A Group Of Eastern Romances And Stories From The Persian, Tamil And Urdu - free ebook by Edward Rehatsek

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A Group Of Eastern Romances And Stories From The Persian, Tamil And Urdu

Edward Rehatsek

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A GROUP OF EASTERN ROMANCES AND STORIES FROM THE PERSIAN, TAMIL, AND URDU.

A GROUP OF EASTERN ROMANCES AND STORIES FROM THE PERSIAN, TAMIL, AND URDU.

WITH INTRODUCTION, NOTES, AND APPENDIX By W. A. CLOUSTON , AUTHOR OF “POPULAR TALES AND FICTIONS” AND THE “BOOK OF NOODLES”; EDITOR OF THE “BOOK OF SINDIBAD,” THE “BAKHTYAR NAMA,” ETC. “Who is he, that is now wholly overcome with idleness or otherwise involved in a labyrinth of worldly cares and troubles and discontents, that will not be much lightened in his mind by reading some enticing story, true or feigned?”— Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy . PRIVATELY PRINTED. MDCCCLXXXIX. Edition — 300 Cop

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PREFACE.

PREFACE.

It has been justly remarked that “the literature of a nation furnishes the best guide to researches into its character, manners, and opinions, and no department of literature contains a more ample store of data in this respect than the light and popular part consisting of tales, romances, and dramatic pieces.” The lighter literature of mediæval Europe affords us an insight into customs, manners, and superstitions which have long passed away; but in “the unchanging East” the literature of the Asi

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INTRODUCTION.

INTRODUCTION.

Man has been variously described as a laughing, a cooking, and a clothes-wearing animal, for no other animal laughs, or cooks, or wears clothes. Perhaps another definition might be added, namely, that he is a story-telling animal. From bleak Greenland to the sunny islands that be-gem the South Pacific, there seems to be no race so low in the scale of humanity as not to possess a store of legends and tales, which take their colouring from the ways of life and the habits of the people among whom t

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First Advice.

First Advice.

“Though the deceitful bride of the world may look at you from the corner of her eye, and may try to bias your mind by her coquettish movements, lose not the reins of self-possession from your hands, because worldly prosperity is unsubstantial as the mirage, and the honey of its favour leaves only the bitterness of deception. When the humái of worldly prosperity spreads its wings over you, covet not its favours, for it will change at last and regret only will remain. Prosperity is fickle, and whe

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Story of Shah Manssur.

Story of Shah Manssur.

Once upon a time there was a man called Shah Manssur, from the neighbourhood of Nishapúr, who lived in affluence, but deceitful fortune had spread the chess-board of hypocrisy, had mated and abandoned him in the desert of affliction. After he lost all his property, he sat down in the lap of misery, and finding all his efforts to better his condition fruitless, he set out for India. When he arrived in Kabúl he was equally disappointed, so he went one day into the bazár, hoping to find employment

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Second Advice.

Second Advice.

“It is necessary to guard oneself from the wiles and snares of our fellow-beings, and not to trust implicitly in persons whose character is neither known nor tried. Whoever walks among thorns must do so with great care and precaution. This world resembles a picture-gallery with many apartments, each of which has its own peculiar attractions; but a man who should spend all his time in the contemplation and enjoyment thereof, to the neglect and disregard of his daily avocations, would injure his o

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Story of Hatim Taï and the Benevolent Lady.

Story of Hatim Taï and the Benevolent Lady.

It is related that when Hatim Taï [30] was dispensing his bounty one day in a hall which had forty doors, by every one of which the destitute might be admitted, a darvesh entered and thus addressed him: “O vernal cloud of liberality! the mead of hope expects to be irrigated by you. O husbandman of the field of beneficence, the aspirants to your favours are in attendance to receive your refreshing showers, and this gleaner from the store-houses of your bounty was by the guide of hope directed to

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Third Advice.

Third Advice.

“Although Fortune may smile on a man,” continued Khayrandísh, “and distinguish him above his peers, he should be provident and prudent, and must not despise the counsel of his friends. He must also be on his guard against enemies, else he will, like Kasharkasha the son of the king of Fars, [34] fall into the power of his foes, and the rose-grove of his contentment will be withered by the autumn of grief, and all his life he will be a wanderer in the deserts of repentance.” Nassar asked: “How was

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Story of Prince Kasharkasha.

Story of Prince Kasharkasha.

