inavian tale the Thief, wishing to get
possession of a farmer's ox, carefully hangs himself to a tree by the
roadside. The farmer, passing by with his ox, is indeed struck by the
sight of the dangling body, but thinks it none of his business, and
does not stop to interfere. No sooner has he passed than the Thief lets
himself down, and running swiftly along a by-path, hangs himself with
equal precaution to a second tree. This time the farmer is astonished
and puzzled; but when for the third time he meets the same unwonted
spectacle, thinking that three suicides in one morning are too much for
easy credence, he leaves his ox and runs back to see whether the other
two bodies are really where he thought he saw them. While he is framing
hypotheses of witchcraft by which to explain the phenomenon, the Thief
gets away with the ox. In the Hitopadesa the story receives a finer
point. "A Brahman, who had vowed a sacrifice, went to the market to buy
a goat. Three thieves saw him, and wanted to get hold of the goat. They
stationed themselves at intervals on the high road. When the Brahman,
who carried the goat on his back, approached the first thief, the
thief said, 'Brahman, why do you carry a dog on your back?' The Brahman
replied, 'It is not a dog, it is a goat.' A little while after he was
accosted by the second thief, who said, 'Brahman, why do you carry a dog
on your back?' The Brahman felt perplexed, put the goat down, examined
it, took it up again, and walked on. Soon after he was stopped by the
third thief, who said, 'Brahman, why do you carry a dog on your back?'
Then the Brahman was frightened, threw down the goat, and walked home to
perform his ablutions for having touched an unclean animal. The thieves
took the goat and ate it." The adroitness of the Norse King in "The
Three Princesses of Whiteland" shows but poorly in comparison with the
keen psychological insight and cynical sarcasm of these Hindu sharpers.
In the course of his travels this prince met three brothers fighting
on a lonely moor. They had been fighting for a hundred years about the
possession of a hat, a cloak, and a pair of boots, which would make the
wearer invisible, and convey him instantly whithersoever he might wish
to go. The King consents to act as umpire, provided he may once try the
virtue of the magic garments; but once clothed in them, of course he
disappears, leaving the combatants to sit down and suck their thumbs.
Now in the "Sea of Streams