Told by BACHÁÚ, a Kasera, or brassfounder, of Mirzápur,
North-West Provinces.
Camel practises austerities--Bhagwán is pleased, and appears to
him--"Who are you?"--"Lord of the Three Regions"--"Show me your proper
form"--Bhagwán appears in his four-handed form (Chaturbhuji)--Camel does
reverence--"Ask a boon"--"Let my neck be a _yojan_ long"--"Be it
so"--The neck becomes eight miles long--He can now graze within a radius
of four miles (sic)--It rains--He puts his neck in a cave--A pair of
Jackals eat his flesh--The Camel dies--A wise man says--
"Álas dókh mahán dekhyo phal kaisá bhayá;
Yátén únt aján, maran lagyo nij karm se."
"Idleness is a great fault: see what was the result of idleness. By this
the foolish Camel died, simply owing to his own deeds."
This is one of the very common cycle of tales where the fool comes to
ruin in consequence of a stupid wish. In the "Book of Sindibad," it
appears as the "Peri and the Religious Man" (Clouston, "Book of
Sindibad," 71); La Fontaine has adopted it as the "Three Wishes," and
Prior as "The Ladle." The Italian version will be found in Crane,
"Italian Popular Tales," 221. The four-hand god is Vishnu in his form as
Chaturbhuja.