the title "Fables of Pilpay" (1699).[1] And finally, we have Mr. Keith-Falconer's version of the Later Syriac, and Mr. Kalston's reproduction of Schiefner's curious "find" of the Tibetan version. All this may serve to justify the reprint of the earliest of the twenty English translations, and to indicate that to the many stories contained in the book itself, must be added one more wonderful still—the story of its wanderings.
North's version, here republished, bears traces of these peregrinations almost in every section. Notwithstanding the warning to the reader of the necessity of reading the book in connected order, it is really an omnium gatherum from almost every country and tongue through which the original fables had passed on their way to England. Thus, the appeal "to the Reader" is from the Italian. The Prologue appears first in Arabic, though, the tales in it can be traced to Indian sources. The Argument of the book goes a step farther back, and must have been in the Pehlevi. An interesting trait is omitted in the English version, for Barzoye in the original asks as his only reward that his life and exploits should be added to the Fables of Bidpai, as indeed they
- ↑ Reprinted recently in the Chandos Library.
