Vikram and the Vampire: Classic Hindu Tales of Adventure Magic and Romance

by Anonymous, Isabel Burton (Editor), Richard Francis Burton

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: Fiction, India, Classics, Fantasy, Mythology, Short Stories, Indian Literature

134 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1000

About the author

Books can be attributed to "Anonymous" for several reasons:

* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author

Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.

See also: Anonymous

Reviews

[K.J. Charles]

The Vikram and Vetaal (who is not a vampire, dude, jeez) cycle as told by Sir Richard Burton (the Victorian one, not the actor) through an extremely British Victorian lens with bonus heapings of misogyny and colonial condescension, though he at least acknowledges the British had no business being in India. More of a curiosity than anything, plus in the matter of grammar archaism reigns, around with normal order of speech silly buggers playing.

Not nearly as interesting as Gayathri Prabhu's recent Vetaal and Vikram. I remain in need of a good ur-version in English translation, but with a story cycle this old, maybe there's no such thing?

[Lady Clementina ffinch-ffarowmore]

This in so many ways felt like a read that fit this season. I wanted to include some traditional stories in my reading this month since this is the time we’re celebrating Dusshera which is all about Rama defeating the demon king Ravana, about the goddess defeating a demon, and so basically about good defeating evil. While these stories aren’t about good and evil as such but about various qualities that ideal kings, and ideal humans must have (as well as I guess about human folly), but still they are traditional tales, this version being a translation of one dating back to the twelfth-thirteenth century. This is also Halloween month, and this book fits that theme as well, the main adventure leading the king to a fairly spooky cremation ground, with ghouls and corpses very much around. The vetal himself is a spirit who occupies a corpse. The cover of this one (the Puffin Classics ed) is quite perfect (and partly what attracted me to this version), King Vikramaditya with the Vetal on his back, the sinsipa tree which the vetal inhabits, an owl, a fire, skulls and bones, all done in three colours.

This story is basically about King Vikram who is charged by an ascetic with fetching a spirit, the Vetal back to him so as to conduct some rituals which will give him some extraordinary powers. Vikram sets off to do this, and after some effort in a terriifying place full of skulls and blood, body parts, and bloodcurdling shrieks, manages to catch hold of the vetal who hangs on a sinsipa (Indian rosewood/sheesham tree). No sooner does he start on his journey back, the vetal begins to recite a story, which ends with a puzzle. He tells Vikram that if he doesn’t answer the puzzle despite knowing the answer, his head will shatter to pieces. But as soon as Vikram gives an answer, the Vetal heads right back to the cremation ground, and his sinsipa tree, the process starting all over again. Vikram is patient and brave, and repeats the process, not merely one or two but twenty-four times, until finally there comes a puzzle that he can’t answer. But that isn’t the end of the adventure.

These are a fairly interesting read for me, mainly because while I was aware of the basic Vikram-Vetal storyline (from stories and TV adaptations), I had no idea how the story ended. The final riddle that Vikram really couldn’t answer, and how the consequences connected up with Vikram’s own story were the most interesting bits for me. The various stories that the Vetal narrates to Vikram, as I said, are to do with morality, and with folly—the characters are always perfect specimens in terms of looks, sometimes even qualities, or full of vice, and the riddle that is posed to Vikram is to do with who is the perfect embodiment of a particular quality or of a vice/folly. There is a lot of what people would describe as ‘insta-love’ to an extent that people are prepared to commit suicide merely after having set their eyes on someone, and a few more exaggerations, but a lot of these stories/collections that are intended to ‘teach’ are formatted in that way. Also every story pretty much begins with the place that the story is set in and its ruler, even if the ruler may not be the main character. The language that the translator/author has used to adapt the stories (this is a children’s version) also gives one a flavour of the kind of language and style of speech that the original stories would have used, which I liked. The stories that the vetal narrates I think would have probably been better had I read them one or two at a time rather than back-to-back else they begin to feel a little repetitive (even though the themes are not). And there is no answer to that final puzzle—they can’t really be, but I still would have liked to know what the thought-process would have been in that period. Still these were an interesting read for me overall, and would be a great introduction for anyone who wants to read the original at some point.

This review also appears on my blog: https://potpourri2015.wordpress.com/2...