There was a king of Fars called Farídún [35] who had a son named Kasharkasha, whom he educated and kept with himself till he was seventy years old. The young prince then, wishing to visit India, said to his father: “Since travel enlightens the understanding and entails experience, it is my desire to wander by land and sea in the capacity of a merchant.” Quoth the king: “Beloved son, I would please you in all things, but separation from you will break my heart, and I am unwilling to part with you

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Continuation of the History of Nassar.

Continuation of the History of Nassar.

After the usual three days of hospitality had passed and Khayrandísh had imparted his counsels to Nassar, he brought forth the deposit entrusted to him by Nassar’s father, and handing it to him, said: “Almost twenty years have elapsed since your father gave this casket into my charge, but I know not what it contains; if you have no objection we will see what is in it.” Nassar at once opened the packet and took out a mirror cut out of a piece of emerald and surrounded with a number of other preci

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Story of the Foolish Hermit.

Story of the Foolish Hermit.

At the time of the rising of the Sun of Prophecy, the glance of an angel of the Court of Unity [47] chanced to alight on the hermitage of an ascetic, whom he beheld sedulously engaged in all the duties of religion; and he was so pleased that he was curious to know what should be the reward of all this piety. Then the allocution reached him from the Lord of Omniscience: “Angel, pray that this mystery be revealed to thee.” Accordingly the angel made his supplication and was informed that the rewar

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Story of the Treacherous Vazír.

Story of the Treacherous Vazír.

In ancient times there was a king of Basra who was very kind-hearted and liberal. He had a good vazír, worthy of his confidence, who assiduously attended to all his duties and was very faithful; but death overtook him, and the king, who was for some time undecided what to do, ultimately appointed in his place a man of great ambition, who secretly entertained a design of usurping the throne; and being in want of an accomplice he bribed a eunuch to introduce him to one of the ladies of the haram.

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Story of the Unlucky Shoayb.

Story of the Unlucky Shoayb.

In days of yore there dwelt in the city of Baghdád a rich man called Shoayb, but various calamities befell him so that he became extremely poor and quitted the country, and his ill-luck followed him wheresoever he went, and in spite of all his diligence and skill he was unable to succeed in any affair which he undertook. One day he approached a river and discovered three men engaged in fishing, and as he had never seen this occupation exercised he looked on with much interest. The three fisherme

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Conclusion of the History of Nassar.

Conclusion of the History of Nassar.

Having thus ended his third example, the vazír added: “As this story likewise clearly shows the truth of my assertion, your majesty would do well to dismiss Nassar to a distant country until the rust of his misfortunes is wiped off the mirror of his circumstances, when you may safely receive him again into your royal favour.” The king of Egypt approved of this advice, and ordered the vazír to give Nassar a thousand dínars and send him away. The vazír immediately sent for Nassar and gave him the

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CHAPTER I.

CHAPTER I.

HOW THREE BROTHERS SET OUT ON A TRADING JOURNEY—HOW THE YOUNGEST IS CRUELLY ABANDONED BY HIS ELDER BRETHREN—HOW HE MEETS WITH ROYAL FAVOUR. In ancient times there lived in Kashmír a jeweller called Khoja Marján, who was very lucky in all his dealings and amassed great wealth. He had three sons, the two elder of whom were of a foolish and lazy disposition, and one day the Khoja said to them: “According to the requirements of this world, everyone must do something for his living. You may have hear

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CHAPTER II.

CHAPTER II.

THE HERO’S QUEST OF A THRONE OF MARVELLOUS GEMS. This elevation of a stranger to the highest post did not fail to excite universal jealousy and envy, and all the courtiers sought an opportunity of removing Farrukhrúz. On a certain occasion the king gave a great banquet, at which the wonderful cock was exhibited, and when the repast was over the king thus addressed his guests: “You have all seen the world, but you have at no royal court beheld a curiosity such as this which Farrukhrúz has present

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CHAPTER III.

CHAPTER III.

THE HERO GOES IN QUEST OF FOUR TREASURE-TREES, AND IS MARRIED TO THE QUEEN OF THE FAIRIES. The king of Yaman again gave a grand banquet, at which the wonderful cock was exhibited beside the magnificent throne which Farrukhrúz had brought from fairyland, and which was greatly admired by the assembled people. The vazírs were obliged to conceal their malevolence, and after giving utterance to many expressions of admiration they said: “Although your majesty’s humble servants and well-wishers are una

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CHAPTER IV.

CHAPTER IV.

