A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE SANSKRIT, TAMIL, THAI AND ...

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S. Singaravelu
be displayed in the composition of these works. In other words,
though there may be numerous similar elements diffused among several
versions, one cannot argue that the works possessing the same
or similar motifs are the same, for the combination of motifs and
incidents may indeed take almost any form. Even if the same plot and
motifs are used in two given literary works we may still be able to
observe and appreciate the original qualities of combination of those
elements in different guises. Various motifs may appear in various
combinations and these may undergo kaleidoscopic change. The
incidents or motifs would be the bits of coloured gems; shaken, they
would fall into a variety of attractive forms.
There is also another feature of diffusion and acculturation
which is worthy of note. Though incidents or motzfs of the
common store may be interwoven in any form, at the same time
certain forms or combinations may in the course of time gain
currency as the fittest, and these may be retained and more widely
spread than the others. In other words, some form of the motifs
may be judged by the skilled narrators or composers as the fittest,
and they would survive. The story-tellers are known to have always
been making varied combinations, the best and the most dramatic of
which often survive: a good type of motif, once bit upon, is diffused
widely, though we cannot be so fortunate as to be aware of the name
and home of the combiner or the date of the combination.
Again, with all the many variations to be found in several
versions of a popular tale, it is remarkable that the tale should retain a
definite enough quality to be considered a real entity. This is perhaps
because the characteristic incidents or motifs of the story, though
varied, are still so constant that it is not difficult to recognise their
type in spite of the almost kaleidoscopic variations they have
assumed. It is also of interest to note that the variations deal with
materials handled in different fashion; sometimes appearing as part
of local environment, legend, and traditions, and at other times
receiving local literary treatment.
As Stith Thompson has observed so aptly, the telling of tales
is not uniform in various parts of the world. Like other elements of
culture, tales are not mere creatures of chance; they exist in time and
space, and are affected by the nature of the land where they have been