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Captain Sir Richard F. Burton's

Vikram and The Vampire

Classic Hindu Tales of
Adventure, Magic, and Romance

Edited by his Wife
Isabel Burton

"Les fables, loin de grandir les hommes, la Nature et Dieu,
rapetssent tout."
Lamartine (Milton)

"One who had eyes saw it; the blind will not understand it.
A poet, who is a boy, he has perceived it; he who understands it
will be
his sire's sire." - Rig-Veda (I.164.16).


Contents

Preface
Preface to the First (1870) Edition
Introduction

THE VAMPIRE'S FIRST STORY.
In which a Man deceives a Woman

THE VAMPIRE'S SECOND STORY.
Of the Relative Villany of Men and Woman

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.
Showng 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.
Of the Marvellous Delicacy of Three Queens

THE VAMPIRE'S ELEVENTH STORY.
Which puzzles Raja Vikram

Conclusion

PREFACE

The Baital-Pachisi, or Twenty-five Tales of a Baital is the history
of a huge Bat, Vampire, or Evil Spirit which inhabited and
animated dead bodies. It is an old, and thoroughly Hindu, Legend
composed in Sanskrit, and is the germ which culminated in the
Arabian Nights, and which inspired the "Golden Ass" of Apuleius,
Boccacio's "Decamerone," the "Pentamerone," and all that class of
facetious fictitious literature.

The story turns chiefly on a great king named Vikram, the King
Arthur of the East, who in pursuance of his promise to a Jogi or
Magician, brings to him the Baital (Vampire), who is hanging on a
tree. The difficulties King Vikram and his son have in bringing the
Vampire into the presence of the Jogi are truly laughable; and on
this thread is strung a series of Hindu fairy stories, which contain
much interesting information on Indian customs and manners. It
also alludes to that state, which induces Hindu devotees to allow
themselves to be buried alive, and to appear dead for weeks or
months, and then to return to life again; a curious state of
mesmeric catalepsy, into which they work themselves by
concentrating the mind and abstaining from food - a specimen of
which I have given a practical illustration in the Life of Sir Richard
Burton.

The following translation is rendered peculiarly; valuable and
interesting by Sir Richard Burton's intimate knowledge of the
language. To all who understand the ways of the East, it is as
witty, and as full of what is popularly called "chaff" as it is
possible to be. There is not a dull page in it, and it will especially
please those who delight in the weird and supernatural, the
grotesque, and the wild life.

My husband only gives eleven of the best tales, as it was thought
the translation would prove more interesting in its abbreviated
form.

ISABEL BURTON.

August 18th, 1893.


PREFACE TO THE FIRST (1870) EDITION.

"THE genius of Eastern nations," says an established and
respectable authority, "was, from the earliest times, much turned
towards invention and the love of fiction. The Indians, the
Persians, and the Arabians, were all famous for their fables.
Amongst the ancient Greeks we hear of the Ionian and Milesian
tales, but they have now perished, and, from every account we hear
of them, appear to have been loose and indelicate." Similarly, the
classical dictionaries define "Milesiae fabulae" to be "licentious
themes," "stories of an amatory or mirthful nature," or "ludicrous
and indecent plays." M. Deriege seems indeed to confound them
with the "Moeurs du Temps" illustrated with artistic gouaches,
when he says, "une de ces fables milesiennes, rehaussees de
peintures, que la corruption romaine recherchait alors avec une
folle ardeur."

My friend, Mr. Richard Charnock, F.A.S.L., more correctly
defines Milesian fables to have been originally " certain tales or
novels, composed by Aristides of Miletus "; gay in matter and
graceful in manner. "They were translated into Latin by the
historian Sisenna, the friend of Atticus, and they had a great
success at Rome. Plutarch, in his life of Crassus, tells us that after
the defeat of Carhes (Carrhae?) some Milesiacs were found in the
baggage of the Roman prisoners. The Greek text; and the Latin
translation have long been lost. The only surviving fable is the tale
of Cupid and Psyche,[FN#1] which Apuleius calls 'Milesius
sermo,' and it makes us deeply regret the disappearance of the
others." Besides this there are the remains of Apollodorus and
Conon, and a few traces to be found in Pausanias, Athenaeus, and
the scholiasts.

