2023-02-21 16:54:51 by ambuda-bot
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of India, which did not derive directly or indirectly from the Arabic
Kalilah wa-Dimnah. Of its numerous inmediate derivatives I
shall mention only four.
1. A Greck version was made by one Symeon Seth at the
end of the 11th century; it is the oldest European descendant
of the Pañcatantra. Through it the Pañcatantra reached the
Russian and other Slavonic peoples of Eastern Europe, who in
those days derived nearly all the culture they had from the Byzan-
tine Empire. The Old Slavonic translation of the Greek was
made by an unknown author, apparently in Bulgaria, in the 12th
or 13th century; it spread to the north and west over all the
Slavonic lands belonging to the Eastern Church. Later Symeon
Seth's Greek text became known in Western Europe also; and
from the 16th century on it was repeatedly translated into Latin,
Italian, and German.
2. An anonymous version in Old Spanish, dating from about
1251, may possibly be the oldest descendant of the Pañcatantra
in any West-European language.*
3. There was an early translation into Hebrew, of uncertain
date and authorship. It derives its historic importance from its
more celebrated offspring, the Latin "Book of Kalilah and Dimnah,
Directory of Human Life" (Liber Kelilac et Dimnae, Directorium
Vitae Humanae). This was a translation from the Hebrew made
by a Jewish resident of Capua, in Southern Italy, who became
converted to Christianity and took the Christian name of John ;
whence he is known as John of Capua (Johannes Capuensis). His
work, which was composed between 1260 and 1270 A.D., was very
popular in scholastic Europe during the Middle Ages. In the
7
of India, which did not derive directly or indirectly from the Arabic
Kalilah wa-Dimnah. Of its numerous inmediate derivatives I
shall mention only four.
1. A Greck version was made by one Symeon Seth at the
end of the 11th century; it is the oldest European descendant
of the Pañcatantra. Through it the Pañcatantra reached the
Russian and other Slavonic peoples of Eastern Europe, who in
those days derived nearly all the culture they had from the Byzan-
tine Empire. The Old Slavonic translation of the Greek was
made by an unknown author, apparently in Bulgaria, in the 12th
or 13th century; it spread to the north and west over all the
Slavonic lands belonging to the Eastern Church. Later Symeon
Seth's Greek text became known in Western Europe also; and
from the 16th century on it was repeatedly translated into Latin,
Italian, and German.
2. An anonymous version in Old Spanish, dating from about
1251, may possibly be the oldest descendant of the Pañcatantra
in any West-European language.*
3. There was an early translation into Hebrew, of uncertain
date and authorship. It derives its historic importance from its
more celebrated offspring, the Latin "Book of Kalilah and Dimnah,
Directory of Human Life" (Liber Kelilac et Dimnae, Directorium
Vitae Humanae). This was a translation from the Hebrew made
by a Jewish resident of Capua, in Southern Italy, who became
converted to Christianity and took the Christian name of John ;
whence he is known as John of Capua (Johannes Capuensis). His
work, which was composed between 1260 and 1270 A.D., was very
popular in scholastic Europe during the Middle Ages. In the
7