THE TALE OF THE FOUR
DURWESH,
TRANSLATED FROM THE OORDOO TONGUE
of MEER UMMUN OF DHAILEE.
by LEWIS FERDINAND SMITH,
Late Secretary of His Majesty's Embassy
to the Court of Persia
WITH NOTES BY THE TRANSLATOR
Illustrative of the
Manners, Customs, and Ideas of the Natives
of India.
Calcutta: Muddoosoon Day at British
and Foreign Library, at Minerva Press.
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To the Right Honorable
Gilbert Lord Minto,
Governor General, &c. &c. &c.
THIS TRANSLATION
Is most Humbly and Respectfully Dedicated
WITH PERMISSION
by Your Lordship's Most Obedient and
Humble Servant,
THE TRANSLATOR.
Calcutta,
The 1st of August, 1813
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PREFACE by the TRANSLATOR.
I undertook this Translation
to beguile the tediousness of time in India, which must weigh heavy on
every active mind that is not dedicated to official duties or literary
pursuits. The work itself is the best and the most correct that has been
composed in the Oordoo language; a language which is both dulcet
and elegant, and which was little known to Europeans until the zeal, labour
and talents of Mr. Gilchrist opened to us a perfect path to acquire it.
Moreover, the
Bagh O Bahar is a classical work in the College of
Fort William; it highly deserves its distinguished fate, as it contains
various modes of expression in correct language; it displays a great variety
of Eastern manners and modes of thinking, and it is an excellent introduction
not only to the colloquial style of Hindoostan, but to a knowledge of its
various idioms. The Tale itself is interesting, ifwe keep in our minds
the previous idea, that no Asiatic Writer of Romance or History was ever
consistent, or free from fabulous credulity; the cautious march of undeviating
truth, and a careful regard to vraisemblance never enters into their
plan; wildness of imagination, fabulous machinery, and unnatural scenes
ever pervade through the composition of every Oriental Author: even their
most serious works on History and Ethics are stained with these imperfections.
But as the Arabian Night Tales, the grand prototype of all Asiatic Romances,
have these imperfections, and are still read with undiminished pleasure,
I hope my friend Meer Ummun may raise a smile, or exhilarate a languid
hour. He will likewise instruct those who wish to view the outre
pictures of Eastern manners; his Genii and his Demons, his Fairies and
his Angels, formed parts of his religious creed; he believed in their existence
on the faith of the Qoran; and as Mahometans are much more superstitiously
attached to their Religion than we are to ours we ought not to be surprised
at their credulity.
I have rendered the Translation as literal
as possible, consistent with the comprehension of the author's meaning;
this may be considered by some a slavish, dull compliance; but in my humble
opinion we ought to display the author's thoughts and ideas; all we are
permitted to do is to change their dress. This mode has one superior advantage
which may compensate for its seeming dullness: we acquire an insight into
the modes of thinking and action of the people, whose works we peruse through
the medium of a literal translation, and great conclusions may be drawn
from this insight. When an Asiatic moralist applauds untruth which has
mercy for its object, we perceive at once their imperfect ideas of morals;
when he talks of the seven heavens we smile at his ignorance, and regret
his superstition; for he says no more than his Qoran inculcates;
and when he teaches prostration before kings and princes, as the criterion
of bienseance, we lament the slavery under which asia has ever groaned.
But when he recommends the fifth of one's income to be appropriated to
charity, as an indispensable and religious duty; when he reprobates the
smallest interest on money, we must admire his principles, though we may
not feel inclined to follow his precepts. Moreover, as I intended this
Translation for the student, who wishes to acquire the Oordoo tongue with
the help of Meer Ummun, I have made it nearly literal, and preserved the
original construction as far as possible, to facilitate the attainment
of that useful if not elegant language. I might have made the Tale a pleasing
Romance, which even Ladies could read in their languid moments, but I have
formed it for the mere student, and sacrificed the dulce to the
utile.
The memorable saying of the immortal
Clive would be a bad precept in these days; he never knew the language
of India: when asked why he never learnt it, he replied, "Why, if I had,
I should not have conquered India; the black knaves would have led me astray
by their cunning advice; but as I never understood them, I was never misled
by them." This might be true in subduing India; but India can never be
retained, if the Civil and Military servants of the Company do not understand
Hindoostanee;
a tongue which is understood from Hurdwar to Cape Comorin and from Lahore
to Chittagong. The ignorance of their language, guided by rashness and
folly, may one day kindle a flame in India, amongst the Native Troops,
which the blood of all the Europeans in the country would not extenguish.
Look at the momentous period of the massacre at Vellore! The religious
rites and the peculiar customs of the Hindoos, who compose the vast
majority in the population of our Eastern possessions, must be understood
and tolerated, from their pertinacious adherence to them; they cannot be
known without knowing their language.
Some of the Notes will be superfluous
to the Oriental Scholar who has been in India; but in this case I think
it better to be redundant than risk the chance of being deficient. Moreover,
as the book may be perused by the Curious in Europe, many of whom know
nothing of India except having seen it in the map of the world, these notes
were absolutely necessary to understand the work. As I am no poet, I have
translated the pieces of poetry, which are interspersed in the original,
into humble and modulated prose.
--Lewis
Ferdinand Smith.
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