HOW THE HERO PRETENDED TO VISIT PARADISE, AND CAUSED ALL HIS ENEMIES TO PERISH. Now the courtiers of the sultan of Yaman had been all the time exulting in the belief that Farrukhrúz would not return; but the king was confident that he would soon make his appearance. One month before the leave had expired news was brought that Farrukhrúz was come back with the treasure-trees on four elephants and himself riding on a fifth. The king at once marched out with his army to meet him, and when they were

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Story of the Lost Camel.

Story of the Lost Camel.

Now there was in Alakápuri a rich merchant who lost a camel one day. He searched for it without success in all directions, and at last reached a road which he was informed led to another city, called Mathurapuri, the king of which was named Mathurésa. He had under him four excellent ministers, whose names were Bodhaditya, Bodhachandra, Bodhavyapaka, and Bodhavibhishana. These four ministers being, for some reason, displeased with the king quitted his dominions, and set out for another country. A

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Story of the Hunter and his Faithful Dog.

Story of the Hunter and his Faithful Dog.

There dwelt in a certain forest a hunter named Ugravira, who was lord of the woods, and as such had to pay a fixed sum of money to the king of the country. It chanced once that the king unexpectedly demanded of him one thousand five hundred pons . [91] The hunter sold all his property and realised only a thousand pons, and was perplexed how to procure the rest of the required amount. At length he bethought him of his dog, which was of the best kind, and was beloved by him more than aught else in

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Story of the Bráhman’s Wife and the Mungús.

Story of the Bráhman’s Wife and the Mungús.

On the banks of the Ganges, which also flows by the most holy city of Benáres, there is a town named Mithila, where dwelt a very poor Bráhman called Vidyadhara. He had no children, and to compensate for this want, he and his wife tenderly nourished in their house a mungús. [94] It was their all in all—their younger son, their elder daughter—their elder son, their younger daughter, so fondly did they regard that little creature. The deity Visvesvara [95] and his spouse Visalakshi observed this, a

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Story of the Faithless Wife and the Ungrateful Blind Man.

Story of the Faithless Wife and the Ungrateful Blind Man.

In the town of Mithila there lived a young Bráhman who, having a quarrel with his father-in-law, set out on a pilgrimage to Banáres. Going through a forest he met a blind man, whose wife was leading him by means of a stick, one end of which she held in her hand, and her husband holding the other end was following her. She was young and fair of face, and the pilgrim made signs to her that she should go with him and leave her blind husband behind. The proposal thus signified pleased this wanton wo

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Story of the Wonderful Mango Fruit.

Story of the Wonderful Mango Fruit.

On the banks of the Kávéri there was a city called Tiruvidaimarudur, where ruled a king named Chakraditya. In that city there lived a poor Bráhman and his wife, who, having no children, brought up in their house a young parrot as tenderly as if it had been their own offspring. One day the parrot was sitting on the roof of the house, basking itself in the morning sun, when a large flock of parrots flew past, talking to each other about certain mango fruits. The Bráhman’s parrot asked them what we

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The Story of the Poisoned Food.

The Story of the Poisoned Food.

There was a city called Vijayanagara, to the north of which flowed a small river with topes [102] on both banks. One day a young Bráhman pilgrim came and sat down to rest by the side of the stream, and, finding the place very cool and shady, he resolved to bathe, perform his religious ablutions, and make his dinner off the rice which he carried tied up in a bundle. Three days before there had come to the same spot an old Bráhman, whose years numbered more than threescore and ten; he had quarrell

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Story of the Bráhman and the Rescued Snake.

Story of the Bráhman and the Rescued Snake.

In the country of Uttara there lived a Bráhman named Kusalanadan, who had a wife and six sons. All were in a state of prosperity for some time, but the entrance of Saturn into the Bráhman’s horoscope turned everything upside down. The once prosperous Bráhman became poor, and was reduced to go to the neighbouring woods to gather bambú-rice with which to feed his hungry family. [107] One day, while plucking the bambú ears, he saw a bush close by in flames, in the midst of which was a serpent strug

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PROEM.

PROEM.

Every praise is due to that Almighty Creator whose mercy has given grace and perfection to this garden of the earth. The flowers, like the loveliest brides, reflect the lustre of his beauty; what power, then, has the pen, a dry and withered reed as it is, to record his excellencies? Thousands of blessings be upon that glorified Prophet, for whom the heavens and the earth were created, [111] and the footmarks of whose Burák [112] are impressed on the foreheads of the sun and moon. From the whole

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CHAPTER I.

CHAPTER I.