[Smiley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think reading this fine translation by Sir Richard F. Burton will do for those interested in ancient tales since they can learn more from those wise sayings and witty remarks from the Vampire's ten stories. Interesingly, this book written in Sanskrit, "the language of the gods" (p. xvii) has been famous since centuries ago. However, I wonder if it's widely known/read as compared to "1001 Arabian Nights".

Moreover, reading Sir Richard's Preface to the First (1870) Edition may interest some newcomers in that his vast knowledge simply stuns us and thus we can't help respecting his narrative.

For instance:

1) At length Gandharba-Sena, addressing the king in Sanskrit, urged him to perform his promise. He reminded him his future father-in-law that there is no act more meritorious than speaking truth; that the mortal frame is a mere dress, and that wise men never estimate the value of a person by his clothes. (p. xvi)

2) The Baital-Pachisi, or Twenty-five (tales of a) Baital -- 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' Entertainment, 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. (p. xvii)

3) The merit of the old stories lies in their suggestiveness and in their general applicability. I have ventured to remedy the conciseness of their language, and to clothe the skeleton with flesh and blood. (p. xxi), etc.

As for my Goodreads friends who know Thai, I think you may enjoy guessing some Thai words derived/adopted from Sanskrit. Therefore, try telling these in Thai (some may surprise you) from the following:

1) Jogi (p. xi)
2) kshatriya (p. xviii)
3) Kali Yug (p. xix)
4) Purohita (p. 7)
5) Kalpavriksha (p. 13)
6) sudra (p. 24)
6) Durga (p. 237)
8) Bhuta (p. 237)
9) Amrawati (p. 243)
10) Wishwa-Karma (p. 243), etc.

Good luck and enjoy.

[Riku Sayuj · Rating 3 out of 5]

saddened that I could remember only one of these stories that I used to read so ardently every month in my childhood...

[Yigal Zur · Rating 4 out of 5]

great collection

[Stacia · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining & unusual set of tales set within a larger storytelling framework. I found the intro & conclusion (which set the framework as to why the tales are being told) to be more interesting than the tales themselves. The vampire/baital is a tricky & fun narrator of these morality tales.

Although there are some footnotes & explanations, I still felt a little lost at points when there were references to Hindu deities & beliefs (about which I know very little). Still, it's a great immersion & peek into another culture with the help of Burton's eyes, ears, & translating skills.

Recommended reading for a variety of readers; probably required reading for fans of myth & folklore from around the world.

Well done, Sir Richard Burton.

[Thanawat · Rating 4 out of 5]

เฉียบมาก ทั้งปริศนา และการตอบคำถามนั้น
เต็มไปด้วยการตีความที่คนธรรมดาๆ ไม่สามารถตีโจทย์แล้วตอบปริศนาของเวตาลได้เป็นแน่
แม้สไตล์เรื่องจะออกมาแนวจักรๆ วงศ์ๆ ก็ไม่ได้ทำให้อรรถรสหายไป

[Pumsish · Rating 4 out of 5]

เรื่องเล่าของเวตาลประหลาดดีและตั้งคำถามได้ปวดตับสม่ำเสมอ

เคยอ่านนิทานเรื่องนึงคล้ายๆนี้ เรื่องนั้นเป็นนกอะไรสักอย่างกับกษัตริย์อีกสักองค์ที่อยากจับนกจอมไหวพริบตัวนี้กลับวังมาก
เงื่อนไขของนกตัวนี้รู้สึกจะเป็น..ห้ามพูดประโยคต้องห้ามว่า "โธ่..น่าสงสาร" (หรือ "ไม่น่าเลย" อะไรประมาณนี้แหละ ..ก็ โธ่..อ่านมานานมากแล้วนี่นา)
ระหว่างทางนกก็จะเล่านิทานรันทด,เข้าใจผิด,ไม่น่าเลย ต่างๆนานา
ชอบเรื่องนกนี้มากกว่า แต่จำไม่ได้จริงๆว่าชื่อเรื่องอะไร

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vikram and the Vampire is a number of stories within a story. It is an old Hindu folk tale that was translated by Sir Richard R. Burton from the original Sanskrit. He’s possibly more well known for his translations of The Arabian Nights and The Kama Sutra.

The story is about King Vikram who has promised a sorcerer that he will capture a baital, or vampire. The baital must be transported from his tree back to the sorcerer. They make a pact that the King must never answer a question posed by the baital. If he does, the vampire is returned to the tree from which he came and the journey must start over.

