PREFACE.

This volume is intended for an introduction to the study of the epics. While the simplicity and directness of the epic style seem to make such a book unnecessary, the fact that to many persons of literary tastes some of these great poems are inaccessible, and that to many more the pleasure of exploring for themselves "the realms of gold" is rendered impossible by the cares of business, has seemed sufficient excuse for its being. Though the beauty of the original is of necessity lost in a condensation of this kind, an endeavor has been made to preserve the characteristic epithets, and to retain what Mr. Arnold called "the simple truth about the matter of the poem." It is believed that the sketch prefacing each story, giving briefly the length, versification, and history of the poem, will have its value to those readers who have not access to the epics, and that the selections following the story, each recounting a complete incident, will give a better idea of the epic than could be formed from passages scattered through the text.

The epic originated among tribes of barbarians, who deified departed heroes and recited legends in praise of their deeds. As the hymn developed, the chorus and strophe were dropped, and the narrative only was preserved. The word "epic" was used simply to distinguish the narrative poem, which was recited, from the lyric, which was sung, and from the dramatic, which was acted.

As the nation passed from childhood to youth, the legends of the hero that each wandering minstrel had changed to suit his fancy, were collected and fused into one by some great poet, who by his power of unification made this written epic his own.

This is the origin of the Hindu epics, the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey," the "Kalevala," the "Shah-Nameh," "Beowulf," the "Nibelungen Lied," the "Cid," and the "Song of Roland."

The conditions for the production of the primitive epic exist but once in a nation's growth. Its later epics must be written on subjects of national importance, chosen by the poet, who arranges and embellishes his material according to the rules of the primitive epic. To this class belong the "Aeneid," the "Jerusalem Delivered," and the "Lusiad." Dante's poem is broader, for it is the epic of mediaeval Christianity. Milton likewise sought "higher argument" than

"Wars, hitherto the only argument Heroic deemed,"

and crystallized the religious beliefs of his time in "Paradise Lost."

The characteristics both of the primitive and the modern epic are their uniform metre, simplicity of construction, concentration of action into a short time, and the use of episode and dialogue. The main difference lies in the impersonality of the primitive epic, whose author has so skillfully hidden himself behind his work that, as some one has said of Homer, "his heroes are immortal, but his own existence is doubtful."

Although the historical events chronicled in the epics have in every case been so distorted by the fancy of the poets that they cannot be accepted as history, the epics are storehouses of information concerning ancient manners and customs, religious beliefs, forms of government, treatment of women, and habits of feeling.

Constructed upon the noblest principles of art, and pervaded by the eternal calm of the immortals, these poems have an especial value to us, who have scarcely yet realized that poetry is an art, and are feverish from the unrest of our time. If by the help of this volume any reader be enabled to find a portion of the wisdom that is hidden in these mines, its purpose will have been accomplished.

My thanks are due to Mr. John A. Wilstach for the use of selections from his translation of the "Divine Comedy;" to Prof. J. M. Crawford, for the use of selections from his translation of the "Kalevala;" to Henry Holt & Co., for the use of selections from Rabillon's translation of "La Chanson de Roland;" to Roberts Brothers, for the use of selections from Edwin Arnold's "Indian Idylls;" to Prof. J. C. Hall, for the use of selections from his translation of "Beowulf;" and to A. C. Armstrong & Son, for the use of selections from Conington's Translation of the "Aeneid." The selections from the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey" are used with the permission of and by special arrangement with Houghton, Mifflin & Co., publishers of Bryant's translations of the "Iliad" and the "Odyssey." Special thanks are due to Miss Eliza G. Browning of the Public Library of Indianapolis, to Miss Florence Hughes of the Library of Indiana University, and to Miss Charity Dye, of Indianapolis.

K. M. R.

INDIANAPOLIS, IND., September, 1896.

CONTENTS

PREFACE.

SELECTIONS.

NATIONAL EPICS.

THE RÂMÂYANA.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM, THE RÂMÂYANA.

