many doubts, point out hidden treasures, and is, as it were,
a mirror of all things, is even an ignorant man."

"These six--the peevish, the niggard, the dissatisfied,
the passionate, the suspicious, and those who live upon
others' means--are forever unhappy."

"That mother is an enemy, and that father a foe, by whom
not having been instructed, their son shineth not in the
assembly; but appeareth there like a booby among geese."

"There are two kinds of knowledge in use: the knowledge
of arms, and the knowledge of books. The first is the scoff
if the wise, whilst the last is forever honoured."

We give you other Indian fables from the
collection of Bidpai. La Fontaine in one of the
prefaces to his French fables in verse expresses his
gratitude to "Bilpay the Indian sage." These
are the very manuscripts translated from the
Sanskrit into Persian by the physician who took
them back to his king. Sir William Jones says
that "Bidpai" signifies "beloved physician" and
that Bilpay is simply a mis-spelling of the word.
As other scholars contended that Bidpai was not
a man at all, but probably one of the two wise
camels that did most of the talking in the earlier
fables, you and I will not be able to settle the truth
of the question. All these points are interesting,
or, if they are not so to you, you must say, "Wake
up!" to your mind. It is the eager spirit of
inquiry that conquers difficulties and gains
knowledge. In another preface I reminded you that
in all the faery stories the youngest brother was
the one who always said, "I wonder!" and he it
was who triumphed over all the others. You are
holding between these crimson covers fables from
some of the oldest and most valuable books the
world has ever known. The "Hitopadesa" was
a very fountain of riches, as old as the hills
themselves, precious and inexhaustible. In its
innumerable translations it passed down the stream
of time, and the fables known as Aesop's made
their way among all races of people in the same
marvellous way. No one knows whether Aesop--through
the Assyrians with whom the Phrygians
had commercial relations--borrowed his stories
from the Orientals or whether they borrowed from
him. One thing is certain, nothing persists so
strongly and lives so long as a fable or folk tale.
They migrate like the birds and make their way
into every corner of the world where there are
lips to speak and ears to hear. The reasons are,
perhaps, beca