Page:Barlaam and Josaphat. English lives of Buddha.djvu/133

cxxvii hairs, which cause him to devote himself to a life of piety.

[Occurrences in Barlaam.—Only one of the Arab, versions.

Indian Original.—Clearly a variant of the life of Buddha, wherefore Kuhn suggests derived from the Kitab-al-Budd.

Literature.—Hommel, l.c. 166; Kuhn, 15.

A wicked king was bringing his realm to ruin, when a sage came before him and kicked a skull in front of him. Then he took weights and scales and measured out as much dust as would weigh a dihrem, and placed this in the eyes of the skull. On being asked what was the meaning of this action, he said, "This skull was the skull of a king, and he used to pay royal honours to it; but finding it insensible, he then kicked it about to see if it could feel contumely. But as the King had seen, there was no sign of resentment in the skull; and he wanted to know if that could be a king's skull when a dihrem weight of dust could cover the eyes, which, when living, possessed all they saw." The King was struck by the worthlessness of all his possessions, and became converted to piety.

[Occurrences in Barlaam.—Only in one of Arab, versions and in its Persian translation. Probably derived from Alexander Romance.

Parallels.— Talmud, Tamid, 526 (Steinschneider Uebers., 896).

Literature.—Hommel, 167 l.c.; Zacher, ''Alex. Magni Iter, 1859, p. 17; Hertz, Aristoteles in Alexander''