"/give theft Books : for the founding of a College in this Colony" • mLH«¥an¥^^inr¥- • iLUMRMir • 1 902 KALILAH AND DIMNAH OR THE FABLES OF BIDPAI. &ont)on: C. J. CLAY AND SON, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, AVE MARIA LANE. Catnbrillge: DEIGHTON, BELL, AND CO. Eripitg: F. A. BKOCKHAUS. KALILAH AND DIMNAH OR THE FABLES OF BIDPAI: BEING AN ACCOUNT OF THEIR LITERARY HISTORY, WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE LATER SYRIAC VERSION OF THE SAME, AND NOTES, BY I. G. N. KEITH-FALCONER, M.A. TRINITY COLLEGE, ASSISTANT LECTURER AT CLARE COLLEGE, AND FORMERLY TYRWHITT'S HEBREW SCHOLAR. EDITED FOR THE SYNDICS OF THE UNIVERSITY I'RESS. CAMBRIDGE: AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 1885 [All Rights reserved.} CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A. & SON, AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. TO MY FRIEND AND TEACHER WILLIAM WRIGHT, LL.D., PROFESSOR OF ARABIC IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE. PREFACE. Professor Wright, when printing his edition of the later Syriac version of the KolllaJi wa-Dimnah1, also known as the fables of Bidpai or Pilpai, proposed to me that I should prepare an English translation. This proposal I have carried out in the hope of being useful to two classes of students. The beginner, who uses the Syriac text for practice in reading, will, I think, be glad to have a literal rendering at his elbow, and the student of folk-lore, unacquainted with Semitic languages, to have access to a version of this renowned collection of stories, which would otherwise remain sealed to him. It is true that the Arabic Kcililali wa-Dimnah, the original on which this Syriac version is based, has been rendered both into English and German. But De Sacy's text, from which these translations were made, is notoriously defective, and Knatchbull's English rendering is far from literal or correct, while the German versions of Wolff and Holmboe are now very difficult to get. In translating the text, which rests on a single, inaccurate manuscript, often exceedingly corrupt, it has been frequently necessary to adopt conjectural emendations. A large number of these were supplied by Professors Wright and Noldeke, others by myself2. Nearly all of them have been already published in the foot-notes or list of Additions and Corrections attached to the Syriac text, while a few appear for the first time in the notes 1 The book of Kalllah and Dimnah, translated from Arabic into Syriac. Edited by w. Wright, LL.D., Professor of Arabic in the University of Cambridge (Oxford : at the Clarendon Press. London : Trubner and Co., 1881). - In a few cases I have ventured to differ from these scholars. Vlll Preface. at the end of this volume1. Not a few of the conjectures adopted are confirmed, if not suggested, by the versions. The square bracket indicates that the enclosed word or clause represents what has dropped out of the Syriac text'2. Where possible, these lost passages have been supplied from the Arabic version. Additions made for the sake of clearness are enclosed in parentheses. Wherever I have been at a loss how to translate or how to supply a gap, the fact is indicated by dots. The numbers in parenthesis are those of the pages of the Syriac text, and indicate where these commence. I have prefixed to the translation a concise account of the literary history of this collection of tales. Many readers may be 1 I regret that M. Duval's notice in the Revue critique cVliist. et de litt. (12 Jan. 1885) did not appear earlier. He proposes a number of excellent emendations, of which the following are specially noticeable: Syr. text, p. 24, 1. 8, read a(i)kh for elld.—49,4, vehane for v'hdze, cf. 52, 2.—142, 9, perhaps deqqath sliushdn, 'powder of lilies'.—175, 8, delete the dalath of d'hubbeh, ' although separated from his friend by accident, his friendship remains fixed in his soul'.—188, 11, perhaps no omission need be assumed, the sense being: 'even if he possessed all the good things of this world, he would not find in them more than what we have mentioned (nourishment, clothing, and lodging), except to place them in reserve to enjoy the sight of them, just as those who look at them enjoy them', comp. Bickell's transl. p. 43, 1. 14.—191, 22, read ' al for 'am.—200, 7, the stop should have been placed after qal'tl.—202, note 2, the doubtful word seems to be bdisp, comp. 3(54, 2.—206, 2, by transposing the words, a satisfactory sense is obtained: v'ruhem harbdthd v'teldmthd, lait yciqir ah'mil d'leh narme buleh, 'and he loves ruins and darkness, no respectable person pays any attention to him'.—232, 9, add Setar after men.—248, 7, read dend, ' than Iinstead of dellu.—274, 4, read l(e)nush ella.—277, 17, read : ellci kadh h'bhis, ' the elephant who cannot be tamed except when he is closely surrounded by others who are tamed', comp. Bickell's transl., p. 81, 1. 20.—278, 5, read madhr'khin for madhr'khd.—282, 22, read d'thamdn, 'that he may see where it is possible for him to apply himself to his work'.—381, 11, read aikan Id l(e)nash dsya, 'how (shall a great recompense not be payed) to a doctor...'—389, 5, delete the dalath before m'nihin. 2 In a good many unimportant or doubtful cases I have neglected to put the square bracket, but perhaps the following had better be noted : p. G3, 1. 21 [o« the ox]; 96, 11 [if]; 132, 3 [without]; 134, 5 [nof]; 134, 37 [icere missing]; 140, 31 [not to]; 149, 19 [/>< the house]; 153, 29 [although]; 156, 21 [which z's]; 170, 34 [mauve]; 183, 20 [if]; 183, 22 ; 189, 18 [nof]; 191, 23 [be considered]; 194,3 [pleasant to]; 197, 13 [want of]; 205, 2 [»of]; 214, 8 [he who]: 215, 24 [by]; 211, 33 [to everybody]; 253, 4 [a physician]. Preface. IX interested in the wanderings and transformations of a book which has probably had more readers than any other except the Bible, and I trust that the notices of the various printed editions will be of service to the bibliographer and the libra¬ rian. Where personal inspection was impossible, I have been careful to refer to the source of statements given at second hand. The chief printed authorities from which I have derived assistance are De Sacy's dissertations in the Notices et Extraits des Manuscrits, Yols. IX., X.; Benfey's brilliant Einleitung zur Pantschatantrci, and his introduction to Bickell's Kalilag und Damnag; and three publications of Prof. Th. Noldeke, which, though short, are full of condensed information. The notes contain, besides the conjectural emendations already referred to, explanations of the text where they seemed needful, and corrections of my own translation1. My grateful thanks are especially due to Prof. Wright for reading all the proof-sheets which I ventured to send to a scholar who bestows more time on the work of others than on his own, namely those of the introduction and notes, as well as for much excellent advice during the course of my work; to the Rev. R. Sinker, B.D., librarian of Trinity College, who has very kindly read the proof of every sheet from first to last, and given me a number of useful hints on bibliographical points; and lastly to Prof. W. Robertson Smith for several helpful suggestions. 1 The student is particularly requested, before using the book, to note the corrections made in the notes to p. 2, 1. 4; 94, 38 ; 95, 18 ; 121, 13; 124, 20, 21; 144, 11-14; 19G, 18; 203, 11 ; 217, 12, 13; 221, 12, 13; 237, 36, 37; 241, 38; 248, 15 ; 249, 27, 28 ; 252, 25—28 ; 253, 39—254, 1. I. KEITH-FALCONER. Cambridge, 19th January, 1885. CONTENTS. PAGE Introduction xiii Story of the Lion and the Ox 1 Dimnah's defence 03 Story of the Ring-dove 109 the Owls and the Crows 129 the Tortoise and the Ape 158 the Ascetic and the Weasei 1(59 the Mouse and the Cat 172 the King and the bird Pinzih 178 the Lion and the Jackal 186 the Traveller and the Goldsmith .... 204 the King's Son and his companions .... 208 ,, the Lioness and the Jackal 214 the Hermit and the Traveller . . . .217 „ the wise bllar and queen ilar . . . .219 „ Barzoi the Teacher 248 Notes and Corrections 2G9 Reference Tables 314 {The list of chapters in the printed edition stands at the end.) INTRODUCTION. I. Preliminary Sketch. § 1. Few books ancient or modern have been so widely circulated or rendered into so many languages as the collection of tales known variously as ' The fables of Pilpay or Bidpai', ' The book of Kalllah and Dimnah' Anwari Suhaili&c. A glance at the translation which follows this introduction will give an idea of what this book is. Each chapter forms a story, which is supposed to have been related at the request of a king of India by his philosopher Bidpai, in order to enforce some particular moral or rule of conduct. The story, simple in itself, generally gives rise to a number of minor parenthetical stories, conversations, and sayings. In many of the tales the parts are played by animals, and that as if they were men and women1. 1 In this respect Indian fables differ from 'iEsopic.' In the latter, animals are allowed to act as animals, the former make them act as men in form of animals. This peculiarity of Indian conception Benfey attributes to the belief in metempsychosis, and the exclusively didactic nature of Indian tales. All tales therefore in which animals play the part of human beings are Indian, in form at any rate, if not in origin. As to the remote origin of popular tales and fables in general, Benfey comes to the conclusion that most fables about animals are Western or iEsopic, that the tales on the contrary are Indian. Already at the beginning of the second century a.d. Indian stories had begun to travel East and North. Along with Buddhism they penetrated straight into China, where they found a ready reception. Stan. Julien discovered two Chinese encyclopaedias containing a number of Indian tales translated into Chinese. The oldest of these encyclopedias was finished in a.d. 668. From one of these collections he has selected a number of such tales and published them in a French translation under the title, Les Avadanas, Contes et apologues Indiens, tfcc. (Paris 1859). Similarly they reached Tibet, and thence Mongolia. Anton Schiefner has published in the Bulletin de VAcad. Imper. dcs Sciences de St. Petersbourg German renderings of a number of Buddhist tales found by xiv INTRODUCTION. § 2. Originating in India and forming a part of Buddhist literature, this collection of stories passed not later than 570 a.d. into Persia. The story of how Khosru Nushlrvan. king of Persia (a.d. 531—579), heard of its existence, and despatched the physician Barzoye to India in order to procure and translate a copy of it into PehlevI, the literary dialect of Persia, is one which has been embellished with much pleasing fiction. This PehlevI version (to which a Persian element became added) has, along with its Indian original, unfortunately vanished. From PehlevI the book was rendered about a.d. 570 into Syriac by an ecclesiastic named Bud (or Bod), and about a.d. 750 into Arabic by 'Abdullah Ibn al-Mokaffa'. The latter version contains besides the original PehlevI book a consider¬ able element of undoubted Arab origin. If Buddhism originated these stories, it was Islam which transmitted them to Europe. For while the old Syriac version just mentioned had no offspring as far as is known, the Arabic passed into not less than five distinct languages : Syriac, Greek, Persian, Hebrew, and Spanish. The Syriac version must be assigned to the tenth or eleventh century and ascribed to a Christian priest. Of this later Syriac version an English translation is given in this volume. The Greek version, made about a.d. 1080 by Symeon son of Seth, gave rise to an old Italian one first published in 1583. Several Persian translations were made, both in prose and verse, ranging from about a.d. 940 to 1600. I will here only mention three; that of Nasrullah, the Anwari Suhaili of Husain Wa/iz, and the 'Iyavi Danish of Abu'l-Facll. The version of Nasrullah was made about a.d. 1120, and was based him in Tibetan writings. The Mongols possess their own version of the Vetd- lapanchavinrati (their Ssiddi-Kiir), and of the Sinhdscina-dvatrinqati (their history of Ardshi Bordshi Khan). The 200 years of Mongol rule in Europe opened a wide door for the entry thither of Indian conceptions, and the Arab invasions contributed to the same end. The chief literary vehicles which conveyed these tales into Europe were the Tutinamah of Naklishebl, Arab writings, and probably Jewish ones. The European authors who have preeminently helped to naturalise them in Europe are Boccaccio for the stories and Straparola for the fables. From the literature they passed to the people, whence changed they returned to the literature, and so on. Though very numerous, they reduce themselves to a limited number of elementary forms. (Benfey's Einleitung zur Pantsclia- taiitra, Preface, pp. xii., xxi.— xxvi., and pp. 21—26.) INTRODUCTION. XV on the Arabic: but the author treated his original with some freedom, accommodating it to his age and country, and produced a book suitable rather for the learned and literary than for the people. It has never been edited. On it is based the well- known Anwari Suhaili, made more than three centuries later, and intended by its author for a popular and simplified edition of the work of Nasrullah. The 'Iyari Danish ('Touchstone of knowledge') is quite late, having been completed in A.D. 1591, and is merely a modernised edition of the Anwari Suhctill. The Turkish Ilumayun Namah of 'All Chelebi is a close translation of the work of Husain Wa'iz. A Hebrew translation of the Arabic, of uncertain date and authorship, was the parent of a Latin one, made between A.D. 1263 and 1278 by John of Capua, a converted Jew, and styled by him Directorium humance vitce. This Latin version had a numerous progeny, including translations in German, Spanish, Italian, French, English, Danish and Dutch. I should mention here a Latin poetical imitation of the Kalllah iva Dimnah, namely Baldo's Alter JEsopus, of uncertain origin and probably belonging to the thirteenth century. The Spanish version made directly from the Arabic was written by an unknown author in A.D. 1251, and on it was mainly based the later Latin version of Raimund de Be'ziers (Raimundus de Biterris), made for Queen Joanna of Navarre, wife of Philip le Bel, and finished in A.D. 1313, though Raimund certainly used the Directorium as well. All these numerous versions mark the circulation of the book in the West. To Anton Schiefner belongs the credit of discovering a Tibetan version of one of the most interesting chapters in the book, made directly from the Sanscrit. That other portions of the book found their way to the East and North of India is very probable. For the sake of clearness I exhibit the names of these versions in a genealogical table (p. lxxxvi). § 3. Thus the great majority of the versions of this collec¬ tion of fables and stories are based directly or mediately on the Arabic of Ibn al-Mokaffa', the PehlevI original of which, now lost, is reflected in the old Syriac version perhaps more perfectly than in the Arabic. The striking likeness between the two latter XVI INTRODUCTION. in the parts where they correspond goes far to shew that they are both faithful reflexes of their common prototype. Beyond this point the history of the book is wrapt in deep obscurity. All that we know for certain is that it originated in India and belonged to the Buddhist literature. Whether Barzoye, the Persian, found the stories in a collected form or made his own selection from various sources is doubtful. And further, supposing that he found such a book, it is still doubtful whether it was a compilation or proceeded from some one author. § 4. The history of the Indian element of the Kalilah wa Dimnah on Indian soil has been exhaustively treated in the late Professor Benfey's Einleitung zur Pantschatantra (Leipzig, 1859). Suffice it here to say, Firstly, that the extant Sanscrit writings which most nearly represent that Indian element are (1) the Panchatantra, or ' the five bookswhich corresponds to chapter 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10 of De Sacy's Arabic text1; (2) three tales in the Mahabharata'1, identical with chapters 11, 12 and 13 in De Sacy; (3) one story in the first chapter of the Panchatantra, identical with De Sacy's 17th chapter: Secondly, that the Pan¬ chatantra and, to a lesser degree, the part of the Mahabharata in question are artificially elaborated expansions of that original writing or writings of which the Kalilah wa Dimnah contains a substantially faithful reproduction. II. The Arabic and old Syriac Versions. § 5. To the Dutch scholar H. A. Schultens belongs the credit of having first published any portion of the Arabic Kalilah wa Dimnah3. The part he chose was the chapter of the lion and the ox. Guidi, judging from this specimen, is inclined to think that the MS. used by him was a most incorrect one4. The Arabic version as a whole lies before us in Silvestre de Sacy's Calila et Dimna ou Fables de Bidpai en Arabe; precedees d'un memoire sur lorigine de ce livre, et sur les diverses traduc- 1 See §§ 5, 6. 2 The great national epic of India. 3 Pars versionis arabiccc libri Colailali wa Dimnah sive fabularum Bidpai philosophi Indi (Lugd. Bat., 1786, 4°.). 4 See p. 5 of Guidi's Studii. INTRODUCTION. xvn tions qui en out ettfaites dans Vorient (Paris, 1816,4°.)'. De Sacy's edition leaves much to be desired. His text (unpointed) is faulty in two respects. First, it is not the copy of any one manuscript, but is compounded out of several2. Second, it is based chiefly on a manuscript which turns out to be an inferior one. Noldeke says rightly : ' one can almost say that the mere printing of any bad manuscript which might be chosen would be of more use to criticism'3. That the MS. on which the great French savant chiefly relied was exceedingly defective has been proved by the labours of Guidi, Noldeke and Zotenberg. Guidi, in his Studii sul testo arabo del libro di Calila e Dimna (Roma, Spithover, 1873), has supplied from three Arabic manu¬ scripts a large number of supplementary extracts, wanting in de Sacy's text. All, or nearly all of these, are to be found in their proper places in the versions. See for instance the table on p. 317 of this book. Noldeke in his Die Erzahlurg vom Mausekdnig und seinen Ministern (Gottingen, Dieterich, 1879) * gives German renderings of this story as found both in the unique manuscript of the old Syriac and'in an Arabic text represented by four manu¬ scripts of the Paris National library5. A complete transcript of the text of the passage in Ancien Fonds 1489, with a collation of the three other manuscripts, was supplied to him by Zotenberg and accompanies the translation. Noldeke found that Anc. Fonds 1489, the MS. which De Sacy made least use of, agrees best (at any rate in this chapter) with the old Syriac, and therefore contains the most ancient text, while the MS. which he used most is very much abridged. Of modern editions there are several. They all reproduce De Sacy's text with slight alterations. There is an Egyptian one published at Bulak in a.h. 1249 (a.D. 183f)6; Guidi7 says that he has used an Egyptian edition of a.h. 1251 (a.d. 183§), and 1 The volume also contains the Mu'allaka of Lebid, in Arabic and French. 2 De Sacy, op. cit. pp. 57—61. 3 Gottingische gelehrte Anzeigen, September 188-1, p. C7G. * Printed in the AbhanAlungen d. h. Gesell. d. Wissenschaften zu Gottingen. Bd. xxv. hist. phil. Classe 5. 8 Anc. f. 1489; Anc. f. 1502; Suppl. ar. 1791; and Suppl. ar. 1793. 4 In Camb. Univ. Library. 7 Studii sul testo dr., p. 5. K. F. b XVlll introduction. its reprint of a.h. 1285 (a.d. 186|); and Zenker mentions another lithographed at Delhi in 1850. I possess a Mosul edition, by the Dominican fathers of that place, published in 1876 and freely pointed, and a Beirut edition, published in 1882, partially pointed. In the Mosul edition the coarser passages have been altered. Of modern translations there are three: an English one by Knatchbull1, a German by Holmboe2, and a German by Wolff3. Knatchbull's is a free translation of the original, as he says in his preface. Like the good Dominicans of Mosul he has altered the indelicate stories. § 6. De Sacy's edition contains 18 chapters : viz. 1. The preface of 'All son of ash-Shah the Persian. 2. The mission of Barzoye to India to procure a copy of the book. 3. Exposition of the subject of the book by 'Abdullah son of al-Mokaffa'. (A list of contents follows here) 4. Biography of Barzoye, and his search after a true re¬ ligion. 5. The lion and the ox; or two friends between whom a crafty interloper sows dissension. 6. Investigation of Dinmah's conduct, and his defence of himself. 7. The ring-dove; or the love of sincere friends. 8. The owls and the crows; or an enemy of whom one should beware. 9. The ape and the tortoise; or the man who, having grasped something, lets it slip. 10. The ascetic and the weasel; or the hasty man. % 1 Kalila and Dimna, or the Fables of Biclpai. Translated from the Arabic. By the Rev. Wyndham Knatchbull, A.M. (Oxford, 1819). Knatchbull was a pupil of De Sacy. 2 Calila und Dimna, eine Reihe moralischer u. politischer Fabeln des Philo- sophen Bidpai, aus dem arabischen von L. 11. Holmboe (Christiania, 1832). 3 Das Bnch des Weisen in lust- und lehrreichen Erzdldungen des indischen Philosophen Bidpai. The book is one of a series entitled Morgenlandischc Erzahlungen verdeutscht v. Ph. Wolff. The Camb. Univ. Lib. contains a Stuttgard edition of 1839, preface dated 1837, 2 parts in one vol., marked 2e Auflage large 12°. Zenker mentions a Stuttgard edition of 1837, 2 vols., large 12°. INTRODUCTION. XIX 11. The mouse and the cat; or the man who has many enemies. 12. The king and the bird; or the vindictive man whom one should not trust. 13. The lion and the jackal; or the man who seeks to be reconciled with one whom he has illtreated. 14. Story of Iladh, Biladh, and Irakht. 15. The lioness and the horseman ; or the man who refrains from hurting another, because of the harm he would thereby bring upon himself. 16. The ascetic and his guest; or the man who abandons his craft for another, and forgets the first without learning the second. 17. The traveller and the goldsmith ; or the man who does good to those who are unworthy. 18. The king's son and his companions ; a chapter shewing that God's decrees are inevitable. Three additional chapters appear in some manuscripts, viz.; 19. The king of the mice ; or the advantage of having a wise counsellor. 