Vikram and the Vampire: Or Tales of Hindu Devilry
Richard F. Burton
(Forgotten Books, Jan. 5, 2019)
Excerpt from Vikram and the Vampire: Or Tales of Hindu DevilryI do not, therefore, agree with Blair, with the dic tionaries, or with M. Deriége. Miletus, the great mari time city of Asiatic Ionia, was of old the meeting-place of the East and the West. Here the Phoenician trader from the Baltic would meet the Hindu wandering to Intra, from Extra, Gangem; and the Hyperborean would step on shore Side by Side with the Nubian and the izethiop. Here was produced and published for the use of the then civilized world, the genuine Oriental apologue, myth and tale combined, which, by amusing narrative and romantic adventure, insinuates a lesson in morals or in humanity, of which we often in our days must fail to perceive the drift. The book of Apuleius, before quoted, is subject to as many discoveries of recondite meaning as is Rabelais. As regards the licentiousness of the Milesian fables, this Sign of semi-civilization is still inherent in most Eastern books of the description which we call light literature, and the ancestral tale-teller never collects a larger purse of coppers than when he relates the worst of his aurei. But this looseness, resulting from the separation of the sexes, is accidental, not neces sary'. The following collection will Show that it can be dispensed with, and that there is such a thing as com parative purity in Hindu literature. The author, indeed.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.