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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[SEPTEMBER, 1889.
Miltaurova, inherited by them from the | translation, which was turned into Greek by John, Georgian Tsareviches, under one of whom a a monk of the Savva Monastery. There is also Miltaurov. was the court captain. The manu. another Arabic translation from the Pahlavi which script, which belongs to the Society and includes is the original of the Hebrew rifacimento of Ibnthe Wisdom of Balavar, has the form of an ordi- Khisdan. nary pamphlet. The story of Balavar, which In the tale about the son of the Indian king, occupies the first 158 pages is followed by 20 pages if we contrast the Georgian version with the containing various poems, and an interpretation Greek and MusalmAn-Arabic, we can distinguish of the Lord's prayer. The last ten pages are blank. three elements : -(1) A fable; (2) A parablu; It is in the civil character, with the exception of (3) Religious teaching. the capitals, which are in the ecclesiastical. The The writer compares the various redactions pagination is in Arabic numerals.
and alludes to an edition of the Georgian text At the beginning of the manuscript we read :- which he is about to publish. He gives the Tho Wisdom of Balavar: the work of Father Georgian version with a translation. The Greek Bophronius of Palestine, the son of laaao. There and Arabio redactions are also compared. The are some lines at the beginning of the tale, appa- Arabio version appears to be of the least importrently by the author, pointing to the Ethiopian ance: in the Greek two of the creeds are cited : 1.6. Indian, origin of the book : "Once I was in the Georgian, only one. The article concludes in the country Ethiopia] where in the library with a list of proper names contained in the of the king of the Indians, I found this book, in tale, in Georgian, Greek, and Arabio. The arthor which his deeds are described." The following is hopes in a forthcoming work to trace the progress the inscription at the end : -"On October 6th, of this tale from the East to the West. 1860, this tale was copied by the Government (0) Variow Notes. Secretary, the noble Anthony Zakharievich (1) Baron V. Rosen on the Anthology of Dapkriev.
Ahmad Ibn-Abf-Tahir. "The hands of the labourers are turned to dust: In the British Museum (MS. Add. 18582), is "Their work will remain, like a treasure." preserved a fragment of the anthology of one of
The language is ecclesiastioal, with all those the remarkable writers of the third century, A.H.. peculiarities of style which we find in the Bible namely Abu'l-Fadhl, Aḥmad ibn-abi-Tahir and religious authors of the best period of Taipna, ob. 280 A.H. (893-94 A.D.). This is a Georgian literature. The use of the demonstra- most important century of Arabic literature, as tive pronoun in the place of the definite article, all Arabista know. These works were driven and many other archaic forms of speech and from popularity by the great compilations, such ancient words,-thus the proper word for nightin. as the History of Tabart, the Book of Songs gale, witchrinavi, which has become supplanted in (Kitabu'l-Agdni) of 'Ali Ispahånt, and others, modern Georgian by the Greek anda, &o. &o.,- which have not preserved all the material which all show the value of the manuscript.
existed. The anthology cited above had been Up to the discovery of the Georgian manu. described by Dr. Rieu in his Arabic Catalogue, soript, two chief redactions of the tale of the and the writer, during his stay in London in 1875, Indian king's son were known: the Greek, wbich made some extracts from it, in the hope that was most celebrated, and the Arabio, which was interest may be awakened in it. only recently published from a defective manu. Ibn-Abt-Tahir, the author of the Fihrist script. In it the story is interrupted at the tells us, came from a family of Khurlaan, and moment when Balabhar has bidden adieu to
was born at Baghdad A.H. 204. He died in the the king's son, and the king takes counsel with 76th year of his age. He is accused of pillering the wizard how to bring back his disobedient from other posts. Of his numerous works men child. Hommel, of Munich, reokons among the tioned in the Fihrist, not one has come down sources of the Fihrist some books about Bilay. complete, As far as the writer knows. Only hara, translated from Pahlavt into Arabio, and fragments of two of them have been preserved : thinks that this tale is in the closest connexion vis. (1) The Book about Baghdad; (2) The Book of with the Kallla and Dimna, also translated from Prose and Verse. These fragments are in the the Pahlavi. At the same time he states that the British Museum. The Book about Baghdad Hebrew redaction, called The Son of the King treats of the history of the 'Abbdefe;' the London and the Wrestler, is a translation from this Arabic
fragment is that which treats of the Khalifa redaction, which is Musalman and not Christian. MAman. The Book of Prose and Verse is an There were many versions of the history of anthology. According to the Fihrist it consisted Barlaam in Pahlavt, whence there was an Arabic of 14 parts, but only thirteen were published:
