Chapter VIII: Appendix (1)

I am enabled to add here a short account of an important discovery made by Professor Benfey with regard to the Syriac translation of our Collection of Fables. Doubts had been expressed by Sylvestre de Sacy and others, as to the existence of this translation, which was mentioned for the first time in Ebedjesu’s catalogue of Syriac writers published by Abraham Ecchellensis, and again later by Assemani (“Biblioth. Orient.,” tom. iii. part 1, p. 219). M. Renan, on the contrary, had shown that the title of this translation, as transmitted to us, “Kalilag and Damnag,” was a guarantee of its historical authenticity. As a final k in Pehlevi becomes h in modern Persian, a title such as “Kalilag and Damnag,” answering to “Kalilak and Damnak” in Pehlevi, in Sanskrit “Karaṭaka and Damanaka,” could only have been borrowed from the Persian before the Mohammedan era. Now that the interesting researches of Professor Benfey on this subject have been rewarded by the happy discovery of a Syriac translation, there remains but one point to be cleared up, viz., whether this is really the translation made by Bud Periodeutes, and whether this same translation was made, as Ebedjesu affirms, from the Indian text, or, as M. Renan supposes, from a Pehlevi version. I insert the account which Professor Benfey himself gave of his discovery in the Supplement to the “Allgemeine Zeitung” of July 12, 1871, and I may add that both text and translation are nearly ready for publication (1875).

_The oldest MS. of the Pantschatantra._

GÖTTINGEN, _July 6, 1871_.

The account I am about to give will recall the novel of our celebrated compatriot Freytag (“Die verlorene Handschrift,” or “The Lost MS.”), but with this essential difference, that we are not here treating of a creation of the imagination, but of a real fact; not of the MS. of a work of which many other copies exist, but of an unique specimen; in short, of the MS. of a work which, on the faith of one single mention, was believed to have been composed thirteen centuries ago. This mention, however, appeared to many critical scholars so untrustworthy, that they looked upon it as the mere result of confusion. Another most important difference is, that this search, which has lasted three years, has been followed by the happiest results: it has brought to light a MS. which, even in this century, rich in important discoveries, deserves to be ranked as of the highest value. We have acquired in this MS. the oldest specimen preserved to our days of a work, which, as translated into various languages, has been more widely disseminated and has had a greater influence on the development of civilization than any other work, excepting the Bible.

But to the point.

Through the researches, which I have published in my edition of the Pantschatantra,[55] it is known that about the sixth century of our era, a work existed in India, which treated of deep political questions under the form of fables, in which the actors were animals. It contained various chapters, but these subdivisions were not, as had been hitherto believed, eleven to thirteen in number, but, as the MS. just found shows most clearly, there were at least twelve, perhaps thirteen or fourteen. This work was afterwards so entirely altered in India, that five of these divisions were separated from the other six or nine, and much enlarged, whilst the remaining ones were entirely set aside. This apparently curtailed, but really enlarged edition of the old work, is the Sanskrit book so well known as the Pantschatantra, “The Five Books.” It soon took the place, on its native soil, of the old work, causing the irreparable loss of the latter in India.

But before this change of the old work had been effected in its own land, it had, in the first half of the sixth century, been carried to Persia, and translated into Pehlevi under King Chosru Nuschirvan (531-579). According to the researches which I have described in my book already quoted, the results of which are fully confirmed by the newly discovered MS., it cannot be doubted that, if this translation had been preserved, we should have in it a faithful reproduction of the original Indian work, from which, by various modifications, the Pantschatantra is derived. But unfortunately this Pehlevi translation, like its Indian original, is irretrievably lost.

But it is known to have been translated into Arabic in the eighth century by a native of Persia, by name Abdallah ibn Almokaffa (d. 760), who had embraced Islamism, and it acquired, partly in this language, partly in translations and retranslations from it (apart from the recensions in India, which penetrated to East, North, and South Asia,) that extensive circulation which has caused it to exercise the greatest influence on civilization in Western Asia, and throughout Europe.

Besides this translation into Pehlevi, there was, according to one account, another, also of the sixth century, in Syriac. This account we owe to a Nestorian writer, who lived in the thirteenth century. He mentions in his catalogue of authors[56] a certain Bud Periodeutes, who probably about 570 had to inspect the Nestorian communities in Persia and India, and who says that, in addition to other books which he names, “he translated the book ‘Qalîlag and Damnag’ from the Indian.”

Until three years ago, not the faintest trace of this old Syrian translation was to be found, and the celebrated Orientalist, Silvestre de Sacy, in the historical memoir which he prefixed to his edition of the Arabic translation, “Calila and Dimna” (Paris, 1816), thought himself justified in seeing in this mention a mere confusion between Barzûyeh, the Pehlevi translator, and a Nestorian Monk.

The first trace of this Syriac version was found in May, 1868. On the sixth of that month, Professor Bickell of Münster, the diligent promoter of Syrian philology, wrote to tell me that he had heard from a Syrian Archdeacon from Urumia, Jochannân bar Bâbisch, who had visited Münster in the spring to collect alms, and had returned there again in May, that, some time previously, several Chaldæan priests who had been visiting the Christians of St. Thomas in India, had brought back with them some copies of this Syriac translation, and had given them to the Catholic Patriarch in Elkosh (near Mossul). He had received one of these.

Though the news appeared so unbelievable and the character of the Syrian priest little calculated to inspire confidence in his statements, it still seemed to me of sufficient importance for me to ask my friends to make further inquiries in India, where other copies ought still to be in existence. Even were the result but a decided negative, it would be a gain to science. These inquiries had no effect in proving the truth of the archdeacon’s assertions; but, at the same time, they did not disprove them. It would of course have been more natural to make inquiries among the Syrians. But from want of friends and from other causes, which I shall mention further on, I could hardly hope for any certain results, and least of all, that if the MS. really existed, I could obtain it, or a copy of it.

The track thus appeared to be lost, and not possible to be followed up, when, after the lapse of nearly two years, Professor Bickell, in a letter of February 22, 1870, drew my attention to the fact that the Chaldæan Patriarch, Jussuf Audo, who, according to Jochannân bar Bâbisch, was in possession of that translation, was now in Rome, as member of the Council summoned by the Pope.

Through Dr. Schöll of Weimar, then in Rome, and one Italian savant, Signor Ignazio Guidi, I was put into communication with the Patriarch, and with another Chaldæan priest, Bishop Qajjât, and received communications, the latest of June 11, 1870, which indeed proved the information of Jochannân bar Bâbisch to be entirely untrustworthy; but at the same time pointed to the probable existence of a MS. of the Syriac translation at Mardîn.

