Brown ComparativeTranslationArabic 1922
Brown ComparativeTranslationArabic 1922
Brown ComparativeTranslationArabic 1922
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W. NORMAN BROWN
I The difficulties in the way of such a text are enormous (see N6ldeke
in ZDMG 69. 794-806 or in the Introduction to his Burzoeis Einleitung),
but I understand that Professor Sprengling is hard at work on the pro-
position; it is to be hoped that he will not find the difficulties insuperable.
For a discussion of the literary history of the Kalila wa-Dimna, see Hertel,
Das Paiicatantra p. 362 ff., and Chauvin, Bibliographie des ouvrages arabes,
vol. 2.
2 This work, announced in JAOS 38. 273, is now ready for the press.
For an estimate of the relative value of the Sanskrit versions, see Edgerton
in AJP 36. 44 ff. and 253 ff.
15 JAOS 42
3 In the cases where I have quoted the Sanskrit I have done so only
after feeling sure that the Sanskrit represents something appearing in
the original Pafcatantra.
1. The king said to the wise man:4 I have heard the fable
of the two friends whom the false trickster separated [and the
termination of his lawsuit afterwards].5 Now give me a fable
concerning sincere friends-how the beginning of their friendship
came about, and how they profited, each of them from the other.
The wise man said:
2 (vs. 1). The intelligent man6 thinks nothing equal to sin-
cere friends; for friends are of the greatest help in securing
benefits and of the greatest consolation in misfortune. As an
example there is the fable of the crow, the ringdove, the
mouse, the tortoise, and the gazelle.
3 (2). The king said: How was that?
4 (3, 4, 5). The philosopher said: They say that there was
7 The Arabic and its offshoots are hopelessly at sea in handling the
place names which the Sanskrit had here. OS, however, is good, reading
Dhsnbt and Mhllib, which well represent such forms as daksinupatha
(the south-land) and Mahildropya: the reading was, in the south-land in
the city of Mahildropya.
8 Thus Ch and a Ms. in the British Museum against the field which
says 'many'. M. S.
9 Supplied from Kh; similar phraseology in Ms. in British Museum
quoted in Ch's note, also in J (JO), OSp, NS, and OS.
10 Supplied from deS etc., NS, ASu, El; OSp, J (J), there; Gk,
tender it. M. S.
11 Oh alone; deS and texts that follow him, the grain; all others
some grain. M. S.
12 DeS (Kh) with J and OS, the mistress of the doves and many dov
were with her. M. S.
13 Supplied from Kh, supported by J (JO); other texts briefer and
more like Ch.
14 Thus Ch, supported by OSp and J; deS, Kh, and Gk, rejoicing. M. S.
15 DeS, Kh, etc., began to struggle in her own snares and to seek deli-
verance for herself. M. S.
22 Thus Ch and ASu; deS (with Kh etc), OSp, J (JO), and NS, and
they did. M. S.
23 It is curious that with all versions supporting Ch, OS-the raven
weit with them to see the finish-seems nearer deS (with Kh and Mosul ed.,
which draw upon deS). M. S.
24 Inserted from J (JC), NS, and OSp (M. S. adds Gk and ASu).
Also in OS.
25 There are a number of variations of this name in the versions, b
the significant ones are those of deS, NS, and ASu (Zirak), OSp (Zir
OS (Zir for Zirg). (There is hardly any doubt that Zirak is the correc
form. M. S.)
26 Ch alone against all others, including OS, tho this is foolishly
expanded. The phrase recurs in an expansion as stupid as OS here, Ch,
p. 140, 1. 7 (our section 192). ASu has a similar statement after the
dove's first sentence about fate. MI. S.
27 Hardly more than a hackneyed phrase, 'in his day and time', in the
use of which Oh stands alone, tho precisely here the addition of hack-
neyed phrases abounds in the versions. M. S. [It probably represents
the Sanskrit original, ydvac ca yadd- ca, etc. F. E.]
22 (vs. 4). And fate has brought me into this plight; for
this it was which showed me the grain but blinded my sight
in regard to the net until I was entangled in it, I and my
companions.
23 (vs. 5). There is nothing strange in my case and my
ineffectiveness in opposing fate; for not even he who is stronger
and greater than I can oppose fate. Indeed, the sun and the
moon are darkened when this is decreed for them.
