Note 26 — Note to Chapter 60. The fables of Pilpay.

The argument reminds one of that in “Die kluge Bauerntochter,” (Grimm’s Märchen, 94). The king adjudges a foal to the proprietor of some oxen, because it was found with his beasts. The real owner fishes in the road with a net. The king demands an explanation. He says, “It is just as easy for me to catch fish on dry land, as for two oxen to produce a foal.” See also Das Märchen vom sprechenden Bauche, Kaden’s Unter den Olivenbäumen, pp. 83, 84.