benfey, Vol. I, p. 175). Benfey shews that it may be Buddhistic in origin, quoting a story from Upham’s Sacred and Historical Books of Ceylon, III, 292. He also shews that it may have come into Buddhist books from the Greek, as Alcæus appears to have been acquainted with a similar Greek fable, (Æsopus, Furia 231, Cor., 70). See also Weber’s Indische Studien, III, 343. I may as well mention that in the notes taken from Benfey’s Panchatantra I substitute Johnson’s translation of the Hitopadeśa for Max Mueller’s. The story is found in Rhys Davids’ translation of the Játakas, (pp. 317–321,) which has just been published.
[8] Here he is called a jhasha which means “large fish.”
[9] Cp. Hitopadeśa, Johnson’s translation, Fable, IX, p. 61, Arabic, (Wolff., 46, Knatchbull, 117,) Symeon Seth, 18, John of Capua c., 5, b., German translation (Ulm edition) 1483, E., II, a, Spanish, XIII, 6, Firenzuola, 43, Doni, 62, Anvár-i-Suhaili, 124, Livre des Lumières, 99, Cabinet des Fées, XVII, 236, Baldo 4th Fable, Livre des Merveilles (in Edéléstand du Méril, Poésies Inédites, 234), also Śukasaptati, 31. Benfey considers it to be Buddhistic in origin, referring to Memoires sur les contrées occidentales traduits du Sanscrit par Hiouen Thsang et du Chinois par Stan. Julien I, 361, Köppen, Religion des Buddha, p. 94, Note I, (Benfey’s Panchatantra, Vol. I, p. 179 and ff.) This is the 30th story in my copy of the Śukasaptati.
[10] Dr. Kern conjectures abhigarjinam but the Sanskrit College MS. reads matvá tatrátigarjitam iti sinham, thinking that he was outroared there, however, the word sinham must be changed if this reading is to be adopted.
[11] I prefer the reading kas of the Sanskrit College MS., and would render, “Whom can the king make his equal? Fortune does not proceed in that way.”
[12] I read dosham for dosho with the Sanskrit College MS.
[13] Cp. the ninth in Benfey’s translation, Vol. II, p. 71. Cp. also Kalilah and Dimnah, (Wolff. I, 59, Knatchbull, 126), Symeon Seth, p. 22, John of Capua d, 1, b, German translation (Ulm, 1483) E., V., a, Spanish translation, XVI a, Firenzuola, 49, Doni, 75, (Benfey, Vol. I, p. 223).
[14] Cp. Johnson’s translation of the Hitopadeśa, Fable XI, p. 110. Benfey compares Kalilah and Dimnah (Wolff. 1, 78, Knatchbull 138), John of Capua, d., 3, Symeon Seth, p. 25, German translation (Ulm 1483) F. 1, 6, Spanish translation, XVII, 6 and ff, Firenzuola, 57, Doni 54, Anvár-i-Suhaili, 153, Livre des Lumières, 118, Cabinet des Fées, XVII, 294, (Benfey’s Panchatantra, Vol. I, p. 230.) Cp. also Sagas from the Far East, Tale XIX. In śl. 145, I read vairaktyam; see Böhtlingk and Roth s. v. vairatya.
[15] I adopted this translation of deśajna, in deference to the opinion of a good native scholar, but might not the word mean simply “knowing countries?” The crow then would be a kind of feathered Ulysses, cp. Waldau’s Böhmische Märchen, p. 255. The fable may remind some readers of the following lines in Spenser’s Mother Hubberd’s Tale.
He shortly met the Tygre and the Bore
That with the simple Camell raged sore
In bitter words, seeking to take occasion
Upon his fleshly corpse to make invasion.
