Lays of Ancient India. Translated by Romesh Chunder Dntt. (Kegan
Paul, Trench, and Co.) — This volume belongs to Triibnees Oriental Series." The translator seeks to place "before English readers a carefully prepared book of selections from the entire range of ancient Indian poetry," a range ex- tending, it is believed, over more than three thousand years (2000 B.C.-1200 A.D.) The largest and, we may perhaps say, the most interesting poem in the selection is the latest in date, "The Hunter and the Hero." The story, it is true, is very remote from Western habits of thought, but it is interesting to trace the occasional points of contact. The trial of the ascetic Arjun by the nymphs whom India sends has more than one parallel in European literature. The story is certainly wanting in effective- ness, and if it is fair to judge from a translation, cannot be com- pared with any one of the great Western epics. We do not pretend to judge of the fidelity of Mr. butt's translation ; his command of English is decidedly great, but he does not seem to be a master of metrical effect, continually changing as he does from the iambic to the trochaic ictus.
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