A motif called Fleischpfand (flesh-pledge) is found in Indian and European narratives:Flesh is demanded to be cut away from a person to deliver as compensation for a loss. In Indian stories the accused is a king who protects a dove and the accuser is a hawk who pursues the dove. In European stories the accused is a person who has borrowed money on the security of his own flesh and the accuser is his money lender. In the Mahabharata,1) the Indian epic, the dove, pursued by the hawk, flies into the armpit of King Usinara to seek his protection. The hawk demands the return of his prey, but the king refuses, saying that it is his duty to protect all living beings. The hawk retorts that he is also a living being and needs flesh to live. Being on the horns of a dilemma, Usinara is forced to offer his own flesh in order to compensate for the hawk's loss of food. In the Gesta Romanorum,2) a Latin narrative collection of the 13th century, a knight who loves a Roman princess needs money to make his romance successful, and borrows one thousand marks from a merchant on the condition that he will compensate him with his own flesh if he does not pay off his debts by the due date. The knight forgets the date and fails to refund the debts, and now the money lender demands that the knight should hand over his flesh. Indemnity is claimed in a test given by the emperor of the gods in Indian stories, but in a trial conducted by human beings in European stories. In both cases, the accused is brought to a desperate crisis as his life is in danger. He escapes by a hairbreadth and a perfect reversal is brought about. The story has a happy ending. This is in virtue of the character who solves the problem. And the solver is in disguise during the Indian test or European trial. The Indian god takes the form of the hawk, together with his vassal, who turns into the dove. On the other hand, the heroine plays this role in Europe. Willing to help the hero out of difficulties, this woman of singular wisdom disguises herself as a man and takes over the court. After everything has worked well, both the Indian and European solvers resume their natural forms. Indra, the emperor of the gods, wants to test Usinara, who is reputed for his high morality in the Indian stories. He arranges a situation for this purpose. Usinara starts to throw away his flesh from his body and continues to do so. Finally he is about to give up his whole body. At this moment, Indra is fully convinced of the high level of Usinara's morality, and his blood-stained body miraculously recovers. The king passes the test perfectly. His fame spreads throughout the world. Insisting on the legitimacy of the contract which he has made with the knight, the money lender brings the case to the court in the European stories. Worried about the knight, the princess gets into the court in disguise, pretending to be a judge. She rules that the accuser may take flesh but must not take a drop of blood. The knight wins the suit. He gets married to the princess and lives happily ever after. The ruling of this court reflects the Christian tradition based on Genesis 9.4 and 9.6. And stories of the "flesh trial" are concentrated in Christian countries, apart from one exception:A folk tale of parallel intent has been handed down in Turkey.3) Similar in many aspects to the Christian versions, this Islamic version is unique in that it never refers to the prohibition of shedding blood. 1)Mahabharata3, The Aranyakaparvan, Part1, ed. Vishnu S. Sukthankar, Poona, 1941-1942, 3.130.17-3.131.32. 2)Gesta Romanorum, ed. H. Oesterley, Berlin, 1872, Nr. 195. 3)Wolfram Eberhard & Pertev Naili Boratav, Typen turkischer Volksmarchen, Wiesbaden, 1953, Typ 297, Mekke mollasi.

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