en the puny
monarch and the hero; and it is worthy of note that the Tibetan version
of the same plot given by Mr. Ralston from the Kah-Gyur knows nothing of
this entomological agency. There the hero is a Bodisat, who, if he does
not recognize his beloved among the thousand companions who surround
her, at least has a spell the utterance of which compels her to step out
from among them. It does not appear that Kasimbaha, the Bantik
patriarch, is required to undergo this particular test. But he is
indebted to a bird for indicating the lady's residence; a glow-worm
places itself at her chamber door; and a fly shows him which of a number
of dishes set before him he must not uncover. M. Cosquin, who is an
adherent of the Buddhist hypothesis, in relating this instance, is
compelled expressly to say that "one does not see why" these animals
should render such services. Neither, on M. Cosquin's principle, can one
see why, in the Arawak story, the spiders should spin cords to help the
outcast husband down from heaven, or the birds take his part against the
vulture-folk to enable him to recover his wife.[209] The proof of
Buddhist influence must rest heavily on its advocates here, both on
account of the absence of motive for gratitude, and of the distance of
the Arawak people from India and the utter disparity of civilizations.

The agency of recognition, when attributed to one of the lower animals,
is ordinarily an insect; but the reason is, as often as not, a prior
arrangement with the lady, as in the Russian story of the Water King.
The Polish _maerchen_ of Prince Unexpected follows this line. In it, the
princess warns her lover that she will have a ladybird over her right
eye. When a thousand maidens all alike are produced to poor Hans in a
Bohemian tale, he has no difficulty in selecting the right one; for a
witch has bidden him "choose her on whom, from the roof of the chamber,
a spider descends."[210]

These considerations are sufficient to prove that the incident of the
Helpful Beasts, as found in the Swan-maiden group of stories, cannot be
attributed to a Buddhist origin.

We have now dealt with an episode of the mythical narrative, necessary,
indeed, to its completion, but found only under certain conditions which
I have pointed out. We have seen this episode in two distinct forms
whose respective sources we have assigned to two distinct stages of
culture. The form characteristic of the European _maerchen_ is apparentl