I did not wait for the last letters, which might have saved the discoverer much trouble, but might also have frustrated the whole inquiry; but, as soon as I had learnt the place where the MS. might be, I wrote; May 6, 1870, exactly two years after the first trace of the MS. had been brought to light, to my former pupil and friend, Dr. Albert Socin of Basle, who was then in Asia on a scientific expedition, begging him to make the most careful inquiries in Mardîn about this MS., and especially to satisfy himself whether it had been derived from the Arabian translation, or was independent of and older than the latter. We will let Dr. Socin, the discoverer of the MS., tell us himself of his efforts and their results.

“I received your letter of May 6, 1870, a few days ago, by Bagdad and Mossul, at Yacho on the Chabôras. You say that you had heard that the book was in the library at Mardîn. I must own that I doubted seriously the truth of the information, for Oriental Christians always say that they possess every possible book, whilst in reality they have but few. I found this on my journey through the ‘Christian Mountain,’ the Tûr el’ ’Abedîn, where I visited many places and monasteries but little known. I only saw Bibles in Estrangelo character, which were of value, nowhere profane books; but the people are so fanatical, and watch their books so closely, that it is very difficult to get sight of anything; and one has to keep them in good humor. Unless after a long sojourn, and with the aid of bribery, there can never be any thought of buying anything from a monastic library. Arrived in Mardîn, I set myself to discover the book. I naturally passed by all Moslem libraries, as Syriac books only exist among the Christians. I settled at first that the library in question could only be the Jacobite Cloister, ‘Der ez Zàferân,’ the most important centre of the Christians of Mardîn. I therefore sent to the Patriarch of Diarbekir for most particular introductions, and started for ‘Der ez Zàferân,’ which lies in the mountains, 5½ hours from Mardîn. The recommendations opened the library to me. I looked through four hundred volumes, without finding anything; there was not much of any value. On my return to Mardîn, I questioned people right and left; no one knew anything about it. At length I summoned up courage one day, and went to the Chaldæan monastery. The different sects in Mardîn are most bitter against each other, and as I unfortunately lodged in the house of an American missionary, it was very difficult for me to gain access to these Catholics, who were unknown to me. Luckily my servant was a Catholic, and could state that I had no proselytizing schemes. After a time I asked about their books; Missals and Gospels were placed before me; I asked if they had any books of Fables. ‘Yes, there was one there.’ After a long search in the dust, it was found and brought to me. I opened it, and saw at the first glance, in red letters, ‘Qalîlag and Damnag,’ with the old termination g, which proved to me that the work was not translated from the Arabic ‘Calila ve Dimnah.’ You may be certain that I did not show what I felt. I soon laid the book quietly down. I had indeed before asked the monk specially for ‘Kalila and Dimna,’ and with some persistency, before I inquired generally for books of fables; but he had not the faintest suspicion that the book before him was the one so eagerly sought after. After about a week or ten days, in order to arouse no suspicion, I sent a trustworthy man to borrow the book; but he was asked at once if it were for the ‘Fréngi den Prot’ (Protestant), and my confidant was so good as to deny it, ‘No, it was for himself.’ I then examined the book more carefully. Having it safely in my possession, I was not alarmed at the idea of a little hubbub. I therefore made inquiries, but in all secret, whether they would sell it. ‘No, never,’ was the answer I expected and received, and the idea that I had borrowed it for myself was revived. I therefore began to have a copy made. But I was obliged to leave Mardîn and even the neighboring Diarbekir, before I received the copy. In Mardîn itself the return of the book was loudly demanded, as soon as they knew I was having it copied. I was indeed delighted when, through the kindness of friends, _post tot discrimina rerum_ I received the book at Aleppo.”

So far writes my friend, the fortunate discoverer, who, as early as the 19th of August, 1870, announced in a letter the happy recovery of the book. On April 20, 1871, he kindly sent it to me from Basle.

This is not the place to descant on the high importance of this discovery. It is only necessary to add that there is not the least doubt that it has put us in possession of the old Syriac translation, of which Ebedjesu speaks. There is only one question still to be settled, whether it is derived direct from the Indian, or through the Pehlevi translation? In either case it is the oldest preserved rendering of the original, now lost in India, and therefore of priceless value.

The fuller treatment of this and other questions, which spring from this discovery, will find a place in the edition of the text, with translation and commentary, which Professor Bickell is preparing in concert with Dr. Hoffman and myself.

THEODOR BENFEY.

NOTES.

NOTE A.

In modern times, too, each poet or fabulist tells the story as seems best to him. I give three recensions of the story of Perrette, copied from English schoolbooks.

THE MILKMAID.

A milkmaid who poised a full pail on her head,
Thus mused on her prospects in life, it is said:--
Let me see, I should think that this milk will procure
One hundred good eggs or fourscore, to be sure.
Well then, stop a bit, it must not be forgotten,
Some of these may be broken, and some may be rotten;
But if twenty for accident should be detached,
It will leave me just sixty sounds eggs to be hatched.
Well, sixty sound eggs--no, sound chickens I mean:
Of these some may die--we’ll suppose seventeen;
Seventeen, not so many!--say ten at the most,
Which will leave fifty chickens to boil or to roast.
But then there’s their barley, how much will they need?
Why, they take but one grain at a time when they feed,
So that’s a mere trifle;--now then, let me see,
At a fair market-price how much money there’ll be.
Six shillings a pair, five, four, three-and-six,
To prevent all mistakes that low price I will fix;
Now what will that make? Fifty chickens I said;
Fifty times three-and-six?--I’ll ask brother Ned.
Oh! but stop, three-and-sixpence a pair I must sell them!
Well, a pair is a couple; now then let us tell them.
A couple in fifty will go (my poor brain),
Why just a score times, and five pairs will remain.
Twenty-five pairs of fowls, now how tiresome it is
That I can’t reckon up such money as this.
Well there’s no use in trying, so let’s give a guess--
I’ll say twenty pounds, and it can be no less.
Twenty pounds I am certain will buy me a cow,
Thirty geese and two turkeys, eight pigs and a sow;
Now if these turn out well, at the end of the year
I shall fill both my pockets with guineas, ’tis clear.
Forgetting her burden when this she had said,
The maid superciliously tossed up her head,
When, alas for her prospects! her milkpail descended,
And so all her schemes for the future were ended.
This moral, I think, may be safely attached--
“Reckon not on your chickens before they are hatched!”

JEFFREYS TAYLOR.

FABLE.

