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tions. It is for this reason that Prof. H. H. Wilson has adopted the form of the English drama in translating Sans- krit Natakas. Following the same plan a translation of Shakespeare should have the garb of a Sanskrit drama, though it may not be possible in every case to observe the rules laid down for Sanskrit Natakas.
Generally translations are less effective than the originals ; much more should it be the case if they are Shakepeare's works. And in a first attempt of this kind Shakespeare must necessarily lose much of his original beauty, charm and grandeur. Yet this should not deter us from making the attempt.
This work is an adaptation of Shakespeare's Mid- summer-night's Dream. The rendering; is free in some places and literal in other places, without being detrimental to the general tenor of the passages in the original. The ideas are enlarged in some places, but the enlargement is generally in keeping with the dominant feelings. There are deviations in details with a view to keep up the characteristics of the Sanskrit drama. Some few passages pregnant with such ideas as cannot be brought home to our Pandits have been omited, as also some passages which relate purely to Western habits and customs. I daresay men of greater capacity and learning than myself may produce a much happier and better translation of the same play.
I have selected Midsummer-night's Dream at the outset, since it is not long and most of the ideas in it are not unfamiliar to the best of our Pandits* This play of Shakespeare has, of all his plays, the most Oriental cast about it, and I have accordingly given Sanskrit names for all the characters in the play ; such as इन्दुवर्मा r Theseus
