always correct. Ibn Qutaiba was concerned more with the sense than with
the phraseology of Ibn Moqaffa.




THE STATEMENT OF BURZOE THE PERSIAN PHYSICIAN IN CHIEF,

Who undertook to transcribe and translate this Indian Book (Kalila wa
Dimna).


[Sidenote: Autobiographical.]

My father belonged to the Warrior class, my mother came of an eminent
priestly family. One of the earliest boons which the Lord conferred on
me was that I was the most favourite child of my parents and that they
exerted themselves more for my education than for my brothers. So when I
was seven years old they sent me to a children's school.

[This was required to be mentioned in his case inasmuch as it could not
have been necessary or usual for a child of distinguished parentage in
early Persia to be educated in a public school.]

When I had learnt the ordinary writing I was thankful to my parents and
perceived something in knowledge.

[In spite of the wide divergence in the Arabic texts and translations
the sense of the original is clear. Note the reference to the difficult
nature of the Pehlevi syllabary. Only the Spanish version has a good