# Why the Fish Laughed explained — Indian Fairy Tales

> Chapter companion for Indian Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs.

## What happens

This chapter presents a Kashmiri folktale that incorporates the formula of the Clever Lass who guesses riddles, including a unique sex test. The story is analyzed for its parallels in European collections and its spread from Indian folk literature to modern European folk literature, as discussed by scholars like Prof. Benfey.

## Themes in this chapter

### Cunning and Wisdom

The Clever Lass formula centers on a woman's intelligence in solving riddles, highlighting wisdom as a key theme.

### Cultural Transmission and Borrowing

The chapter discusses how this Indian folk motif spread to European literature, illustrating cross-cultural exchange.

## Key lines

> Here we have a further example of a whole formula, or series of incidents, common to most European collections, found in India, and in a quarter, too, where European influence is little likely to penetrate.

This story is another instance of a complete narrative pattern seen in European tales, discovered in a region of India unlikely to have been influenced by Europe.

_Highlights the independent origin or parallel development of the Clever Lass motif in India._

> Prof. Benfey, in an elaborate dissertation (“Die Kluge Dirne,” in Ausland , 1859, Nos. 20⁠–⁠25, now reprinted in Kl. Schr. II 156 seq. ), has shown the wide spread of the theme both in early Indian literature (though probably there derived from the folk) and in modern European folk literature.

Professor Benfey demonstrated in his detailed study that the Clever Lass theme was widespread in ancient Indian texts (likely from oral tradition) and later in modern European folklore.

_Emphasizes the scholarly tracing of this motif across cultures and time periods._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/indian_fairy_tales_se/chapters/xxiv-why-the-fish-laughed
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/indian_fairy_tales_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/indian_fairy_tales_se/chapters