THE ASTROLOGERS’ PREDICTION AT THE BIRTH OF OUR HERO—HIS FATHER IS STRUCK WITH BLINDNESS—HIS FOUR BROTHERS SET OUT IN QUEST OF THE ROSE OF BAKÁWALÍ, TO RESTORE THEIR FATHER’S SIGHT—HE SECRETLY FOLLOWS THEM—THEY FALL INTO THE TOILS OF DILBAR, AN ARTFUL COURTESAN, WHO FLEECES THEM AND MAKES THEM PRISONERS. They relate that a king named Zayn ul-Mulúk [114] reigned over a city in the eastern part of Hindústán. He had already four sons who were well trained in all the arts and sciences of the time an

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CHAPTER II.

CHAPTER II.

THE PRINCE DETERMINES TO RESCUE HIS BRETHREN—HE TAKES SERVICE WITH A NOBLEMAN, AND MAKES FRIENDS WITH DILBAR’S CONFEDERATE, BY WHOSE INSTRUCTIONS HE TURNS THE TABLES ON DILBAR, AND WINS ALL HER WEALTH AND HER OWN PERSON—HE TELLS DILBAR OF HIS DESIGN TO OBTAIN THE ROSE OF BAKÁWALÍ, AND SHE WARNS HIM OF THE DANGERS HE MUST ENCOUNTER—HE RELATES THE STORY OF THE BRÁHMAN AND THE LION—DILBAR EXHORTS OUR HERO BEFORE HIS DEPARTURE. Táj ul-Mulúk immediately formed the resolution to make an effort to save

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CHAPTER III.

CHAPTER III.

SHOWING HOW THE PRINCE IS HELPED IN HIS QUEST BY A FRIENDLY DEMON—MARRIES MAHMUDA, A BEAUTIFUL GIRL—REACHES THE GARDEN OF BAKÁWALÍ AND PLUCKS THE ROSE—SEEING THE FAIRY BAKÁWALÍ ASLEEP, FALLS IN LOVE WITH HER—RETURNS WITH MAHMUDA AND REJOINS DILBAR, WHO LIBERATES HIS BRETHREN, BEFORE THE THREE SET OUT FOR HIS OWN COUNTRY—ON THE WAY HE IS DEPRIVED OF THE ROSE BY HIS BRETHREN, WHO RETURN HOME, AND BY MEANS OF THE FLOWER RESTORE THEIR FATHER’S SIGHT. It is related that Táj ul-Mulúk assumed the garb

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CHAPTER IV.

CHAPTER IV.

BAKÁWALÍ, ON AWAKING, DISCOVERS THAT HER ROSE HAS BEEN STOLEN, SETS OUT IN SEARCH OF THE THIEF DISGUISED AS A MAN, AND TAKES SERVICE WITH THE PRINCE’S FATHER, THE KING OF THE EAST—THE FAIRIES BUILD A GRAND PALACE FOR THE PRINCE, LIKE THAT OF BAKÁWALÍ—THE KING HEARS OF THE NEW PALACE—STORY OF THE PRINCESS AND THE DEMON WHO EXCHANGED SEXES—THE PRINCE’S FATHER AND BRETHREN, WITH BAKÁWALÍ (DISGUISED), VISIT HIM AT HIS PALACE, AND HE DISCLOSES HIMSELF. Let us now return to Bakáwalí, whom we left asle

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CHAPTER V.

CHAPTER V.

BAKÁWALÍ RETURNS TO HER OWN COUNTRY, AND THERE WRITES A LOVE-LETTER TO THE PRINCE, WHO SETS OUT TO VISIT HER—THE MOTHER OF BAKÁWALÍ DISCOVERS THAT HER DAUGHTER IS IN LOVE WITH A HUMAN BEING, TOSSES THE PRINCE HIGH UP INTO THE AIR AND IMPRISONS BAKÁWALÍ—THE PRINCE FALLS INTO A RIVER, EMERGES FROM IT IN SAFETY, OBTAINS SEVERAL MAGIC ARTICLES, IS CHANGED INTO A YOUNG WOMAN, THEN INTO A FOUL-VISAGED ABYSSINIAN, AND FINALLY REGAINS HIS OWN FORM. Bakáwalí, who had heard the story of Táj ul-Mulúk, coul

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CHAPTER VI.

CHAPTER VI.

