The sun., 1900-06-17

IIohncWOrh Oi ttie DOOh, tntiuCu oSphiu
ton OF Friends" is the story Of bull and a
lion who are introduced TO one another In a
forest by two jackals and become fast friends.
One Of the Jackals, feeling himself neglected.
starts an intrigue by telling both the lion and
the bull that each is plotting against the other.
As a result. the bull II killed in battle with
the lion. and the mendacious jackal. a. prime
minister Of the latter enjoys the fruits Of his
Vaccinations. The main story Of the second
book. which Is called Acquisition of Friend.
deals with the adventures Of tortoise, deer.
a crow nnd mouse The third book. called
I The War OF the Crows and the Owls" points
out the danger Of friendship concluded be-
tween those who have been old enemies. The
fourth book. entitled Loss Of What Has Been
Acquired. illustrates by the main story Of the
monkey and the crocodile how fools can be
made by fattery to part with their possessions.
The NTH book, entitled "Inconsiderate Action"
contains number Of stories connected with
the experiences Of barber who came 10 grief
through failing to take into consideration all
the circumstances Of particular cases.
Tho book is pervaded by quaint humor
which transfers TO the animal kingdom all
sorts Of human motives and acts Thus. ami
mails devote themselves 10 the study Of the
Nedas and to the practice OF religious rites;
they engage in dlsQuisitions about God. saints
and heroes or exchange views regarding
subtle rules Of ethics unexpectedly however.
their fierce animal nature will break out. A
pous cat. for instance. called upon to act as
umpire, In disput' between a sparrow and
monkey, inspires such confidence In the litigants
by long discourse on the vanity OF life and the
supreme importance Of virtue that they come
close up In order 10 hear better the words Of
wisdom. In an instant the cat overcome by
temptation, seizes one OF the disputants with
his claws, tho other with his teeth. and devours
them both. Sufficiently humorous s the story
Of conoeited musical donkey. Trespassing
one moonlight night In cucumber field he
feels impelled TO sing. and answers the objec-
tions of his friend the jackal by lecture on the
charms Of music He then begins to bray,
arouses the Waterman and receives a sound
drnhbing With abundant irony and satire
various human vices are exposed. among
others the hypocrisy and avarioe Of
Brahmans. the intriguing character Of cour-
tiers and the faithlessness OF women. Avigo--
Gus popular spirit OF reaction against Brahma
pretentions finds expression and altogether y
sound and healthy view Of lfo prevails.
To serve as specimen Of the style Of the Pan
| chatantra," the author Of the book before us
offers translation OF a short fable: There
was in a certain forest region herd OF mon
keys. Once in the winter season. when their
bodies were shivering from contact with the
cold wind and were buffeted with torrents Of
rain. they could find no rest So some Of the
| monkeys. collecting gunja berries. which are
like sparks. stood round blowing in order TO
| obtain fire. Now bird named Needlebeak
seeing this vain endeavor Of theirs. exclaimed
Ho. you are all great fools these are not sparks
OF fire, they ara gun ia berries. Why, therefore,
this vain endeavor? You will never protec t
| yourselves against the cold in this way. You
had better look for spot In the forest which is
sheltered from the wind, or cave or cleft in
the mountains, Even now mighty rain clouds
are appearing Thereupon an old monkey
among them said; 'Ho, what business Of yours
is this? Be OF. There is a saying
A man Of judg ment who desires
III, own iccess should not accost
One constantly disturbed in work
Or Gamblers who have lost at play.
And another
Who Joins in conversation with
hunter who has chased In vain,
Or with fool who has become
Involved In ruin, comes TO grief
"The bird. however. without paying any at
tention TO him. continually said to the monkeys.
Ho. why this vain endeavor?' So as he did not
for moment cease to chatter. one of the mon
keys. enraged at their futile efforts, seized him
by the wings and dashed him against stone.
And % he lde) ceased. Hence say
Intending wood canno, be bent
razor cannot cut a stone
Mark this o Needlebcasi Try not
Toiecture him who will not learn"
A collection Of fary tales characterized by
a highly Oriental coloring rs the TWENTY-FIVE
Stories OF the Vetala" Ia demon supposed to
occupy corpses). The framework of this COL
lection is thus described King Vikrama is
directed by an asoetic to take down from tree
and convey corpse. without uttering a single
word TO a spot in q graveyard where certain
rites for the attainment Of high magical powers
are to take place. As the King Is carrying the
corpse along on his shoulders, o Vetala which
has entered il begins to speak and tells him
fairy tale. On the King inadvertently replying
TO q question. the corpse at once disappears
and Is found hanging on the tree again The
King goes back to fetch 1t, and the same proc
ess is repeated till the Vetala has told twenty
five tales. Each Of these Is 90 constructed
as TO end In subtle problem on which the King
IL asked to express his opinion. The tales con-
tanned In this work are known to many Engish
readers under the title Of "vikram and the YAM
plre." Another collection Of the same kind
Is the Seventy Stories Of Parrot" Here
wife whose husband Is travelling abroad and
who Is inclined TO run after other men turns TO
her husbands clever parrot for advice The
bird. while seeming 10 approve Of her plans.
warns her Of tho risks she runs and makes
her promise not to 60 and meet any paramour
unless she can extricate herself from dIfflcul-
ties as So-and-so did. Requested to tell the
story, he does so, but only as far as the dilemma,
when he asks the woman what course the per-
son concerned should take. As she cannot
guess. the parrot promises to tell her II she
stays at homo that night. Seventy days pass
in the saIne way till the husband returns.
Now let us note the circumstances under
which these Indian tales and fables reached
the West. We have already seen that one COL
lection Of them. the 'Panchatantra,- was trans
lated into Pehevi by order of one Of the Sas-
sand kings Of Persia about $50 A. d. Both
this version and the unmodifed original have
been lost but two early and notable transla-
tons from the Pehevi have been preserved.