The Baitâl Pachchisi; Or, The Twenty-Five Tales of a Sprite Translated From the Hindi Text of Dr. Duncan Forbes

“One day, in the spring-time, the king, accompanied by his queens, went to take a stroll in a garden. There was a large tank in that garden, and the lotus was in full bloom ther...

“Whilst they were conversing thus, evening came on. They gave him food to his mind, and he supped. It is a well known saying that enjoyment is of eight kinds,--1. Perfume; 2. Wo...

“‘In the meantime, a traveller came along that road, and hearing the sound of weeping, stopped, and began to say to himself, ‘How comes the weeping voice of a human bring (to be...

“To be brief, after some delay, his friend thought that as he had been gone a very long while and had not yet returned, he ought to go and see (what had happened); so he said to...

“And the prince, sinking into the depths of despair, and overwhelmed with grief on account of her absence, came to the minister’s son, and with a feeling of shame laid before hi...

“When, after a few minutes, she recovered her senses, she sent word of all that had happened to her father and mother. They came (to her) on hearing of this calamity, and on see...

“On hearing this, he said, ‘It was but now that the princess came here with her companions; and it was through seeing her that I have fallen into this state. Should I obtain pos...

The English translation of these tales has been made by special request, to meet repeated demands for a translation of the text as edited by the late Dr. Duncan Forbes. The aim...

“When the Brahman (the guest) witnessed this occurrence, he rose up without eating anything. Then the master of the house said, ‘Why do you not eat?’ He replied, ‘How can one pa...

After reaching this point of the story, the sprite said, “Your majesty! who was the greatest fool of those four?” King Vikram replied, “He who restored it to life was the greate...