THE INDIAN ORIGIN OF MALAY FOLK-TALES. 121 



(Lady Burton's ed., vol. •'. 88)- whose subject-matter is for 



the most part of Indian origin, and in a Turkish version of the 

 " Porty Viziers/' The tale had reached Europe in the XIYth 

 century. Clous ton has a chapter on its wanderings in his " Popular 

 Tales and Fictions'*, vol. II, pp. 432-4-13. He" quotes Max Miil- 

 ler : — " It seems a startling case of longevity, that while languages 

 have changed, while works of art have perished, while empires have 

 risen and vanished again, this simple children's tale should have 

 lived on and maintained its place of honour and its undisputed 

 swav in every schoolroom of the East and everv nursery of the 

 West/' 



SI LEXCHAI. 



This tale with an outline is printed in the Cherita Jenaka 

 (pp. 85-102). An outline is also siven in mv "Literature of 

 Malay Folk-Lore'" (pp. 63-65). 



( 1 ) Si Lunchai is put in a sack to be drowned. He induces 

 a Tamil merchant to take his place by declaring that he 

 is about to be drowned for refusing to marry the king's 

 daughter. 



Numerous variants of this episode occur: — a Sin- 

 halese (Parker op. cit,, vol. Ill, p. 435; vol. I, p. 110), 

 a South Indian story by Pandita Xatesa Sastu (" The 

 Indian Antiquary", vol. TV, p. 257), a Burmese (Airs. 

 Chan Toon*- " Triumph of Love and other stories"), a 

 tale in the "Arabian Xights " (vol. L p. 367). Cf. also 

 C. MonteiFs " Contes Soudanais ", (p. 6T » and a Sierra 

 Leone tale in Cromise and Ward's " Cunnie Babbit" (p. 

 •251). 



(2) Si Lunchai dresses as a Haji, goes before the king who 

 had ordered his execution, and says that an angel had 

 saved him from death and taken him to heaven where he 

 had met the king's parents. " If you would see their state 

 in heaven, build a scaffolding: by virtue of a charm I 

 will teach, all who are not bastards can see thence into 

 heaven ". King and minister.- lie and declare they can 

 see! 



In Swynnerton's '* Indian Nights 3 Entertainment " 

 (p. bO) a girl, who had vowed to prove that the king 

 sometimes lied, invited him to visit a palace she had built 

 and to see God thence: adding that he was visible only to 

 one person at a time and only to those of legitimate birth. 

 The ministers and the kins all declare in turn thev can 

 see God. and are convicted of Ling. The king marries 

 the girl. 



(3) Si Lunchai tells the king that the way to heaven is down 

 a deep pit. where a dragon devours him ! Si Lunchai suc- 

 ceeds to the throne. 



R. A. Soc. No. 82, 1920. 



