40 On the Swayamvara of the Ancient Hindus. [No. 1. 



We need hardly stay to dwell at length on the many points of 

 coincidence between the legend of Chares and this of Firdausi. 

 Gushtasp, Zarfr, the dream, the Swayamvara and its denouement are 

 at once prominent in both, and point unmistakeably to a common 

 source. The very differences are not without a meaning ; the Persian 

 recension has naturally linked the tale to its national hero, Gushtasp, 

 in preference to the less famed brother, Zarir ; and instead of the 

 Taiiais and the Marathi, we have the more familiar Bum of Firdausi's 

 own time. But the peculiar features of the ancient story remain 

 unchanged amidst the fluctuations of time and place ; it is still the 

 old legend which was " known among all the dwellers of Asia" and 

 " sculptured on their temples and palaces." Chares of Mytilene 

 hands it to the grammarian of Alexandria, who preserves it through 

 the dark ages in the west ; while in its own laud it lives in the 

 memories of the people, (volitat vivu > per ora virum,) through all 

 the changes of Arsacidae, Sasanidse and Mohammedans, until Firdausi 

 arises under Mahmud of Ghazni, and stereotypes it from the lips 

 of the Dihkans of his day. 