20. The heron and the duck. 21. The dove, the fox and the heron; or the man who can give good advice to others but not to himself1. § 7. In the preface of 'All an account is given of the origin of the book. Alexander, having defeated Porus ijj*) king of India, appoints one of his own officers to succeed that monarch. But scarcely are the troops withdrawn, than the people depose their alien ruler and replace him by a descendant of their own ancient kings, named Dabshallm. The new king soon abandons 1 The first-known mention of the Arabic Kalilah wa Dimnah occurs in the ante-Islamic history of Ibn Wadih (Al-Ya'kiibl), ed. M. Th. Houtsma, pp. •VY—where only ten chapters are enumerated, as follows: 1. Lion and ox, 2. Trial of Dimnah, 3. Owls and crows, 4. Blliid, 5. Goldsmith and traveller, 6. Ape and tortoise, 7. Cat and mouse, 8. Lion and jackal, 9. Eing-dove, 10. Lioness and horseman. This list would seem to have no value, because it omits three chapters found in the old Syriac version (§§ 24, 28) viz. Ascetic and weasel, King and bird, King of the mice. These must always have belonged to the Arabic. The title too of the 5th chapter is inaccurately given. Ibn Wadih lived into the first years of the tenth century of our era. h'l XX introduction. himself to caprice and cruelty. A Brahman philosopher Baidaba (Bidpai, Pilpai) determines, if possible, to restore him to the paths of moderation and justice. His disciples attempt in vain to dissuade him from his enterprise. He goes to the king and makes representations to him. The king flies into a passion, and condemns the philosopher to death, but immediately after commutes the sentence to one of strict imprisonment. One night the king, unable to sleep, is thinking about the move¬ ments of the heavenly bodies and the system of the universe, and is thereby reminded of Baidaba. Reproaching himself for his injustice to him, he sends for him out of prison and makes him his minister. In this capacity, Baidaba employs his spare time in composing treatises on government, and the king, by following the rules of conduct thus laid down for him, becomes an object of adoration to his people, and receives the submission of neighbouring princes. While studying the history of his predecessors, Dabshalim notices that each of their reigns had been marked by the publication of some particular book, and thus conceives the wish of leaving to posterity some work which will perpetuate his name. Accordingly he commissions Bai¬ daba to compose a book containing useful lessons for the conduct of kings who would secure the loyalty and obedience of their people, and enlivened by light and amusing stories. One year is allowed him in which to complete his task. Baidaba there¬ upon retires with a disciple to a private chamber and dictates to him the work in fourteen chapters, each of which contains a ques¬ tion with its answer. These he collects into one book and calls it the book of Kalllah and Dimnah. At the expiry of the year it is read to the king, who offers handsome presents in return for it. Baidaba declines them all, merely expressing the wish that the work may be carefully preserved, lest it be stolen and fall into the hands of the Persians. The preface concludes by mentioning briefly that Nushirvan king of Persia afterwards heard of the book, and by means of the physician Barz5ye obtained a copy which he deposited among the royal treasures. The reputed author of this preface Noldeke would identify with ' All ibn Muhammad ibn Shah al-Tahirl, a frivolous writer and a descendant of Shah ibn Mikal who died a.h. 3021. But 1 Miiusclioniri, p. 6: referring to the Fihrist, p. 153. INTRODUCTION. XXI whoever the author was, it did not gain admission into Arabic manuscripts until late. For not only is it wanting in some of these, but.it is absent from all the off-shoots of the Arabic version. It no doubt owes its existence to the wish to give some account of so celebrated a book, and should be classed with the introduction to the Panchatantra1 and to that pre¬ fixed to the Anwari Suhaili. It is based on a fabulous con¬ nection between king Dabshalim, known to them solely through the Kalllah iva Dimnah, and Porus, familiar to them as a contemporary of Alexander the Great, not so much from history as from the mass of popular traditions about the latter. Such is Benfey's account of this chapter2. § 8. The contents of the second chapter are briefly as follows. Nushlrvan king of Persia, having heard that there exists in India a book containing every kind of instruction, directs his vizir Buzurjmihr to find a man of literary ability and zeal, acquainted with Indian and Persian. The vizir selects Barzdye3. The latter then receives the order to procure the book, which is supposed to be in the library of the king of India. Arriving in India, he meets with great difficulties, but at last makes friends with a certain Indian through whose assistance he obtains not only the book he is seeking for but also other works of great value. BarzSye works day and night translating the book into Persian, fearing lest the king of India may ask for it. This done, he returns home. A large assembly is convened, and the book is read aloud. It is universally admired. The king offers him the costliest presents, but he declines them all except a robe, asking however that the king may command his vizir to write a short account of his (Barzoye's) life, to be placed before the chapter of the Lion and the Ox, that is at the commencement of the book proper. His 1 Benfey's Pantschatantra, pp. 1—3. s Benfey's Einleitung zur Pantsch. pp. 54, 55. 3 Persian authors write the termination. Oye, or The pronuncia- tion prescribed by Arab grammarians, namely awaihi should probably be rejected as pedantic. So Niildeke in the Z. D. M. G. xxx., p. 753. See further Olshausen in the Monatsbericht der k. Akad. der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, 16 June, 1881; and De Lagarde in the Gottingische gelehrte Anzcigen for 1883, pp. 7ft7—700. XXII INTRODUCTION. request is granted. The vizir retires and writes tlie history of Barzdye ' from the period when he first frequented the schools; describes how he journeyed to India for the purpose of extending his knowledge in chemistry and medicine, and learnt the lan¬ guage of the country, bringing the story of his life down to the time when Nu shir van sent him thither in search of the book; and takes care to omit nothing that can illustrate all the good qualities which Barzoye possessed.' The history, when finished, is read aloud to an assembly of nobles and courtiers. Such is the substance of this chapter as found in De Sacy's edition, in the Persian of Nasrullah, and in the Greek of Symeon Seth. It is not represented in the later Syriac version, and of course not in the old Syriac. In the remaining offshoots of the Arabic, it appears in a different place and in a different form. The Hebrew version, reflected in John of Capua's Latin1, the old Spanish, and Raimund's Latin (a compound of the first two2), all place it after De Sacy's 3rd chapter, which in these versions heads the book. In the Directorium De Sacy's 3rd and 2nd chapters together form the Prologue, after which come the words ' Explicit Prologus. Incipit liber.' De Sacy's 4th chapter (Biography of Barz5ye) comes next as first chapter, after which his order is preserved throughout (except that his 13th chapter is placed after the 16th). Since in the Hebrew version the 3rd chapter corresponds to De Sacy's 6th, the first chapter must have.been De Sacy's 4th, and De Sacy's 3rd and 2nd no doubt together formed the prologue, just as in the Directorium. In the old Spanish and in Raimund's Latin, the chapters follow precisely the same order as in the Directorium. Only in the old Spanish the Prologue corresponds to De Sacy's third chapter alone, the first chapter being his fourth, the second his fifth, and so on; while in Raimund's Latin there is no prologue at all, his first chapter being De Sacy's third, his second De Sacy's second, and so on. The substance of the chapter too is very different in these versions, and agrees with Firdausl's account in the section of the Shah-namah which he has devoted to describing the acquisi- 1 Unfortunately the unique MS. of the Hebrew version is mutilated and only begins in the middle of its third chapter ( = De Sacy's 6th). 2 See § 54. INTRODUCTION. XX111 tion of the Kalllah wa Dimnah. According to this form of the story it is not the Persian king who hears of an Indian book and procures it with difficulty, bat the physician Barzoye wrho reads in some book that in India are high mountains on which certain trees and plants grow, out of which a preparation can be made capable of raising the dead. This information he makes known to the king of Persia, who promptly sends him to India in order to search for them. For a year he tries a number of plants in vain. At length he has recourse to the wrise men of India, one of whom tells him that the passage he has read is allegorical, that by the mountains are meant wise and understanding men, by the trees and plants the wisdom and understanding of the same, by the medicine their books of instruction and wisdom, and by the dead those who are destitute of wisdom. He now procures these writings and translates them. One of them is the book of Kalllah and Dimnah. Since this form of the story exists in two independent versions of the Arabic, viz. the Hebrew and the Old Spanish, Benfey infers1 that FirdausI read it in his copy of the Kalllah wa Dimnah, and not that FirdausI was the source whence it found its way into the Arabic version. He holds that it is older than the form in De Sacy's text, and should be assigned to the publisher of the PehlevI translation, by whom it was intended to stand as a kind of preface at the head of the whole book and before the table of contents, the book commencing with the biography of Barzdye. This theory, Benfey points out, agrees with the fact that in all the versions the table of contents stands before the biography and after the mission of Barzoye. De Sacy's third chapter, the preface of Ibn al-Mokaffac, was no doubt originally intended to stand before the mission of Barzoye. Otherwise it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that Ibn al- Mokaffa' wrote two prefaces, which is unlikely both in itself and because Ibn Khallikan records that the treatise at the commencement of the Kalllah and Dimnah is by Ibn al- Mokaffa, in other words that in his copy De Sacy's third chapter stood at the head of the book. Benfey further thinks that the reason why the primitive 1 Einlciluvg zur Pantsch., pp. 61 sqq. XXIV INTRODUCTION. form of the story was replaced in some copies by the other and longer one, was that the discovery of the book, as. related originally, was thought by some reader to be unworthy of so celebrated a book. Too large a part was played by chance. So he wrote the story differently and so as to assign the book a prominent place from the commencement of the narrative to the end1. How much truth there may be in the older form of the story it is impossible to say. § 9. There is nothing in De Sacy's third chapter (which as noticed in § 8 originally occupied the first place) to forbid us accepting the statement of the superscription, namely that Ibn al-Mokaffa' was the author of it: nor is there any external evidence to the contrary. It is simply a preface explaining the nature and object of the book. Several tales are introduced. They are all fully investigated by Benfey2. § 10. The biography of Barz5ye is of great interest. The heading of the chapter ascribes it to Buzurjmihr, vizir of Nushirvan, in harmony with the account given in the second chapter3, which account further agrees with the fact that in all the versions (except the later Syriac) this biography stands at the head of the book proper, that is immediately before the chapter of the Lion and the Ox and after the table of contents. In the later Syriac it stands last of all. That Buzurjmihr had little or no share in writing the chapter is probable enough: for not only is it written in the first person throughout, but it contains too much about the inner life of Barzoye to have been written by any but himself. Further, the long and detailed anatomical description (pp. 262, 263) betrays the physician unmistakeably. What Buzurjmihr had to do with the writing of the chapter is uncertain. At most he could not have done more than arrange materials supplied him by Barzoye. More probably, he merely lent his name as a compliment. The substance of the chapter is as follows: Barzoye, a young man of good birth and education, conceives an ardent desire to study medicine. Having acquired extensive knowledge of the art, he pauses and considers whether he will live for worldly 1 Benfey's Einleitung zur Pantsch., p. 64. 2 Ibid., § 14. a See § 8. INTRODUCTION. XXV gains or heavenly joys. He decides to make the latter his object, and accordingly treats the sick for nothing, looking for recompense to God alone. To the poor he gives money as well as medical aid. He becomes the object of royal favour even before his journey to India. Finding however that it is impossible to cure a person so completely as to make a recur¬ rence of disease impossible, he ceases from his zeal for the medical profession and resolves to lead a purely religious life. But here a difficulty meets him. There are many religions: which is the right one ? Men, he finds, embrace a religion either by compulsion, or because their fathers professed it, or from sordid motives. He consults teachers belonging to all the various creeds. Each one extols his own religion and reviles that of his fellow. The arguments of none are convincing. He is inclined to devote himself for a season to meditation and research, but the thought occurs to him that the time for dying may be near. Thereupon he casts himself on the mercy of God, and also on the good deeds ' which have gone before him.' In the meantime he endeavours to live as harmless and virtuous a life as he possibly can, eschewing all crime and unlaw¬ ful pleasures. At length he wishes to devote himself entirely to asceticism and piety. For a time he hesitates, fearing lest, having set out on this course, he may not have strength and perseverance to continue in it, on account of the hardships and privations it involves. He becomes more and more convinced that earthly pleasures are empty and transitor}% that human life is full of sorrows, and that the majority of men sacrifice their final bliss to present and fleeting gratifications. Finally he resolves to remain as he is and to strive to become as perfect as he can, hoping that at some future time he may meet with ' a guide for his path, a power to rule his soul, and one who will order his affairs.' BarzSye ends his story by saying that he returned from India after copying out many of the Indian books, and in particular the book of Kalllah and Dimnah \ A lanre number of tales and illustrations are introduced. o These are fully treated of by Benfey (Einleitung zur Pantsch., 1 According to John of Capua, Barzoye resolves in the end, not to remain a physician, but to become an ascetic. XXVI INTRODUCTION. pp. 77—83). The prominent part which asceticism plays in this biography Benfey connects with Buddhism, then in full vigour in India. Barzdye's study of Indian books and sojourn in India cannot fail to have familiarised him with this phase of Buddhism \ The short notice of Barzoye by Ibn Abi Usaibira2 adds little to the information given in the chapters relating the mission and biography of Barz5ye. According to that notice, he was born at Merv esh-shahjan and was private physician to Nushlrvan. § 11. With the chapter of the Lion and the Ox we enter on the original Indian book. This and the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th chapters of the Kalllah wa Dimnah correspond respectively to the five chapters of the Panchatantra3. The 6th chapter is not Indian at all, but Arabic, and first appears in Ibn al-Mokaffac's version4. The story of the lion and the ox illustrates how two loving friends may be set at variance by a crafty interloper. It runs briefly as follows. A merchant has extravagant sons who squander his money and earn nothing. He admonishes them. The eldest son in consequence turns over a new leaf and sets out on a trading expedition. He has with him a waggon drawn by two oxen. One of these, named Shanzabah, becomes ex¬ hausted by over-exertion, and is left behind in charge of an attendant. The latter, growing tired of waiting, leaves Shanzabah, overtakes his master, and declares that the ox is dead. Shanzabah recovers strength, finds pasturage and water, and becomes sleek and fat. A lion, who lives in the neighbourhood and is king of the beasts in that part, hears Shanzabah bellowing, and is very much frightened, never having heard or seen an ox before. Two jackals, named Kalllah and Dimnah, are courtiers at the king's gate. Kalllah is content 1 Benfey's Einleit. zur Pantsch. p. 76. 2 Wiistenfeld's Geschichte der arabischen Aerzte und Naturforscher (Got- tingen, 1840) p. 6. But in Miiller's edition of Ibn Abi Usaibi'a (Part i., p. 308) even these particulars are absent. 3 The order of the chapters in De Sacy's edition from the 5th to the 12th inclusive is the same in all manuscripts and versions, except in the old Italian, where the 14th occupies the place of the 11th. On the Panchatantra and its relation to the Kalilali wa Dimnah see § 33. 4 See § 12. INTRODUCTION. XXV11 with his position and pay, but Dimnah is ambitious and grasping. Dimnah, perceiving that the lion's mind is not at ease, determines to approach him, offer his services, and if possible relieve his distress, and by that means improve his position and his salary. Kalilah warns him of the danger of approaching princes. Dimnah, nothing daunted, enters the lion's presence and makes an offer of his services in a general way. Finding that he has made a favourable impression, Dimnah at length makes bold to ask why the king is not at his ease, and refrains from hunting and amusing himself as usual. The lion only replies that it is not on account of fear that he does so. But at this moment the ox is heard to bellow. The lion out of sheer fright confesses the truth. Dimnah, after soothing the king's fear and telling him the story of the fox and the drum (p. 14), offers to go to the ox, take stock of him, and bring back a report. The offer is accepted, and the account Dimnah gives is reassuring. Dimnah is sent a second time, and comes back bringing the ox with him, having in the meantime inspired him with that respect which is due to kings, and at the same time given him the most solemn promises of safety. The lion and the ox speedily make friends with one another, and the ox is exalted beyond all his fellows before the king. Dimnah now envies the ox exceedingly, and is specially vexed to think that he should have been the cause of Shanzabah's prosperity. He complains bitterly to Kalilah, who then tells him the story of the ascetic and the rogue, or ' Don't complain of what is your own fault' (pp. 18—21). A long conversation between the two jackals ensues, in which Dimnah announces his intention of compassing the death of Shanzabah by guile, and tells two very clever stories (pp. 23—28) to shew that mere strength is no match for cunning. He then goes to the lion, tells him that the ox has treasonable designs against him, and advises him without delay to make an end of him; relating the story of the three fishes (p. 31) or the danger of carelessness and inattention, and then that of the louse and the flea (p. 34) or the danger of making friends with strangers. The lion is unwilling to believe in the perfidy of Shanzabah, and Dimnah only succeeds in arousing his suspicions. Before leaving, Dimnah XXV111 INTRODUCTION. tells him that the ox, when he comes again, will present the appearance of one on the point of making an attack. From the lion, Dimnah goes to the ox, and succeeds in making him equally suspicious of the lion; though he will not believe that the lion himself is guilty, but that his advisers have out of envy stirred him up against his friend. This reflection suggests the clever story of how the wolf, the crow and the jackal brought about the death of the honest camel (pp. 43—47). The ox, determined to face the lion boldly and not to plot against him behind his back, enters the royal presence, naturally wearing a downcast face. The lion, as Dimnah has anticipated, thinks he means to do battle, and rushes at him. Kalllah and Dimnah look on at the battle. It must have lasted a very long time, for before the lion has killed the ox outright, Kalllah has time to administer a protracted lecture, including the story of the man, the bird and the apes (p. 55), that of the rogue and the simpleton (p. 56), and that of the merchant and his iron (p. 59). The lion, having killed his friend, repents of his hasty conduct, reflecting that the ox may have fallen a victim to the calumny of envious persons. The brief statement at the end that Dimnah's treachery was afterwards discovered and punished is wanting in the Panchatantra and in the old Syriac version, and is there¬ fore an Arabic addition, which either suggested or was suggested by the next chapter, namely the account of the trial, defence and punishment of Dimnah. § 12. That the 6th chapter in De Sacy's edition formed no part of the original Indian book is certain. It is wholly wanting in the Panchatantra, the last chapter of which ends by saying that the lion troubled himself no more about Shanzabah, promoted Dimnah to be minister, and reigned happily1. Nor can any trace of such a chapter be found in any of the Indian offshoots of the Panchatantra2. Moreover, however much this may offend against our moral feeling, it is yet in thorough harmony with Indian politics, of which the pervading spirit is a selfish egotism. This chapter is also wholly wanting in the old Syriac version3, in which, as in the Panchatantra, the chapter of the lion and the ox ends without the slightest hint 1 Benfey's Pantsch. p. 121. s Benfey's Einleitung zur Pantsch. p. 298. 3 Kal. u. Dam. Transl. p. 32. INTRODUCTION. XXIX that Dimnah was ever brought to trial and punished. Hence it is reasonable to assume that the Pehlevi version did not contain it, and therefore that it first appeared in the Arabic. Though it is perhaps the least interesting chapter in the book, the author of the later Syriac version has spun it out to a preposterous length. § 13. The story of the ring-dove is perhaps the most pleasing in the book. It corresponds to the second book of the Panchatantra, and runs briefly thus. A certain crow, perched on a tree, espies a fowler coming towards it. He spreads a net on the ground and scatters some seeds over it. Presently, a ring-dove and a number of her companions, tempted by the bait, are all caught. But before the fowler comes up, the doves by a united effort pluck up the net, and fly with it into the air. The crow, wishing to see the end of the affair, flies after them. The ring-dove conducts her companions to the hole of a certain mouse, her friend, who in a short time gnaws through the net and liberates them all; whereupon they fly home again. But the crow remains, having conceived an ardent desire to make a friend of the mouse. The mouse, distrustful at first, is at length persuaded to accept the proffered friendship. One day the crow remarks to the mouse, that his dwelling is dangerously near the public road, and proposes that they both retire to a more secluded place, where a certain tortoise, a friend of the crow, lives. The mouse consents, and the crow, taking hold of the mouse's tail, flies away with him to the pond where the tortoise lives. They are well received, and the mouse at once proceeds to entertain his two friends by giving them an account of the circumstances which led to his becoming acquainted with the crow. He had formerly lived in prosperity and affluence, the envy and pride of many other mice, for whom he procured food. But fortune forsook him and his means of sustenance were cut off, whereupon the other mice turned their backs upon him, and mocked at him. And this was why he had left that place and come to live in the fields, where he was visited by the crow. After they have conversed together yet awhile, there comes running towards them a gazelle, seeking refuge from a huntsman who, he thinks, is pursuing him. The tortoise, seeing him eye the water as if thirsty, begs him XXX INTRODUCTION. to drink without fear, and then invites him to live with them, assuring him that no huntsman ever comes that way. This select society makes a habit of meeting together from time to time to enjoy each other's company. But one day the gazelle is missing. The crow soars into the air, and lo the gazelle lying captive in a net! He flies back with the sad news. The mouse forthwith sets out in order to liberate his friend by gnawing through the meshes of the net. Hardly has he reached the gazelle, than the tortoise also comes up, declaring that he could not bear to be left all alone without his friends. While they are yet conversing together, the huntsman draws near. But the meshes are severed, the gazelle runs swiftly away, the crow ascends rapidly into the air, and the mouse hides himself craftily ; the tortoise alone remains. The hunts¬ man, on finding the tortoise, binds him with a cord and carries ; O 7 him over his shoulder. His friends, the gazelle and the crow, then beg the mouse to devise a means of rescuing him. Acting on the advice of the mouse, the gazelle lies down where the hunter can see him, as if wounded, and the crow settles on him as if pecking the wound. The huntsman lets go the tortoise, and runs after the gazelle. The gazelle retires slowly, so as to induce the huntsman to continue his pursuit for a while. The mouse thus gets time to gnaw through the cord which binds the tortoise, and they are all saved. They end their lives in peace and happiness. § 14. The next three chapters1—De Sacy's 8th, 9th and 10th—correspond to the remaining three books of the Pancha- tantra. The story of the owls and the crows (pp. 129—157) is long and not very interesting. That of the ape and the tortoise (pp. 158—168), on the other hand, is a most enter¬ taining tale. It is too short to require an outline here. The chapter of the ascetic and the weasel (p. 169) is made up of two stories, both of which have become naturalised in the literature of every civilised people. § 15. The next three chapters2—De Sacy's 11th (mouse and cat), 12th (king and bird), and 13th (lion and jackal)— though not to be found in the Panchatantra, appear in the 1 Knatchbull, pp. 216—273 : my translation, pp. 129—171. a Knatchbull, pp. 273—313 : my translation, pp. 172—203. INTRODUCTION. XXXI Mahabharata1, whence they are translated at length by Benfey in his Einleitung2. The story of the king and the bird is also to be found in the Harivanca (v. 1117 if.)