Introduction
Kalileh and Demneh is one of classic Persian literary masterpieces. It is
mainly a translation of an Indian book, Penchatentra (which means five chapters) written in Sanskrit and published some 1500 years ago. It also
includes chapters form an Indian national epic book, Mahabahrata. The original translation was done from Sanskrit into Pahlavi by
Barzuyeh. Ibn Moghafaâ translated it from Pahlavi to Arabic. Finally Abdollah
Monshi, among others, translated it into Persian from Arabic. Each translator has
added some text or chapter(s) of his own.
The Original Sources
1. Penchatentra
Penchatentra is said to have been written by an Indian sage, Bidpai during
the reign of a local ruler, Dabeshlim. Dabeshlim resisted the army of Alexander of Macadonia, but was defeated. Eventually he rose up again and
established independence for his land, although as a despot. Bidpai took it
upon himself to seek an audience with the king, during which he tried to
warn Dabeshlim about his autocratic behavior. By doing this he enraged the
king and was therefore thrown in jail. After a while Dabeshlim recognized
the value of Bidpaiâs advice, released him form jail and asked him to compile his advice in the form of a book. Bidpai sugar coated his advice by
presenting it as stories told by animals.
2. Pahlavi Version
When Anushirvan, the Sasanid king of Persia, heard that there was a book
advising kings he sought someone capable of translating the text. He therefore ordered his aids to find a person who knew Sanskrit as well as
Pahlavi, the Persian language of the Sasanid era. A young physician,
Barzuyeh, was thus found and was sent to India to obtain a copy of the book
and translate it, along with any other books of sociology or scientific value that he could find there.
Upon completion of the book Barzuyeh was honored at the palace, and public
readings of the book took place at the court. The translation included Penchatentra (the first five chapters of Kalileh and Demneh), as well as
parts of the epic book Mahabahrata. It was called Kalileh and Demneh after
two jackals who are the main characters of the first story of
Penchatentra. It also included a preface by Bozorgmehr, the able prime minister of
Anushirvan, and a biography of Barzuyeh. Anushirvan is a complex historical
figure. He had sufficient wisdom to
recognize the value of scientific and sociological books. However, he also
bears the infamy for ordering the massacre of the followers of Mazdak, a
contemporary prophet who was demanding social reform following a major famine.
3. Arabic Translation
In the eighths century AD Ibn Moghafaâ produced an Arabic translation of
Kalileh and Demneh. This is considered a masterpiece of the Arabic literature. Arabs had produced many major poets, most of them before Islam.
In fact Moaâlaghat, the best poems chosen by competition for hanging in the
Kaâbah, the idol temple at Mecca before Islam, attest to this tradition. A
well known poet of this era Amara al-Gheis (who died in 565 AD, 80 years
before Hejreh) has composed many beautiful poems about love and other earthly pleasures. It is ironic that such brilliant creative people have
been dismissed by some Moslems, who have termed the period the Jahilieh (ignorance). In fact the spurt of Persian poetry that started after Islam
when Dari language became the common language in Iran may have had its inspiration in the Arabic poetic tradition. Dari had been the language used
in the court of the Sasanids at Tisfun. After the Arab invasion of Iran it
got mixed with Arabic to produce a rich language for poetry. Many of the
early Persian poets seem to have been inspired by the great Arab poets and
most meters used in their poems had been those of Arabic poetry. The validity of this statement can be verified by the fact that no major poets
in the Pahlavi language have been known. The majority of these poets
were sufis, who did not accept the stigma that some Moslems had attached
to poetry and music.
However, in spite of an old poetic tradition, no major work of Arabic prose
existed before the eight century AD. For this reason Ibn Moghafaâ is called
the founder of the Arabic prose. In fact Kalileh and Demneh is still used
as an exemplary book, and as a textbook in many Arabic speaking countries.
In addition to the translation of the Pahlavi text Ibn Moghafaâ added some
chapters of his own. For example Demneh, who masterminds the destruction of
Cow, and innocent figure in the story, by making up stories that he tells
the Lion (king), is said to have paid for his mean deed at the end of the
story. Ibn Moghafaâ does not find this sufficient and writes a whole
chapter, called Demneh Revealed, to do justice to the story.
Abdollah Ibn Moghafaâ was born as Behrooz in a Zoroastrian Persian family.