A country maid was walking with a pail of milk upon her head, when she fell into the following train of thoughts: “The money for which I shall sell this milk will enable me to increase my stock of eggs to three hundred. These eggs will bring at least two hundred and fifty chickens. The chickens will be fit to carry to market about Christmas, when poultry always bear a good price; so that by May-day I shall have money enough to buy me a new gown. Green?--let me consider--yes, green becomes my complexion best, and green it shall be. In this dress I will go to the fair, where all the young fellows will strive to have me for a partner; but I shall perhaps refuse every one of them, and with an air of distain toss from them.” Charmed with this thought, she could not forbear acting with her head what thus passed in her mind, when down came the pail of milk, and with it all her fancied happiness.--_From Guy’s “British Spelling Book._”

ALNASKER.

Alnasker was a very idle fellow, that would never set his hand to work during his father’s life. When his father died he left him to the value of a hundred pounds in Persian money. In order to make the best of it he laid it out in glasses and bottles, and the finest china. These he piled up in a large open basket at his feet, and leaned his back upon the wall of his shop in the hope that many people would come in to buy. As he sat in this posture, with his eyes upon the basket, he fell into an amusing train of thought, and talked thus to himself: “This basket,” says he, “cost me a hundred pounds, which is all I had in the world. I shall quickly make two hundred of it by selling in retail. These two hundred shall in course of trade rise to ten thousand, when I will lay aside my trade of a glass-man, and turn a dealer in pearls and diamonds, and all sorts of rich stones. When I have got as much wealth as I can desire, I will purchase the finest house I can find, with lands, slaves, and horses. Then I shall set myself on the footing of a prince, and will ask the grand Vizier’s daughter to be my wife. As soon as I have married her, I will buy her ten black servants, the youngest and best that can be got for money. When I have brought this princess to my house, I shall take care to breed her in due respect for me. To this end I shall confine her to her own rooms, make her a short visit, and talk but little to her. Her mother will then come and bring her daughter to me, as I am seated on a sofa. The daughter, with tears in her eyes, will fling herself at my feet, and beg me to take her into my favor. Then will I, to impress her with a proper respect for my person, draw up my leg, and spurn her from me with my foot in such a manner that she shall fall down several paces from the sofa.” Alnasker was entirely absorbed with his ideas, and could not forbear acting with his foot what he had in his thoughts; so that, striking his basket of brittle ware, which was the foundation of all his grand hopes, he kicked his glasses to a great distance into the street, and broke them into a thousand pieces.--“_Spectator._” (From the “Sixth Book,” published by the Scottish School Book Association, W. Collins & Co., Edinburgh).

NOTE B.

Pertsch, in Benfey’s “Orient und Occident,” vol. ii. p. 261. Here the story is told as follows: “Perche si conta che un certo pouer huomo hauea uicino a doue dormiua, un mulino & del buturo, & una notte tra se pensando disse, io uenderò questo mulino, & questo butturo tanto per il meno, che io comprerò diece capre. Le quali mi figliaranno in cinque mesi altre tante, & in cinque anni multiplicheranno fino a quattro cento; Le quali barattero in cento buoi, & con essi seminarò una cãpagna, & insieme da figliuoli loro, & dal frutto della terra in altri cinque anni, sarò oltre modo ricco, & farò un palagio _quadro_, adorato, & comprerò schiaui una infinità, & prenderò moglie, la quale mi farà un figliuolo, & lo nominerò Pancalo, & lo farò ammaestrare come bisogna. Et se vedrò che non si curi con questa bacchetta cosí il percoterò. Con che prendendo la bacchetta che gli era uicina, & battendo di essa il vaso doue era il buturo, e lo ruppe, & fuse il buturo. Dopò gli partorì la moglie un figliuolo, e la moglie un dì gli disse, habbi un poco cura di questo fanciullo o marito, fino che io uo e torno da un seruigio. La quale essendo andata fu anco il marito chiamato dal Signore della terra, & tra tanto auuenne che una serpe salì sopra il fanciullo. Et vna donzella uicina, corsa là l’uccise. Tornato il marito uide insanguito l’vscio, & pensando che costei l’hauesse ucciso, auanti che il uedesse, le diede sul capo, di un bastone, e l’uccise. Entrato poi, & sano trouando il figliuolo, & la serpe morta, si fu grandemente pentito, & piāse amaramente. Cosí adunque i frettolosi in molte cose errano.” (Page 516.)

NOTE C.

This and some other extracts, from books not to be found at Oxford, were kindly copied for me by my late friend, E. Deutsch, of the British Museum.

“Georgii Pachymeris Michael Palæologus, sive Historia rerum a M. P. gestarum,” ed. Petr. Possinus. Romæ, 1666.

Appendix ad observationes Pachymerianas, Specimen Sapientiæ Indorum veterum liber olim ex lingua Indica in Persicam a Perzoe Medico: ex Persica in Arabicam ab Anonymo: ex Arabica in Græcam a Symeone Seth, a Petro Possino Societ. Iesu, novissime e Græca in Latinam translatus.

“Huic talia serio nuganti haud paulo cordatior mulier. Mihi videris, Sponse, inquit, nostri cujusdam famuli egentissimi hominis similis ista inani provisione nimis remotarum et incerto eventu pendentrum rerum. Is diurnis mercedibus mellis ac butyri non magna copia collectâ duobus ista vasis e terra coctili condiderat. Mox secum ita ratiocinans nocte quadam dicebat: Mel ego istud ac butyrum quindecim minimum vendam denariis. Ex his decem Capras emam. Hæ mihi quinto mense totidem alias parient. Quinque annis gregem Caprarum facile quadringentarum confecero. Has commutare tunc placet cum bobus centum, quibus exarabo vim terræ magnam et numerum tritici maximum congeram. Ex fructibus hisce quinquennio multiplicatis, pecuniaæ scilicet tantus existet modus, ut facile in locupletissimis numerer. Accedit dos uxoris quam istis opibus ditissiman nansciscar. Nascetur mihi filius quem jam nunc decerno nominare Panealum. Hunc educabo liberalissime, ut nobilium nulli concedat. Qui si ubi adoleverit, ut juventus solet, contumacem se mihi præbeat, haud feret impune. Baculo enim hoc illum hoc modo feriam. Arreptum inter hæc dicendum lecto vicinum baculum per tenebras jactavit, casuque incurrens in dolia mellis et butyri juxta posita, confregit utrumque, ita ut in ejus etiam os barbamque stillæ liquoris prosilirent; cætera effusa et mixta pulveri prorsus corrumperentur; ac fundamentum spei tantæ, inopem et multum gementem momento destitueret.” (Page 602.)

NOTE D.

