Description
Tun following translation of the Adventures of Hatim Ta'i may not perhaps merit from the English reader that interest which the original. holds among the natives of the East. In Europe the last three centuries have wrought mighty changes in the state of society, while Asia remains, comparatively speaking, unaltered. Among the natives of Persia and Hindustan, the belief in demons, fairies, magicians with their enchanted palaces, and talismans and charms, is as prevalent as it was in Europe in the chivalrous ages that succeeded the crusades. The Adventures of Hatim bin Ta'i have long obtained the highest popularity in those regions of Asia where the language of Persia is "spoken or studied. Among those who speak the language of the original, the work is read with admiration and listened to with delight. In India it is extremely popular, and is generally selected as a book well adapted for beginners in the study of Persian, now the court language of that wide" empire. Two editions of the Persian text of Hatem Ta'i have been printed at Calcutta since the establishment of Fort-William College. This work, however, differs widely from all the MSS. which I have "yet seen; and in fact, the name is almost the only resemblance left. The Calcutta copy is greatly abridged, the adventures and scenes that remain are altered, and the language rendered more flowery and artificial."