Kathasaritsagara (the Ocean of Story)
by Somadeva | 1924 | 1,023,469 words | ISBN-13: 9789350501351
This is the English translation of the Kathasaritsagara written by Somadeva around 1070. The principle story line revolves around prince Naravāhanadatta and his quest to become the emperor of the Vidhyādharas (‘celestial beings’). The work is one of the adoptations of the now lost Bṛhatkathā, a great Indian epic tale said to have been composed by ...
Preface to volume 8
ALTHOUGH, as mentioned at the end of the text of Volume VII, the final victory of the hero has been achieved and the coronation duly taken place, with a general gathering of the chief characters, yet we start again on fresh adventures that seem to read as a kind of “addenda,” or afterthought, of the compiler.
The sub-stories are rather involved, while in the next volume they become almost impossible to number with any degree of success for the purposes of quick reference.
By the end of the present volume we shall be well in sight of our harbour, and can soon congratulate ourselves on a long and, I trust, not uninteresting voyage.
The value of this volume is greatly enhanced by a most interesting and really useful Foreword by Professor Halliday. His suggestions are practical, and will be consulted with great advantage by all serious students of comparative folk-lore and storiology.
Both Dr Barnett and Mr Fenton continue to render me valuable help in proof-reading.
N. M. P.
St John’s Wood, N.W.P.
April 1927.