STANDARD ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS, THE RÂMÂYANA.

THE STORY OF THE RÂMÂYANA.

SELECTIONS FROM THE RÂMÂYANA.

THE DEATH OF YAJNADATTA.

THE MAHÂ-BHÂRATA.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM, THE MAHÂ-BHÂRATA.

STANDARD ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS, THE MAHÂ-BHÂRATA.

THE STORY OF THE MAHÂ-BHÂRATA.

SELECTIONS FROM THE MAHÂ-BHÂRATA.

FROM "THE GREAT JOURNEY."

THE ILIAD.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM, THE ILIAD.

STANDARD ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS, THE ILIAD.

THE STORY OF THE ILIAD.

SELECTIONS FROM THE ILIAD.

THE PARTING OF HECTOR AND ANDROMACHE.

THE ODYSSEY.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM, THE ODYSSEY.

STANDARD ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS, THE ODYSSEY.

THE STORY OF THE ODYSSEY.

SELECTIONS FROM THE ODYSSEY.

THE BENDING OF THE BOW.

THE KALEVALA.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM, THE KALEVALA.

STANDARD ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS, THE KALEVALA.

THE STORY OF THE KALEVALA.

SELECTIONS FROM THE KALEVALA.

THE BIRTH OF THE HARP.

THE AENEID.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM, THE AENEID.

STANDARD ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS, THE AENEID.

THE STORY OF THE AENEID.

SELECTION FROM THE AENEID.

BEOWULF.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM, BEOWULF.

STANDARD ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS, BEOWULF.

THE STORY OF BEOWULF.

SELECTION FROM BEOWULF.

THE NIBELUNGEN LIED.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM, THE NIBELUNGEN LIED.

STANDARD ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS, THE NIBELUNGEN.

THE STORY OF THE NIBELUNGEN LIED.

SELECTIONS FROM THE NIBELUNGEN LIED.

HOW MARGRAVE RÜDEGER WAS SLAIN.

THE SONG OF ROLAND.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM, THE SONG OF ROLAND.

STANDARD ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS, THE SONG OF ROLAND.

THE STORY OF THE SONG OF ROLAND.

SELECTIONS FROM THE SONG OF ROLAND.

ROLAND'S DEATH.

THE SHAH-NAMEH.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM, THE SHAH-NAMEH.

STANDARD ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS, THE SHAH-NAMEH.

THE STORY OF THE SHAH-NAMEH.

SELECTIONS FROM THE SHAH-NAMEH.

ZAL AND RUDABEH.

THE POEM OF THE CID.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM, THE CID.

STANDARD ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS, THE POEM OF THE CID.

THE STORY OF THE POEM OF THE CID.

SELECTIONS FROM THE POEM OF THE CID.

MY CID'S TRIUMPH.

THE DIVINE COMEDY.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM, THE DIVINE COMEDY.

STANDARD ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS, THE DIVINE COMEDY.

THE DIVINE COMEDY.

THE STORY OF THE DIVINE COMEDY.

THE DIVINE COMEDY.

THE STORY OF THE DIVINE COMEDY.

THE DIVINE COMEDY.

THE STORY OF THE DIVINE COMEDY.

SELECTIONS FROM THE DIVINE COMEDY.

BUONCONTE DI MONTEFELTRO.

BEATRICE DESCENDING FROM HEAVEN.

THE EXQUISITE BEAUTY OF BEATRICE.

THE ORLANDO FURIOSO.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM, THE ORLANDO FURIOSO.

STANDARD ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS, THE ORLANDO FURIOSO.

THE STORY OF THE ORLANDO FURIOSO.

SELECTION FROM THE ORLANDO FURIOSO.

THE LUSIAD.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM, THE LUSIAD.

STANDARD ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS, THE LUSIAD. The Lusiad, Tr. by J. J.

THE STORY OF THE LUSIAD.

SELECTIONS FROM THE LUSIAD.

THE SPIRIT OF THE CAPE.

