Page:A Comparative Grammar of the Modern Aryan Languages of India Vol 1.djvu/115

 INTRODUCTION. "Recite, O parrot, by leave of Ram, may Sita the virtuous teach thee, Beside thee having built a cage, cause thee to mutter 'Ram' with thy mouth. Parrot, for thee I weave green bamboos; Of them I am making, parrot, a cage-I join jewels and diamonds. Parrot, for thee what food shall I cook? 93 On pieces of sugar I shall sprinkle ghee. Thou of yellow wing, white foot, black neck, 191 Worship the lord of Narsai (Narsingh), trolling a pleasant song." From the Gujarat Shâlâpatra, for March, 1863- war fad at met andar enenâ gei dêtût at a. nata a LAS IN OUR Hi va metâ eâ §. at the at THIỆTÂM ĐIỀU HỈ qua lụa Gra. s are at and accidret vet guitat vendar putat art vê að muu zu are fequat quad aç ufay. "It is less, than three quarters of a century since the Fire-carriage, or railway, began to run. In this interval its use has been so extended that these carriages now run in most parts of England. In this short time these carriages have begun to run in several parts of this country also. In a few years, when the trains run from Calcutta to this place or to Bombay, we shall be able to go to Calcutta in three or four days."" Of the other languages it cannot be said in strictness that they have any literature, if by that word we mean written works. In most Aryan countries in India there has existed from the earliest times a large body of unwritten poetry. These ballads or rhapsodies are still sung by the Bhâts and Chârans, two classes corresponding somewhat to our European bards, and the antiquity of some of the ballads still current is admitted to be great. The poems of Chand, to which I so often refer, are nothing more than a collection of these ballads; ¹ Shapurji Edalji's Gujarati Dictionary, pref., p. xiv. a Ib., p. xix.