24 (vs. 6). And indeed fish are caught in the watery deep28
and birds are brought down from the air. The cause thru
which the weak man obtains what he needs is the same as
that which separates the clever man from his desire.
25 (34, 35). Then the mouse began to gnaw the meshes in
which the ringdove was, but the ringdove said to him: Begin
with the meshes of my companions, then come to my meshes.
26 (36, 37). She repeated the speech to him several times,
but the mouse paid no regard to her speech. Then he said
to her: You constantly repeat this remark to me, as tho you
had no pity29 for yourself. You have no regard for any duty
toward it (i. e. your own person or life).30
27 (38). The ringdove said: Do not blame me for what
I command you, for nothing impels me to this except (the
fact) that I bear the burden of rulership over all these doves,
and consequently have a duty toward them. And truly they
have paid me my due by obedience and counsel; for thru
their obedience and their help Allah saved us from the owner
of the net.31
28 (39, 40). But I feared that, if you should begin by
cutting my meshes, you would grow weary, and when you had
completed that be negligent of doing this with the meshes of
some that were left; but I knew that, if you should begin
with them and I should be the last, you would not be content,
28 Ch with OSp, J (JC), Gk, El, ASu, and OS. Guidi's Mss. V and M
with NS, water. M. S.
29 Kh, need; so also J. (Kh, with Mosul, 4th ed. adds, nor solicitude;
deS with Ch. NS corresponds more to JC and BdB than to J. M. S.)
30 The translation of this last sentence is by Dr. Sprengling.
3t J (JC) and OSp, hunter; NS and ASu, fowler. (Gk, rTv rTO 5I77peVTo
7rayilJ; ASu, ed. Ousely >L.o , NS has the same word in Syriac
letters, which may mean hunter, fowler, or fisher. M. S.)
for often the lion kills the elephant, and often the elephant
kills the lion; and the other is an enmity in which the injury
is from only one of the two upon the other, like the enmity
which exists between me and the cat, and like the enmity
between me and you.39 For the enmity with me exists not in
(consequence of) any injury that can come from me to you,
but because of what can come from you to me. The natural
enmity knows no peace that does not ultimately return to
enmity. There is no peace to the enmity, neither by anything
inherited nor by any interference from outside.40
42 (vs. 15). For water, even tho it is heated and its heating
extends for a long time-this does not prevent it from quen-
ching fire when it is poured upon it.
43 (vs. 17). But the man with an enmity4i which he has
tried to reconcile is like a man with a snake which he carries
in his palm.42
44 (vs. 18). But the wise man never associates with a
shrewd foe.
45 (60). The crow said: I have understood what you have
said, and you are verifying the excellence of your character.
And recognize the truth of my words and do not interpose a
difficulty between our relationship by saying 'We have no
way to union'.
46 For intelligent and noble men seek union and a way to
it for every good purpose.43
47 (vs. 22). Friendship between the good is hard to break
44 Supplied from J (JC) and OSp, supported by OS. (On the other
hand NS, ASu, and El support the published Arabic texts, seeming to
point to an Eastern as against a Western reading; it seems to me that
'water' could more easily have been added than omitted. ASu expands
differently. M. S.)
45 Kh adds, and know that if I had wished to injure you, I should
have done so while circling in the air above your head, at the timie when
you were cutting the meshes of the doves.
55 J (JC, BdB), NS, Eleazar add, which were in the house; OS, which
were with me. The word other' appears in all the versions (except El)
and OS. DeS Ms. 1489, my companions among the mice; ms. 1502, his
companions. Mi. S.
56 DeS, Kh, in a place I could not reach; similarly OSp, J (JC).
57 The text in Ch needs a slight correction, see Cheikho's note on p. 54
of his edition.
53 DeS, Kh, to frighten me away from the basket; so also OSp, and
similarly J (JC); NS, to scare the mice lest they come near the basket;
ASui similar to Ch and NS. (Gk, uel f6tTi-ruevoS; Schulthess, note 226 to
OS, quotes from Puntoni's ed: IAbs, var. IA E'K0OpiWW. M. S.)
59 NS, you hare asked me to tell you my history, and now that I begin
to tell it ... Cf. OS, Da erzihle ich dir, was du mich gefragt hast.