I do not, therefore, agree with Blair, with the dictionaries, or with
M. Deriege. Miletus, the great maritime 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 Aethiop.
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 necessary. The
following collection will show that it can be dispensed with, and
that there is such a thing as camparative purity in Hindu literature.
The author, indeed, almost always takes the trouble to marry his
hero and his heroine, and if he cannot find a priest, he generally
adopts an exceedingly left-hand and Caledonian but legal rite
called "gandharbavivaha.[FN#2]"

The work of Apuleius, as ample internal evidence shows, is
borrowed from the East. The groundwork of the tale is the
metamorphosis of Lucius of Corinth into an ass, and the strange
accidents which precede his recovering the human form.

Another old Hindu story-book relates, in the popular fairy-book
style, the wondrous adventures of the hero and demigod, the great
Gandharba-Sena. That son of Indra, who was also the father of
Vikramajit, the subject of this and another collection, offended the
ruler of the firmament by his fondness for a certain nymph, and
was doomed to wander over earth under the form of a donkey.
Through the interposition of the gods, however, he was permitted
to become a man during the hours of darkness, thus comparing
with the English legend -

Amundeville is lord by day,
But the monk is lord by night.

Whilst labouring under this curse, Gandharba-Sena persuaded the
King of Dhara to give him a daughter in marriage, but it
unfortunately so happened that at the wedding hour he was unable
to show himself in any but asinine shape. After bathing, however,
he proceeded to the assembly, and, hearing songs and music, he
resolved to give them a specimen of his voice.

The guests were filled with sorrow that so beautiful a virgin should
be married to a donkey. They were afraid to express their feelings
to the king, but they could not refrain from smiling, covering their
mouths with their garments. At length some one interrupted the
general silence and said:

"O king, is this the son of Indra? You have found a fine
bridegroom; you are indeed happy; don't delay the marriage; delay
is improper in doing good; we never saw so glorious a wedding! It
is true that we once heard of a camel being married to a jenny-ass;
when the ass, looking up to the camel, said, 'Bless me, what a
bridegroom!' and the camel, hearing the voice of the ass,
exclaimed, 'Bless me, what a musical voice!' In that wedding,
however, the bride and the bridegroom were equal; but in this
marriage, that such a bride should have such a bridegroom is truly
wonderful."

Other Brahmans then present said:

"O king, at the marriage hour, in sign of joy the sacred shell is
blown, but thou hast no need of that" (alluding to the donkey's
braying).

The women all cried out:

"O my mother![FN#3] what is this? at the time of marriage to have
an ass! What a miserable thing! What! will he give that angelic girl
in wedlock to a donkey?"

At length Gandharba-Sena, addressing the king in Sanskrit, urged
him to perform his promise. He reminded his future father-in-law
that there is no act more meritorious than speaking truth; that the
mortal frame is a mere dress, and that wise men never estimate the
value of a person by his clothes. He added that he was in that
shape from the curse of his sire, and that during the night he had
the body of a man. Of his being the son of Indra there could be no
doubt.

Hearing the donkey thus speak Sanskrit, for it was never known
that an ass could discourse in that classical tongue, the minds of
the people were changed, and they confessed that, although he had
an asinine form he was unquestionably the son of Indra. The king,
therefore, gave him his daughter in marriage.[FN#4] The
metamorphosis brings with it many misfortunes and strange
occurrences, and it lasts till Fate in the author's hand restores the
hero to his former shape and honours.

Gandharba-Sena is a quasi-historical personage, who lived in the
century preceding the Christian era. The story had, therefore,
ample time to reach the ears of the learned African Apuleius, who
was born A.D. 130.

The Baital-Pachisi, or Twenty-five (tales of a) Baital[FN#5] - a
Vampire or evil spirit which animates dead bodies - is an old and
thoroughly Hindu repertory. It is the rude beginning of that
fictitious history which ripened to the Arabian Nights'
Entertainments, and which, fostered by the genius of Boccaccio,
produced the romance of the chivalrous days, and its last
development, the novel - that prose-epic of modern Europe.