- § 16. The next chapter in De Sacy's edition, the 14th3, is of considerable interest. A certain good king one night has eight dreams, which alarm him so much that he sends for the Brahmans to interpret them. The Brahmans, deeply embittered against his majesty for having recently put to death 12,000 of them, resolve to utilise this opportunity for the purpose of gaining political ascendancy, and, if necessary, of taking the king's life. Accordingly they tell him that he has good reason to be alarmed by his dreams, but that, having searched in their books, they have discovered means of averting the threatened danger. Namely, the king must deliver up to them his favourite wife, his favourite son, his confidential adviser, his secretary, his swiftest horse, his matchless sword, his two best war elephants, his powerful Bactrian camel, and last and chiefly, the wise Kibariun. These they must put to death, and mix their blood in a caldron. The king must then sit in this caldron. When he gets out, they must stand round him, mutter incantations, spit upon him, and wash him with water and sweet oil. After this he may return to his palace. By this means the danger will be averted. But if the king refuses to adopt this course, his kingdom will be taken from him, and he himself lose his life. The king retires, falls on his face and weeps, and 'turns himself about on the ground as a fish does when it is taken out of the water,' not knowing which is the worst of the two evils. The favourite queen, acting on the advice of the king's confi¬ dential adviser, goes to him and asks what his trouble is. In a little while he tells her. She answers very calmly that she will be delighted to give up her life to serve the king, but advises him at the same time to place no confidence in the Brahmans and to have no communication with them until he has consulted the wise Kibariun. To the house of Kibariun the king then 1 Namely, Mahabh. xii. vv. 4930 sqq., xii. w. 5133 sqq., and xix. vv. 4084 sqq., correspond to these three chapters respectively. 2 Benfey's Einleitung zur Pantsch. §§ 219, 221, 223. J Knatchbull, pp. 314—338; my translation, pp. 219—247. xxxn INTRODUCTION. repairs. The wise man bids him cheer up, and interprets the dreams to signify the very reverse of bad fortune. Each dream, except one, means that a king is going to send messengers bearing valuable presents. That one dream the sage declines to interpret fully, merely saying that it portends a little dis¬ pleasure against one whom the king loves. In a few days, the messengers arrive with the presents, as Kibariun had predicted. The king, overjoyed, distributes the presents, sending some gold-embroidered garments and a diadem to the women's apartments. He directs his favourite wife to choose either the diadem or one of the garments. She takes the diadem. Another of his wives, who is jealous of her, decks herself in the garment which she had refused, and excites the king's admira¬ tion to such an extent that he blames his favourite wife for having chosen the diadem. She, in a moment of irritation, throws a dish of rice over the king's head. The king instantly summons his confidential adviser, and bids him lead her away and have her put to death. As he takes her away, he deter¬ mines to spare her life until the king's wrath subsides, thinking that perhaps then he may repent of his order. In the mean¬ time he will keep her in close custody. The king repents, as the minister has foreseen. The latter, guessing the change in the king's feelings by his altered demeanour and countenance, bids him moderate his grief and endure patiently what cannot be remedied. He then relates to him the story of the two doves1, showing that a sensible man should not punish hastily ; and then that of the ape and the lentils, teaching that one should not grieve for a single thing that is lost, but rather be thankful for all that he still possesses. Then follows a very long conversation, in which the monarch proves no match for his minister at repartee. As the interview goes on, the situation becomes more and more strained; at length, having taxed the king's temper and patience to the very utmost, he announces that the queen is still alive. The king, delighted, confers supreme power and rich presents on his minister, and promises never to neglect taking the advice of his friends in any measure of importance. The Brahmans are put to death. 1 Knatchbull, p. 331: my translation, p. 30G. INTRODUCTION. XXXlll The long passage of arms between king and minister is given very briefly in De Sacy's text, but Guidi lias supplied the missing portions1. These supplementary extracts of Guidi arc nearly all to be found in the later Syriac version2. The whole chapter really consists of two stories pieced together, the second being a slender frame-work for the long conversation. The first story ends with the fulfilment of Kibariun's interpretation of the dreams. Of all the chapters in the book, this one is the most unmistakeably Buddhist. Throughout, the Brahmans are pictured in the most hideous light. But if further proof be wanted, it may be had in the fact that a Tibetan version of the chapter has been found in the Kanjur by Anton Schiefner3. Just as so many of the Buddhist tales passed along with Buddhism to the cast and north of India4, so this particular story (or rather these two stories) reached Tibet. §17. De Sacy's loth chapter, that of the lioness and the horseman5, is too short to require an outline here. There can be no doubt that it is of Indian and Buddhist origin. The idea that the lioness ceases to eat flesh and lives only on fruit, and that, on hearing from the dove that the animals complain of the consequent scarcity of fruit, she eats only grass, could only have been conceived originally by Buddhists. See further Benfey's Einleitung zur Pantschatantra, p. 599. § 18. De Sacy's 16th chapter, that of the ascetic and his guest6, contains nothing distinctively Indian, while on the 1 Guidi, Studii, pp. 78—95. 2 Pp. 235—214 of my translation. See table, p. 319. 3 Mahdkdtjdjana untl Konig Tshanda-Pradjota. Ein Cyklus buddhistisclier Erzahlungen. Mitgetheilt von A. Schiefner. Contained in the Memoires de VAcademic Impiriale des Sciences de, St Petersbourg. Series vii. Vol. xxn. Nr. 7 (St Petersburg, 1875, 4°, viii pp. of introduction, 07 pp. of German text). The tales are twenty in number, and the last two correspond respectively with the two parts of De Sacy's chapter 14. In the same year with the above, Schiefner had published the Tibetan text of the last of these tales, together with a Latin translation. (Viro illustrissimo Victori Bouniakoicskrj.. .gratulatur Imperial!* Academics Scientiarum Petropolitanec classis liistorico-philologica. Bharatic responsa Tibctice cum rersione latina ah Antonio Schiefner edita. St Petersburg, 1875, 4°, 46 pages.) 4 See p. xiii, note '. 5 Knatchbull, pp. 330—343: my translation, pp. 214—21f>. s Knatchbull, pp. 343—340: my translation, pp. 217, 218. K. F. c xxxiv INTRODUCTION. other hand it does present indications of foreign origin. Such are the mention of eating dates1, and of learning Hebrew. This view is confirmed by the fact that the chapter is not to be found in the old Syriac version. It was no doubt a subsequent addition. § 19. The two concluding chapters of De Sacy's edition, namely that of the traveller and the goldsmith2, and that of the king's son and his companions3, are entertaining, but too short to require an outline here. That of the traveller and the goldsmith appears in the first book of the Panchatantra (our chapter of the lion andthe ox), according to the Berlin manuscript, and is undoubtedly Buddhist, being also found in a Buddhist collection of legends known as the Rasavahinl, as well as in the Buddhist Karmagatakai. As to the story of the king's son and his companions, there is one bearing some resemblance to it in the first book of the Panchatantra, according to the Berlin manuscript and H. H. Wilson's manuscripts; but the resem¬ blance is so slight that it is doubtful whether the two have a common source5. Benfey pronounces it to be of Indian and Buddhist origin6. §20. Thus far have been enumerated the 18 chapters of De Sacy's edition, but the manuscripts present three more ; namely 19. The king of the mice and his ministers. 20. The heron and the duck. 21. The dove, the fox, and the heron. The chapter of the king of the mice is certainly of con¬ siderable antiquity, for it appears in the old Syriac version, where it stands last. It is also found in Symeon Seth's Greek version of the Arabic (where it occupies the last place but one), as well as in the old Italian translation of the Greek version. So far as I know, it appears nowhere else. It has been made the subject of a monograph by Professor Theodor Noldeke of Strassburg7; De Sacy has given an outline of it in the Notice 1 Knatclibull, p. 344; see note on p. 217, 11. 12, 13 of my translation. 2 Knatclibull, pp. 346—354: my translation, pp. 204—207. 3 Knatclibull, pp. 354—366 : my translation, pp. 208—213. 4 Benfey's Einleit. zur Pantsch., p. 603. 5 Ibid. § 104. 6 Ibid. pp. 288, 289 7 see § 5. INTRODUCTION. XXXV des Manuscrits prefixed to his Calii a et Dimna; and Benfey says a few words about it in his Einleitung zur Pantschatantra, pp. 605, 606. The story runs as follows. The king of the mice consults with his ministers as to the possibility of freeing them¬ selves from the cats. He himself thinks that there must be some means of doing so. Two of his ministers agree with him and are subservient to his wishes, but the third and wiser one gives it as his opinion that an evil of long standing cannot be so easily abolished, and that any attempt to cure it may easily cause a great calamity. This view he confirms by a story. But since the king adheres to his resolution, he yields, and his colleagues bring forward proposals. The proposal of the first one, to hang a bell on every cat as a danger signal, is pronounced by the second not to be feasible. The proposal of the second, to go into the wilderness for a year that people may do away with the cats thus rendered superfluous, is declared by the third to involve great hardships and to be an uncertain method. He then makes a proposal himself, which is to act and weave plans in such a manner as to induce men to ascribe to the cats the harm done by the mice, and to exterminate them, not as being merely superfluous but as evil doers. This plan succeeds, the cats are exterminated, and men of a later generation relate extraordinary stories of the harmfulness of the cats. The parenthetical story of the third minister is as follows. A king has a castle at the foot of a mountain. Out of a hole in this mountain comes a great deal of wind. He consults his minister as to how the evil may be remedied. Though the minister warns him not to attempt to do away with an evil of long standing and tells him a story to confirm what he says, yet the king persists in his plan, and the minister yields. So the king causes the hole to be stopped up. Since no more wind comes out, there is no more moisture. All the plants and trees wither, and men and animals are in great need. The king's subjects then rebel, kill the king and his family as well as the minister, break open the hole, and set fire to the wood which had been used to stop it up. The pent up wind rushes forth with terrific force, scatters the burning wood all over the land, and everything is destroyed by the wind and the fire. The story introduced parenthetically in this story is that of the XXXVI INTRODUCTION. ass, who wishing to escape from the misery inherited by his race, attempts to get the horns of a stag as weapons, but is robbed of his ears by the stag's keeper. Professor Noldeke argues1 that this chapter is of Persian, not Indian origin. His principal reasons are briefly as follows. 1. None of the proper names which occur in this section, (except of course those of the king Dabsharm (Deva^arman) and his philosopher Baidaba or Baidana,) can be pronounced Indian. On the other hand several are clearly Persian. 2. The phrase " the land of the Brahmans" occurs. Such an expression would be entirely out of place in a book written in India. 3. It would be difficult to find in India proper such an immense wilderness as the one mentioned. But in Iran there are notably many such. 4. The idea that to withhold the wind would cause the trees to wither has been found in a genuine Persian myth (Beruni, 217). 5. A passage occurs in which suicide is condemned, which sentiment is in perfect harmony with the Zoroastrian religion, but is certainly not Indian. Since this chapter is only to be found in some Arabic manuscripts, in the old Syriac version, and in Symeon Seth's Greek (whence it found its way into the old Italian), it must have been lost at an early period. Its original position was probably at the end of the book, as in the old Syriac. Though it follows the story of the cat and the mouse in most of the Arabic manuscripts in which it occurs, this is merely because in both sections the relations of cats and mice are treated of. § 21. The chapter of the heron and the duck was found by De Sacy in one Arabic manuscript, but the copyist says in a note that it forms no part of the original book, having been added afterwards2. Both this chapter and that of the dove, the fox, and the heron, are found at the end of the old Spanish version, of the Hebrew version, (whence they were taken by John of Capua,) and of Raimund's version. Neither of these chapters is con¬ tained in the later Syriac, in Symeon Seth's Greek, or in Nasrullah's Persian version. The story of the heron and the duck is entitled in the 1 MduseJconig, p. 5. 2 Notice des Manuscrits, prefixed to De Sacy's edition, pp. 59, GO. INTRODUCTION. XXXV11 Directorium "De avibus et est de sociis et proximis qui se invicem decipiunt," in the Hebrew version merely ' Chapter of the birds' in the old Spanish "De las garzas 6 del zarapico1," and in Raimund's Latin " De duabus avibus habentibus tibias longas et colla lonsfa ; et vocatur hose avis o o ' garca vulgariter et arabico holgos2 et de quadam ave quse arabice marzam3 (further on maziam) dicitur habens longum rostrum et dieitur vulgariter moratico..In the Hebrew text the names are given as DftSy (for DVlSy)2 and DTO3, in the Directorium as holgos2 and mosan8. An outline of this stupid story is given by Benfey in his Einleitung zur Pantschatantra (pp. 607—609). The remaining chapter of the Arabic version, that of the dove, the fox, and the heron, being contained in two indepen¬ dent translations (the Hebrew and the old Spanish), must have found its way into some recension of the Arabic version. Besides, it is actually contained in the Mosul edition4 of the Kaltlah wa Dimnah, where it is entitled ' Chapter of the dove, the fox, and the bird called rnaliku 'lhazin5, or the man who gives good advice to others but not to himself.' The heading in the old Spanish version is the same, except that the name alcaravan appears instead of muliku 'lhazin. In the Hebrew version the bird is called simply rendered in the Directorium by passer. Raimund's Latin has alcharam in one codex, acharam in another7. The story is a good one. A fox terrifies a dove, who is perched on a tree, to such an extent that to save her life she throws him down her young ones. After the fox has departed, a bird comes to the dove and says, 'You should have dared him 1 I.e. the herons and the whimbrel (or curlew). Zarapito is the word as given in Spanish dictionaries. 2 I. e. a species of heron. 3 I. e. fjj-o > °f which Damlrl in his Natural History (p. ^ o r) says: ' a sea- bird with long legs and neck, a curved beak and wings tipped with black. It feeds mostly on fishes, and may be used for food.' 4 P • rv o* 5 A species of heron. See Damirl's Natural History, p. v^r- fi I.e. a sort of bustard. See Dozy and Engelmann's Glossary. 7 Notices et Ext raits des manutscrits etc., Vol. x., Ft. '2. xxxviii introduction. to do his best, and threatened, in the event of his climbing up the tree, to devour your young ones and fly away.' When the fox returns, she gives him this answer. He promises to spare her young ones, if she will tell him who prompted her to say this. She tolls him. The fox then goes to the bird and says, 'When the wind catches you on the right side, where do you lay your head?' The bird replies ' Under the left side.' ' When it catches you in front, where then ?' ' Towards my hinder part.' ' But when it blows from every side, where then ?' ' Under my wings.' The fox says that he cannot believe it, but that if the bird really can do this thing, he has never seen the like of it before. The silly bird does it, to convince him. The fox promptly catches him, saying, 'You could give good advice to the dove but not to yourself,' and devours him. See further Benfey's Einleituncj zur Pantscliatantra §§ 237, 118. §22. The Kalllah wa Dimnah, then, is made up of three elements; Indian, Persian, and Arabic. Twelve chapters are of Indian and Buddhist origin (viz. chapters 5, 7, 8, 9, 10,11,12, 13, 14, 15, 17 and 18); three are pronounced by good critics to be Persian (viz. chapters 2, 4, and 19); six appear first in the Arabic version (viz. chapters 1, 3, 6, 16, 20, 21). Of the twelve Indian chapters, five (5, 7, 8, 9,10) correspond to the five chapters composing the Panchcitantra, two (17, 18) appear in the first book of the Panchcitantra, three (11, 12, 13) are found in the Mahabkarata, and two (14, 15) seem to have fallen out of the Indian literature altogether. §23. No account of the Arabic Kalllah wa Dimnah would be complete without some notice of the man to whom we are indebted for this translation. 'Abdullah son of al-Mukaffar was bora about a.d. 7251 in the province of Persia, and brought up in the Zoroastrian religion. His father al-Mukaffa', whose real name was Diiduyeh, had been appointed receiver of the revenue of Fars. Convicted of embezzling the public money, he had been put to the torture, which had had the effect of shrivelling up his hand, whence his name al-Mukaffa' ('the shrivelled'). The son 'Abdullah was a man of great ability, learning, and wit. While 1 He certainly died about 760; and al-Madainl, as reported by Ibn Khal- likan (De Slane, i. p. 434), states ' Ibn al-M. lived (it is said) thirty-six years.' INTRODUCTION. XXXIX still a young man lie made profession of Islamism to 'Isa son of 'All, paternal uncle of the first two 'Abbas! caliphs, as-Saffah and al-Mansur, and governour of the province of Ahwaz in 'Irak. He then became intimate with him and acted as his secretary. Another person of note whom 'Abdullah knew intimately was Sufyan son of Mu'awiya al-Muhallabl, governour of al-Basra. This Sufyan he offended deeply by habitually calling him Ibn al-moghtalimah1, by alluding to his large nose, and generally treating him with contempt. It is well known that 'Isa's brother 'Abdullah aspired to the califate and rebelled against his nephew al-Mansur, but being defeated by an army sent against him, fled for refuge to his brothers 'Isa and Sulayman. These interceded for their brother with the caliph, who consented to forgive them and sign a letter of pardon. The two brothers instructed 'Abdullah son of al-Mukaffa' to draw up the letter and word it in the strongest terms, so as to leave al-Mansur no pretext for evad¬ ing his word. He even inserted the following clause amongst others: And if at any time the Commander of the faithful act perfidiously towards his uncle 'Abdullah ibn eAll, his wives shall be divorced from him, his horses shall be confiscated for the service of God (i.e. for war), his slaves shall become free, and the Muslims loosed from their allegiance towards him. The caliph, on reading the paper, was highly displeased, and when he found out who had drawn it up, directed Sufyan, the governour of al-Basra, to put him to death. Sufyan, willing enough, waited for an opportunity. One day, 'Isa sent his secretary to see him on some business. He was seen to enter Sufyan's house, but he never came out again. How the murder was accomplished is uncertain. According to al-Madainl, Sufyan ordered an oven to be heated, and the limbs of Ibn al-Mukaffa' to be cut off and thrown in one by one. He then threw his body in, and closed the oven, saying: 'It is not a crime in me to punish you thus, for you are a Zindik (' heretic'), who corrupted the people.' According to another account, Sufyan sent him into the bath, and kept the door locked till he was suffocated. The brothers 'Isa and Sulayman, having ascer- 1 Fill us Jtisciv (/) for Jf (k) in sadkrm, we get two almost identical forms: Arabic sadfrm and Syriac slitprm (for s, d, f are radically the same as sh, t, p). Now these two forms, while differing widely from the original Chanda-Pradyota, are yet exceedingly like one another. In both the n is absent, in both dyota is replaced by to. It seems reasonable to infer that either the Syriac form is a transcription of the PehlevI one, or vice versa. Lastly, the cat in the chapter of the mouse and the cat is called in the Mahdbhdrata by the name Lomaca5. The old Syriac has Roma, Do Sacy's text Roml. In each of these Sanscrit I has become r, in each the Sanscrit termination ga has been dropped. This is a remarkable coincidence if the Syriac 1 For an explanation of this latter substitution, see Noldeke in the Z. 7). ill. G. xxx., p. 75G. 2 See end of § 16. The Sanscrit text of this chapter is not forthcoming. 3 Guidi's Studii sul testo Arabo del libra di Kalila e Dinvia, p. 72. 4 Bickell's Syriac text, p. 95, lin. penult. • Benfey's Einlcit. zur rantich., p. 54G. K. F. d 1 INTRODUCTION. and PehlevI versions are independent translations of the San¬ scrit1. Benfey establishes his third proposition, namely, that it was the PehlevI version which was translated from the Sanscrit, whereas the old Syriac flowed from the PehlevI, in two ways : first, by appealing to the authority of FirdausI2 and to that of Ibn al-Mukaffa'; secondly, by showing that the old Syriac contains a number of PehlevI words. Firdausl's account of the matter I have already detailed (§ 8); Ibn al-Mukaffar's is contained in the second chapter of De Sacy's text (§ 8). 