TALES OF THE ZENANA.*
A SECOND work of fiction, by the author of Pandarung Hari, has been dug out of the submerged forest of circulating-library litera- ture, after having been overwhelmed by the waters of oblivion for nearly half a century. The romance, so full of reality, which Dr. George Birdwood brought to light, and for which Sir Bartle Frere stood sponsor, has led to the resuscitation of Tales of the Zenana, published in 1827, and now newly introduced to a dis- criminating public by Lord Stanley of Alderley.. The preface, written by Sir Bartle Frere, to the preceding volume, was in itself a pleasant bit of composition, imparting genuine knowledge, coloured, no doubt, by the accomplished baronet's somewhat opti- mist views on things Indian, yet, nevertheless, in itself-a substantial
• Tala of The Zenana; or, a Neasab's Leisure Hours. By W. B. Hockley. 2 Tole. London: Henry B. Sing and Co.
piece of work. We cannot say so much for Lord Stanley of Alder- ley's meagre, if well-intentioned preface to the present volumes. Under the circumstances, a less incomplete account of Mr. Hock- ley, who wrote these notable books, would have been acceptable. All that is supplied by the noble editor is a dry statement inform- ing us that Mr. Hockley was born in 1792, that he went to Haileybury in 1812, and to Bombay in 1813 ; that in 1821 he was dismissed from his judgeship ; that he was tried at Bombay in 1823, and acquitted ; that Mr. Ayrton, father of the late Com- missioner of Public Works, defended him ; that the East India Company allowed Mr. Hockley £150 a year, and that in 1860 he died. Surely the introducer or herald of Tales of the Zenana might have informed us what charges were preferred against Mr. Hockley, and why, although acquitted, he was sent away with a paltry annuity. Bombay is not very remote nowadays, and some record must remain among the Government papers, if not on the files of the Court, of the transactions which brought Mr. Hockley under the inquisitive eye of the law. Lord Stanley of Alderley seems to "regret that Mr. Hockley did not serve under some office less vigilant than that of the East India Company ;" and we regret that his lordship did not tell the public what the vigilant Company discovered, and alleged, but failed to prove against Mr. Hockley. We quite agree with the remark that the Tales are " equal to many in the Arabian Nights," and that Englishmen may profit by reading them ; but we must still hold that when he complied with a request to write an introduction, he would not have committed any breach of pro- priety, nor, perhaps, have run any risk of being confounded with the fraternity of authors, had he regarded his task as a duty, and had he brought before us a picture of Hockley himself and his brief career, or at the least, a sufficient summary of the incident which cut short in its prime the official life of a remarkable man.
For in these two volumes of varied and interesting stories there is abounding evidence that he possessed abilities above the average, and belonged to the class of civil servants, rarer now than formerly, who mingled with the Natives, closely studied their character and manners, and took an interest in them from their own point of view. Mr. Hockley himself tells us, in his preface, the kind of curriculum he went through when he settled down in an out-station of the Bombay Presidency. First, he had to unlearn what he had previously gleaned from books printed in the Roman character, " diligently to adhere to the Persian and Nagree," and practise daily conversation with the Natives. By such means, having acquired a correct pronunciation, " he was naturally led to desire further intimacy with the languages, as well as the manners and customs of the people amongst whom he was placed." Accordingly, he hit on the happy idea of calling together the people on his establishment, when evening closed in, and of asking those who were able to relate an entertaining story. The Moonshee wrote it down, and the Civilian translated the narrative on the following day. Finding some hesitation, he offered a reward, and the news thereof being noised abroad, others came in, and " related several popular and traditional tales with evident willingness and good-humour." From the collection thus made, Mr. Hockley composed the stories included in these two volumes. Of course he has worked out the leading features of the originals in his own way, and it will be for experts to say how much he has imported into their substance. For our part, although here and there he seems to adopt modes of thought having an Occidental flavour, yet, as a whole, we think that he has faithfully remained within Oriental limits. The couleur locale is carefully preserved, the incidents are characteristic of Hindoo and Mohammedan life, the scenes and adventures are varied, while the interest is so artfully sustained that the reader is not wearied, nor is he often able to guess at the climax. It is a real merit of these stories that they are naturally developed, have a beginning and an end, and look authentic, even when the elements are extravagant according to our ideas. No doubt this sterling quality arises from the fact that they were not invented by an European to illustrate Indian life, but had their origin in traditional stories handed down from father to son on the spot where Mr. IIockley collected his store. It should be added that he himself, while possessing genuine story-telling ability, so far as clearness, rapidity, shrewdness, and insight into character are concerned, had none of the higher qualities of style, no graces and ornaments of what is called " diction." He stands below the great masters of fictitious narra- tive, but above the mere wordmongers, who believe they are brilliant when they veneer their productions with a thin coating of showy phrases, and stick them all over with epithets and anti- theses which among the shallow pass for wit. Mr. Hockley's
style is plain, meagre, frequently faulty in grammar; yet it is never wanting in animation, and despite all defects actually does suffice to tell stories abounding in dramatic force, frequently enlivened by touches of humour, sometimes mirthful, sometimes grim, occasionally not wanting in pathos, and often, as becomes the East, deeply, genuinely tragic. Gifted with a loftier range of literary faculty he would doubtless have done better, but such qualifications as he possessed he has put to an excellent use, and Dr. Birdwood showed a just appreciation of his works when he rescued them from oblivion.
As to the stories themselves, although derived from Western India, they do not relate to incidents supposed to have occurred on that side only, but range from Lushai-land to Peshawur, from the Deccan to the Ganges, and even cross the frontier into Persia. Love, warlike adventures, and thirst for wealth form the substantial motives of each tale, but there is no sameness of inci- dent or character. In the very forefront figure the Sikh sect on the morrow of its institution, and the turbulent life of the North- West when a real Mogul reigned in Delhi has rarely been more vividly portrayed than in the first and second stories contained in these volumes. The adventures, wild as they are, seem so natural, that we can well believe they had their foundation in desperately tragic occurrences which happened when all was not peace between Bengal and Affghanistan. Then the Guzeratee story which follows is full of diversified life and real comedy, which is surpassed by a drama the scene of which lies mainly in Bombay and Elephants, which, although fantastic, abounds in passages thoroughly real and human. Nor should we omit to notice the strikingly amusing opening chapters describing Surat under a native Nawab, chapters which we are inclined to regard as the best part of the work, so admirably do they bring before us the picture of a small Mohammedan Native Court. It is in this Court that the Tales are told by the "Heads of Professions," to kill time and gratify the Queen of the Zenana. These intro- ductory chapters alone show how close an observer Mr. Hockley was, what a sharp eye he had for the comic, and how thoroughly he understood the people among whom, for a brief period, his lot was cast. Finally, we may fairly rank this as an original book, more abidingly entertaining and instructive than many works by " brilliant " authors of fifty times its pretensions.
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