the time he speaks of,
he says, "When it rained raisins," and is of course disbelieved.

Note by Mr. J. F. Campbell: "This story of a stupid boy has a parallel
in a Gaelic tale in my collection, where the boy dated an event which
was true by a fall of pancakes or something of the kind which was not
true, and was not believed though he told the truth." [At p. 385, vol.
II. of the _Tales of the West Highlands_ a "half booby" is inveigled
by his mother into dating his theft of some planks by a "shower of
milk-porridge."]

2. The magic gifts given by the fairies are a common incident in fairy
tales: so is the adventure with the jar of ghee.

VIII.--BARBER HIM AND THE TIGERS.

1. Forbes in his Hindustani Dictionary says _Kans_ or _Kansa_ was the
name of a wicked tyrant whom Krish[n.]a was born to destroy, and that
the word now means a wicked tyrant. But Raja Kans is an historical
character. All that is known of him is told by the late Professor
Blochmann in the Bengal Asiatic Society's Journal for 1873, Pt. I. p.
264.

2. In the note (p. 380) to the XIXth Tale in the _Sagas from the Far
East_, is a story in which Barber Him's part is played by a he-goat,
and that of his tigers by a lion. See, too, "How the three clever men
outwitted the demons" in _Old Deccan Days_, pp. 273-278. In a Santali
tale, "Kanran and Guja," sent by the Rev. F. T. Cole to the _Indian
Antiquary_, vol. IV. September 1875, p. 257, two brothers, Kanran and
Guja, climb into a tal tree. Here they are discovered by a tiger whom
they have deprived of his tail, and who has brought a number of his
friends to help him revenge himself on the brothers. The tailless
tiger proposes they shall all stand one the top of the other, to reach
the men in the tree. His friends agree provided he takes his stand at
the bottom, and they climb as proposed till they almost reach the
brothers. Then Kanran calls out to Guja, "Give me your axe. I will
kill the tailless tiger." The tigers in terror all tumble to the
ground, crushing their tailless friend in their fall, and flee to
their homes. In "The Leopard and the Ram" (Bleek's _Hottentot Fables
and Tales_, p. 24) the ram and the leopard play the parts of the
barber and his tigers. See, too, "The Lion and the Bushman," p. 59 of
the same collection.

Note by Mr. J. F. Campbell: "Compare the Irish story of two hunchbacks
in Keightley. A version is in Mitford's Japanese book; and far better
versions are common in Japan."