Composed in Sanskrit, "the language of the gods," alias the Latin
of India, it has been translated into all the Prakrit or vernacular and
modern dialects of the great peninsula. The reason why it has not
found favour with the Moslems is doubtless the highly polytheistic
spirit which pervades it; moreover, the Faithful had already a
specimen of that style of composition. This was the Hitopadesa, or
Advice of a Friend, which, as a line in its introduction informs us,
was borrowed from an older book, the Panchatantra, or Five
Chapters. It is a collection of apologues recited by a learned
Brahman, Vishnu Sharma by name, for the edification of his
pupils, the sons of an Indian Raja. They have been adapted to or
translated into a number of languages, notably into Pehlvi and
Persian, Syriac and Turkish, Greek and Latin, Hebrew and Arabic.
And as the Fables of Pilpay,[FN#6] are generally known, by name
at least, to European litterateurs. . Voltaire remarks,[FN#7]
"Quand on fait reflexion que presque toute la terre a ete infatuee de
pareils comes, et qu'ils ont fait l'education du genre humain, on
trouve les fables de Pilpay, Lokman, d'Esope bien raisonnables."
These tales, detached, but strung together by artificial means -
pearls with a thread drawn through them - are manifest precursors
of the Decamerone, or Ten Days. A modern Italian critic describes
the now classical fiction as a collection of one hundred of those
novels which Boccaccio is believed to have read out at the court of
Queen Joanna of Naples, and which later in life were by him
assorted together by a most simple and ingenious contrivance. But
the great Florentine invented neither his stories nor his " plot," if
we may so call it. He wrote in the middle of the fourteenth century
(1344-8) when the West had borrowed many things from the East,
rhymes[FN#8] and romance, lutes and drums, alchemy and
knight-errantry. Many of the "Novelle" are, as Orientalists well
know, to this day sung and recited almost textually by the
wandering tale-tellers, bards, and rhapsodists of Persia and Central
Asia.

The great kshatriya,(soldier) king Vikramaditya,[FN#9] or
Vikramarka, meaning the "Sun of Heroism," plays in India the part
of King Arthur, and of Harun al-Rashid further West. He is a
semi-historical personage. The son of Gandharba-Sena the donkey
and the daughter of the King of Dhara, he was promised by his
father the strength of a thousand male elephants. When his sire
died, his grandfather, the deity Indra, resolved that the babe should
not be born, upon which his mother stabbed herself. But the tragic
event duly happening during the ninth month, Vikram came into
the world by himself, and was carried to Indra, who pitied and
adopted him, and gave him a good education.

The circumstances of his accession to the throne, as will presently
appear, are differently told. Once, however, made King of Malaya,
the modern Malwa, a province of Western Upper India, he so
distinguished himself that the Hindu fabulists, with their usual
brave kind of speaking, have made him "bring the whole earth
under the shadow of one umbrella,"

The last ruler of the race of Mayura, which reigned 318 years, was
Raja-pal. He reigned 25 years, but giving himself up to
effeminacy, his country was invaded by Shakaditya, a king from
the highlands of Kumaon. Vikramaditya, in the fourteenth year of
his reign, pretended to espouse the cause of Raja-pal, attacked and
destroyed Shakaditya, and ascended the throne of Delhi. His
capital was Avanti, or Ujjayani, the modern Ujjain. It was 13 kos
(26 miles) long by 18 miles wide, an area of 468 square miles, but
a trifle in Indian History. He obtained the title of Shakari, "foe of
the Shakas," the Sacae or Scythians, by his victories over that
redoubtable race. In the Kali Yug, or Iron Age, he stands highest
amongst the Hindu kings as the patron of learning. Nine persons
under his patronage, popularly known as the "Nine Gems of
Science," hold in India the honourable position of the Seven Wise
Men of Greece.

These learned persons wrote works in the eighteen original dialects
from which, say the Hindus, all the languages of the earth have
been derived.[FN#10] Dhanwantari enlightened the world upon the
subjects of medicine and of incantations. Kshapanaka treated the
primary elements. Amara-Singha compiled a Sanskrit dictionary
and a philosophical treatise. Shankubetalabhatta composed
comments, and Ghatakarpara a poetical work of no great merit.
The books of Mihira are not mentioned. Varaha produced two
works on astrology and one on arithmetic. And Bararuchi
introduced certain improvements in grammar, commented upon
the incantations, and wrote a poem in praise of King Madhava.

