Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 4 1886.djvu/292

 284 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF FOLK-LORE.

Nawal Kishor Press, Lucknow : 374 pp. small 8vo. It is a very elegant versified translation into Urdu of the Persian work by Jami. It purports to be a sort of life of Alexander the Great.

In the country of Eum (Greece) there dwelt a great king named Failqus (Philip), whose capital was Maqadiinia (Macedon). He had a son, Sikandar (Alexander), brought up by Kalqumajas (= ? XaX- «:tSevs), the father of 'Arastu (Aristotle). Failqus had designs on Persia, but died before he could accomplish anything, and Sikandar succeeded him. Soon after he ascended the throne the Zangis (Ethiopians) attacked the Egyptians, who called in the aid of Sikandar. He defeated the Zangis in a way that created a great sensation in Persia. About this time he invented the looking-glass. He also refused to pay the tribute demanded by Dara (Darius), king of Persia, and always paid by his father, whereon Dara proceeded to attack Eum. (Some say that Sikandar was the elder brother of, or otherwise related to, Dara; others say he was the son of the Gods !) The result of the war was the death of Dara, and complete defeat of the Persians. Sikandar now became master of Persia, and, being a believer in the religion of Ibrahim (Abraham, and, therefore, ? a Jew !), destroyed all the fire temples of the Persians, and rooted out the enchantments that had existed in Babal (Babylon) since the days of Sulaiman (Solomon). He married Dara's daughter, Raushang (Roxana), according to the dying wish of her father, by whom he had a son, Sikandarus (? Alexander ^Egus). Sikandar then went to Makka (Mecca), where he paid homage to the house of God, and subdued the Arabs. He then visited Barda', where a woman, named Naushaba, was queen, with whom he had very friendly dealings. From this place he returned to Rum, and deposited immense treasures in the temples of his native land. Starting a second time, he went to Mount Alburz (Caspian Gates), on the top of which was a mighty fort of robbers, whom he subdued. He next built a thick, strong, and high wall of metal over the range, to keep out the Khafchaqs, a robber tribe that harassed the neighbourhood. It was here that he sat on the mysterious throne of Kaikhusro (Cyrus), and drank out of