Stray leaves from strange literature; and, Fantastics and other fancies

A Dock Scene in New Orleans.
The thanks of the Publishers are due to Dr. A. K. Coomaraswamy, of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, for corrections in the spelling of proper names in the Tales from India and Buddhist Literature included in this volume.
A DOCK SCENE IN NEW ORLEANS ( page 348) Frontispiece From a painting, by Robert W. Grafton, in the St. Charles Hotel, New Orleans. By the courtesy of Alfred S. Amer.
Except as otherwise stated, the illustrations are from photographs by CHARLES S. OLCOTT

While engaged upon this little mosaic work of legend and fable, I felt much like one of those merchants told of in Sindbad's Second Voyage, who were obliged to content themselves with gathering the small jewels adhering to certain meat which eagles brought up from the Valley of Diamonds. I have had to depend altogether upon the labor of translators for my acquisitions; and these seemed too small to deserve separate literary setting. By cutting my little gems according to one pattern, I have doubtless reduced the beauty of some; yet it seemed to me their colors were so weird, their luminosity so elfish, that their intrinsic value could not be wholly destroyed even by so clumsy an artificer as I.
In short, these fables, legends, parables, etc., are simply reconstructions of what impressed me as most fantastically beautiful in the most exotic literature which I was able to obtain. With few exceptions, the plans of the original narratives have been preserved. Sometimes I have added a little, sometimes curtailed; but the augmentations were generally made with material drawn from the same source as the legend, while the abbreviations were effected either with a view to avoid repetition, or through the necessity of suppressing incidents unsuited to the general reading. I must call special attention to certain romantic liberties or poetic licenses which I have taken.
In the Polynesian story ( The Fountain Maiden ) I have considerably enlarged upon the legend, which I found in Gill's Myths and Songs of the South Pacific —a curious but inartistic book, in which much admirable material has been very dryly handled. In another portion of Mr. Gill's book I found the text and translation of the weird Thieves' Song ; and conceived the idea of utilizing it in the story, with some fanciful changes. The Arabic Legend of Love is still more apocryphal, as it consists of fragmentary Arabian stories, borrowed from De Stendhal's L'Amour , and welded into one narrative.