________________
OCTOBER, 1928.)
NOTES ON THE KATHA SARIT SAGARA
193
to the story. E.g., The Story of the Loving Couple that died of Separation (r. 9) commences with: “There lived a certain young merchant called tllaka ... in Mathura." This is also a Scandinavian habit. In telling a story a Scandinavian must give a name to the person concerned with it even if he has to invent it on the spot-e.g., an Icelander will begin by saying: "I will tell you the story of a young man called Jon Magnússon," when it does not in the least matter whether the name was Jón or Magnús or any other.
5. The Spread of Rumour. On pp. 185-186 occurs the story of The Iniquity of Scandal, really turning on a worldwide effect of the spread of rumour, and Mr. Penzer rightly draws attention to Virgil's description in Æncid, IV. The story begins in the usual way of carefully describing names and places: "There is a city on the banks of the Ganges named Kusumapura (=PAtali. putra-Patna], and in it was a (Brahman) ascetic who visited holy places, named Harasvamin." As above remarked the point of the story is in no way advanced by mentioning these names, as it turns on the troubles of Harasvamin in consequence of " a wicked man spreading it about that he carries off children and eats them." It is not to be expected that a motif such as this should be confined to any one part of the world, but Mr. Penzer has a most illuminating note (not the only one of its kind) on p. 185, n. 3. He points out that a similar tale was actually spread about in the French Revolution as to "M. de Montlosier, Marquis de Mirabeau " indulging in orgies, during which he ate little children: much to the discomfort of M. de Montlosier.
6. Travelling In India at the End of the first Millenium, A.D.. Another general point, on which I would like to remark, arises out of a paragraph on p. 6: "At night, while all were asleep, wearied with their long journey, stretched out on strewn leaves and such other beds as travellers have to put up with." The accommodation, according to the tale, was under a tree outside a temple, which itself was outside Benares, near a place for burning the dead. I draw attention to this, because, even in the days of Peter Mundy during the Thirty Years War (1618-1648 A.D.), in Continental Europe the ordinary accommodation in a country inn, called by the English "& crewe” (Kyug) was not any better, except that the cold climate of Northern Europe made travellers sleep under a roof, but they slept anywhere on the floor on straw.
7. Etymology. The Hindus have always been as fond of folk-etymology as other people. Indeed literary striving after a moaning in names and words has gone deeply into the publio life, in the hope of raising caste status by giving a meaning to caste and sub-caste names which tends to enhance the social position of the bearers. There are instances in this volume.
I will take first some oases of etymology which are not exactly folklore, but are worthy of note. On pp. 84-85, Mr. Penzer has some remarks on Adam's Bridge, which nearly connects India with Ceylon, but in his remarks on the name 'Adam's 'given to an obviously Hindu place, he has left out the illuminating observation of Dames in his Barbosa on Adam's Peak, also in Ceylon. Nextin the Story of Vidishaka at pp. 67 ff, "a certain friend of his beloved named Yogesvari” takes a prominent part in the tale. But Yogesvarf as a term means 'past mistress of yoga,' and perhape, instead of the character being simply named Yo svari, the translation should run 'a certain friend of his beloved, a most wise woman,' and she should be called thereafter the wise woman.' Lastly at p. 271 occurs & notable etymology: "gingham (a kind of cotton cloth first made at Guingamp in Brittany, the yarn of wbich is dyed before it is woven)." Here Mr. Penzer is correcting the 0. E. D. and other authorities. At p. 138 again occurs a remarkable 'expression well worth noting : "Himavat, the father of the mother of the world "--the possessor of the snows as the father of Ambika, i.e., of Parvati, the wife of Siva.
