Indological Studies

SR No.: 022756
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: H C Bhayani
Publisher: Parshva Prakashan
Publication Year: 1993
Total Pages: 376
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 25 MB

Page 324

Prakrit and Apabhramśa Studies
Of the two versions of "The Danced-out Shoes', the Pañcadanda version is nearer to the basic Western version. The marriage with Devadamant forms a part of the frame-story of the Pañcadanda and it remains to be investigated whether it was in the original Pañcadanda (that served as a source to the Gujarati adaptations) or was a later growth. Eventhough Indian versions do not have the danced-out shoes as the basic clue, the Indian origin of this tale is beyond any doubt.
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3. What Should I Have Done (Type 1696, Motif J. 2461)
The stories about the literal-minded fool misapplying his instructions and thus landing himself into troubles and absurdities are widely current in all parts of India. Thompson observes that the best-known tale of this kind has to do with the mother who tells her son what he should do in various circumstances. The stories usually have a ingenuous chain of foolishly applied instructions. According to Thompson the story is traceable to a Chinese Buddhist source and appears in several Renaissance Jestbooks.
An early Indian version of this type is found in Prakrit in the story of the Village Dolt given in the Dharmopadeśamālā-vivarana of Jayasimha-sūri4 (Story No. 89, p. 159), composed in 859 A. D. at Nagor in Marwar. The substance of the story is as follows:
When a certain person in the king's service died, his helpless widow left the city and settled in a village, taking her small boy along with her. When the boy came of age he started to join the king's service. His mother tried to dissuade him as he did not know the appropriate ways and manners, but the boy expressed readiness to learn. So the mother gave him the first lesson: When you see a respectable person even from a distance, greet him immediately, saying very loudly the word of salutation. Thus instructed the boy went out and on his way saw a group of hunters hiding and lying in wait for deer. He greeted them from a distance with a wild shout. The deer were scared away. The