ty and
unreasonable rage of the mouse.

XVIII.--A WONDERFUL STORY.

1. Ajit means unsubdued, invincible.

2. The wrestler's mode of announcing his arrival at Ajit's house is,
probably, the solitary result of many efforts to induce Karim himself
to knock at the nursery door before he marched into the nursery. I
never heard of natives knocking at each other's house-doors.

3. With these wrestlers compare Grimm's "Der junge Riese," _Kinder und
Hausmaerchen_, vol. II. p. 23, and "Eisenhans" in Haltrich's
_Siebenbuergische Maerchen_, p. 77.

4. Ajit carries her house. Note by Mr. J. F. Campbell: "Compare an
Irish story about Fionn and a giant who was told that the hero turned
the house when the wind blew open the door." [See, too, Campbell's
_Tales of the Western Highlands_, vol. III. p. 184]

5. When Karim was here I forgot to ask him how big were Ajit's cakes,
can, and mice. Mr. Campbell of Islay, who read this story in
manuscript, wrote in the margin where the mice were mentioned: "The
fleas in the island of Java are so big that they come out from under
the bed and steal potatoes. They do many such things. Compare [with
Ajit's can] a Gaelic story about a man who found the Fenians in an
island, and was offered a drink in a can so large that he could not
move it."

6. Mr. G. H. Damant, in the _Indian Antiquary_ for September 1873,
vol. II. p. 271, has a Dinajpur story called "Two ganja-eaters" which
is very like our Wonderful Story. In it a ganja-eater who can eat six
maunds of ganja[7] hears of another ganja-eater who can eat nine
maunds; so he takes his six maunds of ganja, and sets off for his
rival's country with the intention of fighting him. On the road he is
thirsty and drinks a whole pond dry, but this fails to quench his
thirst. Arrived at the nine-maund ganja-eater's house, he learns from
the wife that her husband has gone to cut sugar-cane, and decides to
go and meet him. He finds him in the jungle, and wishes to fight there
and then; but his rival does not agree to this, saying he has eaten
nothing for seven days. The other answers he has eaten nothing for
nine; whereupon the nine-maund ganja-eater suggests they shall wait
till they get back to his country, as in the jungle they will have no
spectators. The six-maund ganja-eater consents. So the nine-maund
ganja-eater takes up all the sugar-cane he has cut during the last
seven days and sets off for his country with his rival. On the way
they meet a