Note 82 — THE KING AND HIS FOUR MINISTERS.

“Distinguishing the peculiarities of an animal by its footsteps, etc.,” says the Pandit, “is often met with in Indian stories. Precisely the reverse of this is the tale of the four blind men who disputed about the form of an elephant. One of them had felt only the elephant’s ear, and said it was like a winnow; another examined the breast and a foreleg, and said it was like a thick stump of wood; the third felt the trunk and said it was like a heavy crook; while the fourth, having touched only the tail, declared it was like a sweeping rake.”