“Directorium Humanæ Vitæ alias Parabolæ Antiquorum Sapientum,” fol. s. l. e. a. k. 4 (circ. 1480?): “Dicitque olim quidam fuit heremita apud quendam regem. Cui rex providerat quolibet die pro sua vita. Scilicet provisionem de sua coquina et vasculum de melle. Ille vero comedebat decocta, et reservabat mel in quodam vase suspenso super suum caput donec esset plenum. Erat autem mel percarum in illis diebus. Quadam vero die: dum jaceret in suo lecto elevato capite, respexit vas mellis quod super caput ei pendebat. Et recordatus quoniam mel de die in diem vendebatur pluris solito seu carius, et dixit in corde suo. Quum fuerit hoc vas plenum: vendam ipsum uno talento auri: de quo mihi emam decem oves, et successu temporis he oves facient filios et filias, et erunt viginti. Postea vero ipsis multiplicatis cum filiis et filiabus in quatuor annis erunt quatuor centum. Tunc de quibuslibet quatuor ovibus emam vaccam et bovem et terram. Et vaccæ multiplicabuntur in filiis, quorum masculos accipiam mihi in culturam terre, præter id quod percipiam de eis de lacte et lana, donec non consummatis aliis quinque annis multiplicabuntur in tantum quod habebo mihi magnas substantias et divitias, et ero a cunctis reputatus dives et honestus. Et edificabo mihi tunc grandia et excellentia edificia pre omnibus meis vicinis et consanguinibus, itaque omnes de meis divitiis loquantur, nonne erit mihi illud jocundum, cum omnes homines mihi reverentiam in omnibus locis exhibeant. Accipiam postea uxorem de nobilibus terre. Cumque eam cognovero, concipiet et pariet mihi filium nobilem et delectabilem cum bona fortuna et dei beneplacito qui crescet in scientia virtute, et relinquam mihi per ipsum bonam memoriam post mei obitum et castigabo ipsum dietim: si mee recalcitraverit doctrine; ac mihi in omnibus erit obediens, et si non: percutiam eum isto baclo et erecto baculo ad percutiendum percussit vas mellis et fregit ipsum et defluxit mel super caput ejus.”

NOTE E.

“Das Buch der Weisheit der alter Weisen,” Ulm, 1415. Here the story is given as follows:--

“Man sagt es wohnet eins mals ein brůder der dritten regel der got fast dienet, bei eins künigs hof, den versach der künig alle tag zů auff enthalt seines lebens ein kuchen speiss und ein fleschlein mit honig. diser ass alle tag die speiss von der kuchen und den honig behielt er in ein irden fleschlein das hieng ob seiner petstat so lang biss es voll ward. Nun kam bald eine grosse teür in den honig und eins morgens früe lag er in seinem pett und sach das honig in dem fleschlein ob seinem haubt hangen do fiel ym in sein gedanck die teüre des honigs und fieng an mit ihm selbs ze reden. wann diss fleschlein gantz vol honigs wirt so verkauff ich das umb fünff güldin, darum̅ kauff ich mir zehen gůter schaff und die machen alle des jahrs lember. und dann werden eins jahrs zweintzig und die und das von yn kummen mag in zehen jaren werden tausent. dann kauff ich umb fier schaff ein ku und kauff dobei ochsen und ertrich die meren sich mit iren früchten und do nimb ich dann die frücht zů arbeit der äcker. von den andern küen und schaffen nimb ich milich und woll ee das andre fünff jar fürkommen so wird es sich allso meren das ich ein grosse hab und reichtumb überkumen wird dann will ich mir selbs knecht und kellerin kauffen und hohe und hübsche bäw ton. und darnach so nimm ich mir ein hübsch weib von einem edeln geschlecht die beschlaff ich mit kurtzweiliger lieb. so enpfecht sie und gebirt mir ein schön glückseligten sun und gottförchtigen. und der wirt wachsen in lere und künsten und in weissheit. durch den lass ich mir einen gůten leümde nach meinem tod. aber wird er nit fölgig sein und meiner straff nit achten so wolt ich yn mit meinem stecken über sein rucken on erbermde gar hart schlahen. und nam sein stecken da mit man pflag das pet ze machen ym selbs ze zeigen wie frefelich er sein sun schlagen wölt. und schlůg das irden fass das ob seinem haubt hieng zů stücken dass ym das honig under sein antlit und in das pet troff und ward ym von allen sein gedencken nit dann das er sein antlit und pet weschen můst.”

NOTE F.

This translation has lately been published by Don Pascual de Gayangos in the “Biblioteca de Autores Españoles,” Madrid, 1860, vol. li. Here the story runs as follows (p. 57):--

“Del religioso que vertió la miel et la manteca sobre su cabeza.

“Dijo la mujer: ‘Dicen que un religioso habia cada dia limosna de casa de un mercader rico, pan é manteca é miel e otras cosas, et comia el pan é lo ál condesaba, et ponia la miel é la manteca en un jarra, fasta quel a finchó, et tenia la jarra colgada á la cabecera de su cama. Et vino tiempo que encareció la miel é la manteca, et el religioso fabló un dia consigo mismo, estando asentado en su cama, et dijo así: Venderé cuanto está en esta jarra por tantos maravedís, é comparé con ellos diez cabras, et empreñarse-han, é parirán á cabo de cinco meses; et fizo cuenta de esta guisa, et falló que en cinco años montarian bien cuatrocientas cabras. Desí dijo: Venderlas-he todas, et con el precio dellas compraré cien vacas, por cada cuatro cabezas una vaca, é haberé simiente é sembraré con los bueyes, et aprovecharme-he de los becerros et de las fembras é de la leche é manteca, é de las mieses habré grant haber, et labraré muy nobles casas, é compraré siervos é siervas, et esto fecho casarme-he con una mujer muy rica, é fermosa, é de grant logar, é empreñarla-he de fijo varon, é nacerá complido de sus miembros, et criarlo-he como á fijo de rey, é castigarlo-he con esta vara, si non quisiere ser bueno é obediente’. E él deciendo esto, alzó la vara que tenia en la mano, et ferió en la olla que estaba colgada encima dél, é quebróla, é cayóle la miel é la manteca sobre su cabeza,” etc.

NOTE G.

[Transcriber’s Note: In the following selection, all brackets and parentheses are in the original.]

