“Then the bird went to the _bhaunr_, (a tangled creeping plant,) and said, ‘_Bhaunr_, _bhaunr_, snare the elephant; elephant won’t drink up sea; sea won’t quench fire; fire won’t burn stick; stick won’t beat snake; snake won’t bite queen; queen won’t talk to king; king won’t chide carpenter; carpenter won’t cut mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I take to foreign countries?’ But the _bhaunr_ said, ‘Be off with you, do you think that for the sake of a single pea I am going to snare the elephant?’ “Then the bird went to the mouse, and said, ‘Mouse, mouse, cut _bhaunr_; _bhaunr_ won’t snare elephant; elephant won’t drink up sea; sea won’t quench fire; fire won’t burn stick; stick won’t beat snake; snake won’t bite queen; queen won’t talk to king; king won’t chide carpenter; carpenter won’t cut mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I take to foreign countries?’ But the mouse said, ‘Be off with you, do you think that for the sake of a single pea I am going to cut the _bhaunr_?’ “Then the bird went to the cat, and said, ‘Cat, cat, eat mouse; mouse won’t cut _bhaunr_; _bhaunr_ won’t snare elephant; elephant won’t drink up sea; sea won’t quench fire; fire won’t burn stick; stick won’t beat snake; snake won’t bite queen; queen won’t talk to king; king won’t chide carpenter; carpenter won’t cut mill-handle; my pea is in the socket of the mill-handle; what shall I eat, what shall I drink, and what shall I take to foreign countries?’ And the cat said, ‘By all means; the mouse is my natural prey, why should I not eat it?’ “So the cat went to eat the mouse; and the mouse went to cut the _bhaunr_, saying,-- ‘Hamko khao, a o, mat koi, Ham bhaunr ko katat loi.’ ‘Oh, oh, eat, oh! eat me no one, I will take and cut the _bhaunr_.’ And the _bhaunr_ went to snare the elephant, saying, ‘Oh, cut, oh! cut me no one, I’ll take and snare the elephant.’ And so on with each one, till it came to the carpenter, who extracted the pea, and the bird took it, and went away rejoicing.” The close resemblance between this fable and the English one of “The Silver Penny,” attests a common origin. For it cannot be supposed that either was conveyed by means of oral communication from one country to the other; and the only feasible conclusion seems to be that they are different versions of a nursery tale which belonged to our common Aryan forefathers. There can be no doubt as to its antiquity.[68] * * * * *