Page:The Fables of Bidpai (Panchatantra).djvu/30

xx of the Jatakas, or Buddhist Birth Stories, were sculptured round sacred shrines as early as the third century, and the temptation is strong to connect these Indian illustrations of the same stories with the sculptures. When we come to the Arabic version, we need no longer rely on mere references to illustrations. They are still extant: three of De Sacy’s MSS. (Anciens fonds 1483, 1492; St. Germain de Près, 139) have illustrations, and two others (Anc. fonds 1489, 1502) have places where the figures are not, but were clearly intended to be. The latter fate has unfortunately attended the only MS. of the Hebrew version of R. Joel which remains to us. But that there were illustrations in other MSS. of this Hebrew version is testified by a curious fact. A certain Rabbi Isaac Ibn Sahula wrote in 1281 a goody goody collection of tales termed “Tales of the Olden Time” (Mashal Hakadmoni) in order to wean the Jewish public from such books as Kalilah wa Dimnah, which he expressly mentions. He tells us that he has added illustrations so that his book might be equally acceptable, and these illustrations were given in the first edition of