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The Balinese have a rich oral tradition. All the stories in this book have been handed down from one generation to the next and many are still told in Bali today. But their origin is obscure.

Some of the tales are clearly taken from the Fables of Aesop, here freshly retold in a Balinese setting. Aesop himself is an unknown—some believe his name was a nom deplume of an anonymous author, others think he may have been a Phrygian slave of the Romans; in any ease all his tales teach us that pride goes before a fall, that humility is a virtue, and vanity a folly.

For some of the other stories, I simply could not find a source. The simpleton and the effete young rajah, for example, and the tale of the two sisters, are all peculiarly Balinese—but to my knowledge they have never been written down. I have seen them, or parts of them, enacted on the stage in Balinese Gambuh and Ardja performances, and they are part of the vast repertory of Balinese tantric tales which are derived from a common source somewhere between Europe and Asia—but of written records, I found none.

I would like to thank Dewa Nyoman Batuan from Pengosckan in the Regency of Gianyar; and Pak Dewe, who gave me the ingredients for these tales over 30 years ago. Without him, there would have been nothing to write about— and no book at all.

I hereby dedicate this book to my grandchildren, Arjun and Natasha.

— Victor Mason