His father, Dazuyeh, was nicknamed Moghafaâ because of his twisted flingers. His fingers had been damaged under torture ordered by the
governor of Iraq because Dazuyeh had been advocating education for
masses, an idea that was considered subversive..
Ibn Moghafaâ converts to Islam during the reign of Mansur Abbasid. However,
this brilliant writer was murdered soon after the publication of Kalileh
and Demneh, when he was only thirty six years old. Many reasons have been
given for the death of Ibn Moghafaâ, including imitating the Quran, and
translating blasphemous material to mislead the Moslems. He had produced
some eight major works, including translation of the book of Mazdak from
Pahlavi into Arabic and Resaleh Sahabeh. The latter seems to be aimed at
Mansur, the Caliph, and is the blue print of a revolution.
The common story told about Ibn Moghafaâs death is a letter he wrote on
behalf of Abdollah, Mansurâs nephew. Abdollah had led an unsuccessful rebellion against Mansur. His great uncles (uncles of Mansur) intervene on
his behalf and Mansur agrees to forgive him. To reassure his uncles Mansur
suggests a letter be written, that he would sign, promising not to harm
Abdollah. Ibn Moghafaâ, a well known writer at the time, is chosen
for the task. To make the case fool proof he puts exaggerated phrases such
as, ãIf Mansur ever harms Abdollah his wives shall be forbidden to him and
his subjects would have no obligation to obey him.ä This language infuriates Mansur, who orders Ibn Moghafaâs
arrest
The task of arresting Ibn Moghafaâ falls on Sofyan, the grand son of Yazid
Ummya, and the governor of Basra. There is no love lost between Sofyan and
Ibn Moghafaâ. Long before this incident Ibn Moghafaâ had declared, in
public, that he did not think much of Sofyan, and had called Sofyan a son
of a bitch. When Ibn Moghafaâ is arrested and brought to Sofyan the latter
swears that if Ibn Moghafa leaves the quarters alive he (Sofyan) is indeed
a son of bitch. He further tells Ibn Moghafaâ that he (Sofyan) would not
have to answer for this murder, because Ibn Moghafaâ is Zandaghi and
in the next world a Muslim imposter. Thus, he has him killed in a savage manner,
by having his limbs cut off and burnt before he is finally put to death.
When Mansurâs uncles complain to Mansur about the arrest and disappearance
of Ibn Moghafaâ, he tells them that their own lives would be in danger
should Ibn Moghafaâ appear through the door that is behind them. With this
threat the uncles realize that Mansur had been in on the arrest and murder
of Ibn Moghafaâ and drop the subject.
4. Persian Versions
There have been many translations of Kalileh and Demneh into Persian, a number of them from Ibn
Moghafaâ s Arabic version. The version commonly used in Iran is a translation by Abdollah Monshi in the thirteenth century
AD. This version includes many insertions, by Monshi, of Persian and Arabic
poems as well as verses from the Quran. A few years after this translation
Mohammad Bokhari produced a verbatim translation of Ibn Moghafaâs text.
There has also been a translation by Rudaki, the well known Persian poet of
the 9th century AD, in the form of poems. Like most other work of Rudaki
unfortunately this book no longer exists.
Monshiâs fate was no better than that of Ibn Moghafaâs. He was first
appointed as minister of Khosrow Shah Ghaznavi, and then ordered murdered
by the latter. Abdollah Monshi is another brilliant writer who has produced
a master piece by translating Ibn Moghafaâs text. After Golestan of Saâdi
this work is considered the best piece of Persian literature and has been
used as a model by many writers in different periods and as a text book.
Style of Kalileh and Demneh
Kalileh and Demneh is stories of an animal kingdom with numerous additional
tales told to substantiate a statement (story into story) or to highlight
important points. It also includes an unusual number of metaphors, parallel
construction and numerous words of wisdom. To present a sample of the writing the writer could not locate an adequate
English translation. The samples provided on the Internet by the Indian
Community in the U.S. did not appear to have the elegance of the Persian
text of Monshi. Thus, for the sake of completeness the writer endeavored
the task of translating a passage from Monshiâs text. He seeks forgiveness
of the readers for his lack of ability to convey the music and beauty of
that text. The tricky Demneh comes to his confident and wise friend Kalileh
complaining how his introduction of the Cow to the Lion has caused his own
loss of position near the Lion, as the Lion is now enjoying the company of
the Cow. He is thinking of a scheme to change the situation. Kalileh tells
the following story which is several examples of how a vicious act can backfire and hurt the schemer himself.