THE PRINCE COMES TO THE CASTLE OF A FIERCE DEMON CALLED SHAH PYKAR, WHERE HE FINDS RUH-AFZA, COUSIN OF BAKÁWALÍ, A PRISONER—HE RESCUES HER FROM THE DEMON AND CONVEYS HER TO HER PARENTS—HE OBTAINS BAKÁWALÍ IN MARRIAGE AND RETURNS WITH HIS BEAUTEOUS FAIRY BRIDE TO HIS OWN PALACE. Táj ul-Mulúk, after suffering every inconvenience, determined at last to leave the earth altogether, and, by the aid of the green fruit which he had with him, to travel about in the air. One day he passed over a mountain

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CHAPTER VII.

CHAPTER VII.

BAKÁWALÍ GOES TO THE COURT OF INDRA, WHERE SHE SINGS AND DANCES—THE DEITY, ENRAGED AT HER LOVE FOR A HUMAN BEING, PRONOUNCES A CURSE UPON HER—THE PRINCE GOES TO CEYLON, WHERE HE FINDS BAKÁWALÍ CONFINED IN A TEMPLE, THE LOWER PART OF HER BODY BEING TURNED INTO MARBLE—CHITRAWAT, THE DAUGHTER OF THE RÁJÁ, FALLS IN LOVE WITH HIM, AND ON HIS DECLINING HER OVERTURES HE IS THROWN INTO PRISON. Indian writers say, that there was a city called Amarnagar, whose inhabitants were immortal, the king of which,

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CHAPTER VIII.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE PRINCE IS MARRIED TO CHITRAWAT, BUT, VISITING BAKÁWALÍ EVERY NIGHT, HIS NEW BRIDE COMPLAINS TO HER FATHER OF HIS INDIFFERENCE, AND THE RÁJÁ SENDS SPIES TO DOG HIS STEPS—THE TEMPLE IS DISCOVERED AND RAZED TO THE GROUND, AND THE PRINCE IS IN DESPAIR. Rájá Chitrasan used every endeavour to make the prince suffer all the woes of imprisonment to compel him to marry his daughter; but what caused the greatest pang in the heart of Táj ul-Mulúk was his absence from Bakáwalí. Night and day he wailed a

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CHAPTER IX.

CHAPTER IX.

BAKÁWALÍ IS RE-BORN IN THE HOUSE OF A FARMER—WHEN SHE IS OF MARRIAGEABLE AGE THE PRINCE AND CHITRAWAT MEET HER AND THEY ALL THREE PROCEED TO HIS OWN COUNTRY, WHERE HE IS WELCOMED AFFECTIONATELY BY DILMAR AND MAHMUDA—BAHRAM, THE SON OF ZAYN UL-MULUK’S VAZÍR, FALLS IN LOVE WITH RUH-AFZA, THE COUSIN OF BAKÁWALÍ. They say that the ground on which the temple of Bakáwalí once stood was tilled by a farmer, who sowed it with mustard-seed. Táj ul-Mulúk often repaired thither to gaze upon the fields, whic

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CHAPTER X.

CHAPTER X.

BAHRAM IS LONG LOVE-SICK, BUT BY THE HELP OF TWO SYMPATHISING FAIRY DAMSELS IS FINALLY UNITED TO THE BEAUTIFUL RUH-AFZA, AND ALL ENDS HAPPILY. Meanwhile Bahrám became thinner and thinner every day; but Saman-rú alone knew the cause. She was constantly advising him to chase away from his heart that love for a person of another race, which could only render him unhappy. “The example,” said she, “of the perfect union which exists between Táj ul-Mulúk and Bakáwalí should not lead you astray. It is a

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THE THREE DECEITFUL WOMEN.

THE THREE DECEITFUL WOMEN.

Once on a time there were three whales of the sea of fraud and deceit—three dragons of the nature of thunder and the quickness of lightning—three defamers of honour and reputation—in other words, three men-deceiving, lascivious women, each of whom had, from the chancery of her cunning, issued the diploma of turmoil to a hundred cities and countries, and in the arts of fraud they accounted Satan as an admiring spectator in the theatre of their stratagems. One of them was sitting in the court of j

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THE ENVIOUS VAZÍR.

THE ENVIOUS VAZÍR.

In days of yore and times of old there was a merchant in Yaman of the name of Khoja Bashír, who was adorned with all good qualities. He enjoyed the intimacy of the king’s society, and the star of his good luck was so much in the ascendant with the king’s favour that the splendour of the lamp of his presence was constantly illuming the courtly assembly of royalty, which could never for a moment dispense with it. The king was accustomed to avail himself of his advice in all grave and subtle affair

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THE BLIND BEGGAR.

THE BLIND BEGGAR.

