?"--"To remind mankind that the world is but a fleeting
show, and to show my disapproval of their delight in worldly
things"--"Why do you eat no grain?"--"_Adam ate wheat in heaven, and was
turned out of it on that account._ Adam prayed, and God sent him into
the world, and blessed him to be the father of mankind. If I eat one
grain I expect to be cast into hell"--"Why do you drink no water in the
world at night?"--"Because Noah's race was drowned in this world in
water. If I drink, it would be hard for me to live"--Solomon is pleased,
and asks the Owl to remain with him, and advise him on all points.

There is no verse in the original.

All through the eastern world the owl, from its association with
graveyards and old ruins, is regarded as a mystic bird, invested with
powers of prophecy and wisdom (Crooke, "Popular Religion and Folk-lore
of Northern India," i. 279).

7.--The Camel's Neck

Told by BACHAU, a Kasera, or brassfounder, of Mirzapur,
North-West Provinces.

Camel practises austerities--Bhagwan is pleased, and appears to
him--"Who are you?"--"Lord of the Three Regions"--"Show me your proper
form"--Bhagwan appears in his four-handed form (Chaturbhuji)--Camel does
reverence--"Ask a boon"--"Let my neck be a _yojan_ long"--"Be it
so"--The neck becomes eight miles long--He can now graze within a radius
of four miles (sic)--It rains--He puts his neck in a cave--A pair of
Jackals eat his flesh--The Camel dies--A wise man says--

"Alas dokh mahan dekhyo phal kaisa bhaya;
Yaten unt ajan, maran lagyo nij karm se."

"Idleness is a great fault: see what was the result of idleness. By this
the foolish Camel died, simply owing to his own deeds."

This is one of the very common cycle of tales where the fool comes to
ruin in consequence of a stupid wish. In the "Book of Sindibad," it
appears as the "Peri and the Religious Man" (Clouston, "Book of
Sindibad," 71); La Fontaine has adopted it as the "Three Wishes," and
Prior as "The Ladle." The Italian version will be found in Crane,
"Italian Popular Tales," 221. The four-hand god is Vishnu in his form as
Chaturbhuja.

8.--The Quail and the Fowler

Told by RAMESWAR-PURI, a wandering religious beggar
of Kharwa, District Mirzapur.

Fowler catches a Quail--"I'll teach you three things, and if you free me
I'll teach you a fourth: (1) Never set free what you have caught; (2)
What seems to you untrue you nee