burlesque ideas in
the second part of this fable, than with the serious moral; and most of
the tales turn on burlesque wishes, leaving the virtuous wishers out of
the story. The narrative also shews a Protean power of altering details,
the wishes vary, the power who grants the wish is different in different
_Maerchen_, the person whose folly wastes the wish may be the husband, or
may be the wife.

A very old form of the Wasted Wish, originally no doubt a popular form,
won its way into literature in the _Pantschatantra_. The tale has also
been annexed by Buddhism, as Buddhism annexed most tales, by the simple
process of making Sakya Muni the hero or narrator of the adventures.

The _Pantschatantra_ is a collection of fables in Sanskrit. In its
original form, according to Mr. Max Mueller, its date can be fixed, by
aid of an ancient Persian translation, as previous to 550 A.D. 'At that
time a collection somewhat like the Pa_n_katantra, though much more
extensive, must have existed[34].' By various channels the stories of
the _Pantschatantra_ reached Persia, Arabia, Greece, and thence were
rendered into Latin, and again, were paraphrased in different vernacular
languages, by literary people. But when we find, as we do, a story in
the _Pantschatantra_ and a similar or analogous story in the Arabic
_Book of Sindibad_ (earlier than the tenth century), and again in the
Greek _Syntipas_ (eleventh and twelfth century), and again in Latin, or
Spanish, or French literature, we cannot, perhaps, always be sure that
the tale is derived from India through literary channels. Whoever will
compare the _Wish_ story of the _Double-headed Weaver_ in the
_Pantschatantra_[35] with _The Three Wishes_ in the _Book of Sindibad_
(Comparetti. _Folk Lore Society_, 1882, p. 147), and again, with Marie
de France's twenty-fourth Fable (_Dou Vilain qui prist un folet_), and
yet again with Perrault's _Trois Souhaits_, and, lastly, with the
popular tales among Grimm's variants, will find many perplexing problems
before him[36]. The differences in the details and in the conduct of the
story are immense. Did the various authors borrow little but the main
conception--the wasted wishes? Are the variations the result of literary
caprice and choice? Has the story travelled from India by two
channels,--(1) literary, in _Pantschatantra_, and _Syntipas_ with the
translations; (2) oral, by word of mouth from people to people? Are the
_popular_ versions derived f