A Passage of Kalileh and Demneh
A pious man receives a gift of a beautiful robe from a king. A thief sees
it and schemes to get it. He tries to become the manâs friend till he finds
the opportunity to steal the robe. The pious man realizes what had happened
afterwards and goes to the city in search of the thief. On the way he sees
two rams fighting each other. They had injured one another and a fox is taking advantage of the situation sucking their blood. The rams charge at
each other with their horns. They miss but one of the horns gets the fox
and kills him. By the time the pious man gets to the city it is night time.
He starts looking for a place to stay. He cannot find one and in
desperation ends up spending the night at a brothel. There he sees a pretty
woman accompanied by a man. She is the madamâs best girl but is having a
good time with the man without paying attention to other customers. The madam had been mad at her for some
time because of her callousness about
business. The present sight makes her so furious that she decides to get
rid of her that very night. She offers much wine to the girl and her companion till they are completely drunk and pass out. She then puts a small
tube in the girlâs bottom trying to blow poison into her. As she puts her
mouth to the tube the girl lets out some gas pushing the poison back into
the madamâs mouth, killing her instantly. Thus the pious man witnesses a
proof of the proverb, ãThe reward of an ass kisser is a fart.ä
Early morning the man leaves trying to find a better place to stay. He
meets a shoemaker who invites him to his house. He asks his wife to make a
meal for the guest but apologized that he has an event to attend. The shoemakerâs wife has a lover and a match maker is their go-between. She
asks the match maker to tell her lover that her husband is away for the
night and to have him come over. The shoemaker comes back drunk and sees the
lover at the door. His suspicion justified, he beats up his wife tying her
to a post in the house. After the shoemaker falls asleep the match maker
comes in complaining to the woman for keeping the lover waiting. ãEither go
out or tell him to go home,ä she tells the woman. ãIf you untie me and
agree to replace me at the post,ä replies the woman, ãI will go and come
back quickly.ä The match maker agrees and puts herself at the post. The
shoemaker wakes up and starts calling his wife. The match maker does not
respond for fear of being discovered. Hearing no response the shoe maker
becomes enraged. He takes a knife and cuts off the match makerâs nose. He
then puts it in her hand telling her to send it to her lover as a present.
He then goes back to sleep.
When the shoe makerâs wife returns, she apologized to the match maker for
what had happened. She then releases her and ties herself back to the post.
The pious man witnesses all this. The woman stays quiet for a while. Then
she starts a loud prayer, begging God to cure her nose if she is innocent.
The shoemaker asks her what all this raucous is about. ãGet up cruel man
and see for yourself how God has given me back my nose, because I am innocent,ä she replies. The shoemaker lights a light and sees that his wife
is whole. He apologizes promising to repent and never raise his hand on her
again without solid proof of wrongdoing.
Meanwhile the match maker goes home all the while trying to come up with an
explanation for her situation. She finds the opportunity when her husband
wakes up asking for his toilet objects. He has to leave quickly for an important appointment. The match maker hands him his shaving blade only.
The husband gets furious shaking the blade at her for her lack of concern.
The match maker throws herself to the floor screaming. The neighbors rush
in scolding the husband for having cut his wifeâs nose off. The match
makerâs relatives arrive later and take the husband to the judge. The judge
asks the man why he has cut off his wifeâs nose for no good reason. The
startled husband cannot give a satisfactory answer. The judge rules to have
him punished.
At this point the pious man stands up. ãWait, your honor,ä
he says. ãThis man is innocent, because the thief did not
steal my robe and the rams did not kill the fox, and the poison did not kill the
madam and the match makerâs husband did not cut off her nose. As I witnessed all this.ä
The judge asked the man to explain himself.
ãYou see your honor,ä he said, ãif I had not been fooled by
flattery and would not have believed the thief, he would not have found
the opportunity to steal my robe. And if the fox had not been overcome by
greed, and had stopped his blood sucking, he would not have been killed
by the rams. If the prostitute had not fallen for the young man she would
not have lost her life. And if the match maker had not encouraged lascivious acts she would not have lost her nose.ä
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