Notes.
This is the old story of the “Fox and Crow [and cheese],” the bibliography for which is given by Jacobs (2 : 236). Jacobs sees a connection between this fable and two Buddhistic apologues:—
(1) The “Jambu-khādaka-jātaka,” No. 294, in which we find a fox (jackal) and a crow flattering each other. The crow is eating jambus, when he is addressed thus by the jackal:—
“Who may this be, whose rich and pleasant notes
Proclaim him best of all the singing birds,
Warbling so sweetly on the jambu-branch,
Where like a peacock he sits firm and grand!”
The crow replies,—
“ ’Tis a well-bred young gentleman who knows
To speak of gentlemen in terms polite!
Good sir,—whose shape and glossy coat reveal
The tiger’s offspring,—eat of these, I pray!”
Buddha, in the form of the genius of the jambu-tree, comments thus on their conversation:—
“Too long, forsooth, I’ve borne the sight
Of these poor chatterers of lies,—
The refuse-eater and the offal-eater
Belauding each other.”
(2) The “Anta-jātaka,” No. 295, in which the rôles are reversed, the crow wheedling flesh from the jackal; here, too, the Buddha comments as above.
Our Pampangan story is of particular interest because of the moralizing of the heron at the end, making the form close to that of the two Jātakas. Possibly our story goes back to some old Buddhistic fable like these. The squirrel (or “wild-cat,” as Bergafio’s “Vocabulario,” dated 1732, defines lamiran) is not a very happy substitution for the original ground-animal, whatever that was; for the squirrel could reach a fish hanging to dry almost as easily as a bird could. Besides, squirrels are not carnivorous. Doubtless the older meaning of “wild-cat” should be adopted for lamiran.