There was a man in Tabríz the orbs of whose vision were deprived of the faculty of seeing, and the stature of his circumstances had lost the robe of wealth. He went from house to house begging and was in the habit of chanting these verses: One day he went about according to his custom, and having stopped near a rich man’s house, he began to beg, and also recited the above distich. The master of the house refreshed his thirsty lips with the pleasant shower of a gift and said: “I have often heard

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THE KAZI OF GHAZNI AND THE MERCHANT’S WIFE.

THE KAZI OF GHAZNI AND THE MERCHANT’S WIFE.

During the reign of Sultan Mahmúd Sabaktaghin, [252] of Ghazní, a man was travelling from Aderbaijan to Hindústán; and when he arrived in Ghazní, he was much pleased with the climate and resolved to settle there. As he had great experience in commerce, he went to the bazár, became a broker, and was very successful in business. He intended to marry, and Fortune being propitious to him, he entered into a matrimonial alliance with a virtuous and handsome young woman. By degrees his business became

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THE INDEPENDENT MAN AND HIS TRAVELLING COMPANIONS.

THE INDEPENDENT MAN AND HIS TRAVELLING COMPANIONS.

Historians relate that there were two men of the inhabitants of Kabúl sitting in the corner of poverty, fettered with the chains of hardships and difficulties. The thunderstorms and disturbance of the whirlpools of the sphere’s revolution had overturned the boat of their possessions, and it had become the prey of the whale of destruction. They were screwed in the press of poverty and destitution, like flower-beds from which the oil is to be squeezed out, and the pain and suffering of distress ca

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THE KING WHO LEARNED A TRADE.

THE KING WHO LEARNED A TRADE.

There was, in days long past and in the country of Aderbaijan, a king who administered justice and cherished wisdom; the tiller of his equity-loving nature kept the garden of his kingdom always free of the chaff and rubbish of oppression, and preserved, with the light of the torch of high-mindedness and gifts, the surface of the breasts of those who hoped and solicited from the darkness of hardship and destitution. By means of his discernment he became acquainted with the worth and station due t

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THE HIDDEN TREASURE.

THE HIDDEN TREASURE.

There dwelt in Damascus a man of the name of Zayn al-Arab, with the honey of whose life the poison of hardship was always mixed. Day and night he hastened like the breeze from north to south in the world of exertion, and he was burning brightly like straw, from his endeavours, in the oven of acquisition, in order to gain a loaf of bread and to feed his family. In course of time, however, he succeeded in accumulating a considerable sum of money, but as he had tasted the bitterness and poison of d

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THE DEAF MAN AND HIS SICK FRIEND.

THE DEAF MAN AND HIS SICK FRIEND.

A deaf man had a friend, the garden of whose health became withered by the autumnal breeze of sickness, and by it he was laid prostrate on the bed of infirmity, and once went on a visit of condolence to him. On the road he said to himself: “When I meet the sick man I shall ask him how he is. And he will certainly reply: ‘I feel a little better.’ Then I will say: ‘God be praised!’ After that I will inquire who his physician is, and he will give me the name of the doctor. Then I will say: ‘He is v

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THE GARDENER AND THE LITTLE BIRD.

THE GARDENER AND THE LITTLE BIRD.

It is related that a rich man in the city of Balkh possessed a garden pleasant to behold as the roses on the cheeks of fairies, adorned with various fragrant plants, blossoming flowers, and fruit-bearing trees. In that garden a little bird took up its abode and amused itself by casting the fruits, whether they were ripe or not, on the ground. Whenever the gardener entered and beheld the damage thus occasioned, the bottom of his heart was stung with the thorn of grief, and the blooming verdure of

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Hatim Taï and the Benevolent Lady—p. 46.

Hatim Taï and the Benevolent Lady—p. 46.

This story seems to have been written down from recollection of some of the incidents in the Persian Romance which purports to recount the adventures of the renowned Hatim et-Ta’í, the generous Arab chief—a work of uncertain authorship or date. It was probably written about the end of the 17th or beginning of the 18th century, as the MS. copy used by Dr. Duncan Forbes for his English translation, published in 1830, which he procured in 1824, he considered to be at least a hundred years old. The

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Story of Prince Kasharkasha.

Story of Prince Kasharkasha.

The latter part of this tale—where the merchant Sadullah befriends the imprudent prince, bestows his own wife on him, afterwards becomes ruined in fortune, and visits the now prosperous sovereign, on whom he had lavished such favours (pp. 89-97)—has long been current in Europe as well as in the East, in various forms. It occurs in the collection of Persian Tales translated into French by Petis de la Croix, under the title of Les Mille et un Jours (first published in 1710-12, 5 vols.), where it i

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Story of the Unlucky Shoayb—p. 110ff.

