Indian Antiquary Vol 15

Author(s): John Faithfull Fleet, Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 71

FEBRUARY, 1886.)
BOOK NOTICES.
59
"Thereupon sat a lady bright of blee, with I am oppressed, Of Fate, these cruel days that brow beaming brilliancy, the dream of philo- add abjection to my woe! sophy, whose eyes were fraught with Babel's My purposes are brought to nought, my love gramarye, and her eyebrows were arched as are reft in twain By exile's rigour, and my for archery, her breath breathed ambergris hopes are one and all laid low. and perfumery, and her lips were sugar to O ye, who pass the dwelling by, wherein my taste and carnelian to see. Her stature was dear ones are, Bear them the news of me and straight as the letter alif and her face shamed say, my tears for ever flow. the noon-sun's radiancy and she was even as The eternal subject of transliteration has forced & galaxy or a dome with golden marquetry, itself to the front, as usual, both in Capt. Burton's or a bride displayed in choicest finery, or & and Mr. Payne's prefaces. The latter has determined noble maid of Araby."
to avoid all accents or other tricks of typography In the above, blee" and "gramarye" may be in his pages as being repugnant to the taste of held to be due to the exigencies of saja, but we readers of works of imagination. This has led bare "pinacothek of the brain," a "Pantagruelist | him-as it always does--into great messes, e.g. roc, of the Wilderness," "Mabinogionic archaiem," khalif, cadi and other impossibilities in Arabic and so on in the preface, or foreword as Captain orthography and pronunciation. His proper names Burton prefers to call it. We would here mention too are often positively atrocious, e.g. Agib-benthat the "Babel" the letter alif," and the con. Khesib, Noureddin, Bedreddin, et hoc genus omne. fusion of metaphor in the above quotation are all The former has avoided this pitfall by a judicious duly explained in footnotes.
use of accents and apostrophes, and has produced, We will now give a specimen of #versified in consequence, & truer representation of the rendering, taken at random from the second Arabic words and names. In the presence of 80 volume, p. 143, which will exhibit the author's great a scholar as Captain Burton one must always HUOoess in reproducing the manner and rhythm speak even of his vagaries with respect, but we of the Arabic, and also afford us an opportunity should like to know why when he writes kalandar, of making a comparison with Mr. Payne's efforts rukh, Ja'afar, jinn, Nu'umán, astaghfaru'llah, and in the same direction. Mr. Payne's verses are to 80 on, he should also write Nár al-dín, Badr al-dín, be found in Vol II. p. 67 of his work.
Shaykh, Laylah, Hosayn, Al-Zayni Ibn al-Sadat,
Al-Safdí, and such like. CAPTAIN BURTON. Time hath for his wont to upraise and debase DICTIONARY OF KASMIRI PROVERBS AND SAYINGS. by Nor is lasting condition for human race :
the Rev. J. HINTON KNOWLES, F.R.G.8., M.B.A.S.,
eto. Bombay: Eduoation Society's Press. London: In this world each thing hath appointed turn.
Trübner & Co. Nor may man transgress his determined This collection of some 1,500 proverbs and say. place:
ings of the KAémiris is admirable of its kind, and How long these perils and woes P Ah woe. For paves the way, let us hope, for many a really useful a life all woeful in parlous case !
work in the future on that little known land and Allah bless not the days which have laid meita people. Visitors to it are to be ovunted by the
lowe I'the world, with disgrace after so much thousand, butaccurate and practicable information grace!
regarding it is very difficult to procure, as anyone My wish is baffled, my hopes cast down,. And who has been in want of such is painfully aware. distance forbids me to greet his face :
The book has been constructed on the lines of O thou who passeth that dear one's door, Say | Dr. Fallon's Dictionary of Hindustani Proverbe, for me, these tears shall flow evermore! now three parts published, and aims at giving the
original a readable rendering, and where neces. MR. PAYNE.
Bary a full explanation. Proverbs in Kasmir, as The tides of fate 'twixt good and ill shift ever elsewhere, frequently allude to household folktales to and fro, And no estate of life for men and these are given at length in every case, endureth evermo'.
forming a most valuable feature of the work. The All things that to the world belong have each defect of the book, besides its too frequently
their destined end, And to all men a turn is. shaky English, is that many of the allusions to Bet, which none may overgo.
legends and so on, which are in fact common to How long must I oppression bear and peril and all India, are treated as if peculiar to Kasmir, no
distress P Ah, how I loathe this life of mine hint being given of their real origin, or presence, that nought but these can show!
in Sanskrit or Prakrit literature; but this is not May God not prosper them, these days, wherein l. a very serious matter, and can be readily remedied