Author of the Day: Arthur Ryder

Arthur Ryder was one of the great English translators of Sanskrit, and many of his works are in the public domain now. For this class, there are two different Arthur Ryder reading options: his translation of Kalidasa's play Shakuntala and also his translation of the Sanskrit classic Vetālapañcaviṃśati, which he entitles Twenty-Two Goblins.

Arthur William Ryder was born in Ohio in 1877 and, after receiving his undergraduate degree from Harvard in 1897, he went to Berlin to study Sanskrit. He then returned to the United States and became an instructor of both Sanskrit and German at the University of California at Berkeley. A new "Department of Sanskrit" was created at Berkeley, a department in which Ryder was the only professor. One of his most famous students at Berkeley was J. Robert Oppenheimer who famously quoted from the Bhagavad-Gita during the Trinity Test of the world's first atomic bomb.

Ryder died in 1938 of a heart attack while he was teaching a Sanskrit class. That was a fitting end to the life of someone who had dedicated himself so completely to the study and teaching of Sanskrit language and literature.

You can read more about Ryder in this Wikipedia article, which is also the source for the portrait shown below:

Overview: Ryder. Twenty-Two Goblins

(illustration from the book)

Title: Twenty-Two Goblins

Author: Arthur Ryder

Illustrations: Perham W. Nahl

Year: 1917

Comments: This is Arthur Ryder's delightful English translation of the Sanskrit classic, Vetāla-pañca-viṃśati. The stories in this book are tales told by a goblin, or vetala in Sanskrit, a supernatural creature that inhabits human corpses. The audience for the goblin's stories is a wise king who is attempting to capture one of these goblin-inhabited corpses; as he is toting the corpse back to his palace, the goblin tells paradoxical stories that each end with a riddling question which the king must answer. See if you can find the answers as easily as the king does!

Free Online: See all the links, including a free audiobook, at Freebookapalooza.

Length: three weeks. I've divided the reading into six parts: Part A - Part B (one week of reading), Part C - Part D (another week of reading), and Part E - Part F (a third week).

To make sure you get the beginning and ending of the story of the king, here is how to use this book:

• For one week of reading, read Part A and Part F.
• For two weeks of reading, read Part A and Part F plus any other two parts.
• For three weeks of reading, read Parts A-B-C-D-E-F

Reading Part A:
Introduction
First Goblin: The Prince's Elopement. Whose fault was the resulting death of his parents-in-law?
Second Goblin: The Three Lovers who brought the Dead Girl to Life. Whose wife should she be?
Third Goblin: The Parrot and the Thrush. Which are worse, men or women?

Reading Part B:
Fourth Goblin: King Shudraka and Hero's Family. Which of the five deserves the most honour?
Fifth Goblin: The Brave Man, the Wise Man, and the Clever Man. To which should the girl be given?
Sixth Goblin: The Girl who transposed the Heads of her Husband and Brother. Which combination of head and body is her husband?
Seventh Goblin: The Mutual Services of King Fierce-lion and Prince Good. Which is the more deserving?

Reading Part C:
Eighth Goblin: The Specialist in Food, the Specialist in Women, and the Specialist in Cotton. Which is the cleverest?
Ninth Goblin: The Four Scientific Suitors. To which should the girl be given?
Tenth Goblin: The Three Delicate Wives of King Virtue-banner. Which is the most delicate?
Eleventh Goblin: The King who won a Fairy as his Wife. Why did his counsellor's heart break?

Reading Part D:
Twelfth Goblin: The Brahman who died because Poison from a Snake in the Claws of a Hawk fell into a Dish of Food given him by a Charitable Woman. Who is to blame for his death?
Thirteenth Goblin: The Girl who showed Great Devotion to the Thief. Did he weep or laugh?
Fourteenth Goblin: The Man who changed into a Woman at Will. Was his wife his or the other man's?

Reading Part E:
Fifteenth Goblin: The Fairy Prince Cloud-chariot and the Serpent Shell-crest. Which is the more self-sacrificing?
Sixteenth Goblin: The King who died for Love of his General's Wife; the General follows him in Death. Which is the more worthy?
Seventeenth Goblin: The Youth who went through the Proper Ceremonies. Why did he fail to win the magic spell?

Reading Part F:
Eighteenth Goblin: The Boy whom his Parents, the King, and the Giant conspired to Kill. Why did he laugh at the moment of death?
Nineteenth Goblin: The Man, his Wife, and her Lover, who all died for Love. Which was the most foolish?
Twentieth Goblin: The Four Brothers who brought a Dead Lion to Life. Which is to blame when he kills them all?
Twenty-first Goblin: The Old Hermit who exchanged his Body for that of the Dead Boy. Why did he weep and dance?
Twenty-second Goblin: The Father and Son who married Daughter and Mother. What relation were their children?
Conclusion

Overview: Ryder. Kalidasa's Shakuntala.

Title: Shakuntala and Other Works
Author: Kalidasa
Translator: Arthur W. Ryder
Year: 1912

Comments: Arthur Ryder was one of the great Sanskrit translators of the 20th century. Kalidasa, who lived around the year 500 C.E., is considered the greatest poet of the classical Sanskrit tradition, and his play Shakuntala is his masterpiece. You can find out more at Wikipedia: Kalidasa's Shakuntala.

Free Online: See all the links at Freebookapalooza. The links below are to the Sacred Texts presentation of the book.

Length: one week. I've divided the reading into two parts: Part A - Part B.

READING A

Dramatis Personae
Prologue
Act I. The Hunt
Act II. The Secret
Act III. The Love-Making
Act IV. Shakuntala's Departure

READING B

Act V. Shakuntala's Rejection

Act VI. Separation From Shakuntala
Act VII Conclusion