To fill in the time during their travels, the baital tells 11 different stories. These are similar in style to the fables written by Aesop. During the telling of the tales, he often outwits the king by forcing him to answer a question about the story. Vikram finally succeeds in delivering the baital to the sorcerer when the final tale ends in a question that can’t be answered. There's a final twist in that the vampire reveals the sorcerer’s intent to kill the king who then beheads the sorcerer first. He releases the vampire as a reward for his service.

The fables covered morality topics such as greed, lust and envy. Often a wrong or immoral decision leads to the downfall of the main character. What I found most interesting was the frequent inclusion of suicide in these stories. Women kill themselves when they can’t be with a man they’ve seen only once and a family of four beheads themselves for the honor of a god. I don’t know much about the Hindu culture but, from a Western viewpoint, this doesn’t speak well to their value of human life.

The writing also includes very detailed descriptions of female appearances. Every aspect of their body is related to some pleasing natural quality. For example, their teeth are often like strings of opals. The litany of similes goes on for paragraphs and they are very similar between the 11 individual tales. The first few instances were entertaining but they became tiresome half way through the book.

The book provided an interesting reading experience but I was ready for the end after the first few parables. They were all very similar and became repetitive. The original collection of folk tales in Vikram and the Vampire is actually composed of 25 stories but Burton only translated 11. Thank goodness.

[Mitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this collection of Hindu fairy tales. Granted that some of the references were foreign to my culture, but Sir Richard goes a long way toward both explaining things and making wry commentary either about Hindu culture or humanity at large.

These comments are also in the narrative of the stories, and they provide at least as much entertainment value as the stories themselves.

This truncated collection of 11 stories (the original had 25) are put into the mouth of a Baital, which is a non-Western vampire spirit who inhabits the body of a dead person. Neither the story nor the framework are primarily horror; the storyteller has been captured and earns his temporary freedom by tricking his listener (King Vickram) into answering a difficult question posed by each story told.

It says something positive that I now would like to read more about the life of Sir Richard...I'll let you know how that comes out.

[Bill Ramsell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not without charm, but the amount of misogyny is rather wearing.

[Monty Milne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This curious work is unlike anything else I’ve read this year. It is Sir Richard Burton’s translation from the Sanskrit of an old Hindu tale. The gist of the story is that King Vikram promises to deliver a “vampire” to a sorcerer. The “betal” (vampire is an odd mistranslation: it doesn’t resemble anything like a European vampire) inhabits a corpse hanging on a tree. Vikram hoists it on his back and trudges onward, and the betal tells him stories on the way: if Vikram answers any questions that the betal poses, the betal gets returned to his tree. The betal repeatedly tricks Vikram into answering his questions. The meat of the story is within the different morality tales the betal tells, which are full of comic and improbable elements, but also contain thought provoking moral quandaries. Vikram’s son walks alongside, and there are some amusing interactions between father and son: Vikram, often easily outwitted by the betal, is often comically pompous.

Burton’s prose is lively and curious, and the same can be said about many of the betal’s tales. But not all of them: Burton offers us only a selection of what he felt were the most interesting, and that’s probably just as well. I enjoyed what we are offered, and often laughed: there is an unexpected twist at the finish, and a surprising happy ending. I don’t think this ranks alongside the world’s great mythological literature, but it is an interesting curiosity, and a pleasing immersion in a very different (to me) cultural landscape.

[Suresh Ramaswamy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My memories fly back to my early childhood. Late 1950’s a preschooler. My maternal grandmother used to read stories from the Tamil edition of Chandamama which was called Ambulimama. And my favourite story was of Vikramaditya. The accompanying picture was of a king holding a drawn sword striding forward. In every story the preface was the same: (this is the English rendition) Vikraman walked back to the drumstick tree. He climbed the tree, cut down the corpse and carrying it on is shoulder proceeded to return to where he came from. The Vetala (Vampire) in the corpse spoke thus: “O King, I don’t understand what you aim to achieve. However, to while away the time, let me tell you a story” and the Vetala used to narrate some story. At the end it used to pose a question to King Vikramaditya and used to say, if knowing the answer, you maintain silence your head will shatter to thousands of pieces. The wise king usually knew the answer and he was compelled to speak. On breaking his silence, the Vetala used to fly away with the corpse to the drumstick tree.

