*Fortunatus's Wishing-Cap is a common story. The site of the tale is placed in Famagosta, the famous city of Cyprus. This location was chosen by the story-tellers of the middle ages to whom that island, in consequence of the crusades, Richard's exploits in it, the House of Lusignan, &c. &c. became a sort of country of romance. Tracing farther back, we find the tale to recede eastward, and told in the Bahur Danish. If we pursue our inquiries we shall trace it to India. In the Vrikat Katha, which is a collection of Hindoo tales, derived from the Sanscrit, we are told the adventures of Putraha, one of which is

"While wandering in the woods he beheld two men struggling with each other. He inquired who they were. They replied that they were the sons of Mayasar, and were contending for a magic cup, staff, and pair of slippers-the first of which yielded inexhaustible viands, the second generated any object which it delineated, and the third transported a person through the air. The stronger of the two was to possess these articles. Putraha then observed to them, that violence was a very improper mode of settling their pretensions; and that it would be better they should adjust the dispute by less objectionable means. He therefore proposed, that they should run a race for the contested articles, and the fleetest win them. They agreed, and set off. They were no sooner at a little distance, than Putraha, putting his feet into the slippers, and seizing the cup and staff, mounted into the air, and left the racers in vain to lament their being outwitted." Here the slippers play the part of Fortunatus's Cap, and the magic cup, which yields inexhaustible viands, is not very unlike his purse. The trick which Putraha plays resembles one in Grimm's German stories, where a prince obtains possession of a sword, the drawing of which cuts off heads in a similar manner. But in general our northern legends do not turn so much on the exploits of stratagem as of open force. The Eastern evidently prefer the clever and ingenious trickster. Reynard the fox, who comes to us

from the East, (witness the common story of his looking after grapes, which our western foxes do not eat,) is a greater favourite than Irgoin the Wolf, or Bruin the Bear. Homer in this, too, shows his eastern origin, for Ulysses the wurgos, is evidently the hero for whom he has most re spect and affection.

The Fabliaux are generally admitted to be directly oriental. I do not remember that their Indian origin has been pointed out by their commentators in any instance. I shall therefore avail myself of another story, translated from the Vrikat Katha. It is the foundation of the famous fabliau of Courtant Du Hamel, ou la dame qui attrappa un Pretre, un Prevot, et un Forestier.

“Whilst I, Vararuchi the Storyteller, was thus absent, my wife, who performed with pious exactitude her ablutions in the Ganges, attracted the notice and desires of several suitors, especially of the king's domestic priest, the commander of the guard, and the young prince's preceptor, who annoyed her by their importunities, and terrified her by their threats, till at last she determined to expose and punish their depravity. Having fixed upon the plan, she made an appointment for the same evening with her three lovers, each being to come to her house an hour later than the other. Being desirous of propitiating the gods, she sent for our banker to obtain money to distribute in alms; and when he arrived, he expressed the same passion as the rest, on her compliance with which, he promised to make over to her the money that I had placed in his hands; or on her refusal, he would retain it to his own use. Apprehending made a similar assignation with him, and the loss of our property, therefore, she

desired him to come to her house that

evening, at an hour when she calculated on having disposed of the first comers, for whose reception, as well as his, she arranged with her attendants the necessary preparations.

"At the expiration of the first watch of the night, the preceptor of the prince arrived. Upakosa affected to receive him with great delight; and, after some conversation, desired him to make a bath, which her handmaids had prepared for

him, as a preliminary condition to any farther intimacy. The preceptor made not the least objection, on which he was conducted into a retired and dark chamber, where his bath was ready. On undressing, his own clothes and ornaments were removed, and in their place a small wrapper given to him, which was a piece of cloth smeared with a mixture of oil, lamp black, and perfumes. Similar cloths were employed to rub him after bathing, so that he was of a perfectly ebon colour from top to toe. The rubbing occupied the time till the second lover (the priest) arrived, on which the women exclaimed, • Here is our master's particular friendin, in here, or all will be discovered;' and hurrying their victim away, they thrust him into a long and stout wicker basket, fastened well by a bolt outside, in which they left him to meditate upon his mis

tress.

"The priest and the commander of the guard were secured, as they arrived, in a similar manner; and it only remained to dispose of the banker. When he made his appearance, Upakosa, leading him near the baskets, said aloud,-' You promise, to deliver me my husband's property;' and he replied, The wealth your husband entrusted to me shall be yours.' On which she turned towards the baskets, and said, 'Let the gods hear the promise of Hiranyagupta.' The bath was then proposed to the banker. Before the ceremony was completed, the day began to dawn, on which the servants desired him to make the best of his way home, lest the neighbours should notice his departure; and with this recommendation they forced him, naked as he was, into the street. Having no alternative, the banker hastened to conceal himself in his own house, being chased all the way by the dogs of the town.

