husk myth, the youngest son who surpasses
his brother, the life of the ogre placed in some external object, the
jealous stepmother, the selection of a king by an elephant, the queen
whose husband is invariably killed on his wedding night, etc. etc.

Few of the old Indian stories found in the Katha Sarit Sagara or the
Buddhist Birth stories appear in recognizable form in the present
collection.

I. Bajun and Jhore.

Once upon a time there were two brothers named Bajun and Jhore. Bajun
was married and one day his wife fell ill of fever. So, as he was
going ploughing, Bajun told Jhore to stay at home and cook the dinner
and he bade him put into the pot three measures of rice. Jhore stayed
at home and filled the pot with water and put it on to boil; then he
went to look for rice measures; there was only one in the house and
Jhore thought "My brother told me to put in three measures and if I
only put in one I shall get into trouble." So he went to a neighbour's
house and borrowed two more measures, and put them into the pot and
left them to boil. At noon Bajun came back from ploughing and found
Jhore stirring the pot and asked him whether the rice was ready. Jhore
made no answer, so Bajun took the spoon from him, saying "Let me feel
how it is getting on", but when he stirred with the spoon he heard a
rattling noise and when he looked into the pot he found no rice but
only three wooden measures floating about; then he turned and abused
Jhore for his folly, but Jhore said "You yourself told me to put in
three measures and I have done so." So Bajun had to set to work and
cook the rice himself and got his dinner very late.

Next day Bajun said to Jhore, "You don't know how to cook the dinner;
I will stay at home to-day, you go to plough, and take a hatchet
with you and if the plough catches in a root or anything, give a
cut with the hatchet." So Jhore went ploughing and when the plough
caught in anything and stopped, he gave a cut with his hatchet at
the legs of the bullocks; they backed and plunged with the pain and
then he only chopped at them the more until he lamed them both. At
noon Bajun saw the bullocks come limping back and asked what was
the matter with them. "O," said Jhore, "that is because I cut at
them as you told me." "You idiot," said Bajun, "I meant you to give
a cut at the roots in which the plough got caught, not at the legs
of the bullocks; how will you live if you do such silly things? You
cannot