In the East, Folk Tales were abundant and they were brought to Europe as the wind scatters the seeds of vegetation.
Fables, Fairy Tales, Mother Goose Jingles, Collections of Anecdotes, all hark back to these jesting stories of the ancient Orientals.
Probably the oldest and most important link in the tracing of Indo-European Folk Lore is found in the Fables of Pilpay, or Bidpai.
This is the Arabic translation of the Pahlavi translation of the Sanscrit original of the Panchatantra.
The scope of the work is advice for the conduct of princes, offered in the guise of beast fables, and perhaps containing much of the material commonly attributed to Æsop.
Little or nothing is known of Pilpay, and his era has been variously placed at different dates between 100 b.c. and 300 b.c.
Others, indeed, declare that Pilpay was not an individual but the name is that of a bidbah, the court scholar of an Indian prince.
The fables, as may be seen from the following selections, inculcate the moral teachings by means of stories about animals, to whom are attributed the thoughts and impulses of men.
Kalidasa, called the greatest poet and dramatist of India, is also of uncertain origin and birth date. He probably lived early in the Christian Era, and his writings, though not strictly humorous are instinct with the spirit of satire.