338 



ON SIAMESE LITERATURE. 



X. 



O N 



SIAMESE LITERATURE. 



By captain JAMES LOW, 



M. A. S. C. 



{^Letters used in this Paper — in expressing Siamese sounds : 



a — broad a. ^ — the French u which may be used for it. 



a — short a. i and i — as in police, it, long or short, 



aa — a. short prolonged. ai — as y in my. 



Sll-ditto, answering to a long vowel. * P^^'^ 



This Paper cannot be better begun than by quoting a passage from 

 " Leydens remarks on the languages and literature of the Indo Chinese na- 

 tions.'' (^) " The Siamese or Thai language contains a great variety of 

 *' compositions of every species. Their poems and songs are very numerous, 

 " as are their Cheritras or historical and mythological fables. Their 

 " books of medicine are reckoned of considerable antiquity. Both in 

 " science and poetry, those who affect learning and elegance of composi- 

 " tion sprinkle their style copiously with Bali. Their Cheritras or roman- 

 " tic fictions are very numerous, and the persons introduced, with the 

 *' exception of Ra'ma, have seldoin much similarity to those of the Brah- 

 " mans and he justly observes that several out of a list of forty-one 

 enumerated by him, " contain the same stories and incidents which are 

 current among the Rat,chtng, Barma and Malayu nations." 