This is the English translation of the Sanskrit Classic “Vetala Panchavimshati”, literally (in English) “Vampire Five and Twenty” done by Sir Richard Francis Burton. This book is edited by Sir Richard Francis Burton’s wife Isabel Burton. She has stated “Though in its original form Vaitala Panchavimshati or Baital Pachisi has 25 tales Burton only included 11 in the retelling as he thought “the translation would prove more interesting in its abbreviated form”. The first retelling of the Baital Pachisi can be found in the twelfth book of “Kathasaritasagara” (The Ocean of the Stream of Stories), Sanskrit compilation from the eleventh century.

In this translation, the drumstick tree is referred to as sires-tree. The book is well presented, but the language is archaic. Another shortfall is that only eleven of the twenty-five shares are presented, which leaves a sense of incompleteness.

Overall, the book is worth a read and is enjoyable.

[Priyanka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the books that I have been always always been curious about and wanting to read. I remember when I was a child, I came across this in Chandamama. But one, we were not regular readers of Chandamama. Secondly, they did not provide proper potion of the story (I might be wrong here). Then it started on DD, but again, it was repetitive and not sure they covered all the stories. I was so glad when I found this book.
This particular version is a very simplified one but it is still fun. A few of the queries were really good. Glad I could read this book.

[Bbrown · Rating 3 out of 5]

The blurb about this book leads you to believe that this is the story of a king that has to answer twenty-five riddles posed by a genie who inhabits a hanging corpse so as to gain help against a mighty necromancer. This is a great story premise; this is not the story of this book.

Instead, The Five and Twenty Tales of the Genie by Sivadasa doesn’t feature a genie at all, but rather a corpse possessed by a spirit (the translator admits that he used the term “genie” to tap into certain positive connotations for the word that struck me as at odds with the actual story). The possessed corpse does not ask the king solvable riddles as some part of an agreed-upon challenge, but rather the possessed corpse is continually tricking the king, who is working with the necromancer, by baiting him into breaking a vow of silence (which causes the situation to essentially reset). The possessed corpse does this by telling the king repetitive short stories and then asking the king questions that have ambiguous, not clear-cut, answers. Note, however, that the ambiguity of the questions may well have been intentional, meant to spark debate among the audience of the tale rather than to have the king give the correct answer.

I could be wrong about this though, and Sivadasa may have truly believed that the king was giving the morally correct answer when he stated that the man who immolates himself in the funeral pyre of his lost love and the man who finds a way to resurrect that lost love are less worthy of the lost love than the man that decided to live at the site where she died, or that a son who is willing to let his father make a blood sacrifice of him for the sake of his king is less noble than the king who uses a wish to bring him back to life. But I’m giving Sivadasa the benefit of the doubt here, and I think doing so is supported by the fact that the answer given to the twelfth tale doesn’t even answer the question posed, and is abjectly nonsensical—it’s saying that a jury who wrongly convict someone of murder are themselves guilty of said murder. Such an absurd answer suggests to me that Sivadasa was trying to stir the pot here for the benefit of engaging his audience, rather than trying to deliver didactic answers.

However, I fully admit that the ending of the work undermines the argument that Sivadasa was being intentionally ambiguous. After having been tricked twenty-three times into breaking his vow of silence, the king finally wises up and stops answering the possessed corpse’s questions, preventing the corpse from escaping back to his hanging tree. But then the king unquestioningly accepts the corpse’s advice to kill the necromancer, who the king has been working with up until that point. When the king does as the possessed corpse asks, the conclusion isn’t “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twenty-four times, shame on me,” but rather is a happily-ever-after ending. I admit that this ending, which is unprepared to criticize the king for his stupidity, suggests that the prior answers given by the king are not up for debate. But it’s not clear-cut, so again I’ll give Sivadasa the benefit of the doubt.

The tales told by the possessed corpse make up the bulk of this book, and they are largely uninteresting. The questions posed at the end, often with the king responding with answers that I found to be dumb, were the only thing giving any intrigue to most of these stories. The metanarrative analysis of the text was the most interesting part of this work to me, and even that wasn’t great. 3/5. I wish that there were a book that actually delivers on the premise that this book’s blurb sets forth.