[16] Benfey (Panchatantra, Vol. I, p. 231) quotes the following passage from John of Capua’s version, “Dicitur autem, melior omnium regum est qui aquilæ similatur in cujus circuitu sunt cadavera, pejor vero omnium est qui similatur cadaveri in cujus circuitu sunt aquilæ.” It is wanting in De Sacy’s edition of the Arabic version, and in the old Greek translation. This looks as if the Hebrew version, from which John of Capua translates, was the best representation of the original Indian work.
[17] This corresponds to the 2nd Fable in the IVth book of the Hitopadeśa, Johnson’s translation, page 99. Benfey considers that the fable of Æsop, which we find in Babrius, 115, is the oldest form of it. He supposes that it owes its present colouring to the Buddhists. It appears in the Arabic version (Wolff. I, 91, Knatchbull, 146), Symeon Seth, p. 28, John of Capua d., 5, b., German translation (Ulm., 1483) F., VIII, 6, Spanish translation, XIX a, Firenzuola, 65, Doni 93, Anvár-i-Suhaili, 159, Livre des Lumières, 124, Cabinet des Fées, XVII, 309. (Benfey’s Panchatantra, Vol. I, pp. 239, 240). See also Weber, Indische Studien, III, 339. This story is found in the Avadánas translated from the Chinese by Stanislas Julien No. XIV, Vol. I, pp. 71–73, (Liebrecht, Zur Volkskunde, p. 111.) It is the 3rd in La Fontaine’s tenth book. The original source is probably the Kachchhapa Játaka; see Rhys Davids’ Introduction to his Buddhist Birth stories, p. viii. In Coelho’s Contos Portuguezes, p. 15, the heron, which is carrying the fox, persuades it to let go, in order that she may spit on her hand. (A similar incident on page [112] of this volume.) Gosson in his School of Abuse, Arber’s Reprints, p. 43, observes, “Geese are foolish birds, yet, when they fly over mount Taurus, they shew great wisdom in their own defence for they stop their pipes full of gravel to avoid gagling, and so by silence escape the eagles.”
[18] i. e., the provider for the future, the fish that possessed presence of mind, and the fatalist, who believed in kismat. This story is found in the Hitopadeśa, Book IV, Fable 11, Johnson’s translation. Benfey has discovered it in the Mahábhárata, XII, (III, 538) v. 4889, and ff. He compares Wolff., I, 54, Knatchbull, 121, Symeon Seth, p. 20, John of Capua, c., 6, b., German translation (Ulm., 1483), E. III, a., Spanish, XV, b, Firenzuola, 47, Doni, 73, Anvár-i-Suhaili, 130, Livre des Lumières, 105, Cabinet des Fées, XVII, 250. (Benfey, Vol. I, pp. 241 and 242)
[19] For the story of the pair of ṭiṭṭibha birds, cp. Hitopadeśa, Book II, fable X, Johnson’s translation, p. 65. Benfey compares Wolff, I, 84, Knatchbull 145, Symeon Seth, 28, John of Capua d., 5, a., German translation (Ulm 1483) F., VII, a., Spanish, XIX, a., Firenzuola, 63, Doni, 92, Anvár-i-Suhaili, 158, Livre des Lumières, 123, Cabinet des Fées, XVII, 307, (Benfey’s Panchatantra, Vol. I, p. 235) Benfey adduces evidence in favour of its Buddhistic origin.
[20] The following story is the 17th in the 1st Book of the Panchatantra, Benfey’s translation. He compares the Arabic version (Wolff, I, 91, Knatchbull, 150,) Symeon Seth, 31, John of Capua e., 1., German translation (Ulm 1483) G., IV., Spanish translation, XX, a., Firenzuola, 70, Doni, 98, Anvár-i-Suhaili, 170; Cabinet des Fées, XVII, 329. Symeon Seth has for the firefly λίθον στίλβοντα: the Turkish version in the Cabinet des Fées “Un morceau de crystal qui brillait.” (Benfey’s Panchatantra, Vol. I, pp. 269, 270).
