accountant; and, being current in a more or less classical form, it
approaches more nearly to the conventional standards of an Indian
tale.

The work has been apportioned between the authors in this way. Mrs.
F. A. Steel is responsible for the text, and Major R. C. Temple for
the annotations.

It is therefore hoped that the form of the book may fulfil the double
intention with which it was written; namely, that the text should
interest children, and at the same time the notes should render it
valuable to those who study Folklore on its scientific side.

F. A. _Steel_
R. C. _Temple_




TO THE LITTLE READER


Would you like to know how these stories are told? Come with me, and
you shall see. There! take my hand and do not be afraid, for Prince
Hassan's carpet is beneath your feet. So now!--'Hey presto!
Abracadabra!' Here we are in a Punjabi village.

* * * * *

It is sunset. Over the limitless plain, vast and unbroken as the