Hindoo Tales

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Hindoo Tales

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hindoo Tales, by Translated by P. W.
Jacob This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
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Title: Hindoo Tales Or, The Adventures of Ten Princes
Author: Translated by P. W. Jacob
Release Date: March 28, 2004 [EBook #11738]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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HINDOO TALES
_OR, THE ADVENTURES OF TEN PRINCES_

FREELY TRANSLATED FROM THE SANSCRIT OF THE
DASAKUMARACHARITAM
BY P. W. JACOB

STRAHAN & CO. 56 LUDGATE HILL, LONDON
1873

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
The Sanscrit work entitled "Dasakumaracharitam, or the Adventures of
Ten Princes," though printed more than twenty-five years ago, has not,
as far as I can ascertain, been translated into any European language.
Many parts of it are written in such a turgid "Oriental" style, that a
close translation would be quite unsuitable to the English reader. Such
passages have therefore been much condensed; others, which are hardly
decent--or, as in the speech of the parasite in the last story, tedious and
uninteresting, have been omitted; but in general the original has been
pretty closely adhered to, and nothing has been added to it.
The exact date of the composition of the "Dasakumaracharitam" is not
known. It is supposed to have been written about the end of the
eleventh century, and was left unfinished by the author; but as the story
of the last narrator is almost finished, not much could have been
wanting to complete the work, and the reader may easily imagine what
the conclusion would have been.
Some of the incidents correspond with those of the "Arabian Nights,"
but the stories on the whole are quite different from anything found
there, and give a lively picture of Hindoo manners and morals.
Unscrupulous deception, ready invention, extreme credulity and
superstition, and disregard of human life, are strongly illustrated.

The belief in the power of penance, which was supposed to confer on
the person practising it not merely personal sanctity, but even great
supernatural powers, was very generally entertained among the
Hindoos, and is often alluded to here; as is also transmigration, or the
birth of the soul after death in a new body, human or brute. Sufferings
or misfortunes are attributed to sins committed in a former existence,
and in more than one story two persons are supposed to recollect
having many years before lived together as husband and wife.
Much use also is made of the agency of supernatural beings; for besides
numerous gods, the Hindoos believe, or at least believed, in the
existence of innumerable beings, in some degree immortal, but liable to
be killed even by men, swarming in the air, generally invisible, but
sometimes assuming a human or a more terrible form; occasionally
beneficent, but more commonly injurious to human beings.
At the time when the original work was written, India appears to have
been divided into a large number of small kingdoms or principalities,
the rulers of which are here termed "Râja," a word almost adopted into
our language, but which. I have rendered by the equivalent and more
familiar term "King."
The numerous uncouth names, which cannot well be shortened or
translated, will, it is feared, cause some annoyance to the reader. As
many as possible have been omitted, and of those which occur a list is
given in the Appendix, together with a few terms which seemed to
require explanation. This will save the reader the trouble of, referring,
when a name recurs, to the place where it is first mentioned in order to
find out to whom it belongs.
The Appendix also contains a few pages of a very close literal
translation, which will enable the reader to form some idea of the
nature and style of the original, and to see how far it has been departed
from in the preceding pages.
P. W. J.
GUILDFORD, December, 1872.

PRONUNCIATION OF PROPER NAMES.
The vowel _â_, is always to be pronounced as in father.
The vowel a, as in America, or as u in dull, i in bird, &c.
The vowel e, always as a in cake.
The vowel _í_, as e in cede, or ee in reed.
The vowel i, as in pin.
The vowel _ú_, as in flute.
The vowel u, as in bull.
Pati is therefore pronounced putty, &c.

CONTENTS.
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.
ADVENTURES OF SOMADATTA.
ADVENTURES OF PUSHPODBHAVA.
MARRIAGE OF AVANTISUNDARI.
FURTHER ADVENTURES OF RÂJAVÂHANA.