Listen, O King!: Five-and-Twenty Tales of Vikram and the Vetal

Description

‘If you know the answer and do not respond, your head will shatter into pieces!’ In a land of glorious kings, bloodthirsty demons and talking spirits, was born the lore of Vikram and the Vetal. After a series of mysterious events, King Vikramaditya carries the vetal, a witty ghost, on a long journey through death's playground. The vetal narrates the most fascinating tales and asks the most puzzling riddles, leaving Vikram completely stumped. Deepa Agarwal's beautiful translation brings age-old wisdom alive through the vetal's wondrous stories that are bound to confound and captivate readers even today. About the Authors There are no biographical details available for Śivadāsa, the author of the Five-and-Twenty Tales of the Genie. From a careful reading of the text, however, we can glean the following facts: Śivadāsa was a man of great learning, even erudition, he wrote primarily for a certain type of reader—the gallants,well-educated, cultivated men-about-town with a keen interest in the fine arts and beautiful women, Śivadāsa’s text is often humorous; he is gently critical and takes a shot at pomposity, pretentiousness and sanctimonious hypocrisy. He poses problems that tease the reader into thought, making his work more than just a retelling of an ancient body of tales. Author, poet and translator, Deepa Agarwal writes for both children and adults and has over fifty books published. A frequent contributor to magazines and journals in India and abroad, she has edited and compiled several anthologies. She has won many prestigious awards, including the NCERT National Award for Children’s Literature in 1993. Her book Caravan to Tibet was on the IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) Honour List 2008. Her work has been translated into several Indian and foreign languages, and five of her books have been included in the White Raven catalogue of the International Youth Library, Munich. As a resource person for Scholastic India and National Book Trust India, among other organizations, she conducts creative-writing workshops and storytelling sessions in schools. Bibek Debroy is a renowned economist, scholar and translator. He has worked in universities, research institutes, the industry and for the government. He has widely published books, papers and articles on economics. As a translator, he is best known for his magnificent rendition of the Mahabharata in ten volumes, the three-volume translation of the Valmiki Ramayana and additionally the Harivamsha, published to wide acclaim by Penguin Classics. He is also the author of Sarama and Her Children, which splices his interest in Hinduism with his love for dogs.