'Ebed-Jesu's statement that the book was rendered from Indian into Syriac must certainly give way to the authorities just quoted. For in the first place, rEbed-Jesu wrote about A.D. 1290, or two centuries later than FirdausI and five later than Ibn al-Mokaffa. Next, FirdausI was preeminently well versed in the ancient history and literature of Persia. Lastly, since in our MS. of the Syriac, the introductory chapters are missing, it is quite possible that they were also missing in 'Ebed-Jesu's copy ; and the PehlevI had very likely disappeared by then. Hence his mistake was a very natural one; how could he have known that between the Sanscrit and the old Syriac version, written according to J. S. AssemanI about A.D. 570, intervened another, namely a PehlevI version? The following are a few of the cases in which Benfey descries PehlevI words. In the chapter of the owls and the crows (De Sacy's 8th, old Syriac 6th) we read of a certain lake called in the Sanscrit chandrasctras3, i.e. 'basin of the moon,' in the old Syriac mahoJchani*, a name which Benfey pronounces to be com¬ pounded of PehlevI mail (' moon') and khan (' well'). In the same story occurs the name of a hare. This name is given in the Panchatantra5 as Vijayadatta, ' victorious.' The old Syriac has Plruze, a word surely identical with Persian Plruz and PehlevI Pirudshl, also meaning ' victorious.' 1 For more examples of this kind the reader is referred to chapter vm. of Benfey's Introduction to Bickell's Kalilag %md Damnag. 2 Persian writer and author of the national epic known as the Shdh-Namah (' book of kings'). He lived a. d. 960—1030. 3 Benfey's Pantsch. Pt. n., p. 226. 4 Bickell's text, p. 65, 1. 7. 5 Benfey's Pantsch. Pt. n., p. 229. 6 Bickell's text, p. 48, 1. 6. INTRODUCTION. li In the chapter of the lion and the ox (De Sacy's 5th), a story occurs in which the fabulous king of birds plays a part. His Sanscrit name is garuda, but the Syriac has Slmur. In this word Benfey recognizes the Persian Slmurg, who figures in the heroic lore as the nourisher and bringer up of Rustam's father Sal, and also as king of the birds1. The first and last of the instances just cited also tend to prove that this Syriac version is not descended from the Arabic. For while in both cases the Syrian translator has copied the names, the Arab has translated them. In the Syriac we find Mahokhani and Slmur, both Pehlevi words; but in Ibn al- Mukaffa"s version the Arabic expressions and If then the Syrian translator had the Arabic text before him, why did he represent Arabic expressions by rendering them into Pehlevi ? Of any other Arabic text besides that of Ibn al-Mukaffa' there is not the smallest trace3. § 30. Having settled the question of the origin of the Syriac version, Benfey gives reasons for thinking that, so far as it goes, it is substantially a more faithful reflex of the Sanscrit original than the version of Ibn al-Mukaffa'4. He thinks that on the one hand the circumstances of the Arab translator were such as to induce him to deliberately omit passages, while on the other the Syrian Bud had every inducement to render faithfully what he found before him. Islam was then com¬ paratively young, and hence more sensitive and intolerant of rival creeds, than a religion more firmly established and which had lasted for centuries. This would be specially true of Muham- 1 For more examples of Pehlevi words, see Chap, ix, of Benfey's Introduction to Kalilag und Damnag. 2 De Sacy, p. 126, 8. For .UuxH see Lane. 3 As was only to be expected, several of the instances cited by Benfey in his learned investigation of the Kalilag wa Damnag have been challenged by re¬ viewers. Prym has pointed out that in «~i m (Bickell's text, p. 3, line 7 from the bottom) is not a proper name but an adjective ('imperitus, rudis'), arid hence that the whole of Benfey's elaborate argument based thereon (pp. lxxvii. —lxxx.) falls to the ground. Again, Noldeke has no hesitation in saying that v.jfnn^ «"> V (Bickell's text, p. 1, 1. 8), on which Benfey has a good deal to say (pp. lxxxi., lxxxii.), is merely a corruption and should be read „.0,_U. * Tp. xcii.—xcv. d 2 lii INTRODUCTION. medanism, founded as it was on a very simple creed, originating as it did among a people of no very deep psychical feeling, and propagated by the force of arms. Add to this that Ibn al- Mukaffa' was a proselyte whose sincerity was always suspected. It follows (so thinks Benfey) that he must have been strongly tempted to avoid reproducing in his version anything which might excite the ridicule, horror or suspicion of his brethren. One instance of such an omission is adduced, namely, a passage containing the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, omitted in the Arabic but found in the Syriac. On the other hand Benfey urges that Bud was a Christian, belonging to a people who notoriously held Indian philosophy and literature in the highest respect, (a fact illustrated by the Syriac version of the biography of Buddha in Barlaam and Josaphat1), and also points to the slavish fidelity which was notably a characteristic of their translations of foreign literature. I have already shown that there is a fact which runs in the teeth of Benfey's theory with respect to these intentional omissions of Ibn al-Mukaffa' \ As to the Syrian translator, it is very likely that his rendering- was a slavishly faithful one. But, as Benfey admits, both the Mardln manuscript and its copy swarm with errors and omissions, a fact to be carefully remembered in considering the textual problems presented in the book. After all, such a priori arguments as Benfey advances on this head are of little value. The special peculiarities of particular individuals often override and set at nought the conclusions arrived at by reasoning from anterior probabilities. There is nothing to argue from with safety except positive evidence. § 31. Benfey devotes the last and longest chapter3 of his learned introduction to Bickell's text to the examination of a number of differences between the old Syriac and the Arabic 1 A religious romance attributed to St John of Damascus, once in office at the court of the Chalif al-Mansur. It is the history of an Indian prince who was converted by Barlaam and became a hermit. The book exists in many languages. It has been shown that Josaphat (who has been canonized by the church of Rome) is none other than Bodisat or Buddha. (See T. W. Rhys Davids in his Buddhist Birth Stories, pp. xxxvi. sqq. On p. xcv. a conspectus of the Barlaam and Josaphat literature is given.) 2 See end of § 23. 3 Pp. cv.—cxliv. INTRODUCTION. liii version in the chapter of the lion and the ox (the first book of the Panchatantra, the first chapter of the old Syriac, and the fifth of De Sacy's text). I must confess that the impression pro¬ duced on my own mind by the reading of this chapter is, not that the two versions differ in some points, but that on the whole they are strikingly in harmony. This agreement of the Arabic and old Syriac is a proof that they are both substantially faithful witnesses to their common PehlevI original. Some of the differences indeed are not real differences, but are due to the carelessness of copyists or possessors of manuscripts, as Benfey admits. § 32. In attempting to settle the textual problems intro¬ duced by a comparison of the Syriac version with the Arabic version and its offshoots, it seems that the main guiding rules are as follows: 1. Whatever is found in the Sanscrit as well as in the old Syriac or the Arabic Kallla wa Dimnah should be accepted as having belonged to the original text. 2. Whatever is found in the old Syriac and in the Arabic, or in one of its offshoots, should be recognized as authentic. It is very doubtful whether any of the descendants of the Arabic version have been influenced by the old Syriac. 3. What is found in the Sanscrit, but not in the old Syriac or in the Arabic version or any of its offshoots, should be rejected as a later Indian addition, unless there is strong reason to the contrary. § 33. It may appear strange that the Sanscrit texts should be considered as second-rate witnesses to the text of an Indian book, but Benfey's investigations, set forth in his brilliant Einleitung zur Pantschatantra, published in 1859 (or 17 years before the discovery of the Syriac manuscript), led him to the conclusion that the Arabic Kalllah wa Dimnah (i.e. the Indian part of it) represents with substantial accuracy an Indian book (or rather, as some think, a collection of tales selected from various Indian sources), of which the Panchatantra, the MahUbharata and the Hitopaclesa contain each a part, but that part in a modernised and artificially elaborated form. While there is no reason to doubt that Barzoye's rendering of the Sanscrit original was a faithful one, it is easy to understand liv INTRODUCTION. how that original became altered and enlarged, curtailed in parts and elaborated in others, as time went on. A priori, it was likely that this should be so, in view of the tendency to ' ubertriebene Raffinement' (to use Benfey's phrase) which characterises later Indian writings. It is in the extant Panchatantra that this tendency most clearly shows itself. Compare it with the Kallla w. D. The latter is terse and brief, simple and vigorous, evidently the relic of a hoary antiquity. The other is elaborate and lengthy, subtle and philosophical. Its form, too, is artificial, for the parts of the book which are not narrative appear in the form of poetry. It bears on the face of it the stamp of later times. The sketch of the first three books of the Panchatantra contained in Somadeva's Katha-Sarit'Sagara, a work composed at the commencement of the twelfth century, shows that these chapters still retained at that time the form they had when they passed into Persia1. Since the Katha-Sarit-Sagara and the PehlevI (as reflected in the Arabic and old Syriac) are independent witnesses, this agreement is a strong proof that they are both substantially true, and that the Panchatantra as we have it gives a false idea of its original form as known to Barz5ye. It is of course possible, though unlikely, that he did not take all that he found in the copy before him; which might account to some extent for the absence of certain passages in the Kal. w. D. which appear in the Sanscrit Panchatantra. § 34. It is doubtful whether the source of the PehlevI book was a single book, a connected whole, or whether Barzoye did not make a selection from various sources, a kind of antho¬ logy, or (which amounts to the same thing) found it made for him. Benfey held that there was originally such a ' Gesammt- werk' or ' Grundwerk,' that is a book whose contents formed a complete, connected, organic whole ; that the first five chapters of this book became detached from the rest and formed the Panchatantra; that the next three chapters were preserved in the Mahabharata (' retteten sich ins Mahabharata'); that two 1 Benfey's Einleitung zur Pantsch., Pref. p. xviii., and p. 18; and Tawney's Kathd Sarit Sdgara in English, chapters lx. lxi. and lxii. (Fascic. vn. of the Bibliotheca Indica, Calcutta, 1881). INTRODUCTION. lv chapters were taken up into the first book of the Panchatantra ; and that the rest dropped out of the Indian literature altogether1, What evidence does he adduce for this ? Absolutely none. On the contrary, Prym2 has pointed out that there are facts which make it highly improbable that there ever was a single united Indian book such as this. First, strongly marked differences of form appear in the chapters. The five chapters corresponding to the Panchatantr a3 are characterised by their endless number of inserted stories; the three chapters found in the Mahabharata4, by their simple, didactic, or homiletic nature; while the curious chapter of Bilar5 is strikingly different from all the others. In this chapter none of the parts are played by animals; its ruling purpose is evident from beginning to end, namely, to hold up the Brahmans to execration ; and the very long series of simili¬ tudes is something quite per se. Next, the fifth chapter of the old Syriac0, which is one of the three sections found in the Mahabharata, is introduced by the words ' Zedashtar said to Bisham : Show me how, &c.', whereas all the other chapters, like those of the Arabic Kalilah wa Dimnah, are said to have been narrated by Bedawag or Bldug (De Sacy's Baidaba) to Debashram (De Sacy's Dabshallm). Now Zedashtar and Bisham are merely corruptions of Yudhishthira and Bhlshma, names which in the Mahabharata appear at the head of each of these three chapters7. It is therefore certain that in the Pehlevi version, each of these chapters commenced in this manner, and that the Syrian translator or a subsequent scribe substituted in the case of two of them the commoner Bedawag and Debashram, but inadvertently allowed the old names to stand at the head of the third. In the Arabic translation they have disappeared altogether, giving place in all three instances to Baidaba and Dabshallm. If therefore these three chapters belonged to the same book or c Gesammtwerk' as the five which are represented in the Panchatantra, why are they differently introduced ? Lastly, I may add, Schiefner's publication in the Memoires de 1 Einleitung zur Pantsch., Pref. p. xviii. : Kalilag u. Dam., p. vm. 2 Jenacr Literaturzeitung, 1878, p. 98. 3 De Sacy's chaps. 5, 7, 8, 9, 10. 4 De S. 11, 12, 13. 5 De S. 14. 6 De Sacy's 11th. 7 Benfey's Einleitung zur Pantsch., pp. 545, 561, 575; also Kalilag u. Damnag, p. xxxvni. lvi INTRODUCTION. VAcademie Imperiale cles Sciences de St Petersbourg1 shows that the Sanscrit original of De Sacy's 14th chapter formed the two concluding tales of a cycle of twenty sections, all relating to king Chanda-Pradyota2. III. The offshoots of the Arabic Version. A. The later Syriac Version. §35. The later Syriac version, made directly from the Arabic, was discovered and edited by Prof. W. Wright of Cambridge3. The edition is an exact reproduction of the greater portion of a single and unique manuscript belonging to the library of Trinity College, Dublin, marked B. 5. 32 and lettered Scientia Mundana Syriac, consisting of 209 leaves, of which the first 184 com¬ prise the Kalilah wa Dimnah. A small portion of the manu¬ script (ff. 161—184 and 200—207) the editor assigns to the latter part of the thirteenth century; the rest he considers to be a century or two later and to have been written by two scribes, except a few leaves which were added in 1613 to replace others which had somehow dropped out at different times. The MS. contains, besides the K. w. D., a collection of fables entitled Fables of Josephus {sic, i.e. iEsopus), various questions or riddles with the solutions, a section on the different ways of putting a question, sayings of Pythagoras, and sayings of other Greek philosophers. The text of the K. w. D. in this MS. teems with errors, as may be seen from the quantities of conjectural emendations proposed in the foot-notes and in the long list of additions and 1 End of § 16. 2 See also A. Weber's remarks in the Literarisches Gentralblatt, 1876. col. 1020. 3 The book of Kalilah and Dimnah, translated from Arabic into Syriac. Edited by 1V. Wright, LL.D., Professor of Arabic in the University of Cambridge. (Oxford, at tlie Clarendon Press, and London, Tiiibner, 1884.) The above has been reviewed by Prof. Noldeke in the Gottingische gelehrte Anzeigen (nr. 17, 1 Sept. 1884), and by M. E. Duval in the Revue Critique d'hist. et de litt. (12 Jan. 1885)k Professor Wright had some years before published an account of the MS., together with the text and translation of the first few pages, in the Journal of ijie Royal Asiatic Society, New Series, Vol. vii. Part i., 1874, Appendix. INTRODUCTION. lvii corrections. To aggravate matters, the oldest portion of the MS. has been largely retraced by a later hand. This retracing, being most faulty, obliterates the old writing without shedding light upon it. What was obscure before is now pitch dark. § 36. The contents of the later Syriac version according to this MS. are :— 1. The lion and the ox. (5th in De Sacy.) 2. The defence of Dimnah. (6th in D.S.) 3. The ringdove. (7th in D.S.) 4. The owls and the crows. (8th in D.S.) 5. The tortoise and the ape. (9th in D.S.) 6. The ascetic and the weasel. (10th in D.S.) 7. The mouse and the cat. (11th in D.S.) 8. The king and the bird Pinzlh. (12th in D.S.) 9. The lion and the jackal. (13th in D.S.) 10. The traveller and the goldsmith. (17th in D.S.) 11. The king's son and his companions. (18th in D.S.) 12. The lioness and the jackal. (15th in D.S.) 13. The ascetic and the traveller. (16th in D.S.) 14. The story of the wise Bllar and queen liar. (14th in D.S.) 15. The biography of Barzdye. (4th in D.S.) § 37. As this version contains several of the distinctively Arabic chapters, it must be descended directly or mediately from the Arabic. That it was made directly from the Arabic follows from several considerations. Not only does the translator tell us so1, but there is also decisive internal evidence of the fact. Prof. Noldeke has pointed out'2 a number of Arabisms. Namely O ]]] =j (ilia with ivciw allied), e.g. 0"lX_»__kj ot.1q.LO j]j (p. 189, 23) = A'Jy i!]; the partitive use of in io,Id ooi lAomv ]i_»p ;n » mV); (p. 394, ult.) ; the Arabic with following genitive reproduced by with suffix, e.g. CTljio (p. 238, 5) = ' he who has it' (the illness), compare p. 269, 4 ; verbs of purely Arabic origin, as (used six times, see 1 Syr. Text, p. 402, 4: Engl. Transl. p. 264. 23. 5 In his review above quoted. lviii INTRODUCTION. the glossary) = ' I hope,' derived it would seem from Arabic and (p. 70, 8) 'looking, glancing,' which Prof. Wright C ' explains in his glossary by Arab. , ('a look'). Further^ numbers of Arabic words appear in a transliterated form. Thus 10 > sX) (p. 77, 22) or rather which was no doubt meant, is merely the of the Arabic text (De Sacy, p. 126, 8); (p. 150, 10) is the Ar. ctloo &V)vj (ijjkcm)* p. 16G, 4 and 167, 16 ; (j^), P- 2°9> 215 (jil, a disease of the eye), p. 297, 41; a corruption of i-CXO p. 313, 20 ; , p. 335, 2 ; vjAdcud p. 335, 5 ; and vQ-»l P- 346, 13. In all these cases the translator, not understanding the Arabic word before him, has simply transferred it bodily to his translation; as may be seen by referring to the corresponding passages in the Arabic version. Further, words occur which are evidently translations of Arabic words wrongly read. Thus (p. 169, 5), which yields no intelligible sense, is the translation of^s^s- ('stones'), a mis- G reading of ('holes'), the word in the Arabic text (De Sacy, p. 162, 3)2. Again (p. 278, 17) is the rendering of c ^ c " ('wine') misread for ('ashes,' De Sacy, p. 231, 1. ult.)4. Again, at p. 172, 15, the 'enmity between precious stones' rests on a misunderstanding of the (De Sacy, p. 163, 1. ult.)3, the translator having understood ('nature') in its other sense of'jewels'. Natural enmity is meant. Lastly, CTiA-»?oZ (p. 237, 21) is no doubt a rendering of ('religion'), instead of ('debt,' De Sacy, p. 205, 8)4. 1 See Additions and Corrections prefixed to the Syriac text. 2 As Prof. Wright has observed. 3 As Prof. Noldeke has pointed out in his review above mentioned. 4 As Prof. Wright has pointed out. INTRODUCTION. lix The four things to be feared are debt, fire, a powerful enemy, and disease1. See too my notes on pp. 159, 28 and 163, 8 of the English translation (due, I ought to have said, to Prof. Noldeke), and my note on p. 258, 35. § 38. By whom and when was this version made ? On pages 264, 265, of my English translation2 will be found two passages which have been clearly inserted by the Syrian translator. These show clearly that the author was a Christian priest, living at a time when the Syrian church lay in an utterly degraded state, and when the power of the Caliphate was on the wane. Indeed apart from these passages, the numbers of Scriptural quotations and allusions which embellish almost every page of the book, are amply sufficient to betray the Christian translator. These of course have no place in the Arabic version. Further, our Syriac version must have been made at some time after the middle of the eighth century, when the Arabic version was published, and some time before the latter part of the thirteenth century, the date of the oldest part of our Syriac MS., which, apart from the faulty retracing, is in such a bad state that the text must have previously passed through the hands of several scribes3. Further, the translator, whoever he was, has used a number of rare and antiquated words4, and on the other hand occasionally retained an Arabic word, often merely as a gloss to explain a Syriac word where we should hardly have thought an explanation necessary5. This shows that he was a person whose conversational language was Arabic, whereas he had only acquired Syriac in the schools, to study the Bible and the translations of the Greek fathers. These considerations have led Prof. Wright to assign the version to the tenth or eleventh century. 1 Compare Bickell's text (p. 79, 8), which has "jA.0V-» 5 nay English transl. p. 154, 36 ; Knatchbull, p. 253, 5. 2 Syriac text, pp. 402, 403. 3 If the reader will take the trouble to go through the list of conjectural emendations made on the text of this portion, he will see that large numbers of them affect words not retraced but written by the first hand. These are to be found partly in the foot-notes to the Syriac text (pp. 367—406), partly in the Additions and Corrections (pp. lxxix.-—lxxxi.). 4 Explained in the glossary prefixed to the text. 5 But see my note on p. 215, 38 of the English translation, from which it appears that not all these explanatory glosses proceed from the translator. Ix introduction. § 39. The chief value of this Syriac version is that it sheds light on the original text of the Arabic K. w. D. The Arabic text which the Syriac translator had before him must have been a better one than De Sacy's, because numbers of Guidi's extracts, which are not found at all in De Sacy's text, appear in their proper places in the later Syriac ; as may be seen by referring to my table (p. 317). Unfortunately the translator was a bad one. He did not always understand the text before him, as we have seen ; and lie often gave a different turn to a passage in order to bring out a Christian sentiment1. His ignorance of natural history has led him into other mistakes2. A regard for decency has led him to alter many of the coarse passages3. B. The Greek Version. § 40. The Jesuit father, Peter Possinus (Poussin), when about to edit a Greek manuscript containing the history of the emperor Michael Palseologus by George Pachymeres, found cited therein (Bk. vi. Cap. xviii.) rd tov l^vrfkare Tlapa- fiokuca, as if it wTere an excellent and well-known book. Being wholly ignorant both of its author and subject-matter, he made further inquiries and obtained from the library of Leo Allatius a Greek codex, hitherto unedited, containing these very Tlapa- /3o\lku. Possinus was so pleased with them that he turned them into Latin, and appended this Latin version (without the Greek text) to his edition of Pachymeres4. In 1697 S. G. Stark published the Greek text from a 1 See for instance my note on p. 264, 2 f. of the English translation. 2 E.g. he imagines that sea-water is suitable for drinking (Syr. text,p. 290,12). The text has 'i drink water from the sea.' Prof. Noldeke, in his review, has drawn attention to other instances of similar ignorance, which make it unlikely that the text here is corrupt, as i thought when i rendered ' water from the pool' (Engl, tr., p. 189, 22 ; see Add. and Corr., 290, 12). 3 E.g. see my notes on p. 38, 1 and p. 117, 38 of the English translation. 