_Source._--Miss Stokes, _Indian Fairy Tales_, pp. 73-84. Majnun and
Laili are conventional names for lovers, the Romeo and Juliet of
Hindostan.
_Parallels._--Living in animals' bellies occurs elsewhere in Miss
Stokes' book, pp. 66, 124; also in Miss Frere's, 188. The restoration
of beauty by fire occurs as a frequent theme (Temple, Analysis, III.
vi. f. p. 418). Readers will be reminded of the _dénouement_ of Mr.
Rider Haggard's _She_. Resuscitation from ashes has been used very
effectively by Mr. Lang in his delightful _Prince Prigio_.
_Remarks._--The white skin and blue eyes of Prince Majnun deserve
attention. They are possibly a relic of the days of Aryan conquest,
when the fair-skinned, fair-haired Aryan conquered the swarthier
aboriginals. The name for caste in Sanskrit is _varna_, "colour"; and
one Hindu cannot insult another more effectually than by calling him a
black man. _Cf._ Stokes, pp. 238-9, who suggests that the red hair is
something solar, and derived from myths of the solar hero.