See “Poésies inédites du Moyen Âge,” par M. Edélstand Du Méril. Paris, 1854. XVI. De Viro et Vase Olei (p. 239):--

“Uxor ab antiquo fuit infecunda marito.
Mesticiam (l. mœstitiam) cujus cupiens lenire vix (l. vir) hujus,
His blandimentis solatur tristi[ti]a mentis:
Cur sic tristaris? Dolor est tuus omnis inanis:
Pulchræ prolis eris satis amodo munere felix.
Pro nihilo ducens conjunx hæc verbula prudens,
His verbis plane quod ait vir monstrat inane:
Rebus inops quidam . . . (bone vir, tibi dicam)
_Vas oleo plenum_, longum quod retro per ævum
Legerat orando, loca per diversa vagando,
Fune ligans ar(c)to, tecto[que] suspendit ab alto.
Sic præstolatur tempus quo pluris ematur[atur]
Qua locupletari se sperat et arte beari.
Talia dum captat, hæc stultus inania jactat:
Ecce potens factus, fuero cum talia nactus,
Vinciar uxori quantum queo nobiliori:
Tunc sobolem gignam, se meque per omnia dignam,
Cujus opus morum genus omne præibit avorum.
Cui nisi tot vitæ fuerint insignia rite,
Fustis hic absque mora feriet caput ejus et [h]ora.
Quod dum narraret, dextramque minando levaret,
Ut percussisset puerum quasi præsto fuisset
Vas in prædictum manus ejus dirigit ictum
Servatumque sibi vas il[l]ico fregit olivi.”

I owe the following extract to the kindness of M. Paul Meyer:--

_Apologi Phædrii ex ludicris I. Regnerii Belnensis doct. Medici, Divione, apud Petrum Palliot, 1643 in 12, 126 pages et de plus un index._

Le recueil se divise en deux partis, pars I., pars II. La fable en question est à la page 32, pars I. fab. xxv.

XXV.

_Pagana et eius mercis emptor._

Pagana mulier, lac in olla fictili,
Ova in canistro, rustici mercem penus,
Ad civitatem proximam ibat venditum.
In eius aditu factus huic quidam obvius
Quanti rogavit ista quæ fers vis emi?
Et illa tanti. Tantin’? hoc fuerit nimis.
Numerare num me vis quod est æquum? vide
Hac merce quod sit nunc opus mihi plus dabo
Quam præstet illam cede, et hos nummos cape,
Ea quam superbe fœde rusticitas agit,
Hominem reliquit additis conviciis,
Quasi æstimasset vilius mercem optimam.
Aversa primos inde vix tulerat gradus,
Cum lubricato corruit strato viæ:
Lac olla fundit quassa, gallinaceæ
Testæ vitellos congerunt cœno suos
Caput cruorem mittit impingens petræ
Luxata nec fert coxa surgentem solo:
Ridetur ejus non malum, sed mens procax,
Qua merx et ipsa mercis et pretium perit;
Seque illa deflens tot pati infortunia
Nulli imputare quam sibi hanc sortem potest
Dolor sed omnis sæviter recruduit
Curationis danda cum merces fuit.

In re minori cum quis et fragili tumet
Hunc sortis ingens sternit indignatio.

NOTE H.

Hulsbach, “Sylva Sermonum,” Basileæ, 1568, p. 28: “In sylva quadam morabatur heremicola jam satis provectæ ætatis, qui quaque die accedebat civitatem, afferens inde mensuram mellis, qua donabatur. Hoc recondebat in vase terreo, quod pependerat supra lectum suum. Uno dierum jacens in lecto, et habens bacalum in manu sua, hæc apud se dicebat: Quotidie mihi datur vasculum mellis, quod dum indies recondo, fiet tandem summa aliqua. Jam valet mensura staterem unum. Corraso autem ita floreno uno aut altero, emam mihi oves, quæ fœnerabunt mihi plures: quibus divenditis coëmam mihi elegantem uxorculam, cum qua transigam vitam meam lætanter: ex ea suscitabo mihi puellam, quam instituam honeste. Si vero mihi noluerit obedire, hoc baculo eam ita comminuam: atque levato baculo confregit suum vasculum, et effusum est mel, quare cassatum est suum propositum, et manendum adhuc in suo statu.”

NOTE I.

“El Conde Lucanor, compuesto por el excelentissimo Principe don Iuan Manuel, hijo del Infante don Manuel, y nieto del Santo Rey don Fernando,” Madrid, 1642; cap. 29, p. 96. He tells the story as follows: “There was a woman called Dona Truhana (Gertrude), rather poor than rich. One day she went to the market carrying a pot of honey on her head. On her way she began to think that she would sell the pot of honey, and buy a quantity of eggs, that from those eggs she would have chickens, that she would sell them and buy sheep; that the sheep would give her lambs, and thus calculating all her gains, she began to think herself much richer than her neighbors. With the riches which she imagined she possessed, she thought how she would marry her sons and daughters, and how she would walk in the street surrounded by her sons and daughters-in-law; and how people would consider her happy for having amassed so large a fortune, though she had been so poor. While she was thinking over all this, she began to laugh for joy, and struck her head and forehead with her hand. The pot of honey fell down, was broken, and she shed hot tears because she had lost all that she would have possessed if the pot of honey had not been broken.”

NOTE K.

Bonaventure des Periers, “Les Contes ou les Nouvelles.” Amsterdam, 1735. Nouvelle XIV. (vol. i. p. 141). (First edition, Lyon, 1558): “Et ne les (les Alquemistes) sçauroiton mieux comparer qu’à une bonne femme qui portoit une potée de laict au marché, faisant son compte ainsi: qu’elle la vendroit deux liards: de ces deux liards elle en achepteroit une douzaine d’œufs, lesquelz elle mettroit couver, et en auroit une douzaine de poussins: ces poussins deviendroient grands, et les feroit chaponner: ces chapons vaudroient cinq solz la piece, ce seroit un escu et plus, dont elle achepteroit deux cochons, masle et femelle: qui deviendroient grands et en feroient une douzaine d’autres, qu’elle vendroit vingt solz la piece; apres les avoir nourris quelque temps, ce seroient douze francs, dont elle achepteroit une iument, qui porteroit un beau poulain, lequel croistroit et deviendroit tant gentil: il sauteroit et feroit _Hin_. Et en disant _Hin_, la bonne femme, de l’aise qu’elle avoit en son compte, se print à faire la ruade que feroit son poulain: et en ce faisant sa potée de laict va tomber, et se respandit toute. Et voila ses œufs, ses poussins, ses chappons, ses cochons, sa jument, et son poulain, tous par terre.”

[Footnote 1: La Fontaine, _Fables_, livre vii., fable 10.]