[Nira Ramachandran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every Indian child has heard of the Vetal (Betal) Pacchisi or the tales of Vikram and Vetal. My first acquaintance with these stories began, like the Author/Translator of this book with the classic Hindi children’s magazine ‘Chandamama’. I have never quite forgotten the handsome King Vikram sword in hand, carrying Vetal slung over his shoulder, while in the background hover various skulls with ghoulish grins. While I always admired the illustrations, I never got down to reading the stories, as my Hindi reading skills were rather slow paced. So I really first heard the stories on a popular Hindi TV serial “Vikram Aur Betal”. Coming to this book, I was impressed by the research that went into compiling these tales, and the two additional stories, which really explain how the tales began, and also provide an ending, which is missing from most other collections. The tales, themselves, follow a familiar pattern of stunningly beautiful princesses, who are always as good and as talented as they are beautiful, handsome princes or Brahmans, love at first sight, and then the cropping up of problems, as is usual in life. Each tale ends with the Vetal asking the wise King Vikram a question. Of course, as soon as the King answers, the Vetal flies back to his roost on the sinsipa tree. The questions are all on moral values, which makes it rather strange that this is considered a children’s book, a point made by the Author herself. Obviously these were tales for adults or a mixed age group audience (in 1070, the classic Kathasaritasagara, to which these tales are traced, there were not likely to be any readers). In the current scenario, these tales appear unreal, and can only be related to as some version of fairytales, but they do provide a quick, light-hearted read. Another interesting fact put forth by the Author, something I had never heard of, is that the Arabian Nights was partly inspired by these tales. Maybe I’ll read that next.

[PTS Books Club · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are no biographical details available for Sivadasa, the author of Vetalapancavinsati. From a careful reading of the text, however, we can glean the following facts: Sivadasa was a man of great learning, even erudition; he wrote primarily for a certain type of reader—well-educated, cultivated men-about-town with a keen interest in the fine arts and beautiful women. Sivadasa’s text is often humorous; he is gently critical and takes a shot at pomposity, pretentiousness and sanctimonious hypocrisy. He poses problems that tease the reader into thought, making his work more than just a retelling of an ancient body of tales.

The genie tells Vikramaditya twenty-four tales, each of which ends with a riddle. These stories of beautiful princesses, intrepid courtiers and courageous monarchs present situations which Vikramaditya is likely to face as a king and he is required to find solutions, almost as though he were dispensing justice in his own court. With each answer, Vikramaditya displays immense wisdom and a perfect knowledge of dharma (the law), proving that he is indeed the ideal monarch he is reputed to be. The twenty-fifth tale in the collection is the epilogue of the narrative.

Chandragupta II the Great (very often referred to as Vikramaditya or Chandragupta Vikramaditya in Sanskrit; also known to the Greek world as Sandrokottos) was one of the most powerful emperors of the Gupta empire. His rule spanned 375-413/15 CE, during which the Gupta Empire achieved its zenith. The period of prominence of the Gupta dynasty is very often referred to as the Golden Age of India. Chandragupta II the Great was the son of the previous ruler, Samudragupta the Great. He attained success by pursuing both a favorable marital alliance and an aggressive expansionist policy. In this his father and grandfather set the precedent.

[Lloyd Earickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my tours of ancient world literature, I have been sadly neglectful of ancient India.  There are some regions I have neglected because I have struggled to identify texts from those regions, such as Africa (and if you have suggestions, please send them my way), but I have not even that excuse with India, since the subcontinent has an enormous body of literature available to read from ancient times.  The most significant is surely the Mahabharata, of which Bhagavad Gita is a single part, and I should definitely get around to reading the rest of that epic, but there are numerous other pieces, many of them myths and legends and fairy tales of sorts, like this one, the Five and Twenty Tales of the Genie.

I read a version translated by Chandra Rajan, based primarily on the original Sanskrit text written by Śivadāsa.  I don’t usually highlight the translator (perhaps I should do that more), but I am here because of some strange translation decisions.  First comes a highly opinionated, literary-style exploration of the text in the introduction, replete with spoilers and quotes from the coming tales.  It occupies almost a fifth of the book’s pages, and I wished I had at least left it for the end, so I could better appreciate the text for itself.  After a lengthy explanation of the difference between oral storytelling and written storytelling, which doesn’t hold a candle to Zolbrod’s essay on the topic, Rajan proceeds to wax eloquent over Śivadāsa's writing decisions, highlighting how superior they are to the other written versions of the tales we have.  Perhaps it is inevitable that, when you labor over a single text for so long as much be required to translate it from Sanskrit to English, you become biased towards it, but I have not found other introductions and forwards so assertively opinionated.

