A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s3.t2.224

v2.c19.s3.t2.224

[^1): Jāt. No. 193. Cf. *Benfey*, Pantschatantra I, 436 ff., II, 303 ff. ; and *Gaston Paris* in ZVV, XIII, 1903, who traces the story in Oriental and Romance fairy-tale literature ; *Chavannes*, Cinq Cents Contes, No. 12. [^2): Jāt. No. 386. Similar in the Arabian Nights (cf. Orient und Okzident II, 133 ff.) and Gesta Romanorum (Grässe II, pp. 190 ff.). Regarding this story, so wide-spread in We are reminded of the German fairy tales of "Table fill thyself," and similar magic things, by the fairy tale of the three brothers; the first of these has a magic axe which he needs to touch in order to obtain fire-wood, the second a drum by whose aid he can conquer all enemies, and the third a whey-pot, out of which, when it is turned, a great stream of whey issues.¹ A similar fairy tale is that of the youth who has wasted his whole fortune, and whose deceased father, reborn as the god Sakka, presents him with a pot which fulfils all wishes, but which he must take great care of, for only so long as the pot exists will he have a sufficiency of money. One day, in his intoxication, the youth repeatedly hurls the pot into the air in order to catch it again, but soon the pot lies smashed on the ground. From that moment his good fortune is at an end; he becomes so poor that finally, as a beggar clothed in rags, he remains lying against a wall and dies.²