Transcriber's Note
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INDIAN FAIRY TALES
COLLECTED AND TRANSLATED
BY
MAIVE STOKES.
WITH NOTES BY MARY STOKES,
AND AN INTRODUCTION BY W. R. S. RALSTON, M.A.
London:
ELLIS & WHITE, NEW BOND STREET.
1880.
[All Rights reserved.]
To my dear Grannie, Susan Bazely.
PREFACE.
THE first twenty-five stories in this book weretold me at Calcutta and Simla by two Ayahs,Dunkní and Múniyá, and by Karím, aKhidmatgar. The last five were told Mother byMúniyá. At first the servants would only tell theirstories to me, because I was a child and would notlaugh at them, but afterwards the Ayahs lost theirshyness and told almost all their stories over again toMother when they were passing through the press.Karím would never tell his to her or before her.The stories were all told in Hindústání, which is theonly language that these servants know.
Dunkní is a young woman, and was born andbrought up in Calcutta. She got the stories, she toldme, from her husband, Mochí, who was born inCalcutta and brought up at Benares.
[Pg vi]Múniyá is a very old, white-haired woman. Shehas great-grandchildren. She was born at Patna,but when she was seven years old she was taken toCalcutta, where she was brought up and married.She and Dunkní are both Hindús.
Karím is a Muhammadan and was born at Lucknow.He says that “The Mouse” and “The WonderfulStory” are both Lucknow tales.
The notes to this book were written by Mother,and Father helped her to spell the Native names andwords. He also made the Index.
Dr. George King helped us in the Botany; Mr.Tawney and Mr. Campbell of Islay, who saw manyof the stories in manuscript, have given us severalremarks. So has my uncle, John Boxwell.
M. S. H. Stokes.
Calcutta,
March 24th, 1879.
INTRODUCTION.
IN almost every part of Europe the tales currentamong the common people have been of lateyears diligently sought out, and carefully collected.Variants of them pour in profusely every year. But it doesnot seem probable that any entirely new stories will be discoveredin any European land. Nor is it likely that infresh variants of the longer and apparently more artificialtales, any quite new incidents, or even any unquestionablynovel features, will be found. The harvest has been abundant,its chief fruits are now stored, and the work which isstill going on among the gleaners, although in itself