THE JERUSALEM DELIVERED.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM, THE JERUSALEM DELIVERED.

STANDARD ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS, THE JERUSALEM DELIVERED.

THE STORY OF THE JERUSALEM DELIVERED.

SELECTION FROM THE JERUSALEM DELIVERED.

PARADISE LOST.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM, PARADISE LOST.

THE STORY OF PARADISE LOST.

SELECTIONS FROM PARADISE LOST.

PARADISE REGAINED.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM, PARADISE REGAINED.

THE STORY OF PARADISE REGAINED.

SELECTION FROM PARADISE REGAINED.

SELECTIONS.

FROM THE RÂMÂYANA: TRANSLATOR The Descent of the Ganges ... Milman The Death of Yajnadatta ... "

FROM THE MAHÂ-BHÂRATA: Sâvitrî; or, Love and Death ... Arnold The Great Journey ... "

FROM THE ILIAD: Helen at the Scaean Gates ... Bryant The Parting of Hector and Andromache ... "

FROM THE ODYSSEY: The Palace of Alcinoüs ... Bryant The Bending of the Bow ... "

FROM THE KALEVALA: Ilmarinen's Wedding Feast ... Crawford The Birth of the Harp ... "

FROM THE AENEID: Nisus and Euryalus ... Conington

FROM BEOWULF: Grendel's Mother ... Hall

FROM THE NIBELUNGEN LIED: How Brunhild was received at Worms ... Lettsom How Margrave Rüdeger was slain ... "

FROM THE SONG OF ROLAND: The Horn ... Rabillon Roland's Death ... "

FROM THE SHAH-NAMEH: The Rajah of India sends a Chessboard to Nushirvan Robinson Zal and Rudabeh "

FROM THE POEM OF THE CID: Count Raymond and My Cid Ormsby My Cid's Triumph "

FROM THE DIVINE COMEDY: Count Ugolino Wilstach Buonconte di Montefeltro " Beatrice descending from Heaven " The Exquisite Beauty of Beatrice "

FROM THE ORLANDO FURIOSO: The Death of Zerbino Rose

FROM THE LUSIAD: Inez de Castro Mickle The Spirit of the Cape "

FROM THE JERUSALEM DELIVERED: Sophronia and Olindo Wiffen

FROM PARADISE LOST: Satan Apostrophe to Light

FROM PARADISE REGAINED: The Temptation of the Vision of the Kingdoms of the Earth

THE RÂMÂYANA.

"He who sings and hears this poem continually has attained to the highest state of enjoyment, and will finally be equal to the gods."

The Râmâyana, the Hindu Iliad, is variously ascribed to the fifth, third, and first centuries B.C., its many interpolations making it almost impossible to determine its age by internal evidence. Its authorship is unknown, but according to legend it was sung by Kuça and Lava, the sons of Rama, to whom it was taught by Valmiki. Of the three versions now extant, one is attributed to Valmiki, another to Tuli Das, and a third to Vyasa.

Its historical basis, almost lost in the innumerable episodes and grotesque imaginings of the Hindu, is probably the conquest of southern India and Ceylon by the Aryans.

The Râmâyana is written in the Sanskrit language, is divided into seven books, or sections, and contains fifty thousand lines, the English translation of which, by Griffith, occupies five volumes.

The hero, Rama, is still an object of worship in India, the route of his wanderings being, each year, trodden by devout pilgrims. The poem is not a mere literary monument,—it is a part of the actual religion of the Hindu, and is held in such reverence that the mere reading or hearing of it, or certain passages of it, is believed to free from sin and grant his every desire to the reader or hearer.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND CRITICISM, THE RÂMÂYANA.

