Recorded by Mátá Dín, assistant teacher, Pili-Bhít district.
18.—[A Crow is a Crow for Ever]
Told and recorded by Sáhib Rám, Brahman, of Nardauli,
Etah district.
The verse is:—
Kág parháe pinjra: parhi gaye cháron Ved:
Jab sudhi ai kutum ki rahe dhed ke dhed.
"I kept my crow in a cage, and taught him all four Vedas;
When he thought of his family, he became filthy as ever."
19.—[The Grateful Goat]
Told by Bikkú Misra, Brahman, Achhnérá village, Agra district.
Butcher buys a Goat—"Spare my life, and I will repay you"—He spares him—The Goat goes into the forest and meets a Jackal—"I am going to eat you." "Wait till I get fat in the forest." "Good: look out for me when you come back"—Meets a Wolf—Same thing happens—Finds a temple of Mahádeva—In it are gold coins—Swallows them—Goes to a flower-seller—"Cover me with flowers"—He does so, and the Goat voids two mohurs—Sets out to return—Meets the Wolf—"Have you seen a Goat?" "No"—Meets the Jackal—"Have you seen a Goat?" "Yes, some distance back"—Proceeds to the Butcher, and voids the rest of the coins—The Butcher is grateful, and never kills him as long as he lives.
Agra district. Tales of animals spitting gold are common, as in Grimm's "Three Little Men in the Wood" ("Household Tales," i. 56) and in Oriental Folk-lore (Tawney, "Katha Sarit Ságara," ii. 8, 453, 637; Knowles, "Folk-tales of Kashmir," p. 443).