Thy husband thou hast lost, and lover eke,
And now, I ween, thou grievest o’er thy loss.”
The same story is found in the “Pancatantra” (V, viii; see Benfey, I : 468), whence it made its way into the “Tūtī-nāmeh.” It does not appear to be known in the Occident in this form (it is lacking in the “Kalilah and Dimnah”).
Although the details of our story differ from those of the Indian fable of “The Jackal and the Faithless Wife,” the general outlines of the two are near enough to justify us in supposing a rather close connection between them. I know of no European analogues nearly so close, and am inclined to consider “The Greedy Crow” a native Tagalog tale. From the testimony of the narrator, it appears that the fable is not a recent importation.
The Humming-bird and the Carabao.
Narrated by Eusebio Lopez, a Tagalog from the province of Cavite.
One hot April morning a carabao (water-buffalo) was resting under the shade of a quinine-tree which grew near the mouth of a large river, when a humming-bird alighted on one of the small branches above him.
“How do you do, Friend Carabao?” said the humming-bird.
“I’m very well, little Hum. Do you also feel the heat of this April morning?” replied the carabao.
“Indeed, I do, Friend Carabao! and I am so thirsty, that I have come down to drink.”