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p. 17; Giorn. Lett. Ital. , iii. 142; Bolte, Jahresber. German. Philol., vi. 116); Simrock, Quellen, iii. 201; Landau, Quellen; Benfey, Pants, 1. 407; Oesterley, Herrtage, Crane, 11, cc.; Kuhn, 74-5.]
V.b. Bird and Fisherman.
A bird saw a fisherman drawing a fish to land, and pounced down upon it and swallowed it. But soon the fish-hook caught in its throat, and the fisherman began to pull it in. With difficulty the bird freed itself; but henceforth it dared not swallow any fish, for fear of a similar danger, and thus died of hunger.
[Only in Heb. ix., but probably in original, since certainly Indian, (Cf. Hipotad., iv. 101 ; Benfey, Pants, i. 227.)]
V.c. The Sower.
When the sower sows his seed some falls on the highway, where the passengers tread it under foot. Others are blown away by the wind. Others picked up by the birds. Some seeds fall on rocky ground, and grow only till the roots reach the rock. Others fall among the thistles. Only a small portion falls in rich earth, where it grows and brings forth fruit. The sower is the Sage ; the seed is his wisdom. The seeds that fall by the wayside, &c., are pieces of wisdom that come into one ear only to go out of the other. Those falling on rocky ground are not taken to heart. Those among thorns meet