was rendered into Arabic and gradually, century by century, crept into the
literature of all Europe.
We give you some of these very fables in the "Hitopadesa," which means
"Friendly Instruction" or "Amicable Advice" for the original hooks contained
many maxims, like the following:
"He who is not possessed of such a book as will dispel many doubts, point out
hidden treasures, and is, as it were, a mirror of all things, is even an ignorant
man."
"These six—the peevish, the niggard, the dissatisfied, the passionate, the
suspicious, and those who live upon others' means—are forever unhappy."
"That mother is an enemy, and that father a foe, by whom not having been
instructed, their son shineth not in the assembly; but appeareth there like a booby
among geese."
"There are two kinds of knowledge in use: the knowledge of arms, and the
knowledge of books. The first is the scoff if the wise, whilst the last is forever
honoured."
We give you other Indian fables from the collection of Bidpai. La Fontaine in
one of the prefaces to his French fables in verse expresses his gratitude to
"Bilpay the Indian sage." These are the very manuscripts translated from the
Sanskrit into Persian by the physician who took them back to his king. Sir
William Jones says that "Bidpai" signifies "beloved physician" and that Bilpay is
simply a mis-spelling of the word. As other scholars contended that Bidpai was
not a man at all, but probably one of the two wise camels that did most of the
talking in the earlier fables, you and I will not be able to settle the truth of the
question. All these points are interesting, or, if they are not so to you, you must
say, "Wake up!" to your mind. It is the eager spirit of inquiry that conquers
difficulties and gains knowledge. In another preface I reminded you that in all
the faery stories the youngest brother was the one who always said, "I wonder!"
and he it was who triumphed over all the others. You are holding between these
crimson covers fables from some of the oldest and most valuable books the
world has ever known. The "Hitopadesa" was a very fountain of riches, as old as
the hills themselves, precious and inexhaustible. In its innumerable translations it