Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 1 1883.djvu/189

Rh Bengal (No. 1225), and is much worm-eaten. It contains pp. xxxi. 400, and 397, so it is a thick volume. There is an introduction, which includes a memoir of Captain Roebuck, showing all the good and useful work he did in the early days of oriental study. The book is divided into two parts, paged separately. The first part contains the Persian and the second the Hindustani proverbs. Each part is divided into two sections in which the proverbs are numbered separately. Thus:—Persian, Section 1, extracted chiefly from the Shâhid-i-Sâdiq, 500; Section 2, Persian proverbs, 2222; total 2722: Hindustani, Section 1, 1144; Section 2, 1560; total 2704. This gives a grand collection of 5426 proverbs current either in the mouths of the people or in the literature of India.

The method of presenting them is to give the original in the Persian character, with a free translation and sometimes an explanation. The translations are admirable, but the old Persian type used in printing the original is very indistinct and difficult to read. The transliterations of Proper Names, etc., where given, are in the now discarded style adopted by Dr. Gilchrist. The proverbs are given in that kind of alphabetical order that I described when noticing the vernacular book of proverbs in my possession, the Khazînat-ul-Imsâl; each section commencing with the letter a. Thus:—

Part I, Section 1, âbâdân shud shahr-i-tû, may your town be popu- lous! addressed to a fool or rogue, q. d. May you remain at home and not go into any other country to do mischief there.

Part I, Section 2, âb az daryâ bakhshîdan, to give water from the river. Applied to one who procures favour or advantage to another without injuring himself and incurring expense. It also signifies to give away the property of another without fear of being called to account.

Part II, Section 1, â, balâ, galle lag, come, misfortune, embrace me.

Part II, Section 2, ab bhî merâ murda tere zinde par bhâri hai, still my dead is more than a match for your living: my family, etc., are more respectable.

This book is not quoted by Mr. Long, Eastern Proverbs and Emblems, Trubner, 1881, nor do I know that it is generally known or procurable, though it is pretty sure to be found in the British Museum. It is