But the most celebrated of all the patronized ones was Kalidasa.
His two dramas, Sakuntala,[FN#11] and Vikram and
Urvasi,[FN#12] have descended to our day; besides which he
produced a poem on the seasons, a work on astronomy, a poetical
history of the gods, and many other books.[FN#13]

Vikramaditya established the Sambat era, dating from A.C. 56.
After a long, happy, and glorious reign, he lost his life in a war
with Shalivahana, King of Pratisthana. That monarch also left
behind him an era called the " Shaka," beginning with A.D. 78. It
is employed, even now, by the Hindus in recording their births,
marriages, and similar occasions.

King Vikramaditya was succeeded by his infant son
Vikrama-Sena, and father and son reigned over a period of 93
years. At last the latter was supplanted by a devotee named
Samudra-pala, who entered into his body by miraculous means.
The usurper reigned 24 years and 2 months, and the throne of
Delhi continued in the hands of his sixteen successors, who
reigned 641 years and 3 months. Vikrama-pala,, the last, was slain
in battle by Tilaka-chandra, King of Vaharannah[FN#14].

It is not pretended that the words of these Hindu tales are
preserved to the letter. The question about the metamorphosis of
cats into tigers, for instance, proceeded from a Gem of Learning in
a university much nearer home than Gaur. Similarly the learned
and still living Mgr. Gaume (Traite du Saint-Esprit, p.. 81) joins
Camerarius in the belief that serpents bite women rather than men.
And he quotes (p.. 192) Cornelius a Lapide, who informs us that
the leopard is the produce of a lioness with a hyena or a bard..

The merit of the old stories lies in their suggestiveness and in their
general applicability. I have ventured to remedy the conciseness of
their language, and to clothe the skeleton with flesh and blood.

To My Uncle,

ROBERT BAGSHAW, OF DOVERCOURT,

These Tales,
That Will Remind Him Of A Land Which
He Knows So Well,
Are Affectionately Inscribed.


VIKRAM AND THE VAMPIRE.

INTRODUCTION

The sage Bhavabhuti -- Eastern teller of these tales -- after making
his initiatory and propitiatory conge 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 turband 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.

Some nineteen centuries ago, the renowned city of Ujjayani
witnessed the birth of a prince to whom was given the gigantic
name Vikramaditya. Even the Sanskrit-speaking people, who are
not usually pressed for time, shortened it to "Vikram", and a little
further West it would infallibly have been docked down to "Vik".

Vikram was the second son of an old king Gandharba-Sena,
concerning whom little favourable has reached posterity, except
that he became an ass, married four queens, and had by them six
sons, each of whom was more learned and powerful than the other.
It so happened that in course of time the father died. Thereupon his
eldest heir, who was known as Shank, succeeded to the carpet of
Rajaship, and was instantly murdered by Vikram, his "scorpion",
the hero of the following pages.[FN#15]

By this act of vigour and manly decision, which all younger-
brother princes should devoutly imitate, Vikram having obtained
the title of Bir, or the Brave, made himself Raja. He began to rule
well, and the gods so favoured him that day by day his dominions
increased. At length he became lord of all India, and having firmly
established his government, he instituted an era--an uncommon
feat for a mere monarch, especially when hereditary.

The steps,[FN#16] says the historian, which he took to arrive at
that pinnacle of grandeur, were these:

