THE BAGHО ВАНĀR; or, THE GARDEN AND THE SPRING: BEING THE ADVENTURES OF KING AZAD BAKHT AND THE LITERALLY TRANSLATED FROM THE URDU OF MIR AMMAN, OF DIHLĪ: WITH COPIOUS EXPLANATORY NOTES, AND AN INTRODUCTORY PREFACE, BY EDWARD B. EASTWICK, F.R.S., M.R.A.S., OF MERTON COLLEGE, OXFORD: MEMBER OF ТПВ ASIATIC SOCIETIES OF PARIS AND BOMBAY; AND HERTFORD: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY STEPHEN AUSTIN, BOOKSELLER TO THE EAST INDIA COLLEGE. M.D.CCC.LII. ΤΟ WILLIAM BUTTERWORTH BAYLEY, ESQ., A DIRECTOR OF THE HONOURABLE EAST INDIA COMPANY, AND SOMETIME GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA. SIR, I feel the more satisfaction in being permitted to dedicate this Translation to you, because I thus inscribe my book to one illustrious, not only for his conduct of great affairs, but for his profound knowledge of the language of Hindustan. Trusting that my work, which is the fruit of an attentive study of the original for many years, may stand the test of the most penetrating scrutiny, I am, Sir, Faithfully and respectfully yours, EDWARD B. EASTWICK. EAST INDIA COLLEGE, January 16th, 1852. PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE BAGH O BAHĀR. THE tale of the Four Darweshes has now become a work of so much general interest-inasmuch as it is the book in which every officer in India, civil or military, must undergo an examination-that no apology seems requisite for presenting the public, for the first time, with a translation of it. I say for the first time, for the version by Lewis Ferdinand Smith, which appeared in the days of Lord Minto's Governor-Generalship, and has lately been re-edited by Professor Forbes, is not a translation, but a paraphrase. In it all the difficult expressions are passed over, pede sicco, and some passages, according to Mr. Smith's own statement, are altered to give an air of greater probability to the whole. Moreover, the fragments of poetry with which the tales are interspersed, are rendered in such a doleful and dissonant manner, that no amount of compassion could induce the general reader to harass his feelings by perusing more than one line. It is to be regretted, indeed, that Professor Forbes, instead of confining himself to the re-touching the stories of the first and second darweshes, had not rather favoured us with a new translation. As, however, that has not been done, I feel that I have had a clear field; and if I have failed, it is from my own carelessness, and not from the superior prowess of a rival. Lest, however, what I have said of Mr. Smith's version, should seem to be a prelude to self-eulogy, I must at once distinctly state what I have aimed at in the present translation, in order that the reader may be satisfied of the humility of my pretensions. I must inform him that I have not aspired to write an elegant or an amusing book, but one that shall be useful to the student, by conveying the exact sense of the original. |