"So soon as it was day, Upakosa repaired to the palace of Nanda, and presented a petition to the king against the banker, for seeking to appropriate the property entrusted to him by her husband. The banker was summoned. He denied having ever received any money from me. Upakosa then said, When

my husband went away, he placed our household gods in three baskets; they have heard this man acknowledge his holding a deposit of my husband's, and let them bear witness for me.' The king, with some feeling of surprise and incredulity, ordered the baskets to be sent for, and they were, accordingly, produced in the open court. Upakosa then addressed them,- Speak, gods, and declare what you overheard this banker say in

our dwelling. If you are silent, I will unhouse you in this presence.' Afraid of this menaced exposure, the tenants of the baskets immediately exclaimed,— 'Verily, in our presence, the banker acknowledged possession of your wealth.' On hearing these words, the whole court was filled with surprise, and the banker, terrified out of his senses, acknowledged the debt, and promised restitution. The business being adjusted, the king expressed his curiosity to see the household divinities of Upakosa, and she very readily complied with his wish. The baskets being opened, the culprits were dragged forth by the attendants, like so many lumps of darkness. Being presently recognised, they were overwhelmed with the laughter and derision of all the assembly. As soon as the merriment had subsided, Nanda begged Upakosa to explain what it all meant, and she acquainted him with what had occurred. Nanda was highly incensed, and, as the punishment of their offence, banished the criminals from the kingdom. He was equally pleased with the virtue and ingenuity of my wife, and loaded her with wealth and honour. Her family were likewise highly gratified by her conduct, and she obtained the admiration and esteem of the whole city."

This tale is also in the Arabian Nights Entertainments-in that portion translated by Dr Jonathan Scott, under the title of the Lady of Cairo and her Four Gallants, thereby affording a proof of the Sanscrit origin of these far-famed stories. I cannot mention the Arabian Nights Entertainments, without expressing my gratification, that we shall soon have an opportunity of reading a further portion of them. It is well known, that Galland did not translate a fifth of the entire-and though it is universally agreed that he chose the best, and executed his task admirably, yet great light would be thrown on Asiatic manners, and literary history in general, by the translation of the entire: I mean such as are translateable, for some of the escapades of the Asiatic writers are too free for our northern ears. The Reverend Doctor John Wait of Saint John's College, Cambridge, has undertaken to, fill part of the hiatus, by translating two or three volumes of them from the Arabian manuscripts of the public library of that university, which contain at least a thousand unpublished stories. The

great oriental knowledge of Doctor Wait amply qualify him for such a task.

If there be any story which has quite an English air, it is that of Whittington and his Cat. Are not,

as Jack Cade's voucher would say, the very bells of London alive at the present day to testify it? Yet the unrelenting East robs us even of that story. I can trace it no farther than Persia, where it was told by the Persian ambassador to Mr Morier, from whose journey I copy it.

"In the 700th year of the Hejira, in the town of Siraf, lived an old woman with her three sons, who, turning out profligates, spent their own money and their mother's fortune, abandoned her, and went to live at Kais. A little while after, a Siraf merchant took a trading voyage to India, and freighted a ship. It was the custom of those days, that when a man undertook a voyage to a distant land, each of his friends entrusted to his care some article of their property, and received the produce on their return. The old woman, who was a friend of the merchant, complained that her sons had left her so destitute, that, except a cat, she had nothing to send as an adventure, which yet she requested him to take. On arriving in India, he waited upon the king of the country, who, having granted him permission to trade with his subjects, also invited him to dine. The merchant was surprised to see the beards of the king and his courtiers incased in golden tubes, and the more so, when he observed that every man had a stick in his hand. His surprise still increased,

when, upon serving up the dishes, he saw swarms of mice sally out from the walls, and make such an attack upon the vic. tuals as to require the greatest vigilance of the guests in keeping them off with their sticks. This extraordinary scene brought the cat of the old woman of Siraf

into the merchant's mind, When he dined a second time with the king, he put the cat under his arm, and no sooner did the mice appear than he let it go, and, to the delight of the king and his courtiers, hundreds of mice were laid dead about the floor. The king, of course, longed to possess so valuable an animal, and the merchant agreed to give it up, provided an adequate compensation were made to its real owner. When the merchant was about his departure, he was shown a ship finely equipped, laden with all sorts of merchandise, and which he was told, was to be given to the old woman for her cat."

The dates of the English and Persian story strangely correspond. The 700th year of the Hejira falls in our 14th century, the very era of our Whittington.

It would not be hard to extend the

catalogue; but I do not wish to keep my readers from more entertaining matter. I may remark, that among the amusing fairy legends of the south of Ireland lately attested by Mr Crofton Croker, is one of an Enchanted Lake, with castles and palaces beneath. This is originally Sanscrit, as witness the city of Mabalialipoor, to which I ought to say Mr Croker refers it.

R. F.