Vikram And The Vampire

Vikram And The Vampire

by Sir Richard R. Burton


Vikram and the Vampire: Tales of Hindu Devilry consists of tales of the history of a huge bat, vampire, or evil spirit which inhabited and animated dead bodies. It is an old, and thoroughly Hindu legend composed in Sanskrit, and is the germ which culminated in the Arabian Nights, and which inspired the Golden Ass of Apuleius, Boccaccio's Decameron, and the Pentamerone.The story turns chiefly on a great king named Vikram, the King Arthur of the East, who, in pursuance of his promise to a Jogi or Magician, brings to him the Baital (Vampire), who is hanging on a tree. The difficulties King Vikram and his son have in bringing the Vampire into the presence of the Jogi are truly laughable; and on this thread is strung a series of Hindu fairy stories, which contain much interesting information on Indian customs and manners.