Some of the things told of this boy, how he knocks down the gate-keeper
who refuses to admit his mother, how he strikes the queen Vasumati who
had insulted her, and how he slays the assassin whom this jealous queen
had sent against him, are truly remarkable in view of the fact that the
hero of all these exploits cannot be more than six years of age (see pp.
112, 113). The account in the _Mahabharata_, to be sure, tells of
equally fabulous exploits performed by the youth, but there we move in
an atmosphere of the marvelous. In Bodenstedt's poem, however, the
supernatural has been almost completely banished, and we cannot help
noticing the improbability of these deeds.

FOOTNOTES:

[204] Hebrew by Jos. Choczner, Breslau, 1868; Dutch by van Krieken,
Amst. 1875; English by E. d'Esterre, Hamb. 1880; Italian by Giuseppe
Rossi, 1884; Polish by Dzialoszye, Warsaw, 1888. See list in G. Schenk,
Friedr. Bodenstedt, Ein Dichterleben in seinen Briefen, Berl. 1893, pp.
246-248.

[205] Aus dem Nachlasse Mirza Schaffys, Berl. 1874, pp. 191-223.

[206] In ZDMG. vol. xxiv. pp. 425-432.

[207] With few exceptions, pointed out by Bodenstedt himself, e.g.
"Mullah rein ist der Wein" is from the Tartaric. Nachlass, p. 208.

[208] Friedr. Bodenstedts Gesammelte Schriften, Berlin, 1865, 12 vols.
Vols. i and ii. All references to the Lieder des M.S. are to this
edition.

[209] Nachlass, p. 193.

[210] Or else a saying of Muhammad exactly like it, cited by Prof.
Brugsch in Aus dem Morgenlande, Lpz. Recl. Univ. Bibl. 3151-2, p. 57.

[211] Cf. Bodenstedt's remarks on Sufism in Nachtrag, p. 198 seq.

[212] See my article on Religion of Ancient Persia in Progress, vol.
iii. No. 5, p. 290.

[213] A complete history of Sa'di's life, drawn from his own writings as
well as other sources, is given by W. Bacher, Sa'di's Aphorismen und
Sinngedichte, Strassb. 1879. On the relation of the poet to the rulers
of his time, see esp. p. xxxv seq.

[214] We cite from the third edition, 1887.

[215] Translated more closely by Bodenstedt in Die Lieder und Sprueche
des Omar Chajjam, Breslau, 1881, p. 29.

[216] Schlechta-Wssehrd, Ibn Jemins Bruchstuecke. Wien, 1852, pp. 138,
139.

[217] Tr. David Shea, Hist. of the Early Kings of Persia, Lond. 1832,
pp. 102-104; Malcolm. i. p. 10, note b.

[218] Ethe in Grdr. iran. Phil. ii. p. 260; Pizzi, Storia, vol. i. pp.
88, 215.

[219] Rueckert, Gram. Poet. u. Rhet. der Perser, p. 363.

[220] Cf. the