60 DeS (Kh), Gk, NS, El, and OS, a mouse. M. S.
61 Supplied from deS and Kh, supported by J (JC) and OSp; cf. OS,
hier sind viele Mduse. (Ch is supported by Gk and NS; El, many mice
frequent mouseholes; ASu indecisive. M. S.)
62 Emending Ch (<'l) from ms. Jos. Derenbourg (JO, p. 145, note 7)
to read yA9; supported by OSp, ASu, and (weakly) NS. M. S.
63 Word inserted in text of Ch as the introduction to a new story.
64 DeS, Kh, toward the end of the night; so also J; but JO, circa
mediam noctem (add BdB, nachtes. M. S.).
65 Emending & to In,; sense supported by J (J), OSp, and
ASu (also El, in my house; NS and OS indecisive. M. S.).
66 Ch (and NS?) against the field. DeS (with Mosul, 4th ed. and Kh),
,and how was that; supported by OSp, J (JO, BdB), El, ASu, and OS.
Gk omits; NS, and what befell him. M. S.
67 DeS (with Mosul, 4th ed. and Kh), OSp, J (JC, BdB), Gk, NS, ASu
add, They say that . .. With Ch only El and OS. M. S. (However, the
Sanskrit agrees with Ch. W. N. B.)
68 DeS, Kh, NS, and OS, wild boar (also J etc. M. S.).
69 Ch's text seems corrupt here. It should read 'When the man saw
him, he threw down ...' This would make it conform to OS, JC, and
the Sanskrit versions.
70 Some phrase, just what is uncertain, is missing here. The versions
J, JC, and ASu have phrases such as 'maddened by the pain of the
wound' (JO) or 'tho mortally wounded' (ASu). (J, in spite of Deren-
bourg's translation, supports ASu. M. S.) The Sanskrit versions also vary
in their phraseology.
71 Supplied from J (JC), supported by Sanskrit. ASu says 'hunter's
breast'.
72 Supplied from J (JO), OSp (add Gk and El. M. S.), and ASu; sup-
ported by OS. (Slightly different phrase in NS. M. S.)
16 JAOS 42
up what I have found, and content myself for to-day with this
bow-string. 73
96 (124). Then he approached the bow to eat its string.
97 (125). When he cut the string, the bow unbent and
rebounded and struck the mortal spot in his neck,74 and he died.
98 (126). I have told you this story merely that you may
know that greed in saving (and laying by]7 is disastrous in
the end.
99 (127). The woman said: What you have said is right.
We have some rice and sesame which will be food (enough)
for a company of six or seven.
100 (128). I shall prepare the food to-morrow, and do you
invite whom you wish for dinner.76
101 (129). The woman arose at dawn, took the sesame, and
husked it. Then she spread it out in the sun to dry, and said
to her husband ['s boy]:77 Drive away the birds and the dogs
from this sesame.
102 (130). The woman went away on some business and
work of her (own). The man78 was negligent, and a dog came
to the sesame and began to eat it.79
73 DeS and Kh, This man, the deer, and the boar-the eating of them
will suffice me for a long while. But I shall begin with this bow string
and eat it, for it will be nourishment for to-day; (Kh only), and I shall
save the rest for to-morrow and the following (days). ASu similar, but fuller.
74 Text very uncertain. OS and NS (JC?) make the string strike him;
deS (Kh), supported by OSp, El, ASu, ms. Jos. Derenbourg say, the end
or point of the bow; Gk, TO CHAos (bow?); BdB, 'der stral' of an larmbrost'
(crossbow). With Ch, J seems to name simply the bow. Ch and ms. Jos.
Derenbourg, vital part; Ch and deS (Kh), J, of the neck; ms. Jos. Deren-
bourg, vital part of the wolf; Gk, ASu, heart; El, gullet; OSp, head; NS,
according to Keith-Falconer, testicles, but very uncertain, may be neck
or vital spot or vital spot of neck; OS mouth. M. S.
75 Supplied from deS (Kh), supported by OSp, NS, and ASu.
76 Note distinction between 1,s ('to-morrow') and A.>$ ('dinner'). M. S.
77 DeS and Kh, boy or slave (?J$); J and JC, boy; OSp, esclavo pequeizo;
but NS and ASu (add EL. M. S.), husband. Note OS, husband's pupil,
corresponding to Sanskrit gigya, pupil.
