Translator:
Arnold, Edwin, Sir, 1832-1904, Griffiths, R. T. H., Monier-Williams, Monier, Sir, 1819-1899
published it with explanations, under the title of the "Criterion of
Wisdom." The Emperor had also suggested the abridgment of the long
series of shlokes which here and there interrupt the narrative, and the
Vizir found this advice sound, and followed it, like the present
Translator. To this day, in India, the "Hitopadesa," under other names
(as the "Anvari Suhaili"[1]), retains the delighted attention of young
and old, and has some representative in all the Indian vernaculars. A
work so well esteemed in the East cannot be unwelcome to Western
readers, who receive it here, a condensed but faithful transcript of
sense and manner.
As often as an Oriental allusion, or a name in Hindoo mythology, seemed
to ask some explanation for the English reader, notes have been
appended, bearing reference to the page. In their compilation, and
generally, acknowledgment is due to Professor Johnson's excellent
version and edition of the "Hitopadesa," and to Mr. Muir's "Sanscrit
Texts."
A residence in India, and close intercourse with the Hindoos, have given
the author a lively desire to subserve their advancement. No one listens
now to the precipitate ignorance which would set aside as "heathenish"
the high civilization of this great race; but justice is not yet done to
their past development and present capacities. If the wit, the morality,
and the philosophy of these "beasts of India" (so faithfully rendered by
Mr. Harrison Weir) surprise any vigorous mind into further exploration
Colonel Chabert
COLONEL CHABERT
BY
HONORE DE BALZAC
Translated by
Ellen Marriage and Clara Bell
DEDICATION
To Madame la Comtesse Ida de Bocarme nee du Chasteler.
of her literature, and deeper sense of our responsibility in her
government, the author will be repaid.
EDWIN ARNOLD.
[1] "The Lights of Canopus," a Persian paraphrase; as the "Khirad
Afroz," "the lamp of the Understanding," is in Hindustani.
THE BOOK OF GOOD COUNSELS
INTRODUCTION
HONOR TO GUNESH, GOD OF WISDOM
This book of Counsel read, and you shall see,
Fair speech and Sanscrit lore, and Policy.
ON the banks of the holy river Ganges there stood a city named
Pataliputra. The King of it was a good King and a virtuous, and his name
was Sudarsana. It chanced one day that he overheard a certain person
reciting these verses--
