Excerpt from Hindu Tales: An English Translation of Jacobi's Ausgewahlte Erzahlungen in Maharashtri
This modest work has been suggested by Prof. C. R. Lanman. I am glad that I took it in hand. The tales here presented are of no small interest to the student of Indian antiquity and of folklore, and Jacobi's collection is such an excellent primer for the beginner in Prakrit that an English translation seems really a desirable thing, especially as the stories present many a difficulty and Jacobi's vocabulary is hardly sufficient to clear up all doubtful points. A number of words are missing in his glossary; sometimes he is wrong. Doubtless he himself has quietly rectified many a mistake since the publication of the Erzahlungen 20 years ago. "Wir sehen auf niemand so sehr herab als auf die, auf deren Schultern wir stehen", says Jean Paul Friedrich Richter. I hope the reader will not impute such a spirit to me, although I take Jacobi to task quite often. In my Prakrit studies, which, alas, have been all too limited as yet, this eminent scholar was my earliest guide, for his Ausgewahlte Erzahlungen were my first Prakrit reading, and from his many invaluable contributions to our knowledge of Jinism I have derived the greatest profit. If I dedicate my little volume to that reverend scholar it is but an inadequate acknowledgement of all I owe him.
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