78 DeS and Kh, correctly, boy. See preceding note.
79 J (JO etc.), ms. Jos. Derenbourg (add El and a possible reading of
deS and Kh. M. S.) add, and staled upon it. OSp supports this but omits
the words 'to eat it' (so also Gk. MI. S.). OS says merely, frass davon, as
does Ch (also NS; ASu, put his mouth in it. DeS and Kh may also be
read, disturb it. M. S.).
80 Supplied from deS and Ih, supported in general by OSp, J, JC, NS,
ASu, and OS.
81 I am indebted to M. S. for this translation of l
82 DeS and Kh, This mouse has not been able to jump where he has
been accustomed except thru the aid of these dinars. So also OSp (add
J etc. M. S.) OS similar both to these and to Ch.
83 This section in deS and Kh, You will see that hereafter he will not
be able to spring up to the place to which he used to spring. OSp, NS,
and OS similarly. JC reads, Nunc vero videbis ipsum nihil posse, nec
habebit prerogativam ceteris muribus (so also J). (Gk supports the general
123 (vs. 33). For a man-when need afflicts him, his friends
desert him and he is despised among his relatives. Often he
lacks the means of subsistence and (lacks) those things which
he needs for himself and his family.
124. Until lie seeks that which will make him despair of his
religion, and he is lost; and then he loses this world and the next.
125 (155). [There is nothing worse than poverty.] 96
126 (vs. 37). [The tree growing in a salt marsh,94 eaten
from every side, is (in a state) better than95 the state of the
poor man who is in want of human possessions.]96
127 (vs. 39). Poverty is the source of every trial, and brings
unto him who suffers it the hatred of men. And besides he
is robbed of intelligence and valor, and is deprived of wisdom
and refinement, and is subject to suspicion.97
128 (vs. 40). [For he upon whom poverty descends has no
means of escape from]98 loss of shame.98a Whoever loses his
shame loses his joy;99 and [whoever loses his joy]100 is hated; 101
102 OSp very close; Kh secondary; JC, 'Et quicumque vulneratus est
vulnere paupertatis impossibile est quod non tollatur sibi mansuetudo et
acquiratur promptitudo, et quicumque caret mansuetudine operum caret
nobilitate, (add from J, et quicumque operum caret nobilitate peccabit, et
quicumque) peccabit praecipitabitur, et quicumque praecipitabitur contris-
tatur, et quicumque contristatur perdit intellectum et obliviscitur sue
intelligentie.' (Gk in abbreviated form, as is NS; ASu, much changed
and expanded, also supports this section. M. S.)
103 DeS, Kh, J (JC), OSp (add ASu. M. S.), spendthrift. (Gk, dCTr6s
Te Kat ei6L7ravog. Ibn 'Abd Rabbihi supports Ch. M. S.)
106 DeS, 'I found that it was easier for me (Kh adds, to encounter
terrors and) to endure distant journeys in search of wealth than to
extend the hand to him who is generous in the matter of wealth (Kh
adds, how much more so to him who is stingy in the matter of it)'. The
difference between deS and Kh here was pointed out to me by M. S.
107 JC (J similar): 'Inveni enim, quomodo qui contentus est sua por-
cione bonorum nec appetit ultra quam datum fuerit sibi, dives est, et
illud ei valet plus quam omnes divitie.' (Guidi's mss. F and M add after
'contentment', and I have found satisfaction and contentment both are
the true riches. M. S.)
108 Supplied from IKh (add Guidi's mss. F and M. M. S.), supported
by OSp. (J and El similar to Ch, in whose text the accidental omission
is merely a bit clearer. M. S.)
109 Is it pure accident that BdB, which almost certainly represents
here a different Hebrew than that preserved in the printed text or in JC,
seems nearer than all others to Hertel's Tantrakhyayika, vs. 78 (p. 79 of
translation)? BdB says, 'Und h6rt die wysen vier ding sprechen: es sy
kein vernunfft besser dann des, der sein eigen sach wol betracht, und
niemans edel bei gut sitten, und kein besser rychtum, dann da man
sich benUgen lasst, und der sy wyss, der sich davon thU, das jm nit
werden mag'. M. S.
110 Supplied from extract 46 in Guidi, Studii sul Testo Arabo del Libro
Calila e Dimna, pp. 50 and xxvii. On the translation I have been
assisted by M. S.
