Page:The Rámáyana of Tulsi Dás.djvu/40

xx The uncouthness of the Munshi's style will give some idea of what is certainly the main difficulty that has to be encountered in a prose translation from Hindi verse. No one who has not had practical experience in the matter can fully appreciate the amount of thought that has to be expended on almost every sentence, before the peculiarities of Oriental expression can be adapted to the requirements of English idiom. Without the most delicate handling it is impossible to avoid either a sacrifice of accuracy in the letter, or a misrepresentation of the spirit by a baldness of rendering, which suggests only images of the ludicrous and grotesque, while the sentiments of the original in their native dress are felt to be both natural and pathetic.

As regards what is really the minor difficulty of ascertaining the precise sense of the text, I have in the two first books relied with much confidence upon the explanations given in a Hindi commentary, published under the auspices of the Mahárája of Benares, who has himself an unequalled knowledge of the and has made it a special and lifelong study. Unfortunately it has not been carried beyond the second Book. So long as I was at Mathurá, I was able to refer on all doubtful passages to Pandit Benche Lál, a Sárasvat Bráhman of Mainpuri, who was at that time the head-master of the Branch school in the city of Mathurá. He possesses a wider acquaintance with early and mediæval Hindi literature than any one I have met since I have been in the country. I also received many valuable suggestions and emendations from Chaube Bihári Lál, of the Ránchi Normal school; and my thanks are further due to a distinguished European scholar, Mr. W. F. Johnson, of the Allahabad Mission, who kindly ealled my attention to several slips and oversights in my first issue.

The illustrations, with which the present edition are enriched, are mostly taken from an illuminated MS. in the library of the Mahárája of Benares, who was good enough to present me with the negatives. They are quite modern, but will, it is hoped, be of interest to English readers as specimens of traditional Hindu design. One plate, representing the annihilation of the God of Love, is reproduced from a lithograph drawn by a Bengali artist of some promise, who came and settled at Mathurá when I was there, but died shortly afterwards. The landscapes of Chitrakút and its neighbourhood were taken by a local native photographer, whose services I was able to secure through the assistance of Mr. McConaghey, who was then the Collector of the Bánda district. They have all been printed by the London Autotype Company, and are satisfactory productions of their skill.