four bráhman brothers, sons of a very poor man, leave home to beg. after their state has become even more miserable, they decide to separate and to search through the earth for some magic power. so, fixing upon a trysting-place, they leave one another, one going east, one west, one north, one south. in the course of time they meet again, and each tells of his accomplishments: the first can immediately produce on a bit of bone the flesh of that animal; the second can produce on that flesh skin and hair appropriate to that animal; the third can create the limbs of the animal after the flesh, skin, and hair have been formed; the fourth can endow the completed carcass with life. the four now go into the forest to find a piece of bone with which to test their skill; they find one, but are ignorant that it is the bone of a lion. the first brahman covers the bone with flesh; the second gives it skin and hair; the third completes the animal by supplying appropriate limbs; the fourth endows it with life. the terrible beast, springing up, charges the four brothers and slays them on the spot.
the question which the vetála now asks the king is, “which of these four was guilty in respect of the lion who slew them all?” king vikramasena answers, “the one that gave life to the lion is guilty. the others produced flesh, skin, hair, and limbs without knowing what kind of animal they were making. therefore, being ignorant, they were not guilty. but the fourth, seeing the complete lion’s shape before him, was guilty of their death, because he gave the creature life.”
the “pancatantra” version (v, 4) varies slightly. here, as in the preceding, there are four brothers, but only three of them possess all knowledge; the fourth possesses common sense. the first brother joins together the bones of a lion; the second covers them with skin, flesh, and blood; the third is about to give the animal life, when the fourth brother—he who possessed common sense—says, “if you raise him to life, he will kill us all.” finding that the third brother will not desist from his intention, the fourth climbs a tree and saves himself, while his three brothers are torn to pieces. for a modern indian popular form, see thornhill, 289.
in the persian “t?t?-namah” (no. 5) the story assumes a decidedly different form, as may be seen from the following abstract. (i think that there can be no doubt, however, that this tale was inspired by some redaction of “vetalapancavi??ati,” no. 22, not unlikely in combination with “vetalapancavi??ati,” no. 2.)
