Kelile u Dimne: Turkische Handschrift T 189 der Forschungsbibliothek Gotha.

• Author: Dankoff, Robert

The version of Kalila wa Dimna most popular among the Turks was the twelfth-century Persian translation by Nasrullah (cited below according to the edition by Abdul-Azim Qarib, Tehran, 1368 A.H. [A.D. 1948-49]). This was translated twice into Eastern Turkish and twice into Western Turkish. The first Western Turkish translation, by Qul Mes ud, dedicated to the emir of Aydin, Umur Beg (reg. A.D. 1334-48), was published in part by A. Zajaczkowski (Etudes sur la langue vieille-osmanlie, I: Morceaux choisis de la traduction turque-anatolienne de Calila et dimna [Krakow, 1934]). The second, now published in the book under review, is unusual in being versified. The original, anonymous, poet wrote during the reign of the Ottoman sultan Murad I, more particularly Murad's vizier Xayreddin (reg. 1368-86). The text we have was redacted ca. 1400 by a certain Ilyas, who made some improvements and additions to the original. The unique MS, given here in facsimile, was copied in 1479. The editor's approach is minimalist. The introduction provides the bare textual information and a sketch of the language. The transcription (pp. 33-278) includes summaries of several missing pages. The word index (pp. 279-399) is complete but unanalytical.

In a comparative study of the Turkish translations of Kalila wa Dimna, n?? mentioned by Adamovic, Zehra Toska ("Kelile ve Dimne'nin Turkce Cevirileri," Journal of Turkish Studies 15 [1991]: 368) claims that the Gotha anonymous is based on Qul Mes ud's earlier Turkish version. But this is mistaken, and Adamovic is no doubt correct that it is based directly on Nasrullah's text. The relation among the three versions emerges clearly from the following example. A female sea-bird tells her mate to find a suitable place for laying her eggs. The male says that the place where they are is suitable, but she objects that the sea may become rough and carry off her chicks (Nasrullah, p. 97: Nar guft: injay xos ast va hali tahvil savab nami-namayad, bayza bayad nihad. Mada guft: ja-yi ta'ammul ast agar darya dar mawj ayad va bacaganra dar rubayad anra ce hilat tavan kard). Qul Mes ud's translation is close to the original, but substitutes the feared sea sprite for the rough sea (ed. Zajaczkowski, p. 39; transcription normalized): Erkegi eyitdi: bu ara xosdur, bundan gitmek maslahat degildur, bunda yumurt-lamaq gerek. Disisi eyitdi: bu fikr yeridur kim eger deniz meliki gelub bizum yavrilarimuz qoparsa ne hile eyleyu bilevuz). The Gotha...