Vikram and the Vampire

Оглавление

Richard F. Burton. Vikram and the Vampire

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

IN WHICH A MAN DECEIVES A WOMAN

THE VAMPIRE’S SECOND STORY. OF THE RELATIVE VILLANY OF MEN AND WOMEN

THE VAMPIRE’S THIRD STORY. OF A HIGH-MINDED FAMILY

THE VAMPIRE’S FOURTH STORY. OF A WOMAN WHO TOLD THE TRUTH

THE VAMPIRE’S FIFTH STORY. OF THE THIEF WHO LAUGHED AND WEPT

THE VAMPIRE’S SIXTH STORY. IN WHICH THREE MEN DISPUTE ABOUT A WOMAN

THE VAMPIRE’S SEVENTH STORY. SHOWING THE EXCEEDING FOLLY OF MANY WISE FOOLS

THE VAMPIRE’S EIGHTH STORY. OF THE USE AND MISUSE OF MAGIC PILLS

THE VAMPIRE’S NINTH STORY. SHOWING THAT A MAN’S WIFE BELONGS NOT TO HIS BODY BUT TO HIS HEAD

THE VAMPIRE’S TENTH STORY.168. OF THE MARVELLOUS DELICACY OF THREE QUEENS

THE VAMPIRE’S ELEVENTH STORY. WHICH PUZZLES RAJA VIKRAM

CONCLUSION

Отрывок из книги

The sage Bhavabhuti – Eastern teller of these tales – after making his initiatory and propitiatory congé to Ganesha, Lord of Incepts, informs the reader that this book is a string of fine pearls to be hung round the neck of human intelligence; a fragrant flower to be borne on the turban of mental wisdom; a jewel of pure gold, which becomes the brow of all supreme minds; and a handful of powdered rubies, whose tonic effects will appear palpably upon the mental digestion of every patient. Finally, that by aid of the lessons inculcated in the following pages, man will pass happily through this world into the state of absorption, where fables will be no longer required.

He then teaches us how Vikramaditya the Brave became King of Ujjayani.

.....

‘And how came an anchorite to have a child?’ asked Raja Vikram, incredulously.

‘That is what I am about to tell thee,’ replied the giant. ‘In the good days of thy generous father, Gandharba-Sena, as the court was taking its pleasure in the forest, they saw a devotee, or rather a devotee’s head, protruding from a hole in the ground. The white ants had surrounded his body with a case of earth, and had made their home upon his skin. All kinds of insects and small animals crawled up and down the face, yet not a muscle moved. Wasps had hung their nests to its temples, and scorpions wandered in and out of the matted and clotted hair; yet the hermit felt them not. He spoke to no one; he received no gifts; and had it not been for the opening of his nostrils, as he continually inhaled the pungent smoke of a thorn fire, man would have deemed him dead. Such were his religious austerities.

.....