1 76 Analytical Account of the Pancha Tantfa. 



goat is something else, and so induce him to leave it to them, is the next in 

 the Paticha Tantra, and Kalila Damana : it occurs in the last section of the 

 Hitopadesa. 



An incident, rather than a story, next occurs in the Pancha Tantra, 

 singly ; that of a Snake killed by Ants. The device adopted by the king 

 of the Crows, as narrated in the Pancha Tantra, and Kalila Damana, reminds 

 the reader of the story of Zopyrus; the councillor CAiran/'ii'^ being, at his 

 own suggestion, stripped of his feathers, and smeared with blood, and left at 

 the foot of the tree, in which state he is found by the Owls, and brought to 

 their king. The discussions regarding his treatment, between the king and 

 his ministers, are to the same purport in both works ; but they are more de- 

 tailed in the Pancha Tantra, and illustrated by very different stories. 



The first minister, Ractdksha, who recommends the crow's being put to 

 death, narrates, in order to shew that no confidence is to be placed in a re- 

 conciled foe, the story of the Snake and the Br-dhman's Son, comprising 

 a brief apologue of the Swans and the strange bird. Neither of these is in 

 the Arabic, or Hitdpadesa ; and they may be therefore translated : 



" In a certain country dwelt a Brahman, who reaped no benefit from the 

 cultivation of his grounds. As he was reposing one day in the hot season, 

 under the shade of a tree, he dreamt that he beheld a large hooded snake, 

 coiled upon an ant-hill, at a little distance ; and waking from his dream, he 

 concluded that the snake must be the tutelary deity of the spot, who was 

 little pleased with him, as one from whom he had never received any ve- 

 neration. The Brahman determined, therefore, to worship him ; and boiling 

 some milk, he placed it in a vessel, and carried it to the ant-hill, exclaiming 

 as he laid the cup upon the ground, ' Lord of the soil, I have hitherto been 

 ignorant of thy place of residence, and, therefore, only have foreborne thy 

 worship ; forgive my negligence, and accept my oblation. So saying, he 

 left the milk and went home.' 



" When he visited the ant-hill on the morning following, he found in place 

 of the milk, a Dinar,* and this was repeated daily. At last, the Brahman hav- 



• A gold coin. That there existed some connejdon between this and the gold Denarius of the 

 Romans, is not improbable, as has been shewn in another place. As. Res. XV. The indication 

 of treasure by the presence of a snake, is a common superstition among the Hindus. 