4 Georgii Pachymeris Michael PaUeologus (Rome, 1G66, fol.). The appen¬ dix is entitled Appendix ad observations Pachyvierianas. Specimen sapientice Indorum veterum. Liber olim ex lingua Indica in Persicam a Perzoe medico : ex Persica in Arabicam ab Anonymo; ex Arabica in Graecam a Symeone Scth a Petro Possino Societ. Jesu novissime e Graeca in Latinam translatus. [Copy in British Museum.] INTRODUCTION. lxi Hamburg MS., adding a new Latin translation1, as he thought that Poussin had treated his original too freely. In §23 of his preface Stark says: 'Restat ut etiam de Graeca versione dicaraus. Earn quemadmodum statim in fronte libri patet, adomavit Simeon Seths Medicus, ex Arabico. Atque idem etiam ob alios libros, quos ex eadem lingua vertit, famam inter eruditos meritus est. Qui quidem si Codici Florentino fides habenda est, quern ex amicorum Uteris allegat Possinus in Glossario ad Pachymeris Andronicum, hunc librum vertit, jussu ALEXII COMNENI Imperatoris. Exstat adhuc ea versio Manuscripta in Bibliotheca et Vindobonensi et Florentino, et Augustana teste AUatio. Extat etiam, quod ex Catalogis patet, in Oxoniensi in Anglia3, in Belgio in Lugdunensi, atque etiam CI. Lucse Holstenii beneficio in Joliannea Hamburgensi. Atque ipse earn quoque Allatius possedit. In manus meas ilia pervenit ante annos aliquot opera B. Ilinchelmanni, ut erat cura Holstenii descripta. Non potuit me turn abstinere, quin statim in Latinum verterem: sed posteaquam rescivi, eundem librum jam Latine ex Graeco redditum a P. Possino, ac Georgii Pachymeris Histories Michaelis Palceologi subjunctum esse: pene me subiit laboris hujus pcenitentia. Sed facile patuit, ubi librum ipsum videre datum est, ita illam versionem exactam esse, ut cum Grseco textu non passu pari ambulet. Nam neque ipsi Possino id in animo fuit, ita presse insistere vestigiis Simeonis. Qui et in prsefatione fatetur aliqua se omisisse, neque negare potest, alicubi esse sua opera hunc librum auctiorem. Proinde quum mereri videretur Grseca versio, ut typis exscripta tibi, Lector Benevole, communicaretur ; 1 Specimen sapientice Indonim veterum. Id est, liber ethico-politicus pervetus- tus, dictus arabice, jJtc grcece 'ZreipaviT-qs xai lxvrfKarr)s, Nunc primum grace ex MSS. Cod. Hohteinia.no prodit, cum versione nova Latina, opera Sebast. Gottofr. Starkii (Berlin, 1697, 8°). [Copy in British Museum.] The Greek text has been reprinted at Athens (1851, 8°). 2 For information as to Symeon and his writings see Leo Allatius in his De Symeonum scriptis diatriba (Paris, 1GG4), pp. 181—184 ; and De Sacy in the Memo ire historique prefixed to his Calila et Dimna, p. 31. 3 There are at least three manuscripts of the old Greek version in the Bodleian Library. One belongs to the Barocci collection (no. 131, extending from fol. 5076 to 523b), another to the Laudian collection (no. 8), while the third is classed among the miscellaneous Greek manuscripts (no. 272). [Coxe's catalogue of the Greek MSS. in the Bod. Lib.] lxii INTRODUCTION. quae etiam in aula Imperatorum Grajorum ita celebrata fuit, ut Michael Paloeologus in frequenti suorum concilio ad eandem, ut omnibus satis notam, provocaret, ut narrat Pachymeres: eidem non dubitavimus adjungere hanc novam nostram Latinam, ut quantum fieri posset, in utraque lingua sibi esset liber quam simillimus.' In §25 he says: 'De caetero...monendum est in Possino tria Prolegomena adesse quoe a Grseco Codice nostro abfuerunt.' Stark's text contains 15 chapters. The first thirteen correspond respectively to De Sacy's chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, and 15 ; the fourteenth is the chapter of the king of the mice; and the last chapter is De Sacy's 16th. The missing 'Prolegomena* were edited in 1780 by Aurivillius from an Upsala codex1. They consist of three sections (Auriv., pp. 1—22; 22—33; 33—44) corresponding re¬ spectively to De Sacy's chapters 2, 3, and 4. Aurivillius has appended to his edition a number of specimen readings from the rest of the codex. The ' Prolegomena' have been re- edited recently by V. Puntoni in his Directorium humance vitce .. .accedunt Prolegomena tria ad Libram %Te(f)aviTr)<; Kai l^vrjXa- Tt]v Karcov2. In the case of proper names, Simeon has often substituted others of his own inventing. ZTeai>/T?7? was suggested by the resemblance of Kalllali to the Arabic I kill ('crown'), 1 Prolegomena ad librum: ZrecpaviTrjs Kai Ix"V^aTVS e c°d. viscr. biblioth. Acad. Upsal. edita et latine versa, dissertatione academica, quam.. .Prccside Mag. Johanne Flodero...publico examini modeste submittit Petrus Fabriav. Aurivillius (&c. (Upsala, 1780, 4°.) [Copy in the British Museum.] The first 'prolego¬ menon ' according to Aurivillius commences with a very curious 'AvaKecpaXai w) chapter I., corresponding to De Sacy's chapter 3, (c) chapter II., consisting of two parts which correspond respectively to De Sacy's chapter 4 and to the intro¬ duction of Husain Wa'iz in which are related the adventures of Humayun Fal, (cl) 14 chapters corresponding respectively to De Sacy's chapters 5, G, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 1^, 13, 15, 10, 17, 18, (e) a long epilogue giving the date of the completion of the work (Monday loth Sha'ban, a.11. 1)96 = a.d. 158£)\ 1 Notices et Extra-its, x. pp. 197—225. 2 The great Mogul who reigned at Delhi a.d. 1552—1G05. 3 Notices et Extraits, x. p. 208. 4 Ibid. p. 215; and llieu's Catalogue of the Persian AISS. in the British Museum, p. 757. The 'Iyar-i-Danish' has been translated into Urdu and edited by Capt. Thos. Eoebuck (h'hirad Vfru,., Calcutta, 1815, large Svo). INTRODUCTION. The Turkish 'Tlumayun-namah.' §46. In the first half of the 16th century A.D., under the reign of the Ottoman emperor Suleyman I., the work of Husain Wa'iz was rendered into Turkish by 'All Chelebi, professor of Muhammedan law at Adrianople, at the college founded by Murad II. He entitled his work Humdyun-ndmah ('Imperial book'). This version is known to us principally by the French trans¬ lation commenced by Galland and completed by Cardonne1. The part by Galland comprises the first four chapters, of which the first (extending over 177 pages) includes, as in the Anwar- i-Suhaill, the story of Humayun Fill and Dabshalim and that of Kalllah and Dimnah (De Sacy's 5th chapter). The mention of Lokman on the title page is quite out of place. There exists also a Spanish translation of the IIumdyun- ndmah, of which some account has been given by Teza in Orient and Occident, II. pp. 714 sqq. The first part was published in 1654, and a second in 1658. The first part is entitled Espejo politico, y moral, para principes, ministros, y todo (jenero de j)ersonas, Tradacido de la lengua turca en la castellana, por Vicente Brututi raguseo interprete de la lengua turca, de Felipe quarto el grande rey de las Espanas...Parte primer a En Madrid anno 1654. Por Domingo Garcia y Morrds. The Iluncay tin-nam ah is treated of in H. F. von Diez's Uber Inhalt und Vortrag, Entstehung and Schicksale des konig- lichen Buchs, eines Werks von der Regierungskunst, als Ankiln- 1 Lcs contes et fables indiennes, de Bidpai et de Lokman. Traduites d'Ali Tchelebi-Ben-Saleh, Auteur Turc. Oeuvre posthume. Par 21. Galland. (Paris, cliez G. Cavelier, 1724, 2 vols. sm. 8vo). [Copy in Bodleian.] Contes et Fables indiennes, de Bidpai et de Lokman; Traduites d'Ali Tclielebi- ben-Saleh, Auteur turc. Ouvrage commence par fen M. Galland, continue et fini par M. Cardonne—(Paris, 1778, 3 vols. 12mo). [First two vols, in Bodleian.] Galland and Cardonne's work has been reprinted in the Cabinet des Fees, Tom. xvii, xvm (Geneva, 1786). Galland's work passed also into modern Greek (Vienna, 1783), Hungarian (1783), and Dutch (sine loco et anno). See De Sacy in Notices et. Extraits, x. p. 430: and Grasse's Tresor de livres rares et precicux, s.v. Bidpay. introduction. Ixxi digung einer Uebersetzung nebst Probe cms clem Tilrkisch-Persisch- Arabischen des Waassi Aly Dschelebi (Berlin, 1811). The author has related the literary history of the Kalllah wa Dimnah with special reference to the Turkish version, and given in German a specimen taken from the commencement of the story of Humayun Fal together with a list of the chapters. These are 14 in number and correspond with the 14 of the Anwar-i-Suhaill. Diez devotes several pages (146—151) to a slashing criticism of Galland and Cardonne's work. Its only merit, he says, is that it is printed in clear, readable type. Otherwise it is faulty and fragmentary, and skips or alters the difficult passages. Diez also gives some information about Bratuti's version (p. 151). Ed. von Adelburg in his Auswahl tilrkischer Erzdhlungen civs clem Ilumajun-name (Erstes Heft, Wien, 1855) gives the Turkish text (with a German translation) of a fragment of the introductory chapter. D. The Hebrew Version and its offshoots. § 47. There are two Hebrew versions of the Arabic. One of these formed the basis of the celebrated Directorium of John of Capua (which in turn gave rise to German, Danish, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, French and English versions), and is therefore critically of great importance. It is contained in a unique and unfortunately mutilated manuscript of the Paris National Library [No. 1282, 2]. De Sacy has described this MS. at length in the Notices et Kr traits des manuscrits, Vol. ix. Pt. i., pp. 413 sqq., and given the Hebrew text of the chapter of the king and the bird (pp. 451—4GG); Ad. Neubauer published the text of the chapter corresponding to the fourteenth in the Arabic, accompanied by a German translation, in Orient und Occident, l. pp. 483—496, G57—G80; and Joseph Derenbourg has published the entire text, together with a French transla¬ tion, a collation of the Directorium, and a number of excellent conjectural emendations (Deux versions he'bra'iques du livre cle Kalii ah et Dimnah...Paris, Vieweg, 1881; being fasciculus 49 of the Bibliotheque des hautes etudes). lxxii INTRODUCTION. Both the date and the author of this version are unknown1. It cannot have been made later than about 1250, the approxi¬ mate date, as will be seen, of its Latin translation by John of Capita. The volume in which this unique MS. is contained belonged formerly to Gilbert Gaulmin, and comprises four distinct writings, the third of which is a large portion of the Kalllah wa Dimnah. The text of the K. w. D. commences abruptly at a point towards the end of the chapter numbered 6th in De Sacy's Arabic. The next chapter in the Hebrew MS. is headed ' Fourth chapter,' and the rest are numbered in order as far as the seventeenth and last. By comparing the contents of the Directorium, it seems that there was originally a prologue or introduction corresponding to the 3id and 2nd chapters in the Arabic, followed by an index or list of chapters, at which point the book proper commenced, the first chapter correspond¬ ing to De Sacy's 4th, and the 2nd to his 5th ; so that the complete text contained a prologue or introduction and seven¬ teen chapters. The extant chapters correspond respectively to the Arabic chapters 0 (in part), 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 13, 17, 18, 10, 21. It is quite certain that this Hebrew version gave rise to the Latin and not vice versa, for (1) John of Capua expressly states the fact in the first sentence of his prologue, (2) renderings occur in the I) [rector iam which can only be ex¬ plained on the assumption of a Hebrew original; e.g., when the author renders ignis where the sense requires lwrno, it is evident that the mistake is due to a misreading of for This Hebrew version is wholly distinct from the Mishle Sandubar (substantially the same book as the Greek 'Syntipas the philosopher' or the story of the seven vezlrs in the Arabian nights), with which it has been confounded owing to the unfortunate fact that the name of the philosopher (Baidaba) appears in this version as ^3*00 (Sandabar), in which of course the (r) may be a corruption of an original "7 (cl). The mistake is no doubt due partly to a misunderstanding of the 1 It lias been ascribed to a certain Rabbi Joel, of whom nothing is otherwise known but the name. See Benfey's Einleit. zur Pantsch. pp. 10 sqq.; Compa- retti's Researches respecting the book of Sindibad (Publication ix. of the Folklore Society), pp. 64 sqq. ; and De Sacy in Notices ct Extraits, ix. pp. 401, 402. INTRODUCTION. lxxiii Arabic (perhaps unpointed) and partly to a reminiscence of the familiar Sandabdr. The mistake is of course repeated in all the offshoots of the Hebrew, except where a totally different name is purposely substituted. The other Hebrew version is partially contained in a manuscript of the Bodleian library (No. 238-1), and was made by Jacob ben Eleazar, a writer of the thirteenth century and author of a Hebrew dictionary entitled Sefer hash-shalem. The text is complete as for as a point near the end of the chapter of the owls and the crows, where it terminates. The extant chapters correspond respectively to I)e Sacy's Arabic chapters 3, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, and (in part) 8. This version is the second of the Deux versions hebraiques, etc., edited by M. Derenbourg, who gives the text together with critical notes, but no translation. While the version attributed to Babbi Joel is a link in the chain of the transmission of the fables, that of Rabbi Eleazar is merely a literary product of modern Judaism, being little more than a cento of Bible verses, possessing hardly any critical value1. The ' Directorium'' of John of Capua. § 48. The Hebrew version attributed to Joel was rendered into Latin by John of Capua, a converted Jew who flourished towards the end of the thirteenth century. Until Puntoni's reprint of 1884, only a single (and now very rare) edition of this work is known to have been published. The copy in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge, is entitled Direc¬ tor ium huma\ne vite alias parabo'le antiquoru sapient u, (sine loco et anno, gothic type, folio, 82 leaves, 50 lines to a page, woodcuts). The book seems to have been slightly corrected from time to time while in the press2. It cannot have been published later than 1483, if, as Benfey says3, the editor of the 1483 Ulm edition of the German version had the printed Latin text ' before his eyes.' 1 It was unknown until Steinschneider drew attention to it in the Z.D. M. G., Vol. xxvu. 1873, p. 553. 2 See Benfey's Einleitung zur Panlschatantra, p. 17, notes 1 and 2. Einlcit. :ur r). Kalllah appears as V a si-no and Dimnah as il mulo. The other part (with fresh paging) is entitled ' Trattati [ diversi | di Sendebar Indiano | filosopho morale. | Alio illustriss. et excellentiss. S. | Cosimo de Medici dedicati. [Engraving bearing the motto 'Fiorenza'] In Uinegia [ nell' Academia Peregrina. mdlii'; and at the end (p. 103) stands 'In Uinegia per Francesco Marcolini. mdlii.' The trattati are six in number, with continuous paging. The whole volume has very fine woodcuts. In the Trattati diversi the king and the philosopher appear as Fr. Sforza, duke of Milan, and maestro Dino Jilosofo Fiorentino, respectively. Dino may be an anagram of Doni. In fact the scenes and personages are all Italian. The fables contained in the book are mostly found in the Directorium'. The Moral Filosophia (without the Trattati) was rendered into English by Sir Thomas North, and published in 1570 and 1601. The edition of 1570 is entitled 'The Morall Philosophic of Doni: | draiune out of the auncient writers. | A worke first compiled in the Indian tongue, | and afterwards reduced into diuers other languages : | and now lastly englished out of Italian, by Thomas North. Brother to the right Honorable Sir Roger | North Knight, Lord North of j Kyrtheling. | [Here follows an engraving, a bad copy of the original, with the motto ' The wisdonie of this worlde is folly before God.'J ^ Imprinted at 1 There is a copy in the Bodleian. 2 See further Notices ct Extraits, ix. p. 4i'2, introduction. Ixxix London j by Henry Denham.' (Small 4to, in four parts, of which the third and fourth have separate title-pages1, each having a different engraving and motto and bearing the date 1570, which also appears at the end of the book; paging con¬ tinuous, 11G leaves, woodcuts) [Copy in Bodleian]. The book was republished in 1601. (London, 4to.) [Copy in British Museum.] On Firenzuola's Discorsi degli animali and Doni's Moral Filosophia is based the work of De la Kivey entitled Deux livres de filosofie fabuleuse. Le premier prins des discours de M. Ange Firenzuola Florentin. Far lequel souz le sens allegoric de plusieurs belles fables, est monstree Venaie, malice, <£ trahison d'aucuns courtisans. Le second, extraict des Traictez de San de¬ bar Indien Fhilosophe moral, traictant soubs pareilles allegories de Vamitie & choses semblables. Far Pierre de la Biveif Champenois. A Lyon, par Benoist Rigaud, m.d.lxxix. (Small 8vo, pp. 377, continuous text, pages headed Livre 1 and Livre II.'2) In both the books the king is called Lutorcrene and the philosopher Tiabon. The second book, excepting the introduction, the joinings of the several stories, and the substi¬ tution of the names of the king Lutorcrene and the philosopher Tiabon for those of the duke Sforza and the philosopher Dino, belongs wholly to Doni, E. The Old Spanish Version. § 53. As might have been expected from the contact of the Arabs with Spain, the Arabic Katilah iva Dimnah also passed directly into Spanish. This Spanish version (to be carefully distinguished from the later one based on the Directorinm) has been edited by De Gayangos in the Biblioteca de Autores Espafioles, desde la formacion del lenguaje liasta nuestras dias. Escritores en prosa anteriores al siglo xv recogidos e ilustrados 1 The reason why only two out of the last three parts have separate title- pages is that North's title-pages are imitations of Doni's, of which there are only three. North's four sections correspond to Doni's three. 2 There is a copy in the Bodleian. Griisse in his Tresor de livres raves, s.v. Bidpay, mentions an earlier edition (Paris, Abel l'Angelier, 1577, 12mo). lx XX INTRODUCTION. por clon Pascual tie Gayangos (Madrid, 1SG0). Vol. 52 (but not so named)1. The edition is based on two independent manuscripts of the Escurial, the oldest of which (marked iii. h. 9) dates from the end of the fourteenth century. Each contains a note at the end saying that the translation was made by the order of the infante D. Alfonso. This note in the older manuscript runs thus: ' Aqui se acaba el libro de Calina e dygna, et fue sacado de arabygo en latyn, e romangado por mandado del infante don alfonso, fijo del muy noble rey don fernando, en la era de mill e dozientos e lioventa e nueve afios' ( = 1261 of our era). In another manuscript, described by Sarmiento'2, the same notice occurs, but the year given is 1389 (Spanish era). None other than Alfonso the Wise can be meant. As he was already reigning in 1261 of our era, he was then no longer Infante. On the other hand, Raimund's Latin version, based largely on this one, was finished in 1313 (1351 Spanish era). Hence both the dates 1299 and 1389 must be wrong. If Ave accept the 2 in 1299 and the 8 in 1389, the date 1289 (= 1251 of our era) is obtained, which was the year preceding Alfonso's accession to the throne, and therefore the latest possible date. The version contains a prologue (corresponding to De Sacy's 3rd chapter), followed by 18 chapters, corresponding respec¬ tively to the Arabic chapters 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 13, 17, 18, 20 and 21. Notwithstanding the statement in the above-quoted note, there is no doubt whatever that this Spanish translation is based directly on the Arabic. There is no evidence that any Latin version existed when it was made, and it is a far truer representative of the Arabic than is the Directorium or the Hebrew. Thus many of the proper names are accurately reflected in the Spanish, but not in the Hebrew and Latin3. 1 A small though important part of it (tlie chapter corresponding to De Sacy's 2nd) had been published by Rodriguez de Castro (Biblioteca Espauol, i. p. 630). See too De Sacy in Notices et Extraits, ix. 1, 431. A review of the old Spanish translation by Th. Benfey appears in Orient und Occident, ATol. i. p. 499. 2 Memorias para la historia de la poesia, Madrid, 1775. 3 For examples see my notes to the English translation on pp. 1, 4 ; 110, 33 (0. Span, Sirac); 135, 38 ; 305, 20—28 (in the Heb. and O. Span. Gobar is simply called ' primogenitus')-—and the works cited there. INTRODUCTION. Ixxxi Perhaps the most striking example of the independence of the Directorium and the old Spanish is to be found at the beginning of the chapter about Barzoye. In the Directorium it runs thus: ' Inquit Berosias caput sapientum Persie,...Fuit pater meus de tali progenie, et mater mea do nobilibus talium.' In the old Spanish, according to one MS., thus : ' La hestoria de Berseliuey, el filosofo. Mi padre fue de Mortedilla, et mi madre fue de los del Algabe, et de los legistasaccording to the other ' Yo padre fue de Mercecilia, et mi madre fue de las fijasdalgo de asemo- sana et de los legistas1.' The Arabic has: 'Barzoye said: 'My father belonged to the army (aiJjliUM al-mukatila) and my mother was descended from the chiefs of the houses of the magi al-zamazima)2.' Mortedilla and Mercecilia are corruptions of mukatila, and asemosana of al-zamazima. These Arabic words are avoided in the Directorium. Again, in the chapter of the ring-dove, the dove is called 111 the old Spanish la palorna collarada o torcaz3, a literal transla¬ tion of the Arabic al-hamamatu'Imutawwakatu\ But both in the Hebrew and the Directorium the epithet is wanting. Several Arabic words too appear transliterated in the old Spanish, but translated in the Hebrew and the Directorium: e.g. in the story of the wolf, the crow, the jackal and the camel (p. 43), the jackal is called abnue5, abnue being simply an imitation of the Arabic ^ (ibnawa). The Directorium has vulpis. In the story of the sand-piper (p. 48), the sand-piper is named in the old Spanish tittuy and tittu-ya6, which is only a transliteration of the in the Arabic7. The Directorium has merely avis aquatica, and so the Hebrew translator was probably puzzled too. This was because the word is really not Arabic, but the Sanscrit tittibha8. In the chapter of the lion and the jackal (p. 186), the jackal is called anxahar9, anxahar being merely the Arabic but the Hebrew gives (' fox '), 1 Cal. e Dym. p. 11. 2 De Sacy, p. 61. 3 Cal. e Dym. p. 41. 4 j)e yacjj p 1(;o 8 Cal. e Dym. p. 29 note 1; p. 80 note ~. « Ibid. p. 30. 7 Sacy, p. 124, 1. 