The Baital-Pachisi， or Twenty-five （tales of a） Baital[FN#5] - a Vampire or evil spirit which animates dead bodies - is an old and thoroughly Hindu repertory. It is the rude beginning of that fictitious history which ripened to the Arabian Nights' Entertainments， and which， fostered by the genius of Boccaccio， produced the romance of the chivalrous days， and its last development， the novel - that prose-epic of modern Europe.
[FN#5] In Sanskrit， Vetala-pancha-Vinshati. "Baital" is the modern form of " Vetala.
Composed in Sanskrit， "the language of the gods，" alias the Latin of India， it has been translated into all the Prakrit or vernacular and modern dialects of the great peninsula. The reason why it has not found favour with the Moslems is doubtless the highly polytheistic spirit which pervades it； moreover， the Faithful had already a specimen of that style of composition. This was the Hitopadesa， or Advice of a Friend， which， as a line in its introduction informs us， was borrowed from an older book， the Panchatantra， or Five Chapters. It is a collection of apologues recited by a learned Brahman， Vishnu Sharma by name， for the edification of his pupils， the sons of an Indian Raja. They have been adapted to or translated into a number of languages， notably into Pehlvi and Persian， Syriac and Turkish， Greek and Latin， Hebrew and Arabic. And as the Fables of Pilpay，[FN#6] are generally known， by name at least， to European litterateurs. . Voltaire remarks，[FN#7] "Quand on fait reflexion que presque toute la terre a ete infatuee de pareils comes， et qu'ils ont fait l'education du genre humain， on trouve les fables de Pilpay， Lokman， d'Esope bien raisonnables." These tales， detached， but strung together by artificial means - pearls with a thread drawn through them - are manifest precursors of the Decamerone， or Ten Days. A modern Italian critic describes the now classical fiction as a collection of one hundred of those novels which Boccaccio is believed to have read out at the court of Queen Joanna of Naples， and which later in life were by him assorted together by a most simple and ingenious contrivance. But the great Florentine invented neither his stories nor his " plot，" if we may so call it. He wrote in the middle of the fourteenth century （1344-8） when the West had borrowed many things from the East， rhymes[FN#8] and romance， lutes and drums， alchemy and knight-errantry. Many of the "Novelle" are， as Orientalists well know， to this day sung and recited almost textually by the wandering tale-tellers， bards， and rhapsodists of Persia and Central Asia.
[FN#6] In Arabic， Badpai el Hakim.
[FN#7] Dictionnaire philosophique sub v. " Apocryphes."
[FN#8] I do not mean that rhymes were not known before the days of Al-Islam， but that the Arabs popularized assonance and consonance in Southern Europe.
The great kshatriya，（soldier） king Vikramaditya，[FN#9] or Vikramarka， meaning the "Sun of Heroism，" plays in India the part of King Arthur， and of Harun al-Rashid further West. He is a semi-historical personage. The son of Gandharba-Sena the donkey and the daughter of the King of Dhara， he was promised by his father the strength of a thousand male elephants. When his sire died， his grandfather， the deity Indra， resolved that the babe should not be born， upon which his mother stabbed herself. But the tragic event duly happening during the ninth month， Vikram came into the world by himself， and was carried to Indra， who pitied and adopted him， and gave him a good education.
[FN#9] "Vikrama" means "valour " or " prowess."
The circumstances of his accession to the throne， as will presently appear， are differently told. Once， however， made King of Malaya， the modern Malwa， a province of Western Upper India， he so distinguished himself that the Hindu fabulists， with their usual brave kind of speaking， have made him "bring the whole earth under the shadow of one umbrella，"
The last ruler of the race of Mayura， which reigned 318 years， was Raja-pal. He reigned 25 years， but giving himself up to effeminacy， his country was invaded by Shakaditya， a king from the highlands of Kumaon. Vikramaditya， in the fourteenth year of his reign， pretended to espouse the cause of Raja-pal， attacked and destroyed Shakaditya， and ascended the throne of Delhi. His capital was Avanti， or Ujjayani， the modern Ujjain. It was 13 kos （26 miles） long by 18 miles wide， an area of 468 square miles， but a trifle in Indian History. He obtained the title of Shakari， "foe of the Shakas，" the Sacae or Scythians， by his victories over that redoubtable race. In the Kali Yug， or Iron Age， he stands highest amongst the Hindu kings as the patron of learning. Nine persons under his patronage， popularly known as the "Nine Gems of Science，" hold in India the honourable position of the Seven Wise Men of Greece.