Story of the Unlucky Shoayb—p. 110ff.

Was there ever, I wonder, another Shoayb besides the hapless fellow of this story? Not only did good fortune actually run after him and he all the while flee from it, as if the pestilence were behind him, but his very presence anywhere was the cause of manifold disasters! If there be not, however, amidst the multitude of the world’s folk-tales an exact parallel to the Story of Shoayb, there is one near akin to it, from Western India, related by M. Putlibai D. H. Wadia, in the Indian Antiquary ,

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History of Farrukhrúz

History of Farrukhrúz

This most entertaining little romance, which all readers would wish longer, may be considered as exemplifying—if we can allow ourselves to suppose such strange occurrences to be possible—the adage that “it is better to be born lucky than rich.” Unlike most heroes of romance, the troubles of Farrukhrúz are comparatively few and of very brief duration; and even while he is in tribulation we feel confident that he will presently emerge from it, being so evidently a favourite of Fortune. Several of

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The King and his Four Ministers.

The King and his Four Ministers.

Under the title of “Strike, but Hear,” a considerably abridged and modified version of this Tale is given in the Rev. Lal Behári Day’s Folk-Tales of Bengal (London: Macmillan &amp; Co., 1883), of which this is the substance: A king appoints his three sons to patrol in turn the streets of his capital during the night. It happens that the youngest prince in going his rounds one night sees a very beautiful woman issuing from the palace, and he asks to know what business she is bent upon at such

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The Lost Camel—p. 194.

The Lost Camel—p. 194.

Few stories are more widely spread than that of the Lost Camel, which occurs in the opening of our romance. It was formerly, and perhaps is still, reproduced in school-books as a reading exercise. Voltaire, in chapter iii of Zadig, ou la Destinée , (the substance of which he is said to have derived from Geuelette’s Soirées Bretonnes ), gives a version in which a lost palfrey and a she-dog are accurately described by the “sage” from the traces they had left on the path over which they passed. The

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The Hunter and his Dog—p. 206.

The Hunter and his Dog—p. 206.

A variant of this story is cited from a Cawnpore newspaper in the Asiatic Journal , vol. xv (new series), Part II, October, 1834, p. 78, which is to the following effect: A man named Dabí had a dog called Bhyro, the faithful companion of his travels, who guarded his goods from robbers while he slept. He wished to go to a distant part of the country on a speculation in grain, but had not sufficient funds for this purpose. After much cogitation he at length resolved to pledge his dog for 1000 rupí

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The Bráhman’s Wife and the Mungús—p. 211.

The Bráhman’s Wife and the Mungús—p. 211.

This story is of world-wide popularity, and the preceding tale of the Hunter and his Faithful Dog must be considered as an off-shoot from it. In this country the form in which it is generally known is the legend of Llewellyn and his hound Gellert, which has been so finely versified by Spencer. I have adduced many variants of the story in the Appendix to my Book of Sindibád , and have treated it still more fully in my Popular Tales and Fictions , vol. ii. pp. 166-186, where, besides versions foun

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The Faithless Wife and the Ungrateful Blind Man—p. 215.

The Faithless Wife and the Ungrateful Blind Man—p. 215.

Two very bad characters, and the less my readers have to do with such, the better for their own peace of mind, I trow!—There is a tale in the Kathá Sarit Ságara of a woman who cruelly abandoned her helpless husband in the jangal , and went off with a lusty young fellow, but I am unable to say in which chapter of that most valuable and entertaining collection it occurs, though I made a special search for it. As a set-off to the faithless wife of the blind man—who afterwards proves to be himself a

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The Wonderful Mango Fruit—p. 220.

The Wonderful Mango Fruit—p. 220.

Analogues of this story are found in a Canarese collection entitled Kathá Manjarí , with a magpie in place of a parrot as the bearer of the youth-renewing fruit, and in the Tútí Náma (or Parrot-Book) of Nakhshabí, a work written A.D. 1329, which has not yet been completely translated into English, and is now generally known from Káderi’s abridgment. Fruits having the property of restoring the youth and vigour of those who ate of them figure in many Asiatic stories—there is a notable instance in

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The Poisoned Food—p. 226.

The Poisoned Food—p. 226.

