An older form of this incident is found in the introduction to a Persian poetical version of the Book of Sindibad (Sindibad Nama), of which a unique MS. copy, very finely illuminated, but imperfect, is preserved in the Library of the India Office:[3] In a village called Buzina-Gird (i.e., Monkey Town) there was a goat that was in the habit of butting at a certain old woman whenever she came into the street.  One day the old woman had been to ask fire from a neighbour, and on her return the goat struck her so violently with his horns when she was off her guard as to draw blood.  Enraged at this, she applied the fire which she held to the goat’s fleece, which kindled, and the animal ran to the stables of the elephant-keeper, and rubbed his sides against the reeds and willows.  They caught fire, which the wind soon spread, and the heads and faces of the warlike elephants were scorched.  With the sequel—­how the king caused all the monkeys to be slaughtered, as their fat was required to cure the scorched elephants—­we have no concern at present.[4]

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In Ceylon whole districts, such as Tumpane, in the central province, Morora Korle, in the southern province, and Rayigam Korle, in the western province, are credited with being the abode of fools.  A learned writer on the proverbial sayings of the Sinhalese states that these often refer to “popular stories of stupid people to which foolish actions are likened.  The stories of the Tumpane villagers who tried to unearth and carry off a well because they saw a bees’ nest reflected in the water; of the Morora Korle boatmen who mistook a bend in the river for the sea, left their cargo there, and returned home; of the Rayigam Korle fools who threw stones at the moon to frighten her off one fine moonlight night when they thought she was coming too near, and that there was danger of her burning their crops, are well known, and it is customary to ask a man if he was born in one of these places if he has done anything particularly foolish.  The story of the double-fool—­i.e., of the man who tried to lighten the boat by carrying his pingo load over his shoulders;[5] of the man who stretched out his hands to be warmed by the fire on the other side of the river; of the rustic’s wife who had her own head shaved, so as not to lose the barber’s services for the day when he came, and her husband was away from home; of the villagers who tied up their mortars in the village in the belief that the elephant tracks in the rice fields were caused by the mortars wandering about at night; of the man who would not wash his body in order to spite the river; of the people who flogged the elk-skin at home to avenge themselves on the deer that trespassed in the fields at night; and of the man who performed the five precepts—­all these are popular stories of foolish people which have passed into proverbs."[6]