HINDU ZOOLOGICAL BELIEFS. 243 



this the case that it is said that if an insect stings you it must be 

 a Scorpion, but if it does not then it must be a Mole-Cricket. 



As might be expected, the Butterflies, from their beauty and 

 daintiness, are the " dancing girls " of the insect world. White 

 Butterflies, from their clean appearance, are termed " washer- 

 women." The Hindu has noticed the Wasp stinging the Cater- 

 pillar, but he differs very much from Fabre in his account of 

 what really occurs. According to the Hindu, when a Wasp stings 

 a Caterpillar, then the Caterpillar becomes a Wasp. Thus 

 may a bad man corrupt a good one, for the Caterpillar, though 

 at first harmless as such, after becoming a Wasp, can sting. 



Bees are mentioned in tales several times. If they construct 

 their honeycomb in a house, it bodes evil for the dwellers within its 

 walls. Familiar to all in India is the big, handsome, blue-black 

 Carpenter-Bee (Xylocopa), which is often seen in the bungalow 

 prospecting for a hole into which it can climb to lay its eggs. 

 This Bee figures in the well-known story of Bringi. One day a 

 " rishi " (sage), Bringi by name, who used daily to worship 

 Shiva, wished to worship Shiva alone. This he could not do in 

 human form, because the god's consort, Parvati, was wont to sit 

 on Shiva's lap. Now, as we know, the Hindu idea of worshipping 

 is to walk round the god so many times, the oftener the more 

 intent is the worship accorded. Bringi's difficulty, then, was 

 how to get round Shiva, whom he wished to honour, without at 

 the same time encompassing Parvati, and thus doing equal 

 homage to both. Bringi bethought himself of changing into 

 this Bee, and did so, flying round Shiva and then boring between 

 him and Parvati. Both the deities at once saw through the 

 trick ; Shiva felt complimented by the rishi's devotion to himself, 

 but the lady was very angry. In fact, she grumbled so much 

 at the disrespect shown her, that, in order to pacify her, and to 

 prevent a recurrence of the incident, Shiva incorporated her body 

 with his own. From that day he became Arthanari — i.e. half- 

 woman — so that, as thus represented, Shiva has one side of his 

 mouth with the moustache, the other without, one arm that of a 

 man, while the other is slender and adorned with bangles. 



This change from the human form to that of a Bee also 

 enters into the tale of King Mahabali, whose ancient home, 

 Mahabalipuram — better known perhaps as the Seven Pagodas — 