1t" Guidi's mss. supported by OSp, 'My affairs advanced unto satis-
faction with my condition and contentment with what was at hand.' M. S.
1t2 The mouse ... tortoise: unoriginal passage, found only in Ch. (In
the middle of this paragraph, after the mouse has told of his friendship
with the dove and the crow and just as he is about to tell how the
crow led him to the tortoise, Kh inserts, and he turned to the tortoise
and said. M. S.)
113 DeS and IKh, thru his friendship the friendship of the crow was
procured for me. So also in sense J (JC, BdB), OSp, NS, ASu, and OS.
(Gk supports Ch, as El seems to. Ch seems to be a simple misreading
Addw for o,- in Arabic a difference of a single point. This caused
the insertion of Hi, without which the sentence with ( could not
be read. M. S.)
114 The clause 'so long ... soul' is not found in OSp, J, El, and Gk,
and differs widely in the texts of Ch, deS (with Kh), Mosul (4th ed.),
and NS, while OS seems not to have it. It appears to be most dubious,
perhaps only a petty gloss varied according to pious fancy. NI. S.
191 (199). The tortoise and the crow said to the mouse:
This situation is hopeless except for you. Therefore help our
brother!
192 (200-202). The mouse ran quickly until he reached the
gazelle, and said: How did you fall into this misfortune? For
you are one of the sharp-witted. The gazelle said:
193 (vs. 78). Is sharp wit of any avail against the predestined,
the hidden,135 which cannot be seen or avoided?
194 (223). And while they were (engaged) in conversation,
the tortoise came to them.
195 (224, 225). The gazelle said to her: You have not done
right in coming to us.136
196 (226, 227). For when the hunter comes and the mouse
shall have finished cutting my bonds, I shall quickly outstrip
him. The mouse has a roomy refuge among his holes,137 and
the crow can fly away. But you are slow and have no speed,138
and I am fearful of the hunter on your account. The tortoise
said:
197 (vs. 81). It is not considered living when one is separated
from his friends.139
198 (vs. 83). For help toward the appeasing of cares and
the consolation of the soul in misfortunes lies in the meeting
217 (238). you, o gazelle, shall run on until you are near the
hunter's road, and shall lie down as tho wounded and dead.148
218 (239, 241a). And the crow shall alight upon you as tho
he were about to eat you, the hunter following. Then be (keep)
near him: Andl49
219 (240). I hope that if he observes you, he will put down
the things he has with him - his bow and his arrows, and
the tortoise50 - and will hasten to you.
220 (242). When he draws near you, you must flee from
him, limping, so that his lust for you will not be lessened.
Offer him this opportunity several times, (remaining still) until
he comes near you.151 Then take him away thus as far as
you can.'52
221 (241 b). I hope that the hunter will not return until I
have finished cutting the cord with which the tortoise is bound,
and we have left with the tortoise and reached our home.
222 (243). The gazelle and the crow did this, acting in
concert and wearying153 the hunter for a long while.154 Then
he turned back.
155 DeS and Kh (connected with the preceding), 'while the mouse
busied himself with cutting the thong until he had cut it and had escaped
with the tortoise.' Mi. S. observes that the order of telling the events in
Ch is perhaps nearer OS, while OSp also supports Ch.
156 Text a1 - .,ij. This is corrupt but perhaps represents a
phrase meaning 'how the deer lay down.' However, I have substituted
the reading of deS and Kh, 1 g which may be correct.
Their sense is supported by OSp and J (JC, BdB).
157 DeS and Kb, 'Then he returned to the place from which he had
first come, not seeking (to take away) anything nor ever turning toward
it.' OSp somewhat similar; JO, et abut in viam suam cum timore
(essentially like J and BdB). (El, and he returned in fear and haste.
Ch must be emended from deS to be readable, by simply inserting V
Gus~k and reading 9 for \1. Then Ch means exactly the same
as deS (Kh). Cf. Bolufer. M. S.).
158 J (JC, BdB), OSp (M. S. adds NS, El, and the expanded ASu)
insert here, The king said to the philosopher. The other versions, like the
Sanskrit texts, omit this statement.
159 This entire section, omitted in Ch, is supplied from deS and Kh.
Parallels, less expanded, appear in other Arabic Mss. (see Cheikho's note)
and in J (JC), OSp, NS, and OS.
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