XX. THE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN.
Source.—The Sīha Camma Jātaka, 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.