The translation itself is, overall, of high quality, although there are a few modern turns of phrase I found off-putting scattered here and there throughout the text.  While I cannot speak authoritatively on the subject, I suspect that translating from Sanskrit to English is a less direct process, requiring more interpretation and rephrasing on the translator’s part, than is the case when translating from, say, Latin.  Enough, though, about the translation.  The story itself was an enjoyable and interesting read.  It reminded me a little of The Way of Kings – not the epic fantasy book, but the in-world book for which Sanderson named the first installment in the series.

If that seems like a strange comparison, consider the core of Five and Twenty Tales of the Genie is what it means to be a good king, conveyed through a series of parables delivered by the titular mythological figure.  The inciting incident for the affair might seem odd to our modern sensibilities, as do some of the answers made about what constitutes a good king, but the storytelling is strong enough to overcome that, because it forms a cohesive idea within itself.  It is intriguing to me that so many ancient cultures expected, almost demanded, largess, munificence, lavishness, even a certain indulgence from their kings.  This is in stark contrast to our modern expectations of our leaders, whom we expect to be thrifty, hardworking, and responsible…not that most of them come anywhere close to that ideal.

Rajan spends much time explaining why “genie” is the best descriptor for the mythical being who relates the parables to the king; those arguments are more convincing before reading the text, at which point one wonders why we need to slot this being into a category at all, rather than referring to it as a wild spirit by a translation of the Sanskrit name for such beings.  The text’s footnotes helpfully explain some of the basics of ancient Indian beliefs, for the tales are situated within a complex cosmology involving various levels of spirits, gods, and other supernatural beings.  Indeed, the whole affair begins because of a necromancer’s trick and a ritual by which said necromancer wants to obtain the eight Sidahs, magical powers that can render one able to rule over the whole world.  This framing story adds a delightful tension to the individual tales, and helps the collection feel like a story itself, rather than a list of vaguely related stories.

Each parable requires an answer from the king, and it is obvious how different a world these stories inhabit from how few of the “right” answers you are likely to guess (at least, I guessed very few of them).  More interesting than the answers are the parables themselves, which provide a fascinating glimpse of the time and place, its mores, values, and customs.  A theme that emerges repeatedly across the twenty-five tales is the woman as temptress leading to man’s downfall.  The biblical story of Adam, Eve, and the apple is typically blamed for the frequent Western portrayal of women in such capacities, but here it is again, in a completely different setting, where it is highly unlikely any notion of Adam and Eve had penetrated at the time.  That this theme arises so often and in so many different, isolated places across diverse ancient cultures leads me to wonder what truth about their worlds or about human nature at the time could have motivated it, but I’ve yet to come to any insight on the matter.

This really does read like a fairy tale, with its parables and morals, but it is certainly not a sanitized, modern fairy tale such as Disney might portray.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I hope to spend more time soon immersed in the world of ancient India.  I might even be inclined to write a story involving the eight Sidahs, or something like them, because they seem like they would be a perfect concept to drive a fantasy story.  For an ancient work, this one was remarkably approachable, and I would recommend it even if you’re not inclined towards other pieces out of literary history.

[Namratha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vikram Vedha (R.Madhavan and Vijay Sethupati's seemingly brilliant tamil cop-gangster drama) is a contemporary take on yet another tale that is as old as time : Vikram Betaal.

While I won't get to watch the movie any time soon, I could not resist picking this book up when I spotted it at Crossword. And I breezed through it in a day.
Why?

Because the tales are thoroughly entertaining. We have the wise, patient and stoic King Vikramaditya, the mischievous Vetal and the seemingly never-ending cycle of the Vetal telling a tale, posing a question to the king and then promptly fleeing back to the tree when the harried provides a wise and just answer.

The stories narrated by the Vetal have many moral conundrums woven into them. Some of the values may seem outdated in our contemporary setting but they reflect the era in which they are based rather adeptly. As you try to solve the dilemmas yourself, you are transported back to your childhood when good, clean writing and taut, short stories helped your budding mind to grasp so many different nuances of human nature.

