Told by MUNSHÍ CHHOTÉ KHÁN, teacher of the village school
at Ant, District Sitápur, Oudh.
[A new legend of the Fall.]
Solomon hunts alone--An Owl asks him to receive him--Solomon asks, "Why
do you hoot all night?"--"To wake men and women early for prayer:
travelling is difficult, for treasure is dearer than life"--"Why do you
shake your head?"--"To remind mankind that the world is but a fleeting
show, and to show my disapproval of their delight in worldly
things"--"Why do you eat no grain?"--"_Adam ate wheat in heaven, and was
turned out of it on that account._ Adam prayed, and God sent him into
the world, and blessed him to be the father of mankind. If I eat one
grain I expect to be cast into hell"--"Why do you drink no water in the
world at night?"--"Because Noah's race was drowned in this world in
water. If I drink, it would be hard for me to live"--Solomon is pleased,
and asks the Owl to remain with him, and advise him on all points.
There is no verse in the original.
All through the eastern world the owl, from its association with
graveyards and old ruins, is regarded as a mystic bird, invested with
powers of prophecy and wisdom (Crooke, "Popular Religion and Folk-lore
of Northern India," i. 279).