Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/75

* BIDPAI. 59 de Sacy, Loiseleur Deslongchamps, and Benfey have shown the origin of the Uiles, their growth, and subsequent modifications. The ultimate source was the unwritten collection of Sanskrit fables, which has, unfortunately, not come down to us. From this Sanskrit was made the oldest Tecension which we possess, the Pancatantra (q.v. ). An abridgment of this work was later made in Sanskrit, called the Hitopadesa (q.v.). This work has always been very popular through- out India. It was the first Sanskrit book ever printed in the Devanagari script (ed. Carey, Serampore, ISC'!). Two translations into Eng- lish had previously appeared, one by Wilkins (Bath, 1787). and the other by Sir W. Jones < London, 1799). In early times the fame of the Sanskrit original from which both the Pancatantra and the Hito- padesa are descended reached Persia, and so in- terested the reigning King, Khosru Anushli-van (a.d, 531-579), known as 'The Just.' that he sent his court physician, Earzoi, to India to learn more about the matter. Barzoi translated the -collection into Pahlavi, the literary language of Persia at that time, with the title of Kalilah and Dimnah, from the two jackals, Karataka and Damanaka, who appear prominently in the Sanskrit. From the Pahlavi two important trans- lations were made. The first was the old Syriac (e.570) of Bod, and the Arabic of Abdullah- ibn-al-Mokafl'a, who lived in the reign of the Caliph Almansur (754-775). In the introduc- tion to this Arabic translation, the author of the original is called Bidpai, the chief of Indian philosophers. Bidpai is the Sanskrit word fid- yupati ("master of knowledge!), so it was prob- ably used as a title of honor rather than as a jjroper name. Great interest centres in the translation of ilokaflfa, for its influence upon lit- erature has been very great. There are three elements which can be distinctlj' traced in its chapters — the Persian in three chapters, the Arabic in six, and the Indian in twelve. Of these twelve, three may be traced to the ilalia- hharata; five to the Pancatantra; two to the first book of the Pancatantra, and of two the originals seem to be irrecoverably lost. Bud- dhism was the inspiration for most of the stories, and comparisons with the Jatakas or 'Birth- Stories' of the Buddha reveal the origin of nearly, if not quite all of the parables. These Jatakas have been widely scattered in the course of Bud- dhist propaganda, and they can be found in more or less changed forms in Greek. Persian, Arabic, Syriac, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Finnish, and Samoyed literature, as well ts throughout Europe. In the fables of Bidpai, ani- mals appear and act as if endowed with human powers. The stories themselves are usually rather simple, but are interspersed with maxims and sayings of shrewd practical wisdom. On the Arabic version of Mokaffa five dlfTer- €nt translations were based, which, in turn, were the bases of many others. These five were: the later Syriac (Tenth or Eleventh Century) ; Greek, by Symeon Seth (c.1080) ; Hebrew (Thir- teenth Century) ; Persian of NasruUah (c.l 120) ; and f)ld Spanish (1251), from the text of which Raimund made his Latin version (1313). A more important Hebrew translation was that of Rabbi Joel, from which was made the Latin Dircctorium Hunuinw itw (c.1270) of John of Capua, who was a converted Jew. This is the Vol. III.— 5. BIEDERMANN. most important translation of the fables, for from it flowed most of the translations into the modern European tongues. Some of these were: lu'rman of Graf Eberhard (c,1480), from which came the Danish (1018) and Dutch (1623) ; the Spanish Bxcmplario (1493), on which was based the first Italian version, Fircnzuola's Discorsi _dcgU- anitnali (1548); and another Itali.an trans- lation bj' Doni, the Moral Philosophy (1552), from hicli was made the English version of Xoith (1570). From the Persian translation of Xasrullah was made the later Persian collection, the Aniari Suhaili (end of Fifteenth Century), which was in turn the parent of the Turkish IJumuyiin-namah (Sixteenth Century), and the versions in the modern vernaculars of India. Through the Turkish came the Spanish, and the French of Galland (1724-78), the basis of the Greek (1783), Hungarian (1783), and Dutch translations. The text of the Arabic collection was edited by de Sacy (Paris, 1810), It was translated' into German by Wolff' (Stuttgart, 1839), and into English by KnatchbuU (Oxford, 1819). For the best account of the literary history of the fables, consult: I. G. N. Keith-Falconer, Translation of Wriijht's Edition of the Later Si/riac Version of Bidpai's Fables, with an admir- able introduction (Cambridge. 1885). For fur- ther information on the fables : Rhys Davids, Buddhist Birth Stories (London, 1880) ; Jlax Miiller, "On the Migration of Fables": Chips from a German Workshop. Vol. III. (London, 1880); Xorth, Morall Philosophic of Doni, ed. Jacob (London, 1888) ; and Deslongchamps, h'ssai sur Its fables indiennes (Paris, 1838). BIEBBICH, be'brlK. A town in the Prussian Province of Hesse-Nassau, on the right bank of the Rliine, about 3 miles south of Wiesbaden. Its most noteworthy building is the summer pal- ace of the Dukes of Xassau, which dates from the Seventeenth Century. Tlie industrial estab- lishments of Biebrich include iron foundries, and manufactures of cement, soap, asphalt, varnish, and various acids. Population, in 1895, 12,292. BIEDERMANN, be'der-man, Friedrich K.VRL (1812-1901). A German puldicist and his- torian, born in Leipzig. He studied at tlie uni- versities of Leipzig and Heidelberg, and was appointed professor of philosophy at Leipzig in 1838. He was a prominent member of the Frank- fort Vorporlament of 1848, and was elected to the National Assembly, of which he was for a time fiist vice-president. In 1854, as editor of the Deutsche Annalen, he was sentenced to one month's imprisonment, and was removed from his professorship. He was restored to this posi- tion in 1805. From 1803 to 1879 he edited the Deutsche Allgcmeine Zeitung, and in 1871-74 was a member of the Reichstag. His many publi- cations include Die deutsehe Philosophic ron Kant bis auf iinscre Tage ( 1842-43) : Erinncrung- cn aus der Paulskirche (1849), Friedrich der tlrosse und sein Verhalttiis zur Fntuickelung des deuischen Geisteslebens (1859). and Fiinfzig Jahre im Dienste des nationalen Gedankens (1892). BIEDERMANN, Gustav Woldemar, Baron von 11817-1903). A (xernian literary historian, born at Marienberg. lie made numerous valuable contril)utions to Goethe literature. In addition to editions of the letters of (Joethe to EichstUdt (Berlin, 1872), and to Rochlitz (Leipzig, 1887),