G. W. Cox's Mythology and Folklore, 1881, p. 313;

John Dowson's Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology, Religion, Geography, History, and Literature, 1879;

Sir William Jones on the Literature of the Hindus (in his Works, vol. iv.);

Maj.-Gen. Vans Kennedy's Researches into Hindu Mythology, 1831;

James Mill's History of British India, 1840, vol. ii., pp. 47-123;

F. Max Müller's Ancient Sanskrit Literature, 1859;

E. A. Reed's Hindu Literature, 1891, pp. 153-271;

Albrecht Weber's History of Indian Literature, 1878, pp. 191-195;

J. T. Wheeler's History of India, 4 vols., 1876, vol. ii.;

Sir Monier Williams's Indian Wisdom, 1863, Indian Epic Poetry, 1863;

Article on Sanskrit Literature in Encyclopædia Britannica;

R. M. Gust's The Râmâyana: a Sanskrit Epic (in his Linguistic and Oriental Essays, 1880, p. 56);

T. Goldstuecker's Râmâyana (in his Literary Remains, 1879, vol. i., p. 155);

C. J. Stone's Cradleland of Arts and Creeds, 1880, pp. 11-21;

Albrecht Weber's On the Râmâyana, 1870; Westminster Review, 1849, vol. 1., p. 34;

J. C. Oman's Great Indian Epics, 1874, pp. 13-81.

STANDARD ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS, THE RÂMÂYANA.

The Râmâyana, Tr. by R. T. H. Griffith, 5 vols., 1870-1874 (Follows Bombay ed., Translated into metre of "Lady of the Lake");

Extracts from the Râmâyana, Tr. by Sir William Jones (in his Works, vol. 13);

Iliad of the East, F. Richardson, 1873 (Popular translations of a set of legends from the Râmâyana);

The Râmâyana translated into English Prose, edited and published by Naumatha Nath Dutt, 7 vols., Calcutta, 1890-1894.

THE STORY OF THE RÂMÂYANA.

Brahma, creator of the universe, though all powerful, could not revoke a promise once made. For this reason, Ravana, the demon god of Ceylon, stood on his head in the midst of five fires for ten thousand years, and at the end of that time boldly demanded of Brahma as a reward that he should not be slain by gods, demons, or genii. He also requested the gift of nine other heads and eighteen additional arms and hands.

These having been granted, he began by the aid of his evil spirits, the Rakshasas, to lay waste the earth and to do violence to the good, especially to the priests.

At the time when Ravana's outrages were spreading terror throughout the land, and Brahma, looking down from his throne, shuddered to see the monster he had gifted with such fell power, there reigned in Ayodhya, now the city of Oude, a good and wise raja, Dasaratha, who had reigned over the splendid city for nine thousand years without once growing weary. He had but one grief,—that he was childless,—and at the opening of the story he was preparing to make the great sacrifice, Asva-medha, to propitiate the gods, that they might give him a son.

The gods, well pleased, bore his request to Brahma in person, and incidentally preferred a request that he provide some means of destroying the monster Ravana that was working such woe among their priests, and disturbing their sacrifices.

Brahma granted the first request, and, cudgeling his brains for a device to destroy Ravana, bethought himself that while he had promised that neither gods, genii, nor demons should slay him, he had said nothing of man. He accordingly led the appealing gods to Vishnu, who proclaimed that the monster should be slain by men and monkeys, and that he would himself be re-incarnated as the eldest son of Dasaratha and in this form compass the death of Ravana.

In course of time, as a reward for his performance of the great sacrifice, four sons were born to Dasaratha, Rama by Kausalya, his oldest wife, Bharata, whose mother was Kaikeyi, and twin sons, Lakshmana and Satrughna, whose mother was Sumitra.

Rama, the incarnation of Vishnu, destined to destroy Ravana, grew daily in grace, beauty, and strength. When he was but sixteen years old, having been sent for by a sage to destroy the demons who were disturbing the forest hermits in their religious rites, he departed unattended, save by his brother Lakshmana and a guide, into the pathless forests, where he successfully overcame the terrible Rakshasa, Tarika, and conveyed her body to the grateful sage.

While he was journeying through the forests, destroying countless Rakshasas, he chanced to pass near the kingdom of Mithila and heard that its king, Janaka, had offered his peerless daughter, Sita, in marriage to the man who could bend the mighty bow of Siva the destroyer, which, since its owner's death, had been kept at Janaka's court.

