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On the Prakrit Sources of Tale-types and Tale-motifs
meal, provided they are given 'with her own hand' by the merchan'ts wife putting on her best dress and all the jewels. The merchant agrees, and the farmer takes possession of the wife along with the barley-meal. The case is decided this time in the farmer's favour.
319
These are only a few instances out of a great many wherein we can point out quite an early Prakrit original for widely popular tales current in India and outside. A systematic and comprehensive study of the Prakrit stories from this point of view is an urgent necessity. If an encyclopaedia of Middle Indo-Aryan tale-types and tale-motifs can be prepared, it would be certainly an invaluable and lasting contribution to the comparative and historical study of the tales of the world in general and of India in particular.
The few tales discussed here have also another quite important implication. Many of the conclusions of the Western folktale students regarding the sources, original form, nomenclature, classification and diffusion of numerous tale-types and tale-motifs stand in need of drastic revision in the light of a huge amount of fresh information, that is available from Prakrit literature. So far the scholars have been able to make very little use of this evidence because of various reasons. A considerable part of Prakrit story literature still lies burried in manuscripts. Many of the works have been published only during the last few decades. Moreover, for most of the stories only the bare text is known. No translation is available in any European or Indian language. It is obvious that until these handicaps are removed there are slender chances for a wider and more fruitful utilisation of Prakrit sources.
Notes
1. For the Type and Motif numbers, see Stith Thompson, The Folktale, 1946.
2. The Folktale, p. 75.