[Footnote 2: Phædon, 61, 5: Μετὰ δὲ τὸν θεὸν, ἐννοήσας, ὅτι τὸν
ποιητὴν δέοι, εἶπερ μέλλοι ποιητὴς εἶναι, ποιεῖν μύθους, ἀλλ’ οὐ
λόγους, καὶ αὐτὸς οὐκ ἦ μυθολογικός, διὰ ταῦτα δὴ οὓς προχείρους
εἶχον καὶ ἠπιστάμην μύθους τοὺς Αἰσώπου, τούτων ἐποίησα οἷς
πρώτοις ἐνέτυχον.]

[Footnote 3: Robert, _Fables Inédites_, des XIIe, XIIIe, et XIVe
Siècles; Paris, 1825; vol. i. p. ccxxvii.]

[Footnote 4: _Pantschatantrum sive Quinquepartitum_, edidit
I. G. L. Kosegarten. Bonnæ, 1848.

_Pantschatantra, Fünf Bücher indischer Fablen, aus dem Sanskrit
übersetzt._ Von Th. Benfey. Leipzig, 1859.

_Hitopadesa_, with interlinear translation, grammatical analysis,
and English translation, in Max Müller’s Handbooks for the study
of Sanskrit. London, 1864.

_Hitopadesa, eine alte indische Fabelsammlung aus dem Sanskrit zum
ersten Mal in das Deutsche übersetzt._ Von Max Müller. Leipzig,
1844.]

[Footnote 5: _Pañcatantra_, v. 10.]

[Footnote 6: _Hitopadeśa_, ed. Max Müller, p. 120; German
translation, p. 159.]

[Footnote 7: Note A, page 188.]

[Footnote 8: _Hottentot Fables and Tales_, by Dr. W. H. I. Bleek,
London, 1894, p. 19.]

[Footnote 9: _Academy_, vol. v. p. 548.]

[Footnote 10: _Die Märchen des Siddhi-kür_, or _Tales of an
Enchanted Corpse_, translated from Kalmuk into German by B. Jülg,
1866. (This is based on the +Vetâlapañcaviṃśati+.) _Die Geschichte
des Ardschi-Bordschi Chan_, translated from Mongolian by Dr. B.
Jülg, 1868. (This is based on the +Siṃhâsanadvâtriṃśati+.)
A Mongolian translation of the _Kalila and Dimnah_, is ascribed to
Mélik Said Iftikhar eddin Mohammed ben Abou Nasr, who died A.D.
1280. See Barbier de Meynard, “Description de la Ville de Kazvin,”
_Journal Asiatique_, 1857, p. 284; Lancereau, _Pantchatantra_,
p. xxv.]

[Footnote 11: Plato’s expression, “As I have put on the lion’s
skin” (_Kratylos_, 411), seems to show that he knew the fable of
an animal or a man having assumed the lion’s skin without the
lion’s courage. The proverb ὄνος παρὰ Κυμαίους seems to be applied
to men boasting before people who have no means of judging. It
presupposes the story of a donkey appearing in a lion’s skin.

A similar idea is expressed in a fable of the Pañcatantra (IV. 8)
where a dyer, not being rich enough to feed his donkey, puts a
tiger’s skin on him. In this disguise the donkey is allowed to
roam through all the corn-fields without being molested, till one
day he sees a female donkey, and begins to bray. Thereupon the
owners of the field kill him.

In the Hitopadeśa (III. 3) the same fable occurs, only that there
it is the keeper of the field who on purpose disguises himself as
a she-donkey, and when he hears the tiger bray, kills him.

In the Chinese Avadânas, translated by Stanislas Julien (vol. ii.
p. 59), the donkey takes a lion’s skin and frightens everybody,
till he begins to bray, and is recognized as a donkey.

In this case it is again quite clear that the Greeks did not
borrow their fable and proverb from the Pañcatantra; but it is not
so easy to determine positively whether the fable was carried from
the Greeks to the East, or whether it arose independently in two
places.]

[Footnote 12: _Calilah et Dimna, ou, Fables de Bidpai, en Arabe,
précédées d’un Mémoire sur l’origine de ce livre._ Par Sylvestre
de Sacy. Paris, 1816.]

[Footnote 13: Loiseleur Deslongchamps, _Essai sur les Fables
Indiennes, et sur leur Introduction en Europe._ Paris, 1838.]

[Footnote 14: _Pantschatantra, Fünf Bucher indischer Fabeln,
Märchen und Erzählungen, mit Einleitung._ Von. Th. Benfey.
Leipzig, 1859.]

[Footnote 15: See Weil, _Geschichte der Chalifen_, vol. ii.
p. 84.]

[Footnote 16: Benfey, p. 60.]

[Footnote 17: Cf. _Barlaam et Joasaph_, ed. Boissonade, p. 37.]

[Footnote 18: _Kalila and Dimna; or, the Fables of Bidpai,
translated from the Arabic._ By the Rev. Wyndham Knatchbull, A.M.
Oxford, 1819.]

[Footnote 19: _Specimen Sapientiæ Indorum Veterum, id est Liber
Ethico-Politicus pervetustus, dictus Arabice Kalilah ve Dimnah,
Græce Stephanites et Ichnelates, nunc primum Græce ex MS. Cod.
Holsteiniano prodit cum versione Latina, opera S. G. Starkii._
Berolini, 1697.]

[Footnote 20: This expression, a four-winged house, occurs also in
the Pañcatantra. As it does not occur in the Arabic text,
published by De Sacy, it is clear that Symeon must have followed
another Arabic text in which this adjective, belonging to the
Sanskrit, and no doubt to the Pehlevi text, also, had been
preserved.]

[Footnote 21: Note B, p. 190.]

[Footnote 22: Note C, p. 191.]

[Footnote 23: Note D, p. 192.]

[Footnote 24: Note E, p. 193.]

[Footnote 25: Benfey, _Orient und Occident_, vol. i. p. 138.]

[Footnote 26: Ibid. vol. i. p. 501. Its title is: “Exemplario
contra los engaños y peligros del mundo,” ibid. pp. 167, 168.]

[Footnote 27: _Discorsi degli animali, di Messer Agnolo
Firenzuola, in prose di M. A. F._ (Fiorenza, 1548.)]

[Footnote 28: _La Moral Filosophia del Doni, tratta da gli antichi
scrittori._ Vinegia, 1552.

_Trattati Diversi di Sendebar Indiano, filosopho morale._ Vinegia,
1552.

P. 65. _Trattato Quarto._

A woman tells her husband to wait till her son is born, and
says:--

“Stava uno Romito domestico ne i monti di Brianza a far penitenza
e teneva alcune cassette d’ api per suo spasso, e di quelle a suoi
tempi ne cavava il _Mele_, e di quello ne vendeva alcuna parte tal
volta per i suoi besogni. Avenne che un’ anno ne fu una gran
carestia, e egli attendeva a conservarlo, e ogni giorno lo
guardava mille volte, e gli pareva cent’ anni ogni hora, che e gli
indugiava a empierlo di Mele,” etc.]

