The Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads v2.c43.332

v2.c43.332

The Pañchatantra. For two thousand years and more the tales of the Pañchatantra have instructed and delighted the Hindus. It was the Pañchatantra that formed the basis of the studies of the immortal pioneer in the field of comparative literature, Theodor Benfey. From the Pañchatantra, through translations of translations, have come some of the most notable books of mediæval Europe, such as the Directorium (1270) of John of Capua, the Buch der Beispiele (1483), and so on, down to that gem of racy Tudor English, the translation (1570) of Doni by Sir Thomas North (reprinted by J. Jacobs, London, 1888).—The Hindus have a way of emboxing a second story into the first, a third into the second, and even a fourth into the third. The result is confusing. These emboxments are here shown in an ingenious and self-explaining way, by putting into the margin vertical wavy lines, single or double or triple, as the case may be. Thus the continuation of an interrupted story is found at a glance.