Vikram And The Vampire:or Tales Of Hindu Devilry

The Baital-Pachisi ("Twenty-five Tales of a Vampire"), composed in Sanskrit early in the Christian era by the sage Bhavabhuti, is one of the masterpieces of Indian literature and one of the best examples of humorous supernatural fiction. In it, King Vikram, the King Arthur of India, because of an oath made to a magician, has to carry the Baital (a vampire that inhabits and animates dead bodies) for a distance of four miles. They make a pact: the vampire will use all his skill to arouse the king's curiosity with stories of love, magic and villainy, but if Vikram speaks, the Baital will fly back to his tree-home. The crafty vampire outwits him many times before the kind accomplishes his mission. The stories are perhaps best described as fairy tales-myth and tale combined, insinuating a lesson in morals or in humanity by amusing narrative or romantic adventure. They include tales of amorous scheming, of the relative villainy of men and women, of unflinching loyalty and devotion, of a woman who told the truth, of the use and misuse of magic pills, and a bizarre story of the future.