10. s KaL ljam_ pp. XLII, XLIII. u Cal. e Dym. p. 67. K. F. /' Ixxxii INTRODUCTION. Raimund's Latin Version. § 54. Do Sacy in Notices et Extraits, Tom. x. Pt. II. pp. 3—has given a detailed account of two manuscripts in the Royal (now National) Library of Paris, each containing a Latin version of the Kalllah wa Dimnah. Of these two MSS., one is merely a copy (but with certain deliberate alterations) of the other. The copy was made in 149G. From the introductory and dedicatory notices at the beginning of the original MS. it appears that Raymundus de Biterris (Raimond de Beziers), a physician, was commissioned by Queen Joanna of Navarre, wife of Philip le Bel, to translate from Spanish into Latin the book of Kalllah and Dimnah, which had been offered to that princess ; that this translation had been interrupted by her death in 1305; that subsequently Raimund wishing to gain an audience of Philip, thought to do so by completing his translation; and that he had tho honour of presenting it to the king in 1313, after the festivities which took place at Paris on Whitsunday and the following days. The dedicatory and introductory notices are followed by a ' proemium,' of which one passage at least was borrowed by him from the Directorium1. The ' proemium' is followed by a lengthy index (covering 30 pages of the manuscript) of the 19 chapters contained in Raimund's version, which correspond respectively to the Arabic chapters 3, 2, 4, 5, G, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 1G, 13,17, 18, 20, 21. De Sacy, who knew nothing of the old Spanish version except what had been said by Rodriguez de Castro, saw clearly that Raimund must have used (a) a Spanish text which had flowed directly from the Arabic, and (b) the Directorium. An examination of the proper names found in Raimund as compared with the corresponding ones in the Directorium convinced him that a Spanish-Arabic text had been employed; while the verbal identity of whole passages with the corresponding ones in John of Capua was proof positive that the Directorium must have been at his elbow. The publication of the old Spanish 1 Notice* i't F.rtraifx, x., pt. 2, p. 12. INTRODUCTION. Ixxxiii version lias most decisively confirmed all De Sacy's arguments. Thus for instance De Sacy notices that in the chapter corre¬ sponding to his 7th the queen of the doves is called columba dicta coronata, and remarks that this epithet is wanting in the Directorium and in the Hebrew, and reflects the mutawiuaka of the Arabic. Turning to the Spanish version (p. 41), we find mention of the ' paloma collarada o torcaz.' Raimund was by no means a faithful translator. He does not scruple to introduce numbers of (potations from the Bible and from classical authors. The chapter containing the bio¬ graphy of Barzdye has suffered most. He is represented as a model christian monk. Long discourses on the christian virtues are introduced. Barzoye sees in a vision paradise, the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the saints of God. This vision is described in hexameters and is illustrated by miniatures. Not less curious is the way in which Raimund has embel¬ lished the end of the chapter containing the trial of Dimnah ; for by introducing the leopard as father confessor, a fine opportunity is afforded for a discourse on the seven mortal sins. The later MS. of Raimund's version is a copy of the first, but the index has been abridged, and nearly all the verses and quotations with which Raimund overloaded his version have been judiciously suppressed. Raimund's translation contains all the chapters found in the old Spanish and the Directorium, and in the same order. Raimund's version has never been edited. Besides De Sacy's descriptive notice of the work, we have some citations from it in Edelestand du Meril's notes to his edition of Baldo's Alter yEsopus, found in his Poesies inedites da moyen dye (Paris, 1854), pp. 217 sqq. § 55. This Alter sEsopus is a poetical imitation of Kalilah and Dimnah, containing only the chief stories set to inferior hexameters, and succeeding one another without any connecting thread. It is assigned by the editor to the thirteenth century. MISCELLANEA. An Etliiopic version would seem to have been made from the Arabic. In Prof. Wright's 4 Catalogue of the Ethiopic manuscripts in the British Museum' (p. 82, col. 2) a manuscript is described which contains an adaptation of the book of Psalms. The author, enumerating the books he has used, mentions the Kalllcih wa Dimnah. To the offshoots of the old Greek version should be added a Croatian translation, mentioned by Puntoni under the title ' Indijske price prozvane Stefanit i Ihnilat (Starine II, XJ Zagrebu, 1870),' i.e. 'The Indian princes called Stefanit and Ihnilat (Miscellany of ancient documents, Yol. 2, Agram, 1870).' In the ' Actes du sixieme Congres international des Orien- talistes, tenu en 1883 a Leide ' (p. 79) appears the following: ' M. Ethe fait une communication relative a quelques traductions turques, inconnues jusqu'ici, des fables arabes de Kalila et Dimna. Cette communication paraitra dans les Travaux du Congres.' The University of Leiden possesses a Malay version in manuscript, made probably from the Arabic. There is no evidence that an Armenian version exists. Griisse (Tresor de livres rares, s.v. Bidpay) says: ' II existe aussi une redaction armdnienne du livre de Calila et Dimna, que nous connaissons d'une traduction frangaise, L'abrege geograpliique de Moise de Khoren, avec un recueil de fables, connu chez les anciens sous le titre du Livre de renard (Marseille, 1676).' The book referred to is the composition of an Armenian writer of the thirteenth century, named Vartan. He has appropriated not a few of the fables found in the Kalllah wa Dimnah, but his book cannot be called a version of that work. MISCELLANEA. lxxxv Attention has been drawn to Vartan's book by Prof. Emilio Teza in La Cultura, 1882, Nr. x. (Rome)1. On p. lii I have quoted Benfey as alluding to a Syriac version of Barlaam and Josaphat. Mr W. Rhys Davids (in his Buddhist Birth-stories, p. xcv) also mentions a Syriac version of this romance, existing in manuscript only. But neither of these writers gives any authority for his statements, and it is very doubtful whether any such version exists. With this account of the versions of the Kalilali wa Diinncih and their various editions may be compared:— Loiseleur Deslongchamps' Essai sur les fables indiennes et sur leur introduction en Europe, suivi du Roman des sept sages de Rome (Paris, 1838), pp. 6—70; Prof. F. Max Muller's lecture On the migration of fables, in his Chips from a German workshop, Vol. IV. pp. 145—209 (London, 1875); Mr T. W. Rhys Davids' introduction to his Buddhist Birth- stories, especially p. xciii; and Grasses Tresor de livres rares et precieux, s.v. Bidpay. 1 For these facts I am indebted to the kindness of the Rev. Dr L. M. Alishan (of the Mechitharist monastery, San Lazzaro, Venice) and of the Eev. Dr John Thumajan (of the Mechitharist monastery, Vienna). Sanscrit Syriac (cent. X. or XI.) The lost PehlevI Tibetan 1 Old Syriac (5/0) ARABIC {'circ. 750) r 1 Greek of Symeon Seth (circ. 1080) Italian Old Slavonic (1583) Persian of Nasrullah (circ. 1120) Eleazar (cent. XIII) (cent. XIII ?) Anwar-i-Suhaill Directorium of John of (end of cent. XV) Capua (circ. 1270) (1251) I Raimund's Latin f (1313) Turkish Iltmidyun-namah (early in cent. XVI) Galland's French (1724), completed by Cardonne (1778 German by Graf Eberhard (circ. 1480) Danish (1618) Dutch (1623) Spanish Exemplario (1493) + Firenzuola's Discorsi degli animali (1548) Doni's Moral Filosofia (1552) North's English (1570) + Raimund used the Directorium as well as the Old Spanish, and the Exemplario was influenced by Eberhard's German. ERRATUM. At p. 272, line 18, for "(Georgia)" read "(Gurgfm)." THE BOOK OF KALILAH AND DIMNAH. In reliance upon God we write the tales and instructive stories of Kalilah and Dimnah, as translated by the wise. THE STORY OF THE LION AND THE OX. It is related that Dabdahram, king of India, said to Nadrab the philosopher, the wise man, and chief of the wise men: 5 Show me the similitude of two men, companions or friends, between whom a false or astute cunning individual has pro¬ duced dissension, so that they have been turned from mutual love and harmony to hatred and enmity. Nadrab the philosopher answered: When a false man comes 10 between two loving brothers, he disturbs their brotherly feeling and destroys their harmony. It is said in the parable that in a certain region called there was a (4) merchantman, who was possessed of no little wealth. And he had sons, who when they came to be young men, began, all with one accord, 15 to squander their father's property, not being careful to gather in, but only to spend. Then their father reproved them, saying: ' My sons, every one in the world considers how he may procure three things, which however cannot be obtained except by four means. The first of these three things is ample and abundant 20 sustenance ; the second is the respect of men and a good name ; and the third, provision for the world to come. And the follow¬ ing are the means (to get these things): first, the amassing of wealth by lawful means; second, the good use of the same; third, provision for the wants of nature; and fourth, generosity 25 to one's neighbours, charity to the poor, (and) supplying the wants of the needy. He who attends to these four things k. f. 1 2 BOOK OF KALILAH AND DIMNAH. pleases his Creator; but he who does not gather these four into his garners, or neglects one of them, derives no benefit from his wealth, and attains not to the summit of his hope. Now if he amasses nothing, and despises his wealth, and cares not at all 5 for his own interest, he can neither relieve others nor himself, and without doubt will find himself destitute of property and be left without sustenance. And if he manages his property fittingly and quietly, with discernment and steady attention, and yet adds nothing to it, it is like the eye-paint or kohl, 10 (5) of which the portion taken is like a little fine dust or smoke which flies before a breath of air, but which, in spite of the very minute quantity that is taken of it (each time), is surely used up (at last). And if it be not fittingly managed, rightly laid out, nor justly spent, besides losing his wealth, 15 he will be recompensed with justly deserved affliction and with ill treatment by enemies. And if it is amassed, and not dispensed compassionately nor distributed charitably, but is hoarded up and concealed in the bosom of the earth in a miserly way, while its possessor becomes like a needy and 20 destitute man who owns nothing, most assuredly it will be lost, pass to others, or remain in the heart of the earth. It will be like a tank of water which has many entrances but not a single exit: for when there is much water in such a tank, in some cases breaches are made in it, and the water runs out 25 of it, and it becomes useless; while in others the tank is saved from accident or bursting, and the water remains in it, but the parching wind dries it up. So it happens to the wealth that is not dispensed compassionately to the needy, when death withers the limbs of its owners.' 30 Then the sons of that merchant took the advice of their father, inclined to him the shoulder of obedience, and dis¬ played the fruits of energy. And his eldest son set out on a trading expedition, and journeyed towards a region called Mathwa. And he and his party crossed a certain place where 35 there was much clay or stinking mire. (6) Now he had with him a waggon drawn by two oxen, one of whom was called Shanzabeh and the othej# Banzabeh. Then Shanzabeh became weary, stumbled in the mire, and fell. And the merchant¬ man and his party rrfade haste, and drew, and pulled the ox out STORY OF THE LION AND THE OX. 3 of the mire. And the merchant left the ox in that place, let¬ ting one of his young men remain with him, till he should recover from his fall, and the young man should bring him along after him. But on the morrow the hireling got tired of the place, went after the merchant, and said : ' The ox has died in yonder 5 place.' Then the ox recovered strength and proceeded little by little till he entered on a fen abounding in water and dense with rich pasture. When he had remained a long time in that place, he became very sleek and stout, and his reins thick with fat. Then he thrust his horn into the ground, bellowed valiantly, 10 and roared vehemently. Now in that region was a certain lion, who was king of all the animals therein, and was named Pinga- laka; and there were with him many animals of every kind. Now this lion was exceedingly haughty in spirit, and whatever he wished to do, he did independently, without employing 15 the advice of anyone. Notwithstanding, his knowledge was not very perfect; and when he heard the voice of the ox, he was sore afraid, for he had never yet heard such a sound or seen an ox. But he did not like to make known the fear of his heart, and (so) remained in the place where he was for a time, and 20 did not move from it. Now in his camp, that is at his royal gate, there were two (7) jackals, who were brothers, and named, the one Kalllali, and the other Dimnah. These were very crafty, and trained too in learning or wisdom. And Dimnah was very grasping, and not content with his pay; but he was not ac- 25 quainted with his own feebleness, and did not know himself. Dimnah said to Kalllah: 'I see that the king has been staying in one place without moving from it to another; I should like to know for what reason he does so, and why he does not amuse himself as usual.' 3° Kalllah. And you, why do you ask about such a thing as this, which is none of your business or your affairs ? As for us, we fare well, and dwell in comfort at the king's gate, receiving sustenance from God, the Nourisher of all. But we are not of those who are worthy to look into the king's actions, and to 35 track out the knowledge of his secret matters; neither are we of those who are entitled to speak with him. Nay, be quiet, brother, and know that if a man longs and craves for something which does not befit him or lies outside the range of his 1—2 4 BOOK OF KALILAH AND DIMNAH. mental vision, there will happen to him what happened to the ape. Dimnah. How runs the story about him ? Kalilali. They say that a certain ape came upon a carpenter, 5 whom he saw mounted on a log, and splitting another log into two pieces : the carpenter being like a man riding in a car¬ riage (8). And he saw the carpenter take a small wedge of wood from the fissure of the log which he was splitting, and place another like it in its place in the cleft. Then the car¬ lo penter went away on some business of his, while the foolish ape took a leap and mounted on the log like the carpenter, with his back towards the cleft of the log, and his face toward the little wooden wedge, while his tail hung down and lay in the middle of the cleft of the log. [Then he pulled out the 15 wedge.] But the fool forgot to put another in its place, and his tail was crushed between the two parts of the log which was being split. Whereupon the poor wretch fell back, smitten by deadly pangs: and his senses left him from the violence of the pain which came upon him. He also got punishment from 20 the carpenter, by whom he was chastised with blows more severe than the violence of the pain caused by the log of wood. Dimnah. I have heard your discourse, and understood what you have said; but know, O brother, that not everyone who approaches kings, or gains intimacy with them, (does so) merely 25 to receive a salary whereby to fill his belly; because the belly may be filled anywhere. But he who is anxious to approach a king (should wish to do so) that his position may become distinguished and his horn exalted, and that he may be more highly thought of; that his nobility of character may be 30 examined and his knowledge tried; (9) so that his friend may rejoice in him and exult, and his enemy be vexed and cut to the heart. Now those who are without good qualities, destitute of fine spirit, void of wisdom and bereft of knowledge, exult and rejoice over a single small and miserable scrap, and when 35 they find it, cling to it like a hungry and exhausted dog, who, on finding a bare bone, void of all savour or marrow, holds fast to it. But he whose discernment is clear-eyed, in whose brain resides sound intelligence, and whose knowledge is clear does not hold fast to small things, or put up with trifles, but STORY OF THE LION AND THE OX. 5 studies to attain to great honour, and to be exalted to a high rank, and sit on a seat of honour; just as a lion who finds a hare and seizes it that it may serve him for food, as soon as he sees a sheep or a goat, lets go the hare that is in his mouth, and takes the goat (or sheep). Or have you never seen, 0 5 brother, a dog fawning on a man and seeking to please him, and coaxingly wagging its tail until he throws him a scrap of dry bread ? But the elephant who is trained in knowledge and acquainted with the extent of his strength, and conscious of his own magnificence, inasmuch as he serves as a chariot to the IO king; when his food is brought to him, will not partake or (10) eat of it until he is groomed by his keepers and his body is washed clean of dust, and he is caressed with kind words. Therefore he who lives in this world so as to please his Creator; whose place is exalted, his horn lifted up, and his honour dis- T5 tinguished; whose necessity is relieved, while he in turn relieves his fellows:—such a man, although he may only live a short life, is reckoned to have lived many years. But he who spends his days in abasement, and whose years run out in distress of mind, who departs from this life through want of food and need 20 of good things, who has not enjoyed wealth himself nor caused others to enjoy it:—such a man, though many and prolonged be his years, is called sad of days, and named much-sighing. And they say of him who is without good things and whose pay is small, and who cares for nought but filling his belly 25 and sexual gratification, that though his days be many and the years of his life prolonged, he is reckoned with the irrational, and with him who is destitute of all true virtue. Kalllah. I understand what you say: but examine your thoughts, my brother, by means of subtle reason, and know 30 that every man has his distinct rank ; and when a man sees that his position is one in which he fares well among his com¬ panions, and his years do not pass away badly with his associ¬ ates, he ought assuredly to continue in that his position, and not to leave it for others that are too high for him, and not to 35 lust after abundance, but to be content with his pay. Now I see that this, our position is one in which our affairs do not proceed badly. (11) Dimnah. High rank and honourable situations are 6 BOOK OF KALILAH AND DIMNAH. (only) gained by sharpening the wits and by great energy, and in proportion to a man's nobility of disposition, freedom from base qualities, and loftiness of mind. Thus he (alone) makes progress who sets his mind to it. But he who is not stirred 5 by all his nobility of character, nor longs with all his heart, nor strives with all his might, to become great;—let him know that of his own accord he debases and degrades himself. And the quest of high rank or exalted position is very arduous, and they are only gained by great labour, and grasped by intense 10 struggling: while a low position or a mean situation may be gained in a twinkling. Now these opposites are like a stone of heavy weight, for when a man attempts to take it up from the ground and place it on his shoulder, it is only with great labour and much exhaustion that he can raise it from the earth: 15 but when he tries to take it off his shoulder, he can do so in an instant. Therefore, 0 brother, let us in truth plan, scheme, and strive that our position may be raised, our rank exalted, and our seat distinguished, and, if possible, let us cease to remain in this mean estate in which we are at present. 20 Kalilah. What idea has suggested itself to you, and what have you resolved to do, and on what basis do you found your plan ? Dimnah. I wish to approach the lion: because he is weak in his intellect and lacking in mind, and all the more so (12) at 25 this time, for his thoughts are distracted, as is also the case with all his associates; so that perhaps while he is cast in this state of anxiety, and his spirit tortured with distress and misery, I may open before him the door which is now shut in his face, and that by means of my good and sound counsels our position 30 with him may become distinguished, and that we may become great in his eyes and intimate with him, and be honoured by him. Kalilah. How do you know that the lion's thoughts are distracted, and his mind troubled, and his knowledge withheld 35 from him ? Dimnah. I know these things by acuteness of mind, and attained to them by deep thought; because he who investigates much, finds out Secret things, inasmuch as they are perceived by the change of outward appearance. STORY OF THE LION AND THE OX. 7 Kalilah. But how can you expect these high things, as you have never been attached to kings nor served princes, and are not acquainted with what is due to them ? Dimnah. A powerful man, or one mighty in strength, is not vanquished or defeated by a burden, though it be very heavy, 5 because - - ------- and a wise and knowing man, with discernment and ingenuity, is not daunted by novelty of situation. Kalilah. It is not every man who is assisted by a prince, but only he who is very near him is accounted worthy of his 10 honour, and receives his gifts. And he (the prince) is like a garden ; for the extremities of its branches only entwine and overspread those trees or walls that are near to it. But you, O brother, are one who is stepping beyond his sphere, and is igno¬ rant of (13) the smallness of his stature, and unacquainted with 15 his own insignificance. How is it that }rou have set your mind upon the promotion which you are to gain yourself and to pro¬ cure for another from the lion, seeing that you are one of the mean persons at his gate, and not esteemed ? Dimnah. I understand, brother, what you say; but know 20 that those who are near the king (now) were not so once, but have attained to a high position, though they used to occupy a mean one; only little by little they pushed forward, and their position became distinguished, and they were promoted to high rank. As for me, I shall try with all my might to approach 25 the lion, and (then) I expect to captivate his mind by my excel¬ lent counsels. Because it has been said by the wise that unless a man patiently stands at the gate of the palace, bears annoy¬ ances, pockets indignities, endures hardships, does not disdain to eat and drink with the crowd, fawns on those who go in, and 30 pays court to the servants, he fails to realize his hope, or to receive what he asks for. Kalllali. And suppose that you do gain access to the lion, what gentleness, clearness of mind, subtlety of knowledge, or depth of thought have you got, that the lion may be helped 35 by you, and that you may have boldness towards him and look on him with confidence ? Dimnah. If I can gain access to him, search into his thoughts and weigh his intelligence, (14) fix my regard on 8 BOOK OF KALILAH AND DIMNAH. his actions and look at his disposition with my mind's eye, I shall constantly run in the track of his will, and (never) in the least degree verge on opposing his wishes. When he seeks to do anything, and I have investigated its fitness in my mind, and 5 weighed its harmlessness in the balances of my intellect, I shall recommend it to him, and urge him to accomplish it, and show him how excellent it is, so that he will take increased pleasure in it. And when he seeks to do something from which I fear trouble, and apprehend disgrace, and sadly anticipate loss, I shall 10 show (him) in a hinting way the calamities flowing from it, and how many losses are involved in it, and what advantage and renown he will gain in abandoning it. And I shall speak gently and advise prudently ; and when he hears these my words, whose like he did not hear from his counsellors who preceded me, I do 15 not doubt that I shall find confidence before him, and that he will count me worthy of presents and of great honours. For a man who walks with his companion in prudence, subtle knowledge and sound intelligence, if he wishes to obliterate the truth and stultify the right, and establish and accredit the false, 20 so that his companion may believe a lie, may sometimes be able to do so; and resembles a skilful painter who paints portraits of every kind on the walls, for these pictures that are imprinted on the walls [look some as if they were coming out of the wall, though they are not, and others as if they were entering into it, 25 though they are not]. (15) And if the lion sees my skill in matters, and considers my profitable counsels, he will be prompt to confer honours upon me, and upon my associates along with me. Kalilah. Since then you are thus resolved to carry out your 30 intention, I warn you of princes; because attachment and proximity to them make a man to stand in great dread, and constant suffering and hard trials are incurred by him who is anxious to gain intimacy with princes. A wise man has said that there are three things with which only a madman of weak 35 discernment will meddle, and whoever meddles with them shall in no wise escape from them. One of them is approach to a prince, [the second,] confidence in women concerning matters which are secret and terrible, and [the third, the conduct of] the man who took deadly poison to try or test it. And a wise man STORY OF THE LION AND THE OX. 9 has compared a prince to a high mountain whose ascent is very arduous, and on which are fruits and trees and useful things and produce of all kinds, but also harmful beasts (of prey). And not only is the ascent of it arduous, but to dwell in it is most exceedingly horrible and dreadful. 