CHAPTER XV
The Diffusion of Folk-Tales
Barlaam and Joshaphat.—The Fables of Bidpai.—Abraham Ibn Chisdai—Berachya ha-Nakdan.—Joseph Zabara.
The folk-tales of India were communicated to Europe in two ways. First, there was an oral diffusion. In friendly conversation round the family hearth, in the convivial intercourse of the tavern and divan, the wit and wisdom of the East found a home in the West. Having few opportunities of coming into close relations with Christian society, the Jews had only a small share in the oral diffusion of folk-tales. But there was another means of diffusion, namely, by books. By their writings the Jews were able to leave some impress on the popular literature of Europe.
This they did by their translations. Sometimes the Jews translated fables and
