PREFACE.
Of late years nearly all the Western versions of the “Fables of Bidpai” have been printed, either again or for the first time. The Greek, the Hebrew, the Old Spanish, the German, the Latin, the Croatian, and the Old Slavonic have been given afresh to the world, and it seemed fitting that the earliest English version, made by Sir Thomas North of Plutarch fame, should also be made to see the light of day again. On my suggesting this to Mr. Nutt, he readily consented to add a reprint of the book to his “Bibliothèque de Carabas,” and the present volume is the result.
The need of a reprint of North’s version became, evident during the search for a copy of the original. Mr. Quaritch has been on the look-out for me for the last five years in vain. Of the first edition the British Museum, Cambridge