This is the third instance in the romance of food being poisoned by serpents, and it is of very common occurrence in Eastern fictions. The oldest known form of the story is found in a Sanskrit collection entitled Vetálapanchavinsati , or Twenty-five (Tales) of a Vetála, or Vampyre, which is given fully in the Appendix to my Book of Sindibád , and the story occurs in all the Eastern texts of the Sindibád cycle. This Tamil version is peculiar in representing an old man as falling a victim to the p

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The Rescued Snake—p. 231.

The Rescued Snake—p. 231.

With an important difference, this tale resembles that of the Bráhman and the Lion, p. 254 , which is a variant of the world-wide fable of the Hunter and the Serpent—the difference being that in this case the snake ultimately rewards its rescuer. In the story of Nala and Damayanti, the rájá rescues a snake from a jangal fire and carries it some distance and is about to set it down when the snake says: “Carry me ten steps farther, and count them as you go.” So Nala proceeds, counting the steps—on

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The Rose of Bakáwalí.

The Rose of Bakáwalí.

In the Introduction to the present collection will be found the few particulars which are known regarding this romance and its original Persian author. There is, I think, strong evidence of its being of Hindú extraction. In the absence of any similar work in Sanskrit or one of the vernacular languages of India, we can only suppose that the author of the Gul-i Bakáwalí drew his materials from various and more or less distinct, or separate, fictions; and this supposition seems fully borne out by t

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The Three Deceitful Women—p. 355.

The Three Deceitful Women—p. 355.

Page 357 —The crafty mother of the bathman is said to have “practised for years under the sorceress Shamsah”; probably the witch of the same name who figures in the story of Táhir, an extract of which will be found in pp. 494, 495 . Page 370 —The story of ‘The Sun and the Moon’ ( Mihr ú Máh ), which the carpenter brags that he knows, is probably the Persian romance of Mihr, the son of Káhvar Sháh, described in Dr. Rieu’s Catalogue of Persian Manuscripts in the British Museum , vol. ii, p. 765 (A

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The Kázi and the Merchant’s Wife—p. 414.

The Kázi and the Merchant’s Wife—p. 414.

The latter part of this story will at once remind the reader of the tale of Alí Khoja and the Merchant of Baghdád in our common English version of the Arabian Nights , [302] in which Alí Khoja, before setting out on the pilgrimage to Makka, places a thousand gold pieces in a jar and fills it up with olives, and gives it into the custody of a merchant with whom he was intimate, as a jar of olives merely; and the merchant after the Khoja had prolonged his absence far beyond the usual time opened t

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The Hidden Treasure—p. 442.

The Hidden Treasure—p. 442.

The indirect source of this story is probably the following tale, from the Kathá Sarit Ságara , vol. i, p. 298, of Prof. C. H. Tawney’s translation, published at Calcutta a few years ago: There is a city named Srávastí, and in it there lived in old time a king of the name of Prasenajit, and one day a strange Bráhman arrived in that city. A merchant, thinking he was virtuous because he lived on rice in the husk, provided him a lodging there in the house of a Bráhman. There he was loaded by him ev

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The Deaf Man and his Sick Friend—p. 446.

The Deaf Man and his Sick Friend—p. 446.

Readers who are not familiar with the Kurán may like to see in English the Muslim “Lord’s Prayer,” called Al-Fátihá , which the Deaf Man recited in presence of his sick friend, so this is it, from Rodwell’s translation, p. 11: This sura is esteemed as the quintessence of the Kurán, and is recited several times in the course of each of the five daily prayers, and on many other occasions. It is well known that men afflicted with partial deafness are generally unwilling to acknowledge their infirmi

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The Gardener and the Little Bird—p. 448.

The Gardener and the Little Bird—p. 448.

In mediæval times the ancient fable of the Fowler and the Little Bird was appropriated by several monkish compilers of exempla , designed for the use of preachers; but this version is unique, so far as my knowledge of other forms of the fable extends. It has, exclusively, the scene between the lapwing and the nightingale; the references to the Muslim legend of Solomon’s receiving from a lapwing, or hoopoe, intelligence of the city of Sabá (or Sheba) and Queen Bilkís; and the allegation of the ni

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ADDITIONAL NOTES.

ADDITIONAL NOTES.

Page 206 —Five hundred pons. —It is possible that pon , like hun, is another name of a pagoda, a gold coin of the value of 3½ rupís, which has not been coined in the mints of India since the early part of this century. Page 212 —The Want of Children. —In the note on this subject I omitted to include Hannah, mother of Samuel, the illustrious Hebrew seer (First Book of Samuel, ch. i, v, 9-11, and 20).—Asiatics consider a son as the “light,” or the “lamp,” of the household; and so it is said of a k

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