5 Dimncih. You have spoken the truth; but know, my brother, that everyone who shrinks from hardship and despises not trials and scorns not sufferings, fails to gain access to the nobility, and cannot acquire wealth. He who trembles at sufferings and is afraid of (16) trials, through his cowardice fails to approach 10 exalted things, and sits not on a lofty throne. It has been said that there are three things which a man cannot get, except when fear has been taken away from him, and cowardice removed from him, and weariness of anxiety is hidden from his eyes. The first of them is proximity to a prince, the second 15 trafficking 011 the ocean, and the third fighting with enemies. Again it has been said by a wise man that a high-minded and high-spirited man will not choose a seat except either at the head of the table, in honourable places, or in kings' palaces, where he commands and is obeyed; or with hermits and ascetics, 20 where he is quiet and modest. Like the elephant, all whose glory is seen in two places (namely) first in a wilderness full of wild beasts, and secondly where he is the king's chariot. Kalllah. May the Lord God establish your actions and level the hill before you, may He direct your steps in the paths 25 that lead to joys, and effect for you and for us a safe and peaceful issue. Then the crafty Dimnah made straight for the lion, entered his palace, and inquired concerning his welfare. And the lion asked his courtiers : ' Who is this person ?' They told him : 30 ' So and so, the son of So and so.' Whereupon the lion said to them : ' I was acquainted with his father.' Then they brought him to the lion, who said to him : f Where have you been, and in what region have you been living ?' (17) Dimncih. I have not been far from the king's gate, and 35 I have been hoping that some occasion would arise to the king, or some other matter (would happen), in which I might help his victorious and most triumphant Majesty with my person and counsels. For many things go on in the king's gates, in which 10 BOOK OF KALILAH AND DIMNAH. there is need of someone who is not esteemed or well known. Because there is no man who is utterly useless. Just as a small bit of wood lying on the ground, which a man takes up to clear his ear of the wax which descends into it from the brain, or of 5 some little insect which has got into it while he was asleep, (may be useful). And if so, certainly rational beings who have life and intelligence, may sometimes fill up mighty breaches. The lion, on hearing these words from him, inclined to him, and thought to find in him uprightness and good counsels, crafty 10 in a good sense, and clear from wicked devices. Then the lion turned to his courtiers, saying: ' If a man has nobility of disposition, a soul too high for greed, a mind free from guile, thoughts cleansed from envy, lips remote from false- witness, and a religion or faith void of slander, and is withal 15 rich in knowledge and profound in understanding, all these traits will in the end raise his horn and exalt his position; like burning tow, which, when the person who tends it or (18) lighted it seeks to extinguish it, or to allay its fierceness, persists in raising its flames aloft.' 20 Dimnah, perceiving that the lion was pleased with him, that is, agreed with what he had said, spoke as follows : ' 0 king, mighty in power, there is no man who appears before you, or is honoured with a seat beside you, but he ought to acquaint you with all the learning he has, make known all the pleasant 25 fruits of peace his mind is laden with, and not conceal aught whereby he may satisfy the king's wish and rejoice his heart; because the king is not profited by what is hidden with them. And when they disclose what is concealed in their heart, and the balance which is in the chambers of their minds is tried 30 like gold in the fire, and like honey in the clarifier, then he whose purity stands the test, and who gratifies the palate by his sweetness, is chosen by the king and admitted to his honours, and his horn is raised, and his position distinguished. The secrets of the heart are like the seed hidden in the heart of the 35 earth; for no one knows about it until it sprouts, and then men know what it is. And in the balance of intelligence ought the king to weigh justly each one of his confidants; and he who weighs down the scale by his knowledge, and in whom real nobility is manifested, and purity of affection and humility of STORY OF THE LION AND THE OX. 11 demeanour is displayed, and abundance of intellect and sincerity of speech shines forth, (19) into his hands should he commit his affairs, and he should be made the confidant of the king's secret matters, and he should make use of his advice. For it has also been said by the wise that it is not right for a king—though 5 he be supreme over all rational beings—to raise a man above his due, nor to degrade another who has done no harm beyond measure. As one ought not to put the feet in the place of the head; and as a collection of pearls and jacinths does not match with lead or tin, because although tin does not injure pearls or 10 detract from their value, still he who matches them together is not considered wise. For this reason again a wise man has said that a man should not follow another whose right hand he does not know from his left. And what peace is hidden in a man's mind is only known by the investigation of the prince 15 who is over him. Again the sincerity of (a man's) profession of faith in God the Exalted can only be shown by teachers who expound the truth and elucidate doctrine. And it has been said that there are three classes where the individuals resemble one another in name only, while they differ in their actions; 20 namely, men and men, elephants and elephants, teachers and teachers. And sometimes it happens that a number of indi¬ viduals try to assist in some affair, but through their want of education and the unsoundness of their knowledge, (only) bring great loss upon the person whose affair it is, notwithstanding 25 their great number. For an affair which succeeds is not esta¬ blished by a multitude of helpers, (20) but by helpers who are prudent of understanding and skilled in the knowledge of the decrees of the most High. I11 like manner, a man who carries on his shoulder a stone of great weight has 110 profit from it 30 except by its miserable, paltry value; while another man, subtle of understanding, clear of brain and free from stain, carries a jacinth. It is called a stone just as much as the stone of heavy weight and small value, but it is not heavy on him as he carries it; but its value is heavy, for it yields a shekel, satis- 35 fies hunger, supplies what is due, pays the debt, and satisfies justice. Similarly too a matter which is established by nobility and gentleness, and not settled by impetuous zeal. And a prince, though he be head of a nation, and ruler of peoples, ought not 12 BOOK OF KALILAH AND DIMNAH. to despise a wise man, for though his horn is low and his place not distinguished—because he is despised now—yet in time he may be exalted. He is like a sinew or tendon which is taken from a dead animal, and, when the bow has been furnished with 5 it, is honoured and required by the king for his amusement and prowess in battle.' • Now Dimnali on being honoured by the king, wished that those present should know that the lion honoured him, not merely because he had known his parents, but on account 10 of his intelligence, perseverance, subtle knowledge and ele¬ gance of speech. So he said: ' A king or a prince does not choose a man (21) for his service and admit him to intimacy with him oil account of his parents, or, on the other hand, repulse him because his parents were without rank; but he 15 summons and selects for his service everyone the gold of whose nobility he pours into the furnace of affliction, and the clearness of whose mind and the purity of whose thoughts he weighs in the balance of justice ; and he whose good qualities turn the scale, whose soul is not corrupted by guile and his 20 mind not defiled by the viper (of) jealousy,—him he selects and makes his confidant. For there is nothing so near to a man as his own body; but sometimes a part of his body is diseased, and he is only healed of his disease by a drug that has come from a distant place. And sometimes there is a mouse in the 25 house who is a loved neighbour: but when it destroys anything that is in the house, it becomes an enemy, and is chased away altogether. And the hawk or the eaglet is wild and fierce, but on account of the use and assistance expected from it, it is caught and tamed.' 30 When Dimnah had finished speaking, the king was doubly pleased with him, and began to praise him, and to show his companions the excellence of his discernment, saying to them: ' It is not lawful for a prince, or right for a king, to refuse what is right, or to repulse noble men, or to neglect the humble, 35 especially those who have been brought up in independence of spirit and nourished in the fear of God, and take pleasure in purity (22) of heart. And though he neglect them for a little time, from not knowing about them, chance circumstances (which make them known to him) should cause him speedily to STORY OF THE LION AND THE OX. 13 invite them and promote them, and give them power over his affairs. But those unlettered men who used to be with him, and have been found useless in his camp, he should expel and burn with the chaff. For men are of two sorts. The one is he whose understanding is founded 011 a weak basis, that is, built 5 on sand; and badly and bitterly And he is like a serpent; for though a man tread on it, and it does not hurt him, let him not be sure that if he tread on it again, he will not be hurt by it. And the other (sort of man) resembles a foundation that has been laid entirely on the adamant of sincere love; 10 and his fruit is gentleness, his leaves humility, and the object of his behaviour the fear of the Creator. And he is like white sandal-wood which is cool and sweet to smell; for if a man treads upon it, and rubs his body with it, it cools him in the heat of noon, and refreshes him in the raging of fever; but 15 if it is scraped on a sharp stone, it departs from its natural state, and becomes hot and injurious.' Then Dimnah had confidence, knowing that he had pleased the lion's heart, and became bold towards him. And when they were sitting together alone, Dimnah said : 'For what reason do 20 I see that the king, glorious in victory, has ceased from his pleasure, and refrained from hunting, and not departed or moved from his place ? What thing has caused (23) this delay, so unusual for the king's most illustrious Majesty?' The lion, not wishing to betray to Dimnah his cowardice, 25 said: 'It is not on account of fear, that is, apprehension of anything.' While they were yet speaking together, the ox gave a terrible bellow. And when the lion heard that bellow, he was induced by fear to reveal to Dimnah the secrets of his heart. 30 The Lion. The sound that I hear,— I know not from whom it proceeds, nor what his strength may be; but if his strength is like his voice, we cannot live in this region any longer. Dimnah. Perhaps something else, besides this, has troubled the king? 35 The Lion. Nothing else. Dimnah. It is not fitting that on account of an unknown voice, the king should leave his royal place, and give way before it; for a wise man has said that water forces open a small dam, 14 BOOK OF KALILAH AND DIMNAH. that a lofty spirit troubles a weak intellect, that crafty men, or talebearers, destroy affection, and that a loud voice terrifies a craven heart. And in one of the parables someone says that ' not everyone who is heard, alarms; and not everyone who makes a noise, inspires fear.' The Lion. How does that parable run ? Dimnah. It is said that a certain fox, being very hungry, went and stood by a pool or fountain of water, and found a drum or tabret lying by one of the trees there. As the north wind was blowing, (24) it stirred the branches of the tree, which kept smiting the drum, so that it gave out a great noise. When he perceived that the sound of the drum was very loud and terrible, the greedy creature thought that it contained a quantity of meat and satisfying flesh, went up to it, and began to beat it about, until he rent it. Finding it quite empty and destitute of all fatness, the fox said within himself: ' It appears that there is no coward but he who has a fat appearance and a loud voice.' Now this parable I have related before you, O glorious king, to let you know that if your Majesty wishes and your Highness commands, I will proceed to the author of this sound, inquire into his business, examine his strength, learn the height of his stature and the measure of his thickness, and bring a plain and certain report of him, being confident and assured that in ap¬ pearance and strength he will not be found such as to justify the terror he has caused. This proposal pleased the king, who consented that Dimnah should set out and go in the direction of the sound. So Dimnah departed from the lion and bent his steps towards the locality from which the sound had proceeded. And when he had departed, the king considered within himself and repented having sent Dimnah, saying to himself: ' I have not acted safely, nor done that which is fitting, in sending him and relying on his faith, though I have never tried him, and on the sincerity of his religion, though I have never tested it. Because he is a man who has stood for some time at the royal gate; (25) but no honour has been awarded to him, nor have his kinsfolk been raised, nor his income been increased. And perhaps he is in want of nourishment, and his distress has not been relieved. Or perhaps he is sorrowful in spirit, and his sorrow has not been STORY OF THE LION AND THE OX. 15 comforted. Or perhaps he has been oppressed by some one, and has not been avenged on his oppressor. Or perhaps he has been entrusted with some of the king's business, and it has been taken from him, and committed to other hands. Or perhaps he has had an associate in some affair of a prince, and his associate 5 has been honoured while he has been dishonoured. Or they were both (equally) offenders, and his associate was let off the stripes that his offence deserved, and he alone was scourged. Or perhaps he and those with him have repaired some great breach, and the gifts bestowed on his companions were dis- 10 tinguished, while he (himself) was defrauded of (all) recompense. Or perhaps he had enemies, who bribed an unjust judge, so that vengeance for him was not required of them. Or perhaps his religion has been corrupted, and his faith not tried by faith¬ ful teachers. Or perhaps he was doing something for a prince 15 by which the prince was profited, and he has been expecting to receive gifts and presents in return for it. And in view of all these possibilities, it is not right that a prince should hastily condescend to any man, and reveal to him the secrets of his heart. Now Dimnah is one who is crafty and practised in speak- 20 ing and trained in wisdom; yet he used to lie at our royal gate despised and not esteemed, and perhaps he has suffered (26) hardships in finding means to do something. So now I think he has done something deceitful, and has deceived me, and is about to act craftily against me. And all the more, if he 25 finds that the author of the sound is stronger than I and his power extensive and warlike, will he make friends with him and hatch a plot against me, and reveal to him all my secrets.' When this opinion had strengthened in the lion, it caused him to leave his place; and he rose and went little by little in a downcast 30 and terrified manner. Then he sat down and gazed into the distance ; and he saw and lo ! Dimnah coming alone, delibe¬ rately and gently, joyfully and not sadly. Whereupon the king's downcast mood was turned to joy, and his mind cheered up, and the trembling of his heart ceased. And he turned back hastily 35 and sat down in his place; for he was anxious that Dimnah should not perceive that these thoughts had proceeded from him. Dimnah 011 entering the lion's presence, saluted him cheerfully and not as if terrified. And the lion asked him 1G BOOK OF KALILAH AND DIMNAH. concerning the report, on account of which he had set out. Dimnah. I saw a single ox grazing, and he is the author of the sound which the victorious king heard. 5 The Lion. What is his size and how great is his strength ? Dimnah, His figure is burly, his appearance handsome, and his fatness excessive. However I did not try his strength. And I stood before him, and despised him inwardly. And I spoke with him. He was not afraid of me, and I again was 10 not alarmed at him. The Lion. You must not rely on this, or think that from weakness or feebleness he dealt gently with you, and spoke quietly and not (27) violently, mildly and not boldly. Because the north wind is mighty, but it does not hurt the weak, or 15 terrify the feeble; still it uproots thick and beautiful trees, blows down lofty towers, and destroys great cities. So too warriors or men of might do not fight with the weak, or take captive small caravans; but they lie in wait for captains of thousands, and take captive great armies. 20 Dimnah, Let not such a thought as this come up in the king's heart. Nor let his mind hesitate in any of his actions. For if the king wishes and commands (it), I will soon make him stand before the king like a servant. When the king heard this, he rejoiced with great joy, and 25 said: ' Do as you have said, and delay not: and make haste and tarry not.' Then Dimnah went off to the ox, and without being afraid or terrified, said to him: ' The lion has sent me to you, in order that you may speedily appear before him. And he has 30 commanded me saying: " If the ox comes quickly and obediently and without tarrying or delay, he shall not be blamed for his delay hitherto, and he shall be absolved from all his penalties." And I will give you an oath on his behalf, besides my own oath (that this shall be). But if you do not do these things 35 and are not obedient, I will quickly return to him and bring him tidings of your disobedience.' The Ox. Who is the lion of whom you speak, and where is he ? Dimnah. (28) He is the king of the beasts, and their ruler. STORY OF THE LION AND THE OX. 17 Then was the ox alarmed at hearing of the beasts. And he said to Dimnah : ' If you will give me the right hand of truth, and will make a faithful covenant with me, and take the Im¬ mortal to witness concerning you, I will come with you.' Then Dimnah gave him the right hand of sincerity, and made a 5 sacred covenant with him. And they each called on Him who seeth secret things to witness concerning the other. And the ox's soul consented and his mind was pleased. And they proceeded both together, and went in before the king. When the lion saw him, he received him cheerfully and spoke with 10 him joyfully. And he asked him quietly, saying : 'When did you come to this region? And what is the cause of your coming hither? And how do you fare here V Then Shanzabeh related to him his whole story. And the king said to him : 'Then remain with us, and do 15 not remove from beside us. For you shall be honoured in our camp, and I will make you great and renowned before me. And I will attend to your needs, and will not neglect (to provide) the things that befit you.' Then the ox opened his mouth, saying: " I return thanks 20 and am grateful to my lord the king for (all) this solicitude and attention. May the Lord God who gives strength to the weak, and puts wisdom into the minds of the ignorant, and the word of knowledge into the simple, be the stablisher of your kingdom. May your arm extend like a bow, your right 25 hand reach all that hate you, (29) and your sword destroy all your enemies. May you trample with the heel on all the might of the adversary, and may the fame of your exploits fly to all the limits of your kingdom. May you rejoice in all the good things of Jerusalem all the days of your life, flourish on 30 the mountains like the cedars of Lebanon, and yield pleasant fruits seasoned with the salt of truth. May you be envied and renowned, victorious and not put to shame.' When the lion heard these words, he rejoiced in Shanzabeh with great joy. And he admitted him to intimacy and honoured 35 him. And he made a covenant with him and gave him an oath, and made him his confidant and counsellor. And after that the king had placed him in the furnace of trial, and poured out his noble character like gold in the fire of pro- K. F. 2 18 BOOK OF KALILAII AND DIMNAH. bation, he committed to Lis hand the management of all his affairs, and he received gifts and honours from the lion, and every day (new) excellencies appeared in his conduct. In short, he was exalted beyond all his fellows before the king. 5 Now when Dimnah saw that the ox was exalted thus, he envied him exceedingly. And his mind became infected and his soul disturbed, and the eye of his discernment blinded. And he complained to his brother Kalilah, saying: 'Do you not wonder, my brother, and marvel at my imbecility, and at 10 the way in which I have injured myself? For why did I study the lion's advantage at the expense of my own ? For when I began to be great and to advance and to rise to a high rank, lo ! suddenly I fell backwards, and caused another to sit on the lofty seat.' 15 Kalllali. What happened to the ascetic and befell the hermit has happened to you. Dimnah, (30) How did it fare with him ? Kalllali. It is said that an ascetic had some beautiful gar¬ ments given him by a king. A certain rogue seeing it, desired 20 to take them from him. So he came to the "hermit craftily, and said to him : ' I wish to stay with you and conform to your discipline, and learn of your ways, and walk with you.' And lo ! the ascetic, in the innocence of his heart and the simplicity of his mind, did not repulse him from beside him, 25 nor drive him away, nor doubt his honesty, but admitted him to intimacy and made him his companion. And the crafty fellow clave to him eagerly, and walked cunningly with the innocent-minded ascetic, falsely feigning himself one also. And he began to Avork craftily on the ascetic, and to wheedle him in- 30 sidiously, until he was able to steal the garments boldly. Having taken them, he went fraudulently away. When the good man sought for the thief, and for the garments which had been unjustly taken, and found them not, he knew that that rogue had taken them. So he pursued after him along a certain 35 road in the hope of overtaking him. And he saw on that road two rams butting one another. And they fought a long time on that road with one another, until each of them cut open the other's head. And a fox came up, and began to lick up the blood which was flowing from them. And while that greedy STORY OF THE LION AND THE OX. 19 fox was intently fixed on the blood, the two rams turned, and butted him until they killed him. And the ascetic departed and went his way. ****** [18 lines left untranslated. See note.] (31. 