The old King calling his two grandsons Bhartari-hari and
Vikramaditya, gave them good counsel respecting their future
learning. They were told to master everything, a certain way not to
succeed in anything. They were diligently to learn grammar, the
Scriptures, and all the religious sciences. They were to become
familiar with military tactics, international law, and music, the
riding of horses and elephants-- especially the latter--the driving of
chariots, and the use of the broadsword, the bow, and the mogdars
or Indian clubs. They were ordered to be skilful in all kinds of
games, in leaping and running, in besieging forts, in forming and
breaking bodies of troops; they were to endeavour to excel in
every princely quality, to be cunning in ascertaining the power of
an enemy, how to make war, to perform journeys, to sit in the
presence of the nobles, to separate the different sides of a question,
to form alliances, to distinguish between the innocent and the
guilty, to assign proper punishments to the wicked, to exercise
authority with perfect justice, and to be liberal. The boys were then
sent to school, and were placed under the care of excellent
teachers, where they became truly famous. Whilst under pupilage,
the eldest was allowed all the power necessary to obtain a
knowledge of royal affairs, and he was not invested with the regal
office till in these preparatory steps he had given full satisfaction
to his subjects, who expressed high approval of his conduct.

The two brothers often conversed on the duties of kings, when the
great Vikramaditya gave the great Bhartari-hari the following
valuable advice[FN#17]:

"As Indra, during the four rainy months, fills the earth with water,
so a king should replenish his treasury with money. As Surya the
sun, in warming the earth eight months, does not scorch it, so a
king, in drawing revenues from his people, ought not to oppress
them. As Vayu, the wind, surrounds and fills everything, so the
king by his officers and spies should become acquainted with the
affairs and circumstances of his whole people. As Yama judges
men without partiality or prejudice, and punishes the guilty, so
should a king chastise, without favour, all offenders. As Varuna,
the regent of water, binds with his pasha or divine noose his
enemies, so let a king bind every malefactor safely in prison. As
Chandra,[FN#18] the moon, by his cheering light gives pleasure to
all, thus should a king, by gifts and generosity, make his people
happy. And as Prithwi, the earth, sustains all alike, so should a
king feel an equal affection and forbearance towards every one."

Become a monarch, Vikram meditated deeply upon what is said of
monarchs:--"A king is fire and air; he is both sun and moon; he is
the god of criminal justice; he is the genius of wealth; he is the
regent of water; he is the lord of the firmament; he is a powerful
divinity who appears in human shape." He reflected with some
satisfaction that the scriptures had made him absolute, had left the
lives and properties of all his subjects to his arbitrary will, had
pronounced him to be an incarnate deity, and had threatened to
punish with death even ideas derogatory to his honour.

He punctually observed all the ordinances laid down by the author
of the Niti, or institutes of government. His night and day were
divided into sixteen pahars or portions, each one hour and a half,
and they were disposed of as follows:--

Before dawn Vikram was awakened by a servant appointed to this
special duty. He swallowed-- a thing allowed only to a khshatriya
or warrior-- Mithridatic every morning on the saliva[FN#19], and
he made the cooks taste every dish before he ate of it. As soon as
he had risen, the pages in waiting repeated his splendid qualities,
and as he left his sleeping-room in full dress, several Brahmans
rehearsed the praises of the gods. Presently he bathed, worshipped
his guardian deity, again heard hymns, drank a little water, and
saw alms distributed to the poor. He ended this watch by auditing
his accounts.

Next entering his court, he placed himself amidst the assembly. He
was always armed when he received strangers, and he caused even
women to be searched for concealed weapons. He was surrounded
by so many spies and so artful, that of a thousand, no two ever told
the same tale. At the levee, on his right sat his relations, the
Brahmans, and men of distinguished birth. The other castes were
on the left, and close to him stood the ministers and those whom he
delighted to consult. Afar in front gathered the bards chanting the
praises of the gods and of the king; also the charioteers,
elephanteers, horsemen, and soldiers of valour. Amongst the
learned men in those assemblies there were ever some who were
well instructed in all the scriptures, and others who had studied in
one particular school of philosophy, and were acquainted only with
the works on divine wisdom, or with those on justice, civil and
criminal, on the arts, mineralogy or the practice of physic; also
persons cunning in all kinds of customs; riding-masters, dancing-
masters, teachers of good behaviour, examiners, tasters, mimics,
mountebanks, and others, who all attended the court and awaited
the king's commands. He here pronounced judgment in suits of
appeal. His poets wrote about him:

The lord of lone splendour an instant suspends
His course at mid~noon, ere he westward descends;
And brief are the moments our young monarch knows,
Devoted to pleasure or paid to repose!

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