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THE MODERN PERIOD 89 literary purposes. This, however, was hardly the case, for though Urdu sprang originally from this dialect it had also assimilated many words of Panjabi and Rajasthani as well as those of Arabic and Persian origin. The Hindi of Lallu Ji Lai was really a new literary dialect. This "High Hindi," or "Standard Hindi " as it is also called, has had however a great success. It has been adopted as the literary speech of millions in North India. Poetical works still continue to be written in Braj Bhdshd, or Avadhi, or other old dialects, as High Hindi has not been much used for poetry. But whereas before this time prose works in Hindi were very rare, from now onwards an extensive prose literature began to be produced. The first work in this new dialect, and one which is regarded as a standard, was Lallu Ji Lai's Preni Sdgar, which is a version of the tenth chapter of the Bhdgavata Pur ana. It was founded on a previous Braj Bhasha version of Chaturbhuj Mi^ra, and was begun in 1804 and completed in 1810. The Rdjmti (1809), which is also much admired for its language, was an adaptation of the Hitopade'sa and the Panchatantra, and is in Braj Bhasha. The Singhdsa7i Batiisx and the Baiidl Pachhl are col- lections of stories in mixed Urdu and Hindi. Besides other works in Hindi and Urdu, Lallu Ji Lai also wrote a commentary on the Sat Sal of Bihari Lai called Ldl Chayidrikd, and gathered a collection of poems in Braj Bhasha called Sabhd Bilds. Sadal Mi'sra (fl. 1803) was the author of the Ndsketopakhyd??, which gives in Hindi prose the well-known story of Nachiketas. Scramporc— In connection with the revival of Hindi literature mention must also be made of the work being done about this time by William Carey and his colleagues Ward and Marshman at Serampore. Amongst the many translations of the Christian Scriptures made by these missionaries were some in the dialects of North India. The Hindi version was Carey's own work. The first portions of his Hindi New Testament were pub- lished in 1809 and the Hindi translation of the whole Bible was completed in 1818. Besides translations of