18) And the ascetic rose in the morning to search for 5 another lodging. A certain shoemaker found him and took O o him into his house. And the shoemaker directed his wife, saying: ' Attend to this ascetic, and prepare for him all things that he needs, because I am about to go to a feast at the house of a friend of mine.' Now whenever the shoemaker left (32) 10 his house, his wife had a certain lover (at hand). And the negotiator between them was a certain woman who had sold her good character, the wife of a barber. And the shoemaker's wife sent to the barber's wife, with the message : ' My husband is going to a feast to-night; go to my lover and tell him that my 15 husband has gone to a feast to-night, and that the house is empty. Let him come and eat and drink.' So when it was evening, he came and stood at the outer door, so that she might call him. At that moment her husband the shoemaker arrived at the door of the house drunk. When he saw that lewd man, 20 he was angry, and went into his house, and smote his wife with hard blows and bound her firmly to one of the columns which were in his house. When it got dark and the shoemaker was asleep, the barber's audacious wife came secretly, and gave the shoemaker's wife a hint that her lover was sitting at the 25 outer door, and waiting for her. Then the shoemaker's wife begged earnestly of the barber's wife (saying): ' Undo these my bonds quickly, and bind yourself in my stead for a little while, that I may get to my dear one; and I will return to you.' So the barber's wife bound herself, having loosed the shoe- 30 maker's wife, who went to that lewd man. The shoemaker, awaking before his wife came (back), called her by name; but she answered him nothing, for fear lest lie should know her voice. (33) When ho had waited (sometime) without her answering a word, he became very angry indeed, and got up 35 [and went] to the barber's wife, and cut off her nose, saying: 20 BOOK OF KALILAH AND DIMNAH. 'Take this, base woman, and give it to that wicked lover of yours.' When the shoemaker's wife returned, she perceived that the barber's wife had had her nose cut off. And she loosed her bonds, and bound herself in her stead. And the barber s 5 wife took her nose in her hand, and went to her house in great shame. Then the shoemaker's audacious wife raised her voice, saying: 'O Lord God, if my husband has wronged me, do thou by thy swift commands make my nose as it was before, that the fame of my innocence may be proclaimed in all our city.' Her 10 husband hearing these (words), said to her: 'What are these babblings, 0 sorceress?' She said: '0 unjust man, rise up and behold. Because God the Pitiful knew the wrong done to me, he has sent his angel, and made my nose again as it was before; because that I am innocent.' Then that stupid man rose and 15 lit the lamp, and saw that his wife's nose ------ as before. When he saw (it), he repented, so that she became recon¬ ciled to him. And the barber's wife, as she went away, thought much on how she should escape from her husband, and from public disgrace. When day dawned, her husband awoke from 20 his sleep, and said to his wife: ' Pray give me my shaving gear, because I want to go early and serve one of the nobility.' But she delayed. Again he said to her: 'Give it me, and delay not.' And becoming angry and wrathful, because she went slowly, (34) he took up a razor in the dark, and threw it at her. 25 Whereupon that audacious woman cried aloud, saying: 'Woe, woe is me! My nose is cut off.' Her neighbours heard her, and all came together, and saw her nose that had been cut off, and the razor lying. Whereupon they seized her poor hus¬ band and took him to the judge, who ordered him to be 30 scourged. As the poor man remained without any defence, the ascetic got up and approached the judge, saying: 'The truth shall not be concealed from you by means of artifice, O judge. For it was not the rogue who took my garments, nor yet the rams that killed the fox, nor the 35 to God and said: 'If I am innocent and this man has wronged me, do thou heal me, that it may be proclaimed in all our city that I have been wronged. And the shoemaker heard (her) and said: 'What are these babblings?' She answered him* 'O unjust man, rise and see. For God has looked on the wrono- STORY OF THE LION AND THE OX. 21 done mo, and sent an angel, and restored my nose.' Then the poor man rose and saw that it was healed. And he offered repentance and made apology. ------- Then the ascetic said: 'It was not the rogue who took my garments, nor yet the rams that killed the fox, nor the poison that killed the dealer 5 in pleasure, (35) nor the barber who cut off his wife's nose; but we have all done wrong.' And Kalilah said to Dimnah: 'And you too have sinned against yourself.' Dimnali. I have listened to this parable, and it is very like what I have done myself. But now what plan can we carry out 10 to get back what we have lost ? Kalilah. What do you think of doing ? Dimnah. I meditate on doing something, not that I may be raised to my former rank, but that I may get back the occu¬ pation which I used to have. For three things are required of 15 everyone who is rational and intelligent; let him not neglect one of them. One is that a man examine what profitable things, and what harmful things, he is doing; so that he may beware of the harmful things, and pursue after the profitable things which he has neglected. Another is that he be watchful, so that he 20 may not suffer hurt, and that he beware lest his good things be snatched from him. (And) the other is that he discern with the clear eye of his mind, what good things he expects to re¬ ceive ; that he may be active and eager to get them, and afraid of the harmful things lest they touch him. And when I look 25 at my future, and consider my past, there is nothing which will help me, or by which my honour may return to its place, and I may recover what has been taken from me, except the death of the ox. For (so) both my own condition will be remedied, and the lion will be profited and freed from blame. For the lion's 30 heart has been captivated by the talk (30) of the ox, and lo! he is reviled by all who are near him. Kalilah. I find no reason for blaming the lion for admitting the ox to intimacy; nor do I see in him any shortcoming. Dimnah. Do not entertain, my brother, such an idea, nor 35 hold such an opinion. Because the lion, through admitting the ox to intimacy, has inflicted a great injury on himself. For he is insulted by all his fellows and reviled by the whole army, and tliey have all withheld their services from him. For the 22 BOOK OF KALILAH AND DIMNAH. bad. or damaging circumstances of a ruler are produced by six different tilings. One of these is bad luck. Another is local disturbance, that is, sedition which breaks out in one place and another. Another is demoralisation, when the understanding is 5 ensnared by whatever it may be. Another is remissness when it prevails, or warlike policy when extolled by inconsiderate generals. Another is bad weather, fewness of springs, sterility of land, and dearth of necessaries. And the other is the break¬ ing out of fire. 10 On the other hand the advantageous circumstances of a king, and the good things which a prince has in abundance, spring from other six different causes. One of these is sincere confidants, well-known for all excellent qualities, intimate with the good, skilled in knowledge, large-minded, [removed] from 15 all greed, free from all envy, remote from pride, (37) with con¬ science clear of fraud. One is warriors and nobles and power¬ ful men. One is plenty of silver and abundance of gold. One is the stability of towns, and peace in all places. One is strong walls and high and mighty strongholds. And one is good laws 20 and prudent subjects. Now seditions and tumults are stirred up against a king, and arise against a prince by the hand of a helper, when he is deprived of his rights and his pay is taken from him. (For) then he studies to disturb the sound mind of the nobles, and to 25 corrupt the mind of the generals, until they set the king's army in commotion, and distract the captains of his forces. And if the intellect is ensnared and the mind is enfeebled, it is due to the beauty of women. Drunkenness by wine, and field sports, spring from having nothing to do. Stiffneckedness and haugh- 30 tiness of soul and want of modesty, these are the things which procure for the man who is guilty of them, a swift course to bloodshedding, rouse the tongue to calumnies, and teach the lips falsehood. Oppression and the demanding of what is not due, and the seizing of what ought not to be seized, are 35 engendered by bad times, scarcity of springs, and dearth of necessaries. And burning by fire, and war, and disease, and spoiling of fruit, are caused by rarity of the atmosphere. Frost, (38) and intensity of heat, spring (respectively) from abundance of rain and want of water. Vermin in quantities, and cattle STORY OF THE LION AND THE OX. 23 plague, and loss of horses, arc caused by parching wind, when it blows and destroys everything. Now like all these things, is a contentious man who is not grounded 011 the fear of God, nor trained in knowledge, nor labours to get understanding, and puts bitter for sweet, 5 darkness for light, the fool for the wise man, the infidel for the believer, and the enemy for the friend. And when he seeks to set a cunning ambush for an enemy, he proclaims it on the housetops with a loud voice. And when he seeks to join battle with a band of robbers with horsemen and with 10 arms, he becomes exhausted through his weakness, so that he turns his back and flies in shame, and becomes a laughing-stock for his defeat. Kalllali. How can you cope with the strength of the ox by fraud, and under what standard are you going to fight with 15 him ? For he is stronger than you, and more splendid and glorious in knowledge and height of stature than you, and stands nearer to the lion than you, and has more brothers and kinsmen than you. Dimnah. You must not look at the small stature and 20 weakness of my person, or on the having plenty of brothers and kinsmen. Because such affairs as these (which I have in hand) do not proceed according to strength or weakness, and are not engaged in by the brave or weak (as such), nor are carried out by means of a great number. Because many have been small 25 in stature and deficient in number, who by their artifices (39) and subtlety of knowledge have attained to lofty things which the mighty in strength and lofty in dimension, and distinguished in race and rich in numbers, have not reached. Or have you not heard, O brother, of the raven of hateful appearance and 30 stinking odour, who planned against a black serpent of great power and terrible fame, so that she killed him quietly and warily, by a subtle plan and a clever artifice ? Kalllali. What did she do ? Dimnah. They say that a certain raven lived in one of the 35 trees on a mountain. And near her was a large hole, in which there lived a powerful black serpent, who, when the raven was rearing her young ones, used to go and eat them. When this thing became grievous to the raven, and she had no heir left to O O ' 24 BOOK OF KALILAH AND DIMNAH. her, she complained to a friend of hers, a jackal, saying : O brother, I wish to take advice from you in a certain deed that I am about to do, and which I cannot achieve without your counsel.' 5 The Jackal. What is it ? The Raven. I wish to attack a serpent while he is asleep, and pick out his eyes; for he does not spare me any young ones that I may rejoice in them at all. The Jackal. You have devised neither justly nor fittingly; 10 but plan some subtle scheme, that you may take your revenge on the serpent quietly, and destroy (40) his life craftily. And let not your deed be publicly (done), lest you rashly destroy yourself with your young ones, and become like the heron, when he sought to destroy a crab, and from lack of knowledge 15 destroyed himself. The Raven. How runs the story about him ? The Jackal. It is said that in a certain marshy lake was a heron. And there were many fishes in the lake. [But in time the heron got too old to catch any,] and became very hungry, 20 and his soul languished. A certain crab seeinsr him from afar, o o ' approached him, saying : ' Why is your soul distressed, and why are you sad 1' The Heron. And how should I not be sad who until to¬ day have lived on these fishes, but this day have seen two 25 fishermen, one of whom said to the other: 'Let us not catch (all) these fishes at one time,' his companion replying: ' I have seen another lake in which there are plenty of fishes. Let us go and catch them (first), and then we will come and catch all these in a twinkling.' I know that when they return from 30 their journey, they will not leave anything in this lake, and I shall utterly perish from life ! Then the crab spoke to the fishes. And all the fishes gathered to the heron, and said to him : ' Although you are an enemy to us, because we are your food and you feed on 35 us, still he who has the fear of God, in time of trouble docs not refuse what is right, or profane the emblem of the faith. Lo ! we are all knocking at your door, that you may hearken to us and ease (41) the distress of our soul, and counsel us what to do in this distressful time.' STORY OF THE LION AND THE OX. 25 The Heron. To do battle with the fishermen I am not able, and expel them from this region I cannot. But I know of a certain pool in which there is water abundant, fresh and clear. And there are green reeds in it. If you could remove thither from here, you would gain advantage to yourselves. 5 The Fishes. But how is it possible for us to do so without your help ? The Ileron. I will do what you wish and consent to you. But I am sore afraid of those fishermen, lest they come hastily. But I will begin to carry some of you every day, as many as I 10 can, until I have exhausted (you and taken) you all away from here. And he began to carry off one or two every day, and to convey them to a certain region, and to eat them there; the others being ignorant of it. It came to pass one day (that) 15 the crab said to the heron: fI too find this place unpleasant. Pray carry me off too and convey me with my companions.' So the heron carried off the crab. When he reached the place where he had eaten the fishes, the crab beheld and saw the bones of his companions. And he perceived that the heron 20 had done this wickedness, and was about to devour him too. And the crab said within himself: ' He that goes forth to battle and encounters his enemy wherever it may be, if he knows that his enemy will not hesitate to destroy him if he can, whether he make war with him (the enemy) or remain at 25 peace with him, he ought to fight for himself (42) strenuously, and not destroy himself for want of exertion. For if he is vanquished and perishes, still his honour goes with him, and his glory (remains) on his head.' Then the crab grasped the heron's throat with his pincers, and kept gripping him with his 30 claws, until he throttled him and took away his life. So the crab escaped from slaughter. And ho went little by little until he got (back) to the fishes, whom he acquainted with the story about the heron. The jackal said to the raven : ' This parable I have related 35 to you, [that you may know] that when a man engages in frau¬ dulent plans and transactions and schemes, his wickedness returns 011 his own head, and he himself perishes by his own artifices. But I. will give you a piece of advice, so that if you 26 BOOK OF KALILAH AND DIMNAH. can put my counsel into practice you may destroy the slayer of your young ones, without danger to yourself.' The Raven. What is the piece of advice, so that I may embrace it ? 5 The Jackal. Fly upwards and hover in the air, and look about and see whether you can spy out of the trinkets belong¬ ing to the women on the housetops, one that is very precious and of great value. When you have taken it, do not soar very high, but fly a little and rise, and then descend again. And 10 fly before all who see you gently and slowly, so that they may follow after you, until you reach the hole of the serpent your enemy. And whatever you have taken, introduce and place in the hole, that its owners may come and take it, and put an end to the serpent. 15 So the raven flew away and soared, and, spying out an article of gold laid (in a place), took it according to the jackal's advice. And people saw her, and pursued after her till they arrived in sight of the serpent's hole. Then the raven went in, and put (43) the necklace in the hole. And the people 20 coming up, took the necklace and killed the serpent. Dimnah said to Kalllah: c I have told you [this] parable, O brother, that you may know that plans and artifices overcome all forces, and vanquish inaccessible strongholds.' Kalilah. Know, 0 brother, that the ox, besides having 25 strength and a lofty stature, is prudent and sagacious; and courageous and able to fight. So how can you cope with his strength ? And under what standard are you going to fight with him ? Dimnah. Although the ox is courageous and sagacious, 30 valiant and able to fight, he will incline to my words, and consent to my wishes, agree to my advice, and not disbelieve what I say. And all the more since he remembers the oatli of sincerity which I gave him, and recollects the sacred co¬ venant that I made with him, and trusts and adheres to the 35 witness whom I called to witness between me and him, do I expect to humble his might, and to cast him into the abyss (of destruction), just as the hare did the lion. Kalllah. How runs the story about him ? Dimnah. They say that there was a lion (who lived) in a STORY OF TIIE LION AND THE OX. 27 certain region abounding in water and thickly grown with grass. And in it were a number of animals of different kinds. But in none of those things did they take any pleasure, on account of their fear of the lion who lived in that region. Then those animals came in a body to the lion, and said to him : ' O king, 5 it is only by hard toil and severe labour that you can get one (44) or two of us in a whole day. Now it has seemed good to us to make a treaty with you, and that you give us a sacred oath that you will not molest us any further. We (011 our part) will send you every day one animal at your feed- 10 ing time; so that you may not have labour and fatigue, and fill your belly with bean food, and that we (too) may not be fright¬ ened away from grazing, but may take our food without fear.' Then the lion inclined his ear to their words, and made a com¬ pact with them, conditional on this thing. After a little time, 15 the lot fell 011 a certain hare, that she should be food for the lion. Then the hare said to the animals: 'If you will grant me a little favour, as the thing will not inconvenience you, perhaps 1 shall be able to free you and myself from the evil of this lion.' The animals answered: 'Lo wre are all before you, and willing 20 to hear you.' The hare said: 'Instruct your messenger to con¬ vey me to the lion slowly and not hurriedly, deliberately and not hastily; so that I may linger on the road a little until his dinner-time is past, and the lion, being hungry, gets angry.' And the animals did as the hare had said. Then the hare 25 began to go along by slow degrees. And she drew near to the lion when he was hungry and vexed, enraged and incensed. And he came out walking in an angry mood. On seeing the hare, he said to her: 'Who are you? And whence do you come?' The hare said: 'I am the messenger of the animals to 30 you, who sent me with a (fine) fat hare (45) for your food. But when it reached this region, a certain lion came out and seized it, saying to me: 'This land, with these animals that are in it, belongs to me.' And I said to him: 'This land is the property of such and such a lion.' But my words profited nothing with 35 him, for you lie reviled, and me he drove empty-handed from before him.' Whereupon the lion got angry and said to her: 'Come and show 111c this lion who dared to seize my food.' And the hare went 011 till she reached a certain deep pit in which 28 BOOK OF KALILAH AND DIMNAH. there was clear water. And she said: 'Here is the lion and the fat hare with him. But I fear to go near him. (So) pray place me against your breast that I may not be afraid of him, and I will show you where he is.' When he had placed her against 5 his breast, she showed him his own reflection and hers in this clear water. Whereupon the lion leaped in to snatch the hare from the breast of the other lion. And ho fell into the pit, while the hare escaped to the other side. Kalllah. If then you can destroy the ox without afflicting 10 the lion, do (so); because you say that the proximity of the ox to the lion has much distressed you and others with you. But if you know that when your desire has been accomplished in the destruction of the ox, the lion will be afflicted and distressed, then this thing does not commend itself to me. 15 Then Dimnah for many days abstained from this thing, and did not go in to the lion. But (at length) he went in to him with a gloomy countenance, while the lion was sitting alone. The lion said: 'Wherefore have I not seen you for (some) days, and (why) is your countenance altered ? 20 Dimnah. (4G) Nothing is hid from you, 0 king. The Lion. Perchance some accident has happened? Dimnah. It is fitting that language which ought not to be spoken excejDt in the absence of others, should fall on a mind clear of thought and not preoccupied, and in private too. 25 The Lion, Lo the mind is unoccupied, and the sitting-place removed from the crowd. Dimnah. No utterance from which the hearer shrinks in abhorrence, is the mind of the speaker encouraged to make known. And although the speaker be a good and upright man, 30 yet is it certainly heard from him with abhorrence. However, when the hearer of the utterance is rich in brain and sound in intellect, prudent in knowledge and versed in understanding, practised in observation and perfected in (making) trials, in¬ telligently he listens to the words (spoken), and patiently 35 he bears their grievousness. And when the utterance is profit¬ able, the profit of it (falls) to him who hears it. - - - — ___ the speaker of it and nothing more, except he be reckoned upright in purpose and sincere in (his) love for his friend, and be honest in his friendship. And you, O king, are valiant in STORY OF THE LION AND THE OX. 29 strength, extolled for knowledge, and glorious in honour, watch¬ ful in all your actions, and illustrious for all your personal qualities. And I am cast in great doubt by something that I wish to let your pure ears listen to. But because I rely on the excellence of your mind, the subtlety of your knowledge, and 5 the depth of your reflection, and am (47) free from all blemish before the king—and specially from slander—and remote too from the viper jealousy, (and) pure from wicked speech, not concealing the right nor hiding what is fitting, not smitten with greed, but one who rejoices in the tranquillity of the kingdom, 10 and delights in the welfare of the king, zealous for your advan¬ tage, striving for the success of your affairs, loving the plenitude of your army, afraid of all things which would impede you, [I will not fear]. And lo! a little thought occurs to me and a slight suspicion has been born in my mind, that perhaps I shall not 15 appear trustworthy and honest before the king in what I (shall) utter before him. In such doubts as these am I cast. Then I turn to my soul, and bring it to account, saying: 'O my soul, weak in thought, knowest thou not that, owing to (our) animal nature, our soul is bound up with the soul of the king, our 20 vitality subsists in him, our eyes look to him, and our nourish¬ ment is prepared at his court?' So that on all accounts there rests on me an obligation which can never bo (adequately) per¬ formed, (and which compels me) to disclose to the great king something which has come to my ears, the truth of which is 25 firmly established in my heart: although you, O valiant king, have made no inquiry or investigation concerning the truth, and (so) perhaps by reason of a miserable suspicion which attaches to many, these words of mine, (48) which in due time shall have been spoken before you, will not be believed. Because 30 it has been said and well said, that he who conceals from the king what he ought to hear, his disease from the physician, or the account of his suffering from a brother, is called one who deceives his own soul. The Lion. What is the report which is so dreadful to hear ? 35 Dimnah. A certain upright and faithful man, true and not given to falsehood, whose word is accepted by me, and whose evidence is in my soul as trustworthy as adamant, has told me that Shanzabeh, the eater of grass, has dealt craftily and gone 30 BOOK OF KALILAH AND DIMNAH. to the kind's chief men, and said to them: ' I have examined