Part 13 (1/2)

Some of the things told of this boy, how he knocks down the gate-keeper who refuses to admit his mother, how he strikes the queen Vasumati who had insulted her, and how he slays the a.s.sa.s.sin whom this jealous queen had sent against him, are truly remarkable in view of the fact that the hero of all these exploits cannot be more than six years of age (see pp.

112, 113). The account in the _Mahabharata_, to be sure, tells of equally fabulous exploits performed by the youth, but there we move in an atmosphere of the marvelous. In Bodenstedt's poem, however, the supernatural has been almost completely banished, and we cannot help noticing the improbability of these deeds.

FOOTNOTES:

[204] Hebrew by Jos. Choczner, Breslau, 1868; Dutch by van Krieken, Amst. 1875; English by E. d'Esterre, Hamb. 1880; Italian by Giuseppe Rossi, 1884; Polish by Dzialoszye, Warsaw, 1888. See list in G. Schenk, Friedr. Bodenstedt, Ein Dichterleben in seinen Briefen, Berl. 1893, pp.

246-248.

[205] Aus dem Nachla.s.se Mirza Schaffys, Berl. 1874, pp. 191-223.

[206] In ZDMG. vol. xxiv. pp. 425-432.

[207] With few exceptions, pointed out by Bodenstedt himself, e.g.

”Mullah rein ist der Wein” is from the Tartaric. Nachla.s.s, p. 208.

[208] Friedr. Bodenstedts Gesammelte Schriften, Berlin, 1865, 12 vols.

Vols. i and ii. All references to the Lieder des M.S. are to this edition.

[209] Nachla.s.s, p. 193.

[210] Or else a saying of Muhammad exactly like it, cited by Prof.

Brugsch in Aus dem Morgenlande, Lpz. Recl. Univ. Bibl. 3151-2, p. 57.

[211] Cf. Bodenstedt's remarks on S_ufism in Nachtrag, p. 198 seq.

[212] See my article on Religion of Ancient Persia in Progress, vol.

iii. No. 5, p. 290.

[213] A complete history of Sa?di's life, drawn from his own writings as well as other sources, is given by W. Bacher, Sa?di's Aphorismen und Sinngedichte, Stra.s.sb. 1879. On the relation of the poet to the rulers of his time, see esp. p. x.x.xv seq.

[214] We cite from the third edition, 1887.

[215] Translated more closely by Bodenstedt in Die Lieder und Spruche des Omar Chajjam, Breslau, 1881, p. 29.

[216] Schlechta-Wssehrd, Ibn Jemins Bruchstucke. Wien, 1852, pp. 138, 139.

[217] Tr. David Shea, Hist. of the Early Kings of Persia, Lond. 1832, pp. 102-104; Malcolm. i. p. 10, note b.

[218] Ethe in Grdr. iran. Phil. ii. p. 260; Pizzi, Storia, vol. i. pp.

88, 215.

[219] Ruckert, Gram. Poet. u. Rhet. der Perser, p. 363.