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50
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[MARCH, 1926
So, as he could get nothing out of the Attår, he went to the Nawab, who asked him if he had any witness of the deposit. He said: "None but God Almighty."
So the Nawab said: "Go every evening and sit near the shop of the Attar, and when you see me coming out in my carriage for my daily airing, come up and whisper something, no matter what, in my ear."
This went on for a few days, and the Attâr began to think :
"This man must be a friend of the Nawab. Heaven only knows what he says to him. Perhaps it may be to my harm."
So he called his debtor and said :-"Tell me something more about your deposit. Perchance I may remember something about it."
And in the end he paid up the money.
100. The Fate of the boastful Jackal. (Told and recorded by Shaikh Ali Ahmad, teacher, of Fatehpur Sikri, Agra District.)]
There was once a jackal who, as he was wandering in the jungle, chanced to come across the den of a tiger. So he used to stay about the place, and whenever the tiger chanced to bring home any prey, the jackal would get some scraps to eat. After many days he went back to his wife, who was surprised at seeing him so fat and sleek, and said: "Where on earth have you been all this time, and what have you been eating that you have got so fat?"
"You must remember," he answered" that I am no longer a common jackal; I have now taken to killing mighty beasts of the forest whenever I am hungry."
"Let me see you kill one," she said, "because I and the young ones have had little to eat for a long time."
Next day as she looked out of her hole, she saw a great ox grazing outside. So she woke her husband and said: "Here is an animal worth killing. Don't delay any longer."
The Jackal ran out and came back in a short time and said :
"Are my eyes red with rage ?"
"No," she said, "your eyes are much as usual."
Again he ran out; and when he returned, he asked :
"Are my eyes now red enough?"
"I think they are," said his wife.
So with that he sprang on the back of the ox and seized his tail in his teeth. But the ox turned round, butted at him and never ceased tossing him with his horns till his life departed. So this was the end of his boasting. As the wise say :
Apne bal son adhik jo, karai murh koû kaj:
So srigal sam binsai, hansain bhi sakal samáj.
"When one attempts what is beyond his power, he is destroyed like the jackal and
the folk mock at him".
101. The Dancing-girl and the Parrot. (Told by Daulat Râm, teacher, Lalipur.)
There was once in the Court of Vikramaditya a dancing-girl, who was called Lakho, because she was so famous that whoever visited her had to pay a lakh of rupees. One night she dreamed that a certain Brahman was with her, and next day she went to him and demanded her usual fee. He refused to pay, as he had never been with her, and when she appealed to the elders, they could not settle the case and took the parties to the king. He was also perplexed, and finally a very wise parrot of the king offered to settle the matter. So he brought a lakh of rupees into the Court and a looking-glass. He laid the rupees before the glass and said to the girl :
"As you only dreamed that the Brahman was with you, you may take the shadow of the rupees in the looking-glass as your reward, "
