A Comparison of the Indian tale 'The ass without a heart and ears' and the Aesopian-style fable 'The stag without a heart'

The Indian tale ‘The ass without a heart and ears’ and the Aesopian-style Greek fable ‘The stag without a heart’ are considered to have a common origin. In the first half of this article we summarize the research of T.Benfey, J.Hertel and F.Edgerton about the Indian tale. In the second half we compare the Indian story of the ass in “Kathasaritsagara” and the Greek fable of the stag by the poet Babrios. By comparing the prosodic structure of these two tales, a common pattern of long and short syllables - v - v - - - (- = long, v =short) becomes apparent.