conception (very likely based on actual early custom) is further
borne out by its appearance in a remarkable group of Eastern stories
of the "Clever Lass" type (see Child, English and Scottish Ballads,
1 : 11). "The gist of these narratives," writes Professor Child,
"is that one king propounds tasks to another; in the earlier ones,
with the intent to discover whether his brother-monarch enjoys the aid
of such counsellors as will make an attack on him dangerous; in the
later, with the demand that he shall acquit himself satisfactorily,
or suffer a forfeit: and the king is delivered from a serious strait
by the sagacity either of a minister . . . or of the daughter of his
minister, who came to her father's assistance .... These tasks are
always such as require ingenuity of one kind or another, whether in
devising practical experiments, in contriving subterfuges, in solving
riddles, or even in constructing compliments."

One other Oriental variant of this story may be cited because of its
similarity to two of our tales (cf. our episodes C and C2). This is
an Anamese version, printed in the "Chrestomathie cochin-chinoise"
(Paris, 1872), 1 : 30:--

There was once a man who, being qualified for nothing, and not
knowing how to earn a living, made up his mind one day to become
a diviner. As luck had many times served him, the public came to
believe in his oracles.... He amassed a good round sum, and day
by day his success made him more bold and boastful. Once a golden
tortoise disappeared from the palace of the king. As all searches for
it resulted in nothing, some one mentioned the diviner to the king,
and begged permission to summon him. The king ordered his litter
prepared, the escort and the umbrellas of honor, and sent to have
the conjurer fetched. When the conjurer learned what was the matter,
he was very much disturbed, but he could not resist the commands
of the king. Accordingly he dressed himself, entered the litter,
and set out. Along the road the poor diviner continually bemoaned
his fate. Finally he cried out, "What is the use of groaning? The
stomach (bung) has caused it all; the belly (da) will suffer for it"
(an Anamese proverb). Now, it happened that the two litter-bearers
were named Bung and Da, and it was they who had stolen the king's gold
tortoise. When they heard the exclamation of the diviner, they believed
that they had been discovered. They begged him to have pity on them;
they confessed that they had