Of this collection,
Sir William Jones, the great Orientalist, wrote, "The fables of Veshnoo are
the most beautiful, if not the most ancient, collection of apologues in the
world." As far back as the sixth century translations were made from them.
The same love for myths and legends obtains to-day in those Oriental lands.
There, where the ancient and historic so stubbornly resist any change--in
Persia, India, China, and indeed all over that venerable East--the man who
can recite the ancient apologues or legends of the past can always secure
an audience and command the closest attention.
While the general impression is that the recital of these old myths and
legends among Oriental nations was for the mere pastime of the crowds, it
is well to bear in mind that many of them were used as a means to convey
great truths or to reprove error. Hence the recital of them was not
confined to a merely inquisitive audience that desired to be amused. We
have a good example of this in the case of the recital by Jotham, as
recorded in the book of Judges, of the legend of the gathering of the trees
for the purpose of having one of them anointed king over the rest. Of this
legend Dr. Adam Clarke, the commentator, says, "This is the oldest and,
without exception, the best fable or apologue in the world."
The despotic nature of the governments of those Oriental nations caused the
people often to use the fable or myth as an indirect way to reprove or
censure when it would not have been safe to have used a direct form of
speech.
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