Tuesday, May 13, 2008

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Indian Fairy Tales

XXIV. Why The Fish Laughed

Source.-Knowles, Folk-Tales of Kashmir, pp. 484-90.

Parallels.-The latter part is the formula of the Clever Lass who guesses riddles. She has been bibliographised by Prof. Child, Eng. and Scotch Ballads, i. 485; see also Benfey, Kl. Schr. ii. 156 seq. The sex test at the end is different from any of those enumerated by Prof. Kohler on Gonzenbach, Sezil. Mahr. ii. 216.

Remarks.-Here we have a further example of a whole formula, or series of incidents, common to most European collections, found in India, and in a quarter, too, where European influence is little likely to penetrate. Prof. Benfey, in an elaborate dissertation ("Die Kluge Dirne," in Ausland, 1859, Nos. 20-25, now reprinted in Kl. Schr. ii. 156 seq.), has shown the wide spread of the theme both in early Indian literature (though probably there derived from the folk) and in modern European folk literature.