Note 8 — V. SUDHANA AVADĀNA.1

This passage is extremely obscure. It is evident that Professor Schiefner was puzzled by it, for he has on the sheets prepared for the present translation made considerable alterations in his version as it originally appeared. There appears to be good reason for supposing that the Crocodile and the Butterfly, the Sad and the Gay, the Weeper and the Laugher, are names of rivers, but at present we must be contented with a hypothesis. The German text originally ran as follows: “Viele Flüsse, die mit zehntausend Alligatoren angefüllt sind, musst du überschreiten. Krokodile, Schmetterling, ein Betrübter, ein Bunter, ein Weinender, ein Lachender, Schlangenreicher und rohrreicher Fluss; im Krokodil ist Rākshasī-Zorn, im Schmetterling ein Dämon, in dem Betrübten viele Meerungeheuer,” &c. As altered by Professor Schiefner it runs: “Krokodile, Schmetterling, eine Betrübte, eine Bunte, eine Weinende, eine Lachende, ein Schlangenreicher und rohrreicher Fluss,” &c. The whole passage has been submitted to various experts, who are inclined to accept the fluvial hypothesis. ↑