[Footnote 29: _Le Plaisant et Facétieux Discours des Animaux,
novellement traduict de Tuscan en François._ Lyon, 1556, par
Gabriel Cottier.

_Deux Livres de Filosofie Fabuleuse, le Premier Pris des Discours
de M. Ange Firenzuola le Second Extraict des Traictez de Sandebar
Indien, par Pierre de La Rivey._ Lyon, 1579.

The second book is a translation of the second part of Doni’s
_Filosofia Morale_.]

[Footnote 30: _The Anvar-i Suhaili, or the Lights of Canopus,
being the Persian version of the Fables of Pilpay, or the Book,
Kalilah and Damnah, rendered into Persian by Husain Vá’iz
U’l-Káshifi, literally translated by E. B. Eastwick._ Hertford,
1854.]

[Footnote 31: Note F, p. 194.]

[Footnote 32: Note G, p. 194.]

[Footnote 33: Note H, p. 196.]

[Footnote 34: _Dialogues of Creatures moralysed_, sm. 4to, circ.
1517. It is generally attributed to the press of John Rastell, but
the opinion of Mr. Haslewood, in his preface to the reprint of
1816, that the book was printed on the continent, is perhaps the
correct one. (_Quaritch’s Catalogue_, July, 1870.)]

[Footnote 35: The Latin text is more simple: “Unde cum quedam
domina dedisset ancille sue lac ut venderet et lac portaret ad
urbem juxta fossatum cogitare cepit quod de p̅cio lactis emerit
gallinam quæ faceret pullos quos auctos in gallinas venderet et
porcellos emeret eosque mutaret in oves et ipsas in boves. Sic que
ditata contraheret cum aliquo nobili et sic gloriabatur. Et cum
sic gloriaretur et cogitaret cum quanta gloria duceretur ad illum
virum super equum dicendo gio gio cepit pede percutere terram
quasi pungeret equum calcaribus. Sed tunc lubricatus est pes ejus
et cecidit in fossatum effundendo lac. Sic enim non habuit quod se
adepturam sperabat.” _Dialogus Creaturarum optime moralizatus_
(ascribed to Nicolaus Pergaminus, supposed to have lived in the
thirteenth century). He quotes Elynandus, in _Gestis Romanorum_.
First edition, “per Gerardum leeu in oppido Goudensi inceptum;
munere Dei finitus est, Anno Domini, 1480.”]

[Footnote 36: Note I, p. 197.]

[Footnote 37: My learned German translator, Dr. Felix Liebrecht,
says in a note: “Other books in which our story appears before La
Fontaine are _Esopus_, by Burkhard Waldis, ed. H. Kurz, Leipzig,
1862, ii. 177; note to _Des Bettlers Kaufmannschaft_; and
Oesterley, in Kirchoff’s _Wendunmuth_, v. 44, note to i. 171,
_Vergebene Anschleg reich zuwerden_ (Bibl. des liter. Vereins zu
Stuttg. No. 99).”]

[Footnote 38: _Ricerche intorno al Libro di Sindibad._ Milano,
1869.]

[Footnote 39: The Greek text was first published in 1832 by
Boissonade, in his _Anecdota Græca_, vol. iv. The title, as given
in some MSS. is: Ἱστορία ψυχωφελὴς ἐκ τῆς ἐνδοτέρας τῶν Αἰθιόπων
χώρας, τῆς Ἰνδῶν λεγομένης, πρὸς τὴν ἁγίαν πόλιν μετενεχθεῖσα διὰ
Ἰωάννου τοῦ μοναχοῦ [other MSS. read, συγγράφεισα παρα τοῦ ἁγιου
πατρος ἠμων Ἰωαννου τοῦ Δαμασκηνοῦ], ἀνδρὸς τιμίου καὶ ἐναρέτου
μονῆς τοῦ ἁγίου Σάβα· ἐν ᾗ ὁ βίος Βαρλαάμ καὶ Ἰωάσαφ τῶν ἀοιδίμων
καὶ μακαρίων. Joannes Monachus occurs as the name of the author in
other works of Joannes Damascenus. See Leo Allatius, Prolegomena,
p. L., in _Damasceni Opera Omnia_. Ed. Lequien, 1748. Venice.

At the end the author says: Ἐως ὧδε τὸ πέρας τοῦ παρόντος λόγου,
ὃν κατὰ δύναμιν ἐμὴν γεγράφηκα, καθὼς ἀκήκοα παρὰ τῶν ἀψευδῶς
παραδεδωκότων μοι τιμίων ἀνδρῶν. Γένοιτο δὲ ἠμᾶς, τοὺς
ἀναγινώκοντάς τε καὶ ἀκούοντας τὴν ψυχωφελῆ διήγησιν ταύτην, τῆς
μερίδος ἀξιωθῆναι τῶν εὐαρεστησάντων τῷ κυρίῳ εὐχαῖς καὶ
πρεσβείαις Βαρλαὰμ καὶ Ἰωάσαφ τῶν μακαρίων, περὶ ὧν ἠ διήγησις.
See also Wiener, _Jahrbücher_, vol. lxiii. pp. 44-83; vol. lxxii.
pp. 274-288; vol. lxxiii. pp. 176-202.]

[Footnote 40: Littré, _Journal des Savants_, 1865, p. 337.]

[Footnote 41: The _Martyrologium Romanum_, whatever its authority
may be, states distinctly that the acts of Barlaam and Josaphat
were written by Sanctus Joannes Damascenus. “Apud Indos Persis
finitimos sanctorum Barlaam et Josaphat, quorum actus mirandos
sanctus Joannes Damascenus conscripsit.” See Leonis Allatii
Prolegomena, in _Joannis Damasceni Opera_, ed. Lequien, vol. i.
p. xxvi. He adds: “Et Gennadius Patriarcha per Concil. Florent.
cap. 5: οὐχ ἥττον δὲ καὶ ὁ Ἰωάννης ὁ μέγας τοῦ Δαμασκοῆ ὀφθαλμὸς
ἐν τῷ βίῳ Βαρλαὰμ καὶ Ἰωσάφατ τῶν Ἰνδῶν μαρτυρεῖ λέγων.”]

[Footnote 42: The story of the caskets, well known from the
_Merchant of Venice_, occurs in _Barlaam and Josaphat_, though it
is used there for a different purpose.]

