A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s3.t2.247

v2.c19.s3.t2.247

This anecdote belongs to a class of narratives, which are just as popular in the narrative literature of all peoples, as those of foolish tricks, namely the narratives of ultra cleverness or skill, which finds expression in clever answers, especially answers to riddles, or in the skilful accomplishment of difficult tasks, or in wise judgments or in the accomplishment of wonderful works of art. We find numerous narratives of this kind in the Jātaka book, and many of them belong to universal literature. One of these, for instance, is the story of the wise judge, who gives all kinds of "Solomon-like" judgments, whereby he rescues a poor fellow—who unintentionally lames a horse, and causes a pregnant woman to have an abortion, and so on—and at the same time answers several riddles put by animals and men.² An artist, who can turn his hand to anything, is the hero of the charming Kusajātaka (No. 531) :