I come away with the satisfaction of having read an engaging, intelligent, magical, slightly gory but always readable tale.

[Csenge · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection is definitely a classic, and the edition is great: Good introduction, enjoyable translation, extensive notes. The collection of 25 short tales set inside a frame story includes some very popular folktale types: The "Five Brothers" type where companions of various powers rescue a princess together, and then have to decide whom she should marry; the girl who dies and is mourned by three suitors in various ways; the delicate queens, an early form of the "Princess and the Pea." All the tales end in a question, and were originally told orally to start debates and conversations. The frame story provides answers to all of them, but that doesn't mean that other answers wouldn't exist.
Side note: Many of these stories can be strange or even offensive for contemporary Western audiences, mostly for their treatment of women. Read them as a historical text.

[Vinay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give this book 3.5 Stars.

The narrative of the story is what makes this worth visiting. Most ancient stories from India were told orally and especially, tales like this were meant to provoke a debate. The author of the story composed them to a start conversation about ethics with the existing caste system(unfortunately, it was only limited to priest, warrior and merchant class), gender roles and society. Some of the stories are outright sexist but in today's world, these are good stories to understand why there existed this discrimination.

I'll conclude my review with the stories that struck a nerve with me.

1. Frame Story
2. Of the bride who switched heads
3. Of Madanasena who kept her vows
4. Of the royal priest who lost all
5. Who is prince Haridatta's real father?

Regards,
Vinay

[The Smol Moth]

This is one of those cases where the copy editor didn't read the book and wrote the blurb of the fantasy novel they've been wanting to write their whole life. And honestly, I support them.

This isn't the most thrilling classic ever, and honestly it can feel a little all over the place--and is somewhat sexist in some parts, though that's par for the course in a medieval story collection--but I'm not going to review a book from the middle ages the same way I would a modern day novel. It was pretty neat, and I enjoyed reading it! It gave a pretty cool insight into the worldview of the time period.

[Dfordoom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vikram and the Vampire, translated and adapted by Sir Richard Burton, is a group of tales told by a baital (not really a vampire but a kind of spirit who can inhabit dead bodies) to King Vikram (described by Burton as the King Arthur of India). The stories are somewhat in the style of the tales of the Arabian Nights - if you enjoy the Arabian Nights or you enjoy fairy stories you should like Vikram and the Vampire. Most of the tales have a humorous or ironic slant to them. They’re a lot of fun.

[CATHERINE · Rating 2 out of 5]

Think I missed most of the significance of this because I didn't get the references. Characters were often killed off as "moral messages" and the overall message of the book seemed to be that the only way you can "capture" your vampire is by keeping your mouth shut no matter how tempted you may be to offer an opinion.

[Marvin]

I have the 1870 first edition which I found in a book store in Bath. It's the oldest book in my collection. I bought it for 16 pounds (about 25 dollars at the time) and I have no idea if that was a good price in 1983 or not. I would love to read it but the paper is so delicate I'm afraid to. I better go out and buy the paperback!

[Peeravich Paoprayoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

โดยส่วนตัวชอบสำนวนโบราณกำลังดีแบบนั้น เนื้อหา
อ่านเพลินดี แมเรื่องราว้จะเกิดในยุคโบราณ แต่มีคติความคิดหลายส่วนที่ยังน่มสนใจอยู่ในปัจจุบัน สำนวนอารมณ์ขันก็มีแทรกให้บันเทิงใจอยู่เรื่อยไป

ประเด็นของเรื่องแทบทุกเรื่องเกี่ยวข้องกับการแต่งงานและผู้หญิง หลายๆตัวละครเปนทุกข์เพราะความรัก เหนเช่นนี้แล้ว ก็เกิดความพึงใจในความเปนโสดปัจจุบันแห่งตนอยู่เปนปริมาณหนึ่ง

[kid · Rating 2 out of 5]

(thai below)

i’ve been very much neglecting thai literature so i thought i‘d actually start reading… starting with a classic that i read like a chapter of when i was in ninth grade and really liked it: a very liberal translation of richard f. burton‘s vikram and the vampire (also a free adaptation of the sanskrit text) by the thai prince bidyalongkorn (who‘s also the ”father of thai cooperatives“). the text itself is a frame story of the oral tradition dating back at least roughly the 11th century and features king vikram dealing with a talkative paranormal hindu entity called the vetala that possesses corpses. the king‘s mission is to bring the vetala-haunted corpse to an evil sorcerer, but along the way the vetala would tell a story with a riddle at the end and if the king answers the riddle, the vetala will fly back to the beginning and the whole thing starts over again. the original sanskrit has 25 tales though bidyalongkorn‘s version has only 10.