[Footnote 43: Cf. Benfey, _Pantschatantra_, vol. i. p. 80; vol.
ii. p. 528; _Les Avadanas, Contes et Apologues indiens_, par
Stanislas Julien, i. pp. 132, 191; _Gesta Romanorum_, cap. 168;
_Homáyun Nameh_, cap. iv.; Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, pp. 758,
759; Liebrecht, _Jahrbücher für Rom. und Engl. Literatur_, 1860.]

[Footnote 44: _Lalita Vistara_, ed. Calcutt., p. 126.]

[Footnote 45: Ibid., p. 225.]

[Footnote 46: See M. M.’s _Chips from a German Workshop_, Amer.
ed., vol. i. p. 207.]

[Footnote 47: Minayeff, _Mélanges Asiatiques_, vi. 5, p. 584,
remarks: “According to a legend in the _Mahâvastu_ of Yaśas or
Yaśoda (in a less complete form to be found in Schiefner, _Eine
tibetische Lebensbeschreibung Sâkyamunis_, p. 247; Hardy, _Manual
of Buddhism_, p. 187; Bigandet, _The Life or Legend of Gaudama_,
p. 113), a merchant appears in Yosoda’s house, the night before he
has the dream which induces him to leave his paternal house, and
proclaims to him the true doctrine.”]

[Footnote 48: _Journal of the American Oriental Society_, vol.
iii. p. 21.]

[Footnote 49: In some places one might almost believe that Joannes
Damascenus did not only hear the story of Buddha, as he says, from
the mouth of people who had brought it to him from India, but that
he had before him the very text of the _Lalita Vistara_. Thus in
the account of the three or four drives we find indeed that the
Buddhist canon represents Buddha as seeing on three successive
drives, first an old, then a sick, and at last a dying man, while
Joannes makes Joasaph meet two men on his first drive, one maimed,
the other blind, and an old man, who is nearly dying, on his
second drive. So far there is a difference which might best be
explained by admitting the account given by Joannes Damascenus
himself, viz: that the story was brought from India, and that it
was simply told him by worthy and truthful men. But, if it was so,
we have here another instance of the tenacity with which oral
tradition is able to preserve the most minute points of the story.
The old man is described by a long string of adjectives both in
Greek and in Sanskrit, and many of them are strangely alike. The
Greek γέρων, old, corresponds to the Sanskrit +jîrṇa+;
πεπαλαιώμενος, aged, is Sanskrit +vṛddha+; ἐρρικνώμενος τὸ
πρόσωπον, shriveled in his face, is +balînicitakâya+, the body
covered with wrinkles; παρείμενος τὰς κνήμας, weak in his knees,
is +pravedhayamânaḥ sarvângapratyangaiḥ+, trembling in all his
limbs; συγκεκυφώς, bent, is +kubja+; πεπολιώμενος, gray, is
+palitakeśa+; ἐστερήμενος τοὺς ὀδόντας, toothless, is
+khaṇḍadanta+; ἐγκεκομένα λαλῶν, stammering, is
+khurakhurâvaśaktakaṇṭha+.]

[Footnote 50: _Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen
Gesellschaft_, vol. xxiv p. 480.]

[Footnote 51: _Débats_, 1859, 21 and 26 Juillet.]

[Footnote 52: _Die Quellen des Barlaam und Josaphat, in Jahrbuch
für roman. und engl. Litteratur_, vol. ii. p. 314, 1860.]

[Footnote 53: _Travels of Fah-hian and Sung-yun, Buddhist Pilgrims
from China to India._ (400 A.D. and 518 A.D.) Translated from the
Chinese by Samuel Beal. London, Trübner & Co. 1869.]

[Footnote 54: Littré, _Journal des Savants_, 1865, p. 337.]

[Footnote 55: _Pantschatantra; Fünf. Bücher indischer Fabeln,
Märchen und Erzählungen. Aus dem Sanskrit übersetzt mit Einleitung
und Ammerkungen_, 2 Theile, Leipzig, 1859; and particularly in the
first part, the introduction, called “Ueber das Indische
Grundwerk, und dessen Ausflüsse, so wie über die Quellen und die
Verbreitung des Inhalts derselben.”]

[Footnote 56: Cf. Assemani, _Biblioth. Orient._ iii. 1, 220, and
Renan, in the _Journal Asiatique_, Cinq. Série, t. vii. 1856,
p. 251.]

IV.

ON THE RESULTS OF THE

SCIENCE OF LANGUAGE.

INAUGURAL LECTURE, DELIVERED IN THE IMPERIAL UNIVERSITY OF STRASSBURG, MAY 23, 1872.

You will easily understand that, in giving my first lecture in a German University, I feel some difficulty in mastering and repressing the feelings which stir within my heart. I wish to speak to you, as it becomes a teacher, with perfect calmness, thinking of nothing but of the subject which 1 have to treat. But here where we are gathered together to-day, in this old free imperial town, in this University, full of the brightest recollections of Alsatian history and German literature, even a somewhat gray-headed German professor may be pardoned if, for some moments at least, he gives free vent to the thoughts that are foremost in his mind. You will see, at least, that he feels and thinks as you all feel and think, and that in living away from Germany he has not forgotten his German language, or lost his German heart.

The times in which we live are great, so great, that we can hardly conceive them great enough; so great that we, old and young, cannot be great and good and brave and hardworking enough, if we do not wish to appear quite unworthy of the times in which our lot has been cast.

We older people have lived through darker times, when to a German, learning was the only refuge, the only comfort, the only pride; times when there was no Germany except in our recollection, and perhaps in our secret hopes. And those who have lived through those sadder days feel all the more deeply the blessings of the present. We have a Germany again, a united, great, and strong country; and I call this a blessing, not only in a material sense, as giving, at last, to our homes a real and lasting security against the inroads of our powerful neighbors, but also in a moral sense, as placing every German under a greater responsibility, as reminding us of our higher duties, as inspiring us with courage and energy for the battle of the mind even more than for the battle of the arm.

That blessing has cost us dear, fearfully dear, dearer than the friends of humanity had hoped; for, proud as we may be of our victories and our victors, let us not deceive ourselves in this, that there is in the history of humanity nothing so inhuman, nothing that makes us so entirely despair of the genius of mankind, nothing that bows us so low to the very dust, as war--unless even war becomes ennobled and sanctified, as it was with us, by the sense of duty, duty towards our country, duty towards our town, duty towards our home, towards our fathers and mothers, our wives and children. Thus, and thus only, can even war become the highest and brightest of sacrifices; thus, and thus only, may we look history straight in the face, and ask, “Who would have acted differently?”