[21] Benfey compares the Arabic version, (Wolff, I, 93, Knatchbull, 151,) Symeon Seth, 31, John of Capua, o., 2., German translation (Ulm 1483) G., VI, b., Spanish, XXI, a., Firenzuola, 73, Doni, 104, Anvár-i-Suhaili, 172, Livre des Lumières, 129, Cabinet des Fées, XVII, 333, Baldo, Fab. XIX, in Edéléstand du Méril. Benfey points out that that Somadeva agrees wholly or partly with the Arabic version in two points. The judges set the tree on fire (or apply smoke to it,) not Dharmabuddhi, (as in Panchatantra, Benfey, Vol. II, pp. 114 & ff.) Secondly, in the Panchatantra the father dies and the son is hanged, in De Sacy’s Arabic and the old Greek version both remain alive, in Somadeva, and John of Capua, and the Anvár-i-Suhaili, the father dies and the son is punished. Here we have a fresh proof that the Hebrew version, from which John of Capua translated, is the truest representative of the oldest Arabic recension. (Benfey’s Panchatantra, Vol. I, p. 275 and ff.) This story has been found in Tibet by the Head Master of the Bhútia School, Darjiling, Babu Śarat Chandra Dás.
[22] I read with the Sanskrit College MS. asadvyayi.
[23] i. e., “Virtuously-minded.” His brother’s name means—“Evil-minded.”
[24] Cp. Hitopadeśa, Johnson’s translation, Fable, VIII, p. 60. Benfey appears not to be aware that this story is in Somadeva. It corresponds to the sixth in his 1st Book, Vol. II, p. 67. He thinks that Somadeva must have rejected it though it was in his copy. Benfey says it is of Buddhistic origin. It is found in the Arabic version (Wolff, p. 40, Knatchbull, p. 113), Symeon Seth, (Athenian edition, p. 16), John of Capua, e., 4, a., German translation, Ulm, 1483 D., IV. b., Spanish, XIII, 6, Firenzuola, 38, Doni, 57, Anvár-i-Suhaili, p. 116, Livre des Lumières, 91, Cabinet des Fées, XVII, 220. It is connected with the 20th of the 1st book in Benfey’s translation, in fact it is another form of it. (Somadeva’s fable seems to be a blending of the two Panchatantra stories). Cp. also Phædrus, I, 28, Aristophanes, Aves, 652. (Benfey’s Panchatantra, Vol. I. pp. 167–170.)
[25] This corresponds to the 21st of the first book in Benfey’s translation, Vol. II, p. 120. Cp. Arabic version (Wolff, I, 98, Knatchbull, 156.), Symeon Seth, 33, John of Capua, e., 4, German translation (Ulm, 1483) H., II, b., Firenzuola, 82, Doni, 113, Anvár-i-Suhaili, 187, Livre des Lumières, 135, Cabinet des Fées, XVII, 353, Robert, Fables inédites, II, 193–196. (Benfey, I, 283). It is the 1st of the IXth Book of La Fontaine’s Fables, Le depositaire infidèle.
This is the 218th Játaka. A gámavásí deposits ploughshares with a nagaravásí who sells them and buys músikavaccam. “Phálá te músike hi kháditá ti músikavaccam dassesi.” The rest much as in our tale. A kulalo is said to have carried off the son. (Fausböll, Vol. II, p 181.) If Plutarch is to be believed, the improbability of the merchant’s son’s story is not so very striking, for he tells us, in his life of Marcellus, that rats and mice gnawed the gold in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus.
[26] The argument reminds one of that in “Die kluge Bauerntochter,” (Grimm’s Märchen, 94). The king adjudges a foal to the proprietor of some oxen, because it was found with his beasts. The real owner fishes in the road with a net. The king demands an explanation. He says, “It is just as easy for me to catch fish on dry land, as for two oxen to produce a foal.” See also Das Märchen vom sprechenden Bauche, Kaden’s Unter den Olivenbäumen, pp. 83, 84.