Rama at once determined to accomplish the feat, which had been essayed in vain by so many suitors. When he presented himself at court Janaka was at once won by his youth and beauty; and when the mighty bow, resting upon an eight-wheeled car, was drawn in by five thousand men, and Rama without apparent effort bent it until it broke, he gladly gave him his beautiful daughter, and after the splendid wedding ceremonies were over, loaded the happy pair with presents to carry back to Ayodhya.

When Dasaratha, who had attended the marriage of his son at Mithila, returned home, he began to feel weary of reigning, and bethought himself of the ancient Hindu custom of making the eldest son and heir apparent a Yuva-Raja,—that is appointing him assistant king. Rama deserved this honor, and would, moreover, be of great assistance to him.

His happy people received the announcement of his intention with delight; the priests approved of it as well, and the whole city was in the midst of the most splendid preparations for the ceremony, when it occurred to Dasaratha that all he lacked was the congratulations of his youngest and favorite wife, Kaikeyi, on this great event. The well-watered streets and the garlanded houses had already aroused the suspicions of Kaikeyi,—suspicions speedily confirmed by the report of her maid. Angered and jealous because the son of Kausalya and not her darling Bharata, at that time absent from the city, was to be made Yuva-Raja, she fled to the "Chamber of Sorrows," and was there found by the old Raja.

Though Kaikeyi was his youngest and most beautiful wife, her tears, threats, and entreaties would have been of no avail had she not recalled that, months before, the old Raja, in gratitude for her devoted nursing during his illness, had granted her two promises. She now demanded the fulfilment of these before she would consent to smile upon him, and the consent won, she required him, first, to appoint Bharata Yuva-Raja; and, second, to exile Rama for fourteen years to the terrible forest of Dandaka.

The promise of a Hindu, once given, cannot be revoked. In spite of the grief of the old Raja, of Kausalya, his old wife, and of all the people, who were at the point of revolt at the sudden disgrace of their favorite prince, the terrible news was announced to Rama, and he declared himself ready to go, to save his father from dishonor.

He purposed to go alone, but Sita would not suffer herself to be thus deserted. Life without him, she pleaded, was worse than death; and so eloquent was her grief at the thought of parting that she was at last permitted to don the rough garment of bark provided by the malicious Kaikeyi.

The people of Ayodhya, determined to share the fate of their favorites, accompanied them from the city, their tears laying the dust raised by Rama's chariot wheels. But when sleep overcame them, Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana escaped from them, dismissed their charioteer, and, crossing the Ganges, made their way to the mountain of Citra-kuta, where they took up their abode.

No more beautiful place could be imagined. Flowers of every kind, delicious fruits, and on every side the most pleasing prospects, together with perfect love, made their hermitage a paradise on earth. Here the exiles led an idyllic existence until sought out by Bharata, who, learning from his mother on his return home the ruin she had wrought in the Raj, had indignantly spurned her, and hastened to Dandaka. The old Raja had died from grief soon after the departure of the exiles, and Bharata now demanded that Rama should return to Ayodhya and become Raja, as was his right, as eldest son.

When Rama refused to do this until the end of his fourteen years of exile, Bharata vowed that for fourteen years he would wear the garb of a devotee and live outside the city, committing the management of the Raj to a pair of golden sandals which he took from Rama's feet. All the affairs of state would be transacted under the authority of the sandals, and Bharata, while ruling the Raj, would pay homage to them.

Soon after the departure of Bharata the exiles were warned to depart from their home on Citra-kuta and seek a safer hermitage, for terrible rakshasas filled this part of the forest. They accordingly sought the abode of Atri the hermit, whose wife Anasuya was so pleased with Sita's piety and devotion to her husband that she bestowed upon her the crown of immortal youth and beauty. They soon found a new abode in the forest of Pancarati, on the banks of the river Godavari, where Lakshmana erected a spacious bamboo house.