Source.--Miss Stokes, Indian Fairy Tales, pp. 73-84. Majnun and Laili are conventional names for lovers, the Romeo and Juliet of Hindostan.
Parallels.--Living in animals' bellies occurs elsewhere in Miss Stokes' book, pp. 66, 124; also in Miss Frere's, 188. The restoration of beauty by fire occurs as a frequent theme (Temple, Analysis, III. vi. f. p. 418). Readers will be reminded of the dünouement of Mr. Rider Haggard's She. Resuscitation from ashes has been used very effectively by Mr. Lang in his delightful Prince Prigio.
Remarks.--The white skin and blue eyes of Prince Majnun deserve attention. They are possibly a relic of the days of Aryan conquest, when the fair-skinned, fair-haired Aryan conquered the swarthier aboriginals. The name for caste in Sanskrit is varna, "colour"; and one Hindu cannot insult another more effectually than by calling him a black man. Cf. Stokes, pp. 238-9, who suggests that the red hair is something solar, and derived from myths of the solar hero.