of charming tales are set, which have found their
way into the popular literature of all the world. But in this spread of
the Indian stories, the book of Abraham Ibn Chisdai had no part.

Far other it was with the Hebrew translation of the famous Fables of
Bidpai, known in Hebrew as _Kalila ve-Dimna_. These fables, like those
contained in the "Prince and Nazirite," were Indian, and were in fact
birth-stories of Buddha. They were connected by means of a frame, or
central plot. A large part of the popular tales of the Middle Ages can
be traced to the Fables of Bidpai, and here the Jews exerted important
influence. Some authorities even hold that these Fables of Bidpai were
brought to Spain directly from India by Jews. This is doubtful, but it
is certain that the spread of the Fables was due to Jewish activity. A
Jew translated them into Hebrew, and this Hebrew was turned into Latin
by the Italian John of Capua, a Jew by birth, in the year 1270.
Moreover, the Old Spanish version which was made in 1251 probably was
also the work of the Jewish school of translators established in Toledo
by Alfonso. The Greek version, which was earlier still, and dates from
1080, was equally the work of a Jew. Thus, as Mr. Joseph Jacobs has
shown, this curious collection of fables, which influenced Europe more
perhaps than any book except the Bible, started as a Buddhistic work,
and passed over to the Mohammedans and Christians chiefly through the
mediation of Jews.

Another interesting collection of fables was made by Berachya ha-Nakdan
(the Punctuator, or Grammarian). He lived in England in the twelfth
century, or according to another opinion he dwelt in France a century
later. His collection of 107 "Fox Fables" won wide popularity, for their
wit and point combined with their apt use of Biblical phrases to please
the medieval taste. The fables in this collection are all old, many of
them being AEsop's, but it is very possible that the first knowledge of
AEsop gained in England was derived from a Latin translation of Berachya.

Of greater poetical merit was Joseph Zabara's "Book of Delight," written
in about the year 1200 in Spain. In this poetical romance a large number
of ancient fables and tales are collected, but they are thrown into a
frame-work which is partially original. One night he, the author, lay at
rest after much toil, when a giant appeared before him, and bade him
rise. Joseph hastily obeyed, and by the light of the lamp whi