the loose translation is surprisingly a certified classic here and they teach it in school. bidyalongkorn has great prose (though i really like old-timey thai prose so i might be biased) and is extremely funny at times. he breaks the fourth wall quite often, usually interjecting his own opinions of the matter/relating it to the thai audience (in one dense, didactic passage he flatly admits he doesn’t understand what he is translating but blames the talking parrot that is telling the story-within-story). but, as you might guess, the stories reek of misogyny and hindu classism, much much much more than i anticipated. about half of the riddles are solved by referencing the inherent evil of women or the kingly advice of don’t get a smart wife because she‘d be disobedient. it makes for pretty bad taste throughout the story, especially considering these were taught in schools and probably contributed to cementing these values. the stories themselves are decent though none stands out in particular, but bidyalongkorn‘s prose definitely carries the whole collection.

คนไทยคงจะพอคุ้นนิทานเวตาลก���นดี เลยขอไม่เพิ่มอะไรมาก นอกจากว่านิทานมัน misogynist และ classist กว่าที่จำได้มาก ถึงน.ม.ส. แกจะเขียนสำนวนดี (ตามความชอบสำนวนโบราณของข้าพเจ้า) และขบขันอยู่เนือง ๆ แต่ยิ่งอ่านก็ยิ่งขัดใจ… อ่านหูไว้หูพอสมควร

[Pimsiri Pareekul · Rating 4 out of 5]

ชอบเรื่องโบราณ คติโบราณอะไรพวกนี้อยู่แล้วและก็เป็นคนชอบดูหนังอินเดียด้วยก็เลยเข้าใจและก็เห็นภาพชัด นิทานเวตาลนี้บางเรื่องก็จบแบบขัดใจโจ๋มากๆ แบบอ้าวเฮ้ยทำไมจบแบบนี้อะ ฮือๆ แต่ก็เป็นเรื่องจริงของสังคมมนุษย์นะนะ แบบโลกจริงๆก็เป็นแบบนี้แหละ แต่อย่างเรื่องสุดท้ายรู้สึกจะออกแนวจักรๆวงศ์ๆของไทยไปหน่อย จู่ๆทิพยมาลี กับพระอินทร์มาอวยชัยเฉยเลยแต่ชอบประโยคสุดท้ายมากๆนะที่พระอินทร์อวยพรว่าให้เรื่องนี้ดำเนินไปไม่รู้ดับตราบเท่าฟ้ายังครอบดินประมาณนั้นอ่ะ มันฟังดูขลังมากๆ และเรื่องสำนวนภาษาของผู้ประพันธ์ มันสวยงามมากๆและอารมณ์ขันของผู้ประพันธ์นั้นอีก แบบอ่านๆไปพอนึกขึ้นได้ก็แบบขำตบเข่าฉาดใหญ่ ยังไงก็คงจะกลับไปอ่านอีกรอบค่ะ

[teohjitkhiam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This loosely-translated & -adapted stories herein forms a smaller part of a wider corpus that can be found in its entirety, and also more likely better translated, in Penguin Classic's 'The Five and Twenty Tales of the Genie' a.k.a. Vetālapañćavinśati i.e. Vetala Tales, thought to have been authored by Śivadāsa. This book, or its conceit of stories within a story, was also the basis for a highly successful & entertaining 2017 Indian Tamil-language neo-noir action thriller film, 'Vikram Vedha'.

[G. İlke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bir çerçeve öykü içinde anlatılan 24 muhteşem Hint öyküsü... Decameron'a ilham olduğu düşünülen bu tarz masalsı anlatılar Hint geleneğinde önemli bir yere sahip. Boccacio gibi Grimm Kardeşleri ve Thomas Mann’ı da etkilediği düşünülen öykülerden bazıları -"Değişen Başlar" gibi- tanıdık gelse de, bir çoğunu ilk kez duydum. Hint kültürüne, Hint geleneğine kısa bir bakış imkanı sunuyor. Tavsiye ederim. =)